LEVITICUS, Section 1 of 3, (Lev. 1—5: 13).
C H Mackintosh.

Preface to the Second Edition

The rapid sale of a large edition of this volume evidences an amount of interest in the study of
the Book of Leviticus, for which I unfeignedly bless the Lord. Too many, even of the people
of God, seem to think that this section of inspiration contains nothing of any interest or value
to them. They regard it as a detail of rites and ceremonies with which they have nothing to
do—a record of by-gone institutions, affording no instruction or edification for them. That
this is a great mistake, thousands are now discovering. Very many who for years, looked upon
the Book of Leviticus as little more than a dry catalogue of Jewish ordinances, are now
discovering in it an exhaustless mine of spiritual wealth for which they cannot be too
thankful. They have brought its marvellous pages under the light of the New Testament
scriptures, and they can only wonder at that which is now unfolded to their gaze. That they
may discover yet more of the precious treasure, is my earnest desire on their behalf.

I have carefully revised the following pages, and, I may say, I have left them very much as I
found them. An expression, here and there, which seemed likely to be misunderstood, I have
slightly touched. I have also added a brief note or two. These trifling matters excepted, the
Second Edition is a reprint of the First, and, as such, it is again committed to the care of Him
from whom all blessings flow. May He be graciously pleased to crown it, still further, with
the stamp of His approval. His seal and sanction are all that any book requires to make it
useful; and, truly, we may say, the book that has not these, has nothing.

The Lord grant a more abundant blessing, and His name shall have all the praise.
C. H. M. 47, Mountjoy St., Dublin. August, 1861.


Leviticus 1.

Ere entering upon the details of the chapter before us, there are two things which demand our
careful consideration; namely, first, Jehovah's position; and, secondly, the order in which the
offerings are presented.

"And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the
congregation." Such was the position from which Jehovah made the communications
contained in this Book, He had been speaking from Mount Sinai, and his position, there, gave
marked character to the communication. From the fiery mount "went a fiery law;" but, here,
He speaks "out of the tabernacle of the congregation." This was an entirely different position.
We have seen this tabernacle set up, at the close of the preceding book. "And he reared up the
court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So
Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of
the Lord filled the tabernacle . . . . . . . For the glory of the Lord was upon the tabernacle, by
day, and fire was on it, by night, in the sight of all the House of Israel, throughout all their
journeys." (Ex. 40: 33-38)

Now, the tabernacle was God's dwelling place, in grace. He could take up His, abode there,
because He was surrounded, on all sides, by that which vividly set forth the ground of His
relationship with the people. Had He come into their midst, in the full display of the character
revealed upon Mount Sinai, it could only have been to "consume them in a moment," as a
"Stiff-necked people." But He retired within the veil—type of Christ's flesh, (Heb. 10: 20)—
and took His place on the mercy seat where the blood of atonement, and not the "stiff-
neckedness" of Israel, was that which met His view, and satisfied the claims of His nature.
The blood which was brought into the sanctuary, by the high priest, was the type of that
precious blood which cleanses from all sin; and, although Israel, after the flesh, saw nothing
of this, it, nevertheless, justified God in abiding amongst them—it "sanctified to the purifying
of the flesh." (Heb. 9: 13)

Thus much as to Jehovah's position in this Book, which must be taken into account, in order
to a proper understanding of the communications made therein. In them we shall find
inflexible holiness united with the purest grace. God is holy, no matter from whence He
speaks. He was holy on Mount Sinai, and holy above the mercy-seat; but, in the former case,
His holiness stood connected with "a devouring fire;" in the latter, it was connected with
patient grace. Now, the connection of perfect holiness with perfect grace is that which
characterises the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, which redemption is, in various ways,
shadowed forth in the Book of Leviticus. God must be holy, even though it should be in the
eternal condemnation of impenitent sinners; but the full display of His holiness, in the
salvation of sinners, calls forth heaven's loudest and loftiest note of praise. "Glory to God in
the highest, and on earth peace, Good-will toward men." (Luke 2: 14.) This doxology could
not have been sung in connection with "the fiery law." No doubt, there was "glory to God in
the highest," but there was no "Peace on earth" nor "good pleasure in men," inasmuch as it
was the declaration of what men ought to be, ere God could take pleasure in them. But when
"the Son" took His place, as a man, on the earth, the mind of Heaven could express its entire
delight in Him as the One whose Person and work could combine, in the most perfect
manner, divine glory with human blessedness.

And, now, one word, as to the order of the offerings, in the opening chapters of the Book of
Leviticus. The Lord begins with the burnt offering, and ends with the trespass offering. That is
to say, He leaves off where we begin. This order is marked and most instructive. When, first,
the arrow of conviction enters the soul, there are deep searchings of conscience, in reference
to sins actually committed. Memory casts back its enlightened eye over the page of one's past
life, and sees it stained with numberless trespasses against God and man. At this point of the
soul's history, it is not so occupied with the question of the root from whence those trespasses
have sprung, as with the stern and palpable fact that such and such things have actually been
committed; and, hence, it needs to know that God has provided a sacrifice through which "all
trespasses" can be "frankly forgiven." This is presented to us in the trespass offering.

But, as one advances, in the divine life, he becomes conscious that those sins which he has
committed are but branches from a root, streams from a fountain; and, moreover, that sin in
his nature is that fountain—that root. This leads to far deeper exercise, which can only be met
by a deeper insight into the work of the cross. In a word, the cross will need to be
apprehended by that in which God Himself has "condemned sin in the flesh," (Rom. 8: 3) My
reader will observe, it does not say, "sins in the flesh," but the root from whence these have
sprung, namely, "sin in the flesh." this is a truth of immense importance. Christ not merely
"died for our sins, according to the scriptures," but He was "made sin for us." (2 Cor. 5: 21)
This is the doctrine of the sin offering.

Now, it is when the heart and conscience are set at rest, through the knowledge of Christ's
work, that we can feed upon Himself as the ground of our peace and joy, in the presence of
God. There can be no such thing known as peace or joy, until we see all our trespasses
forgiven and our sin judged. The trespass offering and the sin offering must be known, ere the
Peace offering, joy offering, or thanksgiving offering can be appreciated. Hence, therefore,
the order in which the peace offering stands, corresponds with the order of our spiritual
apprehension of Christ.

The same perfect order is observable in reference to the meat offering. When the soul is led to
taste the sweetness of spiritual communion with Christ—to feed upon Him, in peace and
thankfulness, in the divine presence, it is drawn out in earnest desire to know more of the
wondrous mysteries of His Person; and this desire is most blessedly met in the meat offering,
which is the type of Christ's perfect manhood.

Then, in the burnt offering, we are conducted to a point beyond which it is impossible to go,
and that is, the work of the cross, as accomplished under the immediate eye of God, and as
the expression of the unswerving devotion of the heart of Christ. All these things will come
before us, in beauteous detail, as we pass along; we are here only looking at the order of the
offerings, which is truly marvellous, whichever way we travel, whether outward from God to
us, or inward from us to God. In either case, we begin with the cross and end with the cross. If
we begin with the burnt offering, we see Christ, on the cross, doing the will of God—making
atonement, according to the measure of His perfect surrender of Himself to God. If we begin
with the trespass offering, we see Christ, on the cross, bearing our sins, and putting them
away, according to the perfection of His atoning sacrifice; while, in each and all, we Behold
the excellency, the beauty, and the perfection of His divine and adorable Person. Surely, all
this is sufficient to awaken in our hearts the deepest interest in the study of those precious
types which we shall now proceed to consider in detail. And may God the Holy Ghost, who
penned the Book of Leviticus, expound its contents in living power to our hearts; that so,
when we have reached the close, we may have abundant cause to bless His name for many
thrilling and soul-stirring views of the Person and work of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, to whom be glory, now, henceforth, and for evermore. Amen.
---------------------
In the burnt offering, with which our book opens, we have a type of Christ "offering himself
without spot to God." Hence the position which the Holy Ghost assigns to it. If the Lord Jesus
Christ came forth to accomplish the glorious work of atonement, His highest and most fondly-
cherished object, in so doing, was the glory of God. "Lo, I come, to do thy will, O God," was
the grand motto in every scene and circumstance of His life, and in none more markedly than
in the work of the cross. Let the will of God be what it might, He came to do it. Blessed be
God, we know what our portion is in the accomplishment of this "Will" for by it "we are
sanctified, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once." (Heb. 10: 10) Still, the
primary aspect of Christ's work was to God-ward. It was an ineffable delight to Him to
accomplish the will of God on this earth. No one had ever done this before. Some had,
through grace, done "that which was right in the sight of the Lord;" but no one had ever,
perfectly, invariably, from first to last, without hesitation, and without divergence, done the
will of God. But this was, exactly, what the Lord Jesus did. He was "obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross." (Phil. 2: 8) "He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem." And as He
walked from the garden of Gethsemane to the cross of Calvary, the intense devotion of His
heart told itself forth in these accents: "The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not
drink it?'

Now, in all this self-emptied devotedness to God, there was truly a sweet savour. A perfect
Man on the earth accomplishing the will of God, even in death, was an object of amazing
interest to the mind of Heaven. Who could fathom the profound depths of that devoted heart,
which displayed itself, under the eye of God, on the cross? Surely, none but God; for in this,
as in everything else, it holds good that "no man knoweth the Son, but the Father;" and no one
can know ought about Him, save as the Father reveals Him. The mind of man can, in some
measure, grasp any subject of knowledge "under the sun." Human science can be laid hold of
by the human intellect; but no man knoweth the Son, save as the Father reveals Him, by the
power of the Holy Ghost, through the written word. The Holy Ghost delights to reveal the
Son—to take of the things of Jesus, and show them unto us. These things we have, in all their
fullness and beauty, in the word. There can be no new revelation, inasmuch as the Spirit
brought "all things" to the apostles' memory, and led them into "all truth." There can be
nothing beyond "all truth;" and, hence, all pretension to a new revelation, and the
development of new truth,—meaning thereby truth not contained in the sacred canon of
inspiration—is an effort, on man's part, to add to what God calls "all truth." No doubt, the
Spirit may unfold and apply, with new and extraordinary power, truth contained in the word;
but this is, obviously, a very different thing from our travelling outside the range of divine
revelation, for the purpose of finding principles, ideas, or dogmas, which shall command the
conscience. This latter can only be regarded in the light of impious presumption.

In the gospel narrative, we have Christ presented to us in the varied phases of His character,
His Person, and His work. To those precious documents the people of God in all ages have
rejoiced to betake themselves, and drink in their heavenly revelations of the object of their
love and confidence—the One to whom they owed everything, for time and eternity. But very
few, comparatively, have ever been led to regard the rites and ceremonies of the Levitical
economy as fraught with the most minute instruction in reference to the same commanding
theme. The offerings of Leviticus, for example, have been too much regarded as so many
antiquated records of Jewish customs, conveying no intelligible voice to our ears—no
spiritual light to our understandings. However, it must be admitted that the apparently
abstruse records of Leviticus, as well as the sublime strains of Isaiah. take their place amongst
the "things which were written aforetime," and they are, therefore, "for Our learning." True,
we shall need to study those records, as indeed all Scripture, with an humble, self-emptied
spirit; with reverent dependence upon the teaching of Him who graciously penned them for
us; with sedulous attention to the general scope, bearing, and analogy of the entire body of
divine revelation; with an effectual curb on the imagination, that it may not take unhallowed
flights; but if thus, through grace, we enter upon the study of the types of Leviticus, we shall
find in them a vein of the richest and finest ore.

We shall now proceed to examine the burnt offering, which, as we have remarked, presents
Christ, offering Himself, without spot, to God.

"If His offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male, without blemish." The
essential glory and dignity of Christ's Person form the basis of Christianity. He imparts that
dignity and glory to every thing He does, and to every office He sustains, No office could
possibly add glory to Him who is "God over all, blessed for ever"—"God manifest in the
flesh"—the glorious "Immanuel"—"God with us"—the eternal Word—the Creator and
Sustainer of the universe. What office could add to the dignity of such an One? In point of
fact, we know that all His offices are connected with His humanity; and in assuming that
humanity, He stooped from the glory which He had with the Father, before the world was. He
thus stooped, in order to glorify God perfectly, in the very midst of a scene where all was
hostile to Him. He came to be "eaten up" by a holy, unquenchable zeal for the glory of God,
and the effectual carrying out of His eternal counsels.

The unblemished male, of the first year, was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ offering Himself
for the perfect accomplishment of the will of God. There should be nothing expressive either
of weakness or imperfection. "A male of the first year" was required. We shall see, when we
come to examine the other offerings, that "a female" was, in some cases, permitted; but that
was only expressive of the imperfection which attached to the worshipper's apprehension, and
in nowise of any defect in the offering, inasmuch as it was "unblemished" in the one case, as
well as in the other. Here, however, it was an offering of the very highest order, because it
was Christ offering Himself to God. Christ, in the burnt offering, was exclusively for the eye
and heart of God. This point should be distinctly apprehended. God alone could duly estimate
the Person and work of Christ. He alone could fully appreciate the cross as the expression of
Christ's perfect devotedness. The cross. as foreshadowed by the burnt offering, had an
element in it which only the divine mind could apprehend. It had depths so profound that
neither mortal nor angel could fathom them. There was a voice in it which was intended
exclusively for, and went directly to, the ear of the Fat her. There were communications
between the cross of Calvary and the throne of God, which lay far beyond the highest range of
created intelligence.

"He shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation
before the Lord." The use of the word "voluntary," here, brings out, with great clearness, the
grand idea in the burnt offerings. It leads us to contemplate the cross in an aspect which is not
sufficiently apprehended. We are too apt to look upon the cross merely as the place where the
great question of sin was gone into and settled, between eternal Justice and the spotless
victim—as the place where our guilt was atoned for, and where Satan was gloriously
vanquished. Eternal and universal praise to redeeming love! The cross was all this. But it was
more than this. It was the place where Christ's love to the Father was told out in language
which only the Father could hear and understand. It is in the latter aspect that we have it
typified, in the burnt offering; and, therefore, it is that the word voluntary" occurs. Were it
merely a question of the imputation of sin, and of enduring the wrath of God on account of
sin, such an expression would not be in moral order. The blessed Lord Jesus could not, with
strict propriety, be represented as willing to be "made sin"—willing to endure the wrath of
God, and the hiding of His countenance; And, in this one fact, we learn, in the clearest
manner, that the burnt offering does not foreshadow Christ, on the cross, bearing sin but
Christ on the cross, accomplishing the will of God. that Christ Himself contemplated the
cross in these two aspects of it, is evident from His own words. When he looked at the cross
as the place of sin-bearing—when He anticipated the horrors with which, in this point of
view, it stood invested, He exclaimed, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me."
(Luke 23: 42) He shrank from that which His work, as a sin-bearer, involved. His pure and
holy mind shrank from the thought of contact with sin; and His loving heart shrank from the
thought of losing, for a moment, the light of God's countenance.

But, then, the cross had another aspect. It stood before the eye of Christ as a scene, in which
He could fully tell out all the deep secrets of His love to the Father—a place in which He
could, "of his own voluntary will," take the cup which the Father had given Him, and drain it
to the very dregs. True it is that the whole life of Christ emitted a fragrant odour, which ever
ascended to the Father's throne—He did always those things which pleased the Father—He
ever did the will of God; but the burnt offering does not typify Him in His life—precious,
beyond all thought, as was every act of that life—but in His death, and in that, not as one
"made a curse for us," but as one presenting to the heart of the Father an odour of
incomparable fragrance.

This truth invests the cross with peculiar charms for the spiritual mind. It imparts to the
sufferings of our blessed Lord an interest of the most intense character. The guilty sinner, no
doubt, finds in the cross a divine answer to the deepest and most earnest cravings of heart and
conscience. The true believer finds in the cross that which captivates every affection of his
heart, and transfixes his whole moral being. The angels find in the cross a theme for ceaseless
admiration. All this is true; but there is that, in the cross, which passes far beyond the loftiest
conceptions of saints or angels; namely, the deep-toned devotion of the heart of the Son
presented to, and appreciated by, the heart of the Father. This is the elevated aspect of the
cross, which is so strikingly shadowed forth in the burnt offering.

And, here, let me remark that the distinctive beauty of the burnt offering must be entirely
sacrificed, if we admit the idea that Christ was a sin-bearer all His life. There would then be
no force, no value, no meaning in the word "voluntary." There could be no room for voluntary
action in the case of one who was compelled, by the very necessity of his position, to yield up
his life. If Christ were a sin-bearer, in His life, then, assuredly, His death must have been a
necessary, not a voluntary, act. Indeed, it may be safely asserted that there is not one of the
offerings the beauty of which would not be marred, and its strict integrity sacrificed, by the
theory of a Life of sin-bearing. In the burnt offering, this is especially the case, inasmuch as it
is not, in it, a question of sin-bearing, or enduring the wrath of God, but entirely one of
voluntary devotedness, manifested in the death of the cross. In the burnt offering we recognise
a type of God the Son, accomplishing, by God the Spirit, the will of God the Father. This He
did "of His own voluntary will." "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my
life, that I might take it again." (John 10: 17) Here we have the burnt offering aspect of the
death of Christ. On the other hand, the prophet, contemplating Him as the sin offering, says,
"his life is taken from the earth." (Acts 8: 33, which is the LXX. version of Isaiah 53: 8)
Again, Christ says, "No one (ou dei") taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself." Was He
a sin-bearer when He said this? Observe, it is "no one" man, angel, devil, or else. It was His
own voluntary act, to lay down His life that He might take it again. "I delight to do thy will, O
my God." Such was the language of the divine burnt offering—of Him who found His
unutterable joy in offering Himself without spot to God.

Now, it is of the last importance to apprehend, with distinctness, the primary object of the
heart of Christ, in the work of redemption. It tends to consolidate the believer's peace. The
accomplishment of God's will, the establishment of God's counsels, and the display of God's
glory, occupied the fullest, deepest, and largest place in that devoted heart which viewed and
estimated everything in reference to God. The Lord Jesus never once stopped to inquire how
any act or circumstance would affect Himself. "He humbled himself"—"He made himself of
no reputation"—He surrendered all. And, hence, when He arrived at the close of His career,
He could look back upon it all, and say, with His eyes lifted up to heaven," I have glorified
thee on the earth; I hare finished the work which thou gavest me to do." (John 17: 4) It is
impossible to contemplate the work of Christ, in this aspect of it, without having the heart
filled with the sweetest affections toward His Person. It does not detract, in the smallest
degree, from our sense of His love to us, to know that He made God His primary object, in the
work of the cross. Quite the opposite. His love to us, and our salvation in Him, could only be
founded upon God's established glory. That glory must form the solid base of everything. "As
truly as I live, All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." (Num. 14: 21) But we
know that God's eternal glory, and the creature's eternal blessedness, are, in the divine
counsels, inseparably linked together, so that if the former be secured, the latter must needs
be so likewise.

"And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for
him, to make atonement for him." The act of laying on of hands was expressive of full
identification. By that significant act, the offerer and the offering became one; and this
oneness, in the case of the burnt offering, secured for the offerer all the acceptableness of his
offering. The application of this to Christ and the believer sets forth a truth of the most
precious nature, and one largely developed in the New Testament; namely, the believer's
everlasting identification with, and acceptance in, Christ. "As he is, so are we, in this world."
"We are in him that is true." (1 John 4: 17; 1 John 5: 20) Nothing, in any measure, short of
this could avail. The man who is not in Christ is in his sins. There is no middle ground. You
must be either in Christ or out of Him. There is no such thing as being partly in Christ. If
there is a single hair's-breadth between you and Christ, you are in an actual state of wrath and
condemnation. but, on the other hand, if you are in Him, then are you "as he is" before God,
and so accounted in the presence of infinite holiness. Such is the plain teaching of the Word
of God. "Ye are complete in him"—"accepted in the beloved"—"members of his body, of his
flesh, and of his bones." "He that is joined to the Lord, is one Spirit." (1 Cor. 6: 17; Eph. 1: 6;
Eph. 5: 30; Col. 2: 1) Now, it is not possible that the Head can be in one degree of acceptance
and the members in another. No; the Head and the members are one. God counts them one;
and, therefore, they are one. This truth is, at once, the ground of the loftiest confidence, and
of the most profound humility. It imparts the fullest assurance of "boldness in the day of
judgement," inasmuch as it is not possible that ought can be laid to the charge of Him with
whom we are united. It imparts the deep sense of our own nothingness, inasmuch as our union
with Christ is founded upon the death of nature and the utter abolition of all its claims and
pretensions.

Since, therefore, the Head and the members are viewed in the same position of infinite favour
and acceptance, before God, it is perfectly evident that all the members stand in one
acceptance, in one salvation, in one life, in one righteousness. There are no degrees in
justification. The babe in Christ stands in the same justification as the saint of fifty years'
experience. The one is in Christ, and so is the other; and this, as it is the only ground of life,
so it is the only ground of justification. There are not two kinds of life, neither are there two
kinds of justification. No doubt, there are various measures of enjoyment of this
justification—various degrees in the knowledge of its fullness and extent—various degrees in
the ability to exhibit its power upon the heart and life; and these things are frequently
confounded with the justification itself, which, as being divine, is, necessarily, eternal,
absolute, unvarying, entirely unaffected by the fluctuation of human feeling and experience.

But, further, there is no such thing as progress in justification. The believer is not more
justified today? than he was yesterday; nor will he be more justified tomorrow than he is
today; yea, a soul who is "in Christ Jesus" is as completely justified as if he were before the
throne. He is "complete in Christ." He is "as" Christ. He is, on Christ's own authority, "clean
every whit." (John 13: 10) What more could he be, at this side of the glory? He may, and—if
he walks in the Spirit-will, make progress in the sense and enjoyment of this glorious reality;
but, as to the thing itself, the moment he, by the power of the Holy Ghost, believed the gospel,
he passed from a positive state of unrighteousness and condemnation into a positive state of
righteousness and acceptance. All this is based upon the divine perfectness of Christ's work;
just as, in the case of the burnt offering, the worshipper's acceptance was based upon the
acceptableness of his offering. It was not a question of what he was, but simply of what the
sacrifice was. "It shall be accepted for him, to make atonement for him."

"And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the
blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation." It is most needful, in studying the doctrine of the burnt offering, to bear
in mind that the grand point set forth therein is not the meeting of the sinner's need, but the
presentation to God of that which was infinitely acceptable to Him. Christ, as foreshadowed
by the burnt offering, is not for the sinner's conscience, but for the heart of God. Further, the
cross, in the burnt offering, is not the exhibition of the exceeding hatefulness of sin, but of
Christ's unshaken and unshakable devotedness to the Father. Neither is it the scene of God's
out-poured wrath on Christ the sin-bearer; but of the Father's unmingled complacency in
Christ, the voluntary and most fragrant sacrifice. Finally, "atonement," as seen in the burnt
offering, is not merely commensurate with the claims of man's conscience, but with the
intense desire of the heart of Christ, to carry out the will and establish the counsels of God—a
desire which stopped not short of surrendering up His spotless, precious life, as "a voluntary
offering' of "sweet savour" to God.

From the carrying out of this desire, no power of earth or hell, men or devils, could shake
Him. When Peter ignorantly sought to dissuade Him, in words of false tenderness, from
encountering the shame and degradation of the cross—"Pity thyself, Lord! this shall not be
unto thee"—what was the reply? "Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me; for
thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." (Matt. 16: 22, 23) So
also, on another occasion, He says to His disciples, "Hereafter, I will not talk much with you,
for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me: but that the world may know that
I love the Father, and as the Father hath given me commandment, even so I do." (John 14: 30)
These and numerous other kindred scriptures, bring out the burnt offering phase of Christ's
work, in which, it is evident, the primary thought is His "Offering himself without spot to
God."

In full keeping with all that has been stated, in reference to the special point in the burnt
offering, is the place which Aaron's sons get, and the functions assigned them therein. They
"sprinkle the blood"—they "put the fire upon the altar"—they "lay the wood in order upon the
fire"—they "lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire
which is upon the altar" These are very prominent actions, and they form a marked feature of
the burnt offering, as contrasted with the sin offering, in which Aarons sons are not
mentioned at all. "The sons of Aaron" represent the church, not as "one body," but as a
priestly house. This is easily apprehended. If Aaron was a type of Christ, then Aaron's house
was a type of Christ's house, as we read, in Heb. 3, "But Christ as a Son over his own house,
whose house are we." And, again, "Behold I and the children whom God hath given me."
Now, it is the privilege of the Church, as led and taught by the Holy Ghost, to gaze upon, and
delight in, that aspect of Christ, which is presented in this opening type of Leviticus. "Our
fellowship is with the Father," who graciously calls us to participate, with Him, in His
thoughts about Christ. True, we can never rise to the height of those thoughts; but we can
have fellowship therein, by the Holy Ghost who dwells in us. It is not, here, a question of
having the conscience tranquillised, by the blood of Christ, as the sin-bearer, but of
communion with God in the matter of Christ's perfect surrender of Himself on the cross.

