Forgiveness is About Reconciliation

Now, as we were driving up, coming to services today, we could see some of the buds on the trees beginning to grow. And down in New York, the flowering trees have already flowered, many of them. The cherry blossoms were out in different parts of Brooklyn. We got to see some of them over the past week or so. It's really quite beautiful.

This transition in the seasons reminds us of God's feasts. It's a great reminder. Now, the seasons do transition almost every place in the world. There's a noticeable transition, except maybe near to the equator. But even there, there are shifts in the weather patterns between seasons. Now, through the years, we have a different kind of reminder. So through the seasons each year, we have these transitions. But through the years, we have prophetic reminders of fulfilled prophecy that show us that God's plan is working. We see that.

The fulfillment of end-time prophecy, as we see it around us happening more and more, serves a couple of different purposes. One of the purposes is that it demonstrates the truth of the Scriptures. God is reliable. His Word is reliable. The fulfilling of prophecy also serves to get our attention, as well as the attention of the people of this world. And through that attention-getting, as we see these prophecies unfold, as there are tribulations that will happen, there will be some who will turn to God.

But it's a great reminder for us. Today around us, we do see that God continues to increase this prophetic noise, as it were, building up, getting louder and louder to get our attention and the attention of mankind. To warn us of dangers up ahead. Of course, also to remind us of His plan, but to warn us of dangers. This is because of our separation from God. I'm talking about mankind as a whole, this separation from God. That's a danger that we need to be warned of if we want to draw close to God, if we want to have a relationship with Him.

It's sin that has pushed mankind away from God. Isaiah 59, let's turn to Isaiah, Chapter 59. Isaiah wrote about the fact that our sins have pushed us away from God, have put a separation between us and our Creator. It reminds us of, you know, back in the Garden, Adam and Eve, they were walking in the Garden with God, learning from Him, until sin was found in them. Let's put a separation between them and God, and God demonstrated that through that Garden, putting them out of the Garden.

Isaiah 59, Verse 1, Isaiah writes here, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, nor is he or heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity, your lips have spoken lies, your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice. And this is some commentary about the nation of Israel, but this is also commentary about the people of the world, mankind.

No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies. They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity. Sin, contrary to the righteousness of God. Our sin has placed a divide between us and our Creator. As long as anybody lives in sin, if we are living in sin, dwelling in it, and sin is part of our lives, we cannot draw close to God.

Verse 9, as we continue on here, Therefore justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us. We look for light, but there is darkness, for brightness, but we walk in blackness. We grope for the wall like the blind. I think this is a brilliant analogy that God has given Isaiah. You know, the difference between those who know God and those who don't. Those who don't know God live in this darkness without hope, groping around like the blind. And we grope as if we had no eyes.

We stumble at noonday, as at twilight. We are as dead men in desolate places. That is mankind without God, as dead men in desolate places. Sin is this blindness, living in sin. God is that light. Sin brings a heavy burden upon us. If we seek to please God, we will have this feeling of this burden of sins before we let go of them. A burden that is too great for any human to carry. We can't carry that burden of our sins on our own shoulders.

That guilt that we feel, knowing that we have sinned against God once God calls us and reveals that truth to us. In the Psalms, Psalm 38, we'll turn to. Psalm 38, David wrote often many different ways, but we have some of his Psalms here recording his feelings, his thoughts about this feeling of pressure because of sins that he had sinned against God. And he admitted that they were against God. This is the title of this Psalm. It says, a Psalm of David to bring to remembrance.

So he's remembering his past. He's going over in his mind the feeling that he felt as he felt that pressure of the sin weighing down on him. Verse 1, David writes here, Oh, Lord, do not rebuke me in your wrath, nor chasing me in your hot displeasure, for your arrows pierce me deeply, and your hand presses me down.

That's that pressure that we feel in our sins, like a hand pressing us down. There is no soundness in my flesh because your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head, like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. And in verse 5, David writes here, My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness.

In verse 5, we can think of these wounds as those inflicted by our sins, the consequences for our sins. Our foolishness of choice that is contrary to the will of God. Now, sometimes there are physical and emotional wounds to heal from because of our sins. They feel like wounds.

