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Regretting What I Didn’t Say

After my sermon this morning, I had a check in my spirit. I felt it soon after I preached. In one particular moment, I was too heavy upon the law and too light upon grace. Our topic for the morning was on persecution in Matthew 10. As Jesus, spoke about the truth being made known, I was drawing upon the fact that nothing escapes God’s eyes when it comes to justice. My words tried to convey the hope that the Lord will bring justice even upon those who do harm to others when no one else is looking. This brings great hope to the Christian who may lose property or life at the hands of another when no one else sees. It rectifies the wrong committed against the poor, the helpless and the defenseless. The martyrs in Revelation 6 cry out for this justice as the seals of judgment are being opened. Revelation 6:9-11 (ESV) ‘When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.’ So, if someone is abused, or seemingly a persecutor gets away with murder, God sees it and it will be dealt with in the day of judgment. And in conveying that concept, I stated the following:

‘It may be as someone persecutes a believer that no one else sees. But the Lord does, it will be revealed, and justice will be served from the person that cheats on their spouse, to the crooked politician, from the minister that uses their position to be a sexual predator to the religious extremist that pronounces Jihad on the church. Nothing escapes the justice of God’

 

Now, all of that is totally true. God will see that justice is carried out upon every human being. But this is also where I had regrets in what I didn’t say. I missed a golden opportunity to tell anyone who feels the conviction of their persona sin, that God’s justice can be met at the cross of Christ. This is what I was referring too in later in the sermon through passages that we read that described Jesus redeeming us from our sins through his blood. I just didn’t say it at that moment. But this is also the truth. Even if you are a mocker and persecutor of God’s beloved Church, you can still make peace with God through Jesus Christ. An example of this type of amazing grace is the Apostle Paul. He violently persecuted Christians, overseeing their deaths, and yet the Lord was pleased to save him (see Acts 9). Paul spent the remainder of his life proclaiming the grace of Jesus Christ. How could he not, after such a freeing experience? He wrote to the church at Corinth:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (ESV) Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (emphasis mine).

Paul wanted the vilest sinner to know that salvation was available through Jesus Christ. If I was heavy on the law this past Sunday about what you deserve, then allow me now to be heavy on grace. You can be completely free from the guilt of your sin in the Lord Jesus. All that is required is that you repent and you believe in his atoning work of the cross on your behalf.

 

Pastor Blair