I, even I am he, that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins....Isa. xliii. 25. : WITH tears of joy and emotion of love, my once dearly be loved and much honored friend, now with Jesus, the late reverend Mr. Jones, minister of St. Saviour's, told me, the awful charges which precede, and the free and unmerited grace which is proclaimed in this text, made the first impressions of the Saviour's love upon his heart. O, that the Lord of all grace may give us some comfort from it to-night. Here grace shines with meridian splendor: here grace gloriously reigns over all the aboundings of sin : here grace sweetly triumphs over all the baseness and unworthiness of the sinner. In the two former verses, God arraigns the sinner, reads a black catalogue of indictment against him, and concludes with, "thou has made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities." The sinner is struck dumb: he dare not deny it the judge proceeds to pass sentence. What is it? Vengeance, hell-fire, and damnation? What else could be expected? Be astonished, O heavens! Shout for joy, O sinners upon earth! I, EVEN I AM HE....What? Who will be avenged of thee? Yes: but it is love which takes vengeance upon thy sins, and will melt down thy hard, thy base heart. THAT BLOTTETH OUT THY TRANSGRESSIONS. What, my soul, the very God whom thou hast made to serve with thy sins and wearied with thine iniquities, will He blot them all out? Yes, as a black cloud is dispelled by the sun, or dispersed by the wind; or as an immense debt is discharged by the stroke of the pen of a merciful creditor, never, never more to appear against or be demanded of the debtor. For, O wonder of love! he saith farther, AND WILL NOT REMEMBER THY SINS. I cannot forget my sins. How then can my Lord? They are all forgiven and forgotten as THY sins. The Lord remembers he laid them all upon his Son, thy surety. Then they passed from thee to him : then they were all atoned for by him. Why all this? For the sake of thy works? For any terms and conditions thou hast performed ? Spurn the thought. Hear thy Lord, FOR MINE OWN SAKE, the dear Jesus blotted out thy sins with his blood. The loving Father blots them out for the sake of his JUSTICE AND TRUTH. cious Spirit blots them out of the conscience, for the glory of the Father and the Son, and because he is THE COMFORTER of poor sinners. O what boundless bliss is here! Believe, rejoice and love. Here is most joyful gospel news, Sin's blotted and forgot! The gra Then give thy Lord his glory due, On this sweet word, my soul now muse, Thou art as safe from sin and woe, 'Till comfort thou hast got. As those in heav'n above. M Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified....Isa. xliii. 26. THE Lord had just laid open the rich love of his gracious heart to poor sinners, in fully blotting out their transgressions, and in not remembering their sins. To keep down their pride and exalt the riches of his mercy, he tells them plainly, I do all this for mine own sake: but he knows what is in man: he sees the devilish pride of our hearts, and how many would reject his free declaration, and will not accept of free-grace mercy, by free-gift of love, without money and without price: such will have some hand in procuring pardon and justification, by fulfilling terms and performing conditions. These words may be considered, Ist. As a sarcasm upon such persons, and a derision upon their notions. Says the Lord, put me in rememberance. What spiritual act could you do when dead in trespasses and sins, in order to get life? What good works sprung out of your flesh, in which dwells no good thing? Remind me of your power to will and to do what I commanded, and how you have done all things perfectly well to my glory. Let us plead together: let us come into open court and try this matter. Declare thou thy own righteousness: for which of all thy good works dost thou challenge my grace, and a right to be justified? Verily, if thou canst face this; as the prophet says, "thou hast a whore's forehead, and refusest to be ashamed."....Jer. iii. 3. But, 2d. We may consider them as spoken to the Lord's people. Put me in remembrance of my free declaration of full pardon: believe it: pray the Spirit to apply the sense and comfort of it to thy conscience: give me no rest till I have made thee thus happy. Let us plead together: confess your vileness: own your wretchedness: acknowlege your sinfulness: I will plead, my grace reigns over all the aboundings of sin, through righteousness unto life....Rom. v. 21. Declare thou that thou mayest be justified: plead at my throne what I am ever well pleased with, the blood and righteousnes of my beloved Son ONLY; and thou shalt be justified from all things, have my peace in thy conscience, which passeth all understanding: be filled with joy and peace in believing, and abound in hope by the power of the Holy Ghost. Now, is not all this amazing love and these gracious dealings enough to make thee ashamed of thy folly and slowness of heart to believe the truths of a covenant God in Christ? Grace reigns and over sin abounds, And justifies the soul; [founds, O for an heart of faith and love, And imitate the blest above, M. Singing his praise abroad. The law roorketh wrath....Rom. iv. 15. ÓUR misery as poor sinners is greatly heightened for want of duly considering the end and design of the holy law, and of the everlasting gospel; and through our blending them together in our consciences. Consider what is meant by the law working wrath. 1st. "Sin is the transgression of the law."....1 John iii. 4. 2d. "The law was added because of transgressions."....Gal. iii. 19. 3d. " By the law is the knowledge of sin." Therefore, 4th. "By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in God's sight."....Rom. iii. 20. For, 5th. "It is a ministration of condemnation."....2 Cor. iii. 9. "Cursed is every one that continueth not in ALL things which are written in the book of the law to do them."....Gal. iii. 10. Hence, is it any marvel that we, who are transgressors of the law, and cursed by the law, if we examine ourselves by the law and judge of ourselves according to the law, that it should work in us a sense of wrath, a dread of damnation, and a fearful looking for of judgment and of fiery indignation? Therefore we must see and own, that by nature we are children of wrath even as others, deserve hell as well as others, and can do no more to save ourselves than others. Now, have we thus seen ourselves under the law, and felt the law working wrath in our consciences? If so, this is the certain consequence, "Our mouth is stopped: we are become, (O awful word!) guilty before God."....Rom. iii. 19. 2d. How do we expect to get relief in our guilty minds and ease from wrath in our consciences? Fot. as the law works wrath, sin works deceitfully in our proud natures. Dear spirit of truth, leave us not in this momentous point to seek death in the error of our lives: either to palliate our sins, to extenuate the rigor of the law, or to strive by any future obedience to the law to quell its wrath. O blessed comforter! lead us to our law-fulfilling head: shew us that Jesus hath suffered all the penalties of the law for us; took away all its wrath and curse from us, and obtained everlasting peace with God for us. Here then it is manifest, whether we have received the Spirit of truth, or are blinded by the spirit of error. If we attempt to set up any works or doings of our own, to get relief from the wrath of the law, sin blinds our eyes and deceives our hearts. If we flee from the wrath of the law to the grace of Christ, we are enlightened by the Spirit of truth: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, hath made us free from the law of sin and death." ....Rom. viii. 2. A sinner, curs'd by holy law, I flee from wrath to come: Let conscience find in thee sweet peace From all law's threat'ning wrath: I'll glory in thy righteousness, Tho' law works sin and death. M. If we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries....Heb. x. 26, 27. AWFUL words! enough to make one's heart tremble, excite a holy fear, and provoke a godly jealousy. Wilful sins bring on woeful complaints. Yes, says a soul, I find it so by woeful experience. I have received the knowledge of the truth of salvation by Christ Jesus, and O what have I done! Sinned wilfully, and now I must be damned eternally; there is no hope nor help; my sin is unpardonable; there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for destruction; I am shut up in despair; I wait with terror my dreadful doom. Stop a little write not such bitter things against thyself. True, thou art condemned for thy past wicked conduct: it is fit you should take shame to yourself, humble yourself, and repent as in dust and ashes; but this text never was intended to drive to despair, even the wilful sinner, who sees and is sorry for his vile conduct. Consider, if every wilful sin is unpardonable, after a person has received the knowledge of the truth, the whole world must be damned: not one sinner would be saved. If so, that word could not be true, "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from ALL sin.".... John i. 7. Then backsliding sinners must perish without hope. God himself must prove false to his word; "I will heal their backslidings."....Hosea xiv. 4. And Christ must be a false prophet when he declares, “ALL MANNER OF SIN AND BLASPHEMY shall be forgiven unto men."....Matt. xii. 31. Consider well two words in this text. 1st. There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Now this wilful sin is rejecting the one sacrifice of Jesus, treading under foot the Son of God, accounting his blood an unholy thing, and expecting to be saved some other way. Here is total apostacy and final unbelief; whereas your guilty conscience seeks no sacrifice beside the one offering of the Son of God. 2d. Mind, it is the ADVERSARY who is to be devoured. your heart set against Christ? Do you turn from him? Do you desire to have nothing to do with him? O no! I'll answer for you, the one desire of your soul is to be pardoned through him, accepted in him, and saved by him. Then you are not an adversary to Christ : you shall not be devoured. This text no more belongs to you, than to angels in heaven: but this does," This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."....1 Tim. i. 15. Is He who eateth me, even he shall live by me....John vi. 57. WHY is the meek Lamb so very wrath against self-righteous sensible people, while he is nothing but love and tenderness to poor sinners? Why does he stamp the highest indignity and contempt on the character of the former, while he receives publicans and harlots with open arms? Is it not hard, because a man hugs his own righteousness and perfection in his heart, that the Saviour should reject him? Are we not to do good, to be very good, yea, to strive to be as righteous as an angel? Yes, we are to have a better righteousness than angels ever had: but if we think that righteousness is to be obtained by us, to cover our wicked nature, to recommend us to God, and to justify us either first or last, in whole or in part, we deceive ourselves....the truth is not in us....there is the pride of the devil at the bottom of all this: "Woe unto us, we are full, but we shall hunger."....Luke vi. 25. If full of a proud conceit and high opinion of our own righteousness, our souls will famish and starve: "The full soul loatheth the honey-comb."....Prov. xxvii. 7. It has no appetite to feed upon Christ, and to live by him, as its only food and cloathing: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."....Matt. v. 6. That soul is truly convinced of sin, by the Spirit, who sees he has no righteousness of his own; is sensible that he must perish everlastingly, without a perfect, spotless righteousness; knows this is only in Christ, and therefore hungers and thirsts after his righteousness. This is the soul who eats Christ, feeds upon him, and shall live by him. A hungry soul is a self-emptied soul. Is yours such? Does it go out after Christ as a hungry appetite does after food? Will nothing sa tisfy you but the flesh and blood, the righteousness and atonement of the Son of God? Bless the Lord, you have David's experience a "I will go in the strength of the Lord God." He fed on Christ and got his strength from him: "I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine ONLY. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee, and my soul which thou hast redeemed."....Psalm Ixxi. 23. Holy Paul's language is yours: "I count all things but loss for the excellency of Christ Jesus my Lord. I esteem all things but dung that I may win Christ. The whole and sole desire of your soul is to be FOUND IN HIM."....Phil. iii. 9. You have the sure word of Christ. You shall live by ME. Live by his grace in time: live with him in glory to all eternity. 'Tis sweet to live and daily feed On Jesu's flesh and blood: Lord, may I love thee more and more M. |