Does everybody have a copy of the handout? Yeah? Okay. So the question tonight is not, is God able to forgive my sins? Hopefully there would be no one here that doubts that. But the question is very deliberate. Is God also willing to forgive my sins? Because that's the question that I've been confronted with over and over again, also in my pastoral experience. And some of us may have grown up with the idea that to know that your sins are forgiven is almost unattainable, and that the assurance of the pardon of sin is but the privilege of very, very few. And so I really want to dispel that notion. I really want to get across to you tonight, not by means of my words, but by means of the word of God itself, that God is not only able, but that he is willing to forgive my sins. Now, having said that, we need to realize What an absolutely vital issue this is. A question that we need to reflect on even tonight. A question, are my sins forgiven? Are your sins forgiven? But that's literally a life and death matter. Because there is nothing worse than to know that your sins are not forgiven. If your sins are not forgiven, that means that the God against whom we have sinned is against us. And if we die without our sins being pardoned, we will face the wrath of God. And so sin is the one thing that separates us from God. And we need to realize, and I include myself, too often I think we have superficial views of sin. We have no idea how serious it is to be a sinner. We have no idea how offensive sin is in the sight of God. We have no idea how sin provokes God to wrath. Of course, we do have a window into that when we consider the cross of Calvary, when we consider what God did to his only begotten son so that he could be the savior of sinners is a window into how God views sin. But that's the wonderful truth of the gospel, is that the God whom we have so infinitely offended, The God to whom our sin is so infinitely offensive, that this God goes out of His way throughout His Word to communicate to us that He is a God who is ready to forgive. That's the opening passage. So what I want to do tonight is I simply want to walk through Scripture with you. I want to show you how this whole theme of the forgiveness of sins is such a pervasive theme of the entire Word of God that that truth comes to us in so many different ways. So it's my hope, it's my hope that the witness of Scripture will encourage you tonight. And even if you're here tonight and you're not certain. whether your sins are pardoned, that this will encourage you to flee to this God who's willing to forgive. So fundamental truth, God is ready to forgive. And the English is somewhat weak. The Dutch is even more beautiful, is a God who delights to forgive sins. So what this means, when we look at that text, look at Psalm 86. It says, Rejoice the soul of thy servant, for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. Here it comes. For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive, and plenty is in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. So what that means, dear friends, what it means, my dear people, is that readiness to forgive, is a revelation of the very character and heart of God. He delights to forgive. It's his favorite work to pardon sinners. That in itself is an amazing and astounding truth. And so right from the very outset, we need to dispense with this whole idea that God is a God who reluctantly pardons. That God is a God who rarely pardons. God is a God whose delight it is to pardon. And I'm sure I've said that here already once in my preaching. And if you have Matthew Henry's commentary, read his commentary on this passage. I love the statement that he makes. And I paraphrase. He said, God is more ready to forgive that we are to repent. Think about that. God is more ready to forgive than we are to repent. And so let's walk through Scripture and see how this truth of God being a pardoning God, God who has done everything to make that pardon available to sinners, how that theme is woven all through Scripture. So, we begin at the very beginning, where we have God accepting, that'd be a great idea, a glass of water. Thank you very much. We have Hebrews 11, verse 4. It says, by faith able, offer unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which He obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaketh. And so why did God declare Abel to be righteous? Because he was a better man than Cain? No. But by grace, Abel understood the gospel that his parents had taught him. God himself, before they left the garden, taught Adam and Eve the gospel, the gospel of pardon on the basis of shed blood. And so the reason why God rejected Cain's sacrifice is because Cain refused to come with a lamb. He rejected God's way of salvation. It's not that there was no pardon for him. Andrew Bonar actually has this wonderful idea where it says, sin lies at the door. He says in Hebrew, he say, God is saying sin, there is a sin offering by the door. In other words, Cain, I can forgive you too. If you submit to my way of redemption, I would be more than willing to pardon you as well. So Abel believed God's, the simple witness of the gospel. And so throughout the Old Testament, we see that God shows his approbation by fire. He is a God who answers by fire. And so most likely, God answered by fire, consumed the sacrifice, and thereby