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Forgiveness of sins is something that everyone needs, and that many persons earnestly long for, but don't know how to get. What follows is a quote from the late evangelist, R. A. Torrey. In the quote, Torrey tells how anyone seriously desiring forgiveness can get it at once. The quote is taken from his sermon called, "The Most Important Question." Torrey's words are in red so they can easily be distinguished from mine.
Forgiveness Of Sins
By R. A. Torrey
Peter says in Acts 10:43, "All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." Now this statement is as plain as day, and in it God's inspired apostle declares that "everyone who believes in" Jesus Christ "receives forgiveness of [his] sins."
If the vilest sinner on earth would come in here tonight and would put his trust in Jesus Christ, the moment he did it all his sins would be forgiven, blotted out. The forgiveness of our sins depends solely on what we do with Jesus Christ. It does not depend on our prayers or on our penances or on our good works.
If you do the right thing with Jesus Christ you get forgiveness of all your sins, whatever else you may do or not do. If you do the wrong thing with Jesus Christ you will not get forgiveness of sins, whatever else you may do or not do.
The same truth is put in a different way in John 3:18, "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
What an unspeakable blessing the forgiveness of all your sins is. Wealth, honors, pleasures, are not so eagerly to be desired as the forgiveness of our sins. All of them together are not to be compared with the forgiveness of our sins. Forgiveness of sin brings joy anywhere it comes, whether it be into the palace or into the prison cell.
King David had wealth, honor, power, pleasures, and privileges without number, but he was not happy. Indeed, he was perfectly miserable. His own description of his condition is found in the Thirty-second Psalm, the third and fourth verses; "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer." Then he found forgiveness of sin and in his joy he shouted, "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit" (Psalm 32:1-2).
Down in a wretched cell in Sing Sing Prison there was a man under a fifteen- year sentence for manslaughter. He was, of course, a very unhappy man. But there in his cell he got hold of a Bible and read it, and through the Bible the Holy Spirit showed him the Lord Jesus as his Savior who died in his place, and he accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. It was in the middle of the night when he finally found the Savior through meditating on what he had read in the Word of God, and though it was in the middle of the night and in a prison cell, such joy came into his soul that he began to shout. The guard came along and rapped on his door and told him to keep still. "I can't keep still," he shouted back, "my sins are forgiven."
Yes, there is a more wonderful joy in knowing that our sins are all forgiven than there is in anything that this world has to give. And we get this forgiveness of sin by simply believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Torrey statements are very good! If you have not yet obtained forgiveness by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, do so today! Do it soon! Do it now! All opportunity to be forgiven by Jesus Christ comes to an end at death. The Bible holds out no hope of forgiveness to anyone who dies without having believed in Jesus Christ before they die. The Bible says this in Hebrews 9:27: "...it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment."
And the fact is, we do not know when we will die. It might be today. It might be tomorrow. It might be in ten years. Our death might come to us totally unexpected, by a heart attack, by an accident, or by some other means. Or, we might get advance notice that we are going to die by a slowly-progressing disease. But however death comes to us, expected or unexpected, it ends all further opportunity to be forgiven by Jesus Christ. Those who die unforgiven will end up in hell forever. Therefore, it is very important to settle the matter at once. Let me re-quote Torrey's last two sentences given above: Yes, there is a more wonderful joy in knowing that our sins are all forgiven than there is in anything that this world has to give. And we get this forgiveness of sin by simply believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Will you believe in Him right now? Here is what it says in Romans 10:9, 10: "If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:13 says this: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Call on Jesus Christ now for salvation and forgiveness by telling him that you admit your need of these things and that you are asking him for them. He will give you these blessings the moment you ask Him for them.
To read R. A. Torrey's complete sermon, from which the quote given above is taken, click on this link: http://ratorrey.webs.com/The%20Most%20Important%20Question.htm
To see a picture of Torrey, and to read a biographical sketch of his life, click on this link:
http://www.freewebs.com/ratorrey/
And the fact is, we do not know when we will die. It might be today. It might be tomorrow. It might be in ten years. Our death might come to us totally unexpected, by a heart attack, by an accident, or by some other means. Or, we might get advance notice that we are going to die by a slowly-progressing disease. But however death comes to us, expected or unexpected, it ends all further opportunity to be forgiven by Jesus Christ. Those who die unforgiven will end up in hell forever. Therefore, it is very important to settle the matter at once. Let me re-quote Torrey's last two sentences given above: Yes, there is a more wonderful joy in knowing that our sins are all forgiven than there is in anything that this world has to give. And we get this forgiveness of sin by simply believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Will you believe in Him right now? Here is what it says in Romans 10:9, 10: "If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:13 says this: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Call on Jesus Christ now for salvation and forgiveness by telling him that you admit your need of these things and that you are asking him for them. He will give you these blessings the moment you ask Him for them.
To read R. A. Torrey's complete sermon, from which the quote given above is taken, click on this link: http://ratorrey.webs.com/The%20Most%20Important%20Question.htm
To see a picture of Torrey, and to read a biographical sketch of his life, click on this link:
http://www.freewebs.com/ratorrey/
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