Forgiveness and Footholds

 

Read 2 Corinthians 2

We will take the first part of the chapter here and the rest at the next service.

Forgiveness for the Offender

If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.  Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

OK, you remember that guy I told you to kick to the curb? Check on him see if he has come to his senses. It might be time for forgiveness and reconciliation. I’m ready—and I’m the guy who told you to give him the cold shoulder—and so too should you be ready to forgive.

Forgive. That’s a powerful verb and we need to wield it more. Yes, sometimes we do the cold shoulder thing in extreme cases so that someone's soul might be saved on the Day of the Lord.

If we do it out of selfish motivations, we are playing for the wrong team. We have fallen for the Devil’s schemes and have taken his yoke.

We all have enough screwball issues of our own. We don’t want to discount this forgiveness thing. God, through Christ, has forgiven us. Let’s not heap problems on top of what the world throws on top of people.

Forgive.

Let’s cover the part about Satan outwitting us. In the name of Jesus, get away from me, Satan!

That should be our standing conversation with the devil. You’ve got nothing good for me. Go to hell. Go directly to hell. Do not pass go and do not collect $200. Some of you are too young for the reference.

You play Bunco now.

In the name of Jesus, depart!  That’s all we need to say to Satan. We don’t discuss things further with him.

But we do. How. It’s the devil. We know it’s the devil, so how can we listen to him?

We let our own understanding lead us into temptation and conversation with the enemy.

The military adage is to know your enemy. It is sound advice for the warrior of any age.

But this is what you need to know about your enemy. Don’t talk with him. Don’t reason with him. Don’t expound on anything.

Satan is the Father of Lies. Don’t try to outwit him. Tell him to go away. In the name of Jesus, go away.

If we need to talk about something, talk to your Father in heaven.

If we need to wrestle with some of our thoughts, do it with God’s own Spirit first. You both live at the same address.

If we need a sounding board, we can talk with fellow believers.

The only way that Satan can outwit us is if we play his games.

Go to bed angry.

Don’t forgive.

Trust our own understanding over what God is telling us.

Be known by your pointing fingers instead of your love.

Do you ever get the urge to tell someone to “Shut Up!”?

You can tell the devil to shut up. Make sure you tell him to Shut Up in the name of Jesus, not your own righteousness.

Tell him to go away, then walk away from the conversation you're not going to have. Satan is not entitled to equal time.

But, but, but, I’ve never had a conversation with Satan in my whole life…  Yes, you have. It takes place in your mind. We have all engaged in discussions that we should never have begun.

Why do you think Paul directs us to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ?

Most of Paul’s counsel is in the realm of forgiveness. Elsewhere, we are told not to give the devil a foothold. The failure to forgive as God has forgiven us is an embossed invitation for Satan to take a seat at the decision-making table of our lives.

That dog don’t hunt. Forgive and tell the devil to hit the road in the name of Jesus.

Amen.