First of all, those four verses
in Psalm 130 and verse 1 through 4. The psalmist cries. You know, the psalmist had great
experience with sinning against God, being under great conviction,
and then being forgiven. So listen as I read. Out of the
depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplication. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness
with thee, that thou might be feared. And the second passage
is Psalm 32 and verses 1 and 2. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered, blessed
is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity." Those
are our texts today, and there will be many more as we consider
that it is God's sovereign prerogative to forgive sin. how He will forgive
sin, whose sin He will forgive, and why and what ground God will
forgive sin will all come before us today. Recently, in fact last
Sunday evening, we had our study from the third chapter of the
book of Genesis, how the serpent beguiled Eve and tempted her
and Adam and Eve both ate of the forbidden tree in the garden. And how sin entered into the
world. How it got into the human family
in that way. Corruption of nature in the first
pair, our parents Adam and Eve. And the deadly and the long-lasting
consequences of their sin. Because their sin and death had
passed upon all, this corruption of nature is passed down by natural
procreation. We all, like David, are born
in sin and shapen in iniquity. His confession is the confession
of all who have become acquainted with their own heart and their
own sin. All are gone astray, the Scriptures
teach us. All are unrighteous. There is
not one that is righteous. The whole world is become guilty
before God, as Paul said in Romans 3 and verse 20. All lie in wickedness
and all are in rebellion against God until there is a work of
grace in the heart. Now, let's go back to the beginning.
In the beginning, God, the Scripture said, created the heavens and
the earth and all things that are therein. And all things which
he had created were good in his sight, as he looked upon them
in their finished state. At that time, the heavens and
the earth was good, and the heavens were pure in his sight. Then
sin entered into both heaven and the earth. Sin entered into
if we may say it, the creation. Sin entered in both the angelic
family as well as the human family. And not only that, but it brought
disorder in God's creation. Owen put it like this, quote,
the entrance of sin cast all of this into confusion and brought
a curse upon the things that are here below, unquote. And we hasten to add, the entrance
of sin into the angels into man and into the world, in no way
came as a surprise to our great and sovereign and all-knowing
God. In no way did the entrance of
sin catch God off of His guard. In no way did the entrance of
sin frustrate the purpose or the plan of God. Because Scripture
tells us, and that very plainly, that before the world began,
before the creation of Adam and Eve, and before they sinned and
they fell, that God had even then formed a saving purpose
for the restitution of all things and to bring them into a better
and a more permanent order by the death of Christ upon the
cross. As with Noah, he provided the
remedy before the flood ever came and took them all away. Even so, in Revelation 13 and
verse 8, Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Peter writes in 1 Peter 1 and
verse 20 of Christ, who verily was ordained before the foundation
of the world. The Hebrew writer said in chapter
4 and verse 3 that his works were finished before or from
the foundation of the world. And in Ephesians chapter 3 and
verse 11 is a mighty important verse. For there we read of the
eternal purpose of God, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Now that purpose included the
rescue and the saving of sinners. and the elevating of them unto
unspeakable glory by and through Christ. And this purpose was
both established and executed in and through Christ Jesus. In Ephesians 3 and verse 10,
Paul speaks there of the manifold wisdom of God. My, that word
is picturesque and expressive when we study it and when we
trace it out. Meaning, as it were, the many-faceted,
the many-faceted, the multi-faceted wisdoms of Almighty God, the
many-sided or the multifarious wisdom of the great God in heaven. Now, concerning the forgiveness
of sin and the recovery of sinners out of the fall, here are some
evident truths for us to consider before we go on our way. It's with our subject today,
God's prerogative to forgive sin. First of all, we remember
that all sin is against God. There is not a sin that you could
mention, but what is directly and foremost against God. The second thing that we remember,
only God can forgive sin. None other but God is able to
forgive sin. Sin is directly against God,
therefore only He can forgive it and has the prerogative to
do so. Number three, only God can fix
or set the terms of forgiveness. Sin, I mean, will only be put
away in the manner of God's designing and to His satisfaction. We remember
fourthly, sin will only be forgiven. in, through, and by the suffering
and death of Jesus Christ upon the cross, the very beloved Son
of God. And to put this all then into
proper perspective, the forgiveness of sin is the sovereign prerogative
of God. that He will forgive sin, how
He will provide forgiveness, and even whose sins the Lord
will forgive or will remit. Now let's go back to the entrance
of sin into the world by Adam and Eve. When they sinned and
they fell, then and there, It became the sovereign prerogative
of God what action that He would take. He might have killed them
and created another pair in their place. He might have cast them
then and there down to hell, even as He did the angel. Or He might have made an end
of the race there, that it had never been propagated. or He
would forgive and put away their sin and restore them again to
fellowship with Himself. Now, in order that we might get
a good example of the sovereign prerogative of God in forgiving
sin, let us compare His dealing with the angels that sin, that
we read about in the Word of the Lord. And then also we'll
consider his dealing with Adam and with Eve after they had sinned. Now, there were angels that sinned. 2 Peter 2 and verse 4. And these angels that sinned
left their first estate. We find that in Jude and the
6th verse. And they were cast down then
unto hell. God made no provision for their
forgiveness or for their recovery or for a restoration to their
once happy condition in heaven. Christ has nothing to do with
saving the angel. as in Hebrews 2 and verse 16. He took not hold of angels, but
He took hold of the seed of Abraham. The angels that fell, this means
then that they are hopelessly condemned without a remedy. God has provided no remedy for
the angels that sin, apostatized, left their first estate, and
were cast down into hell. Now, I wondered as I was studying
for this message why the Universalists do not make a complaint out of
this. Is this unfair, as we sometimes
hear them say, that God does not provide a, quote, chance,
unquote, for the angels to be restored? Does He not extend
to the apostate angels any hope or remedy of a recovery that
they might be reinstated again? in fellowship and closeness to
God. No, the scripture teaches us
they were cut off and that without a remedy. But I tell you, this
is not a blemish, this is not a spot upon the character and
the holiness of our God. But we're not considering this
case of the angels this morning. We're considering the issue of
sin in the human family, and we are faced with the fact that
many are not forgiven their sins. You have to agree with that,
I presume. The fact that many are not forgiven
their sin, that many, according to the Scripture, die in their
sin, according to the words of Jesus in John 8.21 and again
in 8.24. Now, of course, the Arminian
Universalists would agree with the last statements that many
die in their sin unforgiven, that they perish in their sin,
and that they even receive the just reward of their sin and
of their deed. But at the same time, the Universalist
Arminian would insist that forgiveness was available and that it was
possible and that it awaits all mankind whatever. Thus later
we might speak of the intent and the extent of the atonement
of Christ our Lord as God designed it for His own use. under the question for whom did
Christ die a little bit later in our study. Now, as we work
our way further into and upon this subject, let's go over the
points again and that we might expand upon them. Here is our premise today. To forgive sin is the sovereign
prerogative of God. And just so we understand the
word prerogative, it means an exclusive, personal, special
right. A right or a privilege. The dictionary
defines the meaning to be a right or a privilege that no one else
has, such as one who is a high or a powerful official who is
able to do exactly as they please. But God can forgive sin, and
it is His sovereign prerogative or right to forgive or not forgive. He is under no obligation outside
of Himself to forgive sin. He is dealing with one or some
does not oblige him to deal with others in the exact same way. For example, that he forgives
the sins of humans does not obligate him to forgive the sins of the
angel. And that he forgives the sins
of some men does not oblige him to forgive the sins of all men. without exception. Let's reason. Must God always
ensure that all have the same exact degree of good health,
or live the same long, happy, and prosperous life, or the same
social standing? Is God under obligation to see
that all are equal in all of these things. I think we see
a great example of the sovereign prerogative of God to put away
sin in the life of King David in the Old Testament. And we'll
be looking at 2 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 13 as a proof text
here. Who is there who has not heard
of the sin, or the sins plural, of David? Adultery, murder, and
more. Methinks that Gil was right in
assessing David between his sin and his recovery when Gil wrote
these words, quote, David for a time was under a great stupidity
of mind, insensible of the evil that he had committed, and did
not seem to have any remorse of conscience." Now the prophet
Nathan came to David there in 2 Samuel chapter 12 to expose
his sin and to light a fire of conviction in the king. And then he tells the king something
in 2 Kings chapter 12 and 13, something amazing. The Lord has
put away your sin. You will not die. How be it? The prophet said his
house would be under the judgment of God. The sword would never
depart out or away from his house. Evil would arise. out of his
very own house and family, his wives would be defiled before
the Son in the sight of all, and to cap it off, the child
that is born unto thee shall surely die. Now, but as grievous
as was the sin of David, which is detailed in this very chapter,
caused Uriah to be killed, taken away his wife to become the wife
of David, in verse 9, and in verse 14, his sin had given occasion
to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme against God and His
way and His Word. And yet the prophet Nathan assures
David, the Lord has put away your sin, thy sin. As a result, he would not die. That is, David would not. He
would not die. for that sin that he had committed,
even though the sin brought the sentence of death upon many others
