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thing has to part with its very life’s blood.” I know that in the pride and the wisdom o f this world that again is bitterly denounced. I am told in this very day, this day o f sal vation by atonement, by substitution o f a sinless one for sinful you and me is a gory thing—that it is a ghastly thing—that it is “a religion o f the shamblesr” God help men who can talk in such a way for heaven’s best device for saving sinful men—heaven’s only device, heaven’s best, heaven’s last, heaven’s utmost o f mind and heart to save sinful, guilty, damned you and me from the impending doom. Ah, it flashed on him surely, “For me, for-me.” And that is the Gospel. “He loved me, and gave Himself for ME, for ME,” He gave Himself a ran som for men— for me. Not with blood o f bulls, and goats, and heifers, and lambs, and rams, but by the precious blood o f Christ as o f a lamb without blemish and without spot—by that we are saved. “He bears o u r ' sins in His own body on the tree.” “ By His stripes we are healed.” Bless God for this substitutionary salva tion. SIMPLE OBEDIENCE Then this salvation on that night in Egypt, and this night for you and me is not only substitutionary, but another very simple idea I would like to revive in your hearts and minds, and it is this: It was after all a matter o f simple obedience. “ Take the blood.” It was not enough that it was sprinkled by every Israelitish father or head o f a household who represented them all. Every Israeiltish father had to take that bunch o f hyssop and dip it in blood, and strike it on the lintel and pass in, he and his household, just as he was told. And there is an element, therefore, in sal vation that is illustrated there. What is faith? In one great.essential aspect o f it— and I grant that it is a many-sided thing, and that the'atonement made had many sides, but the human side is very crisp and sharp and clear, and this thing called faith in one great essential aspect o f it is—what? It is a simple literal bowing o f the soul in abj ect obedience. That is why you are so
long in coming to it. What does faith mean? Is it bowing and bending, and say ing in the depth o f your heart, “Yes, atnen.” Have you said that? You are not saved until you have. You and I and every soul o f us standing before the cross o f Christ and the Passover Lamb who hangs thereon, must say, “ For me—yes,” with our whole heart bowing in the simplicity o f the meek obedience o f faith. And, again, it comes out, contrariwise, that the very essence o f unbelief now is—and a great day will bring that out in the gleaming lightnings that fly round about the judgment seat—the. essence o f unbelief is not a want o f understanding,.- but a want o f obedience. There is a moral taint in unbelief. I say bluntly that I believe that, at bottom, unbelief, intellect ually, is a stupidity, and, morally, is a crime. It comes not from the bigness o f intellect, but from an intellect warped and twisted, and stunted and biased from the very begin ning. Oh, for the obedience o f faith, my breth ren! If you are not a'believer, I know that I may be rude and boistrous, and I may be setting you against me. Well, for give me! I do not mean that; but I do want to do my best to bring down your soul—to bring down heady and high-minded thoughts to the obedience o f Christ. Oh, that we may be "brought down to simple faith and child-like trust! There is no salvation otherwise. Simply obey. Look at the scene, for, oh, how near it brings us to the Gospel. As Paul says in that text which is my context, “ Christ our Passover is slain for us.” Look! Do you see that Israelitish father catching the blood in the basin, and dipping the hyssop, and strik ing the lintel? A BLACK NIGHT Now, come away to another evening away down the stream o f time for centur ies; and again it is becoming dark» and there is a darkness deeper than the dark ness o f the darkening sky. The darkness and blackness o f sin and o f all time are gathering round about that hill called Cal vary.. Now, watch that Saviour Christ.
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