When Your Sin is Totally Forgiven R870

God has an encouraging word for you and me today, through the Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton about when our sin is forgiven.

Actually, it's even better than that. It's when your sin is totally forgiven, as we open God's Word to solve what happens as we study and apply the Word together. Now, our teacher, Dr. Don Wilton, is a well-known author, pastor, seminary professor, and while we do so, know that we'd love to pray with you and pray for you by connecting on our website anytime at www.tewonline.org.

That's www.tewonline.org. Now, Dr. Don Wilton. The Encouraging Word. And you know what I have come to appreciate about this subject, which I've entitled when your sin is totally forgiven? What I've come to appreciate about it is that it applies to every one of us today. I will confess to you there many times when I stand up here and I speak and I say, Now, Lord, you've told me to speak on a certain subject and I know it doesn't apply to everybody.

And Lord, I want you to make the right application and God always does that. But today, folks, I'm going to waive that because I know that when it comes down to the matter of sin and forgiveness, everybody's included. Bible tells us all of us have sinned, right? The Bible says there is none righteous, not one, not one person. So choir, I know this message is for you.

Orchestra, I know it's for you. I know it's for every single man, woman, boy and girl. The Bible says all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Bible also tells us that when God forgives us, he takes our sin and he casts it far as the east is from the west and he remembers it no more.

Technically, we don't quite get it, do we? We seem to struggle with the matter of forgiveness when your sin is totally forgiven. Now, here's what we're going to do today. I'm going to give to you 10 points. I call them a checklist for total forgiveness. I'm going to give you 10 bullets and I'm going to guarantee you something from God's word. If you're able to check off these 10 points, my friends, according to God's word, you're not just forgiven. You're totally forgiven. It's gone.

It's over. Now, you will still bear the consequences of your sin, but you have been forgiven completely, totally, entirely and utterly. Because that's what God has done for us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the most incredible gift that God could ever give to people like you and me because all of us have sinned.

We've all fallen short of the glory of God. Now, I want you to just imagine for a moment that I'm about to bake a cake. Not a good idea. I promise you I'm not going to do that. But if I was able to bake a cake and I was to call this cake forgiveness, I'm baking a cake that is called forgiveness. What would be the ingredients necessary to put into the baking of that cake to make it the cake that it's intended to be and the most delicious cake that perhaps you've ever eaten?

What would those ingredients be? I'm going to give you 10 points today. You might want to write them down in the back of your Bible because you're going to need them. But write these things down. So where are we going to find this from? How about in the bulletin somewhere? Maybe we could find the answer there.

What about in one of the self-help? I know what to do. Guys, forget it. Just watch Dr. Fool. And if that fails, tune in Oprah.

She'll tell you. Somebody somewhere has got to have the answer to this, folks. Well, I'm going to submit to you.

We're going to go right to the only source. Psalm 51. Open your Bibles with me this morning. Why Psalm 51?

That's known as the Psalm of David. I want to remind you something about David. David was guilty of three particular sins. We know what they were. Number one, he was guilty of adultery.

Number two, he was guilty of lying. Number three, he was guilty of murder, particularly heinous crimes against society, but sin in the eyes of God. I don't believe that God categorizes sin, does he? Because sin is sin in the eyes of God.

Doesn't say this sin's worse than that. But society must categorize sin. If you want to know how severe a sin is or a crime is, just match the punishment.

Crime and punishment should match together from a societal cultural perspective, right? That's how we grade sin. God doesn't grade sin. God juxtaposes what we do in relation to the righteousness of God.

And David was guilty of adultery, of lying and of murder. Listen to what he said in Psalm 51. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions, wash away all my inequity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know that my transgressions and my sin is always before me against you. You only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely what you desire is truth in the inner parts. You, O God, teach me wisdom in my inmost place.

Man looks on the outward appearance. God looks on the heart. Now watch this, folks. Verse seven. Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness.

Let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Why your Holy Spirit?

Because this was a Christian man who had sinned against God. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, because when Christians sin against God, they lose their joy, not their salvation. And grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will turn back to you. Save me from blood guilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice. Otherwise, I'd bring it to try and get forgiveness. You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. No, you don't want rituals from me. The sacrifices that you require for forgiveness are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God.

These are the things you will not despise. So in your good pleasure, would you make Israel prosper? Build up the walls of Jerusalem that have been broken down. Then there will be righteous sacrifices. Hold burnt offerings to delight you.

