Forgiveness and Fear
“There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest he feared.” — Psalm cxxx. 4.
THIS is good news; indeed, the best of news; and they will prize it most who are like the psalmist was when he wrote these words. And who are they? First, they are those who are in soul-trouble: “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.” Some of you may, perhaps, think this subject is a very commonplace one, but the soul that is in deep spiritual trouble will not think so. Bread is a very commonplace thing, but it is very precious to starving men. Liberty is an everyday enjoyment to us, but it would be a great boon to those who are in slavery. O you, who are in the depths of soul-trouble, like shipwrecked mariners who seem to be sinking in the trough of the sea, or being dragged down by a whirlpool, this text will bring sweet music to your ears! “There is forgiveness;” there is forgiveness with God.
This good news will also have a peculiar sweetness to those who have begun to pray. Read the second verse: “Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.” Prayer makes men value spiritual blessings. They are asking for them; they arc sincerely seeking them; they are knocking loudly at mercy’s gate in order to obtain them; and they who are in earnest in their prayers prove that they value the blessing they are seeking, and they are delighted to hear that they are likely to secure it. Oh, that it might be said, for the first time, of someone here. “Behold, he prayeth.” I am sure that such an one will be right glad to listen to even the simplest language that tells out these glad tidings: “There is forgiveness with God.”
And if, to soul-trouble and earnest prayer, there should be added a very deep sense of sin, amounting even to utter self-condemnation, then I am quite certain that there is no carol that will have sweeter music in it than my text has. Read the third verse, and see if you can truly repeat it: “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” Do you feel that your iniquities condemn you? Are you compelled to plead guilty before God? Well, then, though you cannot claim acquittal on the ground that you have no sins, yet here is the blessed information that there is forgiveness for sinners. Stand in the dock, where the guilty ought to stand; and let the Judge condemn you. Nay, spare him the trouble, condemn yourself; and, when you have done so, and have also trusted the great atonement made by his dear Son, he will say to you, “There is forgiveness; be of good cheer: thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee.” I do not expect to say anything to delight deaf ears; but I do believe that the simple tidings I have to tell will have great weight with those who are in soul-trouble, with those who have begun to pray, and those who are self-condemned on account of sin.
I am going to take the text thus. First, here is a most cheering announcement: “There is forgiveness with thee.” Secondly, here is a most admirable design: “That thou mayest be feared.”
I. First, here is A MOST CHEERING ANNOUNCEMENT: “There is forgiveness with thee.”
This announcement has great force and value, because it is most certainly true. When a man hears some news which pleases him, he loses that pleasure if he has reason to suspect that it is not true. The first questions you ask, when someone tells you of some good fortune that concerns you, are of this sort, “Are you quite sure it is so? Can you give me good authority for your assertion?”
Well, this news is certainly true, for it is consistent with God’s very nature. He is a gracious God. “He delighteth in mercy.” Mercy was the last of his attributes that he was able to reveal. He could be great and good when the world was made, but he could not be merciful until sin had marred his perfect handiwork. There must be an offence committed before there can be mercy displayed towards the offender. Mercy, then, I may say, is God’s Benjamin, — his last-born, his favoured one, the son of his right hand. I never read that he delighteth in power, or that he delighteth in justice; but I do read, “He delighteth in mercy.” It is the attribute that is sweetest to himself to exercise. When he goes forth to punish, as he must, his feet are, as it were, shod With iron; but when he comes to manifest his mercy, he rideth, as David says, “upon the wings of the wind.” He delighteth to be gracious; therefore, I feel sure that there is forgiveness with him.
We are even more sure that it is so when we remember that God has given us the best pledge of forgiveness by giving us his dear Son. He could not be merciful at the expense of his justice, for his throne is established in righteousness; and that righteousness requires that he should by no means spare the guilty. How, then, could he display his grace and mercy, and yet be the just God? He did it thus. The offended One took the nature and the place of the offenders; and here, on this earth, Jesus of Nazareth, who was “very God of very God,” suffered all that we had brought upon ourselves, that the law might be honoured by executing its full penalty, and yet that the free grace and mighty mercy of God might be equally manifest. If any of you doubt whether there is forgiveness with God, I pray you to stand on Calvary, in imagination, and to look into the wounds of Jesus, gaze upon his nailpierced hands and feet, his thorn-crowned brow, and look right into his heart, where the soldier’s spear was thrust, and blood and water flowed out, for the double cleansing of all who trust him. O Christ of God, it could not be that thou shouldst die, and yet that sinners cannot be forgiven! It would be a monstrous thing that thou shouldst have bled to death, and yet that no sinner should be saved by that death. It cannot be; there must be forgiveness, there is forgiveness, since Jesus died, “the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.”
