“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 

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

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10

The word “confess” means to “state or acknowledge something; to disclose one’s faults; to unburden one’s conscience to God.” 

If someone confesses to a crime, they are admitting that the thing they did was wrong, and accept responsibility for their actions. 

Think of a young child who is playing in the house when they accidently knock over and break something, maybe a lamp. Their dad rushes into the room and demands to know why the lamp is broken on the floor. The child could own up and tell his dad that he broke it, or he could pretend that he doesn’t know. Now, the dad knows that because there is no one else in the house that his son broke it somehow, but the dad wants to see if his son will just come forward and admit that it was his fault. 

God knows each and every time that we sin and He is waiting for us to come forward and admit our sins. We don’t want to sin against the Lord, but if we do, we need to confess our shortcomings, knowing that He is full of mercy and forgiveness and is ready to forgive. We just 

need to come boldly to the throne of grace.

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Pride in a person’s life will cause them to believe that they are not a sinner, and that they don’t need to confess anything to be forgiven. Pride will blind a person and cause them to not come forward and confess to be forgiven of their sin. It takes humility and meekness to admit that you are wrong, and have made a mistake. When we confess our sins, Jesus will forgive us.

Everyone has sinned, whether they want to admit it or not. Some people want to believe that they are perfect and that they don’t need to confess anything to the Lord. These people are deceiving themselves, because it clearly states in Romans,

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Romans 5:12

The kingdom of Heaven is a perfect place, and in order for us to get there, we need to be forgiven for our sins. Confess your sins today, and the Lord will forgive you.

In Christ,

Andrew

Good morning and welcome in today. Today where to take a look at some scripture from Ecclesiastes 26.

Eccl 26:14-15 “A silent and loving woman is a gift of the Lord; and there is nothing so much worth as a mind well instructed.”

“A shamefaced and faithful woman is a double grace, and her continent mind cannot be valued.”

Today we are going to talk a lot about words and definitions of what it means to be shamefaced and timid which is the calling for a Christian woman.

Our verse says a silent and loving woman is a gift of the Lord. The word silent means not making or accompanied by any sound. It means not speaking. It’s being completely quiet. A woman who is silent refrains from speech. I think about how beautiful butterflies are but did you know that they make no sound at all. They are 100% silent.

Silent means making no sound or utterance. When you do something silently it means doing something or happening without being noticed. That truly is of high price before God.

James 3 teaches about control of the tongue.

James 3:5-6

⁵ Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

So it’s a good thing to be in control of your tongue. A woman is called to be silent because she can open up her mouth and do all kinds of evil and wickedness with her tongue. She can falsely accuse other people, she can speak evil about her husband or others around her.

Sometimes I compare the tongue to a shovel and the more and more you use it sometimes, you can dig a deeper and deeper hole for yourself. There’s nothing wrong with any of us being quiet. That’s a good thing especially with a wife.

I had heard a story a couple years ago that a couple had gotten married who were from two different countries and neither of them could speak each other’s language. I think they spent the first few years of their marriage not even speaking, but the point being, quietness it’s okay. There’s no sin in being silent. It’s when you open up the mouth that’s in can happen.

If you look at 1st Corinthians 14:34-35

³⁴ Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.

³⁵ And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

There have been so many Church groups I’ve been to that I had to leave because they have women preaching and speaking during a gathering. Are commanded by the Apostle to be silent

The church is a place that is run by men. Out in the world I understand that’s completely different right now because there’s a false form of Christianity that continues to grow.

Isaiah 3:12

¹² As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

A silent and a loving woman is a gift of the Lord. A wife is supposed to love her husband that she married and to remain with him. He is the authority that God has placed in her life. Her calling is to be loyal and love her husband through thick and thin.

Titus 2:4

⁴ That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

1 John 4:12

¹² No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

So a silent loving woman is priced very very highly by a husband.

This next passage says a shamefaced and faithful woman is a double Grace. The word shamefaced means that you show modesty and you are bashful. That’s what God desires of Christian women.

Modesty is behavior, manner or appearance intended to avoid impropriety or indecency. It means propriety in dress, speech or conduct. Propriety has to do with a state or quality of conforming to the teachings of scriptures as a Christian woman.

We have standards of behavior and morals within the church. Propriety means to conform to those standards. It means conformity to what is acceptable in conduct or speech. If you have propriety you have a fear of offending conventional rules. As I said, these rules and admonitions are taught to us through the teachings of the Holy scriptures. Propriety is the quality or state of doing what’s proper or being appropriate.

A shamefaced woman is also bashful. She is socially shy and timid. She doesn’t want to get involved too much in society because she is socially shy and shamefaced. She’s supposed to be a chaste keeper at home. The home is her kingdom. The word shy means being reserved or having or showing timidity in the company of other people, especially in a social situation. A timid woman is weary and distrustful of others.

Now,imagine a dad having the same qualities wanting to protect his children and his wife from the evils in the world. A shamefaced woman is weary and distrustful. She is disposed to avoid persons or things. She shows distrust and caution and wary.

Those are the qualities of being shamefaced. Shamefaced means to be shy which implies a timid reserve and a shrinking from familiarity or contact with other people. Those are qualities that the Lord wants in the Christian woman. To keep close to the home.

The opposite from being timid is being without fear which means you don’t fear and respect and honor your husband and you don’t have fear and respect for God. That leads to disobey your authority.

If a woman doesn’t have shamefacedness she’s not going to respect their husband or other places of authority. She will also reject the teachings of Christ and men in the church. The reason why is she has no fear of the consequences for what she is doing. She becomes very very bold. That’s what happens with rebellion.

People go do something that is wrong that they shouldn’t be doing, but there is no fear of God before their eyes so they don’t care about the repercussions. You women that are listening here today you don’t ever want to go there.

Listen to what the Apostle taught.

1st Tim 2:9-15

⁹ In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

¹⁰ But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.

¹¹ Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.

¹² But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

¹³ For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

¹⁴ And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

1st Peter 3:3-6

³ Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

⁴ But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

⁵ For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:

⁶ Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

A shamefaced and faithful woman is a double grace. A faithful woman is a woman who will never leave the husband’s side. Faithful means to remain loyal and steadfast. Faithful is steadfast in affection and allegiance. A faithful wife is loyal and reliable.

A true friend will never leave you. An unfaithful wife is described as disloyal and treacherous. She is also insincere. An unfaithful wife does not adhere to vows or allegiance in her duty to her husband. She is disloyal like an unfaithful friend.

A great wife is a faithful woman. She needs to learn in silence with all subjection from men, not only from her husband but men in general.

Remember the church is run by the men and she is not to usurp over men, but to be in silence.

To usurp is to take the place of a position of power illegally or take it by force. It means to encroach or infringe upon somebody else’s rights.

I really believe in my heart that if a woman seeks after being shamefaced, seeks after being shy and timid and to possess those qualities, if she wants to be a silent learner, things are going to go very well for her in her life.

God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and who.do his will.

That’s where I’m gongi.to stop for right now, but Lord willing, we’ll talk to some more tomorrow. Till then bye-bye everybody

“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 

For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 

“But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.’’ 2 Peter 2:20-22

Just imagine a man decides that he will build a house. The home that he currently lives in is full of insects and rot, and every winter the roof leaks and the walls are full of mold, so he decides that it is time for an improvement and a change. One day, he goes out and obtains the things needed to build himself a new house: tools, nails, building materials, etc. Every morning he gets up and measures and marks his boards carefully, and cuts them all perfectly. Everyday he puts up a different part of the house, from the walls, to the roof, to the windows and doors, until eventually one day he finishes. Now what if that man, on the day he finished, decided that he didn’t like the house that he had just finished, and took a match and burned it to the ground, and went and lived back in his old house again. That would be absolutely rediculous and insane wouldn’t it?

That is just like a person who makes the decision to live the rest of their life as a Christian and for the glory of God. They are tired of living in sin and wickedness, and realize their need for a change. They go out, buy a King James Bible, read it and begin building their new life as a Christian. Every morning they get up, they spend their time in prayer to the Lord, they build up their faith and attend church with other believers, and overall live in love towards God and others. 

Then one day they decide that they don’t believe in Jesus anymore, that they don’t want to show love and forgiveness, they don’t want to be obedient to it’s teachings. They don’t want to read the Bible or attend church anymore, but instead they decide that they want to go back to the old way that they used to live, in sin and wickedness, thinking only of themselves and doing what they want to do. They no longer want to live in their new life as a Christian, but instead go back to the world. Now THAT is the most incredibly rediculous, foolish, and terrible thing a person could do. They know what the Bible teaches and what Jesus wants us to do, but they ignore His wishes and commands. Just as the Bible teaches, they have shipwrecked their faith.

“Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:” 1 Timothy 1:19

The scriptures teach that it would be better that they had never even heard about the gospel of Christ, if they know what the Bible teaches but don’t adhere to the words therin. It would be like someone coming out of a burning room and closing the door. In this new room is a wall full of fire extinguishers, but instead of grabbing one and using it, they open the door they just came through and ran back into the flames.

These people started to live a life for the Lord, but they took and wrecked it. They didn’t continue in the faith that they were taught. Even those who Paul himself had helped to grow in the faith left him, loving the world more than the things of God. 

“For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.” 2 Timothy 4:10

You do not want to take the free gift of God’s grace and throw it away. It is our free ticket off the sinking ship called the world. Just like a plant that needs light and nutrients to grow, nurture your faith everyday, feed it with the word of God. Let it grow under the light of the Son, and don’t turn that Light off.

In Christ,

Andrew

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20

An ambassador is “a person who acts as a representative or promoter of a specific person, country or activity.” 

If a person is an ambassador for the United States, they communicate their countries interests to the specific country they are assigned to. An ambassador is the President’s highest ranking representative, representing their policies and interests.

Just as senators and representatives convey the wishes of the people of their states, Paul teaches that we are ambassadors for Christ, meaning that we represent the wishes and teachings of Jesus. We convey His message to others in the world.

When we are commanded by our Lord to love one another, we go out and tell others to show love. When He tells us to be forgiving, we go out and preach forgiveness to others. Jesus picked us to be His representatives, and wants us to go out and spread His word to others. 

“Ye have not chosen me. but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go out and bear much fruit…” John 15:16

Look at what the apostles did. They went all over the place, preaching and promoting the gospel of Christ to people and cities everywhere. Jesus picked them as His ambassadors. They didn’t shirk their duties, and do what they wanted to do. They went out at the command of Christ, to preach the gospel to every creature.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15

Sometimes when Paul couldn’t be at a certain church, he would send Timothy in place of himself. Timothy was an ambassador for Paul, and he would convey Paul’s message and teachings to the church. In Ephesians 6, Paul couldn’t be with the church, so he sent Tychicus.

“For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. 

But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:

Whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that ye might know our affairs, and that he might comfort your hearts.” Ephesians 6:20-22

Just as a nation will send out ambassadors to other countries, we need to spread the word of God everywhere we go. Let people everywhere know about the love of God. We are called “Christians” for a reason. We are His representatives, and we serve Him and His interests and policies. We have been given His policies and teachings, and it’s found in the King James Bible. Are you ready to be an ambassador for Christ?

In Christ,

Andrew

Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to look at a passage of scripture from Romans chapter 2

Roman’s 2:5-8

⁵ But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

⁶ Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

⁷ To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

⁸ But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,…

First of all, the Apostle is teaching here that a person is storing up wrath for themselves because of a hard and impenitent heart. That is where we’re going to begin today. What does it mean to have a hard heart.

Somebody who has a hard heart is lacking in sympathetic understanding and completely unfeeling and pitiless. Hard-heartedness is being unfeeling or unmerciful.

