Supernatural Forgiveness

Pray

Dr. Robert Smith, a pastor and seminary professor, writes movingly of his struggle to forgive:

He states, I remember so very well October 30th, I will never forget this darkest day of my life. Our son was working at his restaurant when four young men got into the store, jammed the safe, and then grabbed him after jamming the register. When he could not open it, the other three fled and the one stood on top of the counter and fired one shot into his body. Thirty-four years of life ended suddenly.

Brokenhearted and in pain. The Lord moved on my heart to write this young man. Who’s now in prison. He was 17 when he murdered my son. I wanted to write him because the Lord had been working on my heart. I wrote him in prison and it took him over two years to respond in writing, and this is the letter I received:

"Dear Mr. Smith, let me say that I am truly sorry for your loss. I really am. Also, I hope that this is really you that I am writing because I have received a lot of threat mail from your family members and friends. So that's why I never wrote back. But today I thought that I should give it a try because I really wanted to talk to you. I've been locked up three years now, the worst three years of my life. I don't think that I'll make it much longer though. You know, I grew up in church my whole life. I just hung with the wrong crowd on that night. I'm sorry. You probably know my pastor, Rev. (doesn’t give the name) . I hope to hear from you very, very soon. Thank you for forgiving me. Can you keep praying for me too? This is getting too hard for me to bear, and sometimes I feel just like giving up on life."

Robert Smith continues:

Well, the Lord just kept working on my heart because the Lord let me see what it took for him to forgive me. He let me see what a mess I was. He let me understand that when he forgives, he forgives unconditionally. He wanted me to understand that if you ever want to get beyond this you've got to forgive, that you can't do it on your own. So, I wrote this young man because I want to be on his visitation list. I want to go up to tell him about Jesus. I want to let him know that I love him. I want this young man and my son to hug together in heaven one day. Because forgiveness is not difficult, forgiveness is impossible without God.

You know, when I first read this story this week, I was really moved. I mean, I can’t imagine losing my only son as the result of being murder. And fortunately, most of us will never have to deal with a tragedy of this magnitude. But as we’re looking at this story, I think there is something that we can all learn from. Something, that we see modeled from Pastor Smith that we need to do in our own lives. And that is forgive others.

For some of us this morning, we have been holding on to past hurts and have not been able to forgive someone for something they have done to us. For some of us, this has been going on for years, and we can’t let go. For others of us, there are co-workers, or others that we interact with, that there is turmoil or tension there… For whatever reason, in time, you’ve been offended by someone and now there are walls of isolation in your life.

Walls that are affecting not only your relationship with that person, but also that show up in other areas of your life. In your joy, and satisfaction, in your outlook and optimism, and perhaps even it’s interfering in your relationship with God. Church this morning God has come to set you free. And So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

I’ve got let you know, that this message, out of any message I’ve ever preached, I’m about as excited and passionate about because I know this topic applies to so many in our church. Church, we need to hear this message this morning…

If you have your bibles, turn with me to 2 Corinthians 2 as we see this concept that Supernatural forgiveness does at least three things. 1. Supernatural forgiveness Restores Fellowship 2. Supernatural forgiveness Restores Joy. 3. Supernatural forgiveness Restores Effectiveness.

1. Supernatural forgiveness Restores Fellowship

If you’re not already there, Look with me at 2 Corinthians 2:5-11 we’ll read it together, and then unpack what we’re looking at. Paul writes to the Corinthian Church:

5 If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9 Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

In studying this week, I found that this guilty party or offender, had apparently verbally and publicly assault Paul likely during the apostles Painful visit to Corinthian that we see in Ch 2:1. And following Paul’s instruction, the Corinthian church would have discipline the sinning member and put him out of the fellowship. But since he had since repented, now, not only does Paul forgive him, but he instructs the church to do so as well.

But what’s interesting is that this letter, is written to the church, to correct their behavior and to forgive one of their own. So certainly this passage has application for those that are not part of the church… but specifically here, Paul is addressing the church. and He explains the necessity to forgive.

Now I don’t want to overlook the idea of sin

Jesus said In Matthew 18:15-17: 15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

You see, there is a process in place, which God has established for the church to deal with sin.

Luke 17:3-4 along the same lines says: So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.

A. That word rebuke in the Greek means: “to tax with fault, reprove, to warn or charge sharply”

But then it goes on to say: 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

The Sheep, the Pig, and Forgiveness

A farmer's sheep and pig had escaped. Together they had found a weak rail in the fence and had pressed upon it until it broke under their weight. Seeing their opportunity, they quickly bolted from the field and began to explore their new and unfamiliar surroundings.

It did not take long for the farmer to notice that two of his animals were missing and to set out to find them. But the animals had wandered far and had not left much of a trail behind them. Day soon turned to night and after resting fitfully, he resumed his search in the morning. The animals had now been gone for more than 24 hours and he began to wonder what could possibly have happened to them.

It was in the afternoon of the second day that he began to hear a distant bleating, the sound of his sheep crying out. He then began to follow the sound as it led toward a nearby bog. And it was there that he found his missing sheep and his missing pig. Both had fallen into a deep ditch, both had become coated in muck, both were unable to scramble out. But where the pig had been content to wallow in the mud, the sheep had known to bleat pathetically until the farmer had come to rescue it, to lift it out, and to cleanse it.

Then, said the farmer,

If you are ever deceived into a sin and overtaken by a weakness, don’t lose heart. Go at once to your compassionate Savior. Tell Him in the simplest words the story of your fall and the sorrow you feel. Ask Him to wash you at once and to restore your soul. For if a sheep and a sow fall into a ditch, the sow wallows in it, but the sheep bleats pathetically until she is cleansed by her master. Be the sheep, my friend, and not the pig.

