,transcribed from the #aijh ,longmans1  
,green1 and ,co4 edition by ,david      
,price1 email ccx#jgdpglaf4org          
,,gloria ,,crucis      ,,addresses      
,,delivered ,,in ,,lichfield ,,cathedral
  ,,holy ,,week ,,and ,,good ,,friday1  
#aijg    ,,by  ,,the ,,rev4 ,j4 ,h4     
,,beibitz1 ,m4,a4  ,,vice-,,principal   
,,of ,,the ,,theological ,,college1     
,,lichfield    ,,longmans1 ,,green1     
,,and ,,co4  #ci ,,paternoster ,,row1   
,,london  ,,new ,,york1 ,,bombay1 ,,and 
,,calcutta  #aijh    ,all rights        
reserved    ,,matri                     
,,introduction      ,these addresses1   
delivered in ,lichfield ,cathedral #j in
 ,holy ,week1 #aijg1  are published at  
the request of some who heard them4  ,it
 has only been  possible to endeavour to
 reproduce them in substance4    ,the   
writer desires to express his           
obligations to various works from which 
he has derived much assistance1 such as1
 above all1 ,du ,bose's ,gospel in  the 
,gospels1 ,askwith's ,conception of     

,christian ,holiness1 ,tennant's        
,origin of ,sin1 and ,jevons'           
,introduction to the ,history of        
,religion4    ,to the first and the last
 of these he is especially indebted in  
regard to  the view here taken of the   
,atonement4    ,it seems to him that no 
view of that great and central truth can
 possibly  be true1 which 7i7 represents
 it as the result of a transaction      
between  the ,father and the ,son1 which
 is ditheism pure and simple2 or which  
7ii7  regards it as intended to relieve 
us of the penalty of our sins1 instead  
of having as its one motive1 meaning1   
and purpose the cure of sinning4    ,so 
far as we can see1 the results of sin1  
seen and unseen1 in this world  and     
beyond it1 must follow naturally and    
necessarily from that  constitution of  
the universe 7including human nature7   
which is the  expression of the ,divine 
,mind4  ,if this is true1 and if that   
,mind is the  ,mind of ,him ,who is     
,love1 then all punishment must be      

remedial1 must have1  for its object and
 intention at least1 the conversion of  
the sinner4  ,and1  therefore1 the      
desire to escape from punishment1 if    
natural and  instinctive1 is also       
non-moral1 for it is the desire to shirk
 ,god's  remedy for sin1 and doomed     
never to realise its hope1 for it is the
  desire to reverse the laws of that    
,infinite ,holiness and ,love which     
governs the world4    ,yet this must be 
understood with one all-important       
reservation4  ,for the  worst punishment
 of sin1 is sin itself1 the alienation  
of the soul from  ,god1 with its        
consequent weakening of the will1       
dulling of the reason1  and corrupting  
of the affections4  ,and it was from    
this punishment1 from  this hardest     
hell1 which is sin1 or the character    
spoiled and ruined by  sin1 that ,christ
 died to deliver us4    ,it follows that
 it is high time to dismiss all those   
theories of the  ,atonement which       
ultimately trace their origin to the    

enduring influence  of ,roman law4      
,there is no remission of penalty       
offered to us in the  ,gospel of ,jesus 
,christ4  ,the offer which is there held
 out to us1 is that  which answers to   
our deepest need1 to the inmost longings
 of the human  soul1 the remission of   
our sins4    ,the idea of a penalty     
owing to the justice of ,god is a       
thoroughly  legalistic one1 the         
offspring of an age which thought in    
terms of law4  ,it  deals throughout    
with abstractions4  ,the very word      
justice is a general  notion1 a concept1
 the work of the mind abstracting from  
particulars4  ,justice and mercy are    
used like counters in some theological  
game at  which we are invited to play4  
,penalty1 again1 is a term which serves 
to obscure the one important fact that  
,god1 as a ,moral ,person or1 rather1   
as the ,one ,self-,existent ,being1 of  
,whose nature and essence morality is   
the expression1 can only have one motive
 in dealing with sinners1 and  that is1 

to reconcile them to ,himself1 to       
restore them to that true ideal  of     
their nature1 which is the ,image of    
,himself in the heart of every man4     
,who can measure the pain and anguish   
which that restoration must cost1 to    
the sinner himself1 and 7such is the    
wonderful teaching of the ,cross7 to    
,god1 the ,all-,holy ,one1 ,who comes   
into a world of sin in order to restore 
him8    ,there is no room here1 at all  
events1 for light and trivial thoughts  
of  sin4  ,that charge might be         
levelled1 with more excuse1 at the view 
that  sin only incurs an external       
penalty1 from which we can be cheaply   
delivered by the sufferings of another4 
,and theories of the ,atonement which   
centre in the conception of penalty  are
 often only modifications of the crude  
and glaring injustice of the            
,calvinistic view4  ,the doctrine of a  
kind of bargain between the ,father  and
 the ,son1 while it revolts our moral   
instincts1 at the same time  logically  

leads to the purely heathen notion of   
two gods4    ,there are two main        
principles which are essential to a     
right  understanding of the ,atonement3 
7#a7 ,the oneness of ,christ both with  
,god  and with humanity4  ,in regard to 
neither is ,he1 nor can ,he be1         
,another2  7#b7 the death of ,christ was
 the representation in space and time of
 a  moral fact4  ,it happened as an     
event in history1 in order that that    
moral fact1 of which it was the         
embodiment and symbol1 might become a   
fact in the spiritual experience of     
mankind4  ,that death was more than a   
symbol1 because it was the actual means 
by which that which it  represented     
might be1 and has been1 in the lives of 
all ,christians  accomplished4  ,these  
two principles the writer has1 with     
whatever degree  of failure or          
inadequacy1 endeavoured to embody in the
 following  addresses4    ,and yet the  
,atonement1 which is1 in the broadest   
aspect of it1  ,christianity itself1 is 

a fact infinitely greater and higher    
than any  mere theories of it4  ,for it 
is nothing less than this1 the personal 
action of the living ,christ on the     
living souls of men4  ,that his readers 
and himself may experience this action  
in ever-increasing measure is the       
prayer of him who1 as he fears1 too     
greatly daring1 has endeavoured to  set 
forth1 yet once more1 ,the ,glory of the
 ,cross4          ,,gloria ,,crucis     
,i  ,,the ,,glory ,,of ,,the ,,cross    
,god forbid that ,i should glory save in
 the ,cross of our ,lord ,jesus         
,christ4--,,gal4 ,,vi4 #ad4    ,there   
are at least two reasons1 unconnected   
with ,holy ,week1 why the  subject of   
the ,cross of ,christ should occupy our 
attention4    #a4  ,the first reason is1
 that the ,cross is commonly recognised 
as the  weak point in our ,christianity4
  ,it is the object of constant attack  
on  the part of its assailants3 and     
believers are content too often to      
accept  it on faith1 which means that   

they despair of giving a rational       
explanation of it4  ,too often1 indeed1 
,christians have proclaimed and  have   
gloried in its supposed irrationality4  
,to this latter point we  shall return4 
,but in the meanwhile it is necessary to
 say this3 all  language of harshness   
towards those who attack the doctrine of
 the  ,atonement is completely out of   
place4  ,for the justification of their 
attacks has very often come from the    
,christian side4  ,in former times1  far
 more commonly than now1 the sacrifice  
of ,christ has been represented  as a   
substitutory offering1 necessary to     
appease the wrath of an offended  ,god4 
,it used to be said1 and in some        
quarters it is said to-day1 that  the   
sins of the human race had so provoked  
the ,divine anger that it could  be     
appeased by nothing short of the        
destruction of mankind4  ,in these  dire
 straits of mankind1 the ,sinless ,son  
of ,god presented ,himself as the       
object on which the full vials of the   

,father's wrath should be outpoured4    
,god having been thus placated1 and ,his
 wrath satisfied1 such as believe  in   
this transaction1 and rest themselves in
 confidence upon it1 are  enabled in    
such wise to reap its benefits that they
 escape the penalty  due to their       
transgression1 and are restored to the  
,divine favour4    ,now this is the     
crudest representation of a certain     
popular theology of  the ,atonement4    
,with some of its features softened     
down1 it is by no  means without its    
adherents and exponents at the present  
day4  ,but when  its drift is clearly   
understood1 it is seen to be a doctrine 
which no  educated man of our time can  
accept4  ,we may consider four fatal    
objections to it4    7a7 ,it is true    
that there is such a thing as the wrath 
of ,god4  ,it is  not only a fact1 but  
one of the most tremendous facts in the 
universe4  ,it  is a fact as high as the
 ,divine purity1 as deep as the         
malignity and  foulness of sin1 as broad

 as all human experience4  ,it is       
impossible to  construct a theistic     
theory of the world which shall leave it
 out4  ,the  nature of the fact we shall
 investigate at a later point4  ,but we 
can say  this at once4  ,it cannot be   
such a fact as is represented by the    
theory  under review4  ,for that        
represents the wrath of ,god as a mere  
thirst for  vengeance1 a burning desire 
to inflict punishment1 a rage that can  
only  be satisfied by pain1 and blood1  
and death4  ,in other words1 we are     
driven to a conception of ,god which is 
profoundly immoral1 and  revoltingly    
pagan4  ,if we are rightly interested in
 missions to the  heathen1 are there to 
be no attempts to convert our           
fellow-,christians  whose conception of 
,god scarcely rises above the heathen   
one of a cruel  and sanguinary deity8   
,not such1 at least1 is the ,new        
,testament doctrine  of ,him ,who is    
,god and the ,father of our ,lord ,jesus
 ,christ4    7b7 ,there is no moral     

quality which we esteem higher than     
justice4  ,fairness1 equity1 straight   
dealing are attributes for which all men
  entertain a hearty and unfeigned      
respect4  ,there is no flame of         
indignation which burns fiercer within  
us than when we conceive  ourselves1 or 
others1 to be the victims of injustice4 
,but what are we to  say of a view of   
the ,atonement which represents ,god    
,himself as being  guilty of the most   
flagrant act of injustice that the mind 
of man has  ever conceived1 the         
infliction of condign punishment upon a 
perfectly  innocent ,person1 and that   
for the offences committed by others8   
,it is a  further wrong1 and that a     
wrong done to the offenders themselves1 
that  they are1 in consideration of the 
sufferings of the righteous ,one1       
relieved of the merited and healthful   
punishment of ill-doing4    7c7 ,a third
 defect of this theory of the ,atonement
 is1 that it is  profoundly unethical4  
,the need of man is represented as      

being1 above  all1 escape from penalty4 
,whereas1 at least1 the conscience of   
the  sinner himself is bearing at all   
times witness to the truth that his real
  necessity is escape from his sin1 from
 the weakness and the defilement of  his
 moral nature1 which are of the very    
essence of moral transgression4  ,we are
 now dealing with the matter from the   
moral standpoint2 but we have  to       
support us the authority of the earliest
 proclamation of the work of  the       
,christ3 ,he shall save ,his people from
 their sins1 not from any  pains or     
penalties attached to their sins4       
,relief from punishment is not  the     
,gospel of the ,new ,testament1 it is   
not a gospel at all4    7d7 ,finally1   
the idea of a transaction between the   
,father and the ,son  is clean contrary 
to the fundamental ,christian doctrine  
of the ,unity of  ,god4  ,once locate   
justice in the ,father1 and love in the 
,son1 and view  the ,atonement as the   
result of a bargain1 or transaction     

between the ,two1  and once more we are 
left with a doctrine not ,christian1 but
 heathen and  polytheistic4  ,there is  
unhappily little doubt1 that the        
doctrine of the  ,holy ,trinity suffers1
 just as that of the ,atonement1 even   
more from its  defenders than from its  
assailants4  ,properly understood1 that 
doctrine  is the vindication of the     
complete fulness of the personal life of
 the  ,one ,god4  ,too often it is so   
held1 and so preached and represented1  
as in  this case1 that monotheism is    
tacitly abandoned in favour of ditheism 
or  tritheism4  ,it needs to be plainly 
said1 that the transaction theory is    
inconsistent with the trinitarian       
doctrine4  ,the ,three ,persons are so  
called in our ,western theology owing to
 defects inherent in human thought  and 
speech4  ,to set one over against the   
other as two parties to a  contract1 is 
to found a theory upon those very       
defects4  ,the ,miltonic  representation
 of the ,father and the ,son is ,arian2 

the popular view is1  more often than   
not1 a belief either in two gods1 or in 
a logical  contradiction4    ,to sum up1
 the view of the ,atonement with which  
we have been occupying  ourselves1 is   
opposed to the fundamental moral        
instincts1 and to the  ,christian       
consciousness1 both as it finds         
expression in the ,new  ,testament1 and 
as it reveals itself in the best minds  
of to-day4  ,and  this type of theory1  
although without some of its coarser    
features1 is by  no means extinct4      
,there is all the more need then1 in    
spite of all that  has been so well done
 in this direction1 to exhibit the      
,atonement as the  supreme vindication  
of those instincts which are the witness
 of the  ,divine in man4  ,there is laid
 on all who would preach or teach       
,christianity to-day to show that       
,calvinism1 and all that is touched with
  the taint of ,calvinism1 is not the   
doctrine of the ,atonement which is     
taught in the ,bible or held by the     

,church4  ,but1 as nothing can be built 
on negations1 there is an even greater  
and more imperative need to  exhibit the
 truth of the ,atonement in its beauty  
and majesty and  transcendent moral     
power4    #b4  ,the second of our two   
reasons for the choice of the ,cross of 
,christ  as our subject1 is the failure 
on the part of those who believe in it1 
trust in it1 and even build their lives 
upon it1 to realise the true  vastness  
of its meaning4  ,we are too apt to     
regard the ,cross as one of  the        
doctrines of our religion1 or as        
supplying a motive to penitence1 or  to 
,christian conduct4  ,our view1 when we 
are most in earnest1 is  one-sided1     
limited1 parochial4  ,we must rise1 if  
we would really  understand the ,cross1 
to the height of this conception3 that  
it contains  in itself the answer to the
 problem of human existence1 and of our 
individual lives4  ,the secret of the   
universe1 of our part of it at  least1  
that tiny corner which is occupied by   

the human race1 was revealed  in that   
supreme disclosure of the ,divine ,mind 
which was made on ,calvary4  ,it was a  
disclosure necessarily given under the  
forms of time and space1  else it could 
not have been given to us at all4  ,but 
it transcends all  forms and            
limitations1 and belongs to the         
spiritual and timeless order1  which is 
also the ,real4  ,but it is a disclosure
 which requires the  thought and study1 
not of one generation only1 but of all4 
,it can never  be exhausted4  ,there is 
no view of it 7including even that      
miserable  caricature which we have just
 considered7 that is altogether without 
some  elements of truth4  ,there is no  
view which embodies the whole of the    
truth4  ,each generation is meant to    
read that secret of ,god1 which was     
uttered to mankind from the ,cross of   
the ,christ1 a little more clearly  than
 its predecessors4  ,no theology of the 
,atonement which is not both  new and   
old1 can be a true theology4  ,it must  

be old1 because the  disclosure was made
 under the form of historic facts which 
belong to the  past4  ,it must be new1  
because each age1 in the light of the   
progressive  revelation of ,god1        
interprets the disclosure under the     
forms of its own  experience1           
scientific1 moral1 spiritual1 which     
belongs to the present4  ,therefore is  
every scribe that is instructed unto the
 kingdom of heaven1  like unto a        
householder which bringeth forth out of 
his treasures things  both new and old4 
,but the present point is1 that we      
should realise the far-reaching         
significance of the disclosure of ,god  
made on and from the ,cross4  ,human    
history is like a long-drawn-out drama1 
in which we are actors4  ,how long  is  
that drama1 stretching back beyond the  
long years of recorded history  to our  
dim forefathers1 who have left their    
rude stone implements on the  floors of 
caves or bedded in the river drift1 the 
silent witnesses of a  vanished race4   

,and how short is that little scene in  
which we ourselves  appear1 while1      
insignificant as it is1 it is yet our   
all4  ,and we ask1 we  are impelled to  
ask1 what is the meaning of the whole   
vast drama8  ,what  is the meaning of   
our own little scene in it8  ,no        
questions can be  compared in interest  
and importance to these two4  ,and the  
answer to them  both1 so we shall try to
 see1 was given once in time from the   
,cross4  ,that  is one of the chief     
aspects under which we shall regard the 
,cross of  ,christ1 as the key which    
unlocks the mystery of human existence1 
and of  my existence4  ,there is no more
 majestic or pathetic conception than   
that  of the veiled ,isis4  ,but the    
,cross is the removal of the veil1 the  
discovery of the ,divine ,secret4    99 
99 99 99 99    ,before1 however1 we     
proceed to our main subject1 it will be 
well to set  first before our minds a   
few elementary considerations4    ,the  
existence of ,god appears to be         

necessitated in order to account for    
two things3 7i7 the appearance of       
control in the universe2 7ii7 the facts 
of moral consciousness4    7i7  ,it     
seems impossible to get rid of the ideas
 of direction and  control4  ,if we     
regard the world as it exists at the    
present moment1 as  one stage in an     
age-long process1 then at least ,greek  
text the facts  which now appear were   
contained in the earliest stage of all4 
,man  appears with his moral and        
spiritual nature4  ,then already the    
moral and  the spiritual were somehow   
present when the first living cell began
 its  wonderful course4  ,greek text4   
,all movements have converged towards   
this end1 and the co-ordination of      
movements implies control4    ,this then
 is our first reason for our belief in  
,god4  ,we live in a  universe which    
seems throughout to manifest evidence of
 direction and  control4    7ii7  ,but  
,i have much surer and more cogent      
evidence within myself4  ,whence comes  

that ineradicable conviction of the     
supremacy of  righteousness1 of the     
utter loveliness of the good1 and utter 
hatefulness  of the evil8  ,i am not    
concerned with the steps of the process 
by which  the moral sense may have      
developed4  ,the majesty of goodness1   
before  which ,i bow1 really1 sincerely1
 even when by my acts ,i give the lie to
 my  own innermost convictions1 that is 
no creation of my consciousness4  ,nor  
do ,i see good reason to believe that it
 has been an invention of1 or  growth   
in1 human consciousness during the slow 
development of past ages4  ,there is    
something deeper in my moral convictions
 than an outward  sanction wondrously   
transmuted into an internal one4        
,moreover1 in the  best men1 those who  
have really developed that moral faculty
 which ,i  detect1 in beginning and     
germ1 as it were1 in myself1 ,i see no  
abatement  in reverence for the ideal4  
,rather1 the better and saintlier that  
they  are1 the keener do they feel their

 fallings off from it4  ,a moral lapse1 
which would give me hardly a moment's   
uneasy thought1 is capable of  causing  
in them acute and prolonged sorrow4     
,the nearer they draw to the  moral     
ideal1 strange paradox1 the farther off 
from them does it ever  appear1 and they
 from it4  ,it is an apostle who writes1
 ,christ ,jesus  came into the world to 
save sinners1 of whom ,i am the chief4  
,nor can ,i  discover any tolerable     
explanation of all this1 except that the
 guiding  and directive power in the    
world1 reveals itself in the moral      
consciousness of men1 and with growing  
clearness in proportion as that         
consciousness has been trained and      
educated1 as the moral ideal4    ,i find
 myself then1 when my eyes are opened to
 the realities of the world  in which ,i
 live1 confronted with the facts of     
directive control and of  the moral     
ideal4  ,if ,i seek for some            
interpretation and coordination of  the 
facts1 ,i am compelled1 judging of them 

on the analogy of my own  experience    
7which1 being the ultimate reality ,i   
know1 is my only clue to  the           
interpretation of the ultimate reality  
of the universe7 to regard  them as the 
activities of a ,person1 ,whom we call  
,god4  ,certainly to call  the ,ultimate
 ,reality a ,person1 must be an         
inadequate expression of the  truth1 for
 it is the expression of the highest    
form of being in the terms  of the      
lower4  ,but it is an infinitely more   
adequate presentation1 than  to         
represent that ,reality as impersonal4  
,for personality being the  highest     
category of my thought1 ,i am bound to  
think of ,god as being  ,personal1 if ,i
 would think of ,him at all4  ,i can be 
confident that though  my view must fall
 far short of the truth1 it is at least 
nearer to the  truth and heart of things
 than any other view ,i can form4  ,it  
is in fact  the truth so far as ,i can  
apprehend it3 the truth by which ,i was 
meant to  live1 and on which ,i was made

 to act4    ,but the question of        
questions remains--,what is the relation
 of the ,person  ,whom ,i call ,god to  
my own personal being1 to my spirit8    
,and1 in  answering this question1      
popular theology makes a grave and      
disastrous  mistake4  ,it regards that  
,person as being isolated from all other
  persons1 in the same way as each of us
 is isolated from all other  persons4   
,god1 that is1 is viewed as but ,one    
,person among many4  ,now1  without     
inquiring as to the truth of this       
conception of personality1 as  being    
essentially an exclusive thing1 we may  
at least say this1 following  the       
teaching of our best modern thinkers1 as
 they have followed that of  ,st4 ,john 
and the ,greek ,fathers1 that ,god is as
 truly conceived of as  being within us1
 as external to us4  ,his ,throne is in 
the heart of man1  as truly as it is at 
the centre of the universe4  ,no view of
 ,god is  tenable at the present day    
which regards ,him as outside ,his own  

creation4  ,his ,personality is not     
exclusive1 but inclusive of all things  
and all  persons1 while yet it          
transcends them4  ,and as ,he includes  
us within  ,himself1 as in ,god we live 
and move and have our being1 so also ,he
  interpenetrates us with ,his          
indwelling ,presence as the life of our 
life4    ,to this point we shall        
presently return1 for it is the keynote 
of all  modern advance in theological   
knowledge1 so far as that is not        
concerned  with questions of literature1
 history1 archaeology1 and textual      
criticism4  ,but we are concerned to    
notice now1 that this recovered truth   
of the immanence of ,god in our         
humanity1 affords the full and          
sufficient  explanation of that dark    
shadow which lies athwart all human     
lives4  ,that  shadow has loomed large  
in the minds of poets1 thinkers1 and    
theologians4  ,the latter know it by the
 name of sin4  ,but what is sin save the
  conscious alienation and estrangement 

of man from the ,divine ,life which  is 
in him8  ,and if this be true1 we can   
now see clearly why sin1 moral          
transgression1 always makes itself felt 
as a disintegrating force both  without 
and within the individual life4         
,without1 it is for ever  separating    
nation from nation1 class from class1   
man from man4  ,within1  it produces    
discord and confusion in our nature4    
,and both results  follow1 because sin  
is the alienation from the ,divine      
,life1 which is both  the common element
 in human nature which binds man to man 
by the tie of  spiritual kinship2 and   
also the central point of the individual
 life1 the  hidden and sacred source and
 fountain of our being1 which unites all
 the  faculties and powers of our       
manhood in one harmonious whole4    ,now
 the ,cross of ,jesus ,christ is the    
overcoming of this disastrous           
estrangement and alienation4  ,it is the
 victory of the ,divine life in  man4   
,that is the most fruitful way in which 

we can regard it4  ,the ,cross  stands  
for conquest--the triumph of the ,divine
 ,life in us over all the  forces which 
are opposed to it4  ,and in this lies   
the glory of the ,cross2  that which    
made the symbol of the most degrading   
form of punishment--that  punishment    
which to the ,jewish mind made him who  
suffered under it the  accursed of ,god1
 and which to the ,roman was the        
ignominious penalty  which the law      
inflicted on the slave--the subject of  
boasting to that  apostle who was both1 
to the very heart of him1 a ,jew and    
also a citizen  of the empire4    ,the  
object of these lectures is to show how 
this is indeed the meaning of  the      
,cross4  ,there1 in ,him ,who was the   
,son of man1 the ,representative and    
the ,ideal of the race1 the ,divine     
,life triumphed1 in order that in us1   
who are not separate from1 but one with 
,him1 it may win the like victory4      
,we fight against sin1 and again and    
again succumb in the struggle4  ,but  as

 often as with the opened eye of the    
soul we turn to the ,cross of  ,jesus1  
we behold there the victory1 our        
victory1 already won4  ,already1        
indeed1 it is ours1 by the communication
 to us of the ,spirit of ,him ,who      
triumphed on the ,cross4  ,it only      
remains for us1 by the deliberate act of
  our whole personal being1 our will1   
our reason1 our affections1 to          
appropriate and make our own the        
deathless conquest won in and for our   
humanity on the ,cross4        ,,ii     
,,the ,,historical ,,and ,,spiritual    
,,causes ,,of ,,the ,,death ,,of        
,,christ         ,him1 being by the     
determined will and foreknowledge of    
,god given up1     through the hand of  
lawless men1 ye affixed to a cross and  
slew4--,,acts     ,,ii4 #bc4    ,st4    
,paul places this in the very forefront 
of that gospel which1 as it  had been   
delivered to him1 so he in his turn had 
delivered to the  ,corinthians1 that    
,christ died for our sins4  ,neglecting 

all1 deeper  interpretations of this1 it
 is at least clear that in the apostle's
 mind  there was the closest and most   
intimate connexion between the death of 
,christ and the fact of human sin4      
,now it is important to remember that   
that connexion was1 in the first  place1
 an historical one4    ,christianity is 
a religion founded upon facts4  ,in this
 is seen at once a  sharp distinction   
between our religion and that which     
claims the  allegiance of so many       
millions of our race--the religion1 or  
better1  perhaps1 the philosophy of the 
,buddha4  ,certainly there is such a    
thing  as a ,christian philosophy4  ,for
 we cannot handle facts without at the  
same time seeking for some rational     
explanation of them4  ,the plain man    
becomes a philosopher against his will4 
,in its origin our ,christian  theology 
is no artificial1 manufactured product4 
,it is rather an  inevitable1 natural   
growth4  ,neither the minds of the      
earliest ,christian  thinkers1 nor our  

own minds1 are just sheets of blank     
paper on which  facts may impress       
themselves4  ,scientists1 some of them  
at least1 while  repudiating philosophy 
put forth metaphysical theories of the  
universe4  ,theology is simply the      
necessary result of human minds turned  
to the  consideration of the ,christian 
facts4  ,but it makes all the difference
  which end you start from1 the facts or
 the theory3 whether your method is  a  
posteriori or a priori2 inductive or    
deductive2 scientific or  obscurantist4 
,and ,christianity follows the          
scientific method of starting  with the 
facts4  ,in this lies the justification 
of its claim to be a  religion at once  
universal and life-giving4  ,it is      
universal because  facts are the common 
property of all1 although the           
interpretation placed  on those facts by
 individuals may be more or less        
adequate4  ,it is life-  giving1 because
 men live by facts1 not by theories     
about them2 by the  assimilation of     

food1 not by the knowledge how food     
nourishes our bodies4    ,following1    
then1 the ,christian1 which is also the 
scientific method1 we  now set out in   
search of the facts1 the historical     
causes which brought  about the death of
 ,christ4    ,now these causes appear to
 have been1 mainly1 these three3        
prejudice1 a  dead religion1 and the    
love of gain and political ambition4    
#a4  ,prejudice may1 perhaps1 be best   
defined as the resolution to hold  fast 
to our belief1 just because it is our   
belief2 to adhere to an  opinion1 and   
close our eyes to all that has been said
 on the opposite  side4  ,now nowhere   
and at no time has prejudice exerted a  
more absolute  dominion over the minds  
of men1 than it did in ,judaea in the   
first  century of our era4  ,the people 
had inherited a traditional conception  
of  the ,messiah1 from which they could 
not imagine any deviation possible4  ,he
  was the ,deliverer and the ,restorer  
predestined of ,god4  ,he would throw   

off the hated foreign yoke1 and make the
 people of ,god supreme over all  the   
nations of the earth4  ,it was for a    
long time doubtful whether ,jesus  of   
,nazareth intended to claim the         
position1 and to enact the part of the  
,messiah4  ,how long keepest thou our   
soul in suspense8 was the question  put 
to ,him as late as the ,feast of        
,dedication1 #bh ,a4,d41 the year before
  ,he suffered4  ,but1 finally1 the     
people found themselves confronted with 
a  type of ,messiah differing toto caelo
 from the accepted traditional  type4   
,the kingdom of ,god1 which meant the   
,divine rule over the souls of  men1 was
 at least not such a kingdom as they    
were looking for1 as they  had been     
taught to expect4  ,there is a long     
history in the gospels of the  gradual  
rise of a popular hope1 more than once  
seeming to have attained  its eagerly   
longed-for goal2 but at last doomed1 and
 conscious that it  was doomed1 to      
bitter and final disappointment4  ,and  

it turned to hatred  of ,him ,who had   
aroused it from a long and fitful sleep 
of centuries4  ,crucify ,him was now    
their cry4  ,jesus was put to death on  
the legal  charge of being ,christ1 a   
,king1 a provincial rebel4  ,he really  
died  because ,he was not ,christ1 a    
,king1 in such sense as ,he had been    
expected to be4  ,thus the first        
historical cause of the death of our    
,lord  was prejudice1 inveterate and    
ingrained1 in the minds of the people4  
#b4  ,the second historical cause of the
 death of our ,lord was the  existence  
in ,his day and place of a dead         
religion4  ,this is1 when we  consider  
the meaning of the phrase1 the strangest
 of paradoxes1 the  existence in fact of
 a logical contradiction4  ,for religion
 is in its  essential nature a living   
thing1 for the very reason that it is   
part of  the experience of a living     
person4  ,as experience is not merely   
alive1  but the sum of all our vital    
powers1 it is ever growing1 both in     

breadth  and in intensity4  ,so far then
 as we are in any true sense religious  
men1  our religion1 as part and parcel  
of our experience1 must be alive with an
  intense and vigorous activity1 growing
 in the direction in which our          
experience grows4  ,hence a dead        
religion is a logical contradiction1 as 
we have said4  ,but1 as truth is        
stranger than fiction1 so life contains 
anomalies and monstrosities which simply
 set logic at defiance4  ,a dead        
religion is indeed a monstrum1 something
 portentous1 which refuses to be        
reconciled with any canons of           
rationality4  ,but it exists--that is   
the  astonishing fact about it2 and it  
found its almost perfect expression and 
embodiment in the normal and average    
,pharisee of our ,lord's time4  ,there  
are three characteristic features about 
a dead religion1 and all of them        
receive a perfect illustration in the   
well-known picture in the gospels  of   
,pharisaic religion4    7a7  ,it tends  

less and less to rest on experience1 and
 more and more to  repose upon          
tradition4  ,it is academic1 a thing on 
which scribes may  lecture1 while the   
voice of the scholastic pedant with     
blatant  repetitions overpowers the     
living1 authoritative voice within the  
soul4  ,they marvelled1 because ,he     
taught with authority1 and not as the   
scribes4  ,a fresh 7not new7 teaching1  
with authority6    7b7  ,it removes the 
living ,god to an infinite distance from
 human life4  ,religion is a matter of  
rules1 of minute obedience to a code of 
morals  and of ceremonial imposed from  
without1 not of a fellowship of the     
human  with the ,divine4  ,in fact1 ,god
 is banished to a point on the far      
circumference1 and the centre is        
occupied by the ,law4  ,he is retained  
in  order to give authority to that     
,law1 as the source of sanctions in the 
way of rewards and punishments4  ,in    
short1 the idea of the living ,god      
degenerates into the necessary          

convention of an ecclesiastical         
tradition4    7c7  ,closely connected   
with this second feature is the third   
characteristic of a dead religion--its  
inhumanity4  ,when men substitute       
obedience to a code for service of the  
living ,god1 it is no wonder that  the  
truth--the central truth of             
religion--fades rapidly from their      
minds1  that the service of ,god is     
identical with the highest service      
rendered to  our fellow-men4  ,this     
commandment have we from ,him1 that he  
who loveth  ,god1 love his brother also4
  ,this explains why the ,pharisee held 
aloof  from the outcast and the sinner4 
,they might be left to perish--it       
mattered not to him4    ,now1 all       
through the ,gospel history our ,lord   
appears as standing in  absolute and    
sternest opposition to the dead religion
 of the ,pharisees4  ,he could make no  
manner of terms with it4  ,he acted     
against it4  ,he  denounced it at every 
point4  ,he rebuked them for making the 

commandment  of ,god of none effect by  
that tradition which they loved so      
dearly4  ,he  brought the idea of a     
living ,god into closest touch with the 
actual lives  of men4  ,he deliberately 
consorted with publicans and sinners4   
,and1  finally1 ,he condemned1 in set   
discourse1 the whole system1            
traditional1  ,godless1 inhuman1 with   
scathing emphasis4  ,christ died1 not   
only because  ,his words and acts ran   
counter to the prejudice of the people1 
but  because ,he spoke and acted in     
opposition to the dead religion of the  
,pharisees4    #c4  ,the third          
historical cause of the death of ,christ
 was the love of  gain and the political
 ambition of the ,sadducees4  ,their    
hatred1 indeed1  would have been        
powerless if our ,lord had not already  
provoked the enmity  of the people and  
of the ,pharisees2 but that enmity1 in  
turn1 without the  unscrupulous         
intrigues of the ,sadducees1 a small but
 most influential  section1 would never 

have proceeded to its fatal and         
murderous issue4  ,the  ,pharisees gave 
up the conflict in despair3 ,perceive ye
 that ye prevail  nothing8  ,behold1 the
 whole world is gone after ,him4  ,it   
was the  ,sadducean ,high ,priest who   
gave the counsel of death4  ,it is      
expedient  that one man should die for  
the people4    ,we must remember that   
the ,sadducees represented the          
aristocracy of ,judaea1  and that1 as   
resulted necessarily from the nature and
 constitution of the  ,jewish state1 was
 an ecclesiastical aristocracy1 an      
hierarchy4  ,they are  the party denoted
 several times in the ,new ,testament by
 the term the  ,high ,priests4  ,the    
nearest analogy to their position is    
supplied by the  political popes and    
bishops of the ,middle ,ages4  ,their   
interests were  political rather than   
spiritual4  ,a considerable amount of   
independence  had been left to the ,jews
 in their own land4  ,the ,sanhedrin1   
the native  court1 exercised still very 

considerable power4  ,and the ,sadducean
  minority possessed a predominating    
influence in its consultations4  ,what  
political power could be wielded in a   
subject state of the ,empire was in     
their hands4  ,incidentally1 a large and
 flourishing business was  conducted    
under their control and management in   
the very ,temple ,courts1  in the booths
 of the sons of ,hanan4  ,our ,lord     
struck a blow at their  financial       
interests when ,he drove out these      
traders in sacrificial  victims and     
other requisites4  ,but1 much more1 and 
this was the head and  front of ,his    
offence1 by ,his influence with certain 
classes of the  people1 and by the      
danger thus presented of a popular      
movement which  might arouse the        
suspicion of the imperial authorities1  
and lead to very  decisive action on    
their part1 ,he threatened the political
 position of  the ,sadducean            
aristocracy4  ,so with complete absence 
of scruples1 but  with great political  

sagacity1 ,caiaphas uttered the         
momentous words1 an  unconscious        
prophecy1 as ,st4 ,john points out1 at  
that meeting of the  ,sanhedrin when the
 death of ,jesus was finally resolved   
upon4    ,thus the main historical      
causes of the ,crucifixion were these   
three1  prejudice on the part of the    
people1 a dead religion on the part of  
the  ,pharisees1 love of gain and       
political ambition on the part of the   
,sadducees4    ,we may see then how     
absolutely true ,st4 ,peter was to the  
facts of the  case4  ,him 4 4 4 through 
the hand of lawless men1 ye affixed to a
 cross  and slew4  ,god was not the     
cause of the death of ,jesus ,christ1 as
 in  popular and ditheistic theory1     
forgetting ,i am in the ,father1 and the
  ,father in ,me4  ,the real causes of  
,his ,death were the definite sins of   
lawless1 of wicked men4  ,god's part was
 a purely negative one4  ,he held  ,his 
hand1 and allowed sin to work out to its
 fatal issue4  ,the  ,resurrection1     

indeed1 is the sublime act of ,god's    
interference1 at the  most critical     
point in all human history1 at the one  
point supremely  worthy of such ,divine 
interposition1 in order to finally and  
completely  vindicate the cause of moral
 goodness4  ,but up till then1 sin was  
allowed  to have its own way1 to display
 fully its malign character1 to reach   
its  ultimate result in the ,death of   
the ,sinless ,one4    ,but behind the   
historical causes of our ,lord's death1 
were deeper and  spiritual causes4  ,him
 being by the determined counsel and    
foreknowledge  of ,god delivered up4 4 4
 4  ,god foreknew the result4  ,there is
 no  difficulty here4  ,but in what     
sense can ,he be said to have determined
  it8    ,the answer leads us to a      
consideration of decisive importance4   
,god works  by law1 in the spiritual1 no
 less than in the physical region4  ,the
 ,death  of the ,christ1 at the hand of 
lawless men1 came about in virtue of the
  working of those laws4  ,as we have   

said1 sin is the alienation and         
estrangement of man from the ,divine    
life which is in him1 and by virtue  of 
which he is man4  ,now1 in the human    
character of ,jesus ,christ1 we see1    
for the first time1 the perfect1        
genuine1 uncaricatured humanity1 in     
which the human will is at every point  
in absolute agreement and  fellowship   
with the ,divine ,will4  ,shortly1 ,he  
represents the complete and  absolute   
contradiction and antithesis of sin4    
,it could not have been1  that that     
,life should have been realised in a    
world of alienation from  the ,divine1  
without the result1 which followed as   
necessarily and  inevitably as any of   
the physical happenings of nature1 of   
the death of  the ,sinless4  ,he became 
obedient unto death4  ,a deeper meaning 
lies in  these words of ,st4 ,paul1     
which contain the whole secret of the   
,atonement4  ,but1 for the present1 we  
may understand them to mean1 that death 
was the  natural issue of the ,life of  

perfect obedience lived in a world      
permeated  by the spirit of             
disobedience4  ,thus we gain a clear    
knowledge of the  manner in which the   
death of ,jesus ,christ happened in     
accordance with the  determined counsel 
of ,god4  ,that which takes place1 in   
the spiritual or  in the physical world1
 as the result of the working of those  
laws of ,god  which are the constant    
expression of ,his will1 may be said to 
have been  determined by ,him4    ,there
 is a yet more profound meaning in the  
,death of ,christ as the result  of sin1
 than any which we have as yet          
considered3 that ,death is the  outward 
sign and sacrament of an inward and     
spiritual fact4  ,when we sin  we are1  
in a measure proportioned to the        
deliberateness and heinousness  of our  
sin1 doing to death the ,divine life1   
the ,christ within us4  ,that  which    
happened once on ,calvary is renewed    
time after time in the inward           
experience of men4  ,the outward fact is

 an historical drama representing  an   
ever-repeated spiritual tragedy4        
,daily1 by the hands of lawless men1  by
 ourselves in our moments of wilfulness 
and disobedience1 ,christ is  being put 
to death4  ,there is no sin which1 in   
its measure and degree1 is  not a       
rejection and crucifixion of the        
,christ4    ,the ,cross of ,christ1     
viewed in the light of its historical   
and spiritual  causes1 is 7i7 the       
revelation of the malignity of sin4     
,there we see our  favourite sins       
stripped of all pleasing disguise1 and  
revealed in their  true horror1 and     
cruelty1 and selfishness4  ,the         
,incarnate ,son of ,god put  ,himself at
 the disposal of sinful men1 and ,his   
violent and shameful death  was the     
result4  ,there is the true meaning of  
the sins in which we  delight4  7ii7 ,it
 reveals the disastrous result of sin1  
the death of the  ,divine ,man within   
each one of us4  ,there is no sin which 
is not an act of  spiritual suicide4    

,it will not then be altogether in vain1
 that we have now considered the  causes
 of the ,death of ,christ if1 in the    
solemn hour of temptation1 we1          
remembering the ,cross1 and ,him ,who   
died thereon1 and why ,he died1 stand   
in awe1 and sin not4        ,,iii  ,,the
 ,,christian ,,and ,,the ,,scientific   
,,estimate ,,of ,,sin         ,christ   
died for our sins4--,i ,,cor4 ,,xv4 #c4 
,nothing is more characteristic of      
,christianity than its estimate of human
  sin4  ,historically1 no doubt1 this is
 due to the fact that the ,lord and     
,master of ,christians died on account  
of sins4  ,his death was due1 as we     
have seen1 both to the actual1 definite 
sins of ,his contemporaries1 and  also  
to the irreconcilable opposition between
 ,his sinless life and the  universal   
presence of sin in the world into which 
,he came4  ,but it is  with the         
,christian estimate of sin1 and with the
 facts which justify it1  that we are   
now concerned4    ,briefly put1         

,christianity regards sin as the one    
thing in the world which  is radically  
and hopelessly evil4  ,pain1 physical   
and mental1 is evil no  doubt1 but in a 
different sense4  ,without going deeply 
into the intensely  difficult problem of
 animal and human suffering1 we may at  
least say  this3 that he would be a bold
 man who would undertake to say1 viewing
 the  moral results of suffering in     
human lives1 that all1 or the majority  
of  the instances of pain which we      
observe1 come under the head of those   
things which ought not to be1 that is1  
are1 without qualification or           
extenuation1 evil4  ,but this is        
precisely the statement which           
,christianity makes with regard to sin4 
,of one thing only in the universe  can 
we say that it ought not to be1 and that
 one thing is moral evil4  ,perhaps     
then1 broadly and roughly1 the          
,christian standpoint may be summed  up 
in four words1 sin worse than pain4     
,of old1 ,st4 ,john wrote that if any   

man love the world1 the love of the     
,father is not in him4  ,in its outward 
aspect1 the world has greatly  changed  
since these words were written4  ,and   
yet they are as true in the  twentieth  
century as they were in the first4  ,the
 world has adopted  ,christian language 
and manners and modes of thought4  ,but 
always and  everywhere it is to be      
detected by its antagonism to the       
,christian  estimate of sin4  ,the      
spirit which accuses ,christianity of   
gross  exaggeration in this respect1 is 
the very spirit of the world4  ,now1 as 
in days of long ago1 when torture and   
death hung on the refusal to  scatter a 
few grains of incense before the statue 
of ,caesar1 the same  eternal choice is 
presented to a man1 ,christ or the      
world8  ,which  estimate of sin are you 
going to make your own1 the world's1 as 
a  lamentable mistake1 or failure1 or   
necessity2 or the ,christian1 worse     
than any conceivable pain8  ,it is not a
 matter of academic interest1 but  an   

intensely vital and practical one1      
affecting a man's whole outlook  upon   
life4  ,which is right--there is the    
clear and definite issue  raised--the   
,christian estimate1 or the world's     
estimate of sin8  ,is it  worse than a  
blunder1 a misfortune1 a fault8  ,is it 
something interwoven  into the very     
structure of our present stage of       
existence8  ,or1 is it an  alien and    
flagrant intruder into a world where it 
has no business1 which  is so           
constructed that1 sooner or later1      
wilful transgression meets with  the    
direst penalties8  ,there is no question
 as to what is the ,christian  estimate 
of sin4  ,christ or ,caesar8 is the     
issue still presented4  ,but1  we wish  
to ask1 is there any reason for         
believing that the ,christian  estimate 
is true8  ,i bring forward three        
reasons1 based respectively on          
experience1 on conscience1 on the       
ultimately similar views of the origin  
and nature of sin given by science and  

in the ,bible4    #a4  ,first1 then1    
consider the argument from experience4  
,it is very easy  and tempting to use   
the language of exaggeration4  ,but     
probably we are  not saying more than   
would be admitted by nearly every one1  
when we make  the assertion that a very 
large part of the misery and suffering  
which  exists in the world is traceable1
 directly or indirectly1 to human sin4  
,we are not dealing with the results of 
their own sins upon offenders1  though  
these are in some cases conspicuous     
enough4  ,but that the world is  full of
 human lives1 often wrecked1 more often 
partially stunted and  spoiled1 in most 
cases falling short of the full measure 
of vitality and  happiness to which they
 might have attained1 is a statement not
 admitting  of denial4  ,and ,i think we
 are still on secure ground when we say 
that at  the root of a very large       
proportion of these failures is some one
 of the  myriad forms of sin and        
selfishness4  ,the strange thing1 the   

bewildering  and baffling1 although1 as 
,i believe1 not wholly inexplicable     
thing1 is  that men in a very large     
number of cases suffer on account of    
sins for  which they are in no sense    
responsible4  ,but the fact remains of  
the  close connexion which experience   
shows to exist between human sin and    
human suffering4  ,it is impossible to  
prove wide assertions1 but a strong     
case could undoubtedly be made out for  
the statement that sin is a more        
prolific source of misery and failure in
 human life than all other  factors put 
together4    #b4  ,next1 we turn to the 
witness of conscience1 of our moral     
reason4  ,the  main point here is that  
so often brought forward1 of the        
uniqueness of  remorse4  ,i may make a  
foolish blunder4  ,i may do some hasty  
and  ill-considered act1 and in         
consequence suffer some measure of      
inconvenience1 or perhaps experience a  
veritable disaster and overthrow  of my 
hopes4  ,but in either case1 though ,i  

may feel poignant regret1 ,i am  as far 
as possible from the experience of      
remorse1 save in so far as my  blunder  
may have involved neglect of some duty1 
or a carelessness morally  culpable4    
,but when ,i have committed a sin1 then 
it would be a most  inadequate          
description of my state of mind to call 
it regret4  ,i suffer  from that intense
 mental pain which we have learnt to    
call remorse1 the  constant and         
relentless avenger which waits upon     
every transgression of  the moral law4  
,and when1 leaving my own experience1 ,i
 interrogate the  experience of men     
better than myself1 above all1 that of  
the saints of  ,god1 ,i meet with the   
same phenomenon a thousandfold          
intensified4  ,and ,i  have a right in  
such a matter to accept the witness of  
the experts4  ,a  saint is an expert in 
spiritual things1 and his evidence in   
spiritual  matters is as cogent and     
trustworthy as that of the biologist or 
geologist in his special field of       

experience4    ,so far1 then1 as the    
witness of the moral consciousness goes1
 both in  myself and in those who have  
in an especial degree cultivated their  
moral  faculties1 it bears out the      
contention that sin is the only thing   
which  can be described as absolutely1  
without qualification1 evil4    #c4     
,the same result follows from the       
consideration of the origin and  nature 
of sin4    ,here we have two sources of 
information--modern science1 and the    
account  given in the ,book of ,genesis4
  ,to my mind1 the enormously impressive
  thing is that these two sources1      
approaching the same subject from       
entirely different points of view1 find 
themselves at last in agreement  on the 
main issue4    7a7  ,according to the   
teaching of science1 then1 man is the   
result1 the  finished product1 of aeons 
of animal development4  ,he is1 in fact1
 the  crown and so far ultimate         
achievement of an age-long evolution4   
,he falls  into his natural place in    

zoological classification as the highest
 of the  vertebrates4  ,but also1 in man
 we find moral faculties developed to an
  immeasurably greater extent than in   
those animals which stand nearest to    
him in physical development4  ,it is the
 possession of these1 above all1  which 
constitutes the differentia of man4     
,and it is this possession  which makes 
man1 alone of all animals1 capable of   
sin4  ,for sin is simply  the following 
out of the instincts and desires of the 
animal1 when these  are felt to be in   
opposition to the dictates of the       
peculiarly human1 the  moral nature4    
,men have said that the only ,fall of   
,man was a fall  upwards4  ,they have   
given an entirely new meaning to the    
medieval  description of the first      
transgression as the felix culpa4  ,but 
this  would seem to involve confusion of
 thought4  ,the first emergence of man  
as man1 the appearance on this planet of
 a moral being1 at once involved  the   
possibility of sin4  ,that1 the rise of 

man did necessarily include4  ,an animal
 follows the bent and inclination of its
 own nature4  ,for it1  sin is for ever 
impossible4  ,for it1 there can be no   
defeat1 no fall1 for  the conditions of 
conflict are absent4  ,but the actual   
occurrence of sin  is quite a different 
thing from the appearance of a being so 
highly  exalted as to be capable of     
sinning2 so constituted as to experience
 the  dread reality of the internal     
strife between flesh and spirit1 the    
battle  between the lower and the higher
 within the same personal experience4   
,i  can never act as the animal does1   
because ,i possess what the animal does 
not--a moral nature1 which ,i can1 if ,i
 will1 outrage and defy4  ,no animal    
can be either innocent or guilty4       
,moral attributes cannot be assigned to 
it4    ,this result follows4  ,when ,i  
sin1 ,i am indeed doing what ,i alone   
can do1  because ,i am a man4  ,but     
also1 ,i am1 by that very act1          
contradicting my  nature1 violating the 

law of my well-being4  ,the possession  
of a moral  nature makes me man4  ,sin  
is just to act in defiance of and in    
opposition  to that nature4  ,sin1 then1
 is the only possible case in the       
universe1  falling under our            
observation1 in which a creature can    
contradict the  law of its being4       
,science has at least given the final   
refutation of the  devil's lie that sin 
is natural to man4  ,it is the only     
unnatural thing  in the world4  ,it is  
not non-human1 like the actions of      
animals4  ,the age-  long history of the
 race can never be reversed4  ,i cannot 
undo the  process which has made me man1
 and act as the non-moral animal4  ,my  
sinful actions1 my transgressions1 are  
just because they are1 and just in      
proportion as they are1 immoral1 for    
that very reason1 and in that very      
measure1 inhuman1 not non-human4        
,much more might be shown to follow from
 this most important  consideration4    
,but here we adduce it for this sole    

reason1 that science  may be allowed to 
bear its witness1 a most just and       
passionless1 and an  unconscious and    
tacit witness1 to the truth of the      
,christian estimate of  sin4    7b7     
,nothing1 at first sight1 could be more 
different from the  scientific account  
of the origin of sin1 than that account 
of it which is  given in the third      
chapter of the ,book of ,genesis4       
,there we have1 to put it shortly1 the  
most profound spiritual teaching in  the
 form of a story1 a piece of primitive  
,hebrew folk-lore4  ,the ,divine        
,wisdom made choice of this channel to  
communicate to man certain great  truths
 about his nature1 realities of the     
highest plane of his  experience1 where 
he moves in the presence of ,god and    
realities unseen1  unheard4  ,and we can
 discern at least some of the reasons   
for the choice  of these methods4       
,the most adequate revelation of the    
origin of sin which has ever been  made 
to man1 must 7we are almost justified in

 saying7 have been made to  us in some  
such form as this for the following     
reasons4    7i7  ,truth expressed in the
 form of a story is thereby made        
comprehensible to men of every stage of 
culture4  ,truth embodied in a  tale1   
shall enter in at lowly doors4  ,at the 
door of no man's mind1 who  is          
spiritually receptive1 will it knock in 
vain4  ,to simple and to wise1  to the  
unlearned and the learned1 to the young 
and to the old1 it appeals  alike4      
,this form of instruction alone is of   
universal application4    7ii7 ,truth   
thus conveyed can never become obsolete4
  ,scientific treatises  in the course  
of a few years become out of date1 left 
far behind by the  rapidly advancing    
tide of knowledge4  ,moreover1 if we can
 imagine it  possible that in the ninth 
century ,b4,c41 an account could have   
been  composed1 under some supernatural 
influence1 in the terms of modern       
thought1 it would have had to wait      
nearly three thousand years before it   

became intelligible1 and then1 in a few 
decades1 or centuries at most1 it  would
 in all probability have become once    
more incomprehensible or1 if  not that1 
then at least hopelessly behind the     
times4    ,the form of a story1 as in   
the case of our ,lord's parables1 alone 
ensures  that truth thus conveyed shall 
be intelligible to all men at all times4
  ,to object to the form1 to scoff at or
 deride it1 is as unintelligent as  it  
would be1 for example1 to disparage the 
sublime teaching of the  parable of the 
,prodigal ,son on the ground that we    
have no evidence for  the historical    
truth of the incidents4    ,moreover1   
when we place this and the similar      
stories we find in the early  chapters  
of ,genesis side by side with the       
,babylonian myths with which  they stand
 in some sort of historical             
relationship1 we can trace in the  lofty
 moral and spiritual teachings of the   
former1 as contrasted with the          
grotesque and polytheistic              

representations of the latter1 the      
veritable  action of the ,spirit of ,god
 upon the minds of men4  ,modern        
research has1  in fact1 raised the      
doctrine of inspiration from a vague and
 conventional  belief to the level of an
 ascertained fact1 evidenced by         
observation4  ,just as a scientific man 
can watch his facts under his microscope
 or in  his test tubes1 so such         
comparison as has been suggested1       
between ,genesis  and the cuneiform     
tablets1 enables us to watch the very   
fact1 to detect  the ,divine ,spirit at 
work1 not superseding1 but illuminating 
and  uplifting the natural faculties of 
the sacred writers4  ,but we now turn   
to the spiritual teaching enshrined in  
this particular story4    7i7  ,first1  
we have the fundamental truth that man  
is made capable of  hearing the ,divine 
,voice4  ,not once in the distant past1 
but to-day1 and  day by day1 the ,voice 
of ,god is heard speaking within the    
depths of  consciousness as clearly and 

as decisively as of old it sounded among
 the  trees of the garden4    7ii7      
,but1 secondly1 other voices make       
themselves heard by us1 and woe to  us  
if we listen to them4    ,there is the  
voice which bids us gratify our animal  
appetite4  ,the woman  saw that the tree
 was good for food4  ,i am conscious of 
the strength of  bodily desires4  ,let  
me seek nothing1 from moment to moment1 
but the  satisfaction of my             
inclinations4  ,there is the voice which
 bids us  gratify the desire of the     
eyes4  ,she saw that the tree was       
pleasant to  the eyes4  ,the world is   
full of beauty4  ,let me make that my   
end1 the  satisfaction of the aesthetic 
sense2 let me rest in the contemplation 
of  that beauty1 which was made for me1 
and ,i for it1 precisely in order that  
,i might not find repose there1 but     
might be led thereby to ,him ,who made  
this scene so fair that ,his dear       
children might be drawn to ,himself1    
,who  is the eternal and uncreated      

loveliness4    ,there is1 lastly1 the   
voice which bids us gratify the desire  
of the mind4  ,eve saw that the tree was
 to be desired to make one wise4  ,i    
desire to  know4  ,let me indulge this  
desire at any cost1 even if it mean the 
filling of my mind with all manner of   
foul and loathsome images4  ,it is  all 
knowing the world4  ,we forget1 poor    
fools1 that mere knowledge is  not      
wisdom1 and that there is a knowledge   
which brings death4    ,the desires of  
the body1 the eyes1 the mind1 are good  
and healthful and  holy in their proper 
place and sphere4  ,through these we    
reach out to the  life and love and     
knowledge of ,god4  ,and yet1 if        
gratified against the  dictates of that 
clear-sounding1 inner1 ,divine ,voice1  
they are precisely  the materials of sin
 and death4  ,to gratify them against   
the dictates of  the moral and spiritual
 nature is to exclude oneself from the  
garden of  ,god's delight1 from the     
health and joy of the ,divine ,presence4

  ,we know  it4  ,we have learnt it by  
saddest experience of our own4  ,to sin 
against  the voice within is to find    
oneself separated from ,god2 the ears of
 the  soul have become deaf to the      
warnings of conscience1 the eyes of the 
soul  blind to the vision of the glory  
and holiness of ,god4    ,is it wrong to
 say that such teaching as this can     
never be outgrown8  ,that1 as time goes 
on1 as the spiritual experience of the  
race and of the  individual grows and   
broadens1 still new lessons may be found
 to be  contained in it8    ,the ,bible 
adds to the teaching of science that    
without which that  teaching is         
incomplete4  ,it bids us know and feel  
and recognise the  ,divine ,presence    
within us and1 in the light of that     
ultimate truth of  ourselves1 realise   
something of the appalling grandeur of  
the issues of  common life4  ,but1      
different as are the forms in which     
their respective  lessons are conveyed1 
science and the ,bible unite their      

testimony to that  of experience and    
conscience1 that the ,christian estimate
 of sin1 and not  the world's estimate  
of it1 is the right one4    ,and the    
teaching of experience1 conscience1     
science1 and the ,bible  receives its   
final confirmation in the ,cross of     
,jesus ,christ4  ,henceforth  sin1 all  
sins1 our sins1 are to be estimated and 
measured in the light of  the fact that 
sin brought about the death of the      
sinless ,son of ,man4  ,sin  is the real
 enemy of ourselves and of the race4    
,it is the destruction of  the true     
self1 the ,divine ,man in every son of  
man4    ,we need1 for ourselves1 to     
strive to attain to the genuinely       
,christian  estimate of sin4  ,had they 
known1 they would not have crucified the
 ,lord  of ,glory4  ,but we have the    
,cross lifted up before our eyes and    
when1 in  the light of that1 we begin to
 hate and dread sin worse than pain1    
then  we shall have begun to make some  
real advance towards becoming that which

  we long to be1 and all the time mean  
and aspire to be--,christians1          
disciples of the ,crucified4        ,,iv
  ,,the ,,meaning ,,of ,,sin1 ,,and     
,,the ,,revelation ,,of ,,the ,,true    
,,self         ,in this we have come to 
know what love is1 because ,he laid down
 ,his     life for us4  ,and we ought to
 lay down our lives for the             
brethren4--#a     ,,john ,,iii4 #af4    
,it is important that we should arrive  
at some clearer understanding of  the   
nature of sin4  ,let us approach the    
question from the side of the  ,divine  
,indwelling4  ,the doctrine of the      
,divine ,immanence1 in things and  in   
persons1 that doctrine which we are     
to-day slowly recovering1 is  rescued   
from pantheism by holding fast at the   
same time to the ,christian  doctrine of
 the ,trinity4  ,god the ,transcendent  
dwells in all thinking  things1 all     
objects of all thoughts by ,his ,word   
and ,spirit4  ,the ,word1  the ,logos1  
of which ,st4 ,john speaks1 is the      

,eternal ,self-,expression of  ,god1    
standing as it were face to face with   
,him in the depths of ,his  eternal     
life4  ,in the beginning the ,word was  
with ,god4  ,he is the  ,eternal        
,thought of ,god1 ,who includes within  
,himself this and all possible          
universes4  ,and the ,spirit1 ,one with 
the ,father and the ,word1 gives to  the
 ,thought of ,god its realisation and   
embodiment in what we call things4  ,and
 that realisation of the ,thought of    
,god by the ,spirit of ,god is a        
progressive realisation--    #a4  ,in   
inorganic nature1 as power and wisdom   
and beauty4    #b4  ,in organic beings1 
as vegetable and animal life4    #c4    
,in men1 as the higher reason1 including
 our moral and spiritual  nature4       
,the long process of evolution is thus  
the progressive realisation of the      
,thought of ,god now becoming the ,word1
 the expressed ,thought of ,god4  ,and  
this realisation is from within1 a      
growing manifestation of ,god in        

created things4  ,and its climax was    
reached in the ,incarnation when    #d4 
,the ,word became flesh2 the ,thought of
 ,god perfectly embodied in our         
humanity4  ,and now this same           
progressive revelation of ,god is       
continuing  on the higher plane into    
which it was uplifted at the            
,incarnation4  ,the  work of the ,spirit
 is to form within the members of       
,christ's ,body1 that  ,body which is   
constituted by ,his indwelling1 the     
,mind and the ,life of ,god  ,incarnate4
  ,he shall take of ,mine and shall show
 it unto you4  ,so we  get    #e4  ,the 
work of the ,spirit of ,christ within   
the ,church1 extending the              
,incarnation4    ,he1 writes ,st4 ,paul1
 gave ,him ,christ as ,head over all to 
the ,church1  which is ,his ,body1 the  
fulness of ,him ,who at all points in   
all men is  being fulfilled4    ,the    
application of this to our present      
subject is as follows4  ,the animal     
life in us1 and the ,divine life in us1 

are both alike due to the  indwelling   
,god1 both alike are manifestations of  
,his ,presence4  ,but they  are         
manifestations at two different levels  
of being4  ,what follows8    ,the animal
 nature is good2 the moral and spiritual
 nature is good4  ,what  do we mean in  
this connexion by good8  ,we mean1 they 
are the results of  the action of ,him  
,whose ,will is essential goodness4     
,the peculiarity of human life is1      
however1 the conflict between these two 
elements of man's nature--the lower and 
the higher4  ,neither as yet1  from the 
human standpoint1 is good or bad4       
,moral attributes belong  only to the   
will1 which we may provisionally call   
the centre of man's  personality4  ,for 
man is a personal being1 and as such    
stands apart from  ,god4       ,god1    
,whose power brought man into being1    
,stands as it were a handsbreadth off1  
to give     ,room for the newly made to 
live1     ,and look at ,him from a place
 apart1     ,and use ,his gifts of mind 

and heart4    ,man alone can bring into 
existence the morally good or the       
morally bad4  ,and the materials of his 
choice are presented by the co-existence
 within  him of the lower and the       
higher4  ,sin is the choice by the will 
of the  lower1 when that is felt to be  
in conflict with the higher4  ,it is the
  resolution1 previous to any action1 to
 satisfy the desires of the animal1     
when these are known to contradict the  
dictates of the moral and  spiritual    
nature4    ,here we pause to notice a   
point of great importance for clear     
thinking on  this subject4  ,the        
conflict we have spoken of is that      
described by ,st4  ,paul as between the 
flesh and the spirit4  ,now the flesh is
 not  equivalent to the body4  ,the     
works of the flesh are by no means      
necessarily sensual sins2 they include  
strife and envy4  ,the flesh1 the       
animal within us1 is not to be          
identified with our physical            
organisation4    ,now we are drawing    

near to the very heart of the matter4   
,what is it  which distinguishes the    
lower nature from the higher1 the animal
 from the  ,divine in us1 the flesh from
 the spirit8  ,the distinction lies in  
the  objects to which the desires of    
each of these natures are directed4     
,the animal1 predominantly1 desires the 
good of self3 the ,divine1 the good  of 
others4    ,this we must now expand4    
,there is nothing morally wrong in the  
self-seeking of the animal4  ,moral     
evil--sin--only arises when two         
conditions are fulfilled4    ,the       
self-seeking desire must be felt to be  
in contradiction to the  unselfish      
dictates of the higher nature4    ,the  
will1 having this knowledge more or less
 clearly before it1 chooses  to give    
effect to the lower rather than to      
subordinate it to the higher4  ,we may  
express the same truth somewhat more    
accurately4    ,the material of human   
sin is the co-existence of the animal   
nature and  the ,divine ,nature within  

us4    ,the occasion of sin is the      
conflict between the two4    ,the       
conditions of sin are two--knowledge and
 freedom2 knowledge of the  antagonism  
between the desires of the two natures1 
and freedom to give  effect either to   
the one or to the other4    ,the actual 
fact of sin is the movement of the will1
 making its choice in  favour of the    
lower in opposition to the higher4      
,these two corollaries follow3--7i7 ,sin
 belongs only to the will1 not to  the  
nature4  ,there is nothing good in the  
world save a good will4  ,and  the      
converse is true3 there is nothing      
sinful in the world save a sinful  will4
    7ii7  ,sin does not lie in the act1 
but in the movement of the will1 of     
which the act is but the outward symbol4
  ,we must carefully distinguish        
between sin and temptation4  ,no        
temptation is sinful1 however strong and
  however vividly presented to the mind4
  ,sin only comes in when the will      
makes the choice of the worse           

alternative4  ,a sin in thought is an   
act of  inward choice1 the deliberate   
indulgence of1 the dwelling with        
pleasure  upon1 the temptation presented
 to us4  ,but if ,i am only prevented by
  circumstances or by fear from         
embodying the wrong choice of my will in
  action1 ,i have1 in the sight of ,god1
 committed that sin4  ,if ,i have made  
the wrong choice1 and am deterred by the
 faintest of moral scruples1 as  well   
as1 perhaps1 by other considerations1   
from carrying it out1 ,i am  really1    
although in a less degree1 guilty4      
,now we can fall back upon our main     
thought4  ,the animal matter is         
essentially self-regarding4  ,this is   
not 7a7 the same thing as to say  that  
all actions of all animals are          
self-regarding4  ,i see no difficulty   
in believing that there may be          
adumbrations of the moral and spiritual 
in  animals below man1 if the animal    
life is the manifestation1 on a lower   
plane1 of the same ,word ,who is the    

