Christ Forgives Like No Other - Baptism - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

And let's just pray one more time as we open up the scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit to help us. Father, we ask in Jesus name that you would really speak to our hearts today. Lord, we trust that you've already done that through the wonderful testimonies of those who have obeyed you in baptism, through the worship, Lord. But in this moment, through the written word, may we feel the power of your voice. And, Lord, may you open the eyes of those who don't know you, for those who know you but are but are asleep spiritually, may you graciously awaken our eyes.

And may you, Lord, fill us afresh with your spirit. Help us seek Christ. Help us leave here with a greater understanding of his beauty, of his love, of his compassion, and of his forgiveness for us. Lord, we present to you the ministry of the word, but we ask that you would empower it so that we would sense this word being driven in the deepest parts of who we are so that we would be transformed by your grace. Help us in this moment, Lord.

Really help us, God, because we long to know you. In Jesus name, we pray these things. Amen and amen. What we just witnessed this morning was three people that testified of their faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And what just took place was not just an observance to an ordinance that people wanted to do in order to honor some cultural tradition, nor was it something that was pressured by family members.

I hope not, at least. It was something that was decided by individuals who said, I I know that I need Jesus Christ to save my soul. Now if I were to ask you what just took place, you might say it was a statement of faith, and you would be right. But this was not just a statement of faith in a creed or in a theology or in a belief system. Listen.

It was a statement of love. It was a statement of love for the Christ of Christianity. That's very important. If I were to ask you, what would bar somebody from entering into eternal life to enjoy God's good pleasure with his presence? What would grant somebody to be expelled and to be condemned for all eternity?

Again, what would your answer be? And perhaps it would be found in John three verse 18 from the lips of the savior himself who said, whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God. That seems pretty straightforward. This whole thing, the very thing that takes you from death to life, from from hell to heaven, from lost to save is a matter of faith. It's a matter of trusting what God had done, what he had said about himself, what he says about you, and then you agreeing with that wholeheartedly.

But it's interesting because as you read on the Bible, I wanna show you another example, another has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. This is not a time to get sleepy. If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed, our Lord come. According to Paul, this word accursed means devoted to destruction. It speaks of a divine wrath being unleashed on somebody.

According to Paul, if someone doesn't have love for the Lord, that warrants him to be condemned righteously and justly. Do we have a contradiction here? Do we have a contradiction between Paul and Jesus? No. We have a complete understanding of what saving faith looks like.

That's what we have. According to the holy spirit, saving faith is not just an invisible contract that you sign with a heartless confession because you wanna make sure that you have a place in heaven and that you can escape hell. Saving faith looks like you realizing what Jesus Christ has done. And from your heart, allowing that knowledge to stir you where you thrust yourself at his mercy, trusting in his saving work, but also treasuring his person for the rest of your days, longing to be in fellowship with your savior and with your master. This is kind of profound because according to the Holy Spirit, if a person has no sense of affection for Jesus, no joy connected to him, no ambition to be in communion with Jesus, your faith is most likely, if not, futile.

It doesn't make sense. It it it doesn't make sense to to the Bible. It doesn't make sense to the word of God. It doesn't make sense to early Christianity. You can't say that you have faith in Jesus and not love him with a real love.

With a love that's not theological, but is felt in the heart. Some days it's colder than others, but down deep inside, you can testify, I love Jesus. I truly cherish him and I long for him. So here's my question for you this morning. I'm not gonna ask you if you have faith in Jesus.

I wanna say what Paul would say. Do you love Jesus? Do you love him? And I'm not asking if you love the idea of Jesus because many people appreciate Jesus. I'm saying, do you love the Jesus of the Bible as revealed through this scripture?

If not, what's your faith? If not, what are you believing in? I say all this to make sure that none of us would be mistaken that what just happened today was far greater than just a declaration of belief. It is in fact a declaration of love. These people said, I love the one who saved me, and it will be further proven by a life of surrender and obedience and worship to this Jesus who is alive and well today.

Now one might think, well, this is kind of cruel. I'm not sure if I agree with this kind of equation. How can love be demanded of me? Like our culture says, you fall into love. You can't force something out of my heart.

You can't ask something of me that's supposed to be natural and true, and you might be right. You might be right if this was a neutral thing, but it's not neutral. Because we know that our God initiated love. Our God loved us first. He displayed his desire for humanity in such a way that it would only be right to unreservedly offer your love back to him.

That's hard for us to believe, but it is true. And one of the strongest ways, if not the strongest way that God has manifested his love is in the place of forgiveness. Forgiveness. Showing forth mercy and grace to people who don't deserve it. If you can't see God's love in that, then you won't see it anywhere else.

Paul said something quite interesting in Ephesians four thirty two. You don't have to turn there but just listen to these words. Forgiveness, according to God's understanding, is not left to our own interpretation. When we understand what he has done in forgiveness, it is an act of grace that is so overwhelming that if you truly understand it, you would realize how it would be a crime, according to Paul, to not love him in return. And when a man or woman realizes the magnitude of the forgiveness that is found in Christ, He would realize, surely if they're honest, the horror of holding back your surrender to him.

Paul says in Ephesians four thirty two, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. As God in Christ forgave you. You know what that teaches? It doesn't just teach us that God forgives, it means that he forgives in a particular way. There's a way in which God forgives.

He It isn't just generally forgive because many people hold to the conviction of needing to forgive others but they have different standards of forgiveness. There there is a set limit to how much they can forgive someone. There are conditions for you in order to access their mercy if you have wronged them and some do not have much forgiveness to give anybody, really. But there is a standard that God has in forgiveness that would amaze you if you just even give a glance to it. And that's what I wanna do in this short moment.

I want you to understand just how much God is willing to forgive anyone. And the first point I want to make this morning is that the forgiveness found in Christ has no limits. There is no limit. And you can go from Genesis to Revelation to see different rays of light that would show you how warm and inviting the forgiveness that is in Jesus, that is in God, even in the Old Testament displays. And there's one example that comes to mind this morning and it's in Hebrews eleven thirty one.

One woman, her name is Rahab. In Hebrews eleven thirty one, we are told this, by faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. You know, Rahab is mentioned three times in the New Testament. Twice, we are told that she was a prostitute. Means the Holy Spirit really wants to tell us something about this woman.

What's amazing about Rahab, she's found in the Old Testament early on in redemptive history. And Rahab is an astounding character because she had received forgiveness at a time when there was only one chosen people. There was one who experienced God firsthand and it was the nation of Israel. Not that God didn't love the other nations, but he redeemed one specific nation in order for in the future time to use them as a vessel to touch the world. But at that time, it was known.

Israel was the chosen people of God. Rahab was not an Israelite. Rahab was a Canaanite. She was outside of the fold. She was not included.

She was not recognized by those who said, we have Yahweh as our God. But what's amazing is, if a Jew in ancient time would have read the book of Joshua where Rahab is found, he would have been absolutely astounded. You know why? Because Rahab was included among the people of God. Now listen to this, and she was also granted the privilege to enjoy the promised land.

You're saying, why would a Jew at that time be shocked? Because she stood in contrast to an entire generation of Jews that didn't experience the promised land. You had the entire first generation of the Jews coming out of Egypt, planning to go into the Promised Land, but because of their disbelief, continually rebelling and not trusting in God, they died in the wilderness. And then this Canaanite woman gets to go in? Why?

Because she believed. Why? Because she wanted this God. Why? Because she recognized her sinfulness and his righteousness, and she needed his mercy, and she trusted that God would give her that mercy and he did.

And it's true prophetically. Right? That Rahab represents what would be true in Jesus' day, who is the greater Joshua. What does she represent? That there will be those who are not Abraham's descendants that will show more hunger and humility towards the Messiah than his own people would.

