Today is set aside for "forgiveness of sins." You have heard what Our Lord Jesus Christ said on the Cross ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do’ The Word of God is a double-edged sword. When it goes forward it takes action and on coming back it accomplishes its deeds. It is said that if we forgive not our brothers when they offend us, our heavenly Father will not forgive our sins.

FORGIVE AND YOU WILL BE FORGIVEN

The reason that people do not enjoy the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ is that they have refused to forgive those who offend them. The statement which he made when he said: Father forgive them for they know not what they do, applies to those who do not impute sins unto others. If we no longer impute sins unto others, the statement will then apply to us. That is why our second lesson tells you that if your brother offends you seven times in a day and turns each time and asks for forgiveness, you should forgive him. When you forgive him, you can be sure that the first lesson applies to you: The Father will also forgive you your sins. Until eternity God will not impute sin on you again.

FORGIVE YOUR DEBTORS

As the heaven is higher than the earth, so is the wisdom of God greater than that of men. It is only man who can err, God can never err. Have you heard what he has said? "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." If you have known that God has forgiven your sins but you refuse to forgive another person his sins, that is the sin of presumption. If God forgives you all your sins but you do not forgive your brother who offends against you, what is your stand? How would you offer the Lord’s Prayer? The wisdom of God says forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us. Have you forgiven those who trespass against you? It is recorded in Matthew 6 : 12, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Have you forgiven your debtors?

DO NOT IMPUTE SINS

That is why our golden text says, so likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. What does it cost you to forgive your brother his sins and have eternal life? Can you not see that it is not in your brother’s interest to forgive him, but it is rather in your own interest to forgive him. If we forgive others their sins against us even as God has forgiven us, we are free. If you do not impute sin unto others God will not impute sin unto you. But if you impute sin unto others, He will also impute sins unto you.

God does not take pleasure in the death of sinners. He rather wishes that all of us should repent and come to salvation. If when you repent, God forgives you, why is it that somebody repents but you fail to forgive him? You have been told that right from Adam till eternity there is no righteous person. God is the only righteous one; the rest of us have fallen away. Christ knew this, that is why he said Father forgive them for they know not what they do. This statement applies to all those who do not impute sins unto others. God also does not impute sin unto them.

REPENT AND ASK FOR FORGIVENESS

All those who continue to impute sin unto others are lost; because they cannot pray and ask God to forgive their trespasses as they have forgiven those who trespass against them. Have you forgiven those who trespass against you Those who do not impute sin unto others have the boldness to pray that God should forgive their sins even as they had forgiven others. God will also forgive you. He is the person making this statement: that if your brother offends against you seven times in a day and turns around each time and asks for forgiveness, you should forgive him. That is the direct statement of God, in order that whenever you offend against God and ask for forgiveness, he may forgive you.

It is said that with what measure you use unto others, the same shall be measured unto you. It is said all of us shall stand before the judgement seat of Christ. Do not think that it is your father or mother or Our Lord Jesus Christ who will judge you. It is you, who will judge yourself. Why is it that somebody has offended against you for the past two or five or seven years and has asked for forgiveness, but you swear that you will never forgive him? You should know that you have perished and that person is saved because he has asked for forgiveness.

FORGIVE ALL WHO REPENT

What kind of sin can someone commit and ask for forgiveness and you refuse to forgive? There is no exception to the kind of offence that should be forgiven. But it is said if your brother sins against you seven times and turns around each time and asks for forgiveness, you should forgive him? What is there in the world? What kind of sin would you not eagerly forgive so that you may have peace? If God forgives us all our sins, why should we not forgive those who offend us? How do you offer the Lord’s Prayer? Do you pray like that Pharisee? Do you not pray that God should forgive you because you are a sinner? Do you forgive those who sin against you?

This has been our problem. That is why God calls us here everyday so that He may take away the little faults that bring about our fall. Can you realise how God loves us: He was nailed to the Cross and He said — "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." What can your brother do that you would nail him on the Cross? Can you not realise that God loves man more than man loves himself? Can you not see that God does not like the death of sinners? God does not like to see us suffer.

And so whoever perishes, his blood is upon him. He has taught us that we should not impute sins unto others because He does not impute sin on us. Let us go home with this lesson — that it is not the sin of Adam nor of your father nor of your fore-fathers that is responsible for your sufferings; but that you as a man, have failed to forgive those who offend against you. Why is it that somebody offends against you in a very little matter but you vow never to forgive him; you shut your ears to all pleas and mediations? When you yourself offend against God, who will forgive you?

The children of God do not bear any person malice. They do not impute sin unto any person. They do not backbite against any person because they know that when they forgive others, the Father will also forgive them and they will have peace. Your taking court actions against people does not avail much. Whatever sin somebody commits against you and asks for forgiveness should be over. There should be no more statement tp4t forever. Our Lord Jesus Christ has laid the foundation of mercy for us. In the words of a spiritual chorus, you should forgive others and you yourself will be forgiven. We cursed Him, we abused Him and spat on Him. Finally, we nailed Him to the Cross and yet He prayed —‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do’ Is that no enough lesson for you? In your case, who has nailed you on the Cross? Who has abused you? Who has done to you half of what was done to Christ? If all these things were done to Our Lord Jesus Christ and He prayed the Father to forgive them, you should also forgive those who offend against you.

THE KEY TO THE LIFE AND DEATH

Whoever does not forgive his brother has no share in this Kingdom. This is the very last Word of god which holds the key of life and death. And so that God should not impute those sins unto them, you are told to love your enemies and pray for them because they are yo’u⁷ hindrance. Right now, ~t the whole world accepts this teaching and forgive one another, we are all in heaven.

It is not the sins that you commit which hinder you from entering into heaven, but the fact that you have refused to forgive those who sin against you. At all times, God honours His words. He is the Word and so He honours Himself. You will realise that all the inhabitants of the world are sinners. God knows this and has forgiven us. But he has given us a condition that as he has forgiven us, we should also not impute sins unto others.

The sins which people commit against you, do not make you perish; but the sins which you refuse to forgive others make you perish. He knows everyone of us and our make. What you love, I do not love and what you hate, I love. And so the world is full of contradictions and sins. God knows about this but he has given us a condition that if your brother offends against you seven times and turns and asks for forgiveness each time, you should forgive him. What is not sinful to you is sinful to another person. What is good to you is evil to another person. What one town loves, the other town does not love. The result is that we have no peace. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave us His peace and so the children of God must be the children of peace.

Let our first lesson be read.

After analyzing this statement would you accept that we know what we are doing? When God came down to the earth and people cursed him and killed him, do you think that they knew what they were doing? When they spat on him and asked him to mention who has slapped him, do you think they knew what they were doing? When they called him Beelzebub, mad man, The Son of Mary, did they know what they were doing? They did not.

ALWAYS PRAY FOR FORGIVENESS

Now that we continue to steal and fornicate would you say that we know what we are doing? We do not know ourselves. As the worldly people call Brotherhood beelzebub and mermaid and juju, do you think that they know what they are doing? God will forgive whatever sin you commit but if you do not forgive your brother when he offends against you, then you stand condemned.

This is the Gospel of redemption. Right from today, do not impute sins unto any person. No matter what happens, pray that the Father should forgive them for they know not what they do. What has brought about your tribulations, afflictions and death is that you have shut the door of mercy against your brother. As you are here, is there any person who has not something against another person? That is your death. That is what has stopped you from entering into this Kingdom.

Has the Father not told you to forgive others their sins, no matter what they do to you? Has he not told us openly that if we do not forgive our brothers when they offend against us, he will not forgive us when we offend against Him? He says today, when you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. That was why when Stephen was stoned, he prayed that God should not lay that sin to their charge.

Do not always offer, the kind of prayers which David, the Psalmist prayed — that God should fight against those who fight against him. If you offer that kind of prayer, you are lost; you have heaped punishment upon yourself. Your prayer at all times should be: Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. The person who calumniates that you kill and drink human blood; would you say that he knows what he is saying? That person who says that you are worshipping man and that you are false prophets, does he know himself? Does he know what he is saying?

GOD DOES NOT IMPUTE SIN ON ANYONE

God has forgiven us all our sins, but if you fail to forgive those who sin against you, you have perished. You have heard the statement which he made that whoever speaks against the Son of man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks evil against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven neither in this world nor in the world to come. When Paul did not know Our Lord Jesus Christ and went about persecuting the church, did he know what he was doing, he received authority from the High Priests in Jerusalem to go to Damascus and arrest whoever calls on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he arrested them he either killed or stoned or imprisoned them according to the orders given to him. He took it upon himself as a special assignment.

When his eyes were opened to the truth, he said that he did those things when he did not yet believe, but God forgave him. And when we do something wrong, God overlooks it because he knows that we are men. The condition is that if somebody offends against you, you must forgive him. If God were to impute sins to us from the time of Adam, the world itself would have ceased to exist.

THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD IS FOOLISHINESS BEFORE GOD

We are sinful in our looks. We are sinful with the words of our mouths. We are sinful in our thought. We are sinful in our footsteps. There is nothing good in us whatsoever but the Father forgives us because we do not know what we are doing. Is it not a thing of pity that right from Adam, there is no person who believes in God, there is none who keeps his words; But he has always forgiven us because he knows our frailty. He does not bother himself. He does not seek to be known, but he knows us. He has given you the injunction, that you should forgive your brother whenever he sins against you.

Upon all your striving to go to the moon and the depth of the ocean, in search of God, have you been endowed with this wisdom? The word of God says that whoever thinks he is wise according to this world’s standard should count himself as a fool in order to be wise. Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. He catches the wise in his craftiness. Man knows nothing at all and the entire world is but empty. God knows that we are empty. The so-called learned men do not believe that God exists. They have gone to the moon and to the sun but cannot find God and so they conclude that He does not exist, and that you are entertaining a superstitious belief. They do not even believe in dreams. But God has forgiven them because they know not what they are dong. God does not input this sin on man.

MAN IS NEVER AWARE OF HIS ACTIONS

We sometimes go to somebody and tell them to prepare us a prospective charm and he will go to the market and buy a ring. He gives this to you and advises you to call on it whenever you are in difficulty and it will save you. Does this person know himself? When you go to some villages, you will see shrines and idols around the place. Do the people know what they are doing?

Do you know that it is God who protects us? Do you know that it is God who feeds us? Those who are taken to the hospital it is God who heals them. He does all these but does not bandy words with you, because that is how he wants it. He does not seek to be known. He gives us food and life, He is the Doer of everything but who knows him? There is none. He has forgiven us because we do not know what we do.

God is not concerned with the sins we commit, whether we bow down to stones or rings or charms does, not bother him a bit. He is not interested in what we do. But he has given us this injunction that if our brother sins against us seven times in a day and turns each time and asks for forgiveness, we should forgive him. That is what he wants.

IF YOU WANT PEACE FORGIVE ALL YOUR ADVERSARIES

Do you think a thief knows what he is doing? Do you think that necromancers and murderers know what they are doing? There is no person who knows what he is doing. That is why God does not impute any sin unto you. But one point is clear, if you do not forgive your brother when he offends against you, you will perish.

Somebody has filled his house with all sorts of charms and preparations of concoctions, but he continues to be sick and his concoctions and charms cannot heal him. He is beset with problems all around. He is lacking in everything and knows every woe. Do you think that he knows what he is doing? Somebody has filled his house with money but he had no life. He is sick. He is beset with all sorts or problems. He has no peace. He has no joy and his money cannot save him. Do you think that he knows what he is doing?

Finally, we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we shall not go away with anything. What kind of wrong would somebody do to you that you cannot forgive him? Brethren, I do not want to take you further, let our second lesson be read. Open your ears and hear because this is the Key of Life. All those who have offended you right from your childhood, you have to forgive all of them right from today so that you may have peace.

Now that you are saying that witches will be burnt by fire, thieves and murderers will all be burnt by fire, who then will remain? When you see a thief in any gathering, you begin to ask what a thief wants in that kind of gathering? What a murderer wants there? I ask, what about you; what are you and what do you want there? Think about it: we have gone round to all the native doctors, There is no sin which we have not been on the forefront But God has forgiven us all our sins.

CONDITION OF FORGIVENESS BY GOD

You say that this person has perished, the other person has lost. There is no person who is lost except the person who fails to forgive his brother his sins.

Even though it is God who is doing all these works, who among us believe that it is God who is doing this work? Who among you believe, that it is God who gives vision and prayers? No matter what we do — whether we steal and fight and fornicate, God forgives us because he knows that we do not know what we are doing. Can you observe the fathomableness of his wisdom? Many of you complain that you have sinned and you doubt whether God will forgive such a sin. What kind of sin is there which God will not forgive when he knows that you do not know what you do. There is no sin which God imputes on you. The only condition is that if your brother sins against you seven times and turns each time and asks for forgiveness, you should forgive him.

UPON THE SINFUL STATE OF THE WORLD, GOD SENT HIS BELOVED SON.

If God did not love the world, how could he send his only begotten Son to come and die for us? Why God sent down his Son was that He should come and redeem us. Man had never wanted God, and life was rife with theft, murder, prostitution and all evils. We were quite satisfied in our sinful state and that was our heaven. No person looked for God. And, when Our Lord Jesus Christ came, no person regarded him; yet still he said, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

That is why Christ said "I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth for thou hast hidden these things from the wise and the prudent and has revealed them unto babes; yea, Father for such is thy will. All things are given unto me by my Father, no person knows the Father except the Son and no person knows the son except the Father and to whomsoever the Son will reveal himself unto? Can you see why God refers to man as sheep among all the beasts? You know that of all the animals, the sheep is the most stupid. You stay here and fight before the altar. You stay here and do all sorts of things but I do not budge, because you do not know what you are doing. Even if you spit on my face, I will resent not. Your problem is that if your brother offends against you seven times in one day and turns each time and asks for forgiveness, you do not forgive him. But you should forgive him. You should not impute any sin on him. The hen is more intelligent than the sheep. The goat and every other animal down to the ant is wiser than the sheep. The sheep is very stupid and that is man.

What offence has man committed against you? You have committed adultery with somebody’s wife but when somebody lies with your wife, you vow that you will never forgive him and that till doomsday you will not exchange greetings with him. It then means that until you die, no person will exchange greetings with you. You have borrowed money from somebody and have not refunded it. Somebody borrows money from you and cannot pay back. You swear never to forgive him for what he has done to you. It means that you have perished because you are owing somebody some amount. You have to forgive him and let us continue to remain sheepish.

God does not want us to know anything. He wants us to continue in this sheepish condition. He is speaking and doing everything. People are going to space in search of him but he laughs and does not lay it to our charge. He regards us as his puppets and He delights in this that we do not know him. We try as much as we can to please God; but what can you do to please him? He is always happy and pleased with himself because he knows that we are sheep.

STOP SEARCHING FOR GOD

If we knew what we are doing, would you backslide from church worship because God has refused to grant you a certain request? If you do not go to church again what is that to God? If we knew ourselves, we would know his word because his word is truth. If you have been one who has been searching for God, do not search for him again. The injunction he has given is that if your brother offends against you seven times in a day and turns to you each time and asks for forgiveness, you should forgive. Right from today do not impute sin unto any person no matter what he does. When you do this you are free. You will have peace and salvation.

If you do not impute sins anymore unto others, you will be walking in the light and there is no darkness for you. You have peace all the time. that is freedom. As long as you do not impute sin unto others, God does not impute sin on you. Whatever a person, does to you forgive him; do not impute sin again unto others.

The Word of God says that I am convinced that nothing is evil in itself but to him that esteems it as evil, it is evil to him. Brethren, I do not intend to take you further than this, let our golden text be read.

God says that he will repay you because vengeance is his. He vindicates the child and the female and the aged and the orphan. He vindicates all. In like manner whoever does not forgive his brother, God will not forgive him. Whether you like to fast and pray, if you like, refrain from fornication, but as long as you do not forgive your brother, God will not forgive you.

FORGIVE YOUR BROTHER HIS TRESPASSES

Distribute all your money to the poor. Feed the hungry. Fast and prostrate on the ground, but as long as you do not forgive your brother, He will not also forgive you your sins. God will forgive you every sin, but if you do not forgive others, He will not forgive you your sin. Have you heard the text of today? Father forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. Forever and ever those who do not forgive, will not know what they do. God has forgiven all our sins, because we do not know what we are doing. Forever and ever he has forgiven our sins. He has told us that if your brother offends against you seven times in a day and turns to you for forgiveness seven times, you should forgive him. Do not charge him one kobo. Do not be angry with him. Do not recall the matter again. This is the judgement and the Gospel of redemption. If you do not forgive your brother his sins, your Father in heaven will also not forgive you forever and ever.

Brethren, it is said that one stroke of the cane is sufficient unto the wise. I will not take you further. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. May the Lord bless His Holy Words. A--men.

EVERLASTING GOSPEL DELIVERED BY THE HOLY FATHER 0. 0. OBU SOLE SPIRITUAL HEAD OF THE UNIVERSE, BROTHERHOOD OF THE CROSS AND STAR, WORLD HEADQUARTERS, CALABAR, CROSS RIVER STATE.

