Pardon and Justification

“Bleesed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin ia colored

PHALM Yvvii. 1.

Few men judge things aright. Most people measure by appearances; few know the test of reality. We pronounce the man blessed who grasps the scepter or wears the crown; whereas, perhaps, no peasant in his dominions enjoys less happiness than he does. We pronounce that man blessed who has unmterrupted and perpetual health; but we know not the secret gnawings of the heart, devoured by its own anguish, and embittered by a sorrow that a stranger can not pei-ceive. We call the wise man happy, because he understandeth all things, from the hyssop on the wall to the cedar of Lebanon; but he saith, “Of raaldng many books there is no end,” and “much study is a weariness of the flesh.” We are all for pronouncing our neighbor’s lot happier than our own. Aa Young says of mortality, “All men think all men mortal but themselves,” we are apt to think all men happy but ourselves. But oh! if we could see things as they are — if we were not deceived by the masquerade of this poor life — if we were not so easily taken in by the maskh and dresses of those who act in this great drama, be it comedy or tragedy — if we could but see what the men are behind the scenes, penetrate their hearts, watch the inner motious, and discern their secret feelings, we should find but few who could bear the name of “blessed;” indeed, there are none except those who come under the description of my text, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” He is blessed, thrice blessed, blessed for evermore, blessed of heaven, blessed of eart blessed for time, blessed for eternity. The man

PAKOOX AN’D .lUSTIFrCATTON. 59

whose sin is not forgiven is not blessed, — the mouth of Je-I’ovah h;ul siiid it, ;iii(l God sliull manifest that — cursed is every man whoso transgression is not forgiven, whose sin is not covei-ed.

Dearly beloved, we come to the consideration of that most excellent and choice blessing of God, which bespeaks oiu” j’ardon and justification; and we trust that we shall be able to «how you its extreme value.

And first, the blessedness of the person enjoying this mercy will appear, if we consider the exceeding value of it in its nature and its cliaiacteristics. Then if we notice the things that accompany it, an.d afterwards, if we muse u])0ii the stite of heart which a sense of forgiveness would engendei”, we shall see that indeed a man mast be blessed whose sin is covered, and whose transgression is taken away. Let us fiist look at the blessing as it is. It is an, ^uipurchaseahle blessing. No one could purchase the pardon (pf his sin. What though we should each ofll-r a hecatomb to our God? the sacrifice would smoke in vain, for Lebanon is not sutlicient to burn, nor the beasts thereof for a burnt oflering. If we could make rivers of oil wide as the Amazon and long as the Mississipj)!, we could not ofier them to God as an acceptable present, for he would be careless of its value. We might bring money in vain, for he saith the “Silver and gold are mine;” no oblation can add to his wealth, fur he saith “Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. If I were iumgry, I would not tell thee, for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.” These are God’s own creatures; we could but ofier to him what he did create. Nothing man can prcjsent by way of sacrifice can ever puichase the blessing.

Then consider, the utter dijficnlt>/ of procuring the blessing in any way. Since it is not to be purchased, how can it be procured? Here is a man to-night who has sinned against God, and he makes the infjuiry, “How can I be ])ardoned? llow can I be forgiven?” The first thought wJilch starts up in his mind is this, “I will seek to amend my ways; in the virtue o, the future I will endeavor to atone for the follies of the p’ist, and I trust a mercifui God will be disposed to forgive my sins, and spare my guilty but penitent soul.” He then turns to Scripture to see if his hopes are warruutG*.!, ami he reads thei-e, “By the works of the law shall no tiesh living be justified.” “They sought salvation, not by faith, but by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone; as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling-stone and rock of olieiice.’ He fancies that if he should reibrm and iniend his life, he will be accepted, but there comes from the throne of God a voice which says, “The soul that ginneth, it shall die.” “Having sinned, O man,” says God, “I must inflict punishment for thy sin.” God is so inflexibly just that he has never forgiven and never will forgive the sinner without having exacted the punisiiinent for his sin. He is so strictly true to his threatenings, and so unutterably severe in his justice, that his Holy Law never relaxes its hold upon the sinner till the penalty is paid, and vengeance has exacted its utmost farthing. “Well,” says the sinner, “I can not redeem the past: what must I do? If I am.end for the futui-e, there is the dark catalogue of past oftences still pursuing me. Even if I run up no other debts, there are the old accounts. How can I get them paid? How can I get jKist sins forgiven? How can I find my way to heaven?” Then he thniks, “I will seek to humble myself before God; I will cry and lament, and 1 ho])e, by deep penitence and heartfelt contrition, and by perpetual floods of tears, God may be induced to pardon mu.” O man! Though thy tears drop on the black list of thy sins one by one, they will not blot out a single sin. Those sms are engraved in brass — these tears are not a liquid strong enough o burn out what God has thus inscribed. Thou mightest weep till thy very eyes were wept away, and until thy heart were all distilled in drops, and yet not remove one single slain from the brazen tablet of the memory of Jehovah.

