No. 68 - THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS By: John J. Blanchard Saturday, July 23, 2005 Good morning, brethren. I would like to start the sermon today by turning to Romans 1:20. This is the verse we often use to talk about creation and how important it is to view creation properly to understand the mind of God. Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…” If you back up to verse 19 it says that is “…because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.” God actually speaks to us by creation. But, of course, we have to understand what He meant by what we look at in creation. We need to understand the meaning behind it. The things that are made truly prove God’s existence and His power, and they help us clearly see His invisible attributes. They help us look into the spiritual realm and to comprehend His spiritual thoughts. God goes so far here to inspire Paul to say that if we have the Holy Spirit and we do not view creation this way, we are without excuse. We are to use this creation of God’s and His holy word, the Holy Bible, in order to understand the thoughts of God. The words used here “without excuse” is the Greek word anapologetos which means without excuse or an indefensible position to be in. God says if you have the Holy Spirit and you are reading His Bible but not looking at creation and putting it together, you are actually in an indefensible position. You are without excuse if you do not believe and trust in Him and see His thoughts, His plans and His invisible attributes through the creation about us. We have only begun to scratch the surface of how God uses the creation to reveal His thoughts, His plan and in actual fact even portray by creation events that have been past, present and future. For a long time God’s Church has known that mountains out there in the world actually represent kingdoms. Mountains in the Bible represent kingdoms. In Daniel chapter 2 we have often read how God’s kingdom would be like a great mountain that would fill the whole earth. Then it has surrounding hills, or foothills you might say (lesser mountains) that will eventually help Him rule the world. The physical mountains are just representative, of course, of what God is doing spiritually. But they help us to comprehend the meaning behind these scriptures. Satan also currently has a great mountain over the earth and surrounding foothills (or lesser mountains) by which he rules the earth. Let’s turn to a few scriptures to grasp that, because that is not as commonly known as Jesus Christ’s kingdom becoming a great mountain and mountain chain. Turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 4. This is the temptation of Christ. We will see that when Satan did the ultimate test on Jesus Christ, he took Him up to a great mountain. Matthew 4, verse 8: “Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”’ Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.” This great mountain that Satan took Christ upon had to be a spiritual mountain. There was no great mountain (even Mt. Everest which is the tallest physical mountain on the planet) that would allow you to see the globe or all the empires and nations that exist. Yet this is what Satan did. Satan took Christ somehow to his spiritual mountain to view the kingdoms of the world. He said I will give you this if You will worship me, knowing full well that he would have won if Jesus Christ had fallen for that, which He did not. We do not often look at these scriptures, but there is a name for that mountain. We can look in scripture and find this. If you would, turn to Ezekiel chapter 35. We know that Jesus Christ’s mountain is called Mount Zion, but here we find the name for Satan’s mountain and a little bit of how God feels toward that mountain. Ezekiel 35, verse 1: “Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it, and say to it, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you; I will stretch out My and against you, and make you most desolate; I shall lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.’”’” Drop down to Ezekiel 35:8. “‘And I will fill its mountains with the slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those who are slain by the sword shall fall.’” This is depicting a great mountain called Mount Seir surrounded by other mountains that work for him. So mountains portray Satan’s demonic realm (his kingdom) that surrounds the earth in a spiritual fashion. By looking at mountains on the earth, we can picture what God is talking about here. We are putting creation together with God’s scriptures and coming up with a vision of two opposing kingdoms. They are two opposing governments. They are two that are diametrically opposite. Jesus Christ’s kingdom stands for give, versus get. That is what His kingdom is all about. It is about love versus hate. It is about light versus darkness. They are two opposing governmental systems portrayed by mountains. Today we are going to look at one very powerful way to defeat Satan’s mountains. The title of this sermon, if you would like to make a note of that, is “The Power of Forgiveness”. Christ preached about this mountain of His, and He called it the gospel of the kingdom. While He was here on earth He did many, many impressive miracles. There is one particular act He took upon Himself to perform over and over that shook the religious world of His day. It excited the masses. The people were given hope. Jesus Christ forgave sin. That was mind bending to the people of His day and to the spiritual leaders of His day. Christ exercised that power of forgiveness several times, but let’s look at a couple in the scriptures. First, let’s turn to Luke chapter 5. Luke 5, verse 17: “Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.” Christ was teaching in somebody’s house, and this man who was paralyzed had friends who wanted to bring him to Jesus Christ for healing. They could not get to Christ because of the crowd. These men had such faith that they actually took the paralytic on the roof, opened up the roof and lowered him in front of Jesus Christ. Continue reading Luke 5:20-26. This was shocking to the Pharisees. They thought it was blasphemy for someone to claim to be able to forgive sin, for they knew only God had such power. Yet how could they deny the miracle of this man who was healed from paralysis but first forgiven of his sins. How could they ignore Jesus Christ saying what is harder to do? These are in some ways very similar things to do here (to forgive and to heal). Turn back now to Matthew 9 for another variation on the same story. Read Matthew 9:1-8. They realized that before them was a Man (Jesus Christ) who had incredible power. He had the power to heal but also the power to forgive sin! Never had they seen such power in a man before. They said, wow, this power has been given to men by God! This is amazing. So the masses were excited, but the Pharisees and the Sadducees were worried. To them this was blasphemy, and to them it was a threat to their power. There was the beginning of discontent here even though it was a marvelous thing that they were seeing. 