Chapter IV: Part 4

It cannot be sufficiently impressed on Christians that they have _positive_ duties, that they are not called on to be a kind of moral jelly-fish, but to a life of activity, and of activity healthy and well-directed. It is in order that they may live this life of healthy, well-directed activity, that Conscience is given them. Nor can any man _shirk his duties_ without mortal sin, for he is going contrary to the Will of God, and frustrating the intention of God in sending him into the world. There is a place for every man, there is work for every man, a line for every man to walk along, and Conscience to direct, and will to determine, are given to every man to enable him to take his place, do his work, follow his course. He may take the wrong place, do the wrong work, and follow the wrong road, and he sins when he so does. But he also sins, and sins quite as gravely, when he refuses through indolence to take his proper place, and fulfil his predestined duties.

2. Every man has faculties of some sort, and for some end. He has intellectual powers, manual dexterity, a sensitive eye or ear, and so on, and it is the duty of every man to come early and clearly to a perception of what his special abilities are, and then to cultivate them to his utmost. So is he fulfilling God's will. But if he says, "I am a man of private means, there is no occasion for me to exert my intellect to acquire knowledge, to work at painting, study music, follow mechanics," and so he does not develop his natural gift, he sins against God, he is _wasting his talent_, through sloth.

Again, no man is justified in half doing what he is set to do. A good many men and women are content to obtain a smattering of knowledge, and to dabble in the fine arts, to trifle with science, merely so as to be able to chatter in society about these things. But if anyone has a faculty enabling him to do anything; if anyone has a task set him to do, he must do it thoroughly; do it "as unto the Lord, and not unto men." The servant must not half do his work, the tradesman leave the article he turns out unfinished off, nor the man of culture be content with a smattering of knowledge. All must alike _make full exercise_ of their talents. What their hands or minds find to do, they must do well, or they sin through the vice of sloth.

3. Sloth is hateful to God. "The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence," said Christ. The violent, _i.e._, the active, take it by storm. The _unprofitable_ servant is condemned because he did not put his talent to usury.

The barren fig-tree was cursed because it produced no fruit.

4. Sloth is the fruitful mother of vicious children.

(_a_) _Indolence_, and loss of time, and for the use of our time we must give account.

(_b_) _Cowardice_, which makes us shrink from doing what is right because we fear it will give us trouble or inconvenience.

(_c_) _Inconstancy_, which is the changing about from one course to another, to avoid present discomfort, instead of acting directly in accordance with the principle.

(_d_) _Deadness of heart_ to God's calls.

Tuesday in Holy Week.

_THE SACRIFICE FOR SIN._

1. We have considered Conscience as the faculty by which we discern between Good and Evil, and then have considered Sin itself.

Now we will briefly turn our attention to the Sacrifice offered by Christ in expiation for the Sins of the World.

If Christ had not come to release us of the _guilt_ of sin, and to strengthen us to overcome the _weakness_ produced by sin, we could have no hope of salvation.

2. It is not a matter on which we will tarry, to ask, Why it is so, but we will accept the fact that by God's Will, _transgression of His Commandment carries with it guilt, and can only be expiated by suffering_. That it should carry with it guilt is indeed not a matter to perplex us, for guilt is the sense of transgression and the privation or stain that attends it, together with the sense of alienation from God. But that sin can only be expiated by suffering, is a law of God concerning which we will not now argue, but accept it. We see that a sense of sin has ever impressed on mankind consciousness of guilt before God, and a conviction that only through suffering could that guilt be done away.

The SACRIFICES inexplicable in themselves and even absurd, find their signification in the consciousness of guilt: men felt that they were alienated from God, sinful before God, and they sought by Sacrifice, _i.e._, by suffering, to atone for their guilt.

The _idea of Sacrifice_ contained in it these elements:

(_a_) It must be one of _blood_. Suffering and the shedding of blood was considered expiatory. "Without shedding of blood was no remission." (Heb. ix. 22.)

(_b_) It must be either a _human_ sacrifice, or it must be the sacrifice of that which was most useful, essential to man: not of a wild beast, for instance, but of a tame beast of domestic utility.

(_c_) It must be _innocent_ and pure, without defect or spot. It was sometimes the first-born lamb or calf.

(_d_) It must be, if possible, _voluntary_. A Sacrifice was thought to lose half its efficacy unless it were a free-will offering. Among Greeks and Romans, water was poured into the ears of oxen brought to sacrifice, to make them nod their heads, and so give an appearance of consent to their death.

(_e_) It must be in part consumed by the fire, in part by the offerer. The fire was the symbol of God accepting; the participation in the sacrifice showed the man who offered that he received the benefits of the Sacrifice.

3. Sacrifice was not only expiatory, but it was also _vicarious_; that is to say, from the beginning man saw that the innocent might die for the guilty. Now this could only be so seen because indistinctly the human Conscience looked to the One Sinless Victim Who would by His Sacrifice of Himself, put away the sins of the world. But for this it would have been unreasonable.

It was, however, an universal belief that the just might suffer for the unjust, the blameless for the guilty, and that was why the sacrificer sought out the spotless victim as the victim.

This belief also was the occasion of numerous sublime heroic acts of self-devotion in the heathen world, when one man offered himself for the fault of all the people: as when Codrus died for his people, Curtius plunged into the gulf in the Forum, Decius offered his breast to the weapons of his enemies.

It was this belief which caused sacrifices to be multiplied, and yet it was certain that these numerous sacrifices never really took away the sense of guilt that weighed on mankind. "The law, having the shadow of good things to come, and not the very image (_i.e._, reality) of the things, can never with these 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 no more conscience of sin. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance (or recapitulation) again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." (Heb. x. 1-4.)

Wednesday in Holy Week.

_THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST._

1. As the sin of the world was infinite, it was not possible that any sacrifice that man could offer could put away the guilt of sin.

Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ came down from Heaven to make a full, perfect, and sufficient Sacrifice for sin. He died the Just for the unjust, the Sinless for the guilty, to reconcile us to God by the taking away of the guilt of our transgression.

2. Christ sacrificed for this purpose everything that He had, withholding nothing, so that the oblation might be complete. In the Garden of Olives He yielded up His Soul to sorrow even unto death, feeling the natural shrinking from death; endured the revulsion and loathing that accompanied the sense of the vileness and hatefulness of the sins He took upon Him; and by the sense of pain that the presence of sin brings on the soul.

He suffered the bereavement of friends, their cowardice and desertion; the betrayal by Judas, the denial by Peter.

He suffered the privation of His liberty, for He was made fast, and was dragged away by the soldiers and servants.

Before His judges He suffered in His honour. He was buffetted and mocked, and smitten in the face, and spit upon, and exposed to the multitude as a criminal.

He suffered in His reputation. The robber, Barabbas, was chosen in His place.

He was publicly condemned as a criminal. He was made to bear His Cross, and was crucified between two thieves.

He suffered in His Body. He was scourged. He was crowned with thorns, and then smitten over the head. He was tormented by the driving of the nails through His hands and feet. He was tortured by suspension on the Cross; by thirst and fever.

He was despoiled of His garments, and exposed in nakedness to the derision of His enemies.

He was deprived of the succour of His mother, and of His faithful friends in the agony of death.

Finally, He gave up His life, when He had suffered in every way He could suffer, and with a loud cry died.

3. Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross by His suffering _expiated_ our guilt.

Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross died as a _vicarious_ sacrifice for us.

Thursday in Holy Week.

_THE EFFECTS OF CHRIST'S SACRIFICE._

We will consider Christ's Sacrifice in its relation to God and in its relation to man.

1. In relation to God, it was a full and sufficient sacrifice satisfying the Divine Justice.

A satisfaction is, in general, the voluntary reparation made to one who has been injured or wronged. It may be equivalent to the wrong, when the reparation is equal in degree to the offence. It may be suitable when it is proportioned to the powers of him who offers the atonement.

The satisfaction due to God from man could never have been equivalent to the injury or wrong done; therefore Christ made atonement, and His Sacrifice is equivalent, for it is in proportion to the offence; as the offence is infinitely great, so is His satisfaction infinite in its greatness.

An offence is more or less grave according to the exaltation of the person offended. And an expiation is more or less full and perfect according to the dignity of the person who offers expiation. Now God was offended by man's sin; and it is the God-Man Who makes atonement for that sin.

The distance between God and man was so great that no man could possibly, even measurably, have approached God and made satisfaction for his grave offence. Moreover, the sum of offences was so great that nothing in the world could atone for it.

2. Our Lord Jesus Christ by His Sacrifice for sins became our _Expiation_. "When He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a Body hast Thou prepared Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I come to do Thy Will (to make a free-will offering), O God. Above when He said, Sacrifice and offering ... Thou wouldest not ... which was offered by the Law; then said I, Lo, I come to do Thy Will (to make a free-will offering), O God. He taketh away the first (the symbolic Sacrifice) that He may establish the second (the full, perfect, free-will Sacrifice of Christ)." (Heb. x. 5-9.)

He became our _Substitute_. "Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." (1 Pet. iii. 18.) "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us--He took it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross." (Col. i. 14.)

He became our _Redemption_. "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold--but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (1 Pet. i. 18, 19.)

3. Thus we see that Christ, by His full and voluntary Sacrifice of Himself, by His incomparable sufferings and death, made atonement to God for the transgressions we had committed against Him, thus removing the barrier that stood between the just and righteous God and man. That He suffered in our place; a vicarious victim enduring the wrath of God, and the pains due to us for our transgression of God's law. And that He paid the price whereby we were bought back out of servitude to evil, and set at liberty to serve God in freedom.

Good Friday.

_THE EFFECTS OF THE PASSION._

(CONTINUED.)

1. The satisfaction offered by our Lord Jesus Christ was perfect.

His offering was a _free will_ one. He came down from Heaven to redeem men. "Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." (John x. 17, 18.) Although His human will recoiled from the prospect of humiliation and death, yet He submitted it to the Divine Will, "Not Mine, but Thine be done."

It was _complete_, and fulfilled all the requirements of justice. None but God Himself could offer a complete and perfect atonement for the mass of transgressions committed against God.

2. By His Sacrifice for sin, our Lord Jesus Christ has _redeemed_ us from sin, taken away from us the stain of sin. "Jesus Christ ... Who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood." (Rev. i. 5.) Consequently our sins are no more imputed to us. They have been cancelled. We are no more under wrath, but are children of God. He has _delivered us from the power of sin_. He that committeth sin is the servant of sin. (John viii. 34.) He has delivered us from the power of sin. Sin hath no more dominion over us. We are no longer under sin, but under grace. By nature we were in bondage to Satan, who held men in hard servitude, with no power of escape from it, but by Christ's redemption we have been brought out of the Egypt of bondage, and set in the glorious liberty of the children of God. We are, as S. Paul says, "made free from sin." We are, by the merits of Christ's atonement, placed in the same position in which Adam was before he fell. And if we fall after we have been placed in a state of grace, we fall by our own fault.

_He has delivered us from the chastisement due for our sins._ All sin entails punishment. But Christ has not only taken from us the guilt of sin, but also to a large extent the suffering due as a penalty for sin. Not indeed wholly, as it is necessary for our education that we should still feel pain if we transgress a law, but He has removed all save what is necessary for our discipline. Sin indeed deserved eternal separation from God, as it was an alienation from God, it must have led further and further away from Him into outer darkness and eternal death. But Christ has delivered us from this. He is always ready to restore us to our former position in the way of salvation.

3. By the Sacrifice of Christ's death, the expiation is _universal_. That is to say, Christ made atonement for the sins of the whole world. He did all that was necessary to redeem the souls of those already dead, of those then alive, but also of all those who should live in ages to come. He did not die for the Jews only, or for the Gentiles only, or for only a few elect, but for all mankind, that all mankind might be saved.

How is it then that some are lost? It is because all will not accept His redemption; they refuse the benefits He offers, reject His precious blood, and will have nothing to do with His salvation. Brought, may be, out of darkness into light, they go back into thraldom to the Evil One, trample on God's mercy, and wilfully resist Him. Grace and pardon are offered to all, but all will not receive.

No man, not even the heathen, is lost eternally, except by wilful opposition to what he knows to be the truth. Some may have little light, others have more, but whosoever will follow his light as far as it shines, he will not have his shortcomings imputed to him, but through the abounding mercy and merits of Jesus Christ will be saved.

Easter Eve.

_THE APPLICATION OF THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST._

1. Having seen how Christ made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, we will now see how we can apply the merits of His Sacrifice to our own souls, to _cleanse_ them from dead works, and to _strengthen_ them for obedience in His service.

2. The _atoning blood of Christ is applied in the Sacraments_. First, in the Sacrament of Baptism the blood of Christ is the efficient cause of the neophyte passing out of the bondage of Satan into the Kingdom of God. By that blood we obtain remission of original sin.

But we sin after Baptism. How is past baptismal sin to be effaced?

(_a_) There must be a _right disposition_ on our part. We must _come to a knowledge_ of our sinful state; then we must _bitterly grieve_ over our transgression, and we must then _resolve not to sin again_; in other words, knowing our sin we must acknowledge it, be contrite, and have full purpose of amendment. These three elements go to make up _true repentance_. And without true repentance there can be no pardon accorded us.

(_b_) When there is this right disposition, then we must _plead the Sacrifice of Christ's death_. This we do in the way Christ Himself appointed, by the oblation of the Holy Eucharist. In this we show forth the Lord's death till He come. In this we offer up before God the atoning blood of Christ in expiation for our offences. Then we go before the Throne of the Eternal Father, and righteous Judge; we show that we are ourselves in the right disposition, _i.e._, truly repentant, we acknowledge our offences, show Him that we bewail them, earnestly entreat for grace to amend, and then plead that all-prevailing Sacrifice, through which alone our repentance can be accepted.

(_c_) But all prayer is an echo of the great Eucharistic Sacrifice, for all prayer is offered through the name, the merits, and mediation of Jesus Christ. Prayer is availing, because we have access to the Father through Christ.

3. _The Sacrifice of Christ obtains for us strength_, and this is distributed to us in the Sacraments. At the Lord's table we are strengthened and refreshed with the Body and Blood of Christ, enabled through Him to resist temptation, overcome natural weakness, grow strong in His grace, and attain to the likeness of Christ. We should have no help from above were it not that Christ has won it for us by His Sacrifice.

Thus through Jesus Christ, we who were sometime aliens are brought nigh to God, made the children of God, and perfected unto the Day of the Lord.

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Transcriber's Notes:

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

The illustrations indicated at the end of each chapter are small, black Maltese-style crosses.

Obvious printer's errors corrected.

Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings, inconsistent hyphenation, unclear grammatical usage, and other inconsistencies.