{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_36425/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_36425","id":"gutenberg_36425","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36425","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Jesus Christ"],"text":"</pre>\n\nTranscribed from the 1882 Saml. Harris & Co. edition by David Price,\nemail ccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\n                              JESUS FULFILS\n                                 THE LAW.\n\n\n                      [Picture: Decorative divider]\n\n                                    BY\n                      One of the Society of Friends.\n\n                      [Picture: Decorative divider]\n\n                                 LONDON.\n               SAML. HARRIS & CO., 5, BISHOPSGATE WITHOUT.\n                                  1882.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                      BARRETT, SONS AND CO., PRINTER\n                           SEETHING LANE, E.C.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n\n                                                                  PAGE\n                              CHAPTER I.\nHow Jesus fulfilled the Law                                          1\n                             CHAPTER II.\nProvisions for the Pardon of Sin, and Reconciliation under   16\nthe Law\n                             CHAPTER III.\nThe Hebrew Sacrifices from the Christian Point of View.      38\nThe Sacrifice of Christ their true Complement\n                             CHAPTER IV.\nTestimony of the Old Testament Prophecies to Jesus Christ    54\nas the Messiah\n                              CHAPTER V.\nThe Gospel of Christ                                         72\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nIn a day when so much has been written on almost every Scripture subject\nit requires some apology for offering anything further; but as different\ntrains of thought are more suited to one than another, they may serve as\nuseful remembrancers, although there may be nothing particularly new\nabout them.  The writer of the following pages, being in the evening of\nlife and much retired from its active duties by failing health, often\nendeavours to look through the lengthening shadows of the evening to the\nglory which shall be revealed, and delights to ponder over those passages\nof Holy Writ which form the basis of our faith in Christ.\n\nThe following pages make no attempt at scholarship.  The author\nthankfully accepts and believes the revelation which God has given us in\nHoly Scripture, and has endeavoured to set forth a plain _scriptural_\nstatement of the successive steps or development of that revelation,\nculminating in the Gospel of Christ.\n\nWhen our Lord says of the final issue of His judgment, \u201cThese\u201d (speaking\nof the wicked) \u201cshall go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous\ninto life eternal,\u201d I believe He perfectly understood the subject, and\nmeant what He said.  When Paul also, writing of himself and his\nfellow-Apostles, said \u201cKnowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we\npersuade men,\u201d I believe he meant\u2014they persuaded men \u201cto flee from the\nwrath to come,\u201d and take shelter in \u201cthe blood of the everlasting\ncovenant\u201d (Heb. xiii. 20); according to the words, \u201cIt is a fearful thing\nto fall into the hands of the living God who hath said, Vengeance\nbelongeth unto Me, I will recompense saith the Lord\u201d (Heb. x. 30, 31; and\n2 Thess. ii. 6\u20139).\n\nI have been a fond reader of Holy Scripture from my youth, and have from\ntime to time studied much that has been written in support of its\ngenuineness and authenticity; but now in the retrospect of the past I\nfind no evidence for the general truth of that Scripture at all to\ncompare with the words of our Lord Jesus Christ\u2014\u201cIf any man will do His\n(the Father\u2019s) will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God\nor whether I speak of myself\u201d (John vii. 17).\n\n\u201cThe secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them\nHis covenant\u201d (Ps. xxv. 14).  As it is all-important to know that the\nfoundations are sure, and will stand in the day of trial, I have set down\nin these pages the train of thought which has proved most confirming to\nmy own faith, and trust that some of those who love the Truth as it is in\nJesus may find it helpful to themselves.\n\nWe live in eventful times.  There is much abroad in the world to excite\nalarm.  When Atheism and Infidelity are making strenuous efforts to\nextend their withering influence; when Roman Catholicism and a kindred\nritualism are invading our country, there is abundant need to stick to\nthe Law and the Testimony, lest the curtains of darkness should be again\nspread over it.  But notwithstanding that the picture may be somewhat\ngloomy, it is by no means all on one side; by various instrumentalities\nthe Gospel is being largely and successfully proclaimed, and the message\nof salvation _through Christ alone_ is now carried to every class, and\nalmost from house to house, in a manner never before witnessed; and the\nlowest haunts of vice and misery are at least opened to the town\nmissionary, the Bible-woman, or the evangelist, where but recently the\npolice could not venture single-handed; and many are the brands plucked\nfrom the burning, so that among these, as well as among the social\ncircles above them, a rich and powerful wave of Gospel blessing is\nrolling over the land.\n\nIf I have fairly represented the teaching of the Bible, it is all that I\ncould aspire to.  The many \u201cdivers and strange doctrines\u201d which in one or\nanother way oppose the Gospel of Christ, must be swept away before the\ngrand truths which the Bible sets forth, and which, when time is past and\neternity remains, will for ever be a theme of praise and thanksgiving to\nthe glorified beings who shall be accounted worthy to stand before the\nthrone, and swell the anthem of \u201cGlory and dominion to Him who loved us,\nand washed us from our sins in His own blood\u201d (Rev. i. 5, 6).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\nHOW JESUS FULFILLED THE LAW.\n\n\u201cI am not come to destroy\u201d (the law and the prophets) \u201cbut to fulfil.\nTill heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass\nfrom the law till all be fulfilled\u201d (Matt. v. 17, 18).\n\nThe above solemn words of our Lord Jesus Christ, being part of His Sermon\non the Mount (as related by Matthew), appear to open an interesting field\nof inquiry into an important portion of Divine Truth as set forth in Holy\nScripture.\n\nIn what manner did our Lord so fulfil the law given by Moses that one jot\nor one tittle should in no wise pass unfulfilled?  Was it when He went to\nthe Baptist, and _received baptism_, because it became Him to fulfil all\nrighteousness? (Matt. iii. 15).  Was it when He sent the ten lepers whom\nHe would heal to show themselves to the priests (agreeably to Lev. xiv.\n2; Luke xvii. 14); or in another similar case, when He said, \u201cGo, show\nthyself to the priest, and offer those things which Moses commanded for a\ntestimony unto them\u201d? (Mark i. 44; Luke v. 14).\n\nWas it by attending the appointed feasts at Jerusalem, and generally in\nother cases, recorded or not recorded, in which He conformed, and was\nsubject to the ritual which had been before appointed?  Or are we not to\nunderstand the words in a much deeper sense than His personal submission\nto the Law?\u2014that of fulfilling, perfecting, and giving a living reality\nto all its foreshadowing types, in themselves dead and profitless; to\nseal, assure, and make good all its promises to the obedient subjects of\nthat Law; all its threatenings to the disobedient; to open up to mankind\nthat rich inheritance prepared alike for the men of that day and for us,\nforeshadowed by the land of promise flowing with milk and honey; to\nperfect that which was lacking in those offerings of atonement which in\nthemselves could never take away sins (Heb. x. 4)?\n\nThe ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ is revealed to us under the two\ncharacters of an Apostle and High Priest (Heb. iii. 1).\n\n1st.  _As an Apostle_, to declare and teach the principles of that Divine\nTruth, which distinguished the New Covenant of life and salvation from\nthe covenant of bondage to ordinances then about to be abolished, which\nhad been designed as introductory to it; and to ordain and qualify His\nApostles to declare its principles more fully after His death and\nresurrection.\n\nFor obvious reasons the New Covenant could not be fully published until\nthe offering of Christ had fulfilled the Scriptures relating to Him; and\nwhen the resurrection had declared Him to be the Son of God with power.\n\nAlthough our Lord had often pointed out to His Apostles that in His life\nand actions He was fulfilling the Scriptures, it is clear they did not\nfully understand their import until after the Holy Ghost had descended on\nthem on the Day of Pentecost, and opened up to their minds, with a vivid\nremembrance, and clear sunshine of heavenly light, all that Jesus had\nsaid and done, giving to them that wonderful power and energy which they\nafterwards exhibited, as well as those miraculous gifts of the Spirit\nwhich were necessary to confirm their doctrine to others.  Thus we read\nthat we ought to give a more earnest heed to the things \u201cwhich began to\n_be spoken by the_ LORD, and were confirmed to us by them that heard Him;\nGod also bearing them witness, with signs and wonders, and divers\nmiracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will\u201d (Heb.\nii. 3, 4).\n\nOur Lord had, on several occasions, as before observed, taken care to\ninstruct His disciples in the Scriptures which related to Himself; but He\ndid so more explicitly after His resurrection; beginning at Moses and all\nthe prophets, He expounded to the _two_ on their way to Emmaus the\n\u201cthings concerning Himself, in all the Scriptures\u201d (Luke xxiv. 27).  And\nwhen they had returned to Jerusalem, and had related to the eleven (and\nothers with them) what had happened in the way, He stood in their midst,\nand confirmed their testimony, saying, \u201cThese are the words which I spake\nunto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled\nwhich were written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the\nPsalms {6} concerning Me.  Then opened He their understanding, that they\nmight understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written,\nand thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third\nday\u201d (Luke xxiv. 44\u201346).\n\nWhen Jesus sent out His twelve disciples to preach, He said to them,\u2014\u201cHe\nthat receiveth _you_ receiveth _Me_, and he that receiveth _Me_ receiveth\n_Him that sent Me_\u201d (Matt. x. 40), so that in receiving the Apostles\u2019\ndoctrine and teaching, we receive Christ\u2019s teaching.  Also the same\nprinciple is set forth in John xiii. 20, \u201cHe that receiveth whomsoever I\nsend receiveth Me; and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me.\u201d\n\n2nd.  _As a High Priest_ our Lord is introduced in the most solemn words\nof prophecy:\u2014\u201cThe Lord hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest\nfor ever after the order of Melchisedec\u201d (Ps. cx. 4, quoted in Heb. vii.