Moreover, we have God’s promise of forgiveness, as well as the gift of his Son. His Word says, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” It is declared, by the apostle John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth from all sin. Many other passages in the Bible teach the same glorious truth: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy trangressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me, for I have redeemed thee.” Time would fail me to mention all the Lord’s promises of forgiveness — they are so many. And remember that it is the God, who cannot lie, who has given the promises, so you may be sure that they are all true, and that there is forgiveness with him.
We are certain, also, that there is forgiveness, because there is a gospel, and the very essence of the gospel lies in the proclamation of the pardon of sin. The Lord Jesus said to his disciples, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;” but no one can be saved without sin being pardoned; therefore, there is pardon for the sin of everyone who believes and is baptized according to the gospel command. Christ’s ministers may all go home, for their office is useless, if there be no forgiveness of sins. We may shut up all our houses of prayer, for it is a mockery to God and man to keep them open if there be no forgiveness of sins. We may abolish the mercy-seat itself, and burn this blessed Bible, if there be no forgiveness of sins. What value can there be in the means of grace — what can be the use or signification of any gospel at all — if sin be not pardonable? But it can be pardoned; there is forgiveness. If you want evidence in confirmation of that declaration, there are hundreds of us who are prepared to prove that we have been forgiven, and there are hundreds of thousands, now alive, who know that their sins have been pardoned, and that they have been absolved from all their guilt for Christ’s sake; and there are millions, beyond all count, before yon burning throne of God, who continually praise him who loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood. I bear my own personal testimony that I know there is forgiveness, for I have been forgiven. If it were the proper time to do so, I would ask all here, who know that their sins have been forgiven, to stand up. If I did so, some of you would be astonished to see how great an army of men and women, in this Tabernacle, would declare that they also have been saved by grace, and that they have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Unless we are all deceived, — and we are not, for we have the witness of the Spirit of God within us that we are not; — and unless all, who have fallen asleep in Christ, have perished, there is forgiveness with God. This fact should make us very joyous, because it is so certain. There is no need to dispute it; I hope none of you will do so. If any of you doubt it, I beg you to come and test it and try it for yourselves, and, with the blessing of God, you will say with the psalmist, “There is forgiveness.”
This fact gathers additional sweetness from another source, namely, that the declaration is in the present tense: “There is forgiveness.” When? Now, — at this moment, — there is forgiveness. Possibly, you are eighty years of age; but there is forgiveness. Or you may be very young, — a little boy or girl, but there is forgiveness for the young as well as for the old. You tell me that you have already rejected many invitations; yes, but there is forgiveness. It is to be had now, blessed be God, for “behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Believe thou now in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, and thou hast forgiveness now, — in a moment. It takes no appreciable period of time for God to forgive sin. Swifter than the lightning-flash is the glance from the eye of God that conveys peace and pardon to the soul that trusts in Jesus. You would need time to get a pardon signed and sealed by an earthly monarch; but time is out of the question with the God of everlasting love. A sigh, a groan, a genuine confession of sin, a believing glance of the eye to Christ on Calvary, — and all is done, thy sin has passed away, there is forgiveness, and thou hast received it. Therefore, go and rejoice in it.
You must not forget to notice, however, that this is a fact which refers to God himself: “There is forgiveness with thee” — and with nobody else. I charge you to spurn, with the utmost indignation, the so-called “absolution” by a so-called “priest”, whether of the Church of England or the Church of Rome. Such absolution as that is not worth the foul breath that utters it. I marvel, sometimes, how any man can ever, apparently, delude himself, and try to deceive his sinful fellow-creature, by daring to say, “I forgive thee thy sins.” I suppose it is use and habit that makes men do strange things, at which an unsophisticated conscience shudders; but, to me, the blasphemer’s coarse oath, that makes my blood curdle as I go down the street, has not half the iniquity in it of the man, who deliberately puts on certain specified vestments, claims to be a priest of the Most High God, and then says to a sinner like himself, “I absolve thee.” I think the time has come when all Christians ought, in every way they can, to shake themselves from this abominable priestcraft and sacerdotalism altogether. The very dress we wear, the very position we occupy in the congregation, should be a protest against this wickedness in the sight of God; — for wickedness it is, of the most extreme kind, though I believe the perpetrators of it do not always know what they do, so we may pray, “Father, forgive them, and open their blind eyes.” Go you, sinner, straight to God for pardon, through Jesus Christ; but never, never, go to man. As to confessing your sins to a man, — pouring the dirty sewage of your filthy nature into another man’s car, and making that ear the common cesspool of the parish, — oh, that is intolerable even to ordinary decency, — and much more to the purity which the grace of God suggests. Go you to Jesus, the ono Mediator between God and men; go you, and kiss his pierced hands and feet, and confess your sin to him who made the propitiation for it; but go nowhere else, I charge you, at your soul’s peril, — lest, like Judas, who first went and confessed to a priest, and afterwards went out, and hanged himself, you should be driven to despair, and a similar awful suicide. O God, as “there is forgiveness with thee,” deliver thy poor fallen creatures from the further dreadful degradation of bowing themselves down before sinners like themselves, confessing their sins, and seeking pardon where it cannot be found. There is forgiveness, but that forgiveness is only to be obtained from God, through Jesus Christ, his Son.
