Let's begin reading at verse
21. Isaiah chapter 43, verse 21. This people have I formed for
myself, and they shall show forth my praise. But thou hast not
called upon me, O Jacob. Thou hast been weary of me, O
Israel. Thou hast not brought me the
small cattle of thy burnt offerings. Neither have you honored me with
your sacrifices. I have not called you to serve
with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou hast
brought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled
me with the fat of thy sacrifices. But you have made me to serve
with your sins, you have wearied me with your iniquities. I, even I, am he that blotteth
out your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember
your sins. Put me in remembrance, let us
plead together. Declare thou that thou mayest
be justified. Your first father has sinned,
and your teachers have transgressed against me. the blotting out of transgressions.
I have said this before, and I think it is true. If I only
had one word to describe what it meant to be saved, it would
probably be surprise. Surprise. I say that because
we see that in this text that I read to you. of all the things
that he spoke to them about here in verse 22 through verse 24. All the things that they had
omitted to do, and all the sins that they had committed, making
God serve with their sins, not bringing Him the sacrifices.
And when you finish verse 24, You would have a tendency to
think, if you stopped there, that the Lord was ready to say,
You've abused my long-suffering. You've abused my goodness. You've
abused my mercy. And now, my wrath has come. I've whitted my sword, and my
hand is ready to take hold on justice. But instead, we find
verse 25. I, even I, am he that blotteth
out thy transgression." Isn't that a surprise? When he enumerates
all of these sins against this people, and tells them that I
know what you've done, and I know what you've omitted to do, and
yet he turns right around and says, yet I have blotted out
your transgression. Surprise, ain't it? That's what
salvation is. It's a surprise. I haven't got
over it yet. Sometimes when it dawns upon
me that my sins that I feel so keenly sometimes in my conscience
have been blotted out by the very one that I've sinned against,
I'm surprised. But that's what salvation is.
It's a surprise. Look over here in Psalms, whole
Isaiah 43, and look in Psalms chapter 106 and verse 6. You see this throughout
the Scriptures, this surprise of being saved. In Psalms 106
and verse 6, here is what he says. We have sinned with our
Father. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not your
wonders in Egypt. They remember not the multitude
of your mercies. They provoked Him at the Red
Sea, even at the Red Sea. And notice verse 8, He saved them for His namesake
that He might make His mighty power to be known." There is
that element of surprise. He should have destroyed them,
but nevertheless, this word nevertheless means in opposition to something. They should have been destroyed.
Nevertheless, He saved them. He saved them in spite of what
they had done. He saved them in spite of what
they were. Nevertheless, He saved them. Isn't that a surprise? That's
what salvation is. It's a surprise. Nevertheless,
nevertheless, He saved them. Would you have ever dreamed,
knowing yourself, if the Lord taught you anything about yourself
while you were lost? Looking back now, would you have
ever dreamed that you could have had a good hope? I didn't know
what a good hope was. I lived almost on the edge of
despair. For me to have a good hope through
grace, I never thought I could love God. I never thought I would
delight in His Word. I didn't know anything about,
I couldn't have imagined, that my soul would crave to hear the
voice of the Son of God in His gospel. But here I am, and what
a surprise it is. You have made me to serve with
your sin. You have not brought me the sacrifices
that I have commanded you. You have omitted all of these
things and committed all of these things, yet I have blotted out
thy transgression. What a surprise to them. What
a surprise to us. What a surprise to me. Here's one of the things I think
that gives it this element of surprise, and it's this. This
personal pardon from the one that we've sinned against. I. I am He that blotteth out. Thy transgressions. I tell you,
if you're here tonight, this afternoon, the Lord has taught
you something about the evil of your sin against Him. I mean, He's made you to feel
it upon your conscience. He's made you to carry something
of the weight of it. You know something about sin
and its evil against God. I'll tell you one of the most
wonderful things. is to have God whom you've sinned
against personally forgive you. Here is a personal pardon. I whom you've sinned against,
I whom you've omitted these things that you should have done, against
me have you sinned and done this evil in my sight. Yet, I tell
you personally, I have blotted out your Transgression. I know I'd be preaching to the
choir if I told you this afternoon that it would do you no good
to go down to St. Anne's Church and confess to
some priest. I know that you know that as
well as I do. He has no more authority to tell
you or forgive you your sins than I
do or anybody else. What is that they call that?
