There is awesome power in forgiveness. I wonder how many people I'm speaking to right now who are angry? Who are you angry with? What did they do in your life? What did they say? What did they do? How did they put something on you that you can’t live with? And day by day you can't hardly live with it. And somehow deep inside it just eats away at you. You don’t want to see them. You don’t want to talk to them. As a matter of fact, you would rather just avoid them at all cost.
And so I want you to listen to this message today, because this message, by the power of the Holy Spirit can set you free. You see so many people are angry and they know it. But there are a lot of people who are angry and they don’t know it. They are living enslaved by an attitude of bitterness, anger, and hostility. All of these are very enslaving attitudes. And no matter who you are and where your are, as long as those things are present in your life, they becomes this constant poison that’s leaking through your entire system. And while you may not show it on the outside, on the inside it’s eating away at you because physically you cannot avoid the consequences of anger.
And so Jesus says in Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” It’s like He’s saying the more your get rid of bitterness in your heart, which is what anger turns into when it is not disposed of. He says the more you get rid of it, the more you’re going to see God in every area of your life.
You’re going to see God show up.
You're going to see God make ways.
You're going to see God open up doors.
You're going to see God vindicate you.
You're going to see God fight for you.
Why should God fight for you when you're always fighting for yourself. If you would just release and let it go, Jesus says you're going to see God! (Is there anybody in here who would like to see God?)
That’s why there's no need for you to respond to your critics, let God respond to your critics. Because when you respond to it, when you get in the fight, all you do is give life to the fight - sometimes we just need to learn how to shut up and let God fight for us! (Tell your neighbor to shut up sometimes).
Come here Moses (Ex. 14:13)!
It is amazing to me, not so much that secular people find it hard to forgive, because secular people’s heart can be harden, because they have not received Jesus in their hearts – they have not believed the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But what is shocking to me is those who have been forgiven, often find it difficult to forgive.
I told you at the beginning of the last two sermons that someone has set you up to be released. Someone has been setting you up all this time so that you can get the blessings that God has already prepared for you. All you have to do is receive ALL of His gift of salvation, and be totally free!
This may not be a popular message. Because we are a generation that have been taught that praise will fix anything. Countless sermons – Praise your way out – Come out with a praise – When praises go up, blessings come down – He’s worthy of the praise – almost everything we sing is about praise. In principle I do not dispute the power of praise. But if you are praising and worshipping, and giving, and tithing, and you are still not experiencing the exchange from heaven that you sing and shout about, then some further testing must be done.
If you pass several test, but you’re still symptomatic, then some further testing must be done. You pass the praise test, you’ve passed the worship test, but if you still have the same symptoms as before, then further testing must be done – you need to evaluate and revise your prescription.
For example, if you are dealing with a sickness and you go to the doctor and the doctor gives you all kinds of test to find out what's wrong with you, and you pass all the test, but the symptoms of your sickness are still there, the doctor will refer you to a specialist because further testing must be done. If you pass several test, and you're still symptomatic, then further testing must be done.
You come to church on Sunday, you're a faithful tither, you love to worship God in church and out of church. You love to read your bible, and yet your blessings and your peace, and your power and your prosperity is shut up, then that means further testing must be done. (Can I teach this instead of preach this today?)
Now let me show you how it should work, go to Matthew 5:8. It says “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” That word pure is a word that comes from the Greek word “Katharos” it means to be free from pollution. Another word we use that comes from that word is the word “catheter”. A catheter works to rid the body of impurities. It pushes out what you don't need, so you can keep what you do need.
So Jesus is saying in Matthew 5:8, that you are blessed when you can free your heart from pollution. Blessed are you when you can push out what you don’t need (I wish I had some help) and keep what you do need. Blessed are those who have a system built in them that cleanses the impurities – not out of the flesh – but out of the heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Can I call 1 witness – come here Joseph! Why did God bless Joseph above all of his brothers? Well I believe it was because Joseph had a pure heart.