"The priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the
altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." Here, we have a type of the
Church, bringing the memorial of an accomplished. sacrifice, and presenting it in the place of
individual approach to God. But, we must remember, it is the blood of the burnt offering, and
not of the sin offering. It is the Church, in the power of the Holy Ghost, entering into the
stupendous thought of Christ's accomplished devotedness to God, and not a convicted sinner,
entering into the value of the blood of the sin-bearer. I need hardly say that the Church is
composed of sinners, and convicted sinners, too; but "Aaron's sons" do not represent
convicted sinners, but worshipping saints. It is as "priests" they have to do with the burnt
offering. Many err as to this. They imagine that, because one takes the place of a
worshipper—being invited by the grace of God, and fitted by the blood of Christ, so to do—
he, thereby, refuses to acknowledge himself a poor worthless sinner. this is a great mistake.
the believer is, in himself, "nothing at all." But in Christ, he is a purged worshipper. He does
not stand, in the sanctuary, as a guilty sinner, but as a worshipping priest, clothed in
"garments of glory and beauty." To be occupied with my guilt, in the presence of God, is not
humility, as regards myself, but unbelief, as regards the sacrifice.

However, it must be very evident to my reader, that the idea of sin-bearing—the imputation of
sin—the wrath of God, does not appear in the burnt offering. True, we read, "it shall be
accepted for him, to make atonement for him;" but, then, it is "atonement" not according to
the depths and enormity of human guilt, but according to the perfection of Christ's surrender
of Himself to God, and the intensity of God's delight in Christ. this gives us the very loftiest
idea of atonement. If I contemplate Christ as the sin offering, I see atonement made according
to the claims of divine justice, with respect to sin. But when I see atonement, in the burnt
offering, it is according to the measure of Christ's willingness and ability to accomplish the
will of God; and according to the measure of God's complacency in Christ and His work.
What a perfect atonement must that be which is the fruit of Christ's devotion to God! Could
there be anything beyond this? Assuredly not. The burnt offering aspect of atonement is that
about which the priestly household may well be occupied in the courts of the Lord's house, for
ever.

"And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces." The ceremonial act of
"flaying" was peculiarly expressive. It was simply the removing of the outward covering, in
order that what was within might be fully revealed. It was not sufficient that the offering
should be, outwardly, "without blemish," "the hidden parts" should be all disclosed, in order
that every sinew and every joint might be seen. It was only in the case of the burnt offering
that this action was specially named. This is quite in character, and tends to set forth the depth
of Christ's devotedness to the Father. It was no mere surface-work with Him. The more the
secrets of His inner life were disclosed, the more the depths of His being were explored, the
more clearly was it made manifest that pure devotion to the will of His Father, and earnest
desire for His glory, were the springs of action in the great Antitype of the burnt offering. He
was, most assuredly, a whole burnt offering.

"And cut it into his pieces." this action presents a somewhat similar truth to that taught in the
"sweet incense beaten small," (Lev. 16) The Holy Ghost delights to dwell upon the sweetness
and fragrance of the sacrifice of Christ, not only as a whole, but also in all its minute details.
Look at the burnt offering, as a whole, and you see it without blemish. Look at it in all its
parts, and you see it to be the same. Such was Christ; and as such He is shadowed forth in this
important type.

"And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon
the fire. And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon
the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar." This was a high position for the priestly
family. The burnt offering was wholly offered to God. It was all burnt upon the altar;* Man
did not partake of it; but the sons of Aaron the priest, themselves being likewise priests, are
here seen standing round the altar of God, to behold the flame of an acceptable sacrifice
ascending to Him—an odour of sweet smell. this was a high position—high communion-a
high order of priestly service—a striking type of the Church having fellowship with God, in
reference to the perfect accomplishment of His will in the death of Christ. As convicted
sinners, we gaze on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and behold therein that which meets all
our need. The cross, in this aspect of it, gives perfect peace to the conscience. But, then, as
priests, as purged worshippers, as members of the priestly family, we can look at the cross in
another light, even as the grand consummation of Christ's holy purpose to carry out, even unto
death, the will of the Father. As convicted sinners, we stand at the brazen altar, and find peace
through the blood of atonement; but, as priests, we stand there, to behold and admire the
completeness of that burnt offering—the perfect surrender and presentation of the spotless
One to God.
{*It may be well, at this point, to inform the reader that the Hebrew word which is rendered
"burn," in the case of the burnt offering is wholly different from that which is used in the sin
offering. I shall, because of the peculiar interest of the subject, refer to a few of the passages
in which each word occurs. The word used in the burnt offering signifies "incense," or to
"burn incense," and occurs in the following passages, in some one or other of its various
inflections. Lev. 6: 15; "and all the frankincense, . . . . and shall burn it upon the altar." Deut,
33: 10; "they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. Ex. 30:
1; "and thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon." Ps. 46: 15; "with the incense of rams."
Jer. 44: 21 "The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah." Cant. 3: 15 Perfumed with
Myrrh and frankincense." Passages might be multiplied, but the above will suffice to show the
use of the word which occurs in the burnt offering.

The Hebrew word which is rendered "burn," in connection with the sin offering, signifies to
burn, in general, and occurs in the following passages. Gen. 40: 3; "let us make brick, and
burn them thoroughly." Lev. 10: 16; "And Moses diligently sought the goat of the sin offering
and, behold, it was burnt." 2 Chr. 16: 14; "And they made a very great burning for him."

Thus, not only was the sin offering burnt in a different place, but a different word is adopted
by the Holy Ghost to express the burning of it. Now, we cannot imagine, for a moment, that
this distinction is a mere interchange of words, the use of which is indifferent. I believe the
wisdom of the Holy Ghost is as manifest in the use of the two words, as it is in any other point
of difference in the two offerings. The spiritual reader will attach the proper value to the
above most interesting distinction.}

We should have a very defective apprehension of the mystery of the cross, were we only to
see in it that which meets man's need as a sinner. There were depths in that mystery, which
only the mind of God could fathom. It is, therefore, important to see that when the Holy Ghost
would furnish us with foreshadowings of the cross, He gives us, in the very first place, one
which sets it forth in its aspect to God-ward. This alone would be sufficient to teach us that
there are heights and depths in the doctrine of the cross which man never could reach. He may
approach to "that one well-spring of delight," and drink for ever—he may satisfy the utmost
longings of his spirit—he may explore it with all the powers of the renewed nature; but, after
all, there is that in the cross which only God could know and appreciate. Hence it is that the
burnt offering gets the first place. It typifies Christ's death as viewed and valued by God
alone. and surely, we may say, we could not have done without such a type as this, for, not
only does it give us the highest possible aspect of the death of Christ, but it also gives us a
most precious thought in reference to God's peculiar interest in that death. The very fact of
His instituting a type of Christ's death, which was to be exclusively for Himself, contains a
volume of instruction for the spiritual mind.

But though neither man nor angel can ever fully sound the amazing depths of the mystery of
Christ's death, we can, at least, see some features of it which would needs make it precious,
beyond all thought, to the heart of God. From the cross, He reaps His richest harvest of glory.
In no other way could He have been so glorified, as by the death of Christ. In Christ's
voluntary surrender of Himself to death, the divine glory shines out in its fullest brightness. In
it, too, the solid foundation of all the divine counsels was laid. This is a most comforting
truth. Creation never could have furnished such a basis. Moreover, the cross furnishes a
righteous channel through which divine love can flow. and, finally, by the cross, Satan is
eternally confounded, and "principalities and powers made a show of openly." These are
glorious fruits produced by the cross; and, when we think of them, we can see just reason why
there should have been a type of the cross exclusively for God Himself, an d also a reason
why that type should occupy the leading place —should stand at the very top of the list.
Again, let me say, there would have been a grievous blank among the types had the burnt
offering been lacking; and there would be a grievous blank in the page of inspiration had the
record of that type been withheld.

"But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar,
to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord." This action
rendered the sacrifice, typically, what Christ was essentially—pure, both inwardly and
outwardly, pure. There was the most perfect correspondence between Christ's inward motives
and His outward conduct. The latter was the index of the former. All tended to the one point,
namely, the glory of God. The members of His Body perfectly obeyed and carried out the
counsels of His devoted heart—that heart which only beat for God, and for His glory, in the
salvation of men. Well, therefore, might the priest "burn all on the altar." It was all typically
pure, and all designed only as food for the altar of God. Of some sacrifices the priest partook;
of some, the offerer; but the burnt offering was "all" consumed on the altar. It was exclusively
for God. The priests might arrange the wood and the fire , and see the flame ascend; and a
high and holy privilege it was so to do. But they did not eat of the sacrifice. God alone was
the object of Christ, in the burnt offering aspect of His death. We cannot be too simple in our
apprehension of this. From the moment that the unblemished male was voluntarily presented
at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, until it was reduced to ashes, by the action
of the fire, we discern in it Christ offering Himself, by the Eternal Spirit, without spot to God.

This makes the burnt offering unspeakably precious to the soul. It gives us the most exalted
view of Christ's work. In that work God had His own peculiar joy—a joy into which no
created intelligence could enter. This must never be lost sight of. It is unfolded in the burnt
offering, and confirmed by "the law of the burnt offering," to which we shall just refer.

"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command Aaron and his sons, saying, this is the
law of the burnt offering: it is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all
night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. And the priest, shall put
on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes
which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them
beside the altar. And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth
the ashes without the camp unto a clean place. And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in
it, it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt
offering in order upon it, and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offering. The fire shall
ever be burning upon the, altar: it shall never go out." (Lev. 6: 8-13) The fire on the altar
consumed the burnt offering, and the fat of the peace offering. It was the apt expression of
divine holiness which found in Christ, and His perfect sacrifice, a proper material on which to
feed. That fire was never to go out. There was to be the perpetual maintenance of that which
set forth the action of divine holiness. Through the dark and silent watches of the night, the
fire blazed on the altar of God.

 "And the priest shall put on his linen garment," &c. Here, the priest takes, in type, the place
of Christ, whose personal righteousness is set forth by the white linen garment. He, having
given Himself up to the death of the cross, in order to accomplish the will of God, has
entered, in His own eternal righteousness, into heaven, bearing with Him the memorials of
His finished work. The ashes declared the completion of the sacrifice, and God's acceptance
thereof. Those ashes, placed beside the altar, indicated that the fire had consumed the
sacrifice—that it was not only a completed, but also an accepted, sacrifice. The ashes of the
burnt offering declared the acceptance of the sacrifice. The ashes of the sin offering declared
the judgement of the sin.

Many of the points on which we have been dwelling will, with the divine blessing, come
before us with increasing clearness, fullness, precision, and power as we proceed with the
offerings. Each offering is, as it were, thrown into relief, by being viewed in contrast with all
the rest. All the offerings, taken together, give us a full view of Christ. They are like so many
mirrors, arranged in such a manner, as to reflect, in various ways, the figure of that true and
only perfect Sacrifice. No one type could fully present Him. We needed to have Him reflected
in life and in death—as a Man and as a Victim—to God-ward and to us-ward; and we have
Him thus, in the offerings of Leviticus. God has graciously met our need, and may He give us
an enlarged capacity to enter into and enjoy His provision.

Leviticus 2.

