will rejoice in its deliverance from the power of the spoiler, and so take the lead in the mingling chorus of Heaven and earth in that day. And here, in connection with this, we may turn to notice the case of Jesus Himself. He when on earth in heart was a Nazarite of course; a heavenly stranger in the midst of a corrupt generation. Ostensibly, however, he was not so, unlike John, who both ceremonially and in spirit was such, he "came eating and drinking" (Matt. xi. 19), offering earthly joy, as the heir of the throne of Judah, to Israel. Now, however, His grace being rejected, He is morally such, in the full sense of the word, having taken upon Him His vow, when, on the night of His betrayal, He said to His disciples, "I will not henceforth drink of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom" (Matt. xxvi. 29). This marks the calling of the saints in this dispensation, namely, that of a separate people, waiting like Christ, with whom they are one, whose elect body they form, for the day when they, together with Him, "may drink wine," may drink wine," may take that joy in this earth, which because of its defilement, it denies them at present.

Then lastly, at the close of this chapter, shifting our view of the subject a little, we see in AARON AND HIS SONS, another type of the Church. Here Christ and His people appear as Nazarites no more—no longer as strangers and pilgrims on earth, but as exalted to heaven, and there (like Melchizedec, the king and the priest, greeting Abraham in the day of his victory) pronouncing a blessing on Israel. Thus, in this beautiful figure, we see that as the elect nation of Israel hereafter will be made to minister blessing to the rest of the world, so the elect Church, on the other hand, the Bride, the Lamb's Wife, one in spirit with Him who is the Fountain-head of life to His people, will wait in that day on her blessed ministry of love to the earthly people of God.

The above is the more enlarged view of this subject, embracing, as it does, the whole elect family, from the days of Adam to the catching up of the Church. In which case the seven days of uncleanness (see verse 9.;

Numb. xix. 11), correspond with the brief interval between the crucifixion of Christ and the descent of the Spirit (also, be it remembered, a sevenfold period, of forty-nine days-one of perfect defilement). But if, on the other hand, restricting our view to one nation alone, this type be regarded as more especially Jewish, as relating, in the first place, to the imputed transgression of the faithful remnant of old, and next to the quickening and blessing of the remnant hereafter, then these seven days would denote the present period of Israel's estrangement from God; while the rest of the chapter (with the exception of verses 22-29, wherein the house of Aaron, as in the other case expresses the Church) traces the course of the elect seed from the point when they will repent and believe, to the time of their full acceptance with God as a nation.

Thus in the same way that as, on applying the microscope to some object in nature-to an insect or flower, for instance- -we discover wonders and beauties therein which the naked eye could never have seen; so, in this chapter, which, superficially viewed, merely presents us with an ancient Levitical ordinance, we are surprised and delighted to discover secrets of grace for which we were little prepared. "Few there are," it has been observed, "who make it their business to search the Scriptures for unheeded prophecies, overlooked mysteries, and strange harmonies;" and this chapter is a proof, that were we more diligent in this way than we are, our search would be amply repaid; seeing that herein we trace our own history-yea, the upward path of the saints from this death-defiled world into the very sanctuary of God. Thus the Lord takes delight in tracing His ways for our instruction and comfort. Thus he teaches us, however deep and hopeless our defilement by nature may be, that there is, in the atonement of Christ, far more than a remedy. Here we learn that His is not merely a sin offering, but also a burnt offering, yea, a peace offering, even the communion of the Church, by the Spirit, with the Father and the Son; and that the day is at hand

b Robert Boyle.

when we shall fully enter into, and rejoice in the value of all that He is, and of all that He has done for His people. The Lord give us grace more and more to feel a oneness of spirit with the Nazarite of old when he devoted his hair to the Lord, and together with him and also the sweet psalmist of Israel, to cry, "Not unto us, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth's sake." E. D.

A FRAGMENT.

Ir, after examining the Scriptures to see what they call "the church" (set up at Pentecost), we turn to that which man calls "the church" now-a-days, what a contrast! and how searching to one's own soul the differences ! 'Tis well to take heed-for the power of circumstances-mighty, whether for good or for evil, upon man-is mighty, in proportion as a man fails in practical self-judgment, and in discernment (according to God), of that which is around him.

