THE DAY OF REST. IS IT SPRINKLED?

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 315, 10 November 1888, Page 5

THE DAY OF REST. IS IT SPRINKLED?

A Scene in Egypt, Exodus Chapter 12. "And why ask that, my eon? Why so anxious about a thing so unimportant ?" "Oh, father, do not speak so! You know how Goii, by Moses, has commanded the blood to bo sprinkled on the lintel and the two side-posts before midnight, else the first-born must die." " The Almighty is merciful, my son ; and surely we are not Egyptian sinners, that >y e should bo so terribly afraid of a judgment intended only for them.' 1 "Yes, father, merciful indeed, — wondei'fully merciful to choose and sparo a people like up, more guilty, it seems to me, than Egypt itself. But then, the mercy is— to provide the blood as the means of deliverance, not to save us without it, much less in contempt of it." " Well, then, is not the blood already shed ? — and does not that satisfy you ? Were you not with me in the afternoon when I* slew the lamb, and collected the blood in the basin ? Do you call that contempt of it ?" "I know it, father. I saw the blood shed, but is it sprinkled . ? " " And why so particular about, that, my boy? Can you not be satisfied when you know that the blood was rightly shed, at the right time 1" " Oh, father, do not treat me so. Is the blood sprinkled ? That is the thing for me. If it is not, you know I am tho one to suffer for it.' " Well, really, my child, I am not sure whether this thins:, that so [concerns you, has been dooe or not. I hope it has ;^ but I have been so busy with other things, and so many of the neighbours have been n and out talking over matters that I cannot speak for certain about this sprinkling. ISfor can I think after all, that it matters^so much as you seem to fancy." " Fancy ! Wtiat do you mean, father ? If God is true, then in an hour or two I shall be dead, unless this thing be really done. Mother ! bister ! bring here the lamp, and let us see whether the blood be on the door-post or not. .... Oh, what is this !— no sign oi blood ? Yet look again — look alliround— on this side — on this — on the lintel. Alas no — nothing ofthe blood here !" " Well, surely, I told the lad to have the thing done, and it seems he has overlooked it. But, since you are so anxious about the matter, I hope the basin may still have the blood in it." " Hope, father ! and is that the thread on which your first-born's life now hangs? Well, let us put an end to the hoping, and know the worst !" So they seek, and seek for the basin. The moments seem hours. And then, after longer search than should have been needed in such a case, and well-nigh buried amid the rubbish of the court, the vessel is found ; the hyssop branch is dipped in it — the blood is sprinkled on the door-post. And now the fevered youth can rest, and quietly wait for the appointed hour. The hour arrives — the agent of destruction goes forth — each unsprinkled house is entered. "And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Esjypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh on his throne, to the first-born of the captive in the dungeon. And there was a great cry throughout all the land, because there was not a house where [there was not one dead." Bra as true as is the sentence of judgment, so true i* the woid of mercy, To all the blood-sprinkled houses there comes nothing -worse than a glorious pa^sover. "When I see the blood, I will pass over you," saith the Lord, "and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you." (Exodus 13.) And now I ask every one who has read thus far, can you suppose such a case, or can you not? Probably not. you can hardly fancy to yourself a father at once so profane and so cruel on that terrible night. A son's life was at stake. Not likely, then, that it would be thus recklessly trifled with. But now there is a greater blood that has been shed, even the blood of God's Son ; and there is a greater life that is at stake, and that life, reader, is thy will's life of endles3 well-being. And so I cannot but come, and, with somewhat of the agony of that youth, ask of thee, brother, "Is it sprinkled V This, and this only, you know, could avail in the case of that first-born. It was not the shed blood, but the shed blood sprinkled, that could save him from the over-hanging sword. And so now. The blood has been shed, truly enough, most perfectly and gloriously shed, once and for ever, and for all, on Calvary. And there, surely enough, has the eye of God seen it ; but, brother, has He seen it on thee. That is the question. 7s U sprinkled ?It may seem strange, but so it is ;--not even the ocean fulness of the Lamb's blood, as overflowing our earth, but only the blood, as sprinkled on thee, can save thy soul. Canst thou, then, be to thyself what the father in our parable was to his son ? Canst thou put away the vital question with such sad trifling as we supposed in him ? Thousands do. They say " The Almighty is merciful. We are not so bad as many. Our Saviour died for us. We hope it is all right, or that it may turn out so at last. But we are not certain ; and who is ? We have co much else to think of." And so on. And thus they rest. And all the while the blood is not sprinkled ; thesoulisnotsaved. The midnight of death and judgment is on the wing, Any moment the destroyer may start up, sweep alonsr, burst into the house, and then no more pass-over for thee, thou unsprinkled one. Tell me, then, canst thou rest, knowing for certain, as many do, that the blood is not sprinkled, or not. knowing for certain that it es ? Thy soul, in all its worth, and thy sin, in all its evil, may seem small things to thee. But how seemed they to the living God when " He spared not His own Son, but delivered him up for us all " ? That destroying sword may give thee no concern ; but how, think you, did the great Surety — the great Sufferer — regard it, when he heard the cry — " Awake, 0 sword, against my Shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow " ? vZech. xiii. 7.) And now, reader, the blood has been shed. The one life has been given for tho many. The Lamb of God has yielded to be bound, and on him has been " laid the iniquity of us all." (Isa. liii. 6.) A& for satisfaction to Eternal Justice, and perfect provision of salvation for the lest— all that is " finished." But what share, what interest, hast thou in the matter? Is the blood sprinkled, dear reader ? ' That is our question. Come, then, do think of it at last. You cannot suppose it will amount to the same thing in the end, whether it be so or not— whether you hold up before God a sprinkled or unsprinkled head. With the eye of your body you have seen the fact of the blood-shedding on the page of the Bible. But does the eye of the All-seeing see that blood on thee ? And this is what he asks : Heaskstheetocomeandhaveitapplied to thyself. He asks thee simply and heartily to submit to His justice and His mercy. (Rom. iii. 19-22), and the thing is one. Believe and be saved. Is that too

