Forgiving People Forgive People
First B Jackson
2020-02-02

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Amen.

How are y'all? Everybody doing okay? Good. Well, we are going to sing together. Would y'all stand?

The pastor went long in the first service. So, y'all stand and we'll sing real fast, alright? No, I'm just kidding. We're going to we're going to sing There's Power in the Blood. Hymn number three twenty nine.

There's power in the blood and actually the sermon will get after this this morning a little bit. Hymn number three twenty nine.

Would you be free from your burden of sin there's power in the blood power in the blood would you or evil a victory win there's wonderful power in the blood there is power power wonder working power in the blood of the lamb there is power power wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb would you be free from your passion and pride there's power in the blood power in the blood come for a cleansing to Calvary's time There's wonderful power in the blood. There is power, power, wonder working power. In the blood of the lamb, there is power. There is power, wonder working power. Precious blood of the lamb.

Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow? There's power in the blood, power in the blood. Since stains are lost in its life giving flow, there's wonderful power in the blood. There is power power wonder working power in the blood of the lamb there is power power wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb would you do service for Jesus your king there's power in the blood power in the blood would you live daily his praises to sing there's wonderful power in the blood there is power power wonder working power in the blood of the lamb there is power wonder working power in the precious blood of the lamb Amen.

How about I'll fly away? Hymn number seven seventy nine.

Some glad I'll fly away. When the shadows of this life have gone, I'll fly away like a bird from prison bars is flown I'll fly away fly away oh glory I'll fly away in the morning when I die, hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away. Just a few more weary days and then I'll fly away to a land where joy shall never end. When I die hallelujah by and by I'll fly away

Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I've got a few announcements to go over. Home Sweet Home is for Monday nights. Monday nights at first B, 06:00.

Meal, music, and a message every Monday night and Carl is preaching from Proverbs and once you get towards the end of Proverbs, it's it's hard to look at that. There, it's kinda disjointed because every other verse is something different, right? But he's gonna be speaking from work and the Proverbs about work in the latter half of Proverbs and how Jesus is the worker. He is the one who has worked these things out for our good, for his glory, and so it's gonna be Proverbs in light of the light of Christ. So, that's gonna be good tomorrow night.

Meal music and a message, 06:00, Monday night. It happens at the same time as Awana. Awana start 05:45 to 07:30 and we have an age group for everybody from two years old up through the fifth grade and we even have some of the graduates that have come out of the truth and training in the fifth grade and sixth and seventh and eighth that are helping now in Awana for the littler ones. So, puggles are two to three. Cubbies are three to four.

Sparks are kindergarten, first, and second grade and then truth and training third through fifth and that's a great great program. It's just fun to to see scripture making a difference in the lives of kids. There is an insert in your bulletin about the Super Bowl of Caring and that is for the Good Samaritan Mission but they they put the ad in there. I don't even know what it's about. You want to know?

You read the little thing. So, they they do this each year on Super Bowl Sunday and it is Super Bowl Sunday, right? Okay. Alright. That shows how much I show about that.

No, about that. Scouting, scouting Sunday was also this morning and the Boy Scouts have been meeting at 1st B wherever the church building has been. It had they have been meeting at 1st B for eighty seven years that we can prove but it might be even longer than that. So, that's pretty cool. So, if we the scouting program is alive and well and doing well and a bunch of em are here this morning at at the first service.

Bible studies are happening during the first service for middle school, high school boys, middle school, and high school girls and for children's church during the first service at the nine. We have a precept study that's going on. Jane Cranenberg is facilitating leading that study. There's a video and discussion and homework and it's really really good. On Jeremiah chapters one through 24.

So, this is really good. Thursday mornings at nine. Is there anybody here that's come over from Driggs? I'm looking around. There we are.

Okay. So, there is a women's Bible study that's happening in Driggs at 08:30 to ten at the Connell's home. So, Cecilia and Kurt Connell have opened up their house and the ladies are getting together, read the Bible together, and pray and that's the address and if you wanna know more, you can ask afterwards or I think it's in your bulletin too. You can get the info from either Cecilia or Stacy. Oh.

This is another girl's group. That one speaks for itself. So, that's 03:45 to five on Wednesday afternoons for young ladies. If there's anything else, is there anything else that I forgot? Anybody?

Groups. Groups. Thank you. That'll be starting probably the second week in February because we are in the first week of February and they're not starting this week. So, probably next week, be looking for that in the bulletin next time.

I think that's it. Would y'all stand and we'll greet one another and then we'll bring you back together with a song.

Jesus my lord is the mighty king master of everything his name is wonderful Jesus my lord he's the great shepherd the rock of all ages almighty God is bow down before him adore him his name is wonderful Jesus my lord his name is wonderful his name is wonderful his name is wonderful Jesus my lord is the mighty king master of everything his name is wonderful Jesus my lord he's the great shepherd the rock of all ages almighty God is here bow down before him adore him his name is wonderful Jesus my lord

And number one fifty three is his name is wonderful. He's worthy of worship too.

Worthy of worship worthy of praise worthy Savior, sustainer, you are worthy. Worthy and wonderful, worthy of worship and worthy bowing and bending worthy of all this and added to these you are worthy savior creator you are worthy savior worthy of worship and praise almighty father master and king of all kings and redeemer wonderful counselor comforted friend savior and source of our life without end you are worthy father creator you are worthy savior sustainer you are worthy worthy and wonderful worthy worship

Y'all can have a seat. I'm going to invite invite the frontline team do that.

To

We're going for the beauty that surrounds us here all the time, lord. The sunrise this morning was absolutely spectacular coming in. God, we're blown away by you. Whether it's a gray day or a blue bird day, you are all powerful and in control. Lord, we love you.

We're thankful. I thank you that day after day, creation is pouring forth speech and there's no language where that speech can't be understood but lord, I also thank you for the opportunity to add to that general revelation, your specific, special revelation, your word. I pray lord that we would internalize your word and allow you to transform us and bend us to your will and lord, I pray that you would use us and our transformed and surrendered lives to do your will, lord, and your way, to bring many into your kingdom. May we advance your gospel by our willing obedience. Ence.

In Jesus name, would you take what is offered in these plates today, lord, and multiply and bless it to do your kingdom's work from here to the very uttermost parts. In every tribe, every tongue, and every nation. May you be glorified. Amen. Amen.

That was majestic. Today, we're gonna go through it's a different kind of sermon for me. For for those of you who are here all the time, you hear me doing expository preaching always. We just go straight through very very rarely. I announced it last week that this week, we're gonna break off and do something and I think the text put forward and I have a felt need that that we just need to hear it.

So, we're talking about forgiveness this morning. It's gonna be from Hebrews twelve, fourteen, and 15. Now, last week, if you'll remember, if you were here, we did Hebrews twelve twelve through 17 but right in the middle of that passage was the part that seemed to land the squarest on me and on several of y'all, people have said, woah, we need to go over that. You could've lingered longer on that point, you know. So, that's what we're gonna do today.

Forgiveness and I'll go ahead and tell you, if you were to come to me and say, hey, me and my fiance are getting married and we want you to do the wedding and I have an hour, just one hour to talk with it. This is what I'm gonna talk about. I've got thirty five minutes right now. So, there's a lot here. There's a lot here.

It may go a little bit long but there's a lot here and I think that it's really good for us and can I pray before we start this? God, I I thank you for bringing things to light that need to come to light. I thank you for uncovering things that we have kept covered for a long time in some cases. Lord, would you speak now through your word and through these principles that are derived from your word and lord, I pray that I would not say anything that's not true and I would not say anything that's not helpful. Would you just speak to us this morning?

Reach deep down in our hearts and root out all of the roots of bitterness. Free us, lord, from anger and resentment and allow us, lord, the peace that forgiveness brings and allow us the ability to extend that forgiveness to others to free them up too. In Jesus name, amen. So, the text this morning is this, pursue peace with all men. Pursue, be working at it.

Work at it. Pursue peace with all men. It says all men, not just half of em. You know, polarized society as we have. It seems like but I can get along with these people a whole lot better than I get along with those people but pursue, be actively working at peace with all men now and as much as it depends on you, live at peace with all.

And also, pursue the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. If there is salvation, there will be sanctification. It's the work of God. It's by his grace that he saves and it's by his grace that he sanctifies. The verse says, for us to pursue that sanctification, lean into it, it's difficult.

This is in a passage about the discipline of God and difficult times. So, pursue peace with all men. Don't hold on to stuff. Look forward to and lean into peace with all and pursue the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God.

Now, this see to it handles three clauses after it. See to it, it's that no one comes short of the grace of God. See to it that no root of bitterness springing up and see to it that there's not anybody that's like Esau. We're not gonna get to Esau again today. I think that muddied the waters for some people last week.

We're gonna stick on that right there. See to it that no root of bitterness springing up because it will spring up. Roots of bitterness will spring up in our hearts, in our minds, and in our lives and if we let it, if we don't take it to God, if we let it, it'll cause trouble. This says, see to it that no root of bitterness springing up that you can't control because you can't control what people say. You can't control what other people do and and quite frankly, sometimes I feel like we can't control what we do.

See to it that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble and by many be defiled. That's the text for the day but from here forward, I'm just gonna go into topical sermon. When unwanted roots of bitterness I said last week, spring up, don't fertilize and nourish them because that's what we wanna do. We see it and we wanna give it a little bit of fertilizer and give it a little bit of water and let it grow, let it grow. But if you do, fertilize and nourish a root of bitterness, what you're gonna end up with is the fruit of bitterness.

The fruit of bitterness is not not good. Take care to pull em up at the roots, I said. The way to do that is completely obliterate them with the grace of God. If God has offered, actually, if I go back to the scripture there, it says, see to it that no one comes short of the grace of God. We know that it's by grace that you're saved through faith.

We know that it's God's grace that saves but the sanctification process is also by God's grace. He demonstrates and shows us in every aspect of our life, good, bad. There is no such thing as indifferent, good or bad. Always, ever, every time. God is disciplining and moving us forward.

See, to it that no one comes short of the grace of God. They recognize God in their salvation but also their sanctification and that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble. So, obliterate those roots of bitterness with God's grace. The same grace that he extends to you which is inexhaustible. You can extend to others.

Really, the next one is a restatement of that. Access God's mercy and his love and kindness and use it like round up, okay? Spray those weeds down, get em handled, but it's gonna be God's mercy. If you need a definition there, God's mercy mercy is when you don't get something bad that you do deserve and grace is when you do get something good that you don't deserve. So, unmerited favor is God's grace.

And mercy is when you don't get a punishment that you do deserve. His mercy and loving kindness. Use it like round up. So, have you all heard this? Hurt people, hurt people.

That is true but today, I'm hoping that we can cross that out and get to this point. Forgiving people, forgive people. In that order, accessing God's mercy and grace that he offers by Christ and we're gonna celebrate together communion, the Lord's supper which is celebrating the sacrifice that he made, he stepped out and made on our behalf. Forgiving people, forgive people. It is the mark of a Christian to be forgiven.

Now, I do this little drawing a lot. I've probably done this 100 times a year for the last eight And this little drawing usually is on a piece of yellow paper like that. And it accompanies this. And today the rest of the sermon is gonna be going over this and going over this. I've done this with some of y'all that are sitting in the room because I did your wedding.

And that's normally what I do. It can be used for any relationship. Typically, I think it works best for husbands and wives but we're going to go forward. First of all, God's love and truth and I draw two clouds at the top of page. First, God's love and his truth.

God is love and Jesus saying, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. God is love and he is true and he has all of the love and truth. He's cornered the market on it. All of truth is God's truth and love is generated from him. So, it's really one thing but since we are two people or two individuals, I draw it as two clouds.

The first stage of relationship though is God relating to himself. Father, son, and Holy Spirit. There's a relationship that has been going on since eternity past in the heavenlies. It's been going on forever. God's love and truth has been acted out within the godhead.

Relationship there. He knows what it is like to relate and at some point, God in his infinite wisdom decided to make an individual. Now, Adam made Adam and he related to Adam as a friend walking in the garden with him and being with him and he noticed that it was not good for a man to be alone. So, he creates another individual and he relates directly also to her Eve and everybody that has ever been since then, God is love and he is true and so, you can fill yourself up. You can access God's love and his truth on your own.

First stage of relationship is he relates within the godhead to himself and then, he saw fit to create individuals. Although, he lacked nothing. He saw that but he gives us because of his goodness and his grace. He gives us the we. That is the ability to relate to another of our same kind, right?

Our human beings, human counterparts. Pursue peace with all men. It's easy to pursue peace as long as you don't have to be around people, right? Because you can't disagree with the person that's not there. Pursue peace with all men means it really does take getting into the we.

That place of overlap where our being and their being come together and we can discuss things. We can bounce ideas of of each other. The we by the way, I had a professor in seminary that drew this little drawing. It took him the whole semester. One one element at a time.

Each time we'd meet, he would add an element and the we, he always said is God's workshop. That is where God does his most profound work. Now, he's talking it was marital, premarital, and family counseling. He's talking about a marriage relationship. It it it works on some level with everybody but it's probably not as close, shouldn't be as closer relationship as a marriage but the we is God's workshop and when people come to me and they wanna get married and I'm doing this, oh, they're completely in love and Twitter pated with one another and there's like, oh yeah, this is great.

We love it. We're all in the we. Well, I love the way he brushes his teeth. I just love the way she does so and so but eventually, you're gonna rub up against each other in a way that's not so great and you're gonna sin against one another and that sanctification is what's gonna result or war, it could be war but if we are surrendering our will to God and we believe that God has called us into this relationship, then, being in the we is what he's called us to and that will be the most sanctifying influence in our life. So, the we being God's workshop, I might even say it's his sanctification studio, okay?

That's what he's doing. When Tanya and I met, I was an art major. I was an art major, barefooted art student, carving things out of stone and out of wood and welding steel together but if I were gonna make a sculpture, I decide what the sculpture is going to be usually. That's how what it's going to be first. So, if I want to make a sculpture and I've got a piece of alabaster that's this big and I want to make a sculpture of an elephant.

What do I do? Y'all can answer out loud. Chisel away. What do I chisel away? Everything that doesn't look like an elephant, right?

You chisel away everything that doesn't look like an elephant. You might take a a profile view and a frontal view and a rear view and you start cutting away everything that doesn't look like elephant. Get rid of it and you make it more and more into the image of an elephant. Look Look at Romans eight twenty eight. Now, we've been talking about a lot of difficult stuff lately and a lot of us hang on these this verse because it's comforting to know that while we're going through some hard stuff, hey, and we know that God causes all things that's good and bad, that's everything.

We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose. That's good. 28. Great bumper sticker, good coffee mug, good to hold on to, and there's absolutely truth there but keep reading and see what he's doing with all of those things. Those whom he foreknew, that's everyone who has accepted him.

Responded affirmatively to the gospel. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined and don't let the word trip you up. It's saying what he predestined you to. If you've accepted Christ, God has predestined you to become conformed into the image of his son. So, my sculpture of an elephant, I'm making out of alabaster is I'm making a sculpture of an elephant.

I decided that. If God wants to make you the raw material into an image of his son, then, he needs to remove everything that doesn't look like his son. In his sanctification studio, your spouse or other people if you're not married, other people certainly do this too. The most effective tool in God's hand much of the time is our spouse. They allow the mirror for us to see what we actually look like.

They also are the best tool that God has in his hand to chip away those things that don't look like Christ. As we are humble before him, that's what happens. I've hit some stone that was harder than others, right? Some of it's not as malleable, some of it's not as easy, some of it's not as but it takes work and in the sanctification studio, God is doing that. That's his workshop.

He's doing the work. It goes along with what we said before that even the actions of a person with free will are under God's sovereignty, actions of discipline for us to be sanctified. It's not by works. For by grace, you have been saved through faith and that's not of yourselves. It's the gift of God.

It's not a result of works so that no one would boast but I want you to see this but we, believers, are his workmanship. We were created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Those which God has prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. We are his workmanship and that is created in his workshop. It was immediately created in Christ Jesus but honed, I believe, in his workshop and so there's the we.

That's the third stage of relationship right now. Why though? Because out of the we, the way that we interact together, whether it's believers interacting together in community or whether it's a husband and wife acting together. What effect do they have on everyone else? That's the fourth stage of relationship.

Four stage relationship is every tribe, tongue, and nation. It's kids. It's kids friends. It's the community. It is whoever we would impact by giving to missions or going on missions.

It's it is everybody that is in any way affected by those relationships and that is the reason I thought, well, beautiful. That's good. I like this drawing and it took the professor like I said, all seminary, one whole semester to draw this drawing and he got to that point and I thought, man, that's great and he said, well, the whole reason I drew that so far so good. Yeah, it's beautiful but the reason I drew it is because within each of us, we can stay in that we and hopefully you will. Hopefully, you'll stay in and engage it because that's where God does his most profound work and if that which God has put together, let not anyone split us under, you know?

If you can stay in the weed, that's the the optimal and you get to be closer and closer if you can do that but all of us have within us so far so good but we all have within us this little partitioned off part. We'll call it the inner room, okay? It's a it's a construct. You're not going to find it in any Bible verse but I think you'll probably agree with me that we all go there from time to time. We retreat from the we and the inner room when we withdraw into that inner room, there's nothing that the other person can do to get us out of there.

It might be a pout or you're just going to pout. My professor said, this is the place of toxic sludge where you go and you sit and you flip through the channels on the big screen TV of your life and see all the ways you've been mistreated even though you're right. Shouldn't have to put up with this. Click, click, click. And usually when one person goes into the inner room, the other one goes into the inner room too.

Because you you tire of saying, hey, come out of there. It's a choice to withdraw from the we and sometimes the pain from the blows is just too much and and and we retreat. But the inner room is not a place to stay. It's not a good place to be and it's not a good place to stay. And my professor said, on on the day he discussed this, he said, the best way to avoid it is recognize that you have retreated from the we, raise your hand, and say it out loud.

I'm going into my inner room. Sounds silly when I was when I was in that class, Tanya took the class with me and she was sitting right there and I leaned over to her and I said, don't he know we're like missionaries and pastors and preachers and all these people in this class? It's a premarital, marital, and family counseling class. Don't he know that we're like preachers and stuff? Come on.

Isn't this silly? It's kind of just and she said, just listen. Just listen. Two hours later, I'm raising my right hand saying, I'm going into my inner room. It's amazing.

It hits all of us. It hits every single one of us. We can we can do this. So, the reason we draw the drawing is mainly to make that point, I think. Although all of it, I I think can be helpful.

Sticking with the we is important but if you stick with the we, eventually, you're going to sin against one another. That's the way that it's going to go. You're going to say something, you're going to do something, you're going to think something, and it's going to affect how you are in that room. I've drawn this drawing. Like I said, probably 100 times a year for eight years straight and it's always similar if not exactly the same and I can look at the faces of people.

There, this is a smaller service and last service, I thought I've never done this for 200 people before. I can't tell. I had to close my eyes because I've done this with a lot of people and there were other people who knew that we needed to. All of us need this. To stay in the weed, to stay in relationship, and not retreat and feel like you're just in your inner room mistreated all the time.

You're gonna have to learn how to forgive. So, the next part of this is this forgiveness My professor would call it the forgiveness marker. It's good to just nail it down that somebody is forgiven. I have that in English. I have it in Spanish.

I actually have copies of it so you don't have to scribble down what's up here on the board but this is what we're gonna go through. It's a little bit tedious. We've got time but here we go. I think that if if we take it seriously, it's one of the most important things that God can teach us. I I had another professor when I was in seminary that impressed me in a lot of ways.

His name was Bill Jones. He was the president of the seminary while I was there and he never used the word gospel like which is kinda odd for a seminary professor and president but he didn't use the word gospel. He said, God's message of love and forgiveness. God is love and he stands ready to forgive. God is love and he stands ready to forgive you.

So, he he always said, God's message of love and forgiveness and God stands ready to forgive and forgiven people, forgive people. So, we should be standing ready to forgive. So, this is everything we're gonna go through. I'm gonna spend more time in the first quadrant up there in the upper right. We can only think in terms of past, present, and future.

Have any of y'all escaped the time space continuum? I've never figured out how to do it. I've never figured out how to be in two places at once and I've never figured out how to not think of the past or worry about the future. I mean, I I try not to but I think of things in past, present, and future. Last week, one of the closing kind of points or closing quotes was from John Ortberg and he said that this moment, today is a gift.

This is what you can do something about today. Yesterday, if you live there, you'll lose your life and tomorrow, if you live your life there, you'll lose your life but today, you can do something and really, we can only forgive in the present. You can have forgiveness today for asking for it and you can extend forgiveness today That mean immediately someone is going to accept it but you can extend it. So, past, present, and future. You can only forgive in the now but we're going to talk about the past.

There are two things in the past as far as forgiveness is concerned that we are going to deal with. One of em is sins that I've committed in the past. Against God and others and the other one is sins that have been committed against me. Now, which one of those is the easier of the two to figure out? You know what you did, right?

I think that we feel what other people do to us more often than we know what we did to hurt others but both of em are important. I'm going start with the first one. I'm going to do that because Jesus says, to make sure that you remove the plank that's in your own eye before you help your brother out. With the one that's in theirs. So, the other thing that this absolutely will do, if you take it seriously, is it will humble you?

I brought something up in the last service that I had not planned on doing. I'm going to do it again. I don't know where I brought it up in the last service but Maybe not now. I'll get to it in minute. If I forget Diane, throw something at me, okay?

Alright. Take, oh Bob said he would. He volunteered. I'll do it. Take a full account of the words and the actions and the thoughts that were sinful.

That's the first step. For me to think about myself and what I have done, who've I've sinned against, and how. Take a full account of the words and the actions and the thoughts that were sinful. That's the first step is to look at it. Now, actually, it's the first step I have listed up here but if if any of y'all are familiar with the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, first of all, you probably were getting past the first three by coming in here today.

The first one is I have a problem that I can't do anything about. We admitted we were powerless over our problem and if we were speaking generally for all of us, it would be sin. That's the problem. That our lives had become unmanageable. We came to believe step two that a power greater than ourselves, God, could restore us to sanity.

That's the second step. Third step is, we made a decision to turn our will in our lives over to the care of God as we understood him. And then the fourth step says, make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves and that's what I'm talking about here. A fearless and searching moral inventory says, take a full account of the words, actions, and thoughts that were sinful. Rather than saying, no, I was right to say that.

Take a fearless, moral inventory, and admit the full account. The next thing to do may just be automatic if you take a full account of the words, actions, and thoughts that were sinful. It is to grieve how that sin has hurt God. First of all, all sin is ultimately against God but to grieve how that sin has hurt God and other people. There, no man's an island.

You know, as much as we wanna introvert away and get away. Our sin has consequences and grieve how that sin has hurt God and other people ask God to cover these offenses with the blood of Jesus It seems like from there, grieving how your sin has hurt God and others. What can you do? What can you do on your own after you have sinned to do anything about? An unkind word or an ugly ugly action.

A deeply held belief against someone. That's not seeking for their good. What can you do? Even if it makes you feel terrible, what can you do? Well, you can ask God to cover those offenses with the blood of Christ and to remove all of the guilt.

This is not some psychobabble that's saying, get rid of the guilty feeling. There's actual guilt involved in sin and the actual guilt produces a pain and that pain is something that we have lost. That's why there's grief of hurt and loss. That pain, take it to Jesus. Take it to God.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Baptist, come on. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

So, go to him and say, God, please forgive me. I did this, this, and this and I feel horrible about it. I'm humbled with my lack of self control. Would you help me? Would you forgive me?

And would you help me? First John one nine says, that he will. Receive God's cleansing. First John one nine comes up. Is it going to come up, Blake?

Probably not. Oh, I didn't. I didn't put that one in there. Sorry. Here we are.

Ask God to cover these offenses with the blood of Jesus and remove all guilt. First John one nine, that's the next book we're studying. It's first John. It says that if you are confessing your sins, he is faithful and just to be forgiven your sins and he will cleanse you from all unrighteousness. This is the sanctification without which none will see God.

That's the sanctification and transformation we're talking about. Living a life open before God, confessing. There it is. Good job, man. Don't it?

Ask God to cover these offenses with the blood of Christ and to remove all the guilt and he will. So, receive God's cleansing. Confess your sin to others and when it's possible and appropriate, you make restitution. Receiving God's cleansing is the hardest part on this side of the equation. We all know that if we can't do anything about what we did, oh, I wish I could change it.

I wish I could pay it back but you can't. That moment's gone. You can go to God, ask him to forgive you, and he does. He says, I'll throw it into the sea of forgetfulness and remember it no more. I'll throw it as far as the east is from the West and remember it no more.

Though your sins be as scarlet, they'll be as white as snow. I will blot out all of your transgressions. I will remember them no more. That's the way God forgives. Now, God is completely outside of past, present, and future.

Oh, to be godly in that way. We have to deal with this. We also have to trust him when he says, I'll forgive you if you ask me. We need to ask him humbly and he does. So, forgiven people.

You can know that you are forgiven. When you ask God to forgive, he will. Forgiving people, forgive people. So, the next thing we're gonna talk about is when someone has committed a sin against me, Now, I was digging through the garage yesterday. I had a little time and so I started kinda trying to sort out the sins of winter.

It's finally above freezing. You know what I mean? I'm moving stuff around and getting junk, throwing it away, and making hauls to the dump and and I came across a box. It's about this big. It's a little clear plastic box on the outside of it has somebody's name and then under their name, it says, lawsuit.

I have moved this box nine times to my account. I think it's nine times. Moved it from Mexico, moved it to Georgia, moved it to South Carolina, a couple different places there, moved it out here, and I have not opened it that whole time. I haven't opened it. I don't remember having looked through it at all and yesterday, when I was digging around, I opened it up and it's probably because I was doing this sermon, honestly and I clicked the top of it open and I read what I had written.

It was a letter. It was a letter in response to something that somebody had done and it was hard. It caused a whole bunch of missionaries to leave the field. We stayed but it was really hard and it was an awful, awful thing and it was causing so much grief and so much pain and it was a sin. It was a sin against.

If I read the letter, the opening line in the letter is, when I think of you, it makes me sick. The next line says, when I have nightmares, you're the subject. And that was the feeling. I didn't send the letter but the depth of this thing, it hurt and so, the sins committed against me, you take a full account of the wrong suffered. Take a full account of the wrong suffered.

I knew and I actually listed in that letter all of the things that had hurt so bad and what was really hard is, I was right. That's really hard We eventually had a meeting. We eventually got through that but trust had been broken and it was just hard. It was hard to go forward. So, with sins that have been committed against me, the first thing is to take a full account of the wrong that has been suffered and that usually you know.

Usually, when someone sins against you, you know. And usually, that starts this process whether you think about it or not. You don't have to take step number two. You're already grieving the hurt and the loss. The beginning of a mistrust, the beginning of a break in relationship.

You're grieving that. So, taking a full account of the wrong suffered is important. Actually, I I had somebody come in few years back she said that thirteen years before she had been assaulted on a college campus and it was a sexual assault and it was very, very, very difficult and since then, she'd not been able to have a relationship with a man. To not been able to have relationships that were close with people because she was so hurt and had not dealt with and didn't really know how to deal with. Now, she knew exactly what happened and exactly when and she had been grieving the hurt and the lost this whole time and it had never gotten to a place where she felt like, felt like forgiven and if you wait on it, you might not ever get to a place where you feel like forgive because that grief has to have, it has to go somewhere, okay?

So, taking a full account of the wrong suffer, grieving the hurt and loss and then, you have to make a choice to forgive and on this side of the equation, that's definitely hardest. Is making a choice to forgive but otherwise, it's gonna kill you. The word for forgive in Greek is means let it go, to release, to release completely. It's used in the classics of holding on to a rope with a heavy burden on the other end of it and if you don't, I say me, release it. It's gonna pull you over into the water like an anchor or of a sail holding back a sail with all the wind in it and if you don't let it go, it's going to pull you overboard.

I say me, let it go, not to quote frozen like let it go. Let it go. But let it go. Making a choice to forgive is definitely the hardest part on this side and then, after you've made that choice to forgive and it is a process and it's not always a quick process but let me say this, it is easier if you keep short accounts, okay? If you keep short accounts with, you know, your CPA, you take in the stuff as he says, bring it to me monthly or bring it to me weekly and I'll keep up with your books.

If you just show up with a trash can full of receipts in the first part of April and take it in, he's going send you down the road to another CPA. You've got to carry these things, keep short accounts. But letting go of any expectation for restitution because how do you pay back for a ugly comment at a dinner party? How do you pay somebody back for I always use kicking the dog. I'm sorry.

That's the one that always comes to my mind. If somebody kicks your dog, how they pay you back for that? They they can't pay back. It was an it was a gross, ugly thing and there's nothing that they can do. So, you have to let go of any expectation for restitution.

If anybody were to pay you back something that they stole, that would be great and they should up at the top. It's when possible, you know, receiving God's cleansing. You confess your sin to others and you when possible, you make appropriate restitution. But letting go of that means letting go. It's not always immediate but making the decision can be and if you understand the depth of your own sin and how clean you are after God's forgiveness, it should inspire you to let other people go too.

So, that is the bottom side there and making a choice to forgive is usually the hardest one. That's where people get stuck. I don't feel like it and I'm right. You may be right. Was Jesus right?

Throughout his life, in every instance, always and he was crucified. Though innocent, condemned. Make a choice to forgive. Actually, our standard for that is just as God and Christ has forgiven you, you are to be forgiven one another. Who took the first step?

God did. Who took the hit? Christ did. Just as God in Christ has forgiven you is the way you're supposed to be extending grace and mercy to others. Now, going forward, while trust is being built, I'm going to run through this but I've already decided that the next time I preach, I'm going to hit the future stuff again, okay?

Because it's not always possible because you can stand ready to forgive but not everybody will receive it or want to reconcile. I can just say that. I I know that already. Does everybody accept God's offer of grace? He knows how you feel.

So, going forward, if there is to be reconciliation, if there is to be a moving forward in the we, then, this has to happen. Going forward with a while trust is being built, you have to set boundaries for acceptable behavior. That needs to happen together. You know, when we're at a dinner party and you start telling that story which I've asked you not to tell 12 times, It hurts my feelings and makes me mad. Please, let's not tell that story again.

That sound familiar? Set boundaries for acceptable behavior. Listen, when you have a beer When you have two, you turn into a different person and if you have three, please stop that. You know, that's a that's the conversation around setting acceptable boundaries for behavior and if you're going to go forward, you're going to have to have that talk or you're going to keep on sinning against one another and this one's going to become very difficult. Forgiving someone is is possible and it's possible today but then going forward while trust is being built, you have to set those boundaries and then, expect expecting a sincere effort to change.

In the area of addiction, anything that is an addiction type sin, this is the hardest one. Expecting a sincere effort to change. For some people though with long memories and a tendency to look at the other rather than themselves, It's really easy to reach back and pick up something that somebody did in the past draw it back up to the future but think back to the love chapter from Corinthians. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love keeps no record of wrong.

As as needed, remember the past is forgiven. If you keep on bringing up something that was supposed to have been forgiven, you haven't forgiven. I know you can't forget it. I know that. We're all trapped in time and space.

I know past, present, future but since our standard is just as God in Christ has forgiven us, we need to throw it as far away as we can and not use it as a tool against. Renewing the commitment to go forward. Renew the commitment to go forward to today is working that way, not that way, towards the future, not back into the past. So, here we go. Going forward, the mutual commitment, a growing trust, this is what we can do.

Commit to going forward, trusting that God will provide whatever will be needed for this relationship. If God puts you in that relationship, does he have the power to keep you amicably in it? He has all the love and truth and you have access to it as a believer. He can keep you in there. In fact, God's love and truth.

There it is. It's going to be, I draw two clouds because there are two people and you may see God very differently. He is true. We're limited by our vision not by him. He is unlimited.

So, commit to explore and enjoy but you cannot be responsible for each other's individual growth. By the way, I threw that box away yesterday. Yeah. The box that I had moved nine times with all these things and I was right, you know? Why are we, why do we keep moving this?

