FROM THE HEART OF DR. REXELLA VAN IMPE

How to Deal With Negatives part 2

Forgiving and forgetting

Sincere, effective forgiveness also includes another important element-forgetting. In her book, It Feels Good to Forgive, my friend Helen Hosier has penned an irreversible truth: “Regardless of how many times you may say to someone who has wronged you, ‘I forgive you,’ if you have not forgotten then you have failed in forgiveness. If you find it necessary to remind the individual of his or her betrayal, unfaithfulness, or untrustworthiness, then you have not truly forgiven the other person.”

Forgiving and forgetting is truly God’s way, for this is exactly what He does for us when we come to Him through Christ. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more (Hebrews 10:16-17). If God can forgive and forget our terrible iniquities which sent His Son to the cross, surely we cannot do less. In fact, He will give us the power to accomplish this task, for we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

Many times our bitterness and resentment become so imbedded within us that we actually extend our anger beyond the person or situation that has hurt us and begin blaming God. Even Christians are prone to ask, “God, where were You? Why did You let it happen? I thought You loved me. What about your promise of guidance and protection in Psalm 121?”

Erwin W. Lutzer, who retired in 2016 as the senior pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, has a most enlightening answer for such inquiries. In his book, Living With Your Passions, he states: “God’s love does not prevent us from the tragedies of sexual abuse or any other kind of mistreatment. Christ was God’s ‘beloved Son,’ yet the Father didn’t shield Him from the torture of the crucifixion. That crime, despite its horror, has become for us a fountain of blessing. The horror of Good Friday must be understood in the light of the joy of Easter Sunday. God can do the same with the ugly hurts of life.”

Dr. Lutzer then admonishes his readers to confess their bitterness toward God. “Concentrate on His infinite grace and be forgiven and accepted,” he says. Only in this way will you be able to experience the deep spiritual release and sense of relief which are the beginning of true satisfaction.

How to have right attitudes

Perhaps you are struggling with bitterness or an unforgiving spirit and wonder how you can ever come to the point of confession, forgiveness, and be set free. Let me share with you the secret to removing wrong attitudes and negative feelings. It is the power of the Word of God.

Hebrews 4:12 says, For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. In other words, when you let Scripture fill your heart, it transforms what is in there. It seeks out wrong attitudes, exposes them, and then makes them right.

The best way to let Scripture do that is to get to know it better. Read it every day, memorize it, and meditate on it. James 1:21 speaks of the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. When Scripture gets into your life and becomes a living part of you, it has an incredible transforming power.

Peter wrote something very similar. Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby (1 Peter 2:1,2). Again, Scripture is the antidote to wrong attitudes.

I am convinced that one of the reasons my husband has been so blessed of God in the ministry is that early in life he committed himself to memorizing Scripture. Now he knows thousands of Bible verses by memory and is called “the walking Bible.” I am often asked what it is like to live with a man who has memorized so much Scripture. My answer is, “It is wonderful.” God’s Word is constantly working in Jack’s heart to guide him, mold him, shape his attitudes, and direct his life.

All this victory is the result of Jack’s tremendous desire, determination, and discipline-and it is an ongoing process. He continues to add to his storehouse of memory verses each month. The most wonderful, miraculous thing about Scripture is that the more we appropriate it, the greater our appetite for it becomes.

Through the years, God’s Word has changed Jack’s personality from that of a teenaged practical joker to the mature man he is today. He still has his sense of humor and enjoys a good time, but he also exhibits a seasoned wisdom that comes only from an intimate knowledge of God’s Word. My life has been immeasurably enriched by living with this godly man for whom the Bible is his meat and drink. Jack has not only memorized the Word, but he also puts it into practice daily.

This is the essential element in building right attitudes-a willing and submissive obedience to the teaching of God’s Word. James says we should be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving our own selves (James 1:22). Knowing the Bible intellectually without practicing it experientially can actually harden us to its truth!

God’s ideal for you is a life of victory over negativity. He wants you to cut out all roots of bitterness, regardless of how painful the cutting process may be. He also wants you to receive the engrafted Word, which is able to transform your soul. This where we begin to reach the pinnacle of satisfaction.

A CLASSIC MESSAGE OF HOPE FROM DR. JACK VAN IMPE

Revelation 17: 8-18

Verse 8: The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

The angel continues unfolding the mystery of the beast in verses 8 through 17. Then, in verse 18, the identity of the woman is revealed. Concerning the beast, the angel declares, The beast that thou sawest was [past tense], and is not [present tense]; and shall ascend [future tense] out of the bottomless pit. This is the same beast found in verse 3 and also in chapter 13, verse 1. The reason the beast was, and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition is that, as mentioned during our study of chapter 13, verse 3, he is more than likely assassinated during the Tribulation hour-and thus, is not. Then Satan, the great imitator, resurrects him and enters the body of this human for the final forty-two months of the Tribulation. This explanation fulfills the statement, and yet is (verse 8). While he is deceased, the beast is in the place of departed evil spirits-the bottomless pit. At the time of his resurrection, he ascends out of this pit, only to eventually go back into perdition at the conclusion of his reign when Christ comes (at the Battle of Armageddon) and casts him into the lake of fire (chapter 19, verse 20). Verse 8 also tells us that those persons whose names [are] not written in the book of life, are emotionally stirred as they see the beast that was [alive], and is not [because of his assassination] and yet is [because of his resurrection] ruling again.

