[PASTOR MARK JESKE] Are
you weighed down by
feelings of guilt?
Pastor Jeremy Mattek has
some words of
encouragement for you from
God's wonderful word
today.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR JEREMY MATTEK]
There was a sad
incident that took place
in October of 2017.
A 32 year old man was
riding in the passenger
seat of a vehicle that was
traveling on a highway
outside the city of Flint,
Michigan.
They were traveling
underneath a bridge when a
large stone came crashing
through the windshield and
killed him.
That happened because
there were five teenagers
on top of that bridge who
had been throwing rocks
over the side of the
bridge.
They weren't trying to
kill anyone but neither
were they really thinking
through what might happen
if one of those rocks
would connect with one of
the vehicles underneath
them.
I saw a picture of those
boys on their first day in
trial, their first day in
court, and by the sullen
looks on their faces it
was really obvious what
was going to happen next.
Whatever the outcome of
the trial, whatever the
judge would do with them,
it was really obvious that
their future was going to
include a lot of something
that every person on earth
on average experiences for
almost an hour every day.
And do you know what that
is?
Every person on earth -
whether they are rich or
poor, black or white,
married or single,
employed or unemployed,
whether they are a man,
woman, child, teenager,
whatever it is - every
person on earth spends
almost an hour every day
feeling guilty about
something.
And for five teenagers
whose irresponsible
actions led to the death
of a man who left behind a
fiancé and a five year old
son, those feelings of
guilt can be pretty
intense and even longer
lasting.
And that's significant
because studies have shown
that unresolved guilt in a
person's heart can serve
as like a snooze alarm
that's going off in your
head with no ability to
shut it off.
In other words, you lose
your ability to
concentrate on pretty much
anything else.
Guilt has also been proven
to significantly lower a
person's productivity and
creativity and efficiency.
Guilt can make a person
reluctant to enjoy life
because they think they
don't deserve it.
It can make a person
self-punish; so inflict
intentional pain on
themselves because they
feel that they do deserve
it.
Guilt can make a person
feel overly sensitive so
that they start feeling
guilty about things when
they really shouldn't.
Guilt can also literally
make a person feel heavier
so that compared to
someone who is not feeling
guilty about something,
their body has to work
even harder to accomplish
the same task.
In other words, guilt can
make it very difficult, if
not impossible, for a
person to move forward in
life.
And for that reason, I
would argue that more
important than giving an
individual access to a
great education or access
to good healthcare or
access to a good job, more
important than telling
someone for whom they
should vote in the next
election, is helping them
deal with the guilt that
lives inside of them.
Because if you can't shut
off the alarm, it doesn't
really matter what else
you are doing because you
are not going to do it as
well as you can.
And that's something that
God helps us do this
morning.
We're going to read a
really interesting section
from the word of God from
the book of Zechariah.
Zechariah was an Old
Testament prophet during a
time when the Israelites
were just coming back to
their home base in the
city of Jerusalem after
many years of slaves in
the city of Babylon.
And God gave Zechariah a
number of different
visions that were all
supposed to teach him very
important lessons.
And in this particular
vision that we're going to
read through this morning,
we're going to see a man
named Joshua who was the
high priest in Israel at
the time, standing in
front of God, waiting for
the same thing those five
teenagers were waiting for
in Michigan; he was
waiting to be judged.
He was waiting for God's
verdict on his life.
And this section does
something really
phenomenal for us.
It helps us deal with
guilt so completely that
not even God calls us
guilty of anything, which
might seem unbelievable.
But let's read through the
lesson.
Zechariah 3: "Then he
showed me Joshua the high
priest standing before the
angel of the Lord, and
Satan standing at his
right side to accuse him.
The Lord said to Satan,
'The Lord rebuke you,
Satan!
The Lord, who has chosen
Jerusalem, rebuke you!
Is not this man a burning
stick snatched from the
fire?'
Now Joshua was dressed in
filthy clothes as he stood
before the angel.
The angel said to those
who were standing before
him, 'Take off his filthy
clothes.' Then he said to
Joshua, 'See, I have taken
away your sin, and I will
put rich garments on you.'
Then I said, 'Put a clean
turban on his head.' So
they put a clean turban on
his head and clothed him
while the angel of the
Lord stood by." That's the
word of God.
I remember when I was
about 10 years old, one of
my Bible teachers was
teaching us about
Judgement Day.
