Three things were found continually in the temple; fire, and blood, and sweet incense. The fire denoted the wrath of God against sin; the blood prefigured the sacrificial sufferings of Christ; and the sweet incense typified his intercession at the right hand of the Father, on the ground of his vicarious death upon the cross. The goat of the sin-offering was bound and slain; and then burnt up, with the fat thereof, upon the altar. So Christ was crucified for us without the gates of Jerusalem; and his humanity was consumed by the fire of God’s holy indignation against sin, on the altar of his Divinity; while from that altar ascended a column of the sweetest incense to the heaven of heavens—“Father, forgive them!” In hell also there is fire, where sinners suffer upon the altars of eternal justice. Every sacrifice is salted with fire, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever. But the black and sulphurous smoke of the bottomless pit is not a sweet smelling savor unto God, like the fumes of the sacrifice once offered on Calvary—a sacrifice which satisfied the claim of Heaven, and expiated the offence of earth.
The form of expression used in our text is one which frequently occurs in the Old Testament, and signifies the enduring of punishment. Of the impenitent sinner it is said, “He shall bear his iniquity”—that is, he shall endure the just punishment of his sins. He shall carry the burden alone, and for ever sink beneath the load, and mercy shall never come to his relief. Christ’s bearing our sins, then, signifies his enduring, the punishment in our stead. Glory to God, that every poor trembling sinner may cast his burden upon one who is able to sustain it, who has already sustained it in his stead! The law passed the guilty, and arrested the guiltless. Jesus willingly gave himself up as the victim, saying—“I am he; if ye seek me, let these go their way.” His sufferings constitute the sea, in which are buried for ever the sins of his people; sins of the greatest magnitude; sins of the deepest dye. The Father, who turned his back upon the sufferings of his Son, hath said—“I will cast all thy sins behind my back, into the depth of the sea.” This is the abyss, in which they are swallowed up, and seen no more.