This is the Truth Network. This is the Truth Network. Welcome to the broadcast ministry of Finding Purpose with Russ Andrews, where we seek to glorify God by making him known and guiding others towards their true purpose in life. No one is here by chance. God put us here for a reason.
And the most important thing we can do is discover his plan for us and commit ourselves to it. Keep listening as we learn from the Bible how to live wisely in God's world, which is the first step towards finding your purpose.
Okay, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we just come before you tonight. We thank you, Lord, for this beautiful day. day that you've given us beautiful sanctuary in which we get to Gather around your word and hear what you have to say. And I thank you for these men.
Thank you for Any visitors we have here with us tonight? I pray, Lord, that you would take your word.
Sometimes it's complicated, Lord, and help us to understand it. Teach us tonight, Lord Jesus, we pray. In your name, Amen. All right, so if you will by the way Next week is our last week as far as our study is concerned. We'll be in Hosea chapter 14.
And then the following week is April the 29th. And y'all know what's going to take place here on April the 29th.
So I hope you guys have all registered, and I hope you'll still keep inviting me. We have right now 350 men registered, but most men don't register. And we'll get the biggest influx of registrations the 10 days prior to the event.
So I believe we're going to have how many men here? 1,000 plus. We have some ladies at my house today praying for this. And one of the ladies prayed, she said, Lord, I pray that the fellowship hall will actually be needed for overflow.
So they're praying big, okay?
So Anyway, take your Bible. I've entitled tonight's message, Mercy in the Midst of Judgment. We're going to be in Hosea chapter 13, but I actually want to start in the book of Habakkuk.
Now to get to a backup, just go to Matthew. And then work your way back through you'll come to Malachi. Then Zachariah, Hegea. Zephaniah. And then Habakkuk.
Y'all got that?
So go to Habakkuk, chapter 1. Habakkuk, by the way, lived in the southern kingdom of Judah. During the same time of the prophet Jeremiah, so they were contemporaries. And he not only predicted the coming Babylonian invasion. But he probably lived to see the initial fulfillment of his very own prophecy.
When Jerusalem was attacked by the Babylonians in 597 BC, the book of Habakkuk was probably written about 15 to 20 years before the Babylonian invasion. And if you look at chapter 1, verse 6. Look at how specific Habakkuk is. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own. Verse 7.
They are a feared and dreaded people. They are a law to themselves and promote their own honor. And then look at verse 9. They all come bent on violence. Their hordes advance like a desert wind.
and gather prisoners like Satan.
Now When you read through Habakkuk chapter 1, it's obvious that Habakkuk could not understand. Why God was using such an evil nation. To punish his chosen people. In essence, Habakkuk was crying out, why God? I don't understand what you're doing.
Why are you using these evil people to destroy us? You ever have a question like that? Why God? Why are you doing what you're doing? By the time you get to Habakkuk chapter 3.
He has come to understand that God's ways are higher than our ways. In other words, God works differently than the way we would work. He came to understand that when you can't see God's hand, You can trust his heart. Do y'all think we need to live like that often? That when we can't see God at work, we have to trust His character?
Well, look at chapter 3, verse 2. Here's what Habakkuk prays: Lord, I have heard of your fame. I stand in all of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day. In our time, make them known.
And then he says this, in wrath. Remember Mercy. That's almost the theme of Hosea. In your wrath, remember mercy.
Now tonight um I want to show you a progression. That begins with sin, then it moves to judgment, but it ends in mercy. And here's the first point I want to make. Sin always brings God's judgment. All you have to do is go back to the Garden of Eden.
But I want us to look, look at verses 1 through 5 in Hosea chapter 3. A 13. Verse 1. Men trembled. He exalted himself in Israel, but he became guilty of Baal worship and died.
Notice that. He died. Israel died when he began to commit idolatry.
Now they sin more and more. Verse 2. They make idols for themselves from their silver, cleverly fashioned images, all of them the work of craftsmen. Notice that it's not the work of God, it's the work of men. It is said of these people.
They offer human sacrifices. They kiss the calf idols. Verse 3: Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears, like chaff swirling from a threshing floor, like smoke escaping through a window. Then verse 4. But I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt.
You shall acknowledge no God but me. No savior except me. Then, verse 5: I cared for you in the wilderness, in the land of burning heat.
So, God's reminding them of what He did for them, and also who He is. But here's the pattern that you'll see all throughout the Bible. First, God blesses us. Then we become Satisfied. And then our satisfaction leads to what?
Pride, we become puffed up. We can do it ourselves. Then we forget about God, and then we actually turn against God. And when we turn against God, that arouses His anger.
Now, when you read through the Old Testament, it's obvious that God blessed Israel more than any other nation in the world. Even though they were the smallest, He chose them to be His people, His treasured possession. Deuteronomy 7, verse 7 says, The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples. For you were the fewest of all peoples. God gave the Israelites everything they needed.
He gave them great leaders like Moses and Joshua. He fed them while they wandered in the desert. He gave them a beautiful land by the Mediterranean Sea. You know why he did this? Cause he loved him.
He loved him.
So how do they respond? They became Wealthy? Satisfied? Prideful. And then they forgot about God?
Didn't they turn against God? They even rejected God. They did this by crafting idols for themselves made out of silver. They worshiped false gods like Baal and Molech and Kamash. They even offered human sacrifices.
Second Kings seventeen Verses 16 and 18 gives a very clear picture of how evil Israel became. It says they forsook all the commands of the LORD their God, and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an asherapole. They bow down to all the starry hosts, and they worship Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.
And then it says, So the Lord was very angry with Israel, and he removed them from his presence. In other words, you know what God did? He did the same thing that it says in Romans chapter 1. When He gives them over a third time, it says He gave them over to total depravity, to do what ought not to be done. Look at our country.
That's where we are as a nation. Yeah. Verse 1 says that Israel became guilty of BAL WARSHING And what? What's the lesson for you and me? What does sin always lead to?
Death. Exactly right. Death. Just look at our World Today. In our country, we have unfettered.
Y'all have heard me talk about this ad finatum, but it's almost mentioned or referred to. In Hosea, in every chapter, you know, the shedding of innocent blood, the shedding of innocent blood. We have unfettered abortion, which is basically human sacrifice to the gods of convenience and selfishness. And then, when you look all around the world, what do you see? You see murder and war and brutality, and that's what.
1 Timothy 3, I believe it is, that talks about in the last days, men will be brutal. We've seen brutality like we've never seen before. James 1, 14 and 15 says, But each one is tempted when by his own evil desire he's dragged away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to what?
Death. See, in their idolatry, Israel was committing suicide. In Isaiah chapter 3, Excuse me, in verse 3, Hosea uses four pictures to show the coming total destruction of Israel. the morning mist, the early dew, the swirling chaff, and the smoke escaping through a window.
Some of you will know exactly what I'm talking about, but on May 12, 1996, the Phi Gamma Delta house burned to the ground in Chapel Hill. Do y'all remember that? I remember exactly where I was standing when I heard about it because I was actually a member of that fraternity in Chapel Hill when I was there back in the 1970s. I actually lived in that house for a while. Not a good place to live, by the way.
It was a three-story building, and I just never forget during the warm days like spring and early fall, all the windows in the house, particularly on the third floor, would be open. And down on the first floor, which was really a basement, there was a back door that went out to the backyard, and it was open. And that was like, it just served like a big chimney. You could feel the draft coming through the house. And it's my understanding that that fire started in the basement of the 5GM house, and the wind just carried it out through the windows.
And it spread so quickly that there were literally young boys and girls, unfortunately, that were jumping out of third-floor windows to save their lives, broken bones and backs. This is what, this is a picture of what was going to happen to Israel and to Judah. The Assyrians and the Babylonians were going to blow in from the east. like a desert wind. And gather up prisoners like desert sand, literally suck them out of Israel and bring them back to Assyria as captives.
Why? Why is this going to happen? Because they rejected God as their king. They rejected God as their savior. Look at verse 9.
I'm going to jump around a little bit. Look at chapter 13, verse 9. God is speaking through Hosea, and he says, You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against Joe who? Helper. God was their helper.
You see, this is what sin does in our lives. It arouses God's anger and eventually leads to death.
So, what is the solution?
