Participants: Jim Gilley, Pastor
Series Code: POF
Program Code: POF000005A
|
00:25 Well, hello, and welcome to the 3ABN Worship Center,
00:29 right here in beautiful Thompsonville, Illinois. 00:32 We welcome all of you and are so always appreciative 00:36 of you being part of these sermons that we're doing. 00:39 We've got a wonderful series, Pillars of Faith, 00:42 and Pastor Jim Gilley is our speaker. 00:44 And he is doing an incredible job, 00:47 this is the fifth in his series. 00:49 Let me read you the other titles. 00:51 Our Great High Priest was his first one. 00:54 God's Witness, Protection Plan was his second one. 00:57 Grace, Truly Amazing, the fourth one. 01:01 The Cross of Christ, and then tonight, 01:03 we're going to hearing Forgiveness for Freedom. 01:06 So, I want you to just encourage you. 01:09 Be sure and allow this message to touch your heart 01:13 and minister to your heart. 01:14 Pastor Gilley has a way of presenting God's word 01:17 in such a powerful way that it sets the captive free. 01:21 And if you haven't heard the first four, 01:23 they're always available for you to get. 01:26 But now, let me read you the scripture for this evening. 01:31 The scripture says, and this is out of 01:35 Mathew 18:21-35. 01:41 So let's read this together. 01:43 "Then Peter came to Him and said, 'Lord, 01:47 how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? 01:51 Up to seven times?' 01:53 Jesus said to him, 01:55 'I do not say to you, up to seven times, 01:58 but up to seventy times seven.' 02:00 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king 02:04 who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 02:07 And when he had begun to settle accounts, 02:10 one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. 02:16 But as he was not able to pay, 02:19 his master commanded that he be sold, 02:22 with his wife and children, and all that he had, 02:27 and that payment be made. 02:29 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 02:32 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' 02:37 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, 02:41 released him, and forgave him the debt. 02:44 'But that servant went out 02:46 and found one of his fellow servants 02:49 who owed him a hundred denarius, 02:52 and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, 02:55 saying, 'Pay me what you owe me.' 02:58 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, 03:02 saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' 03:07 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison 03:12 till he settled the debt. 03:15 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, 03:19 they were very grieved, and came and told their master 03:24 all that had been done. 03:26 Then his master, after he had called him, 03:29 said to him, 'You wicked servant. 03:33 I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 03:38 Should you not have had compassion 03:40 on your fellow servant, but as I had pity on you?' 03:46 And his master was angry, 03:48 and delivered him to the torturers 03:50 until he should pay all that was due to him. 03:53 'So my heavenly Father also will do to you 03:58 if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive 04:01 his brother his transgression.' 04:04 " So we had the reading of God's word 04:06 as it penetrated our hearts, let's pray now and ask God, 04:10 by the power of His Spirit, to take the word 04:13 that goes forth tonight, 04:15 settle it deep within our hearts, 04:17 and will be changed 04:18 from glory to glory into his image 04:20 and into his likeness. 04:23 Holy Father, we come before you 04:24 in the name of Jesus, 04:26 and we praise you, and we thank you, Lord, 04:27 for the power that is in your word 04:29 to change us into your image and into your likeness. 04:32 I thank you, Holy God, for the anointing 04:34 that rest upon our brother Gilley, 04:36 thank you, Holy God, 04:38 for the word that is stored within his heart, 04:40 that he will bring forth tonight 04:42 under your unction and under your anointing 04:44 that it will touch us, it will set us free. 04:47 Now we command this hole series into your hands 04:49 and ask for your divine guidance 04:51 in Jesus' name, amen. 04:54 Pastor Gilley, we welcome you. 04:57 Thank you, Mollie. 05:02 Well, it is, and has been such a wonderful time 05:05 to be here this weekend. 05:08 To visit with all of those that I worked with 05:10 for almost eight years, had a good visit with Danny; 05:14 with Brian Hamilton, and with Mollie, and with C.A. 05:17 and with the production group, which I value so much 05:22 because they are such wonderful people. 05:24 Those that are back in the studios 05:29 and are turning the levers so that you get a picture, 05:34 they work very, very hard to try to get the message out. 05:39 And I had tried to encourage them 05:43 to realize that they work hard, 05:46 it's almost a day-to-day just grind. 05:50 And I tell them, please, don't forget 05:53 that people at home are seeing the gospel, 05:58 and people that have never heard about Jesus 06:02 are hearing about Jesus because 3ABN is on the air. 06:08 That's make a big, big difference, my friend, 06:12 a very big difference. 06:15 Our story today is the story 06:20 that Jesus shared with Peter. 06:23 You remember that Peter, as Mollie had read in the text, 06:27 Peter was so proud of himself 06:30 because he'd been with Jesus for awhile 06:33 and he had seen that Jesus expanded the love 06:37 and the gospel. 06:39 And so he said, you know, he heard about forgiveness, 06:44 and he said, "Lord how often 06:47 shall my brother's sin against me 06:48 and I forgive him," 06:50 and then he answers his own question. 