Abundant Pardon

A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 27, 1874,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"He will abundantly pardon." Isaiah 55:7.

IN our childhood we learned from Dr. Watts' Catechism that Isaiah was
that Prophet who spoke more of Jesus Christ than all the rest. In the
chapter before us Isaiah had been declaring in the name of the Lord the
coming and the character of the Redeemer, speaking of Him thus, "Behold
I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and a commander
to the people." No sooner had he thus proclaimed the appearance of the
Christ, than he beheld whole nations of the heathen rushing to Him and,
inspired by that sight, he began at once to address himself to the
sinners around him bidding them fly to Him, too. As there is a natural
connection between the physician and the sick, so is there between the
Savior and the sinner.

The Prophet can hardly think of Christ as coming to be a leader, a
witness and a commander without at once turning to the wicked and the
unrighteous–bidding them forsake their ways, enlist beneath their
Commander's banner–and participate in the blessings which He brings.
Jesus is a grand attraction for guilty men! "Then drew near unto Him
all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him." Christ is always
welcomed by those who know they need Him. The self-righteous Pharisees
and Scribes murmur at Him, but those who are humble and contrite,
because conscious of their guilt, approach Him, wishing, as it were,
but to touch the hem of His garment that they may be made whole! As the
sun is attended by his planets who borrow all their light from him, so
is the Lord Jesus waited on by crowds of sinners who find in Him their
hope, their all! As the thirsty harts resort to the water brooks, so do
needy souls hasten to Jesus–and it is according to the Divine order
that it should be so.

Notice what the Prophet has to say. He speaks to the unrighteous and
the wicked, and invites them to immediate faith and repentance, for so
I understand the passage to mean. "Seek you the Lord while He may be
found, call you upon Him while He is near," is an exhortation to prayer
and faith. We cannot approach God in prayer without faith, for a prayer
that has no faith in it must die on the road. To seek the Lord aright
we must believe that "God is, and that He is the Rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him." I take that sixth verse, coupled with the third,
to be a plain exhortation to faith. Faith comes by hearing and for this
reason it is written, "Incline your ears and come unto Me; hear and
your soul shall live."

As for repentance, that is clear in the seventh verse. "Let the wicked
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts." The whole
passage reads like a paraphrase of the Gospel message, "repent and
believe the Gospel." It seems as if Isaiah were an Evangelist rather
than a Prophet–as if he had lived before his time and preached the
Gospel like an Apostle who had seen the Lord! Like the morning star,
which shines upon the earth before the sun has risen, Isaiah rejoiced
the hearts of Believers with his clear radiance! The gladness of his
soul in the thought of the coming Messenger of the Covenant, even Jesus
Christ, kindled his spirit and the light shone forth from him! He was
so glad within his heart that his tongue was loosed and straightway he
addressed himself to those that "sat in darkness and the valley of the
shadow of death."

He bade them arise and quit the shades and go unto their God, for there
was no reason for despair. There was mercy, great mercy, abounding
pardon to be had and he bade them obtain it then and there! "Seek you
the Lord while He may be found, call you upon Him while He is near."
The motive which he urged upon men was the certainty of their finding
pardon. This was the tempting bait with which this ancient fisher of
souls endeavored to "catch men." May the Holy Spirit aid me while I use
the same, and invite you to consider with me–the abundant pardon which
God bestows upon the guilty. Having discoursed upon that at length, we
shall, in the second place, consider what fair inferences may be drawn
from this encouraging Truth of God.

I. First then, according to the text, God does ABUNDANTLY PARDON. We
will turn that Truth over and over and see it in many lights. The
pardon of God may well be abundant, for it wells up from an infinite
fountain. "Mercy, which endures forever," is the attribute from which
that pardon springs. Pardon is the child of Mercy, not of Justice– and
we may reckon that God will give abundant pardon because He delights in
mercy! All the attributes of God are well balanced–like Himself they
are infinite–and not one of them entrenches upon or dims the luster of
another. He is infinitely just, yet infinitely good! He is infinitely
powerful, yet infinitely tender!

We are quite sure that whenever an attribute of God comes into action
it will be sufficiently revealed to make its glory manifest. There
could be no mercy exercised by God until there was sin. Where all was
blameless, Mercy had no sphere. As soon as the angels fell, the Lord
might have exercised mercy had He pleased. But He did not choose to
provide salvation for Satan and his rebellious hordes. As if to teach
us that it is not necessary that God should forgive, He suffered the
fallen angels to fall irretrievably–and gave them up to everlasting
fire as their due desert. Deceived by the old serpent, man also
fell–and again there was space for Mercy. Man was an inferior creature
to the angels–should he be allowed to perish or should Divine Grace
step in?

In this case Mercy bowed the heavens and came down, and the Lord of
All, as if to show that He "will have mercy on whom He will have mercy,
and will have compassion on whom He will have compassion," though He
had passed the angels by, took up the race of men and determined that
His pardons should be bestowed upon them! Now, when He had resolved to
let Mercy come to the front and be seen–which I again say could not
have been if there had been no sin–it was most amazing that He allowed
that blessed attribute to come forth in all the fullness of its might!
In the Creation you see power in its majesty and wisdom in its
grandeur. In Providence you see goodness unbounded and faithfulness
unlimited. In the gulf to which the Lord has condemned the wicked you
see Justice in all its awful glory–and therefore when He determined to
let Mercy come forth from her ivory palaces it seemed but natural that
He should give ample room.

It was not according to His mind that from the unfathomable depths of
His love there should trickle forth a stinted stream of mercy which
might wash out a little sin–and water a scanty patch of the desert of
our nature! No, He poured floods upon the dry ground! When our 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 sin in a deluge of Divine Grace so that we
sang rightly just now–

"See here an endless ocean flo ws Of never-failing Grace. Behold a
dying Savior's veins The sacred flood increase. It rises high and
drowns the hills, Has neither shore nor bound, Now, if we search to
find our sins, Our sins can ne'er be found."

"God is love" implies that love has a predominance in His
Character–not so as to mar other attributes, much less to destroy
them–but as the consequence and blending of the whole, and, therefore,
we may be sure that this most conspicuous of all the attributes, this
summing up of them all, will have full range and distribute abundantly
its peculiar

gifts.

But, secondly, as the attribute from which the pardon comes is
abundant, so we know for sure that the objects to which this pardon has
been expended are abundant, too. Well is it said, "He will abundantly
pardon," for God has already pardoned sinners more numerous than can be
estimated by human arithmetic! From the first sinner down to the last
that has ever fled for refuge to the hope set before him in the Gospel
of our Lord Jesus, what incalculable numbers have looked to Him and
have been lightened! Think, my Brothers and Sisters, of the myriads
that have lived and died forgiven! Heaven is not scant of inhabitants!
If you could now lift up your eyes, you should see that the old
Covenant promise has been in part fulfilled–"your seed shall be as the
sand, and the offspring of your bowels like the gravel

thereof."

The promised seed in Covenant with God, of which Covenant God spoke to
Abraham, is already as many as the stars in Heaven and as the sand upon
the sea shore, innumerable. They have come from every land, yes, from
the uttermost

parts of the earth have they come! Of every hue has their skin been and
their raiment of many different colors. Their language has been varied
and their condition, also, but they have alike found Divine Grace in
the sight of the Lord. Multitudes of the poor and needy, yes, of the
outcasts have come–the women that ground at the mill and the captives
that fretted in the dungeon! God's wondrous eye of love has found out
broken hearts by the millions and He has abundantly pardoned them. Yes,
and even on the face of the earth, now, what a multitude there are whom
God has pardoned! Blessed be His name!

There may not be so many as latitudinarianism imagines, but there are
certainly more than bigotry conceives. God has pardoned a great
multitude of the sons of men and He intends to pardon yet more, for the
Gospel will spread–and brighter days are coming! The halcyon period is
on the wing when nations shall be converted at once and, like the
flocks of doves that come to the dovecot, souls shall fly to Jesus for
forgiveness! When the whole earth shall be filled with His Glory in the
multitude of repentant and forgiven sinners of the golden age, men
shall see that God does "abundantly pardon."

His pardon is, in the third place, abundant, when we consider the
abundance of the sins which the love of God 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–it is a river to
swim in! I must correct myself and call it an ocean! Indeed, what shall
I say of this sea of sin? There are innumerable creeping things in it,
both small and great beasts! There is that leviathan who does mightily
disport himself and there are fierce tempests and horrible storms which
well may sink the ships which tempt them. I am overwhelmed with the
thought of the abundance of transgression!