testified to Abel that he was righteous, that he had forgiven his sins. So from the very outset, From the very outset, we have the fundamental gospel that was taught to Adam and Eve. They passed it on to their children. Forgiveness on the basis of shed blood. All right, now we work our way through the Old Testament, and of course, we have the the classic passage of Exodus 33 and 34, that passage that so profoundly impacts the entire Old Testament, a passage to which all of the prophets refer, that incredible revelation of God's character. So in Exodus 33, in Exodus 33, We have Moses longing for God's glory, longing to see God's glory. And God says, I will show you. I will cause all my goodness to pass before you. And I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and so forth. And then comes the passage in Exodus 34. And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. God says, this is who I am. This is who I am. He proclaims his name. And God uses three different types of sin and thereby covering all sin. And so God is saying, I am a God who forgives all manner of sin. What an amazing truth that is. And of course, right after that, he says, I will by no means clear the guilty. Almost seems like a contradiction. But again, remember, The secret to this verse is the cross. It is true. God's character is such that he cannot overlook sin. The God who is ready to forgive sin cannot overlook it. He can by no means clear the guilty. And now we see the wonder of the cross. The cross reconciles this apparent contradiction. And so the cross shows us why God can be more than ready to forgive. It's not because he ignores sin or overlooks sin, because he himself has provided the way in which he, the offended God, can freely pardon sinners. Then we have the institution of the morning and evening sacrifice. Exodus 29. Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar. Two lambs of the first year, day by day continually. And then he says, and I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. So by means of that morning and evening sacrifice, God wanted to affirm every single day, every morning and evening, He wanted to affirm that He was their God for the sake of that sacrifice because of that shed blood that was shed every morning at 9 o'clock, every evening at 3 p.m., morning and evening sacrifice. And so by means of that daily ritual that repeated itself every day for a couple thousand years until Christ came, God was saying every morning to his people, today I am ready to forgive. Here's the evidence. At the end of the day, after they had failed, sinned, he would say, I am still ready to forgive on the basis of the shed blood of that lamb. I am always a God ready to forgive. Seventy times, seven times. So, God went out of His way to teach the people of Israel that He was a gracious God because of that lamb, because of that shed blood of So in Numbers 14, then Moses appeals to this. This is beautiful. Now he says, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great. According as thou hast spoken, saying, the Lord is longsuffering and of great mercy. forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of the third and fourth generation. So Moses is now appealing. He's appealing to this revelation that God gave him in Exodus 34. And now he pleads about this. He says, pardon, I beseech thee. The iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy mercy. And look what he says here. And as thou has forgiven this people from Egypt, even until now. What a beautiful statement, even until now. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy word. So what Moses did, he appealed to the heart of God. He did what we so often see in the Old Testament. They appeal, they take aim at the heart of God. My friends, this shows the character of God. This shows how willing and ready he is to forgive if we come to him in his ordained way. That means, of course, by trusting in the Lamb of God. He is so ready to pardon. That's why it is the pervasive theme of the ceremonial law. Excuse me. is that 10 times, 10 times it is said, and it shall be forgiven them. And so the priests were instructed that if a guilty Israelite came in God's ordained way with the appointed sacrifice, they were commissioned by God to say to that Israelite, Your sin is forgiven. Again, this is the God who's ready to forgive. So of course, we should not be surprised that we find this theme woven throughout the Psalms. Psalm 32, this beautiful Psalm of David that he wrote after he experienced the wonder of pardon even though he was a child of God, and he had sinned greatly. And yet what's so beautiful, when Nathan comes to him, and when Nathan says, Thou art a man, and then when David confesses his sin, Nathan immediately tells him his sin is forgiven. The moment he confesses it, Nathan says, your sin is pardoned. Nathan understood the character of God. So that's where he begins. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile. Psalm 65 verse 3, iniquities prevail against me. As for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away. Psalm 85 verse 2, thou has forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou has covered all their sin. By the way, let me quickly add here, there's no difference between forgiven sins and covered sins. Covered sins are forgiven sins in scripture. Covered by the blood of Christ. Covered so that God no longer sees them. So this whole idea that covered sins are not forgiven sins is simply unscriptural. Psalm 86, of course we did that. Psalm 99 verse 8. Thou wast a God that forgavest them. Psalm 103 verse 12, as far as the East is from the West, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. What a beautiful statement about the nature of God's forgiveness. The pardon that He promises to every sinner that puts their trust in His Son, right? And so, as you know, this is an analogy. East and West never touch. So far has he removed our transgressions. This is Old Testament. Psalm 130, we just sang it together. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, I preached on it a couple weeks ago, who shall stand but the wonder of the gospel, but there is forgiveness with thee. The God against whom we have sinned, the God before whom we cannot stand, the God whom we have so infinitely offended by our sins, with that God there is forgiveness. The testimony of the prophets, Isaiah 1 verse 18, this beautiful verse, come now. And let's 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. I mentioned it Sunday, right? These are dyes that are so powerful that once something is dyed with scarlet and crimson, you cannot ever remove it. God said, even if your sins were like that, or to put it very simply, if you are a dyed-in-the-wool sinner, I will pardon you. I will pardon you. Isaiah 43, thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. I wonder how often we stop and think about that. How often we think about our sins in this way that God has to say of us, you are made me to serve with your sins, you weary me with your iniquities. And so then you would expect judgment. And what follows? I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions. Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. The wonderful passage from Isaiah 55. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God. And again, this beautiful statement, for he will abundantly pardon. That's the character of God, a God of abundant mercy, plenteous mercy. In other words, his pardoning grace, folks, so infinitely exceeds your and my sins. He will abundantly pardon if the wicked forsakes his way and turns unto him in God's ordained way. Jeremiah 33. And I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned and whereby they have transgressed against Me." That's why Micah has this statement of holy astonishment. He said, who is a god like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. Who is a God like unto thee? Who can fathom this? Who can fathom the wonder of that truth? Song of Zechariah, New Testament. Zechariah moved by the Spirit, he says, and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the highest. For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation unto his people, and listen carefully, by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day spring from on high, which is Christ, hath visited us. So how does God give his people the knowledge of salvation? By assuring them of the remission of their sins. That's why God commissioned Isaiah, comfort my people, comfort them, declare to them that their sins are pardoned. I want my people to know that. I want my people to be assured of that. I want my people to rejoice in that. that their sins are pardoned. In Matthew 9, we have the story of the man sick with the palsy, lying in the bed. And Jesus, seeing their face, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. But as you may know, that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins. Then said he to the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed. and go into that house. There's a lot of things that could be said here. It's obvious that Christ knew that this man had a greater burden than his palsy, and that was his sin. But there's another reason why he first pardons him, then heals him, because he knew that the Pharisees, they challenged him, or they thought by themselves, what right does he have to pardon sin? So he pardons this man, and then he shows his Godhead. He does a miracle. He heals him, thereby simply stating, now you know why. I have power to forgive sins. He affirmed them of his divinity. Luke 7, the woman, the sinful woman who comes and weeps and washes his feet with her tears And then he says, wherefore I say unto thee. This is so beautiful. It's the character of Christ. He says, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. So simple, and yet so profound. That's how simple the gospel is. That's how rich the gospel is. Here comes a woman laden with sin. A woman who had led an immoral life. And she comes to the feet of Jesus. And as she finds a full pardon, her sins, which are many, are forgiven. The parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18 also tells us something about God's character. Because Christ there tells us the story of this king who had a servant who owed him 10,000 talents. And I won't weary you with the math right now, but in today's value, we're talking about anywhere from $7 to $9 billion if we do the math. So in other words, Christ deliberately chose an amount that an Israelite could not wrap his mind around. 