,life of nature and the ,light 7the     
higher reason and spiritual life7 of    
man4  ,nor 7b7 is it the same thing  as 
to say that the desires of the animal   
nature are selfish4  ,for  selfishness  
is a moral term and1 as we have seen1   
moral attributes are  inapplicable      
except to a wrong choice of the will4   
,these self-regarding impulses of the   
animal nature are due to the fact1  that
 that nature is the result of the       
age-long struggle for existence4  ,these
 impulses have secured the survival and 
the predominance of man4    ,but man is 
more than a successful animal4  ,he is  
made in the image of  ,god4  ,in him1   
the ,word is revealed1 not as life only1
 but as light4  ,in  an altogether      
higher sense than can be predicated of  
any part of creation  below man1 he is a
 sharer in the ,divine life4    ,now    
that ,divine life is the very life of   
,him ,whose very essence and being  is  
,love4  ,god is ,love4  ,what does this 
mean8  ,it has never been better        

expressed than in the following words3  
,god is a ,being1 not one of ,whose     
thoughts is for ,himself4 4 4 4         
,creation is one great unselfish thought
 of  ,god1 the bringing into existence  
of beings who can know the happiness    
which ,god ,himself knows 7,dr4         
,askwith74  ,what happiness is that8    
,it is  explained1 by the same writer1  
as the happiness which is found in the  
promotion of the happiness1 that is1 in 
the largest sense1 the well-being  of   
others4    ,we can now see the reason of
 the antagonism between the animal and  
the  ,divine in ourselves1 the real     
meaning of the ,pauline antithesis      
between  the flesh and the ,spirit1 the 
old man and the new4    ,we are to put  
off the old man4  ,he is old1 indeed1   
beyond our  imaginations of antiquity1  
for he is the product of the hoary      
animal  ancestry of our race4  ,our     
progress as successful competitors in   
the  struggle for animal existence1 has 
been the waxing stronger of the old  man

 day by day4    ,to put on the new man1 
is to continue our evolution1 now a     
conscious and  deliberate evolution1 on 
an entirely different plane4  ,it is to 
subdue  the self-regarding impulses1 in 
obedience to the movements of the       
,divine  life within us1 which bids us  
deny ourselves--not some particular     
desire1  but our own selves--and to seek
 the good of others2 to seek and1       
seeking1  surely to find1 the happiness 
which ,god ,himself knows4    ,to put on
 the new man is synonymous1 in ,st4     
,paul1 with putting on ,christ4  ,for   
,he is the perfect revelation of the    
,divine in our humanity4    ,he is this 
perfect revelation of the ,divine       
self-sacrifice in ,his  ,incarnation1   
when ,he became poor for our sakes1 when
 ,he emptied  ,himself4  ,so the        
,incarnation is1 it may well be1 but the
 climax of the  ,divine sacrifice       
involved in creation1 when ,god limited 
,himself by ,his  manifestation in      
material things2 involved1 we may say   

with greater  certainty1 in the creation
 of man1 who can1 in some real sense1   
thwart  and hinder the ,divine ,will4   
,he is the revelation of the ,divine in 
us1 in the whole course of ,his  earthly
 life4  ,christ pleased not ,himself4   
,he went about doing good4    ,and1     
above all1 ,he is that revelation in the
 supreme act of love and  sacrifice upon
 the ,cross4  ,in this have we come to  
know what love is1  because ,he laid    
down ,his life for us4  ,we have come to
 know love1 in its  supreme             
manifestation of itself1 for ever the   
test1 the standard of all  true love2   
and in coming to know love1 we have     
necessarily come to know  ,god4  ,the   
,cross is the perfect self-utterance and
 disclosure of the ,mind  of ,god1 the  
crowning revelation of ,his ,word4  ,and
 in coming to know ,god1  we have come  
to know ourselves4  ,for the true self  
of man is the self  conformed perfectly 
to the ,divine ,life within him4        
,thus the ,cross of ,jesus ,christ is   

the crowning revelation of man1 as well 
as of ,god4  ,there1 side by side with  
humanity marred and wrecked and  spoilt 
by sin1 which is selfishness1 we see man
 as ,god made him1 as ,god  meant him to
 be1 clothed with the ,divine beauty and
 glory of  self-sacrifice4    ,in the   
,cross we see ourselves1 our true       
selves1 not as we have made  ourselves1 
but our real and genuine selves1 as we  
exist in the ,mind of  ,god4    ,in the 
light of that wonderful revelation1 we  
can recognise that which is  ,divine and
 ,christ-like in us1 that spirit which  
bids us seek not the  things of self1   
but the things of others1 even as       
,christ pleased not  ,himself4    ,all  
this may be summed up in one short      
phrase1 which goes near1 ,i  believe1 to
 express the innermost reality of the   
,christian religion4  ,christ1 the ,son 
of man1 is the true self of every man4  
,to follow ,him1 to  be ,his disciple1  
in thought1 and word1 and deed1 is to be
 oneself1 to  realise one's own         

personality4  ,in no other way can ,i   
attain to be  myself4    ,thus the      
,cross is the supreme revelation of the 
,divine ,life in man4  ,and  now we     
shall go on to see how it brings to us1 
not merely the knowledge  of the ,ideal1
 but also1 what is far more1 the very   
means whereby the  ,ideal may be        
realised in and by each one of us4      
,we have dealt with the ,cross as       
illumination2 we now approach its       
consideration as redemptive power4      
,v  ,,the ,,great ,,reconciliation      
,god was in ,christ reconciling the     
world unto ,himself4  #b ,,cor4 ,v4 #ai4
    ,such considerations as we have had 
before us1 are of far more than         
theoretical interest4  ,they are of all 
questions the most practical4  ,sin  is 
not a curious object which we examine   
from an aloof and external  standpoint4 
,however we regard it1 to whatever view 
of its nature we are  led1 it is1 alas1 
a fact within and not merely outside our
 experience4    ,and so we are at length

 brought to this most personal and most 
urgent  inquiry1 ,what has been the     
result to me of my past acts of sin8  ,i
 have  sinned2 what have been1 what are1
 what will be the consequences8    ,the 
most hopelessly unintelligent answer is1
 that there are no results1  no         
consequences4  ,it behoves us to        
remember that we can never sin with     
impunity4  ,this is true1 even in the   
apparent absence of all punishment4     
,every act of sin is followed by two    
results1 though probably a profounder   
analysis would show them to be in       
reality one4    7i7  ,whenever ,i sin ,i
 inflict a definite injury on myself1   
varying with  the sinfulness of the sin2
 that is1 with its nature and the degree
 of  deliberation it involved4  ,i am   
become a worse man2 ,i have1 in some    
degree1 rejected and done to death the  
,divine in me1 my true self4  ,every    
sin1 in its own proper measure1 is both 
a rejection of the ,christ within1  and 
also an act of spiritual suicide4       

,again 7ii71 each sin1 once more        
according to the degree of its guilt1   
involves separation from ,god4  ,and1 as
 union with ,god is life1 it follows    
that sin is1 and not merely brings      
death4  ,that is the death of which the 
outward1 physical death is the mere     
symbol4  ,it is death of that which     
makes me man--the weakening of my will1 
the dulling of my conscience1 the  loss 
of spiritual vision4  ,hereafter1 it may
 be1 all this will be  recognised by me 
as being death indeed1 when ,i see how  
much ,i have  missed1 by my own fault1  
of the life and happiness which might   
have been  mine in virtue of that       
unbroken communion with ,god1 for which 
,i was made4    ,these two results may  
be regarded as the penalties of sinning2
 more  truly1 they are aspects of sin   
itself4  ,we can hardly be reminded too 
often that the worst punishment of sin  
is sin itself4  ,the external  results  
of sin1 where such occur1 are not evil1 
but good2 for the object  for which they

 are sent is the cure of sin4  ,to me no
 harder hell was  shown than sin4  ,if  
hell is this separation from ,god1 this 
veritable and  only real death1 then    
hell is not an external penalty         
inflicted upon sin1  but is involved in 
the very nature of sin itself4  ,or1 it 
would be still  more accurate to say1   
the constitution of the universe        
7including  ourselves7 being what it is1
 and the nature of sin being what it is1
  these results necessarily follow4     
,now1 the universe is not something     
which ,god has created and then1 as it  
were1 flung off from ,himself1 standing 
for ever outside it1 as it is for  ever 
outside ,him4  ,the universe1 at each   
moment of its existence1 is the         
expression1 in time and space1 of the   
,divine ,mind4  ,what we call its  laws1
 whether in the physical or the         
spiritual sphere1 are the thoughts  of  
the ,mind of ,god3 its forces are the   
operations of the ,will of ,god1  acting
 in accordance with ,his thoughts3      

material things are ,his  thoughts      
embodied1 that is1 ,divine thoughts     
rendered1 by an act of the  ,divine     
,will1 accessible to our senses4    ,now
 we are in a position to understand both
 what is meant by the ,wrath of  ,god1  
and the manner in which it acts4    ,by 
the expression1 the ,wrath of ,god1 we  
are to understand the hostility  of the 
,divine ,mind to moral evil3 the eternal
 antagonism of the ,divine              
righteousness to its opposite4  ,we are 
not now dealing with the question  of   
the real or substantive existence of    
evil4  ,but revelation amply  confirms  
and enforces the conviction of our moral
 consciousness that1  with a hatred     
beyond all human measures of hatred1    
,god hates sin4  ,it is  hardly         
necessary to add1 that that eternal and 
immeasurable hatred and  hostility of   
the ,divine ,mind towards sin is        
compatible with infinite love  towards  
,his children1 in whose minds and lives 
sin is elaborated and  manifested4  ,in 

fact1 all attempts to reconcile the     
,wrath of ,god with ,his  love seem to  
be utterly beside the mark4  ,they only 
serve to obscure the  truth that the    
,divine ,wrath is itself a manifestation
 of the ,divine ,love4  ,for if sin is1 
as we have already seen1 in its very    
essence1 selfishness1  and if ,love is  
the very ,being of ,god--if ,he is not  
merely loving1 but  ,love itself--then  
the ,wrath of ,god1 ,his hostility to   
sin1 is ,his ,love  viewed in one       
particular aspect1 in its outlook on    
moral evil1 in its  relation to that    
which is its very opposite and          
antithesis4  ,hell and  ,heaven1        
separation from ,god and union with     
,him1 are alike expressions of  the     
,eternal ,love1 which1 because it is    
love1 burns with unquenchable fire      
against all forms of selfishness and    
lovelessness4    ,this is the true1 the 
ultimate reason why1 in a universe which
 is the  expression of the ,mind of     
,god1 we cannot sin1 and never have     

sinned1 with  impunity4    ,from these  
two fundamental truths--    7a7  ,the   
universe is the expression of the ,mind 
of ,god2    7b7  ,god is love1    ,there
 follow1 by a natural and inevitable    
law1 the two results which  accompany   
every act of sin4    7a7  ,the          
destruction of the true self1 the       
,christ1 the ,divine ,life  within man4 
7b7  ,separation from ,god1 which is    
death4  ,we separate these results in   
thought2 but it will now be sufficiently
 obvious that they are1 in fact1  one4  
,is this taking too serious a view of   
sin8  ,i do not think that this can  be 
maintained in view of our whole         
preceding argument4    ,but are we      
taking too serious a view of little     
sins1 of sins which spring  from        
ignorance1 of the sins of children8     
,we have already seen that knowledge and
 freedom are both necessary to          
constitute an act of sin4  ,if ignorance
 is complete1 then complete also  is the
 absence of sin4  ,for sin lies not in  

any material act1 but in  consciousness 
and will4  ,the will alone can be       
sinful1 as the will alone  can be good4 
,and it is entirely consistent with our 
standpoint1 to admit  the existence of  
an almost infinite number of degrees of 
sinfulness4    99 99 99 99 99    ,now we
 reach this immensely important result4 
,we having sinned1 our  supreme need is 
forgiveness4  ,the ,gospel of ,jesus    
,christ is a ,gospel for  this precise  
reason1 that it meets1 as it claimed    
from the beginning to  meet1 this       
uttermost need of men4  ,its offer is1  
always and everywhere1  the forgiveness1
 the remission of sins4    ,but what are
 we to understand by forgiveness8  ,the 
forgiveness which is  offered to us in  
the name of ,jesus ,christ is not1 and  
our own moral sense  ought to assure us 
that it could not be1 the being let off 
punishment4  ,thou shalt call ,his name 
,jesus1 for ,he shall save ,his people  
from their  sins1 not from any external 
pains or penalties of their sins4  ,to  

be  saved from sin1 is to have sin      
brought to an end1 abolished within us4 
,it  is the recovery of the true self1  
the restoration of that union with ,god 
which is1 here and now1 eternal life4   
,in other words1 understanding the      
,divine ,wrath as we have seen reason to
 understand it1 forgiveness must  mean  
to cease to be1 or to cease to identify 
ourselves with1 that in us  which is the
 object of the ,divine ,wrath4  ,in     
short1 forgiveness is1 in  the great    
phrase of ,st4 ,paul1 reconciliation    
with ,god4    ,how1 then1 is forgiveness
 or reconciliation to be obtained8  ,the
 answer  which the apostle gives is     
this3 ,god was in ,christ reconciling   
the world  to ,himself4  ,let us try to 
see what this means4    99 99 99 99 99  
,there can only be one way of ceasing to
 be the object of the ,divine  ,wrath1  
and that is by identifying oneself with 
it2 if we may use the  catch-phrase1 by 
becoming its subject instead of its     
object4  ,this means  that1 so far as is

 in our power1 we must enter into the   
,divine ,mind in  regard to sin1 and our
 own sins in particular4  ,up to the    
limit of our  power1 we must make that  
,mind our own mind1 we must hate sin1   
and our  sins1 as ,god hates them4      
,there is one word in the ,new          
,testament which expresses all this1 and
 that  is the word only partially and   
inadequately translated repentance4     
,the  word thus represented is ,greek   
text1 and ,greek text is exactly a      
change of mind4  ,it really means the   
coming over to ,god's side1 the  entire 
revolution of our mental attitude and   
outlook with regard to sin4  ,the word  
stands for self-identification with the 
,wrath of ,god1 with the  ,divine ,mind 
in its outlook upon sin4  ,that change  
of mind is itself  reconciliation1      
forgiveness1 remission of sins4  ,and   
that which alone  makes ,greek text and1
 therefore1 forgiveness1 possible1 is   
the ,death of  ,jesus ,christ upon the  
,cross4    ,for that ,death is the      

perfect revelation1 in the only way in  
which it  could be interpreted to us1   
that is1 in terms of our common human   
life1  of the ,wrath of ,god1 the       
,divine hostility to1 and repudiation of
 sin4  ,for  the ,death of ,christ was  
the complete repudiation of sin1 by ,god
 ,himself1  in our manhood4  ,the       
,incarnate ,son laid down ,his life in  
the perfect  fulfilment of the mission  
received from the ,father4  ,he became  
obedient  unto death4  ,he died1 rather 
than1 by the slightest concession to    
that  which was opposed to the ,divine  
,will1 be unfaithful or disobedient to  
that mission4  ,he died to sin once for 
all4  ,his ,death was ,his final1       
complete repudiation of sin4  ,and thus 
it was the absolutely perfect           
revelation of the ,divine ,mind in      
regard to sin4    ,this is the truth    
which underlies all the utterly         
misleading language  about ,christ's    
,death as a penalty1 or about ,christ   
,himself as the ,ideal  ,penitent4      

,both penalty and penitence imply       
personal guilt and the  personal        
consciousness of guilt4  ,both          
conceptions destroy the  significance of
 the ,cross4  ,only the ,sinless ,one   
could die to sin1 could  perfectly      
repudiate sin1 could perfectly disclose 
the ,mind of ,god in  relation to sin4  
,the ,death of ,christ was indeed1 as we
 have seen1 the result of ,his  perfect 
obedience in a world of sin1 of         
disobedience4  ,the historical          
conditions under which ,he fulfilled    
,his ,mission1 necessitated that ,his   
repudiation of sin should take the form 
which it did actually take4  ,we  may be
 sure1 too1 that ,he felt1 as only the  
,sinless ,son of ,god could  feel1 the  
injury1 the affront1 the malignity1 the 
degradation of sin4  ,it  is the sense  
of this which has given rise to the     
modern idea of ,christ as  the ,penitent
 for the world's sin4  ,but if we are to
 understand the word  in this sense1    
then we are entirely changing its       

meaning and connotation4  ,and we cannot
 do this1 in regard to words like       
penitent and penitence1  without        
producing confusion of thought4  ,it is 
time1 surely1 that this  misleading and 
mischievous fallacy of the penitence of 
,christ should be  finally abandoned by 
writers on the ,atonement4    ,but1 so  
far1 we have only seen that the ,death  
of ,christ to sin1 ,his  repudiation of 
sin to the point of death1 is the       
complete revelation of  the ,divine     
,wrath1 the ,divine ,mind in regard to  
sin4  ,if we could only  make all this  
our own1 then we should have actually   
attained to the  changed mind1 the      
,greek text1 which is reconciliation    
with ,god4    ,now1 it is a most        
significant fact that1 in the ,new      
,testament1 repentance  is ever closely 
coupled with faith4  ,faith1 in its     
highest1 its most  ,christian           
application1 is not faith in ,christ1 in
 the sense of  believing that the       
revelation made by ,christ is true1 but 

in the strange  and pregnant phrase of  
,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,john1 faith into   
,christ4  ,and  by this is meant entire 
self-abandonment1 the utter giving up of
  ourselves to ,christ4  ,to have faith 
into ,christ is the perfect expression  
of discipleship4  ,it is the supreme act
 of self-surrender by which a man  takes
 ,christ henceforth to be the ,lord and 
,master of his life4  ,it  implies1 no  
doubt1 the existence of certain         
intellectual convictions2 but  the faith
 which rests there is1 as ,st4 ,james   
tells us1 the faith of the  demons who  
also tremble4  ,in the full sense1 faith
 is an act of the  whole personal being4
  ,and as the will is our personality in
 action1 we  may say that faith into    
,christ is1 above all1 an affair of the 
will4    ,but thus to surrender oneself 
to ,christ1 to make ,him1 and not self1 
the  centre and governing principle of  
our life is1 in other words1 to make    
,his ,will our will1 ,his ,mind our     
mind4  ,st4 ,paul is exactly describing 

the  full fruition and final issue of   
faith when he says of himself1 ,i live1 
yet no longer ,i1 but ,christ liveth in 
me4    ,faith is self-identification    
with the ,mind of ,christ4  ,and that   
,mind is  the ,mind of ,him ,who died to
 sin1 ,who by dying repudiated sin1 and 
revealed ,his implacable hatred of and  
hostility to it1 which is the  hatred   
and hostility of ,god1 in our manhood1  
to the moral evil which  destroys it4   
,thus the man1 who1 by the supreme act  
of faith into ,christ1 has made         
,christ's ,mind his own mind1 has       
thereby gained the changed mind1 the    
,greek text1 in regard to sin1 which is 
the ceasing to be the object of  ,god's 
wrath1 because it is the being          
identified with it4  ,he is1            
henceforth1 reconciled to ,god4  ,the   
state of alienation and death is  over4 
,in ,christ he1 too1 has died to sin4   
,the false self1 in him1 has  been put  
to death4  ,with ,christ he has been    
crucified4  ,with ,christ he  lives     

henceforth to ,god1 in that union and   
fellowship with ,him1 which is  the life
 eternal1 the life which is life indeed4
  ,his true self1 the  ,christ in him1  
is alive for evermore in the power of   
the ,resurrection4    ,that is the final
 issue1 the glorious consummation1 of   
faith4  ,but so far  as faith is in us  
at all1 so far as daily with more       
complete surrender we  give ourselves to
 ,christ1 and take ,him for our ,lord   
and ,master1 the  process1 of which the 
fulfilment1 the perfect end1 is         
reconciliation1  union1 resurrection1   
eternal life1 has begun in us4  ,and ,he
 ,who has1  visibly and manifestly1     
begun in us that good work1 will        
assuredly  accomplish it until the day  
of ,jesus ,christ4    ,but something    
more yet remains to be said4  ,every    
theory of the ,atonement  in the end    
must come to grief1 which is based upon 
the assumption that  ,christ is separate
 from the race which ,he came to redeem1
 or the ,church1  which is the part of  

humanity in actual process of           
redemption4  ,professor  ,inge1 in his  
work on ,mysticism and ,personal        
,idealism1 has justly  denounced the    
miserable theory which regards human    
personalities as so  many impervious    
atoms1 as self-contained and isolated   
units4  ,this  popular view is          
theologically disastrous when the       
,atonement is  interpreted in the light1
 or rather the darkness of it4    ,as   
the ,son of man ,he is the ,head of the 
human race1 the last ,adam in  the      
language of ,st4 ,paul4  ,no mere       
sovereignty over mankind is denoted by  
that title4  ,he is that living1        
personal ,thought of ,god which each    
man1  as man1 embodies and1 with more or
 less distortion1 represents4  ,he ,who 
became ,incarnate is1 as ,he ever was1  
the ,light which lighteneth every man   
coming into the world4    ,it was       
because of this1 ,his vital and organic 
connexion with the race1  and with every
 member of it1 that ,he could become    

,incarnate1 and that ,his  sufferings   
and triumph could have more than a      
pictorial1 or  representative1 or       
vicarious efficacy4  ,his work of       
redemption was  rendered possible by    
,his relation1 as the ,word1 to the     
whole universe1  and to mankind4    ,it 
was because of this1 that ,he could     
become the ,head of the ,body1 the      
,church4  ,former ages interpreted the  
,atonement in the terms of ,roman  law4 
,it is the mission of our age to learn  
to interpret it in terms of  biology4   
,we are only just beginning1 by the aid 
of modern thought1 to  discover the     
true1 profound meaning of the biological
 language of the ,new  ,testament4  ,as 
the body is one1 and has many members1  
so also is the  ,christ4  ,not1 let us  
mark1 the ,head only1 but the ,body4    
,the ,church is  the fulness of ,him    
,who at all points1 in all men1 is being
 fulfilled4  ,the words tell us of an   
organic growth4  ,i am the vine1 ye are 
the  branches4  ,can any terms express  

organic connexion more clearly than     
these8    ,it is our ,head1 to ,whom we 
are bound by vital ties1 in the         
mysterious  unity of a common life1 ,who
 has repudiated sin by dying to it4  ,by
  personal surrender to ,christ we make 
,his ,mind our own2 but we are enabled  
to do so1 because1 in so doing1 we are  
attaining to our own true mind1 we  are 
entering into the possession of our own 
true selves1 we are winning  our souls1 
realising the ,christ-nature within us4 
,by faith and  sacraments1 that which is
 potentially ours becomes our own in    
actual  fact4    ,in simpler language1  
and in more familiar but not less true  
words1 we who  are members of ,christ's 
,body1 in all our weak attempts after   
repentance  and faith1 are not left to  
our own unaided resources1 but are at   
every  point aided and enabled to       
advance to final1 complete              
reconciliation and  union by the ,spirit
 of the ,christ working in us4    ,he is
 no merely external reconciler4  ,he    

reconciles us from within1  working     
along with our own wills1 to create that
 changed mind which is  ,his own ,mind  
revealed upon the ,cross for no other   
reason than that it  might become our   
mind1 the most real and fundamental     
thing in us1 that  new man1 which is    
being renewed after the image of ,him   
,who created him4        ,,vi           
,,redemption         ,ye shall therefore
 be perfect1 as your ,father in ,heaven 
is     perfect4--,,matt4 ,v4 #dh4       
,wretched man that ,i am6 who shall     
deliver from the body of this     death8
  ,thanks be to ,god1 through ,jesus    
,christ our ,lord4--,,rom4 ,,vii4       
#bd1 #be4    ,we have studied the       
meaning of reconciliation through the   
,cross4  ,we have  said that to be      
reconciled to ,god means to cease to be 
the object of the  ,wrath of ,god1 that 
is1 ,his hostility to sin4  ,we can only
 cease to be the  objects of this       
,divine ,wrath by identifying ourselves 
with it1 by making  ,god's ,mind in     

regard to sin1 and our sins1 our own    
mind4  ,the ,cross gives  us power to do
 this4  ,for it reveals to us in the    
terms of humanity1 that  is1 in the only
 way in which it could be made          
intelligible to us1 the  ,divine ,mind  
in its relation to sin4  ,by faith1     
which is personal  surrender to ,christ1
 ,his mind thus revealed becomes our    
mind4  ,thus we  attain to repentance1  
in the ,new ,testament sense of the     
changed mind  and outlook upon sin4     
,and the motive power to faith and      
repentance is  supplied by our union    
with ,christ4    ,but all this is not   
yet enough4  ,we have not exhausted the 
glory1 the  full meaning of the ,cross4 
,if this were indeed all1 the work of   
our  salvation would be incomplete4     
,for ,i may indeed have1 in ,christ1    
died to  sin2 in ,him ,i may have       
repudiated it2 but the task of life     
still lies  before me to be fulfilled1  
and that task is nothing short of this3 
the  complete putting off of sin1 the   

complete putting on of holiness1 the    
final achievement of that union with    
,god which is life eternal4    ,for this
 ,i was made4  ,ye shall therefore be   
perfect1 as your ,father in  heaven is  
perfect4  ,our ,lord is not1 in these   
words1 enunciating a rule  of perfection
 for a few saintly souls4  ,he is laying
 down the law1 the  standard of all     
human lives4  ,to fall short of this1 is
 to fall short of  what it means to be a
 man4    ,the proof that this is so1 is 
to be found in our own consciousness1   
bearing its witness to these words of   
,jesus ,christ4  ,the one most  constant
 feature in human life is its           
restlessness1 the feeling of            
dissatisfaction which broods over its   
best achievements1 the attainment  of   
all its desires4  ,that very            
restlessness and dissatisfaction is the 
witness to the dignity of our nature1   
the grandeur of our destiny4  ,we  were 
made for ,god1 for the attainment of    
eternal life through union with  ,him4  

,no being who was merely finite1 could  
be conscious of its finitude4           
,spite of yourselves ye witness this1   
,who blindly self or sense adore4       
,else1 wherefore1 leaving your true     
bliss1        ,still restless1 ask ye   
more8    ,thou hast made us for         
,thyself1 and our heart knoweth no rest1
 till it  find rest in ,thee4    ,then  
look at the other picture4  ,side by    
side with the glory of our  calling1    
place the shame and the misery of what  
we are4  ,my desires1 my  passions are  
ever at war with the true self1 and too 
often overcome it4  ,i see another law  
in my members1 warring against the law  
of my mind1 and  bringing me into       
captivity to the law of sin and death   
which is in my  members4  ,and so there 
goes up the bitter cry1 ,wretched man   
that ,i am6  who shall deliver me from  
the body of this death8    ,now the     
,cross of ,jesus ,christ is the ,divine 
answer to this great and  exceeding     
bitter cry of our suffering1 struggling1

 sinful humanity4  ,for  the ,cross is  
not merely an altar1 but a battlefield1 
by far the greatest  battlefield in all 
human history4  ,that was the crisis of 
the conflict  between good and evil     
which gives endless interest to the most
  insignificant human life1 which is the
 source of the pathos and the  tragedy1 
the degradation and the glory1 of the   
long history of our race4  ,it is the   
human struggle which we watch upon the  
,cross3 the human victory  there won    
which we acclaim with endless joy and   
exultation4  ,man faced  the fiercest   
assault of the foe1 and man conquered4  
,o loving wisdom of our ,god6           
,when all was sin and shame1     ,a     
second ,adam to the fight        ,and to
 the rescue came4       ,o wisest love6 
that flesh and blood1        ,which did 
in ,adam fail1     ,should strive afresh
 against the foe1        ,should strive1
 and should prevail4    ,man conquered  
man's foe1 and in the only way in which 
that foe could be  conquered1 the way of

 obedience4  ,he became obedient unto   
death4  ,the  ,death was in a real sense
 the victory1 for its only meaning and  
value  consisted in its being the crown 
and culmination of ,his life-long       
obedience4  ,the ,resurrection itself1  
in one aspect of it1 was but the        
symbol1 the sign1 of that victory which 
was already achieved upon the  ,cross4  
,but what has this to do with us8  ,it  
cannot be too often repeated1 that  it  
has nothing to do with us1 if ,christ be
 merely ,another1 separate  from us as  
we are1 or imagine ourselves to be1     
separate from each other4  ,that which  
,he took of the ,virgin ,mary1 and took 
in the only way in which  it could have 
been taken1 by the ,virgin ,birth1 was  
not a separate human  individuality1 but
 human nature2 that nature which we all 
share4  ,it was  in that nature that ,he
 faced and overcame our enemy4    ,here 
we pause to note a difficulty based on a
 misunderstanding4  ,if  ,christ were a 
,divine ,person1 working in and through 

human nature1 if that  humanity which   
,he assumed were itself impersonal1 then
 how could ,he have  had a human will8  
,and1 after all1 is an impersonal human 
nature really  human8  ,that is the     
difficulty1 and the very fact that we   
feel it as a  difficulty1 is a proof    
that we have not yet grasped that       
conception of  the ,divine ,nature which
 underlies the belief in the            
,incarnation4  ,god and  man are not    
beings of a different order4  ,the      
humanity of every man is  the indwelling
 in him of the ,word ,who became flesh4 
,each one of us is a  shadow1 a         
reflection of the ,incarnation4  ,in    
,jesus ,christ ,god came2 and1  it would
 be equally true to say1 in ,him first1 
man came4  ,all human  nature1 ,i       
believe it would be true to say all     
organic nature1 pointed  forward to the 
,incarnation as its fulfilment1 as the  
justification for  its existence4       
,thus1 when it is said that the human   
nature of ,christ was impersonal1  what 

is meant is1 impersonal in the modern   
and restricted sense of  personality4   
,the phrase is useful1 when explained1  
to guard against the  idea1 which is    
contrary to the very principle of the   
,atonement1 that the  ,son of man was   
just one more human soul added to the   
myriads of human  souls who have        
appeared on this planet4  ,he ,who      
became ,incarnate is the  true self of  
every man1 the very ,light of true      
personality in all men4  ,as  a matter  
of fact1 ,he was more truly humanly     
,personal than any of the sons  of men1 
and all the more truly humanly          
,personal1 because ,he was ,divinely    
,personal1 the ,word in the image of    
,whom man was made4    ,the immense     
significance of these truths in regard  
to our redemption is  this1 that a      
separate individuality cannot be        
imparted to us1 but a  common nature    
can4  ,and that nature which the        
,eternal ,word assumed of the  ,virgin  
,mary1 and in which ,he conquered sin   

and death1 is communicated to  us by    
,his ,spirit1 above all1 in the         
sacraments of ,baptism and the ,holy    
,communion4  ,here is the heart of the  
,atonement4    ,that victory over sin   
and death is mine1 and yet not mine4    
,that is the  splendid paradox which    
lies at the very root of ,christianity4 
,it is  mine1 because ,i share in that  
,human ,nature1 which by its perfect    
obedience1 the obedience unto death1    
triumphed gloriously upon the  ,cross4  
,it is not mine until1 by a deliberate  
act of my will1 in self-  surrender to  
,christ1 ,i have made it my own4  ,by   
grace and by faith1 not  by one of these
 without the other1 we become one with  
,him ,who died and  rose again4  ,it is 
faith1 the hand of the soul stretched   
out to receive1  which accepts and      
welcomes grace1 the ,hand of ,god       
stretched out to give4    ,these great  
thoughts we will pursue in our next     
address4  ,but meanwhile1  we have at   
least seen that the ,cross is both      

victory and attainment3  victory over   
the sin by which ,i have been so long   
held in bondage2  attainment of all ,i  
can be1 all ,i long to be1 all ,i was   
made by ,god to  be4  ,thanks be to ,god
 through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4      
,,vii  ,,redemption 7,,continued7       
,he that eateth ,my flesh1 and drinketh 
,my blood1 hath life                    
eternal4--,,john ,,vi4 #ed4    ,we were 
made for holiness1 union with ,god1     
eternal life4  ,these are but  different
 expressions for one and the same thing4
  ,for holiness is the  realisation of  
our manhood1 of that ,divine ,image     
which is the true self1  expressing     
itself and acting1 as it does in us1    
through the highest of  animal forms4   
,that perfect self-realisation is not   
merely dependent  upon1 but is union    
with ,god1 at its beginning1 throughout 
its course1 and  in its final           
consummation4  ,and the life of         
self-realisation or holiness1  which is 
the life of union with ,god1 is eternal4

  ,eternal life is not1 as  in the      
popular idea of it1 an endless and      
wearisome prolongation of mere          
existence4  ,primarily1 the idea is of  
the quality1 not the duration of  life4 
,in the teaching of the ,new ,testament1
 eternal life is a present  possession  
of ,christians4  ,these things ,i write 
to you1 who believe on  the ,name of the
 ,son of ,god1 that ye may know that ye 
have eternal life4  ,being as it is a   
moral and spiritual reality1 it is      
outside time and  space4  ,it is        
unaffected by changes and chances4  ,it 
is for ever beyond  the reach of the    
temporal processes of decay1 corruption1
 death4  ,here it  manifests itself in  
service1 that service of our fellows    
which is the  service of ,god4          
,hereafter1 it will be manifested in    
higher and more  exalted forms of       
service4  ,have thou authority over ten1
 over five1  cities4    ,now all this1  
the consummation and glorious fruit of  
our humanity1  holiness1 union with     

,god1 life eternal1 we see already      
realised in ,jesus  ,christ1 the ,son of
 man4  ,we see it realised1 as we have  
learnt1 not in a  separate1 solitary1   
individual1 isolated life1 but in that  
common nature  which for us men and for 
our salvation ,he assumed of the ,virgin
 ,mary4    ,all that is in ,him was in  
,him first1 in order that it might be in
 us4  ,and  this is the important point3
 it can only be in us by virtue of our  
union  with ,him4  ,that union ,he      
describes under the vivid and forcible  
metaphor  of eating ,his flesh1 and     
drinking ,his blood4  ,he that eateth   
,my flesh1  and drinketh ,my blood1 hath
 life eternal4  ,his flesh and blood--a 
common  ,jewish phrase for human        
nature--is precisely that common nature 
which ,he  assumed1 in which ,he died to
 sin1 which ,he raised from the dead and
  exalted to the ,right ,hand of ,god1  
and which ,he imparts to us1 by ,his    
,spirit given to dwell in us for        
evermore4    ,the doctrine of the       

,atonement is incomplete1 it is         
irrational1 until it  is completed by   
the doctrine of the ,spirit1 the ,giver 
of ,life4  ,as ,he is  the source of    
life in all living organisms1 so ,he is 
in ,christians the  source of the       
,christ-life4  ,he comes to dwell in us1
 not simply as the  ,spirit1 but as the 
,spirit of ,christ--the ,spirit ,who    
first created1 and  then descended to   
abide in the ,perfect ,manhood4  ,that  
gift of the  ,spirit of ,christ as the  
indwelling source of the life of        
,christ1 and the  means of the ,presence
 of ,christ in us1 is the characteristic
 gift of the  ,new ,dispensation4  ,it  
is ,his work to make us ever more and   
more partakers  of ,christ1 to be       
perpetually feeding us with ,his flesh  
and blood4    ,and1 as we are about to  
speak of the ,holy ,communion1 it is    
well to insist  first on this1 that the 
work of the ,spirit in there feeding us 
with the  flesh and blood of the ,son of
 man is a continuous process4  ,it is of

 the  very essence of what is meant by  
being a ,christian4  ,if any man have   
not  the ,spirit of ,christ1 he is none 
of ,his4  ,the sixth chapter of ,st4    
,john's ,gospel is not a mere prediction
 of the ,eucharist4  ,it is the         
revelation of that principle of which   
the ,eucharist is an illustration4  ,our
 ,communions are the supreme moments1   
the crises1 in a process which is  for  
ever going on1 the feeding of us1 by the
 ,spirit1 with the flesh and  blood1 the
 holy and victorious manhood1 of the    
,redeemer4    ,what relation1 then1 can 
this spiritual process have to the      
material  substances1 to the bread and  
wine which are used in the ,eucharist8  
,this  question at once opens out into  
the larger one1 as to the relation      
between matter and spirit4  ,now1 that  
question could not be dealt with at  all
 satisfactorily without undertaking a   
vastly larger task than we are  prepared
 for at the present moment4  ,we should 
have to ask1 ,what is1  after all1 meant

 by matter1 and what by spirit8    ,but 
something may be achieved on a much     
humbler scale4  ,it will suffice  for   
our present purpose to concentrate our  
attention on a remarkable fact  which   
seems to underlie all our experience4   
,and we will approach the  statement of 
this fact by first recalling the        
familiar definition of a  sacrament1    
which fastens upon the union of the     
outward and visible with  the inward and
 invisible as being the essence of what 
is meant by a  sacrament4  ,now1 the    
fact we have in view is this3 every     
outward object  in the world is1 in this
 respect1 a sacrament4  ,what we seem to
 see is  everywhere spirit working      
through what we call material objects4  
,that  sacramental principle of the     
universe is the very principle which    
underlies our ,lord's parables of       
,nature4  ,speaking more accurately1 we 
see in matter 7#a7 the means of the     
self-revelation of spirit2 7#b7 the     
instrument by which spirit acts4    ,the

 human organism may serve as a type of  
this4  ,here is a spiritual  being1 the 
,ego1 in its will1 its thoughts1 its    
affections1 invisible1 and  it makes its
 presence manifest1 and it acts1 through
 the material  manifestation and        
instrument of itself1 the body4  ,to    
believers in ,god1  nature itself1 in   
its deepest reality1 is the revelation  
of the ,divine  ,presence1 and the      
instrument of the ,divine action4  ,a   
beautiful sunset is  a veritable and    
genuine sacrament4  ,in the light of    
this profound truth1  of matter as the  
manifestation and instrument of spirit1 
we are enabled  to see how futile was   
the ancient dispute concerning the      
number of the  ,sacraments4  ,in view of
 the fuller and larger knowledge which  
has come to  us1 this1 like so many     
other objects of theological strife1    
ought before  this to have been         
consigned to the limbo of forgotten     
controversies4    ,but in all this we   
have been1 in fact1 interpreting the    

whole universe in  the light of the     
,incarnation4  ,for that is the supreme 
sacrament of all1  the very type and    
complete embodiment of the sacramental  
principle4  ,there  we see the ,divine  
manifesting ,itself through1 and using  
as the instrument  of its action1 a     
,human1 a material ,body4    ,the       
,eucharist thus for the first time      
becomes intelligible4  ,it is only  one 
particular illustration1 although a most
 momentous one1 of the  universal       
sacramental principle1 of which all     
things else in the world  are also      
illustrations4  ,there we have the      
,spirit manifesting itself and  acting1 
as always and everywhere1 wherever      
matter is found2 but in a  particular   
way1 and for a particular purpose4      
,the bread and the wine are the material
 substances which ,he uses at the       
critical moments in ,his perpetual      
action of feeding us with the flesh and 
blood of the ,son of man4  ,and these   
elements were obviously chosen1         

ordained by ,christ ,himself1 for their 
most significant symbolism4  ,there  is 
no truer philosophy of the ,eucharist   
than that which is contained in  the    
familiar words of the ,church           
,catechism1 which speak of the          
strengthening and refreshing of our     
souls by the ,body and ,blood of        
,christ1 as our bodies are by the bread 
and wine4  ,that wonderful1 and in      
itself essentially sacramental process1 
by which the organism lives by  the     
incorporation and assimilation into its 
own substance of other  substances which
 we call foods1 is the exact analogue of
 the way in which  our true1 spiritual  
manhood lives by the incorporation and  
assimilation  of the manhood of ,christ1
 that manhood which is holy1 which      
exists in the  ,divine ,union1 which has
 perfectly realised eternal life in the 
complete  dying to sin1 and the complete
 putting on of holiness4    ,the        
,eucharist is1 in the broadest sense1   
the final act in the drama of  our      

salvation4  ,it is the means by which1  
by ,his own appointment1 all  that      
,christ achieved for us upon the ,cross1
 the repudiation of1 or  dying to sin1  
the realisation of perfect obedience1   
obedience unto death1  comes to be in   
us1 is made all our own4    ,but it is  
most important that we should ever      
remember that this truth has  two sides4
    7i7  ,it is ,christ ,who saves us2  
that is1 ,who is the actually putting   
away  of sin1 attainment of holiness1   
union with ,god1 eternal life1 by what  
,he  does in us4  ,christ for us finds  
its perfect fulfilment and end in       
,christ in us4    7ii7  ,yet1 ,christ   
does not save us apart from ourselves4  
,else the  ,eucharist would be degraded 
to the level of some heathen1 magical   
charm4  ,we must will and intend the    
putting off of sin1 and the putting on  
of  holiness4  ,we must recognise1 and  
this is a truth of experience1 our      
complete inability to attain this       
without ,him4  ,that will1 and that     

recognition1 are the repentance and     
faith which constitute the necessary    
contribution on our part to the work of 
,christ for our salvation4    ,our      
,communions are the most important      
moments in our lives4  ,each marks a    
distinct and definite stage in the      
fulfilment of the purpose of ,god for   
us1 the fulfilment in us of all that is 
meant by the ,death and  ,resurrection  
of the ,lord4  ,we ought to come1       
therefore1 not only after  due          
preparation1 with repentance and faith1 
but also with hope and joy2  not to     
perform a duty1 but to receive the best 
gift which ,god ,himself can  bestow    
upon us--that gift which is the perfect 
conquest of sin1 the  complete          
realisation of holiness1 union with     
,god1 eternal life2 the  fulfilment of  
every aspiration1 the accomplishment of 
every dream1 the  achievement of every  
glory1 the crown1 the consummation1 the 
attainment  of our manhood in union with
 ,jesus ,christ the ,son of man4        

,,viii  ,,the ,,sacrifice         ,for  
if the blood of bulls and of goats1 and 
the ashes of a heifer     sprinkling the
 unclean1 sanctifieth to the purifying  
of the flesh3 how     much more shall   
the blood of ,christ1 who through the   
eternal ,spirit     offered ,himself to 
,god1 purge your conscience from dead   
works to serve     the living           
,god8--,,heb4 ,,ix4 #ac1 #ad4    ,no    
,christian doctrine is more commonly    
misunderstood than that of the          
sacrifice of ,christ4  ,this            
misunderstanding arises from ignorance  
as to  the meaning of sacrifices in the 
ancient world4    ,sacrifice is one of  
the earliest and most widely spread of  
all human  institutions4  ,behind the   
laws regulating sacrifice in the ,old   
,testament  there lies the long history 
of ,shemitic ritual and religion4       
,these  sacrificial rites were not then 
introduced for the first time4  ,they   
formed part of the inheritance of the   
,israelites from their far-off          

ancestors2 an inheritance shared by them
 with the ,ammonites and ,edomites1  and
 other kindred and neighbouring nations4
  ,they differed from these not  in     
matter or form1 but in the loftier moral
 and spiritual tone which  formed the   
peculiar and distinguishing mark of the 
,hebrew religion1 and  in which we      
to-day can clearly trace the actions in 
the minds of men of  the ,spirit of     
,god4    ,it follows that it is hopeless
 to attempt to understand the           
sacrificial  teaching of the ,old       
,testament without some grasp of the    
meaning of  sacrifice in the ancient    
world4  ,failure to attain this has led 
to the  idea that the sacrifice of      
,christ must mean the appeasing of an   
offended  ,deity by blood and death4    
,but this view of sacrifice is not      
merely a  heathen1 but a late and       
debased heathen conception4  ,shall ,i  
give my  first-born for my              
transgression1 the fruit of my body for 
the sin of the  soul8 was the cry of the