Well, look carefully at verse 4. I can make the case that verse 4 is perhaps the most important verse in the entire book of Hosea. Look at what it says. But I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt. What do you think God is trying to do?
He's reminding them of who He is. You shall acknowledge no God but me, no Savior except me. Do you all know uh what Jose is quoting here? Exodus chapter 20, verse 2. The first commandment.
Here's what it says in Exodus 20, verse 2. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt. Exactly what it says is: you shall have no other gods before me. Why was Hosea reminding them of this commandment? He wants to point out that there's only one God.
One God who chose them to be his treasure possession. And moreover, if you look at the second commandment, he says he's a jealous God.
Now that sounds like it's a sin, doesn't it? But that's not what it means. I've got six grandchildren, five grandsons, and I'm jealous for them to love me. God is jealous. Fus to love him.
It's a healthy jealousy, if you will. He desires to know us. And to for us to know him. And to love him and worship him and adore him. The most foundational truth in the Bible.
It's that the Lord God, Yahweh. Here's our only Saviour. But the Israelites We were not satisfied with God as their king.
So, what did they do? They asked for another king. To be their Savior. Look at verses 10 and 11.
Now, in verse 10, God actually is mocking Israel. And then he expresses his anger. Look at what he says. Listen to what he says. Again, God is speaking through Hosea to the Israelites.
Where is your king that he may save you? Remember when. Elijah was on Mount Carmel. And he was mocking all the false prophets. Where's your God?
He must be sleeping. That's kind of what God's doing. Where's your king? See he off sleeping somewhere? Where are your rulers in all your towns of whom you said, Give me a king and a prince?
In other words, What have they done for you lately? Not much. Except lead them down the wide road.
So, in my anger, I gave you a king, and in my wrath I took him away. You may remember that in 1 Samuel, we learned that Samuel was the last judge of Israel. Remember, if you read through the book of Judges, you'll see Samson and Deborah and all these different judges that God raised up to protect his people. He's always, again, he's their helper. And he basically raised up Samuel to establish the monarchy because he knew that the Israelites were going to reject him.
When Samuel grew old, All the elders of Israel came to him. And you know what they requested? A king. Why, we want to be like all of our neighbors because they're doing so well. Give us a king.
And here's what God said to Samuel. 1 Samuel 8. But when they said, Give us a king to lead us, this displeased Samuel.
So he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord told him. Listen to all that the people are saying to you. It is not you they have rejected. but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.
So they rejected not only Samuel, they also rejected God. In his anger, God gave them a king by the name of what? Saul. And what did Saul do? He became well, first of all, he was tall and handsome.
Looked a little bit like me. Um But he became satisfied with himself and prideful. And then he Began to turn away from God. Remember he took matters into his own hands and he did he did He sacrificed on the altar of God, which is what Samuel was supposed to be doing. He didn't wait for Samuel, remember?
And so God rejected Saul in his anger. God used Samuel, as I said, to establish the monarchy of Israel, knowing that the Israelites will reject him as king. God allowed Israel, in essence, to experiment with kingship for more than three centuries. How'd it turn out? Not good.
In the end, human kingship destroyed them.
So God took away their monarchy. William Eaton, in his commentary, writes: After the fall of Samaria and a century later the fall of Jerusalem, that kind of kingship, and in your outline, I've got it wrong, you need to add the word never. was never allowed again. In other words, no more kings. Kingship led to the domination of man-made ideas.
The end result was a society full of murder and idolatry and a society programmed for self-destruction. End quote.
So this is what g happens, men. When any government Rejects God. and tries to do it their own way. Human ideas program a society for self-destruction. Just look at our country.
Have we rejected God in our country? What happened in 1962 and 1963? We brought The Supreme Court ruled that prayer was no longer allowed in public schools, and then I think in 1963 they... That's right. Bible reading was outlawed.
Prayer. And then we, you know, we had that period where we tried to get the Ten Commandments out of the courtroom. Remember the judge in Alabama, that big battle down there? He had out on front of his courtroom, I mean, outside, on like a huge But this size right here, he had the Ten Commandments. When you came into this courtroom, you knew who ruled that courtroom.
See, Israel's death began. when they first bowed the knee. To ball. They died. In so doing, they aroused the anger of God and it led to judgment.
Sin always brings God's judgment. Even if you're a Christian. It's a different kind of judgment. It's more of. It's punishment.
Because he's trying to get rid of that sin in your life so you can be the man that he created you to be. But look at verses 7 and 8. See, God had been their shepherd.
Now, let's see what he's going to become.
So I will come upon you like a lion, like a leopard, I will lurk by the path. Like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them and rip them open. Like a lion, I will devour them. A wild animal will tear them apart. I was watching something on X the other day.
There was a video of this guy who was walking with one of his children somewhere out west. And he was on a path. And he had come by a mamma bear and her cubs. And he was backpedaling, and Mama Bear was coming, not chasing him, but was walking towards him. What have you been doing?
I think the last thing you want to do is run. He did he didn't die. Notice who is really coming after Israel. He says, so I will come. I will attack, I will devour.
It's not the Assyrians or the Babylonians, it's God Himself. He is no longer their shepherd.
Now he's coming as an angry mama bear. Do you remember um The last plague That God Sin against Pharaoh in Egypt. About the you know, the firstborn son would die. and the death angel would come over That night. Who was the death angel?
It's I believe it's the pre-incarnate Christ.
Well, I mean, it says it. He said, I will pass over. I'd have to go back and pull it out, but. He uses the personal pronoun, I will pass over. It is a dreadful thing, men, to fall into the hands of the living God when He is bent on wrath.
Do you know who understands this truth more than anyone else? All the people who died in the flood, if we could interview them. All the men of Sodom and Gomorrah who perished in the hail storm of fire, if we could interview them. All the soldiers in Pharaoh's army who followed the Israelites into the Red Sea and none of them survived, if we could interview them. All of the Israelites who were carried off to Assyria, As slaves, all the Judahites who wept by the rivers in Babylon while they were in captivity.
Ever heard of Anan Ananos and Safara?
Okay. Remember, they lied before Peter. They sold a piece of land, they only brought part of the money. What happened to both of them? They both they both died.
They both fell down dead. It's a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And the reason why we preach the gospel is so you don't ever have that happen to you. Did you know that God keeps a record of our sins? Just as he did for the Israelites.
Look at verse 12. It's interesting, this is the first mistake I've seen AI make. I went to AI and I said, where does it say in the Bible that God records our sins? And it said the Bible doesn't do that. I said, yes, it does.
See, I'd know a little bit more than AI. I'm kidding. It's the first mistake I've seen, though. Look at verse 12 right here. The guilt of Ephraim is stored up.
All his sins are kept where, on record. See, the Lord saw all that the Israelites were doing. He watched as they made those idols, he watched them as they burned their children. in the fires of before Baal and Molech. He sold all.
And men, he keeps a record of it. Look at Proverbs 5, 21. For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all His paths. Proverbs 15:3, The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good. Job 34, 21 and 22 says, His eyes are on the ways of men.
He sees their every step. There's no dark place, no deep shadow where evildoers can hide.
So here's the question I want you to understand if you don't already. When will all these records be opened and revealed? In other words, All the books that are recorded are thoughts, words, and deeds. When are they going to be opened? Take your Bible and turn to Revelation chapter 20.
It's known as what? The Great White Throne Judgment. I'm not going to spend a lot of time here, but I want you to be aware of it. Because if you're not sure if you're in Christ, Indeed. You need a honest you need a Rethink that, okay?
God's given you a chance.
So, John is on the Isle of Patmos, and the Lord has appeared to him, and he's given him visions of the future. Here in Revelation 20, he's given a vision of the throne room of God, the great white throne, and here's what he saw. Then I saw a great white throne in him who was seated on it. Who is him? Jesus.
Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. I believe there was no place for them to hide. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.
Now, when they're standing in line there, do you think it was going to matter who was great and who was not great while they're on earth? No. That that's not going to have any status here. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and what was open? Books were opened.
And then another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
Now, I believe the dead here are those who are dead. because they are not have not been born again. They are dead outside of Christ. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them. And each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake. Of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
If anyone's name was not recorded, You have the book of life. He was thrown into the lake of fire. Here's the bottom line. This judgment right here awaits every single Man or woman Who's lived his entire life And refuse God's offer of grace and mercy. And what happens to that person is they're putting God in a corner where God has no choice.
God created hell for who? Satan and his demons. Not for you and me. Not for any man.
However, if you reject his grace and mercy, God has no choice but to send you to hell, which was created for Satan and his demons.
Now, do you want to end up there? When I was about 10, and I heard John 3:16, for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever. believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. I didn't know much about hell, but I knew one thing. That word perish does not sound too good.
And I like the idea of eternal life. And in that simple little thinking of an eight or nine-year-old, I place my trust in the Lord. I'm so glad I did. Yeah. The judgment, this judgment awaits every single person.
Who has refused God's grace and mercy? There is no second chance at this tribunal. The day of grace will have come to an end. God's mercy will be extended no more.
Now back to Hosea. In his day, In his time. The day of grace was almost over for Israel. But God. Did you know that but God is one of the most gracious phrases in Scripture?
Acts 13, 29 and 30 say, I just looked this up this afternoon. When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God Raised him from the dead. 1 Corinthians 3.6, Paul writes, I've planted a pullus watered. But God gave the increase.
1 Corinthians 10:13, No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man. But God is faithful. Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able? And there are many more butt gods in the Bible. But God.
In your wrath, remember mercy.
Now, I began tonight by saying that we want to see and understand the progression from sin to judgment to mercy. And so the first point was that sin always brings God's judgment. But then there's a but God.
So the second point is this. But God, in the midst of judgment, offers what? Mercy, and I could add another word, and hope. With God, there's always hope as long as you've got breath in your lungs. Look at verses 13 and 14.
Verse 13 says, Pains as of a woman in childbirth come to him. But he's a child without wisdom. He's talking about Israel here. He is a child without wisdom. When the time arrives, he doesn't have the sense to come out of the womb.
You know what he's saying here? God has given Israel a chance to be reborn. And they don't have the sense to accept it. They lack wisdom. The entire book of Hosea.
Yours about It's about the relentless love of God. For a wayward people like us. I have some friends that I have been witnessing to for over 40 years. And I told my wife, I'm ready to literally. Throw in the towel.
I'm tired of witnessing to them. I mean, I've taken them to the cove, I've taken them to events where they've heard the gospel. I've I gave one guy a Bible, I wrote it in it. He's been to my Bible studies, he's reached the Bible, I've given himself an RC Sproll. And you know what his problem is?
Well, first of all, he's blonde. But he also goes to a very liberal church. And he's drawn to that. More than yes to come in here on Tuesday night. But God.
With him. When I see the gracious of God towards Israel, Who am I to give up on anyone? In verse 13, Israel is like a baby being offered new birth. But they reject this opportunity from God. Yeah.
They reject the opportunity to be forgiven. Remember King Manasseh? He came to us, if y'all remember that. He was the one he was the most Evil king. in the southern kingdom of Judah.
He sacrificed his sons. And he was his father was Hezekiah, who was a godly king. And I think it's kind of like John Newton. When John Newton was on that, in that, you know, he wrote Amazing Grace, when he was on that ship, the slave trading ship, he remembered his mother's prayers. And he said, God, if you'll save me.
I'll serve you. I think that's what happened to Manasseh. He remembered Hezekiah's prayers when he was in you know, they put it the Babylonians put a hook in his nose. Can you imagine that? And led him from Judah all the way back to Babylon.
And while he was in Babylon, he repented. And he's in the line of Christ in Matthew chapter 1. Can you believe that? King Manasseh, that'd be like Hitler becoming a Christian. Yeah.
As chapter three comes to an end Excuse me, it's Yes, chapter thirteen comes to an end. It's obvious that Israel will pay. Pay for her deadly sin. Lost my train of thought for a second.
So if you jump forward to verses 15 to 16. Look at what it says. And the east wind from the Lord will come blowing in from the desert. The east wind is the Assyrian army. Verse 16 says: The people of Samaria must bear their guilt because they have rebelled against their God.
They will fall by the sword. Their little ones will be dashed to the ground. Their pregnant women ripped open. Y'all, this is descriptive. It's exactly what happened.
They would go in. This is what the Hamas did on October the 7th to pregnant women. They literally would slit them open and kill their babies. Brutal. And God allowed this.
It's a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of a living God, but God. Was there still a ray of hope for Israel? Yes. And guess what, man, there still is? Look at verse 14.
And we're going to end with this. I wanted to say verse 14 to the end. He says, I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I'll redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues?
Where, O grave, is your destruction? Who does that remind you of? Remember the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 when he mocks death? See, when you become a Christian, you can mock death, it no longer has hold over you. For Israel God always has preserved a remnant of believers.
I believe that some of the Jews repented during the time of Hosea and were saved. I believe some of the Jews repented in captivity in Assyria and were saved. I believe there were obviously descendants of the Israelites in the area of Samaria when Christ was on earth, and they heard the gospel like the woman at the well, and they repented and were saved. And then in Romans 11, Paul makes it very clear that in our future, I believe we're going to see revival break out in Israel. By the way, I pray for Netanyahu, not every day, but several times a week, that God will do what to him.
Save him. Can you imagine if both Trump and Netanyahu became true believers? Yeah, maybe Trump's getting there. I don't know where Trump is, but. He's saying some things I like, but you know, the jury's still out a little bit, I think.
We need to pray for them, though, that God will save them. And then there'll be a revival in Israel. But what about us? But what about us? What about us?
What promise does the gospel offer us if we are concerned about the great white throne judgment and those books that contain a record of our deeds? This is what I want to end with tonight. Here's what I would say to you, if you're not sure where you are. But God. He's not finished with you.
The day of God's grace and mercy is not over. This is the great news of the gospel. It doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter. The only unpardonable sin is the sin of what?
Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Yeah, but it's the sin of unbelief. The blessing of the Holy Spirit is the continual rejection of the product of the Holy Spirit. That's how you blaspheme the Holy Spirit. You refuse to believe.
God can forgive any sin except the sin of unbelief. Acts 3, 19, and 20 says, Repent then and turn to God.
So that what your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Christ who's been appointed for you, even Jesus. Listen, when a man repents of his sins, and turns to God. And receive Jesus Christ into his heart by faith. All of your sins. All of my sins, past, present, and future, are wiped out.
Those books That recorded your deeds are cast into the depths of the sea. They're burnt up. They will be never held against you. God remembers him no more. You will never have to stand at the great white throne judgment awaiting condemnation.
How do I know this? Because when you get to Romans chapter 8, after you've come through Romans chapters 1 through 7, Paul says, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If you sit here tonight and you feel like you're under condemnation, you don't need to remain there. Just place your trust. Is there a cross back there?
Place your trust in that cross. Not that one, but the real one. The one that Jesus died on. And it's not the cross, it's what Jesus did on the cross. He shed his blood for you and me.
And the moment, listen, that you place your trust in him, it's like that blood just pours over you. And when God sees the blood. He remembers your sins no more. And in that moment, you receive Christ's righteousness. And so when God sees you, Isaiah 61 says that He clothes us in garments of righteousness.
And you listen, when he sees you. He sees you as pure. and holy And righteous, and I don't care what you've done, if you've repented of it, God has forgiven it and has. Wiped away? That's why that abortion doctor, I can't remember his name, who was up in New York, and he.
I think I said this last week, but I just love the story. He committed 5,000 abortions with his own hand and 60,000 through his clinics. And when the sonogram came out, he realized he was committing murder. And he converted to Christianity, and someone later asked him, Why did you pick Christianity? He said, Because it's the only religion that offers forgiveness.
Do you need forgiveness tonight? Ask God to forgive you. He will. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for these men being here tonight, Lord.
What a beautiful place we get to meet in every Tuesday night. I pray, Lord, that you will bless each man here. Particularly the man who came here tonight. And he feels like he's struggling. He's alone.
He may be financially hurting. But Lord, you love him. as if he was the only man in this room. Lord, we love you and need you. Come soon, Lord Jesus.
opinion. You've been listening to Finding Purpose with Russ Andrews. This broadcast is made possible because of the prayers and financial gifts of listeners like you. If you want to learn more about our ministry or support us as we reach others with God-centered Bible teaching, please visit us at findingpurpose.net.