We, now, come to consider the meat offering which presents, in a very distinct manner, the
man Christ Jesus." As the Burnt offering typifies Christ in death, the meat offering typifies
Him in life. In neither the one nor the other, is there a question of sin-bearing. In the burnt
offering, we see atonement but no sin bearing*—no imputation of sin—no outpoured wrath
on account of sin. How can we know this? Because it was all consumed on the altar. Had
there been ought of sin-bearing, it would have been consumed outside the camp. (Comp. Lev.
4: 11, 22, with Heb. 13: 11)
{*That is to say sin-bearing is not prominent, Of course, where there is atonement, sin must
be in question.}

But, in the meat offering, there was not even a question of blood shedding. We simply find, in
it, a beauteous type of Christ, as He lived and walked and served, down here, on this earth.
this one fact is, of itself, sufficient to draw the spiritual mind to the close and prayerful
consideration of this offering. The pure and perfect manhood of our blessed Lord is a theme
which must command the attention of every true Christian. It is to be feared that great
looseness of thought prevails, in reference to this holy mystery. The expressions which one
sometimes hears and reads are sufficient to prove that the fundamental doctrine of incarnation
is not laid hold of as the word presents it. Such expressions may, very probably, proceed from
misapprehension as to the real nature of His relations, and as to the true character of His
sufferings; but, from what cause soever they arise, they should be judged in the light of holy
scripture, and rejected. Doubtless, many who make use of those expressions, would recoil,
with just horror and indignation, from the real doctrine contained in them, were it put before
them in its broad and true characters; and, for this reason, one should be sorry to attribute
unsoundness as to fundamental truth, where it may merely be inaccuracy of statement.

There is, however, one consideration which should weigh heavily in the estimation of every
Christian, and that is, the vital nature of the doctrine of Christ's humanity. It lies at the very
foundation of Christianity; and, for this reason, Satan has diligently sought, from the
beginning, to lead people astray in reference to it. Almost all the leading errors which have
found their way into the professing church disclose the Satanic purpose to undermine the
truth as to the Person of Christ. And even when earnest, godly men have sought to combat
those errors, they have, in many cases, plunged into errors on the opposite side. Hence,
therefore, the need of close adherence to the veritable words which the Holy Ghost has made
use of in unfolding this profound and most sacred mystery. Indeed, I believe that, in every
case, subjection to the authority of holy scripture, and the energy of the divine life in the soul,
will prove effectual safeguards against every complexion of error. It does not require high
theological attainments to enable a soul to keep clear of error with respect to the doctrine of
Christ. If only the word of Christ be dwelling richly, and "the Spirit of Christ" be in energy, in
the soul, there will be no room for Satan to thrust in his dark and horrible suggestions. If the
heart be delighting in the Christ which Scripture unfolds, it will, assuredly, shrink from the
false Christs which Satan would introduce. If we are feeding upon God's reality, we shall
unhesitatingly reject Satan's counterfeit. This is the best possible way in which to escape the
entanglements of error, in every shape and character. "The sheep hear His voice, and . . . . . .
follow him: for they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from
him; for they know not the voice of strangers" (John 10: 4, 5) It is not, by any means, needful
to be acquainted with the voice of a stranger, in order to turn away from it; all we require is to
know the voice of the good Shepherd." This will secure us against the ensnaring influence of
every strange sound. While, therefore, I feel called upon to warn the reader against strange
sounds, in reference to the divine mystery of Christ's humanity, I do not deem it needful to
discuss such sounds, but would rather seek, through grace, to arm him against them, by
unfolding the doctrine of Scripture on the subject.

There are few things in which we exhibit more failure than in maintaining vigorous
communion with the perfect manhood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hence it is that we suffer so
much from vacancy, barrenness, restlessness, and wandering. Did we but enter, with a more
artless faith, into the truth that there is a real Man, at the right hand of the Majesty in the
heavens—One whose sympathy is perfect, whose love is fathomless, whose power is
omnipotent, whose wisdom is infinite, whose resources are exhaustless, whose riches are
unsearchable, whose ear is open to our every breathing, whose hand is open to our every need,
whose heart is full of unspeakable love and tenderness towards us—how much more happy
and elevated we should be, and how much more independent of creature streams, through
what channel soever they may flow! There is nothing the heart can crave which we have not
in Jesus. Does it long for genuine sympathy? Where can it find it, save in Him who could
mingle His tears with those of the bereaved sisters of Bethany? Does it desire the enjoyment
of sincere affection? It can only find it in that heart which told forth its love in drops of blood.
Does it seek the protection of real power? It has but to look to Him who made the world.
Does it feel the need of unerring wisdom to guide? Let it betake itself to Him who is wisdom
personified, and who of God is made unto us wisdom." In one word, we have all in Christ.
The divine mind and the divine affections have found a perfect object in the man Christ
Jesus;" and, surely, if there is that in the Person of Christ which can perfectly satisfy God,
there is that which ought to satisfy us, and which will satisfy us, in proportion as, by the grace
of the Holy Ghost, we walk in communion with God.

The Lord Jesus Christ was the only perfect man that ever trod this earth. He was all perfect—
perfect in thought, perfect in word, perfect in action. In Him every moral quality met in divine
and, therefore, perfect proportion. No one feature preponderated. In Him were exquisitely
blended a majesty which overawed, and a gentleness which gave perfect ease in His presence.
The Scribes and the Pharisees met His withering rebuke; while the poor Samaritan. and "the
woman that was a sinner," found themselves unaccountably, yet irresistibly, attracted to Him.
No one feature displaced another, for all was in fair and comely proportion. This may be
traced in every scene of His perfect life. He could say, in reference to five thousand hungry
people, "Give ye them to eat;" and, when they were filled, He could say, Gather up the
fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." The benevolence and the economy are both
perfect and neither interferes with the other. Each shines in its own proper sphere. He could
not send unsatisfied hungry away; neither could He suffer a single fragment of God's creatures
to be wasted. He would meet, with a full and liberal hand, the need of the human family, and,
when that was done, He would carefully treasure up every atom. The self-same hand that was
widely open to every form of human need was firmly closed against all prodigality. There was
nothing niggardly nor yet extravagant in the character of the perfect, the heavenly Man.

What a lesson for us! How often, with us, does benevolence resolve itself into an
unwarrantable profusion! and, on the other hand, how often is our economy marred by the
exhibition of a miserly spirit! At times, too, our niggard hearts refuse to open themselves to
the full extent of the need which presents itself before us; while, at other times, we squander,
through a wanton extravagance, that which might satisfy many a needy fellow-creature. Oh!
my reader, let us carefully study the divine picture set before us in the life of the "Man Christ
Jesus." How refreshing and strengthening to "the inward man" to be occupied with Him who
was perfect in all His ways, and who "in all things must have the pre-eminence!"

See Him in the garden of Gethsemane. There, He kneels in the profound depths of a humility
which none but Himself could exhibit; but yet, before the traitor's band, He exhibits a self-
possession and majesty which cause them to go backward and fall to the ground. His
deportment before God is prostration; before His judges and accusers, unbending dignity. All
is perfect. The self-emptiness and the self-possession, the prostration and the dignity, are all
divine.

So also, when we contemplate the beauteous combination of His divine and human relations,
the same perfectness is observable. He could say, How was it that ye sought me? Wist ye not
that I must be about my Father's business?" And, at the same time, He could go down to
Nazareth, and there set an example of perfect subjection to parental authority. (See Luke 2:
49-51.) He could say to His mother, Woman, what have I to do with thee?" And yet, when
passing through the unutterable agony of the cross, He could tenderly commit that mother to
the care of the beloved disciple. In the former case, He separated Himself in the spirit of
perfect Nazariteship to accomplish His Father's will; while, in the latter, He gave expression
to the tender feelings of the perfect human heart. The devotion of the Nazarite and the
affection of the man were both perfect. Neither was permitted to interfere with the other.
Each shone with undimmed lustre in its proper sphere.

Now, the shadow of this perfect man passes before us in the "fine flour" which formed the
basis of the meat offering. There was not so much as a single coarse grain. There was nothing
uneven—nothing unequal—nothing rough to the touch. No matter what pressure came from
without, there was always an even surface. He was never ruffled by any circumstance or set of
circumstances. He never had to retrace a step, or recall a word. Come what might, He always
met it in that perfect evenness which is so strikingly typified by the "fine flour."

In all these things, it is needless to say, He stands in marked contrast with His most honoured
and devoted servants. For example, Moses, though "the meekest man in all the earth," yet
"spoke unadvisedly with his lips." In Peter, we find a zeal and an energy which, at times,
proved too much for the occasion; and, again, a cowardice which shrank from the place of
testimony and reproach. There was the assertion of a devotedness which, when the time for
action arrived, was not forthcoming. John, who breathed so much of the atmosphere of the
immediate presence of Christ, exhibited, at times, a sectarian and an intolerant spirit. In Paul,
the most devoted of servants, we observe considerable unevenness. He uttered words to the
high priest which he had to recall. He sent a letter to the Corinthians, of which at first he
repented, and afterwards repented not. In all, we find some flaw, save in Him who is "the
fairest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely.

In the examination of the meat offering, it will give clearness and simplicity to our thoughts
to consider, first, the materials of which it was composed; secondly, the various forms in
which it was presented; and, thirdly, the persons who partook of it.

As to the materials, the "fine flour" may be regarded as the basis of the offering; and, in it, we
have a type of Christ's humanity, wherein every perfection met. Every virtue was there, and
ready for effectual action, in due season. The Holy Ghost delights to unfold the glories of
Christ's Person, to set Him forth in all His peerless excellence—to place Him before us in
contrast with all beside. He contrasts Him with Adam, even in his very best and highest state;
as we read, "the first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." (1
Cor. 15: 47) The first Adam, even in his unfallen condition, was "of the earth;" but the second
Man was "the Lord from heaven."

The "oil," in the meat offering, is a type of the Holy Ghost. But, inasmuch as the oil is applied
in a twofold way, so we have the Holy Ghost presented in a double aspect, in connection with
the incarnation of the Son. The fine flour was "mingled" with oil; and there was oil "poured"
upon it. Such was the type; and, in the Anti type, we see the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, first,
"conceived," and then "anointed," by the Holy Ghost. (Comp. Matt. 1: 18, 23, with Lev. 3: 16)
This is divine! The accuracy, which is here so apparent, draws forth the soul's admiration. It is
one and the same Spirit which records the ingredients of the type, and gives us the facts in the
antitype. The one who has detailed for us, with such amazing precision, the types and
shadows of the Book of Leviticus, has also given us the glorious subject thereof, in the gospel
narratives. The same Spirit breathes through the pages of the Old and those of the New
Testament, and enables us to see how exactly the one corresponds with the other.

The conception of Christ's humanity, by the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin, unfolds
one of the most profound mysteries, which can possibly engage the attention of the renewed
mind. It is most fully set forth in Luke's gospel; and this is entirely characteristic, inasmuch
as, throughout that Gospel, it would seem to be the special object of the Holy Ghost to unfold,
in His own divinely touching manner, "the Man Christ Jesus." In Matthew, we have "the Son
of Abraham—the Son of David." In Mark, we have the Divine Servant—the Heavenly
Workman. In John, we have "the Son of God—the Eternal Word—the Life—the Light, by
whom all things were made. But the great theme of the Holy Ghost in Luke is "the Son of
man."

