September 16th, 2018 THE OVERCOMING LIFE Overcoming Unforgiveness Terry Baldwin 1 [ TITLE SLIDE ] Want to remind us all... VICTORY IS OUR BIRTHRIGHT IN CHRIST Jesus died on the cross so that we can have Dominion in every area of life - Jesus gave us the Victory! - We CAN overcome Anything! [ Philippians 4.13 NLT ] For I can do everything (not some, not most) through Christ, who gives me strength. [ 1 John 5.4 NLT ] For every child of God defeats (overcomes) this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. [ Revelation 12.11 NLT ] And they have defeated (overcame him) him (satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. Jesus did not die on the cross to give us the ability to COPE Jesus died and Rose again to give us the ability to CONQUER...every single enemy & foe in our lives!! We re talking specifically about BIG issues as human... REJECTION / FEAR / today UNFORGIVENESS!
UNFORGIVENESS is huge issue...we re all going to get HURT... - Some hurts are Incidental everyday things - Other hurts are Horrific 2 Peter, disciple, ask Jesus question... [ Matthew 18.21 NLT ] Then Peter came to him and asked, Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times? (Rabbis taught people should forgive 3x) No, not seven times, Jesus replied, but seventy times seven! - The issue is NOT 490 times - Issue is ALWAYS Forgive What it s like in Kingdom of Heaven related to FORGIVENESS [ Matthew 18.21 NKJV ] the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all. 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; (denarii was 1 days wage - 100 denarii was 1/3 year wages / let s say $20,000) and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe! 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay you all. 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses. Shocking Story - illustrates what UNFORGIVENESS looks like from God perspective! 3 SHOCKING TRUTHS ABOUT UNFORGIVENESS FROM THIS STORY #1 IT S SHOCKING HOW SERIOUS GOD TAKES UNFORGIVENESS
There s never a situation that God allows us to NOT-Forgive...ZERO Tolerance Jesus said: If you don t forgive from your heart... My Father will turn you over to Torturers 3 Unforgiveness is Torture #1 Physically Torture // Stress / Ulcers / Nervous Disorders / Headaches / High Blood Pressure / Skin problems / on & on #2 Emotionally Torture // Outburst of Anger / Mood swings / Personality change / Depression (Depression: Anger turned Inward) GOD never created us to be repositories for Hatred - Your emotions have a limited amount of Energy - Highest consumer of Emotional energy is Anger - Just like you can only run so far / Emotions will only allow so far Many people are medicated for it... - Answer is not medication... answer is FORGIVENESS...We call that Depression - We re over medicated society NOT DOING what GOD says! #3 Spiritually Torture // Separation from GOD s GRACE / (GOD always loves you / Not going to lose your salvation BUT GOD will give you as much Grace as you will give away) ** The Servant s Forgiveness was Revoked because he was UNWILLING to Forgive someone else! // Demonic Oppression comes through Unforgiveness
[ Ephesians 4.26-27 NLT ] And don t sin by letting anger control you. Don t let the sun go down while you are still angry (means Unforgiveness), for anger gives a foothold to the devil. devil = diabolos: slanderous, accusing falsely 4 When you go to bed with Unforgiveness it s an OPEN DOOR to the Slanderer - When you go to BED with this anger... devil plants a LIE - When you go to bed angry you ll be COUNSELED by devil Deeply embedded thoughts about spouse, peers, boss... UNFORGIVENESS opens the doors for devil to come & Oppresses us!...racism / Wars / Violence / Lawsuits / Divorce / Racism / 3 SAYING ABOUT FORGIVENESS 1. The poison of Unforgiveness damages the vessel it s stored in worse than anything you can spit it on! - It damages us AND GOD won t do anything about it! - Answer is FORGIVENESS 2. Forgiveness doesn t make them right, it just makes me FREE! 3. Forgiveness is one of the most Self Loving thing you can do - If you ve been hurt by Mother / Father / Friend... - If you won t Forgive you WON T be healed!
