Peace and Forgivenes . Bryant Hewitt Message

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLujLn-sFYA


http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/26898156


Luke 19:43 (NKJV)43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, Do join our Peace Tour as we bring the Lords Crusades to Asia, Africa,India, Europe.www.bryanthewitt.com - Captured Live on Ustream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-hewitt-channel

THE NEED FOR PEACE WITH ENEMIES

   A. ENEMIES CAN BE EVERYWHERE...
      1. Government - Lk 19:43
      2. Families - Mt 10:36
      3. Other religions - Ro 11:28
      4. In the church - Php 3:18
      5. Satan - 1Pe 5:8
      -- Not to sound paranoid, but the potential for enemies is great

   B. ENEMIES CAN BE TROUBLESOME...
      1. Physical persecution - Mt 10:17,21
      2. Spiritual turmoil - 2Co 11:26; Ga 2:4
      3. Causing problems in the family, at work, etc.
      -- Wherever there are enemies, the need for peace is great

[Jesus told us to expect tribulation (Jn 15:18-20).  But He also
promised peace (Jn 16:33).  While we may not always escape tribulation,
there are ways to often reduce the conflict.  Consider, then, how...]

II. JESUS MAKES PEACE WITH ENEMIES POSSIBLE

   A. BY PROVIDING PEACE WITH GOD...
      1. If at peace with God, He helps us to make peace with enemies
         - Pr 16:7
      2. Jesus makes peace with God through justification and
         reconciliation - Ro 5:1
      -- The first step to peace with enemies is to be at peace with God

   B. BY TEACHING US TO LOVE OUR ENEMIES...
      1. This He did on several occasions - Mt 5:44; Lk 6:27,35
      2. His apostles did so likewise - Ro 12:14,20
      3. Both Jesus and His apostles displayed such love - Lk 23:34;
         1Co 4:12-13
      4. This is agape love (active good will) - 1Co 13:4-8a
      5. The same love God showed toward us when we were His enemies- Ro
         5:6-11
      -- Peace with enemies is possible when we love them as God loved
         us

[Not all enemies will appreciate our efforts to show them love (cf. Ro
12:18).  But loving them as God loved us is the best way to have...]

III. THE PEACE WITH ENEMIES THAT JESUS MAKES POSSIBLE

   A. ONE THAT CAN TRANSFORM OUR ENEMIES...
      1. "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into
         friend." - Martin Luther King Jr.
      2. Did not God's love that transformed us when we were enemies?
         - Ro 5:10; Col 1:21-22
      -- Loving your enemies is the best hope for changing them

   B. ONE THAT CAN MAKE ENEMIES OUR FRIENDS...
      1. Transformed by love, enemies can become friends
      2. Did not Joseph make his brothers who hated him his friends?
         - cf. Gen 50:15-21
      3. Did not God make us His people, who before were not His people?
         - cf. 1Pe 2:9-10
      -- The peace with enemies that Jesus offers is one most likely to
         make them our friends

   C. ONE THAT MAKES US MORE LIKE GOD...
      1. "It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to
         befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the
         quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business."
         - Gandhi
      2. Loving our enemies makes us more like God ("sons of your
         Father") - Mt 5:44-48