SINS REMEMBERED AND SINS NOT REMEMBERED
[p. 295] SINS REMEMBERED AND SINS NOT REMEMBERED
Genesis 41: 9; 1 Kings 17: 18; Hebrews 10: 15 - 17
The first two verses read draw attention to sins remembered, and the last verses refer to sins not remembered. I wish to show why some sins should be remembered, and why others should not, trusting that the Lord will use for blessing the remarks which I hope to make.
Doubtless all will remember the history of Pharaoh’s cup-bearer. He is the first sinner of whom I wish to speak. Doubtless too we all remember the widow of Sarepta to whom Elijah the prophet was sent. Now there may be those here who have come in on account of someone, or perhaps because the one who is speaking has been known here in the past and has not served here for a long time, and whilst we are glad they have come even for that reason, we desire that the Lord may take advantage of the occasion to speak to such. Perhaps someone here has sinned and has left his sin unsettled and it still remains a sin of commission. The thought for such is that he may be caused to remember his sin. We are prone to remember them in a general way as is commonly said, ‘We are all sinners’. It may be that you feel glad to have companions in sin and feel relieved that you are not alone as a sinner. There is cold comfort in that, because any companion who is a sinner and remains one will come into judgment, and a very severe judgment too. The books will be opened in which his name will be found, and enquiry will be made and it will come to light that he is among the lost.
Now, as I said, perhaps you came in here tonight just to hear me. Well, that will not help you in that great day, that great assize, the date of which is fixed. There will be no comfort then in the fact that you [p. 296] came in here tonight and got no gain from the meeting. The books will be opened. At present it is a time of book-opening of another kind. It is a time of searching into grievous sins that have been committed by certain persons in authority. Certain governments are ordering such enquiry and many secret things that have been happening will come to light. Things will be spoken of that have been well known and which have caused grief universally, that man is capable of such atrocities. But the devil is the author of it all. He has got two names at least which mean ‘destroyer’. He is a destroyer and an accuser too. And so, it may be, there is one here who has sinned; it is true that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3: 23), but I am speaking now of some particular sin in your history that as yet is not settled, not washed out. If that is so you cannot take comfort in the blood of the Lamb; the blood of the Lamb could have settled the matter at any time during all these years since the sin was committed. There are those in Scripture who are said to have overcome by the blood of the Lamb, a remarkable word; that is a remarkable weapon for persons who have sins. However heinous those sins may be, such a one can overcome by the blood of the Lamb. That is to say, he can use that as before God and as before believers to show that the thing is settled, that the sin is atoned for. It is no longer his, no longer upon him; he is clear. If he is a true believer, not only is he forgiven, but he is justified; that is, he is as clear as if he had never committed the sin at all.
Well now, I am just supposing a case, but it may be a reality, as applicable to some person or persons here. This first case we have read refers to the cup-bearer of king Pharaoh. A story, a true story, with which, doubtless, most of us are acquainted, and I read the particular verse because in it the man calls attention to his sins being brought to light, remembered. It says, “Then spoke the chief of the cup-bearers to Pharaoh, saying, I remember mine offences this day”. Two years at least had elapsed since these offences occurred and he tells us about them; but I will return to them later. I speak now of the fact that two years had passed since the faults occurred, and according to what is said here the remembrance of the faults is accidental, as we would say. But it is not accidental, but intended: something has happened that they should be remembered, and that they should be brought to light, and that something was in Pharaoh’s own history. We are told about it briefly: “It came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed, and behold, he stood by the river ...”, and you know the sequel, which relates actually to the history of Egypt for a long time. That is a much more important thing than that which happened to the chief of the cup-bearers, infinitely more important, we might say, but these great facts coming to light according to Pharaoh’s own words, caused the man to remember his faults. Now let us each here, who may be in this case, speak to the Lord and to his own heart as to why in all these two years the matter never came into his mind. He never remembered what had happened, and he is now reminded of it and evidently perturbed. He is in the presence of a monarch who had power to put him to death at one time and who saved him, although the chief of the bakers was hanged. He had power to hang the chief of the bakers and power to release the chief of the cup-bearers. The fact is, he had in his hands the power of forgiveness and non-forgiveness. Now the chief of the cup-bearers is in the presence of this same monarch and an extraordinary incident has happened which the monarch is relating and no one seems able to help, and this man says, “I remember mine offences this day”.
I need not proceed on that line because you can [p. 298] catch the thought and apply it yourselves. Read through the history. I will refer again to this passage, but just now I would remind anyone who has been in such a case that something has happened. In this case it was two years before, but in your case it may not be so long, or perhaps it may be longer; but it has happened and the matter stands unsettled, and, as I have said, something will come about to cause you to bring it up. If it is not brought up in this world it certainly will come up at the great white throne. If it is not settled in time, it will stand against you then and my thought now is that if there is anyone in this case he may see to it that anything unforgiven is looked into and settled at once.
