Killer of Spiritual Lifes (Part 2)

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Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author, Dr. Mike Abendroth.

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Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

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Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the scriptures, verse by verse, with No Compromise.

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People wander around. They don't think they're accountable to God. They have no conscience that they're going to stand before God because it's too seared.

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But if they would only think ahead to that day, to that judgment day, they would feel the debt.

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Verse 27, out of pity for him, out of pity, out of mercy, out of compassion, out of love.

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The master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. Free forgiveness.

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What a great picture. This is the person who realizes they're so sinful and depraved and wicked and evil that they go to God and they say,

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God, I know I deserve to be thrown into hell, but you're a merciful

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God. You're a kind God. You love to save sinners. You're called God the

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Savior. And you've provided a way of salvation through Jesus Christ's life and death.

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And you've said that if I cast myself on the Lord Jesus Christ with faith and believe that he was a substitute for sinners and a representative for sinners and he's a risen

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Savior, that if I would believe in that Jesus, you would grant me mercy. He doesn't bargain.

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He goes for mercy. What kind of judge is this? What kind of king is this?

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What kind of leader is this? What kind of God do we have? The guy asked for more time, but he gets mercy.

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The king doesn't say, okay, I'll give you a little more time. He says, I'm going to give you mercy. I'm big hearted. I'm compassionate.

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I get glory when I cover sin. I get glory when I overlook a transgression. I forgive you.

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What a great picture of the love of God, the compassion of God. This guy could have embezzled it.

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He could have done all kinds of other things. It's all a debt to the master and the master says, free.

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If you're a Christian, you're a forgiven person, right? Past sins covered, present sins covered, future sins covered.

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There's not one sin that you ever have to pay for if you're a Christian. Did you know that? Not one. So how do we act towards other people?

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Verse 28. What do you think this guy's going to do? I mean, he's on the ground. He's probably all dusty.

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What would you do if you owe $10 billion, $13 .4 billion, and someone just said, take care of, what would you do if you had $20 ,000 on your credit card?

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Who here has $20 ,000? No, don't raise your hand. Somebody has $20 ,000 on your credit card and you go in to chase bank and say,

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I try, I do this, I'll do that. And the guy said, we'll just have to go to the office a minute. Comes back, gets paid, you're forgiven.

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How would you act? I'm telling you, this guy got up and I think he did some kind of dance. I think he was jumping for joy.

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I think it was, can you imagine? I don't think he was concerned about anything else. You know what it's like to be under financial pressure.

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It feels like there's a burden. It feels like you can't breathe. How much more you think I've sinned against God and He's going to judge me?

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No wonder people imbibe in hedonism and sports and everything else to distract them from that day, the day of judgment.

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So I wonder what this guy's going to do. And the master's so compassionate, so loving, so forgiving.

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He forgives and now this guy's going to echo. This guy's going to mirror his master's forgiveness.

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Right? Verse 28, but when that same servant went out, that one had been forgiven 2 billion, 13 billion, 20 billion.

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When he went out, he tracked down, he found, he went looking for one of his fellow servants who owed him three months wages.

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By the way, you could pay that back. A hundred denarii, a hundred days work, $10 ,000.

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I've been forgiven 20 billion. Where's that guy that owes me 10 ,000? I got to go get that back.

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And he seizes him and begins to choke him saying, pay what you owe. It was said back in Roman law that if somebody owed you a lot of money, you could squeeze their neck so hard as you brought them to the judge that you could make blood come out of their nose.

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Cicero said, lead him to the judgment seat with twisted neck. You grab that guy by the neck.

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You throttle him. You choke him. This poor guy wants to text, not say, it doesn't say, sorry,

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I'll try to get it. The guy's choking him before he even lets him talk. He seizes him. He chokes him.

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Pay and the emphatic Greek is up front. Pay, pay, pay what you owe.

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I've received compassion. You get cruelty. I've received forgiveness. You get justice.

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I've received mercy. You get your neck choked until you bleed out of the nose.

