How Can I Be Truly Forgiven - Part 2

Are you going tonight. Some people goods is because the big get going with others because they believe in God, possibly forgive the length of point of the beverage are more expensive. While Beasley's mother, they hold no based on the promises in God's word is that it introduces the conclusion of his message. How can I truly forgive. I want to announce today that God is a God of forgive, he forgives soon.

That's what he does only permitted to be in his presence because he does not. We are unworthy to be in the presence of the holy, righteous, God, if he does not forgive us of our sin and that he forgives us, as the Bible tells us were to forgive others as we ourselves have been forgiven and were studying the life of David and his experience trifled sin of adultery and deception that was so much a part of one section of his life and will get to that in just a moment as we open our Bibles again to Psalm 32 Psalm 51. As we come to the weekend.

I want to remind you again that Turning Point exist to encourage you Monday through Friday but never to take the place of your being in church on the weekend.

The most important thing you can do now. However, you can do it in this situation in which we find ourselves is to be in church. The church is not the church when it's scattered church is the church when it's gathered and you need to get together with God's people as you are able to do so and I know that that brings honor and glory to the Lord. So get to church on the weekend and don't forget were on television all across the nation every month, practically adding new stations to our network. Always consult your guide and find out where we are in your community and join us for the weekend edition of Turning Point on television well right now I want us to get started with the Friday edition of Turning Point as we finish up our discussion of this question. How can I truly forgive and how you play Holly play when you been found out how you pray when you sin is so overwhelming that like Catherine Powers. You just can't stand it anymore and you gotta get it out in the open well let me tell you two things about David's confession. First of all, it was genuine it was genuine pastor Jeremiah's confession genuine. Not really. I read this week about a guy who wrote a letter to the Bureau of internal revenue and the letter said, I haven't been a little sleep because last year when I filed my income tax report.

I deliberately misrepresented my income, I'm enclosing a check for hundred and $50 and if I still can't sleep us and the rest that's the way a lot of people confess folks like that confession for a lot of folks is just telling people what you discover.

They already know effect in our schools and I can say this for the high school junior high only college. One of things we learn we deal with the problems young people face is that a lot of times kids will complain when they know you already know what they did but they will tell you any more than they think you know so sometimes you think you got this whole deal wrapped up in efforts all over you found out they didn't come clean it all as a whole bunch more stuff. You should've known confession can be dishonest and on genuine did you know that but I want to try something when David confessed his confession was genuine. You say how do you know that look into the Bible with me and notice what he said about what he did. Verse one he calls a transgression which is rebellion. Verse two he calls it iniquity, which is perversion distortion acting unjustly dealing crookedly verse two he calls it sandwich means to miss the mark in verse 40 calls of evil, which is a vile thing which deserves condemnation. The Hebrew words are much more graphic than our words. What David said was God I wanted tell you that I know what I did what I did was really bad there was no candy coating of his transgression. If you go back and Psalm 32 in verse five you see what David said about this prayer after he had written that he says I acknowledged my sin to you, and my iniquity.

I have not hidden. I said I will pass my transgression to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin and Psalm 117 were told that the Lord honors a broken and a contrite heart is confession was genuine.

He recognized that what he did was wrong. One of the things that keeps many of us from ever knowing renewed joy and in fellowship with God, knowing what it means to have the burden lifted his were always trying to make our sin look better always trying to put it in better terms always try to couch it in ways so that we don't feel so badly about it. The only way you can ever get any relief from sin is to confess and you know what the word means, like gecko in the Greek language means to say the same thing. It's to look at your sin. In the say the same thing about it that God would say to acknowledge your wrong sale pastor Jeremiah that's so painful.

And that's so hard, but it's the only way back.

It's where you start through genuine confession notice.

Secondly, it was not only genuine, it was God centered. David said against the God and the only have I sin now. It's not that he does not understand that others have been effective.

David hasn't suddenly lost his knowledge of what happened. He knows Bathsheba has been hurt in this purity taken away.

He knows that your life is in the ground dead because of what happened. He realizes that Joab has been complicated in his own integrity because of what he is done he knows what happened to him, but David said, Lord, it's against you and you only that I have sin.

David now seems that ultimately sin is an insult and injury to God is God's love that has been wounded is the God of grace, against whom he has sin and when a person takes that attitude. But God's forgiveness is reckoned by his grace and his mercy and that sin is a sin against God.

First of all, he has taken a major step on his way back.

Unfortunately, our concept of the holiness of God has been so eroded through our easy believers in this day that people almost feel like that's the secondary problem. In fact, let me ask you this question. Some big time and it involves other people and I give you the option today either confess it to the person you did it to her, confess it to God, which would you take it easy, confess it to God. I mean you can do that.

A quiet little prayer. Nobody knows what if you understood who God was, you would feel that way is what you talking about what I'm talking about is we are all into worship and thank God that we are. I love to worship, but sometimes if were not careful we can get so caught up in the mechanics of worship that we forget who it is that were worshiping who God is, his attributes, his love, his faithfulness, his goodness, his holiness, his righteousness worship is secondary to the object of our worship and David understood that.

So when he confessed he said, Lord, I know that this is basically an offense against you. Well, when he confessed something great happened and let me hold out this hope for all of us today. Nothing we have ever done.

I mean David did the biggies adultery, murder cover-up, and yet I wanted tell you something. David took the route back his conviction promoted a confrontation which brought out of him a confession and now see the cleansing that takes place in his life. The same intensity of words that David uses to talk about his sin. He now uses to describe the forgiveness I want you to notice these as you look at Psalm 51 he says. First of all that he wants his sin to be blotted out. He sees his sin as a record against him in the archives of heaven, and he says oh God blotted out just take pin sometimes when I'm working on a manuscript or semi get one of these big markers you know these big black markers. They make huge black marks. If you want to take out a whole sentence you just take the black market need to school because like this you have to do it twice and wipes out Olson Davidson got what I want you to do is this.

I want you to take your marker block my sin out of the archives of heaven. Then he said God I want you to wash away my sin. He sees as soon as a stain upon his soul leases God take your precious blood and just watch all the sin away and then he says I want you to cleanse me verse two and the technical term that he uses in verse two is the term for the cleansing of a leper and that's the term that was used to declare that a leper had been cleansed. God take away perceive my soul and then notice down in verse seven. This is an incredible insight from the Scripture. He prays that he would be purged with this that was purging with his was a Jewish person had to do after he came in contact with a dead body. It was an Old Testament ritual that was prescribed in the law, the Jews had an intense warrants to death in the law provided after you had come in contact with a dead body you had to go through this process, you had to go through this ritual cleaning the purging with his cigar knife come in contact with the dead body on the cause of that death, and I believe it that he was talking about Uriah and he said God please wash me clean and then in that phrase he employs a verb that's formed from the word sin. If we used it in our language look down at it would say purging is and I shall be clean, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow and when he says that he uses this term leases purge me with his and I shall be on the sand.

He said God and send me. I never thought of that phrase before. I don't think that's the way we talk today but boy is it graphic on God. Send me anybody ever feel like that. Just send me Lord, purge me and cleanse me and take away my sin. So no wonder David said in Psalm 32, one Blessed is the man happy is the man who goes through this process.

David looks back on it, and makes this judgment.

In Psalm 32 leases I've been through this I been through the sin I've been through the overwhelming anguish in my soul had somebody come and tell me I'm the one and I've had to come and ask you to forgive me and you've taken my sin away blotted out your voice to clean you one.

Send me God and I want to tell you, on the other side of it. Now you know how blessed is the man who has been forgiven God's people said amen you been forgiven. You know what David's talking about.

