The Freedom of Forgiveness

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham later in the program will tell you how you can get a Scripture Journal on the first message freedom of forgiveness.

I want to talk today on the subject. Freedom of forgiveness, the freedom of forgiveness. Now there certain things that you never to forget, like your wedding anniversary man was sitting behind the newspaper, drinking coffee and guzzling down, slurping down his breakfast wasn't paying any attention to his wife.

The breakfast table. Finally she had had enough. So she just pulled his paper down looking right in the eye and said you don't even know what day today is immediately he was panic stricken buddy cupboard and said I know what day it is. How could I forget this day. So we hustled off to work and begin making phone calls on the cell phone of the office and in the afternoon his wife received 12 long stem red roses little later on a beautiful black négligée little later on came a box of chocolates so we came home that evening and I walked to the door he noticed something was different. There was candlelight everywhere.

There was a white tablecloth and he smelled a wonderful meal and his wife came and embraced him and welcome the money she just was knocked out beautifully dressed and it was just amazing.

They sat down at this beautiful meal and she looked at him and said sweetheart thank you for making this the best Groundhog Day ever. You know there's some things you want to remember to forget, and there are other things you must not forget to remember is an amazing some of the things that we remember that we ought to forget for example, that 40 years ago when I was in junior high, maybe more, no less about right.

I learned a little song.

Does your chewing gum lose its flavor in the bedpost overnight when your mama says not to chew it. Do you swallow it.

Despite you catch it on your tonsils, and he even left and right is your chewing on lose its flavor in the bedpost overnight about how well I remember that that stupid song is still in my head, they say, you know you never forget anything. Your brain just sort of sucks that all landing keeps it until somehow.

You can recover. I can remember that stupid song but I can't remember the Scripture on memorize yesterday. There are some things that we need to remember. And of course we remember those things these things that are important. By repeating them and rehearsing them again and again and again to turn in your Bibles to second Peter chapter 1 remember freedom is bought and paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ at his cross, and freedom is not about your rights, but freedom is about what is right. One man said no man can become free until he has become a slave of something higher and greater than himself. We are slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how Peter identifies himself in chapter 1 verse one, a slave, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ we have been set free by the power of Jesus and his forgiveness.

Bible says the Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. We are set free. We are free of guilt. We are free of the power and the grip of sin. We are free of the fear on the power of evil, we are free, and God made every one of us to live free in him. He said you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free and that freedom of forgiveness of just living in the dimness of Jesus Christ is the only way to live and is the only way to die and so in second Peter chapter 1 verses 12 and 13.

Peter writes for this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always. Of these things though you know and are established in the present true. Yet I think it is right. As long as I'm in this tent, it wasn't talking about Puff Daddy was talking about his tent the body.

He said as long as I'm here in this body I want to stir up and remind you of some things knowing that shortly.

I must put off my tent. In other words, I'm pulling up stakes and packing my tent and I'm heading home to heaven. Just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover, I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. He settled long after I'm gone. I want you to be reminded of these important spiritual truths and lessons is the lesson that we need to learn and keep learning so that when we live in the freedom of forgiveness will not all back, but rather we will keep moving forward in our freedom in living in that freedom. And so that's why he said I written this book.

Now this second Peter is the last book that Simon Peter gave us and is an important book because these are his final words. Here was a man who walk with Jesus faithfully as an apostle. Following him as Lord and King.

He knew something about failure. It is online but now Peter no longer is impetuous and impulsive, but he isn't filled and infused with the power of Jesus Christ and he said here's some things that I've learned.

Sometimes the hard way, remember when he denied Christ three times and he was so broken up because of this failure because of this fall when he was ashamed of Jesus. He said I've learned some things along the way. In my sent and in my recovery and restoration that I want to remind you never to forget what are the four things very briefly. He said I want you to remember the reason for the Christian life.

That's why said. For this reason, in verse 12. What reason.

What is the reason for the Christian life. Well, verse three earlier in the passage he talks about the divine power of Jesus Christ and that we've been given all things that pertain to life and godliness to see up there and then moved out of verse four, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, partakers of the divine nature.

Did you know that when you become a Christian. The divine nature of Christ begins living in you, you were dead in trespasses and sin Ted, but now you're made alive and the very spirit of the living Christ lives in you. You been made are partaker of the divine nature and therefore the reason that we live. The reason for the Christian life is that we continue to grow and develop as believers in Christ is wonderful that some of you have come to Christ for the first time that you've been introduced to Jesus Christ Soviets, I will. I've met Jesus for the first time. That is fantastic. But this is just the beginning because as you now know Christ in your life as the spirit of the living Lord is in you.

