FORGIVENESS!

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The Most Beautiful Sunset



Ephesians
4:25-26   25“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every
man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.   26Be ye angry, and sin
not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:”
I love the heavens;
they are majestic in their beauty. 
There is nothing more thrilling than walking out on a clear, starry
night and observing the sky. Countless stars twinkle brightly against an
infinite backdrop of blackest night, and the moon slowly circles the earth,
completing its cycle from dusk to dawn. Then at dawn, the sun extends its rays
over the horizon, awakening God’s creation to a new day.
However, I think
one of the most brilliant displays of God’s beauty is the sunset.  It serenely signals the end of the day,
telling the world it is time to rest and refresh itself for a new day. I love
the western sunset on the Arizona desert. I have seen the sun go down in
London, the Hawaiian Islands, Athens, Jerusalem, and Rome. I have seen the sun
slowly slip behind the Sierra Madre mountain range in Mexico. I have seen the
sun set in the Caribbean and the St. Thomas Islands. I have seen the sunset of
the Colorado Mountains and the Ozark mountains. 
The most beautiful
sunset I have ever seen, however, was the one I saw in March of 1972, when I
made things right with my last enemy. I was finally able to say that the sun
had not gone down on my wrath.
I had just attended
the Pastors’ School in Hammond, Indiana. 
Dr. Jack Hyles had preached his famous sermon “Fresh Oil.” He told the
story of his daughter’s near death from hemorrhaging after a simple
tonsillectomy. During the crisis, while he desperately prayed for God to save
her life, he asked God to show him if there was anyone with whom he needed to make
things right. He said that immediately he saw the face of a deacon with whom he
had quarreled. At that point in the sermon, he stopped and asked us, “Whose
face do you see?”
He gave the
invitation, and I went as close to the altar as I could in that packed
auditorium. I asked God to show me if I needed to make amends with anyone. I
saw three faces in my mind; they were bitter enemies of mine. 
I went home and
told my wife that I needed to leave for a couple of days so I could make things
right with these men. One of the men had done me wrong, but I still
needed to make things right. I went to see one man in Indiana, another in
Kalamazoo, Michigan; and still another in Ohio. I made things right with all
three men. 
The sunset that
night was the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen. The Emerald Isles were
greener, and the topaz hue was a more brilliant yellow than before.  The snow-filled mountains reached
further to the heavens.  The
heavenly rose garden was lovelier. The grandeur of the night sky was more
majestic. Why?  Because I could go
to bed that night knowing there was nothing between me and any other person in
the world.
I refuse to go to
bed at night pursuing an enemy with imaginary plots of revenge. I refuse to go
to bed at night refreshing my mind with my critic’s malicious complaints. I
refuse to go to bed plotting a new strategy to foil my adversary. I refuse to
go to bed at night welcoming my foes into the dormitory of my mind so I can
fantasize my vengeance. For the last 34 years, I have never gone to bed
plotting vengeance. I am a happy preacher.
I am still
misunderstood and criticized. People write articles about me and preach against
me. I will preach against the criticism of the independent Baptist church, the Word of
God, soul winning, and standards; however, I refuse to go to bed with
bitterness in my heart toward any individual.
My children never
heard me spew hatred in my home about anyone. They heard about problems at
school, but they never heard me talk about those problems.  It would not have been right for me to
bring bitterness home to my children. 
If you have
bitterness and hatred in your heart, you will never have peace until you obey
this verse and make things right. If you hate someone, you are hurting
yourself, not him. He is sleeping peacefully at night, while you
lie in bed, tossing and turning until morning. 
The song “Nothing
Between” says, “Nothing between my soul and the Saviour, Naught of this world’s
elusive dreams, I have renounced all sinful pleasure. Jesus is mine; there’s
nothing between.”  Can you sing
that song with a clear conscience? 
Whom do you hate
with a passion? Is your heart burning with a desire to seek vengeance towards
someone? Do you have bitterness towards a spouse or your in-laws? Has someone
in the church mistreated you, causing you to have bitterness in your heart
towards him, or her? Are you bitter because the preacher has offended you?
There are deacons, Sunday school teachers, bus captains, and choir members with
bitterness in their hearts. We would have revival in our churches if each
person would get his heart right with God and forgive those who have offended
him.
Some of you
husbands go home and mistreat your wife because you are angry with your boss at
work.  You cannot take your anger
out on him, so you take it out on your wife. You need to decide that God is in
control of your circumstances, and everything is for your own good. Do not go
home with bitterness in your heart.   
No one is perfect;
we are all dirty scoundrels. We have all offended and mistreated other people.
If all of us seek vengeance towards those who have mistreated us, we will all
be in trouble. If you continue to hold bitterness in your heart towards
someone, you will never find happiness. You will die young because of hatred
and bitterness. Instead, you should realize God has forgiven you of far greater
sins than the sins people have committed against you. If He can forgive you,
then surely you can forgive other people.
Once you have
enjoyed the sunset of forgiveness, you will never again enjoy the sunset of
vengeance.  Once you have tasted
the sweetness of forgiveness, once you have bathed in the sunlight of
restitution, once you have eaten from the table of heavenly manna, love, and
kindness, you will never be satisfied with hatred.
It is not my job to
seek vengeance – that is God’s responsibility. I do not know how to play the
organ; the organist knows how to do it, and that is her responsibility. I do
not know how to play the piano or sing; we have pianists and musicians to do
that. If I were to walk into church one day and try to play the piano or organ,
I would fail at it. I do not have the training. By the same token, it is not my
responsibility to seek vengeance. That is God’s responsibility.  
There is a
difference between my vengeance and His vengeance.  My vengeance is destructive; I want to destroy a person.
God’s vengeance seeks to catch a person’s attention so He can salvage him. I am
incapable of properly seeking vengeance just as I am incapable of playing the
piano properly. 
My job is to
forgive. It is not Christ-like to be forgiven, because Christ never sinned. On
the other hand, it is Christ-like to forgive. If someone treats me wrong
and I forgive him, I am being Christ-like.

During my years of
pastoring and counseling I have learned many things, but this one thing has
been life- changing. When something happens to you, you can react in one of two
ways; you can become bitter or you can become better.  If you are bitter, get right with

God.  Learn not to let the sun go down on your
anger.  Then you, too, can have
beautiful sunsets.

GOTTA LOVE GOD’S FORGIVENESS!

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