A Spirit of Forgiveness

Thank you again, Mr. Faye. I wanted to correct an announcement that was incorrect, and that is the first one. The Youth Instruction feedback session is actually after services. For some reason I had it in my mind that I was going to miss that meeting because it was before church, but it is after church. So 30 minutes, there will be a 30-minute feedback session after services. It will be held in the first classroom down the passage 30 minutes after services conclude. So this will be an opportunity for all parents to share thoughts regarding the new Youth Instruction program in terms of what is working and any ideas for improvement. So that will be after services 30 minutes after church today. Also, I would like to welcome any guests that we may have here visiting today. We're always glad to have guests. Hope we'll have an opportunity to meet after services.

Well, brethren, we really do have so much to be thankful for. We live in a world of beauty to a large extent. God has been very, very gracious. For the most part, we live in a world of happiness. There's a lot of happiness in the world, and we can thank God for all of that. He has indeed been tremendous in the blessings that He's given to us. But at the same time, we do live in a world of pain, a world of heartache, full of all types of sins that cause a tremendous amount of pain and agony for the sinner and for the one being sinned against. So there's a lot of sin going on in the world, and we're all affected by it, by sin. People get high on drugs or alcohol, and they do devastating harm to themselves. And also to all those who know them, whether family or friends, who they come in contact with, it all has an impact. People lie to one another, it seems continually and really think nothing of it. They cheat one another on a regular basis. They use and abuse one another. People steal from one another. They even kill one another in this world. And some go so far as even beheading people, other people. People dishonor one another. People do all manner of evil to one another. So is it any wonder that people have a hard time forgiving one another? Is it any wonder? The world that we live in, it's no wonder that it's difficult to forgive, because there are many hurtful things that go on in our lives. Do you personally, at least sometimes, have a hard time forgiving others for what they've done to you or perhaps to someone you love? You know, frankly, that's where our Savior Jesus Christ comes to the rescue and shows us the way past resentment, the way past hatred, and gives us a way to forgive others. Jesus Christ, of course, was perfect. We all know that. But let's stop and think about that for a moment. Jesus Christ really was perfect. He was innocent in every way. He never lied to anyone. He never stole from anyone. He never cheated anyone. He never took advantage of anyone. He was never jealous. He was never envious. He never sinned in anger. He never murdered. He never held or never had selfish ambitions. Jesus Christ, who walked this earth as a human being, of course also as the Son of God, He was perfect. He never abused anyone in any way. Jesus never gossiped. He really was loving. He was joyful. He was peaceful. He was patient. He was kind. He was good. He was faithful. He was gentle and meek. And He certainly was self-controlled. He produced all the fruits of God's Spirit in great abundance in His life. Again, Christ never sinned, and yet He was crucified. He died a horrible, shameful death because of the sins of mankind, including your sins and my sins. We've all sinned, and we're all responsible for the death of Christ. What did Christ say when He was about to die on the stake? What did He say to His Heavenly Father in regards to those who were killing Him at the time?

Did He say, please, Father, see that they get what they deserve? See that they get what they deserve for killing Me? No, He did say, however, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. That's what Christ said. Forgive them, for they know not what they do. So what does the Bible say about forgiveness? Is there anyone that you need to forgive personally?

Every year, baptized members observe the Passover, and we know the Passover pictures Christ's sacrifice, it pictures God's forgiveness. We all want to be forgiven, but do we want to forgive others just as badly as we want to be forgiven? Do you have a genuine forgiving mind and heart and a spirit of humility? If we're unable to forgive, we should forgive ourselves. Being unable to forgive is both spiritually and physically debilitating. It takes a toll on us if we're not able to forgive. But with God's help, we can learn to forgive. We can have a spirit of forgiveness. That's the title of today's sermon, A Spirit of Forgiveness.

Do you have a spirit of forgiveness? Do you personally have a spirit of forgiveness? Are you yielding to God's Holy Spirit because God's Spirit is a spirit of forgiveness?