1. FORGIVENESS AND HEALING We also want to notice that forgiveness is associated with three other big subjects. There are at least three and there may be others, but we want to look at three today. The first one, as we already noted, is healing. Forgiveness and healing go together. The second is measuring. Forgiveness and measuring go together. We will explain more as we go on through the sermon. The third thing that we want to note is that forgiving and trading go together. But it all starts with a certain frame of mind. We are going to turn to Luke chapter 7 to see what kind of mind we must be in, in order to begin the process associated with forgiveness. It all starts with a certain frame of mind. It is depicted very well in Luke chapter 7:36 when a very sinful woman came to Jesus Christ, and this incident was recorded in your Bible starting in verse 36. Read Luke 7:36-50. This woman’s attitude was exemplary. She was very humble. She recognized the needs that she had for forgiveness. She loved Jesus Christ, and she had faith that He really did have power to forgive her sins. We see that the frame of mind to be in is first of all humble, second of all to recognize the needs that we have regarding forgiveness and to have the faith that Jesus Christ can do it. Then we need to love Him. Love Him for who He is and what He stands for. Without this frame of mind the process of forgiveness and all the benefits that come with it never gets started. It never gets off the ground, and that is what Christ was trying to tell Simon the Pharisee. You are too high and mighty in your own eyes. You are too high and mighty in yourself. You do not think you need much, so you do not ask for much. This woman knows she is a sinner, and she has faith. She loves Me, and she cares enough to be humble in My sight. Therefore, forgiveness is granted her. For those who love much and forgive much are forgiven much. 2. FORGIVENESS AND MEASURING The next point we want to talk about after healing (and we have talked about it just a little bit) is the measure that Jesus Christ uses to measure forgiveness back to us. It is the standard of measure. If you would, turn to Luke chapter 17. God sets the standard very high that we are to follow in the next few scriptures. Read Luke 17:1-4. We might find that annoying and frustrating if someone were to sin against us seven times a day and repent seven times a day. God says we must forgive them those seven times. But, if you would, turn to Matthew chapter 18. God ups the ante here once again. Matthew 18, verse 21: “Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’” Perhaps he was remembering that last teaching lesson about forgiveness. Verse 22: “Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’” Jesus Christ says not up to seven, Peter, but up to seventy times seven. Does that mean there is another limit here. Is it four hundred and ninety times? On the four hundred and ninety-first time we are not to forgive? No, Jesus Christ is making a point here that Peter followed very well I am sure. The allotted lifetime of a man is seventy years according to scripture, and beyond that it is by strength and blessing. Christ is saying for their whole life you will forgive them whenever they need it, because He said that is what I want to do with you. I want to forgive you as long as you ask for it and as long as you live. I will never deny it to you. Christ sets the standard incredibly high. Turn, if you would, to Colossians chapter 3. We will see here that Paul fully understood this process of forgiveness and used it very well. He taught that it be followed that way. Read Colossians 3:12-17. We are to put on the attitude that the sinful woman displayed, one of humility and meekness. We are to extend mercy and kindness to one another and be patient (long-suffering with one another). We should be bearing with one another and forgiving one another, just as Christ said He wants us to and has done with us. He forgives all that we ask Him when we repent. That is a very, very high standard to set. But then there is another caveat we have to understand about forgiveness. God wants to see in us how close to that standard do we come in our own lives. Turn back to Matthew chapter 6. This is the model prayer of how to pray that Christ showed the apostles and us, too. Notice how much this prayer has to do with forgiveness. Read Matthew 6:9-15. Once Jesus Christ shows us the standard to which we are to try to attain, He also says how well you do in life coming to that standard or not is how We are forced to judge you. The Father will not forgive you if you will not forgive your fellow man. Turn also to Matthew chapter 7. Christ puts it a little different way here. Matthew 7, verse 1: “‘Judge not, that you be not judged.’” That term “judge” can mean condemn. Condemn not that you not be condemned. Verse 2: “‘For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me remove the speck from your eye”; and look, a plank is in your own eye?’” Christ says do not be hard toward your brother (judging), and do not condemn when you look at your brother, for you have sins, too. What measure we use toward one another and toward our fellow man Jesus Christ and the Father will have to use toward us. Turn for a similar scripture in Luke 6:37. “‘Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.’” In other words, Christ sets the standard very high, but then He says I want you to try for that standard. However far you get in life, that is what the Father and I will judge you by. Therefore, if you are harsh, we will judge you harshly. If you are liberal in your forgiveness, we will be liberal with you. This is obviously not talking about baptism, for at baptism we are forgiven for all of our sins up to that point. But from that point forward in our lives, we are to learn how to forgive. We are to grow in the fullness and stature of Christ which means being willing to forgive any and all offenses. To whatever measure we use in our lives and in dealings with our fellow man and our brothers and sisters in the faith, that is what Jesus Christ and God the Father will