Steve Hyndman - Class 3: Forgiveness - The Gift

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:02

   Thanks Brother Ronald. And what a glorious chapter that was Romans 5. It really is something that we worth, that’s that’s worth looking at, that’s for sure. So in our last session then I think we can probably flip over to that we can we looked at the, you know, the the enormity of of of seeing irrespective of if you like the size of it.

2. 0:27

   And that we we had a look at the prodigal son and our great need for forgiveness, and that our sins are the one factor that separate us from God. And we had a look also at the first half of the parable of the unforgiving creditor. So we’re going to finish off one or two of those parables.

3. 0:45

   But right now, brothers and sisters, what we’d want to do is focus on the gift itself, the marvel of that gift of forgiveness and God’s incredible kindness. In extending to us, based, of course in the right process, extending forgiveness. But first of all, I think it’s probably worth making a few comments and separating in our minds the consequences of sin as opposed to forgiveness.

4. 1:15

   It’s probably a good exercise. You see, brothers and sisters, as a part of God’s corrective measures to us and a part of his love. He will always leave us with the consequences. It’s actually an act of mercy on his part. If there were no consequences to sin, if you’re anything like me, you’ll say that didn’t take much. I can do it again, that there was no consequences to that. And just think of your own.

5. 1:43

   For those who have had children, don’t we give them a consequence to what they’ve done so that they learn you might continue to love them and forgive the child. Nevertheless, there’s still those consequences there. So that you instill in the child an understanding that what they’ve done cannot go any further, and so you try and change their behaviour.

6. 2:04

   And exactly the same thing is of course with our God. So in God’s grace the sin is erased. However, the cost of that sin is the means by which we can all learn the the the effect of sin. Just have a look at this little thing. I’ll just show you how we, how we sort of look at things. You know, if we’ve got a little toddler, isn’t it true that we, we say to the toddler, look, don’t touch the heater and we sort of make all sorts of noises, you know, it’s very, very hot and everything And and we say to that, we say that don’t touch the heater because you’ll get burnt and the toddler looks at us, looks at the heater, looks at us, grins. And toddles toward the heater.

7. 2:54

   And what we do is we run toward the heater or we run toward the Trotter and lift it out the way that’s what we’re doing. But God actually doesn’t work like that. That’s not the way God works. God says to us, well, there’s the heater, there’s the tree. Don’t touch the fruit because you’re going to get burnt really badly.

8. 3:19

   And then what God does. He stands back and he watches and we go to the heater. We take hold of the hot element. We burn and we cry and kick and scream and we say, why me?

9. 3:36

   So God doesn’t take the problem away from us necessarily. He wants us to learn something from it so that we again and you see this idea of turning from sin. This get this repetitious nature of our sin away so that God can do something with us. So God said to David, he said, I forgive you, David, totally and fully and completely and utterly. I will forgive you in the instant moment of time. But the hurt and the damage and the harm I’m going to leave here and this is going to tear your family apart. Is one of the biggest lessons David ever, ever learnt. Suffering, brothers and sisters, is the tool God uses to turn us away from sin.

10. 4:28

    Because we’re silly creatures. We have really, really bad memories and he needs sometimes to lead. In other words, there’s fruit. What we do bears fruit. God will leave that fruit there. So God is more focused, you see, on our eternal well-being. That’s what God is focused on. Not the here and now, not the not the three score years and 10 of it, of mortality, but just a drop in the bucket.

11. 4:54

    And God looks at the big picture and he says eternity is where we’re going. There may be then some need for some short term, short term suffering, and that short term suffering may indeed be a whole life. It’s still short term. None of us here, I think, will truly appreciate the value of our suffering when we are changed from mortality until we are changed from mortality to immortality. When at that time we really, really see the value of suffering and how in actual fact, the suffering that we undergo might really and actually be one of the greatest blessings that God ever gave us.

12. 5:36

    It’s all about trying to see it from God’s point of view. And God is forming with that within us a new creature, And the suffering is the process in which that is occurring. He’s forming all of us via the tool of suffering, A vessel fit for his Kingdom. And who knows, brothers and sisters, we could also be suffering for somebody else.

