Friends, Faith and the Forgiveness of God, Part 2

Let's pray together dear lord jesus we thank you for this great and wonderful day Thank you lord jesus that You died for our our sins Thank you lord that today we come to celebrate your great forgiveness And ask that lord every one of us in this room would have experienced the forgiveness of almighty god So much so that they have received that freedom from the penalty of death Freedom from guilt of that sin because of the forgiving gracious mercy of our god in jesus name amen This past monday was memorial day in case those of you here forgot about that But it was memorial day and it was a great day.

Probably one of the best memorial days i've ever had I was out in the front yard with my children. We were Just uh playing with the kids in the neighborhood and had a little aviary out there with me and Feeding little snacks as we sat out front on the lawn and had a great and wonderful time And as I was sitting there, I saw two people approach my home I knew who they were They did not know who I was That's always the best way to do it and so In years past i've always thought that whether it was at jehovah's witnesses or the moments who came to my door I would use my machine gun theology and just kind of rat tat tat tat tat tat and blow them all away That's usually how i've done things I don't really have time to talk to people or throw my pearls before swine because for the most part they don't listen And so on this day I was feeling pretty good because I was relaxed.

It was uh, Early on the morning around 10 30 or so and I just thought you know This is a good opportunity for me just to ask some questions And so this young lady, I guess she's not young probably Well, she's younger than me. So I guess she is young and this uh, little teenage boy walked up to uh where Avery and I were and she said I I would just like to invite you to come to one of our Conferences in long beach. I said, oh really? I I would love to hear about that. What's it about? And she told me about this conference for the jehovah's witnesses and everything I said, you know, i've always had some questions and maybe you can help me answer them She says sure.

I would like to answer those questions. I said, you know, I always I was curious What you would tell me if I if I said that I wanted to go to heaven How would I get there? And and I I always wondered if if if I wanted to be saved, how would I get saved? And she said oh well Let me tell you and so she had her a new world translation and she she began to open the bible to me and she would Quote some verses and I would just ask her some questions and and uh, She would go to some other verses and then I would ask her some more questions And so we had this dialogue going on and finally I said, you know, help me understand Uh in your mind who jesus is Because I I really want to know your perspective.

I really want to know What you would tell me? who jesus is She said well I'd love to tell you who jesus is I said, all right So she opens up the colossians chapter 1 verse number 15 says, you know, jesus is the is the firstborn of all creation I said really She says yes. He was the first one ever created by god.

And then after he was created he created everything else. I said really I said is that what the word protodocus means? She says the word what I said protodocus you've heard of that word haven't you She says i've never heard of that word I said, oh I'm, sorry. I I thought that that's what firstborn meant He was the protodocus the the firstborn of all creation meaning the preeminent one She says well i've never heard that word I said well then who was jesus she goes. Well, jesus is the only begotten of the of the father I said really then he is the monogamous of the father She says the what I said the monogamous the only begotten That's what that means.

She goes. I never heard that word. I said you've never heard that word I said you've come here to tell me about jesus, but you can't tell me what the only begotten means or the firstborn means She goes well, it means that he's the son of god I said oh so he is the weas of god She says the who I said the weas of god. I mean that's the word used in the bible to describe the son of god He is called the weas of god. That means not origin but equality Because jesus never had an origin She goes. Oh, but he did I said no, I don't think so I said I I think the bible says that jesus is god She goes no.

Jesus isn't god. I said oh well turn turn your bible to isaiah chapter 9 verse number 6 So she got a new world translation and she was turning her bible and you know all the verses she talked to me about were all underlying in or marked with yellow But isaiah 9 6 wasn't So I said I want you to read to me isaiah 9 verse number 6 because it tells us the son was given And the child was born It tells us the son wasn't born and the child wasn't given it tells us the son was given and the child was born She goes that she goes that's right.

That's what it says I said it's okay. Isaiah 9 tells me Who that son is? And she says well, yes, it does right here. She goes he says it's wonderful. Uh counselor mighty god. I said oh stop right there It says he's the mighty god She goes. Yes. Jesus is mighty now.