And to help us picture
what would happen on
Judgment Day, he said, "I
want you to imagine that
there is a large
television screen up in
the sky that everyone in
the whole world can see.
And imagine that
everything that you have
ever done and everything
you have ever thought
appears on that screen so
that everybody can watch
it.
How would you feel?"
I don't think I said
anything in class that day
[Pastor: Laughter] but I
imagine I would feel
somewhat similar to maybe
how Joshua did standing in
front of the angel of the
Lord standing in front of
God wearing his filthy
rags.
In the vision that
Zechariah was given,
Joshua's not wearing
filthy rags because he had
fallen in the mud on his
way to see God that day.
The filthy rags represent
his sin.
Joshua is standing in
front of God with the long
list of his sins right
there next to him.
And this is a picture of
the reality and yours and
mine existence.
The reality of what
happens every day.
We spend every day in full
view of the God who sees
absolutely everything.
Psalm 139 is a psalm that
really describes pretty
well how well the Lord
knows everything that goes
on in our lives.
Psalm 139 says, "O Lord,
you have searched me and
you know me.
You know when I sit and
when I rise.
You perceive my thoughts
from afar.
You discern my going out
and my lying down.
You are familiar with all
my ways.
Before a word is on my
tongue, you know it
completely, O Lord.
Where can I go from your
spirit?
Where can I flee from your
presence?
If I go up to the heavens,
you are there.
If I make my bed in the
depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of
the dawn, if I settle on
the far side of the sea,
even there." God sees all
the reasons we have to
feel guilty in life and he
wants us to see it, too.
God, in fact, is the one
who designed our hearts
with the ability to feel
guilt.
The feeling of guilt is
like the check engine
light in your vehicle.
You know, you hope you
never have to see it but
it's there for a good
reason when you do.
You know, guilt is - it
helps us identify not when
something has gone wrong
with our vehicle, but when
something is going wrong
in our lives and it's the
way God designed to help
us evaluate every thought,
every word, every action,
every interaction with
every other person in the
context of what is God
going to say about this
when I have to stand in
front of him?
He wants us to think about
how we are going to answer
when we have to stand in
front of him and give an
accounting for absolutely
everything.
And it's an important
answer to have ready
because you may have
noticed that God isn't the
only one who is there in
Zechariah's vision.
Who was the other person
who was there?
It was Satan.
And what was Satan doing?
He was accusing.
And do you know why?
Because that's what the
word "Satan" literally
means.
It means accuser and
that's what he does.
He was standing there
right next to Joshua,
pointing at Joshua, and
pointing out to God all
the reasons that Joshua
should stand in front of
God and be really, really
afraid.
And you might know that
Satan did not need to be
the devil that day.
You know what the "devil"
means?
It means liar.
But Satan didn't need to
lie that day.
Joshua really was wearing
filthy rags.
His past really was filled
with all sorts of sins and
all sorts of mistakes.
And Satan knows the same
is true about me and you.
To get us to feel guilt,
he doesn't need to make
anything up; he only needs
to point to what's already
there; to what we already
know is true.
And he has a really
uncanny knack for doing
this.
At the times in our lives
when it was least
convenient, when it has
the potential to do the
most damage.
Like if you're trying to
start your life over after
a really rough stretch and
you're trying to start
fresh and do things right,
it's not surprising that
that goes on well for a
little while but then
suddenly, the thought pops
into your brain that,
"Aren't you the guy who
messed it up in the first
place?
You can't do this.
You've tried this before
however many times.
You may as well just give
up right now because it's
not going to work this
time." Or maybe you're
trying to fix a
relationship that's
broken.
There's been some pain in
the past, some mistakes
have been made, and it's
been going really, really
well for a very long time
but then suddenly,
somebody gets the thought
in their head, they
remember, they remember
how you broke it in the
first place.
They remember the pain
that was inflicted and you
have to start all over
again.
Satan can also be very
good at this on the day
that a person is dying.
When they begin to realize
that in just a few
moments, they're going to
have to stand in front of
God and give an answer for
absolutely everything and
that can be terrifying!
And so, can you imagine
how Joshua felt in this
vision as he's standing in
front of God and Satan's
pointing at him and he's
saying, "Oh, these are -
you know, these are the
dirty marks that came in
his teenage years.
And these marks over here,
these are the ones that
came when he was in his
twenties.
And this one over here?
