Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-07-26

! in looking into his own heart, he was look.
| ing also into the heart of God. For was he
better than God? If he loved his sinful
wife, did not God also love His sinful peo-
pie?
A Great Truth in Poetry
There is a poem of Robert Browning's,
"Saul," which teaches that same true
lesson. Be sure that Gods love is more
patient and more tender, and Gods for
giveness wider and deeper than any mans.
For the love of God is broader
Than the measures of mans mind,
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.
We learn still more about God by study
ing the revelation of Him in the life and
words of Jesus Christ Christ taught us
all theology. Nothing is true which contra
diets the Fatherhood Of God. God will
never do anything which he cannot reconcile
with the wisest and most tender fatherhood.
God never thinks one thought about the
most abandoned sinner which the ideal
father would not think about his wandering
boy. The parable of the prodigal son con-
tains the Christian revelation of God.
Welcome Waiting Upon Repentance.
Christ tells us over and over, in parable
and miracle, in prayer and sermon, of the
love of God, of the longing of God to have
all who have turned away from Him turn
back, and of the perpetual and instant and
abundant welcome which waits upon repent
ance. Is there not more joy in heaven over
one sinner that repnnteth than our ninety
and-nine persons that need no repentance?
Did not God so love the world that He gave
His only begotten son that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish?
Christ's whole mission, from Bethlehem to
Calvary, what was it but declaration of
Gods love for sinners? He came to bind
up the broken-hearted, to make hope out of
despair, to assure US of the forgiveness of
God.
1t is true that there are certain classes of
persons to whom forgiveness seems to be
denied. The measure of Gods forgiveness
is the width and breadth and depth of our
own forgiveness of our neighbors. A man
comes, in parable, who, like the writer Of
this letter, is burdened with great debt.
He asks that his debt-an enormous sum
may be forgiven him. His Master listens
and forgives.
The Sin of Refusal to Forgive.
The case is exactly such one as is SUBJ
mitted to us, only worse. And the offender
is forgiven. Then he goes out and refuses
to forgive a little debt which his brother
owes him, and the Master puts him into
prison. 1t seems as if God were willing to
forgive almost any sin except the refusal to
forgive.
There are also the self righteous people,
who are not at all worried about their sins,
but are disposed, on the contrary, to thank
God that they are so particularly good.
Against these people Christ said words of
strong indignation. Christ was always very
of bair oin b1t
he found nothing in common with Pharisees
and hypocrites. The people who are set off
to the left of the great white throne, in the
Lords picture of the Day of Judgment, are
those who say, when did ever do anything
wrong? There is never word of threaten
ing for man who knows his sin and is
sorry for it.
Something ought, perhaps, to be said here
about the objectionable sin. There is one
sin which is sin unto death; no use pray
ing for such sinner; no forgiveness await
ing such a sinner either in this world or the
next. Every conceivable sin may be par
doned and done away, save ouly this.
The objectionable Sin.
Now, what is this unpardonable sin? 1t
is described as being an otfense against the
Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is God
speaking in a mans conscience; sin against
the Holy Ghost is sin committed against a
mans own clear knowledge of the difference
considered and willing choice of known
iniquity. 1t is the act of man who calls
good evil, and evil good. 1t is an actual
preference of darkness for light
More than that, it is this sin persisted In,
and never repented Of For the promise to
repentance is absolute and unconditional
"Him that cometh to Me 1 will in no wise
cast OUT The man who commits the un-
pardonable sin makes it objectionable by
never seeking pardon he has no desire
for pardon, no regret, no STRINGS of an un-
easy conscience The conscience of the
sinner of the objectionable sin is dead. No
body who has the least longing to escape
from sin has fallen into the objectionable
sin; for that longing is evidence that the
Spirit of God is still persuading him. But
the spirit of God has no longer any word to
say to the sinner of the sin without pardon.
What Is Necessary to Forgiveness.
The writer of this letter does not belong
case forgiveness in in doubt. If the man
who owed 10000 talents could be forgiven,
if the prodigal son could take his place
again in the household, if Peter could be
numbered again among the apostles, there
is surely no reason for despair.
So far as mans part in forgiveness is con-
cerned, all that God asks is that the man
turn back, be sorry and amend his life.
Whosoever does that needs no sign out of
the sky to assure him of the pardon of the
Father. He is forgiven. All that he needs
now is to set that sin absolutely behind
him, as part of the dead past, and go on.
A good many people are like the rich mans
brothers in the parable. They want some
body to come back from the dead, or some
other very wonderful or unusual thing to
happen, that they may be assured of the
truth of the word of God. But God does
not grant that sort of wish. God has told
us in the person of His Son, and it is writ
ten plain in His holy word that He is our
loving Father, ready to forgive, forever wait
ing to be gracious, asking only that we love
Him and do His will
The Sin Has Been Forgiven.
Every repentant sinner is forgiven. The
answer to the letter is not only that sin can
be forgiven, but that it has been forgiven.
If it came out of diseased mind, God
knows that, and sets the boundaries of re-
sponsibility and makes all possible allow
ance-wider than we make. And though
the mind had not been diseased at all, save
with the disease of sin, the sorrow after
ward and the amendment would have
brought divine forgiveness. God has for
given you. That is the end of that
Follow Peter and not Judas. The best
and happiest part of Peters life was after
that sin. So it may be in your life All
stirring up of that old memory, all trans
ferring Of that unfortunate past into the
living present, L will tell you what it is
like: 1t is like soldier who has stumbled
on the march, sitting down and spending the
rest of that day lamenting that stumble, in
stead OF going on and fighting better to