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October 15, 2024 10:02 am

How Much Are We Really to Forgive

Lighting Your Way / Lighthouse Baptist

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October 15, 2024 10:02 am

The importance of forgiveness and unity in the Christian life is emphasized, with a focus on the biblical teaching that Christians should forgive one another as God has forgiven them. The passage explores the consequences of unforgiveness and the benefits of forgiveness, including the removal of bitterness and resentment, and the promotion of love and unity among believers.

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If you would join me in the Gospel of Matthew, we're going to look at chapter 18, Matthew 18 today. We are going to be observing the Lord's Supper today and so we have baptisms both in the early and late service as well, so it's a wonderful thing to observe those ordinances on the Lord's Day. So before we get into the Lord's Supper, which we will partake at the end, just preparing your hearts for that time as we reflect upon His death and resurrection for us. Here in Matthew 18, we're just going to read two verses, verse 21 through 22. The Bible says, Then came Peter to Him, or to Jesus, and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him till seven times?

Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven. Father, we are so humbled by the grace that you have shown us in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are here today because you have forgiven us. You have saved us.

You have called us and set us apart for yourself. And we pray today that our hearts would set you apart, Lord, that you would be exalted and hallowed in our hearts and lives. And today, if anyone doesn't know Jesus Christ, may today be the day of their salvation. We ask it in Jesus' name.

And all God's people said, man, you may be seated this morning. We live in a day where the epidemic of cancer has probably touched every family in this room in some level, whether a friend, whether a co-worker, whether a loved one. And it brings tears and pain and heartache to countless numbers of people. But there's another epidemic that is worse in so many ways than cancer, a type of infection and disease that once a victim is infected with will impact every part of their life. Where cancer can cause families to come together, this infection causes families to be torn apart. Where cancer causes people to show love, this infection causes them to show anger and bitterness and hate. It has been an infectious disease, has been the source of ruin in almost every single relationship that is torn apart.

It devastates marriages, separates closest of friends, and it tears families and churches apart. And it is known as unforgiveness. On earth, there really should not be anyone that is more forgiving than the forgiven believer, because no one has received so much forgiveness. But we all know that forgiveness can be a big challenge, and all of us have struggled to apply it in painful situations of our own lives. Perhaps today you have resentment, bitterness, and anger in your heart toward others in life. There are so many people in this world that are imprisoned by unforgiveness, and they don't realize that the person that they resent is their jailkeeper.

And my prayer today is that God's word would open up the doors and set the captives free. Jesus said the truth will set you free, and how true the truth of forgiveness will free those in bondage of bitterness and unforgiveness. Now here in Matthew 18, Jesus has just finished discussing how to deal with a fellow believer that sins against you. He says in verse 15, Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against you. After dealing with how to confront a sinning brother and bring them to a place where they recognize their sin and repent and reconcile after that happens, Peter asked Jesus the question in verse 21, which brings me to my first point, the question of unforgiveness. In verse 21, Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me?

And I forgive him till seven times. Questions are great. Questions seek answers. Peter is inquisitive. He desires to know the truth. And I want you to know that wise people ask good questions.

Follow a wise person around and you'll find somebody seeking answers throughout their life. They never feel they've arrived. They're lifelong learners. They never feel like they've capped out knowledge.

They never feel like they've arrived. We are greatly indebted to Peter for many things, one of which is his penchant for asking questions. He was continually doing that. And God promises blessing to those who seek him. I want you to hear the words of James chapter one. And James one is in the context of facing trials in life, difficulties in life. He said, if any of you lack wisdom and in context wisdom concerning trials that you go through hardships in life, he said, let him ask of God. In other words, if you're going through something difficult, come to God seeking answers and guidance. And it says, and God will give to all men liberally or generously, he'll answer you generously. And it says this, and abradeth not, which means the Lord will not give a harsh or cold response to you.

You ever asked somebody a question and they get irritated at your questions? God is not like that. He will not respond harshly.

He will not abrade you for that. And it says, and it will be given you, he will give you the answer. Sometimes people say, you should never question God. Well, you should never question him for the purpose of distancing yourself from him, but you should question him when you're wanting to draw closer to him. There's two types of questions. Those that seek genuine answers and those who just seek reasons to distance yourself from God.

Questions are one of the great indicators of a seeking heart. Peter's question was prompted by the Lord's discussion on how to confront those who sin against you. And what you find here is Peter personalizes the message of Jesus Christ. He asked the question, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me?

