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THE ATONEMENT,

AS TAUGHT BY

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

A SERMON, PREACHED IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY, ISLINGTON, ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 29, 1849.

LONDON: PUBLISHED FOR THE ISLINGTON PROTESTANT INSTITUTE, BY J. H. JACKSON, ISLINGTON-GREEN; SEELEYS, FLEET-STREET; AND HATCHARDS, PICCADILLY.

ISLINGTON PROTESTANT INSTITUTE.

Treasurer.--GEORGE FRIEND, ESQ.

Committee.

Honorary Secretaries.

Collector.--MR. LIDDLE, PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS, CHURCH-STREET.

RULES.

--And that all Members be entitled to attend the General Meetings of the Society, and to receive the Annual Reports, and other publications, as far as the funds will admit, preference being given to the Subscribing Members, to whom also the privilege of voting will be confined.

N.B. 1. Contributions in aid of the Institute will be thankfully received by any of the officers.

SERMON.

"AND HE IS THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS."

IT is impossible to overrate the deep importance of the holy subject presented to us by these blessed words. They lead us to the foundation of the believer's faith; and announce the great fact upon which our life depends. They bear with them all the deep interests of eternity, for without the atonement we are unquestionably lost, while receiving the atonement we are no less unquestionably safe. Measure therefore, if you can, the difference between the poor unhappy soul spending eternity in the agonies of the damned, and a blessed spirit rejoicing before the throne of God, and filled with delight in the unfettered exercise of holy love, and you may thence gain a scale or standard whereby to estimate the work of Jesus, when he gave himself as the propitiation for our sin.

May the Holy Spirit be with us and direct our investigation! May He take of the things of Christ, and show them unto us! May He so solemnize our hearts by his grace, that, in the spirit of little children, we may search his word with meekness! And may He so enlighten our understanding, that we may be guided by that word into the peaceful enjoyment of his saving truth!

We are to examine, then, the doctrine of atonement, as taught by the Church of England; and in doing so we will endeavour to investigate the end, the plan, and some of the leading characteristics of the work.

This object is stated in our Second Article to be, "to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original, but also for actual sins of men."

There is in every natural heart a deep sense of alienation from God an irresistible conviction that the soul is not safe with him. It pervades all classes and all characters. It is felt by the profligate, for however earnestly he may strive to stifle conscience, he cannot altogether still the conviction that the path he is treading is the way to hell. The moralist feels it, for with all his propriety of outward conduct, and with all the delusive self-satisfaction which he grains from comparing his character with that of others, there remains a still small voice, which assures him, in language not to be mistaken, that in God's sight he is defective, that God's will has not been obeyed, and that his law has been most sadly broken. The formalist feels it, for, while, in the earnestness of his religion, he pursues with unremitting zeal his appointed course of rites and services, there is still a want of peace in the inmost recesses of his soul; there is earnestness without love, zeal without joy, religion without peace, and active devotion without any rest in communion with God.

Now this sense of alienation in the heart is nothing more than the echo, or reflection, of God's testimony in the Scripture. There is a perfect harmony between conscience and the Bible. They both convey God's testimony, written in the one case on the secrets of the heart, and in the other on the pages of the inspired word. Both acknowledge the sense of alienation. But the Bible goes the farthest, and while the heart can only deplore the fact, the Scriptures explain both its causes and its remedy. Turning, then, to the word of God, we discover that there are two causes for this uneasiness of spirit,--our own sin, and God's judgment. We are all by nature, according to our Article, "very far gone from original righteousness;" and, according to the language of the Scriptures, "the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be; so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God:" words clearly descriptive of an enmity on our part towards him. Then, again, that same Article teaches us that "in every person born into the world this inbred sin deserveth God's wrath and damnation," in exact accordance with the same Scripture, which declares, that "the wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness and disobedience of men;" showing that on God's part there is a judicial wrath, and that, as a holy lawgiver, he cannot love the guilty. If any, therefore, inquire the reason of this secret uneasiness in his soul, we reply, that the cause is twofold; it is partly because his own heart is at enmity with God, and partly because God's holiness is at enmity with him. There is the corruption of his own nature which makes him at variance with God's will, and there is the curse of unforgiven sin, which shuts him out from all enjoyment of God's love.