much ? Is such a gift nob worth tthe taking ? (John i. 11, 12.) Had this blood not been shed, where hadsb thou been now ? Bub, if nob sprinkled, how much worse is thy case. For " how shall we escape, if ive neglect so great salvation , ? " (Heb. ii. 3.) Is it sprinkled, then, reader ? Have you any doubt about it ? Above all things get rid of that doubt. You saw how the youth acted. He could not be put off with his fathor's cruel folly. He did not say, — Oh ! sleep is better than care, or mirth than melancholy. But *' Bring the light. 5 ' Say you the same — "Bring the light." See Avhac God's Word says about it. And one thing it says very plainly, namely, sin has "entered into the world," and death, its dread penalty, has " passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. " All aro alike under the curse, and all aro alike powerless, either to avert or to escape the righteous iudgment of God. Yet, blessed be God ! that which is impossible with man has actually been accomplished by God Himself. Ho pitied us in our ruin and misery, and, in infinite love. Ho willed our salvabion. In the fulfilment of that gracious will, " when we were i/e( without strength, in due ti?ne Ghrht died J or the ungodly." Christ th eetcr nal Son, took upon him the likoness of sinful flesh, that he might bear the whole curse and punishment of sin "in his own body on the tree." The life of the sinner is forfeited, but the life of the S inlets One has been laid down. Without blood (" which i* the life") there could be no remission of sin, but blood — even " the preciou-i blood of Christ "— has been poured out for us, and the sprinkling of the blood is the application, by the sinner, of the value of the death of Christ to himself. Unless you have done this, dear reader, as far as your salvabion is concerned Christ ha"* died in vain. It is true chat God has provided a perfect lemedy for all sin, bub unless you appropriate that remedy to yourself by simple faith, you must inovitably perish. Awake, then, O reader, from thy deadly slumber ; arouse thee from thy fatal lethargy, and ask thyself with earnestness, and rest nofc with any answer but the true one — yea or nay — " Is it sj^rinkled ? Is it SPRINKLED ?"