Had Joseph not been pure in his heart, had he not been able to release the hate, the pain, the hurt, the offenses that was executed against him – (You know - the impurities in his heart) - then when his brothers finally came to him, he would have sought to get revenge over them and then not fulfill the purpose of him being blessed in the first place, because he would have been too bitter to have been trusted with that level of wealth or blessing, or notoriety, or money (I’m trying to help somebody). Because when vindictive people get more - they just get more vicious with the more they get.
When vindictive people get more money, they just get more vicious with more money they get.
When vindictive people get more wealth, they just get more hateful with the wealth they get.
I have come to realize that God blesses people He can trust. He blesses people who don’t have an agenda above what He is doing. And He can deposit more into you when you have a pure heart because you don’t have a score to settle with someone else, you're not out on a mission to get even. And so He blesses those who He can trust. (Can God trust you?)
And so I must continually throw off the infections of this life.
Offenses are going to come. If you live long enough, offenses will come. A lot of us are living in la-la land because we believe there’s a such thing as a perfect world. You think you’ll be able to find the perfect job. You believe you’ll find the perfect man/woman (news-flash - the one you have now is not perfect, you’ve just learned how to tolerate them).
We want to have things come to us without the offenses, and so our prayers are prayers for stuff that just don’t exist. “Lord send me the perfect man, a 6 foot 3, tall dark and handsome, perfect credit, who understands me, who completes me” it don’t exist! “Lord 36-24-36 brickhouse!” it don’t exist. And so anything that doesn’t measure up to that is like trying to find a place where offenses don’t come. But offenses…do come.
Now watch this:
Turn back to Luke 17 - in our text, Jesus says “Woe unto him through whom the offense come.” That word “offense” comes from the Greek word “skandalon” it is a trap or a snare – any impediment placed in the way causing someone to stumble and fall. Now this is a word for all those who like to see other folk fall. This word is for all of the offenders. All those who love to set traps. Those who like to trip folk up and see them fall down.
Jesus is saying “Woe unto you who make it hard on My children, it would be better for you if a millstone was tied around your neck and you be thrown into the sea, than you offend – not the pastor – but one of the least of these! I know we like to say don’t touch His anointed, but He says if it’s my child, then leave them alone.
Not just the pastor or preacher, but also:
The janitor
The lunch lady
The trash collector
The young single mother
The recovering addict.
The one on parole.
The one doing time.
The little children.
The older saints.
The one walking to work.
The one having financial problems.
The one driving the hoopty.
He says It’s better for you to put on a millstone necklace and be cast into the sea than to mess with any of My children (tell somebody don’t mess with me!). For those who like to play the role of the offender, Jesus says you’re going down! Not because you offended, but because you offended one of mine!
Watch this – that means if I’m one of His, I don’t have to defend myself…because God’s got something special for you if you mess with me!
(Look at somebody and say, I’m so glad I’m His)
Now Jesus tells them, that when someone offends you seven times in a day, and ask you to forgive them each time, you are to forgive them seven times in a day. In other words, He says whatever they have done to you, whenever they do it to you – throw it off.
Now I kind of had to struggle with that. I struggle because if you’re like me, I really don’t like doing that (can I be real with you?). I don’t like throwing it off because when people do stuff to you, and you throw it off, sometimes they take your kindness - for weakness. And I don’t want you to think I'm weak. I don’t want you to think that it's ok. So my defense mechanism is anger, and bitterness and resentment.
Now let's go a little deeper, then I’ll be done. I have learned how to embrace anger – not run from it. My anger is a gift from God. It was placed in my body to protect my life. My anger energizes me to either fight or fly. It’s a gift.
And check this out, God didn’t tell me not to be angry – He said in Ephesians 4:26 “be ye angry, but sin not.” So I’m not trying to turn you into this cupcake this week, you know “you can do what you want to do to me – I won’t say nothing about it because I’m such a good Christian – do what you want to do to me – I’ll be all right because I love Jesus.” No my anger is a gift. It gives me drive, it fuels me, it helps me not to give up, it helps me not to quit. It motivates me. It gives me power. So I embrace my anger without sinning, but it goes on to say do not let the sun go down on your wrath.