 ,king of ,moab1 and it marks the lowest
 depth  into which the pagan idea of    
sacrifice had sunk4  ,it is a genuine   
instance of deterioration in ethnic     
religion4  ,the primitive view was far  
loftier and more spiritual than this4   
,recent researches1 dependent on the    
comparative method1 into the earliest   
forms of religion have brought to light 
two principles which underlay the       
conception of sacrifice1 and which to a 
great extent can be discerned  more     
clearly in the most ancient period than 
in later times4  ,now these  two        
principles which1 taken together1       
constitute the primitive theory of      
sacrifice1 which make up the fundamental
 idea of it1 however little  prehistoric
 man may have been capable of giving    
distinct and logical  expression to     
them1 were these3    #a4  ,death is     
necessary to the attainment of the      
fulness of life4    #b4  ,man is1 by his
 very nature1 capable of sharing in1    
becoming a  partaker of1 the ,divine    

life4    ,the earliest known form of    
sacrifice is the killing of the sacred  
animal  of the tribe1 the animal which  
was held to be the representative of the
  tribal god1 followed by the sacred    
tribal meal upon the victim4  ,there1   
in this earliest totem rite1 we have    
already implicit the two great  ideas of
 sacrifice1 the communion of man with   
,god by actual participation  in the    
,divine life 7the feast on the          
sacrifice71 and that this communion  is 
rendered possible by the death of the   
sacred victim4    ,these ideas were very
 largely obscured in ancient times by   
the conception  of sacrifice as a gift1 
a tribute1 or a propitiation4  ,but     
these ideas1  though they bulk largely  
in modern minds unacquainted with the   
recent  researches of specialists in    
comparative religion1 were1 in fact1 of 
later growth4  ,they are accretions     
which1 by a very natural and            
intelligible process1 have overlain the 
oldest and really fundamental  ideas    

which lie at the root and origin of     
sacrifice4    ,these two ideas were1    
however1 present all through1 in what we
 might  perhaps call 7without committing
 ourselves to any psychological         
theories7  the racial subconsciousness4 
,they were always there1 ready to be    
evoked  by the appropriate stimulus1    
whenever applied4  ,they constituted the
 real  essence and meaning of the       
ancient mysteries1 which from #hjj      
,b4,c4  downwards formed so important a 
part of the real religion of the ancient
  world1 and which have left their mark 
on the language of ,st4 ,paul and  other
 early ,christian teachers4  ,these     
mysteries1 roughly and broadly          
speaking1 were of the nature of a       
religious reformation4  ,they           
represented the discarding of the       
propitiatory idea in favour of the      
original meaning of sacrifice as        
communion4    ,these earliest notions of
 sacrifice really underlay the          
sacrifices of the  ,old ,testament1     

especially in the case of the peace     
offerings4  ,but1 in  these1 we become  
conscious of a third element1 the       
conviction that sin is  a barrier to the
 ,divine ,communion4  ,when the         
worshipper1 in the  sin-offering1 laid  
his hands upon the head of the victim1  
he was1 by a  significant action1       
repudiating his sin1 and presenting the 
spotlessness  of the victim as his own1 
his own in will and intention           
henceforth4  ,the  blood was sprinkled  
upon the altar as the symbol of the life
 offered to  and accepted by ,god2 it   
was sprinkled upon the worshipper as the
 sign of  the communication to him of   
that pure ,divine life1 by virtue of his
  participation in which man can alone  
approach ,god4    ,all this can be      
summed up in one word1 symbolism4  ,all 
the value of  ancient sacrifices1       
including those of the ,old ,testament1 
lay wholly in  the moral and spiritual  
truths which1 in a series of outward and
  significant actions1 they stood for   

and symbolised4  ,to attach objective   
value to that which was external in the 
,old ,testament sacrifices1 or even  to 
the outward accompaniments of the       
,supreme ,sacrifice1 the ,death of      
,jesus ,christ upon the ,cross1 is to be
 guilty of a relapse from the           
,christian1 or even the prophetic       
spirit1 into the late and debased pagan 
idea of sacrifice1 from which the       
ancient mysteries of the ,eastern and   
,greek world were a reaction4           
,certainly1 the outward sufferings of   
our  ,lord should sometimes form the    
subject of our thoughts as a motive1 and
  one of the strongest motives1 to      
penitence and love4  ,but to lay such   
stress on these as to exalt them into   
the real meaning of the sacrifice  of   
,christ1 as constituting its value as a 
sacrifice1 to regard them as in  some   
way changing the ,mind of ,god towards  
us1 is contrary to the whole  spirit of 
the ,new ,testament4  ,what the real    
teaching of the gospels is in  the      

matter1 is made plain by two significant
 facts4    7i7  ,while it is quite clear
 that the inspired writers regard the   
,death  of ,christ1 and the ,christian  
life1 as being1 each of them1 in a real 
sense1 a sacrifice1 direct sacrificial  
language is applied sparingly to  the   
former1 but without stint or hesitation 
to the latter4  ,this is a  point which 
has been strikingly brought out by      
,professor ,loftus in his  recent work  
on ,the ,ethics of the ,atonement4      
7ii7  ,while devoting a large portion of
 their narrative to the account of  the 
,death of ,christ1 they exercised a very
 great and marked reserve as  regards   
the physical details of the             
,crucifixion4  ,in this respect the     
gospels are in harmony with the earliest
 ,christian representations1 as         
distinguished from the repulsive realism
 in which the medieval artists          
revelled4    ,to ask1 then1 in what     
sense the ,death of ,christ was a       
sacrifice1 is to  ask how far that      

,death realised the moral and spiritual 
truths which  underlay the ancient      
institution of sacrifice1 and to which  
all  sacrifices ultimately pointed4     
#a4  ,the first of these ideas1 as we   
have seen1 is that death is necessary   
to the fulness of life1 that life can   
only be won by the surrender of  life4  
,that ancient conception constitutes the
 fundamental teaching of  ,christ3 ,he  
that willeth to save his life1 shall    
lose it1 and he who  willeth to lose his
 life 4 4 4 shall save it unto life     
eternal4  ,and of  that great truth1    
which is nothing less than the formative
 principle of  the ,christian life1 the 
,cross was the supreme expression       
,herein have we  come to know what love 
is1 because ,he laid down ,his life for 
us1 and we  ought to lay down our lives 
for the brethren4    ,the laying down of
 life1 self-sacrifice1 of which the     
,cross is the  highest manifestation1   
alone brings life1 alone is fruitful4   
,except a  grain of corn fall into the  

earth and die1 it abideth alone3 but if 
it  die1 it bringeth forth much fruit4  
,selfishness1 whether as self-assertion 
or self-seeking1 is essentially  barren 
and unproductive1 both in regard to the 
lives of others and our  own lives4     
,only so far as we are1 in some real    
sense1 laying down our  lives for       
others1 denying 7not that which belongs 
to us1 but7 ourselves1  for their sake1 
can we hope to influence other persons  
for good1 to be  the cause of moral     
fruitfulness1 of spiritual life in them4
  ,and for  ourselves1 we only win the  
fulness of our own lives1 so far as we  
lose  them in the lives of others1 so   
far as we identify ourselves with their 
joys1 sufferings1 interests1 pursuits1  
well-being2 for our lives are  real1 and
 rich1 and full exactly in proportion to
 the extent to which  they include the  
lives of others4    ,and the ,death of  
,christ ceases to be an unintelligible  
mystery1 when it  is regarded as the    
consummation of ,his ,life of           

self-sacrifice4  ,christ  also pleased  
not ,himself4  ,he went about doing     
good4  ,and at last1 in  the fulfilment 
of a mission received of the ,father for
 the good of men1  ,his brethren1 ,he   
crowned the ,life1 in which             
self-pleasing was not1 by ,his  ,death1 
the necessary result1 as we have seen1  
of ,his carrying out that  mission in a 
world of sinful men4  ,for ,himself1    
that ,death was1 so ,he  willed1 the    
portal to the glory of the              
,resurrection4  ,and the fruits of  ,his
 uttermost self-sacrifice are still1    
after all these centuries1 being        
gathered in1 as in innumerable souls    
brought back from the darkness of  sin  
into the light of the ,divine ,life1 ,he
 sees of the travail of ,his  soul1 and 
is satisfied4    #b4  ,but what answers1
 in the ,death of ,christ1 to that in   
regard to which  the death of the victim
 served but as a means to an end1 the   
sacred meal  of communion8  ,the        
sacrificial principle has been laid down

 by the writer  of the ,epistle to the  
,hebrews1 without shedding of blood1    
there is no  remission4  ,blood to the  
modern mind speaks of death1 and usually
 of a  violent and painful death4  ,to  
the ancient mind1 heathen or ,israelite1
  blood stood for and symbolised life4  
,the ,blood makes atonement by the      
,life that is in it4  ,man can only be  
made at one with ,god1 can only have    
remission of sins--the barrier which sin
 interposes to communion with  ,god can 
only be removed1 he can only be restored
 to that ,divine  fellowship for which  
he was made--by actual reception into   
himself of the  ,divine life1 of the    
life of ,him ,who1 being ,god1 became   
man1 in order to  impart ,his own       
,divine ,life to our humanity which ,he 
assumed4  ,and  ,christ's ,life only    
then became available for men1 capable  
of being  imparted to each man1 when it 
had passed through ,death to            
,resurrection4  ,if the grain die--only 
if it die first--it bringeth forth much 

fruit4  ,if ,i go not away1 the         
,comforter1 the ,paraclete1 will not    
come unto you4  ,only by virtue of that 
going away of ,christ1 which includes   
,his ,death1  ,resurrection1 and        
,ascension1 could the ,spirit which     
indwells ,his  glorified manhood1 come  
to impart the life of ,christ to the    
members of  the ,body of ,christ4       
,pentecost is the final consummation of 
man's  atonement and redemption4    ,we 
may still more briefly summarise these  
two fundamental principles  which       
constitute the sacrificial aspect of the
 ,death of ,christ4    #a4  ,christ     
died1 not that we should be excused from
 offering1 but that we  might be enabled
 to offer the one acceptable sacrifice  
to ,god1 that is1  the sacrifice of     
ourselves in that service of ,god which 
is the service of  our fellow-men4      
#b4  ,christ died1 in order that we     
might receive ,his ,divine ,life into   
ourselves1 through the indwelling       
,spirit of ,christ bestowed by the      

,ascended ,lord4    ,thus the ,death of 
,christ is not merely a sacrifice1 one  
out of many1 or  7as has been so        
mistakenly taught7 simply the last of a 
series4  ,it is  rather the one         
sacrifice which alone realises the ideas
 of which all  other so-called          
sacrifices were but the faint           
adumbrations4  ,as the one  true        
sacrifice it stands at the end of an    
age-long spiritual evolution4  ,in the  
physical evolution1 the first           
protoplasmic cell was not man1  though  
it pointed forward to man1 and implied  
man4  ,so the totem feast  and the old  
,jewish rites1 were not truly and       
genuinely sacrifices1 though  both      
pointed forward to and implied the      
realisation of sacrifice in the  ,death 
of ,christ4  ,that ,death was the       
fulfilment of the universal human       
aspiration1 the assurance of the truth  
of that ancient dream of mankind1  that 
man was capable of being1 and might     
attain to be partaker of the  ,divine   

nature4    ,and this whole teaching of  
ancient ritual as fulfilled and         
accomplished  on the ,cross of ,jesus   
,christ1 is summed up for us in our     
,christian  ,eucharist where on the one 
hand we1 in union with the sacrifice of 
,christ1 offer and present ourselves1   
our souls and bodies1 to be a           
reasonable1 holy1 and living sacrifice  
to ,god2 and1 on the other hand1  by    
eating the flesh and drinking the blood 
of the ,son of man1 become  partakers of
 ,him ,who1 in the words of ,st4        
,athanasius1 was made man1 that  we     
might be made ,god1 became partaker of  
our human nature1 in order that  we     
might realise the end of our manhood1 by
 being made partakers of ,his  ,divine  
,life4          ,,the ,,devotion ,,of   
,,the ,,three ,,hours      ,i           
,,introductory ,,address      ,the      
object with which we meet here can be   
expressed in a ,pauline phrase  of three
 words1 it is to learn ,christ4    ,but1
 in those three words1 there is         

contained1 in the manner of ,st4 ,paul1 
a wealth of meaning4  ,to learn ,christ 
is clearly an affair of the  intellect1 
in the first place4  ,it quite          
certainly1 in this sense1 does  not mean
 merely to accumulate information       
regarding the words and acts of  our    
,lord4  ,st4 ,paul himself is singularly
 sparing of allusions to the  history of
 ,christ1 if we exclude from that ,his  
,death1 ,burial1 and  ,resurrection4    
,the phrase1 in fact1 describes that    
kind of knowledge to  which a detailed  
study of the ,saviour's ,life is related
 as means to an  end1 the knowledge1    
namely1 of ,christ's character1 of ,his 
,mind and ,will4  ,such knowledge is not
 to be acquired in one hour or in three4
  ,it is1 it  ought to be1 the life-long
 object of a ,christian man to gain it  
in an  ever-increasing measure of       
fulness and accuracy4  ,but the last    
words of  the ,lord1 the seven sayings  
from ,his ,cross1 constitute a special  
and in  some measure unique disclosure  

of ,his ,mind and ,will4  ,and1         
therefore1 to  meditate upon them1 as we
 are now proposing to do1 will be to    
advance one  stage further1 and a       
distinct stage1 in the process of       
learning ,christ4    #a4  ,but we do    
well to remind ourselves1 at the very   
outset1 that our aim  is not merely     
intellectual1 but also practical4       
,there is no real gain  arising from the
 knowledge of ,christ's ,mind and ,will1
 save so far as that  knowledge enables 
us to make that ,mind and ,will our own 
mind and our own  will4  ,that is the   
very meaning of ,christian discipleship4
  ,let this  mind be in you1 which was  
also in ,christ ,jesus4    #b4  ,the end
 thus set before us is one capable of   
attainment by all4  ,the  individual1   
indeed1 cannot hope to realise that end 
completely by  himself4  ,the embodiment
 of ,christ's ,mind and ,will is the    
supreme task  and the final achievement 
of the whole ,body of ,christ4  ,the    
purpose of  the long development of the 

,church on earth is1 that we should all 
7not each7 arrive at a perfect man1 at  
the measure of the stature of  the      
fulness of the ,christ4  ,the whole     
,church1 the ,body in its  completeness1
 is meant to reflect back in the eyes of
 the ,father1 the  moral glory of the   
,son of man4  ,each individual has been 
called into  membership in the ,body1 in
 order that he might reflect some one of
 the  scattered rays of that glory2     
might embody in himself one aspect of   
the  infinite perfection of the ,son of 
man4  ,so would each of us truly come   
to himself1 realise all that he is      
capable of becoming4    ,that progress  
of the ,body of ,christ towards its goal
 is described by ,st4  ,paul as being a 
growth of the ,christ ,himself4  ,he is 
at all points in  all men being         
fulfilled4  ,there is a true and        
important sense in which  the           
,incarnation is as yet incomplete1 in   
which the life-history of the  ,church  
is its growing completeness4  ,our      

individual task is the  realisation in  
ourselves of that part of the ,christ   
life which we1  individually1 have been 
created to embody4    #c4  ,it will be  
useful to sum up the ,character1 the    
,mind and ,will of  ,christ1 in a single
 phrase4  ,consider how ,he impressed   
,his  contemporaries4  ,what was it     
which they saw in ,him1 who knew ,him   
best1  and had been united to ,him by   
close ties of comradeship and           
discipleship8  ,in one word1 what they  
saw was ,sonship4  ,we beheld ,his      
glory1 as of an  ,only-,begotten from a 
,father4  ,the ,mind and ,will of       
,christ are the  perfect realisation of 
the ,divine ,sonship in our humanity4   
,but what is the meaning of ,god's      
,fatherhood and man's sonship8  ,the    
ultimate truth of the relationship1 the 
truth which underlies all such          
conceptions as care1 love1 obedience1 is
 community of nature4  ,our human       
nature is really akin to the ,divine4   
,we are sons of ,god because our        

spiritual life is of one piece with ,his
 as derived from it4  ,baptism          
introduces no new element into our      
nature4  ,by sacramental union with the 
,only ,begotten1 the ,ground and        
,archetype of all sonship1 it enables us
 to  realise that which is in us1 to    
actually become that which1 potentially1
  we are4  ,it gives us power to become 
children of ,god1 to attain the  meaning
 of our manhood1 to regain our true     
selves4    #d4  ,baptism gives power1   
all sacraments give power1 but in such  
wise that  that power is useless1 even1 
in a sense1 non-existent1 till we make  
it  ours by deliberate exertion1 by     
co-operation of mind and heart and will 
with the ,divine in us4    ,the end of  
our living1 to become truly and         
completely the sons of ,god1 is  to be  
attained by the joint action of two     
factors--    7#a7  ,the ,spirit of      
,christ conforming our minds and wills  
more and more to  the likeness of       
,christ4    7#b7  ,the co-operation of  

our whole personality with the work of  
the  indwelling ,spirit4    ,our        
meditations this morning on the ,seven  
,words in which ,christ made some       
partial disclosure of ,his ,mind and    
,will1 will form some part of that co-  
operation1 one little stage in the      
accomplishment of our life-long task4   
,,ii  ,,the ,,first ,,word              
,father1 forgive them2 for they know not
 what they do4  ,,st4 ,,luke            
,,xxiii4 #cd4    #a4  ,here we are      
watching the behaviour of the ,son of   
,god1 the ,ideal and  ,ground of ,divine
 ,sonship in humanity4    ,is this      
supreme example of forgiveness an       
example to us8  ,is it not  something   
unnatural to humanity as we know it8    
,we must recall1 from a former address1 
the distinction which we then drew      
between the animal in us1 with its      
self-assertive instincts1 and the       
,divine in us1 that which constitutes us
 not animal merely1 but human1 of  which
 the very essence is the self-sacrifice 

of perfect love4  ,christ  came to      
reveal ,god in our manhood4  ,and ,i    
need this revelation1 just  because the 
animal in me has won so many victories  
in the past over the  ,divine1 because  
in me the spiritual fire habitually     
burns so low and dim4    ,it is a very  
different thing to say that forgiveness 
of all serious  injury is a hard thing4 
,it is hard1 but not impossible4  ,that 
which  makes it to be possible is the   
serious intention of discipleship1      
co-operating with the indwelling ,spirit
 of ,christ transforming us into  ,his  
likeness4    ,to assert1 on the other   
hand1 that forgiveness of serious wrong 
is  impossible1 is to ignore the fact   
that ,he ,who uttered these wonderful   
words is the true self of me1 and of    
every man who breathes4  ,he ,who hung  
on the ,cross1 and spoke these seven    
words1 is the ,son of man1 the          
,representative to all ages1 to all     
varieties of human character1 of true   
humanity4    #b4  ,christ-like          

forgiveness is no weak thing1 but the   
strongest thing in  the world4    ,yet1 
for its true effect to be produced1 its 
true character must be  recognised4  ,no
 suspicion of cowardice or impotence    
must cleave to it4  ,the man who being  
obviously able to resent an injury1 and 
not lacking in  the capacity of         
resentment1 yet for ,christ's sake      
forgives1 exercises on  earth no        
inconsiderable share of the moral power 
of ,christ4  ,god now1 as  of old1 has  
made choice of the weak things of the   
world1 those things  which the world    
accounts weak1 to confound the strong4  
,the meek  still inherit the earth4     
,we are dealing1 all through1 with the  
injury which is personal1 with the      
resentment which is the reaction of the 
individual against unprovoked  wrong4   
,personal resentment we are bidden to   
relentlessly crush out--to  turn the    
other cheek is the command of ,christ4  
,but the ,christian man  will recognise 
that the interests of the social order  

are not to be  disregarded4  ,these     
interests1 and those of the offender    
himself1 will  sometimes demand that the
 wrong1 even if it primarily affects    
ourselves1  shall not go unpunished4    
,again1 no one can be in the full sense 
a  ,christian1 that is1 a fully         
developed man1 or a man on the way to   
the  full development of his nature1 who
 is without the capacity of moral       
indignation1 in whom no flame is kindled
 by the oppression of the weak4    ,what
 the ,christian moral law does demand of
 us1 is the complete  suppression of the
 merely personal anger which sometimes  
burns so  fiercely in us when we receive
 unmerited insult or injury4  ,that kind
 of  anger belongs to the flesh1 is part
 of the defensive equipment of the      
animal nature4  ,before we can in any   
sense be ,christ-like1 the spirit  must 
win many hard-won victories over its    
ancient foe4    ,to say ,i will forgive1
 but ,i can never forget1 is only to    
conceal from  ourselves the defeat of   

the spiritual man1 the ,christ in us4   
#c4  ,but carefully note the reason     
appended to the prayer3 they know not   
what they do4  ,that is true1 with every
 variety of degrees and shades of       
truth1 of every sinner4  ,it was true1  
clearly1 of the soldiers then           
performing their duty3 it was less true1
 but still in a real sense it was  true1
 of the ,pharisees1 of the ,high        
,priests1 of the ,roman judge4  ,it is  
true1 but to a far less degree1 even of 
us1 that when we sin1 we know  not what 
we do4    ,sins are1 in the language of 
,st4 ,paul1 works of darkness4  ,that is
 the  element in which alone they can   
exist4  ,sin is a huge deception4  ,the 
very condition of its existence is the  
concealment of its true character4  ,all
 this is summed up in that experience   
which we call temptation4  ,we  are so  
familiar with sin1 the atmosphere we    
breathe is so infected with  it1 we have
 given way so many times in the past1   
that it needs the  objective revelation 

of the ,cross to bring home to us the   
real horror and  malignity of sin4  ,it 
has been finely said1 ,sin first drugs  
its victims  before it consumes them4   
,we1 too1 or some of us1 have known the 
strange  petrifying1 hardening effect of
 sin on the conscience4    ,great1 then1
 is our need that we should pray that   
the revelation of the  ,cross may more  
and more come home to us2 great our need
 to pray for an  ever fuller measure of 
that ,spirit of ,christ1 ,whose first   
work it is to  convince the world of    
sin1 to make men realise its true       
character and  its inevitable issue4    
,,iii  ,,the ,,second ,,word            
,verily ,i say unto thee1 ,to-day thou  
shall be with ,me in ,paradise4         
,,st4 ,,luke ,,xxiii4 #dc4    ,we judge 
of any power by the results which it    
effects4  ,we gain some  knowledge of   
the power of steam by its capacity to   
drive a huge mass of  steel and wood    
weighing twenty thousand tons through   
the water at the  rate of twenty knots  

an hour4  ,there we have some standard  
by which we  can gauge the force which  
sends our earth round the sun at        
twenty-five  miles a second1 or that    
which propels a whole solar system      
through space4  ,but we may apply the   
same method1 of estimation by results1  
to the powers  of the moral and         
spiritual worlds4  ,judged thus1 it was 
indeed a  stupendous power which was    
exerted by ,christ from the ,cross4     
,for what  result can be more amazing   
than the reversal1 at the last1 of the  
character slowly built up by the habits 
of a lifetime8  ,it is1 of course1      
useless to speculate on the antecedents 
of the robber 7not thief7 who  turned to
 our ,lord with the words1 ,jesus1      
remember me when ,thou shalt  come into 
,thy kingdom4  ,we know only what is    
implied by the word  robber or brigand1 
and the fact that he had joined1 with   
his fellow-  sufferer1 in the mockery of
 our ,lord4  ,but the words thus        
addressed by  him to ,christ1 in their  

context1 represent the most wonderful   
phenomenon of human life1 a genuine and 
thorough-going conversion4  ,and  the   
power which wrought that stupendous     
result was the patience and  forgiveness
 of ,jesus ,christ4  ,the weak things   
had1 as so often since1  confounded the 
strong4  ,in ,his matchless forbearance1
 in the prayer for  ,his executioners1  
the royalty of ,christ our ,lord was    
disclosed1 and the  title over ,his head
 was vindicated4    #a4  ,first then1 we
 learn from the ,second ,word the ,mind 
and ,will of ,god  towards penitence4   
,there is no interposing of delay4      
,forgiveness is  instantaneous4  ,no    
pause intervenes between the prayer for 
pardon1 and  the pardon itself4  ,but1  
that instant response was to genuine    
change of  mind1 not to the repentance  
which is merely regret for the past1    
still  less to a cowardly shrinking from
 a deserved punishment1 but to a        
definite act of the man's will1         
repudiating sin1 and ranging himself on 

,god's side4  ,the rejection of sin1 the
 identifying of self with ,god's        
attitude towards it1 that1 we have seen1
 is alone1 in the ,new ,testament  sense
 of the word1 repentance4    #b4  ,the  
penitence of the robber1 on analysis1   
discloses the three  familiar elements--
    7a7  ,contrition is obviously       
implied in the whole action4    7b7     
,confession--we receive the due rewards 
of the things which we  wrought4    7c7 
,amendment--in the separation of himself
 from those with whom he  had hitherto  
joined in reviling ,christ4    ,now it  
is worth noting1 that our ,catechism    
bids us examine ourselves not  about our
 sins1 but about our repentance2 whether
 they truly repent4  ,we  are meant to  
ask ourselves--    7a7  ,is our         
contrition real8  ,and here1 for our    
comfort1 we remember  that ,god accepts 
as contrition the sincere desire to be  
contrite4    7b7  ,have we made such a  
painstaking self-examination as to      
ensure our  making a good confession8   

,if we confess our sins 7separate1      
detailed  sins1 not our sinfulness in   
general terms71 ,he is faithful and just
 to  forgive us our sins4    ,have we   
used sacramental confession1 according  
to the teaching of the  ,prayer ,book1  
that is1 when our conscience told us    
that we needed it8    7c7  ,is our      
resolution of amendment a clear and     
honest one8  ,what sins  are there1 some
 of whose results we are able to modify 
or in part reverse  7false impressions1 
untruths1 acts or words of unkindness78 
,god is  generous in forgiveness4       
,surely we are bound to be generous in  
our  amendment4  ,there is a sense in   
which the results of sin abide beyond   
possibility of recall4  ,yet ,i believe 
that the instinct which bids us  make up
 for a hurt inflicted on a beloved      
person1 is a ,divine instinct  in our   
nature1 and one which we are to carry   
into the region of our  relation to     
,god4    #c4  ,we notice another        
important truth as regards the ,divine  

forgiveness4  ,it has nothing to do with
 the removal of punishment1 the release 
from  penalty or consequence of sin4    
,the forgiveness of the robber was      
immediate and complete4  ,but he had    
still to hang in agony1 and there       
awaited him the frightful pain of the   
crurifragium1 the breaking of the  legs 
by beating with clubs4    ,the sooner we
 learn the two great truths about the   
punishment of sin1 the  better4    7a7  
,punishment is inevitable4  ,it is a    
necessary result of the  constitution of
 the physical and moral universe1 of the
 working1 in both  regions1 of those    
laws which are the expression of the    
,divine ,mind4    7b7  ,punishment is   
remedial4  ,many ,christian theologians 
have fallen  far below ,plato's         
conception of ,god1 as ,one ,who can    
only punish men with  a view of making  
them better4    ,think of one of the    
punishments of repented sin1 the        
haunting memories of  past evil4  ,in   
this case1 both principles are very     

clearly discernible4  ,each recollection
 may be made the means of a renewed act 
of rejection of  sin1 and thus become an
 opportunity for the deepening of       
repentance4    ,and what disclosure does
 this second word contain of the ,mind  
and ,will of  ,god in us1 as manifested 
not towards1 but by ourselves8  ,our    
lesson is  the prompt recognition and   
welcome of any1 even the slightest signs
 of  amendment4  ,it may be our duty to 
punish4  ,it is always our duty to keep 
alive1 or to kindle1 the hope in an     
offender of becoming better4  ,in that  
hope1 alone1 lies the possibility of    
moral amendment4  ,there is the  golden 
rule1 laid down by ,st4 ,paul for all   
who have to exercise  discipline over   
others1 in words which ring ever in our 
ears--lest they  be discouraged4        
,,iv  ,,the ,,third ,,word              
,lady1 behold thy son4     ,behold thy  
mother4       ,,st4 ,,john ,,xix4 #bf1  
#bg4    ,in this ,word we see the ,son  
of ,god revealed as human son1 and human

  friend1 all the more truly and        
genuinely human in both relations1      
because  in each and every relation of  
life1 ,divine4    #a4  ,the first lesson
 in the ,divine ,life for us to learn   
here is the  simple1 almost vulgarly    
commonplace one1 yet so greatly needing 
to be  learnt1 that charity1 which is   
but a synonym of the ,divine ,life1     
begins at home4    ,home life is the    
real test of a person's ,christianity4  
,there the  barriers with which society 
elsewhere hedges round and cramps the   
free  expression of our individuality1  
no longer exist4  ,we are at liberty to 
be ourselves4  ,what sort of use do we  
make of it8  ,what manner of self do  we
 disclose8  ,would our best friends     
recognise that self to be the person    
whom they admire8  ,if we are to be     
,christians at all1 we must begin by    
being ,christians at home4    ,at home1 
and beyond the limits of home1 one great
 ,christian virtue stands  out as the   
supreme law of social behaviour--that   

is1 for a disciple--the  virtue of      
consideration for others4    ,in the    
midst of torturing physical pain1 in the
 extreme form of that  experience1 of   
which the slightest degree makes us     
fretful1 irritable1  self-absorbed1 our 
,lord calmly provides for the future of 
,his mother and  the disciple whom ,he  
loved4    ,what is required of us is not
 high-flown sentiment1 but the practical
  proof of consideration1 that we have  
really learnt the first lesson of  the  
,christ-life1 to put others1 not self1  
in the first place4  ,the proof1  the   
test1 is our willingness to put         
ourselves to inconvenience1 to go       
without things1 for the sake of others4 
,if in such a little matter as so       
ordering our ,sunday meals as to give   
our servants rest1 as far as may be1    
and opportunity for worship1 our        
practical1 home ,christianity breaks    
down1 then we must not shirk the plain  
truth1 there is in us nothing of  the   
,spirit of ,him ,who spoke the ,third   

,word4  ,on the other hand1 the         
readiness with which we do yield up our 
comforts is a proof--nothing  short of  
that--a proof of the indwelling of ,god 
in us4  ,in this we know  that ,he      
abideth in us1 from the ,spirit--the    
,spirit of the ,christ--which  ,he hath 
given to us4    #b4  ,we notice1 in the 
second place1 that ,christ's proof of   
friendship is  the assignment of a task1
 the giving of some work to do for ,him4
  ,behold  thy mother4  ,we are ,his    
friends1 as ,he ,himself has told us4   
,no longer  do ,i call you slaves1 for  
the slave is one who knows not what his 
master  is doing2 but you ,i have called
 friends4  ,st4 ,john had forsaken his  
,friend3             a torchlight and a 
noise1     ,the sudden ,roman faces1    
violent hands1     ,and fear of what the
 ,jews might do1    had been too much   
for the disciple's courage and the      
friend's devotion4       ,and it is     
written1 ,i forsook and fled3     ,that 
was my trial1 and it ended thus4    ,but

 ,st4 ,john had returned4  ,there he is1
 in his true place1 beside his  ,master 
and ,friend4    ,we too have forsaken1  
sometimes denied1 the same ,master and  
,friend4  ,we  too with true repentance 
have returned1 and are struggling to    
take up the  old allegiance4  ,what is  
the proof1 where is the assurance for   
which we  long more1 perhaps1 than for  
anything else in the world1 that our    
repentance has been accepted1 that we   
are once more in the number of  those   
whom ,he calls ,his friends8    ,there  
is one decisive test4  ,upon all ,his   
friends ,he lays some task4  ,if  we    
have anything to do for ,jesus ,christ1 
then we may assure our hearts4  ,our    
desertion has been forgiven4  ,he has   
spoken to us the words of peace1        
,behold thy mother1 thy brother1 thy    
son4  ,for1 let us not forget1 all  work
 for others1 for the bodies1 the minds1 
the souls of our brethren in  the family
 of ,god1 is capable of being raised    
from the level of  professional         

drudgery1 and of becoming the direct    
service of ,jesus  ,christ4    ,to work 
for ,christ is the real foretaste of    
heaven1 far removed from the  sensuous  
imagery of some modern hymns4  ,be thou 
ruler1 there is the  supreme reward1    
over ten cities4    ,if we are doing any
 work for ,christ1 i4e4 for others for  
,christ's sake1  and as part of our     
service to ,him1 willingly and          
cheerfully1 then we have  the final and 
convincing proof that we are indeed     
forgiven1 that the  offer of renewed    
allegiance has been accepted1 that we   
have been restored  to ,his ,friendship4
        ,v  ,,the ,,fourth ,,word       
,eloi1 ,eloi1 lama sabachthani4--,,st4  
,,matt4 ,,xxvii4 #df2 ,,st4 ,,mark ,,xv4
 #cd4    ,there are three peculiar and  
distinguishing features of this fourth  
word  which our ,saviour uttered from   
,his ,cross4    #a4  ,it is the only one
 of the ,seven which finds a place in   
the earliest  record of our ,lord's     
life1 contained in the matter common to 

,st4 ,matthew  and ,st4 ,mark4    #b4   
,it is the only one which has been      
preserved to us in the original         
,aramaic1 in the very syllables which   
were formed by the lips of ,christ4     
#c4  ,it is the only one which ,he is   
said to have shouted 7,greek text71     
under the extremity of some overpowering
 emotion4    ,in fact1 we are here at   
the very heart of the ,passion4  ,in    
this dread cry  ,i see something of the 
height of the ,divine love1 something of
 the depths  of my own sin4    ,the     
meaning of this dread cry is not perhaps
 so difficult to understand  as some    
have thought4  ,it is to be found in the
 entire reality of that  human nature   
which the ,son of ,god assumed--not     
merely a human body1 but a  human       
consciousness like our own2 in the      
thoroughness with which ,he  identified 
,himself with every phase of our        
experience1 the knowledge of  personal  
sin alone excepted4    ,in this         
identification more was involved than we

 commonly think4  ,sin  cannot be in a  
world of which the constitution is the  
expression of the  ,mind of ,god1       
without introducing therein a fatal     
element of discord1  confusion1 and     
pain4  ,to all consequences of sin the  
,saviour necessarily  submitted         
,himself1 by the mere fact of ,his entry
 into a world which sin  had disordered4
  ,in respect of the external           
consequences1 this is  abundantly clear4
  ,we have seen1 and it is1 in fact1    
obvious1 that ,his  sufferings and      
,death were the result of the actual    
sins of men4  ,but  there were1 it is   
important to remember1 internal         
sufferings attributable  to the same    
cause4  ,we are at once reminded of ,his
 tears over the doomed  city1 doomed by 
the persistent refusal to recognise the 
,divine voice4  ,but  we are here on    
still deeper ground4  ,the true         
explanation of the fourth  word is to be
 found in that great principle which    
,st4 ,paul has laid down  in a familiar1

 but little understood1 sentence3 the   
sting of death is  sin4    ,the simplest
 and most obvious meaning of these words
 is that1 whatever be  the physiological
 meaning and necessity of human death1  
its peculiar  horror and dread1 that    
which makes death to be what it is for  
us1 is to  be found in sin1 in the      
separation of man from ,god4    ,now    
that horror consists1 ultimately1 in the
 fact that death is the  analogue1 or1  
in ,new ,testament language1 the sign1  
of what sin  is--separation4  ,if sin   
is1 essentially1 the violent and        
unnatural  separation of man1 by his own
 act1 from his spiritual environment1   
death  is clearly the separation--and1  
as our sins have made it1 the violent   
and unnatural separation of man from all
 that has hitherto been his  world4  ,it
 may be1 that the final1 extremest pang 
of death is the supreme  moment of      
agony1 when we feel that we are being   
made to let go our hold  on reality1 are
 slipping back into what1 in our        

consciousness of it1 must  appear like  
nothingness1 the mere blank negation of 
being4  ,here1 then1  we have the       
explanation of this awful cry4  ,he ,who
 came for our  salvation into a world   
disordered by sin1 willed so to identify
 ,himself  with our experience1 as to   
realise death1 not as it might have     
been1 but  as man had made it1 the very 
sign and symbol of man's sin1 of his    
separation from ,god4  ,that moment of  
extreme mental anguish wrung from  ,his 
lips the ,cry1 not of dereliction1 but  
of faith triumphing even in  the moment 
when ,he tasted death as sin's most     
bitter fruit1 ,my ,god1  why didst ,thou
 forsake ,me8    ,what this view        
involves is briefly    7i7  ,death is an
 experience natural to man4    7ii7     
,sin has added to this natural          
experience a peculiar agony1 a  sting4  
7iii7  ,this sting is an experience of  
utter isolation at some moment in  the  
process of death1 the feeling that one  
is being violently rent away  from one's

 clinging hold of existence4    7iv7    
,this sting is due to the disorder sin  
has introduced into the  constitution of
 the world and of man4    7v7  ,in      
virtue of this1 death has become the    
sign in the natural  world of what sin  
is in the spiritual4    7vi7  ,our      
,blessed ,lord so utterly identified    
,himself with our experience1  with the 
internal as well as with the external   
consequences of our sin1  as to undergo 
this most terrible result of man's      
transgression4    7vii7  ,and ,he felt  
the full agony of it as realising1 what 
none but the  ,sinless ,one could       
realise1 the horror of sin as separation
 from ,god4    ,in a word1 the ,cry     
represents the culmination of our       
,lord's sufferings1 a  real experience  
of ,his human consciousness4    ,the    
experience was objective1 as all states 
of consciousness are4  ,our  sensations 
are as objective as material things4    
,it was1 as we have  just said1 real3   
inasmuch as the only definition of      

reality is that which  is included in   
personal experience4    ,thus           
understood1 this fourth word teaches us 
at least two valuable  lessons4    #a4  
,it discloses to us the ,mind of        
,christ1 which is to be our own mind1   
in its outlook upon human sin4  ,we1 if 
the same mind is to be in us  which was 
also in ,christ ,jesus1 must hate sin1  
and our sins1 not  because of any       
results or penalties external to sin1   
but because sin  separates us from ,god1
 our true life4  ,the worst punishment  
of sin1 is  sin itself4  ,into depths   
which make us tremble as we strive to   
gaze into  them1 ,christ our ,lord      
descended to deliver us from that deadly
 thing  which is destroying our life4   
,that appalling ,cry burst from ,his    
lips1  that we might learn to fear and  
dread sin worse than any pang of        
physical  pain4    #b4  ,this ,word1    
again1 discloses the ,mind of ,christ1  
true ,man1 in its  relation to ,god4    
,he possessed fullest self-consciousness

 both as ,god and  as ,man4  ,thus ,he  
,himself alone knew1 in their absolute  
fulness1 the joy  and the strength which
 come from the communion of man with    
,god4  ,that joy  and that strength1 in 
the measure in which we can attain to   
their  realisation1 are to be the goal  
of all our striving4  ,thus this ,word  
has  for us more than a merely negative 
teaching4  ,not only are we to shrink   
from that which destroys union with     
,god4  ,we must seek far more earnestly 
to make that union a greater and a      
deeper reality4  ,this end we can       
achieve by making our prayers more      
deliberate acts of conscious communion  
with that ,person ,who is not merely    
above us1 but in us1 and in ,whom we    
live1 and move1 and have our being4  ,we
 must all make the confession  that we  
have not yet nearly realised all that   
prayer might be to us1 if  only we were 
more energetic1 more strenuous1 more    
utterly in earnest1 in  our attempts to 
pray4  ,it is by prayer that we are to  

attain to our  complete manhood1 to win 
our souls1 to become our true selves4   
,for what are men better than sheep or  
goats1     ,which nourish a blind life  
within the brain1     ,if1 knowing ,god1
 they lift not hands of prayer1         
,both for themselves1 and those that    
call them friend8     ,for so the whole 
round world is1 every way1     ,bound   
with gold chains about the feet of ,god4
        ,,vi  ,,the ,,fifth ,,word      
,i thirst4--,,john ,,xix4 #bh4    ,this 
is the only utterance of our ,blessed   
,lord in which ,he gave  expression to  
,his physical sufferings4  ,not least of
 these was that  intolerable thirst     
which is the invariable result of all   
serious wounds1  as those know well who 
have ever visited patients in a hospital
 after  they have undergone a surgical  
operation4  ,in this case it must have  
been  aggravated beyond endurance by    
exposure to the burning heat of an      
,eastern  sun4  ,this word1 then1 spoken
 under such circumstances1 discloses the

  ,mind of the ,son of ,god1 perfect    
,man1 in regard to physical pain4    #a4
  ,notice then1 in the first place1 the 
majestic calm of this word4  ,it  was   
spoken in intensest agony1 yet with     
deliberation1 exhibiting the  restraint 
of the sovereign and victorious will of 
the ,sufferer4  ,after  these things1   
knowing that all things had now been    
accomplished1 ,he saith  not 'cried'1 ,i
 thirst4  ,we cannot be wrong in reading
 this marvellous  word in the light of  
that strange passage in the ,epistle to 
the ,hebrews1  where the writer tells us
 that ,christ1 although ,he was ,son1   
yet learnt  ,he obedience by the things 
which ,he suffered4  ,how are we to     
reconcile  this with the moral          
perfection of our ,lord's humanity8  ,we
 can only do  so1 by applying the       
,aristotelian distinction between the   
potential and  the actual4  ,the        
obedience of the ,son of ,god1 existing 
as it did in all  possible perfection   
from the first moment of ,his human     

consciousness1 yet  existed1 prior to   
,his complete identification of ,himself
 with all our  human experience1 as a   
potentiality4  ,it became actual1 in the
 same way  as our obedience can alone   
become actual1 as a result of that      
experience1  and1 above all1 in         
consequence of those sufferings which   
were part of  that experience4  ,in this
 sense ,he learnt obedience1 where we   
too must  learn it1 in ,god's school of 
pain4    ,therein lies the answer1 as   
complete an answer as we can at present 
receive1 to the problem of pain4  ,while
 that problem is1 beyond doubt1  the    
most perplexing of all the questions    
which confront us1 the real  difficulty 
lies1 not in the existence of pain in   
,god's world1 but in the  apparent      
absence1 in so many instances1 of any   
discernible purpose in  pain4  ,in      
itself1 pain does not1 or at least      
should not1 conflict with  the highest  
moral conception which we can form of   
the character of ,god4  ,but purposeless

 pain1 if such really occur anywhere in 
the universe1 is  hard indeed to        
reconcile with the revelation of the    
,highest as ,infinite  and ,eternal     
,love4  ,the real answer to the problem 
lies in our gradually  dawning          
perception of the high purposes which   
pain subserves4    ,it is well1 then1 to
 remind ourselves of the teaching of    
natural science  in regard to the       
function of pain in the animal world4   
,there1 at least1  it has originated1   
and has survived1 only because of its   
actual use to  the possessors of that   
nervous system which makes pain         
possible4  ,it  serves as a danger      
signal of such inestimable value that no
 race of  animals1 of any high degree of
 organisation1 which could be incapable 
of  suffering pain1 could for any length
 of time continue to survive4  ,pain    
here1 at any rate1 so far from being    
purposeless1 owes its existence to  the 
purpose which it subserves4             
,ascending higher in the scale of being 

we see1 as has been recently  pointed   
out1 that the progress of human         
civilisation has been very  largely due 
to the successful efforts of man to     
resist and to remove  pain4  ,the most  
successful and progressive races of     
mankind are those  which inhabit regions
 of the world where the conditions of   
life are  neither so severe as to       
paralyse all exertion1 or even to       
preclude its  possibility1 nor so       
favourable that men can avoid the pain  
of hunger or  of cold without strenuous 
and unremitting effort4  ,the stimulus  
of pain  has been the means of          
perfecting the animal nature of man1 and
 the secret  of those victories which he
 has won over the inclement or dangerous
  forces of the material world1 and     
which we call1 in their totality1 human 
civilisation4    ,and thus we come in   
sight of a great law1 perfection through
 suffering4  ,and the revelation of the 
,cross is the exhibition to us of this  
law  acting in the higher reaches of    

man's existence1 in the moral and       
spiritual regions of his life4  ,as the 
animal has gained its victories in  the 
past1 so the spiritual is advancing     
towards the final triumph of man1  along
 the same path1 of healthy reaction     
stimulated and necessitated by  pain4   
,for wherein lies the triumph of the    
spiritual nature1 save in its  complete 
and sovereign control over all the other
 elements in our complex  being8  ,the  
spiritual man is not the man who has    
starved his physical or  intellectual   
being2 but the man whose whole nature1  
harmoniously  developed in the whole    
range of its varied gifts and powers and
  faculties1 is altogether brought under
 the mastery of that which is  highest  
in him1 that spirit in which he is akin 
to ,god1 the wearer of the  ,divine     
,image4  ,the saintliest1 loftiest      
characters of men and women have  been  
the fruits of this discipline4    ,we   
see the final demonstration of the      
purpose of pain in ,him ,who learnt     

obedience by the things which ,he       
suffered4  ,this one word which tells of
  physical suffering1 tells also1 as we 
have already seen1 of the victory       
gained over it by ,his human ,spirit4   
,it was by the reaction of that  ,spirit
 under sharpest bodily pain1 that the   
moral perfection of the ,son  of man    
ceased to be potential1 and became      
actual4  ,so it is with us1 so  at least
 it may be in ever-increasing measure1  
when pain is accepted and  met in the   
way in which ,christ accepted and met   
,his pain1 not in the  spirit of useless
 and wild rebellion against the laws of 
the universe1  nor in that of a blind1  
fatalistic1 and unintelligent fatalism1 
which  calls itself resignation4  ,we   
may1 hence1 learn to look beyond and    
behind  pain to that great law of       
perfection through suffering which takes
  effect1 as it were1 spontaneously in  
lower forms of life2 but which1 in  the 
realm of the moral and the spiritual1   
demands the co-operation of the  human  

mind and will4    #b4  ,we may see also1
 in the fifth word1 the revelation of   
the attitude of  the ,son of ,god       
towards ,his own body4  ,that attitude1 
and hence the only  genuinely and       
characteristically ,christian attitude1 
may be best  described as the mean      
between the pampering of the body1 and  
its savage  neglect in the interests of 
a false asceticism4    ,as at first ,he 
put aside the slumberous potion bland   
and willed to  feel all1 that ,he might 
pity all1 so1 now ,his task is over1 ,he
 craves1  and accepts1 alleviation of   
,his bodily pain4  ,it is a wonderful   
illustration of the true1 the ,christian
 way of regarding the body4  ,the  human
 body is essentially a good and holy    
thing4  ,those sins which we  call      
bodily1 like all sins1 have their origin
 in the rebellious will4  ,they are only
 distinguished from other sins1 because 
in them the will  uses the body1 and in 
other sins other ,god-given endowments  
of our  nature1 in opposition to the    

eternal goodness which is the ,will of  
,god4  ,we cannot too often remember1   
that good and evil are terms applicable 
to the will alone4    ,that splendid    
gift of the body has been given to us1  
in order that in it1  and through it1 we
 might glorify ,god2 that is1 do ,his   
,will1 the only  thing utterly worth    
doing4  ,therefore1 we have to keep our 
bodies  fit1 fit in all ways for their  
high and holy purpose4  ,there is the   
law1 the standard of all ,christian     
self-discipline4  ,think of the glory   
of the prospect which it holds out to   
us1 of the development and destiny  of  
the body4  ,think of the care which we  
should bestow upon it1 of the  awful    
reverence with which we should regard   
this 7in the ,divine  intention7        
splendid and perfect instrument for the 
fulfilment of the ,will  of ,god4  ,for 
what reverence can be too great for that
 which the ,eternal  ,god chose as the  
tabernacle in which ,he should dwell    
among men1 as the  instrument by which  

,he should do the ,father's ,will on    
earth8    ,of all the religions of the  
world it is the religion of ,jesus      
,christ  alone which bids us glorify    
,god in the body1 that is1 do ,his ,will
 in  and by that glorious instrument    
which ,he has created and redeemed for  
,his  service4    #c4  ,finally1 we may 
remind ourselves1 very briefly1 that we1
 in our own  day1 may share the         
blessedness of the ,roman soldier who   
relieved the  sufferings of ,christ4    
,inasmuch as ye have done it unto the   
least of  these ,my brethren1 ye have   
done it unto ,me4    ,as ,christians1 we
 must have some ministry to fulfil      
towards the  suffering members of       
,christ's ,body4  ,in the parable of the
 sheep and the  goats1 the eternal      
destiny of men is shown to depend1 in   
the last resort1  upon the manner in    
which they have performed1 or failed to 
perform1 this  ministry4  ,the          
complexities of modern life call for    
careful thought in  regard to the manner

 in which we are to fulfil this duty1   
but they cannot  relieve us of it4      
,somewhere or other in our lives we must
 be diligently  relieving the           
necessities of others1 ministering to   
their needs of body1  mind1 or spirit4  
,else--there is no shirking this        
conclusion--we are  simply failing in   
the most characteristic of all          
,christian virtues2 we  are far removed 
from the ,mind of ,him ,who went about  
doing good2 we are  on the way to hear  
that final condemnation1 ,because ye did
 it not to the  least of these ,my      
brethren1 ye did it not to ,me4         
,,vii  ,,the ,,sixth ,,word         ,it 
is accomplished4--,,st4 ,,john ,,xix4   
#cj4    #a4  ,what had been             
accomplished8  ,in the first place1 that
 work which  ,christ had come into the  
world to do4  ,all that work may be     
resumed in a  single word1 sacrifice4   
,the ,son of ,god had come for this one 
purpose1  to offer a sacrifice4  ,here  
is room for serious misunderstanding4   

,the  blood1 the pain1 the death1 were  
not the sacrifice4  ,nothing visible was
  the sacrifice1 least of all the       
physical surroundings of its culminating
  act4  ,there is only one thing which  
can rightly be called sacrifice--or1  to
 put it otherwise1 one sacrifice which  
alone has any worth1 alone can  win any 
acceptance in the sight of ,god--and    
that is1 the obedience of the  human    
will1 the will of man brought into      
perfect union with that ,divine  ,will  
which is its own highest moral ideal4   
,the perfect obedience of the human will
 of ,christ to the ,divine ,will1  could
 only be realised--such were the        
circumstances under which the  mission  
received of the ,father was to be       
fulfilled by ,him for the good of       
man--by ,his faithfulness unto death4   
,he became obedient unto death1  because
 in such a world perfect faithfulness   
must lead to death4  ,but the  death of 
,christ was no isolated fact1 standing  
out solitary and alone  from the rest of

 ,his ministry4  ,it was not merely of  
one piece with1 but  the natural and    
fitting close of the whole4  ,the death 
of uttermost  obedience was the crown   
and consummation of the obedient life4  
,on the  ,cross1 ,he was carrying ,his  
life's work to its triumphant close4    
,his  ,death was1 itself1 ,his victory4 
,this victorious aspect of the ,passion 
is that on which ,st4 ,john chiefly     
dwells4  ,the glorification of the ,son 
of man1 ,his lifting up1 was the  whole 
series of events extending from the     
,passion to the ,ascension4  ,so  the   
first ,christians loved to think of the 
,cross1 not as the instrument  of       
unutterable pain1 but as the symbol of  
their ,master's triumph4  ,it is  this  
feeling1 this apprehension of the       
,johannine teaching on the ,passion1    
which accounts for the late appearance  
of the crucifix4  ,even when1 at  last1 
the actual sufferings of the ,saviour   
are depicted1 we are still far  removed 
from medieval realism4  ,there are no   

nails--the ,saviour is  outstretched on 
the ,cross by the moral power of ,his   
own will1 steadfast  and victorious in  
its obedience4  ,the ,sacred ,face is   
not convulsed with  agony1 but is       
turned1 with calm and benignant aspect1 
towards men whom ,he  blesses4  ,the    
earliest representations of the         
,passion1 as we have noticed  before1   
are far nearer to the spirit of the     
gospels1 that of ,st4 ,john  above all1 
than those of the ,middle ,ages4    #b4 
,but the ministry itself was but the    
consummation of the age-long work  now  
accomplished4  ,throughout the whole    
course of man's history1 in the  entire 
spiritual evolution1 whose first steps  
and rude beginnings we  trace in the    
burial mounds of prehistoric races1 ,he 
,whose lips now  uttered that great ,it 
is accomplished had been the light of   
men1 never  amid thick clouds of error  
and cruelty and superstition wholly     
extinguished4  ,in every approach of man
 to ,god however dimly conceived  of1   

the ,word1 the ,eternal ,son1 had been  
offering ,himself in sacrifice to  the  
,father4    ,so here1 in the perfect act
 of the moral obedience of a human will1
 is  that to which all sacrifices not   
only pointed forward but1 all the time1 
meant1 and aimed at1 and symbolised1 as 
men so slowly and so painfully  groped  
after1 felt their way to ,god1 if haply 
they might find ,him4    ,it is         
accomplished--the true meaning of       
sacrifice1 of all religion1  heathen and
 ,jewish1 is attained and laid bare4    
,thousands of years of human development
 reach their climax1 find their  issue  
and their explanation in these words4   
#c4  ,in its teaching1 this sixth word  
ascends to the heights1 to the          
mysterious and ineffable relationships  
of the ,godhead--which are the  inner   
reality and meaning of all morality and 
religion--and it descends  to the       
depths1 to the lowliest details of the  
most commonplace life4    ,all work1 for
 the ,christian1 is raised to the level1

 to the dignity of  sacrifice4  ,once   
and for all we must rid ourselves of    
that idea which has  wrought so much    
mischief1 that sacrifice necessarily    
connotes pain1 loss1  death4            
,essentially our sacrifice is what      
essentially ,christ's sacrifice  was1   
the joyous dedication of the will to    
,god1 the ,source and ,light of  all our
 being4       ,the daily round1 the     
common task1     ,will furnish all we   
need to ask4    ,all work is sacred1 or 
may be so1 if we will4  ,for all work   
has been  consecrated for evermore by   
the perfect obedience1 that is1 the     
perfect  sacrifice of the ,son of man1  
the ,head of our race4  ,there is no    
task  which any ,christian1 anywhere1   
can be called upon to do1 which cannot  
be  made part of that joyous service1   
that glad sacrifice1 which1 in union    
with that of ,jesus ,christ our ,lord1  
we1 one with ,him in sacramental  union1
 offer and present to the ,father4      
,,viii  ,,the ,,seventh ,,word          

,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commend ,my 
spirit4  ,,st4 ,,luke ,,xxiii4 #df4     
,the consummation of sacrifice1 the     
union of the human will with the        
,divine1 leads to the perfect rest in   
,god4    #a4  ,we have tried to deal    
with the ,seven ,words as constituting a
  revelation of the ,divine ,sonship of 
humanity4  ,from this point of view it  
is significant that the first and the   
last begin1 like the ,lord's ,prayer1   
with a direct address to the ,father4   
,the service of the ,christian man is   
that of a son in his father's house1  of
 a free man1 not of a slave4  ,the      
,fatherhood of ,god is the very key-    
note of the ,christian view of life and 
of death4  ,in both alike we are  the   
objects of the ,father's individual care
 and love2 in both we bear the  supreme 
dignity of the sons of the ,most ,high4 
,that dignity belongs inalienably to our
 human nature as such4  ,baptism        
conveys no gift alien and extraneous to 
our manhood4  ,rather1 that union  with 

the ,only ,begotten ,son is not an      
addition to1 but the restoration of  our
 nature by ,him in ,whose ,image it was 
created4  ,united thus to the  ,eternal 
,son1 we are placed in a position to    
realise the possibilities of  our being1
 to become that which we are constituted
 capable of becoming4  ,that is the true
 answer to the question1 how can we be  
made children of  ,god by ,baptism8     
,and through work1 and prayer1 and      
suffering1 we are to grow into1 and     
perfectly realise1 our ,divine sonship4 
#b4  ,these dying words of the ,son of  
,god breathe no spirit of mere passive  
resignation4  ,that is the spirit of the
 ,oriental fatalist1 not of the son     
conscious of his sonship1 of his        
heirship4  ,even the ,lord's ,death was 
not  the yielding to inexorable         
necessity1 to the inevitable working of 
the  laws of nature4  ,it was1 if       
anything in ,his ,life was1 the         
deliberate act  of ,his conscious ,will4
  ,i commend1 rather1 ,i commit ,my     

,spirit4  ,i  lay down ,my life 4 4 4   
therefore the ,father loveth ,me4       
,submission to the ,will of ,god is not 
necessarily a ,christian virtue at  all4
  ,what is ,christian is the glad       
recognition of what manner of will  the 
,divine ,will is1 how altogether good1  
perfect1 and acceptable1 how  infinitely
 righteous1 and holy1 and loving2 the   
doing of that glorious  ,will with mind1
 and heart1 and will1 and body2 the     
praying with all  sincerity and         
intention that that ,will1 which is the 
happiness and joy  and life of all      
creatures1 may increasingly be done1 as 
in heaven1 so on  earth2 the free and   
glad surrender1 in life and death1 to   
that ,will  which is the perfection and 
consummation of our manhood4    #c4     
,such an attitude of our whole being1   
which is what is meant by being  a      
,christian1 can only be ours by virtue  
of the ,spirit of the ,son of ,god      
dwelling and working within us1 and     
moulding us into ,his perfect           

,likeness4  ,in ,him alone we can come  
to our sonship1 to that which is from   
the first1 potentially1 our own4  ,ye   
are all sons of ,god1 through faith1  in
 ,christ ,jesus2 for as many of you as  
were baptised into ,christ did put  on  
,christ4  ,work and suffering1 life and 
death1 can only be borne1 and  lived1   
and endured by us in the spirit of      
sonship1 so far as we are  actually in  
,christ4    ,let us pray that the ,mind 
and ,will of the ,son of ,god1 disclosed
 to us in  these ,seven ,words1 may be  
ours in ever-increasing measure4  ,they 
can be  ours1 if we are in ,him1 and ,he
 in us4    ,the foundation fact of the  
,christian life1 that which alone makes 
it  possible1 is our union1 through     
sacraments and faith1 with ,christ2 our 
actual sharing in ,his ,life1 imparted  
by ,his ,spirit to the members of ,his  
,body4  ,we are meant to be ever drawing
 upon the infinite moral resources  of  
that ,life by repeated acts of faith4   
,for1 as with all other gifts of  ,god1 

so it is with this1 ,his supreme gift2  
we only know it as ours--it  is1 in a   
real sense1 only truly our own--in      
proportion as we are using  it4         
,x  ,,address ,,on ,,easter ,,eve       
,we were buried1 therefore1 with ,him   
through baptism into death2 that        
like as ,christ was raised from the dead
 by the glory of the ,father1 so     we 
also should walk in newness of          
life4--,,rom4 ,,vi4 #d4       ,i        
delivered unto you1 among the first     
things1 that 4 4 4 ,he was              
buried4--,i ,,cor4 ,,xv4 #c1 #d4    ,st4
 ,paul lays extraordinary and1 at first 
sight1 inexplicable stress1 on  the fact
 of our ,lord's ,burial4  ,it is        
certainly strange that1 in the  second  
of these two texts1 he mentions it as   
constituting1 along with the  ,death of 
,jesus ,christ for our sins1 and ,his   
,resurrection on the third day          
according to the ,scriptures1 the       
foundation truths of the apostolic      
gospel1 as being one of those first     

things of the ,christian religion       
which1 as he had received1 so had he    
delivered to the ,corinthians4    ,this 
extreme importance attached by ,st4     
,paul to the ,burial of ,christ1 can    
only be explained by the mysticism of   
the great apostle4  ,to him the  outward
 facts1 however wonderful and striking  
in themselves1 are of value  only as    
signs1 as representing great moral and  
spiritual realities4  ,to  him1 as to   
every man who thinks soberly and        
steadily1 the internal is  real in a    
sense in which the external is not3     
thought has a reality  denied to things4
    ,the real meaning of ,christ's      
,burial is the mystical meaning1 that   
meaning  which was brought home to the  
minds of the early ,christians by the   
picturesque and symbolic ritual of      
baptism4  ,the man who had1 by faith1   
accepted ,christ as his ,lord and       
,master1 was baptised into ,his ,death2 
that  is1 in ,him he died to the old    
life4  ,his submergence beneath the     

baptismal waters1 the very likeness of  
the ,burial1 was the assurance and  the 
sealing of that death4  ,as truly as the
 man who is dead and buried is  cut off 
for ever from the life of this world1 so
 was the baptised  separated1 once and  
for all1 from the old heathen life with 
all its  associations4  ,as clearly did 
his emergence from those waters show    
forth  his actual participation in the  
,lord's ,resurrection4  ,he had not     
merely  left the old life behind1 he had
 from that moment entered upon the new  
life1 the life of ,god2 that is1 the    
life which henceforth had ,god for  its 
foundation1 its centre1 and its goal2   
the life of moral health and  sanity2   
the life which was to be1 in all its    
relations1 open and clear  and          
undismayed2 the life in the ,light4     
#a4  ,the first thought1 then1 of       
,easter ,eve must surely be one of      
profound  sorrow and humiliation4  ,we  
ought to be bowed to the very earth with
 self-  abasement by the thought that we

 have been1 so many times in the past1  
untrue to our baptism4    ,soldiers of  
,christ1 we have denied our ,lord4      
,more1 ours has been the  guilt1 not of 
,peter only1 but of ,judas4  ,too often 
we have betrayed ,him  for the veriest  
pittance of this world's good4    ,we   
have missed the glory of the ,risen     
,life4  ,all the magnificent language   
of the ,epistle to the ,ephesians1 the  
quickening with ,christ1 the raising    
together with ,him from the dead1 the   
enthronement in ,him in the heavenly    
places--all this was written of         
,christians in this life4  ,all this    
might  have been true of us1 and is not2
 for1 worse than ,esau1 we have bartered
  away an incomparably more magnificent 
heritage4    ,what remains for us to do 
on this ,easter ,eve but1 with truest   
penitence1  with utter loathing of self1
 and utter longing for ,him ,who is our 
true  self1 to cast ourselves at the    
,feet of ,christ8    #b4  ,but the      
second thought of ,easter ,eve is one of

 boundless hope4  ,but  remember1 hope  
can only begin at the ,feet of ,christ4 
,for ,christian hope  has evermore its  
beginning and its ground in humility4   
,we only find  safety1 comfort1 joy1    
encouragement1 as we lie1 prostrate in  
penitence1  before our ,redeemer4  ,it  
is clear1 is it not1 what we mean by all
 this8  ,we are1 simply and naturally1  
to kneel before our ,lord1 and          
acknowledge  to ,him all our untruth1   
all our disloyalty1 all the manifold    
failures of  our service4  ,and the very
 fact that we can do this sincerely and 
honestly1 is the earnest of all good    
things to come in us4  ,if only we  can 
make this genuine and heartfelt         
confession1 there is no degree of  moral
 recovery beyond our reach4    ,for on  
,easter ,eve we try to realise once more
 that greatest of ,christian  truths1   
the power of ,christ's ,resurrection4   
,the power which was  manifested in the 
,resurrection of ,jesus ,christ from the
 dead is the power  which is universally

 present in nature and in mind1 which is
 the reality  behind all forces of      
nature1 which all forces reveal4  ,it   
has been finely  said1 that the opening 
of a rose-bud and the ,resurrection of  
,jesus  ,christ are facts of the same   
order1 for they are equally             
manifestations  of the one force which  
is the motive power of all phenomena4   
,we see that power in the glories of the
 opening spring2 we are conscious  of it
 in ourselves1 in every good resolve1   
every upward aspiration4  ,there  comes 
to us the inspiring thought1 that the   
physical and the moral  ,resurrection   
alike1 in nature1 in ourselves1 in      
,jesus ,christ1 are  different          
manifestations of one and the same      
power4  ,was the ,resurrection  of the  
,lord a mighty fact1 the greatest of all
 the facts of history1 a  transcendent  
and astonishing miracle8  ,the power    
which wrought it is in  me2 the same    
wondrous fact1 the same stupendous      
miracle1 if ,i will1 may  be            

accomplished in me4    ,that was the    
very meaning of my ,christian           
calling--that as ,christ was  raised    
from the dead by the glory of the       
,father1 so ,i1 by the self-same  power1
 might be raised from the death of sin1 
and enabled to walk in  newness of life4
  ,the ,death1 the ,burial1 and the     
,resurrection of ,jesus  ,christ are not
 merely historical facts1 external to   
me3 they are meant to  be spiritual     
facts in my own experience1 in the      
experience of all  ,christians4  ,and   
spiritual facts are beyond measure      
greater in value and  meaning and       
influence than those historical facts   
which happened in space  and time1 in   
order to serve as signs and symbols of  
the inward and  eternal realities4      
,so let us come to our ,easter          
,communion1 not only in the spirit of   
penitence1 but in the spirit of undying 
and unconquerable hope4  ,there is  no  
limit to that which the power of ,god1  
symbolised1 embodied externally1  in the

 ,resurrection1 may effect within us1 in
 the region of our moral and  spiritual 
life4  ,or rather1 there is no limit to 
the exercise of the  ,divine power1 save
 that which we ourselves impose upon it1
 by our failure  to correspond with it4 
,now as ever it is true1 true of the    
work of ,god's  grace upon our souls1 as
 of the healing power of ,christ over   
the bodies  of men1 that according to   
our faith it shall be done to us4       
,,william ,,brendon ,,and ,,son1 ,,ltd4 
,,printers1 ,,plymouth                  
,,footnotes      #j  ,some of them also 
in the ,parish ,church of ,colton1      
,staffordshire4