Participants: Pr. John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000007
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00:18 Hello, friends, and welcome to another Wednesday night
00:21 "A Sharper Focus" edition. 00:22 My name is John Lomacang. 00:24 And if you've tuned in before, 00:26 welcome back to this very important topic 00:28 of "How to live a spiritual life 00:31 in a natural body?" 00:32 Now, the reality of it is, 00:33 each of us has a natural body 00:35 but God has called us to live spiritually, 00:37 and that is a challenge in everyone's life 00:40 and I must say in including mine. 00:42 And one of the reasons why this topic 00:43 is so vitally important to me is because 00:45 I wanna be stronger spiritually 00:47 so that I can reflect the glory of the Lord 00:49 as He intends for it to be reflected. 00:52 And, if you would like to come and join us 00:55 if you're not far away, 00:56 you can come and join us here 00:57 in Thompsonville, Illinois, 00:59 the biggest little city in the world. 01:01 Can we all say amen to that? Amen. 01:03 We believe that God is impressing 01:04 and impacting the world 01:05 from what's happening here at 3ABN 01:07 and we thank you for your prayers, 01:08 and your support of any kind 01:10 whether voluntary or whether financial. 01:12 Praise the Lord for what you do for this ministry. 01:15 Tonight I wanna encourage you to invite your friends, 01:17 get your Bibles, get your pens. 01:19 And after our opening prayer 01:21 I'll tell you how to get the lesson. 01:23 But before we go any further 01:24 we must invite God's presence. 01:26 He's the one who communicates this message for His glory. 01:29 Let's bow our heads. 01:31 Our Father in Heaven, we thank You so much 01:32 for Your goodness and for Your mercy. 01:35 We pray also that tonight Your Spirit 01:37 will come and open our hearts and minds 01:39 to understand this vitally important topic. 01:43 We are surrounded everyday 01:44 by challenges and trials and temptations. 01:48 And, so often our record reflect 01:50 that we fall and we even disappoints ourselves. 01:54 But tonight, Father, we wanna get an understanding 01:56 of not just that we are justified, 01:59 but how do we get justified, 02:01 how do we step into this wonderful 02:04 redeeming relationship with Jesus Christ. 02:06 Encourage our hearts and give us faith 02:09 to look onto Jesus, 02:10 the author and finisher of our faith. 02:12 In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 02:16 Now before we sing our song 02:17 which is "Blessed Assurance." 02:19 I hope you join us on that very familiar song. 02:21 If you'll like to follow us tonight on the lesson, 02:23 go to our website, we have a 3ABN website, 02:27 which is the acronym of the program's title 02:29 asf.3abn.org and click 02:35 on Lesson 3 and download that. 02:38 And if you've missed any of the former programs 02:41 after this program, you can go and click 02:43 on the links download the lesson 02:45 and catch up 'cause I believe 02:46 this is program number 6 or 7 02:48 in our series of "How to live 02:50 a spiritual life in a natural body?" 02:52 But before we go any further we like to sing. 02:54 You wanna sing tonight? Yes. 02:55 And we gonna sing that song an old hymn 02:57 "Blessed Assurance," because that's what we get 03:00 when we understand Christ has redeem us. 03:02 Let's sing together. 03:13 Here we go. 03:15 Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine 03:21 Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine 03:27 Heir of salvation, purchase of God 03:32 Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood 03:38 This is my story, this is my song, 03:44 Praising my Savior all the day long 03:50 This is my story, this is my song, 03:56 Praising my Savior all the day long 04:02 Perfect submission all is at rest 04:08 I in my Savior am happy and blest 04:14 Watching and waiting looking above 04:20 Filled with His goodness lost in His love 04:24 (Together) 04:26 This is my story this is my song 04:32 Praising my Savior all the day long 04:37 This is my story this is my song 04:43 Praising my Savior all the day long 04:50 This is my story this is my song 04:55 Praising my Savior all the day long 05:01 This is my story this is my song 05:07 Praising my Savior all the day long 05:12 (Follow) 05:13 Praising my Savior all the day long 05:26 Amen. Wonderful song isn't it. 05:30 You know, I was thinking recently 05:32 about the prosperity gospel. 05:34 There are so many individuals 05:36 that want to prosper and I believe 05:38 that we can add ourselves to that category. 05:40 Can you say amen to that? 05:42 No one wants to fail, everyone wants to be prosperous. 05:46 But the prosperity gospel has done, 05:49 somewhat of that, as I refer to, 05:50 some damage to the actual truth 05:53 about what it means to be redeemed in Christ. 05:56 Now, it's good to have a financial portfolio 05:59 that will hold you over to the future 06:01 and it's good to have good plans 06:03 laid out all the things that you'd like to accomplish, 06:06 but tonight what I want to begin 06:08 by leading you to understand 06:11 is that the prosperity gospel 06:13 cannot really offer us prosperity 06:16 unless we understand what it means 06:18 to be redeemed and how we are justified 06:22 by the life of Christ and also how we still live 06:26 in harmony with the law of God. 06:28 Now, tonight, if you have your Bibles, 06:30 go with me to Psalms Chapter 1. 06:33 Psalms Chapter 1. 06:35 Somebody once pointed out 06:37 that the Psalms had no chapters. 06:39 They're songs and poetry. 06:42 But, just for the purpose of following carefully 06:47 they have divided them as chapters. 06:49 And tonight, what I want you to pay 06:51 particular attention to is the fact 06:53 that this passage is about prosperity. 06:56 But I want you to notice a couple of things today 06:58 because you cannot be prosperous 07:01 if you exclude the law of God 07:03 from your Christian experience. 07:08 You cannot be prosperous if you don't understand 07:10 that you are a person who needs to be redeemed. 07:13 So, follow along as we begin our study, 07:16 this is not one of the texts in our study, 07:18 but this is a vitally important platform 07:20 from which to catapult the topic tonight. 07:23 What's the first word? Together. 07:25 Blessed, and if you've 07:26 the New King James you can read along with me. 07:28 I'll read with some vigor and some encouragement. 07:32 It says, "Blessed is the man who walks 07:35 not in the counsel of the" who? 07:38 "Ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners." 07:42 "Nor sits in the seat of the scornful, 07:45 but his delight is in the," what? 07:48 "The law of the Lord, and in His law 07:51 he meditates," how often? 07:53 "Day and night." 07:54 First point about the prosperity gospel 07:56 you'll see prosperity later on in this passage. 07:59 You cannot really have a prosperity gospel 08:03 if the law of God has been deleted 08:06 from the life you live. 08:08 It's not possible. 08:10 It's not even possible. 08:13 Because without the law of God in your life 08:14 you will not understand that they're perimeters 08:16 of prosperity and then outside 08:18 of those perimeters of prosperity, 08:21 prosperity fails to exist. 08:23 A wonderful example, a parallel to that 08:24 is that you're driving on a highway. 