Do you think you are too bad to be forgiven?
I want to talk about hate forgiveness this morning. We live in a world that is totally turned upside down. Right is wrong, wrong is right. We are no longer innocent till proving guilt, we are guilty to we our proven innocent. So our minds all twisted in what to believe. Are we too bad to be forgiven, have we done things to wrong that we can never be forgiven. Do we curse people, and say I hope they rot in hell. The word of God says no. If you are holding hate in your heart, hate, it is a sin. God says we need to forgive, you don’t have to go back into relationship with that person, but we need to forgive, if we don’t we are no better than they are. Sometimes we have to love at a distance. See the thing we forget is we are to love the sinner the hate the sin. When satan has his claws into someone he can manipulate them to do what he wants them to do. As a child of God we can be oppressed but not possessed. There’s been a lot of people in history that have done a lot of bad things that have been forgiven. I’m going to give you some examples this morning. I want you to think on this very hard, for this is God’s word. Here is a list of some of them. One of the greatest kings, King David. The great apostles Paul. Another apostle Peter. Rahab the prostitute. An the prodigal son.
Just remember Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Let’s look at , King David. King David was a man after God’s heart. David was raised a shepherd. He always trusted in God, he knew God had his back. Then one day David was tempted and lust filled his heart. We have to remember the faith of the day is not the faith of tomorrow. We can be on top of the world one day and at the bottom to very next. But when satan tempted David with lust, he looked from his rooftop and seen Bathsheba bathing he wanted her. Lust took over his heart, he had her brought to him and he lay with her and she became pregnant. Uriah was her husband. He was one of his David’s mighty warriors. David sent for him to come home from battle. And told him he needed to spend some time with his wife. Hoping to cover-up the pregnancy .So Uriah and everyone else would think the child was his. But Uriah could not bring himself to be with his wife. So the only thing left for David to do. Was to have him killed. Which was murdered premeditated murder to cover sin. And After Uriah death he took Bathsheba for his wife. Now you would think God would not have anything to do with him. But that’s not how God works, if we truly in our heart turn our life back to him and asked for forgiveness and truly mean it. He will take us back. But there’s always consequences for the things we’ve done. And there were consequences for David’s sins. in II Samuel 12:
And the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to David, and said, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor.
The rich man had many flocks and herds:
But the poor man had nothing, save one little lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the traveler that was come unto him; instead he took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. And you know what ,David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:
And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. And then David got the shock of his life.
Nathan said to David, Thou art this man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. Here David is repenting. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. But, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. And Nathan departed. And the LORD struck the child and it was very sick. Then David begged God for the child to live, David fasted, and went in, and laid mighty upon the earth . And the elders of the house rose and tried to get David off the ground, but he would not. And he would not eat. This went on for seven days, and then the child died. The servants were afraid to tell David that his child had died. They knew that he did not listen to him while the child was alive and they didn’t know what he would do since the child had died. David saw the servants whispered and David knew the child was dead, so he asked them is the child dead? And they said he is dead. David got up washed himself anointed himself and came into the house of God in worship. Then he went to own house and he did eat. David was forgiven and from that day forward he lived right for God. There was still a lot of consequences that would happen because of what David had done.
Psa 51:1 David wrote this Psalm after Nathan had came unto him and he had gone to Bathsheba .he said, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightiest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judges. And then in Psalms 51:7-9 he said Purge me with hyssop, & I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter then snow.
Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones, which thou hast broken, may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and put away all mine iniquities. Then also in Psalm 51:12-17,
Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and establish me with thy free Spirit. Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked, and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from blood, O God, which art the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing joyfully of thy righteousness. Open thou my lips, O Lord, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest no sacrifice, though I would give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit: a contrite and a broken heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. And David was forgiven and God brought Christ through David lineage.
Then we come to the apostle Paul, who was known as Saul. He murdered, harassed, and persecuted Christians. Because he thought he was doing the work of God. Paul even believing he was doing the right thing. Paul stood and held the coats of those that stoned Stephen, and he watched them stone him to death. So again Paul was a bully and he was a murderer ,premeditated thinking what he was doing was right. On the road to Damascus Paul was changed
Acts 9:4-5, And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” From that day forth Paul had an uncanny enthusiasm about our Lord and Savior that was beyond comparison. Can you imagine how many people that he had to win over for them to actually believe that he was a child of God. Can you imagine when he came to the apostles, they would have been totally unsure of him and scared. Imagine when he went into the synagogues, people knew that he drugged men women and children out in chains took them back to be murdered or locked in cells for believing in Jesus Christ. But God opened Paul’s eyes on the road to Damascus and he changed. Even to the end of his life.
When Paul was in prison he was chained to a Roman soldier. But out of that prison he still had enthusiasm and he taught about her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and he wrote letters to the churches. And to Timothy to keep him inspired. What an awesome testimony, for someone that had done so much wrong. To doing so much right. Paul even said in 1 Timothy 1:12-13, Therefore I thank him, which hath made me strong, that is, Christ Jesus our Lord: for he counted me faithful, and put me in his service: When before I was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and an oppressor: but I was received to mercy: for I did it ignorantly through unbelief.. And then he said in
II Corinthians 7:1 Seeing then we have these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthinesses of the flesh and spirit, and finish our sanctification in the fear of God. Then we come to Peter. Peter is considered the rock. But Peter ended up denying Christ three times. In Mark 14:66-72, And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows thrice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
Then Jesus even had to reprimand him in
Matthew 16:23, But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
And then we come to Rahab, who was a prostitute, despite her background, God used her in a mighty way. She demonstrated great faith and was able to help the children of Israel. We see in
Hebrews 11:31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. And James 2:24-26 we see a person is justified by works and not faith alone. As we see Rahab the prostitute was justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them the other way. We gotta remember the body apart from the spirit is dead, also faith apart from works is dead. Proper faith brings proper works.