06:52 He doesn't wait; you know, there are people like that. 06:55 They'll ask you a question, 06:57 and before you can answer the question, 06:59 than they answer it. 07:01 And he thought, I really have an answer. 07:05 You see the normal thought during that time 07:08 had been by Rabbi 07:10 who had preceded Christ on this earth about 200 years. 07:15 'Cause no one precedes Christ, he's from everlasting, 07:18 but he had been there in Israel about that time. 07:23 Rabbi Ben Yehuda, 07:25 a very popular and well known rabbi and teacher. 07:30 One the principles that he established 07:33 was the principle of forgiveness. 07:36 And he said that you can forgive a person 07:40 or you should be forgiving a person 07:43 about three times, three times. 07:47 In other words, three strikes and you're out. 07:50 After three times, you have no obligation to forgive anyone 07:55 who continues to "Sin against you." 07:59 So, Peter, he thought, wow, 08:03 I'm gonna more than double that. 08:06 He said, I've heard the Lord used 08:07 the sevens so many times and I think seven times, 08:12 that's twice what Ben Yehuda said, plus one. 08:18 So he said, "Lord, seven times?" 08:21 And then the Lord surprises him, 08:24 and he says, 08:26 "I do not say to you up to seven times, 08:30 but up to seventy times seven." 08:34 490. 08:37 What he really is saying is there's no limit, no limit. 08:42 He could have said 700 times 7000. 08:46 And because his whole point is there is no limit 08:51 to the forgiveness that we, 08:55 we should be willing to give to others. 08:59 So you see, this is a tremendous passage. 09:02 And then Jesus tells the story. 09:05 He tells the story of this Stewart. 09:08 And Stewart was like Vice President over a division. 09:12 He was the man that had 09:15 a great deal of business under him. 09:19 And he had been doing the best he could, 09:22 probably, to make things work, 09:24 but it didn't, had not working out. 09:26 He was responsible if there was a profit, 09:30 he would receive a portion of the profit. 09:33 And he and the king would share 09:37 that portion of the profit. 09:41 But if there was a loss, he had to sustain the loss. 09:47 Now he was given the assets that he could go out 09:51 and makes all of this money worth. 09:53 And if he was careful in his investments 09:56 then he would do very well. 09:58 But this Stewart was somewhat reckless 10:00 and he evidently put some money into some investments 10:04 that just did not pay off. 10:07 And he, it was like a multiplying factor. 10:12 I had friends that got involved in futures, 10:16 in the stock market. 10:18 And they could lose 10:21 multiple amounts of money faster 10:24 that way just buying a single stock, I guess, 10:27 because I've not met one yet 10:30 that did well with that type of thing. 10:33 Now, I'm sure there are people that do you? 10:35 But none of the friends that I've met. 10:38 And this man gotten into something 10:40 that had absolutely wiped out 10:44 everything that he had to invest, 10:47 and he was terribly in debt. 10:50 Now he's been likened to about ten million dollars 10:55 that he owed. 10:56 Now, it would, personally, there was no way 10:59 that he could pay that back. 11:01 And he was not going to be give an opportunity 11:04 when he was loosing money like this, 11:06 not going to be given an opportunity 11:08 to be given more money to invest 11:12 and then try to make it back 11:14 because this would have foolish. 11:16 That's just putting good money after bad, 11:20 as they say. 11:23 So the king said, "'I'm sorry, you're through." 11:28 Now, in those days, in order not only to punish 11:32 but to recoup something at least 11:35 they would sell the person 11:37 and his entire family in the slavery. 11:41 That is a pretty terrible sentence. 11:46 To go from being the Vice President 11:50 and the head of a division 11:54 to now you are paid to be nothing. 12:00 You receive no pay, you are a slave, a slave, 12:07 belonging to somebody. 12:10 And not only you, but your family. 12:13 They had nothing to do with. 12:14 Your wife had nothing to do with your poor investments, 12:17 your children had nothing to do with your poor investing. 12:21 And now they're too are gonna be slaves. 12:25 And this man was overcome, he just cried out and he said, 12:29 " Oh, I just can't handle this, I just, oh, Lord, please, 12:34 " and he went down on his knees and appealed for his wife. 12:40 I'm sure, he probably said, 12:41 "Look, please, at least let my family go." 12:47 And the king began to listen to him, 12:50 and finally he said, "I've heard you. 12:56 I'm going to resent my order, you're going to be free. 13:01 You can go and back to your job, 13:05 " because when he made him free, 13:07 he reestablished him back in that position. 13:10 He gave him all of the privileges 13:13 that he had before. 13:15 He was probably given new assets 13:19 for which to operate, 13:22 and given another opportunity, and his slate was wiped clean. 13:28 He didn't have to worry about that ten million anymore, 13:32 not at all. 13:34 Can you imagine that? Totally free. 13:38 And you would be think now that he'd be so filled with joy 13:44 and with appreciation that he would extent 13:47 that same kind of mercy to other people. 13:52 For sure he would, you can see that this man, 13:56 now he's going to be the most forgiving person in the world, 13:59 he's wherever he goes, if there's in any problem, 14:02 he is going to be forgiven because he's been forgiven. 14:09 You know something, it didn't work that way. 14:15 In fact, it was all most like he said to himself, 14:18 "You know, I've been relax, 14:21 the reason that I got into so much trouble 14:24 is I was just too relax. 