Restored : A Forgiven People

We got enough to do.

Second, if you're a forgiving people, you should know that you need to start relinquishing things.

Start relinquishing.

If you are a forgiving people, which we are, you will have to start relinquishing or letting go of things important to you.

Things important to you.

Things highly valued in a democracy.

Highly valued in a democracy.

You'll have to relinquish things important to you, like moral indignation.

Like the right to retaliate in self-defense or sometimes in, forget self-defense, the right to retaliate.

Your attachment to being right.

Your attachment to being right.

The loss that you feel.

These are valid.

These are valid things.

Moral indignation.

The right to retaliate because it's your, it's your given right.

It's part of your freedom to retaliate.

The attachment to being right.

The loss that you have suffered.

If you want to be a forgiving people, you will have to start relinquishing these things that are important to you and that are highly priced in a democracy.

What are we trying to do with these points?

We're trying to say that restored people are not just forgiven.

Restored people are forgiving.

And if I am forgiving, then there are certain things that I must attempt so that I can move forward.

There are certain things that I must attempt so that I can walk the way Jesus walked.

And all these things really match up with Jesus.

He gave up moral indignation.

If there was any man who lived a moral life and had a high sense of morality, it was him.

He gave up the right to retaliate.

Even on the cross when he could have commanded legions, he gave up his attachment to the right to the truth.

If there was anyone who knew it was him and he gave up loss, he didn't say I've given up all this.

So nothing.

He laid everything down.

And yet that didn't mean that he commanded anything special because he gave up everything.

Sometimes things happen and there is you have a right to be morally angry.

Which one is this?

Okay, I'll give you a chance.

Moral indignation.

Okay.

Well, it was moral indignation about myself.

So this was regarding my carpooler who has been actually quite nasty to me.

I'm not saying any names because this is being recorded, but I was totally lambasted from the moment she got into my car.

And it was just my car was full of venom.

I was told I was stupid.

Maybe not in so many words, but I was stupid and that nobody liked me.

My work wasn't good.

And she had unreasonable expectations and I had every right.

I was thinking she's going on a leave in two days.

And I thought I'm not going to carpool with her anymore after this because I don't need to be insulted and offended for no reason.

And then I was thinking, but she will take it back.

And that will close any door I have for the gospel presentation.

And then what Jacob was just saying, yes, I don't need to be a doormat.

At the same time, yes, I do.

I need to be a servant.

As we say, the thing that rises up in us is, yeah, we should not be doormats.

And I agree.

But let's look at the other side, which we always avoid.

If we choose Jesus's extremes, we will land in a good middle.

So if someone keeps insulting you, it doesn't mean you have to keep taking the insults.

But let's go to the other side for today.

Let's go to the other side and take the insults.

Because there is a scripture actually which says when they insulted him, when they tortured him, when they did him harm, he was quite a man.

There is a scripture actually which says when they insulted him, when they tortured him, when they did him harm, he was quiet.

These are such extremes that we don't even want to go there.

And yet there is truth to not being used as a doormat.

There were times when Jesus would not allow anybody to use him as a doormat.

But we are taking it to the other extreme so that we make up for what we don't have.

So relinquishing these things is required if you are a forgiving people.

At least if you start there, like Kramer says, if you're already there, then maybe you'll land in the middle.

Don't worry about Kramer. It's from Seinfeld.

Certainly, forgiving is not simply letting go.

Forgiving is not simply letting go or forgetting over time.

Because this is what we normally do.

We let go of offence.

We forget it over time.

Guys, at no point today will we be talking about forgiving each other and stuff like that.

We should be pretty well-versed in those things by now because we've been taught that through multiple years.

We are talking about being a forgiving people.

What should we attempt if we want to become a people that constantly forgive?

Here's the thing.

Forgiving is not simply letting go or forgetting over time.

It is not simply letting go or forgetting over time.

It is active compassion or empathy.

Empathy is when you put yourself in someone else's shoes.

That's what empathy means.

So forgiving is not simply forgetting or letting go over time.

It's an act of compassion or empathy because rarely do we forgive out of compassion or empathy.

We forgive because it's almost like a duty.

We know that if we don't forgive, we've been told that God will not forgive us.

We know that if we don't forgive, it might result in unforgiveness, which will lead to a whole load of toxic diseases.

Most of the reasons Christians forgive have has everything to do with themselves and very little to do with the other person.

This is such a selfish religion.

We made it such a selfish religion.

That whenever we do things, it's still for our benefit, not for the benefit of others.

And yet it was never meant to be a selfish religion.

Jesus didn't forgive because he was going to get something.

He already had it and he put it down.

So forgiving is not simply letting go or forgetting over time.

It is active compassion or empathy where you're forgiving because you put yourself in someone else's shoes and your heart is overwhelmed with compassion.

This is how Jesus was.

This is how a forgiving community should work.

Yeah.

Kind of because we are when we get further, you'll understand why.

Yeah.

Any questions on this last one, guys?

We are trying to behave or think or have the same approach that Jesus has to things so that it is no other way.

We don't forgive because let it go, man.

Don't hold any grudge.

We don't forgive because, hey, if you don't forgive, you know what's going to happen to you.

You'll get diseases.

We don't forgive because, oh, he doesn't care, but you will be carrying this all this time.

No, I don't.

I don't.

He doesn't care, but you will be carrying this all this time.

No, we are forgiving simply because the compassion and the empathy of God works like that.

Therefore, a forgiving community should be like that.

It's a very different thing then.

It's very non self-centered.

Okay, next one.

Forgiveness is a gift before it's a duty.

Forgiveness is a gift before it's a duty.

We destroy its power as a gift.

We destroy its power as a gift.

When we think of it as a duty.

Forgiveness is a gift before it's a duty.

We destroy its power as a gift.

Forgiveness is a gift you give.

It was a gift given to us.

God didn't feel duty bound.

See what we have.

What are we trying to do?

Reflect the heart and the attitude of God because we are supposed to be a microcosm or a demonstration of what it looks like when God dwells with the people and the people dwell with him.

Forgiveness is a gift.

I give it as a gift.

I don't give it as a duty.

If I give it as a duty, then I destroy the power of the gift.

For too long, we've been taught that it's your duty to forgive.

And so it's best not to coerce anyone to forgive.

Don't course people to forgive.

Because when you cause them, it ends up being more a duty than a gift.

Most ministries that pray for healing and stuff like that will make you forgive people.

And so you do it as a duty to escape the sickness.

But that is not the purest form of forgiveness as God would have you.

By the way, forgiveness is not reconciliation.

Do not equate forgiveness with reconciliation.

Forgiveness is just part of the gift.

Forgiveness is just pardoning.

Pardoning.

And after you pardon, then you move towards reconciliation.

Reconciliation is basically breaking down walls so that people who were hostile can live together.

And it may or may not be possible.

In Ephesians 2, 14, Jesus, it says about Jesus that he is our peace and he has broken down every wall and he has made one or reconciled the dew and the Gentile.

Those that were hostile now dwell together.

Those that are enemies now walk side by side.

So they must, forgiveness is just pardoning someone.

And after pardoning, there is a step that is expected of Christians, which is to go beyond just pardoning someone.

It is now to see if there is any way that reconciliation can happen so that former enemies or victims who were harmed.

I know I'm going into territory that is very difficult to fathom out.

But at the end of the day, this is the heart of God.

So I don't want to stop sharp shots.

Any questions?

Don't coerce people into forgiving.

It's a gift that they should try and give.

Does it affect health and life?

It does.

It does.

Can you help them with it and ask them and tell them, listen, you need to forgive.

Otherwise, this will continue.

Yes, you must.

But try to remember the heart of God with this whole idea of trying to raise up a forgiving people.

And here's the other thing, guys.

When you're trying to forgive, you're trying to remember the heart of God.

The whole idea of trying to raise up a forgiving people.

And here's the other thing, guys.

When it comes to forgiveness, storytelling is important.

You must allow people to tell their story because there is anger.

There is rage.

There is sorrow.

There is despair in what has happened to you.

And so because we don't have time, we hurry people through the process where always Jesus had.

Had time for people to tell him what they did wrong.

He would spend time.

Even our confession, when we take our sins, he knows.

Don't think that you're confessing so that he's given all the information.

He knows the information before and but he wants storytelling.

He wants you to go and talk to him.

One of the things he says is reason with me.

Bring your arguments to me.

Storytelling is part of this because there's a lot of anger, rage, sorrow, despair that is involved.

And the question is, do I have time for it?

Therefore, when I force someone to quickly say, Betty, you better forgive Jane.

Just say, I forgive you, Jane.

And so she says, I forgive you, Jane.

And yes, it is an attempt and it is right.

And there's nothing wrong with what it's done.

But there's a more excellent way that requires time.

I was listening to this guy called Miles McPherson.

This is just on the side.

One of the things he said is very and he's black.

And he was saying how one of the things he's noticed in America is when he hangs around with whites for lack of I don't know how else to say, he says that no Caucasian is a Canadian thing.

Asian is a Canadian thing.

East Indian is a Canadian thing.

Trust me.

Indians don't like being called in the East Indians.

Sri Lankans don't like being called in.

Sorry.

Sorry.

Dame said so.

So he's the authority on it.

So here's what here's what Miles McPherson said.

He said very often when he hangs around with Christians who are white, they say that I don't see color.

I don't see color.

I see everyone the same.

I don't see color.

And Miles McPherson says you must see my color first before you stop seeing it because my color carries with it a story.

So we've got to try and escape these cliches that we use.

Even when it comes to forgiveness, there is the need to hear the story.

And he says because because there's this quick whitewash saying I don't see color.

I see everybody equal.

My God, that song was as racist as they come.

We were talking about it.

Jesus loves the little children red and yellow, black and white.

And so even question was where's the brown?

So he felt left out and some others felt insulted.

But the point is this.

I don't think they're singing that song anymore in churches.

This is a politically so incorrect message.

But the point is that I must see your color, your background, your gender at times, your country you come from before I quickly jump to the point and say, oh, I don't see.

I see everyone as equal because our backgrounds carry a story.

And sometimes it needs to be heard before you can come into any degree of reconciliation with anybody.

That's the thought when I heard it, it just struck me hard because it's so easy to say, oh, I don't see color.

I see everybody equal saying.

But sometimes it's not such a good thing to say that people have gone through stuff.

Go ahead.

Yeah, you must see color and then treat everyone equal.

You must see someone's background, someone's past and then treat everybody.

Moving on.

Here's another statement that really shook me.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's a demand you can make on yourself.

And by the way, some problems between husbands and wives will take a few sunsets.

At least ask your wife and she'll tell you that it's a husband who wants to get it done before sunset because that'll mean less explanation for the next eight days.

But most wives don't worry about problem taking six sunsets.

Just information for your husband.

So you got your clue on from now on.

Yeah.

That's what Dano says too.

And I don't believe either of you.

That's the other thing.

Use flash for husbands.

What you see as not being a fight is actually a fight because your wife has a completely different take on it.

If you notice, I didn't say anything.

It's true.

I'll give it to you.

I'll give it to you.

Come on.

You are a nice guy to Anne.

And the full stop.

It stops there.

Yeah.

Here's another comment that really bothered me.

As a Christian, I dehumanize you when I don't see you as a neighbor I must love.

It really bothered me because this word dehumanization is used very often nowadays where don't dehumanize others.

So you might dehumanize people in the world if you treat them a certain way.

But as a Christian, I dehumanize you if I don't see you as a neighbor that I must love as myself.

You become a little less than what you are supposed to be when I do not see you as a neighbor made in my made in the image of God and neighbor that I must love.

I love instead of myself.

Love as myself.

As a Christian, I dehumanize you when I don't see you as a neighbor who I must love as myself.

This is where the whole empathy thing kicks in.

Where you put yourself in someone else's shoes, where you go with Matthew seven, verse 12.

It says that do unto others what you would have them do to you.

Do unto others what you would have them do to you.

Very difficult guys these things, but thank God for an extreme Jesus.

For an extreme Jesus.

I mean, I had an opportunity a couple of weeks ago to practice some of this where a guy came and parked in my parking slot.

And I'm coming home at 11 in the night and there's a guy in my parking slot.

And it's one of those parking slots where you either park there or you park outside.

And if you park outside, you pay for it.

So, of course, moral indignation, rightfully so and all that stuff.

And so should I key his car, scratch it?

No, these thoughts didn't.

I was saying these thoughts didn't occur to me because I'm a believer now.

So now I'm thinking about what should I do?

So now my thought is I'll have to drive and it's raining outside.

A guy walked by, he said, just having towed, that's what we normally do.

We just ask, call the manager, they ask the towing company to come and tow.

And I'm thinking to myself, I would hate to be towed on a night like this.

Because then he'll have to go somewhere downtown to pick up the car and pay 80 or 85 bucks.

