THE OLD WRITING BLOTTED OUT

A SERMON

Preached on Sunday Morning October 22nd 1865

By Mister JAMES WELLS

At the New Surrey Tabernacle, Wansey Street

Volume 7 Number 360

“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” Colossians 2:14

THE handwriting here I take to mean the whole of the old covenant, the whole of the Jewish dispensation; and we must not, therefore, understand our text in the mere letter of it, but in the spirit of it; for it does not here refer, not in general, to any actual blotting out of writing, but to the abolition of that dispensation. And that dispensation in its character was threefold. First, it was spiritual; not in itself, no, because the Jewish priesthood was a law after a carnal commandment; but it was spiritual in its meaning, that dispensation having, as the apostle said, a shadow of good things to come. Secondly, it was highly moral in its meaning as well; hence the people, the Jews, being taken from the gross immoralities of the heathen, were even in that, as well as in other respects, exalted above them. And this same dispensation was extensively ceremonial. Now the Lord abolished this typical dispensation, and put another dispensation into its place; he abolished the moral laws of that dispensation, and has put the moral laws of the Christian dispensation into their place; he has abolished the shadow, for the apostle said it was a shadow of good things to come, and he has put the substance into the place thereof; and Jesus Christ is that better and that enduring substance. Taking, then, this view of our text, I think we can and may, without doing any violence to it, read it, as I shall this morning, in a threefold respect, giving a different sense to each; and I shall therefore range it in a threefold form. I shall first notice the abolition of that dispensation, applying each clause of our text to it as I go along. I shall, secondly, notice the blotting out of the penalties of that covenant; and then, thirdly, the blotting out of the sins of the people of God at large, together with, as far as time permits, some of the privileges that must follow upon that abolition of sin.

