I'm going to speak to you this morning
on the great responsibility of those who've been
forgiven.
The great responsibility of those who've been forgiven.
I want you to go to Matthew 18th
chapter, and I'm going to read a lengthy
portion of Scripture here this morning, because I
want you to get the whole picture.
18th chapter of Matthew, and
let me begin with verse 21, reading from
21 to the end of the chapter.
Then came Peter to Him and said, Lord,
how oft shall my brother sin against me
and I forgive him?
Until seven times, Jesus saith unto him, I
say unto thee, until seven times, not until
seven times, but until seventy times seven.
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto
a certain king.
Now listen to this story please, it's my
message.
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto
a certain king, which would take account of
his servants.
When he had begun to reckon, one was
brought unto him which owed him ten thousand
talents.
But forasmuch as he had not to pay,
his Lord commanded him to be sold and
his wife and his children and all that
he had in payment to be made.
The servant therefore fell down to worship to
him saying, Lord, have patience with me and
I'll pay thee all.
Then the Lord of that servant was moved
with compassion and loosed him and forgave him
the debt.
The same servant went out and found one
of his fellow servants, which owed him a
hundred pence, and he laid hands on him
and took him by the throat saying, Pay
me that thou owest.
His fellow servant fell down to his feet
beside him saying, Have patience with me and
I'll pay thee all.
He would not, but went and cast him
into prison till he should pay the debt.
When his fellow servants saw what was done,
they were very sad and came and told
unto the Lord all that was done.
Then his Lord, after that he had called
him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant,
I forgave thee all that debt because thou
desirest me.
Shouldest thou not also have had compassion on
thy fellow servant even as I had pity
on thee?
And his Lord was wroth and delivered him
to the tormentors, so that he should pay
all that was due him.
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also
unto you.
If ye from your hearts forgive not every
one his brother their trespasses.
Holy Spirit, you've been dealing with me on
this subject for almost a month.
You've been showing me that this is something
I have to deal with in my life
and that every born again believer, every pastor
in the United States and around the world,
every believer has to deal with this.
And I pray, Father, you show us hope
in this truth.
God, make it clear so I can speak
as an oracle of God and not of
man, to unburden and reveal your heart and
not my own.
Sanctify me for this purpose, I pray in
Jesus' name.
Amen.
Forgive my voice, I'm struggling a bit with
it.
Now in this story, Jesus is teaching us
about the Kingdom of Heaven.
Every character in this story is a type
of a believer.
He said, let me tell you what the
Kingdom of Heaven is like.
When he had begun to reckon, one was
brought unto him which owed him ten thousand
talents.
Now that's many millions of dollars in our
money today, many millions of dollars.
Multiplied millions of dollars in debt.
Now some Bible versions call him a slave
and that this was a loan.
That's hard for me to accept.
But he's a servant and somehow he had
access to great resources.
And he has squandered those resources.
And this was brought to the attention of
the Lord.
Now this certain man in this parable is
our Christ.
This is Jesus.
Now this is not the last judgment when
we're all given a count.
Because as the story unfolds, you find there
are many events following that could not possibly
mean that this is the final judgment.
Those that are in debt and those that
have misused great resources are being brought into
an account.
The Bible says that this man is in
deep debt.
Now this man is not a heathen.
He's a part of this kingdom work of
God.
Now in Matthew 25, remember the talents that
were given were always given for the purpose
of bearing fruit.
God didn't just for misuse give talents.
He always said if I give you resources,
you're to use it to bear fruit.
You're to bring me fruit.
There's something that you have to know about
the giving of talents.
So much was expected of this man.
No one had been given as many resources,
probably a very talented man, greatly used man
in the kingdom of God.
He's dealing with an individual now that's caught
deep in debt and bankrupt.
The scripture said he had nothing to pay.
His Lord commanded him to be sold and
his wife, his children, and all that he
had in payment to be made.
Now I can stop at this point and
go into theological discussion about the law and
about the slavery that is involved in that,
but that's not my purpose.
I'm not going to talk about the law.
There's a whole message there perhaps that can
be drawn from that.
My message is focused on this man who's
forgiven a great debt and that he is
forgiven based on compassion and mercy alone.
He had no merit.
He had nothing to give.
Totally bankrupt.
The scripture says he fell down and worshipped
him saying, Lord have patience with me and
I'll pay thee all.
Now the Greek word there, worshipped, he fell
down and worshipped, is for kuneo.
It means to kiss like a dog licking
his master's hand.
So it means to fawn.
What it is, this man is not asking
for repentance.
He did not repent.
He's not even thinking about repentance.
It's a fawning.
It's like a dog who's down and he's
being reprimanded or he's being corrected and he's
licking the master's hand trying to find mercy.
He doesn't ask for forgiveness, but notice he
asks for patience.
And we say, Lord give me another chance.
You've given enough time, given enough resources.
You just give me time.
I can make it up.
I can make this all up to you.
Now here's a man who has no possibility
of ever repaying for the sin and the
misuse and the squandering of the resources he'd
been given from the master.
But here he is.
He's not asking for repentance.
He's been caught.
This is a fawning kind of repentance you
see often when men are exposed.
For example, God may in his love expose
a minister or anyone in the church for
adultery.
He knows, he's seen in the past the
cost of that.
The Bible said to be sold his wife,
his children, his career and everything that he
had.
And he comes with this fawning, dog-licking
kind of kissy thing.
There's no true repentance, but it's, Lord don't
take my career.
Don't bring shame on my family.
Don't let me lose anything because if you
give me one more chance I can make
it up to you.
Just give me time.
And that's what this man is asking for.
He's asking for time.
There's no possibility that he'd ever make it
up.
In a million years he couldn't have made
up.
He doesn't even have a job now.
You see this is what happens when a
man often is exposed for sin.
He goes to his wife and he cries
a river of tears.
And he cries, honey please just one more
chance.
I'll work this out.
I need time.
I'll work all this out.
When I was a younger preacher there was
a very popular song in the Pentecostal movement.
Forgive me Lord and try me one more
time.
I used to like that song.
Now I hate it.
God is not interested in giving another chance.
There are no chances.
There's no way.
There is no possible way because under the
new covenant the demand for holiness is a
million times longer, stronger, more firm than in
the old covenant.
So that God makes the demand so high
you couldn't possibly ever just like this man.
There's no hope.
If he gave you another chance what good
would that do?
There's no chances.
This man was not forgiven because he repented.
He didn't repent at all.
In fact his heart was hard.
He's a man with no compassion or pity
for his fellow man which this story clearly
reveals.
There's no concept of the exceeding sinfulness of
his sin.
You can't repent until you understand how impossible
it is for you and I to ever
pay back for our sins or to make
it up for God through prayer, through consecration,
through promises, through all of these things.
You cannot make it up.
You cannot atone for your own sins.
Now the Lord knew this man's heart, the
hypocritical heart.
He knew he was trying to work on
his pity.
It was superficial but the Bible said the
Lord of that servant was moved with compassion
and loosed him and forgave him his debt.
I would guarantee you he was not moved
by his tears.
He was not moved by his cry for
patience.
Not at all.
There were two reasons why the Lord forgave
this man.
And I want you to listen closely.
It strikes at the heart of understanding the
New Covenant.
It strikes at the heart of the despair
and turmoil in the lives of pastors and
Christians worldwide because there's something that's never been
understood.
First of all, the Master knew that this
man, if he didn't forgive him, he's going
to be hardened for life because there is
a horrible sickness in his mind.
There's a horrible thing that's gripped this man's
mind.
And the Lord knew his heart and he
knew what was going on.
To him, you see, it was just a
mistake that needed a little time to be
fixed.
To think that all he...
The Lord looks on this man and says,
he thinks if he has time.
He thinks that if he can pay me
in dribs and drabs, you know, this is
exactly where the church is in many circles
today.
If I just have time and spend enough
time in the Word, if I seek the
Lord with all my heart and soul and
spend hours in weeping and broken before the
Lord, and they go into the Old Testament
and they hold the Old Testament promises.
You see, in the Old Testament it says,
if you commit adultery, you're a sinner.
And Jesus said, oh, no, no, no, no,
not now, not in the New Covenant.
You just look on the woman you committed
adultery.
You see, the demands are greater.
So, it becomes more and more impossible for
us to ever try to think or entertain
thoughts that by repentance itself, this kind of
repentance, this cry for patience, this cry, try
me one more time, oh God.
The Lord knows it's in his heart.
This man has a sickness in his mind.
And that sickness is this idea that God
can forgive me just out of his love,
because he's good and he has forbearance.
