Forgiven, Forgotten, and Gone Forever by Greater Grace World Outreach

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

Carl H. Stevens Jr.

Grace Publications P.O. Box 18715 Baltimore, Maryland 21206

FOREWORD

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the King James Version. Italics for emphasis are ours.

GRACE PUBLICATIONS

I had the privilege of attending the convention in Las Vegas where the messages that became this book were preached. I was awed at the unique presentation of the Finished Work message. I have served in this ministry for over twenty years, and in all of those years I have never heard such an intensely precise summation of this great truth. Each session was another glorious look into the beauty of the Lord’s work on behalf of the world and His Church. I know that my life and the lives of others who shared it will forever be changed by that weekend. It is not surprising to me that these powerful messages are now made available through this book. It is what we have come to know and love about our pastor and his ministry to us. The Lord said, “wisdom is justified of her children.” Truly, this is the case in the lives of so many of us who have been the recipients of the truths you will find in this book. The message of the Finished Work has affected us individually. Indeed, it has affected the world.

P.O. BOX 18715 BALTIMORE, M ARYLAND 21206

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Sincerely, Pastor Tom Powell Greater Grace Church, Tacoma, Washington

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER by Pastor Carl H. Stevens I found I was a sinner, reading God’s holy Word. The news Christ died for me was the joy that I heard. Christ now is my life, and my sins, they are buried In the deepest, deepest sea— Forgiven, Forgotten, and Gone Forever! The blood of Jesus takes care of me. He took care of what I was; He takes care of who I am. I now have all He is; I can say, “Yes, I can!” Christ now is my life, and my sins, they are buried In the deepest, deepest sea— Forgiven, Forgotten, and Gone Forever! The blood of Jesus takes care of me. My life is all new, my mind is made aright. My feelings free from torment, my past from His sight. Christ now is my life, and my sins, they are buried In the deepest, deepest sea— Forgiven, Forgotten, and Gone Forever! The blood of Jesus takes care of me. (The title of this book, Forgiven, Forgotten, and Gone Forever, was inspired by this song, written by Pastor Stevens in the early days of his ministry.)

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Chapter One THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION . . . . . . . . . . 14 Chapter Two THE VISUAL AID OF THE CROSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Chapter Three THE SCAPEGOAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Chapter Four OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Chapter Five THE SECRET THINGS BELONG TO GOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Chapter Six GOD IS OUR FRIEND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Chapter Seven HE LOOKED BEYOND OUR FAULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Chapter Eight OUR VALUE TO GOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 SCRIPTURE INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

INTRODUCTION “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniqui ty, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:18-19). “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34b). “He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel” (Numbers 23:21a). “In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve” (Jeremiah 50:20). “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new crea ture: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17).

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

INTRODUCTION

The Bible abounds with truths that go beyond natural comprehension. Hebrews 11:3a tells us that “through faith we understand.” According to 1 Samuel 16:7, “The Lord seeth not as man seeth.” In Isaiah 55:8, God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.” One truth that has always amazed me is how a God who has all knowledge and is everywhere present has the ability to forget something. This book is the story of God’s forgetfulness. It is the story of the eternal Lamb and the eternal Cross. It is the story of our Sin-Bearer, and how an all-powerful God has overruled the knowledge of our sins—past, present, and future. It is the story of God’s secret place. It is the story of a God who looks beyond our faults and sees our real need. It is the story of God’s new creation—His royal family of believer-priests who have indescribable value in His eyes. And, it is the story of the greatest Friend in the world: Jesus, the Friend of sinners. Our sins are forgiven, forgotten, and gone forever! This is the glorious gospel, the greatest news the human race could ever hear. But the sad part is how seldom Christians treat one another according to this truth. In my many years as a pastor, I have heard people say, “I can forgive, but I just can’t forget what that person did to me.” That statement is not biblical. Ephesians 4:32 says, “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiv ing one another, even as [to the same degree, in the same way] God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” How has God forgiven? He has forgotten. Would God tell us

to forgive this way if it were not possible? To be sure, with men it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). This book, if received in meekness, will revolutionize relationships forever. Strong relationships within the churches will help to mobilize the Body of Christ worldwide as we carry out the Great Commission to reach the lost. After all, what is the greatest evidence to the world that we are disciples of Christ? It is that we have love, one to another (John 13:35). We are at our best when we forget what God has forgotten and remember what God remembers.

THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION

Chapter One THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND REVELATION

“For I always pray to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into the mys teries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him.

personal understanding of the forgiveness of God that forgets. Unless the Spirit of God makes this truth alive to our souls, we can never experience it. Progressive spirituality comes through progressive humility as we respond to the promises of grace. The concepts of who we think we are and how we have always been must be laid aside so we can experience personal growth in response to a gracious Person.

Being Spirit-Taught

od desires to richly bless every one of His children with a personal revelation of the Finished Work of Jesus Christ. Yet, this personal understanding of the Finished Work cannot be grasped overnight. Many Christians struggle for years in their desire to experience the truth about their cocrucifixion, coburial, coresurrection, and coascension with Christ. Perhaps what lacks most in Christianity today is the

Often I hear people say, “I don’t get anything out of the messages.” They don’t get anything because they are not Spirit-taught as they listen (John 14:26; 16:13-15; 1 Corinthians 2:9-12). The eyes of our understanding are opened only in the measure that God Himself personally teaches us, whether during a message or in our private meditations. I have discovered that brand-new believers can comprehend deep truths from the Word of God because they have a pure child-like faith and are Spirit-taught. We must not try to “figure out” a message when we hear it. We need to be God-conscious and let the Holy Spirit teach us. Rather than saying, “I don’t understand the message,” we should say, “I need to be Spirittaught.” “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13). “The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life” (2 Corinthians 3:6b). If we try to figure out

“By having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheri tance in the saints (His set-apart ones).” (Ephesians 1:17-18, Amplified Translation)

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the “letter” of the message, it will not profit us. It is the Spirit that gives life to the words of Scripture. Jesus said in John 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” The Spirit-filled hearer of the Word receives, in God-consciousness, the Holy Spirit’s illumination to the inner man of what his outer ear is hearing.

message or what new illumination the Spirit will bring in the freshness of the correlation of Scripture. We must come to the Word of God as little children, hungry and thirsty after righteousness. “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:1-2a). Research has shown that we need to hear a precise truth at least thirty times just to retain 10 percent of it for application. Because of busy schedules and the many details we must attend to, in the course of two weeks it is possible to lose from 70 to 90 percent of what we have heard or read. This is why repetition through the freshness of an anointing is vital. “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10). Our memory center needs to be trained by the Holy Spirit before inspiration can connect with the memory in cognition (the process of knowing).

We Know Nothing As We Ought “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know” (1 Corinthians 8:1b-2). Sometimes a pastor will quote a verse and say to the congregation, “Of course, you’re familiar with this verse,” or, “I know you know this.” Though the pastor may be a humble man, he doesn’t understand what he is saying. We are never to be familiar with anything in the Word of God. None of us knows anything as we ought to know it. Furthermore, knowledge means nothing unless the Holy Spirit causes it to live inside us. We may be able to quote the whole Bible from memory, but it doesn’t mean a thing unless we manifest the inspired character and nature of the One who wrote it. The issue isn’t how much we know; it is knowing something and living in it. If a Christian hears a verse quoted in a message and finishes it mentally before the pastor is finished, that person is being familiar with what he thinks he knows. He doesn’t know where the pastor is going with the

Experiential Knowledge “So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off” (Proverbs 24:14). “Wisdom” means to hear the Word of God and apply it. Psalm 18:44 says, “As soon as they hear…they shall obey.” When we live in faith-obedience to the Word of God (Romans 1:5), God promises us a reward: Our expectation will not be cut off. Proverbs 3:20a says, “By his knowledge the depths are

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broken up.” What are the “depths”? The depths of sin, the depths of weakness, the depths of satanic activity in our lives. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). “A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength” (Proverbs 24:5). These verses are not speaking of knowledge as just an awareness of facts. They are speaking of having experiential understanding in the human spirit. Ephesians 1:17 says that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Father of glory, gives us “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.” Herein lies the key to being transformed by the message in this book.

“The day of salvation” does not refer to the time of accepting Christ as Savior but to the time of personal deliverance. Paul was saying, “Now is the acceptable time. Now is the day of deliverance—not tomorrow or the next day, but now.” How probable is this in churches today? Is it possible to receive our deliverance now instead of continuing on the way we have always been? Yes, it is, according to Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” If we will only believe (Mark 5:36) with no distractions, hindrances, or subjectivity lingering in our thoughts, then the Word of God will come quickly and powerfully to deliver us now.

“Now” Is the Accepted Time “We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” (2 Corinthians 6:1-2). With the word “beseech,” the apostle Paul is pleading for Christians to go from theology to experience, from knowing to applying, and from human understanding to practical experience. (Paul also uses “beseech” in the transition from positional truth to experiential application in Romans 12:1 and Ephesians 4:1.)

THE VISUAL AID OF THE CROSS

Chapter Two

ccording to Revelation 13:8, the Lamb was slain long before time began. Long after time is over (Revelation 10:6), the Lamb will still be slain. In Isaiah 53:7, the Lamb was slain, in

the dimension of time, on a cross. That cross, in time, was a literal place. Jesus Christ suffered a literal death. He had a literal burial, a literal resurrection, and a literal ascension. But the cross of Calvary was a visual aid of what the Trinity had always known and seen. Billions of years ago, in eternity past, the Trinity had an eternal convention. It was there that the Son’s crucifixion in time was predetermined through foreknowledge: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23). According to Isaiah 46:10, the Trinity saw the end from the beginning. They also foresaw all who, in time, would believe on the Lamb as Savior, and predestinated them in Christ before they were born: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30). Every believer was “chosen” in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). Though in time we may be a certain age, in eternity we are billions of years old. Just how old are we? We cannot say exactly, because it is impossible to relate to eternity in time. But we do know our beginning was in the eternal convention of the Trinity, not when we were conceived in our mother’s womb. The Father has always seen the Lamb as slain. Jesus

THE VISUAL AID OF THE CROSS

“The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8b). “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7b). “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24).

