Sermon On The Mount: Forgiveness
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:14-15 (NKJV)
Forgiveness is the giant kahuna: a holy wave that washes over us (and extends as far as our enemies)--cleansing and carrying us to Jesus.
Its power is incontrovertible. Therefore, Satan is left with 2 choices: flee or get pushed away by the current. The after-effects of God’s forgiveness are transforming: beauty comes from ashes.
Because the cauldron of unforgiveness scorches victims daily (in Hell’s kitchen). They walk fruitlessly like the living dead… covered with soot and a terrible small.
They may look well enough physically. But beneath a facade of normalcy is a toxic spiritual disease. It’s incurable by the hand of man.
37 times (just in the Gospels), FORGIVENESS is our Captain’s leading theme.
Consider The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. All Christians should pay special attention, because some of them may have skipped this part… and stir a cauldron of unforgiveness (which they keep conveniently hidden.)
The story’s about a pleading servant, who owes his lord an unpayable debt. The servant (and kin) could be sold as slaves! But his master forgave him everything!
Sometime later, the master discovered that this very same forgiven servant… refused to forgive a fellow servant. Here’s the conclusion:
' 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you, if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses' (Matthew 18:32-35).
Our own conclusion? Since God forgives us, we pass it forward. If we don’t, our temporary cauldron may become a permanent stay in hell.
Sermon On The Mount: Forgiveness (Part 18)
* The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2018:23-35&version=NKJV
* Book: Corrie Ten Boom's book: 'The Hiding Place':
http://www.amazon.com/Hiding-Place-Corrie-Ten-Boom/dp/0553256696
* Book: 'Forgiving Forward':
http://www.forgivingforward.com
NOTE: This is a 2023 update of a 2013 Carey Lewis Devotion. You may see notes to 'Actors, Models & Talent for Christ.' If you think you're not in show business, think again. Shakespeare said, 'All the world's a stage and all its men and women merely players. Mostly true. But you're not merely players. You are messengers and ambassadors for the King of kings.