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So what do you do when someone sins against you? What do you do?

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What do you do when you sin against someone else? Isn't the Lord good and kind to remind us of what to do in the

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Old Testament and the New? How do we act? No wonder marriages break up.

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No wonder churches break up. No wonder friendships break up. Because God has designed forgiveness in such a way to remind us that we have been forgiven so much that if someone ever says to you, will you please forgive me?

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It is a sin not to rush, not to almost even interrupt when people say, will you please to interrupt them saying, yes, based on what

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I've done, what I deserve, I'm worse than you. I'm more wicked than you. I'm more evil than you. And God has had compassion on me.

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And I don't want to go choke you until blood comes out of your nose. Now here's the question.

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Who won't you forgive? Who's hurt you so bad you just will not forgive?

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And the answer to almost every life's question, spiritual question, is don't forget to look at that Jesus on the cross who says to the

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Father, said to the Father, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus never sinned, but he was the sin bearer.

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This man takes him by the throat. That's really what a lack of forgiveness is. You've done this too many times.

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The limit's up. Seven was a lot. You just hit 491. No. It is a throttle.

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The thing is, we all need forgiveness because we all sin against each other.

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Would you please forgive me? No. Pay what you owe. When you look at this guy, here's what

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I think. I think Twilight Zone is what I think. There's like some weird music going on in the background.

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It's bizarro world. 20 billion forgiven, won't forgive 10 ,000.

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Something's not right. It's incongruous. It's oxymoronic. Something's wrong.

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That's why when I read the passage, I say, yes, I'm impressed by Jesus, but then the dagger comes where I think,

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I have been hurt. I have been sinned against, and I want that proverbial

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Shakespearean pound of what? Flesh. You pay what you owe. It's sinful.

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It's not Christian. You know what it is? It's bizarre. It's like a Twilight Zone. One commentator said, it is a moral monstrosity.

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Will you please forgive me? No. Or what's worse, no, I won't.

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Yes, I will forgive you, and then still hold it against them. Keep remembering. Keep reminding. Keep rubbing their nose in it.

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You say, well, I can't forget. Well, you don't have to forget. That's very passive, but you can actively not remember.

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I will not bring it up, and when I do, I'll think about something else. When it does come up into my mind, I'll think about my debt of sin that's been released.

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Verse 29, so his fellow servant, this action should make the light bulb go off in the guy's mind.

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This is what I did. This is like deja vu. I am he. He is me.

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But no, fell down, pleaded with him, have patience with me.

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By the way, he could pay. You can pay off a three -month debt. I will pay you. I will pay.

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Please forgive me. I'll pay. Now, the

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Greek text pleaded is an imperfect tense, and that means he pleaded and pleaded and pleaded.

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And the man said, no, no, no. Please, please, please forgive me.

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I won't forgive you. Verse 30, it's also an imperfect tense.

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He refused. He refused. The man asked. He refused. The man begged. He refused.

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The man was on his knees. He refused and went out and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. He receives mercy, and now he's going to exact justice.

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When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed.

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Verse 31. Why? Because the king is supposed to have servants that do things that he does, do things like him.

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He's the leader. He's the initiator. He's the king. Like king, like servants.

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They're displeased. Think about how displeased the Lord is. You've been forgiven all your sins. You're a Christian person.

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And your spouse says, honey, will you please forgive me? And you say, no. Had enough.

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And they were greatly displeased. And they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.

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How wicked. It's like a rewind of what happened for the first guy happens with this guy.

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And he's unmoved. I can't sell this guy into slavery because the debt's too small.

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But I won't forgive. The honor of the king is at stake.

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The honor of the master is at stake. The honor of God is at stake. I've forgiven you every single sin that you would ever commit.

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Maybe 20 billion. But you won't forget what that person did to you.

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You won't forgive them, rather. They've asked for forgiveness, and you've said no.

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That's bizarre. No, that's wicked. Well, the master's kind and merciful and loving.