Now the first thing I have to notice, then, is the abolition of that dispensation; and here I wish to be very careful. Now the apostle says it was against us, contrary to us, and in the way, and it is taken out of the way, and nailed to the Savior's cross. Perhaps I may here, before I enter into detail, which I must very carefully do, just observe that it was nailed to the cross by Jesus Christ being nailed to the cross; and then there is this infinite difference, that when Jesus Christ died the Levitical covenant died; Jesus Christ rose again from the dead, but this Levitical covenant did not rise again from the dead, and never will rise again from the dead, for there is no room for it now that the new covenant is brought in. The poor Jews have been looking for many hundreds of years for the resurrection of their old covenant, for the resurrection of their old national existence; but there is only one resurrection, and that is the resurrection, of Jesus Christ; and those that do not rise from the dead by him will never rise from the dead spiritually at all. Therefore, it is that “your dead men shall live; with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust, for your dew is as the dew of herbs.” Now, then, let us be careful to contrast the handwriting that is thus blotted out, and that stood against us, contrary to us, and in the way, and is nailed to his cross, with that that is never to be blotted out. The Lamb's book of life is never to be blotted out; the immutable oath of God is never to be blotted out; the promises of the gospel, yea and amen, are never to be blotted out; the testimonies of eternal mercy are never to be blotted out; the heavens and the earth may pass away, but the words of mercy shall never pass away, because that mercy does not pass away, for that mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. Now the next feature I notice is that of character. What was the handwriting of the old covenant in relation to character? The handwriting of the old covenant in relation to character was this, that he who was a Jew naturally was a Jew, that he who was a descendant of Abraham naturally was a descendant, and by virtue of that relationship was entitled to deliverance from Egypt, was entitled to the privileges bestowed in the wilderness, and entitled to the privileges of that covenant. But when we come to the new covenant, we shall see here a contrast. Now the one is blotted out; hence the apostle said there is such an alteration now, that “he is not a Jew which is one outwardly.” Why, that paradox must have astounded the Jews at the first. “He is not a Jew which is one outwardly.” Why, they would say, he is a Jew. No, he is not, not in the new covenant sense, not in the true Christian sense; “but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter;” whose praise does not arise from himself, as though he was under a conditional covenant, and if he performed the conditions of that covenant he was to have the praise and the privileges. No, he is a Jew spiritually, he is under another covenant, where he receives unconditionally every blessing from God; and consequently, while God in lovingkindness has made over his dear Son, all that is embodied in him, and all the glory that follows what he has done, the Lord has made this over to the true Jews; their praise is of God, all they have is of God, who has reconciled them to himself by Jesus Christ. Now, then, to put the mere natural descendant of Abraham into the place of the spiritual descendant, this would stand against us, this would be contrary to us, this would come in the way; and therefore Jesus Christ has taken this doctrine of natural descent out of the way, nailing it to his cross, and it died, that a better covenant might come in, that a better state of things might come in. Hence the Jews said, “Why, we be Abraham's children; we have one God, God, is our God, your Father.” But John says, “Think not to say within yourselves, We are Abraham's children; for God is able of these stones” now here is something new coming; your Jewish relationship is dead, it was nailed to the cross, it is ended, and the new covenant knows nothing of distinction between Jew and Gentile; the new covenant comes to us all as sinners; or to make it, perhaps, plainer, I will say the gospel, the gospel knows nothing of distinction between Jew and Gentile, between old and young, bond and free, male and female, savage and civilized; the gospel comes to us all as sinners, and ministers mercy. “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” And thus, the distinction lies not at all after the flesh, but after the spirit. The true Jew, then, is a believer, and he who is not a true Jew is not a believer; the true Jew is one that is born of God, and he who is not born of God is not spiritually, inwardly, in the true sense of the word, the seed of Abraham. So, then, this handwriting of natural descent is blotted out, the handwriting of spiritual descent is put into its place; and I think, even before I go any farther, that without all contradiction, I may say that the superior is put into the place of the inferior; that the Lord has taken away the lower that he might establish the higher; that he has taken away the temporal that he might establish the eternal; that he has taken away the mortal that he might establish the immortal, the corruptible to establish the incorruptible, the conditional to establish the unconditional, the earthly to establish the heavenly. That is one sense, then, in which, to my mind, the handwriting is blotted out, standing contrary to real vital godliness, because when they would put their natural descent into the place of vital godliness, then it stands contrary. I might, only time forbids my doing so, apply the same idea to some of the delusions of the present day, wherein ceremonies and formalities are put into the place of regeneration. Now, then, all such handwriting must be blotted out, and there must be a better handwriting, namely, that the Lord will write his laws in your minds, he will write his laws in your souls; so that the writing is not to be with ink, nor in tables of stone, but in the fleshy tables of the heart, and such become living epistles; such are alive, and alive for ever. So, the one is blotted out; what a mercy for us the other can never be blotted out! No, no, no; if you are born of God you are born to glory; born of God you are born to eternity; born of God you are born forever; born to die no more forever. The second respect in which the handwriting is blotted out is not only as to description of character, but as to the confinement of the gospel of God to the Jews. They held the notion that all that was written was written for them, that the gospel was to be