The Penn's Grove record., 1903-01-30

4 II Is d pO5SiDle L1lQg LOT US TO QfiVe IUem
all away, just as WI find Abram did in the
text with which we started: "And when
the fowls came Town upon the carcasses,
Abram drove them away"
These offerings are the same as those
commanded to Moses, and if we put them
all together we have a perfect illustration
Of the atonement of Jesus Christ. and of
the power of His blood to make clean. I
shall not consider the offerings in their or
der, but give them to you in this chapter
as they have impressed themselves upon
my own mind.
"And he shall take two goats and pre-
sent them before the Lord at the door of
the tabernacle Of the congregation. But
the goat on which the lot fell to be the
scapegoat, shall be presented olive before
the Lord, to make an atonement with him,
and to let him go for a scapegoat into the
| wilderness" Lev. xvi: 7, 10.
Very few services in the Old Testament
Scriptures are more interesting in the past,
and more powerful as we study them in
| the present, because of the light shed upon
the atonement, than the offering of the
| goats. There were two in number, and IN
| this there lies the very deepest thought of
God as touching sin. What must do to-
be saved?" has been the heart-cry of many
a poor lost soul, who no sooner utters it
than the evil birds begin to fly about his
head, suggesting all sorts of answers to the
! question.
One whispers Reform" and the poor,
| tempted one makes an effort, but what a
struggle he has, for he finds that when he
has cut off one sin the strength OF it
seems to go in the channel in which an
other has been flowing, and reformation,
even if it be complete (which it rarely isl,
only touches the present, and possibly the
future, and never for a moment makes pro-
vision for ones awful past. +,
Another bird suggests that we simply
be good. One great evangelist saws, "Quit
your meanness;" another, equally great.
"Do right, and you will be a Christian"
With all due respect for these men, VINO
have been counted great, | submit that
they are wrong; for one might .quit his
m~eanness" to-day, but what about yester-
day? And one may possibly do right to-
the deeds of to-day?
Mans way has miserably failed. Let Us
now turn to God to seek the proper an
swer to the question.
The first goat was slain for the Lord,
and this side of mans sin must never be
forgotten. In the transgressions of man
God has been dishonored. His truth has
been scorned, His authority has been set
aside, His majesty has been sighted, His
law has been broken, His name has been
despised. No reformation of man can
ever make this wrong right. Thus, in the
Old Testament the goat was offered to
meet Gods demands, which were just, and
to satisfy His holy law. And thus in the
New Testament Jesus Christ came to suf-
fer and to die. Nowadays there is much
teaching abroad, which magniies the life
of Jesus. but the clear teaching of the
word of God is that only by the shedding
Of His blood is there remission of sins;
the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth
from all sins. Much is said to-day about
Jesus being a teacher, but He said Himself
that the Spirit, when He is come, would
teach US all things. Jesus Christ came to
do Just one thing, namely, to die, that
through His death an avenue might be
opened up for man to come back to his
God, reconciled forever unto God.
But this is not all. The second goat was
led forth, with a scarlet cord about his
neck. The hands of the priest were laid
upon his head. and then the sins of the
people were confessed, and by the hand
of a fit person the scapegoat was led unto
a land that was not inhabited. In this be
Jesus Christ. 1.-THE Lord hath laid on Him
the iniquity of us all" and He has carried
our sins away, as far "as the east is from
the west" 1t is an inspiration for Is to
know that when Jesus Christ died on Cal
vary He not only died to set US free from
the penalty of sin in the sight of God, but
by His death we are set free from the pow
er of sin in our own lives.
When one becomes discouraged and finds
that he of himself cannot keep from sin,
the evil bird comes to whisper once again:
"You need expect it. You have been born
with a tendency to sin. You have been
is still with you"
All of which we know and believe, If we
are faithful students of our own nature
and of the word of God. But this is no L.
cense to sin, for if We confess our sin
Gods word is out that He will be faith
full and Just to forgive US our SINS" that
is, He will be faithful to Christ, who has
carried our sin away.
For every evil bird that comes to dis
courage US or to discredit Gods word
there is a sure way by which they may be
driven from us. The word of God is our
defense, and you have but to bold up to
Satan, whose agents these evil birds are,
the expression ut is written and he will
be overcome.
And the Lord spake unto Moses and
unto Aaron, saying: And he that gather
eth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his
clothes and be unclean until the even; and
it shall be INTO the children of Israel, and
unto the stranger that sojourneth among
them, for a statute forever" Numbers
xix: l, 10.
If one were to give this passage OF
Scripture a casual reading he might find in
it very little to arrest his attention, but II
he studies it carefully and compares Scrip
ture with Scripture, he will learn that not
only is it one of the most intensely inter
esting studies III all the Bible, but that it
sheds light upon the gospel story, and
makes both plain and powerful one phase
of the work accomplished by our blessed
Lord.
There was something in the color of the
heifer, for it was not allowable to have one
cinrIo mhffo nair-aJ uaurA no rad Suraiu
this is just a little hint that in the sacrih-
cial life and Death of Jesus Christ there
was not one single bright ray
The offering must be without blemish;
if there was the least spot Of weakness
about it it was to be rejected. And He
was without spot or wrinkle, or any such
thing, too-absolutely perfect was the Son
Of God, our Saviour.
The red heller was to be taken out OF
the camp, and there put to death. And
Jesus was taken outside the city and cru
cited upon the green hill which we call
Calvary.
When the heifer was burned, into the
flames was cast scarlet, which II supposed
was used to typify the sins Of Israel, for
both theirs and ours are red like crimson,
or scarlet. Cedar wood and hyssop were
also cast in. The cedar was the proudest
tree in the olden times, the king Of the
forest, while hyssop was the common,
everyday plant which could be found out
side the door of every cottage. Taking the
hyssop on the one side and the cedar on
the other, all nature would be i2aaded in
the sweep. Surely there must a hint
here as to the breadth Of the { sonement
provided by Jesus Christ, and $50 a clear
suggestion as to the power Of Christ's
blood to cleanse.
In the sixth chapter of Numbers, first
twelve verses, we have the law Of the Naz.
a@rites. From this we learn that if the Naz-
arite defled himself in any way be must
Immediately be cleansed. or else step out
of fellowship with God, and that if he is
out of fellowship the days of his ~unclean-
ness are lost with God. In other words, il
there is in our hearts or lives any uncon-
fesscd or unforgiven sin, we may be saved
we will not argue that q~uestion-but our
time is lost; it counts for nothing with
God, and for this loss OF time we shall one
day be called to a strict account. How
many Christians to-day are absolutely
without power. Their voices were once
heard in the prayer meeting. Their testi-
mony once rang out clearly In the church.
| Their life in the home was without re-