Nicholas Vega
Sermon Transcription:
Amen, amen. As the giving continues, I'm very excited to give a speaking opportunity to one of the guys that I've had the privilege of discipling. He's been a vital tool in the hands of the Lord to disciple me as well. There's a scripture that tells us that as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens the countenance of his brother. Now, that's not every person you ever meet that can be used by the Lord to actually make you a better tool. That's the example—that a dull knife is good for nothing. It's frustrating, it bothers everyone, it's totally good for nothing. But if you have something that can sharpen that knife, now that knife is good for use again. Or if it's an axe, that axe is now good for use again. It takes very little effort to cut down a tree with a sharp axe versus a very, very dull one. When the Lord brings people into our life that He has designed to sharpen us, what happens is the Kingdom work in our life becomes less and less effortful. It becomes more effortless. More gets done, you become more effective.
There are people in our life that the devil brings in, and they're the people that dull us. They're the people that cause us to be less engaged in Kingdom work, less effective in Kingdom work, and less fervent in Kingdom work. Well, guess who Jesus wants you to surround yourself with? He wants you to surround yourself with the people He brings in—the people that you can tell: when I hang out with this person, when I spend time with this person, I become sharper. I become more effective. Kingdom work takes less effort. Seeking Jesus is easier. The Lord brings people into our life that make our life easier—our new life, not our old life. Amen? The enemy brings people into your life that make your old life easier—easier to hide things, easier to love the world, easier to love money, easier to love other things—the kingdoms of this world over the Kingdom of our Lord, who seeks for all lost to become saved by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. This man is one of those people that Jesus sent into my life. They're not always the easiest people. It's not nice, sharpening—there are some sparks there from time to time. Amen? But this man has been used by the Lord to make me better in almost every way.
I can say the same for my wife—you've taught her patience. The Lord has taught her patience through you, that's for sure. Nicholas, would you come up? We want to pray for you as you bring us what the Lord has put on your heart this morning. If you would, pray with me for this man: Lord, I bless Nicholas, and I thank You, Lord God, that You have taken him all over this country. Lord God, that You have taken him all over different nations, Lord Jesus, to allow him to be in our life. Lord God, to allow him, Lord God, to be a tool that would benefit our lives. Lord God, we are humbled, Lord Jesus Christ, by his ministry. We are humbled, Lord God, by the fact that You have always used him to somehow, some way, make us better and more effective for other people. Lord, I pray, Lord God, that Your anointing may rest upon him, Lord God, that his ministry may be a blessing to every person that is with us online, every person here in the house, and that we may receive from You, Holy Spirit, what You seek to do in our lives. In Jesus' name, amen, amen, amen. God bless! Let's give him a hand clap of encouragement.
Hallelujah! Well, good morning, church. I know this sounds very cliché, but truly, I've been seeing and really believing—which I never thought I would say—but truly, I have come to really start to see and understand the very basic truth that we say a lot: "God works all things out for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." I know that, again, that sounds like a cliché thing to say, but truly, when God begins to open that up to you, at least for me, I started to see all the opportunities that would normally be a negative in my life now become a positive one. Because I know that it's actually for my benefit, and I can see the good that comes out of the negative—if that makes any sense. You know, God has used me in pastors' lives. Just a short story—this always comes back to me—but I remember meeting Pastor Inna for the first time in Canada. I was going to visit Pastor Mona up in Canada, staying there for a couple of weeks. I remember the car ride going to Pastor Mona's house. The type of person I was back then—I was just leaning my head against the window, and you could tell I was a fortress. In that moment, I was just looking outside, accepting everything as it was, but I was walled up—harder than Hard Knocks. It was crazy.
I never liked Pastor Inna in the beginning. I was just like, "Yo, who is this girl?" But no, Pastor Inna is a sister to me. She’s definitely one person that I would defend and fight for—don’t ever get on her bad side, 'cause then you'll see me! Well, after Pastor, obviously. Anyway, today I want to talk about one of those opportunities that God uses for your good, even though right now it may seem and feel like a negative in your life. Today, 1 Peter 5:8 says this: "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." Today, I’m reminded of the scripture in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that says: "In order that Satan might not outwit us, for we are not unaware of his schemes." One of the schemes I want to talk to you about today—and you've heard it from this pulpit before—is offenses. The reason why I want to talk to you about offenses today, or preach about them, is because it was my testimony. It’s something that was really big in my life.
I’m not perfect. I’m not claiming to be the perfect, expert forgiver, as Pastor would say. I’m not an expert forgiver yet. But the Lord, for whatever reason, started to reveal this to me. If you haven’t yet, I would highly recommend you come and join us for our discipleship courses on Friday. These past few weeks, we've been talking about offenses. But really, the title for the topic of our series at the moment is "Christians on the way that are Hellbound." That may seem like an oxymoron, and you may be thinking, "Yo, what’s going on here?" But offenses have been the big reason why, even though you may say you know Jesus, say you know God, or have had experiences with Him, you and I may still be heading towards hell. Before these courses, God started to reveal something to me. He started to, for my benefit, expose the enemy before me. There was a situation that happened—I don’t even remember the details—but I remember that I was given the opportunity to take offense with somebody.
In that moment, it was like I was a little rabbit—or a big rabbit, as you see—in the jungle. I saw something, and I didn’t recognize or like it. I saw the trap stick, I saw the snare on the floor, and I saw the enemy, the hunter, inside the bushes. It was as if it didn’t register to me at first that this was a trap. I saw this contraption, these big eyes in the bush, or whatever it was. In that moment, the Holy Spirit revealed to me and gave me understanding. Yo, this is the enemy right now. This person—though they may or may not be trying to offend me—and in my feelings, I'm feeling offended for whatever the case may be. But in this moment, I had the opportunity to now take the trap, take the bait, take the offense, and keep it.
In that moment, I understood what God was showing me. God was exposing the enemy for my benefit. He was exposing the fact that offenses are a trap to keep me bound. This is part of what we've been learning these past couple of weeks in our Friday night discipleship sessions. So, before we even go, beloved, I want you to hear my heart today—please deal with any offenses that you may have, no matter how big or how small they may feel to you. I know, in my case, there have been many times when I’ve felt that if an offense is very small or something I can handle, I'll keep it. I’ll think, It’s nothing, I'll just get over it eventually, and I’ll just put it away. But I’d be naive to the fact that offense, when left undealt with, only grows. Offenses that you keep tend to grow in the dark. They fester in the hidden places of your heart. I forgot where I read this—maybe in Making Peace or Freedom in Christ Ministries—but it said that many people who go to therapy come with these big issues or symptoms, and yet the root cause started as something small. That small thing festered and festered until now, the symptoms seem crazy.
This is what I’m talking about. No matter how small the offense is—hear my heart—please deal with it today so that it doesn’t grow into something bigger that it never needed to be. Guys, you may know that today, in our culture, it is popular—it is trendy—it is the norm to be offended. Today, everybody and their mama has to be offended about something, and they wear it like a badge on their chest. And as believers—no, even before that—as people, today, it’s trendy to be divided. It’s trendy to be divided politically. It’s trendy to be divided by race or ethnicity. It’s trendy to be divided—even within the church! People are divided by what church they go to, what denomination they belong to, whether they’re Protestant or Catholic. It’s just a trend to be divided over theses things. And for whatever reason, the enemy sees fit to toss these things our way. But as believers, we are not called to be on the same wavelength as the culture. We are not called to take on offense and division the way the culture does.
It doesn’t matter what denomination you are. It doesn’t matter whether you go to the church down the block or the church up that way. God is doing something in this place where you are, and He is also doing something in that place that maybe you’re not a part of. This is something I was always reminded of by Pastor Stan. He tells us deacons that we are not allowed to argue—whatsoever. And the reason for that is simple: God has not given us that space to argue with somebody. We have nothing to prove. As believers, we know what God has told us to do. We know where God has called us to be. If God has called you to this church, then you are supposed to be here. You are supposed to be under this pastor—not that pastor. There was actually an incident in my life recently, in preparation for this message. For those of you who don’t know, I’m a security guard in Portland. One day, I had to ask somebody to leave the property—they were loitering or whatever. After that whole situation nothing was wrong. But then, out of nowhere, this guy pulls up in his car next to me and starts berating me for asking the person to leave.
And the reason why I share this story is because—this man was claiming to be a believer in Christ. But the way he was acting had me thinking, Bro, are you okay? It was just strange. He was offended about something and was unloading on me. He was accusing me of things. I’m like, Bro, you were down the block. Even though i was pointing in one direction this wasnt me telling a person get off my poperty I was actually doing something. And in that moment, the Lord reminded me—Don’t argue. I could hear Pastor’s voice in my head, telling me, Don’t argue. Let them do what they’re doing. Pray for this person. Bless them. Leave it alone. Go about your day. All that to say—beloved, as believers, we are no longer able to cause division or be part of division. We are called to love. We are called to love one another. We are called to love other believers. We are called to love people. We are called to love our neighbor. We are called to love our enemies. Love is the answer. And the Word says, "Love covers a multitude of sins."
So, the right response in situations like this is to cover this person with love. God bless you. Have a good day. You know, and yeah, love covers a multitude of sins. We are able—we need to stand for unity as believers in Christ. We need to stand. We need to be the salt of the earth today by not participating in the division, by not participating in the offenses. In all these things, we need to stay away from things. As believers, God has not given us the responsibility to deal with other people's problems. Whether it be political or anything else, God has given us what we need to deal with today in our own lives. Deal with it. Going forward, in these teachings we’ve been learning on Fridays, we’ve seen that believers can still be on the way to hell, even if they believe in Christ—if their offenses are not dealt with. Though you believe in Jesus, you could still be heading in that direction, not knowing. If you let it fester, you’ll be at risk of where I was, of being deceived, not realizing that you’re offended, not realizing that you’re heading down a dangerous path, believing that you are okay with the Lord. And that is the problem.
Pastor brought us through Luke 17:3-4, which Jesus commands: Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day and turns to you seven times saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him. We learned that in keeping an offense, one of the results is blindness and deception. Deception starts to set into your life. Again, please, if you want to join us for discipleship, you can. If you can’t be here on Fridays, please listen to our teachings and sermons on Spotify or the website, and get caught up in these things. When Pastor was teaching this a couple of weeks ago, I had a sobering moment, and this is where this sermon was born. I was one of those people who was deceived. I was one of those people who, for years, believed my life was okay between me and God. But I had offenses in my heart—towards people, towards brothers and sisters in Christ.
There was a part of me when I look back that told me I had to deal with these things, but for whatever reason, I didn’t want to deal with it. I swept it under the rug. I kept sweeping it under, kept ignoring it. And deception set into my life. I believed that my relationship with God was okay, yet I was ensnared by offense.
Today, there are many in the church who, like me, are offended. Many in the church who still believe that their life is okay are deceived. Unfortunately, God and Jesus give a harsh reality in His Word to us who are like this. In Matthew 18:21-35, this is the parable of the unforgiving servant. It says: Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’And he would not, but went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt.So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.So My Heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses. Hallelujah.
Church, I was that unforgiving servant. This is part of my testimony. God has forgiven me all of my trespasses. He continues to forgive me for what I do repeatedly, if you will. Yet, I was the wicked servant, not forgiving my brothers and sisters who offended me—even if they offended me multiple times in the same way. In my life, there was a particular person who, because of who they were, just would always hurt me. And it happened over and over again. Growing up, even as a believer, it was hard and it hurt. I didn’t know Jesus the way that I do today, but back then, I didn’t know Jesus to be my forgiver, my deliverer, my defender, my healer. Even more so, I believed at times that people hurting me was somehow Christ-like—that it was God doing this to me. I rationalized this by putting up walls. I became a fortress so that other people wouldn’t hurt me. I thought I needed to learn how to still do life, so I protected myself, becoming my own defense. I didn’t realize this was the wrong answer, the wrong way to do things.