have to use toward us. In other words, They are giving us the personal standard of measure. We decide the standard of measurement that we will use on others and in turn will be given or afforded to us by God the Father and Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is very important to learn to forgive and to forget. Let things go, and harbor no bitterness. POWER IN FORGIVENESS We might ask why this system? Why would They do this? What purpose is there behind this? It is more a question of learning how to handle power, brethren, because there is power in forgiveness or the lack of it. We have, as we have seen here, the power to heal with forgiveness. It is not just physical healing. It goes beyond that. It is healing rifts between people, healing bitterness and anger and putting away resentment. By withholding forgiveness we can also destroy people or harm them. Bitterness, hate, rivalry and grudges all stem from a lack of forgiveness. We are actually seeing two different ways of life in action. That is God’s point. God is in the forgiving business. Satan is in the accusing business. Turn to Revelation chapter 12, and we will briefly look at one of the names of Satan that actually is accuser. Revelation 12, verse 10: “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.’” The angels who are God’s cheered with joy and sang with gladness when the accuser had been cast down. But that accuser is not done accusing mankind and accusing brethren in the Church. We must avoid his way of life and stay as far away from accusing and harsh judgment as we possibly can, for then we are falling into one of his devices in which we force God to judge us harshly. It is one of the ways we overcome. Satan never wants to let an offense go. Satan judges harshly, and he holds those accountable for sin. He loves to punish. He loves to hurt, to torment and to destroy. That is Satan’s modus operandi and that is what he is trying to do throughout the Church and throughout mankind. When we are in opposition to him and we are succeeding, it is because we are growing in forgiveness and countering his accusatory spirit and his spirit of hate. God intends never again to share power with a being who will abuse it. That is why we are being tested in this manner, brethren. While Satan still rules over this earth with his mountains and his hills and as he tries to get us to hate and carry grudges and seek vengeance, we are to overcome and be like Christ. We need to prove to Him that we love His way of life. We need to show Him we love forgiveness, gentleness, humility , mercy and compassion. That is why we are going through the things that we do, brethren. It seems a very harsh test, but it is the only way God can know what our heart is really like and what type of people we want to grow to become. God will never share power with another tyrant again. Therefore, we must learn never to be tyrants. 3. FORGIVENESS AND TRADING We are being tested now, but the point we want to make here is that it is truly a business of God. This is His business. Just as Satan’s business is to accuse, God’s business is to forgive. God and Satan each have their stock in trade. Jesus Christ’s and God the Father’s is mercy, compassion and forgiveness. Satan’s is accusing, harsh judgment, holding people accountable and tormenting. Each have the servants working within their business. We can see that in a couple of parables. Turn to Luke chapter 16. Read Luke 16:1-9. We need to operate within our physical lives where we are forgiving one another. That is what Christ is saying. And He admires people in the world when they do this with financial obligations. But we know here God is talking about the kingdom. Jesus Christ is the Master, and He has this steward who is not doing a very good job. But what does the steward do? He goes and he trades, in essence, and that is why the third point was that forgiveness is actually a type of trading. It is comparable to monetary trading. We are in stock and trade in forgiveness along with Jesus Christ and God the Father. That is why we are called the body of Christ. When we forgive one another our faults and debts, we are trading. God says here if you are being unfaithful and I have to remove the stewardship from you, quickly and go and do what you can to repair damage between people, for you have gained salvation. You have kept your salvation and will go into eternal life able to visit into the homes of people who have actually done it properly and have traded and grown. That is what Jesus Christ is saying here. That is why it is called an eternal house. These things that we are learning today (in this life now) have eternal consequences. Learning to forgive now is very important to set up an existence that we will have for eternity! Some people in the Church are going to lose their reward and keep their salvation. God is saying to even be in that category you must learn to forgive. If we cannot learn to forgive, we are in danger of not even maintaining or keeping our salvation. That is how serious it is to a person in the body of Christ to learn how to forgive. Turn now to Matthew chapter 18. Here is another parable. Matthew 18, verse 21: “Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’” We read that earlier but now let’s go into the parable. God used this to back up what He was saying. Read Matthew 18:23-35. Christ is saying here if we will not learn to forgive in this life, we must be turned over to the tormentors. Who is the tormentor? We read that earlier. It is the accuser, Satan. He is the tormentor who will make a mess of our lives if we refuse to learn how to forgive. That in essence is a fulfillment of when Christ said how you measure forgiveness out to others, I will be forced to measure out to you. So when things go wrong in our lives it is not always the case that we have not forgiven somebody, but that is a good place to start. Look at our own lives and see if we are measuring up well in this category or not. It is the category of trading back and forth in forgiveness. We are God’s servants in the last Church era, the Laodicean Era. What we are talking about here is forgiving debts and earning wages. You need not turn there, but according to Romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death. That is the wage we earn when we sin. If we want forgiveness for our sins, we must extend forgiveness to others. It is in essence us using God’s system or us using Satan’s system. We should not be in God’s Church, claim to have the Holy Spirit, claim to be brothers and sisters of one another and use Satan’s system of vengeance, bitterness, unforgiving and carrying grudges. We are falling for Satan’s devices if we do so. Faith in God’s system leads to tremendous power in this life and tremendous power in future lives. Now I would like to turn to Mark chapter 11. We are going to read Mark 11 because it puts these concepts to use in a remarkable way. I want to jumble the order just a little bit so we can get the full point of what Jesus Christ is saying all in this one chapter. It is really amazing. Mark 11, verse 12: “Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry.” This is Jesus Christ. Continue in verse 13. “And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. In response Jesus said to it, ‘Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.’ And His disciples heard it.” That seemed to be like the end of the story. I am sure if you were a disciple standing there and watched Jesus Christ do this and then walked on with Him, you would say that was peculiar. But I think by this time, having seen the things that Jesus Christ had done, they probably had an inkling that there was more to the story here than what they had just witnessed. Drop down to Mark 11:25. “‘And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.’” In Mark 11 here we are finding that at another point in time, a little bit later than the cursing of the fig tree, Christ said if you have anything against a brother forgive him. Let it go. If you do that, you are allowing the Father to forgive you. But if you will not do that, you are in essence tying the Father’s hands. He cannot forgive you because He is forced to use the measure that you use. SELLING FORGIVENESS In the intervening verses, backing up to verse 15, there are a couple of incidents here that are very important to catch in the sequence of events. Right after He had come to the fig tree and cursed it, they walked on and they came to the temple. Mark 11, verse 15: “So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Then He taught, saying to them, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations?” But you have made it a den of thieves.’ And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching. When evening had come, He went out of the city.” After walking along cursing the fig tree Jesus Christ entered the temple, and He said the people there had turned it into a den of thieves instead of a house of prayer. If you were to go back to I and II Chronicles and look at how the temple was to be used, Solomon prayed that this temple would be a place of forgiveness. Anyone could come and pray to God for forgiveness and repentance. They could pray for God to hear their prayer and forgive them. He repeated this over and over in the prayer for different circumstances when he dedicated the temple. The Pharisees knew that; yet they had turned it into a den of thieves. How? They did this by buying and selling within the temple to profit by forgiveness. When people would come to the temple and they were told to offer physical sacrifices for forgiveness, others wanted to make money on the deal! Right in God’s temple they would sell a dove for this or a sheep for that and make money on it so the people could be forgiven. God said I find this system contemptible, for you have made My temple a den of thieves. Likewise, brethren, the Church is the temple of God. If we force people to pay every penny they owe us, force people to apologize and grovel at our feet when they offend us, we are in essence selling forgiveness at a high price. That is why Jesus Christ and the Father will make it difficult for us to get forgiveness from Them. If we make it hard for our fellow man and our brothers and sisters to get forgiveness from us, we will find it hard to get forgiveness from God the Father and Jesus Christ. Make no mistake about it. If we claim to be part of God’s temple, we must liberally forgive. MOVING SPIRITUAL MOUNTAINS Now let’s drop down to Mark 11:20. “Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to Him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.’ So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.’” Then He goes right into what we read earlier. Continue in Mark 11:25. “‘And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.’” Putting all of this together, brethren, we see in order to have a clean temple and be a part of the body of Christ we must be like Him and liberally forgive. We need to be full of humility, compassion, kindness and long-suffering toward one another. But we must also have faith that Jesus Christ is doing something tremendous in us when we allow this system of trading back and forth to work within us. He says if you do this, keep a clean temple and you forgive, you will see that what I did to the fig tree is nothing, for you will be able to tell mountains to get out of your way! You will be able to level the hills that have oppressed us for six thousand years. That is what Jesus Christ is saying. We will be able to walk up to a spiritual mountain over a geographical place on earth that has tormented the people there. We will be able to say to that demonic presence leave this area! Be cast into the sea for I am here to replace you! That is an awesome gift from God. It is an awesome reward to have. God says I cannot give it to another person who would torment humanity in that location. There are many cities and many geographical locations in My kingdom. I want to share rulership with My mountains and My hills. I will not put another tyrant or oppressor to replace the horrible being that is now tormenting the people there. So when we learn how to forgive, we are learning to do something immense and something that has a lot of power behind it. It is something with a lot of meaning. There is a lot of hope for mankind. Therefore, you can see if we ever want to have a position in God’s kingdom that amounts to anything, we have to learn to forgive. There is no if, and or but about it. If we want to receive power, we must dispense power, and that is through the power of forgiveness. Now you are beginning to see why Satan hates forgiveness. He literally cannot stand forgiveness. You can see why. It is Satan’s worst nightmare to have someone that he cannot influence to hate, to divide, to conspire, to judge harshly. When he runs up against a human being that he cannot influence to do those things, it drives him absolutely stark raving mad. I will prove it to you. We are going to use two examples: one example of Jesus Christ and one of Stephen. Turn, if you would, back to Luke chapter 23. Christ clearly gives us this lesson here. This is when He was hanging on the cross being