Natural birth in the land of Egypt gave Israel their first beginning, their introduction into a land of sin, idolatry, and slavery, as it gives us our entrance into a world of slavery to sin and Satan, with death for its end, and judgment following.

God was about to rise up and execute judgment upon Egypt because of their sins and the necessity of maintaining the righteousness of His throne, established in the heavens. He gives us also to know and proclaim that " He has appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness" (Acts 17:31).

But grace had devised and provided a way of escape from the impending judgment:a lamb was provided for each house; and this marked out a new epoch, a new beginning, in their history. That lamb was sacrificed for their sins, and this cleared them from the judgment of God.

To us that lamb is Christ-the Lamb of God. John the Baptist first pointed Him out, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John i :29). The world knew Him not. His earthly people received Him not; "but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God" (John i:12). This is our new beginning, that of the new covenant, which has no ending. This new beginning is called new birth in the New Testament. It is a new life- eternal life-imparted to every individual who receives Christ. Its nature is divine, and it introduces its possessor into a new creation, over which Christ is head. Here old things are passed away, and all things are become new (2 Cor. 5:17, 18).

What a change takes place in Israel's history from the time of this new beginning-a history with God now – redeemed by Him, and separated to Him! They were but types:with us is the reality. Their lamb was but a shadow :Christ is the substance. Their salvation was but temporal and national:ours is eternal and individual.

The reception of Christ crucified puts us into association with Christ glorified, and we are marked
off and destined to dwell with Him in heavenly glory forever. In this we learn somewhat of "the riches of His grace," and "the riches of His glory."

May each reader delight in the grace and reap the blessings that are attached to this new beginning!
A. E. B.

In the faith of our souls we must hold fast the truth of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The importance of it is seen in the way God has guarded it in His Word, and in the way in which Satan seeks to undermine it. Rob us of the truth of His blessed Person, and you have robbed us of all; for if He is not God, as well as man, divine as well as human, then, as a matter of course, we have no sacrifice to expiate our guilt, no blood to purge our conscience and bring us nigh to God. Reduce Him to a mere man-the best of men, if you please- and you have no revelation of God, no shelter from His just judgment. "It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins"; nor is the blood of a mere man capable of doing more; it required a sacrifice of infinite worth to meet the just claims of a holy God against sin.

But, thank God, we are not left to the imaginings of our own minds on such a subject, so infinitely beyond us; but we have in God's word the fullest and clearest statements of who the blessed Person is, and ever was, whom we, through God's grace, can with adoring hearts call our Saviour.

We will for a few moments consider Him in His own eternal Being and divine glory; in His work as Creator, for it is attributed to Him; and in His humanity and glorious work of redemption, and consequent ascended glory.

Every one who is at all acquainted with the Scriptures must have been struck with the way in which the Gospel of John commences. John, by the Holy Ghost, presents to us the divine aspect of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore in his opening words at once presents to us the divine glory of His blessed Person:" in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God" (John i:i, 2).

Who but the Spirit of God could have enabled a man to write such words as these ?-the very first clause taking us back into that silent eternity before time and creation were; and there we see, in the eternity of His own glorious Being, the Son of God as the everlasting Word-the uncreated expresser of God.

In the second clause His distinct personality also:'' And the word was with God."

In other scriptures we read:"I was set up from everlasting … or ever the earth was." " When He prepared the heavens, I was there. . . . When He appointed the foundations of the earth:then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him:and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him; rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth; and My delights were with the sons of men" (Prov. 8:22-31). "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2). After His incarnation, when here on earth, He said of Himself, "Before Abraham was, I am " (John 8:58).

In the third clause of John i:i we have a statement which every child of God delights to meditate upon, and by which he refutes the horrible insult of thousands who, because of His voluntary humiliation in becoming a man, to accomplish the counsels of God, would rob Him of His divine glory. Let it stand out in golden letters before the soul-"and the word was god."

In the presence of the growing apostasy from the truths of Christianity, may God help us to hold them faster than ever, and "earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints."

" And the Word was God." God claims deity for His blessed Son. "Unto the Son, He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom; " then, speaking of what He was as a perfect man here below-perfect in all His ways-He says, "Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity ; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows" (Heb. i:8, 9).

The Holy Ghost too, in Phil. 2, speaking of His voluntary love in His path of self-surrender, commences with Him in the place which no creature could occupy, and traces Him until we see Him in the lowest depth of self-abasement-"even the death of the cross." "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:but made Himself"-mark that!-"of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

Mark, it was not what He was made, but what He became, in His voluntary love. He emptied Himself of His divine glory-without ceasing to be divine- which He had with the Father from all eternity, became a man and took a servant's form, and submitted to the death of the cross, so that the claims of the divine glory and our desperate need might be met, and met forever. And what heart but that filled with the poison and enmity of Satan would, because of His voluntary humiliation and sufferings, deny His divine glory ? It was because He was divine He could thus stoop; and having accomplished the work the Father gave Him to do, He could ask back the glory that He had laid aside, and which He had shared with the Father from all eternity (John 17:5).

" The same was in the beginning with God." In that beginning, before anything was called into being that has a being, when the Godhead dwelt alone in its divine glory, when no creature existed, He was with God. In the bosom of the Father the eternal Son dwelt-in the joy, intimacy and delight of the only-begotten with the Father. He was God's eternal Son.

With unshod feet and adoring heart would one dwell upon a scene like this, infinitely beyond the creature's grasp, and which, but for divine revelation, would be entirely hidden from our view.

In the third verse of John i we learn that creation was brought into being by Him. "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." Also Col. i:16-"For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:all things were created by Him, and for
Him :and He is before all things, and by Him all things subsist " (Col. i:16, 17).In Heb. i:2, 3 we
read that He is the maker and upholder of all things by the word of His power. He is invested with creatorial glory. " By Him were all things created."

This glorious Being, the everlasting Word, the eternal Son of God, the creator and upholder of all things, became flesh, as we read:"And the Word was made [or became] flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten with the Father), full of grace and truth " (John i :14). Beyond the fathomings of human thought is this blessed and glorious fact, yet that which simple faith receives as the revelation of God. "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory " (i Tim. 3 :16).

He came into this world, born into it of a woman, in fulfilment of that scripture, "This day have I begotten Thee" (Ps. 2:7). "That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God " (Luke r:35). His name was to be called "Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us" (Matt. i:23). The prophet had said, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:and the government I shall be upon His shoulder:and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, Father of Eternity, The Prince of Peace " (Isa. 9:6).

It was a wonderful moment when the Word became flesh, the eternal Son became the Son of man,
born indeed in a stable and laid in a manger. As He lay there an infant, He was none the less the Mighty God, the Father of Eternity. Great indeed is the mystery of it, and infinitely beyond our little minds to comprehend; yet, blessed be God, a glorious fact that faith receives and delights in.

God is now revealed in the Person of His Son. In creation, His power, goodness and wisdom were displayed; in providence, His inscrutable ways; and in the law, the principles of His moral government; but in Christ, God Himself was revealed. " No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him" (John i:18). Man by his scientific researches never found out God ; 'for the Scripture saith, " Who by searching can find out God ? " But "the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." Therefore Jesus could say, " He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; " and, " I am the way, and the truth, and the life:no man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:6, 9).

In the light of this, how solemn are the words, " Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father:let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son and in the Father " (i John 2:23, 24). Let a man live and die in his denial of the Deity of the Son of God, and he will find that he "hath not the Father":that he has nothing to do with Him in that relationship, and that he will meet a God of judgment only. Tremendous discovery for those to make who have talked much about the universal Fatherhood of God, which is a denial of the family of God proper, while they themselves have never been born again, and therefore are not the children of God.

The Cross-the very mention of which touches a chord in the Christian's heart, and fills it with gratitude and praise! Displace that cross, and what have you but the dark and awful judgment of a righteous God ? Give it its proper place, the great central place it has in the word of God, and all is changed. God is glorified about sin, the just demands of His holy law met, the imperishable ground of our justification and peace with God laid, and the righteous ground upon which the new creation will rest forever. It was there that divine love provided what divine justice demanded; it was there the heart of God was told out in the infinite depths of its love for poor, sinful man; it was there the heart of man expressed its enmity to God; it was there the power of Satan was broken:it was there that Christ's love for His own was told out, and His perfect love and obedience to God His Father culminated in those infinite sufferings, which reached their climax when the holy Sufferer cried, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ? " (Matt. 27:46).

We shall never forget the cross, nor the sufferings of the One who died there; He and they will ever be before us. Eternal ages will not lessen the sense of His love to us in our souls, nor the feeling of our infinite indebtedness to Him. And as the mind of heaven is one, so our hearts will ever be one in singing that new song, and in our ascriptions of praise to God and to the Lamb (Rev. 5). Everlasting bliss will be ours, but we will never forget that it is the fruit of the bitter agonies of the cross, and but for those agonies and blood we should never be there.

It is our joy to know that the sufferings of the cross are over, and that the Sufferer is now the risen and exalted Victor. He has exchanged the cross and the crown of thorns for the throne of God and the diadem of heaven; and the mockings and insults of poor, sinful men for the adoration of the assembled hosts above. He sits as man upon the throne of God; but we must not forget that He who sits as man upon the throne of God is nevertheless "over all, God blessed forever " (Rom. 9:5).

How the true Christian's heart loves to treasure up the precious truth of the Person of the Son of God, and to utterly refuse anything lower than the Deity and spotless humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ-God and man in one Person. "And we know that the Son of God has come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life" (i John 5:20).

"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among 'us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten with the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John i:14). "And of His fulness have all we received, and grace upon grace " (ver. 16).

" Thou art the everlasting Word,
The Father's only Son;
God manifest, God seen and heard,
The heaven's beloved One.
Worthy, O Lamb of God, art Thou
That every knee to Thee should bow."

E. A.
"TILL HE COME."

There are three things that stand out prominently in this history of Adonijah, namely, his person, his pride, and his doom; and there are lessons which both parents and children may well lay to heart and take warning from, and profit thereby.

We have no elaborate and detailed history as to the person of Adonijah; it is simply a short sentence of eight words, but it contains much, and suggests more to the thinking mind. It says, "And he also
was a very goodly man" Then we are told, "And his mother bare him after Absalom " (ver. 6). Thus we learn he came next to Absalom in the family of David, and partook very largely of the handsome and attractive appearance of his half-brother, and evidently was highly conscious of it, and traded on it. His self-will was as great and unbounded as his pride', and he knew how to trade on the patience of a weak and doting father. Such is Adonijah as we see him march across the stage-very handsome -very vain-excessively proud and self-willed.

A very sorrowful testimony is given of David his father in a brief sentence in the same verse. It reads, "And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so ? " Oh, how that short sentence tells its own tale of David's special weakness, and sets the wise king and valiant soldier before us in a new light! What mixtures men are of wisdom and folly, strength and weakness ; of preponderating vices or virtues! Earth has seen only one man that was perfect; in whom no one quality preponderated over another-the man Christ Jesus. In view of David's general character as a warrior and a king, how little one would expect to find in hint the weakness and failings of a doting father! And yet, when once we see that trait in his character, we soon find there are more instances of that kind in his history than we had thought of-the greatness of the public man overshadowing the failings of his private life.

David could command his soldiers or his servants, but he could not command his children! He was an indulgent father, who could not say No to them. He let them do just what they pleased, and never
said, "Why hast them done so?"What a lack of moral strength does this manifest! How different the word spoken of Abraham in Gen. 18:19:"For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment." The contrast between the two men is indeed a striking one. Alas, how David had to suffer from his family through this great failing of his! How far better would it have been for him to have kept them under restraint, even at the expense of being stigmatized as hard and severe to his children! How well for him had he acted on the wise counsel of his wise son, set forth in Prov. 13:24; 29:15 ; 23:13, 14, when it was necessary! All his trouble in this case was caused through his own weakness and neglect. He had himself to blame for the way he had allowed Adonijah to grow up. Alas, how many Davids there are in these days of boasted enlightenment, whose Adonijah’s will cause them many a tear, many a bitter pang, and many a sore heart, before they reach the end of the journey! How one is constantly witnessing such cases! What a beacon for the saints of God! 'How well for them if it warns them and turns them ere yet it be too late!

Adonijah had now reached that stage of his self-willed career when he determined to aim at a high place. He aspired to nothing short of the throne. Hence we read, he " exalted himself, saying, I will be king," and prepared accordingly (ver. 5). He knew he had no right to the position, and doubtless was well aware of his father's will and intentions as to who was to sit on the throne. But self-will, then as now, cared not for right. It wants might.

It is evident too that he had laid his plans with some measure of skill, for he privately and secretly made himself sure of the support of the commander-in-chief of the army, and of the high priest, ere he made his public effort. How sad, we may well say again, to see these aged and experienced men, Joab and Abiathar, so deluded as to be carried away by this proud, rebellious youth ! How true is that word, "Great men are not always wise; neither do the aged understand judgment" (Job 32:9); and here we see an illustration of it.

Adonijah "exalted himself." Better would it have been to let God do it for him, if it had been His mind, than to climb so high only to be cast down so low. It is "he that humbleth himself that shall be exalted." "I will be king," he said; but he was reckoning with his will only. God had His purposes about that throne (2 Sam. 7:12-16), and who was to sit on it. It was simply Adonijah's pride and self-will that said, "I will "-not "If God will." Alas, the man who aspires to get so high has a long way to fall, and the more awful the crash when he does slip! How little like his father David Adonijah was in this matter!

It is refreshing to turn away from all this wickedness, if even for a moment, and let the mind and eye rest on true and loyal men at such a time, and in such a crisis. Thank God, there were such; and thank God, He will always have such, however great the darkness or difficulty, till we reach the end. And so we read, ''But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah " (ver. 8) They had clung to David in his adversity, through all his wars and successes, and their hearts remained true to their king, and they had no desire to be found in the train of the would-be rising star. It is in times like this, that the heart is tested and true loyalty is seen. How good to think of those who are true to great David's greater Son-our Lord Jesus Christ-and refuse to follow with that or those who seek to displace Him in any way ; who are " overcomers" where all is in revolt! They hold fast His Word, and deny not His name (Rev. 3).

But, to return. It was not the hasty action of an ignorant enthusiast. It was a deep-laid and well-planned scheme. Adonijah "slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle . . . and called all his brethren the king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants"(ver. 9). "But"-ah, that "but"!-" Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not" (ver. 10). All those who were likely to be influenced, and favorable to his designs, were invited and feasted; while all those likely to be adverse to them were overlooked. Ah, these feasts of designing people, how much they have to answer for in turning men away from the truth, even in these modern and ought-to know-better days! What tales the judgment-seat of Christ will unfold of the corruption of otherwise honest hearts by the teas, and dinners, and feasts, and gifts, of the party-makers, to gather and consolidate followers to their cause! Truly "a gift blindeth the eyes of the wise."

What an illustration we have of that word in Job 20:5-9 "The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment. Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; yet he shall perish for ever." It was not long ere the tidings of Adonijah's rebellion reached the king's ears. David was reminded of his promise and oath to Bathsheba, that her son Solomon should sit upon the throne, and he says, " Even as I sware unto thee . . . even so will I certainly do this day" (ver. 30); and Solomon is taken, anointed and made king in his father's stead, while the people rejoice and shout, " God save king Solomon! " (ver. 39), How sweetly that reminds us of the certainty of God's promises to us in Christ! They are all "yea, and in Him Amen.

But what of Adonijah and his deluded followers ? They had been tardy in their action, and overindulging themselves at their feast, till startled by the sound of the trumpet and the rejoicing shouts of the people at the coronation of their lawful king. Then, when the truth is forced home upon them,-for the time comes when it will be forced home on men whether they will or not,-then we read, "And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up and went every man his way " (ver. 49). Their feast was spoiled. Their mirth as well as their hope is brought to a sudden end. Silently each traitor slips away, and leaves the proud, rebellious, self-willed young man to himself!

It makes us think, what will it be by and by for all those who set themselves against God's King ? What can it end in but utter confusion and disaster ? The forbearance of Solomon might allow Adonijah to live a little longer, if perchance he would redeem his character, and "show himself a worthy man," though even that failed in his case; but for those who set themselves against Christ, there is no altar for them to flee to-no forbearance, and no one to stand by them to the bitter end. They must face the awful and eternal consequences alone-each one for himself. Oh that men would be wise, and repent, and turn themselves to Christ, in this the day of grace! "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him" (Ps. 2:12). And seeing God's King is God's Son, to whom all must submit, how well for each and all to do it now.

Well might Adonijah fear, and flee to the altar, when he found himself deserted by his so-called friends, and left to face the wrath of the king alone. Fear had seized on each of them when they found that Solomon was established as king; and we behold their contemptible conduct as we watch each one steal away, solicitous for his own safety only, and leave the poor, terror-stricken usurper to shift for himself. But even God's altar is no place of security for presumptuous sinners, as we see in the subsequent history of Joab (chap. 2:28-34). Righteousness will take presumptuous sinners even from there (Exod. 21 :14). And so Adonijah, in his terror, fled, and laid hold on the horns of the altar, and begged for mercy from the one he had sought to injure. What else could he do ? His only hope lay in the mercy of Solomon. Guilt, high-handed rebellion, called for judgment on the culprit. Fear and terror compelled him to cry for mercy; while grace on the part of Solomon spared his life for the time being. If he showed himself a worthy man, he would live; if wickedness further showed itself, he would die.

Alas for the human heart! it is incurable. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:who can know it ? I the Lord search the heart" (Jer. 17:9, 10). How we see the truth of this statement in Adonijah's case, and daily in our own and the hearts of those around us! Baffled and defeated, yet spared from the doom he so richly merited, poor Adonijah manifests that his repentance had not been real, and he falls under the righteous judgment of Solomon and meets his doom (chap. 2 :25). Nothing will change the human heart but the grace of God. "Ye must be born again"! Men must experience a new birth, or else the second death; and that new birth is only effected by the soul's look of faith to the Saviour on the cross (John 3:14, 15).

What a sad, sad history! we may well say. Sad, as we look at the father's side; sad, as we look at the son's side; sad on every side; and the only bright spot in it is the faithfulness and loyalty of the devoted men who had followed David, and are found true to David's son Solomon, the- true king. What solemn lessons for all weak and doting parents who allow their children to do what they please without correction, like Absalom and Adonijah! What a warning to all self-willed children who think they know better than their parents and elders! How it says to each one, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord"; "Honor thy father and thy mother"! And how it says to all parents, '' Bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord " ! May these lessons be learnt by all!

Wm. Easton

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life:lie that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live :and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die."-john 11:25.

How much there is contained in these few words-how full of blessing to the soul of every one who receives them!

It is as the One in whom is the very source of life that He speaks here, though "found in fashion as a man." That wondrous incarnation, that union of the human with the divine found in Him who is the speaker here, is the foundation on which is laid the work of the Cross. It is the "altar that sanctifieth the gift."

When the Lord Jesus says, " I am the resurrection and the life," we naturally think of His power to raise the dead; a power that is His own,-not derived, as was that of Elijah and Elisha, and of Peter and Paul (i Kings 17; 2 Kings 4; Acts 9:40; 20:9, 10).

But it would seem as if the Lord were speaking, not only of His power to raise the dead, but of His own resurrection; and the expression, if carefully weighed, shows this. He does not say exactly, "I am the raiser" (of the dead), but, " I am the resurrection. "

It is as if He said, not " I am the builder,'" but, "I am the house"; and if we compare the statement with other scriptures bearing on the subject, it seems clear. To the Corinthians the apostle Paul says, '' But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept."

The word "first-fruits" takes our thoughts back to that which was spoken by the Lord through Moses concerning the "feast of the first-fruits," which followed. that of the "Passover," as the resurrection of Christ followed His death; and what is said to the Corinthians is the divine commentary on Lev. 23:10.

Thus we see that the Lord's words to Martha implied that He was to go into death. The true "corn of wheat" must " fall into the ground and die "; but by so doing it would no longer "abide alone," but bring out of death an abundant harvest. But if we could see what resurrection really implies, if we would see its true meaning, we must look at the risen One. He says, "/am the resurrection." Not only could He call Lazarus forth from the grave, but by going into death Himself He has manifested His power over it, not alone for Himself, but for all who believe on Him. " I am the resurrection and the life:he that believeth on Me, though he have died, shall live."

And this brings us to the consideration of another thought. It is not enough that He has power to raise the dead (as the Son of God the power is His own); but how can He raise those who believe on Him to enjoy eternal life with Himself ? How can He clothe them with a body like His own, and do it righteously ? How can He change those who are His, and are still alive when He comes for His own, and not override righteousness ? (for "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.") The answer is found in His resurrection. He is justified in raising those out of death who have believed on Him. He can righteously set aside death for those who are yet in their bodies when He comes to claim those that are His. In neither event can death claim them as its victims, for their penalty has been carried by Him who has '' died for our sins according to the Scriptures," who has been "buried, and who rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures." Thus in the risen One we behold Him who has power to raise the dead, as the One who has endured death and judgment for us, so that he can deliver righteously all His own-all who believe on Him; who Himself as the risen Man, the "First-fruits of them that slept," exhibits resurrection, not only as to what it is to Himself, but as the illustration, or the archetype, of what it will be to all who are His.

To the believer, then, death is no longer that which is "appointed unto men." To view it as such is to deny that Christ has met its penalty for us. It may be a chastisement from the Father (i Cor. 5:5; 11:30). In any event, it is the occasion for the display of the glory of Christ (as the One who has already met and annulled its power), both in those who "sleep" and those who are "awake" (i Thess. 5:10) when He comes. Read carefully i Cor. 15:51-57. All are changed, and all exult over death. Finally, as touching the resurrection "of the unjust," which is "unto judgment" (John 5; Acts 24), it is manifest that even this solemn event is based on the death and resurrection of Christ. In the first place, "the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father." Plainly, this is because the Son, though equal with the Father, has, for the sake of man, become the Son of man, so that He might " taste death for every man." Compare John 5:22-27; 12:32, with Heb. 2:6-9. He who is the Judge, and who has to say what every man's eternal destiny will be, is the One who has Himself endured death and judgment. What an appeal this is to men to hear His voice, and to believe the testimony of God who sent Him, that by so doing they might have life eternal as their portion assigned them by the Judge whose sentence can never be repealed! Oh that men everywhere would listen to His voice as it sounds forth from the bitter throes of the cross, endured for them; from the dark depths of the tomb; and now, as the mighty Conqueror, and the appointed Saviour and Judge of men! " I am the resurrection and the life:he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" W. H.

ques. 37. – Would you kindly take notice of the pamphlet I send you, and say if you find in it anything contrary to the Scriptures ?

ans. – The pamphlet you send us – "The Greatest Thing I Know " – has this in it, which is most attractive to the Christian heart, that the author has found what the Church, the Body of Christ, is. He has learned its special calling and relation to Christ; the difference between the Kingdom and the Church; between the ministry of the Twelve and that of Paul ; between earthly and heavenly things. It is therefore no wonder he should call it "The greatest thing I know," and expatiate upon it, for there is heavenly delight in learning our membership in the Body of Christ – that which is "the fulness," or complement, "of Him that filleth all in all." It is surely the heights of God's grace. Along with this, of course, he has learned the New Creation, and our place in it; justification in a risen Christ; our being dead and risen with Him, and thus our unchanging and unchangeable place before God in Him.

It is wonderful delight to the soul to enter into this revelation of God's rich grace, especially if we have been ranch entangled in the legalism of the Christianity which now of a long time prevails, and which is little else than a baptized Judaism, offering an eternal and heavenly portion to man on the same terms as the Law offered a temporal and earthly one to Israel.

It is refreshing to see that the author has seen the distinct character of Paul's ministry, in whom alone we find the full revelation of what Christianity is; who is indeed the minister of the present dispensation- oar special apostle. Would God His people were willing to learn these precious and wonderful things, and thus a heavenly character be formed in them, and a heavenly path trod by them, through this present evil world.

It seems difficult for man, however, to keep the balance of truth, as other things in this pamphlet show:For, having seen the heavenly character of Paul's ministry, and the Church as the great central part of it, he proceeds to set aside the Kingdom altogether during the present time. The parables of Matt. 13, and others, which present the Kingdom in its present form, during the absence of the King have no place at all under this kind of teaching. Baptism of water is by it set aside, and the responsibilities which attend its sphere. Because the Gospels and the Acts, and other books of the Bible, do not reveal the Church, they are not for us therefore. Our place as disciples is nullified; our place as members of the body is the only one; we are not even sheep in the flock of which Christ is the Shepherd; the body of Christ did not even begin at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came ; it only began some time during the course of Pauls ministry-when the truth of the Church had been revealed. This, and more, is on the lines of a doctrine of our day, That we have nothing until we realize we have it:I have no lungs, no nerves, no stomach, till I know I have them; I am not born till I realize I am; and so, in this pamphlet, the Jewish and Gentile sheep of John 10 "did not become of the body of Christ only as their individuals accepted the teaching of Paul." What a one-sided teaching!. What legalism is again introduced if I am to reach such relationship by the progress of my soul! It is no more grace, but acquirement.

It is evidently certain that the Jerusalem saints had not the least idea that they were being formed into a body where the Jew has no superiority over the Gentiles ; but just as evidently were they, nevertheless, "all baptized by one Spirit into one body," even as a multitude of believers now, who, if they knew in their souls their membership in that body, would rejoice, and cease to be sectarian.

In his application of the wrath of God in Rom. 5 :9, we hope we only find a false application, and not a denial, of everlasting punishment. It is hard to conceive how the wrath of the great tribulation can be made that from which we are justified by the blood of Christ, unless it is to deny the eternal wrath.

We have never heard of justification by the blood of Christ from temporal judgment, save at the lips of deniers of eternal punishment.

May the Lord keep His beloved people from error, so abounding in our day; keep them from one-sidedness; from losing the flood of light which dispensational truth gives us; and also from dispensationalism which dries up the soul. Excesses are never truth, but always lead to error.

Suffice it to say that not one of the foregoing doctrines of the Church of Rome is to be found in the Bible, either Catholic or Protestant. In the light of Scripture, these statements are but idolatry, and blasphemy against God.

(Luke 7.)

Her feet moved onward by attraction great,
With alabaster box of ointment sweet:
She heeded not the scorn of Pharisee;
Her thought but one-a place at His dear feet.

Those precious, weary feet, on which no care,
Or common courtesy, had been bestowed,
She'll wash with contrite tears, and wipe them with
Her hair, the glory of her womanhood.

Five hundred pence she owed, and naught to pay!
A sad condition this; but oh, she hears
The words of grace falling from His own lips,
Which sound like music to her once-deaf ears-

" Frankly forgiven! "Oh, what a wondrous boon!
How can she cease to kiss Him o'er and o'er!
Though others may neglect, yet cannot she;
Though others slight, she'll love Him more and more.

Assured of forgiveness and His love,
What love and joy now fill her humble breast!
Jesus, Thou blessed Saviour, Lord and God,
May we, with her, thus value such a Guest!

L. C.

Key West, Fla.

The article on "The Day of Atonement" in help and food for March, 1909, is interesting. While the view suggested is not new, its presentation invites a re-consideration of the great Levitical type.

The article tells us " there are various and distinct actions on the part of the priest " noted in Leviticus 1 6, and that "it required them all to set forth the one truth of Atonement and what was necessary to make it." Four things are then distinguished :(1) the killing of the bullock by the priest; (2) the priest's entrance into the holiest with sweet incense; (3) the priest's entrance with blood; and (4) the priest's confession of the people's sins on the scapegoat.

One might suppose that the first three things simply present three aspects of the one sacrificial work. But in the article they are placed in contrast. "The priest kills the bullock . . . Though the blood is not presented, death has taken place . . . But notice again, before we can have the work of Christ to present to God, we must have His person, and so we find Aaron fills his hands full of sweet incense." Again:"In the incense we have typified the excellencies and perfections of the person of Christ . . . The cloud of incense covers the mercy seat. God surrounds Himself with the perfections of Christ's person . . . He looks at the priest as it were through that cloud, although no blood is taken in as yet . . . Jesus needed no blood to give Him title to be there . . . The next thing we notice is, the priest comes and takes of the blood of the bullock and carries it in before God. Having got the Person, he can now present the Work." If I read Leviticus 16 aright, the incense and the bullock's blood were carried into the holiest at the same time, and not on two separate journeys. Therefore, even assuming that the incense represents the person, and the blood the work, the person and the work were presented together.

As a matter of fact, however, does not each of these three things-the slain bullock, the burning incense, and the blood-represent both the person and the work? Does not the bullock assuredly typify Christ's person ? and the shedding of its blood for guilt of others picture His sacrifice? The strong but docile yearling, led to the slaughter, figures Christ, a passive victim, taken in judgment. The slaying of. the animal by the high-priest represents Christ in priestly activity, Offerer as well as offering, Himself putting sin away by the sacrifice of Himself. The bullock's death under God's command portrays sacrifice under divine judgment. The innocent creature suffering vicariously for a sinful people, sets forth substitution-the Just smitten for the unjust. All these aspects of Christ's person and work are typified in the bullock and his death.

Now the blood, afterwards to be presented, is simply that which here is shed in taking the bullock's life. Whatever may subsequently be done with it, the blood itself is but a symbol, representing the bullock slain, witnessing that its life has been offered in sacrifice.

Blood, as such, is virtueless. "Without shedding of blood there is no remission; " but uncommanded blood-shedding is an abomination. Scripture nowhere presents a doctrine of " propitiation by blood" merely. There was, indeed, a flesh-purifying propitiation by blood of bulls and goats; there now is a conscience-purging propitiation by the blood of Christ; but in each case the virtue lies in the sacrifice, which the blood but symbolizes.

Apply this principle to Leviticus 16. Instantly we realize that the bullock's blood is but the symbolical representation, brought within the sanctuary, of the sacrifice offered outside. If the priest enters by virtue of the blood, he enters by virtue of the sacrifice. If he enters to present the blood, it is the sacrifice itself which he presents-symbolically.

Is not this precisely what we find in Leviticus 16:3? "Thus shall Aaron come into the sanctuary:with a young bullock for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering." How shall he enter? Not with blood, not with incense, but with a bullock and a ram, a sin-offering and a burnt-offering! Thus the type interprets itself. Aaron must approach with a sin-offering. How does he do this ? By entering with the sin-offering's symbolical representation-its shed blood. In carrying the blood, symbolically he carries the sacrifice; in sprinkling the blood, symbolically he applies the sacrifice.

But he was to enter with a burnt-offering also. The ram is not taken in literally, any more than is the bullock; nor can it be, for the entire ram is offered by fire on the brazen altar outside, just as the fat of the bullock is consumed there, and the rest of its carcase burned beyond the camp. In the ram's case as in the bullock's, therefore, the Lord's command, to bring the sacrifice into the sanctuary, Aaron can obey only by filling his hands with its symbolical representation.

Again the type interprets itself. The priest is to enter with two things, the sin-offering and the burnt-offering. He enters, and the two things he carries are the sweet incense and the bullock's blood. If the blood certainly represents the sin-offering, from which it has been drawn, the incense, the only other thing taken in, unmistakably represents the burnt-offering.

Incidentally, these conclusions warn us that in its order of procedure the type departs widely from the chronology of actual events in the work of Christ. For example, in the Levitical ritual the priest enters the sanctuary with the symbolical representations of the sin-offering and burnt-offering before the ram is really slain, and before the burning of the bullock's body, figuring the visitation of divine wrath upon Christ, has taken place outside the camp. Moreover, it is notorious that in all these typical sacrifices the infliction of the governmental penalty of death precedes the action of fire upon the victim, whereas at the cross death came afterward, when fell the infinite horror poured out for us in making Christ a curse had spent itself upon our adorable Lord.

Do these differences in type and anti-type suggest that the typical order is barren of significance and may be neglected ? Do they not rather urge us diligently to seek a fulness of meaning more broad and deep than lies in any mere detail of procedure in the great work of Christ? Leaving these and other features for another time, if God will, let us pause to gather some of the sweetness of the things before us.

The typical high priest was to "come into the sanctuary with … a sin-offering and … a burnt-offering." And so "within the veil . . . the Forerunner is for us entered, Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek" (Heb. 6:19, 20). " We have such an High Priest, who set Himself down on the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the holy places and of the tabernacle which the Lord pitched-not man " (Heb. 8:i, 2). Moreover, "every priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; wherefore it is needful that this One should have somewhat also to offer " (Heb. 8:3). Now "into the first tabernacle the priests enter at all times, . . . but into the second the high priest only, once a year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people . . . But Christ, being come high priest of the good things to come, by the better and more perfect tabernacle not made with hand, that is, not of this creation, nor by blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, has entered in, once for all, into the holies, having found an eternal redemption" (Heb. 9; 6, 7, 11, 12). "Almost all things, by the law, are purged with blood It was therefore necessary that the figurative representations of the things in the heavens should be purified by these, but the heavenly things themselves with sacrifices better than these. For the Christ is not entered into holy places made with hand, figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us; nor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy places every year, with blood not his own, since then He had been obliged often to suffer, from the foundation of the world; but now, once, in the consummation of the ages, He has been manifested for the putting away of sin by the sacrifice of Himself; and since it is the portion of men once to die, and after this judgment, so Christ also was once offered to bear the sins of the many; and unto them that look for Him He shall appear the second time, apart from sin, unto salvation " (Heb. 9:22-28).

This, the perfect, the God-breathed interpretation of what is before us, illuminates the type by measureless contrasts as well as by eloquent likenesses. No mysterious going into the sanctuary and out again, in the disembodied state, can be depicted in such language, but rather the triumphal, public and official passage through the heavens of our risen Lord, "once;" having first, in resurrection, been saluted of God a Priest, eternal, unchangeable, after the order of Melchizedek.

Aaron passed in momentarily, and passed out again. Our High Priest entered heaven itself, "once for all," at His ascension; forty days after His resurrection; and in heaven He abides, and shall until His glorious second advent to bring complete salvation to His expectant saints. In the one brief moment of approach, Aaron stood before the mercy-seat. Our great Priest entering, seated Himself on the right hand of the Greatness in the heavens, taking eternal possession as the rightful priestly minister of the holy places and the tabernacle.

Indeed, this reenthronement of God's Son, His sacrificial work accomplished, is the grand theme of the epistle to the Hebrews. Creator, Preserver, Heir of all, as we learn from the epistle's introduction, He, having bent down from the seat of Omnipotence to the depths of the curse to purge and redeem creation, forever resumed His place as God upon the throne of God. "Who, . . . having by Himself purged our sins, set Himself down on the right hand of the Greatness on high " (Heb. i:3).

Returning to our main point, we have seen that in the blood and incense carried into the holy places the sacrifices themselves were symbolically presented. Hence if Christ entered the holies once for all, "by," or "in virtue of," His own blood (Heb. 9:12), it was really by, or in virtue of, His sacrifice. This we fully understand since He entered not for Himself, but "to appear before the face of God for us."

Is this not abundantly confirmed by the interpreting epistle ? In one place we have the divine argument that since it is the function of every high priest to offer sacrifice, it was needful for our Melchizedek-Priest also to have such to offer (Heb. 8:3). It follows therefore that what our Priest presented to God was not blood, but sacrifice. It was necessary, we read again, that figurative things should be purified by "blood" of goats and calves, but the heavenly things themselves with-" better blood " ? No, but with " better sacrifices " (Heb. 9:23).
Is this not overwhelmingly conclusive ? Can we doubt that the typical making of atonement for the sanctuary, in which the priest sprinkled symbolical blood of slain goats and bullocks, was by Christ fulfilled, not by any literal or mystical presentation of His blood (which, though His, would still be only a symbol), but by the presentation unto God of His entire sacrificial work, in all its infinite efficacy and glorious entirety ?

In the type no one can question the touching suitability of the victim's blood to symbolize the sacrifice. "The life of the flesh is in the blood" (Lev. 17:11), and in shed blood we see life relinquished, life poured out-a sacrifice. So in Scripture the "blood of Christ" ever is the touching symbolism of the life and soul of Christ poured out to make atonement, an emblem of His complete sacrifice, in the fulness of its value. Nor can we fail to see in Heb. 9 the anti-typical presentation of the sin-offering within the sanctuary in the entering in of Christ, "by His own blood," to purify the heavenly things by His "better sacrifice." Do we also find in Hebrews the presentation of the burnt-offering ?

While the sin-offering could put away an Israelite's particular sins, sins of ignorance, the "errors of the people" (Heb. 9:7), the burnt-offering alone availed for the "acceptance" of a sinner's person (Lev. 1:3, where '' of his own voluntary will" should read, "for his acceptance"). Indeed, the burnt-offering combined in one the sin-, trespass-, peace-and meal-offerings, expressing the perfect execution in sacrifice of the whole will of God. How suited, therefore, is the sweet incense of the type to symbolize this fragrant holocaust, the perpetual going up to God of "sweet-smelling savor," an "odor of rest," in place of sin's dishonoring stench!

By itself, no doubt, the incense figures the preciousness of Christ's person. But in the type we have person and work, or the person in His work, Christ sacrificially offered without spot to God; for the priest presents not incense merely, but incense laid upon burning coals from the altar of burnt-offering-a fire which only draws forth the utmost strength of sweetness, filling the whole house with a cloud of fragrance.

The article we review itself interprets the incense as "the excellences and perfections of the person of Christ, brought out in all their sweetness and preciousness by the action of fire-judgment." But is this the Person, in contrast with His work ? Christ under the action of fire-judgment ? What is this but Christ sacrificed-the work itself ? It is, indeed, the Sacrifice, in the fulness of its efficacy to atone for sin, sweet with infinite preciousness of the person and character of God's Son, redolent of the perfumes of His ardent love, His devotion to God's will, His touching consecration unto death and woe unfathomable-God's perpetual glory, His delight, and His eternal rest!

But does Hebrews interpret for us the priestly entrance into the holiest with this fragrant offering? It does. "He saith, sacrifice and offering Thou wouldst not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me. . . . Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God. . By the which will we have been sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth ministering daily, and offering often the same sacrifices. . . . But this One, having offered one sacrifice for sins, set Himself down in perpetuity at the right hand of God, from henceforth waiting till His enemies be made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected, in perpetuity, the sanctified" (Heb. 10:5, 7, 10-13).
We reach the climax in one transcendent contrast between the Antitype and its infirm figure. Aaron, commanded to enter in with sin-offering and burnt-offering, could approach only with symbolical representations. But Christ, entering heaven for us, literally carried in His mighty sacrifice-sin-offering and burnt-offering in one!

In His Person all types converge. He Himself is priest and sacrifice, sin-offering, burnt-offering, bullock, goat, and ram. The God of resurrection, therefore, when He raised Christ from the grave, brought up from death and judgment Priest and Victim, Offerer and Offering; and Christ, when He appeared before God's face for us, presented both in His own person-Himself our priest, Himself our sacrifice. Yea, rather, seating Himself beside the Eternal, He began to minister gifts to men on the basis of the sacrifice-Himself, seated there!

This is not propitiation by blood, but propitiation by sacrifice-propitiation by the Person who is the sacrifice. And is it not the explicit doctrine of Scripture ? " Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son, a propitiation for our sins " (i John 4:10). The Person is the propitiation. And are we not again expressly taught to gaze with faith-lit eyes upon the Propitiation for our sins, living, exalted, enthroned in the highest ? "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any one sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He Himself (αυτoς) is a propitiation for our sins:and not for our sins only, but also for the whole cosmos" (i John 2:1, 2, Greek)

What a doctrine to hang one's soul upon! The holy Sacrifice for our sins, lifted by our mighty Priest up to God's throne for God's acceptance, there, in all its infinite preciousness and power, everlastingly to abide, eternally efficacious! Gloriously, thus, we see the sin-offering presented in the holiest. What of the burnt-offering ?

Recall the lambs of the morning and evening sacrifice, yielding perpetual sweetness day and night, "day by day continually" (Ex. 29:38-46); then lift the eyes to heaven's "continual burnt-offering":" Lo, in the midst of the throne, . . . and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb as it had been slain " (Rev. 5:6)-filling God's halls with fragrance, God's heart with sweet delight, and the wondering soul of saint and angel with paeans of worshipful rapture! F. Allaben

(To be continued.)

III.

(Continued from p. 137.)

Some regard the scapegoat in Lev. 16 as a figure of the element of substitution in Christ's sacrifice, and as the only " full type of this" to be found in Scripture. Starting from this mistaken premise, as we believe it to be, conclusions of great moment are reached and maintained.

"Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat:. . . and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited" or "cut off" (Lev. 16 :21, 22). Surely such language pictures nothing less than sins so removed from the people as effectually to save them. But is substitution at the cross the thing here portrayed ? If so, the Substitute died only for those who will be saved, and we must embrace the doctrine of a strictly limited atonement.

In that case we must abandon the view that propitiation and substitution are simply two aspects of atonement:propitiation expressing its efficacy to maintain God's righteousness in passing over sins, and substitution expressing the truth that Christ bore sin's penalty for others. For while our Lord is a propitiation for the whole world (i John 2:2), a substitute for the whole world He cannot be if the scapegoat pictures substitution; for, were sins removed from all mankind, like Israel's upon the scapegoat, would not the whole world be saved ?

So too, if the scapegoat typifies substitution, we must deny that "atonement" in the Old Testament is the equivalent of "propitiation" in the New.* *Notwithstanding the fact that in the Septuagint version "atonement" is rendered by substantially the same Greek forms which the Spirit of God subsequently employed for "propitiation " in His New Testament.* For since atonement includes substitution, and propitiation, being for the whole world, cannot include it (if, indeed, the scapegoat represents substitution), atonement and propitiation necessarily are different. And, by the same logic, we must believe that," atonement," which looms up everywhere in the Old Testament, dominating the book, is not once mentioned in the New!

Indeed, once concede that the scapegoat pictures substitution, and at every turn a cramped and limited view of Christ's work is before the mind. Impressed by the far-reaching efficacy which Scripture seems to attribute to the cross, would we fain regard our Lord's infinite sacrifice as a fragrant atonement for all evil ? We may not do so:the yawning brink of universalism threatens! For does not "atonement" include scapegoat-substitution ? and does not this necessarily save ? One died for all-but this is not atonement! Christ gave Himself a ransom-price for all-it cannot mean atonement! He tasted death for everything-but not atoningly! He is a propitiation for the whole world-but did not make atonement for its sins! All things are reconciled by the blood of His cross-but not through atonement! He came to put away sin by His sacrifice-but not by atonement! He sits on high, having effected purification of sins:-but this was not atonement! Behold God's Lamb that takes away the sin of the cosmos-but do not imagine that this is by atonement!

But does the scapegoat figure substitution ? Surely not! The type itself decisively refutes the thought.

1. What is involved in substitutionary sin-bearing ? Is it not the bearing of sins' penalty-death and judgment ? But in the type, the scapegoat is precisely that which bears no penalty. It does not die-does not endure judgment. It is the escape goat, the goat which goes free! Substitution without death – without penalty-bearing? A living goat, "let go," the special figure of sin-bearing by a dying Christ ? Is this interpretation ?

2. Aaron is said to "have made atonement" for himself, his house, Israel, the tabernacle, the sanctuary, and the altar (Lev. 16 :14-20), before he comes out to the scapegoat. "When he hath finished making atonement, … he shall present the live goat" (ver. 20). This atonement was made by sacrificing the bullock and Jehovah's goat, with the rams, anticipatively represented in the burning incense, as if already offered. In accepting these sacrifices, God acknowledged their efficacy; hence every feature of atonement, including substitution, must have been present to His complete satisfaction.

All agree that "atonement" cannot be made without substitution. Since it was made, according to the text, by the sacrifice of the bullock, Jehovah's goat, and the rams, must these not have been substitutes? Who, indeed, can question it ? Were not these innocent victims vicariously offered for the guilt of others ?-and this is substitution.

Again, upon these victims typically fell both items of the penalty in sin-bearing-death and judgment. They were slain for guilt of others; for others' guilt they were consumed by fire. And the scapegoat was '' let go," because Jehovah's goat died thus, bearing judgment, to "make an atonement for it" (ver. 10, Heb.).

All the sacrifices in the Old Testament typify substitution. They died, not for themselves, but for guilty man. But the scapegoat was not sacrificed at all. It removed sins without incurring death. Of what, then, is it a type ? We shall see presently.

3, Ver. 27 speaks of the blood of the bullock and of Jehovah's goat as "brought in to make atonement in the sanctuary." Hence the service of the scapegoat, which took place afterward, and outside, is not included in atonement. Yet since atonement must include substitution, it follows that the blood which could thus "make atonement in the sanctuary " was blood of substitution, and, therefore, that the victims which shed it were substitutes.

And let us weigh the fact that the presence of the blood "in" the sanctuary was regarded as making "atonement." This proves that the blood symbolically represented the complete sacrifice; for, assuredly, not a single element of the sacrifice could be absent from that which "makes atonement."* * In a preceding paper we reached the conclusion that the blood is, symbolically, the sacrifice, from Lev. 16 :3; because the explicit command that Aaron must enter the sanctuary "with the sin-offering " is wholly disregarded if it be not observed in his entrance with the victim's blood. Heb. 13 :11 sets its seal upon this interpretation. "For of those beasts whose blood, as sacrifices for sin, is carried into the holies by the high priest-the bodies of these are burned outside the camp " (Greek ; compare the Revised Version and the New Translation). This, held in mind and logically applied wherever the blood is mentioned in Lev. 16, of itself corrects in any misapprehensions.*

Furthermore, the blood "in the sanctuary " is said to "make atonement" (not propitiation). Who can reconcile with this the view, professedly based upon this very scripture, that "propitiation," and not atonement, was made by the presentation of Christ's blood in heaven ? Indeed, we are first told that "atonement" in the Old Testament is not the same as "propitiation" in the New; and then, in proof that propitiation, as distinct from atonement, has been made by blood in heaven, we are turned to the very dealing with blood in the sanctuary in the type before us, which Scripture expressly and repeatedly says, "makes atonement"! Truth may not walk upon the unequal legs of the lame; and only one consistent interpretation is possible here. What really makes "atonement," throughout the type, is the sacrificial death of the victims-slain outside the sanctuary; and the different acts of blood-sprinkling, "to make atonement for " the various things linked with the tabernacle, do not picture a new work, nor divide atonement into parts, but simply show its efficacy to purify the figurative representations of the heavens and the earth from the people's sin and sins, judged upon the victims.

In God's sight, the tabernacle was purged the instant the sacrifices were offered up. But that Israel might realize this, symbols of the sacrifices were carried in and applied. For God, the entire universe
was purged from sins (Heb. i:3) and sin (Heb. 9:26) the instant Christ died.* *Contrary to the thought that " sin " is not atoned for, the type (ver. 16) explicitly stales that the sanctuary (God's presence) received atonement in view of Israel's " uncleanness " (sin), as well as in view of " their transgressions in all their sins." And so was it with "the tabernacle, which dwelleth among them in the midst of their uncleanness." With "sins" not only atoned for, but removed by the scapegoat, "sin" still remained in Israel, and, as necessarily abiding still in the midst of this, the tabernacle required atonement. In Scripture, a competent dealing with "sins" involves a full dealing with "sin." God never separates a tree's fruits from its roots-from the tree itself; but regards the one as manifesting the other.* But for "our justification," that we might know this, Christ risen appeared to men on earth; and as our Representative, in entering heaven to appear before God's face " for us," He ascended publicly, in the sight of men and angels.

