THE REV. THOMAS CONNELLAN, - The Gospel Magazine

562 The Gospel Magazine.
ADDRESS BY THE LATEMR. JAMES WRIGHT.
"THIS GREAT SIGHT."-Ex. iii. 1-3.
(" Bethesda," Bristol-Oct. 23rd, 1904).
"THIS great sight" had two aspects-a human aspect, and a Divine
aspect. The bush was a symbol of the nation of Israel, and the fire
a symbol of the fire of affliction through which they were passing;
and the great, the wonderful sight to Moses was, that the bush should
be on fire, and yet not the tenderest twig of it be burnt. And the
JIlore the nation was afflicted, the more it multiplied and grew. The
fire that did not consume, we have here.
Now in order that we may, with the help of the Lord, in meditation
on this passage come at some of its teaching better, I want to refer
to some other passages, which bring before us the different uses which
the Holy Spirit makes of fire as a symbol.
. Will you turn to Lev. xvi. 27 ~ The Sin Offering was consumed by
fire outside the camp. Now see what use the Holy Spirit makes of
that in Heb. xiii. 11-13. Without the camp is the place of distance
from God, and everything sinful or connected with sin His presence
cannot endure, so the very bodies of the beasts offered in the typical
putting away of sin, were burned without the camp. So when the
Lord suffered as the Sin Offering on account of His people's sin, He
died in the place of distance from God, for three hours of darkness
He endured the hiding of the Father's face. Who could conceive
what that meant to His holy soul; but He endured it for you, and
for me!
In Lev. i. we have the Burnt Offering, which is perfectly distinct
in its typical teaching from the Sin Offering, and expresses the other
side of truth, the infinite delight the blessed God had in the perfect
offering which Christ offered to God (Heb. ix. 14). And therefore every
part was consumed by fire on the altar. But of what was that fire
a symbol ~ Not of wrath, but of delight in the sacrifice. How God
delighted in, how, so to speak, He lingered over the repast. You
see from Lev. vi. that the fire was never to go out. In almost all
the sacrifices God has part, and the rest the worshipper eats, so God
and the worshipper are having communion, feeding on the same sacrifice.
But in the Burnt Offering, the Father, for the purpose of showing
His infinite delight in His Son, had all consumed; the priesthood
might not touch it. And therefore we are told that the fire shall
never go out; God's delight in the perfect sacrifice of His Son never
ceases; this very moment He is delighting in it. Are you ~ It is
the secret of communion that we have harmony of thought with the
blessed God about the Sacrifice of His Son. It is the essence of communion,
and in proportion as our delight in His Sacrifice on the cross
increases, so increases our communion with God. .
So we see at once the perfectly contrasted meaning of the two fires;