Cherokee scout. [volume] (Murphy, N.C.) 188?-1961, 1904-11-08

which we are told that Christ came by
water and blood; not by water alone, bat
by water and blood-as the r. Y; renders
1t, "by the water and the blood.
We all know what the blood means. We
/, are redeemed by the precious blood OF
Christ as of a lamb without blemlsh- ana
without spot" But some of us are much
at sea about the water. The water and
the figures are typical. And if we under.
/ stand the types, both will, turn prt
thoughts to, the sacrifice Of Calvary. The
| water Was "the water of publication" OF
Numbers 10. Water that c, rs, aus i cerv-
| moni91l. .sncaey to the sin. offering: But
+. the sin offering was only for redeemed
PPsopie people already refeer9s Ssi by tss
Lord retuf.ts In blessing to Israel. then,
o. Ezekiel B6 teaches. lis, He will come ''bs
s sSh ns'sF Mas 1T ' ths %s}sF 5y S but
! ty The water and the blood. The blood
has already been shed, redemption is ac-
| complished.
The two, I repeat, must never be sepa-
| rated. And as redemption is altogether
j Gods work, so also is the new birth. Like
| the Apostles ministry tGal. i, /, r. W,
1t is mot from men, neither through
man.; No ordinance, or sacrament" hos
! anything to de with 1t. Men can fiji time
and place for ordinances For. 6rdinancei
h99vei fAe. Spirit breathes where He
It is to this thirty-sixth chapter of Eze-
kiel that these. words of Christ refer.
Three elements in the new birth are speci>
he'd in the prophecy;
"a "1 will sprinkle cieaii water upon
You, and We shall be Clean" ". 25.)
(2) 81 viii give you a new heart."
". 26.)
81 !. land A I will put My Spirit within
''THE WATER OF REPRESENTATION"
4 In Matt. 1928. the time of it's, fulfill.
ment for the man is designated by the
Lord as THE Regeherati0n:" And in the
pnly other passage in the New Testament
where that word occurs, it is used in con-
nection with "the water of puri6cat ton"
and the Ezekiel prophecy. / allude of
course to Titus 3:5: "He saved us by
the washing of regeneration and renew
ing of the Hoy Ghost" The word here
washing" for it is a noun substantive
and not verb; and the R.>V. gloss (mar-
saea Il hs aTaeE biB i iof he laVer
But iii the Greek Version of Ecclus. 34:25
/ it is used for the vessel which held "the
water of publication"
But to return to the Divinely appointed
rite of the Jewish religion, What was the
symbolism, of the water? Scripture itself
pep tSs sns e6e oO
twice in the New. Testament. 1 have al
ready spoken of Titus 3:5; the other pas
sage is Eph. 5:26. Christ gave Himself
for the Church, chat He might sanctify
and cleanse it with the loutron of water
by the Word" In the type the Israeiite
ter; in the antitype the believer reaches
the sacrifice by. means of the Word. Hence
the language of Scripture, "the loutron Of
water in the Word" The water of puri-
fcation was, as we have seen, the water Of
regeneration; and it is by the Word that
nothing to do with mystic arts or shib-
boleths after the pattern Of ancient Pa
Eanisnii 1--WE are born again" (as the in.
spired Apostle teachesl ''by the Word Of
God1Ithe Lying and eternally abiding
error or misapprehension, it. is added,
"And this is the Word which by the Cos
pei is preached unto you''-preacbed. as
he had already declared, with the Holy
Ghost sent down from Heaven" Not
the Spirit without the. Word. nor the
In ali this the truth b Gnrfsl h.
the counterpart and complement of the
teaching of the Old Testament: How can
sinners, helpless, hopeless, dead as dead
as dry bones scattered on the earth-be
born again to God? "Can these bones
prophet to cast himself on God. And the
37th chapter of Ezekiel gives the answer:
Preach to them. Call upon them to hear
the Word of the Lord. ". A.. This. is
mans part; or if anything more, remains
it is Prophecy unto the breath"-pray
that the Spirit may breathe upon these
dead. The rest is Gods work altogether:
For "tne Spirit breathes when He wills.
Men preach; the Spirit breathes; and
the dry bones live. Thus it is that sinners
are born again.-London Christian.