Forgiveness. By James Brewer

Transcription

1 Forgiveness By James Brewer First, let us pray. Father God, we come to you today to learn your Word. Open our eyes that we might understand and receive what you will give us today, through your Word. Help us learn and put to use, all that we learn here today. In Jesus Holy name. Amen. Thank You Lord! Now, let us start in (Matthew 9:6) Here we read, I will prove that I, the Son of Man, have the authority on earth to forgive sins. So we see that even before his death and resurrection, Jesus had the authority to forgive us our sins. No priest or sacrifice was needed, as was custom in that time. You see, normally, every year the people would take a lamb or goat, the best they had, to be sacrificed at the temple, to use the lambs blood as a cleanser for their sins. This was a foreshadowing of Jesus blood, which would be used to cleanse of our sins. When Jesus was on earth, it was people s faith in him that forgave them. Because they believed in Jesus, they where able to be forgiven. We must have faith in Jesus ability to forgive us our sins. Not just ask him, we have to believe he can and will forgive us. And, because Jesus forgives us, we should forgive others. Turn with me to (Ephesians 4:32) Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Because God is faithful to forgive us our sins against him, we should be willing and eager to forgive those who sin against us. If God can forgive them, we also should be able to forgive them. We are supposed to act like and imitate Jesus and God. It says this in (Ephesians 5:1 Amplified) Therefore, be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]. How can we do that unless we forgive, just as he has forgiven us? Jesus says this many times. Again in (Colossians 3:13) You must make allowances for each others faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you so you must forgive others. Jesus stressed this truth and fact many times. He wanted to get it across to us that just like he is willing and HAS forgiven us, so should we forgive others, that have sinned against us. However, there is more to this. We should forgive others because that is what Jesus would do and has done. Also, we should because we have been forgiven so it is only right that we forgive others. But, the most important reason we should forgive others is because of what Jesus told us many times in his Word. Look with me at (Matthew 6:14-15) If you forgive those who sin against you, God the Father, will forgive you. But, if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. If we can t forgive others, God can t forgive us. If we will not forgive another, when Jesus has, we don t deserve forgiveness ourselves. In the Bible, it says the Golden Rule is to do unto others, as you would have done unto you. (Matthew 7:12) The way this applies to us in forgiveness is, if we want to be forgiven, we must forgive. Do unto others, forgive, as we would have done to us, forgiven. So it is vitally important to forgive others for what

2 they have done. No matter what has been done to us, we must forgive them. It says in the Lords prayer,...and forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us... (Matthew 6:12) So I, through Jesus and God s Word, stress to you, to forgive the ones who have wronged you in any way. Jesus told a story of a king who forgave a servant his debt, which was in the millions. This servant went to another servant, and demanded him to pay what he owed him, which was much less then that of the debt he had been forgiven. When the servant couldn t pay, the king s servant threw him in prison until he could fully pay the debt. When the king heard of that he asked the servant, why could you not forgive this mans debt, when I forgave yours? Then the king locked the man in prison until the debt had been paid in full. This story is located in (Matthew 18:23-35). Now, something that goes hand in hand with forgiving, is repenting. We should be quick to repent of our sins so God can forgive us and we should be quick to forgive others so that God is able to forgive us. Something that is important about these is that if we don t repent and forgive, God can t forgive us, help us, or heal us. Here is what Jesus said about repenting. No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will also perish. (Luke 13:5) What Jesus was saying, is that if we won t repent our sins, turn from it and turn to God and follow after Him and His will, disaster will befall us. If we fail to repent of our sins, and forgive others their s, we will not have God s protection, so we will be vulnerable to Satan s attacks. You should be quick to repent and forgive others, and live for God, doing what he wants you to. But if you refuse to forgive and repent and turn from your sins, if you refuse to live for God and follow after him and what He has planned for you, you are not under that protection and will be in trouble, from Satan. Now, you may be asking, as Peter did, how many times must you forgive those who wrong you? How often must I forgive the injustices? This is what was said in God s Word. Then Peter came to him(jesus) and asked, Lord, how often should I forgive someone who has sinned against me? Seven times? No! Jesus replied, seventy times seven! (Matthew 18:21-22) So you see that we should forgive those who sin against us, seventy times seven times. That, in literal terms, means we should forgive the same person 490 times, for the same offense, in one day, if he keeps sinning against you. It would take a long time to sin that many times against one person. Just think about this. Is there a limit to Love? No, there isn t and if you think there is, you have a lot to learn. And because there is no limit to love there should be no limit to the times we should forgive. For forgiving is something we should do out of Love. When you love someone, you forgive them for what they have done. If your wife says something that upsets you, forgive her because you love her. The same goes for the husband hurting the wife. If anyone hurts you, forgive them, because you love them. That is the whole basis behind forgiveness. You forgive out of love. Now, you are likely thinking, if I only forgive out of love, why should I forgive just anyone? The reason for this is because, we should love them. Jesus says to love EVERYONE! Not just family and friends. You are to love your enemies and everyone in the world. Jesus loved everyone on earth so much that he was willing to die for them. And, just to make sure it is clear, Jesus didn t just love the

3 people alive on earth back then. He was thinking of you and me when he did that. That is love. He did that so we could be forgiven of our sins, so we could be with him in heaven. He forgives us because he loves us and wants to be with us. The forgivenss of the world, is already taken care of. Jesus has already forgiven everyone and paid for our sins. But, we have to receive that forgiveness, in order to be set free. That is why many don't go to heaven, because they haven't received that forgiveness and confessed Jesus as their Lord and Savior. So that is why we should forgive out of love and not just because our parents make us, or because we are told to. And because we love them, we should forgive them over and over. With no limit to the times we will. Jesus also says in (Luke 17:3-4) I am warning you! If another believer sins, rebuke him; then if he repents, forgive him. Even if he wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, forgive him. This is again stating that you should keep forgiving someone when they repent and ask forgiveness. Even when they repeatedly do it in one day. Just keep forgiving them. Still, I understand that someone may have hurt you in some way that causes you to not want to forgive them. But you must. Jesus said to not only forgive others but to pray for the people who have sinned against you. He said this in (Matthew 5:44) But I say to you, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. They way we use this and put it into play, is like this. First, you forgive the person who has wronged you and ask God to forgive them and you, for being mad at them and judging them. Then, you pray for that person. Pray that their life is changed for the better. Pray that they never again hurt someone in that way. And pray that the person finds God and accepts Jesus and what he gave us. Then, treat that person like a friend. Also, sometimes Satan is sure to try and make you mad again, or some other evil trick, but you must hold fast. When the devil does that, praise God for everything he has done and state that you have forgiven that person by an act of your will, because you wanted to forgive him. Not because anyone told you to and you had to. Forgive because you want to forgive. Any other reason is not forgiving them. If that person does accept Jesus afterward, or already has and just sinned by wronging you. Treat him as your brother for he is now or already was a brother or sister through Christ. Jesus also said this, I tell you, her sins-and they are many-have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love. (Luke 7:47) What Jesus is saying is that someone who knows they have sinned a great deal, but knows they have also been forgiven, loves the forgiver more than one who hasn t been forgiven much. The person who has been forgiven a lot has more reason to be thankful, than someone who was only forgiven a little. Therefore, showing more love, more thankfulness. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, how much can God forgive me? What all can he forgive? Jesus tells us a number of times what can be forgiven. Look in (Matthew 12:31-32) Every sin or blasphemy can be forgiven-except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which can never be forgiven. Anyone who blasphemies against me, (Jesus) the Son of Man, can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will

4 never be forgiven, either in this world or the in the world to come. This is repeated over and over in the Bible, God s Word. He wants us to know that we can be forgiven for anything, BUT blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. You may be wondering what exactly blasphemy is. I will give you the definition from the dictionary. 1. The act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God. 2. Irreverence toward something considered sacred or inviolable. 3. To speak evil of; slander; abuse." So you must understand the importance of this message. Anything can be forgiven, but blasphemy against Gods Holy Spirit. Do NOT insult, or joke around about the Holy Spirit in a bad way. Do not show contempt, which means to scorn or consider vile or worthless, toward the Holy Spirit. And ALWAYS show reverence toward the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is God s Spirit. And, show respect and reverence toward sacred things. Like God s Word, the Bible, or if you want to get technical, His temple. Which is our bodies. We are God s temple now. When Jesus died on the cross, we became the temple of God. He lives and resides in all of us. Jesus said, Alright, Jesus said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. (John 2:19) What Jesus was saying was He himself, after three days of death, would raise from the dead and make us the temple. He was referring to his death and making us His temple. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit and God. Now, because we are God s temple, we should not pollute our bodies. We should no do things that are bad for us or that defile that. Speaking bad things, doing bad things to our bodies, is the same as doing it to the temple of God. People will say they can t smoke in church because it is God s house. But, he fails to realize that WE are his house. A church is merely a building. We gather there to learn and fellowship with other temples of God. But we ourselves should not smoke or do bad things to our bodies. Also, we should NOT speak evilly or use slander or use His name abusively. Now, we should not let all of this scare us. We should have a reverent fear of God. But not be afraid of him. This is a difficult thing to explain and I will get to that another time. While blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable, nothing else is impossible to forgive. Jesus loves us so much. When he was on the cross and dying, he said this, Jesus said, Father, forgive these people, because they don t know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34) Jesus forgave us even as he was hung on the cross by us. And he forgives us now, as we sin and add to the burden he bore when we put him there. Every time we sin, it is like nailing him back up. But, Jesus loved us so much he did that for us. And he still loves us. And he forgave us for doing what we did and still do, even as we did it and do it now. If that isn t Love, I don t know what is. Here is another verse, (Ephesians 1:7) He(God) is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his son, and our sins are forgiven. Again in (Colossians 1:14) God purchased our freedom with his blood and has forgiven all our sins. God shed his blood, sacrificed his son, to free us and save us from death and hell. Turn to (Colossians 2:13) Here it says, You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sin. Here it explains how God saved us. When Adam betrayed God and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, he lost his glorified body and became spiritually dead. We became cursed and owned by Satan. We were his property. Only living right could we

