Adrian Rogers: Freedom of Forgiveness #2422

welcome to love worth fun with pastor teacher and author Adrian Rogers reaching out with God's love bringing people to Christ touching lives around the world and helping you find the answers you need today join us as we prepare to open God's Word and discover how your life can be changed forever by his great love worth finding find in your Bibles Ephesians chapter 4 if you will and in just a moment we're going to look at verses 31 and 32 there are two problems that do great psychological emotional and spiritual damage to anyone and perhaps to you one is guilt and the other is bitterness guilt imprisons us bitterness poisons us forgiveness is the answer both to bitterness and to guilt guilt is the result of something we have done wrong bitterness is our reaction to someone else is wrong or our perception that someone else has wronged us they both have us in a prison and it is forgiveness Alleluia that sets the prisoner free from guilt or from bitterness God's forgiveness of us sets us free from the prison of guilt and our forgiveness of others sets us free from the prison of bitterness look at it here in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 31 be at it okay let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be ye kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you now look at me and let me tell you something when you forgive another truly forgive from your heart you said to prisoners free one of them is you when you forgive another truly forgive from your heart you said to people free one the person that you have forgiven the other is your self now to forgive actually means to pay a debt there are no bargain pardons that's the reason our Lord told us to pray there in the model pray and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors sin is a debt that we owe we have sinned against heaven against the kingdom we have been sued for damages and it's a debt we cannot pay but God and mercy and in love has forgiven us and paid that debt you see there no part there no free partners when somebody is forgiven somebody else has paid for example if mark owes me $1,000 don't forget if mark owes me $1,000 and I say and Mark says pastor I can't pay and I say all right mark I forgive you the moment I say that it costs me $1,000 you see to forgive is to actually pay the debt the word forgive literally comes from a word that means to bear the burden when our Lord forgives us does he pay a price put in your margin Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 7 the Bible says in whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sin in whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of His grace out of the riches of His grace he paid the debt himself and therefore canceled that debt that's the reason we call salvation grace grac II God's riches at Christ's expense now when you came to our Lord and you said Lord I'm a sinner I need to be saved Jesus died to save me paid for my sin with his blood on the cross forgive me save me God does and you're forgiven of your sin you're placed into the family of God but you're not done with forgiveness then from their own you have to begin to forgive others you receive mercy you show mercy and Jesus told us to pray forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are our debtors forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us now once you're in the family once you say once you're born again you must learn to practice forgiveness to all others because if you don't you're going to dam up the stream of God's mercy I cannot emphasize enough the importance of forgiveness first forgiveness when you get saved put you in the family of God but then if you fail to forgive others over some matter then that differend destroys family fellowship so three things I want us to notice today I pray God he'll write them upon your heart get out a piece of paper and a pen and I want you to write down first of all what I'm going to call the compelling reasons for forgiveness why should you forgive let me give you some factors the very first factor I want to give is what I'm going to call the grace factor now look at the scripture again and be kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you now why should I forgive you if you sin against me because God has forgiven me when I sinned against him even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you God has willingly lovingly freely forgiven us we call that grace I read about a young employee in a business that man in a growing business under temptations misappropriated several hundred dollars it was found out he was summoned to the manager's office he knew this was most likely the end of his job as he went up the stairs he had a very heavy heart he walked into that executives office the man looked at him face to face and said is it true that you have done dust and such the man bowed his head and said yes it is true I am guilty the man behind the desk said and ask you a question if I were to forgive you and keep you in the position that you're in could I trust you in the future to be absolutely honest the man said sir if you would forgive me and give me another chance I'll be the best employee you ever had the man behind the desk said sir you were forgiven but before you go I want you to know you're not the first man in this company that made such a mistake years ago as a young employee I did almost exactly the same thing that you did and I was forgiven and the mercy that was shown to me I'm showing to you and may God have mercy upon us both that's the spirit of this verse of scripture be kind tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you Sam Jones was a great evangelist of yesteryear he said something I like he set up he said I made up my mind I'm never going to fall out with anybody until they treat me worse than I treated Jesus Christ amen be kind tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us you see we forgive because we've been forgiven I got a letter brother mark some time ago but I've saved it because it's a treasure letter written from a woman in Baptist Hospital she said Pastor Rogers I'm writing you because I don't know who to write I'm from Rome Georgia I'm over here by myself I needed surgery I needed some extra blood she said two young men from your church came over here and donated blood for me they didn't know me and I don't know them I don't even know their name but said I want to tell you the note they left to me and here's what the note was we gave our blood for you because Jesus gave his blood for us and they're beautiful she said I don't know even know who to think I don't know who these young men are because they did not leave their name we gave our blood for you because Jesus gave his blood for us friend we forgive others because he has first forgiven us one of the reasons that you and I need to forgive is the grace factor second reason not only the grace factor but the guilt factor now notice what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6 verses 14 and 15 for if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses now you think about that the person who refuses to forgive destroys the bridge over which he must travel an unforgiving spirit is unforgivable forgiving and being forgiven go together the only person who can afford not to forgive is the person who will never need forgiveness notice the prayer father forgive us as we forgive those now friend if you don't intend to forgive that person who's wronged you that's a very foolish and even a stupid prayer for you to pray father you treat me like I'm treating them father forgive me as in the same manner I forgive others now you think about what you pray you say well I'm not going to forgive the other person in father don't forgive me well I'll forgive her but I'll never have any more to do with her God says okay I'll forgive you never have any more to do with you you see what what you're asking father forgive us as in the same manner that we forgive those who sin against us may I tell you friend listen carefully an unforgiving spirit is not merely you're missing a blessing it is a wicked vile gross sin in the same category of stealing or blasphemy why because what is God God's nature brother Jim is the nature to forgive that is the nature of God not we glad that he is a forgiving God we're so glad that well then if you don't forgive you're not like God and if you're not like God what is that ungodliness and unforgiving spirit is ungodly it is ungodly it is a terrible thing Jesus Illustrated this with a story take your Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter 18 Jesus speaking about forgiveness illustrates it this way he gave a parable Matthew 18 beginning in verse 23 therefore is the Kingdom of Heaven likened unto a certain King which would take account of his service and when he had begun to reckon one was brought unto Him which owed him ten thousand talents and I just underscore that ten thousand Taunus here's a man taking inventory here's a man who's having an audit done and it finds out that a man owes the King ten thousand talents but for as much as he had not to pay his LORD commanded him to be sold and its wife and children and all that he had and payment be made that is he's be put in debtors prison the servant therefore fell down and worshiped him saying lord have patience with me and I will pay thee all that we're going to see that was a vain boast because of no way he could have done it then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt loosed him means that he set him free now don't miss what Jesus is saying in this parable if you're not careful you're gonna miss it when he said ten thousand talents he is talking about an enormous debt a talent was the largest measure of money known in the Roman world the research that I did said that would be equal to the wages for ten thousand men for 17 years in today's dollars it would be billions of dollars billions of dollars when Solomon built the temple the wonderful temple that he built there and overlaid it with gold the Bible says there were eight thousand talents of gold that magnificent temple this man those ten thousand talents as a matter of fact the word talent here is literally means without number was used without number sometimes the Bible translates it myriads just myriads it's the Greek word that we get our word myriad from it means it's just some astronomical amount of money this man is in debt there is no way possible that he can pay and the king forgives it at that moment it costs the King ten thousand talents now what happened according to this story well if you find out that that man who had been forgiven goes out and finds someone that owes him money look if you will in verse 28 but that same servant went out and found one of his fellow-servants which owed him a hundred pence now Pence is a day's labor and he laid his hands on him and took him by the throat saying pay what you owe pay me that that that was and here's a man who'd been forgiven mirrors here's a man been forgiven billions and he has somebody that owes him a hundred day's wages it takes him by the throat and says pay me and the man says I can't pay you right now have mercy but Matthew 18 verse 30 but he would not and went and cast him into prison until he should pay the debt do you see it do you see the analogy that Jesus is making and Jesus speaks of the wickedness of that man who had been forgiven and so here's what Jesus said in verse 35 he talks about then the king who's very wrong and has that man who had been forgiven taken and put in prison himself and he says in Matthew 18 verse 35 so likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses now what is our Lord saying our Lord is saying it is absolutely wick for those of us who have been forgiven so much to refuse to