Leviticus 16 and verse 29 through
verse 34. This chapter has to do with the
Day of Atonement in Israel. It was celebrated every year
at a set time according to the ordinance and command of God. We read in verse 29, This shall
be a statute forever unto you, that in the seventh month On
the tenth day of the month you shall afflict your souls and
do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country or
a stranger that sojourneth among you. For on that day shall the
priest make an atonement for you to cleanse you, that you
may be clean from all your sins before the Lord." It shall be
a Sabbath of rest unto you, and you shall afflict your souls
by a statute forever. And the priest, whom ye shall
anoint and whom ye shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office
in his father's stead, shall make the atonement and shall
put on the linen clothes even the holy garments, and he shall
make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, he shall make an atonement
for the tabernacle of the congregation and for the altar, and he shall
make an atonement for the priest and for all the people of the
congregation. Leviticus 16, 29-34. Now, I said I want to preach
on the subject that the atonement is a plumb line, or a measuring
line, to line up all divine truth. Let me give you a little experience
that I might begin the message today. In a Bible conference,
I was the first speaker in the night service. And after my message,
I had a little break for the people to go get a drink or visit
or whatever. And as that break took place,
a young man came to me from out of the congregation, a very nice
young man, and he wanted to put some questions to me. I had mentioned
some things that are logical, that if one thing is true, then
another is true, and another is true, and so forth. And as
we talked, I told him the atonement of Christ is the plumb line of
soteriology. It is that which all things must
line up with. Well, the service started, and
we talked no more as it was the last night of the Bible conference. A few days after we got back
home, I got a very nice note from the young man and his wife,
thanking me for making that particular statement, that the atonement
is the plumb line of theology. And he said he intended to study
it further as it really opened up some matters for him. Hence
the title of my message today, The Atonement is a plumb line. Well, some of you don't even
know what a plumb line is. That's plumb, p-l-u-m-b, and
it's a way on the end of a rope or a string used by carpenters
or by bricklayers in order that they might plumb the wall to
make sure that it is not leaning one way or the other. To make
sure that it stands perfectly vertical and that it is not out
of square. it lines it up, that it is not
leaning, that it must be absolutely square and vertical. Because,
you see, if a wall is running off course as it goes down its
way, the plumb line will certainly detect that and show it, and
then the correction can be made so that the wall or the building
is plumb. Now, our premise this morning
is this, that the atonement of Christ is as a plumb line when
we think about soteriology and salvation. Here is where all
salvational blessings are measured, and by soteriology is meant,
of course, salvation through Jesus Christ and the application
of that redemption merited by Christ. The system of the way
of salvation flowing from Christ and out of his atonement. Consider, in what we call TULIP,
or the Five Doctrines of Grace, or, if you are very bold, the
Five Points of Calvinism, we see that the atonement occupies
the middle place and the middle station in that system. Total depravity and unconditional
election go before. Irresistible grace and the perseverance
of the saints follow after so that the atonement is, as it
were, the great capstone. Now, the race is fallen, the
race is depraved, yet some are elect and some are redeemed. Christ has redeemed many, and
they must be called regenerate and converted. and salvation
applied unto them experimentally and kept unto eternal glory as
God has ordained them. Now, the atonement then is the
capstone that brings all things together like a great pyramid,
for without it there would be no salvation for guilty and depraved
sinners. nor any ground of the effectual
call of any to salvation if it were not for the atonement of
Christ our Lord. However, it is not possible for
us to keep speaking of the atonement without describing the nature
of the atonement made by Christ in his death upon the cross.