14:26 I've got to tighten up. 14:28 I've got a run a tighter ship, I got to make sure 14:31 that things are run better around here." 14:34 And as he leaves and goes out, 14:36 he sees the man that owes 20 bucks, $20. 14:43 And he says, "I want you to pay me 14:45 and I want you to pay me right now." 14:47 The man says, "Whoa, wait a minute, 14:48 I don't have that kind of money on me. 14:52 I don't have it." 14:54 "You are going to pay me or you're going jail. 14:56 And you going to pay me now." 15:00 And the man says, "I can't." 15:02 He says, "All right, then you're going to jail, 15:07 you're going to jail, I'm going to take you to right now, 15:09 I'm gonna take you down and turn you in, 15:13 and you're going to have to pay me 15:18 or you're going to jail." 15:20 The man say, "I don't have the money, 15:23 so I guess better just, you better put me in jail." 15:27 You know all the other people, 15:29 the employees of the king and the servants, 15:34 they had heard about his forgiveness 15:36 and they were happy about that. 15:38 They were happy that he was not going to sold into slavery. 15:42 They were happy that he was not going to have his family 15:47 become slaves. 15:49 They were thrilled that they, 15:51 and they knew that this is the kind of person 15:53 they work for now, there was a man of mercy, 15:57 and this just thrill their hearts. 15:59 And they knew that because he had been forgiven, 16:03 they just thought of course, 16:04 he's going to be forgiven person too. 16:06 He's going to be a little easier to live with. 16:11 But they were wrong and they were shocked. 16:16 And the next thing they did was to go to the king 16:22 and tell him what has just taken place. 16:25 He said, "What? 16:28 You mean 16:30 that he didn't forgive that $20 16:36 or at least give that person 16:38 a chance to come up with it in time. 16:40 Put him in jail?" 16:42 "Yes, he did." 16:45 "Wow," he said, "I'm resenting my order. 16:49 He is going to pay; 16:54 he's going in this servitude. 16:59 He's not doing in the jail, he's going to be a servant, 17:03 and so as the rest of his family." 17:06 And he put all of that back on that man. 17:11 Now, Jesus said in these words when he told this story, 17:15 "So, my Heavenly Father also will do to you, 17:20 if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother, 17:27 his trespasses." 17:30 That's pretty strong. 17:32 You know something, no where else is scripture 17:35 does Jesus resent this and no place else in scripture 17:40 is there some explanation that says, 17:43 oh, that's not what he really meant, 17:45 what he really meant was something else. 17:47 He really meant what he says here. 17:52 You know it is so important to understand this principle. 17:59 In fact he put in to the Lord's prayer. 18:03 Forgive us our debt as we forgive our debtors. 18:09 In the same way that we forgive, 18:11 we're to be forgiven. 18:13 Boy, do you want to be forgiven the way you forgive? 18:17 Do I? 18:20 Listen there's times I've stopped 18:22 and studied about this, and thought about this, and said, 18:25 "Lord, I need a lot of forgiveness. 18:29 Am I a lot of a forgiver? 18:32 Does my forgiveness equal that forgiving which I need. 18:38 Does it?" 18:41 And I think that each one us has to ask ourselves 18:46 that question, I'm I a forgiver? 18:52 When I was in Idaho years ago, I was there helping a church 18:58 and I had sometime during the day, 19:01 and so I went out to the old state prison. 19:07 I wanted to see about Harry Orchard. 19:11 Harry Orchard was probably 19:13 one of the most celebrated assassins 19:16 in the history of this nation. 19:19 He killed the Governor, the former Governor, 19:23 he already served his term, 19:25 Governor Frank Steunenberg of Idaho. 19:30 He blew him up. 19:31 Now, he had tried several times to kill him before 19:34 but he had not quite succeeded. 19:36 But on the last time he did it, it was a horrible, 19:39 horrible crime. 19:40 Steunenberg was alive for about 20 minutes 19:43 right outside of his house. 19:46 His wife and children were there, 19:49 and then he died before help could even come, 19:53 exploded by bomb. 19:56 Harry Orchard was hiding nearby had denoted that bomb 20:01 that he had placed there. 20:03 They caught him. 20:05 Harry Orchard was assassin for the Unions, 20:08 and the Unions were very much upset with the governor 20:13 because the governor, when he was actually in office 20:17 had brought troops in to stop a labor disputes. 20:23 And they would never forgive him for that. 20:26 They told him, "You'll pay for that. 20:28 You'll pay for that with your life." 20:31 He knew that he was on their list, 20:34 and then finally they got him. 20:37 Harry Orchard had killed for the unions 20:40 all over the country and had done so many times. 20:44 Later on he told and confessed to all these. 20:47 At first when they caught him he pleaded not guilty. 20:50 And the Union hired the very best trial lawyer 20:55 in the nation, Clarence Darrow, 20:58 famous in all the history of trail lawyers. 21:03 He is right in the top ten 21:05 of the most famous trial lawyers 21:08 in the United States. 21:10 He came, he told, "Of course, Harry Orchard, 21:13 stick with your story. 21:15 I'll get you off. 21:17 I know how to do this." 21:19 And he began, but right in the middle of the trail, 21:25 Harry Orchard came under conviction. 21:29 First of all he was presented 21:35 by Frank Steunenberg's family 21:39 with some tracks and with a little book 21:43 called Steps to Christ. 