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diff --git a/36425-0.txt b/36425-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dade091 --- /dev/null +++ b/36425-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2024 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Jesus Fulfils the Law, by One of the Society +of Friends + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Jesus Fulfils the Law + + +Author: One of the Society of Friends + + + +Release Date: June 14, 2011 [eBook #36425] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JESUS FULFILS THE LAW*** + + +Transcribed from the 1882 Saml. Harris & Co. edition by David Price, +email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + + JESUS FULFILS + THE LAW. + + + [Picture: Decorative divider] + + BY + One of the Society of Friends. + + [Picture: Decorative divider] + + LONDON. + SAML. HARRIS & CO., 5, BISHOPSGATE WITHOUT. + 1882. + + * * * * * + + LONDON: + BARRETT, SONS AND CO., PRINTER + SEETHING LANE, E.C. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + + PAGE + CHAPTER I. +How Jesus fulfilled the Law 1 + CHAPTER II. +Provisions for the Pardon of Sin, and Reconciliation under 16 +the Law + CHAPTER III. +The Hebrew Sacrifices from the Christian Point of View. 38 +The Sacrifice of Christ their true Complement + CHAPTER IV. +Testimony of the Old Testament Prophecies to Jesus Christ 54 +as the Messiah + CHAPTER V. +The Gospel of Christ 72 + + + +PREFACE. + + +In a day when so much has been written on almost every Scripture subject +it requires some apology for offering anything further; but as different +trains of thought are more suited to one than another, they may serve as +useful remembrancers, although there may be nothing particularly new +about them. The writer of the following pages, being in the evening of +life and much retired from its active duties by failing health, often +endeavours to look through the lengthening shadows of the evening to the +glory which shall be revealed, and delights to ponder over those passages +of Holy Writ which form the basis of our faith in Christ. + +The following pages make no attempt at scholarship. The author +thankfully accepts and believes the revelation which God has given us in +Holy Scripture, and has endeavoured to set forth a plain _scriptural_ +statement of the successive steps or development of that revelation, +culminating in the Gospel of Christ. + +When our Lord says of the final issue of His judgment, “These” (speaking +of the wicked) “shall go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous +into life eternal,” I believe He perfectly understood the subject, and +meant what He said. When Paul also, writing of himself and his +fellow-Apostles, said “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we +persuade men,” I believe he meant—they persuaded men “to flee from the +wrath to come,” and take shelter in “the blood of the everlasting +covenant” (Heb. xiii. 20); according to the words, “It is a fearful thing +to fall into the hands of the living God who hath said, Vengeance +belongeth unto Me, I will recompense saith the Lord” (Heb. x. 30, 31; and +2 Thess. ii. 6–9). + +I have been a fond reader of Holy Scripture from my youth, and have from +time to time studied much that has been written in support of its +genuineness and authenticity; but now in the retrospect of the past I +find no evidence for the general truth of that Scripture at all to +compare with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ—“If any man will do His +(the Father’s) will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God +or whether I speak of myself” (John vii. 17). + +“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them +His covenant” (Ps. xxv. 14). As it is all-important to know that the +foundations are sure, and will stand in the day of trial, I have set down +in these pages the train of thought which has proved most confirming to +my own faith, and trust that some of those who love the Truth as it is in +Jesus may find it helpful to themselves. + +We live in eventful times. There is much abroad in the world to excite +alarm. When Atheism and Infidelity are making strenuous efforts to +extend their withering influence; when Roman Catholicism and a kindred +ritualism are invading our country, there is abundant need to stick to +the Law and the Testimony, lest the curtains of darkness should be again +spread over it. But notwithstanding that the picture may be somewhat +gloomy, it is by no means all on one side; by various instrumentalities +the Gospel is being largely and successfully proclaimed, and the message +of salvation _through Christ alone_ is now carried to every class, and +almost from house to house, in a manner never before witnessed; and the +lowest haunts of vice and misery are at least opened to the town +missionary, the Bible-woman, or the evangelist, where but recently the +police could not venture single-handed; and many are the brands plucked +from the burning, so that among these, as well as among the social +circles above them, a rich and powerful wave of Gospel blessing is +rolling over the land. + +If I have fairly represented the teaching of the Bible, it is all that I +could aspire to. The many “divers and strange doctrines” which in one or +another way oppose the Gospel of Christ, must be swept away before the +grand truths which the Bible sets forth, and which, when time is past and +eternity remains, will for ever be a theme of praise and thanksgiving to +the glorified beings who shall be accounted worthy to stand before the +throne, and swell the anthem of “Glory and dominion to Him who loved us, +and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Rev. i. 5, 6). + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +HOW JESUS FULFILLED THE LAW. + +“I am not come to destroy” (the law and the prophets) “but to fulfil. +Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass +from the law till all be fulfilled” (Matt. v. 17, 18). + +The above solemn words of our Lord Jesus Christ, being part of His Sermon +on the Mount (as related by Matthew), appear to open an interesting field +of inquiry into an important portion of Divine Truth as set forth in Holy +Scripture. + +In what manner did our Lord so fulfil the law given by Moses that one jot +or one tittle should in no wise pass unfulfilled? Was it when He went to +the Baptist, and _received baptism_, because it became Him to fulfil all +righteousness? (Matt. iii. 15). Was it when He sent the ten lepers whom +He would heal to show themselves to the priests (agreeably to Lev. xiv. +2; Luke xvii. 14); or in another similar case, when He said, “Go, show +thyself to the priest, and offer those things which Moses commanded for a +testimony unto them”? (Mark i. 44; Luke v. 14). + +Was it by attending the appointed feasts at Jerusalem, and generally in +other cases, recorded or not recorded, in which He conformed, and was +subject to the ritual which had been before appointed? Or are we not to +understand the words in a much deeper sense than His personal submission +to the Law?—that of fulfilling, perfecting, and giving a living reality +to all its foreshadowing types, in themselves dead and profitless; to +seal, assure, and make good all its promises to the obedient subjects of +that Law; all its threatenings to the disobedient; to open up to mankind +that rich inheritance prepared alike for the men of that day and for us, +foreshadowed by the land of promise flowing with milk and honey; to +perfect that which was lacking in those offerings of atonement which in +themselves could never take away sins (Heb. x. 4)? + +The ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ is revealed to us under the two +characters of an Apostle and High Priest (Heb. iii. 1). + +1st. _As an Apostle_, to declare and teach the principles of that Divine +Truth, which distinguished the New Covenant of life and salvation from +the covenant of bondage to ordinances then about to be abolished, which +had been designed as introductory to it; and to ordain and qualify His +Apostles to declare its principles more fully after His death and +resurrection. + +For obvious reasons the New Covenant could not be fully published until +the offering of Christ had fulfilled the Scriptures relating to Him; and +when the resurrection had declared Him to be the Son of God with power. + +Although our Lord had often pointed out to His Apostles that in His life +and actions He was fulfilling the Scriptures, it is clear they did not +fully understand their import until after the Holy Ghost had descended on +them on the Day of Pentecost, and opened up to their minds, with a vivid +remembrance, and clear sunshine of heavenly light, all that Jesus had +said and done, giving to them that wonderful power and energy which they +afterwards exhibited, as well as those miraculous gifts of the Spirit +which were necessary to confirm their doctrine to others. Thus we read +that we ought to give a more earnest heed to the things “which began to +_be spoken by the_ LORD, and were confirmed to us by them that heard Him; +God also bearing them witness, with signs and wonders, and divers +miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will” (Heb. +ii. 3, 4). + +Our Lord had, on several occasions, as before observed, taken care to +instruct His disciples in the Scriptures which related to Himself; but He +did so more explicitly after His resurrection; beginning at Moses and all +the prophets, He expounded to the _two_ on their way to Emmaus the +“things concerning Himself, in all the Scriptures” (Luke xxiv. 27). And +when they had returned to Jerusalem, and had related to the eleven (and +others with them) what had happened in the way, He stood in their midst, +and confirmed their testimony, saying, “These are the words which I spake +unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled +which were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the +Psalms {6} concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they +might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, +and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third +day” (Luke xxiv. 44–46). + +When Jesus sent out His twelve disciples to preach, He said to them,—“He +that receiveth _you_ receiveth _Me_, and he that receiveth _Me_ receiveth +_Him that sent Me_” (Matt. x. 40), so that in receiving the Apostles’ +doctrine and teaching, we receive Christ’s teaching. Also the same +principle is set forth in John xiii. 20, “He that receiveth whomsoever I +send receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me.” + +2nd. _As a High Priest_ our Lord is introduced in the most solemn words +of prophecy:—“The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest +for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Ps. cx. 4, quoted in Heb. vii. +21). + +This most solemn form of utterance is seldom used in Scripture. It +occurs also when God sware to Abraham, that in his seed all the nations +of the earth should be blessed (Gen. xxii. 16–18):—To the rebellious +Israelites, that they should not enter into His rest (Deut. i. 34, +35):—To Moses, that he should not go into Canaan (Deut. iv. 21):—To +David, that his seed should endure for ever, and his throne unto all +generations (Ps. lxxxix. 