Notice, next, in the text, the unlimited character of this forgiveness: “There is forgiveness with thee.” You see, there is no word to limit it; it does not say that there is forgiveness only for a certain number; there is no such restriction as that. Nor does it say that there is forgiveness only for a certain sort of sin; there is no such limit as that. Nor is it said, “There is forgiveness up to a certain point, or forgiveness up to a certain date.” No, but the declaration, “there is forgiveness with thee,” stands out in all its glorious fulness and simplicity, with no abridging or qualifying words whatsoever. Do not thou, poor sinner, put a limit where God puts none; but build thy hope of pardon and salvation on this declaration, and go thou to God, through Jesus Christ, and thou shalt find that there is forgiveness for thee, — even for thee, at this very hour. I pray that thou mayest prove it to be so.
Let me also add that the forgiveness, which God gives to a sinner, is complete. He blots out all sin. It is also sincere; he really does forgive when lie says that he does. It is lasting, too. God does not forgive us to-day, and accuse us again to-morrow. Nay, let me give you a better word than lasting; God’s forgiveness is everlasting. He, who is once forgiven, is forgiven to all eternity. Forgiveness is one of the gifts of God that are without repentance; he never gives it, and then repents that he has done so. If thou dost get forgiveness from God, thou hast the first link in an endless chain of mercies. Thou shalt become God’s child, — his beloved. He will teach thee, care for thee, keep thee, sanctify thee, bless thee, perfect thee, and, in due time, bring thee to heaven. Oh, the heap of blessednesses which lie in this one gracious gift of God, — the forgiveness of sins! I wish that, by any power of mine, I could induce all of you to seek this forgiveness. Nay, I retract that expression; I do not wish that any power of mine should do it, lest I should have the honour of it; but I do pray that God’s power may do it for all of you, — that you may be made conscious of sin, and believe in Jesus Christ, and so find that perfect pardon which God is waiting and willing to give to all who trust his Son.
II. Now I pass on to the second part of our subject, which is A MOST ADMIRABLE DESIGN: “There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” How does forgiveness cause men to fear God?
First, it is clear that God’s design in proclaiming forgiveness is the opposite of what some men have said and thought. We have known many, who have said, “There is forgiveness, so let us keep on sinning.” Others, not quite so base, have said, “There is forgiveness, so we can have it whenever we please.” Holding this idea, they have trifled with sin, and they have delayed to seek forgiveness, drawing — oh, I am ashamed to say it of my fellow-men! — drawing the infamous inference that, as God is merciful, they may live in sin as long as they like, and then find mercy at the last. I would like any man, who has adopted that strangely cruel and wicked way of dealing with God’s mercy, to look straight at it for a minute. I do think that, if I had a friend whom I had grieved, and I knew that he was ready to forgive me, I should not, therefore, put off the reconciliation, and so grieve him still more; I should be very base indeed if I did act like that. Or if I were a child, and I had vexed my father, but he was very gentle and forgiving, I think that, if I were to say, “It does not matter much; father will forgive me whenever I ask him, I shall not ask him for months, or perhaps years;” — if I did talk so, it would be very base on my part. I ask you, brothers and sisters, not to talk so, and not to act so. It is not fair and just treatment of our gracious God; it is not worthy even of man. Why, if even a beast is treated kindly, it will scarcely return a kick for kindness. Some perverse animals will do that, but most will generally at length yield to kindness; and the longsuffering of God ought much more to lead you to repentance, and not induce you to continue in your sins.
