Alright, we read Isaiah 43, verse
25. First of all, it simply says,
I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine
own sake, and will not remember thy sin. Jeremiah chapter 31,
here's the promise of the new covenant and what it contains.
Jeremiah 31. Verse 31-34, Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according
to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that
I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt,
which my covenant they break, although I was an husband unto
them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,
said the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall
be my people." Now watch verse 34, "...and they shall teach
no more every man his neighbor, every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord, for they shall all know Me from the least of
them, even unto the greatest, saith the Lord. For I will forgive
their iniquity and remember their sin no more." Now, a passage
from Hebrews chapter 8, where the Apostle quotes from the Old
Testament, Hebrews chapter 8. And verse 12, he has listed again
that covenant. But in verse 12, For I will be
merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. Now we have 3 or 4 texts here
declaring that God will forget or will not remember the sins
of His people. I start by asking you the question,
does it seem a little strange unto our ears that the eternal,
omniscient, all-knowing God should have attributed unto Him the
ability to forget anything? Can anything pass out of God's
mind, never to return again? Can something that was once so
clear to Him pass into oblivion? And is this a perfection or a
defect in our Heavenly Father? If one thing He may forget, what
about others? If God can forget something,
then what about other things as well? As for example, Psalm
79 and verse 9, can God forget to be gracious? The psalmist
asked that question. Has God forgotten to be gracious? They were in a strait, in trouble,
in temptation. And the question is raised, has
God forgotten to be gracious? Can He forget to maintain His
graciousness when His children are in some deep distress? And the highest question of all
pertaining unto that, can God forget something so odious and
detestable as that of sin. It is usually so with people
that the thing that they are least likely to forget is something
awful and tragic and sad that brings them great trouble or
sorrow or, on the other hand, They're not likely to forget
something that is wonderful and joy and happy and a blessedness
unto them. In Scripture, it is said, both,
that God remembers and that He forgets. We read of His remembering
several times in Scripture. Genesis 8 and verse 1, Noah floating
in that ark upon the great flood, but it is said, and God remembered
Noah in the ark. Again, in Exodus 2 and 24, when
the children of Israel moaned and groaned under the Egyptian
bondage, it is said that God remembered His covenant with
Abraham. In Psalms 103 and verse 14, God
remembers that we are dust. He knoweth our frame. He remembers
how weak and frail that we are. Spurgeon wrote on this verse,
he always takes our frailty into account when dividing out unto
us our lot. Hebrews 6 and 10, God is not
unrighteous to forget your work and your labor of love. We even
read Malachi 3 and verse 16 of a book of remembrance that is
written up and held before the mind of God. So the conclusion
is, God will ever remember His people, He will ever remember
His Word, He will ever remember His promise, He will ever remember
His purpose, and He will not forget His covenant. Even in
distress, the people of His love are not forgotten. We may not
be able to discern the presence of the Lord and the sweet peace
of Him, yet He has not forgotten. In their lowest hour, the people
of God are not forgotten. Even in the valley of the shadow
of death, in the painful loss of a loved one, God has not forgotten. It may seem to us that God has
forgotten to be gracious, But Isaiah chapter 49, verse 15 and
16, God likens Himself in a metaphor. He says, Though a woman may forget
the suckling child and the fruit of her womb, that would be, however,
a most unnatural and callous thing to be done. Yet God says,
I will not forget you. Behold, I have graven thee. as in the palm of my hand, so
that thy walls are continually before me." When it is said that
God remembers, it cannot mean that the thing was once out of
His mind and has come in again. And so, to go and to come is
not the idea. Out of His thoughts completely
is not the idea. It is not with God as it is with
us. We may forget a thing, then remember
it again. We may forget a thing for quite
some time, and then all of a sudden it darts into our mind again. We may forget and never remember
again, but it is not so with God. Now, the remembrance of
God, when He is said, I will remember, is His steadfastness
of purpose towards the children of grace. his steadfastness toward
his faithfulness, and his adherence unto his promises which he has
promised, that he will give, or he will do, that which is
determined, and that which he has promised or covenanted to
do. And so we should acknowledge
that such manner of speech as remembering and forgetting will
apply to the eternal God are spoken after the manner of men
for our understanding. Anthropomorphically, we should
say, some things are spoken in the Scripture. They are spoken
in human terms and they are spoken in resembling man, in the likeness
of man, using the common speech of men to understand some of
the things of God. For when God says, He has graven
us, on the palms of His hand, we remember that the Scripture
teaches us that God hath not a body, a corporal body, but
that He is an eternal Spirit. John 4 and verse 24. So, let's
start with a passage in Isaiah chapter 43 and verse 25. As there we have a double expression
