In This Issue:
A Different Person
Always Looking over His Shoulder
No More Guilt!
None Guilty?
The King’s Pardon
Volume: 820 July 26, 2021
Theme: Guilt
Free Daily Devotions, Bible Studies, Sunday School lessons and printable versions of The Bible View (including church bulletin insert and large print versions) are available at https://openthoumineeyes.com/ and http://www.devotionsfromthebible.com/.
A free, printable pamphlet entitled “What Does God Say about Drinking Alcohol” is available at https://openthoumineeyes.com/lessons/Drinking_Pamplet.pdf. It would be appreciated to hear who plans to use it, so I can decide if I should offer more of these short pamphlets for ministry use.
A Different Person
Bill Brinkworth
King David never forgot his sinful past. However, he did not go around with guilt and not forgiving himself, as some do. He encouraged himself by remembering, because of God’s help, that he did some things that were “righteous” in God’s eyes.
David recalled he had:
- A godly testimony and character (“integrity”) — Psalm 26:1.
- To the best of his ability, obeyed God’s commandments — Psalm 26:3.
- Not associated himself with people of false self-worth — Psalm 26:4.
- Done his best to not be in the company of those that portrayed themselves as they were not. Today, we would relate those to people that appear like Christians on Sunday but live the same as the ungodly the rest of the week — Psalm 26:4.
- Not associated with those doing evil — Psalm 26:5.
- Been grateful and had given God the glory for the great things He had done — Psalm 26:7.
- Loved to be in the Temple and to be around the things of God — Psalm 26:8.
The closer to God we try to be, the clearer we see the defects and sins in our lives. Sometimes, the hardest critic we have to deal with is ourselves. If we have asked God to forgive us, He has. Unfortunately, sometimes our guilt remains, and many are not free from their past.
Rather than dealing with guilt, David moved forward. He knew he had done all he could by asking God’s forgiveness of his sins.
Not out of pride, but as an encouragement, the king reminded himself of the great changes God did in his life. He recalled what he had become, not what he was.
We also need to have the same attitude about our past. If we have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, then His blood suffices to cover all our sins. God has forgiven and forgotten them.
We, as did David, must not dwell on our old life. We must remember and brag on God for all the changes He has done in us. We are new creatures in Christ.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. — II Corinthians 5:17
Always Looking over His Shoulder
C. H. Spurgeon
A man was constantly in debt and continually being arrested for his failure to pay his bills. Once, when going by some railings, he caught his sleeve on one of the handholds. He instantly turned around and said, “I don t owe you anything, sir.”
He thought an arresting bailiff was tugging on his sleeve. So, it often is with unforgiven sinners. Wherever they are, their guilt hauntingly follows them, and they are continuously cautious of being found out. They enjoy little.
When a man is forgiven, he can walk anywhere. There is no guilt. His conscience is at rest.
“And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.” Isaiah 32:17
No More Guilt!
Bill Brinkworth
Before Paul’s salvation, he did all he could to serve God his way. In so doing, he unknowingly became an enemy of God and Christians. He was responsible for having many Christians killed and did much to slow the spreading of the Gospel. When he was saved, Paul became one of the sincerest servants for Christ.
No matter what he did after salvation, he still had a past. There was no way to undo what he had done. All he could do was go forward by doing the right things after being forgiven and do all he could for the cause of Christ. He did that with all his heart.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” I Corinthians 15:1
Many are plagued with a guilty conscience of their past, even after they are saved. Years ago, I remember listening to a Christian radio program where the host answered live scriptural questions. One caller, choked with guilt, called and told the host, “I am saved, I know I am forgiven, and my sins are forgotten, but I just cannot forgive myself, and that is why I am going to take my life.” Immediately, the program was changed over to music, while I imagine the radio preacher dealt with the man’s guilt and desire to take his own life. Sadly, many will not forgive themselves and still live a defeated life, even after salvation.
We all have pasts. No saved person should have any joy in the wrong he has done. If we could do it over, most of us would choose never to have committed the sins we have, but we still had done them. No remorse or guilt is going to change our past. When we trust Christ for salvation, our sins are not only forgiven by God but they are forgotten (Psalm 103:12). Our sins are under His blood.
Even though God knows all we did, He still offered us a way, by His grace, to His Heaven. Since He has forgiven and forgotten our past, we must also forgive and forgot what we have done.
“When people remind you of your past, remind them that Jesus dropped the charges.” — Author Unknown
None Guilty?
Sunday School Times
Paul Loizeaux once said, “Oh, how hard it is to find sinners! If only I could find one, I have a marvelous message for him.” Of course, he meant sinners who know themselves to be sinners.
To be a sinner is one thing. To know it is another. But, whether or not we realize it, God knows our sinnership and knows if we go on without His saving help, we will perish. To deliver us from perishing, He sent us His Son to prepay for our sins. He offers us the great gift of salvation because of His great love for us and because He knows of man’s great need.
“… the righteous are bold as a lion.”: If a man is not guilty, he can stand up and speak out. If his own mind is free from guilt, he is not afraid of the thoughts and minds of other men.” — J. Vernon McGee
The King’s Pardon
D. L. Moody
A man was once being tried for a crime, the punishment of which was death. The witnesses came in one by one and testified to his guilt, but there he stood, quite calm and unmoved.
The judge and the jury were surprised at his indifference. They could not understand how he could take such a serious matter so calmly.
When the jury retired, it did not take them long to decide on a verdict of “guilty.” After the judge passed the sentence of death upon the criminal, he told him how surprised he was that the criminal could be so unmoved by the prospect of death. When the judge had finished, the man put his hand in his bosom, pulled out a document, and presented it to the judge. He then walked out of the courtroom a free man.
Ah, that was how he could be so calm. He had a free pardon from his king, which he had in his pocket all the time. The king had instructed him to allow the trial to proceed and produce the pardon only when he was condemned. No wonder then that he was indifferent to the result of the trial.
That is just what will make us joyful on the great Day of Judgment. We have a pardon from the Great King, and it is sealed with the blood of His Son. We that are saved will miss that White Throne Judgment! We have the King’s pardon!