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The Mount of Olives
(We are forgiven)
Scriptures touching on the Mount of Olives
- Prophesy concerning this mount (Zechariah 14:4)
- Triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1,2 and Mark 11:1,2)
- Jesus speaks of the signs of His return (Matthew 24:3 and Mark 13:3,4)
- Went out there, after the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 26:30 & Mark 14:26)
- Called the Mount of Olivet (Luke 19:29 and Luke 21:37))
- The hill east of Jerusalem (Idolatry) (1 Kings 11:7)
- Called the Mount of Corruption (Ahaz Idolatry) (2 Kings 23:13)
- David fled, wept, and went barefoot (2 Samuel 15:30)
- Ezekiel’s vision, the glory of the Lord (Ezekiel 11:23)
- The Ascension (Acts 1:12)
Text
"I will forgive their iniquity and their sin
I will remember no more"
(Jeremiah 31:34)
Sermon
As humans, we have absolutely no natural ability to comprehend the grace of God.
Forgiveness (an element of grace) is not normal to us, unless a compensation, a
price is paid, that satisfies the debt. If I owe you money, and I do not pay, both
of us will always understand there is a debt, though repayment may be deferred for a time.
Again, looking from a completely human perspective, we are struck by the enormity of
this, that a place called the "Mount of Corruption"
(2 Kings 23:13) could become, from God’s perspective, a place of "the glory of God." We can be such a place also, and
indeed, a Price was paid, to bring this to pass.
To understand grace, we must see ourselves as God spoke about this mountain. From
His vantage point (He is in utter purity), we, who are not holy, are corrupt, through and
through. There is no human reason at all, why the grace of God should be applied to
any one of us.
We are exactly like that "Mount of corruption"
(2 Kings 23:13), and the only act that can save us, is that we and the evil within us,
must be broken (2 Kings 23:14 - "King Josiah broke in pieces
the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images"). A mountain cannot
break its "sacred pillars," and we are like that
mountain, because we cannot save ourselves. (Deep in our hearts, we know this).
Like King Josiah came to the mountain and cleansed it from sin, Jesus, Yeshua, has
come to us, and died for you and for me.
He, the Holy One of God, was broken, that we can be made whole. He, Who did not
need to die, died for the sins of the world. Now, that’s grace; the unmerited
favor of God, given to an undeserving human race.
Jeremiah quoted the Lord, "I will forgive their iniquity and
their sin I will remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). We ask, how can
this happen (for we are sinners and cannot pay our debt)? It is already answered (in
Jeremiah 31:33), "I will put My law in their minds and write it
on their hearts." He will do the work for us.
These verses in Jeremiah are quoted in Hebrews 10:16-17. The author continues,
revealing the method by which this may occur, "We are
emboldened to enter the Holy of Holies by the Blood of Jesus, by a new and living way,
which He consecrated us, through the veil that is, His flesh" (Hebrews
10:19-20). We receive the grace of God, because of the Blood of Jesus Christ.
I have a computer, and because of the Friday Study website, I’m "on"
that computer a lot! I’ll share a secret - I don’t know how my computer
works! I benefit from it, but can’t comprehend it. I open up the case,
and it’s full of circuits and wires. What do they do? Even worse,
I’m told that the images on my screen are actually numbers - I’m seeing numbers,
rearranged into pictures, so I might perceive something mathematical which is beyond my
comprehension. But I do use my computer and benefit greatly from it.
So it is with grace. For centuries, God acted out, in picture form, the death of
an innocent creature (a lamb, a bull, a dove), in the place of a guilty human being.
Does it make sense to you? To those who received, it did not matter, they
just received. This was a parable, a preview of something (Someone) much greater to
come. The Son of God (the innocent Lamb) would die in your place. You are
given the grace of God.
Let’s receive that grace, right now. Father, we come to You, just as we are.
We confess we have sinned and do not deserve the grace of God. Thank You, God, that
You sent Jesus, Who died in our place. We receive Him right now. We receive
the grace of God. Forgive our iniquity and please do not remember our sin any more.
Come, Holy Spirit, and fill our thirsty souls. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Ron Beckham, Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
www.fridaystudy.org
E-mail:
Ron@FridayStudy.org
Tel: (562) 688-5559
PO Box 92131
Long Beach, CA 90809-2131
"While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
(Romans 5:8)
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