And then we see the prodigal son. The youngest son demanded his share of the family estate. He was wild , and he wanted his freedom , he did not want to work the land. And he wanted to do his own thing. So took all his money, left went and squander it. He was have a jolly good time drinking and being part of the world. But his dad always pray for him and watch for him to come back home. When the young man ran out of money . Just like people that go to bars by everybody drinks thinks they have lots of friends. But when the money runs out, there’s no friends to be found. Money is the root of all evil. Now this young man was broke, starving. And he wasn’t sure what to do, but he decided he’d go back home, and asked his dad, not to take him back as his son ,but as a hired hand, that he could have food and a place to stay. But what happened the father seen him coming, ran to him took him in his arms hugged him put a ring on his finger and made a fatted calf for them to eat. For all the wrong that he had done he was forgiven.
Now I am going to tell you of a man named Johnny Lee Clary.I want you listen to his testimony very carefully, If you think you are beyond Gods forgiveness.
He starts out .It’s a dark night on your out-of-town property. The kids are asleep, and you are outside locking up. Suddenly bright carlights shine down your driveway – masses of them. Men in white robes jump out, yelling abuse and shooting guns in the air. Covered in their white hoods & robes, you can’t see their faces, but you sure know their voices! Terrified you run for safety back inside, and they know they have you. They laugh, hoot and whistle. Suddenly, your large equipment shed is ablaze, and all you can do is stand horrified at the window, watching your livelihood go up in smoke.
Such is the terrorisation meted out to unsuspecting Americans of African descent by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Midnight drivebys, bricks thrown through windows, arson, shootings, bombings – killing men, women & children no matter the age. Watching them burn to death. Raped and tortured.Some even drug behind trucks till they were dead. The list of crimes goes on & on. You may have seen sights like this on TV and at the movies, but nothing would prepare you for the moment when the Ku Klux Klan visits YOU.
The Ku Klux Klan is a white supremacy group, which has its roots in the upheaval after the American Civil War when many black slaves were freed. There have been three different incarnations of the group since then, which still continues even though being declared a terrorist organisation in many US states.
In 1980, Ku Klux Klan member Johnny Lee Clary, then 30 years old, became the Imperial Wizard of the White Knights, the national leader of the Ku Klux Klan. The White Knights are the most dreaded faction of the Klan, with a horrifically violent history. He was also the appointed the Klan’s official spokesperson in the hope he might recruit new members. Clary was only too happy to promote the Klan. He had found a sense of family there when he’d first connected with the KKK as a 14 year old street kid. A family whose values happened to line up with those of his father, who had killed himself right in front of Clary’s eyes when he was a young boy.
Throughout his time with the KKK, and especially as Imperial Wizard, Clary distanced himself from the violent activity of the White Knights to stay clear of any possible accusations by the FBI. He never killed anyone, But he did know what went on.Kinda like letting the other people do the work with out you getting your hands dirty, he would leave meetings whenever sensitive issues were discussed, in case the room was bugged. But he was still aware of some of the crippling things going on ‘behind his back’. In February 2003 he told the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger about a significant event which took place during his term. Here is an excerpt from the article:
“When they started talking about a white revolution and starting race riots, I knew I couldn’t go along with that philosophy,” he said.
Clary reached a point of thinking about taking his life, but he had a life-changing encounter with the truth. He saw a Bible on a table and remembered the happiest times of his life were the years he spent at Carter Park Church [where he committed his life to Jesus at the age of 9].
“I picked up the Bible and began looking at it, thinking I should pray and ask Jesus for forgiveness and rededicate my life to Him,” Clary said. “I don’t believe it is a coincidence that the first place I turned to was Luke 15, the story of the Prodigal Son. As I began to read, I realised that no matter what I had done, the Lord had never left me nor forsaken me.”
After praying for forgiveness he said, “I felt like 1,000 pounds had been lifted off my shoulders.
“I wouldn’t tell you all the hate and prejudice left right then because hatred is a learned response just like love is,” Clary explained. “I had to learn to do something I had never done. I had to get into God’s Word and find out what it says about love.”
Soon after this, Clary began to question many more of the KKK’s ideas and policies, especially in regard to the KKK view of the WWII Holocaust. When he discovered his girlfriend was an informant for the FBI, he could take it no longer. He left his Klan days behind him forever, and seriously re-committed his life to Jesus soon afterwards.
Travelling various rocky roads, Johnny ended up being an agent of reconciliation between blacks and whites in America, starting Operation Colorblind, Inc. in the early 1990s, and also now serves in the Congress Of Racial Equality. He became an evangelist and renowned international speaker with 2012 being his 21st year in ministry. Everywhere he goes, including Australia recently, people clamour to hear his stories. They are curious to find out how the KKK works, but especially they are amazed at Clary’s miraculous shift from hate to love, from violence to tolerance, and from racism to Christianity.
Johnny Lee Clary’s miraculous shift has given him the opportunity to tell people the world over that it is never too late to change, and there is nothing too large for God to forgive. So never think that God cannot forgive you if you truly mean it. And you give your life to him. He will forgive. But the consequences of the things that you’ve done. Will always be in your subconscious to let you know where you come from to where you are now. I pray that this helps this morning all the hatred itself this world and that God can give us better understanding.
