Biblical Forgiveness

Sovereign Grace Family Church

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January 23, 2022

00:02: Would one of you guys like to open us up with a word of prayer? How about a young whippersnapper? Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us the word, Jesus, help to direct us in the way that we should go.
00:25: So two weeks ago, we were dealing with forgiveness, and we're going to pick up where I left off because I didn't even get half of what we were trying to cover, but I will try to cover all of that today.
00:38: I'll try to finish up today, because I really had three weeks worth of material, but we can't just drag out for six weeks, because you know we're in between weeks.
01:01: Does anyone remember how we defined this, what the Biblical definition of that is? Not our definition, but the Biblical definition.
01:14: Anybody remember? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone? It is a commitment from the offended to grant a pardon to the offender upon repentance, although all consequences may not go away.
01:41: Remember? Do you remember me saying that? Okay, well I said it again today.
01:47: Okay.
01:48: Okay.
01:50: Do you remember under Biblical forgiveness what some of those qualities were? Transactional.
02:00: Okay.
02:10: And what does transactional mean? It goes both directions.
02:14: That's right.
02:15: Two parties.
02:16: One has to give, another has to receive, or something has to take place.
02:21: I'm going to put this up here, because this, uh oh.
02:38: It's covenantal and commitment.
02:41: One, when God forgave us, it was a covenant by God to dismiss and deal with His holiness and justice our sin, correct? We have to, in the same manner, we have to have a commitment to the offender to do the same.
03:00: Okay, that's why I put this up here.
03:02: And what was another, what was another quality of Biblical forgiveness? Or what was the purpose of forgiveness? When God saved us, it says that God forgave us, He forgives us in Christ.
03:23: He forgave us for what purpose? Reconciliation.
03:38: Reconciliation.
03:40: He said you've been reconciled to God by who? By Christ.
03:45: So that's our model.
03:47: That's our model.
03:52: Forgiveness, in order for this to take place, it's conditional.
04:06: I'm going to read to you, because all my books are on digital, so if you see me, I'm not texting my wife or playing on my phone, but I got everything on here so I can read it.
04:15: Let me read from you from the, now this is the Gospel Coalition, all right? I want to read to you what their definition of forgiveness is.
04:22: Can everybody hear me? I want you to hear this.
04:26: We should give an offender unconditionally and immediately.
04:33: I know this is extremely difficult, but this is how God forgave us.
04:38: Is that true? No, God did not unconditionally forgive us.
04:44: In order for God to have forgiven us, what did we have to do? Ma'am? Believe.
04:52: Certainly believe.
04:55: Man, you had to repent.
04:59: I'm running out of room.
05:03: Repent.
05:05: I know, but I'm going to put all the wrong qualities on this side.
05:14: This is going to be the don't do's and that's going to be the do's.
05:19: You have to repent.
05:24: Matthew 18, what did he say? If your brother, what's that? I was going to say, it wasn't that one, but repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins might be blotted out.
05:34: That's it.
05:35: It's always been conditional.
05:37: Always been conditional.
05:38: Go back to all the Old Testament.
05:40: Like I said, search it high and low, far and wide, turn it upside down, shake it, whatever you have to try to do, God's forgiveness upon anyone was always conditional on their repentance.
05:52: When Jeremiah went and he preached, when Isaiah preached, when Hosea preached, all the prophets in the Old Testament, what did it say they would do? They'd have to repent for God to either heal their land, for God to forgive them.
06:06: He said that he would stay the judgment on them under Jeremiah if they did what? If they would just turn back, turn, what's that? Sure.
06:17: Yeah.
06:17: To turn back, to turn back.
06:19: So it's always conditional.
06:21: We get to Matthew 18 and I know primarily that deals with church discipline.
06:26: But it begins with, if your brother sins against you, you go to him in private.
06:31: If you, it says, if he repents, what happens? It's over.
06:36: That's it.
06:36: It's squashed.
