The Day of Atonement

Q: What does the Bible say about atonement?

The Bible teaches that atonement is made through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, fulfilling the requirements of God's justice and offering mercy to sinners. Atonement is central to the biblical understanding of redemption. In Leviticus 16, the Day of Atonement serves as a foreshadowing of Christ's sacrifice, showcasing how sin can only be dealt with through the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). This ritual reveals that God, in His holiness, requires that sin must be punished, and through the atonement made by Jesus, justice is satisfied, allowing God's grace to be extended to the elect. This underscores the truth that salvation is based on God's grace, made possible by Christ's offering of Himself as the true sacrifice.

Q: How do we know that Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for atonement?

Christ's sacrifice is sufficient because it completely fulfills God's justice and provides eternal redemption for those who believe. The sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice for atonement is affirmed through Scripture, primarily in Hebrews 10:11-14. It teaches that unlike the repetitive sacrifices of the Old Testament, which could never take away sin, Jesus offered Himself once for all and sat down in the presence of God, signifying the completion of His work (John 19:30). His blood is presented before the mercy seat, where it serves not only as a covering but also as a propitiation, satisfying the demands of justice for His people. Therefore, His atonement is perfect, final, and sufficient.

Q: Why is the concept of atonement important for Christians?

Atonement is essential for Christians as it underpins our understanding of salvation and God's grace. The concept of atonement is crucial for Christians because it reveals how a holy God can extend grace and mercy to sinful humanity. Atonement signifies that through Christ's sacrifice, believers are reconciled to God (Romans 5:1), as it addresses the justice of God while providing a means for sinners to be accepted. Understanding atonement encourages gratitude for the grace bestowed upon us, emphasizing that our identity, acceptance, and hope are grounded in Christ's redemptive work. It's a central tenet of Reformed theology, reinforcing the belief in salvation by grace alone, through faith alone.

Q: What does the Bible say about God's justice and mercy in the context of atonement?

The Bible teaches that God's justice is satisfied through atonement, allowing for His mercy to be extended to sinners. The interplay of justice and mercy is a vital theme in the doctrine of atonement. As asserted in Romans 3:25-26, God demonstrates His righteousness by justifying those who have faith in Jesus. Justice requires that sin must be punished, and through Christ's atonement, God's justice is satisfied. This divine act enables God to be merciful while remaining just. The Day of Atonement exemplifies this balance, highlighting that atonement must occur for mercy to be given—a truth consistently underscored throughout Scripture.

Q: Why was the Day of Atonement significant in the Old Testament?

The Day of Atonement was significant as it symbolized the annual act of atoning for the sins of Israel through appointed sacrifices. The Day of Atonement, outlined in Leviticus 16, was a pivotal occasion in the Israelite calendar. It was the one day each year when the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the sins of the people. This day showcased the seriousness of sin and the need for reconciliation with God. The rituals of the day, including the sacrifice of a goat, pointed to the ultimate sacrifice of Christ, who would bear the sins of His people once and for all, rendering the old sacrificial system obsolete. It is a powerful representation of God's plan for redemption.

