Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1195
“He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7.
IN our childhood we learned from Dr. Watts’ Catechism that Isaiah was that Prophet who spoke more of Jesus Christ than all the rest. In the chapter before us Isaiah had been declaring in the name of the Lord the coming and the character of the Redeemer, speaking of Him thus, “Behold I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and a commander to the people.” No sooner had he thus proclaimed the appearance of the Christ, than he beheld whole nations of the heathen rushing to Him and, inspired by that sight, he began at once to address himself to the sinners around him bidding them fly to Him, too. As there is a natural connection between the physician and the sick, so is there between the Savior and the sinner.
The Prophet can hardly think of Christ as coming to be a leader, a witness and a commander without at once turning to the wicked and the unrighteous—bidding them forsake their ways, enlist beneath their Commander’s banner—and participate in the blessings which He brings. Jesus is a grand attraction for guilty men! “Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him.” Christ is always welcomed by those who know they need Him. The self-righteous Pharisees and Scribes murmur at Him, but those who are humble and contrite, because conscious of their guilt, approach Him, wishing, as it were, but to touch the hem of His garment that they may be made whole! As the sun is attended by his planets who borrow all their light from him, so is the Lord Jesus waited on by crowds of sinners who find in Him their hope, their all! As the thirsty harts resort to the water brooks, so do needy souls hasten to Jesus—and it is according to the Divine order that it should be so.
Notice what the Prophet has to say. He speaks to the unrighteous and the wicked, and invites them to immediate faith and repentance, for so I understand the passage to mean. “Seek you the Lord while He may be found, call you upon Him while He is near,” is an exhortation to prayer and faith. We cannot approach God in prayer without faith, for a prayer that has no faith in it must die on the road. To seek the Lord aright we must believe that “God is, and that He is the Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” I take that sixth verse, coupled with the third, to be a plain exhortation to faith. Faith comes by hearing and for this reason it is written, “Incline your ears and come unto Me; hear and your soul shall live.”
As for repentance, that is clear in the seventh verse. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” The whole passage reads like a paraphrase of the Gospel message, “repent and believe the Gospel.” It seems as if Isaiah were an Evangelist rather than a Prophet—as if he had lived before his time and preached the Gospel like an Apostle who had seen the Lord! Like the morning star, which shines upon the earth before the sun has risen, Isaiah rejoiced the hearts of Believers with his clear radiance! The gladness of his soul in the thought of the coming Messenger of the Covenant, even Jesus Christ, kindled his spirit and the light shone forth from him! He was so glad within his heart that his tongue was loosed and straightway he addressed himself to those that “sat in darkness and the valley of the shadow of death.”
He bade them arise and quit the shades and go unto their God, for there was no reason for despair. There was mercy, great mercy, abounding pardon to be had and he bade them obtain it then and there! “Seek you the Lord while He may be found, call you upon Him while He is near.” The motive which he urged upon men was the certainty of their finding pardon. This was the tempting bait with which this ancient fisher of souls endeavored to “catch men.” May the Holy Spirit aid me while I use the same, and invite you to consider with me—the abundant pardon which God bestows upon the guilty. Having discoursed upon that at length, we shall, in the second place, consider what fair inferences may be drawn from this encouraging Truth of God.
I. First then, according to the text, God does ABUNDANTLY PARDON. We will turn that Truth over and over and see it in many lights. The pardon of God may well be abundant, for it wells up from an infinite fountain. “Mercy, which endures forever,” is the attribute from which that pardon springs. Pardon is the child of Mercy, not of Justice— and we may reckon that God will give abundant pardon because He delights in mercy! All the attributes of God are well balanced—like Himself they are infinite—and not one of them entrenches upon or dims the luster of another. He is infinitely just, yet infinitely good! He is infinitely powerful, yet infinitely tender!
We are quite sure that whenever an attribute of God comes into action it will be sufficiently revealed to make its glory manifest. There could be no mercy exercised by God until there was sin. Where all was blameless, Mercy had no sphere. As soon as the angels fell, the Lord might have exercised mercy had He pleased. But He did not choose to provide salvation for Satan and his rebellious hordes. As if to teach us that it is not necessary that God should forgive, He suffered the fallen angels to fall irretrievably—and gave them up to everlasting fire as their due desert. Deceived by the old serpent, man also fell—and again there was space for Mercy. Man was an inferior creature to the angels—should he be allowed to perish or should Divine Grace step in?