THE ATONEMENT
Note:
It was my joyful privilege in the early part of 1907 to spend
five months in intensive and fruitful evangelistic work in
Norway. Two extreme movements were attracting wide attention in
the country. In Oslo, then known as Christiana, what is
popularly known as "The Tongues Movement" was arousing unusual
interest -- as indeed it was throughout Norway and in other
parts of Northern Europe. It was claimed that the apostolic
gifts of the Spirit were restored to the Church, and many were
seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit -- with special emphasis
placed upon the gift of Tongues, as the one necessary and
invariable sign of the baptism.
In Bergen, the second city of the kingdom, the so-called "New
Theology" had been accepted and preached with eloquence and zeal
by one of the most popular and influential State clergymen in
the city. Other pastors flew to the defence of the faith in
learned arguments, which left the man in the street in much
perplexity and uncertainty. Since I was to visit Bergen, the
local Salvation Army officer, Adjutant Theodor Westergaard, *[1]
wrote begging me to speak on the subject, promising to secure
the finest hall in the city (the one in which the controversy
had begun and been carried on) and to gather a representative
audience to hear me.
I have never considered myself so much an advocate as a witness,
and I did not wish to begin a few days' revival campaign by
getting mixed up in a controversy of which I knew so little, and
with a gentleman of whom I knew nothing. However, I wrote the
Adjutant that, if he wished to advertise me to speak on the
Atonement from the standpoint of an evangelist and a witness, he
might do so. I was then visiting the cities on the south and
west coasts of Norway; conducting two, three and four meetings a
day; travelling, poor sailor that I am, on little, comfortless
coastal steamers, with no books but my Bible and Song Book, and
no one with whom I could talk over the subject; with almost
every waking hour filled with work, wearied with long and
exacting meetings. I could make only a few notes on an envelope
I carried in my pocket. But I prayed, meditated, communed with
God, sought His inspiration and guidance, thought my way through
my subject, and trusted for Divine help.
The following is in substance the address of that evening in
Bergen, *[2] clothed in the
language used as nearly as I was able to recall after some weeks
in which I was still engaged in exacting labours. It is in no
sense an exhaustive study of the Atonement. I was in a strange
city on the eve of only a few days of evangelistic labours for
the salvation of sinners and sanctification of believers. The
object of the address was not so much to answer critics and to
satisfy the demand of scholarship, as to reach the hearts of men
-- of plain men and women -- with the importance, the need, the
nature of God's great gift of love and sacrifice in His Son for
the redemption of men.
I had but one hour, and had to speak through an interpreter, who
took up half my time. There was no opportunity for elaborate
reasoning or for the discussion of various theories of the
Atonement; I was able to give just a simple presentation of
truth that would win men to Christ and reconcile them to God.
During the following eight days' meetings more than six hundred
men, women and children publicly sought pardon and purity.
S. L. Brengle.
No other subject the human mind can consider is so vitally
important, so humbling, and yet so ennobling in its effect, as the
Atonement, the work and act of our Lord Jesus Christ in suffering
and dying for men that He might save them from sin.
It is a subject which leads to the profoundest questions and
oftentimes to the most perplexing and distressing doubts, which
cannot be ended by argument, nor settled by human learning and
skilful reasoning, but only by faith in the records found in the
Bible and wrought out in experience. Nevertheless, arguments and
illustrations may in some measure help our faith and guide our minds
to a right understanding of a matter which is either of infinite
importance or else of no importance at all.
SIN: WHAT IT IS
Right in the forefront of the discussion we are face to face with
the great problem of sin. If there is no sin, no evil estrangement
from God, then there is no need of an Atonement, of a Divine
sacrifice to save us.
What is sin? Is it only a mild infirmity due to the immature
development of the race, which will be outgrown and corrected by
age, like many of the faults and ignorances of children; or is it a
malignantly wrong attitude of the will and affections which will
never correct itself? Is it a moral disease which, like measles and
whooping cough, we need not seriously fear, and to which we may
indeed safely expose our children; or is it like a hopeless leprosy
or cancer, for which there is no known cure? I once stepped off the
train at home and was met with the announcement that my boy had the
measles. I was not alarmed, and he soon recovered. But later I
visited a leper hospital, and, oh! the horror of it! There were
hopeless invalids with their eyes eaten out and their hands and feet
eaten away by the awful disease, looking longingly for death to come
and give them release. There was no human cure for them.