forgive somebody else is that somebody's wronged you and you're forgiving you you're holding back forgiveness and you have had our Lord with the goal of his blood and the silvus tears to pay your sin debt you know what James says in James 2 verse 13 for he shall have judgment without mercy that showed no mercy he shall have judgment without mercy that showed no mercy Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:7 blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy why should I forgive listen friend I need to forgive because of the grace factor I have been forgiven I need to be I need to forgive because of the guilt factor I will still need to be forgiven day by day and only a person who never sins can't afford not to forgive which is no.1 third reason we talked about the grace factor the guilt factor the grief factor is the reason we ought to forgive because you see this man who failed to forgive endure the severus discipline the Bible teaches here in Hebrews chapter 12 verse 15 that we're to be looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God that is you fail to receive and give grace lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and many thereby be to file if you don't forgive friend you're going to know unusual grief you're going to be trouble and others around you're going to be trouble another forgiving spirit does you personal harm it's not just simply what your unforgiveness does to someone else it's what it does to you now sometimes somebody says he did me the sin such harm I'm going to get even have you ever thought about what that means you're going to get even you're up here here's some miscreant who does something bad to you and he harms you and you say look what he did to me I'm gonna get even that's what you do you come down to his level what you say that I won't get even I'll just continue to hate what if you continue to hate what you're doing is committing emotional suicide what what you're doing is filling yourself with bitterness which is an acid which will destroy you and hurt you as much or more than it does the person on whom it is poured you say what but now wait a minute pastor if you knew what they did to me you wouldn't let them off the hook what I'm trying to tell you is you only hook with them you are on the hook with them you need to forgive because of the grief factor the grief that the bitterness the unforgiving spirit will do to you you forgive them for their sake you forgive them for Jesus sake forgive them for your sake remember when you forgive you said to people free and one of them is yourself fourth reason you need to forgive not only the grief factor but the game factor now listen to Matthew chapter 5 verse 24 our Lord talks about somebody coming to the temple to worship and they're bringing a gift to the temple and they remember that there's a problem between them and someone else here's what our Lord says you to do leave their thy gift before the altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother then come and offer thy gift if you're here this morning and when the offering is given and you have bitterness in your heart keep the offering don't spend it because it's tainted money taint yours don't spend it before you make your offering and there's somebody that you need to go make things right with and you know it you go be reconciled to your brother then come and bring your offering listen again to Matthew chapter 18 in verse 15 moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee thou has gained thy brother in both of these scriptures one says be reconciled to your brother the other says that has gained thy brother our brother is a precious thing a terrible thing to waste when you forgive you heal a broken relationship and you gain back a brother think about it think about when people come to church with broken relationships think about when people who name the name of Jesus lived with broken relationships you know what that does listen to me if there is in your heart today bitterness and grudge and unforgiveness first of all you disgrace Almighty God when your children fuss and fight it disgraces the parents does it not it disgraces the father I'll tell you what else it does it discourages the saints have you ever been in a church with the church fuss or fight the devil had rather start a church fuss and sell a barrel of whiskey any day did you know that it discourages the Saints I'll tell you what else it does it drives away the lost do you know what the greatest evangelistic outreach Bellevue Baptist Church has is the love that we have one for another people come and say behold how they love one another I sense the fellowship the love of God in that church but an unforgiving spirit and rancor and division and hostility drives away the Long's I'll tell what else it does it delights the devil it delights the devil when you fail to forget there is the gain factor think what we gain when we gain a brother when we gain a sister had a brother who did me wrong not a brother in the flesh but a brother in the Lord a man that I dearly loved he did wrong something rose up in me said well that's it cut him off the Lord said don't do that forgive restore and I did and I don't have a better friend on earth today than that person that is the the gain factor friend there is somebody that you need to be reconciled with and you bring them back into the Fellowship and into the fold now those are compelling reasons for forgiveness now let me talk to you about the costly requirements for forgiveness because see there's no bargain forgiveness what does our scripture say be kind tender-hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you now Jesus is the model of our forgiveness and you're going to see that Jesus paid the price we talked about redemption through his blood and friend you're going to have to know a little personal gethsemane and calvary if you truly forgive somebody who is deeply hurt you now how therefore if we're to forgive as Jesus forgave how did Jesus forgive man list some ways first of all we are to forgive freely freely his forgiveness is free spontaneous and quick don't forgive after you have collected your revenge you know sometimes people hurt us and we say they don't know how much they hurt us and I'm going to teach them how much I've been hurt and I'm going to excoriated blame them I'm going to castigate them I'm going to make them suffer and after they've suffered after they've wept after they pled after they bled after I've gotten my pound of flesh then perhaps I'll forgive has anybody ever treated you that way then finally said well I'll forgive you what do you feel like saying hey I don't need to be forgiven I've already paid you forgive freely you should be so anxious to forgive a person that you chase them and catch them in order to forgive them in that what God has done for us we love him why because he first loved us when Adam and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden God did not set up in heaven and say well I'm going to wait and if perhaps they come to me I might be persuaded to forgive them God came to the garden and God said Adam Adam where are you that wasn't the voice of a detective that was the voice of a broken hearted God who was seeking someone who had sinned against him freely seeking to forgives Matthew 18 verse 15 listen to it again moreover thy brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone doesn't say go tell him all go tell him secretly privately lovingly in the east and he shall hear thee that's gained thy brother freely Peter asked the Lord Lord how many times if a person sins against me shall I forgive him just seven times that's the perfect number jesus said no seventy times seven four to 90 and by inference he didn't mean you stop him 491 what our Lord says is get the mathematics out of it don't keep score forgiveness has no limit forget the math forgive freely even if you have to chase somebody in order to forgive them number two listen not only should you forget freely but you forgive fully totally make sure that you forgive now if somebody comes to you and by the way I had somebody come to me and say I want you to forgive me my first inclination was to say don't worry about it that's okay don't worry about it but I realized that would have been wrong for me to do that because that was not forgiveness what that individual needed and what that individual deserved was forgiveness so I didn't just say don't worry about it forget it I said I forgive you I forgive you how important you see sometimes when we do wrong we don't go to another individual and say forgive me we say if I have hurt your feelings I'm sorry I want to apologize very tricky I want to apologize let me tell you let me explain it to you why I did what I did the word apologize comes from a Greek word apologia which means to make it offense in apologetics we're defending the faith so many of us want to apologize what we're doing is really defending ourselves if you've wronged somebody don't apologize say would you forgive me I was wrong I was wrong not an apology that I want I want forgiveness and if somebody is wronged you don't just say oh forget it never mind say I forgive you do it fully then it's buried in the grave of gods forgetfulness forgive fully now next forgive finally that is don't bring it up again isaiah 43 verse 25 I even I am he that blotted out by transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember thy sins sins that are buried in the grave of God's forgetfulness if you forgive do it finally once for all you said when the pastor that brings up a problem to me God doesn't remember our sins anymore I thought God was omniscient how can God ever truly forget anything well intellectually God cannot forget God doesn't lose his memory when God says I will remember them no more that means I will not bring them up I will not use them against you if I remember them I remember them as forgiving sins I don't continue to have that spirit of resentment that human beings tend to have the sin is buried now many times we say we are forgiven but we've not forgiven finally I read about a man whose office files were getting so full of extraneous papers he was a man couldn't bear to throw anything away and the files got fuller and fuller and fuller one day said to the secretary she said sir can I clean out the files he said well okay clean them out but before you throw anything away make a copy of it is that the way we forgive you no III I'm gonna get rid of it but I'm gonna remember it no you forget it forgive finally now last of all you forgive forcefully what do I mean forcefully I'm telling you folks it is not natural to forgive our spirits demand justice they need to pay they hurt us and they need to understand just how badly they hurt us it has well been said to err is human to forgive is divine you need Jesus to be forgiven and friend you need Jesus in order to forgive be kind tender-hearted forgiving one another when we get that kindness whether we get that tenderheartedness it comes from Jesus the same one who has forgiven us is the one who puts his spirit in us and enables us to have the force and the power to forgive many of you have heard of a read of Corrie ten Boom and precious Dutch girl back in World War two was taken by the Nazis and put in a Nazi concentration camp along with her sister and the reason that Corrie ten Boom was incarcerated and put in that prison camp at Raven's Brook was because she'd been hiding the Jews as a Gentile to keep the Nazis from their Holocaust and atrocities her hiding place was found out Corrie ten Boom with a sister were put in the concentration camp Corrie sister died in the concentration camp when she was there in that concentration camp she was treated with unimaginable brutality almost arms hard work but one of the things that happened