Apostles’ Creed - pt. 11

You can turn in your Bible to Acts Chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

We're almost finished with our series Going Through the

Apostles Creed. We will finish next week and

then I'm going on a cruise, Natalie and I and the boys will

be Yeah, you're going too, Hudson, remember?

So we're excited. We're looking forward to that.

But we have, we've talked a lot about the creed.

We've said what it is. We've said what it isn't, but

we've recognized how it's it's so solid, it's so simple, it's

so clear for Christian doctrine, what are the essentials?

There's plenty more beyond the creed that we could talk about.

But the creed helps us to see what is fundamental.

So the every believer should be able to come to the creed and

say yes, yes, yes, absolutely. I believe that.

I believe that. I believe that there's freedom

beyond that and other doctrines, but you can't take anything out

of the creed and then still have stable, solid Christian

doctrine. So we've been going through, I'm

going to read the creed to you. We will read it together at the

end of service or at the end of the message time, but I'm going

to read it. To you now.

I think I had my copy. I know I did.

Thanks, Alan. See, you don't know the Creed.

Well, I think I do, but I might not.

It's like, uhm, Natalie says anytime she's ever sung the

national anthem somewhere, she's like, I always have the words on

a tiny piece of paper in my hand, like you don't want to

have to need it, but if you do, you know this is how you don't

end up going. Viral for the wrong reason.

Like I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and

earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His

only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and

born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius

Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to hell. The third day he rose again from

the dead. He ascended to heaven and is

seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the

communion of Saints, and today the forgiveness of sins.

And then next week the resurrection of the body and the

life everlasting. Amen or Amen.

Or I don't know what kind of church we are.

Usually churches are consistent Amen churches or Amen churches.

I think we go back and forth because when we sing doxology,

it's Amen and then. What do we do when we do the

Lord's Prayer? And then we're Amen.

So we can't make up our mind. We're we're mutts.

That's why we're nondenominational.

We can't get the Amen or the Amen, right?

So you know, we're just, we're mutts right now.

It's okay though. So the forgiveness of sins, we

could call it some kind of a biggie, right?

The forgiveness of sins. What are we?

Without the forgiveness of sins, what hope is there for anybody,

anywhere? No one would even exist if there

wasn't the forgiveness of sins. This is a big part of our entire

story. God is forgiving.

Thank God for it. If God didn't forgive sins, what

hope could there be? None.

If God didn't forgive sins, Adam and Eve would have been killed

instantly and humanity would have ended with them.

The END. God would have been right to do

so, and he would have said, I created you.

You violated me and my will. The end.

And who would have raised a fist?

Who would have been able to object?

No, actually. Even if he had allowed them in a

court, what defense is there? You are guilty and God is holy.

So that's the end of it, except that God Forgives sins and we

believe in the forgiveness of sins.

So we're going to talk about forgiveness this morning.

But before we talk about forgiveness, even though in the

in the creed, in the statement we say the forgiveness of sins,

the forgiveness is very important.

We'll emphasize it appropriately.

And yet, there's something that has to be forgiven.

It's this first thing that has to happen for forgiveness to

even be an option. It's this first thing,

unfortunately, that takes place for glorious forgiveness to even

show up. And that first thing is sin.

So Romans 323 says, for all have sinned and fall short of the

glory of God. All have sinned and fall short

of the glory of God. This is the starting point of

forgiveness. Some wrong has been done that

makes forgiveness an option. This is part of the gospel.

This is not a part that we're supposed to leave out.

This is part of the gospel. The message is not.

The message of the gospel is not.

You're great and God will make you greater.

The message of the gospel is You're dead.

You're a slave to your sin, to your pride, to your selfishness.

To your greed. To your envy.

To your lust, To your rage. To your fear.

To your rebellion. That's the assumed starting

point for the gospel. So the gospel.

The gospel means good news. So a lot of times we would have

to say, hey, good news, God loves you well.

But sometimes the the listening audience doesn't know the first

part. Sometimes the listening audience

doesn't even know that they're a guilty party.

Sometimes the listening audience is clueless and they're just

going, God loves me. Of course he does.

Who wouldn't? I'm the best.

Like, I'm the great. I deserve it.

I'm worth it, you know. Oh, you need Jesus?

Do I? Yeah, he's super great.

OK. I guess I'll.

Put him as the cherry on top to my already incredible blessed

life. I'm already great as it is.

But this isn't the message of the gospel.

The message of the gospel always communicates the message of sin

along with it, so you have offended.

Your perfect creator and justice is required.

That's what we see throughout scripture.

We don't just see God saying, hey everybody, it's OK.

It doesn't matter. He's saying no, this is wrong.

This is horrific. Somebody has to die.

In Adam and Eve's case, God tore an animal.

He broke an animal's body and he covered Adam and Eve with the

skins of that animal. A temporary sacrifice, a

picture, a prophecy for the one who would come, the one who God

told them. Even in the garden he said that

the seed is going to come and he will actually crush the head of

Satan, although Satan will bruise his heel and he's

actually going to bring redemption for all mankind.

We must know that we are dead in our trespasses and our sins.

And you know this, Christians. Know this.

But this message is largely missing from gospel

presentations. A faithful believer knows that

and understands that. They know that.

They're constantly aware of their need for Jesus.

They're constantly aware of their need for grace.

A mature Christian is not a haughty person.

A mature Christian is is just the opposite.

A mature Christian is a humble person.

A mature Christian doesn't look down their nose at people in

their sin. A mature Christian is disgusted

by sin. A mature Christian that wants

nothing to do with sin. But a mature Christian also says

I want to pour in the grace, the healing, the oil and the wine

for that, For the that person. I want that person to be drawn

toward the goodness and kindness of God.

I want that person to repent of their sin.

So the idea in in a lot of Christian culture now is we'll

just tell people the good news because people, people already

feel bad about themselves. Well, maybe they do, maybe they

don't. However, I don't get to decide

what's best and what's right. I need to tell the truth of the

word of God and let the holy word of God actually be the

scalpel to provide the surgery that the Lord intended.

This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to tell people the truth,

the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Well, I just think that I might kind of turn them off.

Well, it's it's the truth, though.

So if they're turned off, it won't be by your personality, it

won't be by you raging against them.

We would err by just telling people about their sin and

leaving them there, right? That's not, that's not the whole

truth. And that's and that's what some

people have have made a caricature about what most

Christians do. You just tell you just beat

people down with their sin. You just beat people with the

Bible. I've known very, very, very,

very few Christians who live that way.

Very few. They do exist.

But I've known very few. It is the extreme minority in

the Western culture that we live in.

Is it to be? Should it be corrected?

Absolutely. We reject it.

It should be corrected. But the overwhelming majority of

believers that I've come in contact with, and the

overwhelming majority of Christian culture is firmly

planted over here on this side. God loves you.

He's got a wonderful plan for your life.

Awesome. What do I need to do?

Just ask Jesus into your heart. Okay.

Jesus, come into my heart. Save me.

Save me from what? Hell.

Oh, I don't want to go to hell. Jesus, Don't let me go to hell.

OK. You're saved.

Really. Yes.

Now what? Now you're just saved.

Like get in a church or don't, you know, read the Bible or

don't like you're saved, though. How do you know?

Because you said the thing that I told you to say.

You asked him into your heart, like he's got to be in there.

You ask, Do you believe? I think, Well then you're saved.

So is something missing here? What?

Is there some truth here? There's definitely some truth

here. There's definitely also some

truth here. But is it the whole story?

It's not. So.

We want to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the

truth. And through that, the ministry,

the Holy Spirit brings people clarity to understand the

forgiveness. Yes, forgiveness is glorious.

For what? For something tragic.

That's why forgiveness is so sweet.

The Saints of God know the sweetness of forgiveness.

Because we know the depth of our sin.

That's what the mature believer understands.

The mature believer goes, but for the grace of God.

When they see somebody caught in their sin, when they see

somebody lost in wickedness, they don't go ugh, how could

they? They go but for the grace of

God. That would be me.

Except for the kindness and mercy of God, that would be me.

So then they can go to that person with the whole truth.

Hey, you were lost in your sin. I say that with compassion and

love so that you would come out of it, so that you would come

into the light. Not to say Nanananana Boo Boo,

you're lost. And I'm not anymore.

You're an orphan and I'm a child.

That's not the message. The message is but it.

But it's still the whole truth. And how will they respond to

that? What if they reject me?

Well, who are you? Why would it matter if they

reject you? Will you love them enough to

tell them the truth? So when you turn a blind man,

and this is what this is, what a a person who doesn't know the

Lord. When you turn a blind man and

you face him towards the beautiful sunset, the problem is

he's still blind. That's what it's like when you

only tell someone God loves you and he wants you to ask him into

your heart. They just can't see it.

So you've shown them your your pointed look.

It's the sunset. It's glorious.

They don't. They can't relate.

They still can't see what you see.

They still can't understand. They don't see them.

The magnitude of grace. Why?

Because they don't understand where they are to begin with.

Like you. You got to go with me to the

promised land, And they're going.

I didn't know I wasn't in it. I didn't know I was in the

valley of the shadow of death. I didn't even recognize any of

that. But when you tell them the whole

truth, their eyes are first opened.

Hey, you're a Sinner in need of a savior.

I didn't know there was a righteous standard.

You're telling me there's an actual standard of holiness and

righteousness? Yeah, it's not.

It's not voted upon by the majority of people.

It's not based upon a social construct.

There's an actual standard of righteousness established.

There is such a thing as truth and absolute truth.

This is good and this is bad. This is righteous and this is

evil. That's what you're telling me

exactly. There's a standard, and you fall

far short of it. You've never fulfilled it

perfectly. There have been moments where

you did, but any time that you didn't, you're now guilty of all

of it. You're guilty, you're guilty,

and you sinned against God. This is unacceptable to him.

So in that moment their eyes are open.

But then we don't leave them there.

We say, hey, you should if that crushes you with despair and

fear, as it should. Now let me turn and show you

your eyes are open. But look at the glorious,

beautiful sunset. There's good news, and now they

can look and behold and go. You've got to be kidding me.

The depth of my sin. And he wants to forgive it.

Why? And you're going.

This is the crazy part. God really loves you.

He really loves you. And they're going now.

Now that's crazy, because before I thought I deserved it.

But now that I've seen my sin, and I've seen that darkness of

what? What I've done and who I am and

who he is. Now the sunset is glorious.

Now I'm transformed by it. Now I actually have hope.

Now I actually have gratitude. And I'm not asking Jesus into my

heart, but I'm bowing at his feet and worshipping at his

throne and calling him Lord and Master Jesus.

Just come in, I guess instead of worthy is the Lamb.

Whatever you say, you are my God, You are my Lord.