If sin is something that corresponds not to measles, but to leprosy,
I can understand how God, if He loves us and is truly interested in
us, might make some great sacrifice, some Divine interposition to
save us. And it is this sacrifice, this interposition, which
constitutes the Atonement.
But is sin like leprosy -- an awful moral corruption, a malignant
attitude of the will and the affections, a corruption of the moral
nature that corresponds to leprosy? The Bible says it is. But do the
Bible and human history and human experience agree?
In our sheltered Christian homes, and under the protection of laws
framed in the light of twenty Christian centuries, we are apt to
forget or entirely overlook the malignant character of sin. People
brought up in homes where the Bible is read and hymns are sung;
where the Ten Commandments are upheld; where a blessing is asked
upon the food, and prayers are offered morning and evening -- such
good people have little conception of the wilful devilry into which
men and women sink, and they are liable to be led by their own
respectability into a false conception of sin.
SIN: AN ACT
What is sin? God says, "Thou shalt not kill!" Is it sin to kill? An
intelligent woman accidentally poisoned a baby in her home. Was it
sin? No one who knew her considered it so. It was an awful mistake,
and not a sin; for her will and affections were not malignant, and
she was one of the chief mourners at the funeral of the baby.
A little five-year-old child was the firstborn pet and darling of
its parents; but then another little one was born into the
household, and some foolish women -- wickedly foolish women -came
into that home and said to the little five-year-old, "You are not
Mama's baby and darling now. Mama has another baby that she loves."
Jealousy was kindled in that little heart, and one day the child
came to its mother with blood on its little hands and said, "Now I
am Mama's baby, and now Mama will love her darling"; and Mama flew
to the infant, only to find its head battered in with a hammer by
the little five-year-old. That was sin -- baby sin but sin!
Bear with me while we take a glimpse into the dark depths of what
God sees, at what grieves and provokes Him, at some symptoms and
manifestations of this hateful thing called sin, which stirred His
heart of infinite love and pity and holiness to make such sacrifice
to save sinners.
At the height of Rome's power and civilization the emperor murdered
his mother, stamped the life out of his wife and unborn child, and
lighted the streets of the city with Christians, whom he had covered
with pitch and set on fire. That is sin -- sin full-grown. That is
not spiritual measles; it is moral and spiritual leprosy.
When I was in Switzerland they told me of a man and woman who threw
their newborn child, born out of wedlock, to the pigs. That was sin!
Why are we shocked at the bare recital of such a story? It was a
common thing at the height of Greek and Roman civilization to expose
children to beasts, and they were expected to destroy the weak baby.
Do you say we have outgrown this? Why has not China outgrown it? A
lady missionary from China told me that she asked a Chinese mother
whether she had ever killed one of her girl babies. The woman
replied, " Yes, several of them." And when the missionary asked how
she could find it in her heart to do such a brutal thing, the woman
laughed. It is still common in China. One of our Salvation Army
officers rescued a deserted baby left to be devoured by dogs. It is
not that we have outgrown China, but we have been lifted out of that
terrible darkness and brutality by Pierced Hands. It is the light of
the Cross shining upon us that has made the approval of such deeds
impossible amongst us.
SIN: A STATE OF HEART
But sin is not merely an act. It is a state of the heart as well. A
professing Christian said to me, "There is pride in my heart, and I
get angry"; and I tried to draw a word picture which would show her
the sin of pride and anger.
"Here is Jesus in Pilate's judgment hall. They have spat in His
face, and crowned Him with thorns, and stripped Him, and tied His
hands to His feet, and beaten His bare back till it is bruised and
bleeding. And they have placed the cross upon His shoulders; and,
pale and worn with the bitter agony, with the spittle on His face,
and the blood on His brow, He struggles up the hill under the heavy
load.
