They Must be Giants
Part 2 – A Giant Named Un-Forgiveness
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org |
www.TruthDigest.org
INTRODUCTION
On September 11th,
2001, four coordinated suicide attacks upon
the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C. areas took
place. On that morning, 19 terrorists from
the Islamist militant
group al-Qaeda hijacked four
passenger jets. The
hijackers intentionally crashed two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in
New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. Hijackers crashed
a third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. A
fourth jet, United Airlines Flight 93,
crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania before
it could reach its intended target in Washington, D.C. after the passengers
attempted to take control.
343 firefighters, 23 New York
Police Offices, 37 Port Authority Officers and 3,000 innocent civilians died in
the attacks.
Today we are talking about Un-forgiveness and how it can be the
giant we face in our lives.
* Un-forgiveness can hold us captive to ourselves.
* Un-forgiveness can literally
make us a slave to it.
Remember these points from David & Goliath over the next few
sermons;
†
The battle between the Palestinians and the Israelites was a
spiritual one. Today it continues
between the Jews and the Arabs, who are descendants of Isaac and Ishmael.
God told Abraham He would give him a son, not wanting to wait on
the promise of God, Abraham and his wife Sarah decided since she was barren,
God must have meant for Abraham to
have a child with someone else, so he did with Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave.
Ishmael was the first born from that encounter, and traditionally
the inheritance belonged to him, but he was NOT the promise of God, and
eventually, just as God said, it was, and Sarah and Abraham had a child, Isaac,
who was the one God promised.
This is the problem which continues today; the descendants of
Isaac (Jews) and the descendants of Ishmael (Arabs) are still at odds, and
there will never be peace in the Middle East, because Abraham and Sarah did not
wait on God’s promise, but tried to FULFILL it themselves.
How often we do the same thing today…
†
David had the Holy Spirit just as all of those who belong to God
have access to.
†
David recognized the battle was spiritual even though everyone
around him could not. He was walking in
the spirit, not by sight, but by faith.
†
When David faced the giant, he knew the battle was not a man
against a giant, but a giant against the power of God.
†
The battle was the Lord’s!
We must remember these points in our lives as well when we face
things.
1. It’s a
spiritual battle
2. We have
the Holy Spirit if we belong to God
3. The
battle is the Lord’s
We speak so often on
forgiveness, but fail to recognize our battle with un-forgiveness.
SCRIPTURE READING
2 Corinthians 2:5 - 11
5 If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as
he has grieved all of you, to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6 The
punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. 7 Now
instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be
overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to
reaffirm your love for him. 9 The reason I wrote you was to
see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10 If
you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was
anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in
order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
I. THE
GIANTS NAME IS UN-FORGIVENESS
1. This
Giant Causes
1. Bitterness
2. Anger
3. Resentment
4. Dissension
5. and
causes us to sin against God
2. The
root of most of the problems in our lives and relationships with others can be
un-forgiveness
1. It is a
slow poison in our system
2. Over
time it destroys us
3. Why do
we find it so hard to forgive?
1. Is it
because we feel we are controlling the person who hurt us, by not forgiving
them in some way we are punishing them for what they did to us?
2. We try
hurting them as much as they have hurt us, perhaps to show them they have hurt
us, and try to make them understand how we hurt.
3. That
never works though...when we do not forgive others, they never suffer as much
as we do from the un-forgiveness.
Matthew
7:1-5
"Do not judge, or you too will be
judged. 2 For in the same way you
judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be
measured to you. 3 "Why do you look at the speck of
sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own
eye? 4 How can you say to your
brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a
plank in your own eye? 5 You
hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see
clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.”
So what
is this scripture saying? That we should
not have discipline in the church?
That's how some read it.
Is it
saying we should not point out sin in the congregation? That's how some understand it.
What
the scripture is saying is...before you judge another, take a good, long, hard
look at yourself.
Have
you judged yourself lately?
II. BUT YOU
DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY DID!
1.
I can't forgive them, they lied to me!
1.
Have you ever lied?
2.
I can't forgive them, they gossiped about
me!
1.
Have you ever talked about someone?
3. If so,
we keep ourselves in a state of un-forgiveness, because we refuse to examine
ourselves when we feel someone has wronged us.
1. We are
missing the “Right Perspective” in the situation.
2. That
“Right Perspective” that David had when he arrived on the battle field.
4. To see
what is REALLY going on, we need God's Spirit
1. Are
seeing things with our eyes, or the Holy Spirit.
2. Are
walking in the flesh or God’s Spirit.
5. Why
does God have a problem with Un-forgiveness?
1. Because
it is a form of pride.
2. How?
Because it’s about what “THEY” did to “ME”.
3. Nothing
good comes from un-forgiveness, nothing.
III. WHY
SHOULD I FORGIVE?
1. If
we do not forgive, it cuts US off from forgiveness.
Matthew 6:12
“Forgive
us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
The word used in the literal translation for debt is “Fault”
Lord, forgive our faults, as we also forgive the faults of
others…As we forgive others faults, the Lord forgives our faults.
The scripture continues in;
Matthew 6:15
“But if
you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.
In the literal the word paraptoma
is in the place of trespasses, and it means; a side-slip, i.e.
(unintentional) error or (willful) wrongdoing.
So Matthew 6:15 is saying, if you do not forgive people when they
unintentionally hurt you, or even when they willfully do you wrong, our Father
in Heaven will not forgive you.
We unintentionally hurt God every day, and some willfully do God
wrong, yet forgiveness is available for us, and should be available from us.
Remember, we are the Body of Christ, and we are living testaments
of God, His love and His forgiveness.
When we do not forgive others, we give the impression that our God
is not a loving and forgiving God.
We need to forgive because it keeps forgiveness from us when we
don’t, and it gives the wrong impression of God and His forgiving love.
2. If
we do not forgive, it cuts US off from prayer requests.
Mark 11:24-25
“Therefore
I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it,
and it will be yours. 25 And when
you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so
that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
Un-forgiveness can hinder our prayer to the Lord.
3. If
we do not forgive, it cuts US off from being able to give offerings to
the Lord.
Matthew 5:21-22 & 23-24
“21 "You have heard that it was
said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be
subject to judgment.' 22 But I tell
you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to
judgment…”
Many times un-forgiveness goes hand in hand with anger towards the
one you have not forgiven.
“23 "Therefore, if you are offering
your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something
against you, 24 leave your gift
there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then
come and offer your gift.”
Un-forgiveness hurts us and our relationship with the Lord.
CONCLUSION
We have all sinned, and the wages, the debt owed for those sins is
death.
You owed a debt to your creator – The Lord for your sin.
Unable to pay that debt, you asked for pity and it was given by
our Lord, the Lord forgave you of your debt!
This is Salvation.
If a small debt, (in comparison to the debt you owed to the Lord –
your life – in which you were forgiven!) if a small debt is owed you, someone
hurts you, or does you wrong, or sins against you, you must be merciful and
forgive them.
The servant in the parable was NOT merciful and did not forgive
the small debt owed to him, and he abused and punished the one who owed him.
When you see the master face to face, he will say to you, “You
wicked servant! I canceled your debt
which was far greater! I gave you
mercy! And you have shown no mercy.”
Jesus tells us something else…
35
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive
your brother from your heart."
How is our debt to the Lord paid? Through Christ’s forgiveness.
When we forgive others, we too are forgiven.
When we do not forgive others, we are unforgiven, and living in a
state of torture until we reconcile.
Un-forgiveness hurts us and our relationship with the Lord.
This Giant that we face in our life, this Goliath named
un-forgiveness, is part of our spiritual battle.
We battle not against flesh and blood.
We need to approach this fight in the right perspective, through
the eyes of the Holy Spirit, and realize that this is the Lord’s fight, and who
is greater than our Lord?
All things are possible through Christ Jesus who strengthens us!
Forgiveness can happen today!
