When God Forgets - sermon notes

Psalm 103:6 ¶  The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. 7  He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. 8  The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9  He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10  He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13  Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. 14  For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. 15  As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. 16  For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. 17  But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; 18  To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

Here, the Holy Spirit, through David, is talking about Israel but it is not a stretch, considering what we’re told in the New Testament, for this to apply to His church, as well.

We know that human beings have a problem, and that problem is our heart, our mind, our thoughts, our desires, and our spirit.

Jeremiah 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

The human heart is not just evil. It is desperately wicked. Do you know what that means? This is going to trouble some of you because you don’t look at yourselves this way. If you chanced to be out walking and happened upon a nightclub fire like some of the famous ones we’ve had in past days, say, the Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston in 1942 during World War Two where in 15 minutes 492 people died and 166 people were injured you’d see what desperate means. People crowded the exits and would have pulled anyone trying to get out or trying to pull them out to their death in total panic. They were desperate to get out but in their panic kept themselves and others from escaping. Your heart is that desperate to be wicked.

You aren’t just prone to sin, or just an imperfect person who does his or her best in life. You aren’t trying to do your best but making a few mistakes along the way, with the best of intentions. No, your heart wants so badly to do what it knows to be wrong it takes a great deal of socialization, fear of public humiliation, and a desire for approval from others to keep you from winding up on death row or being a permanent resident of the rescue mission if you haven’t trusted Christ.

Admit it, you’ve been angry without a cause, you’ve sought your own, just what you wanted regardless of anyone else’s feelings. You’ve lied, cheated, stolen, and committed sexual immorality, at least in your thoughts, the spirit of your mind, all the while justifying it by some misunderstanding or unmet need. You’ve murdered people in your heart, hated them and wanted them to die. I’m not talking about telling the proverbial little white lie or stealing some paperclips from work so I can make some kind of trendy argument to get you to admit something you don’t really believe about yourself. I’m talking about what you and I really are like.

I had a customer in housing sales once who told me an interesting story. He was a good guy, a little abrasive, but a skilled craftsman who loved his wife and family. He was just pure Baltimore, if you know what I mean. He had heart problems. Once, in an unnamed hospital in Baltimore he died on the operating table and had to be revived. He became conscious cursing and screaming and talking about fire and a Hell he didn’t believe in. When he was able to he apologized to the nursing staff for his language. They shrugged it off. A nurse told him that they’d experienced that even with sweet little old ladies at the end of their lives. He thought it was funny and dismissed my efforts to suggest it was real.

Think of someone you know, and it may be a relative, even a sweet, little old lady, your mother maybe, who is a vile, believe it or not, wicked, nasty sinner by nature who cannot enter into the presence of God without Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection.

Until most people can wrap their minds around that they will just look at you like a cow looks at a new gate when you speak of the need for salvation and God’s forgiveness. Good people are hard to convince that they are not good people. They have the testimony of their hearts, their friends and family, their accomplishments, their material success, and, yes, the testimony of their own seared and twisted conscience.

They’ve got to be made to understand that they are not being compared to other, lesser mortals. They are being compared to Christ. In comparison to a sinless, righteous, perfectly moral and obedient man to God, who happened to be God in the flesh at the same time He was fully a man, where would this good person you are talking to stand? Imagine that. This good guy or good girl is being compared to God. They are lost without His righteousness as theirs does not and cannot measure up.

Do you know that human beings killed a hundred million of their own in the twentieth century and displaced millions more.  Murder, rape which is unfinished murder, abuse, torture, neglect, vile perversions are part and parcel of humanity. Do you honestly think people are basically good?

Jesus even said to his own followers;

Matthew 7:11  If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Considering that shocking information, what has God promised in that Psalm the Holy Spirit gave David by inspiration, wisdom, and understanding?

8  The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy

God is so merciful. On this earth God shows mercy to the most unrighteous and vile people you can imagine.

Matthew 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Luke 6:35  But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

It is God’s character to show mercy. He delights in it.

Micah 7:18  Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

9  He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

God doesn’t hold grudges for a person who is repentant. He is not going to hold your sin over your head for the rest of your life.

1John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Even our most secret thoughts, even things hidden in full from ourselves.

Psalm 19:12  Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

10  He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

God’s mercy is such that He rarely gives us what we deserve. That is one fundamental definition of grace; undeserved, unmerited mercy.

The mercy of God is as sufficient for the pardon of the greatest sins, as for the least; and that because his mercy is infinite. That which is infinite, is as much above what is great, as it is above what is small. Thus God being infinitely great, he is as much above kings as he is above beggars; he is as much above the person trying always trying to do his best, as he is above the lowest sinner. One finite measure does not come any nearer to the extent of what is infinite than another.—So the mercy of God being infinite, it must be as sufficient for the pardon of all sin, as of one. If one of the least sins is not beyond the mercy of God, so neither are the greatest, or ten thousand of them, if I can paraphrase Jonathan Edwards.

So, if that is so, if you can accept what the Bible has said about the subject and what I’ve pointed out here why are you still holding over your head, your own head, the sins that God has forgiven you for?

He said;

12  As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

I know how some of you are in the middle of the night, in your thoughts, as you lay awake. Especially us older people who have done much to regret. Now, I’m not talking to those of you who think they’ve been just wonderful people their entire lives or those who think that if they’ve done wrong it was someone else who made them do it. I’m talking to those of you who remember what you said, what you did, what you thought, and cringe when it comes to your memory.

A sin is a transgression of God’s standard of righteousness.

1John 3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

God has removed these transgressions, if you have sincerely confessed them to Him, as is written, as far as the east is from the west. They’re gone. They were placed on Jesus Christ at the Cross.

2Corinthians 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Who brings it to your memory? Do you think God does that?

Maybe you’ve got some unresolved issues regarding your sin?

Matthew 5:23  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

What if you can’t reconcile with someone you’ve wronged? Maybe they’re dead. Maybe they don’t even know. Maybe they refuse to forgive you anyway.

What are you going to do about those situations?

You have to trust God. There is no other option left open for you. You can’t make up for your sin against someone who can’t receive your repentance, isn’t even aware of your sin, or refuses to accept peace between you and them.

You need to accept God’s peace, peace with Him. You must not reject His forgiveness. In other words, at some point, we have to acknowledge that God has forgiven us and removed our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. They’re gone.

Sometimes, its not what you did but what you didn’t do that possesses you.

Romans 7:15  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

James 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Those of us who have had children go astray fret about what we did wrong and yet, what if you simply did what you knew to do, what you believed was right, and things still didn’t turn out the way you think they should? You know your children are like arrows you shoot from a bow. Once they fly they are beyond your control. You hope, you pray to have sent them in the right direction toward the target. But the wind, the firmness of the arrow, the fletching, other things play a part in that so much so that you can only do your best. They are independent agents and under God’s care.

For those of us who did not do all that we knew or should have known there comes a time when we must accept God’s forgiveness in this, too.

Why are some who have been forgiven so filled with self-hate, self-doubt, and self-contempt?

If Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross at Calvary is sufficient for the Creator of the universe then why is it not sufficient for you?

I ask you again. Who brings it to your memory? Do you think God does that?

Discouragement is a tool of Satan. He uses it well and his ministers also are adept at its uses. Remember when Paul was dealing with a man in the Corinthian church who had committed a grievous sin and was apparently finally repentant? He asked for the church to forgive the offender.

2Corinthians 2:6  Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. 7  So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. 8  Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. 9  For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. 10  To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 11  Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Discouragement is a twin to bitterness and Paul specifically warned men about feeling this toward their wives.

Colossians 3:19  Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

The following is said in the context of the wicked, which we can apply to Satan, but also applies to the way we can treat each other when we have the wrong attitude and are doing Satan’s bidding unknowingly.

Psalm 64:3  Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

Has your faith been hurt by bitter words spoken like a sharp arrow that penetrates your heart? Are you guilty of doing that to someone else? Perhaps, if you feel a sharp word coming on, you best keep quiet lest you do his work for him.

So, if Satan wants to discourage us, what better way than to have us reject God’s forgiveness and replace it with our own wrath on our unworthiness? How clever he is. He might even use your husband or wife or dear friend to do his work.

Satan brings to mind sins long forgiven and has people you know and love sometimes throw them into your face.

What God has forgotten let not man bring to remembrance.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean you won’t have consequences for your sins that will continue to plague you for a lifetime. Years of heavy drinking and smoking can take their toll even after you received Christ. A lifetime of verbally and physically abusing your wife and children is not going to be forgotten just because you got “saved.” I know of a preacher whose first wife left him because when he got saved he thought because God forgave him she should too and he confessed adulteries against her made before he was saved which she didn’t know about. She didn’t agree with his argument that she must forgive him, as Christ had done.

Sometimes you have to show repentance and a changed attitude and life for years before a person whom you’ve hurt can ever trust you and some relationships never completely heal. Patience, Christian. We’re dealing with eternal things here and those few years are but a blip in time.

When a husband abuses his wife or a wife abuses her husband, doing the work of Satan, they will typically make the victim feel unworthy of forgiveness. In fact, sometimes the reason a spouse stays with an abuser is because the abuser has convinced them that the abuse is their fault. They are unworthy or don’t support the spouse enough, don’t satisfy their needs, or just fall short in some way. The victim becomes the guilty party until or unless they realize that God can and has forgiven them for what they’ve done, if anything, and most likely they realize the other person is just manipulating them and their complaints are unfair or simply unjustified.

Some preachers control their congregations by constantly making them feel unforgiven, just a big disappointment to God. These ministers of Satan will constantly harangue their congregation that they used to be on fire for God but had grown cold. They will have them constantly looking back and doubting their faith. They won’t tell them that their best times with God are now and in the future. They will misuse revival and blame the fact that the church isn’t bursting at the seams with new born-again Christians because their congregation, no matter how close a relationship each of them has with their Saviour, they are cold, deader than a hammer. You’re never good enough for them or God. You’re almost worse than you were before you received Christ.

And then, there are those, like, perhaps, some of you, who simply will not accept God’s forgiveness. Doesn’t that strike you as kind of blasphemous? His death, burial, and resurrection are not sufficient for you? Really?

Just imagine if you will a young woman. Raised on a culture of television, movies, and the internet with no other values imparted to her than what is found there she winds up having two abortions. Her only sense of self-worth came from how well she attracted male attention with her dress and manner. That was her “power” and self-esteem. So, she followed her heart, as our pop culture likes to talk about, and wound up in an abortion clinic twice.

For years after, in spite of what society was telling her, that she did the noble and right thing, the thing that was good for her, she felt awful. She was filled with contempt for herself and even outright disgust. She couldn’t understand why but she often wondered how her children would have been. What would those babies have been like? She saw mothers loving their babies and their babies laughing and giving them sloppy kisses. She was sickly drawn to watching YouTube videos of laughing babies, cute babies, and just felt miserable.

One day she was invited by a concerned friend at work to a church. It just so happened, as it often does, that the sermon seemed like it was prepared just for her. God’s great love and forgiveness was talked about. She felt her heart swell and she wanted so badly to feel that love and forgiveness. She went down to the front and tearfully pleaded for Christ to enter her heart and take over her life.

But, she never darkened the door of a church again. You see, it was one thing for God to forgive her. But, she could not accept God’s forgiveness and forgive herself for the harm that she had done to herself and to her little babies. Her life spiraled out of control in an orgy of self-hatred, drugs, and alcohol. Can you imagine how, for the woman of this parable, how tragic that would be? Can you picture the sorrow and anguish? You say it couldn’t happen that way. I say it has happened a million times.

Just imagine a young man, full of hope and expectations of life, learning a trade and meeting a girl, maybe his high school sweetheart, then getting married. Children come, a house and a home, which are two different things of course, and life looks like it is going to be a joyful thing. He was never raised with religion but his parents were good people. But, then, under the stress of the burdens of being a provider he took to the occasional drink. Unbeknownst to him, he was one of those unfortunate people who find that, in their case, one drink is too many and a dozen aren’t enough. He began to descend into the abyss of alcoholism. Meaningless adultery followed as it often does like a scavenger looking to pick up a scrap of meal and his wife left him for both his drunkenness and his affair. She took his kids and his home, and he lost his job.

Finally, in our parable, he wound up in a rescue mission. He heard sound preaching on the salvation of God and the love of God, on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary and of the empty tomb. He heard about eternal life with God. And he came forward, in tears, pitiful and sorrowful for all he’d done. But, when the dust cleared and he had time to think the nightmares still haunted him and the regret at losing his high school sweetheart, the mother of his children, and being consigned to always being an outsider in their lives wracked his tortured soul.

Now, you say, those examples you made up are too extreme. That doesn’t usually happen that way.

Well, if that is true, but if you can see the folly of those two pathetic people whose lives are ruined by guilt and regret can you not see that you, who haven’t done anything like what they did, cannot keep regarding God’s forgiveness as insufficient and be of any use to God except to serve as an example of a bitter Christian?

I’m not saying you shouldn’t be ashamed of what you’ve done. I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to make up for what you’ve done to others when that doesn’t cause more damage than the first sin.

I’m saying that if you have asked God for forgiveness and you are leading a changed life and you are, when possible, making up for what you’ve done, then let go of the self-disgust and the self-contempt. Move forward in Christ’s mercy. Serve Him with joy in your heart and a song on your lips. Stop sulking. Stop hanging your head and wishing you could just hide.

Our God can do great things with anyone. Any sinner, no matter how wicked they’ve been, can be of service to God if they truly repent of their sins, ask for forgiveness, and forge ahead in God’s care.

Christ loves you Christian. The Creator of the universe, building a constellation in the farthest reaches of space, making life happen in a mountain jungle no man will ever see in this life, making hundreds of billions of hearts beat, overseeing the life and death struggle of countless animals and people, sent His Holy Spirit, the very mind of God, to draw you to Him. He wanted to spend an eternity with you, and you with Him.

Remember what Paul said?

Philippians 3:13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

You can’t run a race looking backwards over your shoulder any more than you can run it paying attention to what someone else is doing in their lane.

In a different context Jesus made a point that we should consider in this context.

Luke 9:62  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

One of the fruits of the Spirit of God, having it indwelling you, is joy.

Galatians 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

If joy is always beyond your reach that is not evidence of Christ in you but of something or someone else oppressing you.

Isaiah wrote;

Isaiah 26:3  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Does your lack of peace suggest a lack of trust in God?

Okay, let’s sum it up. You should feel shame for your sins against God and against others. You should feel regret and sorrow. You should try to make up to others for what you’ve done to them and you should be willing to live a changed life for as long as it takes to show them your seriousness about your repentance if possible.

But, you should also bring your sins to the Cross and lay them at Christ’s feet and let Him remove them as far as the east is from the west and then, as Christ said;

John 8:11  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

When David came seeking forgiveness from God for his egregious sins he pled, not the smallness of them, but the greatness of them.

Psalm 25:11  For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.

And he appealed to God for God’s name’s sake, for mercy is an attribute of God, part of His character. You don’t go to the emergency room because you feel a little unwell. You appeal to the doctor because your sickness is great, even frightening.

And the great physician heals you. His mercy is sufficient, the Cross and the empty tomb attest to this. You received Christ as your Saviour. Now receive His forgiveness and move forward in his glorious Light. Look forward. Run your race toward the finish line and quit looking back over your shoulder.