"You come behind Him, and you say, 'I am His follower. I am a
Christian. I love Him.' He is the very essence of lowliness and
humility, but you come strutting behind Him in pride -- proud of the
feather in your hat; of the bloom on your cheek; of your money in
the bank; of your home, better than other people have; of your good
name; or of some gift that lifts you above others. You are proud of
these things, look down with a certain superciliousness and
condescension on others, and consider yourself just a little bit
better than they, and hold yourself aloof from them, while
professing to follow this lowly Cross-Bearer. You have a right to be
grateful to Him for those gifts which have lifted you above others,
but no right to be proud, and your pride is an abomination and sin
before Him, a spiritual leprosy which only God can heal.
"But He has reached the top of the hill. Hard, rough soldiers have
thrown Him down upon the cross, and driven the nails through His
hands and feet, and, lifting the cross, have set it in its socket
with a terrible thud, adding agony to the suffering Victim. And they
mock Him, and rob Him of His only suit of clothes, and cast dice for
His seamless robe; and He prays, 'Father, forgive them; for they
know not what they do!'
"And you stand at the foot of the Cross, a professing Christian, His
follower; and some man or woman approaches you, and you frown and
step aside, for you are angry with that one. In the presence of that
compassionate and forgiving Sufferer on the Cross I say that your
anger is a sin, which cannot be washed out with rose water. It is
moral leprosy. It is a malignant thing, which cannot be washed out
with a few tears, but must be purged with blood, the blood of God's
dear Son."
SIN: A CRIME AGAINST GOD
But sin is a crime against God. If I murder a man, I sin against
him, and his poor wife, and his helpless children. But they do not
punish me; the State punishes me. I have sinned against the State
and the whole community. I have broken its laws. I have made a
breach in the safeguards which secure the people from crime and
danger, and that breach can be closed only by my punishment.
Looking at it in this light, we can rise to the vision of sin as a
blow against God and His righteous government, and the safeguards He
has thrown around His moral creation. David stole the wife of Uriah
the Hittite and secured the murder of Uriah, but, when
self-convicted by the story of the prophet Nathan, he saw that he
had sinned against God, and cried out, "Against Thee, Thee
Hundreds of years before, Joseph had been tempted to commit a
similar sin. He resisted and overcame the temptation, saying, "How
then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Gen.
xxxix. 9).
How could these men say that this sin, which in such a peculiar
sense is a sin against man, was sin against God? Listen! Do you
remember the parable of Jesus describing the final Judgment?
Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye
blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world: for I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat:
I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took
Me in: naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I
was in prison, and ye came unto Me.
Then shall the righteous [with meek and lowly and wondering
surprise] answer Him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, and
fed Thee? or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a
stranger, and took Thee in? or naked, and clothed Thee? or when saw
we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee? And the King shall
answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it
unto Me.
Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me,
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels: for I was an hungred, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty,
and ye gave Me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in:
naked, and ye clothed Me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me
not.
Then shall they also answer Him [with wonder and indignant
surprise], saying, Lord, when saw we Thee an hungred, or athirst, or
a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister
unto Thee? Then shall He answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it
not to Me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the
righteous into life eternal (Mart. xxv. 34-46).
And what meaning has the parable but this: that the King so
identifies Himself with every needy and suffering subject in His
vast domain that neglect of, or a blow against, that subject is
counted by the King as a sin against Himself? It is God's law that
is broken. It is God's authority that is defied. It is God's
holiness and justice that are despised. When a man sins, it is
against God.
Indeed, sin is nothing less than lawlessness -- a huge selfishness
-- that amounts to moral and spiritual anarchy. The sinner would
pull God off His throne and kill Him if He could. I was not a bad
boy as men count badness, but I can remember how, in my childish
pride and vaulting ambition, I wondered why I should be a creature
subordinated to God and subject to His righteous and unfailing
judgments; and I disliked Him and wished I could pull Him off His
throne and seat myself upon it, so that I might be responsible to no
one but myself. And does not Jesus teach in His parable of the
householder that this is the character of sin?
There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and
hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a
tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
and when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to
the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the
husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and
stoned another.
Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto
them likewise.
But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will
reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said
among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let
us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out
of the vineyard, and slew him (Matt. xxi. 33-39).
