There wasn't a dry eye in that holy sanctuary.
So great was the presence of the Holy Spirit.
It seemed as though every person in that sanctuary
was receiving a fresh baptism, the love of God.
And when... You love is impossible to hate. After
the service, going down the turnpike, Maggie
was driving. She said, you know, why is it so
easy to forgive when you're in the presence of
the Lord? She said, after that communion service,
I walked out the door and the very first person
I met was someone that I wasn't especially fond
of. And yet it was so easy to smile and say hello.
His presence makes all the difference in the
world. Today you and I are going to have a little
heart -to -heart talk about something And at
the very beginning, I want to say something to
you. Don't hold anything in your heart against
anyone. No matter what they've done to you, you
may feel as though they've done you a great injustice.
No matter what. they've done. They may have lied
about you. They may have treated you shamefully.
But don't hold anything in your heart against
anyone. First of all be inwardly too glad and
too great to be the enemy of any person. Now
that may seem like such a trivial statement,
but it isn't. Be inwardly, first of all, too
glad. I mean exactly that. There you are, two
good eyes, two good legs, two good hands. You
can speak. You have a brain. You're being blessed.
You've been born again. You're an heir of God
and a joint heir with Christ Jesus. Literally
the whole world is yours. Be too glad for God's
blessing. Be too thankful for what you have.
A roof over your head. Food to eat. Clothing
on your body. A bed to sleep in. Sunshine, water,
you're not suffering, not really. Be too thankful
to be the enemy of any person. Be too big. Be
too great. When you hold something in your heart
against someone else, then you become as small
as that person who has done you an injustice.
Be too great, be too big to be the enemy of any
person. You know, I've always been an admirer.
of Dr. Carver, the great Negro scientist and
saint. I met him years and years ago when I was
very, very young, and I've always been a great
admirer of his. And it was Dr. Carver, the great
Negro scientist, and when I... Say, saint. I
mean exactly that. He was a marvelous Christian
gentleman. And, as you well know, he's risen
to fame through his chemical discoveries in service
to the farmers of the South. And someone asked
him to reveal the name of the university which
had accepted him as a student. And then, on discovering
he was a Negro, had refused him admittance. Dr.
Carver consistently refused to tell. He would
not tell. And he just passed the incident off
as just nothing. He would smile. Always said
it was nothing. Just nothing. He had what somebody
called the peace that passeth not only all understanding,
but all misunderstanding. And sometimes I think
that if that's something that we were holding
in our heart, that grudge, that unforgiving spirit,
that's something that has so grown. It has grown
clear out of proportion. If it came to light
and we would lay it out, analyze it, we would
find that there was more misunderstanding there
than anything else. You know, when Jesus announced
his program at Nazareth, he read from Isaiah
until he came to the words, The day of vengeance
of our God. And then he closed the book. You
do the same. You leave vengeance to God. That's
one of the greatest things that I had to learn.
Oh, sure. Years ago, I was a fighter. You know,
people with red hair. usually had that reputation.
Oh, sure. Oh, I used to be a fighter. And I was
licked very often. You can understand that. But
one of the greatest lessons that I've had to
learn was to just keep quiet and let God fight
my battles. Remember, when Jesus read those words
from Isaiah, when he came to those words, the
day of vengeance of our God, he stopped. He closed
the book right there. It is the smart person.
It is the big person. who will leave vengeance
to God. We win by tenderness. We conquer by forgiveness.
He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge
over which he must pass himself. Every man has
need to be forgiven. Always remember that. There'll
come a day when you will need to be forgiven.
Every time I forgive somebody else, I'm very
conscious of the fact that the day is coming.
And it may be nearer than I know. I will need
someone to forgive me. I repeat, he that cannot
forgive others breaks the bridge over which he
must pass himself one day. The very best men
stand in need of pardon. If thou art a master,
sometimes be blind. If a servant, sometimes be
deaf. It is a smart master who sometimes. allows
himself to be blind to the faults of his employees.
And if you are an employee, if you are a servant,
it is a smart servant who will sometimes choose
to be deaf. Always remember, be inwardly too
glad and too great to be the enemy of any person.
I still contend, but never does the human soul
appear so strong as when it forgoes revenge and
dares to forgive an injury. Never will you...
ever be greater. Never will you ever show what
you're really made of on the inside. Never does
the human soul ever appear so strong as when
it forgoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury
or an injustice. You see, only the brave, only
that person who is secure, finds it easy to forgive.
Watch it. Just watch it. Religion through the
ages has stressed the need for forgiveness and
tolerance. It isn't something that's new. That
which I'm talking about this very hour isn't
something that's new. I'm giving you something
today that's as old as God himself. I'm talking
about something that is as old, as up -to -date,
as Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I'm talking
about something that is as powerful as the might...
the power of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Religion
throughout the ages has stressed this need for
forgiveness and for tolerance. That's the reason
you've heard me say over and over and over again
that the tragedy of the hour is not that men
perish. The tragedy is not that men die. The
tragedy of the hour is the fact that we no longer
love. That word forgive and forgiveness is completely
out of the human vocabulary. Instead of loving,
we hate. Instead of tolerance, we refuse. We
refuse to forgive. We hate. We despise. There's
greed. And that's the reason we've gotten into
the condition that we're in this very hour. There
are even those who've gone so far as to teach
that we can achieve inner health only through
forgiveness. The forgiveness not only of others,
but also of ourselves. We must cease tormenting
ourselves when we do not achieve the absolute
in life. There's that somebody to whom I am speaking.
disease that has gotten a hold of your mind.
And it has gone into your body. It has caused
you to be defeated. It's because you are condemning
yourself. You find it impossible to forgive yourself.
for not being the success that you'd like to
be. You've gotten to the place where you have
been tormenting yourself because you have not
achieved the absolute in life. If you continue,
and if you do not get this victory over that
self -condemnation, you'll soon find yourself
on a bed of affliction. Sick in mind, sick in
soul, and sick in body. It is an absolute fact
that to hold hate and to hold resentments is
to throw a monkey wrench into the machinery of
life. Structurally, you are made for positive
goodwill. You and I were not made for hate. We
are made for the Christian way of living. And
the Christian way of living is love. When you
try the other way, then the machinery of life
breaks down. Or at least works so badly that
it leaves you exhausted and ineffective. with
the soul. Hate plays havoc with the mind. Hate
can play havoc with the human body. Hate is sand
in the machinery of life. But, beloved, love
is oil, and life works so much better with oil.
oil than with sand. And when you forgive, forget.
Sure you know that prayer that Jesus taught us
to pray. This is our prayer, not his prayer.
Our Father, Which art in heaven, hallowed be
thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day
our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever. But don't
stop there. Continue, if you will, please. And
I give you the very word of God. This comes from
the highest authority in heaven and earth. For
if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly
Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your Father
forgive your trespasses. You consider yourself
a Christian? You consider yourself a saint of
God? And yet, you're holding something in that
heart of yours, an unforgiving spirit, something
against your mother, perhaps years standing something
has been there, against your father, or a brother
against a sister, or a grandfather against a
child. Remember his words. If ye forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive
your. trespasses be too big to not forgive.