What Jesus Taught about Lust, Hatred, and Anger (With Greg Laurie)

[Music] [Music] [Music] jesus said you've heard that it was said by those of old you shall not murder and whosoever murders will be in danger of the judgment but i say to you whoever is angry with this brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment and whoever says to his brother raqqa shall be in danger of the counsel but whoever says you fool will be in danger of hell fire therefore if you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember your brother has something against you leave your gift before the altar and go your way first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift agree with your adversary quickly while you're on the way with him lest your adversary deliver you to the judge and the judge hand you over to the officer and you'll be thrown into prison assuredly i say to you you will by no means get out of there so you've paid the last penny [Music] good morning everybody so that's our text today it's matthew chapter 5. we're back in our series god came near it's uh sort of a quadrophonic look at the life of christ the chronological look trying from all four gospels going from event to event teaching to teaching and when we last were in this series we were looking at the sermon on the mount so we pick up where we last left off and my message title is what jesus taught about anger hatred and lust let's pray now father as we open your word and we read this amazing sermon really the greatest sermon ever preached we pray that we will see how it works in our life the things that we're about to consider are not easy they're challenging they're very hard and in some ways they seem impossible but by the power of your spirit we can do all things through christ who strengthen us strengthens us so we ask your blessing now in this time of bible study in jesus name we pray amen well our country is facing a formidable enemy today they're called isis isil but it's much broader broader than that it's islamic terrorism they have a simple objective they want a global caliphate a global islamic society and they want to destroy us in the united states of america this has been demonstrated in tangible ways the first probably the most notable there were others before this but what really put this on the radar screens of most americans as well as people around the world was the attack on 9 11 as we watched in shock as the twin towers of the word world trade center just crumbled and all that life was lost then more recently there was the boston bombing and then we recently saw two american journalists beheaded on camera this particular group isis is very savvy with social media getting their message out in fact they've sort of made jihad cool in quotes and a lot of young people some even from america but more from england in other parts of the world are joining up so this is what's before us right now so our president recently said that he was going to destroy isis and we hear that and we think well okay but how does that work uh does not the bible teach that where to turn the other cheek and where to go the other mile is there really a place for retaliation someone even questioned if there's a place for the military or the police force shouldn't a christian effectively be a pacifist after all wasn't jesus himself the ultimate pacifist well we're going to find the answer to those questions and more because hearing the greatest sermon ever preached is effectively the worldview of jesus christ do you want to know what jesus christ thinks study this sermon do you want to excuse me got a stinking cold uh do you want to know how his heart really beats study the sermon do you want to know how he feels about life and living in general again study their sermon the sermon on the mount is the official manifesto of the king of kings and lord of lords but let me add a word of warning this sermon is for believers only remember those jackets from years ago members only how many of you had those jackets okay how many of you are wearing one today how many of you still consider it a fashionable item originally they'll probably come back well we didn't know what we were members of but we had members only jackets right this is for believers only and now here's how the greatest sermon ever preached begins verses 1 to 2 of matthew 5. and seeing the multitudes he went up into a mountain and when he was seated his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and taught them saying so i want you to notice that this was directed not to the multitudes or to culture or to society in general it was directed to his disciples the phrase then he opened his mouth is a colloquialism in greek it's used to describe something that is solemn and grave and dignified it speaks of a weighty statement when he opened his mouth this was important what jesus was saying but the only people that can live by the sermon on the mount are followers of jesus christ even back then as now jesus had his fair weather followers you know when he was performing miracles and providing free lunch they were in when he spoke of sacrifice and commitment they were gone with the wind so these words were delivered to committed believers and what he says in this sermon here before us and in the whole sermon in general is amazing it's mind-boggling it's beautiful and it's impossible without the help of the holy spirit no one can live by these standards without god's help now it's funny because some people will say well you know all the relate all the religion i need is found in the sermon on the mount and i often will respond by saying well quote something from the sermon on the mount um judge not lets you be judged that's everyone's favorite verse that's the non-believer's favorite verse we'll deal with that later judge not lest you be judged i like that but you know listen you cannot live by the sermon on the mount it's harder to live by the sermon on the mount than it is to live by the ten commandments because this sermon deals so much with the heart you know you can do a certain degree have an external obedience but when it comes to the