crucified. Read Luke 23:34-38. Jesus Christ was blasphemed and mocked by those who were crucifying him. What was His answer? His answer was, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” It was not long after that they stabbed Him in the side and finished Him off because Satan could not stand what he was seeing. Here was a human being that he could not push to anger, he could not push toward hate. He was one who was full of love and concern for His fellow man. Turn to Acts 7. Stephen was a man who got the point. Stephen was a man who learned how to forgive and had not allowed Satan any power in his life. In Acts 7 Stephen is preaching his final words to an assembled crowd. Read Acts 7:44-50. Here we see Stephen patiently explaining the Old Testament system and how Solomon did make a temple for God. It was a house for Him to dwell in. At God’s direction, he put in place a sacrificial system like Moses had. He got the temple up and running for forgiveness, but God said I am not ultimately building a physical temple. I am working in a temple made without human hands. That temple is the Church of God. This is what Stephen was trying to explain. In verse 51 of Acts 7 he tells the assembled crowd, “‘You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.’” Stephen is accusing them saying you are not learning from your mistakes. The past generations have made the mistake of persecuting God’s prophets and persecuting the people God was working with. You are not getting the point. You are making the same error when you crucified Jesus Christ and are persecuting His disciples. Continue reading Acts 7:54-60. After Stephen showed them the error of their ways, and with Satan amidst the crowd, Satan stirred the crowd up. He could not stand the truth of God. Satan got that crowd so incensed they were like wolves gnashing their teeth at Stephen! They rushed at him with one accord and dragged him out of the city. What was Stephen’s response? Did he say, God, strike these people dead with lightning? Did he pick up stones and fling them back? Did he call for help from followers with physical swords to beat these people up and stab them? No, Stephen said (just like Jesus Christ) forgive these people. They do not know what they are doing. Satan is in their midst and moving them to do strange things according to his accusatory system, according to the hatred that he has for you, God, and for all mankind. So forgive them for they do not understand what is going on here, God. That is the attitude Jesus Christ and God the Father want to see in the body of Christ. It should be within each of us. FORGIVENESS - TO HEAL Just what is forgiveness? We see that it is the power to resist hatred. It is the power to resist division and bitterness because we let go of the things that would lead to that. In James 5:14-15, we see that forgiveness is connected with healing and anointing. One of the Greek words for anointing is chrisma. It means an unguent or a smearing. An example would be a figurative thing like an endowment of the Holy Spirit, we are told. It is a special endowment of God’s Holy Spirit. I looked up unguent in the dictionary. If you were to go to your Funk and Wagnall’s Dictionary or a Webster’s you would find that an unguent is an ointment or a salve with which to anoint. It is a balm or a medicine. If you were to look up the term balm, you would see it is a medicine that comes from a tree. The other Greek word that chrisma comes from is chrio, and that means the idea of contact or to smear that ointment (or to rub with oil), by implication to consecrate or to be consecrated to an office or a religious service. It means to anoint with what is needed and to lightly touch. That is what forgiveness means. It means to lightly touch one another and put the oil and the balm on that will heal the wounds between people. It takes away Satan’s power. We need more of this kind of balm (more of this unguent) in the Church. We definitely need more forgiveness because the problems that we are having throughout the Church of God are now much like the problems that plague the world today. There is a hatred and an unwillingness to forgive, a carrying of grudges between nations and peoples and tongues. That now exists within God’s Church. That should never be. It leads to a whole host of problems like no healings. We saw that when properly done forgiveness leads to healing. We see that it is a buying, selling and trading in order to grow in holy righteous character. We see that it is a way of being a profitable servant for God. Therefore, forgiveness opens the door to all these blessings if we liberally forgive. Not only will we be liberally forgiven, but God will pour out the blessings from heaven on us in every way! It is a very big principle to learn, brethren. The odds are stacked against us right now, but we can do this with God’s help. God shows us in the prophecies in the Old Testament that He is looking for people who will forgive now. Turn, if you would, to Jeremiah chapter 8. There is a set of prophetic scriptures here. They did apply to ancient Israel back in that day, but they are very applicable to our time right now. Jeremiah chapter 8, verse 18: Jesus Christ inspired the prophet to say, “‘I would comfort myself in sorrow; my heart is faint in me. Listen! The voice, the cry of the daughter of my people…’” We know the daughter of my people refers to the Church as well. “‘…from a far country: “Is not the Lord in Zion?”’” Are we not spiritual Zion? “‘“Is not her King in her?”’” Do we claim to have Jesus Christ in the midst of the Church? “‘Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, with foreign idols? The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!’” Where is Jesus Christ we ask? Why is He delaying His coming? Continue with Jeremiah 8:21. “‘For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; astonishment has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead, is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of my people?’” Jesus Christ is not just talking about physical healing. He is talking about spiritual healing between people. There is a lack of the balm of forgiveness. There is a lack of putting the oil on each other’s wounds for healing the body of Christ. When we do that, we will also have physical healings in the Church of God. The question is, “Is there no balm in Gilead?” What is Gilead, and where is Gilead? Gilead was one of the last territories (if not the last territory) that ancient Israel had to pass through to get to the holy land. They had to go through Gilead to get to the Jordan, to go from the east