Good morning and welcome in everyone. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
Cape Horn on the southern tip of South America, has been described by some sailors as furious, with seas that are bigger and more ferocious than anything they have ever seen before. There are rogue waves that can appear, reaching heights of approximately 100 ft high, capable of swamping and destroying a ship. The Cape is pounded with destructively high winds, known as williwaw winds, which can strike a vessel with little or no warning. A williwaw wind is a sudden unexpected blast of wind descending from a mountainous coast to the sea, catching sailors completely by surprise. Because the passage is so narrow, the ships can be driven upon the rocks, or an iceberg. Located off the South tip of Isla Hornos, this rocky island stands as a warning to all who are going to enter. Many people believe that the horn is the most dangerous ship passage in the world, claiming at least 800 shipwrecks and 10,000 lives.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Many sailors were terrified at the thought of having to go around cape Horn, but The Apostle Paul warned men about the terror of the Lord. One of the most frightful terrors is knowing that God will not forgive you on Judgment Day if you are incapable of forgiving and reconciling with others. If somebody has no forgiveness, they are not going to enter eternal life because they are still abiding in the state of sin. It will be far beyond any terror that cape Horn can administer. It will be the terror of damnation, when they are cast into an eternal lake of fire. There will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth. Because they chose to be unmerciful to others while here on Earth, God will show them no mercy at His judgment.
James 2:13. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
People ask God for forgiveness each day but some refuse to forgive others in the same manner. They expect God to forgive them when they ask for it, yet when somebody else asks them for the same, they refuse to grant it to them. Refusing to forgive the confessed faults and apologies of another, is to enter into territory with God that I would never want to be.
Matthew 18:21-35 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
There are some heretical teachings found in modern forms of Christianity today, one of which is the philosophy that you can forgive someone in your heart and not have a reconciled relationship with them anymore. That sounds ridiculous doesn’t it. They want to claim with their mouth that they forgive others, yet their heart denies it, being filled with the blackness of grudge keeping and bitterness. Scripture teaches that this would happen in the latter times. Because of people’s cold lack of mercy, it is becoming more prevalent day by day.
The work of God is called the ministry of reconciliation, yet the devil doesn’t want reconciliation to happen. He is completely opposed to it because he himself will not reconcile with God or with His teachings. We are not ignorant of his devices. The apostles were trying to bring the church together, keeping them in a close relationship with each other which happens through confession of faults and forgiveness. If you refuse to reconcile with others who have asked for forgiveness, you are certainly not blessed by God, but rather, abiding in his wrath.
Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Matthew 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Luke 15:18-25 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Notice that when the son apologized, the dad completely forgave him without holding any grudge afterwards. They were completely reconciled to each other as if nothing wrong had even taken place in their past. Refusing to reconcile with others only reveals deep-seated bitterness and resentment within a person’s heart. God requires confession and forgiveness in the church. If you have asked for forgiveness and apologized, you have done your part. The burden is no longer on you but it is on the unforgiving party. If they continue to refuse to reconcile, they will remain in God’s wrath.
2 Corinthians 5:11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;…..
You obviously cannot forgive people who refuse to ask for it, but if they have asked for it, you must forgive and reconcile with them, otherwise God will not forgive you. That is a terror that will be eternal, from which one will never escape. Remember that the next time you think about….
… The Terror of The Horn
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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