LOVING AND FORGIVING

Pastor Lawrence Bradford

I want to thank all of you that came and backed me last night.  That meant so much to me.  I want to thank you for coming.  Praise God. Can you hear me out there?  I want to make sure you can hear me.  Chuck did what he was supposed to, he cut my monitors off and I can’t hear my self. Hallelujah.  I’ve got to get comfortable so I can walk out here and see if you can hear me. Hallelujah, don’t want you to go to sleep on me. Okay, that’s good. Amen,

That’s real good. Anyway, God is so good. He is so good, he is so good, praise God. Last night Bro. Teddy was testifying and wend he got done, I wanted to jump up and say that’s my brother in law. Amen, I’m proud to be kin to him.  God was so good, it was good. 

You love the Lord?  I’ll tell you what, lets pray. Oh, before we pray, let me just tell you something.  We got home last night and my wife said you are wore out.  Do you have anything for tomorrow.  This morning, Joel said, God pulled a lot of things out of you, do you have anything for this morning?  We won’t be in here long today, will we?

So Father, what I am asking right now in the mighty name of Jesus, I need you to minister to your people.  Thank you Lord for opening up the flood gates last night which we had built a reserve but Lord today, I just need you to pipe it in and pipe it out, I just need you to minister to your children.  And I know your going to do it, I know your going to do it because you love us.  Thank you Lord for moving in a mighty, mighty way. In Jesus, precious, precious name. I want you to …ah, we’ll get to that later, amen. 

Bro. Joel, would you come down here?  Last night, the pastor of the church had brother Joel stand, brother Joel said I’m just a Sunday school teacher.  No brother, you’re not just a Sunday school teacher.  You minister the word, your love ministry is as good as anybody’s, your giving ministry is as good as anybody’s. your much more, and I want to pray for you but before I pray for you, I want you to just stand right there.  If brother Joel has ever ministered to you in love or kindness or anyway, I want you to stand. 

I want you to turn around and look brother Joel.  Not only that, but God says you are my son.  Some people are just a Sunday school teacher, some people are ministers of the word in love and kindness.  Many of you are ministers.  One of the things about our church is… and it is so true, most everyone has found a part and ministers in some area.  That’s what makes us grow.  Amen. Hallelujah, praise God.

Anyway, I want to preach a message to you about loving and forgiving.  And I want you at anytime, I want you to realize that this alter is open. And at anytime you feel like you need to come to the alter and take care of things this morning, I want you to come then.  I don’t want you to wait for an alter call.  Amen.  Loving and forgiving. Ephesians 4:32. 

Loving and forgiving. 

Ephes. 4:32

   And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Understand,  one of the things about our forgiveness is we need to do it for Christ sake.  We need to be forgiven for his sake.  Remember a long time ago, a minister I was with for 15 years, a lady had said, I forgive you for Christ sake.  He said that’s not in the bible.  Here it is, the Lord took him to this verse and he said, so it is.  So understand this, Christ sake, amplified says it become useful and helpful.  Amen. Be useful and helpful, and kind to one another.  Tenderhearted, compassionate, understanding, loving hearted, forgiving one another.  Readily and freely, as God in Christ forgave you. And that’s good isn’t it? 

Be useful and helpful.  How many times sometimes we compound the problem.  Matthew Henry said be ye kind one to the other, this implies the principle of love in the heart.  And the outward expression of it in a humble, courteous behavior. 

Sometimes, a name will pop up and you just see the expression, you just see the countenance change, unforgiveness.

It becomes the disciple of Jesus Christ, Matthew Henry says, to be kind one to the other, as those who have learned and would teach the art of forgiving.  That’s what we’re supposed to do.  We’re supposed to teach people how to love and forgive. That’s what this is about. Folks, we need to realize the body of Jesus Christ has been broken.  A lady comes up for prayer last night and her foot had been broken in four places and she said it will not heal.  That ceased last night, the foot began to heal last night.  How do you know it began to heal last night? Cause we prayed, we believed, we didn’t pray in doubt.  You pray in doubt, you do without. 

And so we prayed and so here we see that the body of Christ has been broken and it can never heal unless it forgives.  Sometimes things happen in the Christian walk and people that are part of the body of Christ have disagreements.  But the body has got to be healed. Okay, understand that the body has to be healed.  Tenderhearted, that is merciful and having tender sense of the, again we are reading from Matthew Henry, of the distresses and sufferings of others, so as to quickly be moved to compassion and pity.  Forgiving one another.  He says occasions of difference will happen among Christian disciples.  There will be time when we have different opinions.  Sometimes we think the ministry ought to go this way, sometimes people think the ministry ought to go that way.  We have different opinions. 

We got to grow up, as one of the brothers I was talking to this week said and it is so very true, he said why don’t people just grow up, they need to grow up. That’s exactly what we need to do, we need to grow up.  We need to be men and women of the Word of God.  We need to be living the Christian life in practice, not in word only.  Therefore, we must be pliable and ready to forgive.  We need to be pliable, we’re going to have difference of opinions.  There in resembling God himself.  How many of you believe with all your heart that you agree with God on every single thing?  Will you raise your hand and let me call you a liar, Nobody?  But God still loves us. 

So here we see for Christ sake has forgiven them.  And that more, they can forgive one another because God has forgiven us, Christ has forgiven us, we can forgive others.  Understand this, no matter what sin, no matter what sin has been done against you, and if we have to forgive somebody, face it, somebody has done us wrong. Amen.

Do you remember the doctrine of turn the other cheek. Now that means if somebody smacks you, literally, turn the other cheek to them. It also means if somebody does you wrong, turn the other cheek. Spiritually, spiritually speaking you forgive them.  Okay, now so he says with God there is forgiveness and he forgives sin for the sake of Jesus Christ. And on account on that atonement which he has made to divine justice.  Matthew Henry goes on again, note again, those who are forgiven of God should be of forgiven spirit, and should forgive even as God forgives, sincerely, heartedly and readily, and cheerfully, universally and forever upon the sinners sincere repentance, remembering that they prayed. 

Forgive us our trespasses, we prayed this prayer one time, we went through this one time.  Forgive us of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  So we see this doctrine of forgiveness.  Matthew Henry goes on, that we may observe concerning all these particulars that the apostle has insisted on that they belong at the second table.  The second table of this verse is, the first table of this verse if forgive us our trespasses, but now we have to live is the second part of the table, as we forgive those that trespass against us. So here we see, which Christians should learn the strict obligation. 

We are under strict obligations to forgive. That they are under strict obligations to do the duties of the second table.  We are under the duties and obligations to do this second part of this verse, to forgive others that’s trespassed against us.  And that he who doeth not consistently discharge them, could never feel, nor love God in truth and sincerity, whatever he or she may pretend.  We can never be truly, truly what God wants us to be, if we are not loving, forgiving people.

Too many people have hindered their growth spiritually, because of not forgiving.  And if it goes on in the Church too much, we will hinder the growth of the Church we are at.  And so, this is something we need to understand and deal with.  Now that was in verse 4:32,

We’re going to go backwards a while, we’re going to go to verse 31.  Let all bitterness and wrath and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. Let this stuff be put away from you.  I want you to know, we have to recognize when things come up in our lives and God sometimes puts on the heat, the impurities come to the top.  Well, what does he want us to do? He doesn’t want us to quit.  He wants us to take care of that.  We’re given an opportunity to take care of that. Whether we are quick to anger, whether we have resentment, whatever impurity comes to the top, we need to recognize something’s wrong here. 

And so he said, Matthew Henry again said, here is another caution against wrath and anger with further advice to mutual love and kindly disposition toward each other.  By bitterness, wrath and anger are meant violent inward resentment and displeasure against others.  Does the very mention of somebody’s name, cause a different expression on your face?  This is costing you nothing.  And by clamor, big words, loud threatening and other intemperate speeches which bitterness, wrath and anger vent themselves.  When we have bitterness, wrath or anger, this vent comes out. 