side to the west side into the promised land (to the land of Canaan). We are passing through our spiritual Gilead, brethren. It is the last stop before the Millennium starts! It is the last stop before the spiritual promised land is here. God is saying is there no balm in Gilead? My people are wandering through the wilderness because they cannot seem to forgive and forget. They cannot seem to let grudges go. They divide the Church of God, they cause hatred and bitterness among each other, and they display no forgiveness and mercy toward a world that does not understand what they are doing. They condemn the world harshly, looking for the world to be destroyed. He says how can I help them with such an attitude? Is there no balm in Gilead? Turn to I Corinthians chapter 11 for a scripture we read at the Passover time. Now we will see why at Passover Jesus Christ tells us if we want healings we should examine and judge ourselves. I Corinthians 11, verse 27: “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” We read these scriptures every Passover season. Verse 28: “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.” If we are not gentle and forgive one another, we do not properly discern the body of Christ. Verse 30: “For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.” That means many die prematurely from disease because of a lack of forgiveness. There is a lack of properly judging ourselves. Continue with I Corinthians 11:31. “For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.” Just like we were warned in Matthew and Luke, judge not and condemn not. What measure we use, it will be measured back to us. There is still time to trade in this marvelous commodity called forgiveness, but there is precious little time left, brethren. We need to learn what to do today. Right now the Church of God within itself has a lot of beating, smiting and lack of forgiveness. Let’s turn to the example in Matthew 24. We will let God show us our condition, and we need to examine ourselves. Let’s see if we are part of the problem or part of the solution. Read Matthew 24:45-51. We are warned, brethren. Just because Christ is taking a little longer than we thought, we think we are going to get away with smiting, striking, accusing and seeking vengeance within the Church of God. We are dividing the body of Christ and causing offenses. God is warning us here. He will come at an hour we least expect! There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth if we will not give up these harsh ways and stop using Satan’s system within the body of Christ. We need to start using God the Father’s and Jesus Christ’s system. It is the system that will be put into place when God’s mountains rise above this earth and rule the earth with gentleness, meekness, forgiveness, kindness and love. FORMULA FOR SUCCESS Turn now to Romans chapter 12. It spells it out clearly as well. Read Romans 12:9-21. There is the formula of success within the body of Christ. Follow these principles and give each other hope. Give each other strength. Forgive one another. This is what we need within the body of Christ, for this will take away the power of Satan within the body of Christ. It is a power that destroys the Church as he has been doing. This will make him weak within the body of Christ and eventually weak throughout the world, as Jesus Christ’s government (his hills and mountains) replaces that of Satan. The Church has become more or less a fig tree out of season. It is a fig tree with very little fruit. Turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 24. Fig trees picture God’s Church and His government in the Bible. In Matthew 24 we have a warning of what would happen in the Church in the latter days beginning in verse 9. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.” This has been happening to the Church for generations. Verse 10: “‘And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.’” That is the state we are in today. The love of many is growing cold as we carry offenses and do not allow others to have forgiveness from us. Verse 13: “‘But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.’” Then we go straight into the abomination of desolation and the destruction of the Church. What led to the destruction of the Church? It was giving Satan a free hand, not just with false doctrines, but with a lack of forgiveness. He hit us first with a wave of false doctrines and going back to paganism but then he finished us off with a hard heart and with a love that grew cold. We had harsh judgment and a lack of forgiveness. This is what put the Church down in the ground and finished it off, so to speak. Christ will work a miracle and will get that fig tree to grow again and blossom a little bit. It will put forth some leaves. As a matter of fact, if you turn to verse 32 of Matthew 24 Christ says that you will know that My second coming is at hand when you see this. POWERS OF OBSERVATION Matthew 24, verse 32: “‘Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.’” Christ says you will see the spiritual signs of Matthew 24 take place. They are the signs that we have talked about numerous times, such as in the sermon “Powers of Observation” where we demonstrate what God is doing spiritually so that we can learn the principles involved to see spiritually where we are in time. He says when you see the dry fig tree begin to put forth leaves, you know that My second coming is at hand. I believe the Church is just now starting to put forth little leaves. You can call them little leaves of forgiveness because the balm comes from trees. We know what trees represent in the Bible. The teachers and those of us who want to be in the kingdom will be trees “planted by the river side”. The balm is within us, if we will allow the leaves to be green and bear the fruit that we can use toward one another and help each other overcome Satan. We then will grow in holy righteous character. If you want to see that actually spelled out in verbiage from Jesus Christ turn to Luke 23. Christ was being led away to be crucified in Luke 23:26. Read Luke 23:26-31. The “green wood” is the “green tree” in the King James Version. He said if they are going to kill me and persecute Me like this and I am the green tree, what do you think they are going to do when the Church is dry? I am full of sap. I am full of vibrancy of forgiveness, compassion and the Holy Spirit. What will they do when the Church is dry? He says weep for your children who will follow you. We are the daughters of the Church who have followed. The Church is dry right now, but it is going to start making a miraculous come back. But what Christ is saying is all that we have seen happen to the Church is because we went dry. We needed the fruit, the sap and a lively tree full of forgiveness, love and mercy and compassion. Turn back to Luke 13:6. “He also spoke this parable. ‘A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, “Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?” But he answered and said to him, “Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’” Are we in that year? We do not know, brethren, but we could very well be in that year where God has said, I will leave this tree alone for a little while longer. We will work with this tree and see if we can get it to bear fruit. If it begins to put forth leaves and bear fruit, all right. We will keep the tree. Otherwise, we are going to cut it down. Each person in the body of Christ is individually a tree. The Church collectively is like a fig tree. It is the government of God which is a fig tree or olive tree that is bearing fruit. Each of us is part of an olive tree. We are bearing fruit for God using the Holy Spirit. If God sees a dry, fruitless tree for much longer, we can be replaced. God is telling us we will be, because He is going to get the job done, brethren. Let’s bear fruit. Let’s forgive one another and forgive those in the world who offend us. Be liberal in our forgiveness so that we can be liberally forgiven. The symptoms of our spiritual condition are all over the place. We do not have to elaborate. Let’s read another scripture in Luke 12:35. “‘Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning…’” That is what He tells the ten virgins as written in Matthew 25. Continue reading Luke 12:36-48. When we were baptized and received the Holy Spirit and had hands laid on us, we were given much. Those of us who are learning these principles now and starting to bear fruit have been given even more. We must not abuse our fellow servants just because God is taking a little longer than we thought. This is a prophecy for our day. Many people are saying Christ will not come back for seven years, ten years, fifteen years, twenty years or twenty-five years, so they think it is safe to beat the fellow servants. Christ is going to return at an hour we do not expect. We will be taken by surprise. Let’s use the time we have very wisely and bear fruit for God. Liberally dispense forgiveness between one another. Comprehending how vital forgiveness is, is what is going to help us at this time. Do not think it is a trivial matter. Whenever there is an offense between a brother and a brother or a sister and a sister or brother and sister, it is major. Fix it as soon as possible and do not let anything fester. Do not let anything rob us of the joy that we should have as the body of Christ. Do not let Satan get a toe hold here and use bitterness, anger, judging and grudges to harm the beautiful harmony that we had. We need to learn these things and share them with others, brethren. The fig tree has to start bearing fruit. There are some other examples in the scriptures that would help us at this time as well. THE CHURCH IS BOUND I want you to turn to Luke chapter 13, because there is a fascinating incident here right after Jesus Christ talked about the parable of the barren fig tree that we just read about. He went straight into an incident with a woman with an infirmity. Read Luke 13:10-17. Was this just an incident recorded for the sake of recording it, or are there lessons here for us? Brethren, the Laodicean Era is now nineteen years old since Mr. Armstrong died. The Church has been on its knees now and going down lower and lower, as it was bent over and bound up. Are we in the year where God is looking for fruit now? It could very well be! It would behoove us all to act that way. POWER TO BIND OR LOOSEN The term here “bound” comes from the Greek “deo”. This means to bind, to tie, to tie what is needed or necessary. In other words the woman was bound up by Satan so she could not receive what was necessary. It comes from the Greek word deomai which means to beg with petition or prayer. The woman needs to beg a prayer of petition to God for help. But as we have already seen, we cannot be forgiven until we forgive. God is now reteaching us the fundamentals within the body of Christ of how to apply the oil, the salve and the balm between one another. We are learning to liberally forgive so that we can be forgiven. We are learning to measure liberally back and forth amongst each other and trade back and forth while we have time to grow in character. We are exercising real power here. Where else is the term bound used? Can we learn more about what it means to be bound up? Yes we can, right from the scriptures. Turn to Matthew chapter 16. Read Matthew 16:13-20. This was power given to Peter and to the disciples. It was the power to bind and to loosen, and it is the same word to give what is needed or to deny it. It is to put the balm on people or to deny the balm. This is power, brethren, and we need to exercise it well. Turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 18. This is often used as the exemplary scriptures of how to settle differences and offenses between brethren. Read Matthew 18:15-20. Brethren, this is power. We need to learn to forgive one another, but sometimes we can run into a brother or sister who will not cooperate under any circumstances. What happens? They can be bound by that and turned over, as we saw earlier, to the tormentors. They will plague them. Satan loves to accuse. Satan loves to cause trouble between brethren and then loves to punish people for causing trouble. We need to learn to deny him his power so that he cannot cause problems within the body of Christ. We do have the power to bind and loosen. GOOD SAMARITAN This term loosed here comes from the Greek luo which means to break or destroy or to dissolve. How does this work? In the story of the Good Samaritan, the Good Samaritan (unlike the priest and the Levi) applied the unguent, the oil and the balm to the wounds of the fallen victim. We can read this in Luke chapter 10. We just covered this in depth in a sermon so we will not go in depth today, but we will reread it. Read Luke 10:25-37. The Church has fallen amongst thieves, brethren. God calls His temple a den of thieves. There is a lot of denying of forgiveness and a lot of harsh treatment among brethren within the Church. If we want to be like the Samaritan, we want to be a priest or a Levite who applies salve as the Samaritan did. But the example here is that if we do not, Jesus Christ can and will find people to do it in our stead. It