The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-04-21

y y
Your answer would be, for all thirsty travel
lcrs. And it would be correct. For those who
should pnss along and decline todrink or who
should bcrate your waters you did not intend
them. And this is the sense in which the
atonem"nt is limited. 1t is meant for those
who thirst and it is these only that it can re-
fresh, And could You think that the infinite
Prcscicnce that adaps his means to lis cEds
with uncrring wisdom would provide waste
Of goodness, OF that most costly goodness that
drew upon his patcrnal heart in giving ms
son to dicc There is an economy OF light IN
yonder glorious briliancc which hathes the
| world and all things visible. There is no
waste light. There is such wonderful aIap-
tation of it's amount to the delicate structure
of the human eye that were it ed in
| the slightest dregrcc, the excess would prove
the destruction of our vision. And shall we
conclude that there is no economy OF grace III
the most precious and costly of all the divine
| bounties? No, my brethren, if the death OF
Jesus wastes Itself, it does so over those
mighty regions of creation where II lnStnllS
new phases of the divine character and wins
new revenues to the divine glory. All ! there
outside Of our human horizon. IT. has glorl-
GUS univCrsality-a yindiea'ion and @ jYstifica, ca;
amazed and admirng universe.
y In close connection with these clements
of the symbol notice again. that this fountain
the house Of David and to the inhabtants Of
Jerusalem. Why this fountain had not been
opened in Egypt, Syria or Moab, why it had
any national confinement, we cannot attempt
:.
history is always the evolution ofa Limitation
in purpose and arrangement. W hy, may
have its philosophy and it may be right and
useful to discuss that philosophy, but not un,
| taken a draught Of its waters. If two thirsty
and wcaried men coming to Il fountain should
first spend an hour in heated discuss ion over
the probable source of the waters before tast-
| ing the waters themselves, it would be lost
| lime. All the indications Of the case and all
reason suggest that they should first take a
draught. They are then prepared by the wat
erS themselves to discuss their merits. We
are always better qualified to reason on the
! philosophical questions of the atonemcnt az
| ter we have tested its refreshing power. Wat.
| or hath no argument bnt its own clear and
! sparkling abundance. The first and instant
inviting duty is ~ drink.
But if we may not be able to clear up the
philosophy of this fountain being opened to
David and Israel in preference 10 any other
people, we can understand how David is the
typical name Of David'S greater son, Jesus
Christ and how Jerusalem is the typical
name of that Jerusalem (which is the mother
of us all", the church of the living God and so
we can understand how the church as Gods
Institute has the peculiar prerogative OF hold
| ing this great secret and hcralding 1T to men.
The possessing Of this mighty secret is the pc
cular property Of the church OF God and that
which, distinguishes it from any other ins'i
tute or voluntary society OF men. III IS
the fact that the cross is in the centre OF
it and every other doctrine and prccept has
significance only as it emanatcS from that
centre. The church loses her commission
as soon as it breaches morals. 1t is not an
ethical system except subordinately. The
great effort OF the popular thinking OF the
day is to seduce the church to an et hical ba sis.
You are delighted with sermon that touches
OIL the vices, that cultivatcs the virtues, that
promotes the moral Improvement of men.
iou love to hear the preaching that goes to
make &C od men, good fathers. good husbands.
good citizens, since all this promotes grand
civilization and makes a great people. AID
in, M
with you. Philosophers, skeptics and inf1dclS
will shake hands with you here. A gospel
which is only grade higher than Buddhism,
or ConfucianiSm or Stoicism gives every man
q chance to achieve his owr destiny. \ goS-
pei which goes upon the bash; that the germs
of moralCncrgy within you only need rcsus-
citation and stimulalioil. \ goSpei Whlch
breaches Saviour but q Saviour only in the
sense Of Il splendid teacher and martyr. But,
my brethren, all this amounts only TO Cos
pei Of Socrates and SophoclcS. All this ter
minated at the boundaries Of the world. This
gospel exhaust> itself here OH the earth. But
AMI glorious rrero@ative of the Church OF
God TO paint beyond the border into that
mysterious realm whether we are going: to
| tell of 4 Saviour who cXtrcaeS US from Il far
more dreadful complication than mere moral
stupidity: to tell you that your eternal inter-
estS are at stake: and to tell you that your
misery goes deeper than any outside moral
| And therefore it is said in our text that this
founta was "opcntd for sin and unclCan-
ness"
Not for crime but for sin. y crime is an Of
fence to man and society. 1t is n thing Of So
cialogy and sociology can TAX ca;eo OF 1t: But
sin is an offence to Cod and God must take
care of that Sin, 1t cOnlp!lc%tes you with
God and eternity; it breaks the band that
untcs you with tile Father of spirits, ii puts
you atlrift from the grand centre OF life, light
and happiness, ,atioat over the boiling mise
ri n n onynn1 lpStrnptiOn. What ethical
formation and aeSlhctical refinement could
ever unite again the golden chain which
bound you to God or bridge tic chasn be-
tween holiness and sin? But vicarious
Christ can do it, the atonement that satifics
Gods law and reconstructs your legal rcl;,-
tiOns Deity can do it,, And this grand doc
trinc that meets the eNigcncieS OF our human
case, it is the great function and mission OF
tie church to preach aud to overture the SONS
of men.
| And would wish You to notice the explain
ntSy n" GT of sn to Snt
You would suppose that this term held lis
simple vernacular sense and meant the vari-
ETY. of crimes and vices, such as murder, theft.
and dcpravcd life. But no. 1t means legal
separation from God. It is an Old Testament
term and is used to denote guilt as between
man and God. In the old law Il man Was rem
dered unclean ceremonially by touching 4
dead body, By q casual contamination, by q
disease and must wash and be unclcan, some
| times till the going, down of the sun, some
times for a week sometimes for several weeks.
But he must not approach Gods altar Or come
into the congregation. un i'll his appointed pc
riod of cleansing expired. 1t expressed alien
alton from God and paints to that great prim-
AIRY difficulty, which is removed by justifca.
ton and not by Sanctitication. i; looks to the
atOnemcnt by which our guilt Is removed and
not TO regeneration by which our nature Is re-
newcd. justification is judicial sentence
freeing us from law, debt, Sanctitication is an
inward change fitting us for law-duty. 1t is
by the atonemcnt we are justified and this
| term "unceanncss' speaks of the great legal
estr;lngcn cnt. 1t does not mean adui uitcry,
| theft, murder false witness and the catalogue
of human dcIinqucncicS. 1t is not the mis-.
sion of the church to preach about these or to
STRAIN its c!oquence in denouncing these.
| These are but the out-croppinSs OF deeper
trouble, the separation OF the soul from It's
| God. And it is the divine al oncment, Gods
own opened in the house Of David that can
meet this eNigency: O.; my brethren, don,t
| theory that the church isa grand rCformatcry
society, meant to elevate man up the grnGa-
| tionS of moral Improvement aud material
achievement. This subordinately. But her
great mission is primarily to tell of the great
| eXpiatory death--that great holocaust one Of
| fered TO satisfy divine justice and to preach
every virtue and dcnoul.ce every vice only as
they take their meaning from that great
| text: The pulpit is not Il lecture. The
preacher is not an cssayiSt. Branch out as he
may his argument must come from the cross,
J ana MS mana Illu>t pOlII u clclHltN. llc
must move solcmniy along the bluff that
makes The margin OF time pointing to that
| invisible realm "Gvcr there where all time
interests take interests aad pcrmancncy, and
where overlurcs and opportunities are held
up no more.
And in telling you Of this fountain for sin
and unclcanncsS and inviting you to come
and drink tell YOU what philosophy and lit
eraturc wont tell yOu, nay what they ever
more strive to make You forget, not that you
arc an immoral man but that you arc similar