The Power Of Forgiveness

The Power of Forgiveness

Scripture: Matthew 6:9-15; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:12-13

Good morning Strangers Rest. The title of my message this morning is “The Power of Forgiveness.” This is the first of four messages that God has given me to be delivered to you as we begin this transition together. In the following weeks I will follow-up this message with messages on the Power of Memories; Grace and finally Distractions. God gave me these specific messages to both encourage and equip us as the foundation for how we will move forward in this season.

Today officially marks the beginning of our journey together which at the end of this journey you will have a new Pastor. I want to thank you for putting your faith in me and allowing me to walk with you on this journey. This is an important message as we decide how we will begin this journey together. Remember last week when I told you that Satan made the greatest mistake ever made because he did not believe or understand God’s word – even though he was there when the Bible was being written? Well this morning it is our time. Before I get into the heart of this message, I want to ask you a question that will set the stage for how you will respond to this message. The question is this: “Do you believe God’s word as He does or is your belief based on traditions and what you have always heard other’s say?”

God told Isaiah in Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11) God said His word will accomplish exactly what He said it would – so the question for us is do we believe this? Let me give you an example. In the Bible there are several statements of facts in both the Old and New Testaments that says liars will not enter into heaven. Now on the surface we all might agree and say amen, that the one who lies should go to hell for all eternity. But do we believe God’s words the way He does? Let’s play this out. Let’s say that I am a man of God, preaching God’s word every Sunday, but I am also a habitual liar, not only is it a habit, but I have perfected it, I am a master of it, I have it down to a science. Because I mastered it, I have the reputation that if my lips are moving I am probably lying, except when I am preaching of course. Oh, and for reference purposes, there is no such thing as a little white lie being okay – in God’s eyes any untruth is a lie or falsehood. Now, according to God’s word, and our society, what I have just described makes me a liar right? So, if I am a liar and I have not repented and stopped lying (which by the way is sin) and I die as a liar, do I go to heaven or do I go to hell based on what God’s word says? Remember, to repent means you change directions – you go the opposite of where you are headed. In other words, if you are going left, you change and go right. If you are going east, you change and go west. You absolutely stop doing the sin! Repentance never means to stop temporarily or pause momentarily until the next opportunity presents itself. I say this because some people believe that a lie is an abomination to Lord but a very present help in the time of trouble. So, if I die as an unrepentant liar, do I go to heaven or do I go to hell based only on what the Bible says about liars and not what we “feel” it says?

I will not give you the answer to this question because how you answer the question depends on how you choose to believe God’s word. So again, do you believe God’s word as He does, or do you believe it according to what makes you comfortable? When you look at the men of God who stand in pulpits across this Nation, not all of them will end up in heaven. Jesus said in Matthew chapter seven that not everyone who prophesies (including preaching) His word will enter heaven. He also said in the same chapter that there will be more people going to hell than going to heaven which seems to be the opposite of what we believe. I am stressing this because the message today is about forgiveness and if you have developed a practice of believing God’s word in a different manner other than how He believes it, you might have a problem with this message this morning. God believes in His word and His words will accomplish every single thing that He said they would - whether we believe, agree and/or accept it or not! As you listen to this message I want you to ask yourself if you believe His word in the same manner as He does.