Forgiveness

God morning.

Kids enjoy your last week of freedom as school starts next week.

Those of us who are teachers are headed back Tuesday.

Be in prayer about school starting back up.

For many it is a wonderful experience for others it is horrible.

The school system is one by far the largest mission fields in Nevada and the USA.

Pray for the teachers and administration and coaches and paras and janitors and lunch ladies and bus drivers that God has placed in that mission field to reach kids and adults for Christ.

Pray for all of them but especially those doing the will of God on a daily basis in an increasing hostile environment

Lets Pray

START OBS

Today we continue with our bait of satan sermon series by tackling forgiveness

Society has very little to no understanding of true forgiveness.

Today in our society Forgiveness looks like many different things to many different people

Many Christians are also confused or deceived about true forgiveness

Why

Because forgiveness is vital

Forgiveness is essential

Forgiveness is mandatory for salvation

God created it

the devil knows and understands it so he fights hard to confuse and try and stop it.

My prayer through this series has been and will continue to be for

softened hearts

Responsive hearts

Sensitive to conviction hearts

There is pain in that but more so

encouragement

freedom

and growth in Christ

Today will probably hit most of you here and online hard

Conviction will be felt

The question is will you respond to that conviction or reject that conviction

Conviction is God loving you

Conviction is God showing you sin so you can confess, be forgiven and be reconciled back to Him

This morning I want to look at forgiveness

Forgiveness is a process

It is a process first and foremost between you and God

Then between you and yourself

Then between you and others

both forgiving others and asking for forgiveness from others

First is the most important thing that you must ever understand

The most important thing you must believe

The most important thing you must apply

God’s forgiveness of your sin through the blood of Jesus

Before we go any further I want to make this statement of truth

Forgiveness is already done

Forgiveness is already freely offered

There is nothing you can do to earn forgiveness

There is nothing you can do to deserve forgiveness

The only thing you can do is accept or reject God’s forgiveness through Jesus

When Jesus took the sins of the whole world upon Himself

The Bible says He became sin

2 Corinthians 5:21

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“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

That means since Jesus became your sin

Became my sin

Became the sin of the whole world

He knows that sin

your sin

my sin

the sin of the whole world

better than you

better than me

better than the whole world

You are never alone if you are a Christian and you have a Savior who truly understands you

Understands your strengths because He gave them to you

Understands your weakness and sin because He became it

He knows you inside and out and longs for a deep

intimate

personal relationship with you

He then died for the payment of those sins

Died in your place

paying your price

The only question is will you accept that forgiveness and apply that payment to your sin debt

God loves you so much He gives you free will

You are free to accept or reject Jesus and forgiveness!

Our main scripture for this morning is Colossians 3:12-13 but before we go there I want to make sure we are good on definitions and understanding of key words in the forgiveness process

I have listed these in your notes as well as put the original word and in () how to pronounce it

Words used for forgive or forgiving

Colossians 3:13 Forgiving Greek verb charizomai (kar-id-zee-my) to grant as a favor, pardon, or rescue, deliver, forgive, grant.

Luke 23:34 Forgive Greek verb aphiemi (af-ee-ay-mee) forgive, forsake, lay aside, omit, put away

Luke 6:37 Forgive Greek verb apolyo (ap-ol-oo-o) to free fully, relieve, release

Acts 3:19 Repent Greek verb metanoeo (met-an-o-eh-o) think differently, reconsider

Colossians 1:14 Redemption Greek noun apolytosis (ap-ol-oo-to-sis) ransom in full, salvation, deliverance

Matthew 5:34 Reconciled Greek verb diallasso (dee-al-las-so) to change thoroughly

Websters 1828 defines reconcile as to restore to friendship or favor after estrangement

As we go this morning these will be important which is again why they are in your notes. If you haven’t grabbed a note sheet please do so and if we are out see me after service and I will print you one.

Colossian 3:12-13

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“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”

This describes a Christian’s walk

This describes a Christians’s mindset

This describes a Christian’s lifestyle

Notice it doesn’t say if you want to put on

or

If you feel like putting on

or

If it is convenient for you then put on

or

Put on sometimes

or

If you agree put on

No

If you are saved

God’s chosen one, holy and beloved

which is exactly what you are as a Christian

Then you put these on

No questions

No argument

This is what you should live like, think like, act like, look like

Period end of story

What should you live like, think, like, act like and look like

Compassionate hearts

Kindness

Humility

Meekness

Patience

Bearing with one another

Forgiving as the Lord has forgiven you

This leads us to forgiveness

God’s forgiveness

Again horidezmy....pardon, rescue, deliver

Forgive others as God forgave you

our first step in the process of forgiveness is

Accept Christ’s Forgiveness

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It all starts here

Without this nothing else matters

John 14:6

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“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus is the way

Jesus is the truth

Jesus is the life

NO ONE comes to the Father except through Jesus

Not good works

Not being a nice person

Not serving in various ministries

Not tithing

not church membership

Not church attendance

JESUS IS IT!