“Could thy tears for ever flow,
Could thj zeal no respite know,
All for sin could not atone:
Christ must s.ive and he alone.”

There b no atonement in tears or repentance. God has not said, “I will forgive you for tho sake of your penitence.” AVhat is there in thy ])enitenco that can make you deserve forgiveness? If you deserved forgiveness you would have a set-off against your guilt. This were to supyose some claims upon God, and there would be no mercy in giving you what you could chiim. Ilepentance, of itself, is not an atonement for sin. What, then, can be done? Justice says, “Blood for blood; a stroke for every sin, blood for every crime.” Thus saith the Lord, “I will by no means clear the guilty.” The sinner feels within his heart that the judgment is just; like the man to whom I talked some time ago, who said, “If God does not damn me, he ought. I have been so great a sinner against his laws that his equity would be sullied by my escape.” The sinner, when convicted in his own conscience, must own the righteousness of God in his condemnation. He knows that he has been so wicked, he has sinned so much against heaven, that God in justice must punish him. He feels that God can not pass by his sin and his trangression, Then there must be an atonement, in order to obtain panlon, he thinks; who shall effect it? Speed your way up to heaven. It is vain to ask it on eaitli. Go up there, where cherubs stand around the throne of God. Ask one by one the brilliant spirits, and say, “Can ye offer an atonement? God has saul, man must die; and the sentence can not be altered: God himself can not reverse it, for it is like the laws of the i^Iedes and Persians, irrevocable. Punishment must follow sin, and damnation must be the effect of inifpnty. Thou blazing seraph, wilt thou quench thy glories for a moment and descend to hell? But then it would not be for a moment; for thou shouldst tarry there for ever; thou must be eternal ages long in bearing the punishment of only one soul. Therefore, O seraph! I would not ask thee. Besides, thou art not a man; and the Seriptiii’e says, ‘’It shall die.’ No satisfaction would it yield if thou didst die. Ye angels, I have no hope from you.” I must turn my eye in another direction. Where shall I find help? Where shall I obtain deliverance? Man can not help me; angels cannot. The greatest archangel can do nought ibr us. Where shall we find forgiveness? Whera

02 rAunox and jDHTrpicATioir.

is the priceless prize? The mine halh it not in its depths. Stars have it not in their brilliance. The iloods can not tell nie as they lift up their voice; nor can the hurricane’s blast discover to me the mystery profound. It is hidden in the sacred counsels of the Most High. Where it is I know not, until from the throne of God I hear it said, “I am the substitute!” And looking up there, I see sitting on the thi-one a God and yet a man — a man who once was slain! I see his scarred hands and his yet open side. Jlut he is a God, and, smiling benignnntly, he says, “I have forgiveness, I have pardon; but I purchased it with blood. This heart was riven for it; this precious casket of divinity was broken open for your souls. I had to die — the just for the unjust. Excruciating agony, pains imutterable, and woes such as ye can not comprehend, I had to suller for your sake.” And can I say, this amazing grace is mine? Has he enrolled my woitliless name in the covenant? Do I see the blood mark on the wiit of my i)ardon? Do I ‘know he ])urcliased it with such a pi’ioc? And shall I refuse to say, “Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered?” Nay; I must and will exult, for I have found this jewel, a jewel before which diadems do pale and lose their lustre, I have found this “pearl of great price;” and I must and will esteem all things but lost for Jesus’ sake; for, having found this unpurchaseable mercy, this blessing which could not be bought excej)t with blood, I must shout again, “Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven.” It would be well for thee, Christian, if thou wouldst often review this mercy, and see hov/- it was purchased for thee; if thou wouldst go to (jethsemane and see where the bloody clots lie thick upon the ground; if thou wouldst then take thy journey aci’oss that bitter brook of Kedron and go to Gabbatha, and see thy Saviour with his hail- plucked by the persecutors, with his cheeks made moist with the spittle of his enemies, with his back lacerated by the deep ploughhigs of knotted whips, and himself in agony, emaciated, tormented; then, if thou wouldst stand at Calvary and see him dying, “the just fpr the unjust;” and having geen thcjse bitter torments remember that these were but Uttle compn.rc(l with bis inward and soul-anguish; ilien thou wouldst come away and say, “Blessed, yea, thiice blessed, is the man who lias thus been loved of Jesus, thus piwchased with his blood — ‘Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered.’”