When the priest absolves you of your sin. Wouldn't you love
to ask one of them, where did you get this authority? Who gave
you this authority? Remember the woman who came to
the Lord Jesus? And she was a sinner in the town.
And she was so troubled over her sin, And the Lord Jesus said
to that woman, Woman, I know all your sins. I know how many
sins you've committed against me. Your sins are many. Wouldn't
it have been a perfect time for the Lord Jesus Christ to have
looked over at Peter and said, Peter, would you tell her, I
said, that she is forgiven? That would have been a perfect time if the
Lord was going to put forgiveness in a mere man's hands to put
them in Peter's hands, wouldn't he? But he didn't do that. I
doubt if it would have done that woman much good if Peter had
said unto her, the Lord Jesus forgives you. You know what she
would have probably said? Let him tell me. That will satisfy
me. Let him tell me. And that's what
he did. He looked at her and said, Woman,
thy sins are forgiven. Go in peace. That's a personal
pardoning. And what a wonderful thing it
is for some man not to have to convince us of that. There are
children of God. There are people who live in
anxiety over this matter. That they're so troubled in their
conscience, these fears and the doubts have arisen in their minds
about this very thing of forgiveness. They want some assurance of it.
I don't want to come down on my deathbed and try to settle
this matter, do you? I want it settled now, while
I'm healthy. Well, I'll tell you this much,
there's but one that can settle this matter. I can take somebody
to some promises in the If we confess our sins, He's faithful
and just to forgive a man of his sins and to cleanse him.
But you know something? Only God can settle the matter
in the conscience. And boy, when He does, it's a
surprise. It's a surprise. I, even I, am He that blotteth
out thy transgression. And I guess when He does it,
we're like Mary. He that is mighty hath done for me." Great thing. Great thing. What's he done for
you, Mary? He's blotted out my transgressions. And he's told me so. He's told
me so. His Spirit has borne witness
with my spirit. A personal pardon. I, even I
am he that blotted out thy transgressions. But it's a just pardon. Did you
notice that? I am he that blotteth out, blotteth
out, not cover over, not excuse, but blots out. This word blot
means to thoroughly remove, to completely wipe off or away,
to take away or to put away. I am he that taketh away, that
puteth away, your transgressions and will not remember your sins. You know love can't atone for
sin. Love can't atone for sin, can
it? You wouldn't be satisfied if
the Lord said, I'm just going to look over your sins because
I love you. You couldn't find much assurance
in that, could you? If he said, you know, because I'm so good,
and because you're trying to get your act together, I'm going
to excuse your sin. I know you're trying, but I'm
just going to look over. Keep an eye on you. Make sure
you keep improving. For I've weighed your sins in
the balance of your good works, and I think your goodness outweighs
your badness. We couldn't rest in such things,
could we? But here is where we get our share of it. I have blotted out. I have taken away. I have put
away your transgressions. You and I want sins to be put
away in a way that is consistent with God's holiness. In a way
that justice is satisfied. I don't want to be saved contrary
to God's law, do you? Would you want to have your sins
blotted out and come before the court of heaven someday and have
the court of heaven to say, I was never satisfied in the blotting
out of your sins. When I look to my sins and have
them forgiven and have them taken away, I cannot have assurance
unless I know it's a way that is consistent with God's holiness. How can God be just, Larry, and
justify me? How can God be holy and pardon
my sins? He does it this way, by blotting
out these transgressions, taking them away, putting them away
from before His face. And how does he do that? Oh,
you can't preach without coming to this blessed old gospel story,
can you? You can't preach without preaching the cross. You can't
talk about forgiveness of sin without talking about substitution.
God transferring our sins, putting them in the body of His Son,
and exacting from Him His body, His soul. everything the justice
of God, the law of God requires to put away sin. Poor sinners, believing sinners,
as vile as they are in their own eyes, can rest confidently
knowing that the strictest judgment justice of God will never pronounce
their pardon void. The strictest justice of God
will never pronounce their pardon void. Why? Because justice is
satisfied in their pardon. Sin has been blotted out. It
has been cleansed away, purged by the sufferings and death of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Your sins shall be sought for,
and they shall not be found." Why? Blotted out. Washed away. Taken away. Something else we find here in
this part, and that's this. It's a complete pardon. It's
a complete pardon. I don't know what kind of sins
these people were guilty of. A lot of omission. We know that. You know omission will damn a
person as well as commission. He that knows to do good and
does it not, he's a guilty man. To him it's sin. And these fellows
had omitted a lot of things that God told them to do. But notice what he did. He said,
I've gathered all of these sins up like a cloud. And I've blotted them all out
with one tremendous swipe of grace and blood wanting them
all away, they're gone. Put them all together in a basket,
and I've thrown them into the depths of the sea where they'll
never be remembered against you again. I've got a back that I
can't see behind, and that's where I've put them. I've grounded
them as I grounded Pharaoh's soldiers in the blood of my dear
son, of complete pardon. They're All of them, the sins
of omission and the sins of commission, I have blotted out as a cloud. And you won't find a one of them.
You won't find a one of them. How often sins bother us. How often pardoned sins bother
us. But we're not guilty of them
before God. Because they're blotted out. We may see them, but he
don't. He's blotted them out. One of
my favorite verses, Colossians chapter 2. He hath forgiven you all trespasses. All trespasses. Every one of
them. Every one of them. The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us of all sin. Brothers, if you're
not surprised, if you sisters aren't surprised with that, then
get a hold of it, and you will be. All my sins, everything that
I've committed, everything that I've omitted, it's all blotted
out. That's what He says. I blotted it out. as a cloud. Over here in the 44th chapter
in verse 22, look what he said. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgression. A thick cloud. Yes, your sins
are many. But he's blotted it all out as
a thick cloud. that had darkened heaven where
you could not see the face of God smile, but he blotted it
out. Thick cloud. The man wants to
know how many sins he has. The Lord knows. And he says it
is like a thick cloud. A thick cloud. Well, we were
downtown the other evening and there came a cloud. Some of you
may have seen it if you were in this area. darkest cloud I've
ever seen in my life. It was light over here and dark
over here. Pitch dark over here and light
over here. And that was the ugliest, darkest
cloud, the thickest cloud. There was no light coming through
it at all. That's what our sins is like.
A thick cloud. And yet he says, I blotted it
out. I've said this before, but brothers and sisters, this is
true. If you could stand on the East
Coast, and every time you took a step walking towards the West
Coast, you confessed a sin, you'd run out of space before
you'd run out of sins to confess. You'd start walking down on the
East Coast and you'd hit the West Coast and you'd still be
confessing sin. Many, many sins. And yet what does he say? I have
blotted him out as a clown. A complete pardon. And notice
fifthly this. It's a gracious pardon. It's
a gracious pardon. What does that mean when he says,
for my name's sake? For my name's sake. I have pardoned
your sin, all of them, for my name's sake." Do you know what
that means? That means we're not entitled
to it. It's not something God is obligated
to do because he sees something in us that obligates it. It means
that we can't earn it. that we can't merit it, we can't
pay for it in any way, it means he does it for his own sake. For his name. That's the sole
prerogative of God to forgive sins. But he does it on this
one condition. He does it for his sake. For
Christ's sake. And you can just go ahead and
put Christ's name in there when he says, for my name's sake,
for Christ's sake, I've blotted out your transgression. For Christ's
sake, I will not remember your sins. I tell you, brothers and
sisters, I don't know if there's a sin except the sin against
the Holy Ghost that God will not forgive for Christ's sake. He said all manner of sin and
blasphemy would be forgiven the sons of men. God required of
the Lord Jesus Christ a full payment for sin. And the Lord
Jesus Christ rendered to the Father that payment. And now
the Father is going to reward the Son. He is going to reward
the Son. He is going to give Him a full
reward for what He has done upon Calvary's tree. And here's His
reward, blotting out these transgressions. That's the very way Jesus Christ
has gotten Himself a great name in this world. Do you know that?
He's the greatest name that has ever been known in this world.
There's never been a name like His name. People praise His name. They worship in His name. They
approach God in His name. They hope in His name. And you know why they do that?
