The Power of Forgiveness | Pastor Nolan Carpenter

you may be seated for just a few moments i have a few things before we get into the word of the lord this morning it's such an honor to stand before uh the greatest people in all the world and if you are a guest here today you might be thinking that pastor carpenter looks mighty fine for his age but that's that's not the case this morning pastor carpenter is preaching an anniversary service in uh kentucky i hope that didn't sound too prideful but it's just my heart this morning so uh pastor carpenter is preaching in kentucky this morning pastor hammond is preaching in uh houston texas this morning and our very own pastor erickson is preaching in the philippines this morning and we got a report from pastor erickson that five received the gift of the holy ghost today and his services and so we thank god for that i'm so thankful for the far-reaching hand of first apostolic church i'm thankful this morning for the far-reaching hand of first apostolic church and as brother sullivan said it it comes through the great giving of this church countries around the world know we're blessed not just not just because we're sending a check to them but this morning we sent a man of god to them and they'll know that we are blessed through the sending of a man of god and i give them honor this morning and i pray that god would be with them in their services today and bo sullivan mentioned the the the loss of sister our dear sweet sister mary crowder and um of course we we mourn um uh uh here on earth we mourn but i i know hell heaven is is having a celebration here in a few moments sister mary's uh mary crowder sister is going to be baptized in the name of jesus christ after the sermon today so while we mourn here on earth there's there's going to be a celebration in heaven i i just can't help but thank sister mary crowder she's noticing around the lamb's book of life what's going on last name crowder that's my sister she's gonna be baptized in the name of jesus christ in the name of jesus christ i thank god for that this morning god is going to do some great things in the midst of tragedy and we pray for the crowd of family but we celebrate today that her sister is going to go down in the only saving name of jesus christ and we'll be having her homegoing celebration starting at six o'clock tomorrow evening at 6 00 pm here in the sanctuary and then seven o'clock we'll begin her homegoing celebration i've just received the news of brother ben lee's grandfather passed away this morning and so we keep the lee family and just you know the leaves they've had a maybe a season of loss here so we we pray for brother ben lee and his family the losing of his grandfather we pray for them this morning and i i've come here this morning with a a word that gee it's not my thinking but it's jesus's words when he says this is for everyone and i got to thinking when i was reading this scripture and i'll read my text here in a moment when i was reading this passage of scripture this is the bible says this is for everybody and i got to thinking as i grew up as a child i i would spend many days at the claiborne household where claiborne gets nervous as as as nervous as we get when he gets up here and starts calling people he's getting a little nervous this morning we i remember one day it was after school i i went home with christian and james claborn and uh you gotta understand that it may be like jacob and esau esau maybe the hunters and that's the claverds and i'm just a soft-skinned boy like jacob i guess and so jacob goes over to the cleveland's house and these are hunters all right these are these are the man the men of the field and and christian looks to me and says let's go hunting all right let's go hunting so they give me some camo of course my bright colored clothes is not going to work out in the field so they give me some camo they got the paint you know we put underneath their eyes we're ready to go hunting so we did like all 12 and 13 year old boys do we grabbed our airsoft guns little plastic pellet guns that we're going to take to the field because we're going hunting we're going hunting so we go and we've made we we're going bird hunting on this certain day and and we go out there with all intentions to to kill some birds you know you think they're going to fall out of sky you know we're just shooting them one by one and we make our way and we found the perfect spot to bird hunt matter of fact we every shot we we seem to shoot seemed to kill a bird and as birds are all around you know we looked at what we've done we looked at the great victory before us and we walked home to the claiborne household with our chest out and our shoulders back because we went hunting we went hunting and we were victorious we killed lots of birds brother claiborne was there in the door frame waiting for us to get home he looks at us and says boys what you've been doing we're trying to wipe the black paint off of our face and we just went out and shot some airsoft guns he said well i just got a call from a family member and you boys were shooting birds out of a bird feeder i said oh lord whoever it was who called was not too happy that boys were just going up there it was a perfect place because there was a bunch of birds there it just made sense to twelve if they're there i mean they deer feed they do all those things so why couldn't you shoot birds out of a bird feeder i guess it's a good lesson learned but this morning i've come with a word from the lord i've brought an airsoft gun to a bird feeder and i've come and hopefully uh hopefully we uh we shoot some birds this morning if you'd be so kind to stand with me and turn to the word of the lord in luke chapter 17 and the reason i'm confident this morning that the word of the lord is for everyone is because what jesus says in luke chapter 17 verse number 1 then said he and to the disciples it is impossible that offenses will come it's impossible for you to live your life and not have the opportunity to be offended offenses will be at your doorstep but it's how we respond in the time of offense it is impossible impossible that offenses will come but woe unto him through whom they come it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he is cast into the sea then that he should offend one of these little ones take heed to yourself if thy brother trespass against thee rebuke him and if he repent forgive him such a hard but simple lesson to learn that when we have offense come by the hand of others this is not a motivational book this is not just some kind words this is jesus christ saying that you are responsible to forgive offenses will come and when that brother trespasses against thee rebuke him and he for if he repent forgive him 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 not a suggestion not hey if you feel you'll feel better if you forgive them it's a command from jesus and the apostles the ones who have seen miracles come by jesus's hand they said lord increase our faith increase our faith my goal this morning is to connect forgiveness with faith you cannot have faith if you have things that you have not forgiven or things that you haven't been recipient of forgiveness so i want to preach just a few short moments with the hand of the lord on the subject of the power of forgiveness the power there's so much power in forgiveness and this morning i believe if we have a spirit of forgiveness that comes throughout this place we'll we'll feel the power of god in this house because faith and forgiveness go hand in hand you put your bibles down with me this morning you lift your hands and you ask god to be in this place if we can lift our voice in this house god we thank you today god i pray as god as i attempt to preach your word this morning god that you would go to the hearts of men and women all across all across this congregation god all across throughout the web lord and i know god is this tough subject of forgiveness lord i pray god i pray i would preach this with love god and god not being inconsiderate god of what they've been through but god preached to them the power if they would let that offense go because every single person in this house has had the chance to be offended through the offenses of life lord i pray that a spirit of forgiveness would come god i pray that a spirit of forgiveness would come and bring healing god in relationships today got healing in a family today and it all starts with forgiveness god we do everything in your name in jesus name can we clap our hands in this place for what we've already felt and what we're going to feel in this house lord we love you and we praise you in jesus name someone say in jesus name you may be seated in the house of the lord today it was on the night of june 5th 2022 this night would be a normal evening in the household of the smart family they had just got home from a normal night beginning their summer which which included a celebration of their daughter elizabeth receiving several awards there at a school awards ceremony it was a normal evening and they began to celebrate the accomplishments of their daughter elizabeth they were so proud of their daughter of what the grades she had received her athletic achievements there as it was a big celebration for elizabeth her and her sister elizabeth and her sister shared the same bedroom as they begin to go to sleep next to one of one another like they have done for months before they thought it was a normal evening but it would be far from that this would be the evening the night that tragedy strikes the smart as elizabeth would faintly fall asleep and just go to the beyond consciousness to that moment of slumber she would feel cold metal on her cheeks and as she opens her eyes she sees a dark shadow in her room in a voice of a man saying i've got a knife to your neck if you make any noise at all i will take your life if you scream at all i will go downstairs and i will kill your family as elizabeth is is this a dream is this a a nightmare what's happening as is that man would make elizabeth get out of bed as a as she he would keep whispering in her ear if you say a word if you scream out loud i will end your life right here he would lead her downstairs he would lead her downstairs through the living room and throughout the back door they would go off to the wilderness to the forest there behind the house there in the forest where brian david mitchell would lead elizabeth there his wife wanda would be waiting and brian this man would be convinced that he was emmanuel he was convinced he had had had taken on this lie that it was his responsibility and his job to save virgins from the world and he would try to save them elizabeth would end the evening just a normal evening but the next morning she would wake up a slave for nine months elizabeth a 14 year old daughter a 14 year old girl pure would be raped every night for the next nine months by someone who claimed to be spiritual named emmanuel they would travel many times they would travel three or four times to different cities they would travel many times in elizabeth states after she was rescued she states that she saw the hand of god in her captivity one night it had been several she states it had been three days since they had drank any water at all and brian david mitchell had went out to find some water and as she laid down there next to the wife wanda she said they were just thirsty she thought that her life would end there because she hadn't had water in three days she she wakes up and there is a cup of water right next to her bedside and she she proclaims this is not anything to make us feel good she says herself that in the midst of captivity that god never stopped providing for her that god never stopped giving her exactly what she needed it was in the convincing of brian david mitchell that elizabeth learned their gain they were obviously involved in this cult this ugly cult in and elizabeth would learn how they talk to each other in the language and even the scriptures that they would use and elizabeth stated in california that she said that i i i i got to where i would give them an idea and say i was spoken to by god he said mr emmanuel i i feel the lord's speaking to me and god has called us back to save the people who you saved me from and she says okay where are we going so god spoke to me and said we need to go back to salt lake city utah where i am from and save the wretched sinners that you emmanuel had saved me from elizabeth started learning how to communicate with mr mitchell and and and this emmanuel listened to elizabeth and took her back to salt lake city utah and they they they got to where they would go out in the public and and and she was discouraged one grocery store that she went into that she did not see she saw a bunch bunch of missing poster signs but she didn't see her missing poster sign and she thought within herself has my family stopped looking for me has my family and my two and my two lost to to repair am i too broken to put back together and people would come up and ask many two different occasions someone would come up and ask there's a girl missing by the name of elizabeth smart are you elizabeth she just wouldn't say a word because she knew the threats that brian david mitchell had made on her and her family it was at one moment on one day that a police officer would come up to this this group of three people and would put his arm around elizabeth she says she the last time a man has touched her it was not in an act of love as this police officer she she tried to even get away from this police officer because when someone would touch her