This message continues a theme we have been on for 22 weeks, Bitter Fruit.
The focus of today's message is forgiving other people.
We began in Luke 6:37-38 and saw that how we deal with others will come back on us in an amplified way.
We then travelled over to Matthew 18:32-35 (the reference that slipped my mind) and reflected on the Lord Jesus' statement about his Father turning people over to the tormentors in Matthew 18:35, unless they forgive other people FROM our HEARTS.
We pondered what it means to say, "I forgive you," and then faced the present day reality that when we hold onto hurts in our hearts, we are subject to mental torture in this life, to say nothing of the world to come.
We remembered the words that the Lord taught us to pray in Matthew 6:12, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."
Finally, we examined the Apostle Paul's word in 1 Corinthians 4:3, where he speaks about not caring about being judged by others or by any human DAY, referring to 1 Corinthians 4:5 when the Lord Jesus will come for his own and reveal ever secret thing, including not only what we have done and said, but also the thoughts that we have entertained.
At the Judgment Seat of Christ, the whole world will know what we REALLY are.
We will be weeping and sobbing over what we have done, said, and entertained in our minds. BUT so will everybody else.
That's when we can know more than superficial reconciliation because we will truly see our role in every conflict (Matthew 7:3-5).
AND our Attorney will stand on our behalf (1 John 2:1).
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Bob Vincent
Root it out Bitter Fruit Sermons by Bob and Others
After serving Grace Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, Louisiana, Bob was honorably retired on Sunday, September 27, 2015, and given the title "Pastor Emeritus." This was forty years to the day after he became their pastor.
He now works for the Presbytery of the Gulf South as...
