I Could Never Forgive Myself

Well, good morning, it's certainly great to be with you today. We've never met before my name is Jay. I'm one of the ministry leaders here at The Chapel. I work on our community team. And my major contribution to our staff here is through a ministry that I actually came through known as vintage college age 20 somethings. And I get this awesome opportunity of overseeing, shepherding and pastoring that ministry. But it's great to be with you this morning. But here's the deal. Regardless of who's singing or who's up here preaching, there's a few consists that you can always count on here at The Chapel that you can keep us accountable to. And one is we're always gonna proclaim the most important name, the greatest name that we just sang. That's Jesus. And so get ready. This morning we're gonna talk about Him a lot. And then we're gonna talk about Him 'cause we're gonna go into God's word. This is the one thing that is gonna outlast everything in this room or in your room, wherever you find yourself online or any of our campuses, God's word. And so we're gonna dive into this every week because I can only give you so much. I can give you maybe some life experience. I can perhaps make fun of myself sometimes. But those only have so much value. The value comes in the word of God. We've been in an incredible series for the past month and I wanna start by saying this. If you've missed any of the previous weeks in this series titled an uncivil war, I just wanna encourage you, use the resources, actually use technology for a benefit. There's so many disadvantages technology in our life. Use the resources, go back in if you either missed a week or you came in one Sunday and you were distracted, you were only paying half attention. Because if this series does not build on itself, it most certainly connects some dots. But we've been in a series called an uncivil war. Really we see this war start in Genesis chapter three when Adam and Eve, the first human beings, they look at their creator, creation looks at their creator. They say, I understand you created me. Adam goes, "Hey, I saw you created Eve. I was there. I saw you created everything around me. But here's the deal, God, I don't trust you." And that's kind of my version. And the way I interpret Genesis chapter three, but in the reality, this war started because Adam and Eve said, "God, your way. Not so sure I'm gonna go my way." And ever since we've had this war that has not only existed between us and our creator, but it's spilled out to others who were created in His image. And we've felt that war intention within ourselves. And Jesus says it's the evil things that war against the kingdom of God. Like hate, murder, envy, right? False testimony. It's those things that come out and spill out. And we do, we see that we see that spill out in the world around us. We see it on our feeds, we read about it, we experience it. Maybe we feel it in our neighborhoods, maybe in our own family situations. This is a war that has been going on. As we've been in this series I was listening to a podcast 'cause I get to do that. I'm in a generation where I get to listen to podcasts. It's kind of wild. And I came across these statistics and it stopped me in my place. And I couldn't help but think of it in relation to the series we're in now because war and death, they're so synonymous. But the CDC labels these deaths of despair. And this is just in our country. And so these are deaths that are associated with suicide, drug overdose and are alcohol related starting in 2019, 2020 and 2021. They did not have the data yet for 2022. They might have it out now. And those numbers are. And those are big numbers. Again, a war that is residing inside our fellow civilians. I mean, each number is a person who was created by God to know God who has intrinsic value. And I just look at these numbers and I just go, wow, this is heartbreaking. And then of course, nobody lives in a vacuum. So those numbers are even inflated with who gets impacted. Friends, family, there is a war going on inside of people and they're looking to cope or they're looking for meaning and they're looking for answers. And of course, from my perspective, that answer is found in Christ. But if you look at it doesn't look like the numbers are heading in the right direction. Now, as a society, you can't miss this. So we've looked to address it from a human perspective. So we've got self-help, self-care, month of May is mental health awareness. And while I do think all of those things and having conversations around how to take care of yourself, have a benefit, I just think there's something far greater found in His word. And while I don't want to flush it completely down the toilet, I want us to be cautious because when we look at finding strength within ourselves, it's the self that got us into the war in the first place. So we should remember that. But psychologists have come up with this term, this idea of self-forgiveness. And if you can come to a place where you've forgiven yourself, then you can accept yourself and you can have happiness and meaningful relationships. And man, I just can't help but thank God the Bible, Jesus has something far, far better than that. And so that's what we wanna talk about this morning. We want to dive in. Our main passage is found in Romans chapter eight, but we're not gonna go there right away. But for those of you who like to jump ahead. But before we even unpack what forgiveness from God looks like, forgiveness from the Father looks like and how it works and how it should impact us and affect the way we live, I do want to get first things first because the reality is we do all need forgiveness. I need forgiveness. Let's look at a couple verses together in Romans 3:23 it says this simply, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." All of humanity put in one bucket. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Every person, past, present, future, this is the human condition, right? This started back in Genesis chapter three. I'm a sinner by nature. I'm a sinner by choice. I say, God, I like some of the things that you want me to do. I don't like some of the other things that you asked me to do. I kinda wanna put me first, not you first. That sort of thing. All of us have sinned, we've missed the mark. And so yes, we need forgiveness. We're talking about a holy and perfect God. We just sang about God and His holiness and what sets Him apart. And so God is so just that He can't just wink at sin. He can't just brush it under the rug. He can't just say, ah, no big deal because consequences come with sin. And we'll see and read about those in just a few moments. But I can't help but go to this verse in Mark chapter 10 because this is how God took care of forgiveness of sins. And this is Jesus speaking of Himself. And this is, yeah, this really helps us out this morning in our conversation. So Jesus speaking of Himself says this, "For even the son of man." This is the term He uses to identify Himself as the suffering servant. We see glimpses of that Easter eggs of that maybe you'd say in the Old Testament about this idea of a suffering servant who has come not to be served but to serve. Now this is interesting because He is a king. Kings don't do those sorts of things. They sit on thrones, they get served, they shoot orders. Wait, this is upside down. We're talking about a king who's a suffering servant who came to serve while He had to because you needed forgiveness and I needed forgiveness. And how did he do that? It's crazy. It's mind blown. It's the gospel. "To give His life as a ransom for many." "To give His life as a ransom for many." Now this word in the Greek ransom lutron word we don't use very often ransom in our everyday like talk. That is you and I might think, oh, hostage situation. It's literally what this meant specifically was the price it costs to redeem a slave or a prisoner. A slave or a prisoner. So whatever that was, whatever that cost was. And what was that cost? This is what's crazy. It's the gospel. For. And it's crazy this three letters. And this for is different than this for. This for in the Greek is on T. And it literally means instead of. Instead of the many. So the son of man, the suffering servant, how did He serve the many? He took the consequences of sin Himself. He stood in the place of the many. So this is far more rich than the spoiled college kid who needs daddy to bail him out. Who just cuts a check. We're talking about the father that came in the place of the many. And of course, you know I love the word many 'cause that means every tribe, every nation, every culture, every tongue, every generation, the rich, the wealthy, the educated, the poor, the outcasts, all of them. That's what that means. The many. That's the kingdom of God. That's the language we use. Our hosts just talk about that, right? Every man, woman and child, God did it for the many. And when Jesus went to the cross and took on the consequences of sin and death, you and I received forgiveness of sins. And that's why Paul writes this in Ephesians chapter one. In Him, in Jesus we have redemption through His blood. As we just talking about the ransom the cross. And what does that give us? The forgiveness of sins in according with the riches of God's grace that He lavish on us with all wisdom and understanding. The God who knows every detail of your life, the good, the bad, the ugly. Nothing is hidden from Him, offers you forgiveness. Who can you do that with? How many people can you open up with and share all of your guilt and shame and they fully accept you? Jesus says you can do that with me. It's forgiveness of sins, knowing every detail of your life. So yes, you need forgiveness and can you forgive yourself? Hmm, but does it have any eternal or significant value? But the forgiveness you can find through Jesus is far greater. And so let's dive in and spend some time in God's word and unpack all that it means for us. Our main text this morning is in Romans chapter eight. We've been in Romans a few times this past month. Says this, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You're forgiven. You're no longer guilty. What's the prerequisite? You have to be in Christ. For those who are in Christ. But their reality becomes no more condemnation. None. You have no accuser. It's crazy, it's radical. So this forgiveness, it should bring freedom to your life. It should bring freedom that impacts not just your Sunday morning worshiping experience, but your Monday, your Tuesday, your every day. This forgiveness brings freedom. And I wanna look at three ways in which it does. First one being this, forgiveness means freedom from the law of sin and death. Forgiveness means freedom from the law of sin and death. I know this is a religious term, this is like a Bible term. So you're like, oh the law of sin and death. Well let's go back. Let's look at what this cycle of the law in sin and death does. We read this verse a couple weeks ago together in Romans chapter five, "Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin." Let's remember that. "And death through sin. And in this way death came to all men or all people because all have sinned." Genesis three, it started this cycle of sin and death. If you have some time, I would encourage you dig into your Bible, go to Genesis chapter three. In Genesis chapter three is the biggest fattest lie that humanity has ever been told. The biggest lie from the monster himself, the serpent. He looks at Adam and Eve and says, surely you will not die if you don't listen to God. Surely you will not die if you eat that piece of fruit. But what happened the very next chapter, death comes and then we see a cycle of sin and death. If you want to do your own personal Bible