Hebrews 3:8

⁸ Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

Hebrews 3:15

¹⁵ While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

Our Lord God is full of pity he is very very merciful.

James 5:11

¹¹ Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

1st Peter 3:8

⁸ Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

Someone who is hard-hearted is incapable of being moved to pity. When we come boldly to the throne of grace and confess our sins to the Lord He is moved with pity and grants us His forgiveness and Grace. When people cried out… thou son of David have mercy on me… our Lord was moved with pity towards them.

Somebody who is in the church who is hard-hearted is incapable of having those feelings towards others. Hard-hearted people are incapable of being tender. They are completely without feeling.

People like that just shut those feelings off like a light switch. You may try to reach out to them because you care and love them but they shut those feelings completely off inside their hearts. Our study passage teaches that those who are a hard-hearted and impenitent are treasuring up for themselves ref against God’s judgment.

Tenderness is a feeling of concern and gentle affection or being warm-hearted.

Someone who is impenitent does not feel any shame or regret about their actions are attitudes. They are the kind of person when you say, hey you hurt me, they will not apologize. That’s why if people didn’t try to reconcile and at least say I’m sorry and confess your sins to others who they wronged in the church, they were given two or three opportunities. If they weren’t going to apologize it was caused by a hard unforgiving heart and you were supposed to keep separate from them.

If you wrong somebody and you can’t make a simple apology saying I’m sorry I did that then they’re hard-hearted. That’s not the heart of Christ because they don’t feel any shame or regret about what they’ve done enough to say I’m sorry to another.

A synonym for the word shame is to feel guilt. If you feel guilt it means you realize that you’ve done something wrong. You realize that you violated some moral or ethical code. An impenitent person does not have those feelings.

You approach someone and tell them you did this to me and that hurt but they don’t care. The reason why is because instead of a tender heart their heart has become hard and unforgiving. Soft hearted people are very forgiving and merciful. They understand how much Jesus Christ has forgiven them and they extend that same forgiveness to others around them.

Impenitent people are obstinate and very stubborn. An impenitent person doesn’t feel any remorse, which means they’re not sad about what they’ve done wrong, they’re not sad enough even to apologize.

Remorseless actually means to be unsorry. Remorseful means to feel sorrowful. If you feel sorry, your going to regret what you’ve done. Actually the word sorry means to feel regret. If you’re sorry, you are apologetic for some fault or error.

When we are sorry before the Lord Jesus Christ and regret what we done, what do we do? We confess our sins to him because we know he’s faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Faithful means He will do it when we confess them to Him. Those who are hard-hearted do not confess their sins and they do not admit fault, or apologize to somebody else. They’re incapable of saying I’m sorry or being merciful. In that state what they are doing is treasuring up unto themselves wrath.

God someday will render to every man according to his deeds. To them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for Glory and Honor and immaturity eternal life but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and Wrath.

Remember if you take a step back a few verses in our passage today look at verse 28 of chapter 1 he talks about this group of people. He says..

²⁹ Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

³⁰ Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

³¹ Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

³² Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

When somebody is involved with contention it means that they struggle in opposition. They openly oppose something that they don’t want to obey. Instead of believing the truth of God’s word, they’ve turned completely against it and fight against it. Contention is a striving and rivalry or to fight actively against something.

We have to receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save our souls. Being meek means you submit or you are submissive and humbly obedient. The Bible is filled with verses about submitting to God’s word and to your Authority.

Hebrews 13:17

¹⁷ Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

Parents have the rule over children. When they rule it means that they control others or have dominion over them.

Parents have control over their children that have been granted to them by God. I was at a grocery store one time where it said if you’re not going to control your children we will control them for you. As I’ve said numerous times, lots of people in the professing Christian church today have a problem with control. They do not want to be controlled or to submit.

When you control others it means you exercise authority over them. When you have control it is defined in the dictionary as power to influence or to direct people’s behavior or course of events.

In the church we want to allow ourselves to be controlled by those who have the rule over us. A husband has the rule over his wife. If she doesn’t yield herself and submit to his authority that’s called Rebellion. I refer to it as marital mutiny.

Children are controlled by the parents. They need to do what they are told. In the church we are under the control and the teachings of Jesus Christ. We want to submit to them.

We can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need but God ultimately wants us to get forgiven and to become obedient and faithful children. Isn’t that what you dads out there in the world want for your children?

We are supposed to obey those that have the rule over us. The reason why, is because they watch for your souls as they that must give an account that they may do it with joy and not with grief because that is unprofitable for you.

Paul cared greatly for the church as did Timothy. They spoke the truth to others so that they would believe and submit to it.

Ephesians 5:21

²¹ Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

If you truly fear God, children will submit to their parents. A wife will submit to her husband and so on and so forth. No submission to their authority means no fear of God or love for Him either.

James 4:7

⁷ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you

Ephesians 5:24

²⁴ Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

The church is subject to Christ which means we are under his authority.

1st Peter 5:5

⁵ Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

So whoever is your Authority you need to obey them.

Ephesians 5:22-24

²² Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

²⁴ Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Once again if you are in contention you are opposing the other party. That means actively resisting. Ultimately before the return of Jesus Christ the Antichrist is going to oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is gone.

2nd Thessalonians 2:4 the devil will oppose and fight against the things of God. He’s been doing that since the beginning of time.

In order to inherit eternal life someday, we need to accept biblical truth. We need to take a look at our own hearts and minds and realize the wrong things that we have committed against God and others. Someday God is going to render to every man according to his deeds.

The simple truth is that we are all sinners. What we need to do is come to Christ and get forgiven for our sins so that they can be blotted out.

Remember the Apostle James taught that faith without works is dead .1 we should desire to get forgiven with God and others and seek to do what’s good and right with our lives because ultimately those are the people who are going to inherit eternal life someday.

