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Forgiveness · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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Praise God, thank you faith and Candace John and praise team.
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What a blessing. Just reminding us of our
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desperation for the truth for God that only he can provide.
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I mean, that's I don't know if you feel desperate every time
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you come on Sunday, but the reality is we are, whether we
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feel it or not without without him.
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You know what he provides. We got we got nothing.
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We got nothing without Jesus. And so truly we are totally
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dependent and desperate whether we realize whether our eyes are
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open to that or not. So y'all for the month of
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January, we've been taking one word at a time, really taking as
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our our springboard Isaiah 45 eight and this just this cry
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that Isaiah writes, the prophet writes that resonated with my
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heart. I hope it does yours shower, O
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heavens from above, let it rain down righteousness or that
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righteousness and salvation may bear fruit, may spring up.
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I the Lord have created. We're wanting righteousness to
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reign and grow and sprout up salvation and the righteousness
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of God in our city and church and community.
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So many things, practical things out of that righteousness.
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What that would look like. But we could name at least four,
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and we are. And walking through them one at
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a time each Sunday. And today we've landed on one
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that we're going to process. But we've been walking through
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kindness, gratitude, forgiveness, and hope.
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I don't know if y'all have noticed, but being offended,
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becoming offended has almost become like this national sport
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that everybody's chosen to play. You know what I'm talking about.
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I mean, human beings are trying to thrive more on the experience
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of being offended, I think than we ever have before.
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It's honestly actually a coping mechanism.
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It was what it really, really is.
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Because when we are offended, it it makes us feel good, at least
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temporarily. You know why?
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Because it makes us think we're we're better.
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We we elevate ourselves as as morally superior if we're the
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offended. And guess what?
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Who we lower, the one who's offended US.
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It's really just a coping mechanism to try to make
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ourselves feel better. One of the ways that human
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beings typically show offense is through the expression of anger.
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And my goodness, is our world not angry?
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I mean, just look around. I look at the news.
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My goodness, anger is everywhere.
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Anger's such an issue that it's become both a business and a
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recreation. Have y'all heard of rage rooms?
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Anybody. All right, so I guess I was in
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the dark. I had heard of escape rooms.
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I'd never heard of rage rooms. But if you just googled rage
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rooms Atlanta, you can find a rage room that'll fit your rage
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and your budget. In fact, you might choose the
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Anarchy package. 30 glass items, 5 pieces of electronic
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equipment. The baseball bat is
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complimentary. Maybe you got a tight budget.
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You can go for the fury package. That's 18 glass items and only
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two electronic devices. You can schedule your birthday
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party, your business retreat with your office workers, or
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your date night or whatever you want to do.
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You can go have a rage party and get your anger out for a price.
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My goodness, I mean, anger has become business and recreation.
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We live in an angry world. We live in a world that more
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easily offended than ever. But the deal is as natural and
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as easy as offense and anger come to us.
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The deal is, is that Jesus offers a distinctly different,
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supernatural, radically different way to live, a
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radically better way to live. In fact, let me put it in these
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words. If there was one thing you could
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do that would make you more like your Heavenly Father than
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anything else, what would it be? If there was one thing you
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failed to do that would cause you to be doomed, honestly, more
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than anything else you could fail to do that would lead to
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your doom, what would it? What would it be?
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It's this thing called forgiveness.
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If you have your notes, you want to follow along in your worship
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guide or you can see on the screen there.
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The first thing that I want to tell you about forgiveness is
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simply this. Forgiveness is what we all need
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most. Forgiveness is what we all need
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most. You and I.
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You and I and every single human being have sinned and offended
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God. This is what we see Adam and Eve
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doing in the very beginning. This is what you've done also.
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This is what I've done. This is what every human being
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that's ever lived on the planet has done.
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We've sinned against and offended a holy God, which means
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we've not just offended God. It means our sin has caused us,
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the Bible says, to fall short of the glory of God.
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That itself separates us from God.
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It causes us to deserve the righteous judgement of God and
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that our sin actually will lead to our physical and spiritual
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death if nothing is done about it.
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It is bad. It is worse than you could
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imagine. It is not just bad.
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There's no words to really tell, to really communicate how bad
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our sin and the number one problem it is in our lives.
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It's that bad. But here's the deal.
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You're probably here this morning.
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You may be watching online. And if you're being honest, you
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might just say, Kyle, I'm just not convinced my sin is that
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bad. Like, I really, I'm really not.
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In fact, Kyle, I'm a pretty good person.
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I've not done a lot of things a lot of people have done.
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In fact, maybe maybe you're convinced it's going to roll
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something like this. Maybe you think when you breathe
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your last and you get to heaven or at the gates of heaven, or
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you're going to encounter God because you believe in God.
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You believe it's going to roll something like this.
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You believe God's going to wheel out this giant set of scales and
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on one side he's going to weigh your righteousness, all the good
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that you've done. And on the other side he's going
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to weigh your your sin. And you're pretty convinced,
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like you've evaluated your life and you're you're pretty
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confident you've got a whole lot more good on the righteous side
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of the scale than you have bad on the unrighteous side of the
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scale. And so if you're being really
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honest, you just really don't believe forgiveness is your
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number one need. You really don't.
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You don't really believe it's that bad.
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Let me let me prove you wrong. Listen to the word of God, James
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210 for whoever keeps the whole law, that's the whole law of
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God. That's that's all the commands
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of God, but fails in one point has become accountable for how
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much of it break one part of it, the Bible says, and it's as if
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you're guilty of it. This is not Kyle.
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This is Bible Romans 323 For how many have sinned and broken at
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least one part of the law and are guilty of all of it, whether
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they've actually broken all of it or just one part of it.
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How many have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God?
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All have. And then Romans 623 for the
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wages of sin is for how many? Because how many have sinned?
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All Isaiah 64, Six. Our righteousness is as filthy
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rags. Here's what the Bible says.
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You may think you got a lot of righteousness waiting for heaven
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to be weighed on the scales of God when the Bible will tell you
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long before you see Jesus. Then listen, your best deed on
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your best day without Jesus and without the Holy Spirit is
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filthy rags in the eyes of God. You and I actually have no
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righteousness to even weigh on the scales of heaven.
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Consider that Hebrews 922. Then consider this, Without the
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shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins when it
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comes to your eternal destiny. The Bible never ever, ever
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speaks of scales of any type. Do you know what the Bible
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speaks of? Blood without the shedding of
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blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.
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The Bible speaks of blood this way.
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The blood of the one and only son of the living God could do
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anything about your sin and mine.
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And the only way when we get to heaven, because when we get to
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heaven, even if, even if you only have one teeny tiny itsy
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bitsy sin, it's enough to break the whole law of God and stand
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accountable and guilty for it all.
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And if you can actually never put even a teeny tiny ounce of
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righteousness on the good side, the only hope you have is that
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your sin has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus who took on
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human flesh, lived a sinless life for you in your place, died
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on the cross for your sin, shed his blood so you can be forgiven
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of your sin. When the Bible speaks of your
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eternal destiny, it asks the question whether or not you've
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been covered by the blood of Jesus.
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Period. And the only way you've been
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covered by the blood of Jesus is if you've called out and asked
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to be covered. It's not because your parents
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were covered. It's not because your uncle was
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covered. It's because you've asked to be
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covered and forgiven, and you've surrendered to Jesus as the one
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and only way of salvation, and you stand forgiven because of
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his blood. Is that you?
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Is that you? There's no scales.
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We've all broken God's law. Is there the application of the
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blood of Jesus in your life because you've called and asked
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for it? If you've not, it's time to ask.
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The Bible says if you call on the name of the Lord, you'll be
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saved. Saved means forgiven.
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Saved means rescued from what you deserve.
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Saved means made alive and given the hope and confidence of being
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with the one who made you forever.
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Forgiveness, y'all is our number one need.
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It's what we need most #2 forgiveness is what God wants to
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give us. See, this is another, this is
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another thing that you may struggle to believe.
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You actually may believe. Well, you may think, well Kyle,
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I actually believe I need forgiveness.
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I just really don't believe God wants to give it to me, or at
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least I don't deserve it. And you're right about that, but
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you may be, you're wrong if you don't believe God wants to give
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it to you. I want to prove you prove you
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wrong. If you think God doesn't want to
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give it to you, you're ready. This is if you have a Bible,
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Luke 15 is where I am. We're going to do 2 primary
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passages. You know this probably if
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you've, if you've, if you're familiar with Luke's gospel, you
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know this story, you may have heard it.
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If, if you're not familiar with it, that's OK.
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This is 1 you need to know. All right, so Jesus is catching
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flak from the religious elite because he's hanging out with
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sinful people that society says should not be hung out with.
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Like these are people known for their sinful reputation and
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Jesus is befriending these people and spending time with
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them. All right, he's catching Flack
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for that. And what he knows is the people
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that are accusing him of hanging out with sinful people, which he
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is doing, but thinking it's wrong.
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They think it's wrong because they're fundamentally
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misunderstanding God. They don't understand the
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character and the nature of God. So Jesus says, hey, y'all, let
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me tell you 3 stories to tell you the truth about God.
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All right, you know these stories and maybe the third one
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is the most popular. It, it's been, it's been called
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the parable of the prodigal son. It could be more accurately
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called the prodigal of the unforgiving older brother, but
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we're not actually going to read that part because it also could
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be called the parable of the forgiving father.
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And that's the part we're going to read.
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All right, pick up, let's just pick up in verse 11.
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And he said, that's Jesus said there was a man who had two sons
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and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the
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share of property that is coming to me.
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What you need to know is that's like the son looking at the
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father saying, Dad, I wish you were already dead so I can have
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your stuff. All right.
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So if you're not going to die, then just go and give me the
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stuff so I can do with it what I want.
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And the father divided his property between them.
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Not many days later, the youngest son, younger son
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gathered all that he had took a journey into a far country.
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And there he squandered his property and reckless US living.
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And when he had spent everything, a severe famine
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arose in that country, and he began to be in need.
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So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that
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country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
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And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate.
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And no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he
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said, How many of my father's hired servants have more than
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enough to eat? But I perish here with hunger.
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I will arise and go to my father.
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And I will say to him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and
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before you. I'm no longer worthy to be
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called your son. Treat me as one of your hired
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servants. And he rose and came to his
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father. But while he was still a long
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way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and
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embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father,
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I've sinned against heaven, and before you I'm no longer worthy
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to be called your son. But the father said to his
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servants, bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put
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a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring the fatted
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calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.
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For this my son was dead and is alive again.
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He was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate.
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What is the Father like? Does God want to give sinners
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forgiveness? Here's the deal.
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You and I have all been just like in some ways, to some
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degree, this younger, rebellious son.
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You know why? Because we've all received from
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God incredible things, life, breath in our lungs, the clothes
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on our back, the roofs over our head, the ability to be here
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this morning and worship freedom.
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We, I mean, we could just keep working the list.
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Every single one of us have received incredible gifts and
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blessings and good things that we could have never earned or
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worked for or produced for ourselves unless they were
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provided by God. But here's what happened.
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Just like this rebel son, we've taken these things from God,
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even the simplest things, and run off and done life our way
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instead of God's way to 1° or another.
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We've taken what God has given us and used it for our wants and
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our pleasures and our purposes instead of God's purposes and
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his pleasure. And perhaps if we've had this,
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you know, Eureka moment where we've come to our senses like he
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did while feeding pigs, we've realized, wow, this is a pretty
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miserable way to live. Well, all this stuff in the
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world can't satisfy me. Guess what?
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No matter. Pleasure can actually give me
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hope. Nothing can take away this
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gnawing emptiness in my soul. There's got to be a better way
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to live. There's got to be a home
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somewhere providing life that I'm missing.
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So we look for it. We maybe don't know the way, or
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maybe we know the way and we're too hard hearted to go back.
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But this younger son wakes up. He knows he doesn't deserve the
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mercy of God. See, if you've realized no
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longer that you no longer want to live the way you've been
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living away from God, but you may also hopefully have the
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realization you don't deserve the mercy of God.
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We don't receive. We don't deserve the forgiveness
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of God. This son realized I don't
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deserve to be received back into the family where I was, but he
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knew he'd be better off. And so like this son, the last
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thing we know, the last thing we do know is that we don't deserve
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to be forgiven and restored. But what is God like?
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What is God like? Does God want to forgive?
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Jesus says My heavenly Father loves to welcome sinners home.
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My the father, spiritually elite, those of you who think
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you're better than everybody else.
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Jesus says my father is like the man standing on the porch
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waiting and looking to show compassion, longing for them to
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come home. And he doesn't just wait there,
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letting them walk to him in shame.
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Guess what he does? Pulls up his robe and sprints
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towards lost people. My father.
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Jesus says y'all got him all wrong.
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He runs after these kind of people because he longs to give
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forgiveness to these kind of people who need it.
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Y'all have totally misunderstood God.
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He wants to be with us and He wants us to be with Him.
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He wants to sacrifice the fattened calf for our provision
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to give us everything. He wants to satisfy us.
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He wants to robe us with the righteousness of Christ.
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He wants to identify us with a ring of His signature on our
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hand. He wants to celebrate over us
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and rejoice in heaven over a lost person that's been saved.
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No, you don't deserve the forgiveness of God, but God
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wants to give it to you. Have you realized that that
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forgiveness is what you need most?
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Forgiveness is what God wants to give.
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Have you called and asked for it #3 Forgiveness is also what God
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asked of us. Forgiveness is what God also
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asked of us. Let me, let me read the word of
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God to you. Matthew 57 Blessed are the
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merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
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Matthew 614 gets more specific. For if you forgive others their
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trespasses, that's their sin. Your heavenly Father will also
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forgive you. But if you do not forgive others
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their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
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trespasses. Ephesians 432 And be kind to one
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another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as
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God in Christ has forgiven you. One more Colossians 313 bearing
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with one another and forgiving each other, whoever has a
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complaint against anyone. Just as the Lord, just as the
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Lord, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
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You see, when God asks us or commands us to forgive, what is
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He asking us to do? Let's be very clear.
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Let's try to be specific and practical.
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When God is asking us to forgive, what is He asking us to
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do? All right, well, when we
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forgive, here's what we're saying.
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Let's just kind of walk this out.
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We're saying we're not going to remain angry or desire vengeance
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for being wronged. We're no longer going to remain
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angry or desire vengeance. What we're saying is we're not
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going to blame the other person or wallow in self pity for what
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they've done to us. It means we're going to let go
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of the offense. We're going to move forward and
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past it. We're not going to hang on to
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it. Let me give you as a specific
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and clear and practical definition of forgiveness, I
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think I can. Forgiveness is releasing someone
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from your anger and gifting them with the gift of your peace.
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It's releasing someone from your anger and all that comes with
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that, and it is gifting them with the gift of your peace.
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Now listen, I did not say, and the Bible does not say
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forgiveness is forgetting because guess what?
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You're probably not going to forget.
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The Bible also does not say that forgiveness means completely
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trusting again, because you may not need to.
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Forgiveness does not mean that the relationship will go back
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just to the way it was, because it may not.
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Forgiveness does that mean if you give it, somebody will
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receive it. They may not.
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Forgiveness simply means that you're letting go of the right
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to vengeance and being offended and angry and you're offering
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them peace and a way of moving forward because that's what God
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has done for you. He has let go of his anger and
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his wrath and what we deserved and offered us a relationship, a
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right relationship through Jesus of.
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Peace. This is forgiveness.
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This is a character trait of God.
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We, you and I, are never more like God than when we are
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offering the gift of forgiveness.
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This is the gift we've received. This is the gift God calls us to
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give to one another. But you know what?
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Something often happens that Matthew chapter 18 describes.
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I want you to turn back to the first gospel and to go to
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Matthew 18, and we're going to start at verse 21.
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God asked us to forgive because He's forgiven us.
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But here's what so often happens.
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Jesus tells this parable beginning in verse 21.
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Then Peter came up and said to him, Lord, how often will my
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brother sin against me? And I forgive him?
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As many as seven times. Jesus said to him, I do not say
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to you 7 times, but 77 times. Therefore the Kingdom of heaven
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may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with
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his servants. And when he began to settle, one
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was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents.
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And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold,
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and his wife and children and all that he had, and payment be
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made. So the servant fell on his
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knees, imploring him, Have patience with me, and I'll pay
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you everything. And out of pity for him, the
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master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
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But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow
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servants who owed him 100 Dinarai, and seizing him, began
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to choke him, saying, Pay what you owe.