How many of you have been stung by a wasp? You can raise your hand. How many? I have, a number of times. Several times I've been stung by a wasp. Well, was it a pleasurable experience? Of course not. Now, there is a certain type of wasp that's called a jewel wasp, or another name for it is an emerald cockroach wasp. I'm not making this up. This is true. It actually stings a cockroach and injects it with intoxicating poison. And, the wasp isn't strong enough to just pick up the cockroach. So the wasp leaves the cockroach wherever it wants to go by taking hold, a hold of the wasp's antenna. And the wasp is intoxicated and it follows right along. I know this sounds pretty weird. Makes me wonder if God didn't create this creature just so I could talk about it in a sermon, because I don't know why else. Anyway, this cockroach, of course, is following right along. The wasp doesn't generally eat the cockroach, however. Instead, the wasp lays eggs on the cockroach, and as the eggs develop, they suck the life out of the cockroach. So that's how the wasp keeps the young alive. It's actually a very good analogy when you think about hatred or resentment as a harmful, even deadly poison. Hatred and being unable to forgive go hand in hand. We're generally unable to forgive because we're harboring hatred and resentment toward an offending person. That type of attitude is very debilitating, just like the poison that clouds the feelings and perception of the cockroach. If we harbor an attitude of resentment and hatred, we may even become physically ill, and certainly we can become spiritually depressed. In a very real sense, because of the hatred and resentment that clouds our thinking, Satan the devil can lead us wherever he wants us to go. Our spiritual growth is stunted by our inability to forgive. It's stunted by a root of bitterness. Now, many of you have heard of Alex Haley. He became known to me as the author of Roots, the TV show that was on several years ago. I'm sure many of you saw the moving series. Again, it's been a number of years ago. You might remember Chicken George, some of you probably. Kunta Kinte. It was a series that dealt with the history of a black family that began when a man was enslaved and brought to America, an African was brought to America. Alex Haley thought a lot about the subject of hatred. Having written this book and having experienced hatred himself, he said something very insightful about hatred in his own life. He said, hatred at its best will distort you, at its worst it will destroy you, but it will always immobilize you. So if you are suffering from hatred or resentment, it will mobilize you spiritually, it will immobilize you spiritually, because hatred and resentment are deadly poisons.

And if that word hatred is too harsh for you, then just go with resentment or animosity. I think resentment or animosity is a form of hatred. Hatred or resentment can poison a marriage, for example. I've seen too many marriages poisoned by a hatred that began, a resentment that began and was nourished. Hatred or resentment can also poison a friendship.

We know that brotherly love is a gauge for the true Christian. Christ said His disciples would be known by their love for each other. Now, how many of us have been immobilized to greater spiritual growth because we bear some type of hatred or resentment or animosity in the inner recesses of our hearts and minds? We should ask ourselves that and strive to be honest with ourselves. How many of us have had marriage problems because of some root of bitterness that we've allowed to develop in our marriages? And we haven't dealt with it and we've allowed it. It's festered and it's caused a wedge between a husband and wife. How many of us are holding a grudge against another person and have basically refused to forgive them? Now, I'm sure that some in the Church, over the many years in God's Church, have done the Passover shuffle. Now, I don't think probably too many, hopefully not many, would do this. I don't know if you know what the Passover shuffle is, but it's when someone is concerned about whose feet they might have to wash. It doesn't seem like anyone would have that type of thought on the Passover evening, but I wonder. Are there anyone's feet that you would have a hard time washing? Anybody in this congregation or perhaps even in another Church of God organization, would you have a difficult time washing their feet? We know that if a person has the Spirit of God dwelling in them, they are brothers and sisters in Christ. We know that God has called them and given them His Spirit. So, from time to time, it's good to ask ourselves, would we be willing to wash anyone's feet? I'm aware of some few who don't even come to church because someone else comes.

Now, there may be a rare case where that may be warranted because of divorce or because of some issues within the family that haven't yet been resolved and maybe can't be resolved in this life. There may be some rare cases, but I know of some instances where people have actually decided not to come to church because someone else was coming to church or they found some other place to go. I'd like to read to you a parable about forgiveness.

It comes from a book that I think is the best book I've ever read, anyway, on forgiveness. It's called Forgive to Live. Forgive to Live is by Dr. Dick Tibbetts. This is a parable about forgiveness. It's on pages 13 to 15. Actually, it's page 11 through 13. It's a parable called Drop the Rock. Drop the Rock. So, pay attention here. It's a couple pages long. Life is hard in Dura. Countless times each day, that lament was heard from the townspeople, and for good reason. Through the years, Dura had become literally a very hard place to live. Rocks covered the landscape, making it impossible to grow flowers or jog in the park. Rocks lay everywhere in the land. How did this come to be? Well, as the tragic story goes, an evil sorcerer cast a powerful spell upon the town. Through your eyes you will not see a life of joy or hope or glee. Through your mouths, where curses flock, every angry word shall turn into a rock. Whenever someone spoke an unkind or hurtful word, it instantly became a hot rock. Like everyone in Dura, Kos, I don't know why they came up with these strange names, but Kos, K-A-A-S, had too often been the victim of unkind and hurtful words.

