Christ, The Propitiation For Our Sins

A Sermon Preached By Mr. Hazelton, At Mount Zion Chapel, Chadwell Street, Clerkenwell, On Lord’s-Day Evening, 13th December, 1874.

The Twenty-First Anniversary Of The Opening Of The Chapel.

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”—1 John 4:10

The Apostle Paul in his Epistle to Timothy, says, “Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness and then he enumerates some of its many branches. The first branch which he sets forth is the manifestation of God in our nature: “God was manifest in the flesh and hence when the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in our world, it is said that his name shall be called Emanuel—God with us; and again, “thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.” Thus God was manifest in the flesh. How mysterious and marvellous a manifestation of God took place in the manger in Bethlehem. Was that new­ born infant the mighty Saviour? Was that little child Jehovah? Was that apparently helpless one the great God that made heaven and earth? Yes; God was manifest in the flesh in the manger at Bethlehem. And we cannot doubt there were manifestations of divine glory in our flesh during the comparative re­tirement and seclusion of the Lord Jesus Christ for about thirty years. And God was manifest in our flesh when Christ appeared on the threshold of public life, and went down into the Jordan and was baptized of John. When he went forth into the wilderness, and was there engaged in a terrible, conflict for forty days with the powers of darkness, surrounded by all the temptations that the devil could invent, and all the fiery darts it was possible for Satan to forge,—then God was manifest in the flesh. We are told that he “suffered, being tempted.” and let us not forget the fact that he suffered in the temptation, notwithstanding that he was God. During those forty days and forty nights, whilst the powers of darkness surrounded him, and most probably the most abominable suggestions and insinuations of Satan were aimed at him, and, so to speak, reached him, the sufferings of Jesus Christ were deep and unspeakable, but he yielded not. Every thought of Christ was true, every feeling was pure, every motive was perfect, every step he took and every blow he struck on that occasion, or during that period of suffering, were perfect and pleasing to God. He never erred. Satan did not gain advantage over him in a single particular. What those temptations were during those forty days we perhaps shall never know. Three or four of them are recorded. He hungered, and was tempted to convert stones into bread. He was taken to a pinnacle of the temple, and tempted to cast himself down. Two or three other temptations are recorded; but surely “all” the temptations were almost innumerable, as they were spread over the long period of forty days and forty nights. The Holy Ghost has drawn a veil over many of them. Perhaps a full description of them would have been unfit to meet the public eye. In all probability, many of them were so black, so diabolical, and so bad, that it was not proper that they should be fully recorded in the holy word of Divine truth. What filth our Lord fought against! What abominations, what diabolical abominations our Lord was surrounded by! But he came out of the conflict unstained, untarnished, and undamaged. “Great is the mystery of godliness! God was manifest in the flesh.” Having been baptized and tempted, he proceeded to preach the word, and work a variety of miracles. You see him feeding five or seven thousand with a few loaves and fishes; God was thereby manifest in the flesh. You see him walking on the sea: God was thus manifest in the flesh. You see him rising in the boat during a storm and speaking to the wind and the waves, saying, “Peace! Be still!” and God was again manifest in the flesh. We have not, however, to dwell altogether upon that theme tonight. That is one of those branches of godliness which are inseparable from our salvation, and constitute the great mystery of godliness. Moreover, the sacrifice and sufferings of Jesus Christ are branches of godliness; and if there are endless mysteries in the complex person of the Savior, there are also endless mysteries in the work which he has done, and therefore it is said that the angels of God desire to look into these things. Angels desire to look into the deep mysteries of the Savior’s sufferings, into the deep mysteries of that great redemption which he accomplished, into the deep mysteries of that satisfaction which is the result of his blood-shedding and death, and into the deep mysteries of that salvation which comprehend untold millions, and shall bear them all into the presence of the everlasting God. This salvation is indicated in our text tonight, and therefore we have to look at one of two of the many branches of that godliness which is deeply mysterious, and will be deeply mysterious to saints and angels for ever.

In looking for a few minutes at our text, let me contemplate The Object Of The Savior’s Mission, he came “to be a propitiation for our sins;” and in the second place, The Great Fact Which The Work Of Christ Revealed And Attested, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us.” Now, these are the two branches into which we think the text divides itself, and upon each of them we will make a few observations tonight.

