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The Blessedness of Forgiveness
The following sermon was
preached in the Milner Memorial
Presbyterian church by Rev. J. Il
Clarke, of Lafayette, at the in
stallation of Rev. J. C. Hardin.
“Blessed is he whose transgres
sion is forgiven, whose sin is cov
ered ’Psalms 32:1.
It is generally admitted that a
person can speak more clearly am
powerfully when he speaks con
cerning those things which have
entered into his own life and expe
rienee. It takes an old soldier
to thrill you with tales of the bat’
tiefield; it takes one who has.
nimself, passed through the dark
valley, to speak the true word of
comfort to the sorrowing heart;
it takes one whose own brow is
furrowed with care to truly voice
the burden of the care-laden soul
it takes a man whose own sins
have been forgiven to tell men
about the joys of that forgiveness-
If this be so, the words of David
should come to us with peculiar
earnestness and power. In the
life of David there was no lack
of sin. Selfishness, revenge, adul
tcry, murder—these and many
other sins had cast their black
shadows over his life. This 32nd
Psalm was written soon after the
prophet Nathan had come and
told the king of his great sin in
taking the wife of Uriah. David
had been crushed to the earth
with his burden; he had gone to
his Father with the pentitent con
session. “I have sinned.” In this
Psalm David tells of the forgive
ness he obtained, and of the con
scious blessedness of his position
as a son restored to his Father’s
house. “Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose
sin is covered.” David here cov
ers the entire range of unright
eousness. Transgression includes
all acts contrary to the law of
trod, the doing of what we ought
net to do—sins of commission.
The word “sin” here used means
to “miss the mark,” that is to
fail to do what we ought to do
sins of omission.
David also covers the whole
range of pardon. The word “for
give” means to take away, just
as a burden is rolled from a man'
aching shoulders. The term “cov
ered’ indicates that the person’s
sin ha.s been hidden, that it will
not meet the pure eyes and judg
ment of God. David’s message
may be expressed thus: “Bless
ed is the man whose sins both of
commission and omission have
beta"rolled away and hidden, so
that he stands in God’s sight as
one who has done no sin.” Dr.
Mac Loren says, “One must have
a dull ear not to hear the voice
of personal experience in this
Psalm. It tlirobs with emotion,
and is a burst of rapture from
a heart boasting the sweetness
of the new joy of forgiveness.”
I would remind you that this
message was not written for
any certain age, but for all time.
St. Augustine used often to read
these words with weeping heart
and eyes, and before his death,
he had them written on the wall
over against his sick bed. Across
the dim waste of years these
words came to us, we hear this
man speaking, our sins, our pen
itence, our joy, and the ancient
words are as fresh and fit as
close to our experiences as if
they had been welled up from a
living heart today. “Blessed is
he whose transgression is forgiv
en. whose sin is covered.” This
text leads us to consider the
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blessedness of the man whose
| sins are forgiven.
First of all, this man is bless
ed because of the greatness of
the sin that has been forgiven.
Men have differed, and still dif
fer, as to the greatness of sin.
Some have striven to show that
sin was only selfishness, or some,
kind of moral sickness of which
a man could cure himself. We
can prove that sin is a far great
er evil.
Sin is a great evil because it
is the breaking of a perfect law.
This law tells us plainly every
duty which God requires. It
is so plain indeed, that a wayfar
ing man, though a fool, need not
err therein. This law has been
proclaimed since the early days
of human history. It has been
written for us upon tablets of
stone, it has been enforced by the
words of prophets, by the voice
of the writings of inspired mne,
by the voice of the son of God.
This law is proclaimed week af
ter week, month after month,
year after year from our pulpit
and from the lives of Christians
men and women. This law is per
fect in its plainness and revela
tion. We have pity for the.
man who, in his groping, falls
into the ditch, we feel sorry for
a person whose ignorance leads
him into n -stakes, but surely
that man is a great sinner who.
knowingly, stumbles into a pit
that he has prepared for himself,
and wanders into error while the
truth lies open before his eyes.
This law is perfect in its author
ity. We may doubt the ability
of our human rulers, ami the
wisdom of their laws. We know
that upon our earthly statute
books are many laws that are
dead, laws that are never enforc
ed. Now every sinner breaks a
law which is based upon the au
thority of God. The laws of
Moses were not gathered from the
follies of Egyptian learnings, the
apostles of Christ have not writ
ten in the simple wisdom of Jew
ish, peasants, Christ hlas told us
only of those things that were
made known to him by the Fath
er. In many ways God has prov
ed to us that this law is from him
Every sinner is breaking a law
which he knows is from God, a
law which he knows is just, a
law which he knows will some
day be carried out.
