The Path To Wickedness

The Path to Wickedness was a sermon given by Rebecca Hamilton on Jan. 23, 2008 at Word of Life Church for the young adults group F.O.C.U.S.

I’d like to start by reading a story
“One day a while back, a man, his heart heavy with grief, was walking in the woods. As he thought about his life this day, he knew many things were not right. He
thought about those who had lied about him back when he had a job. His thoughts turned to those who had stolen his things and cheated him. He remembered family
that had passed on. His mind turned to the illness he had that no one could cure. His very soul was filled with anger, resentment and frustration.
Standing there this day, searching for answers he could not find, knowing all else had failed him, he knelt at the base of an old oak tree to see the One he knew
would always be there. And with tears in his eyes, he prayed: ‘Lord, You have done wonderful things for me in this life. You have told me to do many things for
You, and happily I obeyed. Today, You have told me to forgive. I am sad, Lord, because I cannot. I don’t know how. It is not fair, Lord. I don’t deserve these
wrongs that were done against me and I shouldn’t have to forgive. As perfect as Your way is Lord, this one thing I cannot do, for I don’t know how to forgive. My
anger is so deep, Lord, I fear I may not hear You, but I pray that You teach me to do this one thing I cannot do- teach me to forgive.’
As he knelt there in the quiet shade of that old oak tree, he felt something fall onto his shoulder. He opened his eyes. Out of the corner of one eye, he saw something
red on his shirt. He could not turn to see what it was because where the oak tree had been was a large square piece of wood in the ground. He raised his head and
saw two feet held to the wood with a large spike through them. He raised his head more, and tears came to his eyes as he saw Jesus hanging on the cross. He saw
spikes on his hands, a gash in his side, a torn and battered body, deep thorns sunk into his head. Finally he saw the suffering and pain on his precious face. As their
eyes met, the man’s tears turned to sobbing and Jesus began to speak. ‘Have you ever told a lie?’ he asked. The man answered, ‘Yes, Lord.’ ‘Have you ever been
given too much change and kept it?’ The man answered, ‘Yes, Lord.’ And the man sobbed more and more. ‘Have you ever taken something from work that wasn’t
yours?’ Jesus asked. The man answered, ‘Yes, Lord.’ ‘Have you ever sworn, using my Father’s name in vain?’ And the man, crying now, answered, ‘Yes, Lord.’
Then Jesus turned his head from one side to the other and the man felt something fall on his other shoulder. He looked and saw that it was the blood of Jesus. When
he looked back up, his eyes met those of Jesus and there was a look of Love the man had never seen or known before. Jesus said, ‘I didn’t deserve this either, but I
forgive you.'”

I know that the topic of forgiveness is one that is preached a lot. But, I think that forgiveness is one of those topics that can’t be over-preached. Someone is always
in need of it. Someone is always in need of forgiving someone else. It’s the society we live in. It is an immoral, evil world out there full of wicked people and sinners
alike. Even Christians can be hurtful towards one another. Not to put down any sermon I’ve heard on forgiveness, but in all that I have learned about it, I always
seem to walk away still not knowing how to forgive. As much as we talk about the need for it, how to do it isn’t something I’ve ever really heard and when I need
to know something, I tend to dive head first into a study of it to get my answer. I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned.

I was reading God’s Word one night and came across a scripture that was talking about a sinner. As I read further down, it began talking about a wicked man. It
dawned on me that there is a big difference between a sinner and a wicked man, they are not the same. A sinner is merely a lost soul searching for truth and either
finds it or gives up looking for it. The wicked man is one who found the truth, believed and maybe even received the truth and then rejected it, turned away from it
and twisted it. The wicked man’s heart has become hard towards the things of God. I used to believe that once you got born again, that you could not lose your
salvation. Now I believe differently. If you walk so far away from God and develop a hard and cold heart, then you are in severe danger of going to hell, even if at
one point in your life you accepted Jesus.

The word wicked means:
Wicked: evil, wrong, malicious. (NSBD, p265, Copyright 2005)
Addicted to vice; immoral; mischievous. (WD, p435, Copyright 1991)

The word wicker comes from the word wick, or to twist. A wicked man “twists” what is godly, moral, and right to advance his own.

Let’s look at two very different men in the Bible. The first one is in the book of Mark chapter 10, verse 46 (NIV). “Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his
disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the son of Timothaus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he
heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the
more, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.’
Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked him. The blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to
see.’ ‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.” The King James Version says that Jesus
said “Go thy way; your faith has made you whole.” Complete, nothing missing, nothing broken.
The second man is found in the book of Matthew 18:23-35 (NAS): “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle
accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents (the Amplified says “probably about $10,000,000”) was
brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and
repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him (amplified says- “begging”), saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay
you everything.’ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves
who owed him a hundred denarii (Amplified says “about twenty dollars); and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ So his
fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ But he was unwilling and went and threw him in
prison until he should pay back what he owed. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all
that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also
have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should
repay all that was owed him. (notice that the master was only going to sell him when he was in debt, but then when the slave did not forgive, the master handed him
over to the torturers.) My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart.”

This man loved money more than his fellow servant, for the love of money, or selfishness, is the root of all evil. If you put money first, before your friend, spouse,
before God, before forgiveness, then you are falling into the path to wickedness. If money is more important to you than doing what is right and forgiving, then you
are in danger of losing your salvation!!

All of us had fallen into the sinner category for we all fall short of the glory of God. We were all like blind Bartimeous, crying out, “Lord save me.” It was our faith,
for it is impossible to please God without it, that made us whole. It was God’s grace, mercy and compassion that allowed us to enter into salvation. The direction
we went was our choice. We can seek the truth and either accept it or deny it. Once we accept it, we can choose to live in that glory or walk away from it out of
our own selfishness. What makes a man wicked is his unwillingness to forgive. Like the slave who would not forgive a mere $20 after being forgiven $10,000,000,
we will be handed over to the torturer, Satan, if we do not forgive.  If you are walking in the commandment of love, then you will be able and ready to forgive, for
you, too, have been forgiven.

About five months ago, I was in church and we were singing a song that had the lines “everybody needs compassion, the kindness of a Savior.” I began to cry,
realizing that as hard as I was trying, I did not forgive someone who had betrayed me. I felt as though no one had ever done me more wrong than him. I needed to
have compassion on that person, just like the lord had compassion on his servant, just like my Lord had compassion on me, for I, too, was once a sinner in need of
forgiveness. I knew that we must forgive. It’s all through the Bible. Matthew 6:12 (KJV): “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Verse 14,”For if
you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you.” Mark 11: 25-26 (KJV): “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against
any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive you
your trespasses.” I John 1:9 (NAS), “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That’s
the bottom line, if we want God to forgive us we MUST forgive others!! You could also examine the parable of the sower where in the end Jesus says, “The sower
soweth the word.” You reap what you sow. If you don’t sow forgiveness, you will not reap forgiveness.

So, let’s take a look at what it means to forgive.

Forgive: the act of excusing or pardoning others in spite of their slights, shortcomings, and errors. (Nelson’s Student Bible Dictionary, p84, Copyright 2005)
To pardon; to cease to bare resentment against; to cancel as a debt. (Webster’s Dictionary, p158, Copyright 1991)

I once heard it put this way: to forgive means to not make someone payback what is owed you. They no longer have to give you anything in order for you to
forgive them and to love them. You do not expect anything in return. It’s forgiving, not forgetting, as in to get.

I was delivering newspapers back in the fall of 2007 around 5:00 a.m. I was crying my eyes out over the hurt that was done to me. “God,” I said, “I’m trying to
forgive this person, but I just don’t know how.” “All I want is for him to tell me he is sorry. God, he never even said he was sorry.” You see, I wanted to forgive
this person, but only if I got an apology in return. I was for getting not forgiving. I’ve heard message after message about forgiving. I’ve heard “let it go,” or to “put
the past behind you,” “move on,” “get over it,” or to “forget about it.” That’s good advice, yes, but I’m left with still not knowing HOW to forgive. So, when in
doubt, ask God. So I cried out, through puffy eyes and a tear stained face “God, how do I forgive him? I want to forgive him according to how you want me to,
but I just don’t know how.”  Like the man in the preceding story, I just didn’t know how. God spoke two very simple words to me. This is what He said, and it is
so profound- get it, commit it to memory, He said “Speak it.” “Speak it.”  Wow! Is it that simple? Here, my over-analytical brain thought there must be some
complicated formula to forgiving someone. Yet, it is as simple as saying “I forgive.”

It wasn’t easy at first, but that’s what I started doing. At first I would say things like, “I forgive that blankety-blank.” “I forgive that jerk.” But, I noticed that as
time went on, the anger, that had begun to over-shadow me, got less and less. I soon found myself simply saying “I forgive him.” “I forgive him.” And I meant it.
Then, God reminded me that I also needed to forgive the other person involved in that situation. This was very difficult because it opened up wounds I had tried to
pretend weren’t there. I was hurt by a total stranger, who new that what they where doing was hurting me. “How could someone hurt me that didn’t even know
me? How could they take something away from me that I loved so much, something that didn’t belong to them?” There are times when we don’t want to forgive
someone because in doing so we are revealing that we had been hurt and that may leave us feeling vulnerable. The last thing I was gonna do was to let myself be
vulnerable, not after that situation, NO WAY!! I tried to pretend that certain aspects of that situation did not bother me. I tried to pretend that I was strong, a solid
rock of “no one can touch me, no one can hurt me.” Pride was leading me on my way to bitterness. So often we would rather become bitter and hard than be
vulnerable. Only when we let go, become vulnerable to God, can He begin the healing process.  “God, help me,” I cried. And He did. He wrapped His loving arms
around me and showed me that everything was going to be just fine, as long as I forgive both of them. So, I did, I forgave that person as well. Then I took the next
step and began praying for these two, as Job did. I prayed God’s blessings and protection over them. I prayed that God would lead them and guide them into
righteousness (right standing with God and to live in His ways). I prayed for their salvation. Granted, it’s a process that may take time, but I know you eventually
come to a place where it gets easier and easier until eventually, what you’ve been speaking will take route in your heart and become a truth for you, as it became a
truth for me.

Why do you think speaking it is the crucial point in forgiveness? Do you think it’s as simple as speaking it? Saying “I forgive?”

What do you think of the old saying:

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

I believe this old saying is a lie from hell. Ask anyone who’s ever been made fun of, or lied to, or degraded by someone they thought loved them. Jesus said in
Matthew 12: 34-37 (NIV), “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. (The KJV
says, ‘Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”), The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things
out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your
words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” The KJV says “For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be
condemned.” God’s Word also says in Proverbs 18: 20-21 (AMP) “A man’s [moral] self shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; and with the consequence of
his words he must be satisfied [whether good or evil]. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death
or life].” You are justified or condemned by the words of your mouth. Speaking forgiveness is essential to a victorious life. I don’t care how young or old you are,
we’ve all been hurt. We’ve all been offended. Perhaps you were a toddler when your parents divorced, or maybe you were a teen when someone bullied you. You
may have recently been hurt by someone in your life that left you feeling rejected, angry, and frustrated. The message on forgiveness is one that can never be
stressed enough. If you truly want to forgive someone, then speak it. Say, “I forgive them.”

Let’s do that now. I know that everyone in this room has someone they need to forgive. I want you to think about that person. Now, you may be picturing them
with horns and a pitchfork for what they did to you. But, now, I want you to picture that person and think “everyone needs compassion, the kindness of a Savior,”
including so-and so. They need compassion, just like you. They are just a lost soul, a sinner, just like you were. Now, let us all say together, “I forgive,” and then
that person’s name. “I forgive…”

Do you feel a sense of relief, a sense that you no longer need to carry that burden?

Let’s do it again. “I forgive…”

So, what do you do when an unforgiving thought comes to mind? I call it rehearsal. I had rehearsed over and over and over in my mind the night I was betrayed. It
had haunted my thought life for far too long and I knew that my anger would soon turn to bitterness if I did not change my thinking. My emotions may rise at times
and I don’t feel forgiving towards those who hurt me, but then I remind myself that they are mere emotions, everybody needs compassion, and I, too, was once in
need of forgiveness. You, too, may have a rehearsed thought that stunts your progress.  So how do you fight those thoughts?

You combat thoughts with words. Every time that thought comes to mind, speak to it. “NO, I have forgiven that person.”  Say it out loud. The next time you feel
angry at that person, remind yourself that you have forgiven them. Put a big smile on your face and say out loud, “I forgive them.” Listen, God created everything in
the earth, above it and below it in six days with words. He said light be and light was. That’s powerful stuff! You were a thought in God’s mind, He spoke you and
all the laws of the universe into existence. That’s how powerful words are. Remember, you are justified or you are condemned by the words of your mouth.

“But, I can’t control my thoughts!” you may be thinking. If you don’t believe that you can control your thoughts with words, then let me prove to you, with a little
test, that you can. In your mind count to ten, when you get to five, stop and say your name out loud. So, what happened? You thought: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. But then, when
you got to five, you had to stop your thought process to say your name, didn’t you? So, when you have that unforgiving thought, combat it with the out loud words
“I forgive.”

Does this mean that if you feel angry towards someone that you have not forgiven them? That depends. Do you have righteous anger or are you bitter? Has
bitterness taken route in your heart? Are you seeking to get even? John Honeyfeld says this, “The only people you should ever want to get even with are those
who’ve helped you.” The Bible says that where strife and confusion is EVERY evil work. Strife opens the door to unforgiveness. Life’s circumstances can either
make you bitter or better; the choice is yours. We’ve all probably heard the old saying, “The only person unforgiveness hurts is you.” You are only hurting yourself
with unforgiveness. That other person could care less if you are harboring unforgiveness towards them. They have moved on, so should you.

In forgiving you must also give your hurt to God. Give it to Him. Vengeance is His; let Him do the justifying for you. Remember, you are not warring against the
person who has done you wrong. The thief, or Satan, comes to steal, kill and destroy. He is the real enemy, not flesh and blood. The battle I am in right now is not
against those who’ve hurt me, they are mere pawns used by Satan to destroy me. This is a battle against the thief, against Satan. And, really, it’s not my battle, it’s
God’s, I gave it to him. I’m standing on his promises. Let God be your defender. I remember crying out to God “No one stood up for me, no one defended me, no
one got in his face and said ‘How could you do that to her?’” The very next day, I read a devotional on Creflo Dollar’s website that started by saying, “God longs to
defend you.” Boy, was I smacked right in the face with a sign from God. I determined at that moment that seeking revenge would only destroy myself and the plans
God has for me. Plans for healing, restoration, and justice. God can only fulfill His promises if you forgive, not if you seek revenge. And believe me, I could’ve
utterly destroyed this person. But, had I gone down that path, then I would not be speaking  to you today. Had I walked in disobedience towards the things of God,
I would have utterly destroyed myself in the process. Had I not let it go and forgiven him, then God could not bless me with an abundant life, as He is totally doing.
This person was not worth destroying my very soul over.

“But you don’t know what they did to me, you don’t know how much I am hurting.” I may not know your exact pain, but I know pain. I know what it means to
love  and cherish something thats value far surpasses any richly gain and to have it ripped from your grasp. You may have lost out on so much by the hurt done to
you. But, in Joel 2:25 (AMP) God says, “And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten- the hopping locust, the stripping locust, and the
crawling locust, My great army which I sent among you.” Remember Job? He had lost everything. He lost his family, his servants, his livestalk, his house,
everything!! But, when he did not curse God, as Satan had intended, when he obeyed God and prayed for those who did him wrong, God restored twice-fold what
he had lost. If you walk in love and forgiveness, God will restore to you what the enemy has stolen. But you must be patient and consistent. Trust in Him, walk with
and seek Him, and you will have victory.

Another thing to consider, the person who may need forgiving may very well by you. One of the hardest things to do is to forgive yourself. Agreed? How many of
you have trouble forgiving yourself. You may bombard yourself with “what ifs,” and “if I had only.” Believe me; I beat myself up with that. “If only I had done
this,” or “What if I had…?” “all the things I could have said, or didn’t say.” You cannot change the past. What’s done is done. You can choose to let the past
dictate your future or you can choose to forgive and walk victoriously in your future. There’s no point in reminding yourself of the things you’ve done wrong.
Forgive yourself. And, don’t remind God either. If you’ve truly repented of the things you’ve done, and walk in forgiveness towards others, then God forgives you.
Jeremiah 31:34 (NAS) says, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” God
doesn’t even remember that thing which you did, so why should you. You can say, “I forgive myself.” Let’s do that. “I forgive myself.”

So the next time you feel unforgiving, angry, rejected, frustrated, over that situation, tell yourself, “I’m not moved by what I see; I’m not move by what I feel.”
Speak to that mountain- “Mountain of unforgiveness be thou cast into the sea!!” Then receive it, believe it and walk in victory over that situation. Resist the devil’s
attacks on your mind to seek revenge, resist him and he will flee from you. Say to him “it is written, Satan, now flee from me! In Jesus name!” “I forgive!!” For
if you don’t forgive, then you are headed in the path to wickedness.