The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-11-11
THE ATONEMENT.
A Sermon Preached by Rev. DIR
Hugh Miller Thompson, at
Trinity Church, No
yember ., 1879.

/ And tie flfty-,b bird chapter IF 1saah:
| who hath believed our tsport2 and to Whom
| rs the arm Of tho Lord ravealed2
For he shall grow up before him MS n tender
plant md as root ont o. Dry ground ne ha,h
no form nor romelinasa. and when We shhlI
| 500 bin there Ia no beauty that VS. sholid 90
sire him
| .'Ha il despised mud rejected of mon n mnn
| of sorrows aud acquainted With grief and wo
hid as It wore oar faces from him: be was do
splsed. and We asteemed him not,
| Surely he hath borne our griafa, ma eatileu
4 our snrrows: yet We did esteem him stricken
| smltten Of God and afflicted.
| But he was wound Sd for our transgresstons,
| he was bruised for our nialifias: he ehastiHs-
ment of our ponce WIS upon MN ana WIN MS
stripes We are healed.
turned every ono to his own way md the LORD
hath laid on him the iniuuiyy 81 us Ill
Christianity IL not responsible for the curl
caturaa Of IA TINT men make, and then OPPOSE.
and tho strlelest orthodoxy Is not responsible
| for tho earicntures that ta opponents mako
and then uttaek. 10 with the doctrine of tbe
aonemen Christianity, the faith OF the
| Church. is In no degree responsible foE me
carleatures Of tho Church which are common
Nv ey posed to be overthrown by tho logic ~ the
| wit of tho opponent: aud In all the circle Of liz
| doerIn thero ig mono which has boon so earl
| nnt,1red and 40 misunderstood aR this. There
has been mono against which the shafts Of argn-
mont and the shafts o logic have boon more
| nhundantly shot. Yet It ls IA II oil light had
boon hidden away and the attack was made on
| vghst tho opposerg Of The doctrine supposed the
doctrine to b. and not what II rnally Ia.
| ask you 10 compare. o bring together, those
two texts that have read one ri tho Old Tes-
lament nnd tho other Of the New and de-
sire you TO remember that whatever doubt
there may ha. that whatever doubt scholars
have affected to mako with reRnrd TO tho
nntianItv Of eertnln portions Of The Old Tsstn-
J,,tr .,rttf nfCyp nt n
an Y argument tn weaken confidence in tho
1esh mud In The time Of tho writing OF the
prophecy Of Isaiah.
And that being tho eaae want You to re-
member thai so many centuries before the com
ing of Our Lord, tho prophet In the dark moss
OF his peoples history mud destiny, utters
these words that / have read last which arc
lust IA clear and Just ms full statement of tho
doctrine of tbs atonement, AS perfect Gospel
revelation of II as Won can find In the New Tes-
lament itself: and that from thnf fact Isaiah IL
called 81 I'll ths prophets ihe fd &c ,a tt tme
pel-so full. so clear are his tatelnenfs with re-
gard TO the work and the Iifeof the Divine Be-
lug who is to appear on earth, who is 70 bear
our sorrows carry our griefs and who Is to
, stand In eur stead and receive the ehhstisemsnt
i dne 10 tis 80 clear is II thai there ia no word
: that needs to be added when John the Hap, list
sid to bis disciples us Christ passed. by Be-
hold the Lamb IT God that takest away the sins
They knew perfectly well whnt he meant, they
knew that he referred to the Lnnb of Sacrifice
they knew, perfectly vel ,he doctrine 81 ,nh'
rious nature Of tho atouement to be mnde; hnd
to their minds came No Mt tho sarne time theiI
ola revelations ofthe prophets tsniah was moi
dumb TO them; they had heard these words and
attached the meaning To them that you and J
, DID, they mad not been sophisticated then by the
beathenish Interpretations which tried after
ward to remove them, to turn their faces. TO
point mon AWAY from the Messiah.
tE1,
% rpvelation Of tho MeasiRha Messiah that
: should suffer before hs should reign, Messiah
TINT not only should wear a crown, but should
boar tho pangs 81 marty, dom u.s. we'll, 2 Mss.
siab thAt not only should fit upon throne
but u Messiah also That should strive and toll
for the salvation OF his own.
