us.

"If we suffer with him we shall also reign with him." It is the purpose of the Father to conform all his children to the image of "the First-Born among many brethren;" first as suffering, then as glorified. "If we suffer with him, it is that we also may be glorified with him." "To him that overcometh he will give to sit with him on his throne, even as he overcame, and has sat down on his Father's throne."

And are these sufferings of the present time, however severe and protracted, "worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" when we shall enter into his joy, see and share his glory, and have even these "vile bodies fashioned like unto his glorious body?" Are they not light, however heavy? Are they not but for a moment, however long continued, when looked at in contrast with the "exceeding great and eternal weight of glory;" implied in being "with Christ," being "like Christ," in holiness, in felicity, and in glory, forever and ever? Surely, surely it is better, since such is the will of God, that we should suffer for Christ, like Christ, than that we should not suffer. Paradoxical as they may appear to a worldly mind, strangely as they may sound to a worldly ear, the apostle's judgment was wise, and his exhortation reasonable: count them happy who endure, suffering wrongfully." "Count it all joy when ye are brought into divers trials. Yes, blessed is the man that endureth such trials." Here, as in everything else, "Good is the will of the Lord"-Christ. So rich in instruction and comfort is the example of Christ to the suffering Christian.

2

We

"The example and company of the saints in suffering is very considerable, both for guidance and consolation; but that of Christ is more than any other, yea, than all the rest put together. Therefore, the apostle having, in the 11th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, represented the former at large, ends on this as the top of them all: Looking to Jesus.' There is a race set before us: it is to be a race with patience," or rather perseverance, "and without fainting. Now he tells us of a cloud of witnesses, a cloud made up of the instances of believers who have suffered before us; and the heat of the day wherein we run is somewhat cooled even by that cloud compassing us; but the main strength of the comfort here lies in beholding Christ, eyeing his sufferings, and their issue. The considering and contemplating of Him will be the strongest cordial, will keep you from wearying and fainting by the way."

3

It is only Christians, in the true sense of that word, that can derive from the sufferings of Christ the advantages which we have now been illustrating. Men, while they continue in their sins, can have neither part nor lot in this matter. They must suffer, for they are men; and “man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward;" "Man born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble;" but under their afflictions they have none of the supports and consolations which the children of God, the disciples of Christ derive, from the consideration, that "even Christ also suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring them to God." Their afflictions are indeed intended

1 2 Tim. ii. 12. Rom. viii. 17, 29.
James v. 11; i 2, 12.

Rev. iii. 21. Rom. viii. 18. 2 Cor. iv. 17.
S Leighton.

to rouse them to serious thought, to tell them they are sinners, to show them what an evil and a bitter thing sin is, and to make them feel how much they need a Saviour; but if these afflictions are not improved for this purpose, they will turn out to have been but the first prelusive drops of the overwhelming storm of Divine vengeance.

But why should men continue in sin, in guilt, in depravity; why shut themselves out of all solid comfort under suffering here, as well as all well-founded hope of happiness hereafter, since the great atonement has been made, and is in the word of the truth of the gospel held out to them as the sure ground of hope for eternity? The statements in the text, as a source of direction and support and comfort under affliction, can be of no use to the unbelieving sinner. But he has a very deep interest in these statements, forming as they do, the very essence of that gospel, those glad tidings of great joy which are to be made known to all nations, "preached to every creature under heaven." "Christ died, the just for the unjust, that he might bring men to God." We proclaim this as the ground of hope to the perishing sinner, as well as the source of comfort to the suffering saint. He who knew no sin was made sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." This is the very truth. most sure, "a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation." Let the greatest sinner believe this testimony of God concerning his Son, and in the faith of that truth, he obtains a saving interest in those penal, vicarious, expiatory sufferings. He obtains "the redemption that is in Christ through his blood, according to the riches of the Divine grace;" he is brought to God. And then he will find, that the atoning sufferings and death of the Son of God are not only the price of his justification and the ground of his hope, but that they are to him an exhaustless source of powerful and persuasive motive to all the duties of the christian life, and of abundant and suitable consolation and support amid all the privations and sufferings, the bereavements and sorrows, the struggles and persecutions, in which he may be involved; while he is "in a constant continuance in welldoing," doing and suffering the will of God, seeking to be a follower of those who, through much tribulation, have entered into the kingdom" who, through faith and patience, have become inheritors of the promises;" and seeking especially to tread in the steps of Him who is our pattern as well as our sacrifice-" who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross and despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

1 Heb. xii. 2.

APPENDIX TO DISCOURSE XVI.-PART V.

FACTS IN ANTEDILUVIAN HISTORY REFERRED TO BY THE APOSTLE, AND THEIR BEARING ON HIS OBJECT.

1 PET. iii. 20, 21.-Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not to the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

THE Jewish Scriptures form an important and valuable portion of the volume of inspired truth. To those who lived previously to the Gospel revelation, they contained the only authentic and satisfactory account of the Divine character and will, in reference to man as a fallen creature; they were their sole trustworthy guide to truth, duty, and happiness. They were, accordingly, highly valued by the wise and pious under the ancient economy. The law of thy mouth," said the Psalmist, and he expressed the common sentiments and feelings of the body of the faithful, "The law of thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver;" "More to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, yea, than the honey-comb." Even to us, to whom "the mystery which had been kept secret from former ages and generations has been made manifest," the Jewish Scriptures are calculated to answer many important purposes. Though the Mosaic dispensation "has waxed old and vanished away," the writings of the prophets have not become obsolete. The pure radiance of apostolical doctrine has not extinguished the dimmer light of ancient history and prophecy. On the contrary, as if borrowing new splendor from the full-risen Sun of righteousness, they cheer us with a brighter and warmer beam than they ever reflected on those who, but for them, must have walked in darkness. In the great edifice of revealed truth, the Old Testament Scriptures are not the scaffolding which, when the building is finished, ceases to be useful, and is removed as an unsightly incumbrance; they are the foundation and lower part of the fabric, forming an important constituent part of "the building of God," and are essentially necessary not only to the beauty, but to the safety, of the superstructure.