He had the answer to his prayer, God did indeed restore him to him the joy of his salvation. I now want to just tell you today my friends at the great good news of the gospel is we have a forgiving God and that when we come clean with God when we come to him and open our hearts of him and telling what's happened in our heart. God does hear us any forgiveness in the word of God is replete with references to the forgiveness of God. Psalm 86, five says for you, Lord, are good and ready to forgive and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you. Psalm 103 says, for as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us or I could give you dozens of other verses that just continually say God forgives God forgives and he will forgive you. He's just waiting for you to come in asking now wish there was some way I could make this clear to you because the sense of sin is so great that if we don't have a comparable sense of the awesome forgiveness of God. We can leave burden down she don't have to do that. I read about a non-who went to a bishop for confession and one day the nun told this bishop that Christ had revealed himself to her in person and the bishop understandably doubtful said to her, well I have some instructions for you the next time Christ appears to you. I want you to ask him about the sins of the Archbishop and that onset, of course, I'll be happy to. So the next time. In the period of confession bishop said to the nonmortgage rest Christ about the sins of the Archbishop and she said yes I did, father, and he replied what did he say the nun answered he said I'd forgotten them and he has. That's the good news of forgiveness.

He puts them behind his back as far as the east is from the West. He buries them in the deepest sea and he forgets what he forgets and yet there's a postscript and if I'm to be an honest pastor and an honest teacher.

I need to tell you a postscript, the Lord will not erase history and sometimes there are things which are set in motion.

While we are out of fellowship with God that are matter of cause and effect, and we have to reap what we sow. Even when we have been restored to fellowship out of the forgiveness process.

Sometimes we have to pay the piper Catherine Powers in the US news and world reports story about her. There was this little paragraph after all these years. It's hard to know whom to feel the most sympathy for the children who lost a father.

The family who lost a daughter. The young woman who lost her way in the tumult of the 60s and there are other suffering now her husband who she met while she was running with a wife who is now in jail the sun that was born to her while she was a fugitive now without his mother. Even with the best intentions at the article. Some things can never be made right. That's the awesome picture. It's real isn't. In fact when David responded to Nathan and Lincoln said to him, thou art the man and David got angry said limited that's going to die is going to restore for full how could he possibly have known how prophetic he was, because that's exactly what David did.

He gave back for full. Let me tell you briefly what happened. The child that was conceived and born to Bathsheba died shortly after that David's daughter Taymor was raped by his son David didn't judge that didn't take care of it. He should've stepped in as a father and said what needed to be said and taken judgment on his own son and punished him. But how could David do that. His credibility as a father had been shot third thing that happened was Absalom found out about Taymor was so incensed at what happened to her that he went and murdered Ammon and then Absalom got caught up in a power struggle with his father tried to start a coup in the kingdom took affidavits people and left and had David forced out of the kingdom and then later you see Absalom hanging from a tree by his hair and he's dead and the most anguish and cry in the whole story of David is this father on the news of his son Absalom and you just can hear the weeping in his voice. As you read it in the pages of Scripture. All Absalom, my son, my son absolute my son so there are consequences to know friends. I wish I didn't have to say that I wish there somewhere I could just say you know if you just come back to God and he will forgive you and that's important and it's good to have the guilt gone, but he doesn't just take his magic brush and take away everything that happened while you were walking away from him.

He may not want to hear but if I'm going to be faithful to you as your pastor, you need to hear. It's the truth service to things that I think we need to say is we close our Bibles and as we think about that and I just want you to listen to them carefully. There's two impossibilities that if you don't get these messages, we won't hear what God wants us to hear the first impossibilities this and listen up, especially young people and all of you who may be on the threshold of going down the road that you think you have carefully protected yourself from listen to me, impossibility, number one, it is impossible to get away with sin can the Bible says it this way. Be sure your sin will find you out say pastor Jeremiah knows of you know what this nobody would cover this upcoming nobody.

I mean there's only two of us that no well if only one of you knows that's enough.

Catherine did her best to cover it up, and she managed for 23 years to keep it from everybody else. Even her husband didn't know at first, but she knew that's why got out and we have this idea today. This idea that God's big grandfather up in the sky, just patches on the head with implicit you can do what you want to do. As I've said to you before you can get your kicks but you gotta take the kickbacks with them. Amen. So I just want tell you is faithful as I can. Don't think you're going to be the one who get by with it because you won't won't do it. Nobody ever does. But there's another impossibility. That's good news. I want to listen up, you may have messed up was here can look at another and say I haven't ever had to come back and ask for the cleansing in the hyssop will have and you may have messed up and maybe are in the midst of it right now.

