Atonement

The Christian’s Ruby Ring. — One of our kings once gave a ring to his favorite, and said to him, “I know that at the council to-morrow a charge of heresy will be brought against you; but, when you come in, answer them if you will, but you need be in no fear; if you find yourself brought to a strait, simply show them the ring, and they will go no further.” It is even so with us; the Lord has given us the precious blood of Christ to be like a ruby ring upon our finger, and now we know how far conscience may go, and how far accusations from Satan may go; we have only to produce that token and bar all further proceedings. “He that believeth in him is not condemned,” neither can he be.

Christ the Sin-Bearer. — An old servant was once carrying a large bough of a tree to have it cut into pieces to make a fire. A little boy, one of the family, seeing the end of it dragging along the ground and making it very heavy, came and took hold of the end, and the burden grew light. Then said the servant, “Ah! Master Frank, I wish you could take hold of one end of the greater burden that I have to carry: I have a burden of sin; the more I drag it about, the heavier it becomes. I wish Jesus Christ would take hold of one end of it.” The lit tle boy said, “My mother told me, yesterday, that Jesus Christ carries all our sins; therefore you do not want Jesus Christ to drag one end of it: he will take the whole of it.” The poor woman, who had been long seeking rest, found it by that remark of the child. Yes, Jesus does take your sins. If thou trustest Christ, this is the evidence that all thy sins are laid on him.

“Sinner, nothing do,
Either great or small;
Jesus did it, did it all,
Long, long ago.”

Our Substitute. — You remember that in Prussia there was a law which exempted the only son of a widow from going to war; but it is said that so closely were they driven for recruits, that the law was for a time rescinded, and the widow’s only son was taken. Suppose such a thing happened here, and there should be a widow whose only son was demanded of her. See her come forward, saying, “Ay, take him; my country is dearer to me even than he is.” She puts him forward, and says, “Go forth, my son, to die if it be necessary; I give thee up, I give thee willingly.” You see the red, red eye of the widow; she hath wiped it dry, but she hath wept in secret; and if we steal behind the door when her son is gone, and see her pouring out whole floods of sorrow, we can tell how great must have been her love for her country which made her give up him — her all. Beloved, we never should know Christ’s love in all its heights and depths if he had not died; uor could we tell the Father’s deep affection if he had not given his Son to die. Christ Wins Us by Dying for Us. — There is a story told of the Covenanters — of one named Patrick Welwood — whose house was surrounded at a time when a minister had for security been hidden there. Claverhouse’s dragoons were at the door, and the minister had fled. The master of the house was summoned, and it was demanded of him, “Where is the minister?” “He is gone; I can not tell whither, for I know not.” But they were not satisfied with that; they tortured him, and since he could not tell them where he was (for in reality he did not know), they left him, after inflicting upon him the torture of the thumbscrew; and they took his sister, a young girl who was living in the house. I believe she did know where the minister was concealed, but on taking her they asked her, and she said, “No, I can die myself, but I can never betray God’s servant, and never will, as he may help me.” They dragged her to the water’s edge, and making her kneel down, they determined to put her to death. But the captain said, “Not yet; we will try to frighten her;” and sending a soldier to her, he knelt down, and applying a pistol to her ear, she was bidden to betray the minister or die. The click of the pistol was heard in her ear, but the pistol was not loaded. She slightly shivered, and the question was again asked of her. “Tell us now,” said they, “where he is, or we will have your life.” “Never, never,” said she. A second time the endeavor was made; this time a couple of carabines were discharged, but into the air, in order to terrify her. At last they resolved upon really putting her to death, when Trail, the minister, who was hidden somewhere near, being aroused by the discharge of guns, and seeing the poor girl about to die for him, sprang forward, and cried, “Spare that maiden’s blood, and take mine; this poor innocent girl, what hath she done?”

