nant be counted an unholy thing? or 'how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?'

For

if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.' So we find, that when the Israelites were to be delivered from the house of bondage, they were to select as their sacrifice a lamb without blemish,'-an apt emblem of that Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world; of Him who knew no sin,' and who, therefore, was competent to make satisfaction by His own blood-shedding for the sins of the whole world. Yes, indeed, this is He who, having spilt His blood upon Calvary, having made Himself an offering for sin, and in dying having overcome death and him that hath the power of death, is ever calling upon us-upon all men-by His providence, by His grace, and by His gospel, saying, 'Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.'

But not only must the lamb be slain, the blood must be sprinkled (verses 21-23). Every Israelite must have the mark of the Paschal lamb on his house, indicating his acquiescence in the terms of his indemnity; there must be no fear of

in

reproach, no cowering from publicity, no secrecy his doings; the blood must be on the most prominent place, where it could be most easily seen: he must, in fact, own before the Egyptians and before Israel, and before his neighbours and his household, that he relied for deliverance solely in that blood of the lamb.

We, too, must come to the blood of sprinkling; we must believe in and confess a crucified Saviour; we must rely simply and solely on the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from all sin. It is the only fountain opened for sin and uncleanness; the only ransom which can purchase our emancipation from sin; the only offering which can secure our immunity from the sword of the destroying angel. Let us then accept the proffered release from the chains with which we have been fast tied and bound: let us take it as a free gift of God through the sacrifice of the death of Christ; and so iniquity shall not be our ruin; sin shall not have dominion over us, 'for we are not under the law, but under grace.' And let our Christianity be patent unto the world. Let us not dream of the possibility of being secretly Christians-Christians in retire

grew worse and worse. The beginning of their troubles appeared to be merely the jealousy of that king who knew not Joseph,' but they soon found that their privileges were taken away one by one; then they were annoyed by insult and abuse; then they were afflicted with hard work and heavy burdens, and eventually enslaved; the rigour of their bondage became heavier and heavier, until cruelty was added to cruelty, so that even the young children were snatched away from their weeping mothers and put to death.

Yes, and it is quite as true that the case of sinners is retrograde: they go from bad to worse; once let a man be the servant of sin, so long as he continues in that bondage he is every day sinking deeper and deeper into the mire of ungodliness, and incurring more and more misery; and, unless the Lord bear his cry and come down and deliver him, 'the last state of that man is worse than the first.'

V. There is one more observation to be made : it is this: The children of Israel had no means of escaping from the house of bondage. They were shut in on every side; surrounded by watchful enemies; ruled by a prince, who would not even suffer them

to go three days' journey into the wilderness; they had no means of transport, and, indeed, did not know where to go. Thus, humanly speaking, it was impossible for them to escape.

And how shall the sinner escape the lusts of the flesh, the pollution of the world, and the power of the devil? Can he by resolutions cut in sunder the bonds of his servitude? Can he break his league with Satan by any effort of his own? Can he vanquish the inward enemy of his salvation by putting forth his utmost exertions? No, he is helpless as a babe; fast bound in misery and irons; enclosed inextricably in the meshes of the Evil One; he is in the house of bondage, and Sin is his jailor, who bolts and bars every door of egress, so that he cannot escape: it is impossible (i. e. so far as the sinner himself is concerned, and so far as human aid and human friends are concerned, it is impossible) for him to deliver his soul from the dominion of sin.

But, thanks be to God, with Him all things are possible, and He can by His grace perform for the enslaved soul what He once did for the imprisoned and enchained Peter; He can strike

his chains in sunder, and throw open his prison doors, and say to the captive, 'Be free.'

Let us ask ourselves, Has this miracle of mercy been exercised in our case? Have we been brought

out of darkness into light, and from the power of Satan unto God? Has the Son of God made us free from the law of sin and death, so that we are no longer the servants of sin, but 'have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered us?' And if so, then, while we triumph in so great salvation, while we rejoice in the gladness of God's people, and give thanks with His inheritance, let us beware lest we be exalted above measure with the magnitude of our privileges, and endeavour to keep ourselves in that humble, lowly, and dependent state of mind which our Heavenly Father approves, by thinking often of that abject condition from which He has released us; let us compare what we are with what we once were, and thankfully remember the day in which we came out from Egypt, out of 'the house of bondage.'