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The Spotless Lamb of God, August 14
He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and
made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:12
.
While His disciples were contending as to who should be greatest in the promised
kingdom, He girded Himself as a servant and washed the feet of those who called
Him Lord and Master.
His ministry was nearly completed; He had only a few more lessons to impart.
And that they might never forget the humility of the pure and spotless Lamb of God,
the great and efficacious Sacrifice for man humbled Himself to wash the feet of His
disciples. It will do you good ... to frequently review the closing scenes in the life of
our Redeemer. Here, beset with temptations as He was, we may all learn lessons of
the utmost importance to us. It would be well to spend a thoughtful hour each day
reviewing the life of Christ from the manger to Calvary. We should take it point by
point and let the imagination vividly grasp each scene, especially the closing ones
of His earthly life. By thus contemplating His teachings and sufferings, and the
infinite sacrifice made by Him for the redemption of the race, we may strengthen
our faith, quicken our love, and become more deeply imbued with the spirit which
sustained our Saviour.
If we would be saved at last we must all learn the lesson of penitence and faith
at the foot of the cross. Christ suffered humiliation to save us from everlasting
disgrace. He consented to have scorn, mockery, and abuse fall upon Him in order
to shield us. It was our transgression that gathered the veil of darkness about His
divine soul and extorted the cry from Him, as of one smitten and forsaken of God.
He bore our sorrows; He was put to grief for our sins. He made Himself an offering
for sin, that we might be justified before God through Him. Everything noble and
generous in man will respond to the contemplation of Christ upon the cross....
The mighty argument of the cross will convict of sin. The divine love of God for
sinners, expressed in the gift of His Son to suffer shame and death that they might
be ennobled and endowed with everlasting life, is the study of a lifetime. I ask you
to study anew the cross of Christ. If all the proud and vainglorious, whose hearts
are panting for the applause of men and for distinction above their fellows, could
rightly estimate the value of the highest earthly glory in contrast with the value of
the Son of God, rejected, despised, spit upon, by the very ones whom He came to
redeem, how insignificant would appear all the honor that finite man can bestow....
It requires a constant, earnest, and vigilant effort to watch and control self, to
keep Jesus prominent and self out of sight (
Testimonies for the Church 4:374-376
).
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