This design of God is quite contrary to what some other men have said would naturally arise out of the doctrine of free and full forgiveness. So-called “priests ” have said, “If men can have pardon by simply believing in Jesus, they will cast off all restraint; so, let us keep them under our thumb, — tell them that there are certain ‘sacraments’ that they must attend, and that they must look up to us, and then we will get them into purgatory; and then, when sufficient money is paid to us, we will get them out.” But pardon, — free pardon, perfect pardon, pardon given on the spot to simple faith, — they tell us that this would tend to demoralize people. Well, that is a subject on which they can speak; for nobody has demoralized people more than so-called “priests” have done; but it is evident that God does not agree with them. It is written here, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest he feared
In the first place, if there were no pardon, it is quite certain that nobody would fear God at all. There is no forgiveness for the devil and all his legions, and there is not a devil that has any reverence or love or adoration for God. No, they abide in sullen despair. They know that there is no hope for them; and, being shut up to despair, because their sin is unpardonable, they rage and rave against the God of heaven. You never read of a devil on his knees in prayer. Whoever heard of a devil saying, “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications”? And why do not the devils pray like that? Why, because, among other reasons, there is no forgiveness for devils; and, therefore, none of the right kind of fear of God. They tremble, I grant you. They have a certain sort of dread; and, without pardon, there may be a dread and horror of God; but that is not what our text means, for the fear of God, in Scripture, does not signify dread; it signifies true religion, holy reverence and awe: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;” and, unless there is pardon of sin, it is clear that its absence drives the sinners to despair, and prevents them from worshipping God. Again, if there were no pardon, there would be nobody to fear God; for, brethren, if God had not had mercy upon us, he would long ago have swept us away. It is mercy — even if it be not pardoning mercy, it is mercy — which permits us still to live. If God had no pardon for any of the whole human race, there would be no necessity for reprieving men at all, the tree of humanity would long since have been cut down as a cumberer of the ground. Now turn to the positive side of this subject. When the gospel is faithfully preached, and attentively heard, the very hearing of it, under the blessing of the Holy Spirit, breeds faith in the soul; for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” But, brethren, suppose we had no pardon to preach, would there be any faith then? Could there be any faith then? Have you ever heard of a man who believed in an unpardoning god? Did anybody ever yet hear of a sinner believing in a god who manifests no mercy, and bestows no forgiveness? Only the heathen trust to such gods, which are no gods. The very fact that pardon is proclaimed, and carried to the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, produces faith in the soul; and faith is the root and foundation of all true fear of God. After faith, comes repentance; or, rather, repentance is faith’s twin-brother, and is born at the same time. Nobody ever repented until he heard of pardon. Let a man be certain that he cannot be pardoned, and you may be quite sure that he will not repent. He may feel remorse; he may regret and lament his sin because of the penalty which follows it; but that gentle softening of the soul, winch makes us hate sin because it is committed against such a good and gracious God, is not possible until, first of all, the heart has believed that there is forgiveness with God. Evangelical repentance is one of the fruits of the gospel of forgiveness, and no other tree can produce it. So, you see, beloved, that, because there is forgiveness, men exercise faith, and they also experience repentance; and these two graces are a very large part of what is meant by the Scriptural term, “the fear of the Lord.” It is also the good news of pardon that inclines the heart to prayer. You would never have heard of a man praying for mercy if there had been no mercy to be obtained. If Jesus had never died, and the gospel had never been sent into the world; if there had been no proclamation of pardon, it would never have been said of Saul of Tarsus, “Behold, he prayeth.” No; prayer arises in the soul as a result of the telling of the glad tidings that pardon is to be had; and prayer, like faith and repentance, is a large part of “the fear of the Lord.” The man, who truly prays, is certainly one who fears God. When a man really receives the pardon of all his sins, he is the man who fears the Lord. This is clearly the case, for pardon breeds love in the soul; and the more a man is forgiven, the more he loves. Where great sin has been blotted out, there comes to be great love. Well, is not love the very core of the true fear of God? If a man really loves God, has he not discovered the very essence of true religion? But how could he love God if there was no pardon to be had? Pardon also breeds obedience. A man says, “Have I been forgiven? Then I will seek to avoid all sin in the future. Out of love to God, I will labour to do that which he bids me do.” And, surely, obedience is a very large part of the fear of God. And, oftentimes, this forgiving love of God breeds in the soul deep devotion and intense consecration