Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to take a look at some scripture from…..

2 Pet 2:1-2

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

² And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

Something that is false is deliberately meant to deceive somebody else. Somebody who is false says or does things to fool or deceive somebody else. It is actually made to seem as though it’s true in order to deceive. False means it is not the real thing.

There are numerous ways to really discern a true prophet of God. One of the greatest ways is to take them to the Holy scriptures.

The word of God is the truth. Jesus is the truth. A false prophet is completely untrue. They are trying to deceive other people and lead them away from Christ’s teachings.

False means intending to deceive others. Remember, that’s what the devil did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. A false prophet will deceive you and try to get you to believe something that is not true. In fact the word deceive means to mislead, delude and beguile. These words mean to lead someone away from truth.

A false prophet does not lead you into the teachings of scripture but the opposite way. The devil can appear as a minister of light and even take scripture and twist them around, but the facts of the matter are that the scriptures say what they mean and mean what they say.

Remember the Lord Jesus fought the devil with scripture. The devil is a deceiver and the father of lies. When somebody lies it means that they create a false or misleading impression. It’s done with the intention of deceiving somebody else.

Again, Peter teaches us that there were false prophets also among the people even as there shall be false teachers among you who shall privily bring in damnable heresies.

The word heresy means holding a belief or opinion that is completely contrary to the teachings of Christian doctrine. It’s holding an opinion that is completely at odds with what is taught from the Bible. Heresy is believing a lie. The reason why I say that, is because it goes completely against biblical truth. Now, if we make a mistake or sin, we can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need, but you cannot believe a lie. The Bible is the truth. Heresy is believing something contrary to what the Bible clearly states.

Another definition for heresy is a denial of revealed truth as taught by the scriptures. Instead of accepting the fact that you’re in error and that you’re wrong and turning back, this is a complete denial. It’s a refusal to repent and believe scriptural truths. It’s willful and persistent adherence to an error in regard to our Christian faith.

False prophets and false teachers don’t want you to believe the truth, so they attempt to turn you away from the teachings of Christ and get you to join in all kinds of heresies with them.

That’s why it teaches in the scriptures that some people are going to believe a lie and will be damned because they didn’t believe the truth.

The Apostle teaches that some will deny the Lord that bought them.

When you deny something, it means you refuse to accept the truth.

Another dictionary says deny implies a firm refusal to accept something as true. It’s a firm refusal to concede to the truth. It also means to refuse to accept or to believe.

So these people are going to deny the Lord that bought them. Jesus died on the cross for them to take away their sins, but they completely reject the things that He taught.

Remember in the scriptures the Apostle warned about the devil in high places of Spiritual authority. The devil is actively trying to put people into these high places to willfully and purposefully lead others into a lie, but, the devil and his agents will bring upon themselves swift destruction. Swift means happening quickly and promptly.

God is not mocked. Whatever somebody sows, that is what they’re going to reap.

In verse two he says, many shall follow their pernicious ways.

Many people actually believe the misconception that before Jesus returns, there will be a great groundswell of true Christianity. The Lord Jesus taught that before he returned it was going to be like the days of Noah. That’s a falling away from the truth. How many people were saved in the days of Noah?

People are going to believe a giant lie perpetrated by the devil . They will claim peace peace but then sudden destruction will come upon them all because they have rejected Christ Jesus.

A lot of people are going to follow the Antichrist at the end. Many of the same people are going to profess that they are Christian. The truth is they will be deceived.

He says many shall follow their pernicious ways. Have you ever noticed that plants and things tend to grow really fast when you add some manure?

A false form of Christianity is growing and growing and growing today. It is growing with the manure of false doctrine. It is not the Christian faith that was handed down originally by the apostles 2,000 years ago. It is a false form of Christianity. Many are going to follow their pernicious ways. The word “many” means a large number or the majority of people.

There are many people who will be walking on the wide road when Jesus returns. It will appear like Christianity, it will look like Christianity but it is not the Christianity originally given to the apostles.

It’s being lead by false prophets, false apostles, false teachers, and false prophetesses.

As I’ve taught for 20 years, one way to discern if it’s true Christianity or not is if women are teaching the bible and speaking in the church? Are women usurping over men? Are women allowed to speak in any capacity during a church service?

Anybody who professes to be spiritual has to admit that these things are wrong. They have to understand that the things that Paul taught to the church where spiritual.

Today, numerous people deny what Paul taught, but they claim to be spiritual. I find that absolutely incredible because God used the Apostle Paul to write most of the New Testament teachings that we have in the church today. If that isn’t pride on their part, I dont know what is. It’s the Return of Capernum. (Matt 11:23)

There are people today who profess Christianity who think they know better than the Apostle Paul. I’ve read in some spots where they felt Paul was in the flesh. What they need to do is take a look in the mirror at who’s in the flesh. Paul was spiritual.

The hatred towards this blessed apostle is so great even today, that they still try to alter and change the words that he wrote.

If you’re claiming to be spiritual you will accept the things that the Apostle Paul taught. If you can’t do it, you are calling the Apostle a liar.

Fewer and fewer people today are accepting the scriptures as biblical truth. The world has changed so drastically from 2,000 years ago. Today many people do not want to accept the truth anymore. What they do is they pick a false prophet or false teacher to tell them the things that they want to hear.

Everybody wants to hear that they’re going to heaven. Everybody wants to be happy and fluffy in their hearts. They choose somebody to tell them things that tickle their ears. They don’t want to have to believe the truth of God’s word because if they did that would mean that they would have to confess their faults to God which would show that they are in error.

It’s what I call feel good Christianity where you feel like you are going to heaven but there’s no requirement to do anything on your part or believe in what Jesus taught. It’s like ordering a burger from a restaurant and when you take a bite out of it there’s no meat. It’s not a burger at all.

