The Forgiven - Dr. Frederick K. Price, Sunday 03th March 20224
Transcript
00:00 Just like I shared with us earlier during healing that we are the healed, that's who
00:05 we are.
00:07 We also are the forgiven.
00:11 If you've been purchased with the blood of the Lamb and you have received salvation by
00:20 faith, you are the forgiven.
00:24 That's who we are.
00:26 Well, we spent all of our time in 1 Kings chapter 8 last week looking at the prayer
00:36 of Solomon.
00:38 And if you recall, in Solomon's prayer, forgiveness from heaven or heaven hearing was contingent
00:51 on what man did in the earth.
00:56 In other words, turning from wicked ways, then let heaven hear.
01:01 Forgiving our neighbor or forgiving one of their wrong toward you, then let heaven hear.
01:11 This is the pattern we saw in Solomon's prayer.
01:17 And Solomon prayed this prayer under the old covenant.
01:20 He prayed it under the Mosaic law, and under the Mosaic law or under law, in order for
01:27 God to forgive one, one would first have to forgive their brother or their sister or be
01:39 corrected, become corrected in their wrong or their error first, then heaven hear, then
01:45 God would forgive.
01:48 But the question is, is that how it operates now under grace or does it work a little bit
01:55 differently?
01:57 Well before we answer this question, I want to look at two passages in the gospel accounts
02:05 where Jesus is teaching His disciples on forgiveness.
02:13 And it's interesting what He tells them.
02:15 As a matter of fact, what He tells them shows us that His ministry was a bridge between
02:25 testaments.
02:28 The gospel was that bridge, the earthly ministry of Jesus, the New Testament, new covenant
02:35 message He taught His disciples and taught others was being ministered under the law.
02:47 The law of Moses was still in effect, it was still in operation because again Hebrews 9,
02:51 16 and 17 tells us what?
02:54 That a testament has no power while the testator lives.
03:00 It is not in force while the testator lives.
03:03 It's not in force, it's not in power until after the testator dies.
03:09 So, so you don't have the New Testament in force until Jesus dies.
03:16 Now again, as I've always enjoyed pointing out, the difference between the testator that
03:23 Jesus is and any other testator of any other testament is that He didn't stay dead.
03:32 He got up and could witness His church operating in that New Testament now in operation, in
03:42 power, in force.
03:46 But there's something else that Jesus does during His earthly ministry.
03:50 He would minister to individuals on their level.
03:54 What do I mean by that?
03:57 Well, look at what He says about forgiveness here and let me know if it sounds similar
04:02 to what Solomon prayed in 1 Kings 8.
04:07 Matthew 6, 5 it says, "And when you pray, and when you pray."
04:16 We covered some of this in our productive petition lesson.
04:20 Our focus this time is on forgiveness.
04:24 The reason when you pray, now, now He just got through teaching us about charitable deeds
04:30 in Matthew 6, 1 through 4.
04:34 He says, "Don't, don't, don't do your charitable deeds before men for the purpose of being
04:39 seen by them."
04:43 Don't do good deeds to be seen.
04:50 And then He gets to verse 5, it says, "And by the way, when you pray, you should not
04:56 be like the hypocrites for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners
05:01 of the streets that they may be what?
05:04 Seen by men."
05:05 So just like the charitable deeds, Jesus is saying what?
05:11 Don't let, don't let the reason and the purpose of you praying, don't let that reason be to
05:18 be seen by people and heard by people.
05:24 That's why you're doing it.
05:26 That's your, your motive.
05:27 Now He says, "Surely I say to you, they have their reward."
05:32 He says, "But you, when you pray, go into your room and when you have shut your door,
05:37 pray to the Father who is in the secret place and your Father who sees in secret will reward
05:43 you openly."
05:45 So clearly Jesus is talking about motive.
05:49 He's not saying one can't pray publicly, but why are you praying publicly or why are you
05:54 praying before people?
05:56 It's about the motive.
05:58 Verse 7, and then He says, "And when you pray, do not use vain, empty, useless repetitions
06:05 as the heathen do for they think they'll be heard for their many words."
06:12 We think God hears the wordy prayer, the articulate prayer.
06:18 Clearly that's the one God hears.
06:19 The anointing is on, is on the articulate prayer, the lengthy prayer.
06:26 No.
06:29 They think they'll be heard for their many words.
06:31 No, what's the condition of the heart?
06:34 When you're doing a charitable deed, what's the heart condition?
06:37 When you're praying, what's the heart condition?
06:41 Verse 8, He says, "Therefore don't be like them."
06:43 Now remember, He's teaching His disciples, talking to His disciples under the law.
06:49 The law is still in effect here.
06:54 Don't be like them for your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
07:02 And I've always wondered, God, if you already know what I need of or if you already know
07:07 what I have need of before I ask you, why do I have to ask you?
07:18 God's answer, because I said so.
07:23 There's that part.
07:24 But also why?
07:26 Because of how the kingdom operates.
07:29 Praying and saying and calling for and speaking is essential to the life of the believer as
07:38 we operate in the kingdom of God in this world.
07:42 So verse 9, we have what has been referred to as the Lord's Prayer.
07:51 Now you can't find one centimeter of a Scripture that calls this the Lord's Prayer.
07:59 It has been assumed.
08:02 Now if we're going to make an assumption, as I recently said, I believe I said this
08:09 when I was in Atlanta, if it's going to be called anything, it should be called the Disciples
08:15 Prayer because it was the model, everybody say model.
08:23 Everybody say blueprint.
08:24 It's the model or blueprint He gave His disciples.
08:28 You remember Luke's account where they ask Him, "Jesus, teach us how to pray."
08:31 Jesus says, "Okay, I'll teach you how to pray.
08:33 Here's the first thing you need to know when it comes to prayer and when you pray, say."
08:41 Say.
08:42 Here Matthew records the manner, the manner in which one would pray.
08:50 Look at verse 9, "In this manner, therefore pray."
08:55 Meaning what?
08:56 Pray like this.
09:00 I'm going to highlight some points, Jesus says, that you could cover in prayer.
09:07 Now remember, He's teaching His disciples this.
09:11 And when He's teaching His disciples this, the New Testament isn't in operation yet.
09:16 He hadn't reached Calvary yet.
09:22 So in this day, He says, "In this manner, say," what?
09:26 Our Father in heaven.
09:28 "Hallowed be Your name."
09:31 Sacred is His name.
09:33 Set apart is His name.
09:36 Your kingdom come, Your will be done.
09:41 Your will be done where?
09:44 Don't read the rest yet.
09:45 Your will be done where?
09:47 On earth.
09:49 On earth as what?
09:52 Is it safe to assume Jesus just said that the will of God is done in heaven?
10:00 Let your will be done on the earth as it is in heaven.
10:04 So the will of God is, the will of God is settled in heaven.
10:09 Let it be settled on earth.
10:12 Give us this day our daily bread.
10:15 There's a request.
10:16 There's an ask.
10:18 Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
10:22 A request for forgiveness.
10:25 Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
10:31 For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
10:34 Amen.
10:36 Now there are people today that pray this prayer.
10:39 Anytime it's time to pray.
10:42 They pray this.
10:44 Now why would they do that?
10:47 Because that's what they've been taught.
10:49 They've been taught to pray this.
10:52 Worst case scenario, this is the fallback prayer.
10:56 The problem is, is that the prayer doesn't compute on this side of the cross.
11:04 Why doesn't it?
11:05 Well, let me point out a couple of reasons why it wouldn't compute on this side of the
11:07 cross.
11:08 It would make sense on that side of the cross where the Old Testament was still in force,
11:13 where the law was still in force, where the New Testament and grace had yet to be in operation.
11:20 Here's why.
11:21 For example, look at verse 13, "And do not lead us into temptation."
11:30 That wording is already a little strange because am I asking, if I were to pray this, would
11:40 I be asking God?
11:43 "Don't lead me into temptation like you've led others into temptation."
11:51 Does God lead us into temptation?
11:55 Doesn't his word say, "Yield not to temptation"?
11:59 Again, when you have these English translations, sometimes they just, they just—listen, how
12:04 many of you were here for Rick Renner?
12:07 So if you were here for Rick Renner, then you know some of the problems that the English
12:12 translations have as a result from coming over from Greek.
12:18 Sometimes some things just don't hit the target in translation.
12:24 This probably would sound better if it was, "Do not allow us to be led into temptation."
12:30 And even in that, there's still a little, what am I saying, God might allow—let's
12:37 really think about this.
12:38 But the second part of this verse definitely doesn't compute on this side of the cross
12:42 because it says, "But deliver us from the evil one."
12:47 If I were to pray this right now under the New Testament, I'd be requesting of God to
12:54 be delivered from the devil, implying that I'm not delivered.
13:04 But the same Bible in the New Testament, Colossians 1:13 says, "For he has delivered us from the
13:11 power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear son."
13:15 Saints, you are on this side of Calvary, you are the delivered.
13:21 That's who you are.
13:23 So if I'm delivered, I don't have to pray to God to deliver me from the devil when I'm
13:28 already delivered from the devil.
13:30 What I need to do is thank him for delivering me from the devil.
13:39 This makes sense to pray pre-Calvary.
13:42 It doesn't make sense to pray post-Calvary.
13:46 Are you with me?
13:48 Okay.
13:51 Then this 14th and this 15th verse, listen to what Jesus—watch this—listen to what
14:00 Jesus tells his disciples under the law.
14:06 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."
