fore on this ground we are not our own, but his. Moreover, we are dependent on Him who made us for every single benefit and blessing which we enjoy. We could not exist one moment without his constant aid and support; therefore, again we may justly confess that we are

not our own.

But this, true as it all unquestionably is, is not what the apostle meant to refer to in my text. We must consider, not merely what we are in relation to God by reason of our creation and preservation on the part of God, but what we are by means of our redemption: for this is the point to which the apostle's remarks are directed. We must bear in mind that we are fallen creatures, and in an utterly lost condition by reason of sin. The fall of our first parents brought us under the curse of "original sin," and gave us that proneness or natural inclination to commit "actual sins," which, alas! with all that has been graciously done for us as Christians, too many yield to, until they bring on themselves eternal vengeance. Our condition is described in Scripture thus; that having been "conceived" and "born in sin," we are "by nature the children of wrath :" (Ps. li. 5; and Ephes. ii. 3.) Or, as one of our Articles expresses it, "Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk ;) but it is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation." This being our state by nature, hence arose the necessity of our being redeemed, or, what is the same thing, brought back out of our lost condition. And this work the only-begotten and eternal Son of God was graciously pleased to accomplish for us; he consented to pay the price of our redemption. And let us mark well what was the price he paid for us: it was nothing less than the laying down his own life for ours; the pouring out his most precious blood upon the cross. This was the estimation he most mercifully set upon our souls. Accordingly, we find this truth alluded to in many and various passages of Scripture in this manner-He "purchased to himself his church with his own blood," (Acts xx. 28.) He gave his life a ransom for many," or rather, for the many, that is, for all, (Mark xx. 28.) "He hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree," (Gal. iii. 13.) "Neither by blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us," (Heb. ix. 12.) "Ye knew that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot," (1 Pet. i. 18, 19.) There are other passages in which the same great and all-important truth is variously alluded to in the New Testament, but these are amply sufficient for our present purpose; for they plainly set before us what was the nature of the price paid for us, and also what was the reason which rendered such a price necessary. They clearly recognise this truth, that when we were enemies to God through sin-when we were in a state of guilt

and condemnation-when we were lost, and in danger of perishing everlastingly, Christ died for us, to reconcile us to our offended God, to cleanse away our guilt, to save us from condemnation, and, in fact, to deliver us entirely and for ever from our lost condition. These are the benefits which Christ by his death procured for us.

But let us not be satisfied with the mention of these benefits: let us not be turned aside from considering the vast value of the price at which they were purchased. Alas! this is too much the case even with the best of those who, to a degree, thankfully accept the blessings of redemption. Let us, then, reflect on what is meant by Christ's having died for us. Let us remember who it was that died; and yet, again, how it was he died. Let us bear in mind that it was no less a being than the Son of God himself who gave up his life. It was he who dwelt with the Father in transcendent glory, in perfect unmixed happiness. He could gain nothing of happiness himself by this act; neither could any one compel him to perform it: it was of his own good will and pleasure that he undertook it. Hence he left the glory and the bliss of his heavenly abode. He took on him the nature of man, with all such of its infirmities as were without sin. He submitted to be tempted, tried, and grieved, like us men. And last of all, when the hour was come, the hour of darkness, which he had fixed in his eternal purpose for the completion of the work, he died. He allowed himself to be sacrificed by one of the most cruel and ignominious kinds of death imaginable, even by the death of the cross. I would not wish to lay too much stress on our Lord's bodily sufferings; but yet, it may be just to consider, for a moment, the nature of this death-by crucifixion. It is, to be nailed to a cross, resting nearly the whole weight of the body upon nails driven through those tender and sensitive parts, the palms of the hands, and the centres of the feet; and to hang thus suspended for hours, yea, till he knew that his great work was accomplished, and he could say, "It is finished!" Then he " yielded up the ghost." This is sufficient to show the nature of our Lord's bodily sufferings. But these appear to have been little, when compared with what he endured in his spirit.

We shall, perhaps, best understand what our blessed Saviour underwent for our sakes, and so learn to value the price at which we were purchased, if we consider what he suffered in mind when he looked forward to his hour of darkness. Let us reflect upon the scene revealed to us in the garden of Gethsemane.* Let us recollect what must have been his feelings when he prayed to be delivered from what he saw approaching! Indeed, I know not whether the history of our Lord's agony in the garden is not fitted to place before us the real character of his suffering and death for our sakes in a more striking light than any relation which is given us of his actual death on the cross. I say not that our blessed Saviour did really endure more agony on that occasion than what came upon him on the tree; but still I think, that, in

This remarkable event in our Lord's life on earth was the subject of a Sermon, (by the present writer,) which was inserted in the CHRISTIAN REMEMBRANCER for March 1836, being adapted for the Sunday next before Easter. Some passages.common to both sermons will be recognised on examination.

the minute description afforded us of his feelings and actions at that season, we have, if possible, a more vivid and touching representation of his sufferings than that which is any where else conveyed to us.