The Eternal Convention of the Trinity

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THE VISUAL AID OF THE CROSS

Christ in His humanity, hanging on the cross, bearing our sins in His own body was a “visual aid” for us, depicting what the Trinity had seen from before the foundation of the world. Think of the thousands and thousands of sacrifices that were offered throughout the Old Testament: goats, lambs, bullocks, even turtledoves for the poor. Then picture that certain day when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29b). Here was the one offering—the last offering— that would take away the sins of the whole world (see Hebrews 10:1-14).

sians 3:3). Therefore, we are predestinated to be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29-30). This is why 1 John 3:2 says, “When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

The Father Looks upon the Son, Not Our Sin

In His foreknowledge, the Father knew each of our names. He knew the very day that we would choose to believe and receive Jesus Christ as Savior. Therefore, He predestinated us inside the Lamb before we were born. When the Father looked at us in eternity past, He did not see our sins. He saw the Lamb who died for our sins, though we were not yet born. The Father looked and said, “There is the Lamb. Now, because of Him, My plan can be perfected before the angels and the human race are created—before the plan begins.” God could never impute sin to us because, in His plan, we already believed in the Lamb. Man is not predestinated apart from Christ. It is vital that we understand this. The believer’s predestination is “in Christ.” We are hid with Christ in God (Colos-

“He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:12). This verse says nothing about sin. It is not, “He that has not sinned has life.” It is a Son issue, not a sin issue. “Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed” (Psalm 84:9). Jesus Christ is God’s Anointed. According to Ephesians 1:6, we have been accepted in the Beloved (the Greek says, “graced in the one having been loved”). Because we are inside the Anointed, the Father never looks upon our sin; He looks upon the righteousness of the Son. That is why 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 says, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and right eousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” Though God never looks upon our sins, sometimes we, as Christians, do. Ezekiel 26:16 and 21:24 give us a picture of what happens when we look upon our own sins. According to Ezekiel 26:16, we lose confidence: “Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and

Predestinated “In Christ”

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THE VISUAL AID OF THE CROSS

shall tremble at every moment.” In Ezekiel 21:24, the children of Israel entered into bondage when they looked at their sins: “Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered…ye shall be taken with the hand.” God never looked at their sins because Jesus bore them as the Lamb before the foundation of the world. But by choice, Israel looked at their sins, lost confidence, and were taken into bondage.

Those who had been bitten by the serpents were told not to look at their bites, or the bites of those around them, but simply to look at the brazen serpent, and they would be instantly healed. Jesus Christ’s invitation to the human race is found in Isaiah 45:22: “Look unto me, and be ye saved [or delivered], all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:2a). The word “looking” in the Greek is aphorao which means to look away from everything else and fix your gaze on Jesus Christ, the Lamb who took away the sins of the world. The Cross is the focal point of all history. The Old Testament saints looked forward to it. Every sacrifice pointed to the ultimate Sacrifice. Church Age saints look back to the Cross as an historical reality. It is the only thing that the apostle Paul would glory in (Galatians 6:14). The preaching of the Cross is power unto those who are saved (1 Corinthians 1:18). It is in keeping our eyes upon this glorious Cross as our visual aid that we receive a progressive, personal revelation of the eternal Cross.

Look Upon Christ In Numbers 21:4-5, the people of Israel were “discouraged because of the way.” They began to speak against God and His representative, Moses. In the midst of their complaining, God sent fiery serpents to bite them, and many died (verse 6). Then the people came to Moses and repented. They asked Moses to pray to God that the serpents might be taken away. As Moses prayed, the Lord told him to make a fiery serpent of brass and put it upon a pole. “And it shall come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live” (Numbers 21:8b). This is a picture of Jesus Christ upon the cross—a visual aid. The brazen serpent was made like a real serpent, yet it had no poison in it. Similarly, Jesus was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, though He never sinned (Roman 8:3). He had no poison in Him. John 3:14 says, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” Jesus Himself said in John 12:32, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.”

THE SCAPEGOAT

Chapter Three

“And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the Lord, and died; And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat. “Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering. He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be gird ed with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on. “And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. And Aaron shall offer his bul lock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. “And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the con gregation. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.

And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness. “And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offer ing, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself: And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beat en small, and bring it within the veil: And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not: And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. “Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congre gation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the taberna cle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have

THE SCAPEGOAT

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THE SCAPEGOAT

made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel…. “And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, put ting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness” (Leviticus 16:1-22).

me to be sensitive to others. Put someone in my pathway today who needs your love revealed to them through me.” According to the Greek word homologeo (confess) in 1 John 1:9, if there is any sin in our life, we are to confess it precisely and immediately. This is possible because the blood of Christ cleanses us from our sins, even from the sins of ignorance (1 John 1:9b and Leviticus 4).

The Bullock for Personal Sins

eviticus 16 speaks of the Day of Atonement. On the tenth day of the seventh month, atonement was made for all the sins of the entire congregation of Israel (verses 16, 21, 30, 33), as well as for the sanctuary (verses 16, 33). Aaron, the high priest representing all the people, first had to make an offering for himself and his own house (verses 6, 11, 17). He was to kill a bullock, then bring some of its blood inside the holy of holies and sprinkle it seven times upon the mercy seat and seven times before the mercy seat. This has a beautiful application for Christians today. In the morning we pray “Lord Jesus, fill me with your Spirit. Give me wisdom, recall, and power. Help

The Linen Of Righteousness “Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place...He shall put on the holy linen coat…linen breeches…linen girdle…linen mitre…” (Leviticus 16:3a, 4). “And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place…” (Leviticus 16:23). The linen Aaron wore in the holy of holies represents the imputed righteousness of the believer (Isaiah 61:10; Revelation 19:8). Aaron had to take off his linen garments when he went back into the tabernacle of the congregation, because God wanted him to reveal another kind of righteousness: imparted righteousness that comes through receiving the Word and the Spirit. When we go out to minister to the world, we must reveal a righteousness that comes by the multiplication of grace and peace through experiential knowledge (see 2 Peter 1:2-10).

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THE SCAPEGOAT

The Two Goats: An Application

In Leviticus 16:21-22, the scapegoat had to be sent away into the wilderness by the hand of a “fit man.” The fit man may be a picture of the believer who is “fit” because of the cleansing of the blood of the first goat (Leviticus 16:15). We are not fit because we are perfect —we still have an old sin nature. But we are fit because we have believed in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have accepted total forgiveness.

The fit man sent the scapegoat into an inaccessible place in the wilderness, “a land not inhabited.” He could not go where the goat was going, but he led the live goat to the edge of the wilderness and then sent him away. That goat was to go down into a vast lowland, surrounded by steep cliffs. It was so steep and treacherous that no man could go there or even see into it. This is a picture of Jesus Christ going into hell for us. When Jesus died on the cross, His human spirit went to the Father (Luke 23:46), His body went into the grave (Luke 23:53), and His soul went into hell (Psalm 16:10a). 1 Peter 3:19 says that Jesus “preached unto the spirits in prison.” What did He preach? That the work of paying for sins was finished! (See John 19:30.) Where are our sins now? They are in an inaccessible place—inaccessible to us and inaccessible to God. When the scapegoat went into the wilderness, He took our sin (who we were), our sins (what we did), and our guilt (the consequences of sin) with Him. We can never bring these things back, let alone find them, because they are in an inaccessible place! Experientially, we still have an old sin nature, but positionally, it can’t be found because God buried it. Where is our guilt? It’s gone. So it only follows that, if our sin has been crucified and our sins are buried, we will not have any guilt. When we sin, the Holy Spirit will bring conviction, not condemnation. Conviction leads to conversion because the sin was already paid for. In Leviticus 16:26, after the scapegoat was sent away, the fit man had to bathe himself in water. Why?

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). In application, the two goats in Leviticus 16 represent two aspects of Christ’s Finished Work. The first goat represents justice; the second goat represents mercy. Jesus Christ’s death on the cross satisfied the Father’s justice (Isaiah 53:10-11). That is expiation. But Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven, where He put His own blood on the Mercy Seat, provided a way for us to enter directly into the Father’s presence without condemnation. That is propitiation. (In 1 John 4:10, the Greek word for “propitiation” is hilasmos, which means “mercy seat.”) As the first goat, Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world in the unlimited atonement (1 John 2:2; 2 Corinthians 5:19). As the second goat, He is alive from the dead. Just as the high priest had to lay his hands on the living goat, we need to touch a living Savior, not a dead one.

The Fit Man

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THE SCAPEGOAT

It isn’t enough that we died with Christ. It isn’t enough that we were buried and raised with Him. We must apply what He did by experientially bathing ourselves through the washing of water by the Word (Ephesians 5:26; Psalm 119:9). Jesus said to His disciples in John 15:3, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:1-2). Because we are joint-heirs with Christ through our cocrucifixion, coburial, coresurrection, and coascension with Him, we have a rich eternal heritage at God’s right hand to enjoy. Psalm 103 speaks of some of these eternal “benefits.” Psalm 68:19 says, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.” God loads us with benefits daily. He gives us a right to know we are saved, an absolute provision for total forgiveness, an understanding of our potential in Jesus Christ, a glimpse of our future perfection, and a vision and purpose for today as we grow together in grace. The first benefit Psalm 103 speaks about is forgiveness: “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases” (verse 3). God forgives and forgets all our iniquities because they were paid for by Jesus Christ and taken away by the scapegoat into an inaccessible place. He heals all our diseases, which means

that positionally, we have already been healed, and ultimately, in God’s sovereignty, we will all experience perfect healing—spirit, soul, and body (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Romans 8:23). “Who redeemeth thy life from destruction” (Psalm 103:4a). This means that God buys us back from failure. “Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies” (verse 4b). Every born-again, Spirit-filled believer has a crown on his head. Is it any wonder that Proverbs 10:6 says that “Blessings are upon the head of the just”? We have a crown of lovingkindness and tender mercies. No wonder Revelation 1:6 calls us kings. Our crown is an invisible crown. Lovingkindness and tender mercies are part of God’s name, which reveals His nature. We have been crowned with God’s nature. In Exodus 34:6-7a, the Lord proclaimed His name to Moses: “The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” “Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:5). The eagle flies higher than any other bird. In fact, it is the only bird that can look directly into the sun. Like the eagle, we can soar in our heavenly position with wings of resurrection life. Our strength comes from looking directly into the eyes of the Son of God: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2a). Therefore, we “endure, as seeing him

The Benefits of the Finished Work

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

THE SCAPEGOAT

who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). In Psalm 103:6 the Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. The word used for “oppressed” refers to supernatural vibrations imparted toward people by Satan, the prince of the power of the air. The Lord’s justice for those affected by the power of oppression is recorded in Acts 10:38, where we see that Jesus of Nazareth “went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.” “He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel” (Psalm 103:7). The Lord showed His ways to Moses, but only His acts to Israel. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, in John 14:6. Yet, though many Christians know the truth, they do not go God’s way, and they do not have God’s life. What does it mean to know God’s ways? It means to know His longsuffering, His goodness, His mercy, and His grace. The children of Israel knew God’s acts. They knew His miracles at the Red Sea. They knew His miracle at the bitter waters of Mara, where Moses cast in the tree and the waters became sweet (Exodus 15:25). They knew the miracle of the manna in Exodus 16. They knew the miracle of water coming out of the rock in Exodus 17, and again, thirty-eight years later, in Numbers 20. They knew His acts. They knew that the cloud would lead them by day and the pillar of fire by night as they journeyed through the wilderness. The

people saw God’s acts, but they never knew His ways: the way of love, mercy, and forgiveness; the way of restoration, reconciliation, and edification; the way of conviction and conversion; even the way of chastisement, which is meant to bless us by bringing us back into fellowship with God. Psalm 103:8-10 beautifully reveals God’s ways: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.” I am overwhelmed whenever I think of this passage. God has never once dealt with us according to our sins and iniquities! At times, you may think He does and condemn yourself. But He will not condemn you. The issue with God has never been sin. It is a heart issue, a Son issue (1 John 5:12). God cannot deal with us according to our sins because they have already been paid for—once for all. And according to the law of double jeopardy, they cannot be paid for twice. We need to believe this truth and experience it. Because of passivity and apathy, many do not draw near to this amazing Christ who will not deal with us according to our sins, nor reward us according to our iniquities. This is the absolute revelation and illumination of God’s lovingkindness and tender mercies— God’s nature revealed by His name (Psalm 103:1-4). “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our trans-

Get to Know God’s Ways

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

gressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust” (Psalm 103:11-14). This Psalm, especially verses 12 and 13, reveals how tenderly the Lord Jesus Christ comes to minister to us right where we are. He knows we are but dust, and He knows what we can handle. That is why 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” It would take volumes upon volumes to list all the benefits of the Finished Work. Truly, we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). As new creatures in Christ, these benefits are our eternal heritage. May we treasure them and utilize them more than any of the riches in this world, which will pass away.

Chapter Four OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY

“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new crea ture: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath recon ciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imput ing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:14-21).

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OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY

A Clean Record

passed away.” We don’t say, “I’m working on it. I’m getting better.” In God’s eyes, we already are better. What if the devil tries to bring up our sin, as he did to Joshua the high priest, in Zechariah 3:1-5? Even though Joshua was guilty, Jesus stood up and rebuked Satan. Then the Lord said, “Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment” (Zechariah 3:4b).

n the Cross, Jesus Christ became our SinBearer. He was numbered with the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12). He became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Now, every Christian stands before God with a clean record. Because of Christ’s own blood sprinkled on the mercy seat in heaven, not one sin will ever be placed on our record. God has forgotten every sin—forever. “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12; see also Hebrews 10:17). The Greek word for “remember” is mimnesko. When used with the strong double negative (ou me, translated “by no means”), God is saying, “In My sight, your sin is gone, your sins are gone, the experience of them is gone, and the consequences are gone, including what those sins did to other people!” This is the Finished Work. Mimnesko is also found in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament). “O remember not against us former iniquities” (Psalm 79:8a). “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). Jesus Christ paid for our sins. He buried them. Now God can’t find them, because they are in an inaccessible place. And God doesn’t give anyone permission to dig them up, because they are among the “old things” that have passed away forever. Notice that 2 Corinthians 5:17 doesn’t say “old things are passing away.” They “have

Be Reconciled to God Practical Christianity comes down to believing the Word of God at face value—receiving the Word as God spoke it. Jesus said in Mark 9:23, “All things are possible to him that believeth.” I am just one of those people who believes 2 Corinthians 5:17. I believe that because I am in Christ, I am a new creature. I believe that old things have passed away and that all things are new, moment by moment. I believe that God’s mercies are new every morning, and His compassions fail not (Lamentations 3:22-23). I believe that there are only two days on God’s calendar: “today” (2 Corinthians 6:2), and “that day” (when we see the Lord, 2 Timothy 1:12). The past is gone forever, and what I do “today” in Christ is storing up an eternal weight of glory for “that day.” If old things have passed away, then what is left? According to 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, we have both a min istry of reconciliation (not of condemnation) and a word of reconciliation. But before we can execute our ministry, we must first be reconciled to God in our experi-

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ence. Just as Aaron the high priest had to sprinkle the blood of a bullock on the mercy seat for his own sins before he ministered to the people, we too must apply the Blood of the one Offering before we can minister to others. How do we execute our ministry and the word of reconciliation? We do it as God’s ambassadors. “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). In the Greek text, the preposition huper appears twice in this verse, and is translated “on behalf of.” We are ambassadors “on behalf of” Christ; and we beseech others “on behalf of” Christ (in His stead). The Amplified translation says, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us….” A wife doesn’t have to leave her husband. She can be reconciled to God first and then have a ministry and a word of reconciliation to him. A husband doesn’t have to leave his wife. Teenagers don’t have to leave their families and get into trouble. They can be reconciled to God. A conflict between two people is not a reason for either of them to leave their divine call. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read that Christ “who knew no sin” (the perfect sacrifice), “became sin” (the perfect substitute). We are not perfect in our experience, but we have a perfect Sacrifice and a perfect Substitute.

Nothing Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ

Knowing that in eternity past we were predestined, called, justified, and glorified in Christ, we can say with the apostle Paul, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”(Romans 8:31). In verses 31-34, Paul mentions three “whos.” These three “whos” have no claim on our present life, because old things have passed away and our new life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). The first “who” in Romans 8:31 is the devil. If God is for us—and He is—the devil can do nothing against us. Why? Because “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). The second “who” is found in verse 33: “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” This “who” refers to people. No one can bring a charge against us—even if we are guilty—because God has justified us in the courtroom of heaven. The word for justify here means that because of our coresurrection and coascension with Christ, God sees us in our future heavenly perfection. And who can bring a charge against someone who is perfect? The third “who” is self. “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:34). We don’t even have a right to condemn ourselves! 1 John 3:20 says, “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.” “Condemn” means to know something against yourself. How can we

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OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY

know something that Christ has paid for and blotted out forever? God knows all things; but that doesn’t include knowledge of our sins, because He has forgotten them! Christ now intercedes before the Father on behalf of each one of us. The Father has heard His plea, accepted it, and only sees us hid with Christ in God. Why shouldn’t we see ourselves this way? Not one of these three “whos”—the devil, people, and self—can ever get to us. Even if we think they have gotten to us, they haven’t; because when we believe not, God abides faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). Our unbelief cannot nullify the faithfulness of God (Romans 3:3). In Romans 8:35, Paul mentions one more “who,” but this time it refers to things or circumstances. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Without a doubt, none of these things can separate us from the love of Christ, because we are more than conquerors. “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us” (Romans 8:36-37). Paul was saying through the Holy Spirit that if we are not killed all the day long as sheep going to the slaughter, then we cannot be more than conquerors. Death and resurrection are part of being more than a conqueror. Being more than a conqueror means that every day we reckon ourselves dead unto our old sin nature and alive unto God through Christ (Romans 6:11). It means we yield our-

selves unto God, as those who are alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness unto God (Romans 6:13). Being more than a conqueror is further described in 2 Corinthians 4:10-12: “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” We might paraphrase verse 11, “We which live are always being delivered unto those who ‘rub us the wrong way’.” Why would God deliver us unto people like that? So that through death to our self-life, those same people might see a manifestation of resurrection life in our mortal bodies down here on earth. Paul closes chapter 8 of Romans with ten more things that can never separate us from the love of God: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). Two things are especially significant here. First, the Holy Spirit mentions things present and things future. But He doesn’t mention the past, because the believer doesn’t have a past (except for the fragrance of pleasant memories). Old things are passed away. Second, when verse 39 says, “nor any other creature,” God is saying, “Just in case there is something you

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OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY

know about yourself that is not mentioned here, include that too.” Neither the old creation, nor anything in it can separate us from God’s love. To know the truth of Romans 8 is to be set free (John 8:32). And if the Son shall make us free, we shall be free indeed (John 8:36). Galatians 5:1 tells us to stand in this liberty, and not to go back again into bondage. Romans 8:15 says we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but we have the Spirit of adoption. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our human spirit that we are the children of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.

verted, and any guilt we experience is only a projection from the atmosphere. It is important to stay confessed up-to-date with Jesus Christ so that conviction will always lead us to conversion. In 1 John 1:9, confessing our sins means to apply the sprinkling of the Blood (see Hebrews 9:1314). The blood of Christ has already cleansed us positionally from all sin, but the sprinkling of the Blood takes care of each sin that we confess. When the Blood is sprinkled on the conscience, then we are free from condemnation. According to 1 John 1:7, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” The Greek text reveals that the blood of Christ keeps right on cleansing us from all sin—even sins of ignorance. As we walk in the precise light of the Word of God, rebounding the moment we fail, we can be persuaded, like Paul, that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Our past is gone forever.

Conviction Leads to Conversion Because there is no condemnation for the believer, the conviction of truth should always lead to conversion. If our sin, our sins, and our guilt are gone forever, then why do we feel uneasy when we fail, even when we have rebounded? We are experiencing a conviction that didn’t lead to conversion, and that always leaves us with projections of guilt. This is nothing more than Satan trying to get us to deal with our past and the things Christ has paid for and forgotten. In God’s order, however, there is bona fide guilt. If we live in sin, refusing to get right when conviction comes, then God will allow us to experience guilt as a wake-up call. Although we are positionally perfect, we are living outside of positional truth in our experience. God will allow this conviction to produce guilt until we rebound (1 John 1:9). Once we rebound, we are con-

THE SECRET THINGS BELONG TO GOD

Chapter Five THE SECRET THINGS BELONG TO GOD

“The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us” (Deuteronomy 29:29). “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter” (Proverbs 25:2).

n God’s dealings with His people, He has chosen to keep certain things secret. It is a secret why God does what He does in His plan for our lives. That doesn’t belong to us because He is addressing our faith, which is the only thing that can please Him (Hebrews 11:6). Why do some people suffer so much? That answer belongs to God; it is in His master plan for their lives. Our part is simply to trust Him with all of our heart and not to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6). We do know, however, that God loves justice and righteousness and that the earth is full of His goodness (Psalm 33:5). We do know that “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment [(justice)]: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he”

(Deuteronomy 32:4). Then why does a twenty-nineyear-old man, who has a beautiful wife and two children, graduate from Bible college, only to contract a paralyzing disease that cripples him for the rest of his life? And why, three months later, does his wife have a car accident and end up in a wheelchair? Why do things like this happen to Christians who love God with all their hearts? I don’t know. The secret things belong to God. But I do know that His way is perfect (Psalm 18:30). Perhaps one reason these things happen is so we will realize that what happens in this life is not really the issue; it is our eternal destiny that counts. God wants us to view life through eternal values, not temporal values. The apostle Paul wrote, “For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing…for us an everlasting weight of glory [beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!], since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, Amplified Translation). It is apparent that Job also had a grasp of eternal values when he confessed, “Though [God] slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15a).