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to recognize when somebody is upset with somebody.  Christians should not entertain these violent passions. These are vile passions.  Again, the body cannot be completely healed until it learns how to forgive. 

But what you say, they should forgive… no, no, no, you got to grow past that. Some people will never forgive.  You’ve got to be the one that forgives, you got to be the bigger person; you got to be the one that doesn’t stunt your Christian growth.  You’ve got to do that. 

So here we see, Christians shouldn’t entertain these vile passions in their hearts and be clamorous with their tongue.  They shouldn’t just be running their tongue off about so and so doing that and on and on and on.  And I want you to understand some things, I understand that sometimes when we get upset and we’ve been mistreated, or we feel like we’ve been mistreated, and a lot of times, we’ve not even been mistreated, we just feel like we’ve been mistreated.

But why is it that a rapist can walk in this church and come to this alter and get saved and turn from his wicked sin, and people will rejoice.  Why is it that a drunk could come in here and come to this alter and repent, and people would rejoice? Why is it that a prostitute can come in and come to the alter and get cleansed and people would rejoice? Why is it that some people that have done some of the most depravity things, could come in here and we would love them and reach out to them. 

Why couldn’t we do that to our brother or sister that we have labored together and loved and been with for years and years because they said some remark about us or something. Why can’t we forgive them and go on?

Evil speaking, Matthew Henry, evil speaking signifies all railing, reviling and reproachful speaking against such as we are angry with. And by malice we are to understand that rooted anger, rooted anger which prompts man to desire and to do mischief to others the contrary to all those that follow him. This is contrary to this and so these things are also taken from Matthew Henry’s commentary.

Ephesians 4:30, backing up. Anybody remember where we started? 32, Anyway, here we go, verse 30. And grieve not the Holy Spirit.  I want you to know something. The Holy Spirit is precious. And when we don’t forgive, and love and forgive, we will grieve the Holy Spirit. And there is too much work to be done for Christ sake to grieve the Holy Spirit.

What is important to you Brother Bradford? What’s more important to me more than anything in this world, is to listen to the Holy Spirit to get a message, to be lead, to be guided, to be directed, for the Holy Spirit to flow through me to touch people.  That is important to me, and if I grieve him, that will not happen.  And it’s got to be important to us again, it’s got to be important not to grieve the Holy Spirit.

Anytime we disobey Gods word and we break his commandment, we grieve the Holy Spirit in a degree.

Remember what bro. Matthew Henry said.  Occasions of difference will happen among Christ disciples. We have got to grow up. We have got to understand that we are serving a big God and it isn’t about James Street, it’s about Jesus Christ and him crucified and his body, his body has to be healed, it’s about him hallelujah. 

Backing on up to verse 29, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. But that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers. I can tell you very little of wrongs done to me by anybody. Yes, there are some that have done things and I couldn’t tell you what they are you know why.  Cause I made up my mind along time ago that I’m going to remember the good things.  I’m going to remember the good things, you know.  I’m going to keep on loving. I am a lover of people. 

I’m pretty faithful when I get someplace so when I was ask to list my last five jobs I couldn’t. I stayed with my job so I never had five different jobs in my life.  Amen. I’m the same way with the church. Amen. That’s why I haven’t went no place. That’s me. I’m staying. Amen. So anyway, a man I know said, I’m so proud of myself, I had 12 jobs last year.  Okay when your unstable, when you have to change jobs 12 times in a year, and listen, there are times when you have to change jobs, for promotions that God wants to bless us and lead us to the place where he can. I understand that.  Twelve times a year, God is not promoting you; you’ve just got a restless spirit. Amen.

Okay, so don’t let corrupt communication, don’t talk bad about a person, love them.  Remember the good things. Human nature is this.  A person can do 100 things right, one thing happens and people will forget the 100 things.  You can sow into someone’s life for 15 years, pure goodness, but one time you made a mistake and all that 15 years is gone, that is human nature. 

But we are partakers of the divine nature. It’s time we realized we are Christians, the Christian faith is about love and forgiveness and repentance and acceptance. It’s about praying one for the other. It’s about praying when you feel a brother or sister is straying away from the truth. And so you don’t let corrupt communication  come out of your mouth. But what you do is that which is good to the use of edifying. Build somebody up.