13. 6:00

    Job did. Jesus Christ did. You could actually be saving someone else. To be in the Kingdom of God under you, under you know that when you get in the Kingdom of God and you look back, and all will be revealed, so to speak. And so we should always separate forgiveness with the consequences of sin that remain in our lives. You may forgive somebody, but the consequences remain. But don’t don’t misunderstand me at all, brother and sister. I’m not saying that if we’re if we’re suffering a lot, that means we must be really sinful, because that theory doesn’t work either.

14. 6:45

    Again, Job and our Lord Jesus Christ suffered incredibly, but they weren’t guilty of. At least our Lord Jesus Christ wasn’t guilty of anything at all. But there are consequences to our sin. We are not forgiven, and then everything is rosy again in terms of. What is our due? And often the scars and effects of sin remain.

15. 7:09

    Sometimes for the rest of our lives there could be physical ailments, mental ailments, emotional ailments, whatever, whatever that is. Often we generate our own pain, do we not? And due to our own foolishness, and sometimes even our our pain is caused by the foolishness of others. God will work with us on that basis as well. Other other people might cause some cause us pain and anguish. That’s not a new concept as far as God is concerned, because he’s working with a whole range of people all in that one one motion.

16. 7:48

    But we should never, ever doubt God’s wisdom in allowing certain things to happen in our lives for far, far greater reasons than we can sort of immediately see. And I think the purpose of suffering is to form and mold us. That’s what it is all about it’s God is is wanting us to to develop to it to be a a certain creature and and it’s probably it’s it’s easy to say if you when you haven’t you’re not suffering anything but it’s it’s it’s easy not to get try not to get too carried away with the suffering per se. The whys and the wherefores, the nature and the causes of suffering.

17. 8:30

    We all have suffering of 1 sort or another. When people loved ones let us down. Some people put us through horrendous things. Parents suffer, grandparents, wives, husbands, children, siblings, the list goes on. Some may be self-inflicted and some may be brought upon us by others. God is is teaching us. A whole lot of us is teaching brothers and sisters is is trying to teach us that in actual fact there is something beyond the suffering and I’m doing something with you with that suffering.

18. 9:10

    So it’s not so much that suffering that we should be focusing on, but what the suffering is developing in us. The suffering is just a bit like the tool, the spanner if you like that God’s using. You know even Jesus Christ had to learn the same thing himself. Look at Hebrews 5. Jesus Christ wasn’t He did what he was as a young man.

19. 9:35

    He wasn’t naturally obedient. Did you know that? You have a look at Hebrews 5 and verse 7. Hebrews 5 and verse 7 says about Jesus Christ and his suffering.

20. 9:51

    Says this Who? In the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears unto him, that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. So even our Lord Jesus Christ had to go through exactly the same process. It’s not new to God.

21. 10:21

    I think really the the, the best in terms of suffering and the consequences of this and even Jesus Christ had to bear with the consequences of this is the is the example of suffering is to think about the consequence of sin. The greatest example of all of course is to think about why we die. Death is a consequence that God left there so that we learn something.

22. 10:44

    Why do we die? We don’t die because we sin. We die, brothers and sisters, because of sin. We die because Adam sinned. As a result of that we are all mortal. So, so Paul in Corinthian says this. For since by one man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

23. 11:11

    For as in Adam all die, Even so in Christ shall all be made alive. So we die, brothers and sisters, because of what Adam did. It’s part of that process. But our own personal sin is what holds us in the grave. So Jesus Christ died because he was rightly related to death, but he did no sin, so God pulled him from the grave.

24. 11:35

    So, and he says this further in that chapter, First Corinthians 15. He says, for if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ is not raised, well, then your faith is vain. And you’re yet in your sins, then they also, which are fallen asleep in Christ, are perished.

25. 11:57

    So in God’s good time we know that the resurrection will take place. And so Christ died because he was related to us. He also himself likewise, But he was raised because he did no sin.

26. 12:15

    OK, having to, sort of. Find that out a little bit, We come to this incredible gift of of Why have I got that? Then let’s go. Let’s have a look at that one. Let’s pick this up from last time. The prodigal son and the prodigal son. This is verse 20 of Luke 15, the prodigal son of Rose and came to his father and we touched on this, but when he was a great way off. His father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and he kissed him.

