Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2588
“They shall be as though I had not cast them aside.” Zechariah 10:6.
You all know how God did, for a time, cast off His ancient people. Both Israel and Judah, after long provocation of Jehovah, were carried away captive into the land of their enemies. God forsook His Temple and that glorious sanctuary was laid in ruins. The whole land was given up to be the prey of the cruel foe and the inhabitants, themselves, were carried into captivity beyond the rivers of Babylon. And they were sorely afflicted. They had greatly sinned and heavy was their punishment. But now, by the mouth of the Prophet Zechariah, God talks to them of mercy and, as a choice note in the message of mercy, He says that He will restore them to their old estate—and they shall be as though He had never cast them aside. It is a wonderful promise! I pray that it may sound like heavenly music in the ear of many a backslider.
In commencing my sermon, I draw your attention to the preceding clause of the verse—“I will have mercy upon them.” Learn from this that the only terms upon which God can deal with guilty men are terms of mercy—“I will have mercy upon them.” Therefore, my Friend, if you would be saved, do not try to deal with God upon the footing ofjustice. If you do, you will first have to say that you have never sinned and that would be a lie. You will not be able to prove that assertion—your lips, your eyes, your heart, your hands, your whole conduct will all be witnesses against you! You must admit that you have sinned. It may be that you will then try to find some excuse for your sin. You say, perhaps, that you could not help it. But you might have helped it—you ought to have helped it. Or, possibly, you will try to make out that your sin is very little. But your conscience knows that it is not little. If any one sin has been little—and I do not think that is possible—you have added so many other evils to these grains of sin that you cannot count them, and your transgressions are multiplied upon you! No, you will never make out a good case if you appeal to God’s justice, for Justice will try you, condemn you, and cast you aside. God will not deal with you on those terms. Confess that you are guilty! Ask Him, for His mercy’s sake, to pass over your guilt. Plead with Him, for His dear Son’s sake, to blot it out and He will yield to such pleading as that—and He will deal with you in the way of mercy.
From the clause which follows my text I learn another lesson. The Lord says, “They shall be as though I had not cast them aside: for I am the Lord their God, and will hear them.” From these words I gather that one of the surest tokens that mercy is about to be received is prayer—“I am the Lord their God, and will hear them.” But God would not hear them if they did not pray, so, if you wish to know whether God is about to bless you, answer this question—Do you feel that you need to pray? Is your heart beginning to cry to God, even now? Then He will hear you and, hearing you, He will have mercy upon you! I care not what else there is about you that seems hopeful, if it cannot be said of you, “Behold, He prays,” there is no solid ground for hope. But if, bowing your head in the pew at this moment, or even sitting still just as you are, you are saying in your heart, “Lord, have mercy upon me! Lord, save me!” this is a blessed token that the angel of mercy is close at hand! I trust, before this service is over, you will be saved, and have cause to praise and magnify the Lord for His great mercy toward you!
Now to come to the text itself, if we are dealing with God upon the footing of mercy, and if we have begun to pray, then this is what we may expect at His hands, for He has given the promise, “They shall be as though I had not cast them aside.” I am going to take the text, first, in its general application to all repentant sinners. And then, secondly, in its special application to all backsliders. I have many things to say and, therefore, I must speak but briefly upon each point.
I. First, then, applying the text, IN GENERAL, TO ALL REPENTANT SINNERS, I say to every unsaved man and woman in this great assembly—If you will come to God by prayer, with faith in Jesus Christ, God will receive you and you shall be as though you had never fallen through your sin, and had never been cast aside by God! At the present moment, as an unconverted sinner, you are far off from God by wicked works—and His Word declares that you are “condemned already.” But He is prepared to restore you to all the dignity which manhood had before the Fall! He is prepared to give back that which He took not away and to make you even as unfallen man was and would have been! Yes, and to give you something even more noble and glorious than Adam ever possessed.
For, first, He is prepared to make a clean sweep of all your sins. In virtue of the Sacrifice of Christ, God stands ready, right now, to take the pen and strike out the record of all your transgressions! If you believe in Jesus, you shall be as though you had never sinned! When the prodigal son came back and his father had kissed him, he was to his father as if he had never gone away, as if he had never wasted his substance in riotous living. His father had him once more at home and he loved him as much as he loved the elder brother, loved him as much as if he had never grieved him in all his life. What do you say to this? This privilege is proffered to you, also, in the Gospel of God. If you believe in Christ Jesus, your sins shall be as though they had never been committed and you shall be as dear to God as if you had always perfectly kept His Law!