10,000 talents. And yet, what does the king do? When that servant pleads for mercy, he pardons him in one moment. The debt is gone, one moment. It's wiped away. Of course, Jesus told that story because Peter said, how often should I forgive my brother? Seven times? He thought that was quite impressive. And Jesus said, no, 70 times 7 times. Why? Because that's God's character. God is a God who is ready to forgive 70 times 7 times. The parable of the prodigal son or the parable of the forgiving father, which would be a better title, the portrait of a God who is ready to forgive. And why did Jesus tell that story? Because the Pharisees mocked him. And they said, this man received his sinners. He eats with them. So rather than arguing with them, Jesus tells three parables, basically with the same thrust. But the most powerful of the three, of course, is this. And there we see. Because see, the Pharisees had a similar story, but with a totally different outcome. Jesus told a story here where he literally poked him in the eyes a story whereby he a Story that would be so provocative to the Pharisees who were so self-righteous Here's this young man who had the audacity to say to his father. I can't wait till you die I want money now what my inheritance now I Then he goes and he squanders it with harlots and who knows what else. Then he ends up caring for pigs. So to the Jewish mind, this young man was the worst of the worst. And he comes back when his father sees him. He doesn't wait till the boy gets to him, he goes to the boy. He sees his son and he runs to him, totally contrary to the protocol of that day, he runs to him. And before he has a chance to open his mouth, he kisses him and he pardons him. So Jesus was saying to the Pharisees, the reason I The reason I receive sinners, because that's who my father is. I am. I am the revelation of the father. This is who I am. I am the savior of sinners. It is my delight to save sinners. Then, of course, we have the rent veil, the act of a God who is ready to forgive. So in Matthew 26, 28, when Jesus institutes the Lord's Supper, and we quote it every time when we have the Lord's Supper, for this is my blood of the New Testament. And look what he says about it, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Christ is saying, I am going to shed my blood so that sinners can be forgiven because of my sacrifice. And that's why, as you know, the very first thing Jesus addresses when he's kneeled to the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. First thing he says, Matthew 27. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost, and behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. God's dramatic acceptance, the sacrifice of his son. So when Christ sends his disciples into the world, He gives them the message. We've recently considered that. The Great Commission. He says that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations. So in my name, you must call sinners to repentance. But in my name, you must proclaim to them the remission of their sins if they believe in my name. Because repentance here encompasses faith as well, because faith and repentance are two sides of one coin. They're two Siamese twins. They are inseparable. In other words, repentance is in itself an act of faith. The sinner who turns to God from his sins does that because he believes what God has revealed of himself. And so repentance is already an act of faith. They belong inseparably together. So Christ is clearly giving a commission to his church that wherever the gospel is proclaimed, this has to be made crystal clear. The sinner who takes his refuge or her refuge to the Lord Jesus Christ must be told that that simple act of faith secures for us the pardon of our sins. That's the gospel. That's the word of God. And then we have the testimony of the apostles. So we're in the Bay of Pentecost. Here they are, pricked in their hearts. Men and brethren, what must we do? They are in utter despair. They've just been told by Peter, you have crucified your Messiah. This was staggering to these people, staggering. They had crucified their Messiah. What must we do? And Peter does not give them a complicated answer. Peter does not say, you have to jump through all kinds of hoops. No, he says, repent. be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And we have to realize here that submitting to New Testament baptism here for the first time was an act of faith that the Jew who did this thereby confessed that he believed Jesus Christ to be the Messiah. And Peter is saying If you do that, if you put your trust in that Christ, your sins will be remitted, will be forgiven. Acts 5, 30, 31, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom he slew and hanged on a tree. Him has God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior. for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. I want you to notice how this matches Luke 24. So he says, you must go and preach repentance and remission of sins. And here, Peter says that this Christ has been exalted to give repentance and remission of sins. Beautiful how they fit together. And so Christ gives what he demands. Acts 10. Acts 10 verse 43. I will preach on that text one of these days because I've often, in all of my churches, I've said to parents, you know, there are some texts you want your children to memorize. Acts 10 verse 43 is one of them. Very important text. Peter is now in the house of Cornelius, okay? And he commanded us to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of