heart that's a very hard thing to control so you can be doing the right thing outwardly but inwardly still wanting to do the wrong thing so this sermon deals with motives why we do what we do you could sum it up this way the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart so now here is jesus speaking to his disciples you remember that the sermon on the mount starts with the beatitudes those are sort of the the gate into the sermon you have to follow these things if you're going to even come close to understanding what jesus is teaching blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are they that mourn and so forth so this is addressed to people who are poor in spirit what does that mean it means you see that you're spiritually bankrupt before god it means that you realize that you need god's help and then you mourn over that condition you're sorry for your sin and the result is you have a new hunger for godly things blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness so let me read it again uh from the new living translation what was already read in the video matthew 5 38 jesus speaking you've heard that it was said of old of those of old you shall not murder you've heard that our ancestors were told you must not murder and if you commitment or you're subject to judgment but i say to you if you're angry with someone you're subject to judgment if you call someone an idiot you're in danger of being brought before the court if you curse someone you're in danger of the fires of hell so if you're presenting the sacrifice at the temple they're at the altar and suddenly remember someone has something against you leave your sacrifice at the altar and go be reconciled to that person then come and offer your sacrifice to god while you're on your way to the court with your adversary settle your differences quickly otherwise your accuser may hand you over to the judge who will hand you over to an officer and you'll be thrown into prison if that happens you won't be free again until you repeat the last penny you've heard the commandment that says you shall not commit adultery but i say to you whoever looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart so if your eye even your good eye causes you to lust gouge it out and throw it away it's better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell if your hand even your stronger hand causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away it's better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell stop there told you it was hard because already you're asking questions aren't you like uh seriously how does that work so jesus deals with three areas of sin that are very widespread in our culture i think these three areas of sin are probably in most movies that you see in the theaters they're anger hatred and lust but again jesus is dealing with the heart sin deceives me into thinking that if i've not done the actual deed i'm all right but why haven't you done the actual deed why haven't you murdered that person that you hate hopefully you don't but let's assume you do why haven't you committed adultery you see if you still want to do it in your heart the problem still exists the root is still there anger is murder in the heart lust is adultery in the heart that's what jesus is pointing to verse 22 if you're angry with your brother without a cause you'll be in danger of the judgment now let's make it clear that there is a place for anger this is not saying that a christian cannot be angry there are certain things that should anger us the bible even says over in ephesians be angry and do not sin so there's a place for righteous indignation that's not what this is talking about in fact it word that is used here for anger is interesting it means a settled anger a malice that is nursed inwardly this is not even describing a person who maybe gets irritated and flies up the handle and then apologizes hopefully you don't punch your wife out and leave her cold in an elevator this is a person who is bitter developing a grudge nursing and feeding it this is a person that is throwing gasoline on the fire of anger this is a person who is consumed with anger many people in the depths of their heart have anger and hatred to such agree their true desire is for the hated person to be dead do you feel that way about anyone please don't raise your hand if you do let's be honest if you do here's what the bible says first john 3 15 everyone who hates his brother is a murderer first john 2 9 he that says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now scripture is saying you cannot be a follower of jesus and live with this boiling settled anger that you feed in fuel every single day there's no place for it the word hate means to habitually despise not just a transient motion of the affections a deep-rooted loathing you know when you see this certain person you just loathe them oh you just are so bitter toward them why do we get this way well sometimes our anger is rooted in envy remember the story of cain and abel effectively king killed his brother because he was envious of him what is envy it's been defined as a discontent or uneasiness at the site of another's good fortune accompanied with some degree of hatred and desire to possess equal advantages so it's not like a person has done something against you personally it's simply a person who has really succeeded maybe it's monetary succession maybe they married someone you wish you could have married maybe they've accomplished something you wished you could have accomplished they got that position you felt you should have whatever it is you're envious and it grows and it turns into something even worse thomas fuller said quote envy shoots at another and wounds itself the only person who suffers when you envy is you now listen to this verse 22 jesus says i say whoever is angry with this brother without a cause is in danger of judgment but if you say to your brother raqqa you'll be in danger of the council but whoever says you full will be in danger of hell fire now we don't even know what that means you probably can't even remember the last time