14:12 Well, that's true.
14:13 That's what Solomon prayed.
14:16 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
14:21 Well, what Jesus said right here is right in line with the law of Moses.
14:28 He didn't say anything different than what the prophets or the patriarchs or the kings
14:34 of Israel said.
14:35 It's no different.
14:36 And it makes sense that he would tell them this during this time specifically.
14:42 What we see in the earthly ministry of Jesus, we see Jesus either ministering to them on
14:50 their level, ministering to them something they have some familiarity with, or we see
14:55 Jesus explaining the kingdom in parables, right, or we see Jesus correctly interpreting
15:03 the false understanding of the law that maybe the Pharisees or the Sadducees had.
15:08 He would deliver proper or correct interpretation and understanding.
15:14 Much of what we see is a New Testament message.
15:17 Proves though that would not be in force until after Calvary.
15:21 We see the same thing in Mark 11.
15:24 Look.
15:26 Mark 11, 25, as well as verse 26.
15:34 What Jesus says here is just like what he said in verse 14 and 15 of Matthew 6.
15:41 Here in Mark 11, 25 and 26, it says, "And whenever you stand praying," now who was he
15:48 talking to?
15:49 He was talking to his disciples.
15:50 We know he was talking to his disciples because you all remember the fig tree?
15:54 Oh, I can't wait till I can, I get to teach you all about the fig tree.
16:00 Right?
16:02 Jesus wanted something to eat.
16:04 Fig tree didn't have anything.
16:05 He said, "Curse you, die."
16:08 No one's eating from you ever again.
16:10 You're done.
16:11 Well, the next day, Jesus says, "Master, the tree you cursed, the tree in which you said,
16:21 'Wither away, let no one eat fruit from you again,' it's dead."
16:28 You can tell that Peter is like, "Oh my goodness.
16:32 You just said something to this tree yesterday and what you said yesterday, we now see it
16:38 in fruition."
16:41 And what does Jesus say?
16:42 He says, "Have faith in God, for surely I say to you, if you speak to this mountain,
16:53 be removed and be cast into the sea, and you don't doubt in your heart, you'll have what
16:57 you say."
16:58 Literally, what was Jesus saying?
17:03 He was modeling the confession of faith for them and saying, "You too can speak to the
17:12 tree or the mountain in your life."
17:16 He then says, "Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe you receive them and you'll
17:20 have them."
17:21 This is what he's teaching his disciples while the Old Testament is still in force.
17:25 And then he says in this verse, "And when you stand praying, if you have anything against
17:32 anyone, forgive him so that your father can do something."
17:36 So that your father can what?
17:38 In heaven may also forgive your trespasses.
17:41 But if you don't forgive, neither will your father in heaven forgive your trespasses.
17:45 What we see in these two verses here in Mark 11 is exactly what he taught in Matthew 6,
17:50 verse 14 and 15, which is right in line with Solomon's prayer in 1 Kings chapter 8.
17:58 In other words, I must forgive you so God can forgive me.
18:06 Watch this.
18:07 That's law forgiveness.
18:09 That's old covenant forgiveness.
18:11 I submit to you under the New Testament, we have something better.
18:17 We have something better.
18:20 Let's keep going.
18:24 Let's take a look at the psalmist.
18:27 How many of you know the psalmist, David specifically, was often very prophetic?
18:39 I believe Peter actually, he refers to him as a prophet or refers to his prophecy over
18:46 in Acts chapter 2.
18:48 And so here's one of the many things that the Spirit of God inspired David to prophesy.
18:56 Because while we're accustomed to certain individuals being prophets, like we know Isaiah
19:02 is a prophet.
19:04 We know Ezekiel is a prophet.
19:07 We know Jeremiah is a prophet.
19:10 But Jesus taught about the blood of the prophets from Abel to Zechariah.
19:17 Oh, Abel was a prophet.
19:21 David was a prophet.
19:23 As a matter of fact, when Moses was commissioned by God to free his people from Egyptian bondage
19:31 and Moses started coming up with excuses as to how he may not be qualified to do this,
19:36 which is the point, none of us are qualified on our own merit.
19:42 He said, I got a bit of a stammering issue.
19:45 He said, no problem.
19:46 Aaron will be your voice.
19:48 He will be your prophet.
19:54 So David was prophetic, I would even say a prophet.
20:01 And here in Psalm 32, look at the 32nd Psalm, verse 1 and 2.
20:11 Now this is David, watch this, this is David saying this under the whole covenant.
20:19 Look at what he's saying here.
20:24 Blessed is he whose what?
20:29 Is what?
20:30 I want to make sure none of us miss this.
20:36 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
20:41 It sounds like David is talking about a blessed man in which this has happened in advance.
20:50 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there
20:58 is no deceit.
