Will God Truly Forgive My Sin?

One of the most meaningful metaphors used in God's Holy Scripture is that of the way. According to Strong's definitions, the word way more broadly means a course of conduct, or a manner of thinking, feeling, and deciding. As you probably remember, before the followers of Jesus Christ were first called Christians and Antioch, they were known as a sect called the Way. And that's according to Acts 24.14 and Paul's testimony before Felix, who was the Roman governor of Judea at the time. Paul, while yet called Saul, in fact, carried official letters from the Jewish leaders authorizing him to imprison, quoting, this is Acts 9, he was authorized to imprison anyone who were of the Way, whether men or women. They were known as the Way. So for these men and women in ancient times, the Way signified being a disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ used the Way in Matthew 7.13-14. And please, let's turn there.

No doubt, well known, but never well known enough. Matthew 7.13-14. Jesus Christ used the Way in Matthew 7.13-14 to describe two ways of living out this physical existence God has given to us. Matthew 7.13 reads, "...answer by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it, because narrow is the gate, and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." So these two ways appear here in the midst of what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. And it's here in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus teaches us still to this day about how to live God's way of life, as it's defined by the Ten Commandments. The way which leads to life is difficult. It's difficult because it requires a lifelong battle against temptation and against sin, as we strive always then to obey God. Though God calls and invites many to His way, very few follow this course of life. Instead, most keep to the Broadway with the wide gate, that way that's heavily traveled, that leads to death or destruction. The way that leads to destruction means to live in disobedience to God, which is the way of sin. God's way of life requires that we believe Him and practice His way of love towards God and towards every human being. And that means we must be repenting of sin, which is lawlessness, and then we must never stop repenting of sin for the remainder of our lives. Of course, that is, if we want to be among the firstfruits of God's kingdom. Until the moment we are relieved of our physical existence, we must remain committed to walking in the only way, the only way, that leads to eternal life in the kingdom of God. God calls us to this way of life. It's no accident. Jesus said in John 6.44, that no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him, and I will raise Him up at the last day. When the Father calls us, He actually begins our process of repentance. His Holy Spirit is with us, and it opens our minds to understand the things of God. So even prior to baptism, and even as children, even as children, God helps us to change and to obey Him. But after we are baptized, and through the laying on of hands by God's ministers, God places His Holy Spirit in us. That's His guarantee to us of eternal life. God then, thereupon, oversees our progress on into His kingdom for the rest of our lives. But we, we must remain committed to Him, and repentance is critical to living God's way of life. The Father did not call you and me to His way of life to fail. He did not call us to this way of life to fail, but ultimately, He called us to overcome sin so we might have eternal life. We must believe it. We've got to believe it. Never neglect this truth. We must live out our lives living according to God's way. But fearful doubts creep into our hearts, don't they, from time to time? What if I misstep? We might wonder. What if I stray from the way for a while? And what if I can't seem to overcome that habitual sin that constantly plagues me? Will God truly forgive my sin? And that is the title of today's sermon. Will God truly forgive my sin? My purpose today is to dispel any of those fearful doubts we might have of God's willingness to forgive us no matter what our sin might be. Will God truly forgive my sin? Now, the narrow way, as I said, is difficult, but it's never impossible.

It's difficult because it demands that we walk contrary to our natural carnal nature. We must walk and surrender in obedience to God at all times. And of course, that means we must be busy with repentance in our lives. Do you know that repentance is a remarkable gift from God? Repentance is a remarkable gift from God. That desire to obey God, to please God, to be right with Him, it's a truly beautiful thing, isn't it? But it doesn't originate from within us. We didn't come up with that feeling or that idea. Let's turn to Romans 8, please. Let's please turn to Romans 8. I say it didn't originate from within us and our hearts and minds, because that's not the way Paul tells us human nature is. Romans 8, verse 7, you see, the typical human mind, in fact, hates God, in hates God's way. Romans 8, verse 7 states, Because the carnal mind is enmity, that means hateful, an enemy against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. By itself, the human mind will not stay under God's rule. We have to have God's help. Also, if you turn, please, to Philippians 2, verses 12 through 13.

