THE ANNUAL ATONEMENT – Charles Spurgeon
THE ANNUAL ATONEMENT
“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.” Leviticus 16:30.
Introduction: The Way to God
Before Adam transgressed, he lived in communion with God, but after he had broken the Covenant and grieved God’s Spirit, he could have no more familiar fellowship with God. Under the Mosaic dispensation, in which God was pleased, in His grace, to dwell among His people and walk with them in the wilderness, it was still under a reserve—there was a Holy Place wherein the symbol of God’s presence was hidden away from mortal gaze. No man might come near to it except in one way, only, and then only once a year, “The Holy Spirit this signifying, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest, while as the first Tabernacle was yet standing.”
Our subject today illustrates the appointed way of access to God. This chapter shows that the way of access to God is by atonement and by no other method. We cannot draw near unto the Most High except along the blood-besprinkled way of sacrifice. Our Lord Jesus said, “No man comes unto the Father, but by Me.” And this is true in many senses, including that our way to God lies only through the sacrifice of His Son.
The reason for this is that sin lies at the door. Brothers and Sisters, a pure and holy God cannot endure sin. He cannot have fellowship with it, or with those who are rendered unclean by it, for it would be inconsistent with His nature to do so. On the other hand, sinful men cannot have fellowship with God—their evil nature could not endure the fire of His holiness! Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? What is that devouring fire and what are those everlasting burnings, but the justice and holiness of God? The Apostle says, “Even our God is a consuming fire.” A guilty soul would perish if it were possible for it to draw near to God apart from the Mediator and His atonement.
The Need for Atonement
The fire of God’s nature must consume the stubble of our nature so long as there is sin in us or about us. Hence the difficulty of access, a difficulty which only a divine method can remove. God cannot commune with sinful men, for He is holy. Sinful men cannot commune with a holy God, because He must destroy them, even as He destroyed Nadab and Abihu when they intruded into His Holy Place. That terrible judgment is mentioned in the opening verses of the chapter before us as the reason why the ordinances herein contained were first of all made. How, then, shall men come to God? Only in God’s own way! He, Himself, devised the way and He has taught it to us by a parable in this chapter.
It would be very wrong to prefer any one passage of Scripture beyond another, for all Scripture is given by inspiration. But if we might do so, we should set this chapter in a very eminent and prominent place for its fullness of instruction—and its clear, yet deep doctrinal teaching. It treats upon a matter which is of the very highest importance to all of us. We are here taught the way by which the sin that blocks the door may be taken away, so that a seeking soul may be introduced into the presence of God—and stand in His Holy Place—and yet live. Here we learn how we may say, with the astonished prophet, “I have seen God and my life is preserved!”
Oh that we might, today, so learn the lesson that we may enter into the fullest fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, in that safe way, that only way, which God has appointed for us! Oh for the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, that we may know and use “the new and living way!”
The Type of Atonement
Before I proceed to enlarge upon this chapter, I want to notice that, of course, this was only a type. This great Day of Atonement did not see an actual atonement made, nor sin really put away, but it was the figure of heavenly things—the shadow of good things to come. The substance is of Christ. If this Day of Atonement had been real and satisfactory, as touching God and the conscience of men, there would never have been another—for the worshippers once purged would have had no more conscience of sin! If they had lived 50 or a hundred years, they would never have needed another Day of Atonement—but because this was, in its nature, imperfect and shadowy, being only typical—therefore, every year, in the seventh month, on the 10th day of the month, a fast was proclaimed, sin was confessed, victims were slain, and atonement was again presented.
In the Jewish year, so often as it came round, on one special day they were commanded to afflict their souls, even though it was a Sabbath of rest. In very deed, a remembrance of sin was made every year, a painful remembrance for them, although sweetened by a new exhibition of the plan by which sin is cleansed. The Lord said, “This shall be an everlasting statute unto you.” It lasted as long as the Mosaic economy in the letter, but its spirit and substance last on forever. They had that day to remember that their sin was not put away once and for all and forever by all their types and ceremonies and, therefore, they had again to humble themselves and come before God with sacrifices which could never truly put away sin!
Israel had to do this constantly until Jesus, the true High Priest appeared—and now they have no sacrificing priest, nor altar, nor Holy of Holies. By Jesus Christ’s one offering of Himself, sin was put away, once and for all, effectually and finally, so that believers are really clean before God.
Now, if I should seem to run the type into the substance, you will just separate them in your own minds. It is not easy to speak as to keep shadow and substance quite clear of each other. We are apt to say, “This is so-and-so,” when we mean, “this represents so-and-so,” and we have our Lord’s example for so doing, for He said, “this is My body and My blood,” when He meant that the bread and wine represented His body and blood. We are not speaking to fools, nor to those who will wrench the letter from its obvious spiritual sense! I shall trust to your intelligence and the guidance of the Holy Spirit that you will, in this discourse, discern between the symbol and the substance! May the Divine Spirit help me and help you to a right understanding of this sacred type!
I. What Was Done on the Day of Atonement
Now, then, let us come to the text and note, first, WHAT WAS DONE on that particular day. The text tells us what was done symbolically—“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.”
The persons, themselves, were cleansed. If any of them had become unclean so as to be denied communion with God and His people, they were made clean, so that they might go up to the Tabernacle and mingle with the congregation. All the host were, that morning, regarded as unclean—and all had to bow their heads in penitent sorrow because of their uncleanness. After the sacrifice and the sending away of the scapegoat, the whole congregation was clean and in a condition to rejoice. If it happened to be the Year of Jubilee, the joyful trumpets rang out as soon as the atonement was complete. Every year, within four days after the Day of Atonement, the people were so clean that they kept the joyful Feast of Tabernacles. Jewish rabbis were known to say that no man had ever seen sorrow who had not seen the Day of Atonement and that no man had ever seen gladness who had not witnessed the hilarity and delight of the people during the Feast of Tabernacles!
The people, themselves, were made to be a clean people and I lay great stress on this, because unless you, yourself, are purged, everything that you do is defiled in the sight of God. When a man was unclean, if he went into a tent and sat upon anything, it was unclean. If a friend touched his garments, he was rendered unclean. The man, himself, needed, first, to be delivered from impurity and it is precisely the same in your case and mine! I have need to cry, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean! Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” Your very person, by nature, is defiled and obnoxious to the justice of God. In body, soul, and spirit, you are, by nature, altogether as an unclean thing and all your righteousnesses are as filthy rags—you, yourself, need to be washed and renewed. It is a far simpler thing to remove outward stains than it is to purge the very substance and nature of man, yet this is what was done, typically, on the Day of Atonement—and this is what our redeeming Lord actually does for us! We are outlaws and His atonement purges us of outlawry and makes us citizens. We are lepers and by His stripes we are so healed as to be received among the clean! By nature, we are only fit to be flung into those fires which burn up corrupt and offensive things—but His sacrifice makes us so precious in the sight of the Lord that all the forces of Heaven stand sentinel about us! Once black as night, we are so purged that we shall walk with Him in white, for we are worthy.
Their persons being made clean, they were also purged of all the sins confessed. I called attention, in the reading of the chapter, to its many, “alls.” I think there are seven or eight of them. The work which was done on that day was comprehensive—a clean sweep was made of sin. I begin with that which was confessed, for it was that for which cleansing would be most desired. It is said that, “Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel.” All sin that was confessed over the scapegoat was carried away into a land not inhabited. Sin that is confessed is evidently real sin and not a mere dream of a morbid conscience. There is a certain mythical cloud of sin which people talk about and pretend to deplore and yet they have no sense of the solid weight and heinousness of their actual iniquity.
Certain grievous sins are comparable to cauldrons of foaming filth—no man will willingly acknowledge them, however clearly they may be his, but when he does admit them before God, let him remember that it is this real sin, this foul and essentially abominable transgression, which is put away by the atonement of Christ! Sin confessed with tears. Sin which causes the very heart to bleed—killing sin, damning sin—this is the kind of sin for which Jesus died! Sham sinners may be content with a sham Savior, but our Lord Jesus is the real Savior who did really die—and died for real sin.
Conclusion
Brothers and Sisters, sin which you are bound to admit to as most assuredly committed is the sort of pollution from which Jesus cleanses all believers. Sin which you dare not confess to man, but acknowledge only as you lay your hand upon the Divine sacrifice—such sin the Lord removes from you. The passage is very particular to mention “all sins.” “The goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities.” This includes every form of sin—of thought, of word, of deed, of pride, of falsehood, of lust, of malice, of blasphemy. This comprehends crimes against man and offenses against God of peculiar blackness. And it does not exclude sins of inadvertence, or carelessness, or of omission. Transgressions of the body, the intellect, the affections are all blotted out. The outrageous scandals which I dare not mention are yet pardonable—yes, such have been pardoned! There is not the same degree of virus in all sins, but whether or not, the atonement is for all transgressions.
The Power of the Atonement
The Lord Jesus Christ did not pour out His heart’s blood to remove one set of stains and leave the rest—He takes away from the soul that puts its trust in Him every spot and trace of sin. “Wash me,” said David, “and I shall be whiter than snow.” He looked for the extreme of cleanness and such the Savior brings to the soul for whom He has made effectual atonement. I desire to be so plain and broad that the chief of sinners may gather hope from my words. I speak in very simple language, but the theme is full of sublimity—especially to you that feel your need of it. The atonement removed all sin. I must give you the exact expression. He says, “all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins.” It seems that the Divine atonement puts away the sin of sin—the essence and heart of sin.