They pierce us when we remember them. Hopefully, we're able to, once we let go of those sins, let go of those wounds as well and allow them to heal. Now, of course, this is in addition to the penalty that God tells us is for sin, which is death.

Romans 6, verse 23, one for your notes there. The wages of sin is death. That's the ultimate penalty for sin. But there are also these wounds that are sometimes left over, even if we've repented of sin. If we seek God, He will listen to our prayers. If we turn to Him, He will delight in us and help us to remove this penalty off of us, to help us to remove these wounds. And that's what God desires for us. He desires to take that penalty off of our shoulders and carry it Himself. He desires to forgive us of our sins. And He desires to be close to us, to have a personal relationship with us.

In James, chapter 4, I think this is a passage in James, chapter 4, that it might be a memory scripture for many of us. I know parts of it are for me. Every once in a while they come to mind. Sometimes more clearly than others, when we're going through difficult times, this is a great reminder here of what we do. Every once in a while there will be, unfortunately, somebody who comes to me who asks for prayers when they feel inflicted directly or indirectly by Satan or one of his demons.

And that's a scary situation to be in. But this is the solution to that. This is the solution to those instances. Verse 7 in James, chapter 4, Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. So when we feel that pressure on us, when we're scared or nervous, we can submit ourselves to God.

We can draw near to him, and he will draw near to us. Cleanse your hands, you sinners! This is talking about repentance. Purifying your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up. And see, the end is better than the beginning. We humble ourselves, and God lifts us up.

We draw close to him, and he draws close to us, lifts us up, takes that burden away from us. In order for us to draw near to God, we have to have those sins washed away. We need to be far from sin. We need God's forgiveness. Ezekiel 33. Ezekiel chapter 33. Today, by the way, we're going to be talking about God's forgiveness.

There's another example here at Ezekiel. We see God's will for us. I lost Ezekiel somewhere. There it is. I knew where it was all along. My fingers didn't know for a moment. Ezekiel 33, in verse 10, breaking into the thought here. Therefore you, O Son of Man, say to the house of Israel, Thus you say, if your transgressions and your sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live? This is that expression of this weight, like David, similar to what David was expressing. With sin upon us, how can we then live? This is the truth of it.

How can we then live? Say to them, Ezekiel is instructed to say to the people, As I live, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. This is a beautiful thing. God doesn't desire the death of the wicked. Anyone who has sinned, anyone who is contrary to Him. And as we know, God called us when we were yet sinners.

And Christ died for us when we were yet still living in wickedness. So this describes us. God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. But that the wicked turn from His way and live. Turn. Turn from your evil ways for why should you die, O house of Israel?

This is God speaking to His people. Why should you die? Don't live in sin. Come. Come to me. He says. Turn. And God forgives us. We should desire that forgiveness from God. God does not desire that we should die, but that we should live. Now this Feast Day reminds us when Israel came out of Egypt. It would have been last night, we understand that, when they left.

But it was in this holy time when Israel left Egypt. And that's symbolic of mankind, them being in Egypt. Symbolic of mankind held captive by sin. In order for us to be free, we need forgiveness. In order for Israel to be free, to worship God, to draw close to Him, they needed to leave Egypt. They needed to leave that symbolic sin, this nation of sin. And so we need God's forgiveness, in order to draw close to Him, to worship Him properly. Forgiveness is necessary. Now today, we're going to talk about five facts of forgiveness. Five facts of forgiveness. Now the first fact of forgiveness is that forgiveness is about reconciliation.

Forgiveness is about reconciliation. Reconciliation, as it's described in the Bible, has to do with taking something that is not pleasing, and making it so that it is pleasing, so that it satisfies. In some cases, similar words could be used to describe a debt. Something is indebted. But through reconciliation, everything is made right so that the debt is paid. It's been approved. The word reconciliation in the Greek is the verb katalaso.

I'm not a Greek scholar, but the Greek verb katalaso, reconciled as it's translated in the New Testament, has to do with change. To change. Or even to exchange something. Exchange one for the other. So if you're traveling to a different country, you have to exchange your money, one for the other, so you have the equivalency, so you can actually go and buy something in that other country. This idea of reconciliation is along those lines, changing something so that it fits in where it needs to go. Exchanging it for something that is useful. It also has to do with returning to favor with. And this is how it is between us and God.