And I forgive him. This is very commendable for Peter was not content listen to only hear the teachings of Jesus in some abstract way. Rather, he wanted to apply them personally to his life. Listen, God's word applies specifically to your life today. This word that we're listening to week in and week out has present day truths for you. And one of the reasons our Sunday night small groups are so important doing hear journals is it allows you to not only read a passage, but then study a passage. And the difference between reading and studying is one key thing. Those who study the Bible ask questions.

Those who read do not. You have to go into the realm of study to actually ask questions. You want to know what it's meaning, why it's there. But then there's another step. The next step is application. It's one thing to read it. The next level of the Christian growth is you study it.

But then the next level after that is you apply it. You're not just a hearer because you can deceive yourself that way, right? You do what God says. And to do it, you have to know what it means, right?

You got to know what and how does this apply to me and then how can I apply this in life? If you've never been a part of the hear journals on Sunday night, I'm telling you every week of your life, that's what we do. I've been doing it for four years and unless your spiritual life is so much far advanced beyond your pastors, it would be a good thing for you to do it.

Any hands? Not that I'm some spiritual giant, but I'm telling you as the shepherd, so the people. And I'm just the under shepherd. Jesus is a chief shepherd, but I will not ask you to do something I won't do. I won't ask you to clean toilets if I'm not going to clean a toilet.

I'm out picking trash up on the property this morning. I'm not going to ask you to do things that I'm not willing to do. And so I know how vital this is to my life. I cannot pastor you and shepherd you and be a godly father and husband. I need to be without the word of God infiltrating my life. You must be in the word of God. And I can tell you want to stay alive, learn to sit in a pew and not do what you hear and not apply it. And so whatever your method is, whether you're doing a hear journal, whatever it is, it should be involved in reading, studying and applying it. Life groups are another great way to do that. Jump into those kinds of things. And it doesn't mean you always have to be here on a physical application of that like on a Sunday night, but it means that plug in somewhere, do hear journals with your family. We do that every week.

It's a wonderful thing. Now, Jesus' words were so important to Peter that Peter was not content simply hearing it. He wanted to apply it. And if I could also take a second to read between the lines on this question, for Peter to ask this question, it could likely be that he dealt with someone who wronged him multiple times. After being a youth pastor for over five years, a senior pastor for over 15 years, I have learned that when I preach a sermon and people who come to me asking questions after the service typically are those who have something in their life that that message applied to, to where they need more clarity, further guidance and understanding. They have follow up questions because it's so personal to them. It would be like today if somebody came up and shared a testimony about how they helped their child get off drugs and now their child's doing wonderful and they gave a 15 minute story about that, who would be the people coming up and talking to them afterwards?

It would be the parents who have children in that situation, right? And so not to read between the lines, but I will a little bit. I think it's possible that Peter's asking this because he may have some things in his life to where he's dealt with this, where he had someone who aggravated him so often. I mean, seven of these guys were fishermen and we know four of them fished together and a lot of them went out fishing together in John chapter 21.

And I don't know about you, but you put enough guys together long enough and you're going to butt some heads. So in any case, we are indebted to Peter for asking this question, which resulted in more clarity in the area of forgiveness. And we're going to look at this next week in a parable that is launched from verse 23 down to verse 35.

So many truths that you and I must know. Secondly, we see the reality of Christian offenses in this. He said, Lord, how off shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? The word brother here is a Greek word that speaks of a fellow Christian, a fellow believer. They could be a man or a woman, but it's male or female, but it's a fellow Christian here, a believer. Peter gets more precise. He is not talking about an unbeliever that has offended him.

He says, what do you do? How often should I forgive some fellow believer that offends me? Now, again, we know that these 12 traveled and lived together. And one thing I know is, again, if you put 12 guys together for three years who lived together, slept together in the same setting and were dealing with all these things that they probably would have had some offenses among themselves at times. We know that they got aggravated at each other because they were debating over who was the greatest. We know the 10 got angry at James and John because their mother asked if they could sit next to Jesus in the kingdom.

It would not be too far to imagine there could be some dissension in the ranks. And one of the realities in the Christian life is that Christians will at some point offend you. And it could be that Peter's asking the question because he knows a couple of the disciples are at odds and he's like, hey, I want to ask this so that they could also hear the answer. Now, one of the realities in the Christian life is Christians will offend you. Yet do those offenses give Christians the right to not forgive? I have heard people through the years who've gotten out of church. They say, I don't go to church anymore because I got offended by a Christian. Somebody at church offended me. And I usually tell them, you know, I'm sorry to hear that. And then they usually go on and tell me what they endured by some church or some pastor or some Christian that offended them. And then I've heard this through the years many times after such a conversation, you know, I just don't believe in organized religion anymore.

Anybody raise your hand if you've ever heard somebody tell you that. And so I usually ask him, do you believe in unorganized religion? Name one thing that God did that's unorganized. You ever studied the oxyribonucleic acid in your body? You ever study how God put together your body in Psalm 139 and how he orchestrates the hydrological cycle and the rains, the sin and floods, all that is laid out in the book of Job and in the Old Testament.

And do you understand how organized he is? You ever study physics? Life to exist on planet earth is on a razor's edge according to physics. And so this is something that people will say, though. And now, listen, I don't want to be insensitive to the fact that people can seriously offend you and other believers can offend you. That can happen, but we will also get offended in our homes. We will also get offended in our families. And any time you choose to be around those who are called human beings, you will find offenses. If you choose to rub shoulders with human beings, you will get offended.

Y'all with me? And when people say, well, I don't go to church anymore because I get offended, I would like to say, so let me get this straight. You don't want to go to church because people are imperfect there. You're telling me you might have to show someone mercy or grace or possibly even forgive them like Jesus forgave you? Is that what you're telling me? That you would have to extend mercy to them and that's not something you're willing to do, right? Is that what you're saying? You're telling me you're so completely faithful in your walk that you would never offend anybody and have never offended anybody.

Is that what you're saying? So you're not willing to give others what God has infinitely dumped on you, so much so that you never want to be around them again to the violation of the Word of God who commands you to be around them. What are you going to do, get to heaven and be on an isolated island?

You imagine? Do you know what Christians are like who come to church? They're just like the Christians that live in our homes. At best, we are imperfect and flawed, at best. That is no excuse for Christians to act on Christ-like, but it's important for us to understand and know the reality of that.

We are not professionals here. We're not professional Christians. The church is a hospital for the sick and we're being conformed to the image of Christ and we've not yet reached glorification. The great blessing of being part of a church is this. We get a chance to treat people in the church with the same kind of grace and mercy that God has shown us. We get a chance to work with imperfect people just as God works with imperfect people.

An atheist can get along with somebody who treats them perfect. I could be a devil worshiper and do that, but shouldn't Christians rise beyond their self-inflicted frustrations? What does it say about those who profess to be Christians yet are so critical of Christians, so critical of the church, who badmouth the church and God's people? What does that say about them? That's extremely alarming for them.

I'm not surprised when Christians say somebody offends them. I'm like, you ever go to a family reunion? Do you have a Fred there? If your name is Fred, don't, you know. There's no one came to my mind. I'm sure I'll get a letter this week from Fred.

Flintstone, I didn't know that. I want you to listen to 1 Peter 4.8. Peter writes, he says, above all things have fervent charity or fervent love among yourselves for love or charity shall cover the multitude of sins. And I want you to know what this means.

The word fervent here is ektenis. In the Greek, it speaks of stretching or straining. It's a picture of like a muscle that is being stretched to maximum force. Today's culture has a selfish love and easy love. It's I'll love you if, if. But in the Bible, love is said to be stretching the believer, where it's picturing pushing your body to maximum force in order to love that way. Here, Peter is calling believers to stretch and push themselves to the maximum effort needed to love one another, no matter the injury, no matter the insult, the misunderstanding, personal offenses, you push yourself to love them. And notice what fervent love will stretch you to do. It says love will push you for love will cover a multitude of sins. One of the most beautiful displays of love is it is forgiving. You know, the Bible said it is the glory of a man to pass over a transgression. You will never be more like God than when you forgive. It is the most God-like act you can ever commit on the planet.

According to 1 Corinthians 13, 5, it says love thinks no evil. It's from a Greek word, logizimai. It's a bookkeeping term. It could be better translated, in my opinion, love does not keep a record of wrongs. It doesn't keep a ledger. In logizimai, it's talking about a ledger system. You know what a ledger system is? It's a record-keeping system that has a column for the purpose of recording debts and recording credits. It is used as a permanent record of all the withdrawals and all the times you put money into it, both credits and debits. And God has called us to love in such a way that we don't keep a record of the debits that people have made against us. You don't do that. Love doesn't keep a record of wrongs. It doesn't keep a running tally. Well, I remember what you said last year.

I remember two years ago or five years ago. I'll pull the file out right now in my memory bank. Well, if you do that, just know this. It's not a testimony about them that you're displaying. It's a testimony about you. You're indicting yourself.

You're indicting yourself. Loveless people don't forgive. And again, I understand there are some wrongs that people face, and I'm sure in a crowd like this that somebody may be thinking, you have no idea how much I've been wronged. Now, I get it.

