Now let us carefully observe the language of this text. It clearly traces everything to atonement. They were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. “Not with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot.” There is no explanation of such language except by atonement through the blood of the Lord Jesus, or the substitution, or vicarious sacrifice of the love of God. If any meaning is to be attached to words, it is impossible to believe that our Lord’s death was nothing more than a noble example of devoted self sacrifice. It must have been the satisfaction of the law of God by the actual infliction on the Lord Jesus Christ of the whole penalty due to sin. So the great fact that our sin has been already fully punished in his person is the one fact on which we rest for present and everlasting acceptance with God. But there is more than that taught here, for redemption goes far beyond atonement, and includes the actual deliverance which is the result of that atonement, when applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit. It is not merely the payment of the ransom, but the liberation of the ransomed slave. Thus the sealed servants are said to have been “redeemed _from among men_.” Not merely was an atonement made for them, but, through the power of that atonement, they were delivered from the bondage of corruption unto the glorious liberty of the children of God. An atonement was made on their behalf; but that was not all, for it was applied to their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and the result was that they were saved and separated unto God. Thus they became first-fruits to God and the Lamb. The first-fruits are a small portion set apart unto God, the remainder being left in the possession of the original owner. So, God’s people are separated and dedicated at the first-fruits onto Him, while the mass of men remain under the power of the god of this world. They are mixed up with other men in all the relationships of life; but in the midst of all they are distinct, for God has redeemed them, and put His seal on them, thereby to mark them as his own. Oh! holy calling of the child of God. Oh! sacred privilege, to be thus set apart unto the Lamb! How is it that any one thus sealed can be ashamed of it? How is it that any child of God can shrink from the confession of it? Of one thing I am sure, and that is, our dear friend did not. He was not ashamed of being a marked man for Christ! God had called him. God had saved him. God had settled him! God had placed him among the first-fruits of the harvest, and he was not ashamed of it. But, when we look at the character, let us never forget the ground work of all. I said a short time ago that the secret of his consistency was that he followed Christ; but there was a deeper secret still. There was the secret that lay at the foundation of his following Christ, and that was redemption. His own language was, “Oh, to grace how