1. “FORGIVING OUR ENEMY LIKE CHRIST” Christlike Forgivness Part 8

2. As someone said, “Christ said, ‘Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.’ I needed mercy, I needed forgiveness, so I wanted to give out to others what I needed.”

3. FORGIVING THOSE WHO ARE NOT ENEMIES The greater the hurt, the greater the blessing that will come with forgiveness… Jesus confirmed this when He spoke of the ultimate Beatitude:

4. FORGIVING THOSE WHO ARE NOT ENEMIES Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, f or in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:11-12

5. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY HAVING AN ENEMY? When you totally forgive your enemy, you have crossed over into the supernatural realm. An enemy is also a person who will take unfair advantage of you; they will “despitefully use you” (Matt. 5:44, KJV).

6. THE BLESSING OF HAVING AN ENEMY When you know that a person is obsessed with you and is out to discredit you, you are very, very blessed indeed. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: “The worst thing that can happen to a man is to succeed before he is ready.” Whether your enemy is temporary or a “life sentence”, never forget that God is at the bottom of it all.

7. FORGIVING OUR ENEMIES LIKE CHRIST

8. WHY DO I HAVE ENEMIES? John 13:2 (NIV) The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.

9. WHY DO I HAVE ENEMIES? 2 Chronicles 32:31 (NIV) But when envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart.

10. LOVING OUR ENEMIES It is not eros (physical or sexual love), nor phileo (brotherly love) or storge (family love). Agape is selfless concern for others. Nelson Mandela - “Bitterness only hurts oneself.” “If you hate, you will give them your heart and mind. Don’t give those two things away.”

11. LOVING OUR ENEMIES For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sin. Matthew 6:14-15

12. TRYING TO JUSTIFY OUR SIN Luke 16:10 (NIV) “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1).

13. TRYING TO JUSTIFY OUR SIN Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it”.