Today is set aside for "forgiveness of sins." You have heard what Our Lord Jesus Christ said on the Cross ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do’ The Word of God is a double-edged sword. When it goes forward it takes action and on coming back it accomplishes its deeds. It is said that if we forgive not our brothers when they offend us, our heavenly Father will not forgive our sins.

FORGIVE AND YOU WILL BE FORGIVEN

The reason that people do not enjoy the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ is that they have refused to forgive those who offend them. The statement which he made when he said: Father forgive them for they know not what they do, applies to those who do not impute sins unto others. If we no longer impute sins unto others, the statement will then apply to us. That is why our second lesson tells you that if your brother offends you seven times in a day and turns each time and asks for forgiveness, you should forgive him. When you forgive him, you can be sure that the first lesson applies to you: The Father will also forgive you your sins. Until eternity God will not impute sin on you again.

FORGIVE YOUR DEBTORS

As the heaven is higher than the earth, so is the wisdom of God greater than that of men. It is only man who can err, God can never err. Have you heard what he has said? "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." If you have known that God has forgiven your sins but you refuse to forgive another person his sins, that is the sin of presumption. If God forgives you all your sins but you do not forgive your brother who offends against you, what is your stand? How would you offer the Lord’s Prayer? The wisdom of God says forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us. Have you forgiven those who trespass against you? It is recorded in Matthew 6 : 12, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Have you forgiven your debtors?

DO NOT IMPUTE SINS

That is why our golden text says, so likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. What does it cost you to forgive your brother his sins and have eternal life? Can you not see that it is not in your brother’s interest to forgive him, but it is rather in your own interest to forgive him. If we forgive others their sins against us even as God has forgiven us, we are free. If you do not impute sin unto others God will not impute sin unto you. But if you impute sin unto others, He will also impute sins unto you.

God does not take pleasure in the death of sinners. He rather wishes that all of us should repent and come to salvation. If when you repent, God forgives you, why is it that somebody repents but you fail to forgive him? You have been told that right from Adam till eternity there is no righteous person. God is the only righteous one; the rest of us have fallen away. Christ knew this, that is why he said Father forgive them for they know not what they do. This statement applies to all those who do not impute sins unto others. God also does not impute sin unto them.

REPENT AND ASK FOR FORGIVENESS

All those who continue to impute sin unto others are lost; because they cannot pray and ask God to forgive their trespasses as they have forgiven those who trespass against them. Have you forgiven those who trespass against you Those who do not impute sin unto others have the boldness to pray that God should forgive their sins even as they had forgiven others. God will also forgive you. He is the person making this statement: that if your brother offends against you seven times in a day and turns around each time and asks for forgiveness, you should forgive him. That is the direct statement of God, in order that whenever you offend against God and ask for forgiveness, he may forgive you.

It is said that with what measure you use unto others, the same shall be measured unto you. It is said all of us shall stand before the judgement seat of Christ. Do not think that it is your father or mother or Our Lord Jesus Christ who will judge you. It is you, who will judge yourself. Why is it that somebody has offended against you for the past two or five or seven years and has asked for forgiveness, but you swear that you will never forgive him? You should know that you have perished and that person is saved because he has asked for forgiveness.

FORGIVE ALL WHO REPENT

What kind of sin can someone commit and ask for forgiveness and you refuse to forgive? There is no exception to the kind of offence that should be forgiven. But it is said if your brother sins against you seven times and turns around each time and asks for forgiveness, you should forgive him? What is there in the world? What kind of sin would you not eagerly forgive so that you may have peace? If God forgives us all our sins, why should we not forgive those who offend us? How do you offer the Lord’s Prayer? Do you pray like that Pharisee? Do you not pray that God should forgive you because you are a sinner? Do you forgive those who sin against you?

This has been our problem. That is why God calls us here everyday so that He may take away the little faults that bring about our fall. Can you realise how God loves us: He was nailed to the Cross and He said — "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." What can your brother do that you would nail him on the Cross? Can you not realise that God loves man more than man loves himself? Can you not see that God does not like the death of sinners? God does not like to see us suffer.

And so whoever perishes, his blood is upon him. He has taught us that we should not impute sins unto others because He does not impute sin on us. Let us go home with this lesson — that it is not the sin of Adam nor of your father nor of your fore-fathers that is responsible for your sufferings; but that you as a man, have failed to forgive those who offend against you. Why is it that somebody offends against you in a very little matter but you vow never to forgive him; you shut your ears to all pleas and mediations? When you yourself offend against God, who will forgive you?

The children of God do not bear any person malice. They do not impute sin unto any person. They do not backbite against any person because they know that when they forgive others, the Father will also forgive them and they will have peace. Your taking court actions against people does not avail much. Whatever sin somebody commits against you and asks for forgiveness should be over. There should be no more statement that forever. Our Lord Jesus Christ has laid the foundation of mercy for us. In the words of a spiritual chorus, you should forgive others and you yourself will be forgiven. We cursed Him, we abused Him and spat on Him. Finally, we nailed Him to the Cross and yet He prayed —‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do’ Is that no enough lesson for you? In your case, who has nailed you on the Cross? Who has abused you? Who has done to you half of what was done to Christ? If all these things were done to Our Lord Jesus Christ and He prayed the Father to forgive them, you should also forgive those who offend against you.

THE KEY TO THE LIFE AND DEATH

Whoever does not forgive his brother has no share in this Kingdom. This is the very last Word of god which holds the key of life and death. And so that God should not impute those sins unto them, you are told to love your enemies and pray for them because they are you hindrance. Right now, to the whole world accepts this teaching and forgive one another, we are all in heaven.

It is not the sins that you commit which hinder you from entering into heaven, but the fact that you have refused to forgive those who sin against you. At all times, God honours His words. He is the Word and so He honours Himself. You will realise that all the inhabitants of the world are sinners. God knows this and has forgiven us. But he has given us a condition that as he has forgiven us, we should also not impute sins unto others.

The sins which people commit against you, do not make you perish; but the sins which you refuse to forgive others make you perish. He knows everyone of us and our make. What you love, I do not love and what you hate, I love. And so the world is full of contradictions and sins. God knows about this but he has given us a condition that if your brother offends against you seven times and turns and asks for forgiveness each time, you should forgive him. What is not sinful to you is sinful to another person. What is good to you is evil to another person. What one town loves, the other town does not love. The result is that we have no peace. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave us His peace and so the children of God must be the children of peace.

Let our first lesson be read.

After analyzing this statement would you accept that we know what we are doing? When God came down to the earth and people cursed him and killed him, do you think that they knew what they were doing? When they spat on him and asked him to mention who has slapped him, do you think they knew what they were doing? When they called him Beelzebub, mad man, The Son of Mary, did they know what they were doing? They did not.

ALWAYS PRAY FOR FORGIVENESS

Now that we continue to steal and fornicate would you say that we know what we are doing? We do not know ourselves. As the worldly people call Brotherhood beelzebub and mermaid and juju, do you think that they know what they are doing? God will forgive whatever sin you commit but if you do not forgive your brother when he offends against you, then you stand condemned.

This is the Gospel of redemption. Right from today, do not impute sins unto any person. No matter what happens, pray that the Father should forgive them for they know not what they do. What has brought about your tribulations, afflictions and death is that you have shut the door of mercy against your brother. As you are here, is there any person who has not something against another person? That is your death. That is what has stopped you from entering into this Kingdom.

Has the Father not told you to forgive others their sins, no matter what they do to you? Has he not told us openly that if we do not forgive our brothers when they offend against us, he will not forgive us when we offend against Him? He says today, when you hear his voice, harden not your hearts. That was why when Stephen was stoned, he prayed that God should not lay that sin to their charge.

Do not always offer, the kind of prayers which David, the Psalmist prayed — that God should fight against those who fight against him. If you offer that kind of prayer, you are lost; you have heaped punishment upon yourself. Your prayer at all times should be: Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. The person who calumniates that you kill and drink human blood; would you say that he knows what he is saying? That person who says that you are worshipping man and that you are false prophets, does he know himself? Does he know what he is saying?

GOD DOES NOT IMPUTE SIN ON ANYONE

God has forgiven us all our sins, but if you fail to forgive those who sin against you, you have perished. You have heard the statement which he made that whoever speaks against the Son of man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks evil against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven neither in this world nor in the world to come. When Paul did not know Our Lord Jesus Christ and went about persecuting the church, did he know what he was doing, he received authority from the High Priests in Jerusalem to go to Damascus and arrest whoever calls on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he arrested them he either killed or stoned or imprisoned them according to the orders given to him. He took it upon himself as a special assignment.

When his eyes were opened to the truth, he said that he did those things when he did not yet believe, but God forgave him. And when we do something wrong, God overlooks it because he knows that we are men. The condition is that if somebody offends against you, you must forgive him. If God were to impute sins to us from the time of Adam, the world itself would have ceased to exist.

THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD IS FOOLISHNESS BEFORE GOD

We are sinful in our looks. We are sinful with the words of our mouths. We are sinful in our thought. We are sinful in our footsteps. There is nothing good in us whatsoever but the Father forgives us because we do not know what we are doing. Is it not a thing of pity that right from Adam, there is no person who believes in God, there is none who keeps his words; But he has always forgiven us because he knows our frailty. He does not bother himself. He does not seek to be known, but he knows us. He has given you the injunction, that you should forgive your brother whenever he sins against you.

Upon all your striving to go to the moon and the depth of the ocean, in search of God, have you been endowed with this wisdom? The word of God says that whoever thinks he is wise according to this world’s standard should count himself as a fool in order to be wise. Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. He catches the wise in his craftiness. Man knows nothing at all and the entire world is but empty. God knows that we are empty. The so-called learned men do not believe that God exists. They have gone to the moon and to the sun but cannot find God and so they conclude that He does not exist, and that you are entertaining a superstitious belief. They do not even believe in dreams. But God has forgiven them because they know not what they are doing. God does not input this sin on man.

MAN IS NEVER AWARE OF HIS ACTIONS

We sometimes go to somebody and tell them to prepare us a prospective charm and he will go to the market and buy a ring. He gives this to you and advises you to call on it whenever you are in difficulty and it will save you. Does this person know himself? When you go to some villages, you will see shrines and idols around the place. Do the people know what they are doing?

Do you know that it is God who protects us? Do you know that it is God who feeds us? Those who are taken to the hospital it is God who heals them. He does all these but does not bandy words with you, because that is how he wants it. He does not seek to be known. He gives us food and life, He is the Doer of everything but who knows him? There is none. He has forgiven us because we do not know what we do.

God is not concerned with the sins we commit, whether we bow down to stones or rings or charms does, not bother him a bit. He is not interested in what we do. But he has given us this injunction that if our brother sins against us seven times in a day and turns each time and asks for forgiveness, we should forgive him. That is what he wants.

IF YOU WANT PEACE FORGIVE ALL YOUR ADVERSARIES

Do you think a thief knows what he is doing? Do you think that necromancers and murderers know what they are doing? There is no person who knows what he is doing. That is why God does not impute any sin unto you. But one point is clear, if you do not forgive your brother when he offends against you, you will perish.

Somebody has filled his house with all sorts of charms and preparations of concoctions, but he continues to be sick and his concoctions and charms cannot heal him. He is beset with problems all around. He is lacking in everything and knows every woe. Do you think that he knows what he is doing? Somebody has filled his house with money but he had no life. He is sick. He is beset with all sorts or problems. He has no peace. He has no joy and his money cannot save him. Do you think that he knows what he is doing?

Finally, we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we shall not go away with anything. What kind of wrong would somebody do to you that you cannot forgive him? Brethren, I do not want to take you further, let our second lesson be read. Open your ears and hear because this is the Key of Life. All those who have offended you right from your childhood, you have to forgive all of them right from today so that you may have peace.

Now that you are saying that witches will be burnt by fire, thieves and murderers will all be burnt by fire, who then will remain? When you see a thief in any gathering, you begin to ask what a thief wants in that kind of gathering? What a murderer wants there? I ask, what about you; what are you and what do you want there? Think about it: we have gone round to all the native doctors, There is no sin which we have not been on the forefront. But God has forgiven us all our sins.

CONDITION OF FORGIVENESS BY GOD

You say that this person has perished, the other person has lost. There is no person who is lost except the person who fails to forgive his brother his sins.

Even though it is God who is doing all these works, who among us believe that it is God who is doing this work? Who among you believe, that it is God who gives vision and prayers? No matter what we do — whether we steal and fight and fornicate, God forgives us because he knows that we do not know what we are doing. Can you observe the fathomableness of his wisdom? Many of you complain that you have sinned and you doubt whether God will forgive such a sin. What kind of sin is there which God will not forgive when he knows that you do not know what you do. There is no sin which God imputes on you. The only condition is that if your brother sins against you seven times and turns each time and asks for forgiveness, you should forgive him.

UPON THE SINFUL STATE OF THE WORLD, GOD SENT HIS BELOVED SON.

If God did not love the world, how could he send his only begotten Son to come and die for us? Why God sent down his Son was that He should come and redeem us. Man had never wanted God, and life was rife with theft, murder, prostitution and all evils. We were quite satisfied in our sinful state and that was our heaven. No person looked for God. And, when Our Lord Jesus Christ came, no person regarded him; yet still he said, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

That is why Christ said "I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth for thou hast hidden these things from the wise and the prudent and has revealed them unto babes; yea, Father for such is thy will. All things are given unto me by my Father, no person knows the Father except the Son and no person knows the son except the Father and to whomsoever the Son will reveal himself unto? Can you see why God refers to man as sheep among all the beasts? You know that of all the animals, the sheep is the most stupid. You stay here and fight before the altar. You stay here and do all sorts of things but I do not budge, because you do not know what you are doing. Even if you spit on my face, I will resent not. Your problem is that if your brother offends against you seven times in one day and turns each time and asks for forgiveness, you do not forgive him. But you should forgive him. You should not impute any sin on him. The hen is more intelligent than the sheep. The goat and every other animal down to the ant is wiser than the sheep. The sheep is very stupid and that is man.

What offence has man committed against you? You have committed adultery with somebody’s wife but when somebody lies with your wife, you vow that you will never forgive him and that till doomsday you will not exchange greetings with him. It then means that until you die, no person will exchange greetings with you. You have borrowed money from somebody and have not refunded it. Somebody borrows money from you and cannot pay back. You swear never to forgive him for what he has done to you. It means that you have perished because you are owing somebody some amount. You have to forgive him and let us continue to remain sheepish.

God does not want us to know anything. He wants us to continue in this sheepish condition. He is speaking and doing everything. People are going to space in search of him but he laughs and does not lay it to our charge. He regards us as his puppets and He delights in this that we do not know him. We try as much as we can to please God; but what can you do to please him? He is always happy and pleased with himself because he knows that we are sheep.

STOP SEARCHING FOR GOD

If we knew what we are doing, would you backslide from church worship because God has refused to grant you a certain request? If you do not go to church again what is that to God? If we knew ourselves, we would know his word because his word is truth. If you have been one who has been searching for God, do not search for him again. The injunction he has given is that if your brother offends against you seven times in a day and turns to you each time and asks for forgiveness, you should forgive. Right from today do not impute sin unto any person no matter what he does. When you do this you are free. You will have peace and salvation.

If you do not impute sins anymore unto others, you will be walking in the light and there is no darkness for you. You have peace all the time. that is freedom. As long as you do not impute sin unto others, God does not impute sin on you. Whatever a person does to you forgive him; do not impute sin again unto others.

The Word of God says that I am convinced that nothing is evil in itself but to him that esteems it as evil, it is evil to him. Brethren, I do not intend to take you further than this, let our golden text be read.

God says that he will repay you because vengeance is his. He vindicates the child and the female and the aged and the orphan. He vindicates all. In like manner whoever does not forgive his brother, God will not forgive him. Whether you like to fast and pray, if you like, refrain from fornication, but as long as you do not forgive your brother, God will not forgive you.

FORGIVE YOUR BROTHER HIS TRESPASSES

Distribute all your money to the poor. Feed the hungry. Fast and prostrate on the ground, but as long as you do not forgive your brother, He will not also forgive you your sins. God will forgive you every sin, but if you do not forgive others, He will not forgive you your sin. Have you heard the text of today? Father forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. Forever and ever those who do not forgive, will not know what they do. God has forgiven all our sins, because we do not know what we are doing. Forever and ever he has forgiven our sins. He has told us that if your brother offends against you seven times in a day and turns to you for forgiveness seven times, you should forgive him. Do not charge him one kobo. Do not be angry with him. Do not recall the matter again. This is the judgement and the Gospel of redemption. If you do not forgive your brother his sins, your Father in heaven will also not forgive you forever and ever.

Brethren, it is said that one stroke of the cane is sufficient unto the wise. I will not take you further. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. May the Lord bless His Holy Words. A--men.

EVERLASTING GOSPEL DELIVERED BY THE HOLY FATHER O.O.BU SOLE SPIRITUAL HEAD OF THE UNIVERSE, BROTHERHOOD OF THE CROSS AND STAR, WORLD HEADQUARTERS, CALABAR, CROSS RIVER STATE.