The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-12-18
THEY EXCHANGED PULPITS
Rev. Thomas B. Mcleod, d. D., of
Brooklyn, Was Heard in the First
Presbyterian Church.

Rev. Thomas b. Mcleod d. D., pas
tor of the Clinton Avenue church,
Brooklyn. n. Y, and brother of Rev.
James Mcleod, pastor of the Firs:
Presbyterian church. this city, ex-
changed pulpits with him yesterday
and preached at both services in the
latter church. Rev. DR.. Mcleod is a
slow, deliberate speaker and his SER
! mons created a deep impression on
those who heard him. In the evening
he took as his text Acts, 1888: BE it
know unto you. therefore, men and
brethren. that through this man is
preached into you the forgiveness Df
sins" and spoke in part as follows:
THE Apostle Paul. whose words
these are, was but short time
Christian when he spoke them in the
Jewish synagogue i'm Antioch, and yet
what words and what a sermon that
was in which they were included. One
of the greatest arguments in favor of
the doctrine of inspiration is the thor
oughness and perfection of these ad.
dresses of the apostles to be found in
the New Testament. They need no re-
vision, no reconstruction Of phraseol-
ogy, nor do they depend upon any par
ticular phrase of the text for their
point, being absolutely complete in
themselves How can we account for
this except by saying that they were
made under the direction and personal
guidance of the Holy Spirit?
"All Christian people acknowledge
Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the
human race; they know that through
him lies the forgiveness for sin; but
the question often passes through the
minds of the thinking people, why
doesn't God forgive sin as we forgive
sin? Why does He require the inter-
ference Of a third party? Why docs
he forgive only by the name and by
the blood of Jesus Christ?
These questions are based upon two
assumptions, both of which are abso-
lutely and radically false. The first as
sumption is that Gods moral relations
To man are identical with our moral
relations with man. We say, if it is
right for us to forgive sin it is right
for God to forgive sin and what is
right for us is right for God, what Is
wrong for us is wrong for God.
Thls is essentially false, becaus
different relations create different NOR
al duties. Gods moral relation to the
sins OF man are different from mans
relations to the sins of man, therefore,
IL is Illogical to say that God couli
forgive man without an atonement.
The second assumption is that
Gods forgiveness of sin is Identical
with our forgiveness of sin, and this
assumption Is also entirely wrong. No
man ever fOrgives sin. He NAV be
amiable towards the sinner: he NAV re-
celVe him bacK into his confidence AMI
atection, but he can only palliate and
not forgive Sin is a matter wholly he
tween man and his God because sin
Is not breach of the laws Of society.
but breach Of the laws of God.
Another question which comes nm
more frequently perhaps is where is
the justice of allowing the innocent
suffer for the guilty. This is the very
thing we are doing all the time; this is
the thing the noblest men and women
in the world are yearning to do-suffer
for the guilty. Eliminate from the his
tory OF the world the stories of the men
and women who suffered for the guilty
and you might toss what remained in
the fire. The reason for this is that
love is divner than justice. 1t is the
oHC lulHb lHdl IeueeIlS our common
humanity and sheds lustre over our
race.
There is a third and last question
often asked, What was the need Of so
great sacrifice as Gods only begot-
ten son? This question is embarrass-
ing only to those who have never felt
real need for and who have never real
lied the Importance of the atonement.
real saint never asked that question.
OF course, if sin be, as the evolutionists
would have us believe, a step in the
moral consciousness of man, there is
no need for any atOnement. If sin be
simply the stumbling of a blind man,
there is again no need for an atone
ment.
But if sin is what Cad makes it out
to be, namely, the awfullest thing in the
world; If It is something which if suf-
tered to prosper to an exaggerated de-
gree would annihilate and dethrone
God himself, then the sacrifice was
none too great,
I'm this age there are too many who
think Of sin as light matter. If there
ever came revival of moral action:
If men come to believe that fire burns,
that water browns, and that frost