That will bring us then to the question, for whom did Christ
die, or for whom did Christ make his atonement? For all the views
of the atonement of our Lord are not the same. All are not
agreed as to the extent and the nature of the atonement. So the question is, what is the
Bible view of the atonement of our Lord? Did Christ bear the
sin of each and every son and daughter of Adam without exception,
or did Christ bear the sins of those given to him by the Father
before the foundation of the world? Concerning the view of
the atonement, we can name at least three views of the atonement
that you might recognize as being perhaps the most prevalent down
through history. First of all, there is that view
of absolute, complete, unqualified universalism. There are those,
and they might not be many today, but there are those who say that
by the death of Christ, all without exception will be saved. None will be lost. All will be
saved because of Christ's universal atonement. For they claim that
the atonement is as broad as the fall and the sin of man. This is not a new view. It was
held as early as Origen and still has some supporters even in the
world today. Secondly, there is the universalism. of what we call the Arminians,
and we'll throw in the Semipalagians. That is, that Christ has died
for all, but not died so as to ensure that each and every one
will infallibly be saved. They say in spite of Christ dying
for all, it is still possible for some to perish that Christ
has died for. But it is their view that Christ
died as much for those in hell right now as for those in heaven
right now. that Christ died as much for
Pharaoh as he did for Paul, as much for Judas as he did for
Joseph. Then thirdly, there is what is
called the sovereign grace view of the atonement, that Christ
died for every sin of every one of the elect. and that that day
secured the salvation of all for whom our Lord died. Isn't this what the Bible said?
Listen to Matthew 1 and verse 21. He shall save his people
from their sin. Is there any question about that?
There are three shalls in that verse. He shall be born, he shall
be called Jesus, and he shall save his people from their sin. Now, it does not say that he
will try to save them, but that he will actually save them. It does not say he will make
it possible for them to be saved, but that he will actually save
them. It does not say that he will
offer them salvation, but that he will gain it and attain it. not save them if they respond
in a certain way, but cause them to respond in a certain way. Now, we can see that the most
popular view now and forever is that of Arminianism, but particularly
does not make a thing true. and that which is popular does
not make a thing to be true in the sight of God. Now, the success
of the universal atonement is contingent upon free will. You listen, you look, you read. You will find that in that system,
universal atonement is contingent upon man's proper use of the
free will. John Owen put it this way, quote, without free will is but a burdensome
fancy." And so useful to the general ransom, he said, that
it cannot live a single day without it. He also, John Owen, referred
to free will as, quote, nature's corrupted darling. And again,
this whole idol of free will, he called it a stout idol. Now, universal, general, unlimited
atonement and free will are always found together. Where you find
the one, you will find the other. They are the corrupt twins of
Arminianism, that free will must put the finishing touches on
the blessed atonement made by our Lord, that the efficacy of
the death of Christ comes not but by the ascending will of
man, that man must accept the death of the Lord for it to become
effectual in their life. This we would remind them, that
God accepted the death of his Son and that holy blood as the
atonement for our sin. God has accepted the death of
Christ as full satisfaction for the sins of his people. And it is only upon this atonement
that God saves sinners. The merit of the death of the
Lord is that which saves a sinner. He made propitiation. That is,
his death did appease the wrath of God against sin. It appeased the anger of God. It did placate God towards those. It did make peace between God
and sinners, whereby the elect those Christ bought are reconciled
unto God by the death of His Son. For the double enmity is
overcome by the death of Christ upon the cross." Now, the Arminian
view of the atonement And I want you to hear this. You've got
to consider this if you're going to hold to that view. And that
is that the Arminian view of the atonement amounts to double
jeopardy. The atonement, or rather, a universal
view of the atonement amounts to double jeopardy. What do I mean by that? Well,
that multitudes will again suffer for the same sin that Christ
has suffered for in the cross. Will God require of the sinner
what he has already received of Christ his blessed Son? Shall Christ pay the ransom,
and the ransomed ones never be benefited by what Christ has
paid? And you can't get away from this. You say that Christ died for
all sins of all people. Yet some are not saved, and even
perish in their sin in the lake of fire. Now, we say furthermore
that free will is an outright denial of human depravity. It is a denial that the offspring
of Adam are in bondage. It is a denial of total depravity. that they may will themselves
into the grace of God and salvation. What's more, a general ransom
is a denial of unconditional election and poor ordination
to adoption, and either alters or destroys the doctrine of reprobation
altogether. So, with that background, let's
go to our text. In Leviticus chapter 16, if you've
kept your Bible open there, and as I said, it concerns the day
of atonement. Remembering, first of all, that
these things were types and shadows. Paul said in Colossians 2, 17,
Hebrews 8, 5, Hebrews 10, and 1, that all of these things were
tides and shadows. They were pictures of something
that was to be accomplished in Christ. But the Day of Atonement
was ordained by God on this particular day to be done once a year, and
that set day was on the tenth day of the seventh month, Leviticus
16 and verse 29. And it is one of the most excellent
types of the atonement of Christ that you will find anywhere in
the Old Testament sacrifices. There were others. Some were
for personal sins. Some sacrifices were made daily
at the tabernacle. But J. H. Kurtz, in his book
The Sacrificial Worship of the Old Testament, made these comments
about the Day of Atonement that, quote, it was the highest the
most perfect, the most comprehensive of all of the acts of expiation."