21:46 Was brought to him by Steunenberg's 21-year-old son, 21:52 he was Julian. 21:54 And Julian had brought it from his mother, 21:58 who was Bell Steunenberg's. 21:59 See, Bell Steunenberg had become 22:02 a Seventh-day Adventist 22:03 by reading a magazine called The Centennial. 22:06 This is magazine that preceded Liberty magazine. 22:10 And about 10 years before that, they had discussed 22:13 the possibility of not having anything 22:16 in their about the Sabbath, and Ellen White had a dream. 22:21 In her dream was that they should have something 22:26 in each issue about the Sabbath. 22:30 So they resented the vote that they had the day before 22:34 'cause she came and she told them, 22:36 "I had dream last night that this was not right, 22:39 that we should have that message in their." 22:43 The Centennial was sent to every governor 22:46 and every office holder in the United States. 22:49 Governor Frank Steunenberg received The Centennial 22:52 and he read it in his office. 22:54 He knew that his wife love to read. 22:57 So he took it home among some other magazines 23:00 to his wife. 23:01 She read it, she began to keep the Sabbath, 23:06 and she joined a little group of Sabbath keepers 23:11 there in Boise, Idaho, 23:13 the Seventh-day Adventist group. 23:17 Later, she gave them a part of land, 23:22 and it was on that land that they built the first Boise 23:27 Seventh-day Adventist Church came from Bell Steunenberg. 23:32 She loved the Lord, she loved this message. 23:35 She also sent, little later on, 23:39 tracks to Harry Orchard 23:43 about the Sabbath, 23:47 and he accepted it, and he was baptized, 23:49 and became a member of that church. 23:51 So he had never been able to attend, 23:54 he was baptized by the conference president 23:56 in the penitentiary. 23:58 But he was a member, has membership, 24:00 voted unanimously by the members there. 24:05 And but it was during this trail, 24:07 during that conviction that he said to himself, 24:11 "I want God's forgiveness 24:14 and if I need God's forgiveness, 24:16 I cannot lie about my guilt." 24:20 Clarence Darrow was furious. 24:24 We were gonna win this case. 24:26 I've no question about it, 24:28 and you've got mixed up in this religious thing. 24:32 Lord should let you know, it's more important for me 24:37 to have God's forgiveness and to have the freedom 24:41 that comes from being forgiven by God 24:45 and being forgiven by this family. 24:47 Because they had gotten the word to him 24:50 that they forgave him. 24:52 Now they knew that he had this, 24:54 the sentenced to what he was sentenced to 24:56 but they still forgave him. 24:58 By the way, he was sentenced to death, 25:01 and they did write to the judge 25:04 and asked that that sentenced be changed, 25:07 and it was to life imprisonment. 25:10 Harry Orchard lived in that Boise penitentiary 25:14 the rest of his live, 46 years he was an inmate. 25:19 And they loved him so much, he talked about the Lord. 25:23 He studied the Bible with all, 25:25 it's many of the prisoners that would study with him. 25:29 And they allowed him to actually build 25:32 a little cabin just outside the walls of the penitentiary. 25:37 Right there, and let him live in that cabin 25:42 rather than living in the cell. 25:46 He was there till the day he died, 25:48 he's buried right there. 25:50 Do you know something my friends, he had freedom, 25:55 freedom, because he had been forgiven. 25:59 He had received freedom. 26:01 And the Steunenberg has freedom because they had forgiven him. 26:05 They were not bound by hatred any longer, 26:08 there's nothing in this world that will bind us 26:11 as much as holding on to a grudge. 26:15 And they had freedom. 26:18 Wow. Forgiveness. 26:22 That's why God tells us to forgive, 26:24 it's not necessary, 26:25 it's not just for the person 26:27 that needs that forgiveness from us, 26:29 it is for us to forgive ourselves 26:36 to wipeout that feeling that we harbor inside of us. 26:42 You know recently, not long ago, 26:45 there was terrible shooting over in South Carolina. 26:49 You remember that, it was Charleston, 26:52 and it was a church called the Methodist Episcopal Church, 26:57 it was known as Mother Emanuel. 26:59 And a young man who was deranged 27:02 went into that place and he killed nine people. 27:08 And two days later, 27:11 they charged him in South Carolina, 27:15 when they charged somebody 27:18 then the family can come and make a statement. 27:22 And the families of those nine victims were there. 27:27 And they said, "We understand that their certain procedures 27:31 that have to happen 27:32 and this man has to pay for what he's done. 27:35 But we want him to understand and the world, 27:40 we're not going to riot 27:42 as people expect we are going to. 27:46 And so we're not gonna do that." 27:47 That was Norvel Goff, the pastor made that statement. 27:52 And then, Anthony Thompson, a relative of Myra, 27:57 one of the people who was killed, 28:00 and were shot over and over again, 28:02 said, "We forgive. 28:05 We, the families of these victims 28:09 forgive this poor man. 28:12 So, forgiveness of Jesus, and we hope 28:15 that he will receive Jesus Christ 28:19 as his personal savior." 28:21 They were now free from that hatred 28:24 because they had been willing 28:29 to follow the teachings of Jesus, 28:33 and to let it go, to forgive. 28:37 You see, Bible says that David 28:40 was a man after God's own heart. 28:44 David, he was a sinner, he committed adultery, 28:47 he committed murder, he was an absolute sinner, 28:50 how could he be a man after God's own heart? 28:54 But you look at David. 28:56 When he had the opportunity to kill Saul, 29:00 he was forgiving Saul in his heart 29:03 because he didn't do it, didn't act on that. 29:06 His son Epsilon turned against him, 29:09 tried to kill him, tried to take the kingdom. 29:11 When his son was killed he balled, he cried, 29:17 in whole absence, wept that 'It were I instead of you." 29:24 He had that heart of forgiveness, 29:28 willing to forgive others. 29:31 And because he was, he was forgiven. 29:36 He's a big forgiver, he was a big sinner, 29:38 but he was a big forgiver. 29:41 And if you are a big sinner, you better be a forgiver. 29:45 And that's what David was. 29:49 And God said, "He's a man after my own heart." 29:53 Why? 29:55 Because God is the biggest forgiver of all. 29:59 God not only forgives, he wipes it out of his memory. 30:03 It's just like a computer being having it all wipe clean, 30:07 and we'll had that experience, where we lost programs, 30:12 totally gone, wiped clean, 30:16 God says, "I wipe my memory clean 30:21 of anything you've ever done when I forgive you." 30:26 But he says, "I'm only asking one thing. 30:29 First of all that you confess." 30:30 If we confess our sins, 1 John 1:9, 30:33 "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 30:37 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 30:40 So He ask us to confess. 30:42 Secondly, He ask us to forgive others. 30:49 Forgive us our debts 30:52 as we forgive our debtors. 30:57 Forgive our sins in direct proportion to the way 31:01 that we forgive other people who sin against us. 31:05 That's a decoration by Him. 31:09 And it's not easy folks, it is not easy. 31:11 One of the most difficult things 31:13 that Christians ever ask to do is to forgive. 31:16 Oh, you can forgive somebody 31:17 for talking your parking place at Walmart. 31:22 How many times that has happened to me, 31:24 I could never count, 31:25 that I'm just about to pull into a parking place 31:28 and somebody whops right in, 31:31 and you see they are coming from the wrong direction 31:33 and then make a quick deal, get in just enough 31:36 to where they got you blocked, and you have to drive home by. 31:40 Now you can't cease to forgive. 31:42 But if somebody destroys your family, 31:46 somebody kills someone in your family, 31:51 somebody hurts one of your children, 31:54 or they steal your identity 31:59 and destroy your credit. 32:02 Now you're talking about something that's different. 32:06 Now you're talking about a real exercise, 32:11 and you and I have to get on our knees 32:14 and plead with the God, who has the forgiving spirit 32:18 to share that forgiving spirit with us. 32:22 So that we, can truly have the freedom 32:28 that comes when we have forgiven others. 32:33 You know, it's a wonderful thing 32:35 to be forgiven. 32:37 It is just beautiful; 32:38 I will tell you something that happened to one time. 32:42 I, Camille and I finished school at South Western, 32:47 it was a Junior college in those days, 32:49 two years of college. 32:50 Now we had the opportunity to go on to Union College 32:54 or to Southern Missionary. 32:57 Those two schools were in sync with South Western. 33:02 Somebody was urging us to come up to Andrews, 33:08 a good friend of mine. 33:10 And they said, "If come on up here, 33:11 you get your last two years of college 33:13 and then you gonna go seminary, you're already in place." 33:17 I'd ready had my mindset on going to Union college 33:20 because, that's where all of my friends are going. 33:23 By the way, that's where my grandson is right now. 33:27 Jimmy the III, he's at Union college. 33:30 And I was thinking about going to Union, 33:32 I had so many friends there. 33:34 Camille's father was the pastor of the church at Southern 33:37 and they wanted us to come to Southern and go to school. 33:41 Camilla leaned more towards going to Southern. 33:45 So we compromised 33:48 and went to Andrew's University. 33:52 Now, we did not realize that their academic program 33:58 was not all in sync with the program 34:01 down at South Western. 34:04 And that we were going to lose 34:08 a year of education by doing this. 34:14 We didn't realize until we got there 34:16 and we started trying to get all the subjects going, 34:19 and all of a sudden, we realized 34:20 wait a minute that won't even transfer, 34:23 because we teach that in upper biennium 34:26 and you took it in the first two years of college. 34:29 So, it's not recognized here. 34:31 And I am about to go berserk, 34:35 I spent hours in the registrar's office. 34:40 In fact years later, 34:42 they invited me to comeback there to teach. 34:47 And the registrar made the statement, 34:50 "We haven't recovered from his being a student yet. 34:53 I'm not sure we could have him on the faculty at this point." 34:56 Because I had spent so many hours in there, 34:59 arguing with them about subjects. 35:02 There were some subjects that they didn't give me 35:05 any credit for it all, and some I had to take over. 35:09 Take hermeneutics for instance, which is preaching 35:12 down in the junior college, 35:14 they said, "No, you have to take it again." 35:16 Well, I did mind, that one so much. 35:19 I was taking 20-21 hours, 35:21 when most people were taking like 16 hours. 35:24 And so I just had a heavy, heavy load, 35:27 and working to try to go to school. 35:30 And so then, we had to do some correspondence. 35:33 Camille and I went out to Idaho, 35:35 worked on a fire tower, 35:37 and that summer I did a 11 hours of correspondence. 35:41 I think she did 8 hours of correspondence. 