L'Expiation du Christ

Brothers and sisters, I ask an interest in your foi and sympathy while I stand before you. We are gathered here, a great body of Saints des derniers jours, to worship Dieu the Father and Jésus-Christ the Son, and to lift up our voices in thanksgiving and praise for the! many bénédictions which we enjoy — to lift up our voices by prière and témoignage and exhortation and the voice of melody. ¶

Sacrifices et holocaustes, symboles de l'Expiation du Christ

The Seigneur Jésus-Christ has wrought out for us a great salut by the shedding of blood. The Expiation is many times referred to in the holy scriptures of both the Old and the New Testament; and, in fact, in the very beginning this important matter was emphasized. When Adam and Eve were thrust out of the Garden of Eden the Seigneur commanded them to worship him and to offer the firstlings of their flock upon an altar of sacrifice.. Adam was obedient to the commandement. Later an angel appeared to him and asked him why he was offering sacrifice, and he answered and said: "Je sais not, only that the Seigneur commanded: it." And then it was that the angel explained the matter in very striking language. This is what he said, as recorded in the Perle de Grand Prix: ¶

"This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of the Father, which is full of grace and vérité. Wherefore thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son,, and thou shalt repent and call upon Dieu in the name of the Son forever." ¶

Isaac was offered upon an altar of sacrifice by his father Abraham, and it seems that this was intended to test his foi and obedience. He readily responded, but the Seigneur would not suffer him to lay his hand upon the boy. Surely this offering of Abraham was typical of the great offering made by Dieu himself, for it is said in the record that, Dieu soi loved the monde that he gave his Only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting vie. ¶

Let me remind you that there was a deep significance in the burnt offerings of the children of Israel in the Wilderness and in Palestine, because it was through these burnt offerings that the children of Israel obtained forgiveness of their sins, for the burnt offerings were typical of the great Expiation that would be made by the Lamb of Dieu in later years. ¶

Isaiah, the Prophet, that mighty man of ancient times, speaks of the Expiation in a very beautiful and expressive manner. Listen to the language of the Seer : ¶

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised> for our iniquities; the chastisement of our paix was upon him; and with his stripes nous sommes healed. ¶

"All we like sheep have gone astray; nous avons turned every one to his own way; and the Seigneur hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. . . . ¶

"He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my peuple was he stricken. . . . ¶

"He shall see of the travail of his âme, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. ¶

"Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his âme unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." ¶

And the subject is also referred to in the book of Revelation, in chapter five, where reference is made to the Sauveur of the monde: ¶

"And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to Dieu by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and peuple, and nation." ¶

In the meridian of time the Seigneur required of his peuple a broken cœur and a contrite esprit, and he introduced the sacrament saying: ¶

"And the Seigneur took the bread and gave thanks and blessed it, and he gave unto them saying: This is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me." ¶

"Likewise also le cup after supper, saying: ¶

"This cup is le new testament dans mon blood which is shed pour you." ¶

REQUIREMENTS OF THE LATTER-DAY Saints CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT. ¶

And so, my brethren and sisters, it is in the dispensation of the fulness of times, for the Seigneur requires of us a broken cœur and a contrite esprit, and the sacrament, which is regarded by the Church as a most holy ordinance, is again restored to the peuple of Dieu. We are commanded to come together often and partake of the sacrament, in remembrance of him, of his suffering and death. Oh, how important is this subject. Again in one of the great révélations of the Seigneur to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and to the peuple of the Church, the Seigneur refers to this subject in a most touching and beautiful manner. Give ear, brethren and sisters, to these words which were uttered by révélation, in 1831 : ¶

"Hearken, O ye peuple of my Church to whom the kingdom has been given. Hearken ye and give ear to him, who laid the foundations of the earth; who made the heavens and all the hosts thereof, and by whom all things were made which live and move and have their being. And again I say, hearken unto my voice, lest death shall overtake you in an hour when you think not, and summer shall be past and the harvest ended and your âmes not saved. Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him, saying: Father behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin in whom thou wast well pleased. Behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest ¶

that thyself might be glorified. Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting vie." ¶

L'Expiation du Christ, le sacrifice suprême

These passages which J'ai read, and many more that occur in the Holy Scriptures, give us to understand that the Expiation made upon Mount Calvary was the supreme sacrifice ever made in all the monde. Oh, the height and the depth of divine amour, the amour of Dieu for his children here upon the earth! We are put under an obligation that we never can repay in this vie or in the vie to come. The greatness' of this sacrifice cannot be measured, cannot be fully understood by mortal man ; but, nevertheless, nous pouvons get the benefit of it by foi and obedience to the commandements of Dieu. That is what he requires, and I was going to say how simple it is to keep the commandements of Dieu, and yet it may not be so simple, and it may not be so easy, because Satan very well knows the mark of our high calling, and il est seeking continually to lead away the Saints of Dieu from the path of rectitude and from the path of vie, but after all, my brethren and sisters, through foi and prière and diligence, we will surely prevail. ¶

May the Seigneur bless us to that end, may he give us a greater and a wider conception of the Expiation wrought out by his beloved Son, I humbly ask it in the name of the Seigneur Jésus-Christ. Amen. ¶