Have you ever truly weighed and considered how great the sin of God's people is? Think how heinous your own transgression is. You'll find that it's not just a sin here and there towering up like an alp—no, your iniquities are heaped upon each other, like those ancient giants who piled Pelion upon Ossa, mountain upon mountain.

What an aggregate of sin there is in the life of even the most sanctified of God's children! Now attempt to multiply this—the sin of one only—by the multitude of the redeemed, "a number which no man can number." Only then will you have some conception of the great mass of guilt for which Jesus shed his blood.

But we arrive at a more adequate idea of the magnitude of sin by the greatness of the remedy provided. It is the blood of Jesus Christ—God's only and well-beloved Son. God's Son! Angels cast their crowns before him! All the choral symphonies of heaven surround his glorious throne! "God over all, blessed forever. Amen."

And yet he takes upon himself the form of a servant. He is scourged and pierced, bruised and torn, and at last slain. Because nothing but the blood of the incarnate Son of God could make atonement for our offences. No human mind can adequately estimate the infinite value of the divine sacrifice. For great as is the sin of God's people, the atonement which takes it away is immeasurably greater.

Therefore, believer, even when sin rolls like a black flood, even when the remembrance of the past is bitter, you can yet stand before the blazing throne of the great and holy God and cry, "Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died; yea rather, that is risen again!"

Yes, the recollection of your sin fills you with shame and sorrow. But at the same time, make it a foil to show the brightness of mercy. Your guilt is the dark night in which the fair star of divine love shines with serene splendor.