Scripture Reading before lesson:
Revelation
19:1-16
Song before lesson
– “My God Most
High”
Charles
Stanley tells the story about
one his seminary teachers who had a very had a practical way of illustrating the
concept of God’s grace and forgiveness to his preaching students. He remembers
that it was at the end of the semester, and he was about to take the final exam
in one of his toughest classes. The professor distributed the exam with this
caution: “Read the exam all the way through before beginning to answer the
questions.” This caution was written on the exam as well. The students began
to read the test, and the first question was difficult enough. Charles Stanley
said it became clear as we read further that we did not study nearly enough for
this exam. The further they read, the worse it got. This exam was going to be
incredibly difficult to pass. You could begin to hear through the lecture hall
audible groans and moans, and weeping and gnashing of teeth. On the bottom of
the last page, however, was a note that read, “You have a choice. You can
either complete the exam as given, or you can sign your name at the bottom, turn
it in and in so doing receive an “A” for this exam.” Wow? Stanley
Others didn’t read the
exam all the way through as instructed. They sat there and sweated it out for
the entire two hours of class time before reaching the last page. Others read
the first few pages, became angry, turned the test in blank, and stormed out of
the room without signing it. They never realized what was available, and as a
result, they lost out totally. One fellow, however, read the entire test,
including the note at the end, but decided to take the exam anyway. He did not
want any gifts; he was going to earn his grade all the way. And he did. He
made a C+, but he could have had an A.
A.
This story illustrates many people’s reaction
to God’s grace and forgiveness.
1.
Some people look at God’s standard of moral and
ethical
perfection – so they wave the white flag of surrender. They tell
themselves, “I can’t possibly match the standard of holiness in the Bible. Why
even try? I give up!”
2.
Others have difficulty with accepting God’s FREE grace, so they
to earn His favor through their own meritorious efforts and good works. They
think if they can just rack up enough points, God is obligated to save them.
3.
But God’s forgiveness is graciously offered to ANYONE who will take Him at His
Word. Without exception. The Good News of the gospel is that our heavenly
Father is EAGER to extend His GIFT of grace and forgiveness to everyone who
genuinely accepts the saving message of repentance and
baptism.
B.
As wonderful as God’s gift of forgiveness
is... one of the great TRAVESTIES that humans can ever experience
is not understanding God’s
forgiveness.
1.
Some people have a concept of God’s grace and forgiveness that is NOT revealed in Scriptures. When that
happens is they tend to make forgiveness something it is not.
a.
Some make forgiveness out to be something God frivolously gives
to everyone, and it lessens the seriousness of
sin and the awfulness
of the cross where the price of our sins was paid in full.
b.
Others make forgiveness to be something God gives reluctantly,
because no matter how hard you try or how good you are, forgiveness will remain
just beyond your reach.
2. In
the coming weeks, I want to look at what the Bible says about the forgiveness
God offers to every one of us, and to look into these Scriptures about
UNLOCKING
the Power of Forgiveness in
our lives.
This
morning, I want to first take a look at what forgiveness does not
do.
I.
Forgiveness
Does Not Replace True Discipleship.
A.
We must be careful to avoid thinking or
operating along this line of
reasoning...
1.
“If God is so eager and willing to forgive my sin – ANY SIN – then why do I need
to be concerned about my sin? Why struggle to overcome sin, or to be sure to
avoid the very appearance of sin in my life?”
2.
There is an expression that you hear often, but it doesn’t make it true. Have
you ever heard anyone use this expression, “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness
than permission”? Let me tell the younger people in the audience. That’s not
necessarily true. I consider myself to be loving father, but my girls will tell
you life goes better for them when they seek to obey. They have far fewer
troubles in life.
3. We
must avoid that sort of mind set if we’re going to have the right kind of
relationship with a forgiving Father. That thinking only serves to distort the
love of God and the true
meaning of His grace.
B.
Think about how that attitude diminishes the
role Jesus plays in our lives.
1. If
I go through life and the real motivation behind the choices I make in life
(whether I choose to do something or not) is because this is what I WANT or what I DON’T WANT, then it is my will being done
and not the Lord’s will. I’m more interested in getting and doing what I want
than becoming a serious disciple of Jesus
Christ with a genuine concern about avoiding
sin.
2.
Then, any time my way of living violates a Christ-like or righteous life,
I casually turn to Jesus and say, “Clean that up for me would you? Take care of
that mess I have created.”
3.
What then happens is Jesus – the One who has the armies of heaven behind Him...
this One who has written on His robe and thigh, “The King of Kings!” – He
abdicates His
throne so He can come behind
me with a mop and bucket of forgiveness.
4.
Without a genuine concern for true discipleship
and holiness and
righteousness, then
Jesus is not
King of my life, but I have relegated Him to be Custodian of my
life.
5.
We can find this
attitude in people in other places.
a.
Theater
– Have you seen on the screen that says, “Trash receptacles are placed at the
exits for your convenience”? No
they aren’t. If they were for YOUR convenience then they would be right by YOUR
chair – So you leave empty coke cups, popcorn boxes, and candy wrappers on the
floor when you leave because someone will come along between showings and clean
the theater for you.
b.
Office
– Have you ever left a mess where you work and catch yourself thinking, “Oh, the
cleaning company will get later tonight”?
c.
Home –
How many kids and husbands leaves dirty laundry around the house or dirty dishes
in the sink because Mom always picks up or cleans
up?
d.
Church
– Following our worship service this morning, this auditorium will be cluttered
with song books strewn about, torn up paper, attendance cares, and candy
wrappers in pew – because “We have a cleaning crew that will put all the books
away and pick up all the trash.”