When we're living in sins, we are not in His favor. But He desires to reconcile us, to bring us back into His favor. In order for us to be brought back into God's favor, we need to have that forgiveness from Him. We need that adjustment, that reconciliation that is through the blood of Jesus Christ. There are some great analogies of this in the Bible. One of those specific analogies is that of a veil.

There are two veils mentioned that actually show a physical separation between God and His people. One of those is the veil at the tabernacle. The veil at the tabernacle that has that separation between people and the Holy of Holies that represented the throne of God. And we know that that veil that hung in the temple, we know several things about it. The priests, only the high priest could go in once a year and it had to be with blood. That blood of that sacrifice then looked forward to the blood of Jesus Christ.

And when He died, that veil splits in two from top to bottom, showing that mankind could reconcile with God. Mankind could enter into this place to be considered justified. Equivalent to a person who is able to go in. Not the high priest, but Jesus has become our high priest, allowing us to go in to be reconciled with the Father. Now another veil, and we'll come back to the veil that was broken, that separation. Another veil is found in 2 Corinthians chapter 3.

It's also, of course, referenced in Exodus chapter 34. So one for your notes is Exodus 34. But we're going to turn to 2 Corinthians 3. When Moses went up to speak with God, he spoke with Him face to face as friends. And when he came back down, his face shone brightly. And the people were afraid. They were scared to be close to God.

They desired more to live in their sins than to face God, to be in the presence of anyone who would come close to God. When Moses wore a veil on his face, and then the people would listen to him and hear the words of God. The Apostle Paul brings out this analogy of a veil as this blindness.

The blindness that mankind, for the most part, is still in, until God removes that veil in Christ. 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 12, Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech. So Paul is saying that we are able to come boldly. We have great boldness of speech, and the things that we understand are true. We understand the truth as much as God has given us, and we believe it.

Otherwise, why would we be here? Verse 13, Unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. There's also a reference here to the difference between the Old Covenant and the New. Verse 14, But your minds were blinded, for until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.

When we understand who Jesus Christ is as the Messiah, that sacrificial Lamb, then that veil can be removed. But for those who don't accept that sacrifice of Christ, that veil still remains. Even to this day when Moses has read a veil lies on their hearts, those who are stuck at that point, who see Jesus as a stumbling block rather than a Savior. Nevertheless, when one turns to the Lord, when somebody repents and turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. And then they can be reconciled to God. They can appear before Him. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And this is a great reminder of the liberty, the freedom that we have in drawing close to God and being reconciled.

But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. So God takes us when we are in our sin, we repent, He forgives us of those sins, and then we can be reconciled, we can be changed, transformed, so that we look like Him, so that we are more like Him with His presence within us.

And it talks about that, that veil is removed, and it's as if God desires this, He desires when He looks at us to see Himself looking back, as far as us developing this godly character, righteousness, to become like Him. And that's a beautiful thing. This is that reconciliation.

And Matthew 27 mentions this veil, let's turn there, of forgiveness. Through Christ, He makes forgiveness possible and brings about that reconciliation.

Matthew 27.

Towards the end of the chapter, verse... Well, maybe we'll start in verse 46. Let's look at verse 46. This is when Jesus was crying out with a loud voice. Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? We read through that yesterday.

And some stood there. They thought He was calling for Elijah. They ran to give Him a drink. They thought He was thirsty.

Verse 50, And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His Spirit. That's His moment of death. Verse 51, Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn into from top to bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.

Coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. So we see these events, but that very important event of the veil tearing, it demonstrates the fact that that separation between us and God is no more. Through Christ, through His death, that separation is gone, and we can be reconciled. We can be brought back into favor with our God.

In Romans chapter 5, Paul brings this out very clearly, this fact of our reconciliation through the forgiveness of our sins, through Christ's sacrifice.

Romans 5 verse 10, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. Much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. So we're reconciled to God through the death of His Son. And by His life, we are saved. We are given the hope of life, of salvation.

And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. We have been reconciled to God. We've been brought back into favor with Him. No more is there a veil hanging in front of our faces. No more is there a veil that separates us from the throne of God. We can go to the throne of God.

We can speak to our Father, present ourselves humbly before Him in prayer.