it would just bring tragedy it would just bring scars it would just bring brokenness to her life and this police officer tried his best to to put his arm around her and love on her and tell her are you elizabeth smart she didn't answer she she kind of just turned her head away because the touch of a man is just brings brokenness and breathes hurt and heartache are you elizabeth no no i'm not not elizabeth a police officer said to her do you know elizabeth still has a family at home that hasn't stopped searching for do you know elizabeth has a mom and a dad that has had nine months of sleepless nights going out and looking for their baby girl they haven't stopped looking they haven't stopped searching for elizabeth she looks that police officer with faith and says i am elizabeth smart that police officer takes that girl and puts her in the cop car takes brian mitchell brian david mitchell and his wife wanda into captivity and there was a beautiful reunion between elizabeth and her family there it was that evening that that nine months of torment nine months of pain nine months of brokenness finally ends with elizabeth being reunited with her family how does a 14 year old girl that has been raped every day for the last nine months go back to something called normal that night she last time she was in that bed she was taken out by brian david mitchell was kidnapped now she attempts to sleep on the first night home she states that she wrestled back and forth she turned back and forth just barely getting any sleep at all because she was home home is supposed to feel safe it's supposed to feel comfort when you're home you're supposed to feel like everything's right but the past nine months caused brokenness in this young 14 year old girl she wakes up in the next morning sleeping maybe an hour or two to the sound of her mother making breakfast she walks down the steps the family is they're having a party that elizabeth is home they're having a party that our baby girl is is is safe now that mother looks to the brokenness of elizabeth's eyes she says let's let's go talk in the other room she puts her arm around elizabeth sits her on the couch that mother begins to to say i i i sympathize with you i i can't imagine what you've seen the past nine months i can't imagine what you felt the past nine months i can't imagine what you've been through for the past nine months brian david mitchell stole nine months of your life and this is the statement that i want to preach about this morning it'll help me with the title of the power of forgiveness that mother looks to elizabeth looks in her eyes of brokenness says honey i know brian david mitchell has stolen nine months of your life but you determine right now how much more that he steals you determine right now i know you're 14 years old you don't understand you've had nine months of brokenness you have nine months of someone stripping who you are away from you you couldn't help that you were kidnapped you couldn't help the offense that you've been through you couldn't help you couldn't help the past season of your life but right now you determine how much more you let brian david mitchell steal from you this powerful statement is so it could help us this morning i've come to preach this morning on the power of forgiveness jesus says that it is impossible for you to live your life and not have the opportunity to be offended the opportunity to have offense come in your life and produce being offended i've come to preach to someone this morning that someone took nine months away from your life someone has entered into your life not by your own choosing and they have taken precious time precious morals from you you have caused that the actions of someone else has caused hurt in your life i want to preach the word of the lord to you this morning that you stand at a crossroads you stand at a moment in time where you determine how much more that person steals for from you you determine how much joy that person steals from you you determine i know it's hard to lift your hands because you just think about all the hurt that's been done it's hard to lift your hands and worship in the presence of god everyone else is doing it but you just find it hard to lift your hands you determine today if you can just get the faith to forgive if you can get the faith to let go of offenses you'll have some joy come back to your life you'll have some peace come back to your life i don't want to be inconsiderate of what you've been through but i just want to tell you you hold the power in your hands you hold the power of forgiveness you determine how much longer you're going to live in that broken situation you determine how much longer that they are going to steal something from you the response of a disciple of jesus christ is to forgive because there's power in forgiveness elizabeth smart was asked a question had she forgiven her abductors and she stated that my forgiveness to them had nothing to do with them and it had everything to do with me it had nothing they don't care if i forgave them they don't care if i if i said hey i'm going to release this from you they didn't care but she said i can't move on with my life until i made the decision to forgive them until i made that decision to forgive them in their wrong doing i know i know i want to preach this with love today not not not trying to say what you've been through is not a big deal because everybody has offenses that come in their life i don't want to stand up here as as a 20 24 year old man i i don't want to uh stand up here and say what you've been through doesn't matter and what you've been through was not a big deal it was a big deal it caused brokenness in your life but i want to tell you with the help of the lord this morning that you control how much more that person seals from you you control how much more joy you allow that person to steal from i know that season was tough i know that season was hard i know you were stripped just about of everything in that season of hurt and that season of brokenness but there's a man named jesus that wants you to forgive there's a man named jesus that wants you to show forgiveness it has nothing to do with the person who did it to you but it has everything for you it has ev you can't move on until you forgive absalom was a man that seemingly had it all together he was the prince he was the the heir to the throne of israel but absalom's whole life would change absalom's whole life would be defined by one moment absalom absalom had a sister by the name of tamar and the bible records that this tamar was a good-looking young lady a good-looking pure virgin lady the bible says that absalom had a brother by the name of amnon amnon was a sick young perverse man amnon fell absolutely sick for his half-sister tamar and in this in this story it states that amnon had a friend amnon had a friend that would scheme this plan together for him to to to to play out his lustful desires of his hash sister tamar the friend would go and tell david the king that hey king one of your sons is sick it's amnon we don't know how much longer he has he he really needs your attention right now and and david you know he hasn't been the perfect father but david goes down to his son amnon and he says hey bud what's the matter what come on by the way well you need anything and he looked to his dad and he said yes i need something i need my sister my sister tamar to make me some cakes and come feed me and i think that'll make me feel better i think that's going to make me really snap out of this sickness that i'm in if my sister tamar would come and minister to me in my time of sickness so david goes to hey tamara your brother really needs you now he he's really sick he's not feeling all that too well he he wants you that that cake you make that the favorite one of the family yeah that that one he wants you to come make that and give it to him so tamar is an innocent young pure lady comes making cakes to her brother her half brother amnon and as she began to enter into the door amnon would the smile would turn into a face of no good and nod would say i everybody in this room except me and tamar get out shut the door behind you and say mars noticing there's something different about this this this is not usually how amnon acts and so they shut the door and sent all the men out all the people there out he says come here and he would force her to lay with him a half-sister a half-brother amnon would rape his half-sister unimaginable hurt unimaginable pain by the by the actions of someone else and as tamar's pure pureness her purity is stripped from her it's taken away from her it's nothing she lived her life to the best of her ability tamar would live her life to be pure she he would she would live her life to be without uh without a question or without she would live her life to be a virgin and it was stripped from her from her half-brother amnon tamar would put ashes upon her head she would tear off her road that identified her as a virgin and she shows up at the house of her brother absalom absalom opens up the door and knows immediately what has happened to her sister he says have you been with amnon i see that your your virgin clothes have been tore i see there's ashes upon your head the thing i'm thinking is is it true have you been with amnon and the bible records that tears are flowing down from tamar's face she said i've been with i've been with i've been with amnon and he did this terrible thing to me ii samuel 13 and 20 says so tamar remained desolate in her brother absalom's house what do you do when a fence comes to your house how do you react and respond when something is taken away from you how do you respond when something unfair has happened to you it's at your house offense is literally at your house and according to the words of jesus christ it is knocking at every single person's door under the sound of my voice this morning ii samuel 13 and 22 says an absalom spake unto his brother amnon neither good nor bad for absalom absalom hated amnon because she had forced her sister tamar what this means is every time that absalom would get in the presence of amnon he would just put a not a smile on his face but you could it was enough to to tell there was some there was wasn't something quite right but really there wasn't something wrong he just had one of those plain looks it was neither good nor bad in the presence of amnon commentator trap says that nothing is more unsafe to be trusted than fair looks behind an angry heart there's nothing more to be trusted you there's nothing more unsafe to be trusted than fair looks behind a angry heart hatred in absalom's heart would grow it would have time to cultivate because offense is back at his house hurt is literally living in his house tamar is in the house of absalon absalom it's at his house every time he would go home he would be reminded of the evil actions of his half-brother amnon this hatred had time to grow and cultivate for two years the bible says until absalom's plan for revenge is complete verse 23 says and it came to pass after two years that absalom absalom had sheep shears in bel hazor which is beside ephraim and absalom absalom invited all the king's sons he had this master plan and it was all all to just get revenge of what amnon stole from us would amnon stole from my family two years of just that offense that would would cultivate in his heart two years of that offense just growing into more hatred and more hatred would come from this offense until finally the plan is complete i'm going to throw a party and invite all the king's sons this is going to look like you know we're just getting the brothers back together and we're going to have a good old party but absalom would say to his soldiers when amnon he's going to get drunk and when amnon gets drunk and he gets merry and full of wine i'm going to say the word and we're going to take amnon's life we're going to revenge the actions of amnon it just makes sense if you're going to steal something from my family i'm going to take your life if you're going to steal something from my innocent sweet sister tamar i'm gonna end your life this just makes sense to an angry heart and so it would just be the perfect plan amnon would become drunk and then absalom would say the word and they would smite and kill him absalom's plan was absolutely perfect it took place just how he envisioned it for the last two years it was a perfect plan of revenge was tamar what was done to tamar was it wrong absolutely but was absalom's hatred justified when offense comes to your house is our hatred justified hatred if it is left undealt with hatred if if forgiveness doesn't come and just overcome that hatred everything you think about is through the lens of your hurt everything every action you take is through the is all based on how you were hurt two years ago i know i know you were done wrong tamar i know you were done uh dumb uh or wrong absalom by this man coming in and stealing something from your sister hatred left untouched and unchecked how does it feel now absolutely now that you've got your revenge how does it feel now is your life good now that you you you took back what that man stole from you you took his life because he took your sister's virginity do you feel better do you feel better now that you have your revenge how does it feel absolutely for your revenge to be complete how does it feel now that you have righted the wrongs of your past something someone has done something evil to you how does it feel to right those wrongs absalom thought that every single one of his issues would be solved when he got his sweet precious