Forgiveness Made Easy 9

By Charles H. Spurgeon.

"Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."—Ephesians 4:32.

And since I could not find a word to finish with but this one, I will use it: he hath divinely pardoned us. There is such a truth, reality, and emphasis in the pardon of God as you can never find in the pardon of man; for though a man should forgive all you have done against him, if you have treated him very badly, yet it is more than you could expect that he should quite forget it, but the Lord says, "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more forever."

If a man has lied to you, although you have forgiven him, you are not likely to trust him again. It is an old proverb, "Never ride a broken-kneed horse," and it is not a bad proverb either. But see how the Lord deals with his people. When Peter was set on his legs again he was a broken-kneed horse enough, and yet see how gloriously the Lord rode that charger on the day of Pentecost. Did he not go forth conquering and to conquer?

The Lord lets bygones be bygones so completely that he trusts pardoned souls with his secrets, for "the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him"; and he entrusts some of us with his choicest treasures, for Paul said, "He hath put me in trust with the gospel, though I was a blasphemer." He commits to our keeping that priceless casket which encloses the best hope of men, namely, the gospel of Jesus. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels." This shows how perfect our forgiveness is,—nay, I must put it, how divine is the forgiveness which we have received.

Let us rejoice in that grand promise which comes to us by the mouth of Jeremiah of old, "In those days, and in that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve." Here is annihilation—the only annihilation I know of—the absolute annihilation of sin through the pardon which the Lord gives to his people. Let us sing it as though it were a choice hymn—"The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none."