08:27 You can drive 60 miles an hour or 65 miles an hour 08:30 but stay within the white lines, amen. 08:33 Stay within the perimeters. 08:35 Don't cross follow all the guidelines of the highway. 08:38 All the laws of travel. 08:41 Stay within those laws and you'll have prosperity. 08:44 Now somebody may not follow those laws 08:46 but your responsibility as it relates 08:48 to your relationship with Christ 08:49 is stay within the perimeters 08:51 of the relationship with Christ, 08:52 and He does not exclude prosperity 08:54 from the harmony that we can have 08:58 as we live in the confines 09:00 and the guidelines of His law. 09:02 Now, look at the next verse. 09:04 What will happen if we do not sit 09:08 where we should not sit but we live 09:10 within the confines of where we should live. 09:11 Look at verse 3. "He shall be like a," What? 09:15 "Tree planted by the rivers of water, 09:19 that brings forth its fruit in its season, 09:22 whose leaf also shall not wither, 09:25 and whatever he does" say, "shall prosper." 09:29 That's the prosperity gospel. 09:31 If you wanna have prosperity you've to understand 09:33 that God's law cannot be deleted from that gospel. 09:36 And the reason I say that is because 09:37 there are a lot of churches today 09:38 that teach that God's law has been nailed 09:41 to the cross and ever since Jesus died 09:43 there's no commandments any longer. 09:45 Well, that deletes and that negates 09:47 the very fact that we cannot be 09:49 preaching salvation from sin 09:51 unless there's something to define sin. 09:55 Now, look at the contrast between the Christian 09:57 who stays within the confines of God's law by His grace 10:01 as compared to the ungodly 10:03 who do not live in harmony with the law of God. 10:06 Look at the next verses. 10:08 Verse 4 to verse 6. 10:10 It says, "The ungodly are not so, 10:13 but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 10:16 Therefore the ungodly shall not" what? 10:20 "Stand in the judgment," you know why. 10:22 You'll see in just a moment 10:23 why they can't stay in the judgment. 10:24 "Nor sinners in the congregation 10:26 of the righteous. 10:28 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, 10:31 but the way of the ungodly shall," what? "Perish." 10:34 Look at the contrast perish or prosperity. 10:39 The ungodly, there are things they can't do. 10:42 They can't sit where the righteous will sit. 10:44 They can't stand in the judgment. 10:46 Now, the reason why they cannot stand 10:48 in the judgment is because 10:49 the standard of the judgment 10:50 will be the commandments of God. 10:53 So, if you say that I don't, 10:54 if you say first of all, 10:55 there is no law of God 10:57 and I'm trying to live in harmony, 10:58 it's like deleting all the yellow lines, 11:00 erasing all the white lines, 11:02 getting rid of all the stop signs 11:05 all the merge signs, 11:06 all the exit signs and trying to travel 11:09 and have a successful journey. 11:11 It's not possible. 11:12 It's impossible as a matter of fact. 11:15 So, tonight we wanna begin by affirming 11:17 as we did in our last lesson 11:19 that God's Ten Commandments still exist, 11:21 what do you say? 11:22 They still exist, but they are not there to save us. 11:27 They are not there to save us. 11:29 Anymore than the speed limit 11:31 can save you if you hit somebody else's car. 11:34 They're there to guide us, 11:36 but they are not there to save us. 11:37 Now look at question number 1, 11:40 question number 1, and by the way 11:42 our topic tonight is "How to be justified?" 11:45 What's the title? "How to be justified?" 11:49 Very vitally important. 11:50 Question number 1 is as follows, 11:53 what must a sinner do to receive mercy? 11:58 What must a sinner do to receive mercy? 12:01 Proverbs 28 verse 13, go there with me. 12:04 Proverbs 28 verse 13. 12:08 When we lived in California, 12:09 that is when my wife and I lived in California, 12:13 we have raised nieces and nephews. 12:16 My niece, my sister's daughter, 12:18 when she lived with us, 12:20 we would give her chores to do. 12:22 You're going to Proverbs 28 verse 13. 12:24 We'd give her chores to do. 12:26 And her chore was to sweep the kitchen. 12:29 One of those responsibilities sweep the kitchen, 12:32 and we were always amaze at how fast 12:34 she swept the kitchen 12:36 and then, we'd say now 12:38 "People are coming over, clean up your room." 12:41 And she said, "Okay. 12:42 Don't open my door until I finish to clean up my room." 12:44 And we were always amazed that how quickly 12:46 she cleans up her room. 12:48 Now, let's read the text 12:49 and I'll tell you the end of the story. 12:52 What must a sinner do to receive mercy? 12:55 Here's what the Bible says, 12:57 Proverbs 28:13, "He who" what? 13:00 "Covers his sins will not prosper, 13:04 but whoever confesses and forsakes them 13:07 will have" What? "Will have mercy." 13:09 Now, let me finish the story. 13:11 The reason why my niece always 13:15 finished sweeping the kitchen so quickly 13:17 is because she swept the dirt under the refrigerator. 13:21 And we did not know, 13:22 we were in a practically brand new house, 13:25 beautiful neighborhood. 13:27 Wonderful, beautiful house. 13:29 Matter of fact even to this very day, 13:31 it still has the largest bathtub 13:32 we have ever had. 13:34 I mean, well, I can lay 13:35 in that bathtub stretch out. 13:37 I'm 6'2" ½ 6'3" on a good day. 13:39 I mean I can lay in that bathtub 13:40 stretch out from end to end. 13:41 We miss it. 13:43 But, we'd always wondered 13:45 how she finished cleaning the kitchen so fast. 13:48 In that beautiful house one day, 13:49 we found out that we had a mouse problem,i 13:52 I mean, there was a field behind our house 13:54 and all of a sudden we started noticing mouse 13:57 dropping everywhere, in the washroom. 13:59 One day, I was sitting in my office 14:01 on the second floor 14:02 and I heard this sound like this, 14:05 And I opened a box in my closet 14:07 and there was a mouse, 14:09 a mother mouse making a nest for her baby, 14:13 she had three baby mice in a box 14:15 of my business closet. 14:18 Now, how do you kill three baby mice, 14:20 I mean, really honestly. 14:23 They're cute but they shouldn't be in the house. 14:24 Amen, somebody. Amen. 14:26 And so, I'm thinking, oh! 14:28 And so where else are they, 14:29 all of a sudden my neighbor next door, 14:31 I heard him out in the backyard with a BB gun. 14:34 And he was just, pekhu pekhu pekhu-- 14:37 and I'm thinking, what's going on. 14:39 So, I went outside and I forget 14:40 that Jeff has an-- I said, "What you're doing?" 14:42 He said, "Are you having a mouse problem, 14:43 we're having a mouse problem." 14:45 And I came to find out 14:47 there were holes all through the house. 14:49 And my niece didn't help much so, 14:51 how this fits into that story 14:53 is one of the mice ran behind the refrigerator. 14:57 So, what do you do to get rid of 14:58 a mouse behind a refrigerator? 14:59 You do what? 15:00 Pull the refrigerator, then we discovered that 15:03 the reason why my niece appeared to 15:05 be prosperous is she kept covering up 15:08 the garbage with the refrigerator. 15:10 And when we moved that refrigerator, 15:11 it seemed like a month and a half of dust. 15:14 And just rice grains and green peas, 15:18 and anything else that's on the kitchen floor. 