I'll follow you. You see the difference here and

that conversion experience. The person who would say Jesus

coming to my heart, what now versus the person who actually

is transformed. I think we've done a lot of

people a disservice by just leading them and convincing them

to say things and do things. Don't you believe that the Lord

can use that method in that mode?

Absolutely. And I think he has many times.

The Lord has saved many ways, always through Jesus.

The Lord has saved through many Ways and Means.

The Lord has saved people while they're lying in their bed at

night as their heart responds and faith to Him.

There's been many ways that he's done that, and there are many

more that I'll never know I'm sure.

However, in our in our eagerness to see people come into the

Kingdom, we've often made the mistake of, of breaking, of

making a formula so simple that even a caveman could do it.

However, the thing that's missed out on is actual the actual

conversion. Does this person actually love

the Lord now? Do they actually know him, or

were they just looking for this this supplement?

Do they actually understand that they needed a new life and a new

identity? Or were they just thinking,

yeah, I'm supposed to say the thing because hell sounds

terrible. That's not the same.

That's not what Jesus invited people into.

That's not what the New Testament writers and authors

were just inviting people into, not Hey, Hell's terrible.

So you really ought to join this team.

It's like the whole argument that Christians have made to

atheists and I've never thought it's a it's a good argument.

The argument is, hey, what if you're wrong?

So you ought to believe like, well, they can't just believe

with their brain. Like it's it's not a logical

thing that's going on. It's a heart thing that's going

on. So they can't just simply it's

like, hey, what if you're wrong? Maybe you should try this food.

It might be delicious. That's not the case.

What needs to happen is the Holy Spirit has to break in as the

Word of God is ministered. Because the Holy Spirit travels,

faith travels with the word of God.

That is what is sharper than any two edged sword to divide

between a person's soul and their spirit, to clarify, to

open up their heart. And then and then in that moment

they choose. They do decide.

They do select. I will harden my heart, gnash my

teeth. Or I'll soften and go, What must

I do to be saved? But we must give.

We must love people enough to give them that opportunity and

to explain that in a way that they can actually have their

eyes opened, so that then they can actually see the glory of

His grace and why it's a big deal.

Throughout the book of Acts, sermons are preached as sermons

are preached, and as people are taught, sin and repentance are a

part of the message. They just travel with it

constantly. So you're in Acts chapter 8,

Acts 8 · chapter mention

right? Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

We're looking in the 1st, 9:00, but there was a man named Simon.

So the church is expanding, The church is growing.

The gospel is expanding throughout the region.

There's a man named Simon who had previously practiced magic

in the city and amazed people, amazed the people in Samaria,

saying that he himself was somebody great.

They all paid attention to him from the least to the greatest,

saying, this man is the power of God that is called great, and

they paid attention to him. Because for a long.

He had amazed them with his magic.

This person likely likely was operating in real power.

The question is whose power so supernatural power.

We see Moses. We see Pharaoh's magicians did

the similar things that Moses did.

You know they Moses throws his. Staff down and what happens

turns into a snake and Pharaoh goes big deal.

Watch this And and the two magicians, they say we can throw

our staff down too. And what happened?

It turned into a snake. Why?

How? Well Satan has some limited

power. Clearly.

Apparently. Obviously.

Now don't forget how it ends Moses, a snake eats those two

snakes. So the Lord said.

I won't be out telling. In any circumstance, in any

case. So.

So there are degrees, there's sleight of hand, there's, you

know, there's magic, there's card tricks that aren't actually

magic, and then there's supernatural manifestations

where people are, you know, through demonic power.

I don't know. I guess demons are just like

holding the person up and then they put the Ring of Fire around

them. I don't know, there's there's

all kinds of a range of things that could be happening there.

But the point is, this man was likely operating with demonic

powers and amazing people and impressing people, and he's

gotten a lot of money from this the the least to the greatest.

We're all amazed by him. Verse 12.

But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news about

the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were

baptized both men and women. So we already know that.

The message. Of the gospel that they were

preaching showed repentance because that's what baptism is

showing as well. What's this?

What's this whole get us wet thing?

It's not a get you wet thing. It's showing that you were dead,

buried, and the Lord raised you up.

So we know that the gospel message was continually one of

repent. For the Kingdom of God is at

hand, like Jesus, like John the Baptist, like the rest of the

apostles. Verse 13.

Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized, he

continued with Philip. Praise God, this man has been

rescued, this man has been redeemed.

He's he says. I believe.

I believe. And then he gets baptized.

So what's that? He's it's a sign of obedience.

He's walking after the Lord. This is a new believer, some

would say a baby Christian, but he's walking towards the Lord.

He loves the Lord and and he continued with Philip and seeing

signs and great miracles performed.

He was amazed. So now even though the the

magician who's done some tricks, he's had some stuff up his

sleeve who's who's experienced. Supernatural power.

Before he's going, now I'm seeing greater things.

Now I'm seeing something pure verse 14.

So what happened here? Now when the apostles of

Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they

sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them

that they might receive the holy.

People who had come to Christ. We've talked about this before,

multiple occasions in the book of Acts.

It's explicitly plain these people have responded to Christ.

They have become born again and now.

Separate occurrence. Separate occasion.

Hey, they're they're believers. We got to make sure that they're

filled with the Holy Spirit as well.

Let's send, let's send the Holy Spirit team.

Let's send Peter and John to go see them filled with the Holy

Spirit. Verse 16.