3, 4). + +It is treated in Heb. vii. 20–22 as exhibiting the superior authority and +character of Christ as a High Priest, in comparison with the priesthood +of Levi: “For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an +oath; . . . and by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better +testament.” And again, in ver. 28: “For the Law maketh men high priests +which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the Law, +maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.” + +It is also treated (Heb. vi. 16–19) as expressing the absolutely +unalterable counsel of God: “Men verily swear by the greater, and an oath +for confirmation is to them an end of all strife; wherein God, willing +more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His +counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which +it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who +have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” That hope +which is as an _anchor_ to the soul, both sure and steadfast. + +The office of _an apostle_ (or special messenger, or messenger with +special tidings), viewed separately, has nothing of the _priest_; but the +offices of teacher of the law, mediator, and priest were combined in the +Levitical priesthood; and they were perfectly blended in the person of +our Lord Jesus Christ. Nevertheless the doctrine of the priesthood of +Christ could not be much developed or declared until the abolition of the +priests of Levi by the termination of that first covenant, when Jesus +declared, “It is finished,” and “gave up the ghost,” and “the veil of the +Temple was rent in twain”—indicating that the approach to the Divine +Presence was opened to all. + +During the patriarchal ages, the head of the family or house appears to +have combined in himself the patriarch and priest. Noah, Abraham, Isaac +and Jacob, offered sacrifices as well as Abel, though the recorded +instances are few, and only on very remarkable occasions; such as the +coming out of the ark, the call of Abram, the sacrifice of Isaac, the +covenant to Jacob. But we read that it was the constant practice of Job; +for, after giving an account of the burnt-offerings offered for each of +his sons after their days of feasting, it is added, “thus did Job +continually” (Job i. 5); and such was no doubt the practice of other +patriarchs. + +At the close of Job’s temptation, the Lord said to His three friends that +they should take seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to Job, and offer +up burnt-offerings, and Job would pray for them, “for him will I accept” +(Job xlii. 8). + +Of the patriarchal religion we are told but little. The Apostle Paul +says, in Rom. v. 14, “Death reigned from Adam to Moses”; in Rom. i. 20, +that “God’s eternal power and Godhead were clearly seen in the works of +creation,” so that they were without excuse; and in Rom. ii. 14, 15, that +though without law they had a conscience bearing witness to the law +written in their hearts, accusing or excusing their thoughts. + +In the earliest days, the power of God manifested in the works of +creation spoke to men more clearly than it may now speak to heathen +nations who know not God. + +They spoke to Adam and Eve of the God whom _they knew_, and had had +intimate acquaintance with. The glory of Eden and the events of their +life there, with their disastrous fall and expulsion, must have made an +indelible impression on _their_ minds. Knowing their Creator they would +have no disposition to worship the sun, moon, or stars, as His works. It +would be contrary to all the subsequent history of the dealings of God +with His creatures to suppose our first parents were driven out and left +to their own devices as to the means of reconciliation with Him; and +though we are not expressly told that sacrifice was offered by Adam, many +think that the first instruction in utilising skins for clothing, +referred to the skins of animals offered in sacrifice. {12} + +At probably no very distant period from the Fall (described as, “In +process of time,” or “in the end of days”), we find Abel offering the +firstling of his flock, an acceptable sacrifice to God; the same that was +commanded by the law of Moses. + +When we take into account the length of Adam’s life and that of his sons, +there is no difficulty in concluding that those indelible impressions +would be handed down to his posterity, with the history of the Lord’s +dealings with him, and what had been revealed to him as the means of +propitiation, or being reconciled to Him. + +That there was a revelation before the Flood is evident, for Abel offered +an acceptable sacrifice, but Cain’s was not accepted; while the words +addressed by the Lord to Cain, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be +accepted? and if thou doest not well sin lieth at the door” (Gen. iv. 7), +clearly indicate that Cain knew what was pleasing or displeasing to Him. +Enoch and Noah also walked with God so faithfully that the one was +translated, and the other, by his act of faith, condemned the world, and +became heir of the righteousness which is of faith; very clearly showing +that faith, rather than works, was in those days the basis of salvation. + +When we consider the terms in which the sacrifice of Christ is set forth +in the New Testament, as “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the +world” (Rev. xiii. 8); “Preordained before the foundation of the world” +(1 Pet. i. 20; Rom. xvi. 25; Eph; iii. 9, 11; Col. i. 26; 2 Tim. i. 9; +Titus i. 2; Matt. xxv. 34); it would seem impossible to doubt that the +great principle of human redemption or reconciliation, set forth by so +many types under the Law, and by the one Great Offering of the Gospel, +should not have had its initiative in the earlier means of grace and +pardon of the patriarchal times. + +When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, a complete system of +priesthood was established by Divine command in Aaron and his sons, +assisted in the general labours of the Tabernacle service by the +remainder of the tribe of Levi. The exhibitions of Divine power and +majesty which accompanied the giving of the Law from Mount Sinai were of +a character to produce the deepest and most lasting impression on those +who witnessed them. And as those institutions have a very important +bearing on the Gospel of Christ, it is important to review them, as +briefly as possible; and more especially as this portion of Scripture is +often not so much studied as it might be with advantage by some of those +who, taking a high view of the essential spirituality of the Gospel, are +the less disposed to look into the basis of that spiritual religion, +which was laid in the Mosaic law. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +PROVISIONS FOR THE PARDON OF SIN, AND RECONCILIATION UNDER THE LAW. + +The regularly ordained sacrifices were the following:— + +1st. _The daily sacrifices_. Two lambs of the first year—one in the +morning and the other in the evening (and on the _Sabbath four lambs_, +Num. xxviii 9); with their meat- and drink-offerings of flour, oil, wine +“for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the Lord” (Exod. xxix. +38–41). “This shall be _a continual_ burnt-offering throughout your +generations at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation before the +Lord, _where I will meet with you_, _to speak there unto thee_” (ver. +42). “And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their +God” (ver. 45). + +Whatever _other_ sacrifices were commanded for any or every day of the +week, they were _additional_ to these daily offerings, with which nothing +interfered. + +2nd. On the first day of every month (or first appearance of the new +moon)— + +Two young bullocks, With flour, oil, and wine, + +One ram, + +Seven lambs of the first year, + +a burnt-offering for a sweet savour, made by fire unto the Lord. + +_Also one kid_ for a _sin-offering_, and his drink-offering (Num. xxviii. +11, &c.). + +3rd. On the 14th of the first month (Abib) the _Feast of the Passover_, +also called “the _sacrifice_ of the Lord’s passover” (Exod. xii. 27). + +It was a memorial festival throughout the generations of the children of +Israel, to mark their deliverance from bondage in Egypt, and the special +Providence which protected them from the destroying angel, who procured +that deliverance by slaying all the first-born of man and beast in Egypt. + +A lamb of the first year, a male from the sheep or goats and without +blemish, was killed at even, and the flesh roasted with fire was eaten by +every household that night, while the destroying angel was at work around +them; but prior to this the blood of the lamb had been sprinkled on the +two side posts, and upper door post of the houses, “and the blood shall +be to you for a token. . . . And when the Lord seeth the blood, He will +pass over you;” so that while every other house had its dead, they ate +securely under cover of the sprinkled blood. + +This festival was instituted on the departure of the children of Israel +from Egypt, and before the giving of the Law, or the appointment of the +priesthood of Aaron and his sons. As with the patriarchal sacrifices, it +was provided by the head of the household. + +In allusion to _subsequent_ times, when their children should inquire the +meaning of the service, they were to say “It is the _sacrifice_ of the +Lord’s passover” (Exod. xii. 27). + +The Passover has a very marked reference to our Lord Jesus Christ. +Shortly before His death He said to His disciples, “With desire I have +desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer;” and at that +supper He said of the bread, which as the master of the feast He broke, +“This is My body which is given for you;” and of the cup, “This is the +New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke xxii. 15–20). + +4th. Immediately upon the Paschal feast followed, during the next seven +days, _the Feast of Unleavened Bread_, during which were to be offered, +_each day_— + +Two young bullocks, For a burnt-offering, with flour + and oil, +One ram, + +Seven lambs, + +and _one goat_ daily for a _sin-offering_ (Num. xxviii. 17–25). + +5th. On presenting the _sheaf of First-fruits_ to the Lord, of which it +is said “Ye shall neither eat _bread_ nor _parched corn_, nor _green +ears_, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your +God” {20} (Lev. xxiii. 14). On that day was to be offered a male lamb, +without blemish, of the first year, for a burnt-offering, with flour, +oil, and wine,—“an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet +savour” (Lev. xxiii. 13). + +6th. The _Feast of Pentecost_ (called also feast of weeks, Ex. xxxiv. +22), fifty days later, on presenting to the Lord a _new meat-offering +__from their habitations_ (Lev. xxiii. 16). Two wave loaves of fine +flour, baken with leaven, “They are the first-fruits unto the Lord” (Lev. +xxiii. 17), and the accompanying offerings were— + +Seven lambs of first year, For a burnt-offering, + +Two {21} young bullocks, + +One ram, + +and one kid for _a sin-offering_ (to make atonement—Num. xxviii. 30), and +two lambs for a peace-offering (Lev. xxiii. 19). + +7th. _At the Feast of Trumpets_, the first of the _seventh_ month— + +One young bullock, With flour and oil. + +One ram, + +Seven lambs, + +for a burnt-offering for a sweet savour unto the Lord, and one kid for a +sin-offering “to make atonement for you” (Num. xxix. 2–5). + +8th. _On the annual Day of Atonement_, the tenth of the seventh month: +_One young bullock_ for a sin-offering, and _a ram_ for a burnt-offering +for the high priest and his house (Lev. xvi. 6), and _two kids of the +goats_ from the congregation for a sin-offering (one for the annual +sin-offering, and one for the scape-goat) (Lev. xvi. 5). Also— + +One bullock, With meat offering of flour and + oil, +One ram, and + +Seven lambs, + +for a _burnt-offering_ (Num. xxix. 8). And one kid for a _sin-offering_ +of atonement (Num. xxix. 11). + +This was a day of great solemnity—“It shall be a holy convocation unto +you, and ye shall afflict your souls” (Lev. xxiii. 27), &c, “Ye shall do +no work; . . . it is a _day to make atonement for you before the Lord +your God_” (Lev. xxiii. 28); and whoever among the congregation did not +afflict his soul, or whoever did any work therein, was to be cut off from +among his people (Lev. xxiii. 29, 30). “It shall be . . . a sabbath of +rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day at even, from +even to even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath” (Lev. xxiii. 32). + +The high priest was not to enter within the veil to the inner tabernacle, +except on this day, “that he die not,” and then only with the blood of +the sin-offerings for himself and the congregation, peculiar to this day. + +Before doing so he laid aside his ornamental garments and put on a linen +dress (Lev. xvi. 2–4). He took in his hands a censer of burning coals +from the altar of burnt offerings and put on it a handful of incense, +that the cloud of the incense might cover the mercy seat, whereon the +Lord appeared in the cloud, “that he die not” (Lev. xvi. 12, 13). He +then took the blood of the sin-offerings, both for the priest and people, +within the veil, and sprinkled it with his finger upon the mercy seat +eastward, and before the mercy seat seven times (Lev. xvi. 15, 16), to +make an atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the +children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins +(Lev. xvi. 16). + +This is the only sacrifice described in the Law, which corresponds with +the words in Hebrews xiii. 11:—“The bodies of those beasts whose blood is +brought into the sanctuary for sin, are burned without the camp.” + +No other blood was annually brought into the sanctuary (or inner temple) +by the high priest on behalf of the people, and sprinkled on and before +the mercy seat; and the flesh of these, as well as of some other +offerings, was burned without the camp. + +The service of this day required that in addition to a bullock for a +sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering, to make atonement for +himself and his house (Lev. xvi. 3–6), the _high priest should take of +the congregation_ of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin-offering +(Lev. xvi. 5); he was to present the two kids at the door of the +tabernacle (ver. 7), and “cast lots,” one for the Lord and one “for the +scape-goat” (vers. 8 and 10). He killed the former for a sin-offering +for the people, and proceeded as already described (p. 23). + +In addition to the blood taken within the veil, the high priest was to +put some of it upon the horns of the altar, and sprinkle it seven times +upon it to hallow it (vers. 18, 19). + +Then, as to the other, or scape-goat, Aaron laid both his hands on the +head of the live goat and confessed over him all the iniquities of the +children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins; +putting them on the head of the goat, and sent him away by the hand of a +fit man into the wilderness, and the “goat bore them away to a land not +inhabited” (Lev. xvi. 21). + +Although every sin-offering had a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, the +kid offered on this day by the masses of the people is treated in Heb. +xiii. as having a very special application to Him, from the blood having +been carried within the veil and sprinkled on the mercy seat, and from +the body having been burned without the camp. So Jesus, having suffered +without the gate, and having obtained eternal redemption for us, not by +the blood of others, but by His own blood, having “given Himself a ransom +for all,” entered not into the holy places made with hands, but into +Heaven itself, there to appear in the presence of God for us. + +Again, in the scape-goat, which was the complement of the sin-offering, +we have a reference to the Lord Jesus bearing away our sins “in His own +body on the tree,” so that they should be no more remembered against us +(1 Pet. ii. 24). + +9th. There remains one more appointed festival, _the Feast of +Tabernacles_, or ingathering (Exod. xxiii. 16) on the fifteenth day of +the seventh month, when the crops of wine and oil had completed the +harvest labours. It lasted seven days, during which numerous sacrifices +were ordained, viz.,— + +The 1st day, 13 bullocks, 2 rams, 14 lambs, + +2nd „ 12 „ 2 „ 14 „ + +3rd „ 11 . „ 2 „ 14 „ + +4th „ 10 „ 2 „ 14 „ + +5th „ 9 „ 2 „ 14 „ + +6th „ 8 „ 2 „ 14 „ + +7th „ 7 „ 2 „ 14 „ + +with their meat and drink-offerings. And _each_ of the seven days _one +goat for a sin-offering_. And on the eighth day a holy convocation, with +offerings of one bullock, one ram and seven lambs, with accompaniments, +and _one ram for a sin-offering_. “These things shall ye do unto the +Lord in your set feasts, besides your vows, and your freewill offerings, +for your burnt-offerings, and for your meat-offerings, and for your +drink-offerings, and for your peace-offerings” (Num. xxix. 12–39). + +The service of the Tabernacle and its offerings were supplied by +contributions of half a shekel per head on all that were numbered, from +twenty years old and upwards. The rich were not to give more, nor the +poor less. It was offered to the Lord to make an atonement for their +souls (Exod. xxx. 14–16). + +As indicated in the latter portion of the above quotation (Num. xxix. +39), besides these stated daily, monthly, and annual sacrifices, which +were of a public or general character, there were— + +1st. _Voluntary offerings_, which do not seem to have been specially +enjoined, nor to have had reference to any particular sins, but arose +from the voluntary will and devotion of the person offering, and the +priest sprinkled the blood round about upon the altar; “and _it was +accepted for him to make an atonement for him_” (Lev. i. 2–5); “an +offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord” (ver. 9). It was +required to be a male without blemish of the herd or of the flock, two +turtle-doves, or two young pigeons (vers. 2 and 10–17). + +2nd. _Peace-offerings_, also for the most part voluntarily, in which the +offerer shared with the priest the offering—a male or female of the herd +without blemish, or a lamb or goat (Lev. iii. 1, &c.). + +3rd. _The Sin-offering_ for sins of ignorance afterwards brought to +light (Lev. iv. 13, &c.). + +4th. _The Trespass-offering_.—If any one sinned in hearing swearing and +not uttering it, or in any uncleanness, or swearing, he was to take a +lamb or a kid (a female), or two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, or, +if too poor for any of them, the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour, +“and the priest shall make an atonement for him for the sin which he hath +sinned, and it shall be forgiven him” (Lev. v. 1–13). + +In every case the offering was required to be perfect in its kind, and +without blemish. + +The sin-offering was more especially for atonement; but the voluntary and +other offerings are spoken of as contributing thereto (Lev. i. 3): coming +from the voluntary will of the people, they expressed the heart’s +devotion, and bore a “sweet savour to God.” + +But in the days when Isaiah wrote, and when great corruption prevailed, +it is said, “Incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and +sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with” (Isa. i. 13). +And Amos says, “I will not smell in your solemn assembly” (Amos v. 21). +The people drew near with the lip, but the heart was far from God (Isa. +xxix. 13); so the sacrifices bore with them no sweet savour of devotion +to Him. + +In contemplating the mass of sacrifices thus noted, we may easily enter +into the feeling expressed by Paul (more especially as regarded +circumcision)—“which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear;” and +we can the more fully appreciate the blessing of the Gospel, which has +relieved us from all such burdens, and given us individually a free +access (whether Jew or Gentile) to the Father of Mercies, through the one +only High Priest, Jesus Christ our Lord. + +But it was not so much to point out the burdens which our forefathers in +the faith of Christ had to bear—burdens which, nevertheless, were light +compared with the burden of unforgiven sin—that we have traced the +requirements of the law; but to point to the testimony they bore to +Christ and His Kingdom. + +Under the law no Israelite could obtain pardon for his sin except through +the _Priest_, who was the appointed mediator—to him he brought the +prescribed offering, and slew it at the Tabernacle door; the priest +received the blood, and some of the internal fat; the former he +sprinkled, and the latter he burned, on the altar; and, in the words of +the text, “_The priest shall make an atonement for his sin_, _and it +shall be forgiven him_.” + +We may not be able to define the extent to which the Holy Ghost was then +enjoyed, but we cannot doubt that the testimony of a conscience free of +offence towards God was sealed on the mind of the offerer when the +atonement was made agreeably to the words, “Ye shall therefore keep my +statutes and my judgments; which if a man do he shall live in them” (Lev. +xviii. 5). + +The Apostle Paul confirms this language, saying, “The man that doeth +them” (the statutes of the Law) “shall live in them” (Gal. iii. 12); and +when we consider the words of the same writer: “The children of Israel +could not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished” (2 Cor. +iii. 13), we need not suppose the offerers had, in general, any +understanding that what they did had a special relation to the better +Mediator to come. As in the case of the brazen serpent they looked to it +and were healed; so here they made their offerings believing in their +efficacy, and reaped the fruit of pardon and peace. + +This divinely-instituted law was enjoined on the people under the most +solemn assurances of blessings for obedience, and cursings for +disobedience, viz.: “Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a +curse; a blessing if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God which +I command you this day: and a curse if ye will not obey the commandments +of the Lord your God, but turn aside after other gods” (Deut. xi. 26–28; +xxvii. 15–26; and ch. xxviii.). “I call heaven and earth to record this +day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and +cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live, +that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His +voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him; for He is thy life and the +length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord +sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them” +(Deut. xxx. 19, 20). + +They did what God had provided to enable them to walk with Him, and when +they erred or failed to keep His holy law they brought the means of +reconciliation He had appointed. In such way a man might do justly, love +mercy, and walk humbly with his God, which is the whole duty of man. + +“Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is +peace” (Ps. xxxvii. 37), might be applied to such an one, and the model +may perhaps be useful in enabling us to understand the higher perfection +required by the Gospel. “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, +we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His +Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John i. 7). + +If we look for the essential principle of this elaborate system of +priestly mediation for the forgiveness of sins, as well as for presenting +to God the freewill offerings or devotions of the people, it will be +found in the 11th verse of the 17th chapter of Leviticus, viz.: “For the +life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the +altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that +maketh an atonement for the soul.” + +Such were the conditions under which the law given from Mount Sinai was +presented to or enjoined on the people. They were to choose between life +or death, blessing or cursing, obedience with the Divine favour, or +refusal to obey, with the Divine displeasure. The eyes of the Lord would +be over the righteous, and His ear open to their cry; but the face of the +Lord would be against them that did evil, to cut off the remembrance of +them from the earth—Ps. xxxiv. 15, 16—conditions so different as to +constitute the highest happiness man was capable of at that time, or the +deepest degradation and misery which he could endure in this life, with +no better prospect beyond. + +The consequences of God’s favour and blessing are set forth with peculiar +strength in Deuteronomy (see pp. 33, 34), together with the consequences +of His favour being withdrawn, which we may do well to ponder; as the +language quoted above from the Psalms is adopted by the Apostle Peter as +applicable equally to Christian times, and the principles of the +quotations from Deuteronomy are equally applicable to the old or new +dispensations—viz., obedience to the revealed will of God with life and +blessing, or disobedience with death and misery. + +“He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three +witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought +worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the +blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and +done despite unto the Spirit of Grace?” (Heb. x. 28, 29). + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +THE HEBREW SACRIFICES FROM THE CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW. THE SACRIFICE OF +CHRIST THEIR TRUE COMPLEMENT. + +When we consider the bearings of the Mosaic laws on the religion of +Christ, it is impossible to avoid a careful attention to the Epistle to +the Hebrews, which so clearly sets forth the unity of design between the +different revelations, and the manner in which the institutions of the +former prefigured and led up to the higher, purer, and holier covenant of +the Gospel. + +The mode in which the author deals with the highest subjects and persons +bespeaks for him the position of one of the chiefest apostles, to whom +abundance of revelations had been made, and whose mind was disembarrassed +from the prejudices of the past, and accepted without reserve the fully +developed light and spirit of the Gospel. Who else could venture on +language like the opening verses of this book; or those words in the +second chapter, “_For it became Him_, _for whom are all things_, _and by +whom are all things_, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the +Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb. ii. 10). + +To him the transition from the Law to the Gospel is perfectly natural and +necessary. As the morning dawn passes on into the perfect day, so the +Law, having done its preparatory work, merges into the glorious light of +the Gospel of Christ; or, to use the author’s own simile, the Law decays, +waxes old, and vanishes away just as the glory of the Gospel appears. +The one must increase, the other decrease; the type be swallowed up in +the antitype. Nothing is discordant; everything fits naturally to its +bearings on the other. Moses as lawgiver gives place to the Prophet whom +the Lord would raise up to His people. The priesthood of Aaron and his +sons is superseded by the High Priesthood of Christ. The blood of +animals, which had no inherent healing power—by the blood of Him, who +(uniting the Divine and the human—God and Man), “through the Eternal +Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God,” “an offering and a +sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour” for the sins of men. The +beneficent provisions of the Mosaic laws—of which Moses could say (Deut. +iv. 8): “What nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments +so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?”—give place +to the yet purer principles of the Gospel of Christ. + +Had it not been for the long course of typical sacrifices, continued +through so many ages, how would it have been possible in the latter days +to establish the value and efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ? The +sacrificial rites of heathen nations, so degrading to morality and purity +of thought and life, would _alone_ have led no one to imagine such a +sacrifice as His: although when viewed as corruptions of revealed truth +they have, as accessories, a valuable significance. + +We propose now to look at the intrinsic value of the sacrifices under the +Mosaic institutions from the Christian point of view, and the superiority +of the sacrifice and religion of Christ, as explained in the Epistle to +the Hebrews. + +Chapter 1 sets forth that God, who had formerly spoken to men by +_Prophets_, has now spoken to us _by His Son_, who, being the brightness +of His glory and express image of His person, when He had by Himself +_purged our sins_, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. +Here is the first recognition of the teaching and High Priesthood of +Christ. _He speaks to us the things of God_, _and purges away our sins +by Himself_ (vers. 1–3). + +Chapter 2 opens with the exhortation that for this reason we ought to +give the more earnest attention to what He taught. {42} + +Chapter 2 sets forth also that Christ had passed through suffering, in +order that He “might be a merciful and faithful _High Priest_ in things +pertaining to God, _to make reconciliation for the sins of the people_” +(c. ii. 17). + +Chapter 3 opens with an invitation to consider this _Apostle_ and _High +Priest_ of our profession, faithful in all things to Him that appointed +Him—far exceeding Moses in glory—for Moses was faithful as a servant; +Christ as a son over His own house (vers. 1–6). + +Chapter 5 says, “Every _high priest_ taken from among men _is ordained +for men in things pertaining to God_, that he may offer both gifts and +_sacrifices for sin_” (ver. 1), that no man takes this honour unto +himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron. So Christ glorified +not Himself, to be made a high priest; but He that said unto Him, “Thou +art My Son, to-day have I begotten Thee!” and again, “Thou art a Priest +for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (vers. 4, 5, 6). + +Further on, after setting forth, in the seventh chapter, the surpassing +excellence of the High Priesthood of Christ in comparison with that of +Aaron, and marking how exactly such a High Priest was adapted to our +every need, “holy, harmless, undefined, separate from sinners, and made +higher than the heavens” (c. vii. 26), the Apostle sums up his argument +in the eighth chapter: “Now of the things which we have spoken this is +the sum, We _have_ such a High Priest, who is set on the right hand of +the throne of the Majesty in the heavens—a Minister of the sanctuary and +of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man (Heb. viii. 1, +2). And inasmuch as every high priest _is ordained to offer_ both gifts +and sacrifices, it is _of necessity that this man have somewhat to +offer_” (Heb. viii. 3). + +Jesus was proved to be our High Priest by offering up His own body for +our sins, which is stated in the most explicit terms. “But Christ being +come, a High Priest of good things to come; . . . neither by the blood of +goats and calves, but _by His own blood_ He entered in once into the holy +place, having obtained eternal redemption (for us)” (Heb. ix. 11, 12). + +“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit +_offered Himself without spot to God_, _purge_ your conscience from dead +works to serve the living God?” (Heb. ix. 14). (See also ver. 15.) + +“Nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth +into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must He +often have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now once in +the end of the world hath He appeared to PUT AWAY SIN _by the_ SACRIFICE +_of Himself_” (Heb. ix. 25, 26). + +“So Christ was once _offered to bear the sins_ of many,” _i.e._, of all +that look to Him for salvation (Heb. ix. 28). + +“By the which will we are sanctified through the _offering of the_ BODY +_of_ Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. x. 10). + +“For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” +(Heb. x. 14). + +The Apostle Paul uses language equally explicit in Eph. v. 2:—“And walk +in love, as Christ also hath loved us, _and given Himself for us_, _an +offering_ and a _sacrifice to God_, of a _sweet smelling savour_.” {46} + +Having thus shown how, on the _principles_ of the _priesthood of Aaron_, +the Lord Jesus had proved Himself to be a priest, although of the higher +and more perfect order of Melchisedec—the order of righteousness and +peace, and everlasting endurance—this epistle points out in a very +conclusive manner the defects of the Mosaic institutions, which were +enjoined for a time only, to prepare the way, and lead up to the enduring +realities of the Gospel of Christ. And here we cannot but notice again +how completely the Christian mind of the author had passed from all the +Jewish prejudices and predilections of his former training, to regard +everything in the light and spirit of Christ; while far from disregarding +or repudiating that which he showed to be past, worn out, and abolished, +he draws from it his most powerful arguments in favour of the New +Covenant as required to complete the first, by making good its typical +meaning, and securing to all who had passed from earth to heaven under +the provisions of the Law, those blessings which they had already entered +on, upon the promise of the sacrifice of Christ to come. + +“For the Law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope +did; by the which we draw nigh unto God” (Heb. vii. 19). That better +hope is stated to be the “blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit +offered Himself without spot to God,” purging our conscience, &c. (Heb. +ix. 13, 14) + +“For the Law having a shadow (or shadowing forth) of good things to come, +and not the very image (or substance and reality) of the things, can +never by those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually +make the comers thereunto perfect” (Heb. x. 1). It was “therefore +necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens, should be purified +with these, {48a} but the heavenly things themselves with better +sacrifices {48b} than these” (Heb. ix. 23). + +The passage last quoted follows verse 22, which declares, “without +shedding of blood is no remission” (See also Lev. xvii. 11). But if it +was impossible that the blood shed under the law of Moses (Heb. x. 4), +should take away sins, it is evident that other blood _must be_ shed of +which that was typical, and which should be effectual for the purpose, +agreeably to Heb. ix. 15, referring to Christ; “For this cause He is the +Mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption +of the transgressions that were under the first Testament, they which are +called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” In the former +sacrifices there was a remembrance again made of sins every year (Heb. x. +3). But after the one Sacrifice for ever it is said, “their sins and +iniquities will I remember no more” (x. 17). + +“And having made peace _through the blood of His cross_, by Him to +reconcile all things unto Himself, whether things in earth or things in +heaven” (Col. i. 20). + +“In _the body of His flesh through death_, to present you holy and +unblameable and unreproveable in His sight” (Col. i. 22). + +Thus we are given to understand that the sins of future generations, +should be atoned by the one offering of Christ, as well as those of past +generations, so that all generations alike owe their salvation to the one +Mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ, in whom “all are made alive, +and who is the one only hope of glory. For as in Adam all die, so in +Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. xv. 22) in such manner that if we +are united to Him we partake of what is His, and shall find in Him all +that we can need as a Saviour, Mediator, Intercessor, and Redeemer. + +Nothing is of us; all from Christ. In Him is all the fulness of the +Godhead bodily (Col. ii. 9); full of grace and truth (John i. 14). All +power is committed to Him in heaven and in earth (Matt. xxviii. 18). As +maker and upholder of all things, blessings, spiritual and temporal, are +in His hand (Heb. i. 2, 3); and in Him are hid all the treasures of +wisdom and knowledge (Col. ii. 3), and “He is able to save them to the +uttermost that come unto God by Him” (Heb. vii. 25). + +Can we not now with reverent feeling enter into somewhat of the deep +meaning of those few words of our Lord, “_That thus_ IT MUST BE” (Matt. +xxvi. 54)? and of that awful scene which had just passed in the garden of +Gethsemane, when He had thrice prayed—“_If it be possible_, let this cup +pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt”—when His soul +was “exceeding sorrowful even unto death” (Matt. xxvi. 38, 39); and when +“there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven strengthening Him (Luke +xxii. 43); when His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to +the ground” (Luke xxii. 44). + +The words referred to were spoken when Peter had made an attempt at +resistance, and smitten off the ear of the High Priest’s servant, who +came with others to take Jesus, and when He had rebuked Peter, saying, +“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall +presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels? _But how then +shall the Scriptures be fulfilled_ that _thus it must be_?” (Matt. xxvi. +51–54). “The Lord” had “sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest +for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Ps. cx. 4). And then to show +that He needed not even the legions to rescue Him, but had still all +power in His hands, when about to be “brought as a lamb to the slaughter” +(Isa. liii. 7), as soon as He had said to the band of men and officers +who came with Judas to take Him, “_I am He_” they went backwards and fell +to the ground (John xviii. 3–7), signifying that they had no power to +touch Him until again encouraged by Jesus. And so at each step of His +trial, mocking, scourging, until by wicked hands He was crucified and +slain (Acts ii. 23)—it was: “Thou couldst have no power against Me except +it were given Thee from above” (John xix. 11). At each step it was His +voluntary submission to ignominy and insult, and a cruel death, that He +might redeem us from death, and from the power of the grave and of hell +by His own blood. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +TESTIMONY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES TO JESUS CHRIST AS THE MESSIAH. + +We have thus endeavoured to point out in how comprehensive a sense Jesus +fulfilled the Law, so that one jot or one tittle should not fail or be +lost. + +The Apostle Peter, in the third chapter of Acts, says, “Those things +which God before _had showed by the mouth of all His prophets_, that +Christ should suffer, He hath so fulfilled” (ver. 18). + +It was the beneficent design of our Heavenly Father that so many rays of +light, passing through varied channels, and spread over all past time, +should concentrate upon Jesus as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin +of the world, that there might be no excuse for rejecting Him. Let us +recall some of the principal passages in which the Old Testament +Scriptures refer to our Lord and His kingdom. + +1. His coming was prophesied from the fall of Adam and Eve, in the +Lord’s address to the serpent, thus, “The seed of the woman shall bruise +thy head, but thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. iii. 15), a prophecy +obscure at first, but abundantly explained by subsequent history and +prophecy. + +2. The promise was made to Abraham and renewed to Isaac and Jacob, that +in their seed, all the families of the earth should be blessed (Gen. xii. +3, xxii. 18, xxvi. 4). + +3. The family of Jacob was chosen to be a peculiar people to the Lord. +Laws, sacrifices, and institutions were given them to be as a +schoolmaster to lead them to Christ, and it was declared the sceptre +“shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come” (Gen. xlix. 10). + +4. As time progressed the covenant was further confirmed and limited to +the tribe of Judah, and the family of Jesse, and, again, of David. + +5. The _time_ of the Messiah’s advent was closely indicated by the +prophecy of Daniel; seventy weeks of years, or 490 years from the +rebuilding of Jerusalem (Dan. ix. 24, 25). + +It was to be during the continuance of the second Temple, and when there +should be a general expectation and desire in all nations for Him (Hag. +ii. 6–9). He would be preceded by a forerunner, who would prepare His +way (Mal. iii. 1). + +6. The _place_ of His birth was pointed out by Micah (v. 2) as Bethlehem +of Judah. He was to be born of a virgin, and called Immanuel—“God with +us” (Isa. vii. 14). He was to commence His teaching in Galilee (Isa. ix. +1, 2). + +7. The _character_ of His mediatorial coming; His humble origin; His +lowly, suffering life, and His cruel death—were described with singular +accuracy by the Prophet Isaiah;—as well as the ultimate glory of His +Kingdom and reign. And the Psalms abound in references to the sufferings +of Christ, often spoken as of David, but having their full accomplishment +in Him who was emphatically “the Son of David.” + +It was natural that the _worldly-minded Jews_, in anticipating their +Messiah, and looking for one greater than Solomon, should expect to see +one exceeding him, not only in wisdom, but in that outward display of +wealth and grandeur which the world so much admires, as indicating the +royal power and pomp of kings. But it was not so to be: “He shall grow +up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He +hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him there is no beauty +that we should desire Him.” He would bear our griefs and carry our +sorrows while He was “despised and rejected of men,” and numbered with +the transgressors (Isa. liii.). + +He should be the mighty God, the Everlasting Father (Isa. ix. 6), whose +goings forth have been from of old—from everlasting (Micah v. 2). “A +prophet like unto Moses, him shall ye hear” (Deut. xviii. 