to him. There have lived, and there are living now, men and women, who have given their whole selves to Jesus, many of whom are labouring for him even beyond their strength; ay, and many such men and women have died, for his sake, the most cruel deaths, without shrinking back, or seeking to escape that terrible cross. Whence came such a fear of God as that? Why, it could never have come into their hearts if they had not received the forgiveness of their sins for Christ’s sake; but, having been forgiven, they came to love and fear — not with a servile fear, but with a holy awe, — the blessed One through whose precious blood they had been cleansed. Thus, forgiveness of sin is essential to true fear of God; and wherever it is enjoyed, it is the main motive which moves them to fear God, and brings them into that blessed condition. Is not that clear to all of you? I finish my discourse by asking and trying to answer this question, — As there is forgiveness to be had, why should not YOU have it? I may not be able to point “you” out, though, often, God does direct my finger, or eye, or word, to the very person for whom there is forgiveness. So I ask again, — As there is forgiveness to be had, why should not you have it? Young man, under the gallery, why should not you have it? Young woman, down in the area, why should not you have it? Suppose you should never get it? Suppose you should die without being forgiven? Oh, that would greatly aggravate all the ordinary pains of death! If you die unpardoned, your doom will be the more terrible because there is forgiveness with God, yet it avails not for you. One of my predecessors, Dr. Rippon, had considerable influence with the government of his day. Those were what some foolish people call “the good old days,” when they used to hang people on a Monday morning, as a regular thing, and take little notice of it. It so happened that one, who was related to a former member of this church, was condemned to die. It was believed that he was innocent, so there was much intercession offered on his behalf to the government, and a pardon was granted and signed by King George III. Very providentially, it happened that one of the members of the church, going to the prison, said to the governor, “I hear that you have eight prisoners to hang to-morrow.” He answered, “I have nine for to-morrow.” “No,” said the other, “there were nine, but one of them has been pardoned.” “I know nothing about that,” said the governor, “I have received no pardon; and, unless I do receive one, I shall hang him to-morrow morning.” The news came to Dr. Rippon, and he took the postchaise, — in those times, that was the only way of travelling, — and rode down to Windsor. He went to the castle, and, by dint of that modesty, which is always becoming in a minister of the gospel, if it is not carried too far, he pushed himself in, and demanded to see the king. He managed at last to get to the ante-room, next to the one where his Majesty was sleeping. Hearing a noise, the king asked, “What is that?” His attendant answered, “Here is a Dr. Rippon, who says he must see your Majesty.” “Show him in, then,” said he; and he saw the king in bed, and said to him, “Your Majesty gave a pardon to such-and-such a man.” “Yes, I know I did.” “But they have not got it at the prison, and the man is going to be hanged in the morning if I do not get back to London in time.” So the king posted the good doctor back with another pardon, and the man was saved. Suppose he had been hanged, what would his parents have said? Well, they might have said, “There was forgiveness, yet he was hanged.” I think that would have been the bitterest ingredient in their grief, — that they had obtained forgiveness for him, and yet, after all, that he was hanged. Happily, it was not so; but, sirs, as there is pardon to be had, if you will not ask for it, — as there is pardon to be had by confessing your sin, and believing in Jesus, yet you will not seek it; — why, then, when you are lost, you will say to yourself, “Oh, what a fool I was! There was forgiveness, but I neglected to seek it. There was forgiveness, but I did not realize that I needed it; so I have perished by my own folly.” I charge you, men and women, to remember that, if you are lost, your doom will be far more terrible than that of those who have never heard the gospel, because you have had the way of salvation plainly set before you, and I have again exhorted you, as best I can, to walk in it. Oh, how I wish I could exhort you with more earnestness, and in more persuasive words; but perhaps, even then, there would be an equal failure! I do implore you, do not put from you eternal life; do not refuse the pardon that the Lord Jesus Christ presents to all who trust him. Trust him, I pray you, trust him now; and the pardon shall be yours. “But,” says someone, “I am afraid of what I may do in the future. If I were forgiven now, I am afraid I should again act just as I have done before.” Well, then, take the text as a whole: “There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” If you receive the forgiveness of God, you will have the fear of God put into your heart at the same time, for this is a part of the ancient covenant: “I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.” “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” Poor sinner, here is a wonder of grace for you, — the past forgiven, and the future guaranteed by a wondrous miracle of mercy wrought within your heart, making you a new creature in Christ Jesus. Blessed Spirit, apply this message to the Lord’s own chosen ones, and save many precious souls through it, for the Redeemer’s sake! Amen.