confined to them, that they were God's people and God's nation, they, and none else. And hence we see clearly that some of the disciples, and even when those disciples became apostles, they were largely affected with this view of the matter. Hence you see when Peter went down to Cornelius and preached the gospel to him, and those with him, and the Holy Ghost fell upon them, some of the brethren, so you see in that day the brethren sometimes, before they knew what they were about, would call a brother to order, some of the brethren called Peter to order; and he, therefore instead of growing angry with them, expounded it in order unto them; and when he expounded his reason for going to the Gentiles, and showed to them that the gospel was not now a mere national thing, but that it had become cosmopolitan, that their command was to “preach the gospel to every creature,” this shocked the fleshly piety of the Jews most tremendously; they could not endure it. “Preach the gospel to every creature? what, those dogs of Gentiles made equal to us?” for they used to call the Gentiles by very ugly names, and, indeed, the Jews do now in some parts, I believe, of their religion, the curses they heap upon us. “Are they to be made equal unto us?” Well, said Peter, the Holy Ghost fell upon them, and God has given them repentance, and has saved them, blessed them, and loved them. And so the brethren, when they heard the explanation, were content, and Jew and Gentile, for almost the first time, publicly united to glorify God, and said, “Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.” And thus a mere national gospel was blotted out, as it were; that is, a dispensation that confined itself to one nation was blotted out, and a new handwriting was given, of “Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;” this was a handwriting never to be blotted out. Now, then, we are Gentiles, and being Gentiles, we are, I think, very well fitted to have a sermon from such a text as this. Let us go through it now, “that was against us.” And I think if the Jews could have kept the gospel from us they would have made their writing, that is, understanding their dispensation, to bring the mercy of God to none but themselves, they would have made their handwriting against us, and they would have been against us with a vengeance. Indeed, they were against us in the apostle's days; the apostle says, “They are contrary to all men, forbidding us”, mark the strong language, “to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved;” and that was against us, and certainly they were contrary to us; “contrary,” said the apostle, “to all men,” and they stood in the way. But Jesus Christ has nailed the handwriting of national distinction to his cross; that was blotted out and died when he died, and the lovely writing, the beautiful writing, “Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing them in the name of the Father,” who loved them, chose them, sent his Son to die for them, accepts them, blesses them, and abides by them; “in the name of the Son,” who has put away their sins by the sacrifice of himself, who died, and rose triumphant from the dead, and lives at God's right hand to intercede for them; “and in the name of the Holy Ghost,” that quickens their dead souls, that sanctifies their leprous souls, that unfetters their bound souls, binds up their broken hearts, reveals to them eternal wonders, “teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you;” and in this new writing, the old writing of national distinction blotted out, in this new writing, “Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” And so, they went, carried out the heavenly Master's commission as far as their day reached; and we bless the Lord that the glorious gospel has travelled on from that day to this, and will travel on to the end of time. Thus, then, the handwriting of mere natural descent that stood against us is blotted out, and the handwriting of the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart has taken its place, to be blotted out no more for ever; the handwriting of the national covenant is blotted out, and the handwriting of a gospel for all nations is put into the place thereof. Some think we high-doctrine people cannot preach the gospel to all men. We do; but then it is one thing to tell a man a truth, and another thing to put that truth in an untruthful form. If I come and tell you, “You must be born again,” if I come and tell you, if you have not the Spirit of Christ, you are none of his, if I come and tell you that “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so also must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in him might not perish, but have everlasting life,” if I tell you this I preach the gospel unto you; but if I come and tell you that you can do something towards saving your own soul, that God offers his grace and mercy to you, and offers salvation to you, then I should tell you what I, for one, believe is not true; and I cannot, I never could, and I never can, preach contrary to my conviction. Oh, how essential it is that you in your profession should be thoroughly convinced of the truth of what you believe! how essential it is to the stability of your soul that you should understand the things that you profess! “It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace.” But we will still go on with this, if I have made these two parts clear; that is to say, in order to get to heaven we must be born again, and such are the spiritual seed of Abraham; but the handwriting of mere fleshly descent is blotted out: secondly, that our belonging to this nation, that, or the other, has nothing whatever to do with the salvation of the soul; there is only one nation to which we must belong in order to be saved, and that nation is a nation not after the flesh, a nation not of earthly organization, nor of earthly display, nor of earthly possession; it reads thus, “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, to show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Thus, then, that that would put the flesh into the place of the Spirit, saying, “We have Abraham for our Father,” stood against us, was contrary to us, and in the way, but it was nailed to the cross when Christ was nailed to the cross, and died; and thus that spirit that would confine the gospel to the Jews, and that spirit that would now confine the gospel to any locality, to any place, whether the Vatican or any other organized system, is not the Spirit of the blessed God. This national handwriting is blotted out, and the handwriting of the everlasting gospel takes its place. “I bring you,” said the angel, “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people;” bless the Lord for this.