15, 18). + +8. Subsequent to the close of the Old Testament prophecy, some very +remarkable incidents marked, to the believing Jews, the near approach and +the actual coming of their Messiah. + +The angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias as he ministered in the priest’s +office, to announce the approaching birth of John the Baptist, who should +“go before, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke i. 17). +This visitation was made on a very public occasion, on the great Day of +Atonement, while “the whole multitude of the people were praying without +at the time of incense” (Luke i. 10). The angel Gabriel appeared also to +the Virgin Mary to tell her that she should be blessed among women in +giving birth to the Messiah (ver. 28), and “all these sayings were noised +abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea” (Luke i. 65). + +_The actual birth_ of our Lord was next announced by an angel to the +shepherds, saying, “Unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a +Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke ii. 11); “and suddenly there was +with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, +Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men” +(Luke ii. 14). + +While God in His providence provides abundant evidence for the believing +heart, yet it is not so redundant that none can reject it. It is the eye +of faith which discerns God in prophecy, or providence, or nature, and +the opening of that eye is the effect of grace in the heart, at first +comparatively small and mixed with more or less of misgiving, as when +Nathanael said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John i. 46) +but growing with the increase of Divine grace as when he was able +afterwards to say, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of +Israel” (John i. 49). + +Let us consider two examples illustrating this principle. + +1. That of Simeon, a righteous and devout man, looking for the +consolation of Israel, waiting for and expecting the fulfilment of +prophecy, who finding the infant Jesus in the temple, received Him into +his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant +depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy +salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a +light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel” (Luke +ii. 29–31). + +2. That of Herod, and the people of the Jews generally, when the wise +men came to Jerusalem, saying they had seen the king’s star in the east, +and were come to inquire where he was to be born. The chief priest and +scribes, who with the people generally were also in expectation of the +promised Messiah, said he should be born in Bethlehem, and referred to +the prophetic declaration in that respect; but their unbelieving hearts +were aroused, and all Jerusalem was in an uproar, prepared to say, as +they did at last, “We will not have this man to rule over us.” Herod +also, fearing a rival king, sent forth his soldiers to destroy the child, +by killing with undistinguishing cruelty, all the children from two years +old and younger. + +In addition to the prophecies which marked the _descent_ of our Lord, and +the _time_ and _character_ of His coming, there are numerous references +made in the Old Testament to circumstances of His personal history while +He dwelt amongst men. + +He should preach good tidings unto the meek, bind up the broken-hearted, +proclaim liberty to the captive, and comfort all that mourn (Isa. lxi. 1, +2). + +He should open the blind eyes, unstop the deaf ears, make the lame to +leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb to sing (Isa. xxxv. 5, 6; +xxix. 18). + +He should feed His flock like _a shepherd_ (Isa. xl. 11); “I will set one +_shepherd_ over them, even My servant David” (Ezek. xxxiv. 23). “A king +shall reign and prosper, and this is the name whereby He shall be called, +the _Lord our Righteousness_” (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6). + +He was “to be a priest for ever, after the order of Melchesidec” (Ps. ex. +4). “He shall be a priest upon His throne” (Zech. vi. 13). + +He should be for a “sanctuary” (Isa. viii. 14); a “rock and place of +refuge” (Ps. xci. 1). + +He should “enter Jerusalem riding on an ass’s colt” (Zech. ix. 9). + +He should “be higher than the kings of the earth.” His throne should +“endure as the sun” (Ps. lxxxix. 27, 36). + +He should “open His mouth in a parable, and utter dark sayings of old” +(Ps. lxxviii. 2; Isa. vi. 9, 10, compared with Matt. xiii. 14). + +The rulers should “take counsel together against Him” (Ps. ii. 2). + +His “own familiar friend, who did eat of His bread,” should “lift up his +heel against Him” (Ps. xli. 9). + +“They weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the +potter in the House of the Lord” (Zech. xi. 12, 13). “They gave me gall +for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Ps. lxix. +21). + +“Not a bone of Him should be broken” (Ex. xii. 46; Ps. xxxiv. 20). “He +should give His back to the smitters, and His cheeks to them that plucked +off the hair.” “He hid not His face from shame and spitting” (Isa. l. +6). + +The assembly of the wicked should enclose Him—“they pierced my hands and +my feet” (Ps. xxii. 16). “They part my garments among them, and cast +lots upon my vesture” (Ps. xxii. 18). “All they that see me laugh me to +scorn; they shoot out the lip; they shake the head, saying, He trusted on +the Lord that He would deliver Him; let Him deliver Him, seeing He +delighted in Him” (Ps. xxii. 7, 8). + +He should “make His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His +death, because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His +mouth” (Isa. liii. 9). + +He should “make intercession for the transgressors” (Isa. liii. 12). +“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” + +He should rise from the dead (Ps. xvi. 10), ascend into heaven, and +receive gifts for men, even “for the rebellious also, that the Lord God +might dwell among them” (Ps. lxviii. 18). + +He should “pour out His Spirit on all flesh, so that their sons and +daughters should prophesy,” &c. (Joel ii. 28). + +To “one like unto the Son of Man” was to be given “dominion and glory and +a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages, should serve Him; +His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and +His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Dan. vii. 13, 14). + +With what justice could the Lord say, “Search the Scriptures, for in them +ye think ye have Eternal Life, and they are they which testify of Me?” +(John v. 39). “And if I had not done among them the works which none +other man did, they had not had sin, but now they have no cloke for their +sin” (John xv. 24, 22) {66} + +If such were the evidences furnished to _the Jews_, the _Gentile_ who +rests his hope on Christ as the Rock of Ages can equally enter into and +appreciate these proofs of our Lord’s mission, and unite in the +triumphant song of David, “Go round about Zion, tell the towers thereof; +mark ye well her bulwarks; consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to +the generation following; for this God is our God for ever and ever, He +will be our guide even unto death” (Ps. xlviii. 13, 14). As Gentiles we +can also look back to the fall of the peculiar institutions designed to +point out the Messiah to mankind,—to the present state of His chosen +people, scattered throughout the Gentile world in fulfilment of their own +prophecies,—to the triumphs of the faith in Christ,—and to the multitudes +who have already been admitted to realise the mansions in the heaven +which He went to prepare for them. + +As Christianity is itself built on the foundation of the _Law_, the +_Prophets_, and the _Psalms_, in fact upon whatever of Divine revelation +had preceded it, and is the crowning development of the whole, we may not +disregard or lightly esteem any portion of that outward work of Christ, +of which our blessings are the direct result, and without which we could +have no right or title to them. + +The new Covenant of Grace was declared by Christ and His Apostles. The +seal of that Covenant was the Blood of Jesus, the voluntary offering of +Himself for the sins of men, as typified by the patriarchal and Mosaic +institutions. It was the purchase of our redemption, and of all those +gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit which the Lord Jesus after His +resurrection gave to men (Eph. iv. 8, 11; Rom. xii. 6, 8; 1 Cor. xii. 4; +&c.). Thus He is the “foundation stone,” the “tried stone,” the “chief +corner-stone,” and “only hope of glory.” By Himself He “_purges_ our +sins.” By His _death_ He delivers “them who through fear of death, are +all their life time subject to bondage” (Heb. ii. 14, 15). And does not +the continual daily sacrifice, morning by morning, and evening by +evening, prescribed by the Law, point to the constant bearing on our +minds before God, of the sacrifice of Christ, as the foundation of all +our hopes, and petitions for mercy and grace? the true propitiatory, or +mercy seat, where God will meet with us and dwell with us (see page 16, +and Ex. xxix. 42, 45). + +“Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, +that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” +(Rom. xv. 4). + +“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for +doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, +that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good +works” (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17). + +Nor need any be discouraged; the Bible is God’s revelation addressed +alike to all men, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, intellectual or of +small powers. God is no respecter of persons, and to every one alike who +can read for themselves, or hear from others, the Bible, without note or +comment, may prove under the influence of God’s Spirit, “a lamp unto +their feet, a light to their path.” The less educated will escape some +of the difficulties which beset the minds of others, and more easily +fulfil the conditions imposed by our Lord, “Except ye receive the kingdom +of God as little children, ye cannot enter therein;” and many are the +instances in which persons of comparatively small intellectual power +enjoy, appreciate, and bring forth the evident fruits of faith; so that, +with the Bible in their hands and the Holy Spirit to apply it, none need +despair of finding the way that leads to everlasting life. + +The Psalmist asks, “Wherewithall shall a young man cleanse his way?” and +replies, “By taking heed thereto according to Thy word” (Ps. cxix. 9), so +that he may come to say, “O, how I love Thy law, it is my meditation all +the day” (ver. 97). “Thou through Thy commandments hast made me wiser +than mine enemies; for they are ever with me” (ver. 98). + +“Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever; they are the +rejoicing of my heart” (ver. 111). + +“The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the +simple” (ver. 130). + +The 19th Psalm also says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the +soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The +statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of +the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, +enduring for ever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous +altogether. . . . By them is