Forbearance in the Greek is to put up
with, just to put up with, to endure.
Things that you don't like, things that may
express your failure in your life, but forbearance.
And this man could not accept the forbearance
of God, of his master.
He couldn't conceive that.
He walks out of the presence of this
man.
He's freely forgiven.
And the Lord forgave him out of goodness
to lead him to repentance.
The Lord was hoping he would walk out
and suddenly dawn on him, there are no
claims on me now.
I have been absolutely set free because of
mercy and the absolute goodness of God.
And it's to dawn on me, I am
to understand, I'm to lay hold of that
truth, that mercy and grace alone has saved
me from my sin.
And that brings me to my knees.
That brings me to my face saying, oh
God, undeserved, unmerited, nothing good in me, I
gave you nothing but pain and sorrow, sickness
and sin, and you forgave me.
This man left the presence of his master,
and it didn't fit his doctrine, it didn't
fit his theology.
Because he's still thinking it's not that easy,
you've got to do something about it, I
have to invest in this.
Are he going to come after me?
Saul, help me, he's going to come after
me.
He's still going to harbor something in his
heart against me, going to come at me,
and I have to have another plan.
Let me give you a passing word about
repentance.
Repentance has been called turning away, or turning
around.
Go one direction, you turn around and go
the other.
And it's written that God, the sorrow accompanies
repentance.
But it's more than just turning away from
the sins of the flesh.
And it's more than just godly grieving for
the past.
There has to be a turning away from
this mind sickness, this thing that grips the
mind.
That's what true repentance is.
I have to turn away once and for
all from any thought or seed thought in
my mind.
That I can, by any effort of my
own, any good thing pay back to the
Lord.
I have to understand and accept the goodness
of God.
And the mercy of God is my only
way to salvation.
And to be free from the burden of
sin that has been on my back.
And so here God raises up an example
for the whole church, for the whole church
age.
An example of someone who truly needed unmerited
forgiveness and grace.
And he truly, freely forgives.
Let me ask you, what saved you?
Was it your tears?
What good thing did you do?
What did you pay?
It could even be counted against the death
that you owed.
Was it because you made promises that you'd
read the Bible and study and you're going
to be good?
And you're going to walk away from all
your sins now?
And that sin that easily besets you now,
you're going to fight it through and struggle?
And now God saw your good intentions so
he forgave you?
No, no.
He didn't forgive this man for good intentions.
He had none.
Now the Lord didn't overlook this man's sin.
He didn't wink at his sin.
You see, by forgiving him by grace and
mercy alone, he places a greater debt upon
him than the debt that was forgiven.
And that's what I want to talk to
you about for a while this morning.
This great debt of those who've been forgiven.
You see, at that very moment there was
a responsibility placed on this man that was
greater than all the sins that had just
been forgiven.
He's now responsible to be as forgiving and
loving to others as the Master's been to
him.
And oh, what a responsibility that is.
What an incredible responsibility.
You see, you can't disconnect this parable with
all the other parables.
You can't isolate it from the rest of
Scripture because Scripture answers Scripture.
You have to take it all into account.
Jesus said, if you forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
You see, what Jesus said then was in
effect then.
He said it in that time, that very
time.
He said, if you not forgive others, I
cannot forgive you.
It's not an option.
It's a command.
Put on, therefore, as the elective God, holy
and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of
mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another.
In other words, putting up with one another
and forgiving one another.
If any man have a quarrel against any,
even as Christ forgave you, so also do
you.
And above all these things put on charity,
which is the bond of perfection or perfectness.
The Lord is saying to this man, I
have loved you.
I have forgiven you a great debt.
Now I am saying that you are obligated.
You are commanded to go forth in your
house, in your home, on the job, on
the street, and everywhere you go, and you
are to treat every other brother, sister, just
as I have treated you, with unmerited grace
and mercy.
You've got to do the same thing.
I've done this now for this very, very
purpose.
This man goes out and he finds, he
meets someone on the street that owes him
pennies.
Literally pennies.
Probably in our published in three days wages.
And he takes him by the throat and
begins to choke him.
If you follow the imagery through, you know
he's saying, look in your pockets.
He's searching his pockets.
He says, I want it, and I want
it now.
And this man falls down in the same
scene, same picture, and he says, please have
patience.
Give me time, I'll pay you back.
And this man says, you don't have any
time.