% Ho came rs The reveIation told ia he would
to the end that the dpctrin inc Of an ,atonement. O
might be- delivered from ths bondage and curse
9 Of sin. should DO fulfilled the first revelation
!. In the gospel u tho doctrine Of the atonement
v ! refer to the old law and the old prophesy.
Now. what is tho doctrine ~ they UNDERSTOOD
I. i purity then rs It was more fully revealed ~
Christ n his words ana life ma iastened 70
Church Of God.
Ii is this: Thnt instead o. sinful man. the sor
of God himself bore tho penalty u sin, and 50
ntoned to tho outraged law mud justified thh
4 and kept 1t unbroken md clenr. Aud Xet. in,
: the guilt and not the punishment even, but the
! penalty which was the ehHstisement for thf
!, guilt. lie underwent tho penalty. which other
WtAt
/, crushed hem % denfh.
this ,p "a th@t q his ras free choice
that because be- was God as vol us man he
was largo enough to bear II III;
l. moro man could not have done IT, NO mat
Z, ter how good no matter how mntchlesS he was
: because Ii more man j. finite. he can bear only
: his own burdens: but when united with The
I. aoahond, AFFORDED AS 1t were. into the Divine
+ | enlarged by that union. the manhood became
Il infinite the manhood was large enough. ON
s pipotent enough to boar not only the penalty
R,,It tn If n
penalty OF universe, md to bear 1t all. and tC
stand under tho burden uncrn4hed. NTH
think. are familiar to US all, and which ma,
h haye occurred to some of us. :.
= We have heard read or seen In books. or In
/, type. that IL Il worry UNJUST for God 70 punish
Il an Innocent person tnRtehd OF Il guilty. person
that il 10 unjust for man 80 to Do, aud surely 4
enrth In our ordinary wnys oflife how Infinite
% ly more unjust 1t Is iii God to do 1t IN this, tht
highest realm Of Justice, where Goa comes e
), deal with human sin, With man Obligations tC
!, 10 transpose ths Innocent for the guilty f
u visit upon the innocent the punishment OF IN
guilty Is an Outrage, We say. on Justice. ana
VINO would dare to stand no and deny IT. an(
i who ever dreamed that Ia the doctrine Of tbs
~ atonement God ever did dr., or ever thought o
= doing. amy such act as this2
n Men set Hp thtS pure caTlcatHre anu thsn a.
a tack 1t as II that were the doctrine OF tn
= asonement.
They mako in it md involve in II thre
Dllnders AT Inc very t0lnihtlOh 81 ~ DiuhdbE
philosophical MS we'll rs theological and sclen
.. tihc. Blunders not merely biblical but scion
= tfc and philosophical.
i, The first ono Is hat God himself can allow
- breach Of his own Law. that Gnd himself cal
~ break Q laa or allow q law to - broken Wit
20 impuaity II you come to trace the matter u
Y the caricature OF 1t Is plain; for bow can 90
do this. god that can stand By and see hi
laws torn, his. statute book defacad and dc
formed: d god that stand or SIT by and SO
that done Is no god. This IL one thing, but III
is not the character Of the God that Chrissfla
!. mon worship; or If they suppose God can him
r self do that and remain God they have p cari
q cature Of God that Is not revealed In tbs Net
70 Testament. nor Ia tho Old, nor in human rea
= son, nor In good conscience.
y The law is ae sacred as the throne OF God.
I, God himself sustains and holds ii, and Go
al does not and cannot break II.
Now the law il broken. What shall God DO
You gay it makes no difference, this.
al What. simply imagine that God can forgly
& men II he will by his mere arbitrary choice
!, whether the law il preserved or is outraged
! that God can do for man what he cannot q