I. In the first place, let us contemplate the object of the Savior’s mission. You observe that I begin at the bottom of my text, and I do so for a certain reason. I want, in the first place, to contemplate the work of Christ, in order that I may proceed from that work which is the effect, to the everlasting love of God which is the great cause of that effect. “The propitiation for our sins.” Notice, in the first place, the great Person indicated. I am not going to dwell on this branch of my subject; I just make one or two preliminary remarks upon it. The great Person indicated—God sent “his Son.” Why did he not send a million or two of his angels? How was it that that he sent his Son? Jesus Christ was the only person in the universe that could put away sin, the only person that could expiate the sinner’s guilt, and the only person that could redeem and justify God’s church and people; and therefore it is said, “God sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” And then, in the second place, it is said that he was sent, that he came from heaven, that he entered into this world of ours. He came hither, and lived, or tabernacled here with us about three-and-thirty years. Why did he not expiate sin in heaven? That could not be done. Why did he not make an end of transgression upon his throne, or before God’s throne? That was impossible. Jesus Christ could not come in contact with a ruined world under the curse in heaven. He could not meet hating and persecution men in heaven. He could not meet the devil as a tempter, nor as a tormentor, nor as a liar, nor, in fact, in any other respect in heaven. He could not sink into ignominy in heaven. Our Lord could not bleed on the bosom of eternal love. The sword of divine justice could not be thrust into the person of the Son of God in that world of glory. Sin could not be laid upon Christ in that world of light and happiness; and therefore it is said that God sent his Son. Sin was committed here, and it was necessary that it should be expiated here. The offence was committed here, and it was necessary that punishment should take place in this world. Christ came where the sin was, where the offenders and the sinners were; and when he appeared before God in this fallen and ruined world, God took the sins of his people and laid them upon the person of his dear Son, (for the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all). Having received, by imputation, the sins of his people, it was impossible that Christ could go to heaven in that state, impossible that he could return to rule and reign, with the sins of his people upon his person; and therefore, having become their sin-bearer, it was necessary that he should carry them away into the land of eternal oblivion. Christ did bare our sins into a land that was not inhabited, or where they shall never be found, and returned to the throne of God, to heaven, to his honours, and to his glory, unstained and undamaged, as tne triumphant Redeemer of sinners, and the worthy Ransomer of the church of Cod. God sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

But let me particularise a little in relation to three or four points.

First, I would notice this propitiation in relation to God the Father. It was God’s intention that a propitiation, and a perfect propitiation, should be made for sin; and he was not disappointed. The purposes of heaven cannot be frustrated. This was God’s intention when Christ left heaven, when God sent his Son. He said, as it were, Go and make a perfect atonement for sin. Go down into the world, and make an end of transgression. Give yourself up, your whole person, body and soul, and all your glories, as an atoning sacrifice for sin, and thereby expiate the guilt of transgression; and when you have put away sin by the sacrifice of your­self, I will receive you to everlasting honours and glory, and you shall sit for ever at my right hand as the reward of your work. You are not to forget this, my friend; for Christ and the Father also made the Mediator’s success the condition of his enthronement, coronation, and reign. Jesus Christ could not have returned to heaven, he could not have been crowned, he could not have been surrounded with those honours which he now wears there, if he had not put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And therefore, our Lord may be regarded as leaving his glory under the hand of Justice. He stripped himself of his glorious robes, put on our nature, and veiled his majesty, and appeared in this poor world, dressed like his poor brethren. But on leaving heaven he said, if I may so speak, I will not return to claim these robes nor put them on again until I have saved sinners and eternally expiated their guilt. Well, he came and did his work, and did it dd it well, and dld it like a God; he accomplished the vast purposes of heaven, and fulfilled the grand intentions of Jehovah, and returned to heaven, and Justice delightedly received him, and crowned him with his well-deserved and everlasting glories and honours.