you said there's someone raqqa they'd be like what but back in this culture that word carried a lot of weight raqqa was used in jesus day but there's no modern equivalent maybe you could say brainless idiot empty head bonehead something like that it was a phrase of arrogant contempt where you felt superior to the person you were addressing then the word full speaks of an obstinate godless person it was effectively condemning them so it's not so much the word raqqa or full as much as it is a revealing of the bitterness of a person's heart the bible says matthew 12 34 out of the abundance of a heart a mouth speaks now jesus deals with lust in the heart verse 27 to 30. you've heard the commandment that says you must not commit adultery but i say whoever looks on a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart now this is not just talking about a casual glance it's speaking of a continual act of looking you know sometimes it's sort of that second look right you know so you see an attractive woman or an attractive guy and you you see them they walk right into your eye view you know oh attractive woman or attractive guy so it's not like oh it's more like this oh whoa and it's not just whoa it's whoa because the idea that's being conveyed here is of intentional and repeated gazing with the purpose of lusting so you're not admiring beauty you're lusting after that person by the way we usually think this is a guy thing oh no it can be a girl thing too it's looking at any person with lust in your heart this is talking about a person who goes out of their way to look at someone to lust after them needless to say if you look at pornography you would be violating this commandment you're intentionally looking at things that will stimulate lust you're looking at someone for the deliberate purpose of lusting probably the best example of this in the bible is the story of david in bathsheba of course david was up on his rooftop because back in those days their rooftop was sort of like a terrace you see a lot of this in new york city you know they use every bit of space they can find so they're up on his terrace and his royal palace uh david was just hanging out and looking over his little balcony there and there in eyes view was the beautiful bathsheba ironically taking a bath and david went wow and he saw her and the bible says she was beautiful and when the bible says a girl's beautiful she's really beautiful you know when the bible says a man was you know well built or it describes a first person's physical attributes what it is saying is they were really exceptional so she was an incredibly beautiful and attractive woman there was okay he saw her she doesn't have any clothing on so he saw it he couldn't have stopped that first look but that first look went on a long time and he looked and he looked and then of course he gave the commandment for her to be brought up to his palace and he had sex with her and she became pregnant we all know the story but you know bathsheba has a responsibility here too no modest hebrew woman would ever bathe publicly did bathsheba indeed know that she was with an eye shot of the palace if i'm standing here i know the king comes out on the balcony did she position herself well i can't say that she did i'll say this david was the most culpable in this sin because he misused his authority misused his position but she was culpable she could have said no as well this is a two-way street if lustful looking is bad and it is then those who dress and expose themselves with the desire to be looked at and lusted after are also guilty right so girls i'm talking to you think about what you wear or what you don't wear when you walk out that door you might say well what do you how do i know well think of it this way what if jesus was picking you up to take you to church or out to dinner would you wear that no and no but well think of it that way so you want to be a good witness modesty is still a good thing and you don't want to wear something that would stimulate lust he said greg please you know some guys would lust after a tree this is true in fact that guy is no um this is true i can't deny that but i think you girls know what's going on with this and i think you understand how this works and so we want to be very careful david's sin was a continuous look and then he took dramatic action so here's where it starts with lust you have to guard your mind job said in job 31 1 i've made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl how does this work in real life well let's say you're in a movie and there's a sex scene in the film you didn't know about and that there it is and you're going oh i didn't know this was going to be here what do i do you could walk out well i paid for the film so what if something comes on your tv screen and it's suggestive and and you know if the kids were there you would turn it off but since they aren't well this part of the plot need to look at this and understand the you know you can hit the off button what if you're walking down the street and an attractive girl or guy is coming your way and you know some people the way they put themselves together the way they walk it's all about look at me right now right and you see that person oh there's one of those people you know what you just look at the ground it's what just you know don't look at the ground forever you might bump into them or a tree that you had lusted after earlier but you know you see the communists go just look down look up after their god some people want to be looked at you know that's what they're all about but don't let your mind go to that place and have a conversation happens with members of the opposite sex and maybe it becomes a little suggestive terminate it did you know most affairs happen in the workplace you know when people work closely together they become friendly with one another and then one thing leads to another so you have to be very careful in this area check out something before you watch it or read it second corinthians 10 5 says we take every thought captive and make it obedient to jesus christ so jesus gives a solution now are