15:20 What the Lord is in essence saying tonight is, 15:21 we cannot sweep our sins under the refrigerator, 15:24 because the Lord knows and understands 15:26 every facet every aspect of our homes, amen. 15:30 So, the Bible makes it very very clear. 15:32 You cannot prosper unless your sins are what? 15:36 What two things are we told in those verses? 15:40 Confess and, what else? Forsake. 15:43 So, after that we said to our niece, 15:45 now from now on, where we're gonna be looking? 15:48 Under the refrigerator. 15:50 But, the story has another ending. 15:52 She also cleaned her room up very, very fast. 15:54 So, one day my wife went in to the room 15:56 and she said and then another niece 15:58 came to live with us. 15:59 How did you finish cleaning this room so fast? 16:02 When my wife opened the closet, 16:03 and almost got covered in an avalanche. 16:06 Everything just fell out of the closet. 16:09 And they both looked at her like to say, 16:12 "Why did you open the closet? 16:13 It was clean until you opened the closet." 16:15 No, no. It was not clean. 16:18 But the opening of the closet 16:19 revealed how dirty it really was. 16:21 So, when the Lord looks inside of our lives 16:23 we may clean it up some ways 16:26 and hide from human eyes 16:27 those things that really exist, 16:29 but the only way that we can have mercy 16:31 is if we confess and do what else? 16:33 Forsake, and the wonderful story 16:35 about this is, God is not a God who's not merciful. 16:39 I mean, He wants to give us mercy, 16:41 but He does not extend mercy to those 16:43 who don't first confess and forsake. 16:47 I mean, would you give your keys 16:48 to a wayward child that wants to drive your car? 16:52 They're on the way out of the house 16:53 and they have a bag pack and a bottle of whiskey 16:55 sticking out and they got two cigarettes 16:57 in the mouth and say, "Mom, 16:58 I'm gonna hang out tonight. 16:59 I need the car." 17:01 Would you give that child your car? 17:04 Absolutely-- they say okay. 17:05 Now, I am not giving him my car keys. Okay. 17:08 I'm sorry. Okay, now give me the car keys. 17:11 Is that really a confession? 17:13 Because the Bible says confess. 17:14 And do what else? Forsake. 17:16 Don't just tell the Lord our issues. 17:18 Don't just say, here's my problem. 17:20 But the Lord says, okay, what you're gonna do about it? 17:23 Confess it and forsake it. 17:25 You don't give a person who's addicted to something 17:30 more fuel to keep that addiction going. 17:33 So, we must confess and forsake. 17:34 Those are the answers you'd put for number 1. 17:36 And let's go look at question number 2 now. 17:40 Confess and forsake 17:41 is what the sinner must do to receive mercy. 17:43 And by the way, Dan. Where's Dan? 17:45 Dan, Last week, I remembered Dan said, 17:47 "Hey, but God is a merciful God." 17:48 Hey, Dan, this lesson if I'd give another title to it, 17:51 "it's God's mercy." Can you say amen, Dan? Amen. 17:53 God is a merciful God. 17:56 He is a God that's full of mercy. 17:58 So often, you know, 17:59 we say the Old Testament God is a mean God, 18:01 the New Testament God is a loving God. 18:03 But, I wanna remind you in the New Testament 18:05 you find the Seven Last Plagues. 18:10 That's gonna be the worst scourge 18:14 kneaded out by God of Justice. 18:16 Question number 2, here it is. 18:17 What did David admit when he asked God 18:21 to extend mercy to him? 18:23 What did David admit? 18:24 This is really important. 18:25 Psalms 41 verse 4, is where you're turning. 18:28 Psalms 41 verse 4. All right. 18:32 Notice what he admitted. 18:33 This is really important. 18:36 Psalms 41 verse 4, reads as follows, 18:39 David, I said, "Lord, be merciful to me, 18:44 Heal my soul" 18:46 Let's read the rest together. 18:48 "For I have sinned," where? "Against You." 18:51 Now, a lot of us don't understand this. 18:53 The reason why David said he'd sinned against God 18:55 is because the law he broke 18:57 belongs to the government of God. 19:02 So, whenever we transgress, 19:04 whenever we live in transgression 19:05 we or live in sin, 19:06 we may injure somebody by our sin 19:08 or take something from someone 19:10 because of our sin or there may be residual, 19:14 residual, not benefits but residual impact 19:20 to someone else's life 19:21 because of something we've done wrong. 19:22 But the reality of it is, 19:24 all sin is a transgression of the law 19:27 that is connected to the government of God. 19:29 And David realized, in order to be saved 19:32 or in order to have a clean. 19:34 What's the word? Confession. 19:36 He can say, "I'm sorry, 19:37 but I didn't do anything to You." 19:41 He violated the law of God, 19:42 so he said, "For I have sinned against You." 19:48 So, here's why this is so important. 19:51 The Lord is the one who's gone to prepare 19:54 a home for everyone of us. 19:55 He's gone to prepare a home for everyone of us. 19:58 And by the way I don't want anybody 19:59 getting into heaven that's still having 20:01 an issue with sin. 20:03 Come on, talk to me. 20:05 What about you? 20:07 I don't want anybody who still has issues 20:09 in any category of sin 20:10 to be living next-door to me in heaven. 20:13 As a matter of fact, the Lord's made a promise. 20:14 He said, "Nothing will enter in that defiles." 20:17 Amen to that. 20:19 And so, in order for us to get ready 20:20 for that perfect environment 20:22 we have to understand that when we get 20:24 to that perfect environment 20:25 God is not going to abrogate 20:27 nor nullify nor release any of us 20:30 who are going to be in His government 20:32 from living there in harmony with His law. 20:34 The reason why it's going to be easy 20:36 to live in harmony with His law 20:37 is because the character of Jesus 20:39 will be perfectly reproduced in us. 20:41 And Jesus will be working out His will in us, 20:44 preparing us for that moment, 20:46 He's doing that everyday, 20:48 but when the time comes for us to be sealed. 20:51 Who remembers Revelation 22 verse 12? 20:53 There's some contrast. Don't turn. 20:55 Let me see if you remember. 20:56 I'll begin and I guess you could follow me. 20:58 "He that is unjust," what? 21:01 "Let him be unjust still, he that is filthy, 21:05 let him be filthy still, he that is holy, 21:07 let him be," what? 21:08 "Holy still, He that is righteous, 21:10 let him be," what? 21:11 "Righteous still," 21:12 So, we're gonna live in a holy 21:13 and righteous environment and the unrighteous 21:16 and the filthy are not going to be there. 21:19 But it's about God's government 21:20 and so here's the answer to number 2. 21:23 What did David admit when he asked God 21:25 to extend mercy to him? 21:26 He said, I've sinned against God. 21:30 Remember Joseph? 21:32 When Potiphar's wife came after him. 21:34 He said, "How can I do this 21:36 great wickedness and sin against" who? 21:38 Sin against God. 21:39 Now, it really would have been 21:41 a sin against his own body. 21:43 It would've been sin against Potiphar 21:45 and a sin with Potiphar's wife, 21:47 but he acknowledged that every transgression 21:50 links us ultimately to the law of God, 21:54 to the government of God. 21:55 "How can I do this great wickedness," 21:58 Joseph said, "and sin against God." 22:02 We're gonna get some mercy here tonight. 22:03 Have mercy. Question number 3. 22:07 Question number 3. Here it is. 22:11 "How does the Bible describe the condition 22:14 of one who receives mercy?" 22:17 I like this one. I like them all. 22:20 That's my problem. I like them all. 22:22 I like anything from the Bible. 22:23 What about you? 22:28 Okay. Joel Chapter 2 verse 13. 22:33 How does the Bible describe the condition 22:35 of one who receives mercy? 22:38 This is a text that has been often, 22:41 that people have often said it wrong. 22:43 Instead of saying rend they said, "Rend", 22:45 you know, tear, but look at what the Lord talks about, 22:47 there's a contrast here. 22:49 And let's read this together. 22:50 Joel 2:13 we just follows. 22:52 He said, "So rend your" what? 22:56 "Heart, and not your garments," 22:58 what's the next word? 23:00 "Return to the Lord your God, for He is" what? 23:04 "Gracious and merciful, slow to" do what? 23:09 "Anger, and of great kindness, 23:12 and He relents from doing harm." 23:16 Wow, How does the Bible describe 23:19 the condition of one who receives mercy? 23:22 What does He do? He rends His heart. 23:25 Let me break that down for you. 23:28 You know, the Bible, thank you, Helen. 23:30 He's sorrowful. 23:31 When a person examines himself, 23:34 by the way let me make it very very clear. 23:36 Everyone of us knows when we do something wrong, 23:38 ain't that right. 23:40 And unless you have a stone heart, 23:46 unless your conscious has been deaden 23:48 by repetitive transgression there should be 23:51 some feeling of guilt in your heart 23:53 when you do something wrong. 23:54 Have you ever felt that before? 23:56 I mean, you wronged somebody 23:57 you do somethng, and after you do it, 23:59 you, and that's why the polygraph test 24:04 is so successful, because the heart responds 24:08 when the body gives out signals 24:10 that what it has done is wrong. 24:13 Frustration, quick impulse, you know, 24:17 how ever that happens I don't even know, 24:19 but the body has responses to iniquity, 24:21 to transgression to sin. 24:23 And so, one of the things 24:24 that the Lord is saying when you think about this, 24:26 this compare this is, 24:27 "Rend your heart not your garments." 24:29 And reason why in the days of old 24:31 you've heard of sackcloth and ashes. 24:34 Well, when people transgress 24:36 many of them express their transgressions 24:38 by tearing their garments. 24:40 Remember, in the judgment hall 24:43 when Jesus stood before the high priest 24:45 and the Sanhedrins and those who were prosecuting Him. 24:50 One of the high priests tore his garment, 24:53 but what the Lord would have preferred 24:57 is that he tore his heart, 25:00 because the tearing of His garment 25:01 did not release him from his guilt. 25:03 The Lord is saying, okay, 25:04 tearing of your garment is fine. 25:05 I see that you're upset, 25:07 but what I want you to do 25:08 is examine your heart open your heart 25:12 change the condition of your heart. 25:14 And so, and sometimes in anger 25:16 we've taken things and just tore it up. 25:18 Have you ever done that before. 25:19 Come on, have you ever done that before? 25:21 You get it, and we go, 25:23 or you write some thing and you just tear it up 25:25 and you shred it up. 25:26 The Lord wants us to examine our hearts. 25:28 But I want you to look at the text. 25:29 He says, "When you examine your heart," 25:31 I'll read it again. 25:32 "Rend your heart not your garment." 25:34 The next word is, "Return to the Lord your God 25:37 for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger." 25:40 I like that, because a lot of times 25:42 God is portrayed as this guy 25:45 who has a searchlight like my little pointer here. 25:49 And he's looking around the room 25:51 like a heat seeker, ah, got you! 25:54 He knows what you do 25:56 but God is slow to get angry. 26:05 In the courts of justice on television they say, 26:10 "Don't rush to judgment, don't rush to judgment." 26:16 In other words, God allows the process 26:18 to carry itself through, 26:20 but He does not immediately say, 26:23 "Hanna, what did you do?" 26:26 He's slow to anger. 26:28 Aren't you, amen, Henna? 26:30 He's slow to anger. 26:32 He looks at it because, you know, 26:33 sin really before it injures God 26:35 it violates His law, 26:38 it's in contrast and in controversy 26:41 with His character. 26:42 But He knows the reason 26:43 why He's slow to anger 26:44 because He knows beyond that 26:46 your transgression has done you 26:48 more harm than Him. 26:51 So, He's slow to anger, 26:52 but on the other side of that 26:53 He's merciful and He's gracious, 26:56 He's kind. 26:57 And one of the part of this passage 26:58 I don't wanna run pass, it says, 27:02 "He relents from doing harm." 27:05 When we repent He relents. 27:09 Write that down. 27:11 When we repent, when we repent He relents. 27:18 In other words, when we change 27:19 our course He changes his course. 27:23 You cannot stand up in the courtroom 27:24 and I'd been so, you know the news. 27:28 I watch CNN and I watch ABC, NBC, Fox. 27:31 I'm not a news junkie. 27:33 I just like to be aware 27:34 of what's happening in the world. 27:36 And so, sometimes I'm at home, 27:37 working on something 27:38 and I just have the news going. 27:39 And then, you know, there's these stories 27:41 that's just really, you know, hurt you to the core. 27:44 And there's so much violence in the world today. 27:47 These senseless murders that were committed 27:49 a few weeks ago, 27:50 I believe this young boy went to school 27:51 for whatever reason and shot and killed 27:54 three fellow classmates. 27:58 How do you, how do you, 28:00 I mean, what do you do 28:01 with a young man like that, 28:03 let's say because he is so close 28:04 to 18 he'll be maybe prosecuted as an adult. 28:07 Now the parents are terribly angry, 28:09 but you look at this little boy 28:11 and you think, Lord, have mercy, I mean. 28:14 I've lost my son 28:16 but somebody's about to lose their son. 28:19 And I sat there and when we thought about this, 28:21 tears came to my eyes, 28:22 I said, "This is so tragic." 28:24 Because the law was at the click of a moment, 28:28 a single decision taken three people's lives and then, 28:34 after he came to realization, you know, 28:35 all he could say in court was, I'm sorry. 28:37 That's what he said, stood before the Judge, 28:39 "What do you have to say for yourself?" 28:40 "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it. I'm sorry." 28:44 When you think about how God looks 28:45 at that young man and God says, 28:47 "Oh, if I can get to his heart." 28:50 When you look at those situations 28:51 although just as it does have its place, 28:56 God looks at that young man and says, 28:57 "There's still room for him to be forgiven." 29:01 Can you all say amen to that? Amen. 29:03 Because sometimes you looked at crimes 29:04 that are committed and we think 29:05 if I were the judge, 29:07 I'd throw the book at him. 29:09 But God says, "I'm slow to anger." 29:11 Because right now, one of the worse things 29:14 that young man is going through 29:15 is his own guilt, his own punishment. 29:18 If he gets life in prison 29:19 he has to live the rest of his life 29:21 thinking about the three young people 29:23 whose lives were senselessly snatched away 29:26 by just a single act in a very quick moment 29:29 of his life which takes me to question number 4, 29:32 which takes me to question number4. 29:38 The Bible. Here's the question. 