\n21).\n\nThis most solemn form of utterance is seldom used in Scripture.  It\noccurs also when God sware to Abraham, that in his seed all the nations\nof the earth should be blessed (Gen. xxii. 16\u201318):\u2014To the rebellious\nIsraelites, that they should not enter into His rest (Deut. i. 34,\n35):\u2014To Moses, that he should not go into Canaan (Deut. iv. 21):\u2014To\nDavid, that his seed should endure for ever, and his throne unto all\ngenerations (Ps. lxxxix. 3, 4).\n\nIt is treated in Heb. vii. 20\u201322 as exhibiting the superior authority and\ncharacter of Christ as a High Priest, in comparison with the priesthood\nof Levi: \u201cFor those priests were made without an oath; but this with an\noath; . . . and by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better\ntestament.\u201d  And again, in ver. 28: \u201cFor the Law maketh men high priests\nwhich have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the Law,\nmaketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.\u201d\n\nIt is also treated (Heb. vi. 16\u201319) as expressing the absolutely\nunalterable counsel of God: \u201cMen verily swear by the greater, and an oath\nfor confirmation is to them an end of all strife; wherein God, willing\nmore abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His\ncounsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which\nit was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who\nhave fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.\u201d  That hope\nwhich is as an _anchor_ to the soul, both sure and steadfast.\n\nThe office of _an apostle_ (or special messenger, or messenger with\nspecial tidings), viewed separately, has nothing of the _priest_; but the\noffices of teacher of the law, mediator, and priest were combined in the\nLevitical priesthood; and they were perfectly blended in the person of\nour Lord Jesus Christ.  Nevertheless the doctrine of the priesthood of\nChrist could not be much developed or declared until the abolition of the\npriests of Levi by the termination of that first covenant, when Jesus\ndeclared, \u201cIt is finished,\u201d and \u201cgave up the ghost,\u201d and \u201cthe veil of the\nTemple was rent in twain\u201d\u2014indicating that the approach to the Divine\nPresence was opened to all.\n\nDuring the patriarchal ages, the head of the family or house appears to\nhave combined in himself the patriarch and priest.  Noah, Abraham, Isaac\nand Jacob, offered sacrifices as well as Abel, though the recorded\ninstances are few, and only on very remarkable occasions; such as the\ncoming out of the ark, the call of Abram, the sacrifice of Isaac, the\ncovenant to Jacob.  But we read that it was the constant practice of Job;\nfor, after giving an account of the burnt-offerings offered for each of\nhis sons after their days of feasting, it is added, \u201cthus did Job\ncontinually\u201d (Job i. 5); and such was no doubt the practice of other\npatriarchs.\n\nAt the close of Job\u2019s temptation, the Lord said to His three friends that\nthey should take seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to Job, and offer\nup burnt-offerings, and Job would pray for them, \u201cfor him will I accept\u201d\n(Job xlii. 8).\n\nOf the patriarchal religion we are told but little.  The Apostle Paul\nsays, in Rom. v. 14, \u201cDeath reigned from Adam to Moses\u201d; in Rom. i. 20,\nthat \u201cGod\u2019s eternal power and Godhead were clearly seen in the works of\ncreation,\u201d so that they were without excuse; and in Rom. ii. 14, 15, that\nthough without law they had a conscience bearing witness to the law\nwritten in their hearts, accusing or excusing their thoughts.\n\nIn the earliest days, the power of God manifested in the works of\ncreation spoke to men more clearly than it may now speak to heathen\nnations who know not God.\n\nThey spoke to Adam and Eve of the God whom _they knew_, and had had\nintimate acquaintance with.  The glory of Eden and the events of their\nlife there, with their disastrous fall and expulsion, must have made an\nindelible impression on _their_ minds.  Knowing their Creator they would\nhave no disposition to worship the sun, moon, or stars, as His works.  It\nwould be contrary to all the subsequent history of the dealings of God\nwith His creatures to suppose our first parents were driven out and left\nto their own devices as to the means of reconciliation with Him; and\nthough we are not expressly told that sacrifice was offered by Adam, many\nthink that the first instruction in utilising skins for clothing,\nreferred to the skins of animals offered in sacrifice. {12}\n\nAt probably no very distant period from the Fall (described as, \u201cIn\nprocess of time,\u201d or \u201cin the end of days\u201d), we find Abel offering the\nfirstling of his flock, an acceptable sacrifice to God; the same that was\ncommanded by the law of Moses.\n\nWhen we take into account the length of Adam\u2019s life and that of his sons,\nthere is no difficulty in concluding that those indelible impressions\nwould be handed down to his posterity, with the history of the Lord\u2019s\ndealings with him, and what had been revealed to him as the means of\npropitiation, or being reconciled to Him.\n\nThat there was a revelation before the Flood is evident, for Abel offered\nan acceptable sacrifice, but Cain\u2019s was not accepted; while the words\naddressed by the Lord to Cain, \u201cIf thou doest well, shalt thou not be\naccepted? and if thou doest not well sin lieth at the door\u201d (Gen. iv. 7),\nclearly indicate that Cain knew what was pleasing or displeasing to Him.\nEnoch and Noah also walked with God so faithfully that the one was\ntranslated, and the other, by his act of faith, condemned the world, and\nbecame heir of the righteousness which is of faith; very clearly showing\nthat faith, rather than works, was in those days the basis of salvation.\n\nWhen we consider the terms in which the sacrifice of Christ is set forth\nin the New Testament, as \u201cThe Lamb slain from the foundation of the\nworld\u201d (Rev. xiii. 8); \u201cPreordained before the foundation of the world\u201d\n(1 Pet. i. 20; Rom. xvi. 25; Eph; iii. 9, 11; Col. i. 26; 2 Tim. i. 9;\nTitus i. 2; Matt. xxv. 34); it would seem impossible to doubt that the\ngreat principle of human redemption or reconciliation, set forth by so\nmany types under the Law, and by the one Great Offering of the Gospel,\nshould not have had its initiative in the earlier means of grace and\npardon of the patriarchal times.\n\nWhen the children of Israel came out of Egypt, a complete system of\npriesthood was established by Divine command in Aaron and his sons,\nassisted in the general labours of the Tabernacle service by the\nremainder of the tribe of Levi.  The exhibitions of Divine power and\nmajesty which accompanied the giving of the Law from Mount Sinai were of\na character to produce the deepest and most lasting impression on those\nwho witnessed them.  And as those institutions have a very important\nbearing on the Gospel of Christ, it is important to review them, as\nbriefly as possible; and more especially as this portion of Scripture is\noften not so much studied as it might be with advantage by some of those\nwho, taking a high view of the essential spirituality of the Gospel, are\nthe less disposed to look into the basis of that spiritual religion,\nwhich was laid in the Mosaic law.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\nPROVISIONS FOR THE PARDON OF SIN, AND RECONCILIATION UNDER THE LAW.\n\nThe regularly ordained sacrifices were the following:\u2014\n\n1st.  _The daily sacrifices_.  Two lambs of the first year\u2014one in the\nmorning and the other in the evening (and on the _Sabbath four lambs_,\nNum. xxviii 9); with their meat- and drink-offerings of flour, oil, wine\n\u201cfor a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the Lord\u201d (Exod. xxix.\n38\u201341).  \u201cThis shall be _a continual_ burnt-offering throughout your\ngenerations at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation before the\nLord, _where I will meet with you_, _to speak there unto thee_\u201d (ver.\n42).  \u201cAnd I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their\nGod\u201d (ver. 45).\n\nWhatever _other_ sacrifices were commanded for any or every day of the\nweek, they were _additional_ to these daily offerings, with which nothing\ninterfered.\n\n2nd.  On the first day of every month (or first appearance of the new\nmoon)\u2014\n\nTwo young bullocks,                    With flour, oil, and wine,\n\nOne ram,\n\nSeven lambs of the first year,\n\na burnt-offering for a sweet savour, made by fire unto the Lord.\n\n_Also one kid_ for a _sin-offering_, and his drink-offering (Num. xxviii.\n11, &c.).\n\n3rd.  On the 14th of the first month (Abib) the _Feast of the Passover_,\nalso called \u201cthe _sacrifice_ of the Lord\u2019s passover\u201d (Exod. xii. 27).\n\nIt was a memorial festival throughout the generations of the children of\nIsrael, to mark their deliverance from bondage in Egypt, and the special\nProvidence which protected them from the destroying angel, who procured\nthat deliverance by slaying all the first-born of man and beast in Egypt.\n\nA lamb of the first year, a male from the sheep or goats and without\nblemish, was killed at even, and the flesh roasted with fire was eaten by\nevery household that night, while the destroying angel was at work around\nthem; but prior to this the blood of the lamb had been sprinkled on the\ntwo side posts, and upper door post of the houses, \u201cand the blood shall\nbe to you for a token. . . .  And when the Lord seeth the blood, He will\npass over you;\u201d so that while every other house had its dead, they ate\nsecurely under cover of the sprinkled blood.\n\nThis festival was instituted on the departure of the children of Israel\nfrom Egypt, and before the giving of the Law, or the appointment of the\npriesthood of Aaron and his sons.  As with the patriarchal sacrifices, it\nwas provided by the head of the household.\n\nIn allusion to _subsequent_ times, when their children should inquire the\nmeaning of the service, they were to say \u201cIt is the _sacrifice_ of the\nLord\u2019s passover\u201d (Exod. xii. 27).\n\nThe Passover has a very marked reference to our Lord Jesus Christ.\nShortly before His death He said to His disciples, \u201cWith desire I have\ndesired to eat this passover with you before I suffer;\u201d and at that\nsupper He said of the bread, which as the master of the feast He broke,\n\u201cThis is My body which is given for you;\u201d and of the cup, \u201cThis is the\nNew Testament in My blood, which is shed for you\u201d (Luke xxii. 15\u201320).\n\n4th.  Immediately upon the Paschal feast followed, during the next seven\ndays, _the Feast of Unleavened Bread_, during which were to be offered,\n_each day_\u2014\n\nTwo young bullocks,                 For a burnt-offering, with flour\n                                    and oil,\nOne ram,\n\nSeven lambs,\n\nand _one goat_ daily for a _sin-offering_ (Num. xxviii. 17\u201325).\n\n5th.  On presenting the _sheaf of First-fruits_ to the Lord, of which it\nis said \u201cYe shall neither eat _bread_ nor _parched corn_, nor _green\nears_, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your\nGod\u201d {20} (Lev. xxiii. 14).  On that day was to be offered a male lamb,\nwithout blemish, of the first year, for a burnt-offering, with flour,\noil, and wine,\u2014\u201can offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet\nsavour\u201d (Lev. xxiii. 13).\n\n6th.  The _Feast of Pentecost_ (called also feast of weeks, Ex. xxxiv.\n22), fifty days later, on presenting to the Lord a _new meat-offering\n__from their habitations_ (Lev. xxiii. 16).  Two wave loaves of fine\nflour, baken with leaven, \u201cThey are the first-fruits unto the Lord\u201d (Lev.\nxxiii. 17), and the accompanying offerings were\u2014\n\nSeven lambs of first year,                  For a burnt-offering,\n\nTwo {21} young bullocks,\n\nOne ram,\n\nand one kid for _a sin-offering_ (to make atonement\u2014Num. xxviii. 30), and\ntwo lambs for a peace-offering (Lev. xxiii. 19).\n\n7th.  _At the Feast of Trumpets_, the first of the _seventh_ month\u2014\n\nOne young bullock,                            With flour and oil.\n\nOne ram,\n\nSeven lambs,\n\nfor a burnt-offering for a sweet savour unto the Lord, and one kid for a\nsin-offering \u201cto make atonement for you\u201d (Num. xxix. 2\u20135).\n\n8th.  _On the annual Day of Atonement_, the tenth of the seventh month:\n_One young bullock_ for a sin-offering, and _a ram_ for a burnt-offering\nfor the high priest and his house (Lev. xvi. 6), and _two kids of the\ngoats_ from the congregation for a sin-offering (one for the annual\nsin-offering, and one for the scape-goat) (Lev. xvi. 5).  Also\u2014\n\nOne bullock,                        With meat offering of flour and\n                                    oil,\nOne ram, and\n\nSeven lambs,\n\nfor a _burnt-offering_ (Num. xxix. 8).  And one kid for a _sin-offering_\nof atonement (Num. xxix. 11).\n\nThis was a day of great solemnity\u2014\u201cIt shall be a holy convocation unto\nyou, and ye shall afflict your souls\u201d (Lev. xxiii. 27), &c, \u201cYe shall do\nno work; . . . it is a _day to make atonement for you before the Lord\nyour God_\u201d (Lev. xxiii. 28); and whoever among the congregation did not\nafflict his soul, or whoever did any work therein, was to be cut off from\namong his people (Lev. xxiii. 29, 30).  \u201cIt shall be . . . a sabbath of\nrest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day at even, from\neven to even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath\u201d (Lev. xxiii. 32).\n\nThe high priest was not to enter within the veil to the inner tabernacle,\nexcept on this day, \u201cthat he die not,\u201d and then only with the blood of\nthe sin-offerings for himself and the congregation, peculiar to this day.\n\nBefore doing so he laid aside his ornamental garments and put on a linen\ndress (Lev. xvi. 2\u20134).  He took in his hands a censer of burning coals\nfrom the altar of burnt offerings and put on it a handful of incense,\nthat the cloud of the incense might cover the mercy seat, whereon the\nLord appeared in the cloud, \u201cthat he die not\u201d (Lev. xvi. 12, 13).  He\nthen took the blood of the sin-offerings, both for the priest and people,\nwithin the veil, and sprinkled it with his finger upon the mercy seat\neastward, and before the mercy seat seven times (Lev. xvi. 15, 16), to\nmake an atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the\nchildren of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins\n(Lev. xvi. 16).\n\nThis is the only sacrifice described in the Law, which corresponds with\nthe words in Hebrews xiii. 11:\u2014\u201cThe bodies of those beasts whose blood is\nbrought into the sanctuary for sin, are burned without the camp.\u201d\n\nNo other blood was annually brought into the sanctuary (or inner temple)\nby the high priest on behalf of the people, and sprinkled on and before\nthe mercy seat; and the flesh of these, as well as of some other\nofferings, was burned without the camp.\n\nThe service of this day required that in addition to a bullock for a\nsin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering, to make atonement for\nhimself and his house (Lev. xvi. 3\u20136), the _high priest should take of\nthe congregation_ of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin-offering\n(Lev. xvi. 5); he was to present the two kids at the door of the\ntabernacle (ver. 7), and \u201ccast lots,\u201d one for the Lord and one \u201cfor the\nscape-goat\u201d (vers. 8 and 10).  He killed the former for a sin-offering\nfor the people, and proceeded as already described (p. 23).\n\nIn addition to the blood taken within the veil, the high priest was to\nput some of it upon the horns of the altar, and sprinkle it seven times\nupon it to hallow it (vers. 18, 19).\n\nThen, as to the other, or scape-goat, Aaron laid both his hands on the\nhead of the live goat and confessed over him all the iniquities of the\nchildren of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins;\nputting them on the head of the goat, and sent him away by the hand of a\nfit man into the wilderness, and the \u201cgoat bore them away to a land not\ninhabited\u201d (Lev. xvi. 21).\n\nAlthough every sin-offering had a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ, the\nkid offered on this day by the masses of the people is treated in Heb.\nxiii. as having a very special application to Him, from the blood having\nbeen carried within the veil and sprinkled on the mercy seat, and from\nthe body having been burned without the camp.  So Jesus, having suffered\nwithout the gate, and having obtained eternal redemption for us, not by\nthe blood of others, but by His own blood, having \u201cgiven Himself a ransom\nfor all,\u201d entered not into the holy places made with hands, but into\nHeaven itself, there to appear in the presence of God for us.\n\nAgain, in the scape-goat, which was the complement of the sin-offering,\nwe have a reference to the Lord Jesus bearing away our sins \u201cin His own\nbody on the tree,\u201d so that they should be no more remembered against us\n(1 Pet. ii. 24).\n\n9th.  There remains one more appointed festival, _the Feast of\nTabernacles_, or ingathering (Exod. xxiii. 16) on the fifteenth day of\nthe seventh month, when the crops of wine and oil had completed the\nharvest labours.  It lasted seven days, during which numerous sacrifices\nwere ordained, viz.,\u2014\n\nThe 1st day, 13 bullocks, 2 rams, 14 lambs,\n\n2nd \u201e 12 \u201e 2 \u201e 14 \u201e\n\n3rd \u201e 11 . \u201e 2 \u201e 14 \u201e\n\n4th \u201e 10 \u201e 2 \u201e 14 \u201e\n\n5th \u201e 9 \u201e 2 \u201e 14 \u201e\n\n6th \u201e 8 \u201e 2 \u201e 14 \u201e\n\n7th \u201e 7 \u201e 2 \u201e 14 \u201e\n\nwith their meat and drink-offerings.  And _each_ of the seven days _one\ngoat for a sin-offering_.  And on the eighth day a holy convocation, with\nofferings of one bullock, one ram and seven lambs, with accompaniments,\nand _one ram for a sin-offering_.  \u201cThese things shall ye do unto the\nLord in your set feasts, besides your vows, and your freewill offerings,\nfor your burnt-offerings, and for your meat-offerings, and for your\ndrink-offerings, and for your peace-offerings\u201d (Num. xxix. 12\u201339).\n\nThe service of the Tabernacle and its offerings were supplied by\ncontributions of half a shekel per head on all that were numbered, from\ntwenty years old and upwards.  The rich were not to give more, nor the\npoor less.  It was offered to the Lord to make an atonement for their\nsouls (Exod. xxx. 14\u201316).\n\nAs indicated in the latter portion of the above quotation (Num. xxix.\n39), besides these stated daily, monthly, and annual sacrifices, which\nwere of a public or general character, there were\u2014\n\n1st.  _Voluntary offerings_, which do not seem to have been specially\nenjoined, nor to have had reference to any particular sins, but arose\nfrom the voluntary will and devotion of the person offering, and the\npriest sprinkled the blood round about upon the altar; \u201cand _it was\naccepted for him to make an atonement for him_\u201d (Lev. i. 2\u20135); \u201can\noffering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord\u201d (ver. 9).  It was\nrequired to be a male without blemish of the herd or of the flock, two\nturtle-doves, or two young pigeons (vers. 2 and 10\u201317).\n\n2nd.  _Peace-offerings_, also for the most part voluntarily, in which the\nofferer shared with the priest the offering\u2014a male or female of the herd\nwithout blemish, or a lamb or goat (Lev. iii. 1, &c.).\n\n3rd.  _The Sin-offering_ for sins of ignorance afterwards brought to\nlight (Lev. iv. 13, &c.).\n\n4th.  _The Trespass-offering_.\u2014If any one sinned in hearing swearing and\nnot uttering it, or in any uncleanness, or swearing, he was to take a\nlamb or a kid (a female), or two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, or,\nif too poor for any of them, the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour,\n\u201cand the priest shall make an atonement for him for the sin which he hath\nsinned, and it shall be forgiven him\u201d (Lev. v. 1\u201313).\n\nIn every case the offering was required to be perfect in its kind, and\nwithout blemish.\n\nThe sin-offering was more especially for atonement; but the voluntary and\nother offerings are spoken of as contributing thereto (Lev. i. 3): coming\nfrom the voluntary will of the people, they expressed the heart\u2019s\ndevotion, and bore a \u201csweet savour to God.\u201d\n\nBut in the days when Isaiah wrote, and when great corruption prevailed,\nit is said, \u201cIncense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and\nsabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with\u201d (Isa. i. 13).\nAnd Amos says, \u201cI will not smell in your solemn assembly\u201d (Amos v. 21).\nThe people drew near with the lip, but the heart was far from God (Isa.\nxxix. 13); so the sacrifices bore with them no sweet savour of devotion\nto Him.\n\nIn contemplating the mass of sacrifices thus noted, we may easily enter\ninto the feeling expressed by Paul (more especially as regarded\ncircumcision)\u2014\u201cwhich neither we nor our fathers were able to bear;\u201d and\nwe can the more fully appreciate the blessing of the Gospel, which has\nrelieved us from all such burdens, and given us individually a free\naccess (whether Jew or Gentile) to the Father of Mercies, through the one\nonly High Priest, Jesus Christ our Lord.\n\nBut it was not so much to point out the burdens which our forefathers in\nthe faith of Christ had to bear\u2014burdens which, nevertheless, were light\ncompared with the burden of unforgiven sin\u2014that we have traced the\nrequirements of the law; but to point to the testimony they bore to\nChrist and His Kingdom.\n\nUnder the law no Israelite could obtain pardon for his sin except through\nthe _Priest_, who was the appointed mediator\u2014to him he brought the\nprescribed offering, and slew it at the Tabernacle door; the priest\nreceived the blood, and some of the internal fat; the former he\nsprinkled, and the latter he burned, on the altar; and, in the words of\nthe text, \u201c_The priest shall make an atonement for his sin_, _and it\nshall be forgiven him_.\u201d\n\nWe may not be able to define the extent to which the Holy Ghost was then\nenjoyed, but we cannot doubt that the testimony of a conscience free of\noffence towards God was sealed on the mind of the offerer when the\natonement was made agreeably to the words, \u201cYe shall therefore keep my\nstatutes and my judgments; which if a man do he shall live in them\u201d (Lev.\nxviii. 5).\n\nThe Apostle Paul confirms this language, saying, \u201cThe man that doeth\nthem\u201d (the statutes of the Law) \u201cshall live in them\u201d (Gal. iii. 12); and\nwhen we consider the words of the same writer: \u201cThe children of Israel\ncould not steadfastly look to the end of that which is abolished\u201d (2 Cor.\niii. 13), we need not suppose the offerers had, in general, any\nunderstanding that what they did had a special relation to the better\nMediator to come.  As in the case of the brazen serpent they looked to it\nand were healed; so here they made their offerings believing in their\nefficacy, and reaped the fruit of pardon and peace.\n\nThis divinely-instituted law was enjoined on the people under the most\nsolemn assurances of blessings for obedience, and cursings for\ndisobedience, viz.: \u201cBehold I set before you this day a blessing and a\ncurse; a blessing if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God which\nI command you this day: and a curse if ye will not obey the commandments\nof the Lord your God, but turn aside after other gods\u201d (Deut. xi. 26\u201328;\nxxvii. 15\u201326; and ch. xxviii.).  \u201cI call heaven and earth to record this\nday against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and\ncursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live,\nthat thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His\nvoice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him; for He is thy life and the\nlength of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord\nsware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them\u201d\n(Deut. xxx. 19, 20).\n\nThey did what God had provided to enable them to walk with Him, and when\nthey erred or failed to keep His holy law they brought the means of\nreconciliation He had appointed.  In such way a man might do justly, love\nmercy, and walk humbly with his God, which is the whole duty of man.\n\n\u201cMark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is\npeace\u201d (Ps. xxxvii. 37), might be applied to such an one, and the model\nmay perhaps be useful in enabling us to understand the higher perfection\nrequired by the Gospel.  \u201cIf we walk in the light, as He is in the light,\nwe have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His\nSon cleanseth us from all sin\u201d (1 John i. 7).\n\nIf we look for the essential principle of this elaborate system of\npriestly mediation for the forgiveness of sins, as well as for presenting\nto God the freewill offerings or devotions of the people, it will be\nfound in the 11th verse of the 17th chapter of Leviticus, viz.: \u201cFor the\nlife of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the\naltar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that\nmaketh an atonement for the soul.\u201d\n\nSuch were the conditions under which the law given from Mount Sinai was\npresented to or enjoined on the people.  They were to choose between life\nor death, blessing or cursing, obedience with the Divine favour, or\nrefusal to obey, with the Divine displeasure.  The eyes of the Lord would\nbe over the righteous, and His ear open to their cry; but the face of the\nLord would be against them that did evil, to cut off the remembrance of\nthem from the earth\u2014Ps. xxxiv. 15, 16\u2014conditions so different as to\nconstitute the highest happiness man was capable of at that time, or the\ndeepest degradation and misery which he could endure in this life, with\nno better prospect beyond.\n\nThe consequences of God\u2019s favour and blessing are set forth with peculiar\nstrength in Deuteronomy (see pp. 33, 34), together with the consequences\nof His favour being withdrawn, which we may do well to ponder; as the\nlanguage quoted above from the Psalms is adopted by the Apostle Peter as\napplicable equally to Christian times, and the principles of the\nquotations from Deuteronomy are equally applicable to the old or new\ndispensations\u2014viz., obedience to the revealed will of God with life and\nblessing, or disobedience with death and misery.\n\n\u201cHe that despised Moses\u2019 law died without mercy under two or three\nwitnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought\nworthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the\nblood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and\ndone despite unto the Spirit of Grace?\u201d (Heb. x. 28, 29).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\nTHE HEBREW SACRIFICES FROM THE CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW.  THE SACRIFICE OF\nCHRIST THEIR TRUE COMPLEMENT.\n\nWhen we consider the bearings of the Mosaic laws on the religion of\nChrist, it is impossible to avoid a careful attention to the Epistle to\nthe Hebrews, which so clearly sets forth the unity of design between the\ndifferent revelations, and the manner in which the institutions of the\nformer prefigured and led up to the higher, purer, and holier covenant of\nthe Gospel.\n\nThe mode in which the author deals with the highest subjects and persons\nbespeaks for him the position of one of the chiefest apostles, to whom\nabundance of revelations had been made, and whose mind was disembarrassed\nfrom the prejudices of the past, and accepted without reserve the fully\ndeveloped light and spirit of the Gospel.  Who else could venture on\nlanguage like the opening verses of this book; or those words in the\nsecond chapter, \u201c_For it became Him_, _for whom are all things_, _and by\nwhom are all things_, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the\nCaptain of their salvation perfect through sufferings\u201d (Heb. ii. 10).\n\nTo him the transition from the Law to the Gospel is perfectly natural and\nnecessary.  As the morning dawn passes on into the perfect day, so the\nLaw, having done its preparatory work, merges into the glorious light of\nthe Gospel of Christ; or, to use the author\u2019s own simile, the Law decays,\nwaxes old, and vanishes away just as the glory of the Gospel appears.\nThe one must increase, the other decrease; the type be swallowed up in\nthe antitype.  Nothing is discordant; everything fits naturally to its\nbearings on the other.  Moses as lawgiver gives place to the Prophet whom\nthe Lord would raise up to His people.  The priesthood of Aaron and his\nsons is superseded by the High Priesthood of Christ.  The blood of\nanimals, which had no inherent healing power\u2014by the blood of Him, who\n(uniting the Divine and the human\u2014God and Man), \u201cthrough the Eternal\nSpirit, offered Himself without spot to God,\u201d \u201can offering and a\nsacrifice of a sweet smelling savour\u201d for the sins of men.  The\nbeneficent provisions of the Mosaic laws\u2014of which Moses could say (Deut.\niv. 8): \u201cWhat nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments\nso righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?\u201d\u2014give place\nto the yet purer principles of the Gospel of Christ.\n\nHad it not been for the long course of typical sacrifices, continued\nthrough so many ages, how would it have been possible in the latter days\nto establish the value and efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ?  The\nsacrificial rites of heathen nations, so degrading to morality and purity\nof thought and life, would _alone_ have led no one to imagine such a\nsacrifice as His: although when viewed as corruptions of revealed truth\nthey have, as accessories, a valuable significance.\n\nWe propose now to look at the intrinsic value of the sacrifices under the\nMosaic institutions from the Christian point of view, and the superiority\nof the sacrifice and religion of Christ, as explained in the Epistle to\nthe Hebrews.\n\nChapter 1 sets forth that God, who had formerly spoken to men by\n_Prophets_, has now spoken to us _by His Son_, who, being the brightness\nof His glory and express image of His person, when He had by Himself\n_purged our sins_, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.\nHere is the first recognition of the teaching and High Priesthood of\nChrist.  _He speaks to us the things of God_, _and purges away our sins\nby Himself_ (vers. 1\u20133).\n\nChapter 2 opens with the exhortation that for this reason we ought to\ngive the more earnest attention to what He taught. {42}\n\nChapter 2 sets forth also that Christ had passed through suffering, in\norder that He \u201cmight be a merciful and faithful _High Priest_ in things\npertaining to God, _to make reconciliation for the sins of the people_\u201d\n(c. ii. 17).\n\nChapter 3 opens with an invitation to consider this _Apostle_ and _High\nPriest_ of our profession, faithful in all things to Him that appointed\nHim\u2014far exceeding Moses in glory\u2014for Moses was faithful as a servant;\nChrist as a son over His own house (vers. 1\u20136).\n\nChapter 5 says, \u201cEvery _high priest_ taken from among men _is ordained\nfor men in things pertaining to God_, that he may offer both gifts and\n_sacrifices for sin_\u201d (ver. 1), that no man takes this honour unto\nhimself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron.  So Christ glorified\nnot Himself, to be made a high priest; but He that said unto Him, \u201cThou\nart My Son, to-day have I begotten Thee!\u201d and again, \u201cThou art a Priest\nfor ever after the order of Melchisedec\u201d (vers. 4, 5, 6).\n\nFurther on, after setting forth, in the seventh chapter, the surpassing\nexcellence of the High Priesthood of Christ in comparison with that of\nAaron, and marking how exactly such a High Priest was adapted to our\nevery need, \u201choly, harmless, undefined, separate from sinners, and made\nhigher than the heavens\u201d (c. vii. 26), the Apostle sums up his argument\nin the eighth chapter: \u201cNow of the things which we have spoken this is\nthe sum, We _have_ such a High Priest, who is set on the right hand of\nthe throne of the Majesty in the heavens\u2014a Minister of the sanctuary and\nof the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man (Heb. viii. 1,\n2).  And inasmuch as every high priest _is ordained to offer_ both gifts\nand sacrifices, it is _of necessity that this man have somewhat to\noffer_\u201d (Heb. viii. 3).\n\nJesus was proved to be our High Priest by offering up His own body for\nour sins, which is stated in the most explicit terms.  \u201cBut Christ being\ncome, a High Priest of good things to come; . . . neither by the blood of\ngoats and calves, but _by His own blood_ He entered in once into the holy\nplace, having obtained eternal redemption (for us)\u201d (Heb. ix. 11, 12).\n\n\u201cHow much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit\n_offered Himself without spot to God_, _purge_ your conscience from dead\nworks to serve the living God?\u201d (Heb. ix. 14). (See also ver. 15.)\n\n\u201cNor yet that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest entereth\ninto the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must He\noften have suffered since the foundation of the world; but now once in\nthe end of the world hath He appeared to PUT AWAY SIN _by the_ SACRIFICE\n_of Himself_\u201d (Heb. ix. 25, 26).\n\n\u201cSo Christ was once _offered to bear the sins_ of many,\u201d _i.e._, of all\nthat look to Him for salvation (Heb. ix. 28).\n\n\u201cBy the which will we are sanctified through the _offering of the_ BODY\n_of_ Jesus Christ once for all\u201d (Heb. x. 10).