THE DAY OF REST. Sin Laid on Jesus.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 201, 30 April 1887, Page 12

THE DAY OF REST. Sin Laid on Jesus.

A SKRMON BY C. H. SI'URUKON.

" All wo like sheop have gono astray ; we have turned every one *o Irs own wav ; and thy Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."— Isaiah liii. 6. The verse opens with a confession of sin co/nmou to all the persons intended in the verse. The whole of the people of God seem to me to be hove represented ; they have all fallen, those of them who have lived to years of responsibility have all actually sinned, and therefore in common chorus they all say from the lirst who entered heaven to the last who shall enter there, " All we like sheep have gone astray." But the confession while thus hearty and unanimous, is also special and particular • " We have turned every one to his own way.'" Theie i*. a peculiar sinfulness about every one of the individuals ; all are sinful, but each one with some special aggravation not found in his fellow. It is the mark of genuine repentance that while it naturally associates itself with other penitents, it also feel* that it must take up a position of loneliness. "We have turned every one to his own way " is a confession importing that each man had sinned against light peculiar to himself, or sinned with an aggravation which he at least could not perceive in his fellow. This confession being thus general andpaiticnlarh/iv many oth »r trait? of excellence about it of w Uu;h we cannot just now speak. It i.s \ory unreterrerf. You will observe that there is not a single syllable by way of excuse ; there is not a word to detract fiom the fuieeot the confession. It is moreover singularly thoughtful, for thoughtless prisons do not use a metaphor so appropiiatc a.s the text: " .All we like sheep have gone astray." Not like the ox ■which " knowcth its owner," nor oven like the ass which " remembei\s its master's crib," nor even like the swine which if it wanderolh all day long •cometh back to the trough at night, but " like sheep we hive gone ustriy ;" like a cu-nture cared for but not capable of grateful attachment to the hand that cares tor it ; like a creature wise enough to find the gap in the hedge by v Inch to escape, but so silly a.s to ha\ c no piopensit} or desire to return to the place from w hioh it had perversely wandeicd ; likesheephabitually,constantly, wilfull} , foolishly, without power to return, we have gone astray. I wish that all our confession.-- of Mil showed a like thought fnlm>s, for to svy that we are *' miserable sinners " may be an increase of our sin unless we ha\e really fell it, Lj u-f word 1 * of general confession -without our soul entering into them may be but a vl repentance that needeth to be repented of," and insult and mockery to high Heaven vented in that very place where there ought to ha\e been the greatest pos-dble t'Miderne.-.s and holy fear. 1 like the confession of the text because it is a giving up of all ple-is of self-righteousness. It is the declaration of a body of men who aie guilty, consciously guilty ; guilty with aggravations, guilty without excuse ; and here they all stand with their weapons of rebellion broken in pieces saying unanimously, " All wo like slice]) have gone astray; we hue turned cvciy on •; to hin ■own way."' I want now todiau the heai ts of all who feel the confession to the bk^sed doctrine set forth in the tv vt ; the Lord hath had on Christ the iniquity of u o all. We shall talc; the text fii\st by way of t cpovtion ; then b\ way ot application ; a-id we shall conclude with .seiious and I hope profitable contemplation. I. First, let u- con.sjder the text by M.vy of EsroMi'ioN. 1. It may be well to give the marginal translation* of the text, '-Jehovah hath made to meut on him the iniquity of us all." The thsb thought that demands notice Is //" mvftii q of va. tiin I may compare to tb.o rays of W evil sun. Sin was scattcied thioughout this world as abundantly as liuht: and Chiist is made to sufl'er the full elfect of the baleful rays which stream from the .-.iin of sin, God, as it weie, holds up"a binning glass, and concentrates all the scattered rays," in a focus upon Christ. That seem- to be the thought of the text, " The Lord bath focused upon him the iniquity of us all/ That which was scattered abroad everywhere i.