This sermon outline addresses the subject of forgiveness. When the worldly mantra shouts “Sue them!”, the Christian should say, “Forgive them!” Every child of God needs to inventory their souls as to how they forgive others. After all, Christ forgave them!
Title: “Forgiveness!”
Text: Ephesians 4:32
(Ephesians 4:32) “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (KJV)
Introduction:
• Forgiveness is something we all want, yet we give out very little of it.
• It is a lot like money – We want all we can get and give away only what will bring us the most satisfaction.
• Forgiving someone else is a sign that one has love for that person. It is also a sign that one is a Christian or, in the very least, they are ACTING like a Christian – for a lost person can exhibit great forgiveness yet remain lost!
(John 13:35) “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (KJV)
• Forgiveness is something that is being made fun of and is not being promoted in our society!
• Our country propagates the doctrine of, “Sue them!”, and, “Why should I forgive them!”
• It is no wonder to me that we have so little effectiveness in our community with so little forgiveness being shown to it!
• We should hate sin the way God does, but at the same time love the sinner!
• May God show us in this sermon that we show God how much we appreciate our forgiveness from Him by the way we forgive others!
Proposition: There are three things about the subject of forgiveness that I want to remind us about!
I. Notice The Need Of Forgiveness!
A. Since Adam and Eve sinned, mankind has needed forgiveness!
B. Every person needs to be forgiven by God and needs to experience forgiveness from fellow man!
C. Forgiveness is needed in the same proportion to the vileness and darkness of the sin!
D. Consider some Bible verse that show us the need for forgiveness:
(Genesis 6:5) “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (KJV)
(Proverbs 14:34) “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (KJV)
(Proverbs 24:9) “The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.” (KJV)
(Proverbs 30:12) “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.” (KJV)
(Isaiah 53:6) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (KJV)
(Isaiah 59:3) “For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.” (KJV)
(James 1:15) “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (KJV)
(James 4:17) “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (KJV)
(1 John 3:4) “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” (KJV)
(1 John 3:8) “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” (KJV)
(1 John 5:17) “All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.” (KJV)
(John 8:44) “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (KJV)
(Romans 3:10) “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” (KJV)
(Romans 3:23) “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (KJV)
(Romans 6:23) “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (KJV)
E. By now you could be convinced of the fact that we all need forgiveness!
II. Notice The Magnitude Of Forgiveness!
A. Every stain of sin can be removed!
(Isaiah 1:18) “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (KJV)
B. We can be separated from our sins and its burden!
(Psalms 103:12) “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” (KJV)
C. Every sin can be forgiven!
(Proverbs 28:13) “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” (KJV)
(1 John 1:9) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (KJV)
D. Our sins can be removed from God’s sight!
(Isaiah 38:17) “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.” (KJV)
E. Our sins can be blotted out by the blood of Jesus and His sacrifice! NOT BY BAPTISM, CHURCH MEMBERSHIP, THE LORD’S SUPPER, OR BY DOING GOOD WORKS!
(Colossians 2:13-14) “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” (KJV)
(1 Peter 1:18-19) “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” (KJV)
F. Our sins are forgiven FREELY – without any merit on our part, FULLY – every offense, and LIBERALLY – many sins, many sins, many sins have been forgiven!
(Exodus 34:7) “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” (KJV)
(Daniel 9:9) “To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;” (KJV)
(Micah 7:18) “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.” (KJV)
III. Notice The Results Of Forgiveness!
A. We were once lost (unforgiven) now saved (forgiven)!
(Ephesians 2:1-10) “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (KJV)
(John 3:16-21) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (KJV)
B. We have been justified!
Romans 3:24 “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”
Romans 3:28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
Romans 4:2 “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.”
Romans 5:1 ¶ “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
Romans 5:9 “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
Galatians 2:16 “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
C. We have been sanctified!
(1 Corinthians 6:9-11) “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (KJV)
D. We have been given a home in Heaven! (John 14)
E. We have been given everlasting life!
(John 5:24) “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (KJV)
F. We have been given many more things, but it all comes by being forgiven of our sins!
Conclusion:
To The Sinner:
• You need forgiveness!
• You need to repent and believe the gospel before it is too late!
To The Christian:
• Are you forgiving others the way God has forgiven you?
• Is there any person whom you are bitter towards? If so, then you have not forgiven them!
• Unforgiveness is telling others that you are not saved! But you say, “Pastor, I am saved!” Answer, “We should start acting like it!”
• When you and I do not forgive, then we, in effect, tell God that we
o Do not appreciate His forgiveness,
o That we do not need forgiveness,
o That being like Him in the area of forgiveness is unimportant to us, and
o That we do not care about others needing to see forgiveness by way of example!
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Jesus Our Lord: 24 Portraits of Christ Throughout Scripture
By John Phillips / Kregel Publications
What does “lordship” involve? What does it mean for us? In this companion volume to The View from Mount Calvary John Phillips discusses how biblical events, stories, and prophecies illuminate Jesus’ sovereignty over the world and how it influences our daily lives. Phillips shows how we are never far from encountering the lordship of Christ, no matter where we are in our biblical reading.
John Phillips taught in the Moody Evening School and on the Moody Broadcasting radio network. He is the author of numerous books, including a multivolume expository commentary series. He and his wife, Betty, live in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. |