What does Jesus teach here but that sin is a state of heart
rebellion that, carried to its final issues, would rob and kill God
Himself if that were possible? Every sinner wants to have his own
way, and gratify his own desires and pleasures, regardless of the
glory of God and the highest good of men. The sinner in reality
wants to be a law unto himself, wants to be his own God.
Sin can fawn and appear innocent and fair to behold, but it is
utterly false and cruel. There are men and women, possibly in your
street, who would not hesitate an instant to rob you, if they could,
of your last penny and leave you a homeless beggar. They would not
hesitate a moment to debauch your innocent boy, your lovely
daughter, your sweet sister, and sink them to the lowest depths of
infamy, and then glory in their shame. How little do we know the
awful depths and darkness of sin! the corruption, the iniquities,
the wickednesses, the vile affections, the lusts, the vaulting
ambitions that sin leads men into! And what will God do with a
hateful thing like this? What attitude must God take toward sin?
GOD'S ATTITUDE TOWARD SIN
(1) He cannot be ignorant of sin.
(2) He cannot be indifferent to sin. It cannot be said of Him, as it
was of Gallio, that He "cared for none of those things" (Acts xviii.
17).
(3) He cannot approve sin, for then He would be the chief of
sinners.
(4) God must be utterly and totally antagonistic to sin, and that
with all the strength of His great moral being.
He must hate and condemn sin. Frederick W. Robertson, the great
Brighton preacher, when he heard of a so-called gentleman plotting
the ruin of a beautiful, innocent girl just budding into womanhood,
ground his teeth and clinched his fists in hot indignation. If a
righteous man feels that way in the presence of sin, how do you
think a holy God must feel? If God does not hate sin He is not holy;
if He does not condemn sin He is not righteous; if He is not
prepared to punish sin He is not just. But God is holy, He is
righteous, He is just. His great heart demands, and His holiness
calls for, the utter condemnation of sin. But, oh! my brother, while
God is holy and hates sin with a perfect hatred, yet God is love;
and while His holiness demands the punishment and utter destruction
of sin, His great heart of love calls for the salvation of the
sinner.
SIN: A PROBLEM FOR GOD
How shall God accomplish this double and seemingly contradictory
demand of His holy and loving heart? How shall God's love and
holiness harmonize to secure mercy for the sinner and judgment
against the sin? How can God be just, and yet justify the ungodly?
How can God look upon sin and justify an ungodly man, and yet be a
holy God? If a judge on the bench is careless in the way he deals
with criminals, or a magistrate winks at crime, he is a dangerous
man; that judge, that magistrate, is a dangerous character if he
does not watch over the interests of society and deal hardly and
severely with wrong-doing. And is it not exactly the same with God?
How shall God deal with this matter of sin? How shall His great
heart of love secure its end: the salvation of the sinner, and His
great heart of holiness secure its end: the condemnation of sin? How
shall God justify the ungodly, and yet Himself be just?
Here is a problem for God. Fools mock at sin, but God does not.
Foolish men and women think it is a very simple problem, this matter
of the forgiveness of sins; but it is the profoundest problem in the
moral universe, one which no other religion save the Christian
religion has been able to solve -- and in its solution lie our hope
and our peace.
A man commits many crimes and adds to them rebellion and murder, and
he is cast into prison. His friends appeal to the ruler to forgive
him, and they think it an easy and a simple thing for him to do. But
can the ruler do it? He has the authority, but can he do it and be
just and safeguard his people? There are many things he must
consider:
(1) Would it not harm the man himself to pardon him, if he were not
truly repentant?
(2) Would it not encourage evil men in wickedness, and that possibly
in far distant parts of the ruler's dominion?
(3) Would it not endanger society and dismay good men, by sweeping
away the safeguards of law and order, and by ignoring, if not
destroying, the distinction between well-doing and wrongdoing?
God is confronted with a problem like this. How do we know, when we
talk lightly about God's mercy, what other worlds are looking on to
see how God will deal with sin in this world? Children watch to see
how the wrong-doer will be treated, and nothing will encourage them
more quickly to walk in evil ways than to see the wrong-doer smiled
and fawned upon.
