PREACHED:OL,
“THE PROMISE OF GOD’S FORGIVENESS”
INTRODUCTION:
“I forgive…I really, really
forgive! And I promise you, that I’ll never hold it against you again!”
A. What
comes to your mind when you hear that statement?
·
Great
relief?
·
The
lifting of an overpowering burden?
·
A
sense of unbridled gratitude?
·
A
final release from the prison of a guilty conscience?
·
The
renewal of the bonds of love?
·
An
opportunity to start over?
·
A
resolve to serve?
B. What is
forgiveness?
1. One
psychologist defined it as “…surrendering
my right to hurt you for hurting me.”
C. As
human beings and Christians, we often know intellectually
that we ought to forgive, but our emotions
don’t always cooperate.
1. Often
we hear someone say, “Well, I can forgive
most things, but that’s something I could never forgive!”
2. A
wife brought up a mistake a husband had made and he was very unhappy about it:
·
“Why do you keep talking about
that? I thought you said you had forgiven me and forgotten it!”
a. The wife
snapped back:
·
“I have forgiven and forgotten. But
I don’t want YOU to forget that I have forgiven and forgotten!”
3. I
read about a man who was dying, and was urged to reconcile with a neighbor who
had formerly been his friend, but against
whom he had held a grudge for many years.
a. The
neighbor came over to the bedside of the sick man and mutual forgiveness was
express-ed. But as he started to leave, the dying man struggled and sat up and
called out, “But remem-ber,
John, if I get well this doesn’t count!”
C. Why
is so difficult for us to genuinely forgive?
1. Because
it calls for consummate unselfishness on the part of the offended, and the
relinquishing of rights and replacing them with a willingness to grant favor to
one who has deeply offended us!
‚ But that is exactly what God
has promised that is will do for us!
A. The
prophet Micah ends his message with these words:
1. “Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not
retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again
have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast our
sins into the depths of the sea.”
a. As
the song beautifully tells us, “Deeper
than the ocean and wider than the sea, is the grace of the Savior for sinners
like me…”
B. Heb
1. God
is faithful to keep his promises:
a. Deut 15:6; Rom
2. What
is involved in fully appreciating this wonderful promise and appropriating it
to my own possession?
DISCUSSION:
ΠWe must fully grasp our status before God without this
promise!
A. Mankind is afflicted by a fatal flaw!
1. Because
it seems so small to us, we don’t always see the gravity of it!
a. Joe
Barnett told the story of watching his wife working under a bright light to
remove a small splinter from the finger of their youngest son.
1) Finally,
she got it out, bathing it in alcohol as the child screamed loudly!
2) He
asked her, “Why all the fuss over such a
little splinter?”
3) She
reminded him,
“Infection… finger… could
affect…whole body…”
4) But
the child never fully understood, he just hopped down and went back out to
play, as Barnett said, “…probably to pick
up another splinter…”
b. He
made this application: “Sin is a
wound like that. It’s poisonous. Unless sin is removed from your life, it will
cause an infection leading to all sorts of problems—ultimately even spiritual
death…”
c. John Wayne movie: “Horse Soldiers” –
1) Soldier
wounded by the ax… blood poison!
1) Rom
Rom
B. The
result of not treating the disease of sin is: “…flaming fire inflicting vengeance on those who do not
know God and on those who do not
obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer punishment of eternal
destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his
might…” (II Thes 1:8,9).
B. Without
the promise we stand not under mercy and grace but under the penalty of justice—hell!
1) We
all realize that justice demands the extraction of the full penalty of the law!
a) Lady
Justice - scales in her hands weighing the evidence is blindfolded!
b) Only
innocence can bring freedom from perfect justice, and none of us are free from
sin!
c) That’s
why Paul cried out concerning his sin, “Wretched
man that I am! Who will deliver…?”” (Rom
We must fully appreciate the price paid for the promise!
A. Rom 3:23-26. “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are
justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation (peace
offering) by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s
righteousness because in his forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was
to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
1. We
don’t deserve forgiveness; we deserve condemnation!
2. God
is ultimately just and justice demands we pay the penalty for sin!
3. But
God desires to justify but he can’t and be true to his just nature without the
penalty being paid!
·
“Just-as-if-I’d”…
4. Christ
was sent by God to pay the penalty! He took our place when he died! He bore the
guilt of our sin!
a. II Cor
b. Isa 53:4-6. “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But
he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon
him was the chastisement of our peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we
like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the
Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all…” v 11. “Out of the anguish of his
soul, he shall see and be satisfied…”
1) Again,
we remember the words of the old hymn, “I
stood condemned to die, but Jesus freely took my place. He bore it all that I
might live!”
2) I
John 2:1, 2. “…Jesus Christ the
righteous. He is the propitiation (peace offering) for our sins, and not for
our only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Ž We must accept the promise on God’s terms!
A. It
is God that we have offended by our sins, and it is God to whom we must be
reconciled!
B. On
Pentecost the Jews recognized their sin and guilt before God:
1. Acts
C. When
Saul of Tarsus, came face to face with his rebellion and sin on the road to
D. When
the Philippian jailor faced his own mortality and the
power of God, he asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs,
What must I do to be saved?” (Acts
E. They
all wanted to know what they needed to do be forgiven of the consequences of
their sin!
1. They
knew they couldn’t save themselves!
2. They
placed themselves in the hands of God!
3. When
the preacher told them how to respond by faith to God, they didn’t hesitate,
they responded immediately!
a. Acts
b. Acts
Acts 9:18b. “…then he arose and was baptized…”
c. Acts
We must fully appreciate the motivation of the promise!
A. You
see, we are entering a covenant relationship with God, where we become his
children!
1. Gal
6:26, 27.
a. Thus,
it is a covenant of love!
1) John
3:16
I John 3:1. “See what kind of love the Father has given…”
B. We see the heart of God in Jesus:
1. Matt
11:28-30
Matt
C. How
should that Divine Love affect us?
1. II Cor
concluded this: that one has died for all,
therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no
longer
live for themselves but for him who for
their sakes died and was raised.”
a. As
another old song rings out, “Greater love
there could not be! Jesus died for you and me! In our hearts, he would reign!”
CONCLUSION:
Forgiveness, then, is an attitude
of heart which restores the offended to the former state and affections of the
offended.
A. To
forgive is to bury the matter and treat it as though it has not been committed.
1. That’s
the heart of the statement, “To err is
human and to forgive is Divine.”
a. We
are never more like our Heavenly Father than when we forgive others as He has
forgiven us!
o
Eph 4:32.