Sin has its core, its kernel, its mortal spot. Within a fruit there is a central stone, or pip—this may serve as the likeness of sin. Within each iniquity there seems to lie a something more essentially evil than the act itself—this is the kernel of intent, the core of obstinacy, the inner hate of the mind. Whatever may be the sin of the soul, or the soul of the sin, atonement has been made for it all.
Most sins are a conglomerate of sins. A sin may be compared to a honeycomb—there are as many sins within one sin as there are cells within a piece of comb. Sin is a swarming, hiving, teeming thing! You can never estimate its full vileness, nor perceive all its evil bearings. All sorts of sins may hide away in one sin. It would puzzle all the theologians in the world to tell what sin was absent from Adam’s first offense. I could take any point you choose and show that Adam sinned in that direction. All sin was within that first sin. Sin is a multitudinous evil, an aggregate of all manner of filthiness, a chain with a thousand deadly links! A sinner is like a man possessed with a devil who cries, “My name is Legion, for we are many!” It is one in evil and yet countless in forms.
The atonement is more than equal to sin—it takes away all our transgressions in all our sins. It is the fullest purgation that could be imagined. The Lord Jesus has not left upon those for whom He has made atonement a single spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, so far as their justification is concerned. He has not left an iniquity for which they can be condemned before the bar of judgment. “You are clean every whit,” is His sure verdict and none can contradict it.
The Work of Atonement
It appears from this chapter, too, that another thing was done. Not only were all the sins that they had committed put away, but also all their holy things were purged. There stood the altar upon which only holy things were offered, but because imperfect men ministered there, it needed to be sprinkled with blood before it could be clean. There was the Holy Place of the Tabernacle which was dedicated solely to God’s service, wherein the holiest rites of God’s ordaining were celebrated—but because the priests that served there were fallible and unholy thoughts might cross their minds even when they handled the holy vessels, therefore the blood was sprinkled seven times within the Holy Place!
Inside, within the veil, the sanctuary was called the “Holy of Holiest.” Yes, but standing, as it did at first, in the midst of the camp of an erring people and afterwards near to it, it needed to be purged! It is written, “the priest shall make an atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel.” Even the Mercy Seat and the ground whereon it rested were sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice seven times!
O Brothers and Sisters, I feel so glad that our Lord has atoned for the sins of our holy things! I rejoice that Jesus forgives the sins of my sermons! I have preached my very soul out among you with purity of motive, seeking to win men for Christ, but I dare not hope to have them accepted in and of themselves, for I perceive that they are defiled with sin! I feel so glad that Jesus has purified our prayers! Many saints spend much time in hearty, earnest cries to God, but even on your knees, you sin—and herein is our comfort, that the precious blood has made atonement for the shortcomings of our supplications. Sometimes when we get together, Beloved, we sing to the praise of our Lord with heart and will. I have felt in this place as if you and I and all of us were so many burning coals, all blazing within a censer and thus letting loose the odors of the sweet incense of our Lord’s praise! How often has a pillar of fragrant smoke risen from this house to Heaven! Yes, but even then there was sin in our praises and iniquity in our doxologies. We need pardon for our Psalms and cleansing for our hymns!
Conclusion: The Day of Atonement
Blessed be God, atonement is made for all our faults, excesses, and shortcomings. Jesus puts away not only our unholy things, but also the sins of our holy things! Once more, on that day, all the people were cleansed. All the congregation of the house of Israel were typically cleansed from all sin by the Day of Atonement—not only the priests, but all the people—not only the princes, but the poorest servants in the camp! The aged woman and the little child. The gray beard and the youth were, alike, purified. Men of business inclined to covetousness, they were cleansed. And younger men and maidens in their gaiety, too apt to descend into wantonness—they were all made clean that day!
This gives great comfort to those of us who love the souls of the multitude. All who believe are justified from all things! It is written, “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.” I have often heard the text quoted with the, “us,” left out. Permit me to put it in at this moment—“cleanses us from all Sin.” Now put yourself into the “us.” Dare to believe that grace admits you there! By an act of faith, let all of us all round the galleries and in this great area say, “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses US.” If you pull, “us,” to pieces, it is made up of a great many “me’s.” A thousand, thousand times “me” will all pack away into a single “us!” Let each one say—“The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses me, and cleanses me from all sin.” Be glad and rejoice forever because of this gracious truth of God! This was done on the Day of Atonement in the symbol—and it has really been done by the Lord Jesus through His atoning sacrifice.