The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-09-04
TIE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM.
MENTS FOR AUG. 10 BY THE
REV. 1. ". HENDERSON.
Subject: The Day of Atonement,
Lev. 1862 Golden Text,
Heb. 7:25-Memory Verse, .

Heb. 1:2o-Memory Verse, -
Commentary.
The day of atonement and the
ceremonies thereto attendant i'm
press upon our minds facts that are
inseparable in our religious expe-
rience. First, the fact of sin. Sec
ondly, the necessity for confession Of
sin. Thirdly, the forgiveness of sin.
Fourthly, the forgetting of sin.
The day and the lesson Of that day,
which We shall study, impress other
thoughts upon us but we shall con-
fine ourselves to these.
The day of atonement Is a recog-
milton of and an emphasis upon the
fact of sin. The offering is for sin.
The confession is a confession of sin.
The scapegoat atones for sin, is an
earnest of the forgiveness of sin. Is
the example of God fo%rgetfulness Of
forgiven sin. And all this rests up
on the basic consciousness Of human
sinfulness. For whatever may be
our opinion as to how and when and
why sin enters into the life of the
individual and of humanity we must
all agree that sin is a fact, that the
consciousness of sin is the first step
toward the affirmation of proper re-
lationships with God after we have
fallen away from Him. Whatever the
ideal life may be we are to-day sim
ming against God. However useless
and fruitless and wicked and unnec-
essary sin may be from any point of
view the fact of humanity's present
and prevalent sinfulness remains.
The fact of sin is unacceptable.
Equally conscious are we that the
only hope of escape from sin lies in
the confession of our unworthiness
to the living God. However philo-
sophical we may be, and however
learned we may be; whichever may
be the peculiar twists Of our state
ments of the problem Of sin and sal
walton, we must all come, and all OF
US do come, to this common ground
that without confession Of and re-
pentance for sin there can be no for
%giveness, no salvation.
Also we know that forgiveness
follows in hot haste upon confess
sion. Perhaps VIC lad better say
that forgiveness meets confeS-ion-
and more than half the way. Even
as God met the high priest on the
earth as the commissioner Of the
people so He stands just beside the
confession soul. and holds forth par
don for confessed sin.
The scapegoat never carried a sin
so far into the dessert OF forgetful-
ness as God can and does. When
God forgives He forgets. And He eX-
poets in the proper sense to do the
same and If experience counts for
anything He aids in this process of a
proper forgetfulness Of sin. For
%giveness that Is not correlated with
forgetfulness is no forgiveness at all.
We would not want even God to
hound US with the memory Of for
given sins.
All these lessons are linked with
the story of the day of atonement.
1t is no wonder that the day of
atonement is even to-day the mighty
day in the Jewish calendar. The
modern Jew may not go to syna-
gogue for fifty weeks a year, but he
is no Jew who forgets the day of
atonement. Why? Because the day
of atonement touches the universal
note in the Jewish heart. 1t taps the
spring of his deepest experience and
of his direst need.
The fact of sin is n that we
ought not to overlook. 1t ought not
to be overemphasized, but 1t had
; rather be overemphasized than for
gotten. Man is made in the image of
God. He is created a little lower
than Jehovah. He has inalienable
birthrights as a son of God. But
man is also a sinner. And his sin IS
worse as we understand his relation
to divinity and his ancestry. We
must not let men forget the fact of
sin. We must not withhold condem-
nation of their evil. We must por-
tray the exceeding viciousness of sin.
For if we do not convict men of sin
they will not confess it.. And no man
without a comprehension Of the rea
nature of the consequences Of his
wilfulness will confess his sin. We
must make men understand the enor'
nifty of sin or they will not confess it,
And conscious unconfessed sin Is the
worst hell that God Or man can de.
wise. Confession Is good for the
SOUL Is more than a phrase.
Forgiveness follows confession.
And Srgetfulness completes, the
work. God pardons and He erasea
the record. His forgetting enhances
His forgiving. And He not only for
gets, but He enables us to forget.
And it is right we should. The mem
DRY of sin is n Of the most spirit
ually facilitating things that we can
imagine. To be sure, we should
profit by our mistakes. But We
should not be unnerved by our re-
membrance of them. What you were
you we're. Forgiven of God in Christ
you are no longer what you were.
Behold, all things are passed away.
You are a new creature. You are
what you are. There are few, if any,
greater joys in life than the sense of
forgiven and forgotten sin. a sin
unconfessed is a scar unhealed. A
sin confessed is a sin healed.
The day of atonement is a profit
able subject of study because it is
linked with facts. And it is linked
with facts that we a we'll discount
or avoid if we are as a church to do
our work for the regeneration and
salvation of ..be world to God through
Christ. Christ recognized the fact OF
sin and we shall be imbecileS ii we
shut our eyes to it. The solution OF
its problem in the world is our work.
Cod grant we shall face it with cour
Ngs