4. Lastly, all the figures of Christ, represented as "atoned for" in view of Israel's sins (as the brazen altar, the tabernacle, the sanctuary and its furniture), are all figures of Christ in heaven now, with His sacrifice completed, and its value perpetuated in and applied through His Person (Heb. 7:24, 25). The scapegoat, another figure of Him, as all agree, likewise was "atoned for" (ver. 10, Heb.). Does not the scapegoat, then, figure the glorified Christ's present work, in actually remitting and removing sins, rather than His work at Calvary, in bearing their penalty ?

The type gains a new significance the moment this interpretation displaces the incongruous view that a goat which dies not, bears no penalty, but goes free, figures sins' judgment upon a dying Christ!

First, we face the literal fact. A year's accumulated sins of the priests and nation of Israel were atoned for, and this atonement applied to the cleansing of sanctuary, tabernacle, and altar, without removing these sins from the guilty people themselves. This last required another thing-the service of the scapegoat. What would God teach by it ?
If we make the work of the scapegoat an element in atonement, we reach the unscriptural view that substitution necessarily saves all for whom Christ died, even though they should remain hardened rejecters of the Substitute and His work. But if the scapegoat figures the risen Saviour, it brings into our type the doctrine of Scripture elsewhere, that although God has been glorified by complete atonement for evil, the eternal consequences of sins are lifted from none who reject God's terms of pardon.

Next, we interpret our chapter as a type. Israel's sins become the world's. Christ atones for them, and heaven and earth are purged. Does universal-ism follow ? Alas, no. How happy had been " the Father of spirits" had the spectacle of His Son's cross broken the heart of fallen man and angel, and brought them both, repentant, at Christ's feet! Would either have been cast out ? But, no; of itself the sacrificial work removes not one sin from one guilty soul. To accomplish this God must do a further work, in souls-the antitype of the scapegoat's service.

Let the Christian apply this to his unsaved years. Had not Christ made atonement before your birth- before your sins existed ? Was He not your substitute ? If not, He never can be; for, thank God, He dieth no more! Yet with substitutionary atonement wrought for you, were you not still unsaved, with unpurged conscience, "condemned already," God's wrath abiding on you, as completely lost as if no substitute had died ? If substitution lifts not one sin from the elect, apart from faith and repentance, why should it save a wilful world still unbelieving and unrepentant ?

Apply the type to Israel. Was not the Messiah their Substitute ? Did He not make vicarious atonement-die for that nation ? Did not Jehovah lay on Him the iniquity of them all ? And are their sins gone, or still left ?-a horrible weight, upon their souls ! With substitution effected, atonement made, what means this heartbreaking procession of eighteen weary centuries of hopeless Jewish generations ?

Alas, the fault lies not with Israel's compassionate Priest! " How often would I! " He cried, "And ye would not!" He did not fail to fulfil the first part of Lev. 16. True Antitype of bullock, goat, and ram, He gloriously atoned for Israel's sins, purging the universe from their defilement. But Israel will not put out its hands to Him, confessing its sins. The stiff-necked Jew rejects the Priest, rejects the glorified scapegoat. Jesus patiently awaits one motion of faith, that from the souls of Jacob's seed He may remove their awful burden; on the basis of His sacrifice casting their sins behind Him into a land of forgetfulness, while ministering sweet and gracious words of everlasting pardon, "Your sins and iniquities will I remember no more!" In God's time the typical picture will be fulfilled, "and so all Israel shall be saved" (Rom. 11:26).

In a picture of Christ's work so elaborate as Lev. 16, is it not fitting that God should somewhere show how the sins atoned for may be remitted to the guilty ? And the voice of Scripture is one in its doctrine of remission. Christ's sacrifice is the mighty foundation on which salvation rests. Therefore we are "justified in [Gk., εv "in virtue of," or "in the power of "] His blood" (Rom. 5:9). But is any one saved by or through it until faith and repentance are wrought in the soul ?

Not the past work of substitution, but a present work of new birth, on the ground of faith in the Sacrifice once offered, introduces into God's kingdom. Present faith in the soul justifies-not the fact that substitution has been effected for us, apart from faith in us (which alone would involve universalism). Remission of sins is conditioned on repentance; not on whether the work of substitution included those to whom we preach. It did include them; yet they shall perish, if they repent not. God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse" us from all unrighteousness, "if we confess our sins." But Christ's offering to God of a substitutionary sacrifice confers on us no forgiveness, so long as we flout the Substitute that died, and the God who waits to forgive. Until we believe, instead of saving, the substitutionary sacrifice utterly condemns-multiplies our guilt by adding the rejection of God's love and gift to our other sins.

An error of translation in our common version (Lev. 16:10) applying to the scape-goat the words, "To make atonement with him,"may lead one, just because he is subject to God's word, to frame his views in accordance with the supposed scripture. And though the error be corrected, the misapprehensions begotten by it still shaping the thought, may barricade the mind against the sweetest truths. We do not misread the type of the two birds (Lev. 14:4-7). All see a risen Christ ascending, as the living bird flies heavenward, stained with the slain bird's blood. And since we now know that Lev. 16:10 (Heb.) declares that "the scape-goat shall be presented alive before Jehovah, to make an atonement for him [not "with "], to let him go" shall we not apply this type to the present, all-important, heavenly work of our glorified Saviour ?

The type refers not alone to Israel, and to a coming day. On the ground of His atoning sacrifice, offered up at the beginning of this dispensation, day by day and century after century since His cross, Christ in glory has been removing sins from millions of repenting sinners-casting their iniquities behind His back into the "cut-off" land of God's eternal forgetfulness! Could God have made the type and its interpretation plainer, unless, by a special miracle performed on each recurring day of atonement, He had raised the slain goat from the dead, instead of using two ?

F. Allaben

(To be continued.)

22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea:and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

I have found Mark 11:22-26 of great benefit to myself and others in this connection. Here we have;

1. Faith-the "faith of God"; that is, faith that takes its character and strength from God as its object- faith that brings God into the difficulty. There is a mountain to be removed. God only can lift a mountain up and throw it into the sea. But He is greater than the mountain; and if you can bring Him into the matter, the mountain must go.

2. Prayer is our proper attitude-what expresses our dependence on God; but the prayer of faith only is effectual.

3. There is a condition; that is, this prayer of faith is conditional on a certain state in us, and that is the spirit of forgiveness. " When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any." It is not here going to one who has wronged you, and telling him you forgive him. In such a case the word is, "If he repent, forgive him." But here it is the state of our hearts toward our brethren when we are in the presence of God. Suppose I am praying to God, who has forgiven me ten thousand talents in absolute grace, and am holding something against one who may have wronged me, God will not hear me. I am not in communion; my state is wrong; I am not in the current of God's thoughts, and will not be able to exercise faith.

A person says, "I cannot feel right toward Mr. A." That is, he has hard feelings toward Mr. A. But can I think of God in this way ? Can I speak of Him as having "hard feelings " toward any one ? Never. When we were enemies, He gave His Son. Now, my heart is to be in the same state as His:that is, my feelings and desires are to be formed by what flows down in communion through the Word from His heart into mine. And if this is my state when I pray, I will forgive if I have anything against any one, and my heart will be free in God's presence; and however my brother may have erred, I will be able to seek his blessing and restoration.

In case of personal difficulties among saints, if this state is reached in God's presence, it is wonderful how soon difficulties melt away, because it is God Himself coming in to act in grace. A. H. R.

But these sheep, what have they done? (2 Sam. 24:17.) How sweetly the Shepherd character of David shines out here! Israel was in a bad state, calling for God’s discipline. It shows itself in the king whose pride leads him to number the people, that he might glory in the magnificent army at his command. The prophet Gad is sent to David to ask him to choose one out of three different kinds of judgment to come upon him for his sin, and upon Israel for their state.

In the execution of the judgment, '' David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly:but these sheep, what have they done? let Thy hand, I pray Thee, be against me, and against my father's house."

What moral lessons for ourselves we find in these Old Testament histories! i Cor. 11:26-32 views the people of God in our day in just the same circumstances. If a nation, as such, was chosen out of the rest of the nations, as Israel was, to be in special nearness to God on earth, and to be the depositories of His oracles, they must prove that He is holy, and that they therefore must be holy too. How much more a people chosen out from among sinners, to be in nearness to Himself in heaven, and to be the depositories of His eternal counsels, must prove that He is holy, and that they must be holy in a far deeper sense than Israel!

