II. Call more particularly your attention to him —
1. Let the careless sinner " behold" him —
[It is but too evident that they, who live in the neglect of God and their own souls, know little of the evil and malignity of sin. But let such persons view the Son of God leaving the bosom of his Father, and assuming our nature to atone for sin : let them go to Gethsemane and behold him bathed in a bloody sweat through the agonies of his soul : let them follow him to Calvary, and hear him crying in the depths of dereliction, " My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me?" Let them view him expiring under the curse and condemnation of the law; and then let them judge, whether sin be so light and venial an evil as they imagine ? Let them bethink themselves, " if such things were done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry1?" Let them behold him whom they have pierced, yea, whom they are daily crucifying afresh, and mourn k. Let them know that what he suffered was for them ; and that, if they be only willing to humble themselves for their iniquities, the benefits of his death shall extend to them. O that we might all so behold him, as to experience the efficacy of his blood in the removal of our sins !]
2. Let the self-righteous moralist " behold" him —
[How strange is it that any one, who beai's the name of Christ, should expect salvation by the works of the law ! Why should that Lamb of God have come down from heaven to expiate our guilt, if sin could have been taken away by means of any repentance or righteousness of ours ? What truth could there be in the Baptist's assertion, if pardon were to be obtained in any other way than through the sacrifice of Christ ? Yea, for what end could so many thousands of lambs have bled upon the altar, but to shew, that " without shedding of blood there could be no remission1 ;" and consequently, to lead the atten- tion of all to that Lamb of God, that should in due time be offered on the cross ? Let such indignity then be no longer shewn to the Saviour of the world : but, as it is his office to take away our sin, let us renounce all self-righteous hopes, and trust entirely in his all-atoning sacrifice.]
3. Let the mourning penitent " behold" him —
[No sight under heaven can be so welcome to a contrite soul as a sight of Jesus dying in the place of sinners : for, can we suppose, that he was appointed of God to make atonement for us, and that he executed his commission by dying on the cross, and that, after all, he is unable or unwilling to take away our sin ? Was he designed to be a " propitiation for the sins
1 Lukexxiii. 31. k Zech. xii. 10. ' Heb. ix. 22.