For he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been

baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

Could it get any more playing? They have been baptized into the

name of the Lord Jesus, but yet the Holy Spirit had not yet

fallen upon any of them. Okay so.

Verse 17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received

the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the

Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles hands,

he offered them money saying give me this power also.

So apparently something happened when the when these people were

filled with the Holy Spirit. It wasn't just a you received

the Holy Spirit and they go, thank you, I'll take your word

for it. Have a good day.

Apparently there was something. That this guy who had already

been seeing works of power in his own demonic life, now as a

believer has been seeing works of power in his Christian life,

now has seen people fill with the Holy Spirit.

He's going OK, let me pay you like I want to be a part of

this. Let me have some of this power.

From what I've just seen, something different happened.

Something powerful took place. Give me this power also in verse

19. Give me this power also, so that

anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.

And here's how Peter gently corrects this new believer in

Christ. But Peter said unto him, May

your silver perish with you, because you thought you could

obtain the gift of God with money.

You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is

not right before God. Repent, therefore, this

wickedness of yours. And pray to the Lord that, if

possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiving you, for

I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of

iniquity. And Simon answered.

Pray for me to the Lord that nothing of what you have said

may come upon me. Thank God for Simon.

We believe in the forgiveness of sins.

I like what Simon didn't say here.

He didn't say whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't come at me like that.

I'm going to go up the road. There's another church where

they'll be nicer to me. I can't believe you would talk

to me that way. You're not a good pastor.

You're not a good Christian. That wasn't a very.

That wasn't nice. It's not what you said, it's the

way you said it. Did you have to come at me like

that? But no.

What? What was the message here?

Repent. Repent.

Repent. For the non believer and even

the believers, repentance is a regular part of the Christian

life. And ongoing repentance.

Whenever I grieve the Holy Spirit, he goes, hey, it's not

who you are. And that's definitely not who I

am. That's my opportunity.

I've missed the mark again. There, now there's a there's a

there's a spectrum there of missing the mark.

Right there, there. There's some things are worse

than others. But all lead me to the place

where I'm guilty. All bring me to this place where

I'm doomed. So we see that throughout the

scriptures, forgiveness, repentance, This is a regular

part of the Christian life. We have often erred on the side

of niceness. I teach my boys all the time.

I don't want you to be nice. I want you to be good.

Because why do you say that, Joe Michael?

Because niceness implies that I My motive is always to be a

people pleaser. Just be nice.

Well, a good person will seek to be kind and to be gentle.

Those are fruits of the spirit. But nice is not a fruit of the

spirit. Nice is.

I want to please you and I don't want any discomfort.

Nice is I will do whatever it takes to avoid any degree of

friction. Good is.

I'll tell you the truth. Peter is being good to Simon.

He wasn't nice to Simon that day.

Simon didn't go. That was the nicest thing

anyone's ever said to me. Your money perish with you?

No. But it was a good thing that he

said. Why?

Because he felt the weight of his sin.

He wasn't like Simon. Come here, buddy.

Wrong question, my man. You know, like you got a lot of

growing to do. Just stick around.

You can't purchase the power of God.

Why didn't Peter do that? Because Peter wasn't being nice.

Peter saw the way to what was happening in Simon's heart.

He's going. You better get this out of you,

Mr. Hotshot. Mr. Used to be somebody in the

world. Welcome to the Kingdom where we

don't get any glory and Jesus gets it all.

That's a strong rebuke for a man who's used to prominence and

power and palaces. And he's going, hey, I can buy

anything I want. I've always done that.

I'm going to. Do it again here and Peter goes

no, no, no, no, no. Don't be confused.

That was a good thing. That was a kindness.

That was that was the loving thing for him to do in that

moment. It's the same thing for you and

I. Please don't let me drive off of

a Cliff just because I think that the road keeps going.

John Michael, he might get mad at me.

Well, I might be dead though, if you don't.

So I would rather be not dead and mad at you and then you and

I can care for. How much would you have to hate

me to not tell me that the that the that there's a Cliff.

How much do you have to hate me? How much do you have to love

yourself more than you love me? I don't want any conflict with

JMI. Don't want any friction with

him. How about you just you just love

me enough to protect me. And then if I sin and I double

down against you, you you give that to the Lord and then you

say, hey, Joe. Michael, I'm praying for you.

I I did this out of love and I go and then of course I try and

manipulate you. And I gaslight you and I

threaten you and go you were mean and you did it wrong.

And it's all this other stuff and you just and you know what

you do? You pray for me.

You pray for me because I'm. I'm lost and I'm walking in

darkness and there's nothing you can do anyway.

You didn't do anything wrong. You loved me well.

And on the day of judgment that will come up and the Lord will

say here's where he tried to protect you.

John. Mike want to go?

Well, I thought he was mean and goes, Lord go.

Yeah. Because of your own pride.

Again, still on you, John Michael.

You were loved well by the Saints, but you rejected the

care. You rejected the compassion

because it didn't look nice enough for you parents.

Are you always nice to your children?

No. No.

Why? Because you love your children.

When they're running through the parking lot, you will let out

the most angry yell. You will call their name and you

will try to slap them in the head just with your words.

If you could. If you.

Could get a hook around their neck.

You would yank them back at 100 miles an hour.

Why? Because you love them.

You scared me, Mommy. Well, you scared me, Daddy.

You yell at me. Yeah, I did.

Because I don't want you to get run over.

Well, I'm upset. OK, I'll comfort you.