When the angel Gabriel had announced to Mary the dignity which was about to be conferred
upon her, in connection with the great work of incarnation, she, not in a spirit of scepticism,
but of honest ignorance, enquired, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" It,
manifestly, seemed to her that the birth of this glorious Person who was about to appear
should be according to the ordinary principles of generation; and this her thought is made the
occasion, in the exceeding goodness of God, of developing much valuable light, in reference
to the cardinal truth of incarnation. The angel's reply to the virgin's question is unspeakably
interesting, and cannot be too closely considered. "And the angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee;
therefore also that Holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
(Luke 1: 35)

From this magnificent passage, we learn that the human body into which the eternal Son
entered, was formed by "the power of the Highest." "A body hast thou prepared me." (Comp.
Psalm 40: 6 with Heb. 10: 6) It was a real human body—real "flesh and blood." There is no
possible foundation here, on which Gnosticism or mysticism can base its vapid and worthless
theories no warrant for the cold abstractions of the former, or the misty fancies of the latter.
all is deep, solid, and divine reality. The very thing which our hearts needed- the very thing
which God has given. The early promise had declared that the seed of the woman shall bruise
the serpent's head," and none but a real man could accomplish this prediction—one whose
nature was as real as it was pure and incorruptible. Thou shalt conceive in thy womb," said
the angelic messenger, "and bring forth a son"* And, then, lest there should be any room for
an error, in reference to the mode of this conception, he adds such words as prove
unanswerably, that "the flesh and blood" of which the Eternal Son "took part" while
absolutely real, was absolutely incapable of receiving, of retaining, or of communicating a
single taint. The humanity of the Lord Jesus was, emphatically, that holy thing." And,
inasmuch as it was wholly without taint, it was wholly without a seed of mortality. We cannot
think of mortality, save in connection with sin; and Christ's humanity had nought to do with
sin, either personally or relatively. Sin was imputed to Him, on the cross, where He was made
sin for us." But the meat offering is not the type of Christ as a sin-bearer. It foreshadows Him
in His perfect life, here below—a life in which He suffered, no doubt, hut not as a sin-
bearer—not as a substitute—not at the hand of God. Let this be distinctly noted. Neither in
the burnt offering, nor in the meat offering, have we Christ as a sin-bearer. In the latter, we
see Him living; and, in the former, we see Him dying; but, in neither, is there a question of the
imputation of sin, nor of enduring the wrath of God, on account of sin. In short, to present
Christ as the sinner's substitute any where else save on the cross, is to rob His life of all its
divine beauty and excellency, and to displace the cross altogether. Moreover, it would involve
the types of Leviticus in hopeless confusion.
{*"But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,
made under the law." (genomenon ek gunaiko", genomenon uJpo nomon.) This is a most
important passage inasmuch as it sets forth our blessed Lord as Son of God, and Son of man.
"God sent forth his Son, made of a woman" Precious testimony.}

I would, at this point, solemnly admonish my reader, that he cannot be too jealous in
reference to the vital truth of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, If there be error as to this,
there is no security as to anything. God cannot give the sanction of His presence to ought that
has not this truth for its foundation. The Person of Christ is the living—the divine ground
which the Holy Ghost caries on all His operations. Let slip the truth as to Him, and you are
like a vessel broken from its moorings, and carried, without rudder or compass, over the wild
watery waste, and in imminent danger of being dashed to fragments upon the rocks of
Arianism, Infidelity, or Atheism. Question the eternal Sonship of Christ—question His
Deity—question His unspotted humanity, and you have opened the floodgate for a desolating
tide of deadly error to rush in. Let no one imagine, for a moment, that this is a mere matter to
be discussed by learned theologians—a curious question—a recondite mystery—a point about
which we may lawfully differ. No; it is a vital, fundamental truth, to be held in the power of
the Holy Ghost, and maintained at the expense of all beside—yea, to be confessed, under all
circumstances, whatever may be the consequences.

What we want is simply to receive into our hearts, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Father's
revelation of the Son, and, then, our souls shall be effectually preserved from the snares of the
enemy, let them take what shape they may. He may speciously cover the trap of Arianism or
Socinianism with the grass and leaves of a most plausible and attractive system of
interpretation; but directly the devoted heart discovers what this system attempts to make of
the Blessed One to whom it owes everything, and where it attempts to put Him, it finds but
little difficulty in sending it back to where it manifestly came from. We can well afford to do
without human theories; but we can never do without Christ—the Christ of God—the Christ
of God's affections—the Christ of God's counsels—the Christ of God's word.

The Lord Jesus Christ, God's eternal Son, a distinct Person in the glorious Trinity, God
manifest in the flesh, God over all, blessed for ever, assumed a body which was inherently
and divinely pure, holy, and without the possibility of taint—absolutely free from every seed
or principle of sin and mortality. Such was the humanity of Christ, that He could at any
moment, so far as He was personally concerned, have returned to heaven, from whence He
had come, and to which He belonged. I speak not here of the eternal counsels of redeeming
love, or of the unswerving love of the heart of Jesus—His love to God—His love to God's
elect, or of the work that was needful to ratify God's everlasting covenant with the seed of
Abraham, and with the whole creation. Christ's own words teach us that it behoved Him to
suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day." (Luke 24: 46) It was necessary that He should
suffer, in order to the full manifestation and perfect accomplishment of the great mystery of
redemption. It was His gracious purpose to "bring many sons unto glory. He would not abide
alone," and, therefore, He, as the corn of wheat, "should fall into the ground and die." The
more fully we enter into the truth of His Person, the more fully do we apprehend the grace of
His work.

When the apostle speaks of Christ's being made perfect through suffering," it is as "the
Captain of our salvation that he contemplates Him, and not as the eternal Son who, as regards
His own abstract Person and nature, was divinely perfect and could not possibly have ought
added to Him. So, also, when He Himself says, "Behold I cast out devils, and I do cures today
and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected," (Luke 13: 32) He refers to His being
perfected, in the power of resurrection, as the accomplisher of the entire work of redemption.
So far as He was personally concerned, He could say, even on His way forth from the garden
of Gethsemane, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently
give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled,
that thus it must be?" (Matt. 26: 53, 54)

It is well that the soul be clear as to this—well to have a divine sense of the harmony which
exists between those scriptures which present Christ in the essential dignity of His Person,
and the divine purity of His nature, and those which present Him in His relation with His
people, and as accomplishing the great work of redemption. At times we find both these
things combined, in the same passage, as in Heb. 5: 8, 9: "Though he were a Son, yet learned
he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author
of eternal salvation to all them that obey him." We must, however, bear in mind that not one
of those relations into which Christ, voluntarily, entered—whether as the expression of divine
love to a lost world, or the servant of the divine counsels not one of these could possibly
interfere with the essential purity, excellency, and glory of His Person. "The Holy Ghost came
upon" the virgin, and the power of the Highest overshadowed her;" and "therefore that holy
thing which was born of her was called the Son of God." Most magnificent unfolding, this, of
the deep secret of Christ's pure and perfect humanity—the great antitype of the "fine flour
mingled with oil!"

And here, let me observe, that, between humanity, as seen in the Lord Jesus Christ, and
humanity, as seen in us, there could be no union. That which is pure could never coalesce
with that which is impure. That which is incorruptible could never unite with that which is
corruptible. The spiritual and the carnal—the heavenly and the earthly—could never
combine. Hence, therefore, it follows that incarnation was not, as some have attempted to
teach, Christ's taking our fallen nature into union with Himself. If He could have done this,
there would have been no need of the death of the cross. He needed not, in that case, to feel
"straitened" until the baptism was accomplished—the corn of wheat did not need to fall into
the ground and die." This is a point of great moment. Let the spiritual mind ponder it deeply.
Christ could not possibly take sinful humanity into union with Himself. Hear what the angel
said to Joseph, in the first chapter of Matthew's gospel. "Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to
take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." See
now Joseph's natural sensibilities, as well as Mary's pious ignorance, are made the occasion of
a fuller unfolding of the holy mystery of Christ's humanity; and also of guarding that
humanity against all the Blasphemous attacks of the enemy!

How, then, is it that believers are united to Christ. Is it in incarnation or resurrection? In
resurrection, assuredly. How is this proved? "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and
die, it abideth alone." (John 12: 24.) At this side of death, there could be no union between
Christ and His people. It is in the power of a new life that believers are united to Christ. They
were dead in sin, and He, in perfect grace, came down, and, though Himself pure and sinless,
was "made sin"—"died unto sin"—put it away—rose triumphant over it, and all pertaining to
it, and, in resurrection, became the Head of a new race. Adam was the head of the old
creation, which fell with him. Christ, by dying, put Himself under the full weight of His
people's condition, and having perfectly met all that was against them, rose; victorious over
all, and carried them with Him into the new creation, of which He is the glorious Head and
Centre. Hence, we read, He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." (1 Cor. 6: 17.) But God,
who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up
together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2: 4-6.) For we
are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." (Eph. 5: 30.) "And you being dead in
your sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having
forgiven you all trespasses." (Col. 2: 13.)

Passages might be multiplied, but the above are amply sufficient to prove that it was not in
incarnation, but in death, that Christ took a position in which His people could be "quickened
together with him." Does this seem unimportant to the reader? Let him examine it in the light
of Scripture. Let him weigh all the consequences. Let him view it in its bearing upon Christ's
Person, upon His life, upon His death, upon our condition, by nature, in the old creation, and
our place, through mercy, in the new. Let him consider it thus, and, I feel persuaded, he will
no longer regard it as a light matter. Of one thing, at least, he may rest assured, that the writer
of these pages would not pen a single line to prove this point, did he not consider it to be
fraught with the most momentous results. The whole of divine revelation so hangs together—
is so adjusted by the hand of the Holy Ghost is so consistent in all its parts, that, if one truth
be disturbed, the entire arch is injured. This consideration should suffice to produce, in the
mind of every Christian, a holy caution lest, by some rude touch, he mar the beauteous
superstructure. Every stone must be left in its divinely appointed place; and, unquestionably,
the truth as to Christ's Person is the keystone of the arch.

Having thus endeavoured to unfold the truth typified by the "fine flour mingled with oil," we
may remark another point of much interest in the expression, "He shall pour oil upon it." In
this we have a type of the anointing of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Ghost. The body of
the Lord Jesus was not merely formed, mysteriously, by the Holy Ghost, but that pure and
holy vessel was also anointed for service, by the same power. And it came to pass when all
the people were baptised, and Jesus also being baptised and praying, the heaven was opened,
and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape, as a dove, upon him, and there was a voice
from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased." (Luke 3: 21, 22)

The anointing of the Lord Jesus, by the Holy Ghost, previous to His entrance upon His public
ministry, is of immense practical importance to every one who really desires to be a true and
an effectual servant of God. though conceived, as to His manhood, by the Holy Ghost; though,
in His own proper Person, "God manifest in the flesh;" though embodying, in Himself, all the
fullness of the Godhead; yet, be it well observed, when coming forth, as man, to do the will of
God, on the earth, whatever that will might be, whether preaching the gospel, teaching in the
synagogues, healing the sick, cleansing the leper, casting out devils, feeding the hungry, or
raising the dead, He did all by the Holy Ghost. That holy and heavenly vessel in which God
the Son was pleased to appear in this world, was formed, filled, Anointed, and led by the Holy
Ghost.

What a deep and holy lesson for us! A most needful and salutary lesson! How prone are we to
run unsent! How prone to act in the mere energy of the flesh! How much of that which looks
like ministry is only the restless and unhallowed activity of a nature which has never been
measured and judged in the divine presence! Truly, we need to contemplate, more closely,
our divine "meat offering"—to understand, more fully, the meaning of the "Fine flour
anointed with oil." We need to meditate, more deeply, upon Christ Himself, who, though
possessing, in His own Person, divine power, nevertheless, did all His work, wrought all His
miracles, and, finally, offered himself without spot to God, by the eternal Spirit. He could say,
"I, by the Spirit of God, cast out devils."

Nothing is of any value save that which is wrought by the power of the Holy Ghost. A man
may write; but, if his pen be not guided and used by the Holy Ghost, his lines will produce no
permanent result. A man may speak; but, if his lips be not anointed by the Holy Ghost, his
word will not take permanent root. This is a solemn consideration, and, if properly weighed,
would lead to much watchfulness over ourselves, and much earnest dependence upon the
Holy Ghost. What we need is thorough self-emptiness, so that there may be room left for the
Spirit to act by us. It is impossible that a man full of himself can be the vessel of the Holy
Ghost. Such an one must, first, be emptied of himself, and, then, the Spirit can use him. When
we contemplate the Person and ministry of the Lord Jesus, we see how that, in every scene
and circumstance, He acted by the direct power of the Holy Ghost. Having taken His place, as
man, down here, He showed that men should not only live by the Word, but act by the Spirit
of God. Even though, as man, His will was perfect—His thoughts, His words, His acts, all
perfect, yet would He not act, save by the direct authority of the Word, and by the direct
power of the Holy Ghost. Oh! that in this, as in every thing else, we could, more closely, more
faithfully, follow in His steps. Then, indeed, would our ministry be more effective, our
testimony more fruitful, our whole course more entirely to the glory of God.

The next ingredient in the meat offering demanding our consideration is "the frankincense."
As has been remarked, the "fine flour" was the basis of the offering. The "oil" and
"frankincense" were the two leading adjuncts; and, truly, the connection between these two
latter is most instructive. The "oil" typifies the power of Christ's ministry; the "frankincense"
typifies the object thereof. The former teaches us that He did everything by the Spirit of God;
the latter that He did everything to the glory of God. The frankincense presents that in the life
of Christ, which was, exclusively, for God. This is evident from the second verse: "And he
shall bring it (the meat offering) to Aaron's sons, the priests: and he shall take thereout his
handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the
priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet
savour unto the Lord." Thus was it in the true meat offering—the Man Christ Jesus. There
was that in His blessed life which was exclusively for God. Every thought, every word, every
look, every act of His, emitted a fragrance which went up, immediately, to God. And, as in
the type, it was the fire of the altar" that drew forth the sweet odour of the frankincense; so, in
the Anti type, the more he was "tried," in all the scenes and circumstances of His blessed life,
the more fully was it manifested that, in His manhood, there was nothing that could not
ascend, as an odour of a sweet smell, to the throne of God. If, in the burnt offering, we behold
Christ "offering himself, without spot, to God;" in the meat offering, we behold Him
presenting all the intrinsic excellence and perfect actings of His human nature to God. A
perfect, a self-emptied, an obedient man, on the earth, doing the will of God, acting by the
authority of the word, and by the power of the Spirit, had a sweet odour which could only be
for divine acceptance. The fact that all the frankincense" was consumed on the altar, fixes its
import in the simplest manner.