Another thing concerning this blessing of justification ia not only its immense value and its unpurcliaseableness, but it coming to us instantaneously. You know it is a doctrine that has been taught by divines long enough, and taught in Scripture, that justification is an instantaneous act. I am perhaps this moment unjustified. The moment God gives me faith, I become justified; and being justified by faith I have peace with God. It takes no time to accomplish it. Sanctificalion is a lifelong work, continually effected by the Holy Ghost; but justification is done in one instant. It is as complete the moment a sinner believes as when he stands near the lamps that smoke before the Eternal. Is it not a marvelous thing that one moment should make thee clean? “We love the physician who heals speedily. If you find a skillful physician who can heal you of a sad disease even in years, you go to him, and are thankful. But suppose some wondrous man who lnth a touch could heal you, who with the very glance of his eyes could make you well at once, and stanch that blood or stof that disease, or tuvn aside that evil thing and make you well, would you not go to him, and feel that he was a great physician indeed? So with Christ. There shall be a man standing there with all his sins upon his head, ajid he may yet go down these stairs just, complete in Christ, without a sin, freed from its damnmg power, delivered from all his guilt and iniquity, in one single instant! It is a marvelous thing, beyond oui power and comprehension. It is done in an instant. God stamps it; the man is pardoned. He goes away in that same instant justified, as the publican did when he said, “Lord have mercy upon me, a sinner,” and received the mercy for ?hich he sued.

But one of the gi’eatest things about it is, that it is irreversible. 1’his is the sweetness of it. The irreversible nature of justification is what makes it so lovely in the eyes of God’s people. “We are justined and pardoned, and then the mercy is that we never can be unpardoned — we never can be cou- :lemned.’ Those who are opponents of this glorious doctrine may say what they please; but we know better than to suppose that God ever pardons a man, and punishes him afterward. We should not think Her gracious Majesty would have a criminal before her, and give him a free and full pardon, and then in the course of a few years bring him up and have him executed. “But,” say you, “the man commits fresh crimes and iniquities; and though the pardon may suffice for the past, it will not do for the future.” Well, if you have got that sort of pardon, you may go and rejoice in it. I thank God I have a different one. I can say, and all God’s believing people can say,

“Here’s pardon for transgressions past;
It matters not how black their c<ist:
And, 0 my souil with wonder view,
For sins to come there’s pardon too.”

It is complete washing that Jesus gives — from that which is to come, as well as that which is past.

“The moment a sinner believes,
And trusts in his cruciiied God,
His pardon at once he receives,
Salvation in full through his blood,”

God never did anything by halves. He speaks a man into a justified condition, and he will never speak him out ot it agam; nor can that man be cast away. Good God! and do any persons teach that men can be quickened by the Spirit, and yet that quickening Spirit has not power enough to keep them? Do they teach that God forgives, and then condemns? Do they teach that Christ stands surety for a man, and yet that man is damned himself on his own responsibility? Ah? let them teach it! We speak not thus; we have not so learned Christ. We can not use woi’ds so derogatory to divinity, so dishonorable to tWe blessed Saviour. We believe that

PAUDOX AXI) JUSTIFIt7ATI0N. 65

if lit’ stood our substitute, it was an actual, real, efFectual deed; that we are jmsitively delivered thereby; that if he did pay the penalty, God can not by any means exact it twice; that if he did discharge the debt, it is discharged, and can not be revived; that if the sin was imputed to Christ, he did sulfer for it. We say before all men that heaven itself can not accuse the sons of God any more of sin. Who shall laj anything to the charge of God’s elect, if God hath justified, and Christ hath died? Ah, Christian! thou mayest stand and wonder at this mighty justification, to think that thou art so pardoned that thou never canst be condemned, that all the powers in hell can not condemn thee, that nothing which can happen can destroy thee; but that thou hast a pardon that th<ju canst plead in the day of judgment, and that will stand as valid then as now. Oh, it is a glorious and gracious thing! Go, ye who believe in another gospel, and seek comfort. Yours is not the justification of the blessed God. When he justifies, he justifies for ever, and nothing can separate us from his love.

