54 Para SERMON XIII. THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR AND THE DAY OF ISAIAH, lxi, 1, 2. in part. - The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to proclaim the Acceptable Year of the Lord, and the Day of Vengeance of our God. IT has justly been remarked, that there are no denunciations of wrath, to be met with in Scripture more severe than those which were delivered by Christ Himself. In confirmation of this remark let us remember that the same lips which pronounced the gracious invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest," pronounced also that most aweful expostulation, "Ye Serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of Hell ?" He who declared, that whosoever believeth and is baptized, shall be saved," hath declared also, that he "who believeth not shall be damned." He, who will hereafter say, "Come ye blessed of my Father, receive the Kingdom prepared Tow you," will also say, "Depart, ye cursed, wed everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and bus ang " This remark will fully Rise Minister of the Gospel (if justifigamod be wanted) in setting forth "the terrors of the Lord;" while it ought to dence those, who would presumptuously bane him for so doing. In fact, they cannot censure him for discharging this part of his once, without censuring Christ himself. Nor would Christ have fulfilled the predictions respecting his own ministry, had he confined himself to the "prophesying of smooth things:" for we find it expressly foretold in the text, that He should be anointed to proclaim "not only the acceptable year of the Lord," but also "the day of vengeance of our God." Whence we may justly infer, that to alarm as well as to comfort, to hold forth the threatenings no less than the promises, the judgements no less than the consolations of Scripture, is the duty and the office of the Preacher of the Gospel. To discharge this duty, to fulfil this office, on the present occasion among you, my brethren, for your benefit, and to the glory of Jesus Christ, shall be my humble endeavour : and with this view, I purpose, (and may the Spirit of God assist and bless the purpose!) to set before you life and death, a blessing and a curse; to proclaim to you, in the language of the text on the one hand, "The acceptable year of the Lord," and on the other, "The day of vengeance of our God." -Let me begin with endeavouring to give a general explanation of the two Periods here stated, and to show their respective Meaning. I. The Acceptable Year of the Lord. The Prophet, in using this expression, seems evidently to have alluded to that divine institution, which formed so remarkable a feature in the Jewish dispensation, the Year of Jubilee. This institution, which is supposed to have derived its name from some peculiar sound of the trumpet with which it was proclaimed, was appointed to take place in every fiftieth year: and it might be called in a very appropriate sense "the acceptable year." For it was a year of general release; a year of general restitution to forfeited privileges and to lost possessions. In this year, not only every Israelite who had been reduced to a state of servitude or bondage, was set free, and restored to his liberty and friends; but every estate also, which from any cause had been alienated, reverted to its original possessor, or to his family. These were the words in which the institution was appointed, "Thou shalt cause the Trumpet of the Jubilee to sound, in the tenth day of the seventh month in the day of Atonemert, det ve ake the trumpet sound Bhavaler & your land. And ye shall below the fireer year, and proclaim liberty Pangour al the land unto all the inhabiIt shall be a Jubilee unto esail return every man unto his a ye shall return every man smily? Surely a year thus ppointed for such important purringing with it such distinguisheges, might well be called" the tapie year of the Lord:" and with Sgular propriety might the Prophet, en speaking of the office of Christ, allude as institution, as illustrating the blessof that dispensation, which He, by His caching, would introduce. In fact, the whole institution of the Jubilee was a typical stitution. While it served to distinguish and to benefit the people to whom it was prescribed, it was designed also to exibit to them a lively representation of the spiritual privileges which the Gospel would bring with it. What indeed are those privileges, but a deliverance from bondage, and a restoration to our original inheritance? What does the *Lev. xxv. 9, 10. Gospel propose, but to redeem us from sin, and to bring us to heaven? The Gospel finds us in a state of spiritual bondage, by nature and by practice sinners, bound over unto judgement, and under the dominion of sin. But it offers to free us from this state. It " proclaims liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prisons to them that are bound." It offers to deliver us from condemnation, from the strength and power of sin, from the tyranny of Satan, from the sting of death, from the prison of the grave, from the pains of hell! On the other hand, it also opens to us the kingdom of heaven. It proposes to invest us with a new title to this our forfeited inheritance. It promises to put us in possession of it, and perfectly to qualify us for the enjoyment of its pure and spiritual delights. Such are the privileges, such are the blessings, which the Gospel brings with it. And after this statement, there can be no difficulty in showing what is meant by the period mentioned in -the text. "The acceptable year of the Lord," in the sense in which the Prophet uses the expression, evidently denotes the period of the Gospel-dispensation; the times, during which the spiritual privileges of the Gospel should be freely offered to all who will accept them. This period Christ proclaimed, when coming into Galilee He |