Now is time to remember the reason in the reason is that you, the goal of Christ in your life, what is it it is to be like him. God is forming in you the very person in the likeness of Christ and your whole purpose and plan for life is in Christ, and somebody may be thinking, well, I can't live like Christ. I can't do this.

I'm not even going to try because it's just too hard. Remember, God would never command you to do anything that you could not do when God guides, he provides and you have the living spirit of Christ in you and therefore you are to remember that. Remember, the reason but also remember the resource that he is given. That's verse three again.

He says you've been given all things that pertain to life and godliness in other words, when Christ came to live in you.

You are fully equipped to grow up in Christ, just as a baby I healthy baby is born with the capacity to grow the babies a little Gyro little girl but everything is developing genetically planned, divinely program to grow up, we were not born like pollywogs where we grow stuff later. But we have all of the capacity to grow within is now in Christ we have the capacity to grow and we are promised that if we will commit to him and give due diligence to growing our faith that we can become more and more and more like Christ.

All things Christ is sufficient. Christ is all is not Christ was anything is not Christ plus an emotional experience is not Christ was Bible study though the Bible study is so very important in the word of God will be added to your life but is not Christ. Plus like secular psychology every need you have found Bill Jesus Christ and you know the biggest thing that everyone of us have his forgiveness and then to live in the freedom of that forgiveness in Christ and Christ alone. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message the freedom of forgiveness. We hope you're enjoying today's message and were excited to share that for a limited time gift to PowerPoint will be doubled up to $150,000 thanks to a generous matching grant to say thanks for your gift today will send you the most popular and encouraging messages from this past year together in one collection called the best of 2021.

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Now let's get back to today's message the freedom of forgiveness.

So everything that that we need to live a godly life and not hold back some your already thinking you know I made real commitments to Christ in recent days. How I know I'm not going to fall down.

How I know I'm not to go the other way. How do I know that I can keep going forward and not fall, because that's what Peter is talking about. He says later on the passage that we been cleansed from our sin. Verse 10 and that if you do these things you will never stumble. You don't have to stumble fail and fall. Peter was say you don't need to make the terrible mistakes that I made. If you will remember the reason reason for the Christian life is become more and more like Christ. If you will remember the resources and that is we been given all things in Jesus Christ that pertain to life and godliness, but you also need to remember the resistance. That's why Peter wrote down in verse four, the last sentence of verse four we see that there it says we have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Now the world is a system that shakes many people. That's why the Bible says don't be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, too many of us are being conformed to the world, rather than being transformed by the word of God. We are to be different than the world where to look different talk differently dressed differently, but rather we are to live in our hearts having us stay the corruption, the rottenness of the world system not talking about the world that Jesus loves and died for God so loved the world that he gave his only son. God loves people, all people, but the world is the antichrist anti-God system.

This world is hostile to God and is no friend to grace and so there's this resistance I mean God doesn't take his son to heaven, he leaves us in the world and as long as we're in this world. The Bible says in first John chapter 2, that the world and all this in it, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

That's the world we are constantly engaging the world and were either being shaped by the world are shaped by the word. The word of Christ. That's why in this passage of Scripture.

If you don't want to be shaped by the world and suck in to the world system and go back in the wrong direction to start living for the world and the things of this world that do not love Christ, if you want to keep going and live for the kingdom of God. He said in verse five. Look at it verse five, but also for this reason, giving diligence, add to your faith add to your faith. Remember I said earlier, this is just the beginning of faith for some of you for some of you, you've been in the faith a long time. Maybe since you were little children.

But you've not been adding to your faith you've not been building on the foundation of the forgiveness of your faith, he says give diligence to this and that means intensely dedicated to some of you are dedicated and diligent to sports diligent the video games you're diligent to your social life, but you're not diligent to grow your faith, but he said you don't want to fall backwards.

You must be diligent not doing things halfheartedly but wholeheartedly not presenting God things that are just half-baked, but all the way add to your faith is like you want to get in shape physically too many times people promise to get in shape on the study that I will start exercising the go out but put on the running suits I got for Christmas they go out. They run like crazy their pump and I and the next day, but it hurt so bad. What done her doesn't work and they quit but there's command and stay with it and give diligence to it. They stay after they get after it.

And as a result, physically they change what we need today is to add to our faith in muscle spiritual muscle that we may grow and develop stronger, better, more muscular in our faith every single day and he said the way to do that is to add to your faith.