This is the thing that he
said he would only do
once.
And this is the one he did
when he thought nobody was
looking." Can you imagine
how Joshua felt when Satan
did not have to make up
all the times that he had
been selfish in his
decisions?
We don't really have to
imagine because God gives
us a picture of it.
He pointed at Joshua and
he said he is like a
burning stick snatched
from the fire.
Have you ever seen what
happens to a little stick
that sits in a blazing
fire?
It doesn't stay a stick
for very long, does it?
It turns into a heap of
ashes.
It's fragile, it's
vulnerable, it's weak and
it's pretty much
worthless.
That's what happens when a
stick is burning.
Do you know what it looks
like when the same thing
happens to a person who's
feeling guilty in their
conscious?
In April of 2016 a woman
named Freya Markowski was
driving her vehicle when
she sped through a red
light at 40 miles an hour
and hit a young man on his
bike.
The young man she hit was
named David.
He was a student at the
Blackbird Academy of
Music; the prestigious
music university where he
was being taught by John
McBride, the husband of
the famous Martina McBride
and the collision ripped
through his spine and left
him without any ability to
move his legs.
For Freya, that was the
first day in over a year
on which she had not taken
her bipolar meds and she
said later on that just a
few moments before the
collision, she heard what
sounded like a million
manic voices all screaming
in her head at the same
time.
And in the middle of that,
suddenly David's face was
on her windshield and she
stopped her vehicle and
she ran out of the vehicle
and she started saying,
"I'm sorry!
I'm sorry!"
over and over again and
again.
But there was nothing she
could do to take it back.
And then the paramedics
came and they pushed her
aside and she collapsed in
the parking lot of a car
wash that was nearby and
just started sobbing.
A couple of months later,
Freya's heart stopped just
for a few moments from a
heroin overdose.
She started taking heroin
after the accident because
it helped her pretend.
It helped her not live
with the reality of what
she had done but of course
it was reality; she
couldn't just change her
past.
She couldn't just change
her past.
Now maybe you can relate
to that exact situation in
some ways and maybe you
can't but have you ever
looked in the mirror and,
like Freya, felt like a
fragile, vulnerable, weak,
worthless twig that's just
burning in the ashes?
That is exactly the place
where Satan seeks to lead
each person to a place of
pain from which we feel it
is impossible to escape
from and the truth is, it
is impossible for us to
escape from it.
Standing in front of God
with his filthy rags, what
one thing do you think
Joshua wished he could do
more than anything?
Get rid of the filthy rags
but he couldn't.
He couldn't take them off,
he couldn't get rid of his
past.
They belong to him and to
nobody else.
Standing in front of God,
he was absolutely
powerless to do anything.
Just like Freya on her
first day in court.
Five months after the
accident.
She walked into court that
day and she had a pretty
good idea of what was
going to happen.
But after the judge sat
down, a man in the back of
the room asked the court
for permission to address
the court.
And the judge allowed him
to come forward and he
came forward and he said,
pointing at Freya, "My son
was severely injured by
this woman.
But my son asked me to be
here today because he
wanted Ms. Markowski and
the prosecutor and the
judge to know that he
bears no ill will against
the woman who hurt him."
And then he walked over to
Freya and gave her a hug,
looked her in the eyes,
and said, "My son couldn't
be here today but he
wanted you to know that he
already forgave you on the
day of the accident." The
judge was so moved by what
he had just witnessed that
eventually the charges
against Freya were
dismissed.
They were dismissed.
And why were they
dismissed?
Not because she could
avoid her day in court.
Not because she could
erase her past.
They were dismissed
because the person she
hurt forgave her past.
And that, my friends, is
the secret to dealing with
your guilt.
It is remembering that in
Jesus, God has already
done the same thing for
each of us.
Your day in front of God
is coming; the filthy rags
of your sins, they are
very real.
Like Joshua, we cannot
remove them so God did.
"See?'
he said to Joshua.
'I have taken away your
sin.'" He took them away
for Joshua.
When he removed his filthy
rags and replaced the
filthy rags with a clean
robe that did not have a
single stain on it and
that is a picture of what
God already did for you at
the cross.
When he took the filthy
rags of our sins and
covered the naked shame of
Jesus with it and punished
him, as if he were the one
who was guilty of
everything.
At the cross, God took
away your sins; he removed
them and then covered our
vulnerable, weak, naked,
sinful shame with Jesus'
own perfection and
promised that he would
always look at you that
way.