Sin! From your fruitful womb what myriads of ills proceed! What
countless hosts of evils are the fruits of sin! How many are the sins,
themselves! Sins of thought–rebellious thoughts, proud thoughts,
blasphemous thoughts, atheistical thoughts, covetous thoughts, lustful
thoughts, impatient thoughts, cruel thoughts, false thoughts–thoughts
of ill memory and dreams of an unholy future–what swarms are there!
However, the omission of thoughts which should have been, such as
thoughts of repentance, gratitude, reverence, faith and the like–these
are equally numerous! With the double list, my roll is written within
and without with a hideous catalog. As the gnats which swarm the air at
eventide, so numerous are the transgressions of the mind!

Then there are sins of word. I should have to repeat the list again.
What words have vexed the pure and holy ear of God! Words against
Himself, against His Son, against His Law and Gospel, against our
neighbor, against everything that is good and true! Words proud and
hectoring, words defiant and obstinate, words untruthful, words
lascivious, words of vanity and words of willful unbelief. Oh God! How
many are our sinful words! The sins of our tongue–what man is there
who is able to reckon them up?

Then come the sins of deed, which in very truth are but the fruits
which grow out of sins of thought. Can any man here estimate the number
of his own sins from the first transgression of his childhood until
gray old age, or to his present period of life? "Who can understand his
errors? Cleanse me from secret faults." Perhaps the sins we do not know
are more numerous than the sins we are conscious of! Conscience may not
be properly enlightened and hence many a thing may not seem to be
sinful which really is so. But God's clear eyes perceive everything
that is obnoxious to His holy Law and all our errors are written down
against us until the whole is wiped away by an abundant pardon through
the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Our sins are as the countless horde
of locusts which descend upon the fertile land and devour everything,
leaving nothing for man but famine and despair.

But as it was in Egypt so it is at this day–the Lord commands the wind
of Mercy to blow every locust from off the face of the land–and as
they all depart at once, our hearts rejoice and are glad. Our sins are
countless as the drops of dew in these autumn mornings when every leaf
is wet, for every tree is weeping tears of sorrow over the dying year.
And yet when the sun has risen, with a little of his heat, the moisture
is gone, the dews are all exhaled–they are as if they had never been.
Our sins are countless–but the removal of our transgressions is
complete 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 life of Divine Love.

In the fourth place, we can see the truth of this in the abundant sin
of those sins which are pardoned. Just think of the abundant sinfulness
of any one transgression, for every sin has a myriad of sins in its
heart. Did you ever find a spider's nest just when the young spiders
have all come to life? It is a city of spiders! Now, such is any one
sin–it is a colony of

iniquities, a living mass of offenses! You have but to stir it and you
will see countless sins running out of it–it is an aggregation of
evil! I remember once studying, with much care, various works upon the
sin of Adam. I was convinced by each writer that it was a different sin
and came, at last, to the conclusion that the sin of Adam, simple as it
was, had all sorts of sins hidden within it.

Sin is not only a double flower, but it blooms sevenfold! It is a
complicated mischief, in a thousand ways abhorrent to the holy God, and
yet He pardons it! Abundantly pardons it! Some sins are plotted and
planned and performed with presumptuous deliberation so that when the
act, itself, is perpetrated, it is only one part of a whole mass of
transgression! The man has first to consider how to do it–there is sin
in the consideration. If it were a sin of revenge, for instance, the
anger which first suggested it was a sin. Then the malice which preyed
upon the supposed injury and turned it over was sin. And then the
prostitution of wit and wisdom to the scheming of some cunning mode of
vengeance–all this was sin!

Many a sin is a development from a long succession of sins and may have
a genealogy far longer than the pedigree of the man himself–and be
intensely full of sin all along. Some sins have in them strange
contradictory mixtures. We have known men sin from pride and
covetousness, and yet fall into that which was at once mean and ruinous
to their hope of gain. We have seen self-righteousness and dust riding
on the same saddle. What are you, O Sin! A monster of forms uncouth and
contrary! I see you one moment as an angel of light and the next you
are a fiend, black as the midnight of Gehenna! You grovel like a
serpent and soon you shine like a seraph! You are "all things to all
men," if by any means you may deceive some and cast them down into the
Pit! Yet this vile thing the Lord forgives of men for Jesus' sake! Does
He not abundantly pardon?