Now the end or object of the atonement is to remove that curse entirely and at once, so that, God being reconciled to the sinner, the sinner may be reconciled to God, and the anxious soul restored to peace. A regret has been expressed that our Second Article was not worded differently, and that it was not written, "to reconcile us to the Father," instead of, "to reconcile the Father to us." It is the wish of such objectors to convey the idea that the object of the crucifixion was to remove one only of the causes of separation, and to produce such a moral impression on the mind of the spectator as should soften his heart, and do away with his enmity towards God; they would exclude the thought of God being reconciled to us by the satisfaction of his righteous law. But this is the great and primary effect of atonement, as taught in sacred Scripture. The change in man's heart is a consequence which follows from it, but the change in God's regard to the sinner is the one effect immediately produced by it. Its one object was to enable him to spare the sinner without departing from his law, to give full vent to his love without detracting from his holiness, to take the curse away that the sinner, who deserved it, might be loved as an adopted child. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus."

Imagine yourself, then, freely forgiven, with the whole curse gone; loved as if you had never known the smallest taint of sin, beloved by God himself as if you had been holy even as the Son of man, enjoying access to the throne without a fear, and welcomed by Him without a hinderance. Imagine yourself, though lost, fallen, and guilty, thus pardoned, thus beloved, while the holiness of God's law remains untouched and undiminished, and you see the end or purpose of the atonement on the cross.

It could not be done by the mere remission of sin, for then the law of God would have been dishonoured, the sentence passed would not have been executed, and the pardon of the sinner would have been a departure from the truth of God.

The plan, therefore, which he purposed was in the person of the eternal Son to bear the curse himself, and to make satisfaction for the broken law. In his holiness he could not remit it, so in unutterable love he bore it. What could not be done through bare remission could be done through substitution; and the Son himself was prepared and offered as a substitute. There was never such a person, nor such a scheme. In order to represent man, he became himself perfect man. In order to satisfy the law, he first in his life fulfilled its holiness, and then in his death bore its sentence. Thus the satisfaction for sin was perfect. The law passed sentence on man, and man endured it. The law claimed fulfilment, and man fulfilled it. The law required a worthy substitute for the whole race, and He, with all the attributes of the Godhead, was amply sufficient as a ransom for the world.

Thus his work is sometimes called atonement, because, by his own death, he atoned for sin, or presented an equivalent for the sinner's guilt; sometimes expiation, because it expiated or took away the wrath due to sin; sometimes it is called satisfaction, because, in his death, he satisfied the law; sometimes oblation, because he was offered on the cross, as the lamb was offered on the altar; and sometimes propitiation, because the wrath of God was propitiated, so that he loves those whom before he regarded with righteous displeasure; but in all cases the leading idea is the same, viz., that punishment was required by God's righteousness, and that he endured it as the representative or substitute of the sinner. The satisfaction of an unchangeable sentence was its one great object. It was God's act of homage to the unbending holiness of his law. There was in it the perfect display of two attributes, love and justice; love which prompted him to save the ruined, and justice which required the sacrifice, in order that the purpose of love might be fulfilled. Thus the atonement is the one central point in which "mercy and truth are met together, and righteousness and peace have kissed each other."

That there can be no other satisfaction for sin.

That the satisfaction made by our Lord was complete.

That it was final.

The Church of England, therefore, has decided in the Thirty-first Article, after describing the perfection of the work of our Lord,--"And there is none other satisfaction for sin but that alone." But in this respect we are in direct opposition to the Church of Rome, for, although its advocates admit in words the completeness of the atonement, and in theological discussion would trace all merit to it as the fountain-head, yet there are numberless decrees and practices which show too plainly that many other satisfactions have been practically admitted into their system. For example, the Council of Trent decreed, "That such is the abundance of the Divine bounty, that we are able to make satisfaction to God the Father, through Christ Jesus, not only by punishments voluntarily endured by us as chastisements for sin, or imposed at the pleasure of the priests, according to the degree of the offence, and also by temporal pains inflicted by God himself, and by us patiently borne." Now, although in this very decree all is said to be through Christ, it must be plain to the practical and simple mind, that there are two new sources of satisfaction opened to the sinner,--the voluntary infliction of penance, and the patient endurance of involuntary pain.

