Christ Forgives Like No Other - Baptism - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

[Music] now let's just pray one more time as we open up the scriptures and ask the holy spirit to help us father we ask in jesus name that you would really speak to our hearts today lord we trust that you've already done that through the wonderful testimonies of those who have obeyed you in baptism through the worship lord but in this moment through the written word may we feel the power of your voice and lord may you open the eyes of those who don't know you for those who know you but are but are asleep spiritually may you graciously awaken our eyes and may you lord fill us afresh with your spirit help us see christ help us leave here with a greater understanding of his beauty of his love of his compassion and of his forgiveness for us lord we present to you the ministry of the word but we ask that you would empower it so that we would sense this word being driven in the deepest parts of who we are so that we would be transformed by your grace help us in this moment lord really help us god because we long to know you in jesus name we pray these things amen and amen what we just witnessed this morning was three people that testified of their faith in the person and work of jesus christ and what just took place was not just an observance to an ordinance that people wanted to do in order to honor some cultural tradition nor was it something that was pressured by family members i hope not at least it was something that was decided by individuals who said i i know that i need jesus christ to save my soul now if i were to ask you what just took place you might say it was a statement of faith and you would be right but this was not just a statement of faith in a creed or in a theology or in a belief system listen it was a statement of love it was a statement of love for the christ of christianity that's very important if i were to ask you what would bar somebody from entering into eternal life to enjoy god's good pleasure with his presence what would grant somebody to be expelled and to be condemned for all eternity again what would your answer be and perhaps it would be found in john 3 verse 18 from the lips of the savior himself who said whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of god that seems pretty straightforward this whole thing the very thing that takes you from death to life from from hell to heaven from lost to save is a matter of faith it's a matter of trusting what god had done what he had said about himself what he says about you and then you agreeing with that wholeheartedly but it's interesting because as you read on the bible i want to show you another example another has no love for the lord let him be accursed this is not a time to get sleepy if anyone has no love for the lord let him be accursed our lord come according to paul this word accursed means devoted to destruction it speaks of a divine wrath being unleashed on somebody according to paul if someone doesn't have love for the lord that warrants him to be condemned righteously and justly do we have a contradiction here do we have a contradiction between paul and jesus no we have a complete understanding of what saving faith looks like that's what we have according to the holy spirit saving faith is not just an invisible contract that you sign with a heartless confession because you want to make sure that you have a place in heaven and that you can escape hell saving faith looks like you realizing what jesus christ has done and from your heart allowing that knowledge to stir you where you thrust yourself at his mercy trusting in his saving work but also treasuring his person for the rest of your days longing to be in fellowship with your savior and with your master this is kind of profound because according to the holy spirit if a person has no sense of affection for jesus no joy connected to him no ambition to be in communion with jesus your faith is most likely if not futile it doesn't make sense it doesn't make sense to to the bible does it make sense to the word of god does it make sense to early christianity you can't say that you have faith in jesus and not love him with a real love with a love that's not theological but is felt in the heart some days it's colder than others but down deep inside you can testify i love jesus i truly cherish him and i long for him so here's my question for you this morning i'm not going to ask you if you have faith in jesus i want to say what paul would say do you love jesus do you love him and i'm not asking if you love the idea of jesus because many people appreciate jesus i'm saying do you love the jesus of the bible as revealed through this scripture if not what's your faith if not what are you believing in i say all this to make sure that none of us would be mistaken that what just happened today was far greater than just a declaration of belief it is in fact a declaration of love these people said i love the one who saved me and it will be further proven by a life of surrender and obedience and worship to this jesus who is alive and well today now one might think well this is kind of cruel i'm not sure if i agree with this kind of equation how can love be demanded of me like our culture says you fall into love you can't force something out of my heart you can't ask something of me that's supposed to be natural and true and you might be right you might be right if this was a neutral thing but it's not neutral because we know that our god initiated love our god loved us first he displayed his desire for humanity in such a way that it would only be right to unreservedly offer your love back to him that's hard for us to believe but it is true and one of the strongest