Again, we come to the land of Canaan, that is another. There are many promises, I am sure you must have observed, beautiful promises in the Old Testament; I will give one sample, the 37th of Ezekiel, that the Lord will bring his people to their land, and they shall be “one nation, upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king to them all, and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.” Well, now, the Jews to this day understand that scripture to mean the land of Canaan, that they are to return literally to the land of Canaan. But you will find towards the end of that same chapter that the promises there connected with the land cannot mean the land of Canaan literally, for no less than five times towards the close of that chapter is the eternity of the gospel set before us. Thus, then, the Lord has blotted out the handwriting of the more literal Canaan, and has given us another Canaan. What is the Canaan that he has given us in the place of the one that is blotted out? It stands thus: “an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fades not away; and kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.” Now, then, the man that would set up the earthly Canaan, why, that would be against us, that would be contrary to us, that would be in our way; and so Christ has virtually taken that out of the way, and nailed the handwriting of that land to his cross; for that land was written over to the Jews: it was written in God's will, but then that will was temporary, or at least it was conditional; and now this Canaan is gone, and gone forever. It is true, Dr. Keith, and Dr. Cumming, and other great and learned men, have re-peopled Canaan with the Jews; but then hitherto it is only in theory, it is not yet done in fact, and I believe it never will be. But leaving that out, we bless the Lord, then, for blotting out the handwriting, and giving us a better one: in the place of mere natural descent here is a spiritual descent; in the place of a mere natural genealogy here is a spiritual genealogy; in place of the gospel being confined to one little spot of the earth, it is to be like the Edenic river, branching into four heads, and find its way to earth's remotest bounds; instead of the gospel kingdom being limited to some little spot of land about two hundred miles long, and upon the average about seventy miles wide, the Lord has blotted out the handwriting of that land, and given us a land immeasurable, an inheritance on high, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fades not away. Fourthly, the handwriting of the city of Jerusalem; that was a city that was given to the Jews, and written, as it were, for them, and they were very pleased with it, for many were the privileges of having that city, all embodied in one thing. What made Jerusalem the best of all cities? I know you would answer in a moment, and I am not saying a word this morning, that I know of, to instruct any one, indeed, I have always despaired of doing so, and do despair, my chief object, therefore, is to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, and praying the Lord may make up my deficiencies by attending the word with that power that shall do the souls of the people good. But what was it that made Jerusalem superior to all other cities? I know what your answer would be; your answer would be, Because it was the dwelling-place of the most high God, because the Lord dwelt there; that is the secret; the Lord was in the midst of her, and while the people kept his covenant he helped them right early: he would repel the invading foe, blast Sennacherib's army, and appear for them mightily, while they kept his covenant, respected his altars, obeyed his prophets, and walked in that way that accorded with their own peace. But those things that pertained to their national peace were ultimately hidden from their eyes; by-and-bye they apostatized; their sins consisted of three things, which I shall have to notice presently, if time permit; they apostatized, and the Lord left the city, as Ezekiel said he would; he saw the cherubim's on the threshold, namely, the apostles; and he saw them leave the city, and he saw them go to Babylon, mystic Babylon; that is, he saw the apostles in vision go forth with the living wheels of the gospel, the living chariot, into all the world, to carry the living tidings of that gospel of which they had been the subjects and partakers. So, then, the handwriting of this city, that made the city the possession of the Jews, is, through their sins, blotted out; and they that would put the old Jerusalem into the place of the new, why, such are against us, contrary to us; and so the Lord has taken the old Jerusalem out of the way, and has nailed the handwriting of that city to the cross, and so the handwriting is blotted out; the title-deed is run out, their lease is expired; the writing is a dead letter, nailed to the cross. But, hear it, you that love Jehovah's name, there is another Jerusalem, which is above, which is free, which is the mother of us all; and of Zion, this heavenly Jerusalem, it shall be said, “This and that man was born there;” so shall the Lord say, when he writes up the people. And will our title-deed to this city ever be blotted out? No, never; Jesus is the first citizen; he is heir of all things, and the people are joint-heirs with him; and as his heirship can never be invalidated, so their heirship can never be invalidated. Here, then, this old Jerusalem, if it is brought in, in any measure to take the place of the new Jerusalem, in that case it is against us. in that case it is contrary to us, and stands in our way; but Christ has taken the handwriting of this city out of the way, nailing it to his cross, and the old Jerusalem is dead. But the new Jerusalem dies never; no, it is a living city: look at her foundations and her walls, look at her pavement, look at her trees, look at her river; look at her name, ah, that name will never change! Would that I could speak more to your advantage upon this delightful theme, that the name of the new Jerusalem will never change; its name was, its name is. and its name to eternity shall be, Jehovah-shammah, “the Lord is there;” and if he be there, full must be the joy of every citizen ultimately; if he be there, pleasures that must to eternity flow, but can never, no, never ebb. Think you not it was with a heart full of gratitude to God that the apostle wrote these beautiful words, “Now therefore,” looking at the eternity of this new covenant, seeing the handwriting of the other blotted out; seeing the Lord has left the old Jerusalem, but he will never leave the new Jerusalem; he dwelleth there forever, it is his rest, think you that the apostle did not write with much sacred pleasure when he viewed eternity, and saw that neither time nor eternity could uncitify the citizens of heaven? therefore said, “Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.”