But I am to speak of the atonement of Jesus Christ in relation to the Father; and I notice here, that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ reached the very throne of Jehovah; and I want you to bear in mind, that this was the first sacrifice that ever reached his throne, or the first sacrifice that ever had merit to reach the throne of God. Multitudes of sacrifices had been offered, probably millions of victims had been slain, and rivers of blood, so to speak, had flowed in connection with sin and sinners; but no sacrifice, until the death of Jesus Christ, had ever reached the throne of God. The influence of no sacrifice had ever been a propitiation for sin until Jesus died and put away sin. Other sacrifices were typical. Those which had been offered were ceremonial, and the Lord in speaking of them says, “It was not possible that the blood of goats and of calves should take away sin.” God was pleased with them as ceremonies and types only. He was pleased with them as indicating the great sacrifice that was coming; but their influence never reached the throne of God. When, however, Christ, the Lamb of God, was slain, a fragrance ascended from that sacrifice into the very heavens of our God, and surrounded the throne of Jehovah, and God said, in relation to the sacrifice of Christ, I smell a sweet savor of rest. The sacrifice of Christ filled all the heavens with a sacred and satisfactory perfume, and hence it is said that he made a propitiation for our sins. Noting so grateful to God ever ascended from Adam in the garden of Eden. Nothing so delightful to God ever proceeded from man when he was in a state of innocency, and that simply for this reason,—Adam was a mere creature, and we are now speaking of the sacrifice of incarnate God. The services of Adam were a debt, which as a creature he owed to God; but the services of the Lord Jesus Christ were performed by Him with a view to the meritorious salvation of countless millions. And this influence which thus reached the throne of God appeased Jehovah. This, my friends, is one of the sweetest facts of the Gospel. It pacified Jehovah, and changed his attributes. Let me not be misunderstood nor misrepresented. The sacrifice of Christ changed the attributes of God, not in themselves, but in their relation to the sinner, in relation to the transgressor. Justice became the sinner’s Friend. Righteousness and equity became the friends of those for whom the dear Redeemer died; and hence the attributes of God changed places, if I may so speak, whilst God received the fragrance of his Son’s sacrifice, and smelt a sweet savor of rest. And then what followed? Why, the propitiation having been made, and the sweetness of it having reached the throne of God, the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom, and the heavens were opened. The first Adam’s deeds closed heaven, and the deeds of the second Adam re-opened that world of glory and disclosed a pacified God, and Jehovah as propitious to the sinner through the precious blood now before the throne, while heaven is filled with the fragrance and merits of the Savior’s sacrifice. God, who was offended with sin and sinners, now appears on the throne of mercy, round which may be seen the rainbow of the covenant; for the atoning sacrifice having been offered and accepted, there are no more storms in heaven to fall, but an eternal calm reigns there, and hence the rainbow round-about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. Jehovah now speaks to the sinner from the mercy-seat, and says, “Fury is not in me.” I was angry, but my anger is turned away, and I can and will now comfort thee; and therefore, addressing his servants, he says, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.” Yes; the sacrifice of Christ has reached Jehovah’s throne, and pacified and harmonized the moral attributes and perfections of our God.

But look, in the second place last this sacrifice in relation to Christ himself. “Sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Christ knew, therefore, when he left the bosom of the Father the work that was before him, the sorrows that he was to pass through, and the death that he had to meet and destroy; and hence it is said, “His reward is with him, and his work before him.” It is your mercy and mine that we know not what a day may bring forth, that we cannot look into the future, that we know nothing about the sorrows and circumstances of next week; your mercy and mine that the future is hid from our eyes. But the future of the Lord Jesus Christ, the terrible future of his life in the flesh, lay all before his mind. There was no veil to hide it from him. He was ignorant of nothing. He saw the whole distance that lay before him to the cross and the crown; all the hills, all the valleys, all the sorrows, all the powers of darkness,—aye, and all the sins he was to bear! His work was before him. However, let us look for a minute as the quality or the nature of this offering. A propitiation for our sins. What kind of propitiation is it? What is its nature? “He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” This is the sacrifice of the Lamb without blemish and without spot. Eternal perfection is in this sacrifice. Everything that God and man require. It is satisfactory. It is satisfaction itself; to the expiatory sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ nothing can be added. The Holy Spirit adds nothing to the work of Jesus Christ. Faith in the heart adds nothing to the work of Jesus Christ, and Christ’s intercession before the throne adds nothing to the merit of his blood, or the worth of his sacrifice. This propitiation stands alone. It is all that God requires. The Spirit leads the sinner to Christ’s work, but he adds nothing to it. The spirit gives the sinner faith in it, but the sinner’s faith does not affect the nature, worth, or perfection of Christ’s propitiation. Christ pleads it on high. I will, Father, that all whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, for I have redeemed them. He pleads it in heaven; but the intercession of Christ adds nothing to its worth and sufficiency. But why do you bring this subject before us in this way? Well, my dear friends, I do so, because, as I understand matters, I am required by God to preach the Gospel; and if this is not the marrow and fatness and spirit of the gospel, I do not know what the gospel is. I do so, because I have to preach to sinners, to proclaim a finished salvation to my fellow men. And I bless God that I have such a salvation to declare as that which I am so feebly glancing at,—a salvation that is perfect and complete and entire, wanting nothing. My trembling friends,—and I think I have some here to-night,—you are not straitened in the work of Christ. You are straitened in your own faith, in your own bowels. God cannot strike you penally. He cannot strike a sinner that has cast himself for life eternal upon the all-sufficient sacrifice of his dear Son; and therefore if you can look at this propitiation in relation to Jesus Christ, you will I think, be instructed and confirmed. With regard to its nature, character, and quality, it is the offering, the sacrifice of incarnate God. I should like to make another observation on this point before I leave it. I have been speaking on what I have called its quality. Shall I say a word on its extent or quantity? I am not going to say how many Christ died for. I do not just now dwell on those themes and topics. That is not what I mean. I am now speaking of the measure of the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, in relation to the requirements of God and the necessities of the poor sinner. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all. I beg the attention of my friends, and young friends especially to this fact. My observation may not be received by everyone. I put it, however, before you as the glorious gospel of the blessed God, and I put it fearlessly too. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all. What followed? Just that measure of punishment which was due to those iniquities. There is justice here. There is equity here. There is righteousness here. There is eternal truth here. What was Christ in relation to his sufferings? A surety. Was the amount of the debt known? Was it understood? Was the amount set down or exacted anyhow? Did he die without any definite, well-understood, or limited object? Did he not know what he had to pay, how much he had to suffer, or what the weight of the load was that was transferred by God from sinners to him? Oh he comprehended all this. He knew the weight of the sin, the amount of punishment due, and all that was required of him by justice and righteousness. There was no abatement on the one hand, and no excess of wrath on the other. God will never punish for sins otherwise than in perfect justice and equity, and hence there are degrees of punishment in the world of darkness. God punishes for sin only, and he dealt thus with his dear Son. The sin that was imputed was the sin for which God punished Christ, and thus the penalty