21:02 This was prophetic because we're going to now make our way to Romans chapter 4.
21:08 Look here in verse 5 and you'll see Paul quoting David.
21:17 Romans 4, verse 5.
21:25 And mind you, it's Paul who beginning in chapter 3 starts to make the distinction for us between
21:32 law and grace, between salvation or justification according to the law and salvation and justification
21:41 according to grace.
21:45 Remember Romans 3:21 where he says, "But now the righteousness of God apart from the law."
21:52 Meaning what?
21:53 The righteousness of God that can only be acquired by faith, that can only be received
21:59 by faith.
22:01 That's grace righteousness.
22:03 That's grace justification.
22:06 So here in chapter 4, verse 5, Paul says what?
22:09 "But to him who does not work but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith
22:14 is accounted for righteousness."
22:16 Paul brings up David, he's getting ready to bring up Abraham.
22:19 These are individuals who believed God and God did what?
22:23 He accounted it to them for righteousness.
22:26 Verse 6, "Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes
22:31 righteousness," watch this, "apart from works.
22:35 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered.
22:39 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin."
22:42 Paul just quoted David back in Psalm 32 verses 1 through 2, which means what David was speaking
22:48 was something that was prophetic.
22:50 David in the book of Psalms was giving us and his audience of the day, those who would
22:56 be reading and who would be blessed by what the Spirit of God inspired him to write, were
23:01 getting a glimpse of grace forgiveness.
23:07 They were getting a glimpse of grace righteousness.
23:14 Okay?
23:18 Now let's look into what grace forgiveness looks like.
23:25 It looks a little bit like law forgiveness, but you got to pay attention to the wording
23:29 so that you can see the difference.
23:31 Some of you have heard me teach on this before, but it never hurts to read again, because
23:37 faith comes by hearing, not by having heard.
23:43 Peter said, "As long as I'm in this tent, what am I going to do?
23:45 I'm going to stir you up by reminding you."
23:49 Oh, wait a minute.
23:50 If I'm reminding you, you've heard it before.
23:55 Now I'm trying to think of how many times in Scripture, especially the New Testament,
23:59 where I see certain actions that result in us being stirred up.
24:04 Now there's only two I can think of in particular.
24:07 One is where Paul says that he would lay hands on Timothy to stir up the gift in him.
24:15 The only other time I can recall it is when Peter says, "I'm going to stir you up by reminding
24:20 you."
24:21 That means you've heard it before, which tells us that we're supposed to hear the God over
24:24 and over and over again.
24:27 We really—see, God is new and He's the same, which is why you should be okay with hearing
24:35 new stuff and you should be okay with hearing old stuff.
24:42 Look here in Ephesians 4, 32, and let's get this picture.
24:49 Let's look at this picture of grace forgiveness.
24:54 Now remember what we read in Matthew 6, verse 14 and 15.
25:00 Remember what we read in Mark 11, 25, and 26.
25:04 Remember that what Jesus teaches His disciples in that moment and in that context is exactly
25:11 what Solomon prayed in 1 Kings chapter 8.
25:15 Why are the words of Solomon's prayer and the words of Jesus when teaching His disciples
25:20 on forgiveness, why are they in harmony?
25:24 Because it's under the law.
25:26 But what about forgiveness under grace?
25:29 What does that look like?
25:32 Are you in Ephesians?
25:34 In chapter 4, if I didn't tell you yet, Ephesians 4, 5 verse 32, don't read it yet.
25:50 In verse 17 of this same chapter, Paul talks about putting on the new man.
25:57 Lay aside the old man and the deeds of the old man, put on the new man and live according
26:02 to the new man.
26:04 The new man is the born again you.
26:08 Your spirit is new.
26:09 Your spirit has been made new.
26:10 Your flesh is still old.
26:13 One day our flesh will be saved.
26:15 That's called the resurrection.
26:17 But until then, our unsaved flesh and our saved spirit are in constant conflict, constant,
26:25 never ending, never ceasing conflict.
26:30 It's a daily battle.
26:33 Now if we equip ourselves with the right tools, we'll see to it that the spirit part
26:40 of us wins the war.
26:44 But there are many battles and skirmishes between the unsaved flesh and the saved spirit,
26:52 which is why Paul says, "Walk in the spirit so you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh."
27:00 He even tells us in the 19th verse of Galatians 5, he says, "The works of the flesh are evident.
27:04 They are obvious.
27:05 You can't miss them."
27:09 And he has another list here in Ephesians 4, beginning with this 17th verse where he
27:14 talks about, he talks about what it means to live according to your spirit, your recreated
27:22 spirit, to live as the new man.
27:25 And he mentioned some things that you got to put off and you got to put away.
27:30 Paul is notorious for this.
27:31 He really does it in Colossians chapter 3.
27:33 That's the scripture that we'll look at next, where he talks about put off and then put
27:37 on.
