Exalted to Give

“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” — Acts v. 30, 31.

THE murderer is haunted by the ghost of his victim. The haunting is real, although it may exist only in the mind of the criminal. It is of God that the shadow should follow and torment him. It is a part of the sublime machinery of Providence constructed for the punishment, and so for the prevention, of crime. It is one of the lines of defence thrown around human life by the Creator’s watchful care.

All history teems with examples to show that the innocent blood which tyrants have shed rises up to avenge. Witness Herod: his courtiers imagined they would interest their master when they told him of the mighty miracles performed by Jesus. But the news only filled him with horror. The gory head of the Baptist came back; and though the murderer shut his eyes, he was compelled to see. He could only reply to his officious informants: “It is John the Baptist, whom I beheaded! he is risen from the dead 3” Many a time and oft the Baptist “rose” in the haunted imagination of that unjust judge. When the victim rises, the murderer undergoes a righteous retribution. He gave no mercy; and in his blind terror he expects none.

These high priests who had compassed the death of Christ were in Peter’s address compelled to undergo this inevitable sentence, “Whom ye slew, God has exalted.” Their victim has risen, and the murderers tremble. Woe to them if he whom they crucified is exalted! They showed him no mercy, and they expect none at his hands.

But come, ye crucifiers of Christ, come to him and be forgiven. Take the truth which fell once from your own lying lips, “This man receiveth sinners.” That sneer becomes now the hope of your souls. It is because he receiveth sinners that now, when he is exalted, he will not put forth his power for vengeance. “Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.” Strange and attractive word! Exalted to give,! When these Jewish rulers, who had sworn his life away before the tribunal of the Roman governor, heard first of his resurrection, they remonstrated with the witnesses — “Ye intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” The resurrection of Jesus had no other meaning to them than vengeance coming on their own heads. They reasoned, If he whom we slew is exalted, woe unto us! But it is to these very men that the apostles preach pardon. They proclaim that J esus is exalted for the purpose of showing mercy to his murderers. He is exalted to give; and he gives even to them — he gives to all, and upbraideth not. Now that he is exalted, and his enemies are in his power, instead of taking vengeance, he gives remission of sins.

Fix your minds on this precious word. It belongs to us as well as to them. It is over all, like the vital air. In this end of the world, it is as cold waters to thirsty souls to hear that Christ is exalted in order that he might more largely “give.” In the seventy-second Psalm this remarkable promise concerning the Messiah is found, — “He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth” (verse 6). It is true, as elsewhere written, that God “giveth us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons.” But a greater gift is here. It is not he shall bestow the rain, but he shall be the rain. Not he shall send down the rain, but he shall come down as the rain. This refreshing is by the presence of the Lord.

The water is exalted into the heavens in order that it may give rain upon the earth: it is exalted to give. It is drawn up, as by a resurrection; and arises pure into the heavens, that it may be in a capacity to send refreshing to the thirsty ground. In the same wayr, he who comes as rain on the mown grass was exalted that he might give — that he might give himself, as the living water to his own.

This exalted Giver bestows every kind of good. He is head over all things to his Church. Every good and perfect gift is from above. But the fundamental benefit — the boon without which all others would be of no avail — is the twin gift promised in the text, “repentance and forgiveness of sins.”

These two go together to constitute one whole redemption. These two God hath joined, as he has joined right and left sides of a body to make one organized life. As well might the contending mothers at Solomon’s judgment-seat be comforted by getting each a half of the divided child, as any sinner expect to be either safe or happy with one of these gifts if he wanted the other. These two are one; to separate is to destroy them.

Forgiveness of sin is an act of the supreme God, and repentance is an act of sinful man; and yet both are the gift of the risen Redeemer. It is not like two portions of an extended straight line; it rather resembles two halves of one great revolving ring. As it goes rapidly round, all in one solid piece, it seems sometimes as if this half were impelling that; and sometimes as if that half were impelling this. From one point of view, repentance in the man seems to draw forgiveness from God; from another point of view, forgiveness freely given by God seems to work repentance in the man. In some sense both these views are true; but the one is not a living truth apart from the other. It is the circle that revolves, not either half of it. One thing we know, that the whole circle and all its movements have been bestowed as a free gift by him who is exalted a Prince and a Saviour. It is true that repentance draws pardon from God; and it is also true that pardon from God bestowed free makes the sinner’s heart melt in penitence.

It is true that Christ says, “If any man open, I will come in;” but it is also true that no one would open unless he were moved and won by the plaintive voice of the Divine Endurer, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” It is the opening from within that lets the Saviour enter; but it is the pressure of the long-suffering Saviour without, that causes the fastenings of the closed heart to give way at length. “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” We are accustomed to think of this as a description of faith’s agonising pressure at the gate of heaven’s mercy; and the thought is right. But the phrase, in the light of Scripture, has another and greater meaning. Christ himself is the strong man who by force casts out the usurper, and spoils his goods and occupies his room. The kingdom of heaven is within us. And if it come not first into us, we shall never enter into it. Now this kingdom suffereth violence; the mighty one takes it by force. The force he applies is this same “forgiveness of sins.” It is forgiving love, streaming from Christ exalted, and beating on the closed gate of a human heart, that drives the fastenings in at length, and floods it to its brim.

We cannot determine the precise point at which the process begins. We cannot be certain that it begins in all cases at the same point. In the circle which consists of forgiveness and repentance, I do not know the very point which the Spirit of the Lord touches in order to communicate motion. All that I know is that he gives it motion; and that when one point moves, all points move.

And this wheel is like Ezekiel’s, “so high that it is dreadful,” The upper part of its rim is in the heavens, while its lower edge rolls upon the earth. Forgiveness of sin is an act done by God; it is an official act of the Judge on the great white throne. Repentance is a work and a rending and a melting here on the earth. It goes on within a human heart. The lower part of this circle is in the chambers of a sinner’s heart here; and yet every movement of a hair’s - breadth in that deep place is accompanied by a corresponding movement on high.

“There is joy in heaven, in the presence of the angels, over one sinner that repenteth.” Repentance in the deep places of your soul is so connected with the fountain of grace in God, that the slightest movement here is felt there.

I dare not say that in any case there is repentance in man before there is forgiveness from God; neither can I dare to say that in any case there is forgiveness with God before there is repentance in the man. But I know that wherever may be the spot where movement begins, the whole system moves together. In proportion as my soul draws by repenting, God gives by pardoning; and in proportion as God gives by pardoning, my soul receives through repenting. When the receiving channel is clogged, the outflowing channel is left dry; when the outflowing channel is filled by a rushing flood, the clods that choked the receiving channel are washed away, and there is a great refreshing.

There is one obvious practical lesson that should be interposed here — it is repentance that lies to our hand. It is with it that we have to do. Our business is to repent.

These two were joined in Peter’s own experience. When Peter had denied his Lord, the Lord looked on Peter; that look conveyed pardon, and the repenting disciple went out and wept bitterly.