In addition to there being many sins in one sin, I want you to remember
how much virus of sin we sometimes manage to stow away in a sin. A man
has done wrong and smarted for it, yet he does the very same thing
again willfully, against his own conscience and against the warning he
has received. A man will sometimes acknowledge what a fool he has been
and yet play the fool again. Some men sin for no motive whatever–for
mere wantonness of sin. It is very astonishing to read in the
newspapers of crimes that persons will sometimes fall into who appear
to have had no inducement to do so at all–persons in good
circumstances who might have purchased readily enough the very things
they steal! This increases guilt and makes sin the more heinous, if we
do it in sheer willfulness.

If any of us have been blessed with a tender conscience and with pious
training have heard the sound preaching of the Gospel and have had
light and knowledge–if we go deliberately into sin–there is in that
sin a degree of obnoxiousness to God which is not to be found in the
transgressions of the poor and the ignorant who have lived in darkness
and scarcely know what they do. Yet, sins against light and knowledge
God pardons! Deliberate and presumptuous sins He forgives! Blasphemous,
impudent and provoking sins–sins that would otherwise sink us low as
the lowest Hell–His mighty mercy sweeps away in one single moment when
we believe in Jesus Christ! At the foot of the Cross not merely sins
vanish that are a little stain upon us–but the deep and double crimson
of deliberate guilt and the staring scarlet of gross iniquity–all
disappear when we are washed in the "fountain filled with blood" which
is open for sin and for uncleanness. Abundance of sinners are forgiven
the abundance of sins and the abundance of the sin which lies in each
one of the sins is removed. "He will abundantly pardon." Our text
grows, does it not?

Let us notice, next, that the Lord "abundantly pardons," when we
consider the abundant means of pardon which He has been pleased to
provide for sinners. It was not possible that God should so pardon sin
as to leave a slur upon His moral government! If a judge sitting on the
bench should pass over great crimes without any kind of retribution, it
would be a great misfortune to a country, for very soon crime would be
regarded as a mere trifle. Leniency to the wicked would turn out to be
cruelty to the just. When a man who commits violence in the streets has
the lash used upon him, we may pity him if we like–but if that lash
were not used, we should have a greater need to pity those good and
honest citizens who are half killed when they are seeking their homes
at nightfall!

A judge must never so pass by offenses as to increase them. God will
not show pardon in such a way that men shall think of sin, or question
the vigor of His justice. What, then, was He to do? Why, He must
provide a way by which He could be "just and yet the Justifier of the
ungodly." And He did provide it! His own Son became the Substitute for
the guilty–and in their place He suffered the wrath of God for man–so
that now the severity of God is upheld in the death of Jesus and the
mercy of God in the forgiveness of those for whom He died! That there
is abundant pardon may be

clearly seen from the fact that the Substitute was not an angel–was no
creature of bounded power and merit–but He who came to save us was
none other than God Himself–"very God of very God"!

The fountain filled for us to wash in is not a fountain which can only
cleanse a little and then will be exhausted of its virtues. The Son of
God has filled it from His pierced heart and the merit of the atoning
blood is without limit. There was a limit to the purpose for which it
was shed, for He loved His Church and gave Himselffor it. But it is
blasphemous to imagine that there is any boundary to the merit of the
Atonement, itself. There is in the sacrifice of the Son of God a degree
of power which seraphim cannot conceive! Were all the stars, worlds,
and were they all filled with myriads of inhabitants who had revolted
against God–if an Atonement had been minted for them all–it is not
within my power to conceive that a greater Atonement could be required
for the whole host of creatures than that which Christ presented upon
the Cross! The boundless merit of it, therefore, makes us rejoice–for
our God "will abundantly pardon."

Sinner, if there had been a little Savior, you might have despaired!
Sinner, if the Savior 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 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 you that God, even our God–in Christ
Jesus–"will abundantly pardon." May God send these things home to the
hearts of those who are laboring under a sense of guilt.