is something we must learn. It is our job. It is our calling. It is our destiny to learn how to forgive like Jesus Christ. Then we can bring to this earth the spiritual healing it needs when we cast the mountains aside. These are the mountains that currently torment mankind. Then we will have the physical healings we want throughout the Church and throughout the world. Forgiveness is what keeps the tree vigorous, brethren. It keeps Satan’s power at bay. I want to go through a little example of this in the New Testament. Turn back to II Corinthians where Paul demonstrates how to do this so well. II Corinthians was a follow-up letter to I Corinthians. If you were to read the letter of I Corinthians, you would find out there was an individual committing a sexual sin within the congregation at Corinth who was puffing them up because they were allowing this sin to exist. Paul said you have to deal with this because this man is not learning. He is not repenting. He told them to bind him, so to speak, just as he was teaching. After this man repented, listen to the gentle spirit of Paul starting in II Corinthians 2:3. “And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all.” He is saying I sent the letter so that you would correct the problem. Then when I come to you we will all have joy together, and I will not have to see sorrow. You need to fix this problem. That is why I sent you the letter of the I Corinthians. Verse 4: “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent, not to be too severe.” He says it was a grief for you all to deal with this problem, but do not be too severe! Verse 6: “This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow.” He says now that you have done the correcting as I directed you, he has repented. Forgive him liberally! You do not want to bury this man in guilt and sorrow. You want to reward him for repenting. Continuing in II Corinthians 2:8. “Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things.” He says I want to see now that you were obedient in correcting the individual, that you will be obedient in loving him after he repented. Verse 10: “Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ…” He says as you forgive, Christ will forgive, and I am part of the process. Verse 11 is the clincher. Verse 11: “…lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.” It is not good enough to just correct and pound on someone; we must also forgive because Satan can use the sin to harm the congregation. Then he can use the abuse of power to harm the congregation. If we want to rob him of that power, we have to be like Stephen and Jesus Christ and forgive. Then we rob Satan of the power to harm the Church (the body of Christ). FORGIVENESS DISSOLVES SATAN’S MOUNTAINS We also need to be aware of Satan’s devices, for it is the forgiveness between one another that will dissolve Satan’s mountains. That is why luo (to be loosed) means to break, destroy or dissolve. The other place in scripture where that is prominently used is II Peter chapter 3. We can now properly understand this set of verses. II Peter 3, verse 8: “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God’s plan is that all would have the opportunity to come to repentance. A vast majority of them will succeed by learning the principles that we are learning already. Continuing in verse 10, the scriptures seem in opposition, except now we understand with the definitions we have learned about forgiveness, binding and loosening. We can now properly understand these scriptures. Verse 10: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness…” That term dissolved is luo. It is the same as loosed. Continue II Peter 3:12. “…looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” The new heavens and the new earth are the new system. It is the kingdom of God. It is the mountains of God over the earth and Satan’s influence gone! When the fire of the Holy Spirit goes through the earth convicting the earth and teaching the earth how to live God’s way, Satan’s mountains will be dissolved. Those are the hosts of the heavens. The power in the heavens are Satan’s mountains. We cannot have an earth that goes through a nuclear holocaust and gets melted and be a beautiful Millennial place. These are Satan’s mountains that get dissolved. We will have the power to say to that mountain get thee hence and get into the sea! Move out of my way because I am going to help Jesus Christ rule this earth in a beautiful, harmonious and loving way! It Is the power that someday some people will have if they properly learn to forgive today. It will be the power to heal this planet. We start with the body of Christ, which is now the bent over woman who barely has enough strength to move at all. She is bound and tormented by Satan, but we are going to learn. We are going to learn these lessons, and God promises that we will. Then we are going to see the fulfillment of the Psalms. Turn back to Psalm 97. Read Psalm 97:1-6. People would not be shouting for joy if there were nuclear wars and nuclear bombs going off melting the physical mountains. These are Satan’s mountains melting like wax at the presence of God and at the work of the Holy Spirit. Continue reading Psalm 98:1-6. This is how it is going to be, brethren. Continue in Psalm 98:7. “Let the sea roar, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell in it; let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, and the peoples with equity.” That is why we know that the innumerable multitude will have every tear dried from their eyes. The world will be a beautiful place! The Church just needs to get its act together to hasten the day. Turn now back to Matthew 21:18. “Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, ‘Let no fruit grow on you ever again.’ Immediately the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither away so soon?’ So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, “be removed and be cast into the sea,” it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.’” Brethren, that is going to be reality very, very soon! For our concluding scripture turn to Isaiah chapter 60. The contents of the sea are the people who dwell under Satan’s influence, and they will be converted. Isaiah 60, verse 1: “Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and become radiant, and your heart shall swell with joy; because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you.” That is what we can look forward to, brethren, in the very near future. The world will have peace with itself and have peace with its God. Therefore, never under estimate the power of forgiveness.