Why do we keep carrying this? Put it down, right? So, we threw the box away. Commit to explore and enjoy but you cannot be responsible for each other's individual growth. That's the you need to be filling yourself up on God's love and truth.

Accessing that through his word, accessing that through the community of Christ, the community of believers around you. But you can't be responsible for the other ultimately. You can encourage and enjoy but you can't be responsible for it. That's everybody has that. Since the we is God's workshop, commit to resolving differences that you have amongst yourself in that workshop.

Respectfully, if a little bit of fine sandpaper will do to take that sharp edge off of that alabaster, Don't hit it with a big chisel or use a chainsaw. Just a little bit. Solving those differences respectfully. See to it that no root of bitterness springing up because it's gonna spring up. See to it that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble.

Don't let it get to the point where it's causing trouble. Go ahead and get it handled by God's grace and mercy because of this, commit to seeing this relationship whatever it is as a means for kingdom preparation and I say advance. Also, advancing the kingdom of God because the way that Christians interact with one another, the way that husbands and wives interact with one another has an effect on that fourth stage in relationship. Everybody else in the world is affected. If we fight as Christians, we are not not unified.

We are not acting as Christ acted or as he acts. Many can be defiled. How much damage has been done by husbands and wives who fight and stay in their inner rooms and just lob grenades from one side to the other. How much damage has been done by church splits? How much damage has been done by missionaries leaving the field in a huff.

So, If you bear out the numbers, 70 something percent of the time, it's interpersonal relationships is the reason missionaries leave the fields. Not because they lack call, not because the world lack need, not because they lack the purposes, because they couldn't get along and honestly, the numbers are probably higher than that but people just don't want to admit it. We need to get along. We do not need to fight and let it cause trouble because by it, that trouble, many will be defiled. So, there it is and I've got handouts in English and Spanish if you want em.

I think that I will probably go into the future when the next time that I preach and we're going to go into a time of communion right now. There are harsh warnings for taking communion unworthily. We practice an open table. If you trust in Jesus, you may take up this table. Absolutely.

The body and blood, the cracker, and the and the cup of grape juice. You may take of this but I wanna give you the time right now while I'm praying. I wanna give you the time to just think about it. If there's anything that you know that you're holding in your heart against another, would you make that decision to forgive that person? And would you pray that God will allow you the strength to walk forward and not live in the past?

Lord God, would you please bless this cracker? I'll invite the frontline team to come forward to. God, would you now please bless this cracker, this little representation of your body? You lived a perfect life and had no sin debt to your account. It is the way of God, the message of the cross that you died and you gave your perfect record to anyone who would trust the offer and trust in you.

Put their faith in you. You have made the way. You paid it all. You paid for the sin. Of everyone who's put their faith in you.

Lord, would you impress upon us the importance of keeping short accounts and going forward in forgiveness so that we can forgive others. Great peace have those that love your law, oh Lord, such that nothing shall offend them or make them stumble. Lord, in Jesus name, I pray that we would experience the lightness of your burden. Walking without any sin debt on our shoulders and extending that grace and mercy to others. In Jesus name, would you bless this little cracker as we distribute it?

Amen.

Your only son no sin to hide but you have sent him from your side to walk upon this guilty side and to become the lamb of God sweet lamb of God I love the lamb of God oh wash me in his precious blood my Jesus Christ the lamb your gift of they crucified they laughed and scorned him as he died the humble king they named the frog and sacrificed the lamb of God I was so lost I should have died but you have brought me to your side to be led by your staff and rod and to be called

On the same night that Jesus was betrayed He took bread after supper and after he had given thanks, he blessed it and he told his disciples there that he said, this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat and do it in remembrance of me. Jesus, we thank you for that perfect life that was well lived and if it were just an example, it would be a great one but it wasn't just example. It was sacrifice. That perfect record was sacrificed.

And your complete divinity and your complete humanity, lord. You walked this out, surrender to the spirit. Your blood was innocent and you gave it for the guilty, who would trust in you. Lord, I thank you for the precious blood that was spilled at Calvary. Lord, as we distribute this, I pray that each one who partakes would do so humbly and lord that you would bring to our recollection the things that we need to know and the relationships that we need to make right.

In Jesus name, may we keep short accounts and look to you. Amen.

Savior say thy strength indeed is small child of weakness watch and pray find in me thine all in all Jesus paid it all to him I owe sin had left a crimson stain he watched it white as snow lord now indeed I find thy power and thine alone can change the leper spots and melt the heart of stone. Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. For nothing good have I, whereby thy grace to claim. I'll wash my garments white in the blood of Calvary's lamb Jesus paid it to him I owe sin had left a crimson stain he washed it white as snow