35:44 And then we went back to Andrews, 35:46 there was nobody out there to give us the test. 35:49 Went back to Andrews 35:50 and one of the people there was gonna give me the test. 35:54 And the test comes to me, I give it to him. 35:58 He opens it up, looks at it puts back in the envelope, 36:02 and says, "Bring it to such and such a place 36:05 and you'll will take the test, 36:07 when you get the like, next Sunday or something, 36:10 when he had time go give it." 36:14 I had so busy, we were down to the final test week, 36:20 studying for all of other subjects. 36:23 I had those test in an envelope that wasn't even sealed. 36:29 Now I had studied those subjects 36:31 and I knew those subjects and, but I just kept, 36:37 I guess it was honestly, 36:39 almost more curiosity than anything else. 36:42 I wonder what's on the test. 36:45 And I thought and fought, and fought, 36:47 and lost the battle. 36:49 In the middle of the night studying, I said, 36:53 "I'm gonna take a quick peak." 36:55 And I did, and I was so sorry immediately that I had looked 37:02 because I actually knew 37:04 what are the questions that we're gonna be there, 37:06 I knew the answer to them. 37:08 Every single one of them. 37:10 And I thought, oh, why did I do that? 37:15 And I should have confessed to the professor, but I didn't. 37:19 And that bothered me. 37:22 That bothered me. 37:23 These were correspondence courses 37:26 that were offered by home study institute. 37:32 I went into the ministry 37:36 and this still bothered me. 37:39 You know, something like this on your conscious, 37:42 it just bothers you so much. 37:44 And so I went, 37:47 we were going down through Washington DC 37:49 and I told my wife, 37:52 "I'm gonna go to home study institute 37:55 and I'm going to tell them what I've done. 38:00 If I've take that course over again, I'm gonna do it." 38:05 And so I walked into the presence 38:07 of the home study institute, but just I went in, 38:10 I'm standing out in the lobby, out by the desk 38:13 waiting for an appointment and I look up 38:17 and there is a register from Andrews. 38:21 And I thought what is he doing here? 38:23 Then all these things go through my mind. 38:26 All the president has to do is to walk out here 38:30 and tell him what I did. 38:32 My degree will be nullified, 38:35 this is gonna open a can of worms, 38:37 it's gonna be unbelievable. 38:39 And my temptation was forgot this confession thing 38:43 and get out of here. 38:46 I said, "No, Lord, even if they take my degree 38:49 and they strip me of the degree, 38:52 I got to make this right." 38:55 So I walked in to the president's office, 38:59 wonderful man, 39:01 was president of home studies for so many years. 39:05 Walked into his office 39:06 and told him exactly what I had done. 39:12 He looked at me and I told him, I said, 39:16 and here, the Harrison is right out there in the lobby. 39:19 He said, "I know where he's." 39:22 Now he said, "I want you to look at me." 39:25 And I looked at him, and he said, "Now, 39:29 I'm the president of this organization." 39:32 I said, "That's right." 39:35 "I've the authority." I said, "That's right." 39:38 "And by authority, I'm forgiving you." 39:43 I said, "What?" 39:46 He said, "I am forgiving you." 39:51 I said, "Oh, do you mean I don't have to do anything?" 39:54 "You don't have to do anything 39:56 but walk out of here totally forgiven. 40:02 He said, "It took a lot for you to walk in here?" 40:04 I said, "Oh, yes, it did, but I expect to pay. " 40:08 He said, "No, 40:09 don't you know and understand about the grace of God 40:12 and how God forgives. 40:15 If God can forgive," he says, 40:17 "as a man, I can also forgive, I've given that authority. 40:22 And I want you to know that never again 40:26 do you have to worry about this, you are forgiven. " 40:33 I walked out of there, I was, I was walking on air, 40:37 I even said hello to the registrar on my way. 40:40 And actually we had become such as advisory 40:44 that we had a respect for each other. 40:47 If maybe not a liking, 40:48 at least a respect for each other. 40:50 And I stop by and visiting with him for a moment 40:53 before I headed out and join Camilla. 40:57 And we got in out little Volkswagen 41:00 and headed back down the road. 41:02 Oh, my friend, to be forgiven, God forgives. 41:06 I had never, ever had anyone forgive me like that. 41:12 Never had that ever happen. 41:13 You know, sometimes you're parents, 41:16 you do something, boy, our family, you paid for it. 41:19 I mean, you took the punishment, 41:21 that was it, there was always some punishment 41:24 that went along with it, 41:26 even if there was sort of a mean look, 41:29 there was a punishment that went along. 41:33 And now, to be totally forgiven. 41:36 Oh, you know what that made me want to be, a forgiver. 41:42 Number of times in my life since that time, 41:47 I've people who actually steal large amounts of inventory 41:52 when I was running a business and things of that nature 41:55 and I was able to look at him 41:58 and say, "You're forgiven. 42:03 You're forgiven. " 42:06 And what a feeling that was to pass along. 42:11 The only time I never got really chance to do 42:13 was when I never got chance to see the person afterwards 42:16 because they took off and they would not coming and see me. 42:21 I still forgave him, 42:23 but they never had that opportunity to sit 42:27 and for us to talk, 42:30 and for me to actually forgive them for that. 42:35 You see, Jesus is the great forgiver. 42:38 And he says that David was a man after his own heart 42:42 because David was a great forgiver. 42:46 I remember one time, a young doctor and his wife 42:49 came to visit with me, and there were, 42:53 they had a great problem that had come up in their marriage. 