Arizona republican., 1908-03-30
THE CHURCHES
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FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

At the First PreSbYterian church, Sunday morning. March 29th, Rev. Henry Martyr Campbell preached -on the "Atonement," using as text the words. Christ died for us" Romans, 5:S. In part Rev. Campbell said:
 How wonderfully simple those words are and yet how exceedingly suggestive and comprehensive. Take out of the Word that fact. and you absolutely destroy the word of life; expand that truth to it's greatest sig nificance and you include in it almost every precious teaching and funda- mental doctrine found in the old Bible. Very properly the text might be ren- dered Christ died instead of us.'
 What we think about the Atone ment depends upon what we think of sin and what we think of the charac- ter of God. If we think sin an insig- nificant thing, if we forget that the wages Of sin is death." we will have no conception of the need of the Atonement. If we believe that God is only God of love. of tenderness, and of mercy and not god also of abso- lute justice we will have no concep- ton of the Atonement: but, if as we
  we see His infinite, unchanging jus tice. we will begin to comprehend the need and importance of the Atone ment God is just He can bv no means clear the guilty. aside from the Atonement that Christ has made for Us. It is important that Wa have a correct conception of the AtOnement. because the tendency in these days is 10 minimize its importance: We forget that we are sinners. If a man stands four-square on the doctrine of the Atonement, he, in ninety-n nine cases out of every hundred. will be found to stand four-square on the other fOun- damental principle of the Word of God. Show me man who believes in the Atonement, and 1 will show you q man who believes in the other doe trines tkat our religion is based on.
 Two things are the result of sin, guilt and the power of sin over man. Christ is not a Savior in the sense of one whO "arns another and shows him better way alone. If He is our Savior ir that sense alone, salvation must depend upon our own efforts only. and there is not line in the Old Book to justify such a theory of the Atonement. By grace are ye saved and that not of yourselves" The Bible is full of passages proving that man cannot possibly save him self That conception of the Atone ment is d false one. The true concep- ton oe :t IS this: As it was necessary for the Jews of old to place the bleed ing sacrifical lamb between them selves and the justice of an offended God. so it is necessary for us to put the bleeding Lamb of God between us and the execution of Gods just retri- button for OFT sins.
 Tn proportion as we come into pos session O. a realization of the necessi- " of an Atonement. other things be- ing equal just so far will our hearts go out in love to Him who has re- deemed us The Bible without Gods plan of salvation. culminating in the Atonement. is an incomplete book. In the Bible Christ is again and again called our great High Priest. giving Himself to reconcile us to God. The Atonement made by Christ seemed to be the only way of salvation It ap- pears as though Cod had looked at His whole plan and had taken into consideration every possibility before He had given His Son to death and had concluded that the way of saliva ton was in the sacrifice of His Son Either there was necessity for the sacrifice of Christ. or the word of God is inconsistent and Gods heart is not all a heart of love.
 The death os Christ was more than the death of a mere martyr. It was voluntary death and it was death instead Of ours.
 What should realization of the truth of the Atonement do for us? It should fill our hearts with gratitude That Christ has died instead of us. that He has made an AtOnement for us should create in us a constant at titude of love. obedience. loyalty and gratitude. Shall we spurn this love and die2