Last Sunday, there is definitely something
to warm weather and sunshine, as opposed to it never really
got cold over the winter, but cooler weather and gray clouds. There's something about the sun
that just boosts morale, and that's an illustration in and
of itself, isn't it? But it doesn't matter if it's
sunny and 70 degrees or 20 and snowing. It's the same. What I was noticing last Sunday
is the same. I was looking around, noticing
all the hugging that goes on around here. A lot of hugging. And smiles on faces. And I was so thankful for that. So thankful for that. Monday,
I came to the church and I started studying some things and I was
actually leaving the church, headed home, thinking about it
again. Thinking about how thankful I am. Happy I am. Truly, truly happy and thankful
that God has given us each other. And we love each other, don't
we? We love each other. We see each other out, out in
the town every now and then. And I was reminded of something
even this week, how our God is light. God is light. He's the
father of light. He's the father of lights. The scripture says Christ in
you. And every time we see a brother
or sister out in the world, we see a little light in a dark
place, don't we? And it's comforting. It's encouraging. I'm thankful to our Lord for
giving us that. And I was thinking about all
this, and it made me want to protect it. I want to protect
my love for you and I want to protect your love for me in whatever
way I can do that. In Christ, in the salvation of
Christ, the love that God puts in us for each other is the greatest,
it's the sweetest, it's the most valuable gift that God could
give us here on this earth. Because of that gift of faith,
because of that gift of salvation, because of everything that we
have in Christ, because of that, the love that he puts in here
for God. Aren't you so glad he put a love
in here for the God of the Bible? Aren't you so glad? and the love
that he's put in here for God's people. That's the sweetest,
that's the most precious gift that God could give us here on
this earth. Behold how good and how pleasant
it truly is for brethren to dwell together in unity. When this ugly flesh, when Gabe
Stoniker's ugly flesh tries to ruin that, it's just horrible. It's just horrible. And I think,
what in the world am I doing? Mouth, stop, please. Mind, it's time to stop. Heart,
that's enough. That's enough. In those times, as long as we're
in the flesh, we're going to be in those times. But when we're
in those times, I was driving down the road, repeating three words to myself,
thinking about this whole thing, thinking if in those times, if
God would let us do these three things, love, forgive, Forget. Love, forgive, forget. That's the answer, isn't it?
That's the answer. Love, forgive, forget. And I thought, how does a believer
really, I mean really, how does a believer really do that? What truly motivates a believer
to do that? And this verse of scripture came
into my mind. Jeremiah 31 verse 34 says, And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive
their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." No more. He said, I'm going to love, I'm
going to forgive, and I'm going to forget. Love, forgive, forget. There is only one way that is
possible with God Almighty. There's only one way that's possible
with the Holy God. Turn with me if you would to
Leviticus chapter 16. Leviticus 16. This is precious. Now, right
here, God told Moses to tell Aaron. God spoke through Moses
and He said, I want you to tell Aaron to take two goats from the congregation of the
children of Israel. The congregation is going to
bring two goats and it's going to be for a sin offering. And right here in Leviticus 16
verse 7 it says, And he shall take the two goats and present
them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats. one lot for the
Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring
the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell and offer him for a
sin offering. But the goat on which the lot
fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the
Lord to make an atonement with him and to let him go for a scapegoat
into the wilderness. Now this is how it's going to
happen. Okay, this is what it means. If you look right here
at verse 15, it says, Then shall he kill the
goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring
his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did
with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy
seat and before the mercy seat. And he shall make an atonement
for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the children
of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins. And so shall he do for the tabernacle
of the congregation that remaineth among them in the midst of their
uncleanness. He said, the goat that fell on
the Lord's lot, bring it in here to me and kill it. Bring it in here to me and shed
its blood. That's what I demand for sin.