And what it means is this. When you forgive, you'll say, well, I'm letting them off the hook. You're not letting them off the hook. You're just taking them from your hook to God's hook. You turn that over to God. You're not the judge. You can't handle the bench.

It's too big of a seat for you. It'll crush you, destroy your life. And the only remedy to overcome offenses is to lovingly forgive. Push yourself.

Strain yourself to love them. And it says love covers a multitude of sins. The word multitude is plethos.

It means the whole amount, everything. It covers, which means it hides, it veils. It doesn't let the knowledge of it go.

It's the opposite of somebody gossiping and spreading bad things about someone all over the place. Proverbs 10 12 says hate stirs up strife, but love covers all sins. Do you keep a record of wrongs? How do you think God feels about that? Does God keep a record of our wrongs? You know, the Bible says in Hebrews 10 17 and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. You know, that doesn't mean that God forgets them. He knows what we've done. He just forgets in the sense that he doesn't apply them to us. He's like, David, I know what you did with Bathsheba and Uriah, but I'm not going to hold that against you in the sense that you will be forgiven. Are there consequences? Yes, but judgment?

No. Forgiveness applied. Psalm 103 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far he hath removed our transgressions from us. Anybody glad some of the sins in your life that you would just, it's like, how can I distance myself from that? How can I get away from that? That God will remove that as far as the east is from the west. How far is the east from the west?

How do you calculate that span? Now, Christian, the reality is you will get offended at some point by another Christian, so just know that now. The question is, how are you going to deal with that? How are you going to deal with that when somebody doesn't shake your hand, somebody parks in your spot, somebody doesn't eat your macaroni and cheese at an event? I told that story the other week. We had a family literally get out of our church in Chillicothe because nobody ate their macaroni and cheese.

I was thinking, it's just nasty looking macaroni and cheese. I didn't tell them that. Seal the deal.

They're gone forever. I didn't say it. But when macaroni and cheese can get you out of church and away from God's people and serving Christ, pretty sad, really. In reality, will you choose to love and have fervent love or selfish hate? Will you obey God or your flesh? Let me remind all of us how serious it is to offend one another. Remember what Jesus said back here in Matthew 18? Look back at verse number 6. He says, whosoever shall offend one of these little ones. Let me remind us, little ones here, as I preached on for a couple of weeks, this is talking about a believer.

These are Christians, not just children, because he tells them if you want to be even get to heaven, you've got to be converted like a little child in verse 3. So if you offend one of these little ones, if you offend another believer which believes in me, it's better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he's drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offenses! Pretty much needs be that offenses come. They're going to come because we're in the world with sinners, but woe unto the man by whom the offense cometh. This is serious. So we should keep ourselves from offending other people.

And when we do, what should be the first thing we do? Hey, I'm so sorry the way I said that. I'm so sorry the action I made. I'm so sorry for the offense that I gave. I'm so sorry.

Get that fixed, remedied right away. Now, not only is it a reality that Christians will offend one another, but thirdly, I'm going to talk about the tragedy of Christians at odds. Turn with me to Philippians 4. Philippians chapter 4. Here, Paul addresses two ladies who were at odds in the church. Their names are Euodius and Cyndache. Aren't those cool names?

Try to spell those without looking. Philippians 4, verse 1. Therefore, my dearly beloved, my longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

He's writing this from a prison cell in Rome. And he says, I beseech Euodius and Cyndache that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow, help those women which labored with me in the Gospel, with Clement also, and other my fellow laborers whose names are in the Book of Life.

Now, we do not know what happened between these two ladies, but something caused a vision in their life. You just need to know God is not okay with Christians being at odds with each other. He's not okay with that.

You and I may be okay with that. God is not okay with that. If you're at odds, and I don't know of anybody in our church at odds, I'm not preaching this because that's why I just preach verse by verse.

If God hits on something, I'm going to hit on something. That's why we preached on church discipline the week after the 15-year anniversary. That's not probably the strategy for church growth, but we're going to do what God teaches, right? Unleashing God's Word is just what we're going to do.

You're going to get it whether you want it or not, right? We need the truth. So here he is giving us his expectation for the believer in John 17. This is what Jesus said.

The day before he died, he praised this. And I want you to hear his prayer. In John 17, he says, neither I pray for these alone. Not only am I going to pray for my disciples that are living in the world now, but he says, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one as thou father are in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us. Verse 22, he goes on and says, and the glory which you gave me, I give to them that they may be one as we are one.

23, I in them and down me that they may be made perfect in one. Four times in four verses, Jesus prays for the unity of the believers. You know why unity is important? Because a kingdom divided cannot stand. And we're living in the divided states of America. We are living in a nation being torn apart. We are watching it dissolve before our very eyes. It's a unique time to live.

