Examples Of Forgiveness
1) Corrie Ten Boom
Corrie Ten Boom was a blessed christian woman from Holland that hid Jews from the Germans in her house during World War II (Corrie is on the far right in the first picture). Also pictured above is the little closet in Corrie's bedroom where she hid Jews from the Germans. Youtube has a movie called The Hiding Place about how Corrie Ten Boom helped Jews survive and escape the Germans. I highly recommend watching this free movie. Corrie helped hide over 800 Jews in her home with her father, sister, and brothers from the Germans and saved their lives. They would daily feed these Jews and help them escape from the Germans.
Unfortunately when one of the Jews tried to escape on the roof, the Germans discovered that Corrie and her family were hiding Jews. As a result, Corrie and all the Ten Booms were sent to a concentration camp in Ravensbrook Germany. Corrie's father was told if he stopped helping Jews, his life would be spared. Corrie's dad said I'd help anyone that came to my home. As a result, the Germans had Corrie's dad killed. All of Corrie's brothers were also killed by the Germans. And Corrie and her sister Betsie were forced to live in a concentration camp together at Ravensbrook.
When Corrie Ten Boom arrived at the concentration camp she had a bible hid under her shirt. Corrie asked Jesus to make her invisible while the Germans patted down each prisoner. A miracle occurred and Corrie was made invisible to the German guards and was able to get her bible into the concentration camp. Every day Corrie and Betsie prayed while a cruel German prison guard persecuted them daily. Eventually, this mean German guard killed Betsie (Corrie's sister). But a miracle occurred for Corrie when by mistake the Germans allowed her to leave the prison thinking she was another woman. Corrie was truly blessed because the next week all the women in her prison ward were killed. Corrie returned to live in her home in Holland and died in 1983; Today the Ten Boom house that hid over 800 Jews from German execution has become a museum for visitors who can see the hidden closet in Corrie's bedroom where Jews survived and escaped from the Germans.
After Corrie was set free from the Ravensbrook concentration camp, she became a well know lady conference speaker talking to many large audiences about her testimony of survival. Here is Corrie Ten Boom's testimony in her own words about forgiveness. I pray in Jesus name that this testimony will help people everywhere forgive their enemies forever. Remember Brother Bob's motto for success. Avoid angry people; forgive forever.
Corrie Ten Boom's Testimony About Forgiveness In Her Own Words
In a church in Munich Germany in 1947 where I was speaking I saw him; A balding heavy set man in a grey overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat, then in my mind I saw that blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones. Memories of the concentration camp came back with a rush. The huge room with its harsh overhead light, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, and the shame of walking naked past this man day after day.
I could see my sister's frail body ahead of me ribs sharp beneath the parchment of her skin; Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland. This man had been a guard at Ravensbrook concentration camp where we were sent. Now he was in front of me hand thrust out; A fine message Fraulein; How good it is to know that as you say all our sins are at the bottom of the sea. It was the first time since my release that I had been face to face with one of my captors. And my blood seemed to freeze.
You mentioned Ravensbrook in your talk he was saying; I was a guard there; but since that time I have become a born again christian; I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things that I did there to other people; But I would like to hear it from your lips as well Fraulein, Will you forgive me? As I stood there I could not. This guard had killed my sister Betsie and he could not erase or slow terrible death simply for the asking.
It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, his hand held out. But to me it seemed like hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do; For I had to do it; I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition; That we forgive those that have injured us; If you do not forgive men their trespasses, Jesus said Neither will your Father in heaven forgive yours.
Still I stood there with a coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is an act of the will and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart; Jesus help me I prayed. Silently I can lift my hand, I can do that much. Lord you supply the feeling; And so woodenly mechanically I thrust my hand into the one that was stretched out to me.
And as I did, an incredible thing took place. A current started in my shoulder and raced down my arm spreading into our joint hands. And when this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being bringing tears to my eyes, I said I forgive you brother with all my heart. For a long moment we grasped each others hands (the former guard and the former prisoner). I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then. Hallelujah, Jesus enabled Corrie Ten Boom to forgive the German guard that had killed her sister Betsie.
2) Wilhelm Hammelmann
Another incredible example of forgiveness occurred when Wilhelm Hammelmann (pictured above) forgave Czeslaw Godlewski. In 1946 Czeslaw Godlewski was a member of a gang of German youths that roamed and sacked people's houses in the German countryside. One day the gang came upon the family of Wilhelm Hammelmann who lived on an isolated farm. Czeslaw began to fire upon Wilhelm and his family. The gang killed Wilhelm's wife and his 8 children. Wilhelm survived four bullet wounds.
Eventually Czeslaw Godlewski was put in prison for 20 years for his crimes. As the time approached for Godlewski to complete his 20 year prison term for his crimes, the State would not release him because he simply had nowhere to go. None of his family members offered shelter and each place the State sought to place him refused him.
Then a letter was received by the prison warden. It it was a simple request. "I ask you to release Godlewski to my custody and care. Christ died for my sins and forgave me. Should I not then forgive this man." the letter was signed Wilhelm Hammelmann. Jesus gave Mr. Hammelmann the grace to be able to forgive someone that killed 9 of his family members and then take that man into his home. History tells us that Wilhelm trained Czeslaw to be a christian and Czeslaw became a great blessing to everyone in the community. Note that in the picture above Wilhelm is pointing to Czeslaw in the news article that reported the killing of Wilhelm's family members.
3) A South Korean Christian Who Forgave the Communist Who Killed His Son
During the Korean war in the city of Seoul pictured above, a South Korean christian was arrested by the Communists and ordered to be shot. But when the young Communist leader learned that the prisoner had been in charge of an orphanage caring for small children, he decided to spare the man and execute his 19 year old son instead. They shot the boy in the presence of his father.