Don’t be telling people about a Church you don’t like, knocking it.  That may be the Church God wants to send your child to get saved.  I never will forget, I’m ministering to this one family and they are coming to our church and we’re ministering to them and helping them and their father was a minister also. Got upset about something and started knocking the Church. These people got out of church, backslid, divorced now.  And their son-in-law has the children. What caused that? I’m not saying that pastor caused that but I’m saying you can certainly give the devil a place, what does the next verse say, give no place to the devil, you can certainly give a place to the devil when you do not forgive, you do not love and try to do things right, you give place to the devil, you give place to the devil.

And I’ll tell you what I’m not on the devil’s side, I’m not his buddy, I’m not his sidekick. I have nothing to do with him. I give him no place. I am going to love and forgive and be the kind of person that Jesus Christ was. Don’t you remember how that when Jesus was hanging on the cross, or when Steven was being stoned, they were praying forgiveness for the people that was doing these things to them. None of you died yet. When we do not take care of these things, we take the devils side. 

Who’s side are you on?  Stand up and be counted for the Lord. Amen. praise God, hallelujah. Hallelujah. Stand up and be counted for. That’s good, see My brother learned something last night. Amen. And listen, when you’re more than a Sunday school teacher, you’re a leader.  When he stood up, other people followed. Amen,

I’m standing up for Jesus. When we take the devils side, we hinder our growth.  It is important that I keep growing in the Lord. It is important that I keep growing in knowledge. Again, one of the things we do, like we talked about last night, we don’t want to pass on a torch that has went out. And we got to pass on a torch fully ablaze, now listen, and not only do we as ministers but we as parents. We don’t want to pass on a torch to our children that has went out. 

But you don’t know what they did to me, don’t care, I know what people has done to me and I love them.  Amen, and so, understand this, we don’t want to hinder our growth. We don’t want to hinder the growth that God has for our church. 

Ephesians 4:25, Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. I want to tell you something, if you are a person that talks a lot, you will insert a lie every now and then. That doesn’t cost you anything.  The bible says this, and I told Jerry this one time and told him I would bring him the verse and never did. But the bible says study to be quiet. 

So you know, what a lot of people need to do is start studying. Study to be quiet. Have you ever said something and wished you never said it?  Have you ever said something that you had no idea you were going to get the reaction that you got? Amen. hallelujah. I love the Lord.

Now Ephesians 4:24,  this going backwards preaching is okay isn’t it? That you put on the new man. How am I going to take care of all this stuff? How am I not going to give place to the devil and how am I going to be able to love and forgive people? You put on the new man, which God has created in righteousness and holiness.  Holiness is this, I’m going to give you this definition. God gave it to me in prayer, you can have holiness you way, whatever you want.  You can have holiness as women can dress in tow sacks and the dress goes plum down to the ground, and tie their hair in a tight bun and you know we might get good a facelift that way but It’s got to give you a headache to pull your hair back like that but that might be your definition of holiness, you know. 

It always concerns me that preachers will preach that women should be covered but the preachers don’t want to be covered. I look at men ministers and I watch them and I wear more clothes than they do. You know I just do I don’t draw attention to myself. If your going to preach it for the goose, you need to live it yourself. Amen, hallelujah, that didn’t cost you anything. Okay,

So put on the new man, and oh, I was going to give you a definition wasn’t I?  Holiness is the character and the nature of God. We are partakers of the divine nature, that means we partake of it, we start producing that. Now listen to this quote. You ready for a quote? Listen to this quote.  If any Church, this comes from a smart man. If any Church will be content to have Jesus teaching on love as its creed, I would join that Church.  If any church would really just step up and love, the way Jesus taught us to love, I’d be part of that Church. Dr. Albert Einstein.  As far as I know, he never became a Christian, cause he’s looking for a Church; he’s looking for a Church that should be living the love of God. 

