No. 119. • A|E YOU FORGIVEN % . All men need forgiveness, because all men are ■sinners. He that does not know this* knows noth- ing in religiqn. It is the very A. B of Chris- tianity, that a man should know his right place, and understand his deserts. "We are all great sinners. Siuner3we were born,, .•and sinners fm have been all our lives. r We take to sin naturally from the very first. No child ever need's schooling and education to teach it to do wrong. No devil or bad companion ever leads us into such 'wickedness as our own hearts; and yet the wages of sin is death. We must either be forgiven, o^ lost eternally. Probably the-e pages will be read by some one who feels he isjiot yet a forgiven souk My heart's- desire and prayer is, that such a one may seek his pardon at once. And I would fain' help him for- ward by showing him the kind of forgiveness offer- ed to him, and the glorious privileges within his reach. Listen to me, then, while I try to exhibit to yoti the treasures of gospel forgiveness. I cannot de- scribe its fullness as I ought. Its riches are indeed .unsearchable. ' Eph. i'ii. 8. But if you will tjirn away from it, you shall not be able say in the day of judgment, you did not at all know what it was.. Consider then, for one thing, that the forgiveness get before you is a .great and- broad forgive,nes$.-^=- o ■ ' . O Hear what the Prince of Peace himself declares : "All sins shall be forgiven' unto the sons of n^en, and bl^isfhemies wherewithsoever they '^glL blas- pheme." Mark iii. 28. '• Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.'" — Isa. i. 18. . Yef ! though your trespasses be more in number than the hairs of your head,*the stars in heaven, the leaves of the forest, the blades of grass, the grains of sancl on the sea-shore, still they can all be pardoned. As the waters of Noah's flood covered over all and kid .the tops of the highest hills, so can the blood of Jesus cover over arid hide your mightiest sins, "His blood cleanseth from all sin." 1 John i, 7. Though to you they seem written with the point of a .diamond, they can all be effaced from the book of God's remembrance by that precious blood. Paul names a long .list of abominations which the Corinthians had committed, and then says, "Such weie some of you; but ye •are washed, ye are sanctified, but ye aie justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and* by the Spirit of our God." 1'Cor. vi. 11. Furthermore, it is a full and complete forgiveness.. It is not like David's pardon to Absalom, — a per- mission to retmrn home, but not . a full restoration to favor: 2 Sam. xi v. 24 It is not a mere letting off, and letting alone. It is a pardon so complete, that h*e who lias it is reckoned as righteous as if he had never sinned at all. Hi's iniquities are blotted out. They are removed from him as far as the east is from the west. T?alm ciii. 12. There remains. no condemnation for him.. The Father gqy.him joined to Christ,, and is well pleased. I verily be- lieve if the best of u, all had only one blot left for himself to wipe out, he would miss eternal life.. If Noah, Daniel, and Job had had but one clay's sins to wash away, they would never have been saved. Praised be to Gotl, that in the matter of our pardon there is nothing left" for. man to do. Jesus does all, and man has only to hold out an empty hand, and to receive. ^ Furthermore, it is a free forgiveness. It is not burdened with an u if," like Salomon's pardon to Adonijfch, " If lie will show himself a worthy man." 1 King! i. 52. Nor yet are you obliged tp carry a price in your hand, or bring a character with you to prove yourself deserving of mercy. Jesus re- quires but one character, and that is^ that you should feel yourself a sinful, bad man.. He inv.ites you to "buy wine and milk without money an I without price;" and declares,, " Whosoever will, let him take the- water of life freely." Isaiah lv. 1, Rev. xxii. 17. Like David in the cave of Adul- lam, he receives "every one that feels in distress and a debtor/' and rejects none. 1 Sam. xxii. 2» Are you a sinner? Do you want a Saviour ? — Then come to Jesus just as you are, and your soul .shall liv£. Again, it is an offered forgiveness. I have read of earthly kings who knew not how to show mer- ■cy,< — of Henry tli'j Eighth of Eifgland, who spared ■neither man nor woman — of James the Fifth of Scotland, who would never show favor to a Douglas. A . -. • ; . ' The^ang of kings is not like them. He calls on man to come to him and be pardoned. " Unto you, "O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of men."- Prov. viii. 4.- "Ho, every one that thirst- eth, come ye to the waters." Isaiah lv. 1. "If ' - •any man thirst, let "him come unto, me and drink." John vii. 37. "Come unto me, all ye that labor ", ;and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." — ^Matt. xi. 28. reader, it ought to be a grear.com- ' fcrt to you and me to hear of any pardon at- all; but to hear Jesus himself inviting us, to see Jesus himself holding out his hand to us, — the Saviour seeking the sinner before the sinner seeks^t'he Sa- viour, — this is strong consolation indeed. * Again, it is a willing forgiveness^. I have heard of pardons granted in reply to long entreaty, and ' - wrung out by much importunity. King Edward the Third of England would not spare the citizens of Calais tdl they came to him with halters rouncT their necks, and his own queen interceded for them mi her knees. But Jesus is "geodand ready to O^ forgive." Psalm lxxxvi, 5. "He delightest in j^p Jj mercy." Mioah vii. 18. Judgment is his strange •-'"^ work. 'He is not willing that any should perish.' 2 Peter iii. 9. He would fain have all men saved, and come te the knowledge of the truth. X Tim, \\. |. He Tvept over unbelieving Jerusalem. 