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

THE SECRET THINGS BELONG TO GOD

I, Even I

No Trespassing

“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins” (Isaiah 43:25). The words, “I, even I” refer to Jesus Christ, who is God Almighty, the Omnipotent One, the Omniscient One, the Omnipresent One, the Just One, the Creator, the Redeemer, the Virtuous One, the One who upholds all things by the Word of His power. He is the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of the Father’s nature (Hebrews 1:3). He was saying, “I, even I, the all-powerful One, have blotted out your transgressions for My nature’s sake, and I will not remember your sins. I, even I, the Just One, the Holy One, the Righteous One, blotted out your transgressions on the cross.” On the cross, mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissed each other. Now truth springs up from the earth in the lives of those who have believed on Christ, and righteousness looks down from heaven. God is pleased because He sees His Son’s righteousness in those who have believed (see Psalm 85:10). Jesus Christ has blotted out our sins for His name’s sake. His “name” means His nature. In Exodus 34:5-7, the Lord proclaimed His name to Moses on Mount Sinai: “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” (Exodus 34:6-7a). These are attributes of God’s nature expressed toward man.

If God who is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent does not remember our sins, what happens if we do? We are willfully transgressing against what God has done. We are not believing what God says He did with our sins. Jesus Christ paid for our sins and sent them away forever. We violate Bible doctrine when we bring them up. If someone puts a “no trespassing” sign on their property and I ignore it, I am guilty of trespassing. Likewise, when we ignore what God has clearly stated about our sin, we are living in transgression. “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:18-19). God has cast our sins into the deepest sea and put up a “no trespassing” sign. “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12; see also Hebrews 10:17). God’s power (omnipotence) has overruled His knowledge of our sins so that He can no longer remember them. Therefore, it is a violation of God’s justice to search for what God has forgotten. “In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they

I Will Remember No More

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THE SECRET THINGS BELONG TO GOD

shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve” (Jeremiah 50:20). If God forgets our sins, who are we to remember them? If we consider anyone’s past sin—even if it was yesterday or five minutes ago—then we are violating thirty-four Bible doctrines, and God calls us transgressors. The only exception to this is the sin which violates judicial law. In this case, even after the person repents there are consequences to his actions, and judicial law requires retribution (see Romans 13). A pastor can deal with sin privately in his table of organization; but once that person gets right, the pastor has gained a brother (Matthew 18:15), and the sin must never be brought up or even thought of again. If anyone thinks of the sin, he is thinking in transgression. “If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14). The Greek syntax uses a gnomic (timeless) aorist tense in this verse. This means that the moment someone does something against you, or as soon as you hear of it, you forgive them mentally and forget it forever. That’s what our heavenly Father does for us. The gnomic aorist means that the sin is outside of time because it was paid for by the Lamb in eternity past! So our forgiveness has an eternal consequence because we have executed true spirituality through faith (see Galatians 6:1). The natural (or carnal) man can forgive, but he can’t forget, whereas the spiritual man can forgive and forget. The Spirit-filled believer who is focused on Christ can’t remember, but the natural man can’t forget. The key to

the success of the new man in Christ is that he walks with God. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3). We must agree with God (i.e., with what He did about our sins) in order to walk with Him. And if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of our flesh (Galatians 5:16).

Conceal or Reveal? “A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter” (Proverbs 11:13). To “conceal” a matter means to put it away—forget it forever. Is this what we are practicing in our personal walk with Christ? Do we conceal the matter forever because our new man can’t remember? A talebearer reveals secrets that God can’t remember. According to Psalm 51:4, when we sin, we sin against God, and God alone. Every servant stands alone before God. To his own master he stands or falls, and God is able to make him stand (Romans 14:4). Certainly, if a Christian is weak he should go to his pastor to get help and to be accountable, but he still lives his life before God as a believer-priest. Jesus did not commit Himself to men (John 2:24). In other words, He didn’t have a need to talk with men about everything. He spoke to His Father. 1 Peter 2:23 says that He committed Himself to “him that judgeth righteously.” Yet, we feel the need to talk to people about so many things. When we struggle with weakness, we talk to men instead of going to our heavenly Father. Why? Because we don’t know God’s nature

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well enough. “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly” (Proverbs 18:8). The Spirit repeats this statement with the same words in Proverbs 26:22: “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” When the Spirit says something twice in the exact words, it is of extreme importance. God is saying, “Listen to Me! Hear what I say!” The “belly” speaks of the emotions. God is revealing the thing that wounds people’s emotions more than anything else: talebearing. Isaiah 59:5 reveals how it happens: “They hatch cockatrice’s eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.” The talebearer plants cockatrice eggs in the emotions and in the unconscious and subconscious mind of the listener. When those eggs hatch, vipers begin to poison the soul. It is possible, however, for the eggs to stay in the unconscious mind for a long time before they hatch. For example, if a believer hears a negative statement about another Christian, he may carry that statement in his unconscious mind for a year or two. Then, one day something else may happen causing those eggs to hatch and become vipers. Now this believer becomes infected with a familiar spirit and begins to have negative thoughts and feelings toward someone who has always been a dear friend. What has happened to this believer? He was set up by a demonic host. This is why we should never

receive, or even listen to, an evil report. “Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words” (Proverbs 23:6-8). “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter” (Proverbs 25:2). Concealing a matter glorifies God. That is why Proverbs 11:13 says that a faithful spirit conceals someone else’s failure. If a Christian were to have his sins exposed after he had repented of them, would he really have any sins to expose? From God’s viewpoint, absolutely not. Therefore, the one who exposed the sin would be telling a lie. Why? Because God paid for the sins and blotted them out (Isaiah 43:25). Suppose you have a five-hundred-dollar medical bill that you are not able to pay. Then without telling you, I go to the doctor’s office and pay it for you, and I bring you a receipt that says “paid in full.” But what if the next day you were to get a call from the doctor’s office asking when you’re going to pay something on your bill? It would seem that the payment had not yet been entered into their computer. You tell them your bill has already been paid, and to clear up the misunderstanding, you show them the receipt: “paid in full.” Let me ask you something. Can they ever ask you for the money again? Can they ever bring it up again

Paid in Full

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THE SECRET THINGS BELONG TO GOD

and accuse you of not paying your bill? Of course not! In the same way, our debt of sin has been “paid in full.” The debt can never be paid again. No one can ask us to pay it again, and if they do they are acting as accusers of the brethren. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all….For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:10, 14). We are hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). The Father doesn’t look upon us but upon His Anointed, the Son (Psalm 84:9). We are seated with Christ in heavenly places, above every sin we have ever committed (Ephesians 2:6).

that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1 Kings 15:5). Scores of Christians don’t understand what the Bible means when it says that David never turned aside. The phrase “save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” appears in italics in the King James Version of the Bible, which means that those words are not in the original text. Without a doubt, David failed many times; but from God’s viewpoint, David never turned aside. Why? Because the Lamb paid for David’s sins before the foundation of the world. There was no record of failure! Did God chastise David? Yes. But God never removed him from his office as king. In fact, during the Millennial Reign, David will reign as prince of Israel (see Ezekiel 37:24-25). God testifies in Acts 13:22, “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.”

No Record of Sins Do you think it was strange that God said Israel’s sins could not be found? Obviously, they had committed plenty, but where were the sins now? Was God lying when He said their sins were gone? No, He wasn’t. The truth is, those sins went into God’s secret place, and there is no longer any record of them. There are scores of believers who do not obey this truth. Sometimes people get together and think they can bring up their spouse’s sins, even when their spouse is confessed up-to-date. But God has forgotten anything they ever did. By getting others to listen, these individuals are going against the Finished Work. God calls this talebearing. “Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from anything

Don’t Publish It in Gath “Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph” (2 Samuel 1:20). “He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends” (Proverbs 17:9). A Christian who doesn’t seek love in his relationships will always end up repeating things and in so doing will separate even close friends. But a believer who seeks love will live according to 1 Peter 4:8-10:

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THE SECRET THINGS BELONG TO GOD

“And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover a multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” “Manifold grace” means we have grace on every side. I believe God’s mercy is upon many of the leaders in our nation, though they may be doing wrong. Why? Too many people are gossiping about them. Too much is being said. The Bible teaches that we must let God do the judging. “Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people” (Hebrews 10:30). Is it scriptural to publish the sins of Christian leaders on television or radio? As wrong as those leaders may be, no it is not. Should leaders who fail be dealt with by the table of organization in their own denominations? Yes they should, but it should not be on public television. Why? Because unless a person violates civil or judicial law, his neighbors have no right to judge him or his family. Certainly, we would not want our neighbors to come over and start judging the way we run our families. In the same way, God says, “It is a family matter. This is My family, and I don’t want anyone outside the family doing a thing about it.” God wants His Church to be a place where people can be saved, loved unconditionally, delivered from the past, and equipped to do the work of the ministry. This can best happen if we let the secret things belong to

God and enjoy the things that belong to us as our heritage in the Finished Work.

GOD IS OUR FRIEND

Chapter Six GOD IS OUR FRIEND

“Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhab itants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever?” (2 Chronicles 20:7). “And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the friend of God” (James 2:23). “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you” (John 15:13-15). “The Son of man is…a friend of publicans and sin ners!” (Luke 7:34).

What Is Friendship?

ver the course of our lives, we will never have very many true friends in this world. Why? Because there is no true friendship apart from the death of the Cross. There is no friendship apart from resurrection power. All friendships must pass through death. In other words, friendship is based on our death and resurrection with Christ—spiritual resurrection from our old sin nature and from the past. True friendships are rooted in truth. Natural relationships are based upon mutual admiration and attraction, upon respect, and even upon a certain degree of honor. But without truth as the foundation, these relationships never become friendships. It is impossible to have godly friendships unless we walk in God’s way and have Jesus Christ’s abundant life dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit. A friend of God lays down his life for others. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). When the Holy Spirit pours out His love in our hearts, then we are dead to self-interest, self-gratification, and self-deception. This selfless love lives inside of those who are spiritually “alive from the dead” (Romans 6:13).

A Friend Loves at All Times “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Proverbs 17:17). This verse speaks of unconditional, sacrificial love.