And then after my demands are met and after I'm satisfied,
verse 20, he said, when he hath made an end of reconciling the
holy place and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar
He shall bring the live goat, and Aaron shall lay both his
hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all
the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions
and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and
shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. and the goat shall bear upon
him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited, and he
shall let go the goat in the wilderness." Now, we talk all
the time about the fact that something has to be done about
our sin. Isn't that right? That's something
we never want to stop being a broken record on. Something has to be
done about our sin. Something has to be done about
our sin. Something has to be done about our sin. While men
and women do not believe they're sinners, when they say, well,
yes, the yes means no, what they're saying is, well, no, but no. Okay, while they believe they're
not sinners, we are. It must be dealt with. We must
be told. We must be reminded every single
time. Before God can love God must make us lovely. Naturally, nothing is lovely
about us. Nothing is lovable. And in order
for God to truly have mercy on us, he must deal with this sin. These two goats both represent
Christ. It took two goats to represent
Christ. God said one of them is going
to come into me and be slain. The other one Aaron is going
to put both of his hands on that goat's head and confess all the
sins of the congregation. And all of those sins are going
to be imputed to that goat, and that goat is going to bear all
the sins of the people. They are going to go from the
people onto that goat. That did not literally happen.
That was a picture of Christ. That literally happened. All
of the sins of his people were imputed to him, laid on him. And then God said, I want a fit
man, that's Christ, to lead that goat to a place far away that
is uninhabited. Nobody dwells there. There's
nothing there. And then you leave that goat
there. And that's what Christ did for our sins. Christ died
our substitute and when he did that he put our sins far away,
far away, gone. And then verse 26 says, He that
let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe
his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp." Then he
can come back in. And God said, you've sinned against
me, you've sinned, you've sinned. But this is what he said, I have
loved you with an everlasting love. Isn't that right? He did. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. So Christ said, greater love
hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend. He was brought into the presence
of God and he said, Father, that love brought Christ into the
presence of God and he said, Father, forgive them. Forgive them. Forgive them. They know not what they do. Don't
you wish God would put that in our heart? I wish God would put
that in my heart. Lord, forgive me. I know not
what I do. And then cause me to forgive
them. They know not what they do. None of us know what we're
doing. None of us. Help us. Help us. Christ was the offering. Christ was the substitute. Christ
was the fit man, and he took all the sins of his people to
an uninhabited place, the grave. Nobody lives there, the grave.
Everybody's dead there, the grave, uninhabited. And he left them
there, never to be found again. And now God says, the sins that
you and I commit against him, I wrote this out. And I came
back and read over it, and I said, oh, that needs to be committed.
And I said, no. Commit. Currently. The sins that you and I commit
against him and currently commit against each other, they're gone. They're gone. You talk about
deep things. They're gone. The sin that I
am going to commit tomorrow is gone. And the sin that you are
going to commit tomorrow is gone. Christ has already put it away.
He's already put it away. And it's never going to be brought
up again. Does that give any of us a license to sin? Does
that make us want to run out and sin? No, sir. No, sir. That's humbling. That
makes me want to sit still and just wait on the Lord to come
back. But he said, I'm not going to
remember them. I'm not going to remember. I'm going to forgive
them and I'm going to forget them. And the reason is because
they don't exist. They do not exist. God's chosen,
God's elect, God chose a people to do this for and those chosen,
blessed, honored, called people, rebelled against Him, rejected
Him, hated Him. And God the Father, Son, and
Spirit looked at each other. God the Father said, Love. God the Son said, Forgive. God the Spirit said, Forget.
God said, I tell you what, Love them anyway, as long as you will
keep your end of the contract and you'll keep your end of the
contract. Christ said, I'm going to forgive them as long as you'll
keep your end of the contract and you'll keep your end of the
contract. God's Spirit said, I'm going to go out to them where
they are and I'm going to call them. We're going to forgive
them. We're going to forget. as long
as you'll keep your end of the contract and you'll keep your
end of the contract. Love, forgive, forget. Look with me at Jeremiah 50. Jeremiah 50. Verse 20 says, In those days, and in that time,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for,
and there shall be none. God says, see if you can find
it. You go out and see if you can
find it. It does not exist. and the sins of Judah, and they
shall not be found, for I will pardon them whom I," and do you
know what that word reserve means? Love. Choose to keep. Choose to keep. Now, we've read
so many times Ephesians 4.32, which says, Be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven you. That's all the reason we need,
isn't it? All the reason we need. This
morning we had a Bible study. on the subject of milk and meat,
the word and the walk. And here's an opportunity for
us to chew on some meat, okay? Here's an opportunity right here.
