The Transferred Burden
THE TRANSFERRED BURDEN.
| 31 | SixTH DAY.
—_— Ghe Transterrey Burden, 'If our transgressions and our sins be upon | Ezck. xxxiii, us, and we pine away in them, how should | '> we then live?'
F they are upon us, how can we live? For 'mine iniquities are... | Ps. xxxvilivg as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.'
'The burden of them 2s intolerable.'
It is not the sense, but the burden itself which cannot be borne ; no one cou/d bear his own iniquities without being sunk lower and lower, and at last to hell by it.
It is only not felt when the very elasticity of sin within us keeps us from feeling the weight of the sin upon us ; as the very air in our bodies prevents our feeling the otherwise crushing weight of the atmosphere with its tons upon eyery
ROVAL COMMANDMENTS.
inch.
Or (thank God for the alternative!) when the whole burden, our absolutely intolerable burden, is known to be laid upon another.
If this burden is upon us, we cannot walk in newness of life, we cannot run in the way of His commandments, we cannot arise and shine.
The burden is 'too heavy' for these manifestations of life ; we do but ' pine away' in our sins, whether consciously or unconsciously ; and the sentence is upon Rom. vi. 4.
Ps. cxix. 32.
Sazyixe.z: us, They shall 'consume away for their iniquity.'
For there is no curse so terrible and far-reaching as, ' He shall bear his iniquity.'
Ezek. iv. 17.
Lev. v. =7.
'If!' but zs it?
It is written, 'The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.'
On Jesus it has been laid, on Him who alone could bear the intolerable burden ; therefore it is zo¢ upon Isa. liii. 6.
His justified ones who accept Him as their sinbearer.
Isa. lili. a2, This burden is never divided.
He took it ad/, every item, every detail of it.
The scapegoat bore 'upon him alt their iniquities.'
Think of every Lev. xvi, 22.
THE TRANSFERRED BURDEN.
separate sin, each that has weighed down our conscience, every separate transgression of our most careless moments, added to the unknown weight of all the unknown or forgotten sins of our whole life, and all this laid on Jesus instead of upon us!
The sins of a day are often a burden indeed, but we are told in another type, 'I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity.'
Think of the years of our iniquity being upon Jesus!
Multiply this by the unknown but equally intolerable sin-burdens of all His people, and remember that 'the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us al,' and then think what the strength of His enduring love must be which thus bare ' the sins of mazy.'
Ezek. iv. 5.
Johni. 29, Isa. lili. 6, John xiii. x, Heb. ix. 28.
Think of His bearing them 'in His own body on the tree,' in that flesh and blood of which He took part, with all its sensitiveness and weakness, because He would be made like unto His brethren in all things; and that this bearing was entirely suffering (for t Pet. i. 24, Heb. ii. 14, Ie He 'suffered for sins'), and praise the 1 Pet, iii, 18. c }
ROVAL COMMANDMENTS.
love which has not left *our sins... upon us.'
We cannot lay them upon Him; Jehovah has done that already, and Deut. xxx | 'Fis work is perfect :' 'nothing can be
Eccles.iii.r4. | put to it, nor anything taken from it.'
Isa. liii, 6.
'The Lord kath laid on Him the Ps, xxii. 31. | iniquity of us all;'' He hath done this.'
We have only to look up and see our Ex. xxviii, | Great High Priest bearing the iniquity oy of our holy things for us ; to put it still
| more simply, we have only to believe Isa. xliv. 23. | that the Lord has really done what He says He has done.
John iii. 26.
Can we doubt the Father's love to us, when we think what it must have cost Him to lay that crushing weight Rom.viii.32. | On His dear Son, sparing Him not,
Mal. iii. z7. | that He might spare us instead?
The x Pet. ii, 24. | Son accepted the awful burden, but it Gen, xxii.6. | was the Father's hand which 'laid it upon' Him.
It was death to Him, that tThess.v.ro. | there might, be life to us.
For 'if our transgressions and our sins' were upon us, there could be no answer to the question, ' How should we then live?' for we could only ' pine away in them'
THE TRANSFERRED BURDEN.
and die.
'Ye shall die in your sins,'
John viii. 24.
| But being 'laid on Him,' how shall we now live?
'He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live 2 Cor. v. 15. unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again.'
Unto Him, by Him, in Him, for Him, now ; and with Him, where He is, for ever and ever!
Rom. xiv. 8; Gal. ii. 20.
Phil. i. 27.
John xvii.24; x Thess, iv.
17.
On Thee, the Lord My mighty sins hath laid ; And against Thee Jehovah's sword Amos v.12.
| Zech. xiii. 7.
Flashed forth its fiery blade.
The stroke of justice fell on Thee, That it might never fall on me.
Isa, hii. 8, margin. x Chron, xxi.
17.