One of the toughest areas for us to experience death to self and gain the life that God has for us is the area of holding on to things that God has called us to let go of. If you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. That's Matthew 6:15, and this is destined for victory with Pastor Paul Shepard.
Well, that's a hard saying, one of many Jesus gave us during his earthly ministry. And today you'll get an up-close and personal look at what genuine forgiveness looks like and a challenge to let go of anything you're still holding on to. Online, you'll find us at pastorpaul.net, where you can listen on demand to any of our recent messages and get details about how to listen on your favorite digital platform. That's pastorpaul.net.
Now, let's get started with today's Destined for Victory message: Dying to Move On. God has great plans for your life, but you'll never realize them until you release the self-life. Release from you those things that would militate against the will of God and embrace the things that He's called us to do.
Now, that's a great concept. I would imagine that most of us, at least, don't have a real problem with the concept.
Okay, makes sense. I surrender, I yield, I die to self so that I can come alive to the purpose of God. But then you have to begin to look at how that plays out in a life of obedience. And I want to suggest to you that one of the toughest areas for us to experience death to self and gain the life that God has for us is the area of holding on to things that God has called us to let go of. I want to talk to you then about the need for you to forgive.
Those who have offended you, who have trespassed against you, who have abused you, who have wronged you, who have mistreated you. If you want to experience the life of God, one of the toughest Places that the road to obedience leads us all is the place of forgiveness.
Now, I want to talk to you about the fact that when the Bible Talks about forgiveness when Christ mentions forgiveness every time. In the gospel record, that Jesus Christ mentions forgiveness, and it's true not only of the gospel, but it's true of the New Testament writings of the apostles. It is never mentioned as a good idea. Forgiveness is never mentioned as here's a suggestion you would do well. to consider.
Every time you read about forgiveness, You will read that it is the expressed Will of God. God doesn't say it'd be really nice if you would consider surrendering. I would be very grateful to you if you would be willing to forgive the people in your life. What he says is some very tough statements. He says things like: and when you're praying, Forgive everyone who has ever trespassed against you, so that your heavenly Father may forgive you.
You read that and you say, man, God is so serious about forgiveness until He ties you receiving and enjoying the forgiveness of your Heavenly Father directly to your willingness to die to self and trust Him by forgiving your enemies. and your trespasses. In fact, that comes out of that passage in Mark 11 that faith-walking people love quoting. And believe me, I believe in walking by faith rather than sight, and I know the just shall live by faith. But you know, we love quoting some of the wonderful promises, and sometimes we leave off some of the conditions.
And so, there in Mark 11, you have that passage that says, Have faith in God. And I say to you, that if you speak to that mountain and say, Be thou removed and cast into the midst of the sea, and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say shall come to pass, you will have whatsoever you say. And faith-walking people say, whoa, praise God. I can speak to my mountains. And then he goes on and says, And so when you're praying, believe that you receive and you shall have it.
And we say, Thank God, I believe I receive and I have it. Right there in that same passage, he says, and while you're praying, forgive. And suddenly we quit saying amen. Because that's not very exciting. That's one of those things you've got to trust God.
And you've got to let him take you down the path of surrender to do. You know why? Because the flesh, the self, has a tendency to want to exact its own brand of revenge for everything that people have done wrong to us. We have well not you but people I know People I know, they know how they want to settle the account, or so they think. And so many people are holding those who have trespassed against them-be it a spouse, be it parents, be it some stranger from the past, some abusive relative who messed over you, someone who did you wrong in a business deal, somebody who's doing you wrong on your job, whatever it is, whatever the brand of sin against you that someone has committed, some people have the tendency to say, Listen, I'm gonna hold them responsible for what they did, and I'm going to maintain an attitude of unforgiveness.
And I'm here to let you know that when you do that, You are saying to the Lord. Without intending to. You're saying to the Lord, I can't trust you to take me from here to where you designed me to be. I need to make sure to hold these people responsible for how they messed over my life. And I want to let you know.
That one of the things God is calling you to do. Is to show that you're willing to release the self and follow Him to the place He has for you by trusting Him with the things in your life that you would hold people in unforgiveness about. And I want to suggest to you a couple of things. First of all, I want to suggest to you that when Jesus commands us to forgive, it's not because He doesn't care about what happened to us. You got to know that when the Lord calls you to forgive people, it's not that He's making light of what you went through.
When someone mistreats you, when someone abuses you, when someone disrespects you, when someone doesn't do what you deserve for them to do, God cares about that. He cares about the effect it's had on your life. He cares about how they set you back in some way. He cares about those things. The Bible says, casting all of your cares on him because he cares for you.
And so I want to assure you. That when God calls you to forgive those who have trespassed against you, it's not because He's making light. It's not like God says, Oh, get over it. No, no, God's not that uncaring. He's not that unkind.
He cares. It's just that when he becomes Lord of your life, he also becomes Lord of your junk. He becomes Lord of the stuff people did that you didn't deserve to happen. He becomes Lord of your tragedies. He becomes Lord of the mess that someone's disrespect of you has brought into some area of your life.
He says, You can give it to me now because I care for you. And you know the good thing about it? Not only does God care, but He's the one. Who can take it? Although it shouldn't have happened.
So you got to understand: when people trespass against you, when they disrespect you, when they abuse you, when they do whatever it is that they did, that they should have never done, you got to know that it's not God's will that they did it, and it's not God's fault that they did it. But you also got to know that God will take it. Although it should have never happened, Romans 8.28 tells you that God will take it and work it together for good. It doesn't mean what happened to you was good. But it means God will take it.
and make it work. For good. And he'll take your test. And your trouble. And your trial, and what happened to you, and turn around and build his grace into it.
And he'll end up giving you the ability. To testify to his goodness and his life-changing power. But you've got to be willing to trust him enough. To say, okay, Lord, I'm going to release. my enemies into your hands.
Now that's the bottom line, folks. When we're called to forgive those who have trespassed against us, in fact, the Greek word translated forgive means to send away. And you know what that implies? It implies that you're holding on to something God wants you to release. You're holding people with an attitude of unforgiveness, and God says, You'll never get where I'm taking you as long as you are tying yourself to something somebody did or is doing.
You have to tie yourself to my plan and purpose. You have to die to the self-life, die to the, I want to get revenge on my enemies my way. And he says, you have to send it away. That is, you release it into the hands of the Lord. And you gotta know.
That the enemy always tells us a lie when God calls us to forgive, and our flesh rebels against it. What the enemy comes in and says, you can't forgive them because if you forgive them, they'll think they won.
Well, here's the truth. No one who has ever trespassed against a child of God. has or will ever win. You gotta know that the Bible, just as clear as it is about forgiveness being a command, it is just that clear about what will happen to your enemies unless they repent. You got to know that when somebody messes with you, they have messed with the apple of God's eye.
Let's pause right there for a quick timeout, but don't go away. The second half of today's Destined for Victory message with Pastor Paul Shepard is coming right up. Our mission at Destined for Victory is to preach timeless truth for a victorious life, and we couldn't do it without you, our listening friends and partners. You're the ones who provide all of our financial support, and we're so grateful to you, particularly at this season of the year, as giving to the ministry tends to decline. To make a generous donation today, please visit pastorpaul.net or call 855-339-5500.
It's been said that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
Now, for more of the beauty of forgiveness, let's get you back to the rest of today's Destined for Victory message: Dying to Move On. You gotta know when someone disrespects you the Bible is crystal clear that they'd better hurry up and repent because God saw them mess with his kid and he doesn't like it. And I'm here to tell you that we serve a God who is full of grace and full of love and full of mercy and full of kindness. All of that is in the nature of God. But let me tell you what's also in the nature of God: God is a man of war.
God knows how to fight. I want to let you know, God can fight a battle in such a way that your enemies tremble, and anyone who has messed over one of God's kids has to deal with him. And so you've got to understand that when God calls you to forgive, it's not like He's making light of your trouble, or it's not like He's letting them win. No one who's ever disrespected a child of God. Will win.
In fact, they're in a season of life where you should pray for your enemies. In fact, that's exactly why the Bible calls us to pray for our enemies. You gotta pray for your enemies because if they don't get right, Man, are they in trouble? You got to understand, God is serious about this. God knows how to war, He knows how to fight for His children.
When you read how God brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt. It shows you how God can fight. He threw plague after plague at Pharaoh just to show his kids how much he is tied to his covenant people. He would send plagues their way and they would resist. Pharaoh would resist.
In fact, the Bible says there were times when God hardened his heart. to show his people, listen, no enemy. will ever keep you from experiencing my plan. God knows how to war. God knows how to fight your battles.
And I want to let you know your enemies are in trouble with God, so don't think they're getting away with anything. When someone trespasses against you, they're going to run into your Heavenly Father. But on your end, God says, I want you to trust me, and I want you to release them into my hands. And it's not a suggestion, it's not a good idea. It's my plan.
for your life. It is exactly what I have called you to do. And you must die to the desire to get free. Vote. Straight.
You know, what happens is when you're holding people in unforgiveness, there's a certain thing you think you want. Maybe it's an acknowledgement. Maybe it's a heartfelt apology. Maybe it's just to see their life fall apart. Whatever it is, you know, our flesh wants what it wants.
And so I'm holding them in unforgiveness with the hope. That my attitude will force that result to happen. Guess what? It'll never happen. Do you know that you having a bad attitude towards somebody doesn't ruin their life?
Have you figured this out by now that you can't destroy anybody's life with your attitude? In fact, some of us know that the people who have trespassed against us are in denial about even trespassing against us. There are some folk who would swear they never did what you said they did. They're in denial. They're in a whole nother place.
So forget your attitude, actually manipulating their life. They don't care about what you said. And there are some folk who are proud, in fact. of what they did. And we'll defend it.
Some people will deny it, other people will defend it. There are some of your enemies who act like you deserve what they did to you. And so I'm pointing these things out to show you how futile it is. For us to think That we're in a place of power when we hold people in unforgiveness. That's what the flesh feels like.
I'm holding them. And every time I see them, they're gonna know. That I'm holding them. Do you realize whose life is being messed up? It's not theirs.
Have you ever tried to have your attitude? In fact, I've seen people, not you, but people I know. They're somewhere socializing, what have you, having a good time. And a person who trespasses against them walks in, and they have to change. And go from having a good time to a warden.
Have you ever been talking to somebody and see them going to warden mode? They were talking to you just having a great time, and they see something and they say, mm. What's the Suddenly, just that quick, they shifted into ward mode, and now they ignore you. Trying to make somebody feel bad. And it's futile.
You can't accomplish, the flesh will never be satisfied because you don't have the power to destroy somebody else's life. And God says, Would you please give them to me? And our attitude very often is, No, I gotta take care of this. And you don't see that the life that's being ruined is not theirs, but your own.
Some of your enemies, when they see you, they're like, oh, please. They don't care, you don't have power over them.
So, you have to release them into the hands of the one who does have power over them. And God, when He commands us to forgive, He's actually giving us a gift. It's a gift to you. It's a gift so you can move on. Because I've heard people say over the years of being a pastor, I've had folks in my office and say, Pastor, I'm sorry, I can't forgive them.
They ruined 20 years of my life. And they're very sincere. But here's what I lovingly tell them. My friend, what you got to realize is that until you forgive them, they're going to ruin the next 20. You're giving them entirely too much of your life.
God wants to take the next 20 and show you how great his power is. and how much he can overcome what happened in your past. But as long as you're trying to be the warden. It doesn't happen.
So the Bible doesn't say forgiveness is a good idea. It says it's the command of God. He says, if you want to experience life. You have to die. to the self.
And that's why the Bible commands us to forgive.
Now, in Matthew 18, Jesus told a story, a parable, that makes the point emphatically. that you've got one of the ways you have to trust him. and die to self is through forgiveness.
So he tells this story. about how do I handle People have trespassed against me.
Now in verses beginning in verse 15, he talks to us about how you can attempt to reconcile with people who have wronged you.
Now, the clear connotation is that these ought to be people you can reason with. And so when it begins in verse 15, it says, if your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you've won your brother over.
So obviously, in the context, Jesus is talking about relationships where people ought to want to reconcile with you. But any of us who have lived life long enough know that there are some people who are proud they did what they did or they're in denial about it and there is no chance of reconciliation. What do you do when you're dealing with somebody who won't reconcile with you, who won't hear you say you hurt me, you abused me, you wronged me, you mistreated me? What do you do when you're dealing with somebody who's in complete denial about that? Look at what the Bible says as it teaches us that forgiveness is not a good idea, but God's express will.
Verse 21, Peter came to Jesus and said, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Then he gives Jesus a suggestion: up to seven times? See trying to use a spiritual number. Seven's a nice spiritual number. How about seven, Lord?
And you know what this implies is: Peter saying, God, why don't you give us a limit? of how far we have to go before we get them. See, that's the self-life. The self always wants, okay, I don't mind abiding by the rules just so long as. When I jump through these hoops.
I didn't get him. Peter's idea is: I'm willing to forgive them seven times if you'll make that the limit, just so long as when they do it the eighth time, it's on. Look at Jesus' response. to what he said. When he said, Up to seven times, Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but 77 times.
In fact, some translators. Look at that passage and wonder if Jesus didn't actually mean 70 times 7. And you'll see some translations that'll tell you 70 times 7. rather than 77. You know why it's a minor point of translation?
Because Jesus wasn't giving them a number in the first place. It's not about the number. It's not like he's trying to get you to calculate and keep track.
Okay, that's 16. When he said 77, or for that matter, 70 times 7, which would be 490. He's meaning, I want you to forgive them as often as you need to forgive people so that I can continue to do what I'm doing in your life. I need you to trust me every time somebody wrongs you, give it to me. Send the offense to me.
And then he goes on to tell a story that makes it crystal clear. He says, The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants as he began the settlement. A man who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him.
Be patient with me, he begged, and I will pay back everything. The servant's master took pity on him, cancelled the debt. and let him go. Pause right there.
Well, as much as we hate to leave you with a cliffhanger, we're out of time today. We'll pick it up right here tomorrow in our continuing message: dying to move on. If you haven't gotten around to downloading our free app, there's no time like the present. Search Destined for Victory at the App Store and listen to Destined for Victory wherever you go. You know, the Christian life is a joyful, abundant, victorious life, and it's no accident.
It's your inheritance already purchased by Jesus Christ. And yet, so many believers still live in defeat, selling their birthrights for things worth far less. In his booklet More Than Conquerors, Pastor Paul Shepard uses the unlikely story of Gideon to outline the path from defeat to victory. If you want to understand how to take on a victor's identity and tear down the idols competing for your heart, you really need to reserve your copy of this outstanding resource to day. That's more than Conquerors yours this month for your generous donation to Destined for Victory.
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So all of us owe God a debt we couldn't pay. That's why Jesus came. And that's what he means when he says the master took pity. on his servant. Took pity on his servant and forgave the debt.
That's what Jesus' coming is all about. God took pity on us. And when he looked at our helpless estate, He wrapped himself up in flesh and came down. and redeemed us. That's next time in our continuing message: Dying to Move On.
But until then, remember. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.