So I leave a note on his card saying, just if you don't remove this by six in the morning, it'll be towed.

Now I go park my car and pay for parking outside.

And then I'm thinking to myself, that I can handle.

But waking up at six o'clock, that's even worse.

But at six o'clock, I wake up and the car is still there.

So now I write, if you don't, I cut out six, I write, if I don't, if you don't move it by nine, I'll have you towed.

Come back at nine, the guy hasn't moved.

So I know I cut it off and I say, if you don't move it by 12, I'll have you towed.

The guy didn't move till five, man.

But somehow I've been towed five, six times.

I've been towed five, six times.

That is the most miserable experience in your life.

And somehow I didn't, somehow I didn't want it to happen to this guy.

So I would rather pay than have this happen to him.

Am I suggesting that you do it?

No. Next time he parks there, I've taken down his number, I haven't towed immediately.

But the point is this, guys, try to empathize and try to put yourself in someone else's shoes.

And then know that as a Christian, I do dehumanize you when I don't see you as my neighbor, who I must love as myself.

It's a very difficult thing.

That's what bothers me.

It is so difficult to see everybody as a neighbor.

This is why I can understand why this guy who was listening to Jesus, the story asked the smartest and the dumbest question.

Who is my neighbor?

I mean, dumbest because he was setting himself up because now Jesus would tell him a story and smartest because that's what everyone would ask.

Who is my neighbor?

I was so convicted by that statement that when Jeevan texted me last night saying he had left his key at work, I even offered to drive him to work.

But I sent the text message five minutes late, hoping he had found a ride.

And thank God he did.

Because Abel wouldn't take him.

Okay, two ways to go about forgiving two ways to go about forgiving unilateral forgiveness, unilateral forgiveness where you forgive without anything in return.

It requires nothing in return.

It's an act of generosity.

Even though you were wronged, it's an act of generosity.

You just forgive.

You just forgive.

It's an act of generosity.

Even though you were wronged, it's an act of generosity.

You just forgive.

Unilateral forgiveness.

Nothing is asked.

You just forgive.

Many of you have done this many times.

And then there is bilateral forgiveness.

In this case, there is a need for justice to be served.

And therefore, there must be remorse and change before forgiveness can take full effect.

And both are present in the Bible.

Bilateral.

Yeah, bilateral forgiveness.

Bilateral forgiveness is when there's an exchange involved.

It depends on either an apology or a confession that wrong was done or remorse.

It's tied up with justice and it requires the paying off of a debt or a restitution of some sort.

And both are mentioned in the Bible.

There are different times for them.

But just keep it in mind.

Unilateral forgiveness is when you want nothing.

It is out of your generosity that you give forgiveness as a gift.

And it comes out of a place of compassion, not out of letting go.

If you could move from letting go to compassion.

The more conditions you attach to forgiveness, guys, the more vindictive it gets.

The more conditions you attach to forgiveness, the more vindictive it gets.

The more conditions you attach to forgiveness, the more vindictive it can get.

I've read this many times that in 1919 after the First World War,

when Germany was given a truce at the Treaty of Versailles,

the conditions were so, so extreme that it was only a matter of time before Germany would strike back.

It was humiliation.

Sometimes we give forgiveness,

but there are so many conditions that it humiliates the one receiving forgiveness.

Be careful of that.

Sometimes spouses do this to each other.

Churches have to be careful about this too, because how do you deal with it?

At present, I got a call earlier this week from someone who said that in that church,

one of the pastors had committed a sexual sin and that it has finally come out.

How do you deal with it?

Do you bring it out into the open?

Don't you?

And if you bring it out into the open, because that's what the Bible says must be done,

that an elder should be given a chance to be forgiven.

And if you bring it out into the open, because that's what the Bible says must be done,

that an elder should be rebuked in public.

How will the church react?

Will the church have him for breakfast for the next three months or will the church be kind?

Forgiveness is a really messy thing, guys.

I pray God that if it comes to a point where someone in this church has to be rebuked publicly

because of a certain way of walking, then we will be so restorative.

There will be an example that the person will happily come and know that safety in laying out

what has been done publicly, knowing that the rest of the church will not eat he or she up for breakfast.

What do churches do instead?

Because they're scared of the reaction, everything is swept under the carpet.

And anything that is swept under the carpet, there will be some guests who will come along and stumble on the carpet.