He is not almighty Because only jehovah god is almighty, but jesus is mighty I said, oh, no, no, no. No, I said that's the word el gabor. Have you ever heard of that word? She goes no I said oh well, let me tell you el gabor means el god gabor meaning the mightiest of all mighty ones Meaning that jesus is el gabor.

He is the mighty god. He is the almighty one She says well i've never heard that before I said well we'll read on in the text and she goes. Well, it's a prince of peace. He's the father of eternities Oh stop right there He is the he's the father of eternities. He's the he's the architect of eternity He is the creator of eternity. The only way you can be the creator of eternity is to be eternal Meaning that jesus is eternal meaning it has no origin because that's what the word weos means. He's the son of god He has no origin He is eternal and that tells us in michael chapter 5 verse number 2 turn to michael 5 verse number 2 formula So if you turn to michael 5 verse number 2 and I sit right there it says that the messiah born in bethlehem Would be from everlasting to everlasting meaning the messiah is the eternal one Which is exactly what the prophet isaiah said in isaiah chapter 9 verse number 6 that he is the mighty god He is the almighty one I said in fact in the book of revelation jesus caused christ is called the pentancritor Pentancritor Have you ever heard that word?

She says no. I said well, that means he is the almighty one 10 times It's used it's only used of jesus in the new testament because he is the almighty god And I said turn with me in your bible to isaiah 44 verse number 6 So she turned to isaiah 44 verse number 6 and I I said well there it tells us that there are are two yaves I know I said you use the word jehovah.

I said that's really not right. It's really yave I said because that's how it's pronounced the tetragrammaton And I said so therefore truly yave and there are two yaves in isaiah 44 verse number 6 One is the king of israel. And the other is his redeemer the lord of armies the lord of hosts And I said read on she goes it says that I am the first and the last she goes Well, that's that's jehovah god the first and the last I said really I said read revelation 1 verse number 18 So she turns to revelation 118 says I am the first and the last she goes who's that?

I said who's that? She goes well, that's god. So okay read on the living one. I said who's that? That's god Then says I was dead I said who's that she goes I don't know I said can god die She says no. I said oh if he becomes a man he can I said jesus Is god She goes well He can't be I said oh He can be because i've just proven to you that he is And she said well i've never heard of these words before I said it's because you go to the wrong church So you need to come to my church she goes Where's your church?

I don't mind. It's a west cabina and I I I pastor a church. She goes you're a pastor. So yeah She goes She goes well. Well, how can we how can you tell me you're a pastor? I said well that would have defeated my purpose My purpose was to ask you questions to show you that you can't answer The most crucial of all questions that it's who is jesus. I said, let me ask you another question Who forgives sins She says only god can forgive sins I said that's the exact same thing the pharisee said in luke chapter 5 Only god can forgive sins, but isn't it interesting that jesus said friend your sins Are forgiven you now Isaiah 43 25 says only god forgives sins.

I said turn turn in your new world translation. Isaiah 43 25 So she did I said only god jehovah god yahweh can forgive sins, but jesus said friend your sins are forgiven I said the only way jesus can forgive sins is if jesus Is god And i've already proven to you That jesus Is god So look to the young teenage boy that was standing there and it was this conversation went on for an hour and a half Okay she's sitting there Sweat is just Dripping down her. I mean she was sopping wet. I'm dry as a bone.

I feel really good, man I just i'm on fire man. I'm just like excited about this opportunity, you know, and I just asking her questions She's just sweating like profusely here's this teenage boy. He's sweating too And I said, you know son, what's your name? He goes. Well, my name is joshua I said what a great name. You know what joshua means? He goes. Yes, I do. I said what does it mean? Jehovah is salvation. I said that's right I said know what jesus's name is yeshua Know what sure means Jehovah is salvation Because jiva jesus is the great jehovah god of the universe you remember that as you go to your next house She goes well, let me give you some things to read I said better yet Let me give you something to read I got a little track here called what the bible says about christianity because it tells you how to get to heaven It tells you how to attain forgiveness of sins and it tells you what it means to be saved and it tells you who?

Jesus is and everything I talked to you about today is right here in this book. I want you to take this book I want you to read it Then you got any questions you come back and see me But this book is for you because you need to know what the bible says about christianity That was the best memorial day i've had in 50 years It was a great day It was a great day because it was an opportunity for me to listen and to explain to somebody who truly had questions About their own faith because she could not defend What she believed because she did not know the real truth The real truth Because she didn't know how to obtain forgiveness of sins She didn't understand that jesus is the only one who can forgive sins And we come to luke chapter 5 we realize that jesus can forgive him In fact, we are introduced to that great topic of forgiveness man's greatest need Is about forgiveness god's greatest gift Is forgiving Man, you've heard it said before that if man's greatest need would have been information god would have sent us an educator If man's greatest need would have been technology God would have sent us a scientist If man's greatest need was money, he'd have sent us an economist But man's greatest need is forgiveness So god sent us a savior jesus christ our lord And jesus makes a bold and blatant statement in luke chapter 5 verse number 20 friend your sins Are forgiving you That is the greatest Message one could ever hear and one could ever receive it is truly the good news the good news meaning For unto you this day In the city of david has been born a savior And only a savior can forgive you of your sins This is the message of the church Do not be fooled the message of the church is a message of forgiveness To those who are in sin The message of the church is not self-esteem And how you learn to feel better about yourself the message of the church Is not about your family and how to have a better family or how to have a better marriage That's not the message of the church The message of the church is not to equip you to be more successful in the marketplace.

That is not the message of the church Now unfortunately the church today preaches that message, but that's not the true message of the church The message of the church is that forgiveness of sins is available to those who repent That is the message of the church And that's why we preach that gospel Forgiveness Is very foreign to people like you and me But very fundamental to god himself He is the god Who is a savior? Who forgives man all of his sins the message of the church is that everyone is a sinner romans 3 23 And because you're a sinner you cannot meet the standards of god Why because you fall short of that standard you fall short of his glory And the wages of sin is always death So you find yourself penalized you find yourself Facing the reality of eternal judgment of eternal separation from god because of your sin You find yourself in a position where you can't love god serve god obey god honor god Please god you can't do anything because you are hopelessly Helplessly lost in your sin So you find yourself in a very difficult predicament Because you can't save yourself You can't do anything to get yourself out of being stuck in sin So you're in trouble So, what do you do?

You can't do anything Because listen the bible says It is an abomination to god To justify The sinner Did you know that It is an abomination to god to justify The sinner that's what god says It's also an abomination to god to declare an innocent man guilty You understand that?

You watch the judicial system and somebody's accused of a crime. They didn't commit they go to prison 10 15 years later they let out because of a dna sample and they realized the guy never did it. What a travesty What a tragedy to cause the innocent man To be rendered the verdict of guilty when a reality is innocent It's just as bad to say to a guilty man You're free And god says that's a perversion of justice Proverbs 17 Verse number 17 says it this way he Who justifies the wicked?

And he who condemns the righteous both of them alike are an abomination To the lord If you justify the wicked it is an abomination to god If you condemn a righteous man it is an abomination to god We understand that Proverbs 24 verse number 24 says it this way He who says to the wicked you are righteous peoples will curse him and nations will abhor him You see you and me are created in the image of god right So we understand something about the moral law of god because the moral law of god is written upon the heart of man Because he's created in the image of god.

He knows a sense of right and a sense of wrong and to declare An innocent man guilty Is a perversion of justice And to declare a guilty man innocent Is just as much a perversion of justice Because god said so And yet and yet that's exactly what god does God declares the guilty Righteous Now, how can he do that because he's god Only god can do that You want to know why? God is jury Judge And executioner He is the lawgiver He is the standard And god can do whatever he wants. But remember all sin Is against god I cannot forgive you of your sins Oh, yes, I can forgive you if you sin against me But I cannot forgive you for your offense against god I cannot do that And by the way, no priest in a box can either Just in case you were wondering about that Only one person can forgive you of your sins That's jesus Because he is the one who's been offended That's why david said in psalm 51 against thee and thee only have I sinned.