Philippians 2, verses 12 through 13. Paul tells us that the desire to please God and to repent comes from God. Paul states here, Philippians 2, verse 12, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. We have our part to play, of course. Verse 13, For is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure? God gives us that desire to please God for His good pleasure. And that desire to repent then and to please God, it remains as we choose to act upon it. And so it's very good if we not ignore that need to repent, that twinge of guilt we might feel from time to time, that impulse to do extra prayer, to have that heartfelt talk with God. You better listen to it and not ignore it. Repentances is easier when we get close to God, when we act in those impulses. It's easier to do, of course, when we're diligent to remain close to God. So that means we must constantly maintain our relationship with God and His Son. We do that through prayer. I think we know these things. We do that through prayer and Bible study, with fasting, meditation. We do it with our fellowship, being those pillars for one another, supporting one another as we heard in the sermonette. We do that through serving, giving of ourselves, and not walling ourselves up within ourselves. When we use these spiritual tools to stay close to God, I think we do find it easier to do the right thing then. And it's only by staying close to God that we are able to control the wrong thoughts and urges to do as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10.5, where he says, where we must bring every thought into captivity, into the obedience of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 10, verse 5. But the fact is, no matter how hard we strive against temptation, even with the help of God's Holy Spirit, which is a mighty help indeed, even with God's help, we will surely sin because of our carnal human nature. So when that does happen, when we sin, we must be quick to turn to God. He is our refuge and our help.

We must turn quickly to God after sin occurs to admit our sin against Him with profound heartfelt sorrow. That's an aspect of sincere repentance. And then we must ask God for His forgiveness to apply the blood of Jesus Christ, our Savior, to our sins, to cleanse us, to wash us clean. And again, we must not dawdle about this. We can dawdle about a lot of things, maybe, but we don't want to dawdle about getting right with God. We don't want to procrastinate. I saw that a lot in my former years, and I did that a lot as a student. It still creeps in. We don't want to procrastinate when it comes to repentance. We've got to act fast so that we can retain that right relationship with God and not allow ourselves to wallow any deeper into sin and self-pity. Whenever we ask God for His forgiveness, as often as that must be, maybe many times a day, we must ask always from an attitude of genuine remorse and godly sorrow. Let's be turning to 2 Corinthians 7. 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 10.

Paul notes the difference here between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 10. Paul states, for godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation. And it's not to be regretted, he says, but the sorrow of the world produces death. The sorrow of the world produces death. Let's talk about what is godly sorrow. When we sin, we need to remember that our sin is foremost against God. It's foremost against God. And so our godly sorrow is directed toward God when we sin, because we rightly ought to grieve or even mourn for disobeying and failing our loving God. God only wants good for us, and He does only good for us. And godly sorrow allows us to remain committed to God's way of life and ultimately receive eternal life.

But what does it look like? What does godly sorrow look like? Let's be turning. I'm going to look at a few places, and some of these places definitely need more of our time, and I would encourage us to be reading those areas. Let's turn first to Psalm 51. I think during this season of the year, we were fond of turning to Psalm 51, where David expresses his godly sorrow for his sin. We're just going to read a few Scriptures here. David expressed godly sorrow in this psalm because of his sin against God relating to the death of Uriah the Hittite, and along with that, the affair he had with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. In Psalm 51.24, let's notice this profound grief and sorrow David expresses here. In Psalm 51, verse 2-4, David says, Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is always before me. He cannot get it off his mind. 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. Part of repentance, godly repentance and sorrows, recognizing when we break God's law, we've sinned against Him. Of course, we sin against other people. We should understand that. But first, it's a sin against God. We need to get a relationship right with Him, and work on a relationship and reconciliation with others. The Apostle Paul also expressed godly sorrow about his sins. Let's turn back to Romans 7, verse 21. And again, be sure to read all of Psalm 51.