And the day they stumble on the carpet, all your dust is revealed.

If you've been through a traumatic situation,

then one of the easiest ways to escape fear is to forgive those that caused the trauma.

If you've been through a traumatic situation,

it doesn't matter whether it was something as horrible as sexual abuse or as horrible as what happened to Prashant

or as horrible as physical abuse or as horrible as just robbery or burglary or whatever.

One of the fastest ways to escape the fear that that trauma causes is to forgive the perpetrators of the trauma.

Sometimes you may have to go to their grave because they're already dead.

Other times you may not have to meet them, but forgive them.

It is one of the fastest ways out of the fear caused by the trauma and forgive how forgive out of compassion,

not out of letting go, but out of compassion.

Forgive how forgive as looking at the person, not in the way that dehumanizes them as perpetrators who harm me,

but as ones who are my neighbor. It is extreme.

This is so wrong.

This is why it doesn't fit within democracy.

The fastest way to escape the stigma caused by inequality and exploitation is to again forgive the ones who exploited you

and treated you unequally, especially in an immigrant nation like Canada.

You don't know the history of generations after generations of immigrants that have come into the land

and have had an attitude towards the previous generation.

Where you were treated unequally, people oppressed your grandfather or your grandmother

or a certain nation behaved a certain way with the nation that you come from and now you carry it.

Sometimes it's got nothing to do with nations.

Sometimes it's got to do with you don't like people who are richer than you.

You don't like people who are better cars than you.

You don't like people who are better houses than you.

You step into their house and the first thing you think is how did this guy get this house?

He must be doing something on the site.

It's a mentality and it comes out of either something I've developed in my childhood

or sheer exploitation or just inequality I've suffered.

Do you know something?

And I'm not I wouldn't be off the mark if when I say this,

there are people sitting in this room right now, including me, who have prejudices against certain nations.

We all come, unfortunately, because of our childhood with prejudices against certain nations,

against certain types of people, against certain strata, against certain riches.

We all have them secretly.

It'll come out in comments or conversations with people you're close to.

There is no country as ridden with this as South Africa.

I have heard good Christians talk so so obnoxiously about the other race that it makes me shudder,

but they will only talk about it when they know they are safe with you.

But it comes out.

Are there nations or nationalities that you do not hold in respect?

There was a person in this church who I once was driving with was.

So don't think of yourself.

There was a person in this church who was driving with and at one point he told me,

Jacob, you have no idea how much I hate people who are rich.

Look at them. They just put on their money.

They go buy these kind of cars.

Look at their houses.

Just just there was just such anger because they were richer.

Why am I bringing this up?

Because if you want to escape real of perceived inequality or exploitation,

forgiving is the only way to safeguard your heart from prejudice and resentment against their cars,

their houses, their money, their nationality, their culture, their immigrant values.

Doesn't matter what it is. Get rid of it.

Otherwise, at some point from your mouth will come out the statement.

Ah, he's an Indian or he's she's German or he's Pakistani.

You won't believe this. I had really good Pakistani friends in Bahrain.

You know them. No, not you in Bahrain.

No, no, in Bahrain.

I didn't know them, but I had really good Pakistani friends in Bahrain.

And my relatives would come and say to me, what are you doing hanging out with those Pakistanis?

Because Indians and Pakistanis are not supposed to be friends.

Right from when I was six.

Praise God for you, man.

When I was six, I remember at six being taught after as soon as school is out.

When I was six, 1971, the India Pakistan war broke out.

We were taught from when we were kids.

To hate Pakistanis.

We would walk back from school and there would be grownups teaching us slogans that we would shout down the roads because the war was going on and we would shout these.

So I can understand why my relatives when I gathered together with them for dinner said, why are you hanging around with them?

Yeah.

Yeah.

All I'm saying is guys do not pretend that you do not have prejudices or biases.

We have them and unless we face up to them, we cannot get rid of them.

One lady said, Chris and Heidi, no one says with a volant and she turns around to me and says, oh, I hate Filipinos.

But there was some reason.

She just blurted it out.

Who do you hate?

Getting stuck here.

Do you know how hard it used to be for East Indian churches and Chinese churches to rent a church in Vancouver?

You know how hard it was?

Because no church would rent a church in Vancouver.

You know how hard it was?

Because no church would rent to East Indian congregations or Chinese congregations.

You know why?

Because in case they have a potluck, the kitten will smell and we can't allow those smells in our church.

I'm talking about 15 years ago, man.

This is not ancient history.

This is very real.

I pray God that we rid ourselves of these prejudices so that we become a restored people.

Cultivate a prejudice-free Christ to you.

Cultivate a prejudice-free Christ to you that dismantles your worldview developed during your childhood or adulthood.

Cultivate a prejudice-free Christ to you.

That dismantles your worldview that you may have developed through childhood or as you grew up.

your worldview that you may have developed through childhood

why as you grew up.

Cultivate a prejudice free Christ view that dismantles your

worldview that you may have developed from childhood.

Because if you don't God will prune you with your with his

word.

And then if you don't he'll discipline you with affection.

If you don't God will prune you with his word as he's doing

right now through this teaching and then he will discipline

you with affection.

If you still don't change and a forgiven people must expect

God's gift of discipline because he likes confronting and

overcoming sin and helping you repent because he wants a

holy peculiar people.

So he prunes us through the word and if we don't change

through the word then he brings in affection and discipline

so that we change.

Two more points and we'll wrap up because I want to break

bread and pray for healing people.

A forgiving people judge themselves a forgiving people judge

themselves meaning first Corinthians 11.

I think 31 says judge yourself lest you be judged judge yourself

lest you be judged a forgiving people judge themselves.

They examine themselves before God and they give others grant

others the right to judge them as in tell me if there's

something wrong that I need to correct.

Because when you judge yourselves and you give people

the right to judge you then you begin to as it says in Hebrews

514 you begin to make judgments that distinguish between right

and wrong as long as see on one hand we are forgiven but just

because you're forgiven doesn't mean that you are shutting

yourself out to judgment you go and stand before God and

he's a father.

What does it say with sub 139 or somewhere there it says see

if there be any wicked way in me.

That is one thing you need to do and then because you may

not be able to see your blind spots.

You must go and ask someone or give someone else the the

the right to judge you saying I've gone before God, but I

know I have blind spots and blind spots are always invisible.

I grant you the right to judge me to call me into account

and when you do I will do what is this required to change?

You must give others the right to judge you.

Once they judge you can resist it wrestle with it do whatever

but you must give others the right to judge you if you don't

you will never never be able to recover from your blind spots

and they'll collect like leeches on your skin and they'll

suck your blood.

Because the forgiving people judge themselves, you know,

why are forgiving people judge themselves because God expects

a people who are forgiven and a people who forgive you know,

one of the main things he wants to use them for he wants to

use them for making peace blessed other peacemakers.

It is only a people who know how to judge correctly that he

can use to bring peace into situations.

Christians are peacekeepers.

God wants peacemakers to make peace.

You have to judge correctly and you cannot judge other things

correctly till you judge yourself correctly and you never

can fully judge yourself correctly unless you allow others

to judge you also.

Once you get to that point, God will say aha now I have

someone who can discern between right and wrong who can choose

between right and wrong who can make good judgments.

Who can choose between right and wrong who can choose between

right and wrong who can make good judgments and yet make

judgments with mercy.

The beautiful thing about a people that are forgiving is

that they make correct judgments and after making correct

judgments, they show mercy.

Paul was highly forgiving.

We saw what he said and yet wasn't this is the same Paul

to Elimast the sorcerer that there is such bitterness in you.

Be careful.

Something will happen to you.

Wasn't it the same Paul that stood before Sergius Paulus

and said to Bar Jesus the other sorcerer that a blindness

is going to descend on you and the man was blind.

Wasn't it the same Paul who would Silas before the left

for Iconium in Acts chapter 13 dusted the dust off their

Acts 13 · chapter mention

shoes and walked away saying your blood be on your head.

There are times when judgment is required by you judge

correctly.

But the beautiful thing is that after that it will always

be coupled with mercy because of forgiving people are supposed

to be peacemakers peacemakers are people who are forgiven

and people who know how to forgive peacemakers are ones

who are very keen in knowing how to dissect what is right

from what is wrong.

What is black from what is white and know how to divide

the gray and say aha.

And now that we have done this we will show mercy James

James 2:13

chapter 2 verse 13 says that mercy triumphs over judgment

that when one shows mercy, he will be treated mercifully

when one does not show mercy.

He will not be treated mercifully mercy triumphs over

judgment.

But don't for a second thing that any mercy can happen

without judgment.

