Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1918-05-08


sacrifice, for the Lamb must be with
out blemish or spot. But even though
he had lived his perfect life, there
would have been no salvation for sin
ners had he not gone to the cross. In
the strong words Of Bishop Moule,
ellis life had to do with his being
all-worthy. But it did not, in whole
or in part, constitute the sacri-
fee" The Apostle Peter sums up the
matter thus: "Ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, from your vain conversation re-
ceived by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious word of Christ,
as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot"
His life was given "for" us, that is,
instead of US, for so the word may
be translated. The idea of substitu-
tiol cannot be removed from this eX-
preston. An Illustration Of the
thought is found in Exodus 30:12: /:
"When thou takest the sum of the
children Of Israel after their number,
then shall they give every man ran
som for his soul unto the Lord" The
half-shekel given by each man was
''atonement money" "to make atone
ment for their souls" as the succeed
ing verses make clear. The people were
considered not as doomed but as ran
sOmed by the atonement money paid
Instead of their death. Just so, Christ's
death takes the place of ours.
The reality and solemnity of the
substitution Of Christ for sinners is
set forth in Galations 3:1S: Christ
hath redeemed us from the course CT
the law, having become a curse for
u.s." The old revival hymn well ex-
presses the amazing and glorious
fact:
Bearing shame and scofling rude,
In my place condemned he stood;
Sealed my pardon with his, blood:
Hailelujahi
The death Of Christ cannot be under
stood save as the death of the sim
Bearer. This alone explains the agony
and bloody sweat Of GethSemane and
the plea, Father, if thou be willing,
remove this cup from me-" Christ
would not be worthy of the respect
paid even to soldiers who have gone
without flinching 10 death, or to mar
tyrs who have sung at the stake, if
his death were no different from
theirs. But if we understand that he
was entering into the shadow Of the
cross upon which he would bear the
sins of the world. we can understand
his shrinking horror of it all.
AS to what Christ suffered on the
cross we must speak with reverent re-
serve. But his cry, "My God, my God,
why has thou forsakcn me-" must not
be emptied of its awful content. Bish-
op Moule points ont that Christ could
not suffer that personal remorSe for
sir which must be one awful element
CT the future woe of sinners: yet his
cry on the crCsS "at least favOrs the
belief that tie all-bleSscd Sufferer
willcd to bear. and the Father to or
dain, the personal experience of de-
SertiOn such as enters into the final
docla." The bishop wisely adds, "The
reverent disciple will avoid all detailed
speculation in such 4 matter" But
we'll may we sing:
None Of the ransomed ever knew,
How deep were tie waters crossed. :,
Or how dark was the night the Lord
went through,
To find the sheep that was lost
What a price has been paid for our
redemption! Surely we could ask for
no more; GcL himself could ask for no
more and Satan is silenced in view OF
the work Gone on tile cross. Christ's
cry, cit is finished" answers all the
questions which could be asked in
heaven, earth or hell.
We need only fall down and thank
fully accept the deliverance bought by
his precious blood.
A Christian girl lay dying. With
much effort she moved one hand to tive
other and, after feeling the palm for a
moment, whispered, "No nail his hand
was pierced with the nail" With even
more effort she raised her hand to her
brow and, after feeling it, said, "No
thorns; his brow was crowned with
thorns." Finally, her hand stole to keE
side, and with triumph she cried, INC
spear; his side was pierced by the
spear