42:58 The doctor been unfaithful, in fact, 43:01 honestly he had been multiple times unfaithful. 43:05 It didn't seem like there was a nurse at the hospital, 43:08 he hadn't been with them sometime or another. 43:11 But he had found Jesus and he determent 43:15 that he was laying all of this aside, 43:20 and then he then confessed his sin to his wife. 43:24 Now I'm going to tell you the truth, 43:26 if he had come to me first I would have said, 43:29 "Let's confess this to God 43:31 and let's don't confess it any further than that 43:34 because all you're gonna do if you go confess 43:37 all the husbands of those nurses, 43:40 you're going to be causing a lot of problem. 43:43 And if you confess your own wife, 43:46 you're gonna be causing a major problem 43:48 and laying a burden on her. " 43:52 Yes, David says, 43:53 "You've sinned against God and him alone. " 43:57 And then, I know there's a lot of argue about this, 44:00 this not the way that most people were intrepid this, 44:03 but that's how what I would have said to him. 44:05 Now he had a real problem, 44:08 he had laid that guilt and that burden upon this wife 44:12 who had no idea that this has taken place. 44:17 He's buzzer went off, he was on call at the hospital, 44:22 he was a major surgeon. 44:25 He went to the other room, 44:27 he used my phone to call into the hospital, 44:29 it was before people who running around 44:32 with the cell phones. 44:35 And I said to her, 44:39 "I'm hoping that you can find it in your heart 44:43 to forgive him. " 44:45 Se says, "I'll never forgive him. " 44:48 I said, "Now, the Bible says 44:50 you actually have ground for the divorce, 44:52 you could divorce him. 44:55 But you don't have grounds not to forgive. 44:59 That's not part of it. " 45:02 She says, "I will never divorce him, 45:05 I've put him through medical school, 45:07 I've put him through getting all the special degrees 45:11 that he has, and now he's ready to start making money, 45:14 you think I gonna divorce him now? 45:16 Absolutely not. 45:17 But I'll never forgive him. " 45:20 I said, "That makes me sad. " 45:23 She said, "Why?" 45:25 "Because you've just excluded yourself from the kingdom 45:29 according to the word, according to God's word, 45:34 'Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. ' 45:37 If you not willing to forgive, you can divorce, 45:42 but you have no right not to forgive. 45:45 Even if you have divorced someone, you must forgive. " 45:50 Doesn't mean you have to go back in to the marriage, 45:53 but it does mean that you have to forgive. 45:58 And now you have told me that you cannot forgive. 46:05 She never told me whether she forgive it not, 46:07 she didn't stay with him. 46:08 They had actually a very good marriage all this year. 46:11 I stay in touch with them, 46:13 and they've had a very good marriage. 46:15 They're wonderful people, fantastic people. 46:18 He is a fabulous doctor, I would go to him in a minute. 46:22 I would go to him, as a councilor, 46:25 he's been down that road. 46:26 He got a lot help, he had, 46:28 he actually went off little later on 46:31 and he felt like he had a sexual addiction, 46:35 and he took a course for sexual addiction. 46:40 And I believed that he has succeeded 46:45 in turning his life around completely. 46:48 Yes, the Bible tell us, that we must forgive, 46:53 we must forgive, if we are should to be forgiven. 46:58 Matthew 6, we find the Lord's prayer, 47:02 it's a beautiful prayer, it's a prayer that is the model, 47:07 "Our Father which art in heaven, 47:08 hallowed be thy name. 47:11 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, 47:14 as it is in heaven. 47:17 Give us this day our daily bread 47:20 and forgive us our debts, 47:24 as we forgive our debtors, 47:30 and lead us not into temptation, 47:33 but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, 47:38 and the power, and the glory, for ever. " 47:44 Lead us not into temptation, 47:49 but if I forgive 47:55 that I can be forgiven. 47:57 Now, forgiveness is the one complete sign 48:01 and seal of our being forgiven by God. 48:05 We've been forgiven by God and we know we have, 48:08 we expect His forgiveness, 48:10 a natural reaction now is for us to forgive. 48:17 If you want to know whether 48:20 you have this Spirit of the Lord or not, 48:22 then all you have to do is to say, 48:26 "Do I have a forgiving Spirit, 48:29 " because if we don't have forgiving spirit 48:32 were not filled with the spirit of our Lord 48:35 and savior Jesus Christ. 48:38 As I said earlier, there is no place in the Bible 48:41 where Jesus ever resents the words 48:45 that he said that if we don't forgive, 48:50 we are not forgiven. 48:52 And it's amazing how many times, 48:54 so many of us who are old time Christians, 48:58 been Christians for lot of years, 49:01 we're still harbouring something from way back. 49:05 And you know it's not the meritorious grounds 49:07 by which we're saved, we're not save by forgiveness. 49:11 Forgiveness is the result of being saved 49:14 and being forgiven. 49:16 We're saved only by the blood of Jesus, 49:17 we talked about that yesterday. 49:20 His death upon the cross. 49:23 And forgiveness is not the way we are saved, 49:28 but it is the result of our being saved. 49:35 You know, there's so many beautiful stories 49:37 of forgiveness in the Bible. 49:38 Jacob had just completely stolen 49:41 the birthright form Esau. 49:43 Now, we always look at Esau. 49:45 Well, he didn't deserve it, he didn't deserve that. 49:47 That I didn't justify with Jacob did. 49:52 God could have figured it out of way, 49:55 for Jacob to receive that without his receiving 50:00 his brother Esau the way he did. 50:02 And his father, receiving his father, 50:05 stealing from his brother. 50:08 And finally he goes to meet Esau off, 50:13 and he know that night before he, 50:16 because let me tell you, 50:18 asking forgiveness is sometimes extremely difficult. 50:21 And he's going to ask forgiveness. 50:25 And the story is so beautiful. 50:28 Esau, now you will think 50:31 Esau was not thought of as the religious one, 50:35 and yet Esau that runs toward his brother. 50:39 Grabs hold of him, 50:41 hugs him and tell him that he is forgiven him. 50:48 What is story? 50:50 When you look at that biblical story. 50:52 We look it Joseph, his brother sold him into slavery. 50:55 You can imagine that all the way to Egypt, 50:58 he's thinking about how he is gonna 50:59 get back at those boys, 51:01 but then somewhere alone the line 51:03 the lord entrees his heart in such away 51:07 and he begin to accept what has happened is God's will 51:12 and he starts to look for God's providence 51:15 to open the door, and he does. 51:18 You remember, he goes from jail. 51:21 Oh, wow, you think this is going from bad to worse. 51:25 And then from jail, 51:28 God releases him, 51:33 forgiveness. 51:36 Being forgiven by God and exercising forgiveness. 51:42 When I was a little young boy, 51:45 I began here a story that had happen in our family. 51:52 My father, John Robert, 51:55 my father was John Wesley Gilley, 51:58 his father, my grandfather was John Robert Gilley. 52:02 He lived, was born in the 1800s. 52:06 And he was a hardworking ambitious, 52:09 young man in his 30's, 52:12 he was already the chief deputy for the Sheriff's department, 52:16 but he also had his small form 52:18 that he was making fairly good living with that. 52:21 He was a very industrious individual, 52:24 and he had invested in other peace of land 52:28 that he thought would be someday worth some money. 52:33 He farm it the mean time, but he had some other thoughts 52:37 because he had heard roomers about what might be there. 52:43 One night, it was Christmas eve, 52:47 a neighbor came and file the complain 52:53 against a lot of workers 52:56 that worked right next to his form, at their form, 53:00 there were drinking a legal liquor, 53:03 and they were also creating a lot of other noise, 53:09 there were doing gambling, 53:10 they were doing all sorts of things, 53:11 these workers were. 53:13 And here was a complaint. 53:16 My grandfather probably know 53:18 that something like that was going on over there 53:20 but there had been no complain, 53:22 now there was and he had to act. 53:25 He had no deputy go with him 53:27 so he deputized his brother-in-law. 53:31 Now you know if you've were watched 53:33 any of the old westerns, 53:35 and this was old western time back in the early 1900s, 53:41 that he had a fistful of badges, 53:43 and the brought one of them out, 53:45 deputized his brother-in-law, biggest mistake he ever made. 53:51 When he got there, they arrested this fellows 53:53 and they start taking then to town, 53:55 and the man who own the farm caught up with him. 54:01 He'd been drinking, he wasn't drunk 54:06 but he definitely unpaired his judgment. 54:10 He pulled the gun on my grandfather 54:12 and he said, you're gonna release these men. 54:14 Now my grandfather had a gun pulled on him before, 54:17 he know that it he can talk his way through this 54:20 and calm this neighbor down, and explain to him that this, 54:24 they were just be taken in, charge, 54:26 and then he can bring him back out, he may might have to. 54:29 And he said, "I don't wanna put up any kind of bond. " 54:33 My grandfather 54:36 was slowly trying to work through this. 54:41 But Wesley, his brother-in-law 54:45 had never had that kind of experience. 54:48 He got around behind the man and took his pistol, 54:52 long barrel pistol, and try to strike him, 54:55 to hit him to knock him unconscious, 54:58 instead the gun went off and it killed him. 55:03 My grandfather realized 55:06 that he had made a terrible mistaken 55:08 in bringing this man with him. 55:11 That night my dad said, 55:14 and my dad was 12 years old that time. 55:17 He said it was so quite in that house. 55:21 And then our friend, a neighbor had died, 55:26 and someone in that room was responsible. 55:30 Few weeks later they were going to the county seat 55:32 because was going to be investigated, 55:37 he would be cleared or not cleared 55:40 at a hearing that day. 55:42 As they went along on their buckboard, 55:45 all of a sudden 55:48 a man stuck a shot gun, 55:53 double barreled shot gun out the door and he shot him. 56:00 He shot my grandfather by mistake. 56:03 He meant to get, he injured slightly, 56:09 but he killed my grandfather almost instantly. 56:14 This matter finally came to a trial. 56:18 When this was a very wealthy family, 56:23 they paid of few people. 56:24 I met a man one day that was about my dad aged, 56:29 going to school together 56:31 and he was riding in a wagon behind 56:34 and he had seen what to place. 56:36 And he told me, a lot of money changes hands. 56:41 And this man, we got only got six month jails sentence 56:45 and a small $500 fine for killing a police officer, 56:50 killing my father, my grandfather. 56:54 Years later dad had a chance to shoot that man, 56:57 but he didn't do it. 56:59 And then, years after that 57:01 he I would together on the square, 57:02 and he introduced to me to a man, 57:05 and they want that man left, I said, "Dad, who was that?" 57:09 He said, "That was the man, they killed your father. " 57:14 And I know that my dad 57:16 had actually forgive him that man. 57:21 "Forgive us our debt 57:23 as we forgive our debtors. " |
Revised 2016-07-21