06:37: It's over.
06:39: And you follow that progression on.
06:40: If he doesn't, if he doesn't, then you take another, get another.
06:44: But the condition for restoration and reconciliation is repentance.
06:49: And even when you go to, towards the end of that, Matthew 18, if you look at the one of the parables in that, where he talks about the, the, uh, the wicked slave at the end where he calls into account, even when, and I'm going to read that actually in the third week, we're going to do that.
07:29: I was going to expound that whole parable because that had deals with unforgiveness in the heart, but it's still conditional on the person asking for forgiveness for the debt to be released.
07:39: The wicked servant, he calls into account what he wants.
07:43: The wicked servant says, I'll just give me more time.
07:46: And he says, you know what? I'll let it go.
07:49: The, the, the Lord of the, and it's a picture of God.
07:51: He says, I'm going to let it go.
07:53: But what does he do? He goes to somebody who owes him just a tiny amount and he chokes him.
07:58: And that person begs for forgiveness and mercy and he doesn't show it.
08:02: But even at that, you see in the, in there, it's conditional upon someone asking for forgiveness.
08:08: Now, I know we deal with bitterness.
08:14: Okay.
08:16: And primarily it says, I'm going to forgive so-and-so so that I'm not bitter.
08:21: Okay.
08:34: What's therapeutic mean? Yes, sir.
08:41: Oh, I thought you were going to say something, Andy.
08:43: Just laughing at me.
08:44: Yes, sir.
08:45: Okay.
08:46: I said you write really small.
08:48: Oh.
08:50: Therapeutic means to make feel better.
08:52: So if you get sick and you go to the doctor, what does he, if you have a cold, there's no cure for the cold.
08:57: Right? So what do they tell you to do? Go take some Thera-flu or some type of therapeutic.
09:04: So this is to make you feel better.
09:07: Okay.
09:08: There's nothing wrong with feeling better.
09:10: Okay.
09:12: But in forgiveness, we're not trying to make ourselves feel better.
09:17: We're trying to honor God.
09:19: Okay.
09:20: So when we look at this here, this is biblical forgiveness.
09:26: This is how God tells us to do it.
09:29: On this side, this takes two parties.
09:36: Correct? Under therapeutic forgiveness, one party.
09:49: Only one person's needed.
09:51: Why? It feels bad.
09:55: It feels bad.
09:56: I'm sorry? It feels bad.
09:57: Yeah.
09:57: I've been, I'll use Mike because I like to pick on him.
10:00: He's closest.
10:00: I offend Mike.
10:03: Don't come and ask for forgiveness.
10:05: Mike says, you know what? I'm going to be the better man.
10:07: I'm going to be the bigger man.
10:08: It'll make me feel better and I won't grow bitter if I just forgive Mike Collier for whatever he did.
10:15: That's not biblical forgiveness.
10:17: And I just want to ask the question.
10:19: You don't have to answer or you can answer out loud.
10:21: By just simply saying, I forgive so-and-so for what they did.
10:28: Does that mean bitterness dissipates like the morning dew? No.
10:34: As a matter of fact, even when there's transactional forgiveness, dude, that's difficult.
10:40: I mean, think about someone that's either hurt you, hurt a family member, hurt a grandkid, hurt a friend deeply.
10:46: Do you still deal with that bitterness? Well, the potential for that bitterness.
10:51: So what do you have to continue to do? Scripture says you have to bring into the obedience, bring every thought into captivity obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.
10:59: That's what we're to do.
11:02: So this has a commitment of two parties.
11:05: This has one party and it's always for the what purpose? Self.
11:11: Self-motivated.
11:16: Do you remember the two weeks ago when I talked about the guy that went in and he shot up the Pulse nightclub? Forget it being an immoral club for a minute, all right, we know that.
11:31: But Angel Collins said he grew up in church and he said he had to forgive that man for what he did, although the dude was dead, Omar Mateen, he said, I have to forgive him so that bitterness doesn't grow up within me.