It’s like going to a job where you’re not required to do anything but you still get a paycheck at the end of the week. That sounds ridiculous doesn’t it! These same people promise liberty, but they’re the servants of corruption.

Remember the Lord Jesus picked a lot of disciples to go out and preach but how many remained at the end? Eleven.

Many people today who claim Christianity are following false teachers. They follow after their pernicious ways. False teachers or preachers will not accept the truth of scripture. Pernicious means damaging and destructive desperately wicked and exceedingly harmful.

It’s because of these people who are preaching lies that the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

I was tired of believing all the lies out in the world when I first got the holy scriptures in my hand. The Word of God is like an anchor that you throw into the water and anchor down your boat. No matter how strong the winds are or how big the storm, that boat is unmovable. It’s like a giant tree that grows huge roots deep down into the ground that hold at steadily in place. The reason why is because it’s based in the truth.

Why do you think so many of these false churches out there today don’t even preach from the true Word of God anymore? It scares them. If they truly preached it, they would have to accept the fact that they are in an error.

When a true man of God stands up for the truth, people speak evil of them.

When you’re ready to believe the truth, you have to shut out everything in the world and come out and be separate saith the Lord.

You need to dive into the holy scriptures and accept wholeheartedly the things that it teaches us.

You know what’s going to happen when you do that? You’re going to know the truth and the truth shall make you free!!! That is a truest liberty that could ever be desired in one’s life.

That’s where I’m going to stop for right now but Lord willing will talk to you some more tomorrow till then bye-bye everybody

Good morning and welcome in today. Today we are going to talk about keeping a grudge.

James 5:9 – Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

A grudge develops in your life because you won’t forgive other people when they apologize . In the church we learn that if your brother sins against you you are supposed to rebuke him and then if he repents you’re supposed to forgive him.

Think about when we make a mistake or sin against God and then we gi confess our sins to him. What does God do? He’s simply forgives us. God ceases to hold any grudge against us when we simply apologize and confess our sins to him.

A grudge is a result of not forgiving somebody else who has apologized to you. It’s a persistent feeling of ill will or resentment resulting from a past injury or an insult.

Persistent means to continue, or to exist and endure over a prolonged. of time.

When somebody approaches you and apologizes for wrongs that they have committed to you, God requires that you forgive them the same way he forgives you. When God forgives us he doesn’t hold any ill will towards us. These are things we’re supposed to have learned in the church already to treat others in a forgiving and merciful kind manner, without holding onto any bitterness or animosity.

What we are supposed to learn in the church to treat others is to be forgiving and merciful and kind to each other. Yo Willis animosity and bitterness.

If you bear somebody ill will it’s a strong feeling of disliking toward them. When you dislike somebody you’re truly not going to forgive them in your heart when they apologize. Somebody who doesn’t forgive others has a feeling of resentment toward the other party. There’s so much resentment there they’re unwilling to grant or allow forgiveness. Instead of forgiving they simply feel bitterness and indignation at the person who wronged them.

So again in the church if somebody wrongs you, you’re supposed to rebuke them. The next step is for the other person to apologize and confess faults. When we admit our sin before the Lord Jesus Christ he forgives us and we need to do that with others in the church.

If you cannot forgive others in like manner it will result in bitterness in your heart. It results in resentment. It results in animosity. God does not have those feelings towards us when he forgives. He ceases to remember our past.

A rebuke can be very sharp. One definition says an angry sharp disapproval of something that somebody has done to you.

That doesn’t mean that you’re bitter against them, You’re simply doing what God has commanded you to do. You’re supposed to rebuke those who hurt you.

Bitterness results when you don’t forgive. You rebuke them but when they apologize you simply will not forgive them. From that point, those feelings of being upset and offended just turn into bitterness, resentment and ill-will because you choose not to let it go.

As I’ve said many times in the past, when you have an unforgiving heart, it hurts you more than the other person. The reason why is you’re harboring hate instead of showing mercy.

A grudge is a feeling of anger and bitterness and resentment towards somebody for something that they did. When a person holds a grudge they are vindictive. What they want to do is get some kind of satisfaction and even enjoyment seeing the object of their hatred suffer. Instead of simply forgiving them and reconciling, a vindictive person shows a strong desire for some type of revenge.

A vindictive person may feel frustrated or hurt or ignored and they can’t change their circumstances so instead they lash out and they convert that pain into anger. They seek revenge by taking that pain out on others. That’s what happens when you don’t forgive people from your heart. You desire to punish them.

There are so many times out there in the world where young adults will come up and say I’m sorry I did that over and over again but their friend will simply turn away from them and walk the other way in school.

The next day they say it again, I’m sorry I did that please forgive me and they just keep turning away from them. They are so unforgiving that they try to figure out a way to get back at the other person for hurting them. That is a complete opposite of what we’re taught to do in the church.

Sometimes I think that’s what the nails represent at the Cross of Christ. We suffer at the hands of other people. We’ve been hurt by others but we take the nails. Christ suffered for us so that we could be forgiven.

The Lord Jesus took the suffering for our misdeeds upon himself. That’s what it means to bear one another’s burdens.

One of the definitions for vindictive that I found today is having or showing a wish to harm somebody because they hurt you, because you are unwilling to forgive them.

God wants us to be very very merciful and forgiving with each other when we admit sin in the church.

²¹ Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

²² Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

God wants you to be this forgiving with others because He’s this forgiving with you when you confess your sins to him. Forgiveness is so important to God that he wants you to reconcile with others that you have wronged in the church before you even bring a gift to the altar.

When we admit fault to God and confess sins his forgiveness is immediate. It’s the same way he wants us to treat others in the church. He wants us to be that exact same way. So when you don’t forgive it will result in being vindictive.

Our God is a God of mercy and Grace,.. qualities that each of us want to possess in the church. Let’s look at some verses that have to do with forgiveness.

Mark 11:25 – And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

If someone hurts you, rebuke them. If they repent and confess their sin and admit their fault then you forgive them. This concept is not difficult to understand but it is difficult for people who are unforgiving and unmerciful.

Confession is required to get forgiven. You have to confess your faults to people that you have wronged in the church. If you don’t apologize and confess to God how would you ever be forgiven by Him? That is a requirement.

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

Ephesians 4:32 – And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Here is a warning from the scriptures.

Matthew 6:15 – But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

As I have said many times in the past, that is a pretty scary thought. Even when we partake of Holy Communion to wash away our sins through the blood of Christ,… the Lord teaches that if you’re not going to forgive others he is not going to forgive you. He extends to us his mercy and Grace. If you’re not going to show that same mercy and Grace to others, you yourself will not be forgiven by him.

Matthew 6:14-15 – For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

In the church we are supposed to confess your faults one to another.

James 5:16 – Confess [your] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Luke 6:37 – … forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

Colossians 3:13 – Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also [do] ye.

A quarrel is a heated argument or a disagreement. When somebody wrongs you and you rebuke them, it can result in a very heated argument. If the person apologizes then you need to forgive them. If people can’t forgive and they can’t say I’m sorry, how can you profess to be a Christian?

Quarrels and arguments are a part of life in general. Even certain disciples had very strong disagreements with each other. Sometimes you speak the most passionately about the things that you are most upset about. Jesus went in the temple and was so upset He made a scourge. Wait till you see what happens at judgement day!

God wants us to be forbearing and forgiving with each other in the same way that Christ is with us.

Psalms 103:10-14 – He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 

So God takes our punishment away.

Proverbs 10:12 – Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.

If you really care about other people and they approach you and apologize, you will forgive them. That’s why in the Lord’s prayer, we ask Him to forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Be forewarned, if they apologize and you will not forgive them, God will take vengeance on that.

You cannot change the past. You cannot change the sins that you have committed, or the sins that have been committed against you. But I do know with all my heart something each of us can do.

We can forgive each other. We can block out the past and delete it and erase it from our memory.

Why relive an event over and over each day that was committed in the past, that somebody has already apologized for. Why continue to be resentful, vindictive and holding onto a grudge?

I’ve learned over many years of life it’s so much easier to just say I’m sorry to God and to others. Love is capable of saying I’m sorry.

The Christian faith is about learning to apologize and learning to forgive and forget. It’s learning to make up with each other and reconcile. Forgive others when they apologize and don’t hold a grudge. Remember, Jesus is watching you.

That’s where I’m to stop a right now but Lord willing will talk to you some more tomorrow till then bye-bye everybody.

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Galatians 6:7-8

The word “reap” means to “receive a reward or benefit as a consequence of one’s own or other people’s actions.” 

When someone goes to work, they will be rewarded for their time. They spend 40 hours a week at their job, and at the end of the week, they reap a reward-a paycheck.

Or someone who plants a garden will spend hours planting and watering their plants, until one day the plants reach maturity and the gardener receives the reward for their effort.

The Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death, meaning that if you are going to live a life of sin then you are going to reap your reward, which is eternal damnation. When you plant a corn seed, you will receive back an ear of corn. Likewise, those who sow sin, they are going to reap back the end product-punishment in Hell.

If someone is going to do evil to their neighbor, they are going to receive the same back to them.

“Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.” Job 4:8

“He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.” Psalm 7:15-16

Look at what happened to Haman in the book of Esther. Haman was promoted above all the other princes in the kingdom, and all of the servants in the king’s gate bowed before him and revered him. Except Mordecai, which upset Haman greatly. Now, Mordecai was a Jew and Haman’s hatred of Mordecai was so great that he sought to destroy all of the Jews that were in the kingdom. Well eventually his hatred became so great that he had a gallows made specifically to hang Mordecai on. As Haman was going to go talk to the king one night, the king couldn’t sleep, so he commanded that the book of records be read to him. In it, it was recorded that Mordecai had told of a couple of the king’s chambelains (an official that manages a royal household) had conspired to kill the king. 

Nothing had been done to reward Mordecai. And appropiately enough, it was now that Haman came to the king to ask that Mordecai be hanged. Here’s the rest of the passage.

“And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him. 

And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 

And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. 

So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself? 

And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, 

Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: 

And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.

Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. 

Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour. 

And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.” Esther 6:3-12

And then it was in the next chapter that is was exposed that Haman wanted to hang Mordecai on a gallows that he had made specifically for him, and the king commanded that Haman be hanged on his own gallows.

So you see, Haman intended evil against Mordecai, but it came right back upon him. He truly reaped what he sowed. 

“Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Luke 6:38

If you do good, and walk in God’s teachings, He will reward you. You just need to continue everyday. Don’t get tired of doing good things, and God will reward you.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9

“Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.” Ephesians 6:8

In Christ,

Andrew

Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to take a look at some scripture from…

James 4:6-10

⁶ But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸ Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

⁹ Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Today we’re going to talk a lot about humility, but let’s begin first of all with God resisteth the proud.

The word resist means to withstand or to strive against or to oppose. Today God is actively resisting the proud. Somebody who is proud in heart feels or shows excessive pride or excessive self-esteem. They are overly infatuated with themselves.

Proverbs 11:2

² When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.

proverbs 16:5

⁵ Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

It’s clear here that God hates Pride. The results of pride will be punishment.

Proverbs 29:23

²³ A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.

Proverbs 16:18

¹⁸ Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Pride is such a bad sin listen to this next verse.

Proverbs 26:12

¹² Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.

Pride ruins a relationship with God.

Luke 18: 9-14

⁹ And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

¹⁰ Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

¹² I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

¹³ And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

This passage teaches us about the Pharisees pride in his own self-righteousness, he looked down on other people. He told God in his own prayer how wonderful he was in comparison to a penitent publican.

The truth is, the Publican understood that he was a sinner and that he needed God’s mercy and Grace. That’s how the publican got forgiven with God. He was justified, which means to be forgiven.

