Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Whatever these ways of God are, they are such as never can be discovered by the light of nature, though the servants of God should cast them up, as Moses did, and make them never so plain; for God declares of Israel, in my text, that they always erred in their heart, and have not known his ways. There never was a man in the world, since Adam fell, that ever did or could find out, by the light of nature, the saints' way to glory. "There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: the lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it."

However dark and obscure this path may be, God leads poor blind souls into it when he has convinced them of their ignorance, and of their need of a divine guide. "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."

Now come I to these ways. "And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called, The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall

go up thereon; it shall not be found there: but the redeemed shall walk there."

1. Here is the promise of an highway. This highway is Christ Jesus. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." " Having, therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consécrated for us through the vail, that is to say, his flesh" There was a vail that hung between the sanctuary of the priests and the most holy place. Through this vail, or by it, once a year, on the day of atonement, the high priest went in; and he entered it by death, by the death of the beast that was offered in sacrifice, the blood of which he took within the vail, for he dared not enter in without blood. And it was death to any person that should enter there, except the high priest; nor did he enter in but once in a year.

When he entered he turned the vail aside, and when he was entered the vail closed again; for so it is written, "But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing," Heb. ix. 7, 8. That most holy place was that in which God promised his presence; and through the vail he sometimes shined, in lifting up the light of his countenance.

Paul

upon them that loved and feared him. Hence David prays, "Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth;" and again, "Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us." Now, the tabernacle and temple being,

1. A type of Christ;

66

2. A type of heaven; so Christ calls his human nature a temple. Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. But he spake of the temple of his body." And as the holy of holies was called the dwelling-place of the Most High, so in Christ dwells all the fulness of the godhead bodily. And as out of the holy place God sent answers to his people's prayers, and the wonderful displays of his power, by sending them help from the sanctuary, and strengthening them out of Zion; so Christ gave answers to all that prayed to him, and manifested forth his glory in the miracles that he wrought in answer to the cries of poor sinners. And as God often shined forth from between the cherubims, so our Lord Jesus Christ shined forth upon his disciples through the vail of his flesh upon the mount, when he was transfigured before them.

Moreover, as the tabernacle and its most holy place was a type of heaven, for so says Paul; "Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession." Again; the vail was a separation between God and men; and even the real worshippers of God were kept at a

distance by it; which had never been the case if man had not sinned. It is sin that separates between God and the soul, God being angry at it, it being a breach of his laws; and, to show his anger, he hides his face, and dwells behind the vail. But God sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and sin being condemned in his flesh, and removed, God, as well pleased, rents the vail, and shines again in Christ. At the death of Christ the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the most holy place laid open, to show that the way into heaven itself was now clearly revealed. God had long made darkness his secret pavilion; offended justice revealed nothing but wrath in a broken law against the unrighteousness of men; but Christ having trodden the wine-press of his Father's wrath, and appeased his anger by his sacrifice, God being well pleased, and reconciliation being made, we have access to God through the vail of Christ's flesh; for God shines into our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. iv. 6. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself; in Christ God is well pleased. When Christ was pierced on the cross full atonement was made, the vail of his flesh was rent, the killing spear brought on death, and death is a rendering or separating the soul from the body; and the ransom price being paid by the Redeemer, God in Christ is well pleased, and shines into our hearts, and enlightens us to see his

glory in the Saviour's face. This draws us to Christ, and God accepts us in him, and suffers us to draw nigh again; "For through him we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Father." Under the influence of the Holy Spirit is this access granted; faith, hope, and love, pass through this vail to God. And this is the access that is granted to all believers, "Who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." Now Paul calls this a new way, in opposition to every way whereby men think of entering by the covenant of works. The glory of God was upon Adam while he stood, and he had access to him, and communion with him; but he sinning, and we sinning in him, that glory was lost by disobedience; "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." God's glory is now seen in the face of the Sun of righteousness; and through this sacrifice, called the vail of his flesh, God shines again propitious.

Paul calls this a living way. Christ is our life, yea, the resurrection and the life, through whom we enter; and he that finds Christ as the way, finds favour with God, in whose favour is life. "Whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord." Moreover, he is the Spirit of life that guides us into this way; and he that believes hath everlasting life already in himself. And it is in the exercises of faith, hope, and love, that he goes in and out upon this new and living