"The church" was a body called out from the world, and from under him that is the god of this world (Satan). GOD, the Holy Ghost, was the mighty Power of energy, in every way, in it; the Lord Jesus, gone on high for it, was its Head-Securer and Revealer in the glory of its charta of privileges, as His life here below was its ensample; and GOD, even the Father, was at once its Object and its Counsellor. And the theory was practically exhibited in living men, spite of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

What men now honour in its place, whether endowed or only tolerated by the State-is it a something separated from this present evil world? Is it a place where self is crucified? Is it that in which Satan is detected and judged? Alas! Is it not rather.... but no, I will leave to conscience and to faith the question of whether man's church, or churches, approximate most in energy, character and objects, to the Bride of Christ, or to the Whore that sitteth upon many waters.

Then a man had more especially to give himself up to the energy, plans and objects, which pertained to that which was a habitation of God through the Spirit; now he has more especially to keep himself from the energy, plans, and objects of that which boasts of being the temple of the Lord, but is fast rolling on toward that confederacy which is the perfection of man's apostasy from God, both in civil government and in worship.

G.

No. XXI.

THE WORTHINESS OF THE LAMB.

"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living-ones and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, WORTHY IS THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."-Rev. v. 11, 12.

RICH and blessed as are the associations in the mind of every saint of God connected with Christ's title of "the Lamb," it may be questioned whether that which stamps it, in the mind of Heaven, with its peculiar significance, has, so fully as it ought, its place and bearing in the soul. The emphatic exclamation of the Baptist," Behold the Lamb of God!" indicates the grace and beauty and lowly virtues of Him who bears this name, and marks His title to the adoring worship of our hearts. But this title, as borne by the same blessed One, on high, unfolded in the book of Revelation, brings us associated with other glories and other scenes than those that, it is likely, met the holy musings of John, when he gazed on the blessed Jesus walking by the banks of Jordan, and said, "Behold the Lamb of God!"

This title, familiar as it is to our hearts, is almost exclusively connected with the book of Revelation; and is unquestionably designed to indicate the special character in which the bearer of it is there presented. The observance of this may present no unuseful key to the understanding of that wondrous book, which may be "called the book of the rights of the Lamb;" for, certainly, it may be affirmed, that the whole of the details and principles of the prophetic part of it are knit up with this title; while, on its first occurrence in the book, we see heaven, earth, and all redeemed creation, roused by it in joy to accord to Him who bears it, this seven-fold ascription of praise: "saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and

blessing." He alone is declared worthy to receive the whole tribute of the universe and to become the centre of its universal praise.

There is, doubtless, a marked difference in the presentation of "the Lamb slain" in this book, and in his presentation by the same title in John i. 29, 36, the only other place in scripture in which as a title it occurs.

as

a

In the expressions of John, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world!" we see the person of the Lord Jesus, as God's Lamb, presented to the eye of faith, as the substantiation of all that had been prefigured in the way of atonement. He is here pointed out as the full and perfect provision of God for man's need as a sinner, and the only basis on which the mercy of a holy God can restore the guilt-stricken and polluted to his presence. This, there can be no doubt, was the immediate bearing of John's pointing to Jesus, "the Lamb of God." But in the breadth of the terms, "that taketh away the sin of the world," it seems as if the Spirit would lead us on beyond the speciality of individual redemption, to the ultimate purpose of the manifestation of the Son of God-in the destruction of the works of the devil-to that point in the counsels of God, in which the blessed stream of redemption reaches its limit; and creation, brought back from subjection " to vanity," is again made capable of receiving and reflecting back the rays of its Creator's goodness and glory, rejoicing in "the glorious liberty of the sons of God."

The Lamb slain in sacrifice, from Abel downward, had declared on the part of the righteous holiness of God, that "Without shedding of blood is no remission;" and on the part of the love of God, the spotlessness of the victim and its being as a burnt offering "A sweet savour unto the Lord," declared as fully His delight in the perfectness of Jesus-that "Lamb without blemish and without spot"-and of His satisfaction in His

a Nowhere else, indeed, is the exact expression; for in John i. 29, 36, it is "ó dμvòs;" but in the Revelation throughout, it is "Tò apvíov." Acts viii. 32, and 1 Peter i. 19, are comparisons, expressive of a blessed moral truth, but not applied by way of title.