29:40 "Before we ask for mercy, 29:43 what very important step must we take?" 29:46 This is powerful. 29:48 This is, you know, 29:50 by the way this is a non-denominational topic. 29:52 This is a topic that every church 29:54 should examine intently 29:56 because it's about our salvation. 29:57 What-- "Before we ask for mercy 29:59 what very important step must we take?" 30:04 Psalms Chapter 32 and verse 5. 30:06 Look at what David did. 30:08 Psalms 32 and verse 5, this is beautiful. 30:11 David said, "I acknowledge my sin to You, 30:15 and my iniquity I have not," What? 30:18 "Hidden, I said, "I will confess 30:21 my transgressions to," who? 30:23 "To the Lord," and he said, 30:26 "And You forgave the iniquity of my sin" 30:30 isn't that powerful. 30:32 So, what step must we take? 30:34 And you've already read at Psalms 32. 30:37 But I want you to notice the beginning of that. 30:39 What must we do? 30:40 What very important step must we do 30:43 before we ask for mercy? 30:45 We must do what? Say it again. Acknowledge. 30:49 He said, "I acknowledge my sin to You." 30:54 You know what bothers me more than anything else, 30:58 is when they have a videotape of a crime 31:00 and they use a word like this, 31:02 "The alleged crime." You remember that. 31:04 You've ever hear that. 31:05 You know the alleged shooting 31:07 and they got videotapes 31:08 from five different angles of a guy 31:09 with a machine gun blowing people away, 31:11 he gets arrested, the alleged shooting. 31:13 I'm thinking who's in that video. 31:16 The alleged criminal. The alleged crime. 31:19 Alleged is a legal word because, you know, 31:22 in America they say you are innocent 31:24 till proven what? 31:25 Guilty. That depends on the crime. 31:28 Not gonna guarantee you that. 31:30 In certain crimes you are guilty 31:31 till proven innocent. 31:33 But in the government of God 31:34 he's saying if you simply acknowledge 31:37 your sin to me 31:39 because your sin is not hidden. 31:40 Go with me to Hebrews Chapter 4. 31:42 So, one of the things what must we do, 31:44 what step must we take? 31:46 If you wanna write the answer down. 31:47 We must acknowledge our sin. 31:50 You have to acknowledge your sin. 31:52 One of the hardest things to do 31:54 is for a person to acknowledge 31:55 that he or she has done something wrong. 31:58 It's a tough thing to do, to acknowledge it. 32:01 Hebrews Chapter 4. 32:04 I wanna show you a beautiful passage. 32:06 One of the reasons why we have, 32:08 have to acknowledge. 32:09 David also said, "And my iniquity 32:12 I have not hidden." 32:14 Do you know that you can't hide sin from God? 32:18 How many knew that? 32:20 How much does God see? 32:22 What about if the lights are off, 32:24 does He still see? 32:25 What about if you're 15 feet underground, 32:28 does He still see? 32:29 David the Psalmist said, 32:30 "If I go the farthest part of heaven, you're there. 32:32 If I go to the deepest parts of hell, you're there. 32:34 If I go to the depths of the sea, you're there." 32:37 And look at what Hebrews, 32:38 the writer of Hebrews points out. 32:40 Hebrews 4, beginning with verse 13. 32:44 This is not on the, this is not on the syllabus, 32:47 but this is very important passage for us 32:48 to look at in light of the fact that David said, 32:51 "I will confess because I can't hide it from You." 32:57 Can you imagine standing before God, 32:58 He knows you did, you say, 32:59 "I didn't do it." 33:02 If you say you didn't do it 33:04 you can't ask for mercy, 33:06 ibecause you're saying you're innocent. 33:08 Therefore you don't ask for mercy 33:10 if you're innocent, 33:11 you ask for justice if you're innocent, right. 33:14 If I'm innocent of it, the law demands you let me go, 33:18 but David said, "I acknowledge my sin," 33:21 and he said, "I will confess my transgression to the Lord." 33:25 Because, hey, it's not hidden. 33:27 Look at verse 13 so vitally important. 33:29 See whenever you fall into sin, 33:31 don't lie to the Lord, 33:32 because when you lie to the Lord 33:33 you put yourself in the wrong light 33:35 and God cannot allow His mercy 33:38 to be extended to somebody 33:39 who won't admit that they're wrong. 33:41 Verse 13, "And there is no creature 33:44 hidden from His sight, but all things are," what? 33:48 "Naked and open to the eyes of Him 33:52 to whom we must give account." 33:55 But, I didn't stop there because 33:57 although God sees everything 33:58 I want to give you some hope. 34:01 See, you know, like your parents sa y, 34:03 "I saw you." 34:06 You're fearful, but He said but the parents said, 34:09 "I saw you, however, I love you." 34:12 And if you confess 34:15 the punishment is not gonna be 34:16 as bad as it would be if you lie to me. 34:19 You know that's true. 34:20 Do you know that's true? 34:21 God will not punish us 34:24 'cause He said a moment ago 34:25 in the book of Joel, 34:27 not in the book. 34:28 "I will relent. I will relent." 34:31 He says, "If you confess, I will relent." 34:34 In other words, what you could have gotten, 34:38 it's not gonna be that bad. 34:39 Now, how many of you have ever had parents 34:42 that traditionally gave you spanking 34:45 but sometimes would not? 34:47 Come on, confess. 34:49 Good for the soul, maybe hard on the backside. 34:53 You know, if you've a parent like that, 34:54 there are some parents that just, 34:55 I had a grandmother that would, 34:58 we could be, she could be on the phone 35:00 and she'd promise us a spanking 35:02 and it'd be like six hours later 35:03 and she never forgot, 35:05 and you get it. 35:07 But the once who confess "Grandma, I'm sorry. 35:11 I promise I won't do it again." 35:13 She said, "I know you won't do it again." 35:14 I remember living in Long Island. 35:17 She took care of some neighbors. 35:19 She did housecleaning, an old lady from Trinidad. 35:22 She did housecleaning every now and then 35:24 we'd go to the where she worked in Long Island. 35:26 And I remember very, very, 35:29 one one very unforgettable instance. 35:32 She was on the phone talking to somebody 35:34 about some very important business 35:35 and we all just went haywire. 35:39 We went haywire throwing things 35:40 at each other through the kitchen, 35:42 yelling and she's saying, quiet down. 35:43 And we just piped it up even more 35:46 and she said, she leaned the phone, 35:48 when I got off this phone 35:49 every one of you's getting a spanking. 35:52 But when she got off the phone 35:53 she didn't do it 35:55 and few hours passed by, 35:59 we thought, hey, she just said 36:01 she's gonna spank us, 36:02 but it's not gonna happen. 36:04 That night I never forget it. 36:07 I was kneeling down, 36:09 do you know what position you're in 36:10 when you're kneeling down? 36:11 Come on, talk to me. 36:13 I was kneeling down, 36:16 getting ready to say my bedtime prayers. 36:20 I was in the perfect prayer punishment position. 36:24 And at the beginning of my prayer 36:27 I felt the hand of justice. 36:30 Well I don't wanna tell you where she hit, 36:32 but I guess you can figure that out 36:34 and it took a while, 36:35 I thought I had gotten away. 36:37 You see the Lord is gracious 36:39 He's long suffering, 36:41 but you'll find out as we get 36:42 further into the study unless you confess 36:45 God will not extend to you mercy. 