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December 1928
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
Where “Love and Ju s t ice” Meet B y t h e L ate R ev . R . L . L acey
plainly in anticipation pf Calvary—“This is my blood of the covenant, which is shed for many unto remission of sins.” P aul t h e T heologian There was one theologian among the apostles (and one only), and to the Apostle Paul was it left to develop the argument of our Lqrd’s atoning sacrifice—His death upon the cross—-as the only ground of our salvation, and
jE have in the Bible the sublimest and most practical truths which have ever been re vealed to the world, and the truth of Cal vary is among the most distinctive. To the evangelical Faith it is the very heart of the Gospel. Whatever is true about the New Testament, it is true that if you take from it the message of Atonement, of the Garden where Love once lay bleed-!
ing, of the Cross on which the Eternal was crucified, little is. left. For the Christian there is Christ recognizable but the who has been crucified no By faith the sinner dies with his Saviour, and “he that hath died is justified from sin.” .The Saviour dies in our place, “the Righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God.” It is not the province of the evangelist to discuss theories of the atonement—the a p o s t l e s never did it—but to try, by help of the Holy Spirit, to make the fact plain, leaving it to Him to make the words of the Scripture spirit and life to the ungodly, un converted and unsaved. Let us consider (1) the fact of this great reconciliation ef fected on Calvary as set forth in Holy Scripture; (2) the value of it as an ethical and spiritual force. (1) Christ for us.
this he does in the fifth and sixth chapters of his letter to the Ro mans—the very sheet-anchor of his theology. “While we were yet weak, in duef^season Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a right -£*. eous man will one d ie: yet per- adventure for the good man some one would even dare to die. But God commendeth His own love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if, while we were enemies; we were recon ciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, being rec onciled, shall we be saved by His life; and. not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconcili
The writings of the Reverend R. L. Lacey, one of England’s devout Bible! scholars, have been a g r e a t blessing around the world. Word just received from Mrs. Lacey, brings us q profound sense o f loss to know that her beloved husband has finished his course here on earth, but real joy in the thought that he has had an abundant entrance into the Eternal City. “My husband greatly loved T h é K in g ’ s B u sin ess ,” writes his widow, “and greatly admired its stand for the Word of God in its entirety. I know he would wish me to tell you so. For his sake as well as my own, I do wish T h e K in g ’ s B u sin ess and all it repre sents, sincerest success and God’s richest blessing.” We are reproducing herewith one of Mr. Lacey’s c h o i c e articles : “Where Love and Justice Meet.”
There are few plainer passages of Scripture (and they are very numerous in Old and New Testament alike) than those which set forth the atonement of our Lord as to the ground of our forgiveness, and refer the remis sion of all sins to the blood of the Lamb of God. No pic ture or rood can speak to us so plainly of the cross of Jesus Christ as the New Testament lying quietly on the table. Yet, some hundreds of years before the coming of our Lord to earth, the evangelist of the Hebrew Scrip tures declared by the Spirit: “He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity o f us all” (Isaiah 53 :5, 6). It came to pass as the prophet had prophesied, and the death on the cross itself is the most spiritual and impres sive speech of our Lord, but doubtless He spake often with His disciples of the decease He was to accomplish and its great purpose. It is inconceivable that the apos tles should have taught the death of Christ as the objective ground on which God forgives human sin, unless they had learned it from Christ Himself. Only a few hours before He died, however, in taking the cup and giving it to His sorrowing disciples, He said—
ation.”■? And TH IS is the message of Calvary. O safe and happy shelter! O refuge tried and sweet! O trysting'-place where Heaven’s Love And Heaven’s Justice meet! T h e F in ish e d W ork (2) “It is finished.” . The work of the Word of for giveness made flesh is accomplished. “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the. sin of the world” (John 1 :29). “I t is finished” (John 19:30). Perhaps the greatest hymn of the cross in our language after “Rock of Ages” is “Nothing either great or small.” But whereas the former is found in the hymn book of every church (and deservedly so), only in one or two have I read the latter. Yet in its sublime simplicity I at least am unaware of a more satisfying or Scriptural poem. Nothing, either great or small, nothing, sinner, no; Jesus did it, did it all, long, long ago. When He, from His lofty throne, stooped to do and die, Everything was fully done: hearken to His cry— “It is finished!” Yes, indeed, finished every jot! Sinner, this is all you need! Tell me, is it not? Weary, working, burdened one, wherefore toil you so? Cease your doing: all was done long, long ago.
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