Only The Forgiving Are Forgiven

2/17/02

 

 

   On a cold winter evening a man suffered a heart attack and after being admitted to the hospital, asked the nurse to call his daughter. He explained, "You see, I live alone and she is the only family I have." The nurse went to phone the daughter. The daughter was quite upset and shouted, "You must not let him die! You see, Dad and I had a terrible argument almost a year ago. I haven't seen him since. All these months I've wanted to go to him for forgiveness. The last thing I said to him was 'I hate you."' The daughter cried and then said, "I'm coming now. I'll be there in thirty minutes."

   The patient went into cardiac arrest, and code 99 was alerted. The nurse prayed, "O God, his daughter is coming. Don't let it end this way." The efforts of the medical team to revive the patient were fruitless. The nurse observed one of the doctors talking to the daughter outside the room. She could see the pathetic hurt in her face. The nurse took the daughter aside and said, "I'm sorry." The daughter responded, "I never hated him, you know. I loved him, And now I want to go see him." The nurse took her to the room, and the daughter went to the bed and buried her face in the sheets as she said good-bye to her deceased father. The nurse, as she tried not to look at this sad good-bye, noticed a scrap of paper on the bed table. She picked it up and read: "My dearest Janie, I forgive you. I pray you will also forgive me. I know that you love me. I love you, too. Daddy."

 

Unforgiveness is death......forgiveness is life.

 

None of us have a chance without God’s complete forgiveness and we cannot receive the forgiveness of Jesus without also forgiving.

 

Mat. 6:9  "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

10  your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

11  Give us today our daily bread.

12  Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'

14  For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15  But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

 

C. S. Lewis well said  “We all agree that forgiveness is a beautiful idea until we have to practice it.”

 

Unforgiveness is a spiritual cancer--it’s terminal!

 

If you are holding unforgiveness in your heart you will never experience the joy of the Lord.

 

If you are holding unforgiveness in your heart you will wonder why God does not answer prayer.

 

If you are holding unforgiveness in your heart your whole character will change.  You will become hard, uncaring, critical and judgmental.

 

Someone wrote: “We read that we ought to forgive our enemies, but we do not read that we ought to forgive our friends." In practice it may be a lot easier to forgive our enemies than it is to forgive our friends. We don't expect much from our enemies. We expect a lot from our friends. When they disappoint us, or betray us, we find it very hard to forgive them.

 

Unforgiveness is very serious.

 

Read Mat. 18:21-35 - Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving debtor.

 

   On February 9, 1960, Adolph Coors III was kidnapped and held for ransom. Seven months later his body was found on a remote hillside. He had been shot to death. Adolph Coors IV, then fifteen years old, lost not only his father but his best friend. For years young Coors hated Joseph Corbett, the man who was sentenced to life for the slaying.

   Then in 1975 Ad Coors became a Christian. While he divested himself of his interest in the family beer business, he could not divest himself of the hatred that consumed him. Resentment seethed within him and blighted his growth in faith. He prayed to God for help because he realized how his hatred for Corbett was alienating him from God and other persons. The day came, however, when, Ad Coors visited the maximum security unit of Colorado's Canon City penitentiary and tried to talk with Corbett. Corbett refused to see him. Coors left a Bible inscribed with this message: I'm here to see you today and I'm sorry that we could not meet. As a Christian I am summoned by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to forgive. I do forgive you, and I ask you to forgive me for the hatred I've held in my heart for you." Later Coors confessed, "I have a love for that man that only Jesus Christ could have put in my heart."

 

Doing an injury puts you below your enemy; revenging one makes you even with him; forgiving it sets you above him.

 

In Mat. 6 when we read about Jesus teaching His disciples about prayer, He emphasized to them the importance of forgiveness in relation to effective prayer.  Then again in Mark chapter 11 Jesus tells his disciples again the importance of forgiveness.

 

Mk. 11:20  In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.

21  Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"

22  "Have faith in God," Jesus answered.

23  "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.

24  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

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."

 

For the welfare of our personal lives, for the welfare of the church, and for the furtherance of the gospel we have to practice forgiveness.  We need to ask for forgiveness and be quick to forgive.

 

Eph. 4:30  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

31  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

32  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

 

Rom. 12:16  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

17  Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.

18  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

19  Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.

20  On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

21  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

Col. 3:12  Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

13  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

14  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 

There are two levels of forgiveness and they both are required by God.

 

First, without question, when someone sins against you and asks for your forgiveness you must forgive them.

 

Second.  When someone sins against you and does not ask for your forgiveness you must still release to the Lord the grudge held against them.

 

Mk. 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."

 

25  (Living Bible) But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive you your sins too."

 

Lk. 23:33  When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals--one on his right, the other on his left.

34  Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

 

Acts 7:59  While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

60  Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

 

Forgiveness is not an emotion, it is a decision of the will.

 

   Years after her concentration camp experiences in Nazi Germany, Corrie ten Boom 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 shower. Now he stood before her with hand outstretched 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 other's 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.

 

·        Do you need to ask anyone for forgiveness?

 

·        Do you need to forgive anyone?

 

·         Do you need to release any grudges held against someone?