Living in the Power of God’s Forgiveness

00:00 hi my name is Sue Burdullis and i want to
00:04 thank you for joining us in our study
00:07 tonight entitled living in the power of
00:10 God's forgiveness session number three
00:12 of our Psalm 103 series forgiveness is
00:18 one of those powerful medicines that can
00:21 never be delivered to your spirit soul
00:23 and body allowing to you to live in
00:27 peace joy and freedom that God has
00:31 always intended for you God
00:34 understanding your need for the
00:36 supernatural power being imparted to
00:39 every aspect of your being has chosen to
00:44 forgive you of all of your sins and he
00:47 has commanded you that as he is
00:50 forgiving you you are to forgive others
00:54 let us pray father I thank you tonight I
00:58 pray that you would feel my mouth and
01:01 open up the ears and the hearts of those
01:04 who are hearing so we can understand
01:07 your heart towards us your great mercy
01:09 your great love and compassion and that
01:12 we can understand that you are the God
01:14 who forgives us of all of our sins in
01:18 Jesus's name Amen
01:22 so Roman numeral one is rich in mercy
01:25 because of God's great love
01:28 it describes Psalm 103 and a cow is
01:33 capsulized in Ephesians 2:4 last week we
01:37 discovered that in order to live in the
01:39 power of the gospel we need to
01:41 understand God's Hesed which is the
01:44 Hebrew word for God's loving-kindness in
01:48 action and this is what is proclaimed
01:51 throughout Psalm 103 and highlighted in
01:55 verse 8 of Psalm 103 which quotes exodus
02:00 34:6 where God declared his name to
02:04 Moses describing the very essence of his
02:07 nature and this happened directly after
02:11 the Israelite nation
02:12 previously sinned against God by
02:17 building and worshiping a golden calf
02:21 what does God want us to now when he
02:24 introduced his name he wants us to know
02:27 that in the midst of our sin he wants us
02:31 to know who he is that he is a God who
02:35 forgives all of our sins this all
02:39 declares Psalm 103 verse 8 together out
02:42 loud the Lord is merciful and gracious
02:46 slow to anger and abounding in mercy now
02:51 when we see that word mercy we think of
02:53 hasit which is God's loving-kindness his
02:57 faithful covenant love that is shown in
03:00 his actions towards us God's name
03:05 that's Psalm 103 verse 8 is the core
03:09 reality of who he is and it was
03:13 perfectly demonstrated in Jesus's
03:15 ministry and through the work of the
03:17 cross Paul describes the reality of
03:21 Psalm 103 verse 8 being fulfilled in
03:25 Christ he says this in Ephesians 2:4 but
03:30 God who is rich in mercy because of his
03:36 great love in which he loved us even
03:40 when we were dead in trespasses that's a
03:44 word for sin he made us alive together
03:48 in Christ and then in parenthesis it
03:51 says by grace you have been saved that
03:53 action of when we are dead in trespasses
03:57 and sin making us alive together in
04:00 Christ that is done by His grace that is
04:04 done by his hesed his love in action
04:07 toward us and then what did he do he
04:10 raised us up together and he made us sit
04:15 together in the heavenly places in
04:18 Christ Jesus that in the ages to come
04:21 the exceeding riches of His grace
04:25 his kindness towards us in Christ Jesus
04:29 so do we get back because of God's great
04:34 love he did he demonstrated the richness
04:37 of his mercy and that's what Psalm 103
04:42 verse 4 says who redeems your life from
04:46 the pit of destruction who crowns you
04:50 with loving-kindness and tender mercy so
04:54 Jesus has taken us from the pit of
04:57 destruction which was basically us being
05:01 dead in our trespasses and sins and then
05:04 what did he do he raised us up made us
05:08 sit together
05:09 he put a crown on our heads just like
05:13 the King Jesus is crowned we got to sit
05:16 together with him in the heavenly places
05:18 to rule and reign from that place as we
05:24 walk it out here on this earth so that's
05:26 just tremendous what he tells us in
05:28 Psalm 103 how can a person go from being
05:33 dead in trespasses and alive in Jesus
05:36 Christ one thing by God forgiving us of
05:40 all of our sins and that's what Psalm
05:42 103 verse 4 says God is a God who
05:47 forgives all your sins and God wants us
05:54 to remember all of his benefits like
05:57 mentioned in verses three through five
06:00 some people tell others think his face
06:03 but not his hand and that sounds really
06:08 good but when you're in a time of real
06:10 need like one of my uncles he was in a
06:13 time of real need and he needed healing
06:17 in his body from cancer and he says
06:19 wouldn't I just be kind of like conning
06:21 God to try to get him to do something
06:22 for me because I have a need because
06:25 this my uncle didn't know Jesus at the
06:27 time and I go no God always wants to go
06:30 ahead and meet our needs and to this day
06:33 he's still healed from cancer he
06:35 accepted Jesus into his heart but his
06:37 need of
06:38 healing was met so Jesus is truly the
06:43 gift of God to us so this right here
06:46 this box where it says all things are
06:48 possible this is a representation right
06:52 now of who Jesus Christ is and when we
06:55 take the lid off the box I have a number
06:59 of smaller boxes in here which is on
07:03 each box I list a benefit so box number
07:07 one that we're going to be opening up
07:09 tonight is in here is the verse he is
07:15 the one bless the Lord O my soul and
07:17 forget not all his benefits he's the one
07:19 who forgives all of our sins next week
07:22 we're going to go ahead and take a look