And now I must notice, in the sixth place, 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 and says, "I will forgive him under
certain circumstances, if he does this, and if he does that." This is
not abundant pardon. It is a little spirit of forgiveness–ill fact–it
is no forgiveness at all! But look how God puts it. Does He say to a
man, "I will forgive you if you weep for seven years, or do penance for
a lifetime"? Or, "I will forgive you if you bring so much gold or
silver, or promise this or promise that"? No, no, no! It is a hearty
forgiveness and therefore the terms are simple and easy. When I say,
"terms," I merely use the word from lack of a better, for, indeed, the
terms are not terms at all!

"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,
and let him return unto the Lord, for He will have mercy upon him, and
to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." That is all! No man can
expect to be forgiven if he goes on with his sin! You cannot expect God
to pardon that which you continue to provoke Him with! That would be
absurd! The sin must be given up. The Gospel says, "Believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." You cannot expect a medicine to
cure you if you will not take it! Neither can you expect God to pardon
you if you will not accept pardon from His Son, Jesus Christ. So all
that He asks is that you ask and are willing to receive. And even that
He gives you–for the power to pray, to repent and to believe–all come
from Him!

And though He bids men believe, and so makes it a duty, yet He gives
them faith and so makes it a privilege. What a God He is! He gives to
His enemies–to the rebellious, to revolters that go aside more and
more–the Divine Grace which makes them repent of their sin and believe
in His Son! And this puts their sin forever behind His back and casts
it into the depths of the sea. "He will abundantly pardon."

Observe, again, the abundance of this pardon may be seen in the
fullness of it. God's pardons are no shams, no superficialities. "He
will abundantly pardon"–that is to say, He will really pardon! Have
you that are pardoned ever asked yourselves this question, "Is it
really true? Can it be so? Am I really forgiven?" Yes, it is true! God
does not pretend to forgive. He does not play at pardoning. When once
He says, "/ absolve you," He does, indeed, absolve. The forgiveness is
valid! It is valid on earth, in the court of conscience, and above, in
the court of Heaven! The pardoned sinner is truly pardoned and no one
shall ever condemn him! His sin is not merely supposed to be gone, it
is gone. It is not put a little way off from him, but as far as the
east is from the west–so far has He removed our transgressions from
us. "I will cast their iniquities into the depths of the sea," He says.
"I will cast them behind My back," is another of His strong
expressions.

Ah, Soul, if you believe in Jesus, your sins do not exist! For it is
written, "He has finished transgression, and made an end of sin, and
brought in everlasting righteousness." And here is the consequence of
it–that when God puts away sin He so abundantly pardons that He even
imputes righteousness to those who were unrighteous! He does not impute
sin, but He gives to us the righteousness of Christ–with which we are
rendered acceptable in His sight–and Christ Jesus is made unto us
"wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption."

Our Lord does nothing by halves. He found us black in sin. He washes us
white–we are naked and He clothes us.–

"And lest even shadow of a spot Should on our souls be found, He took
the robe the Savior worked, And cast it all around."

For filth there is washing, for nakedness dress, for deformity
adornment, for uncomeliness beauty, for all our possible needs a
boundless supply! Is not this pardon plenteous, when we see what is
bound up with it? I am sure I do not know how to speak well enough of
this glorious pardon which our God gives. But one point is always full
of joy to me–that it is irreversible! Those whom the Lord forgives He
never condemns. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance."
He does not play fast and loose with His creatures–forgive today and
condemn tomorrow. Once let Him blot out the sin, the sin is gone
forever. "If they search for it, it shall not be found; yes, it shall
not be, says the Lord."

How I delight to preach about everlasting salvation and irreversible
pardon! My God and King changes not– therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed and the Covenant blessings are yes and amen in Christ
Jesus! "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." Once
more only. There is so much to say that I am obliged to multiply
particulars.

The eighth point is, He does "abundantly pardon," because of the
abundant blessings which attend that pardon. See how He takes the poor
imprisoned soul out of bondage and delivers it–takes off every chain
from its hands and feet– and makes it rejoice in Christ Jesus! Oh, you
that have once been set in the stocks of conviction on account of sin
and made to cry out in your sore bondage, you now know, since you are
forgiven, what the glorious liberty of the children of God is! You are
not now in "durance vile," but being justified by faith, you have peace
with God through Jesus Christ your Lord! The Lord gives us freedom from
the power as well as from the guilt of sin. Those dear lips of Christ
are put to the wounds of our sin to suck the poison out lest the virus
of our old transgressions should breed a fresh disease. The blessed
dove descends with a healing branch from the Tree of Life, whose leaves
are for the healing of the nations–and our soul is made to seek after
holiness till it perfects it in the fear of God. This is abundant
pardon, indeed!