Thy servant warned, and in keeping of them +there is great reward” (Ps. xix. 7, 8, 9–11). + +The Lord Jesus also said of the Father, “for I know that His commandment +is life everlasting” (John xii. 50). + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. + +Having in the former pages noticed the manner in which the institutions +of previous revelation have pointed to and been completed by the Gospel +of Christ, let us now set forth some of the leading characteristics of +that religion which Jesus, so long foretold and typified, came to +introduce amongst men. + +We must bear in mind that it was a _New Covenant_ with men, which He came +to establish. The former Covenant had grown old, and was about to decay; +and it had been declared in prophecy, “This shall be the covenant that I +will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I +will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and +will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no +more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the +Lord: for they shall all know Me from the least of them unto the greatest +of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will +remember their sin no more” (Jer. xxxi. 33 and 34). + +He who came to establish this new Covenant, and teach it to men, was none +other than the Word who was in the beginning with God and was God. All +things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was +made (John i. 1–3); who was the brightness of the Father’s glory, and +“the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of +His power” (Heb. i. 3). + +It is no marvel therefore that the New Testament should teach us that the +first and cardinal point of this new faith was that we should believe on +the “Messenger of the Covenant”—the Lord Jesus Christ bearing glad +tidings of salvation to all men. + +This is done in the clearest and most precise manner. + +“God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that +_whosoever believeth_ in Him should not perish, but _have everlasting +life_.” + +“For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that +the world _through Him might be saved_” (John iii. 16, 17). + +“This is the work of God, that _ye believe on Him_ whom He hath sent” +(John vi. 29). + +“This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and +_Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent_” (John xvii. 3). + +“He that believeth on the Son _hath __everlasting life_: and he that +believeth not the Son _shall not see life_; but the wrath of _God abideth +on him_” (John iii. 36). + +“He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath +everlasting life” (John v. 24). + +“He _that believeth on Him is not condemned_: but _he that believeth not +is condemned already_, because he hath not believed in the name of the +only begotten Son of God” (John iii. 18). + +“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of +God, even _to them that believe on His name_” (John i. 12). + +“I am the resurrection and the life: _he that believeth in Me_, though he +were dead, yet shall he live” (John xi. 25). + +“_Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ_, _and thou shalt be saved_” (Acts +xvi. 31). + +In the two verses quoted above, John iii. 16, 17, God is declared to send +His Son not to condemn, but to save the world. + +Verse 18 divides mankind into two classes—those who _believe in Christ_, +and those who _do not believe_. The former are _not condemned_, and if +they abide in Him will go on to everlasting life. The latter “are +_condemned already_” for their not believing. This condemnation is not +necessarily a final state, for if they “abide not in unbelief,” but turn +to Christ in repentance and faith, they will be brought into His covenant +of grace and salvation. But if otherwise, when God’s longsuffering +patience has exhausted the pleadings, warnings, and wooings of the Spirit +without response, a time must come when the word will go forth, “My +Spirit shall not always strive with man;” and that state of condemnation +become an abiding one, agreeably to Rom. ii. 4–10. + +“Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and +longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to +repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up +unto thyself wrath, against the day of wrath, and revelation of the +righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his +deeds:—To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory +and honour and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are +contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, +indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man +that doeth evil . . . but glory, honour, and peace to every man that +worketh good” (Rom. ii. 4–10). + +It becomes, therefore, an all-important point to endeavour to draw from +Scripture some of the chief conditions which are implied in these simple +words, “_Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ_.” + +Our Lord has Himself given us an example of what He meant by it when He +said, “I seek _not mine own will_, but _the __will of the Father_ which +hath sent Me” (John v. 30). Jesus believed in the Father, and he that in +like manner believes in the Son must seek, not his own will, but the will +of Christ. + +Jesus said, “I am the Light of the world;” “he that followeth Me shall +not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John viii. 12). +“I am _the way_, _the truth_, and _the life_; no man cometh unto the +Father but by Me” (John xiv. 6). He is the _way_ to the Father, and the +_only way_:—the very _Truth_ of God expressed in word and action,—in +precept and example,—who “did no sin, neither was guile found in His +mouth” (1 Pet. ii. 22; and Isa. liii. 9),—and _the life_, the means +through which alone spiritual life is given to a world dead in trespasses +and sins. + +Our Lord further defines the characteristics of the two classes as +follows:—“For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh +to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth +cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are +wrought in God” (John iii. 20, 21). + +It is, therefore, a characteristic of believing in Jesus that we bring +our “deeds to _His light_ that it may be made manifest that they are +wrought in God.” + +Jesus was “_the Light_” but His precepts and example—all, in fact, that +He did and taught—are so many lights derived from Him; as well as the +light of the Holy Ghost or Comforter, who shines in our hearts to give +“us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus +Christ” (2 Cor. iv. 6); and this bringing our deeds to the light +includes trying them by His words and example;—the precepts taught by His +Apostles, as well as by the Holy Spirit itself,—that by any or all of +these accordant tests it may be made clear whether they are according to +the mind of Christ. “He that hath My commandments, and _keepeth them_, +he it is _that loveth Me_. . . . He that _loveth Me not_, _keepeth not_ +My sayings” (John xiv. 21, 24). + +We have a lively illustration of practical belief in the patriarchs of +old, who, believing in God’s promises, and having seen them afar off, +embraced them, and shaped their lives in conformity to them:—viz., “These +all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them +afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed +that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth. For they which say +such things declare plainly that they seek . . . a better country—that +is, a heavenly” (Heb. xi. 13, 14, 16). + +Believing in Christ, therefore, implies a belief that He is the Son of +God, the Messiah, and Saviour of the world, the centre and spring of all +our spiritual existence;—a belief in His _teaching expressed by_ shaping +our lives and conversation in the world by it; accepting Him as our King, +whose right it is to reign and rule in our hearts. He tells us that we +must be “born again”—“born of the Spirit” (John iii. 3 and 6)—and the +power to truly believe in Christ is coincident with this new birth, and +indicative of it, when “the Holy Ghost or Comforter,” convincing us of +sin, and of our alienation from God by it, enables us to look to Jesus as +our Saviour and Redeemer. When, by the power of the same Spirit, we are +enabled to lay aside our old works, thoughts, and propensities to evil, +and walk by the rule of faith in the light of the Spirit of Christ. As +we abide and walk therein, we shall “grow in grace and in the knowledge +of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;” bringing forth the fruits of the +Spirit, which are set forth in Gal. v. 22, as “love, joy, peace, +longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against +such there is no law.” Again (2 Pet. i. 5–7), as—“Faith, virtue, +knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and +charity.” + +If we examine the nature of some of these fruits of the Spirit, we shall +see that though they are produced in us individually by the working of +the Spirit, they are not confined to ourselves, but will communicate to +others around us. Thus we all know how communicative is the feeling of +_joy_—it burns to tell others the good news, or glad tidings. The _love_ +of God shed abroad in our hearts makes us long that others should +participate in this great blessing.