Oh, to be pastors-true pastors-among such a people! Such must learn to weep; they must suffer patiently; they must go to the roots of evil in their own selves, and hate it; they must love the sheep
for their own sake and for that of their Owner; they must not be sectarian; they must not be self-willed ; their task is not mean, nor small, their reward is great.

"And they shall be Mine. . .in that day when I make up My jewels" (Mal. 3:17). This is the last of Old Testament history. It closes with the promise which has filled its pages from Genesis on:"The
Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple:. . . behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts" (ver. i). And when He comes, "all nations shall call you blessed:for ye shall be a delightsome land" (ver. 12). "Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord " (ver. 4).

But what different circumstances they are in now! Judgment upon judgment; discipline follows discipline; days of clouds, and rains, and storms; and yet so much more do they deserve for their evil ways and stubborn course this the voice of Him who smites them is heard to say, '' For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed " (ver. 6). He cannot call them sons of Abraham, for faith does not characterize them; He calls them sons of Jacob-that crooked man who, but for God's unconditional promises and sovereign grace, would have been cast off.

This discipline, which is far short of what they deserve, discourages them. Instead of recognizing the grace of God in not consuming them, instead of judging themselves, they say, "It is vain to serve God:and what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?" (ver. 14). They are indeed in sorrow, and there is some compliance with outward ordinances, but the heart is not right. So they "call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered " (ver. 15). What a picture! In the place where the true followers of the One who is meek and lowly in heart should be loved and recognized, the proud and the evil-doers are in the lead.

Amid all this, here are a few who fear the Lord, who recognize His righteous hand yet His rich grace, who value the fellowship of those of a like mind, and therefore "speak often one to another." If they are faithful, they are not haughty, for they fear the Lord; if they have to be apart from much, they are not independent, for they feel the need of each other. Of them the Lord takes notice. (Oh, what can be compared with this!) Their needs, their cries, their confessions, their secret exercises with Him, are all heard and noted down, and kept before Him. They do not call the proud happy; they do not say it is vain to serve God; though cast down, they are not discouraged, for they keep the long-delayed yet certain promise before their souls, "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple"; and this keeps everything that God loves alive in their souls. Then, at that day which is hourly approaching, "they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth His own son that serveth him " (ver. 17).

Who that drinks into His present grace would not seek to be of that blessed company!

QUES. 20.-Please explain the latter clause of Rom. 11 :22. Has it any reference to eternal life?

ANS.-Not at all. It is not a question of individual souls here. It has a dispensational application. God gave His testimony to Israel as a people at first. (See chapter 9 of this epistle.) They failed to keep it. So He passed it to the Gentiles ; and they too have failed to keep it. Christendom is largely plunged in idolatry and legality, and is fast going on to apostasy. God is about to cut it off therefore, as He before cat off Israel.

The Gentile (Christendom,) is represented as speaking of Israel in verse 19 of this 11th chapter. The reply to this is from verse 20 onward.

But mark this well; the cutting off of Israel as God's vessel of testimony on earth, which took place about thirty years after our Lord's return to heaven, in nowise hinders individual Israelites from salvation. Nor will the impending cutting off of Christendom as God's present vessel of testimony on earth hinder in the least any individual Gentile from salvation, except they be of the class described in 2 Thess. 2:8-12. Indeed, verse 15 of our 11th of Romans shows plainly that when Christendom is cut off and Israel restored again to favor, a wave of blessing heretofore unknown on earth will be experienced.

Well may faith sing, though in a scene of sorrow, as indeed she does in the closing verses of this chapter ; for she has learned that the failure of man has but displayed "the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God."

QUES. 21.-Please explain Heb. 10:26-29.

ANS.-It must be borne in mind, to understand Hebrews aright, that " sin " here is not at all the same as in 1 John 2 :1, for which there is an Advocate. In Hebrews there is no Advocate, for the reason that the sin there is the rejection of Christ Himself. Some were turning back to Judaism, after having professed Christianity. But Judaism had only the shadows. Christianity had the realities. Turning back from the realities to the shadows was sinning wilfully, with open eyes, with knowledge of the truth. It set aside the only sacrifice which avails for sins, and so there was no more sacrifice, no more possible hope. They who despised Moses' law died without mercy. How much worse the end of those who despised Christ after having professed Him ! for they trample under foot, not a law, but the Son of God.

They had been positionally sanctified, that is, separated from the ungodly world by the blood of Christ, in whom they professed to believe :just as Israel in Egypt had been separated from the Egyptians by the blood of the lamb on their doors, whilst in many of them there was no real faith in God, and they perished by the way.

This is doing despite to the Spirit of grace, whose mission here is to exalt the grace of God as displayed in Christ.

QUES. 22.-What is Predestination, as taught in Scripture?
ANS.-It is what the children of God are to be in eternity-the destiny which God has prepared for them :"It doth not yet appear what we shall be:but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him " (1 John 3:2). Rom. 8 :29 explains it in a few words :" For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son."

It should not, be confounded with Election. Election has to do with God's sovereign grace in making us children; Predestination, with His sovereign grace in the glory which He has purposed for us in eternity.

QUES. 23.-What is the meaning of 1 John 3:8, 9?

ANS.-A double line of truth may be intended by the Spirit in these verses.

1st. The life implanted in the believer:"His (God's) seed remaineth in him." It is as impossible for this " seed " to produce sin, as for our fallen nature to produce righteousness. The root of a grafted tree is still wild, and if allowed to grow can produce only wild fruit. But the implanted graft is from a good tree. It cannot produce wild fruit, but, in greater or less perfection and quantity, only fruit like that of the parent tree. But that graft, not the root, is now really the tree; the new nature implanted in the believer is what constitutes the man now, and so it is said of the child of God, "He cannot sin, because he is born of God."

2nd. It is also true in the practical life of the child of God. He cannot walk any more in the paths of sin in which he walked before. He can be happy only in the practice of righteousness. If in this sense he fails in detail here and there, he has "an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous " (chap. 2:1); but he cannot live in sin ; it cannot be the practice of his daily life any more. Indeed, it is by this that men see the change which has taken place within him.

This, we think, will also explain what difficulty you may have in chap. 5 :18 of the same epistle.

QUES. 24.-In 1 Cor. 12 :9, 28, 30, "the gifts of healing" are mentioned. Are those gifts still in existence in the Church? If so, would you kindly say who has them ?

ANS.-We know of none. In all the years of our Christian journey we have never seen any. Those we have met who claimed to possess them were manifest deceivers, and represented generally the most wicked religious systems in existence.

Some who would not claim to have the gift of healing as we see it in the disciples at the first, when God was establishing Christianity on the earth, claim, nevertheless, to " heal by faith." Now we know that God ever answers the prayer of faith ; and we are thankful for it; but, among the various kinds of "faith-healers," we have seen so much deception, such a horde of antichristian doctrines, such a love of money, and at best such a hindrance to the interests of the soul by undue occupation with the comforts of the body, that we are convinced Satan has much more to do with it than Christ.

Such persons utterly disregard the blessed use the Lord makes of sickness, as is seen in the cases of Job, of Timothy, of Paul, of Epaphroditus, and others.
The Church belongs not to earth, but to heaven. Let us not love the earth and crave for its comforts, but rather love Christ and suffer patiently the discipline we all need, to make us "partakers of His holiness."

QUES. 25.-On what scripture is the practice-based of licensing young ministers to preach, arid yet not to administer the Lord's Supper ?

ANS.-There is scripture for neither the one nor the other. It is all a part of that order of things now found in Christendom which has arisen from ignoring the presence and place of the Holy Ghost in the dispensation we are now in. See John 7:37-39 and chap. 14:15-20. It has led to human organizations much after the pattern and character of things in Judaism. It has formed a "clergy" and a "laity," in direct opposition to our Lord's words in Matt. 23 :8, " Be not ye called Rabbi:for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren."

There are, no doubt, many excellent men found in false positions ; but that does not justify the false, nor will they find it to have been profitable when all is manifested "before the judgment-seat of Christ."