If a king were to forgive rebels, it would certainly be a great mercy.
But to take those rebels and make them his friends–that is more
abundant mercy. Then to adopt them and make them his children–yes, to
put coronets on their heads and make them kings and priests in his
empire–this were abundant pardon, indeed! To take the rebels and
provide them royal sustenance. To place them at his table. To educate
and train them. To admit them to his palace. To grant their requests,
commune with them and take them into his palace with him–that would be
an abundant pardon! And yet all this God does for sinners! He makes
them His children! He hears their prayers! He gives them fellowship
with Himself and His dear Son!

He employs them in offices of trust! He sets them about bringing their
fellow sinners to Himself and, by-and-by, He takes them home to Heaven
where they shall dwell forever at His right hand in all the bliss and
Glory of His only-begotten Son. Oh, is not this abundantly to pardon?!
I would to God some seraph could descend with burning tongue to take my
place and speak to you, this morning, on such a theme as this! But no,
perhaps I am a better speaker to you in such a case, for–

"Never did angels taste above

Redeeming Grace and dying love." But I have tasted it! This forgiveness
is mine, today, and I rejoice in it! And, as I preach it to you, I
preach that which I know and set before you that which I have enjoyed!
Oh, that others may come and participate in this amazing pardon– this
boundless forgiveness of boundless sin!

II. We shall consider next, very briefly, what are THE INFERENCES WHICH
FLOW OUT OF ABUNDANT

PARDON. The first inference is this–There is no room for anybody to
despair. If there is here, this morning, one who has been a drunk, a
man of filthy and unclean life, a thief or worse, if worse can
be–there is no reason why he should despair! Suppose I were only able
to say this morning, "God does sometimes pardon some few sinners. There
are a few people who have been guilty of great sin who have been
forgiven and are in Heaven"? Why, if men were in their senses they
would find hope even in this and would exclaim, "Who can tell? Who can
tell? Perhaps He will pardon me?" Even on such a slender thread as
that, they would have hope–and if they were wise they would go and
seek mercy.

Jonah could only go through Nineveh and say, "Yet forty days, and
Nineveh shall be overthrown!" Nothing about mercy–not a word of it!
But the people of Nineveh said, "Who can tell? He 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! Oh, poor Sinner! If you had
only a, "Who can tell?" it were worth while to go and try it! But look
at my text–there is no, "Who can tell?" in it! "He will abundantly
pardon." "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts," for it must be heart-work–"and let him turn unto the
Lord"–let him seek His face by repentance and faith, that is the
meaning–"and He will abundantly pardon."

The Lord has great mercy for great sinners! I will set the big bell
ringing and I will let it ring and ring again, "Come and welcome! Come
and welcome! Come and welcome, for the great gates are set wide open!
The tables are long and the oxen and fatlings upon them are plentiful,
and myriads are coming! Come along with you!" The great bell rings out
again, "Come and welcome! Come and welcome! Come and welcome! For He
will abundantly pardon." Would God some soul would hear the
proclamation of this best of news and fly to Christ for pardon this
very day!

Another inference from my subject is this–that there is a loud call to
everyone who has not repented to do so, for who would be so base as to
offend so good, so kind a Lord? I think that ought to touch each man's
heart. Here is one whom you have offended. You think he is very angry
and you feel very angry, too–and therefore you offend again! You count
him an enemy and you keep up the quarrel. You do more mischief to him.
You damage his estate and speak against his reputation. You suppose
that all this while he is preparing to deal a very heavy blow at you
and avenge the injuries he has sustained. So you grow more angry,
still, and hate him more and more.

You chew the cud of malice and you get such bitterness out of it that
you become worse and worse until you find, one day, that you have been
mistaken all along. A friend meets you and says, "Why do you speak so
ill of your neighbor?" "I hate him, abhor him." "What for?" asks the
other. "Do you know that when he hears of all that you do he only says,
'I am very sorry for him. I never did him any hurt and I never will.'
Do you know he has often done you great service? You were in debt and
you would have been in prison, only he called and paid your debts for
you! When you were very ill he sent the physician to you! Although you
never knew that he sent him, it was so, and you were restored. Do you
know that he has been buying an estate for you against the time of your
trouble which is creeping upon you? He has settled it in your name and
entailed it on you–and he means that you shall live in a mansion
forever?"

