perfected for ever [or in unchanging continuity] them that are sanctified."

Let us for the present dwell only on the burntoffering aspect of this precious verse. Of His own voluntary will, as He says, "In burnt-offerings . . . . thou hast had no pleasure: then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God." In all the spotless purity of His Person He has made atonement, and identified us with Himself in all the sweet savour of that offering, so that we are continuously perfected, all through this dark night until the blessed morning comes, when we, raised in glory, shall see Him as He is and be like Him.

Beloved reader, do you now see that this has not to do with your conversion, but with your whole path, from that moment to the end of your journey?

Perhaps you say, "But if I should sin, what then ?" We shall see when we come to the sinoffering. Or you may say, "If I find sin working within me, what then?" We shall see when we come to leprosy. You may indeed be amazed to find the whole range of your needs, food, failures, and sins, met in Christ as pictured in these types. And all to the glory of God, His portion, all a sweet savour to Him.

The burnt-offering, however, is the first picture in God's gallery. Whatever comes after, this is

the first thought of God, that we, the redeemed, shall be, in unchanging continuity, perfected by that one offering. And mark; the Holy Ghost is a witness that this is so, "Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness."

The mistake of many is this-that they have some great thing to do to attain to this perfection. Look again, is it what you have to do, or is it what He has done? "For by one offering HE HATH perfected for ever them that are sanctified." In the offering Christ is all. He came from the highest glory, and He presented Himself without spot to God. He was the priest, and He was the spotless victim. He offered Himself wholly a sweet savour to God to make atonement. The fire of divine judgment only brought out the sweeter savour to God. And God hath sanctified us, separated us, by that one offering. And He hath, by the one offering of Himself, perfected us, as to the conscience, in continuance, for that is the well-known meaning of this word translated “for ever."

Now have you the witness of the Holy Ghost? Do you believe His testimony to Jesus? Can the sweet savour of His Person who gave Himself for you ever change? And are you not only redeemed by the blood of Christ, which is the foundation of all, but are you sustained as a worshipper in all the unchanging value and perfection of that one sacrifice? The sweet savour

of that one offering shall never cease. Perhaps the most daring wickedness of which man is capable, is to deny the everlasting efficacy of that one offering, and dare to offer a counterfeit, without blood, for the living and the dead. This was borne with during the dark ages, when men had not the scriptures; but who, that has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can fail to see, that men now by crowds, who have the holy scriptures in their hands, are yet doing their utmost to set up again the counterfeit sacrifice of the Mass? This must be the prelude to the judgment of God on an apostate Christendom.

It is a solemn moment. Do you believe God, whether in the typical teaching of Leviticus i., or the Spirit's explanation in Hebrews x.?

We may have little apprehension and weak faith; but notice, whether the man brought a bullock, a sheep, a goat, or a fowl, the same truth is presented. "It is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord." Yes, such is the love of God our Father; He would have the feeblest, the weakest of His blood-bought children know, that they ARE, not may hope to be, but they are identified with His beloved Son in all the sweet savour of His work and Person. Such is our acceptance; such our unchanging perfection as to the conscience, or charge of sin or evil. This was the will of God. Christ came to do His will. His will is done.

He hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified.

The detail of God's thoughts in the various applications of the burnt-offering are most precious. We may see some of these further on. Enough, perhaps, has been said to shew the reader the contrast between the passover and the burntoffering. When we were first brought to God, it was like Israel redeemed from Egypt by the blood of the Lamb. But, after that, how much we have to learn of the riches of His grace in our wilderness journey. And how much is unfolded in the types of Leviticus. Even as to the great feasts of Jehovah, the passover comes first. (Lev. xxiii.)

The perfect order of the word of God is most wonderful; often we fail to see it from the confusion of human thoughts. Who can tell out the blessedness of seeing the efficacy of the burntoffering upon us all through our wilderness history? Well, we can only say we joy in such a God and Father. If we take the other offerings in their order, as meeting our every and daily need, we shall have still further cause to joy in God. We will turn next to the meatoffering.

296

MYSTERIES UNDER THE SUN.

"For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath. This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all; yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead. For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment."-ECCLES. ix. 1–8.

THE preacher had been occupied with certain mysteries as to the death of the righteous and the wicked-mysteries which greatly perplex to this day, and which could not be understood without this book of Ecclesiastes. Sometimes the circumstances attending the death of a wellknown child of God are so terrible, and even the