Well, what about uriah? Did he sin against uriah bashiva's husband he lied to uriah did he murder uriah? Yes Didn't he commit adultery with bashiva? Yes So why does david say against thee and thee only have I sinned because that's where sin originates It's against the holy god. It violates the standard of god So god Can do what man cannot do And that is declare the guilty man Innocent romans 4 Verse Uh 24 I'm, sorry romans 4 verse number 5 says this But to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly His faith is reckoned as righteousness Righteousness who is the one who justifies the ungodly?

It's the lord jesus christ Verse 6 just as david also speaks Of the blessing upon the man to whom god reckons righteousness apart from works Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered blessed is the man whose sin the lord will not take into account That's the blessed man. Why because you see Jesus did something that satisfied the justice of god He died in your place We gathered together today to celebrate the lord's table to celebrate the substitutionary atonement of jesus christ Our lord that he would die in your stead that he would take your place in mine on calvary's cross And thus satisfy the justice of god upon man's sin He borne his sin in his body your sin in mine God treated him his son as if he committed all the sins of all the people in all the world Because he borne his body your sin in mine So that he could treat you As if you were his son completely righteous in his sight It's only god who can justify the ungodly Through a process Where his justice is satisfied Through his son jesus christ On calvary's tree The heart and soul of the gospel Is that god forgives those who repent Why does god do that?

You know the answer to that John 3 16 for god's to love the world that he gave his only begotten son That whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life romans 5 8 That god demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners christ died for us Why does god forgive man of sins because at the heart of god is the is the love he has for the world So it frees him up to offer forgiveness to all those who who repent of their sins That's why jesus said in luke chapter 24 these words verse number 44 or 46 Thus it is written that the christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day And that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations that repentance for the forgiveness of sins Should be preached to all nations Why?

Because man's a sinner He needs to be cleansed from the condition that is irreparable He needs to be cleansed from a condition of his helplessness and hopelessness And only god can offer that to him and once that man repents god cleanses of him a sin And that's the great message of the church that's the gospel of jesus christ our lord that's what we preach And yet in a most recent gallup poll taken 76 of all evangelicals believe that man is basically good Not 76 of liberals Not 76 of pagans Not 76 of atheists 76 of evangelicals believe that man is basically good Could you imagine if jesus came on the scene and and began to preach in the synagogue saying you know What you guys are pretty good?

You guys have done a good job. I'm proud of you. You've done your best to keep the law. You got to keep trying You got to keep working at it, but pretty much you're you're pretty good Can you imagine if jesus said that In fact, jesus said just the opposite You're no good you're poor you're wretched you're blind you're naked you're in prison You're downtrodden You have nothing you're bankrupt You're a zero in the kingdom of god See that message wouldn't go over today jesus would not be a guest preacher in any church today Well some churches our church you wouldn't but most churches they wouldn't let jesus preach Because he would say you're poor you're blind you're naked you're oppressed You're captived by satan.

You have nothing you are nothing You need salvation Then it comes to me And we sit back and say Who's that guest preacher coming in here telling me i'm nothing? Well, I know that I am something See we take an affront to anybody who attacks our self-image or self-esteem And christ's message was one of self-denial Complete self-denial deny yourself take up your cross and follow me People just like to hear that message. Oh, by the way, that's why they wanted to kill jesus Because they hated his message Oh, they liked his works.

They liked his miracles, but they hated his word They hated the message Because it confronted their sinful nature That's why in the synagogue Filled in luke chapter 4 with all of his friends that he grew up with His family Those closest to him were enraged When they heard him preach the gospel They wanted to kill him didn't they Because how dare this hometown boy come in and tell us we are poor when in reality We are rich that we are imprisoned when in reality we are set free when we are downcast when in reality We are on top of the world Who does he think he is?

Let's Throw him off the cliff Because how dare somebody come tell us that? Especially one of our own That was the message of jesus He was offering forgiveness to those who recognize their condition You see that's the paradox that's where it's so difficult because you see man will never repent of a sin Unless he recognizes the condition he's in He's hopeless he lost He can't do anything yet throw himself upon the mercy of almighty god And that leads us to our story in luke chapter 5 Let me read it to you again It came about One day that he was teaching and there were some pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there Who had come from every village of galilee and judea and from jerusalem?

The power of the lord was present for him to perform healing We talked to you about the pharisees They had one goal in mind That was to trap him In what he said and what he did That they might kill him Why? Because he had already spoken against their religiosity he had spoken against their religious system He had dismantled their belief system They didn't like that So the teachers of the law which truly are the scribes according to verse number 21 The the theologians of the day gathered together along with the pharisees And they came from all over the place judea galilee jerusalem Why?

They wanted to trap him Then it says And behold some men were carrying on a bed A man who was paralyzed and they were trying to bring him in and set him down in front of him And not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd they went up on the roof and let him down the tiles with a stretcher right in the center in front of jesus These were the friends Who believed that god could do that jesus was sent from god and that jesus could somehow heal their friend Listen to what verse number 20 says and seeing their faith jesus saw their faith.

How do you see faith faith is very visible Don't for one moment think that faith is not seen true faith is always visible It's always manifested these men dismantled the roof these men men overcame every obstacle to get to jesus There was nothing that would hold them back because they truly believed that jesus could do for him That man what no one else could do and jesus saw their faith Not only did he see the faith of the four men But he saw the faith of the man who was paralyzed and the most remarkable thing here is that there is no conversation That ever takes place.

Hey, jesus. Can you heal our friend? They just began to unroof the roof as we talked about last week and As the debris began to fall on everybody sitting around jesus and they live They set this man down right in front of jesus They had a a great calculation as to where jesus would be sitting And they put this man right down in front of him You could imagine how silent the house or the room must have been where all these people were Plus those outside the building looking through the windows and listening through the doors What will jesus do with this man who's paralyzed Jesus saw his faith He didn't just see the faith of the four men.

He saw the faith of the man who was paralyzed And we know that jesus healed many people with faith, right? We know that jesus healed people with little faith. We heal We know that jesus healed people with no faith, but nobody was ever saved without what? faith Faith Nobody was ever forgiven their sins without faith none Why because faith cometh by hearing hearing by the word of god we are saved by grace through faith in jesus christ our lord Salvation has always been by faith always or by grace through faith always Never has that ever changed This man believed He knew his spiritual need was greater than his physical need Yet the man never spoke a word Never said a thing The four men never said a word.

I'm sure they said excuse me. Can we get in? Please? Excuse us We got a man god. We got to bring to jesus. Could you let us in? Please? That's not even recorded. So we assume they they might have tried to get in but they couldn't so they went in through the roof But We have no record of them ever saying anything for the real cry of this paralyzed man's heart Was that he was a sinner He needed to be saved he needed to be forgiven and jesus Jesus didn't see his paralysis jesus saw his heart And he knew that this man was broken and contrite he knew of this man's faith his belief And jesus said friend Your sins are forgiven For him to call him a friend it would mean that he's no longer an enemy right And we know that until we're saved we are what we are enemies of god We are the enemy of god And yet jesus says friend Your sins are forgiven That's the language of the kingdom That's kingdom language That's the language of salvation That's a man who comes with no self-righteousness it's a man who comes knowing he needs deliverance He comes broken repentant and the lord seeing his faith Says friend Your sins are forgiven now I need to stop right there for a moment To explain something to you The question comes Was it necessary listen carefully Was it necessary for this man to believe?

That jesus Was god To be saved Don't answer out loud Was it necessary for this man to believe? That jesus was god in human flesh To be saved Let me ask you this way Was it necessary for moses to believe that jesus was god in human flesh in order to be saved from his sin?

Was it necessary for elijah to believe or elisha Or david or daniel or jeremiah or isaiah to believe That jesus was god in the flesh in order to be saved. The answer is no I said, wait a minute. Wait a minute. How can you not believe that jesus is god and still be saved? Folks let me tell you something.

This is all pre-cross This is all pre Resurrection Okay, let me explain it to you this way turn to luke chapter 18 Jesus tells a parable About what it means to be justified before god Declared righteous before god to have a righteous standing before god and listen to what he says Verse nine and he also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves That they were righteous notice they trusted in themselves that they were righteous And viewed others with contempt two men went up into the temple to pray one a pharisee and the other a tax gatherer One was of the religious right?

The other was a scum of society But both went to the same place to pray And the pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself when you are religious you only pray to yourself You never literally pray to god Just pray to yourself God, I thank thee that I am not like the other people swindlers unjust adulterers or even like this tax gatherer I fast twice a week. I pay tithes of all that I get And the self-righteous feel it necessary to inform god of all their righteous acts And the pharisee says, you know, i'm glad i'm not like everybody else I'm glad that I do the religious thing I'm glad i'm not like the scum of the earth, but listen to what it says now verse number 13, but the tax gatherer Standing some distance away was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven But was beating his breast saying god be merciful to me the sinner I tell you this man went down to his house.

What's the next word justified rather than the other Now Doesn't say This man beat upon his breast And said jesus I believe your god Come in human flesh To save me from my sin To die upon calvary's cross and rise again the third day doesn't say that It just says he beat upon his breast and said god be merciful unto me a sinner And the bible says This man was justified in the sight of god he was declared right before god You see what it is needed for a man to be saved.

He must be broken over sin He must be contrite For a broken and contrite heart. The bible says god will not despise He must realize there is nothing in and of himself that will save him from his sin There's nothing he can do to save himself.

There is nothing he can do to gain a right to standing before god Jeremiah 13 tells us can an ethiopian change the color of his skin answer? No, can a leopard change the spots answer? No, neither. Can a wicked man Become a good man You can't do anything And the man who's justified before god knows he's a sinner knows he's helpless knows he can't do anything to save himself He is completely bankrupt. He mourns over his sin He cries out to god because he seeks hunger. He thirsts after righteousness.

He wants to be right with god but doesn't know That there's anything he can do to do that. He knows there's nothing he can do to do that And so he begs god for mercy Because he knows god is a forgiving god And god forgives him of a sin And that man's justified by grace through faith And what god has said about his condition about who he is Same way in luke chapter 5 What did this man believe we don't know what he believed the bible doesn't tell us what he believed I'm sure he'd seen and heard of the miracles of christ.

That's why they came and brought him because they believed he could be healed I'm sure he believed that jesus was from god There had been a miracle in israel over 500 years and all of a sudden everybody's being healed This man must be from god. So he must believe that jesus is from god But did he believe that jesus was god in human flesh? I don't think he did most people didn't understand that the disciples had a hard time with that one but Since the cross And since the resurrection What you believe about jesus changes doesn't it Romans 10 verse 9 if you confess with your mouth jesus as lord And believe in your heart that god raised her from the dead Thou shalt be saved You see the identity of christ is preeminent Because you see you can't expect them old testament saints to have the same perspective that you and I have They believed in a coming messiah they believed in the sacrifice for sins They believed that one day the messiah would come and rule and reign But they did not understand what you and I know about who he was when he came and what he did He's risen again.

He's coming back They don't have the new testament. All they had was the old testament So they would cry out to god and beg for mercy because they knew of their lost condition and could not save themselves And god in his grace and mercy would reach out and forgive them Because he knew and saw the condition of their heart that it was a repented heart But now that jesus has come Jesus has lived jesus has died and risen again Now we know who the sacrifice for our sins is and was And through his resurrection God verified that he was a son of god And therefore when we confess jesus as lord you see when I was talking to my jehovah's witness visitors on sat on monday I concluded with romans 10 verse number nine If you confess with your mouth jesus as lord As lord know what that means that means he is Lord yave It's the word translated curios Which is jehovah's witness will say well that means an earthly lord Well curios is an earthly lord But every time the word yave in the old testament is translated in the greeks of tuagent.

