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living God, and finds the only Priest he needs already there for him. Sanctified once for all by that one offering, and perfected for ever by it, the believer, a true priest himself to God, feeds on the flesh and blood of Him who is the sin-offering; setting aside by that act, even the very form of the Jewish ritual. He needs no outward dress to make him holy; no imposition of human hands to separate him to God; no license from man "to serve the living God." He claims his sanctification, his separation, his consecration, his priesthood, his salvation from Him who suffered without the gate; the Son of God Himself who has shed His own blood; and he boldly says to all mere human pretenders, to all who trust in carnal ordinances, "you have no right to eat off our altar." *

But what follows this simple dependence upon Christ, this full reliance on His death, and on His death alone as all sufficient? "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach." Outside the gate of Jerusalem where the blessed Lord suffered is again exchanged for "outside the camp." The church. is looked upon like the camp of Israel of old, with the golden calf in the midst. A worldly religion, suited to the flesh, and adapted to keep the consciences of unregenerate sinners lulled in the sleep of death, has been universally adopted. The people can "sit down to eat and drink, and rise up to play," and have their religious ceremonies, and prayers, and ordinances, and priesthood, at the same time; and with the name of Jesus mixed with it all. What then is to be the course pursued by the true-hearted worshipper? "To go to Jesus without the camp bearing his reproach.' We have been brought nigh to God by His blood within the vail; our path here below is to be outside all human

* The attention of the reader is requested to the fact, that the word "atonement is used in Lev. viii. 34, to include the whole of consecration for the priesthood; as the word "to hallow" is also employed in Exod. xxix. I. So that a person atoned for is a consecrated priest; so also is a person sunc ified. Thus we find the word sanctified used in Heb. x. 10, 14, as including priestly consecration.

order, all mixed worship, all priestly ceremonial. But it is to Him; it is to Jesus the crucified, the risen one, that we go; to walk with Him in holy, happy fellowship; to learn from Him the ever deep mysteries of His cross; to glory in that cross, whereby "the world has been crucified to us, and we to the world;" to lean on Him for support and strength, and to bear His reproach.

From whence did that reproach come upon Him? Not only from the openly profane; Herod and his men of war did indeed set Him at nought; but chiefly from the temple worshippers, from the established priests and religious sects of the day. They cast Him out; they crucified Him in a place to which they would on no account themselves go, lest it should defile them" the place of a skull." They preferred to keep the shadow, to trusting the substance. They were careful not to enter the hall of judgment lest they should defile themselves, "but that they might eat the passover," whilst the Lamb of God was in reality suffering on the tree outside the gate. A solemn thought this. The shadow may and does at this very day in ten thousand cases supersede the substance. Men will earnestly contend for a form, a ceremony, a shadow, whilst they utterly reject Him to whom the shadow points. We are exhorted "earnestly to contend

for the faith;" "to hold fast the common salvation," the "great salvation." Common alike to all the Lord's people; alike great to all that receive it. Men will be valiant on behalf of a sacrament, or of a holy day, when they trample at the same time, on the precious blood of Christ, and shrink in every respect from "His reproach."

When superstition is exposed, or when the believer ceases to consent to belong to worldly church, he will suffer the reproach of Christ. Let but a trifle be added to the truth, and the reproach of Christ will cease. If Paul would only have added an ordinance to

justification by faith, the offence of the cross would have been at an end, and he would no longer have suffered persecution. Gal. v. II.

Oh may we be ever in the holiest true worshippers of the Father, and feeding on the Lamb; and know the companionship of Jesus here with us outside the camp; and have the honour and glory of bearing somewhat of His reproach.

"For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. When the worship of Israel became mixed with idolatry, they made the wilderness their home. 66 They sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." A religion of form and ceremony, which is in truth a religion mixed with idolatry, will always consist well with worldliness. But we have no continuing city here; this is not our rest; the wilderness is no place for pastime; we are strangers and pilgrims. The blood of the Lamb has separated us to God and to glory. May it be so in truth! May our lives not belie our words! Let us remember the beautiful order of these truths. Eat of the altar in the holiest first; go outside to Christ next, and we shall have His reproach; lastly, seek the future city; look earnestly onwards to the coming of the Lord, when that glorious heavenly city will be revealed.

Aaron and his sons were finally directed to abide seven days, day and night, at the door of the tabernacle, and to keep the charge of the Lord. During all this time, a bullock for sin was daily offered upon the altar for atonement. Exod. xxix. 36. They were to be habituated to abide before the Lord; and they were to realize the value of the sin-offering, as thus enabling them so to abide there. The seven days of their week of consecration, may in type prefigure the whole of our earthly life. Our whole week of service. We are to accustom ourselves to be in the presence of our God. Our life is to be spent there; cnly we have the privilege of abiding, not at the door, but in the very holiest of all.

May we rejoice to use this wondrous liberty of access, and not only "draw near," but " abide under the shadow of the Almighty;" "trusting under his wings." And what will be our help and power for this? The sin-offering of atonement constantly realized, by the help of the Holy Spirit. The precious blood recognized as upon the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat, carried into the holy of holies.

The chapter concludes with a change of the oftrepeated sentence, "as the Lord commanded Moses," to "So Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses." They had themselves, through their consecration and the feeding on the sacrifice, power to fulfil God's commands, and to act independently of Moses. The power and intelligence of priests.

THE EIGHTH DAY SERVICE.

THE next chapter of Leviticus, the 9th, opens with "the eighth day.' This is a singular expression, because it is an additional day to a week already ended. And this eighth day would necessarily be the first day of a new week. Thus we have a type of resurrection.

For resurrection could not be unless there had been a preceding creation, which had failed, having been ruined by sin. Resurrection is something entirely new, and yet it comes in upon that which is old.

The only feast which had an eighth day was the feast of Tabernacles. Lev. xxiii. 36, 39; Num. xxix. 35. (See page 55 of this work.) Circumcision was on the eighth day. Lev. xii. 3. In this rite there was evidently a shadow of what resurrection effects. The true circumcision; "the putting off the body of the

sins of the flesh." Col. ii. 11-13. "We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." Phil. iii. 3. As the man-child was on the eighth day circumcised, so on that day the firstling of oxen and sheep were given to God. Exod. xxii. 30 ; Lev. xxii. 27. Another shadow of death and resurrection. It is also deeply interesting to observe that the leper, when healed of his disease of leprosy, and fulfilling the ritual appointed for his ceremonial cleansing, had an eighth day service, which in many respects approached very nearly to the ritual appointed for the consecration of the priests. Blood and oil were put upon the leper's right ear, and thumb, and great toe. Oil also was put upon his head. See also the sacrifices offered, Lev. xiv. 10-20, 23-31. cleansed leper obtained that to which no ordinary Israelite, who had never suffered under the fearful disease of leprosy, was entitled. A saved sinner is raised by the grace of God to an infinitely higher position, and is a far higher being in the scale of existence, than was Adam before his fall.

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A man or woman who might have suffered under an issue, and been healed, presented sacrifices to the Lord on the eighth day. Lev. xv. 14, 29. In both these types we have evidently allusions to the great fact, brought out in all distinctness at length in the teaching and death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus; namely, that there can be no real cleanness before God, except through being born again. Put to death with Christ upon the tree, and quickened together with Him into life eternal.

There is one more remarkable instance of an eighth day. The Nazarite was to bring his offering on that day under certain circumstances. Num. vi. 10. The Nazarite, the cleansed leper, and the priest, had each an eighth day, and had certain ceremonies remarkably in common. The saved sinner, a priest to God,