27. 12:54

    And there’s so many aspects to this power where there’s Jew and Gentile and there’s a whole range of things that we just want to pick out just a couple of points from from this. But this verse is telling us this, that when we are still or when we were still a long way off, we weren’t even in fellowship with with God. A long way off.

28. 13:15

    God was looking and again due to sin, we when we merely turned to him and confess then he’s running to us, you know he He ran to us with brothers and sisters. He ran to us with a gift, with the death of his very own Son saw us a great way of while we were yet sinners, God has presented us. With the sacrifice of his son.

29. 13:45

    And in our reading we just read. Then we we verse 8:00, we we see the Paul where Paul says but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And as a Father, our God has offered all of us brothers and sisters as individuals. He’s offered us a gift.

30. 14:05

    It’s a gift which has been given because of one single motivating concept. Characteristic that God is, and that is a God of love. It’s a gift which cause has has, has given God incredible grief and cost to his own, to his own self. And of course that doesn’t make him just a God that makes him our Father.

31. 14:31

    And it’s a gift which is at the same time he’s very, very pleased to give us it. Please God to bruise him, I says I was I. Why did it please God? Because, again, God was able to stand back and look at the whole scheme, the whole picture. He saw it, and he saw the life that was going to come from that act.

32. 14:50

    And it’s a gift which is completely and utterly undeserved. It’s the gift of forgiveness. And this gift, brothers and sisters, was was prepared at least 4000 years before it was offered. So God had a good long time to think about it. In fact, it was even prepared. From before the foundation of the world was that lamb slain. So.

33. 15:14

    So what is then the gift of forgiveness? Well, we can we actually know what it is. It it’s a covering and it’s something to eat. So that’s what he was given. The boy was given a covering. So the first one, a covering. Here we have the the covering from Psalm 32, verse one. Bless it is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sin is covered.

34. 15:39

    There has forgiven the iniquity of thy people. There has covered all their sin, and above all things have fervent love. Agape. The word is among yourselves, For love shall cover a multitude of sins. He’s given a covering. He was also given something to eat. Here are what are we eating? That’s going to save us, except ye eat. The flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood. You have no life in you.

35. 16:12

    Whoso eats my flesh and drinks my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me and I in him. In him. Of course, he’s talking about the bread from heaven, and obviously He’s not talking literally.

36. 16:34

    He’s merely talking about partaking in a way of life. That’s what he’s He’s given himself to us and he’s saying to us, I would like you to mimic the way I think, the way I act,

37. 16:50

    based on, of course, the concepts that spring from the word of God. So what really is the gift then? We’re sort of moving along a bit of a path here. We’re trying to workout precisely what the gift is. The gift is what a result of The gift is reconciliation with God. The enmity has been broken down. We are reconciled to God again.

38. 17:20

    And what that produces, brothers and sisters, it produces peace. It is the peace that passes all understanding. It’s a new peace. My peace I give unto you, said Christ, not as the world giveth. So Paul says this in in the chapter we’ve we’ve read today. He says therefore being justified by faith, we now have peace with God, verse one through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, so we have peace.

39. 18:02

    I’m sure many of us here understand that peace. We have a sure hope and and while the world is incredibly anxious at the time of COVID, the time of people are looking at the rush, the Russians coming into Ukraine, there’s a certain, isn’t there not a certain peace that we have. We know that God has got all things under control.

40. 18:25

    We don’t experience those same. We might have a small level of anxiety, but the the anxiety that the world have on a mass scale, we don’t have that. Because of this piece we know exactly that God knows what he’s doing. And one more and 1st John foreign verse 10 says here in his love not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be their propitiation for our sins.

41. 18:54

    Incredible foresight that God had and full knowledge. What more can God do, brothers and sisters? What what more can He do for us than to take His son as a gift and present it to us, so to, so to speak? He’s running to us with the sacrifice of his own boy. It’s just astonishing. What parent would do that.

42. 19:20

    Think of the love that you had for your child or children. Are you going to do that? You. Well, Paul says you you might do it for a friend, but you’re hardly going to give it to an enemy.

