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 2Alright , 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 2So 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 2And 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 2Now , 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 2So 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 2To 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 2Forgiven 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 2Scary 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 2I'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 1Make 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 .