I've been friends for a long time, but it's good to be here. It's been a long time since I've been to Odahaska Bible Church to teach the word of God, so I'm here this morning by the grace of God. I taught this message last week in the Twin Cities. I'm kind of between studies, so I taught a message on getting a grip on God's forgiveness. So please open your Bibles to Psalm 32 to begin with. I just got to get my bearings here and see what I, this is a little different than my pulpit. But it's good to be here. And I'm encouraged to come and I'm encouraged to see you folks and meet some of you I've never met by the grace of God. But hey, we're all going to be in heaven together, right? That'll be the grace of God. So that'll be a day we can really enjoy. I've just been teaching on prayer down there for some time, and teaching on Romans on Wednesday nights, and I'm going to go to Ephesians next, so I've been teaching a few topical studies here in between. So, very good. Let's have a word of prayer. We'll look to the Lord, hear by the grace of God, and we'll pray, and we'll talk about forgiven and forgiveness. Well, let's pray. Father, we thank you this morning again for grace. And if it wasn't for grace, Father, who could stand? We thank you again by the grace of God. We've been caused and able to stand because of Jesus' shed blood on the cross of Calvary for us. And we thank you for that. I thank you for the opportunity here to be here at Itasca Bible Church. I pray even for the saints in Grace Gospel and the Twin Cities and those in Duluth, those at Heritage Trail, those in Milwaukee, wherever the word of God is going out and being rightly divided, Father, we want to uphold and pray for those ministries. We trust again that you're working in our lives and causing us to see our insufficiency, your sufficiency, and again, we look to the scriptures this morning, again, as we look to ourself, we'll be in trouble. So we want to look to the word of God again, Father, to be encouraged and to find encouragement hope father even for our lives we thank you for that we thank you for your grace in Jesus name amen okay friends we're on in Psalm 32 I trust this morning you know getting a grip on God's forgiveness is something that every person needs to get a hold of Although God is holy in His love, mercy, and grace, He has made forgiveness available to every person who wants it. Are you someone who senses the need of God's forgiveness? Perhaps you are basically a good person, but there was a time when you had a weak moment perhaps, a moment in your past you did something that you shouldn't have, and you now have this sense or issue of guilt in your life hanging over your head. Or perhaps for a number of years, like myself, you lived this prodigal lifestyle, ran with the world, did what you wanted to do, and that happened to me before I was saved. I was in college, you know, and I let her rip, and oftentimes we've done that in our past. Again, we've had many things, but perhaps we've done some things that we're not so proud of in our past, and those kind of things haunt us. Perhaps you stole something from a store way back when. Maybe today you're into pornography, God forbid, and having fantasy extramarital affairs on the internet. Or maybe, God forbid, you had an abortion in your past and now live with the haunting consequences of all that. You know, it doesn't really matter before God. For He clearly says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All are guilty before Him. All need a Savior to save them from their sins, and all need forgiveness for their past mistakes. Amen? Amen. How about this young man, two weeks ago, from Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 of his fellow students, wounded many others at his school? Do you think he needs God's forgiveness? Do you think he can even be forgiven? Sometimes people even struggle with, how can God forgive an act like that? You know, we've had a couple of incidents in the Twin Cities. Last week I read the Hill City School had an incident happen there, and there was a scare there, and we live in troubling times, difficult times, no doubt about that. But friends, it doesn't matter if we stole something way back when or we went on a rampage and lived a terrible life in the past and did something, all kinds of damage to people. Again, all are in the same boat with God. All need God's forgiveness. And those family members that are left there in Florida after the tragic shooting of their loved ones in Florida will need to get past this tragedy. And perhaps by the grace of God, perhaps, we don't know, maybe even one day may be able to forgive this young man for this senseless act. So you can see from your handout this morning that I'm speaking on how to get a grip on God's forgiveness. We need to see how to get a grip on his forgiveness, no doubt about that. You know we live This is hard for some to understand because some people, you know, equate these whopper sins as terrible and smaller sins as not so bad. So you might be questioning me right now and saying, you mean to say something I shoplifted way back when I was a kid and didn't know any better is as bad as what this young man has done in Parkland, Florida? Well, with men there's a difference in those sins, but with God, again, sin is sin. And some people struggle with this very thought. But again, we're reminded from Scripture, for whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he's guilty of all the law. There's just no doubt about that and that's why all have sinned and come short. Thus white lies or whatever is not good enough. Romans 3.10-12 tells us there's none righteous, no not one, there's none who understands, there's none who seeks after God, they have all turned aside, they have together become unprofitable, there's none who do good not even one. And I don't know if anyone here, in my past, I could certainly not say that I broke many of those commandments in my past, and I'm guilty before God. Now, God, who is holy and separate from sin, put a penalty upon sin. Again, the wages of sin is death, a separation from God, but the gift of God, thank goodness for that, but the gift of God, is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. So in the Bible, death is defined again as separation from God. We have all been separated. And I really like this verse over here, which says, your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden this face from you. He does not even hear Us when we pray, unless we're saying, Lord, how do I know the truth? I