you ready here's how to fix it verse 29 so if your eye even your good eye causes you to lust gouge it out and throw it away okay is that literal no so what does it mean jesus says talking about how to be delivered from this sin clearly he's not speaking literally you could pluck out your right eye and still lust with your left eye for that matter you could pluck out both eyes and still manage to lust you could cut off your right arm and still sin with your left arm you could have no arms and still lust here's really the point jesus is making give up whatever is necessary to keep from falling into this sin does that make sense give up whatever is necessary to keep from falling into this thing see i have a real problem with with you know internet pornography i just can't overcome it okay you know what unplug dump the computer if you have to you know some people maybe can't handle it it might be another area i know you all probably have heard the story of a man named aaron ralston he was the man that cut off his arm to save his life remembering him a movie was made about his life his right rock climbing and his right hand was on the side of a boulder and it shifted pinning his hand well ralston knew how to use his equipment so he used his ropes and his anchors and everything he had to remove the boulder but it wasn't working now a couple of days pass it's cold he runs out of water so he does something that's unthinkable he pulls out his pocket knife and cuts off his arm and he repels 75 feet to the canyon floor and walks out this whole ordeal lasted five days now that's radical but really it's incredibly smart because you can have both arms and die or lose an arm and live and that's the way he saw it so in the same way cut off whatever it takes in your life to live spiritually anything that morally or spiritually traps us or causes us to fall in sin or stay in sin must be eliminated quickly and completely hebrews 12 says lay aside the weight and the sin that so easily besets you and run with endurance a race that is set before us and by the way this can vary from person to person some people are more vulnerable in an area than others are so you have to look at your own life so that's the solution take action now matthew 5 38 you've heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth but i say don't resist an evil person if someone slaps you on the right cheek turn to him the other also if you're sued in court and your shirt is taken from you give your coat too if a soldier demands you carry his gear for a mile go two miles give to those that ask and don't turn away from those who want to borrow you've heard that it was said love your enemy or excuse me love your neighbor and hate your enemy but i say to you love your enemies praise for the pray for those who persecute you and that way you'll be acting as true children of your father now this is hard stuff is it not needless to say these are very high standards churning the other chi going the extra mile loving our enemies are these the standards that we should govern society by and if they are how can we justify military or police force well the 19th century russian novelist leo tolstoy wrote a book entitled what i believe in which he came to the conclusion after he read the sermon on the mount and re-read it he said quote christ forbids the human institution of any court because they resist evil and even return evil for evil he believed criminals love good and hate evil as i do he didn't think a christian should be involved in the military police force or courts of law one man who was profoundly impacted by the writings of tolstoy was mahatma gandhi and he believed by practicing this teaching you could bring about a perfect state where punishment would end and prisons would be turned into schools news flash tolstoy and gandhi were wrong because they were misunderstanding what these teachings are saying this sermon on the mount was not given to govern a society you cover in a society by what is said in verse 38 you've heard that it was said an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth this comes from exodus 21 and continues hand for hand foot for foot burn for burn bruise for bruise wound for wound this is the same as the expression tit for tat this was the hebrew civic justice system what was its purpose according to deuteronomy 19 20 the rest will hear and be afraid and will never again do such an evil thing among you listen criminals don't love good and hate evil in fact most people don't love good and hate evil most people let me restate that all people have sinful hearts and we're drawn in the wrong direction now if our heart changes that's fantastic like michael franzis was a made member of the mafia but he was converted in prison now he no longer longs for those things that's fantastic but when someone breaks those laws there has to be a punishment now that punishment is never to be carried about by the victim but by the legal system we as a nation need law enforcement and military government as an entity has been established by god romans 13 says obey the government for god put them there all governments have been placed in power by god so to those who refuse to obey the laws of the land they're refusing to obey god and punishment will follow for the authorities do not frighten people that are doing right they frighten those who do wrong do what they say and you'll get along well i have a friend who's a chief of police and sometimes we meet for coffee and he'll bring along another of the officers and these guys you know they're dressed in their police uniforms they got the sam brown on which is that heavy utility belt with all the equipment you know you've got a place for the walkie-talkie a place for the gun a place for handcuffs a place for a donut and um just kidding um but he's got stars he's got stars in his uniform because he's the chief and it's funny how people react you know when he orders coffee you know everyone gets a little nervous you know why he's an authoritative figure when he puts that uniform on it changes the dynamic of a room and guess what he's been placed there by god