in Israel. Now when he says to him, you're
not going to die, He is not promising the king perpetual or absolute
immunity from physical death. That's not the point. It is not
that he would never die because David did die. He died and he
saw corruption. Acts 13 and 36, Paul says, he
was dead and he's buried, Peter said in Acts 2 and verse 29. In 1 Kings 2 and verse 10, you
have the record. David slept with his fathers
and was buried in the city of David. And in Nehemiah 3 and
16, you have them repairing or refurbishing the sepulcher of
David when they came back to rebuild Jerusalem. So the meaning
is not that David would never physically die. Though David
had committed two sins that were punishable by death, God would
suspend the sentence of death in the case of David. He would
not die the death, of one cursed by the law. We must remember
in this chapter, back in verse 5, that David had unwittingly
passed the sentence of death upon himself when he heard the
parable of the prophet Nathan. He passed sentence or judgment
upon himself, saying, The man that has done this shall surely
die. But God, by His sovereign prerogative,
did impose a sentence of death upon the child Verse 13 and 14,
you will not die, how be it the child born unto you shall surely
die. This caused Matthew Henry in
his commentary on that place to write these words, quote,
behold the sovereignty of God, the guilty parent lives and the
innocent infant dies." In other words, God let the guilty one
live, visited his sin upon an innocent one. He lifted the sin
off of David and lifted off the punishment due his sin, and he
let it fall in his sovereign prerogative upon his house, upon
his wife, and even upon that little infant son. Now, we ought
to point out that David's heart and conscience had been smitten
prior to the announcement of the prophet. God had granted
him repentance before these words were spoken to him. He heard
the parable. He heard Nathan say, Thou art
the man And he said in verse 13, I have sinned against the
Lord. And see how far, see how high
he carries that confession in the 51st Psalm and verses 1 through
5. You know, it is common with God
to drive home our sin to the conscience and to light the fires
of conviction within us before He applies the sweet balm of
pardoning grace and everlasting mercy. Because the more bitter
the conviction, the sweeter is the forgiveness. The greater
the sin, the sweeter the forgiveness. When God puts them away, He seals
up that forgiveness in our consciences and in our heart. Oh, how sweet
it is when God seals to us that great forgiveness. Now let me
say something else, and that is that the forgiveness of sin
is optional with God. The forgiveness of sin is optional
with God, by which I mean the following. He is not obligated
to forgive sin. He's under no necessity to forgive,
else it would be not of grace at all. He owes none a pardon. He is no man's debtor. Absolutely not. Just as He will
be merciful to whom He will, have compassion upon whom He
will. Exodus 33, 19 quoted by Paul
in Romans chapter 9 and verse 15. Even so, He extends His forgiveness
to whom He will. He puts away the sin of whomsoever
He will, cancels the power of sin and of death in behalf of
whom He would, not imputing their trespasses unto them." Now, I
said that, let me say this, that it is no blot upon God's name
or character or justice that He leaves some in their sin and
that He makes no provision for their forgiveness. For consider,
if you might, a passage found in Joshua chapter 24 and verse
14 through 25, I do not intend to read all of that, but
especially calling your attention to verse 19. And Joshua said
unto the people, You cannot serve the Lord, for He is an holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions
nor your sins. Unquote. That is, He will not
forgive unless you put away completely all of your allegiance to any
and every other God, including those your fathers worshipped
on the other side of the flood. Jeremiah 18 and verse 23. where the prophet Jeremiah prays
a prayer that we might call a deprecatory prayer against the enemies of
the Lord and the enemies of His people, saying this, Forgive
not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from their sight,
but let them be overthrown before Thee. He prays against them. He prays that God would not be
gracious but that their sins would not be forgiven. All of
us are familiar with that in Matthew 12 and verse 31. A sin that Jesus said has neither
forgiveness in this world nor the world to come, the sin of
blasphemy. We re-emphasize the fact that
only God can forgive sin. Oh sure, we can forgive one another,
as Paul said in Ephesians 4 and 32, Colossians 3 and 13. We can, should, and do forgive
one another, but not in a justifying or in a saving sense. Some scribes
came to our Lord, and in Mark 2, verse 1 through 12, they heard
the Lord tell that crippled man, you know, that was brought and
let down through the roof. The Lord said to him, Son, thy
sins are forgiven you, in verse 5. And they reckoned that they
had heard blaspheming, and they ask incredulously one among the
other. That is in disbelief. Who but God can forgive sin? Again, it's in Luke 5 and verse
21, the same account. Who but God is able to forgive
sin? In that, to a point, they were
right. In Job 14 and verse 4, who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean? Not one man. It means nothing when the priest
says from his little booth, Thy sins are forgiven you. It means everything when the
Lord Jesus Christ says, Thy sins are forgiven you. Go and sin
no more, neither do I condemn thee. The words of the Lord have
power to affect it. The words of men do not. Now, the scribes were right in
