FORGIVENESS: We've an endless supply, why so stingy?

IN THE END, NOTHING! [Jeremiah 2:22; Atonement, Cleansing, Sin]

Once in the Bureau of Standards in Washington, a tiny tube of [less] than 2/1000 of an ounce of radium was accidentally dropped on the floor and broken.

They swept up the radium with a camel's hair brush and washed the floor to get the rest of it, but enough radium remained to render another washing necessary, and this time they washed the floor with acidulated water, and still another time with soda water, and a fourth time with hydrated water.

Each yielded about four hundred dollars worth of radium. Finally a carpenter came and scraped the floor. Three years later the shavings were burnt and the ashes were found to be strong in radium. (Robert G. Lee, Salvation In Christ and Other Messages, [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1961], 57)

'Although you wash yourself with lye And use much soap, The stain of your iniquity is before Me,' declares the Lord GOD.

Jeremiah 2:22

The oldest game in the world is its endless effort to hide sin, change its appearance, change its name, or redefine it. Man is destined to have his sins revealed, as they truly are:

But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.

Numbers 32:23

But in Christ Jesus we have forgiveness of sins. The Bible says ...

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

And when we have been cleansed there will be no residue, absolutely no trace will be found; and when we finally face the fire, only the wood, hay, and stubble will be consummed. (Added 3/1/06)


WINDSHIELD WIPER SERMON [Isaiah 43:25; 44:22; other topics - Cleansing, Sin]

A friend relates a rainy day experience:

I was driving along one of our main streets, taking all those extra precautions which are necessary when the roads slick; unexpectedly, my son declared, "Mom, I’ve been thinking." This disclosure usually meant he had been pondering a fact for some time and was now ready to expound on all his seven-year-old mind had discovered.

Eager to hear, I asked, "What’ve you thinking?" "The rain is like sin," he began, "and the windshield wipers are like God, wiping our sins away."

After the goose bumps raced up my arms, I was able to respond, "That’s really good, Matthew." Then my curiosity cut in: how far would this little boy take this revelation? So I asked, "Have you noticed how the rain keeps coming? What does that tell you?"

Matthew didn’t hesitate for a moment, "We keep sinning and God just keeps on forgiving us." [Author Unknown]

Cleansing is a daily routine for civilized people. The old but unbiblical saying, "Cleanliness is next to godliness," has as its roots the desire of civilized people to feel free from daily contamination, whether major or minor. The Children of Israel were the first to adopt cleansing as a way of life; the Christians and other organized and civilized people followed suit.

John R. Rice used to tell the story of a man he visited on his death bed. At the first visit a friend ask the man "Is there something I can do? What can I do for you?" The man said, "No, there isn’t anything you can do." The next day the same thing, "Is there anything I can do?" "No, no," he said. A third and fourth time he asked. The man, in obvious weakness and discomfort, said, "No! No! No! There’s nothing anybody can do. But, oh, if there were only somebody who could undo!" [Adapted from - “The Shortest Road to Hell: NEGLECT!” John R. Rice, The Sword of the Lord, Vol. XXIV, No. 15; Friday, April 11, 1953; p. 5]

Man desires also to feel free of spiritual contamination. Billy Graham is most often cited as the source of the Minninger quote attributed to the institute’s founder. Apparently when asked what would heal mentally ill people the quickest, he responded, "Forgiveness!"

TAGS: Christian, Devotionals, Forgiveness,
Illustrations, Preaching, Religion, Sermons