freshing, and reviving in your own soul during the past year? Have you drawn from Jesus' fulness, and been enriched with His blessing and satisfied with His favour? If so, surely these times are worth being remembered, and that with a thankful heart. Or, if under the burden of sin, corruption, and unbelief, you have again and again had a glimpse of Jesus as the hope set before you, and have fallen before Him as one looking to Him for His mercy, help, and deliverance, and have felt some measure of His sympathy and loving-kindness to sinners flow into your heart, causing you to hope in His word of promise, are not these helps by the way worthy of your acknowledgment and thankfulness? And, if you have been delivered from troubles, from the hand of the enemy, from the darkness and hardness caused by unbelief and the carnal mind, and have been brought to enjoy the light of the Sun of Righteousness, and to walk at large in the liberty of Christ's Gospel, is this blessed experience of the sin-subduing, heart-humbling, and Christ-endearing effect of superabounding grace tó→

"Lie buried in unthankfulness,
And without praises die "?"

Surely not! May you not rather say, "I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my supplications," for "I was brought low, and He helped me

?

And, in trying to speak a word to those who are seeking for Jesus, and who, we trust, have found some encouragement and help in answer to their prayers, we would assure them from His Word, and by our own experience, that He is both an able and a willing Saviour, a skilful and a kind Physician, a faithful and true Friend to all who desire and wait upon Him. And to you who are troubled and grieved about sin, and who long for pardon and cleansing, we would say, Jesus is the Friend for you. He is the "Brother born for adversity," and only by faith in Him as the bleeding Lamb can you ever hope to find healing and peace.

To those who may read this, who are still in nature's darkness, in the thrall of sin, spiritually ignorant, and destitute of true repentance toward God and of a right concern about their immortal souls, we would in all affection say, sinner, you are in danger of eternal wrath, for it is plainly declared, "Except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish.' There is no safety out of Christ, and there can be no true faith in Him without repentance. May the Holy Spirit, whose work it is to convince of sin, make you feel what a solemn thing it is to live and die without hope and without God.

And now, dear friends, as we begin another year, may all of us who fear God be found looking up to Him for that blessing which maketh rich, and that grace which He has said "is sufficient for thee," that in all our warfare and toil we may find His strength to be made perfect in our weakness; and thus, deriving all our life, support, and fruitfulness from Him who is "the Head of His body the Church," may we during the year 1881 be kept lively in the things of God, jealous for His honour, and constant in His fear, seeking the good of souls and the peace and prosperity of Zion.

We hope still, in conducting the SOWER, to pursue our steady and Scriptural course of proclaiming the good old Gospel of the grace of God, and holding forth the same truths which are taught in the divine Word as the rule of faith; while we shall also continue to sound an alarm against Rome and her confederates by recalling her former deeds to mind, in order that the young may see this so-called "unalterable Church "-this system of iniquity-in its true colours. And, as we seek to do the same thing in the LITTLE GLEANER, we hope all friends of the young and lovers of truth will try and disseminate what we thus send forth in our Magazines as widely as possible. The teachers of Romanism, Rationalism, and Infidelity are energetically at work, and should not the lovers of "the truth as it is in Jesus" more than ever bestir themselves to scatter abroad, in opposition to these fatal influences, that seed which is the precious gift of God, and which only can "make wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus"?

Friends, think of what God has thus committed unto us in calling us to, and blessing us with, the knowledge of the Word of His Gospel. Oh, that we may ever seek to use this talent aright; and may He who bestowed it make His own Word fruitful in the conversion, instructing, building up, and establishing of His chosen seed!

Brethren, we once more solicit an interest in your prayers and kind sympathies, which have been, and will we trust still prove, a great source of encouragement to us in our labours; and may you, with ourselves, find the year upon which we have entered to be one replete with tokens of the mercy and goodness of the Lord, and one marked as a period memorable for "growth in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

Reader, "the Lord make His face to shine upon thee." So THE EDITOR.

prays

"WHERE pride and self are overthrown,
There Jesus raises up His throne."

NOTES OF A SERMON

PREACHED BY MR. D. FENNER, JUNE 7TH, 1868.
"Christ died for our sins."-1 Cor. xv. 3.

As we are to commemorate Christ's death, it may not be improper
to speak a little of it. When it is said, "Christ died for our
sins," it means He died for the people of God, as it is written,
"I lay down My life for the sheep" (John x. 15); and it is said
in Isaiah liii 8, "For the transgression of My people was He
stricken "-for the sins of His people-that is, the people of God.
Thus it was spoken of Him, "Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins" (Matt. i. 21). The
sins of God's people were as bad as others', and as offensive unto
God, and hateful to Him. He cannot endure iniquity to come
into His presence, and, therefore, none can come there but such
as are brought nigh by the blood of Christ. They are brought
nigh unto God through the sacrifice of the blessed Son of God,
and in no other way can any appear before Him who is "of purer
eyes than to behold iniquity." What do the Scriptures say?
"Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are
written in the Book of the law to do them" (Gal. iii. 10), and
"he that offends in one point is guilty of all."
Justice stands

against the sinner, and will by no means set him free, but through the satisfaction received by the death of Christ on his behalf. Persons say, "God is love." That is true; and, as He is love, it emanates from Him and flows towards those who are the objects of it, and this love is the moving cause of their redemption and salvation. As God is love, so God is holy; and as He is infinite in love, so He is in holiness. All the attributes of God are His nature; therefore, holiness is as much His nature as love justice the same, truth the same, faithfulness the same.