It now only remains for us to consider an ingredient which was an inseparable adjunct of the
meat offering, namely, "salt." "and every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with
salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat
offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt." The expression, "salt of the covenant,"
sets forth the enduring character of that covenant. God Himself has so ordained it, in all
things, that nought can ever alter it—no influence can ever corrupt it. In a spiritual and
practical point of view, it is impossible to over-estimate the value of such an ingredient. "Let
your conversation be always with grace, seasoned with salt." The whole conversation of the
Perfect Man exhibited the power of this principle. His words were not merely words of grace,
but words of pungent power—words divinely adapted to preserve from all taint and
corrupting influence. He never uttered a word which was not redolent with "frankincense" and
seasoned with salt. The former was most acceptable to God, the latter most profitable for
man.

Sometimes, alas! man's corrupt heart and vitiated taste could not tolerate the pungency of the
divinely salted meat offering. Witness, for example, the scene in the synagogue of Nazareth.
(Luke 4: 16-29) The people could bear him witness, and wonder at the gracious words which
proceeded out of his mouth;" but when He proceeded to season those words with salt, which
was so needful, in order to preserve them from the corrupting influence of their national
pride, they would fain have cast Him over the brow of the hill whereon their city was built.

So, also, in Luke 14, when His words of "grace" had drawn "great multitudes" after Him, He
instantly throws in the "salt," by setting forth, in words of holy faithfulness, the sure results of
following Him. Come, for all things are now ready," Here was the "grace." but, then,
"whosoever forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple." Here was the salt." Grace is
attractive; but "Salt is good." Gracious discourse may be popular; but salted discourse never
will. The pure gospel of the grace of God may, at certain times, and under certain
circumstances, be run after by the multitude" for a while; but when the "salt" of a fervid and
faithful application is introduced, it will soon thin the benches of all save such as are brought
under the power of the word.

Having thus considered the ingredients which composed the meal offering, we shall now refer
to those which were excluded from it.

The first of these was "leaven." No meat offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord, shall be
made with leaven." This ingredient is used throughout the inspired volume, without so much
as a single exception, as the symbol of evil. In Lev. 23, which will be noticed in due course,
we find leaven admitted in the two loaves which were offered on the day of Pentecost; but
from the meat offering, leaven was most sedulously excluded. There was to be nothing sour:
nothing that would puff up, nothing expressive of evil in that which typified the Man Christ
Jesus." In Him, there could be nothing savouring of nature's sourness, nothing turgid, nothing
inflated. All was pure, solid, and genuine. His word might, at times, cut to the quick; but it
was never sour. His style never rose above the occasion. His deportment ever exhibited the
deep reality of one walking in the immediate presence of God.

In those who bear the name of Jesus, we know, too well, alas! how leaven shows itself in all
its properties and effects. There has been but one untainted sheaf of human fruit—but one
perfectly unleavened meat offering; and, blessed be God, that one is ours—ours to feed upon
in the sanctuary of the divine presence, in fellowship with God. No exercise can be more truly
edifying and refreshing for the renewed mind than to dwell upon the unleavened perfectness
of Christ's humanity—to contemplate the life and ministry of One who was, absolutely and
essentially, unleavened. In all His springs of thought, affection, desire, and imagination, there
was not so much as a particle of leaven. He was the sinless, spotless, perfect Man. And the
more we are enabled, by the power of the Spirit, to enter into all this, the deeper will be our
experience of the grace which led this perfect One to place Himself under the full
consequences of His people's sins, as He did when He hung upon the cross. his thought,
however, belongs entirely to the sin-offering aspect of our blessed Lord. In the meat offering,
sin is not in question. It is not the type of a sin-bearer, but of a real, perfect, unblemished
Man, conceived and anointed by the Holy Ghost, possessing an unleavened nature, and living
an unleavened life, down here; emitting, ever, to God-ward, the fragrance of His own personal
excellency, and maintaining, amongst men, a deportment characterised by grace seasoned
with salt."

But there was another ingredient, as positively excluded from the meat offering as leaven,"
and that was honey." For ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord
made by fire." (Ver. 11). Now, as "leaven" is the expression of that which is positively and
palpably evil, in nature, we may regard honey" as the significant symbol of that which is
apparently sweet and attractive. Both are disallowed of God—both were carefully excluded
from the meat offering—both were unfit for the altar. Men may undertake, like Saul, to
distinguish between what is "vile and refuse," and what is not; but the judgement of God
ranks the delicate Agag with the vilest of the sons of Amalek;. No doubt, there are some good
moral qualities in man which must be taken for what they are worth. hast thou found honey,
eat so much as is convenient;" but, be it remembered, it found no place in the meat offering,
nor in its Antitype. There was the fullness of the Holy Ghost; there was the fragrant odour of
the frankincense; there was the preservative virtue of the salt of the covenant." All these
things accompanied the fine flour," in the Person of the true "meat offering;" but "no honey."

What a lesson for the heart is here! yea, what a volume of wholesome instruction! The blessed
Lord Jesus knew how to give nature and its relationships their proper place. He knew how
much honey "was convenient." He could say to His mother, "Wist ye not that I must be about
my Father's business?" And yet He could say, again, to the beloved disciple, Behold thy
mother." In other words, nature's claims were never allowed to interfere with the presentation
to God of all the energies of Christ's perfect manhood. Mary and others too might have
thought that her human relation to the blessed One gave her some peculiar claim or influence,
on merely natural grounds. There came, then, his brethren ("after the flesh") and his mother,
and standing without, sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude sat about him; and they
said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee." What was the
reply of the true Meat Offering? Did He, at once, abandon His work, in order to respond to
nature's call? By no means. Had He done so, it would have been to mingle honey" with the
meat offering, which could not be. The honey was faithfully excluded, on this, as on every
occasion, when God's claims were to be attended to, and instead thereof, the power of the
Spirit, the odour of the frankincense," and the virtues of the salt" were blessedly exhibited.
And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round
about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For
whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and my mother."*
(Mark 3: 31-35.)
{*How important to see, in the above beautiful passage, that doing God's will brings the soul
into a relationship with Christ, of which His brethren according to the flesh knew nothing, on
merely natural grounds. It was as true, with respect to those brethren, as any one else, that
except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Mary could not have been
saved by the mere fact of her being the mother of Jesus. She needed personal faith in Christ as
much as any other member of Adam's fallen family. She needed to pass, by being born again,
not of the old creation into the new. It was by treasuring up Christ's words in her heart that
this blessed woman was saved. No doubt, she was highly favoured" in being chosen as a
vessel, to such a holy office; but, then, as a lost sinner, she needed! to rejoice in God her
Saviour, like any one else. She stands on the same platform, is washed in the same blood,
clothed in the same righteousness, and will sing the same song, as all the rest of God's
redeemed.

This simple fact will give additional force and clearness to a point already stated, namely; that
incarnation was not Christ's taking our nature into union with Himself. This truth should be
carefully pondered. It is fully brought out in 2 Cor. 5, "For the love of Christ constraineth us;
because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for
them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we
have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold all things are
become new." (Ver. 14-17)}

There are few things which the servant of Christ finds more difficult than to adjust, with
spiritual accuracy, the claims of natural relationship, so as not to suffer them to interfere with
the claims of the Master. In the case of our blessed Lord, as we know, the adjustment was
divine. In our case, it often happens that divinely-recognised duties are openly neglected for
what we imagine to be the service of Christ. The doctrine of God is constantly sacrificed to
the apparent work of the gospel. Now, it is well to remember that true devotedness always
starts from a point within which all godly claims are fully secured. If I hold a situation which
demands my services from ten till four every day, I have no right to go out to visit or preach,
during those hours. If I am in business, I am bound to maintain the integrity of that business,
in a godly manner. I have no right to run hither and thither preaching, while my business, at
home, lies in sixes and sevens, bringing great reproach on the holy doctrine of God. A man
may say, I feel myself called to preach the gospel, and I find my situation, or my business, a
clog. Well, if you are divinely called and fitted for the work; of the gospel, and that you
cannot combine the two things, then resign your situation, or wind up your business, in a
godly manner, and go forth, in the name of the Lord. But, clearly, so long as I hold a situation,
or carry on a business, my work in the gospel must begin from a point within which the godly
claims of such business or situation are fully responded to. This is devotedness. Ought else is
confusion, however well intended. Blessed be God, we have a perfect example before us in
the life of the Lord Jesus, and ample guidance, for the new man, in the word of God; so that
we need not make any mistakes, in the varied relationships which we may be called, in the
providence of God, to all, or as to the various claims which God's moral government has set
up, in connection with such relationships.

2. The second point, in our theme, is the mode in which the meat offering was prepared. This
was, as we read, by the action of fire. It was "baken in an oven"—"baken in a pan"—or
"baken in a frying pan." The process of baking suggests the idea of suffering. But inasmuch as
the meat offering is called "a sweet savour"—a term which is never applied to the sin
offering, or trespass offering—it is evident that there is no thought of suffering for sin—no
thought of suffering the wrath of God on account of sin—no thought of suffering at the hand
of infinite Justice, as the sinner's substitute. The two ideas of "sweet savour" and suffering for
sin, are wholly incompatible, according to the Levitical economy. It would completely destroy
the type of the meat offering, were we to introduce into it the idea of suffering for sin.

In contemplating the life of the Lord Jesus, which, as we have already remarked, is the special
subject foreshadowed in the meat offering, we may notice three distinct kinds of suffering;
namely, suffering for righteousness; suffering by the power of sympathy; and suffering, in
anticipation.

As the righteous Servant of God, He suffered in the midst of a scene in which all was contrary
to Him; but this was the very opposite of suffering for sin. It is of the utmost importance to
distinguish between these two kinds of suffering. The confounding of them must lead to
serious error. suffering as a righteous One, standing amongst men, on God's behalf, is one
thing; and suffering instead of men, under the hand of God, is quite another. The Lord Jesus
suffered for righteousness, during His life. He suffered for sin, in His death. During His life,
man and Satan did their utmost; and, even at the cross, they put forth all their powers; but
when all that they could do was done—when they had travelled, in their deadly enmity, to the
utmost limit of human and diabolical opposition, there lay, far beyond a region of
impenetrable gloom and horror into which the Sin-bearer had to travel, in the
accomplishment of His work. During His life He ever walked in the unclouded light of the
Divine countenance; but, on the cursed tree, the dark shadow of sin intervened, and shut out
that light, and drew forth that mysterious cry, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
This was a moment which stands absolutely alone, in the annals of eternity. From time to
time, during the life of Christ, down here heaven had opened to give forth the expression of
divine complacency in Him; but on the cross God forsook Him, because He was making His
soul an offering for sin. If Christ had been a sin-bearer all His life, then what was the
difference between the cross and any other period? Why was He not forsaken of God during
His entire course? What was the difference between Christ on the cross, and Christ on the
holy mount of transfiguration? was He forsaken of God, on the mount? Was He a sin-bearer
there? These are very simple questions, which should be answered By those who maintain the
ides of a life of sin-bearing.

The plain fact is this, there was nothing either in Christ's humanity, or in the nature of His
associations, which could possibly connect Him with sin, or wrath, or death. He was made
sin" on the cross; and there He endured the wrath of God, and there He gave up His life, as an
all-sufficient atonement for sin; but nothing of this finds a place in the meat offering. True,
we have the process of baking—the action of fire; but this is not the wrath of God. The meat
offering was not a sin offering, but a sweet savour" offering. Thus, its import is definitely
fixed; and, moreover, the intelligent interpretation of it must ever guard, with holy jealousy,
the precious truth of Christ's spotless humanity, and the true nature of His associations. To
make Him, by the necessity of His birth, a sinbearer, or to place Him, thereby, under the curse
of the law, and the wrath of God, is to contradict the entire truth of God, as to incarnation—
truth announced by the angel, and repeated, again and again, by the inspired apostle.
Moreover, it destroys the entire character and object of Christ's life, and robs the cross of its
distinctive glory. It lowers the sense of what sin is, and of what atonement is. In one word, it
removes the keystone of the arch of revelation, and lays all in hopeless ruin and confusion
around us.

