Forgivness Goes Hand And Hand

Jesus said blessed are the persecuted and they are suffering big time right now. This is my billing international in 19-year-old Ari was beaten by her own father and finally to buy local authorities and order crime was simply that she gave her life to Jesus Christ after leaving radical Islam. They need Bibles in order to endure and persevere and that's why Truth Network and finally 13 enough to send God's word to 3500 persecuted believers around the world at five dollars and $500 since 20:800 yes word 800 yes word 800 yes word or give a TruthNetwork.com. Hello this is Matt slick from the match look like podcast right defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundation of the truth of God's word are chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing The Truth Podcast Network.

This is the Truth Network RA for my YouTube channel.

If not from God with Mike Zwick is like driving that notification fell ill be alerted to have our next video welcome to If Not for God stories of hopelessness that turn to hope.

Your host Mike Zwick all right if not for God with Mike Zwick. I am glad to be back in the studio today. I'm super excited.

You know what I was thinking about this. There is so much that is going on in the world today, and so much confusion.

I was actually reminded of the story of Helen and Bob in one day Bob comes home from work and he says honey he says that I understand that your mother needs a place to stay. I understand that she's your mother, he said, but it's been 20 years since she's been in our house. He said it is time that she got her in place and Helen says the Bob. She says my mother I thought was your mother and so there is so much confusion that is going on in the world today, but I tell you what there is one thing in the word of God that we are not confused about and that is Jesus is Jesus. What he told us that we needed to forgive other people, and if you'll go to Matthew chapter 5 starting in verse 32, he says, but I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication because of her to commit adultery.

And whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commit adultery already and so you go down there and you will how again he have heard that it is been said by them of all time. Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shall perform under the Lord thy notes but I say or do you swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

And so God is telling us to do things that are really tough when we keep going on will go to verse 42, he says give to him that ass get the information that would borrow of the turn not thou away. Here it is in verse 43 you have heard that it is been said by the them of all time that you shall love your neighbor and you should hate your enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be the children of your father which is in heaven.

For he makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good and he sends rain on the just and the unjust. For if you love them which love you, what reward do you have in heaven for do not even the publicans which is the tax collectors do the same. He says, and if you salute your brethren, which salutes you only what you done more than others do not even the tax collectors do so, he says, but, therefore, you should be perfect, even as your father in heaven is perfect is not amazing.

I mean sometimes we read the Bible and sometimes we see this stop we say man God that must be for somebody else but surely not for me, Lord, that is too difficult for me. But you know I am reminded of what Jesus said where he said that narrow is the gate that leads to righteousness and very few find it. But wide is the gate that leads to destruction, and very few find it very few go therein and so would it tells me is that you know I was reading a book by Randy Alcorn on heaven and he says that people think that the natural default in our life. It is heaven. So in other words, as long as we don't mess up really bad. The work and end up going to heaven because were not that bad in and you parted and I've heard all the time.

Well, what are you to get to heaven well because I'm a good person or because my good week.

Good deeds outweigh my bad.

But the truth is, is what Jesus told us, and he made it very clear to us in United very specific. He says if you forgive men of their sins against you.

He says your heavenly father will forgive you. He says if you do not forgive other men of their sins against you, your heavenly father will not forgive you if your sins are not forgiven because you will not forgive other people, according to that Scripture. If you're not willing to forgive other people you're knocking to make it to heaven reminded of a story by Corrie 10 boom's story on forgiveness.

It was from 1972 was an addition of the Reader's Digest and this is what she said.

She says it was in a church in Munich that I saw him a balding, heavyset man in a gray overcoat are brown felt hat clutch between his hands.

People were filing out of the basement room, or I had just spoken moving along the rows of wooden chairs to the door at the rear. It was 1947 and I had come from Holland to did to defeated Germany with a message that God forgives. It was truth that they needed most here in that bitter bombed Outland and I gave them my favorite mental picture. Maybe because the sea is never far from a Hollander's mind, I'd like to think that's where forgiven sins were thrown when we confess our sins.

I said God cast them into the deepest ocean God forever the solemn faces stared back at me. Not quite daring to believe there were never questions. After a talk in Germany in 1947 people stood up in silence and silence collected their rafts in silence left the room and that's when I saw him working his way toward working his way forward against the others. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat, the next a blue uniform and an advisor With that skull and cross bones. It came back with a rush. The huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor. The shame of walking naked pass this man. I could see my sisters frail for ahead of me rib sharp sharp beneath the parchment skin that see how thin you were. Betsy and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland. This man had been a guard at ravens Brook concentration camp where we were sent. Now he was in front of me hand thrust out a fine message for all and how good it is to know that as you say all of our sins are at the bottom of the sea and I would spoken so glibly. Forgiveness fumbled in my pocketbook rather than take that hand, he would not remember me. Of course, how can he remember one prisoner among among those thousands of women, but I remembered him in the leather crop swinging from his belt. It was the first time since my release that I had been face-to-face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze you mention ravens Brook in your talk.

He was saying I was a guard in their know he did not remember me, but since that time, he went on, I had become a Christian.