And he drags him off to the prison
and has him charged and locked up.
Now folks, these are all type of Christians,
believers.
This man is not a heathen.
He's a man who's been trusted with great
responsibilities in the kingdom of God.
He had great resources that he'd wasted.
This is one of the most abominable sins
mentioned in the Bible.
How can this be perpetrated by a man
who's been so forgiven?
How can he act so shamefully?
What an ingratitude.
Stop and think about it.
Incredible, unbelievable ingratitude.
How can it happen to a man?
You know, you see, the blackness has been
in his heart all the time.
I want you to go to Romans 2
and let me answer the question from the
scripture.
How this man could do this.
Romans, 2nd chapter, verses
1-6.
Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou
art the judgest.
For when wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest
thyself.
For thou that judgest doest the same things.
But we are sure that the judgment of
God is according to truth against them which
commit such thing.
And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest
them which do the same things, and doest
the same, that you shall escape the judgment
of God?
Now listen to this.
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness,
and forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the
goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.
But after thy hardness and pettinent heart, tracest
thou unto thyself wrath against the day of
wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God, who will render to every man according
to his deed.
Now look at me please.
That word despise means to think it is
impossible.
In other words, he said this grace and
mercy is impossible.
I can't comprehend it.
Scripture here from Paul the Apostle says not
knowing, not understanding.
Folks, this is one of the most important
things I can ever say to you.
And listen to me please.
You have got to know and understand the
grace of God.
You have got to know and understand the
forbearance of God.
I don't believe you can live a victorious
life unless you understand that God loves you.
Totally, without merit, he loves his people.
I wake up every day and I thank
God I am loved.
And I get my strength from that.
He loves me.
He doesn't wicked my sin.
No, he doesn't wicked my sin.
But he wants me to understand and know
that the goodness and his mercy is leading
me to a life of repentance.
Where I quickly repent and I quickly go
to him because of his love and because
of his forgiveness.
Not trying to earn anything, not praying because
I am trying to make anything up to
God.
But giving him thanks for his mercy.
Despising the riches.
See this man went away despising the riches
of the goodness and forbearance and long suffering.
Not knowing that the goodness of God was
meant to lead him to repentance.
He despised it which simply means he could
not accept it.
Can't accept it.
And a man who doesn't believe he is
loved is not capable of loving anybody else.
Becomes judgmental.
He despised the riches and forbearance and long
suffering not knowing.
You see, he wasn't on probation.
There was no claim against him.
This man is free.
But he is not accepting it.
He is despising it in his mind.
Because his past perhaps, his Jewish background that
told him he had to do 635 works
in a way to please almighty God.
How dangerous it is not to know and
accept and believe in the goodness and long
suffering and forbearance of the Lord.
You see, he goes out still in doubt.
He goes out despising this mercy.
Believing he still owes the debt.
So he is going to treat everybody else.
He is now a judge, judgmental.
Folks, I believe there is more judgmentalism in
the church than there is outside the church.
Because you see, the world won't judge its
own.
But such judgmentalism.
Incredible judgmentalism in the body of Jesus Christ.
This man had no rest.
He is in turmoil.
And he is doing...
I'll tell you what.
This man, I believe from the time he
left, we don't know how much time expired
between the time he is forgiven and he
goes out and meets this man that owed
him so little.
But I am sure that he is in
turmoil.
What am I going to do?
How is it going to happen?
And he is cussing the grace that has
been given to him.
He is not even knowing, not understanding.
Folks, you hear so much.
We preach against sin.
You have heard all of this and you
have heard grace.
You have heard a lot of grace preaching
and mercy preaching.
But is it dawning on you?
Are you getting it?
Are you understanding how much he loves?
How much he cares and how much he
wants you not to despise that.
To accept it.
And to fully believe it.
So that you can learn what true repentance
is.
And what it is to walk truly in
holiness without walls.
Why are there so many divisions in the
body of Christ?
Why are so many ministers fighting with other
ministers?
And denominations fighting with other denominations?
Do you know what Jesus said?
By this shall men know you are my
disciples, if you have love one for another.
How in the world do ungodly people recognize
the church now?
If love is the way we recognize the
body of Christ.
How is it recognized today?
With all the fighting and all of the
horrible things that are happening.
I was in a certain country for a
ministers conference and when I got there.
I was told time and time again.
There is one pastor in this city we
don't fellowship with.