And so the bible tells me when something is wrong, confront it. Look at the text again in Luke 17 - It’s right there in verse 3, He says when my brother or sister sins against me, rebuke them.” He says to face it, why - because you will not be able to release what you will not confront.
That’s why I thank God for my enemies.
Sometimes my enemies help me more than my friends.
I wouldn’t have fought as hard if they hadn’t talked about me.
I wouldn’t have fought as hard if they hadn’t have said I wasn't going to amount to anything.
I wouldn’t have fought as hard if they hadn’t knocked me down.
I wouldn’t have fought as hard if they hadn’t said I wasn't going to make it.
I wouldn’t have fought as hard if they wouldn’t have said I was going down.
You meant it for bad, but God meant if for my good.
I wouldn’t be here today if there wasn't some resistance I had to go through.
And so forgiveness is a gift that you give to yourself. It is not saying you were right to hurt me. It is not saying that I’m so weak that I’m going to let you walk all over me.
Forgiveness is saying I cannot afford to put this much energy into being angry with you. I cannot afford to let you change my whole demeanor every time you walk in the room – that’s too much energy to put in something that’s taking me the wrong direction – I’m moving forward with my life. So when I forgive you it's not about you – it’s about me. I release myself – I cut the cord from that guilt and everything that comes with it so I can be free!
You can stay crazy if you want to! You can stay in chains if you want to!
I choose to be free!
Let me show you one more thing, then I’ll be done.
Now Jesus did and said a lot of important things while He was on this earth. As a matter of fact, the bible says that all the things that He done cannot be contained or written. So when you think about that, you begin to see that Jesus was a pretty busy man – He only lived to be 33 years old. And most of the things we know about Him happened in a span of 3 years.
But I believe the most crucial point of His life was when He was dying on the cross. Because the one thing about dying is – before people die, they get real honest – they call it a death bed confession. We take death bed confessions very serious.
For example - It’s a strong confession when someone is dying, and right before they die, they say “son/daughter, don’t marry her/him, she’s/he’s not who they say they are.” Then they die (engagement off).
So I think the things that Jesus was saying while He was dying was very important.
Now Jesus is dying, but the unique thing is that He is dying with the expectation of being resurrected again. The resurrection is the biggest thing He will ever do, because He has already resurrected other people, but now He must resurrect Himself.
This is His finest hour, because if He does not get up from the grave:
Then there is no church.
There is no remission of sin.
There is no redemption.
There is no new covenant.
There is no New Testament.
There is no life.
There’s no Christianity.
There’s no Gospel choir.
There’s no St. Mary’s
There’s no JMBC.
There is no future, so this is it, this is the big one.
So since this is the big one, He has to be at His best. So they have just nailed Him to the tree. The blood is gushing out of His body. His insides are hanging out of his body. His beard has been plucked out of His face and it haven't even had time to heal. And so much more has already been done to Him before he made it to the cross, yet He still says “FATHER…. FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY DO”!
WATCH THIS - THEY DIDN’T ASK HIM TO FORGIVE THEM, AND HE STILL SAYS FATHER FORGIVE THEM – WHY – BECAUSE JESUS KNEW THAT HE NEEDED TO THROW OFF EVERY WEIGHT WHILE THERE’S STILL BREATH IN HIS BODY RIGHT NOW SO THAT IN 3 DAYS HE CAN GET UP WITH ALL POWER!
I DON’T KNOW WHO I’M PREACHING TO TODAY, BUT WHATEVER IS ON YOU, WHATEVER IS WEIGHING YOU DOWN, WHATEVER IS BLOCKING YOUR BLESSING – RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, YOU’VE GOT TO THROW IT OFF SO GOD CAN TAKE YOU HIGHER!!
This toxic waste that is running through your blood system, is cancelling out your blessing. One way or another, we've got end this toxic behavior.
You can stay over there in that filth if you want to, but I’ll stay over here. If we can’t work it out, then I have to move on – you want to know why – because you ain't worth me missing God! (Somebody open your mouth right now and holler “THROW IT OFF”!)
THAT’S WHAT GOD WANTS TO GIVE YOU TODAY, HE WANTS TO FREE YOU SO YOU CAN GO FORWARD WITH YOUR LIFE.
HE WANTS TO FREE YOU SO YOUR HEART CAN BE OPEN.
SO YOU CAN BE CREATIVE AGAIN.
SO YOU CAN THINK CLEARLY AGAIN.
SO YOU CAN MOVE AGAIN AND DO WHAT HE CALLED YOU TO DO. HE WANTS TO UNCLOG YOUR HEART.
YOU HAVEN’T DONE YOUR BEST WORK YET.
YOU HAVEN’T HIT YOUR HIGHEST HIGH YET.
YOU’VE BEEN WORKING UNDER DURESS.
YOU STILL GOT SOME STUFF IN THE WAY.
YOU’RE NOT OPERATING AT 100%
BUT AS SOON AS YOU GET THAT STUFF OUT OF THE WAY, YOU’RE GOING TO FEEL A FREEDOM LIKE YOU’VE NEVER FELT BEFORE!
SOMEBODY HELP ME PRAISE THE LORD RIGHT HERE AND HOLLAR THROW IT OFF!
I’VE BEEN WAITING TO EXHALE FOR A LONG TIME!
I’M NOT HOLDING ON TO THIS HATE ANYMORE!
I GOT TO GET IT OUT OF ME!
I’M BREAKING THE CHAINS TODAY!
I’M BREAKING THE CHAINS THIS WEEK!
I’VE BEEN WANTING TO FLY FOR A LONG TIME!
I’VE BEEN WANTING TO RUN FREE FOR A LONG TIME!
I WANT MY JOY BACK!
I WANT MY PEACE BACK!
I WANT MY DANCE BACK!
I WANT MY PRAISE BACK!
I WANT MY ANOINTING BACK!
I WANT MY POWER BACK!
SOMEONE SHOUT THROW IT OFF!!
IF IT WAS IMPORTANT ENOUGH FOR JESUS TO STOP DYING TO DO IT…THEN IT MUST BE IMPORTANT ENOUGH FOR US.
JESUS SAID “WAIT A MINUTE, WAIT A MINUTE, BEFORE I DIE, I GOT TO GET THIS OFF OF ME, BECAUSE 3 DAYS FROM NOW I GOT TO BE OPERATING AT 100% - 3 DAYS FROM NOW I HAVE TO BE AT MY BEST. I CANNOT GO TO THE GRAVE ANGRY WITH GUY THAT NAILED ME TO THE CROSS. I CANNOT GO TO THE GRAVE BITTER AT THE MEN WHO GAMBLED FOR MY CLOTHES. I CANNOT GO TO THE GRAVE MAD AT THE ONE WHO PIERCED ME IN THE SIDE. I GOT TO HAVE A PURE HEART – BECAUSE I’M ON MY WAY TO SEE GOD – I WANT IT OFF ME! “FATHER FORGIVE THEM!”
AND THE GOOD NEWS IS, YOU CAN GET IT OFF OF YOU, THE SAME WAY HE GOT IT OFF OF HIM.. YOU DON’T HAVE TO COME BACK, AND GET IT STRAIGHT WITH ME - BECAUSE I FORGIVE YOU, AND RIGHT NOW WE COOL (TELL SOMEBODY “WE COOL”), YOU DON’T HAVE TO GET IT STRAIT WITH ME – BUT YOU HAVE TO GET IT STRAIGHT WITH MY FATHER BECAUSE IF NOT, THEN THE MILLSTONE IS COMING FOR YOUR NECK.
BUT TELL SOMEBODY - I’M NOT GOING DOWN WITH YOU, I RELEASE IT!!
SOMEBODY SHOUT I’M FREE!!
