through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." We beheld Jesus, though holy and harmless, expire upon the cross for our sins, to satisfy divine justice; and now let us follow him a step further. "Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. And he brought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre, which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre." Mark 15: 43, 46. But death could not hold him long, nor the grave confine him. Early on the third day after his burial, "Behold there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon

it.

His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him, the keepers did shake, and became as dead men." Matt. 28: 2-4. Amidst these remarkable displays of divine power, Jesus rose in triumph from the grave; appeared several times in a bodily form to his disciples; showed them his hands and side, which were pierced; spake to them, ate in their presence; gave them specific instructions in things pertaining to his kingdom; and then "led them out as far as to Bethany; and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." Luke 24: 50, 51. The same apostle adds, in Acts 1: 9, that "while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight." "Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." Rom. 4: 25. "It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather

that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Rom. 8: 33, 34. Of his exaltation in heaven, the apostle Paul has given this most eloquent description: "And set him. at his own right hand, in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named; not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all." Eph. 1: 20-23. The resurrection of Christ is to all his followers an earnest, that they also will rise from the dead, with bodies incorruptible; his ascension to heaven in a glorified form, is an earnest to them, that they also, with renovated spirits and bodies, shall be caught up together in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall they ever be with the Lord. "Father, I will, that they whom thou hast given me, be with me where I

am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me." "To him that over

cometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am

set down with my Father in his throne." "Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."

CHAPTER II.

SINNERS SHOULD TAKE A VIEW OF CHRIST CRUCIFIED IN THE PRESENT WORLD.

"They shall look on him whom they pierced.". John 19: 37.

"And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts and returned."- Luke 23: 48.

THE Scene of Calvary, when Jesus suffered and expired on the cross, is most grand and awful. Here we see God's high regard for the honor of his law; here we behold at one view his inflexible justice and hatred to sin, blended with the most melting and overpowering displays of divine love and mercy ever made to our fallen world. The Son of God, once clothed with uncreated majesty and glory, and an object of univer