what if he's not a christian he's still placed there by god so there's a respect and if you're obeying the law you don't fear the police if you are not obeying the law this becomes a great problem speaking of the military police and those that enforce law scripture says they are god's servant to do good and if you do wrong be afraid for they don't bear the sword for nothing now i know what some of you are thinking he's saying well what about if the the nation is corrupt what about if the police officer is corrupt and that does happen doesn't it well look we have a higher principle we obey the apostles were told to no longer preach the gospel by the authorities what do they do they went on and preached the gospel and they said this we must obey god and not man so if our government were to pass a law that said to you you can no longer practice your faith you no longer can pray you no longer can preach do we obey that law because the bible says obey your civil government do we no we don't because we have a higher law when the law was passed that no one could pray that's right when allah was passed said no one could pray uh daniel prayed openly he said well there's just laws they don't think are godly or my taxes are too high well then vote for somebody that will lower your taxes next time that's why we have our system to elect people that represent us properly but we have to obey the law you may not always agree with it and keep in mind when paul wrote these words who were the authorities the roman government and caesar hardly what i would call a model of virtue so still paul says the authorities have their place he talks about his sword verse four he does not bear the sword for nothing he's god's servant an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer a sword is an instrument of death it's not to wrap a person on the knuckles but to run him through if a roman soldier drew his sword you have trouble if a police officer draws his gun he's ready for a confrontation so you understand that that's what that is all about so god has placed these people in their position in fact it's interesting that paul actually used a soldier as a model of what it is to be a christian paul spent a lot of time with soldiers why because he got arrested all the time and on some occasions he was chained to them so they'd become friends probably and he knew all about their armor in ephesians 6 he talks about the shield of faith and the breastplate of righteousness summit of salvation he knew how all the roman armor worked and what its purpose was he used the idea of the military and how we should follow jesus he said in second timothy 3 4 endure suffering along with me as a good soldier of jesus christ and as christ's soldier do not let yourself be tied up with the affairs of this life then you can't satisfy the one who has enlisted you into his army now god would never choose a dishonorable profession as an illustration for a christian he wouldn't say be clever like a thief you know or be passionate like a murderer no that's a wrong picture but he did take the position of the soldier as a very positive illustration now some people like to think that jesus was the ultimate pacifist they like to think of jesus as the first hippie right just throwing flowers peace and love man probably with a lamb wrapped around his neck i love those paintings of jesus lamb wrapped around his neck well that's not the jesus of the bible that may be the jesus of your imagination but the jesus of the bible was loving and he was forgiving and he was compassionate and the children even came to him but the jesus of the bible also administered justice what do you think he was doing when he made a whip and drove the money changers out of the temple and by the way he told his disciples as days are getting more dangerous they may need their swords luke 22 36 peter responded well we already have two swords now why would they need to carry swords to have shish kebab it's called self-defense they were entitled to defend themselves a christian can defend themselves it's acceptable for a nation to defend themselves from those who want to harm them now that's not to say we're to be some kind of a doormat so you're saying okay what does this mean then it's like you've almost said it doesn't apply now i'm just explaining what it doesn't mean all right there is a place for self-defense you have your rights as an american citizen uh god has the military the police force okay but now with that in mind what does this mean turning the other cheek going the extra mile jesus is giving specific advice for a believer when they're persecuted these are not mechanical rules but principles for meeting the personal wrongs that come to those who follow him there are times where for the sake of the kingdom and the soul of a person we take the hit or turn the other cheek or go the extra mile what does that even mean well back in these days uh when a roman soldier would be out marching and he had his backpack uh a person a citizen was required to carry the backpack for him so he'd be carrying all his gary as his army and say you carry my backpack you were obligated by law to carry it for a mile so you carried it for a mile jesus says here's what i say don't carry it for a mile go the extra mile so be like hey i've got it okay okay you're done you can give it back to oh no i'll keep carrying it i'll go an extra mile with you because that'll give me a little more time to tell you about jesus see so i'm gonna that's where the phrase go the extra mile comes from but then uh he talks about churning the other cheek what does that mean well in verse 39 if someone slaps you on the right cheek turn the other back in this culture a slap in the face striking someone in the face was among the most demeaning and contemptuous acts even a slave would rather be struck on the back than the face it was a calculated insult what would our modern equivalent be well i think a slap would qualify someone slapped you in the face of the wave right would you do that for hey you want to hit back but here's maybe one that we would understand someone spits in your face