;

Now, all these attributes must receive satisfaction at the hands of the Mediator, so that reconciliation, peace, and harmony might take place that there should be no let or hindrance in the way— and it must be such as to clear a way for those attributes which in themselves, abstractly considered, stand against the people of God while sinners. The attributes of God are God Himself, therefore they must be infinite in all their tendencies; and, as God is infinite in holiness, what is sinful must be rejected and cast from Him; therefore, every person as sinful must be rejected and cast forth from Him.

Now, as Christ stood as Surety in the place of His people, it is said, "Thou hast cast off and abhorred, Thou hast been wrath with Thine Anointed." This does not mean that He was individually cast off by God, for He was loved by the

Father on account of what He suffered, as He says, "Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life that I might take it again." In all He suffered, though He had all the sins of His people upon Him, for which He suffered and died, yet He did not die individually considered, but vicariously—that is, in His people's law place, room, and stead. Hence it is said, "He died the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." If it were not for this, we could not come near to God as sinners; He would cast us off with abhorrence.

Now, observe, Christ engaged to suffer and die for His people in that covenant engagement made by Father, Son, and Holy Ghost from eternity, and included all His people in the human nature which He took upon Him when He became the Second Adam and covenant Head of His Church; for, as the first Adam was the federal head of the whole world, so the Second Adam -the Lord from heaven-became the covenant Head of His people. Hence it is said, "As in Adam all die "-all died that were in him-so, in the Second Adam, they are raised from death unto life: "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive." He assumed their nature, represented them, and engaged to do all that was requisite to remove sin from them, and to give satisfaction unto all the attributes of God; and so the sins of His people were transferred to Him in God's account, and reckoned His by imputation. Hence it is said, "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. liii. 6); or, as some render it, "The Lord has made to meet on Him the iniquity of us all." As Hart says—

"When all the dreadful debt of guilt
Was on the dying Saviour laid."

So He bore all their sins on the cross, as it is said, "Who His
own Self bare our sins in His own body on the tree."
"All we
like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his
own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
And He has so removed the sins and filth of His people from
God's sight and memory, that He "does not behold iniquity in
Jacob, nor perverseness in Israel;" and He says, "Their sins and
their iniquities I will remember no more." But He remembers
His dear Son-the righteousness He wrought, the sacrifice He
completed, called His active and passive obedience. Thus His
people are virtually free.

But their sins are also removed from them in the court of conscience, when it is the pleasure of the Lord to apply the atonement Christ has made. As the Apostle says, "We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement," or reconciliation (Rom. v. 11), Some try to make

a difference between atonement and reconciliation, but I know of no distinction. Who was the offended party? God. Who was the offender? Man. Who has atoned for sin, man or God? Not man, but God; and Paul says, "And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, that He might present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight" (Col. i. 20-22). Atonement and reconciliation mean the same thing, for, when the atonement comes to the heart, it is the pardon of all sin past, present, and to come; and when this is experienced, what brings it? Why, the pardoning love of God, that removes sin and guilt from the person, and gives the sinner freedom through the atonement

"The Mediator made the peace,
And signed it with His blood."

And Hezekiah says, "Thou hast in love to my soul delivered me from the pit of corruption, for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back; and He will never turn round to look upon them. Here is "quietness and assurance for ever," and justice views the sinner with perfect satisfaction.

Now, as touching the characters Christ died for. He calls them sheep: "I lay down My life for My sheep;" whilst the ungodly are called goats, swine, dogs, wolves, &c. These have not the nature of the sheep to abhor filth, and yet the sheep of Christ know and feel themselves to be ungodly indeed-just such characters as the Word of God declares Christ died for.

First, then, Christ died for the ungodly. Godliness is a likeness to God; ungodliness is the right opposite. Well, does not the sensible sinner feel ungodly in thought, lip, and life? When does he find anything of godliness so that he can appeal to a just God and say, "Here is something that is godly"? No, he cannot

do that.

Again, He died for those who feel guilty before God, for He died to procure pardon, and pardon comes to the guilty. He died for those that are shut up in a spiritual prison, and cannot come forth, for He came to "preach deliverance to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound"-bound down in the prison of sin and guilt, for such these captives feel themselves to be. He died also for the burdened soul, for He says, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest to your souls."