Parents who have several children know how very careful they must be
in dealing with a wrong-doer. Their hearts may feel very tender
towards the little one who has done wrong, their hearts may be
breaking with desire to save him from punishment; but his future and
highest good must be placed first, and the other children must not
be allowed to think it a light thing to do wrong. There are two ways
of ruining children -- the way of the harsh father and the way of
the indulgent mother. Too much indulgence and too great severity
will alike ruin the children. Blessed are the children whose parents
know how to keep an even balance between their desire for their
children's pleasure and happiness and the necessity of being firm
and unbending in the presence of wrong-doing.
To hold an even balance between goodness and severity is Divine.
"Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God," says Paul (Rom.
xi. 22). God is faced with the same kind of problem as we are. How
can He at the same time be merciful and just and yet secure the
well-being of all His vast dominions? If God forgives sin, if He
pardons the sinner before he is penitent, He will only do the man
harm.
SIN: HOW CAN GOD FORGIVE IT?
How then can God forgive sin and be just?
(1) He must secure a true spirit of repentance in the sinner, else
the man whom He forgives will only be hardened in sin.
(2) He must make all wrong-doers to know that they cannot sin with
impunity in His vast empire.
(3) He must safeguard all other moral beings. He must make them feel
the holiness of the law and the righteousness of His judgments,
until they cry out, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints
... Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy
judgments" (Rev. xv. 3; xvi. 7).
How can He do this? I think we can make it plain by a simple
illustration. Our own relations with one another -- parents with
children, and rulers with their subjects -- reflect in some measure
the relations of God with men, and the problems with which God is
confronted in that relations hi.
A great teacher, a lover of men and boys and a profound student of
human nature, kept a school, and had under his care a boy who was a
ringleader in wrongdoing. The teacher had to punish the boy several
times, but the boy broke the rules again and again most flagrantly.
One day the boy committed a more than usually grave offence, and was
called up for punishment. The punishment was to be two or three
sharp raps with a ferrule on his open palm. The boy had been
punished before, but seemed to enjoy breaking the rules of the
school and causing trouble to the teacher.
The teacher knew that it would not do to allow this to go on. But he
was greatly perplexed. He did not want to cast the boy out of the
school. He loved the boy, and longed to bless and save him, but how
could he make him to see and understand? How could he let the child
go free and at the same time make the other children feel that it
was not a slight thing to break the rules of the school?
He stood there with an aching heart in the presence of the defiant
boy, when all at once a happy inspiration came to him. He said
something like this to the boy, "I don't wish to punish you, but
when law is broken somebody must suffer. It is always so, my boy,
not only in school but out of school as well. But instead of
punishing you today you shall punish me. I will suffer for you.
The boy looked at him and grew crimson. "Give me the punishment,"
continued the teacher. The boy looked as if he were in a bath of
fire. His heart began to melt under a manifestation of love such as
he had never witnessed or heard of before. The teacher stretched
forth his open hand and said, "Strike!" After long hesitation the
poor little fellow nerved himself and struck one blow. And then his
proud, rebellious little heart broke, he burst into penitential
tears, and from that day he became "a new creature."
The teacher never had any more trouble with that boy, while the
other children felt that it was not a light thing to break the rules
of the school. The teacher had found a way to justify a disobedient
child, and yet make wrong-doing look hateful in the eyes of every
other child. "He himself suffered, the just for the unjust."
An ancient king passed a law against a certain grave crime. The
punishment was to be the loss of both eyes. The first criminal
discovered was the king's own son. And now what would the king do?
How could he save his son and uphold the law throughout his
dominion, and come! his subjects to reverence him and admire his
justice? How could justice and mercy be wedded? The king had said
that two eyes must be put out. Could they not be the eyes of a
slave? If so, his subjects might fear, but not reverence, the king.
They would despise him, and the son would go on in his shameless
career.
This is what the king did. He put out one of his son's eyes and put
out one of his own eyes, and the people could only exclaim, "The
king is merciful, and the king is just." He had found a way to save
his son, and at the same time to make the law honorable.
