Sermon Notes 04-19-09

April 19th 2009 “The ‘G’ Giant”
“What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! What joys when sins are covered over! What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record.”Psalms 32:1-2
Point to Ponder:
Why deal with our guilt?

A. Have you ever tried to outrun your past? Illustration: I heard about a recent convention of Arkansas State troopers who were asked to submit the best excuse they ever heard for someone trying to get out of a speeding ticket. The winning entry was submitted by a trooper who clocked a semi tractor truck speeding down the inner state. The trooper pulled in behind the truck, turned his lights on, but the truck kept going. The trooper got right up on his bumper and the truck kept going. The trooper turned on his siren but the truck went even faster. Finally the truck ran out of gas, rolled to the side of the highway. The trooper got out and walked up to the trucker’s window. The driver rolled down his window. The trooper said, “Did you see my lights?” The trucker said, “Yes sir, I did.” Did you see me following you right on your bumper? The trucker said, “Yes sir, I did.” Did you hear my siren all those miles? The trucker said, “Yes sir, I did.” The trooper said, “Then why didn’t you pull over?” The trucker said, “Well, to be honest with you, about two years ago my wife ran off with an Arkansas state trooper. I thought you were trying to bring her back!”
B. Is it possible to live in such a way that you’re unafraid that your past will catch up with you? David said in Psalm 32:1-2 Living Bible “What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven. What release for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record!” Why deal with my guilt?

1st The Giant of: Fear and Guilt are twin sisters they go hand in hand!
Guilt is the fear I'll be caught.
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart”
Guilt keeps us from being BLESSED!
If we deal with guilt, we’ll gain confidence.

2nd If I deal with my guilt my relationships will improve!1. What happened to Adam and Eve when they had Guilt in their heart? They Hide from God! Genesis 3:8- “8Toward evening they heard the LORD God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees. 9The LORD God called to Adam, “Where are you?” 10He replied, “I heard you, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” 11“Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked. “Have you eaten the fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
Guilt makes us replay over and over again our past.
Guilt forces us to stay confined in our past.
We dwell on things that we want to change and we just can’t change.

Point to Ponder:
1st Why Deal With My Guilt?
2nd How to Remove Guilt?

A. Last words are important—before someone dies!Illustration: In Fresno, while I was pasturing there, I was called to the hospital to visit a man who was dying from emphysema. He told me, “I knew that the cigarettes were killing me, but I couldn’t stop using them because of the need for the nicotine! His last words were: “Give me a cigarette!” Jesus’ last words: Luke 23:34 "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
“Forgiveness” is the main cleaning tool for guilt!

You’ve heard the expression “skeletons in the closet”! Where are those closets?
They’re in your mind, your heart. They are those places you’ve locked some secrets away. You’ve shut the door. You don’t want anybody snooping around because you don’t want those skeletons to come tumbling out.

How important is forgiveness? Jesus said: Matthew 6:14-15 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
“Forgiveness” is the main cleaning tool for guilt!

David said: Psalm 139, a great prayer “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test my thoughts, point out anything You find in me that makes You sad.”

B. Forgiveness starts—the guilt removing process! Proverbs 4:23 "watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life"Matthew 15:19, Jesus said, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders."
The heart encompasses both mind and will.
The heart determines behavior.
Double-mindedness is like a cancer of the spirit. It slowly eats away at your spiritual life until there is no real life left. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other"

Point to Ponder:
1st Why Deal With My Guilt?
2nd How Do You Remove Guilt?
3rd Accept God’s Forgiveness!

A. It is like a merry-go-round—“Blame, deny, avoid. I blame, I deny, I avoid.”
Blame—“It’s not my fault it’s your fault!
Deny—“Sure there might be some issues somewhere but I don’t think they’re my issues”.
Avoid—“I don’t want to talk about that!”
We do it over and over and over again.

Proverbs 20:27 “The Lord gave us a mind and a conscience. We cannot hide from ourselves.”
Let God do the deep cleaning.

1 John 1:9 “If we freely admit that we have sinned we find God utterly reliable. He forgives our sin. He makes us thoroughly clean from all that is evil.”

Illustration: I read about a woman who was dying of AIDS contracted through a promiscuous lifestyle. She asked the minister to come by and visit her and she said to him “I am so lost. I have ruined my life and the lives of everybody around me. I’m headed for hell. There is no hope that God would do anything for me.” The minister looked at her for a moment. Then he allowed his eyes to wander around her dingy apartment. His eyes landed on a framed picture of a beautiful young woman setting on the dresser of this woman’s small room. He asked, “Who is that?” She brightened just a moment and said, “That is the one beautiful thing in my life. That’s a picture of my daughter.” The minister asked her, “Would you help her if she were in trouble no matter how many mistakes she made? And would you forgive her if she asked you to? Would you love her no matter what?” The woman said, “Of course I would! Why would you even ask me such a question?” “Because I want you to understand,” replied the minister, “that God has a picture on His dresser too. God loves you more than you love your own child.”

God says to you in Isaiah 1:18 “No matter how deep the stain of your sin is, I can take it out and make it clean as freshly fallen snow.”
God, how can you do that? How can You forgive me? Because He is utterly reliable.
Romans 3:23 “All of us have sinned.” We’re all in the same boat.

Explore your experiences with guilt.
Check all that apply:
I feel guilty when I do something I know is wrong.
I feel guilty about everything.
I feel guilty when I do wrong, and it helps me do right the next time.
I feel guilty when I do wrong, but I just keep on doing it, hoping the guilt will go away.
I feel guilty because of what _________ did to me.
I used to feel guilty about certain things, but I gradually got over it.
I feel a heavy burden of guilt, I have begged God to for­give me, but the guilt never goes away for long.
I still feel guilty about ______________________.
I used to feel guilty about _________, but God has lifted that burden from me.
Guilt is bogus—you just need to be true to yourself.
I feel guilty for lying on my answers above.
Many times we feel guilt be­cause … we are guilty!

God used guilt to bring Da­vid to repentance and a right relationship with Him. Have you ever truly acknowledged the sin, truly re­pented and asked forgiveness? 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
the path to a clear conscience is pretty straight­forward:
Admit your sin to yourself, and confess it to God.
Ask for and accept God’s forgiveness.
Ask God to change your heart so you will not repeat the sin.
If possible, make amends to whomever you hurt with this sin, and ask his or her forgive­ness.

Prayer: Dear God, there are men and women here, so weighed down by their guilt just seemingly can’t move forward but today they want to. God, I’m asking You to give them the courage. I believe You will because You are utterly reliable. I’m thanking You right now for helping them as they commit to take this step. In Jesus name. Amen.