One thing I should have mentioned YESTERDAY, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. BY THEIR FRUIT, YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THEM. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” (Matthew 7:15-17) Simon had bad fruit on his tree. Acts 8:20
About our sins, “Blessed is he whose TRANSGRESSION (pesha‛: defiance, disobedience) is FORGIVEN, whose sin is COVERED. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not IMPUTE (châshab: to consider or be mindful of) iniquity, And in whose spirit, there is NO DECEIT (dishonesty).” (Psalms 32:1-2) How do we know for sure that God is not mindful of our sins? “As far as the EAST is from the WEST, SO FAR has He REMOVED OUR TRANSGRESSIONS from us.” (Psalms 103:12) Notice He does not say from the “NORTH to the SOUTH” that distance we know it is 12,436.81 miles. But if you start traveling EAST you will never find WEST.
To be sure we understand, God says, “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall KNOW ME…For, I WILL FORGIVE their iniquity, and THEIR SIN I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.” (Jeremiah 31:34) John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who TAKES AWAY THE SIN of the world!” (John 1:29)
God said, “This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel…I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts…For I will forgive their wickedness and will REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.” (Hebrews 8:10-12) David says, “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose SINS ARE COVERED. Blessed is the one WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NEVER COUNT AGAINST THEM.” (Romans 4:6-8) Now just so we are really convinced, the Bible says, “Where is another God like you, who pardons our guilt…you delight in showing unfailing love. Once again you will have compassion on us. You will TRAMPLE our sins under your feet and THROW THEM into THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN!” (Micah 7:18-19) The depth of the Mariana Trench is the deepest place in the Ocean. It’s a crescent-shaped depression in the Pacific Ocean, stretching over 1500 miles long with an average width of around 43 miles. The deepest point. It plunges approximately 36,070 feet below sea level—deeper than Mount Everest is tall! Pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench is 17,750 psi, which is more than 1,000 times the standard atmospheric pressure at sea level, it would CRUSH US INSTANTLY SO WE CANNOT LOOK FOR OUR SINS THERE!!!
O Lord, “You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, For You have CAST ALL MY SINS BEHIND YOUR BACK.” (Isaiah 38:17) We run into a problem when we try to measure God; we find He is immaterial and therefore immeasurable. HE IS INFINITE IN EVERY WAY. SO, IF HE PUTS OUR SINS BEHIND HIM, THEY ARE GONE FOREVER!!! Romans 12:2 says, “…be transformed (metamorphoō: to be divinely changed into a sinless Christian form) by the RENEWING of your mind, that you may prove (the way we live our lives will be proof) what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham