POSSIBLE, PERSONAL, PRIVATE, PROFITABLE

Second Chances

We all need them and the Bible shows us that not only are they possible, the are personal, they are private, and ultimately profitable. The second chance is possible but it depends on your response. 

He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. (Proverbs 28:13)

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (Pslams 51:17)

If all you’re trying to do is get rid of guilt, the second chance is not going to do you any good.
The Bible shows us examples like Pontius Pilate, Judas Iscariot and the rich young ruler. They all were aware of their mistakes, but there’s no indication they were willing to make the change of heart required to give them forgiveness and a real second chance.

On the other hand, from King David to the Apostles Thomas, James, and John—they stumbled, they blundered big time, yet their remorse penetrated to the core of their being. They confessed they did not try to dodge their guilt. They asked for forgiveness and a fresh start and got it. Second chance is possible but it depends on how you respond. 

The second chance is personal. 

To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (John 10:3)

If you notice Jesus calls the sheep by name. He knows us personally. He talks to us personally. He deals with us personally. He knows exactly what we’re going through, what we’ve done, and the attitude of our heart.  We are not faces in the crowd to God—we are persons.  A person who he knows by name.  

The second chance is private. 

...and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:4-5)

He doesn’t deal with us in some massive ceremony, he deals with us one on one. Peter violated his relationship with Jesus by violently denying any association with him, even as Jesus was being tormented by the Romans. He even did it within the hearing of Jesus. Jesus appeared after his resurrection he first went to Peter to restore that relationship. He appeared to him privately, then he went on the other apostles. Your second chance with God is a private matter between you and Him. 

The second chance is profitable.   

Our Times Are in His Hands

Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”

Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?”

The wages of sin is death. That’s clearly not profitable, but when you turn from sin and embrace the Lord by putting your faith and trust in Him you move from the penalty of death to a life time position which will be profitable, brining you many untold blessings for eternity. The second chance is a hugely profitable opportunity.  

It’s the resurrection of Jesus that creates the opportunity for our real second chance.
The resurrection proves that death does not have to be final. It proves that mistakes can be forgiven. It creates a substitute for us to pay the penalty for our sins. Howeverm we must accept it. It won’t be forced on us.

Those who truly accept their guilt and put their trust in Jesus to save them, are filled with hope, a new life, and total redemption. We all need a second chance and it’s available through Jesus Christ. 

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Note - These notes were taken from an Easter Service message by the Reverend Jamie Powell, Pastor of the 1st Baptist Church Easter 2012

You Could Say Its Not Your Fault!

You were born that way!

Many have problems with the idea of being told they are a sinner. They hear a verse like the following and they really get upset.

For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.
(Romans 3:23)

They hear that and say “How dare the Bible lump me in with all the bad guys?! I resent that. I’m a pretty good person. I try to do the right things. In fact I’m one of the nicest people I know. In fact show me the qualifications for Heaven and let me go…I know I can do it.”

No you can’t!
It’s not a question of you doing or not doing something that puts you in a position of needing to be saved. It’s something that was set in motion generations ago. You were born into it. It’s something that you inherited. It started at the beginning of time when God told Adam in Genesis 2 15-17…

Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.

When Adam was created, he was created in God’s image. 
He was alive physically and spiritually. He was in total union with God. But he was given free will. He wasn’t forced to to anything. God wasn’t going to force himself on Adam because that would have made him a slave. Being God’s slave would not be someone who was “like” God. If Adam wanted to maintain his relationship and fellowship with God it would be his free and willing choice. That’s why he was given just one condition to maintain his status…don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As long as he did that he was demonstrating that his choice was to remain in full, happy, fellowship with God.

But that’s not what he did
He couldn’t resist. It became more important to him to taste the forbidden tree than to maintain his relationship with God his Creator and as a result he died spiritually.

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; 
And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
(Genesis 3:17-19)

He still had his physical life but spiritually he had died
That meant that all of his offspring would be dead spiritually as well…that means all of us. Not our fault. Not our choice. That’s the way we were born. If you think that bothers you, imagine how God felt.

He knew mankind forever was doomed unless he intervened. Now isn’t the time to get into the reasons why but the only way out was that a substitute would have to be created to die in our place.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.
(John 3:16-20)

What dooms people is refusing to accept God’s substitute
God sent his beloved Son. He left Heaven. He lived, sacrificed and suffered and died on a cross to give us a way out of eternal death. He arose and now offers full eternal salvation and life and fellowship with him. He offers us adoption as full heirs into his family. Total love. Its not just things people do that condemn them. They are already condemned. They are born that way. What sends them to a hopeless, miserable, tortured eternity is that they refuse to acknowledge the Lord and His sacrifice. They refuse to believe in Him as the son of God. He makes the supreme sacrifice and they turn their backs on Him. They have no hope.

If you don’t accept Him as Savior and put your faith in Him you have no one to blame but yourself.