Sermon Notes 05-24-09

May 17th 2009 “The Forgiveness Giant”
“Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?” Psalms 130:1-3

Joke: We all need forgiveness! The judge glared down from his bench at the prospective juror. "And just why it is," he asked, "that you don't want to serve on this jury?" The man replied, "Well, judge, I'm biased. One look at that man convinced me that he is guilty." The judge scowled and replied, "That man is not the defendant, he's the District Attorney."What’s Inside? [a can without a label] With the Label, you can tell! The label tells you what’s inside!

Why Should I forgive?
1st BECAUSE GOD HAS FORGIVEN ME!

David said: Psalms 130:3 “If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?”
Paul said: Ephesians 4:32 says “Be kind and compassionate to one another, FORGING EACH OTHER, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

You and I need to REMEMBER how much God has forgiven us—then it will cause us to be a little more forgiving to the other person!

Why Should I forgive?
1st BECAUSE GOD HAS FORGIVEN ME!
2nd BECAUSE RESENTMENT KILLS!

A. The “Giant” of Resentments is very destructive! Job had, it seems, a right to be RESENTFUL!
Job was a kind of Donald Trump of his day!
He was a rich man—one of the richest of his day!
He had everything he wanted!
He was famous!

He lost it all in ONE DAY!An enemy came in and killed all his livestock! Job 1:16-17 “While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. 17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.”

All of his children were killed! Job 1:18-19 ”While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: 19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.”He got a terrible disease! Job 2:7 Boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet—he couldn’t stand-up, sit-down or even lie down!His WIFE attacked him—and she nagged him! Job 2:9 ”Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.”Then his friends came by and began to work on him— Job 2:11 “Job, it’s your fault!”

B. Job—if anybody had a right to be RESENTFUL—he did!
Job says—5:2 “To worry your-self to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.”
Resentment—holding a grudge—is a dumb thing to do!

Illustration: I remember an episode of “Amos and Andy”—Amos says, “I’m so tired of Andy always slapping me on the chest—I’m going to put a stick of dynamite under my coat, it my top pocket and the next time Andy slaps me on the chest—that dynamite is going to go off and blow his hand off!”

RESENTMENT—WILL HURT OTHERS—BUT IT HURTS US MORE! Ecclesiastes 7:9 “Its foolish to hold a grudge.”

RESENTMENT will not change the past—no matter how resentful you are, no matter how bitter you are toward that person who hurt you-—your mother, your father, your ex-husband or wife, that person at school, that former friend who betrayed you—all the resentment in the world is not going to change the past!

Why Should I forgive?
3rd BECAUSE IF I DON’T—I WON’T BE FORGIVEN!

Matthew 6:14-15 “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.”

IF YOU ARE A PERSON WHO HAS A HARD TIME FORGIVING—YOU PROBABLY DON’T FEEL FORGIVEN RIGHT NOW!PEOPLE WHO FORGIVE EASILY—USUALLY ARE THOSE WHO HAVE NEEDED FORGIVNESS AND HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN!
If I know what it feels like to need forgiveness—I can readily give it!

FORGIVENESS IS A TWO WAY STREET!
Galatians 6:7-9 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
B. As pastor I’ve heard people say,
“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!”
“YOU DON’T KNOW HOW MY HUSBAD HURT ME!”
“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT MY PARENTS DID TO ME!”
“YOU DON’T KNOW HOW THAT TEACHER IMBASSED ME!”
YOU’RE RIGHT—I DON’T KNOW—BUT GOD DOES!

1. FORGIVENESS—IS NOT:
Minimizing the seriousness of the offense!
It is not saying, “It’s no big deal!”
Forgiveness is not saying, “It didn’t hurt!”
It is not saying, “It was a small thing!”

Illustration: Remember when Bill Cosby’s son was murdered? Can you imagine Bill Cosby getting on the news and saying, “The murder of my son Innes was no big deal!” No! That’s not forgiveness, not at all!2. There is a difference between FORGIVENESS and ACCEPTANCE!
You need to decipher between BEING WOUNDED AND BEING WRONGED!
Wronged is INTENTIONAL! WOUNDS often come ACCIDENTALLY!

Illustration: If you come to my house and drive down my driveway and your brakes fail and you run through my garage door and end up inside my house without a key—THAT WOULD BE AN ACCIDENT!But if you knew your breaks were bad and you looked down my driveway and said, this would sure be a way to see the inside of pastor’s house—now that would be INTENTIONL!
INTENTIONAL HURT NEEDS REPENTANCE—you don’t minimize the wrong—FORGIVENESS IS AN ACT OF YOUR WILL!

FORGIVENESS IS NOT AN INSTANT RESTORATION OF TRUST!
Forgiveness is instant—Trust must be rebuilt over a period of time!

TRUSTWORTHYNESS is an EARNED ITEM!
The Bible says we are to “FORGIVE” Matthew 6:14-15 “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.”

FORGIVENESS IS “NOT” RESUMING THE RELATIONSHIP WITHOUT ANY CHANGES!
Some people think, “If I forgive this abusive spouse, then I have to let them back into the house.” No, not necessarily!
FORGIVENESS means I’m going to let go of the hurt, but then have to do some things in order to rebuild the trust!

Why Should I forgive?
4th BECAUSE YOU CAN’T GET EVEN!

Romans 12:19 says: “Never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for he has said that he will repay those who deserve it.”

Leave the avenging up to God!
Corrie Ten Boom, who years after her concentration camp experiences in Nazi Germany, met face to face one of the most cruel and heartless German guards that she had ever contacted. He had humiliated and degraded her and her sister. He had jeered and visually raped them as they stood in the delousing shower. Now he stood before her with hand out-stretched and said, "Will you forgive me?" She writes, "I stood there with coldness clutching at my heart, but I know that the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. I prayed, Jesus, help me! Woodenly, mechanically I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me and I experienced an incredible thing. The current started in my shoulder, raced down into my arms and sprang into our clutched hands. Then this warm reconciliation seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. I forgive you, brother, I cried with my whole heart. For a long moment we grasped each others hands, the former guard, the former prisoner. I have never known the love of God so intensely as I did in that moment!" To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you.

Jesus said: “Come unto Me, All ye that are heavy burdened!”Jesus is the Son of God!