Upper Room Lessons on Jesus’ Promises

 

This is the manuscript of the third sermon in the series "Lessons from the Upper Room". In this sermon series I want us to look at the lessons that Jesus taught in the Upper Room. In the final hours before His death with His disciples, His closest friends Jesus served them, He taught them, and He prayed for them.

The first lesson that Jesus taught, and that needed to learn was the meaning of love—Jesus’ love and their love.

John 13:1 NIV It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

 

The next lesson they needed to learn was that Jesus was going to prepare a place for them where they would be with Him forever.  That place is heaven where they would have eternal life. 

John 14:2 NIV My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

Today the lesson is on Jesus’ promises to them and to us.

Scripture 

John 14:7‭-‬31 NIV If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.

Text

John 14:10 NIV Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

Introduction

Remember as I started this new series on the “Upper Room Lessons", I said that knowing the time was fast approaching for Him to depart this world, Jesus spent His final hours before His death with His disciples, His closest friends and in that Upper Room Jesus served them, He taught them, and He prayed for them.

The first lesson that Jesus taught, and that needed to learn was the meaning of love—Jesus’ love and their love.

John 13:1 NIV It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

 

The next lesson they needed to learn was that Jesus was going to prepare a place for them where they would be with Him forever.  That place is heaven where they would have  eternal life. 

John 14:2 NIV My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

Today the lesson is on Jesus’ promises to them and to us.

Jesus had been preparing the disciples for his imminent departure, and he told them He was going to prepare a place for them

John 14:1‭-‬3 NIV “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

His assurance of coming back for them calmed their hearts, but at the same time they wondered how they would cope during his absence. Every day Jesus had been with them answering their questions, directing their thoughts, settling their arguments, and strengthening them by his presence. Now he would be leaving them. Without Him they would be like helpless orphans. 

Jesus told his disciples, 

John 14:4 NIV You know the way to the place where I am going.”

But Thomas said that they didn’t know where He was going and they didn't know the way.

John 14:5 NIV Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

John 14:6‭-‬7 NIV Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Like I said two weeks ago Jesus is the way—the only way. Jesus is the truth—the only truth. Jesus is the life—the only life. Jesus alone is the way to the Father. 

Then Jesus made some promises to them. 

1. The promise of knowing the Father through Him

2. The promise of greater works 

3. The promise of a helper, the Holy Spirit 

4. The promise of blessings through the Holy Spirit

5. The promise of peace

Now these promises were made in the Upper Room to the disciples who were there with Jesus but they apply to believers today.  Here's how we know that these promises are to us too. These promises all involve the work of the Holy Spirit and we know that every believer has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit so we can claim these promises.

Here is some Scripture to back that up.

Romans 8:9‭-‬11 NIV You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

Ephesians 1:13‭-‬14 NIV And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

1.  The first promise was that of knowing the Father through Jesus (John 4:5–11).

If you know Jesus, you know God. The knowledge of Jesus that stops at Jesus the man and Jesus the martyr, Jesus the teacher and Jesus the brother, is only a partial knowledge of him.

John 14:8‭-‬14 NIV Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

In Jesus we see the Father.

You probably have seen a little boy who looked, talked, and walked like his father. What do you say about the boy? You likely remark, “He is the spitting image of his daddy.” To see Jesus is to see the Father.

If you want to know how God feels about those who are sick and suffering, see Jesus healing the blind, the crippled, and the lepers. If you want to know how God feels about grief, see Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus.

John 11:1‭-‬7 NIV Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

After her brother Lazarus died and Jesus showed up late to the funeral, Mary openly and honestly let Jesus know how hurt she was. When He saw Mary’s grief Jesus was “deeply moved in spirit and troubled” and later wept.

John 11:32‭-‬35 NIV When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.

If you want to know how God feels about children, listen to Jesus.

Luke 18:15‭-‬17 NIV People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

If you want to know how God feels about sinners, look at how Jesus dealt with Zacchaeus.  Now Zacchaeus was a tax collector for the Romans and they were notorious for being corrupt and the Jews hated them.  Zacchaeus was a short guy and when he heard Jesus was coming he climbed a tree so he could see. I am going to start reading at;

Luke 19:5‭-‬10 NIV When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

2. Then there was the promise of greater works (John 14:12–14).

John 14:12‭-‬14 NIV Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

The disciples had seen Jesus do many miraculous works, but he encouraged them by saying that they would do even greater works. Let’s talk about this a minute.

Jesus performed many amazing and wonderful works; raising the dead, walking on water, and feeding thousands and many more.  How can it be true that those who have faith in Him will perform “even greater” works than those?