6.
Folks, this is the Lord’s house, and we should treat it in such a way that
brings honor and glory to Him.
7.
More importantly, YOU are the Lord’s
house and you should show the place Jesus occupies in our life.
Paul wrote in 1 Cor 6:19-20, “Do you not know that
your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received
from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price.
Therefore honor God with your body.” Don’t
take the concept of God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness and
love
for us and distort them to live the way we want, and if there is a problem, then
you just call on Jesus to clean up any sin messes we have
made.
8.
As incredible and wonderful as forgiveness
is – Jesus is not to be seen as my custodian to clean up the
messes I have made. He is to be King of my
life. The sacrifice of Jesus will not be exploited by those who do
take not take discipleship seriously.
II.
Forgiveness
Does Not Reduce Christ’s LORDSHIP.
A. If Jesus is not Lord OF ALL, He is not Lord
AT All.
1. What does it mean for
Jesus to be Lord? – It means I am seriously
seeking to follow Him and do His will.
a.
He is not following me around with a broom and a dustpan – He is leading
me where He wishes.
b.
I’m not looking to Him to just clean up my messes – I’m looking to Him as
the model for how I ought to live my life.
c.
I’m not seeking to find rationalization for my sin, but seeking to
overcome my sin.
d.
And when I sin, I confess my sin before Him and seek His mercy and I
believe that He forgives.
2. I take seriously my commitment to serve Him, not to
attempt to make Him serve me.
B.
Am I saying that we must live PERFECT lives
to be forgiven?
1.
Obviously not. If we could live perfect lives, we wouldn’t need forgiveness.
But if you willfully live and sin as you please and do not earnestly
pursue righteousness, godliness, and holiness, then don’t expect God’s grace to
be there when you need it.
2.
Forgiveness hinges upon the LORDSHIP of Jesus
in our lives!
3.
Rom 6:1-4 “What shall we say,
then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no
means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” Those who have been
baptized were buried with Christ through baptism into His death so that just as
Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may be
raised to live a new kind of
life.
4.
Now verse
5: “If we have been
united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with
him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the
body of sin might be done away
with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.”
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5.
6.
True disciples of Christ seek to live in such a way that overcomes sin. We know
that we will still sin, but we are no longer slaves to that sin. We find
righteousness
through Christ Jesus.
7.
Verses
11-18 – “In the same way, count
yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil
desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as
instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have
been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as
instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master,
because you are not under law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall
we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey
him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey — whether you are slaves
to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin,
you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.
18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to
righteousness.”
8.
1 Jn 1:7-2:1 – How do we hold on
to that righteousness? – “But if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood
of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be
without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not
sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that YOU WILL NOT SIN. But if anybody does
sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ, the
Righteous One.”
9.
Johns says Jesus will
forgive everyone who is united with Him in baptism, and
who is genuinely seeking to SIN NO
MORE! We cannot
assume a lifestyle... an attitude... a pretense that says that sin doesn’t matter
because Jesus will clean up any messes we make. We must let Jesus be
LORD!
III.
Forgiveness
Does Not Remove Personal Responsibility.
1.
Someone might say, “Look, this is just the way I am, you’d better learn
to like it.” What they mean is they are not about to
change the way they are. “Don’t expect me to bring under control their
temper...
lusts...
language... material desires”
– or anything that’s not Christ-like. That’s just how I
am.
2.
Romans 6 talked about
WALKING
IN NEWNESS OF LIFE – Newness comes from
changing for the better.
3.
Forgiveness does not allow me to point my finger in another direction and
blame others for the problems and consequences in my
life.
4.
This is one of our society’s problem today – Too many play the Blame
Game. No one’s responsible for their misdeeds or crimes – It’s
all what has been done to them. Somebody somewhere abused or neglected
them or didn’t treat them fairly or looked at them
wrong.
5. Of
all people who need to take responsibility for the weakness present in their
lives it should be Christians.
a.
Be
honest – Admit, acknowledge, pray about, and go to work making
the appropriate changes to bring your life into conformity with the image of
Jesus Christ.
b.
Forgiveness demands we face and deal with our own weaknesses and seek to
become the kind of person Jesus would have us to
be.
Is
Jesus the KING of your life? Or is He the CUSTODIAN?
You may be saying at
this point, “Noel , it sounds like you
are saying there are strings attached to forgiveness?” Folks, all
through the New Testament the answer is an emphatic YES! There are strings attached to
forgiveness.
1.
Confess – You must
acknowledge that you have sin in your life. God forgives only broken and
contrite hearts.
2.
Repent
– Seek to turn away from sin and live according to God’s
will.
3.
Baptism
– The cleansing blood of Jesus is found only in the waters of
baptism.
But
it doesn’t stop there...
4.
Lordship – The
Lordship of Jesus must be evident – Life focuses on holiness and
righteousness and dying to sin that you might be more like
Jesus.
Only
you and God really know for sure what place Jesus has in your
heart.
1. Do
you have Jesus – with the Armies of heaven behind Him – coming along behind you
carrying a broom and dustpan? Don’t deceive yourself thinking Jesus will
forgive a life like that. You need to repent and make him Lord and King of your
life this morning.
2.
When Jesus is in front of you leading you and showing you the way of
discipleship, then forgiveness is an incredible and wonderful blessing for you.
3.
Let’s sing this morning, “MAJESTY! Worship His
majesty. Unto Jesus be all glory, honor and praise!” As we stand and
sing.
Invitation Song -
“Majesty”