want to know the truth. Sin and death has separated us from God. There's no doubt about that. So the bottom line here, I'm trying to set forth, and as you folks know, generally, this means that all people need the forgiveness of God. Now why is that? Because all are guilty before God. Here's a man from the Old Testament that was highly respected, a man after God's own heart, David. When he committed adultery with Bathsheba and thought to cover his sin and guilt and her pregnancy by seeking to get Uriah, her own husband, to sleep with his wife to make her pregnancy look like it was the result of their union, because of his integrity and the fact that the rest of Israel was on the front lines fighting the good fight of faith, he wouldn't go home to her and enjoy the benefits of marriage. So David arranged for Uriah's untimely death on the battlefield. But he had to live with this guilt on his conscience because he sought to cover his sin. This lasted only for a period of time until God sent Nathan the prophet to confront David of what he did and then David confessed his sin to God and was restored to fellowship again. But because he had done this deed, Nathan said, you've given great opportunity to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme God's holy name. So there's going to be consequences for your sin, David. And there's always consequences, as a verse like this in Galatians 6, 7 and 8 tells us. You know, this is for the saved and the unsaved alike. But this is directed to the saved. Do not be deceived, believer. God does not mock. For whatever a man sows, that's what he's going to reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, rottenness in life, I call it. But he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life, the blessings and the benefits of the life that God wants to give us. So as we think of these issues, and I'm going to set forth the fact that using David as the example, in our past, you know I put on your handout, sin and life can affect us four ways. What are those four ways? Here they are. First of all, emotionally it can affect us. Secondly, spiritually it will affect us. Thirdly, physically it can affect us. And lastly, relationally it can affect us. Those are the words you need for those blanks that I put on your handout there. Now note with me, David's words while he was out of fellowship with God in Psalm 32, verses 3 and 4, and we want to see some of this aspect of David's life when he's on a fellowship with God. He says, you know, when I kept silent, when I didn't confess, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was turned to the drought of summer. And then he says, Selah, think about that and meditate upon that. So I put a little space there behind these words for you to write down some things. If you like, you don't have to write these things down, but again, to add. Emotionally, what do we want to see here? Well, David's emotional distress was his groaning. His listlessness in life, his despair as he just feels he's lost in here. God's hand is heavy upon him. So there's this emotionalness when you're out of fellowship with God and you need God's forgiveness. Secondly, we see his spiritual distress in these verses. God's hand was heavy upon him. He just felt the hand of God on his heart heavy. When you're out of fellowship with God and God is taking you to the woodshed, man, God's hand is heavy upon you. Thirdly, physically, he is not doing well. His vitality was turned to the drought of summer. You know, in the cities, when you drive through the neighborhoods in the cities, almost everybody has sprinklers. But when you find a yard that doesn't have a sprinkler, down in the cities it gets dry. color of this pulp in the grass turns. And you know who's got sprinklers and who doesn't. And when your life is dry, it'll be just like that for you and just like that for me as well. And lastly, relationally, he was out of fellowship with God. No joy, no peace, no rest or purpose in life. Again, trying to find happiness, out of the dead-end streets of life, and we oftentimes try to do that. So where do we turn when we find yourself in a situation like this? And I say this next statement, and I've got it on your handout, because it always amazes me again, as I think of this, how people today will go to a counselor or a psychologist to get answers for issues that only the Word of God has answers for. I've got a number of verses here we're going to look at on PowerPoint so you don't have to turn to these verses. I put them on so we can move ahead quickly, but again, these verses will set forth the difference between what I think and what human viewpoint sets forth in Proverbs 14, 12, and then what the Word of God has to say as we need to turn back to the Word of God again and again and again. So let's look at these. When you're out of fellowship with God, you are oftentimes discouraged. You get depressed in life. Sometimes we're discouraged. We don't know where to turn in life. We're listless in life. And they lack the purpose, they lack the direction that God would have us for. And we have this guilt that hangs over us. So we need some answers in life. And instead of turning to the Lord, oftentimes we think, like Ford, we have a better idea. If you're a Fort Deer here, I'm sorry, I'm just picking on you for a moment here, so that's not my point here, but let's look at this verse. Proverbs 14, 12 says, you know, there's a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the ways of death. In other words, if we go down the way we think is the right thing, we're going to be separated from God's ways, and we don't want to be separated from God's ways. Thus, in contrast to the way I think is right, There is a way which seems right unto a man. Again, here we have this God's way road versus death, loneliness, destruction, and frustration. And we oftentimes think we have the right answers. We don't have the right answers, friend. That's why we needed a Savior to save us. We need His Word to direct us in life. So let me give you a few of the other verses that were on that list there. In John 8, 32, Jesus said, you shall know the truth. Notice the truth is in contrast to your own way. And the truth shall make you free. A couple verses later, Jesus went on to say in John 8, 36, Therefore, if the Son makes you free, You shall be free indeed. Well, I thought it was the truth, Dave, and now you're telling me it's the Son? Well, the Son is the truth personified. In other words, they're the same. Because we have the mind of Christ, we