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But the master also is holy and just. And there's a limit.

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Then the master summoned him. Said to him, you wicked servant. I forgave you, and in the

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Greek, all is emphasized. You could highlight it in yellow, in other words. I forgave you all.

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I forgave you every one of your sins. I forgave you when you loved other gods more than me. I loved you when you profaned my name.

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I loved you when you didn't love me with your heart. I loved you when you didn't love your neighbor. I loved you when you didn't love your spouse.

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I loved you when you didn't submit to your husband. I loved, I loved, I loved. And I forgave you all that debt.

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Because you pleaded with me. And should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you.

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Mercy received means mercy given. Forgiven much, forgive much.

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Jesus, how many times do I have to forgive? Answer, it's the wrong question.

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Christians are forgiving. Verse 34. And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers.

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Horrible translation. Only used here in the New Testament. It means tormentors. It means torturers.

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Do I believe in torture? The answer is yes. For more reasons than one.

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This one right here. You've got to be tortured. This is so wicked. You deserve torture. The sin of unforgiveness is so bad.

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It deserves hell. Torture. Terrible punishment.

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You don't torture people who are in debt. You torture criminals. And this is more than just someone who is in debt.

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It's criminal to be relieved of debt and then exact three months worth of work.

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Give them to the tormentors. Stretch out their limbs. Put them on the rack.

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Pull their skin off while alive. That's torture. And now we see why it's a spiritual truth.

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Verse 35. So also. So also.

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So also, my Heavenly Father, Jesus says, will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from the heart.

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True or false? You've sinned a lot. True or false? If you're a

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Christian, God with mercy and compassion and forgiveness at the expense of another

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Christ Jesus has forgiven you every single sin. True or false?

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Anything that anybody has done against you regarding a sin is relatively insignificant compared to the debt that you owed

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God. Logically then, true or false, shouldn't you then forgive people those debts?

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When God forgives, does He say, let's see, I forgive those sins and those sins, but that category

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I don't. There's a couple of exception clauses here. You're forgiven almost all these, except these three over here in those two categories.

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Colossians chapter 2 says, He has forgiven us all of our sins. He's forgiven us all of our trespasses.

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He's forgiven us all our iniquities. Without exception. And when someone comes to you and says,

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Do you have a category? Do you have a number? Do you have an exception?

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I've done this too many times. That's over the line. God forgives us wholeheartedly, compassionately, totally.

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What's the point of the passage? Here's the point of the passage. If you receive free grace, you ought to grace other people.

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If you've received forgiveness, which every Christian has, you ought to grant forgiveness.

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Is there anyone you won't forgive? Is there any sin you won't forgive?

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Is there anything in your family that's happened that you won't forgive? Is there anything happened here at this church that you just won't forgive?

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Say, well, I'm leaving the church. Why is that? Well, I've been really hurt here.

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I'm leaving the church. Why? Mike, you've hurt me. I'm leaving here. The elders have hurt me.

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I'm leaving here. The women's quilting committee has hurt me. I'm leaving here. Awana has hurt me.

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I mean, the list could go on and on. Do we have a quilting committee? Is that like anti -feminist or something?

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I don't know. I think we have some men that quilt here. I'm not kidding. I would never admit it. I'm not one of them, but there are some men that know how to quilt.

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We won't say anything about that until next week. I forgive you. You're leaving your marriage because you're hurt.

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You're leaving the church because you're hurt. No, you're leaving the church because you will not forgive. You're getting a divorce because you will not forgive.

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You're breaking up with a friend because you will not forgive. I didn't say you couldn't. You won't. There's no room for hurt.

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It's better to be hurt than it is to hurt. That's true. But hurt is code for I can't face it.

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And I just need to be reminded. Aren't we all so weak? And aren't we all so incarcerated in the flesh?

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And we all need to be reminded. Look back to the cross. I know you did these things to me. I know they're real.

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I know I did them to you. But look at the cross. This is not for my name. This is not for my reputation.