to her she was forced by prison guard to strip naked and to take a shower while he watched her with his leering eyes and almost raped her with his eyes humiliated this righteous and godly girl later Corrie ten Boom got out of prison and she was serving God and bringing a message on forgiveness and after the message up walked a man and put out his hand and said Corrie isn't the grace of God something wonderful isn't forgiveness wonderful and when she looked into that man's face she froze because it was that prison guard the one who had humiliated her the one who had abused her the one who had misused her and now he saunters up to her puts out his hand and says is it the grace of God wonderful isn't forgiveness wonderful she said again I froze I wanted to put out my hand because I had spoken on forgiveness but she said I couldn't and I prayed oh Jesus help me to forgive she said I put out my hand and put my hand in his hand and she said the grace of God and the love of God began to flow through my body now friend I want you to think about how Jesus Christ has forgiven us and it is the power of Jesus Christ who forgave us that enables us to forgive somebody else and don't you insult the grace of God by saying I can't forgive you forgive freely you forgive finally you forgive fully and you forgive forcefully now time is going I wish I had more time to talk about the results of forgiveness I want to put it up on the screen for just a moment and I want you to think about the threefold results of forgiveness what what will be other certain results of forgiveness number one number one friend when there is forgiveness there is personal immensity emancipation you're set free personal emancipation secondly there is going to be reconciliation there's going to be a reconciliation between you and somebody else you're going to gain your brother you're going to be set free you're going to gain your brother and and last of all friend there's going to be spiritual jubilation that's going to be revival do you know what real revival is real revival is not just getting the roof off and getting right with God real revival is getting the wall stand and getting right with one another is there somebody who's wronged you is that somebody you say I owe them they're going to pay friend forget it buried in the grave of God's forgetfulness and forgive pastor can I forgive somebody who continues to do the same thing can I forgive somebody who hasn't repented somebody who continues to hurt me to withhold what they owe me somebody who continues to abuse or to lie or to slander can I forgive them it's a hard question because even God doesn't forgive without repentance does he what of that person hasn't repented then is it up to you to get them no God says vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord and if you cannot forgive them because of their continuing practice you can have the spirit of forgiveness what did Jesus do on the cross he prayed Father forgive them for they know not what they do while they're nailing him up he's praying for forgiveness I had somebody who sinned against me and those that I love horribly I made up my mind I was not going to carry a load of resentment the individual still in an attitude and actions of sin but one morning about 2:00 in the morning I wrote out a full complete forgiveness not only forgiving but receiving back that individual and before God I signed my name to it and I uploaded that forgiveness now put it in the drawer anytime that individual wants to download it it's there it's already on the file it's already given it's done so far as I'm concerned I don't bear that burden whether it's ever received or not it's awful isn't that what Jesus did on the cross not everybody is saved but he bought salvation for us all and all we have to do is receive it friend don't carry around that load even if you have to put forgiveness in escrow waiting for that individual to come along and write the check of repentance and faith you have uploaded it they can download it but don't you around in the prison house of guilt swallowing the poison of bitterness how foolish how foolish mr. Baumer heads now friend all true forgiveness begins with receiving forgiveness and if you've never really received forgiveness this is the time for you to do it God longs to forgive you Jesus Christ died to forgive you he wants to cleanse you and he will cleanse you if you'd like to be saved would you pray a prayer like this dear God Oh pray it friend dear God thank you for loving me thank you that you are forgiving God thank you that you've said if we confess our sin you're faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Lord Jesus I need you I want you I opened my heart right now and I receive you as my Lord and Savior come into my life forgive my sin save me Jesus pray it mean it ask him believing save me Jesus did you ask him by faith thank him pray thank you for doing it I stand on your word I give myself to you I receive you you're now my Lord and Savior now give me the courage to make it public and help me never to be ashamed of you amen and amen we pray God has blessed you as you've watched this message if you'd like additional copies or information on other resources write us at love worth finding p.o box 38 800 memphis tennessee 38134 @lw fo RG in the US you can place Visa or MasterCard orders by calling 1-800 two seven four five six eight three Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central Time thank you and may God richly bless you you

Channel: Love Worth Finding Ministries

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Rating: 4.9480519 out of 5

Keywords: love worth finding, Adrian Rogers, Memphis, salvation, ways to salvation, Christ Jesus, forgiveness, freedom, forgive, asking, love, change, emotional, spiritual, turn, your, heart

Id: ERk4qaQ3nJ4

Length: 44min 9sec (2649 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 09 2016