This law is perfect also in its
purpose. The purpose of God’s
law is to turn men from darkness
into light, from the bondage of
sin into the perfect liberty of
the children of God, to turn men
from the pathway of death unto
the'road of eternal life. The pur
pose of this law is to show men
the misery of sin and the joy of
holiness. This law strives to
cleanse our hearts, to purify our
affections, to fit us for the king
dom of God. We may sum it
all up by saying that the pur
pose of this law is to make men
perfect. We may have some sym
pathy for the man who disre
gards a law that destroys his
proper advancement and happi
ness, but what shall we say of
the man who tramples upon a
law which seeks to lead him to
perfection and eternal glory? In
these and many other respects
we may see that the law of God
is perfect, and one of the ele
ments that enters into the great
ness of sin is the fact that it is
the transgression of a perfect
law.
Every sin is great in its nature
and results. We too often look
upon the sinful act alone, and
THE SUMMERVILLE NEWS, THURSDAY, MAY 20. 1909.
do not consider the motives and
character that lie behind the act.
In looking upon the pale face
of the dead, we may forget the
dread disease that has stolen the
bit oni of life from the bloodless
cheek. Behind every sinful act
lic.s that cancer which has first
. eaten into the thought and heart
of its victim. If you will show
me a man who has committed au
open sin, I will show you a man
whose state of mind and heart
had been a preparation for that
sin. Every act of sin has written
behind it a history of sinful de
sires and affections, and these
things must be ineluded in the
greatness of the sin.
Every sin is great in its effect
upon the sinner. Every sin, how
ever small, separates us from God
and mars the image of God in
which we were created. Every
sin serves to strengthen in us
the habit, of sin, and make it
easier for us to travel the down
ward road. Every sin. however
small, piles up for us a greater
weight of shame and remorse in
this world, and a greater dan
ger of eternal punishment in the
■world to come. Every man’s sin
is great also in its outward influ
ence. It is a familiar fact that
the evil that men do lives after
them. In this respect every sin
is au eternal sin, a sin that lives
through the ages, and makes its
influence felt in the lives of suc
ceeding generations.
The greatness of sin is seen
most of all in the fact that, every
sin is condemned against a perfect
God. a God who is perfectly wise,
perfectly holy, perfectly just, per
fectly good, perfectly true. We
have time to mention only a few
points in regard to this subject.
God is perfect in his wisdom.
“And there is no creature that
is not manifest in his sight; but
all things are naked and laid
open before the eyes of him with
whom we have to do.” God
knows the past in all its magni
tude. he knows the present in ev
ery particular, he knows the fut
ure and all its possibilities. Ev
ery man who sins, is thereby re
fusing to have his life guided by
the perfect wisdom of God. Ev
ery sin is a reflection upon the
wisdom or God, for it shows that
men prefer to make their own
plans rather follow the plans
that God has made.
God is perfect in his goodness
The story of this perfection is
written in every human life. Our
lives are crowned with loving
kindness and tender mercies, our
mouths are satisfied with good
things. God’s goodness shines
most brightly through the fact
that he so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son
that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have eter
nal life. lie shows his perfect
goodness, by allowing us to live
on day after day, and enjoy fresh
opportunities to repent and be
saved.
iGod is perfect also in his ti
tle to every man’s services, lie
has created us, preserved us, and
given to us the hope of everlast
ing life. Every good gift ami
every perfect gift cometh down
from the Father of Lights. Our
length of days, our talents, our
every earthly possession, our on
ly hope of future glory, all come
as the gifts of God. This gives
God a perfect title to our servi
ces, and the man who commits
sin is not only showing ingrati
tude but he is violating the right?
of God. In such ways as these,
we see that sin is against a per
fect God, and is therefore a great
evil. If you were to see a man
kick a harmless dog, you would
doubtless say that he has com
mitted an act of cruelty, should
you see a man kick a harmless
beggar you would doubtless call
him a brutal man, should you
see a man kick the mother who
had suffered and toiled for him,
you would say that that man
was beneath contempt. Yet, my
friends, may we not say, with all
reverence, that every sinner is
kicking God. kicking a God who
is perfect in love and goodness
and compassion, a God who has
a perfect title to our services?
Thus I believe we can see to
some extent what a great evil is
sin. Every sin is the breaking
of a perfect law; every sin leads
man to his own destruction and
sets in motion an eternal influ
ence; every sin is opposition to a
perfect God. When we see how
great sin is. then we can realize
the blessedness of the man whose
transgression is forgiven, whose
sin is covered.
In the second place, the bless
edness of the man whose sins are
forgiven is shown by the great
ness of the penalty that is re
moved. When our sins are par
doned the penalty is taken away.
Men differ in their ideas about
the punishment of sin. Some say
that sin receives its punishment
in this life, others say that if
there be any future punishment
for sin, that punishment will not
be eternal. The teaching of our
church is that every sin deserves
God’s wrath and curse both in
this life and in that which is to
conn 1 .
Every sinner must suffer the
penalty of lost happiness. For
longer any communion with God,
longer has heany true fellowship
with God’s people. To every sin
ner there must come the realiza
tion that he no longer has any
portion in the great blessings
promised to the children of God.
lie must wander as an exile from
God’s country, having the brand
of Cain upon his brow. Every
sinner must realize that he is
“without God in the world,” and
he must be made unhappy by the
burden of God’s wrath and curse.
The sinner comes to know that
the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all unright
eousness and ungodliness of men;
he comes to know that “he who
believes not is condemned already
and the wrath of God abideth on
him.”
For every sin there is the pen
alty of misery. 1 suppose there
is no sorrow or pain or hard
ship in this world that does not
come as a penalty for sin. The
jail the pehtitentiary, the gallows
and oftentimes the asylums for
the lunatic and pauper, are but
monuments that speak to us of
the misery of sin. The suffering
that is written upon human coun
tenances, the bowed figures and
tottering limbs, all tell their sto
ry of the misery of sin. We pass
beyond these outward signs ami
find that the misery of sin lies
deeper still. The- sinner carries
with him a. mind that has be
come blind to the truth and to
goodness and to purity; he car
ries with him a heart that should
be heavy because it has become
as hard as stone. The sinner is
burdened with a judgment that
is not trustworthy, and with af
fections that are vile and impure
and hateful. Every sinner has
a guilty conscience as his con
stant companion. The voice of
this conscience is never silent,
and the pain of its last is never
eased. To every sinner there
must come the haunting fear of
death, and when at last they pass
into the dark valley, they go witl
out hope. They go realizing that
for them the grave has its victo
ry, iind death has its sting.
But the larger part of the pen
alty of sin lies beyond the grave.
When the sinner goes into eter
nity and into the future, he goes
that he may meet the punishment
for his sins, lie goes where he
shall no longer hear the gospel
and where he shall never more
have communion with God, but
shall dwell always with the devil
and his angels. The future pun
ishment of the sinner is terrible
beyond description. If the sin
ner knows not the meaning of
the word eternal, he will learn
it well in the school of future
punishmnet. lie will be cast in
to a fire that is everlasting and
that will never be quenched. He
will go away into a punishment
that is everlasting. He will be
punished with a destruction that
is everlasting. He will go into
a mist of darkness that is reserv
ed for him forever. He will go to
be tormented day and night for
ever and ever. The smoke of
their torment aseendeth up for
ever and ever. We sec, them that
this future punishment will be
terrible in its destruction.
Thiis punishment will be terri
rible also in its intensity. Every
sinner faces an Immortality
of pain and tear s
an infinity of wretelideness and
despair; the blackness of dark
ness across which conscience will
forever shoot her (dear, lightning
flashes. We cannot say that hell
is to be a place of real fire and
smoke and biimstorc, a real burn
ing lake, but as far as the sinner
is concerned it will be just as
bad. No matter what form or
place of punishment he goes to,
he will suffer just as much as
the bible says he shall suffer. In
some form he shall suffer eternal
death. In some form there shall
feed upon him a worm that nev
er dies. He shall suffer the
pangs of everlasting shame and
contempt. In some place every
unrepented sinner shall find his|
hell* at some time he shall bet
eternally lost; in some way he
shall feel the flames of an eter
nal fire; in some way he shall
take his part in the Jake that
burnetii with fire and brimstone,
and be tormented day and night.
This, my friends, is a faint con
ception of the great penalty that.