Let me tell you the next impossibility.

Yes, it's impossible to get away with sin, but it's also impossible to get away from the love of God in human think that because of what you've done. God doesn't love you anyway. Don't you think that the very fact that he brought you here is an evidence that he loves you and if you have gotten into a situation where you want anybody to know what you and you say it's bad pastor, Tyson. I don't care how bad it is.

God loves you. And if you're one of his children. He will come after you and he will keep after you and he will come in every way he can to draw you back. You may have to fill some of the sting of what you done before you open up and take notice. But I want you to understand today that just as surely as you cannot get away with sin cannot get away from God's love.

You cannot, he loves you with an everlasting love.

How many of us as parents have not had to on occasion as I did once take hold of a child by the shoulders and say I don't care what you doing what you think you're doing. I wanted to I sent the matter what you do I will never stop loving you never, and if I'm like that as a human father with my imperfections. I meditate. That's the way God is, he will never stop loving you. You may be unlovable, but he will never stop loving you. I read this week other thing that I want to share with you as we close this book by Ruth Holmes Culkin to little book called Lord, don't you love me anymore and she tells a story kind of in a poetic way of the conversation she had with the little boy seven-year-old boy this is what she wrote. He was seven years old and he's my friend. His eyes are Mary and his hair is short and his nose is covered with freckles and on a cold rainy day. We sat on the floor eating hot buttered popcorn.

The popcorn went down quickly, but the questions came out slowly if I told alive today would God stop loving me.

Of course not. David, if I told to lies or three we stop loving me then know that you be unhappy in your heart by Prince Johnny in the nose and made his nosebleed will hard. Would God stop loving me then know what you better not try rock and broke a window. Would God stop loving you, then know that you have to work to pay for what if I stepped on the sales and all you flowers would God stop loving me then not for a minute David will win would God ever stop loving me. David not until there is no more earth, and no more heaven and God happen no matter what, that's right, David.

Even if it sometimes feel like it might it's never going to happen no matter what. And that's the good news. God loves you and the reason you have that hurt in your heart right now is because your God's.

And he doesn't want you out of fellowship with him and you never ever going to have it the way it should be continue come clean David's giving you the formula has any is giving you the plan you can even borrow his prayer if you like whatever you do, my friend, don't go on living unforgiven. He waits for you wide open arms and he will accept you back if you will, God of forgiveness is the God I know I'm inducing him to you. If you do not know him as the best news the way you get to know God is to the process of forgiveness come to him and you say to God, I know I have sinned violent and your holy standards.

I have grieved you and I ask you to forgive me and when you ask him to do that in your prayer simply to know how she will do it is never turned anyone away, stuck in turn you away is going to hear you and he's going to forgive you and I know it in your heart almost immediately. There's nothing like the joy and relief of being forgiven. Once you put your trust in Christ talk to somebody you know was a Christian. Go to a good Christ honoring church continue to listen to programs like this that will build you up and strengthen you send us a note and will send you a couple of books that we prepared for people when they make this decision to put their trust in Christ are free will send them to you absolutely, and will pray for you to because we know this is an important moment when you look back over your life. This will be viewed as one of the most important moments in life when you made peace with God and phone divine forgiveness. Once I mentioned earlier were taking time away for the weekend will be on the radio on the weekend will be on television. On the weekend and will be right back here on Monday to talk about why we should be thankful why is gratitude so important as a part of the Christian talk about Monday of a great weekend, friends and see you next time on this station is message original from Shadow Mountain Community Church and senior pastor Jeremiah would love to have Terry Vargas impacted your life is intelligent. San Diego, CA 92163 visit our website at davidjeremiah.org/radio, 14, 20, 21 calendar colors of creation that he you can also download the free 30.5 it's not devised tending point ministries. Instant exit program, visit David Jeremiah.old/radio for the Monday as we continue. God I need some point, taking time to listen from these increasingly