Let us, then, reflect on the expressions employed by our Lord himself, and by the sacred writers, to describe his feelings in that hour. "He began to be sorrowful and very heavy." "My soul"-these are his own words-"my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death!" (Matt. xxvi. 38.) These words are amongst the most expressive which can be imagined; they give us a full insight to what was passing in his inmost soul; they denote the very deepest grief, anguish, and dejection of heart-the condition of a man surrounded by sorrows, overwhelmed with miseries, and almost swallowed up with consternation and amazement; nay, even the state of one excruciated with such intense agony, that if speedy succour were not afforded, death must necessarily be the

consequence.

But this is further shown by the circumstance of his praying most earnestly and repeatedly that "the cup," as he expresses it, "might pass from him." The word "cup" is, we know, used in Scripture to represent sorrow, anguish, terror, and death; and so by employing the word here, our Lord evidently meant to refer to the sufferings and death he was about to endure. The explanation seems to be this:-In his human nature, he looked with a most extreme degree of terror and anguish at what was coming upon him-so much so, indeed, that, as a man, he earnestly desired to be delivered from it. We must not, of course, imagine that all this intensity of feeling arose from the mere fear of death, however excruciating might be the sufferings, even of the death of the cross. No!-there must surely have been something greater than these, or he would scarcely have prayed thus earnestly to have them taken from him; for we know that many of his disciples have been enabled, by divine grace, to meet the most dreadful kinds of death without such an appearance of fear and amazement. What was the precise cause of our Lord's anguish we cannot now fully explain: but this is the account the Scriptures give us of the matter:-" The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all." "He suffered once for sin, the just for the unjust." "Then it pleased the Lord to bruise him." "He was bruised for our iniquities ;" and when "he put him to grief," "he made his soul an offering for sin." From these, and such passages of Scripture as these, we may, perhaps, understand better what was the price he paid for our redemption. We may conclude, that the human nature of Christ was burdened by the foresight of what it would be to have the punishment of all the sins of a whole guilty world laid upon him. He had, no doubt, the most distinct and clear perception of the infinite evil of sin, and of that immensity of guilt which he was to expiate, and do away. He had, moreover, the most awful view of the divine justice, and the vengeance deserved by the sins of men; and hence, such a sense of the divine wrath might naturally press down his inmost soul, in a manner which no imagination can justly conceive.

These remarks may lead us the more fully to estimate aright what our blessed Saviour endured when he laid down his life for our sakes; what he endured when he ransomed us from misery and death; what, in fact, he paid as the price of our souls. The full extent of this we

may doubt whether we can as yet comprehend: perhaps we may know hereafter. But, at all events, there surely is sufficient, even here, most deeply to impress our minds with the truth contained in my text, that we are "not our own," having been "bought with" such "a price."