11:44: And then he went, he said, spoke to the kid's dad, I mean, to the to the dad's son.
11:49: And he says, I want to let you know, I'm going to forgive your dad and you for what you did.
11:53: That is stupid.
11:54: He has.
11:55: Why was he forgiving the child? What did the child do? And you remember Charles Roberts, the guy that shot up the Amish community, you remember that back in 2006, eight, something like that.
12:09: And the community came out and they gave their mother, his mother, a plaque that said forgiven and said they wanted to forgive her for what her son did.
12:21: Is that biblical? Good.
12:25: So I wonder if part of the issue with all of this is we so often have the wrong definition or the wrong meaning of when forgiveness is needed.
12:37: In other words, let's say you drive it down into space.
12:40: I'm going to cut you off.
12:41: And in your mind, you say, well, I forgive him.
12:45: That's not really what we're talking about.
12:47: I think a lot of times we just fall everything into forgiveness rather than love covers the multitude of sin.
12:55: And I know you brought that up.
12:57: So I think that's where sometimes we get into this issue of.
13:02: Again, some sort of activity to take somebody on, hold the door open as you walk in.
13:07: And that that is what this is going to lead to.
13:09: Right.
13:10: Because this is going to lead to this here because this is God dealing with us.
13:14: Right.
13:15: And that's the model we have to do.
13:18: I'm too low.
13:34: Hey, this right here, can you can all see that word justice? This has to justice has to be has to be understood.
13:53: And it's it's granted in biblical forgiveness over here.
13:58: Just as Andy was saying, justice is unnecessary.
14:10: And why is this justice over here unnecessary? Because God's law may not even been violated.
14:17: Just like you were talking about driving or somebody didn't hold the door.
14:20: I think you were talking about that one.
14:22: Oh, sorry, I didn't hold the door for you.
14:24: All right.
14:24: I got offended because so and so didn't do this.
14:27: Well, OK, did they break God's law? Did they break God's law? You can't point to an actual sin.
14:36: Forgiveness may not be necessary.
14:39: Over here.
14:42: Well, I can forgive so and so for what he did.
14:45: They may not even sin.
14:46: So God's justice really is not necessary.
14:50: And if God's justice is not necessary and an actual violation of God's law doesn't have to be understood, well, then forgiving somebody without them being present is certainly easy to do.
15:03: So on the right side, it's where we feel offended.
15:08: On the left side is where we actually been offended.
15:12: Yeah, because this is all dealing with this here.
15:16: That's all this deals with.
15:18: Is it? How you feel? How you feel at the end of the day? I just want to feel better.
15:25: Lewis Mead, I don't know if I remember me saying that guy's name.
15:28: He wrote a book and I read down his progression of I think it was nine chapters in his book.
15:34: I don't recommend reading his book.
15:36: There were some things in there, but it really becomes more Dr.
15:39: Phil, Oprah Winfrey, therapeutic kind of garbage in there because it ends up going, hey, you can be mad at God and free of God.
15:48: That's that's the progression.
15:49: I don't remember me reading.
15:50: You remember me reading it, don't you? And that's what it leads to.
15:54: But Lewis Mead says, hey, every not speech made every every person deserves to be free from bitterness and hate.
16:02: That's his motto.
16:04: Well, then that's why you're dealing with feelings and that's all he deals with.
16:10: It's unnecessary to do that.
16:13: But if you were to read books, I would recommend if you have problems with forgiveness and if you struggle with forgiveness.
16:22: Chris Braun's book, Unpacking Forgiveness, excellent book, Jay Adams, Forgiven to Forgive, excellent book.
16:35: Nancy DeMoss wrote one called Forgiveness.
16:37: It had some very good chapters in it, but it it was on the borderline of therapeutic.
16:44: She did say some very good things.
16:45: There was one spot that really stuck out to me in one of her books.
16:48: It's been years ago when I read it.
