The Abiding Lesson Five — E.A. Johnston

The Difficulty of Forgiveness

As we begin today of our further study and abiding with Lesson 5, I will preface this message, friends, with a warning. I believe this session may be one of the hardest for you to get your arms around and to embrace its truth because this message is on forgiveness.

If you have ever been wronged by an individual and deeply hurt and wounded, then your emotions may be a little raw today as we cover this aspect of the abiding. I doubt very seriously if there is even one among us today who has not been wronged by someone in the past.

I don't think you can live the human experience and bypass being fairly untreated by another. It would be interesting to learn how each one of us here has a sore spot somewhere in their heart where they have been wounded by another person and forgiveness towards that person or persons has never fully been practiced in an experience of a forgiven heart.

We cannot understand the Christian life nor can we truly comprehend what Christ did on the cross in our behalf if we ignore this aspect of forgiveness. I want you, friend, to think of that individual now who has hurt you.

There may be several individuals who fall into this category. As painful as it is, think of those persons now. If you will follow me further, I would like you to imagine that you are one of the twelve disciples.

If you are a female, then picture yourself as one of the close circle of women who followed Jesus like Martha or Mary. But just imagine yourself as one of the little inner circle there. I want you to think of Judas who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

Judas's Betrayal and the Disciples' Anger

Judas was one of the twelve, but Judas was a thief at heart. He was a turncoat, a scoundrel. He even had the gall to kiss Jesus in the garden in feigned friendship so the soldiers would know who to arrest.

Now I want to say something to you, friends. How do you think the disciples felt about Judas and his betrayal of their master? Do you think they took it personally? Do you think they felt great anger at him?

Put yourself in their sandals, so to speak. How would you, as a member of Jesus' inner circle, have felt by the actions of Judas? One thing is sure, every single one of Jesus' followers had to, at some point, deal with their feelings about Judas.

Do you think for a skinny minute that Peter could not have forgiven Judas after Jesus forgave Peter for denying him three times? Do you think the Apostle John could have written his epistle on love without forgiveness toward Judas?

Every single one of them had to come to grips with their hatred of Judas before they could go on to live a life of abiding in Christ. Our text today is found in verses 12 and 13. Here now is the word of God, and may the Spirit of the Lord attend the reading of His holy word.

Christ's Command to Love as He Loved

This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Now how did Jesus love them? He loved them unconditionally. We only love others on certain conditions. You treat me okay, and I'll treat you okay, but if you wound me, then I have little love left for you.

Was it hard for Jesus and his humanity to see Peter lie and deny him? Did Jesus hold a grudge against Peter from that point forward? We would have. Jesus brought Peter back into fellowship with him on the seashore that morning at breakfast by asking Peter, Peter, do you love me?

In John 11, 5 we read,. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When Jesus is further elaborating on his message of the abiding of the vine and the branches, he made it a point to tell them personally that he loved them.

Verse 9 relates, As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love. Let me ask you, friends, how can you abide in the vine and have love toward one another? Will unforgiveness block that connection?

Will bitterness and anger allow Jesus to flow through you? Jesus goes as far on this theme as to make it a commandment. This is my commandment, that ye love one another. How? As I have loved you. Then he goes on to describe the love of Christ with the sacrifice of Christ.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. How can we, as believers, not forgive if we have been forgiven? The principles of the abiding are like building stones, one atop the other.

Abiding in Christ as a Vital Union

They are like a fragrant vine whose branches are entwined. If you pull one apart or rip it out, it affects all the rest. The abiding is staying connected to Christ in a vital union, where his love flows through us toward others.

I'll never forget the special times I shared in Dr. Stephen Offord's study with him. He was so small in stature. His feet didn't even touch the ground when he sat in his chair, but he was a giant in the pulpit.

He always kept a plaque on his desk. It had one word carved into it, and that one word was others. Ministry isn't about ourselves, but about others, about loving others with the love of Christ, serving others in the abiding presence of Christ.

Receiving Grace to Forgive Deep Wounds

We must forgive those who have wronged us. Now I'm giving you the oil straight from the can as we say in the South, friends. I don't believe we can go one inch deeper with God if we hang on to bitterness in our heart.

Christ said to love as he loved. Now I'll be real honest with you here, friends. I could probably line up several hundred people who have unjustly wronged me through the years. Now I can't forgive them on my own strength.

Some of that pain runs too deep, but here is where the unfolding of the abiding flows into reality in our lives. As I abide in Jesus and he abides in me, then the forgiveness I need for another will flow from him through me.

You must get to the place, friend, where you can ask Jesus to give you the grace of forgiveness toward another. If you are sincere in your request, you will experience a newfound liberty in Christ Jesus.

How many pastors do I know where a deacon or elder has wounded them? I spoke to a pastor just last evening whose deacons got him fired from his church. Brother pastor, let it go. Give it to the vine. He has enough sap in there to heal any wound.

Friend, letting go of bitterness is freeing. Healing comes after freeing. Let it go. Abide in him as your source of grace and blessing and derive the power to forgive. Let the love of Christ love through you and flow out in rivers of blessings.

Forgiveness and the Hindrance to Revival

Let me take this abiding principle to the next level in regard to why the church is not seeing revival in our day. There is a golden thread that weaves its way through revivals, and if this purified thread is broken, it has been a bar to revival throughout history.

To which I refer is the golden thread of a forgiving heart toward others. When one researches the history of revival, it is plainly shown that many revivals began accompanied by sudden manifestation of God's presence when Christians began to confess their sins of an unforgiving heart to one another.

Forgiveness is the pillar of the gospel. I want us to enter into the fullness of the abiding here, friends, because there is healing here. Let Jesus' love flow through you, friend. As it flows, it brings healing waters and refreshing power.

Prayer for Healing Through Abiding in Christ

I want us to take the necessary time now to be alone with Jesus in the abiding, to enter into this aspect of the abiding, for there is power here, the power of a resurrected Christ, the one true vine.

Abide in me and I in you. Let's take some time to dwell with Jesus Christ, the genuine vine, as we go to a time of prayer and let the balm of Gilead do its work. Let us pray.