Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1877-12-20
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CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
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SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST.

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SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST.
The death of Jesus Christ was the most
wonderful event which ever transpired in this
world, and we may safely say that no event
like it will ever again take place. To this
event. all the sacrifices appointed by God,
during the Mosaic dspensation, pointed. Of
it they were types The value of these sacri-
fees was mot INTRINSIC. y The blood Of bulls
and goats could not take away sin-they
never were designed to take it away. All
that God designed by the bloody sacrifices
which formed the main part, of bis worship,
1unsier the Mosaic dispensation, was to prefg
ure Saviour to come.
In the fulness of time, the promised Mes
sah came. The son of God took upon him
human nature, and as Goldman, came into
the world to save sinners. The fact that Je-
sus lived and died. is repeated frequently in
the Scriptures. 1t is easy to establish the
fact of his death from the Scriptures. Why
did Jesus die, and in what capacity did he
die, are important questions. The first in.
quiry is readily answered. Jesus died to save
sinners. For this he condescended to leave
his seat at the right hand of the Father for
this he humbled himself; and for the saliva
ton of sinners he lived and died. Sin and
death are, by the fiat of God, inseparably
connected Men die because men are, by ma
ture and practice, sinners. This is not the
reason why Jesus died. Although he as.
sumed human nature, he did not become a
sinner. There were no traces of lust, no
blight of intellect, no bias of will, in Jesus.
Men are conceived in sin, but Jesus was born
without sin. Luke 1 35. Jesus did not die
because he was born a sinner with the seed of
death sown in his nature. He was holy by
birth, and lived sinless life He died be.
cause he came into the world to save sinners
death being the penalty or wages ofsin.
1t is important that we have correct notions
with respect 10 the capacity in which Jesus
died. 1t is not Scriptural, as is sometimes
done, to say that Jesus died in the capacity of
martyr. A martyr is one who dies for
some thing; but Jesus died for persons. A
martyr may be one who dies for his country,
or one who dies for some principle doc
trine, creed or practice. The death of
martyr may be for the good Of his country,
or for the good of the Church. 1t was not
in this capacity that Jesus died. He died for
sinners, in the place of sinners. It is true
that his death procured great good for sinners.
This, however, was result of his death, and
does not indicate the capacity in which he
died. 1t is, with propriety, said that the
death of Jesus was a vicarious death. A
vicar is one who takes the place of another.
Jesus took the place of sinners; hence his
death was vicarious. 1t was not simply for
the good of sinners, but in the place of sim
ners, that Jesus died, ar,r2Tqrr1
With regard to the extent of Christ's suf:
ferings, it may be said that they were of such
kind and to such extent, as to render salts.
faction 10 the law of God. A satisfaction
may be of two kinds. The one purely COM
mercial, and the other penal When cred
itor receives of his debtor the full amount of
his indebtedness, this is an end of the matter.
In other words, commercial satisfaction has
been rendered by the debtor. IF the debt
was secured by surety, it makes mo differ
ence, so far as the creditor is concerned, which
of the two liquidated the claim. In the whole
transaction there is no mercy and no grace.
In penal satisfaction, suffering is demanded.
The thief and the murderer must be punish.
ed. In this case human laws admit of no
surety. No surety is permitted, by human
laws, to suffer for the thief or murderer. In
commercial satisfaction the demand is 80
much for so much of the same kind. If
debtor has claim of ten dollars against his
creditor, ten dollars is the satisfaction-sim.
ply ten dollars-no more nor no less. When
penal satisfaction is demanded, it is differ.
ent in most instances. The murderer is some
times put to death, but the man who steals
ten dollars, does not make satisfaction to
the, law, by having. ten dollars stolen from
him. In other words, penal satisfaction is
not so much for so much Of the same kind.
The sufferings of Jesus we're such as to render
a penal satisfaction to the law of God. He
suffered as a substitute, and hence it was all
of grace. The value of that satisfaction de-
pended upon the character of the substitute.
The wages of sin is death; Gods wrath
and curse, both in this life and that which is
to come. The word hell is used to denote the
wages of sin : Now, we are not to- suppose
that because the wicked, who reject Jesus,
will be turned into hell, that Jesus, who be-
came the substitute for sinners, was turned
into hell. So far as We have ever discovered,
there is no passage of Scripture that favors
the idea that Jesus actually end uted the same
kind of suffering that the eternally lost will
suffer, or that he suffered in the same place.
In other words there is no Scripture to prove
that Jesus suffered in the pit of perdition,
His body, we know, did not and he said to
the thief on the cross, "to.day thou shalt be
with me in paradise He suffered all that
was necessary to save sinners. They were
very intense, for he said, my soul is exceeding
sorrowful, even unto death.
The lost in the world of woe, will suffer
come things that Jesus did not, They will
suffer the goadings of guilty copsciences.
Jesus did not. They will suffer remorse-the
worm that never dies and the fire that is never
quenched. Jesus did not In the midst of
the agonles of the cross, Jesus said to God,