07:24 at another benefit which is the healing
07:28 of our body all of these gifts all of
07:32 these benefits are in Christ Jesus and
07:37 God is saying will you receive the gift
07:41 of my son Jesus Christ and if we refuse
07:44 one of the guests
07:45 we're refusing part of the essence of
07:48 who Jesus Christ is and so when you
07:51 receive a gift you're to take it thank
07:55 you and then start walking according to
07:59 what that gift has given you amen so I
08:02 hope that brings some light on the
08:05 benefits that we're studying in Psalm
08:07 103 Roman numeral two the first sin and
08:11 man's response so as we discovered in
08:15 our first series on Psalm one choice is
08:17 determine destiny from the fullness of
08:20 God's love Adam and Eve they were
08:23 created and then then we have that first
08:26 recorded conversation between God and
08:29 man and in those conversations we hear
08:32 God giving them a blessing and then we
08:36 hear God giving them a commandment now
08:39 it's like why didn't God just bless him
08:41 you know and why this thing about the
08:44 commandments well we reviewed that in
08:45 our psalm 1 series and we found out that
08:48 God wanted to give me unkind of choice
08:50 but all
08:52 so God he's a father and he's a good
08:54 father and he knew what was good for the
08:59 children that he created just like you
09:03 as a good parent you know what your
09:07 child might not know yeah so you tell
09:10 them things when they're young don't go
09:12 across the street just running across
09:14 the street you know wait for mom and dad
09:17 or you tell them don't touch that bird
09:18 you know you you might get burned and it
09:21 was for their safety so it is with Adam
09:25 and Eve in the Garden of Eden God wanted
09:28 Adam and Eve to trust him to build a
09:32 relationship of trust with him but what
09:36 did Adam and Eve do when God told them
09:40 don't eat that from the tree of the
09:42 knowledge of good and evil lest you die
09:45 you know you eat and say lest you die he
09:48 said surely you will die Adam and Eve
09:51 chose to disobey God's commandment his
09:55 protective instruction for them they
09:58 chose to eat from the tree of the
10:00 knowledge of good and evil
10:02 that God commanded them not to do when
10:06 they ate from the tree this forbidden
10:08 tree they came into experiential
10:12 knowledge of the way of the law the law
10:16 judged Adam for his sin and the judgment
10:19 was death the blond age that Adam and
10:23 Eve and therefore the whole human race
10:26 came under until the time of Jesus
10:29 Christ is known as the law of sin and
10:33 death Romans 8:2 and Romans 6:23 says
10:37 for the wages of sin is death
10:40 now did God want them to choose the tree
10:45 of the knowledge of good and evil the
10:47 way of the law no in the midst of the
10:52 garden there was another tree and that
10:54 was the tree of life the tree of the
10:57 knowledge of good and evil it was viewed
11:00 it in the law and the fruit of the law
11:03 is sin and sin produces
11:06 The Tree of Life is rooted in what we're
11:10 studying about now and Psalm 103 it's
11:12 rooted in the love of God it's the way
11:16 of God's grace God always wanted Adam
11:21 and Eve and mankind to walk with Him and
11:25 get to know him and to walk in what
11:28 we're called to do here on planet Earth
11:31 by eating from the tree of life and
11:33 going the way of His grace rather than
11:36 the way of the law now Adam and Eve
11:42 Satan comes to him and say them blinds
11:45 your eyes to this wonderful truth that
11:48 God wanted them you know not to eat from
11:51 this tree he deceives them he did it for
11:55 a purpose Satan deceived Adam II because
11:59 he knew that if they chose the way of
12:03 the law he could rule and reign over
12:07 them accusing them every time they
12:11 didn't meet up to the law and therefore
12:14 coming under the punishment of the law
12:18 and this is way before the Mosaic law
12:20 was even created so instantly after they
12:25 from the tree of the knowledge of good
12:26 and evil they knew they had done
12:28 something terribly wrong they had
12:31 violated God's sacred trust his hasit
12:36 love for them with an overwhelming
12:40 consciousness of their sin fear consumed
12:44 every inch of their body their spirit
12:49 men died it became dark and void of the
12:52 life of God the glory of God that
12:55 covered them was no longer there and
12:57 they saw the Faber naked so what did
13:01 they do they hid themselves among the
13:04 trees and then they clothed themselves
13:07 with fig leaves
13:12 when God confronted them they go now
13:17 this is what happened in Genesis three
13:20 twelve or thirteen the man said the
13:23 woman you gave to me to be with me she
13:26 gave me of the tree and I ate what the
13:29 women say the woman said the serpent
13:32 deceived me and I ate so what happened
13:36 Adam blamed God and he blamed Eve what
13:41 it Eve do Eve blame Adam neither one
13:47 took full responsibility for their sin
13:50 and it's interesting neither one of them
13:53 asks for forgiveness so what's the
13:56 application we can make from this what
13:59 can we learn from Adam and Eve's
14:01 response to their sin we can learn four
14:04 basic things three of these things are
14:08 connected to the things that sin causes
14:12 in our life and the fourth thing that I
14:15 want you to share with you is how God
14:18 wants us to respond to sin so the three
14:22 words that are connected to sin that I
14:24 want you to think about when you are
14:27 confronted with wrongdoing is that
14:29 there's guilt and there's shame and