With reference to the latter, it is indeed a beautiful thing to see this fruit of the Spirit abounding in the chastened child of God; the Lord's love is thereby glorified, and the comforts of the Holy Ghost are brought experimentally to the view. But where do we read that such affliction, or such patience, is to be regarded as expiation? It may be like the refiner's fire, by means of which the Lord draws out the pure gold for his diadem, for he says himself, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction," but it has no connexion with expiation. The source of expiation is Divine justice, the means of it is punishment, and the end is the satisfaction of the law; the source of chastisement, on the other hand, is love, for "whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth;" the means of it may be sorrow, as the widow wept that she might rejoice over her risen son; but the end is that we are made more like to Christ, for "he does it for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness." Let no afflicted believer, then, suppose that God is angry with him in his trouble, or that by his patient endurance he can make satisfaction for his sin. Rather let him take his sorrow as a pledge of love, as a sweet token that the Lord has not left him to the wanderings of his sinful heart, but is drawing him nearer to himself, and preparing him for a bright place in the coming kingdom of his Lord.

And as for the other idea, that our own self-inflicted pains can make satisfaction for our sins, we need scarcely look even to the scriptural testimony for its overthrow. If a man were left for execution by an earthly judge, would his sentence be remitted if it were proved that, during his imprisonment, he had thought it right to abstain from meat? And if God's heavy wrath frowns on a soul, and his justice demands the execution of his law, is it likely, I ask, that the sentence should be remitted because the sinner has thought it right to do penance for a week? The Catechism of Trent even presumes to say that penance is "as it were, a compensation for sin." Now, what penance can make a compensation to God? what acts of repentance are there so perfect that they do not themselves require to be repented of? and, if any such could be found, how could they make satisfaction for sin? how could the right of to-day be a compensation for the wrong of yesterday? No; if that were our hope, we might weep till the ocean overflowed with the deep tide of our penitential tears; we might lacerate and emaciate the poor human frame till it could no longer contain the worn and peaceless spirit; but, after all, there could be no peace, no satisfaction, no propitiation of God's justice, and therefore no relief from the weight and burden of our sin. No; we must abandon all thoughts of satisfaction, and throw ourselves as we are before the cross of Christ, in a simple reliance on the one great fact, that he, as our perfect substitute, has blotted out the whole by his own most precious blood. Our satisfaction is that Christ has died, and that alone is sure to be sufficient, for it was purposed by the Father in his own eternal counsels; our atonement has been made by the spotless Redeemer, the eternal Son, and while we adore its full perfection, we give up all thoughts of mixing with it, or adding to it, the poor, defective, imperfect, sin-stricken efforts, which frail, feeble man may strive to make in order to effect a yet further compensation for his sin.

When, therefore, we speak of a full satisfaction, we include both these truths, and in both these respects we are at direct variance with Rome.

Now believers in the Bible are not afraid boldly to say, "Let that anathema rest on us," for we do believe from the bottom of our heart that the doctrine of grace is obscured and neutralized by such a system of human satisfaction. We believe it to be utterly impossible for penitents to redeem themselves from sin by any satisfaction whatsoever. "It cost more to redeem their souls, so that they must let that alone for ever." We believe at the same time that there is no such satisfaction needed, but that the whole judgment has been so completely borne, as to lay open the treasury of life to the sinner, even in the lowest depths of his ruin; so that when he has nothing to bring, and can have nothing, and has no prospect of ever having anything at any future time, we can proclaim to him in the words of the Holy Ghost, "Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."