It is impossible, indeed, to demonstrate the divinity of Christianity and the truth of New Testament doctrine and history, on principles which have no direct reference to any former revelation of the Divine

'Psal. cxix. 72 xix. 10.

* Rom. xvi. 25, 26. Heb. viii. 13.

will; but it is at the same time true, that one of the most satisfactory proofs of these truths is founded on the admission of the divinity of the Jewish sacred books, and consists in the minute harmony of Old Testament prediction with New Testament history and doctrine. "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

Few exercises are better fitted at once to enlarge the information and strengthen the faith of the Christian, than a careful perusal of the Old Testament Scriptures, with a constant reference to Him who is "the end of the law," the substance of all its shadowy ceremonies, to Him of whom "Moses in the law and the prophets did write.'

This, however, is by no means the only way in which the Old Testament Scriptures are calculated to minister to our improvement. They contain in them an extensive collection of instructions and warnings, counsels and consolations, suited to mankind in every country and age. The man of piety, wherever or whenever he may live, finds, in the sacred odes of David, at once a fit vehicle for his devotional feelings, and a perfect pattern for his devotional exercises; the maxims of Solomon are found equally suitable for the guidance of our conduct, as of that of his contemporaries; and, though many of the writings of the prophets bear plain marks of being occasional in their origin and reference, relating to events which, at the time of their publication, excited general interest among the people to whom they were given, yet it is amazing how few passages are not obviously calculated to convey instruction, universal and permanent, fitted to be useful to all men in all time.

Even the historical books of the Old Testament are fitted, in a variety of ways, to promote the improvement of the Christian, and on this account have strong claims on our attentive study. Like every true history, and indeed in a much higher degree than any other history, they convey to us in the most engaging form, much information regarding the character and government of God, and respecting the state and dispositions and duty of man. They contain an account of the origin and progress of that system of Divine dispensations which found its accomplishment in the redemption of mankind by the death of the incarnate Son of God; an account without which much of the christian revelation would have been obscure, if not unintelligible. They suggest numerous proofs and illustrations of the characteristic principles of the christian revelation, and thus at once enable us more fully to understand and more firmly to believe them. The minds of the writers of the New Testament were full of the facts and imagery of the earlier revelation, and they can be but very imperfectly understood-they are constantly in danger of being misunderstood by those readers who have not, by carefully studying the Old Testament Scriptures, acquired a somewhat similar familiarity with them.

Of the manner in which the New Testament writers employ their familiarity with the Old Testament for the illustration of the subjects which come before them, we have a striking instance in that portion of the interesting paragraph just read, to which your attention is now about to be more closely directed. The paragraph is a statement of the truth with regard to the sufferings of Jesus Christ, in their nature,

design, and consequences, made for the purpose of affording instruction and support to his followers when exposed to suffering in his cause. In the course of this statement the apostle refers to certain facts in antediluvian history, recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures, as having a bearing on the facts respecting Jesus Christ which he states, or on the object for which he states these facts. To ascertain distinctly what are the facts in antediluvian history to which the apostle refers, and to show if possible what is his design in referring to them, what bearing they have on the obvious general purpose of the whole paragraph-are the two objects which I shall endeavor to gain in the remaining portion of these remarks.

The passage which is to form the subject of exposition, though not formally, is plainly, substantially, parenthetical, and is contained in these words: "The spirits in prison sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), by the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

L-FACTS IN ANTEDILUVIAN HISTORY REFERRED TO BY THE
APOSTLE.

The first thing we have to do, then, is to bring before your minds the facts, in the history of the antediluvian world, to which the apostle here refers. "The spirits in prison sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water." I have already endeavored to show, that the most probable interpretation which has been given to the somewhat remarkable phrase, "spirits in prison," is that which considers it as a descriptive appellation of mankind in their fallen state. "Captives" and "prisoners" are figurative expressions, not unfrequently used in Scripture, to denote the condemned state, miserable circumstances, and degraded character of fallen men. Our Lord having obtained, by his atoning death, a mighty accession, in his official character, to his spiritual life and energy, went, and, through the instrumentality of his apostles, preached with remarkable success to those miserable captives, those spirits in prison, vast multitudes of them becoming obedient to his call.

It had not always been so. Communications of the Divine will had often been made in former ages to fallen men, without such effects. In particular, in a very remote age, at a period preceding the general deluge, those "spirits in prison," those condemned criminals, those willing captives of Satan and sin-not, indeed, the same individuals to whom our Lord "came and preached," but individuals of the same race, and therefore properly enough designated by the same name, had a Divine message sent them, and were the subjects of a remarkable manifestation of the Divine forbearance; they were almost universally disobedient to this message; and, in consequence of their disobedience, they were destroyed in the deluge. A very small minority were obedient, and in consequence of their obedience were saved in the ark,