It really is. If you want to know how Rome fell, if you want to know how Babylon fell, you're watching it. You put enough immorality in a nation and it has nothing to hold it up. You have people celebrating Palestine. You have people promoting what Hamas is doing all over our college campuses. When you infuse atheism into 30% of our population, they go into this woke mindset, which by the way, Kamala Harris just had said, she said, if you're woke, you need to be more woke.

You need to be the wokest you can be. That will destroy a nation. And you don't even have to be a believer to know that. You're getting political. You're watching this nation fall apart. And I can tell you, it's not a man or a woman that's going to save the nation. It's the Lord Jesus Christ and repentance. It's coming back to the truth of scripture.

But you do need to vote. You do need to stand up for righteousness. Now, how do we have unity? Look at Philippians 4 verse 2. He says, I beseech Euodius and beseech Syntyche that they be of the same mind.

Read the last three words with me. In the Lord. You know, divisions and offenses are almost always focusing on ourself over the Lord.

I want you to ask this question. If you know somebody you're at odds with right now, another believer that you're at odds with, are you offended at them because they wronged Christ because they dishonored the Lord? Or are you offended at them because they hurt your feelings? Is it because the Lord or is it because of you? We all deal with people offending us at times, but please understand when we allow offenses to remain and are unwilling to forgive, what are we saying to God? Are we putting our will or God's will first in our life? And if we are putting our will first, is that idolatry? If Jesus is on the throne of our heart, could unforgiveness also be there? Unforgiveness ultimately becomes an act of idolatry because Christ gets replaced on the throne of our heart with our own will and unforgiveness.

Consider Yodius and Seneci. Whatever their issue was, do you think they're like, you know what? I'm so glad we had that division. I mean, could you imagine our names not being in the Bible for everybody forever to read about that we were divisive? Like, boy, that was a good thing that we did. How embarrassing.

How embarrassing. Christian, you need to get right if you're at odds with another believer. I know people can sin against us.

They can wrong us. That's why the Bible says you need to go to them, take somebody with you and seek reconciliation. Now, it doesn't mean you become best friends with people. I mean, can I just say this out loud?

I don't know if I should or not. One of the benefits of being in a church that has more than like 10 people in it is you don't have to sit next to the person at every service. There are some people at your family get-togethers, you may love them, but you'll love them for about two hours and that's good for the year, right? You're going to love them, but it's not going to be like, you're not going to hang out with them every day, right? I mean, Jesus didn't hang out with the Pharisees all the time.

He hung out with his disciples. And I can just say this, it means you're loving, you're kind, you're gracious, but sometimes in some settings, it's like if you're in a class of 10 people or a group of 10 people, that's the only type of people you can be around and you're going to have to work through that and sometimes that's difficult and that'll help you grow, absolutely. But just understand that it doesn't mean you're going to be best friends with them, but you treat them with kindness and grace because they are made in the image of God.

They're a child of God and you need to love them as such. Again, some people are 2000 grain sandpaper. You ever touched 2000 grain sandpaper? It's like smooth. And then there's some people that are like two grain. You touch them, you're like, Ooh, they just shaved a little bit off of my arm right there.

You know, it's kind of harsh. Now in verse three, Paul calls for a mediator who does, he doesn't name, but he calls them a true yoke fellow. He says, and I entreat the also true yoke fellow, help those women, which labored with me in the gospel. Now a yoke was a wooden device.

You put over a combination of animals, two animals, and they would be used for plowing and to be effective, the oxen had to work together. Paul refers to one who would help mediate the division and he calls them a true yoke fellow, a teammate, a comrade, a fellow laborer. Paul may be asking this to no one even specifically in the church. He could just be asking anyone in the church that could help bring these two together, that could yoke them together, that can reconcile this, you're laboring with me. And if you're in this church today, listen, one of the things that is important to realize is God calls us to provide unity one to another so that the body is not hindered. Notice that two women Paul says labored with me in the gospel. Not only does Paul mention that they needed to reconcile, but he also talked about what they were doing good.

He said they had labored with me in the gospel. Anyone can point out people's wrongs. Don't be a professional nitpicker. There are no people like that.

The cup's always half full. Anything that goes on, it's always kind of a negative spin on it. I don't believe Christians should be pessimists. And pessimists sometimes are like, I'm not a pessimist, I'm just a realist.

We sanctify our sins, don't we? We should be those encouraging, edifying, positive. I'm not talking about naive and ignorantly positive.

There is a realism to life, but also where we don't just, we're always critical, negative, downtrodden. How can you have the joy of the Lord as your strength and be like that? And so this lets us know also by Paul pointing out good in their life that he was not there to push them down, he's there to build them up. He wants to bring them out of this. You know, Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus confronts seven churches in Revelation. And each one of the churches he confronts, he always starts off by telling them things that they're doing right. Before he gets into the things they need to work on, and some of the situations were so bad, he was telling them, if you don't get this right, your church is going to be shut down. Before he would get to those things, he would always say, but you're doing this, this, this, and this right. And if the perfect Son of God can point out the good things in churches that have flaws, and if he could point those things out in imperfect people, how much more should we have the grace and wisdom and kindness and light of Christ in us that we could point out good before we ever start pointing out the bad in the other people? Don't be somebody that can always criticize your spouse.

You always find something wrong with your husband or wife. Don't always be somebody who criticizes your kids. And kids, don't be somebody who always criticizes your parents. Don't be somebody who always criticizes your teachers or your boss or the government and everything in life.

You just criticize, criticize, negative, negative. There should be a time, hey God, I'm so thankful for this person. I am so thankful for this situation. I'm so thankful for this.

It's good to be able to do that. Now, Christian, God has called us to be peacemakers. Matthew 5, 9 said, blessed are the peacemakers.

They are called the children of God. Romans 12, 18, if it be possible, because sometimes it's not, but if it is, as much as lies in you live peaceably with all men, Paul told them. Jesus said in John 13, 34, and 5, he says, a new commandment I give unto you that you would love one another as I have loved you. So shall he also love one another. By this shall all men know you're my disciples if you have loved one to another. The world will know Christians because they have love for another. The church functions like a body.

And if your body isn't working in unity, it will create problems, create great problems. You know, geese are a powerful testimony of what unity can accomplish. Canadian geese fly in a V formation for a very pragmatic reason. Because they fly in that V formation, they're able to accomplish a 71% increase in distance and speed overall in their journey by working together in the streamline of that V formation. And whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone. And so it quickly comes back into the and takes advantage of the lifting power of the birds in front of it and immediately gains back its ability to stay with them.

If we could have as much sense as a goose, we will find ourselves in formation as Jesus is the head of the church and we fall into formation behind him. Now listen, you may be a hot coal, but if you're left alone, hot coals will get cold if they fall away from the body. You ever have that coal that always wants to roll off?

Then it like falls behind the thing. You're like, ah, curse you coal. The early church had unity and saw great blessing from God. Acts 2 42 says, and all that believed were together had all things common. Acts 2 46.

They continue daily in one accord goes on to say with gladness and singleness of heart. Acts 4 32. The multitude of them that believe were of one heart and one soul.

You know, Paul prayed and Philippians 2 2. He said, fulfill you my joy that you be like minded, having the same love being of one accord of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mine, let each esteem other better than himself. Peter said in first Peter 3 8. Finally, be ye all of one mind. You know, God hates those who so division in the body.

He hates when that happens. Proverbs 6 16. These six things does the Lord hate?

Yea seven are an abomination. When you get down to verse 19, it says a false witness that speaks lies and he that sows discord among brethren. The Lord hates people who would create division.

He not the person, but he hates the sin. Now a central cause of division is always, almost always, I should say, too much of a focus on our own self. People elevate their own opinion.

And I've seen people do this. They get in arguments, they get in debates, they get frustrated with other people. And it's based on an opinion.

It's based on some opinion. Sadly, they never asked the essential question, is this glorifying God? Does it exalt Christ? Are souls being saved? Are believers growing? Rather, they create division because they have a different opinion from somebody else.

Those things are wrong to cause division over. Now the Bible highlights that division in the divisive spirit is one of the great evidences of being immature. Isn't that what kids are known for? What do we say to them? You need to learn to grow up and get along with those around you. Is that what we say to kids?

You need to learn to get along with others. That's what we say to little children. 1 Corinthians 3, Paul says, brethren, I wrote unto you, he says, I could not speak as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. He said, I fed you with milk and not with meat because you weren't able to handle it. In verse 3, he says, you are yet carnal. And he says, how do I know that? He says, there is among you envying strife divisions.

Are you not carnal and walk as men? He said, you're childish. You're immature.

Grow up. If you're somebody at odds all the time and divisive, I can just tell you that is a sign of spiritual immaturity. You say, why get along with everyone except my spouse. And they'll say, you don't know what it's like to live with them. To which I respond, do you know what it's like to live with you?

Right? And they're like, yeah, I got to live with myself and I can't stand it. You know, you know why that happens is because we treat people good based on a if relationship. I'll treat you good if. I'll do this if. I'll obey Christ, forgive you if.