Will Jesus treat this person the way I do. Will Jesus have these feelings and resentment the way I do? I know what we need to do. We need to go back to that study again What Would Jesus Do, and we need to start practicing it. We don’t need to wear the bracelet, we don’t need to wear the necklaces, we don’t need to put the sticker on the car we don’t need to do that, but we need to have in our thought process What Would Jesus Do in this situation?  We don’t need to make somebody rich with some great saying somebody has put in a book, What Would Jesus Do. We don’t need to merchandise the gospel. No, we need to do WHAT JESUS WOULD DO 

What Would Jesus Do? Would Jesus have just made the face I made when I heard that name? Would Jesus have all these aches and pains? No Jesus would hang on a cross and say Father forgive them for they know not what they do. Don’t you know that sometimes you need to go in prayer for a brother or sister cause Satan has led them astray or did this with them or did that with them, and they don’t even know what they are doing sometimes?

Have you ever considered that sometimes, you don’t know what your doing? Have you ever considered that sometimes, you’re not as smart as you think you are? Well if you haven’t, consider now. John 15:12-13, this is Jesus talking. Do you love the commandments of the Lord, do you want to obey the commandments of the Lord? Okay, this is my commandment, Jesus said, that ye love one another as I have loved you.  Now I want you to ask yourself this question. Do I love others the way that Jesus loves me? And if the answer is no, I need to pray and ask the Lord to help me to love. Many times I pray Lord, teach me to love the way that you love.  Teach me to love the way you want me to love. I don’t want love the way I want to, I don’t want to love the way the world loves; I want to love the way you want me to love.

A man came into a church and he’s drunk and he’s dirty. The pastors preaching and the man comes to the alter and he’s dirty and filthy and he’s stinking and pastor tells the Lord, I can’t love him. And the Lord says son, will you allow me to love him through you? Will you let me love him through you? He said yes Lord I can do that.

Why can’t you love him? Why can’t you love him? I remember our pastor was off preaching a revival and a drunk came into the church and he sitting back about where Olivia is sitting on that side of the church and they had 3 rows like we got and just sit right there.  And, people, he’s drunk, I mean let me tell you, sometimes some people are drunk and some people are sloppy drunk.  And he’s slobbering, and he’s might have thrown up before he got there and he wasn’t in pretty shape. Have you ever seen a drunk that’s not in pretty shape? 

And so a sister is trying to help minister to him and she said, brother can we help you as she handing him a paper towel? What she’s saying is you need to wipe your mouth and don’t touch me.  I’m better than you are. And I watched that, and I went over there and put my arm around the drunk and I said, can we help you? And I got up and he looked around, he looked at all the people, he looked at the people doing this, and he looked at me. He says is there someplace we can talk, just me and you.  All people need is love.

Sometimes, you learn lessons the hard way; you want to know where I learned to put my arm around that drunk? One day, my daddy called me, wanted to go to church with me. Wanted to go to church with me, he lived right beside a beer joint. My daddy was alcoholic. I’m driving the church bus and I pull up to my daddy’s place and he’s not there, he’s over at the beer joint. I walk in, I got my suit on, I walk in. My daddy said, me and my son can whoop any two men in here. And I said daddy, I’ll pick you up later and take you to church when your sober, no.. I’m going to church now.

And so, I picked my daddy up, I bring him to church, he sits in the back of the church, I walk by him and everybody else. I don’t want nobody to know he’s my daddy, I don’t want nobody to know that he’s associated with me, I don’t want any of that. I take my daddy back home after church and I’m praying the next day and I’m shouting and I’m glorifying God and God says, I’m displeased with you son. I said why? Cause you was ashamed of your daddy, your daddy needed loving, you didn’t love your daddy.

And so, when the drunk walked in, Listen, I didn’t want God telling me I’m ashamed of you son. You can never love from arms length. You have to get close, and when you get close, if you are a true lover of people, you will be hurt over and over and over again. But I refuse not to be a lover and not to be a forgiver. I refuse to stay back.

I don’t want you to punch me in the face again. But I will hug you again, and I will take the opportunity to be hurt again, over and over again.  I believe Jesus told his disciples one time, Peter says how often do we have to forgive these people? You know the answer to that, I’m not even going there. 

