I despair of obtaining salvation by any works either of the cere- monial or moral law ; and I trust wholly in the Lord Jesus Christ : I seek to be justified solely and altogether by faith in him."]
Whilst our minds are instructed by the transfer of Aaron's office to Eleazar his son, our hearts cannot but be affected by,
II. The surrender of his soul —
" The time was come when his spirit must now return unto God who gave it." He goes up to Mount Hor, the appointed place, where he must lay down his mortal body, and from whence he must enter into the presence of his God. In this last scene of his life there is much that is worthy of observation :
1. The occasion was awful — [Aaron had sinned ; and for that sin he must die. We doubt not indeed but that he found mercy before God; but still he died on account of his transgression : his death was the punishment of sin f. This, in fact, is true respecting every one that dies: though in some respects death may be numbered among the Christian's treasures, yet in other points of view it must still be regarded as an enemy g, and a punishment for sin. In this light it must be considered even by the most exalted Christian, no less than by the most ungodly ; " his body is dead because of sin, even though his spirit be life because of righteousness11."
But in the death of this eminent saint we have a most instruc- tive lesson. It was doubtless intended as a warning to all who profess themselves the servants of God. Like Lot's wife, it speaks to all succeeding generations, and declares the danger of departing from God. No length of services will avail us any thing, if at last we yield to temptation, and " fall from our own steadfastness i." The death of Aaron shadowed forth that truth which is plainly declared by the prophet Ezekiel, that " if a righteous man turn away from his righteousness and commit iniquity, all his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned ; but hi his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he diek." Many there are, who, from an attachment to human systems and a zeal for truths of an apparently opposite nature, would almost expunge this passage from the sacred volume : but, whether we can re- concile it with other passages or not, it is true ; and every one of us shall find it true at last, that not he who runneth well for a season, but " he who endureth unto the end, shall be saved1."]
f ver. 24. s 1 Cor. xv. 26. h Rom. viii. 10.
5 2 Pet. iii. 17. k Ezek. xviii. 24. > Matt. xxiv. 13.