36:48 If you think that you've gotten away, 36:49 oh in just a matter of time 36:50 you'll understand that God's justice 36:52 and God's government stands on truth 36:54 and whatever you do there is a payment. 36:56 The wages of sin is what? A spanking. 36:59 That's right, but let's finish, 37:01 because I want to give you some hope. 37:02 Look at verse 14 of Hebrews Chapter 4. 37:05 Although things can be seen by God nothing hidden, 37:07 he goes on verse 14 by saying, 37:09 "Seeing then that we have a," what? 37:12 "A great High Priest who has passed 37:16 through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, 37:19 let us hold fast our" what? 37:22 "Our confession." 37:23 "For we do not have a High Priest 37:25 who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses," 37:27 praise the Lord for that, 37:29 "But was in all points tempted as we are, 37:32 yet without sin." 37:34 But look at the encouragement to the sinner. 37:36 Verse 18, verse 16 is powerful. 37:40 It looked like verse 18 when I took my glasses off, 37:42 but it's verse 16 when I put them back on. 37:45 Look at this, "Let us therefore come," 37:47 say the next word, how? 37:48 Boldly. "Boldly before the throne of" what? 37:52 "Grace, that we may obtain" what then? 37:55 Mercy. "Mercy and find grace to help in" what? 37:58 "Time of need." 37:59 Have you needed grace this week? 38:01 Have you needed mercy? 38:03 The Lord says, when you do wrong, 38:05 let me encourage you, 38:06 when you do something wrong, 38:07 God says, "Come, come boldly." 38:10 In other words, God clears the way 38:12 that you can come unhindered. 38:13 There's something called the running to. 38:17 It'll come to me in a moment but God is in essence, 38:19 He removed all the obstacles so that 38:21 when the times comes for you 38:23 to run to Him for mercy, 38:25 He says, "Come on. Come on, son. 38:26 Come on, daughter. Come boldly." 38:28 He gives you access. 38:30 He doesn't say, 38:31 "What are you coming here for, you sinner?" Amen. 38:35 He says, "Come boldly. Come as you are." 38:38 I've made it very, very clear 38:41 that's how God is. He's our strong tower. 38:43 That's right. He's our strong tower. 38:46 We can run into Him and be saved. 38:49 So, when you sin don't think that you have done 38:51 something that God doesn't know you've done. 38:54 He said, "I know you did it. Confess it. 38:56 Run to me, come to me boldly" 39:00 And notice, he didn't say come to me boastfully. 39:02 He says, come to me boldly. 39:04 You know what that means, 39:05 come to me with determination. 39:06 Make your mind up to get here 39:09 as quickly as you can 39:10 and what does he say he'll do? 39:13 We will obtain mercy and find grace 39:15 to help in our time of need. 39:16 Brethren, you know, the best time 39:18 to run to God is when you transgress, 39:20 when you sin, when you fall. 39:22 You know why, because if you don't run right away, 39:24 sometimes you get to the point 39:25 where guilt takes over and guilt begins 39:27 to put obstacles in your way. 39:29 As a matter of fact, one of the reasons 39:31 why people often times stay away from church 39:32 is because they do something wrong. 39:35 And I hear phrases like this. 39:37 I was getting my life together. 39:40 Do you know why you can't get 39:41 your life together, Glenn. 39:42 Right, Glenn, you can't get your life together. 39:44 Who can get our lives together? 39:46 The Lord. He puts it back together. 39:48 We can't fix it up, he says, come as you are. 39:53 Come unto me all you who are weary 39:56 and heavy laden and what will I give you? 39:58 Rest. I will give you rest. 39:59 So he says, come as you are. 40:01 That's why the next part is so vitally important. 40:03 So, look at question number 5, 40:05 and this is a, I don't think 40:07 we'll get to number 16 tonight. 40:10 But the wonderful thing is, 40:11 this program continues to go on. 40:13 But question number 5 is a series of six questions 40:17 contained in question number 5. 40:20 All right, "Which of the following statements 40:22 are true about mercy?" 40:24 I'll put that on the screen. 40:26 "Which of the following statements 40:27 are true about mercy?" 40:29 And I'm gonna give you some 40:30 true and false suggestions or choices. 40:32 Here's the first one. 40:35 The conditions of applying mercy. 40:37 Mercy sets aside the requirements 40:39 of the law, true or false? 40:41 False. Okay. 40:43 Check it on your paper. 40:44 I'm not gonna tell you whether your answers are right yet. 40:46 Check, true or false. Okay. 40:50 Mercy sets aside the requirements of the law, 40:52 write down true or false. 40:53 Put your answer, whatever you, 40:55 and we'll check to see how many of you 40:56 got it right in the moment. 40:57 Second one. Mercy sets aside the penalty of the Law. 41:01 True or false? 41:02 You just write it down. 41:03 Don't tell your neighbor that you've got the answer. 41:04 This is a quiz. 41:06 Okay. Mercy sets aside the penalty of the Law. 41:10 The third one under number 5. 41:13 Mercy allows the innocent to go free? 41:17 True or false? 41:18 Write that down, check it off. 41:20 Mercy allows the innocent to go free? 41:23 True or false? 41:25 Okay. 41:28 Don't tell anybody what the answers are. 41:30 And if you don't know, guess. 41:32 This is not a salvation test. 41:35 Just to get you. Here's number 4. 41:38 Mercy is applied to satisfy the demands of the law? 41:41 True or false? 41:42 Mercy is applied to satisfy the demands of the law? 41:47 True or false? 41:51 Okay. 41:53 Okay, number 5, under number 5. 41:57 Mercy can only be applied to the guilty? 41:59 True or false? True or false? 42:06 And the last one, under number 5. 42:09 Mercy is applied to those who agree with the law? 42:15 Mercy is applied to those who agree with the law? 42:19 Okay. Okay, ready now? 42:21 Now, for those who are watching 42:23 I'm gonna give the answers. 42:24 You may have checked your syllabus. 42:25 Here's the question, I'll ask you true or false. 42:28 Mercy sets aside the requirement of the law? 42:30 How many put true? 42:33 How many put false? 42:34 The answer is false. 42:36 Mercy does not set aside the requirements of the law. 42:40 The requirements of the law still stand. 42:44 Okay. Mercy sets aside the penalty of the law? 42:48 True or false? Which one is it? 42:50 How many put true? 42:52 How many put false? 42:54 The answer is true. The answer is true. 42:57 Mercy sets aside the penalty. 42:58 Let me explain that. 43:02 When you come to the Judge, 43:05 and you say, "I am not guilty. 43:10 You're demanding justice." 43:14 When you say, I am guilty 43:15 what are you asking for? 43:17 Mercy. What does that mercy do? 43:21 It sets aside the penalty 43:23 that you would have gotten 43:24 had you had the court later 43:27 on prove you to be guilty. 43:29 Then you would had the stage of, 43:32 they call the penalty phase of the trial. 43:36 But once you say that you are guilty, 43:38 then you can ask for mercy. 43:39 Be merciful to me, a what? Sinner. 43:43 That's what the tax collector asked for. 43:46 This was last week. 43:47 I just wanted to see if you were following. 43:49 Be merciful to me a sinner, 43:51 but if you didn't say you were guilty, 43:54 there would be no reason for me 43:56 to even think about giving you mercy. 43:58 All right. The third one. 44:01 Mercy allows the innocent to go free? True or false? 44:04 False. True or false? 44:07 Who said true? 44:09 Who said false? False. 