We come now to the temple. God once dwelt in that temple; but that temple became a den of thieves; yet the Jews still abode by it; and when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it, that astounded the Jews that God should suffer it to be destroyed. And you have nothing to do but look into the dry, I admit, very, dry and tedious, you need to read three or four chapters of Job to help you to get through Josephus, it is very dry, still he does give you a good deal of information, and shows you how the Jews to the very last, when the Romans besieged the city, abode by the temple; they could not believe the temple would be destroyed. They did not understand the truth of my text, that by Jesus Christ the hand writing of that literal temple was blotted out, and was nailed to his cross, and died. The temple is dead. All that were spiritually taught in the Old Testament dispensation knew that that house was only for a time; they knew it was typical of a better. “What house will you build me? said the Lord; or what is the place of my rest?” You, as Christians, can answer, and you can say, Ah, blessed Jesus! you are that house, that antitypical house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; dearest Savior, you are my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort; you are the way in which I find mercy, where there is the sacrifice, where there is the mercy-seat, where there is the presence of God. Will God ever leave Christ? Did Christ ever leave God? Never. Will God ever leave Christ? Never; and the people are chosen in him, complete in him, accepted in him. Thus, then, he has blotted out the handwriting of the earthly temple, blotted out the handwriting of a temple that God will leave, and gives us the writing of a temple that he will never leave. “When this earthly house,” said the apostle, “of our tabernacle is dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Again, we come to the priesthood; that handwriting is blotted out. They did not think that their priesthood could be blotted out; but it was: and what is the priesthood that is put into the place thereof? I must not stop now to hint scarcely at it; but people that charge me with doing away, in any measure, with the substitutional, sacrificial excellency of Christ do make, I think, as great a mistake as it is possible for them to make. I really do think if a conclave of divines were to meet and study, and say, Now what is the greatest lie that we can manufacture and start? I do not think that even with all the help they might derive from below, they would be able to manufacture a greater mistake. I am second to none under the heavens, let him be who he may, in rejoicing in the priesthood of the Savior. Ah, many, many, many times with joy have I meditated upon the grace,

