Thank you, John. Thank you, Sherry. For those of you still here and you didn't go away, saying,
these are hard sayings. Many did, didn't they? And the
Lord in John chapter 6 said so many powerful things about His
person, about His sovereignty. He says, many said, these are
hard sayings. We can't take this. We don't like this. And they
left. And He turned to His disciples
and said, will you also go away? To whom shall we go? We ask the
words of life. The Lord revealed that Himself
to them. God forbid that I should preach
in such a way to remove the offense of the cross. God forbid that
I should preach in such a way as to bring the Lord Jesus Christ
down to the level of man like is happening today in preaching. There's no other way to preach
that passage than the way it happened, is there? And it says,
the zeal of his house ate him up. Talking about the zeal for
God's glory, the zeal for God's name, and a zeal for the salvation
of his people. If you're still here, brother, Obi, a gentle, kind, sweet, humble
man, loving man, Christ-like man. You didn't want to hear
me say that, but he is, and he said, thank you for that. Loves God's glory. Lifted up. God sent a preacher years ago
named Ralph Martin, and the first thing he did was like John the
Baptist. Tear down walls. Preach with
fire. The sons of Zebedee were preachers
of fire. And in the purpose of God, I believe,
the first message is declaring His sovereign power and who He
is to be feared and bowed before and who it is that came to purge
His temple. This message that follows If
the first message you think was hard, I hope not. I hope not. It's just true. This one is, I ask the Lord,
let me comfort your people. Let me comfort your people. And
this is full of comfort. But only for sinners. Only for sinners. I'm talking about The way God
calls sinners. Hell deserves unworthy sinners. Like Paul said of himself, the
chief of sinners. He said, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. I've got good news. I've got
comfort for those that mourn. Blessed are they that mourn.
Blessed are the poor that don't have anything, don't know anything,
can't do anything, don't have much faith, don't have any goodness,
don't have any righteousness. I've got good news for you. The
kingdom is yours, free. Those that mourn over their sin, Here in look at Isaiah 43, starting
to say the gospel of Isaiah, well it is. In verse 25 is our
text. I, even I, am he that blotteth
out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember. Thy sins. Now, all Scripture is given by
inspiration of God. Profitable. Every verse, every
line. But some Scriptures have been
used by our Lord more greatly than others. You know that? You
know it's that. Used more often. Stars shine
a little brighter than others, right? Like the planets. Some
shine a little more brightly. All is the Word of God. But there
are some verses of Scripture, there are some passages which
the Lord has used more often and greatly to the salvation
of a great number of people, such as Exodus 12, 13. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Scriptures like that. Isaiah
45, 22. Look unto Me. Anybody like that
verse? Look unto Me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is none
else. There is no other God beside
Me. Look unto Me. Our Lord, you know, everything
our Lord said, every word that came out of His mouth, The Lord
Jesus cried. His sermons were full. You could
hang on, hang your soul on every line, every word, vital. Everything
He said was absolutely vital and necessary. But sometimes
He would stop and cry out with a loud voice, Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I'll give you rest. Oh, how the Lord has used verses
like that. And this one before us. I, even I, am he. I have blotted out thy transgressions
for mine own sake. And he says, and will not remember
thy sins. Now the gospel, the gospel is,
the gospel is the full, complete, the free, it can cost
you anything, nothing you do, the final, eternal, forever forgiveness
of sins through the Lord Jesus Christ. through the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and through His righteousness to cover, imputed
to your account. That's the gospel. The forgiveness
of sins. If there's a sinner in here today,
listen carefully, okay? This is good news. I've got the
gospel for you. Forgiveness of sins. Pardon.
Whether we know it or not. It is so. Our greatest need is
forgiveness of sins. But I've got good news for you.
God's greatest glory and His greatest delight is to show mercy,
is to forgive sin. Some may think we say too much
of sin. Sinners don't. God's Word doesn't. Sins, which most people don't
even think about, or know about, or even think they are. Most
people think it's, well, my dad used to say, like stealing a
watermelon. That's what people think. Or lying, or stealing,
or cussing, you know. You don't go to hell for stealing
a watermelon. Sin is why Christ came into this
world. Scripture says he was manifest,
1 John, he was manifest to take away sin, to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. Sin which a holy God hates and
must and will punish. I've got to make the picture
black. You've got to appreciate the gospel. Sin is that which
every, even a believer, every single child of God, commits and loses sight of This is a
great sin is when we become rich and so rich and increased with
goods and have need of nothing. But this gospel of the forgiveness
of sins is no longer the sweetest and most glorious and wonderful
thing we've ever heard because we've heard it before. Like the
people in Israel dislike bread. And the Lord said, you don't
know. You don't know that you're wretched. Miserable, poor, blind,
and naked. He said, I counsel you, buy gold. Buy white raiment. What's it
cost? Nothing. Open your eyes to see the sin.
Sin which we all are guilty of. Sin which Scripture says all
have sinned and come short, here it is, of the glory of God. Oh,
we like sheep have gone astray. When? Used to go astray? No,
no, no. Still do. After David wrote all of his
psalms, 150 psalms, his longest psalm, Psalm 119, the very last
verse was this, I've gone astray. Oh, we, our greatest need is
forgiveness of sins. and the greatest news if you're
needy, if you're poor, and if you're needy. This is the greatest news a sinner
will ever hear. Listen to me. There was a man
with a palsy one day. A man sick of the palsy. He had
never walked. He was born lame from his mother's
womb. He was lying on a bed. And by
the grace of God, Some friends of his found our Lord was in
Capernaum. And they took Him up on that
roof and lowered Him down through the roof of that house where
the Lord Jesus Christ was preaching. And they laid Him down at the
feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, sick of the palsy. Now you know
that this man all his life, all his life thought, if I could
just walk, I'd be so happy. He thought,
if I could just walk, I could enjoy some things. I
could do some things. If I could just walk, I could
do some things I've always wanted to do, things I could only imagine
doing. I could do some things if I could
just walk. That's what he thought. And when
they laid him at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the first thing He said to him, the thing that
He said to him, The greatest news this man could ever receive. Our Lord Jesus Christ frankly,
freely, sovereignly, powerfully said to this man lying there
sick of the palsy, he said, son, be of good cheer. He had just
been smiling. Thy sins be forgiven thee. And it did not heal him of that
palsy. That was it. I don't know if that man... I
believe the Lord struck his heart right then. He realized, that's
the greatest thing I've ever heard in my life. Because you
know why? I'll tell you. The Lord did heal
him. The Lord did raise him up. And
you know what he did? You know what he did? He walked. And he went out of that place.
And you know what else he did? He got to do some things he had
never done before. He got to do some things that
he only imagined doing. He got to do some things. What
did he do? Where did he go? What did he
get into? What have you done? What have you gotten into? Did he live all his life from
then on for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ? He sinned. He began to commit sins he don't
get to think about. And then, in the end, when it's
all over, he's an old man. If he lived to be an old man,
and if we all do, this is what's going to happen. We're going
to lie, like our Lord said, like Peter. You're going to be carried
around to a place you don't want to go. Somebody's going to have
to take care of you. You're going to lie down. In the end, he's
an old man, if he lived that long. He's lying on a bed and
he can't move. He's had a stroke. He's had a
heart attack. And he can't move. And he's right
back where he started. But now, he's committed all manner
of sins. and he's about to die. But you
know what entered his heart and mind? You know what was the greatest
thing he ever did? You know what his hope and stay
was, Bonnie, on his deathbed? You know what gave him the greatest
hope and comfort of his heart right then? Because he remembered
what the Lord said. Your sins are forgiven you. It didn't matter if he'd walked.
The only thing that mattered was his sins gone. Did you get
a hold of that? Hmm. Well, he had a brother. I had a brother who was on his
deathbed. We thought he was going to die. And he said the greatest
thing that entered his heart and mind at the time, he says
he was grappling with his sins. He was struggling with his sin.
