Word of Salvation – Vol. 21 No. 47 – August 1975

 

Lord’s Day 21 – (Q&A 56)

 

Sermon by Rev. A Nijhuis, B.D. on Lord’s Day 21 (3)

 

Silent Prayer

“I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son'”  “Him who comes to Me, I will not cast out.”

Votum & Salutation

Singing: Psalter Hymnal 298

Prayer

Scripture Readings: 2Sam.12:1-15a & Luke 15:11-32

Text: Lord’s Day 21c (Question 56 only)

Singing: Psalter Hymnal 164:1,2,3 before Sermon

Prayer

Offering(s)

Singing: Psalter Hymnal 389:2

Apostles’ Creed

Benediction

Doxology: Psalter Hymnal 400:5

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

I read to you by way of introduction: 2Sam.12:1-15a and Luke 15:11-32, because these portions of the Bible show clearly what is stated in our confession about the forgiveness of our sins.

I need not say much about those familiar stories.  Every one of you knows about king David’s terrible sins; how he committed adultery and murdered the husband of Bathsheba.  Yet he received forgiveness.

Who does not know that beautiful parable of the prodigal son?  He turned away from his father and went to a far-away country where he wasted his father’s money.

But when he came to his senses after his money was gone and he became hungry and longed for his father’s home, he was not rejected.  On the contrary, his father was waiting for him.  While he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and kissed him.  He put the best robe on him and he put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet.  He even prepared a feast for him.  We call this parable, the parable of the prodigal son, but it is the story of the forgiving Father.

The Bible has a wonderful message to tell to sinners, namely, the forgiveness of sins.

That is what the Christian Church professes and that is what we like to know.

What we believe concerning the forgiveness of sins.

This confession is not just a general topic.  We are not going to speak about the forgiveness of sins.  The question asked in Lord’s Day 21c is: “What do YOU believe concerning the forgiveness of sins?”  YOU are involved and I am, all of us!  It is a matter of your and my personal faith.  When “sins” are mentioned YOUR and MY sins are meant.  When we profess the forgiveness of sins, the forgiveness of YOUR and MY sins is meant.

We should never lose sight of the fact that WE are addressed here.  WE are speaking, professing OUR faith about OURSELVES and about our relationship to the Lord.

A profession of faith is not a matter without any obligation, a neutral affair, just a statement.  On the contrary, a profession of faith is an expression of your and my faith.  I am one member of the choir that sings that beautiful and comforting hymn of Jesus and His love,

The forgiveness of sins is the real heart of the Bible.  The purpose of the Word of God is to tell me just that.

Surely, the Bible is not just a book of interesting stories which you can read and study and discuss.  You can do all those things and still miss the point.  It is a message to us and its message is in regard to the forgiveness of all our sins through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Or to quote words of the Bible: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

The Lord’s greatest joy is to forgive us our sins.  That is why He sent His only begotten Son into the world.  The Lord Jesus, He was and still is the Lover of sinners but not of their sins.  The leaders of the Jewish people of His days were offended when they saw Him eating and drinking with sinners and tax-collectors.  They could not understand this behaviour and they asked His disciples what the reason was of that strange fellowship saying, “Why does He eat with tax-collectors and sinners?”  Yes, why?  The only answer is that it stems from His great and wonderful love for them.  The forgiveness of our sins is most important for each one of us.  You may possess everything you want, but if you miss this treasure, you are still poor and miserable and naked and lost.

For that reason the Lord Jesus wanted to give the people who came to Him – in the first place THIS blessing – the forgiveness of their sins.  When sick people were carried to Him, He did not ignore their deepest need, but He realised it was their sins.  The first words we hear from His mouth more than once are: “your SINS are forgiven.”

When He was crucified and had to carry the heaviest burden ever, He still did not forget this.  His first words on that cruel cross were: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

The forgiveness of your sins in Jesus’ blood is the greatest gift.  There are lots and lots of desirable things, but nothing can be compared with the forgiveness of your sins.  No wonder that the poet of Psalm 32 sang: “Blessed is he whose trespass has freely been forgiven.”

