But I Still Don't Feel Forgiven

I Still Don't Feel Forgiven

2 Chr 34:23-31

23 She said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:

Tell the man who sent you to me,

24 'This is what the LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people—

all the curses written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah.

25 Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods

and provoked me to anger by all that their hands have made,

my anger will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.'

Have you ever felt like you've failed God?

You've let God down?

He's been sooo good to you, but you've been sinful, nasty, wicked and rebellious?

Well... SHAME ON YOU!

All right, we sin, we backslide, or we rebel,

so we answer an altar call and pray and ask God to forgive us . . .

How many of you have answered an altar call and you STILL don't feel forgiven?

You've heard, "Don't trust in your feelings, IT'S BY FAITH!"

Well, not exactly

By God's mercy we receive forgiveness for sins

And God has placed some conditions on obtaining His mercy and receiving His forgiveness

Job 34:31-33

31 "Suppose a man says to God, 'I am guilty but will offend no more.

32 Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do so again.'

33 Should God then reward you on your terms, when you refuse to repent?

You must decide, not I; so tell me what you know.

You see, God does not HAVE to forgive anybody

And don't go thinking that God's gonna forgive you because He feels sorry for you

"Father, forgive me, for I know not what I did . . ."

I knew EXACTLY what I was doing, I jumped in feet first and yelled "yee-haw"

God doesn't forgive everyone that asks for forgiveness,

only those who meet His conditions

God wants to know if you're really sorry for what you did

What a difference there is between:

"I failed you, Lord, and I've ruined so many of your plans for me and my brothers"

what a difference there is between THAT and: "Oops... My bad"

How can we get God to listen to our prayer of repentance?:

2 Chr 34:26 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD,

'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard:

27 Because your heart was responsive

and you humbled yourself before God

when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people,

and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes

and wept in my presence,

I have heard you, declares the LORD.

28 Now I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be buried in peace.

Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place

and on those who live here.'" So they took her answer back to the king.

29 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

30 He went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites-- all the people from the least to the greatest.

He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant,

which had been found in the temple of the LORD.

31 The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD—

to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees

with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book.

How can we get God to listen to our prayer of repentance?:

vs 27

1) Because your heart was responsive

2) and you humbled yourself before God

a) and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes

b) and wept in my presence….. I have heard you, declares the LORD

Step 1) Because your heart was responsive

Ezra 9:4-7

4 Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.

5 Then, at the evening sacrifice, I rose from my self-abasement, with my tunic and cloak torn, and fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the LORD my God

6 and prayed: "O my God, I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens.