Carl wrote:
>
> In the following sermon Mike Wilkins preaches upon the topic of
Christian
> forgiveness.
>
> May God bless,
> Carl
> my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
> my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
>
> ---
>
> Forgiveness
Can Atheists forgive on another ?
> by Mike Wilkins
>
> Matthew 6:14-15
> For if you forgive others their tresp*****, your heavenly Father will
also
> forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father
> forgive your tresp*****.
>
> I recently saw a news item that was a follow up on a shooting that had
> happened a year before. An innocent woman was shot in the cross fire
between
> two men. She become paralyzed by the injury. The item was about the huge
> change in her life since the shooting. The thing that struck me most was
her
> statement: "I haven't forgiven them yet, but I know I have to, because
if I
> don't God won't forgive me."
>
> I could see the pain that she was in, I could see the life that she had
> lost, and I wanted to say, "No, God loves for who you are, you been
greatly
> damaged, it's all right!" But she knew the truth, beyond the emotion of
> seeing a terrible crime like this, the truth is, that unless we forgive
> those who haves harmed us, who have sinned against us, God will not
forgive
> us.
>
> She had two things true.
>
> 1) We must forgive to be forgiven.
>
> Jesus says it in a number of places:
> in Matthew 7:2
> For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with
the
> measure you use, it will be measured to you.
>
> in Matthew 18:35
> ``This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you
forgive
> your brother from your heart.''(to be handed over to the torturers)
>
> in Mark 11:25
> And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive
> him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.''
>
> Paul says it in Colossians 3:13
> Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have
against
> one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
>
> James says it in James 2:13
> because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been
> merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
>
> It covers the New Testament. If we do not forgive those who harm us, God
> will not forgive us!
>
> What is forgiveness?
>
> Some people who have troubles with forgiveness think that forgiveness
does
> not take the harm of sin seriously. But forgiveness does take it very
> seriously. Forgiveness does not excuse sin, it does not say "O that's
> alright, your sin really wasn't a bother, my stay in the hospital wasn't
> that long, and I was able to catch up on my reading!" No forgiveness
calls
> sin, sin, and in many ways it holds the sinner accountable for their
> actions. Forgiveness says, "you hurt me, and what you did was wrong, but
I
> will not hold it against you, I will not try to get back at you and I
will
> not hate you for it."
>
> Forgiveness also initiates the process. You have most likely heard
someone
> say, Or maybe you have said yourself "Ill forgive them when they come
and
> say they are sorry." This is not God's way God says "I forgive you, now
will
> you accept it by confessing and repenting?" If we wait for a confession
to
> forgive, most often we will be waiting a long time.
>
> In his book "What's so Amazing About Grace," Philip Yancey tells a story
> about a man and wife who one night had an argument about how supper was
> cooked, it was so heated that night they slept in separate rooms.
Neither
> has approached the other to say I'm sorry or to offer forgiveness, and
they
> have remained in separate rooms years after the argument, each night
they go
> yo bed hoping that the other will approach them with and apology or
> forgiveness, but neither goes to the other. God's forgiveness does not
wait
> for repentance, it initiates and calls out repentance by offering
> forgiveness.
>
> This is why some people have great difficulty forgiving people. Either
they
> hate confrontation and don't want to confront someone with their sin, so
> instead they stew in their unforgiveness and hate not wanting to do the
hard
> work of forgiveness.
>
> Other times the seriousness of forgiveness shows up the pettiness of our
> grudges. When I was in university, I was talking with a friend and I was
> trying to decide wether or not to get my hair cut short, or let it grow
> long. After letting me natter on for awhile, he coyly said "Why don't we
> pray about it" He was joking of course, but it was his way of saying
that if
> it doesn't warrant prayer, then it really isn't that im****tant of a
decision
> is it?. Some wrongs against us aren't serious enough to warrant
forgiveness.
> Some behavior needs to be excused rather than forgiven. Accidents,
mistakes,
> minor lapses in judgement, misunderstandings seldom need forgiveness,
> usually the just need to be excused. I know two elderly sisters who were
in
> a car accident 20 years ago. Each blamed the other for the accident. The
one
> driving said her sister was distracting her, and the sister said she was
> driving badly. Both of them should have said "these things happen" and
got
> on with life, but instead of excusing each other, they have not spoken
in 20
> years!
>
> Works religion?
>
> You might say to me, "but isn't God's grace and forgiveness free? Aren't
you
> asking us to earn our salvation by forgiving those who harm us?
>
> The answer is, yes, God's grace is free, but it is not cheap. When God's
> grace comes into our lives, it does not leave us as we were, it changes
us.
> And one of the first changes that it make is to give us the power to
> forgive. By forgiving others we are proving that we have accepted God's
> forgiveness, and are living in it! If we refuse to forgive those who
harm us
> we are showing that we have not really accepted God's grace, and thus it
is
> removed from us.
>
> 2) Forgiveness is hard
>
> The other truth that The woman on the news knew was that forgiveness is
> hard. This woman was an athletic, vibrant young woman before the bullet
> paralyzed her and changed her life forever. How could she forgive that?
>
> It is not easy to give up our right to be hurt, to be angry to get back,
to
> hate the other for what they have done. You may have had terrible things
> done to you by someone you loved and trusted, and they hurt you and
broke
> your trust. You may have lost a great deal because of someone's actions.
>
> The Bible tells us the story of Joseph whose ten brothers first planned
to
> kill him, and them because they lacked the fortitude to do that they
sold
> him as a slave to traders who sold him to an Egyptian. Joseph went from
> slavery to prison, and then to a place in Pharaoh's court, and finally
to
> being in charge of all Egypt second only to Pharaoh himself. When famine
> drives his brothers to Egypt Joseph has his enemies in the palm of his
hand.
> He plays with them for awhile, to see if they are still evil, but they
are
> really more pathetic than evil, and just before he reveals himself to
them
> to forgive them, we are told that he wept so loudly that the whole
palace
> heard it. We are not told why he wept, but I imagine it was because what
he
> was about to do was hard, and painful. By society's standards he had the
> right and the power to kill them, but instead he embraces them, but it
is
> not easy, it is hard.
>
> It is not easy to forgive, but God in his grace gives us the power to do
it.
>
> We are able to forgive because God is in charge.
>
> Joseph says to his brothers: "You intended to harm me, but God intended
it
> for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many
lives."
> (Genesis 50:20 NIV)
>
> We are also able to forgive because God take even the things that were
meant
> to hurt us, and he uses them for good if we let him.
>
> And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love
him,
> who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV)
>
> We are able to forgive in the light of God's forgiveness.
>
> Jesus lets us know that if we refuse to forgive, then we really haven't
> grasped our great need for forgiveness, or how much God has forgiven us,
and
> thus in our pride, we have not truly repented, and God will not forgive
us.
> But when we have our eyes on the cross, and the pain and suffering that
> Jesus went through in order to forgive us and cleanse us from our sin,
is
> can appear pretty minor to forgive those who harm us.
>
> Forgiveness is an act of faith - Yancy, "What's So Amazing About Grace?"
> p.93 "At last I understood: in the final analysis, forgiveness is an act
of
> faith. By forgiving another, I am trusting that God is a better
> justice-maker than I am. By forgiving, I release my own right to get
even
> and leave all issues of fairness for God to work out. I leave in God's
hands
> the scales that must balance justice and mercy.
>
> Just like tithing is an act of faith by which we are saying"I might not
be
> able to afford this, but God looks after my needs." Forgiveness is an
act of
> faith, because we are saying, "if there is any punishment that is
needed, or
> any giving of mercy, God will look after it just fine."
>
> Paul says in Romans 12:19-21 "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but
leave
> room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will
> repay, says the Lord." No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if
they
> are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will
heap
> burning coals on their heads." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil
> with good."
>
> Conclusion
> We must forgive those who have hurt us. because God commands it, because
our
> own forgiveness hinges on it, but also because it is the best thing for
us.
> When we refuse to forgive the bitterness grows like a cancer with in us
and
> it eats away at us, causing stress and illness and great lack of joy.
The
> only therapy for this cancer is the surgery of forgiveness.
>
> When we refuse to forgive, we allow the sin that was committed against
us to
> hurt us twice: once when we were first sinned against, and again by
keeping
> us from receiving God's forgiveness. We need to stop the pain and
forgive.
>
> Is there someone who you need to forgive? Is there someone who you
haven't
> talked to in a long time because of what they did? Is there some one who
you
> refuse to trust because of what they did? Is there someone who you avoid
> like the plague, you won't sit beside, someone for whom you just feel
like
> spitting? Is there someone whom you are waiting for a confession from
before
> you offer forgiveness? You must forgive them. Your own forgiveness
relies on
> it.
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