This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you, so ask yourself this question.  Do I love others the way that Jesus loves me?  Greater love have no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  Wow! I would die for everybody in here probably. It might take me a few more minutes for me to die for some of you in here than others . Amen. You know.

Even Jesus had his group, amen. He had Peter, James, and John out of the 12. He certainly did.  And so, understand that, you have no greater love than a person that would die for you. John 15:17, these things I command you, that you love one another. oh, Lord help us. John 14:23-24, Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man loves me, he will keep my words. If a man loves me or a woman loves me, he will keep my words. What was his words? The verse we just read. If you love me keep my commandments. What did he say above that? These things I command you that you love one another. So Jesus tells us, if a man loves me, he will keep my words. He will make sure that he is working on areas of his or hers life.

Listen, and sometimes we have to say God I don’t know why I’m breaking your word, I don’t know why these feelings are here, but they are real and they need to be taken care of. And the only thing I know Lord is I need to have more of a divine nature than a human nature. It’s a human nature to want to fight or get even or wait for an apology.  Can’t you forgive, can’t you forget? Man, you learn a lot just listening to people talk, especially when they are in the wrong, amen.  If you love me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him. Yes, the more we keep Gods word the more love we have from God and I want you to understand something, you will have God intervene in your life more because your doing right.  You know you can say what you want to.

Russell been praying a lot and seeking God, Joel prays a lot and seeks God and obedient to God and doing things, Daniel obeying God and doing things and God intervened for them.  He didn’t have to intervene for them.  This could be a very, very sad day for us. A very sad day. But God intervened. Because they are loving, they’re loving and doing, and God loves them back. Not only that, God makes an abode with us, he comes in and the Holy Ghost will move inside of you and live there. Abode is a place to dwell. 

Verse 24, he that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings.  And the word which ye here is not mine but the father that sent me. Jesus said, if you don’t love me, you won’t keep my words.  In other words, you won’t forgive when somebody has done you wrong.

What you’ve got to understand is, God is not asking you to go out and party with them, God is not asking you to do a lot of things. But when it gets in your crawl when somebody mentions his or her name, and you know when somebody can just tell by the expression on your face, and you say uh-oh. So God brings these impurities to the top that we can deal with them. Like I said, if you don’t forgive and love, you hinder your growth. Not only that but if it goes on long enough or goes through the church so much, it can hinder the growth of the church.  We’re growing again.

You want to know why? Cause most of us has allowed God to heal the body that was broken.  That didn’t cost you anything, I’ll charge you later. Jesus said, he that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings. The sayings of love one another, forgive one another as Christ has forgiven you. you don’t keep these things. Jesus said, you don’t keep them, then you don’t love me. If you commit adultery, you don’t love the Lord. If you become a drunkard you don’t love the Lord. If you’re a liar or cheater, you don’t love the Lord. If you’re a robber of God, you don’t love the Lord. Now figure that one out. Amen. okay, moving right along. 

And the word which you hear is not mine. Jesus said the words you are speaking they are not mine, they are Gods. The words I’m preaching you this morning, they are not mine. They belong to God. They belong to God. God has, listen, God has people that has talent. God has people that he wants to release and use for great and mighty things. But until we grow up, until we become men and women of God. Jesus said this, listen to this verse, how many of ya’ll remember this verse? The greatest in the kingdom is going to have to be the least. Sometimes to be used of God, you will actually be a doormat. And sometimes, people don’t want to be a doormat. Sometimes, our flesh rises up and we don’t want to be a doormat.

I can’t forgive. Why can’t you? Why do you have to rebel against God? I can’t love them. Why, cause they don’t love me? Jesus loved us while we were yet sinners. We don’t have an excuse. Only thing is, why do we justify our actions. Why are we not saying God, I humbly accept your word and I’m having problems forgiving this person. Help me. 