I love you. You listen to me.

I care for you. This is what love looks like.

It doesn't always make you feel good.

But again, the purpose is still for your good.

What's the point? The point is, if you don't know

that you need Jesus, you can't have Jesus.

If you don't know that you need Jesus, you won't want Jesus.

And if you don't know that you need Jesus, you don't have

Jesus. All three of those are true.

If you don't know you need him, you can't have him.

If you're not desperate for him and you don't absolutely need

him, you can't have him anyway. Can I have some?

Jesus. Do you need him?

No, I just wanted a little. No, you can't have him then.

No, you don't. No, he's not cheap.

No, he's he's not the he's not the boyfriend.

He's the groom. This is husband and wife.

This is not. Just hanging out.

We're not just going to see where this thing might go.

If you don't know that you need Jesus, you won't even want

Jesus. And if you don't know that you

need Jesus as a as a socalled believer, you don't actually

have Jesus. I could confidently say that to

any Christian, Christian air quotes for everyone listening

online. For anybody who says they're in

Christ to say do you need Jesus? If they're if the answer is not

an instant automatic yes, then you're going.

This is what we call a gigantic red flag.

Alarm bells, lights are flashing.

All kinds of things should be going off, going what?

What's going on here? So how could you even want

heaven without Jesus? There's no such thing.

And the Christian knows that. The Christian, if they got to

heaven and somebody was like, hey, there's actually no Jesus,

they'd be like, then just can you just put me to sleep?

Like, is there what It is not meant, like what's the point of

anything? Well, you know, it's eternal

bliss. By what standard?

What is bliss? Jesus is the reward.

So sin is important to acknowledge.

But then, of course, that's what makes forgiveness so sweet, the

forgiveness of sins. This means the release or the

dismissal from God's justice penalty against you and I.

And it's the complete removal of the charges against us.

Go to Luke, chapter 15, Luke chapter 15 and verse 11.

Luke 15 · chapter mention Luke 15 · chapter mention

This is the parable of the prodigal son Jesus is teaching.

He says. It says And he said there was a

man who had two sons and the younger of them said to his

father, Father, give me my share of the property that is coming

to me. So this is a horrific, wicked

and disrespectful thing that's already just happened so we

understand how inheritance typically works.

Your parents have to die. And then you get the

inheritance. Imagine going to your parents to

be like, I can't wait for you to die.

I want it now. This is what happened.

This is what was essentially happening.

He's going, I'm sick of you guys.

I'm sick of this family and whatever, like, can I just have

what's mine? So already the Jews hearing this

story would have been mortified. They're like, ready to stone

this kid. The first sentence into Jesus is

parable. They're like and it says and he.

Divided his property between them, and the Father did it.

So at this point they're going, this is crazy, This is a crazy

parable. That Jesus is telling us this is

just wild. Not many days later, the younger

son gathered all that he had and took a journey into a far

country, and there he squandered his property and reckless

living. All the original language here

communicates that he went to the depths of depravity with his

money. You could imagine what a young

man might want to do with all of his finances, the kind of young

man who dishonors his father and mother.

Those are the things that he went and did with all of his

money. And when he had went and spent

everything, a severe famine arose in that country and he

began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out

to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his

field to feed his pigs. So Jesus is making it even worse

because pigs are unclean animals, so the Jews wouldn't

have anything to do with them. This guy's now the servant to

the pigs. Even pigs are superior to you

now. This is the what a life of sin

is really like. And he was longing to be fed

with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything but

when he came to himself, when he came to himself, he said.

But I perish here with hunger I will arise.

How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough?

I'll go to my Father, and I'll say to him, Father, I have

sinned against heaven, and before you I am no longer worthy

to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired

servants. And he arose and came to his

father. And kissed him.

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and

felt compassion, and he ran and embraced.

And the son said to him. So here he is.

This is his speech. He's been practicing.

Right. I'm no longer worthy to be your

son. Let me be a servant in your

house. So the father hugs his son.

He kisses his son. The father hasn't spoken yet.

The father hasn't spoken yet. Why?

Because the son hasn't spoken yet.

Who knows what, what which way? He's coming home, right?

He's coming home. So the Father's rejoicing to see

his son because he loves him no matter what.

But we're about to find out why the why the Father's going to

respond the way he does. And the Son said to him, Father,

I have sinned against heaven, and before you I'm no longer.

Worthy to be called. Your son?

And that was enough for the Father?

That was enough. What is that?

Repentance. I see my sin not.

Hey, Dad, I'm back. Can I move in again?

That wouldn't. That wouldn't be right, would

it? That wouldn't be fitting.

Come on in, son. Hey.

Hey, Dad. Hey, Jesus.

I invite you into my heart. You're you're welcome.

I mean, are you homeless or something?

Maybe you need somewhere to live.

You can live in my heart. You're welcome.

Is that repentance? Father, I've sinned against

heaven, and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your

son. That's right, you're correct.

You get it. And now, But the father said to

his servants, Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and

put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fat

and calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate for this.

My son was dead and is alive again.

He was lost and he's found and they began to celebrate.

Everybody always thinks he says that he was dead and now he's

alive and. The the listener thinks, oh, he

was dead like the father thought he was.

He was going out there in the world.

No, he was dead before he left. He was dead the day he came and

said, hey dad, let me have my inheritance.

Wow, that's dishonorable. That's heartbreaking.

Hey, dad, just give me your money, Give me your stuff, and

I'm leaving. His son was dead right then.