16:49: It was dealing in her chapter with bitterness.
16:52: This is a bitterness.
16:53: Now, this is a very good, good, good saying.
16:58: Being bitter towards someone is like drinking poison and hoping they die.
17:02: I think that's a very good way of looking at it because you're angry with someone.
17:06: But that bitterness is poisoning who? It's poisoning us.
17:11: Yeah.
17:12: So therapeutic is dealing with self.
17:16: You can forgive somebody without the other person being present.
17:20: God's justice is unnecessary.
17:23: And I'm just going to shorten that is unnecessary.
17:40: Reconciliation is unnecessary.
17:42: And why is it unnecessary? Because it starts with this first part.
17:47: Yeah.
17:48: You forgive somebody without him being present.
17:51: So we're here.
17:52: The purpose of forgiveness is to be restored and to be reconciled to your brother.
17:59: So as we look at how God has forgiven us, that's the model.
18:05: We've offended God.
18:07: God then sent his son to be our propitiation so that we could be reconciled to him.
18:16: That's the model all through scripture, all through scripture, questions, comments, outbursts of anger.
18:23: Yes, I just had one.
18:25: So this is interesting, too, how it applies in our current culture.
18:28: I've been reading Votie Bachman's book, the one on critical race theory, fault lines.
18:32: Yeah.
18:32: And it's interesting how that that's how you self focus.
18:36: That's how you get to let the social justice warriors would start talking about things like reparations and all this stuff, which is not biblical forgiveness.
18:44: None of us have ever owned a slave or had anything like that.
18:47: But yet they would like to incur that guilt, white guilt and all that stuff on us.
18:52: It's interesting how that applies.
18:53: That forgiveness shows it's all self focus.
18:56: It's all selfish.
18:58: It's not biblical forgiveness.
19:00: No, biblical forgiveness is always rooted in is God's law been broken? Is forgiveness actually necessary? You know, if when someone sins against you and we do sin against one another a lot, OK, we do if it can't be covered under love, covers a multitude of sins.
19:21: Does it need to be confronted? And when it does need to be confronted, make sure we know what that sin is and not just my feelings are hurt.
19:28: And then once it is, the purpose for asking is then when you have an attitude when you go to that person with a commitment to forgive that person when they ask.
19:37: Look, if we'll just go back to Mike.
19:41: I offend Mike.
19:42: I go to Mike.
19:43: I have to be and this is tough sometimes.
19:46: We have to be specific on what we have done.
19:50: I don't know about y'all, but if you've ever sinned against your wife or wife against her husband and my wife is not here today, but she would attest to this.
19:57: I specifically say, baby, forgive me for this.
20:00: I spoke with you in a way that was I didn't treat you the way that God tells me I treat.
20:04: It's got to be specific, not just, hey, I'm sorry.
20:08: Matter of fact, I only think you can see the words I'm sorry in the Bible.
20:13: I'm sorry you're mad at me.
20:15: Yeah.
20:15: Yeah.
20:16: What does that mean? Yeah.
20:19: Yeah.
20:19: So it needs to be specific.
20:22: Just when we come to once again, we're back to the biblical model of forgiveness.
20:26: When you came to God for forgiveness, you and your heart said, forgive me for what? For sinning against you.
20:35: And I need you to forgive me.
20:37: And we could go on a list of sins forever and ever and ever.
20:42: You know, so, yes, ma'am.
20:44: Since we're not talking about forgiveness, when we're talking about feelings and bitterness and offenses, what should we do with those feelings and offenses and feelings of bitterness? I'm all I was going to go ahead and this week, go ahead and look at that, that parable.
21:01: So if you want to go to Matthew 18 to that parable at the end, because that deals with unforgiveness.
21:12: And by and large, and he's been in ministry a lot longer, and I would even say Mike Smith has spent maybe a little bit more time in ministry, certainly longer in church.
21:24: And I would say that by and large, bitterness always is rooted.