'As I live,' lie says, ' I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil •yypys;- why.will ye die?' Ezek. xxxiii, 11. Ah I reader, you. and \ may well come, boldly to the throne of grace. He who sits thero is far niore Willing and ready to give meroy tharf you and I are to receive it. Besides this, it is a tried forgiveness. Thousands and ten of thousands have sought for-pardon at the mercy seat of Christ, and not one has ever return- ed to say that he sought in vaiu. Sinners of every name and nation, — sinners of every sort and descrip- tion, have knocked at the door of the fold, and none have ever been refused admission. Zaccheus, the extortioner, Saul, the persecutor, Peter, the denier of his Lord, the Jews" who crucified the Prince of life, the idolatrous Athenians, the adulterous Cor- inthians, the ignorant Africans, the bloodthirsty New-Zealanders, — all have ventured their souls on Christ's pronises of pardon, and none have ever found them fail. Ah ! reader, if the way I set be- fore you were a new and untravelled way, you might well feel faint-hearted. But it is not so. It is an old path. It is a path worn by the feet of many pilgrims, and a path in whisk the footsteps are all one way. The .treasury of Chr*3t's mercies has never been found empty. The well of living waters has never proved dry. Besides this, it is a present forgiveness. All that believe in Jesus are at once justified from all things. Acts xiii, 39. The very day the younger son re- turned to his father's house, he was clothed with (the best robe, had the ring put Upon his hand, and the sboe$ on his feet. Luke xv. The very day Zaccheus received Jesus, he heard those comforta* ble words, 'This day is salvation come to this liQuse.' Luke xix, 9. The very day that David 6 said, 'I have Sinned against the .Lord,' he was' told by Nathan, -'The Lord also hath put away thy sin.' 2 Sam. xii, 13. The. very day yon first flee to Christ, your sms are all removed. Your pardon is not a thing far away, to be obtained only by hard work, an 1 after many years. It -is. nigh at hand. It is' close to you, within your re&#h, all ready to be bestowed. - BeHevej and that- very mo- ment it is your own.. ' He that beheveth is not condeujjL3d.'' . John iii, 18. It is not said,- He .shall not be, or will not be, but is not. From the time of his believing, condemnation is gone. He that believeth hath everlasting life. John iii," 36. I-t is-mot said, Ho shall have, or will have: it is hath. It is his own as surely as if he were in heaven, though not so evidently so to his own eyes. ■Ah! reader, you must not think forgiveness will be nearer to a believer in the day of judgment than it was in the hour he first believed. His complete salvation is every year nearer and nearer to him ; but as to his forgiveness and justification, it is a finished work from the very minute he first commits himself to Christ. Reader, I ha've set before you the nature of the forgiveness offered to you, I have told you but little of" it, for my words are weaker than my will. The half of it remains untold. The greatness of it is far more than any reporc of mine. But I think I have .paid enough to show you it is worth the seeking, and I can wish you nothing better than that you strive to make it vour own.. ■ "Do you call it nothing lo look forward to -death without fear, and to judgment without 'doubting*, and to eternity without a sinking of heart? Do you call it nothing to feel the world slipping from your grasp, and to see tlie grave getting ready for you, and the valley and the shadow of death open- ing before your eyes and yot not he afraid ? Do you call it nothing to be able 1o think of the great day of account, the throne, the books, the Judge, the assem-' bled worlds, the revealing of secrets, the final sen- tence, and yet to feel, I am safe? This is the portion, and this the privilege, of a forgiven soul. Such a one is on a rocJc When the rain of Grod's •wrath descends, and the floods, come, and thewinda blow, his feet. shall not slide, — his habitation shall be sure* Such a one is in ; an >arlc. When the last fiery deluge is sweeping over all things on the surface of the earth, it shall not come nigh him. He shall be caught up and borne securely abo've it all. S.ich a one is -in a hiding place. When God arises to judge terribly the earth, and men are call- ing to rocks* and mountains to fall upon them and cover them, the everlasting arms shall be thrown around him, and the, storms shall pass over his head. He shall abide under . the shadow of the Almighty. Such a one is in a city of refuge. The accuser of the brethren can lay no charge against him. — The law cannot condemn him. There is a wall be- tween him and the avenger of blood. The ene- tnies of his soul cannot hurt. him. He is in a secure sanctuary. * ■. 8. Such a one is rich. He has treasure in heaven which cannot be effected by worldly changes, com- pared to which Peru and California are nothing at all. He needs not envy the richest merchants and! bankers. He has a portion that will endure when bank-notes and dollars are worthless things. He- can say, like the Spanish embassador, when shown the treasury at Venice,\ My master's treasury has- no bottom. He has Christ. , Such a one is insured. He is ready for any- thing that may happen. Nothing can harm him. Ban & s may break and governments may be over- turned. Famine and pestilence may rage around him,. Sickness a*nd sorrow may visit his own fireside. — But still he is ready for all: ready for health, feady for disease — ready for tears, ready for joy — ready for poverty t ready for plenty— ready for life, ready for death. He has Christ. He is a pardoned soul.. Blessed, indeed, is he whose transgression is for- given,, and whose sin is covered. Psalm xxxii. 1". Reader, how will you escape if you neglect so great salvation? Why should you not" lay hold on it at once, and say,- Pardon me, evenme also, C* my Saviour ! "What would you have, if the way I have set before you does not satisfy you?' ' Come- while the door is open. Ask,, and- you. shall re- ceive.