Rocks of all sizes and shapes had pelted him. And also, like everyone else in Dura, Kos never felt content to merely watch those rocks fall to the ground. How could he? They had hurt too much when they struck him. That's why Kos developed the habit of keeping a rock or two in his hands. If the occasion presented itself, he could throw one back at the person who had caused him pain. However ugly that strategy might sound, no one ever confronted Kos about his behavior because everyone in Dura was doing the very same thing. Oh, they all knew from experience that holding a hot rock would blister their hands. But they believed the pain would be worth it once they got the opportunity someday to even the score by throwing back a rock at the one who had hurt them. When a rock began to cool, as it always did, the people of Dura took it to the center of town where an enormous furnace named Grievance stood. There they could heat up their rock until it once more glowed fiery red, and as it was warming, they told each other their sorrowful tales. It's not my fault that my hands are burned, each would say. It's their fault. They threw the rock first. I'm just holding it so that someday I can throw it back. One day, however, Kos and the other people of Dura got the shock of their lives. A robust, cheerful man with compassion in his eyes came striding into town, declaring that none of the townspeople had to look at one of the townspeople had to live in misery any longer. My name's Salah, he announced, and I want you to know that you can be free of those rocks you carry around wherever you go. What you need is forgiveness. You don't have to keep living like you've been living. Some of the townspeople sneered, while others gasped or stared blankly ahead. Could there really be a better life? Impossible. Salah ignored the jeers and continued. Simply put, forgiveness is learning how to drop your rocks. You don't have to collect them. You don't have to carry them or be burdened by them. You don't have to heat them up or throw them. In fact, I guarantee that if you drop them, your whole life will improve. Your hands will start to heal, and you'll have the time and the energy to do the fun things that you've always wanted to do, but never believed you could. It can be that simple, Koss thought. How could it possibly work? He had to speak out. Now hold on, Mr. Koss began. You mean to tell me that if someone throws a rock at me, I can't throw it back? That's not fair. Why should I let the other guy off the hook? He needs to be punished. No, sir, your way won't work, and I'm not falling for it. With that, Koss spun on his heels and hustled away as fast as he could from Salah and his too-good-to-be-true words. In his headlong retreat, however, Koss failed to notice that a few in the crowd had already decided to give Salah's counsel a try. They dropped their rocks, and they immediately noticed something truly remarkable. The scars on their hands caused by carrying the hot rocks for so many years began to heal. These people had always worried that forgiving would be letting their offenders off the hook, but they learned dropping their rocks actually made their own lives better. Soon the people of Dura were throwing fewer rocks, so fewer rocks came hurtling back at them. In fact, in some yards, the rocks were so scarce that flowers began to break through the newly exposed ground. Who would have believed that life's burdens would be so easily removed by simply dropping the rock? Well, I think this parable does point out some very important principles or lessons.

If we don't forgive others, then it really will hurt us in the long run. It will take a toll on us and we'll pay a price for it. We'll burn our fingers, we'll burn our hands, we'll burn ourselves. So we have to learn to drop the rocks. And there will be rocks out there from time to time, but we have to learn to drop them as quickly as possible.

Now Matthew 18 is an important chapter in the Bible, and certainly Mr. Brown talked about Matthew 18. It is an important chapter in the Bible with much to say about sin, dealing with sin in the church, better known as, go to your brother. Matthew 18 is all about going to your brother. It is interesting when you read that passage in context that it's actually bookended by passages that show the importance of forgiveness and going above and beyond in our efforts to bring back a lost brother, someone who has caused offense, someone who is strayed. There is a reason for that. Going to your brother who has gone astray is an important principle. The purpose is to help restore him to a right relationship with God. And again, that's what Mr. Brown brought out in the sermonette. We want to help our brother.

We want to help restore him to a right relationship with God and also with others. But before we can go to our brother, we must understand forgiveness and what part in the forgiveness process and our part in the forgiveness process, because that has to happen as well. When we go to our brother, we have to also have forgiveness in our hearts, and we have to be willing to forgive. Without this knowledge, we are getting the cart before the horse, and we're on the path to failure even before we get started. So it's important to have a spirit of forgiveness when we go to our brother. The passage immediately following, go to your brother, underscores the importance of forgiveness. So let's take a look at it in Matthew 18. Let's begin in Matthew 18. Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sit against me and I forgive him? Again, this is right after dealing with a sinning brother, going to your brother. It's immediately after this. So Peter came to him, he said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times. Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents, an enormous sum. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, Master, have patience with me and I will pay you all. Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion. He released that servant and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. And he laid hands on him. Now a hundred denarii is much, much, much, much, much, much less than all these ten thousand talents that he owed. So he was unwilling to forgive this hundred denarii and he laid hands on this person and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, just as he had begged the person he owed, saying, Have patience with me and I will pay you all. And he would not, but he went out and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servant saw what had been done, they were very grieved. Of course, you would be grieved if you saw this happen. They came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. You begged me, you pleaded with me, and I had compassion on you and I forgave this huge debt. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you. And his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. Verse 35, So my heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you from his heart does not forgive his brother his trespasses. Now that's a pretty powerful set of verses and scriptures. It underscores the importance of being able to forgive and being willing to forgive and forgiving our brother. Again, this is right after going to your brother with an offense that he has caused you. It talks about being able to forgive that brother.