the quick and the dead. Here it comes, to him give all the prophets witness. That through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. This is so foundational, folks. I cannot, I don't even know how to emphasize that properly. So foundational. To him, give all the prophets witness. That's what I've been showing you tonight. So, what Peter is saying, this is the witness of God's word. This is the witness of God's revelation. that if you believe in this Christ, if you trust in him, you shall receive the remission of sins. That's why in Acts 13, Paul ends his sermon there in Antioch, Pisidia. It says, be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man, preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. Through this man, this Christ, this Savior, this Messiah is preached unto you. That's my calling, my task is to preach unto you the forgiveness of sins. To preach to you that if you believe in that Messiah that I have preached to you, this Christ, your sins will be forgiven. Acts 26, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom I now send thee. He's telling his conversion story, right? To open their eyes, Paul is telling his conversion story, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God. That they may receive, that's it, there you have it, that they may receive forgiveness of sins. and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." Ephesians 1 verse 7, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. That's why, the riches of his grace in Christ. because of the cross, because of that perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God. God is so willing and ready to grant the forgiveness of sins. He can do it freely, without reservation. Colossians 1, who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." And then finally, 1 John 1 verse 9, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And I've only given you now, I've given you a sampling a sampling of the Scriptures. This is the theme that is woven throughout the entire Word of God. So it should be abundantly clear that God is a God who delights to pardon, so that there be no doubt in your mind whether He is willing to pardon you. This is who he is. This is how he has revealed himself. So our creeds, our creeds affirm that, right? Lord's Day 31. Question 84. How is the kingdom of heaven opened and shut by the preaching of the Holy Gospel? This beautiful answer, so beautiful. when according to the command of Christ, it is declared and publicly testified to all and every believer that whenever they receive the promise of the gospel by a true faith, all their sins are really forgiven them of God for the sake of Christ's merits. That's it. Right? That's opening. That's the job of us as ministers to use the key of the kingdom, is to open the kingdom of heaven by declaring to sinners that if they put their trust in Christ, their sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ's merits. Belgian Confession, Article 23. We believe that our salvation consists in the remission of our sins for Jesus Christ's sake, and that therein our righteousness before God is implied. As David and Paul teach us, declaring this to be the happiness of man, that God imputes righteousness to him without works. And the same apostle says that we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Jesus Christ. Then our canons of Dort, three forms of unity. Moreover, the promise of the gospel is that whosoever believeth in Christ crucified shall not perish but have everlasting life. This promise together with the command to repent and believe ought to be declared and published to all nations and to all persons, promiscuously, without distinction, to whom God, out of His good pleasure, sends the gospel. There you have it. So the promise of the forgiveness of sins is the cornerstone of the gospel. And so it is a sacred commission of God's servants. I alluded to already. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Isaiah, go out of your way. Go out of your way to comfort my people. Burdened by sin, go out of your way to speak comfortably to them. And tell them in my name that their iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of my hand double for all her sins. What a beautiful statement that is, double for all her sins. There you see that God's grace exceeds our sin. In a sense, we have a double problem as sinners. We have a double problem. Our sin renders us guilty, and it renders us polluted. But there's a double remedy. There's a double remedy for our sin, for our guilt, and for our pollution. And so the wondrous invitation of a God who is ready to forgive. Here is God manifested in flesh, Immanuel, the Lord Jesus Christ, coming to me. All ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. What kind of rest? The rest of knowing that my sins are pardoned, fully, freely, Comprehensively. Exhaustively. So how does the Bible end? The final invitation of the Bible. So beautiful. Revelation 22, 17. And the spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say, come. Let him that is a thirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. So I've given you an overview of the witness of scripture of our confessions, that it is really true. What David confesses in Psalm 86, that God is a God who is ready to forgive. If you know any Dutch, een gaarne vergevend God, who delights to pardon.