But we see here that there's something else. As you just heard, Rahab is referenced twice out of the three times in the New Testament as a prostitute. A prostitute. So we not only understand her race, we understand her behavior, her lifestyle. And we see here that she offered her body up for financial gain.

You know, she was a woman of the streets. She was a woman of the night. She probably made men commit adultery. She probably destroyed marriages. She had no regard that she was created in the image of God.

She had no sense of God's holy standard for sexual purity and for marriage. She destroyed her body, she destroyed her testimony, and she in fact destroyed other people along with her sin. But what's amazing is, we learn here that she was not destroyed among those who were disobedient. Now, understand how significant that is. The summary of the story of Rahab is this, that God's forgiveness is not dependent upon your culture.

It's not dependent upon your reputation. It's not hindered by even your record of wrong. No matter how vile your life was or is today, no matter how dark, no matter how despicable, the most embarrassing shameful thing you have done that would make you crawl out of this place in embarrassment if it was even known to two people, you have to understand this, he wants to forgive you. He longs to forgive you. He already knows about it.

You're hiding it from your parents, you're hiding it from your boyfriend, you're hiding it from your fiancee, you're hiding it from your children, you're hiding it from your coworkers, God knows. Yet God still wants to extend his hand and bring you into his promises. Someone shared an illustration of this truth that I think helps us understand in our context. If you knew that God was going to destroy the city of Chicago like he destroyed Jericho where Rahab was from, and you also knew that he was going to save only one person out of the millions that represent our city, who would come to your mind as a candidate that would be worthy to be saved? Who would you think in light of God's holiness would be worthy to be redeemed from the wrath of God?

Let me ask you this, would a woman who numbed her body with drugs and gave her flesh as a piece of meat for men to satisfy their fantasies, would she be a candidate in your mind? The one that's probably in an alleyway right now, that's probably overdosing, would that be a person in your mind for God to come and save? He did for Rahab. Out of all of those in Jericho, he saw a prostitute who had one thing, faith. Not a clean life, not a perfect life, not a blameless life, not a religious life, but a life that realized that she was in the wrong and that this holy God had holy mercy for her.

And he called upon him and he saved her. There is no limit to his forgiveness. And what's amazing is that after she is engrafted among the people of Israel, God providentially let her to marry a certain man and she had a son. And her son would be the grandfather of another amazing man of God by the name of King David. And David would have his son down the line who would be our savior.

And that's the third place where Rahab is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. The forgiveness of Jesus, the forgiveness of our God has no limits but it also knows no hesitation. The story that comes to mind when I think of the forgiveness of God having no hesitation is the thief on the cross. Oh, the thief on the cross. As you read about him, as you see it, what's interesting about his story is that in the account of Matthew, Jesus, we're told, is in the middle of two thieves, and both of them mocked him.

Not just one, we're told that both robbers in Matthew twenty seven forty four reviled him, mocked him, shamed him. I mean, think about the extent of the suffering of Jesus Christ. If you expected any mercy, any compassion, maybe just even silence, surely it would be with those who are being tortured with you. Those that are suffering with you. But with the dying breath of these sinners, they use it up to mock the savior.

And so here you have Christ in the middle, on that hill, with two people mocking him who are also dying. Come on, you're dying. Save your breath. And before him is a crowd that is blaspheming him. And where are his disciples?

Are are they not supposed to be faithful? No. They're dispersed. And as all this chaos is happening, him being the object of so much hate, he's saving them. He's dying for them.

But you go to Luke's account and you realize something about one of these thieves. There's a change of heart. Something alters. His eyes begin to open. There's a softness that begins to emerge in him.

And now he begins to engage with Jesus, and he actually asked Jesus for forgiveness. He went from mocking and reviling and scorning to saying, please remember me. Please remember me when you come in your kingdom. Now my question is this. What changed in the man?