Forgiveness is about this reconciliation, allowing us to appear before God, to be brought back into favor with Him. Now the second fact about forgiveness is that forgiveness from God is a gift. But we ask for it in faith.

Forgiveness from God is a gift, but we ask for it in faith.

We seek after that forgiveness from God. We desire that reconciliation. We desire that relationship with Him. And we desire to be part of His eternal family. This is about a relationship, a family relationship.

When we truly and honestly ask God for forgiveness, when we have faith in that forgiveness, He does forgive us of our sins. But we have to have faith. We have to have faith. We have to believe that it is true. Isaiah 55, for your notes here, Isaiah 55 verse 7. I'm giving you some homework today.

Isaiah writes, This is the promise from God, but we have to believe that these promises are true. And that His forgiveness applies to our personal sins. Not just like, you know, maybe that's for everybody else who repents. But it's for our personal sins, directly, individually. And that's why, you know, I can't repent on your behalf. You can't repent on my behalf. It can't be a whole organization that repents for each other. We have to repent for ourselves, our own sins, because our own sins need forgiving individually. And we each must have that faith. Thankfully, God grants us faith. And He grants us repentance so that we can be forgiven. And He helps us to build that faith as we go along. But we have to accept that faith. We have to hang on to it and believe. And God gives us plenty of evidence in our lives, in different ways. Let's turn to Ephesians 2, as we're talking about this faith in the sacrifice of Christ, so that it will apply to our lives. Ephesians 2. We have to believe that Christ's sacrifice was powerful enough to cover our sins, even the most terrible sins, and to wipe them completely clean. We have to have that much faith. And that He died once for all. He's never going to have to die again. He never has to die again. In fact, He can't die again. I mean, I guess if He chose to, He could again. But that's not the plan. That's not His plan. Ephesians 2, verse 1. And you, Paul writes here, He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins. This is a fact. This is stated as a fact. We have been made alive. We were formerly dead, considered as good as dead. And this isn't just talking about the first death, but fear of the second death without the sacrifice of Christ. That He has made us alive who were formerly dead. Dropping down to verse 4. But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. And raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So it's through Christ that we can present ourselves to the Father. We talked about that with that reconciliation.

That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Verse 8, for by grace you have been saved through faith. Faith is essential. That grace is free. You know, that forgiveness is free, but it's through faith. We must have faith. We must accept these things that are true. And that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest anyone should boast.

For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. For good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Verse 13, for now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. We have to believe that these things are true. Over and over again, faith is stated as an essential element of forgiveness, of our sins.

Faith in the sacrifice of Christ. That these things actually happen and that they apply to us. Acts chapter 10. In the book of Acts we see individuals being called by God. And what were they told? They were told that they had to believe. They had to believe that these things were so. And then they could have their sins forgiven. They could be baptized and accept that sacrifice of Christ. Acts chapter 10. We see the Apostle Peter preaching to Cornelius.

This Roman soldier, Roman Centurion. Verse 34. Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. This is part of Peter's education as well. Understanding that God had begun to call people outside of just the Jews there. He began with the Jews as part of his physical nation.

But Cornelius wasn't part of that physical nation of Israel. He was being called. Verse 35. But in every nation whoever fears him and works, righteousness is accepted by him. Living a life without sin, having repented. The word which God sent to the children of Israel preaching peace through Jesus Christ.

He is the Lord of all. That word you know, which is proclaimed throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached. Let's drop down to verse 43. To him all the prophets, speaking of Jesus Christ, all the prophets witnessed that through his name, whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins. Whoever believes in him. That's about faith. Faith is this deep belief that is unwavering. We know that we know. We have to ask in faith, but we have to ask God for forgiveness. He is ready to give it.

That's an important element to this. God is ready to give us forgiveness. He is ready. Christ has already been sacrificed, but we must ask for it in faith. That faith means that sometimes we have to believe without seeing. Like I mentioned, we have lots of evidence in our own lives. But we can't really see that forgiveness. Can you actually see forgiveness of your sins? Can you see that? We can't. We have to know that God has forgiven us. When we lay out our sins before Him, He forgives each one of them. Only the ones that we refuse to confess before Him.