And if that's the way that
God looks at you today,
you have the right to look
at yourself in the same
way.
Perfection.
God is the one who created
our hearts with the
ability to feel guilt but
he does not want us to
define ourselves by it.
We get to define who we
are entirely by how Jesus
lived and what Jesus did
on that cross.
At the cross, you were
forgiven.
At the cross, the charges
against you were
dismissed.
And you know what?
Even Satan knows it.
That's why after verse two
in the lesson that we read
from the word of God,
after verse two, after the
Lord spoke to Satan and
said, "The Lord rebuke
you, Satan!"
did you notice that Satan
- what did Satan do after
that?
What more do you hear from
Satan in that lesson?
Nothing.
Satan had nothing else to
say because even Satan
knows that the word of God
gets final say.
Even Satan knows that.
And I want you to think
about that as you think
about our world today.
As we think of - as we
look into our communities,
as we look into our homes,
as we look to the youngest
generations and we see so
many different souls who
seem to have lost any kind
of motivations, souls who
seem to be walking around
with a heavy weight on
their heart for some
reason, souls that are
struggling.
What we're really seeing
are just a whole lot of
souls who need just one
person to help them hear,
one voice that can set
them free from guilt and
shame.
The one voice from the
cross saying that we are
finished defining
ourselves by our guilt and
sin and we are free to
live as if God is our
father and we are his
children.
If you would like to move
forward in life again or
help just one person do
the same thing, let that
voice be the one that we
are hearing most often.
Amen.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MARK JESKE]
You know, Pastor
Jeremy's so right, isn't
he?
When you don't take care
of guilt inside of you, it
can mess up everything.
Unresolved guilt can mess
up our relationships with
our family and our friends
but even worse, it can
really distort and warp
our relationship with God.
It can make us fear him
and run away from him.
We've got to take care of
it.
Jesus has given us that
way.
Thank you, Jesus.
What a blessing to know
that we're forgiven in
him!
I'll be back to pray with
you in just a moment.
[PROMOTION] Hi, my name is
Jason Nelson.
I've had the privilege of
writing many Grace
Moment's devotions and
several books for Time of
Grace.
My recent book is
entitled, "Keeping the
Last Promise." And in it,
I share some very personal
lessons I've learned about
addiction and recovery.
So I wrote this book for
two reasons.
One, is to provide some
camaraderie.
If you know somebody who
is battling to be
unpossessed by drugs or
alcohol, you are not alone
and you don't need to feel
ashamed.
I also wrote this book to
sketch out a little
framework for hope.
We found hope that enabled
our loved one to begin to
put his life back
together.
And recovering people need
the power of God's grace
in their lives and when
they have that, they have
the ability to keep their
last promise to remain
sober for one more day.
Thanks so much for your
gift to help connect more
people to God's amazing
grace.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR JON ENTER]
I want to talk with you
this week of a topic that
we just don't talk about.
We don't touch it; it's a
taboo subject.
We don't talk about
suicide until it's too
late and then we keep
talking about it and
talking about it.
There's a lot of hurt, a
lot of misunderstanding, a
lot of unknown that is out
there in suicide, which is
the only fully preventable
way that someone can die.
There's three reasons why
I'm going to talk on this
this week: To give you
knowledge, to give you
understanding, to help you
through the hurt that
could be there if you're a
survivor of a loved one
who committed suicide.
To prepare for these video
devotions, I preached on
suicide at my church this
last week and afterwards,
a lady came up to me
fighting back tears, shook
my hand, and said, "Thank
you, Pastor Jon.
Thank you for talking
about this.
For 33 years, my heart has
been hurting because my
loved one committed
suicide.
I didn't know where to get
answers.
Finally, I've got some
peace.
I have some
understanding." Another
reason why I want to talk
to you about this is it
affects so many people and
so many different ages.
According to the CDC, the
Center for Disease
Control, every 13 minutes
inside the U.S., someone
is successful in
committing suicide.
With permission from my
wife to share this with
you, her uncle committed
suicide in his fifties.
My wife's neighbor
committed suicide in his
seventies.
Very recently, an eight
year old boy in Ohio being
bullied and knocked
unconscious, when he came
to, he committed suicide.
When I preached in my
church, a lady came
through and said, "Thank
you for talking on this.