I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things that I did in there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well crawl and again named kit. The hand came out.

Will you forgive me and I stood there I knew sins had every day to be forgiven and could not Betsy had died in that place could hear race her slow terrible death simply for the asking. It could not of been many seconds that he stood there and held out but to me it seemed like hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I ever had to do, but I had to do that but I had to do what I knew that the message that God forgives has a prior condition that we must forgive those who have injured us. If you do not forgive men their trespasses. Jesus says neither will your father in heaven forgive your trespasses. I knew it not only as a commandment of God but is a daily experience since the end of the war, I had I had had a home in Holland for the victims of Nazi brutality.

Those who are able to forgive their former enemies were able to also to return to the outside world and rebuild their lives no matter what the physical scars. Those who nurse their bitterness remained invalids. It was as simple and as horrible as that and still I stood there with the coldness, clutching my heart but but forgiveness is not an emotion.

I knew that to forgiveness is an act of the will and the and in the will can function regardless regardless of the temperature of the heart and that amazing Jesus, help me. I prayed silently.

I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling and so would only Canticle he I thrust my hand into the one outstretched to me and as I did an incredible thing took place.

The current started in my shoulder race down my arm spraying into our joined hands and then this healing war seem to flood my whole being bringing tears to my eyes. I forgive you, brother. I cried with all my heart for a long moment. We grasp each. We grassed each other's hands the former guard and the former prisoner.

I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then and having learned or forgiven this hardest of situations.

Never again had difficulty in forgetting. I wish I could say it. And so what she's saying is, is yes, she was able to forgive this man in one of the most difficult positions that she's ever been in.

But even after that with the smaller things sometimes. Sometimes it was difficult and reminded of the story were there is a kid who said once my my father came home and found me in front of a roaring roaring fire. He said that made my father very mad as we did have a fireplace.

Some of you right now who were listening. You may be in the middle of a fire and you may not know how to get out of it. I tell you what the first step to God getting you up out of that fire is to forgive that person who is done you wrong you say Mike, what about you in your life. Oh, I know. Oh, I know I remember a funny remember years ago, probably 1015 years ago I was selling insurance for an agency in all of a sudden the money that I was supposed to get from this agency. There were to give me this money up front and then they said no rolling to give you a little portion of it and then you'll be able to get it on the backend. There was a $15,000 commission that I was supposed to get, but what they did is is I actually I left the company went on the green greener pastures, but they said were still to give your money they gave me the first payment I never got any of that money at the time 20 some-year-old kid. I was in a $15,000 was a lot of money in me and it took me a long time before I ever really understood what I had to do and that I had to forgive these people. It was not an option. It was not something that I could feel like doing. I knew light. Well, I could do this that it was something that I had to do, but just because you know something is something that you have to do doesn't mean that it's gonna be easy. It does not mean that it's gonna be easy reminded of a story of para-cows were talking in the field and one says, have you heard about the mad cow disease that's going around. Yeah the other calluses makes me glad I'm a pen with you though. I mean it's funny. So many of us are Christians. But what we do is we look at what the world is doing. We look at the worldly literature and we want to follow the world and then we wonder why we have all these problems you see are reminded of the reminded of a gun in Utah years ago a guy named Jack Neville Jack and Evelyn Neville, who lived in Carrboro, North Carolina, and they were in. They've since passed away, but when I was talking to Jack about this. One of the things that he said is he was talking to me about somebody who had a vision of hell and I was asking him about hell in this and that whatever and he said it was awful.

It was something that was eternal it was something that will ensure there you can't get out and he said because Mike he says when you're on this earth time to repent is right now if you haven't forgiven anybody but if you haven't, forgive that's get forgiven that certain somebody right now right now is the time. The Bible says that today is the day of salvation I tell you what were offered were promised a lot of things. One thing that were not promised. As Tamara and you know the Bible makes it very clear that we have to forgive people, the Bible says that today is the day of salvation. You say will not save right now but someday I'll give my life to Christ reminded of the story of the David Wilkerson one day after preaching a sermon in Times Square.

He had this young man come up to him who was severely burned.

I mean severe like 90 some percent of his body was burned and he came up and he said David he said I've I've traveled all across the country to tell you the story. He said I had been talking to a coworker of mine about giving his life to Christ. I was talking to him and talking to them and talking to them and he said the guy kept saying I'll do it, I'll do it someday that he never did it. He said one day, says as you can see with me up and burned up. He said one day we had a there was a terrible fire at our workplace, and he said this guy was actually dying. He was taking his last breath and the last thing that he did not say he did not say God have mercy on me a sinner. He said do I still have my nose and then he died. He see today is the day of salvation. If you've been putting off surrendering your life to Jesus. Do it today if you've been putting off for giving that person do it to death. You know it's funny. We talk about all of these other people need to forgive people, but you know in Christian circles and conservative Christian circles, I hear the names Joe Biden going around a lot, your something about Brandon. I hear you know North Carolina org or Gov. hear the name Roy Cooper hear the name, Harris. I hear the name Barack Obama hear the name George Soros hear a lot of talking about these people that in a very bad way and I do understand that there are a lot of bad things are going on. There are a lot of things that we need to do to stand up as Christian that we need is we need to stand up to fight for the truth part of the gospel. It says we still need to love these people and we need to pray for these people. Are you praying for Barack Obama.