He will not forgive. But as soon as we lay them out, He is ready. He separates us from our sins as far as east is from west. Let's turn to Psalm 51. Psalm 51, another psalm of David here. Psalm 51, this is a powerful reminder. What we should do when we see sins in ourselves.

David was a good example of that. He was a man after God's own heart. He did sin, but He was ready to repent when He found out that He was wrong. These are great words for us to keep in mind. For ourselves, personally, when we lay our own sins before God. David describes repentance, but he also describes the faith that He has in the forgiveness of God.

Verse 1, David writes, You have mercy upon me, O God, according to your lovingkindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight, that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge. Verse 7, Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. David here is laying out his sins, and he's telling God that he understands that he knows that God is going to forgive him if he asks for forgiveness in faith. He has faith that God will forgive him. For, say, make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. In verse 14, David says here, deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. David was a man of faith. Even when he made mistakes, he still had faith in the forgiveness of God.

Forgiveness is a gift from God, but we must ask for it in faith, believing that it applies to our personal iniquities, our personal sins.

It takes great faith, on our part, to read the Scriptures and believe these things are true. God gives us that faith and boosts that faith, sometimes through miracles, sometimes through prophecy, the revealing of prophecy in different ways, other ways as well. But we must believe that these things are true.

Now the third fact of forgiveness is that forgiveness should lead us to change. Forgiveness should lead us to change. I'm pretty sure we have enough time to finish all five. I'm not too concerned. Forgiveness should lead us to change. We are not to use our forgiveness as an excuse to sin again. The Bible is clear about that. God is clear about that. There are some who believe that once they have been saved, then they can just live their life however they want. Or they can sin one day, they go and repent, and then they go and sin again with the expectation that that's going to be their life, rather than a life of righteousness, of living in good works.

In Galatians chapter 5. Galatians 5 verse 13 Paul writes here, For you, brethren, have been called to liberty, just like Israel was called to liberty from Egypt, and they were released from Egypt by God's might, by God's power. You have been called to liberty only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

And there's some context in here about being willing to humbly serve each other, not take that liberty as an opportunity to oppress others. That's not God's desire. That's contrary to God. We aren't to be the ones who have this gift of God, of forgiveness, the gift of His Spirit, and then go and walk away from it.

To put Jesus Christ into an open shame by trying to crucify again for ourselves the Christ who has already been crucified. Hebrews 6 talks about that. That's one for your homework. Hebrews 6 verse 6. Instead of that, instead of trying to falsely rely on the sacrifice of Christ so that we feel like we can go and sin again, we are to go and sin no more.

We are to go and live a life as changed men and women, as children of God, as a new creation. First Peter chapter 2. First Peter chapter 2.

We heard some of this chapter earlier. We're going to drop down to verse 15 in this chapter. First Peter chapter 2 verse 15. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. So our freedom from sin puts us into bondage of service to God. And this is a wonderful bondage. This is a bondage attaching ourselves to God closely, serving Him as changed individuals. And not using this freedom to hide our vices, but really in ourselves changing. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 10 now. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Here's a strong warning against those who are very flippant about their calling from God, who don't take it seriously. Who might, like we've talked about before, as we prepared for the Passover, who come and take the Passover in vain, taking it lightly, the sacrifice of Christ. There's a warning here about those who don't understand the depth of the forgiveness, as well as the depth of sin and the damage that it does. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 26. For if we sin willfully, and that's a key word there, this doesn't mean if we make a mistake. If we sin willfully, knowing that it's wrong, and we do it anyway, after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. This is a strong, hard truth. This is a warning for us. There is danger in stepping away from God when we already know the truth. Thankfully, the goodness of God is far greater than the danger of death. We're not concerned that we're going to walk away from God. We're not trying to willfully sin, turn away from God. We're striving to step into this forgiveness, to accept it, to hold on to it. Verse 27, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, which will devour the adversaries. Adversaries are anyone who is against God, willfully. Verse 28, anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. This is the right of Hebrews, who is looking back at the old covenant's dangers, death, upon breaking the law of God. Of how much worse punishment do you suppose will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God under foot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? See, by sinning willfully, we insult God. We insult his power. This is the unpardonable sin that is spoken of, willfully resisting God after having the knowledge of the truth. God, instead, wants to give us a clean start. He doesn't want us to walk away from him. And we don't desire that as well. And this is the beautiful thing about this forgiveness of God.