Well, this is the mercy itself. I have only made three remarks upon it, though there are some fifty that one might make, and each of them might be pregnant with meaning. Now- we come to the second thing. “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered,” becausk that

MJiltCY BRINGS EVEItYTIIIXG ELSE WITU it. When I knOW I

ani pardoned, then I can say all things are mme. I can look back to the dark past — all things are mine there! I can look at the present — all things are mine here! I can look into the deep future — all things are mine there! Back in eternity, I Bee God imrolling the mighty volume, and lo! in that volume I read my name. It must be there, for I am pardoned; for whom he calls, he had first jiredestinated, and whom lie pardons, he had first elected. When I see that covenant roll, I Bay, It is mine 1 And all the great books of eternal purposes and infinite decrees, ai-e mine! And what Christ did upon the cross is mine! The past is mine! The revolutions ol past ages have worked for the good of me and of my brethren — all things aie mine there! Standing in the present, I see Providence, and that is mine! Its various circumstances are working together for good. Its very wheels — though high and wonderful — are working, wheel within wheel, to produce some great and grand eliect which shall be for the general good of the church. Afflictions are mine to sanctify me — a hot furnace where my dross is taken away. Prosperity is mine to comfort me — a sweet garden where I lie down to be refreshed in this weary journey. All the promises are mine. What though this Bible be the prince of books — what thoagh each letter be a diop of honey, and it be filled with sweetness, there is not a precious text here which is not mine, if I am a believer; there is not a promise which I may not say is my own — all is mine! All these present things I may take without fear, for they are my Father’s gift to me, a portion of my heritage! I rejoice also to know that all of the future is mine, whatever that future may be. I know that in the future there shall come an hour when at God’s mandate the hot breasts of earth shall start up from between her brazen ribs — her mountains themselves shall be dissolved, and the earth shall pass away. But this great conflagration is mine 1 I know that on a certain day I shall stand before the judgment bar of Christ — that judgment day is mine! I fear it not, and dread it not. I know that soon I must die — but the river of death is mine! It is mine to wash me, that I may leave the dust of earth behind, and take my garments cklan washed afterward, having swam through this glorious river; for it is a glorious river, though its waters may be tinged with blackness — it takes its rise in the mountains of love, hard by the throne of God. And then after death there comes a resurrection — and that resurrection is mine! With a bright body, clear as the sun, and fiiir as the moon, I shall live in paradise. And then, whatever there is in heaven is mine I If there be a city with azure light, with jasper wall — it is mine! What though there be palaces there of crystal and o gold, that sparkle so as to dim mortal eyes; what though ^.h ere be delights above even the dream of the voluptuary what though there be pleasures which heart and flesh could not conceive, and which even spirit itself can not fully enjoy

PARDON AND .roSTlFICATION. 67

the very intoxication of bliAs; what though there be subhmities unlawful for us to utter, and wonders which mortal men can not grasj); what though the Divinity hath spent itself in heaven, and doth unravel his glory to make his people blessed — all is mine! There is not a crown that is bright and glorious but it is mine! For I am pardoned! Though I may have been the chief of sinners, and the vilest of the vile, il God justify me to-night, all things in heaven are mine, however glorious, bright, majestic, and sublime. Oh! is not this a mercy! Verily, “blessed is he whose transgression is for given, whose sin is covered,” as we consider what comes Avitb the mercy.

We would that time and bodily strength ]jcrmitted us to dilate upon this, for it is a -vide subject; but we must pass on to the next point. Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered,” because it makes him

BLESSED BY THE EFFECTS IT HAS UFON HIS 2MIND. What

glorious peace it brings to a man when he first knows himself to be justified! The apostle Paul said, “Therefore being justified by laith, we have peace with God.” Some of you do not know what peace means; you never had any real, satisflictory peace. “What,” say ye, “never had any peace, when we have been happy and merry and joyous?” Let me ask you, when the morning has appeared after your eveninr; of mirth, could you look back upon it with joy? Could you look upon it and say, “I rejoice in these unbridled revelings. I always find laughter productive of a sweet calm to my heart?” No; you could not, unless you are hardened. I challenge you rather to tell me what fruit have y« ever gathered from those things whereof ye are now ashamed? Ye had not any peace. When alone in your chamber, i*. leaf fell, or some little insect buzzed in the further coi’ner: ye trembled like the leaves of the aspen. Ye thought perhaps the angel of death was there with a dreary omen. Or passing fi’om the haunts of fashion, y6 have walked some lonely road in solitude, and how then did your disordered fancy conjure up all sorts of evil demons! Ye had no peace, and ye hav/c no peace even now. Some of you know not peace with Go-^,

68 PAKDON ANn JCSTIFICATTON’

Ye Jire at war with tho Omnipotent; ye av( lifting your pnnj hand against the i[ost High God. To-night ye are warrior? against the King of Heaven, rebels to his government, and gtiilty of a great act of high ti-eason against the Eternal Majesty. Oh! if ye did but know peace with God — that “peace which passeth all understanding.” I compare not the peaceful mind to a lake without a ripple. Such a ligur(.> would be inadequate. The only comparison I can find is in that unbroken tranquility which seems to reign in the deep caverns and grottoes of the sea — far down where the sailor’s body lies, where the sea-shells rest undisturbed, Aviiere there is nought but darkness, and where nothing can break the spell, for there are no currents there, and all is still — that is somewhat like the Christian’s soul when God speaks to him. There may be billows on the surface, by these he may be sometimes ruffled, but inside the heart there will be no ebb or flow; he will have “eternal peace with God,” a “peace that passeth all understanding,” too deep to fathom, too perfect to conceive, for none but they who prove it know: such peace that you could to-night lay your head down to sleep with the knowledge that you would never wake again in this world as calmly as you could if you knew your days were like Hezekiah’s, lengthened out for a certainty of fifteen years. “When we have peace with God, we cati lie down, and if an angel visited us to say, “Soul, your Master calls you,” we could reply, “Tell my Master, I am ready. And if grim death were to come stalking to our bed-side, and were to say,” The pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the well is broken at the cistern: thou shalt die!”, we might answer, “Die! we die willingly; we are prepai’ed; we are not afraid; we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ; we have peace here, and we are willing to go and have that peace consummated up yonder in the better world.” Could you say that, some of you? You know you could not. If I were to go round and ask you, you would have to say, “No; I am in an unsettled state of mind. I am afraid. I have no pardon, no forgiveness; I do not know that my sins are blotted out.” Well, poor soul I at any rate you will say,” Blessed is

PARDON AND JUSTIFICATION. (,f

the man whoso sin is covered.” You know he is blesscJ, though you are not blessed yourselves; you feel you -would be blessed indeed if you could once get your sins covered, and TOur ti’ansgressions taken away.

But it not only gives peace, it gives joy; this is something more. Peace is the flowing of the brook, but joy is the dashuig of the cataract when the brook is filled, bursts its banks, and rushes down the rocks. Joy is something that we can Know and esteem; and justification brings us joy. Oh! have you ever seen the justified man when fii-st he is justified? I have oflen told you what I felt myself when first I realized pardon through the blood of Christ. I had been sad and miserable for months, and even years; but when I once received the message, “Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth,” verily, I could have leapt for joy of heart; I felt that I understood that text, “The mountains and hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” I remember hearing Dr. Alexander Fletcher, when speaking to children, tell them a simple anecdote in order to illustrate the joy of a man when he gets delivered from sin. He said,” I saw upon the pavement three or four little chimney-sweeps jumping about and throwing up their heels in great delight. And I asked them,

* My boys, what are you making all this demonstration for?’

* Ah! said they, ’ if you had been locked up for three months, you would do the same when you once got out of piison.’ “I thought it a good illustration. We can not wonder that people are joyous and glad when, afler being long shut up in the pi-ison of the law, all sad and miserable, they have felt their bonds broken, seen the door of the jail opened, and obtained a legal discharge. What heed they about trials and troubles, or anything else? They could leap over the mountains: “By our God we leap over a wall,” niay they say. “A trooj) may overcome, but we shall overcome at last.” ITie heart seems scarcely big enough to hold the joy, and it bursts out, hardly knowing what to do or say. Thus it is at that wondrous hou)’ which comes but once in a Christian’s life, when he first feels himself delivered, when God for the

70 PARDON AID JUSTIFICATION.

first time says to him, “I am he that blotteth out all thy transgressions for my name’s sake!” I verily think iLat hour is a fragment of eternity cut off and given us here; I am sure it is a foretaste of the happiness at God’s right hand. It is a day of heaven upon earth, that splendid moment when God first gives us a knowledge of our own justification — Heaven’s bliss itself can scarce exceed it! We seem to drink of the very wine that saints in glory quaff! We want nothing else — what can we desire moie? “Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered;” it gives him joy, it gives him peace.

And have you ever noticed one thing that I must mention here? If you have ever had a great trouble, you have found that it has swallowed up all little troubles. Suppose a sailor has something on deck that is not quite right; he fidgets and worries himself about this, that, and the other. A storm comes. Big clouds appear, and the winds begin to whistle through the cordage. The sails are rent, and now the ship is driving before the wind over mountains and into valleys of water; he fears that the ship will be wrecked, and that he will be lost. What cares he now for the things on deck, for the cabin, or the furniture? “Never mind about these,” he says, “the ship is being lost!” And suppose the cook to run up and say, “1 am afraid the dinner will be spoiled.” What heeds he? “The ship,” he says, “may be lost, and that is oi much moi*e consequence than the dinner.” So with you. li you once get into sore trouble on account of your souls, you will not fret much about the little troubles you have here, for they will all be swallowed up by the one giant alarm. And if you get this everlasting joy into your souls, it will be much the same; it will consume all your smaller joys and griefs That joy will be like Moses’ rod, which ate up all the serpents that the magicians thi-ew down befoi’e Pharaoh — it will eat up all other joys. It will be enough if you can say —

“I’m forgiven! I’m forgiven!
I’m a miracle of grace.”

If you can but feel yourself justified; if you know that you

PARDO^f AND JUSTIFICATION. Yl

are delivered, that you are indeed pardoned, that you are be yond the clutches of the law, you can rejoice that you know and feel the truth of the saying, “Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered.”

Now, lut lue ask in conclusion, How many such blessed men and women are there here to-night? How long shall I give you to answer the question? I wish preaching were done away with, and that we had a little more talkhig to one another, I wish to lay the formalities of the j)uly)it aside, and talk to you as if you were in your own houses. That, I believe, is the true kind of preaching. Let me inquire, then, how many of you, my friends, can claim the title of “blessed,” because you are justiQed? Well, I think I can see ono brother who puts his hands together and says —

“‘A debtor to mercy alone — Of cxpvenant mercy I sing.’

I know I am forgiven.” My brother, I rejoice at it. I rejoice to hear thee speak thus conlidently. But, I come to another, and I ask. What are you? “Ah! I cannot say as much as that brother did, but I hope I am justified.” What ground have you for your hope? You know we cannot hope unless we have some grounds. We may wish, but Ave cannot hope. What ai-e your grounds? Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? “Yes,” say you, “I do believe on liiin.” What do you say “hope” for, then? Dear brother or sister, you know if you really believe in Christ, you have no need to talk about hojje when you may be certain. And it is ahvays better to use words of confidence when you can, and use little ones when you can’t. Keep your head as high as you may, for you will find troubles enough to bring it down. But the next one replies: — Ah!

“Tis fi point I long to know,
Oft. it causca anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord or no?
Am I hi.s, or am I not?”

I have heard a great deal said against that hymn. But I have

4-)t had occasion to sing it myself sometimes, so I cannot find much fault with it. That state of mind is all very well if it lasts a little while, though not if it lasts a long time. If a man is always saying, “1 long to know,” or, “I am afraid,” he never will know unless he gets a change. The Scripture says, “He that is justified by faith has jieacc with God.” You would not have this distress always if you were brought to realize your justification. You may have it sometimes when the eye of faith is dim; but I do not like to see people contenting themselves with any measure of faith short of that which apprehends full redemption. Do not let me distress the Uttle ones, for be it known I often say —

“Thousanda in the fold of Jesus,
This attifument ne’er can boast:
To bis name eternal praises,

None of them shall e’er bo lost.”