I turn now to the passage in 1 Kings. You will remember the Lord spoke of this widow of Sarepta when He was here. He said about her that there were many widows in Israel in her day, but to none of them was the prophet sent but to her. It says, “And the word of Jehovah came to him saying, Arise, go to Zarephath, which is by Zidon, and abide there behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to maintain thee”. Remarkable! Possibly no one here has been in such a position or had such an experience. It is not that there are no prophets in our day, for there are such. Not such as Elijah, indeed, but still there are prophets. In this dispensation the second outstanding gift is the gift of prophecy. Therefore there are prophets, but, as I said, doubtless none of us has had such an experience as this widow. Jehovah said, “I have commanded a widow woman there to maintain thee”. He was in the East and he was being sent to the West to Zidon, where there was a widow that Jehovah had commanded to maintain him, and she does so for a whole year. It is very remarkable that during the time of famine she maintained the prophet and her son and herself for a whole year. But it says, “And it came to pass after these things,
[p. 299] that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him”. He died. Then it goes on to say, “And she said to Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come to me to call mine iniquity to remembrance, and to slay my son?”. She does not say ‘iniquities’ or ‘faults’; she says “iniquity”. She would, as it were, bulk them as people often do, so as to get rid of them at once; it may be to comfort themselves that in forgetting them they are forgiven. But is it so? That is just a lie, and if anyone is in that case, they are just hiding behind a lie and some day something will happen, just as in this scripture, when it says that the boy grew sick and we are told later that he died. Now I need not say much to make the application. I have called attention to the fact that Pharaoh’s cup-bearer called his sins “offences”, and whilst they were offences, yet they were sins. How many there were we are not told. But this widow uses the word “iniquity”. She is complaining to the prophet that, so to speak, he was harming her; she had befriended him and he was not doing her good in return. She says that he was calling her sin to remembrance and slaying her son.
Now the question is as to ourselves, in regard to any calamity in our own history. In the case of Pharaoh’s cup-bearer, what had happened was not to himself but to Pharaoh. The dream was Pharaoh’s, but in Kings the matter was the widow’s, and she is talking about her sin to the prophet, and as I have already remarked, there could be no doubt she had in mind to cover the whole matter of sin conveniently. She thinks that all she had been guilty of before God was being brought to light by the prophet. It was not at all so. It was darkness in her soul that made her say so. But what I wish to emphasise is how we view this matter of sin, and if it has been called to [p. 300] remembrance. I have already spoken of the man whose offences were brought to remembrance, but now I am speaking of the widow, and what a plight she was in! What darkness was in her soul! Her sin had not troubled her before as far as we know, but now it is a trouble, though it is not that exactly that causes her to complain against the prophet. How often we complain about our circumstances, or our fellow men, or our relations, whereas the real thing is to get at the root of this matter of sin. Now in the case of this widow it is called to remembrance. It is well, if we have these sins, or this sin in bulk, that they should be called to remembrance. It may be some of you are heaping up your guilt. This widow speaks of it, as it were, in toto, without specifying anything except by using the word ‘iniquity’. But then the thing has to be gone into in detail. When the books are opened it will not simply be a question of sin, but of sins. They are to be specified in that day, so why not specify them now! It may be a summons has come to you; your son or your daughter or your mother may have died, or some great sorrow has happened and the whole matter of sin comes up. Do not put it off! It is of God and His voice is to be heard as to this great matter of sin. Some occurrence may be a serious calamity in your mind, but it brings up the question of sin which is more serious than your calamity. I would therefore urge everyone here to look into this matter now. It may be that you have not done so before. You may have been too careless, too general, and put yourself alongside others as if they could shield you or comfort you. But they cannot do so and this matter of sin will stand up before you in that day. God is bringing it before you now whilst it is still settling time. In that day it will be too late to settle the matter and I would therefore urge everyone here to settle this matter of sin which has come to light.
[p. 301] The chief of the cup-bearers said his faults came to light that day, though they had remained dormant for two years. How long yours have been dormant I cannot say. The widow is reminded of sin. The incident brought up in her mind the whole matter of her life, and that brings out the question of analysis, the analysis of sin. The widow spoke of her sin in bulk, but the woman of Samaria in John 4 comes into my mind. In the evangelical realm things come into your mind; indeed God brings them into your mind. If we are in the evangelical realm, the realm of light, things come into mind, that are needed to help to bring sinners to face the settlement of their sins and get right with God and have done with sin. The woman of Samaria had sinned, though she did not speak of it to the Lord. The Lord knew she had sins and the meeting with Him at the well was no accident, and the question arose between the Lord and her. It was the day of days for her, as it may be for some of you tonight; the time of bringing things to light in your soul so that they can be settled with God and with His people. With the woman of Samaria you would think that the conversation drifted, but it did not drift, for the Lord knew what He meant to bring out, but He allowed the woman to speak, just as He would be ready for any one of us who has unsettled sin to talk to Him. His disciples wondered that He talked with such a person, but He had come to talk to such, as it says elsewhere, “This man receives sinners and eats with them”, Luke 15:2. He was here to get in touch with sinners, to talk with them. He is here tonight for the same purpose, He is here by the power of the Spirit, seeking to help souls through myself, in whatever way I may be able to do it, to the settlement of matters between their souls and God, and the people of God too, for you have to do with them. So the woman in the course of conversation says to the Lord, “I see that thou art a prophet”.
