6. Great sins repented of shall find mercy
humbled sinners bring forth grace, and what joy there is when this man-child is born!
6. Great sins repented of shall find mercy Mary Magdalene, a great sinner, obtained pardon when she washed
Christ's feet with her tears. Some of the Jews who had a hand in crucifying Christ, upon their repentance, the very blood that they shed became a sovereign balm to heal them: "though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" (Isa 1.18). Scarlet in Greek is called "dibasson," because it is "twice dipped," and the art of man cannot wash out the dye again. But though our sins are scarlet, God's mercy can wash them away. This may comfort those who are discouraged by the heinousness of their sin, as if there were no hope for them. Yes, upon their serious turning to God, their sins will be expunged and done away with.
"Oh, but my sins are sinful beyond measure!" Do not make them greater by not repenting. Repentance unravels sin and makes it as if it had never been.
"Oh, but I have relapsed into sin after pardon, and surely there is no mercy for me!" I know the Novatians held that after a lapse there was no renewing by repentance; but doubtless that was an error. The children of God have relapsed into the same sin: Abraham twice equivocated; Lot committed incest twice; Asa, a good king, sinned twice by creature-confidence, and Peter sinned twice by carnal fear
(Mat 26.70; Gal 2.12). But for the comfort of those who have relapsed into sin more than once, if they solemnly repent, a white flag of mercy will be held out to them. Christ commands us to forgive our trespassing brother seventy times seven in one day, in case he repents (Mat 18.22). If the Lord bids us do it, will he not be much more ready to forgive us upon our repentance? What is our forgiving mercy compared to his? I do not say this to encourage any impenitent sinner, but to comfort a despondent sinner who thinks repentance is in vain, and that he is excluded from mercy.
7. Repentance is the inlet to spiritual blessings It helps to enrich us with grace. It causes the desert to blossom as the rose. It makes the soul like the Egyptian fields after the Nile overflows: flourishing and fruitful. Never do the flowers of grace grow more than after a shower of repentant tears. Repentance causes