I'll love you like Christ tells me to love you if. We live in an if world. What that does is that ultimately deifies ourself because we reject the command of God. We set ourself on the throne and we live in control of our life. We're not servants of the Lord.

We're servants of our own self. But the Bible tells us he is Lord over all. He is our Lord. And he says, what do you call me, Lord, if you don't do with things that I say? So we must submit to him and love others as God has loved us.

Now, let me come down to a last point. The extent of forgiveness. Look at verse twenty one. Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me?

And I forgive him seven times. Peter's questions asking, is there a cap on this? We all say, that's a great question.

Great question. Thanks for asking, Peter. It'd be nice having a friend like Peter around. He's like, hey, Peter, why don't you ask Jesus this? I don't want to take the hit.

You do it. Peter's like, yeah, I'll ask what's the problem. Peter's a great guy. Now, why did he say till seven times? It's important to know that rabbinic tradition in those days taught that you only forgive someone three times. And if they sin against you a fourth time, you do not forgive them. This was based on Amos chapter three or Amos chapter one, verse three through thirteen, where in Amos one, verse three, it says for three transgressions of Damascus says the Lord and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. And he repeats this five times to different pagan nations that were causing great problems and were enemies of Israel. And the rabbis took that and reasoned, if God only forgave these enemies of the nation three times and applied judgment on the fourth, then we can't exceed God's expectations. We only forgive three times. But the problem with that is God never said only forgive them for three times. And so Peter probably took this common Jewish teaching and doubles it and adds one for good measure.

So what is the true extent of forgiveness? Jesus responds in verse 22, Jesus say to him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until what? Seventy times seven.

Well, that raises the bar just a little bit. So he applies a tenfold addition to it. Seven times seventy, that's 490. Peter had more than doubled the standard and Jesus explodes the minds of the disciples by saying, oh, you need to forgive them seventy times seven or 490 times in a day. This is magnanimous.

How impossible, how extensive, this is crazy. Can you imagine if someone sinned against you and you forgive them? Same day they do it again. Okay, and they're repentive and you forgive them. They do it again. Okay, I'll forgive you. And then they do it again.

At a pace of twenty times per hour in a twenty-four hour period would be 490 in a day. Kidding me. That's really, that's, now Jesus saying now if they hit 491, you're like, I've been waiting for 491. I'm going to light them up. Come more, bring it.

I'm in the twenty-fourth hour. Come on. Now Jesus isn't saying there's a cap on it.

He's saying there's not a cap. Now some might look at this and say, wow, this is incredibly terrible to live under such a standard. To be commanded by God to forgive those who wrong you like that. Listen to me as I wrap this up today. This standard by Christ is one of the greatest joys you will ever read in your life. This is the best news because Jesus is showing us and applying to our life. He's saying, listen, treat others the same way God is treating you. If he said only forgive them three times, well then there's a cap by God on you as well.

So God is now showing us that there is no cap. Our greatest need is not to hold on to bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness. Our greatest need is to daily, hourly, and even by minute that God's grace would be poured out on our sins. That he would be magnanimous to us in grace. Also consider how horrifying it would be if Jesus said if someone offends you more than three times, never forgive them.

What if he said hold on to it. Make them pay for what they've done to you. Elevate their sins. Speak of it.

Highlight it and never let it go. Does anybody want a God like that telling you to do that? Because if that's the case, then God is going to do that to you as well. This passage should make the Christians fall down and worship with joy at a God who treats us with such mercy. And it's also such a blessing because he's letting us know that we can let go of that which would most destroy us, which is unforgiveness. Now the word forgive means it's from a Greek word athemai in verse 21 and it means to send something away. It was used in Matthew 8 15 when he sent a fever away from Peter's mother-in-law.

He sent the fever away. Psalm 103 verse 12 says, as far as the east is from the west, he removes our transgressions from us. To forgive means you cast it away.

You don't hold on to it. Forgiveness in the Bible also speaks about canceling a debt. Luke 11 4. Forgive us our sins as we also forgive for everyone who's indebted to us.

The idea is that sin creates a debt. And so you say well I don't hold on. I don't have a legidsimai. I don't hold on to these things. I will let that ledger go. You don't owe me anything. Forgiveness is saying you don't owe me anything. Now when you study the Bible there's a lot about forgiveness. In fact there's 75 word pictures in the Bible on forgiveness. To forgive is to turn a key, open the cell door and let a prisoner walk free.