Then bulls will be offered to your altar. When your sin is totally forgiven, checklist number one, write it down. A heartfelt cry will be heard. Now watch this, folks. Listen very carefully to what I'm about to tell you.

Write this down. Number one, a heartfelt cry will be heard. Some of you are going to say to me, pastor, how do I know that I'm totally forgiven?

Here it is. Has God heard a heartfelt cry coming from your heart? That's what verse one is all about. Have mercy upon me, O God. In the United States of America, we've cultivated the impression that when we pray for forgiveness, all it is, is a ritualistic add on.

I've done it, haven't you? Well, Lord, thank you for the day and bless us and watch over us and protect us. And thank you for my house and forgive me for my sin. Oh, and by the way, God, you forgive me? Bible says that doesn't work.

You see, friends, knowing Jesus Christ is not about a ritual. It's about a relationship. We come into a personal relationship with him. And when we come into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, a heartfelt cry comes from our heart. Now, you're going to say, pastor, define that.

I can't. Some people will say, well, you know that a person is expressing a heartfelt cry because they break down and they're in tears. I don't think that's what the Bible is talking about, folks.

Some people say to me, unless you weep, unless you do this, unless you do that, I don't believe that that's got anything to do with it. I believe that what God is talking about is that a man or a woman, a boy or girl, comes into the presence of God with a cry upon their hearts. Oh, God, I know that I've sinned against you.

And unless I am totally forgiven by you, I am doomed. So here's the first ingredient, a heartfelt cry. You've got to answer that before the Lord, not about being a member of a church, about saying a prayer, about whispering something or happen to do this.

As you seem to walk along in the daily rituals of life, a heartfelt cry will be heard. Number two, a merciful God will be sought. I love verse one, the second part of verse one, because David here in his agony, he's cried out. He said, oh, God, and he immediately casts himself upon the mercy of God. And it's interesting to note here that in verse one, he talks about the longsufferingness of God's love.

Look what he says. He says, I want to throw myself upon your unfailing love. Now we're going to talk about the attributes of God, my dear friends, the heart and the holiness and the character of God. You cannot talk about God and his love without talking about his covenant of love.

God's covenant of love means that God hasn't changed his mind. David casts himself upon the mercy of God because forgiveness belongs to God. We kind of like think, well, forgiveness is ours. It's not, it's God's. It's God's to give to us because he's mercy, because of his grace, because of his unfailing love. And David looks into the face of God and he says, oh, God, I'm crying out to you because you are merciful.

You're the God of covenant. Folks, this is a deep theological issue that we're dealing with in the heart of forgiveness, in the heart of knowing that we are totally forgiven, that we're casting ourselves upon him. It is not about us.

It's about him. Please forgive the interruption. We'll be back with today's message on when your sin is totally forgiven with Dr. Don Wilton in just a moment. But we want to remind you that it's not just about this 30-minute broadcast podcast that you're listening to.

We're connecting 24 hours a day on our website, www.tewonline.org. While you're there, you'll discover great resources. Many are asking about the book Dr. Wilton wrote about his time being the pastor to Dr. Billy Graham for 20-plus years. He's also got wonderful resources right now about the cross in partnership with a book by Warren Wiersbe.

Again, all the details are on our website, www.tewonline.org. While you're there, be sure and sign up for the daily encouraging word email from Dr. Wilton. It'll bless you greatly. Now, back to today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. The first two ingredients checklist number one, heartfelt cry.

How about you? Number two, a merciful God will be sought. Have you cast yourself upon his mercy?

Number three, a personal blame will be acknowledged. Well, this is pretty evident here in verse four. Against you, you only have our sin and done what is evil in your sight. Folks, I want everybody to watch me on this one.

I prayed about it just a moment ago. Is it not just too amazing how we blame everybody? You know what goes on in America today? Somebody does something so we go and get a counselor, a psychologist whose job it is to dig back somewhere back there in the dark ages to find out whether the dog bit the person. Because if the dog bit the person, the dog's to blame. That's what we do. We've gone so accustomed that let's just find out who done it so we can blame somebody. Have you ever met somebody that anytime anything happens, they're quickly looking for somebody else to blame?

When your sin is totally forgiven, a personal blame will be acknowledged. You're the person. David came down to the point.

Could he argue with Lord Bathsheba, man? She was so beautiful. Lord, I tell you, I had a moment of weakness. Lord, I tell you, well, look, this was that. I justify that. Want to do that? He tried to rationalize and you and I know that the definition of to rationalize is to tell a rational lie. We spend our entire lives trying to tell one another rational lies. God says, you're it.

Don't look at somebody else. When your sin is totally forgiven, a personal blame will be acknowledged. Number four, birth defect will be noted. Right there in verse five, David takes us on a journey back to the heart of a sinful man, which is exceedingly wicked. He reminds us that we are born in sin. Why does he remind us that we are born in sin? Because Paul confirmed this when he said, in Adam, all people die. I was conceived in sin.

The Psalmist is telling us here because when he reminds us about this birth defect that has to do with our separation from God, he's reminding us that our sin is not the fault of God. In America today, folks, we spend half our time trying to blame God for everything. Well, God did it.

God didn't do it. We did it. You did it. I did it. I'm the one.

I'm the one. Number five, a contrite attitude will be seen. Look at verse seven. Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean.

Wash me and I will be whiter than snow. David is saying, listen to the cry of his heart. He's saying, oh God, would you be merciful to me because I have sinned against you. It's my birth defect. I take the blame, but I have a contrite heart and I know that because of my sin, I have leprosy that I'm going to be relegated to an isolated cave for all time and eternity.

I'm going to have a bell wrapped around my neck. I know that it's as though I've touched a dead body and that I can never live again. I am doomed without your forgiveness. I'm a dead man. Help me, oh God. Can you hear that? That's repentance.

That's what he's talking about. When your sin is totally forgiven. Number six, a pure heart will be desired. Love verse 10. When you sit like this, he says, create in me a pure heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Now folks, what happens when you sin? What does sin do to people like you and me?

I'm going to give you two things that sin does. First of all, it pollutes your heart. It pollutes your heart. Sin pollutes your heart. What it does, it restricts the blood flow. You walk around with a heavy heart.

Number two, it takes away your strength for the journey. Let me give you an example. I apologize to all those who are not married. If you've ever had a disagreement with your spouse. Now I've never had a disagreement with my spouse.

I'm talking about all of you. But if you've never had a disagreement with your spouse and you leave home and you've fallen out of fellowship, you've had an argument, there's been hardship. Maybe this is your son, maybe it's your daughter, maybe it's your best friend. And you walk out and you go about your business. How do you go about your business when you're out of fellowship with those that you love? Number one, you've got a polluted heart.

I'll guarantee you. If you love somebody and you're out of fellowship with them, you've got a polluted heart. It doesn't matter what you're doing, where you're doing it or how you're doing it.

And it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. You can smile out here, but inside here, your heart is polluted. Number two, you lose your strength.

You just don't seem to be able to carry yourself the way you need to carry yourself. There are two casualties of sin. David speaking metaphorically, speaking spiritually in application to his own heart.

He said, listen, I want a pure heart. And then you go home and you turn to your wife and you say, honey, please forgive me. You turn to your son, please forgive me.

Your son turns to that, you turn to your friend, you go and reconcile. You know that feeling when you make up? Oh, I tell you what, all of a sudden, your heart is light. All of a sudden, a renewed strength comes into your bones. All of a sudden, you've got to get up and go again.

Something happens. There's nothing better than making up, is there? Or being reconciled together, a pure heart. Lord, give me a pure heart.

Renew my strength. Number seven, a restoration will be craved. You see, friends, as soon as a pure heart is put in process, when I begin to beg God to do that, I beg Him to restore me. Verse 12 of the same Psalm, restore to me the joy of your salvation. There's a simple reason that restoration will be craved, and that is that sin always breaks fellowship. Guaranteed. Folks, I've seen people who go to church who all of a sudden stop coming to church because of sin.

I've seen marriages that are just as happy as anything. All of a sudden, something just breaks. Fellowship breaks. You break fellowship with God in heaven.

You break fellowship with your fellow man. And so the cry of my heart, the ingredient of this wonderful cake called forgiveness must be that a restoration. I've got to put a little restoration in there, Lord, because I want to come back.

I want to be restored. Number eight, a promise will be made. A promise will be made. Now here's an interesting thing, starting in verse 13.

David says, and there's a little word here, he says, then will I. When your sin is totally forgiven, there must be a promise in that package deal, folks. And by the way, when it came to David, there were four promises. Number one, the promise to teach. The promise to teach. You say, pastor, does that mean I have to stand up with a chalkboard and an overhead or whatever it is, and I need, no, he's not talking about that. What he's talking about here is because God is forgiving me, I am pledging myself to hand on the baton of God's righteousness to others.

That's what it means to teach. It means you're willing to hand on to somebody else that which you know to be true. Number two, second promise was a willingness to witness. Witness, he said, I'll teach transgressors your ways and sinners will come back to you. The third promise, a willingness to sing. A willingness to sing.

That's what he says here in this text. He says, my tongue will sing of your righteousness. Open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise. There were men singing at football games. But all across America today those same men come into churches and all of a sudden you couldn't get them to open your mouth if you tried.

Have you ever seen a man who sings a lot when he's out there but as soon as he comes into the house of God, like he's recovering from hookworm treatment. Folks, the Bible says when I'm totally forgiven, there are four things that I'm going to do. I'm going to teach. I'm going to witness. I'm going to sing praises to him and I'm going to worship. I get delivered from the rituals unto the relationship. If I do not teach, if I'm not passing on the baton, if I'm not willing to witness, if I am not singing praises to him, even quietly, if I'm not worshiping the Lord, I don't believe I've ever been totally forgiven. That's what God says.

Now these are tough things. But if people can talk about their football teams with such great gusto, I want to tell you something. I'm willing to stand up and talk about Jesus Christ. And if you believe that, give God a hand of praise this morning. Let's praise him in the house of the living God. Let's praise him. Let's praise the Lord together. Let's give God a hand. Let's give God a hand. Let's give God a hand in the house of God. Let's give God a hand. Let's praise the Lord together. Let's praise the Lord together. Let's praise the Lord together. Give God a hand.

Give God a hand. A promise will be made. Thank you, please be seated. A promise will be made. Number nine, a brokenness will be evident. Bible tells us right there in verse 17 that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. The ninth ingredient, the ninth checklist for total forgiveness is a brokenness. You say to me, pastor, what does that mean? I don't know.

How does it look? I don't know. We're all made differently. I reject people who come to me and say, well, you should be in a crumple, in a heap, weeping your eyes out.

Who said? Well, you should be doing this. You should be doing that. That's what modern day Pharisees do.

They assign things that make it look like it's all legalism. Folks, he's talking about the heart. I believe that when a man or a woman or a boy or girl have been totally forgiven, the brokenness of their heart will be evident for everybody to see. You'll see it. You'll feel it. You'll be touched by it. You will be impacted by it, which is the 10th point, an impact. An impact will be seen. An impact will be made. An impact will be evident. An impact will be felt.

Look at David. What does he tell us there right there in the text? He says in verse 18, as a result of this in your good pleasure, because I, your leader, have been totally forgiven.

Would you impact my nation, my people, Zion, Israel? Why is there an impact? Because the walls are broken down.

Did you see that in that verse? What happens when you're totally forgiven? The walls are rebuilt, gentlemen. Reconstruction takes place. Rejuvenation is a fresh encounter. The wind begins to blow again.

The sun begins to rise. Impact will be felt. Your family will feel it and know it. Your church will feel it. They'll know it. Your community will feel it. They'll know it. Your nation will feel it.

They'll know it. Because when we're totally forgiven, the Lord Jesus Christ is high and lifted up. What powerful teaching today from Dr. Don Wilton here on The Encouraging Word. It's our prayer you've heard more than his wonderful, unique South African brogue, but you've heard the Lord calling out to you, letting you know that He loves you and He's using this broadcast to let you know He's got an opportunity for you to make a life change right here, right now. Open your heart to what our pastor, Dr. Don Wilton, would like to share next. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much, and I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today, I repent of my sin. I confess my sin to you, and I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you've prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. If you were just praying along with Dr. Wilton moments ago to give your life to Christ or rededicate your life, we are so excited for what God is going to do in and through you.

We'd love to be a partner in that. We have great resources Dr. Wilton has chosen specifically for you to have for free if you'll call us at 866-899-WORD and tell us about your decision. Again, our number is 866-899-9673, and if you've given your life to Christ today or rededicated your life, call us about these free resources and we'll send them right out to you. Speaking of resources, if you haven't been to our website lately, you're missing out on a great resource on the cross.

Here's Liz with all the details. Even though the world is becoming an increasingly challenging place to live in as a Christian, Jesus' ultimate sacrifice on the cross remains a message of hope for everyone. Discover a deep understanding and appreciation for our Savior's death on the cross in Dr. Wilton's powerful sermon, The Cross, along with the bonus book, The Cross of Jesus by Warren W. Wiersbe, which explores the entire crucifixion in detail. These powerful resources are yours to have with your gift of support to The Encouraging Word. Thank you for listening today. Until next time, thank you so much for your prayerful and financial support of The Encouraging Word Ministry.