For years, I kept those walls up against that person. I betrayed them, as we learned in the teaching, and pushed them away. I kept them at a distance, not knowing that I was not being right before the Lord. I just want to say, I don’t minimize what everybody’s going through. I don't minimize your hurt. I don't minimize your pain. Trust me, there's a lot of evil people in this world, and a lot of times it's even our own family members. And, you know, those are the times that it hurts the most, because of our expectations. As we learned, our hurts cut even more deeply when the person is closer to us. And yet, here we have a story where God is requiring us to still forgive the people who offend us and hurt us.
You may ask, "Well, how am I supposed to do this? How am I supposed to continue to relate, be God-honoring, and still deal with a person that is repeatedly hurting me?" We learned a couple of things. First off, God requires us to forgive. As hard as it may be, we're required to surrender that person into the hands of God, that God will be God over that situation, over that person, and that He would do with that person as He sees fit. That is the first step. The second step is that we are to learn to keep our walls down. We are to learn to keep those barriers down. It's a two-fold effect, and this leads into the next part. But we’re not allowed to stay at a distance, to keep a distance from people. It is through us that God touches the lives of others. It is through us that God may even use our forgiveness and the way that we respond to the person to save that person’s life.
The third step is that we are to be okay with being hurt. This is the hard step. We are to be okay with the fact that we are hurt. It is okay that you are hurt. I learned this through fear, being delivered from fear. There were times, living in Maine, dealing with fear and anxiety, there was a moment that I understood it is okay that my feelings are touched by fear and anxiety. Life still goes on. Because I'm feeling fear and anxiety, I don’t need to respond to it. I need to surrender it and put it in the hands of Christ, and still live life, letting Him deal with my fear and anxiety. In the same manner, this is how you deal with the hurt. You don’t have to respond to the hurt by putting up walls to protect it. You're supposed to choose Christ in that moment and go to Christ so He can be your healer and your defender. Let Him be God over your heart and over your hurt. Amen.
So yes, in those moments of hurt and pain, the word that comes out of all of this is trust. Learning to trust God. I’m so grateful for the fact that God is intimate and involved in my life. I didn't need to pull His leg in order for Him to teach me about offenses. He chose to reveal this to me Himself, and the fact that God is so faithful in our lives to lead us and direct us without us having to do anything is amazing. God is faithful and involved. Even in this, God can use your offenses for your good. No matter who's offending you today, let that be for your good. Let God teach you what He wants to teach you in the midst of this. I’ll be the first to tell you, I’m not an easy one to be around, as Pastor told you. God may use me in your life, and I’m fully aware of that. I’m sorry, truly sorry. Sometimes I just have a bad day. But truly God will use your offenses to work good in your life and make you an expert forgiver. He wants us to be vessels and exemplify Christ to people who don’t know Him.
If God can get you to learn how to forgive, He can use you to touch people who don’t know what it’s like to be forgiven. He can use your forgiveness to save their life. The purpose of our lives is so that God can seek and save the lost. If you can be free to forgive, to be a vessel in His hands, He can use you to save someone’s life who’s legitimately going to hell. So again, hear me, I know this is a tough topic, but please hear my heart: forgive. Please deal with your offenses. Forgiving is laying down your walls, relating with people, and choosing to be okay with your hurts and pains, putting them in God's hands. The last part is choosing to treat each person, or whoever has offended you, according to the cross and not according to what they did to you. If someone has offended me and I still treat them the same because they offended me, I’m not forgiving them. I’m staying distant, I’m protecting myself. But if I treat them according to the finished work of the cross, because Jesus paid for their offenses—as harsh as that may sound—just as He has forgiven me, we need to treat them according to the finished work of the cross in their life. That way, love can still flow through us into their life, and they can see forgiveness for themselves.