-> heie brought into tqrrible concentration ; upon the devoted head of our blessed Lord all the sin of his people was made to meet. Before a great storm when the sky is growing black and the wind is beginning to howl, you have :-ceu the clouds hurrying from almost every point of the compass a» though the great day of battle were come, and all the diead artillciy of <!od wore hunying to the field. In the cenuie of the whirlwind and the r-Wnn, when the lightning.s threaten to set all heavui on a blaze, and the black clouds fold on fold labour to conceal the light of day, you have a very graphic metaphor of the meeting of all -.in upon the person of Chi isfc ; the sin of the ages past and the sin of the ages to c-ume, Ihe .-in- < f those who were in lieathoi'dom, and of those who were in Jewry ; th^ sin of the young and of the old, sin oiigiiml and .sin actual, all made to meet, all the black clouds concentrated and brought together into one great tempest that it might rush in one tremendous tornado upon the person of the great Redeemer and substitute. As when a thousand streamlets dash down the mountain side in the day of rain, and all meet in one deep swollen lake ; that lake the Saviour's heart, those gushing torrents the sins of us all who are here described as making a full confession of our sin.s. Or to take a metaphor not from nature but from "commerce ; suppose the debts of a great number of persons to be gathered up, the scattered bond.-, and bills that are to be honoured or di-ihonouicd on such and such a day, and all these laid upon one person who undertakes the responsibility of meeting every one oi them without a single assistant ; such was the condition of the Saviour ; the Lord made to meet on him the debts of all his people so that he became responsible for all the obligations of every one of those whom his Father had given him whatsoever their debts might be. Or if these metaphors do not suffice to set forth the meaning, take the text in our own version, " The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all ;" put upon him as a burden is laid upon a man's back all the burdens ' of all his people ; 'put upon his head as ■ the high priest of old laid upon the scape-goat all the sin of the beloved ones that he might bear them in .his own person. The two translations, you see, are perfectly consistent ; all sins are made to meet, and then having met together and been tied up in one crushing load the whole burden is laid upon him. 2. The second thought is that sin was made to meet upon the suffering person of the innocent substitute. I have said " the suffering person " because the connection of the text requires it. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace

was upon" liim- t and wifch hie- stripes we are healed." Sb< is in' connection with this, and as an e'Xplanafcion of ail fete grief, that it is added, "The Lorti hath- laid on him the iniquity of tifc all." The Lord Jesus Christ would hdfcebeen ifte&pa*ble of receiving the sin off all his people" as their substitute had he tfeen himsfcit a 1 sinner ; but he was, as to his-rtivino nature, worthy ( to be hymned as " Holy, -Holy, Koly, Lord God of Sabaoth ;" and* as to his lwinasn, nature, ho was by mh'Wulous uotaceptioii* free from all original sin, and in the 1 holiness of his lifo he wis huclf that he was* fche spotlc^ Lamb of God, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such things and ther«f6f<6' he was on all accounts capable of standing? in the room, place, and stead of sinful meni The sins of God's people were actually la-id' upon Jesus Christ ; that in the view of God, not only was Christ treated as if hehad been guilty, but the very sin itself was, I know not how, but according to the text it was somehow laid upon the head of Christ Jesus : " For he hafch made him to bo sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Is it not written, "He shall boa 1 ," not merely the punishment of their sin, nor the imputation of their sin, but "He shall bear their iniquities'"? Our sin is laid on Josus in even a deeper and truer sense than is expressed by the tenji imputation. I do not think I can express it, nor convey the- idea that 1 have in my own mind, but whilo Josus never was and never could be a sinner, — God forbid that the blasphemous thought should ever cross our lip* or dwell upon our heart '.—yet the .sin of his peaplu was literally and truly laid upon him. Remember, that J> •wjn Christ rolmttarify took thh w';/ v])on him>elf. it was not I forced upon him. Ho was not punished for the sins of others with whom he had no connection and against his will ; but He his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, and while bearing it said, "No man taketh my lifo from me, but I lay it down of myself." It was> according to hK own eternal agreement made with the Father on our behalf ; it wa.