principle that only God can forgive sin, but they missed a vital
point, that Jesus Christ, forgiving the sins of men, is an evidence
of His deity. that the Lord said, Your sins
are forgiven you. Only He that is true God can
forgive sin. If Jesus is divine, then He can
forgive sin. If He can forgive sin, it is
because He is very God. Now, God forgives sin. He forgives
sinners their sin. And this forgiveness or pardon
is absolutely necessary as a part of justification. For God will
not justify without a proper pardon or a putting away of sin. There can be no proper pardon
without a proper sacrifice for the sins of those He forgave,
God's forgiveness is not Him looking the other way. It's not
God just simply ignoring them as if they did not exist. It's not simply letting them
go unpunished and having no punishment. He does not forgive sin in such
a way that His justice is tarnished or His character is blotted. He requires a full, absolute
satisfaction for sin. As Owen put it, remission without
satisfaction is impossible. Yes, it is. Every sin forgiven
must have a just recompense of reward. And Christ, by His death,
has given satisfaction to the law and the curse of the law
and he has answered fully the punitory justice of God, punitory
meaning punishment inflicted as a due result. This means that
there is not, there cannot be any forgiveness of sin across
from the separate from the power of Christ's blood and His death. No sins are forgiven unless they
have been imputed to Christ, unless God made them to light
upon His blessed Son, and the Son gave And the Father received
from him a full satisfaction for every sin the Father intends
to forgive. In no way can the forgiveness
of sin bypass the blood, the suffering, and the death of Jesus
Christ. God will not, God does not, God
cannot forgive sin apart from the death of Jesus Christ. It is the fact that sin is such
an infinite, infinite offense against God that He has fixed
it to have and infinite punishment in order to put it away. God determined that nothing will
be a sufficient satisfaction for sin except the suffering,
the death, the blood, the offering of His own beloved Son. And when that Son was on the
cross, the Lord God exacted from Him the price of our redemption
in full. Having done so, he therefore
is faithful to forgive every sin which Christ bore in his
body upon the tree. This involves particular redemption,
a special atonement, definite atonement for sin and for sinners. Now, I'm going to make a point.
You need to consider it and you might use it against them. Armenians
have no problem with double jeopardy concerning the sins and the suffering
of men. That is, I mean they have no
problem that some have their sins punished once and twice. Twice their sins are punished
and they have no problem. Once in the cross, they say,
and again in the sinner in hell. The only way they can justify
this double jeopardy, that sinners may yet suffer for the same sin
that Christ suffered for, is to say that the sinner neglected
to accept and appropriate the death of our Lord as payment
for their sin, and so because they didn't accept it, they then
must also personally pay. But this ignores the fact that
Christ paid to God, and God accepted of and from Christ, a ransom. He gave himself to God a ransom. And God the Father received it
as just payment. The surety, Christ, the surety
of the covenant, paid our debt of sin. He answered it all. He's the surety. Hebrews 7 and
verse 22. Therefore God has counted the debt paid and
cancels it out by His free grace and mercy. As God has for Christ's
sake forgiven you, Paul said. Look at that in Ephesians 4 and
32. God for Christ's sake has forgiven
you. Or as some think the text should
read, as God in Christ hath forgiven you." The forgiveness
coming through and by Christ. And it is then applied to the
hearts and the consciences of those who are forgiven. They have that witness in themselves. Thank God that load of sin has
been lifted off of the conscience. We are forgiven. The witness
in ourselves as a result of regeneration and the application of the grace
of God unto the heart. And as they have the witness
in themselves that they are the children of God, Romans 8, 16,
Galatians 4, and verse 6. Even so, they have the witness
in themselves that their sins are forgiven. And as our opening
text said, Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. Highly blessed is the man or
the woman unto whom God will not impute iniquity, imputing
it to Christ, but not unto them. 2 Corinthians 5, 19 through verse
21. Forgiveness then, applied by
the Holy Spirit, speaks peace to us by the cleansing blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a necessary work to let
the soul serve God in spirit and in truth. Who can serve God
who has a heavy guilt upon their soul that their sins are not
remitted? Happy was the day. when the Spirit
of God seals up the message in our heart. Be of good cheer. I have forgiven you. Your sins
are forgiven. And I close with the words of
our opening text. Happy, blessed, fortunate to
be envied is the forgiven one. Blessed is the man whose sins
are forgiven. They have been lifted off. They
have been removed as far as the east is from the west. They have
been forgiven. They have been cast behind God's
back into the sea of His forgetfulness, never to be remembered anymore. As long as you have a guilt of
sin, you cannot properly, freely serve the Lord in spirit and
in truth. But in chains and in legalism,
if you don't think you have forgiven your sins, it is a heavy weight
to carry around. But what a blessing! Thy sins
are forgiven. And that's God's prerogative
to save and forgive the sins of whom He would and whom He
designed.