revenge four times in this chapter four times in ten verses it said from that moment that absalom would flee for his life listen to this second samuel 13 29 then all the king's son arose and every man got him upon his mule and fled absalom was included in that group just a few verses later verse 34 but absalom fled verse 37 but absalom fled and went to talmud the son of amhud uh king of gesher and david mourned for his sons every day the next verse opens up and says so absalom fled and went to gershor gesher which was there for three years so how does it feel absalom now that you have your your revenge how does it feel that you righted the wrong of what someone did to you and your family the fact about revenge is you'll never find a home you'll never find peace when you act upon your offense when you try the right the wrong of someone else when you try to take it into your own hand four times in ten verses it says that absalom would flee you never find peace you never find home you come to the house of the lord so many times and you just wonder what's different i i really can't feel god and you god you know you should be with me because i didn't really feel like you were with me when all hell would break loose in my family by the actions of someone else all the while it's a simple simple fix it's the power of forgiveness it's the power of forgiveness forgiveness has nothing to do with the person that wronged you and has everything to do with you you can't move on with your life until you make that decision to forgive you can't move on with your life it's a it's an offense it's a trap literally that you can walk into and before you know it you are entrapped by a past mistake you are entrapped by something that someone else did to you and someone else caused this pain but the bible says that it's a trap it's a trap of satan that if you don't be careful that hurt and that offense turns into being offended and being offended turns into hatred every decision you make every thought that you think everything that comes out of your mouth is through the lens of that trap then that hatred turns into being bitter and we're going to deal with that in a moment it turns into bitterness and all these ugly things that we see it it started when someone treated you unfairly it started when someone treated you so wrong you you lived your life good but someone did something to you it was out of your control but then the responsibility falls on you the responsibility falls on the victim and the simple responsibility is to forgive absalom's life would be defined by probably under an hour of time one hour would define absalom's whole life one hour of wrongdoing to him and his family and his sister tamar would define his life matter of fact second samuel 14 and 27 says in unto absalom they were born three sons and one daughter whose name was tamar when you don't deal with offenses in your life it's it's in scripture here there's a principle that you begin to put it on your children your your children become defined tamar what's wrong what's your what's your story well my dad he he killed a man because this man he he did us wrong he took the the virginity of of my aunt tamar and now i bear the name tamar absalom's un uh absalom's hatred in his heart it would begin to define his children he would put his situation on his children all due to the lack of forgiveness when a parent is done wrong if not handled the right way it will begin to name your children just as it does here in ii samuel oh god help us deal with offenses today because if we're not careful when we're done wrong if forgiveness does not come and flood our hearts we begin to put it on children i've seen broken children hey what's wrong you're five years old and you're broken and you can track it all back to a parent or a grandparent that was done wrong were they done wrong absolutely but somewhere along the way if forgiveness can just come in their heart if forgiveness can just come in their life then the children will be set free what would have happened to absalom's children if forgiveness would arrange they were heirs of the throne but we'll define them by a mistake that happened to us let's not allow it to take away our children let's not allow it to define our children again we see in the life of absalom it keeps going how his hurt affects his children 2nd samuel 18 now absalom 18 and 18. now absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar which isn't uh in the kingsdale for he said i have no son to keep my name in remembrance chapter before he has three sons and a daughter the next few chapters after that moment he says i have no son to keep my name in remembrance for he called the pillar after his own name it is called unto this day absalom's place i don't know why the scripture would put this in the way that we we know absalom has sons he has many sons fat in fact but maybe we can say that absalom didn't spend enough time with his sons to get to know them absalom wasn't spending enough time to his sons to train them to to cultivate their life he was so concerned with writing the wrongs of his past that he forgot about his sons that maybe even his sons lost their life in war why had you been so concerned with trying to go back years and years ago and write someone else's wrongs if you forgot all about your children you don't have any children to carry on your name what happened i know you have sons but absalom does everything through the lens of hurt absalom lives his whole life just by one hour of time on a random day that would define the rest of his life was he done wrong was his family done wrong absolutely he would run from david he would try to overthrow his father and eventually his hair would get caught up in a tree and he would be hanging between heaven and earth losing his life for an example for everyone to see everyone walk past that's the that's the man who is trying to right the wrongs of this whole war that he's fighting all goes back to amnon taking in his half-sister or his sister tamar there's the example of someone what hurt if it's not checked if it's not forgiven there's the example of what hurt does hurt turns into hatred hatred turns into bitterness and jesus christ gives us just this most simple fix forgive forgive i know i know it's hard to open up the the case of feelings that you've bundled up all these feelings because of hurt being done to you and been done in the past you lived your life so pure and so blameless and then someone comes and steals something from you how do you handle that i feel the holy ghost in this place how do you handle this when a fence comes knocking at your door because jesus christ said it's going to happen to every one of us what do you do in this moment the only simple answer is forgive the only simple there's the example of bitterness hanging between heaven and earth there's the example of bitterness in the life of absalom hebrews 12 and 15 we've talked about when someone does something to you and causes hurt in your life but listen to this hebrews 12 15 looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of god list any root singular of bitterness springing up trouble in you thereby many being defiled here's the sad truth about bitterness one root of bitterness in your life doesn't just affect you it doesn't just affect you but roots just seem to grow and then pop up in a in a family member your root of bitterness will it defiles many it defiles your children your children will be defined by bitterness and a parent oh god i want to preach this with love today but if you can find the faith to forgive if you can find the faith to let go of offenses you'll have you'll find healing you'll find restoration but it all starts with forgiveness it all starts with going back to that ugly thing that happened and plugging up that root of bitterness i know you were done wrong i know that something was stripped from you you lived your life pure you lived your life blameless but a fence comes knocking at your door but bitterness defiles many this is about esau in the in in hebrews 12 lest there be any fornicator or profane a person as esau who for one morsel of meat sold his own birthright the story of absalon absalom tamar and amnon had to do with someone else hurting them someone else taking something from them but esau stands as a man an example what do you do when you do wrong and you can't forgive yourself we know that there was reconciliation between jacob and esau they hugged each other they kissed each other they they had a good old time as brothers but all the while hebrews 12 uh 15 verse number 17 says for ye know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected for he found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears what's the life of esau the life of esau is when he made a mistake he found forgiveness with his brother he gave forgiveness to jacob there was a beautiful forgiveness that happened in there but esau lives his whole life as a man who can't forgive himself and you track the lineage of esau he's the come from him and all their mess-ups and all their family lineage it's just absolutely nonsense and craziness and where does it start it starts with a dad and made a mistake in his life many years ago and even though he he he's righted the wrong with his brother and they've had a beautiful mend in their relationship esau sought a place to repent but he couldn't find one obviously god's repentance was for esau but he saw deep inside of himself so tearfully he's with tears esau just could not forgive himself if we don't forgive ourselves for past we do understand that in order to forgive we have to partake in god's forgiveness the reason that we can forgive those who have wronged us is because we have taken forgiveness on ourselves if we can't find a place to forgive someone else maybe we've got to take a a deep inspection of forgiveness in our own life because you can't give something you don't possess you can't give forgiveness to a family member who has done you wrong if you don't have forgiveness inside of your heart but esau is an example of a man who simply can't forgive himself his children lost a birthright his children would lose a blessing all because of his mistake was there forgiveness for esau absolutely esau just simply could not forgive himself it starts with offense it starts with a trap here in our opening scripture the word offense means a set up trap that's exactly what offense is it's the opportunity to trap you in a place to be bound by your hurt but jesus states that the only forgiveness the only way to get out of that trap is to forgive these disciples that jesus has been speaking to for the last few uh the last little bit these these guys have seen the blinded eyes open they seen the deaf ears suddenly someone start their face at an all-time high and then jesus just opens up on a wednesday night a simple bible study about forgiveness he says that if someone would wrong you seven times in a day and they would do that for seven days from that point every day seven times someone would do you wrong and immediately would come after it and ask for repentance they would ask for your forgiveness you are to forgive them i command you you are to forgive them and the disciples look to one another and realizing what jesus is saying we're supposed to forgive we're supposed to forgive someone who has done us wrong seven times a day for seven days and they said lord increase our faith oh i don't have the faith enough we think having a all-time high for a miracle requires faith jesus says these disciples say what requires the most faith is the faith to forgive what requires the most faith the most help from god is when i look somebody in the eyes that has wronged me when i look someone in the eyes that have taken something from me i've got to find the faith to forgive them i've got to look back i've got to find god inside of me to forgive him the the disciple says lord increase our faith it takes a lot of faith to forgive there's a connection here there's a connection here between faith and forgiveness you can't have faith without forgiveness you can't have faith without receiving forgiveness and giving forgiveness acts 18 8 and 18 tells us a story about a man named simon when the laying on the apostles hands the holy ghost was given simon would offer them money saying give me this power oh i i like this i like this faith that i feel ooh i like the power to be able to lay hands on someone and that that looks pretty cool i i want to be a part of that and peter would look to him and says you can't purchase this with money money can't make you happy this is what it doesn't matter how much money that you have if there's any bitterness you'll never be happy you'll never be happy doesn't this this guy simon obviously had enough money to to buy whatever he wanted but this said this kind of faith doesn't come through money this kind of faith matter of fact peter really gets to the bottom of the issue he says thy money perish with thee in verse 20 because thou has uh thought the gift of god may be purchased with money thou has neither part nor lot in this matter for thy heart is not right in the sight of god repent thereof of this wickedness and i pray and pray god if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven me simon what's the real issue in your life why do you think you can buy this type of faith here it is verse 23 for i perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity you can't have faith without forgiveness you can't have a faith that prospers without forgiveness the disciples seen it over and over again they watched jesus do a bunch of wonderful things