The answer to Q.56 is like a shout of joy.  “God for the sake of Christ’s satisfaction, will no more remember my sins, neither my sinful nature, against which I have to struggle all my life long; but will graciously grant unto me the righteousness of Christ, that I may never come into condemnation.”

When we listen to this answer, there are several questions which arise in our hearts.  The first one is: what are my sins and what is my sinful nature?

Now this part of the confession speaks about ALL my sins.  This indicates that there are MANY.  This may mean nothing in the sight of the Pharisee who went to the temple to pray.  He does not know of his sins, let alone of ALL his sins.  When we listen to his prayer, he mentions only his virtues, the beautiful things he had done for the Lord.  He does not confess his sins; he seems to have none.

We get a quite different picture of the tax-collector.  He has seen something of the dreadfulness and ugliness of his sins.  Therefore he takes his refuge in the Lord, praying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

We may never forget to mention our sins in our prayers.  However, does this mean that we are aware of our sins?  Do we really know our sinfulness?  The danger is always there, that we use a lot of words but that they are empty, without any real meaning; that we speak rather easily and readily about our sins so that the question may arise whether we mean what we say.

You don’t get the impression that we are in distress because of our sins.  When Paul saw the power of sin in his life he cried out: “O wretched man, that I am.”

We are called to examine ourselves every Sunday morning.  Then we are confronted with the will of the Lord which is that we are to love Him above all and to love our neighbour.  This is done to know our sins and our sinfulness more and more.  We should not remain vague, but be aware what is wrong in our heart, in what we desire and say and do.  We must be aware of all our sins, not only the sins of today, but of all our lives, from the days of our youth up until now.

We should face the following questions.  What did I do for the Lord?  How does He see my life, because after all my life belongs to Him, not to myself?  Do we really serve the Lord or do we serve ourselves?

How little do I love the Lord?!?

My sins are so many, that it is impossible to count them.  They are all the things I did which are evil in the sight of the Lord.  Moreover also the things I did not do and which I ought to have done.  They are the sins which I committed, but also those which I only thought of.  The rotten sins nobody knows apart from God.

I have to mention my personal sins in prayer, but also those I committed as a member or an office-bearer of the church and as a member of the family to which I belong, including my unfaithfulness, my formal routine religion, my lovelessness and so on and so forth.  There seems to be no end.  It is really hopeless.

In addition the Catechism mentions also my sinfulness.  We may use this to excuse our sins, but here it is the other way round.  That I am sinful is not a reason to excuse my sins.  On the contrary, it makes the situation only worse.  I do not only commit sin, but I am evil, born in sin.  I have to confess before the Lord that I have done so many sins, but worse than that, I am wicked, sinful; corrupt down to the roots of my existence.  The source of my life is infected and polluted.  Nothing is clean and pure.  On the contrary, “I am evil, born in sin.”

It is still worse, because I will never get rid of this evil heart of mine.  I don’t mean that we will not have to fight it.  Of course we have to fight it with all our power and with the help of the Lord.  But, my sinful heart, though it will not be left the same, is there all my life.  I have to struggle against it every day.

Sad, isn’t it?  Disappointing, discouraging and despairing…!

Now listen to this wonderful gospel, the gospel of our Saviour.  There is no reason for despair neither for gloominess.  We may see no way out and we may conclude that there is no hope, but still there is hope.  O no, not with us, neither with our fellow-men, but with the Lord in Jesus Christ.

The Lord, “for the sake of Christ’s satisfaction, will no more remember my sins, neither my sinful nature, against which I have to struggle all my life long.”  So the Lord does not forgive my sins because of my repentance.  We run always the risk of making the blessings of the Lord dependent on what we do or feel.