-> according to his own expressed desire, for be had a baptism, to be baptized with, .and he was straitened until it was accomplished. God cannot look whore there is sin with any pleasure, and though as far as Jesus is personally concerned, he is the Father's beloved Son in whom he is well pleased ; yet when he yaw sin laid upon his Son, he made that Son ury,. " My (.Jod i My God ! why hast thou- forsaken me ?" It was not ■ possible that Jesus- should enjoy the light of his Father's pretence while he was made sin for us ; consequently he went through a horror of great darkness, the root ami' source of which was the withdrawing of the conscious enjoyment of his Father tj presence. More than that, not only was ii<>-ht withdrawn, but postive sorrow u-as intlicted. God must punish sin, isrnd though the sin was not Christ's by his actually doing it, yet it was laid upon bim, and therefore he was made a curse for us. What were the pangs which Chri&fc endured? I cannot tell you. You have read the story of his crucifixion. Dear friends, that is only the shell, but who shall describe ? The height and depth, tlie length and breadth of what Jesus Christ endured nor heart can guess, -nor tongue? can toll, nor can imagination frame ; God only knows> • the giiefs to which the Son of God was puo when the Lord made to meet upon him t\ie iniquity of us all. "He became obedit-at to death, even to the (loath of the cross. ' 5. Doar fiiends. for a n»ment think of the result for all this. Sm meets on (jfirist and Christ is punished for sin, and what then ? Why then sin is pnt away. If the penalty be endured justice asks no more. The debt discharged there is no ttebt ; the claim met the claim ceases to he. There ib no man living who shall believe in Jesus who shall not be saved by Christ ; those who do believe are saved and they know that Christ made such an atonement for them that for them to be punished for sin would be as much a violation of justice ; tvs it would of mercy. omy soul ! thou knowest this day that all thy sins were made to meet on Christ, and that he bore the punishment for them all. "He bovo that we might never bear, His Father's righteous ire." Here is a rock to stand on, a safe restingplace for those who trust in Jesus. If ye trust him not, ye ha\ c no part nor lot in this matter, ye shall go down to your own punishment to bear it yourselves ; the wrath of God abideth on you ; yon shall find that the blood of Jesu-, has made no atonement for your sins. You have rejected the invitation that was given, and put far from you the cross of Christ, and upon your heads the pardoning blood shall never drop, and for you it shall never plead, but you must perish under the law, seeing you refuse to be saved under the gospel. Dear hearer, there is a countless company whose sins the Lord Jesus bore ; did he bear yoin\* 9 Do you wish to have an answer ? Are you unable to give one ? Lot me read tlm verse to you and see if you can join in it. Ido not mean join in it saying. " That is true,'" but feeling that it is true in your own soul*, ''All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid oil him the iniquity of us all." If there be in you a penitential confession which leads you to acknowledge that you have erred and strayed like a lost sheep, if there be in you a personal sense of sin which makes you have turned to your own way, and if now you can trust fn Jesus, then a second question is not wanted ; the Lord hath laid on him your iniquity, and the iniquity of all such as confess their sins and look alone to Christ. But if you will not trust to Christ, living and dying as you now are, that sin of yours will rise up in judgment against you to condemn you. Are yen reconciled to God's Avay of 'getting rid of sin ? Do you feel any joy in your heart at the thought of Jesus bearing sin for'you and suffering for you ? *If you do not, I cannot offer you the consolation which the text gives to those who submit to it. But let me ask you, do yen mean to bear your sins yourself ? Do you know what that means ? Jesus smarted when he bore the sins of hia people, but what a smart shall yours be when you bear your own ! "It is a fearful thing to fall > into the hands of the living God." There arc some now-a-days who are mightily angry at the doctrine of eA'erlasting punishment ; I, tco, might be angry at it if it were an invention of man ; but