Return unto Me
Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art mj servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be fo gotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy traasffressioiu, and, as a cloud, thy sdns: return unto me; for I have redeemed &ee/* — ISA. xUv. 21, 22.
In these words God contrasts the happy condition of his chosen people with that of the poor blind idolaters whom he had been describing in the verses before. Ah! mj friends, to the eye of man, there may be little difference between the children of the wicked one and the children of God; but, to the eye of God, they are as different as the chaff from the wheat — as the lily from the thorn. Of you that are Christless, God says: “He feedeth on ashes” (verse f 20); but to you that are his children: “Remember these, I O Jacob.” May God open our eyes to see wonders out of this Scripture!
I. All that have come to Christ are forgiven: “I have ) blotted out.” — Verse 22. y
1. Observe the completeness of their forgiveness .• “I J have blotted out as a thick cloud.” This complete forgive-! ness is many ways showed forth in the Bible. 1^^, It is compared to the change produced on clothes by washing i or dyeing them: “Though thy sins be as scarlet, yet shafi! they be white as snow” (Isa. i. 18); and again: ‘’Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his blood.” 2c?, Again, to something covered over: “Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” And Jesus says: “Buy of me white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.” Sdf Again, it is compared to something lost. Hezekiah says: ‘’ Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back;” Micah: “Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” But still they may be near at hand? No: “As far as east is distant from the west.** — Ps. ciii. 12. But if God were to seek for them?” In those days, and in that time, shall the iniquity of Israel be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found.” — Jer. 1. 20. 4^A, To something forgotten: ^’ Thy sins and thine iniquities will I remember no more.” “All his transgressions that he hath done, they shall not be mentioned unto him.” 5th To something blotted out. Although they be washed, covered, lost, forgotten, yet they will still remain in God’s record — yes, they will; but how? — Blotted out.
Any of you that believe in Jesus, do you take the Son of God as your Surety? Take this word to yourself. See what the page will be like on which thy sins are written. It will be one great blot — one thick cloud. When you look on the clouds, can you read anything written there? — no more can God read any of thy sins, O believer in Jesus.
2. Observe it is present forgiveness. It is not, I will blot out; but, “I have blotted out” Some say: I hope God will forgive me. Ah! my friends, you greatly mistake the Bible: a present forgiveness is offered to you. The moment a soul closes with Christ, that moment is this word true of him: “I have blotted out.” “There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”
Ques. Has God blotted out your sins? lst Most say, I don’t know; I never inquired. Oh! sinner, if you never inquired, then I will answer for you — There is not one of them blotted out. Every evil thought, and word, and deed you have done, is written against you — you will meet them all another day. A deceived heart hadi turned thee aside, and thou dost not know that there is a lie in thy right hand. 2f/, Some say, It is impossible to tell — I never saw the book of God’s remembrance; how can I tell? True, yon never saw the book of God’s remembrance, and yet the is another book; and if you would search it much, and believe the word concerning Jesus, you would come to know that you are forgiven. Oh, yes! it is quite possible. David tasted it, and thousands since David have blessed Cted for forgiving all their iniquities. The woman that touched the hem of Christ’s garment felt in herself that she was made whole. She was no physician, and yet she knew that she was welL When a man has a burden on his back, if you lift it off, he knows it at once; so does the heavy laden soul that comes to Jesus — he finds rest.
3. Observe who blots: “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions.” — Isa. xliii. 25. Ist, Some try to blot out their own sins: I will be grieyed, and sorry for my sins, says one. I will blot them out with tears — I will piay to God, and cover my past sins with my earnest prayeis, says another. I will mend my life, and cover my naked soul with good deeds, says another. But no; this is all vain — God alone can blot out. Either he will do it, or it will not be done: ^’ I, even I, am he.” 2d Some hope that Christ will blot out their sins, unknown to the Father. They think that Christ is very willing to be a Saviour, but not so the Father. But no; Christ and the Father are one. If you come to Christ, God himself will do it, and will tell you: “I have done it”
Speak to unforgiven souls: Unhappy man! You have many pleasures and many friends; but one thing you want — the forgiveness of sins. Do you think you would not be happier, lighter in heart, if you were forgiven? Oh! how miserable are all your daily employments and pleasures, when you know that hell is opening its mouth for you. God has never blotted out your sins; yet you might be forgiven: ‘^ Unto you, 0 men, I call; and my words are to the sons of men.” Come to Christ, and God will abundantly pardon.
II. All that have come to ChHst are GocTs servants. “Thou art my servant — thou art my servant.** Two reasons are given: 1. “I have redeemed thee;” 2. “I have formed thee.” 1^^, Because redeemed. When a man consents that Christ shall be his Surety, he feels that he is not his own, but bought with a price. So David felt: “Truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.” So Paul felt, when he lay gasping on the ground: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Before conversion, the unconverted thinks that he is his own: May I not do what I will with mine own? He was the willing slave of the devil. But when he sees the price laid down for him, he feels that the Lord has redeemed him out of the house of bondage. Now he says: I am the Lord’s. Now he is more the servant of the Lord than ever he was of the devil. Oh! dear Christians, would that I could see more of this among you — a devoting of yourselves unto the Lord; “for thou art my servant — thou art my servant.” 2d, Because formed by God: ^’I made thee, and formed thee from the womb. — Isa. xliv. 2. The whole work of grace is the Lord’s doing, and wondrous in our eyes. Paul says: ‘^ It pleased the Lord, who separated me from my mother’s
>, to rereal his Son in me;’’ and God to Jeremiah: ore I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and i thou earnest odt of the womb, I sanctified thee.” marks his own from their mother’s womb. When :s, God treasures up every prayer for them. Every sr s tears he puts into his bottle — her sighs into his In boyhood, he preserves their souls from death — them times of awakening — fixes words in their )ry: ^’I girded thee, though thou hast not known When his time comes, he guides them to some r ministry; or, by some sore tnal, awakens, leads to t — draws, wins, comforts, builds the soul. He is a ul Creator. “Sing, 0 heavens! for the Lord hath it.” That soul becomes a servant indeed, ne of you know that God has formed you. You can his hand, guiding you ever since you were born — ig you when you did not know him — in the mother ?restled for you — in dear ones that prayed for you, n their lonely grave — in the ministers that you nave brought to — in the texts they have been guided to. the Lord’s servant! — let him bore thine ear. Bear in pody the marks of the Lord Jesus.