Now let's go right before this, right before the dealing with a sinning brother in verse 15. If we go back to verse 10, let's read again. This is at the front end of this going to your brother. Verse 10, Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven there are angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. What do you think if a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek that one that is straying? And again, Mr. Brown talked about the importance of going to your brother to strive to help him. That's the whole purpose, to help him see where he's going astray, what he's done, what he needs to change. And if he should find it, assuredly I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so, it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but should have everlasting life. You know, God loves every person. God loves the person who's offended you. He loves them and he wants to see them repent of their sin and stop offending others and stop hurting others. But he also wants to see us able to forgive those who have offended us, those who have hurt us. Now, forgiving isn't easy, especially if you or someone you love has been terribly wronged. Some things are easier to forgive than others, obviously. Some are much more difficult. I believe that forgiveness is one of the most difficult, hardest things for people to do, for human beings to do, is to truly forgive someone genuinely from the heart. And yet Christ set that example for each and every one of us. He showed us how we can forgive others. Jesus Christ, again, he was like an innocent baby, totally innocent, who was wrong terribly. He was horribly beaten. He was abused. He suffered the shame of being stripped naked, of being knelt to a stake. He was ridiculed on every side. He died a shameful death of execution, of crucifixion. And why did he do it? So that we could see sin for what it really is. That's how bad sin is. Sin is horrible. Sin is destructive. Sin is just devastating. So we could see sin for what it really is. How shameful, how harmful, how deadly sin is. And also so he could shed his blood for each and every one of us and pay the penalty for our sins because we all sin. You might think, well, that was Jesus. Jesus was perfect. He was the Son of God. Sure, he can forgive. He can forgive someone. But he can't really expect a sinful human being like me to forgive like he does. Well, I don't believe that's true. I think Christ wants us to follow his example. He came to set an example for us. And also, remember the example of Stephen, the very first Christian martyr, the next person to die because he believed in this Jesus who he knew had died for him. So let's go to Acts 7. And this is a flesh and blood human being. This is not Christ. This is a man filled with the Spirit of God. Remember, the Spirit of God was in Stephen. He was rebuking the Pharisees and those who were about to stone him. He was rebuking them for their sins and for what they had done for the fact that they had killed Jesus Christ and he did not hold back. And he was powerful in what he said to these men.

Then notice in verse 59, And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, Lord Jesus received my Spirit. The Spirit in man was about to go back to God who gave it.

Receive my Spirit. Then he knelt down and he cried out with a loud voice.

And he said, Lord, do not charge them with this sin. Do not charge them. They're killing me.

I meant them no harm. I wanted them to repent of what they had done, the sins that they had committed. You know, I brought it to their attention and they've killed me for it. But do not charge them with this sin. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. He died right then and there. If Stephen can have a spirit of forgiveness as he is being stoned to death, then we too can have that same spirit of forgiveness. Stephen was able to forgive because he put his faith in the one who forgave him and the one who died for him.

We have to put our faith in Christ if we're going to be forgiving people. We have to trust that Christ will live in us and give us the strength to do the right thing.

God will give you the strength. With him, all things are possible. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. And learning to forgive is a very, very important part of all of this. We have to learn to forgive as Christ forgave others. We are to cast our burdens on Christ because he does truly care for us. What greater burden to carry around than hatred and resentment caused by one who has grievously wronged us personally or wronged someone that we dearly love? Again, it's very hard to forgive someone that has hurt us. And people do heinous things that tend to make our blood boil at times. I know I hate to see someone being abused, being mistreated. I especially hate to see people mistreating children, innocent children, people who really mean no harm. And yet, they're taken advantage of and they're mistreated.

But I know that God is love and that he wants me to be loved too. And he wants me to learn to forgive people, again, not to condone their actions. We don't condone sinful actions. Sin is horrible. We hate the sin, but somehow we have to learn to forgive those who are sinners because we expect Christ to forgive us. We want Christ to forgive us. We want the Father to forgive us. And we have all sinned. And so we are to do in like manner what Christ has done for us.

So we really do have to learn to forgive others.

God wants us to learn what love is all about. God's love is deep. It's powerful. It covers a multitude of sins. Love forgives. You know, He's covered your sins. He's covered my sins. He's forgiven us our sins. He's not holding those sins over our head. Of course, only God can forgive in the truest sense. Basically, what we're doing is learning to give up the hatred, the resentment. It's not that we can forgive anyone's sins, but we can learn to no longer harbor the hatred and resentment and have the mind of Christ. Father, forgive them. They really don't know what they're doing to a large degree. In this life, Satan has deceived the whole world. And he has really worked a number on all of us. And people don't comprehend the fullness of their sins and what they've done to one another. And so we have to learn to give up those hot rocks, those rocks that we're holding because someone has hurt us. In 1 John 4, let's go there and let's consider the depth of God's love and how we are to become like Him. 1 John 4, we know that God is love, and John speaks a lot about love. 1 John 4, we'll start in verse 7. 1 John 4, verse 7, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us.

And sent his Son to be the propitiation or the mercy seat to pay the penalty for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time.

If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love has been perfected in us.

By this we know that we abide in him and he in us because he has given us of his Spirit. God has granted us his Spirit. He has given us a down payment of his Holy Spirit, his Spirit of forgiveness, his Spirit of power and of might, of a sound mind.