\n\n\u201cFor by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified\u201d\n(Heb. x. 14).\n\nThe Apostle Paul uses language equally explicit in Eph. v. 2:\u2014\u201cAnd walk\nin love, as Christ also hath loved us, _and given Himself for us_, _an\noffering_ and a _sacrifice to God_, of a _sweet smelling savour_.\u201d {46}\n\nHaving thus shown how, on the _principles_ of the _priesthood of Aaron_,\nthe Lord Jesus had proved Himself to be a priest, although of the higher\nand more perfect order of Melchisedec\u2014the order of righteousness and\npeace, and everlasting endurance\u2014this epistle points out in a very\nconclusive manner the defects of the Mosaic institutions, which were\nenjoined for a time only, to prepare the way, and lead up to the enduring\nrealities of the Gospel of Christ.  And here we cannot but notice again\nhow completely the Christian mind of the author had passed from all the\nJewish prejudices and predilections of his former training, to regard\neverything in the light and spirit of Christ; while far from disregarding\nor repudiating that which he showed to be past, worn out, and abolished,\nhe draws from it his most powerful arguments in favour of the New\nCovenant as required to complete the first, by making good its typical\nmeaning, and securing to all who had passed from earth to heaven under\nthe provisions of the Law, those blessings which they had already entered\non, upon the promise of the sacrifice of Christ to come.\n\n\u201cFor the Law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope\ndid; by the which we draw nigh unto God\u201d (Heb. vii. 19).  That better\nhope is stated to be the \u201cblood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit\noffered Himself without spot to God,\u201d purging our conscience, &c. (Heb.\nix. 13, 14)\n\n\u201cFor the Law having a shadow (or shadowing forth) of good things to come,\nand not the very image (or substance and reality) of the things, can\nnever by those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually\nmake the comers thereunto perfect\u201d (Heb. x. 1).  It was \u201ctherefore\nnecessary that the patterns of things in the heavens, should be purified\nwith these, {48a} but the heavenly things themselves with better\nsacrifices {48b} than these\u201d (Heb. ix. 23).\n\nThe passage last quoted follows verse 22, which declares, \u201cwithout\nshedding of blood is no remission\u201d (See also Lev. xvii. 11).  But if it\nwas impossible that the blood shed under the law of Moses (Heb. x. 4),\nshould take away sins, it is evident that other blood _must be_ shed of\nwhich that was typical, and which should be effectual for the purpose,\nagreeably to Heb. ix. 15, referring to Christ; \u201cFor this cause He is the\nMediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption\nof the transgressions that were under the first Testament, they which are\ncalled might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.\u201d  In the former\nsacrifices there was a remembrance again made of sins every year (Heb. x.\n3).  But after the one Sacrifice for ever it is said, \u201ctheir sins and\niniquities will I remember no more\u201d (x. 17).\n\n\u201cAnd having made peace _through the blood of His cross_, by Him to\nreconcile all things unto Himself, whether things in earth or things in\nheaven\u201d (Col. i. 20).\n\n\u201cIn _the body of His flesh through death_, to present you holy and\nunblameable and unreproveable in His sight\u201d (Col. i. 22).\n\nThus we are given to understand that the sins of future generations,\nshould be atoned by the one offering of Christ, as well as those of past\ngenerations, so that all generations alike owe their salvation to the one\nMediator between God and man, Jesus Christ, in whom \u201call are made alive,\nand who is the one only hope of glory.  For as in Adam all die, so in\nChrist shall all be made alive\u201d (1 Cor. xv. 22) in such manner that if we\nare united to Him we partake of what is His, and shall find in Him all\nthat we can need as a Saviour, Mediator, Intercessor, and Redeemer.\n\nNothing is of us; all from Christ.  In Him is all the fulness of the\nGodhead bodily (Col. ii. 9); full of grace and truth (John i. 14).  All\npower is committed to Him in heaven and in earth (Matt. xxviii. 18).  As\nmaker and upholder of all things, blessings, spiritual and temporal, are\nin His hand (Heb. i. 2, 3); and in Him are hid all the treasures of\nwisdom and knowledge (Col. ii. 3), and \u201cHe is able to save them to the\nuttermost that come unto God by Him\u201d (Heb. vii. 25).\n\nCan we not now with reverent feeling enter into somewhat of the deep\nmeaning of those few words of our Lord, \u201c_That thus_ IT MUST BE\u201d (Matt.\nxxvi. 54)? and of that awful scene which had just passed in the garden of\nGethsemane, when He had thrice prayed\u2014\u201c_If it be possible_, let this cup\npass from Me; nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt\u201d\u2014when His soul\nwas \u201cexceeding sorrowful even unto death\u201d (Matt. xxvi. 38, 39); and when\n\u201cthere appeared an angel unto Him from heaven strengthening Him (Luke\nxxii. 43); when His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to\nthe ground\u201d (Luke xxii. 44).\n\nThe words referred to were spoken when Peter had made an attempt at\nresistance, and smitten off the ear of the High Priest\u2019s servant, who\ncame with others to take Jesus, and when He had rebuked Peter, saying,\n\u201cThinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall\npresently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?  _But how then\nshall the Scriptures be fulfilled_ that _thus it must be_?\u201d (Matt. xxvi.\n51\u201354).  \u201cThe Lord\u201d had \u201csworn, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest\nfor ever after the order of Melchisedec\u201d (Ps. cx. 4).  And then to show\nthat He needed not even the legions to rescue Him, but had still all\npower in His hands, when about to be \u201cbrought as a lamb to the slaughter\u201d\n(Isa. liii. 7), as soon as He had said to the band of men and officers\nwho came with Judas to take Him, \u201c_I am He_\u201d they went backwards and fell\nto the ground (John xviii. 3\u20137), signifying that they had no power to\ntouch Him until again encouraged by Jesus.  And so at each step of His\ntrial, mocking, scourging, until by wicked hands He was crucified and\nslain (Acts ii. 23)\u2014it was: \u201cThou couldst have no power against Me except\nit were given Thee from above\u201d (John xix. 11).  At each step it was His\nvoluntary submission to ignominy and insult, and a cruel death, that He\nmight redeem us from death, and from the power of the grave and of hell\nby His own blood.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n\nTESTIMONY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES TO JESUS CHRIST AS THE MESSIAH.\n\nWe have thus endeavoured to point out in how comprehensive a sense Jesus\nfulfilled the Law, so that one jot or one tittle should not fail or be\nlost.\n\nThe Apostle Peter, in the third chapter of Acts, says, \u201cThose things\nwhich God before _had showed by the mouth of all His prophets_, that\nChrist should suffer, He hath so fulfilled\u201d (ver. 18).\n\nIt was the beneficent design of our Heavenly Father that so many rays of\nlight, passing through varied channels, and spread over all past time,\nshould concentrate upon Jesus as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin\nof the world, that there might be no excuse for rejecting Him.  Let us\nrecall some of the principal passages in which the Old Testament\nScriptures refer to our Lord and His kingdom.\n\n1.  His coming was prophesied from the fall of Adam and Eve, in the\nLord\u2019s address to the serpent, thus, \u201cThe seed of the woman shall bruise\nthy head, but thou shalt bruise his heel\u201d (Gen. iii. 15), a prophecy\nobscure at first, but abundantly explained by subsequent history and\nprophecy.\n\n2.  The promise was made to Abraham and renewed to Isaac and Jacob, that\nin their seed, all the families of the earth should be blessed (Gen. xii.\n3, xxii. 18, xxvi. 4).\n\n3.  The family of Jacob was chosen to be a peculiar people to the Lord.\nLaws, sacrifices, and institutions were given them to be as a\nschoolmaster to lead them to Christ, and it was declared the sceptre\n\u201cshall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come\u201d (Gen. xlix. 10).\n\n4.  As time progressed the covenant was further confirmed and limited to\nthe tribe of Judah, and the family of Jesse, and, again, of David.\n\n5.  The _time_ of the Messiah\u2019s advent was closely indicated by the\nprophecy of Daniel; seventy weeks of years, or 490 years from the\nrebuilding of Jerusalem (Dan. ix. 24, 25).\n\nIt was to be during the continuance of the second Temple, and when there\nshould be a general expectation and desire in all nations for Him (Hag.\nii. 6\u20139).  He would be preceded by a forerunner, who would prepare His\nway (Mal. iii. 1).\n\n6.  The _place_ of His birth was pointed out by Micah (v. 2) as Bethlehem\nof Judah.  He was to be born of a virgin, and called Immanuel\u2014\u201cGod with\nus\u201d (Isa. vii. 14).  He was to commence His teaching in Galilee (Isa. ix.\n1, 2).\n\n7.  The _character_ of His mediatorial coming; His humble origin; His\nlowly, suffering life, and His cruel death\u2014were described with singular\naccuracy by the Prophet Isaiah;\u2014as well as the ultimate glory of His\nKingdom and reign.  And the Psalms abound in references to the sufferings\nof Christ, often spoken as of David, but having their full accomplishment\nin Him who was emphatically \u201cthe Son of David.\u201d\n\nIt was natural that the _worldly-minded Jews_, in anticipating their\nMessiah, and looking for one greater than Solomon, should expect to see\none exceeding him, not only in wisdom, but in that outward display of\nwealth and grandeur which the world so much admires, as indicating the\nroyal power and pomp of kings.  But it was not so to be: \u201cHe shall grow\nup before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He\nhath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him there is no beauty\nthat we should desire Him.\u201d  He would bear our griefs and carry our\nsorrows while He was \u201cdespised and rejected of men,\u201d and numbered with\nthe transgressors (Isa. liii.).\n\nHe should be the mighty God, the Everlasting Father (Isa. ix. 6), whose\ngoings forth have been from of old\u2014from everlasting (Micah v. 2).  \u201cA\nprophet like unto Moses, him shall ye hear\u201d (Deut. xviii. 15, 18).\n\n8.  Subsequent to the close of the Old Testament prophecy, some very\nremarkable incidents marked, to the believing Jews, the near approach and\nthe actual coming of their Messiah.\n\nThe angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias as he ministered in the priest\u2019s\noffice, to announce the approaching birth of John the Baptist, who should\n\u201cgo before, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord\u201d (Luke i. 17).\nThis visitation was made on a very public occasion, on the great Day of\nAtonement, while \u201cthe whole multitude of the people were praying without\nat the time of incense\u201d (Luke i. 10).  