He thought, I've been so wretched, even in my religion. This was
a preacher, mind you. And he thought, I'm no good.
If God gets me what I deserve right now, He's going to send
me to hell right now. And Psalm 32 came to his heart. As if God
spoke it out loud. Psalm 32, blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. A blessed is
the man to whom the Lord imputeth not, charges not one sin. Our Lord says, I even I am he
that blotteth out thy transgression, and I will not remember your
sins. Let me give you four points,
if you've taken notes. Four points. I'm going to tell
you about the objects of this forgiveness. I'm going to tell
you about the act of forgiveness. I'm going to tell you about the
reason for forgiveness. And I'm going to tell you about the certainty,
the eternality, and if this is a word, the foreverness of forgiveness. Are you with me? You know, I
say that a lot, don't I? Are you with me? Why do I say
that? Because I want you with me. I
want you to hear this. I'm not beating the air. I'm
not preaching to sinners. I'm preaching to people I love,
people I'm concerned about. Alright, the objects of forgiveness.
Who was the Lord saying this to? The sons of Jacob. Oh, happy is he that the God
of Jacob was saved. He said, Fear not, Jacob. Thou
worm, Jacob. Look at verse 22. Who is this
for? This is for the prayerless. This
is for those who don't call on the Lord. Verse 22, But thou
hast not called upon me, O Jacob. You know, Scripture says, Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Doesn't
it? How shall they call on Him whom
they've not believed? How shall they call on Him whom
they've not heard? How shall they call? How shall they believe? How shall they hear without a
preacher? How shall he preach except he be sent? How? How? How? No man calleth. Isaiah said in Isaiah 59, No
man calleth for justice. None pleaded for truth, the Lord
said. Psalm 14 says, The Lord looked down on the children of
men to see if there were any that did understand, any that
did seek God. Brethren, listen to me. Brothers
and sisters, listen to me. Was there not a time when you
never gave God a thought? Was there not a time when God
never entered your mind to come worship God? You didn't care
anything about God, about Christ, about the Word of God. Wasn't
there not a time? When you never gave God a thought,
you never called on God. You never called on God. Except
maybe the curse with His name. Was there not a time like that?
It was for me. But God. Called you. You know the only
reason a person will call on God? You know the only reason,
finally, a person will call on God. Have mercy on me, God. The only reason is because God
called them. That's it. This is for the prayerless. This is for the despisers. Verse
22. He said, You've been weary of
me, O Israel. Oh my! Support despisers. Worship of
God became weary. Hearing the words of life became
a weariness. To come and thank God became
a drudgery, became a duty, became a dread, became something you
just had to do because it was expected of you. Oh my! Oh my! Do we ever do that still? Do
we ever do that still? Does anybody in here ever think, I want to go worship God. I'd rather stay here in bed or
whatever. Anybody? Anybody still think
that? Anybody? I do. I do. So this is for those that
grow weary of God. Oh, this is for those who are
thankless. Verse 23, thankless. You know what all the Lord gave
to Israel, to the sons of Jacob? You know what all the Lord gave?
You know what all the Lord did for them? Everything. What has
the Lord done for you? What has the Lord given you?
I'll tell you. What do you have that you have
not received? There's not one single thing that we have not
received, have we? Everything. Every single thing
we have has been received from the hands of our God. But he
says, you haven't bought me just a little bit. This is for the thankless. Verse
23, haven't bought me small cattle. Just small cattle. Just a little
bit. Anybody guilty? Anybody guilty? of not returning to the Lord
really what he deserves to get from anybody. This is only good news. Ingratitude is a terrible thing.
Those who have been forgiven much have loved much. and prove it. This is for the
useless. The Lord gives this wonderful
promise for the useless, these wonderful words to the useless.
