Nehemiah 9:17

But Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful.

Divine forgiveness

I. What is necessary to render the subject interesting.

1. A conviction of guilt.

2. An apprehension of our danger as transgressors.

3. A discovery of the privileges of a pardoned state.

II. The proofs which establish the truth of the doctrine.

1. The provision He has made for the exercise of pardon.

2. The promptitude with which He pardons on our return,

3. His earnestness to excite us to seek after the blessing.

4. The character of those who have received pardon.

5. The number of those who obtain forgiveness.

III. The way in which this subject may be abused.

1. When it leads us to deny any disposition in God to punish.

2. When it encourages us to hope for pardon in ways not warranted by the Word of God.

(1) Without a reference to the work of Christ.

(2) Without repentance.

(3) By delaying an application for it to the close of life.

(4) By expecting to find this pardon in another world if we fail to obtain it in this.

IV. Improvment.

1. It should yield encouragement to the brokenhearted.

2. It should afford consolation to those who have believed through grace.

3. The subject demands our admiration and praise.

4. It also calls upon us not only to admire, but to imitate (Ephesians 4:31; Ephesians 5:1). (W. Jay.)

Pardon of sin

I. The certainty of this readiness to pardon. This may be discerned--

1. In the plans which He devised for its bestowment consistent with His honour as a sovereign, and compatible with His character as a just and moral Ruler.

2. In the repeated assurances and urgent entreaties with regard to the facts which are furnished in His Word.

3. In the efforts He makes to effect it, and so frequently recorded in the pages of history.

II. The conditions of this readiness to pardon.

1. A vivid apprehension of personal guilt.

2. A full consciousness of personal danger.

3. Repentance and faith. (W. S. Edwards.)

The pardon of sin

No attribute of the Deity is so calculated to afford encouragement and relief to the distressed and penitent sinner as that of His mercy. His justice and holiness make him tremble. The Divine mercy is the only fountain from which all our hope is derived. If God were unmerciful--if He were unable and unwilling to forgive, how awful and desperate would be our condition!

I. Some of the distinguishing characteristics of divine pardon. Respecting this blessing, we observe that it is--

1. Gratuitous in its bestowment. Had it not been perfectly free, it would be for ever beyond our reach. As fallen man is altogether destitute of all inherent and acquired righteousness, he can never obtain it on the ground of his own merit. Conscious of his utter unworthiness, and that he was destitute of all merit, the psalmist cried, “For Thy name’s sake, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great.” In the forgiveness of sin, God acts like the creditor towards his two debtors; one owes him five hundred pence, and the other fifty; and when they had nothing to pay, he frankly (freely) forgave them both. It is true that there are certain duties which must be discharged by the sinner; he must repent and believe; but these acts can never merit forgiveness. The pardon of the penitent flows from the free and sovereign grace of God, and is conveyed through the channel of the Redeemer’s atoning blood.

2. Unlimited in its extent. The pardoning mercy of God is not confined to any degrees of guilt or amount of transgression. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases.” The pardoning mercy of God extends to the most flagrant transgressions, and transcends all human conception. There is no sin so heinous which God cannot forgive, and no guilt of so deep a hue which He cannot remove.

3. Permanent in its enjoyment.

II. Prove the truth of the declaration. God’s readiness to pardon is manifest--

1. From the provisions made for this purpose. Before sinners could be pardoned and saved, there were certain barriers that must be removed. As God was the supreme Lawgiver and Judge of the world--the Protector of righteousness and goodness--it became Him not to pardon the guilty without the punishing of sin, and that in such a manner as would satisfy His injured justice, and vindicate the honour of His despised law, and at the same time declare His greatest hatred to sin. Had there been no Mediator, the justice and holiness of God would have stood as everlasting obstructions to the exercise of pardoning mercy.

2. The express declarations of Scripture. Listen to the exulting and triumphant language of the prophet Micah: “Who is a God like unto our God, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy.” See how earnestly does God exhort the careless and impenitent, saying, “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil way, for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” “How shall I give thee up, O Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, O Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim?” Observe the grand commission of the apostles, “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name, among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

3. Recorded facts. This glorious truth is not only declared by the voice of inspiration, but also by the loud and impressive testimony of experience. What multitudes have already obtained forgiveness! The Scriptures abound with the most astonishing and striking instances of this delightful truth. But if we look into the New Testament, we shall see this truth shining forth with greater lustre still. The first instance that strikes us here is Peter. How great and dreadful were his sins! He denied his Divine Lord and Master, and that with oaths and curses; and yet repenting, he was forgiven. In the same list we behold Mary Magdalene, “out of whom seven unclean spirits were cast.” (Essex Congregational Remembrancer.)

