the goodness of God irrespective of His holiness?  Or when you uttered that faith of yours, did it mean that you were able to say, “My sins, which were many, are all forgiven.  My sins are forgiven, not may be—­that pardon is a glorious possibility only—­but are forgiven, not will be forgiven at some future time.  I am now at peace with God through faith, in our Lord Jesus Christ”?  Could you say that?  Was that what it meant; or was it simply the repetition of a phrase which has been handed down to you by your predecessors, and which you took up as part of an ordered service, without putting the slightest fiber of your soul into it?

Depend upon it, the mere recitation of a creed will not bring you God’s peace, it will not open your heart to the access of His infinite calm.  It will not secure you that emancipation from evil which will mean immediate dedication of yourself to work for the emancipation of the world.  You must know of yourself, of your own heart and consciousness, that God has forgiven you.  And if you do get that consciousness, that moment of your life will be marked indelibly upon the tablet of your memory.  The dint will go so deeply into your nature that it will be impossible for you to forget it.  Speaking for myself, I can at this moment see the whole surroundings of the place and time when to me there came the glad tidings, “God has forgiven you.”  “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto men their trespasses.”

Do you believe in the forgiveness of sins?  Then preach it.  Tell it to other people.  Let your neighbors know about it.  I do not mean by preaching at the street corners, but by getting into such close affectionate touch, with your friends as that you shall be able to persuade them to disinter the thoughts of their own hearts, and show the sorrows that are there—­sorrows produced by sin.  For, believe me, behind all the bright seeming of human countenances there is a subtle bitterness gnawing constantly at the heart, consequent upon the consciousness of failure—­the sense of having broken the law of God.  I know that hundreds of people go into the church and tell God that they are miserable sinners.  They do that in a crowd; it is saying nothing.  They no more think of saying it in such a way as to place themselves apart from their fellows than they would of saying:  “I am a thief!”

Do you believe in the forgiveness of sins?  What, then, are you going to do with your faith?

Prove your faith by your works.  Every time you ask God for forgiveness you should feel yourself pledged to a most strenuous and resolute fight with the sin you ask God to forgive.  The acceptance of pardon pledges you to the pursuit of holiness, and yet we have to keep on with this doctrine, because it is not only the very beginning of the Christian life, but also the continuous need of that life.