Please, brothers and sisters, join me in this effort. Today division is such a cultural thing today, it's such a trend. But join me in standing up for unity and to be free from offense in our own lives. Let God use us, as Pastor would say, to become expert forgivers in our generation, let us showcase what Jesus did for us by forgiving our enemies, no matter who they may be. When we were Christ's enemies, God forgave us and loved us. So let us join in the effort to become forgivers for Christ—for people who need it. Amen.
You know, as we were going through the seminars the last two days, we talked about sacrifices and making sacrifices. Sacrifices are very costly, and if anything comes to my heart today, it is how costly it can feel. I've seen this in people as we counsel them or as we walk with them as friends. I've seen how costly it can be when an offense has gotten in the heart and it gets all mixed up and wrapped up with the hurt, the pain, and the wrong that has been committed. Just letting that go, blessing that person, and giving that person the opposite of what they deserve—treating them well, speaking well of them, never talking behind their back, no ulterior motive—seems to be such a sacrifice. To just give that away to that person, right?
Jesus tells us to love others as ourselves. We know the biblical definition of the word "hate." Hating your neighbor is to put them in second place, to love them less. That biblical word means to hate, to love less. It doesn't mean what we think of today when we use the word hate in our generation. The biblical word "hate" means to love less. If you're sitting here today or you are with us online and you're wondering, "Have I taken offense? Am I a believer that is in the process of forfeiting their forgiveness?" Jesus says, "My Father will treat you like this. If you have received forgiveness for so many sins and the couple that have been committed, the wrong things committed towards you, you won't forgive, then my Father will treat you like this. He will put you in torture, waiting until you pay back all of it." That is quite the warning.
So how do I know if I have taken on an offense? How do I know if I got my definitions right? How do I know if I have changed my heart? My heart is no longer becoming like the heart of Jesus. My heart has been turned away from Him and is now going in a different direction. How do I know? One of the easiest tools that I daily use for myself is this: If good things unexpected, undeserving good things, call them lucky things—happen to a person that hurt me, is my first response genuine happiness for them? Or does it almost bother me when really good things happen to people that have hurt me? If that bothers me, I'm loving them less than others. I can be happy for my family. I can be happy for my sister. I can be happy for people that may make the same mistakes, but this person that offended me—when good things happen to them, my first heart's response is not, "I'm so happy for them that good things are happening to them."
When that has happened to my heart, I know my heart has taken offense. My heart doesn't love others as myself anymore. Other people may never see this; you may be the only one that can really assess this. My heart is no longer becoming like Christ. Christ already bled and died for that person to be forgiven so that they would never be catching the blame for all of their wrongs. And here I am, uncomfortable with the idea that they'll never hear about their wrongs. I don't want that for them. I don't want the forgiveness for them that Jesus wants for them. I don't want the blessing for them that Jesus wants for them. I would like them to at least pay a little. Maybe all I want them to realize is the amount of their debt before they're forgiven. I want them to feel it a little bit.
If you have taken offense in your heart, you can explain away why you are ending the relationship with this person. They're not walking a lifestyle of sin. They're not dangerous. They're not doing all these grand, great things that cause you to become a dull blade in the kingdom of God or a dull ax in the kingdom of God. They are not doing any of the things that make you ineffective in the kingdom of God. You're just bothered. It's just not what you would like. And because, as Nick was sharing, offenses and division are so popular today, it is incredibly easy to explain it away, and many people will agree with you. They'll understand. "Of course! Can't believe they said that. Can't believe they did that. Yeah, forget them. I get it."
When we have taken on an offense, it is so important in this time, where people do not listen to Jesus, that we say, "Jesus, what do you say about these times where I get hurt?" And He warns us and tells us, "Unless you forgive in a similar way to the way that I forgave you, unless you do it, my Father is going to have to treat you very, very poorly." He's telling this to us because Jesus doesn't want that to happen to us. Amen?
