Friday, November 30, 2007
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I know this is going to come as a huge surprise to you, but radio guys like me make mistakes sometimes. Yes, believe it or not. But you don't hear them because of that wonder-worker we call an editor—our producer. To whom I must always be very nice. Yes, our producers edit out my mistakes, but that doesn't mean they throw away the tape. Oh, no. And the same goes for the random, and sometimes crazy, things I may say before or after we record a program. Oh, it's all there. The tape is always rolling. Last Christmas I was reminded of that in a most vivid way. They put together a recording of some of those mistakes and comments, stitched together in an imaginary interview with a TV reporter, which they played for our whole staff. You’ll never hear it. Sure enough, if I say it, they've got it.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Every Word Recorded."
After our Team had a good laugh at my expense, I said, "You know, some of us have the wonderful privilege of having our mistakes recorded." Someone piped up, "Actually, we all do." Correct. Listen to our word for today from the Word of God. It’s in Matthew 12:36-37, "I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."
God, who’s the great Judge of all mankind, has a record of everything you or I have ever said. And those words will be enough to indict us when we stand before Him. It's a frightening prospect to think that we’ll be held accountable for so many things we've said throughout our life.
Just think, God will judge every hurting thing we've ever said. Just play back the tape. We have no defense. He'll bring before us every lie we've ever told, every hateful thing we've ever said, every selfish or angry thing, every dirty thing, every uncaring or critical or proud or destructive word we've spoken because, as Jesus said right before He said this, "Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" ( Luke 6:45). The stuff coming out of my mouth is like an EKG of my physical heart. It shows what's going on in my heart. And God says in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure." We are in serious trouble with our Creator—our Judge. No matter how religious you are, no matter how many good things you've done to buy some insurance for Judgment Day, you are, like all of us, facing the overwhelming indictment from what God's tapes reveal.
But facing the guilt of your sin is actually the step that puts you on the threshold of having every sin you've ever committed removed from God's records forever. Because, as Acts 10:43 says, "Everyone who believes in (Jesus) receives forgiveness of sins through His name." Why? Because in His awful death on that cross, Jesus absorbed all the guilt and all the punishment of all of your sin and mine. And from the moment you reach out to Him with a faith that says, "Jesus, I have no hope but You and your death for me," the Bible says God hurls "all our iniquities into the depths of the sea" ( Micah 7:19).
Imagine the peace of knowing that you will never face your sin on Judgment Day, because Jesus faced it for you on a cross. Your record will be wiped clean from the moment you decide to turn from your sins and pin all your hopes on Jesus. It's a commitment I would love to help you make. That's why I wrote this little booklet called Yours For Life, and I'll be glad to send it to you to help you get started with Jesus if you just let me know you want it. You can go and look for it at our website, which is yoursforlife.net, or you can call toll free and ask us for it at 877-741-1200.
Imagine: forgiven, guilty no more, clean, ready for eternity. Every record of every sin buried in the depths of the sea today.