Praise the Lord
Saints of the Most-High God! Praise the Lord everybody! I love the Lord today
and I hope and pray that each of you do as well. I'm so excited to be in the
house of the Lord today. I love being in the house of the Lord. I love being
with the people of God! I just love loving Jesus. I just love having a
personal, intimate, eternal relationship with God!
I thank God and this congregation for
allowing me to stand behind this anointed desk which we call a pulpit. I thank
God for allowing me the privilege of being the Pastor of this church. Being a Pastor
is not a right, it's a privilege, and I take very seriously my duty to prepare
this congregation to fight the good fight of faith against the evil which
resides in this world today!
Therefore I would that everyone who is in
this building today stand with me at this time, if you are physically able, please
stand and pray that God would anoint my lips as I bring forth the word of God
as He has laid it upon my heart.
Let us pray…. (Spend as much time in prayer
as the Lord leads)
I hope, and I
believe, that what I have to say today will not only be exciting, but will also
be life changing to those who hear, and understand the precepts that I will
attempt to bring forth to you today. I encourage all of you to take copious
notes and study them at a later time. If
we all could stand in honor of the reading of the word of the Lord at this time:
Matthew 6:9-15 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our
Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in
earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For
thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
You may be
seated.
As we can see from this
passage known to all as the Lord's Prayer. If we desire to be forgiven of our
sins by the Lord, we must first be willing forgive those who have sinned
against us. How can we expect the Lord to do something for us that we're
unwilling to do for others?
Therefore the first subject about which we'll speak is :
1.
Forgiving Others
· Too many times we want to
reserve the right to hold a grudge!
· Too many times we want take
revenge ourselves instead of giving it to God!
· Too many times we want to
see the person who offended us to suffer!
· Too many times we forget our
own imperfections!
· Too many times we forget
that we're sinners too!
· Too many times we forget
that we've sinned against all-mighty God!
· Too many times we forget
that we need to be forgiven too!
We need to remember that God knows about everything that's happening in
our lives and that He loves us dearly.
We need to remember that God will take care of those who abuse us.
We need to remember the stress that seeking vengeance heaps upon our
lives.
We need to forgive others if we want to have peace in our lives.
It says in:
Matthew
5:44 But I
say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
According to
this passage, I believe that we're not even to have a bad attitude toward those
who do us wrong. We're supposed to love souls as the Lord loves them.
We're supposed to earnestly pray for the salvation of those who persecute us.
We're supposed to pray dutifully for those who
despitefully use us.
God has called
us to be servants, and we’ll never know whether or not we have a
servants' heart until someone treats us like a servant. We who serve the Lord
are supposed to serve others with a willing heart. We're servants of the
Lord, and at times we can expect to be treated like a servant by someone who
wishes to lord over us…..
We need to
remember that Jesus, even while being mistreated by the Jewish leaders and the
Roman soldiers, never directed a harsh word toward them. He suffered in silence
like a sheep being led to the slaughter. He was slaughtered by them and
yet He forgave them of their sins against Him.
Jesus was being killed
and he forgave those very people who were killing Him at that same time. As
Christians, we’re to be Christ like, we’re supposed to do
things the way He did, we need to keep that in mind at all times.
Now let's look at:
Luke
17:3-4 Take
heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he
repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a
day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt
forgive him.
We aren't just to forgive
our brother when he sins against us; we’re required to forgive him seven times
in a day. I know that sounds hard to do, but we're capable of doing it or the
Lord wouldn't have commanded us to do it. But it could be worse right? Absolutely
it could be worse; in fact it is worse!
We're told in:
Matthew
18:21-22
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against
me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee,
Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Seventy times seven works
out to 490 times…. The inference being 490 times in a single day! You heard me,
490 times in a single day! Now that's a lot of sinning for someone to do in
order for you to not have to forgive them. In reality, I believe the Lord was
just trying to make the point that you need to always forgive others
when they sin against you.
You see, other people are
going to sin against you because people are not perfect. A man who was very
influential in my life once told me that as a pastor; one of the first things I
would learn is that "people are pitiful". He then proceeded to remind
me that as a preacher, I needed to remember that I’m a people too!
There are times as your
Pastor that I’m going to fail you; there are times that I’m going to offend
you. I will never do it intentionally, but it will happen, and when I do,
please come and tell me so we can straighten things out! There are times that
like all other people, I’m going to be pitiful, and I need you to forgive me
when those times happen.
You see, there’s a reason
why God wants us to forgive others when they sin against us, it’s because it
will only destroy us if we hold a grudge. We need to turn all things over to
God so that He can handle it for us. It
says in:
Romans
12:17-21
Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all
men. 18
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 19
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather
give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger,
feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals
of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with
good.
We need to let
God handle our relationship issues as they relate to those who have offended us,
used us, or abused us. God's in control, there's nothing in this world that
escapes His attention. I also believe that God's less concerned with our being
offended than with how we handle it when we're offended.
God's fully
willing and able to punish those who have abused their privileges of
relationship with us; He doesn’t need our help, nor does He require our input.
What He needs is for us to guard our hearts against a spirit of unforgivness.
Judgment rests
in the hand of God; it’s not the place of man to take vengeance! Man is a
vengeful creature; he always wants his pound of flesh. He wants to take that
pound of flesh from where it will do the most damage. He wants to tear your
heart out. He's not satisfied with an apology; man always seems to want blood.
God requires
blood in payment for sins, and Jesus Christ has paid for those sins in full. Man
requires payment that he's not entitled to, only God can judge men. Only God
can require blood for payment of sins! Remember, as we just read in Romans 12:19 it says: "Dearly beloved, avenge not
yourselves, but rather give place
unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is
mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Also,
it tells us in:
Colossians
3:12-13 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of
mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any
man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
If we're the
elect of God:
· Then we need to be humble.