He came to seek and save the lost. He came to pay for the sins of the world, not so that people may still be guilty. He did it because He seeks for people to be near to Him, to be in relationship with Him, to hear from Him. Jesus says, "My sheep will know my voice." They'll be in relation. They'll hear from Me. They will know what it is like when I speak to them. They will know My voice. He says, "A stranger they will not follow because they will know My voice." Jesus wants relationship with us, and because He wants relationship with us, He gives us such a fervent warning. He says, "I don't ever want you to walk into this trap of taking an offense and thinking you're okay because I want relationship with you. I want you close to Me. I want you to come and live with Me for eternity. I don't want anything to damage that or interrupt it." And so, He speaks out against this thing that we can still do in our freedom—becoming so altogether different from God. God sending His only begotten Son to see people forgiven, and we go, "If this is costing me hurt, I don't want that person to just be forgiven. I don't want God's will for your life. I don't want God's forgiveness for your life. I want you to remember what you've done. I want to remember your sins. I want you to remember your sins. I don't want them to be washed away."
Here's what Proverbs 1:23 says: "Turn at My rebuke; surely I will pour out My Spirit on you; I will make My words known to you." You see, when people hurt us and wound us, the hurt is real. The wound is real. And the longer we own it, as Nick shared, the more infected it gets, the more painful it gets, the more sensitive it becomes. But you're not alone in this. God doesn't tell you to forgive all on your own. The Word says, "If you turn when you realize you're not in alignment with God anymore, you're not pursuing God's forgiveness for that person anymore—when you realize it, if you turn at My rebuke, surely I'll pour out My Spirit on you, I'll make My words known to you." In other words, "I'm going to be so present in your life. I'm going to provide the healing in your heart. I'm going to provide giftings of the Spirit in your heart. My presence will not be separated from you, and you're going to hear from Me. I'm going to speak with you. I'm going to make My words known to you. I'm going to be in relationship with you, intimate with you."
There's an incredible promise when we are willing to sacrifice and pay the price for some of the sins that have been committed to us. See, Jesus paid the price to forgive people before God. When we get hurt, we still have to pay a small price to forgive people before us. Now, if people are not forgiven by us, they'll never go to hell. But when we don't forgive people, we say, "God, I don't want what You want anymore. I don't want what You paid for. I don't want it to be spread freely. I want it to be spread around under my conditions. And if I don't feel this person should be forgiven, they should not be forgiven." It is the highest treason towards God. You have been forgiven. You have been paid for. And yet, you say others need to be paid according to your standard. The Lord invites us back. He invites us to pay for the sins that other people commit against us. It will feel like a sacrifice, but He says, "If you forgive others, My Spirit will be upon you. My words will be made known to you. I will be with you."
If you would stand with me for a moment. I'm not going to ask anyone to come to the altar today. I want to invite you, online and here in person, to search your heart. If there's any person, situation, or people group in your heart or mind that has come up during this service—any person that the Holy Spirit brings up at this time—where we pray together, I know one thing for sure: it's going to require a payment on your end. Even though you were the one that was hurt, the one that was wronged, it's going to feel unfair to the highest degree. But here's what Jesus says: I'll pour my Spirit on you. I'll give you my Word. I will be with you. Is that enough? Do you want a relationship with Me more than you want justice for your situation? Because if you want a relationship with Me more, this is the price—you need to forgive others as you have been forgiven by Me so that we can walk together, so that we can be close. Let me pray for you. And if a person comes to mind, I want to ask you to talk to Jesus about the pain. Talk to Jesus about how costly it may feel. But today, choose that you would rather have a relationship with Jesus and let the world and every person in it get away with all of their wrongs than ever hold people responsible for their sins. It’s altogether different from what Jesus is like. He invites you to come to Him, to become like Him, to walk with Him, to be in relationship with Him.