Sermon Central
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Survivors Forgive Themselves And Others Series
Contributed by Ken Hubbard on Feb 11, 2010 (message contributor)
Summary: A message on the importance of forgiveness in relationships and healing.
INTRO
ƒ{ In this award winning film called "The Mission", Robert DeNiro plays a mercenary who after killing his brother in a fit of jealous rage takes shelter in a local church.
ƒ{ He eventually leaves the church and heads to a mission post located above the waterfalls in a South American jungle.
ƒ{ Because of what he has done, and how bad he feels, he ties himself to a several-hundred pound net of items that represent his sinful life
ƒ{ He feels compelled to drag this sack of sin around with him as a way to do penance for what he has done.
ƒ{ As you watch this clip you'll see him slip under the burden of his past, with the rope choking the very life out of him.
ƒ{ He feels terrible and yet doesn't know what to do with his sin and the shame that comes with it.
VIDEO The Mission - Scene _______
ƒ{ Have you ever felt this way?
o Tethered to transgressions
o Gasping under guilt
o Bound by bitterness
o Mixed up by a mess up?
ƒ{ The devil would love nothing more than to destroy us with the guilt of what we:
„X Should have
„X Could have
„X Might have
o DONE
ƒ{ You will never be a survivor if you don't get rid of guilt and condemnation.
GUILT DESTROYS OUR SURVIVAL BY:
1. Guilt Destroys our Confidence
* Guilt and condemnation will make us feel insecure
* Because we are always worried that someone will find out
o What we've done
o What we struggle with
o What we've gone through
* Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes novels, played a prank on five of the most prominent men in England.
* He sent an anonymous note to each one that simply said this, "All is found out, flee at once."
* Within 24 hours all five men had left the country.
The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
* Is guilt destroying your conscience today?
2. Guilt Damages Relationships
* When we live in un-confessed sin we can respond to people in wrong ways
* Get mad...but mad at yourself
3. Guilt Keeps us Stuck in the Past
* Continually playing your failure over and over
* Guilt can't change the past just like...
o Worry can't change the future
* But both can make you miserable today!
ƒ{ Background
ƒ{ David is the author
ƒ{ While he was a great king and walked with God for much of his life
ƒ{ We also know that he committed adultery and murder.
ƒ{ When David speaks, he does so as a sinner who has been forgiven
ƒ{ The particular sin that David refers to is not important because there are plenty to choose from.
ƒ{ He wrote this Psalm to help us know that we can be fully restored and completely forgiven no matter what we've done.
ƒ{ This Psalm is one of the seven Psalms of forgiveness, which include:
o 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143
ƒ{ Psalm 32 has also been referred to as one of Paul's Psalms because it is quoted extensively in Romans 4:6-8
ƒ{ Establishing that we are declared righteous not because of what we've done
ƒ{ But because of what Christ has done on the cross.
ƒ{ If you look at the very beginning of Psalm 32, right before verse 1, you'll see the phrase,
o "A maskil"
ƒ{ This was a literary or musical term to indicate that the words to follow are very important.
ƒ{ In other words, this is a 'preaching Psalm" given to us so that we can learn from the experience of another.
ƒ{ David wants us to pay particular attention to this inspired instruction so that we'll understand and embrace our need for forgiveness.
LET ME BREAK THIS CHAPTER DOWN LIKE THIS:
1. The Happiness of Forgiveness verse 1-2
2. The Heaviness of Sin verse 3-5
3. The Help of God verse 6-11
1. The Happiness of Forgiveness
Blessed = How happy (verse 1)
Congratulations
Good for you
What wonderful bliss
* Blessed is a plural word
* We could say:
o "Many blessings"
o "Bundles of blessings"
* Whose transgressions are forgiven
* Imagine how happy you would be if you were to spend life in prison and someone set you free.
* Only one other Psalm starts with the word blessed.
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
* We are blessed when we avoid sin
* Or have our sins forgiven because they are the same