“Of our High Priest above,

His heart is made of tenderness,

His bowels melt with love;”

and that he has by the sacrifice of himself put our sins eternally away, nailed them to the cross, where they are dead; he is risen, but they are dead and gone, and gone forever. So that he has blotted out the handwriting of ordinances, all the ordinances of the ceremonial law, the handwriting blotted out, and the one great ordinance of Christ's substitutional sacrifice put into the place thereof. I never did believe, and never shall believe, that sin ever was or ever can be got rid of in any way but by the sacrificial achievement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, we come to the royalty; there is the handwriting of Jewish royalty. And Christ's throne is actually called by the name of the Jewish throne. “I will give unto him the throne of his father David.” Now that does not mean the same throne; it means the same nominally, that is, in name, but of a very different character. David's throne was earthly, Christ's throne is heavenly; David's throne was to be filled by others after him, but as Christ had no predecessor, so he has no successor: “He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

Now I will just run over these points again, and then add one more character, and that is all I must say this morning. You will observe, then, that the setting up of a fleshly descent is against, contrary to, real vital godliness, and that Christ has nailed the writing of a mere natural descent from Abraham to the cross, it is dead. Now if we are children of Abraham, it must be by the regenerating grace of God. Second, that the writing that confined the dispensation to one people is blotted out, and a writing given for the gospel to be preached to every creature. Third, that the writing of the land of Canaan is blotted out, and the writing of an inheritance incorruptible put into its place. Fourth, that the old Jerusalem is gone, the writing is blotted out, and the writing of the new Jerusalem inscribed; yes, the very names of the people are inscribed on the new Jerusalem's gates, to be blotted out no more forever. And, fifthly, that house that was made with hands, the writing thereof blotted out, to bring in a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. And, sixthly, that priesthood is gone forever, to make way for another priesthood; that royalty is gone forever, to make way for the royalty of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, then, we come into vitality; we come into the liberty of the gospel; we come into the antitypical land; we come into the Jerusalem which is above: we come into that house which is not made with hands, and we come to that sacrifice that is perfect, we come to that royalty that is forever, that King that will never die; that King whose heart will never be lifted up above his brethren. Our King will never say, as one of old did, “My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions;” so you see Popery is not so modern as some people think; “and my little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins,” I will awe you down. Our King does not speak like that; the heart of our King was never lifted up above his brethren; our King, the King of Zion, when he shall come at the last tremendous day, arrayed in infinite majesty, this globe on fire, and his people at his right hand, surrounded with all the hallelujahs of angels and of saints, even then he shall own the kindnesses that have been done to the least of his brethren. Only think of the high and the lofty One, inhabiting eternity, coming forward and saying, “Inasmuch as you did it unto one of the least of these,” not “your brethren,” that would have been true; but he puts it upon a higher footing, just to show that as he was in his humiliation, so he is in his exaltation, meek and lowly in heart, “Inasmuch as you did it unto one of the least of these my brethren“ “my brethren,” bless his dear name. As long as we feel he is owning us, that will keep us pretty right; we can put up with some other little discomforts as long as we have the comfort of knowing that he is our King and our God.

I did not intend to have remained so long upon this part. One more thought, and then I close. Not only is the handwriting thus in all these, as well as in other respects, for I have given but a mere sample, blotted out by the death of Christ; as he by his death put an end to the one, by the same death he has given life to the other: if I live, it is by his death; if the gospel has brought me out of the world, it is by his death; if I have a heavenly land to go to, it is by his death; if I have a heavenly eternity to go to, it is by his death; if I have a house not made with hands, it is by his death; if I have a priesthood that has perfected me forever, it is by his death; if grace reign forever, it is by his death. Oh, what has not Jesus Christ done by his death? wonders of wonders! I did long this morning to get to the latter part of my subject, for there my heart has been all the time, and I have been kept from it, cannot help it. Now the next point I notice in conclusion is, that he has blotted out the hand writing not only in the way I have stated, the Jewish dispensation, to bring in a better, but that he has blotted out the penalties of that covenant; that is as far as his people were concerned. I am sure I am right in this, friends, that he has blotted out the handwriting of the penalties of that covenant, so far as they stood against the people. Hence the apostle Paul would say to himself, Ah, I am a sinner not only in Adam, not only against the moral government of God, but against the special government under which we were, this national covenant. Ah, I have joined with others to forsake that covenant, to throw down God's altars spiritually, if I have not literally, and to slay his prophets. And so, Saul of Tarsus was thus a murderer. Would he not, then, rejoice that Jesus had not only taken away his sin by his death generally, but had blotted out also the handwriting of the penalties of this covenant? There is one sentence I make one remark upon, and that is this, you read in the 5th of Numbers, that the priest (and it is a very significant scripture) was to blot out the curses with bitter waters. You will understand this, I am sure. Who can understand the bitterness of that cup of which the Savior drank all his lifetime? Who can understand the bitterness of that cup which could not depart from him when he came into the garden of Gethsemane? “If it be possible,” God's immutable oath makes it impossible that it should pass from me, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And so by the bitterness of his sufferings, the bitterness of his death, he hereby blotted out the curse; and now it is written, as on the forefront of bis throne, “There shall be no more curse.