Later the fortunes of the war changed and the young Communist leader was captured by the United Nations forces, tried for war crimes, and condemned to die. Before the sentence was carried out, the christian whose boy had been killed pleaded for the life of the young officer. He said the man was young, acted under orders, and did not really know what he was doing. Give him to me he pleaded and I will train him how to live and be a christian.
The United Nations granted the request and the father took the murderer of his own son into his home. Later the young man became a christian pastor and helped save thousands of lost souls for our Lord Jesus. No wonder John Newton the composer of the beloved hymn called it Amazing Grace.
4) Leonardo Da Vinci Had To Forgive His Enemy Before He Could
Finish Painting The Last Supper
Just before Leonardo Da Vinci started to work on his great painting The Last Supper, he had a violent quarrel with a fellow painter. He was so angry and bitter that he determined to paint the face of his enemy, the other artist, into the face of Judas. He wanted each succeeding generation to look with scorn upon his enemy. The face of Judas was one of the first he finished and everyone could easily recognize it as the face of the painter with whom he had quarreled.
When he came to paint the face of Jesus, he could make no progress. Something seemed to be holding him back and frustrating his best efforts. At length he came to the conclusion that the thing which was confusing and frustrating him was that he had painted his enemy into the face of Judas. So he painted out the face of Judas and began again to work on the face of Jesus. So successful were his efforts that the picture has been acclaimed as one of the greatest paintings ever.
You can not at the same time be painting the feature of Christ into your own life and painting another face with the colors of enmity and hatred. Unforgiveness will hinder our relationship with God and cause our prayers not to be answered. Psalm 66:18 tells us If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. And note that when Leonardo Da Vinci painted the face of Jesus, a man that looked like Jesus posed for the painting. Then ten years later Da Vinci found a criminal to pose for Judas and to his amazement it was the same man who had posed for Jesus (this same man had become a criminal and had been in prison for ten years).
How To Forgive Forever
1) Remember That God Forgave Us All For Killing His Son Jesus With Our Sins
To Help You Forgive Forever
Friends, we all have to forgive our enemies forever because God forgave us all for killing his Son Jesus with our sins on the cross. Everyone blames the Jews, the Roman guards, and the Pharisees for killing Jesus. But ultimately it was all our sins that killed Jesus on the cross. We are all guilty of killing Jesus with our sins.
The following two scriptures prove that our sins killed Jesus on the cross. 1 Corinthians 15:3 says For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. And Hebrews 2:9 tells us But we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Now even though all our sins killed Jesus, Jesus forgave us all at the cross saying Father forgive them for they know not what they do. And because Jesus forgave us and blesses us daily, we have to forgive forever our enemies. Ephesians 4:31 tells us Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you (in other words for Christ's sake and for Christ's request, the Father forgives us for killing Jesus by our sins).
Even though our sins killed Jesus, every day Jesus blesses us with peace, strength, and comfort. Jesus doesn't say I'm not gonna help you because your sins killed me. Instead Jesus says I'll be your best friend and allow the blood of Jesus to cleanse you from all your sins. And because Jesus suffered and died because of our innumerable sins, we should forgive our enemies forever over and over for their sins. Remember the warning of Matthew 6:14 that says 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.
2) Reflect On The Examples Of Others Who Forgave Their Enemies
To Help You Forgive Forever
To receive the grace to forgive forever, remember how different people in the bible got blessed through forgiveness. Job got a doublefold blessing when he prayed for his enemies that persecuted him. Pictured above at Job 42:8 God told Job's three enemies Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering and my servant Job shall pray for you; for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that you have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
And when Job forgave forever and prayed for his three enemies that persecuted him look at what occurred at Job 42:10 that says And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends (note that Job forgave his enemies and called them friends); also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
And think about how Stephen forgave his enemies while being stoned. Acts 7:59 tells us And they stoned Stephen calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, Lord lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Think about how Paul forgave all his enemies before he died proven by 2 Timothy 4:16 that says At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me; I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. And finally think about how Joseph forgave all his brothers for throwing him into a pit and blessed them with food to live in Egypt.
3) Remember That Unforgiveness Makes Us Lose The Victory Over The Devil
Therefore We Need To Forgive Forever Lest Satan Get An Advantage
2 Corinthians 2:10-11 warns us that unforgiveness and bitterness is a device used by the devil to get an advantage over us and take away our victory. The scripture says To whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also; for if I forgive anything, to whom I forgave it; for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ. Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not ignorent of his devices. The devil makes you think that when you are bitter and unforgiving you are harming your enemies. This is a lie. In reality unforgiveness and bitterness harm the unforgiving person and cause death.
Don't let the devil get the advantage; When the devil lies to you and says You shouldn't have to put up with that, tell the devil to get lost; Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Tell the devil I've got to forgive forever because God forgave me through his Son Jesus Christ at the cross. Get saved today; Repent, confesss that Jesus is God, and believe that Jesus died for you on the cross, was buried, and rose again. Finally take heed to the warning from Hebrews 12:15 that says Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. Avoid bitterness and unforgiveness that causes misery and harms many people around us.
I pray in Jesus name that this little bible study blesses multitudes all over this earth with great peace, strength, and joy. Feel free to email Brother Bob anytime at rz9tlm@gmail.com or write to Brother Bob Malkin, 2233 Pinetree Lane, Apt. N., Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068. (614) 604-7133. Till we all meet again soon to lift up our Lord Jesus, everyone have a blessed day in Jesus name.
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