THE ATONEMENT
Will God act so? Will God suffer to save the sinner? Is there any
other way by which God can justify the sinner, and yet Himself be
just? Is there any other way by which God can display His hatred of
sin and His pitying love of the sinner? Is there any other way by
which God can break the sinner's proud and unbelieving heart and
melt it into penitence and contrition? Is there any other way by
which God can retain the respect and confidence of unfallen angels
when He pardons sinners and treats them as though they had not
sinned? Oh, will God suffer for me? Will He take my place, and in
His love and pity die in my stead, to save me from my sin and its
direful consequences?
The Bible says that God will suffer, and that God has suffered. This
is the Atonement -God's act of condescension and mercy, which
bridges the gulf between sinful man and the holy God; between a
wicked, fallen creature and an offended Creator; between a wilful
and defiant child and a wounded and grieved and loving Father.
JESUS CHRIST: WHO IS HE?
But when and where did God suffer for me?
On Calvary!
But was that dying man on Calvary, God?
He was the God-Man, the Son of God, God the Son (John i. 1-14; 1
Tim. iii. 16).
How can we know God, and where can we find Him?
The heaven of heavens cannot contain Him.
We cannot see Him. We cannot by searching find Him, but He has
focussed Himself, as it were, in Jesus Christ. He has humbled
Himself to our flesh and blood, and stooped to take upon Himself our
nature (Phil. ii. 5-8; Heb. ii. 14, 16).
The Bible says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.... The Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us,... full of grace and truth" (John i. 1, 14).
The Bible says He was God.
The Apostle Paul says, "Feed the church of God, which He hath
purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20: 28).
Then that Sufferer hanging there was God, suffering for us -- God,
the Blessed Son. Wonder of wonders! Think of Him pouring out His
life, an innocent Sufferer for sinful men, for you and me! "God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself" (2 Cor. v. 19), and
"In all their affliction He was afflicted" (Isa. lxiii. 9).
The Father's heart of love was pierced with pain by the thorns that
pierced the head of the Son. The Father's heart was hurt with the
nails that pierced the hands and feet of the Son. The Father's heart
was thrust through with anguish at the guilt and sins of men when
they thrust the spear into the heart of Jesus. The Father suffered
with and in the Blessed Son.
The whole Trinity is involved in the atoning work of Jesus Christ on
Calvary. The Father "so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son" (John iii. 16). "He hath made Him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
Him" (2 Cor. v. 21). And it was "through the eternal Spirit" that
Christ "offered Himself without spot to God" (Heb. ix. 14), in our
stead and on our behalf. Blessed be God! Truly does Paul say:
"Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness God was
manifest in the flesh" (1 Tim. iii: 16).
The Bible says that Jesus is God. Jesus says so, John says so, Paul
says so. The Church in all its creeds says so. The wisest Christian
teachers say so. The saints and martyrs, who have perished by flame
and wild beast's fang, say so. The great soul-winners say so. The
humble penitents, rejoicing in the assurance of sins forgiven, say
so; and with commingling tears and smiles, and heaven-lit faces,
they cry out with Thomas, "My Lord and my God !" (John xx. 18).
But the testimonies of the Bible and the creeds and the martyrs and
saints and soul winners and rejoicing penitents do not make me to
know that Jesus is Lord, and I may still doubt. How shall I know?
May I know? A man born blind may hear a thousand testimonies to the
beauties of the starry heavens and the glories of sunrise and
sunset, and yet doubt them all. He knows only by hearsay. Is there
any way to destroy his doubts forever? Only one, and that is to give
him his sight. Then he will doubt no more. He knows. He sees for
himself.
An astronomer writes a booklet announcing the discovery of a new
star. I may read his booklet, and yet may doubt. What shall I do?
Throw his booklet away, and sit down and write a bigger book than
his, to prove that there is no such star, and that he is star-mad or
a liar? Nay, nay, rather let me turn my telescope to that point in
the heavens where he says he found the new star -and lo! I find a
star mirrored in my telescope! But what if I am mistaken? Then let
another man, two men, a thousand men in different parts of the earth
turn their telescopes to that point in the heavens; and if they,
too, unanimously say, "There is a star," how can I doubt any longer?