God’s grace is mere grace, a gift from the very beginning.  It does not rest upon something in us.  It is not based upon what we think or experience.

The Lord does not forgive our sins because we have confessed them before Him, or because I repented.

The opposite, however, is no doubt true, namely, that the sins which I did not confess, the Lord does not forgive.

Therefore, we have to confess our sins before the Lord.  If we are unwilling to do that then we are in danger of spiritual stupor and it may lead to hardening of our heart.  The fellowship with the Lord is gone.  Our prayers languish with all the bad consequences of that.  We have to take our sins to the Lord.  This is necessary to get forgiveness.

However, the confession of our sins, though it is necessary, is not the ground of the forgiveness.  The only ground for forgiveness is in the Lord Jesus Christ.  This is the only basis, and a firm basis it is.  “For the sake of Christ’s satisfaction.” means, it is only for the sake of the cross of Jesus that the Lord is willing and able to forgive us all our sins.  He is our Saviour Who took our sins upon Himself and paid for them fully.

He is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.  Therefore I have to go to Him to be cleansed from all my sins.  We may be sure that He is willing to hear our prayer and give us the joy of forgiveness.  He will remember my sins no more.  God forgives indeed; He does so generously and abundantly and unconditionally.

No wonder that the poet of Psalm 103 sings, “Bless the Lord, o my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name!  Bless the Lord o my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.  He does not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever.  He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor requite us according to our iniquities.  For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”

Our sins are completely done away with through the blood of Jesus.

They are no more.

He says,
            “I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud,
              and your sins like mist.”
            “He has cast all my sins behind His back.” (Is.38:7)

“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

He covers all our sins.

This is really surprising and amazing.

This becomes clear when we look at our own dealing with our fellow- men who wronged us.  How reluctant we are to forgive.  We may pray “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them who trespass against us”, but how difficult it is to make us really act accordingly.

Time and again we may like to mention the sins of our fellow-Christians.  We are not able to forget all about them neither to forgive.

Here, with the Lord, is truly forgiveness, He remembers our sins no more.

Moreover, “He will graciously grant unto me the righteousness of Christ.”  The Lord does not only remove all my sins, but He also gives something instead, namely, the righteousness of Christ.

The father does not only forgive the prodigal son his sins, but he gives him also a golden ring and the best robe and new shoes.  He is treated like a son.

So does the Lord.  He grants us the righteousness of Christ, that beautiful robe.  He makes us His children.

Isn’t it great and glorious?  To be His children clothed with Christ’s satisfaction?

Of course, the forgiveness of all our sins has a certain purpose.  But what is that purpose?  Just listen to the last words of this answer which read, “that I may never come into condemnation.”

The Lord remembers my sin no more, not even at the time of His judgment.

Sure we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.  But we shall not stand condemned.  This is not because we were so perfect and blameless.  Not at all, but rather because our Saviour Jesus Christ is so perfect and His work is blameless.

Therefore, He shall say to all His people, “Enter into the joy of your Master.”

This is not the only purpose of the forgiveness of our sins.  There is more even though it is not mentioned here.

The forgiveness is not only to save us, but also to make us serve Him again.

We are saved to serve.  You cannot receive righteousness in Christ without sanctification.  Christ’s work is a single unit.  We cannot accept a part of Christ and of His work.

Those who believe the forgiveness of their sins are also eager and willing to listen to the voice of the Lord and to show their gratitude by walking in His ways.

“What do you believe concerning the forgiveness of sins?”

Yes, you and I, all of us, are meant.  What is our answer?  Let us join this confession by saying with our hearts and with our mouths:

“I believe in the forgiveness of my sins.”

“That God for the sake of Christ’s satisfaction, will no more remember my sins, neither my sinful nature, against which I have to struggle all my life long; but will graciously grant unto me the righteousness of Christ, that I may never come into condemnation.”

Is this your profession also?  Is Christ your Saviour?  Is Christ’s blood your only hope?

Amen.