a worldly priesthood. As Christ had abolished all these, by giving to
the church the spiritual substance of which these were the shadow, it
was necessary that they be very particularly and plainly taught how
this was done. The writer of this epistle has shown this in very clear
light.

The chapter read speaks of the True Tabernacle, which the Lord
pitched, and not man. It presents Jesus as the Mediator of a better
covenant, which has been established upon better promises. This is the
covenant: "I will put my laws into their mind, and on their heart also
will I write them: I will be to them a God; and they shall be to me a
people. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." These are cheering
words: "Their sins will I remember no more." Beloved brethren and
sisters, this is precisely the way God deals with every one of his
truly penitent and obedient children. He remembers their sins no more.
No matter how great sinners they have been, no matter how they have
abused and dishonored him, he holds nothing against them. In this we
may see the spirit we should all possess. We are all commanded to be
followers of God, as dear children, and walk in love.

I have sometimes heard a brother or a sister say: "I can forgive, but
I cannot forget." Brethren, we would not feel very well if the Lord
were to say this to us and of us. How would we be made to feel if our
blessed Lord were to say to each of us: "I am willing to forgive your
trespasses against me; I am willing to save you, because I have
promised to save all who repent and believe my Gospel; but I can never
forget the way you have treated me, and will never be willing to trust
you as I could have trusted you; and can never again have the same
confidence in you that I would have had, had you treated me in a
different way"? Such forgiveness as this on the part of our Lord
toward us would rob salvation of all its joy. It would turn the sun
into darkness and the moon into blood. It would change the harmony of
heaven into notes of discord in our ears. But this would be the very
sort of forgiveness that is implied in the saying: "I can forgive, but
I cannot forget."

Notice, however, the care and the order apparent in the insertion of
that loving clause, "and your sins will I remember no more." Notice
the introduction: "I will be to you a God; and ye shall be to me a
people." In what follows the Divine Love is