THE INWARD REVELATION
How can we know that Jesus is Lord? Paul says, "No man can say that
Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost" (1 Cor, xii. 3). The Holy
Ghost must reveal Him to each heart before doubts about His person
can be destroyed. The Bible is the Book on Divine astronomy that
tells when and where to discover Him, "the bright and morning star."
It does not reveal Him any more than the book on astronomy reveals
the stars to a man. It is only a record of self-revelation, and it
tells us how to secure a revelation of Him to our own hearts.
Let us, then, carefully read the instructions in the Bible -- the
text-book on this heavenly astronomy, look with the eye of faith
through the telescope of God's word, and by true repentance and
obedient faith put our souls into that attitude which will enable
Him to reveal Himself to us. Let us do what He tells us to do
without murmuring and complaining, and lo! as myriad others before
us have done, we shall find Him formed within our hearts, "the hope
of glory." Our doubts will vanish; our sins shall be forgiven, our
guilt be put away; we shall be "born again," born of the Spirit; we
shall have our eyes anointed with spiritual eye salve, and have our
hearts made pure to see God, and to discover who Jesus is. Then the
Atonement, made by the shedding of His blood, will no longer be an
offence to our imperfect reason and a stone of stumbling to our
unbelief, it will be the supreme evidence of God's wisdom and love
to our wondering and adoring hearts.
It was this inward and spiritual revelation of Christ that gave Paul
such assurance and power. He says, "I know whom I have believed" (2
Tim. i. 12), and again, "It pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in
me" (Gal. i. 15, 16), and yet again, "I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me" (Gal.
ii. 20).
Oh! the joy and infinite peace and satisfaction contained in this
spiritual manifestation of Jesus to the heart! It is a fulfilment of
those wonderful words of Jesus (John xiv. 16-27): "I will come to
you.... At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in
Me,and I in you... I will manifest Myself to" you.
I sat beside a student when Christ was manifested to him, and saw
his face shining almost like the face of an angel, and heard him
whisper, "Blessed Jesus! blessed Jesus!"-- and later heard him
saying over and yet over again and again, "Glory be to Jesus! Glory
be to Jesus!"
I knelt beside a young lady in prayer, when all at once she burst
into tears and cried out in an ecstasy, "O Jesus!" He had come, and
she knew Him as Lord. Six months later she said, "I'm going to
Africa," and with Christ in her heart she went joyfully as a
missionary to darkest Africa, where she lived and laboured and
loved, until one day He said: "It is enough, come up higher"; and
she went to Heaven by way of Africa.
A great business man found Jesus, and with radiant face and deepest
reverence he said, "I was so mixed up with Jesus that for several
days I hardly knew whether it was Jesus or I."
A timid little boy, who was afraid to be left alone in the dark, had
the great inward revelation and said quietly and joyfully, "I'm not
afraid now, for Jesus is with me."
THE GREAT UNVEILING
Who, then, is Jesus Christ? Listen to Isaiah:
Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government
shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of
Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no
end (Isa. ix. 6, 7).
We look into the Bethlehem manger, and we see only a child, a little
son; and we are indifferent, though wise men and angels welcome and
worship Him with reverent awe and wonder. But by-and-by, overcome by
the insurrection of our passions and tempers and led captive by sin,
finding no help in ourselves and proving that vain is the help of
man," we look again, and lo! we see that He is our help, and that
"the government shall be upon His shoulder." And repenting with
brokenness of heart, and believing on Him, we find pardon and
victory and peace as we look; and when the impurity of our nature is
more fully revealed we find instant cleansing in His blood, and
sanctification full and free in His baptism with the Holy Spirit,
and we cry out, "Wonderful!"
Again, we are filled with perplexity. Life is a labyrinth, the
universe is a riddle, we walk in a maze. We are at our wits' end.
Wise men and philosophers cannot answer our anxious questions about
the mystery of life; none can solve the problems of triumphant evil
and thwarted goodness, of pain and sorrow and loss and death. And
again we look, and lo! we discover that in Him "are hid all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. ii. 3). He answers our
questions. He resolves our riddles. We rest in Him as our "Counsellor."