Their names were written in the Lamb’s book of life before the world was made; but if any of you are always in distress and doul)t, if you never did at any time feel- confident, I should begin to be apprehensive, for methinks you should now and then get a little higher. Y^’ou may pass through the valley of the shadow of death sometimes, but surely sometimes also, the Spirit of God will carry you up to the top of the mountain that is called “Clear.” And yet, if you are still dwelling on this point, “I long to know,” are you not anxious to settle the question? Suppose you do not belong to Christ. Put it in that way — for in a doubtful case it is best to look at the worst side — suppose you do not love the Lord. Nevertheless, you are a sinner; you feel you are a sinner, do you not? God has convinced you that you are a sinner. Well, as long as you can claim sinnership, you can go to his feet. If you cannot go as a saint, you can go as a sinner. What a raercy this is I It is enough to save us from despair. Even if our evidence of saintship seems clean gone, we have not lost our sinnership; and the Scripture still says, “This is a laithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Aud while i)

says that, we will hang on it. But another one says, “I don’t know whether I am justitietl, and I don’t care much about it.” Let me tell you, sir, when you will care. When you come near your end, young man, you will care then. You may think to live very well without Christ, but you cannot afford to die without him. You can stand very securely at ])resent, but death will shake your couiidence. Your tree may be fair now, but when the wind comes, if it has not its roots in the Rock of Ages, down it must come. You may think your worldly pleasures good, but they will then turn bitter as wormwood in your taste; worse than gall shall be the daintiest of your drinks, when you shall come to the bottom of your poisoiu’d bowl. But there is another, v.-ho says, “I wish I were justiiied, but I feel I am too grfat a sinner.” N“ow, I like to hear the first part, but the last is very b•^•d. To say that you are bad is right; I know you are. Yoa pay you are vile and that is true enough, I’m sure, and I hope you mean it. Do not be like some men I have read of Yoa know there was a monk who, on a cei-tain occasion, described himself as being as great a hypocrite as Judas; and a gentleman at once said, “I knew it long ago; you are just the fellow I always thought.” When up jumped the monk, and said, “Don’t be saying such things as those of me I” His humility was feigned, not felt. Thus people may make such a general confession as this, “I am a great sinner,” who would still resist any special charge brought home to th“ir consciences, however true. Say to such a one, “You are a rogue,” and he replies, “No, I’m not a rogue.” “What are you, then? Are you a liar?” “Oh, no!” “Are you a Sabbath-breaker?” “No; nothing of the kind.” And so, when you come to sift it, you find them sheltering themselvea under the general term sinner, not to make confession, but to evade it. This is very different from a real conviction of sin. But if you feel yourself to be a real, actual sinner, rememoer you are not too bad to be saved, because it is written in Scripture that Christ came to save sinners; and that means that he came to save you, because you are a sinner. And I will preach it everywhere, without limitation, that if a man knows himself to be a sinner, Jesus Christ died for him, for that ii the evidence that Christ came to save hun. Let the sinner, then, believe on Jesus as his Savior; let the outcast come to Jesus, for it is said, “I will gather together the outcasts of Israel.” There is an outcast here tonight; there is a backslider over there who has been cut off from the church years ago. Behold his sad plight. As Achish said of David, “llis ovl people Israel have utterly abhorred him. He shall be my servant for ever.” But he shall escape yet. The i)rey shall not be taken from the mighty; the lawful captive shall not be taken from Jesus Christ. The Captain of our salvation conquered his soul once, and he will yet save it.

But another says, “I never was a member of a church, and I am afraid I never shall be. I am a hardened snner, a reprobate,” Well, do you confess it? Then hear the word of the Lord: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned,” “He that believeth,” — mark you, that is, he that believeth on Jesus and in Jesus; he that casts himself on Christ. Our hymn says, he who “ventures” on Christ, but that is not right. There is no venturing; it is all safe. He who y)uts himself on Christ — tlu’ows Iiiraself flat on sovereign mercy — “he that believeth;” notice what follows, “and is baptized;” — baptism is to come afterward, not for merit, but as a mode of profession — he that with his heart believeth, and with his mouth confesseth — he that believeth and is baptized — shall be saved; and he that believeth not shall be damned, I dare not leave any word out, whatever any of my brethren may do. Whether a man be baptized or not, if he does not believe he shall be damned. But the word “baptized,” is not put into the last sentence, because the Holy Spirit saw there was no necessity for it For he knew, if the ordinance were correctly administered, that no person who did not believe would be baptized. So it was the same thing as putting it in, “He that believeth not shall be damned,” OIi, may God grant that you may never know the meaning of that last dreadful word; but may yow know what it is to be saved by grace divine I