5 Part of the Lord s Prayer:... forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. - Matthew 6 - That s the deal, He will give us as much Grace as we give - The ONLY part Jesus REPEATED in Prayer is about FORGIVENESS If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. SO IT S SHOCKING HOW SERIOUS GOD TAKES FORGIVENESS #2 IT S SHOCKING HOW PETTY UNFORGIVENESS IS FROM GOD S PERSPECTIVE owed him ten thousand talents TALENT > $360,000 // BILLIONS $$$ - The Gracious King Forgave ALL found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii - 100 Days of wages / $20,000 DENARII = 1 Days Wage This Servant owed Master 200,000 man YEARS of Labor - What King forgave he could have hired 200,000 men to work a Year - AFTER Forgiven Billions... went out and demanded his money...this IS UNFORGIVENESS #3 IT S SHOCKING HOW DIFFERENT WE ARE FROM GOD WHEN IT COMES TO FORGIVENESS [ Psalms 103.8-14 NLT ]
6 The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. - He s Precious / Kind / Slow to anger / UNDERSTAND we re human - He will forgive when we come to Him Sometimes we want MERCY BUT we want to give out JUSTICE THE MEANING OF FORGIVENESS What does it mean to forgive? #1 FORGIVENESS IS BRINGING THE BALANCE TO ZERO - Means you don t owe me ANYTHING... EXPLANATION / APOLOGY...There s NO DEBT HERE - Greek word for FORGIVE is aphiemi, means to send away / It s Gone! He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. - North & South not used... EAST & WEST - GOD Forgets it!... SINS can no longer affect us!!! - When GOD Forgives you re 100% FORGIVEN!! You don t have to pay... Jesus did - When we say I Forgive you... saying I M willing to pay the debt - You offended me / Rejected me... I ll pay it - It s what the Master did / Servant didn t #2 FORGIVENESS IS
7 PERMANENTLY FORFEITING PRIVATE & PUBLIC EXPRESSIONS OF JUDGEMENT - Not going to Call you Names and Talk about you - You don t have to FEAR Reproach - Not going to keep it STIRRED up by talking about it...it S OVER!!! WHAT FORGIVENESS DOESN T MEAN 1. DOESN T MEAN... I lose the right of SELF PROTECTION - If someone is abusing you GET AWAY FROM THEM - There are some people you can refuse to be around 2. DOESN T MEAN... I surrender right to Confront you... especially spouse - If I confront you and you don t receive what I m saying, I m still going to forgive you - Your response doesn t condition my Forgiveness 3. DOESN T MEAN... There shouldn t be punishment or consequences - I can Forgive you but you may be going to Jail 4. DOESN T MEAN... I can t seek Legal or Police protection HERE S THE ISSUE... What s in my Spirit??? - Revenge / Vindication... That s NOT Good! - Glorify GOD & Do Right thing... THAT IS GOOD!!
8 FORMS OF UNFORGIVENESS - REVENGE / MURDER / VIOLENCE / HATE / SLANDER / GOSSIP - SARCASM / NAME CALLING / DIVORCE / - Jesus said you divorce because of hardness of your heart - Hearts get hard... One drop of Unforgiveness at a Time - PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE / Means I m not going to do what you want and I m going to do what you Don t want - WITHHOLDING GOOD / TRANSFERENCE OF AFFECTION / BIGOTRY - BITTERNESS / Means rehearsing the Hurt - INTERNALLY WISHING FOR BAD THINGS TO HAPPEN TO THEM - PRAYING AGAINST THEM CLOSING HOW TO FORGIVE FROM YOUR HEART AS JESUS SAID #1 HAVE TO REMEMBER OUR SINS COST JESUS HIS LIFE - The foolish servant forgot there was a high COST for his forgiveness - Romans or Jews did not kill Jesus... YOU KILLED JESUS
- You personally killed the most righteous man in history - You deserve Judgement for it!!! - BUT GOD in His mercy FORGAVE... Zillions of dollars 9 BUT Terry, you don t understand WHAT THEY DID TO ME!!!! - Do you know what you did to Jesus?? the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay... Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt - When you go to settle account with people who did you wrong... You need to remember who you are HOW TO FORGIVE FROM THE HEART #2 HAVE TO REMEMBER GOD LOVES OUR OFFENDER AS MUCH AS HE LOVES US - Hard to believe GOD can love them as much cause they re such an Idiot - All Unforgiveness begins with DEVALUING... - If we put label on you it give me right to mistreat you - Seeing people as less valuable as GOD sees them - ALL PEOPLE are sacred GOD s sight - GOD s desire that NONE should perish
#3 MAKE PERMANENT RELEASE OF DEBT AND TRUST GOD WITH JUDGEMENT 10 [ Romans 12.17-19 NLT ] Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, I will take revenge; I will pay them back, says the Lord. - Unforgiveness is UNBELIEF - You don t think GOD cares / Don t think He can handle it - Forgiveness says... I forgive and if there s any Judgement I trust You GOD [ JIMMY Play Music ] #4 FORGIVE FROM THE HEART WE HAVE TO PRAY FOR THEM & BLESS THEM [ Romans 6.28 NIV ] bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. - You may have forgiven 100 x BUT nothing has changed...cause YOU WON T BLESS THEM! (STORY: Jimmy Evans first senior pastor position - Came into elder s meeting / Wanted him to die - Had TORTURE CHAMBER in his heart / Prayed - LORD kill him - Jimmy s personality was changing Jimmy was depressed & was praying... God told Jimmy:
- Bless that man / Pray for him like you pray for yourself - Prayed for 10 days +/-...Saw vision of hurt boy... 11 You see that man for what he did to you / I see him for what was done to him - NEVER HATED HIM AGAIN!!! - Dismantled torture chamber in heart - Felt compassion for him BLESSING FORCES FORGIVENESS OUT OF YOUR HEAD INTO YOUR HEART - You can forgive out of Head for rest of life... won t change anything - If you can t BLESS / You haven t FORGIVEN QUESTION?? - I m suppose to Forgive & Bless person who Sexually Abused me??? - You ll never be free until you do - Suppose to Forgive & Pray for: - CHEATED ON ME?? / STOLE ALL OUR MONEY?? - PEOPLE LIED ABOUT ME?? - YES!!! Doesn t make them Right... Makes YOU FREE!!! They may owe you $20,000... BUT You have been forgiven MORE than that RESIST satan... Don t go to bed angry LORD Forgive me as I forgive them... / It s Daily transaction!!