· Then we need to be meek.
· Then we need to be kind.
· Then we need to be
forgiving.
We need to remember that as
Christians, we are to emulate the attitudes that Jesus was model. There's a
saying that is actually over hundred years old. It says: What Would Jesus Do?
We need to keep that in mind when someone does us wrong. We need to remember
the big picture; that we're living this life as a witness for Christ and not
for our own pleasure!
Now we move on to our second topic as it relates to
forgiveness:
2.
The Spirit Of Unforgiveness
It says in:
Mark
11:25-26 And
when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father
also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if ye do not forgive, neither
will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
This passage is similar to Mathew Chapter 6,
and yet people just don't get the big picture. If we refuse to have a spirit of
forgiveness, and we refuse to let go of the spirit of unforgiveness, God will
not forgive us. God wants to forgive us, but we have to be willing to forgive
others.
God will judge us guilty of
all our sins if we refuse to forgive others. Remember, God will not allow sin
to enter into the kingdom of heaven. If our sins haven't been forgiven, then we
cannot enter into heaven. We will not be allowed to live forever with our Lord
and our God. We will have condemned ourselves to live forever in the lake of
fire where the flames are quenched not, and the worm dieth not. If you don't believe me, listen to what it
says in:
Matthew
18:23-35
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would
take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten
thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord
commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and
payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him,
saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then
the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave
him the debt. 28
But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed
him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And
his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have
patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into
prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done,
they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then
his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I
forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had
compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And
his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all
that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also
unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their
trespasses.
The man in this passage
thought he'd pulled a fast one on the King. He was forgiven of a great debt
that he had no possible way to repay. It was like 30 billion dollars in today's
money. He probably thought he was the cat's meow. He probably thought he was a
slick dude. He thought about a lot of things, but he even didn't realize what
had just happened….
This man had no idea that
mercy had just interceded on his behalf. He didn't realize that he should be
thankful for what had just happened. He didn't realize that justice had set him
free from a debt he couldn't pay. He didn't realize that he should go and do
likewise.
After all that was done for
him, he went out and grabbed a man by the throat that owed him twenty bucks. He
had absolutely no mercy on this man when he was offered the same deal he
himself had offered to the King. He grabbed that man and he dragged him to the
prison, not realizing that he had just condemned himself to the same fate!
· How many times do we refuse
to let it go and let the Lord handle it for us?
· How many times do we suffer
the same fate as those who've sinned against us because we tried to handle it
ourselves instead of letting the Lord take care of it for us?
· How many times do our
adversaries get off the hook because we tried to take the place of God and
inflict judgment ourselves?
· We need to always remember
that judgment belongs only to God, and never to man?
It says in:
Luke
6:35-38 But
love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your
reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is
kind unto the unthankful and to the
evil. 36
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. 37 Judge not, and ye shall not be
judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be
forgiven: 38
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken
together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same
measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
We need to remember that
what we sow, that shall we also reap. If we want to reap mercy, we must first
sow mercy. If we want to be blest, we
must first sow a blessing. If we want to be forgiven, we must first sow
forgiveness. We will only receive mercy, blessings, and forgiveness in the
measure that we sow them. Therefore be sure to always plant a bountiful crop!
Now to our last topic on
this subject:
3.
Forgiving Your Self
Sometimes we have more
trouble forgiving ourselves that we do forgiving others. We expect more out of
ourselves because we're Holy Ghost filled Christians, and we should. But we
also need to keep in mind that Jesus Christ is the only human being to ever
live a perfect and sinless life. It says
in:
Romans
3:23 For
all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
In other words, not just
some of us have sinned. Not just the weakest among us have sinned. Not just the
new believers among us have sinned. But every single human being on this planet
has sinned at some time in their life. Some may be more effective than others
at refraining from sin, but all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
However, there is good news!
It says in:
1
John 1:9 If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
When we confess our sins…
Wow, what a concept! We have actually sinned and sin is not allowed into
heaven. We listen to the devil condemn us. Yeah, that same guy who 3 seconds
earlier was trying to talk you into committing that very sin which you just committed.
The devil will condemn you
and tell you that Jesus will never forgive you. If you listen to him you'll become
weak and you'll open yourself up to a greater attack on your soul. Don't listen
to the devil! Not now, not ever! If you confess your sins to the Lord, He will
forgive you and that's that! No ifs', ands', or buts' about it! It says in:
1
John 2:12 I
write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his
name's sake.
You've been forgiven for His
name's sake. If you've forgiven others, why can't you forgive yourself? If God
has forgiven others, why wouldn't He forgive you? If God has forgiven you, why
won't you forgive yourself? Are you better than God? Do you have the right to
hold a grudge that God says you can't hold? Absolutely not! So if God has
forgiven you, learn to forgive yourself and move on from there! For it says in:
Luke
7:47
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she
loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the
same loveth little.
Jesus is telling us in this
passage that they who have received much forgiveness, the same loveth very much.
If God has forgiven you of much today, let His spirit rule and reign in your
heart and life. Forgive yourself, forgive others, fellowship the Holy Ghost,
and watch God work a miracle in your life!
Finally, as we close, it says in:
Philippians
3:13-14 Brethren,
I count not myself to have apprehended: but this
one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I
press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
According to this passage,
not only do we need to forgive ourselves, we need to forget those things which
are behind! Looking back only makes for crooked furrows. We want to walk down
the straight and narrow with the Lord, and we don't want to leave crooked
furrows for others to follow! Therefore let us leave behind our past, and move
forward each and every day toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus!