Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2: 0:21

Alright, guys, this week we're looking at Exodus 34, verses 6 and 7, where God describes his attributes. So let's go ahead and read Exodus 34, verses 6 and 7 in the New American Standard Bible 1995 edition. Then the Lord passed by in front of him this is Moses and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord, god compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving, kindness and truth. Who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgressions and sin. Yet he will by no means so, guys. In these two verses God describes seven distinct attributes of himself. So far this week we've discussed these four God is compassionate, god is gracious, god is slow to anger, and we've also looked at God's loving kindness. Today we're going to focus on the next two God is faithful and God is gracious. God is slow to anger, and we've also looked at God's loving kindness. Today we're going to focus on the next two. God is faithful and God is forgiving. So the word for faithful here it basically means overflowing in truth. So essentially, god is going to do what he says he's going to do because he has to, because he's God, and God's faithfulness is literally all over the Bible.

Speaker 2: 1:23

So if we go back to Genesis 21, we have God's promise to Abraham being fulfilled. So Genesis 21, verses 1 and 2,. The Lord visited Sarah, as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham, a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him right. So, after years of waiting, god fulfilled his promise to Abraham and Sarah and they gave them their son, isaac. And then we also see God delivering Israel from Egypt. So Exodus 12, verses 40 through 42. So this is kind of a summary of this area. But at the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt and it was a night of watching by the Lord. So God's faithfulness is seen in him fulfilling his promise to free Israel.

Speaker 2: 2:04

And then we look at what God's doing to keep his promise to David. So if we go to 2 Samuel and this also goes into Luke, so I'll read 2 Samuel 7, verse 16. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. And then we go to Luke 1, verses 32 and 33. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord, god, will give him the throne of his father, david, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end. So God made a promise to David and it is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who is in his line, proving that God's covenant is righteous and he is going to be faithful to his covenant. And God is certainly faithful, but he is also forgiving.

Speaker 2: 2:52

Now, the word here for forgiving means to carry, okay. So my pastor, dr Mark Hitchcock, at Faith Bible Church in Edmond, oklahoma. He points out that God uses three words for sin and wants us to know that they're all covered. So that's what we see here in these verses. The first is iniquity. So so this is turning away from the path, this is getting off the tracks, right. And then the second is transgression. This is essentially direct rebellion. And then we have sin, and that's to miss the divine mark. And so to point, or I guess the point in using these three words is that God is willing to forgive any and all kinds of sin. He can carry it all away, okay. But forgiveness for us can be a hard thing to wrap our minds around, because for many of us we're currently in the process of withholding forgiveness from other people, right?

Speaker 2: 3:33

So Job actually talks about this in chapter seven of his latest book, run Over by the Grace Train. So the entire chapter is about forgiveness, and he uses Jesus's words from Matthew 18 to help make his point. So I want to read a quote to you from that actually refers to Matthew 18, verse 35. And so I'll read the verse and I'll read an excerpt from Job's book. So here's Matthew 18, 35. My heavenly father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart. So let me read the short excerpt here from chapter seven of Ran Over by the Grace Train, verse 35, a very scary verse "and do not tone down Jesus' words. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart".

Speaker 2: 4:19

To be clear, jesus is not saying that if I forgive, then I open myself up to be forgiven by God. This would then mean that by your good work you can save yourself. You can't, you cannot, earn your salvation. He's saying it the other way around. He's not saying that forgiveness earns forgiveness from God. He's saying that our forgiveness is evidence that we have been forgiven by God. Once we are, we do.

Speaker 2: 4:43

Forgiven people, forgive people. It's just the way it works. Here's the point. Forgiveness is not a feeling. Forgiveness is the willful decision to cancel someone's debt against you, because at the cross Jesus canceled our debt. Or the redneck way I would say it from Dillon, south Carolina, is if you ain't given it, maybe you ain't got it. That's what Jesus is saying.

Speaker 2: 5:04

Scary verse. How in the world could God look at you and cancel all of your debt? And then we look at someone else who sinned against us and not forgive them? It's usually at this point where in your mind, if you're being honest with yourself, you're thinking yeah, but listen, man, that's easy to say, but you don't know what happened to me. You don't know what he did to me. You don't know what she did to me. You don't know how much money it was. You don't know the number of times they betrayed me, abused me, took advantage of me over and over and over. You're right, I don't. I get it.

Speaker 2: 5:32

I'm not suggesting the sin against you is not a big deal. It's a really big deal. The sin against you is such a big deal that Jesus had to die for it. But here's the truth Any Christ follower who does not offer forgiveness has taken their eyes off the cross. Anybody who withholds forgiveness has gospel amnesia about the forgiveness they have received. Unforgiveness is keeping from you the abundant life that God has called you into. I mean, guys, I don't know really what else to say there other than amen and amen, and that should be a huge thing for you. Forgiveness is not a feeling, it is a decision. So, guys, if you wanna know the attributes of God, let's take him at his word. God is faithful and God is forgiving. Don't forget that.

Speaker 1: 6:16

Make sure you're here tomorrow so we can wrap up the week. Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.