. Souls in Chinst shall not he forgotten of God: “Thou act be forgotten of me.” The children of God often
their God has forgotten them. Often, when they to sin and darkness, they feel cut off from God — as
mercies were clean gone for ever. But learn here Sod never forgets the soul that is in Christ Jesus. So it was with Moses in the land of Midian. For rears he thought God had forgotten his people. He ired about as a shepherd in the wilderness for forty sad and desolate. But had God really forgotten his !? No; he appeared in a flaming fire in a bush, id:” I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my !, and I have heard their groaning, and am come
to deliver them; for / know their sorrows” God I thy sorrows, O soul in Christ. 2. So it was with, in Ps. lxxvii., xiii., and xxxi. 3. So it was vnth iah, when God told him he must die. Hezekiah sore: “Like a crane or a swallow so did I chatter; Qoum as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: d, I am oppressed; undertake for me.” — Isa. xxxviii. Md God forget him 1 No; Ood said this word toliim*.
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‘^ I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: I will add unto thy days fifteen years.” God never forgets the soul in Christ. 4. So shall it he with Gtpd’s ancient people: ^’ Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hatk forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.” — Isa. xlix. 14, 15. 5. So it is in the words of the text: ^’ Thou shalt not he forgotten of me.” The world may forget thee — ^thj fi friends, thy father, thy mother, may forsake thee; yet ‘^ thoa shalt not he forgotten of me,”
A word to souls in Christ. The Lord cannot forget you. If you stood before God in your own righteousness, then I see how you might he separated from his lore and care; for your frames vary — your goodness is like the morning cloud and early dew. But you stand before him in Christ: and Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. You shall he held in everlasting rememhiance. The world may forget you — your friends may forget you, for this is a forgetting world — you may not have a tomb* stone over your grave; but God will not forget yoa — Christ will put your name beside that of his raithM martyr, Antipas. In life, in death, in eternity, thou ^’ shalt not be forgotten of me.”
IV. A redeemed soul should return unto God: “Return unto me.” The sin and misery of every natural soul is in going away from God. Adam hid himself from the presence of God. So Isaiah complains: They have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger: they are gone away backward*’ And God says: “What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from mer ^’ Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without, number.’’ But when a soul has come to Christ, there is no more reason why he should return unto God. “Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee.” “Through Jesus, we both have access by one Spirit imto the Father.” “I am the way; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Dear brethren in Christ, let me entreat you to return unto the Father.
1. Come into the arms of his love. When God has redeemed a soul, he wants to have him in his arms — he wants to fall upon his neck and kiss him. See how he tries to win the soul! — tells all that he has done for him — all that he will io; and adds: ‘^ Return unto me; for I have redeemed ^hee.** Oh! why are je fearful, ye of little faith? Why lo you hang hack, and will not venture near to God? IVliy do you not run to him? Some say: I am afiraid of yoBt sins. Oh! hut hear his word: ‘^ I have hlotted out. itetum unto me, for I have redeemed thee.” Some say: [ am afraid he cannot wish such a sinful, weak thing a I beside him. Oh! foolish, and slow of heart to beheye lis own word. Does he not speak plain enough and kind mough? ^’ Return unto me, for I have redeemed thee.”
2. Come into communion with him; daily walk with lim.. Enoch walked with God. Once Adam walked with jKmI in paradise, as easily, Herbert says, ‘’as you may mdk from one room to another.” He talked with him MPeeniTng his judgments. Oh! come unto thy Grod, reieeraed, &rgiyen souL Acquaint thyself with God, and l)e at peace. Come to him; do not rest short of him. Yen think it a great thing to know a liyely Christian 3I1! how infinitdy better to know God. It is your infinite !>leaKdne88. You will get more knowledge in one hour mA. Gbod, than in all your life spent with man. You will more holiness from immedSate conversing with God, han frtpm all other means of grace put together. Indeed, means are empty vanity, unless you come to God in Jiem. ‘’ Return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.” ‘6. To the backslider. Guilty soul, you have been widiin the veil; you know the peace that Jesus gives — you know Jie Joj of the smile of God. Bat you have leftk all this, and fone away badcward. Guilty soul, you have done worse huk the vrnM. Worldly men never served Christ as you wewe done. They have spit on him, and buffeted him, and SBcified him; but you have wounded him in the house of m friends: ‘’ It was not an enemy that reproadied me, faen I could have borne it; but thouf my friend and mine icquaintanoe.” Guilty soul, what says God unto thee? — ‘Dart, thou cursed?” No; ‘’ Return unto me; for I have adeemed thee.” Return, O backsliding daughter; for I tm married. unto you.” Return, sinner, thy God calleth faec’ the God that chose thee — 4he Saviour that died for bee — 4he Comforter that renewed thee. Return unto me; or I have redeemed thee.”
JSt Peter’s, July 8, 1838.
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