Because it's connected with the blotting out of their sins. That's
why they glory in Him. God has saved me for Christ's
sake. God has forgiven me all for Christ's
sake. Christ is the name of God. All
for Thy name's sake. For Thy name's sake. Oh, He's
the grounds of forgiveness for Christ's sake. And He just keeps
on, keeps on, keeps on forgiving us for Christ's sake. For Christ's
sake. You and I look at ourselves and
in our own eyes and in our own hearts. Are we getting any better? I ain't bragging too much, are
you? I sure ain't bragging too much. If anything, I'm getting
worse in my own eyes. I need more grace today than
I've ever needed in my life. But you know something? I find
great assurance and comfort in this, that on the right hand
of God, there's just one that God has
accepted me in, and will forgive all my sins
for his sake. And though I may feel like I'm
getting worse in my own eyes and more vile every year that
I live, I find great assurance in knowing that I'm not accepted
for my sake, but for another's. Thy name's sake. Thy name's sake. And you know something? He never
changes. We change, but He never changes. He never changed. If God will
forgive for Christ's sake 2,000 years ago, He'll forgive for
Christ's sake today. For Christ's sake. I have blotted
out that transgression. Boy, this just throws the door
wide open, don't it? This throws the door of mercy
wide open. I don't care who the man is. I don't care who he is. This throws the door of mercy
wide open to him. Oh, you don't know me. No, I
don't. I don't know what you've done.
How you've fallen and how immoral you are, I have no idea. Don't
know who you are, what your title is, and what you've done or anything
else. And don't want to know. Don't care. But I don't care who you are
or what you've done. There's forgiveness in Jesus Christ for
it all. For my name's sake. I tell you, there's the ground
to go pleading for mercy on men. Let a man put his sins in one
heaping basket, if he can find one that big, and take them all
to God's feet, and say, Can you forgive all of this for Christ's
sake? Oh, there's a plea for anything.
I hope nobody accuses us of shutting the door on anybody. We're not
shutting the door on nobody, are we? We're opening the door
wide open. The door of mercy is wide, but
it's the door of mercy. And sixthly and lastly about
this pardon, this blotting out of sins, it is an irreversible
pardon. Did you notice that? I am he
that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake, and will not
remember thy sins. Irreversible. It is not that
somewhere down the road God is going to change his mind. and
say, I've been watching you, and you don't really appreciate
what I've done for you, and you haven't lived like I thought
you would have lived, so I'm going to take back. I'm going
to reverse. I'm going to rescind my pardon. No, he said, I'll never. I'll
never. Oh, can you get a hold of that?
Can your heart get a hold of that? I will never. But Lord,
my sins are bothering me. They're not bothering me. Because
I can't remember. Lord, I see my sins. I can't
see them. I can't remember them. Sometimes
as we grow in grace and knowledge, we see our sins worse than we've
ever seen them before. Used to be we seen them and we
knew they were bad, but now, oh, abominable, wretched, black,
dark sins. And we think because we see them
in a worse light, that God sees them in a worse light. And therefore we think, oh, they're
worse than we thought at first. And God, they must be worse in
His eyes. What if now, after reinvestigation,
He says, oh, wait a minute, I forgive you too quickly. I blotted out
your sins in haste. I've searched, and now your sins
are worse than what I thought they were. I've got to reverse
this. He'll never do it. I will never
remember your transgressions. Oh, God knows all along, brothers
and sisters, what our sin would be. He knew what our sins were
before we ever committed them. Do you realize that? He mysteriously
and wisely took secret search of every sin that we ever committed
before we were born. And he looked at them and said,
What horrible sins! What thick black clouds these
are! But he rounded all the monsters
up and he got them. And he took them back yonder
2,000 years ago. And what did he do with them? He put them in the very bosom
of his holy child, Jesus. Oh, he knows. Jesus knows what
they are because he felt them. He knows how aggravating they
are. He knows how enormous they are. He knows how stinking and vile
and what monsters they are. He's always known. And yet he
says, I promise you this, I will never remember them against you
again. Never. Never. I think when I
come down to my dying pillow, I'm going to have to call upon
this promise. I will never remember your sin.
We were talking, some of us, this morning. It's so important
when you're raising your children to keep them from company that's
not good for them. Bad company. Bad company. Our children are bad enough as
it is because their hearts are corrupt. You put them in certain
company that will nourish and cultivate that corruption. I
tell you, they'll carry that with them the rest of their life.
My mom and dad let me into some company they should have never
let me run with. And I learned some things I wish
I'd have never learned. Got into some habits I wish I'd
have never got into. But the Lord says here, I know
it all. I know it all. I have blotted
out, and I will never remember it against you again. Ain't that a wonderful pardon?
Ain't that a wonderful blotting out? Surprise, ain't it? Surprise. The blotting out itself, the
personal pardon, just pardon, complete pardon, a gracious pardon,
and one that is irreversible. What a pardon! May God bless
his word. Let's pray.