In Romans 7, verse 21 through 24, we find Paul's expression of godly sorrow about his sins. In Romans 7, 21, Paul states, "...I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good." He has that godly desire to do what's right. But he also knows there is evil within him. Verse 22, for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, that spirit man, that part of God in him. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Paul writes, verse 24, "...O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?" We can always hear Paul's deep grief and frustration with himself and the sin that he must constantly fight. Those who follow the way of God will express just this sort of deep, deep sorrow and remorse and regret for the sin.

This sort of remorse we should be expressing in our prayers to God, not just as we near the spring holy days, but every day, anytime we find ourselves, we finally recognize our sin against God. We've got to do this. We've got to repent. If we don't, we just continue to damage our relationship with God. Now, Paul mentioned worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow, on the other hand, tends to focus on the self. It tends to be more self-centered. We also know what that feels like. Worldly sorrow may be what we feel when we're humiliated for getting caught. You ever get caught with your hand in the cookie jar as a kid? Of course, we use that expression in many other, more profound and deeper ways as we grow into adults. So, godly sorrow can feel bad or embarrassed or maybe even have self-pity because of sin's consequences. We just want to make our sorrow known to God and repent and then have all our problems erased for what we got ourselves into. Well, that's a godly sorrow part and it's understood. It's understandable, isn't it? But that's not the way it works. We may and often we do continue to suffer because of our sin, because of the situation we put ourselves into. But we mustn't doubt that God will forgive us. We do must recognize that our sin is against God. When we recognize that and repent with true and heartfelt sorrow and then humbly ask God for His forgiveness, God will forgive. He will forgive us. But we've got to believe that. We've got to believe that. Let's be turning to Luke 15, the Gospel of Luke in chapter 15.

We've got to believe that God will forgive us our sin. We have our part to do, but God will do His part when we do ours. Luke 15, Jesus Himself taught the importance of repentance. We're talking about here no forgiveness. And we find that in the parable of the prodigal son. I chose this because it's a story we're probably familiar with.

It's certainly a story we need to help our children understand. God wants all His children to understand the importance of repentance and forgiveness. So, let's briefly look at Luke 15, the prodigal son parable, and we'll begin in verses 11-13. Jesus taught this lesson. He taught saying, A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.

So, the father divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. So, sadly, we find described here, as a young man, ready to go out in the world, this young man foolishly wasted his inheritance with prodigal living. Prodigal living means that he lived, King James, I believe says, riotous living, meaning he lived a life of decadence. And self-indulgent living is all about just all the pleasures he can think of. He didn't hold anything back. Of course, that way of life was not the way his father had taught him to live.

Continue now in verse 14. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be and want. He began to suffer a little bit, and then a lot. Verse 15, Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and the citizen sent him into his fields to feed swine, to feed pigs.

I did some of that growing up myself. Not very pleasant creatures at times, pigs. Verse 16, And the young man would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. It seems no one had pity on him there. Verse 17, But when he came to himself, in other words, when he finally wised up and recognized the plight he was in, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bred enough and to spare?

And I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father. He makes his plan. And I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

Make me like one of your hired servants. That's the sound of repentance. So after suffering horribly from his reckless choices, and then forced to face his own folly, the son finally admits his sin. He's deeply humbled now and profoundly sorrowful. But at that point, the son makes a very profound and most excellent decision. He makes a most excellent decision. He sincerely repents and chooses to return to his father for forgiveness and help. One lesson we can learn here so far is that true repentance must be one's personal and genuine decision. No one told him to repent.

He came about it through his own suffering and recognition of his sin before God. Now, verse 20. Now, let's notice Father's response here. And the son arose and came to his father. But when the son, when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion.

And he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Isn't that a beautiful scene? What wholehearted love this father is expressing for his son. And you know I can't help but wonder as I read this and think about it, I wonder how long had the father been streaming his eyes? How long had the father been streaming his eyes to see his son back on the way that leads to home?