14:32 there's blame what's guilt when you're
14:35 conscious of something you've done wrong
14:37 what do you need to do even if you think
14:40 it's only 5% it's not really really
14:43 wrong you know you didn't mean it that
14:45 you have done wrong blame instead of
14:48 blaming others even if you feel that
14:51 they played a huge role in provoking you
14:54 to sin you needed we accept the
14:58 responsibility that you chose to go
15:02 ahead and say yes to the sin shame
15:07 that's when shame comes the humiliation
15:12 and the distress from coming because you
15:16 have sinned
15:16 coupled with the desire to cover up your
15:20 sin not tell people the whole truth of
15:22 what happened it should be a signpost to
15:25 you and I
15:26 that we need to do what God wants us to
15:29 do when we have sinned and that's to
15:31 repent the last word is repent now the
15:36 Greek word for repent is Metta know iya
15:40 and it means to change the mind so how
15:45 are we to change our minds and we sin we
15:48 basically need to break agreement with
15:53 coming in agreement with the sin the
15:56 wrongdoing that we have done and coming
15:59 into agreement with the what the Word of
16:03 God or the commandments or the
16:04 instructions of God has told us to do
16:06 okay so we need a change our mind we
16:10 need to go from the sin to going ahead
16:15 and coming in agreement with a word what
16:17 the Word of God has told us to do who
16:20 God is and who we are in Christ and then
16:23 another way we can think of repent is
16:25 what I call engaging in the great
16:28 exchange of the Cross which we've been
16:29 doing every week since we started huh
16:31 Psalm 103 and you'll have a chance of
16:34 doing as you receive Communion at the
16:37 end tonight and the great exchange of
16:39 the Cross basically you give God your
16:43 sin so here's the cross you give God
16:46 your sin and then you take or receive
16:51 the gift of his son Jesus Christ the
16:54 gift of his forgiveness
16:58 another way that we can go ahead and
17:01 repent is what we talked about when it
17:05 says bless the Lord O my soul and all
17:07 that is within me how Psalm 103 verse 1
17:10 begins that word Blastoise - thankfully
17:13 come an agreement with we need a
17:15 thankfully come in agreement with who
17:17 God is he's the God who forgives all of
17:20 our sins and we need to come in
17:22 agreement with who we are in Christ that
17:25 we are the ones in whom we are forgiven
17:30 we are the forgiven ones in Christ Jesus
17:32 so we can thank him for that we can
17:35 thank him that we are justified
17:39 as Christians just as if we have never
17:41 sinned we can thank him that we are the
17:45 righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and
17:48 we can declare who we are in Christ
17:50 I am the righteousness of God in Christ
17:54 Jesus
17:55 we can thank Jesus for removing all that
17:59 shame and self condemnation that comes
18:02 with the sin Romans 8:2 says there is no
18:06 condemnation for those who are in Christ
18:08 Jesus
18:09 Roman numeral three and then after that
18:13 along with repenting is cooperating with
18:16 God's grace in its restoration process
18:19 of what has been lost or broken so Roman
18:22 numeral three God's response to man's
18:25 sin because the Lord is merciful and
18:28 gracious slow to anger and abounding in
18:32 mercy one of the first things that God
18:36 did for Adam and Eve his own beloved
18:39 children whom he loves so greatly was to
18:43 sacrifice an animal or animals that he
18:47 had just created ones that Adam had just
18:50 named so that Adam and Eve sin could be
18:55 covered by the substitutionary blood as
18:58 they were sent out of the Garden of Eden
19:01 and into the world and that was for
19:03 their protection so it's like when they
19:08 sinned this cloth represents black and
19:14 they were just covered with their shame
19:17 their guilt the condemnation from that
19:20 but Jesus when were God went ahead and
19:24 he took an animal and let me just take a
19:28 moment here I know it's not the greatest
19:29 for the video but he took any animal and
19:34 he slayed the animal and they were
19:36 covered with a tunic okay
19:40 blood but so we know that from the very
19:44 very beginning of time the way of
19:49 restoration or the way of remission for
19:51 sin was always to be covered by blood it
19:57 says in Leviticus 17:11 for the life the
20:00 flesh is in the blood and I have given
20:02 it to you to you upon the altar to make
20:05 atonement for your soul and so that he
20:11 did that from the very very very
20:13 beginning of time in Hebrews 9:22 it
20:19 says without the shedding of blood there
20:22 is no remission of sin so under the Old
20:25 Covenant requirements were given by God
20:28 for how the sacrificial blood of animals
20:30 should be offered to atone for men sin
20:32 throughout the year as God knew that
20:35 mankind could never keep the law and
20:40 what the was required under the laws
20:43 that if somebody sinned that they would
20:45 bring a lamb this is for the sin offer
20:49 and they bring a lamb and they would
20:52 have to go ahead and they would take the
20:55 lamb and they would put their hands on
20:58 the head of the lamb and they would
21:01 confess their sin and as they confess
21:04 their sin the sin then went on to the
21:08 lamb and the lamb that was without spot
21:12 or blemish they would then receive that
21:16 righteousness okay from the lamb which
21:20 is then a foreshadowing of what happened
21:23 with Jesus Christ and after they did
21:25 that they slayed the lamb they killed
21:27 the lamb and then they put it on an
21:29 altar the life of the flesh is in the
21:32 blood and I gave it to you upon the
21:34 altar to make atonement for your souls
21:36 and then one day a year a very similar
21:40 thing happened but there was two goats
21:42 and the high priest would take the blood
21:43 of one goat and bring it behind the holy
21:46 of holies he would actually confess all
21:49 the sins of the Israelite nation he
21:53 and take that lamb the goats lay it and
21:55 place that blood on the altar of the
21:59 Holy of Holies the other goat the same
22:03 process as the lamb all the sins were
22:07 confessed they would take the goat then
22:10 and they would put it to a faraway place
22:13 removing their sins as far like Psalm
22:16 her and three says basically as far as
22:18 the East is from the West they would let
22:20 this go go way out into the wilderness
22:22 never to return back to their camp
22:25 so the temporary solution under the old
22:28 cabinet was a foreshadowing of what God
22:31 would do through the new covenant to
22:33 Jesus the sinless spotless blood that
22:39 was in him how far were the sins to be
22:45 taken away because of Jesus's blood
22:48 Psalm 103 verse 12 says as far as the
22:54 East is from the West
22:55 can you measure that there's no end when
22:58 you start to do that so Romans 8:12 and
23:01 Romans 10:17 says this what is as far as
23:07 the East is from the West it says this
23:09 he remembers God remembers our sin no
23:14 more is that incredible so how long
23:19 would they be taken away for from
23:22 everlasting to everlasting because
23:24 that's how greatest mercy is Hebrews 10
23:27 12 says this after Jesus had offered one
23:30 sacrifice for sins forever he sat down
23:34 at the right hand of God the sacrificial
23:40 blood under the Old Covenant could not
23:43 take away sins only Jesus's blood could
23:46 take away the sin of the world that's
23:48 what it says in Hebrews 10:4 that's not
23:51 possible that the blood of bulls and
23:54 goats could take away sins and when
23:56 Jesus came and John the Baptist saw him
23:59 right away he declared the main purpose
24:02 of God's mission on planet Earth this is
24:04 the Lamb of God who would take away
24:06 sins of the world so let's go to Roman
24:09 numeral for forgiveness and remembering
24:12 their sin no more which is basically the
24:15 main clause of the New Covenant the Old
24:17 Testament prophesied that a new covenant
24:20 with that God would make with man it was
24:22 jeremiah 31:34 behold the days are
24:27 coming says the Lord when I will make a
24:30 new covenant with the house of Israel
24:32 and the house of Judah for I will
24:35 forgive their iniquity and their sin I
24:38 will remember no more that's as far as
24:42 the East is from the West like verse 12
24:44 says in Psalm 103 at the Last Supper the
24:49 Passover meal Jesus declares the
24:52 institution of God's new covenant with
24:54 man which was prophesied by Jeremiah he
24:57 says this in first Corinthians 11:25 at
25:02 the Last Supper Jesus said this cup is
25:04 the cup of my new covenant in my what
25:07 blood all the covenants even Adam and
25:12 Eve they call it the endowment covenant
25:15 it was made with blood the new covenant
25:19 with us is made in blood this do as
25:22 often as you drink it in remembrance of
25:24 me Paul he emphasized the new covenant
25:30 that was quoted that he and he's quoting
25:33 from it in jerem from Jeremiah 31
25:35 Hebrews 8:12 for all be merciful to
25:38 their unrighteousness and their sins and
25:41 their lawless deeds I will remember no
25:44 more
25:45 Hebrews 10:17 he said their sins and
25:50 their lawless deeds I will remember no
25:53 more isn't that amazing I mean in just
25:56 two short chapters there in Hebrews
25:59 he's just reiterating the second time
26:04 but Jeremiah prophesied about what Jesus
26:08 Christ would do for us through the New
26:10 Covenant the power of Jesus's blood was
26:15 so great that it removed every trace of
26:18 our sins
26:20 erasing our sins from his memory now
26:25 this is really opposite of what I
26:26 thought when I grew up as a child you
26:30 know that we had blackboards then and I
26:32 really imagined that God was keeping
26:34 tally of my sins on a blackboard you
26:37 know with chalk and every time I sins
26:39 you know just another mark went there
26:41 and I I don't know why but I it's
26:43 something that was vivid in my
26:44 imagination but here it says that he
26:47 doesn't remember since he doesn't tell
26:48 the UH persons like that when we are
26:51 under the blood of Jesus Christ and when
26:54 we ask for forgiveness of sins he just
26:56 doesn't remember it okay so if God
27:00 doesn't remember our sins any longer no
27:02 longer we caused them why should we why
27:06 are we condemning ourselves once we've
27:08 asked God to forgive us why are we
27:09 condemning ourselves and replaying and
27:12 reliving that sin over and over again in
27:15 our mind we need a pie the power of the
27:19 blood of Jesus the power of his
27:21 forgiveness the power of the cross to
27:24 every memory every memory that we have
27:26 of our sins knowing and believing the
27:32 main clause of the New Covenant sets the
27:36 stage for you to enter in with great
27:38 confidence and assurance of faith that
27:42 by the blood of Jesus which is a new and
27:45 living way that you can enter into the
27:49 holy of Holy's to fully partake of all
27:53 of God's benefits that belong to you in
27:56 Jesus Christ and that's told to us in
27:59 Hebrews 10:19 through 22 Roman numeral
28:05 five Psalm 103 these are some
28:09 reflections regarding forgiveness Psalm
28:12 103 has so much to say on forgiveness
28:16 when you start thinking about it and
28:18 start looking at it so it starts off
28:21 bless the Lord O my soul and forget not
28:23 all his benefits and we've already said
28:25 this why what's the first and foremost
28:28 benefit that's listed who forgives all
28:31 your sins now I don't think was it
28:33 accident that King David mentioned this
28:35 first and foremost because I believe
28:38 this is what was first and foremost in
28:41 God's mind in the list of benefits for
28:44 us because it was through the shed blood
28:47 that we can come back into a
28:50 relationship with God our Father and
28:54 then in Psalm 103 10 it says that God
28:58 has not dealt with us according to our
29:00 sins nor punished us according to our
29:03 iniquities so from the beginning of time
29:07 God chose not to deal with mankind
29:11 according to their sins now this is
29:14 listed in the New Testament also it says
29:16 this in Romans 3:25 in his forbearance
29:20 he had left their sins committed
29:24 beforehand unpunished
29:27 now we think about this Adam and Eve
29:30 what did he do he covered them with the
29:34 tunic this is way before Jesus Christ
29:39 came they got something they did not
29:42 deserve so that as they went out in the
29:45 world what I had put this this is what I
29:50 was calling my tunic here the red blood
29:54 covering this is what they when they
29:56 went out in the world not only it
29:59 covered them physically the tuning but
30:01 spiritually the gates of hell could not
30:07 put the full punishment on Adam and Eve
30:11 God was protecting the human race by
30:16 covering and Adam and Eve with the tunic
30:19 and then we see in Psalm 103 and we
30:26 mentioned this last week that he made
30:29 its ways known to Moses and that was
30:32 right after they totally blew it by
30:35 going ahead and creating that golden
30:39 calf and beginning to worship it and
30:42 then he says you guys you got to know
30:46 who I am
30:47 I'm the God of mercy I bound in mercy I
30:51 have bound and loved to you and it's
30:53 only in knowing that that will free us
30:57 from wanting to sin and to wanting to
31:01 break agreement with our sin King David
31:06 the writer of Psalm 103 he committed
31:11 some very very Grievous sins here he is
31:15 the king of the nation of the Israelites
31:20 he already had a lot of wives but then
31:24 he commits adultery with Bathsheba and
31:28 then he kills Bathsheba's husband Uriah
31:33 and then in Psalm 51 we see him crying
31:37 out to God because he knew that God was
31:41 a God of mercy asking God for the
31:45 forgiveness of his sin and so what did
31:48 God do he did not deal with King David
31:52 according to his sins nor did he punish
31:56 King David that full-blown punishment
32:00 that he could have punished he could
32:02 have totally obliterated King David took
32:04 the entire kingdom killed all this
32:07 family yes there was punishment in his
32:09 life but it wasn't the fullness that he
32:13 could have gotten if he didn't plead for
32:16 God's mercy King David had this in mind
32:20 as he wrote Psalm 103 Psalm 103 verse 10
32:28 it had in mind all along but Jesus
32:31 Christ would do for us one day on the
32:34 cross he did not deal with us he doesn't
32:38 deal with us now according to our sins
32:41 he doesn't punish us according to our
32:46 iniquities why because when Jesus went
32:51 to the cross he
32:53 punished all of our sins in the body of
32:59 Jesus Christ and I'll never ever forget
33:02 this when I was in the prayer room back
33:04 there this is probably over 20 years ago
33:06 and one of these ladies had a vision and
33:09 she saw herself inside of Jesus Christ
33:13 and Jesus Christ taking this punishment
33:16 on the cross and she could beneath his
33:21 skin so to speak could feel the
33:24 punishment but not the fullness of it
33:27 just the reverberation of it we are
33:31 covered with the blood of Jesus Christ
33:34 he has taken our punishment for us he
33:38 died as us he not only died for us he
33:44 died as us as our substitute it's been
33:53 finished our sins have already been
33:57 punished in Christ God demonstrated the
34:01 height the width and the depth of his
34:04 mercy his love for us this has talked
34:08 about in Ephesians 3 but it's talked
34:10 about in Psalm 103
34:12 what is the got the height of God's
34:15 Hesed his mercy verse 11 says this for
34:20 as the heavens are high above the earth
34:23 so great is his mercy towards those who
34:26 fear Him if that's not enough he wants
34:30 to go on explain it a little bit more he
34:32 wants to tell us about the width of his
34:34 mercy as far as the East is from the
34:38 West
34:39 so great is this mercy towards those who
34:42 fear Him what's the length of his mercy
34:45 but the mercy of the Lord is from
34:48 everlasting to everlasting towards those
34:51 who fear Him to those who remember his
34:54 Commandments to do him so Paul and his
34:57 prayer and in Ephesians 3:14 through 21
35:00 in verses 18 and 19 he says this I pray
35:06 that you would be able to come free and
35:09 with all the saints what is the length
35:14 the heights and the depth of God's hasit
35:18 his love his mercy towards you his mercy
35:22 towards us
35:23 was best demonstrated in jesus's life
35:27 when he died on the cross God is our
35:32 Father God pitied Adam and Eve as he
35:35 pities all of us his children
35:37 I thought pity I wouldn't have put that
35:39 word in there so I looked it up another
35:42 word for piteous compassion maybe you
35:44 guys can relate to that a little bit
35:46 more he knew our frame he remembered
35:48 that Adam and Eve just like us are
35:50 created from dust he had just created
