8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

2 Hide me from the secret counsel of evildoers,

From the tumult of those who do iniquity,

3 Who have sharpened their tongue like a sword.

They aimed bitter speech as their arrow,

2 for He says,

“AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU,

AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.”

Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”

18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

51. The Convict Was under Spiritual Arrest

Disquieting news was abroad. A convict had escaped from the penitentiary, and although the machinery of the law had been set in motion, no trace of him could be found.

At the time, French Oliver, the noted preacher, was conducting a mission in the neighborhood of that prison. Night after night he pleaded passionately with men and women to come to Christ, and for several consecutive nights he noticed a man who invariably sat near the rear of the hall. There was an intense light in his eyes indicating his earnest interest, and the drawn, haggard expression on his face told of the soul agony within.

At last one night Dr. Oliver felt constrained to speak to the listener. He left the platform, and going straight to the man said, “Why on earth don’t you surrender to Christ?”

The words bursting from him, the man said, “I have been in Hell the last four days, sir. I am under spiritual arrest! I would have escaped from here, but I just couldn’t.”

Looking intently at Dr. Oliver, he said, “I judge you know who I am. I am the man they are hunting for! If I surrender to Christ, it means the penitentiary again for me.”

As the convict spoke he shuddered. Dr. Oliver said to him, “The question for you to settle tonight is God’s penitentiary, not man’s. It is impossible for you to escape the Private Detective of God Almighty—the Holy Spirit.”

The man fell on his knees sobbing. The flood tide of God’s love in Christ crashed through the rebellion of his sin-scarred heart and he surrendered to the Saviour.

He went back to the penitentiary of his own accord and there he told the warden of his conversion to Christ. The warden, looking him in the face, said, “Man, I know you, and nothing but God Almighty could have made you come back here.”

Once again the gates of the prison closed on him, and he finished his sentence, leaving an unblemished record from the time of his return. At the conclusion of his sentence a position was found for him, and he became a strong witness to the saving power of Christ, the Son of God.

Have you realized that you are under arrest? More than that, you are condemned and sentenced. By whom? By God Almighty!

“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).

3 And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace

8 which He lavished on us.

A father bequeathed a large inheritance to his son. Technically, it then belonged to the son, but the bequest was “in trust,” which meant that the son was not immediately allowed to withdraw the entire amount from the bank. The father had included a stipulation temporarily limiting the withdrawal privilege to the interest that accrued, although the son would eventually be entitled to the principal.

So, also, when a person receives the grace of regeneration, this does not mean that all of that which Christ merited for him is immediately experienced by him. If it were, would it not overwhelm and crush his capacities? Rather, “He [God] giveth and giveth again.”

In a similar manner, we need to daily ask for a portion of God’s forgiving grace.

3 “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

4 “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.

24 “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.

25 “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.

26 “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’

27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.

28 “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’

29 “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’

30 “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.

31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.

32 “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

33 ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’

34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.

35 “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Responding to a Wrong

The English word reconcile comes from the Latin re, again, conciliare, to unite. Between people it means to restore friendship.

Let us suppose you have wronged a friend. This mars the friendship. Lovingly the friend offers to wipe the slate clean. However, friendship is a two-way street. If in your stubborn will you refuse to admit your wrong and accept forgiveness, the friendship is marred the more. In effect you have said to the other person that you do not want his or her friendship. But if you respond positively to the offer, the things that separate you are removed. You are reunited; or in the Greek sense, you exchange your wrong for the other person’s forgiveness, so that you are reconciled.

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!”

16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father charged before he died, saying,

17 ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

18 Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.”

19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place?

20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.

21 “So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

Responding to a Wrong

The English word reconcile comes from the Latin re, again, conciliare, to unite. Between people it means to restore friendship.

Let us suppose you have wronged a friend. This mars the friendship. Lovingly the friend offers to wipe the slate clean. However, friendship is a two-way street. If in your stubborn will you refuse to admit your wrong and accept forgiveness, the friendship is marred the more. In effect you have said to the other person that you do not want his or her friendship. But if you respond positively to the offer, the things that separate you are removed. You are reunited; or in the Greek sense, you exchange your wrong for the other person’s forgiveness, so that you are reconciled.

1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

Whose sin is covered!

2 How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,

And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away

Through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;

My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.

Selah.

5 I acknowledged my sin to You,

And my iniquity I did not hide;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;

And You forgave the guilt of my sin.

Selah.

6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;

24 “When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’

25 “And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.

26 “Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

14 And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach,

15 and to have authority to cast out the demons.

21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

23 “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

9 “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;

10 nor have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets.

38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.