Pardoning mercy

These words--

I. Prefer an important charge. “And refused to obey,” etc. Though this charge was primarily brought against the Jews, it is substantially applicable to all impenitent sinners. Here is--

1. A charge of obstinate disobedience. We are guilty of the same charge. We are under infinite obligations to the Divine Being. He is the Creator, Sovereign, Benefactor, Redeemer, Saviour, and Judge of mankind.

2. A charge of criminal forgetfulness. “Neither were mindful of Thy wonders, (Psalms 78:10; Psalms 106:21). God has crowned each of us with loving-kindness and tender mercies, and wrought wonders in our creation, preservation, redemption, and salvation. We have too often unfaithfully forgotten His innumerable benefits, and ungratefully murmured against His kind dispensations (Isaiah 1:2).

3. A charge of hardened impenitence. “But hardened their necks,”. etc. This is an awful state (Proverbs 29:1; Romans 2:5; Hebrews 3:15).

II. Contain a gracious declaration. “Thou art a God ready to pardon.” This is manifest from--

1. The perfections of the Divine character.

2. The glorious scheme of human redemption (Isaiah 53:5; Romans 3:25; 2 Corinthians 5:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

3. The testimonies and promises of Scripture.

III. Suggest appropriate instruction. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)

A God ready to pardon

I. The history of israel singularly illustrates the readiness of God to pardon.

II. It is equally true that the lord at all times is a God ready to pardon.

1. It is true of Him by nature. Mercy is an essential attribute of God.

2. He Himself removed the impediment which lay in the way of forgiveness.

3. He sends His message of love to sinners while they are yet in their sins.

4. He makes no hard conditions with sinners.

5. What He demands of man by the gospel He also works in Him by His Spirit.

6. He accepts even the very lowest grade of the necessary graces. Repentance, etc. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

A pardoning God

I. The nature of this pardon. It is--

1. Free. Pardon must be so. It is no objection to say that Christ has purchased it. True, He has purchased, but it is free in its bestowment on us, because we could not merit it, nor claim it as a right.

2. Complete. Do not mean that it refers to the future. Some say when once pardoned all done. Not so Scriptures. Complete because it refers to all; complete because it is full.

3. Present. Some say not until death. Not so Scriptures.

4. Righteous. “Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren,” etc. Righteous because bestowed on righteous principles; because of Christ’s atonement.

5. Discriminating. If Christ died for all, how is it that all are not pardoned? Remedy only available for those who apply for it. Hence--

II. The conditions. Scriptures teach us duty of forgiveness if offender repents and asks. So with God our confession must be--

1. Frank. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

2. Penitent. “The sacrifice,” etc. Many frankly confess, but not penitently. True penitence seen in the publican.

3. Believing.

III. Evidence that God is ready to pardon.

1. From scheme of redemption. Love in scheme, end of scheme; and if pardon not dispensed, end defeated.

2. From His relation to the Saviour. As Father He could not furnish a greater guarantee.

3. From means He employs to bring to Him. Sends Spirit--Providence--Word. Characterised by love.

4. From receptions others have met with. Manasseh--dying thief--Saul. Shown in Prodigal.

Lessons:

1. Subject does not imply God will not punish.

2. Subject shows only way of deliverance, and that way to be taken now. (E. R. Derry.)

The joy of pardon

A man named John Welsh lay in prison in Chicago under sentence of death. His friends tried to get his sentence commuted to imprisonment for life. The day before that fixed for the execution arrived without any favourable reply being received. The prisoner sat in his cell listening and longing earnestly for a respite. Presently he heard the rumbling of the wheels of a car. It brought the materials for his scaffold, and soon he heard the strokes of the hammers, and pictured himself hanging on the scaffold which he could hear them raising. The sound almost drove him frantic, and he sent for the governor, and begged that he might be taken away anywhere from that dreadful noise. He was taken to a distant cell, and there he sat on the edge of his bed, haunted with gloomy thoughts, all hope gone. He was startled from his rom, erie by a hurried step along the corridor. The key was thrust into the lock, and one of the officers of the prison stood before him. He held a paper in his hand signed by the Governor of the State of Illinois. It was a commutation of his sentence. .. How the truth burst on his mind! When the paper was handed to him he could not read it for tears; but it was a paper bringing him his life, and he hugged it, and clasped it, and kissed it. (H. W. Taylor.)