The poor girl was dead even then with the fright; but the minister had come prepared to die himself, to save her life. 0, my friends, I have sometimes thought that her heroic martyrdom was somewhat like the blessed Jesus. He comes to us, and says, “Poor sinner, wilt thou be my friend?” We answer, “No.” “Ah! I will make thee so,” saith he, “I will die for thee;” and he goes to die on the cross.

The Atonement a Sword. — When a man gets a sword, you cannot be quite certain how he will use it. A gentleman has purchased a very expensive sword with a golden hilt and an elaborate scabbard; he hangs it up in his hall, and exhibits it to his friends. Occasionally he draws it out from the sheath ,and he says, “Feel how keen is the edge!” The precious blood of Jesus is not meant for us merely to admire and exhibit. We must not be content to talk about it, and extol it, and do nothing with it; but we are to use it in the great crusade against unholiness and unrighteousness, till it is said of us, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.” This precious blood is to be used for overcoming, and consequently for holy warfare. We dishonor it if we do not use it to that end.

The Atonement Must be Proclaimed. — The other day, when I was inquiring about the welfare of a certain congregation, my informant told me that there had been few additions to the church, altho the minister was a man of ability and industry. Furthermore, he let me see the reason of the failure, for he added, “I have attended there for several years, and during all that time I do not remember hearing a sermon upon the sacrifice of Christ. The atonement is not denied, but it is left out.” If this be so, what is to become of our churches? If the light of the atonement is put under a bushel, the darkness will be dense. In omitting the cross you haVe cut the tendon Achilles of the church: it cannot move, nor even stand, when this is gone. Holy work falls to the ground: it faints and dies when the blood of Jesus is taken away. The cross must be put in the front more than ever by the faithful, because so many are unfaithful.

A Joyous Verdict. — You may have seen a well-painted picture called “Waiting for the Verdict.” What interest is displayed on every face! What fear and trembling upon the countenance of the prisoner! In his wife and the friends around him, what anxiety is seen! “Waiting for the Verdict” is a sad picture; but what another might be drawn of The Favorable Verdict Received! The prisoner is acquitted! O what joy! It is not possible to bring in a verdict of “Not Guilty” for you and for me, for we are undoubtedly guilty; but yet it is possible by the process of substitution and divine grace to bring in a just verdict by which it is witnessed that “There is now no condemnation.”

Christ Suffering in our Stead. — You know the story, the very excellent story, which I think was first told by Mr. Moody, of the man who in the French war was drawn for a soldier, but a friend stepped in, and was accepted as his substitute. That substitute served in the war till he was slain in battle. The man for whom he served was drawn a second time, but he declined to serve. He appeared before the court, and pleaded that he had been drawn once, had served in the war by his substitute, and must now be regarded as dead, because his representative had been killed. He pleaded that his substitute’s service was practically his service, and it is said that the law allowed his plea. Assuredly it is according to divine equity, even if it be not according to human law. No criminal can be hanged a second time; one death is all the law requires: believers died in Christ unto sin once, and now they penally die no more. Our condemnation has spent itself upon our gracious representative. The full vials of divine wrath against sin have been poured upon the head of the great Shepherd, that this sheep might go free; and therein is our joy, our comfort, our security. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”

The Sinner’s Ransom. — But there stands forth on our behalf “the Wonderful, the Counsellor;” he takes his brief in hand and begins to plead. Hark what he says, and see how all opinion is turned at once! “I confess,” says he, “that every word is true that the last accuser has said. My client pleads guilty to every charge; but I have a full pardon signed by God’s own hand, purchased by my own blood;” and, stripping himself, he shows his breast, and bares his arm, and says, “These were given to me of my Father before the foundation of the world. I bare their sins in my own body on the tree. My Father justified them; I pardoned them.” And then, mounting to the highest point, he reaches the climax of grace as he exclaims, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? Canst thou, 0 God? Hast thou not justified? I cannot, for I died.” Then he sits down, in triumph, saying, “Whom he justified, them he also glorified. Nothing shall be able to separate them from the love of God.” Shall not each ransomed sinner shout with joy?