Watching for him back on the way that leads to home. And then to his even greater joy, the father rejoiced. I'm sure because his son expressed sincere and heartfelt repentance. We know this because the son first admits that he has sinned against God and then against his father. The son is expressing genuine remorse and sorrow towards God because he deeply felt and knew that he had chiefly sinned against God. Let's look at verse 21. It just says he had planned. He repeats what he had planned to do. Verse 21, And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.

And I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet, and bring the fatted calf here and kill it. And let us eat, be merry. For this my son was dead. He was dead, and he is alive again. He was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

I think it's kind of an understatement. They probably rejoicing very deeply and profoundly. And what a wonderful reunion. This picture is a reunion between a father and his son, son with the father. And it's brought about by true repentance, by godly sorrow.

And surely the father in his parable rejoiced for his son had chosen the way that leads to life. The prodigal son had repented. He had chosen life over death because he sought forgiveness.

That has to be a big reason the father celebrates his prodigal son's return. In fact, as he tells the older brother, verse 31, he tells the older son, son, you're always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right. It was right that we should make merry and be glad. For your brother was dead. Again, he repeats this. For your brother was dead, and is alive again. And he was lost, and is found.

I'm confident Jesus is speaking more than just physical terms, but He's speaking of spiritual ramifications, your spiritual meaning. And so, this is Christ's very encouraging lesson to us about repentance and about forgiveness. It reinforces what we must do when we sin before God, when we sin against our heavenly Father. Our Father, who is our life-giver and life-sustainer, our Father, who is the One who wants to give us eternal life. It is only right and good that we have remorse for sinning against God, His godly sorrow. God desires for us always to turn to Him, to have life, to turn to Him and come back home to Him.

Yet at times, we may struggle with fearful doubts, still, especially when it comes to habitual sins. We can really agonize and suffer miserably within ourselves over sins that we repeatedly keep doing. It reminds me of Proverbs 26, 11, which paraphrase tells us that like a dog returning to its vomit, time and again, we keep returning to the folly, we could say, of our habitual sins. Isn't that just a really disgusting and ugly metaphor? A dog returning to its vomit. It is ugly, but so is giving into temptation and sinning time and time again. Will God forgive us for those sins too? Those habitual sins? How can we know? Well, we must believe and we must trust God. And again, Scripture provides the answer. Let's note 1 John 1.9. 1 John 1.9.

1 John 1.9.

The Apostle John was inspired to write, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, even the habitual ones, if we repent. Confess means to admit or declare oneself guilty, according to Strong's definitions. So again, if we confess our sins to God in earnest, with Godly sorrow, John says that God will indeed forgive us and help us to battle sin. And there is no sin too great for God to forgive if we want forgiveness and if we genuinely repent. But whatever we do, we must be sure not to give up struggling against sin. Don't quit, even against those habitual sins. No matter how long we might live and no matter what the sin, with God's help, we must always continue the fight and the struggle against sin. Giving up and giving in to sin will never qualify us for God's kingdom, no matter how long we have been baptized. Our persistence and struggling against sin matters, and it matters immensely. In fact, let's turn to Ezekiel 18. Let's look back in Ezekiel 18 with me, please. How we live and how we end our lives matter greatly to God. It should also matter greatly to us, of course.

Let's read in Ezekiel 18, verse 23. Through the prophet Isaiah, God shares with us these words. Ezekiel 18, verse 23, in the right place. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? says the Lord God. And not that he should turn from his ways and live. The Scripture, as we work into this part of the chapter, tells us that God wants every human being to enjoy life fully, but He wants him to enjoy it fully by living it His way.

We also see here clearly just how much God hates sin, and He hates death too. Continue in verse 24, But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? God asks. Shall the righteous man who turns live? Continue, and He says, All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty in the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.

These words should sober us quite a bit. When a righteous person departs then from the way that leads to life, all his previous righteousness will mean nothing. He shall not receive eternal life. That's very sobering. Verse 27-28, though, Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die.

That's much more encouraging, isn't it? And we see here, God is most just, and God is most merciful. And so if a wicked person repents of his sin and walks with God, he will live. He will ultimately have eternal life, according to the process of conversion. Now, let's put this in perspective. What does this all mean? Well, God warns us to keep to the way that leads to life. A lifetime of righteousness will mean nothing if we cease at the end to repent from sin. Any lifetime of sinfulness will be forgiven if we turn to God in sincere repentance.

But let's be sure we understand what this does not mean. We must not, however, twist these scriptures to support this kind of a deathbed repentance idea. God does not play. To use a figure of speech, our young people might know. God does not play. He does not play games. These scriptures should not be twisted to support this idea of a deathbed repentance.

Repentance requires godly sorrow, a true change of heart, and that's followed by a change in the way we live our lives, the way we practice life, the things we think, and the way we act. Now, I say this because we're wrong to think, especially as young people, we're wrong to think that we can enjoy the life of the prodigal, this kind of self-indulgent lifestyle for a few years, whatever it might be. And then when we get tired of it, when we suffer long enough, we can just simply repent and then make ourselves right with God. You need to understand that's a game, and that's not a game God will ever play. That's not what this is saying. The prodigal lifestyle is contrary to God. It is sinful. It is filled with unnecessary suffering. That prodigal son in the parable suffered terribly. He was starving. He was starving and suffering immensely. A prodigal lifestyle can kill. In addition, it can kill us spiritually. It can kill us within us any desire to follow God.

One could even die in sin, thinking, well, I'll repent later. I don't recommend that. Remember, we don't want to dawdle about repentance. We don't want to procrastinate when it comes to repentance. I mean, why would we want to foolishly postpone living God's way? Why would we want to put our eternal lives at risk? That hope of eternal life.

But if we practice a life of repentance, and if we seek God's forgiveness, God will forgive. And our lives now and also in the future will be most blessed by God.

Yet still, some may wonder, yes, yes, yes, I understand what you're saying. But will God forgive my sin? I may have some stubborn people out here still. But my sin is so awful, it is so habitual, and I can't, can't quit. Will God forgive my sin? And the answer is, yes, yes, a million times, yes. If your repentance is real, and if you truly desire God's forgiveness, no matter what the sin, God will forgive you if you repent, truly repent, and if you truly seek His forgiveness.

Do you still doubt it?

Let's consider one final example, then, of a man's repentance and have God's mercy and forgiveness. Please be turning with me to 2 Kings 18.

I'm going to talk about a man who is not converted.

He did not have, it seems, does not seem he had the help of God's Spirit within him, per se, as we do after baptism in the Lane on the Pans. 2 Kings 18. Now, yes, we've already considered several examples of people. We read the parable of those who greatly sinned against God, and we've seen how God forgave them because their repentance is real. But we'll now consider the example of a most notorious, I think we could call him, perhaps, the most notorious prodigal son from the Old Testament. And that man is King Manasseh, King Manasseh.

Manasseh, King of Judah, is to this day still called the most evil of Judah's kings. Easton's Bible dictionary notes that King Manasseh has been called the Nero of Palestine. I almost said Palestine. That's a different part of the country. Manasseh was called the Nero of Palestine. That's a reference to the Roman Emperor Nero, who cruelly tortured and murdered hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Christians of the first century AD.

Yet, few will remember that the same evil King Manasseh also repented. He also repented and received God's forgiveness. His life illustrates the extent of God's mercy, the extent to which God is willing to forgive sin.

And so, let's look at Manasseh. Manasseh, you may remember, or maybe not, he was the son of King Hezekiah. Yep, that good King Hezekiah. That good King Hezekiah, who in 2 Kings 18, verses 3 through 5, let's read about the dad first, Manasseh's dad. 2 Kings 18, verse 3.