The angel Gabriel appeared also to\nthe Virgin Mary to tell her that she should be blessed among women in\ngiving birth to the Messiah (ver. 28), and \u201call these sayings were noised\nabroad throughout all the hill country of Judea\u201d (Luke i. 65).\n\n_The actual birth_ of our Lord was next announced by an angel to the\nshepherds, saying, \u201cUnto you is born this day, in the city of David, a\nSaviour, which is Christ the Lord\u201d (Luke ii. 11); \u201cand suddenly there was\nwith the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,\nGlory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men\u201d\n(Luke ii. 14).\n\nWhile God in His providence provides abundant evidence for the believing\nheart, yet it is not so redundant that none can reject it.  It is the eye\nof faith which discerns God in prophecy, or providence, or nature, and\nthe opening of that eye is the effect of grace in the heart, at first\ncomparatively small and mixed with more or less of misgiving, as when\nNathanael said, \u201cCan any good thing come out of Nazareth?\u201d (John i. 46)\nbut growing with the increase of Divine grace as when he was able\nafterwards to say, \u201cRabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of\nIsrael\u201d (John i. 49).\n\nLet us consider two examples illustrating this principle.\n\n1.  That of Simeon, a righteous and devout man, looking for the\nconsolation of Israel, waiting for and expecting the fulfilment of\nprophecy, who finding the infant Jesus in the temple, received Him into\nhis arms, and blessed God, and said, \u201cLord, now lettest Thou Thy servant\ndepart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy\nsalvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a\nlight to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel\u201d (Luke\nii. 29\u201331).\n\n2.  That of Herod, and the people of the Jews generally, when the wise\nmen came to Jerusalem, saying they had seen the king\u2019s star in the east,\nand were come to inquire where he was to be born.  The chief priest and\nscribes, who with the people generally were also in expectation of the\npromised Messiah, said he should be born in Bethlehem, and referred to\nthe prophetic declaration in that respect; but their unbelieving hearts\nwere aroused, and all Jerusalem was in an uproar, prepared to say, as\nthey did at last, \u201cWe will not have this man to rule over us.\u201d  Herod\nalso, fearing a rival king, sent forth his soldiers to destroy the child,\nby killing with undistinguishing cruelty, all the children from two years\nold and younger.\n\nIn addition to the prophecies which marked the _descent_ of our Lord, and\nthe _time_ and _character_ of His coming, there are numerous references\nmade in the Old Testament to circumstances of His personal history while\nHe dwelt amongst men.\n\nHe should preach good tidings unto the meek, bind up the broken-hearted,\nproclaim liberty to the captive, and comfort all that mourn (Isa. lxi. 1,\n2).\n\nHe should open the blind eyes, unstop the deaf ears, make the lame to\nleap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb to sing (Isa. xxxv. 5, 6;\nxxix. 18).\n\nHe should feed His flock like _a shepherd_ (Isa. xl. 11); \u201cI will set one\n_shepherd_ over them, even My servant David\u201d (Ezek. xxxiv. 23).  \u201cA king\nshall reign and prosper, and this is the name whereby He shall be called,\nthe _Lord our Righteousness_\u201d (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6).\n\nHe was \u201cto be a priest for ever, after the order of Melchesidec\u201d (Ps. ex.\n4).  \u201cHe shall be a priest upon His throne\u201d (Zech. vi. 13).\n\nHe should be for a \u201csanctuary\u201d (Isa. viii. 14); a \u201crock and place of\nrefuge\u201d (Ps. xci. 1).\n\nHe should \u201center Jerusalem riding on an ass\u2019s colt\u201d (Zech. ix. 9).\n\nHe should \u201cbe higher than the kings of the earth.\u201d  His throne should\n\u201cendure as the sun\u201d (Ps. lxxxix. 27, 36).\n\nHe should \u201copen His mouth in a parable, and utter dark sayings of old\u201d\n(Ps. lxxviii. 2; Isa. vi. 9, 10, compared with Matt. xiii. 14).\n\nThe rulers should \u201ctake counsel together against Him\u201d (Ps. ii. 2).\n\nHis \u201cown familiar friend, who did eat of His bread,\u201d should \u201clift up his\nheel against Him\u201d (Ps. xli. 9).\n\n\u201cThey weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the\npotter in the House of the Lord\u201d (Zech. xi. 12, 13).  \u201cThey gave me gall\nfor my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink\u201d (Ps. lxix.\n21).\n\n\u201cNot a bone of Him should be broken\u201d (Ex. xii. 46; Ps. xxxiv. 20).  \u201cHe\nshould give His back to the smitters, and His cheeks to them that plucked\noff the hair.\u201d  \u201cHe hid not His face from shame and spitting\u201d (Isa. l.\n6).\n\nThe assembly of the wicked should enclose Him\u2014\u201cthey pierced my hands and\nmy feet\u201d (Ps. xxii. 16).  \u201cThey part my garments among them, and cast\nlots upon my vesture\u201d (Ps. xxii. 18).  \u201cAll they that see me laugh me to\nscorn; they shoot out the lip; they shake the head, saying, He trusted on\nthe Lord that He would deliver Him; let Him deliver Him, seeing He\ndelighted in Him\u201d (Ps. xxii. 7, 8).\n\nHe should \u201cmake His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His\ndeath, because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His\nmouth\u201d (Isa. liii. 9).\n\nHe should \u201cmake intercession for the transgressors\u201d (Isa. liii. 12).\n\u201cFather, forgive them, for they know not what they do.\u201d\n\nHe should rise from the dead (Ps. xvi. 10), ascend into heaven, and\nreceive gifts for men, even \u201cfor the rebellious also, that the Lord God\nmight dwell among them\u201d (Ps. lxviii. 18).\n\nHe should \u201cpour out His Spirit on all flesh, so that their sons and\ndaughters should prophesy,\u201d &c. (Joel ii. 28).\n\nTo \u201cone like unto the Son of Man\u201d was to be given \u201cdominion and glory and\na kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages, should serve Him;\nHis dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and\nHis kingdom that which shall not be destroyed\u201d (Dan. vii. 13, 14).\n\nWith what justice could the Lord say, \u201cSearch the Scriptures, for in them\nye think ye have Eternal Life, and they are they which testify of Me?\u201d\n(John v. 39).  \u201cAnd if I had not done among them the works which none\nother man did, they had not had sin, but now they have no cloke for their\nsin\u201d (John xv. 24, 22) {66}\n\nIf such were the evidences furnished to _the Jews_, the _Gentile_ who\nrests his hope on Christ as the Rock of Ages can equally enter into and\nappreciate these proofs of our Lord\u2019s mission, and unite in the\ntriumphant song of David, \u201cGo round about Zion, tell the towers thereof;\nmark ye well her bulwarks; consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to\nthe generation following; for this God is our God for ever and ever, He\nwill be our guide even unto death\u201d (Ps. xlviii. 13, 14).  As Gentiles we\ncan also look back to the fall of the peculiar institutions designed to\npoint out the Messiah to mankind,\u2014to the present state of His chosen\npeople, scattered throughout the Gentile world in fulfilment of their own\nprophecies,\u2014to the triumphs of the faith in Christ,\u2014and to the multitudes\nwho have already been admitted to realise the mansions in the heaven\nwhich He went to prepare for them.\n\nAs Christianity is itself built on the foundation of the _Law_, the\n_Prophets_, and the _Psalms_, in fact upon whatever of Divine revelation\nhad preceded it, and is the crowning development of the whole, we may not\ndisregard or lightly esteem any portion of that outward work of Christ,\nof which our blessings are the direct result, and without which we could\nhave no right or title to them.\n\nThe new Covenant of Grace was declared by Christ and His Apostles.  The\nseal of that Covenant was the Blood of Jesus, the voluntary offering of\nHimself for the sins of men, as typified by the patriarchal and Mosaic\ninstitutions.  It was the purchase of our redemption, and of all those\ngifts and graces of the Holy Spirit which the Lord Jesus after His\nresurrection gave to men (Eph. iv. 8, 11; Rom. xii. 6, 8; 1 Cor. xii. 4;\n&c.).  Thus He is the \u201cfoundation stone,\u201d the \u201ctried stone,\u201d the \u201cchief\ncorner-stone,\u201d and \u201conly hope of glory.\u201d  By Himself He \u201c_purges_ our\nsins.\u201d  By His _death_ He delivers \u201cthem who through fear of death, are\nall their life time subject to bondage\u201d (Heb. ii. 14, 15).  And does not\nthe continual daily sacrifice, morning by morning, and evening by\nevening, prescribed by the Law, point to the constant bearing on our\nminds before God, of the sacrifice of Christ, as the foundation of all\nour hopes, and petitions for mercy and grace? the true propitiatory, or\nmercy seat, where God will meet with us and dwell with us (see page 16,\nand Ex. xxix. 42, 45).\n\n\u201cWhatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning,\nthat we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope\u201d\n(Rom. xv. 4).\n\n\u201cAll Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for\ndoctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,\nthat the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good\nworks\u201d (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17).\n\nNor need any be discouraged; the Bible is God\u2019s revelation addressed\nalike to all men, rich or poor, learned or unlearned, intellectual or of\nsmall powers.  God is no respecter of persons, and to every one alike who\ncan read for themselves, or hear from others, the Bible, without note or\ncomment, may prove under the influence of God\u2019s Spirit, \u201ca lamp unto\ntheir feet, a light to their path.\u201d  The less educated will escape some\nof the difficulties which beset the minds of others, and more easily\nfulfil the conditions imposed by our Lord, \u201cExcept ye receive the kingdom\nof God as little children, ye cannot enter therein;\u201d and many are the\ninstances in which persons of comparatively small intellectual power\nenjoy, appreciate, and bring forth the evident fruits of faith; so that,\nwith the Bible in their hands and the Holy Spirit to apply it, none need\ndespair of finding the way that leads to everlasting life.\n\nThe Psalmist asks, \u201cWherewithall shall a young man cleanse his way?\u201d and\nreplies, \u201cBy taking heed thereto according to Thy word\u201d (Ps. cxix. 9), so\nthat he may come to say, \u201cO, how I love Thy law, it is my meditation all\nthe day\u201d (ver. 97).  \u201cThou through Thy commandments hast made me wiser\nthan mine enemies; for they are ever with me\u201d (ver. 98).\n\n\u201cThy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever; they are the\nrejoicing of my heart\u201d (ver. 111).\n\n\u201cThe entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the\nsimple\u201d (ver. 130).\n\nThe 19th Psalm also says, \u201cThe law of the Lord is perfect, converting the\nsoul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.  The\nstatutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of\nthe Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.  The fear of the Lord is clean,\nenduring for ever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous\naltogether. . . .  