but then a simple thing on forgiveness they said i don't have the faith to do that we see it again here there's a connection between forgiveness and faith forgiveness and faith you cannot have faith without first forgiving the psalmist would write in psalms 103 11 bless the lord o my soul all that is within me bless his holy name bless the lord oh my soul and forget not all of his benefits here's where it gets tricky who forgiveth all thine iniquities first forgiveness comes and then what comes after forgiveness who heals all thy diseases if you want healing in a relationship it all starts with the first part of that it starts with forgiveness you can't have true healing in a marriage if you don't first have forgiveness you can't have true healing in relationships and families unless you first go down the side of forgiveness i've heard it said before by brother woodward he said that people don't fall out of love they just stop forgiving people don't fall out of love divorces don't just happen because someone falls out of love somewhere a man or a woman just forgets how to forgive you ain't perfect and she ain't either but somehow you just forget i'm not gonna forgive this person anymore and when forgiveness ends the worst can happen when forgiveness ends look what comes first forgiveness and healing you cannot have faith without forgiving the relationship can heal properly until forgiveness takes place i want to tell somebody that god wants to heal someone today god wants to heal maybe not an issue in a disease in a body but maybe maybe an emotional disease maybe a a thing that has plagued you for life it it's the filter in which you talk through it's the filter of which you think through it's the filter in which you act through your children begin to notice that you're starting to act through the offense of hurt and through the offense of what's done in the past all while saying the gift of god in this place today is the power of forgiveness someone can be healed today if we just start forgiving someone can let go of offenses if we just start for start forgiving i know it's going to be difficult i know it's going to be difficult for here in a moment you to come to this altar and start forgiving those who have wronged you but you're going to find healing with the gift of faith in this house if you can muster up the faith to forgive if you can muster up the faith to forgive if you can muster up the faith to forgive that person who wronged you you've got to forgive in order to heal that's the only way healing happens if at first forgiveness has to come you cannot find healing unless you first forgive i feel the lord in this place right now if we could just start to pray just a moment if we could start to pray just a moment i don't want to be inconsiderate of what what's been done in your life i i don't want to be inconsiderate you made a mistake you did esau but there's forgiveness for you today the healing that needs to come in your family first starts with forgiveness i feel the lord in this house let's go ahead and stand all across this place today i feel that someone here today you've carried a fence into this house you've carried hurt into the house of the lord today but this is the place of forgiveness this is the place of restoration and it all starts with forgiveness with every head bowel and every eye would be closed i feel the lord in this house i want to ask someone today with carrot you've carried your hurt into the house of the lord many years ago five ten years ago has defined you for life one day and god's timetable in your life has defined you every action that you take every word that you speak is all through the lens of hurt i want to be the word of the lord today saying that someone stole an amount of time out of your life but you make the decision today how much more that person steals how much joy that person steals from you how many times you come into the house of the lord and you just begin to sit on a pew and you can't feel god you say god where you are where are you at don't you know how much hurt i have don't don't you know how much bondage i have i've been done wrong god where are you at he says on that forgiveness i'm that forgiveness door if you could just find the faith today to come to the altar and deal with that offense deal with that trap deal where you've got to find the faith to forgive and then healing can come if you find the faith to forgive someone i know it's difficult but if you can find the faith to forgive god will bring healing that person took so much time from you but right now you decide how much more that person takes you were done wrong but right now you decide how much more that person steals from you i'm going to open these altars up for someone who has some hurt in their life it's going to be a difficult altar call because it involves going back to your worst moments in life it involves going back to that time where you don't understand why that person did that to you you don't understand why your mom and dad walked out on you you don't understand why this happened in your life but healing cannot come until we find the faith to forgive healing cannot come in that relationship healing can come with that that situation until you find the faith to forgive come on i'm pulling on somebody today i'm pulling on somebody today come on i know it's going to be difficult to to let go of that pew the back of that pew you hide behind that pew and you're a fence you hide behind that pew with your hurts you don't want anybody else to know but the healing comes through forgiveness i feel the lord in this house come on i want to open these altars for someone else come on you've wronged yourself so many times that you can't find the faith to forgive yourself like esau come on come on you're defining your life by just one simple weakness in your flesh that's not god's will for your life god's will for your life is forgiveness god's will for your life is for you to open up the contents of your heart and say god help me to forgive myself god i know it's under the blood but help me to forgive myself help me to forgive myself forgiveness come on that's a good song to sing healing is here come on forgiveness is here today come on church family come on would you come around and let's help those who have been offended the hatred and hearts today could be healed with the with just a little bit of forgiveness come on forgiveness is not about them it's not about the perpetrator it's all about the victim today come on let that offense go come on let that offense go i promise you healing can happen in this place i promise you healing can happen in this place if we just choose to forgive were you done wrong absolutely were you mistreated absolutely was something robbed of you or something stolen from you absolutely was your innocence stole