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[0:00] And I'm calling it lies to keep you from Jesus. And I do want to give credit where credit is due.! Thomas Brooks, 350 years ago, wrote a book called Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices.

[0:15] ! And very near the back of that book is the inspiration for this series. He wrote a chapter with a very uninspired title called Five More of Satan's Devices.

[0:26] And probably half of what I'm saying is just dependent upon him. And so I would encourage you to go to the church library and check out Thomas Brooks' Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices.

[0:42] He is very readable. He does not sound like he's speaking old English. He sounds like he's speaking the English we speak today. And it's one of the most practical books that you could ever get your hands on.

[0:58] And it's so practical because it helps us see what our enemy is up to. Satan is working. He's always working to keep us away from Jesus. If you are saved, he wants to keep you from Jesus.

[1:13] He wants to keep you. He wants to put distance between you and Jesus. And because for the simple reason, if he can drive a wedge between you and the vine, you are going to wither.

[1:24] You will not be fruitful. And you'll be of no danger to him. And if you are lost, Satan wants to keep you from believing in Jesus.

[1:36] He will do anything to keep you lost. Because he hates you. He really does. He wants to see you burn in hell forever because he hates you.

[1:49] And he wants you to do his will because he hates God. And so Jesus says that he's a strong man. Satan's a strong man who defends his house.

[2:01] He wants you under his power, under his control. And there's no end to the lies that he will tell you in order to keep you in his house. And the thing that we have to understand and the thing we have to see is that Satan does not have sort of a physical force or power in order to keep us in the house.

[2:21] It's the power of a lie. Satan keeps us locked up, away from Jesus, and lost by convincing us to stay that way.

[2:32] Convincing us to stay locked up and lost. The prison doors are broken open. But there's no end to the lies that Satan will tell to keep you in the cell.

[2:42] No matter what you've done, the gospel is no matter what you've done, you can come up out of that cell, Come and ask for mercy and you will be forgiven. You will receive mercy.

[2:54] But Satan quakes in fear at the gospel. You remember in the book of Acts, Paul and Silas were in the Philippian jail.

[3:05] And there was a great earthquake and the bars flew open and the chains fell off. And that Philippian jailer was beside himself. He's thinking everyone's going to stampede out.

[3:15] Now, that's Satan. His power is broken. The doors are hanging open. But like a desperate man, he is spewing out lies, telling lies to keep you from closing with Jesus.

[3:30] And so we're going to look at some of those lies. And the first one is that your sin is too great. Your sin is too great. You're too big of a sinner.

[3:42] Yes, Jesus is a savior, but your sin is too big. You've broken his law. You've sinned against his grace. You know the gospel and you've ignored it again and again and again.

[3:56] God is too holy. Yes, Jesus does save sinners. But you've gone too far. How many people have thought, I've committed the unpardonable sin?

[4:10] And they later came to see that they could be pardoned. But that was a lie put in there by Satan. And so he says, you're a car. You've gone out over the edge.

[4:22] You've broken down the guardrails. You're doomed. Your sin is too great. Now, is there something in all that? Is there something true about what Satan is saying?

[4:34] Of course, but he's maximizing a part of it and hiding the other part. So he's showing you the illness, but he's hiding the doctor. He's showing you the ground as you're plummeting to the earth, ready to crash and burn.

[4:48] But he's hiding the parachute. Satan means accuser. That's what he is. That's what he does. He brings out sin to condemn you.

[5:00] Satan can paint himself very holy and say, look at that sin. It's so terrible. It's so awful. He does it to condemn you. God shows you your sin to rescue you, to save you.

[5:11] Satan does it to damn you, to keep you locked up. And so just listen to me. If you're convicted, if you're convicted of your sin, but you are not moving to God, you're not moving to Jesus Christ, some part of that conviction, some part of that accusation is Satan at work.

[5:33] God convicts to rescue. He convicts us to move us to safety. Satan convicts us to keep us in ourselves. And so let's just pause and apply that much.

[5:45] In your sin, are you standing still? In your sin, are you sinking down into despair? There is a worldly grief.

[5:59] There is a grief for sin that does you no good. Judas felt great conviction for what he did to the Lord. And yet it did not move him to repentance.

[6:10] He lost all hope. Is that the path that you're on? You say, well, I'm going to hell. I know that. So I might as well just stay here.

[6:22] Christian, after you've sinned, do you wallow in despair? Where does it take a long time, a lot of agony and a lot of pain before you go to the cross, before you flee to Jesus for forgiveness?

[6:36] Do you say, Jesus will never receive me? How could he forgive me again? Are you just staying where you are? Satan is at work. Satan is at work.

[6:47] And that's the lie. Your sin is too great. Now, what's the truth? Satan's lie, what's the truth? Here's why, whoever you are, you should get to Jesus right now.

[7:00] You should close with Jesus. If you're a believer, you should get closer to Jesus. If you are in your sin, here's why you should get up out of your sin and go to him right now. This is why Satan's lie is that, a lie.

[7:14] Truth number one, the same Bible that says God is holy, holy, holy, also says that he saves sinners. The same Bible that says God is holy and hates sin, it also says that he saves sinners.

[7:31] So is God holy? Yes. Does he hate sin? Yes. But the very same Bible that says that says also God saves sinners.

[7:43] He saves them. The very same day, we saw it this morning, the very same day that man fell into sin, God promised a Savior. Didn't he? There was no long delay.

[7:56] As soon as God found them, he found them weary and tired of sin, hiding from him, and he gives them a promise. The history of redemption, and what I mean is the process of bringing about the Messiah into the world.

[8:09] It began with Abraham. And where does God find that Abraham? He finds him in Ur of Chaldees, worshiping another god. The Bible is not the story about sin winning.

[8:23] The Bible is the story about God saving sinners. That's the big picture. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

[8:36] For God did not send his Son in the world to condemn it, condemn the world, but to save the world through him. The same God that hates sin sends Jesus, so sin won't triumph.

[8:49] And Jesus, in turn, sends his apostles to preach the gospel. And the gospel has come to your ears to preach this good news that now men and women everywhere can be saved by repenting and believing.

[9:04] And in Acts, they preach. And what does God do? He saves sinners. 3,000 on one day. He saves Lydia. He opens up her heart.

[9:16] He saves so many sinners. The same Bible that says God hates sin also says that he saves sinners out of sin. Rescues them. Forgives them. Washes them. Cleanses them.

[9:26] And so my question to you is, if you're saying, oh, I'm too big of a sinner. God is so holy. That is true. But why not believe everything that the Bible says about God?

[9:41] Why believe that God is holy and then not believe that he will be a Savior for you? The same Bible says both. And if the Bible is lying about God saving sinners, then what's the point of believing the fact that it says that he's holy?

[9:57] Why believe any of it? Satan is giving you the bad news. And it's true. But he's hiding the good news from you. That's truth number one.

[10:08] The same Bible says that God saves sinners. Truth number two. The greater your sin, the greater you need a Savior. This is how convoluted and confusing sin twists us and turns us.

[10:23] This is the devil's logic. It says, I am really sick. Therefore, I will not go to the doctor. My car is absolutely broken down. Therefore, I will not go to the mechanic.

[10:35] My cuts are too deep. I won't get stitches. Who would ever think that way? Who would ever think, yes, I need medicine, but I'm not going to take the medicine?

[10:48] That's spiritual madness. If you really are sick, then go to the doctor. If you're dying for medicine, take the medicine. If you have a huge burden on your back, all that sin, go to the cross and watch it fall off.

[11:05] Jesus saves sinners. If you're up to your eyeballs in debt, and there is someone offering debt forgiveness, then take the deal. This is the best bargain in the whole world.

[11:16] Come to me without money and buy. Are you broke? Are you bankrupt? Well, the price is zero. Just come to me. Are you facing an enemy that's too strong for you?

[11:29] Do you know that God is at war against you? He's coming after you. His justice is right, and it's after you. Then make peace. That's what Jesus says.

[11:41] That's the way Jesus thinks. Big sin isn't a reason to stay away from Jesus. It's a reason to go to Jesus. And the glory is that God, that Jesus Christ delights in mercy.

[11:57] He delights in mercy. He forgives great sins. And he does it with joy. See, the Bible has a totally different way of thinking about that. Here's God's logic.

[12:10] You've heard Satan's logic. Your sin's too big. Stay away. Here's God's logic. For your great namesake, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. Isaiah 43.

[12:20] You've not bought fragrant calmness for me or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices, but you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses.

[12:33] But listen to what it says next. I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more.

[12:45] Psalm 25, Isaiah 43. For my own sake. For my great namesake. God doesn't forgive some sinners because they have small sins.

[12:56] And then he turns around and doesn't forgive other sinners because they have great sins. He forgives sins for his own namesake. For his own honor. So do you have great sins?

[13:11] Here's hope. Here's something to hang your hat on. God wants to glorify himself. And God can glorify himself by forgiving your sins. So, the greater the sin, the greater God's glory has, glory God gets from forgiving it.

[13:30] So great sin is not a hindrance to God forgiving you. It's a reason for him to forgive you. Let me repeat that. Great sin is not a hindrance to God forgiving you.

[13:43] It's a reason for him to forgive you. So when you come to him and you say, here I am, I'm a wretch. Nothing. I'm so awful.

[13:53] My sins are so great. They're over my head. They're washing me away. I'm drowning here. God help me. Great sin doesn't turn him away. It makes him go to you and save you.

[14:06] That's truth number two. Great sin means you need a great savior. Truth number three. If you return, he will receive you. If you return, he will receive you.

[14:19] Just listen to God's promises about this. This isn't once or twice. This is just a refrain in the Bible again and again and again.

[14:30] 2 Chronicles 39, 30 verse 9. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him. So are you in great sin? Take these words with you. God, you said if I return to you, you will not turn your face from me.

[14:45] Do as you've said. Jeremiah 3, 12. Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful, declares the Lord. I will not be angry forever.

[14:56] So return. Joel 2, 12. Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garments.

[15:07] Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. What does God want great sinners with lots of sin to do?

[15:22] Return to him. Return. Return. And he promises to receive you. Satan says, you can't come. There's no mercy for you. But the prison doors are busted open and God is saying, come out.

[15:33] Return and I will receive you. So let the wicked forsake his ways, the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord and he will have mercy on him to our God and he will fully pardon. You see, we think too often that God is like us.

[15:48] We paint God with our colors. And so someone sins against us and we say, well, you better not talk to me anymore. Or I'm not having anything to do with them. I don't want to see them ever again.

[15:59] But God says, forsake your way. Return and I will receive you. And we can never forget that picture that Jesus painted of an old man, the head of the family, hitching up his robes and running down a dusty dirt road so that he could throw his arms around a prodigal son who was coming home.

[16:24] Jesus says, that's me when sinners come back. That's truth number three. Return and he will receive you. Here's truth number four. Great sinners have received mercy.

[16:38] Great sinners have received mercy. Satan says, there's no hope. Your sin is too great. You might as well stay away. God's word says, great sinners have received mercy.

[16:52] I've forgiven great sinners who come to Christ and I'll forgive you too. So don't stay away. King Manasseh was the worst king in the history of all of Israel and Judah.

[17:07] You can read about him in 2 Kings 21. He was the son of Hezekiah, who you remember as a godly man. And he actually took the things that Hezekiah did and then destroyed them.

[17:19] So he knew the truth and he hated the truth. He saw what his father did and he hated it and he destroyed it. He bowed down to Baal, Asherah.

[17:31] He worshipped the stars. He worshipped other gods and God's own temple. He sacrificed his own son. He consulted with witches and sorcerers.

[17:42] 2 Kings 21.5, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end. You go through the streets of Jerusalem and you knock on a house.

[17:55] And that's someone that Manasseh had killed. Not just one street. Street after street. Street after street. Let me ask you. Have you sinned that much?

[18:10] Have you sinned that much? Have you murdered? Have you burned your child to death on an altar to God? Have you built an altar to the stars in this building?

[18:24] You're a great sinner, but are you that great? And maybe you feel that you are. Maybe you are. Listen to what 2 Chronicles 33 says.

[18:36] God brings Manasseh into judgment. He drags him off to Babylon and he's chained up there. And listen to verse 12. 33.12. When Satan tells you, Jesus won't save you, he won't forgive you, he won't have mercy on you.

[19:03] Remember Manasseh. Remember Manasseh.

[19:16] These things were written for your example. Manasseh prayed for mercy. Manasseh prayed for mercy and he had blood on his hands. He had his own son's blood on his hands and God forgave him.

[19:28] So how great is God's grace? Paul was a violent persecutor. He hated the church. He hated the church. And Paul says, he saved me so that everyone could see how great his grace is.

[19:41] He needed a good example of how strong and mighty and good God is. And so he saved me. Think of the thief on the cross. Up to his last hour.

[19:53] His last hours. He's this violent insurrectionist. This thug. A man who kicked in walls and doors and busted through places and robbed people.

[20:05] A man who mocked Jesus during his own suffering. A man who made fun of Jesus while he was on the cross.

[20:15] And he says, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus looks over at him and says, today you'll be with me in paradise.

[20:27] That's our God. That's the gospel. Great sin has never stopped God from saving sinners who come to Christ. Great sinners have received mercy. Why not you?

[20:40] Why not you? Satan has lied to you. He wants you to stay in the prison. He wants you to stay locked up in your doom and your gloom. And he wants to keep you away from Jesus. But don't let him. The truth is that Christ welcomes even great sinners.

[20:54] And so if you're lost, don't let your sins keep you from your Savior. Your sins are why you need a Savior. God knows that you're a sinner. He's not surprised by your sin.

[21:06] He's not even shocked by your sin. You've been sinning in his presence from the very day that you were born. That's why he gave you a Savior. You have what it takes to need a Savior.

[21:17] You have sin. So come to him in your sin. He saves sinners. See, Jesus didn't accidentally fall into being a Savior. God sent him for this purpose to save those who would come to him.

[21:31] And so don't stay away. Whoever you are, whatever you have done, Christian, non-Christian, come to Jesus. Just repent and believe and rejoice that this is our God and this is his grace.

[21:44] Let's pray. Heavenly Father, what an amazing God you are. What a glorious God you are.

[21:55] We thank you that your word comes to us with such clarity and power and it speaks to us in the different conditions that we find ourselves in. Many Christians here are still wearied and burdened with sin in their life.

[22:10] They're living in fear. They're not coming by faith and believing again and again. Pray that you would break them free and give them great encouragement in the gospel.

[22:24] And for those who are lost, even as it has been said and prayed, faith comes by hearing. I pray that you would bring faith this very day and save souls.

[22:39] Show the greatness of your grace. Send heaven. Make heaven rejoice. Make us rejoice in what a good and amazing God you are. We praise you for your grace.

[22:50] We praise you for your grace in the past. We praise you for your grace in our lives. And I pray then that we would embrace it and rejoice in it and live out of it. And it's in Jesus' name I pray.

[23:02]  Amen. Amen. Amen.