So now the Father, when he hears his son say I've sinned against

heaven, he doesn't just mean with the prostitutes, he doesn't

just mean with I I got drunk a lot.

He meant way back when I sinned against heaven and I sin against

you, and I'm not even worthy to be called your son.

He's back. And the Father says he's.

This is my son. So he he said, I've heard

enough. He doesn't let him finish his

speech. He doesn't let him get to the

whole. Cannot be a hired servant in

your house. Why?

We believe in the forgiveness of sins.

Why? Because God is so good.

He's so forgiving. But there's a mechanism by which

sins are forgiven. There's a a way in which the

Lord does all that. It is through repentance,

through the cross of Jesus. This is the way.

This is the means. This is how the Lord

accomplishes all that He's accomplished.

My son was dead and he is alive again.

He was lost and he is found. And they began to celebrate.

This is the good news of the Kingdom.

You're not just forgiven in the sense that forgiveness doesn't

only mean OK, we'll put that aside what you did.

You're actually restored. You're actually enthroned.

Hey, I want to honor him. He's not just coming back in a

neutral position. He's not coming back in a low

position. He's coming back in a high

position. His sonship is restored.

Get him the best thing. Why?

Because he's filthy. We need to change him.

We need to wash him. We need to put on the new man

because he's alive now. So we're going to act

appropriately. We're going to rejoice in the

most extravagant way possible. We believe in the forgiveness of

sins. There's more rejoicing in heaven

when one Sinner comes to repentance.

Then for 99 righteous who don't need repentance, the Lord loves

repentance. The Lord loves to forgive.

He's eager and happy to do so. It is a joy and a blessing, and

it is a way that he gets to it fully express his love and who

he is. We think God is good, God is

love, God is forgiving. Or we think God is good and God

is love. Yes, and yet it's our sin that

allows God to even more deeply reveal his love.

Can you understand? Imagine if sin had never taken

place. Well, God is still gracious and

God is still loving. But do you see how sin reveals

the depth of love that much more?

Because now that I've wronged you, say you and I were in a a

good relationship and I never did anything wrong against you.

And and so your love for me was consistent.

It was it was wonderful. But now imagine I sin against

you terribly in some way. So now your love for me will go

that much deeper if you if you continue to love me through

that, your love is manifested in such a greater way.

Your love is revealed to such a depth, whereas before your love

wasn't really challenged. I didn't put your love to a test

at all. I made it easy for you and that

that'd be the ideal because I was loving you.

Well, that was me loving you. If I love you, I won't sin

against you. It's when I failed to walk in

love towards you that I actually sent against you.

But say I failed to walk in love towards you.

It's in this moment that your love can actually reveal its

depth and its glory and its width.

Or we find that your love was not very deep.

We find that your love was very superficial, and we find that

your love wasn't very mature. But it's our sin.

And the depth of our sin is why Jesus said he who has been

forgiven much will love much. The more you understand that

you've been forgiven of the depth of your worship goes to

the Lord and you go God. I would.

I would and should be in hell. Except that you were so good.

You're so kind, you're so faithful, you're so merciful.

It leads you to a deeper humility.

It leads you to a deeper gratitude.

It leads you to a deeper love. And this is where the prodigal

son was. He's like, this is embarrassing.

This is shameful. All the servants, everybody's

going to see me coming back. I'm just going to be like, low

man on the team. And even still, how do you think

you felt that night at the party?

You think maybe some of the the servants might have been

whispering. Of course we know what happened

with the older brother. He's outside.

I'm not coming in. And that was the parable that

Jesus was telling against the Pharisees.

Jesus saying, hey, I'm, I'm calling the sinners in and

although they weren't as righteous as they thought they

were, Jesus played along with them in that parable to say, OK,

you're the righteous older brother as you seem to think of

it. But even still you should

rejoice when you're when your lost brother has come home.

He was dead. And he's alive.

This should give you great cause for rejoicing.

If you were actually the loving, righteous older brother that you

thought you were, that you claim to be, it would fill you with

joy. How would you feel if your worst

enemy came to Christ and was totally transformed?

You should say praise God. But if you have something else

in your heart, who that should scare you?

That should scare you. That's a cause for repentance.

That's a place for prayer. That's an opportunity for the

Holy Spirit to go. Lord, remind me of what I've

been forgiven of. But, John Michael, you just

don't know. You're right.

I don't know. And you know what?

That person is even worse than you think they are, to be honest

with you. But so am I, and so were you.

And thankfully we believe in the forgiveness of sins first.

John 19 says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just and

he will forgive us of our sins and purify us from the

unrighteousness. So the forgiveness of sins is

not again just the setting aside of the sin and say hey, charges

have been dropped. It's not all that's happening.

It's also the purification of sin.

You're being purified. This is why the Saints are made

holy in Christ. We're not just.

Hey, all right, clean slate. Start again.

Well, we would just. We're just going to sin again.

We have got to be made new, and we've got to be completely

transformed and purified. Go to Ephesians Chapter 2.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

Say I believe in the forgiveness of sins.

You know we're not very convincing.

Oh, you're. Yeah, so we were trying to find

Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 4

Ephesians 2:4–6

through 6. But God being rich in mercy

because of the great love with which he has loved us even when

we were dead and our trespasses, he made us alive together with

Christ. By grace you have been saved and

raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly

places in Christ Jesus. What else is the forgiveness of

sins? The forgiveness of sins is

enthronement. To be forgiven of your sin is to

be cleansed from your sin. To be forgiven is to be made

new. Forgiveness from God is actual

restoration. So he doesn't start us working

back in the fields to earn back favor.

Why? Because we would never earn

favor. It is freely given as a gift.

It is his generous love. He gets the credit.

He gets the glory. He doesn't say come back, work

in the fields for a few months, We'll see if we can start to

step you back into some certain places.

He says You're enthroned and you're seated at the right hand

with Jesus. Why?

Because God, who is rich in mercy.

Why does he do this? So he can brag on himself, So he

can express his love, so he can show the immeasurable kindness

towards us in Christ Jesus. So he can reveal his true nature

and character to the fullest the deeper our sin goes.

Where sin abounds, the scripture says grace abounds more or grace

super abounds. So what should we then go on

sinning? So that grace could that much

more bound? Of course not.

The Christian says I died to sin.

How could I live in it any longer?

So I'm free from sin. That's part of forgiveness.

Forgiveness is not just We dropped the charges.

Hooray. That's good news.

But it doesn't stop there. Forgiveness is transformation.

Forgiveness is new. Birth forgiveness is baptism.

You were dead now. You're alive now.

Things are going to actually be different.

Things are going to look different.

Hey, you were a an Ivy, a Poison Ivy plant before.

Now you're an apple tree. Cool.

Do I have to, like, make apples? Hang on.

An apple tree wants to make apples.

An apple tree makes apples. Well, I don't know if I'm ever

going to. I just, like want to be an apple

tree. Like, I'm concerned that you

just asked Jesus into your heart instead of actually wanting to

enter into the Kingdom and the grace of God.

I don't know if you quite get it yet, but let me continue to

minister the word to you and can you continue?

To bring you the whole gospel because.

When when you're an apple tree, you want to produce apples, you

want to produce shade, you want to produce good fruit, and the

Holy Spirit will do that through you.

This is what the believer can expect.

Why? Because they're new.

They're different. So the person who is still

trying to earn and feel deserving, they will never enter

the Kingdom. Only the person who knows that

they are hopeless without the grace of God can enter in.

So as long as you're thinking I can press in, I can accomplish I

can do this. Oh, I still want to feel worthy.

I want to feel like I I really did it.

I am worthy. I am enough.

These are like the paintings we see.

It's like the the memes I see online.

Well worthy, yes. Why?

Because Jesus made me worthy. Righteous.

Absolutely. I'm the righteousness of God in

Christ. So God says so, I believe it,

and I agree with him. And yet I remember I didn't

accomplish anything. And we have to understand

there's a mechanism for all of this forgiveness.

There is a way in which all this is possible.

In 2nd Corinthians 521 the scripture says for our sake He

the Father made him Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in

him. We might become the

righteousness of God. He became sin who knew no sin.

Why? So that we might become the

righteousness of God. This is the mechanism by which

forgiveness happens. Forgiveness is not just God

going come on in. That's not what's happening.

God's not dismissing his justice.

His justice was perfectly fulfilled and completely

satisfied. On the cross through Christ, all

of God's wrath was satisfied. God didn't just go.

You know what? I'm going to set aside my wrath.

He didn't do that at all. Why?

Because then he wouldn't be good.

Then he's not. Just God is perfectly just so.

All of his wrath, all of his fury was satisfied.

The good news is it just wasn't pointed at you and me.

It was pointed at the cross. So he drew his arrow and.

Fired it at his own son, so all of his enemies could become his

son. But that's the mechanism by

which this happens. Don't misunderstand.

People often ask ignorantly. If God is good, then why can't

he just say it's OK? Well, you've already answered

your question. It's because God is good.

He's good, and he wouldn't be good if he just dismissed evil

because there is such a thing as good and evil.

So to be perfectly good you could never dismiss evil.

There must be punishment. And however, because of God's

love, he took it within himself through his Son, through the

work of Christ on the cross. So there is this process that

the Lord uses to forgive sins. So to say we believe in the

forgiveness of sins is not saying we believe everyone

everywhere is automatically forgiven all the time.

Forgiveness comes in a particular way and this

mechanism God uses to forgive forgiveness comes through a

particular person and his name is Jesus.

Forgiveness is purchased by him and it is received by us.

God's justice is totally satisfied.

It is not ignored. Jesus taught us to pray, forgive

us our debts, forgive us our sins, forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive others. So what do we see?

God is forgiving, and so are His children.

We believe in the forgiveness of sins, first of all our own, and

then obviously of course, everyone else's.

We believe in the forgiveness of sins, not just our.

Whoever sins against us, I forgive them, I release them.

They didn't sin ultimately against me in the same way they

sinned against God, but they did still sin against me.

So forgiveness is an act of the will, but it's only possible

because God is love. No one deserves forgiveness from

God, and no one actually deserves forgiveness from one

another. But since you've been forgiven,

you have the love of God in you, and therefore you have the power

of God in in you. So when you forgive your

brother, when you forgive your sister, when you forgive your

enemy, you're not saying it didn't matter.

You're saying instead I let it go.

I'm letting it go. They still have to reconcile

with the Lord, and that's between them and the Lord.

But as far as your relationship goes, you're saying I let it go

and I won't hold it against you? That's not the same conversation

as the trust one. That's a different conversation

entirely. But I can let it go.

I've been forgiven of much, so I can forgive much.

So when you. Pray the Lord's Prayer.

When you pray, as we forgive those who trespass against us,

you should think about that person.