27:41 So we get to the end of this chapter here in Ephesians 4 and we see what grace forgiveness
27:47 looks like.
27:48 Again, what did Jesus teach his disciples under the law?
27:52 He taught them what they were familiar with, that in order for my Father in heaven to forgive
27:59 me of my trespasses, I must first forgive of trespasses.
28:04 Oh, but look at this, Ephesians 4, 32.
28:10 Here's the latter part of all the things Paul tells us we should be doing.
28:16 And he says what?
28:17 Again, be kind to one another.
28:21 Put a pin there.
28:23 What's so hard about this?
28:26 Why is this such a challenge?
28:28 I know why it's a challenge for unbelievers.
28:31 That's their filthy nature.
28:35 And you would even think, I mean, it really, it doesn't take a lot of effort to be kind.
28:44 I don't know why every driver on the road is in a hurry all the time, as if it's the
28:54 end of the world to let me over.
28:58 What is so challenging about that?
29:02 Why do so many drivers not allow you to get over, push the gas just to then push the brake?
29:15 Because the light's red.
29:16 It's right there.
29:17 See all the brake lights right here?
29:20 You went nowhere fast.
29:27 Why is it so hard at the airport to let the person near you get one of the crates to put
29:37 their belongings in to go through?
29:41 You just got to get them all first.
29:45 Everybody's in a rush.
29:46 Got to get, I got to be first.
29:47 I got to get there first.
29:48 I kid you not, I've done it in the airport where I've allowed someone to go before me
29:52 and they've looked at me like I was from another world.
29:56 Why?
29:57 Because they're not used to kindness.
29:58 They're not used to people being kind.
30:01 It's that thank you where they're like, thank you.
30:09 So for believers, it should not be difficult to simply be kind to one another.
30:17 That's a fruit of your born again spirit.
30:21 Be kind to one another.
30:23 Be tender hearted.
30:27 Yeah, men, we can be tender hearted.
30:33 That's not a blow to our masculinity to be tender hearted.
30:38 It's biblical.
30:42 What does it say next?
30:45 Forgiving one another.
30:48 You know what?
30:49 Let me start, let me start this scripture over.
30:50 Let me start this scripture over.
30:51 Here we go.
30:53 And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another so God can forgive you.
30:58 Right?
30:59 That's what it says, right?
31:02 Let me try again.
31:03 And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another so that God in Christ
31:09 will forgive you.
31:11 That's not what it says?
31:12 That's not what it says?
31:15 I'm not reading this correctly?
31:17 Let me try again.
31:20 And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ
31:27 forgave you.
31:33 Mr. Apostle Paul here, sir, that sounds a little bit different than what Solomon prayed.
31:42 Solomon was praying that we would write ourselves on this plane so that heaven would then hear
31:50 and God would then forgive.
31:53 But that's not what I see here under the New Testament.
31:57 I'm seeing some, these words are slightly different than what Jesus taught his disciples
32:03 in Mark 11 and Mark 6, which lets us know what he was teaching them.
32:07 Because we know that Paul would not be in opposition to what the master teacher would
32:11 teach.
32:13 So that tells us, oh, all Jesus was doing was sharing with disciples who lived under
32:20 the old covenant, old covenant forgiveness.
32:24 And how, again, does old covenant forgiveness work?
32:27 I need to forgive you so God can forgive me.
32:29 But that's not what Paul said.
32:31 Paul said, "I'm going to forgive you because God already forgave me."
32:34 He did it through Christ.
32:38 This is why this message is called the forgiven, because the moment you step into Jesus, you
32:44 step into forgiveness.
32:49 As much as you are the saved, the healed, the delivered, the set free, you are the forgiven.
32:58 Let me read it again.
32:59 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.
33:03 Why am I forgiving you?
33:05 How dare Fred not forgive you when God through Christ forgave me?
33:17 I wasn't owed forgiveness.
33:21 It's because of the grace of God.
33:27 How dare I sit at the table of the Lord harboring unforgiveness in my heart?
33:32 I haven't forgiven others.
33:35 I haven't forgiven me.
33:36 How dare me?
33:41 When God's already forgiven me in Jesus.
33:43 When I said yes to Jesus, I said yes to forgiveness.
33:46 Oh, look at what he says in Colossians.
33:50 Look at Colossians chapter three.
33:55 Look at verse 13.
33:59 Now here Paul's doing the same thing.
34:01 Paul, he starts off in verse six.
34:03 First, no, actually he starts off at the beginning of the chapter.
34:05 He says, "Set your mind on things above."
34:10 Set your mind on heavenly things.
34:13 Set your mind on godly things, not on earthly things.
34:16 It doesn't mean we don't engage with earthly things, but where is our mindset?
34:22 Our mind is set on things above.