God gives a warning here that if you’re going to lift yourself up, you’re going to be brought down. Those that are humble are going to be lifted up. Humility is the answer. God gives grace to the humble.

When somebody is humble, they have or show a low estimate of one’s own importance. It’s being of a low social rank. Somebody who is humble is not proud and arrogant. One of the truest definitions of the word humility that I found today is this. A humble person is somebody who knows that they are not perfect. That is such a good definition that I want to repeat it again. Humility is understanding that you are not perfect.

1st Peter 5:6-7

⁶ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

⁷ Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Colossians 3:12-13

¹² Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

¹³ Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

1st Peter 5:5

⁵ Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

Ephesians 4:2

² With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;

God gives grace and forgiveness to those who humble themselves. He teaches… to submit yourselves therefore to God.

Submission is an instance of yielding control to your authority, whoever that authority may be in your life.

It might be your dad or your husband. In the church, it’s the teachings of the Apostles and ultimately, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again he says, submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

God resisteth the proud. When you resist the devil what he does is he runs away.

Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you.

When we go out and seek God and want to be near and close to him, He comes closer to us. You need to have a seeking heart to find Him. You have to go searching for the Lord.

Deuteronomy 4:29

²⁹ But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

Proverbs 8:17

¹⁷ I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

Matthew 7:7

⁷ Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Jeremiah 29:13

¹³ And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Again, draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded.

When you cleanse your hands you go to the kitchen sink and you wash them off and clean all the dirt off.

James is teaching us to cleanse our hearts. We need to wash away the filth of our sins in our hearts and our minds through the blood of Christ. When you purify something it’s means to free us of guilt or moral blemish.

That happens through Christs forgiveness when He cleanses us of our sinfulness and forgives us of our imperfections. The thing that holds somebody back from getting cleansed in their heart and mind is pride. It’s a refusal to come to Him and admit the truth. Remember, before forgiveness happens you have to confess fault. Pride in a person’s heart does not want to do that.

So the Apostle teaches to be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. This is about changing the state of your heart and your mind towards God.

Some people get involved with sin and then they make a big joke about it like it’s unimportant to them and others.

Repentance is being remorseful about what you’ve done wrong to God and others in the church. Repentance is a true sincere apology for wrongdoing. It’s approaching others and saying I’m wrong and I shouldn’t have done that and I have great regret because of it. It should have never have happened.

The humble publican felt so bad about the things that he had done wrong that he was beating on his own breast. Ultimately to receive forgiveness we have to be of that same state in mind. We have to truly regret what we have done wrong in our past. We need to be filled up with Godly sorrow.

You can say I’m sorry but we can feel sorrow as well. Like two children will fight on the playground and you tell them that they need to apologize to each other and they say I’m sorry but you can tell they’re really don’t feel sorry it’s just repeating the words.

God wants us to turn away from laughter and mourn for what we have done. We have to be in that mindset when we come humbly before Him. The Lord it has promised when we do this, He will lift us up.

The Prodigal Son humbled himself in front of his own dad. He said make me as one of the servants. He explained that he had sinned against heaven and and before Him. He apologized and admitted his sins to his dad. What was the result of his confession of Truth? The dad simply forgave him on the spot of all the past and then they reconciled immediately with each other.

The dad didn’t hold bitterness or resentment for the son spending his inheritance, he just flat-out forgave him and they had a celebration afterwards.

Here is an example that when you humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, he lifts us up. The truth of the matter is pride does not want to admit fault. Pride does not want to say I’m sorry. Pride does not want to admit the fact that I’m in the wrong. That’s because Pride doesn’t care about other people’s feelings. Pride only cares about itself.

That’s why people were warned in the church if somebody wasn’t going to confess and admit their faults to somebody else you gave them two or three opportunities and then you weren’t supposed to have anything to do with them.

The reason why is because they were caught up in the trap and snare of the devil. They were filled up with pride and couldn’t confess and admit their faults towards others.

Remember, true humility is understanding that you are imperfect. Humility is understanding that we’ve all come short of the glory of God. It’s not just you and it’s not just me but everybody else on this world are sinners. The church operates on forgiveness.

The apostle Paul taught that the church were partakers of his grace. If somebody sins against you, rebuke them. When they apologize, forgive them.

Forgiveness will put away the resentment and the bitterness that you feel in your heart when people confess their faults. True forgiveness will cause you to reunite with others.

How many years of your life will you waste because somebody apologized and you simply won’t forgive them. Forgiveness is about moving on the same way that Christ forgives us. If you want Christ to lift you up through forgiveness you had better lift up and forgive others. If you’re incapable of doing that you will meet God’s Wrath.

That’s why I’m a stop for right now in Lord one will talk to some more tomorrow until then bye-bye everybody.

Tlkjbc.wordpress.com

Good morning and welcome in today today we’re going to take a look at some scripture from…..

James 2:10-13

¹⁰ For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

¹¹ For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

¹² So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

¹³ For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

The Old Testament law and ordinances we’re given to people to show us that we are sinners. That is what its purpose was. It was set forth to convict us of our sinfulness and to teach us that we couldn’t obtain eternal life without God’s forgiveness and Grace.

Everybody has sinned at least one time in their life. Some people have sinned a lot more but the point is the punishment for one sin is the same for one hundred sins. It’s eternal separation from a loving God at judgement day. A lot of people felt like they had kept the entire law but the truth was nobody did.

Galatians 3:10

¹⁰ For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

¹¹ But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

¹² And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

¹³ Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

¹⁴ That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Once again, the law was given by God to show us that we needed his grace and mercy to obtain eternal life. Eventually you were going to make a mistake. Eventually you might not keep a Sabbath day. Our God is a God of mercy and he wants us to come to him to receive that mercy. Those who are yet under the law are still under the curse. If you sin one time then you’ve broken the entire Covenant. Jesus became a curse for us and died on the cross for our sins.

Gal 3:19

¹⁹ Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

So that was the point of the law. It was added because of transgressions. As the Apostle Paul taught, all have sinned all have come short of the glory of God. Take it from the life of Paul who was once a Pharisee in Judaism. Later on he referred to himself as a chief of sinners and understood that he couldn’t achieve salvation except through God’s mercy and Grace.

Gal 3:22

²² But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith.

Justified means to be made righteous or to be forgiven for your sins. The only way that this can happen with God is through His son Jesus Christ and the blood that he shed when He died at the cross.

Romans 7:6

⁶ But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

Jesus did everything perfectly in the Old Testament. He is God manifested In the Flesh. He is absolutely perfect.

Matthew 5:17

¹⁷ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Jesus is the fulfillment of everything that the prophets were prophesying about concerning the coming of the Messiah. He fulfilled everything in the judaic law. We are now in the New Testament of God’s grace in Christ.

Romans 6:14

¹⁴ For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

We have forgiveness in the church. We have grace and mercy in the church. We can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need in the church. We want to get forgiven for our sins through Christ and we want to be forgiving with others and also to admit our faults to each other.

God wants us to reconcile with each other and forgive each other in the same way that He reconciles us unto God the Father. Again, James taught that whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all.

It’s not just the one sin that you have committed, but he says that you are guilty of all. If you’ve committed adultery you are also a liar and a thief and everything else on top of it. We are all sinners in this sinful place. We are all worthy of the same punishment, whether you sinned once or a hundred times. The punishment is death.

That’s why he warns…

¹¹ For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

¹² So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

In the church we make judgments. Forgiveness is greater than judgment.

When you rebuke somebody for something wrong that they have done to you that’s judgment. When they apologize and regret what they did and you forgive them that’s called forgiveness. Mercy is greater than judgement, because it covers up the sin, Just like paper covers the rock.

There was an adulterous woman who was brought before the Lord Jesus Christ and they wanted to stone her. They were ready to condemn her to death. All of us are worthy of that same condemnation because we’ve all sinned. Jesus explained to them that the person who was without sin should cast the first stone. They all left. He told her to go and sin no more. He showed her mercy.

Mercy is to be forgiving with other people. We are saved by God’s mercy.

Ephesians 2:4

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Eph 2:8

⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Mercy is the quality of being compassionate are forgiving with other people. You have the ability or power to punish them or do harm to them but you show leniency when they apologize for what they’ve done. Mercy is forgiveness, compassion and forbearance that is shown especially to somebody who has offended you or done something wrong to you. It’s kind forbearance shown towards an enemy and also it means to be pitiful.

The general carnal nature of man does not to want to forgive others. That is the sinful nature. Somebody does something wrong to you, then they apologize but instead of forgiving them, you show them no mercy at all.

Without forgiveness in people’s hearts it ruins relationships because you don’t want to reconcile with the other person. Reconciliation is a direct result of sincere forgiveness.

Reconcilliation happens when you forgive somebody from your heart and cease to feel any resentment anymore. Reconciliation happens when you learn to forget the past things that somebody has done against you and then rejoin the relationship that you had with them previously.

Reconciliation is the direct result of forgiveness. It is immediate. It’s like washing off a dirty plate and then immediately using it at the supper table. If it doesn’t happen that’s because of bitterness and resentment.

I think this is why James is warning us in the scriptures….

¹² So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

¹³ For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

With judgement there needs to be mercy. It can’t just be judgment and that’s it. You have to have mercy with judgment. If a person is incapable of doing that, God will have judgement without mercy on them because you’re not showing any mercy to someone else. Mercy is greater than any judgement. The reason why is because mercy can cover up past sins.

That is what Christ Jesus has done for us at the cross. We confess our sins and then he removes them from us. He is so very kind and merciful.

Luke 6:36

³⁶ Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

Matthew 5:7

⁷ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Colossians 3:12-13

¹² Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

¹³ Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

Luke 6:37

³⁷ Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

Lamentations 3:22-23

²² It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

²³ They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

So, judgement begins at the house of God but without Mercy attached it’s just judgment by itself.

¹² So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

If you can’t extend mercy to others, He’s will show you no mercy at the judgement.

So think about those things for today and Lord willing we’ll talk to you some more tomorrow. till then bye-bye everybody

“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Romans 12:19

The word “avenge” means to “inflict harm in return for an injury or wrong done to oneself or another; to take vengance for or on behalf of; to exact satisfaction for a wrong by punishing the wrongdoer.”

An example would be a young child playing with a toy at a daycare when another child comes over and pushes them down, and takes the toy. Instead of walking away and finding a different one to play with, they get back up, and shove the other child right back and take back the toy.

Or maybe a neighbor starts to spread lies and rumors about someone, so they in turn do the same right back to them. Instead of dealing with the suffering, they go and avenge themselves.

“Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:9

Our natural person wants to retalitate when others do wrong things to us, but we need to resist that urge to avenge yourself and allow it to happen. As Christians, we need to follow Christ’s example, knowing that when we suffer at the hands of others, God the Father will avenge us. 

In the Old Testament, when somone injured another, whatever they had done was supposed to be done back to them; if they took out someone’s eye, then their eye was taken out. If they knocked out someone’s tooth, then the same happened to them.

“And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbor; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him; Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.” Leviticus 24:19-20

Now that we are in the New Testament, if someone does evil to us, we are taught to allow it to happen. When the soldiers smote Jesus when He was before Pilate, did Jesus strike out and hit them back? No, He didn’t. He didn’t resist the evil that was being done to Him but suffered through it.

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 

But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matthew 5:38-39

“Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.” 

“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:17,21

When Jesus was reviled and mocked before His crucifixion, He didn’t return back the same, but He suffered it. Jesus could have destroyed them all right there, but He allowed those things to happen. 

“Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:” 1 Peter 2:23

Jesus is our example of how to live in every aspect of our lives. Be as He is, and when you suffer wrong at the hands of someone else, know that God will avenge you.

In Christ,

Andrew

Tlkjbc.wordpress.com

Good morning and welcome in today. Today we are going to take a look at some scripture from the book of Colossians.

Col 1 20-23

²⁰ And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

²¹ And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

²² In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

²³ If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

First of all, the Lord Jesus died on the cross to take our sins away so that we could have forgiveness with God. Ift teaches in verse 20 that he made peace through the blood of his cross. Peace is no more war or fighting. It’s an agreement to end a war.

We can have peace with God but we need to come to the cross of Christ and confess our sins unto him.

2nd Thessalonians 3:16

Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

Without Christ and his forgiveness, people are still in a state of enmity with God because of their own wicked works and their sinful conscience.

It’s like the old saying, Know Jesus Know peace. No Jesus No peace.

Romans 15:13

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

1st Corinthians 14:33

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

The Lord Jesus extends to us peace through the blood of his cross.

Hebrews 9:12

Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

1st Peter 1:18-19

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

¹⁹ But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Romans 5:9

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Matthew 26:28

For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

The Lord Jesus reconciles all things unto himself.

Let’s look at the definition of the word reconcile.

It means to restore friendly relationships between two people or to make up with others. Lastly it means to re-establish a close relationship as in a marriage.

2nd Corinthians 5:18-20

¹⁸ And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

¹⁹ To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

Romans 5:10

¹⁰ For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

The Lord Jesus through the cross, reunites us with God. We can be in a relationship with Him once again. The ministry of reconciliation is about bringing people back together again.

Matthew 5:23-24

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.

God wants us to reconcile with others because Jesus reconciles us to the heavenly father. If there was was no reconciliation through forgiveness, we would have no relationship with God the father right now.

Reconciliation has to do with bringing two together who have been separated. Reconciliation is about continuing on with the relationship that you had with someone else in the past. Everything is forgotten and it’s like nothing is even happened. That is forgiveness found in Christ. I guarantee you that is not the forgiveness that you find out in the world.

It’s about continuing on with the friendship that you’ve had in the past.

The Lord Jesus reaches out to the world with one hand and reaches out to God the Father with the other and He joins us back together through his grace and mercy . Reconciliation is shown in the parable of the Prodigal Son when the dad reconciles the son unto himself by simply forgiving him.

The son confessed his faults and sins and the dad completely forgave them.

God wants to forgive us. In the church, God wants us to be very forgiving with each other. When somebody sins against you it hurts, but Jesus took the nails for the entire world. He still forgives us when we confess our faults no matter how much the world hurt him. That is the truest love I’ve ever known.

Verse 21 continues…

²¹ And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.

Sin alienates us and causes us to become enemies of God in our own minds. If you are alienated, it means you’re experiencing or inducing feelings of isolation or estrangement. Being alienated or estranged is to make unfriendly, hostile or indifferent especially where attachment formerly existed.

When you are estranged to others it means that you are unfriendly or hostile or are in a state of mutual enmity or indifference.

These things happen in our own minds because of our own sinfulness. We are estranged from God the Father because of sin. Sin causes us to become alienated and enemies in our own minds by our sinful living and the things that we have done wrong, but through Christ Jesus we have forgiveness so that we can be in a renewed relationship with God the Father once again.

Reconciliation to God is immediate after forgiveness.

I’ve always said the past, if there was no reconciliation, then there was never truly forgiveness. Reconcilliation is the direct result of forgiveness. It’s like buying an ice cream cone and going out on a hot day and immediately eating it. Reconciliation is like how you see lightning in a thunderstorm and then it is followed by thunder.

True forgiveness will remove all the bitterness and resentment that you hold in your heart towards somebody else.

When you forgive others from your heart, you will rejoin in the relationship that you have had with them in the past as though nothing even happened.

So again we can have this relationship with God through Christ Jesus and what he did for us at the cross. He reconciles us in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.

God is so forgiving with us that when we confess our sins he completely forgets our past. He casts. our sin behind him. They are thrown into the depths of the sea.

He presents us holy because we are washed in the blood of the Lamb. We are unblamable because he has forgiven us. Unreproveable because he forgets all of our past misdeeds.

What we need to do is continue in the faith grounded and settled.

If you continue to do something it means to persist in an activity or a process. It means to go on or to keep moving forward in some course or action. It means to keep going without stopping.

Some synonyms for the word continue are to abide, endure to last and to persist.

John 15:5

⁵ I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

We need to continue in the faith grounded and settled.

When we are grounded and settled it means that we completely believe what the scriptures teach. We believe without any kind of hesitation or doubt the truth about God’s mercy and grace towards us. When you are grounded in your faith it means you are completely confident and trust Christ.

We want to be like a tree that is really well rooted in the ground. The tree roots go deep down into the ground seeking for water. Our roots grow down deep into the teachings of scripture.

In order to become unblameable in God’s sight we have to continue in our faith grounded and settled there’s no turning back. We don’t want to be moved away from the hope of the Gospel that we have heard.

When we have hope it’s a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Hope is a Christian virtue that we are supposed to abide in.

1st Cor 13:13

..and now abideth faith hope charity these three but the greatest of these is charity.

Hope is also a feeling of trust or when we want something to happen and to be the case.

Another definition says to expect with confidence. Hope is an optimistic state of mind based on an expectation of something positive that’s going to happen. It means to cherish and desire with anticipation.

The Apostle teaches here to not be moved away from the hope of the Gospel. We can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need and that’s why Jesus died on the cross so that we could be forgiven. He just wants us to confess and admit our faults so that someday he can present us holy and unblameable in his sight. Then he expects us to forgive and reconcile with others.

He transforms sinners into Saints by his blessed mercy. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ for his kindness toward this world.

Be reconciled unto God. It’s time to come home to him.

And that’s where we’re going to stop for right now but Lord willing we will talk to you some more tomorrow till then bye-bye everybody.

Good morning and welcome in today. Before we begin, I wanted to ask you a question…

Have you ever recorded something that was on TV? What do you do when you come to the commercials? You push the pause button and you delete them. I’m sure that many advertisers really don’t want to hear that, but that’s the truth. The reason why is so the next time you watch the recorded movie, you can watch it all the way through without any interruptions.

Imagine taking a lot of time and you’re writing a letter on the computer. When you finalize and proofread the letter what happens? There’s a bunch of things that you need to delete and get rid of it. When you are done correcting all the mistakes and the faults, there’s nothing left but perfection. In order for perfection to come, there are some things that needed to be deleted otherwise it would be imperfect when you published it.

A recording artist or a painter goes through numerous versions of a song or painting before it is perfected into what he wants it to sound or look like. In order to become perfected a lot of things had to be corrected and deleted never to be seen in the final version.

Through God’s grace, we can someday become the final version of what He wants us to be through His deletion process of our past sins.

God can delete our sins that we have committed in the past. When we confess our sins to God, He frankly forgives us and then he covers up those issues of sin in our lives never to be seen again. That’s the only way that we could ever become blameless before God is because he deletes those parts of our lives that we have made mistakes in.

On a computer, there is a key that will erase text, it’s called the delete button. The word delete means to eliminate especially by blotting out , cutting out, erasing and deleting a passage in a manuscript completely.

Delete means to strike out or to remove something written or printed, or to cancel to erase or to expunge.

A lot of judges and people in earthy courtrooms understand what this word expunge means. To expunge is to erase or to remove completely something that is unwanted or unpleasant in a person’s past. In a courtroom on the Earth, a judge has the ability to do that. They have the ability to completely delete the things that have been done in your past as Christ does for us who claim to be Christian.

The Lord Jesus Christ as a merciful judge expunges our past misdeeds. The truth is this, whether it’s a judge, or a religious leader, whether it’s a person in the church, the poor man or rich, young and old, each of us need to have our record expunged in order to inherit eternal life someday. And that is what a pastor or Minister provides to the people.

How many of your kids are out there have been in school and you’re writing with your pencil and you’re taking notes, and then you flip your pencil over and there’s an eraser on the top. What do you do with it?You erase the part that you made a mistake on and then you write over it.

That is exactly what God does for us when we come to him and simply admit our sin in our faults. He pulls out his pencil eraser and erases the parts of our lives that we made a mistake in.

On a computer you, you delete things so that the only thing that is left is the finished product.

The only way that we can become blameless before Him is because of God’s grace and forgiveness. God simply wants us to confess our sin and admit our fault so that He can forgive us completely. Does that sound too simple? God just wants us to say we are sorry to Him. God wants to forgive and to justify us.

God wants to erase our sin out of our lives so they’re not in our conscience anymore. He wants us to attempt to try again to do what is right in our lives and gives us grace for that purpose. He gives us grace to grow. There is nobody on this Earth that God wants to perish. If you really believe that you’re believing a lie.

God wants to save each of us and wants each of us to come to repentance. He wants us to change our mind. He wants us to accept the truth of the error of our way. He wants us to accept the truth about how much he wants to forgive us. God yearns to forgive us. That is His divine nature. The thing that prevents that forgiveness from happening is our hard-heartedness.

Jesus wants to free us from our sins . The truth is we are in bondage to our own sinful condition. He wants to free us from our guilty conscience. He wants to take away those things in our hearts that we have done wrong in our lives. That is about the truest Liberty that you will ever find.

When you erase something you eliminate or delete it often by physically wiping it out.

When I was a student in elementary school one of the students was talking in class. His punishment was to write ” I will not talk in Class” 500 times on a chalkboard. Although he was being shamed in front of the entire class for what he had done Jesus takes our shame away for what we have done at the cross.

At the end of the day, my job was to take the erasers and clean the blackboard at the end of the day.

Looking back at it, I think to myself how Jesus erases my sins from the blackboard. He wipes it away, until there is no recollection of what was even written there in the past.

I would take that bucket full of erasers outside, and throw those erasers against the side of the school building until I beat all that chalk dust out of them. No matter how hard my arm hurt I kept throwing them harder and harder against the building until they were cleansed from the dust of sin.

Jesus suffered greatly at the cross to cleanse us of our sin.

When somebody sins against you it’s not always easy to forgive because it hurts. If that time in your life that you have to understand what Jesus has done for you. We have all hurt Jesus. Each of us have hurt God. God wants us to admit our faults so that he can erase the blackboard of our sins. It’s just an admission of truth. The Apostle gave a giant admission of Truth when he said I’m the chief of sinners. Are you capable of doing that?

Would you agree with me today that perfection can only come in our lives if certain things in our past are deleted?

Would you agree with me today that the path to a better life can only come when Jesus completely expunges and forgives our past.

How can any of us become a better person unless we are extended a portion of Grace?

You wil find in his life that the people who needed the most grace are the most graceful people you will ever meet. The reason why is the more that you have been forgiven, the more forgiving you are with others. As the Apostle taught, you were all partakers of my grace.

God completely expunges and deletes our sins when we confess them unto to Him.

Are you deleting the sins of others? Are you banging those erasers against the wall?

That’s where I’m at stop for right now but Lord willing we’ll talk some more tomorrow till then bye-bye everybody.

Good morning and welcome in today. Today we are going to look at some scripture that has to do with unconditional Mercy.

The word unconditional means not subject to any conditions. It means without any kinds of strings attached.

If you set conditions, it means a circumstance that has a prerequisite to obtaining. There are factors or terms that are imposed. When we look up the word conditional it means subject to one or more conditions or requirements that need to be met. These conditions need to be fulfilled before you grant anything. If a situation or an agreement is conditional upon something, it’s only going to happen or continue if conditions are met first.

For example if you go to a pawn shop you may get a loan on the condition that you leave an item there that is worth equal or part of the value of the loan you’re getting.

God grants us forgiveness and mercy that is unconditional.

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I want you to take note today that In this passage it says that if we confess our sins that He forgives us. The word confess simply means to admit or to state that you’ve committed some kind of fault in some way. It means to admit or knowledge.

We can never really grow closer in the church unless we first admit our faults to each other. Confess means to admit or to acknowledge something. Not only are we supposed to confess our sins to God and get forgiven, but we are also supposed to confess our faults to each other.

James 5:16

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

The Lord does not demand all kinds of conditions to be met before he forgives us of our sins, other than confessing and admitting our faults.

When you admit something, you’re recognizing or accepting something that is true. It means to accept something fully such as accepting that I was wrong for doing that. So if we simply admit our sins, if we admit the truth of what we have done, if we own up to our own faults and misdeeds God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

The word faithful means steadfast in affection and allegiance. It’s being loyal like a faithful friend. It means to be firm in adherence to promises. Jesus is faithful and true. When we come to him in faith and trust him, He’s going to forgive us.

There are innumerable amounts of grace available through what He did for us at the cross, but we have to come to him in faith and trust in that grace and mercy because he is faithful to forgive us.

That forgiveness comes without any kind of conditions attached, other than the fact that we need to admit it. We all need to come to grips with what we have done wrong in our life and apologize. God requires that when we come to him and get forgiven for our sins, and that we show that exact same unconditional forgiveness to other people.

Mark 11:25

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

So, sometimes people in the church can be very unforgiving with others. Someone comes up and apologizes to another person over and over again but the other refuses to forgive. It teaches that if you have ought against any, which means you’re holding an unforgiving grudge, you are supposed to forgive them.

Matt 6:15

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Mercy is compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or to harm. Mercy is being lenient and showing compassion to somebody when they ask for mercy.

The definition of mercy is compassionate treatment or having a capacity to forgive others and show kindness. As we said the other day not forgiving other people when they apologize and say I repent, leads to bitterness and grudge keeping. It’s ultimately going to hurt the unforgiving party.

James 2:13

For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Now obviously you will have some people in the church who won’t apologize for hurting others. That is not only a lack of charity for others, but a denial of the Christian faith.

In order to inherit eternal life someday we have to confess our sins to God and get forgiven for them and then God reconciles us unto himself through His grace. We must also reconcile with other people in the church that we have wronged. Learning to apologize to Christ and coming to the throne of grace in your time of need should teach you to apologize to other people in the church that you have wronged. If you can’t be forgiving with others in the church who try to apologize, He’s going to have judgment without Mercy.

Luke 6:36-37

³⁶ Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

³⁷ Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

Matt 5:7

Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.

The scriptures teaches that if you come to the church and you want to give an offering unto God but you realize that someone has issues with you and you haven’t reconciled with them, you were not supposed to offer it until you make up with the brother that you have wronged.

Matthew 9:13

But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

God does not want any offerings or gifts until we first learn to be merciful with other people. He wants us to learn to be forgiving with others who apologize, and to be filled with grace and mercy as he is. If you’re incapable of doing that then it’s just religion. It’s sitting in a pew feeling like you’re going to heaven but denying everything that the Lord Jesus Christ died for. That is complete hypocrisy.

God wants us to learn to be merciful to others, because he is merciful. God who us to be forgiving with others will apologize because he is forgiving.

Colossians 3:12-13

¹² Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

¹³ Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

Luke 6:37

…forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

Matt 18:21-22

²¹ Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

²² Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Think about how much Jesus took upon himself at the cross. He didn’t take just the sins of a few people, but the sins of the entire world. Look add how forgiving He is. Look at how forgiving He taught Peter to be, because that is the forgiving nature of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A lot of people in the world including a bunch of people who actually profess to be a Christian really do not comprehend how forgiving that God is with each of us. Sadly nowadays it has turned into a lip service forgiveness. Somebody says I forgive you but you bear a grudge in your heart against them. Or you say I forgive you but you resent them and will not reconcile with them. They just don’t let it go. Or they will not forgive someone else unless they do something first and show that they are worthy of their mercy. What a wicked group of people. The Bible prophesied about these people in the last days before his return.

God’s Mercy is unconditional and all it requires is that you admit the truth.

I’ve taught this for 20 years that when it comes to Mercy or an apology and forgiveness, you cannot change the past. You cannot go back and undo and correct what you have done wrong. In order to obtain forgiveness from God you simply need to confess your fault to be forgiven. You cannot work off your own sin debt. It is a debt that is owed that you cannot pay.

In order to inherit eternal life, sin needs to be forgiven. There are numerous things that each of us have done wrong in our past that we would like to forget and wish had never happened. Things that we truly regret. This is why God sent His Son to be a savior to the world. He sent Him to be an offering an atonement for our misdeeds.

You cannot work off your own sin debt and earn forgiveness with God or with others. True forgiveness from the scriptures is without any kind of conditions. You don’t need to write up a letter saying I’m going to do this or that. That is a misconception of the Christian faith that is being spread out there like wildfire today. It’s being taught by people who do not want to forgive others.

Remember Jesus was hated because he was preaching forgiveness and forgiving others even before their lives had changed. While we were yet sinners Christ died for each of us.

If you go to your prayer life and you admit your faults to God and ask forgiveness based on your simple confession, I guarantee that you had better forgive people who admit their faults to you. If you’re incapable of doing that, God is not going to forgive you. That is too scary for me to even think about. If that doesn’t put the fear of God into you, I don’t know what will.

That’s where I’m going to stop right now but Lord willing will talk to you some more tomorrow . Till then bye-bye everybody.