study, study how you see over and over from Genesis on of sin and death and sin and death, it's the cycle we find ourselves sin right now. I don't even have to convince you if you don't even have an ounce of faith in Jesus of looking at our world, the brokenness around us and the cycle of sin and death. I don't even have to convince you because it's here, it's a reality. We just saw the statistics, the cycle of sin and death. And here's the deal. Jesus broke it, He broke it. How'd he do it? I mean did what no one else has ever done before. We celebrated it. Resurrection Sunday, He went to the cross, He went into a tomb and He said, nah, I'm done with that. And in that you get the power and the freedom that comes with the forgiveness. But Jesus broke that. I had a crazy day yesterday and I just can't help but think that God knew that my weekend was gonna look this way. So yesterday started with a funeral and ended with a wedding for me. Yeah, it was a rollercoaster. I feel like I'm still feeling that. Funeral tragic. I mean heartbreaking. Friend of mine, dear friend of mine and my wife, 32 years old, known her for 15 years. We served God together. She came through vintage she was in the same small group as my wife, 32 years old, passed away giving birth to twins. I was at the funeral yesterday morning, It was in Cornerstone Church. Without Jesus that funeral is just pure tragedy. No answers. Might as well just adopt the nihilistic view of nothing has any meaning. Everything's meaningless and death always wins. But the risk of minimizing the grief that her family is going through, that friends are going through that death is not meaningless if Jesus is who He claims to be. Because death is but a doorway to the resurrected life. And so if Jesus is who He claims to be and He has done what He has claimed to have done, He's got power over the cycle of sin and death. And you and I, we can step into that. You and I can step into that here and now. It can impact our everyday life as we look to commune with God and live life with Him. It's the here and now. And that's why it's important for us to notice that word in Romans chapter eight verse one. Let's go back to it. Therefore there is now. I even highlighted it for you, but I'll do an extra underline. "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." So much to that word. Again, just three letters, so much. I mean this now has power. This now is power, why? Because a lot going on here. When this statement is made, we can look at the cross because of what the cross has accomplished. This is the now that at the cross, this is a decisive statement in terms of sin and death. This is a decisive statement in terms of your forgiveness. Jesus only had to go to the cross once. That's it. It's done, it's finished. He says it's accomplished. Doesn't matter. We can't out sin that, darkness can't overtake that, He's not gonna have to go back, make another payment. None, decisive. It's also definitive, why? Because there's time you and I are living in it till this moment. I was gonna attempt to draw a gavel and I said, you know what? I'm gonna stay in my lane. Because probably right now my art teacher in grade school is probably like, oh my gosh he's drawing. Oh so 'cause I have the artistic ability of a frog. I just try to print in capital letters so people can see it. Anyways because the creator is also the judge and we're all heading there. And the judge will judge creation. But this is not only decisive, it's definitive. What I mean by that is the now is also then. It's crazy, right? It's the kingdom of God, the already but not yet. And you and I can live in that. That's the power in terms of the forgiveness that you and I experienced that should bring a freedom to our lives. So when we see this word now we can know that when God says you are now forgiven in Christ at the cross, they won't have to carry baggage around with us, why? Because Psalm 103 and in Isaiah 43:25 it says that our sins, they're forgiven completely and immediately. Completely just as far as the east is removed from the west, immediately blotted out. You are completely forgiven. That now has power. You and I, we live in here. I can't help but think of the two things that weigh people down most. And that if I'm being honest weighing me down. And that's this. Our past failures, our present struggles and the weight that they carry. And I want the word of God to unburden some of that for us this morning. 'Cause I believe that God threw His Spirit in His word. He can do that. So what does that mean? Forgiveness means freedom from your past failures. Forgiveness means freedom from your past failures. Incredible verse from the apostle Paul in Philippians chapter three, being vulnerable with his people. This is his church. He says, "Brothers and sisters. I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heaven word in Christ Jesus." Here's the deal. The man who God used to write that to start that church, he had a past, his name is Paul. His past was, he was anti-God. He was anti Jesus. He actually made a living imprisoning or executing Christians. I mean he's a human. You don't think that that didn't come up in his mind from time to time when he would struggle, when he would doubt his calling, when he would be discouraged. And that's the thing about the past, isn't it? That's the thing about your past and my past is even though you can't go back and change it, it rarely stays there, right? To quote the movie "Cars" from Disney, if life is a highway then our past pops up in our rear view or side view mirrors. It distracts us from what's ahead. It creeps up. Paul didn't need to be reminded of his past. He probably felt that from time to time. What he needed to do was remind himself of where to look. That he couldn't fix his past. But if he could fix his eyes on Christ, even though he couldn't change his past, God can change his future. 

I can't help but think of the two things that weigh people down most and that if I'm being honest, weigh me down. And that's this, our past failures, our present struggles and the weight that they carry. And I want the word of God to unburden some of that for us this morning. 'Cause I believe that God threw His Spirit in His word. He can do that. So what does that mean? Forgiveness means freedom from your past failures. Forgiveness means freedom from your past failures. Incredible verse from the apostle Paul in Philippians chapter three, being vulnerable with his people. This is his church. He says, "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heaven word in Christ Jesus." Here's the deal. The man who God used to write that to start that church. He had a past, his name is Paul. His past was, he was anti-God. He was anti Jesus. He actually made a living imprisoning or executing Christians. I mean he's a human. You don't think that that didn't come up in his mind from time to time when he would struggle, when he would doubt his calling, when he would be discouraged. And that's the thing about the past, isn't it? That's the thing about your past and my past. Is even though you can't go back and change it, it rarely stays there, right? To quote the movie "Cars" from Disney, if life is a highway and our past pops up in our rear view or side view mirrors, it distracts us from what's ahead, it creeps up. Paul didn't need to be reminded of his past. He probably felt that from time to time. What he needed to do was remind himself of where to look. That he couldn't fix his past, but if he could fix his eyes on Christ, even though he couldn't change his past, God can change his future. The same goes for you, the same goes for me. I've got a pass, I'm up here now. So some people might assume that like, oh man, this preacher guy with a nice bright floral shirt. Did he come out of a factory? Was he born with like a Bible attached to the umbilical cord? What? No, I didn't grow up in this. I had some false starts in my life. I was an over itchy, right? Some false starts as a teenager, as a preteen, I could have allowed those decisions or my circumstances to direct my future. But junior year of high school, I stepped into a relationship with Christ and allowed Him to make the call on that, allowed Him to make the call on my future. And it wasn't pretty and it was filled with ups and downs and it still is. But I have freedom from my past failures. And so when you have voices of condemnation, just remember where they're coming from because they're not coming from your Father, they're not coming from your God. They're coming from somewhere else, someone else, probably the author of the biggest lie, voices of condemnation that say, I can't believe you did that because you did that, you no longer deserve this. Voices of condemnation of, oh yeah, sure God forgave you. He's God, He's good, He has to, but He doesn't really like you. Especially now after you've done that. You're always going to be known for this or that. Those are voices of condemnation that don't come from your good Father. That is not what forgiveness from the Father looks like. And then for some of us who are in Christ and we have our struggles and we give voices of condemnations like, I can't believe you think that or thought that or I can't believe you did that. A believer would never do that. A Christ follower would never do that. You're never gonna get over that sin. The voices of condemnation. And yet God through His word, wants to bring freedom because the Son wants to set you free. Because whoever Jesus has set free is free indeed. There's power in Christ and what He has done for you and for me. And so forgiveness also means freedom from your present struggles, freedom from your present struggles. Just love the vulnerability again of Paul in Romans. We're gonna go a few verses before Romans eight. And then we're gonna read Romans eight in light of these few verses in Romans seven. Because if you read Roman seven, and if you have time, please do that, then read Romans eight because it's the answer to Roman seven, okay? Starting in verse 22, "For in my inner being, I delight in God's law. But I see another law at work in me waging war." It's an uncivil war. What's he talking about? He's got this one side of him that delights in God's law that wants to please God. But then this other, another law that's at work and it's waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me, why? Because that's what sin does. It makes you a slave. What a wretched man I am. This is the apostle Paul talking, looking at his own life on his own and says, I'm wretched. Wow. How true is that about all of us. "Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death. Thanks be to God who delivers me through Christ Jesus our Lord." Therefore, that's what the therefore was. That's why it's there. "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." Do you get it? Do you see it? Now, don't mishear me. I'm not saying that forgiveness means freedom to your present struggles. This isn't like God did all this work, He paid for your sins. You're free now you're forgiven. So now go back and meddle in them. Don't even make any sense. They'd be like you and I, we were rescued from a country, right? We're tyranny, right? Where there's death and sin, we got rescued from that. And then we say, "Hey, can we go back and vacation there sometimes?" Well, it doesn't make any sense, but what does it mean? Ugh, it's so good. What does it mean it's so good? Because God is so good. This is what it means. Connect the dots with me over the past few weeks. You and I were born into the country of Adam, the first human being. And that country is reigned by sin and death. The grace of God through the work of Jesus Christ. Those who are in Christ are now in His country and we're free. So what do we do? We practice our position, right? Sometimes we wander, we look back, oh man, yeah, sin is promising something. And remember, it never delivers. So what do we do? We practice our position, we put off, put on. We learned about that last week. Again, I can't stress that enough. Put off and put on. What does forgiveness mean? Proximity. Nothing gets between me and God. Nothing gets between me and God. And Paul works himself up so much in chapter eight that this is his conclusion. Scholars call Romans eight the climax of Romans. Romans the climax of the New Testament. And Romans 8:38&39, the climax of the climax of the climax. Get that. He says this, he's so worked up. He says, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth." He's going dimensions, he's going natural world, he's going supernatural. "Nor anything else in all creation." Nothing. "Will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Amen.

- [Congregation] Amen.

- That's a statement. It's not even from me. It's from the Bible, from His word. So this proximity? What does it mean? And the God doesn't cast you off. You're here, you're fully accepted, you're fully loved. He doesn't cash you off. There's no doghouse. He doesn't put you in out, he doesn't excommunicate you. And it's that proximity that gives us the power over our past and our present, over any strongholds in our life. And so we just gotta stay here. We gotta remember, if we start loving ourselves, if we start loving other things, we gotta direct our attention and our affection to God. And when we do that power is unleashed and we're a prisoner to nothing. And Jesus has set us free, has set us free. I summed it up this way. Forgiveness means freedom because you are fully loved and accepted by God in Christ. So for the worker who wants to earn God's approval and acceptance, are you ready to start working? Are you ready to live in grace? For the guilty. Who feels like their guilt has separated them from God? Are you ready to bring your guilt to God? Because that's what grace does. Grace invites your guilt and shame. There is no safer secure place in the universe than with God the Father who fully accepts you because of what Christ has done on your behalf. And you now have access to the power of having freedom that comes with forgiveness from the Father that is greater than any forgiveness you'll experience in your life. And so friends, brothers, sisters, church family and anybody watching online, have you been forgiven? Have you been forgiven by Jesus? And then for the believer, are you experiencing the freedom that that forgiveness brings? It's here. And there's no one that wants it more for you than God. Step close to Him, step into the light. Everything the light exposes, it defeats. God loves you. He has a plan for you. And He wants to settle the war that rages inside of you. And the crazy thing is, the way you win that war is the opposite of what you would think. Surrender it to Him. If you would please pray with me. I can't thank you enough for your graciousness, your attention, your respect. It means a lot to me personally. But far more important than that is what we sang before I stepped on stage. I prayed that you would make room in your lives and in your heart for the Spirit of God. Because where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, there is liberty. I don't know what you walked in to church with this morning. Statistics say that many people struggle alone and in silence. I just want you to know you're not alone. 'Cause even if no other human being knows what's going on, you have a God who loves you, who knows exactly what you're struggling with. If you're here this morning and you've never accepted the forgiveness that comes through what Jesus Christ has done for you and for me on the cross that can change this morning. Jesus lived the life you and I should have lived but couldn't and then died the death that you and I deserved. So you and I wouldn't have to. And by faith we can accept Jesus and what He has done for us and live in that forgiveness. Maybe you're here this morning and you're just battling whether it's your past, whether it's present struggles, and you feel like they have more power than they should. I wanna encourage you to dig deep into God's word, to draw close to Him and allow Him to win your battles in your life. It's there, will you allow Him? But with heads bowed, eyes closed. I'm not gonna ask anybody to move or anything, but if you're feeling that this morning, I'm just gonna ask you to just raise your hand and keep it up. And I'm just gonna do an anonymous prayer over you. No one's gonna see but me, you and God. If that's you, I want you to feel the presence of God in your life. And I wanna pray over you specifically. God, I see hands, you see hearts. Far more profound, far more important. God, I pray that you would do a work that only you can do, that you would break chains, that you would bring healing. God you can heal a past so someone can have a future. God you've already defeated. God you already have victory over any struggles we face. So God I pray that we would draw close to you, That you would come into our lives and in our situations and that you would speak unmistakably who you are, your power and your presence in Jesus' name I pray. For the rest of us. God, I pray that we would continue to see that everything that Jesus wants to do in our lives is for our good and our freedom. And God when we understand that, we'll fully step into it. If you're here today and you need someone to pray with, we'll have prayer partners down in front. We'll be here if you want to talk to someone about Jesus, if you want someone to pray over you further, love for you to come forward and use that as an opportunity. But God, I pray that everyone would sense your presence in their lives this week. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.