But now contrast with this the teaching of the Church of Rome. The Council of Trent decreed, "If any man shall say that after the gift of justification has been received, sin is so remitted to any repentant sinner, and the debt of eternal punishment so blotted out, that there remains no debt of temporary punishment to be endured either in this world, or in the world to come, in purgatory, before a way can be opened into the kingdom of heaven, let him be anathema." You observe, that the persons alluded to in the decree are justified believers, by whom the gift of justification has been already received, and whose sin is remitted; you observe also that the state of mind in which they are described is that of true repentance, for they are said to be "repentant sinners;" and yet the decree distinctly declares that there still hangs over them the remaining punishment of unforgiven sin. It is true that the punishment is described as temporary, but the fact that there is any punishment at all is a virtual denial of the completeness of the atonement, for there can be no punishment if there is no remaining charge of sin; and there can be no remaining charge, if all has been satisfied by the blood-shedding of the Lord.

But let us refer to one other extract. In the Catechism of Trent an explanation is given of the doctrines defined in the decrees, and there we find the same distinction between eternal and temporal punishments; we find also a distinction between God's mercy and his justice, and it says of God, that "through his mercy he forgives sins, and the eternal punishments due to them; through his justice he punishes the man with punishments of limited duration." The justice, therefore, of God is described as still in exercise against the believer. The Scriptures teach us that, being satisfied, it is enlisted on our behalf, for "if we confess our sins," he is not merely merciful, but "is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." How, I would ask, can it be just to forgive, because of the merit of a finished expiation, and at the same time just to demand a fresh expiation from this forgiven sinner for his forgiven sin? and what has become of the completeness of that satisfaction which the Lord wrought out for us as our substitute, if the justice, after all, be not fully satisfied, but the wrath of God still hangs over the accepted soul?

These extracts, however, merely explain the general theory, and we shall probably be able to understand it better if we examine an instance of its practical application.

We shall find just such an instance in the case of purgatory. The Catechism of Trent declares of it, "Besides there is a fire of purgatory, in which the souls of the pious, being tormented for a define time, expiate their sin, that so an entrance may be opened to them into the eternal country, into which nothing defiled can enter." You observe that according to these words, the persons in purgatory are pious believers, heirs of the kingdom, blessed spirits, who are about to reign with Christ. You observe, in the next place, that they are in the torture of fire, not gently and sweetly spiritualised, but burnt up and tortured; and you observe, in the third place, that the purpose of it is to make expiation for their sin. It is not to purify or refine, to chasten, that so they may be partakers of God's holiness; but it is to expiate, to make atonement, to satisfy that unsatisfied justice, of which we read in the preceding extract. They are said to make an expiation by torture, in addition to that which the Saviour has already made for them by his blood. His expiation is represented as not enough to introduce them to the kingdom, but is said to leave them with so much of sin's defilement, that their own burning is required to complete the work.

That there can be no further offering of any kind whatever, follows at once from the perfection of our Lord's atonement. If the whole curse of sin has been blotted out for ever, what place is there for any further propitiation? What can cleanse that which is already white as snow? What sin can be laid on the victim, when we are made the righteousness of God in Christ? What can satisfy a law which has been long since satisfied in Christ? What can make expiation for a curse, when the curse itself has been already blotted out through his blood?

Nor is this the inference of merely human reason. If it were, we might well distrust it, for what is the human intellect to dive into the unfathomable depths of eternal wisdom? But it is the conclusion drawn by St. Paul, under the direct inspiration of the Spirit. In the ninth and tenth chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews, he is led to the discussion of this very subject. If you study the passage from chap. ix. 25 to chap. x. 18, you will observe that the whole argument turns upon this principle, that an offering, if imperfect, requires repetition,--if perfect, is final. "The law," he says, "having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect; for then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins." In other words, these sacrifices being merely shadows, and being ineffective to the perfecting of the conscience, were repeated year by year; but had they been perfect, they would at once have ceased for ever. Repetition, therefore, is the result of imperfection, and where there is full remission, there can be no more sacrifice for sins. It is impossible, therefore, to admit the idea of any further propitiation whatever, of any kind, or by any person, without throwing reflection on that wrought out for us by the Lord. If his work is perfect, there can be no repetition needed; and if any fresh oblation is still required for the putting away of sin, it can only be because there was some defect or failure in the great work wrought out by our Lord upon the cross. If, as he said, it was finished then, it is quite impossible it should be repeated now.