God has placed upon sin. There
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is the penalty of lost happiness,
of earthly misery, of hopeless
death and future suffering. When
we consider the great price that
must be paid for sin, can we not
say with the psalmist, “Blessed
is the man whose transgression
forgiven, whose sins are cov
ered.”
In the last place, I would say
that the blessedness of the man
whose sin is forgiven is shown
by the fact that to every pardon
ed sinner there must come the
happiness of heaven. Our hu
man understanding cannot lead
us far into this weird unknown
country. We must not be wise
above that which is written, for
we know that “eye hath not seen
nor ear heard, neither have en
tered into the heart of man, the
things which God hath prepared
for them that love him.” Per
haps we all have our ideas of
heaven, and these ideas cliange
with the changing years. In
childhood, heaven seems a place
strange and faraway; a place of
pearly gates, id’ golden streets
and white-robed angels. In old
old age. I suppose heaven must
become a homeland not very far
away; a place where all burdens
and trials are laid aside; a place
where waits many a. well known
face -a place where we shall meet
our loved ones again. What
ever way be our opinions, there
are some points concerning which
the bible speaks plairdy. We
shall no longer see through a
glass darkly, but we shall see
our Father face Io face and re
joice in his love. All sin and
weakness shall be taken away.
Our powers shall be enlarged and
our services broadened. We shall
have fellowship with an innumer
able company of angels and just
men made perfect. We shall re
joice in communion with the lov
ed ones who have gone before
and those who have followed al
ter. The. bible, tells us plainly that
every pardoned sinner goes to a
place where he shall enjoy el er
nal life, a place that needs not
the light of sun or moon because
it is illuminated by Hie glory ol
God. It is a place where the weary
shall always find rest, where the
tears shall be wiped away from
weeping eyes; a place where
mourning and crying and pain
and wickedness shall not. be able
to enter. It is a place never
darkened by the shadow of death
There are no mournful farewells
-no empty places of friends who
were once with us no vacant
ehairs at the festal board, no
lamentation for those who are
not, no solitary survivor longing
for his own dismissal. In speak
ing of the heavenly .Jerusalem
and of the new heaven and new
earth the apostle John uses th
phrase, “and there was no mo
va.” Perhaps we cannot be
certain as to the meaning of
these words, but they may be
construed into an expression of
great beauty. You will remem
ber that John is now an old man
banished upon the isle of Patmos,
lie passes his days upon this lone
ly spot, and all around Idin is
the endless, surging sea. As John
gazes upon the sea,, he realizes
that it is shutting him off from
his father’s house ami from his
people whom he loves. He real
izes that this sea lies between
him and the people to whon he
would break the bread of lite,
and before whom he would hold
up Jesus Christ. As John gaz
ed upon the battling waves, they
were to him a picture of the trial
and battles of life. How natural
then that Joint should look up
on heaven as a place where there
was no more sea. No more sea
to separate him from his fath
er’s house, no more sea. to shut
him off from the things and pro
pie he loved, no more sea to re
mind him of the trials and bat
tles of this world. According Io
Dr. MeLoren, John saw '‘the
quiet of I lie green inland valleys
of our bather’s land, where no
tempest comes any more, nor
the land winds are ever heard,
nor Ihe stilt, sea is ever seen ; Iml
perpetual ealm and blessedness;
all mystery gone, ami all re
bellion hushed ami silenced, and
all unrest at an end forever.
“No more sea,’’ but instead of
that wild ami yeasty chaos so
turbulent waters, there shall be
the river that makes glad the
the city of God, the river ot wa
ler of life, that, proceeds’’ out of
of the throne of God and the
Lamb.” Thus my friends, tho’
we sec but through a glass dark
ly, we may catch a glorious vis
ion of the happim-ss that
awaits every pardoned sinner.
Truly did David say, “Blessed
is he whose transgression is for
given, nvliose sin is covered.’’
In conclusion, I would call
your attention to three facts. The
first is that we have all sinned
and come short of the glory of
God. There is no man that doet'
good and sinnetli not. Therefore
we all need to have our sins par
doned.
The second fact is that the
pardon of our sins is conditional.
It is conditioned upon our ac
ceptance of Jesus Christ. There
is none other name under heaven
given among men whereby we
must be saved.
The fact is this, I believe if
we will give the matter an hon
est trial we will find as Bon Jon
son has said, “Many might go
to heaven with half the labor
they go to lull, if they would
venture their industry the right
way.”
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