35:53 out an an EVE from dust and then in this
35:57 Psalm
35:58 King David three membrane he was even
36:02 merciful Adam and Eve God knew that
36:05 without mercy and grace his hasit his
36:08 law we would perish eternally so he
36:12 didn't deal with us as we deserved
36:14 let's read Psalm 113 13 and 14 together
36:18 out loud as a father pities his children
36:21 so the Lord pities those who fear him
36:25 for he knows our frame he remembers that
36:29 we are dust okay
36:31 so Adam and Eve this is Roman numeral
36:34 six covered by the robe of righteousness
36:37 Adam and Eve their spear man was void of
36:41 the life of God after they sinned God
36:43 made him a tunic and as I showed you
36:46 before they then were covered with that
36:48 tunic which represented then the blood
36:52 sacrifice and it really was looking
36:55 forward in time it was like Adam and Eve
36:58 were getting an early payment a down
37:00 payment of what Jesus Christ was doing
37:03 you know would do one day on the cross
37:05 so the blood of Jesus it's like it
37:07 stretched all the way back in time and
37:10 it stretched all the way forward in time
37:13 that's the power of Jesus's blood and
37:15 that's why I believe Adam and Eve they
37:19 didn't get the full
37:20 less of what God told him would happen
37:23 which was eternal death
37:26 when he said you eat from the tree of
37:28 knowledge of good and evil
37:29 you're gonna surely die he was talking
37:31 about eternal death eternal separation
37:34 from him now Jesus he told us a parable
37:38 about father God's Hesed his compassion
37:43 towards us his mercy towards us towards
37:46 his children and you guys know this is a
37:48 prodigal son story I'm going to share
37:51 this hopefully in our Psalm 103 series
37:54 in a lot more detail than tonight but I
37:57 want you to know this about the father
38:00 our Heavenly Father it says this in the
38:02 parable and they're talking about the
38:04 Heavenly Father in Luke 15 it said when
38:08 the father saw his son we know as the
38:13 prodigal son the wayward son it says
38:18 that he went to meet him he fell on his
38:24 neck he kissed him he brought him home
38:30 and now you know he just came from the
38:33 pig pen styles you know and the sons
38:37 want him to go
38:38 forgive me I've sinned against you and
38:41 he can barely get the his words out of
38:43 his mouth and the father had already
38:44 seen his heart he's more concerned with
38:47 our heart than the words amen and he
38:52 says and bring out the best robe what's
38:58 the robe it's Jesus's row it's the robe
39:04 of righteousness that's the greeting
39:10 that he got now the elder son was going
39:16 in God and it's like God saying I gave
39:20 you the robe but you kept it in your
39:22 closet you're gonna put it on right
39:29 the robe of righteousness every morning
39:32 we are to walk with a conscious
39:34 awareness that we have it now Jesus he
39:39 wore the war of righteousness all his
39:42 life and then you can read this in John
39:45 19 23 he wore the robe of righteousness
39:49 his whole life he was without sins
39:52 without spot or without blemish but as
39:58 he went to the cross he allowed his robe
40:03 his tunic it says tunic did we hear that
40:08 with Adam and Eve story he allowed his
40:10 tunic to be taken why so that he would
40:24 be made sin for us this is second
40:32 Corinthians 5:21 he laid down his
40:37 righteousness he was made sin with our
40:41 sin with your sin with my sin he did
40:47 that and it says in 2nd Corinthians 5:21
40:51 so that you could become what the
40:56 righteousness of God in Christ Jesus so
41:00 when I talked about the great exchange
41:03 of the Cross and engaging in the
41:05 exchange of the crosses we're going to
41:07 come to do in a moment you might feel
41:11 you've already been we you've been given
41:13 this robe as a Christian you're to be
41:15 wearing it but maybe you feel like some
41:18 sin has come on you during the day right
41:21 you might have some past memories that
41:24 you've been carrying you might have
41:27 sinned yourself or you might have be
41:31 walking and unforgiveness towards
41:33 somebody else's sin right so there's sin
41:38 that you're carrying even though you're
41:40 wearing the robe of righteousness
41:42 so when you come up tonight I have a
41:45 index card I've given each one of you
41:48 and I want you to write out what is it
41:51 that just keeps nagging me that where
41:55 I'm condemning myself about it or an
41:58 area where I really need to forgive
42:01 somebody else and you're gonna come for
42:04 the exchange will have a bucket up here
42:06 and you could be giving that card and
42:11 Emmy it's gonna be up here and she's
42:13 going to be stamping that card we're
42:14 going to talk about what that stamp says
42:16 in a minute and you're gonna place it in
42:19 the bucket you're giving your sin to the
42:21 Lord and then you're gonna take
42:23 communion and walking away with a
42:26 consciousness that this robe is yours
42:30 it's not like Superman suit where you go
42:33 into you know a phone booth or whatever
42:37 and do anything at this moment in time
42:41 know every moment of every day I'm in
42:46 Christ Jesus and I can do the impossible
42:48 at any time why not because of who you
42:53 are it's because of who Christ is in you
42:57 and who you are in Christ because of the
43:01 power of the blood of Jesus Christ amen
43:07 okay so there's some applications there
43:11 that I have for you about wearing the
43:13 robe that's application number one
43:15 application number two it talks about
43:19 covering the sins of others so when they
43:23 sinned against you just like admin Eve
43:26 when they sin God covered them with a
43:29 tunic did they deserve it now so it
43:35 actually says this in 1st Peter 4:8 and
43:37 above all things have fervent love for
43:39 one another for love will cover a
43:44 multitude of sin when someone sinned
43:46 against you want the number one thing
43:48 they need is for you to cover their sins
43:55 I won't go into all of that tonight I
44:00 would go into the third application
44:02 Jesus gave us a protocol to follow
44:05 someone in Christ has sinned against you
44:08 and that's in Matthew 18 and you can
44:10 read about it also in Matthew 5 don't
44:13 have time for the protocol when I share
44:16 two testimonies with you real shortly
44:20 the first one years ago not too long ago
44:26 though my husband and I we went ahead
44:29 and we loaned some me a huge sum of
44:33 money it was part of our inheritance and
44:37 unfortunately the person couldn't pay it
44:39 back they actually misinterpreted the
44:44 whole transaction the loan and in the
44:49 midst of that we had gone to Mozambique
44:51 and I heard the story and it so impacted
44:55 me that it made me realize I had to go
44:59 ahead and forgive them and release the
45:02 debt and my husband was total in total
45:05 agreement with me and the story I heard
45:09 from Mozambique in Africa was this and
45:12 we had been there we had visited the
45:13 orphanage and the orphanage is like
45:16 there's a wired fence and there's guards
45:21 protecting the children that are in the
45:23 orphanage that have barely nothing you
45:25 know some of those shoes and the guard
45:29 was killed just somebody walking down
45:33 the street killed them the guy goes to
45:36 the emergency he's in a comatose state
45:40 he's just barely living he kind of wakes
45:44 up I don't know how long it was that he
45:47 kind of woke up in the first words out
45:49 of his mouth was this is for the killer
45:52 I forgive him now is barely able to live
45:59 but as he chose to forgive he was made
46:04 100 percent healed
46:08 well walked out he put no charges
46:12 against that man the man became a
46:14 Christian and serving the Lord so here I
46:17 am in the midst of my little money issue
46:20 but it was a huge to me it was our part
46:23 of our inheritance and we chose to
46:25 forgive now sometimes you don't see the
46:27 direct results but I do believe we walk
46:29 in a finite financial prosperity my
46:31 husband and I and I believe that's just
46:34 part just a part of the story for my
46:36 husband and I tell you another story
46:38 about you have a choice to forgive
46:43 others
46:44 you don't always will see the result
46:47 this is early on when we started the
46:49 Healing Rooms was a lady who came in she
46:52 was an airline stewardess she had
46:55 scabies covering her body for about a
46:57 year with all the medical help that she
47:00 could receive was miserable had to stop
47:03 working comes to the healing room comes
47:09 in my room not that I was really a smart
47:13 person at that time I said is there
47:17 anyone you need to forgive she says no I
47:20 says let's ask the Holy Spirit great
47:23 question I think the Holy Spirit
47:25 inspired that one and she says yeah my
47:28 dad she chose to forgive that night in
47:31 bed all her scabies fall off next
47:34 morning she's her skins of 100% well how
47:37 do I know that story a month later she
47:39 brings somebody back for healing and
47:42 tells me her story a man then there was
47:47 this testimony that I just shared and
47:49 I'm actually gonna read this testimony
47:51 that's somebody I had actually written
47:54 down their name I was gonna give him a
47:56 call and asked if I could get their
47:58 story about their forgiveness
48:00 instead they called me I hadn't heard
48:02 from them for a long time and I said you
48:06 won't believe what I'm doing I'm writing
48:07 this this talk on forgiveness would you
48:11 be willing to share what God did for you
48:15 and they go
48:16 I've just been praying about that that
48:18 I'd have an opportunity to share my
48:20 stories others could be helped
48:22 so here's their story I've had
48:24 nightmares every night all my life as
48:26 far back as I can remember because of
48:30 all the abuse I suffered and witnessed
48:32 throwing up these nightmares kept making
48:35 me feel so emotionally drained it was
48:37 like nightmares kept making me relive
48:40 what had actually taken place causing me
48:43 do you feel scared and full of anxiety I
48:47 felt helpless as I would watch the past
48:50 events in my life take place over and
48:53 over again that I couldn't do anything
48:55 about last year 58 years of age I woke
48:58 up screaming from one of those
48:59 nightmares saying repeatedly call 9-1-1
49:05 because i had seen my mom in the dream
49:07 being beaten by my dad as i sit in the
49:10 church praying the lord's prayer last
49:13 year and forgive us our trespasses as we
49:15 forgive those who trespass against us a
49:18 thought came to me that I needed to
49:19 forgive my dad for all the things he had
49:23 done I think it was the Holy Spirit
49:25 working within me I felt I needed to go
49:29 let go of all the negativity towards my
49:32 dad and towards how I was brought up
49:34 this meant that I needed to forgive my
49:37 dad for all the things he had done to me
49:40 especially for the one of the most
49:41 difficult things I remembered him doing
49:44 to me that physically damaged my body it
49:48 was hard to forgive him especially for
49:50 that one thing but I knew I needed to I
49:52 did not want God to hold anything
49:54 against me so I chose that day to
49:57 forgive my dad of everything he did to
49:59 me her dad was deceased at the time that
50:05 night after I chose to forgive my dad a
50:07 miracle happened that I did not expect I
50:10 did not have a nightmare then a week
50:13 went by and I called my sister telling
50:16 her what had happened that I had been
50:18 one full week of no nightmares
50:21 this is nightly nightmares for 40-some
50:25 years now it has been one year that I've
50:28 been totally free of nightmares when I
50:32 chose to forgive I was not expecting
50:34 this added blessing
50:36 of being free from nightmares that I had
50:38 sought years of counseling for in order
50:40 to get rid of them but it happened but
50:44 years of counseling could not do God did
50:47 it for me as I chose to forgive my dad
50:50 not only are the nightmares gone but God
50:53 has lifted a tremendous burden from my
50:56 heart the darkness that I felt
50:58 continually over my soul that I couldn't
51:01 get rid of no matter how hard I tried
51:04 was finally gone now God's light has
51:07 flooded my soul where the darkness stood
51:09 if God can do it for me I know you can
51:12 do it for you so if there's any of you
51:15 out there with you have suffered abuse
51:18 or hurt or pain from somebody else I
51:22 encourage you tonight to take those
51:25 testimonies and be encouraged to forgive
51:29 now forgiveness there's other things
51:31 that have happened in my life where
51:33 literally I would choose on a daily
51:36 basis
51:37 I've never forget my pastor was talking
51:39 about like having like an IV drip going
51:41 into my arm you know he was actually
51:44 talking from the pulpit but I was taking
51:45 it personally you know of forgiveness
51:47 and then it was just it took years for
51:52 that to totally drain out of my body all
51:55 the issues that happened during that
51:57 situation so one of the things I want to
52:06 share with you is from Colossians 2:14
52:09 and 2:15 when Jesus died on the cross
52:15 this is a very difficult passage to
52:17 understand but it's so tremendous I'm
52:21 not going to read it to you because of
52:23 the time but basically he did three
52:26 things Colossians 2:14 he took our sin
52:32 it says having forgiven o your
52:38 trespasses
52:41 that's just like Psalm 103 right who
52:45 forgives all your sin
52:47 god he wants us to get this not all
52:54 these sins except for this one that
52:56 keeps nagging you in your entire life he
52:58 wants to know you've been forgiven of
53:01 all past present and future sins they're
53:04 erased from your record in the courtroom
53:07 of heaven your debt has been fully
53:10 played on the cross by the blood of
53:12 Jesus Christ second thing that he's
53:18 removed is the law he wiped out the
53:22 handwriting of requirements that's the
53:25 law that was against us which was
53:27 contrary to us and he nailed it to the
53:30 cross the law is Satan's weapon it's his
53:35 gun his gun against your life to accuse
53:39 you and condemn you of your sins and
53:41 that has been taken away and nailed to
53:44 the cross because he has taken away the
53:48 law he has taken away the gun it says
53:52 he's disarmed the principalities he took
53:55 so the gun the arms away and he made a
53:59 public spectacle of them triumphing over
54:02 them in it now during that day they had
54:10 a certificate of debt and on the
54:12 certificate of debt there was two things
54:15 that were ridden the accusations which
54:20 is a list of all the penalty all the
54:22 penalties the list of all the sins and
54:24 then they had the penalty the punishment
54:27 for the crime that was done they would
54:31 take this and they would nail it to the
54:34 door of the prison cell so everybody
54:37 could see what they did what the
54:40 punishment was now when they fulfilled
54:43 their time in the prison cell they would
54:46 take that off the door and then they
54:49 would stamp it with paid-in-full
54:52 at that time the Greek word was catalyst
54:55 I paid in full that man then could carry
54:59 this
54:59 piece of paper around and anyone that
55:02 wanted to accuse him were you know
55:04 threatened that he had a you know supper
55:06 more punishment no here it is here's my
55:10 certificate of debt I've it's been paid
55:13 in full at the cross in John 19:30 one
55:16 of the words Jesus cried out was
55:19 catalyst I paid in full see over Jesus's
55:26 head they accused him of something no
55:30 one was accused of this is Jesus he is
55:33 the Nazarene the son of God and he was
55:40 accused he was condemned and because he
55:44 was accused and condemned for your my
55:45 sin he cries out Catalyst die I have
55:50 paid your sin debt in full so now you
55:57 get a walk away no catalyst i whatever
56:04 sin it is it's been paid in full so as
56:07 you come up and you bring up your index
56:09 card we're gonna stamp it with a paid in
56:12 full sign then you can tear it up and
56:14 put it in the bucket and then take
56:16 communion I'm going to end with a
56:18 closing prayer father I just thank you
56:21 for what you have shown us that you're
56:23 the God who forgives all sin and I thank
56:28 you father for what you're doing in our
56:29 hearts Lord especially for those who
56:32 have been abused or hurt in some way by
56:36 others I pray father that you would
56:39 strengthen them and help them to forgive
56:42 and to let go of that sin the sin that
56:45 has been done against them and father
56:48 the sins where we hold ourselves in
56:50 condemnation I pray God strengthen each
56:54 one here so that we can let go of that
56:57 sin and be confident that you have paid
57:01 our debt in full through the blood of
57:04 Jesus Christ amen