The man says, "I never thought that–I could not have believed it and I
do not believe it now." "Yet it is true," replies the other. "Does he
know of all that I have done against him?" "Oh yes! He has been behind
the door often and heard you call him all sorts of bad names." "What
did he say, then?" "All he said, was, "Poor soul! He will be sorry for
what he did one of these days, when he knows me better." "Do you mean
to say that is all he said?" "Yes." "But did he not grow red in the
face and threaten a lawsuit, or anything of that kind?" "No–he said he
should win you one of these days, when you came to know him."

Now, I am sure if you had thus treated any one of your fellow
creatures, you would be ashamed of yourself and want to hide your face.
Would you not? If you then received an invitation from the person whom
you had so badly treated and he said, "You need not have any fear to
come. I shall never say a word of upbraiding to you as long as you
live." "Well," you would say, "bad as my nature is, I will go and make
up with him." So I pray God that He may plead with you ungodly ones and
turn you to Himself. What hurt has God ever done you? His Laws–is
there anything wrong in them? Are they hard, harsh, severe? They are
only meant for your good. They are nothing but danger signals, telling
us not to hurt ourselves. Would God we would not persist in going where
we should not. God has prepared for some of you full, unqualified
forgiveness–and He means to bring you to Himself and bless you and
carry you safely to Heaven!

Oh, hold not out against Him, but yield by mighty Grace subdued! Can
you resist its charms? Come, now, and reason with God while He thus
reasons with you. Let your conscience say, "Lord, You are full of
mercy. We come to You. We would be reconciled to You through the death
of Your Son." God grant that the words of the text may have power with
many of you!

Another inference is this. /f there is anybody in this house the text
specially calls this morning, it is the biggest sinner here because
there cannot be abundant pardon where there is not abundant sin. If
anyone here feels that he or she is an abundant sinner, you are the
person this text is meant for! Where are you, dear Soul? Way back there
in the fog? My Master calls you! "He will abundantly pardon." Mary! You
who have been a Magdalene, you are the woman! John, there! You who have
been a persecutor and opposed of the Gospel, you are the man! There is
room for abundant pardon

in you! You that have never cared for God or devil! You who feel your
hearts so hard and stubborn that you think you can never be saved–you
are the very people the text is for–for there is room for abundant
mercy in you!

While my text invites each sinner, it has a special finger with which
to beckon, this morning, to those who have abundant sin–"Come here,
come here, come here! For the Lord will abundantly pardon." Now, for
such a forgiving God as this we ought, in return, to have great love.
If He "abundantly pardons," we ought to be abundantly grateful–

"Love Imust, I've more forgiven–

I'm a miracle of Grace."

You believe God has done much for you–never think you can do too much
for Him! Evil sinners, when they get saved, make the fairest saints! In
proportion as they earnestly rebelled, they often throw the same vigor
into the service of God and become desperately in earnest for that dear
Lord who loved them and gave Himself for them!

But to close, dear Friends. What if that mercy should be slighted? What
if there should be such abundant mercy and it should be rejected? What
if we reject the mercy of God and the blood of His dear Son? Those that
are unwilling to be forgiven doubly deserve to be left to their own
deserts. If God speaks to you with mercy and you will not have Him, you
must not wonder if, by-and-by, He changes His tune. The lamp holds out
to burn and while it burns you may have mercy. But remember it will
soon burn out! The longest life is short and after that there will be
no further mercy, no terms of Divine Grace. The Mercy Seat will be gone
and the Judgment Throne will fill its place!

Oh, if God only gave us five minutes to find mercy in, surely, if we
were not fools, we should avail ourselves of it! But while He has
lingered with some of you for 50 years, and still lingers, do not
provoke Him! But, "today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your
hearts," but turn unto Him. Oh, may the Spirit of God turn you, for
Jesus' sake. Amen.

PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE READ BEFORE SERMON–Isaiah 110-20; 4322-28;
48:1-11
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