34:25 He talks about this mindset on things above, and then he says, "Put to death your members."
34:31 That's what he says in verse six.
34:33 He tells us, "Put to death your members," but he doesn't list members.
34:37 He lists what the members can do.
34:42 And he talks about sexual immorality and malice and a number of things.
34:46 And then he gets to verse eight, and he says, "And then on top of that, put off all of these."
34:51 Put them off.
34:53 Put off anger.
34:56 Put off wrath, the anger that leads to wrath.
34:59 It's okay to be angry just as long as you sin not.
35:03 You can be righteously indignant, but don't let the sun go down on your wrath, because
35:11 that's going to lead to murder.
35:17 He says, "Put off all that.
35:18 Put off filthy language."
35:20 Y'all know what filthy language is?
35:23 Put it off.
35:26 I know sometimes you want to put it on.
35:32 My mama probably wouldn't want to hear this, but I want to put on filthy language daily.
35:39 I want to drive points home with filthy language.
35:42 Actually, in those contexts, I don't even consider it to be filthy.
35:46 I consider it to be strong.
35:48 See, filthy language, you just got a foul mouth.
35:51 There's no reason or cause for profanity, and you're just letting them come out of your
35:54 mouth.
35:55 But sometimes my flesh says, "The annoyance that you're experiencing right now requires
36:03 a very strong adjective."
36:10 But even in that, I got to stab this flesh.
36:16 I got to maim it.
36:18 I got to arrest my tongue.
36:20 Yeah, he says, "Put off anger, wrath, malice, filthy language."
36:26 Then he starts to get to the stuff you need to put on.
36:29 He talks about putting on tender mercies, putting on kindness.
36:33 Then actually he gets to verse 14, and he says, "But above all, put on love."
36:39 That's the easiest thing for us to do.
36:41 If you would just put on love, you would automatically put on everything else he said to put on and
36:48 put off everything else he said to put off, if you just put love on.
36:51 That's verse 14.
36:52 But we get to verse 13.
36:53 Look at what it says.
36:54 It says, "Bearing with one another."
36:57 That's patience.
36:58 Come on, saints.
37:00 Where's your patience at?
37:04 Bearing with one another and forgiving one another.
37:07 Now I want to make sure that I'm reading this right, so you all correct me if I happen to
37:10 read this incorrectly.
37:13 Verse 13 again, Colossians 3, "Bearing with one another and forgiving one another.
37:18 If anyone has a complaint against another, even so Christ will forgive you, so you also
37:25 must do."
37:26 No?
37:27 Again, I botched this one up too?
37:31 Oh, is it the same word we read in Ephesians 4:32?
37:36 Forgave?
37:38 Already done.
37:39 Oh, okay.
37:40 Let me try this again.
37:42 Bearing with one another, forgiving one another.
37:44 If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must
37:53 do.
37:59 So anytime someone asks you, "Why are you forgiving them?"
38:01 The answer is simple, because Christ forgave me.
38:08 Because we felt like we didn't deserve someone's forgiveness, but they chose to operate in
38:13 grace and love.
38:16 Because Christ forgave me.
38:19 I'm not forgiving you so I can be forgiven.
38:22 I'm forgiving you because I am forgiven.
38:28 And John will drive this home for us.
38:32 Look at John chapter 2, find verse 12.
38:47 Are you there?
38:48 All right.
38:49 What does John say here?
38:52 He says, "I write to you," who?
38:55 Stop right there.
38:56 Who is he talking to?
38:57 Talking to us.
39:00 I'm a little children.
39:03 You're a little children.
39:06 We're children of God.
39:08 And John was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and a father in the faith.
39:13 So he says what?
39:14 "I write to you, little children."
39:16 This is how we know he's not writing to the world.
39:18 He's not talking about sinners.
39:21 Sinners aren't—I can't believe in 2024 secular folks still like saying we're all God's children.
39:27 No, y'all ain't.
39:28 No, you're not.
39:29 No.
39:30 "To them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe."
39:39 You want to be a child of God?
39:41 You got to believe.
39:42 Believe on who?
39:43 Believe on Jesus.
39:44 If you're not believing on Jesus, you don't be no child of God.
39:47 You might be a child of the earth.
39:51 You might be a creation of God, but you're not a child of God.
39:57 You got to be born again to be a child of God.
40:00 So John is writing to children of God.
40:01 And he says what?
40:02 He says, "My little children, I write to you."
40:08 Why?
40:09 Because your sins are going to be forgiven.
40:14 No?
40:16 Not going to be?
40:17 "I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for my name, his
40:25 namesake."
40:28 Did John just call me the forgiven?
40:30 Did he just call you the forgiven?
40:33 He said, "I write to you because you're…
40:35 I don't write to you so your sins will be forgiven.
40:39 I don't write to you to tell you how you can get your sins forgiven.
40:42 I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven."
40:48 That alone should be enough.
40:49 I don't care what somebody did to you.
40:52 See, we always got to put things in perspective.
40:56 Now I'm not talking about dropping your guard or using wisdom.
41:01 And with some people, you might have to give them an allotment of time before you let them
41:11 back into your space.
41:12 Matter of fact, you got to protect your space.
41:14 We know space being protected is important.
41:17 Jesus protected his space.
41:19 You all remember Jairus and the ruler of the synagogue whose daughter…
41:24 When Jairus came to Jesus, he said, "My daughter is near death.
41:29 Come with me so you can heal her."
41:31 Well, as he's making his way to the house of Jairus, here comes the woman with the issue
41:34 of blood.
41:35 So, we spend a little time on her.
41:38 She gets healed.
41:41 She gets delivered.
41:42 By the time Jesus makes it to the house of Jairus, his daughter is what?
41:46 Dead.
41:48 Jesus put everybody out and took in who he knew he could trust.
41:57 Peter, come on, as fickle as you are, get in here.
42:04 But he put the rest out.
42:06 So he protected his space.
42:10 So there's nothing wrong with protecting your space.
42:12 But there is something wrong with harboring unforgiveness.
42:19 Here's the perspective.
42:22 What mess have you done?
42:28 And I'm not really talking about the mess you did to someone or the mess someone saw.
42:34 I'm talking about all that mess only you know about.
42:37 Did God forgive you for all that mess?
42:43 All that muck and that mire?
42:46 That alone should be enough for us to walk in forgiveness towards one another, being
42:52 that we're walking in divine forgiveness because of Jesus.
42:57 I write to you, little children, why?
42:59 Because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
43:01 Okay, that's three verses.
43:03 That's out of the mouth of three.
43:06 Paul to the Ephesians, Paul to the Colossians, John to the church.
43:13 As Christ forgave you, as God in Christ forgave you, I write to you because your sins are
43:20 forgiven you.
43:22 I am the forgiven.
43:24 Well, how am I supposed to carry myself?
43:28 Look in 2 Corinthians.
43:32 Go to chapter 2 and find verse 3.
43:36 Have you ever heard people say things like, "Forgiveness isn't for them, it's for you?"
43:46 That is true in part.
43:48 That's not the whole of it.
43:53 There's more to it.
44:01 Have you ever heard of unforgiveness as a clogger of blessings or blocker of—more
44:13 like a hinderer from you experiencing the blessing you're already in?
44:22 This is why Paul—and this is why I pray it all the time—Paul in Romans chapter 15
44:28 or chapter 16 talks about the fullness of the blessing.
44:34 The moment we're born again, we're blessed, but we may not be experiencing the fullness
44:39 of the blessing because of certain things we're doing or still doing or—I'm hurting
44:46 me.
44:48 I'm hindering me.
44:51 I'm seeing some goodness, but I'm not seeing goodness in its fullness.
44:56 And so, forgiveness or the lack thereof, unforgiveness, can be a strong hinder.
45:07 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 3, are you there?
45:12 Look at this.
45:13 It says, "And I wrote this very thing to," who?
45:16 To you now, of course, "to you, church of Corinth, but also those called to be saints."
45:25 I wrote this very thing to you, lest when I come or when I came, I should have sorrow
45:31 over those from whom I ought to have joy.
45:36 Well, that's major right there.
45:44 I wrote this very thing to you, lest when I came, I should have sorrow over those whom
45:48 I should be having—I should be experiencing joy over and joy for.
45:53 Having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all.
45:57 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote to you with many tears, not
46:03 that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for
46:08 you.
46:11 But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent,
46:19 not to be too severe.
46:20 That's okay, Paul, go ahead and be severe.
46:26 Look what he says, "If anyone has caused grief, he hasn't grieved me, but all of you to some
46:35 extent."
46:39 Verse six, "This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man,
46:45 so that on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such
46:52 a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow."
46:55 Oh, so forgiveness isn't just about me, it's about him too.
47:06 Verse eight, "Therefore, I urge you to reaffirm your love to him."
47:12 This is an overt action.
47:16 This is going out of your way to do.
47:20 I'm going out of my way to say I love you, to say, "Hey, hi, how you doing?
47:26 How's your day?
47:27 How's the family?"
47:30 Verse nine, "For to this end, I also wrote that I might put you to the test whether you
47:34 are obedient in all things.
47:36 Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive.
47:40 For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the
47:46 presence of Christ.
47:50 Lest Satan should," what?
47:52 Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.
47:55 Now we've read this verse standalone, but now we see why Paul said, "Lest Satan should
48:01 take advantage of you."
48:02 It had to do with forgiveness.
48:06 You mean to tell me the unforgiveness that I harbor in my heart will allow Satan to take
48:12 advantage of me?