Verse 9: And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

This is a tremendous text. It locates, geographically, the final world power block and headquarters for the world church as well. Historically speaking, Rome is the only city situated on seven hills. The names of her seven peaks are (1) Aventine, (2) Caelian, (3) Capitoline, (4) Esquiline, (5) Palatine, (6) Quirinal, and (7) Viminal. There is no disputing the fact. The world church, sitting on these seven hills, heading up scores of denominations, rides to power on the back of the ten-horned Western federation of nations.

Verse 10: And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

As John receives this vision of the seven kings, five have already fallen. They were (1) Assyria, (2) Egypt, (3) Babylon, (4) Medo Persia, (5) Greece, (6) Rome, at the time John receives this revelation, and Number 7 is yet to come. He, of course, is the Antichrist whose reign will last briefly, or a short space.

Verse 11: And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

This verse is a thought-twister, but easily understood when one considers it carefully. Who is king number eight if there are only seven kings in the first place? Number eight is number seven resurrected! And the beast that was [before his assassination], and is not [because of his untimely death], even he is [because of his resurrection] the eighth. He is of the seven because Satan, who incarnated his body while dead, also motivated the other seven. As further proof that number eight is the resurrected Antichrist (number seven), we are again told that he will eventually go into perdition. This statement is also made concerning number seven in verse 8 as well as in our text-verse 11. King number seven and king number eight are one and the same.

Verse 12: And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

The ten horns have now become quite familiar to us. They may soon control the world. Communism, as we have learned, is not the final power block of history. Rather, this ten-toed Western alliance is. The power of these nations, however, will be for one hour, or for but a brief moment of time.

Verse 13: These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

The final ten-nation Western federation-after the Antichrist ousts three of the original members and replaces them-becomes so unified that everything they possess, economically and militarily, is placed under the control of this world leader (see Daniel 7:8,24).

Verse 14: These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

This verse is fulfilled in chapter 19, verses 11 through 16, when the world’s armies gather together against the Lord and His anointed as pictured in Psalm 2:2: The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed. The Lamb (Christ) is the Lord of lords, and King of kings. The called, chosen, and faithful who accompany Him are the armies of heaven (chapter 19, verse 14) composed of the believers (the true Church) who were raptured out of the world in chapter 4, verse 1, and who then waited in heaven seven years to return with the Bridegroom.

Verse 15: And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

As explained in our discussion of verse 1, the woman sitting upon many waters is the world church who exercises religious control over mankind internationally.

Verse 16: And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

The Antichrist eventually betrays his religious followers. They bowed and scraped to his image, but now he no longer wants to share the limelight and glory with them. Thus, the individual leaders of the countries in the ten-nation confederacy turn against the world church. They hate her, strip her of all possessions (the gold, precious stones, and pearls of verse 4), and destroy her by burning her remains to the ground. Who places such a plan of action in the hearts of these rulers? None other than God Almighty!

Verse 17: For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

Imagine, God does it all! This portion of Scripture emphasizes the futility of politics. Despite the methods and manipulations of man, God’s plan always comes to pass. He sets up and knocks down world rulers at will (see Psalm 75:7). They are but pawns in the game of life (see Proverbs 21: 1). God’s will prevails regardless of what humans attempt to do. Christian, get souls saved! This is your God-given goal. Let the world spend time on temporal issues. The cause of Christ is eternal!

Verse 18: And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

This great end-time city is located within the European Union and proves that the political and religious power brokers exist together simultaneously. Since the world church forms at the time when ten Western nations unite-and both the European Economic Community (now the EU) and World Council of Churches began unity proceedings in 1948-Christ’s coming must be near. How long, O Lord, ere we shout that glad song, “Christ returneth, hallelujah!” Yes, “Hallelujah!” Amen!

CHANGED LIVES-one at a time

Hi Rexella,

It was such a blessing meeting you and Jack while I was working at Somerset, when I was a teenager. I remember that day I was working at Tiffany & Company, and I saw you walking through the mall. I begged my boss, to please let me walk out of the store, so I could walk up to you and say “hello.” I think it was in 2003, if I was attending Bishop Foley Or 2004 if I was attending Wayne State University, it has been so long.

Nevertheless, my boss let me come out to say “hello.”  I was able to tell you how lovely your shoes were and thank you for the program. I also told you my dad always watched Van Impe Ministries.

Before you left, you and Jack prayed over me. I’ll never forget that day.

Thank you for praying over me. Most importantly, thank you for sharing God’s word. My husband and I were married just a few weeks ago.

S. S.

HIGHLIGHTED MINISTRY OFFERS

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