But we must not rest here. We must be prepared, and, I trust, we are now fully prepared, for what follows, when the apostle adds, "Therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Now, it is by no means uncommon for persons, when reasoned with on their ungodly mode of life, to say that they have a right to do as they like in these matters. If they choose to give up their minds to irreligion and infidelity, or their hearts to worldly things, or their bodies to sensual indulgences, they have a right to do so: no one, they seem to think, has any right to complain of their conduct-no, not even God himself; that no one has a right to remonstrate with them on the subject-no, not even God's ministers, who stand in his stead, to vindicate his honour, and advance his glory. Nay, they often become angered at any attempt to open their eyes, and to check their deadly career. They have a right, they assert, to pursue their own course, and that right they will maintain. But mark the words of the text; if they have any meaning, they declare most plainly that no one has such a right in the sight of God. What saith this Scripture?" Ye are not your own : ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." In other words, ye have no right over yourselves, to dispose either of your body, or of any of its members, as you may think lawful: you have no right to use any of your powers of mind, or any of the faculties of your soul-or, indeed, any thing which you have, merely as you please. You are bound to God, and to him you must give account of the use you make of all these things. The matter may be placed in this point of view: as the slave, who was purchased by his master for a sum of money was the whole and sole property of that master, so we, being bought with the price of the blood of Christ, are the whole and sole property of our God: we are not our own, but his. Therefore, as the slave was bound to use all his skill and industry in his master's service, and for the benefit and advantage of that master, so we are bound to devote body, soul, and spirit, to the service of our Lord and Master. We Christians are bound by the strongest and closest ties,-bound, not indeed by the spirit of bondage, nor by the chains of slavish fear, but by the easy and delightful bonds of gratitude, affection, and reverential love, to endeavour, by every power of body and mind which we possess, to promote the honour and glory of our God, whose we are, and whom we serve. Our bodies, and all their members, are God's; not to be given to profligacy-not to be wasted in intemperance-not to be worn out in the service of sin, or in the ways of folly, but to be devoted to his service. Our spirits and minds, and all the faculties of them, are God's; not to be employed merely for our own worldly advancement, or our own pleasure and amusement whilst on earth, but to be directed, as we have opportunity, to advance his glory and honour amongst mankind. Over all that we have, and all that we are, God has an unquestionable right. Nor is there any limit to this his right over us. We are his entirely; we are his from our earliest to our latest years-from our cradle to our

grave; and, consequently, we ought to be wholly devoted to him from the first moment of our dawning reason, to the very hour of our death. There never was a time when we were not his, and there never should be a period in our existence when we should not be employed in his service, in promoting his glory. This is the plain teaching of God himself-the revelation of his divine will. He tells us, by his inspired apostle, that he has a full and indefeasible right over us all; and this right over us, though some may now foolishly dispute it, they will find hereafter still to have been a right, to their great and endless dismay.* Would then that, under the help of divine grace, this truth were deeply impressed on the hearts and minds of all Christians, and that we could all be made to feel that we are not our own! Are there any amongst us who are acting as if they disputed this truth, or are in any degree" denying the Lord that bought them?" (2 Pet. ii. 1.) Are there any who are living as if they were altogether their own, at liberty to follow their own ways, and to do after their own imaginations-who are, in fact, devoted to the service of some other master, rather than God? Perhaps there are those here who, instead of glorifying God, sanctifying the Lord in their hearts, hallowing his great name, advancing his holy cause, and promoting his honour amongst men, are taking quite a contrary course. They may have been guilty in times past, they may be at this period living in the guilt of such acts of profligacy and immorality as are a disgrace to themselves, pollute the mind and spirit, and waste away the health and strength of their bodies; or they may be wilfully indulging themselves in taking God's name in vain, or in dishonouring his holy day; or, perhaps, by generally withstanding his

* The following observations in reference to this subject, occur in Mr. NEWMAN'S FOURTH VOLUME of PAROCHIAL SERMONS, just published. "St. Paul insists again and again on the great truth that Christians are not their own, but bought with a price, and, as being so, are become the servants, or rather, the slaves of God, and his righteousness; and this, upon their being rescued from the state of nature. The great apostle is not content with speaking half the truth; he does not merely say that we are set free from guilt and misery, but he adds, that we have become the servants of Christ; nay, he uses a word which properly means slaves. Slaves are bought and sold: ye were by nature slaves to sin and Satan; ye are bought by the blood of Christ; we do not cease to be slaves. We no longer belong to our old master ; but a master we have, unless slaves, on being bought, become freemen. We are still slaves, but to a new master, and that master is Christ. He has not bought us, and then set us loose upon the world; but he has done for us what alone could complete his first benefit, bought us to be his servants, or slaves. He has given us that only liberty which is really such-bond-service to himself, lest if left to ourselves, we should fall back again, as we certainly should, to the cruel bondage from which he redeemed us. But any how, whatever be the consequences it involves, whatever the advantage, whatever the trial, ye did not cease to be slaves on being free from Satan ; but ye became subject to a new Master, to him who bought us.

"This needs insisting on; for a number of persons, who are not unwilling to confess that they are slaves by nature, from some cause or other, have learned to think that they are not bound to any real service at all, now that Christ has set them free. Now, if by the word slavery some cruel and miserable state of suffering is meant, such as human masters often inflict on their slaves, in that sense, indeed, Christians are not slaves, and the word is improper to apply to them; but if by being slaves is meant that we cannot throw up our service, change our place, and do as we will, in that sense it is literally true that we are more than servants to Christ; ye are, as the text (Rom. vi. 18.) really words it, slaves."-Newman's Parochial Sermons, vol. iv,