There is no word called mercy.

There is no concept called mercy unless there is judgment.

One cannot exist without the other mercy does not exist

where judgment is absent.

The very word owes its existence to judgment.

Therefore a forgiving people first know how to judge themselves

and a forgiving people learn how to judge things accurately.

First Corinthians 2 15 says a person with the spirit makes

judgment about all things.

We are called to make judgments but after making judgments

show mercy or compassion or pity.

I was watching this.

I was watching this document called the end which is about

the transition of Obama's presidency into the Bush presidency

the last days and at one point few weeks before Obama leaves

office.

There is the shooting at Charleston where there was a Bible

study happening in a church and nine African Americans were

shot and through all the things that were happening Obama

says that what just gripped him was the relatives of all nine

African Americans went to the court and forgave this guy

called Dylan Roof for shooting their sons daughters husbands

wives father's mother and he was overwhelmed by the fact that

these guys went they didn't say oh let him go free.

There was justice that had to be met but there was forgiveness

that was offered easy judgment must be always followed by

mercy.

This is how peacemakers work peacemakers know how to distinguish

and then peacemakers bring in the life of God full of mercy

and grace into a situation.

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of

God.

This was the job of the prophets guys.

I'll end with this line.

This was the job of the prophets.

What did the prophets do prophets would always bring judgment

saying you guys have turned away you guys have turned away

and then what would they do but God is merciful but God is

merciful turn to him.

And then they would usher in the peace of Christ into

situations.

Every time there was an apostate condition that Israel went

to or there was a apostasy that was common in Israel a prophet

would come he would say listen judgment judgment judgment.

Now that I've got your attention mercy mercy mercy.

This is the Old Testament how much more so in the New Testament

Blessed are the peacemakers any questions I'm done.

Any questions.

From now on when you forgive people remember to forgive them

because you are compassionate.

From now on when you forgive people do it because you empathize

you put yourself in their shoes you think of Matthew 712 do

unto others as you would like done unto you now when you

forgive people don't forget or let go be very deliberate about

try thinking of people as your neighbor and then as soon as

you think of them as a neighbor you are now required to

love them as you love yourself not instead of yourself

with important distinction.

You can't talk about today, but as you love yourself.

You cannot cause forgiveness a course a person to forgive

because it's a gift remember every time you forgive you're

giving up gift.

What I mean such a such a such an amazing comparison to Jesus

what he gave us was a gift.

Whenever you think of forgiveness as a duty first you destroy

the power of the gift.

How horrible that is when I can give a gift and I do something

instead as a duty.

Give it as a gift.

That's what Jesus did.

Yeah, think along these lines.

Consider that there might be people that you despise in this

day because of the exploitation or the trauma or the inequality

that you have suffered under their hand and therefore you've

colored an entire race and entire nationality and entire

ethnicity and entire group of people who have a certain status

of certain riches of certain homes of certain cars a certain

way time to let go of these because these are poisonous

roots that have developed over 30 40 50 years you think they

won't bear fruit.

Why does the gardener prune the gardener prunes because the

fruit is bad.

And what does he prune with with the word how through

teachings like this or through the word of God and what happens

when we don't listen when after saying all this if I still

don't listen, what do you think you'll do discipline me?

Why because he is most interested in raising a community

that is a microcosm and a demonstration of who he is and

he is always.

Escape the fear of trauma.

So forgiveness.

Judge yourself lest you be judged.

Grant to others the right to judge yourself to critique you

take what they say into account and forgive yourself at the

cross after they critique you but give people the right to

judge you judge you after you judge yourself.

Make judgments.

God wants to raise up a church that is peacemakers.

You cannot make peace till you see what is black and white

anything else is peacekeeping or daytime where you shut one

eye so that you don't get bombed in the middle of the night.

Father.

I just thank you for your wisdom.

I just thank you for your wisdom.

You're an extreme God and I'm so grateful that we serve an

extreme God and yet you are normal.

We are the ones who diluted and just made everything so

self-serving while everything about you is so self-giving.

Oh God teaches this word itself carries the word given it

forgiving for giving not for our sake but for the sake of

someone else.

Thank you.

Make these lessons things we practice in our lives.

Oh God the last point I want to rehash is that a forgiving

people are hard to offend.

Please help me to not take offense easily.

I take offense because I'm proud help us to be humble.

In Jesus name.

Guys just.