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Before I became a pastor, I used to speak as an evangelist in churches throughout New England. I will never forget the night when I first received a personal revelation of God’s unconditional love. I was scheduled to preach in a Baptist church of 250 people. As I began to speak that evening on the love of God, I sensed God’s presence more strongly than ever before. After the message was over, the pastor of the church got up spontaneously and sang “The Love of God.” No one left the building. For over three hours 250 people wept, prayed, sang, and sat in silence before the presence of God. A precious woman of God was there that night who had been saved for fifteen years. Her husband was an alcoholic and had not worked for over six years. She worked two jobs to support them both, never one time asking him to leave or get a job. But deep in her heart, she admitted that she resented him. This woman went home after the service that night, deeply touched in her heart by God. She heard her husband come in at threethirty in the morning, and she met him at the door, but he was too intoxicated to respond. As he went to sleep on the couch in the living room, she knelt down beside him and stayed there on her knees. At five-fifteen he woke up. She looked at him and said, “Can I get you some coffee?” He nodded and said, “Yes.” After he drank some of his coffee, she said, “Honey, will you forgive me for not loving you uncondition-

ally?” Here she was, asking for forgiveness when her husband was the one who hadn’t worked for six years while she worked two jobs and brought up their four children. He didn’t know how to handle it. She brought him another cup of coffee, and after he began to feel better he said, “Why are you asking me to forgive you? Everyone in town knows I’m a bum.” “No you’re not,” she said. “I’m asking for your forgiveness because for all these years I haven’t loved you with God’s unconditional love.” Then he said, “I want to meet the man who told you about this unconditional love.” At seven o’clock in the morning, they came to the motel where I was staying, and in tears this man received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. That was thirty-seven years ago. To this day, he has never had another drink. He is a tender, loving husband and dad, as well as an effective soul winner—all because one woman willingly became the victim and said, “Forgive me, I have never loved you with God’s love.” A friend loves at all times. I often tell the story of an assistant pastor who had an affair with a woman in his church. When she found out she was pregnant, the woman went to the assistant pastor’s wife and told her what had happened. The pastor’s wife couldn’t believe it. Devastated, she went into her room and wept all night long. But God spoke to her that night.

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The next morning, she went to her husband and completely forgave him. Then she met with the other woman, who was already planning to give up the baby for adoption. She said, “When you are seven or eight months along in your pregnancy, I want you to come stay at my house so I can take care of you.” When the baby was finally born, the mother moved to California. The assistant pastor and his wife adopted the child and raised him as if he were their own. This man’s wife loved at all times. Often, in the years that followed, this man would weep just thinking of how his wife had loved him unconditionally when he did not deserve it. She never one time brought up what had happened. She never condemned him, and she treated that child as a treasure from heaven. Only a true friend can love like this. How did she do it? She walked in love, as a dear child of God (Ephesians 5:2). She walked in the Spirit and did not fulfill the lust of her flesh (Galatians 5:16). She loved at all times, because she was seeking love. Twenty years later, this pastor’s wife came down with a terminal disease. He knelt by her bed and told her, “You are the most precious woman in the world.” He prayed that God would not take her home yet. And do you know, God honored that prayer and healed her. This story is truly an amazing illustration of a God who loves at all times. “Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” (Romans 2:4). God’s unconditional love

comes out of the riches of His divine goodness, and it leads people to repentance. When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ in heaven, the whole issue will be whether or not we had charity. I am not referring to social love, though that is important. I do not mean personality rapport, where two people are attracted to each other because of mutual needs or interests. I don’t mean sentimental, emotional love. I am talking about God’s love—the love that motivated Christ to die for the sins of the whole world. Only God’s love can change people. Many years ago, I was asked by a board of twenty-seven pastors to speak at their New Year’s Eve service in one of their churches in Maine. At the time, I wasn’t even a Sunday school teacher. I had just fallen in love with the Book, studying five hours a night, five nights a week, and winning souls as much as I could. That night, the church was filled to capacity, and I was very nervous. I stammered and stuttered; I wasn’t fluent in quoting the Scriptures. But somehow I got through my message and gave an invitation for salvation. When the service was over, a woman came forward wearing shabby clothes. She had holes in her sneakers and her hair looked as if it hadn’t been washed or combed for days. Her breath reeked of liquor. As she was coming up to the front, one of the pas-

Love Changes People

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tors whispered to me, “She’s too drunk. Don’t waste your time with her.” I thought, What have I got to lose? As I began to speak with her, she told me that she and her husband had been on welfare. Then he left her, and she began to drink. When she was unable to take care of her children properly, the state took them. Her life was shipwrecked. I spent about twenty minutes with her, telling her over and over how much God loved her and how valuable she was in His eyes. “You’re beautiful,” I told her. “Jesus died just for you.” Finally she prayed with me and accepted Christ. The following year, I attended the same New Year’s Eve service. When the service was over, a woman came up to me with her husband and their three children. She was wearing a beautiful dress, new shoes, and her hair was very attractive. “Do you remember me?” she asked. Of course, I always want to say yes in those situations, but I honestly did not recognize her, so I said, “No, I’m sorry. I don’t.” She said, “I was the woman you prayed with last year at the end of the service. You told me that I was beautiful and that God loved me just the way I was. You told me how valuable I am in His eyes. Though I had been drinking that night, the more you told me, the more I believed it. I accepted Christ as my Savior that night, and since then I have never had another drop of liquor.”

Then she told me that she had met a Christian lady who worked for the state agency that was able to help get her children back. She said, “I was so excited about my new life in Christ that I went to my husband and told him how Jesus was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.” He responded in brokenness, accepted Christ as his personal Savior, and came home to his family. I will never forget what happened next that night. I knelt down with this woman and her family in the hallway of the church, and we began to praise God together. As we were having a glorious celebration of life, I suddenly realized that this miracle did not happen because of a young preacher who had never pastored a church or taught Sunday school; it happened because God Almighty had spoken to this precious woman through the Holy Spirit. She believed God just as she was, and God imputed His righteousness to her. Jesus was her friend. This is why we should never underestimate the power of unconditional love. Never underestimate the power of grace, mercy, forgiveness, prayer, and a laiddown life.

God’s Love Will Do What No Man Can Do No one can ever predict what God will do in a person’s life, because He meets people where they are, without conditions. God picks up where others give up. “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up” (Psalm 27:10). No matter what we have done or how many mis-

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takes we have made, we can always believe the best and hope for the best. We can believe that the supernatural power of Jesus Christ’s love will do something that has never been done in our lives. Even if we failed seven times yesterday (Proverbs 24:16), God’s love will do something brand-new today—something that no man can do. “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26b). It is the faith of Jesus Christ for us that makes it possible. The faith of Jesus Christ calls “those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17b).We have eternal value in God’s eyes. He sees our potential. Only God knows what we will be like after we have spent time alone with Jesus. God desires for us to have a personal vision of Jesus, the friend of sinners. Through faith, Moses saw “Him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27b). In John 12:2021, certain Greeks came to worship at the Passover feast. Approaching Philip they said, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” In Matthew 17, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a mountain and appeared in His glory before them. They also saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. The Father spoke from a bright cloud before them and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (verse 5). The disciples fell on their faces in fear. But when they “lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.” In Luke 4:20, the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. In Acts 8:35, Philip opened his mouth and “preached Jesus” unto the Ethiopian eunuch. When

Paul came to the Corinthians, he was determined to know nothing among them “save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

Jesus, the Greatest Friend Jesus Christ is the greatest friend in all the world, a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5b). He will never bring up our sins. When we are down, He will stay with us until He restores us. The prophet Micah found this to be true: “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me” (Micah 7:8). In verse 9, Micah confessed that the Lord would plead his cause and execute judgment for him. Proverbs 23:11 says, “For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause….” Micah was saying to his enemies, “I’m down. I am living in sin. But the Lord is with me, and when I get up you will be sorry. Because just as He is with me when I’m down, He will get up with me and plead my cause to the Father.” Even though Micah was sitting in darkness—a darkness caused by sin—Jesus would be a light unto him. Today, in the Church Age, Jesus Christ is our glorified High Priest, pleading our cause before the Father. Hebrews 7:24-25 speaks of this Priesthood: “But this man, because he continueth [for]ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 9:24

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says that Jesus Christ now appears “in the presence of God for us.” What is Jesus doing in the presence of the Father? He is pleading for us—twenty-four hours a day. Picture a defense attorney who goes before the jury after presenting his case and begins to plead with them on behalf of his client. In the same way, the Son, our Defense Attorney, pleads our case, presenting His own Blood as the evidence to have every charge that is brought against us thrown out of the courtroom in heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ is always pleading, and the Father always answers on our behalf. Glory be to God! This brings such hope for everyone. We have all the richness of God’s promises and an expectation that cannot be cut off (Proverbs 24:14). We have a God who knew us in eternity past. And we can be sure He knows us as royalty in Christ and not after our old sin nature. Not only did Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, pay for our sin (the root) and our sins (the fruit), but He took care of the negative consequences of what we have done to people and what people have done to us. He buried the whole package. So why should we remember what God Almighty has forgotten forever? And why should we forget what God remembers about unconditional love? Thanks be unto God that He will never be finished with any of us until He makes us just like His Son. “Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him

GOD IS OUR FRIEND

purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

No Condemnation God’s love is so deep and so rich that we can be free from condemnation for the rest of our lives. Romans 7:14-25 reveals Paul’s intense struggle with his past. He was having a “spiritual hangover” from his life as a Pharisee before he was saved. At the time he wrote the epistle to the Romans, Paul had already been saved for approximately twenty years. Still, the devil was attacking him with projections that he wasn’t keeping the law. (See Philippians 3:3-6 for an insight into Paul’s past as a Pharisee. It is apparent that Paul’s greatest weakness was the pride of self-righteousness.) Paul said he was doing the things he shouldn’t be doing and not doing the things he should be doing (Romans 7:15). Then he confessed, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (verse 24). In that state, the Holy Spirit spoke to him. Paul realized that Jesus Christ had already delivered him. So he said, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (verse 25). He was saying, “I thank God that the work is finished!” but Paul was still battling with his flesh. He was thanking God in faith, yet he had not experienced his deliverance. Then the Holy Spirit spoke to him again. According to the original Greek text, the Spirit ministered only two words: “NO CONDEMNATION!” (Romans 8:1). The original text reveals that Paul shouted these words. This was the goodness of God leading him to repentance. (Note: “who walk

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not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,” in Romans 8:1b, is not in the original language.) Paul went on under the inspiration of the Spirit to write Romans chapter 8, in which the Spirit is mentioned nineteen times in the original language. Romans 8 ends with one of the most powerful of all Scripture passages, in verses 35-39—the declaration that nothing will ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. A man of God is happiest when he is right with God, reverences God, and abstains from all appearance of evil. He is happy when he responds in purity to truth. But the Bible also says in Romans 14:22, “Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth”—in the thing he chooses to do. “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14). There is no greater tribute to a man or a woman than to be called “the friend of God.” Who are God’s friends? And what do God’s friends do? God’s friends are those who respond to His love and who, through grace, do whatever He commands. When a believer lays down his life for the brethren through the love shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit, then God looks and says, “There is My friend.” When a child of God loves at all times and is born for adversity, God says to the angels, “There is My friend.” God says, “If you seek love and cover others by never repeating their

transgressions, then you are My friend.” A friend of God is obedient. He honors God and God’s people. He weeps when others weep, and rejoices when others rejoice (Romans 12:15). A friend of God prays without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). He bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:7). He is easily entreated, and he rebounds quickly when he fails. A friend of God allows God to choose for him. In Genesis 13:7, there was strife (taking sides) between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of his nephew, Lot. The Word of God says that their possessions were so great that they could no longer dwell together. The only solution was for Abram and Lot to separate. Abram said, “Lot, if you go to the left, I’ll go to the right. And if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left” (Genesis 13:9). Lot then made a decision by sight. Verse 10 says he “lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord.” So Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom, but Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan. After they separated, the Lord spoke to Abram: “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:14-16a). Abram also lifted up his eyes and looked, but the difference was that Abram let God choose, whereas Lot

Being God’s Friend

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chose for himself. Abram was a friend of God. As friends of God, we too need to let God choose for us. We should not choose by sight or by emotional impulse. God will choose, but with our cooperation. And if we let Him choose, He will always give us the best. Blessing He will bless us, and multiplying He will multiply us (Hebrews 6:14). Friends of God are witnesses unto Him in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8). Our attitude toward God is, “I’ll do my best. I’ll do what you told me to do through the Holy Spirit of grace. I want to be Your friend.” As witnesses of His faithfulness, God’s friends have a special presence (Matthew 28:18-20), special protection (Mark 16:15-18), a special promise (Luke 24:46-49), special peace (John 20:21), and special power (Acts 1:8)—all because we obey and go. A friend of God is characterized by integrity. He forgives and forgets with kindness and tenderheartedness, knowing that God has forgiven him in Christ the very same way (Ephesians 4:32). And yet, though he will not betray his friend, he will not hesitate to be honest; he will speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” When a problem arises with a believer, a friend of God will go alone and never uncover the sin or the sinner. He won’t tell his spouse. He goes to the person alone, in a spirit of meekness, and says, “I love you, and I want to help you.”

We all need godly friends—friends who will not treat us according to where we are spiritually, but according to how God sees us in the Finished Work. True friends are a gift from God. May we remember what Jonathan said to David in 1 Samuel 20:42, “The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed forever.”

HE LOOKED BEYOND OUR FAULTS

Chapter Seven HE LOOKED BEYOND OUR FAULTS

“The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7b).

pastor is responsible to shepherd many lives, and when he deals with problems in the church, he must learn to wait on God. He learns not to speak if God doesn’t speak and to treat people with gentleness. At times, it may appear as though he is not “dealing” with a situation at all; while in reality, he is waiting on God for His wisdom. A pastor needs to view people through the eyes of the Finished Work, looking beyond their faults to see the real need of their heart. This is true for every Christian, in terms of how we treat one another and the lost. Certainly, God will deal with His people, but He will always make love the issue. This is not “winking at sin” as some would say. Jesus Christ dealt with sin and sins once and for all. God only disciplines when a Christian isn’t responding to the love of the One Who paid for the sin, but the discipline has nothing to do with the sin itself.

Often, people who go for counseling expect the pastor to deal with their sin. But the sin needs to be considered as a fault. He may need to ask them what happened and listen to their story—but without bringing up their sin. When this is done with a soft and tender approach, do you know what happens 80 percent of the time—even with teenagers? Their eyes fill up with tears, because they expected to hear about their sin. “But I’ve got to pay for it,” they say. And a Finished Work counselor will say, “Don’t bring it up. We can’t bring it up, because it’s forgiven, forgotten, and gone forever.” The whole purpose for this kind of counseling is that the love of God might fill their hearts, comfort them, and encourage them to go on with God.

The Men of Old Consider how God looked beyond the faults of His people in the Old and New Testaments. God told Abram to leave the Ur of the Chaldees and journey to Canaan by faith. Soon after arriving, a famine struck the land. Instead of praying and trusting God, Abram went down into Egypt. Fearing for his life, he asked his wife, Sarai, to lie to Pharaoh and tell him that she was Abram’s sister. Though it was wrong, God forgave Abram and still made him the father of our faith. Why? Because despite Abram’s many failures, God looked beyond his faults and saw his need. Abram’s nephew, Lot, made a decision to go down into Sodom where he became involved with the wrong

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people. Second Peter 2:7 says that Lot was “vexed” (tormented) with the filthy conversation of the wicked. God purposed in His heart to destroy that city; but before He did, He sent two angels to bring out Lot, his wife, and his two daughters. Once outside the city, one of the angels told them not to look back. Ignoring the warning, Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt. Lot and his two daughters fled to a mountain and dwelt in a cave. On two consecutive nights he became drunk, and his daughters had sex with him because they wanted to preserve the lineage of their father. Both daughters bore sons: Moab, the father of the Moabites, and Ben-ammi, the father of the children of Ammon. These nations would become God’s perpetual enemies. What Lot and his daughters did was wrong, and it brought much suffering for him and his descendants. But God looked beyond Lot’s faults and saw his needs. In 2 Peter 2:7, God refers to him as “just Lot,” which means “righteous Lot,” even though the Bible never records that he did anything good. Jacob deceived his father, stole his brother’s birthright, and then fled from his home to dwell in Padanaram, his mother’s homeland. On the way, God visited him at night with a vision of angels ascending and descending on a ladder from heaven. When Jacob awoke he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not” (Genesis 28:16). Twenty years later, alone one night and on his way back to Canaan, Jacob again met God (in the form of a man) and wrestled with Him

until the breaking of the day (Genesis 32:24). Jacob, determined to win, said, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” Then God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, saying, “As a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Genesis 32:28). Jacob was a transformed man because God looked beyond his faults and saw his need. Because of jealousy, King Saul tried to kill David time and time again. Yet, when David could have taken revenge on Saul (see 1 Samuel 24:1-15; 1 Samuel 26:5-11), he chose instead to agree with God—to look beyond Saul’s faults and see his need. David said, “The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed” (1 Samuel 26:11a). David struggled with weakness and failure throughout his entire life. Fleeing from King Saul in 1 Samuel 21:10, David sought refuge among the enemy— the servants of Achish, king of Gath. When the servants recognized him as having been the one who defeated their champion, Goliath, David pretended to be insane so that Achish would release him. According to 2 Samuel 5:13, David multiplied wives to himself despite the warning of Deuteronomy 17:17, “Neither shall [the king] multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away.” Years later, he committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite (see 2 Samuel 11:1-5). David then arranged for Uriah to be sent to the front line of battle and instructed the troops to retreat from him so he would be killed (2 Samuel 11:15). In the last week of David’s life, a beau-

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HE LOOKED BEYOND OUR FAULTS

tiful young virgin was brought to him to keep him warm on his death bed. Though David did not have sex with her, it was a shameful thing to do just prior to meeting God (1 Kings 1:1-4). Considering all this, how could God testify that David never turned aside and that he fulfilled all of God’s will (1 Kings 15:5; Acts 13:22)? How is it that David will be the prince over Jerusalem during the Millennial Reign? It is because his sins were paid for before the foundation of the world. Did God chastise David? Yes. Did problems arise in his household? Yes. Did David’s actions cause pain and suffering? Yes. But through it all, God looked beyond David’s faults and saw his needs. David’s son, Solomon, was a good king when he began to reign in his father’s stead. He was wise and discerning. But like his father, Solomon had some prevailing weaknesses. He too multiplied wives unto himself and turned his heart away from God. For the majority of his life, Solomon was vain and worldly. He sought after material pleasures. He was even successful in business. But he lost sight of his eternal purpose. In his old age, Solomon suffered with the effects of a lifetime of folly. Ecclesiastes 12 records that his eyesight was poor, his legs were weak, his teeth were falling out, and he suffered from depression and insomnia. His hearing was also impaired and his appetite was failing. (Read Ecclesiastes 12 in the Amplified Translation to see the full description of Solomon’s physical condition.) But God still had a plan

for Solomon. God said, “I know you are old, and you have had a lifetime of failure. But I have always looked beyond your faults to see your needs. Your greatest need is to have My words circulating in your spirit.” As Solomon began to study the Scriptures again, the Holy Spirit inspired him to write both the Book of Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. God looked beyond Solomon’s faults and saw his needs. The Father did not look upon Solomon’s sins but upon the righteousness of His Son.

Come and Dine In Matthew 26:69-75, Peter denied Christ three times. Jesus even warned him that it would happen. In response to Peter’s bold declaration—”I will lay down my life for thy sake”—Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice” (John 13:38). Matthew 26:75 records that when Peter heard the cock crow, he remembered what Jesus had said, and he went out and wept bitterly. Imagine how guilty Peter must have felt. After Jesus was resurrected, He sent an angel to tell Mary Magdalene and the other women at the tomb, “Go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee…” (Mark 16:7). Jesus wanted Peter to know that he was forgiven. But Peter’s guilt was so deeply rooted that even after he saw Jesus resurrected, he still wanted to go back to his old fishing career. In John 21:3, Peter said, “I go a fishing” and the

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

HE LOOKED BEYOND OUR FAULTS

other disciples said “we also go with thee.” But the Bible says that they caught nothing their first night out. As they stood in the early morning light, frustrated and tired, they heard a voice from the shore. “Children, have ye any meat?” It was Jesus calling out to His disciples in their backslidden state. Unaware that it was the Lord, they replied, “No.” The voice came again: “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find.” Before they knew what happened, the net was so full of fish, it was ready to burst. John said, “That has got to be Jesus! He is the One who created the fish, and He knows right where they are.” John was first to realize that it was the Lord, but Peter was first to strip off his fisher’s coat and swim to shore. When all the disciples arrived on the shore, they saw Jesus sitting by a fire, preparing fish and bread for them. He said to them, “Come and dine.” He never once brought up their sin. What’s more, He never mentioned Peter’s denial. Why? Because Jesus was looking at the Father’s righteousness on behalf of Peter. Peter and the others were made righteous through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The Lord had a plan to use Peter to preach the gospel to the Samaritans, the Jews, and the Gentiles— and Peter’s failure could not stop it. After the disciples had eaten with Jesus, He said to Peter, “Do you love Me more than these?” His question had nothing to do with sins; He wasn’t dealing with sins. Focusing on the sin is not Scriptural; it is not godly; and it is not the Finished Work! But Jesus was revealing how to restore a brother.

“Peter, do you love me?” That is the issue, not the sin. “Do you love me more than fishing? Do you remember when I told you that I would make you a fisher of men?” (See Luke 5:1-10.) The first time, Peter replied, “You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.” Then Jesus asked Peter a second time, “Do you love Me?” Peter said, “Yes, Lord.” This time Jesus said, “Feed My sheep.” Once again Jesus asked, “Do you love Me?” Now Peter was grieved, because the first two times Jesus asked him, He used the Greek word agape, referring to God’s love. Peter replied using phileo, which refers to friendship love or brotherly love. What upset Peter was that the third time, Jesus used phileo instead of agape. Peter’s reply was, “You know all things, and You know I only love You with friendship love.” Still, Jesus’ response was the same: “Feed My sheep.” In so many words Jesus was saying, “Peter, I am not putting you on probation. I am recommissioning you to preach the gospel. I am giving you the keys to open the doors to the Samaritans, the Jews, and the Gentiles for the preaching of the gospel.” On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood with the other disciples and preached the first sermon in the Church Age (Acts 2:14). It was just as Jesus had said it would be. What had happened in Peter’s life? Jesus looked beyond his faults and saw his needs. I wonder how many churches today would restore Peter as quickly as Jesus did? They might allow him to come to church and sing in the choir, but would they let him preach?

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

As I reflect on these stories of people just like us, I thank God that He has never one time looked at my faults. Many years ago I would look at them, and I would always become discouraged, lose my confidence, and find myself in bondage. One day God said to me, “Why are you looking at something that I am not looking at? I want you to look at My righteousness, My love, and My forgiveness. I want you to come boldly to the Mercy Seat. Behold My mercy and My grace, and I will keep you from sinning. My grace will keep you from falling and present you faultless in the presence of My glory (Jude 24). I will keep you by the power of My Word.” This is the glorious gospel of the Finished Work (2 Corinthians 4:4). It is a glorious gospel because of the glorified Lamb in heaven. This is the only God I know—the God of all grace, the Father of all mercies, the God Who looks beyond our faults and sees our needs.

Chapter Eight OUR VALUE TO GOD

“[The Lord] found [Israel] in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instruct ed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye” (Deuteronomy 32:10). “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows]. He determines and counts the number of the stars; he calls them all by their names. Great is our Lord and of great power; His understanding is inexhaustible and bound less. The Lord lifts up the humble and downtrodden; He casts the wicked down to the ground. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises with the harp or the lyre to our God” (Psalm 147:3-7, Amplified Translation). “I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love, and I was to them as one who lifts up and eases the yoke over their cheeks, and I bent down to them and gently laid food before them” (Hosea 11:4, Amplified Translation). “Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee…” (Isaiah 43:4a).

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OUR VALUE TO GOD

“The Master is come, and calleth for thee” (John 11:28b).

own way, it was a cry to God for help. At the end, he did confess Christ as his Savior. Also, I thank God for all those in our church who sing or play an instrument. I thank God for those who sacrificially give to meet our worldwide vision. I thank God for our maintenance crew, the security, the ushers, the staff, and the Bible college faculty. I am grateful for our children, our teenagers, and our college students. Finally, I thank God for all of our friends and affiliated pastors from around the world. Just one of these precious souls has more value than the whole world.

The Value of the Family

hese verses speak volumes to us about our individual value to God. When God says that we are “precious” in His sight, He means we have immeasurable value. Often, as I prepare my heart at the beginning of our church services, I look over the congregation and begin to think of the value of every individual. According to Mark 8:36, one soul is worth more than the whole world. If we were to combine the material wealth of all the millionaires and billionaires in the world, it wouldn’t begin to compare with the value of one soul. I thank God for my dear family. Though some have been led to other churches, they are spiritual, have convictions, and raise up their children in a godly home. They are faithful to God and to their local church. It is impossible to measure the eternal value of the people who have loved us over the years, especially as we grow older and face more trials. I remember the last words my mother ever said to me: “I love you, and I’m proud of you.” My brother’s last words to me were, “I love you. I want to be right with God, and I want to do right. But I’m so weak.” He was a brokenhearted man who had failed much and struggled with many problems. Yet, I will never forget his expression of love toward me. Even though it came out of weakness, in his

God has given sacred value to the institutions of marriage and family. This is why my heart is grieved when I see husbands and wives who refuse to be reconciled to each other. They fail to see that the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross made oneness in marriage possible. Only through the Cross can two people be united in one mind, one soul, one heart, and one flesh before God. Only God’s love shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit will make a marriage work the way God intended. The Lord told the prophet Hosea to love Gomer “according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel”—even though she had been an adulteress (Hosea 3:1). The Lord commands husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it (Ephesians 5:25). In our worst moment, we need to remember that

The Value of Marriage

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

OUR VALUE TO GOD

God sees our eternal value. We are members in particular (1 Corinthians 12:27). We are kings and priests in God’s royal family (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6), and each one of us is unique. God has set His love upon us; and even when He has to correct us, He does it in a spirit of lovingkindness and gentleness.

that is bound to the object. God has attached Himself to us. He is overwhelmed with the opportunity to show us our value before Him—even when we have failed. It never ceases to amaze me how God could say to a backslidden nation, “I have loved you with an everlasting love, and with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” But then He called her a virgin—before she repented! Only this kind of love draws people back to God and heals them. Only unconditional love can deliver those who are down and out, bringing hope into the hearts of those who have lived in defeat.

A Love That Won’t Let Go! “The Lord God did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you…” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8a). “The Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them” (Deuteronomy 10:15a). “The Lord appeared from of old to me [Israel], saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you. Again I will build you and you will be built, O virgin Israel!” (Jeremiah 31:3-4a, Amplified Translation). On the cross, Jesus Christ satisfied the Father’s perfect justice (see Isaiah 53:10a,11). Now the Father is free to release His unconditional love to man without violating His holiness. His justice now cries out on behalf of the believer: “Mercy rejoiceth against judgment” (James 2:13). In Deuteronomy 7:7, the Lord set His love upon us, and in Deuteronomy 10:15, He delights in loving us. In both of these verses, the Hebrew word hashaq is used, referring to a love that will not let go. It speaks of a love

God deals with His people in gentleness. He said in Hosea 11:4 that He drew Ephraim with the bands of love, removed their yoke, and bent down and gently laid food before them. David said in Psalm 18:35, “Thy gentleness [or condescension] has made me great.” Recently, I received a beautiful letter from a young lady who testified of the healing power of God’s love. She wrote: “I have been saved for twelve years, but have struggled every day with what happened to me when I was growing up. From the age of six, I was abused by my father. I was afraid to go to sleep at night. In an attempt to escape from the pain, I drank, used drugs, and attempted suicide several times. “Even after moving out of my house, I was unable to forgive my father for what he had done. I tried to stay in touch with him, but we always ended up arguing. One day, I received your doctrine booklet entitled

Healing Love

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

OUR VALUE TO GOD

Don’t Fight Back: Trust God. That booklet, along with the prayers and love of other believers in the Body of Christ, helped me to finally accept the love of God for myself and to believe that I am someone worth loving. I stopped fighting God, and I accepted His provisions for me. I have learned that I can live in absolute dependence upon Him, because He will only give me the best. “All fear is now gone. I can sleep at night without medication, and without drinking. I have pleasant dreams, and when I look at myself in the mirror in the morning, I like who I see. “Two nights ago, my father called me. For the first time in my life, God quickened me with the ability to take control of the conversation. I told him that I had totally forgiven him for everything he had ever done to me and that I wasn’t going to live in the past any longer. Because of God’s healing love, I was able to share with him how much God loves him and desires to set him free.” “The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down” (Psalm 145:14). “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand” (Psalm 37:24). Romans 5:2 says that every child of God is permanently standing in grace. Therefore, if we fall, we fall into grace. Then have we really fallen? From God’s

viewpoint, no. Why? Because Psalm 145:14 says that He upholds all who fall. It is possible for us to judge others by sight and accuse them of falling, when in reality, they have not fallen at all. We look at the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. We may only see what a person has done, but God sees what Christ has done. Just for a moment, stop and reflect on the times when you have been the weakest. Maybe you had fallen seven times in one day (Proverbs 24:16). You were so weak you couldn’t respond to God. You didn’t have a capacity to read the Scriptures. You couldn’t pray. You didn’t even feel like thanking God for anything. You were completely helpless. But the Trinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— were at work on your behalf. They were there to make sure you did not fall. At your worst moment, God still saw you inside Christ, the Beloved. He saw you seated in heavenly places. He saw you as a new creature. Picture yourself being so physically weak that you fall backward in total exhaustion. Yet, you never hit the floor because three men are standing behind you to catch you in their arms. This is exactly what it means for God to uphold us when we fall. The Trinity catches us so that we are not utterly cast down! God upholds us—despite our failure—because He is not through with us yet. We are still in the plan of grace. He will love us and impart strength through the Word of grace so we can begin to serve Him again. God treats us gently when we are weak. Hosea 11:4

God’s Love Upholds Us

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

OUR VALUE TO GOD

says that He “lifts up and eases the yoke” over our cheeks. Then He gently lays food before us. No wonder Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29, Amplified Translation). When we struggle with failure in an area of our lives and our countenance reveals the stress and pressure we are under, Jesus calls out to us in a still, small voice: “Come unto me...and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28, 30).

to lift him up. Song of Solomon 2:6 speaks of how Jesus Christ, our future Bridegroom, holds us up in His grace: “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.” No matter how far we may fall, the eternal arms of the Trinity are always under us to lift us back up into fellowship. We are always standing in grace, therefore, grace is always under us.

God Keeps Us from Falling

“The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them” (Deuteronomy 33:27). Sometimes a believer may feel that he has failed so much and fallen so far down that he is beyond the reach of grace. He has “hit the bottom,” so to speak. He keeps on sinning, though God has tried to stop him through conviction, warning, or even chastisement. But once again, the Trinity is at work. Picture a man lying on a board. He is so weak, he can’t get up. Then three men put their arms underneath the board and lift the man up. The board represents “the bottom” for a believer’s life—the lowest point in failure. By sight, it may even appear as though he is not saved. But just when he thinks he has fallen below the reach of grace, the eternal arms of the Trinity are there

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24). Not only does God’s love uphold us when we fall, but it keeps us from falling. God has a secret place, an impenetrable blockade where He keeps His people safe from harm. He guards us against invasion from Satan, our enemy. Psalm 91:1 says that we dwell in the “secret place of the most High.” We are hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Isaiah 27:3 speaks of God’s continual care over His “vineyard” (His people). “I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.” Why does God mention “night” first? Because night is the time when Satan seeks to take advantage of us the most. He wants to attack the subconscious and the unconscious mind with projections and reflections from the past in order to weaken us and cause us to stumble. But God guards the steps (walk) of those who have

We Can Never Fall Too Far

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

OUR VALUE TO GOD

His righteousness. “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber….The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand...The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore” (Psalm 121:3, 5, 7, 8). God’s unconditional love is behind His keeping power. The apostle Paul prayed that we would be “rooted and grounded in love,” and that we would be able to “comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that [we] might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:17b-19). The “breadth” of God’s love is described in Psalm 18:36: “Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.” This means that God has given us plenty of room for our steps so we will not fall. And if we do slip, mercy upholds us and gives us plenty of space to recover. The “length” of God’s love means that because He loved us in Christ before the foundation of the world, He keeps us during our time on the earth (Ephesians 1:4). From beginning to end, our times are in His hands (Psalm 31:15). The “depth” of God’s love means that He protects our subconscious and unconscious mind through the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. Finally, the “height” of God’s love means that He protects us from Satan and

his demons because we are seated above Satan’s kingdom (see Ephesians 1:20-21; 2:6). God also keeps mercy for His children. Exodus 34:7 says that He keeps mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin—not so we can continue in sin, but to keep us from sinning. His mercy is there if we do sin, but He desires for us to trust His divine nature to work in us to keep us from sinning. Once we see the value we have to God, we won’t want to hurt His love by living in sin. “The just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again” (Proverbs 24:16a). God’s grace gives us space to grow. God’s love allows us to go through a process of maturing. His patience never gets tired of forgiving us when we fail. He will keep right on forgiving us until we finally have victory. He upholds us when we fall; He picks us up when we hit the bottom; and then He keeps us from falling. This is the grace process. If there are areas in your life where you have secretly failed over and over again, please do not give up on yourself. We have a God who loves us and cares for us. We have a God who will never give up on us. He has begun a work in us, and He will finish it (Philippians 1:6). Someday in heaven, He will perfect us. Until then, He will continue to use us as His ambassadors on the earth in spite of our failures and shortcomings. God’s unconditional love will never promote sin in our lives because the more He loves us, the more we

God Will Never Give Up on You

FORGIVEN, FORGOTTEN, AND GONE FOREVER

OUR VALUE TO GOD

will love Him (1 John 4:19). And the more we love Him, the less we will want to hurt that love. We need to realize that our failures will not make Him love us any less, nor will our obedience make Him love us any more. As our great High Priest, Jesus will never cease to intercede for us; and as our Great Shepherd, He will never stop calling us by name.

God (2 Corinthians 4:6-7). The world needs to see this treasure coming forth from us. It is their only hope. As Christ comes into the hearts of the lost, they too will possess this treasure in their earthen vessels, and they will know the glorious gospel of the Finished Work. They will get to know a God who says, “Your sins and iniquities will I remember no more—they are forgiven, forgotten, and gone forever.”

Listen to the Shepherd’s Voice We have a fixed value in God’s eyes. Yet, we live in a world of changing values—and sometimes no values. That is why we need to listen more than ever to the voice of our Shepherd, rather than to the voices in the world that cause us to question our value. Moses, doubting his own ability to answer the call to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt, said to God, “Who am I?” (Exodus 3:11). When God called upon Gideon to deliver Israel from the Midianites, Gideon responded by saying, “My family is poor…and I am the least in my father’s house” (Judges 6:15). The prophet Jeremiah’s first response to his call to preach was, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child” (Jeremiah 1:6). In contrast, the voice of our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, will always tell us who we are. We are the apple of God’s eye—the center of His attention on the earth. We are kings and priests in His royal family. We are all fair and there is no spot in us (Song of Solomon 4:7). We are all glorious within (Psalm 45:13). We have a treasure within us—the light of the knowledge of the glory of

SCRIPTURE INDEX Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers Deuteronomy

Judges 1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings 2 Chronicles Job

13:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 13:9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 13:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 13:14-16 . . . . . . . . . . .71 28:16 . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 32:24 . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 32:28 . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 3:11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 15:25 . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 34:5-7 . . . . . . . . . . . .48 34:6-7 . . . . . . . . . .33, 48 34:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . .28, 30 16:1-22 . . . . . . . . . . .28 16:3-4 . . . . . . . . . . . .29 16:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 16:6, 11, 17 . . . . . . . .28 16:16, 33 . . . . . . . . . .28 16:16, 21, 30, 33 . . . .28 16:21-22 . . . . . . . . . . .30 16:26 . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 21:4-6, 8 . . . . . . . . . .24 23:21 . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 7:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86 7:7-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . .86 10:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . .86 17:17 . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 29:29 . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 32:4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 32:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 33:27 . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 6:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 16:7 . . . . . . . . . . .12, 74 20:42 . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 21:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 24:1-15 . . . . . . . . . . .77 26:5-11 . . . . . . . . . . . .77 26:11 . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 1:20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 5:13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 11:1-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 11:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . .77 1:1-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 15:5 . . . . . . . . . . .55, 78 20:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 13:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Psalms

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

16:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 18:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 18:35 . . . . . . . . . . . . .87 18:36 . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 18:44 . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 27:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 31:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 33:5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 37:24 . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 42:1-2 . . . . . . . . . . . .17 45:13 . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 51:4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 68:19 . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 79:8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 84:9 . . . . . . . . . . .23, 54 85:10-13 . . . . . . . . . . .48 91:1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91 103:1-4 . . . . . . . . . . .35 103:1-2 . . . . . . . . . . .32 103:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 103:4 . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 103:5 . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 103:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 103:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 103:8-10 . . . . . . . . . . .35 103:11-14 . . . . . . . . . .36 103:12-13 . . . . . . . . . .36 103:12 . . . . . . . . . . . .30 119:9 . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 121:3, 5, 7, 8 . . . . . . .92 145:14 . . . . . . . . .88, 89 147:3-7 . . . . . . . . . . .83 3:5-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 3:20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 9:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 10:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 11:13 . . . . . . . . . .51, 53 17:9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 17:17 . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 18:8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 18:24 . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 23:6-8 . . . . . . . . . . . .53 23:11 . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 24:5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 24:14 . . . . . . . . . .17, 68 24:16 . . . . . . .66, 89, 93 25:2 . . . . . . . . . . .46, 53 26:22 . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 27:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78

Song of Solomon 2:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91 4:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 Isaiah 27:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91 28:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 43:4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83 43:25 . . . . . . . . . .48, 53 45:22 . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 46:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 53:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 53:10-11 . . . . . . . .30, 86 53:12 . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 55:8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 59:5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 61:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Jeremiah 1:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 31:3-4 . . . . . . . . . . . .86 31:34 . . . . . . . . . .11, 38 50:20 . . . . . . . . . .11, 50 Lamentations 3:22-23 . . . . . . . . . . .39 Ezekiel 21:24 . . . . . . . . . .23, 24 26:16 . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 37:24 . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Hosea 3:1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 11:4 . . . . . . . .83, 87, 89 Amos 3:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Micah 7:8-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 7:18-19 . . . . . . . . .11, 49 Zechariah 3:1-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 3:4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Matthew 6:14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 11:28-30 . . . . . . . . . . .90 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 17:5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 18:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 19:26 . . . . . . . . . .13, 66 26:69-75 . . . . . . . . . . .79 26:75 . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 28:18-20 . . . . . . . . . . .72 Mark 5:36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 8:36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 9:23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 16:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 16:15-18 . . . . . . . . . . .72 Luke 4:20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 5:1-10 . . . . . . . . . . . .81 7:34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 23:46 . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 23:53 . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 24:46-49 . . . . . . . . . . .72 John 1:29 . . . . . . . . . . .20, 22 2: 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 3:14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

John

Acts

Romans

1 Corinthians

6:63 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 8:32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 8:36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 11:28 . . . . . . . . . . . . .84 12:20-21 . . . . . . . . . . .66 12:32 . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 13:35 . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 13:38 . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 14:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 14:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 15:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 15:13-15 . . . . . . . . . . .58 15:14 . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 19:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 20:21 . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 21:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 1:8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 2:14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81 2:23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 8:35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 10:38 . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 13:22 . . . . . . . . . .55, 78 1:5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 2:4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 3:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 4:17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 5:2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 6:11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 6:13 . . . . . . . . . . .43, 59 7:14-25 . . . . . . . . . . .69 7:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 7:24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 7:25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 8 . . . . . . . . . . .43, 44, 70 8:1 . . . . . . . . . . . .69, 70 8:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 8:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 8:23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 8:29-30 . . . . . . . . . . .21 8:31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 8:32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 8:33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 8:34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 8:35-39 . . . . . . . . . . .70 8:35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 8:36-37 . . . . . . . . . . .42 8:38-39 . . . . . . . . . . .43 12:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 14:4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 14:22 . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 1:18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

1 Corinthians

1:30-31 . . . . . . . . . . .23 2:2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 2:13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 8:1-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 10:13 . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 12:27 . . . . . . . . . . . . .86 13:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 2 Corinthians 3:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 4:4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 4:6-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 4:10-12 . . . . . . . . . . .43 4:11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 4:17-18 . . . . . . . . . . .47 5:14-21 . . . . . . . . . . .37 5:17 . . . . . . . .11, 38, 39 5:18-19 . . . . . . . . . . .39 5:19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 5:20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 5:21 . . . . . . . . . . .38, 40 6:1-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 6:2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Galatians 5:1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 5:16 . . . . . . . . . . .51, 62 6:1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 6:14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Ephesians 1:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 1:4 . . . . . . . . . . . .21, 92 1:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 1:17-18 . . . . . . . . . . .14 1:17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 1:20-21 . . . . . . . . . . .93 2:6 . . . . . . . . . . . .54, 93 3:17-19 . . . . . . . . . . .92 4:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 4:32 . . . . . . . . . . .12, 72 5:2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 5:25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 5:26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Philippians 1:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93 3:3-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 Colossians 3:3 . . . . . .23, 41, 54, 91 1 Thessalonians 5:17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71 5:23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 2 Timothy 1:12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 2:13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Hebrews 1:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 4:12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 6:14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72 7:24-25 . . . . . . . . . . .67 8:12 . . . . . . . . . . .38, 49 9:13-14 . . . . . . . . . . .45 9:24 . . . . . . . . . . .67, 68

Hebrews

James 1 Peter

2 Peter 1 John

3 John Jude Revelation

10:1-14 . . . . . . . . . . .22 10:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 10:14 . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 10:17 . . . . . . .11, 38, 49 10:30 . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 11:3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 11:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 11:27 . . . . . . . . . .34, 66 12:2 . . . . . . . . . . .25, 34 13:5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 2:13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86 2:23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 2:9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86 2:23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 2:24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 3:19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 4:8-10 . . . . . . . . . . . .55 1:2-10 . . . . . . . . . . . .29 2:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 1:7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 1:9 . . . . . . . . . . . .29, 45 2:2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 3:2-3 . . . . . . . . . .68, 69 3:2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 3:16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 3:20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 4:10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 4:19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94 5:12 . . . . . . . . . . .23, 35 1-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . .82, 91 1:6 . . . . . . . . . . . .33, 86 10:6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 13:8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 19:8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29