And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Christ is indeed the Messiah. He is the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. It is important to see the depth of God's love and that we are to become just like God. That's what God is doing. He is beginning a family that will become members of his family, the God family, and will become like him. There will come a time when there will be no sin in the world. Everyone will become like God or they won't be around. So it's extremely important that we learn that today because now is our day of salvation. God is working with you and with me.

We are called to be overcomers. We are called to put sin out of our lives.

And if we are unwilling to forgive, then there is sin in our lives. That is a sin. When we are unable to forgive, we're harboring hatred and resentment toward others. So we have to learn what forgiveness is all about and we have to follow Christ's example in regard to forgiveness. Now, love has been perfected in verse 17. It's been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because as he is, so are we in this world. We're to be like Christ. We're to shine as Christ shines. He is the light of the world. We're not to hide our lights, but we're to let them shine forth and we are to reflect the character of God.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We have to put fear out of our lives. We have to learn to trust God and put our entire faith in Him and allow Him to live in us so that we no longer fear man. We no longer fear Satan. We learn to fear nothing. Only God.

That's the only fear that one day we're going to have is the proper respect and proper fear of God. God. It says we love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, I love God and hates His brother, if he harbors hatred or resentment against his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, how can he love God, whom he has not seen? We have to first learn to love each other. If we're really going to have the kind of love God has, the depth of love God has, we have to love each other. In this commandment we have from Him that he who loves God must love his brother also. So we have to learn to love each other. I mean, that's it. Plain and simple. We have to learn to love each other. And it doesn't say it's okay to hate anyone. In fact, the Bible says we have to love our enemies. We have to love those who will despitefully use us and persecute us. There's no room here. Forgiveness is something that God expects. We have to learn to forgive. And we must never, we must never give up on seeking to forgive. Now, I know sometimes it isn't an easy thing. And no one can force another person to forgive someone. You can't do that. You can't force someone else to forgive someone. It has to come from within. It has to come from their heart. And it has to come in time, in their time. As God works with them, as God leads them, as God guides them, as God directs them, He will lead them to forgiveness. So we can't make it happen in other people's lives. We can pray for others. We can pray that God will give them what they need, that God will stir up the Spirit within them, and they will respond to His Spirit. And they will truly develop a spirit of forgiveness. We can do that, but we can't rush the process. I mean, we are accountable for ourselves. No, that's where we need to focus. What about you? Have you forgiven others? Have you done everything that you could possibly do to forgive others?

In 1 John chapter 2, let's again notice what John says again in 1 John chapter 2, verse 9. 1 John chapter 2 verse 9.

He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now.

He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. Okay, the more we love each other, the less we're going to offend one another. If we truly love each other, then we're not going to do something to offend someone. We're going to be careful how we live our lives and how we treat each other. For one thing, he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Okay, we've all been blinded by Satan the devil. He's blinded every one of us.

Christ is bringing us out of that darkness into his marvelous light. That is a process. It takes time to come out of the darkness into the marvelous light that God has for each and every one of us. So we have to learn to live by every word of God. God says we have to learn to forgive each other. We have to learn to hate or we have to learn to hate sin, but we have to learn to love people.

That's what the Bible says. We have to learn to love each other. We have to love our enemies. Let's go to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. This is what Christ taught.

Did he mean something else or did he mean what he said? Luke chapter 6.

Luke chapter 6 verse 27. Luke 6 verse 27. Christ says in the Sermon on the Mount, he said, But I say to you who here love your enemies, love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you.

I say they offended you, right? If they hate you, if they did something against you, they've offended you in various ways. He says, Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who spitefully use you. So when you go to your brother, hopefully you've done quite a bit of praying about it.

You've prayed about that situation. You've prayed for them. You've prayed that God would guide them and lead them. You've prayed that he would grant them repentance. Of course, you've already prayed that God would help you see that moat that's in your eye, that blinds you, that keeps you from seeing clearly. You've done all these things. You've repented before God, and you humbly have sought his will in the matter before you ever go to a brother. Now, you have to get yourself right first. Then you go to your brother after you've prayed for them. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who spitefully use you to him who strikes you on the one cheek. Offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them back. Just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? I mean, it's not that hard to love someone who loves you. I mean, everyone loves people who love them for the most part, if they are good to them. But it's when they're not so good, when they're actually downright nasty at times. Okay, that's when it gets more difficult. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.

And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies and do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return. Hoping for nothing in return. See, my margin says, expecting nothing. Expecting nothing in return. And your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the most high.

For he is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful just as your father also is merciful. Now, we all want God to be merciful to us. You know, every Passover, we come before God and we are all extremely grateful that God is forgiving and merciful, because we realize that the wages of sin is death. That's what we all deserve.

Every one of us deserves to die. We don't deserve to live forever. We've all sinned. We've brought upon ourselves the death penalty. So we all realize that unless God forgives us, we are destined for the lake of fire. Unless he's merciful to us for our sins, for our offenses. Every time we sin, we offend God. Every time you sin, you offend God. God is a perfect and holy God.

And every time you sin, you offend him. Every time you offend him. God is merciful and loving, and thankfully, He forgives our offenses. He forgives our sins. He's gracious. He's merciful. He doesn't hold them over our heads.

