The Fundamentals - 1910: Vol.10

84

The Fundamentals they were consecrated. Do you wonder, when I read this, that I was surprised? How different it was from what I had imagined. And yet how simple it was. But, simple as it is, it is profoundly deep. That ram of consecration sym­ bolized Christ, for those rich inward parts and that strong, right shoulder set forth His eternal deity, and those various portions of bread, made from wheat into fine flour, mani­ fested His matchless humanity. In other words, as those priests stood there holding up these séveral tokens before God, they declared—whether they fully understood it or not— that their only right in holy presence was through the redemp­ tion and eternal merit of Another; and that it was in that Person’s life and glory that they appeared and dedicated themselves to priestly ministry. And as God looked down from heaven and saw, not them, but the uplifted and inter­ posed symbols of that Other, of the Christ, He accepted Aaron and His sons and consecrated them to holy service. And this is what is necessary now. Anything else is high presumption and sin, for this is the Divine way of acceptance, power and glory. In other words, the watchword of every act of consecration is this: “Jesus only!” And do you ask, what is the watchword of sanctification? I t is still, “Jesus only!” only this time, it is longer drawn out and it covers the whole of life. Paul put it thus: “For me to live is Christ!” I t is for us to put it in the same way. But I almost hear some one say: This is old-time doctrine, containing old-time ideals; but as for me, I live face to face with new-time conditions, where such doctrines and ideals are not possible of fulfillment. My reader, I will not argue with you. But I beg to suggest to you that you are wrong. For first, our passage says: “I t shall be a statute forever unto him, and his seed after him,” and, since, as Christians, we are in the priestly line we are also within the privileges of the priestly succession. And also, God never repents of His gifts and callings, and what He has done once and of old

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