Atonement pictured and foreshadowed
in every detail of the ceremonies of that day, the person and work
of our Lord Jesus Christ and the work by which he made atonement
for our souls, by which he put away sin, by the sacrifice of
himself. Everything in this day of atonement
draws a picture for us, showing us how that sinners can freely,
freely, freely come to God Almighty with confidence of acceptance
in spite of themselves. In order for the Holy Lord God
to deal with sinful being in mercy, grace and peace. In order for God Almighty to
exercise his love toward chosen sinners, there had to be a day
of atonement. A holy, just, and true God can
never allow fallen, sinful men to live before him unless atonement
is made. Justice must be vindicated if
mercy is extended. Sin must be punished if grace
is given. Now understand this, salvation
is by grace alone, but it is grace bestowed upon the grounds
of absolute justice, righteousness, and truth. God's grace is not
and cannot be dispensed except upon the ground by which he in
his holiness is magnified so that justice is fully satisfied. Therefore God ordained that a
day of atonement be observed in Israel once every year as
a picture of that one great day for which he made the world.
as a picture of that day of atonement when the Lord Jesus Christ his
darling son would be made sin for us and suffer all the wrath
of God in the room instead of his people to the full satisfaction
of his holy justice that God might be just and justify your
wretched soul. That's the picture we had before
us in Leviticus 16. Here the Lord God gave Moses
meticulous, detailed instruction about the Day of Atonement. Let
me give you seven brief statements and then I'll come to a message.
Seven brief statements about this day and these things we
will look at in more detail, I'm sure, another time. First,
this Day of Atonement was ordained and initiated by God alone. It was not something that came
up by human invention. It was not something that a man
devised. It was not something that Israel
got from the pagans surrounding them. The pagans surrounding
them, if you have any familiarity at all with mythology and with
pagan religion, the pagans around them worshipped or talked about
worshipping imaginary deities who must be constantly pacified
but could never be satisfied. They offered sacrifices, sometimes
even their own sons and daughters, to pacify the anger of their
offended gods, never hoping that his justice would be satisfied.
But our Lord God devised a means whereby he would both satisfy
his justice and exercise his mercy and grace upon chosen sinners. Looking upon Christ, the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, he looks upon his
elect in him and says, deliver him from going down to the pit,
for I have found a ransom. Second, this day of atonement
was set for a specific time every year. Look at verse 29 in Leviticus
16. The seventh month on the tenth
day of the month couldn't be done any other day. Aaron did
not dare come behind the veil into the Holy of Holies any other
day except that day. How come? If he did, God said,
I'll kill you. This day is specifically set
for a set time. You see, God's great day of atonement
was set before the world began. Our Lord Jesus, when he came
into the world and finally came to the end of his days, he said,
by an hour is now come. The apostle says, when the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made
under the law. You see, nothing was left to
chance. There was a day appointed by God before the world began,
when Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, would fulfill all the law
and prophets. make an end to transgression,
and put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And when he died,
it was done. Everything done exactly according
to God's foreordination, according to God's predestination, according
to God's sovereign rule and arrangement of providence. So that every
event in history, oh my, stop and consider the minute detail
of God's Every event in history moved
with precise order to bring to pass the coming of Christ into
the world. And every event in history moved
with precise order at exactly the appointed hour for the Son
of God to die at Calvary. Everything done according to
God's purpose. Thirdly, there was only one day
of atonement. Only one day when sin could be
put away. Only one day when justice could
be satisfied. Christ was to make but one offering
for sin. Now, once in the end of the world,
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Christ was once offered to bear
the sins of many. There is no other sacrifice for
sin. There is no need for another.
Any repetition, any sacrifice, any atonement, any attempt by
man to make up for his sin with God is a denial of atonement
made by Christ. There's no day of atonement except
this one day. No sacrifice but this one sacrifice. Fourthly, the sacrifices offered
on the day of atonement were only typical. Now this is so
very, very important. No sacrifice made on a Jewish
altar could ever appease, turn away, satisfy God's wrath and
God's justice. God never smelled the blood of
a lamb and said, that's enough. God never looked on the blood
of a bullock and said, that's enough. God never accepted any
burnt offering and said, that's enough. They were only typical.
They could not put away sin. Therefore, they pointed to And
they only pointed to one who could and did put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. These typical ceremonies, number
five, sacrifices, all the ceremonies connected with the Day of Atonement
were fulfilled. Now listen to me. They were fulfilled
by the Lord Jesus Christ. When he said it's finished, it
was finished. And because they were fulfilled
by him, they have forever ceased. Now listen to me carefully. Christ
is the E-N-D, end of the law. He is the end for which the law
was given. He is the end that is the fulfillment
of the law. He is the end that is the termination
of the law. All these sacrifices, all the
laws of Israel what's called the moral law, what's called
the ceremonial law, what's called the civil statutes of Israel,
what's called the dietary laws, all the law pointed to Christ. He fulfilled it all and he ended
it all and to revert back to any aspect of law religion is
to deny that Christ has fulfilled it all. All right, here's the
sixth thing. Everything described in this
chapter Everything connected with atonement. Everything connected
with access to God. Everything connected with the
priesthood, the altar, the tabernacle, the mercy seat. Every aspect
of the atonement was done for a specific chosen people. God never provided a priest for
any Gentile. God never sent a word of mercy
to a Gentile. Not in the Old Testament. Wasn't
done. Everything was done for God's chosen people alone and
everything that God Almighty does for sinners in Jesus Christ
the Lord. Everything done yonder at Calvary
2,000 years ago was done for a specific chosen people called
the Israel of God. Now men hoot and holler and raise
sand and find excuses for compromising the gospel and they say well
we That's just, I just can't believe that. How come? Would
you please tell me why? There is not the slightest indication
in this book that God ever did anything in saving mercy for
anybody except his elect. And to suggest that he did, To
suggest that Christ died for those who wind up in hell is
to say the blood of Christ doesn't really have anything to do with
redemption. It is to say the blood of Christ
doesn't really have anything to do with the putting away of
sin. It is to say that the blood of Christ really is not effectual,
really has no power, really doesn't matter at all. And that's the
doctrine of universal redemption. It is to say Christ died for
nothing. for nothing. Driving me out of
town one day, years ago, a fellow who used to pastor First Baptist
Church made a statement. I listen to fellows like that
when I want to get mad and stay awake all night. He was preaching
and he said, oh, what a shame it will be in that great last
day that Jesus died for so many who went to hell anyway. I said,
Shelby, write it down, I don't want to forget it. Shame, yes,
not for you, for him. If I put my hand to a work and
the work amounts to nothing, the shame doesn't go to the work,
the shame is mine. Now listen carefully, here's
the seventh thing. All this great work done on the
day of Atonement, The priest, the cleansing, the ceremonies,
the sacrifices, the atonement. The priest comes back out and
puts on his holy garments. Resulted in something. It resulted
in something. You can read it in Numbers chapter
6, verse 27. Here's the result. I will bless
them. Because Christ lived and died
for me, because atonement has been made for me, the Lord God
has blessed me. If God's mercy comes to you,
it's because Christ died for you. If blessings come on you,
they come through the blood. And where the blood of Christ
flows, it brings every blessing of grace. All right now, Hold
your Bibles open here to Leviticus 16, and let me show you five
things in this chapter that are so vivid and picturesque of the
gospel. Number one, look at verse three. The atonement was made by a specifically
appointed man, Aaron, the high priest of Israel. This great
high priest in Israel, of course, is a picture type and representative
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse three, thus shall Aaron
come into the holy place with a young bullock for a sin offering
and a ram for a burnt offering. Now, Aaron was a man specifically
chosen by God. God chose Aaron to be the high
priest. Well, why didn't they take a
vote? Looks like the Lord would have done this thing in a good
democratic way and said, Israel, you come choose yourselves a
priest. But God chose a specific man chosen out of the people
to be the priest of the people because this man represents a
specific man chosen to be Jehovah's servant. Turn to Psalm 89. Let me show you this. Psalm 89.
This is a psalm in which our Lord Jesus is represented under
David, under the name of David, because David was a type of him.
In verse 19. then thou spakest in vision to
thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty,
I have exalted one chosen out of the people." Jesus Christ
is that man chosen from among men to be the representative
of chosen men as our great high priest. The Lord said, behold
my servant, whom I uphold, my elect, in whom my soul delighteth. That's Christ our Redeemer, chosen
of God to be our priest because he's the only one suitable to
be our priest. Then in verse 4, back here in
Leviticus 16, God's priest was robed with garments of humility. Look here. He shall put on the
holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon
his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, And with
the linen miter shall he be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore shall he wash his flesh
in water and put them on. Now, back in the earlier chapters
in Leviticus, what was it, chapter eight? The Lord described those
gorgeous priestly garments, that beautiful miter of blue with
gold woven in it. with the signet, a gold signet,
holiness to the Lord, that breastplate with those stones, precious stones,
that the whole of Abram's garments, just gorgeous, gorgeous garments,
gorgeous garments. But when he goes in to make atonement,
he takes them all off and puts on plain linen. How come? Because the Son of God when he
came down here to make atonement for our souls, when he came down
here to make atonement for our sins, laid aside his manifest
glory. Now, he did not cease to be a
God, to be God, and he did not lay aside his Godhead. He did not give up his dominion,
oh no. While he was living on the earth,
he still God over all, blessed forever, but he veiled his Godhead
in human flesh. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, how that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor, that you through his poverty might be made rich.
Our Lord Jesus, that one who thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, made himself of no reputation. And he humbled
himself and became obedient, obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross, that he might redeem us. He wore the garments
of humility. He came here in human flesh.
And Israel's great high priest was made to be a ceremonially
holy man. He put on these garments, these
holy linen garments. And he bathed his flesh in water
so that ceremonially he stood before Israel as one who was
made holy before God. He wears these white linen garments. He has bathed his flesh in pure
water. Now, though Aaron was a sinner
like us, he had to be ceremonially a holy man in order to act as
God's representative and in order to approach God as the high priest
of his people. Aaron had to have in type and
Christ had to have in reality these four things. Now listen,
Christ could not be our priest. Aaron could not have been priest
in Israel if Aaron had not typically had, if Christ had not really
had these four things. Personal cleanliness. He who
is God's sacrificing priest must be without sin. The Lord Jesus
Christ is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. He
must have holy garments with which to appear before the Lord.
These white linen garments represent the righteousness of the saints.
clean and white, garments of salvation with which we are clothed.
The Lord Jesus Christ worked out the righteousness. He wove
the garment. He said, I have finished the
work which thou gavest me to do. The Lord Jesus came here
and obeyed God's holy law for us, and he now clothes us with
the righteousness of his obedience in free justification. This priest
must have divine approval. The incense smoke in verses 11
and 12 speak of Christ as a sweet-smelling savor to God. His work is infinitely
meritorious. And this incense also portrays
our Savior's intercession for us. We are accepted of God because
God approves of His Son. Oh, wouldn't you God, I could
get folks to hear what I'm saying. Our acceptance with the Almighty. Bless God, oh my soul. Our acceptance
with the Holy Lord God is in no way dependent upon nor determined
by what I do, what I am, or what I feel. It's all together in
my substitute. God accepts my beloved and he
accepts me because he accepts him. You understand that? We
are in the beloved. But fourthly, there must be something
else. There must be personal cleanness, holy garments, divine
approval, and there must be blood atonement. Aaron could not come
into the Holy of Holies without blood. And the Lord Jesus Christ
could not, he could not, he could never obtain eternal redemption
for us, but by his own blood. Now in all his work on the day
of atonement, We're told in verse 17, Aaron acted alone. Look at it. And there shall be no man in
the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make atonement
in the holy place. No man, no man. The Lord Jesus
says, I have trodden the winepress alone. And of the people there
was none with me. He said I looked and there was
none to help. And I wondered that there was
none to uphold. Therefore mine own arm brought
salvation unto me. He was alone in the Word of God.
No man with him. He was forsaken by all his disciples. He was abandoned by all the holy
angels. He was abandoned even by God