from you absolutely but you could just find the place to forgive the love come on you determined today how much more they steal from you come on you determine today how much more that father steals from you come on you determine today how much more the maid steals from you you just got to forgive you you'll show the holy ghost is moving right now i know this is an unusual altar call but healing is happening right now we're seeing a miracle from heaven right now in the power of forgiveness the power of forgiveness come on sir let that offense go come on let that i know they were a father figure in your life i know they were close to you like a brother but find the power to forgive come on healing is taking place in this house healing is happening in this place hallelujah come on i know i'm pulling for you today it's so difficult to lift your hands when you've been hurt oh god i feel vulnerable when i lift my hands but vulnerable is a place of forgiveness being vulnerable with your hands lifted is a place of forgiveness and healing can come restoration can come in the house of the lord but you gotta forgive come on let that go get give yourself freedom today let it go today jesus jesus hey is jesus i know he lives here i trusted i lift my me i know healing is here i know oh i lit my hands comes from i trust in you one more time trusting you sick freedom is here oh there's freedom in the house of the lord come on this message about forgiveness today how would you find somebody to pray with for just a moment it's so beautiful i see sisters hugging sisters and i see brothers hugging brothers it's the power of forgiveness today if we really want to see miracles today it's all through forgiveness come on right now in the name of jesus if there's anybody under the sound of my voice that i have have done wrong in their life i ask you publicly to forgive me i ask you publicly to forgive me oh there's healing that happens with forgiveness oh god if there's anybody under the sound of my voice god that i've done wrong in their life god i ask you to forgive me i ask you to help them to forgive me lord oh god we need healing among us lord oh god the greatest lesson we can learn is to forgive but god i receive forgiveness so i can give it lord god healing can take place in a family healing can take place in a family today come on we're witnessing miracles this morning come on this ain't a hype show this is a forgiveness show today come on we're forgiving one another come on man you gotta find him deep within your heart today to forgive that husband come on i know he did you wrong but the healing that you want in your marriage is only gonna come through forgiveness the restoration in your marriage that you want that the the perfect marriage that you envision only comes through forgiveness oh jesus as they're getting ready to baptize sister crowd or sister this morning come on a few more moments let's pray let's pray in this house healing is here come on the brother after sing about healing this part come on that sickness of emotional that emotional disease maybe not a physical disease but emotional abuse and and those those mental things going on in your head it all comes back to that tragedy because it is your will that my life is healed but it only comes to forgiveness come on let's lift our hands and let's sing this song one more time is here oh and it is is and it is freedom is here freedom hallelujah we can only give forgiveness if we have accepted forgiveness if we've received forgiveness can we lift our hands all across this place and can we receive that forgiveness from god come on esau i know you've done wrong come on i know that one moment of your flesh has ruined sin simply everything that was perfect in your life you have the blessing you have the birthright but it's lost because of one simple action one day has defined the rest of your life but if forgiveness can take place if you could forgive yourself if you could forgive that family member freedom what's the rain in your house oh god i feel the spirit of the lord in this place i'd love to say to you this morning that what you've done so beautifully the last 15 minutes or so in the altar will cure everything but forgiveness isn't a one-time action of the heart but it's a continual choice of your will you're going to wake up in the morning with those same thoughts from satan because it's a tr offense is a trap from satan so you're going to wake up with those same thoughts that because he's the same old devil but if you just make up in your mind that i'm going to forgive i have not it's not just a one-time thing but it's a continual choice of my will that i'm going to forgive that person what absalom's life could have been what his children could have been what esau could have been in his children if forgiveness would have just reigned in their house forgiveness is surrendering the right to hurt you for hurting me that's the power of forgiveness brother derek but you've done you're an awesome guy we talked before church you've never hurt me in my life you'd never do something so you're a good example today let's say he does something wrong to me treats me unfairly i've got some vengeance to pay i've got some revenge brother but what forgiveness is is surrendering the right for me to return the favor that's what forgiveness is and that's when healing can take place one more time all across this room can we lift our hands and let's thank god for what we felt in this house as they're getting her ready to be baptized this morning god i thank you for healing that has taken place in this house god the forgiveness is the cure it's a needless suffering god forgiving is the the cure it's the cure all for god the wrong doings in our life it's forgiveness to get out of the trap to get out of the trap of a fence it all starts with forgiveness god i forgive those who have wronged me i forgive those who have hurt me this evening at six o'clock we'll have a live evangelistic service and we are so honored and privileged our missionary from beirut lebanon brother azar will be ministering tonight you do not want to miss it brother tsar is a phenomenal anointed man of god please come back tonight what we'll do is when they get her ready to be baptized i'll draw your attention back and we're going to baptize her in the name of jesus christ i think with a message like this of forgiveness it would be so good if you shook someone's hand tell them you love them an old-fashioned hugging uh necks and shaking hands don't go don't get those two backwards don't be don't be shaking necks and hugging hands that would be weird right seth don't be hugging hugging hands and shaking necks there's a spirit of forgiveness in this place there's a spirit of love in this house come on healing is in the place today god bless you in jesus name this morning