Well, in saying that those who believe in Him would do the works that He did, Jesus was not saying that every Christian would walk on water and raise the dead. The book of Acts does record the apostles performing some miracles that were similar to Jesus’ works, but even they did not walk on water or feed multitudes, as far as we know.

So the question is did they perform greater works? If not what did Jesus mean that His faithful followers would do “greater” works than He? Without a doubt, the works of Jesus’ followers would be greater in extent, meaning in scale. Jesus’ earthly ministry had been largely limited to Galilee and Judea; His disciples, however, were going to extend His ministry throughout the earth. When Jesus ascended to heaven, His followers numbered in the hundreds; forty days later, on the Day of Pentecost, in response to the preaching of the apostles, that number leaped into the thousands.

Acts 2:41 NIV Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Later on when the apostle Paul was on one of his missionary journies in Thessalonica they said that the gospel message he was preaching was turning the world upside down.

Acts 17:5‭-‬7 NIV But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”

By the end of Acts, the gospel had made its way to Rome.

Acts 28:16‭, ‬ NIV When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him. 

30‭-‬31 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!

Jesus wanted his disciples to know that his power would reside in them.

Matthew 28:18‭-‬20 NIV Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

3. Then Jesus made them the promise of a helper, the Holy Spirit (John 14:15–24).

Jesus promised not to leave the disciples as helpless orphans. 

John 14:15‭-‬18 NIV “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

He promised that through the Spirit he would come to them. He promised them an abiding presence that would bring both love and obedience.

John 14:21‭-‬24 NIV Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

4. Along with the promise of the Holy Spirit comes the promise of blessings through the Holy Spirit (John 14:25–26).

Jesus promised the Holy Spirit as the Advocate

John 14:26 NIV But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

An advocate is one who assists someone in a court of law, someone who actively supports and promotes the interests of another person . 

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, was to be Christ’s representative. He would guide the disciples into truth and help them recall everything Jesus had told them. 

During the events that unfolded in the lives of the apostles, they did remember the words that Jesus had spoken to them before his crucifixion—and they understood them in a new light, for example;

John 2:19‭-‬22 NIV Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

John 12:14‭-‬16 NIV Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

5. Then there was the promise of peace (John 14:27–31).

Jesus did not promise his disciples that their lives would be easy. The peace Jesus promised was a triumphant overcoming of difficulties and problems. 

John 14:27 NIV Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

The world thinks of peace as being where there is no pain or sorrow—a peace of escape. The peace Jesus gives is shalom, which means everything that makes for our highest good. It is a peace that is independent of our outward circumstances.

The best we can expect from the natural world is unfairness and death. Even attempts to be moral, without God, lead only to frustration

2 Corinthians 7:10 NIV Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

Christ's "peace" refers to a hope and reassurance that goes beyond what a fallen world can offer.

Philippians 4:5‭-‬7 NIV Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This peace is permanent, guaranteed, and eternal.

Hebrews 6:18‭-‬19 NIV God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,

When Jesus said;

John 14:27 NIV Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

He was encouraging  His followers to keep their "hearts" from fear and trouble. What He calls for here is for Christians to  acknowledge the reality of suffering while at the same time trusting in God to make good on His promises.

The abiding presence of Jesus in your life brings peace.

Conclusion

Today by faith you can appropriate the promises Jesus made to the disciples in the upper room.  

Charles Spurgeon stated, “Do not treat God's promises as if they were curiosities for a museum; but believe them and use them.” We appropriate God's promises by learning them through reading and memorization, by seeing our need for them through meditative prayer, and by giving God time to work them out in our daily experience.  Any of God’s promises that we can claim in Jesus’ name are guaranteed and will be performed for us by God for His glory.

John 14:13‭-‬14 NIV And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

The Father Heart of God

This is the manuscript of the Father's Day sermon at Christ Chruch Los Angeles, June 18, 2021.  The sermon, "The Father Heart of God" is a represents a pause in the "Lessons from the Upper Room" series, which will resume that next Sunday.  

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.- Psalms 103:8‭-‬12”

From a human point of view God has a long fuse, a short memory, thick skin, and a big heart. I'll tell you something even more amazing. An infinite, perfectly holy, majestic, awesome God is passionately in love with insignificant, sinful, sometimes openly rebellious, frequently indifferent people. God loves people like you and me. In fact, God loves us so much that he wants to adopt us into his family. And even beyond that, he wants us to call Him "Father."

SCRIPTURE

Psalms 103:8‭-‬18 NIV The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

Text

Psalms 103:8‭-‬12 NIV The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Introduction 

Father's Day was founded in Spokane, Washington at the YMCA in 1910 by Sonora Smart Dodd. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who raised his six children there. After hearing a sermon about ' Mother's Day in 1909, she told her pastor that fathers should have a similar holiday honoring them.