In other words, we need to be praying everyday, if we’re not forgiving someone and we don’t love him or her, we need to be praying everyday, Lord I have a problem. Now God can work with that because you’re being honest. He can work with that. He can’t work with excuses,

R.W. Shambock was having a bread breaking service that what he called it. You know, we have communion and I don’t know if that is what they are talking about our what. And so, in his service, he’s noticed in his service he’s got two sisters. Sisters in the Lord, not sisters in the flesh. And if they are in church together, they’re sitting on their pew not getting into the service. But ifone of them is not there, the other one is “Glory to God, Hallelujah”, just worshiping God and when the other is not there the other one would doing the same thing.

So he, see there’s a problem. So one day, he has a bread breaking service and he goes down off the platform and he grabs one of the sisters by the hand. Oh, brother Shambock, your going to break bread with me today, I am so excited. He said, no sister, I’m taking you over here, your going to break bread with sister…I ain’t breaking bread with that devil! Who you calling a devil you demon you! and so brother Shambock said, ladies what is going on? Well let me tell you brother Shambock, she did, she did, she did this to me, she did she did, I don’t remember. Well what did she do to you? Oh, Brother Shambock, she was awful, she did, she, she.. resentment. And both of the sisters had problems in their flesh, they needed a healing. And when they hugged each other and said I forgive you, they both was healed instantly.

Understand the power, I need a healing in my flesh, forget it. If you not forgiving people, if you have resentment, forget it. You hinder your healing. Anytime your breaking Gods law, you hinder God from intervening in your life. Well what if they won’t forgive, that has nothing to do with your forgiveness. What if they don’t love me, that’s got nothing to do with your love. Only person you can take care of is you and you’ve heard me say this over and over. I got this from John Maxwell, I can’t control what people do, I can’t control the lies that they tell, have you ever tried to correct a lie? Have you ever tried to correct something and it just gets worse? I can’t control any of that. I can’t control if people likes me or don’t like me. I can’ t control that. All I can control is what goes on the inside of me.

I’ve got to make sure that my thoughts are holy, my thoughts are pure. I ‘m thinking love toward that person and I’m doing everything I can to make sure they make heaven their home, as well as me.  So, he that loveth me not keeps not my sayings and the words in which he heareth is not mine but the father that’s within me. So your not keeping his words.

Matthew 11:25-26. Jesus words again, and when you stand praying, forgive. I chose this scripture because this is a mature Christian right here, this is what God requires you to be. He did not say forgive when they come to you. He said, when you stand praying, forgive.  You will find that your life goes so much smoother when you learn to forgive. Some of you, some of you have blamed God for some of the situations you have went through and you need to ask forgiveness for that and forgive God, because God hasn’t done anything to you but you have this bitterness and resentment. Why did God let me go through this? Why did I have to go through this? Praise God

I better stop going out and preaching too much I’m get too brave? And when you stand praying forgive, if you have ought against any, if you have ought, forgive. Sometimes, you try to go to people and make things right. A lot of times, it makes things worse. But, take care of it. When you took care of your part, let God release it. Don’t bring it back up.  Don’t let it grow back in your life, you took care of it.

Many people, right before I got the church, heard a preacher, he was preaching on forgiveness and things. He said go to people that you know that has got something against you, then go to people that your holding something against. Which you know, I don’t hold on to anything. Have you ever got into an argument with your spouse and you bring up stuff from the past? I hear laughing. Is that an amen, and oh me, or ouch you got me? Not if your smart. Are you smart all the time?

Anyway, but one day, me and my wife we are in an argument and she’s throwing up stuff and I don’t keep score. So I’m thinking hard man, I’m thanking hard. So I said by the way, those Frosted Flakes you bought, they’re not Frosted Flakes. That’s all I got on her. Even after that, I’m not even armed myself. Why, because I don’t keep score. I forget, I’m very good about forgetting the hurts.

What you need to do is you need to write blessings and goodness that people have done to you in stone. The hurts and the pain you write in the dirt and let the wind and the rain wash it away, it will blow it away. You don’t remember. One of the greatest loves of my lives, the person wouldn’t have anything to do with me. The person did some lies on me and other things and for 8 years I would call and say can we go eat, can we go do this or that. One day the Lord says, I was over at the church, in the little church in the office and I called that morning. And again, invited the person and said, lets go eat breakfast, lets get together. And the Lord spoke to me and said son, he don’t love you the way that you love him.