But, again, the Lord Jesus suffered by the power of Sympathy; and this character of suffering
unfolds to us the deep secrets of His tender heart. Human sorrow, and human misery ever
touched a chord in that bosom of love. It was impossible that a perfect human heart could
avoid feeling, according to its own divine sensibilities, the miseries which sin had entailed
upon the human family. Though, personally free, both from the cause and the effect—though
belonging to heaven, and living a perfect heavenly life, on the earth, yet did He descend, by
the power of an intense sympathy, into the deepest depths of human sorrow yea, He felt the
sorrow, more keenly by far, than those who were the direct subjects thereof, inasmuch as His
humanity was perfect. And, further, He was able to contemplate both the sorrow and its
cause, according to their just measure and character, in the presence of God. He felt as none
else could feel. His feelings—His affections—His sensibilities—His whole moral and mental
constitution were perfect; and, hence, none can tell what such an One must have suffered, in
passing through such a world as this. He beheld the human family struggling beneath the
ponderous weight of guilt and wretchedness; He beheld the whole creation groaning under the
yoke; the cry of the prisoner fell upon His ear; the tear of the widow met His view;
bereavement and poverty touched His sensitive heart; sickness and death made Him groan in
the spirit;" His sympathetic sufferings were beyond all human conception.

I shall quote a passage for my reader, illustrative of that character of suffering to which we
are now referring. When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed
with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick; that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our
infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." (Matt. 8: 16, 17) This was entirely sympathetic—the
power of fellow-feeling, which in Him was perfect. He had no sicknesses or infirmities of His
own. Those things which are sometimes spoken of as sinless infirmities," were, in His case,
but the evidences of a veritable, a real, a perfect manhood. But by sympathy, by perfect fellow
feeling, He took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses." None? but a perfect man could have
done this. We may feel for, and with, each other; but only Jesus could make human infirmity
and sickness His own.

Now, had He been bearing all these things by the necessity of His birth, or of His relations
with Israel and the human family, we should have lost all the beauty and preciousness of His
voluntary sympathy. There could be no room for voluntary action when absolute necessity
was laid upon Him. But, on the other hand, when we see His entire freedom, both personally
and relatively, from human misery and that which produced it, we can enter into that perfect
grace and compassion which led Him to take our infirmities, and bear our sicknesses," in the
power of true sympathy. There is, therefore, a very manifest difference between Christ's
suffering as a voluntary sympathiser with human misery, and His sufferings as the sinner's
substitute. The former are apparent throughout His entire life; the latter are confined to His
death.

Finally, we have to consider Christ's sufferings, by anticipation. We find the dark shadow of
the cross casting itself athwart His path, and producing a very keen order of suffering which,
however, must be as clearly distinguished from His atoning suffering as either His suffering
for righteousness, or His suffering by sympathy. Let as take a passage, in proof: And he came
out, and went, as He was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him.
And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation and
he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying,
Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will but thine, be
done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven strengthening him. and being in an
agony, he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling
down to the ground." (Luke 22: 39-44.) Again, we read, And he took with him Peter and the
two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, my
soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me . . . . . he went
away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away
from me, except I drink it, thy will be done." (Matt. 26: 37-42.)

From these verses, it is evident, there was a something, in prospect, which the blessed Lord
had never encountered before. There was a cup" being filled out for Him of which He had not
yet drunk. If He had been a sin-bearer all His life, then why this intense agony at the thought
of coming in contact with sin and enduring the wrath of God on account of sin? what was the
difference between Christ, in Gethsemane, and Christ, at Calvary, if He were a sin-bearer all
His life? There was a material difference! but it is because He was not a sin-bearer all His
life. What is the difference? In Gethsemane, He was anticipating the cross! at Calvary, He
was actually enduring it. In Gethsemane, there appeared an angel unto him from heaven
strengthening him;" at Calvary, He was forsaken of all. There was no angelic ministry there.
In Gethsemane He addresses God as Father," thus enjoying the full communion of that
ineffable relationship; but at Calvary, He cries, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken
me?" Here the sin-bearer looks up, and beholds the throne of eternal Justice enveloped in dark
clouds, and the countenance of inflexible Holiness averted from Him because He was being
made sin for us."

The reader will, I trust, find no difficulty in examining this subject for himself. He will be
able to trace, in detail, the three characters of the life-sufferings of our blessed Lord, and to
distinguish between them and His death-sufferings-His sufferings for sin. He will see how
that, when man and Satan had done their utmost, there yet remained a character of suffering
which was perfectly unique, namely, suffering, at the hand of God, on account of sin—
suffering as the sinner's substitute. Until He came to the cross, He could ever look up and
bask in the clear light of His Father's countenance. In the darkest hour, He found a sure
resource above. His path down here was a rough one. How could it be otherwise, in a world
where all was directly contrary to His pure and holy nature? He had to endure the
contradiction of singers against himself." He had to endure" the reproach of them that
reproached God." What had He not to endure? He was misunderstood, misinterpreted, abused,
maligned, accused of being mad, and of having a devil. He was betrayed, denied, deserted,
mocked, buffeted, spit upon, crowned with thorns, cast out, condemned, and nailed between
two malefactors. All these things He endured at the hand of man, together with all the
unutterable terrors which Satan brought to bear upon His spirit; but let it be, once more,
emphatically repeated, when man and Satan had exhausted their power and enmity, our
blessed Lord and Saviour had to endure a something compared with which all the rest was as
nothing, and that was the hiding of God's countenance—the three hours of darkness and awful
gloom, during which He suffered what none but God could know.

Now, when scripture speaks of our having fellowship with Christ's sufferings, it refers,
simply, to His sufferings for righteousness—his sufferings at the hand of man. Christ suffered
for sin, that we might not have to suffer for it. He endured the wrath of God, that we might
not have to endure it. This is the ground of our peace. But, as regards suffering from man, we
shall always find that the more faithfully we follow in the footsteps of Christ, the more we
shall suffer in this respect; but this is a matter of gift, a matter of privilege, a favour, a dignity.
(See Phil. 1: 29, 30) To walk in the footsteps of Christ—to enjoy companionship with Him—
to be thrown into a place of sympathy with Him, are privileges of the very highest order.
Would that we all entered, more fully, into them! But, alas! we are too well content to do
without them—too well satisfied, like Peter, to follow afar off"—to keep aloof from a
despised and suffering Christ. All this is, undoubtedly, our heavy loss. Had we only more
fellowship with His sufferings, the crown would glisten, far more brightly, in our soul's
vision. When we shrink from fellowship with Christ's sufferings, we rob ourselves of the deep
joy of His present companionship, and also of the moral power of the hope of His future
glory.

3. Having considered the ingredients which composed the meat offering, and the various
forms in which it was presented, it only remains for us to refer to the persons who partook of
it. These were the head and members of the priestly house. "And that which is left of the meat
offering shall be Aaron's and his sons: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made
by fire." (Ver. 10) As in the burnt offering, we observed the sons of Aaron introduced as types
of all true believers, not as convicted sinners, but as worshipping Priests; so, in the meat
offering, we find them feeding upon the remnant of that which had been laid, as it were, on
the table of the God of Israel. This was a high and holy privilege. None but priests could
enjoy it. This is set forth, with great distinctness, in "the law of the meat offering," which I
shall here quote at length. And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall
offer it before the Lord, before the altar. And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the
meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering,
and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it unto the Lord. And
the remainder thereof shell Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten, in
the Holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it. It shall not
be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire;
it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering. All the males among the
children of Aaron shall eat of it: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations, concerning
the offerings of the Lord made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy." (Lev. 6:
14-18)

Here, then, we are furnished with a beauteous figure of the Church, feeding, "in the holy
place," in the power of practical holiness, upon the perfections of the Man Christ Jesus." This
is our portion, through the grace of God; but, we must remember, it is to be eaten with
unleavened bread." We cannot feed upon Christ if we are indulging in anything evil. Every
one that toucheth them shall be holy." Moreover, it must be in the holy place." Our position,
our practice, our persons, our associations, must be holy, ere we can feed upon the meat
offering. Finally, it is, all the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it." That is to
say, real priestly energy, according to the divine idea of it, is required, in order to enjoy this
holy portion. Aaron's Sons" set forth the idea of energy in priestly action. His "daughters,"
feebleness therein. (Comp. Num. 18: 8-13) There were some things which the sons could eat
which the daughters could not. Our hearts should earnestly desire the highest measure of
priestly energy, so that we may discharge the highest priestly functions, and partake of the
highest order of priestly food.

In conclusion, let me add that, inasmuch as we are made, through grace," partakers of the
divine nature," we can, if living in the energy of that nature, walk in the footsteps of Him who
is foreshadowed in the meat offering. If only we are self-emptied, our every act may emit a
sweet odour to God. the smallest as well as the greatest services may, by the power of the
Holy Ghost, present the fragrance of Christ. The paying of a visit, the writing of a letter, the
public ministry of the word, giving a cup of cold water to a disciple, giving a penny to a
pauper, yea, the common-place acts of eating and drinking—all may emit the sweet perfume
of the name and grace of Jesus.

So, also, if only nature be kept in the place of death, there may be, in us, the exhibition of that
which is not corruptible, even a conversation seasoned with the "salt" of abiding communion
with God. But, in all these things, we fail and come short. We grieve the Holy Spirit of God in
our ways. We are prone to self-seeking or men-pleasing, in our very best services, and we fail
to "season" our conversation. Hence, our constant deficiency in the "oil," the "frankincense,"
and the Salt while, at the same time, there is the tendency to suffer the "leaven" or the
"honey" of nature to make its appearance. There has been but one perfect meat offering;" and,
blessed be God, we are accepted in Him. We are the sons" of the true Aaron; our place is in
the sanctuary, where we can feed upon the holy portion. Happy place! Happy portion! May we
enjoy them more than ever we have done. May our retirement of heart from all but Christ be
more profound. May our gaze at Him be so intense, that we shall have no heart for the
attractions of the scene around us, nor yet for the ten thousand petty circumstances, in our
path, which would fret the heart and perplex the mind. May we rejoice in Christ, in the
sunshine and in the darkness; when the gentle breezes of summer play around us, and when
the storms of winter rage fiercely abroad; when passing over the surface of a placid lake, or
tossed on the bosom of a stormy ocean. Thank God "we have found Him" who is to be our
satisfying portion for ever. We shall spend eternity dwelling upon the divine perfections of
the Lord Jesus. Our eyes shall never be averted from Him, when once we have seen Him as
He is.

May the Spirit of God work mightily in us, to strengthen us, "in the inner man." May He
enable us to feed upon that perfect Meat Offering, the memorial of which has been fed upon
by God Himself! This is our holy and happy privilege. May we realise it, yet more fully!

Leviticus 3.

The more closely we contemplate the offerings, the more fully do we see how that no one
offering furnishes a complete view of Christ. It is only by putting all together, that anything
like a just idea can be formed. Each offering, as might be expected, has features peculiar to
itself. The Peace offering differs from the burnt offering, in many points; and a clear
understanding of the points in which any one type differs from the others, will be found to
help much in the apprehension of its special import.

Thus, in comparing the peace offering with the burnt offering, we find that the threefold
action of "flaying," "Cutting it into its pieces," and "washing the inwards and legs" is entirely
omitted; and this is quite in character. In the burnt offering, as we have seen, we find Christ
offering Himself to, and accepted by God, and hence, the completeness of His self-surrender,
and also the searching process to which He submitted Himself, had to be typified. In the
peace offering, the leading thought is the communion of the worshipper. It is not Christ as
enjoyed, exclusively, by God, but as enjoyed by the worshipper, in communion with God.
Therefore it is that the whole line of action is less intense. No heart, be its love ever so
elevated, could possibly rise to the height of Christs devotedness to God, or of God's
acceptance of Christ. None but God Himself could duly note the pulsations of that heart
which throbbed in the bosom of Jesus; and, therefore, a type was needed to set forth that one
feature of Christ's death, namely, His perfect devotedness therein to God. This type we have
in the burnt offering, in which, alone, we observe the threefold action above referred to.

