THE FACT OF PARDON.

Shannon News, 20 January 1925, Page 4

THE FACT OF PARDON.

WHO FORGIVETH ALL THINE INIQUITIES, PASLM 103,3

“I believe in the forgiveness of sin, is one of the most blessed Sentences of the creed. Dear friends We do most joyfully believe in it, and, Wrhat is more we enjoy the truth personally as a ’matter of fact in our own case. Ivtay we feel joy of it at this good hour Oh, may the Holy Spirit of Go&loeax witness with the water and the blood. In speaking of the pardon of sin, 1 shall remark, first, that it is a primary blessing. Observe, it is Put First in the Catalogue, given by the Psalmist. It is not written, “Who healeth all thy diseases, who forgiveth all thine iniquities.’ No but the list commences thus, ‘ Who forgiveth all thine, iniquities.*’ Forgiveness leads the van, and stands in the forefront of the host of mercies. When the angels of God meet us, the first messenger of love that comforts our heart brings in his hand, pardon for our transgressions. ; As the olive leaf in the dove’s mouth proved to Noah that all the wafers were assuaged, so does a sense of forgiven sin assure us that our great griefs are ended, and our liberty and joy has come. Pardon shineg first of the stars of mercy. Brethren, I want to be Very practical, and say to you—let us seek this forgiveness of sin as a primary blessing if we have not yet obtained it If the Holy Spirit puts it first, let us seek it first. Be wise, O you who feel your guilt, and do not go about first of all to make a reformation in yourselves, and then to come to God for mercy; but come first to Him, and then see after other things. When you come to Him do not ask Him first to heal your soul’s disease, but first to forgive your iniquities. Follow God’s order, ana you cannot go amiss; there is infinite wisdom in all the Lord’s arrangements. Do not, I pray you, try to make that first which God makes second, nor that second which God makes first. You are guilty. Ask for Pardon at the Outset.

Through Jesus Christ free pardon is proclaimed, pardon for sins of deepest dye, pardon bought and sealed with His atoning blood. Come and receive it just as you are. Though there is nothing in you to commend you to the Divine regard, you are now in just such a state as best prepares you for Hjis Sovereign grace. Are yoiU startled at this statement? It is neither more nor less than the truth. You are empty, therefore there is

room in you for the fulness of Divine mercy; you are polluted, therefore there is opportunity to show the power of the blood in cleansing you; you are guilty, and there is space for undeserved mercy. Plead your guiltiness and say, “Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great.” Do not urge any extenuation, but as guilty say, “Forgive me.” In your confessed guiltiness there is space for the great King to do as He wills, and put away your sin by a Sovereign act of mercy. Let your first desire be pardoned sin. Do not wait till first you understand all mysteries; but get your sins forgiven. Do not first labour to attain a perfect life. Get your sins forgiven. Do not first make a profession, and join a church, and put. on outward religiousness. Get your sins forgiven. There David’s psalm begins, and there yours must begin if God in love accepts it —“Bless the Lord, O ray soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name; who forgiveth all thine That is our first head. Pardon is a primary blessing; seek It as such. Forgiveness is a Present Blessing.

This is very apparent in the text, which ig in the present tense; "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities.” Not, “jvho will, perhaps, forgive you on your death-bed”; not, “who did for. give you years ago, and now condemns you,” but “who forgiveth”— is now forgiving daily, hourly, mom-entarily,—-is continually forgiving your iniquity. I want to bring this fact of a present blessing before your minds briefly, but very clearly. This privilege the believer has actually obtained—all his sins are forgiven at this moment of time. Blessed be the name of the Lord, we are even now washed from sin. We shall grow in grace, but we shall never be more completely pardoned than when we first believed; wo shall one day stand before the glorious presence of God in His own sacred courts, and see the Well, beloved and bear His likeness, but we shall not even then be more perfectly forgiven than Ave are at this present moment. Sin depresses our spirit, the consciousness of it often makes us weep in secret, and yet none of it is imputed to us, every grain of it is as far removed from us as the east is from the west. Rejoice, believer, that the Spirit bears this witness —“God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” As many as have looked to Christ upon the cross are now justified by faith, and have peace with God. They are at this moment cleansed from all sin through the application of the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The practical point is this: if this forgiveness of sin be a present blessing, seek it for to-day; seek it at once, Do not be satisfied unless you are forgiven every day, and all the day; do not put off your soul with a bare hope, but labour for certainty; do not foolishly postpone it in the mere chance that at the last pinch, when you come to die, you may be forgiven, but cry for it now. Why, man alive, if I knew I could gain pardon when I came to die I should not like to spend the interval without it. It is such a privilege to be forgiven that I want It at once, and cannot endure delay, Oh, the sense of pardoned sin! What sweetness! What rest! This is a Priceless Blessing. It is a blessing which could not be purchased by a life of holiness. If we have once committed sin, and should henceforth be absolutely spotless, yet our previous sin would absolutely condemn us. “Could my zeal no respite know Could my tears for ever flow, All for sin could not atone.” Thou must save, and Thou alone.” Put on a hair shirt and an Iron girdle

fast day and night, cover yourself with the bruises of your scourgings, starve as a mendicant, or shut yourself up In a hermitage; but the sin of the past will remain the same. Weep tears 01 blood, but their crimson will not wash out the crimson of your sin. O Son of God, Thou hast redeemed us, but what a price hast Thou paid in the bloody sweat of Thy face and the sorrowful breaking of Thy heart; and now to-day we accept freely, gladly, what Thou hast so dearly earned. Why, that if we are pardoned through such an atonement, then are we Christ’s for ever. We ought to show deep gratitude, and the, least we can do is to confess. “We are not our own, we are bought with a price.” O Lord, hast Thou redeemed us, from our iniquities? Then would we show forth Thy praise by holiness all the days of our lives.