now that doesn't physically harm you but it's humiliating it's degrading a spin in your face or they do an obscene gesture they call it flipping the bird has anyone ever done that to you i've had it done to me not while i'm preaching however that would be just alarming but on the road man people they're crazy you know they'll cut in front of you hit their brakes and do all this obnoxious stuff and you drop by and just look at them and then they'll flip you off i'm like yeah [Music] you know don't do it don't do it just cruise by forget it let it go let it go let it go i know that song because i have four granddaughters and they sing it constantly but it's really cute this is speaking of a person that has an attitude that would not want to immediately strike back now is this an easy thing to do well no i don't want to say more so for a guy but maybe more so for a guy you know guys they'll just hey you took a guy off boom he's going to hit back sometimes girls too but more often guys probably but even the great apostle paul struggled with this he was struck by ananias high priest hit and paul shoots back god will smite you you whitewash wall someone said that's a high priest paul says oh i didn't know it was a high priest he knew it was a high priest he was a member of the sanhedrin he knew what a high priest looked like he's just irritated he was human like you like me so the point is it's not easy but this is the idea of just forgiving going the extra mile and listen we've all been wronged in life most of us have been slandered mistreated ripped off taken advantage of but jesus is not saying i should be the doorknob or doorknob the doormat i don't even know what it would be to be a doorknob he's not saying that i should be the doormat for the planet see the problem is i have a cold and i'm on cold medication a deadly combination so who knows what else i'm going to say today already i probably said a few things you're thinking that's a little odd this is greg on cold medication but here's what jesus concludes with verse 44 love your enemies bless those that curse you do good to those who hate you and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you or not to strike out but instead love them in a positive way abraham lincoln said quote the best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend that's good isn't it the best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend this selflessness this love jesus calls for is found in many people that god used it was the spirit of abraham when he gave the best land to his undeserving nephew lot it's the spirit of joseph when he kissed his brothers who had so mistreated him it's a spirit that would not let david take advantage of the opportunity to take the life of king saul who had been pursuing him it's a spirit that caused stephen to pray for those that were stoning him to death and it's a spirit that every one of god's children should have may god help us to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile may he enable us to have a change of heart or we do not harbor hatred and lust you know maybe as you've heard these words some of these things have hit home i hope all of them haven't hit home but they may have but maybe one of them oh yeah i've got that anger problem oh yes the issue of lust this is really a problem well we need to pray and ask god to help us with these very areas of weakness because if you're harboring hatred for someone in your life i want to tell you something it's going to bring your prayer life to a halt look at verse 23 if you're presenting the sacrifice at the altar in the temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you leave your sacrifice at the altar and go be reconciled to that person then come and bring your sacrifice to god so maybe you're praying you feel like your prayers are going nowhere but as you're praying sitting three pews behind you as a person you hate every time you see them your heart fills with hatred maybe it's motivated from envy maybe something else they mistreated you they said something unkind you hate them and you seize with anger whenever you see them hurt oh lord i love you so i hate you love you love you lord hate love hate maybe i should take cold medication more often i don't know kind of loosened up that's going to kill your prayer life because that's unconfessed sin and the bible says if i regard iniquity in my heart the lord will not hear me the story is told of corey tin boom have you ever heard of corey ten boom how many of you know of her well if you've never read her book she wrote a book called the hiding place which is her autobiography of all that she suffered in world war ii just quick fly over the tin boom family lived in holland they were dutch obviously and they were strong christians and as the jews were being persecuted by the germans they took jewish people into their home and they built these false walls to hide rooms that they kept the jewish people in because they felt that god wanted them to love and show favor to god's chosen people well the gestapo found out about it they warned him to stop and the ten boom family would not and one day the gestapo showed up and they arrested corey her sister betsy and her father and took them off to concentration camps the father quickly died he was rather elderly and corey and betsy ended up in a camp called ravensbrook and sadly betsy died in that camp and corey was released because of a clerical error she should have stayed in but she got out and she recognized it was the providence of god she spent the last rest of her life as a self-described for the lord sharing her story with people i had the privilege of hearing her in person she was an amazing woman well she shares this story in her book the hiding place she was at a church in munich germany uh and here's what she says i was in this church when i saw him the former ss men who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at robinsbrook he was one of the first of the actual jailers that i had seen since that time and suddenly it was all there the roomful of mocking men the heaps of clothing betsy's pin blanched face he came up to me as the church was emptying beaming and bowing and he said how grateful i am for your message for all line he said thank god that he has washed my sins away his hand was thrust out to shake mine corey says i would preach so often to people that they need to forgive kept my hand at my side even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me i saw the sin of them jesus had died for this man and i'm going to ask for more lord jesus i prayed forgive me and help me to forgive him i tried to smile i struggled to raise my hand i could not i felt nothing not the slightest spark of warmth or charity and again i pray to silent prayer writes cory jesus i cannot forgive him give me your forgiveness and as i shook his hand the most incredible thing happened from my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him and while my heart sprang out of my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me as i discovered it's not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges but on god's when he tells us to love our enemies he gives along with a command the love itself isn't that great so she just did it so here's this person they drive you crazy you're mad they said this they they did that okay why don't you just go and forgive him no way don't just go for it i don't feel it do it anyway well i wouldn't be sincere because i it doesn't matter just do it so like cory you come and say you know i just forgive you and you'll find that it will help you maybe even more than it will help them when you forgive a prisoner excuse me when you forgive someone you set a prisoner free yourself you're set free see they may not even be aware of how much you hate them they don't even know about your bitterness they could care less about you but it consumes you and it's hurting you and it's killing you slowly so why don't you do what jesus said but they're my enemy really love your enemies jesus said so you can love them how do you do it you just do it you don't wait till you feel it you just do it there's no greater example of someone who did all these things than jesus himself remember after the lord identified judas as his betrayer and then our lord said whatever you do do it quickly and judas left jesus encountered judas again in the garden of gethsemane as judas approaches followed by the temple guard and other soldiers jesus says to him friend why have you come i find that amazing friend he knew he was there to betray him he knew he was facilitating the arrest of christ and yet jesus says friend why have you come it was one last chance for judas to repent and he missed it but jesus offered it then of course as jesus hangs on the cross what are his first words it's a prayer and he says to the father father forgive them for they know not what they do say well that's good for jesus he's god true but the bible says let this mind be in you which was also in christ jesus we're to follow his example jesus died on that cross because we need forgiveness and then we should extend that forgiveness to others listen forgiven people should be forgiving people and jesus will forgive you maybe some of you come in here with just a load of sin on your back you know you are the person consumed by lust or maybe you've committed adultery multiple times that you haven't been found out yet yet you're that person consumed by envy and bitterness and even hatred you need to be forgiven by god we're going to close in prayer and give you an opportunity to ask for his forgiveness let's all pray father thank you for sending jesus not just as an example but also as a savior for sinners and we are those sinners thank you for his death on the cross in his resurrection and thank you for his promise of forgiveness when our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed i'm going to extend an invitation to really anyone that needs forgiveness maybe you're not a christian yet you're not sure that you'll go to heaven when you die but you've committed some of the sins we've talked about today or even more and you would like to be forgiven if you want christ to forgive you of your sin if you want to know you'll go to heaven when you die would you just raise your hand up wherever you are and i'll pray for you raise your hand up saying i want christ in my life i want his forgiveness god bless you lift your hand up higher i can see it please god bless you up there on the balcony god bless you anybody there at harvest orange county you raise your hand too at the satellite services you raise your hand wherever you are god sees you this is between you and him while our heads are still bowed now let me address christians maybe you've been struggling with lust maybe you've been struggling with hatred and bitterness even against a fellow believer maybe they're not a believer but whoever that person is you need to repent and you want to take this little step today and say lord i got the message loud and clear and i'm ready to repent if that's you raise your hand up not going to have you come forward or stand or anything but just as an act of faith and obedience raise your hand up saying that's me and i want it gone god bless you anybody else no pressure do it if you want to don't do it if you don't want to god bless you lord you see these hands and you know the back story now i pray that you will help each one to forgive even if they don't feel it to forgive if it's an issue of lust lord to take appropriate steps to deal with it lord thank you for your forgiveness for us even your children that we continue to need each and every day cleanse us by your blood and we ask this all in jesus name amen all right amen god bless you guys fantastic [Music]

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 63,552

Keywords: harvest, Harvest Christian Fellowship, Greg Laurie Sermons, bible study for me, bible study, youtube sermons, Greg Laurie, Greg Laurie Live, greg laurie live stream today, greg laurie live today, greg laurie live service, greg laurie live on youtube, greg laurie sermons

Id: nsE6SZ_NcwU

Length: 52min 0sec (3120 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 25 2022