You see church, in this story, both the sheep and the pig had wondered off… both we’re outside of the fold. And yet, the sheep gets it right because he calls out. He’s not willing to stay in the mud, he’s not willing to stay in the muck any longer. Church… This morning, you may not be the one that got you in the ditch. You may not have done the offending, that may have been someone else… but if you’re unwilling to forgive the other party, you’ll stay in the ditch.

Ephesians 4:32 tells us: Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Church as we forgive this morning, it restores fellowship. Would we be willing to do that this morning.

2. Supernatural forgiveness Restores Joy.

Going back to verse 6 for a moment, we read: 6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.

In verse 6, Paul touches on the punishment or excommunication that was brought about, but he states that this is sufficient, and then in verse 7 he Explains: 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.

I want to take just a few minutes and explain a few words that we see together.

7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort the word comfort here meaning to come alongside. And in the Greek, it’s not only having a treaty among yourselves, but also the idea of encouraging and strengthening the other person. You come alongside the person. Then we get to this word Overwhelmed (so we come alongside them so they’re not overwhelmed) this word meaning swallowed up, or drowning in sorrow…

And here’s the key, as we come alongside this person, it shows them our love and forgiveness. Which has a healing way of doing away with the excessive sorrow and ushering in Joy.

You see, when there is a fight or a disagreement. You may have been the wronged party, but if you’re not willing to forgive the other person, you too are guilty of sin and you’ll suffer not only from the initial impact but also from the fall out over time.

I’m reminded of a story dating back to August 6, 1945. At 8:15 in the morning local time, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima immediately killing an estimated 80,000 people. Three days later, a second B-29 Bomber dropped another A-bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki killing an addition 40,000 people. In each of these bombings a number of casualties were sustained by the immediate explosion. But here’s the key, while the initial explosion, was extremely deadly tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure and nuclear fallout.

You see, Nuclear explosions produce both immediate and delayed destructive effects. While the initially Blast , thermal radiation, and prompt ionizing radiation cause significant destruction within seconds or minutes of a nuclear detonation. The delayed effects, such as radioactive fallout and other possible environmental effects, inflicted damage over an extended period ranging from hours to years.

Here’s the point, when we consider these bombs, it’s not just the initial explosion that causes damage, it’s the fallout that takes place over time that has catastrophic effects.

Paul says, the damage has been done. And he’s been punished by the church for his actions… but now it’s time to clean up the mess. Now it’s time to come alongside and restore this person so that the fallout doesn’t continue for years down the road.

Church some of you this morning have been hurt in the past. Perhaps it was a mom, a dad, maybe a former spouse. Maybe it’s someone you work with, or maybe it’s even someone in the church. but church there needs to be a point where we forgive other people, not only because God commands us to and we want to be obedient to him. But also, because if we don’t extend forgiveness, we live with a sense of bitterness and resentment for years and years. And overtime, our joy, even as the offended person, is replaced by toxic, fallout that starts to show up in other areas of our lives.

Romans 12:18 says: “ 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

You see, you can’t control other people, but as far as it depends on you… We must be Holy. We must forgive. We must do our part.

3. Supernatural forgiveness Restores Effectiveness.

We Continue in 2 Corinthians 2:9-11 and Paul Explains:

9 Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

As we examine the scripture, we see several things. First, Paul explains that the people have been obedient by disciplining the offender, but he explains they’re not done. They’ll be tested in their obedience to forgive the offender.

Paul then goes on to downplay the offense that has taken place to him, he writes 10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake.

So, he minimizes the offense, and then he transitions to verse 11 and states 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

You see here’s the point this morning. Satan hates the church. He is the enemy. Make no mistake about it. And he will do anything and everything he can to form opposition to what the Lord is doing.

I’m sure many of you will watch the Bengal’s game later this evening. And understand, there is a war that is taking place between the defense and offensive lines. As Christ has called His Church, to run the place, to move the gospel forward. The enemy is looking for any weakness in our offensive line. Any crack he can get through, he’s trying to get in so that he can sabotage the play on the field.

Proverbs 17:14: 14 Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

Church in our lives at home, at work, and even in the church. one crack… that’s all it takes. And just like a dam, a massive catastrophe awaits.

Paul calls us here. He states 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. Church we have an obligation in our lives. We have an obligation to our families, to our workplace, and to the church to stand united.

John MacArthur Explains: Forgiveness affects the one who forgives, the one forgiven, and the entire church. The hard work of discipling sinners and restoring those who repent is a true test of a church’s’ love for the Lord.

I’m not sure what you brought in here this morning. I do know that we’re all sinners in need of grace. And that each of us maybe even today have been extending forgiveness. Or asking for forgiveness.

I go back to one of my favorite verses: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35 Church this starts with forgiveness.

I’m going to call Lisa back up as we prepare to close.

1. And I would simply ask this… is there someone that you need to forgive this morning? Is there someone who has hurt you, maybe that person isn’t even alive anymore… but your unwillingness to forgive has set you in bondage this morning. Today, God wants to set you free.

2. Are you here this morning with a sense of pride? Perhaps you would say. Forgive them? They need to apologize to me… Maybe you’re heart isn’t right this morning. Pride and forgiveness go together, and maybe God has some chiseling that he needs to do on your pride today.

3. Maybe there’s someone that you need to apologize to; maybe you need to ask forgiveness this morning.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:23-25 23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

Pray