Church of England -- Sermons; Sermons, English -- 19th century
3. Once more: the sacrifice involves the free gift of money. Money with
most men lies very near the heart. Open the heart, and you open the
purse. Let the heart become dull, lifeless, cold, and unfeeling, and the
purse soon closes. Thus the sacrifice of Self is almost sure to lead to
the offering of money. Cold hearts give little; but when the heart is
full the offerings flow freely. The men of Macedonia were poor people,
but no sooner had they given their own selves to the Lord than “the
abundance of their joy, and their deep poverty, abounded unto the riches
of their liberality.” Now these offerings are described in the
Scriptures as a sacrifice to God. St. Paul alludes to them, in Philip,
iv. 18. It is not perfectly clear whether he alludes to a contribution
towards his own maintenance, or to the collection in which he took so
deep an interest for the poor saints in Jerusalem; but, either way, he
describes the offerings as an odour of a sweet smell, a “sacrifice
acceptable, well pleasing to God.” This gives a delightful view of
contributions in a right spirit for the service of the Lord. It shows
that the free and generous giver thereby offers a sacrifice well pleasing
to God. It rebukes at the same time the niggardly and parsimonious
spirit, the spirit that gives reluctantly, and complains of many calls.
Yet I verily believe that to give freely can scarcely be called a
sacrifice, for no money gives so much pleasure as that freely offered to
the Lord’s service; and no people enjoy property so much as they do who
are free and open-hearted givers. I have not the slightest hesitation,
therefore, in appealing to you for free and generous offerings, for I can
say as St. Paul said (Philip, iv. 17), “I desire fruit that may abound to
your account;” and I am thoroughly persuaded, that no person who is
induced to give freely will ever repent of “a sacrifice acceptable and
well pleasing to God.”
II. We may turn, then, to our second subject, the relationship of this
sacrifice to the great and perfect sacrifice offered once and for ever on
the cross.
One thing is perfectly clear, that these sacrifices are not a supplement
to the one great sacrifice for sin. They are not intended to supply any
deficiency in the great work of our Blessed Lord. There is no deficiency
there; and if there were, nothing that we could do would supply it.
There is no deficiency, for by the “one offering He hath perfected for
ever them that are sanctified.” And if there were deficiency, how could
man supply it? Is there not something dreadful in the thought of a
patchwork atonement, partly by the Son of God and partly by man; partly
perfect, and partly imperfect; partly pure in all the infinite purity of
God, and partly defiled with all the defilements of a fallen and sinful
manhood? No! the propitiation is perfect, unmixed, and undefiled for
ever. It is the sacrifice of the Son of God, and it stands alone for all
eternity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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