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972.

Today is Father’s Day and tomorrow is Juneteenth. While I do have a Father’s Day message, I want to give a little background on the Juneteenth Holiday because most people including African Americans don’t really know its history.

Also called Emancipation Day, Freedom Day or Jubilee Day, Juneteenth is the commemoration of June 19, 1865, the day enslaved African Americans in Galveston, TX, learned that they were free. While President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, it only applied to people in Confederate states.  In Texas, a Confederate state where there was no large Union Army presence, slavery continued years after the Emancipation Proclamation — and even after the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865 — as many enslaved people in the state were not aware of the news. Finally in June of 1865, Major General Gordon Granger and Union troops landed in Galveston, Texas to tell the enslaved African Americans living there that the Civil War had ended and that they were now free. General Orders, Number 3; Headquarters District of Texas, Galveston June 19, 1865.

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

Juneteenth is considered the longest-running holiday in African American and Black communities and was often observed with community celebrations on the third Saturday in June. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021 after the U.S. Congress passed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. 

Now let’s talk about the Father heart of God.

From a human point of view God has a long fuse, a short memory, thick skin, and a big heart. I'll tell you something even more amazing. An infinite, perfectly holy, majestic, awesome God is passionately in love with insignificant, sinful, sometimes openly rebellious, frequently indifferent people. God loves people like you and me. 

In fact, God loves us so much that he wants to adopt us into his family. And even beyond that, he wants us to call him "Father." The Bible never teaches that everybody becomes a child of God automatically. We are adopted into his family because of His grace and through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus. 

Today, on this Father's Day, I  want to focus on some dimensions of that grace.

When it comes to his love for sinful people, God has a long fuse, a short memory, a thick skin, and a big heart.  

Verse 8 of Psalm 103 describes God's patience with us. He has got a long fuse.

Psalms 103:8 NIV The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

This is remarkably similar to something Moses had written some 500 years earlier.

While Moses was at the top of Mount Sinai conferring with God Almighty, the people were having a party. These people whom God had just delivered from bondage in Egypt were expressing their gratitude to God by worshiping an idol of a golden calf made from discarded jewelry. On top of that there was drunkenness and immorality.

Exodus 32:5‭-‬6 NIV When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

The Scripture says that when God saw this, he was angry.

Exodus 32:9‭-‬10 NIV “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

Moses fell on his face and appealed to God's grace. 

Exodus 32:13‭-‬14 NIV Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’ ” Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

God agrees with Moses and withholds his righteous wrath, but Moses was so upset with the people he destroyed the copy of the Commandments that God had given him.  

Exodus 32:19 NIV When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.

So God takes Moses back to the top of Mount Sinai, to dictate the Commandments again 

Exodus 34:5‭-‬7 NIV Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, is very similar to what David wrote in Psalm 103.

Psalms 103:8 NIV The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

Yes, God gets angry. But He puts up with a great deal before reaching his boiling point. Over and over again, the Bible tells us the reason God exercises such great patience is that he wants us to take advantage of this extension of his grace to turn from our sin, seek his forgiveness, and begin to obey him. 

2 Peter 3:8‭-‬9 NIV But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 

Psalms 103:9 NIV says He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;

Yet many of us make the mistaken assumption that God's patience really means that he isn't that concerned about our disobedience. And so, we abuse his patience

Sometimes when we have an argument with an old friend we get historical, not hysterical but historical. We and they bring up stuff from the past. 

God chooses to have a short memory. Psalm 130:3 tells us that if God kept a detailed record of our sins, none of us would ever be able to stand before him. 

Psalms 130:3 NIV If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?

Isaiah 57:16 NIV says I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me— the very people I have created.

Thank goodness, once we've sought his forgiveness, he doesn't keep on accusing. He doesn't keep on harboring his anger toward us. He chooses to have a short memory.  

Psalms 103:10 NIV says he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

If God punished us every time we deserved it, we would be in a perpetual state of receiving retribution. Every time we turned around, God would be chasing us for a selfish attitude or hurtful words or prideful spirit or materialism or indifference to the needs of others or something. The Bible word for this thick skin of God's is forbearance. 

Romans 3:25‭-‬26 NIV God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Scripture says God doesn't always treat us as our sins deserve. If God doesn't give you what you think you deserve, be grateful. God has a long fuse. He has got a short memory. He has thick skin.

Psalms 103:11‭-‬12 NIV say For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

David tells us that when we ask God to forgive our sins, he removes them as far as the east is from the west. Do you know how far that is? Truth is, it can't even be measured.

If you ever wondered how serious God is about taking care of your sin.  Let’s look at some Scripture 

Micah 7:18‭-‬19 NIV Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. 

Isaiah 38:17 NIV says Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.

Isaiah 43:25 NIV says “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.

Isaiah 44:22 NIV says I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”

Jeremiah 31:34 NIV says "No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

This morning God wants you to bask in his grace. He wants you to come, confess your sin, trust in Jesus Christ, allow the work that Christ did on the cross—the pain, the penalty for your sin—to be applied to your account, to be forgiven, to be cleansed, to be filled with his Spirit.

Even as God's children, we sometimes don't take full advantage of his forgiveness.

It’s possible as a child of God that you're not taking full advantage of his forgiveness and grace. You've forgotten that God has a long fuse and a short memory and thick skin and a big heart. 

You may never have had an earthly father who was characterized by these traits, but your Heavenly Father wants you to be secure in his love.

Psalms 103:13‭-‬16 NIV say As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.

The Bible describes our frailty in these verses in a couple of ways. And neither of them is very flattering. 

At the end of verse 14, the Scripture says we're like dust.

God made mankind from the dust of the earth and after death our bodies will decompose, and we'll return to dust. 

Genesis 2:7 NIV Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Genesis 3:19 NIV By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

The second picture of our frailty is that of grass, or flowers that temporarily flourish, and then the wind comes along, and it's gone. 

David, the psalmist, is describing our frailty. We're not as invincible as we sometimes think we are. 

The good news is that like a compassionate father, God understands our tenuous nature. God factors in our frailty when he weighs his responses to us.

Last week we talked about how God responds by giving eternal life to those of us who trust and believe Him.

Now I'm not suggesting that God always handles us with kid gloves. Every good dad knows that there's an appropriate time to demand a certain toughness in his children and to discipline them. But good dads also know their kids' limitations.

Hebrews 12:7‭-‬9 NIV Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!

Good dads take into account a son or daughter's age or temperament or peer pressure or physical health or school struggles or popularity issues. Do you think that our Heavenly Father is any less sensitive than an earthly dad who weighs these factors when dealing with a child?

When was the last time you were in one of those situations where you threw up your hands and you said, "I can't take any more?" "I can't take one more demand from my boss. I can't take one more bad medical report. I can't take one more moral failure in the same area. I can't take one more morning of waking up with pain. I can't take another rejection, another cruel word, another unpaid bill."  Doesn't God know how much I can take? 

Yes, He does and in fact, God knows better than you know. He knows your limitations, and He also knows what he's capable of doing in and through your life if you'll just trust him.

Here’s what it says in Psalms 103:17‭-‬18 NIV But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

This is the third time, in this psalm, that David has made the point that God's love is for those who fear him.  The other two are;

Psalms 103:11‭, ‬For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 

13  As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

This must be a crucial point if David needs to repeat it three times.

Does God want me to be afraid of him? What does he mean by fear? He tells us in verse 18 so let's read verses 17 and 18 again 

Psalms 103:17‭-‬18 NIV But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— (here is David's point of definition of fear) with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

David is saying to fear God is to know and obey God's word. If you don't know God's word, you can't obey it. And even if you know it but you don't obey it, then you don't fear God. If you don't fear God, then you can't experience His love. 

You might ask the question "Well Doesn't God love everyone because John 3:16 says, "God so loved the world." 

Well, Jesus said it this way in John 14:21 NIV Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Psalms 103:17‭-‬18 NIV But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

Fearing God is the path to experiencing his presence and love in our lives.

Let's pray,

 Abba Father,

Thank You that because You desired such a relationship with us, You sought us out and adopted us. You would be right to condemn us, but You accepted us. Though You could stand far off, You intentionally drew us near. Though You could turn Your face, You gathered us in Your arms.

We hardly know how to express our gratitude that You grant us an inheritance of Your Kingdom. We know we don’t deserve it, and Your generosity overwhelms us. Please show us how to invest these riches into others’ lives. Thank you, Lord, for the gifts You give. EVERY good thing in our lives is because of You. Please forgive our ingratitude as we take so many blessings for granted. Show us how to use these gifts to build Your Kingdom.

Father, we also want to thank You for the discipline You lovingly give us. We wish that we always did the right thing, but we are grateful You do not leave us in our sin, and instead correct us and guide us. Forgive us for the many times we have refused that correction in the past. We ask You to help us to listen quickly to Your instruction and to go in the way You point.

Please help us walk in the fullness of being Your children. Guide us toward the intimacy You offer. We want to enter completely into fellowship with You. We want to not only rest in this permanent relationship, but also walk in the privileges and responsibilities of it.

We love You Abba Father and we thank You for Your great love for us.

In Jesus name Amen