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This is not for the church's reputation. This is for the glory of Christ Jesus. God looked at me,

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Mike Abendroth, and knew every sin I would ever commit, and said, Jesus has paid for it, and I'm going to treat you like it never happened.

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I'm going to adopt you into my family, and you're a joiner with Christ. You have union with Christ.

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I do that because I'm a saving God and a loving God. And Abendroth, when you get sinned against, you better say, you better treat them like that.

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Because the people who are known for not forgiving ought to ask themselves the question, how can

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I be a Christian and not forgive? That's the question. That's the point. John Owen said,

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Our forgiving another will not procure forgiveness for ourselves. You don't get saved by forgiving people.

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But our not forgiving others proves that we ourselves are not forgiven. How can you not forgive people knowing that you're forgiven?

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How can you call yourself a Christian and not forgive? You say, I just can't feel like it.

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I just can't feel the forgiveness. Is that how God forgives? Well, I just feel like it.

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No, it's a decision of the will. It's an act. It's a sacrifice. It's not a feeling.

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God's forgiveness, praise the Lord, isn't a feeling. It's a promise. I forgive you.

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Did not Jesus say in Matthew chapter 6, Forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors.

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And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. Jesus said, If you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly

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Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your

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Father will not forgive your transgressions. What's he saying?

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Forgiving people, forgive. And I'm so glad for this remedy and for this solution and for this mercy of God because I sin against other people and I am sinned against.

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So what stops us from just saying, Forget it. I'm out of here.

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This church, the next church, the other church, it doesn't matter what church it is. I'm out of here. I'm out of this marriage. Well, the thing is you can't run from yourself.

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You can't run from your lack of granting forgiveness. And so let's just say before God and before the

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Spirit of God and the Son, Lord, we struggle with forgiveness.

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Please forgive us and help us to forgive others in light of the cross. I ask you a question.

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Who won't you forgive in your life? Let's close with Ephesians chapter 4.

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Please turn there. I can't make many comments. But let's just look at Ephesians chapter 4. In light of the

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Trinitarian love that God has for the church, he gives some exhortations. And isn't this wonderful?

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It is a great passage. Ephesians chapter 4. Let's just wrap it up. Paul would echo the heart of his

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Savior, Jesus. Paul, the Christian killer, the persecutor. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 31.

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Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander be put away from you.

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When Jesus got crucified, they said, Away with him. That's the language here. Just get rid of all this stuff.

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You know why? Because it's a cycle. When you start being bitter and then you get angry, it ends up coming out of slander.

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Show me a slanderous person, I'll show you somebody who's bitter. We don't want that. I don't want that.

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Doesn't that mean that? That's like our old life. Put that off. Along with all malice.

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And then what does he say to put on? This is replacement. Put off, put on. In light of the electing love of the

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Father, the redeeming love of the Son, and the sealing love of the Spirit, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, and then don't you love it, forgiving one another.

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How do I do that? As God in Christ forgave you.

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And you know what's so neat about that word forgive there? That's not release of a debt. That means to grace.

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If God has graced you, you grace people with forgiveness. Remember what grace is?

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They didn't deserve it. I mean, this person did it on purpose to you. They said it on purpose. And you say,

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I grant you favor that you don't deserve. You didn't merit it. Yeah, I know you did those things to me, but I'm a sinner saved by grace.

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I'm actually worse than you are. And, well, maybe that wouldn't go over so well at a particular time, but in your mind you should think that.

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But I'm a sinner and I grant you grace, as God in Christ has graced you.

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That's the kind of family I want to live in. A forgiving family. That's the kind of church

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I want to be in. A forgiving church. That's the kind of friends I want to be involved with is a forgiving friendship.

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Is there anybody in your life you simply will not forgive?

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No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

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Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible -teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 8 .30 and 11 a .m. and Sunday evenings at 6 p .m.

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We're located on Route 110 in West Boylston, Massachusetts. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org

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or by phone at 508 -835 -3400. The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff, or management.