WEBVTT 00:00:02.039 --> 00:00:04.419 Welcome to the official podcast of the Church 00:00:04.419 --> 00:00:06.960 of Christ Wheeler area. We're so glad that you've 00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:09.439 tuned in for today's message. Whether you're 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:11.660 on your morning commute or if you're relaxing 00:00:11.660 --> 00:00:13.640 at home, we're here to share the strength and 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:16.640 truth of God's Word with our community. If you're 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:18.260 in the neighborhood, we'd love to meet you in 00:00:18.260 --> 00:00:21.899 person. Come see us at 1500 South Allen L. Bean 00:00:21.899 --> 00:00:24.879 Boulevard right here in Wheeler, Texas. We gather 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:27.920 every Sunday morning at 1030 a .m. and in the 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:30.760 afternoon at 230 p .m. We meet again on Wednesdays 00:00:30.760 --> 00:00:34.359 at 7 p .m. Right now, let's open our Bibles together 00:00:34.359 --> 00:00:40.679 and dive into today's sermon. For everyone that's 00:00:40.679 --> 00:00:43.420 here, you might grab a Bible and turn to Galatians 00:00:43.420 --> 00:00:45.560 chapter 5. We'll be there in a little while. 00:00:45.820 --> 00:00:48.320 It's the only reading that we're going to have 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:50.840 for our study today that's not going to be up 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:53.530 on the board. And everything else should be a 00:00:53.530 --> 00:00:56.390 new King James if you're following along in something 00:00:56.390 --> 00:01:01.549 different. That's why. I was requested this sermon, 00:01:01.590 --> 00:01:03.829 and I don't like being given sermons all that 00:01:03.829 --> 00:01:05.810 often, because I don't know if I'm going to preach 00:01:05.810 --> 00:01:08.769 what people want me to talk about, but this one 00:01:08.769 --> 00:01:12.030 came from my wife, and so I kind of forced into 00:01:12.030 --> 00:01:15.909 following through with that. But really, it's 00:01:15.909 --> 00:01:18.109 a good thought, and it's a good thing that we 00:01:18.109 --> 00:01:22.670 need taught on. Something that has been on my 00:01:22.670 --> 00:01:24.909 mind something that I've dealt with and something 00:01:24.909 --> 00:01:28.609 that I think Maybe most Christians have dealt 00:01:28.609 --> 00:01:32.189 with in one way or at one time or another And 00:01:32.189 --> 00:01:34.790 therefore, I hope that it's helpful for you. 00:01:34.790 --> 00:01:37.209 I hope that it's not something you're going through 00:01:37.209 --> 00:01:39.450 But unfortunately, I know that something as Christians 00:01:39.450 --> 00:01:43.969 we deal with Have you ever looked at something 00:01:43.969 --> 00:01:47.870 and known something that the Bible says realized 00:01:47.870 --> 00:01:50.879 it understood it and still struggled to believe 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:55.120 it. I think that's something we do as Christians. 00:01:55.579 --> 00:01:58.400 We can see it there in the Bible, and at the 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:00.439 end of the day, it's like, that's hard to believe. 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:04.000 I have a hard time knuckling down and just believing 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:08.060 God when he says that. One of the simple examples 00:02:08.060 --> 00:02:13.039 is prayer. The Bible says that if we pray and 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:16.500 we ask for things faithfully to God and we don't 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:20.210 ask amiss, we don't ask to for things just because 00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:22.129 we want them and we want to consume them upon 00:02:22.129 --> 00:02:24.949 our lust, as the Bible says, then God's faithful 00:02:24.949 --> 00:02:27.810 to give us those things. Sometimes that's hard 00:02:27.810 --> 00:02:30.770 to believe, isn't it? When you've prayed and 00:02:30.770 --> 00:02:33.389 prayed and prayed for something, but that's what 00:02:33.389 --> 00:02:35.849 the Bible says. And sometimes we just got to 00:02:35.849 --> 00:02:39.590 knuckle down and believe that. But what I want 00:02:39.590 --> 00:02:42.389 to talk to you about this morning is a little 00:02:42.389 --> 00:02:44.370 bit different topic where I think we do the same 00:02:44.370 --> 00:02:47.990 thing. And that's when you don't feel forgiven. 00:02:49.269 --> 00:02:53.689 God promises forgiveness, but sometimes we don't 00:02:53.689 --> 00:02:59.229 feel it. Maybe you committed a sin that, all 00:02:59.229 --> 00:03:01.090 sin is bad, of course, maybe you committed a 00:03:01.090 --> 00:03:03.750 sin that in your mind was just really so terribly 00:03:03.750 --> 00:03:07.409 bad. And maybe that was 10 years ago, 20 years 00:03:07.409 --> 00:03:11.169 ago, 30 years ago, and you still think about 00:03:11.169 --> 00:03:15.009 it, and you still dwell on it, and you still 00:03:15.009 --> 00:03:19.569 don't know if you're forgiven or not. Maybe it's 00:03:19.569 --> 00:03:22.090 not some single thing that you did, but maybe 00:03:22.090 --> 00:03:24.789 it was a way that you lived. You just lived a 00:03:24.789 --> 00:03:26.849 life full of sin, and you sinned, and you sinned, 00:03:26.849 --> 00:03:29.270 and you sinned, and you did this for maybe decades 00:03:29.270 --> 00:03:31.750 or for the majority of your life, and you realize 00:03:31.750 --> 00:03:33.849 that now, you realize that was wrong, and you 00:03:33.849 --> 00:03:38.349 just can't overcome the guilt of that sin. You 00:03:38.349 --> 00:03:41.789 lay down at night, and you beg God, please forgive 00:03:41.789 --> 00:03:46.090 me. All along, that's something God forgave you 00:03:46.090 --> 00:03:49.490 four years ago. Sometimes we have a hard time 00:03:49.490 --> 00:03:54.409 just feeling that forgiveness. Do you think that's 00:03:54.409 --> 00:03:57.969 how God wants you to live? Do you think that's 00:03:57.969 --> 00:04:01.030 how God intends Christians to live? Not knowing 00:04:01.030 --> 00:04:04.969 if they're forgiven or not? That's kind of crazy, 00:04:05.129 --> 00:04:08.430 right? God wants us to be able to know when he 00:04:08.430 --> 00:04:10.990 says we're forgiven, to take that to the bank 00:04:10.990 --> 00:04:16.209 and live that out, that you're forgiven. And 00:04:16.209 --> 00:04:18.389 I want to make a distinction here that I'm not 00:04:18.389 --> 00:04:21.069 talking about somebody who's never obeyed the 00:04:21.069 --> 00:04:22.990 gospel, somebody who doesn't believe in God and 00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:25.430 doesn't feel forgiven, or somebody who maybe 00:04:25.430 --> 00:04:27.649 hasn't been forgiven. That's kind of a different 00:04:27.649 --> 00:04:29.209 deal and we'll talk about that a little bit too. 00:04:29.470 --> 00:04:32.350 I'm talking about a Christian who God has forgiven 00:04:32.350 --> 00:04:35.610 and they just don't feel it. I've felt that before, 00:04:35.709 --> 00:04:40.370 have you? And going to bed and just going, boy, 00:04:40.410 --> 00:04:43.790 I hope I'm forgiven. Sure hope I'm forgiven now. 00:04:45.259 --> 00:04:48.480 God doesn't want his people to feel that way. 00:04:48.980 --> 00:04:51.240 God wants his people and he's given us ample 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:56.759 evidence to make us want to know that we're forgiven, 00:04:57.819 --> 00:05:02.240 to be confident in his forgiveness. But sometimes 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:05.399 we just don't feel it. And so I wanna talk about 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:08.279 that. Today I got three things that we're going 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:11.300 to look at for when you don't feel forgiven and 00:05:11.300 --> 00:05:13.399 number one is the problem Well, why don't we 00:05:13.399 --> 00:05:15.680 feel forgiven at times? I think there's a couple 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:17.920 different reasons for that and then what good 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:19.699 is a problem without a solution Let's talk about 00:05:19.699 --> 00:05:22.139 the solution if you don't feel forgiven as a 00:05:22.139 --> 00:05:24.339 Christian. Well, how can you start to feel that 00:05:24.339 --> 00:05:27.220 way? What can you do to make yourself confident 00:05:27.220 --> 00:05:29.759 in the forgiveness that God has promised? And 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:31.699 then finally, I want to talk about that promise, 00:05:31.779 --> 00:05:35.139 that God is a faithful God. He's faithful to 00:05:35.139 --> 00:05:37.699 forgive. We're gonna look at 1 John chapter 1 00:05:37.699 --> 00:05:40.379 where God talks about that, where God says that 00:05:40.379 --> 00:05:42.540 he's faithful. And so we're gonna go through 00:05:42.540 --> 00:05:45.180 these points today in our study. Number one is 00:05:45.180 --> 00:05:48.259 the problem. What is the problem? And I think 00:05:48.259 --> 00:05:51.459 we'd be remiss not to at least acknowledge that 00:05:51.459 --> 00:05:57.480 sin is a problem. that we sin and we do things 00:05:57.480 --> 00:06:01.259 that God said don't do and that we don't do things 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:05.000 that God said to do and anytime that happens 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:10.399 that's sin it's wrong God punishes sin sin is 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:14.319 a problem sin is a breaking of any of God's commandments 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:17.980 and we as Christians from time to time we commit 00:06:17.980 --> 00:06:24.600 sin that's not good that's not right And then 00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:26.459 I think the other side of that, more of what 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:29.459 I wanna focus on today is, I didn't know exactly 00:06:29.459 --> 00:06:32.240 how to put that, so I'll put your feelings. When 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:34.939 you don't feel forgiven, that's what that is. 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:38.100 It's a feeling. That's a feeling. When you don't 00:06:38.100 --> 00:06:40.819 feel forgiven, that's your own feelings and you 00:06:40.819 --> 00:06:43.160 bringing your own feelings into the equation. 00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:46.139 God doesn't want you to do that. I hope we can 00:06:46.139 --> 00:06:51.319 prove that today. God doesn't want you to rely 00:06:51.319 --> 00:06:53.920 on your feelings for forgiveness. That's not 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:57.899 what it's about. God says you're forgiven. Let's 00:06:57.899 --> 00:07:02.019 believe that. Let's believe that. So as we talk 00:07:02.019 --> 00:07:06.240 about the problem of sin, we all understand that. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:08.300 In Romans chapter six and verse number 23, it 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:10.959 says, for the wages of sin is death, but the 00:07:10.959 --> 00:07:13.860 gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our 00:07:13.860 --> 00:07:16.889 Lord. And I'm gonna use a common illustration 00:07:16.889 --> 00:07:21.649 here because of this one word here, wages. Paul 00:07:21.649 --> 00:07:24.750 said in the letter to the Romans that the wages 00:07:24.750 --> 00:07:28.149 of sin is death. And no matter which way you 00:07:28.149 --> 00:07:30.870 look at it, no matter how you want to believe 00:07:30.870 --> 00:07:34.649 it or what you can do in your own mind, when 00:07:34.649 --> 00:07:38.910 you sin, you earn death. We can't get around 00:07:38.910 --> 00:07:42.689 that. Sin leads to death and that's what Paul 00:07:42.689 --> 00:07:46.850 says. He says the wages of sin or death And what 00:07:46.850 --> 00:07:49.790 are wages? Wages are something that you earn 00:07:49.790 --> 00:07:53.410 for doing the job that you do I don't get paid 00:07:53.410 --> 00:07:56.250 an hourly rate at my job, but I get paid for 00:07:56.250 --> 00:08:00.449 the work that I do and so that's my wage and 00:08:00.449 --> 00:08:02.709 Some of you get an hourly rate some of you get 00:08:02.709 --> 00:08:06.389 a salary Some of you are married to me and you 00:08:06.389 --> 00:08:08.610 take care of our kids and those are your wages 00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:14.920 Right? Wages are something you earn. And whenever 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:19.759 we sin, what have we done? Paul says we've earned 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:25.079 death. We deserve it. We have earned it. The 00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:28.079 wages of sin are death. And so we can't deny 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:31.060 that sin is absolutely a problem. And when sin 00:08:31.060 --> 00:08:33.919 is committed, it brings forth death and death 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:36.860 has to be punished, or rather sin has to be punished. 00:08:38.060 --> 00:08:41.220 And either we're going to pay that punishment, 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:43.559 we're gonna make that punishment, or we're gonna 00:08:43.559 --> 00:08:46.299 let Jesus do the heavy lifting on that. And I 00:08:46.299 --> 00:08:48.659 certainly hope that's what you've chosen today. 00:08:50.460 --> 00:08:53.320 In Romans chapter eight and verse number six, 00:08:53.379 --> 00:08:56.340 Paul said here, for to be carnally minded is 00:08:56.340 --> 00:08:59.399 death, but to be spiritually minded is life and 00:08:59.399 --> 00:09:02.539 peace because the carnal mind is enmity against 00:09:02.539 --> 00:09:05.659 God. for it is not subject to the law in God, 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:09.580 nor indeed can be." You know what? Alarms need 00:09:09.580 --> 00:09:13.820 to be going off. Whenever we commit sin, whenever 00:09:13.820 --> 00:09:16.779 we recognize that, the alarms need to be going 00:09:16.779 --> 00:09:21.899 off. This is not okay. This is not right. We 00:09:21.899 --> 00:09:24.200 need to do something differently. Why? Because 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:26.299 the Bible, Paul said there that the carnal mind 00:09:26.299 --> 00:09:29.440 is it makes you an enemy against God. I don't 00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:32.909 want to be the enemy of God. I don't want you 00:09:32.909 --> 00:09:38.389 to be either. But when we go throughout our day 00:09:38.389 --> 00:09:41.269 -to -day lives and we live with what Paul said 00:09:41.269 --> 00:09:44.190 was a carnal mind or a worldly mind and we live 00:09:44.190 --> 00:09:46.450 after the things that are in this world and that's 00:09:46.450 --> 00:09:48.230 our focus and that's our pleasure and that's 00:09:48.230 --> 00:09:52.250 our desire and that's what we live for, well, 00:09:52.269 --> 00:09:54.710 that's just living a life that's leading to a 00:09:54.710 --> 00:09:58.559 spiritual death. That may be a lot of fun. to 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:00.679 live like a billionaire here on this world, right? 00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:02.559 And have all the different toys and all the different 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:05.240 things you want. But if that's what you're after, 00:10:06.340 --> 00:10:14.100 you're after a spiritual death. Paul says there 00:10:14.100 --> 00:10:16.980 in the latter part of that verse there, the carnal 00:10:16.980 --> 00:10:19.820 mind, it's not subject to the law of God. It 00:10:19.820 --> 00:10:22.179 doesn't do the things that God wants you to do. 00:10:23.539 --> 00:10:25.240 Can you do the things that the world wants you 00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:27.179 to do and do the things that God wants you to 00:10:27.179 --> 00:10:30.100 do? Paul says, you can't do that. He says, nor 00:10:30.100 --> 00:10:34.360 indeed can be. You can't do it. You can't do 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:35.820 the things that the world wants you to do and 00:10:35.820 --> 00:10:37.779 do the things that God wants you to do. Can't 00:10:37.779 --> 00:10:40.980 be done. It's impossible. Doesn't work that way. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:44.039 And once again, when we get to 1 John chapter 00:10:44.039 --> 00:10:47.179 1, we'll read a little bit more about that. Sin's 00:10:47.179 --> 00:10:53.019 a problem. It's a problem. And if you don't believe 00:10:53.019 --> 00:10:56.059 Jesus is the Son of God, if you haven't obeyed 00:10:56.059 --> 00:11:01.990 Him, salvation, that's a real big problem. That's 00:11:01.990 --> 00:11:09.789 a real big problem. What does Satan want? Out 00:11:09.789 --> 00:11:12.490 of each and every person in the whole world, 00:11:12.509 --> 00:11:14.590 what does Satan really want? What does the devil 00:11:14.590 --> 00:11:17.730 want from us? You know, if we kind of go back 00:11:17.730 --> 00:11:19.809 and we work at it from this angle, it makes a 00:11:19.809 --> 00:11:22.980 lot of sense in my mind. You know, number one, 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:25.820 I think what Satan wants is he wants us to not 00:11:25.820 --> 00:11:28.720 believe in God. That's just the simplest way 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:31.559 to do it, right? Don't believe in God and then 00:11:31.559 --> 00:11:33.539 Satan doesn't have to worry about you being obedient 00:11:33.539 --> 00:11:38.639 to God. Satan doesn't want you to name the name 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:40.980 of Christ. Satan doesn't want you to be baptized. 00:11:41.080 --> 00:11:43.340 Satan doesn't want you to wash away, to have 00:11:43.340 --> 00:11:47.879 God wash away your sins. That's the first thing 00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:50.320 he's after. Don't believe Jesus is the Son of 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:55.440 God. Let me ask you, so what next? You believe. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:58.120 You believe He's the Son of God. You've been 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:00.840 obedient to Him in baptism and you've had your 00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:03.879 sins washed away. What does Satan want next? 00:12:04.419 --> 00:12:06.080 Well, he wants to bring you back into the world. 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:10.019 He wants to get you obsessed and addicted to 00:12:10.019 --> 00:12:12.860 sin. He wants you to live a life with that carnal 00:12:12.860 --> 00:12:14.720 mind that we talked about there in Romans chapter 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.559 8. He wants you to live a life after the world 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:19.480 and just live a life full of sin and He wants 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:21.480 you to like it and He wants you to enjoy it. 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:25.620 He wants you to be comfortable there. So what 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:28.080 if Satan can't do that to you? What if you believe 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:29.779 and you've been saved, you've had your sins washed 00:12:29.779 --> 00:12:32.019 away and Satan can't bring you back into the 00:12:32.019 --> 00:12:35.220 world, you're living your life for Jesus? What 00:12:35.220 --> 00:12:37.980 does Satan want next? What's his next plan of 00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:42.480 action? He wants to go after your feelings. He 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.240 wants you to doubt God. He wants you to doubt 00:12:45.240 --> 00:12:47.000 your forgiveness. What we're talking about this 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:48.779 morning. He wants you to doubt what the Bible 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:51.360 says. Don't you think that's what Satan wants 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:54.279 out of any Christian? Each and every one of us 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:56.820 here, we believe in God. We've been forgiven 00:12:56.820 --> 00:12:59.639 with Him and we've been buried with Christ in 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:04.259 baptism. What's his next move? He wants you to 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:08.860 doubt it. Doubt that you're forgiven. Doubt that 00:13:08.860 --> 00:13:12.080 what God says is the truth. Doubt what the Bible 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.480 says is true and I can prove that for you because 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:18.059 Satan's done it from the beginning He's a liar 00:13:18.059 --> 00:13:19.600 and he's been a liar from the beginning is what 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:21.799 the Bible says in Genesis chapter 3 in verse 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:24.179 number 1 here we see Adam and Eve here in the 00:13:24.179 --> 00:13:26.980 garden and and They're about to commit their 00:13:26.980 --> 00:13:28.639 sin right and Satan's trying to convince him 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:31.000 of it says now the serpent was more cunning than 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:32.860 any beast of the field which the Lord God had 00:13:32.860 --> 00:13:35.100 made and he said to the woman has God indeed 00:13:35.100 --> 00:13:38.000 said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:41.919 And there's this conversation that goes on between 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:44.860 Satan, the serpent, and Eve here. And she goes, 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:48.139 no, God said we can't eat of that tree back there. 00:13:48.700 --> 00:13:50.659 All the other ones we're good to eat out of, 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:52.980 but we can't eat out of that one. What does Satan, 00:13:53.100 --> 00:13:55.399 what does he say? He says, has God indeed said, 00:13:56.500 --> 00:13:59.639 did God really say that? Do you think God really 00:13:59.639 --> 00:14:03.679 meant that? That doesn't sound like what God 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:06.419 would want. God's just trying to keep you from 00:14:06.419 --> 00:14:10.519 having your eyes opened is what he says. What's 00:14:10.519 --> 00:14:13.059 Satan trying to do? He's trying to get her to 00:14:13.059 --> 00:14:17.179 doubt what God said was true. He's trying to 00:14:17.179 --> 00:14:19.240 get her to think about how this can be good for 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:23.679 her. And then a few verses later, then the servant 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:26.120 said to the woman, no, you will not surely die. 00:14:27.059 --> 00:14:30.259 You know what God said is not true. You need 00:14:30.259 --> 00:14:33.299 to doubt that. What God said you need to do to 00:14:33.299 --> 00:14:35.259 have a good relationship with him, oh, that's 00:14:35.259 --> 00:14:38.620 not what you need to do, right? That's a problem. 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:43.139 That's a problem, not only sin, but our own feelings, 00:14:43.259 --> 00:14:45.580 our own thoughts. That's what Satan wants. Satan 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:48.019 wants us to second guess what God has to say. 00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:51.340 And whenever you're a Christian, whenever you've 00:14:51.340 --> 00:14:54.220 been forgiven, and then we still sit there and 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:56.659 dwell on that sin from 20 years ago or from last 00:14:56.659 --> 00:15:00.539 week, whatever the case may be. Is that what 00:15:00.539 --> 00:15:04.039 God wants? No, that's what Satan wants. Satan 00:15:04.039 --> 00:15:06.879 wants to just bring little seeds of doubt into 00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:11.139 your relationship with God. He wants to slowly 00:15:11.139 --> 00:15:13.480 try to pull you just a little bit further, a 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:17.259 little bit further away from him. And that's 00:15:17.259 --> 00:15:19.919 a problem with our trust. That's not a problem 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:23.620 with God. That's Satan doing his job and us believing 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:27.299 it. That's on our feelings. That's on our trust 00:15:27.299 --> 00:15:30.490 in God. And as you can tell, that's no good. 00:15:30.509 --> 00:15:34.049 But we've all done it, haven't we? We've all 00:15:34.049 --> 00:15:36.250 sat down and thought about that sin from years 00:15:36.250 --> 00:15:39.950 and years ago and just, boy, I hope I'm forgiven. 00:15:45.009 --> 00:15:49.990 That's Satan's ploy. Doubt God, trust him, and 00:15:49.990 --> 00:15:54.700 trust yourself. Do anything but trust God. But 00:15:54.700 --> 00:15:57.240 bring your feelings into the mix. Let's think 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:01.259 about what you feel, not what God said. And that's 00:16:01.259 --> 00:16:04.620 the issue that we're talking about today at the 00:16:04.620 --> 00:16:07.379 heart of it. It's us bringing in our feelings. 00:16:08.259 --> 00:16:11.600 It's us allowing doubt in between us and God. 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:14.220 Folks, that's what Satan wants. That's not what 00:16:14.220 --> 00:16:21.559 God's after. So let's talk about the solution. 00:16:22.509 --> 00:16:24.629 Let's talk about the solution. Luckily there 00:16:24.629 --> 00:16:29.110 is one as God makes these solutions for us. Now 00:16:29.110 --> 00:16:32.370 if you're not a Christian, if you've not named 00:16:32.370 --> 00:16:34.330 the name of Christ, if you don't believe that 00:16:34.330 --> 00:16:36.149 he's the Son of God, if you haven't repented 00:16:36.149 --> 00:16:38.330 of your sins, if you haven't confessed, if you 00:16:38.330 --> 00:16:40.090 haven't been baptized, well that's a whole different 00:16:40.090 --> 00:16:42.049 thing there. That's a whole different thing. 00:16:42.090 --> 00:16:44.950 I urge you to do that. I urge you to have your 00:16:44.950 --> 00:16:48.049 sins washed away in baptism with our Lord and 00:16:48.049 --> 00:16:52.600 Savior. That's what you need to do first. And 00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:54.379 we can talk about that. If you haven't done that, 00:16:54.379 --> 00:16:56.379 let's talk about that. But today we're talking 00:16:56.379 --> 00:16:58.980 about for the Christian, for somebody who's been 00:16:58.980 --> 00:17:03.820 forgiven, somebody who was washed in Jesus' blood 00:17:03.820 --> 00:17:07.200 and raised to walk in newness of life. And the 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.160 first and the most simple thing is to walk in 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:11.619 the light. The Bible tells us that in 1 John. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:15.500 We'll get there, I promise. And the other thing 00:17:15.500 --> 00:17:17.779 for a Christian I think very simply is for us 00:17:17.779 --> 00:17:21.279 to understand and for us to recognize God's desire 00:17:21.500 --> 00:17:27.539 for us to be forgiven and how God wants each 00:17:27.539 --> 00:17:31.420 and every one of us to know and to feel his love 00:17:31.420 --> 00:17:35.660 and his forgiveness. Sometimes that's just the 00:17:35.660 --> 00:17:39.839 simple solution. Realize who God is, realize 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:44.009 what God wants. So let's talk about these two 00:17:44.009 --> 00:17:46.210 things there that we have highlighted in blue. 00:17:46.509 --> 00:17:49.130 Number one, to walk in the light. Let's get our 00:17:49.130 --> 00:17:50.829 Bibles out and read out of Galatians chapter 00:17:50.829 --> 00:17:52.769 five. We're gonna read a few verses. We're gonna 00:17:52.769 --> 00:17:57.130 highlight one or two. I looked at this reading 00:17:57.130 --> 00:17:59.069 here and I usually don't like to read longer 00:17:59.069 --> 00:18:01.509 ones if I can keep from it, but I think it's 00:18:01.509 --> 00:18:03.430 important that we get the whole picture here 00:18:03.430 --> 00:18:06.190 of what Paul was writing to the churches of Galatia. 00:18:06.650 --> 00:18:09.849 He says in verse number 16, I say then walk in 00:18:09.849 --> 00:18:12.650 the spirit. and you shall not fulfill the lust 00:18:12.650 --> 00:18:16.190 of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the 00:18:16.190 --> 00:18:18.970 spirit and the spirit against the flesh, right? 00:18:18.970 --> 00:18:20.529 This goes back to what we were talking about 00:18:20.529 --> 00:18:22.210 at the beginning. You can't do both of these 00:18:22.210 --> 00:18:24.730 at the same thing, at the same time, rather. 00:18:25.430 --> 00:18:27.569 The flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit 00:18:27.569 --> 00:18:29.750 against the flesh. They clash, they collide, 00:18:29.809 --> 00:18:32.109 they don't mix, they don't go together. These 00:18:32.109 --> 00:18:34.890 are contrary to one another, he says, so that 00:18:34.890 --> 00:18:38.759 you do not do the things that you wish. But, 00:18:38.779 --> 00:18:41.920 he says in verse 18, if you are led by the Spirit, 00:18:42.339 --> 00:18:45.019 you are not under the law. Now the works of the 00:18:45.019 --> 00:18:47.839 flesh are evident, or they're obvious, which 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:51.299 are. And now Paul's gonna lay out some of the 00:18:51.299 --> 00:18:54.859 sins that he's seeing going on that are a problem 00:18:54.859 --> 00:18:57.329 that are works of the flesh. He says, now the 00:18:57.329 --> 00:18:59.490 works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, 00:18:59.789 --> 00:19:02.809 fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, 00:19:02.970 --> 00:19:06.349 sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts 00:19:06.349 --> 00:19:09.910 of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 00:19:10.309 --> 00:19:13.569 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the 00:19:13.569 --> 00:19:15.849 like. And anything else that's like that, any 00:19:15.849 --> 00:19:19.089 other sin that you can think of, of which I tell 00:19:19.089 --> 00:19:22.430 you beforehand, just as I also told you in time 00:19:22.430 --> 00:19:24.490 past, now pay attention here, here's the verse 00:19:24.490 --> 00:19:27.769 we want to look at, who practice such things 00:19:27.769 --> 00:19:32.009 will not inherit the kingdom of God." Now he 00:19:32.009 --> 00:19:35.069 goes on to list the fruits of the Spirit. But 00:19:35.069 --> 00:19:37.150 the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 00:19:37.210 --> 00:19:39.509 long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 00:19:39.670 --> 00:19:42.250 gentleness, self -control. Against such, there 00:19:42.250 --> 00:19:45.470 is no law. And those who are Christ have crucified 00:19:45.470 --> 00:19:48.650 the flesh with its passions and desires. He says, 00:19:48.710 --> 00:19:51.990 if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in 00:19:51.990 --> 00:19:55.009 the Spirit. And so the solution is to walk in 00:19:55.009 --> 00:19:58.289 the light. That's a fancy way of saying, don't 00:19:58.289 --> 00:20:05.150 sin, stop doing that. Walk in the light. Do the 00:20:05.150 --> 00:20:08.589 things that God wants you to do. Stop committing 00:20:08.589 --> 00:20:13.549 and living in these sins. He says some of these 00:20:13.549 --> 00:20:18.609 are the works of the flesh. And whenever we're 00:20:18.609 --> 00:20:22.930 committing these sins, He says that's you living 00:20:22.930 --> 00:20:26.180 after the flesh. And then he goes on, he says, 00:20:26.220 --> 00:20:28.359 now some of these, they're the fruits of the 00:20:28.359 --> 00:20:33.380 spirit. And if we see these fruits in our life, 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:36.960 then if we're doing these fruits or producing 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:38.359 these fruits, is probably the better way to put 00:20:38.359 --> 00:20:40.779 that, then that means you're led by the spirit. 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:44.740 And so a simple test in your own life is to look 00:20:44.740 --> 00:20:47.700 at yourself and go, well, what fruit am I producing? 00:20:49.200 --> 00:20:51.140 And you can look at these fruits of the spirit, 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.559 love, joy, peace, long suffering, self -control. 00:20:54.619 --> 00:21:00.279 Do we see these in our life? If you don't see 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:03.140 those in your life regularly on a regular basis, 00:21:03.319 --> 00:21:07.460 maybe you're not living after the Spirit. And 00:21:07.460 --> 00:21:12.539 he lists a bunch of sinful things. So maybe if 00:21:12.539 --> 00:21:15.980 you see those in your life and you're after those 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:17.960 things in your life or they're regularly a part 00:21:17.960 --> 00:21:20.160 of your life, maybe you're living after the flesh. 00:21:20.259 --> 00:21:24.720 Not maybe you are living after the flesh. And 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:26.539 he says there, you can't do both of these things 00:21:26.539 --> 00:21:29.759 at the same time. You're gonna live after the 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:31.980 spirit or you're gonna live after the flesh. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:35.539 And when you're trying to live after both of 00:21:35.539 --> 00:21:38.799 them, you know what he calls it? He calls it, 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:43.700 it's a fight, it's a war, it's a battle. And 00:21:43.700 --> 00:21:45.099 so maybe you're somewhere in the middle today. 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:48.160 Maybe you find yourself. really hard. You want 00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:50.440 to live after the Spirit and you want to do the 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:52.440 things that God tells you to do, but you keep 00:21:52.440 --> 00:21:54.359 these sins around and you keep committing them 00:21:54.359 --> 00:21:57.279 and they're like little pesky flies. They just 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:58.920 keep bothering you. You can't get them away. 00:21:59.400 --> 00:22:01.539 You're in this battle. You're in this war between 00:22:01.539 --> 00:22:07.119 the both of them. Paul says you can't do both. 00:22:08.339 --> 00:22:10.440 You're gonna have to do one or the other, but 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:13.339 the word that I want to look at here is in verse 00:22:13.339 --> 00:22:16.180 number 21 that we stopped and looked at there. 00:22:17.180 --> 00:22:22.420 He says, those who practice such things. And 00:22:22.420 --> 00:22:23.900 this word's really important. We're gonna look 00:22:23.900 --> 00:22:26.299 at it here in just a moment as well. Those who 00:22:26.299 --> 00:22:29.119 practice this laundry list of sin that he goes 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:32.119 through. He says, those people will not inherit 00:22:32.119 --> 00:22:35.759 the kingdom of God. And the important things 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:38.240 there in that word practice. That word practice 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:40.519 means like you're doing them. It's a regular 00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:45.400 thing. And we'll look at that here in just another 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:51.089 moment. Are we practicing these things? Or are 00:22:51.089 --> 00:22:57.589 we practicing the fruits of the Spirit? We gotta 00:22:57.589 --> 00:23:01.829 pick one or the other to practice in life. We're 00:23:01.829 --> 00:23:03.990 gonna practice the things where we won't inherit 00:23:03.990 --> 00:23:06.670 the kingdom of God, or we're gonna practice the 00:23:06.670 --> 00:23:08.430 things, the fruits of the Spirit, where we will. 00:23:09.650 --> 00:23:11.470 And the difference is... where you're walking. 00:23:11.549 --> 00:23:14.269 Are you walking in the light or are you walking 00:23:14.269 --> 00:23:16.549 not in the light? So that word there comes from 00:23:16.549 --> 00:23:20.690 Greek 42 38. That's the Greek word. And everything 00:23:20.690 --> 00:23:23.450 I put on there is the definition for that word. 00:23:23.950 --> 00:23:27.869 It means to perform repeatedly or habitually. 00:23:30.309 --> 00:23:33.170 Do you see any sin in your life that you commit 00:23:33.170 --> 00:23:36.710 out of habit? It's just a habit that you do it 00:23:36.710 --> 00:23:38.769 at this point. You've done it so many times. 00:23:38.769 --> 00:23:41.470 You've done it so much. You don't even think 00:23:41.470 --> 00:23:43.789 about it. You aren't even really that tempted 00:23:43.789 --> 00:23:47.289 to do it. You just went and did it. Paul says 00:23:47.289 --> 00:23:49.769 when you're living life like that, you're in 00:23:49.769 --> 00:23:53.609 a bad spot. You're in a really bad spot. Those 00:23:53.609 --> 00:23:55.210 alarms we talked about, they need to be going 00:23:55.210 --> 00:24:01.660 off. Or you perform them repeatedly. A good way 00:24:01.660 --> 00:24:03.359 to think about it is a pattern. Do you see any 00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:05.819 kind of pattern of those sins in your life? That's 00:24:05.819 --> 00:24:08.940 not good. But on the opposite side of that, it's 00:24:08.940 --> 00:24:11.960 to use that same word. Do we perform repeatedly 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:14.960 the fruits of the Spirit? Do we see a habit of 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:18.240 those things in our life? That's very good. That's 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:20.119 very good. That's what we need to be going after, 00:24:20.420 --> 00:24:23.059 walking in the light. What does it mean to perform 00:24:23.059 --> 00:24:25.539 repeatedly or habitually the fruits of the Spirit? 00:24:27.140 --> 00:24:29.440 Those good things. You know what? God knows we're... 00:24:30.099 --> 00:24:33.359 Human. And God knows you're gonna fail every 00:24:33.359 --> 00:24:35.220 now and then. Tell you what, I'm a Christian 00:24:35.220 --> 00:24:38.480 and I still commit sin every now and then. That 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:43.059 doesn't make it right. Doesn't mean that's what 00:24:43.059 --> 00:24:45.160 God wants. That doesn't mean God's giving me 00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:50.700 a pass on all those things. God knows we're weak 00:24:50.700 --> 00:24:54.180 and we're sinful. What God's really upset with 00:24:54.180 --> 00:24:57.240 is whenever you start making that a habit in 00:24:57.240 --> 00:25:00.200 your life. Whenever you're repeatedly going after 00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:02.779 that sin, whenever you see a pattern of that 00:25:02.779 --> 00:25:06.619 sin in your life, and that's when God says, no, 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:08.299 you're not gonna inherit the kingdom of God. 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:10.240 Why? Because you can't do them both at the same 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:15.220 time. The fruits of the spirit and the things 00:25:15.220 --> 00:25:17.779 of this world, the works of the flesh, he says, 00:25:18.359 --> 00:25:21.740 they don't go together. You can't do them both 00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:24.539 at the same time. Now, we're gonna... We're here, 00:25:24.819 --> 00:25:27.819 1 John chapter one. I hope it's exciting as I've 00:25:27.819 --> 00:25:31.539 made it seem so far. We're gonna see now where 00:25:31.539 --> 00:25:33.279 walking in the light is talked about a little 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:37.420 bit more directly. And verse number five says 00:25:37.420 --> 00:25:39.980 there, this is the message which we have heard 00:25:39.980 --> 00:25:43.339 from him and declare to you. He says that God 00:25:43.339 --> 00:25:47.720 is light and in him is no darkness at all. If 00:25:47.720 --> 00:25:51.140 we say that we have fellowship with him and walk 00:25:51.140 --> 00:25:57.019 in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 00:25:59.660 --> 00:26:02.400 So we can come here to church on Sunday and we 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:04.400 can act like everything's perfect in our lives 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:06.160 and we can act like everything's roses, we can 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:08.660 act like we don't ever commit sin, but if when 00:26:08.660 --> 00:26:10.619 we go home today and throughout the rest of the 00:26:10.619 --> 00:26:13.019 week, if we really are over here secretly committing 00:26:13.019 --> 00:26:14.819 sin and we have a pattern of sin and we're committing 00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:17.799 sin individually and we're repeatedly doing that, 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:20.559 that's called walking in darkness. And you know 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:24.599 what? But what said of that is that means, no, 00:26:24.599 --> 00:26:27.880 you're just a liar. And if I do that in my own 00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:32.420 life, folks, I'm a liar. If I say that I have 00:26:32.420 --> 00:26:34.500 fellowship with him, if I say I'm a Christian 00:26:34.500 --> 00:26:37.640 and I say I'm really living for Christ, but in 00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:40.700 reality I just keep committing sin over and over 00:26:40.700 --> 00:26:43.900 again, you're a liar. That wouldn't make me a 00:26:43.900 --> 00:26:47.599 liar. And he says, you don't practice the truth. 00:26:47.980 --> 00:26:49.880 Let's keep reading though. In verse number seven, 00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:53.940 he says, but if you walk in the light, as he 00:26:53.940 --> 00:26:57.359 is in the light, we have fellowship with one 00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:00.519 another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, 00:27:00.980 --> 00:27:06.660 cleanses us from all sin. What a wonderful promise. 00:27:08.019 --> 00:27:14.299 What a wonderful thing that we need. I need that. 00:27:15.610 --> 00:27:19.789 You know, from the moment that I had my sins 00:27:19.789 --> 00:27:22.849 forgiven, I had my sins remissed in baptism, 00:27:24.210 --> 00:27:28.930 I've kept committing sin. Not in the same way. 00:27:28.930 --> 00:27:30.650 I'm not trying to walk after it. I'm not trying 00:27:30.650 --> 00:27:32.849 to walk in darkness, but from time to time, I 00:27:32.849 --> 00:27:35.730 commit sin. And you know what? God knew his people 00:27:35.730 --> 00:27:38.309 were going to stumble and trip up every now and 00:27:38.309 --> 00:27:40.069 then. He's not making excuses for that. He's 00:27:40.069 --> 00:27:41.829 not saying that it's okay. He's not giving you 00:27:41.829 --> 00:27:50.269 a pass. Instead, he's made a way. He says, if 00:27:50.269 --> 00:27:54.009 you're walking in the light, you're trying each 00:27:54.009 --> 00:27:57.430 and every day to walk in the light, to live after 00:27:57.430 --> 00:28:01.930 Christ, to do the best that you can, and you're 00:28:01.930 --> 00:28:04.049 not letting those sins become habit, you're not 00:28:04.049 --> 00:28:06.569 letting them continue in your life, then he says, 00:28:06.970 --> 00:28:10.230 then for the Christian, the blood of Christ his 00:28:10.230 --> 00:28:15.740 son cleanses us from all sin. I want you to notice 00:28:15.740 --> 00:28:17.400 something about that word. He doesn't say that 00:28:17.400 --> 00:28:20.779 the blood of Christ cleansed in the past tense. 00:28:21.579 --> 00:28:24.839 This is a continual word. This is a current word, 00:28:25.079 --> 00:28:28.720 cleanses. It's still cleansing, and I enjoy the 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:32.099 cleansing of Jesus' blood every single day, because 00:28:32.099 --> 00:28:38.460 that's what God promised. He says, if we say 00:28:38.460 --> 00:28:41.000 we have no sin, in verse number eight, we deceive 00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:44.980 ourselves. See, I could stand up here today and 00:28:44.980 --> 00:28:47.799 say, and now I just have no sin. That would be 00:28:47.799 --> 00:28:51.539 me deceiving myself. That is foolish. That is 00:28:51.539 --> 00:28:55.079 foolish. And the truth is not in us. Verse number 00:28:55.079 --> 00:28:58.000 nine, he says, if we confess our sins, this is 00:28:58.000 --> 00:29:01.359 for you. If you're a Christian and you don't 00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:03.819 feel like you're forgiven, I want you to pay 00:29:03.819 --> 00:29:05.799 special close attention to verse number nine. 00:29:06.059 --> 00:29:10.579 He says, if we confess our sins, then God is 00:29:10.579 --> 00:29:15.500 what? He is faithful and he's just to forgive 00:29:15.500 --> 00:29:21.319 us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 00:29:22.039 --> 00:29:27.000 What an incredible promise from our God. What 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:32.059 an incredible promise. What an incredible thing 00:29:32.059 --> 00:29:36.720 that can go on in our lives that Jesus' blood 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:41.009 can continue to cleanse. each and every one of 00:29:41.009 --> 00:29:50.670 us, if we walk in the light, if we continue each 00:29:50.670 --> 00:29:54.329 and every day to the best of our ability to live 00:29:54.329 --> 00:29:59.210 for Him, and we confess those sins, we're gonna 00:29:59.210 --> 00:30:05.089 fail, we're gonna mess up. And if we'll confess 00:30:05.089 --> 00:30:10.759 those things to Him, and we walk in the light, 00:30:11.400 --> 00:30:13.900 then we can go to bed every night knowing that 00:30:13.900 --> 00:30:17.059 we are cleansed, knowing that we are forgiven. 00:30:19.380 --> 00:30:22.299 What an amazing thing, people. Without that, 00:30:22.339 --> 00:30:28.420 we'd be in a heap of trouble. And Romans chapter 00:30:28.420 --> 00:30:30.400 eight, verse number one says, there is therefore 00:30:30.400 --> 00:30:34.640 now no condemnation to those who are in Christ 00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:37.240 Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, 00:30:37.400 --> 00:30:40.809 but what? but according to the Spirit. What does 00:30:40.809 --> 00:30:42.869 it mean to walk according to the Spirit? Well, 00:30:42.869 --> 00:30:44.029 that's what we've been talking about this whole 00:30:44.029 --> 00:30:46.670 time, to walk in the light as he is in the light, 00:30:46.750 --> 00:30:50.509 to have a pattern to be repeatedly working after 00:30:50.509 --> 00:30:54.029 those fruits of the Spirit, to be living for 00:30:54.029 --> 00:30:58.829 him. And if you're doing that in your life today, 00:30:58.869 --> 00:31:02.650 then you can leave here today, you can live tomorrow 00:31:02.650 --> 00:31:05.269 and the next day and the next day knowing that 00:31:05.269 --> 00:31:09.599 there's no condemnation for you. That's awesome. 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:13.900 That's wonderful. The solution is to walk in 00:31:13.900 --> 00:31:17.380 the light. The solution is to live for Him. To 00:31:17.380 --> 00:31:22.680 make it your life goal. And when it's your life 00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:25.400 goal, you can live every day knowing that there's 00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:30.660 no condemnation. Because you're in Christ Jesus. 00:31:31.480 --> 00:31:34.740 Those who do not walk. According to the flesh 00:31:34.740 --> 00:31:37.019 and when those sins come up that one that maybe 00:31:37.019 --> 00:31:38.779 you struggle with for a long time Whenever it 00:31:38.779 --> 00:31:41.140 comes back and it tries to get back in your life. 00:31:41.160 --> 00:31:46.299 You say no You keep it away, but walk according 00:31:46.299 --> 00:31:50.380 to the spirit instead Now let's shift gears and 00:31:50.380 --> 00:31:53.039 let's talk about another part of the solution 00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:55.900 That may be a more important one or equally as 00:31:55.900 --> 00:31:58.619 important. I guess is to understand God's desire 00:31:58.619 --> 00:32:02.559 for forgiveness I think this is something Christians 00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:06.380 have struggled with just as much. Sometimes we're 00:32:06.380 --> 00:32:11.180 really, really hard on ourselves. We're our own 00:32:11.180 --> 00:32:14.240 worst critic, and we look at ourselves and we 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:19.000 view ourselves as worse than everyone else. We 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:22.720 know our sins, we know our shortcomings, and 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:27.569 there's no way Matt would do that. You see him 00:32:27.569 --> 00:32:30.569 on Sunday, you see him here, and man, Matt's 00:32:30.569 --> 00:32:34.829 just, he's a perfect guy, and Matt, I hate to 00:32:34.829 --> 00:32:38.069 spoil it for everyone, Matt's not perfect. And 00:32:38.069 --> 00:32:43.549 neither am I. We mess up. And we're hard on ourselves. 00:32:45.910 --> 00:32:48.630 I want to go back to Exodus chapter 34 here. 00:32:49.210 --> 00:32:52.450 Moses got angry, broke the tablets, and now God 00:32:52.450 --> 00:32:54.470 says, go get me some more tablets, I'll do it 00:32:54.470 --> 00:32:57.819 again. And Moses goes up for God to write down 00:32:57.819 --> 00:33:00.359 the word on the tablets. That kind of catches 00:33:00.359 --> 00:33:05.299 you up to where we're at. So now God comes down. 00:33:06.460 --> 00:33:11.000 It may be in the verse before that. And here 00:33:11.000 --> 00:33:14.519 we are. And God's got this chance. He's got this 00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:16.660 opportunity here to Moses. And he's gonna tell 00:33:16.660 --> 00:33:19.160 a little bit about himself, himself being God. 00:33:20.299 --> 00:33:22.720 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed. 00:33:22.779 --> 00:33:27.720 Here's what God says. The Lord, the Lord God, 00:33:28.900 --> 00:33:37.700 he is merciful. He is gracious, long -suffering. 00:33:38.799 --> 00:33:44.440 God is abounding in goodness and truth. He says, 00:33:45.579 --> 00:33:49.720 I'm one behind, he says, keeping mercy for thousands, 00:33:50.279 --> 00:33:54.160 forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. 00:33:54.569 --> 00:33:59.309 by no means clearing the guilty." What a powerful 00:33:59.309 --> 00:34:02.829 statement from God. What a powerful thing for 00:34:02.829 --> 00:34:05.309 him to say to Moses. You know, it's the same 00:34:05.309 --> 00:34:07.549 for you and I, it's the same God that we serve. 00:34:08.710 --> 00:34:10.849 And if you're a Christian that has struggled 00:34:10.849 --> 00:34:14.349 with feeling forgiven and if right now you've 00:34:14.349 --> 00:34:17.909 felt, had difficulty feeling forgiveness from 00:34:17.909 --> 00:34:19.929 that sin or for those sins that you committed, 00:34:20.210 --> 00:34:23.900 I want you to take a look at what God says. He 00:34:23.900 --> 00:34:26.500 says he's merciful, he says he's gracious, he 00:34:26.500 --> 00:34:29.420 says he's long -suffering, he says he's abounding 00:34:29.420 --> 00:34:32.760 in goodness and truth, and he forgives iniquity 00:34:32.760 --> 00:34:35.300 and transgression and sin. In other words, you 00:34:35.300 --> 00:34:37.980 know what God does? God's the guy who forgives. 00:34:38.199 --> 00:34:44.000 That's what he does. Praise God. That's what 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:47.000 he wants to do. That's how he wants to be known. 00:34:47.320 --> 00:34:49.539 He doesn't want to be known as somebody who doesn't 00:34:49.539 --> 00:34:54.869 forgive. He's the long -suffering God. He doesn't 00:34:54.869 --> 00:34:56.869 want to be known as the God who doesn't forgive 00:34:56.869 --> 00:34:59.849 he forgives iniquity and transgression and sin 00:34:59.849 --> 00:35:04.690 He says by no means clearing the guilty and that 00:35:04.690 --> 00:35:06.710 kind of seems like he's saying the opposite there 00:35:06.710 --> 00:35:08.530 That's not what that means what that really means 00:35:08.530 --> 00:35:11.510 is He doesn't just give people free passes to 00:35:11.510 --> 00:35:13.250 go sin and do whatever they want and just have 00:35:13.250 --> 00:35:19.650 forgiveness You know for this this is the perfect 00:35:19.650 --> 00:35:22.550 message for those who are striving each and every 00:35:22.550 --> 00:35:25.780 day to walk in the light This is a perfect reminder 00:35:25.780 --> 00:35:28.119 for those who are doing their best each and every 00:35:28.119 --> 00:35:30.619 day to produce the fruits of the Spirit, to keep 00:35:30.619 --> 00:35:33.679 those works of the flesh out of their life. This 00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:36.780 is for you. God wants to forgive you. He wants 00:35:36.780 --> 00:35:42.940 to see you forgiven. He wants to pour out his 00:35:42.940 --> 00:35:51.940 mercy and his grace. That's our God. And Luke 00:35:51.940 --> 00:35:53.780 chapter 19 and verse number 10 says, for the 00:35:53.780 --> 00:35:56.219 son of man has come to seek and save that which 00:35:56.219 --> 00:35:59.460 was lost. Earlier on in the book, I have not 00:35:59.460 --> 00:36:01.920 come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance, 00:36:01.980 --> 00:36:06.340 Jesus says. That was the whole point of Jesus 00:36:06.340 --> 00:36:09.260 coming here to this world, wasn't it? So that 00:36:09.260 --> 00:36:12.619 you and I could be forgiven. And sometimes we 00:36:12.619 --> 00:36:17.179 overlook that. Hello, Christian? That's why Jesus 00:36:17.179 --> 00:36:20.699 came and died, was so that you could be forgiven. 00:36:21.449 --> 00:36:24.949 And we forget that sometimes. We sit and we sulk 00:36:24.949 --> 00:36:26.750 and we let our feelings get in the way and we 00:36:26.750 --> 00:36:29.789 let Satan put little seeds of doubt into our 00:36:29.789 --> 00:36:31.469 relationship. All the while we forget that's 00:36:31.469 --> 00:36:34.730 why Jesus came. He came to seek and save those 00:36:34.730 --> 00:36:38.349 who are lost. He came to give sinners, call them 00:36:38.349 --> 00:36:41.730 to repentance and so that they could have forgiveness. 00:36:42.090 --> 00:36:47.960 This is our savior. And he shows that. in this 00:36:47.960 --> 00:36:51.400 wonderful example, in his last hours on earth. 00:36:52.980 --> 00:36:56.519 As Jesus is hanging between these two sinners, 00:36:56.579 --> 00:37:02.000 these two thieves, what does he show? He shows 00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:06.500 mercy. He shows grace. He shows that he's abounding 00:37:06.500 --> 00:37:09.340 in goodness and truth. He shows that he wants 00:37:09.340 --> 00:37:12.940 to forgive iniquity, transgression and sin. His 00:37:12.940 --> 00:37:18.489 last moments on the earth. before he's crucified. 00:37:22.449 --> 00:37:26.130 I want to think about this, all three of these 00:37:26.130 --> 00:37:30.510 men, Jesus included, but specifically these two 00:37:30.510 --> 00:37:33.110 thieves that were on each side of Jesus. I want 00:37:33.110 --> 00:37:40.030 to think about them for just a minute. They were 00:37:40.030 --> 00:37:43.849 guilty and they admitted that. They said that 00:37:43.849 --> 00:37:47.579 they were guilty. They admitted such. And I guess 00:37:47.579 --> 00:37:52.059 in the eyes of the Roman society, they were deserving 00:37:52.059 --> 00:37:54.000 of what they got. I don't know what they did. 00:37:54.000 --> 00:37:57.619 It just says they were thieves, criminals. You 00:37:57.619 --> 00:38:02.699 know, in our world today, we punish people who've 00:38:02.699 --> 00:38:04.099 done things that they're not supposed to, who 00:38:04.099 --> 00:38:08.340 break the law, right? We throw people in prison. 00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:13.099 And what do we call that? The politically correct 00:38:13.099 --> 00:38:15.929 term would be the correctional facility. We're 00:38:15.929 --> 00:38:19.050 going to correct them. And we put people in prison, 00:38:19.050 --> 00:38:23.090 why? Well, I guess somewhat to punish what they've 00:38:23.090 --> 00:38:24.789 done because they broke the law. They did something 00:38:24.789 --> 00:38:26.829 that was wrong. But the other thing is, like 00:38:26.829 --> 00:38:28.170 I said, we call it the correctional facility. 00:38:28.429 --> 00:38:32.409 We think they can be corrected. As a society, 00:38:32.510 --> 00:38:35.769 we're telling you, you can be corrected. You're 00:38:35.769 --> 00:38:38.869 gonna go sit in timeout for however long the 00:38:38.869 --> 00:38:41.730 judge decrees. And we think that when you come 00:38:41.730 --> 00:38:43.829 out of this, that you can be corrected and you 00:38:43.829 --> 00:38:46.070 can go back into society and you can live a life 00:38:46.070 --> 00:38:48.329 just like each and every other person out there. 00:38:48.489 --> 00:38:50.449 You can come back from what you've done that 00:38:50.449 --> 00:38:53.630 was wrong. We can forgive you and we can put 00:38:53.630 --> 00:38:59.489 you back out there with everybody else. And we 00:38:59.489 --> 00:39:02.210 also have something called the death penalty 00:39:02.210 --> 00:39:04.190 and whether you agree with that or not, that's 00:39:04.190 --> 00:39:07.510 not what I want to talk about and years ago they 00:39:07.510 --> 00:39:12.750 had the electric chair. Why did, as a society, 00:39:12.869 --> 00:39:15.010 why did we give people the death penalty now? 00:39:15.010 --> 00:39:19.070 Why did we then? That's because as a society 00:39:19.070 --> 00:39:22.550 or as a judge and jury, they say, this person 00:39:22.550 --> 00:39:25.690 doesn't deserve forgiveness. They deserve to 00:39:25.690 --> 00:39:30.050 die for what they've done that was wrong. We 00:39:30.050 --> 00:39:32.230 don't think you can come back from this. We don't 00:39:32.230 --> 00:39:34.469 think that you should be forgiven. We don't think 00:39:34.469 --> 00:39:37.130 that you can be corrected. In fact, the only 00:39:37.130 --> 00:39:40.090 course of action now is for us to kill you. because 00:39:40.090 --> 00:39:43.929 what you've done was so bad. That's what we say 00:39:43.929 --> 00:39:46.510 with the death penalty. That's what they said 00:39:46.510 --> 00:39:49.710 with the electric chair, right? That's kind of 00:39:49.710 --> 00:39:52.590 the gist. You don't deserve forgiveness. You 00:39:52.590 --> 00:39:54.849 don't deserve mercy. You cannot be corrected 00:39:54.849 --> 00:40:01.030 or else we'd put you in prison. You know, they 00:40:01.030 --> 00:40:03.409 had a death penalty 2000 years ago in the days 00:40:03.409 --> 00:40:07.550 of Jesus. Jesus was on it. These two thieves 00:40:07.550 --> 00:40:10.070 on the cross, they got the death penalty. They 00:40:10.070 --> 00:40:13.829 were on death row. And their execution was being 00:40:13.829 --> 00:40:16.670 carried out in that verse we read in Luke chapter 00:40:16.670 --> 00:40:20.849 23. What are they saying to these guys? I don't 00:40:20.849 --> 00:40:22.449 know what they did. I don't know what they stole. 00:40:22.630 --> 00:40:24.989 Must've been valuable. You don't deserve to live. 00:40:25.550 --> 00:40:27.570 Now the Romans were, believe it or not, much 00:40:27.570 --> 00:40:32.090 more harsh than we are today. And they said the 00:40:32.090 --> 00:40:37.750 same to Jesus. Jesus, you deserve to die. They 00:40:37.750 --> 00:40:40.010 crucified a lot of political and religious opponents 00:40:40.010 --> 00:40:41.929 and Jesus was probably the biggest opponent they'd 00:40:41.929 --> 00:40:45.909 ever faced. You can't come back from this. You 00:40:45.909 --> 00:40:49.070 don't deserve mercy. You don't deserve pardon. 00:40:49.510 --> 00:40:52.269 You cannot be corrected. You cannot come back 00:40:52.269 --> 00:40:54.349 from this. We cannot put you back out into society. 00:40:54.610 --> 00:40:57.949 You're too much of a danger. That's what crucifixion 00:40:57.949 --> 00:40:59.989 was saying. That's what the death penalty was 00:40:59.989 --> 00:41:05.780 saying. That's how society looked at it. And 00:41:05.780 --> 00:41:11.019 in the midst of all that, Jesus said, you're 00:41:11.019 --> 00:41:16.659 forgiven. The world may say, you don't deserve 00:41:16.659 --> 00:41:20.980 none of this. You deserve to die like a dog. 00:41:23.059 --> 00:41:28.260 And Jesus said, you're forgiven. I will forgive 00:41:28.260 --> 00:41:34.960 you. That's our God. That's our God, and that's 00:41:34.960 --> 00:41:38.840 His desire for forgiveness for each and every 00:41:38.840 --> 00:41:44.119 one of us. Not to live a life where you don't 00:41:44.119 --> 00:41:49.480 deserve it, even though we don't. When everybody 00:41:49.480 --> 00:41:53.019 around says, you deserve death, you can't be 00:41:53.019 --> 00:41:57.639 corrected, you can't be fixed, God says He'll 00:41:57.639 --> 00:42:08.440 forgive you and He'll fix you. God shows that 00:42:08.440 --> 00:42:11.519 he shows his willingness to forgive in the parable 00:42:11.519 --> 00:42:14.179 the prodigal son won't read through this here 00:42:14.179 --> 00:42:17.820 a Little bit quickly says there in verse number 00:42:17.820 --> 00:42:20.380 11 of Luke 15 a certain man had two sons and 00:42:20.380 --> 00:42:22.179 the younger of them said to his father father 00:42:22.179 --> 00:42:26.059 give me the portion of Goods that fall to me, 00:42:26.300 --> 00:42:29.280 so he divided them His livelihood, and not many 00:42:29.280 --> 00:42:31.000 days after, the younger son gathered altogether, 00:42:31.260 --> 00:42:33.280 journeyed to a far country, and there wasted 00:42:33.280 --> 00:42:36.099 his possessions with prodigal living. Here's 00:42:36.099 --> 00:42:37.639 this son, he asked for an early inheritance, 00:42:37.860 --> 00:42:40.179 the father gives it to him, he goes, and he blows 00:42:40.179 --> 00:42:44.360 it on partying and living a fun lifestyle. But 00:42:44.360 --> 00:42:46.519 when he had spent all there, arose a severe famine 00:42:46.519 --> 00:42:49.659 in that land, he began to be in want. Then he 00:42:49.659 --> 00:42:52.159 went and joined himself to a citizen of that 00:42:52.159 --> 00:42:54.800 country, and he sent him into his fields to feed 00:42:54.800 --> 00:42:57.539 swine. And he would have... gladly have filled 00:42:57.539 --> 00:43:00.480 his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, 00:43:00.659 --> 00:43:03.960 and no one gave him anything. But when he came 00:43:03.960 --> 00:43:06.400 to himself, he said, How many of my father's 00:43:06.400 --> 00:43:08.719 hired servants have bred enough to spare, and 00:43:08.719 --> 00:43:11.519 I perish with hunger? I will arise and go to 00:43:11.519 --> 00:43:13.699 my father. I will say to him, Father, I have 00:43:13.699 --> 00:43:16.820 sinned against heaven and before you. I am no 00:43:16.820 --> 00:43:18.940 longer worthy to be called your son. Make me 00:43:18.940 --> 00:43:22.409 like one of your hired servants. And he arose 00:43:22.409 --> 00:43:24.269 and he came to his father, but when he was still 00:43:24.269 --> 00:43:27.150 a great way off, his father saw him, had compassion 00:43:27.150 --> 00:43:29.730 and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 00:43:29.949 --> 00:43:31.889 And the son said to him, father, I've sinned 00:43:31.889 --> 00:43:34.269 against heaven and in your side, I'm no more 00:43:34.269 --> 00:43:37.929 longer worthy to be called your son. But the 00:43:37.929 --> 00:43:41.190 father said to his servants, bring out the best 00:43:41.190 --> 00:43:44.809 robe, put it on and bring and put a ring on his 00:43:44.809 --> 00:43:48.809 hand and sandals. On his feet bring the fatted 00:43:48.809 --> 00:43:51.590 calf here and kill it. Let us eat and be merry 00:43:51.590 --> 00:43:58.010 for this my son was dead and Is alive again? 00:43:58.550 --> 00:44:04.010 He was lost and is found and they began to be 00:44:04.010 --> 00:44:10.610 married Mary This shows that God is ready to 00:44:10.610 --> 00:44:14.409 forgive And you know here we have, it's a parable, 00:44:14.590 --> 00:44:17.050 it's Jesus teaching in a way that we can understand 00:44:17.050 --> 00:44:23.550 by putting it in a story. We have this son, it 00:44:23.550 --> 00:44:26.789 represents each and every one of us. We're children 00:44:26.789 --> 00:44:29.389 of God's, we've been saved, we've been forgiven. 00:44:30.829 --> 00:44:33.289 And then you know what? Sometimes you choose 00:44:33.289 --> 00:44:36.110 to go and you choose to live that carnal life. 00:44:36.480 --> 00:44:38.920 You choose to walk away from him and live a life 00:44:38.920 --> 00:44:41.659 of sin instead. And that's what this son did. 00:44:42.400 --> 00:44:44.300 And then he realized that this wasn't no good. 00:44:44.320 --> 00:44:46.239 This was wrong. I shouldn't be doing this. I 00:44:46.239 --> 00:44:48.820 don't need to be here. And he said a few verses 00:44:48.820 --> 00:44:51.840 earlier, it says he came to himself. He realized 00:44:51.840 --> 00:44:55.719 what was going on was so bad and so wrong. He 00:44:55.719 --> 00:44:57.539 realized the terrible state he was living in. 00:44:57.539 --> 00:44:59.679 He realized he was walking in darkness as we 00:44:59.679 --> 00:45:03.380 read in 1 John. He realized that he was carrying 00:45:03.380 --> 00:45:06.420 out the works of the flesh. As we read in Galatians 00:45:06.420 --> 00:45:08.639 chapter five, he says, I don't wanna do this 00:45:08.639 --> 00:45:14.599 anymore, but I don't deserve forgiveness. Is 00:45:14.599 --> 00:45:16.840 my father really gonna accept me? Is he really 00:45:16.840 --> 00:45:21.000 gonna want me back? And while he's still a long 00:45:21.000 --> 00:45:22.519 ways off and he's coming back to his father, 00:45:22.679 --> 00:45:25.719 what? The father comes out to meet him and the 00:45:25.719 --> 00:45:29.679 father says, you're alive again. I forgive you. 00:45:31.420 --> 00:45:33.840 And if you're a Christian and you've totally 00:45:33.840 --> 00:45:36.559 walked away from God, or you're living a life 00:45:36.559 --> 00:45:39.739 of habitual sin, a life of repeated works of 00:45:39.739 --> 00:45:42.619 the flesh, not walking in the light, but walking 00:45:42.619 --> 00:45:46.519 in darkness, this is the blueprint for what you're 00:45:46.519 --> 00:45:50.179 supposed to do. This is the blueprint for what 00:45:50.179 --> 00:45:57.219 you need to come back to the Lord. Understand 00:45:57.219 --> 00:46:00.440 his desire to forgive you. Understand that's 00:46:00.440 --> 00:46:02.280 what he wants. That's what he's after. He's waiting 00:46:02.280 --> 00:46:04.000 to see you come back over the hill He's waiting 00:46:04.000 --> 00:46:06.539 to see you come back to him and he'll come out 00:46:06.539 --> 00:46:12.719 and meet you. God is faithful to forgive He's 00:46:12.719 --> 00:46:20.920 faithful he wants it he's looking for it Going 00:46:20.920 --> 00:46:24.800 back to 1st John chapter 1 if we confess our 00:46:24.800 --> 00:46:32.179 sins he is faithful and just If we'll come back 00:46:32.179 --> 00:46:35.679 just like this prodigal son, if you're a Christian 00:46:35.679 --> 00:46:38.719 and you goof up and you commit a sin, let's confess. 00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:43.539 Why? Because God, he's faithful and just to forgive. 00:46:45.760 --> 00:46:47.679 You know what that means? God told you he'll 00:46:47.679 --> 00:46:51.639 forgive you. So believe that he'll forgive you. 00:46:53.300 --> 00:46:55.719 Not only that, I didn't highlight it, he's faithful 00:46:55.719 --> 00:46:59.420 and just. He's decided that that's what's right. 00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:02.400 That that's the correct thing to do for those 00:47:02.400 --> 00:47:06.059 who come to him for those who repent and confess 00:47:06.059 --> 00:47:11.019 It's right for him to forgive and to cleanse 00:47:11.019 --> 00:47:16.719 One more verse in Hebrews chapter 4 in verse 00:47:16.719 --> 00:47:19.199 number 14 It says seeing then that we have a 00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:21.420 great high priest who has passed through the 00:47:21.420 --> 00:47:24.380 heavens Jesus the son of God. Let us hold fast 00:47:24.380 --> 00:47:27.480 our confession For we do not have a high priest 00:47:27.480 --> 00:47:31.000 who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but 00:47:31.000 --> 00:47:34.079 was in all points tempted as we are, yet without 00:47:34.079 --> 00:47:40.139 sin. It says in verse 16, let us therefore, because 00:47:40.139 --> 00:47:43.000 of this, because we have a high priest to understand 00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:44.760 this, because we have a savior who came and lived 00:47:44.760 --> 00:47:47.360 and was tempted in every way that we could be 00:47:47.360 --> 00:47:50.300 tempted. and who understands how difficult it 00:47:50.300 --> 00:47:53.099 is to live in this world with sin and with temptation 00:47:53.099 --> 00:47:55.099 and who is tempted in all these points, because 00:47:55.099 --> 00:47:57.519 of all that, what do we need to do? What can 00:47:57.519 --> 00:48:00.699 we do, Christians? He says, come boldly to the 00:48:00.699 --> 00:48:05.500 throne of grace. Come boldly to the throne of 00:48:05.500 --> 00:48:07.559 grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace 00:48:07.559 --> 00:48:10.239 to help in time of need You know when you were 00:48:10.239 --> 00:48:12.639 a kid and you'd say a friend go ask my mom if 00:48:12.639 --> 00:48:14.300 you can come stay the night because I know she'll 00:48:14.300 --> 00:48:16.579 Say no if I come ask her that's not really going 00:48:16.579 --> 00:48:20.599 boldly to the throne of mom and dad Says go boldly 00:48:20.599 --> 00:48:24.500 go ask him Go boldly because we have the high 00:48:24.500 --> 00:48:26.880 priest who understands he knows what you're going 00:48:26.880 --> 00:48:30.360 through So go to him and boldly confess your 00:48:30.360 --> 00:48:32.320 sins. Tell him you're wrong. Tell him you messed 00:48:32.320 --> 00:48:37.300 up because he's faithful to forgive. Then you 00:48:37.300 --> 00:48:40.679 can obtain mercy. You can find grace in that 00:48:40.679 --> 00:48:42.900 time and in that hour. Folks, I wanna leave you 00:48:42.900 --> 00:48:47.059 with this. Forgiveness is not an offer that you 00:48:47.059 --> 00:48:49.920 get or don't get, that you can try to get and 00:48:49.920 --> 00:48:54.780 maybe not get. Forgiveness is a promise from 00:48:54.780 --> 00:49:02.559 God to you, a promise. He showed us. He wants 00:49:02.559 --> 00:49:04.619 to forgive and I don't care what you've done. 00:49:05.139 --> 00:49:11.800 You can be forgiven. I don't care what you've 00:49:11.800 --> 00:49:15.980 done. God forgave a man being crucified on death 00:49:15.980 --> 00:49:20.119 row under Roman authority. He'll forgive you. 00:49:20.880 --> 00:49:27.420 He will. He says he's faithful to forgive and 00:49:27.420 --> 00:49:30.130 not because you're worthy. Not because you deserve, 00:49:30.210 --> 00:49:32.150 it has nothing to do with that, but because he 00:49:32.150 --> 00:49:37.570 is. And so if you're not forgiven this morning, 00:49:37.590 --> 00:49:40.469 let's get you forgiven. Let's come to the Lord. 00:49:42.730 --> 00:49:45.309 He says, if you believe, repent, confess, and 00:49:45.309 --> 00:49:47.610 are baptized with him, you can come out of that 00:49:47.610 --> 00:49:49.329 water and walk with him in newness of life. You 00:49:49.329 --> 00:49:51.730 can be remiss, you can be forgiven of those sins. 00:49:53.750 --> 00:49:55.989 If you are forgiven, if you're a Christian and 00:49:55.989 --> 00:49:59.530 you walk in darkness, Come back to him just like 00:49:59.530 --> 00:50:02.670 the prodigal son did. And if you're a Christian 00:50:02.670 --> 00:50:09.010 who don't feel forgiven, look at him. Look at 00:50:09.010 --> 00:50:12.150 the forgiveness that he promises and know that 00:50:12.150 --> 00:50:15.070 that's for you. That he's a God who's ready, 00:50:15.909 --> 00:50:18.829 willing, and able to forgive iniquity, transgression, 00:50:19.250 --> 00:50:23.469 and sin. Thank you for listening to today's sermon 00:50:23.469 --> 00:50:25.909 from the Church of Christ Wheeler area. We hope 00:50:25.909 --> 00:50:28.190 this message encouraged you and strengthened 00:50:28.190 --> 00:50:30.550 you in your faith this week. Don't forget the 00:50:30.550 --> 00:50:33.750 doors always open at 1500 South Allen L. Bean 00:50:33.750 --> 00:50:37.510 Boulevard at 10 30 a .m. on Sundays, 2 30 p .m. 00:50:37.510 --> 00:50:40.750 on Sunday afternoons and recharge with us midweek 00:50:40.750 --> 00:50:44.269 on Wednesdays at 7 p .m. For more information 00:50:44.269 --> 00:50:47.570 or to hear past messages, follow us on your favorite 00:50:47.570 --> 00:50:50.750 podcast platform. Look us up on Facebook and 00:50:50.750 --> 00:50:53.289 Instagram. We hope you have a blessed week and 00:50:53.289 --> 00:50:54.329 we'll see you next time.