Who is the most difficult in your entire life?

And you should be willing to pray and think as you pray, God,

treat me the way I treat them because that's actually what

we're praying. Forgive us our trespasses as the

same way, in the same manner, just like we forgive those who

trespass against us. I'm not a very forgiving person.

Well, the Lord's Prayer should be a humbling reminder, then, to

keep giving that back to him. That should be a a continuing

reminder to go. Oh, yeah, that part too.

I just like forgiveness of sins for this guy.

They they still have to work into my favor.

Oh, really? You you you think grace should

be earned? No, no, no, no, no, no.

That's not what I meant. I didn't think so.

So give freely what's given freely to you.

Forgiving others makes us even more appreciative of God's

forgiveness to us. And we're commanded to as Saints

and Ephesians 432, he says. We should be forgiving one

another as God in Christ. Forgave you.

He always draws a straight line between those two.

He's always making the connection for us.

And go, Hey, you were forgiven him much, right?

Absolutely. The grace of God is so sweet.

Who saved a Wretch like me? Have you forgiven them?

Let me tell you what they did. Okay.

No. You didn't hear right so and so

told no. Let me tell you the whole thing.

And then when we're done, my hope is that you will actually

encourage my unforgiveness. That's my motive here.

I really want you to hear the whole story.

I want you to borrow some bitterness because I got plenty.

I mean, I got plenty, so I'll let you have some because I'm

always growing more, too. I'm like, I'm like, I've got a

root of bitterness. And it always bears more fruit.

So I'll give you some bitter fruit.

And then, by the end of this, not only will I not forgive

them. But you won't either, and you'll

see. They don't deserve it, you know,

But we should pray for them. Bless their heart, you know.

You know. And I don't want nothing bad to

happen to him. I don't want nothing good to

happen to him either. You know, I'm.

I just put that in the Lord's hands.

But you haven't. You haven't.

Because you haven't forgiven that would actually be putting

it into the Lord's hands. Forgiveness would actually be

saying is there vengeance needed in that situation?

Well, vengeance belongs to him. God is not opposed to vengeance.

He's just opposed to you having it.

He's saying you're not the perfect judge.

He says I am. I know how to judge everything.

He considers every single detail perfectly and fairly, so his

vengeance will be perfect. It will.

It won't be over. It won't be under and even and

no matter what it is, he's the only one who can judge

accurately and perfectly, they said should we stone her to

death? And the only one who was

qualified. To stone someone with

perfection. To say I could stone every one

of you if I wanted to. The only one who was who could

chose not to. So God.

God says vengeance is mine and I will repay, but will you put it

in my hands? Our forgiveness of others is a

way to walk in love towards them, but it is also a way.

It's not a way to just say, you know, I hope justice is never

satisfied, but it's saying I am releasing them and our

relationship. Between what happens to them in

the Lord is still between them and the Lord.

But now I can actually pray for their good, pray for the

restoration. Why?

Because I know how much I have been forgiven, Romans 81 says.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are

in Christ Jesus, in Christ Jesus.

So there is a location for forgiveness.

Forgiveness doesn't exist anywhere.

You go look for it. Forgiveness exists in one place

in Christ Jesus. There's no condemnation for the

Saints. When a person is coming to

Christ, that's where they find forgiveness.

It's not just found anywhere. It's found somewhere very

specific. It's someone very specific.

And his name is Jesus. If you don't walk with Jesus, if

you don't love Jesus, if you don't know that you need Jesus

today, you've heard that you do. You've heard the gospel.

You've heard the good news, the whole story.

The bad news, I don't want bad. Well, you needed to hear that

part. You're doomed and you're.

Me too. Everybody.

Everybody. All the sons of Adam.

Every single one of us. And yet now that your eyes are

open to that truth, look to the sunset and the beauty and the

glory of grace. God really loves you.

God really loves sinners, and God really makes them into

Saints. God really gives people new

life. Not just I dismiss and drop the

charges. But I dismiss and drop the

charges. I restore you, I clothe you and

I enthrone you. This is the full message of the

gospel. This is the entire invitation to

say, enter into the joy of your master, come into his Kingdom,

and then participate in the work of actually expanding his

Kingdom. It's not just now you go to

heaven, but it's now you will become a minister in his work

and in his Kingdom. This is what I invite you to do

if you don't know the Lord or if you've been a churchman for your

whole life. Many people have that testimony.

People have been in church for decades, and then the Holy

Spirit open up their eyes and they went, wow, I need to be

born again. That takes some humility, don't

you think? You've been a Deacon for 40

years and now you got to tell the church you just got saved.

But when Jesus is getting the credit, when Jesus is getting

the glory, when you're made new, who cares?

Rejoice in his goodness and mercy, and the whole body of

Christ will rejoice with you. Whosoever calls upon the name of

the Lord shall be saved. Stand to your feet.

If you have a copy of the Creed, get it out.

If you don't need it, you can share with somebody else.

We're going to read it together. We're going to say it like we

mean it. I believe in God the Father

Almighty. Creator of heaven and earth, I

believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin

Mary. He suffered under Pontius

Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to hell. The third day he rose again from

the dead. He ascended to heaven and is

seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From there He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the

communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the.

As erection of the body and the life everlasting.

Amen. Amen.

Let me bless you and pray for you, and then we'll dismiss the

Lord, bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine

down upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord left up his countenance upon you and give you great

peace in Jesus name. Amen.