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So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, Have
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patience with me, and I'll pay you.
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He refused, and went and put him in prison until he should pay
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the debt. And when his fellow servant saw
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what had taken place, they were greatly distressed.
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They went and reported to their master all that had taken place.
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And then his master summoned him, and said to him, You wicked
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servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with
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me. And should not you have had
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mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you?
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And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers
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until he should pay all his debt.
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So also, my Heavenly Father will do to everyone of you if you do
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not forgive your brother from your heart.
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The servant who owed the master 10,000 talents owed the
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equivalent of billions and billions of dollars that could
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never have been repaid in multiple lifetimes.
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He realized his debt was such that he was totally and
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completely dependent on the mercy of the master.
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He pleads he's going to lose everything.
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He deserves nothing, and yet in mercy the Master grants him his
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request, a full and complete pardon.
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Do you realize if you're a follower of Jesus, the Master
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has heard your cry for mercy because you've called on the
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name of Jesus, and you've received not because you
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deserved it, but because of his mercy and love.
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Complete and full pardon. But that servant, who is
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forgiven an impossible debt to repay, leaves and goes out and
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finds someone who owes him the tiniest fraction of what he had
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owed the master, and immediately demanding payment on the spot,
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choking and getting physically violent with him, and refusing
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to pass on the mercy he had just received, demands immediate
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payment for the debt that he is owed.
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The question is, who does that? What kind of moral monster would
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refuse to pass on such incomprehensible mercy?
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They can't even explain that they've received though that now
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they're living in, and yet refuse to pass it on.
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Who does that? This is just hypothetical, of
24:14
course. I'm just guessing.
24:16
But if I were driving home after committing a capital crime,
24:19
which to my knowledge I never have, all right.
24:22
But if I had, and if I was driving home a free man, having
24:26
been pardoned and forgiven, I don't think I'd have a problem
24:29
with anybody, including you, cutting me off in traffic on my
24:32
way home that day. I'm like anybody else.
24:37
I'm good. I you know, I'll go 10 below the
24:40
speed limit. Y'all just cut in on me.
24:41
Y'all have your way. I've been forgiven and set free.
24:44
I have life I don't deserve. Why don't y'all just cut me off
24:47
in traffic? Because this doesn't matter.
24:49
It's not a hill of beans compared to what I've been
24:51
given. I'm guessing I wouldn't yell.
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I'm guessing that if I was on death row and I had been
25:04
extended mercy by a judge, then when I came home that day, no
25:09
matter what what my spouse, by the way, I'm not actually
25:15
thinking of any scenario here, Lauren.
25:16
So just just go with me. If my spouse maybe did that,
25:22
which which he didn't really have anything that aggravates me
25:24
that bad. Anyway, I'm just going, I'm just
25:25
going to do this if you if if you let me go to you instead of
25:28
me. All right.
25:29
If if you had committed murder and you've been extended mercy
25:33
by the judge and you're going home and your spouse does that
25:36
thing which aggravates you like to the nines that you've asked
25:39
them never to do again. I'm guessing you wouldn't yell
25:41
at them that day when you just got pardoned for murder.
25:46
Even if they put the toilet roll on backwards or didn't fold the
25:49
clothes while the dryer was still hot or didn't it didn't,
25:52
you know, empty the dishwash? I mean, it probably wouldn't
25:55
matter. You're alive.
26:00
You deserve to die. You're alive, right?
26:08
How could you not pass it on? You see, if we truly live in the
26:13
reality of the forgiveness we've been given, we can't help but
26:17
give it to others. And the truth is, if we're not
26:18
passing it on, here's the truth. We really haven't realized how
26:22
much we've been forgiven. Follower of Christ, listen to
26:27
me, anybody who offends you, you've got to remember you've
26:33
offended a holy God 1000 times more.
26:38
You've offended a holy God infinitely more than anybody
26:42
will ever be capable of offending you.
26:47
You see, as believers, we need to be reminded that we've
26:50
actually all been exposed publicly for who we actually
26:54
are. Now, I know you may be like
26:56
Kyle. What in the world are you
26:57
talking about? I don't know that I've been
26:58
exposed. Oh, you have been and I have
27:00
been too. Do you know when you were
27:02
exposed for who you are? And do you know when I was
27:04
exposed for who I am? It happened 2000 years ago on a
27:10
hill called Calvary where there was a man that was stripped of
27:14
his clothing and on his back was laid across and his back was
27:20
ripped to shreds and his brow was forced and penetrated with
27:24
the crown of thorns. He was spat upon and he was
27:27
beaten and he was spiked to a tree and hung there in your
27:31
place and mine because of your sin and mine publicly exposing
27:36
us for who we are and what we've done against the Holy God.
27:39
But Jesus took the exposure in our place, shed his blood where
27:45
ours should have been shed. But even our blood couldn't have
27:47
forgiven our sin because it wasn't perfect blood.
27:49
It wasn't a sinless life that Jesus had lived as the perfect
27:52
sinless Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world.
27:56
When Jesus exposed our sin, it was World News and it changed
27:59
all of history. It can change your eternity if
28:02
you realize you've been exposed for who you are and you need the
28:05
blood of Jesus to forgive you. And you can only be forgiven by
28:08
the blood. You've called on Jesus to save
28:10
you, and now you're free to pass it on to others because Jesus
28:13
has paid it all for you. When you take all that in, you
28:21
can't help but be joyful and overwhelmingly grateful.
28:25
You see, really, Here's the deal.
28:27
Gratitude and anger cannot simultaneously coexist.
28:31
It's one or the other. Gratitude and anger can't
28:35
simultaneously coexist. It's going to be 1 or it's going
28:40
to be the other. A man had a surfboard and his
28:44
wife loaned it to some friends of his.
28:48
They used it and they broke it. He had a choice.
28:54
He could forgive the friends who broke his surfboard and take the
28:58
hit, or refuse to forgive and try to make them pay.
29:01
Either way, someone pays, right? You see, whenever there's an
29:07
injury to a relationship or a hurt or a broken heart or a
29:10
broken object, and you're willing or I'm willing to say I
29:14
forgive, what we're saying is I've got this, I'll pay this
29:18
debt, I'll pick up the bill for this.
29:22
And we can because we are reminded that the cross stands
29:27
forever as a reminder that who picked up the bill for us?
29:32
Who paid the debt? What Jesus did.
29:39
So how could anyone owe me anything when somebody else has
29:44
paid everything for me? You see, we actually don't
29:51
forgive because anyone deserves it from us.
29:56
We forgive because we didn't deserve it.
29:59
We actually forgive because God deserves it, because he's paid
30:04
it all. Forgiveness is what God asked of
30:08
us. Let me give you one more 4th and
30:10
final thing. Forgiveness is hard y'all, but
30:14
unforgiveness is harder. Forgiveness is hard, but
30:18
unforgiveness is harder. If you look back at Matthew 18,
30:22
look at verse 21. I think Peter like thought he
30:24
had a really good idea here as he often thought he did.
30:29
Hey Jesus question, how often do you want me to forgive?
30:35
I feel like I got a great standard to offer.
30:38
Are you good if I forgive 7 times?
30:43
You know God, that's the number of completion.
30:48
Surely that surely that's going to cut it.
30:50
To which Jesus says try again. Let me let me do something to
30:57
your math. Let's multiply 70 times, said,
31:03
Hey Peter, when it comes to forgiveness, I don't want you
31:07
doing math. Math and forgiveness Don't,
31:13
don't, don't add up that no, it doesn't work like that.
31:19
Peter is saying to Jesus, but Jesus, forgiveness is hard,
31:24
right? Forgiveness is hard.
31:27
Surely I don't have to do it infinitely, but according to
31:32
Jesus I wanted, I want us to read verse 31 through 35 again
31:36
and I want to read it with you asking and answering this
31:39
question. Which one is harder according to
31:42
Jesus, to forgive or to not forgive?
31:47
Listen to what Jesus has to say again and and try to read it or
31:50
hear it. Answering this question.
31:51
Jesus says when his fellow servants in the parable Saul
31:56
would have taken place, they were greatly distressed and they
32:00
went and reported to their master all that had taken place.
32:03
And then the master summoned him and said to him, You wicked
32:06
servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with
32:10
me. And should not you have had
32:12
mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you?
32:15
And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers
32:18
until he should pay all his debt.
32:19
So also my heavenly Father will do to everyone of you, if you do
32:22
not forgive your brother from your heart, which one does Jesus
32:25
say is actually harder? Forgiving or not forgiving?
32:32
Not forgiving? That sounds way worse without
32:37
even getting into the details in today's sermon because we don't
32:40
have time of what all he just said.
32:42
But it's obvious unforgiveness is way worse than the difficulty
32:47
or pain of choosing to forgive. Let's just break down what
32:53
unforgiveness sometimes leads us to do the difficult things.
32:56
Not just difficult, but deadly things we often do.
32:59
Because taking offense and remaining offended and refusing
33:02
to forgive and let go of our anger often leads us to do
33:05
things like this. Quitting a job or ending a
33:10
friendship or dissolving a marriage, or not speaking to a
33:16
family member for years, or avoiding specific people we
33:22
don't want to see or run into or interact with or move and change
33:26
addresses or change churches. That doesn't even mention the
33:33
discipline of God that Jesus brings up in the text, which we
33:36
don't need time to get into. But I'm it would be way worse
33:40
than what I just named. One pastor said this.
33:44
In my many years of pastoral experience, he says, I found
33:47
that Christians who lack joy, power and usefulness in their
33:52
walk often is because of unforgiveness.
33:56
God withholds blessings because of their bitter, grudge filled,
34:00
stubborn heart. So you know what is so much
34:03
better? What's so much better is
34:05
surrendering control to God. What is so much better is when
34:09
you actually believe God when he says don't take avenge revenge
34:13
for yourself, but leave vengeance to me, for vengeance
34:16
is mine. God says.
34:17
What's so much better is when you realize Jesus is paid at
34:20
all. You've already won.
34:21
You've got nothing to prove no matter what happens when you
34:25
understand it's not ultimately about you and you don't have to
34:28
take everything personally when you can let stuff go.
34:31
When you realize God hasn't called you to 24/7 jury duty and
34:34
you realize you're not called to rehearse every line of that
34:37
someone has said to you that hurt you all night long so you
34:39
don't go to sleep. Unforgiveness is so much harder,
34:47
so much harder. And again, like we brought up,
34:50
Jesus says I got a radically better, distinctly different way
34:54
to live. All you who are weary and heavy
34:59
laden, come to me and I'll give you just I got a way for you to
35:06
live. It's radically, radically
35:10
different and better. We ought to practice forgiveness
35:14
every time we get a chance. Let me tell you where you ought
35:17
to practice. You should forgive in big and
35:20
small ways, but you can practice in the small ways so you can
35:22
work up to the big ways. All right, Every time you get
35:26
behind the steering wheel, you need to prepare to practice
35:31
forgiveness. Like, I'm serious, this is
35:33
highly practical. In fact, if you just want to
35:35
write something like on a 3 by 5 card and put it on your dash and
35:38
give you some clear tape, practice forgiveness.
35:42
Because you drive a half a mile, you're probably going to need to
35:45
practice forgiveness. Practice in the small ways.
35:51
You'll be ready in the big ways. There was once a pastor before
35:57
the days of the Internet who used to avail himself of
36:02
magazines. He should not look at his wife
36:08
was out of town. He pulled them out of hiding and
36:14
after looking at these he was sick, humiliated, ashamed again
36:19
of what he had done, knew he was doing what he was doing was
36:21
wrong, just did it anyway. He made the decision, I'm done
36:26
putting my, I'm putting my foot down.
36:28
I'm sick and tired of this. Boxed them all up.
36:31
Marched down the steps of his apartment to the dumpster at the
36:34
base of the apartment. Dumped all the magazines in the
36:36
dumpster. His wife still had a day or two
36:40
before she came home. About two hours after he dumped
36:43
all his magazines, he decided he wanted to go back and get them.
36:49
So he did. Went back down the steps,
36:54
reached in, reached a little too far, leaned over, fell in the
36:56
dumpster, broke his arm, stuck in the dumpster, couldn't get
37:00
out. You know where his wife found
37:03
him? In the dumpster.
37:10
That dumpster pastor, is all of us.
