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[0:00] is entitled, The Formula for Forgiveness. And the passage this morning really has a lot to say about that.

[0:12] Please turn to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15. And we'll be looking at verses 11 through 24.

[0:30] And he said, A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.

[0:46] So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country.

[1:00] And there he squandered his estate with loose living. Now, when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.

[1:16] So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country. And he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

[1:29] And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating. And no one was giving anything to him.

[1:41] But when he came to his senses, he said, How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread? But I am dying here with hunger.

[1:55] I will get up and go to my father and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight.

[2:07] I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired men. So he got up and came to his father.

[2:19] But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, felt compassion on him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

[2:31] And the son said to his father, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

[2:43] But the father said to his slaves, Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him. And put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.

[2:55] And bring the fatted calf, kill it and let us eat and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and has come to life again.

[3:08] He was lost and has been found. And they began to celebrate. It's one of the most powerful and tender passages in all of Scripture.

[3:25] The entire chapter is given over to things lost and the value of just one. And in this case, it was the son. There is absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing that brings forth the forgiveness of God like repentance of the individual.

[3:46] And the powerful statement that is made in this passage regarding the son was when he came to his senses.

[3:56] Some people live an entire lifetime and never do that. They never come to their senses. King James renders it this way.

[4:08] It says, And when he came to himself, it was one of these wake-up calls, you know, God's great two-by-four.

[4:19] It was an awakening call for this man. But he wasn't prepared to come to his senses until he had hit rock bottom and was eating what the pigs ate.

[4:31] And then he, all at once, it dawned on him, What am I doing here? What have I been thinking? It all came to him.

[4:41] And then he did something that a lot of people don't have the courage or the willingness to do even when they come to their senses.

[4:55] And that is, when you come to your senses, then you go to the source that has forgiveness to offer. And that's what he did. And you know, there's really no indication that this young man even expected forgiveness or restoration from the father.

[5:14] He rehearsed within himself the story that he was going to give. First of all, when I see dad, I'm going to tell him, I admit I have been wrong.

[5:26] I have sinned against God, against heaven, and against you. And I'm no longer worthy. I don't deserve to be called your son.

[5:38] I don't deserve to even be regarded as a member of the family anymore. If you would be so kind as to just take me on as a hired servant, I'd be glad to work for room and board.

[5:53] Could you find it in your heart? He couldn't even get all of that out. His father embraced him, forgave him. You see, the father saw the son from afar off.

[6:04] I can't help but wonder if the father didn't look for the son every day and say to himself, one of these days, maybe my boy will come back.

[6:16] And this time he looked up and he saw him afar off. And the father ran to him and embraced him. What a precious, priceless story. We all have some prodigality about us.

[6:29] We've all strayed. We've all wandered away. We've all sinned. None of us deserve a status with the father. But that's what grace is all about. Because grace does not give you what you deserve.

[6:41] That's justice. You don't want anything to do with that. Grace gives you what you do not deserve and makes it available because Jesus Christ paid the price for your justice. That's why you're able to come.

[6:52] Well, today we are going to try and address some loose ends and bring this subject of forgiveness to a close.

[7:03] We started several months ago in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. And we kind of got bogged down with this very, very important material because it appears at least on the surface to conflict with what is said later in the Scriptures.

[7:21] And in reality, it does. But it conflicts for a very good reason, and that is because the orders have changed. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made it very clear when he talked to the Jews that if you do not forgive your brother, God will not forgive you.

[7:43] If you forgive others their trespasses, then God will forgive you. And there isn't any other way you can slice it other than to realize that that is a conditional forgiveness.

[7:55] He is saying God will forgive you if, and providing, you forgive others. But if you won't forgive those who have wronged you, then don't expect God to forgive you. If you're going to be unforgiving, God will be unforgiving toward you.

[8:07] And that's crystal clear there in Matthew 6. Then when we come over to Paul's epistles in the New Testament, we read a statement like, we are forgiven all transgressions in Christ.

