1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,960 Good morning. Good to see everybody. 2 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:06,000 So here I am. It's May and it's my month to 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:11,680 teach and preach. So I'm I'm grateful to be here 4 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:15,560 again and thankful for Pastor Lewis's teaching and Book of 5 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:17,840 Revelation. It's been very, very powerful. 6 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:22,040 We're actually teaching in the Book of Revelation on Grace FM 7 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,920 right now as well. I'm in chapter 16. 8 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:28,400 So if you want to get ahead of Pastor Lewis and act like you 9 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,560 know what's going on, you can listen on radio and tell them. 10 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,520 I can tell you something about that book now. 11 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:37,160 But anyway, you can never get enough of that. 12 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:42,600 That particular book. So this particular book that you 13 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:46,360 were talking about, Carrie on the marquee, lady, she's a 14 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,480 remarkable woman. She was displaced in the 15 00:00:49,480 --> 00:00:53,320 Ukraine, losing her home, having to leave because of the war. 16 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,640 And they have a lot of friends and family and loved ones that 17 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:00,200 still are in Ukraine, but they're in Budapest right now 18 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,840 developing another ministry. But a remarkable family. 19 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:05,200 They've been through an awful lot. 20 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,040 And that is a book that I guess if you read it, you'll really 21 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,760 value living in America where you don't have to be displaced 22 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,400 right now. You can live with a degree of 23 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,600 safety and comfort compared to many other places in the world. 24 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:23,840 So we need to keep Ukraine in prayer as we do Israel, Iran, 25 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,920 all these places, Russia that are battling with each other and 26 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:31,320 pray that these wars will come to an end sooner than later. 27 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,800 And I was thinking to the, I had a dream the other day. 28 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,560 It was really crazy. Dream says you're young men will 29 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,280 dream dreams, right? Your old man will see I have 30 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:43,600 visions. Is that how it goes? 31 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,440 Right. All right, so I guess I'm still 32 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:47,840 a young guy. I'm having dreams. 33 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,800 But anyway, the dream is on Grace FM and it was such a 34 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,160 powerful dream. And I was meeting these people 35 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,160 that were listening to the radio station, and their lives are 36 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,640 being dramatically impacted because of the message of the 37 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:05,120 gospel on Grace FM. And when I'm out in public and 38 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,360 in real life, I run into people many times they tell me they 39 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,760 listen to Grace FM and it's a blessing to them. 40 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,440 And they watch on the YouTube too as well, or the teaching. 41 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,320 So this church, this isn't the people in the building. 42 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:21,920 We have a tremendous outreach in the community to many people 43 00:02:21,920 --> 00:02:25,160 that aren't going to church right now for some degree of 44 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:29,120 reason maybe, but they find comfort in listening to Grace FM 45 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:33,160 online and also watching the YouTube and then turning the 46 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:37,800 radio on in their car. And so please continually pray 47 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:39,720 for that outreach. It's very powerful. 48 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:42,640 I take it for granted. I guess I shouldn't, but I do. 49 00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:45,880 Sometimes we have a radio station, it's not easy to get 50 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:48,520 one. And so we have this tremendous 51 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:52,280 outreach where we can reach so many, many people and, and the 52 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:55,920 Lord is providing for that station that funds commend by 53 00:02:55,920 --> 00:02:59,840 listeners and people support the, the station with the Grace 54 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:04,000 FM app, Calvary Chapel apps that we're very grateful for that as 55 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,480 well. So let's pray and then we'll get 56 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,640 into the book of Second Corinthians chapter 2. 57 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,440 Father God, we thank you this morning for the opportunity to 58 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,160 be together as a body of believers, a family of God, in 59 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:23,040 one place for a little bit of time today where we can let the 60 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:27,800 Word wash over our minds and our hearts and transform us and make 61 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:29,480 us a little bit more like you, Lord. 62 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,440 And we're grateful that the Word has power to change our lives, 63 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,800 no matter where we've been, what we've been through, what we've 64 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:39,040 experienced, the things we've done wrong. 65 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:43,240 Lord, the Word always comforts us because it reminds us that 66 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:47,480 there's a Savior, Jesus Christ, who went to the cross to die on 67 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:54,680 the cross for our faults, our sins, our dysfunction, and has 68 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:59,960 forgiven us for everything we've ever done and ever will do, and 69 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:05,040 has cleansed us with His blood and made us new creatures in 70 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,800 Christ. As your word says, if anyone is 71 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:12,480 in Christ, a new creation, new creatures, old things passed 72 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:16,240 away, old things become new. And we're so thankful that 73 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:20,600 there's the opportunity to be made new every day, no matter 74 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,600 where we've been, what we've been through, what we've had, 75 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,160 the experience. Lord, with regret and sorrow, 76 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:31,040 we're grateful that your word covers all of our sins, your 77 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,040 blood and your death, your bury, your resurrection. 78 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:35,840 So we praise you. That's why we're here today, 79 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:39,320 Lord, to learn more about you and how to walk with you and how 80 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,920 to how to treat others like you treat us. 81 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:45,520 And we pray these things in Jesus name, Amen. 82 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:50,240 So before I get into this, this particular chapter today, I was, 83 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,400 I was thinking as I was preparing for this message that 84 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:59,200 that all the problems in life that we have are relational. 85 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,040 They have to do with our ability to communicate with other 86 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:07,880 people, whether it's family, whether it's marriages, kids, 87 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,520 workers, people in the body of Christ. 88 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:15,000 It's, it's sometimes it's just really hard to get along with 89 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:16,520 people. You ever experienced that 90 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,720 sometimes you just have a difficulty and a challenge with 91 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:26,200 the people in general. And I, I know that by 92 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:30,920 experience, everyday Cindy and I, we're learning after so many 93 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,960 years of marriage that we still disagree about things and we 94 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:39,320 still sometimes act in ways that maybe we shouldn't toward one 95 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:41,280 another. And the Lord has to continually 96 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:45,760 correct us and remind us how to forgive and how to let go and 97 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:50,040 how to be gracious. And, and, and that's a, that's a 98 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,720 learning lesson that you don't learn one time. 99 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,160 You need to keep learning it over and over and over again how 100 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,840 to forgive people for certain things. 101 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:02,360 So this is the issue of Paul and he's teaching in this chapter 102 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,880 about the struggle that he's had with this church in Corinth. 103 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:09,120 It was a difficult church. The leadership wasn't really 104 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,880 flowing the way it was supposed to and the the power of the Holy 105 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,000 Spirit. They were taking sides and 106 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:18,760 supporting things that they should have been supporting. 107 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:24,480 And this initiating a lot of conflict, conflict at times. 108 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,520 And so Paul had to correct them by writing a letter. 109 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:31,360 And sometimes letters are helpful. 110 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:35,360 You write a letter to someone about something, maybe that 111 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,400 you're struggling with a relationship issue or something 112 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:40,760 that the other person doesn't see or understand. 113 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:45,000 And the letter sort of covers the other person's viewpoint. 114 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:48,320 And you have a chance not to react, but to read it and listen 115 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,800 to it and then consider what's being said. 116 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:55,520 We're trying to figure out how you can justify your behaviour 117 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,800 and have a conversation with the person that wrote the letter and 118 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:00,840 tell them why they're wrong or why you're right. 119 00:07:00,840 --> 00:07:05,120 That happens too, unfortunately, but this happened in Corinth. 120 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,200 When Paul wrote this letter initially, they weren't 121 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,240 responding to the letter the way they should to, to take 122 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,200 corrective action. So Paul had to really put some 123 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:17,080 pressure on them and really call them out on their behavior as 124 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,800 leaders and allowing sin to exist in the church. 125 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,800 It should have been dealt with and, and sort of blowing, 126 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:28,480 blowing past the issue of the incestuous relationship that 127 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:33,200 that one guy had with his his stepmother. 128 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:35,800 So they did they did deal with it. 129 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:41,520 They eventually had to call the guy out and he was disciplined 130 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:44,480 by the church and he was out of the church for a while until he 131 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:46,600 got his life back together again. 132 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:50,760 So this is sort of the chapters background and, and what we're 133 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:53,920 what we're dealing with. But one of the things that's 134 00:07:53,920 --> 00:08:00,640 hard for leaders and pastors and, and, and guys, you, you're 135 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:08,560 pastors of your home as well. It's never easy to have to wear 136 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:14,240 a Black Hat and bring a message of warning or exhortation or 137 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:17,520 correction. Because most of the time 138 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:21,520 whenever you have to say something, it's truthful and 139 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,840 it's hard. People don't really respond to 140 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:28,280 it right away with optimist, optimistic attitude. 141 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,280 They they sort of have pushed back or they don't want to hear 142 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:33,559 it. And so whenever you bring some 143 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,679 correction to someone about something, it causes a degree of 144 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:38,880 pain. And none of us want to be 145 00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:42,880 responsible for causing pain in anybody else's life. 146 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,200 I know I don't and I'm sure you don't either, but sometimes we 147 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:50,800 cause pain by the way we handle things or don't handle things in 148 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:54,080 this situation. Paul was a guy that the Lord 149 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:59,920 used to create the awareness of the dysfunction that was 150 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:03,240 involved in the spiritual leadership of this particular 151 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,680 church. And, and Lewis and I and the 152 00:09:05,680 --> 00:09:09,000 guys, we pray every Sunday when we're in the hallway before we 153 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,760 come out here, that sometimes the messages we have a really 154 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,640 difficult to preach. Sometimes you, you wish that you 155 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:20,560 could skip a chapter or skip a verse or skip, you know, a 156 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:23,400 paragraph, whatever. And when you're in a Bible 157 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:25,240 church, you don't have the luxury of doing that. 158 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,120 You got to cover everything that the scriptures teach because 159 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:33,040 it's God's Word and he wants you and me to hear it and then also 160 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:36,880 to be blessed by it, but also to be corrected by it whenever we 161 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:40,400 need to have a heads up about something in our life. 162 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,720 And so when we teach these things, we certainly as leaders 163 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:46,600 don't act like we have it all together. 164 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,240 We're in process too. We're all learning how to live 165 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,520 the Christian life. It's it's not one and done kind 166 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:54,920 of thing. It's something that you got to 167 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:59,200 constantly be educated in and her hearing the word and then 168 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:03,880 being able to repent and be corrected, not out of guilt or 169 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:07,080 regret, but out of like, thank you, Lord, you showed me this 170 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,240 and I can actually be changed by you. 171 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,320 I want this area in my my heart and my life to be changed. 172 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:15,160 So this is what Paul's dealing with. 173 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,200 So let me read some verses here and then we'll begin to make 174 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:22,080 some comments. But I in chapter 2 of second 175 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:26,080 Corinthians verse one determined this within myself that I would 176 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:30,320 not come again to you in sorrow. For if I make you sorrowful, 177 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:32,920 then who is he who makes me glad? 178 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,320 That the one who is made sorrowful by me. 179 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,200 And I wrote this very thing to you, lest when I come, I should 180 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,760 have sorrow over those whom I ought to have joy, having 181 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:47,400 confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. 182 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,440 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you 183 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:55,240 with many tears, and not that you should be grieved, but that 184 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:59,200 you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. 185 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:03,680 So he's laying the background here of he can't make the trip 186 00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:06,640 to Corinth right now. He's not making excuses. 187 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:09,160 He has to do other things. But he knew that the timing 188 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,480 wasn't right. He had already told them what 189 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,600 they needed to do. They were processing the letter 190 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,560 and beginning to make correction and where they needed to do 191 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:19,440 correction. But it wasn't easy for them to 192 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:22,240 do this. So instead of Paul showing up as 193 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,000 some kind of heavy-handed dictator, which he never was, he 194 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:29,600 he's behind the scenes now letting the Holy Spirit do what 195 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,240 only he can do in the hearts of the people in the church. 