The Lord called her “Woman”. Why should He call her “Woman”? He does not do so until she says, “I see that thou art a prophet”.
But now to go on to the sequel, which is always the point in the gospel, to get to the end of things, to get results. She says of the Lord Jesus, “Come, see a man who told me all things I had ever done: is not he the Christ?”. She does not charge the Lord with reminding her of her sins. She brought them in herself, although the Lord really had it in mind to bring them up when He said, “Go, call thy husband, and come here”. The point was to bring both of them there, but she said, “I have not a husband” which was hardly true. But at any rate she came to this point that the Lord Jesus had told her all things that she had ever done. She is not like the widow of Sarepta who uses the word ‘iniquity’, nor like the chief of the cup-bearers, who uses the word ‘offences’ without specifying them. In the case of the woman of Samaria the matter was out. That is what the great white throne is for and if you are not saved whatever you have done will come out there; but why not let it come out now? Not that I would ask you to bring it out publicly here, but have to do with God about it and with His people. We should talk with souls and get them to judge themselves and tell the truth about themselves, to acknowledge their wickedness. David said, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in thy sight”
(Psalm 51: 4), but the result was “Jehovah has also put away thy sin” (2 Samuel 12: 13), and that is the point I would make here. The widow of Sarepta got a result: the boy was given back to her alive. He had died. No wonder she was in darkness and distress, but the sequel was glorious, and so it will be with anyone here who is ready to settle matters with God and with His people. I do not say your forgiveness depends on the people of God, but at the same time [p. 303] we are to confess our sins to them. But I will now confine myself to God. Confess your sins to God, as the man did who went up to the temple and prayed, “O God, have compassion on me, the sinner”, Luke 18: 13. So it is that as we get into close contact with God things become settled. Perhaps they have been allowed to drag on far too long and now, as with the cup-bearer and with the widow of Sarepta, the time has arrived for your sins to come upon your conscience. They have been elsewhere, but now they are on your conscience and that is where God wants them to be so that you may get forgiveness. They have to be remembered by you before God ceases to remember them; you have to remember first so that they may be forgiven. It must be borne in mind that no unconfessed sins are forgiven. Sins must be confessed, as it says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1: 9), and that is what you can do now.
I could say much more of the widow of Sarepta, but I have to go on now to this grand statement as to persons who have judged themselves having felt the weight of their sins. The passage read in Hebrews 10 says, “And the Holy Spirit also bears us witness of it; for after what was said: This is the covenant which I will establish towards them after those days, saith the Lord: Giving my laws into their hearts, I will write them also in their understandings; and their sins and their lawlessnesses I will never remember any more”. That could not be said of the cup-bearer when he spoke, nor could it be said of the widow of Sarepta when she spoke. It may be said of someone here tonight who has remembered his sins, if there is repentance, which is an important matter as to forgiveness. We read in Luke 24, where the Lord speaks about this wonderful gospel period, “that repentance and remission of sins should be [p. 304] preached in his name to all the nations beginning at Jerusalem”. From the divine point of view repentance and remission of sins is preached and if there is anyone here who is questioning in his soul about something which has happened and is not settled, and you are consequently not happy, I would say to you that repentance and remission of sins is preached. The first thing is repentance, and if a thing comes into your soul which you feel is unsettled, the thing to do is to repent. I do not ask for remorse, but I ask for repentance. That is the word. If anyone is involved in this way and you do not know what to do, get some believer here and enquire of him. The time to settle this matter is at this very moment. That is what was done at the early preaching at Jerusalem. They enquired of Peter and the eleven, for they were all included in the question. If anyone here has soul trouble, ask and you will get answers.
There are plenty to give you answers. Peter gave the answer on that occasion. He said, “Repent, and be baptised, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for remission of sins, and ye will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”, Acts 2: 38. You see how full the statement is. Why should the matter of sin or sins remain on our souls, exposing us to the devil and indeed to judgment? What can we say when people carry sins year in and year out! They may talk about being christians, but you are no christian if you are carrying your sins. Get rid of them! That is the divine way which Peter indicates and which this scripture indicates. God says, “Their sins and their lawlessnesses I will never remember any more”.
I have spoken of two cases where sins were called to remembrance, but in this third scripture they are remembered no more. How sweeping that is, and what rest and assurance it brings! Why should it be otherwise? And so, as I said, repentance is needed. To repent is one of the greatest difficulties that souls [p. 305] have; to specify a thing which happened, when it happened, why it happened. So the word is, “their sins and their lawlessnesses I will never remember any more”. God says, You are confessing them to Me and I am saying to you that My beloved Son has died for them. That is God’s side, they are settled once for all! May the Lord bless His word.