WHILE preaching in a town in the south of Ireland I was much struck with the earnest attention of a little girl about ten years old, and when the address was over I made my way to her, to try to find out if she was at peace with God, in the knowledge that her sins were forgiven. I asked, "Do you know the Lord Jesus?”
She looked up with a bright smile, and answered, "Yes; at least I know that Jesus died for me."—"It is very blessed to know that," said I; "but how can you be so very sure that the Son of God came down into the world and died on the cross for a little child like you?"—"God says He died for sinners, and I am a great sinner," she said very solemnly.—"Yes, dear child, it is written in His blessed Word, God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us ' and, again, ' It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.' He has Shown you what a sinner you are, and now you see that you must believe what God has said. So your sins are all forgiven.”
For a moment there was no answer, and the tears filled her eyes. At last she said, "I am afraid not.”
“What!" I said. "Can it be possible that you know that Jesus died for you, and yet you do not know that you are forgiven?" She looked up with an expression of deep anxiety as though she would find out what I meant; for, like many, she had truly believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, but she did not know what His work had done for her. She had been attracted to Jesus; her heart had opened to His love like the dear woman in Luke 7, but she had yet to hear Him say, "Thy sins are forgiven thee: go in peace; thy faith hath saved thee.”
So I asked, "Why did the Lord Jesus die for you?”
“To save me," was her prompt reply.
“But why must He have died to save you?”
She thought a moment, and then said very solemnly, "Because He bore my sins on the cross.”
Where were your sins, then, when Jesus hung on the cross?”
“On Him.”
“Yes, "I said," for the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. And where are they now?”
She had almost said, "On Him still," but checked herself, and was silent.
“Think of where He is now," I said.
She answered at once. "He has risen and gone into heaven.”
“Where, then, are your sins?”
“Left behind in His grave," was the dear child's happy answer.
Her difficulty was gone now. She saw that He Who was delivered for her offenses had been raised again for her justification, and being justified by faith, she had peace with God through Him. "Yes," I replied, "as God says again, 'when He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1:33Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3)).
After a little further talk with her, she was called away. On reaching her home, she ran to her mother, a good Christian woman, then unable to leave the house, and threw her arms around her neck, saying, "I shall go to be with Jesus too, mamma." She was startled, and wanted to know what it all meant.
“My sins are all gone. Jesus Who bore them on the cross is now at the right hand of God; and, don't you see, mamma, they could not be on Him there? He has left them all behind in His grave.”
The mother and child, now more dear to her than ever, rejoiced and praised the Lord together. Years have passed since then, and the risen Christ, at the right hand of God, has been the ground of a peace for her that never could be disturbed. How many a dear, troubled, anxious soul wants what that little child learned so simply and blessedly—that the knowledge of forgiveness comes from the eye being turned to Christ, and not from the feelings in our poor hearts.
The moment the eye rests in simple faith on Him, all is settled as to sin before God by His work on the cross; and the proof is that He has raised Him to His own right hand. If God is satisfied, surely we may well be, for have not all our sins been against Him? Besides, just as surely as Jesus said, when He was here upon earth, "Thy sins are forgiven" (Luke 7:4848And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. (Luke 7:48)), so the Holy Ghost conveys the same blessed assurance to the faith that believes God now, saying, "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:38, 3938Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38‑39)).
Reader, let me earnestly ask you, Are your sins forgiven? J. A. T.