#7understanding Love: Forgiveness...

#7 UNDERSTANDING LOVE: FORGIVENESS

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

LOVE UNDERSTANDS: To refuse to forgive is like burning a bridge that crosses

the gap between us and heaven.

REAL LOVES FINDS FORGIVENESS EASY.

FORGIVENESS IS THE SWEET FRAGRANCE OF THAT THE ROSE LEAVES ON

THE HEEL OF THE PERSON THAT CRUSHED IT.

TEXT:

Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even

as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Matthew 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6:14 (MSG) "In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you

do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others.

15 If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part.

A small boy was praying: Lord forgive us our debts, as we forgive those that are dead set

against us...

HE CALLS ME FRIEND!

I love to go visiting it is part of my job.

Often while in my times of visitation I started running in local pastor.

He is one of the few pastors that I know that is very active in visitation.

We got to know each other very well at the funeral homes, hospitals, rehab, rest homes,

and the jails.

I would say: HOW IS MY BROTHER TODAY?

He always answered with a standard line: VERY WELL, MY FRIEND!

The way he would say: my friend was in the most cutting way.

I never understood this. I saw him several times a week every week.

We would met in the hall of the hospitals or rest homes.

He always answer cuttingly: VERY WELL, MY FRIEND.

26 years we have weekly played in the rest home. As we would play and sing,

he would stand in the doorway with tracts in his hand.

Often he would request: ONE DAY AT A TIME, we would play and sing it for him.

One day he was standing in the door way crying as we played.

After service I ask him: Is something wrong? Can I help you?

He shook my hand and said: MY FRIEND YOU ARE SUCH A GOOD MAN DOING

GOOD WORKS REPRESENTING JESUS, I AM SO SORRY YOU ARE GOING TO HELL!

Now I understood why he could never call me brother.

His church taught if you played the guitar or music you are going to HELL in a hand basket.

I did not know how to respond. I said: I CALL YOU MY BROTHER.

He left. Hundreds of times I have met him during visitation since then.

I still call him: "BROTHER." He still calls me: "FRIEND!"

REAL LOVE UNDERSTANDS FORGIVENESS IS ABOVE THE RULES.

THE RELIGIOUS CROWD TENDED TO REJECT JESUS BECAUSE HE WAS A FRIEND OF

THE DOWN AND OUT --- JESUS LOVED SINNERS...

There was a crowd gathered and they invited Jesus come and dine with us.

The crowd was the religious and social elite.

They were a crowd of EXCLUSIVE GOOD PEOPLE. They were the PHARISEE group.

Luke 7:39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself,

saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman

this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

SHE IS NOT LIKE US... WE ARE SO GOOD AND SHE IS SO BAD...

THIS BECOMES A TYPE OF UNFORGIVENESS....

TO UNDERSTAND LOVE WE MUST UNDERSTAND FORGIVENESS MUST BE THE FOCUS...

THERE IS A GREAT DANGER WHEN THE RULES BECOME MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE

PEOPLE...

Matthew 15:2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not

their hands when they eat bread.

The Pharisee group were SEPARATIST.

They were very SELF-RIGHTEOUS and had GREAT PRIDE.

The Pharisees got so FOCUSED ON THE RULES AND FORMS... CEREMONIES.

In this time period people ate with their fingers.

THEY HAD TO RUB THE FIST IF ONE HAND IN HOLLOW OF THE OTHER HAND...

YOU HAD TO WASH YOUR HANDS A CERTAIN WAY.

THEY HAD TO RUB THE FIST IF ONE HAND IN HOLLOW OF THE OTHER HAND...

THEN DO THE OTHER.

THEN YOU HAD TO PLACE YOUR TEN FINGER TIPS TOGETHER,

THEN YOU RAISED BOTH HANDS UP SO EXCESS WATER CAN RUN DOWN TO THE

ELBOWS AND THEN THE WATER FALLS TO THE GROUND.

IF YOU DID NOT WASH YOUR HANDS THIS WAY YOU SINNED, AS MUCH AS BREAKING

ONE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

PHARISEES MULTIPLIED CEREMONIAL ISSUES.

THEY WORSHIPPED THE RULES NOT THE GOD OF THE RULES...

Pharisees loved to MAKE A SHOW OF PRAYER AND FASTING.