Verse 24, He said, You bought Me no sweet cane with money,
neither hast Thou filled Me with the fat of Thy sacrifices, but
You have made Me to serve with Thy sins. You have wearied Me
with Thine iniquities. The Lord says, you've made Me
to serve. Instead of serving Me, I serve you. And what do you return
to Me? Sin. Anybody? And He said, you've wearied Me.
This is like, have you ever... Well, this is like a parent with
a wayward child who's been nothing but rebellious and so forth. And you say, I don't know how
long I can put up with this. How long should I do this? Put
up with his ingratitude and his rebellion against me. Our Lord
even said that to His disciples one day. He said, how long must
I suffer with you? Didn't He? Anybody get that?
Well, here's what he said. I, even I, am he that blotteth
out your transgressions. And I won't remember it. No matter
what you've done. No matter what you haven't done.
He talks about what they haven't done. And he talks about what
they have done. He says it doesn't matter what it is. All manner
of sin shall be forgiven. He said I, even me, And blotted
it out. And he said, listen to me now.
Are you with me? He says, I will not remember
thy sins. I won't remember. Let me illustrate. Okay? Here's a child born in
sin. He lives in sin. He grows up
in rebellion. He becomes a hellion. Hellraiser,
we call it. He becomes a destructive little
rebellious fellow, and he lives all his life to the hurt and
the pain and the suffering of other people, even himself. He lives a long life of sin,
and then in the end, he's dying because of that sin. He's dying
in sin. He's going out to face a holy
God and be punished for his sins. He's hanging on a cross, getting
exactly what he deserves. And hanging next to him was the
Lord Jesus Christ. And in his dying words, this
man, this thief, this lifelong thief, looks at the Lord of glory
and all he says is, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And the Lord Jesus Christ, God
manifests in the flesh. Who can forgive sins but God?
That's right. The Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest
in the flesh, turned to him and freely and frankly and forever
said to him, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. He frankly and freely and completely
forgave him every sin that he committed all his life without
that man doing one thing. Not one thing. All he did was
looked. All he did was call. And the
only reason he called was God brought himself. Because there
was another thief who didn't call. Another thief that died
in his sin. Another thief just like him that
went into the face of God and God cast him into hell. But not
this one. This one went into glory that
day with the Lord Jesus Christ on the Lord Jesus Christ's arm.
And all of heaven accepted him and praised the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what? The Lord remembered
that man. He did. He remembered him. He
brought him into glory. But one thing he did not remember,
his sins. He's never going to be brought
up again. Here's another. Let me give you
another one. This is worse. This is worse. a boy or a girl, born, raised
in a family that knows the Lord, raised in a family that loves
the Lord, raised in a family where he or she has seen nothing
but mercy and grace and goodness and kindness, shown great love
and great grace, had all the privileges that a young person
could have, all the blessings of this life a young person could
have, And in rebellion and in self-will,
leaves, says, I'm taking, I'm getting out of here. I want to
get out of this place. I'm tired of having to go to
church. And goes out, and like that prodigal,
wastes themselves. Wastes himself or herself. and
gives God no thought while they wallow in the muck and the mire,
while they wallow in the hog pen, while they wallow in this
world and sin with no thought of God. But God, I even I, he
says, brings that young person, brings that person to themselves,
brings them back to himself, causes them to think on God,
causes them to call on God, causes them to come where the gospel
is preached, causes them to hear God say, I won't remember what you did.
I blotted it out. Worse still, a man or a woman, who may be
played that prodigal. Saved later on in life. Makes
a profession of faith. Confesses the love of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Seems to grow weary. Once grateful for forgiveness
of sins, it no longer touches him. No longer touches her. It no longer means anything to
her. And she goes out into that world again Like that child in
Ezekiel 16 in the field that grew up and became lovely because
of His goodness, and yet played the harlot again, and went out
into the world, and didn't give God a thought for years. After all that goodness, and
after all that mercy, and after all that grace, and keeping them
and feeding them, it wasn't their lovers feeding them, it was the
God who loved her. And he brings her back. Brings him back to show him he's
worse than any of them. He's sinned against mercy. He's
sinned against goodness. And he hears God's blessed voice
say, I, even I, am He that bloodeth out Thy transgressions, all of
them, and your sin, I'll never remember." Boy, I heard that. Anybody else? Praise the Lord. That's the object
of His mercy. Listen to the act of His kindness.