Beware of him.
Don't associate with him and please don't give
him any prominence in the meeting if he
comes.
Boy, I said he is into all kinds
of charismatic foolishness and on and on and
on.
I heard about this man.
When he came to my meeting and I
met him.
I want to tell you something.
Immediately I recognized Christ in this man.
And someone whispered to me.
He said do you know that man spends
two days every week shut alone with God
in a cottage out in the country.
He is one of the greatest men of
prayer in this nation.
So I invited him on stage and offended
so many people.
Pastors.
I couldn't understand it.
It was his success?
I don't know.
But he was a great man of God.
And even Pentecostal pastors were telling me don't
go near him.
I can't understand that because I wonder how
many of these men have been forgiven that
great debt.
How many things have been forgiven in their
lives and they will not forgive a man
they don't even know.
So in another one of my conferences.
All the Pentecostals.
There were Baptists.
Lutheran.
All denominations were cooperating.
And I loved it because it was a
wonderful sense of unity.
And each night a different Bishop from a
different denomination would get up and chair the
meeting.
I had to walk on eggs.
Everywhere I go all over the world I
have to walk on eggs.
Because this Pentecostal denomination doesn't believe in clapping
hands.
This one doesn't believe in raising hands.
This one says they have to have a
hat on their head.
Everywhere I go and some say if you
are going to have a meeting tonight we
are not coming if you have this group.
I'm walking on eggs.
I said they are supposed to all love
Jesus.
What's going on?
I don't figure it out.
One meeting.
One of the music groups.
I am so tired of having different music
groups and having to listen to their style.
Before they are allowed on the stage.
And somehow this group slid by.
They were just a bunch of happy kids
singing and clapping their hands and loving the
Lord.
And I'm just thanking God.
Someone has been on drugs and been delivered.
And there is a Bishop up there.
Angry.
Because it wasn't his style of music.
I go backstage.
And he met me.
Do you remember the story about going out
and choking?
I was being choked.
Because he knew.
Let me tell you.
He knew that what I preached came from
the throne of God.
He knew I had been on my knees.
He knew I had a broken heart.
And he said this was flesh.
It's all flesh.
And he said I'm taking 200 of my
pastors out of your meeting tomorrow and we
are leaving.
I'm speechless.
I tried to think about that man for
weeks.
I said Lord why?
What was wrong?
He knew my heart.
And folks I was invited to another nation,
another country.
And there was a Bishop that had been
inviting me to come for years.
And I wasn't released to go.
So we finally go to this country.
And because I didn't go just to be
with that group.
And invited others in, Methodists and Baptists and
Lutherans.
He wouldn't even let my associates in his
office.
And demanded that none of his people go
to my meetings.
One of his pastors did come.
But to choke me.
Backstage he says how in the world can
you cooperate with those kind of people and
the kind of people he's talking about.
It was a Lutheran Bishop who was so
full of Jesus.
A Baptist Bishop who had been in prison
by the Communists for years.
And read my book and handwritten pages years
ago.
And loved me.
And I see this.
And all I can say.
You see it's Phariseeism in many of us.
I couldn't find the answer until I looked
into my own soul.
And I did a heart searching and I
found the reason in my own heart.
And I look back years ago when I
was a younger preacher.
And so bent on holiness.
So wanting to please God.
But not understanding the forbearance of God.
And the mercy of God.
And living under a legalistic system.
And because I didn't feel loved.
And because I felt God was angry at
me.
And because I magnified my sins more than
his grace.
I stood in the pulpit and I railed
against pastor.
Because I perceived everybody to be as evil
as I was.
And I looked in my heart and I
remember how judgmental.
Now I don't take back because I was
sincere.
That's all I knew.
And it hit me yesterday when a man
came to me in the hospital.
I was in the hospital yesterday visiting somebody.
There's a man said, Brother Dave, I've been
to your church.
And I'm in the ministry today.
And he started naming, I've been to this
church.
And I've been through this.
And I've been through that.
He named all kinds of doctrines.
I said, boy, you've seen a lot of
foolishness haven't you?
He backed up.
He said, Brother Dave, I've been in all
of that.
But he said, I'm going to tell you
something.
I had a sincere heart.
And it just took me time to grow.
He said, please have patience with us.
I bowed my head.
My God.
You see, I don't want to be that
man.
And nobody here has been forgiven more sins
than I have.
