FEBRUARY 24.—MORNING. [Or April 18.] “He bare the sin of many.”

LEVITICUS 16:1–10; 15–22

AND the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died; And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
The death of Nadab and Abihu became the occasion of fresh instruction to Israel. We should always learn from the Lord’s judgments upon others. Aaron was taught that even he could only come to God as the Lord led him into nearness of access.
3, 4 Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. (He was to wear his plain ordinary garments, and his washing was meant to show his purity: even thus, in making atonement for us, our Lord Jesus laid aside his glory and became like unto his brethren, yet without sin.)
5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
6 And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house.
See how superior is our Lord, for he had no need to offer for himself.
7, 8, 9, 10 And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD’S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. (Atonement is by substitutionary death.) But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.
Thus our great substitute bears away the sins of his people into oblivion.
15, 16 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
17, 18, 19 And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. (Do we not see here our Great High Priest, alone, without a helper, making atonement for us.)
20, 21, 22 And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: (The laying of the hand is very important, it represents faith which accepts the substitute. Have we this faith?) And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. (The first goat showed the Saviour suffering, and the second typified the effect of that suffering in the complete removal of Israel’s sin. Sin is gone, gone for ever, from the man who rests in Jesus.)

  I lay my sins on Jesus,
     The spotless Lamb of God:
  He bears them all and frees us
     From the accursed load.
  I bring my guilt to Jesus,
     To wash my crimson stains
  White in his blood most precious,
     Till not a spot remains.

Spurgeon, C. H. (1964). The Interpreter: Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible (p. 109). Baker Book House.

FEBRUARY 9 | The Divine Scapegoat

SCRIPTURE READING: Leviticus 16:1–22
KEY VERSE: Isaiah 53:6

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Through repeated usage, the term scapegoat has become quite familiar to our secular culture. Its meaning—“an innocent party being blamed”—has its roots, however, in an ancient Hebrew ritual known as the Day of Atonement.
This holy day occurred once each year. The high priest took two male goats as a sin offering for the iniquities of the people. One goat was slaughtered, and its blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat. The remaining goat was sent into the wilderness—after the high priest had placed his hands on the goat’s head and confessed the sins of the nation over it. Through this “scapegoat” observance, God showed His mercy to the Israelites, allowing Him to continue His covenant relationship with them.
In much the same way, Jesus became the divine scapegoat for the sins of the world. He was and is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NASB).
Our sins were placed on Him at Calvary. Indeed, our sins put Him there.
Jesus took the blame so that we could live. Have you trusted in His atonement? Have you come to Him for the forgiveness of your sins? Have you been healed of your transgressions through His sacrifice?

Almighty God, thank You for the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus, as the divine scapegoat for my sins. I praise You that He took the blame, so I could live. I rejoice in the liberating truth of His atonement for me.

Stanley, C. F. (1999). On holy ground (p. 42). Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Morning, February 2 | “Without the shedding of blood is no remission.”—Hebrews 9:22

This is the voice of unalterable truth. In none of the Jewish ceremonies were sins, even typically, removed without blood-shedding. In no case, by no means can sin be pardoned without atonement. It is clear, then, that there is no hope for me out of Christ; for there is no other blood-shedding which is worth a thought as an atonement for sin. Am I, then, believing in him? Is the blood of his atonement truly applied to my soul? All men are on a level as to their need of him. If we be never so moral, generous, amiable, or patriotic, the rule will not be altered to make an exception for us. Sin will yield to nothing less potent than the blood of him whom God hath set forth as a propitiation. What a blessing that there is the one way of pardon! Why should we seek another?

Persons of merely formal religion cannot understand how we can rejoice that all our sins are forgiven us for Christ’s sake. Their works, and prayers, and ceremonies, give them very poor comfort; and well may they be uneasy, for they are neglecting the one great salvation, and endeavouring to get remission without blood. My soul, sit down, and behold the justice of God as bound to punish sin; see that punishment all executed upon thy Lord Jesus, and fall down in humble joy, and kiss the dear feet of him whose blood has made atonement for thee. It is in vain when conscience is aroused to fly to feelings and evidences for comfort: this is a habit which we learned in the Egypt of our legal bondage. The only restorative for a guilty conscience is a sight of Jesus suffering on the cross. “The blood is the life thereof,” says the Levitical law, and let us rest assured that it is the life of faith and joy and every other holy grace.

     “Oh! how sweet to view the flowing
     Of my Saviour’s precious blood;
     With divine assurance knowing
     He has made my peace with God.”

Spurgeon, C. H. (1896). Morning and evening: Daily readings. Passmore & Alabaster.

Christ the King | From the MLJ Archive on Oneplace.com

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Christians tend to only think of the atonement of Christ’s death for sin. In this sermon on the Rule and Reign of Christ, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaches that there are many aspects of God’s creation which are affected by the death of Christ. One must not think forgiveness of sin is the only benefit from the atonement. Even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has been affected by His work on the cross. What is the listener to make of these things? Dr. Lloyd-Jones surveys the Scripture in order to show how common benefits or common grace comes to humanity as a consequence of the Lord Jesus Christ’s death. Listen as he preaches on the blessings unbelievers and angels receive as a result of the atoning work of Christ. Hear as Dr, Lloyd-Jones considers the special and new glory the Lord Jesus Christ receives in the incarnation. It is only as a result of His obedient death on the cross that He receives this peculiar glory. Finally, as one witnesses the crucifixion, they learn about Christ’s mediatorial kingship and what it means for the church as He rules and reigns over it.

Source: Christ the King

October 9th | Pull yourself together

Yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. Romans 6:13–22 .

I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot atone for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot make right what is wrong, pure what is impure, holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Have I faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made a perfect Atonement, am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The great need is not to do things, but to believe things. The Redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith upon it. If I construct my faith on my experience, I produce that most unscriptural type, an isolated life, my eyes fixed on my own whiteness. Beware of the piety that has no presupposition in the Atonement of the Lord. It is of no use for anything but a sequestered life; it is useless to God and a nuisance to man. Measure every type of experience by our Lord Himself. We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the presupposition of the Atonement.

The Atonement of Jesus has to work out in practical, unobtrusive ways in my life. Every time I obey, absolute Deity is on my side, so that the grace of God and natural obedience coincide. Obedience means that I have banked everything on the Atonement, and my obedience is met immediately by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.

Beware of the piety that denies the natural life, it is a fraud. Continually bring yourself to the bar of the Atonement—where is the discernment of the Atonement in this thing, and in that?¹

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¹  Chambers, O. (1986). My utmost for his highest: Selections for the year. Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering.