mercy; now what is mercy’s deed? It is a deed of forgiveness, and in speaking of it, I shall speak first of its being a divine forgiveness — “I, even I, am he.” Divine pardon is the only forgiveness possible; for no one can remit sin but God only, and it does not matter whether a Roman Catholic Priest, or any other priest shall say in the name of God, “I absolve you from your transgressions,” it is abominable blasphemy. If a man has offended me I can forgive him, but if he has offended God I cannot forgive him. The only discharge possible is pardon by God; but then it is the only pardon necessary. Suppose I have so sinned that the king or the queen will not pardon me, that my brethren will not forgive me, and that I cannot pardon myself; if God absolves me, that is all the acquittal that will be necessary for my salvation. Perhaps I stand condemned by the law of my country: I am a murderer and must suffer on the scaffold; the queen refuses to pardon, and perhaps she is right in such a refusal; but I do not want her forgiveness in order to enter heaven; if God acquits me, that will be enough. Were I such a reprobate that all men hissed at me and wished me gone from existence, if I knew that they would never forgive my crime — though I ought to desire my fellow creatures forgiveness — it would not be necessary that I should have it to enter heaven. If God says, I forgive you, that is enough. It is only God that can forgive satisfactorily; because no human pardon can ease the troubled conscience. The self-righteous Pharisee may be content to give himself into the hands of a priest to be rocked to sleep in the cradle of delusion, but the poor convicted sinner wants something more than the arrogant dictum of a priest — ten thousand of them, with all their enchantments, he feels to be all in vain, unless Jehovah himself shall say, “I have blotted out your sins for my own sake.”
12. Again, it is surprising forgiveness; for the text speaks as if God himself were surprised that such sins should be remitted: “I, even, I”; it is so surprising that it is repeated in this way, lest any of us should doubt it. And it is amazing to the poor sinner when first awakened to his sin and danger. It seems to be too good to be true, and he “is amazed to feel his own hardness depart,” the mercy offered is so overwhelming. It is said that Alexander, whenever he attacked a city, put a light before its gate; and if the inhabitants surrendered before the light was burnt out, he spared them; but if the light went out first, he put them all to death. But our Master is more merciful than this; for if he had revealed grace only while a small light would burn, where would we have been? There are some here seventy or eighty years of age, and God has mercy on you still; but there is a light you know which when once quenched, extinguishes all hope of pardon — the light of life. See then, grey headed man, your candle is burnt almost to the socket — it has only the snuff left. Seventy years you have been here living in sin, and yet mercy waits on you; but you shall soon depart, and then there is no hope for you. But surprising grace, mercy’s message is still proclaiming —
For while the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return.
Unutterable mercy! There is no sinner outside of hell so black that God cannot wash him white. There no one outside of the pit who is so guilty that God is not able and willing to forgive him; for he declares the wondrous fact — “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions.”
13. Notice once more, that it is a present forgiveness. It does not say I am he who will blot out your transgressions, but who blots them out now. There are some who believe, or at least seem to imagine, that it is not possible to know whether our sins are forgiven in this life. We may have hope, it is thought, that at last there will be a balance to strike on our side. But this will not satisfy the poor soul who is really seeking pardon, and is anxious to find it; and God has therefore blessedly told us, that he blots out our sin now; that he will do it at any moment the sinner believes. As soon as he trusts in his crucified God, all his sins are forgiven, whether past, present, or to come. Even supposing that he is yet to commit them, they are all pardoned. If I live eighty years after I receive pardon, doubtless I shall fall into many errors, but the one pardon will avail for them as well as for the past. Jesus Christ bore our punishment, and God will never require at my hands the fulfilment of that law which Christ has honoured in my stead; for then there would be injustice in heaven: and that is against God’s character. It is no more possible for a pardoned man to be lost than for Christ to be lost, because Christ is the sinner’s surety. Jehovah will never require my debt to be paid twice. Let no one impute injustice to the God of the whole earth: let no one suppose that he will exact the penalty of one sin twice. If you have been the chief of sinners, you may have the chief of sinner’s forgiveness, and God can bestow it now.
14. I cannot help noticing the completeness of this forgiveness. Suppose you call on your creditor, and say to him, “I have nothing to pay with.” “Well,” he says, “I can issue a distress order against you, and place you in prison and keep you there.” You still reply that you have nothing and he must do what he can. Suppose he should then say, “I will forgive all.” You now stand amazed and say, “Can it be possible that you will forgive me that great debt of a thousand pounds?” He replies, “Yes, I will.” “But how am I to know it?” There is a bond: he takes it and crosses it all out and hands it back to you, and says, “There is a full discharge, I have blotted it all out.” So does the Lord deal with penitents. He has a book in which all your debts are written; but with the blood of Christ he crosses out the handwriting of ordinances which is there written against you. The bond is destroyed, and he will not demand payment for it again. The devil will sometimes insinuate to the contrary, as he did to Martin Luther. “Bring me the catalogue of my sins,” said Luther; and he brought a scroll black and long. “Is that all?” said Luther. “No,” said the devil; and he brought yet another. “And now,” said the heroic saint of God, “write at the foot of the scroll: ‘The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses from all sin.’ ” That is a full discharge.
15. III. Now, very briefly, the third thing — THE REASON FOR MERCY. Some poor sinner says, “Why should God forgive me? I am sure there is no reason why he should, for I have never done anything to deserve his mercy.” Hear what God says, “I am not about to forgive you for your own sake, but for my own sake.” “But, Lord, I shall not be thankful enough.” “I am not about to pardon you because of your gratitude, but for my name’s sake.” “But, Lord, if I am taken into your church I can do very little for your cause in future years, for I have spent my best days in the devil’s service, surely the impure dregs of my life cannot be sweet to you, oh God.” “I will not engage to forgive you for your sake, but for my own. I do not want you,” says God, “I can do as well without you as with you; the cattle upon a thousand hills are mine; and if I pleased I could create a whole race of men for my service, who should be as renowned as the greatest monarchs, or the most eloquent preachers, but I can do as well without them, as with them; and I forgive you therefore for my own sake.” Is there not hope for a guilty sinner here? It cannot be pleaded by any one that his sins are too great to be pardoned, for the amount of guilt is hereby put entirely out of consideration, seeing that God does not forgive on account of the sinner, but for his own sake. Did you ever hear of a physician visiting a man on a sick bed, when the poor man said, “I have nothing to give you for your attention to me.” “But,” says the doctor, “I did not ask for anything; I attend you from pure benevolence; and moreover to prove my skill. It will make no difference to me how long you live, I love to try my skill, and let the world know that I have power to heal diseases. I want to get myself a name.” And so God says, I desire to have a name for mercy; so that the worse you are, the more God is honoured in your salvation. Go then to Christ, poor sinner — naked, filthy, poor, wretched, vile, lost, dead, come as you are, for there is nothing required in you, except the need of him:
This he gives you,
’Tis his Spirit’s rising beam.
“For my own sake,” God says, “I will forgive.”
16. IV. Now to conclude — THE PROMISE OF MERCY. “And will not remember your sins.” There are some things which even God cannot do. Though it is true he is Omnipotent, yet there are some things he cannot do. God cannot lie — he cannot forsake his people — he cannot disown his covenant; and this is one of the things it might be thought he could