—The _peace_ of God yearns that all +should be brought into its heavenly atmosphere: while the other qualities +or rather graces described,—as longsuffering, meekness, charity, &c,—mark +to others that we have been with Jesus: and the Apostle Peter winds up +his catalogue with the descriptive words equally applicable to both, “_If +these things be in you and abound_, they make you that ye shall neither +be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 +Pet. i. 8). + +Thus the Gospel “is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that +believeth” (Rom. i. 16), and as its fruits spring up and _abound_ in any +heart they will in some or other form overflow to those around, and make +it a minister of righteousness, a testimony-bearer to the truth as it is +in Jesus: it may be in word and doctrine, in the private circle of +association, or even in the quiet testimony of a peaceful spirit, and a +faithful discharge of duties, recommending by its example the Gospel of +Christ. + +“For the _law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus_ hath made me free +from _the law of sin and death_. . . . That _the __righteousness of the +law_ might be fulfilled in us, _who walk not after the flesh_, _but after +the Spirit_.” “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of +the flesh; but they _that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit_” +(Rom. viii. 2–5). + +Allusion has been made at a former page (40) to the _precepts of the +law_, having been superseded by the higher _principles_ of the Gospel of +Christ. The New Testament, instead of prescribing precise instructions +for conduct between man and man, sums up our duties in the general +principle, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; love worketh no ill +to his neighbour; love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. xiii. 9, 10); +at the same time illustrations are given, both of the fruits of the +Spirit, and of the fruits of sin in the heart (See Eph. iv. 22 to end, +and ch. v.; Rom. i. 28–32; Rev. xxi. 8). + +The law written in the heart is the effect of the Holy Spirit’s work +there. He works in us to will and to do of God’s good pleasure;—“to do +those things which are well pleasing in His sight;”—which should “be +known and read of all men,” by its effects on the conduct, &c. (2 Cor. +iii. 2). It was the distinguishing feature of Christ’s coming—“Lo, I +come to do Thy will, O God” (Heb. x. 9). And though we cannot attain to +His perfection, the work of the Spirit is always to beget within us more +of the love of God, and to incline our hearts to serve Him more +faithfully. As we sit, as it were, at the feet of Jesus, looking unto +Him, the Spirit or Comforter will take of the things of Christ, and show +them to us, and there will be a growth in grace, and in conformity to the +will and law of God;—a subordination of the flesh to the Spirit, which +has no necessary, or perhaps no natural, limit, but in the summons to +quit the militant, and join the triumphant, Church above. + +It is sometimes said that Christianity is an educational system in which +the mind is trained, by the restoring grace of the Holy Spirit, to +abandon sin, and work righteousness; and that the offer of this restoring +grace implies, as a necessary prelude, the pardon of past sin. + +Enough has been already said to show that this is not consistent with the +general tenor of Holy Scripture. We know that the minds of susceptible +children, nurtured under Christian mothers, do sometimes drink in the +truths of the Gospel from their lips, at a very early age, in a way that +makes it difficult to mark the period of decided change in them. They +seem to grow up with the Gospel infused into their characters and life. + +This is not, however, the common case; neither is it the happy lot of +_all_ to be so instructed from their cradles to maturity. And when sin +has taken possession of the mind—whether in the milder development of +what is called innocent gaiety;—the love of pleasure, without +vice;—indisposition for serious things and persons;—or whether evil takes +a larger development, and vice in its grosser form exists; in either case +they cannot be said to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ—nor, as a +consequence, to seek to do His will; but are living under the +condemnation of those who do not believe. And these states, admitted and +protracted, necessarily tend to harden in sin, and the longer they +continue, to render it more difficult to return, repent, and live. So +that in general it is when the fear of death is brought nearer by +sickness:—when aroused by the powerful ministry of the Word, or by the +direct pleadings of the Holy Spirit, convincing us of sin and of judgment +to come:—then, if at all, they are arrested in their downward course, +and, through God’s longsuffering mercy, are brought to see their need of +a Saviour, a Redeemer, a sacrifice for sin. Under such circumstances _no +necessary implication of pardon_ will give _peace_; they must feel that +Jesus _has borne their sins in His own body on the tree_, _and that by +His stripes they are healed_. + +How many instances do we read of persons, for long years refusing to +yield themselves to God, being at length brought into such depths of +misery or danger (in that longsuffering mercy which has followed them all +through), and then are they enabled to repent and put away their sins, +and, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, to be saved from the wrath to +come. + +But some, perhaps, will say: Why cannot I believe in the Lord Jesus as +“the restorer of breaches,” and “of paths to dwell in,” without going +back to past ages? The answer is very obvious—that if He be not the +Sacrifice, He cannot be the Restorer. He is _one_ Christ, and His work +_one_. If He atones for the sin of mankind, He can be then the +restorer;—the one is as much part of His character as the other. And if +we would divide His perfect work in two parts, and reject Him when +suffering on the cross for our sins:—that “we might live”:—“to give His +life a ransom for us,”—can we be sure that He will acknowledge us when +seated on the right hand of God? Can we be truly said to believe in Him +with our _whole_ heart? _If_ we do not accept what He has said of +Himself; by His own rule we are not seeking to do His will. + +It is _after_ “_having made peace through the blood of His cross_;” . . . +that He _is able_ “_to reconcile all things unto Himself_” (Col. i. 19, +20), so that they who “were sometimes alienated by wicked works, yet now +hath He reconciled in the body of _His flesh through death_, to present +you holy and unblameable, and unreproveable in His sight.” (Col. i. 22). + +In the previous chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, Paul, having taken +a review of the mercies of God in human redemption by Christ, and of the +calling of the Jews and Gentiles;—in the twelfth chapter he beseeches the +brethren “to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable +unto God, which is their reasonable service” (ver. 1); and at the end of +the thirteenth chapter he exhorts them to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, +and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lust thereof” (ver. +14); while the intermediate verses contain a remarkably concise epitome +of the character and duties of the members of the Christian Church. + +I have endeavoured to draw the character of Christianity as I find it in +the New Testament. No place is made for lukewarmness, indifference, or +formality. Every one receiving the inestimable blessing of faith in +Christ is naturally expected to embrace it; to prize it as the “pearl of +great price”; the greatest of all treasures; and to be wrapped up in its +excellence, counting all other things as valueless and unworthy of +attention in comparison with it. And the new creature is to grow up out +of the new faith, stripped of all that is old and sinful, and clothed +with all that is just and true and godly. + +To flee from the “wrath to come,” and take refuge in the ark or fold of +Christ, is a work of the deepest seriousness, and the joy of feeling that +you have attained that shelter and security is depicted in the New and +Old Testaments as of the liveliest kind. + +“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say rejoice” (Phil. iv. 4). +“Whom having not seen ye love; in whom though now ye see Him not, yet, +believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet. i. +8), and this in the midst of grievous persecutions. + +“And thou shalt _rejoice in the Lord_, and shalt glory in the Holy One of +Israel” (Isa. xli. 16). + +“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; +for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me +with the robe of righteousness” (Isa. lxi. 10). + +“I will rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab. +iii. 18). + +“Rejoice evermore” (1 Thess. v. 16). + +“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ +Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit” (Rom. viii. 1): +born again of the Spirit: believing in Christ: our sins borne by Him on +the tree: “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus making us free from the law +of sin and death” (Rom. viii. 2), should we not rejoice with grateful +hearts, and through Jesus offer “the sacrifice of praise to God +continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name”? +(Heb. xiii. 15.) + +But are there not many minds who are more given to dwell in a low state, +and in somewhat of that sombreness which is cast over nature when the +_sun_ is more or less _eclipsed_, to whom it is more congenial to look at +the doubtful or dark side of things, than to indulge in joyful +anticipations? If such be our condition of mind, should we not strive +against it, and examine whether there be not cause for joy? + +If through the mercy of God in Christ Jesus our sins are forgiven; if we +have passed from death unto life; if Christ, who is the appointed “Judge +of quick and dead,” be OUR _Intercessor and Redeemer_, who is he that can +harm us? If by means of His redemption we are made joint heirs with Him +of the heavenly Kingdom and glory, ought we not to rejoice and be glad? +To have passed from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto +God is surely matter for joy and rejoicing, and the feeling is one that +it is the duty of all such to encourage, and seek by prayer and +meditation on the promises of God in Christ Jesus—promises which are _not +yea and nay_, but _all yea_ in Him—all unconditional—absolutely certain +to all who believe in, love, and obey Him, and persevere to the end. + + + + +Footnotes. + + +{6} These were the three grand divisions of the Old Testament, according +to the Jewish arrangement, and comprised the entire volume. + +{12} Cruden says that sacrifice was offered by Adam and his sons. + +{20} May we not learn from this the duty of expressing our thankfulness +to the Giver of every good and perfect gift before partaking of it? so +also, at Feast of Pentecost. + +{21} In Lev. xxiii. 18, it is stated _one_ bullock and _two_ rams, but +in Numbers, just before entering the Promised Land, some alterations were +made. + +{42} Mark here the dignity and quality of the teacher—“the brightness of +the Father’s glory and express image of His person,”—come to teach men +the things which He had seen and heard with His Father in heaven—John +iii. 32,—and so completely representing the Father that He could say, “If +ye have seen Me ye have seen the Father also” (John xiv. 15). See also +Col. i. 15. + +{46} See terms used in the account of the daily and other sacrifices +(Lev. i. 9; iv. 31, &c.), p. 16. + +{48a} The blood of goats and calves (Heb. ix. 12–14). + +{48b} The blood of Christ (Heb. ix. 14). + +{66} See in “Horne’s Introduction to the Critical Study of the +Scriptures” a full account of the prophecies of the Old Testament, with +their fulfilment in the words of the New Testament, from which several of +the above are extracted. Vol. i., Appendix No. 6. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JESUS FULFILS THE LAW*** + + +******* This file should be named 36425-0.txt or 36425-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/6/4/2/36425 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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