44:13 Mercy does not allow the innocent to go free. 44:19 If you're innocent you don't need mercy. 44:20 There you go, Dan. 44:22 If you're innocent you don't need mercy. 44:24 Because innocence, the law's now applied. 44:28 Innocence means justice is being served. 44:31 You go free. 44:34 The guilty need mercy. 44:38 The innocent don't need mercy. 44:42 And I know somebody may say, 44:44 "but why isn't mercy a -- 44:46 weren't you made innocent after mercy was applied?" 44:48 No, you're covered by God's grace. 44:54 You're covered by God's grace. 44:56 You are not, you are not innocent. 44:59 So, you say to your parent, I did it. 45:02 And they say now, "what agreement did we make?" 45:05 My wife. 45:07 My wife and I with one of our, I forgot which set of nieces. 45:11 Some many of them. 45:14 Oh! One particular niece who said okay, 45:16 I think it was my sister's daughter who said, "Okay. 45:18 What I want you to do is write down a list of things 45:20 that we should do. 45:23 You write down the penalties, the things that we should do 45:26 if we catch you doing something you shouldn't do. 45:28 You go ahead and write down your punishment." 45:31 And she had it above her bed head. 45:33 And the funny thing about that is she chose her punishment. 45:36 So, we said now, "when anything happens and we choose 45:38 something from your list, don't get mad at us 45:40 because we chose the punishment, right." 45:44 Now, would I be looking at that list if she was innocent? 45:47 Yes or no? 45:49 Absolutely not. 45:50 So, we are declared. 45:52 We are declared justified and if we were innocent 45:56 we don't need justice. 45:58 As a matter of fact go with me, oh! 46:01 This is a text I want you to see. 46:02 Go with me to John 9. 46:04 John Chapter 9. 46:05 I'm gonna give the other answers. 46:06 Let's finish the next three and we'd to see this. 46:08 So, we're up to number 4. Here's the other question. 46:10 Mercy is applied to satisfy the demands of the law? 46:15 True or false? 46:17 False, exactly. 46:18 The blood of Jesus Christ is applied to satisfy 46:21 the demands of the law. 46:22 Somebody has to die. 46:24 The law does not ever say death is no longer necessary 46:28 because the Bible says, "where there is no shedding of blood, 46:30 there is no remission of sin." 46:32 The wages of sin has always been, will always be death. 46:36 All right. John 9. 46:38 You hear what I said. 46:40 John 9. 46:41 Okay, I'm on my way there. 46:43 You guys are faster than the speed of thought. 46:46 Okay, here we go. I'm preaching while you guys are turning. 46:50 Here it is, John 9. 46:52 The reason why this is very important. 46:55 This by the way I've preached this not too long ago. 46:58 I call this one of the most, one of the most protested 47:01 miracles of Jesus. 47:02 When Jesus healed a blind man and the Pharisees kept saying, 47:05 "Tell us who healed you?" 47:07 And he said, "Jesus heal me." 47:09 He said, "But how did He do it?" 47:11 "He spat on the ground. 47:13 He picked up a clay. He put it on my eyes. 47:15 He told me to go to the pool and wash. 47:17 When I went I came back seeing." 47:20 "But how did He do it?" "I told you how He did it." 47:23 So, because his story wasn't good enough 47:25 they went to his parents "Is this your son?" "It is." 47:28 "Could you tell us how he was made to see again?" 47:30 They said, "He's of age, go ask him." 47:32 Good answer. See. 47:34 So, they came back to this man over and over and over again, 47:36 so they finally had their chance with Jesus. 47:39 Now, we're gonna work our way to verse 41. 47:41 Now, look at verse 36. 47:44 All right. 47:47 And... Verse 36. 47:50 "Jesus heard that they had cast him out, 47:52 and when He had found him," in verse 35 47:54 "Jesus heard that they had cast him out," 47:56 he was rejoicing he went to the temple rejoicing. 47:58 That's what you should do when Jesus heals you, right. 48:01 I mean John Chapter 9 verse 35. 48:03 John Chapter 9 verse 35, "Jesus heard that they had 48:06 cast him out, and when He had found him, He said to him, 48:11 "Do you believe in the Son of God?" 48:13 He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, 48:16 that I may believe in Him?" 48:17 And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him 48:21 and it is He who is talking with you." 48:25 And in verse 38. 48:26 Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" 48:28 And he did what? 48:29 Worshiped Him. 48:31 And Jesus said, "For judgment I have not, 48:34 for judgment I have come into this world, 48:36 that those who do not see may see, 48:40 and that those who see may be made blind." 48:43 And here's the point. 48:45 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him 48:48 heard these words, and said to Him. 48:50 They're saying to Jesus now, you gotta get this. 48:52 They are saying to Jesus, "Are we blind also?" 48:58 Get this. 49:00 And Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, 49:02 you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' 49:06 Therefore your sin remains. 49:07 You know what the problem in the story is. 49:09 You know what the issue in the story is? 49:11 They didn't confess their condition. 49:14 They didn't confess their condition. 49:16 Now, what is the condition of the Last Day Church Laodicea? 49:18 What's the condition? 49:20 Wretched, miserable, poor, blind and what else? 49:24 Naked. 49:25 Same thing, and so here we are in the last church 49:28 of Revelation's Seven Churches. 49:30 Unless we confess our condition, 49:32 Jesus can't do a thing for us. 49:34 He says, "Okay. You say you can see, then you're fine." 49:38 Since you say you can see, 49:40 your sins will still hang around. 49:42 But if you say that you are blind like this blind man, 49:44 said, you will know that I am able to restore you, 49:48 not only recover your sight 49:49 but I'm able to redeem you from your sin. 49:52 And they walked away without redemption 49:53 because they said, "We could see. 49:55 We don't need you, Lord. 49:56 We've got it perfectly taken care of." 49:57 And you'll find it over and over in the Bible 49:59 whenever a person says they got it down path, 50:01 Jesus said, "I can't do anything for you." 50:03 I can't do anything for you. 50:05 So, here's my message towards tonight. 50:06 If we walk away from this study and say, 50:08 "Well, this makes sense to me but I'm not really that bad." 50:14 What happens? 50:15 Jesus says, "Because you say you have no sin 50:17 your sin remains. 50:19 Because you say you don't really need me, 50:22 then I can't do anything for you." 50:24 So, the mission of Jesus is thwarted in our lives. 50:28 Because He said, "The Son of Man has come to seek 50:31 and to save that which is" what? 50:32 "That which is lost?" 50:33 Luke what? 50:34 Luke 19:10, a text we taught our niece. 50:37 She remembers to this very day when we speak to her and said, 50:39 "Luke 19:10 means what?" 50:41 and she repeats that. 50:42 Now, let's look at the last two, 50:44 the last two on our sixth part. 50:47 Number 5, Mercy can only be applied to the guilty? 50:50 True or false? 50:52 True. 50:53 Mercy can only be applied to the guilty. 50:56 And therefore number 6, Mercy is applied to those 50:59 who agree with the law? 51:01 True or False? 51:03 True. That's right. They said, Okay, I was speeding. 51:07 As a matter of fact, I heard story of a pastor 51:10 who got stopped by highway patrolman. 