43. 19:38

    It wouldn’t happen. Yet the God of heaven and earth has seen fit to do that. How much more, then, is he willing to save if God’s prepared to do that, brothers and sisters? Surely he’s enthusiastic to save. It’s an astonishing thing. With it, the more you sit down and just think about that act, it becomes more and more astonishing.

44. 20:04

    And God himself suffers with us. Make no mistake, he does suffer with you. Brothers and sisters. How do we know that we listen to this? Just listen to this quote. This is Isaiah 63, verse nine in relation to the children of Israel. And if it’s true of them, it’s true of us. He said this. In all the our affliction, in all our affliction, He is afflicted.

45. 20:27

    In His love and in His pity, he redeems us and bears us, and carries us. He feels that He brings it upon us on on some occasions, but He does. He very much feels that, as any caring parent does, that when they know that their children are suffering.

46. 20:51

    An incredible gift. And of course that gift is given us that boy, now king in waiting is was totally and completely compliant to his father and yielded to his father’s will because he understood the big picture as well. What a gift. It really is an incredible thing. I don’t think there’s enough sort of superlatives to articulate.

47. 21:19

    It’s stunning. It is, you know what it is, brothers and sisters? It’s a supernatural gift. This is not such as some very, very, very valuable thing that God’s presenting here. This gift is supernatural. It’s divine. It’s a divine gift. It’s imputed righteousness. Why should he do this? Mankind were the ones that wronged him.

48. 21:46

    I’m so grateful that God doesn’t think like us. If that were the case, we wouldn’t have a chance. It’s been bestowed from above upon those who by their very nature are unrighteous. Totally unrighteous. Shall shall we have a look at that gift, the personification of that gift you come to as I 53, as I 53 and verse 3.

49. 22:12

    This is the way God presented the gift to mankind. It didn’t come easily, and it’s come at an enormous cost to both the Father and the Son. It is our very own Lord Jesus Christ. Verse verse three of AS I 53 Just as we read through this, just have a think about it.

50. 22:38

    He was despised. He was rejected by men. A man of sorrows, he was well acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hid their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and affected. We thought that God was teaching him a jolly good lesson. That’s what we thought.

51. 23:15

    But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, in actual fact not his own. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us the peace. And with his wounds we are the ones that are healed. We’ve all gone astray like sheep. We’ve turned everyone to his own way. Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, He was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth.

52. 23:51

    Like a lamb that has led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before it shearers, is silent. So he opened not his mouth. He went willingly, yielded to his father’s will. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And As for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, he was stricken for the transgression of my people. Verse 10.

53. 24:23

    Yet it was the will of Yahweh to crush him he had put into grief, when his soul makes an offering for guilt. That was what God’s will was, and 2000 years later we are still recipients of that incredibly powerful gift. He shall see his offering, and he shall prolong his days, and the will of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand, and of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.

54. 25:01

    You know that time hasn’t come yet when he meets his bride. He’s going to be very, very satisfied. What an understatement that is, by his knowledge shall the righteous 1 my servant, make make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong.

55. 25:36

    All of us the Saints, because he has poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many people, and makes intercession for the transgressors again. If God is prepared to go through all that brothers and sisters, surely, surely you can see yourself in the Kingdom of God. That’s the gift personified.

56. 26:09

    Do you remember what Jesus said when he sat on the well? The woman of Samaria came out, and I’m having a bit of a chat about the significance of water. And Jesus said to her, Jesus said, If you knew the gift of God and who it is, that set unto the Give me the drink. Now would have asked of him, and he would have given thee freely living water.

57. 26:40

    And of course she did go on to understand that process. We know that we know. We know that she understood. You know why she how she understood? Because it says she left her water pot and ran to the city. She was now the water pot. It was her. She was full to the brim. And overflowing with living water. And she explained herself to all the peoples of the city. And of course they they came out as well to to have a drink. A remarkable, remarkable circumstance that was so. Jesus Christ, if you like, is our, is our conduit, is our, is our portal into righteousness through our Lord Jesus Christ. Never take for granted that little phrase that we make at the end of our prayers through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

58. 27:32

    Do you know one of the sad things about a free gift is though, brothers and sisters, and we see the sadness throughout the whole enlargement through the whole earth we that that when something’s given to us, sometimes we think it’s it’s actually not worth too much because it’s given it can’t have been worth, you know, a lot of money, a lot of cost, but in this case the very. Opposite is true.

59. 28:00

    And the reason it’s free is because we could never, ever afford it. 2 lifetimes. 3 lifetimes. We can’t do it. Impossible. God’s designed it that way. He’s designed it to be impossible. So the only way to come to God is through the medium of faith. Lord, I believe, help them one unbelief. So it’s not this is not just out of our price range, brothers and sisters.

60. 28:31

    The the the cost is utterly unattainable and far beyond human reach. And the only thing that we can we can earn really is death. We know that. That’s our earnings. Our rightful earnings are death. I said the Apostle Paul, he said thanks me to God for this unspeakable gift. Even Paul said that the great that great man said. I, I, I haven’t.

61. 28:59

    It’s unspeakable. I haven’t got what it takes to describe to you the beauty of this gift when we ultimately, when we ultimately get it. But do you know there’s actually something more, brothers and sisters, As if there could be, if there possibly, possibly could be anything more at all. There is actually something more that God wants us to know.

62. 29:20

    Not only is God wanting to forgive us. And and not only has He provided everything needed for forgiveness, not only is He waiting for us to return to Him, and not only has He already ran to us with a gift, it’s not to us to take that. Do you know He also creates circumstances that we turn to him in the 1st place?

63. 29:47

    He taps the conscience. God could easily sit back and say I’ve done everything. I can’t do anymore. Yes, I will stand at my the gate of my garden, as it were, and look out for my son and daughters and the lost ones. I’ll do everything I can, but he initiates forgiveness. Let me give an example. Think about David and Bathsheba.

64. 30:11

    It’s a classic example of where it happens. David and Bathsheba. So David’s a murderer. He’s treacherous and he’s just committed adultery and it’s caused the the death of the the. Poor Uriah. And David knows full well what he’s done. He can’t bring himself to talk to God about it. He’s probably still giving thanks for breakfast and lunch and and dinner, but he cannot bring himself to talk about that. And it’s almost like if you’re like because he’s a man after God’s own heart.

65. 30:44

    So it’s almost like 2 friends and they there’s something that they need to talk about and they can’t bring themselves to talk about. And it’s almost like this. It’s almost like one of them has to break and God does.

66. 31:00

    God can’t stand it. He can’t stand it anymore. And this is what the record says, says. And Yahweh sent Nathan to David. Shouldn’t have been the other way around, Shouldn’t have read something like this. And finally David went to Yahweh in prayer, no. That’s not what happened. What an incredible father, he said to Nathan. It’s almost, God says to Nathan, I can’t stand it any longer. I can’t stand it.

67. 31:34

    Go and talk to him. Yahweh sent Nathan to that. What a, what a father we have. Here’s another one. Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve, they’re hiding. They feel dreadful. They feel very, very strange that they’ve felt in a way that they’ve never felt before. This is a very odd feeling. They’re frightened.

68. 31:54

    And normally they walk in the cool of the day and speak freely with with the angelic presence at that time. And they’re hiding. So what does God do? What does the Elehim do? Nowhere Elehim called to Adam and said to him, Adam, where are you? Come on, come on, let’s talk. We need to chat.

69. 32:20

    And Adam said, I heard their voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I I hid myself. And he said, who? Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree? See how God, God knows the answers? Did he not know where Adam was? Or did he not know that they’d.

70. 32:35

    Of course he knew that they’d eaten of the tree. But what he does, he tries to elicit a response. He tries to come on, let’s talk about this. Let’s get this poison out. Let’s start the healing process. Confess. Let’s start this off. What about Kane? First murder in history. How do you think Kane feels? Probably pretty bad.

71. 33:01

    And Yahweh called under Kane. He says. Kane, where’s where’s Abel, your brother? And Kane said, Oh no, not am I my brother’s keeper? Isn’t that lovely? The way God does that? He will. He will try and it’s very, very proactive. It tries to and do we not do this again? As parents we know if we know the child is done wrong. We know the child’s hiding something and often sometimes wise to sit the child down and say, so how do things go today or where did where did you get that little thing you’re holding on to And they oh, well, no.

72. 33:44

    So I found it. Oh, and you knew full well that they’ve taken it from. I don’t have the other kids, bedrooms or something. Oh, I’m sure I’ll put that in the other bedroom. Oh, oh, I took it. So can you see it? God. That’s the way way God works. He tries to to bring out this response in us. And God does.

73. 34:03

    God do the same for Of course he does. He uses other people. He uses circumstances and his word in our lives to achieve that purpose. No wonder he’s called our father, because that’s what he is. Therefore say unto them Thus saith Yahweh of Hosts. Turn ye to me and Yahweh of Hosts, and I will turn unto you, he says, I’m just looking for you to come back, you know, to refuse this, brother, brother and sisters. It’s it’s just madness to refuse it. Yet we do.

74. 34:39

    We still do. We know these things to be true, and sometimes when we are in the grip of shame. I think I can’t, I can’t pray to to about that to God at the moment. I just feel so that’s the time to pray to him. Open your heart right up and say there’s something I want to talk about.

75. 35:02

    You know, actually what it is I want to talk about. God says yes. I want you to tell you put it into words. Tell me what it is. You see, that’s part of this, this healing process that God wants us to go through. I want you to talk to me about it. Have you eaten of the tree?

76. 35:19

    Yes, I have. You know, it’s just like God, sort of. When we don’t do this, it’s like God sits a man up to the table. And this table, actually, let’s just go there. That’s as I 53, as usual. I’m really bad at data projection anyway. It’s like God sits the man up to this meal table and he provides all the good food that he ever noticed.

77. 35:45

    By the way, there’s no Mackers on that. Nothing. No junk food. So God provides all good food, very, very healthy, and it’s all for free, without price. He puts, even puts the food on a plate. He did that with national Israel and he fed them. He even brought the spoon to their mouth. And you know what happens?

78. 36:14

    We look at the this food, this incredibly healthy spread across the table and the man, the men stand up and they say, I want none of this. And they leave the creator of heaven and earth standing and staring after them in great sadness of what all has provided. Interesting picture, you might think.

79. 36:37

    Well, that’s interesting. Actually, it’s not my picture. You listen to this Psalm 23, they’re preparest a table. Before me who satisfies thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like Eagles, he satisfies the longing soul, and filleth the the hungry soul with goodness.

80. 36:57

    And as I 55 verse one ho, everyone that thirsts come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat. So that’s actually what God is doing for us. He wants to fill us up. With healthy things, good things, which are good for us in terms of eternity, Yeah, So often we just walk away from it, you know, has anyone ever here given, and this is a retirement question, You don’t have to put your hand up. Have you ever given anyone a very, very incredible gift, a very, very expensive gift of enormous value? It doesn’t matter.

81. 37:43

    It’s enormous value to you, that is. I remember hearing that a brother gave another family a house that was incredibly generous, an amazing gift that was maybe, perhaps we might do that, but you would never, ever. You wouldn’t even dream of giving and something in of incredible value, like your own offspring. You wouldn’t do that for an enemy, would you?

82. 38:14

    Wouldn’t do it for an enemy, but this is exactly what God has done. So before each of us were even born, God says to Jeremiah, I knew you. When you’re in the womb I knew I know you, all of you, long before you’re born. When we’re enmity, when we were self absorbed, obviously after we’re born, self interested, self-serving, we’re at enmity with God.

83. 38:39

    We were his enemy. We wanted to know nothing about him. That’s precisely the time when Jesus Christ has died for us. The act was done long, long ago, before we needed it. So let’s come to that chapter we read, Romans 5. Let’s have a bit of a look here.

84. 39:02

    So, Romans 5 and verse 8. This is a marvelous, A marvelous chapter, Paul. Sets out what God has done is really trying to set out the scale, if you like, of sin as opposed to grace. He’s trying to get that ratio right so that we understand it. But God verse eight, God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us much more than being now justified by his blood. We shall be saved from Roth through him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God, How so? By the death of his son, Much more being reconciled. We should be saved by his life.

85. 39:54

    That that’s this term much more actually occurs 5 times, as does the word gift in this chapter. If you’ve got a pencil, I’ll quickly tell you so much more. First time in verse 9.

86. 40:07

    Next time in verse 10, much more being reconciled. Next time in verse 15 and then again in verse 17 and then finally in verse 20 much more incredible concept. So I think the picture that got that that Paul is sort of painting here of God, it’s almost like that after the the the judgment process is finished it’s he’s sort of describing a bit like this. This, this is the way I see it.

87. 40:37

    This great mound of grace has just sitting there unused and not needed because we’ve we’ve we’ve we’ve all that. And it’s sitting there because either we didn’t want it, people didn’t want it, they saw no need for it, or there was just too much. Anyway, in other words, there’s you have a look at the the wording here.

88. 40:59

    So verse 18 says. Therefore as the by the offence of 1 judgment came upon all men to condemnation, Even so by the righteousness of 1 the free gift came upon all men, and to justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of 1 shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offence might abound. That means God gave the children of Israel the law, like a great big if you’re like a great big fluro. They turned the switch on and lo and behold, they actually started to see how sinful they really were. They before, they didn’t know that, but the law was to highlight the depravity of human nature. So as soon as there’s command, thou shalt not touch the wet paint.

89. 41:51

    Immediately there’s a desire to go. Why? Very, very deeply ingrained in our nature. Moreover, verse 20 says, moreover, the law entered that the offence might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

90. 42:13

    Isn’t that lovely? So we can never ever say that there is so much sin in the earth that God can never deal with it. God’s grace much more, abounds much more. And the word gift. In that chapter also occurs five times the word gift there and would actually let me tell you where where they are.

91. 42:39

    So I heard a few pens clicking out there. So we’ve got the free gift in verse 15, and we’ve got another two in verse 15 actually. And there’s another one in verse 16, another one in verse 16, so two in 15, two in 16, and then one in verse 17. And in the AV, you’ll see another one in verse 18, but that’s in italics.

92. 43:03

    That’s not there. So there’s actually 5 again. So five being generally accepted as the number for grace, God’s incredible grace and kindness. So just don’t think, brothers and sisters, that somehow or other God’s grace is going to run out. When it comes to you.

93. 43:21

    It won’t. There’s actually going to be lots and lots of grace unused and left over. There’s much more grace than there is sin around the place, more than you’ll ever need, according to Paul. But there’s a caveat here, and we know what that is. Don’t think to abuse that privilege to think to yourself, Well, if there’s so much grace, what’s the issue?

94. 43:48

    That’s how the Jew thought that, that. That’s why Paul says in verse one of chapter 6. What shall we say then? Shall we? Shall we continue in sin? That grace may abound, given that there’s a whole lot more grace than sin? Well, hey, what does it matter? There’s no confession, no repentance, no conversion. On that basis, he says, God forbid, how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? So, brothers and sisters, did you come to Ephesians too? So we begin to.

95. 44:23

    One of our thoughts Ephesians 2 and verse 4. This is where God has actually placed us. Now that we have partaken, we understand His grace. We’ve accepted that grace in faith and look at look at the concluded verse verse four of Ephesians 2. But God who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith he has loved us even when we were dead in sins.

96. 44:57

    Hath quickened us together, made us alive with Christ my grace you are saved and hath raised us, us up together. He’s talking about now this is all now raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus right now because of our state of forgiveness and the future.

97. 45:22

    Verse 7. So that in the age to come. He might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. For by grace he are saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, the divine gift of forgiveness. So it’s probably worth just quickly now what if? What if we refused that gift?

98. 45:56

    What about that? What about this matter of the unforgivable sin? The unforgivable givable sin is basically brothers and sisters. When we decide to shun the grace

99. 46:14

    that God is giving to us. This is when we come to this problem. Now I want to show you something in Genesis 4, how Kane committed the unforgivable sin. You come to Genesis 4 quickly. Genesis 4 and verse verse 8. There’s no confession, no repentance and something that Kane says if you like nails the coffin.

100. 46:42

     It’s a really a sad state to God if you like to quote a a term bent over backwards to help Kane after he murdered. God was quite prepared to forgive Kane for that. Look at this verse eight of Genesis 4. And Kane taught with Abel his brother. And it came to pass when they were in the field that Kane rose up against Abel’s brother and slew him.