ways if not the strongest way that god has manifested his love is in the place of forgiveness forgiveness showing forth mercy and grace to people who don't deserve it if you can't see god's love in that then you won't see it anywhere else paul said something quite interesting in ephesians 4 32. you don't have to turn there but just listen to these words forgiveness according to god's understanding is not left to our own interpretation when we understand what he has done in forgiveness it is an act of grace that is so overwhelming that if you truly understand it you would realize how it would be a crime according to paul to not love him in return and when a man or woman realizes the magnitude of the forgiveness that is found in christ he would realize surely if they're honest the horror of holding back your surrender to him paul says in ephesians 4 32 be kind to one another tenderhearted forgiving one another as god in christ forgave you as god in christ forgave you you know what that teaches it doesn't just teach us that god forgives it means that he forgives in a particular way there's a way in which god forgives he doesn't just generally forgive because many people hold to the conviction of needing to forgive others but they have different standards of forgiveness there is a set limit to how much they can forgive someone there are conditions for you in order to access their mercy if you have wronged them and some do not have much forgiveness to give anybody really but there is a standard that god has in forgiveness that would amaze you if you just even give a glance to it and that's what i want to do in this short moment i want you to understand just how much god is willing to forgive anyone and the first point i want to make this morning is that the forgiveness found in christ has no limits there is no limit and you can go from genesis to revelation to see different rays of light that would show you how warm and inviting the forgiveness that is in jesus that is in god even in the old testament displays and there's one example that comes to mind this morning and it's in hebrews 11 31 one woman her name is rahab in hebrews 11 31 we are told this by faith rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who are disobedient because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies you know rahab is mentioned three times in the new testament twice we are told that she was a prostitute it means the holy spirit really wants to tell us something about this woman what's amazing about rahab she's found in the old testament early on in redemptive history and rahab is an astounding character because she had received forgiveness at a time when there was only one chosen people there was one who experienced god firsthand and it was the nation of israel not that god didn't love the other nations but he redeemed one specific nation in order for in the future time to use him as a vessel to touch the world but at that time it was known israel was the chosen people of god rahab was not an israelite rahab was a canaanite she was outside of the fold she was not included she was not recognized by those who said we have yahweh as our god but what's amazing is if a jew in ancient time would have read the book of joshua where rahab is found he would have been absolutely astounded you know why because rahab was included among the people of god now listen to this and she was also granted the privilege to enjoy the promised land you're saying why would a jew at that time be shocked because she stood in contrast to an entire generation of jews that didn't experience the promised land you had the entire first generation of the jews coming out of egypt planning to go into the promised land but because of their disbelief continually rebelling and not trusting in god they died in the wilderness and then this canaanite woman gets to go in why because she believed why because she wanted this god why because she recognized her sinfulness and his righteousness and she needed his mercy and she trusted that god would give her that mercy and he did and it's true prophetically right that rahab represents what would be true in jesus day who is the greater joshua what does she represent that there will be those who are not abraham's descendants that would show more hunger and humility towards the messiah than his own people would but we see here that there's something else as you just heard rahab is referenced twice out of the three times in the new testament as a prostitute a prostitute so we not only understand her race we understand her behavior her lifestyle and we see here that she offered her body up for financial gain you know she was a woman of the streets she was a woman of the night she probably made men commit adultery she probably destroyed marriages she had no regard that she was created in the image of god she had no sense of god's holy standard for sexual purity and for marriage she destroyed her body she destroyed her testimony and she in fact destroyed other people along with her sin but what's amazing is we learn here that she was not destroyed among those who are disobedient i understand how significant that is the summary of the story of rahab is this that god's forgiveness is not dependent upon your culture it's not dependent upon your reputation it's not hindered by even your record of wrong no matter how vile your life was or is today no matter how dark no matter how despicable the most embarrassing shameful thing you have done that would make you crawl out of this place an embarrassment if it was even known to two people you have to understand this he wants to forgive you he longs to forgive he already knows about it you're hiding it from your parents you're hiding it from your boyfriend you're hiding it from your fiance you're hiding it from your children you're hiding it from your co-workers god knows yeah god still wants to extend his hand and bring you into his promises someone shared an illustration of this truth that i think helps us understand it in our context if you knew that god was going to destroy the city of chicago like he destroyed jericho where rahab was from and you also knew that he was going to save only one person out of the millions that represent our city who would come to your mind as a candidate that would be worthy to be saved who would you think in light of god's holiness would be worthy to be redeemed from the wrath of god let me ask you this would a woman who numbed her body with drugs and gave her flesh as a piece of meat for men to satisfy their fantasies would she be a candidate in your mind the one that's probably in an alleyway right now that's probably overdosing would that be a person in your mind for god to come and save he did for rahab out of all of those in jericho he saw a prostitute who had one thing faith not a clean life not a perfect life not a blameless life not a religious life but a life that realized that she was in the wrong and that this holy god had holy mercy for her and he called upon him and he saved her there is no limit to his forgiveness what's amazing is that after she is engrafted among the people of israel god providentially led her to mary a certain man and she had a son and her son would be the grandfather of another amazing man of god by the name of king david and david would have his son down the line who would be our savior and that's the third place where rahab is mentioned in the genealogy of jesus christ the forgiveness of jesus the forgiveness of our god has no limits but it also knows no hesitation the story that comes to mind when i think of the forgiveness of god having no hesitation is the thief on the cross oh the thief on the cross as you read about him as you see it what's interesting about his story is that in the account of matthew jesus we're told is in the middle of two thieves and both of them mocked him not just one we are told that both robbers in matthew 27 44 reviled him mocked him shamed him i mean think about the extent of the suffering of jesus christ if you expected any mercy any compassion maybe just even silence surely you'll be with those who are being tortured with you those that are suffering with you but with the dying breath of these sinners they use it up to mock the savior and so here you have christ in the middle on that hill with two people mocking him who are also dying come on you're dying save your breath and before him is a crowd that is blaspheming him and where his disciples are are they not supposed to be faithful no they're dispersed and as all this chaos is happening him being the object of so much hate he's saving them he's dying for them but you go to luke's account and you realize something about one of these thieves there's a change of heart something alters his eyes begin to open there is a softness that begins to emerge in him and now he begins to engage with jesus and he actually asked jesus for forgiveness he went from mocking and reviling and scorning to saying please remember me please remember me when you come in your kingdom now my question is this what changed in the man how did this happen why the transition how did he go from humiliation to humility how do you go from scorn to crying out for salvation you have to see it so turn your bibles to luke 23 and i believe that this was the moment this was the moment that triggered something in this man's life because the question to simply ask is what happened before he he changed there were several sayings of the christ on the cross and the one saying that we find before this man cries out to jesus is in luke 23 34 and what do you see and jesus said father forgive them for they know not what they do and they cast lots to divide his garments you read on after that and this thief was hanging on another cross asked for his mercy you see what happened he was mocking and mocking and the crowd was mocking and mocking and there was darkness and all these things were happening and all for a sudden jesus breaks the silence and he says father forgive them they don't know what they're doing and this man heard it and when he heard it he realized he's willing to forgive he's willing to even call upon god to extend mercy upon us even though they're afflicting pain on him even though they're gambling for his clothes even though they were spewing hatred right to his faith he's still willing to forgive but it's even more amazing to think this listen that the forgiveness that jesus was willing to extend touched one thief but not the other both thieves were dying the same death for the same crime but what christ said and between them touched one and touched just like this morning some of you might be touched and some of you will walk out of here with blasphemy in your heart probably i don't know you i don't know if you know jesus christ i hope that all of you would come to know jesus christ but look here look what the other man says in verse 39 one of the criminals who were hanged railed at him saying are you not the christ save yourself and us save yourself and us you're the messiah you did miracles you you raised the dead then why don't you get off the cross and take me off with you you know what's amazing is this man who was requesting jesus to come off the cross to save him did not realize that in jesus staying on the cross he was really saving him see had christ had answered that request he might have saved him temporarily but he would have perished forever so we see that jesus in his wisdom jesus and his mercy does not answer this request just like many people who mock christ and challenge christ god doesn't answer those because he wants them to know his mercy and jesus here doesn't answer and this man who challenged him i'm sure would have been shocked to hear not jesus respond to him but his friend rebuked him sharply rebuke him and say do you not fear god we're here justly this man he doesn't deserve to be here and he begins to declare something interesting he was joining him just a few minutes ago and now he is defending him and he begins to he begins to ask jesus for mercy you know what's amazing is that one thief who mocked christ asked christ to take him off the cross but the other thief who was touched by the lord didn't ask to get off the cross he asked to be with christ take me where you're going remember me remember me when you come in your kingdom so he begins to now declare his own sinful state and he begins to declare that i believe you are the one in whom the prophet spoke of i believe you're the messiah that was to come and even though you're dying and the messiah is supposed to bring a kingdom i know that even if you die you're going to bring your kingdom i believe in you so remember me would you please remember me so what happened as this man was there on his own cross he heard jesus pray to the father father forgive them and this man realized that them includes me me a mocker me a blasphemer me who's been a criminal my whole life me who in this moment is even despising him who was saving me me he thought in stunned silence if he's willing to forgive then i want his forgiveness and the famous words of jesus he turns to this man while having the weight of sin on his shoulders and he says truly he says truly you know why he's saying truly because what he's about to say is very hard to believe i want you to know what this promise is about to say is actually genuine and sincere truly i really mean it today you will be with me in paradise what do you think the human mind in that kind of condition would say to a man like this who mocked who lived as a criminal you know what people might think jesus could have said you really think it's that easy huh you've lived as a filthy robber a liar and perhaps a murderer and you just think that all of a sudden you can ask for forgiveness and not just kind of all wipe away you know people say that about forgiveness in christ you think it just takes all it takes is just a confession and all of that is just taken away you think it's that easy you just mock me in one breath in the next breath you're going to ask for forgiveness and i'm just going to lay it up and just give it to you yes truly no hesitation no probation needed no purgatory to cleanse himself before he enters into heaven no today what did he say you will be in paradise did he say that no he didn't say that he says you will be with me in paradise big difference see heaven for people is heaven because it's paradise no heaven is heaven because jesus is there see again it goes back to the first point if you claim to have faith but you don't love the lord you gotta you gotta re-examine what you really believe in because it's relational what makes glory glorious is the glorious one what makes heaven heaven is the one who reigns in heaven he told the thief you will be with me not you will escape hell not you'll be in a safe place for all eternity no you will be near me and you will see my glory see that is jesus true desire in extending his forgiveness it's not fire insurance it's not so that you can give your money once a week it's not that so you can just have some convictions in life forgiveness is about reconciliation forgiveness is about restoring what's been fractured between a holy god and a broken sinful rebellious humanity and so he says what has been longing in his heart since genesis today you will be with me here's proof what was the first thing that we see god saying after the fall after adam and eve had sinned against god we see that the lord comes and walks in the cool of that garden and then he asked a question it says where are you genesis 3 9 it says he searched for man and said where are you the first reaction of god with the first act of sin was a longing to see and to restore and to reconcile with man where are you i'm looking for you did god not know where he was no as i often say he wanted adam to know where adam was and god still asked that today where are you where are you with christ where are you and you're standing with him where are you are you in sin today are you just a nominal christian you grew up in the church but you have no living vibrant relationship with this jesus it's not it's not true it's not sincere you can't say with paul i really love him like i enjoy him i delight in him i sing for him not because i have to in church and parrot some words on his screen i sing because there's a song in my soul god says where are you he wants you to ask that question where am i but it also shows that he is willing and longing to save he is searching for humanity to come to the realization that he's willing to forgive with no hesitation realize this the moment that this robber asked for mercy to be remembered for christ's forgiveness was the moment that he was forgiven that day would redirect his eternal destination but had the man had asked christ for forgiveness when he wasn't on a cross maybe this man heard about jesus because he heard him preach at one point i wonder if this man was at the sermon of the mount i wonder if he was at one of the miracles where he multiplied bread and fed thousands he had some understanding of jesus but here's the point i want to make had this man had asked christ for forgiveness early on not only would his eternal destination be redirected his life on the earth would have been changed and altered for the rest of his days which brings me to the final point his forgiveness not only knows no limits not only knows no hesitation but his forgiveness opens up a new world for us you see when you and i receive the mercy that jesus christ offers it doesn't just stop at forgiveness he gives us so much more wouldn't we be satisfied to know that we don't have to experience eternal wrath wouldn't it be enough for us to even realize that yes he's forgiven me and he he made me the lowliest slave in his kingdom in heaven wouldn't we be satisfied with that would we not be amazed if he had just identified us as children of god when we were labeled as enemies of god but his forgiveness offers us so much more so much more so much more than a place to go so much more than not experiencing something awful so much more and here's one example you don't have to turn there but paul says that quite clear in second corinthians 5 18 all this is from god who through christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation notice this christ reconciled us to himself who initiated reconciliation you no christ even though he's the innocent party we're the ones who should be begging god to come up with a plan to restore us but instead we were running away from god and though he was the one that was wronged he steps out and he initiates reconciliation he gets our attention he was lifted up on that cross so that he could draw all men to himself but then he doesn't just give us salvation it says and gave us the ministry of reconciliation so he doesn't just save you for a time to come listen he doesn't just give you some kind of assurance and then leave you alone until you meet him one day no he goes on to give you something in this life he makes you a co-laborer with him he hires you to have a purpose on the earth and to serve him in his redemptive purposes on the earth think about that he doesn't just make you forgiven he doesn't just cancel your debt he puts on a badge and calls you ambassador of christ and you represent a different kingdom a different world a different law in this wretched and broken world and you are now his ambassador the mercy of god see god's grace doesn't want to just stop there he wants to spill into real life see it's faith is not just a private thing that happens in your heart and and no no no no it spills everywhere he gives us the ministry of reconciliation each of us he says i'm gonna fill you with my holy spirit i'm gonna have a plan for you that i have written for you before eternity passed that you would just walk in them and i'm going to use you to actually know the joys of serving me and glorifying me he gives the ministry of reconciliation i now can walk not just knowing that when i die and give my final breath that i will enter those gates no no no no no i walk with the knowledge that i serve him i know him he will allow me to see wonderful and glorious things he will actually use me once an enemy to touch other people's lives that's why we should never feel for a moment that we're doing god's service when we serve him no matter what capacity in which you serve him you have to realize that that is an act of grace in itself this is a jarring concept so jarring was that in jesus day that he often gave illustrations to show that he really meant it and one of those illustrations was as you know the story of the prodigal son where a man a father had two sons and one of those sons tells his father you know dad i know that i get my inheritance when you die but i wish you were dead right now because i want my inheritance the father just take it he takes it he dishonors his father and he squanders his wealth in sin and then he finds himself in a despicable place among pigs and then he says he comes to himself and he realizes how did i get to this place and he convinces himself to go back to his father not to his house not to his land not to a warm bed it says he wanted to go back to the father and he said i'll convince him to at least make me a slave and as he prepares a speech and he comes the father who's been waiting for him sees him on the horizon and he chases him down and throws himself upon him kissing him the man can't even finish his speech and what does he do what does he do does he grab him by the neck and say you dishonored me and you think he'd come back yeah you'll come back to me because you know i'm your dad but you're going to work for every penny that you took for me get him back in the house no he gets a robe he gets a ring and he calls for the fattest calf to be cut and slaughtered so that they can celebrate now hold on the man took his inheritance from you before you even died that's a spit in the face and then he asked for forgiveness and you don't just forgive him you give him more you give him more than what he already took like it would have made sense i would have been like hallelujah if i read that parable and realize that he took him back into the house and he became his slave for the rest of his days that seems fair that seems just that seems merciful no he gives him and lavishes more on him than whatever he already took you see when you come to christ there's a celebration that awaits when you come to christ there's there's a new way of life to be experienced when you come to christ there are gifts and rewards that he has prepared for you so now you ask this question with just touching the surface of understanding the forgiveness of jesus is it not a crime to not love him in return is it not an offense to a holy god who has shown us so much love to reserve our love for him that's the point see paul had a mind paul had revelation paul had something that is unparalleled to any other man he had a revelation of the depth of the mercy and forgiveness of jesus christ and though he wrote it as a man he was inspired by the spirit he says i know jesus's love so well i've experienced his presence i've seen all these things even i've been up to the third heaven i've seen so much that i'm convinced to say that if anyone does not love the lord let him be accursed that might offend you if you think jesus is a good teacher only that might offend you even if he was a prophet or a miracle worker no he's your salvation he's your savior he's the one that will take you from that my reclaim set you up upon the rock he's the one that will deliver you from the wrath to come he's the one that will not only save you but he will sanctify you and give you a purpose from this world a purpose that as we heard here fills you it satisfies you it makes you complete i know why i'm now created i know why i'm alive i know why i'm on this earth do you love him how do i get to this forgiveness because there is one aspect to his forgiveness that we have to understand it is conditional he's not dishing out forgiveness here might disappoint some universalists but he's not going to redeem everybody at the end of the day no matter what you believe he's too precious and holy his price was too great he is unlike any other and he deserves to be loved and the one that doesn't love him let him be accursed it's conditional upon this your repentance your repentance and your trust in him you see the story of that that man that the prodigal son it's interesting at one point it says he came to himself he came to himself you know what that tells me that before that moment he was in delusion he was convinced him something that was false he thought if i just give myself to whatever i desire whatever my impulses are i will be satisfied i will know joy i will know pleasure if i have more money i have more experiences i have more peace i have more security and then all for a sudden it all came crashing down and he came to himself i i was deceived i lied to myself i've been lied to so i use that point to offer this to you would you just think for a moment just think don't go by your emotions we have a rational faith don't go by even what you've heard your whole life just think for a moment examine realize look at your own life compare this christ with every other religion compare this invitation to every other invitation matters of spirituality and think for a moment there's no one like him there's no one like him i close with this i have people ask me why your religion why christianity and i can go into the manuscript evidence i can talk about this i can talk about that but every religion world religion will confess that we are all sinners that we've done wrong and that if we're wrong we'll be condemned by a holy god right here's the thing i can't trust in my own righteousness it just comes down to that if it comes down to me meeting god one day face to face in my life being examined i have no hint of confidence that i can argue my way into heaven so then what well there's only one faith that tells me that i don't have to argue for myself christ stands in my place and he will defend me so if i'm going to bank on my own righteousness or the man that i read here the god-man and the person of jesus christ i'm going to go with jesus christ i'm gonna go with jesus christ i think it's good to take advice from someone who rose from the dead wouldn't you agree every other religious leader founder there's a tomb with their name on it there's only one tomb that's empty jesus is alive and well he is the reigning lord and he will return one day and i want to make sure that you love him because he's worthy to be loved and he first loved you he's not asking you for the love he already loved you and he's waiting for you to respond repent of your sins believe on his name you shall be saved let's pray father we thank you that your forgiveness knows no limits that you're willing to even save the pharisee who is self-righteous or the prostitute like rahab who had no dignity for our whole life thank you that your forgiveness knows no hesitation that the moment we call upon you and ask for your mercy you give it you give it and lord thank you that your forgiveness if we still have breath in our lungs opens us up to a new world and you give us more than just salvation you give us peace and joy and purpose you give us a ministry you call us you hire us to serve you and to touch a broken world lord there's no one who forgives like you in this moment even if there's one person who is not sure if they love the lord jesus christ as a response to your love for them may they call upon you with the revelation that they have received lord your word went forth but only you can open the eyes of the heart would you open the eyes of those who can't see you clearly and lord for those for us who know you help us see greater depths of your majesty of your manifold glory help us love him more and more with our lives lord we worship you in light of this in light of the forgiveness that is found in jesus give us a fresh understanding of it as we leave this place in jesus name we pray amen can we stand as we worship the one who forgives

Channel: UE Church - Chicago

Views: 452

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: daniel batarseh, ue church, bible study, sermon, church, new testament, old testament, teaching, preaching, building, encouraging, christ, jesus, christian, how to, god, lord, where, when, how, bible, christain, christianity, encouragement, what, Baptism, Forgive, forgiveness, baptismal, water, spirit, why

Id: DORonNM5J0g

Length: 40min 3sec (2403 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 07 2021