Don’t you understand? Keep loving him, keep praying for him, but you don’t have to keep begging. But Lord, I want that relationship. More than anything I want that. More than anything, of all the people, his blessing upon my ministry or even acknowledging that I have one probably means more to me than anything, and I don’t have it. But I can tell you one thing, I love that person. If that person called me today, I would be right there. Any other people that has left the church, if they call me I’m right there. You know, sometimes people say well that’s a pastors heart. Bro. Teddy disagrees with you, bro. Teddy says that’s a Christians heart. 

That’s elementary. Elementary my dear Watson. Loving and forgiving is the greatest weapons that we have.  Remember the words of Doctor Albert Einstein. About finding a Church living Jesus’ teaching on love.

Stand pray and forgive if you have ought against any that your father also, you know last night I left my watch at home again. I thought I preached about an hour, but I didn’t know how long I preached. But I do know the guy handed me the cd and said, the guy must have been ready to go home, the guy said the cd has 85 minutes on it, and we ran out of cd a long time ago. So trying to justify myself, and trying not to look so long winded, I said there are songs on here right, he said, no, just you.  Hallelujah, hallelujah, praise God,

But I’m glad he took the message and bless the people, cause he was blessing people. That thrilled me, I was so blessed. That was good. Okay, now, I’ll give you a nugget here, when you stand praying forgive if you have ought against any that your father which is in heaven may forgive you of your trespasses. There is nothing more important to me than to make sure that me and God has things right.

As much as I love people and I forgive for the right reasons, there is a reason along by itself, not to allow somebody to hinder the moving of God in my life. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you of your trespasses. I can not allow God not to forgive me. I can not allow somebody to let me wind up in hell. I can not do that.

Luke 6:37, judge not and you shall not be judged, condemn not and you shall not be condemned, forgive and you shall be forgiven. Again, when we get to the place where we will not forgive, we set ourselves up as judges over that person we will not forgive. Amen, ouch, oh me anything, just come on say something.

How many of you will give me 5 more minutes. 5,10,15,20,25 okay, amen, hallelujah. I got that from brother Jim, I’m closing. Amen, good to be light hearted.

You know when we come to church we should get so seriously minded, you know I understand there are times we have to go and we have to leave early, but we need to examine ourselves and see how much I do it, is it really necessary that I leave. Hallelujah.

Again, let me read that verse, judge not and you shall not be judged. Condemn not and you shall not be condemned, forgive and you shall be forgiven.

And then He said in Luke 23:34, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots. They was crucifying him and we’re supposed to be like Jesus. There will be times when people will crucify us. Understand this, if you are a child of God, you will have to suffer some things. One of the sufferings of Christ is to go through the things that he suffered. 

Understand, you don’t suffer through the things that he paid for to be delivered from, but you do suffer the things he did. He was being rejected but he said Father forgive them for they know not what they do.  Many times, people do not know what they are doing. Why because they have been blinded.  And if we don’t forgive, I’m telling you we don’t know what we’re doing.

When we don’t love, we don’t know what we’re doing. 2 Corinthians 2:7, So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Now here is a guy, he’s in the church and he commits adultery with his dad’s wife, which is his stepmother. You might say; I don’t believe God wants us to forgive that kind of stuff. Okay. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him.

You need to forgive him and comfort him, because if you don’t, you could make him be swallowed up in much sorrow and wind up in a eternal hell. Don’t you know that hell is for eternity? Don’t you know that you don’t want a dog going to hell.

Col. 3:13

   Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

In closing, for bearing one another. Listen, we have to deal with each other, love each other, amen. There are going to be times we get on each other’s nerves, amen. I love families. It’s so funny to watch families. Families can get on each other’s nerves; they just forgive and forget and go on. Don’t you know that Gods family is the should be the same way, one big family. With a much wiser father. Father knows best. For bearing one another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against another, any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Amen.

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April 2008