Go with me if you would to Matthew 5. Matthew 5 verse 43, you have heard that it hath been
said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say
unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully
use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your
Father which is in heaven. If we could do that, if we could
truly love our enemies, how easy would it be for us to love our
friends? If we could truly, truly, truly
love our enemies, how easy would it be for us to love our friends? God commended His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, And that's how and that's
when we can commend our love to each other. That's how and
when. Right in the middle of this sinful
flesh right here trying to ruin it all. Right in the smack dab
middle of it. Trying to ruin it all. Just ruin
it all. We can love and we can forgive. We can. Look with me over at
Matthew 18. Matthew 18 verse 21 says, then
came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin
against me and I forgive him? Till seven times Peter said,
I've heard you talk about that seven, number seven, that's the
number of perfection. So maybe I can count them. Okay. That's one. That's two. And once I get to seven, can
I stop? Verse 22, Jesus saith unto him, I say unto thee until
seven, until seven times. Wait a minute. Peter said unto
him, Lord, how off shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive
him until seven times. Jesus saith unto him, I say not
unto thee until seven times, but until 70 times seven. 490 times a day. A day. 490 times per day. How many times a day do I trespass
against my God? How many times a day? If you
cut everybody else out, how many times a day? And He's forgiven
me. Thank God. My hope is built on
the fact that every single time In the blood of Christ, He has
forgiven me. Every single time. Love, forgive,
forget. Alright, here's how we can forget. Look with me at Luke 17. Luke 17, this is wonderful. Luke 17, four, and if he trespass
against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day, turn
again to thee saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him. Now watch
this. And the apostle said unto the
Lord, increase our faith. This was their response, Lord,
cause us to look more on you. Cause our minds to think more
on you. Do you experience the same thing
that I experience when God blesses his message and when God enters
into our little walls and blesses the worship service? When God
sends His Spirit into this place, and for just a moment, increases
our faith, as the word goes out, that's a brief moment of an extreme
increase in faith. And when that happens, and we
become completely enamored with Christ, you know what happens
to me? I literally forget about everything else. Is that what
happens to you? I honestly, all of the problems,
whatever's going on, this one, that one, this thing, that thing,
for that moment in time, I honestly forget about it. Soon as it's
over, there it is. But I forget about it. People
say, I can forgive, but I can't forget. Not true. That's not true. If God would
increase our faith and if he would cause us to more and more
and more be taken up with the Lord Jesus Christ, if he would
consume our minds and our hearts with Christ and what he has done
for us, how he has dealt with us, if we would just be taken
up in awe over how he's dealt with us, it would honestly cause
us to absolutely forget about everything else. We'd forget
about it. Every injustice, every wrongdoing
committed against us, this is what we would say. It is the
Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. That's what we would
say. And it would be amazing. It'd
be amazing. A man named Shimei was given
David a hard time. David said, God sent Shimei to
do that. Love, forgive, forget. That's the answer. That's the
way. That's God's way. May He cause
us to walk in that, truly walk in it, and here's why. Go with
me back to the text in Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31, verse 34, it says
there's going to come a day real soon And they shall teach no
more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord." We're not going to have preachers and teachers
in God's house trying to exhort and instruct and encourage and
trying to show Christ and trying to expose sin. He said there's
not going to need to be any more need for that. That's going to
be completely over. Verse 34, He said, For they shall
all know Me. They're all going to be taught
of God. They're all going to possess
and they're all going to be experiencing eternal life. This is eternal
life that they might know Thee. I'm going to draw them all near
to Myself. I'm going to speak directly to
their hearts. I'm going to teach them. And
He said, From the least of them to the greatest of them. They
are all going to be just like me. They're all going to be just
like me. Any differences that we have
down here are going to be stripped away real soon. Real soon. They're just going to be stripped
right off. We are all going to be just like Jesus Christ. Every single one of us. There
will be no ability to find fault in any of us because there will
be no fault in any of us. And if our God says, if this
is what He says, if He says He will forgive our iniquities,
The ones that we committed down here on this earth. If He says
He will forgive our iniquities and remember them no more, then
so will we. The reason is because we're going
to be just like Him. That's exactly what we will do. Let's call on Him. This is not a closing statement.
It is, but it's not. Let's call on him. As we pray,
let's start incorporating this into our prayer. Lord, increase
our faith. Whatever it is, cause us to go.
Next time something happens. Increase our faith. Lord, help
us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. increase our
faith, let's ask, let's beg. Maybe he'll let us get started
early. That's what my hope is. I would love to get started early. Maybe today, maybe today. Love, forgive, forget for Christ's
sake. All right, we're gonna have a
closing hymn. Let's all stand together.