How did this happen? Why the transition? How did he go from humiliation to humility? How did he go from scorn to crying out for salvation? You have to see it.

So turn your Bibles to Luke 23. And I believe that this was the moment this was the moment that triggered something in this man's life. Because the question to simply ask is, what happened before he he changed? There were several sayings of the Christ on the cross. And the one saying that we find before this man cries out to Jesus is in Luke twenty three thirty four.

And what do you see? And Jesus said, father, forgive them for they know not what they do, and they cast lots to divide his garments. You read on after that. And this thief who was hanging on another cross asked for his mercy. You see what happened?

He was mocking and mocking and the crowd was mocking and mocking and there is darkness and all these things were happening. And all for a sudden, Jesus breaks the silence. And he says, father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. And this man heard it.

And when he heard it, he realized he's willing to forgive. He's willing to even call upon God to extend mercy upon us? Even though they're afflicting pain on him, even though they're gambling for his clothes, even though they were spewing hatred right to his faith, he's still willing to forgive? But it's even more amazing to think this. Listen.

That the forgiveness that Jesus was willing to extend touched one thief but not the other. Both thieves were dying the same death for the same crime. But what Christ said in between them, touch one and touch just like this morning, some of you might be touched and some of you will walk out of here with blasphemy in your heart probably. I don't know you. I don't know if you know Jesus Christ.

I hope that all of you would come to know Jesus Christ. But look here. Look what the other man says in verse 39. One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him saying, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.

Save yourself and us. You you're the Messiah. You did miracles. You you raised the dead. Then why don't you get off the cross and take me off with you?

You know, what's amazing is this man who was requesting Jesus to come off the cross to save him did not realize that in Jesus staying on the cross, he was really saving him. See, had Christ had answered that request, he might have saved him temporarily, but he would have perished forever. So we see that Jesus in his wisdom, Jesus in his mercy does not answer this request. Just like many people who mock Christ and challenge Christ, God doesn't answer those because he wants them to know his mercy. And Jesus here doesn't answer.

And this man who challenged him, I'm sure would have been shocked to hear, not Jesus respond to him, but his friend rebuke him sharply. Rebuke him and saying, do you not fear God? We're here justly. This man, he doesn't deserve to be here, and he begins to declare something interesting. He was joining him just a few minutes ago, and now he's defending him.

And he begins to he begins to ask Jesus for mercy. You know, what's amazing is that one thief who mocked Christ asked Christ to take him off the cross. But the other thief who was touched by the Lord didn't ask to get off the cross. He asked to be with Christ. Take me where you're going.

Remember me. Remember me when you come in your kingdom. So he begins to now declare his own sinful state. And he begins to declare that I believe you are the one in whom the prophet spoke of. I believe you're the Messiah that was to come.

And even though you're dying and the Messiah is supposed to bring a kingdom, I know that even if you die, you're gonna bring your kingdom. I believe in you, so remember me. Would you please remember me? So what happened? As this man was there on his own cross, he heard Jesus pray to the father, father forgive them, and this man realized that them includes me.

Me, a mocker. Me, a blasphemer. Me, who's been a criminal my whole life. Me, who in this moment is even despising him who is saving me. Me.

And he thought in stunned silence, if he's willing to forgive, then I want his forgiveness. In the famous words of Jesus, he turns to this man while having the weight of sin on his shoulders and he says, truly. He says, truly. You know why he's saying truly? Because what he's about to say is very hard to believe.

I want you to know what this promise is about to say is actually genuine and sincere. Truly, I really mean it. Today, you will be with me in paradise. What do you think the human mind in that kind of condition would say to a man like this who mocked, who lived as a criminal? You know what people might think?

Jesus could have said, you really think it's that easy, You've lived as a filthy robber, a liar, and perhaps a murderer, and you just think that all of a sudden you can ask for forgiveness and that's just kinda all wipe away? You know, people say that about forgiveness in Christ. You think it just takes all it takes is just a confession and all of that is just taken away. You think it's that easy? You just mock me in one breath and the next breath, you're gonna ask for forgiveness and I'm just gonna lay it up and just give it to you?