5 be of God. But, when Jesus came and died, he freed us from that. He bought us with his blood, to take us from Satan and give us a chance at being with Him in heaven. When God rose Jesus from the dead, he also raised us. Giving us life. It is because of that, that we may go to heaven and be with God. But we must accept Jesus into our hearts for that to happen. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you will be saved. After Jesus was raised, God did this, Then God put him(jesus) in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior. He did this to give the people of Israel an opportunity to turn from their sins and turn to God so their sins would be forgiven. (Acts 5:31) God put Jesus at his right hand. A place of honor and authority. You know the saying right hand man? Well, Jesus is Gods right hand man, who takes care of us for God. And, as God put Jesus at his right hand, Jesus put us at his right hand. He sent us to unto the people of the world. (Acts 26:18) to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God s people, who are set apart by faith in me. You see, we God s children, are set apart from the world. We must go and lead as many as possible to Jesus, so they to might be saved and become children of God. We are Jesus body. Jesus is the head, we are the body. We are guided by Jesus the head, and we do what he tells us to. Jesus won t work on earth without us. Because we are his body, he uses us to do His will. He tells us to do something and we do it. Like your head tells your arm to move and it does what the head says to do. It is the same for Jesus and us. He tells his arm, which for example will be the church, to do something, and it does it to be in line with what Jesus said, and what Jesus needed done is done. Correct? That is how God works. He guides and tells us what to do and we do it. Now, there are lots of parts to the Body of Christ. Jesus is the head and we are the body. We make up various parts. While some parts may not seem as important, we all need each other to operate. Sometimes the most small part, is the most important. God tells us this in his word. Now all of you together are Christ s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it. (1 Corinthians 12:27) So you see, that though you may not do much, or may seem to be of little importance, you are a necessary part. So, we must all try and lead as many people as we can. So they too, may be forgiven of their sins. And we all do our part. Some may be larger, but no more important than the ones that don t have large missions and parts. We are all equal in importance to Gods large plan. Now, the process of getting forgiveness is simple. All we have to do is pray, in faith, for forgiveness, repent. Tell God you sinned and know you were wrong, and ask Him to change you. Want to change, ask for His forgiveness in faith. This is what God s Word says, And their prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make them well. And anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. (James 5:15) So he is saying that if we have to ask for forgiveness in faith. And, God will forgive you. However, sometimes, we don t forgive ourselves. God has forgiven our sins, but sometimes afterward, we remember them and feel guilty and repentful, and keep asking for forgiveness for the same thing. When the first time was enough. God will forgive you and forget about it, but we don t. So we often keep asking Him to forgive us and He s like, what are you talking about? So when we ask for forgiveness, it is important that we

6 forgive ourselves too. So that we don t keep repeating our prayer for forgiveness. I am as guilty of this as anyone, having done things I am not to happy about. And have at times repeatedly asked God to forgive me, when He had already done it. Now, with this, we must not forget that God has forgiven us our old life of sin, when we where wanderers and didn t know Him. Often, we will stray and live life the way we shouldn t. We live like we are not worthy of Him and that we have not been forgiven. But, we have been. There is a process to this. To keep us from sinning and to help us grow in God, we must first remember that we have been forgiven.