can discover what the Word of God has to say. Okay? So we can have freedom from guilt and freedom from sin. We can have our sins forgiven when we turn to the Lord in simple faith. Colossians 2.6-10 says this, and here's the first two verses. Here's the key, as you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, that's the key, getting saved, receiving Christ Jesus the Lord. And how do we do that? By grace, through faith, you know that, okay? But now in the Christian life we are to walk in Him, we are to depend upon Him moment by moment. by the grace of God. And we're rooted, that's in the perfect tense, speaks of being implanted in Christ at a point in time with abiding results. In the present tense, we're being presently built up in Him. And we're established, and we're established where though? We're established in the faith. Now note this, if you're going to be established in the faith, it depends upon as you have been taught. Are you availing yourself to the teaching? of God's Word. If you're not availing yourself to the teaching of God's Word, you're probably going your own way and trying to figure things out in your perspective, because you have a way which seems right to you. You can't do that, friends. You can't do that, because first of all, again, you receive Christ Jesus the Lord, and then God says you need to walk in Him, depend upon Him, you need teaching, and then you can say thanks to God, and not only just thanks, but you can abound in it with thanksgiving. That's a good thing. Now in contrast to that, Paul goes on to say in the next verse, a caution, he throws up a red flag, beware! lest anyone cheat you, capture you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men now, again, human viewpoint, according to the basic principles of the world and its point of view, and not according to Christ." See? Scripture directs us to Christ for salvation. and for Christian living, no doubt about that. Then he goes on to say, for in Him, Christ, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in a bodily form. And you, as a believer, are now complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. Principality and power all speaks of those demonic forces that are opposed to us, but if we're complete in Him, The thing to do is to learn to abide in His truth, in His Word, in His Son, just as has been taught here this morning already. Now let me give you a couple more verses here. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. What is the answer for you and I? Again, here it is, it's all scripture. Why is scripture so important? Because it is profitable. It is profitable. It is beneficial for you, for doctrine, teaching, for reproof, to get stood up once in a while and say, whoa, Dave, you're going the wrong direction in life. And when I'm stood up sometimes by the scripture, you know, I always tell my people in the Twin Cities, hearing the Word of God is like When I was a kid, there was this high karate commercial, the guy would stand in front of the mirror, open the mirror up, and a hand would come out and slap some high karate cologne on him, and he'd shake his face and say, thanks, I needed that. That's what the Word of God should do. You come out here, you get kicked in the pants sometimes, you know. Shantzanya, teaching you the Word of God. Thanks, I needed that. I got stood up. But then it corrects you. It gets you back on track. And it instructs you in the way of righteousness. And why is that? Verse 17. That in order that the man of God may be complete, brought to spiritual maturity, thoroughly or completely equipped for every good work. And what does this? Here it is. All Scripture does that. It's profitable for you. We need to hear the Word of God over and over and over again. Because when we don't, we default back to our flesh, we think we have an idea, we get like Ford, we think, I think I can figure this out. You can't. You can't. Okay? Another verse, and this is a great set of verses in 2 Peter 1, 2 and 4. Peter says to the folks he writes to, grace and peace be multiplied to you. How is that going to be multiplied? Notice, it takes the knowledge of God and the knowledge of Jesus our Lord. As His divine power has given us not some things that pertain to life and godliness, but all things that pertain to life and godliness. How? Through the knowledge of Him, you have to know something. Bible study is important. Hearing the Word. Who called us by glory and virtue, by which you've been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises. That by these, what's the antecedent of these? The precious promises of God. See? You may be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. They don't want to hear the Word of God. They'd rather live this life of loneliness, see? They get so depressed because of their guilt, they have no reason to live, and sometimes they even take their own life. And this can be even true of believers sometimes. They can't seem to even forgive themselves for some failure, some mistake in their past, whatever that might be, so they lose sight of God's love. and grace that's available to them. Well, if that's true, then let's talk for a few minutes about the basis of God's forgiveness. First of all, this basis is found in God's Word, as I've just directed you. That's not on your handout. You want to write that down? You can. You don't have to. But again, in Psalm 32, we're going to look there, as well as in Romans 4, verses 7 and 8, we see David's words concerning God's forgiveness in verses 1 and 2. Look there. Blessed is he whose transgression is what? Forgiven. That's what we're talking about this morning. Forgiven. whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit." And then David says, you know, I was silent, I didn't have that. I had guilt, I had problems, I had issues. So I stated here that biblical forgiveness is based upon meeting certain conditions that God has provided, and I think I'm in His love, mercy, and grace towards sinners. Now, we're going to talk about love, mercy, and grace for a minute, but I didn't allow that on your handout. There's no room for it. So, when I talk about those three things, I underline them so that you're knowing that I'm going to talk about those things in a few minutes. Okay? We'll talk about that. But secondly, biblical forgiveness doesn't mean that there won't be natural or legal consequences for what we do. And there may be. There was for David, and there may be with you, but you can still experience the forgiveness of God's guilt-free conscience, and a guilt-free conscience for whatever is hanging over you in life, okay? So what's the basis of all this again? And we're gonna look for now for a few minutes at love, mercy, and grace. So we're reverting back there, and I'm gonna talk about that here for just a couple minutes. You know, God and His love found a way to forgive us for our sins. And how did He do that? He did it by sending His own Son. John 3, 16, that God so loved the world, you and me, that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, that whosoever believes in Him, trusts in Him, depends upon Him, He should not perish, but he could have eternal life, everlasting life. Every believer needs everlasting life, and this is the basis of forgiveness. It's the love of God. But since sin has separated us from God, it would take the love of God to conquer sin and pay the penalty for our sins. and provide God's forgiveness and reconciliation to us. And this is something we could never merit or earn as it took the work of Jesus Christ upon the cross. And that's why he said, Father, forgive them from that cross. And that's why Jesus Christ became the one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who died and paid for our sins once and for all and provided a way for you and me to come to God by His grace. Now John 3.36 states, he who believes in the Son has everlasting life and he who does not believe, there's the condition to believe, or not believe, the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God is abiding on him." This verse tells us that Jesus came to save us from our sins and forgive us, but also to save us from his own wrath. which will be poured out on those who don't believe one day. This is amazing. And that's why John 3.17 says, For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved, rescued, delivered, and forgiven. That is the idea, to be forgiven. And that's why even in the Old Testament, God required animal sacrifice, the shedding of blood, the death of innocent animals, which pictured the final sacrifice for our sins, the Lamb of God who would come to die once and for all to pay for our sins and die upon the cross. And again, death is the penalty that God demanded for us, so Jesus paid that penalty on the cross for you and for me and he was the final sacrifice for our sins once and for all as God put his son on display and making the final payment for our sins once and for all so God declares us based upon the work of Christ in Colossians 1.14 in whom Christ we have redemption through his blood his death and what comes with that the forgiveness of sins friends the forgiveness of sins So we see the love of God provided it, but also the mercy of God provides it. And mercy means God is not giving us what we deserve, instead He is giving us His kindness and His goodwill, and this is directed towards the miserable, the afflicted, the guilty. And He offers clemency instead of judgment towards us. The Old Testament testified to that fact as the Lord said through the prophet Daniel, to the Lord our God belongs mercy and forgiveness. Notice how they go together. Though we have rebelled against Him in many, many ways, there's no doubt about that. And then Paul's words in 1 Timothy 15 and 16, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Paul says, I'm the chief, you know, if you think you're a hot dog center, Paul must have been a footlonger because he was the greater center, he said, okay? However, for this reason I obtain what? Mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering. as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. So we have His love and we have His mercy, but we also have His grace. And again, in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. And again, as you've got on your wall over here, for by grace you're saved through faith. not of yourself, it's the gift of God, not of works as anyone should boast. And let me state here, you know, the gift of God is not faith as some claim, but the gift of God is salvation. Salvation is a gift, you don't pay for a gift, you just receive that gift. Okay? Well, this all calls for us as I try to move ahead here by defining God's grace for us this morning. And I would say this, you know, forgiveness is not a pill that you take, But a savior you can trust. It'd be nice if we had a bottle of Forgivenol, you know, extra strength. You could take that pill and you could feel better about your sins. That doesn't work that way, friends, at all. No way. You can't do that. It isn't a medicine you take. Well, what is forgiveness, Dave? Forgiveness comes from this Greek word a thesis, and it means to release or loose from bondage or imprisonment. Forgiveness or pardon of sins, letting them go as if they had never been committed. Now most of you know this, but I'm going to mention this morning anyways, that there are three kinds of forgiveness we need to be aware of. There's really two. but I'm the third one I've incorporated under number two. I should have put 2A instead of three, but here they are again. What are they? First of all, there's judicial forgiveness. This is a legal, or once for all, forgiveness of our sins. Turn with me to Hebrews, if you would, chapter nine in the New Testament. Let's go there and look there. In Hebrews chapter 9, you know, when a sinner turns to Christ in faith and believes in Him, he is forgiven once and for all. And this is a point-in-time action with legal abiding results. He is justified. He is declared righteous by God and remains forgiven for how long? Once for all he remains that way here. So this implies now, again, and you know this well and was talked about also earlier, that Christ has provided forgiveness of sins in the past. as well as in the present, as well as in the future. And when we give the gospel, we're always emphasizing this penalty of sins in justification. But that's also true in sanctification here, that we've been forgiven our sins, even though, and I'm going to mention this, we still retain this sinful nature, and I'm going to mention that here with my number two illustration in your hand out there. But first of all, here we are in Hebrews 9. Let's look at Hebrews 9, 11 and 12, as we think of once and for all. But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come, with a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, and not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood. He entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption forever redemption forever forgiveness he's purchased us out of the slave market of sins 924 please look there with me for Christ has not entered the holy place made with hands which are copies of the true but into heaven itself now and to appear in the presence of God for us not that he should offer himself notice the word often as high priest used to do before the cross, as the high priest enters the most holy place every year with the blood of another. Then he would have had to suffer often, see, since the foundation of the world. But now, once at the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. That's good to know, isn't it? It's absolutely good to know. And then in chapter 10, we can turn the page if you're not there already, in 10.10 through 12, By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. Christ's sacrifice on the cross of Calvary got the job done once and for all. That's why sins now have been paid in full. And here's another good verse if you can read it. It's 1 Peter 3.18. For Christ died for our sins once for all. the righteous for the unrighteous. Christ was the righteous, you and I were the unrighteous, see? And he did that to bring us to God, that we could be forgiven once and for all. And that's why the New Testament in the book of Acts, it says that, nor is there salvation in any other, for there's no other name given under heaven among men by which we must be saved. So, have you been forgiven once and for all, judicially, legally, because you've trusted Christ as your personal Savior? If you have, perhaps you need to be parentally forgiven, parental forgiveness. Okay, what is parental forgiveness? Well, once born into the family of God and judicially forgiven, we can still sin as members of God's forever family and get out of fellowship for communion with God. And this is a family matter demanding not judicial forgiveness, but parental or family forgiveness as set forth in many verses, but 1 John 1, 9 sets it forth. If we confess our sins, notice this now, John, the Apostle John, puts himself in this we category. You and me, and John too, this Apostle. If we, John even says, confess our sins, our known sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, parentally, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness so we can walk in fellowship and enjoy God once again in life. So how does this work practically, Pastor? Well, again, this yellow circle speaks of judicial, once and for all, positional forgiveness with God. And that's why when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, who died on that cross for your sins, paying for all sins, the Spirit of God takes you and baptizes you and places you into this family of God where you can enjoy judicial, once and for all, forgiveness, never to be condemned again. but also we can enjoy fellowship with God, but when we sin in the Christian life, sin takes us out of fellowship, then as believers we need parental forgiveness and we confess our sins, we can get back into fellowship with God again. Does that make sense? Most of you know that. Maybe if you're new, you've never seen that. That's exactly what it is. You know, I explain this to a number of people in the cities and they say, that is so clear. I understand things now that I've never understood before. Because I understand now that I'm in the forever family of God. Sin can never break me out of the family of God. Just like sin cannot break your children out of your physical family. So my kids, you know, once a Knudsen, you're always a Knudsen. I may spank you and I may discipline you for your attitude, but I'm not throwing you out of the family, nor does God do that. See? But sometimes you need to admit to me that you were wrong and I was right and, Dad, we're going to do it your way. Then you can have parental forgiveness and we can walk. with each other. Okay? Now, this third one should be a 2A, perhaps, on your handout. So, this is not something absolutely unique or need, but number three, there's forgiveness towards one another in the body. As members of the body of Christ, we sometimes offend or sin against one another, perhaps with our words. Perhaps with disregard to the use of our liberty, we don't care about other people, we just do our own thing and blow cigar smoke in their face and they're a new Christian, they're kind of stumbled by that, you know? It doesn't say you can't smoke a cigar or have a beer, I'm not saying that, and hopefully I'm not offending anyone or stepping out of my bounds here by saying that. I tell people, you know, having a beer isn't condemned in the Bible, drunkenness is, and if it leads you to that, then you're wrong, then it's sin, okay? Perhaps by just being unkind we can sin against one another, inconsiderate with one another. And sometimes in our church, not a lot, and I'm sure there's no sinners like that here, you can walk down the hall and another believer comes at you and you can say, well, hi, how you doing? And at one time you can let it go, but when it's repeated and they stick their nose up in there and they walk by you, that's not acceptable. And that's not acceptable. They won't give us the time of day. They're inverted. They're self-centered. They're just plain inconsiderate of others. Life is all about them. They've inverted. And that sometimes hurts us, and it hurts the body here. Now the question is, as we think of this number three, Pastor, do I need to forgive them? Well, we must love them because they're in Christ. We must accept them in the Lord. But forgiveness between believers, and this might offend some people, requires repentance and owning up to a bad attitude, doesn't it? I mean, when God forgives us, parentally, He's already forgiven us judicially in the family of God. Don't we have to admit when we're wrong with God? I mean, we do. Otherwise, we don't have fellowship with God. We walk in the dark. We don't walk in the light. So when somebody has got their nose up in the air, and they're not going to even give you the time of day, there's a breakdown in fellowship with that believer. And I know you might extend grace to them, and I hope you do, unless you're that person. Then you might need to confess your sin. That's what I'm saying here, okay? And that's why repentance requires a change of mind about a bad attitude. And you know that may never come from some people, but then that is their problem unless you or I are the offender there. Some people are just plain standoffish. and have erected this prison of sin and they live an inverted life and no one can even hardly say anything to them. I know that's not true in Itasca, but in the cities we're all sinners there, right? You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying here, okay. But again, we need to realize again, this is a great illustration here. Now since I've been forgiven because of what Christ has done for me, I should now extend that same forgiveness to another in the body. And I shouldn't have my nose up in the air. I should know if I didn't say hi to someone, I can see that can happen from time to time if they're thinking, but when that happens repeatedly, there's an issue. There's an issue there, okay? So we need to extend this forgiveness to one another, and we'll get to more of that here in my future here in my message. I got to keep moving here, okay? With that in mind though, Let's look at some biblical examples of God's forgiveness, and this is a short list, friends, okay? But first of all, I'd like to say this, you know, forgiveness is the story of the whole Bible, isn't it? For through it you will see again and again the forgiveness of God towards deserving sinners like you and like Dave." Because I'm a stinker. I've done some things in my life I'm not pleased with. Although I'm judicially forgiven, sometimes I hurt my wife when I say things harshly to her. Or she might be critical of me and not show respect. And we have to have some healing going on there. And I know you folks know about that. That's just the way it is. But let me give you some quick examples here. You don't have to write these down, but just consider them. How about Adam and Eve? They created in the image of God, yet they rebelled against God in the garden and fell into sin and death. But God and his love provided grace. Shedding of blood in the skins of innocent animals as a temporary covering for Adam and Eve. And it seemed they accepted God's provision for them by faith. So they were saved, and they could now enjoy fellowship with God again. Yet, they and we have suffered the consequences of the rebellion ever since, because sin and death has fallen upon all people. I mean, look at me, I'm getting old, and my hair's gone, my eyes are bad, my hair's starting to fail. Man, this curse is catching up with old Dave here, okay? How about Moses, you know, in his zeal to protect a fellow Israelite when he realized he was related to them, killed an Egyptian, then ran for his life and he had guilt. But God in His grace confronted him at the burning bush and recommissioned him to go back and deliver his people from slavery in Egypt. God forgave and used a murderer. Amazing how God's grace is. That's love. That's mercy. That's grace. We already talked about David, didn't we? You know, David committed adultery and murder. But when he was confronted by Nathan, the prophet, David confessed his sin and served the Lord for many years. But he and his family suffered the consequences for his terrible mistake for the rest of their lives. It was downhill in David's reign after that. His own family, his own children rebelled against him. God says, you know, you've sown to your flesh. You're going to reap some consequences. Although David, I'll forgive you. I won't require your life. your baby will die and there will be other consequences in life. How about the Apostle Paul as well? Saul of Tarsus who persecuted in prison with no doubt probably killed some Christians in his zeal for Judaism, but when he was converted by the love of God and the grace of God on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, he used the same zeal to serve the Lord and spread Christianity to the known world. Now, there's verses in the Old Testament that talks about forgiveness. Note this one. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities. Oh, Lord, who could stand? None of us could. But with you there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared. And the fear of the Lord means to stand in awe and respect of a God who will be willing to confess or forgive my sins and your sins by the grace of God. Okay? But here's Paul's words as I think of him again in Acts 13. We'll pick it up in verse 37-39. We can't turn to a lot of verses. But he mentions Christ again, but he whom God raised up saw no corruption. Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man, Jesus, is preached to you, what? The forgiveness of sins. And by him, everyone who does what? Believes. Doesn't come forward, doesn't ask to use their heart, doesn't make a commitment, doesn't, you know, throw two dollars in the plate or whatever. He's justified. He's declared right. from all things which he could not be justified by the law of Moses." You know, because if God has justified you, who can condemn you? Romans 8 says. Sometimes we foolishly condemn ourselves because we fail to believe the promise of God. Well, this brings us to this last point here, experiencing God's forgiveness personally. And I've covered the gospel here, but let me ask you. The question is, have you trusted Christ to save you from your sins? That's where judicial, once for all, legal forgiveness is found. This church can't save anybody, but Christ can. You put your faith in Him, you're saved, you're born again. And then if you are saved, you have the assurance of the forgiveness of your sins, you know? That's very, very important. So what would be the basis of all that again? Well, to receive God's forgiveness, you can either go by the promises of God's objective final word on the matter, or you can go by your own subjective feelings on the matter. I suggest you go by the former, not the latter. You know, I always tell people God said it, Jesus did it. You believe it. That should settle it. It should be that simple. That simple. And there's this verse here in Matthew. 6, 14, and 15. We don't have to turn there. I was going to have you turn there, but I put it on PowerPoint just to save us time because I didn't know exactly where it would be. What does this verse say? And this verse confuses people sometimes. This is it. It says, if you would forgive men their trespasses, Jesus is speaking, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. Now this kind of throws a whammy to people because they're taken back by what this says. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Now what is this verse saying? This verse is saying here, since you have judicial once and for all forgiveness with God, you have the very basis to reach out to someone in your family, in this church, in this community, or wherever and forgive them that's what he's saying right here okay that's what he's saying this has to do with practical forgiveness of one another family or parental forgiveness Jesus is not saying that we need to forgive others so we can be forgiven judicially okay that is an individual decision each must make Have you made it for yourself? That's the question. And what is stated in Matthew 16, 14, and 15 is so that we can enjoy fellowship with the Lord and with one the other, because if I have a hard heart and my nose is stuck up in the air, and I'm not willing to forgive this person who wouldn't say hi to me, God says, you know, that basis puts you out of fellowship with me. And if you stay in that attitude, you're not going to be able to be parentally Forgiven. And that's why when people are like that, that is inconsistent with the grace of God. It's inconsistent. That's how utterly rude and inconsistent to receive the gracious forgiveness from God for your sins judicially and not show it graciously towards one another within the family of God. And if that is true with you, if you hold grudges against another here, And can't be bothered to be gracious with others? That is inconsistent with how God has treated you. If God in his grace has sent his son to die for a rebel like Dave and like you, can't we be gracious with each the other? And I have to remind our people this because sometimes there are those people even in our church, you know, they've got their nose up in the air and they're not gracious with other people. Okay? Not good. Not good at all. So God loved you and forgave you as his enemy, we need to remember that. And if you have a hard heart this way, towards one another horizontally, you have this hard-heartedness, you're probably out of fellowship with God, and that's sin. And by staying in that carnal frame of mind, you are exhibiting self-centeredness. and you are unforgivable with that frame of mind from God's perspective, parentally. That's what I'm saying. So I always tell people, get over yourself already, okay? Let's extend grace, let's be cordial, let's be kind to one another. After all, isn't that how God has treated you? And that's why we can be reminded of this verse in Ephesians 4.32, it says, be kind one to another, Dave. tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God and Christ has forgiven you. That's amazing. And add to that, we have been commanded by God to love one another. A new commandment I give you, Jesus said, that you love one another, notice now, as I have loved you, that you love one another. By this will all men know, you're going to be a testimony that you are my disciples, my followers. if you have love for one the other. And we need to have that love for one the other. Let's go to Romans chapter 9 for a minute. I think I've got the verse there, yeah. Let's go to Romans 9, 12, excuse me, Romans 12, 9. Not 9, 12, 9. And sometimes we just kind of forget, we've been forgiven judicially, why can't we be gracious and cordial with others? So in Romans chapter 12, after he's taught on grace for the first 11 chapters, in chapter 12, verse 1 and 2, he challenges them to present their bodies to God. Okay? I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies. It needs to be a living sacrifice. It needs to be holy. It needs to be acceptable to me. Because it's reasonable for you to do that. And don't let the world squeeze you into its mold, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Notice they have to keep learning, keep hearing grace, keep being challenged, that you might prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And he gets real practical in the verses following this. We're going to jump down to verse 9, pick it up there. He says, let love be without hypocrisy. I mean, you're to love one another, but don't be a hypocrite about it. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor giving preference to one another. Drop down to verse 14 with me. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind. Notice it's all about the one another's of the body here. Do not set your mind on high things. but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion, Dave. Repay no one evil, because they've been evil to you. Instead, have regard for the good things in the sight of all men. And if it is possible, and it isn't always possible, friends, but if it's possible, as much as depends upon you, not them, live peaceably with all men." That's what he's saying here, and that's what he's setting forth here. And again, we're reminded again in Ephesians 4.32, we're to be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ's sake hath forgiven you. So my message is almost done and you can see on your handout I've got a quote there. I'd like to close today with an example of practical but divine-like forgiveness by a sinner who was saved by grace. And this is where the rubber meets the road in life. This is a story of, again, Corrie Ten Boom, if you read about her, this particular quote I'm gonna quote here came from the Guidepost magazine in 1972, but it's taken from her book called The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, where she recalls confronting a former guard from the concentration camp where she and her sister were imprisoned. Her sister died there because of the harsh treatment and abuse of the Nazis. You'll have to kind of put yourself in her shoes for just a moment while I read what she wrote right here. After the war, Corrie went back to Europe to share her faith. She's a Christian. To speak to the people of Europe who had been devastated by war of the forgiveness that God offers sinners who would receive it. And she went around speaking in a lot of different places. This story finds her in Germany, sharing her thoughts on forgiveness to a group of people. And she states, and this is not exactly how we would say it today, because we've been taught well. So this is biblically maybe not correct as it should, but you'll get the point as I quote her. Here's the quote. She says, when we confess our sins, I said, God cast them into the deepest ocean, gone forever. The solemn faces stared back at me, not quite daring to believe. There were never questions after a talk in Germany in 1947. I was born in 47. Wow, that's a long time back. Two years after the war. People stood up in silence. I mean, they've been devastated by war. Collected their wraps and in silence left the room. That's when I saw him, she said, working his way forward against the crowd. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat and the next a blue uniform and a visored cap with a skull and crossbones on it. And it all came back in a rush, she said. The huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister's frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath her parchment-type skin. Betsy, how thin you were. Betsy and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our hometown during the Nazi occupation of Holland. And this man had been a guard at Ravensbrück, concentration camp where we were sent. And now he was in front of me, hand thrust out, fine message, Fraulein, how good it is to know, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea. And I, who had spoken so ghibli of forgiveness, fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take his hand. He would not remember me, of course. How could he remember one prisoner among thousands of women there? But I remembered him. the leather crop swinging from his belt. It was the first time since my release that I had been seen face to face with one of my captors, and my blood seemed to freeze. You mentioned Ravensbrück in your talk, he was saying. I was the guard in there. No, he did not remember me. But since that time, he went on, I had become a Christian. And I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there. But I would like to hear from your lips as well, Fraulein." Again, his hand came out. Will you forgive me? Wow. And I stood there, I whose sins had every day to be forgiven, could not. Betsy had died in that place. Could he erase her slow, terrible death simply for the asking? It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I ever had to do. For I had to do it, I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition, that we forgive those who have injured us. If you do not forgive men their trespasses, Jesus said, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses. And my words I'm saying is nothing we ever could do could be as Christ-like as to forgive an offender like this. Back to her story. I knew it not only as I As a commandment of God, but as a daily experience since the end of the war, I had a home in Holland for victims of Nazi brutality. Now note this, this is what she says here. She states, those who were able to forgive their former enemies were able also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives, no matter what the physical scars were. Those who nursed their bitterness remained invalids, emotional cripples. It was as simple and as horrible as that. And still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is not an emotion. I knew that too. Forgiveness is an act of the will. Husbands and wives, think about that. If you're angry with your mate, it's not an emotion to forgive them. God chose to love us when we were his enemies. And you can love your wife when you're angry, but an act of the will. And the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart, she said. Jesus, help me, I prayed silently. I can lift my hand, I can do that much, you supply the rest. So woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder and raced down my arm and sprang into joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. I forgive you, brother, I cried with all my heart. For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard, and the former prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did there." Amazing story, friends, amazing story. As I said earlier in my message this morning, I don't know if those people in Florida will ever forgive the young man that murdered their children. Think about it if you were those parents. They want justice for what's happened down there. And I can understand that justice. And perhaps you might be thinking, and one of the people in the Twin Cities says, yeah, but this guard, what about the justice for him? I say, well, he lived at exactly the right time, survived the war to be forgiven judicially by God. Now she's asking for parental family forgiveness from another believer who was absolutely offended. Her sister died there under the harsh, abrasive treatment of the Nazis in that prison camp. It's absolutely amazing, okay? I've got to find my place here, my notes here again. But it is possible to forgive. But only through the power of Jesus can that be done. What about you? If you're saved here today, you possess that power to forgive one another. Why have a chip on your shoulder when you can forgive like Jesus or like Corey was called upon to do? You have his spirit. Thus, His ability if you're saved. And Christians should be the last ones to ever hold grudges, to be unforgiving. It just doesn't make any sense to hold a grudge. If you have been forgiven all trespasses, you can forgive another. That's the point. But maybe you're here and have never experienced the forgiveness of God for yourself. You can do that this morning by simply trusting Christ as your personal Savior from sin. Colossians 2.13 says, and you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive. You can be born again together with Him. Notice what comes with that, having forgiven you all trespasses. This guard had experienced those trespasses and now wanted to know if this was genuine in Cory's life. Boy, it'd be a tough one for me and a tough one for you, I'm sure. Well, if you're not saved here this morning, friends, will you trust Him to save you? Why not do so right now? Let's pray. Father, we thank you again for the judicial forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ who died for our sins there. We trust, Father, if we have been forgiven, there's no reason for us to hold grudges, to have our nose in the air, to think ourself better than someone else and to not give them the time of day or to greet them. Father, we pray that your spirit could be working in our heart to break down resistance to that very thing. Thanks again for the opportunity to speak to the people here at Itasca Bible Church. We trust that you could use this local assembly to reach out to their community with the message of the gospel, saving people by the grace of God, bringing them into the family of God here, and extending grace to each other. I look forward to having a dinner with them, sitting down and visiting with them. Thank you for this privilege of speaking, and thank you for giving my sins, Father. And may I not hold grudges or have chips on my shoulder. May I extend grace to each the other and be kind one to another, even as you have forgiven me as your enemy. Thank you for the story of Corey and this Nazi guard. What a powerful story to think through and to realize again, we've been forgiven, we can forgive others. Thank you for your grace and thank you for this opportunity here in Jesus' name.