‘And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities    unto a land not inhabited….’-LEV. xvi. 22.The import of the remarkable treatment of this goat does not depend onthe interpretation of the obscure phrase rendered in the AuthorisedVersion ‘for the scapegoat.’ Leaving that out of sight for the moment,we observe that the two animals were one…

          ‘That I may know Him, and the power of His          resurrection, and the fellowship of His          sufferings, becoming conformed unto His death; if          by any means I may attain unto the resurrection          from the dead.’–PHIL. iii. 10-11 (R.V.).We have seen how the Apostle was prepared to close his letter at thebeginning of this chapter, and how that intention was…

          ‘ . . . The saints and faithful brethren in          Christ.’–COL. i. 2.‘The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch,’ says the Actsof the Apostles. It was a name given by outsiders, and like most of theinstances where a sect, or school, or party is labelled with the name ofits founder, it was given in scorn.…

    ‘These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man    and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with    God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.    The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was    filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth,    and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted    His…

          ‘Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained,          let us walk by the same rule.’–PHIL. iii. 16.Paul has just been laying down a great principle–viz. that if the maindirection of a life be right, God will reveal to a man the points inwhich he is wrong. But that principle is untrue and dangerous, unlesscarefully guarded. It may lead…

          ‘If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those          things which are above, where Christ sitteth on          the right hand of God. Set your affection on          things above, not on things on the earth.’–COL.          iii. 1, 2.There are three aspects in which the New Testament treats theResurrection, and these three seem to have successively come into theconsciousness of the…

          ‘For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,          that, though He was rich yet for your sakes He          became poor, that ye through His poverty might be          rich.’–2 COR. viii. 9.The Apostle has been speaking about a matter which, to us, seems verysmall, but to him was very great viz., a gathering of pecuniary helpfrom the…

          ‘Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say,          rejoice!’–PHIL. iv. 4.It has been well said that this whole epistle may be summed up in twoshort sentences: ‘I rejoice’; ‘Rejoice ye!’ The word and the thing cropup in every chapter, like some hidden brook, ever and anon sparkling outinto the sunshine from beneath the shadows. This…

    ‘Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them    that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go    out from me. And there stood no man with him, while    Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he    wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh    heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am…

    ‘The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not    give less than half a shekel….’–EXODUS xxx. 15.This tax was exacted on numbering the people. It was a very smallamount, about fifteen pence, so it was clearly symbolical in itssignificance. Notice–I. The broad principle of equality of all souls in the sight of God.Contrast the…