That's one metaphor. To forgive is to write in large letters across the debt nothing owed. The Bible says to forgive is to pound the gavel in a courtroom and declare not guilty. To forgive is to shoot an arrow so high and far they can never be found. To forgive is to take out the garbage and dispose of it once for all leaving the house fresh and clean. To forgive is to loose the anchor and set the ship free to sail. To forgive is to grant a full pardon to the condemned and sentenced criminal. To forgive is to loosen a stranglehold on a wrestling opponent. And it goes on and on 75 word pictures. It's an incredible thing.

Incredible thing. Unforgiveness is a trap. Unforgiveness is a trap. It imprisons people. It enchains them.

And the weight people carry throughout their life. The price of unforgiveness is extremely high. It imprisons people into the past. When somebody is unforgiving it sentences them to feel as bad throughout their life as they did when it happened. They go all their life feeling miserable. It makes them an emotional slave of the person they won't forgive.

Dr. S.F. McMillan's book None of These Diseases lists 50 diseases that can be caused by psychological stress such as unforgiveness. The anxiety, stress and unforgiving bitter heart make people get physically sick. If you do not forgive others you give them literal control over your life. The person you don't even like has more control over you than Jesus who you say you love.

Dale Carnegie says wouldn't our enemies rub their hands with glee if they knew that our hate for them was exhausting us making us tired and nervous ruining our looks giving us heart trouble and probably shortening our lives. Praise God Jesus says forgive. I don't want to live in the bondage of an enemy. I want to live in the freedom of my Savior. What an incredible joy that Jesus has called us to live in forgiveness. Praise God he can set us free. As I close today offenses will come.

It's a reality. You have to purpose in your heart what are you going to do about it. You're going to hold on to it. You're going to make that person pay. You're going to hold the grudge. You're going to treat them not like Jesus has treated you and I but you're going to treat them with vengeance. Will you be like Yodius and Seneci allow the visions to hinder the body or will you obey the Lord and forgive them just as God has forgiven you. The key is this and this is making Jesus your motive instead of that person. Is there unforgiveness in your heart bitterness and resentment but if I forgive them I let them off the hook. No you don't let them off the hook. You just turn them over to God.

Let the Lord deal with them and I want you to hear the words of Jesus in Matthew 6 12. He says and he says when you pray say Father forgive us our debts and I want you to hear the words even as we forgive those who are indebted to us. You know what that means. Forgive us in the same way we forgive others. Treat my sins exactly how I treat the sins of others.

You understand what that's saying. If you have unforgiveness in your heart you're indicting yourself because if you have unforgiveness it's saying God don't forgive me like I have not forgiven them. Hold the resentment and bitterness against me like I have against them.

There's people who pray that they have no idea and ignorance what they're saying. Forgive us our debts even as we forgive our debtor. So if you have a spouse you're resentful for bitter against you have children parents neighbors fellow believers whoever it is. From the cross Jesus said Father forgive them and I can tell you we have not been to that point of struggle. So today you look to heaven and say I will rather obey you who I love than that person who I don't want to love. But I choose to love. Jesus says pray for your enemies bless them that curse you.

And I can tell you life can be hard. That's why Christianity it's tough. It's not for the easy right. It's for the surrendered. But when you give everything over to him he'll give you the freedom to do that. Be set free today. Be set free.

Don't be in bondage. And if you're here today and you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior there is no greater need in your life than today to come to know him as your Lord and Savior. I'm going to preach another message on deeper things about this next Sunday as we go through because there's so many questions I'm sure people have and I'm going to get into more questions and answers next week on this.

But it's a massive topic. But begin to do business in your heart. It starts with you getting right with God and then you can get right with other people. Today we're going to be observing the Lord's Supper.

There's cups up here. During invitation we ask you to come to get those to go back to your seat afterwards. In the Lord's Supper the Bible says before you partake of that we are to examine ourself. The Bible says to make sure that you're a true believer that you're a Christian. It says examine yourself before you would do that lest you would be bringing judgment upon yourself. And so first of all make sure you're a Christian. Make sure that you have no open sin in your life.

Doesn't mean nobody in this room is perfect but it means that there's nothing that you knowingly are doing that is violating the Word of God. If there is then don't partake. You need to resist that and just stay in your seat. That's okay to do.

Get that right. But we're going to partake. So during the invitation time when the song is going on you can come down and get those. If you physically cannot come up we'll have people who bring those to you. If you need to make a spiritual decision, if you need to be saved today we'll have men and women down front. We could talk to you and pull you inside a private room and show you from the Word of God how you can be saved. Whatever your need is. If you have something in your heart toward anyone why don't you come today and take time to pray. Lift that up to the Lord. Let's all stand this morning.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-10-15 10:10:15 / 2024-10-15 10:30:21 / 20

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