for our admonition. concerning the putting away of
our sin. It is spoken to us in two ways. Number one, he said, first of
all, I will blot out thy transgression. And secondly, he goes on to say,
and I will not remember your sin. I will blot them out. I will not remember them. Then
notice something else about this great blessing. such as, who
is the promiser here? It is not simply the prophet
Isaiah. It is none other than Jehovah,
the God of heaven and of earth. For He says this, I, even I,
I am He. I am He that can forgive your
sin and will forgive your sin. And who is there that can forgive
sin but God only? None but God can say to us, and
it be effectual, your sins are forgiven. I hold them not against
you." Then again, notice why God is pleased to do such a thing,
to forgive and to forget the sins of such as have been, without
a doubt, openly rebellious against Him. Said the Lord, for my own
sake. I will do this for my own sake,
not for your sake, not on your account, lest the people might
imagine that such a blessing flows to them because of merit
in themselves, or some qualification, or some disposition by which
we stand worthy of that blessing. The prophet traces these mercies
to their fountain or foundation. the good pleasure of God. I, for my own sake, will blot
out your transgression and will not remember your sin. Calvin
said, it is certain that this is intended as a rebuttal of
any and all merit. Now what he is saying here, rebutts
any merit or worth or goodness in those that are so blessed. in that in pardoning the sin
of his people, God is not in the slightest, not in any way
or degree, moved or influenced by any merit or any demerit that
might be found in those whose sin he is putting away. For in no way, none at all, will
God be in man's debt. Nothing man is, nor nothing man
can do can obligate God to bestow this blessing upon him. None
are too wretched for God to save, and none are so good as to merit
His saving mercy. So whosoever's sin God puts away
is simply according to His good pleasure. For mine own sake,
saith He. Let's revisit the statement which
will lead us to the cross. I will blot out thy transgression. The prophet promises the people
this from God. What at first glance appears
an unusual way to express the forgiveness of sin, I will blot
it out. But it is, on the other hand,
actually a wonderful blessing that we have through the cross
of our Lord. Now, to blot out. I will blot
out by transgression. This week I was reading a real
old-timer, Tobias Criss, many years ago. In an illusion or
allegorical expression, he said, borrowed from men, and the picture
is that of one who owes debt. And those debts are entered into
a book, are put into a ledger, and they are written and recorded
there. And it is not blotted out except
the debtor, the one who owes, pays the debt, or assurity might
pay in his behalf. Now, it is entered there. It
stands against the debtor until it is paid. It is only blotted
out when the debt is paid and is received as a just recompense. Now if you'll pardon an illustration,
but I doubt many of you remember or even did as much as what I'm
about to say now. That is, in the country years
ago in little towns and little stores, long before we had all
these supermarkets everywhere, we would go to the merchant And
the merchant would sell to us on credit. And the merchant would
put our name and items down on the ledger of his little book.
We'd say to him, put that on my account. A little sack of
groceries. He'd get his little ledger book
out, open it up to our name, get his pencil off of his ear,
lick the end of it, and write down on that ledger book what
we had bought and what we owed. And it stayed there until come
payday, or we brought the crops in and made about $12 more than
we spent for them. Then we'd go and pay and settle
up, and that debt would be crossed out. It would be blotted out. You do the same thing now, except
it is called a credit card, and you just sign for it, and it
is the same. Even so, our sins are pictured
as debts, debts requiring a price to be paid. They are outstanding. They are beyond and above our
ability to pay. And for them to remain unpaid
makes us liable to the debtor's prison. But as Isaiah 43.25 I
will blot out by transgression." Now, coming to the cross, Paul
writes of it in Colossians 2 in verse 14. He said there when
the Lord died, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that
was against us, which was contrary to us, took it out of His way. And what did He do with it? Nailing
it unto His cross. Now, it seems that we must connect
the last part of Colossians 2, verse 14. In verse 14, having
forgiven you all trespasses, and then blotting out the handwriting. Now, some would render this as
bond. Others call it, and rightly so,
a certificate of death. And Paul says that it was against
us. It was against us. It stood against
us. He said it was contrary to us,
and we understand it to mean it was hostile unto us in that
it stood as a debt, and if not paid, a danger was involved. And again, we do not miss the
connection. As well as the tenth, having
forgiven all trespasses, Colossians 2 and verse 13, then having blotted
out, or having covered over, or having cancelled out the dead. And this He did by nailing it
to His cross, the Lord. The bill of indictment against
us was nailed to the cross. This does not refer, however,
as some have thought, to that writing that was put above each
one that was crucified out on Mount Calvary, but is a metaphorical
description of the curse of the law which was against us being
cancelled in the death of Christ, or as Paul figuratively said,
it was nailed under his cross. Lightfoot sees here the abrogation
as being so emphatic so as to express not only was the certificate
blotted out, not only was it erased, but it was actually torn
up and thrown away. John Davenant, in his commentary
on the Colossal Epistle, a rather large commentary it is, notes
the threefold description of the Anulma. A. It was blotted out. Blotted out. Erased. B. It was taken out of the way. C. It was nailed to the cross. And in those three things, It
is completely gone. And at one time and the same,
yes, sin and the law have lost their condemning power to those
that Christ has died for. That's because He bore our sin
in His own body on the tree, and bore the curse of the law
in our stead and behalf. And by that, therefore, they
are rightly blotted out. so as to be remembered against
us no more. And whose sins are they which
are blotted out? Only the Jews? Only the Gentiles? All without exception? All upon
the face of the earth? Or is it the covenant people,
those chosen in Christ? For it is clear that not all
are saved. If their sins were blotted out,
they would be. I will blot out thy transgression. And we see the Lord doing that
at the cross. But coming now to the second
part of the subject, the non-remembrance of sin. And will not remember
thy sin. I will blot them out and I will
not remember them. You have this again in Jeremiah
31 and 34. You have it again in Hebrews
8.12 as we read. You have it again in Hebrews
10.17. But what is the ground and the
nature of this blessing that our sins are blotted and not
remembered? Some might argue this to be an
impossibility that God has not the ability to raise something
which has happened from His mind. And yet in the texts that are
before us, we have no less than four clear declarations, I will
remember thy sins no more. Now how does he say, I will remember
your sins no more? Is it that we have ceased all
of our sinning? For Christians do sin, and when
they do, the blood of Christ cleanses them. As we heard this
morning, when we sin, we have an advocate with the Father. His blood washes us, 1 John 1
and 1 John 2, 1 and 2. And the saints of God are continually
confessing their sin. And the wicked one is continually
accusing them before God and the throne of God. We must understand,
therefore, This is a covenant blessing. That our sins are blotted
out and they'll be remembered against us no more is a covenant
blessing. For the Lord, our God, has said
in that text in Jeremiah, quoted in Hebrews 8, I will make a covenant,
a new covenant, a better covenant, an everlasting covenant, and
the essence of that covenant is as follows. A. God would put His law into the
hearts of those whom He takes in covenant. B. There would be
a direct revelation, illumination from God to them. And C. Their sins would be put away
completely and forever and ever, remembered no more. Now this
is impressive. This had to be impressive. This had to make a deep impression
on that first century believing Jew who had also lived under
the Old Covenant. When, as Hebrews 10 and 4, under
the Old Testament sacrificial system, there was a remembrance
made again of sin every year. A remembrance was made every
year when a new atonement was made. Each and every year it
was repeated. A yearly remembrance. One reason
being such. Sacrifices could not take away
sin. Hebrews 10 and 4. And so the
worshipers were not purged. Their consciences were not cleared
of guilt. And a remembrance was made of
the people being sinners. Every year repeatedly when Aaron
went in on the day of yearly atonement. My, what an observance
this was. Aaron made atonement first for
himself. First he must wash and bathe
his body. Then he must put on his priestly
garment. Then he must take in a sacrifice
for himself and for his house. And then take one in for the
people. and put on that priestly garment. Kill the sacrifice at the altar. Catch the blood and carry it
and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat. Then Aaron came out on
the Day of Atonement and there was a second goat. And he took
that goat and he pressed his hands down upon the head of the
live goat and confessed over that live goat the sins of all
of the people. And then a man, a fit man, led
that goat off yonder in a desolate place and left him and returned
without him. Put him in a land uninhabited. The margin said a land of separation. And there he released the goat
in that desolate and that uninhabited wilderness place. And this you
have all of it. in Leviticus chapter 16 on the
Day of Atonement. And by all of these things that
were done, a remembrance was made of sin every single year. As an illustration, a family
member may be murdered by three or four thugs and brought to
trial one by one. And each time the family has
to relive the murder, the tragedy, and the sorrow again. Now concerning
this remembrance of sin every year, it is a question raised
by some able expositors as to whether the remembrance pertains
to the people only, or whether it also pertained unto God, or
whether to both, as John Gill thought. It is true, such brought
sin to the remembrance of the people. The whole thing taught
the people what a sinner they were, and reminded them again
of their sinfulness. John Brown was of the opinion
that the remembrance stood on the part of God also, as well
as the people, that sin had not, in their respective sacrifices
of beasts, received the proper atonement that it must have for
it to be put away. And the remembrance of sin was
a means to kindle in the people every year the hope of the coming
of the all-sufficient sacrifice that would be made for sin. While
they observe those temporary ceremonies, they might lift up
their eyes and like Abraham, they might see the Lord's day
afar off and be glad. In the New Covenant, because
the sacrifice for sin is the blood and the death of the God-man,
God's Son, Jesus Christ, a full and sufficient atonement for
sin has been made. There need not be the kind of
remembrance of sin as there was yearly under the Old or the First
