King's Business - 1954-09

our great high PRIEST continued the pomegranates placed around the border of the garments? “ A golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be upon Aaron to minister: and his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out” (Ex. 28:34,35). The priest was to be identified with the people. He was not to be hid away from the assembly but rather he was to be a servant of the people, a man of the people. He belonged to the people, and they were to know what Aaron was about. The tinkling and chiming and ringing of ■the little golden bells announced his presence always.

He himself so poor He has not half a shekel for the temple tax. From the depth of a perfect human heart He will burst into tears over the death of Lazarus; yet the next moment He will call with a loud voice, “ Lazarus, come forth,” and the dead hears and lives. Both the weakness, the frailty, the suffering of men, and the holy power of God were in Him. He was crucified in weakness; he was raised in the power of God. On the cross He could not, would not, save Himself; but He broke the bonds of death asun­ der and commanded one of the angels to sit upon the stone that thought to shut Him up in the grave. The gold inwrought with the blue and the purple and the scarlet — a picture of the God-man. And did hyphen ever mean so much? A Priest for All According to Leviticus 8:4, the whole congregation was assembled at the door of the tabernacle that all might have the privilege of beholding the consecration of their high priest. It is thus with our blessed Lord. His life was lived before our eyes; His death was an open spectacle; His heart is an open book. In one of the most eloquent pleas ever voiced by a man, Paul said to King Agrippa: “ For the king knoweth of these things, be­ fore whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner” (Acts 26:26). Village after village, house after house, knew what it was to hear the voice of the Lord Jesus. To the temple throngs His presence was a familiar sight. He was crucified on the main Damascus road, just north of the walls of the city. Many stood and watched that heartbreak­ ing death; even as many others had tarried to see Him heal the sick and raise the dead. Our Lord in His life, our Saviour in His death was exhib­ ited to the gaze of all the people. From the lowest to the highest, any­ one could behold. His entrance into heaven was seen of men: “While they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9). Many have seen Him since—Stephen, Paul, John, and others through the cen­ turies. The eye of faith can see Him now, our great High Priest in glory. Oh, the changeless efficacy of His work, the imperishable virtue of His sacred office! Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Our incomparable Saviour! Our faithful High Priest! END.

service ' (39:1). The blue is a picture of the ethereal nature of our heavenly Lord, “ even the Son of man which is in heaven” (John 3:13). The purple represents His royalty. He is the One “ born king of the Jews.” When Pilate asked Him, “Art thou a king then?” Jesus answered, “ Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world” (John 18:37). When He was crucified, even the superscrip­ tion of His accusation said He was a king. The scarlet reminds us of His suffering. By the grace of God, He tasted death for every man that we should not have to die. The God-Man Wherever possible, golden wires of fine-beaten metal were woven into the colors with cunningly devised workmanship (Ex. 28:5-8, 15; 39:3, 8). The gold, hammered into thin plates and cut into fine wires (Ex. 39:3), was curiously insinuated into all the other materials so as to be inseparably connected with it, yet. perfectly dis­ tinct from it. It is a picture of the beauteous union of the Godhead and the manhood of our Saviour. God of very God, man of very man, yet mys­ teriously distinct. The two are so closely, so completely interwoven in the life of our Lord. He is not two, but one; yet He is God and He is man. Exhausted, He will be asleep on a pillow. A moment later He will speak to the winds and the waves, and they will obey His voice. With Your Prayer Requests Each morning at nine the editor­ ial staff of King's Business maga­ zine gathers for prayer. Over the years God has answered the heart- cry of thousands. Should you have a request we would count it a priv­ ilege to take it to the throne of grace. Your request will be held in the strictest confidence. Address: The Editors, King's Business, 558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 17, Calif. no effort, no haste, no girding Him­ self for the occasion, He just does it. He speaks, and it is done. The su­ preme God of all the universe is Jesus; yet He is exhausted and sleep­ ing on a pillow. He is transfigured on the top of the mountain. The prophets of the past speak to Him. He is glorified so that no man could look upon the bright­ ness of that glory. Yet a while later

It was so with our blessed Saviour. He identified himself with the peo­ ple, helping, saving, ministering. His one and only thought was of them. “ Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). If He ever failed to answer a heartfelt need, we do not know of it. If He ever turned anyone down, it is not recorded. Many times He did not have oppor­ tunity so much as to eat because of the throngs who pressed upon Him to hear the Word of God. He was a man of the people, the common peo­ ple, who heard Him gladly. There is a lesson here that some of us who minister in the sanctuary Climbed, up in his high church steeple, To be nearer God, that he might hand His word down to the people. And in sermon-script he daily wrote What he thought was sent from heaven, And dropped it down on the people's heads, Two times one day in\seven. In his age God said, “Come down and die,” But he cried out from his steeple, “Where art thou, Lord?” And the Lord replied, “Down here among my people!” The colors of the beautiful robes ,are often referred to in the sacred narrative. They were blue and pur­ ple and scarlet. Most everything that pertained to the sanctuary, if it could be colored, possessed those heavenly hues: the robes (Ex. 28:5), the ephod (28:6), the girdle (28:8), the hang­ ings for the breastplate (28:15), the pomegranates (28:33,) the ten cur­ tains (36:8), the vail (36:35), the hangings for the tabernacle door (36:37), the hangings for the gates of the court (38:18), the cloths of of God might remember. A parish priest of austerity

12

THE KING'S BUSINESS

Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker