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Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2551, 10 March 1877, Page 3

Sermon ABUNDANT PA ED ON. C. H. Spubgeon. " He will abundantly pardon."—lsaiah !v. 7. Tlie pardon of God may well be abundant, for it wells up from an infinite fountain. Pardon is the child of mercy, not of justice^ and we may reckon that God will abundantly pardon, because "He delighteth iv mercy.". It is not according to His mind that, from the unfathomable depths of His .lore there should trickle forth a stinted stream of mercy which might wash out a little sin ; He poured floods upon the dry ground. When ouf sin abounded His grace did yet more abound ; He opened the sluices of His mercy ; He let down the cataracts of His infinite love from above, and drowned the mountains of our sins in a deluge of : His grace. . I But, second, notice that the objects to whom this pardon has been extended are abundant too. Well is It said, "He will I abundantly pardon,' 1 for God has already ; pardoned sinners more numerous. than ! can be estimated by human arithmetic. From xthe first sinner down to the last that has ever fled for refuge to Christ what numbers have looked to Him and been-lightened, Ihe promised seed in covenant with God is already"as many as the stars of Heaven, and as the sand upon the sea shore innumerable. They have come from every land. Of every hue has their skin been, and their raiment of divers colors. Their language has been varied, and their condition also, but they have alike found grace in the sight of the Lord. . God's wondrous eye of love has found out broken hearts by millions, and He has abundantly pardoned them. His pardon is abundant when we consider the abundance of the sins which, His love blots out. Oh, what a subject I have now before me ! Here is a river for depth unfathomable, and for breadth • a river, which cannot be passed over. I am overwhelmed with the thought of the abundance of transgression. ".How many are the sins themselves. - Sins of thought' —rebellious thought?, proud thoughts, blasphemous thoughts, atheistical thoughts, covetous thoughts, lustful th-'dghts, cruel thoughts, false thoughts? What swarms are there ! As the gnats which swarm the air at eventi-Je, so numerous fire the transgressions of the mind. Then there are the sins of word. I should have to repeat the list again. What words have vexed the, holy ear of God? Words against Himself, against. His Son, iigfiinst His law and gospel, against our neighbor, against everything that is good and true. '.! hen come the sins of deed, and truly no man can reckon them up. Perhaps the sins we do not know are more numerous than the sins we are conscious of.- Conscience may not be sufficiently enlightened to know all that is sinful, but God's clear eye perceiveth all that is obnoxious to His holy law, and all our errors are written down against us till the whole is wiped away by an".' abundant pardon through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Our sins are countless as the drops of dew in those autumn mornings when every leaf is wet; and yet, when the sun is risen, with a little of his heat the dews are all exhaled ; they are as if they had never been. ' So countless are our sins, and so complete- is" the removal of our transgressions when the infinite love of Jesus shines upon us, and God in His Son has reconciled us by His atoning blood. Innumerable sins are forgiven by one word from the lips of divine love. Let us notice next - tbat the Lord " abundantly pardons," when we consider the abundant means of pardon He has been pleased to provide for sinners. The substitute for men was not an angel, was no creature of bounded power and merit, but He'who came to serve us was none other than God Himself—" very God of very God. The fountain filled for us to wash in is not a fountain tfkiek can only cleanse a little. Sinner,if there had been a little Saviour you.might have despaired. Sinner, if the Saviour had offered a small' sacrifice ; if there had been but a narrow degree of merit in His agonies and cries> I might have spoken to you with bated breath ; but now I know he is " able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by Him," and therefore I am warranted to declare to ypu that^our God in Christ Jesus " will abundantly parden." \ And now I must notice the abundant ease of the terms of pardon. When a, man says he will forgive another and does not mean it, he puts hard conditions.. But look how God puts it I Does he say to a man, "I will forgive you if you weep for seven yoirs, or do penance for alifetime; or I-will forgive you if you brwg so much gold and silver, or if you promise this or.promise that? " . No, no, no; it is hearty forgiveness, and therefore the terms are simple and easy. When I soy "terms" I merely use the word for want of a better, for, indeed, the terms are no terms at. all. "Let the xjeked forsake' his way, and the unl; »iteous man his thoughts, and lot him ,Xi, l .n ant-1 the-Lord," for He will -have mercy Opofl him, attd.tb our God^for He wfll pardon." So that,all He asks i* that you do a.* and are willing to receive- 1 God will realty p«a don you. His pardoa* are. no shams, no empty words. Your sin is not merely supposed to be gone,.iMs gene. It i« not put a Jitlle way off from him, but " as far as the cast is from the west so far hath He removed our transgressions from • us." Oh, tbat you would come and participate in this amazing pardon—this . boundless forgiveness of boundless sin ! What, then, are the inferences which fl out of. abundant pardon?. The, r i. • % "nee is this': There.is no.room for anybody If there be here onewh yoh|be r^7S^r -Ve unclean and filthy life, nQ • h if worse can be, there is „I d { J lie should, despair. Jonah co_ -'„. fL.^-. through Nineveh and say, "Ye*"" ,„»» days and Nineveh shall -be overthrovL Nothing about mercy—not a,word of it. But the people of Nineveh said, "Who can toll ? H.- may turn' from His fierce anger that we perish not;'-' and on the strength of " who can tell" they tried it, and the God of mercy spared the guilty city. But look at my text; there is no "who can tell" iv ir. "He will abundantly pardon." The Lord has great mercy for great sinners. I will sot the big bell a ringing, and T will let "it ring and ring again, " Uonie, and welcome! Come and welcome! Come and welcome, for the great gates are set wide open! The tables uro long ; the oxen and fatlings upon them arc plenjiful, and myriads arc coming'! Come along with you! " Tho groat bell rings out again, " Come and welcome! Come and wel-~