when it is most certainly threatened in God's Book, it is vain for me to kick against the pricks ; my question should not be, " How can I dispute against it ?" Dear bearer, do not venture into God's presence with your sins upon yourself ; even our God is a consuming fire, and his tury will break forth against you when you come to stand there. Have you an imagination that your own merits may make atonement for sin ? I pray you think what Christ had to do before he could cast sin off from' himself, what griefs he bore, through what an ocean of wrath he passed ; and do you think that your poor merits, if they be merits, can ever avail to do what the Saviour suffered so much to accomplish ; Do you hope to escape without a punishment ? If you do, let me pray you to think the matter over ; for if God smote his own Son, do you think he will permit you to go scot free ? If the King ofj Glory, when lie only takes others' sins upon him, must needs die, what think

ycrw -will beeomedfyou, poor worm of '• ifiie' dus£ ? Think you that God will be unjtf^ in orcfcv to save you ? Bo you suppose that he -wilt l'evoke his own aentence, because you do ribt choose to be saved by a plan which is botfli 1 just to him and safe bo you ? Shall God bo 1 unjust to plunder your fancies, 01* iittlulge yc-trr" lugfts ? There is none othev pla4' of salvation under heaven. Thevc may lie other vo)ys oi salvation preached, but other founcJation cm no man lay than that- vflvolx is laidi, Jesns Christ the RighteoiiH. li'thou shtflt strngglo after salvation individually, and" hope' to- get to heaven apart fitom Mhe heaaMiip of Christ, ttaou mayesb struggle; but Sh'ou 1 shalt be like- the Jews of oM whotiad'jttzealifo* (Sod but not according" toktiowlecTge 1 ;: if fthott shalt be going about to establish? thine own lugfoteou.-sness, but not-submitting:: thyself to 'the- righteousness of Christ, tinbu shaih flerisk Let us think of the asto tPtidny ima& of aw that imi<st hare been laid tfrt 1 GhrisK Now do -not jump at it, and say:- " Yes tile sins inilHonPi" l>t> not leap at that, get at it by degrees. Begin with jjtmr own sin. if are you over felt that ?—^our owl ■ sin, all the 1 sins of all your years tw- carried All the sins against light and k.iowledge;.sins against law and gospel, week-day sins, Sabbath sins, hand sins, lip sum, heart sins, sins against the Father, sins • against the. Son, sins against the Holy Ghc*b, siiit of-all shape-.** all bud' ujxm liim ; can you get the thought now* Now multiply tiftt,' 'TLsiik. of the -sins of all the rost of his { •opje. "The onorramts load of human guilt Was on my Savior laid ; With woeaas with a garment bh For sinners was arvay'd." 2. Tlie ue\,t subject I offer yea for cos^ templet-ion' is this, the amazint/ loi?ofJ<"x'fi which b't'onr/ht fiiim to do all this. Remember PaulV way of putting- it. " Scarcely for v righteous (or strictly just) man will one die •- peradventure- for a gcxxl (or benevolent) maro one mt^ht even dare to die ; but (iod'com- 1 mcmloth hi-. Cove towanls us in tlmt> whiler we were yet sinners, in due time., Christdied Tor the ungodly," When Christ has ro j newed us by his Spirit, there may be a« ctfrnp^ tatsion to imagine that some excellency in us won the Saviour's, heart ; but, you must understand that Christ died for us while we were yet smnors. When there wast- not- a ray of beauty to be discovered in us, when neithei without nor within a single thing could be found to commend us, but we were morally .-altogether abhorrent to the- Holy natuie of" Christ, then - oh wondrous graoe !' he ean.ti from trhe highest heaven tluc-ithe ;mass of our sin lmght meet on him. 3. Wonder of wonders that I need set you thinking o» another subject, the •snatch''id^xermjty vhicifb thi* plan oj\alrotion Offfew. I do not s'oe in what point that man fe vul-nerJiblV-who eft» feel and know that Christ has borne lv-> sin>. I look at the attributes of iUA, and though to me, as a sinnet they all seem briefing- as with sharp j>oint r s v I thr«»fcitig th^nselves upon me ; yet v/lieni I knon' that Jew.i«. diop for me, and clftl.'literally Uxke my sin, what fear I the attributes of Hod ? There- is justice, sharp and. bright* like a lance-: bufc justice is my friend. If Giod'be just, he cannot punish me fa # sin, for uilibll Jesws- has ottered satisfaction-. As Hong as there is justice in the heart of Deity, ib oannofc be that a soul justly- claiming ■ Christ fts his .substitute can himsfelf be pun'islied. A^ for mercy, love, trutifr, honour, everything matchless, Godlike- and divine aboil c Deity, 1 say of all these*) " You arc my friends ; you are all guarantees that since Jesus died for me I canuot die," How grandly does the apostle put Ifc t It. seems to mo as if he never was wor«feed up by the Holy Spirit to such a pitch of eloquence as when speaking about the t-lfoath and resurrection of the Saviout^ ho propounds that splendid question, " Who shall lay anything to the charge of Clod's elect ?" There-,, whare eternal justice sits ujion a flamiu,g throne, the .apostle gases with eye unctfmmed into the ineffable ?j.)lendous, anh though pome one soems to wiy, "The Judge- will condemn,'' he replies, " Who shall lay anything to the charge of Clod's elect? It is God that justiikh." Can he justify and then condemn us ? He justifies those for whom Christ died, for wo aro justified by hi.s resurieotion. How then shall he condemn ? And then he lift 5*5 * tip his voice yet again--" Who is he that condemeth ? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, "who sitteth at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." On other grounds a man must feel unsafe, but here he may know himself sure. As for me, my soui shall rest upon this solid rock of substitution : and clinging to the rock with confident resolve, Iknowthat I have no cause for fear since Jesus died for me. What then arc the claim* of Jews- Christ upon yon an'l npou me ? Did our blessed Lord take your sin, and suffer all its terrific consequences for you, so that you are delivered By his blood and wounds, by his death, and by the love that mnde him die, I conjure yon treat him as he should be treated ! Lovo him as lie should be loved ! Serve him as lie should be served ! You will tell me that you have obeyed his prccepK lam glad to hear it. Are you fmro that you have. "If ye love me, keep my commandment-!. " Have y6u kept the ordinance 1-4 he delivered tnem ? Have you sought to be obedient to him in all respects ?" In all your Lord's appointed ways hay; you scrupulously puasued your journey? If you can say that Jam not content,'; it doe.s not seem to me that with such a leader as Christ mere obedience should bo all. Napoleon singularly enough had power to get the hearts of men twisted and twisted about him ; when he was in his wa.is there wa*e many of his captains and even of his j private soldiers who not only marched with the quick obedience of a soldier wherever they were bidded, but who felt an enthusiasm for him. Have you never heard of him who threw himself in the way of the shot to receive it in his bosom to save the Emperor? No obedience, no law could have required that of him, <but enthusiastic love moved him to it ; and it is such enthusiain that my Master deserves in the very highest degree from us.. It is out of and beyond all categories of law, it is far exceedng all that law ventui'ed to ask, and yet not supererogation for all that, for ye aro not under the law bnt under grace ; and ye will do mere out of love than ye tvould have done out of the compulsion of demand. What shall I do for my Master? What shall Ido for my Lord ? If Jesus Christ does not deserve everything of you- he does not deserve anything ; you do not know anything of his claims if you do not feel that " If you could make some reserve, And duly did nof. call ; You love the Lo:'d with zaal so groat That you must give him all," Christ , stands for me, on may I learn to stand for him, and plead for him, and live for him. May I remind you each individually as you all followed your own way, and individually increase that burden, pay him individual service ? Now every one of you who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, devote yourselves to live, to die, to spend, and to be speet for Jesus., You -will be no fool, for no man ever had an ambition more worthy. You will not be devoting yourself to one who does not deserve it. You know how muoh you owe him ; nay, you do not know, to the fullest extent, the depth of your obligation, but you know you owe him all that you have ; your . escape from hell and your hope of heaven. Follow me in these verses-—

" "Slsdoue, the greatftfaansaotion'jS'dtfwtf;; I m& my Lord's, and fcMii^roino : Ho drew me, and I follWoVdii; Charnvd to confess the Wide divine. Now rnst. my long-dividet^Heart ; Fix'd on* his bliBBful centre HMt; With a^hes who would grudge to "part, WhencaU'd on angel's bread tk'teast? T*%ft'heaven, that heard the solifnhn vow, Tfe^t vow rone w'd shall daily he«P; Ti^in life's latest; hour I bow, An^ble93 in death a bond so dea^"-'