37:14
We've all sinned. We've all tried to get out of
37:18
our sin. We've all may have even tried to
37:22
get rid of it, take it out, out with the trash.
37:24
But guess what? We've all done.
37:25
We've all gone right back to our sin.
37:28
We're all so deep in it on our own and broken.
37:31
We can't get out of it. Not unless somebody else, by the
37:36
power that only God can offer to change us from the inside out
37:41
and set us free, can do anything about our sin.
37:46
That goes for the unbeliever who's never called out for
37:48
forgiveness of God. That goes for the believer who
37:50
still struggles against sin in their life.
37:52
Only Jesus is the answer. Only letting His Word by the
37:56
Spirit do the work in you. Does He pull us out By the way?
38:00
He wants to pull us out, but you got to realize you're in the
38:06
dumpster so you can say yes to Him pulling you out.
38:11
And then you know what? When you realize you've been in
38:13
the dumpster, you don't lose your mind when you find other
38:18
people in the dumpster, right? When you realize that's where
38:23
God found you. When pastor said this, what
38:29
would it be like to be a part of a Church of people who realized
38:33
they were nothing but dumpster pastors?
38:36
People who knew they were not just sinners, but sinners caught
38:38
red handed against God. There lies exposed, then there's
38:43
sin forgiven and then set free. That would be a fun, free and
38:48
joyous church to realize every day just how much we've been
38:55
forgiven by a holy God. When you realize that it cannot
38:59
help, you will not be able to help.
39:01
But live different and pass it on.
39:06
John and praise team are going to come out.
39:08
Here's what I want to ask you this morning.
39:10
Number one, have you received forgiveness from Jesus?
39:17
Have you realized you're in the dumpster?
39:19
Have you realized you cannot crawl out on your own?
39:23
Have you called out to Jesus to save you?
39:26
As we sing? I'm going to stand here
39:28
forgiveness. If that's you and you never
39:30
have, that's what you need most. Would you be willing to come
39:33
talk to me? I'd love to walk you through
39:35
what calling out to Christ would look like.
39:38
I'm not going to embarrass you. I'm not going to make you do
39:40
anything you don't want to do. You can call out to Christ right
39:42
where you are, but if you'd like to talk with me, I'm going to
39:45
stand right here. Maybe you're here and you say,
39:49
Kyle, I know that Jesus has forgiven me, but I am not giving
39:53
forgiveness to someone else. And I've realized that's really
39:59
a terrible way to live. You know you've heard it said
40:03
that, right? Refusing to forgive is like
40:05
taking poison and expecting the other person to die.
40:11
It doesn't work. It doesn't work.
40:20
Jesus says, come to me, say Kyle, I can't.
40:24
I don't want to let go. Well, sometimes what you can't
40:30
do, what you think you can't do if you'll just think of it this
40:32
way, if I I'm just going to give it to Jesus, he'll do what only
40:35
he can do, which may mean help you forgive or you think you
40:39
can't. That life you may have never
40:43
imagined life different than the way it's been because you've
40:46
just always thought it's going to be this way and it doesn't
40:49
have to be. Jesus says I came that you may
40:53
have life and have it to the to the full to the full.
40:59
So you might need to get on your knees.
41:00
You might need to come stand. You might need to pray, you
41:03
might need to get on your knees where you are.
41:04
You might need to text somebody in the invitation.
41:06
You might need to go to somebody in the room.
41:08
But however God leads you just would you ask God, God, if
41:11
there's anything in me, anything I've not passed on that you've
41:14
paid for me that I'm refusing to pass on God, I don't live that
41:17
way any longer. Show me what I need to do so
41:20
that forgiveness flows through me that I'm living the way you
41:23
called me to live, that sets me free.
41:26
Amen Father, I pray Lord that you would allow us to be
41:31
reminded again in a fresh all consuming way of your mercy
41:35
you've given to us the God you would allow us to be conduits of
41:38
that mercy to others and forgiveness to set be set free
41:41
by the truth than the way you've called us to live in Jesus name
41:44
I pray Amen. Would you stand with me church
41:47
family, we're going to sing and worship.
41:48
I'm going to stand here. You come and you respond as the
41:51
Lord leads you this morning.