"And since the same Christ who once offered himself by his blood on the altar of the cross, is contained in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, and offered without blood, the Holy Council teaches that this sacrifice is really propitiatory, and made by Christ himself; so that if we approach God contrite and penitent, with a true heart and sincere faith, we obtain mercy and find grace in seasonable aid. For assuredly God is appeased by this oblation, bestows grace, and the gift of repentance, and forgives all crimes and sins how great soever; for the sacrifice which is now offered by the ministry of the priests is one and the same as that which Christ then offered on the cross, only the mode of offering is different."

Now looking at these words you observe that they contain two or three most startling statements.

That there is a propitiatory sacrifice offered continually.

That the reason of this propitiatory sacrifice is that God is not yet appeased, or, in other words, that the atonement is incomplete, for it says, "God is appeased by this oblation."

And that fountain is as fresh now as ever; that atonement is as perfect in its application to us as it was to them. We too have our indwelling sin, our deep inbred corruption, which without atonement must destroy us for eternity, but we have the atonement, and resting in it we may be safe.

Now the whole controversy with Rome turns on the power and application of that atonement to the conscience of sinners. It is not a question of mere historical antiquity, or ecclesiastical genealogy, but one involving the soul's peace. The soul needs peace, and in the Scriptures peace is promised. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you," was the clear and unfailing promise of the Lord. But in order to that peace we must receive the atonement as God has revealed it, viz., as a full, perfect, and final expiation for our sin. How can there be peace while we are striving to effect an impossibility, and to make satisfaction to that broken law which could only be satisfied by the blood of the Son of God? How can there be peace while we are toiling to reach the atonement instead of simply trusting it, and hoping by holiness, good works, and penance to make such a qualifying righteousness, as shall fit us for the reception of the grace of God? How can there be peace if the justice of God still hangs over the accepted believer, and requires centuries of purgatorial flame as a further expiation for his forgiven sin? How can there be peace if we are to regard the work on the cross as still requiring repetition in the mass, and directed to the Saviour as still offered on the altar instead of mediating at the right hand of God?

Away then with all thoughts of any human satisfaction, of anything that man can do to make a compensation for his sins! Our one compensation is the fact that the Lord Jesus has endured the curse of all. Away with all limits to that work of his, which may either fetter its freedom or detract from its fulness! our hope is that it reaches down so low that the guilty sinner need bring nothing as the purchase of his reconciliation, and it rises so high that he stands accepted in the righteousness of God. Away with all thoughts of either requiring or presenting any fresh propitiation, with all idea of offering a second time the risen Lord, who now reigns exalted on the throne. The one great propitiation was enough, and we want no more. We know that there is deep corruption eating into the very heart's core; we know that we cannot stand a moment before God without atonement, but we know also--and we hope to spend eternity in praising God for that blessed knowledge, that the atonement then made was perfect; and that he who then died our death now lives to perfect our life. On him therefore we cast the whole burden, without limitation, as without reserve, and trusting to him and his work, we find peace and salvation for our souls.

PRAYER TO BE USED AT THE MEETINGS OF THE ISLINGTON PROTESTANT INSTITUTE.

ALMIGHTY GOD, who hast built Thy Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone, and hast promised that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it; we approach Thee in the name of Him who is the one Mediator, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

We praise and magnify Thy holy name for Thy distinguishing goodness towards us as inhabitants of this Christian land, and members of a Reformed and scriptural Church.

But we confess that we have not rendered again according to the benefit we have received. We have neither prized nor improved our privileges as we ought. Yet Thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy. Remember not our offences, nor the offences of our forefathers. Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts; cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

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