RECEIVING THE LAMB WITH BITTER HERBS
We find again in this remarkable chapter that the Israelites were to receive the lamb with bitter herbs. Now in the preceding chapter we showed you that they had to put away all leaven in order to receive the lamb, and we notice in this chapter that they had to receive the lamb with bitter herbs. It is very clear to the mind of the reader that bitter herbs in this connection stands for the doctrine of repentance. For no cup has ever been drunk by the heart of a penitent sinner that is as bitter as the cup of repentance, and this is one of the hard things in connection with getting rid of sin. No man loves to drink the bitter cup, but all will have it to do in order to find the Lamb. But it must be drunk to the bottom before Christ can he received. For the doctrine of repentance covers all the ground of straightening up the back track. It is a bitter cup to have to publicly confess our sins and forsake our sins and then take our back track and make restitution, and take back that which does not belong to us and beg pardon from both God and man, and that makes the cup a very bitter one. There are plenty of people in the country who would get religion and go to heaven if they did not have to drink the cup of repentance, and as far as possible straighten up their past records, but it will have to be done. For God did not have Moses to preach one kind of doctrine to the Israelites and then preach a different doctrine to us, and the facts are that the Israelites could not receive the lamb without the bitter herbs, and neither can you and I. I used to hear the old Methodist preachers say in their prayers, "O Lord, I thank thee that we are on praying grounds and pleading terms with Thee." I thought in those days that that was a very common expression, but, beloved, that was my mistake, for that was a very uncommon expression, for no man ever uttered a greater statement than those old heroes uttered in that prayer. For no man is on praying grounds and pleading terms, as they called it, as long as he carries one unconfessed sin in his bosom or as long as he has one nickel in his possession that belongs to another; therefore, the old preacher meant more than we thought for when he thanked God he was on praying grounds. But any man that will drink the cup of repentance to the bitter dregs and swallow the bitter herbs can pray a hole through the skies, so big that the light of God's face will shine down through that hole and all over his soul until he will look like he is about half glorified, when the facts of it is he has just drunk the cup of repentance and prayed a hole through the skies and the light of God's countenance has lightened up his pathway from earth to glory. Beloved, that man is liable to have any kind of a religious spell at almost any time of the day, in almost any part of the world that he may be.
Robinson, Reuben A. (Bud). The Collected Works of 'Uncle Bud' Robinson (Kindle Locations 3523-3542). Jawbone Digital. Kindle Edition.
We find again in this remarkable chapter that the Israelites were to receive the lamb with bitter herbs. Now in the preceding chapter we showed you that they had to put away all leaven in order to receive the lamb, and we notice in this chapter that they had to receive the lamb with bitter herbs. It is very clear to the mind of the reader that bitter herbs in this connection stands for the doctrine of repentance. For no cup has ever been drunk by the heart of a penitent sinner that is as bitter as the cup of repentance, and this is one of the hard things in connection with getting rid of sin. No man loves to drink the bitter cup, but all will have it to do in order to find the Lamb. But it must be drunk to the bottom before Christ can he received. For the doctrine of repentance covers all the ground of straightening up the back track. It is a bitter cup to have to publicly confess our sins and forsake our sins and then take our back track and make restitution, and take back that which does not belong to us and beg pardon from both God and man, and that makes the cup a very bitter one. There are plenty of people in the country who would get religion and go to heaven if they did not have to drink the cup of repentance, and as far as possible straighten up their past records, but it will have to be done. For God did not have Moses to preach one kind of doctrine to the Israelites and then preach a different doctrine to us, and the facts are that the Israelites could not receive the lamb without the bitter herbs, and neither can you and I. I used to hear the old Methodist preachers say in their prayers, "O Lord, I thank thee that we are on praying grounds and pleading terms with Thee." I thought in those days that that was a very common expression, but, beloved, that was my mistake, for that was a very uncommon expression, for no man ever uttered a greater statement than those old heroes uttered in that prayer. For no man is on praying grounds and pleading terms, as they called it, as long as he carries one unconfessed sin in his bosom or as long as he has one nickel in his possession that belongs to another; therefore, the old preacher meant more than we thought for when he thanked God he was on praying grounds. But any man that will drink the cup of repentance to the bitter dregs and swallow the bitter herbs can pray a hole through the skies, so big that the light of God's face will shine down through that hole and all over his soul until he will look like he is about half glorified, when the facts of it is he has just drunk the cup of repentance and prayed a hole through the skies and the light of God's countenance has lightened up his pathway from earth to glory. Beloved, that man is liable to have any kind of a religious spell at almost any time of the day, in almost any part of the world that he may be.
Robinson, Reuben A. (Bud). The Collected Works of 'Uncle Bud' Robinson (Kindle Locations 3523-3542). Jawbone Digital. Kindle Edition.
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