[00:00:00] Welcome to Forgiveness Power with Don Gossett, sharing with you the Bible principles of Bold Bible Living, how to achieve health, prosperity, and personal victory through the power of the living Word. And now, to help us do so, here's radio teacher and friend Don Gossett with Forgiveness Power. Don Gossett Thank you, Michael Dell. In the Bible, there are various directives setting forth God's desire for us,
[00:00:24] and 1 Timothy 2-3 is one of those directives, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. Yet Satan, being the anti-God, anti-Bible, and the ruthless hater of quiet peace and godliness he is,
[00:00:49] He continues to inflame evil men with the drive to kill and destroy. Back in the 20th century, we've seen how demon-controlled men like Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Idiot Men, they had millions of people slaughtered unjustly and without reason. Well, personally, I much prefer the quiet, peaceable, godly lifestyle.
[00:01:13] But for his own perverse option, Satan puts it into the hearts of wicked men with an urge to kill someone. I've been the victim of that same urge of the devil putting in the hearts of someone to kill me. Now, I wish this were not true. I got no pleasure whatsoever being the object of the wrath of sinful men who made the determination they were going to kill me. This happened a number of times in my life, and I'm only grateful that the hand of God upon me
[00:01:43] has been greater than any attempt of the evil one to try to destroy. Well, perhaps I can better understand how it was in the life of Paul. As recorded in Acts 23, 12, it reads, Now, I don't compare myself with the great apostle Paul, only that men have vowed they would kill me.
[00:02:12] Perhaps it would have been so, I say, except for the intervention of God in my life. Because the Lord has anointed me to write books that help millions to fight and win life's battles, not everyone appreciates those books. A man in Great Britain named Brady wrote me a letter assailing me because of his intense dislike for my book, What You Say is What You Get.
[00:02:37] He charged me in this letter he wrote me that I was perpetrating lies that produce psychological damage to many people. In his scathing attack upon me with his pen, he stated that many people have committed suicide because of being misled by your wretched writings, he wrote. Well, the man used other strong language against me, profanity of the worst sort.
[00:03:01] Further, he warned me that he had organized an assassination ban who would come to North America to assassinate me. He concluded his vicious letter with threatening assurance the assassination of my life would happen for certain. Now, to threaten a person's life even in a letter is a serious offense. And since that letter from Great Britain came to our United States Post Office box in Blaine, Washington, I turned it over to the U.S. Postal Authorities.
[00:03:29] In turn, they contacted the FBI who dispatched the letter to Scotland Yard in London. I'm thankful that this man, Brady, was legally restrained from carrying out his threat to kill me. And for several years since that letter reached me, I've struggled with a simmering anger against this man and that he had this attitude to want to destroy me with no particular provocation except his own conjured up story.
[00:03:57] Now, in a time of heart-searching prayer, when I was down in Asuncion, Paraguay, I dealt with my own resentment toward this man, Brady. And I believe once and for all, God help me. For I prayed, Lord, I don't write books to incite men's evil passions to want to kill me. But not all men are godly. I don't comprehend why this man, Brady, would yearn to assassinate me. But I thank you, Lord, for protecting me from his intentions of such evil working.
[00:04:27] And, Lord, I forgive Brady for his hatred toward me. He doesn't know me, so obviously his perverted hatred is really towards you, Lord, that would cause him to threaten my life. I refuse to harbor any resentment or retaliation against this man. And may Lord Brady come to know you, Jesus, as his Savior and Lord. May he partake of your great love and forgiveness in Jesus' name, Amen. Well, that was basically my prayer down in Asuncion, Paraguay,
[00:04:57] when I was having a time of real heart-searching before the Lord. And I think of another incident when Satan put in the heart of a man to kill me. Again, it was totally without provocation, just the manifestation of the wicked devil who is dedicated to steal, kill, and destroy. It happened in Chicago, where for the first seven years of my ministry, I devoted hundreds of days and nights to making Christ known in that city.
[00:05:25] And then I was involved in a large crusade at the Coliseum on South Wabash Avenue. And every day for ten weeks, I ministered the gospel. And at night, I served as the manager of the service. And after a service one night, I ventured to the book table in the back of the auditorium. There, for the first time, I saw a man who was a figure very prominently in my life in the media days ahead. That man's name was John. He was in his early thirties when I met him.
[00:05:54] My attention was drawn to this man because of his nervous mannerisms. He would furtively pick up a book and look at it, lay it down, grab another book, do it the same thing. I felt a genuine tug of compassion for this man. And I walked over to shake his hand, but the man didn't receive kindly my handshake. In fact, he abruptly jerked his hand from me and, without a word, walked out of the Coliseum that night.
[00:06:20] Now, I've shared this story in different times in my life. How this man, John, returned the next night to apologize to me for his discourteous actions. He said to me, I don't know what came over me, but when you reached out to shake my hand, suddenly I wanted to kill you. Those words hung in the air. I wanted to kill you. I looked deep into his eyes and was aware I was looking at a terribly confused person.
[00:06:48] I simply responded, well, I thank God you didn't follow that impulse. In the days ahead, I tried to influence John to accept Christ as his savior. I met him on several occasions. For a time, he seemed interested and listened carefully as I explained God's great love for him. Eventually, however, he totally rejected Christ and me.
[00:07:08] As the Lord's evangelist, he then became hostile towards me, climaxing with a physical assault upon my life on my face with three damaging blows. John was screaming and cursing me with every breath as he threatened to cut my eyes out. He continued his pursuit of destroying my life until he was arrested and put in jail. And as a defendant of his vile actions, I had to appear in the Cook County Court there in Chicago.
[00:07:35] In the motion-packed court trial, this man, John, was sentenced to a prison for the criminally insane. And this man was yet incarcerated for the years ahead that I had any information about him. And I was told by the authorities he would remain in prison for the rest of his life. Now, these are events that I have no desire to make a glamorous story. They're very sad that it ever happened to me.
[00:08:04] And what I have not shared before is how God met me in one of the lowest points of my life. After the trauma of this whole ugly incident, those twin monsters of fear and unforgiveness gripped me almost day and night for the next ten weeks. And when I'm talking about unforgiveness, I dwell on this subject. Even though John was rightly behind prison bars, I battled with feelings of resentment, animosity, and unforgiveness for a time.
[00:08:31] The memory of that terrible attack upon me there on Wabash Avenue, I would replay in my mind over and over. And here were the wrong spirits I was wrestling with. I resented John for his unprovoked attack and his threats to kill me. I held malice in my heart, the very thought of this man turning to me simply because I had endeavored to show love and kindness to him.
[00:08:55] I harbored a grudge against this man who had yielded himself as Satan's instrument to vex my life so deeply. I had to resist a spirit of hatred that sought to disturb my spirit repeatedly. I would blatantly share with others my intense ill will I held toward this man. Well, I praise God he showed me the wrong of my giving place to Satan by permitting this resentment, malice, grudges, and hatred to be harboring my heart towards this man.
[00:09:24] It was a beautiful day when the Spirit of God renewed within me a right spirit. Psalm 5110 became a big prayer of my life. Lord, create within me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. I also learned not to speak negatively about this man, but rather to ask people to pray for him and his incarceration. God makes each of us free moral agents to decide what we shall do individually with Jesus Christ, whether we'll accept him or reject him.
[00:09:53] In spite of all my earnest efforts in pleading with John to receive Jesus, of his own free will he rejected him. I'm so sorry. God could have changed his heart that simply if he would have given place to the Lord and he'd have been free from these spirits of destruction. So the scripture command of this teaching today is follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
[00:10:18] Look indiligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness bringing up trouble you, and thereby many may be defiled. That's Hebrews 12 verses 14 and 15. And then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. Dr. Billy Graham, the greatly beloved and honored evangelist, writes,
[00:10:58] The Bible does not forbid displeasure, but it sets up two controls. The first is to keep anger clear of bitterness, spite, or hatred. The second is to check daily on whether you have handled those wrong feelings. There's an old Latin proverb, he who goes angry to bed has the devil for a bedfellow. Of course, there are many irritations in life. They become prime opportunity for Satan to lead us into evil passion.
[00:11:29] Well, I want to assure you that God wants you to forgive. And that's my challenge to you. And now, will you join me as we praise the Lord for his abundant mercy we've received? Praise the Lord! praising the Lord of the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Alright, now willing!
[00:11:56] Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Ma tejem g ascended