"He is Faithful that Promised."
"Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool."--ISAIAH i. 18.
Pardoning Grace.
My soul! thy God summons thee to His audience chamber! Infinite purity
seeks to reason with infinite vileness! Deity stoops to speak to dust!
Dread not the meeting. It is the most gracious, as well as wondrous of
all conferences. Jehovah himself breaks silence! He utters the best
tidings a lost soul or a lost world can hear: "God is in Christ
reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing unto men their
trespasses." What! _Scarlet_ sins, and _crimson_ sins! and these all to
be forgiven and forgotten! The just God "justifying" the unjust!--the
mightiest of all beings, the kindest of all! Oh! what is there in thee
to merit such love as this? Thou mightest have known thy God only as the
"consuming fire," and had nothing before thee save "a fearful looking
for of vengeance!" This gracious conference bids thee dispel thy fears!
It tells thee it is no longer a "fearful," but a _blessed_ thing to fall
into His hands? Hast thou closed with these His overtures? Until thou
art at peace with Him, happiness must be a stranger to thy bosom. Though
thou hast all else beside, bereft of God thou must be "bereft indeed."
Lord! I come! As thy pardoning grace is freely tendered, so shall I
freely accept it. May it be mine, even now, to listen to the gladdening
accents, "Son! Daughter! be of good cheer! thy sins, which are many, are
all forgiven thee."
"REMEMBER _THIS_ WORD UNTO THY SERVANT, UPON
WHICH THOU HAST CAUSED ME TO HOPE!"