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God and they that hear shall live" (John v. 15). "Hear, and your soul shall live" (Isa. lv. 3).

Reader! if this be thy experience, then trust ye in the Lord for ever. Hope is an element of patience, faith of victory, love of service. Cherish the impression within your heart: Jehovah-Jireh. Trust the Lord's wisdom, care, and guidance. Cultivate further acquaintance with Him in prayer for yourself and others. Attend to his wellknown voice. And in all tribulation, be assured of his everlasting love and sympathy.

J. H.

ADAM AND CHRIST.

"And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one (offence) to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification" (Rom. v. 16).

GLORIOUS point of contrast. The condemnation by Adam was for one sin; but the justification by Christ is an absolution not only from the guilt of that first offence, mysteriously attaching to every individual of the race, but from the countless offences into which, as a germ lodged in the bosom of every child of Adam, it unfolds itself in his life. This is the meaning of " grace abounding towards us in the abundance of the gift of righteousness." It is a grace not only rich in its character, but rich in detail. It is a righteousness not only rich in a complete justification of the guilty, condemned sinner; but rich in the amplitude of the ground which it covers, leaving no one sin of any of the justified uncancelled, but making him, though loaded with the guilt of myriads of offences, "the righteousness of God in Christ."-Brown on the Romans.

June 1, 1862.

THE WATER OF SEPARATION.-I.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke. And ye shall give her unto Eleazer the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face. And Eleazer the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times. And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn. And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even. And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation it is a purification for sin."-Num. xix. 1–9.

N the goodness of God, He has not only provided for cleansing a sinner from his sins, when in his lost state, but also for cleansing his own people from the uncleanness they may receive while sojourningin the place where uncleanness is. Such is our place, as made partakers of life in Christ, now in the world, but waiting for deliverance, when He who is our life shall appear, and we also shall appear with Him in glory. Then there will be no danger of touching anything answering to the dead body of a man, or to a tent wherein a man dieth, or to one slain with a sword in the open fields, or to a bone of a man, or to a grave. When we appear in glory, the living only will be there. In the world it is not so; but in the goodness of God, all needful provision has been made for us until that day. When Christ commends unto the Father those whom the Father had given Him, He says, "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world." And again, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou

THE KING'S HIGHWAY

1,

shouldest keep them from the evil." He further prays for them, "Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me." Now while in the world, we need to be "kept from the evil." We also need cleansing, of which there is a type in Numb. xix. in the water of soparation, a purification for sin. In order to this, "The Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring thee a red heifer, without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke." The red heifer was to be brought by the children of Israel, marking the common interest they all had in it, and the consciousness they were also to have of this gracious provision for their constant cleansing. The riches of this grace is for all the people of God, and is reserved in their behalf.

It has pleased God so to set us before Him in Christ that we should have sure title and interest in what belongs to our peace, and should not be in ignorance and uncertainty as to our resource and remedy in the time of need, but know it as laid up for us, and our interest in it, in common with all the saints. In the day of our need there should not be the ignorant question of, "What shall I do?" but the participation of that which is provided for our cleansing, in intelligence and in thankfulness.

The children of Israel were to bring a red heifer. In the colour of the heifer was an emblem of the blood.* It

*See the use of this colour, as an emblem, in the following Scriptures: "The sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side, as red as blood" (2 Kings iii. 22). "Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment" (Isa. Ixiii. 2, 3).

HIGHWAY

was to be "without spot," and one wherein was no blemish, because it was the type of Him in whom is no sin. It was to be one on which never came yoke, because Christ had no weary servitude until He came into the world to save sinners. His was glory with the Father before the world. The bosom of the Father was his place, in the love of the Father "before the foundation of the world."

As a way to cleanse the unclean was the purpose of God in this, the priest was to bring it without the camp-the place of judgment-there to be killed, for "Christ suffered, the Just for the unjust."

The first act of the priest, when the heifer was killed before his face, was to show forth the power of the blood. "And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times." The blood was sprinkled before the tabernacle of the congregation, for it has its aspect toward the place of blessing, though he who yielded it came into the place of judgment. The offering was brought without the camp, but the blood was sprinkled before the tabernacle of the congregation. Christ suffered for us without the gate, but we enter by his blood into the holiest of all.

In this ordinance all is burned: "And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn." In other offerings the blood was not burned, for they had immediate reference to the connexion of the sinner with Christ in suffering, in making an atonement for sin, and in them the ashes were poured out; but when the ashes were to be kept, the blood was to be burned in them. In the ashes was preserved the perpetual remembrance and abiding value of the blood once shed and sprinkled, and the perpetual blessing resulting from the once humbled condition of Christ in judg

ment.

ment.

The precious value of all this is further marked in the priest's taking cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and casting them into the midst of the burning of the heifer. Cedar wood: the same costly wood which was used in building the temple, typical of the glory of Christ, is here thrown into the burning, which was typical of the sufferings of Christ. Hyssop: in this was shown the purging power that is connected with the humiliation of Christ in judg"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean." As to the engagement in this service, there is a difference between serving God in the place where all is holy, and in reference only to what is holy; and being in service in the place and in reference to objects where uncleanness is. The character of this latter is marked in the case of those engaged in this service: "Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even. And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even." When the priests were serving in the holy place, not outside the camp as here, and when, in communion with the Lord, they were eating their portion of the offering, then there were no such directions as these. The higher and happier service of those who are made priests unto God, is in the joy of fellowship in what is already brought into nearness to Him. The service here spoken of is connected with the judgment of sin,* and in the place of that judgment. It is important for us to distinguish between a service in which we ourselves get food, and a service after which we have to wash ourselves.

*The word translated "a purification for sin," in Num. xix. 9, is the same word as that used for the expression, "a sin-offering," in other parts of Scripture; but this is the only offering in which all was to be burned outside the camp.

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