THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS ates from God. And the final inevitable, irrevocable issue of sin is to be God for saken, God abandoned on account of sin. A penalty from which even the love of God cannot save the sinner. Sin, there fore, in its last bitterness is the con sciousness of the lack and forsakenness of God. Now hear again the cry from the cross: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.” “That is hell.” I believe that then Jesus by the will of God was tasting death for me, going out into the agony of God-forsakenness and God-abandonment for sin. Now I know in part what Calvary means. Jesus had said: “He that believeth on me shall never die,” but to this hour we have kept a well beaten road to the cemetery. What did he mean? If death is the issue of sin and sin is to he forsaken of God, then I know what he means. I shall never go staggering out into the outer darkness—God forsaken, God- abandoned—on account of sin, but shall pass from death into life by the power of Christ, my Lord. A Resurrected Jesus Paul not only preached a Crucified Jesus, he preached a resurrected Jesus. When they took him down from the cross they laid him in a new tomb. Hope less and despaired his disciples went away. Wet eyed the women mourned him dead. His mother sat in the deso lation and ashes of grief. His enemies laughed, saying “The troubler of Israel sleeps at last. The tomb keeps silent lips. But lest his disciples steal him away, fix a seal and station a guard.” And Pilate gave authority. There should be no rifled grave, Rome leaned her governmental might against the stone in that seal and the helmeted soldiers paced the watch with bond of death. Not a soul on earth dreamed of a' resurrection. “But God raised him from the dead." Jehovah reversing Pilate; Heaven revers ing Jerusalem. So the apostles preached it. Not as so often portrayed by orator
846 Some urge upon us that Jesus was afraid he would die in the garden! What an illumination. He had said that he would he betrayed into the hands of sin ners and he crucified and on the third day rise again. Now in a panic! ..Others urge that the agony of Jesus was because he was more sensitively constituted than we and that he shrank from the suffer ing until he cried out to His Father. Do you never grow tired of the little things said of Jesus? Why he has so thrilled the hearts of boys and girls of a dozen years that they have for his sake met death with a smile. And Christ a craven! But suppose the issue of sin is separ ation from God “and that the final con sequence of sin is to be God forsaken, God abandoned on account of sin. And suppose He is to suffer the issues of our sins and in agony unspeakable cries out to God for the passing of the cup. Will you away to Calvary? They have nailed him to the cross. One never moves freely at Calvary. The hammer thuds appall. The agony awes us. The hellish brutality amazes us. The surging sea of hatred astounds us. The darkness terrifies. The jeers madden us. The love of the sufferer melts us. The mys tery overwhelms us. Eternities are crowded into hours. Out of the dark ness comes the deepest cry of anguish ever wrung from mortal lips, “My God! My Gojd! Why hast thou forsaken me!” sfc I know Mr. Pike of Chicago suggests that Jesus was in delirium from the suf fering, and thought God was gone from him while in reality God was never so near him as then. Well, any one that wants a delirious Christ is welcome to the teaching. George Matheson says that Jesus was beginning to chant a song, the remain der of which he sang in silence to him self. But may be John Calvin was right when he said “There fell on Jesus the full shock of the wrath of God "against sin,” for he was made sin for us. Sin in disobedience. And sin separates, alien-
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