Covenant. First we read in Hebrews 8 and
verse 12, 1, I will be merciful to their unrighteousnesses. This is a covenant. Number two,
their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,
which does not mean that He will regard lightly or disregard the
evil of it, for the Word respects the pardon and the forgiveness
of sin by the blood of the new covenant. All forgiveness is
founded upon a proper propitiation or a proper atonement. And the
only proper propitiation for sin is that made by Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God and the Son of God. And in this consists one
of the major improvements over the old covenant. Gil said that
the word merciful Hebrews 8 and verse 12 signifies there very
closely to the word propitious. For the mercy of forgiveness
must be in accord with propitiation. You may recall that wretched
old publican yonder in the temple courtyard as he prayed, bowing
his head, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And he really
said, God be propitious unto me, the sinner. The mercy in
Hebrews 8.12 is toward or in regard to their unrighteousness,
which means their sin against God and against His law. But to repeat it, it is not mercy
apart from propitiation. It is not that at all. It is
not mercy without a proper sacrifice, that would be unrighteous of
God. It is not mercy at the expense
of justice. For Christ died to make God propitious
toward sinners. And again, this is the great
foundation of the new and better and everlasting covenant. Though
it is mentioned last in both Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews chapter
8. And this forgetting, not remembering,
is not accidental on the part of God, not at all. It is not
that he has accidentally forgotten or that something has slipped
his mind. It could not be a temporary lapse
in memory, oh no. It is based upon the fact that
these sins have been propitiated in the death of Christ. Therefore,
they are removed, removed away from the individual. The psalmist
has written something rather wonderful. Psalm 32, 1 and 2,
Blessed are they whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered,
and to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Paul takes that up. makes it applicable and writes
it in Romans chapter 4, verses 7 and verse 8. This is a major,
major branch of justification. The non-imputation of sin. Because they are covered. They
are taken away. Micah 7 and verse 19. Listen. He will cast all their sins in
the depth of the sea." What a picture that is, metaphorically of course.
He will cast all of their sin in the depths of the sea. And
I once heard a preacher say, then he will put up a sign that
says, no fishing. In Psalms 103 and verse 12, He
hath removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. He hath removed our transgressions
from us. Isaiah 38 and verse 17, you have
cast all my sins behind thy back. They are not before his face
and in his remembrance any longer. Now, such text as these, not
only the removal of sin, but at such a distance as cannot
be imagined. As far as the east is from the
west, when east and west never meet, gone by the Lord bearing
them in His own body in His death on the tree. Stephen Sharnock,
another old-time Puritan, put it this way, quote, when sin
is pardoned, it is never charged again. The guilt of it can no
more return than east or west can exchange places, unquote. I have blotted out thy transgression,
I will remember thy sins no more." When we forget a thing, do not
remember it, then it is as if it did not exist. When we forget
something, it is as if it were not. And yet the forgetfulness
of God is not as ours is. He will not remember our sins. and because Christ bore them
away. God does not remember them as
to guilt under condemnation to those that Christ has made satisfaction
for. And there is no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. All of Romans 8 establishes that
fact. Some will call this presumptuous
and dangerous presumption at that to believe or to preach
that the sins of the elect are not remembered against them. How is it presumptuous? How is
it taking too much for granted to believe this? This is not
a man-made doctrine. It is not a man that said this.
It is God Himself who declared that He will not remember their
sins. Others might ask, How can we
reconcile this teaching with divine chastisement or with the
plain teaching of Scripture that God knows and remembers all things
whatsoever there are? Well, it stands that Christ has
so carried away the sin of the elect that they are so received,
the elect are into the grace and the favor of God that he
will not remember their sin. That is, he will not hold them
against them. He will not reckon them or impute
them unto them. This is a part and parcel of
the new covenant and its promise. So much that Tobias Crisp did
write, quote, there is not once a bringing to remembrance with
God any one of their transgressions, unquote. Now, if our heart condemns
us not, or if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart. 1 John 3, 17-21. If friends drudge up our old
sins, yet our heavenly Father remembers them not, for they
are covered by the blood of the Lamb of God. If Satan accuses
us, God will dismiss the charge only in the knowledge of the
truth that those whose sins he bore are perfectly put away,
and thereby have we peace with God and peace in our conscience. Our sins he remembers no more. And the double expression, I
will blot out thy transgression, I will remember thy sins no more. For forgiveness is full, absolute,
and complete. Blotted out Remembered no more,
held against us, not imputed. Two parts of justification, non-imputation
of sin, the imputation of the righteousness of God or of Christ. Okay, thank you for your attention
and let's bow our heads together please for prayer.