It isn't just something that we can jump in and out of. Like, one day I'm going to do well, tomorrow I don't care, I'm going to live however I want, and I can repent later. That's not what God wants for us. He wants us to have a clean start so that we can move forward away from sin, permanently, and lead a life in service to him. And bear fruits worthy of repentance. In fact, that's one of the requirements of receiving this forgiveness, is actually bearing fruits worthy of repentance. Living the change, beginning to live the change, even before we have been baptized. We must walk in the light of God, and truly repent, truly change, rather than trying to flip back and forth or live in two worlds. In Psalm 51, verse 17, we read this already, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. These, O God, you will not despise. Let's turn to one more scripture in this section, Joshua chapter 24. Here we see a good example for us of people who were ready to change. This new generation of Israel who were ready to go into the Promised Land and not look back.

Unfortunately, it wasn't too long before the next generation came around and began to live in sin again. But this one generation that went into the Promised Land, they were a great example for us. They accepted the forgiveness from God, even though Joshua was very unsure if they would. They said, we understand, we're going to repent, and we want this promise from God. Joshua 24, verse 19. But Joshua, verse 19, Joshua said to the people, you cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done you good. That's very similar to the word in Hebrews. After God has done us good, if we turn away from Him, there's this consuming fire. Verse 21. And the people said to Joshua, No, but we will serve the Lord. So Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord for yourselves to serve Him. And they said, We are witnesses. Now therefore, he said, Put away the foreign gods which are among you and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel. See, God is looking for that change in heart, that permanent change, that deep change. And the people said to Joshua, The Lord our God, we will serve and His voice we will obey. God expects this change in heart and the change in attitude, the change in life completely going forward. And we must change. And forgiveness should lead us to change. That opportunity to have a clean slate should lead us to change. That's a great opportunity. When we're baptized, we're washed clean in the blood of Christ. And we can move forward without that guilt, that pressure in the past. Now the fourth fact of forgiveness is that forgiveness from others is something we should seek. Forgiveness from others.

Matthew 5. Jesus taught about this. This is supposed to be some of the basics of Christianity, of following Jesus Christ's example, His words. When we sin against somebody else, when we've offended somebody else, sometimes, many times, even if we don't know that we've done it, if somebody comes to us and says, you know, you've offended me, we should seek that forgiveness from them. We should seek that forgiveness from them and seek this reconciliation with each other. It's all about relationships, remember. Matthew 5, verse 23. Jesus speaking here, therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, like today, you know, we brought a gift and offering before God on His feast day.

And there, remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. And we see that that reconciliation between brethren can affect our relationship with God, our ability to bring a good gift to God, one that is honest, that is pure, that is ready, that we are willing to give. It can affect our relationship with God and even hinder our prayers in many cases. If we don't have a clean conscience, we need to ask forgiveness of other people when we've offended them, we've sinned against them. Not just, you know, repenting before God, we ask forgiveness of other people. Verse 25, Jesus continues on here, Agree with your adversary quickly while you are on the way with him. Lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny. And the spiritual analogy of this is that, you know, work things out. Work things out with people. Otherwise, you're going to live in conflict. And there are consequences for that living in conflict. It's not a nice thing to live in conflict with our brethren. So we strive to work things out. We strive to reconcile. We strive to live in peace. As much as depends on us. We are to live peaceably with the rest of mankind. And part of this is seeking forgiveness from others. We can't appear before God and offer Him praise and thanks for our forgiveness from Him. If we are in conflict with our brethren. If we haven't been forgiven of the sins that we've sinned against other people. Now, sometimes people won't accept our apologies. They won't want to forgive us. That's their issue. That's their problem. But it's our duty to humbly admit when we're wrong. And desire to work things out. Desire to change. Many times we're wrong and we need that reconciliation with each other. 1 John 4. 1 John 4. 1 John 4. Verse 20. The Apostle John writes here, If someone says, I love God and hates his brother. He is a liar. We can't have love for God and hate for somebody else. That's not how it works. If we have hate for somebody else, then we don't understand love. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? It's an incredible truth. We interact. I mean, the people, we know that the people are here. We see them. We have faith that God exists. We see the evidence. But we haven't seen His face. We know that we are around. And we, thankfully, God has revealed to us that we are to build relationships with each other. And if we can't love one another, try to love one another, how can we possibly understand how to love God who we cannot see face to face? Many times this means saying that we are sorry, trying our best to show the person that we are truly desiring to change. Sometimes this means making restitution. God gave instructions to Israel about this. Making restitution for the sins that we have sinned against other people. Numbers chapter 5. Numbers chapter 5, we'll turn over there.

God gave instructions about making restitution, working things out.

If we damage something that belongs to somebody else, we should try to make it better.

We have to understand that our actions affect other people's lives. We probably understand that other people's actions, they affect our lives, but it works the other way around as well.

Sometimes we forget that.

Or we ignore it because we think, I didn't really do that. That's not actually harmful. I didn't really mean to. I didn't really mean to hurt my brother. Numbers chapter 5 verse 6, God speaking here to Moses, giving him instructions to instruct the people. Speak to the children of Israel, when a man or woman commits any sin, that man commit in unfaithfulness against the Lord, and that person is guilty, then he shall confess the sin which he has committed. He shall make restitution for his trespass in full, plus one fifth of it, and give it to the one he has wronged. So, making restitution, building up that relationship again, making sure that if we damage something that belongs to somebody else, most especially them, we try to work things out, we try to make it better. But if the man has no relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for the wrong must go to the Lord for the priest. In addition to the ram of the atonement with which atonement is made for him. This is about this relationship with God. They work in tandem. Our relationship with other people works in tandem with our relationship with God. Both must be reconciled. Both must be reconciled. So we confess our sins to God and strive to make restitution for those we have wronged. We strive for forgiveness from others. We seek that forgiveness. There are times where some people won't forgive us. Or sometimes we can't go to somebody and ask for forgiveness because they're too far away. They won't talk to us or maybe they've died. But we still go before God. We confess our sins to God. And we have faith that he has forgiven us for what we've done. But we seek forgiveness from others. It's something that we must seek. It affects our relationship with God. Our ability to love God. And now the fifth and final fact about forgiveness. Our forgiveness of others is also necessary. Our forgiveness of others is necessary for our own forgiveness from God. If we refuse to forgive others, then God will also refuse to forgive us. And we can think about this as an opportunity to look at sin from God's perspective. How does God feel when people sin against him? He doesn't like it, but when somebody comes and they repent, he wants to forgive them. He desires to forgive them. He is quick to forgive them. And those of you who are parents, maybe you can relate to this from that perspective as well. When your child does something wrong, they sin against you. You desire to teach them the right way, but you also have this desire to forgive them. To reconcile that relationship. To love your child and to have them love you. That's how God feels about it. All God wants us to do is admit that we are wrong and go and sin no more. To change. This is our opportunity to be like God with regard to our interactions with other people. To be ready to forgive as God forgives us. To not hold any grudges. To let go of things. Even if somebody won't ask for that forgiveness. And there are many times where somebody has sinned against us, hurt us badly. Most likely, in the past, we might not even see that person anymore. Sometimes that sin against us, it still wells up in our hearts and our minds. We think about it sometimes and it affects us. But we have to be ready to forgive them, even if they are not ready to repent of that sin. Even if they are not ready to change. Because if we aren't ready to forgive, then our hearts are hardened. And how is God going to forgive us if we are not ready to forgive? If our hearts are hardened? 2 Corinthians 5. We have this opportunity to show people the love of God, the forgiveness of God. The reconciling power of God's forgiveness in our own lives. 2 Corinthians 5.

Starting with verse 18. Paul writes here, Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. He has given us the work of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. This is what we are supposed to be about. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. We are ambassadors for His reconciliation, for His forgiveness. As though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. We are to help teach others about this reconciling power of God's forgiveness. We do that partially through preaching the truth, but also through our willingness to forgive others, to demonstrate that power that God has had over us in changing our hearts. Verse 21, For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. We are changed to be like God, to take on His righteousness, to take on His reconciliation, to take on His forgiveness. So, this forgiveness from others is something that we must seek, and it must become a way of life for us. Not just a one-shot deal, but a way of life.

Matthew 18. Matthew 18. And this is something that we must do constantly. Hopefully we aren't going around and people aren't just constantly sinning against us. I hope not. But it might feel that way sometimes.

But we have to be ready to forgive.

Matthew 18, verse 23.

Well, let's start with verse 21. This is a question from Peter. Peter was always quick with the questions. Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him. Up to seven times. You know, the common thought was, well, seven is a good number. It's the number of completion. Seven times, that's enough. That's enough. You know, this guy is on my last nerve. Seven times, the eighth time, that's it. We're done.

But Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. And the idea is, this is a large number. We're not counting. Who wants to tally up how many times they've forgiven somebody? I don't know. Maybe you've done that before in the past, but that's not the idea. But a large number. So, you know, you're not counting. You're just continuing to forgive somebody. Of course, sometimes you have to set boundaries with somebody who keeps on, you know, sinning against you. You might need some boundaries, but you still have to be ready to forgive. We still have to be ready to forgive. Verse 23, Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. Now, this is a relatively small number.

And not a huge amount of money, but more than this individual could afford.

But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold with his wife and children in all that he had, and that payment be made. So that payment needed to be made there. The servant therefore fell down before him saying, Master, have patience with me and I will pay you all. And of course, we understand this is reflective of our relationship with God. We've sinned before God. We can't pay our debt. And we ask for forgiveness. And he forgives us. The master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt. It's completely gone. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. A very, very, very small amount, especially by comparison to that huge amount before. And he laid hands on him and took him by the throat saying, Pay me what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and bade him, the same as he had bade himself when he asked for forgiveness. And I will pay you all. And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. Now, this story, some of the fellow servants who saw this, they saw what had been done. They were grieved and they came and they told their master, verse 31. Then his master, after he had called and said to him, verse 32, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you bade me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? And his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. Verse 35, here's the lesson, the deep lesson for us when it comes to our willingness to forgive others when they sin against us, they harm us in some way. Verse 35, So my heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you from his heart does not forgive his brother, his trespasses. And this isn't just like, oh, it's okay, it's no big deal, but in our mind, in our hearts, we're still dwelling on what somebody did to us. It has to be complete forgiveness as much as we can muster in our hearts a complete forgiveness. Just like God forgives us completely. Verse 7 in Matthew 5, one for your notes here, Jesus stated, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. We could state it like this, blessed are the forgiveness, for they shall, blessed are those who forgive, for they shall obtain forgiveness. We could state it that way. We've been shown great mercy by God. We've been shown great forgiveness. This is our opportunity to reflect that forgiveness to others. Colossians 3. Colossians 3.

Colossians 3, verse 12, another great reminder of this same fact, that we must be ready and willing to forgive others. Verse 12 in Colossians 3.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. This is our duty as God's people, as the elect, as the firstfruits, to be these forgiving people, to be examples of God and His forgiveness in the world around us. Even, you know, we have to understand that God is ready to forgive even the vilest sinners, those who have sinned, some terrible sin that we think that, you know, that's the worst thing that anybody could possibly do. If that person repents, if they're brought up in the second resurrection, if they've died sometime in history not knowing God, if they repent, God will forgive them, just as He has forgiven us.

This is our opportunity to be like God.

And His forgiveness must be in our hearts.

I'm going to read one more scripture here, just as another reminder of this, Mark 11. Mark 11. This shows us, reminds us that our relationship, our relationships with other people affects our relationship with God, even affecting our ability to pray honestly and earnestly in our hearts, having been forgiven. We also must be willing to forgive in our hearts. Mark 11. verse 25.

Jesus, again, teaching, and whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive Him, that your Father in Heaven may also forgive you, your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in Heaven forgive you, your trespasses. Our forgiveness of others is necessary for our own forgiveness from God. We have to be reconciled with others and allow that reconciliation. We seek forgiveness from others, and we also seek to forgive others, as a reflection of that forgiveness that God has given us.

And this time of year, we're celebrating our freedom from sin. We don't seek to go back into it. We lean on this forgiveness from God, and we move forward, living an unleavened life, putting Christ in, reflecting Him as we live in our lives, as we live our lives, as we strive to be like Him.

We take in this unleavened bread, and we put out Christ in our lives. As we seek to be forgiven, we also seek to forgive.