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From Heaven With Love
by its right name. Declare what God has said in regard to lying,
Sabbath-breaking, stealing, and every other evil. If they persist in
sin, the judgment you have declared from God’s Word is pronounced
on them in heaven. The church must show that she does not sanction
their deeds, or she herself dishonors her Lord. She must deal with
sin as God directs, and her action is ratified in heaven.
But there is a brighter side. “Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are
remitted.” Let this thought be uppermost. Let the shepherds speak to
the erring of the forgiving mercy of the Saviour. Let them encourage
the sinner to repent and believe in Him who can pardon. “If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9
. Let the trembling
hand of the repenting one be placed in the loving hand of Jesus.
Such a remission is ratified in heaven.
Only God Can Forgive
Only in this sense has the church power to absolve the sinner.
Remission of sins can be obtained only through the merits of Christ.
To no man, to no body of men, is given power to free the soul from
guilt. The name of Jesus is the only “name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12
.
When Jesus first met the disciples in the upper chamber, Thomas
was not with them. He heard the reports of the others that Jesus had
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risen, but gloom and unbelief filled his heart. If Jesus had really
risen, there could be no hope of a literal earthly kingdom. And it
wounded his vanity to think that his Master should reveal Himself
to all except him. He was determined not to believe, and for a whole
week he brooded over his wretchedness.
He repeatedly declared, “Except I shall see in His hands the print
of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust
my hand into His side, I will not believe.” He would not exercise
faith which was dependent on the testimony of his brethren. He
loved his Lord, but he had allowed jealousy and unbelief to take
possession of his heart.
One evening Thomas determined to meet with the others in the
familiar upper room. He had a faint hope that the good news was
true. Taking their evening meal, the disciples talked of the evidences