101. 47:02

     So there’s your first murder. And now he said to Kane, where is Abel thy brother? And he said, basically he said, don’t know, I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper? Answer yes you are. In fact, according to John, you are. We are our brother’s keeper. Can you see how here again God is being proactive here with with Kane. And he said, What have you done?

102. 47:28

     The voice of thy brother’s blood cries unto thee from the ground, and now they are cursed from the earth, which has opened the mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from the thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a Vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And look what Kane said.

103. 47:48

     This is the unforgivable sin. And it’s unforgivable because he deemed it so. Look at verse 13 and Kane said to Yahweh, my punishment is greater than I can bear. Now that’s a very unfortunate translation. Now in in my if you’ve got a wide like this, you’ve got the Oxford. In in you’ll have a look at the margin. See that little two there next to the that word, my punishment is greater than I can bear you know the margin says. My iniquity is greater than can be forgiven. It’s actually how it should read. My iniquity is greater than can be forgiven. The Septuagint says.

104. 48:31

     My crime is too great for me to be forgiven. Do you think that Kane understood the principle of much more how limiting he is to God? Do you know what really is at the core of that statement? Really it’s it’s his lack of understanding of God’s character. He did not know God that God was forgiving, iniquity, transgression, and sin. And God has left on record for all of us to observe through scripture, brothers and sisters some really, really extreme characters because of of sin.

105. 49:12

     And we all probably fit into these characters somewhere sometime. So think of this. Adulterers are left on record for us and they ended up faithful because of forgiveness. We know that murderers ended up faithful because of forgiveness. What about kings? There was a king that committed. I reckon this is one of the greatest examples. Manassa, he committed mass genocide to his own people. It says that the blood of Jerusalem. Ran with the blood of sorry, the streets of Jerusalem ran with the blood of innocents.

106. 49:50

     Manassa got took him away in change change, and he humbled him and he forgave him. Harlots ended up faithful because of forgiveness. Men who have used harlots ended up faithful because of forgiveness, thieves and robbers. The reason God has left that there. So we can look at it and say, my goodness, much more grace. We should have all confidence, be be incredibly confident and bold that we can, that we can actually be in the Kingdom of God.

107. 50:25

     Brothers and sisters. None of us are in any position to utter like Cain, that my sin is greater than can be forgiven. It’s plain untrue. But as soon as we even think this, we’re effectively saying to God my badness is greater than your goodness. You’re effectively saying to God. Actually, I’m more powerful than you. Are we greater than God?

108. 50:53

     Is God not powerful enough to forgive sins? Is there a sin that that God does not possess the power to forgive? Of course not. Do you believe that God can snuff out your life in the moment of time? Well, in that case, he can take away the sin in the moment of time in the same way.

109. 51:10

     For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways. My ways S Yahweh that Isaiah 55 and verse 8. So then to say that God is not capable of forgiving sin is to rail or blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, God’s power. You are telling God he is not powerful enough and it’s blasphemy.

110. 51:36

     It it is to shun the gift of forgiveness or our sin remains then. Unforgiven. And so we have the unforgivable sin. So really, actually it all comes into faith, does it not? It really does come down to faith, your perspective of what God is able to do. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. If we believe God, he rewards that belief. And if we don’t believe him, well, there is nothing to reward.

111. 52:09

     God is a rewarder of those. Who are faithful? Who is he that overcomes? Then what’s our our job? Jesus Christ said fear not, little flock. I have overcome the world. That’s what he said. God is not asking that of us. He’s He’s asking this of us. Who is he that overcomes the world.

112. 52:30

     But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. That’s who overcomes the world. So that we’ve all that we’ve considered then brothers and sisters. In our third session, we have a sense of gratitude and a sense of wonder and thankfulness for this tremendous father which we serve. And above all, we appreciate exactly what he’s done for us. And if you feel like that that’s have that sense of appreciation to him, well, just just hold that thought for a little while because tomorrow morning.

113. 53:08

     God is going to ask you if you would kindly pass that forgiveness, that forgiving spirit, onto your brothers and your sisters.