DELIVERANCE ( Concluded).
If, we turn to Ex. 14, we shall see a type of 'God's way of salvation (or deliverance). It is not as in Ex. 12, God passing by as a Judge and kept out (in that character) by the blood.. " When I see the blood, I will pass over you," which was perfect security. It is not a question of Safety, but of Salvation, which are quite different, though often confounded. In Rom. 1:1616For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16), we are told that " The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." That is what Ex. 14 shows; bringing out, in type, what the death and resurrection of Christ has done for every believer. The people there are in a dilemma; Pharoah and his host are pursuing them, and the Red Sea before them. In this terrible plight they feel how powerless they are. Moses says to them, " Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will (not show to,' as in the authorized version, but) work for you ". (ver. 13). What a word to a person bordering on despair, " Stand still! The very last thing that any of us will do till brought to feel how powerless we are. How-suited then comes the word, " When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly " (Rom. 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)). And. whilst this last named. Scripture refers primarily to that period of time in the varied dealings of God with man, when the truth came out (manifested by his inability to keep the law) that he was " without strength "; still we have each one to learn it experimentally in our-own souls (and that was the second lesson learned, as we have seen, in Rom. 7:1818For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18)), before there is..the giving up of every effort on our part, and we ‘ stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord which He ( not " will work for you " because we look back at a finished work, but) has wrought for us. We have to learn not only that God is the Deliverer, but how He does it, " see that great work which the Lord did " (ver. 31).
Then comes the word from the Lord to the people, " Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward " (ver. 15). " Go forward"! Why, the Red Sea is right before them and that (to sight) is, certain death! Yes, quite so, to sight; but " the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (not to sight but) to every one that believeth": and so we read, " By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, which the Egyptians (where there was no faith) assaying to do were drowned " (Heb. 11:2929By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. (Hebrews 11:29)). What weapon was it that man's unfaithfulness had put into Satan's hands? Death. What did the Lord Jesus do? He went down into the stronghold of the enemy, as it is written, " That through death He might destroy (or annul ') him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage " (Heb. 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14), 15); and, " Our Savior Jesus Christ, who hash abolished (or annulled ' -same word as destroy ' in Heb. 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)) death, and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel (2 Tim. 1 lo). It is written of believers (1 Cor. 3), that, amongst other things, " death is ours." Instead of being a weapon in the enemy's hands, it is the means of deliverance.
We have seen (p 44, referring to Lev. 4:44And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the Lord. (Leviticus 4:4)) that laying the hand upon the head of the victim was expressive of identification; as it were faith looking at the cross and saying, " That's me-He took my place." Just bring that thought in here. Did Jesus bear the judgment of God and die to sin? Yes, and as my substitute. Then what is true of Christ is true of the believer before God and for faith. So in Rom. 7:24, 25, where we get the cry of one who has learned that there is no good in him and that he has no strength, " 0 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death (margin)," we find the moment he looks away from himself and his own efforts to Christ and His work, he immediately adds, " I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord." What a relief to find out that, on the cross, not only were my sins atoned for, but that the question of my nature (sin) has also been fully gone into; and that " what the law could not do (as the one in Rom. 7 found out), God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh (Rom. 8:3), which exactly agrees with what we saw, in type, in Lev. 4:11, 1211And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung, 12Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt. (Leviticus 4:11‑12). In John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) we are told, " That which is born of the flesh is flesh." It may be nice flesh or nasty flesh, educated flesh or uneducated flesh, religious flesh or irreligious flesh—but it is still flesh. Now God's word tells us also that " The flesh profiteth nothing " (John 6:6363It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (John 6:63)); and " They that are in the flesh cannot please God " (Rom. 8:8). Reformation may do for man, but no for God; so the Holy Ghost says in 2 Cor. 5, " If any man be in Christ (not only " there is no condemnation," as Rom. 8 I says, but), he is a new creature ( or 'creation'); old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new, and all things are of God."
If we turn to Rom. 6, we find there, speaking of believers, it is said, " Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed (or annulled,' the same word that we have already had in connection with the devil, Heb. 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14); and with death, 2 Tim. 1:1010But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: (2 Timothy 1:10)). Then further down in same chapter, " For in that He died, He died unto sin once (not sins ' here, but sin '); but in that he liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God (not ' through,' but) in Christ Jesus." Thus we learn that believers are looked upon by God as having died with Christ. That is God's way of deliverance from " sin " (the nature).
It is the same as to the law. The law is not abrogated, as some have unwisely said, but " The law 'bath dominion over a man as long as he liveth " (Rom. 7:11Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? (Romans 7:1)); and, " Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God (which man, under the law, never did).... But now we are delivered front the law, being dead (margin) to that wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter."
The law has been carried out to the full, and has killed me, as it were, in the person of Him who, in matchless grace, took my place and bore all the consequences of the place that he took. How sweetly Paul puts it (and it is true of every real believer), " I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ, liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me " (Gal. 2:19, 2019For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:19‑20)). How the " newness of spirit " comes out in the above, viz., " The love of Christ constraineth." His love working in the heart is the motive, and HIMSELF the Object before the soul.
What a real deliverance God's is; but it excludes all boasting, and so man does not like it, but prefers one that lets him have some credit, if ever so little.
It is helpful to contrast Ex. 12:1313And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13) with Ex. 14:3131And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord, and his servant Moses. (Exodus 14:31). In the former it says " When I see the blood, I will pass over you." In the latter, " Israel saw that great work which the Lord did." They were then, as it were, on resurrection ground; and it is in resurrection that the power of God has been displayed. " He was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God " (2 Cor. 13:44For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. (2 Corinthians 13:4)). It is important for each soul to see that the believer is on resurrection ground before God. One of the desires of Paul's heart for the Lord's people was " that ye may know... what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when He raised him from the dead " (Eph. 1).
But not only is the believer delivered by death and resurrection with Christ, from " sin " and " the law;" but we read, " Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father" (Gal. 1:33Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, (Galatians 1:3)). And we find Paul saying, " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Gal. 6:1414But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Galatians 6:14)).
DEAR READER, HAVE YOU SO Learned CHRIST? HAVE YOU SEEN THAT (IF YOU ARE THE LORD'S) THE CROSS OF CHRIST HAS COME AS MUCH BETWEEN YOU AND THE WORLD AS BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR SINS?
(Continued from page 75.)
( To be continued, D. V.)
" O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," "