that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

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In the forgiveness of sin we see God: none could forgive sin but a usurper of the authority of God. 'Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee." The scribes knew that with man this would have been blasphemy; but with the Son of God, as an act of Omnipotence, as an exercise of Divine prerogative, it was the same as saying to the sick man, "Arise, and walk." He who could do the one had the right to do the other. Here then is another phase of the Godhead of Christ (Matt. ix. 2).

"This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Matt. xxvi. 28). That is for the pardon or forgiveness of sins; or for the release of the sinner, or discharge of the debt. This was the valid ground of forgiveness, sin atoned for, the punishment of it suffered, the ransom paid, the debt paid. Christ's words were rooted in Exod. xxiv. 8. The covenant of works was made by the blood of sacrifice, typical of the blood of Christ that was to exculpate the sinner from the penalty of the broken law, and to justify him, or present him faultless before God. "Being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him" (Rom. v. 9-11).

I repeat, this was the valid ground of forgiveness. If the implacable spirit would not be reconciled to God and receive pardon, the power of destruction must be wrenched from his grasp, and subordinated to the Divine government. And this was done by the mighty act of atonement and redemption; and the

forgiveness of sin evidenced the omnipotent intervention of the Almighty.

"When Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee." Had the scribes reflected upon their own words, "Who can forgive sins but God only ?" instead of attributing blasphemy, they might have been saved (Mark ii. 5; Luke v. 20).

"Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; and He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven" (Luke vii. 47, 48). Christ's foreknowledge of His own death and resurrection evidenced Him to be the omniscient God. As I shall show, His resurrection evidenced Him to be the Almighty God.

"From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day" (Matt. xvi. 21).

"And Jesus going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify. And the third day He shall rise again" (Matt. xx. 17).

And the institution of the Christian Passover being ended, He said: "All ye shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again,

I will go before you into Galilee" (Matt. xxvi. 32. See xxviii. 16).

In Mark x. 34 the detail is even more particular: "They shall mock Him, and shall scourge Him, and shall spit upon Him, and shall kill Him; and the third day He shall rise again." In Luke ix. 22–44 also. And when John was beheaded he said, "Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them" (Matt. xvii. 12).

In John xii. 23 we read of Christ consoling His disciples in the prospect of His death by a striking figure: "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified."

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." He here taught that death is life; the true philosophy of nature; but with Him the life was manifold. He then, in the most tender way, and by the most omnipotent promise, taught them to be prepared for a like fate with His own : He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

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"Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour."

Again, in John xvi. 21, He would open to them the subject of His approaching death; but if the chapter be read from the sixteenth verse, it will be seen in what terms of tenderness and promise He did it. "Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask Him, and said unto them, Do ye inquire among your

selves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me; and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

"A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world." This was the language of the Creator of the world. He died, endured the anguish of eternal justice, but in that death the world was born anew.

His resurrection proclaimed the God. No human aid was there, no human voice to call, "Arise," "Come forth." We must remember an offended God had never over Him pronounced the curse: "Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return." Over Him the solemn words had never been read: "Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust." Conceived by the Holy Ghost, and with the benediction of heaven upon Him, "that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." The Holy One could not see corruption." The second Adam" rose in the majesty of His own moral glory, and was "made a quickening spirit" to all. We read: "The angel of the JEHOVAH descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it" (Matt. xxviii. 2); but this appears to me rather to have been for the satisfaction of those who came to the sepulchre, than for the JEHOVAH to rise. We read of no one word of communication; and He who could

enter where the disciples were, the doors being shut (John xx. 19), could leave the tomb, in defiance of the watch, the stone, the seal. "That deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure.

Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can." Precautions against the Almighty God! "The God of peace, that brought again from the dead our JEHOVAH Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep" (Heb. xiii. 20). The God returned to the temple; the complex Being again stood upon our earth, almighty as before; loving, compassionate, and forgiving to His disciples; thoughtful and careful about the little Zoar in the midst of a wicked world; but free to range all worlds, or to descend to them at will. "I have power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again." I say, this evidenced the God. The work of redemption was the work of the Holy Trinity, but there was the perfect unity in the three Persons.

The appointment that Christ had made with His disciples, that He would meet them in Galilee after His resurrection, was literally and most faithfully kept, and recorded by the evangelists (Matt. xxviii. 7, 10-16; Mark xvi. 7). And the grand summary of Himself, in Luke xxiv. 25, is worthy of the world's Champion: "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself."