Clean Transcript

The Scars of Sin

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• Psalm 130, verse 3, just one simple verse, and actually this verse is to get me started to answer a question that was asked of me several weeks back. So if you look in Psalm 130, and look if you would please at verse 3, the Bible said, "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" Note, "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" Of course, the Bible says, "But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared."

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• We do not understand the consequences of sin. The title of this message is "The Scars of Sin." And we do not understand the consequences of our sin. We don't understand the physical impact that sin has upon our bodies. We do not understand the consequences of the mental and emotional as well as spiritual consequences of sin. There is a book that I have in my library that is entitled, "The Body Keeps the Score." And the whole emphasis upon that book is the fact that our bodies indeed keep the score of all the sins that we sin against our bodies and abuse our bodies with. When I began working on this message, I knew the definition of the word "scar," but I looked it up again just to reaffirm my thinking. Now I want you to listen to this definition that was given.

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• Any mark left on the skin or other tissue following the healing of a wound. We understand that. Here's the second part, though. Also, it refers to a permanent change in a person's character resulting from emotional distress. For instance, his wife's death left scars on him.

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• Now, the verb "scar" actually means to mark with a scar or to be marked with a scar. Our English word "scar" actually comes from the Greek word "scara." Now, there is another word that is used in the Bible for scars, and that happens to be the Greek word "stigma." I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Galatians and look, if you would, at chapter 6 and verse 17, Galatians chapter 6 and verse 17. In fact, we use the word "stigma" all of the time, and most of the time you hear the word "stigmata," which of course refers to the marks or the wounds on the body of Christ. But the Apostle Paul said it like this in Galatians 6 and verse 17. He said, "For henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ."

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• Now, a mark or a stigma in the ancient oriental usage was usually a mark that was burnt in or cut into the flesh of a slave or soldier. And the mark then either gave the name or indicated the name of the slave's master and or the soldier's commander. Sometimes those devotees to the false gods would be so devoted that they would carve or cut the name of their false god on their skin as well.

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• If you would turn back now to the book of 2 Corinthians, you can understand why the Apostle Paul said that he bore in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, let's begin reading there with verse 23. Paul asks, "Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more. In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. Of the Jews, five times received I forty stripes, save one." And the emphasis upon that is this: usually when they beat someone they would stop at 39 to make sure they did not go over the 40, but so he got the full count at least those four times. Then he says, "Thrice I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered

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• shipwreck, night and day I've spent in the deep, and journeyings often, in perils of water, and perils of robbers, and perils of mine own countrymen, and perils of the heathen, and perils of the city, and perils of the wilderness, and perils in the sea, and perils among false brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watching orphans, and hunger and thirst, and fasting often, in cold and nakedness. Listen to this: besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." And so certainly Paul could say that he bore in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• Most of us have never been stoned. We've never been whipped. We've never been beaten for the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. But Paul certainly did.

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• Now, when we use the word "stigma," it's usually used as a word of reproach. It's usually indicative of someone who's done something wrong or wicked and cruel. For instance, if you've been born in the South, the name Sherman would be a stigma. Because Sherman was a wicked, wicked, vile commander in the Union Army, and Sheridan as well. So I'm just simply pointing out the fact we would call that a stigma. And usually, when Alice and I were her children, and if you did anything that was a violation of the law, there was a stigma. He's a thief or he's a robber or he's an adulterer or something like that. It was a stigma. It was a stain upon your character as well. Now, the Bible emphasizes over and over what I'm going to call the effects of sin on our physical bodies.

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• Right now, I'm not talking about mental or emotional, but I want to just show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles if you would first of all to the book of Proverbs chapter 5, and as you're turning to Proverbs chapter 5, let me give you a quote, please, from 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 18. As you find Proverbs chapter 5, God says in 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 18, "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body, but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body." In other words, there are physical consequences to fornication. Now, if you look in Proverbs chapter 5, and let's begin reading there with verse 3, he's talking still about this same subject.

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• He said, "For the lips of a strange woman drop as a honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, her steps take hold on hell, lest thou shouldest ponder the path of her life. Her ways are movable, thou canst not know them. Hear me now, therefore, you children, and depart not from the words of my mouth."

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• Remove her way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house. Why? Lest thou give thy honor unto others, there's your character, and thy years unto the cruel, and thy strangers be filled with thy wealth, there's your economics, and thy labors be in the house of a stranger, there's your personal life, and thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

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• that would include, of course, venereal disease. Say, "I have hated instruction and my heart despised reproof." Of course there again would be character as well as mental. If you'd look in Proverbs chapter 6, Proverbs chapter 6, he says in verse 23, look at this: "For the commandment is a lamp and the law is a light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life, to keep me from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her eyelids. For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread, he's reduced to nothing, and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life." Now look at these questions. "Can a man take fire into his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals and his feet not be burned?"

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• So he that goeth into his neighbor's wife, whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent. So, again, he's talking about the physical aspect of sin. Then one more, if you look in Proverbs chapter 7, Proverbs 7, and notice if you would, beginning there with verse 21, still talking about this woman. He says, "With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks." Now, look at this.

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• "Till a dart strike through his liver, as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life. Hearken unto me now, therefore, O you children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths, for she hath cast down many wounded, nay, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death."

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• Now, the consequences of physical sin are very clear in the Bible. Of course, there is that which is known as the law of sowing and reaping. In Galatians 6, 7, and 8, the Word of God says, "Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, and he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting." The problem with sin is when you consider sin is basically as a seed. And once you plant a seed, it always produces more than you really expect. For instance, I might take one grain of corn and plant it. But that one grain of corn is going to bring forth a stalk with two to four full ears of corn. And so it is with sin. You might plan on reaping just a little bit, but you end up reaping an awful lot as well. Now, you're always going to reap more heartache, disappointment, and destruction than you want when you actually plant the seed of sin.

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• Now, let me just say, before I get to what I want to tell you today, that the truth of divine forgiveness is undeniable and it is true that God forgives our sins. But He forgives them based upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. It was author A.W. Pink who said many years ago that sin must be paid for, and that is the absolute truth. And the only reason God forgives us is because of the personal work of Jesus Christ, because He's the one that is the propitiation for our sins. He's the one that satisfied the anger, the wrath, the justice, the righteousness, and the holiness of God, and God forgives our sins based upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. Interestingly, in the New Testament, forgiveness is always tied to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now, we just read in Psalm 130, verse 4, concerning God, that there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.

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• But let me just show you, if you will turn in your Bibles, please, to the book of Acts, chapter 5. We're going to look at several passages. Look in Acts chapter 5, verses 30 and 31, which deal with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And look why God raised Him from the dead. Acts chapter 5, verse 30. The Bible says, "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins." So forgiveness of sins and repentance are connected with the person and work of Jesus Christ. So if you look in Acts chapter 13, Acts chapter 13 and verse 38, "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man, that is Jesus Christ, is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins." So the forgiveness of sins is preached through the Lord Jesus Christ. When you get to Ephesians chapter 1 in verse 7, and you get to Colossians 1 in verse 14, you have almost basically the same scripture. In verse 7 of Ephesians 1, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins."

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• When you get to Colossians 1 in 14, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." So let me just say this before I begin sharing with you what is really impressed upon me. In no way what I'm about to say is to castigate upon God's forgiveness. God's forgiveness is full. It's complete. It's gracious. It's kind. I am not belittling the forgiveness of God at all. In fact, I'm going to show you about five verses that are just absolutely astounding when it comes to what God has done for us in forgiveness. I want you to follow me in these five verses because you need to know them.

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• So let's look at our Bibles first to Psalm 103 and verse 12. Psalm 103 and verse 12. You may use these verses many times when you have what I'm going to be talking about, the scars of sin. So in Psalm 103 and verse 12, the Bible says this, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us." So if the West is over here and the East is over here, God has removed our sins as far as the East is from the West. And if you continue East and you keep going, you're still going to be going East. That's all there is to it. So God says He has removed our sins that far. If you would turn over in your Bibles to Isaiah 38, Isaiah 38, I've got to comment on a couple of these verses momentarily. Look in Isaiah 38 and notice if you would please verse 17. Isaiah 38 and verse 17. The Word of God says, "For behold, for peace I had great bitterness. But Thou in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption, for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back." So God has cast all of our sins behind His back.

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• Years ago, I read about where an atheist was talking to a little boy. The little boy was a Christian, and the atheist asked him, said, "What about your sins?" He said, "Well, sir," he said, "my sins have been forgiven and God has cast them behind His back." And so the atheist kind of smiled and said, "Well, what if God turns around?" The little boy said, "Sir, they'd still be behind His back." Well, that's true. So the Bible said He's cast all of our sins behind His back.

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• Look in Isaiah 43 and verse 25. Isaiah 43 verse 25. I'm going to remember this one because I've got to comment on it just a few minutes. Watch this. God says, "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."

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• Now, you need to pay attention to that. God said, "I will not remember thy sins." Then if you will turn right over to the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 31, Jeremiah 31, and look at verse 34. Jeremiah 31, look if you would please at verse 34. Look what God says: "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." I will remember their sin no more. So I want you to look in the last one of these and that's in the book of Micah, right before the little book of Nahum you'll find the minor prophet Micah. Notice in Micah chapter 7 and verse 19. Micah 7 and verse 19. Look at this. The Bible says, "He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us, He will subdue our iniquities, and I will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea."

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• So obviously, clearly, when you look at these passages, God does indeed forgive us completely and totally and freely and graciously. However, let me point something out. The forgiveness of sins does not necessarily equate with the removal of consequences. God may forgive our sins, but we still, many times, have to suffer and suffer the consequences from our sins. Now, moreover, it does not mean, when God forgives us, that there is no longer any emotional distress because of our sins. It does not mean that the memories of our sins are erased. We still have those.

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• This is why I'm talking about the scars of sin. Do you realize a scar can not only be disfiguring and ugly, but a scar can also be very painful? We had a lady in our church who had to have some emergency surgery. They come to find out it was a scar from a previous surgery that caused the new problem. And the scar tissue had actually wrapped around one of her intestines and was choking it. I'm just simply saying, scars can be very painful at times. I had a surgery when I was two years old.

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• I don't remember anything about it. But I'm pushing at and still every now and then that little scar will prick me like it's somebody sticking a needle in me. I don't know why. But I'm just simply saying scars can not only be disfiguring, they can be at times very painful as well. So a scar oftentimes just reminds you of what has happened to you previously. The past may be in the past, and the past may still be the past, but the scar of that past is still on you.

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• So that's what I want to deal with today. We read several passages where the Bible says that God will not remember our sins anymore. You have to also recall the fact that God is omniscient. That is, God is all-knowing. There is absolutely nothing that God does not know. God knows everything. He knows the end from the beginning because He ordained everything. And when the Bible says that He will never remember our sins, it does not mean that He eradicates them somehow from His mind. What it does mean is this: He will never remember them against us.

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• As far as executing a penalty for them, He will never remember them against us to try to manipulate us and control us the way some people do. In other words, He is not going to count those sins and hold those sins against us. So let me show you what I'm talking about. If you will look in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4, and let's begin reading there with verse 30. Ephesians chapter 4, look if you would please at verse 30. In this particular passage, the Word of God says, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God,

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• whereby you're sealed on the day of your redemption." Now look at verse 31. "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice." Now here's the verse, verse 32. "And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, look at this next phrase, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you." So God says when we forgive each other, we're to forgive each other even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us.

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• So let's suppose that Gary and I get into a row, we get into an argument. I mean, it might be a pretty heated one, okay? And I say, "Gary, we should not be doing this. We should not be fussing." And then I got out of hand and you got out of hand. But, but Gary, please forgive me. And I don't want to, I don't want to be like this. He said, "Okay, I'll forgive you." He may or may not ask me to forgive him.

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• But he says he forgives me. And so the next week I come around, and I say something to him, and he takes it the wrong way. And he says, "I knew it. I knew it. I knew you didn't repent. I knew it."

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• Now, what does that just told me? It just told me that he never, ever forgave me, because if he forgave me as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven me, then he doesn't remember my sins. Now, wait a minute. That does not mean he has the power to erase them from his mind. But it does mean he has the power not to bring them up and not to speak about them and not to use them to manipulate and control me.

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• That's where most husbands and wives get in trouble. They'll tell each other they forgive each other. And sometimes a wife, you know, that's what one guy said. It's so true in so many instances. He said, "I don't have to remember my sins. My wife does." Oh, that's probably true. But you know, the going man, a lot of times we say, "Well, I forgive you and I forgive you," the next thing you know, you're arguing over the same thing the next day. If you're arguing over the same thing the next day, you've never really forgiven anybody to begin with. So the Bible says that when we forgive, we're to do exactly the way God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us.

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• So we don't have the power to eradicate these things from our minds, but we do have the power to control our tongue and not speak about them. So that brings me to this question. What about the scars of our sins? What about the scars that we have in our memories?

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• Now it amazes me that how quickly a flood of memories can inundate your mind when you're not even thinking about those things. You may be occupied doing some technical work. You may be working on the computer. You may be studying your Bible. You may be praying, and all of a sudden, these thoughts just flood your mind. And you ask yourself, "Where in the world did that come from? Why? Without even enter into my mind at this particular time?" Well, I'm going to show you the answer why. I want you to look in your Bibles or Romans chapter 8, you know the answer, but I'm going to show it to you again. Look at this. Here is the answer. Look at Romans chapter 8 and look if you would please beginning over verse 7. The Bible says, "For the carnal mind, that would be the fleshly mind. For the carnal mind is," he said, "for the carnal mind is enmity against God." Remember the word "enmity" is a very strong word for hatred. So he said, "For the carnal mind is enmity against God.

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• For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are flesh cannot please God." So our carnal mind, fleshly minds, are the enemies of God. They are not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So let me put it like this: you may educate your flesh. You may refine your flesh. You may manicure your flesh, but your flesh is still flesh. It's just like putting ribbons on a pig's ear and a diamond in a pig's nose. It's still a pig. That's still a pig. That's why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 in verse 50, He said, "Now this I say to you, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption." So our flesh then does not love the Lord. It does not love holiness or righteousness. It's enmity with God. Moreover, we've got another problem and that would be the devil or Satan, because the Bible tells us in Revelation chapter 12 in verse 10 that he is the accuser of the brethren. Now I want you to turn in your Bibles if you would please to the book of Zechariah, which is right before the

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• book of Malachi, which is next to the last book in the Old Testament. I want you to look in Zechariah chapter 3. Because in this passage, the Word of God blows apart an old gospel song. I remember hearing it when I was a boy. I don't remember the tune, but it went like this: "When Satan sees the weakest saint upon his knees, then Satan flees." That ain't so. Sorry. Bad grammar, but it's not true. So look in Zechariah chapter 3 verse 1: "And he showed me Joshua the high priest." Now we're not talking about just any priest, this is a high priest. "And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said to the Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" And so we have our flesh that is the enemy of God. And now we have Satan who is accuser of the brethren.

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• He accuses us before God. He reminds us that we're sinners. He reminds us that we've sinned. He reminds us that we're wicked. He reminds us that we're wrong. He tells us we don't deserve anything, which is basically true. Well, how in the world do we deal with this? Well, first of all, we ask the Lord to rebuke him because that's exactly what happened in this verse. And the Lord said of Satan, "The Lord rebuke thee." God is sovereign. God certainly has control over Satan. He has control over everything. But notice, if you would please, that Satan in reality has no right to accuse or condemn us. He does it, but he does not have the right or the authority. Why? Look in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter 8. Here it is stated very plainly. Romans chapter 8. I hope you understand that your enemy will always get away with whatever you will allow him to get away with. That's a fact. As long as you don't fight, as long as you don't resist, that's it.

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• But look what the Bible says. Romans chapter 8, verse 31. "What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Now look at this. "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" No one has the right to condemn us before God. Watch this. "It is God that justifies.

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• Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." When the Bible says our Lord makes intercession for us, He's not only our high priest, but 1 John 2 tells us He's our advocate. That is, He's our attorney, He's our lawyer. And so if Satan is trying to accuse us and condemn us, first of all, you know, we say, "Yeah, we're guilty, but Lord, You take care of this. You're my advocate. You rebuke him." And then you have no basis to condemn me because Christ has justified me. And Jesus Christ is my high priest.

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• Now, let me just point something out. The devil does not have to mess with most of us. The truth of the matter is we're not important enough. And when you look at the scripture, Satan only really tempted very few people. He tempted Adam and Eve. He assailed Job. He assaulted Joshua, the high priest. He desired Peter that he may sift him as wheat, and he attacked the Lord Jesus Christ. Why does he not mess with most of us? Well, I'll show you why. You'll turn in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. Let's begin reading there verse 19. Galatians 5 in verse 19. Look at this. Here's why he doesn't have to mess with most of us.

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• "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these." Now look at what the flesh does. "Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like, of the which I tell you before, and I've also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." In other words, our flesh does most of this.

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• Ha, it was Flip Wilson, that old black comedian who made popular the saying, "The devil made me do it." The devil doesn't make you do anything. He may tempt you, but if he made you, if he forced you to do something, you're not responsible, he would be responsible. So all he does is tempt. And there your desires and there your lust and there's what you want satisfied and you yield to the temptation. That means you're responsible, not him.

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• So we have the accuser of our brethren. Now, let me point something out. I've done this before, but I want to remind you, we basically have three main adversaries. We have the world, the flesh, and the devil. And the Bible gives us answers to how to deal with each one of them. When it comes to the devil, the key word is fight. You resist the devil. For instance, the Bible says in James 4 and verse 7, "Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." And the word "resist" means to fight. He said the same thing in 1 Peter 5 and verse 9, "Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing," he said, "that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." He says, "Your

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• adversary the devil walketh around as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in the faith." That means you fight. So when it comes to Satan, you fight. When it comes to the world, it is faith. The Bible says in 1 John chapter 5 in verse 4, "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." And so it's faith when it comes to the world, and when it comes to the flesh, the key word is flight, run. Paul told Timothy, in 1 Timothy 2 and verse 22, no, 2 Timothy 2 and verse 22, he said, "Flee also youthful lusts, but follow after righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart." He said, "Flee also youthful lusts." And when Paul said this to Timothy, Timothy was in his 40s.

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• He was not a teenager. And I got news for you, I don't care if you're 70 or 80, there's still youthful lusts. I mean, that's all there is to it. And so it's much like Joseph, when Potiphar's wife made a play for him, he left his coat and got out of there, he fled. So, when it comes to Satan, you fight. When it comes to the world, it's faith. When it comes to the flesh, you flee.

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• Now, what about our sinful memories? And I'm calling them sinful memories because sin does scar us. What about all those memories that flood into your mind concerning your past? You know, there's an old hymn that we used to sing when I was a child, "Precious Memories, How They Linger." There's some memories that are not precious and they linger. Bill Evans, a good friend of mine, I talked to him this past week.

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• He said that one of our problems is this: we forget what we should remember and we remember what we should forget. And that's a fact. That's a fact. The Bible says in the book of Hebrews, chapter 2, that we're to remember His word lest at any time we let these things slip. And the Apostle Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 2, "By which things you also are saved if you keep them in your memory." And the Apostle Paul in the book of Philippians chapter 3, turn there, you're not far from there, just turn over to Philippians chapter 3, look if you would at verses 13 and 14. Look what the Apostle Paul said.

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• "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended." In other words, I hadn't made it yet, "but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth into those things which are before, I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." But notice what he said, "forgetting those things which are behind." Thankfully, we do forget most of our past. We do.

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• I've often said to Alice we would observe something and look at her and I'd say, "I could never do that." And she'd look at me and said, "You used to." I said, "Well, if God is for God, then maybe I should as well." Yeah, you don't need to recall when you have a wife that she keeps. That is a fact. That is a fact. Now, let me tell you something about these thoughts.

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• Have you ever wondered why? Listen to me carefully. If a man is unsaved, his sinful thoughts do not bother him because he enjoys them. In fact, he'll brag about them. "I did this and I didn't get caught and I got away with this." And he's just as happy as the Lord. They don't bother him. And sometimes there are Christian people who are very seldom bothered by sinful memories. Why?

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• Let me make an observation. You remember we read in Romans 8 that the carnal mind, the fleshly mind, is enmity against God. It hates God. The more obedient you are, the more righteous, the more holy, the more godly that you are and you want to be and you strive to be, the more your flesh hates you. And it hates God. And your flesh is going to remind you constantly of everything that you used to do before your conversion. It's just that simple.

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• So if you're pressing forward like the Apostle Paul, yeah, you may try to forget the past and you may forget a lot of the past, but some of it you're not going to forget. That is a scar that's on our emotions. It's a scar that's on our minds. And I'm going to tell you something. The Apostle Paul told Timothy to fight the good fight of faith. And when we fight the good fight of faith, it's not just a daily struggle. Sometimes it's an hourly struggle and sometimes it is a minute by minute struggle. It's a constant battle to keep our minds pure and keep our minds on Lord Jesus Christ and on the things of God. Your mind is unique.

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• I don't care how educated you are. I do not care how many doctorates that you have behind your name. You can only think of one thing at a time. And if your mind is on the memories of your past sins, your mind is not on Jesus Christ, it's not on His forgiveness, it's not on the promises of God. And if your mind is on the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not on those sinful memories of the past. No. You can only think of one thing at a time no matter how hard you try. And the Bible tells you in Isaiah 26 in verse 3, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." Listen now. "Because he trusteth in Thee. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." So what we want and what we really desire is to have our mind stayed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. So we have to remove, we have to refuse all of these thoughts and all of these memories that are wicked, that are wrong, that are ungodly.

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• We must put them out of our mind, refuse to think upon them, and then place our minds upon the Lord Jesus Christ, upon a promise. Or as Paul said, "Whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are clean, think on these things." You don't have to think about those memories. Remember, if you would, the Bible tells you in Philippians 2 and verse 5, "Let this mind be in you, which also is in Christ Jesus." So over and over in the Bible, we have been commanded to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. So God requires us to be renewed in our minds. Why? Because our minds not only control our thoughts, our minds also control our conduct and our actions. And you remember that passage, I hope, in 2 Corinthians, chapter 10, in verse 5, where the Bible says, "Casting down imaginations and every high thing or every high thought that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into subjection and captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ." So we're to have every thought brought in subjection and captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• So when we do that, we will be more apt to say, and I wish we could say it truthfully in every sense of the word, what our Lord said in John 8 in verse 29. He said, "He that sent Me is with Me. The Father hath not left Me alone, for I do always those things which please Him." Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could say not only we do always those things that please Him, but we always think those things which please Him? Now, if I could get rid of all my memories that are sinful and wicked and wrong, I would gladly do so. But I can't. Neither can you.

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• But I want to tell you something. Your sinful memories of the past afford you great opportunities. You say, "How in the world can something wicked like that afford me great opportunities?" Well, just like you, I'd be happy to have mine totally gone, but they're not. How do I have an opportunity when these sinful thoughts come into my mind? I'm going to give them to you. Number one. First, I have the opportunity to acknowledge and confess that I am a sinner and that I have sinned.

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• You know the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 28 in verse 13, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but he that confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy." So, when my sins come back in my mind, I got news for you. I am ashamed of my sins, and I hope you are ashamed of your sins, but I am not ashamed to admit and confess that I'm a sinner. And I'm ashamed to admit and confess that I've sinned in times past. And the Bible said if we confess and forsake our sins, we're going to have mercy. So it gives me an opportunity once again to acknowledge and to affirm in my own mind that I am a sinner. I'm not yet glorified. I'm not yet made perfect in Jesus Christ. I am a sinner and I still need His mercy and grace. That's an opportunity. Here's a second opportunity. I have the opportunity to revel and to glory in the forgiveness that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because God the Father sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

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• He has cleansed me. He has washed me. He has forgiven me. And although my past springs up in my mind, I may acknowledge it, but I can say, "Lord, thank You that I'm not like that anymore. I don't want that any longer. I want holiness, I want righteousness, and I glory in the fact that You have changed me and changed my desires." That's an opportunity. Thirdly, you have the opportunity to praise God. When I say that, we have the opportunity to praise Him for deliverance, because the Bible says in Proverbs 50 and verse 23, God said, "Whosoever offers praise glorifies Me, and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God." Whosoever offers praise glorifies Me. How often do you praise Him? How often do you thank Him for deliverance?

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• I don't know about you, but I think of that passage in the book of Colossians where He hath translated me out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His own dear Son. I don't know how many times I thank Him that He has not left me in my sins, that He's not left me as others who glory in their wickedness. We have an opportunity to praise Him. Fourthly, when these sinful memories or memories of the past arise in our mind, we have an opportunity to fight against them and to purposely and deliberately reject and refuse them. And we have the opportunity to do, as Paul told Timothy, to fight the good fight of faith.

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• And let me tell you something, folks, you cannot be holy and you cannot be godly and you cannot be obedient without a fight. That's all there is to it. It is a daily fight and I must learn in my fighting to lean upon Him, to think upon Him, to love Him and trust Him even more. That's why the Bible says, which I've already quoted, in Isaiah 26 in verse 3, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." Yes, so we have these sinful past memories and they must be dealt with. Now I want to try to tie things together for you and give you a couple of applications. The first one is this: We have memories today that we wish we could forget. We've done things in our past that we wish we had never done and there are times that we desperately try to forget them. And yet they keep popping up in our minds. Here's something you can be thankful for. You can be thankful that the aggravation of these memories is only temporary.

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• It's not permanent. It's not even permanent in this life. And it's certainly not going to be in eternity. Because we'll have glorified bodies, glorified minds. While we're on this subject, I want you to turn to Luke chapter 16. And I'm going to tell you very clearly what I believe is implied in this passage. You know the passage in Luke chapter 16. Because here's the story of the rich man and Lazarus. You remember how the rich man died, the Bible says, in hell. He lifted up his eyes, being in torments. Luke 16, Lazarus died, was carried by angels into the bosom of Abraham. And the rich man said, "Father Abraham, send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." Hmm. Look if you would in verse 25 at the answer that Abraham gave him. And Abraham said, "Son, remember." You see that?

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• "Remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest thy good things. And likewise, Lazarus, evil things. But now he is comforted and art tormented." Now think about this. But Abraham said, "Son, remember." I think that part of the torment and punishment of dying lost is that you will remember every sin, every trespass, every transgression. You'll remember every violation of God's law. You'll rue the day that you did those things. You'll remember every time you heard and every time you spurned and rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and His word and His gospel. You'll remember every time anyone attempted to witness to you and tried to tell you about salvation. You'll remember those things. He said, "Son, remember, you remember in your lifetime, you had this, this and this, this. You remember that." I think memory. Simple memory. Will haunt the lost for eternity.

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• Thankfully, our sinful memories are temporary. They're not permanent.

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• Now, here's the second application. You may have the scars of sin in your life, which are regrettable. There's probably not a person in this room that would say, "If I could do everything all over again, I'd do it exactly the way I did it." No, no, no. I've always said this, I would love to live my life over only if I had the knowledge back then that I have now. Because if I didn't have the knowledge I have now, I'd do the same stupid things all over again. Okay, now, the point is this, in reality, the scars of our sins are unimportant. Because they're temporary. Although they're an aggravation, although they hurt us, what is important is do we have the scars or the marks or the stigma of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'd rather be known as a Bible-thumping, Bible-believing Christian who is totally sold out to Jesus Christ than anything else. I'd rather.

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• And if people hate me for that, they hate me. If they ridicule me, it doesn't bother me. I haven't been stoned for Jesus Christ. Thankfully, we don't have that around today. And I haven't been a night and day in the deep. And I haven't been whipped five times. No, no, no, no. But I'm just simply saying we may suffer, but we may suffer differently. But I'd much rather have in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ than I had the marks of sin any day of the week.

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• And when you look at the leaders of this world and the world system, at their wickedness, at their corruption, and you think about the suffering of the average, ordinary Christian who can't even make ends meet normally, you think that's bad? No. I'd rather suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ than have the money of every rich man in the entire world. I'm just simply saying the important thing is that we have the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ in our life.

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• The best mark is the mark of obedience, the mark of submission. We bow to Him and obey Him. Jesus Christ said in Luke 6 in verse 46, "Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not those things which I say unto you." Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day. We thank You for Your grace to us. And Lord, we acknowledge the scars of sin in our life. We're sinners, Lord, we've sinned and we're still imperfect and we're still sinners. But Lord, we pray with Jabez, Lord, that Your hand would be upon us and that You would enlarge our coast and that You would keep us from evil, that it might not grieve us. And Lord, keep us from evil that we might not grieve Thee and displease Thee. And Father, help us to think more of the Lord Jesus Christ and His great forgiveness than we do of our sinful memories and the scars of our sins. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T19:38:40Z