1. Eph 4:31-32 - Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (NASU)

2. Why Must We Forgive? BECAUSE IT IS GOOD FOR US. “I F I’ D CHOSEN TO HATE HIM ALL THESE YEARS, OR SPENT MY LIFE LOOKING FOR REVENGE, THEN I WOULDN ’ T BE THE MAN I AM TODAY, THE MAN MY WIFE AND CHILDREN LOVE.”

3. MENTAL AND PHYSICAL PROBLEMS OFTEN RESULT WHEN WE DON’T FORGIVE.

5. H ATRED DRAWS US INTO SIN Eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...” Matthew 5:44

6. Rom 12:17-21- Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD. "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

7. We cannot “get even” without “getting guilty.”

8. I F WE DO NOT FORGIVE IT WILL COST US OUR SALVATION. Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Matt 6:14-15 "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. (NLT)

9. Forgiving and being forgiven are TWO SIDES OF ONE COIN! George Herbert wrote: “He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass if he would ever reach heaven.”

10. What is Forgiveness? The Greek word for forgive means “ TO RELEASE OR DISMISS.”

11. Forgiveness is costly.

12. “So,” someone asks, “does that mean that I should forgive someone even if they never acknowledge their wrong or say they are sorry?” The million dollar question so to say. FATHER FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO. FATHER FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO. 2 Cor 5:18-19- Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, NOT COUNTING THEIR TRESPASSES AGAINST THEM, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

13. Eph 4:32- Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Acts 2:22-23 (ESV) 22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

14. First, that we can and should forgive them for our own sake. Second, we leave them in the hands of God. Paul said, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God.” 2 Tim 4:14 -“Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.”

15. Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” In Luke 6:28, He said, “bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you...”

16. Forgiveness is shown in Jesus Christ. “God with us.”

17. Jeremiah 31:34. Notice in this verse how God forgives us. “And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor, and each man his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

18. Isaiah 43:25:- “I, even I, am the One who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.”

19. ZAKAR According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary, ZAKAR MEANS “ TO REMEMBER, TO THINK OF, OR TO MAKE MENTION OF.”

20. “But I resent what they did to me!” someone says. According to Webster, our English word “resent” means literally, “to feel again.”

21. SONG OF INVITATION 902 Nothing But The Blood

22. 1. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus; What can make me whole a-gain? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 1 – Nothing But the Blood Words and Music by: Robert Lowry © 2001 The Paperless Hymnal™

23. O precious is the flow That makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. c – Nothing But the Blood © 2001 The Paperless Hymnal™

24. 2. For my pardon this I see Nothing but the blood of Jesus; For my cleansing this my plea Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 2 – Nothing But the Blood Words and Music by: Robert Lowry © 2001 The Paperless Hymnal™

25. O precious is the flow That makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. c – Nothing But the Blood © 2001 The Paperless Hymnal™

26. 3. Nothing can for sin atone Nothing but the blood of Jesus; Naught of good that I have done Nothing but the blood of Jesus. 3 – Nothing But the Blood Words and Music by: Robert Lowry © 2001 The Paperless Hymnal™

27. O precious is the flow That makes me white as snow; No other fount I know, Nothing but the blood of Jesus. c – Nothing But the Blood © 2001 The Paperless Hymnal™

28. We invite everyone to stay for the meal we have planned following services this morning to honor our Graduates. We invite everyone to stay for the meal we have planned following services this morning to honor our Graduates. There will be no 6 PM services this evening. There will be no 6 PM services this evening. We invite everyone to stay for the meal we have planned following services this morning to honor our Graduates. We invite everyone to stay for the meal we have planned following services this morning to honor our Graduates. There will be no 6 PM services this evening. There will be no 6 PM services this evening. CLOSING PRAYER