Look what he said to add virtue best moral character and strength, knowledge that's wisdom and discernment, how to make good and godly decisions.

Self-control that especially self-control related to our passions, sexually endurance, which means perseverance and then godliness which is reverence and worship and kindness, brotherly kindness, which means fellowship in friendships and relationships in the body of Christ. The church and then a lovely agape love of Christ, the love and sacrifice the love of the cross. He said here's a list.

Does that sound familiar.

That list by the way is akin to the fruit of the spirit is is the character of Christ being formed in us.

So is moral excellence and his knowledge and his self-control and his love and his brotherly love and all this God has given us in order that we might experience victory over the world. We do have resistance but that resistance can be overcome. And there's one final thing that Peter says and that is to remember her. The reward remember the reward I don't miss this for he says if you do these things down verse 10, you will have an entrance verse 11 supply you abundantly in the everlasting kingdom of the Lord and abundant entrance into heaven.

If so word picture that Peter use he'd seen this no doubt many times when Olympian athletes would return from a victory to their town and there would be parades and cheers.

They would be in entrance back in town.

They were excited because of the championship.

That was one Peter is saying if you live like this. If you live in freedom and forgiveness, faith you to remember the reason that your to be like Christ. Your remember those resources that you had that you can grow everything you need to grow that you can remember the resistance know that your rent for spiritual battle and add your faith. Therefore, the strength that you need to win, then you will have this abundant entrance into heaven.

You will be rewarded. Not everybody. Some have an abundant entrance into heaven. Some people are gonna barely get there there say, but barely say, but if you win for Jesus Christ. He said if you don't stumble and fall.

You have an abundant entrance into heaven is freedom. Someone encourage me to watch. Several years ago, the edited TV version of Braveheart, and I didn't add story of William Wallace and some of you course know that story you may not know that William Wallace was a great believer in Jesus Christ and the servant of God and it came time to die because of his beliefs and because he would not recant certain things to the king, and so the final scene of that movie he is in his prison cell and he's praying because he is to be executed.

The next day and he sees praying he's praying. Oh God, let me die. Well, God give me courage to die so they brought them out the next day for the execution gave them a choice.

They said look, if you were recants before the king right now will kill you quickly put you out of your misery. But if you don't, we're going to torture you today, he would not recant. So they put them on the rack.

History tells us that he was tortured to death. He was put on the rack in your remember there on the rack if you happen to seeing this as there is there pulling him joint from joint he did not cry out as they begin disemboweling him did not cry, but as he was ready to die.

He summoned all the courage and strength.

Faith that he could with one final word, he cried out freely. William Wallace had an abundant entrance into heaven. You can have that same abundant entrance by knowing and following Jesus you're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham in today's message the freedom of forgiveness as we prepared to step into my 28th year of ministry.

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Give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional our website again is Jack Graham.March pastor. What is your PowerPoint today. Second, the apostle talks about things we need to keep in mind to truly live the kind of life that God has called us to live first is important to remember the reason for the Christian life as followers of Jesus you and are called to grow and to develop and the moment you become a Christian. Something wonderful begins to happen. The divine nature of Christ is living in you and you are now a brand-new person, a new creation.

But this is just the beginning.

Because the goal of the Christian life is to become more like Christ step-by-step, day by day. This is the reason for the Christian life that we can be born again and then grow up in our faith. The second way to live the kind of life that God wants you to live is to remember the resources that God is given you in Christ. In him you have the capacity to grow up and develop and you must take responsibility to access all the resources that are provided for you. The word of God. Prayer the church and then we should discipline ourselves to develop at our faith so that we can become more and more like Christ. Third is important to remember that we will face resistance when our goal is to honor God. But thank God he is given us his word.

He's given us the presence and the power of his spirit so that we can experience victory over any resistance we face, and finally the way to live a life that God desires us to live is to remember the reward of heaven now. Maybe today you'd admit that you're not sure you'd go to heaven if you died, and if so, I'd like to invite you to pray a prayer of faith right now and invite Christ into your life. Simply, but sincerely pray like this Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned and broken your commandments, but I turn from my sin and I trust in you.

I believe you died for me, and rose again and right now I receive you as my Lord, my Savior, my master and my friend come into my life, Lord Jesus, and may I live for you in the power of your spirit until you come for me now if you will pray you receive Christ in your life. I want to welcome you into the family of God. That is today's PowerPoint today.

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