FOR every soul who truly desires God’s pardon, God’s fellowship, God’s righteousness, there is hope. There are many who desire pardon for sin, who desire to have the shame removed, and the pangs of conscience relieved. They do not wish to reap the logical fruit of their sin; and yet they do not want the righteousness of God after all. They do not care to be filled with the Spirit of God. There are certain things in their possession, in their life, in their habits, which they do not wish to relinquish. Based on such desires there can be no sure hope. But for every soul who desires to be forever free from sin, who longs to be made like Christ, there is all hope. It matters not what he has done, how deeply he has sinned, the Lord will receive him. Hear what the Lord says to all: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; tho your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; tho they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” Isa. 1:18, 19. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of ALL ACCEPTATION, that Christ Jesus came into the world to SAVE SINNERS; of whom I am CHIEF.” 1 Tim. 1:15. In the light of these assurances (and there are many more), who then may not be saved? “But What about the Backslider?”
Yes, there is hope for the backslider. Hear the Lord: “With the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is PLENTEOUS redemption.” Ps. 130:7. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He WILL HAVE MERCY upon him; and to our God, for He will ABUNDANTLY pardon [“He will MULTIPLY to pardon,” margin].” Isa. 55:7. “He DELIGHTETH in mercy. He will TURN AGAIN, He will have compassion upon us; He will SUBDUE OUR INIQUITIES.” Micah 7:18, 19. Man’s idea of great mercy is to forgive a brother “seven times,” but God says man ought to forgive “seventy times seven,” evidently an unlimited number of times. Matt. 18:21, 22. Our Lord is infinitely more merciful than man. “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. . . . Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” Matt. 12:31, 32. “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.” Heb. 6:4-6. “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith He was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” Heb. 10:26-29. The Holy Ghost, or Spirit of God, is the power of God. It is that by which God operates. By it He created the earth, and garnished the heavens. By it every miracle has been wrought. By it man is changed from sin to righteousness. The Spirit of God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ are God’s means for saving men,—“through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:2); “through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2 Thess. 2:13). To express the matter in a few words: He who rejects God’s means of salvation, leaves himself without hope. He who sees as did the Jews the most marked manifestations of the Spirit of God, who heard such teaching as the world never before heard, and then right in the face of it all says that Jesus wrought His miracles by the prince of devils, puts himself where God can not save him. Having rejected the mightiest evidence, nothing else will move him. Having known in himself the mighty9power of God and the deep experience indicated in Heb. 6:4, 5, if he choose in the light of that the things of the world and Satan, by what means can he be renewed? He has turned from God’s means; there is nothing left by which he can be reached. He counts the blood or life of Christ as common with sin; and he slights the Spirit of grace as of no account. He who would save all by His gracious gifts, is rejected. It is as tho a life-boat should rescue a drowning man, and he should deliberately plunge from the boat. The life-line is thrown him, but he will not grasp it. He who perishes without hope perishes of choice. “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy.” Ps. 147:11. If you have desire for the holiness to be found in Christ, God is drawing you. John 6:44. Follow on. “Him that cometh to Me,” says Jesus, “I will in no wise cast out.” Verse 37. The trouble is not that God will fail, but man will harden his heart against God. Hope in His mercy, and keep the heart tender by obeying His will through faith. Hope in God, dear souls, and it may be true in your case: “They that stumbled are girded in strength.”