The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1920-09-09

fSaa ~w kiz and offer him
there for burnt
Offering" "ln Isaac shall thy seed be
called" God had said, and now, this
strange command that would make
that promise of none effect But in
these carefully measured words:
Take now thy son. thine only one,"
we are listening to the heartbeat OF
God who gave his only-begotten Son"
to die for others.
three day s. journey-the distance
OF death and resurrection-brings
Abraham and Isaac to the appointed
mountain, the place where. centuries
later. another well-beloved Son laid
down his life for men. "They went
both of them together" we are told.
for the Father and Son are one In the
great work of redemption.
And now the beloved son Is upon
the altar and the glittering knife held
aloft for the fatal thrust, when a re-
straining hand is laid upon the up
raised arm, and "a ram caught in
thicket by his horns" is offered up in
Isaac's stead.
If in Isaac. Christ is seen as the
devoted servant of his Fathers will,
in the ram he is seen as actually suf-
fering death in the place of his peo-
pie. The horns are the symbol Of
power, and the thicket tells of the
curse upon creation ecause Of sin.
Christ, held by the power Of his love
to the cross for your sins and mine.
"And Abraham called the name of
the place. Jehovah-jire Jehovah
will provide. And what will he pro-
vide? A sacrifice substitute for
the poor sinner holy sin offering
Some one to die in my place! One
who, In his own breast will receive the
awful stroke that | deserved One
who will drain its terrible dregs for
me-the bitter cup of divine wrath
against sin. that he might turn II into
cup Of bliss for me to drink All
the hidden meaning Of the One Great
Sacrifice Is seen The Fathers heart
disclosed in the command, Thine only
one whom thou lowest" The be-
loved Son. the Lamb, entangled at the
altar of sins, the very power Of his
love holding him there
Abraham is spared the pangs o.
Staying his son, but God spared not
himself that pang. No voice from
heaven. no plying angel of the Lord
at Calvary! The stroke falls upon
the Beloved, and by the Fathers
hand. "The Lord hath laid on him
the inIquity Of us ALL" at pleased
Jehovah to bruise him."
Jehovah lifted up the rod,
o Christ, II fell on theei"
AS Abraham stood at the smoking
altar he saw Christ's day and was
glad; saw, on spur of that same
Moriah, cross appraised against the
blackened sky. BY that cross we
take our stand and there our hearts,
once desolate because of sin, have
learned a song:
"Not all the blood of beasts on Jew
ish affairs slain,
Could give the guilty conscience peace
or wash away its stain.
"But Christ, the heavenly Lamb. takes
all our guilt away;
A sacrifice of nobler name, and rich
er blood than they"
Jehovah-jIreh But will he pro-
vide only sacrifice? Nay. my God
shall supply all your needs according
TO his riches In glory by Christ
Jesus" And the very sacrifice that
he has provided is the guarantee Of
this, for thus II is written: "He that
spared not his own Son, but delivered
him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all
ethingsT o soul. believe It'll That
unspeakable gift Of Gods Son upon
the cross for thee pledges to thee all
things besidel Alas that Gods peo-
pie do not prove this with every pass
ing day
Jehovah jirehl But where will he
provide? Mark we'll the place: an
the mount Of the Lord IL shall be
SEEN" The meaning of that blessed
name OF our God Is for those alone
who have been at Jesus cross. II is
not for the scoffer and the scorner. II
is not for the reflector of the Lord.
"In the mount of the Lord" where
stands the cross. I'm the mount of
the Lord where God reveals himself.
"In the mount of the Lord" where the
heart is fully obedient to the will of
God. In the mount of the Lord"
reached by that three days journey"
that tells of the effect of the cross
crucifying me to the world and the
world to me. separating me unto God
Of fellowship In the sufferings of
Jesus. ain the mount or the Lord"
there 1T shall be seem"