ily covering which sheds off every defilement and makes it proof against
the touch of every stain.

AUGUST 9.

"He shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess
over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel; transgressions and
sins" (Lev. xvi. 21).

As any evil comes up, and the consciousness of any unholy thing touches
our inner senses, it is our privilege at once to hand it over to the Holy
Ghost and to lay it upon Jesus, as something already crucified with Him,
and as of old, in the case of the sin offering, it will be carried without
the camp and burned to ashes.

There may be deep suffering, there may be protracted pain, it may be
intensely real; but throughout all there will be a very sweet and sacred
sense of God's presence, and intense purity in our whole spirit, and our
separation from the evil which is being consumed. Truly, it will be borne
without the camp, and even without the smell of the flames upon our
garments.

It is so blessed to have the Holy Spirit slay things. No swords but His
can pass so perfectly between us and the evil, so that it consumes the sin
without touching the spirit.

Lord Jesus, my Sin Offering, I lay my sin, my self, my whole nature, upon
Thy Cross. Consume me by Thy holy fire, and let me die to all but Thee!

AUGUST 10.

"There is no spot in thee" (Song of Solomon iv. 7).

The blessed Holy Spirit who possesses the consecrated heart is intensely
concerned for our highest life, and watches us with a sensitive, and even
a jealous love. Very beautiful is the true translation of that ordinary
passage in the Epistle of James, "The Spirit that dwelleth in us loveth us
to jealousy."

The heart of the Holy Ghost is intensely concerned in preserving us from
every stain and blemish, and bringing us into the very highest
possibilities of the will of God.

The Heavenly Bridegroom would have His Church not only free from every
spot, but also from "every wrinkle, or any such thing." The spot is the
mark of sin, but the wrinkle is the sign of weakness, age, and decay, and
He wants no such defacing touch upon the holy features of His Beloved; and
so the Holy Ghost, who is the Executor of His will, and the Divine
Messenger whom He sends to call, separate, and bring home His Bride, is
jealously concerned in fulfilling in us all the Master's will.

Lord, take from me every blemish and mark of weakness and decay, and make
me Thy spotless