It's always translated curios every single time So I said read romans 10 verse number 13 and she did and it says whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord Shall be saved. That's a direct quote from joel 2 32 where the word yabe is used to describe the lord god of israel See whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord Shall be saved and you see as we gather together on this lord's day. We understand Who jesus is? We understand that he is god in the flesh We understand that he died for your sins and mine In fact, the bible says over in acts Chapter 17 these words verse number 30 therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance.

What are the times of ignorance? Those that are times of old testament saints where they did not understand Who the messiah was going to be what exactly the messiah would do there was some understanding but not complete understanding There were times of ignorance in god having overlooked the times of ignorance God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent Because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man Whom he has appointed having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead The time of ignorance is now over And god is declaring that all men everywhere should repent Based on what there was a man Who was a righteous man?

Who died for the sins of the world and rose again the third day? Unless you repent of your sins You'll die in your sins and see that's the essence of of what luke 5 is all about It helps us understand how god justifies the sinner How god forgives in our mind the unforgivable How god justifies the wicked by declaring them righteous by forgiving them all their sins And this man believed He believed as much as he knew about who jesus was and what he would do But he also believed that he was a sinner Helpless hopeless before his god.

There was nothing he could do and jesus knew his heart. Jesus saw folks. Let me tell you something Remember simeon luke chapter 2 What did simeon say in luke chapter 2?

He said these words Behold this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in israel and for a sign to be opposed And a sword will pierce even your own soul to the end that thoughts from many hearts May be revealed God is going to reveal the hearts of every man. See jesus saw his faith. Jesus saw the condition of his heart And Jesus sees the condition of your heart today as well You come in this auditorium you live your life from day to day don't think for one moment god doesn't know the condition of your heart He knows if there's a a truly repentant broken and contrite heart there he knows he knows He also knows if you are hypocritical and you act one way on the outside but are different on the other he knows that The people around you might not know that but but god does Because he reveals the hearts and thoughts of man And jesus saw his heart And that's why I like what it says in the very next verse because it leads us to the fourth point of our outline That is the fury of the pharisees and it says this In the scribes and the pharisees began to reason saying who is this man who speaks blasphemies Who can forgive sins but god alone verse 22, but jesus aware of their reasonings Jesus knew what was in their hearts as well I like that Jesus knew the heart of a broken man And forgave him of sins And jesus knew the heart of a hardened sinner Who reasoned their mind who is this man?

Who can forgive sins but god alone they were right Only god can forgive sins And if jesus is god he can if he's not he deserves to be stoned You read the law of leviticus. It tells us that everybody would stone the blasphemer. You know why? Because everybody had to be involved in it It wasn't a certain segment that stoned the blasphemer. Everybody stoned the blasphemer because they had to learn the lesson You can't take god's place You can't set yourself up as god you can't do that But jesus is god He is the lord god of the universe Who has the authority?

And next week we will see that authority unleash itself once again To leave man without excuse as to the identity of who jesus christ is But the question for you and me today is is Do you believe that jesus is god and that jesus can forgive your sins Jesus sees your heart He knows if it's broken He knows if it's contrite He knows if it's repentance You don't have to say a word People say well, you gotta say a prayer to get saved. No, you don't no, you don't Jesus knows your heart This man never said a prayer to get forgiveness did he what prayer did he offer up to god for forgiveness none in a broken and contrite heart And god said son your sins are forgiving you friend your sins you're released He said your sins are dismissed Because you come broken mourning over your sin Hungering and thirsting for that which is right and true Knowing that there's nothing in and of yourself to gain status with me Nothing to gain status with god because you have nothing to give that's worth anything And that's the person god saves Are you that person?

Has god saved your soul? I trust that he has let's pray Father thank you lord for this great and wonderful day Where we can look at the word of god and realize how important it is For us to understand our condition before god to realize we have nothing to offer that will save us from our sin But you have everything to offer because you have the gift of eternal life And you want to forgive man his sins Those who repent experience that forgiveness Those who don't remain in the sin They remain lost bound for a christless eternity And my prayer this morning is that there would not be one in this room who has not experienced the freedom Of your forgiveness in jesus name.

Amen