Speaking of Hezekiah, Hezekiah did what was right in the sight of the Eternal, according to all that his father, his ancestor David, had done. And also, more in verse 5, this Hezekiah trusted in the Eternal God of Israel so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him. He was that righteous before God. So, early in his reign, again, this is really worthy of a good long read on your part, early in his reign, Hezekiah was the one who had reinstated temple worship. Hezekiah had destroyed the idols. He kept a great Passover, such had never been kept since the time of Solomon.

There's Hezekiah, Manasseh's dad, who had also trusted God to defend Jerusalem from the Assyrians. And God did so by killing 185,000 Assyrian soldiers.

All in one night, I might add, and it was also Hezekiah whose life God extended for 15 years, and for whom God moved back the shadow on the sundial 10 degrees as a sign. That man has Hezekiah as Manasseh's dad.

I'm thanking Manasseh. Probably grew up in a godly household.

Now let's turn to 2 Kings 21, over a few chapters. 2 Kings 21.

I wanted us to be sure we understood the background, where Manasseh came from, because I did call him a prodigal king. Unlike his father before him, unlike Hezekiah, Manasseh did great evil. Let's notice 2 Kings 21, verses 1-2. Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king. There seems to be a growing consensus that he was probably a co-regent with his father Hezekiah for the first 11-12 years here. Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. Manasseh had become the longest reigning monarch in Judah, by the way. And his mother's name was Heppsaba, in verse 2, and he did evil in the sight of the eternal, according to the abominations and the nations whom the eternal had cast out before the children of Israel. And instead of following the way that leads to life as his father had, we can see that Manasseh followed the way to destruction and death. And what he did is truly astonishing. Verses 3-5 here. Manasseh rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. He raised up altars for Baal, and he made a wooden image as Ahab, king of Israel, had done. By this time, Israel was gone. The kingdom of Israel was gone. There was no more because of the evil they had done. And Manasseh here is falling in that way. And he, Manasseh, worshipped all the hosts to heaven and served them. He also built altars in the house of the eternal. That's the temple of which the eternal had said, in Jerusalem I will put my name. And he built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the eternal. What does all this mean? Well, not only did Manasseh completely overturn the religious reforms that his father had put in place, he also turned the people back to ancient Baal worship. He supported the worship of the new trendy gods of Babylon in Assyria, the hosts of heaven, the sun, the moon, the stars. He did that by setting up altars in the two courts of the temple. The one court, the outer court, was for the people, but the inner court was for the priests and Levites. He even set up an idol in the temple. According to the chronological study Bible, why did he do this? One reason may be because Manasseh showed allegiance to Assyria by worshiping Assyrian gods. He is trying to keep peace with Assyria as a vassal king at that time. And of course, as we read on, we're going to see that most of the people willingly followed their king. They didn't really question him, for the most part, but there were many righteous people who did. Verse 6, a little bit more. Also, Manasseh made his son to pass through the fire. In other words, Manasseh sacrificed children, even his own son, in the fires of Moloch, the ancient god of Ammon. Continuing on, he practiced sooth-thane. He used witchcraft, consoled its spiritus and mediums.

He did much evil on the side of the Eternality to provoke him to anger. He even set a carved image of Ashra that he had made in the house of which the Eternal had said to David and to Solomon his son. This would be the temple in this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. And I will not make the feet of Israel wander any more from the land to which I gave their fathers, only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. Quite clearly, Manasseh is turning away from God's directions there. And think of it. Manasseh placed an image of Ashra, also known as Astarte or Ishtar. We know it as Easter. He set up that image in the temple of God. How evil can you get? How defiant of God and sinful can you be? And again, sadly, most of the people willingly followed in his way. Verse 9, But they, the people, paid no attention. And Manasseh seduced them to do more evil. He became a temptation to the people to do even more evil. And they did more evil than the nations whom the Eternal had destroyed before the children of Israel. Now the prophets, perhaps including Isaiah and Micah, we're trying to figure out who the prophets might have been. Some claim it included Isaiah, Micah, and others. They warned Manasseh and the people to reject these evil ways, these sins against God. Verse 10, In the Eternal spoke by his servants the prophets, saying, Because Manasseh, the king of Judah, has done these abominations, he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols. Therefore, says the Eternal God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. For me, I guess I would mean I'd just turn to Jelley. That's what I would do. And I will stretch over Jerusalem, the measuring line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab. Just as he had treated Israel, he will treat Judah. I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes the dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. So I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, because they have done evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.

Manasseh seems to have been one almost the last final straw for God. He's very merciful and patient. Verse 16, Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin in doing evil in the sight of the Eternal. King Manasseh's evil acts and the people's willing involvement obviously moved God to great wrath. Jerusalem's destruction was assured. And regarding Manasseh's great shedding of innocent blood mentioned here in verse 16, I think we need to understand this to help us understand just how evil Manasseh was. Tradition holds that King Manasseh is responsible for the murder of Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah, having him sawn apart. The quoting from the United Church of God Bible commentary, it states this, According to the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud, Isaiah was martyred when King Manasseh had him fastened between two planks and sawn asunder. And that seems to be what Hebrews 11.37 refers to. You might look up that reference, Hebrews 11.37. And then finally, Josephus, in his Antiquity of the Jews, he adds this comment stating how Manasseh barbarously slew all the righteous men that were among the Hebrews. He persecuted the righteous. Josephus says, Nor would he spare the prophets, for he every day slew some of them, till Jerusalem was overflown with blood. How evil could a man be? Pretty evil. But yet, we've laid the groundwork here, but yet, incredible as it may seem, because of all the evil he did, it may be hard for us to believe that Manasseh was still repentant. He came to a point where he repented of his great evil. And God forgave him. God forgave him.

Now, for this aspect of his life, of his historical account, we need to turn to 2 Chronicles 33. 2 Kings ends the account of Manasseh right there. But Chronicles picks up this amazing story, continuing story, of his repentance. So let's look at 2 Chronicles 33. 2 Chronicles 33. 2 Chronicles 33, when you look at verses 1 through 10, it's almost word-by-word repetition of what we found in 2 Kings. But when we get to verses 11 through 20 of 2 Chronicles 33, here we find described Manasseh's change of heart, and his heart changed while he was under the hands, the control, in prison of the Assyrians. Verse 11 reads this, Therefore the eternal brought upon them, upon Judah, the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, shackles, and carried him off to Babylon. Now, what is this about hooks? We need to understand what happened here to Manasseh. According to Walter Kaiser, Jr., historian, ancient Assyrian texts reveal that Manasseh was a vassal. That means he was a subject king of the Assyrian king, Asher Banepal. At this time, this would have been as early as 667 BC. Apparently, what is going on here in verse 11, apparently King Manasseh, Kaiser states, must have violated his agreements with Asher Banepal, the Assyrian king, because he was now deported to Babylon, which was controlled by the Assyrians at this time. And they think this probably occurred in 648 BC. Again, dates can be iffy things, but they think Manasseh was imprisoned by the Assyrians in Babylon. It was under their control at that time in 648 BC.

Now, if you haven't heard this before, in the ancient world, the Assyrians were known for their cruelty. Remember, Jonah had more pity for a plant than he did the Ninevites, who were Assyrians. That's how much he hated the Assyrians. The Assyrians were known for their cruelty towards their enemies. Some of the things they were known for doing was beheading and dismemberment. And one of their things they liked to do was to pull the tongues of their victims out of their mouths. It's pretty cruel. In Manasseh's case, he was forcibly removed in hooks and shackles. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia tells us that the use of hooks was common practice in handling captives in ancient days.

The hook was usually inserted in the victim's nose or their jaw. But the Assyrians preferred putting a hook through the lip and a ring through the lip of their captive and attached to a cord. Of course, that's a very tender spot, isn't it? What a humiliating experience for this king to go through. How far had he fallen? And it seems this whole terrifying experience had a profound effect upon Manasseh. Get to me in verse 12. Now when he was in affliction, he implored the eternalist God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. It seems strange he doesn't pray to these other gods. He turns back to the God of his fathers. He still remembered him. And he prayed to him. And God, when he received his entreaty, he heard his supplication. And he brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew. He knew that the eternal was God. Evil King Manasseh repented. And God heard his prayers. He forgave him and allowed him to return to his kingdom. There must have been some residual instruction of some sort from his father, from his father Hezekiah, about God's mercy. It must have lingered there, deep in his mind, and only brought back to the forefront of his thought while he was languishing in prison. And through his suffering, Manasseh must have grasped the great sin he had committed against God and against God's people. Josephus, once again in Antiquities of the Jews, offers this insight. Josephus says, Manasseh perceived what a miserable condition he was in. In esteeming himself the cause of all, he besought God to render his enemy humane and merciful to him. And accordingly, God, Josephus says, heard his prayer and granted him what he had prayed for. And so, Manasseh was released. Did he show signs of repentance? Did he do acts of repentance? That his repentance was true. Well, upon his return, Manasseh immediately enhanced the defenses of Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. But if we look at verses 15 through 17, where you discover that Manasseh's greatest endeavor when he returned was to try to undo the great evil he had so zealously supported, including Judah's worship of false gods. Look at verse 15 here. Manasseh took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the eternal, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the eternal, and in Jerusalem, and he cast them out of the city. He also repaired the altar of the eternal. He sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings. He must have been sincere. And he commanded Judah to serve the eternal, the Lord God of Israel. Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the eternal, their God. They didn't quite get it. A little bit of syncretism, a little mixing of pagan false worship with the worship of true God. Manasseh did exhibit sincere repentance. These actions show. But although he strove to reverse all the terrible things he had done, he couldn't quite do it. He did all that he could do. He tried to reverse these terrible things he had done. But if the timeline is correct, sadly, Manasseh only had a few years of life left when he set about to make this change.

He wanted to fix everything he had done wrong, but he couldn't fix everything. He mainly repented and got right with God. He died in 642 BC. According, it's a pretty consistent number. Manasseh died in 642 BC, so perhaps he only had but a few years to try to change the course of Judah. But the stone was cast. The events were transpiring that God would take Judah into captivity. His son, after his death, his son Ammon, A-M-O-N, would reign for two years. His son would turn back to the evil of Manasseh. And Ammon was so evil that apparently he was assassinated and removed. And then Josiah, Josiah was Manasseh's grandson. Then Josiah reigned. And Josiah was truly a good king. And we are told that he walked in the way of God. But isn't this an amazing account that God has preserved for us in these Scriptures? Isn't this an amazing account of how God forgave Manasseh? After all this evil he did, Manasseh repented. He must have had profound, godly sorrow. And God accepted that. And He forgave them, despite all these terrible, evil things he did. So we may ask, will God forgive my sin? Yes. I'm pretty confident He will. If our repentance is true, filled with godly sorrow, and if we truly desire God's forgiveness, will God forgive your sins? Will He forgive mine? Yes. Yes. A million times yes. The account of Manasseh, and many others, should reassure us of God's great mercy. But our part is very important. Our part is that we must be diligent to repent of sin, not to dawdle, not to procrastinate about it. But we must be diligent to repent of sin and to seek God's forgiveness. I think you have that part down in your notes pretty clearly by now. So, brethren, we must not allow any fearful doubts about our sin to cause us to despair or to cause us to fret about sin. Instead, we must expend our energies battling sin, getting right with God.

God will forgive our sin. But our part is to stay close, never closer to God. You can never get too close to God. Our part is to practice that life of repentance through true and godly sorrow. Our part is to believe in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our personal sins. And our part is to trust, without a doubt, that God will and indeed forgive us our sins. I hope you can see and have reaffirmed within you today just how much God loves us. He loves us so very much. And we mustn't doubt that. We must never doubt it.

So let us all do what we can to live the way of our Heavenly Father and His Son, His Son who is our Savior and our High Priest, Jesus Christ. Let us keep to the way of God.