Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1898-06-10
GODS PURIFICATION.
rkLmEcE's MASTERY SERMON AND
EXPOSITION.
Subject. "sPrinkled and CIeaased.'' In
which TIA" story Of the shedding of
blood For the Removing OF >in Is
Dwell Upon-Chri-i and the soul.

which the story Of the shedding oi
blood For the Removing OF sin Is
Dwell UPon-Chri-t and the soul.
TENr; "Aai the priest shall command
that on. nf the hir.is b. kille In an earthen
vessel. over running water. A. for the liy-
ing bird, he shall take Il. and the cedar
wood, aud the scarlet, and the hyssOp. and
shall dip them and the living bird In the
blood Of the bird that was killed over the
running water; and h. shall sprinkle upon
him that l. TO be cleansed from the lsprosy
seven times, and shalt pronounce him clean.
and shall let the living bird loose into the
open field. '-Leyiticus xiv. 81.
The Old Testament. to very many people.
Is a SreSt slaughter-hOuse strewa with
blood, and bones, and horns, and hoofs OF
bu,Se -. animals. IL offends their sight;
it disgusts their taste; il actually nauseates
the 81 mach. But TO the intelligent Chris
tian the Old Testament is magnificent
corridor through which sesus advances.
As He appears at the other end of the cor
ridOr We can only see the outlines OF His
character; coming nearer we can descry
the features. But when, at last He steps
upon the platform OF the New Testament,
amid the torches OF evangelsts and apos-
ties, the orchestras Of heaven announce Him
with blast OF minstresly that wakes up
Bethlehem at midnight.
There were great many cages OF birds
brought down to Jerusalem for sacrifice -
sparrows, and pigeons, aud turtle-doves.
L can hear them now. whistling, carolinc
and singing all around about the Temple
When lepsr was To be cured OF his iep-
rosy, in order to his cleansing two of these
birds were taken; one of them was slain
over an earthen vessel OF running water -
that is, clear, fresh water. and then the
bid was killed. Another bird was then
taken, tied to hyssop- branch, and pluugel
by the priest into the blood OF the first bird:
and then, with this hyssop-branch, bird
dipped the priest would sprinkle the leper
seven times, then unite the bird from the
hySsOp-branch, and it would go soaring
into the heavens.
Now omen your eyes wide, my dear
brethren and sisters, and see that that first
bird meant Jesus, aud that the second bird
meant your own soul
[ notice also in my text that the bird that
was slain was a clean bird The text de-
manded that it should be. The raven was
never sacrificed, nor the cormorant, nor
the vulture. II must be clean bird says
the text; and it suggests the pure Jesus
the holy Jesus. Although He spent His
boyhOOl in the worst village on earth,
although blasphemies vera poured into
His ear enough to have poisoned any one
else, He stands before the world IA perfect
Christ.
remark, also. in reslrl t. this FIRST
birl mentioned in the tex. that it was a
defeuseless bird. When the eagle is as
saulted. with its iron beak it strikes like Il
haIt AGAINST its advaranrv Thi. U,a
dove or a sparrow wa a. not know iust
which Take the dove or pigeon in your
| hand, and the pecking of its beak on your
hand makes you laugh at the teebeness of
its assault.
None to help! The murderers have it
in tha Roman repimpnt WIN SWINE, his
sword in the defense Of tbe Divine Martyr
| MIA tbev nut onn dr,n of oil on His ,,sheJ
| festq was there on. in ali thn+ rrowi
manly and oanerous nnonch to stand ont
| for Himg Wnra tne miscraants NJ thn
cross any more interfered with in their
woriy If snikinv Him fast than tha rnrnan-
ter in his shon DRIVING - mil throngh n hin.
! hoard9 The women rriad hut tLar, was
no hahn in their tears None TO heln'
None TO helm, O NV Lord Jrsus none Ia
helnr
| Oh tbis dove Of tbA tavt in Ire lost rno-
mpnt cmtched not with angry taIons II
nlunged nor SAVAGE hraE n was a dove
[heInless defenspless None TO helm,
None to heIpl
As after a s,vare storm in the morning
YOU 90 out and find birds dead on the
Sround so this dead bird of the text makes
me think of that awful storm that swpnt
the earth on Crurifixion day. when the
wrath Of God and the malice OF man and
the fury Of devils wrestled beneath the
three crosses.
But | come now to speak to this second
bird OF the text. We must not let that fly
away until we have eXaminedit, The priest
took the second bird, tied it to the hyssO,
branch, and then plunged it in the blood oi
the first bird. All! that is my soul, plunged
ala N1tF has atr nae h boz
is not enough water in the Atlantic ant
Pacific Oceans to wash away our smallest
sin. Sin is such an Outrage OF Gods uni
verse that nothing but blood can atone fol-
it. You know the life Is In the blood, ant
as the life bad been forfeited, nothing
could buy it back but blood.
As this second bird OF the text wa
plunged in the blood OF the first bird, so W.
must be washed in the blood of Christ or g
polluted forever.
l notice now that as soon as this seconr
bird was dipped in the blood of the frs
bird the priest unlOOsened it and it wa
free-free Of wing and free of foot. 1t cOul,
whet its beak on any tree branch it chose
1t could peck the grapes of any yineyar,
it chose. 1t was free: Il type OF our soul
after we have washed in the blood of tn
Lamb We can go where we will. We cal
do what we will.
If man has become a Christian, he is N
more afraid Of Sinai. The thunder5 Of Sina
do NOT frigbtan him yo,, bava on SOM
Anonst dav saan twn thnn1er-showar
meat One cIon1 from this mountain. nm,
nnothor nio,d fro,, no. rro,ntsin comm,
nearer and naarer toyothnr and raSnondin'
70 earh othnr nrash IN crash thunder f.
thnndnr i hon,nI honrot Ana then the cloud
hraak nn5 tTn torronts nnnr and thew ar
emptied nerhans info me verv same stream
that comes down 60 red Mt your feet tina
it seems AZ II ali the carnage of the storm
battle hos been emntied into If. So in tbi
Bible T sea- two stnrma gather one aboy
Sinai tba other aEoya Calvary and thew re
snond ono 70 tha otbar-losh TO fash
INV - O'AO' I,'