He learns to forgive, and only He can forgive sin in that way. Again, what we have to do is no longer harbor the hatred and the resentment. We need to put it in God's hands and let God deal with those who have offended us. We have to turn it over to Him. We have to give it up. It isn't an easy thing to do. And for some who have been grievously offended, it's going to take more time for them. So we all have to be patient and realize that God works with them to bring them to repentance and to show them how to forgive.

And so we pray for one another. We pray for those who are having a difficult time forgiving others. We pray that God will give them strength, because forgiveness is a strength.

Forgiveness is a strength. It's certainly no weakness. To forgive someone is a great strength. To be able to forgive others. So God is love, and we must, again, we have to become like Him. We have to come out of the darkness. We have to be able to see clearly. We have to see that God is merciful, and He wants us to learn to be merciful like Him. So how important is this act of forgiveness to God? How important is it? It's so important that He made provision for it even before He made mankind. God made provision for it before He created Adam and Eve. In 1 Peter 1, it shows that this was for ordained before the foundation of the world. Before God ever made a man and a woman, He thought this through. He knew what we would do to one another. He understood what we were going to do to each other. He understood the offenses, the sins that would be committed. In 1 Peter 1, let's read God's plan here. 1 Peter 1, verse 18, Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, he indeed was for ordained before the foundation of the world. Christ was for ordained. The fact that Jesus, the one who is the Word, the Logos, the spokesman, that He would become flesh and dwell among us and die for us, that was all foreordained before Adam and Eve were ever created, before the foundation of the world.

He says, But was manifest in these last times for you, who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Our faith and hope must be in God. We have to learn to put our complete trust and faith in God, because there is no help in mortals. Put not your trust in mortals. In them there is no help. They will eventually let you down. Man will let you down. I'll let you down at times. You know, I'm not perfect far from it. I'm striving to be perfect. I want to be perfect. I want to always treat all of you with love and with respect, with kindness, compassion, with the Spirit of God. But I know that I'm not perfect and I will fall short, so you have to put your trust in God and your faith in God, not in any man. Christ died for us before the foundation of the world.

He laid His life down knowing. He laid it down willingly, knowing what was required, knowing what would happen. Let's go to Matthew 6, and again, let's ask ourselves, how strongly does God... What does He think about forgiveness? Matthew 6, does God really expect you to forgive?

Matthew 6, does God really expect you to forgive and me to forgive and learn to live at peace with one another? Matthew 6, verse 12. Matthew 6, verse 12, and forgive us our sins, our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Wait, what? And I read right over it. And forgive us our sins, our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Okay, we're going to be forgiven in the same manner. We pray that. You know, God forgive us as we forgive others. So if we're not forgiving others, then we're surely not going to be forgiven ourselves. That's what Christ said. Christ told us that's the way we should pray.

So you can't get around it by not praying it. You're supposed to pray this. God forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Those who offend us, forgive us as we learn to forgive them. That's what we're saying.

So we really do have to take that to heart and understand what God says. He thinks so strongly about forgiveness that He will only forgive you as you learn to forgive others.

Notice Mark 11. Mark 11. Mark 11, verse 24. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them. So go in faith, trust God that He will answer in your best interest, that He will answer according to what you really and truly need. So don't ask a miss, learn to ask what you truly need. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, okay, what does anything against anyone mean? Anything against anyone. Okay, it seems like anyone means everyone. And anything means what it says. If you have something against someone, whatever it is, somehow you have to learn to give it up. You have to learn to forgive. You have to put it behind you and not allow that root of bitterness to continue in your life. If you have anything against anyone, anything against anyone, forgive Him that your Father in Heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses. So it's very powerful, it's very pointed, it's really not hard to understand. I mean, it may be hard to do, it may be hard to put into action, but it really shouldn't be that hard to understand. It's right here for us. It's pretty clear what God expects. And He will give us the help we need to be able to do that, to be able to forgive others.

But you have to seek Him, you have to put your trust in Him, and you have to have faith in Him, and you have to seek Him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. Because it's a hard thing to do, to forgive those who have offended you and hurt you in whatever way. I think I may have shared with you that there was a great transformation that took place in my life when I was just a very young man. I was a teenager. I was 18 years old. I had hated my father because of the way he treated my mother and the way he treated the family. He was an alcoholic and I learned to hate him. There was a resentment in my heart against him for the way he was and the things that he did. So when I was being called into God's Church, God was transforming my thinking, He was transforming my heart and my mind. I learned something about real love and forgiveness at that time. I'm not saying I have true love or I have true forgiveness, but I certainly learned something about love and about forgiveness. And I believe that God gave me a spirit of forgiveness.

He gave me His Holy Spirit. It was a very, very special gift. So I forgave my dad for how he treated my family, how he treated me. He never asked me to forgive him. He never has to this day.