And some ways that it was so are these. It was unique. It was repeated every year on
the same day of the same month. And as Curse and others, such
as Thomas Goodwin, Horatius Bonar, have noted, It applied to all
the sins and all of the uncleanlinesses of the whole year. It brought
in all sins that had been committed in that year. It was not limited
to any personal or particular sin or sin, but all sins whatsoever
of every degree. Leviticus 16 and 16, He, Aaron,
shall make an atonement for their transgression. in all their sins."
Also 16 and 34. We also take notice of the extent
of the sacrifice on the day of atonement. Leviticus 16 and verse
30. For on that day shall the priest
make an atonement for you that you may be clean from all your
sins before the Lord. All sins of the year were brought
to bear upon the day of atonement. Then let's look at verse thirty-three,
and he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, an atonement
for the tabernacle of the congregation, for the altar. He shall make
an atonement for the priests and for all the people of the
congregation. Then look again at verse thirty-four,
And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an
atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once
a year. And he did as the Lord commanded
Moses. Now, on the Day of Atonement,
part of Aaron's duty – Aaron was a busy man on that particular
day – but part of Aaron's duty was in regard to two goats that
were brought there before the altar. You see that in verse
5. You see, in verse 7 through verse
10, Aaron cast lots upon these two goats, and one lot was for
the Lord. And that lot fell upon a particular
goat, and it was taken and slain as a sin offering. It was killed. It bled. It shed its blood. While the
goat upon whom the other lot fell to be the scapegoat was
led by a fit man out yonder in the wilderness out of sight. And before he left, Aaron put
his hand upon the head of that scapegoat and pressed down and
confessed the sins of the nation of Israel, of the people, over
the head of that scapegoat, and confessed his transgression,
the iniquity, the sins of all of the people. Thus the two goats
together, put together, portray a dual aspect of the atoning
work of Christ our Lord. Number one, he died as a sacrifice
for the sin of his people. God made him to be sin. He bore
our sin in his own body on the tree. He died for our sin. Secondly, the other goat was
taken into a land not inhabited, the margin said, a land of separation."
Now, not only has Christ borne our sins, died for them at the
cross, but those sins for which our Lord died are removed from
us forever and forever. Psalms 103 and verse 12, as far
as the east from the west. So far has he removed our transgressions
from us. Jeremiah 31 and verse 34, I will
remember their sin no more. Micah 7 and verse 19, thou wilt
cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. And I once heard a preacher say
that God put up a sign, no fishing. These texts set forth the idea
that such sins are completely, absolutely removed and taken
away from those who have committed them, never to come back upon
their heads again. But remember, all these things
were typical of the one who was to make the great sacrifice sufficient
to put away the sin of all of those for whom our Lord died. And in the New Testament, also,
we have a dual view and declaration of this atonement that was to
be made by the God-man in that, We have the testimony of Christ
himself concerning his own atonement. Christ was not silent about his
atonement. He spoke of it and he spoke of
it frequently. The testimony is, for the most
part, confined to the Gospels, where we hear our Lord speaking
of his Atonement. But then, B, we have also the
written testimony of the Apostle. set forth in the epistle, the
church letters and so forth, as to the nature and the efficacy
of the atonement made by the Lord's Christ. Now, let's consider
the question whether the result of the atonement matched the
intent. whether the accomplishment of
the atonement matches the intent. In other words, did the atonement
accomplish all that God intended to be accomplished by the atonement,
or did He, or has it, come up short? God intended something
by the atonement, who would deny it? But has everything that he
intended been accomplished? Are some lost that God intended
to be saved? Are some lost that Christ has
died for? If so, then the proponents of
universal atonement are bound to admit that the atonement of
Christ has partially failed in its intent. Nor will it do to
blame free will for this failure, for God is able to make sinners
willing in the day of His power. Their stubborn will is no obstacle
to God giving them a new heart, calling and converting them.
Psalms 110 said, Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy
power. He made Saul willing in Acts
chapter 9, and that rather quickly. He's able to give a new heart,
Ezekiel 11 and 19, 36 and 26. He's able to open the heart,
as he did that of Lydia in Acts 16 and verse 14, so that neither
their stubborn will nor their blindness nor their ignorance
or their deadness even in trespasses and in sin is a hindrance to
God saving His people. His power is greater than the
power of sinners. His will is supreme. The angel announced to Joseph
in Matthew 121, he shall save his people from their sin. But notice something else, his
name shall be called Jesus for, there's a connection here, his
name shall be called Jesus for a reason. The Greek word is from
the word Joshua, and it literally means Savior. He shall be called
Savior, or he shall save his people from their sin. He's the Savior of his people. And the qualifying words, his
people, sets the atonement in its proper light. that a certain
people are the beneficiaries of the ransom of Christ our Lord,
the Old Testament day of atonement, hear this, was for the nation
of Israel only. It was not worldwide. It was
not for all of the heathen nations round about them. The Old Testament
atonement is very clearly described to be for the nation of Israel. And the atonement of Christ our
Lord is made in behalf of those called in Matthew 121 His people,
so that Christ cannot die a non-saving death. None can perish that Christ
died for. All that He gave Himself for
in the cross will be saved. Isaiah said the same thing, chapter
53 and verse 11. Listen, My righteous servant
shall justify many for, there's that for again, My righteous
servant shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquity. Now, the means of justifying
them is by bearing their iniquity. It follows then, all whose iniquities
he bore will be justified. Christ cannot bear one's iniquity,
and that one failed to be justified in the sight of God. For the
justice and the righteousness of God is involved in this matter. God is not so unrighteous that
His justice is so slack that He would receive from Christ
the price of remission, and then fail to honor it or bestow it
in justifying those that Christ made a ransom for in the death
of the cross. Now we come to consider the application
of the atonement to those for whom it was made by our Christ
and received by our God. The work of applying the atonement
does not belong to the sinner. It belongs to the Holy Spirit. This is the Spirit's work, the
Spirit's part in this great salvation. There is what is called the ordo
salutis, which is a very blessed thing to study. That would mean
the order of salvation. how God applies the salvation
in Christ. What does He do first? What's
the first work? And what does follow after that? I say that the first internal
work of the Spirit applying redemption and the foundation and forerunner
of all subsequent blessings is regeneration. Regeneration is
the first and the foremost. There can be no faith There will
be no repentance, there will be no conversion, there will
be no sanctification apart from this great work of God rising
us from deadness in sin, giving us a new heart. Now, the atonement
of Christ is the ground upon which the Spirit rightly quickens
those that are dead in trespasses and sin. Because Christ has redeemed
them, the Holy Spirit puts new life in them. Or as Brother Paul
said in Galatians 4 and verse 6, and because you are sons God
has sent forth His Spirit into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father,
just as the atonement is the reason that God can view the
elect as justified through Christ. The Father, the Son, the Spirit
are all agreed and all work in harmony on the salvation of the
elect. The Father elected them and gave
them to the Son. The Son redeemed them by His
death and His blood, and the Spirit quickens them and calls
and converts them. Now, what ground for the Spirit
to regenerate them except that Christ has made an all-sufficient
atonement in their behalf? making that atonement to God,
offering himself without spot unto God. And then the Spirit,
at the appointed time, quickens those that Christ has redeemed
in absolute harmony with the atonement that Christ has made. Again, the atonement is the main
essence of the gospel. If you're going to preach the
gospel, the atonement is the main essence. What did Paul say? We preach Christ crucified, I
Corinthians 123. that he died for our sins according
to the Scripture, 1 Corinthians 15 and 3, that he died and rose
again, that he put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, Hebrews
9 and verse 26, that he gave himself in order to deliver us
from this present evil world. Galatians 1 and verse 4. They do not preach the gospel
who preach a universal atonement. They lie and distort the gospel
as well as the atonement made by Christ who bring in free offer
and common grace and duty paid. Let me ask you, how shall we
offer Christ to those He has not died for? Upon what ground
shall this offer be made unto man? It has no substance. Can Christ be offered to the
reprobate? Some even say yes. Can a well-intentioned offer
of salvation be made to those who are not His sheep or people? Let me tell you, the gospel is
not an offer. The gospel is a proclamation. We proclaim the gospel of Christ
our Lord. We do not offer Christ. We proclaim him as Lord and Christ
and the one who has died. Only a regenerate person can
have eyes to see and ears to hear Christ in the gospel. And only the atonement is a proper
forerunner for regeneration. Now, as we head down the homestretch,
let's be reminded that the atonement of the Lord's Christ, His death
yonder upon the cross, while shining the brightest in salvation,
in putting away of sin. The atonement of our Lord actually
has other effects as mentioned by the Lord, such as His death
issued in the New Covenant. It was by His death that the
New Covenant came in, or the New Testament. He called His
blood the blood of the New Testament. Matthew 26 and 28, shed for many. for the remission of sin. For
the New Testament could not be brought in except there first
be made an atonement that can actually, really and literally,
put away sin forever. And so it is the everlasting
covenant, Hebrews 13 and verse 20. According to the Lord, in
John 12 and verse 31, there is another effect of his death upon
the cross, and George Smeaton described it this way, quote,
The death of Christ decides the judicial process. of the world."
It decided the judicial process of the world. Listen to what
Jesus said. Now is the judgment of the world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And the Lord's not talking about
himself. When he says the prince of this
world, he's talking about the wicked one. When our Lord would
die, the serpent's head would be bruised according to the promise
in Genesis 3 and 15. 1 John chapter 3 and verse 8. For this purpose the Son of God
was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Hebrews 2.14. Through death he
might destroy him having the power of death, that is, the
devil, His death condemned the devil, his death condemned sin
in the flesh, Romans 8 and verse 3. Now again, Christ's death
and exaltation merited for his people and church the Holy Spirit
of God. It was because he died and was
glorified and ascended to heaven that the Spirit of God came.
And you can read that in John chapter 7 and verse 37 through
verse 39. What did Peter say in Acts 2
and verse 33, preaching to them on Pentecost? Peter tells them
the coming of the Holy Spirit is the result of Christ's satisfaction
and exaltation. He hath received and poured out
this which you now see and hear. The death of Christ means that
believers may pass into death without falling into condemnation. He has taken the sting out of
death which is sin. Hell doth not wait to seize the
ones who die in Christ, not at all. They may pass through death
without coming into that eternal judgment. The dignity of the
person and the impact of the death of Christ can be seen in
the events that occurred when he died. I don't have but a minute
to speak about them, but our Lord on the cross, and it became
dark for three hours, and the rocks went, and quakes, and the
veil in the temple went, and people came out of their graves
when our Lord died upon the cross. There was a mighty testimony. Never a man died like this man. Never did another death have
such an effect upon creation or nature, if you prefer to call
it that. Nature recognized, acknowledged
and honored the death of the God-man upon the cross. Those things happening. The most
important event in the history of the world, the most important
event regarding the church, salvation, the Christian life, the gospel,
and all of that is the death of Christ upon the tree. The
most important and significant event you can imagine is our
Lord's death upon the cross. What a power it had. What a power
with God, what a power yet being exhibited. The atonement of our
Lord made, made by the will of God, made for a designated people
at a designated time. The atonement of our Lord. And
all things need to line up with the atonement. Anything that
stands out of line with the atonement is out of line. You may stretch
a plumb line from the atonement to all those soteriological truths,
and they must line up according to the atonement.