48:17 Sounds to me like unforgiveness is satanic.
48:24 For we are not what?
48:26 Ignorant.
48:28 So he has devices.
48:32 Devices simply translates into schemes and strategies.
48:38 We're not ignorant of, we know how he works.
48:43 And since we know how he works, it's worse when we allow him to work what we know he
48:54 works.
49:00 We know how the devil operates and we'll still allow ourselves to be caught up in his
49:08 devices.
49:12 This was about forgiveness.
49:14 I mean, look at what he says here.
49:16 You know, Paul representation of a church father like John.
49:24 Now he didn't write this so that the Catholic church could create priests to absolve people
49:29 of sins.
49:30 That's not what this is.
49:33 When he says, "Here I have forgiven that one for your sakes."
49:36 There's only one mediator between God and man, that's Jesus.
49:41 I don't have to go through clergy or I don't have to go through the collar to get my forgiveness.
49:48 I can go straight to God by way of Jesus.
49:56 But Paul was speaking in a substitutionary context, very similar to Jesus.
50:02 And he says again, "Let Satan should," what?
50:05 "Take advantage of us."
50:06 This had to do with forgiveness.
50:09 How about Luke 6:38?
50:11 Anyone know that scripture?
50:18 Luke 6:38?
50:19 What does it say?
50:23 "And it shall be or will be given to you," good measure, I like how that sounds.
50:30 Press down, press down.
50:32 That sounds like I'm making more room.
50:36 Shaking together, running over, I like that.
50:39 "Will be put into your bosom, but with the same measure you use, it will be measured
50:45 back to you."
50:46 The traditional says, "Shall men give into your bosom?"
50:50 I like how that sounds.
50:51 "But with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you."
50:56 But did we read verse 37?
51:01 Did we read verse 37?
51:03 Now what this has to do, this has to do, this is not, this is not do this or don't do this
51:12 so God can do this or not do this.
51:15 That's not what Jesus is teaching here.
51:17 Jesus is teaching about a law that God already put in the earth.
51:23 The law is here, you and I choose to cooperate with it.
51:27 As a matter of fact, we may be cooperating with it and not even realizing we're cooperating
51:32 with it.
51:34 Oh yeah, give, and we've commonly heard this in the context of the offering, right?
51:43 Give money and money shall be given to you.
51:48 And there's truth to that because Paul said, "Whatever one sows, so shall that one reap."
51:52 But look at verse 37, "Judge not and you shall not be judged."
51:58 Which means we can read it this way, "Judge and you'll be judged."
52:05 This is not talking about judge not so God won't judge you.
52:11 This is talking about cooperating with the law that's already here.
52:15 This is man's responsibility.
52:17 Remember "shall men give into your."
52:21 Judge not and what?
52:23 You won't be judged.
52:26 Condemn not, you won't be condemned, which means if you do condemn, you'll be condemned.
52:33 And if you're wondering why everybody's judging you and everybody's condemning you, is it
52:38 possible that you're the first up to judge and condemn others?
52:44 Why is everybody judging me?
52:48 Because you judge everybody.
52:54 Just go in a corner and judge you.
52:56 Go in a closet, turn the lights off, close the door and just judge you.
53:04 Well look at the rest of this scripture, "Forgive and what?
53:07 You'll be forgiven."
53:08 Which means forgive not and you won't be forgiven.
53:11 This is not talking about what we read in Ephesians 4 and Colossians 3 and 1 John 2.
53:16 This is talking about with men.
53:19 Now this is the worst place we can find ourselves.
53:23 Here I am, a born again believer, filled with the Holy Spirit, having entered into divine
53:31 forgiveness.
53:32 I'm already forgiven and I have the nerve to not forgive you.
53:39 Then wonder why later on in life no one's forgiven me.
53:45 This is talking about, "Shall men give into your bosom?"
53:52 So not just money, judgment, condemnation and forgiveness as well.
53:59 How awful is that?
54:00 To be forgiven by God and to walk in unforgiveness with my fellow man, my neighbor, my brother.
54:11 And then when I'm in need of forgiveness, I can't find it anywhere.
54:17 Because instead of forgiving, all I did was judge and condemn.
54:22 That's why it reads, "Judge not, condemn not," but then it reads, "Forgive."
54:27 How come he didn't keep it all not?
54:30 Oh no.
54:34 A good portion of people that don't like to forgive are people that like to judge and
54:38 condemn.
54:39 And how dare we judge, how dare we condemn and how dare we not forgive?
54:48 Who do we think we are?
54:51 I guess we'll have to find out next time.
54:59 Hallelujah.
55:02 Thank you Father for your Word, it's life, it's truth.
55:05 It will not and cannot return to you empty, vain, futile, useless.
55:10 (water sloshing)