I don't know, 88, 87, 88 years old. He's never asked me to forgive him. But I did forgive my dad a long time ago and I've been a lot happier because of it all these years. You know, I haven't carried that burden around with me and it's been wonderful not having that. Yes, He harmed me. He harmed my mother. He harmed our family. It ended up in divorce eventually.

But, you know, a person doesn't have to ask you to forgive them in order for you to forgive them. So don't, you know, don't have that. Don't hang on to that thinking that they have to ask you to forgive them. Okay, that's not required. So, you know, I'd certainly give God the credit for that. It's nothing that I did on my own. I could very easily be embittered by that and I could have carried that burden around for many, many years now. I know this. God is love and God is spirit and He has a spirit of forgiveness and we should all be very, very grateful that He does.

He is spirit and His spirit is one of forgiveness. That's the way God is. He's very forgiving. Now, God will throw some in the lake of fire. Some will be cast in the lake of fire. I believe that because that's what the Bible says. There are scriptures that certainly indicate there will be people who will not repent, who will harden themselves, and they will not repent, and God will not forgive them, of their sins. Their sins will not come under the blood of Christ. And they will be cast into a lake of fire. And I certainly don't want any of us to be among that number. I want all of us to learn to forgive one another because it's essential for salvation. If you want to be in God's kingdom, if you want to live forever, you have to develop a spirit of forgiveness.

God forgives everyone and everything. Well, is that true? He forgives upon repentance. God does. Now, again, you're not God. So, someone doesn't have to repent for you to forgive them in the sense of no longer harboring the hatred and the resentment. You know, that you have to give up. It's in God's hands what God does with the person. I mean, we pray for them. We hope that they will come to repentance. We hope that they will turn their lives over to God and to Christ. But it's in God's hands. The Greek word for forgive means primarily to send forth or to send away.

For us, it means to put away the anger. It means to put away the resentment, the animosity, the hatred. And hatred seems like a very bad word, and it is a very bad word. Hatred. We don't like to think that we could hate someone, but resentment and animosity, it's hatred.

It's the beginning stages of full-blown hatred.

So, we have to learn to give that up. God can take that away. He can cleanse you of hatred and resentment, and then you'll be able to forgive. Again, you have to send it forth. You have to send it away. Get rid of it. Get rid of it. It's debilitating. It will hurt you physically.

There have been many studies that have been done, and harboring hatred and resentment, it drives up the blood pressure. It shortens a person's life. It's very debilitating. It can even eventually lead to heart attacks because of all the stress that we've allowed ourselves to be under all the years that we've never forgiven, and we've continued to harbor this hatred and resentment in our lives. So, we have to send it away. Now, does forgiveness of a person mean we should place complete trust in that person? Well, of course not. That would be utterly foolish. That's not what I'm saying at all. But I don't want to lead us astray when it comes to the importance of learning to forgive and get rid of the animosity and the hatred and the resentment.

Let's talk about what forgiveness is not for a few minutes. What forgiveness is not? First of all, forgiveness is not forgive and forget. You can't erase your memory yet. I mean, there are things I remember about my dad and how he treated the family and things that he did.

It's not that I've forgotten all of that, because I'm human. I don't know that I know how to do that. I mean, I forget a lot of things, for sure, but there are some things that you never forget in this life. So the test is not whether you remember something, but how you remember it.

Again, we talked about this parable of forgiveness. All of us have what I would call, and what this book calls, a grievance story. We've all been offended at times. We have a grievance against someone. You may be able to think of someone you have a grievance against. And maybe you're still harboring that grievance. You have a story, and it's been told over and over and over again. And every time you tell it, in a sense, it gets deeper. And so you have to stop telling it. And you have to learn to change that grievance story. So it's not that we forget, but we learn that there's another way of looking at things. If we look at things like Christ did, Father forgive them, they really don't know what they're doing. I don't think my dad understands the pain that he's caused. I don't believe God's giving him a full grasp of that. You know, maybe he sees some of it, not enough to say, I'm sorry. You know, not enough to admit it, but he may see some of it. But, again, we're not going to forget these things, but we can change our grievance story, and we can make a huge difference in our own lives. So forgiveness is not forgetting everything. Secondly, forgiveness does not imply that it's okay. It's not okay what people do when they offend us, they offend us. When we offend God, it's serious. When other people offend us, it's a serious matter. It should not be taken lightly. Wrong is wrong even when it's forgiven.

Forgiveness never makes a wrong action right. It never condones and excuses a wrongful act. Forgiveness defines who you are, however. It does not redefine the other's wrongful act. As somehow being right, it's never right. It's always wrong. It always will be wrong.

So we don't make excuses for sin. Thirdly, forgiveness does not require reconciliation and making up all at once. It doesn't require that. Sometimes it's hard to do, but you've got to keep working at it. It takes two people to reconcile, for one thing, but it takes only one person to forgive. You can forgive even if the other person refuses to be a part of the process.

You can still learn to forgive that person.

Stephen was stoned by those who hated him. He was stoned, and yet he said, don't lay this sin to their charge. In other words, he was showing that, Father, forgive them. They really don't know what they're doing here.

They certainly were not, they certainly had not repented of their sin, of killing him, but he was able to forgive them, even as he was being stoned to death.

Fourthly, forgiveness is not setting others, it's not that we have to totally set others free. Forgiveness can involve a pardon, certainly.

We can forgive people and still hold them accountable in certain ways, obviously.

We can still hold them accountable. We don't have to be a doormat completely. There are times when we need to be willing to be doormats, and Christ spoke to that. But you have to use wisdom in this regard, and you have to know when it's better for the other person to also learn to change. And we don't want to hurt ourselves or our families any more than God would want us to. So we have to be careful in the choices that we make. Certainly, forgiving someone doesn't suspend the law of cause and effect.

But what can change is our desire for vengeance. Our desire for retaliation, that can change. God clearly says, vengeance is mine. It's not ours to take revenge. And forgiveness actually frees the person. When we forgive others, we free ourselves.

Punishment for misdeeds is a godly principle. And he knows when it's necessary, be sure your sins will find you out. So we're not saying a person shouldn't pay a price for their sin, and that we should just wash it away. No, they will pay a price, because God says, be sure your sins will find you out.

But God is the one that will exercise justice as he sees fit. In Psalm 99 verse 8, it says, Lord our God, you answered them, you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds. God will punish their misdeeds. You don't have to.

God will take care of that. You've got to give it up to him. So fifthly, forgiveness is not denial. It's not burying it all deep inside and denying to yourself that someone has hurt you. That it's not an issue. It's not ignoring unresolved and hidden anger, pain, or resentment. It's not ignoring that. You have to deal with that hidden anger and resentment.

Sometimes it requires going to a person and talking to them and discussing it with them. And hopefully they are a repentant mind and heart themselves, and that will make it easier for us to forgive and to go on. Number six, forgiveness does not mean that you have to put yourself back in a hurtful or harmful situation. You don't have to put yourself back into a hurtful or harmful situation. You may have to remove yourself for a time, but you should always desire reconciliation and forgiveness.

And that should be something that you're continually praying for and that you're looking for opportunities to make a difference and to move in that proper direction. So it's not forgiveness when we put ourselves back into a harmful situation. It is foolishness to do that. God does not require that. An example of this is that He does not allow for divorce, for adultery, and for other scriptural reasons.

You have to forgive the person that caused the breakup of your marriage by their immoral conduct, but you don't have to go back with them. Now, if you're able to do that, if you're able to forgive in that way, and it can work out, then so much the better. So much the better, but God does allow certain times when you just have to back off and realize that a person isn't going to change, and they're only going to cause grief and heartache, so you have to remove yourself from that kind of situation and not do that to yourself or to others.

So forgiveness doesn't mean that you excuse the wrong behavior and make excuses for the person. Forgiveness doesn't mean you should never talk about a problem, either. You should be willing to discuss these things and try to work through them, because forgiveness is a process. Again, let's go to Luke 17. It's a process. Luke 17. But again, let's consider this what Christ says here in Luke 17.

Then He said to the disciples, it is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to Him through whom they do come. So don't cause offense, because you are certainly bringing judgment upon yourself. It would be better for Him if a millstone were hung around His neck and He were thrown into the sea than that He should offend one of these little ones. So God does not take offense lightly. Take heed to yourselves if your brother sins against you, rebuke him. Okay, that's what it says.

If he sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you saying, I repent, you shall forgive him. Okay, you have to continue to forgive if someone is striving to forgive one another. Now again, we can't forgive sin, but we can stop harboring the hatred and the resentment.

So hopefully we can we understand what this is saying here. Again, it doesn't mean that if a person doesn't repent that you... it doesn't mean that you have to forgive him. I'm sorry. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, then forgive him. It doesn't mean that you don't have to forgive, though. We already cover that in a number of other scriptures.

That we do have to give up that heart hatred and that resentment. We do have to learn to be forgiving toward one another. Again, if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you saying, I repent, you shall forgive him. So it is a process, and it takes some time to be able to do this, to get through it.

So, brethren, if you've been poisoned by hatred or resentment, remember that there is an antidote, and again that antidote is forgiveness. If you've been poisoned, and we've all been poisoned to some degree by hatred and resentment, there is an antidote. That is forgiveness, and it comes through the Spirit of God. God's Spirit is a Spirit of forgiveness. So allow Christ to live in you, and to lead you to repentance and to forgiveness. You have to do that. You have to allow Christ to live in you. You have to learn to give it up, put it in God's hands, put it in Christ's hands.

Allow Christ to lead you to true repentance and to true forgiveness. And trust me, you'll be much, much happier as you learn to do that. So let's all continue to fight the good fight. You know, I think it is a battle to learn to forgive one another. We all have to do that. Sometimes Satan will get a foothold in your life, and you'll begin to have more resentment or hatred, and you have to just continue to seek God and pray that God will give you victory. Because God will give you victory if you continue to seek Him and to exercise the Spirit of forgiveness.