This morning I woke up and
thought my life is not
worth living." She's not
even a member of our
church; she just visited
our church.
God drew her in to this
message of peace.
The final reason?
There's a big show that's
out there right now on
Netflix called 13 Reasons
Why and in that show there
is a woman, a high school
student, named Hannah
Baker.
Horrible, I mean horrible,
things happened to her
inside of her high school
and she thinks the only
way through the pain that
she is feeling is by
committing suicide.
But before she does, she
records 13 reasons why -
13 half sides of cassette
tapes - targeting
different people and how
they failed her and how
she blames them for her
committing suicide.
And before she did, she
ended up mailing those
tapes out to the first
person on the list, watch
all the tapes, to see who
else failed me and send it
to the next person, the
next person, the next
person.
And then she committed
suicide.
Hannah Baker thinks the
only way out is through
suicide and she's seen as
the hero of this show;
that she got her message
finally heard.
Friends, suicide is never
the answer.
Your life is precious,
incredibly precious, to
all your loved ones
around.
Even if you think that
they don't care about you,
they don't love you
anymore, you are wrong.
They care.
They deeply care about you
and so does God.
The Lord above cares about
you.
He values you.
We hear this in Matthew 6:
"Look at the birds of the
air.
They do not sow or reap or
store away in barns and
yet, your heavenly Father
feeds them.
Are you not much more
valuable than they?"
God says you are valuable.
He loves you.
He cares for you.
If he cares for the birds
so much - and when do you
ever see a starving bird
dead on the side of the
road?
- God gives them what they
need.
And if God's going to do
that for the birds, how
much more does he provide
for you?
And this is where he shows
you his full value, his
love for you.
In Romans 8: "He who did
not spare his own son but
gave him up for us all,
how he not also, along
with him, along with
Jesus, graciously gives us
all things." Everything
that you need for peace in
your heart and in your
life is found in Christ.
It's not found in suicide.
It will never hurt; it
will only help.
So go to Jesus.
Go to Christ.
Reach out to others.
Get help and God will give
it.
[PASTOR MARK JESKE]
Unloading our feelings of
unworthiness and guilt
might seem like confessing
weakness and making
ourselves small and making
things worse but in fact,
it's the key to make
everything better.
Let's pray right now,
shall we, and unload
whatever it is that we're
dragging around today?
Dear Lord Jesus, You came
to this world not just to
pin medals on the perfect;
you came to this world to
rescue people who are
broken and sick, who are
dying.
That includes me.
Lord, come and help me
today.
I confess to you all my
many sins and unworthy
thoughts and deeds and
plead for your mercy.
Lord, your blood washes
sinners clean.
Wash me clean, too, and
help me not only to have
that happen but for me to
know it and believe it and
feel it so that I can go
on my way rejoicing; happy
to be forgiven and loved
by you.
I pray in your name, Amen.
For Time of Grace, I'm
Pastor Mark Jeske,
celebrating Jesus Christ's
forgiving love and mercy
and it all starts now.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MARK JESKE]
I'm very thankful
for all of the love,
prayers, and support that
you have given to this
ministry.
We're blessed beyond
measure to have you along
on this amazing journey.
You know, if you asked me
17 years ago what I
thought Time of Grace
would look like in 2018, I
would never have guessed
that we would be where we
are today.
Advancements in technology
and generous gifts from
people just like you have
allowed us to spread God's
word into every television
market in the United
States, as well as markets
overseas.
I'm proud and thankful for
what God has helped us
achieve over the years.
But I feel strongly that
Time of Grace must
continue to change.
That's why I've decided
that after Easter Sunday
of 2019, I will transition
out of the role as lead
speaker on this television
program.
But I'm not leaving Time
of Grace.
In fact, I'm excited to
announce that I will be
assisting in the
transition of Pastor Mike
Novotny to lead speaker of
this television program.
Pastor Mike is going to
bring new energy and
excitement for proclaiming
God's word.
Our prayer is that you and
a new generation of
viewers will experience
the same spiritual growth
and renewal that you've
already experienced in
God's grace.
These are very exciting
times and I've never been
more confident in our
mission and in our future
and I'm counting on you to
provide support, guidance,
and prayers as we continue
to share the timeless
truths of God's word with
people all around the
world.
[MUSIC]
[ANNOUNCER] The
preceding program was
sponsored by the friends
and partners of Time of
Grace.
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