196 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:36,400 And the particular man had committed this grievous sin to 197 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:41,080 get right with the Lord. But as he was dealing with this, 198 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:44,120 he wanted the people to know that this was breaking his heart 199 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,320 as to what was going on in the church. 200 00:11:47,560 --> 00:11:50,280 He felt bad for them. He felt sorry for them. 201 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,800 He obviously felt bad for the man who had fallen into sin and 202 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,880 had to be basically thrown out of the church for a period of 203 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:00,800 time because he wouldn't repent. And it was, it was very 204 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,200 difficult. And this was the responsibility 205 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:07,720 of, of the, of the leader. He had to be faithful to to say 206 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:11,600 to speak the truth and love, just like you have to be able to 207 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,560 be able to speak the truth in love when you when you don't 208 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:17,560 really want to, but you know, you need to in order to see 209 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:20,720 changes made, whether it's in your marriage or with your kids 210 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,920 or with someone at work or some neighbor or someone in in the 211 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:28,840 church, whatever it there's always these conflicts that can 212 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,840 occur. So he he begins in verse 5. 213 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,840 Now we'll pick it up where I left off last time, but if 214 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:40,000 anyone's caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you 215 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,400 to some extent, not to be too severe. 216 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,960 Whenever you or I do something in our lives that is hurtful 217 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,720 towards someone else, we think sometimes it's just between me 218 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,640 and that person. But what happens is if you're in 219 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:59,120 a family or in a church, many times what happened in that 220 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:03,600 relationship spills out to hurt other people, right? 221 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,240 If you're a husband and wife and you're having conflict, your, 222 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,040 your problems are going to spill over into the lives of your 223 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:11,680 children. It's going to hurt them, it's 224 00:13:11,680 --> 00:13:14,920 going to stumble them. And so the Bible says the sin of 225 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,520 one person effects everybody. And it's really true. 226 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:23,040 We have to take responsibility to understand that your sin 227 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:27,440 effects other people and my sin effects other people. 228 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:30,920 And so we have to understand that. 229 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:37,000 And Paul talked about this pain that was being caused in Second 230 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,960 Corinthians chapter 2 verses 5 through 8. 231 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,480 This punishment, verse 6, which was inflicted by the majority, 232 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,000 is sufficient for such a man. So that On the contrary, you 233 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,840 ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such 1 234 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:54,760 be swallowed up with too much sorrow. 235 00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:00,960 So you have a situation where someone has done something wrong 236 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,160 and they get it and they are truly repentant. 237 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:10,720 They're sorry and they want to let you know they're sorry that 238 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,800 they wish they wouldn't have done what they've done the way 239 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:16,600 they did it. They they feel really bad that 240 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,960 it caused all this pain for other people beside their own 241 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:25,080 personal regret of what they had caused and what they had 242 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:31,720 inflicted on someone else. So this particular situation 243 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:35,040 that we're studying about here, it could be that man who 244 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,200 committed the incestuous incident with his mother-in-law. 245 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:41,240 It's not real clear like who this person was. 246 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,320 The name isn't there and the consequence of the story isn't 247 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:46,880 really clear in this particular chapter. 248 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,760 Or could have been someone else in the church that was rebelling 249 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,520 against the apostles and the leadership and causing a big 250 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,240 uproar and, and, and trying to bring division in the church. 251 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,840 It could be several, several different things, but it's 252 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:02,440 immaterial. That's not really important as 253 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,360 to who or what did this, this problem. 254 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:10,800 The the point is here in this chapter that discipline had been 255 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:14,280 exercised that the people did what they needed to do in that 256 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,800 church in Corinth to correct whatever the situation was. 257 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:22,320 So Paul's urging them now that this man really repented. 258 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:26,680 He's sorry for what he did and everybody has to change your 259 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,920 attitude toward this person now. They can't be condemning them. 260 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:37,320 They can't be hating them. The church needs to respond in 261 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:39,440 in a way of God's grace and his love. 262 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,640 And so we talked about this last time I was in this chapter that 263 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:48,600 if someone sins against you, Matthew 1815 says you go and 264 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:52,240 tell them their fault between you and him, you or her alone, 265 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,480 it doesn't matter. Male or female, you, you, you 266 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:57,960 deal with this issue yourself and not trying to bring a bunch 267 00:15:57,960 --> 00:15:59,680 of other people into the situation. 268 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,480 If they listen to you, you've gained your brother, it says in 269 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:09,480 Matthew 1815. So whenever there's pain that's 270 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:13,360 caused and someone's life because of something you or I 271 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:20,280 have done or said, we have to on the other side, the receiving 272 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:25,240 side, if I've received the pain, I have to ask the Lord for help 273 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:30,560 to know how to forgive and to be willing to forgive and not to 274 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,640 come against that person who created the pain in me in such a 275 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:39,960 way that's going to cause more problem or more conflict. 276 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:46,560 And when there's a grievance between two individuals, it's 277 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:50,880 not good if this grievance begins to spread and touch other 278 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:58,760 people as well in their lives. So This is why Paul is writing 279 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,920 this in verse 8. He's talking about not causing 280 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:05,319 too much sorrow upon the person who committed the sin. 281 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:09,160 He says I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. 282 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,400 For to this end, I also wrote that I might put you to the test 283 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:15,680 whether you're obedient in all things. 284 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:18,920 Now whom you forgive anything I also forgive. 