“Was all dealt in weight and measure,
Yet how little understood!”

Thus the debt is paid, redemption is complete, the book is blotted, and the bill is receipted and filed, being nailed to the cross. And why nailed to his cross? Why, that the sinner, who, when he is convinced of sin and visit the cross, may see it by faith. It is pleasant to see a bill, especially for a heavy amount, on the file. It is pleasant to know it is paid and receipted. Now the handwriting which was against us is nailed to Christ’s cross. When the great Surety paid his people’s debt, and made reconciliation for sin, was it done without regard to justice, to equity, to righteousness, and to truth? Away with all that fast and loose, or uncertain kind of dealing between God and his dear Son, in the solemn matter of punishing him for the sinner’s guilt! There was sin upon him, and so much punishment was due to that sin, and though our limited minds cannot comprehend the mighty mystery, yet satisfaction for sin was demanded and given upon the principle of eternal equity. Justice stood against Christ with her drawn sword, eternal truth stood by with the debt book and turned over—if I may thus illustrate so solemn a subject—the leaves as justice smote, and the Savior groaned, and wept, and bled. Truth turned over the leaves until the last page was reached, and the whole was paid, and then she closed the book, and justice sheathed her sword, and the Savior bowed his head, and said, “It is finished,” and gave up the ghost. And thus God’s Son became a propitiation for our sins. The shout of our dear Lord on the cross—and it was a shout, for “He cried with a loud voice”—was the shout of a released sufferer. “It is finished!” All penal sufferings are ended. Not all sufferings, but all penal sufferings are ended in relation to all that are interested in this propitiation. It was the shout of a conqueror. It was predicted of him that the “seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head.” There the old servant lies, and that prediction is fulfilled. I have overcome the devil and death. It was the shout of a Surety—the dreadful debt is paid, it is finished; and that which was against us, he nailed to his cross. And right views of the cross of Christ discover to the soul the perfection and completion of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice. It was the shout of a Ransomer, and the shout of a Savior—I cam to seek them, and have found them; I came to save them, and they are saved with an everlasting salvation.

Then thirdly, if we had time we might dwell a minute or two upon this atonement, or this propitiation in relation to sin itself. Where is sin? Well, sin is in the sinner. Ah, I am speaking of sin now, my dear friends, in connection with the perfect work of Christ; in connection with the satisfaction which God, as the moral governor of the world, has received, and in relation to all its penal consequences through this propitiation. Where is sin? In God’s book? I have blotted out as a cloud thy transgressions. In the mind of God? I will remember thy sins no more. Before the face of God? Thou hast cast all mine iniquities behind thy back. Between God and the sinner?

“But since my Savior stands between,
In garments dyed in blood;
’Tis he instead of me is seen,
When I approach to God.”

If thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted; and if not, sin lieth at the door like a dog. You may think this somewhat curious, but this seems to be the idea. It lies like a dog, or a savage beast at the door; so that if one would leave the house he cannot, and if one would enter the house he cannot. There lay that cruel monster sin, and Christ approached him, removed him, and destroyed him, and now he opens the door, and enters the house, and saves the sinner with an everlasting salvation. Thus sin is not in the book, it is blotted out—not in God’s mind. God says, “I will remember it no more.” Where is sin? I can only give you Scriptural phrases illustrative of this? Sin is covered. Sin is drowned. Sin is put away. Sin is lost in the atoning death of our Lord. “It shall come to pass in those days, that the iniquities of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon them whom I reserved I love those words. You know it is very possible that a thing may be in existence although it cannot be found. You may look for it, a hundred people may look for it; but it does not follow because it is lost, because you cannot find it, that therefore it has ceased to exist. The Lord has been pleased to say, “The sins of Judah shall be sought for, and they shall not be found; and those of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none.” There shall be none! And therefore, I suppose when we come to die—I cannot tell what the solemnities of death are, having never been in them; I must, however, enter the deep solemnities of death, and then I shall know what they are but I suppose when we come to die, if we have a sweet and living faith and hope in this atonement of Jesus Christ, we shall realize the sweet meaning of the words of Paul: “O Death, where is thy sting?” Where is thy sting? I have seen it. I used to fear it, when I contemplated thee, Death, years ago. I was afraid of thee. I saw thy sting, or thought I saw it, and was afraid I should be stung in this last, in this solemn hour. Is this dying? Is this departing? Is this going into eternity? Death! Death! Where is thy sting? There shall be none. Sin is put away. “He sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

I might proceed to speak of the sinner, or of this work in relation to the sinner. What shall we say of him? He lives. The sentence of death has been executed upon another. The sinner is free; and how does he appear before God. Well, he is alive through the death of Christ, and he is washed in blood, he is covered with the obedience of the Saviour, he is justified from all things, his heart possesses the living graces of the Spirit, and he stands in humble boldness and confidence before the throne of God. O that it may be our privilege under the influences of the Spirit, by the exercise of a living faith, to realise somewhat of the infinite preciousness of this blessed atonement for sin.

II. Well, our time is just gone, and therefore I can only put two or three matters together very rapidly in relation to the great fact which this propitiation reveals and attests. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us.” Love was before blood, and the love of God is antecedent to the love of his dear people. The cross of Jesus Christ is the grand effect of a glorious cause. “Not that we loved him, but that he loved us, and sent his Son;” and so on. Well, in this propitiation for sin, we have a manifestation of love. Here is a manifestation of love, a breaking forth of the eternal love of God. It had been concealed in eternity, it had been concealed in the bosom and heart of God; but in the suffering Jesus it broke forth gloriously as the waters gushed out of the smitten rock. As the rising sun puts an end to darkness and night, so Jesus Christ was the great manifester and manifestation of God’s everlasting love to his dear people.

Secondly, herein is the measure of love, the magnitude of it. No one but Christ could contain the whole of God’s love. No being in the world could contain the whole of the fulness of God. It required an infinite person to contain all the love of God; and when God gave his Son, he gave all he had; and you see how great the love was. The best, Love said, the best is not too good; and therefore he gave his only begotten Son. The best was not too good, and the greatest was not too much. Our gifts do not always represent the whole of our love. Perhaps few of our gifts represent or express the whole of our love; but I do not hesitate to say that God by giving us his dear Son has expressed the whole of his heart, the whole of his love. He has not equalled himself in Providence. He has not equalled himself in nature. He has not equalled himself in creation. He might have gone on creating worlds till now if he had pleased, for who can set limits to omnipotence? But he has equalled himself in the salvation of his people, in the gift of his dear Son. He has given himself in Christ to the objects of his love. Here, then, we have the measure of it, and the manifestation of it. A substitute for sinners receiving the strokes of divine Justice which they had merited, and rendering that to God, which was due from them to their Lawgiver, stooping over the guilty sinner, shielding and defending him, whilst justice frowned, and the law cursed, and God poured his wrath down. He met it all, received it all, and set the sinner free. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us.” And how manifold in its forms does the love of God appear in the sacrifices of Christ! God’s love, which is divided into many forms and streams in the different relations in which he is said to stand to his people, unites its manifold glories in this propitiatory sacrifice; for the Father, Brother, Husband, Head, Surety, and Shepherd, all appear in this one grand fact, he is the propitiation for our sins. In the cross of Christ, and in the sufferings of God’s dear Son, we have all these scattered forms of love united in one center, all combined in Christ crucified. My Father’s love, my Brother’s love, my Husband’s love, my Saviour’s love, my Shepherd’s love, the love of the Head of the Church, though expressing different facts, or different forms of the same fact, are all collected, all united together in the work of him that was sent to be a propitiation for our sins. May the Lord command his blessing for Christ’s sake. Amen.