Erkki Tikkanen
Kingdom of Forgiveness
The kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Forgiveness. "We have never been told that you cannot have any more [forgivess]."
The words of the hymn: "My joy is in arriving, Into Thy temple, Lord" caused our speaker brother Erkki Tikkanen to turn to the Bible portion he then chose for his text. Psalm 84 and Hymn 195 both emphasize the importance of the kingdom of God and forgiveness. The gospel of the forgiveness of sins is preached inside the kingdom of God. The crucial significance of the gospel is allegorically described in many ways by both the Bible and our hymns. "The city of God and its stream are wondrous", and "Grant me the gifts of Thy mercy, and the dew drops of Zion", "Shed the dew of Thy mercy upon the lands, and into the hearts of man" etc." We need to frequently receive this dew of forgiveness. We are allowed to believe our sins forgiven in "Jesus' name and blood."
A child of God is a person who "is aware of his or her sins and thus depends on the mercy of God." The enemy of souls causes us to doubt our faith. We frequently need the forgiveness of our sins, the gospel. That is why we yearn to be with the children of God. Psalm 84: 2 puts it thus: My soul yearns and longs to be in the courtyard of the Lord." A Believer may feel that he or she is bearing a "burden of sins", but God has promised to remove all burdens, regardless of what they are like, by using the gospel. Jesus, in His conversation with Peter urged that we forgive [our brother or sister] "seventy times seven", meaning as many times as a penitent one asks for forgiveness. The speaker brother reminded us that "We have never been told that you cannot have any more [forgivess], but we can believe [any sins forgiven] even now."
Our Summer Service motto even says: "The kingdom of God is in your midst." The children of God have the authority to forgive sins. We have received this authority to forgive sins as a gift of the Holy Spirit. The speaker brother also reminded us that we are believing of grace and that faith is a gift. So also is a good conscience a gift of God, which we wish to preserve. That is why we need the gospel.
When a sinner's sins are forgiven God is serving a human being. [King] David also understood this.
The speaker brother pointed out, in concluding, that although the children of God gather together in different places, the word of God remains unchanged, because it is the Holy Spirit that teaches us and calls [His] people together. "Everyone and anyone can turn to a believing person and believe the gospel of grace."
Service reporter Pia Lumme