By them is Thy servant warned, and in keeping of them\nthere is great reward\u201d (Ps. xix. 7, 8, 9\u201311).\n\nThe Lord Jesus also said of the Father, \u201cfor I know that His commandment\nis life everlasting\u201d (John xii. 50).\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n\nTHE GOSPEL OF CHRIST.\n\nHaving in the former pages noticed the manner in which the institutions\nof previous revelation have pointed to and been completed by the Gospel\nof Christ, let us now set forth some of the leading characteristics of\nthat religion which Jesus, so long foretold and typified, came to\nintroduce amongst men.\n\nWe must bear in mind that it was a _New Covenant_ with men, which He came\nto establish.  The former Covenant had grown old, and was about to decay;\nand it had been declared in prophecy, \u201cThis shall be the covenant that I\nwill make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I\nwill put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and\nwill be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall teach no\nmore every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the\nLord: for they shall all know Me from the least of them unto the greatest\nof them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will\nremember their sin no more\u201d (Jer. xxxi. 33 and 34).\n\nHe who came to establish this new Covenant, and teach it to men, was none\nother than the Word who was in the beginning with God and was God.  All\nthings were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was\nmade (John i. 1\u20133); who was the brightness of the Father\u2019s glory, and\n\u201cthe express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of\nHis power\u201d (Heb. i. 3).\n\nIt is no marvel therefore that the New Testament should teach us that the\nfirst and cardinal point of this new faith was that we should believe on\nthe \u201cMessenger of the Covenant\u201d\u2014the Lord Jesus Christ bearing glad\ntidings of salvation to all men.\n\nThis is done in the clearest and most precise manner.\n\n\u201cGod so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that\n_whosoever believeth_ in Him should not perish, but _have everlasting\nlife_.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that\nthe world _through Him might be saved_\u201d (John iii. 16, 17).\n\n\u201cThis is the work of God, that _ye believe on Him_ whom He hath sent\u201d\n(John vi. 29).\n\n\u201cThis is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and\n_Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent_\u201d (John xvii. 3).\n\n\u201cHe that believeth on the Son _hath __everlasting life_: and he that\nbelieveth not the Son _shall not see life_; but the wrath of _God abideth\non him_\u201d (John iii. 36).\n\n\u201cHe that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath\neverlasting life\u201d (John v. 24).\n\n\u201cHe _that believeth on Him is not condemned_: but _he that believeth not\nis condemned already_, because he hath not believed in the name of the\nonly begotten Son of God\u201d (John iii. 18).\n\n\u201cBut as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of\nGod, even _to them that believe on His name_\u201d (John i. 12).\n\n\u201cI am the resurrection and the life: _he that believeth in Me_, though he\nwere dead, yet shall he live\u201d (John xi. 25).\n\n\u201c_Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ_, _and thou shalt be saved_\u201d (Acts\nxvi. 31).\n\nIn the two verses quoted above, John iii. 16, 17, God is declared to send\nHis Son not to condemn, but to save the world.\n\nVerse 18 divides mankind into two classes\u2014those who _believe in Christ_,\nand those who _do not believe_.  The former are _not condemned_, and if\nthey abide in Him will go on to everlasting life.  The latter \u201care\n_condemned already_\u201d for their not believing.  This condemnation is not\nnecessarily a final state, for if they \u201cabide not in unbelief,\u201d but turn\nto Christ in repentance and faith, they will be brought into His covenant\nof grace and salvation.  But if otherwise, when God\u2019s longsuffering\npatience has exhausted the pleadings, warnings, and wooings of the Spirit\nwithout response, a time must come when the word will go forth, \u201cMy\nSpirit shall not always strive with man;\u201d and that state of condemnation\nbecome an abiding one, agreeably to Rom. ii. 4\u201310.\n\n\u201cOr despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and\nlongsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to\nrepentance?  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up\nunto thyself wrath, against the day of wrath, and revelation of the\nrighteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his\ndeeds:\u2014To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory\nand honour and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are\ncontentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,\nindignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man\nthat doeth evil . . . but glory, honour, and peace to every man that\nworketh good\u201d (Rom. ii. 4\u201310).\n\nIt becomes, therefore, an all-important point to endeavour to draw from\nScripture some of the chief conditions which are implied in these simple\nwords, \u201c_Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ_.\u201d\n\nOur Lord has Himself given us an example of what He meant by it when He\nsaid, \u201cI seek _not mine own will_, but _the __will of the Father_ which\nhath sent Me\u201d (John v. 30).  Jesus believed in the Father, and he that in\nlike manner believes in the Son must seek, not his own will, but the will\nof Christ.\n\nJesus said, \u201cI am the Light of the world;\u201d \u201che that followeth Me shall\nnot walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life\u201d (John viii. 12).\n\u201cI am _the way_, _the truth_, and _the life_; no man cometh unto the\nFather but by Me\u201d (John xiv. 6).  He is the _way_ to the Father, and the\n_only way_:\u2014the very _Truth_ of God expressed in word and action,\u2014in\nprecept and example,\u2014who \u201cdid no sin, neither was guile found in His\nmouth\u201d (1 Pet. ii. 22; and Isa. liii. 9),\u2014and _the life_, the means\nthrough which alone spiritual life is given to a world dead in trespasses\nand sins.\n\nOur Lord further defines the characteristics of the two classes as\nfollows:\u2014\u201cFor every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh\nto the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  But he that doeth truth\ncometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are\nwrought in God\u201d (John iii. 20, 21).\n\nIt is, therefore, a characteristic of believing in Jesus that we bring\nour \u201cdeeds to _His light_ that it may be made manifest that they are\nwrought in God.\u201d\n\nJesus was \u201c_the Light_\u201d but His precepts and example\u2014all, in fact, that\nHe did and taught\u2014are so many lights derived from Him; as well as the\nlight of the Holy Ghost or Comforter, who shines in our hearts to give\n\u201cus the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus\nChrist\u201d (2 Cor. iv.  6); and this bringing our deeds to the light\nincludes trying them by His words and example;\u2014the precepts taught by His\nApostles, as well as by the Holy Spirit itself,\u2014that by any or all of\nthese accordant tests it may be made clear whether they are according to\nthe mind of Christ.  \u201cHe that hath My commandments, and _keepeth them_,\nhe it is _that loveth Me_. . . .  He that _loveth Me not_, _keepeth not_\nMy sayings\u201d (John xiv. 21, 24).\n\nWe have a lively illustration of practical belief in the patriarchs of\nold, who, believing in God\u2019s promises, and having seen them afar off,\nembraced them, and shaped their lives in conformity to them:\u2014viz., \u201cThese\nall died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them\nafar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed\nthat they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth.  For they which say\nsuch things declare plainly that they seek . . . a better country\u2014that\nis, a heavenly\u201d (Heb. xi. 13, 14, 16).\n\nBelieving in Christ, therefore, implies a belief that He is the Son of\nGod, the Messiah, and Saviour of the world, the centre and spring of all\nour spiritual existence;\u2014a belief in His _teaching expressed by_ shaping\nour lives and conversation in the world by it; accepting Him as our King,\nwhose right it is to reign and rule in our hearts.  He tells us that we\nmust be \u201cborn again\u201d\u2014\u201cborn of the Spirit\u201d (John iii. 3 and 6)\u2014and the\npower to truly believe in Christ is coincident with this new birth, and\nindicative of it, when \u201cthe Holy Ghost or Comforter,\u201d convincing us of\nsin, and of our alienation from God by it, enables us to look to Jesus as\nour Saviour and Redeemer.  When, by the power of the same Spirit, we are\nenabled to lay aside our old works, thoughts, and propensities to evil,\nand walk by the rule of faith in the light of the Spirit of Christ.  As\nwe abide and walk therein, we shall \u201cgrow in grace and in the knowledge\nof our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;\u201d bringing forth the fruits of the\nSpirit, which are set forth in Gal. v. 22, as \u201clove, joy, peace,\nlongsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against\nsuch there is no law.\u201d  Again (2 Pet. i. 5\u20137), as\u2014\u201cFaith, virtue,\nknowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and\ncharity.\u201d\n\nIf we examine the nature of some of these fruits of the Spirit, we shall\nsee that though they are produced in us individually by the working of\nthe Spirit, they are not confined to ourselves, but will communicate to\nothers around us.  Thus we all know how communicative is the feeling of\n_joy_\u2014it burns to tell others the good news, or glad tidings.  The _love_\nof God shed abroad in our hearts makes us long that others should\nparticipate in this great blessing.\u2014The _peace_ of God yearns that all\nshould be brought into its heavenly atmosphere: while the other qualities\nor rather graces described,\u2014as longsuffering, meekness, charity, &c,\u2014mark\nto others that we have been with Jesus: and the Apostle Peter winds up\nhis catalogue with the descriptive words equally applicable to both, \u201c_If\nthese things be in you and abound_, they make you that ye shall neither\nbe barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ\u201d (2\nPet. i. 8).\n\nThus the Gospel \u201cis the power of God unto salvation to everyone that\nbelieveth\u201d (Rom. i. 16), and as its fruits spring up and _abound_ in any\nheart they will in some or other form overflow to those around, and make\nit a minister of righteousness, a testimony-bearer to the truth as it is\nin Jesus: it may be in word and doctrine, in the private circle of\nassociation, or even in the quiet testimony of a peaceful spirit, and a\nfaithful discharge of duties, recommending by its example the Gospel of\nChrist.\n\n\u201cFor the _law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus_ hath made me free\nfrom _the law of sin and death_. . . .  That _the __righteousness of the\nlaw_ might be fulfilled in us, _who walk not after the flesh_, _but after\nthe Spirit_.\u201d  \u201cFor they that are after the flesh do mind the things of\nthe flesh; but they _that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit_\u201d\n(Rom. viii. 2\u20135).\n\nAllusion has been made at a former page (40) to the _precepts of the\nlaw_, having been superseded by the higher _principles_ of the Gospel of\nChrist.  The New Testament, instead of prescribing precise instructions\nfor conduct between man and man, sums up our duties in the general\nprinciple, \u201cThou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; love worketh no ill\nto his neighbour; love is the fulfilling of the law\u201d (Rom. xiii. 9, 10);\nat the same time illustrations are given, both of the fruits of the\nSpirit, and of the fruits of sin in the heart (See Eph. iv. 22 to end,\nand ch. v.; Rom. i. 28\u201332; Rev. xxi. 8).\n\nThe law written in the heart is the effect of the Holy Spirit\u2019s work\nthere.  He works in us to will and to do of God\u2019s good pleasure;\u2014\u201cto do\nthose things which are well pleasing in His sight;\u201d\u2014which should \u201cbe\nknown and read of all men,\u201d by its effects on the conduct, &c. (2 Cor.\niii. 2).  It was the distinguishing feature of Christ\u2019s coming\u2014\u201cLo, I\ncome to do Thy will, O God\u201d (Heb. x. 9).  And though we cannot attain to\nHis perfection, the work of the Spirit is always to beget within us more\nof the love of God, and to incline our hearts to serve Him more\nfaithfully.  As we sit, as it were, at the feet of Jesus, looking unto\nHim, the Spirit or Comforter will take of the things of Christ, and show\nthem to us, and there will be a growth in grace, and in conformity to the\nwill and law of God;\u2014a subordination of the flesh to the Spirit, which\nhas no necessary, or perhaps no natural, limit, but in the summons to\nquit the militant, and join the triumphant, Church above.\n\nIt is sometimes said that Christianity is an educational system in which\nthe mind is trained, by the restoring grace of the Holy Spirit, to\nabandon sin, and work righteousness; and that the offer of this restoring\ngrace implies, as a necessary prelude, the pardon of past sin.\n\nEnough has been already said to show that this is not consistent with the\ngeneral tenor of Holy Scripture.  We know that the minds of susceptible\nchildren, nurtured under Christian mothers, do sometimes drink in the\ntruths of the Gospel from their lips, at a very early age, in a way that\nmakes it difficult to mark the period of decided change in them.  They\nseem to grow up with the Gospel infused into their characters and life.\n\nThis is not, however, the common case; neither is it the happy lot of\n_all_ to be so instructed from their cradles to maturity.  And when sin\nhas taken possession of the mind\u2014whether in the milder development of\nwhat is called innocent gaiety;\u2014the love of pleasure, without\nvice;\u2014indisposition for serious things and persons;\u2014or whether evil takes\na larger development, and vice in its grosser form exists; in either case\nthey cannot be said to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ\u2014nor, as a\nconsequence, to seek to do His will; but are living under the\ncondemnation of those who do not believe.  And these states, admitted and\nprotracted, necessarily tend to harden in sin, and the longer they\ncontinue, to render it more difficult to return, repent, and live.  So\nthat in general it is when the fear of death is brought nearer by\nsickness:\u2014when aroused by the powerful ministry of the Word, or by the\ndirect pleadings of the Holy Spirit, convincing us of sin and of judgment\nto come:\u2014then, if at all, they are arrested in their downward course,\nand, through God\u2019s longsuffering mercy, are brought to see their need of\na Saviour, a Redeemer, a sacrifice for sin.  Under such circumstances _no\nnecessary implication of pardon_ will give _peace_; they must feel that\nJesus _has borne their sins in His own body on the tree_, _and that by\nHis stripes they are healed_.\n\nHow many instances do we read of persons, for long years refusing to\nyield themselves to God, being at length brought into such depths of\nmisery or danger (in that longsuffering mercy which has followed them all\nthrough), and then are they enabled to repent and put away their sins,\nand, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, to be saved from the wrath to\ncome.\n\nBut some, perhaps, will say: Why cannot I believe in the Lord Jesus as\n\u201cthe restorer of breaches,\u201d and \u201cof paths to dwell in,\u201d without going\nback to past ages?  The answer is very obvious\u2014that if He be not the\nSacrifice, He cannot be the Restorer.  He is _one_ Christ, and His work\n_one_.  If He atones for the sin of mankind, He can be then the\nrestorer;\u2014the one is as much part of His character as the other.  And if\nwe would divide His perfect work in two parts, and reject Him when\nsuffering on the cross for our sins:\u2014that \u201cwe might live\u201d:\u2014\u201cto give His\nlife a ransom for us,\u201d\u2014can we be sure that He will acknowledge us when\nseated on the right hand of God?  Can we be truly said to believe in Him\nwith our _whole_ heart?  _If_ we do not accept what He has said of\nHimself; by His own rule we are not seeking to do His will.\n\nIt is _after_ \u201c_having made peace through the blood of His cross_;\u201d . . .\nthat He _is able_ \u201c_to reconcile all things unto Himself_\u201d (Col. i. 19,\n20), so that they who \u201cwere sometimes alienated by wicked works, yet now\nhath He reconciled in the body of _His flesh through death_, to present\nyou holy and unblameable, and unreproveable in His sight.\u201d (Col. i. 22).\n\nIn the previous chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, Paul, having taken\na review of the mercies of God in human redemption by Christ, and of the\ncalling of the Jews and Gentiles;\u2014in the twelfth chapter he beseeches the\nbrethren \u201cto present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable\nunto God, which is their reasonable service\u201d (ver. 1); and at the end of\nthe thirteenth chapter he exhorts them to \u201cput on the Lord Jesus Christ,\nand make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lust thereof\u201d (ver.\n14); while the intermediate verses contain a remarkably concise epitome\nof the character and duties of the members of the Christian Church.\n\nI have endeavoured to draw the character of Christianity as I find it in\nthe New Testament.  No place is made for lukewarmness, indifference, or\nformality.  Every one receiving the inestimable blessing of faith in\nChrist is naturally expected to embrace it; to prize it as the \u201cpearl of\ngreat price\u201d; the greatest of all treasures; and to be wrapped up in its\nexcellence, counting all other things as valueless and unworthy of\nattention in comparison with it.  And the new creature is to grow up out\nof the new faith, stripped of all that is old and sinful, and clothed\nwith all that is just and true and godly.\n\nTo flee from the \u201cwrath to come,\u201d and take refuge in the ark or fold of\nChrist, is a work of the deepest seriousness, and the joy of feeling that\nyou have attained that shelter and security is depicted in the New and\nOld Testaments as of the liveliest kind.\n\n\u201cRejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say rejoice\u201d (Phil. iv. 4).\n\u201cWhom having not seen ye love; in whom though now ye see Him not, yet,\nbelieving, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory\u201d (1 Pet. i.\n8), and this in the midst of grievous persecutions.\n\n\u201cAnd thou shalt _rejoice in the Lord_, and shalt glory in the Holy One of\nIsrael\u201d (Isa. xli. 16).\n\n\u201cI will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God;\nfor He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me\nwith the robe of righteousness\u201d (Isa. lxi. 10).\n\n\u201cI will rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation\u201d (Hab.\niii. 18).\n\n\u201cRejoice evermore\u201d (1 Thess. v. 16).\n\n\u201cThere is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ\nJesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit\u201d (Rom. viii. 1):\nborn again of the Spirit: believing in Christ: our sins borne by Him on\nthe tree: \u201cthe Spirit of life in Christ Jesus making us free from the law\nof sin and death\u201d (Rom. viii. 2), should we not rejoice with grateful\nhearts, and through Jesus offer \u201cthe sacrifice of praise to God\ncontinually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name\u201d?\n(Heb. xiii. 15.)\n\nBut are there not many minds who are more given to dwell in a low state,\nand in somewhat of that sombreness which is cast over nature when the\n_sun_ is more or less _eclipsed_, to whom it is more congenial to look at\nthe doubtful or dark side of things, than to indulge in joyful\nanticipations?  If such be our condition of mind, should we not strive\nagainst it, and examine whether there be not cause for joy?\n\nIf through the mercy of God in Christ Jesus our sins are forgiven; if we\nhave passed from death unto life; if Christ, who is the appointed \u201cJudge\nof quick and dead,\u201d be OUR _Intercessor and Redeemer_, who is he that can\nharm us?  If by means of His redemption we are made joint heirs with Him\nof the heavenly Kingdom and glory, ought we not to rejoice and be glad?\nTo have passed from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto\nGod is surely matter for joy and rejoicing, and the feeling is one that\nit is the duty of all such to encourage, and seek by prayer and\nmeditation on the promises of God in Christ Jesus\u2014promises which are _not\nyea and nay_, but _all yea_ in Him\u2014all unconditional\u2014absolutely certain\nto all who believe in, love, and obey Him, and persevere to the end.\n\n\n\n\nFootnotes.\n\n\n{6}  These were the three grand divisions of the Old Testament, according\nto the Jewish arrangement, and comprised the entire volume.\n\n{12}  Cruden says that sacrifice was offered by Adam and his sons.\n\n{20}  May we not learn from this the duty of expressing our thankfulness\nto the Giver of every good and perfect gift before partaking of it? so\nalso, at Feast of Pentecost.\n\n{21}  In Lev. xxiii. 18, it is stated _one_ bullock and _two_ rams, but\nin Numbers, just before entering the Promised Land, some alterations were\nmade.\n\n{42}  Mark here the dignity and quality of the teacher\u2014\u201cthe brightness of\nthe Father\u2019s glory and express image of His person,\u201d\u2014come to teach men\nthe things which He had seen and heard with His Father in heaven\u2014John\niii. 32,\u2014and so completely representing the Father that He could say, \u201cIf\nye have seen Me ye have seen the Father also\u201d (John xiv. 15).  See also\nCol. i. 15.\n\n{46}  See terms used in the account of the daily and other sacrifices\n(Lev. i. 9; iv. 31, &c.), p. 16.\n\n{48a}  The blood of goats and calves (Heb. ix. 12\u201314).\n\n{48b}  The blood of Christ (Heb. ix. 14).\n\n{66}  See in \u201cHorne\u2019s Introduction to the Critical Study of the\nScriptures\u201d a full account of the prophecies of the Old Testament, with\ntheir fulfilment in the words of the New Testament, from which several of\nthe above are extracted.  Vol. i., Appendix No. 6.\n\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Jesus Fulfils the Law","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":15296}