285 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:23,359 For if I indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that 286 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:26,640 one for your sake and the president of Christ, lest Satan 287 00:17:26,640 --> 00:17:30,720 take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices. 288 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:35,320 So one of the biggest problems in relationship is that the 289 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:40,560 devil is never letting things lie. 290 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:46,520 He always wants to poke and to provoke you to more 291 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:52,240 unforgiveness and more anger and more hatred and more bitterness 292 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:55,760 in your heart toward whoever it is that you have your conflict 293 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:58,640 with. This is the the role of the Evil 294 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,560 1. He likes to sow discord among 295 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:04,480 the brother, and he loves and he smiles and he's happy when 296 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:08,720 people leave churches because someone did whatever or because 297 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:11,120 churches split because of the leadership. 298 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:13,720 Or I mean, it can go on and on and on. 299 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:18,160 And it's tragic what happens because of our unwillingness to 300 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:23,240 get our eyes on the Lord and to forgive people who have hurt us. 301 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:28,160 And the Bible tells us the effect of righteousness. 302 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:30,040 God's righteousness will be peace. 303 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:35,160 Isaiah 3217 says that. And so there has to be a 304 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,080 faithful confrontation of of of a problem. 305 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:40,880 You just can't act like something isn't there or it 306 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:43,480 didn't happen because it won't be dealt with that way. 307 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:47,200 And that's the way it is when you have real difficulties in 308 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:54,280 your life with people, you have to understand that the basis of 309 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:59,200 working out peace in a relationship, it's fractured, is 310 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,160 to have this readiness and this willingness to forgive. 311 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:08,440 And there's an indication in in this chapter thus far that the 312 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:10,880 person that did the sin acknowledged it. 313 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:12,920 And they they know they're wrong. 314 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:16,680 They see the hurt they cause. So there's grief and sorrow 315 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:24,120 because of it. So what do you do if someone 316 00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:26,800 hurt you and you've forgiven them? 317 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,720 How do you restore that person's relationship to you? 318 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:36,160 Are you going to say I forgive you, but you don't want to have 319 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,200 anything to do with them? But that's that's not real 320 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:40,400 forgiveness. It has to be the love of God. 321 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:47,080 And many times there's an unwillingness to forgive things 322 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:52,120 in the past that someone's cleared up a long time ago, but 323 00:19:52,120 --> 00:19:55,280 they're still being head over held over his head. 324 00:19:57,160 --> 00:19:59,920 So why? Why would we say we forgive 325 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:02,720 someone and then we don't want to forgive them? 326 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,120 Really, down deep inside, this man's repented. 327 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,600 He's admitted what he did was wrong. 328 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:14,640 And in his repentance, he's coming to you personally or that 329 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,600 person, whoever it might be, is coming to you, letting them know 330 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:23,320 that they understand what they did was wrong and it's hurt 331 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,600 them. And your role in this, according 332 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:31,000 to Paul and his teaching, is you're to comfort them that they 333 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:34,680 wouldn't be involved or overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 334 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:37,760 Have you ever done anything in your life that you wish you 335 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:42,200 never did to someone and you really feel bad about it haunts 336 00:20:42,200 --> 00:20:45,080 you many times. And the person you did it 337 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:49,160 against, you just feel uncomfortable because you know 338 00:20:49,160 --> 00:20:54,920 they're still struggling with letting something go, yet you 339 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:59,120 know they're hurting too, because they want to be restored 340 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,840 to a relationship with you again, if if at all possible. 341 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,640 And the real sign that someone's really repented about something 342 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:14,320 that has not been good is that you see the hurt in them and 343 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:17,240 they understand the hurt that they caused you. 344 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:23,920 It creates a sense of sorrow in their lives and remorse and that 345 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:29,280 they've damaged you in some way by the way they acted and what 346 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:33,520 they did. And it really is difficult. 347 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:40,360 So the person that hurt you wants to be forgiven, but you 348 00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:42,240 can't demand forgiveness from anybody. 349 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:44,800 You can't, like, put pressure on someone. 350 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:46,920 Well, you need to forgive me. The Bible says you need to 351 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:48,440 forgive me. And that's not it. 352 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:53,080 You got to give people space and time to be able to process and 353 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:57,000 to be able to forgive, right? Like if I offend Cindy, 354 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,480 sometimes I want to get it right, right away, like in 5 355 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:02,040 minutes. She says I need some time. 356 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:07,040 OK, how much time do you need? How much time do you need? 357 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:09,560 I don't know. God's grace sometimes is 1/2 an 358 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:10,240 hour. That's great. 359 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:13,440 Sometimes it's three days. And that's, that's hard, right? 360 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,520 But you got to walk on egg shells and you just got to shut 361 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:19,880 your mouth and just let the Spirit do what only he can do in 362 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:22,360 regards to, to, to the reconciliation. 363 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:27,480 But the mark of true repentance is, is that you, you see in the 364 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:31,000 life of the other person that they're very disturbed and 365 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,280 there's sorrow over what they've done. 366 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:38,680 And the goal of you and me as Christians is to bring people to 367 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:42,480 a place of recovery, right? That's what Jesus does with us 368 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,160 when we sinned against him and he's forgiven us. 369 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:51,920 He wants to restore us, doesn't he, and to treat us just like 370 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,120 we've never sinned. He's anyone that can really do 371 00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:58,000 that perfectly. He chooses to not remember our 372 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:02,360 sin anymore. Human beings aren't like that. 373 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:06,520 We we have to ask God to help us be like that, but only the Lord 374 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,840 has that ultimate kind of way of, of forgiving. 375 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,720 And so sometimes though, we'll, we'll look and we'll think, 376 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:21,520 well, what this person did? I, I know I need to forgive 377 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:25,280 them, but what if it comes up again? 378 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,320 What do I do? What if, what if that behavior 379 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:31,880 in that person is sort of habitual and, and it's going to 380 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:36,480 show up again somehow? Well, Jesus was asked the 381 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:39,320 question one time, How often do I forgive someone for the same 382 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:45,400 sin? He says 70 * 7 four, 190 times, 383 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:51,120 that's I'm lucky if I can do it once, let alone twice, 490 384 00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:54,440 times. But that's the grace of God. 385 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,400 That's what's so marvellous about Jesus Christ and who he 386 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:01,080 is. He's the only one that does that 387 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:05,200 to anybody and can do it perfectly all the time and more 388 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:09,160 than 490 times. He does it continually as long 389 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,160 as we repent and come and ask for forgiveness. 390 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:15,240 He's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to 391 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:17,080 cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 392 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:22,960 So the whole process of the recovery of the offence is to 393 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,840 bring someone to recovery. And I've watched this in this 394 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:27,680 church, happened with relationships. 395 00:24:28,120 --> 00:24:31,480 I've watched it in my own family, to see people restored 396 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:37,320 and forgiven and healing occur. That's what makes our message so 397 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,960 powerful when the world sees what we do that they don't 398 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:44,160 really ever see happening in real life. 399 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:49,000 They see you as a Christian forgiving someone that they 400 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:50,680 would say they never could forgive. 401 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,360 And they'll sometimes say to you, well, how can you do that? 402 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:57,720 Or how can you forgive or how can you let that go? 403 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:00,520 And you tell them what Jesus did for you. 404 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:04,840 That's why you can do it, because Jesus is in you, isn't 405 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,600 he? And his life is living through 406 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:13,400 you. So any form of restoration or 407 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:18,840 correction doesn't come from anger, it comes from love. 408 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:28,040 Love covers a multitude of sins. And Paul suggests that you 409 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:33,520 should forgive and comfort this person, let's say be overwhelmed 410 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:41,040 by excessive sorrow. And so this is what we all have 411 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:45,520 to learn how to do. And this is not an easy thing to 412 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:50,520 do. So he says in nine through 11 413 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:59,280 here again that let's see here for to this end. 414 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,960 I also wrote that I might put you to the test whether you're 415 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:06,480 obedient in all things now whom you forgive anything I also 416 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,400 forgive. So he's be an example. 417 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,320 Paul's forgiving for if I indeed if forgiven anything, I've 418 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:17,000 forgiven that one for your sake in the presence of Christ, lest 419 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:18,680 Satan should take advantage of us. 420 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:20,560 We're not ignorant of his devices. 421 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:24,640 So this is what I want to dive into a little bit here. 422 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,920 There's three things that are really important in this little 423 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:34,200 section that I just just read there in regard to restoration. 424 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:39,080 And this is what we all have to understand how we have to deal 425 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:43,800 with, deal with this. We can't be ignorant of the 426 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:51,240 design devices of the devil. Why is there so much division in 427 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:56,200 our country, in our culture? Why are there so many marriages 428 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:00,720 ending up in divorce? Why are there so many church 429 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,040 splits? You ask yourself these 430 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,800 questions. We're not to be ignorant of the 431 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:12,560 devices of Satan. If there's an arsonist loose in 432 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:16,160 California and they haven't caught him yet, guess what? 433 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:17,960 There's going to be a lot of fires, isn't there? 434 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:23,360 And the enemy is always going around trying to start fires, 435 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,720 and he'll do that until the final day when he's thrown into 436 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:32,680 the abyss. We have to be eternally vigilant 437 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:36,600 in regards to not being ignorant of the plan of the Evil 1. 438 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:40,520 We are all in a battle, spiritual battle. 439 00:27:41,360 --> 00:27:44,960 Enemy is constantly trying to take advantage of this situation 440 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:50,520 and he uses us to defeat us until we're ready to extend full 441 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:54,960 forgiveness when there are broken relationships within us. 442 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,600 That's what keeps the enemy from taking advantage over you. 443 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:04,840 Whenever you have the power to forgive, and the power to 444 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,520 forgive comes from Christ, it doesn't come from you. 445 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:11,280 It comes from Christ in you. There's no way in your human 446 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:16,360 capacity and ability do you have the ability to forgive people. 447 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:23,520 This is a work of God's sovereign, omnipotent, 448 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:28,400 omniscient character. He's merciful. 449 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:35,720 His goodness endures forever. His mercy endures forever, Paul 450 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:39,800 tells us in Ephesians, don't let the sun go down upon your wrath. 451 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,760 And Cindy and I were taught this when we first got married at 452 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:46,320 Bible college. It's easy to get mad and angry 453 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:50,400 and be proud and just refuse to give each other a kiss before 454 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:52,080 you go to bed at night. Doesn't mean you're, you've 455 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,720 resolved everything, but you're showing them, Hey, I love you 456 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:58,120 and I do forgive you, but I'm trying to work through this 457 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:02,000 problem right now, right? So even though you really don't 458 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:04,800 want to, the Lord says, get over there and kiss her and tell her 459 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:07,520 you love her. I, I just want to dig in and 460 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,920 make her feel like she's like, it's all your fault, you know, 461 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:13,040 but that's not what you do as a Christian. 462 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,480 You, you, you got to, just got to forgive, right? 463 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,080 You don't carry it over to the next day because if you do, 464 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:23,000 you're giving the enemy the opportunity to keep the evil 465 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:27,040 power going there. You got to let let it go. 466 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:30,600 You got to let it go and and on and on and on. 467 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:34,680 If it's unresolved, you're giving the devil an opportunity 468 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:39,240 to continually fuel the fire. And then it gets hold of 469 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:41,960 everybody that's involved. It creates more problems and 470 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:46,560 spreads it wide and turns the whole family, the church, 471 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:50,800 whatever upside down eventually. And one of the elements of 472 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:55,320 restoration involves this awareness that we're in a battle 473 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:00,640 and that we live in a crazy world under a crazy leader. 474 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:05,440 And his name is Satan. He's a madman, and all he wants 475 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:08,600 to do is create conflict and insanity. 476 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:12,680 So first of all, we have to deal with all this stuff in our own 477 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:20,960 heart to turn the attack away from the evil 1 and away from 478 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,560 us. Someone said this is a an 479 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:29,400 analogy to Pastor use at this mental hospital. 480 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,080 The way they could figure out when people were ready to be 481 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:36,360 able to leave is that they would bring them into a room and there 482 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:40,000 would be water flowing out of a spigot, spigots on and the water 483 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:43,200 and they give the person a mop and they say, can you clean this 484 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,200 water up? Well, if if the person just went 485 00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:49,200 over and started cleaning the water up, but then go over and 486 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,920 turn the faucet off, they knew they weren't ready to go out of 487 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,520 the mental hospital. But anybody that went over and 488 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:59,360 turned the faucet off and then started cleaning water, they 489 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:03,360 knew that they were healthy and that they could be able to to 490 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:09,200 move on and, and live their lives with us and you and me. 491 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:14,440 There's no sense trying to clear a situation up until we've 492 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:17,000 turned off the tap of the devil's lies. 493 00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:23,120 If we're leaving that tap on and that information keeps flooding 494 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:27,600 our minds from the Evil 1, there's no forgiveness and 495 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:30,480 there's no ability to acknowledge any wrongdoing. 496 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:33,880 One of the problems, too, is you. 497 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:37,320 You forgive, but if you persist in bringing it up over and over 498 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,920 again, it's like you're trying to mop up a situation where the 499 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:44,240 water's still flowing. You, you haven't stopped the 500 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:48,200 insanity, right? And that's plain stupid. 501 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,520 That's why in marriages and many family relationships and in 502 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:56,720 church, these kind of harmful, hurtful things can go on for 503 00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:01,280 decades and decades. Nobody's turned off the tap. 504 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:05,880 Nobody's forgiven one another and let it rest in the past. 505 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:09,840 We all need forgiveness continually, don't we? 506 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:14,800 I need Jesus more now than I ever needed him ever at any time 507 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,640 of my life. I was thinking like, why did I 508 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,120 get into ministry? Why did I want to be a pastor? 509 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,960 I had no desire to be a pastor. To stand up front and give 510 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,440 messages and then have people say, oh, that was a nice 511 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,600 message, whatever. I wanted to do this because 512 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:33,200 Jesus helped me and I wanted to help other people. 513 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:37,800 That was my whole heart for why I wanted to be a pastor, to see 514 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:41,720 God, help people see their lives change. 515 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:52,240 He's changed mine. When forgiveness happens in 516 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:56,000 lives, marvelous things begin to take place. 517 00:32:57,720 --> 00:33:00,640 Families are restored, Marriages are restored. 518 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:03,800 Couples are restored. Kids are restored. 519 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:09,600 Your your whole life is transformed whenever you allow 520 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:13,280 the Lord to to do this kind of stuff in your heart. 521 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:20,520 What's the purpose of of a church existing if there's no 522 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:24,000 message of forgiveness being proclaimed? 523 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:30,200 First of all, Christ forgiveness to us and then our opportunity 524 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,560 and privilege to forgive others. That's what changes the world. 525 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,280 That's why people want to know why you believe what you believe 526 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:42,560 or what church you go to or is there, is there anybody that 527 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:45,960 lives this stuff out? Is there any, is there any place 528 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:52,920 I can find God's mercy? That's what people were looking 529 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:57,440 for and that's what we all need in our lives. 530 00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:06,200 It's it's an interesting thing, you know, in the marriage 531 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,960 relationship, if you've been married for any period of time 532 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,600 in your marriage has lasted, it's only lasted because you 533 00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,840 both have been willing to forgive as Jesus has forgiven 534 00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:19,679 you, right? To see any, any glue that holds 535 00:34:19,679 --> 00:34:21,520 a marriage together in a healthy way. 536 00:34:23,159 --> 00:34:26,239 You recognize your own shortcomings and you always have 537 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:31,800 them to the day you die and some of them are less than they were 538 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:37,040 before. Thank God you can't change, but 539 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:42,840 I think the greatest illustration in this subject 540 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:46,040 that we're covering today is in Luke chapter 15. 541 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:49,520 If you got a Bible, just turn there for a minute before we 542 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:51,480 prepare to take the Lord's Supper. 543 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:58,840 This is one of my favorite sections of the Bible. 544 00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:05,600 When I came to Calvary Chapel or I, I first heard about Calvary 545 00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:13,480 Chapel, this this teaching in the prodigal son was exhibited 546 00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:17,280 to me personally through the teaching of the pastor to the 547 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:19,840 flock over and over and over again. 548 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:24,080 And I wanted to be in this kind of place with this kind of God, 549 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:27,680 with this kind of message, because it's the message of 550 00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:30,240 miraculous healing and transformation. 551 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:34,560 The parable, the lost son, verse 11. 552 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:38,760 Then he said a certain man had two sons and the younger them 553 00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:41,760 said to his father, father, give me the portion of goods that 554 00:35:41,760 --> 00:35:44,600 falls to me that his inheritance. 555 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:46,880 So he divided to them his livelihood. 556 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:51,000 And not many days after the younger son gathered all 557 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:54,760 together, journey to a far country and they're wasted his 558 00:35:54,760 --> 00:36:00,040 possession with prodigal living. That's our story, right? 559 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:05,840 How many times have we come to places in our life where we've 560 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:09,560 known what our father wanted, but we didn't want what the 561 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:13,240 Father wanted, so we went our own way, right? 562 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:19,040 Even though we knew is against the will of the Father, we still 563 00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:23,000 wanted to do what we wanted to do because we're all still 564 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:24,680 prodigal. I don't care how long you've 565 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,400 been falling, Jesus, how much you love him. 566 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:31,840 There's deeper places you can go to get closer to him, right, 567 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:35,320 returning to him at a deeper level than you've ever returned 568 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:39,840 on before. So he he goes out there, he 569 00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:45,320 wastes his possessions with prodigal living stupid stuff. 570 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:50,360 But when he had spent all their all his stuff, there arose a 571 00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:53,120 severe famine in the land and he began to be in want. 572 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:56,360 In other words, he started to get broken and he was reflecting 573 00:36:56,360 --> 00:37:00,280 on where he got to in his life. All the decisions I've made-up 574 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:04,160 into this point have been a disaster and I'm suffering the 575 00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:07,560 consequences. Then he went and he joined 576 00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:10,960 himself to a citizen of that country and he sent him into the 577 00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:13,240 fields of feed swine. So he's desperate. 578 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:17,440 Where's the rehab facility or where's the counselor? 579 00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:19,600 Where's the place I can go get help? 580 00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:23,000 So he finds this place that said, hey, you can make some 581 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:24,920 money, go out and feed the pigs, right? 582 00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:29,000 And so he said he would have gladly filled his stomach with 583 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:32,680 the pods that the swine ate, but no one gave him anything. 584 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:37,240 So he's this guy's so low and so broken that he's ready to get 585 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:41,920 his face down in that pig pen in that pig slop and eat what the 586 00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:43,880 pigs were eating. It looked really good to have at 587 00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:49,800 that point in his life. I remember when I was in boot 588 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,640 camp training at, at the missionary training school at 589 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:56,200 Cindy and I went to this young kids at the time, we're in early 590 00:37:56,200 --> 00:37:59,720 20s. And you know, I was, I was 591 00:37:59,720 --> 00:38:01,880 clueless, man. I knew a lot about the Bible, 592 00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:04,720 but boy, I didn't know a lot about fallen Jesus, right? 593 00:38:05,720 --> 00:38:09,440 I knew how to be religious and self-righteous, but I I didn't 594 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:12,840 know how to be real because I wasn't willing to be real with 595 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:15,720 God. I was playing the game, I guess. 596 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:20,480 And I remember my job there. I was always deflated because 597 00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:22,520 all the other guys, they had tool belts on. 598 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,840 Like I go burger, he can fix anything, right? 599 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,560 You go out. Why can't I be like him and have 600 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:32,280 those tools and how I use a tool I'll tear my finger, I'll do 601 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:34,000 something it's just not going to work. 602 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,680 I'm not not a mechanically minded person says at the end of 603 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:41,880 the time with the guys giving us a job for the day it tell me and 604 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:43,440 this other guy I think his name is Jeff. 605 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:47,920 You guys, you go feed the pigs. So we get in this truck that 606 00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:52,120 look like green acres. If you ever watch that show, Mr. 607 00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:55,240 Haney, and there was no doors on the truck and it was, it was a 608 00:38:55,240 --> 00:38:58,520 mess, man. And we had these big things of 609 00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:00,720 garbage that we had to take down to the pig. 610 00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:04,080 And we, we get down there and they be like going smarting at 611 00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:06,000 us, looking at us. We're going to feed me, feed me. 612 00:39:06,240 --> 00:39:08,960 And we have these long boots on. We have to get down, pour all 613 00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:11,520 this stuff out. Of course, I, I was, I was low, 614 00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:12,920 but I wasn't low enough to eat that. 615 00:39:12,920 --> 00:39:14,880 I was going to eat what Cindy had for me later on. 616 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:18,240 But anyway, we're, we're pouring all that stuff out. 617 00:39:18,240 --> 00:39:19,880 And I thought how pathetic this is. 618 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:23,120 This is, you know, and we were fattening these pigs up to 619 00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:26,720 eventually they would be killed and they would teach us how to, 620 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:31,000 you know, tear the skin off. And boy, I said, this is ham. 621 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:32,360 You know, this, this looks really good. 622 00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:34,640 It smells good. But I'm thinking it's disgusting 623 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:39,560 just watching, pulling that whole skin of that animal off as 624 00:39:39,560 --> 00:39:42,160 it hung on a hook. And that was that was my pig 625 00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:45,120 experience. Pig pen, Pig pen experience, 626 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:49,960 right? But anyway, this guy, he got so 627 00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:53,360 broken, it says in 17 he came to himself. 628 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:57,000 He said, how many of my father's hired servants have bred enough 629 00:39:57,000 --> 00:39:59,440 to spare? And I perish with hunger. 630 00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:02,840 I will rise and go to my father. And I'll say to them, Father, 631 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:06,440 I've sinned against heaven and before you, I'm no longer worthy 632 00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:08,760 to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired 633 00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:11,800 servants. So he's coming to his senses. 634 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:13,080 Now. This is repentance. 635 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:15,640 I'm wrong? I've sinned. 636 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:19,360 He's repenting before God now he's going to go repent before 637 00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:22,440 his father. He knows he can go home there. 638 00:40:22,720 --> 00:40:25,280 He knew enough about this father that his father would be 639 00:40:25,280 --> 00:40:28,400 merciful to him. And he was willing to just go 640 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:30,440 back and be a servant. He didn't need to be called a 641 00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:34,160 son anymore. And and he, he saw his sin for 642 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:37,400 what it was. It was it was so bad that he 643 00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:39,920 wasn't even worthy to be called a son anymore. 644 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:44,960 And I know when I've had my darkest points of my life for my 645 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:49,680 own sin, I'm thinking, God, how can I still be your son? 646 00:40:51,240 --> 00:40:53,120 How can you still call me your Son? 647 00:40:54,880 --> 00:41:05,520 Your love is without end. So he arose, He came, comes to 648 00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:08,800 his father. But when he's still a great way 649 00:41:08,800 --> 00:41:12,760 off, the Father saw him. So this Father and this is our 650 00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:17,280 heavenly Father, every day He's looking out on this earth for 651 00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:22,080 you and me to come back to him, to come closer to him, to come 652 00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:25,640 to him the first time of my, my, our lives, or to come to our 653 00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:28,200 senses about something in our life that we're doing as 654 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:30,960 believers that we know we shouldn't be doing or messing 655 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:33,440 around with. And he, he knows we're going to 656 00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:36,640 hit the fan and everything's going to fall apart if we don't 657 00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:40,520 get back to him soon. And He's everyday praying for 658 00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:42,800 us. Jesus is ever living to make 659 00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:46,920 intercession for us. We come to our senses and as 660 00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:49,920 soon as we start making that first step forward, guess what? 661 00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:53,560 God is running full speed to grab you before you have a 662 00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:57,280 chance to go back again, just to hold you tight and restore you 663 00:41:57,280 --> 00:41:59,400 back into that relationship with Him. 664 00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:03,440 So the Father sees him, He has compassion, He runs. 665 00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:07,400 He fell on his neck and he kissed him, and the son said to 666 00:42:07,400 --> 00:42:10,720 him, Father, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight, and 667 00:42:10,720 --> 00:42:12,960 I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. 668 00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:18,880 Father didn't even address that. He already knew the heart. 669 00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:24,360 He knew he had repented. He knew he had seen the light. 670 00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:28,040 And he didn't have to say, well, we're going to have a counseling 671 00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:31,760 session for the next six weeks so I can make sure you're really 672 00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:36,480 serious about your repentance like we do, You know, someone 673 00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:38,320 falls. I mean, how long do I have to 674 00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:41,240 tell them about their problem that if they understand their 675 00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:44,920 problem, they repented. Jesus says go and sin no more. 676 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:49,400 He didn't say you need psychologist and medication to 677 00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:52,520 get passed by this. You just come and repent and 678 00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:56,040 come to the Father and the Father will restore you rapidly. 679 00:42:57,040 --> 00:43:00,160 The Father said to his servants, bring out the best robe and put 680 00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:03,720 it on him, put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 681 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:07,120 Bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be 682 00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:11,480 merry, for this is my son who was dead and is alive again, was 683 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:14,440 lost and is found, and they began to be merry. 684 00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:16,640 This is how we need to be with each other, isn't it? 685 00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:23,400 Celebration when people come to their senses, have a party, have 686 00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:28,800 a great meal, love on each other and not talk about the problem 687 00:43:28,800 --> 00:43:33,440 anymore, because the problem now has been forgiven and the person 688 00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:39,320 is turned back to the Lord. Now the older son, and this is 689 00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:43,120 religion here, was in the field and he came and he drew near to 690 00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:45,000 the house. He heard music and dancing. 691 00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:47,960 She called one of the servants and asked what these things 692 00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:50,920 meant. And he said to him, your brother 693 00:43:50,920 --> 00:43:54,160 has come, and because, because he has received him safe and 694 00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:56,840 sound, your father's killed the fatted calf. 695 00:43:57,480 --> 00:43:59,600 But he was angry and would not go in. 696 00:43:59,680 --> 00:44:03,920 This is the unforgiving heart. This is the bitterness. 697 00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:08,720 This is the enemy and the stronghold. 698 00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:12,320 This is the faucet that's still on. 699 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:18,040 It hasn't been turned off. His father comes out and pleads 700 00:44:18,040 --> 00:44:20,200 with him. And he answered and said to his 701 00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:23,440 father, Lo, these many years I've been serving you, I've 702 00:44:23,440 --> 00:44:27,360 never send or transgress your commandment at any time, and yet 703 00:44:27,360 --> 00:44:30,880 you never gave me a goat and make make make merry with my 704 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:33,920 friends. But as soon as the son of yours 705 00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:38,040 comes, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots and 706 00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:42,000 killed the fatted calf for him, and this is the father's heart, 707 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:46,480 He says to him, Son, you're always with me, all that I have 708 00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:49,280 is yours. It was right that we should make 709 00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:53,480 merry and be glad for your brother was dead and is alive 710 00:44:53,480 --> 00:44:58,600 again and was lost and is found as a password. 711 00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:03,040 My greatest heart and joy as I see someone I know who's gone 712 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:06,400 through a rough time. Last time I heard about them, 713 00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:09,240 they've fallen from the Lord. They're not following Jesus 714 00:45:09,240 --> 00:45:11,080 anymore. They lost their home, they lost 715 00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:13,440 their marriage. And all of a sudden I see that 716 00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:18,080 person come in the doors of Calvary Chapel and it this makes 717 00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:24,120 me weep with joy knowing that they've been found again, they 718 00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:27,240 were lost, and they've come back to their Savior. 719 00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:31,840 And what I want to do is rejoice and be merry with what God has 720 00:45:31,840 --> 00:45:34,440 in store for them in the days ahead. 721 00:45:36,160 --> 00:45:39,320 So we have the opportunity every Sunday to take the Lord's Supper 722 00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:43,200 as a worship team can come forward, and we have the ability 723 00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:49,320 to think about the message and process it in our hearts and 724 00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:52,240 think about how God has been so good to us. 725 00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:57,320 So every time we take the cup and the bread, we're reminded of 726 00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:01,600 the significance of the forgiveness of Jesus and what 727 00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:05,880 he's done for you and me. We're able to understand that 728 00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:12,640 forgiveness is continual and we can come into this relationship 729 00:46:12,640 --> 00:46:15,760 with the Lord again in a very, very powerful way. 730 00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:21,760 It reminds us of the strength that we have to forgive comes 731 00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:26,320 alone from Jesus Christ. And it's possible to forgive 732 00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:29,680 because God has forgiven you and me. 733 00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:34,440 And by the strength of the Lord, we can provide this forgiveness 734 00:46:34,760 --> 00:46:37,960 to one another as the Lord forgives us every time we gather 735 00:46:38,520 --> 00:46:43,320 and we take the supper together at the cross of Jesus Christ. 736 00:46:44,200 --> 00:46:46,720 So let's prepare our hearts. Let's take a moment to think 737 00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:51,520 about any relationship in our life that the Lord wants us to 738 00:46:52,240 --> 00:46:57,040 forgive. Whether it's 30 years ago, 50 739 00:46:57,040 --> 00:47:02,200 years ago, 10 years ago, one year ago, one month ago, one day 740 00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:07,200 ago, let's give it to the Lord. Let's be a body of believers 741 00:47:07,200 --> 00:47:12,080 that understands why we're doing what we're doing and why we're 742 00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:16,000 following Jesus. We want people to know about 743 00:47:16,240 --> 00:47:19,240 salvation. We want people to know about 744 00:47:19,360 --> 00:47:22,440 Jesus Christ. And the only way they're going 745 00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:24,640 to know is if you and I live this out. 746 00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:29,400 Show them. Tell them what the Lord has done 747 00:47:29,400 --> 00:47:50,800 for us. That all bitterness and wrath 748 00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:57,760 and clamour and evil speaking be put away from you, and be kind, 749 00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:03,640 tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for 750 00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:08,960 Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Oh, Lord, we're so thankful that 751 00:48:08,960 --> 00:48:13,040 you've forgiven us and that you keep forgiving us, Lord. 752 00:48:14,920 --> 00:48:19,160 And you know, in our hearts where we struggle with who we 753 00:48:19,160 --> 00:48:25,400 may struggle, and we bring these people to you, asking you for 754 00:48:25,400 --> 00:48:30,640 your mercy on their lives, that they would understand that 755 00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:33,640 you've forgiven them, that they would come to you for 756 00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:36,960 forgiveness. And that we could all forgive 757 00:48:36,960 --> 00:48:42,200 one another and move ahead. Lord and new life together, 758 00:48:43,000 --> 00:48:45,720 building each other up, not tearing each other down, 759 00:48:46,200 --> 00:48:49,600 strengthening each other in the ways of the Lord. 760 00:48:51,840 --> 00:48:54,080 Lord, we come before you every Sunday. 761 00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:57,960 We have this supper. It's not a ritual, it's a 762 00:48:57,960 --> 00:49:03,160 remembrance of you. You say as often as we eat the 763 00:49:03,160 --> 00:49:08,480 bread and drink the cup, we show this as we remember you. 764 00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:14,760 Lord, let us do this today the right way, with the right heart 765 00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:20,760 and the right mind. On the night that Jesus was 766 00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:29,400 betrayed, he obviously had a lot to forgive of of all those who 767 00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:33,440 betrayed him. He took the bread in his hands 768 00:49:33,440 --> 00:49:36,120 and he broke it and he gave thanks and he said, take, eat. 769 00:49:37,120 --> 00:49:43,560 This is my body which is given for you, given for you, given 770 00:49:43,560 --> 00:49:46,800 for you. Eat this in remembrance of Me, 771 00:49:57,410 --> 00:50:02,650 the same manner He took the cup. He said This cup is a new 772 00:50:02,650 --> 00:50:07,770 covenant in My blood which is shed for the forgiveness of sins 773 00:50:07,770 --> 00:50:11,970 of many. Our sins have been forgiven. 774 00:50:12,290 --> 00:50:18,570 Many others have been forgiven. Thank you Lord, for your 775 00:50:18,570 --> 00:50:22,770 forgiveness. Drink this in remembrance of Me. 776 00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:33,320 For us, as often as we eat the spread and we drink this cup, we 777 00:50:33,320 --> 00:50:36,320 show forth the Lord's death. That comes again, right? 778 00:50:37,160 --> 00:50:40,840 Hey man, what a what a way it ended, huh? 779 00:50:41,720 --> 00:50:42,800 God bless you guys.