of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost x."
Nor is it without evident propriety that our services were prefigured by this ordinance. Was the Hour to be of the best quality, and impregnated with oil ? we must offer unto God, not our body only, but our soul ; and that too, anointed with an holy unction5'. Was neither honey, nor leaven, to be mixed with it ? our services must be free from carnality z, or hypocrisy3. Was a part of it, together with all the frank- incense, to be burnt upon the altar, and the remainder to be eaten as holy food ? thus must our services be inflamed with divine love, and be offered wholly to the glory of God ; and, while they ascend up with acceptance before God, they shall surely tend also to the strengthening and refreshing of our own souls b.]
There is, however, one circumstance in the meat- offering, which, for its importance, needs a distinct consideration; which will lead us to, II. Notice the strict injunction respecting the sea- soning of it with salt —
It surely was not in vain, that the injunction re- specting the use of salt in this, and in every other offering, was so solemnly thrice repeated in the space of one single verse. But not even that injunction should induce one to look for any peculiar mystery (at least, not publicly to attempt an explanation of the mystery) if the Scriptures did not unfold to us its meaning, and give us a clew to the interpretation of it.
The whole ordinance being typical, we must con- sider this injunction,
1. In reference to Christ's sacrifice — [Salt, in Scripture, is used to denote savouriness and per- petuity. In the former sense, our Lord compares his people to good salt, while false professors are as " salt that has lost its savour*." In the latter sense, God's covenant is often called " a covenant of saltd." Apply then these ideas to the sacrifice of Christ, and the reason of this reiterated injunction will immediately appear.
How savoury to God, and how sweet to man, is the atone-
x Rom. xv. 16. y 1 Thess. v. 23. 1 John ii. 20, 27.
z If we are to annex any other idea than that of leaven to " honey," that of carnality seems the most appropriate. Prov. xxv. 16, 27. a Luke xii. 1. 1 Cor. v. 7, 8. b Isai. lviii. 10. 11.
c Matt. v. 13 (i Numb, xviii. 19. and 2 Chron. xiii. 5.
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