12 SOME HERE have been devastated - You re being tortured... Physically / Emotionally / Spiritually GOD wants to heal you... BUT it comes through FORGIVENESS PRAY: We Repent of sin of Unforgiveness / Thank You for your incredible Grace The people we hate have the same value in your eyes / We Forgive them Whatever they owe us, It s over! / We release it and send debt away We trust you. It s in Your hands, not ours anymore We Bless them LORD. We are COMMITTED to blessing them until our hearts are healed Do for them what they Don t deserve... like you did for us Bind torturers / Physical, Emotional, Social, Spiritual Speak healing and life over everyone here today as you forgive Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors And Bless US as we bless those who curse us
13 COMMUNION: READ Prophecy given to Todd Willson TELL Prophecy GOD gave Jenny... confirmed through song PRAY for GOD s storm of Presence and power over our Churches and Cities!!! Word for Rochester Churches - August 19, 2018 (Todd Wilson) "Though darkness has tried to minimize and contain My influence in this region for generations, I will tolerate it no longer. I will break out, for I am the God of all: the heavens and the earth, the living and the dead, the hills and the valleys and plains. All of Creation is Mine," says the Lord. "And I am now reclaiming it from those who have tried to steal it away and use it for their own selfish purposes. "What do you see my son?" (spoken to me, as I sat on a bench near Walgreens, across from the courthouse). "I see a cross roads." "Indeed you do, for this community will become 'cross roads of America' even as your state proclaims it is. I will do this and it will be glorious in My sight. People will come from all around to be able to experience My touch, My presence, My blessing. Many will come seeking only an experience, as Herod did so long ago, for amusement or entertainment - but they will receive more than they bargained for - and those who mock Me will do so to their own destruction. But many more will come seeking more than mere blessing or experience. They will come seeking Me and they will find Me when they seek Me with their whole heart. I will meet them, reveal Myself to them and I will give them a glimpse of eternity and of what true power really is. And they will repent...in droves they will fall down before Me, for I AM the LORD, and there is no other. I am tired of allowing My glory to go to others. I am wearied by the sins of My people. So I will come suddenly, with both judgment and mercy in My hands. It will be for each to choose what they will receive from Me, death or life. Many will choose life, but those who turn away will receive their just reward swiftly and mysteriously, for I will do this. I will strike down the mocker and the brawler, the oppressor, the liar, the thief, and the adulterer, and people will once again know what it is to fear and reverence My Holy Name. People will learn to fear sin again and will no longer flirt with disaster and
destruction, that cancer of darkness and sin. They will turn from evil, rebellion, witchcraft, drugs, escapism and entertainment, all things that have no meaning nor purpose. They will turn their hearts towards Me and I will strengthen and encourage and build them up, so that they too may serve Me without fear, all their days, and not waste their time nor miss their opportunities any longer. I AM the LORD, and I have spoken. All this will be fulfilled and soon. I am coming! Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him so that He can come near to you all on the Day of Visitation. Otherwise you will miss out on life and blessing and fall into darkness where there will be only the weeping of regret and the gnashing of teeth in agony and flame. Heed this word My children, for judgment begins with the House of the LORD. Time is short. Prepare and pray now! For I am already on the move and when the Day comes, it will come swiftly, more so than you could imagine. For this reason, you must prepare now! Lest you miss your time of deliverance. 14 Jenny had word while praying with Cast - Branden asked people to move in spiritual gifts -