it on the trec. The transgressions of his people were made to meet upon his devotel person: those five wounds tell what he suffered, that marred countenance bears the tokens of his inward grief, and that cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" indicates to us, as far as we are able to understand it, what he endured when he stood in the sinner's stead, the sin-bearer and the sacrifice.

When the Lord enables the soul to perceive that Christ stood in its stead, then the work of appropriating the justification is going on. Christ died "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God;' for he "made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." He was "made a curse for us : as it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." hath once suffered for sin, and this is the foundation of our peace.

Christ

The point wherein faith comes into contact with pardon is when faith believes that the Son of God did come and stand in the sinner's stead, and when faith accepts that substitution as a glorious boon of grace, and rests in it, and says, "Now I see how God is just, and smites Christ in my stead. Seeing he condemned me before I had personally sinned, because of Adam's siu, I see how he can absolve me, though I have no righteousness, because of Christ's righteousness. In another did I fall, and in another do I rise. By one Adam I was destroyed: by another Adam am I restored. I see it. I leap for joy as I see it, and I accept it as from the Lord."

This is not quite all, for now here stands the guilty one, who has owned the sentence, and he has seen the sentence executed upon another. What then? He takes his place as no longer liable to that sentence. The penalty cannot be exacted twice. It were neither in accord with human or divine righteousness that two individuals should be punished for the same offence unless both were guilty. When God devised the plan of substitution the full penalty demanded of the guiltless surety was clearly intended to bring exemption to the guilty sinners. That Jesus should suffer vicariously and yet those for whom he paid the quittance in drops of blood should obtain no acquittal could not be. When God laid sin upon Christ it must have been in the intent of his heart that he would never lay it on those for whom Christ died. So then there standeth the man who was once guilty, but he is no more condemned, because another has taken upon him the condemnation to which he was exposed. Still more, inasmuch as the Lord Jesus Christ came voluntarily under the law, obeyed the law, fulfilled the law, and made it honourable, according to the infinite purpose and will of God the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the believer. While Christ stands in the sinner's place, the believing sinner stands in Christ's place. As the Lord looked upon Christ as though he had been a sinner, though he was no sinner, and dealt with him as such, so now the Lord looks upon the believing sinner as though he were righteous, though indeed he has no righteousness of his own; and he loves him, and delights in his perfect comeliness, regarding him as covered with the mantle of his Redeemer's righteousness, and as having neither spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing.

This is wonderful doctrine, but it is the doctrine of the word of God. It is the doctrine whereon faith can feed and rest; and when faith

receives it she says to the soul, "Soul, thou art free from sin, for Christ has borne thy sin in his own body on the tree. Soul, thou art righteous before God, for the righteousness of Christ is thine by imputation." Without any works of thine own thou art yet justified according to the righteousness of faith, even as faithful Abraham, of whom it is written, "He believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." This is a wonderful exchange, the putting of Christ where the sinner was, and of the sinner where Christ was. And, now, what does the court say? The court says, "Not guilty; absolved; acquitted." And what is the condition of the man towards God? Why, he can say―

"Now freed from sin, I walk at large;

My Saviour's blood's my full discharge.
At his dear feet my soul I lay,

A sinner saved I'll homage pay.'

Now do I love the Lord, and I know that the Lord loveth me."

By this process we have come to the truth before God, and we have dealt with each other on the line of truth. There has been no fabrication or falsehood. Justice has been vindicated, mercy has been magnified, and we are justly forgiven. Strange fusion of vehement grace and vindictive wrath! Behold how judgment and mercy have linked hands together in the person of the dying, bleeding, rising Son of God. This is the way by which we obtain justification.

The soul may well have a settled peace when it has realized and received such a justification as this, seeing it is a peace consistent with justice. The Lord has not winked at sin; he has not treated sin as if it were a trifle; the Lord has punished transgression and iniquity. The rod has been made to fall, and the blessed shoulders of our Lord have been made to smart under the infliction. If justice had never been satisfied the human conscience would not have been content. The proclamation of unconditional mercy would never have satisfied a human mind. If we had to preach to you that God forgave you irrespectively of an atonement, no awakened conscience would welcome the tidings; we should still have to confront the question, "Where is justice, then?" We should be unable to see how the law could be vindicated, or the moral government of God maintained. We are quite at rest, when we see that there is as much justice as there is mercy in the forgiveness of a believing soul, and that God is as glorious in holiness when he passes by sin as he would have been if he had cast the whole race into the abyss of unfathomable woe.