The act of His kindness. Now this is divine forgiveness,
I even I. This is God speaking here, people.
Who can forgive sin but God? Now listen to me, listen to me. If we sin against the law of
the land, there's only one man in this land that can pardon
us, the President of the United States. No matter what you've
done, doesn't matter the crime you've done, there's only one
man that will pardon you. If you committed murder, if you
committed whatever it is, all manner of sin, doesn't matter
what it is, if you've committed it, there's only one man that
can pardon you. And people, I venture to say,
if you were guilty, if you applied for mercy and pardon from Barack
Obama, the President of the United States, you're not going to get
it. You're not going to get it. Why? He doesn't know you. And
you don't have any money. And you don't know anybody in
high places. You don't know anybody with any
influence with Him. You don't know anybody that could
go to Him on your behalf as an advocate. Are you listening to
this? You don't know anybody, and you're
going to die for those sins. And people all have sinned to
come short of the glory of God. 1 John 2 says we've all sinned,
but if any man sins, If any man sins, it doesn't matter who it
is, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ is righteous. He hears every single sinner.
Every single sinner for every single sin. You just call on
Him. Whosoever shall call. Have you got any influence? Christ said, all authority is
given unto me. This is the Son of the Judge.
This is the Judge's Son. And I tell you this though, if
Barack Obama forgave you, if Barack Obama pardoned you, if
the most powerful man in the United States pardoned you of
that sin, it doesn't mean you're pardoned. Does it? You're still guilty. Good news. This is the good news. That God
says, God who is holy, God who is righteous, God who says, I
will by no means clear the guilty, God who said, I must punish sin,
I will punish every transgression. God says, through Jesus Christ,
no matter what the sin is, blotted out, justified, freely forgiven. Totally, completely, he said,
I will not remember your sin. Why can't he remember it? They're
gone. I thought about this. My sin
is ever before me. Is yours? Is it? Not just something you did, but
what you are. You can't get rid of it. Do you
ever think? Do you ever stop and think this? Lord, if I could just forget
that. If I could just wipe that out of my past. But even that wouldn't do good,
would it? Your past sins. You've got your present sins
to deal with. You think, why did I think that
thought? How could I be a child of God and think like that? How
could I do such a thing? And people, I've got news for
you, we may commit the worst sins ever in the future. Do you
know what the Lord Jesus Christ says? Do you know what God says
here in this passage? Listen to Him. This is good news.
I, God, even I am He, holy, righteous, will punish sin. I blot it. Blot it. Blot it. That which is committed, blot
it. That which is committed, John, blot it. Past, present,
future. We think, if I could just get
that out of my past. If I could just block that out
like it never happened. Anybody. You'd think, oh, if
I just hadn't done that, I'd be... No. No. You know, that
wouldn't... You'd do something else. Wouldn't
you? And you know why it's good for
us to remember our sins? David said, my sin is ever before
me. Saul of Tarsus. Paul always thought
of stoning Stephen. He always thought of that. That's
why he said, I'm the worst sinner on earth. I can't get that out
of my head. But that's good. You know why
that's good? You know why that's good, sister?
Because you'll fly to Christ. Because you'll hear this message.
You'll hear Him say to you, and it will be the sweetest note
on Sarah's tongue, Sweetest name on mortal tongue. You'll hear
Him say, I, even I am He. I'll never bring it up again.
I'll never bring it up. I've forgotten it. Smile. Oh my goodness what good
news this is. Not my goodness, His goodness.
Oh, this is divine forgiveness. God forgives. This is surprising
forgiveness. Why did He say, I, even I? Because
it's so good, it's so wonderful, it's so amazing that a holy God
is angry with the wicked every day. And He says this in such
a way that He says, I, even I. Am he that blotted out your transgression?"
It's surprising. When you first really heard the
gospel, sinner, when you first really heard the gospel, you
thought you were the worst offender on earth. You thought there's
nobody as bad as you. And when you heard this glorious gospel,
what? Forgiveness of sin. Blotted out
by the blood of Christ. That's how he blotted it out,
didn't he? Christ hung on the cross, the Scripture says, as
he blotted out. Having blotted out all our transgressions
by His blood. Paid for. That means paid for.
That means the penalty was paid. That means the crime was served.
Christ was killed. His soul was made an offering.
The soul that sinneth must surely die. His soul was made an offering
for sin. Not everybody. Well, who for, preacher? Those
that need Him. Those that ask Him. He blotted out those transgressions. When you first heard this, thinking
you're the worst sinner on earth, you thought, this is too good
to be true. It was such surprising, wonderful
news, wasn't it? God? Even God? Forgive me. It's amazing, Grace. Has Grace
lost its amazingness to you? Well, if it has, and if He ever
brings you back, I hope He does, brings you back to see the amazingness
of grace, that you'll hear this and be so surprised that He would
have mercy on you again. He says, I, yeah, even I, am He. Here's the reason for forgiveness.
Look at verse 25 again. I, even I, am He. that blotteth out thy transgressions
for mine own sake." Why does God forgive sin? Why does God
forgive such unworthy sinners? Why does God have mercy? Why?
For your sake. Does He? Because of your sincerity. Because you've changed. Because
you now worship Him and you didn't worship Him before. We just talked
about how we relapse right back into the same way that we were,
don't we? Don't we have the same thoughts?
Don't we have the same sins in our head? Then why does God put
up, why does He have mercy? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why not? For my own sake, He said. You
know, I'll tell you why. Here it is. He's God. Because
He's God. Hosea, I think it is, said this,
he said, I'm God, not a man. I'm not like you. This is his
greatest glory, because this is the Lord. The Lord God, merciful,
gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness. And truth. And keeping mercy. Reserving
mercy. Waiting to be merciful. Waiting
to be gracious. For those that aren't worth waiting
on. Waiting to be gracious for thousands. How many thousands? Scripture says you can't number
them. Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sins. All of
it. Forgiving it all. He says, because
I'm God and not man. Why? Because He's God. You know, listen, you and I have
a hard time forgiving and forgetting minor offenses by people just
like us. You and I have a hard time forgiving
and forgetting, maybe impossible to forget, people that commit
minor offenses against us, people that are just like us. And we do the same thing in many
things. We all offend, James said. We
all offend each other. And we have a hard time forgiving,
and it's almost impossible to forget God. Our offenses against Him are
major offenses. God says, Ah, it's me. Even I am heathen. Blotteth out. And he says, there's sin I will
remember no more. It's not forgiveness if it's
not forgotten. Do you understand that? It's
not forgiveness if it's not gone. If you harbor any bitterness.
If you think he's going to have to pay for this. If you think
he or she is going to have to measure up. Until I forgive. That's not forgiveness. Here's
forgiveness. I won't remember it. God says, I, whom you've sinned
against, and continue to sin against, and will sin against,
I, blot it out, and I'll never bring it up again. It's forgotten. I'm enjoying this. This has given
me such peace. And lastly, the certainty of
it, the foreverness of it, the eternality of it, God that cannot
lie, God that promised. You say, this is too good to
be true. No, it's not, because it's true because God said it. John, God promised eternal life,
who cannot lie. And God who said, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, not mine. He
said, whosoever shall call shall be saved. God hath promised. Look at, just quickly, look at
verse 1, 2, and 3. This is what God has done, what
God is, what God will do, what God will not do. Verse 1, Now
thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, he that formed
thee, O Israel, fear not, I have redeemed thee. He said, I have. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. Verse 2, here's what He will
do. He says, when thou passest through
the water, I will be with thee. What's that? That's this world. You won't drown in it. You won't
be overcome by it. That's through the river. That's
the river of death, the trouble. They shall not overflow thee
when you walk through the fire. What's that? Temptations. The fiery darts of the wicked.
How are you going to overcome that? You're not. He did. But you shall, one way, Him. He will not burn you. Read on. It says, And you shall not be
burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee, like the Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. No smell of smoke. Why? Because
I am the Lord God's. And he says, so that's what he
has done. That's what he will do because
of who he is. And he said, I will not remember
my sin. I will not. I will not. Now people,
Satan accuses us. He's the great accuser of the
brethren. But here's what God says to Satan. I don't remember. Satan brings up this and that.
It's true. It's all true. He brings it up. I tempted him,
and he fell to it. She did this. She did this. This
is what they're guilty of. God says, I don't remember. People, men say, accuse us. He
did this to me. He did this to me. She did this
to me. This is what she did. She's a sinner. And God says
to them, oh, like that woman at his feet. Like that woman
caught in the very act. They said, we were there. She
is guilty. You know what the Lord Jesus
Christ said? I don't remember. And my conscience, which will
never get rid of me, will never leave me alone. The conscience
accuses me constantly. But oh, here's good news to quiet
the conscience, the only thing. God Almighty says, the blood
of Christ blotteth out all thy transgressions. The blood of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth thee from all thy sin. Here is
blessed news for the conscience. Here's the only thing that will
quiet the conscience, which is real, which is true, which is
the Word of God that convicts us. Here's the only thing that
will stop that guilty conscience, where God says to every single
person, Let me find somebody that's listening to that. For
every single person that knows they're just worse than any of
these people. Everyone he says, I don't remember. And when you get the glory, the
books are going to be opened. And every single thing that every
single person has done, good or bad, is going to be brought
out. Things done in secret. Nothing
hid. Anybody here want your life opened
up for everybody to see it? Anybody want your thoughts this
morning to be opened up for everybody to see? Anybody? Not me. Not
even me. We've never done a pure thing
in our life. But God, in that day, those that
are in Christ, Those that have come to Christ by His grace,
by His mercy, by His power, by His Spirit, every single one,
you know what they're going to hear God say? When the books
are opened, and you open the books and your name is called,
there's not going to be anything in there. But, but, but, but, but, but,
but, but, God says, no, there's nothing there. But we remember when God says,
I don't. And I know you think this, I
know you do, if you're like me. If you're a prodigal, you're
a prodigal. If you're a sinner, here's what
you think. That at glory, someday, in heaven, everybody's going
to be there. It's going to be Abraham, oh,
Abraham. It's going to be David, oh, Paul, Simon, Peter, the great
men, Daniel, Noah, these great people there. The will of God
is going to be open. The books are going to be open,
and you think. Like that prodigal. Here's a good illustration. Like
that prodigal. When his father died, the prodigal son. When
his father died, you know what he's thinking. They're reading
the will and the testament. Mac, they're reading the will
and the testament. The father has died, and the prodigal son
stands there, and his brother who never left. He was an obedient
son who served his father all those years. Moral, upright,
good. And this prodigal son who wasted
his substance. And they're both standing there
hearing the will read. Do you know what that prodigal
son is thinking? I'm not going to get anything. He's going to lead me out. And
lo and behold, the wheel is red, and the Testament is red. It
says they both get everything. That the prodigal gets exactly
what that obedient son gets. Everything. The prodigal son. Like the story of Mephibosheth. And Ziba, his servant, is a good
illustrator. Mephibosheth, he was just thankful
to be at the mercy of King David, because he loved David. And when
David said, God divide it all, and Mephibosheth said, let him
have it. I don't need anything. I have
your forgiveness. You've shown me mercy. I, even I, am He. that blotteth
out thy transgressions, and I will not remember thy sins." I pray,
I hope, that the Holy Spirit of God will use these words for
somebody's salvation and comfort, if not here, over the airwaves
or sermon audio. May the Lord make it so. Okay.
John, you come. Okay.