Yes. Truly. No hesitation. No probation needed. No purgatory to cleanse himself before he enters into heaven.

No. Today. What did he say? You will be in paradise? Did he say that?

No. He didn't say that. He says, you will be with me in paradise. Big difference. See, heaven for people is heaven because it's paradise.

No. Heaven is heaven because Jesus is there. See, again, it goes back to the first point. If you claim to have faith, but you don't love the Lord, you gotta you gotta reexamine what you really believe in because it's relational. What makes glory glorious is the glorious one.

What makes heaven heaven is the one who reigns in heaven. He told the thief, you will be with me, not you will escape hell. Not you'll be in a safe place for all eternity. No. You will be near me, and you will see my glory.

See, that is Jesus' true desire in extending his forgiveness. It's not fire insurance. It's not so that you can give your money once a week. It's not that so you can just have some convictions in life. Forgiveness is about reconciliation.

Forgiveness is about restoring what's been fractured between a holy God and a broken sinful rebellious humanity. And so he says what has been longing in his heart since Genesis, today you will be with me. Here's proof. What was the first thing that we see God saying after the fall? After Adam and Eden had sinned against God, we see that the Lord comes and walks in the cool of that garden, and then he asked a question.

It says, where are you? Genesis three nine. It says, he searched for man and said, where are you? The first reaction of God with the first act of sin was a longing to see and to restore and to reconcile with man. Where are you?

I'm looking for you. Did God not know where he was? No. As I often say, he wanted Adam to know where Adam was. And God still asked that today.

Where are you? Where are you with Christ? Where are you in your standing with him? Where are you? Are you in sin today?

Are you just a nominal Christian? You grew up in the church, but you have no living vibrant relationship with this Jesus. It's not it's not true. It's not sincere. You can't say with Paul, I really love him.

Like, I enjoy him. I delight in him. I sing for him not because I have to in church and parrot some words off his screen. I sing because there's a song in my soul. God says, where are you?

He wants you to to ask that question. Where am I? But it also shows that he is willing and longing to save. He is searching for humanity to come to the realization that he's willing to forgive with no hesitation. Realize this, the moment that this robber asked for mercy to be remembered for Christ's forgiveness was the moment that he was forgiven.

That day would redirect his eternal destination. But had the man had asked Christ for forgiveness when he wasn't on a cross, maybe this man heard about Jesus because he heard him preach at one point. I wonder if this man was at the Sermon of the Mount. I wonder if he was at one of the miracles where he multiplied bread and fed thousands. He had some understanding of Jesus.

But here's the point I wanna make. Had this man had asked Christ for forgiveness early on, not only would his eternal destination be redirected, his life on the earth would have been changed and altered for the rest of his days, which brings me to the final point. His forgiveness not only knows no limits, not only knows no hesitation, but his forgiveness opens up a new world for us. You see, when you and I receive the mercy that Jesus Christ offers, it doesn't just stop at forgiveness. He gives us so much more.

Wouldn't it be be satisfied to know that we don't have to experience eternal wrath? Wouldn't it be enough for us to even realize that, yes, he's forgiven me and he he made me the lowliest slave in his kingdom in heaven. Wouldn't we be satisfied with that? Would we not be amazed if if he had just identified us as children of God when we were labeled as enemies of God? But his forgiveness offers us so much more.

So much more. So much more than a place to go. So much more than not experiencing something awful. So much more. And here's one example.

You don't have to turn there, but Paul says it quite clear. Second Corinthians five eighteen, all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Notice this. Christ reconciled us to himself. Who initiated reconciliation?

You? No. Christ. Even though he's the innocent party. We're the ones who should be begging God to come up with a plan to restore us, but instead, we were running away from God.

And though he was the one that was wrong, he steps out and he initiates reconciliation. He gets our attention. He was lifted up on that cross so that he could draw all men to himself. But then he doesn't just give us salvation. It says, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

So he doesn't just save you for a time to come. Listen. He doesn't just give you some kind of assurance and then leave you alone until you meet him one day. No. He goes on to give you something in this life.

He makes you a co laborer with him. He hires you to have a purpose on the earth and to serve him in his redemptive purposes on the earth. Think about that. He doesn't just make you forgiven. He doesn't just cancel your debt.

He puts on a badge and calls you ambassador of Christ, and you represent a different kingdom, a different world, a different law in this wretched and broken world, and you are now his ambassador. The mercy of God. See, God's grace doesn't wanna just stop there. He wants to spill into real life. See, it's faith is not just a private thing that happens in your heart and and No.

No. No. No. No. It spills everywhere.

He gives us the ministry of reconciliation. Each of us, he says, I'm gonna fill you with my Holy Spirit. I'm gonna have a plan for you that I have written for you before eternity past, that you would just walk in them. And I'm gonna use you to actually know the joys of serving me and glorifying me. He gives the ministry of reconciliation.

I now can walk, not just knowing that when I die and give my final breath that I will enter those gates. No. No. No. No.

No. I walk with a knowledge that I serve him. I know him. He will allow me to see wonderful and glorious things. He will actually use me once an enemy to touch other people's lives.

That's why we should never feel for a moment that we're doing God a service when we serve him. No matter what capacity in which you serve him, you have to realize that that is an act of grace in itself. This is a jarring concept. So jarring was it in Jesus's day that he often gave illustrations to show that he really meant it. And one of those illustrations was, as you know, the story of the prodigal son, where a man, a father had two sons, and one of those sons tells his father, you know, dad, I know that I get my inheritance when you die, but I wish you were dead right now because I want my inheritance.

The father says, take it. He takes it. He dishonors his father, and he squanders his wealth and sin. And then he finds himself in a despicable place among pigs. And then it says he comes to himself and he realizes, how did I get to this place?

And he convinces himself to go back to his father, not to his house, not to his land, not to a warm bed. It says he wanted to go back to the father. And he said, I'll convince him to at least make me a slave. And as he prepares a speech and he comes, the father who's been waiting for him sees him in the horizon, and he chases him down and throws himself upon him, kissing him. The man can't even finish his speech.

And what does he do? What does he do? Does he grab him by the neck and say, you dishonored me, and you think he'd come back? Yeah. You'll come back to me because, you know, I'm your dad, but you're gonna work for every penny that you took from me.

Get him back in the house. No. He gets a robe. He gets a ring, and he calls for the fattest calf to be cut and slaughtered so that they can celebrate. Now hold on.

The man took his inheritance from you before you even died. That's a spit in the face. And then he asked for forgiveness, and you don't just forgive him, you give him more? You give him more than what he already took. Like, it would have made sense.

I would have been like, hallelujah if I read that parable and realized that he took him back into the house and he became his slave for the rest of his days. That seems fair. That seems just. That seems merciful. No.

He gives him and lavishes more on him than whatever he already took. You see, when you come to Christ, there's a celebration that awaits. When you come to Christ, there's there's a new way of life to be experienced. When you come to Christ, there are gifts and rewards that he has prepared for you. So now you ask this question, with just touching the surface of understanding the forgiveness of Jesus, is it not a crime to not love him in return?

Is it not an offense to a holy god who has shown us so much love to reserve our love for him? That's the point. See, Paul had a mind. Paul had revelation. Paul had something that is unparalleled to any other man.

He had a revelation of the depth of the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. And though he wrote it as a man, he was inspired by the Spirit. He says, I know Jesus's love so well. I've experienced his presence. I've seen all these things even I've been up to the third heaven.

I've seen so much that I'm convinced to say that if anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. That might offend you if you think Jesus is a good teacher only. That might offend you even if he was a prophet or a miracle worker, but no. He's your salvation. He's your savior.

He's the one that will take you from that mighty claim, set you up upon the rock. He's the one that will deliver you from the wrath to come. He's the one that will not only save you, but he will sanctify you and give you a purpose in this world. A purpose that as we heard here fills you, it satisfies you, it makes you complete. I know why I'm now created.

I know why I'm alive. I know why I'm on this earth. Do you love him? How do I get to this forgiveness? Because there is one aspect to his forgiveness that we have to understand, it is conditional.

He's not dishing out forgiveness here. Might disappoint some universalist, but he's not gonna redeem everybody at the end of the day no matter what you believe. He's too precious and holy. His price was too great. He's unlike any other, and he deserves to be loved.

And that the one that doesn't love him, let him be accursed. It's conditional upon this, your repentance. Your repentance and your trust in him. You see the story of that that man, that the prodigal son, it's interesting. At one point, it says, he came to himself.

He came to himself. You know what that tells me? That before that moment, he was in delusion. He was convinced of something that was false. He thought if I just give myself to whatever I desire, whatever my impulses are, I will be satisfied.

I will know joy, I will know pleasure. If I have more money, I have more experiences, I have more peace, I have more security. And then all for a sudden, it all came crashing down, and he came to himself. I I was deceived. I lied to myself.

I've been lied to. So I use that point to offer this to you. Would you just think for a moment? Just think. Don't go by your emotions.

We have a rational faith. Don't go by even what you've heard your whole life. Just think for a moment. Examine, realize, look at your own life. Compare this Christ with every other religion.

Compare this invitation to every other invitation. Matters of spirituality. And think for a moment. There's no one like him. There's no one like him.

I close with this. I have people ask me, why your religion? Why Christianity? And I can go into the manuscript evidence, I can talk about this, I can talk about that. But every religion, world religion will confess that we are all sinners, that we've done wrong, and that if we're wrong, we'll be condemned by a holy God.

Right? Here's the thing, I can't trust in my own righteousness. It just comes down to that. If it comes down to me meeting God one day face to face and my life being examined, I have no hint of confidence that I can argue my way into heaven. So then what?

Well, there's only one faith that tells me that I don't have to argue for myself. Christ stands in my place, and he will defend me. So if I'm gonna bank on my own righteousness, or the man that I read here, the God man and the person of Jesus Christ, I'm gonna go with Jesus Christ. I'm gonna go with Jesus Christ. I think it's good to take advice from someone who rose from the dead.

Wouldn't you agree? Every other religious leader, founder, there's a tomb with their name on it. There's only one tomb that's empty. Jesus is alive and well. He's the reigning lord and he will return one day, and I wanna make sure that you love him because he's worthy to be loved.

And he first loved you. He's not asking you for your love. He already loved you and he's waiting for you to respond. Repent of your sins. Believe on his name.

You shall be saved. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that your forgiveness knows no limits, that you're willing to even save the Pharisee who is self righteous or the prostitute like Rahab who had no dignity for her whole life. Thank you that your forgiveness knows no hesitation. At the moment we call upon you and ask for your mercy, you give it.

You give it. And Lord, thank you that your forgiveness, if we still have breath in our lungs, opens us up to a new world. And you give us more than just salvation. You give us peace and joy and purpose. You give us a ministry.

You call us. You hire us to serve you and to touch a broken world. Lord, there's no one who forgives like you. In this moment, even if there's one person who is not sure if they love the Lord Jesus Christ as a response to your love for them, may they call upon you with the revelation that they have received. Lord, your word went forth, but only you can open the eyes of the heart.

Would you open the eyes of those who can't see you clearly? And Lord, for us for us who know you, help us see greater depths of your majesty, of your manifold glory. Help us love him more and more with our lives. Lord, we worship you in light of this, in light of the forgiveness that is found in Jesus. Give us a fresh understanding of it as we leave this place.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Can we stand as we worship the one who forgives?