So, also, in reference to the character of the sacrifice. In the burnt offering, it should be "a
male without blemish;" whereas, in the peace offering, it might be "a male or female," though
equally "without blemish." The nature of Christ, whether we view Him as enjoyed exclusively
by God, or by the worshipper in fellowship with God, must ever be one and the same. There
can be no alteration in that. The only reason why "a female" was permitted in the peace
offering, was because it was a question of the worshipper's capacity to enjoy that blessed One,
who, in Himself, is "the same yesterday, today, and for ever." (Heb. 13)

Again, in the burnt offering, we read, "The priest shall burn all;" whereas, in the peace
offering, a part only was burnt, that is, "the fat, the kidneys, and the caul. This makes it
exceedingly simple. The most excellent portion of the sacrifice was laid on God's altar. The
inward partsthe hidden energiesthe tender sensibilities of the blessed Jesus, were devoted to
God as the only One who could perfectly enjoy them. Aaron and his sons fed upon "the wave
breast" and "the heave shoulder."* (See carefully Lev. 7: 28-36) All the members of the
priestly family, in communion with their head, had their proper portion of the peace offering.
And now, all true believers constituted, by grace, priests unto God, can feed upon the
affections and the strength of the true Peace Offering—can enjoy the happy assurance of
having His loving heart and powerful shoulder to comfort and sustain them continually.**
"This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons, out of the
offerings of the Lord made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the
Lord in the priest's office; which the Lord commanded to be given them of the children of
Israel, in the day that he anointed them by a statute for ever throughout their generations."
(Lev. 7: 35, 36)
{*The "breast" and the "shoulder" are emblematical of love and power—strength and
affection.}
{**There is much force and beauty in verse 31: "The breast shall be Aaron's and his sons." It
is the privilege of all true believers to feed upon the affections of Christ—the changeless love
of that heart which beats with a deathless and changeless love for them.}

All these are important points of difference between the burnt offering and the peace offering;
and, when taken together, they set the two offerings, with great clearness, before the mind.
There is something more in the peace offering than the abstract devotedness of Christ to the
will of God. The worshipper is introduced; and that, not merely as a spectator, but as a
participator—not merely to gaze, but to feed. This gives very marked character to this
offering. When I look at the Lord Jesus in the burnt offering, I see Him as One whose heart
was devoted to the one object of glorifying God and accomplishing His will. But when I see
Him in the peace offering, I find One who has a place in His loving heart, and on His
powerful shoulder, for a worthless, helpless sinner. In the burnt offering, the breast and
shoulder, legs and inwards, head and fat, were all burnt on the altar—all went up as a sweet
savour to God. But in the peace offering, that very portion that suits me is left for me. Nor am
I left to feed, in solitude, on that which meets my individual need. By no means. I feed in
communion—in communion with God, and in communion with my fellow priests. I feed, in
the full and happy intelligence, that the selfsame sacrifice which feeds my soul has already
refreshed the heart of God; and, moreover, that the same portion which feeds me feeds all my
fellow worshippers. Communion is the order here—communion with God—the communion
of saints. There was no such thing as isolation in the peace offering. God had His portion, and
so had the priestly family.

Thus it is in connection with the Antitype of the peace offering. The very same Jesus who is
the object of heaven's delight, is he spring of joy, of strength, and of comfort to every
believing heart; and not only to every heart, in particular, but also to the whole church of God,
in fellowship. God, in His exceeding grace, has given His people the very same object that He
has Himself. "Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1 John
1) True, our thoughts of Jesus can never rise to the height of God's thoughts. Our estimation
of such an object must ever fall far short of His; and, hence, in the type, the house of Aaron
could not partake of the fat. But though we can never rise to the standard of the divine
estimation of Christ's Person and sacrifice, it is, nevertheless, the same object we are
occupied With, and, therefore, the house of Aaron had "the wave breast and the heave
shoulder." All this is replete with comfort and joy to the heart. The Lord Jesus Christ—the
One "who was dead, but is alive for evermore," is now the exclusive object before the eye and
thoughts of God; and, in perfect grace, He has given unto us a portion in the same blessed and
all-glorious Person. Christ is our object too—the object of our hearts, and the theme of our
song. "Having made peace by the blood of his cross," He ascended into heaven, and sent
down the Holy Ghost, that "other Comforter," by whose powerful ministrations we feed upon
the breast and shoulder "of our divine "Peace Offering." He is, indeed, our peace; and it is our
exceeding joy to know that such is God's delight in the establishment of our peace that the
sweet odour of our Peace offering has refreshed His heart. This imparts a peculiar charm to
this type. Christ, as the burnt offering, commands the admiration of the heart; Christ, as the
peace offering, establishes the peace of the conscience, and meets the deep and manifold
necessities of the soul. The sons of Aaron might stand around the altar of burnt offering; they
might behold the flame of that offering ascending to the God of Israel; they might see the
sacrifice reduced to ashes; they might, in view of all this, bow their heads and worship; but
they carried nought away for themselves. Not so in the peace offering. In it they not only
beheld that which was capable of emitting a sweet odour to God, but also of yielding a most
substantial portion for themselves on which they could feed, in happy and holy fellowship.

And, assuredly, it heightens the enjoyment of every true priest to know that God (to use the
language of our type) has had His portion, ere he gets the breast and the shoulder. The thought
of this gives tone and energy, unction and elevation to the worship and communion. It unfolds
the amazing grace of Him who has given us the same object, the same theme, the same joy
with Himself. Nothing lower—nothing less than this could satisfy Him. The Father will have
the prodigal feeding upon the fatted calf, in fellowship with Himself. He will not assign him
lower—place than at His own table, nor any other portion than that on which He feeds
Himself. The language of the peace offering is, "it is meet that we should make merry and be
glad"—"Let us eat and be merry." Such is the precious grace of God! No doubt, we have
reason to be glad, as being the partakers of such grace; but when we can hear the blessed God
saying, "Let us eat and be merry," it should call forth from our hearts a continual stream of
praise and thanksgiving. God's joy in the salvation of sinners, and His joy in the communion
of saints, may well elicit the admiration of men and angels throughout eternity.

Having, thus, compared the peace offering with the burnt offering, we may, now, briefly
glance at it, in connection with the meat offering. The leading point of difference, here, is
that, in the peace offering, there was blood-shedding, and in the meat offering, there was not.
They were both "sweet savour" offerings; and, as we learn, from Lev. 7: 12, the two offerings
here very intimately associated. Now, both the connection and the contrast are full of
meaning and instruction.

It is only in communion with God that the soul can delight itself in contemplating the perfect
humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Holy Ghost must impart, as He must also direct,
by the word, the vision by which we can gaze on "the Man Christ Jesus." He might have been
revealed "in the likeness of sinful flesh;" He might have lived and laboured on this earth; He
might have shone, amid the darkness of this world, in all the heavenly lustre and beauty
which belonged to His Person; He might have passed rapidly, like a brilliant luminary, across
this world's horizon; and, all the while, have been beyond the range of the sinner's vision.

Man could not enter into the deep joy of communion with all this, simply because there
mould be no basis laid down on which this communion might rest. In the peace offering, this
necessary basis is fully and clearly established. "He shall lay his hand upon the head of his
offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron's sons, the
priests, shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about." (Lev. 3: 2) Here, we have that
which the meet offering does not supply, namely, a solid foundation for the worshipper's
communion with all the fullness, the preciousness, and the beauty of Christ, so far as He. by
the gracious energy of the Holy Ghost, is enabled to enter thereunto. Standing on the platform
which "the precious blood of Christ "provides, we can range, with tranquillised hearts, and
worshipping spirits, throughout all the wondrous scenes of the manhood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Had we nought save the meat offering aspect of Christ, we should lack the title by
which, and the ground on which, we can contemplate and enjoy Him therein. If there were no
blood-shedding, there could be no title, no standing place for the sinner. but Leviticus 7: 12
links the meat offering with the peace offering, and, by so doing, teaches us that, when our
souls have found peace, we can delight in the One, who has "made peace," and who is "our
peace."

But let it be distinctly understood that while, in the peace offering, we have the shedding and
sprinkling of blood, yet sin-bearing is not the thought. When we view Christ, in the peace
offering, He does not stand before us as the bearer of our sins, as in the sin and trespass
offerings; but (having borne them) as the ground of our peaceful and happy fellowship with
God. If sin-bearing were in question, it could not be said, "It is an offering made by fire of a
sweet savour unto the Lord." (Lev. 3: 5 comp. with Lev. 4: 10-12) Still, though sin-bearing is
not the thought, there is full provision for one who knows himself to be a sinner, else he could
not have any portion therein. To have fellowship with God we must be "in the light;" and how
can we be there? Only on the ground of that precious statement, "the blood of Jesus Christ His
Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1) The more we abide in the light, the deeper will be
our sense of everything which is contrary to that light, and the deeper, also, our sense of the
value of that blood which entitles us to be there. The more closely we walk with God, the
more we shall know of "the unsearchable riches of Christ."

It is most needful to be established in the truth that we are in the presence of God, only as the
partakers of divine life, and as standing in divine righteousness. The Father could only have
the prodigal at his table, clothed in "the best robe," and in all the integrity of that relationship
in which He viewed him. Had the prodigal been left in his rags, or placed" as a hired servant"
in the house, we never should have heard those glorious words, "Let us eat and be merry: for
this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." Thus it is with all true
believers. Their old nature is not recognised as existing, before God. He counts it dead, and so
should they. It is dead, to God—dead, to faith. It must be kept in the place of death. It is not
by improving our old nature that we get into the divine presence; but as the possessors of a
new nature. It was not by repairing the rags of his former condition that the prodigal got a
place at the Father's table, but by being clothed in a robe which he had never seen, or thought
of before. He did not bring this robe with him from the "far country," neither did he provide it
as he came along; but the father had it for him in the house. The prodigal did not make it, or
help to make it; but the father provided it for him, and rejoiced to see it on him. Thus it was
they sat down together, to feed in happy fellowship, upon "the fatted calf."

I shall now proceed to quote at length "the law of the sacrifice of peace offering," in which we
shall find some additional points of much interest—points which belong peculiarly to itself:
"And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the Lord. If
he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened
cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil,
of fine flour fried. Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the
sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings. And of it he shall offer one out of the whole
oblation for an heave offering unto the Lord, and it shall be the priest's that sprinkleth the
blood of the peace offerings. And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for
thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the
morning. But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten
the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be
eaten; but the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire.
And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it
shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an
abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity. And the flesh that toucheth
any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh all that be
clean shall eat thereof. But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings
that pertain unto the Lord, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off
from his people. Moreover, the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of
man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the
sacrifice of peace offerings, which pertain unto the Lord, even that soul shall be cut off from
his people." (Lev. 7: 11-21)

It is of the utmost importance that we accurately distinguish between sin in the flesh, and sin
on the conscience. If we confound these two, our souls must, necessarily, be unhinged, and
our worship marred. An attentive consideration of 1 John 1: 8-10 will throw much light upon
this subject, the understanding of which is so essential to a due appreciation of the entire
doctrine of the peace offering, and more especially of that point therein at which we have
now arrived. There is no one who will be so conscious of indwelling sin as the man who
walks in the light. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in
us." In the verse immediately preceding, we read, "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son Cleanseth
us from all sin." Here the distinction between sin in us, and sin on us, is fully brought out and
established. To say that there is sin on the believer, in the presence of God, is to call in
question the purging efficacy of the blood of Jesus, and to deny the truth of the divine record.
If the blood of Jesus can perfectly purge, then the believer's conscience is perfectly purged.
The word of God thus puts the matter; and we must ever remember that it is from God
Himself we are to learn what the true condition of the believer is, in His sight. We are more
disposed to be occupied in telling God what we are in ourselves, than to allow Him to tell us
what we are in Christ. In other words, we are more taken up with our own self-consciousness,
than with God's revelation of Himself. God speaks to us on the ground of what He is in
Himself and of what He has accomplished, in Christ. Such is the nature and character of His
revelation of which faith takes hold, and thus fills the soul with perfect peace. God's
revelation is one thing; my consciousness is quite another.

But the same word which tells us we have no sin on us, tells us, with equal force and
clearness, that we have sin in us. "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us." Every one who has "truth "in him, will know that he has "sin" in him,
likewise; for truth reveals every thing as it is. What, then, are we to do? It is our privilege so