Are you praying for Roy Cooper. Are you praying for Joe Biden. Are you praying for, Harris Mike, I don't want to do that.

The Bible says that you must. That's what we're to do as Christian is to forgiven and I know it's tough. I know it's difficult. I get it I get it I get confirmed because it I was reading about CS Lewis and CS Lewis was saying if Michael talked about earlier. The natural default is not is not heaven itself. If we do what comes natural to us. That's the wide gate is a story about a and in Denver there was a Sunday school class are asked to set down their favorite biblical truths and one youngster laboriously printed. Do you want to others as they do to you. And honestly that's kind of what we do. I mean, we want to create other people the same way that that they treat us but see if we do that Jesus is saying in Matthew chapter 5 verse 43 and 43 through 48.

He saying that you're just like the world what separates you from anybody else. He says the publicans the non-Christians in our world today. They like people who like then everybody does that.

But the truth is is that when they see us loving people who we have. We seem to have no busy, no business, loving they say where'd you get that from where is that love coming from because it's not normal. And guess what is a non-Christian.

I'm unhappy and you seem happy if you're able to do that. I want what you've got, you know the Bible says that God's word will not return void. It says that in the book of Isaiah, but I wonder if you're out there sharing the gospel with other people in your seeing it return void. You're not seeing the success and the results that you want.

I wonder, is there somebody that you haven't forgiven. Is there somebody that you need to forgive right now can't give you some random examples Susie. Susie was a member of the church she sang in the choir. Her husband had done her wrong 15 years ago. He was running around with other women he was beating her. He was cheating her and it was absolutely wrong.

What he did but Susie has a spirit of unforgiveness against her ex-husband, and you say yeah that's his problem with this is probably what was wrong with him. What he did, but the Bible says to us that Susie is the one who needs to forget her nod and say was easy but narrow is the road that leads to righteousness and very few find it wide is the gate that leads to destruction. See what an unbelieving world finds unbelievable is that we were able to forgive people love people who want to do us as not normal to the world. They don't understand that that is the way of the cross. Let's talk.

How tough was it when Jesus was beaten, Jesus was mocked Jesus was whipped.

He had to carry his cross, he was crucified, half naked in front of all these people spit on, mocked this crucified lately. No love for me that he's a stuffed crucified lately.ethics of finally, there is another category of people who I believe may be angry at God in my wife's mother passed with the age of 60 or 61 the brain cancer alike was 17 years old almost 18 and she for a while after that she said and I don't know if she was angry at God or matter whatever, but something for some people have a tough time forgiven daughter there angry at God.

All the people that you could be angry at. I want to be angry at God because God is the one person who could who could turn around your situation.

Ted Turner started CNN was actually to be a missionary. But before Ted Turner did any of that stuff when he was a young man, his younger sister was dying of leukemia and so Ted said he said God you feel my sister I will serve you all the days of my life. Lord, please feel my sister what his sister was not healed them to give up a little thought is that how could a loving God allow something like that. You sometimes bad things happen you don't understand what started to pray for this man who had done these horrible things to his wife and young age, and we started to pray first family and this not the other, and we were finished praying he had and I had tears in her eyes, and he looked at me and said Mike he said that's the narrow way. That's the narrow room. Very few find. Are you on the narrow road that leads to righteousness during robbery today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to forgive somebody who you wonder how can I forgive this person the final thing. Have you forgiven yourself in a sometimes we have, we were able to forgive everybody else who's done us wrong. Everybody else is done us wrong.

Yes or number forgive the member, forgive them, but we allow the devil to keep reminding us of stuff that we've done in our past. I'm reminded of the story of Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a, you know, obviously he's the it was one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation.

One night he was in bed and he woke up at the devil was actually in his room in and what happened was, was the devil had this long list of sins that Martin Luther had committed a started reading them out and after he reticent. He pointed his finger at Martin Luther. He said center. Read another sentence center read another. Since center all of a sudden in the middle of that Martin heard a voice and the voice said tell him to read the end of the list. The doubles and he said read the end of the list. The devil said, now I gotta get going. Martin said read the end of the list known kind of busy right now. Martin Luther said in the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to read the end of the list. The devil went to the end of the list. In the end elicits Alden forgiven me ask you today. Have your sins been forgiven. Do you know that if you were to die today. Do you know that you would go to heaven if not the Bible says that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. John 316 says for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. If you don't know if your sins been forgiven. I want you to surrender your life to Christ right now and pray with me. Dear Lord Bonoma center messed up done things that are wrong.

Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of my sins, I completely surrender my life. Thank you Jesus perfect it forgiven me of my sin. In Jesus name, amen, is not forgot RA for my YouTube channel. If not for God with Mike Zwick. Just like subscribing that notification will be alerted have verdict video. This is the Truth Network