God doesn’t want any to perish and He gives us Grace in order to grow. For some, it takes more grace than others but those who are contentious are a completely different group of people. They will not submit themselves at all to the teachings of Christ. They completely turn away from it because they have no remorse for what they’re doing. They are an open opposition and contention with Biblical truth.

People in that state, without a repentant heart and belief of the truth are going to inherit wrath from God someday.

So these are some serious things to consider today. Turn to Christ. He loves us and cares for us. He wants to cover our sins and forgive us. He wants us to reconcile with others and to walk in love toward Him and with our neighbor. By this shall know truly if you are a disciple of Christ if you have Love in Your Heart.

Think about those things for today and Lord willing we’ll talk to some more tommorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody

Good morning and welcome in today today we’re going to take a look at a passage of scripture from Luke chapter 17:3-4

³ Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

⁴ And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

First of all today, He says if your brother trespass against thee.

The archaic definition for tresspass means a sin or an offense. A sin is a serious shortcoming or a fault in somebody’s life. It a transgression of a religious or moral law especially when deliberate. Sin is also a condition of estrangement from God resulting from such disobedience.

In theology it means a transgression of God’s known will or any principle that we’ve learned from the scriptures. (James 4:17)

Ultimately sin is the opposite of love for God or others. The reason why I say this is because Jesus summed it up in the two Commandments. He taught to love God and to love your neighbor. If It isn’t love then it’s sin.

If somebody wrongs you, you should rebuke them. It’s hard to know if you’re wronging others if they don’t ever say anything about it. When you rebuke you’re expressing disapproval or criticism of somebody because of their behavior or their actions towards you or others.

For an example of rebukes in the Bible, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in Matthew 23:29. The Lord Jesus rebuked Peter in Matthew 16:23. Peter rebuked the Jews regarding the death of Jesus in Acts 2:22. Steven rebuked the Sanhedrin acts 7:51.

If you’re going to rebuke somebody it can cause you to be very angry because of what has happened to you or others. That is a justified anger. When people sin against us, it upsets us. If somebody sins against you, rebuke them and if they repent forgive them.

I will give a very simple example of what this means. A child’s riding his bicycle too close to traffic and his dad yells at him to get away from the highway. The child rides his bike up to the dad and says I’m sorry. The dad says don’t worry about it, I love you. Simplistic isn’t it.

I’ve noticed a lot of forms of Christianity out there who are very unforgiving with others, which goes completely against the teachings of Christ. Jesus teaches In this passage when they say ” I repent ” to forgive. What they are doing is admitting and confessing their fault. The act of saying ” I Repent ” is the admission and confession of their fault otherwise they would never say that.

500 years ago that admission of fault was enough to get forgiven but because of a lack of love in the current age that we are in, and people’s unmerciful hearts, it has changed into a false gospel. That is what Prophecy in the scripture predicted would happen. People will be merciless, unforgiving, implacable and cold.

What God wants us to do is to admit the truth in our own hearts that we are wrong, which leads you to apologize to somebody and say I repent.

If you’ve apologized, you’ve done your part . If they don’t forgive you in their heart and reconcile with you, God’s will not forgive them at the judgment. It goes against everything He is.

People can over analyze this passage but it’s the simplicity of the Gospel.

Rebuke those who sin against you or hurt you, apologize and say I repent, forgive them from your heart and hold no grudge against them, and reconcile with each other. This process is not that difficult if the parties are willing.

Unforgiveness leads to bitterness,… not in the heart of the person who apologized, but in the heart of the person who won’t forgive.

We can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need so that we can get forgiven and what God wants from each of us is a confession. He wants us to repent and confess and say I did this wrong and I’m sorry Lord, and then he forgives us. That is the same kind of forgiveness we are supposed to show one another in the church.

God does not demand a changed life before he forgives us, just a confession, otherwise we would be earning our own salvation and forgiveness by works instead of by grace.

It’s God’s goodness seen through his grace that leadeth us to repentance. It is ultimately his forgiveness that causes us to change our lives around. We recognize his love through his grace and what he did for us at the cross. God has given you a gift of his grace and forgiveness when you apologize to him.

1 Peter 4:10 – As every man hath received the gift, [even so] minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Do you extend that same gift to somebody else or are you more demanding?

There are so many people today who do not even fathom how forgiving and loving God is. The reason why is in their carnal nature they do not want to forgive.

When we confess our sins it simply means to own up to our own faults. When we do, God forgives us.

Today we’re talking expressly about the relationships between one another in the church. If you do something wrong to others, admit your fault or your weakness to them. Own up to your own faults and sins. Just say I repent and I’m sorry. You can’t undo what has already been done so what else can you say but I apologize? We can’t change our past but it can be blotted out through forgiveness.

Their responsibility is to forgive you the way Christ has forgiven them. If they don’t forgive you as He does, they will be shown no mercy. What they have is a cold unforgiving heart. And that results in holding a grudge against the offending party.

James 5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

A person apologizes, but yet the other party will not forgive.

We talked in depth about this the other day but that is not Christianity. God is far more merciful than what the world perceives. If people cannot forgive others when they apologize, they themselves will not be forgiven with God either. That in itself is too scary for me to even contemplate. The flip side of that coin is confessing.

Confession to others that you have wronged is required. It’s to admit your faults and say that I repent. It means to admit that you were wrong.

If somebody wrongs you, rebuke them, if they say I repent, they are admitting that they are in the wrong. When they do that you have to forgive them in order to obey Christ.

Continuing on in our study Passage He says….

And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Now remember, this is a command of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

1 John 2:4 “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

When you say the words I repent you are showing in that admission that you have sorrow for what you have done or or else you would have never admitted to it. It’s the same thing as saying I’m guilty in an earthly courtroom.

Just the ability to say I’m sorry is an admission of fault. Think about somebody driving down the highway and a state patrolman pulls them over and says that you were driving too fast. He had you clocked at 65. You simply respond to the officer saying I’m sorry. Just in that word shows that you admit fault, which by the way is something that insurance companies hate when you do.