Nor need there be any morbid apprehension as to whether all the evidence that could be produced against us at our trial has been brought forward. Nobody can come in and say "Though you have been exonerated upon a partial trial, upon a more searching investigation your guilt could have been proved." We can reply, "But it was proved." There was the best of evidence to prove it, for we confessed it. There was no other evidence wanted, and nothing further could have been brought, since we pleaded guilty to every charge. If you bring any further accusation, we can only say that we pleaded guilty without reserve. It was all in the indictment; we did not attempt for a moment to cloak or conceal any guilt we had incurred. We confessed it all before the

Lord, and owned to it; and since the Lord Jesus Christ took it all there is no cause for reopening the proceedings. There cannot be a second trial through a writ of error: the case is thoroughly disposed of; the prisoner has pleaded guilty to the capital charge, and has borne the utmost penalty of the law by his Substitute, which penalty God himself has accepted. His acquittal is such as he can rest upon with implicit reliance.

Moreover we know that, being justified, we are now at peace with God, because there cannot be any more demands made against us. All that was against us Christ took away. "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." The death of our great Redeemer has abounding merit in it, seeing that he was the Son of God. All the transgressions and iniquities that could ever be raked up against us were all laid to his charge, and his atonement by one offering has put an end to them all. We are not afraid, therefore, that anything fresh will be raised against us.

Again, our acquittal is certified beyond all question, and the certificate is always producible. Somebody might say to a prisoner "How do you know that you were acquitted?" He cannot produce any writing. On the record of the court it stands; and yet, mayhap, he has no means of access to the court record. But, beloved, you and I have a writ of acquittal which is always visible. Faith can see it to-night. "What is that?" say you. It is the risen Christ, for Jesus Christ "died for our sins, and rose again for our justification." You all know how that was. He was cast into the prison of the grave until it had been certified that our liabilities were fully discharged, and

"If Jesus ne'er had paid the debt

He ne'er had been at freedom set."

He was our hostage, and his body was held in durance till it was certified that there was no further claim against any one of his people. That done, he rose again from the dead for our justification. He is at the Father's right hand, and he could not be there if any of our iniquity remained on him. He took our sin, but he has our sin no longer, for on the cross he discharged and annihilated it all so that it ceased to be, and he has gone into the glory as the representative and the substitute of his people, cleared from their imputed liabilities-clean delivered from anything that could be brought against him on their account. So long as we see the Lord Jesus sitting in the throne of glory, we may boldly ask, "Who is he that condemneth? Christ has died, yea rather, hath risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." We know our justification to be for ever complete, and beyond challenge, for Jesus keeps the place of acceptance for us.

And lastly, on this point, it was a justification from the very highest court. You know how it is in law: a matter may be decided in your favour, but there is an appeal to a higher court; and such are the glorious uncertainties of law that a sentence which has been confirmed in several courts may after all be reversed when it comes before the highest authorities. But you and I pleaded guilty before God. There is no higher authority than that of God himself. When Jesus stood

in our stead we we did not put him there; nor did he put himself there; it was the act and deed of the Eternal Father. Is it not written-"The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." It is not only true as a matter of personal faith that

"I lay my sins on Jesus,"

but as a matter of fact of a far earlier date the Lord laid them on him. There is no higher authority than the Lord's; and therefore do we cry, "it is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth?" We have been taken into the highest court of all, and there we have been cleared through Jesus's blood; have we not cause to be fully at peace with God, "being justified by faith"? Precious doctrine! Oh to rest in it with a childlike confidence henceforth and for evermore!

II. I now come to the second part of the subject, which is this. Faith brings us into the state of peace which I have explained, and afterwards FAITH GIVES US THE SENSE OF PEACE. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God."

Will you please to notice that the sense of peace follows upon the state of peace. We do not get peace before we are justified, neither is peace a means of justification. No, brethren, we are justified first. "While we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." God justifies the ungodly. We have no peace till that is done. At least there may seem to be peace, a horrible peace-the peace of death and of daring presumption-when a man says, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace, and talks about rest when he has a conscience seared as with a hot iron-and a mind drugged with presumption, so that he sleeps that awful sleep which is the presage of waking up in hell. From such peace may God deliver us! But real peace-the peace of Godand peace with God must spring out of our being justified in the way which I have been trying to describe. The man who is justified, according to the text, at this moment has a sense of peace with God, but this is only true of those who by faith are justified.

Here I want you to observe-for every word is instructive-that we have peace with God "through Jesus Christ our Lord." Many children of God lose their peace in a measure, and part of the reason of it is because they begin to deal with God absolutely. None of us will ever experience true peace with God except through Jesus Christ. I like that strong expression of Luther, bald and bare as it is, when, in commenting on the Epistle to the Galatians, he says, "I will have nothing to do with an absolute God." If you have anything to do with God absolutely, you will be destroyed. There cannot be any point of contact between absolute deity and fallen humanity except through Jesus Christ, the appointed Mediator. That is God's door; all else is a wall of fire. You can by Christ approach the Lord, but this is the sole bridge across the gulf.

Whenever you, dear soul, begin to deal with God according to your own experience, according to your own frames and feelings, or even according to the exercises of your own faith, unless that faith keeps its eye on Christ, you will lose your peace. Stand out of Christ, and what a wretched creature you are! Have you attempted to approach the Eternal King without his chosen ambassador? How presumptuous is your attempt! The throne of divine sovereignty is terrible apart from

the redeeming blood. Peace with God must come to us by the way of the cross. Through our Lord Jesus Christ we gain it, and through him

we keep it. There be some among you who, I trust, are really believers in Christ, who are constantly prone to fret and say, "I have no lasting peace. I am a believer in Jesus, and I have a measure of peace at times, but I do not enjoy fulness of peace." Well, now we must look at this a little, and the more closely we inspect it the more convinced we shall be that peace is the right of every believer. What is there now between him and God? Sin is forgiven. What is more, righteousness is imputed. He is the object of eternal love; he is more than that; he is the object of divine complacency. God sees him in his Son, and loves him. Why should he not be at peace? "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God," said Jesus, "believe also in me." Christian, there is no ground of quarrel between you and your heavenly Father. God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. To you the Lord virtually says, "Come now and let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, I have made them as wool. Though they be red like crimson, I have already made them as snow." When he says, "They shall be," he is speaking to the sinner; but to you they are so. You are justified. Why have you not peace, then? You have a claim to it, and you ought to enjoy it. What is the reason why you do not possess it? I will tell you. It is your unbelief. You are justified by faith, remember; and it is by faith that you obtain peace with God; and when you are doubting and fearing instead of simply believing-when you are questioning and grumbling, then it is that you lose your peace; but in proportion as your faith stands so will your peace with God abide.

I feel certain that the text tells us that every justified man has peace with God; and if so how is it that I hear poor souls crying, “I do believe, but I do not enjoy peace." I think I can tell you how it is. You make a mistake as to what this peace is. You say, "I am so dreadfully tempted. Sometimes I am drawn this way, and sometimes the other, and the devil never lets me alone." Listen. Did you ever read in the Bible that you were to have peace with the devil? Look at the text-"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God." That is a very different thing from having peace with Satan. If the devil were to let you alone and never to tempt you I should begin to think that you belonged to him; for he is kind to his own in his own way, for a while. He has a way of whispering soft things into their ears, and with dulcet notes and siren songs he lures them to eternal destruction. But he worries with a malicious joy those whom he cannot destroy; for in their case he hath great wrath, knowing that his time is short. He expects to see you soon in heaven out of gunshot of him; and so he makes the best of his opportunities to try if he can distress and injure you while you are here. You will soon be so far above him that you will not be able to hear the hell-dog bark, and so he snaps at you now to see if he can hurt you, as once he did your Master when he wounded his heel. You never had a promiss of being at peace with the prince of darkness, but there is another promise which is far better: it is this "The Lord shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly." A bruise it shall be when we have him under our feet; we will