You cannot have a New Year’s recipe unless you are moving forward, pressing toward the mark.  How are we to live in 2009?  This maybe the last year we will live.  We may never have another opportunity to live like we have to live today.  If you are a Christian it is a privilege to life for the Lord everyday. We ought to know that, we ought to appreciate that just to know that our sins are forgiven.

You cannot have a New Year’s recipe unless you are moving forward, pressing toward the mark.  How are we to live in 2009?  This maybe the last year we will live.  We may never have another opportunity to live like we have to live today.  If you are a Christian it is a privilege to life for the Lord everyday. We ought to know that, we ought to appreciate that just to know that our sins are forgiven.

I. We are to REPENT. 

                If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1John 1:9.  This verse is speaking to Christians to saved people.

                There are sins in our lives that we must repent of: I am a Christian for 48 years. People ask me sometimes and they say “Brother Jesalva, can a Christian sin?” “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”  (James 4:17)  Just knowing something good that you ought to do and not doing it is sin.   When the Lord saves you, he saves you from your past sins, your present sins, and your future sins. In your future sins you need to repent of them everyday.

                “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.”  (Psa 51:1-19).  

                David wrote Psalm 51 after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah.  And God had sent the prophet Nathan to find David out and David pronounced his own judgment when Nathan told him the story of the rich man and the poor man who had taken the lamb of the poor man.  David pronounced his own judgment and the judgment of God happened by the mouth of David. 

                In verses 1 to 3 David acknowledged what he had done. In Hebrews 11 you find David’s name as one of the heroes  of faith. David was saved in the Old Testament but he is listed in the New Testament.  How are people saved in the Old Testament – by looking forward (ahead) to the cross of Jesus Christ on Calvary?  How are people saved in the New Testament – they look back to the cross of Jesus Christ on Calvary.  David got saved the same way you and I got saved.

                In verses 7 to 12 David did not ask that his salvation be restored, David asked that the joy of his salvation might be restored.  A saved person can sin but there is no joy in your life, if you continue to sin.  You need to repent of those sins. You need to also repent of your neglect. Did you read your Bible through in 2008?  Are you reading your Bible now to finish through 2009?  Read five chapters everyday and you’ll read through it this year.  I try to read the Bible through three times every year; sometimes two times. If you neglect to read your Bible, you cannot continue your walk with the Lord.

                What a joy to know that your sins are forgiven and have a walk with the Lord.  That’s where joy is.  You ought to have regular prayer time. Don’t neglect that because the Lord wants to talk to you as you talk to him.

                You ought to have a close walk with God so that when something bad happens, you can talk to God. Eight years ago, I had a serious hospitalization. There was something wrong with my heart. My wife was there in my hospital room, Dra. Fleda Hernandez was there, Dra. Lerma Noval was there, and when they left the room, I thanked God that I was still alive.  And I asked the Lord, to watch over me.  It is a precious time to pray to God in situations like that.

                We ought to win souls and if you are not winning souls, then you ought to repent of that neglect.  God expects us to be a light for Him in this world.  Bible Baptist Church is a missionary sending church.  We are supporting 225 missionaries locally and globally.  We want our church to win souls and preach the name of Jesus around the world.  And if you are not winning souls, you ought to repent of that neglect.

                God’s people ought to repent of their sins.  We cannot win people to the Lord unless you are right with God.  We are to repent.

II. We are to RESOLVE.

                In Daniel 1 – we find Daniel who resolved not to defile himself.  “ But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”   (Dan 1:8).   I do not believe in drinking alcoholic beverages because that is what the Bible teaches. But somebody will come along and say well did you not know that Jesus made wine in John 2?  Yes, Jesus did.  But it was an unfermented juice of the vine.   Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the wine in the palace.  Jacob resolved to bring his tenth on his tithe to God.  “And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.”  (Gen 28:20-22).

                By the way, the name of our God is Jehovah.  God is never called Allah in the Bible.  What did Jacob do?  Jacob resolved to bring his tithe to God.  A Muslim businessman in General Santos believes in giving tithes. He would go to the seas throw the money away.  He thinks that by doing so, he was giving his money to God who is the God of the seas.

                In Psalm 119 David made two resolutions: First, he made a resolution to read the Bible. “O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!” in Psalm 119:5.  David resolved to read the Bible. Second, he made a resolution to pray. “Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.”  (Psalm 116:2).   David resolved to pray. He said, as long as I live, I will call upon Him.   What a privilege it is to be a Christian and call upon the name of the Lord.

III. We are to REMEMBER.

                “ Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:” (Psalm 103:2).  It is a benefit to be born in a nation that has freedom like the Philippines.  The freedom to preach, the freedom to win souls, the freedom to express out ideas and opinions, the freedom to worship our God as we should.

                We need to remember that we cannot repay Jesus Christ for what he has done.  He paid the price for sin.  He became my substitute in the place of my suffering and died for me. We can never repay Jesus Christ for what He has done.

                We need to remember that the greatest happiness and the richest rewards come to those who are faithful to Him.  Just be faithful.  For 36 years now, that is what I have been telling the members of Bible Baptist Church.   Just be faithful, we are going to stay in the word of God regardless of what other churches or groups will do. We are going to teach character and performance in our Bible school and Academy.  We are going to train our Bible College students to be disciplined servants of the king of kings and Lord of Lords.  We need to remember that the greatest happiness and the richest reward come to those who are faithful to Him.

                We need to remember that this maybe our last year to live.