Acts 3:19

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“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,”

The first step to salvation and accepting forgiveness is repent....mat-an-o-eh-o think differently, reconsider

How do you think differently

What do you reconsider

You hear the Gospel

God’s truth

Holy Spirit awakening you to your sin

the price of that sin…death and eternal separation from God

the fact you can do nothing to pay your price

that Jesus paid it all for you

Because of that you repent....180 degree turn and go the opposite direction....think differently.....reconsider how you used to live and think and believe and how you should live and think and believe in response to the cross

Confess your sin

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I John 1:9

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“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Confess Greek verb homologeo (hom-ol-og-eh-o) to assent, confession is made

Confess just means to agree you have sinned

To agree that because of that sin you will die and face the full force of God’s Wrath and eternal punishment

The problem is if you refuse to confess

then you refuse to agree you have sinned

and you make God to be a liar

For ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

Not my words His Word

To be saved you must agree you need saving

Ask for Forgiveness

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af-ee-ay-mee

Have your sin laid aside....put away

Jesus died for your sin

Your sin is forgiven but you must ask

You must seek God

You must realize that you have sinned and that sin separates you from God and that you realize Jesus is the only way to get that sin forgiven

You ask…that is fearing the Lord

Psalm 103:12

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“as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

God wants to take your sin as far as the east is from the west but again He gives you free will and waits until you confess to do just that.

It all begins with repenting and confessing

Once you have accepted forgiveness you have

Redemption

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ap-ol-oo-tro-sis ransomed in full, delivered…saved!

The moment you turn to Jesus and ask for forgiveness of your sin

The moment you confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and Savior

The moment you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead

You are redeemed

You have full redemption

Same is true for a Christian who sins

the moment you repent and confess that sin

the moment you turn to Jesus seeking forgiveness you are again Redeemed

Paid in full

Delivered

Then the work of obedience happens

Reconciled

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dee-al-los-so changed throughly, back in friendship with God

Sin separates you from God

God is so holy

God is so perfect

God is so righteous He can’t even look upon sin

Matthew 27:46

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“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””

God even turned away from His own Son Jesus when Jesus took the sins of the world upon Himself

When you are in sin

When you live in sin

When you have unrepentant and unconfessed sin in your life God cannot look at you because God can’t look at sin

You choose to be separated from God when you choose to ignore your sin

When you refuse to accept your sin

When you refuse to own your sin

You choose to be separated from God

You must deal with your sin

The only way to be reconciled is through Jesus

Jesus made all of that possible on the cross and by walking out of the tomb

It goes beyond salvation however

Matthew 6:14-15

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“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Forgiven people forgive people

I will say that again

Forgiven people forgive people

This is God’s expectation by the way

Christians

Brothers and sisters in Christ

You must get this

So many will hear

away from me I never knew you when they see Jesus face to face because they refuse to forgive

I know this is heavy

I know this is hard

I believe true forgiveness just like true love, agape love, God's Love is only possible in humans through Jesus and Holy Spirit

no Jesus no love

No Jesus no forgiveness

Forgiveness is a lifestyle for Christians

Forgiven people forgive people

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Ephesians 4:31-32

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“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Church this is God’s truth

This is God’s Word

This is God’s expectation of His children

There is no fence to sit

There is no middle ground

This world is evil

This world looks to kill

steal and destroy at every moment

I saw an article that Disney wants to make a movie about a teenager who is dating satan

I tried to watch Worst Cooks in America the other day and had to turn it off because the first two people were drag queens and they were celebrating that fact

The more evil the world becomes the harder truths like we see here will be to live out

The more evil the world becomes the more important truths like we see here will be to live out

Let ALL

All comes from the Greek adjective pas and it literally means all in every sense of the world

individually

collectively

the whole amount

ALL

ALL Bitterness

All anger

ALL wrath

All clamor

Websters 1828 defines clamor A great outcry; noise; exclamation; vociferation, made by a loud human voice continued or repeated, or by a multitude of voices. It often expresses complaint and urgent demand.

All slander All malice

Put these away

remove these

eliminate these

make sure these have no part of your life

Again not a suggestion

God is serious with this scripture put them away

instead

Be kind to one another,

tenderhearted,

forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

If you are a Christian and this is not your lifestyle.....your whole lifestyle.....not just your church you but all of you

your social media

your texts

you thoughts

the things you say under your breath

all of you must be kind to others

tenderhearted

forgiving as God in Christ forgave you

Jesus even took this to another level for Christians

Forgiveness Must Be Granted or Obtained To Truly Worship

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Matthew 5:23-24

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“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

Today when you are at church

When you enter or are in your secret place

When you are praying

Wherever you are and you realize your brother has something against you.....go and be reconciled......stop what you are doing....even church and be reconciled

Immediate

Not think about it for a month or more

Not well I will deal with that later

No now.

That may be actually going to them in person right then

That may be sending a text asking them to meet you for a coffee or whatever

Act right then and there.

I have pulled out my phone during a church service many times and sent a text because God convicted me of sin I had committed against someone and I needed to be reconciled.

Sermon preparation gets put on hold a lot because of that same thing.

God lays something or someone on my heart and I must first go and reconcile that situation, ask for forgiveness, grant forgiveness whatever is needed before I can move on

How Often To Forgive

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Luke 17:3-4

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“Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.””

Notice how this truth starts out

Pay attention to yourselves

You can’t control other people but you sure can control, through the Holy Spirit how you respond

react

interact

with others

Pay attention to yourself!

Is someone asks for forgiveness you are to forgive them

The heart of this scripture is you and I don’t keep count

You don’t reach a point where you say,

I am sorry but I have no more forgiveness for you, you used it all up

So many of you are there with people in your life

Some are there with many people in your life

You are wrong

Sure they wronged you

Sure they hurt you

Sure this is a process that takes time to heal emotionally

But if they ask, you forgive

In fact before they ask you forgive

Jesus went to the cross to forgive you LONG before you ever asked for forgiveness

If you are there you must question if you have you truly accepted Jesus’ forgiveness.

Jesus never says I am sorry I have no more forgiveness for you, you used it all up

Jesus died once to completely forgive all sins from all people

He didn’t die just to cover a certain amount of sin

He died to cover all sin

Now this is not to be used as a get out of jail free card or an excuse to continue to live in sin because God forgives

No

When you realize the cost God paid

When you realize the blood that was spilled by Jesus for you

When you realize what it took to offer forgiveness you will then sprint the other way from sin

When you sin it will crush you

It will bring you to your knees

Because you realize that sin is separating you from God Almighty

That sin caused Jesus to die

That sin hurts your relationship and closeness with God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost

That sin hurts your earthly relationships

You can’t out sin God’s forgiveness but that doesn’t mean you should try

Forgiven people forgive people and Forgiven people are repentful people

When someone comes to you for forgiveness

It doesn’t matter if you approached them with the issue,

Hey when you did this it really hurt me

When you said this it really hurt me

Or if they came to you

I am sorry that what I did or what I said hurt you. Will you forgive me?

Doesn’t matter

When they ask you forgive

As soon as you know they need forgiven you forgive

I want you to understand something

What Jesus did on the cross means that forgiveness is not yours to withhold

You have to get this

Forgiveness is not yours

Jesus bought it with his blood and life

Who are you to withhold something that was freely given to you

The final thing I want to look at in terms of forgiveness is this

Unity and Fellowship Require Forgiveness

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James 5:16

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“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

Church....brothers and sisters in Christ

Community Christian Church

Do you want to see Nevada changed for Jesus

Do you want to see revival sweep across Nevada and Vernon County

Do you want to see addictions destroyed

Do you want to see marriages healed

Do you want to see families restored

Do you want to see the broken comforted

Do you want to see the lost flock to Jesus for salvation

It starts with you and it starts with forgiveness

If we, brothers and sisters in Christ applied this verse to our lives

If we here at CCC truly confessed our sins to each other

Truly prayed for one another

We would see healing like no other

No necessarily physical healing but spiritual healing

We would see relationships that were so strong

so counter-cultural

Marriages so vibrant

Families that their closeness and unity makes no sense

We would see our church full of those delivered from addiction and strongholds

Why

Because we would be living how God tells us to live

Forgiveness is like throwing gas on a fire

People struggle with forgiveness

They struggle granting forgiveness

They struggle accepting forgiveness

What if we,

You and I

lived like Jesus and freely offered forgiveness to any and everyone

What if we,

you and I

lived in such unity that the world had to stop and ask what is going on there

What if we,

you and I

allowed the light of Jesus to shine so brightly through us that it completely drove the darkness out of Nevada and Vernon County

None should perish but all come to repentance

That starts with you

That starts with me

That starts with us

Forgiven people forgive people

The question is are you forgiven

STOP OBS

Invitation Song