Again, we are oppressed with our utter littleness and weakness. We
feel as helpless as an insect in the presence of the giant forces of
the material universe. We are powerless to resist the vast world
movements of men, the strikes, the conspiracies, the huge
combinations, the wars, the political and social upheavals. And in
our horror and despair we look again, and lo! we see Him in the
earthquake and tempest, "towering o'er the wrecks of time," stilling
the storm, raising the dead, calming the fierce, wild passions of
men, and slowly but surely enlightening and moulding the nations;
and we cry out, "The mighty God!"
Again, we are bereft and lonely and heart-sore. We cry like an
orphaned child in the night, and there is none to help, and no one
understands. Then He draws nigh with infinite comprehension of our
heartache and weariness and pain, and with fathomless consolations
He folds us in the embrace of His love; and we pillow our heads and
our hearts on His bosom, and nestle close and whisper, "The
everlasting Father! The Prince of Peace!"
THE ETERNITY OF OUR LORD
Again, we strain our eyes, peering into the future, wondering what
its issues will be, and what it holds for us and ours. Our loved
ones and friends die, and pass out of our sight. Life weakens, its
full tides ebb, the sun is setting, the night is falling, and we
stand by a silent, shoreless sea, where we look in vain for a
returning sail, and upon which we must launch alone. And we cling to
life, and shrink back with fear, and lo! He comes walking on the
waters, and says, It is I. Be not afraid!" And we are comforted with
a great assurance that nothing shall separate us from His love, that
He is Lord of life and death, of time and eternity, and that "of the
increase of His government and peace there shall be no end."
Hallelujah!
This is Jesus. We saw Him first a little Babe, a helpless Child, on
the bosom of a virgin mother, in a stable among the cattle. But oh!
how He has grown as we have looked He "inhabiteth eternity" (Isa.
lvii. 15). "The heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain" Him (1
Kings viii. 27). But He stooped to our lowly condition and humbled
Himself, and suffered and died for us, and made atonement for our
sins.
And "how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" (Heb.
ii. 3).
Oh, the bitter shame and sorrow,
That a time could ever be
When I let the Saviour's pity
Plead in vain, and proudly answered:
"All of self and none of Thee!"
Yet He found me; I beheld Him
Bleeding on the cursed tree,
Heard Him pray, "Forgive them, Father,"
And my wistful heart said faintly:
"Some of self and some of Thee!"
Day by day His tender mercy,
Healing, helping, full and free,
Sweet and strong, and, ah! so patient,
Brought me lower, while I whispered:
"Less of self and more of Thee!
Higher than the highest heavens,
Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lord, Thy love at last has conquered,
Grant me now my spirit's longing --
"None of self and all of Thee!"
I once heard General William Booth, Founder of The Salvation Army,
in the midst of an impassioned appeal to men to repent and make
their peace with God, cry out, "Every sinner must be either pardoned
or punished." And, ever since, these words have remained in my
memory as the expression of a tremendous trnth from which there is
no escape.
As I have written elsewhere: [3]
The Atonement opens wide the door of pardon, of uttermost Salvation,
and of bliss eternal to every penitent sinner who will believe on
Christ and follow Him, while it sweeps away every excuse from the
impenitent sinner who will not trust and obey Him.
The Atonement justifies God in all His ways with sinful men.
The holiest beings in the universe can never feel that God is
indifferent to sin, when He pardons a believing sinner, lifts up his
drooping head and introduces him to the glories and blessedness of
Heaven, because Christ has died for him. On the other hand, the
sinner who is lost and banished to outer darkness, cannot blame God
nor charge Him with indifference to his misery, since Christ, by
tasting death for him, flung wide open the gateway of escape. That
he definitely refused to enter in will be clear in his memory for
ever, and will leave him without excuse.
"Judas went to his own place."
Now, I ask again -- oh! "how shall we escape,
if we neglect so great salvation?
"Was it for me, for me He died,
And shall I still reject His plea?
Mercy refuse with foolish pride,
The while His heart still yearns for me?
Shall I my cup of guilt thus fill,
While Jesus pleads and loves me still?
Dear Saviour, I can ne'er repay
The debt of love I owe!
Here, Lord, I give myself away,
'Tis all that I can do.
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