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a time, were set aside by the great offering of the Universal Redeemer.

The passage in review (ix. 27, 28,) furnishes one of the illustrations or arguments on this head: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

1. What Men? This is usually quoted "all men;" but it is not all men, but particular men, of whom the apostle is speaking. Very strangely, if it was unintentional, our translators have left untranslated, the particularizing or demonstrative word in the Greek, though elsewhere they have rendered it into English. The same word occurs in chapter vii. 27, and is translated "those ;""who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice."

Now, if we translate the same word in the same way, in the passage in hand, it puts a new face upon it at once, and points directly to its true interpretation. We should then have it thus: "As it is appointed unto THOSE men once to die," &c. Now then, the question comes up at once, What men? The same, of course, that he has been talking about all along. The word "those " points to men already mentioned, very men named in the passage just quoted from chapter vii." those high priests" who daily offered up sacrifices; and in ix. 6, 7, 25-28, where "the high priest entered into the holy place every year." Plainly, the reference is not to all men, but to those men who are appointed to die in the sacrifices," with the blood of others" for the sins of the people,

the

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every year." This brings us to the next point of comparison, which will abundantly confirm this posi

tion.

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2. What death? "As it is appointed - so Christ was once offered." The comparison here is generally overlooked, and yet the little words "as" and "so," are the key of the passage. Surely, all men are not appointed to die as Christ died, a sacrifice for sin, to put away sin. But the men here named, did die in the same manner, or for the same purpose, that Christ died—they to put away the sin of the Jewish nation, and he to put away the sin of the world. And thus as these high priests died, so Christ was once offered to bear the sin of many. See verses 7, 25, &c.

The superiority of Christ, which is the point of the argument, is shown in the following particulars :

1. The high priest sacrificed, or died, by the blood of bulls and goats; but Christ by his own blood — one figurative, the other real.

2. The high priest died every year; Christ once for all.

3. The high priest died for one nation; Christ died for all nations.

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Thus was demonstrated the superiority of Jesus, the high priest of the world, over the high priest of the Jews, by three plain and conclusive arguments. 3. What Judgment ? After this the Judgment.' It was appointed to the high priest to die sacrificially for the sins of the people, and after this came the judgment. This sacrifice was made every year, on Of this let us read

the great day of Atonement.

from Leviticus xvi. 29-34. "And this shall be a

statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. And the priest whom he shall anoint, shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments: And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar: and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses."

Observe, the priest is to put on "the holy garments." What are these? Let us read from Exodus xxviii. 4, 15, 17, 21, 29, 30. "And these are the garments which they shall make; a breast-plate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre, and a girdle and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons, that he may minister unto men in the priest's office. And thou shalt make the breast-plate of judgment; and Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breast-plate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually. And thou shalt put in the breast plate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the Lord; and Aaron shall bear the judg

ment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually."

Now, here we have the whole matter of Judgment before us. Of course, as a moment's thought would show, after an atonement had been made for all the sins of the people, there would be no sense in a judg ment of condemnation. If, after the death of the high priest for the atonement or reconciliation of the people, they were still to be condemned in judgment, what was the use of his death or sacrifice?

The very object of the death, the sacrifice or atonement, was the justification of the people before God. Thereby they were cleansed from all their legal sins, were justified, and the errors and sins of the preceding year were put away, blotted out, forgiven; and they began a new life for the year succeeding the great day of atonement.

This was the judgment that followed the death which the high priests of the Law were appointed to die once every year — a judgment of Justification -in which the people were not condemned, but acquitted: "For," as it is written, "he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, for the tabernacle, and for the altar; and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congrega tion. And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year." Lev. xvi.

Can anything be plainer? Can the most careless reader mistake the purpose and result of this judgment, after the death of the high priest on the great day of atonement? "For all the people for all their sins."

Now, the argument of the apostle is this: "As it was appointed to the high priests to die for the justification of all the people of Israel, so Christ was offered or died for all the world," hence his superiority. Of course, this superiority is based on his abso lutely doing for the world, what the high priest did for the Jews. This is an important point. The high priest made atonement, as we have seen, for all the congregation, for all their sins; and he actually and legally justified all for whom he died?

Now, Christ died for all mankind, and if all mankind are not justified or delivered from all their sins, then he is not only not superior, but absolutely inferior to the Law priests; for they accomplished all they intended to by their death, while Christ wholly, or in a great measure, fails.

Let us repeat this, for it is the pivot on which the argument turns: The high priest justified from sin, all for whom he died. Now, if Christ does not justify all for whom he died, then there is no superiority on his part. For how many, then, did he die?" He tasted death for every man." "He gave himself a ransom for all." Of course, then, "all," "every man," must be justified through the blood of Christ, or he is inferior to the high priest of the Law; and so the very point of the apostle's reasoning is blunted, and the whole argument of the epistle goes to the ground.

But, thanks be to God, the apostle is right, and the death of Christ is not a failure. It is certified by John (1 Epist. i.) that "the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin;" that he has "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself;" and, finally, that "he is

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