And when I remember that pastor choking me
and that young man coming up choking me.
I understand now why.
Because you see, we build walls like the
Pharisees did.
It wasn't enough that the law said, honor
the Sabbath.
They had, we'll make sure we honor the
Sabbath.
So you only walk so many miles.
And they built walls around the Sabbath.
It became bondage.
They say, the law says don't take the
name of God in vain.
So they said we won't even mention his
name.
So even today the name of God isn't
even mentioned.
Because they built walls.
And now, because it says be holy.
You have to dress a certain way.
You have to do this.
You have to do that to be holy.
And we build walls.
And then you live within those walls.
And everybody else outside of those walls are
condemned.
And God alone is with us inside these
walls.
I've never seen such division.
A world gone crazy.
A world in chaos.
And pastors telling me that my wife can't
come and sit in their church without something
on their head.
I'm not putting any of that down.
You'll find it in the scripture.
You'll find foot washing in the scripture.
But they're not to be made walls.
So we go out and grab people by
the throat.
And say do it my way.
Or no way.
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor,
evil speaking be put away from you with
all malice.
And be ye kind one to another.
Tender hearted, forgiving one another.
And even as God for Christ's sake has
forgiven you.
And all does this prayer blend with a
frightful warning.
Though thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all
that debt.
Shouldest not thou also have compassion on thy
fellow servant.
Even as I had pity on you.
You see, we're not to compromise with sin.
The scripture, Paul said to Timothy, preach the
word.
Be instant in season.
Reprove, rebuke.
But notice what he said.
With all long suffering.
With all patience.
And with love.
So the Lord was wroth with the man.
Delivered him to the tormentors.
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also
unto you.
If ye from your hearts forgive not every
one his brother their trespasses.
I'm going to close with this.
There's one thing to say.
Brother Dave, how can I love others as
Christ has loved me?
I don't have some great truth on this.
Although I know how the Holy Ghost has
dealt with me.
I think you start in your home.
You start with your wife.
Your husband.
I know for a fact.
That in this congregation.
There are husbands.
Who won't forgive their wives for some past
sin.
Husbands who won't forgive wives.
And others who don't forgive others in the
body of Christ.
You stand on what you call your holiness.
You stand on what you call your right.
How right you are.
No, no, no.
You're the man.
You're this person.
Who's been forgiven so much.
You've gone out and choked.
Your loved one.
Your children.
Let me ask you a question.
How merciful have you been?
How long suffering?
Do you have forbearance?
Do you put up with things without responding
in anger?
Or are you easily provoked?
For a whole month.
I was in Florida.
Every day.
I couldn't read anything else.
I couldn't study anything else.
David, how do you go out and preach
to preachers?
Unless you have compassion.
Forbearance.
And I relate to that man.
If I had my just dues, I wouldn't
be in this pulpit.
I'd be penniless.
My children would all be divorced.
I would be divorced.
But for the mercy of God.
The grace of God.
And I can point a finger at you,
Loveling, and say you'd be the same way.
God knows where you've been without the grace
and the mercy and forbearance of God.
Amen.
The only thing that can make us loving,
forbearing, and merciful to others is to allow
us, first of all, to accept His forgiveness
and His great love.
I stand here amazed at His love for
me.
I walk into church this morning and say,
God, I don't deserve to go into this
church this morning.
I don't deserve to stand in that pulpit.
There are times my unbelief is so blatant.
There were times that I struggled so hard
not understanding things happening in my life.
And yet you were merciful to me.
You forgave me.
God helped me to stand before this people,
not with judgment, but with your love.
Preach true obedience to reprove rebuke, but with
patience.
As Paul said, as a nurse.
You'll find that from these pastors.
There's not one of them that isn't a
man, or as your sister Teresa, great merciful
people.
But that places an obligation on you, places
an obligation on me and all of us,
to be a loving church, to care for
one another.
Stand in place.
Lord, I ask you before this people, to
forgive my lack of forbearance and mercy.
And Lord, make me in my final years
a preacher of your mercy and grace.
And Lord, not only in this pulpit, but
when I travel and I speak to ministers
around the world, please, oh God, please.
There's so much pain in the ministry.
So many hurting people.
And Lord, you feel that pain, and you
feel that burden that they go through.
Lord, Pastor Carter goes soon to Cuba.
God give him mercy beyond anything he's known.
Touch and melt the hearts of all those
pastors who have been under that regime for
so long, and so downcast and burdened.
Fill him with messages of love and grace,
to embrace these men as he did in
Nigeria.
And all of our pastors in their counseling
and their teaching, and Patrick with the youth,
and all our teachers in our choir and
everyone.
Lord, forgive us for our harshness.
Forgive us for our lack of forbearance, we
pray.
In Jesus' name, amen.
If you're this morning and you're finding it
hard to find forgiveness in your heart, for
someone or for something, you've tried, but it's
been so difficult, almost impossible for you in
your flesh to forgive, been holding on to
something for a long time, this thing in
you, you've reacted wrong.
Fill this with the Lord.
If you're up in the balcony, just go
to the stairs either side, and if you're
in the annex, go to the lobby, and
I'll show you how to get to the
auditorium.
You can walk down here and meet me.
If you're on the main floor, just step
out here and we'll pray.
If you're vaccinated, if you don't know the
Lord you've come to, if you've been running
from God, and you say, well, I'm having
a hard time forgiving somebody.
I'm having a very hard time.
If the Lord understands that, there's grace for
you.
Before you walk out of this place, God
will melt your heart if you're willing to
take a step of faith and say, Jesus,
I don't want to be the kind of
person I am.
I don't want to be this hard person
who's been forgiven so much, and I can't
find it in my heart to forgive.
If you feel that you need to be
forgiven things in your life you've not confessed
to the Lord, would you just bow your
head right now and in your own words
say, Lord, forgive me.
I accept your grace, your mercy, and your
longsuffering.
You're a good God, and I accept your
goodness, and I accept your forgiveness.
I repent from my heart, forgive me.
Just say it.
Speak it from your heart, and accept that
now in Jesus' name.
I believe that.
I can't make it up to you, Lord,
but I need your grace, and I need
your forgiveness.
All right, now, the rest of you look
this way, please, even in the back, in
the aisles, wherever you may be.
When God gave me this message, I said,
Lord, how do I put this into practice
now?
He said, begin with the one closest to
you.
Those in your circle.
On your job, there may be one or
two people around you.
You begin there.
If there's anything that's in your heart, get
it out.
And secondly, the Lord told me, don't let
any seeds of prejudice take root in your
heart now, with all the chaos, all the
talk about Islam taking over the world, all
the talk about Iraq, all the talk about
Palestinians versus Israel, all of this turmoil that's
in the world, that can create seeds of
prejudice in your heart and mind.
I won't allow it.
God said, deal with it right there.
Pray with love.
You can pray for Iraqi people with the
greatest love that Jesus has.
God, after this is all over, oh, that
God send in missionaries, God, you just tear
down walls and people go in even to
sacrifice their very lives to help.
They talk about rebuilding.
The only way it can be rebuilt is
in the name of Jesus.
No other way.
So take that there be no prejudice.
Folks, I'm telling you, Pastor Carter and Pastor
Neal and all the pastors here, Sister, we've
been warned time and time again that the
enemy is going to come.
They can't get us outside, but inside with
prejudices and feelings.
There's no place for it.
You deal there right now.
Lord, give me forbearance.
Give me forbearance.
Let me put up with things that really
are not issues.
They're really not issues.
Let me look beyond these things and see
Jesus in people.
When I look at you, I want to
see Jesus.
I don't want to judge you.
I was talking to somebody the other day
about you walk into a fancy store like
Saks Fifth Avenue and you watch.
If you go in there in Levi's and
a dirty shirt, you just came from work,
watch all the workers look at you.
What are you doing here?
Because they judge you by what you look.
The man who built Walmart drove an old
pickup truck and had a bag lunch everywhere
he went for overalls.
He'd go in this store and people would
look down their nose at him.
I guess one of the richest men in
the world.
And we misjudge.
God forgive us.
Raise your hands, audience.
Come on, people, raise your hand.
Pray this prayer with me.
Lord Jesus, forgive me for being so unmerciful.
Oh God, give me forbearance.
Give me love.
Help me to love others just as you
have loved me.
And to forgive others just as you've forgiven
me.
And to hold no prejudice.
Now let me pray.
Father, you see the hands and you heard
the prayer.
We don't have to scream at you.
Lord, this is a matter now of believing
and acting on that faith.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Now just give him thanks.
Thank you, Jesus.