When somebody says these words in the church, you are supposed to forgive them.

When you go to Jesus and confess and admit your faults, Jesus forgives us. It’s immediate. God doesn’t hold our sins over our heads. He ceases to remember them. Quite different than people who profess Christianity today who remember your faults and won’t forgive.

Don’t confuse that with Christ’s forgiveness and the true grace of God. We can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need and we can know in our hearts that He is going to forgive us. That is because we have faith.

Otherwise why would we come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need. We come boldly because we know he’s going to forgive us. We recognize his love and His forgiving nature.

A lot of people who profess Christianity Today really are lost in understanding the fact of how God it’s so forgiving and merciful to sinners. That’s why Jesus taught when he returned would there be faith on the Earth.

There’s going to be no groundswell of Christianity before the return of Jesus but a complete downfall of the truth, and those are the facts my friends.

Even when people don’t forgive when you apologize, Christ does. It is true that God’s forgiveness and grace will result in a change in our lives, but we do not change first and then get forgiven. We get forgiven first and that feeling of freedom and liberty from our past misdeeds causes us to repent to the point that we change our ways.

So I want to make sure you understand that. God doesn’t require that you change your ways first and then come and get forgiven. We come to the cross the way we are. Jesus wants to forgive us. He died on the cross while we were yet sinners.

Jesus didn’t demand that we change first before He forgives us. Those who believe that concept are believing a complete falsehood in the Christian faith. The apostles taught that you cannot earn forgiveness because it’s a gift.

The more that we are forgiven, the more we realize how much we are loved and cared for by God. It’s the goodness of God seen in his grace that leadeth us to repentance. Remember it was the religious leaders of Jesus day who were so upset with him because he was simply forgiving others who came to him in faith.

Sadly it still happens today in forms of Christianity were people will not forgive others when they apologize.

Luke 7:36-50

³⁶ And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.

³⁷ And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,

³⁸ And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

³⁹ Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

⁴⁰ And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.

⁴¹ There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.

⁴² And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

⁴³ Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

⁴⁴ And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

⁴⁵ Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.

⁴⁶ My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

⁴⁷ Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

⁴⁸ And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

⁴⁹ And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

⁵⁰ And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

take a look at this following verse.

1st Peter 3:21

²¹ The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

God cleanses our conscience through baptism even though we haven’t put away the filth of the Flesh in our own hearts and Minds yet. The church is a place that is filled up with sinners who are amending and changing their ways but it does not happen in one day. How long did it take you to ride a bicycle the first time that you got on it?

Thank God for his mercy and his grace so that we can grow. How long does it take a tomato seed to come up out of the ground…. in one day?Thank God for his mercy and Grace towards wretched sinners. God cleanses our hearts and our minds when we come to him and confess our sins and partake of Holy Communion. This is why God has provided a sacrifice for our sins. It’s so that we can get forgiven when we need to.

Christ wants us to be that forgiving with each other.

When someone apologizes and says I repent you need to forgive them because Jesus forgave you. Now remember when we get forgiven that doesn’t mean that we should use that Grace as an occasion to the flesh but everybody in the church has their own weaknesses and faults and we have to help each other out. We don’t want to be a stumbling block to other people but pick them up and help them because God is our helper. He gives Grace to help us.

It’s easy to stand in judgment over others like they did to the adulterous woman in the Gospels, but not so easy to forgive.

Don’t forget that Mercy is greater than judgement. For many years I’ve always enjoyed playing the game of spades. I taught it to my family years ago. In this game the Spades Trump everything else just like Mercy Trump’s judgment. It’s like having an ace in your hand that will beat everything else but you have to use it. You have to be able to pull out that card and use it at the right time.

Judgment has a purpose. Rebuking someone else has a purpose. But don’t forget forgiveness is greater than it all. True charity in a person’s heart will forgive others. We need to forgive others the way that Christ forgave us.

That’s where I’m going to stop right now, but Lord willing we’ll talk some more later. Till then bye-bye everybody.

“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Ephesians 4:7

The word “grace” is defined in the dictionary as “disposition to, or an act or instance of kindness, courtesty, or clemency; mercy.” 

Some of us need more grace than others. Have you ever seen the movie “Scrooge”? In that movie Ebenezer Scrooge was a person who everyone hated because he was mean and cruel to everyone that he met. One night he was visited by a “ghost” of a friend of his who had died years ago, and was told that he would be met by three ghosts. These ghosts would take and show him the past, present and future of his life and be shown how he had lived towards others.

Eventually when Scrooge was visited by the third ghost, he was taken down to hell, were a huge chain was wrapped around him. Each link of this chain represented every bad thing that he had done towards others while on the earth. This chain was so big that it completely surrounded and immobilized him. At the end of the movie, he realized what a terrible person he was, and completely changed the way he used to be and became a kind person. Now he obviously wasn’t the only person who was a sinner, but the main point is that he needed to receive a lot of grace to make right all of the things that he did wrong to others.

That is just the same as someone who has sinned all of their life. Maybe they are 70 years old and finally realize that they are sinners and in need of God’s grace and forgiveness. And then you have a 20 year old who realizes that same thing. They are both the same: sinners. One of them may have sinned more than the other and require more grace, but God’s grace and forgiveness is available to all who come to Him and believe in Jesus.

Look at the Apostle Paul. When he was a Pharisee, Saul(Paul) persecuted Christians and tried to stop them from preaching. He even oversaw the stoning of Stephen. But the Lord gave Paul grace, and forgave him all of his sins. Paul may have needed more grace than someone else, but the Lord used him for great things. Paul used the great amount of grace that he was given and used the rest of his life for Christ.

Remember when Jesus was crucified, the one thief crucified along with Jesus realized that he was a sinner too. Shortly before his death, he realized that he needed forgiveness, and the Lord told him…”Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43. 

Read this parable in Matthew 20.

“For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. 

And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 

And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,

And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. 

Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 

And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? 

They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. 

So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. 

And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. 

But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. 

And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, 

Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 

But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? 

Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.” (Matthew 20:1-14)

Here we read that those who worked for only an hour got the same as those who worked for the entire day. Those who worked for the whole day thought that they would get more, but they had already agreed at the penny a day. Now this parable could be used to teach that we should be content with our wages, or used as an example of how the Jews were given the things of God first and now the Gentiles can receive them as well, but for right now I am going to use this as an example of grace. A person can live their whole life for the Lord and receive their reward, which is eternal life, and someone can come to Christ at the end of their life, finally realizing their need for a Savior, and live out the short time they have left for Him. If they continued in Christ, they will both receive the same reward: grace, forgiveness, and eternal life in Heaven.

The gift of God’s grace is available to all, but don’t use it as an excuse to sin, saying, I can just go and get forgiven if I make a mistake. Grace is available so that we can be forgiven, not a license to sin. 

God has an abundance of mercy and grace; all you need to do is reach out and take it.

In Christ,

Andrew

Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to take a look at a passage of scripture from 2nd Timothy chapter 3. But before we do that….

I’ve always been kind of fascinated with electronics. When I was a kid I used to hook up switches on my bedpost so I could control my lights in my bedroom including my radio and all kinds of other electronic goofy things.

One day somebody bought me an electronic kit where I could take little wires and make buzzers, lights and switches and hook them all together to make them work. I thought it was really cool. I always remember that on that little computer board it had something called a resistor.

A resister is a device that is designed to resist the passage of electric current. A resistor is an electronic component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element. Resistors are used to reduce the flow of an electrical flow.

The word resist in the dictionary means to withstand the action or the effect of something. Resist means to withstand or to strive against and to oppose. Well with that in mind let’s take a look at our study passage for today.

2 Tim 3:8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

The truth of God’s Word is kind of like an electrical current. What the word of God does is it flows into our hearts in a manner of speaking. Imagine putting an electrical resistor in between you and God’s word. That is what we’re going to talk about today.

The word resist means to withstand and to strive against or to oppose. When I think about this word I sometimes think about a child who you tell them to go to their bedroom but instead of listening to you they stomp their feet on the ground and then they cross their arms across their chest, then with a defiant yell, they say no.

Not only is that rebellion but it’s opposing and resisting what you’re being told and directed to do. Let’s look at a bunch of synonyms for this word.

Withstand means to be unaffected or undamaged and to offer strong resistance or opposition to somebody or something. It also means to stand up against or to oppose with firm determination. If somebody withstands a force or action, they do not give in to it.

Many people who profess Christianity are resisting the truth of God’s Word. It happened in the days of Moses and it continues to happen today. In the church we are supposed to be united under the doctrines and the teachings of Jesus Christ. The scriptures are there for our correction so that ultimately we can become what God wants us to become. Resistance to the scriptures is going completely against what it says with no desire to follow or to do what it teaches. Jannes and Jambres were those kinds of people. They were resisting the truth.

Living up here in northern Minnesota I usually think about a beaver dam. They build these great big dams that completely stop the flow of water. They basically are a force of resistance in that flow of water. When these dams get big enough somebody from the DNR or a trapper will come out here and completely open up the dam so the water flows once again. God’s word is like a flowing well of water, but there are people who are trying to stop it from flowing into their hearts.

When people resist it’s a form of rebellion against God, akin to the sin of witchcraft. How many parents have been out around town and have had a child completely resist them while they were in public. Maybe you took them to the library and you told the children to sit down and behave, but they just didn’t want to listen to you and were running all over the place.

How as a parent does that make you feel? Resistance to authority is not a good thing. Parents don’t like that kind of rebellious behavior when a child does that. Well, spiritually speaking, how do you think God the Father feels when we resist the teachings of His Son Jesus Christ? If there’s anything that you want to resist in the Christian church it’s the devil, but you never want to resist God’s word.

Again, we’re talking about people today who resist the truth.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 8:32

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

If people don’t accept the truth of scripture they’re never going to be made free from their sins. If you resist and rebel against truth, you will never become what God wants you to be.

John 16:13

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

True followers of Jesus Christ are doing that very thing today. They’re leading you into the teachings of Holy Scripture.

John 17:17

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

How can you ever become sanctified if you resist the truth? Sanctification is the action of causing something to become morally right or acceptable. It’s the process of being freed from sin and purified. Rebellion and resistance goes completely against that process.

Ephesians 6:14

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

John 4:24

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

When you resist something it means to withstand or to strive against or to oppose.

Have any of you ever been out canoeing before? It’s pretty relaxing when you’re going down a slow stream, but when you try to turn around and go back up the stream, the flow of the water creates a strong resistance and becomes a great struggle. That canoe is fighting against the resistance of the water. Now, it’s much easier if you turn around and go down the river.

Another definition of resist is to not do something you should be doing, or to oppose or to fight against someone or something.

Again these people are fighting against the truth of God’s word

Psalms 145:18

The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

Many people today are resisting the truth of scripture and they’re starting to believe a lie. Obviously if they reject the truth they’re going to believe a lie. Our source of truth is God’s Word.

There are all kinds of people out in the world today who are trying to lead people away from Christ. They’re deceivers and liars. A liar makes a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive others. It’s an intentional untruth or falsehood. The devil has been doing that for thousands of years. That’s why when we go to the scriptures and believe the truth, we can discern the lies of the devil.

In the church we have grace and forgiveness so that when we confess our sins we can be forgiven. We can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need, but one thing I’ve always taught that you can never do is you cannot start to believe a lie.

2nd Thessalonians 2:11-12

¹¹ And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

¹² That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

When you do something wrong it should make you feel bad . It should convict your heart and your mind. These people that we are talking about today, their conscience is seared. They do wrong and they don’t care anymore. They actually have pleasure in people who are involved with doing the same thing.