his Father and he alone accomplished redemption for us. Christ Jesus
by himself purged our sins. By the sacrifice of himself alone,
he accomplished redemption for us. Now next, look at the goat
that was slain. We'll look at the scapegoat in
a minute, but in verse 5 and then in verses 7, 8, 9, and 10,
we see a picture of a goat that was sacrificed as a victim for
sin offering to God. This goat, of course, represents
our Lord Jesus Christ. It was an innocent victim. He shall take of the congregation
of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a thin
offering and one ram for a burnt offering. This goat was taken
from among the people. You remember in the cleansing
of the leper, Aaron provides the sacrifice. Here is a picture
of atonement made and the goat is taken from among the people. How come? Because divine justice
must be avenged and compensation must be made by a man because
man had saved. He who has come to suffer in
the room instead of men must himself be taken from among men.
As we transgress in the flesh, justice must be satisfied in
human flesh. This goat was chosen and ordained
by God. Aaron was to cast lots. Here
are two kids. But which one, which one's going
to die? Roll the dice, buddy, and let's
see. Well, that's just a stroke of luck. That's just a fortuitous
circumstance. Who knows which goat's going
to die? How can it be determined? The
lot is cast into the land, but the whole disposing thereof is
of the Lord. Oh, there's nothing chancy about
this. There's nothing about the death
of Christ that was left to the whim and will of man. Nothing
about the death of Christ that was left to what man would choose
to do. Oh, but preachers didn't mean
putting to death, yes. And when they had fulfilled everything
written of him, they took him down from the cross. They gathered
together Jews and Pontius Pilate, the Romans, the Gentiles for
to do whatsoever God's hand before determined must be done. And
acting with their own free will, with malicious hatred toward
the Son of God, they nailed him to the tree, spit in his face,
pulled out his beard, stabbed him with a spear. And they did
exactly what God ordained from eternity. Exactly so. How can that be? Take it up with
God. That's the way it is. That's
the way it is. This lamb was slain by divine
order as a sacrifice for sin. Look at verse 15. Then shall
he kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring
his blood within the veil and do with that blood as he did
with the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it upon the mercy
seat and before the mercy seat. The Lord Jesus died as our substitute,
the Lamb of God, a sacrifice of infinite merit, a sacrifice
for God's chosen people, the Israel of God, a sacrifice that
got the job done. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. The Lord Jesus
did not merely make redemption possible. He did not merely provide
redemption. He did not really obtain a possibility
of redemption. The Lord Jesus Christ, by the
sacrifice of himself, with his own blood, entered in once into
the holy place, having obtained. Isn't that a wonderful word? Eternal redemption for us. Turn over there and look at it.
Hebrews 10. Let's turn to this one. Hebrews 10. Verse 11. The Lord Jesus came here to do
the will of God by which we are sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now look at verse 11.
And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices which can never take away sin. Never, no
matter how many, no matter how costly, no matter how well they
were done, never take away sins. But this man, here's one priest
who's different. This man, after he had offered,
look at it now, one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down in
the tabernacle. You come up here after service
and look back at this hill model. Back there, there's nothing inside
that holy of holies except the mercy seat. There's no chair
there. And the high priest never cuts
that mercy seat, he just sprinkled blood on it. No place for him
to sit down. But that mercy seat is also representative
of the throne of God Almighty called the throne of grace. That's
where Isaiah saw the Lord Jesus sitting in Isaiah 6. That's where
the Lamb is seen in Revelation chapter 4. This man, after he
had offered one sacrifice, was saved. Forever. Walked right up to the mercy
seat. The throne of God. How come? Because there's nothing
else to do. No other sacrifice to be made.
No other work to be performed. His work was finished. And now
he sits on that throne from henceforth expecting till all his enemies
be made his footstool, and they shall. For by one offering he
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. You're either
going to be made his footstool, bowing before him now with a
willing heart gladly, or you're going to be made his footstool
in the day of judgment. But made his footstool you will
be. He will set his foot on you, either in mercy taking you under
his wings, or he'll set his foot on you to crush your soul to
hell. But you shall be his footstool. All right, back here in Leviticus
16. The blood of this slain goat was sprinkled on the mercy seat
seven times. You can read it later. Verses
14 and 15. Sprinkled on the mercy seat for covering. You remember God told Noah when
he built the ark? He said, pitch it within and
pitch it without with pitch. Cover the whole thing. Cover
the whole thing. The word is at its root, the
word atonement. Cover that ark with atonement,
with pitch. Our sins, God's broken law is
covered by the blood of Christ. That's good. That's good. But
it's better. There's something better than
that. Atonement means propitiation. That's what the word mercy means.
It's translated in the New Testament propitiation most of the time.
Propitiation. That is that which propitiates
God. That which propitiates a debt,
that which propitiates justice, that which satisfies a claim. Not only has the blood of Christ
covered God's broken law and our transgressions, the blood
of Christ has canceled our debt, blotted out our transgressions,
washed away our sins. And the word atonement means
reconciliation. Being justified by his blood,
we now have received the atonement, that is, the reconciliation.
Having died in our place, in our stead, the Lord Jesus entered
immediately into heaven itself, offered to God the merits of
his own precious blood, and obtained redemption for us. His sacrifice
Like that, seven-fold sprinkling on the mercy seat was perfect
and complete. Final, accepted of God. And it made a way of access for
sinners to draw near to God. And now, here's a sinner who's been all his lifetime separated
from God. Separated from God. They failed. God can't look on me and I can't
look on God. But when the Lord Jesus said
it is finished and bowed his head and gave up the ghost, you
know what happened? From top to bottom, God bent
the veil. Bent it open. Not from bottom
to top, lest somebody might suppose it just wore out with time. But
from top to bottom, split open, and God says to sinners, come
to me by the blood. And every sinner robed in the
righteousness of Christ, washed in his blood, comes to God with
confidence. God accepts me. How come? Well, I'm so good. Oh, no. Oh, no, you can't get in. Well,
I have, I used to, I used to not think that I was a sinner.
I'm really tormented over my sin. And since I see myself and
feel myself a sinner, I've come to God. You can't come. You can't
come. You can't come. Well, I used
to hate God, but now I've grown to love him. You can't come.
You can't come. Well, picture how can I come?
Only on the ground of blood atonement. That's all. What right, Don Fortner,
have you here? What right, Don Fortner, have
you to call God your Father? Him. What right have you to claim
grace? Him. What right have you to pardon? Him. You got it? He rent the veil into, and his
sacrifices of infinite perpetual merit. Oh, but Pastor, we know
that the Lord Jesus died for us and put away our sin and we're
accepted of God by His sacrifice, but what if I sin? There ain't no
what if to it. If any man say, this is what
it means, buddy, when we say it. when we breathe. We've lost our advocate. That's the doctrine of religion,
not of this book. If any man's sin, we have, as
sinners, an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,
and he's the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only,
but for sinners like us everywhere. Everywhere. All right, look at
this third thing. Verses 20 through 22. Here's this other goat, the scapegoat. We read it earlier. Aaron takes
the scapegoat and lays both his hands on the head of the scapegoat. and thereby imputes to the scapegoat
all the sins of all the congregation. That scapegoat's Christ too. And puts them in the hands of
a fit man. That fit man is Christ the Lord. And that fit man goes
out early in the morning with that scapegoat. Walking. Just walking. And the congregation
watches. Watches. Going out into a place
uninhabited. And there go the man and the
goat. The man and the goat. The man
and the goat. And they disappear across the
horizon. And late in the evening after all the work is done, They
look toward that uninhabited, empty wilderness, and here comes
one dot over the horizon, just that fit land. Because the scapegoat
bearing the sins of the people is God. What a picture of the removal
of sin from us. It's guilt is gone. Somebody asked me this week,
Mother God, don't you feel guilty? I feel guilty all the time, but
my feeling has nothing to do with it. It doesn't have anything
to do with it. The debt's been paid. Guilt is
a legal thing. Guilt is not an experience. It's
not a feeling. It's not an emotion. It's a legal
thing. Either you're guilty or you're not guilty. Either you
robbed the bank or you didn't. Either you broke the law or you
didn't. Doesn't matter how you feel. Oh, I feel like it's my
fault. I don't care how you feel. What
does the law say? Well, if I hadn't done this, what does the law
say? You're not guilty. You weren't
there. Didn't happen. Didn't happen. But I'll never
get over the feeling. Didn't happen. Didn't happen.
Listen to me. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. I'm not guilty. How can that be? Because Christ
put my sins away. The punishment of sin is gone. The memory of sin, insofar as
God's concerned, is gone. This past week, up there in Alaska, strange,
strange sight to watch the sun. Every one of us made a comment.
I believe all four of us up there made a comment. The sun doesn't
rise and set. It appears just to go across
the sky, start back across the sky again. That's the way it
appears. Because, you see, up yonder,
you can't really see the great clear distinction of what we
call East and West. The scripture says our God has
removed our sins from us as far as the East is from the West. I'm so glad he didn't say as
far as the North is from the South. I was informed that things
were different on the South Pole. We were up close to the North
Pole. And you can find that point, yonder. And that point, yonder. I'll tell you what you do. You
go find me the point where East ends and West begins. Go find
it. Then you can find my end. Turn
to Jeremiah 50. Look at this. Jeremiah 50, verse
20. Good sound. Keep turning. Jeremiah
50 verse 20, In those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for, and there shall be none. Well, is that exactly what he
meant for us to read? and the sins of Judah, and they shall
not be failed. Well, that's talking, I'll show
you what it's talking about, read the next line. For I will
pardon them whom I reserve. There is a people out of every
nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue reserved by divine election,
and reserved by divine providence, reserved by blood atonement,
whom the Lord God Almighty has said, I'll pardon them. And when
I pardon them, their sins and their iniquities cannot be failed,
not even by the all-seeing eye of God's omniscience. Justice says they're gone. Gone. I got a letter late yesterday. that I've been preaching to a
while. And every time I preach to him,
he's sitting in the congregation. Every time I preach to him, every
time, he's come with questions. Could I ask you a question? And
I try to be nice. Could I ask you a question? Very
religious, but always miss the message. Somebody read something I wrote
on, it was published by somebody, I don't want to put it out, on
Cain and Abel, Abel's sacrifice. I got a letter that said, where'd
Cain get his wife? I thought, reckon why you couldn't
rejoice in Abel's sacrifice? Why pass over that and wonder
where Cain got his wife? I wrote the other day, she said,
could you tell me why Bathsheba was bathing on her at the housetop. Talk about David being forgiven.
What about Bathsheba bathing on the housetop? And she got
a little upset with me. I wrote her back. I said, I reckon
she was dirty. That's where the tub was. Oh, but I have such an important
question. No, no, you missed the important thing. Well, this
fellow wrote to me late yesterday. He said, I finally see it. Christ
put my sins away. All of them. All of them. Oh, thank God. I see it. Now look at the people's
response. Verse 29. They repented. Sacrifice was
made. Atonement finished. Now wait,
wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. But we've got to repent to have
atonement. No, you missed that. You'll repent
if you've got atonement. You shall afflict your souls. And they stopped working. You shall do no work at all. You know what the greatest affliction
to a man's soul is? I mean the absolute greatest
affliction a man will ever have in his soul? To quit working for his salvation. That's what it is to afflict
your soul, but that's so tough on the flesh. Yeah, flesh got
to be killed. Afflict your soul, quit working.
How come? Look, John, God's accepted the
lamb for burnt offering. has sent back that fit man into
glory who was made to be sin for us and there's no sin on
him. That means no sin on me. That's enough. And keep the sabbath. Keep a
holy sabbath unto Christ. Come ye weary, heavy laden bruised
and mangled By the fall, if you tarry till you're better, you'll
never come at all. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires is
to know your need of him. Come now and rest. Let me show
you one more thing. In verses 21 and 22, I call on
you and me to do whatever it is in this great act of faith. Come, lay your hands of faith
on the head of Christ God's sacrifice and see your sins. Amen.

The Day of Atonement

What does the Bible say about atonement?

How do we know that Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for atonement?

Why is the concept of atonement important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about God's justice and mercy in the context of atonement?

Why was the Day of Atonement significant in the Old Testament?

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The Day of Atonement

What does the Bible say about atonement?

How do we know that Christ's sacrifice is sufficient for atonement?

Why is the concept of atonement important for Christians?

What does the Bible say about God's justice and mercy in the context of atonement?

Why was the Day of Atonement significant in the Old Testament?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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