51:12 He said, "How fast were you going?" 51:15 He said, "well, when I saw you I was going 86 but I slowed 51:19 down to 80, when I saw you I was going 87 51:22 but I slowed down to 85." 51:23 He said, "I caught you at 85." 51:26 He said, "But I was going two miles faster." 51:28 And the highway patrolman said, 51:29 "but why are you admitting that?" 51:31 He said, "Because you and I are in the same business." 51:35 He said, "It is my job to teach people 51:37 not to violate the law. 51:38 It's your job to uphold the law. 51:40 Now, before you write a ticket, I'm gonna make 51:43 a commitment to do my part and making sure people 51:46 don't violate the law. 51:47 But if they do I'm gonna extend mercy to them." 51:49 "Now, officer, I am guilty but can you extend mercy to me?" 51:56 Well, this worked really well because this person was a, 52:00 I wanna be very vague. 52:01 This person was a visible personality 52:03 and the police officer said, 52:05 "If I gave you a ticket my mother will be upset. 52:07 I've watch you on television every week." 52:10 And so, he extended mercy. 52:13 But not that he was not guilty, 52:17 I am saying that case there was some preferential treatment. 52:21 But he acknowledged that he was speeding 52:24 that was the biggest part. 52:25 If he said to the police officer, "I wasn't speeding." 52:29 You know what he would have said, 52:30 "You know, sir, ashamed of you. 52:32 I watch you -- my mother watches you every week. 52:34 She's gonna be really upset to know that you wouldn't 52:36 even admit that you are wrong." 52:39 But because he came out and confessed, 52:41 isn't that wonderful, amen. 52:43 So, when we come to the Lord and we confess 52:45 that we do need the Lord, our eyes are opened, 52:48 we see our condition and then 52:50 and only then can we receive graciously the mercy of God. 52:55 Look at number 6. 52:57 Now, this is getting into a different phase of a very, 53:00 very vitally important one. 53:01 Number 6. 53:04 Here's the question. 53:07 What did the apostle Paul say when he was 53:09 confronted with his guilt? 53:12 What did he say when he was confronted with his guilt? 53:15 Look at the answer in Romans Chapter 7 and verse 24. 53:19 And I want you to read this one with me, 53:21 it's on the screen. 53:22 Are you ready? Here we go. 53:23 "O wretched man that I am! 53:26 Who will deliver me from this body of" what? 53:30 "Death." 53:32 What was he crying for? He was crying for what? 53:34 He was crying for deliverance. 53:36 Who's going to deliver me? 53:38 So, what did the apostle say 53:40 when he was confronted with his guilt? 53:41 What did he say about himself? 53:43 What condition was he in? 53:45 He was wretched. 53:47 You know the reason why there are so many people 53:49 that are not in wretched conditions in the world, 53:51 that are just living a sinful life, you know why? 53:54 Because they don't admit that they're even sinners. 53:59 That's why people can go from one transgression 54:01 to the next to the next to the next 54:02 over and over and over again 54:04 and don't even admit that they need the Lord. 54:06 You know why, Because they looked 54:07 themselves as good enough. 54:08 I heard people say, "I've a good neighbors." 54:11 And somebody once asked me, 54:12 "Now, my neighbors are not Christians. 54:15 They don't go to church. 54:17 They don't confess Jesus, but they're really nice people. 54:22 Wouldn't they be saved?" 54:23 and I look at people and I say, "I appreciate the fact 54:26 that you have law abiding neighbors. 54:29 But salvation is not by our good. 54:31 Salvation is by Jesus' righteousness." 54:35 Amen. 54:36 So, you may be able to finagle yourself through 54:39 the situations of life, but Jesus didn't come to save 54:44 people that are good by their own works. 54:46 Because if we look at our conditions as Adam 54:49 handed it down to us. 54:50 First Corinthians 15:22 says it this way, 54:53 "As in Adam how many of us die, 54:56 all of us die" so, if you are a son or daughter of Adam 55:01 you need to be delivered from death. 55:03 That's why the next topic we're gonna be covering 55:05 after we finish this one is, how to be delivered. 55:08 Say that with me, how to be delivered. 55:13 We know that justification is available. 55:15 We know to be justified is available. 55:17 But then, how do we get delivered? 55:20 How can God deliver me? 55:23 Because Paul says, "Who's going to do it? 55:26 How am I going to get delivered?" 55:29 So, the answer would be here what did Paul the apostle say 55:31 when he was confronted with his guilt, 55:34 he said he was a wretched man. 55:37 And you know why that's vitally important? 55:38 Unless we see our real condition we'll never know 55:41 that we'd really need a Savior. 55:43 You know, I consider myself 55:45 a person that dresses fairly well. 55:47 And some people dress really well. 55:49 And there are some people that dress really ostentatious. 55:51 Can you imagine me walking up to the Queen of England 55:53 with her perfectly coordinated outfit and say 55:55 you know, what, Queen Elizabeth, you're a sinner, you need Jesus. 56:00 This is a head of a monarchy. 56:02 I would probably tremble in my shoes 56:04 to know what will happen after that statement. 56:07 Am I right? 56:08 I may get instantly arrested, slammed to the ground, 56:12 but I tell you what? 56:13 No matter how good we may look to ourselves, 56:15 everyone of us needs to acknowledge our condition 56:20 if there's any hope of us ever being forgiven 56:23 and admitted into a perfect environment 56:26 such as the Kingdom of God. 56:27 Amen. 56:28 So, Paul looked at that and he says, 56:30 "I wonder if I can be forgiven." 56:32 And the reason I don't wanna go pass this question 56:34 for tonight is something very vitally important. 56:37 Paul looked at his condition. 56:39 And by the way when you read Romans Chapter 7 56:42 this is something that you must acknowledge. 56:43 When you read Romans Chapter 7. 56:45 Romans Chapter 7 is the experience of a man 56:49 after he was converted. 56:51 This is amazing. 56:53 Romans Chapter 7 is the experience 56:55 of a Christian man after his conversion. 56:59 Look at the things he struggled with. 57:01 So when you struggle it is not unusual. 57:03 God knows that Christians struggle. 57:05 Can you say amen to that. 57:07 And the struggle does not begin 57:09 until you admit that you need a Savior 57:13 and then, you know what He does, 57:14 He turns on the light. 57:17 What kind of light is it, somebody remembered? 57:19 What kind of light is it? 57:21 Come on, say it again. What kind of light is it? 57:23 Marvelous light. 57:25 It's a light that shows us in our true condition 57:27 and when Paul walked into that marvelous light 57:31 of God's righteous, the marvelous light of His word 57:35 he saw his condition and he knew that he needed Jesus. 57:37 Well, friends, we're gonna continue in our study 57:40 of how to be justified, how to experience God's mercy. 57:44 If you didn't get the lesson, go to asf.3abn.org 57:49 and download that and follow us, 57:51 but until we see you again, remember this, 57:53 God is long suffering, and abundant. 57:54 He is merciful, He wants to forgive us of our sins 57:57 cleanse us from unrighteousness. 57:59 Until we see you again, may the Lord Jesus Christ 58:02 be your Savior. God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17