2 Tim 3:8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

Somebody who is corrupt is bad in their morals or In their manners or their actions.

When I think about this word many times I think about a rotten apple or rotten fruit. Rotten means corrupted. Another definition says to become morally debased. These are people of corrupt minds. After all, if they’re not going to accept the Holy word of God and the teachings of the truth what do you think’s going to happen to them? If they turn against it and resist it they’re going to end up corruptible.

God’s word is just and righteous and holy and good. To turn away from that results in the complete opposite qualities.

It says that they’ll be reprobate concerning the faith.

A reprobate completely goes against scripture. What they’re doing is resisting the truth.

Like I’ve always said we can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need but God gives us grace to grow.

A reprobate is somebody who is bad and corrupt. They are improper and immoral. The scriptures lead us into goodness righteousness and truth.

When you oppose something it means to actively resist or to refuse to comply with a person or a system.

2nd Thessalonians 2:4

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

That is what the devil does. He opposes Christ and His word.

Lastly 2nd Timothy 2:25

In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

Can people come back to the Christian faith after in a state of opposition? well I believe so because there’s grace available to do that, but in meekness you need to be able to help those that oppose themselves.

They’re caught up in the snare of the devil. You have to get them to believe the truth of God’s Word.

That is what’s going to lead them to Salvation.

So again….

2 Tim 3:8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

2 Cor 13:5-6

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.

Paul was living a life for the Lord Jesus Christ and believed the teachings of scriptures. You never want to resist and fight against the grace of God and forgiveness but except the calling that God has for you in your life.

That’s where I’m going to stop at right now the Lord willing we’ll talk to you some more later. Till then bye-bye everybody.

Good morning and welcome in today. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from Ephesians chapter 4.

We are going to discuss a lot of words today and their meanings so bear with me…

What happens when you don’t forgive other people from your heart when they apologize, is it results in bitterness inside your heart. God wants us to put all bitterness away and forgive one another.

Eph 4:31-32

³¹ Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

³² And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

As I have said in the past, I tend to apologize three or four times everyday because I don’t want to be burdened with a debt of sin. I also don’t want to offend others. It doesn’t matter how small or insignificant the offense may seem.

For example, my son doesn’t like a lot of onions cooked in his food. He usually says, Dad I can’t handle this. Don’t put so many onions in it. My response is, I’m sorry. The next time around when I cook, because I care about him, I try to remember not to put too many onions in.

In the Christian faith we are supposed to learn to apologize and to forgive one another. If you can’t do one or the other you’re missing what Jesus teaches us. The Bible is clear that if we simply confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Jesus wants to lift that sin burden from us. His Mercy towards us shows us how much he cares about us. God cleanses us and washes our sins away.

On the other hand, when somebody sins against you and they repent of their sins and apologize, you need to be able to forgive them from your heart. The result of not forgiving other people who apologize or when they say I repent can result in all kinds of issues. Ultimately it results in a bitter unforgiving heart.

If somebody is unforgiving it means they are not willing to forgive you or to excuse somebody else’s fault or their wrong doing. This goes completely against what Christ taught. Jesus forgives our sins and he expects us to be forgiving with one another.

Matthew 18 21:22

²¹ Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

²² Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

This teaches us how much mercy and Grace is available from our Lord Jesus Christ. If he taught that to Peter then you can understand how forgiving he is with us. We are supposed to be this merciful with other people.

He wants us to be forgiving as he is forgiving. Someone who is unforgiving is not disposed to forgive or to show mercy. They are unrelenting, not allowing for mistakes or misdeeds or carelessness or weaknesses. Before we get into bitterness which actually is a result of unforgiveness, let’s take a look at a group of words that have a lot to do with unforgiveness. These are synonyms.

The word resentful means feeling or expressing bitterness or indignation over having been treated unfairly and when somebody apologizes you simply will not forgive them.

Unforgiveness comes from an uncharitable heart. Uncharitable is unkind and unsympathetic. It does not feel sorry for others. When you’re unforgiving you are avenging. That means that you desire to inflict harm in return for an injury.

What that means is somebody makes a mistake or sins against you in some way and then when they apologize for it and admit their fault you are not going to forgive them. You want to punish them and you try to figure out some way to do it or to get at them. You want payback. That is not the Christian Life. If you avenge a wrong or harmful act you are trying to hurt or punish the person who is responsible for it, by not forgiving them.

God wants us to be forgiving with each other. The road to forgiveness begins by being able to say I’m sorry. Just in that confession is an admission of fault.

Unforgiveness does not want to forgive others who have sinned against them. Look at how forgiving Jesus is with each of us when we confess and admit fault to him. That’s why there’s such dire warnings in the scriptures about an unforgiving spirit.

Another synonym for unforgiveness is retaliatory, which means having an intention to do something harmful or unpleasant to someone because they have done something harmful or unpleasant to you. That’s called returning evil for evil. I’ve had numerous people do all kinds of things to me in my life but when they apologized and said they were sorry I forgave them. If you’re incapable of forgiving it only leads down the road of bitterness. If you are unforgiving it means that you are despiteful. That means that you show malicious ill-will and a desire in your heart to hurt someone else. It is motivated by spite.

An unforgiving person is a malevolent person who deliberately tries to cause harm or evil to somebody else. It has a lot to do with the word malicious which means having or showing a desire to cause harm to somebody else. It’s given to or marked by or rising from maliciousness.

Take for example someone who maliciously gossips about you. The gossip does not arise to benefit or help someone else. The gossip arises because they hate you and desire to punish you. That is not forgiveness and it’s not the way of Christ.

When somebody is unforgiving it can cause them to malign others which means to speak harmful untruths about others or speak evil of others or to slander them or defame or malign them.

When somebody is being spiteful it is showed or caused by malice towards someone else. When you are spiteful, you act in a mean way with a desire to hurt somebody else. That is not Christian charity. If you act or speak with a desire to hurt bother or infuriate someone else you are being spiteful. Revengeful is someone who wants to get even with somebody else who has wronged them.

A lot of times children can be very unforgiving with each other. Even when one child admits wrong and apologizes, the other will seek some sort of revenge. They might retaliate by going outside and kicking over the other child’s snowman.

Those are the works of bitterness and unforgiveness. It’s a desire to want to get even.

In the Christian church we want to put that mentality away. Even some people in the church wanted to go to law with each other. They wanted to go to outside influences rather than coming to people in the church and talking it out with each other. In the church God wants us to keep it all in the family, His family.

When somebody is vengeful it means they’re seeking to harm someone in retaliation for a perceived injury. We are not supposed to return evil for evil. A vindictive person is a person who holds a grudge and always tries to get back at people who they feel have done an unpardonable sin. They try to get back at the other person in some manner.

When you sincerely apologize for the wrong you’ve committed against them and try to reconcile, instead of forgiving others, vindictive people retaliate against any insult or perceived slight

Vindictive people do not let things go. When we come to the church and confess our sins to the Lord Jesus Christ he forgives our sins and lets it go. He doesn’t even remember our past misdeeds but forgets them. That is the complete opposite of an unforgiving bitter heart. I truly believe thst the one who is unforgiving is hurting themselves more than others. When people in the church apologize you’ve got to be able to let it go and forgive otherwise it leads down the path of vindictiveness. It leads to bitterness which is incapable of letting it go.

God takes our sins and he lets them go. He casts our sins behind him never to be seen.

Another word today is implacable. An implacable person just cannot be appeased no matter what you do they cannot be appeased. Imagine offending your best friend and they’re upset with you and you’ve tried every kind of apology but she refuses to speak to you. You could describe her as implacable.

Romans 1:31

³¹ Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

Our entire Christian faith other than the resurrection is based on forgiveness. It’s based on confession and admitting faults. It’s based on apologies and reconciliation and love and tenderness with each other. Without these things the only thing that’s left is to be unmerciful, implacable, unforgiving and unapologetic.

And as long as we’re on this verse, a covenant breaker breaks a solemn agreement between the members of the church to walk together in harmony with the teachings of scripture. In the church we are all supposed to believe the same thing. We are supposed to be of one mind. If we make a mistake on the way we can get forgiven and come to others and apologize but we are all supposed to believe the truth so that we can understand that we are in error and we’re doing the wrong thing.

What a covenant breaker does is they actively promote schism in their group. They are in opposition to what they once believed. A schism is a division. it’s a separation and discord and disharmony within a church group. Now the Apostle did not want any divisions at all in the church. We are all supposed to be united in the same beliefs.

A division or separation is not the way of Christ. Do you really believe people are going to be divided in heaven,.?

Again within the church there are not supposed to be divisions at all. In the church what we need to do is confess our sins to God and each other and forgive each other with a tender heart and reconcile. If there is truly forgiveness there’s not going to be a schism. If people accept the truth of the teachings of scripture there’s not going to be a schism. Let’s take a look at another word. It says merciless.

A merciless person shows no mercy or pity. If you describe someone as merciless it means that they are determined not to show any forgiveness to others. It means without mercy and pitiless, cruel and heartless.

1 Timothy 4:1-2

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

² Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

The conscience of what’s right and wrong in their own mind is seared. They don’t care about right and wrong anymore they don’t care about being forgiving with others. They’re filled with all these qualities being unmerciful an implacable.

Implacable people are constant in enmity and you cannot appease them no matter how much you apologized. They simply will not forgive and that will result in their bitter heart.

Before you can get forgiven you have to confess and admit your faults two others. I think it’s common sense it if you’re going to apologize and confess your sins to God you should apologize to people that you have wronged. The people in our passes today are not forgiving. In that state it will eventually lead to their downfall without repentance.

Matthew 6:14-15

¹⁴ For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

¹⁵ But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

The Bible is quite clear on that. If you’re professing to be a Christian and you’re claiming to confess your sins to God and getting forgiven but you won’t forgive those who come and apologize to you he is not going to forgive you at all. If you cannot forgive other people when they say I’m sorry it leads to bitterness.

All of these definitions that we talked about here today have to do with a bitter heart and the results of people who will not forgive.

Bitterness is being resentful towards others because of a wrong that has been committed that you simply won’t forgive. What needs to be done when somebody apologizes is to forgive, get over it and reconcile. If you’re incapable of doing it that it’ll just eat you alive.

When you’re truly forgive other people from your heart you will become friends again and reconcile with each other. It’s about rejoining the division that has separated you because of an unforgiving bitter heart. So again today when somebody apologizes to you and says I’m sorry or says I repent and you don’t forgive them, it’s going to ruin your own life more than theirs. That’s a fact. It will wreck your life. God is not going to forgive you inside your heart. Ultimately the only way to get to heaven is through God’s forgiveness and Grace. If you don’t have forgiveness with God you’ll be shut out from Heaven someday. Before we go today let’s take a look at a couple verses.

Hebrews 12:15

¹⁵ Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

We are perfected in love. Bitterness defiles that love.

Proverbs 20:22

²² Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.

Don’t avenge yourselves the Lord shall save thee.

Mark 11:25

And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

James 5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

If somebody has apologized to you but you’re holding a grudge against them and you won’t forgive them God is not going to forgive you.

And also if you’ve wronged a brother you need to be reconciled to them in the church. If someone has gone through the trouble to rebuke you and to tell you that you’ve wronged them in some way or fashion then you need to be reconciled unto them and apologize. That is a command of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Don’t get caught up in bitterness. Learn to forgive people. The old saying is to hug and make up. Forgiveness is about moving on in life. I’m sure each of you have wronged others out there in the world at one time or another but they forgave you. Now it’s time to forgive those who have wronged you. True charity is seen through forgiveness.

That’s where we’re going to stop for right now but Lord willing will talk to you some more tomorrow till then bye-bye everybody