[8:19] And I pointed out to you that that is a blanket kind of forgiveness. Did not exist on the other side of Calvary. Never lose sight of this fact because this is germane not only to this, this is germane to everything.

[8:31] Everything. When Jesus Christ died on that cross, everything changed. It's a whole new game. Everything changed.

[8:43] Because prior to the time that he was made sin for us, all of the world could do nothing more than look forward or anticipate. And they didn't even know how to do that.

[8:54] They didn't understand that the Messiah that God would send to deliver Israel would himself be a sacrifice. It's an incredible concept.

[9:06] And yet that is exactly how our salvation was procured. Through what Christ did for us. And right here again is another place where people turn this around.

[9:18] And they make salvation based on what you do for God. Well, forget that. It doesn't work that way. But that's the way that appeals to human logic.

[9:30] What you do for God will get you in. No, it won't. It's what God has done for you that gets you in. And your acceptance of that. Completely contrary to the way the world computes this.

[9:44] As is a great many other things. Now, what I'm going to do in trying to tie all these loose ends together. And make this our final session on the subject of forgiveness. That is offered with a condition also.

[9:57] And the condition is that you do not surface with more questions that will require us to go into another week. And if you do, that's okay. That's fine. Because I would rather scratch where people itch than I would to just plow on through regardless of what's in people's minds or hearts.

[10:15] So we will try to provide some time for Q&A at the end of this session. I'm going to make it a point to quit by 1120. Marie, if I don't, give me this or this or whatever.

[10:31] And we'll quit so you can have any comments or questions that you may have. And in trying to tie up these loose ends, I want to refer again to this letter. And by the way, no, I didn't find my Bible.

[10:42] This was apart from I still don't know where it is. But thankfully I've got a dozen others. Pastor Marv, election, chosen, and predestination confused.

[10:53] Isn't this both for the saved and the lost? And the Bible tells us that he is not willing that any should perish. Maybe we are all elected and chosen. Then it's up to us to ask for salvation.

[11:06] Now there is some truth in that. And we'll dissect that momentarily. God's election and man's decision. Is it ever fully explained? Doesn't the Bible teach both?

[11:17] Don't they complement each other? I know I'm saved, so I'm not worried. Signed, a bit or a lot confused. Thank you for that question, whoever you are.

[11:30] They submitted it in writing and dropped it in the offering box out there, which you are all welcome to do. And I want to make mention of the fact that it is on the last CD back there, number 10, that we do deal with these issues in a little bit more detail than what I'll be able to this morning.

[11:52] So if you want some more elaboration and all of those CDs back there, they're all free. Pick up whatever you want, however many you want. Distribute them. Give them away to whomever is interested.

[12:03] And number 10 does deal with this subject a little bit more. Last week, and I owe you all apologies. I know many of you were not here last week because of the threatening weather, but we dealt with Psalm 51 and David's penitential psalm, his psalm of confession and appreciation for God's forgiveness.

[12:26] And he said, Against thee and thee only have I sinned. And he was talking about, of course, his sin with Bathsheba and taking the wife of one of his military commanders, Uriah the Hittite.

[12:42] And I explained the story and went all through it. And in the process of doing that, I at times confounded Uriah when I should have said David and said David when I should have said Uriah.

[12:53] And I was talking about David and Bathsheba's situation. And you were probably wondering, What is it? And I even threw in Delilah once. I'm sure people are wondering, Delilah, where did she come from?

[13:08] How did she get in the picture? Well, she wasn't in the picture at all. I don't know where she came from. It just popped up in this 78-year-old mind. So you've got to love old people, like I said. And cut me some slack with these things.

[13:21] You're probably fortunate that I didn't reach over into the New Testament and work in Ananias and Sapphira. Anyway. So, forgiveness is just the most incredible, wonderful theme that any human being can ever enjoy.

[13:38] And it is free. There is no penitence to pay. Anyway, that's what Jesus did. So there's nothing left for you to pay.

[13:51] Jesus paid it all. All to him. I freely owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.

[14:06] You didn't do that. He did that. He did it for you. And it is but for you to accept as a free gift. So we talked about forgiveness being conditional.

[14:21] And it was to the Jews. And it was under the law of Moses. But as I said, when Christ died on that cross, everything changed. Prior to the death of Christ, for the sins of the whole world, the only way of access to God was through Israel.

[14:40] God had established and conditioned that nation of Israel to be a peculiar people unto him. And he established these items of furniture in the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat where God said he would meet with the children of Israel.

[14:59] Once a year, the high priest would enter into that place. He was the only one that was allowed into the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was, covered over by the mercy seat.

[15:11] And only he could go in there once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Israel, several years ago, engaged in a conflict with the Arabs on Yom Kippur.

[15:27] The Arabs chose that strategic religious holiday of the Jews, the most holy holiday in the Jewish calendar throughout the whole year. And they chose Yom Kippur to attack Israel because they knew they would be least prepared on that holiday.

[15:44] And, of course, Israel was not supposed to win that war, but they did. They were not supposed to win the 67 war either, but they did.

[15:54] And they were not supposed to win the 45 for independence, but they did. They are God's chosen people. And through them, through them, the Messiah was to come through the line of Judah.

[16:10] Christ would be the line of the tribe of Judah. But these people never had, not in their wildest imaginations, could they ever entertain the idea that the long-promised Messiah, that God said he would send, that would come through Israel, never in their wildest imaginations would they have believed that when God sends him, the world is going to put him on a cross.

[16:36] Never entered their mind. That was the most wild, off-the-wall thing you could imagine. When God's Messiah finally comes, he's going to rule and reign and honor and splendor and drive all of Israel's enemies into the sea and establish his kingdom and rule in righteousness throughout the whole world.

[16:56] But the Messiah of Israel to die on a cross? Are you crazy? Well, that's the dumbest thing I ever heard of. And wherever that gospel was preached, that's the way many people reacted to it.

[17:08] And you know something? Many still do. When you talk about Christ and him crucified, they give you this blank stare. What does a Jew dying on a Roman cross 2,000 years ago have to do with me?

[17:26] It doesn't affect me. I can't relate. You have no idea how that affects you. It affects the entire world. It affects every man and woman who ever lived. Most profound thing that ever took place.

[17:39] We talked about the principle of forgiveness, being conditioned upon confession, and how that figures in with the blanket of forgiveness.

[17:53] And let me spend just a moment on that, if I may. When you receive Christ as your Savior, the provision that was made for the sins of the whole world, then become personally applied to you.

[18:12] What Jesus did when he died on the cross was made every single person, whoever lived or ever would live, capable of being saved, because he paid the price.

[18:25] And the way that salvation that was provided, that redemption that was provided for the entire world, the way it is appropriated and made personal, is through your active volition.

[18:39] When you hear the gospel, you embrace it. You take it to yourself. That is called an expression of your faith or your confidence. When you exercise faith in Jesus Christ, what you are doing is responding to what God did in Christ when he died for the sins of the whole world.

[19:03] And when you do that, that provides you with a blanket. You are individually and personally covered with a blanket of forgiveness.

[19:15] You are outfitted with the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. God didn't forgive most of your sins. He forgave everything, past, present, and future.

[19:27] You mean under that blanket, God has forgiven sins I haven't even committed yet? Of course, that's all part of the blanket. Yet I hasten to add that when you come to faith and you receive salvation for Jesus Christ, you also enter into a new relationship with him that you did not have before.

[19:47] Now, he is your father. You are his child in an intimate, personal way. So, once a relationship like that is begun, it needs to be maintained.

[20:02] How do you maintain that relationship? How do you stay in favor with your heavenly father? The blanket forgiveness is there. All your transgressions are forgiven.

[20:14] That's your official status. Nothing can change that. God can't even change that. Nor would he want to, because he would do nothing to negate the work that Christ accomplished on that cross.

[20:28] That is a done thing. But then you have an ongoing relationship to your heavenly father. How are you going to behave in that relationship? What are you going to do?

[20:40] Well, you're going to love him, and you're going to serve him, and you're going to worship him, and you're going to mess up.

[20:53] You're going to blow it. And the reason I know that is because you're just like me. And that's what I do. I blow it sometimes, too.

[21:04] Anybody who is so naive as to think preachers never blow it, preachers are holy. Preachers are exempt. Clergy, they can't do anything to just, hey, listen, let me tell you something.

[21:17] We are just as fleshly and just as capable of wrongdoing as anybody else. We are not exempt. We don't have some hedge of insulation built around us where the fiery darts of the wicked can't get to us.

[21:33] We are as exposed as everybody else is. We are subject to the weakness of the flesh just like everybody else is. And if you run across a preacher who says he isn't, avoid him at all costs.

[21:50] So there is a relationship to be maintained, and that means we are either on good terms, or on not so good terms, just like you and your dad. There are some people here, and I base this on the fact that, no, I'm not thinking of anybody, anybody in particular, because I don't do that.

[22:07] But I'm thinking in terms of just based on the number of people who are here, the likelihood is that somebody here has been estranged from their parents, maybe for a long time.

[22:19] I don't know that, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised just because of the number of people who are here. And because we all live and function in relationships, and people do things to offend one another, and we get upset with one another, and we're not on speaking terms.

[22:32] We haven't visited them for who knows how long. No phone calls, no nothing. That ought not to be. That ought not to be with our Heavenly Father either.

[22:47] But when we know we have behaved badly, when we know we have erred, that we have sinned against better knowledge and information, and we did it anyway, and the reason we did it was because we wanted to do it.

[23:00] We yielded to the temptation. What that does is it creates a rift between us and our Father because He knows everything, and we need to clear the air.

[23:12] And the way you clear the air is you go to Him, and you do what the prodigal did. Father, I have sinned against you, and the Father will forgive.

[23:26] How do you know you'll forgive? He said He would. And that's where I base 1 John 1.9. If we confess our sins. That's a condition. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

[23:42] But didn't He already do that? Isn't that what the forgiveness of all transgressions is about? That is our official position. There is a huge difference between our state and our standing.

[23:53] Our standing is one that if you are in Christ, you stand in the righteousness of Christ Himself. This means you possess Christ's righteousness.

[24:07] And the reason you do is not because of your behavior and you've come up to that because you are so good, you finally reached that. No, no, no, no. Not at all. You stand in Christ's righteousness because He gave it to you, and it became yours.

[24:22] As a gift of His grace, that's your official standing. You are robed in the righteousness of Christ. Your state is another matter.

[24:35] Your state fluctuates. Your state runs from cold to hot. That's the condition you're in. How's your spiritual life?

[24:46] Where are you with the Lord? Are you on speaking terms? If you are not, it's just because of one thing, and it's always the same thing. It's sin.

[24:58] It's sin. There is something in your life that displeases the Lord, and you are not dealing with it. And you don't want to go to Him. You don't want to talk to Him about it.

[25:09] You want to ignore it. So you avoid Him. You're not on speaking terms. And what you need to do is the only thing anybody can do. You fess up.

[25:21] You own up to it. You don't have to come to me. I don't want you to come to me. You don't have to go to a priest. You go to your father. You say, Father, I've sinned. If we confess our sins, you know what sin is.

[25:36] You know what it is. And when you confess your sin, what that means is, you agree. You agree. And that's all God wants.

[25:49] He wants you to own up. Admit it. You realize how hard that is for the flesh to do? To admit we were wrong? To admit we did wrong? Oh, man.

[26:00] That pains me down deep in. That wounds my ego. I don't like to do that. Makes me feel bad inwardly. Makes me look less.

[26:12] It's an uncomfortable feeling. But it is a healing agent. Happy is the man who learns to take responsibility for his actions rather than blame somebody else or cover them up or deny them.

[26:31] You just go to God and admit this is what I did. You name the sin. You acknowledge it. You confess it to him. Well, I don't know that I've committed any sins.

[26:46] Well, let me suggest this. Just have a little word of prayer and say, Lord, I don't know if there is something in my life that is displeasing to you or not. But here's what I would really appreciate you doing.

[26:59] If there is, would you please show me? I've been amazed at how God has always come through. I've been amazed. Oh.

[27:14] That? That? Well, I didn't think... Well, yeah. That was a pretty rotten thing to do, wasn't it?

[27:28] Yeah. Just ask the Lord to bring to your heart and mind anything that is displeasing to him and then relax.

[27:38] The ball's in his court. Let him do it. And he can be relied upon to do it. When we confess our sin, say the same thing. The word is homo legeo in the Greek and it means literally say the same words.

[27:52] It's exactly what it means. Say the same words. If somebody is brought in, arrested, and they're brought in for investigation, interrogation, and you're under suspicion for having committed a crime, and this party sits there and police investigators or a couple of them that are asking questions and where were you on such and such a time and the night and did you do this?

[28:17] Did you do that? And this guy's sitting there sweating, you know, sweating, and you're giving them the third degree and asking me these questions. I already answered. Well, would you please tell us again? We want to make sure that we get the story straight.

[28:28] And finally, after this goes on, the guilt factor really begins surfacing in this guy. And he comes to the place where it's, okay, okay, yeah, I'm the guy.

[28:48] You got me. I'm the guy. I did it. You know what they're always interested in then? Would you be willing to sign a confession?

[29:02] And all the confession means is you agree to the charges that have been laid against you. That's what it means to confess your sin.

[29:14] You agree that adultery is sin. And that's what you did. And that's ugly. And that's hurtful.

[29:25] And that's damaging. But it is also forgivable once we're willing to confess it.

[29:36] Amazing the way this works. The text says, 1 John 1, 9, if we confess our sins, God is faithful. That means he's reliable, dependable. It means you can always count on him.

[29:48] And this is why I told you, you don't ask God for forgiveness. That's all wrong. If you're a child of God, you're already under that blanket. You already have a relationship.

[29:59] You don't ask God for forgiveness. You confess your sin, what you know in your life to be sin. And God is faithful, reliable, dependable.

[30:10] He will always, always, always forgive you. He's obligated to. He has obligated himself to. He can't go back on his word.

[30:21] But if you ask God, Oh God, will you please forgive me? This is such a rotten thing I did. I'm not sure that you've got enough grace to forgive me. Will you please forgive me?

[30:33] Do you realize when you ask a question, you are implying that he might say no. That's why we don't ask.

[30:44] And John doesn't say if we confess our sins and ask and beg and plead with God for his forgiveness, maybe he'll forgive you. That's nonsense.

[30:55] There's no security in that kind of arrangement. None at all. No wonder some people say, I don't feel forgiven.

[31:06] I don't feel forgiven. I don't feel like God has forgiven me. What do you expect to feel? They expect to feel some kind of an emotional, internal sensation of cleansing or forgiveness or a voice from heaven or something like that.

[31:21] All God wants you to do is believe him. He says, if you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive you your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. And when it says that he is just in doing it, that means God's not cutting you any slack.

[31:36] God's justice is maintained maintained in forgiving you and the reason it is is because Jesus satisfied God's justice. So justice is no longer in the picture.

[31:49] It's just a grace operation. He is absolutely faithful, reliable, dependable, trustworthy to forgive you. What if you don't deserve to be forgiven?

[32:01] forgiven? Well, does anybody? Nobody deserves to be forgiven. That's why God makes forgiveness a gift.

[32:13] Because a gift is given without the recipient deserving it. That's what makes this grace so amazing. And as many times as we've been over this, there's still people that don't get it.

[32:27] But if you ever get it, it'll put you in seventh heaven because that's where God wants us to be. It's just amazing. Just amazing. So, we do not ask for forgiveness.

[32:38] We confess our sin and forgiveness is the automatic result. It is a glorious thing. Let me consider this because this is a painful issue.

[32:49] forgiveness is real and genuine and forgiveness is free and full and forever but forgiveness does not remove the consequences of our actions.

[33:10] That's a really important thing to note. If I do such and such and such and such will God forgive me? Yes. Even if I plan it out in advance and connive and scheme God will still forgive me?

[33:25] Yes. He will. He will. Provided you confess it, acknowledge it but God will not remove the consequences. You know that in and of itself is a very good reason to carefully watch the way that we take because all actions come with reactions.

[33:47] All causes have effects and there's no exception and when God forgives you he doesn't remove the consequence. I remember hearing about this fellow who had spent his life in drunkenness and dissipation and was probably drunk more than he was sober and he was like the town drunk and everybody knew what he was and one day this man got saved gloriously saved.

[34:14] Well the doctors had been treating him for cirrhosis of the liver. He came to faith in Jesus Christ and he was made a new creation in Christ and everybody was wow what happened what happened to old so and so he's a changed man I haven't seen him that sober for I don't know how long and of course all the townspeople they didn't know any better they just oh he got religion you know that's what they call it he didn't get religion he got a relationship he came into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and understood what salvation meant he exercised faith in the finished work of Christ and was gloriously saved put a song in his heart but he still had cirrhosis of the liver and he died from it so being forgiven doesn't mean the consequences are removed there are young people today and not just young people but this thing is just so rampant on our college campuses it's incredible kids shacking up sharing each other's dorms men women in the same room connecting hooking up they call it one night stands and all the rest and you know what a lot of these kids are picking up all kinds of

[35:35] STDs sexually transmitted diseases some of which will be with them for the rest of their life and some of these dear young women who make themselves so available to anybody who will sleep with them some of them are never going to be able to have a baby because of the promiscuity of their lifestyle and yet they are none of them is beyond the grace of God to reach and to save and to make a new person in Christ but when they come to faith in Christ they still have their STDs consequences are not removed and do you realize what would be involved if God had to remove the consequences of everybody that he saved it's almost like a denial of reality it's almost like they are asking

[36:35] God to suspend the universal law of cause and effect and he doesn't do that now there may be some very rare instances where someone is physically impacted in connection with their relationship to Christ but those are very very rare and nobody ought to count on it because more often than not God does not do that God does not forgive a believer without his confessing his sin the believer remains in a state of estranged fellowship you are not close with your father all you have to do to get close is confess your sin God forgives it's all over you kiss and make up and some believers are living in that place where they ought to do something about it some say I do believe God has forgiven me but I cannot forgive myself well by implication

[37:41] I hope they are not suggesting that they have a higher standard for forgiveness than what God does that's what they seem to be saying on the surface God is saying my son's death on the cross for your sin was good enough for me it satisfied me but apparently you have a higher standard than I do that will not allow you to forgive yourself and you know I think one of the reasons that people feel this way and it has to do with the way we're wired because some are some's temperament some's personality are different some are very melancholy and it's very difficult for them to let go of anything they harbor it and replay it over and over again and one of the reasons that some feel that they cannot forgive themselves is because they live under a constant reminder of what they did and they replay it over and over again and if you subject your mind to that no wonder you don't feel that you can forgive yourself because you keep the vividness of it in your mind and I'm not suggesting that it is so easy to just say well I'm going to dismiss it from a mind because you don't have that ability we do not have the ability to forget the things we want to forget sometimes we don't have the ability to remember the things we want to remember too but there are certain things that we've been involved in that we would just love to dismiss from our mind and never have to think about it again but you don't have that ability neither do

[39:28] I but if you are plagued by the replay of your sin even though you know God has forgiven you because he says he has if you are plagued with the replay of that thing I just suggest that you occupy your mind and do something to distract that and a good cure would be to plunge yourself into the word of God so what has God done with our sins at least seven things that I can think of they are forgiven or set away they are pardoned they are cleansed they are removed as far as the east is from the west they are cast behind his back and not found they are sought for and not found they are buried in the depths of the deepest sea and I want to close and open this opportunity for Q&A with you by just reminding you of a little ditty we used to sing I remember we used to teach this to kids in jet cadets back when I was 27 years old back before the earth crushed hearted we would sing this little song and all the kids would chime in and they all enjoyed it so much and I've got enough kid in me

[40:39] I really enjoy this too in the theology it's called my sins are gone gone gone gone gone yes my sins are gone now my soul is free and in my heart's a song buried in the deepest sea yes that's good enough for me I shall live eternally praise God my sins are G-O-N-E gone and they are gone because of Jesus wow well I have gotten the slit throat sign and thank you my dear I'm glad you didn't forget she never forgets anything have you a question or comment in the back Terry let's get her microphone back there if you would please do we know every time that we sin and when we do know that we sinned if we're a bit frustrated and we don't acknowledge it right then because of our frustration and then something else comes up the next day or so and it's not in the forefront of our mind and we kind of forget about our sin and we never acknowledge it what happens then well during that period of time you know when we become aware of it and sometimes this takes a little bit of gestation time sometimes when you are reminded of something that you did that you shouldn't have done or it's a grumble and gripe a little bit and forget but you know what the

[42:26] Holy Spirit is gracious and he just keeps coming back and prodding now Marv what about this what do you do and eventually the hound of heaven tends to kind of wear you down and if you stay sensitive to that and you want to be told you know that's a big item that's a big item we can say that we want to be told but we don't we want to be left alone that's what we want and we may tell a friend hey if I get out of line you you you you call me on it will you you need to really mean that and if you really mean that then you won't be angry with them when they do you'll be thankful so these things work on me when I know I have displeased the Lord I'm not always real eager to own up to it to him right then and there it has to germinate a little and finally it gets to the place of where I don't want to carry it anymore and that's when I go to the

[43:36] Lord and say this is what I did he knows what I did he wants to hear me say it admit it acknowledge it it's not an easy thing to do but it is so purifying and so cleansing and then you get on about the business thank you for that question somebody else have a question Roger Marv is there any connection between 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verses 11 through 13 where we suffer not and verses can they be applied here very curious about if we deny him he will also deny us what that means 2nd Timothy that's a passage that I don't have the satisfaction on that I would like 2nd Timothy what after 2 verses 11 through 13 trustworthy statement we died with him we shall also live with him what does it mean to have died with him it means

[44:42] I think it means just to be a believer were you there when they crucified my Lord what does that mean it means are you in Christ and does his crucifixion count for your crucifixion so if we died with him and I think that's a I don't know for sure but it's probably a third class condition in the Greek I can't say that for sure but I think the meaning is since since we died with him not if maybe we did maybe we didn't he's talking to believers and I think it's since we died with him we shall also live with him since we endure we shall also reign with him if we deny him he will also deny us what will he deny us I think he will deny us any rewards doesn't say he's going to deny you salvation he's going to kick you out because you don't deserve to stay in but you didn't deserve to get in and I think this has reference to rewards those who serve the

[45:45] Lord are going to be rewarded 1 Corinthians 3 gold silver and precious stone wood hay and stubble we don't know what our rewards are going to be or how they're going to come but I think that if we live a life of self-centeredness as a believer and you can do that you can do that you can be a thoroughly self-centered self-serving Christian it sounds like a contradiction in terms because you certainly shouldn't do that but when God saved you he did not take away your volition God did not take away your power to displease him you still have the same will that you had before you were saved your volition is the ability that you have to do right or wrong as you choose you are a free moral agent and when you exercise that will in a way that is contrary to his will you are just eliminating yourself from rewards that you could have or should have but even if we are faithful if we are faithless if we you know there are people who trust Jesus

[46:55] Christ for salvation but they don't trust him for anything else they don't trust him for their kids they don't trust him for their health they don't trust him for their wealth they just trusted him for salvation and that's it there are a lot of people like that a lot of Christians like that fortunately God isn't saying if you don't completely trust me in everything I don't want anything to do with you he doesn't do that God uses the focal point of his son and his son's work on our behalf and you can be a Christian and be a grade A stinker I know there are some you've probably met some a Christian has no justification and no excuse for being a stinker or nasty but he can be because he's still got a volition you can still displease the Lord there are some people who are really saved and they're living so far away from the Lord it isn't even funny but they're saved because of Jesus Christ they're not saved because of their behavior after him

[47:57] Jesus didn't save you now it's up to you to keep yourself saved that's baloney you can't keep yourself saved any more than you can save yourself it's all of grace not part of grace and part of works it's all of grace other comments or questions anybody verse 13 if we are faithless he remains faithful he cannot deny himself yeah well I think that's like I was saying faith is nothing but belief it's nothing but trust but it's in a whole lot of different areas like I was just saying you can have faith in Jesus Christ for salvation but do you have faith for your kids or do you have faith for your future do you have faith for your health that's an entirely different thing lots of people have faith in

[48:57] Christ for salvation but that's it what God wants is he wants us to trust him with everything for everything that's a whole new ball game that is above and beyond our salvation so if we are faithless God doesn't become faithless and God's faithfulness does not change because he cannot deny himself so God is constant in his faith and in his forgiveness we are not up here at Shelley in the front okay Roger go ahead is the first part of that verse apply to maybe times in our lives when we just say to heck with it oh absolutely absolutely I think that's what it applies to mainly mainly there are lots of times when Christians say okay God if that's the way you're going to be count me out I'm not interested in this thing anymore well God understands your temper tantrums and God understands your nastiness and your orneriness and your ingratitude and

[50:02] God doesn't respond by saying okay you want to trust me for this or that or that or that or God is mature God is adult he's more than that he's God he will not deny himself even though we may give him a lot of reason to he doesn't deny himself he doesn't say well if that's the way you're going to act you just get out I don't want you in the body of Christ anymore I'm excluding you God can't do that he can't do that because he can't deny himself he's the faithful God even though we often are not Shelley speaking of Christians being stinkers what about those who are mentally ill and don't really have an idea that they're being a stinker yeah yeah well that's that's an entirely different category there are legitimate cases of mental illness of maybe severe brain damage as a result of illness or an accident or something like that and these dear people simply cannot be held responsible for their actions or for what they say and God doesn't hold them accountable some of these tragic situations that we all know about people are not responsible for what they're not responsible for and there are a whole lot of things that pass off as mental illness and a lot of them aren't even legitimate a lot of them are just plain old flesh but there are real cases of mental illness where people honestly do not know right from wrong and cannot be held accountable in those cases that's a different category though anyone else well yes is there okay can we consider this subject of forgiveness past and we will move on then in the sermon on the mount there is a fascinating passage coming up

[52:25] I'm really excited to share it with you it is one of the most misapplied verses in all of the Bible and it goes something like this judge not lest you be judged for with what measure you judge or you meet out it shall be meted out to you boy that gets a lot of a lot of press but it gets a lot of misapplication too and we will look at it Christians must be great judges of discernment there is a huge difference between exercising wise judgment and being judgmental a host of differences there and we'll explore that later on so would you stand with me please we'll be dismissed father we're really grateful for the subject at hand and we trust that some hearts and minds can be relieved of anxiety and burdens because they really do know that you mean what you say and that our forgiveness is free and is full and is forever there's no way that we can adequately thank you for that but we can begin to show our appreciation with an obedient heart and spirit toward what you've revealed with dealing with others with kindness and understanding all of these things we know delight your heart and we are so thankful for the availability of forgiveness that we can just come to you acknowledge our sin admit our need and receive

[54:15]  Jesus Christ as the provision for our need and be cleansed in our entire being we are so grateful for that truth thank you for making it as clear as you have throughout scripture as we continue through this remarkable sermon on the mount we want to extract from it all that is applicable for believers today by way of principle and we want to make ourselves accountable to you and accountable to each other as members of the body of Christ thank you so much for all that you provided for us dismiss us now we pray with your blessing in Christ's name amen