ve Himself for it; this is His past work.
Since then He is sanctifying the church by the washing of water by the
Word, and in the future He will present it to Himself, a glorious
church. In virtue of this threefold work of our Lord, believers are
saved, are being saved, and will be saved. This threefold work has also
a significance for the people Israel. When He came and went to the
cross, "He died for that nation" (John xi:42). During the present age
His earthly people are not cast away; their miraculous preservation on
earth, their continued, separate existence is due to Himself. In the
future when He appears as their Redeemer and claims the purchased
possession, He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And to this we
might also add the relation of His work to creation itself, the nations
of the earth, and to Satan and his rule.

These brief remarks show the importance of distinguishing between this
threefold aspect of His work. A Christian who is ignorant of it must be
confused in his conception of the truth. He is unable to understand the
Word of God, and is unsettled, and even miserable in his Christian
experience. Such, alas! is the present condition of a large number of
professing Christians. Many are ignorant of what the finished work of
Christ on the cross means. On account of this ignorance, they are ever
trying to do what God has done for them. How many more are at sea about
their position in Christ, and know next to nothing of the priestly work
of Christ. The confusion is the greatest in respect to His future work
as King. Our theme is therefore an important one. But even God's people,
who in a measure have laid hold of these truths, need constantly to be
reminded of it and need to have all this through the Spirit's power, as
a greater reality in their lives.

I.

HIS PAST WORK.

His past work was accomplished by Him when he became incarnate. It was
finished when He died on Calvary's cross. We have therefore to consider
first of all these fundamentals of our faith.

I. The Work of the Son of God is foreshadowed and predicted in the Old
Testament Scriptures.

II. The incarnation of the Son of God.

III. His Work on the cross and what has been accomplished by it.

I.

Through the Old Testament Scriptures, God announced beforehand the work
of His Son. This is a great theme and one which needs to be emphasized.
These foreshadowings and predictions were made in different ways. First
we might ment