21:31: And did you really forgive that person? Did you really forgive that person? And that, yes.
21:40: With this, on the forgiveness and, you know, conditional, the issue that you and I have talked about that we've gone through with Laura Hart, when you address that person and there is, when we say conditional, I mean, what do we look from that other person to make that condition for that? All right.
22:08: When we have to have a heart willing and ready to forgive that person when they call or seek forgiveness, that's what it means.
22:16: Means that the transactional part can't take place unless that individual says, this is what I've done to you and I need you to forgive me for this.
22:27: Now, it may not always look like we want.
22:30: So we do have to use some discernment and go, okay, is he or she trying to convey in such a way that they have realized that they sinned and hurt you, your family or whatever.
22:42: Now, is there a method of looking to see if it's genuine? And I would say, yes, there is.
22:51: You could go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7, where he goes, I'm sorry, 2 Corinthians chapter 7, where he has seven qualities in there.
23:00: Some of them is the desire to have one's name cleared, the zeal for the truth.
23:08: We'd have to go back through there.
23:10: I might, I could bring that up at some time.
23:12: But there's seven qualities there.
23:14: And we go there because those were the qualities that Paul used when 1 Corinthians, they put the man out for sleeping with his mother.
23:25: Y'all remember that? That was the reason.
23:28: Then he wanted to come back in.
23:31: He had repented, but the church wouldn't let him back in.
23:35: So Paul had to address the church and say, look, this is what you, you're wrong.
23:41: Let the guy back in.
23:43: And then he was he was then praising them with those seven qualities of what then, hey, there was a desire to clear one's name.
23:52: There was a desire for the truth.
23:53: There was a desire to to love a zeal for God's word.
23:57: It's all right there.
23:58: Those are what we look for.
24:01: And good.
24:03: But then, you know, from that perspective, where do we see the justices, the justice, him basically say, I'm guilty.
24:13: Well, one in that particular case, time played out very quickly that it was not a legitimate confession.
24:23: But you know what? The Lord on when I recognizing that my heart was not willing and ready when that took place, I said, oh, wow, Lord, forgive me for my heart of bitterness, which I did not know that I had.
24:36: I'm glad that God did that.
24:37: It revealed in my own heart its wickedness.
24:40: But then, you know what I go, you know what? He's out doing the same thing he was doing before.
24:45: And you know what? God will repay.
24:48: God, look, God knows how to deal with sin.
24:50: He's going to do it.
24:52: You don't need my help and God will see it through.
24:56: So back to dealing with bitterness.
25:01: Or whatever the offense is, is there a desire to forgive that person if there is a desire to forgive that person? Have you gone to that person in private? If you've not gone to that person in private, then what you're doing is you're creating a bitterness within yourself because you've not confronted the sin.
25:20: You could go to that person.
25:22: I sinned against Stephen.
25:24: Stephen's for six months doesn't come to me.
25:26: He's like, well, man, he might.
25:28: Mike has not forgiven.
25:29: I may have not known I sinned against the guy.
25:32: So he he asked.
25:34: I'm like, man, you know what, brother? I'm sorry.
25:36: Forget.
25:37: I shouldn't have said sorry.
25:39: Forgive me for whatever, for whatever.
25:44: And then it squashed.
25:46: Then again, it may not.
25:48: Now.
25:50: Dealing with Christian brothers and sisters, we have a formula to handle that.
25:57: But dealing with unconverted people, and I don't know if anybody's ever dealt with that, it usually don't work.
26:04: Their standard of justice is not rooted in the word of God.
26:07: Their standard of truth is not rooted in the word of God.
26:11: So you may have to understand that you may not get forgiveness and there may not be reconciliation.
26:17: But it still should be the model.
26:19: Understand that.
26:20: The two of you should be.
26:25: As you're going to forgive, this guy should be coming to receive it should be running to one another running.
26:33: Yes.
26:34: Once you.
26:35: Yeah, because here, if it says, hey, you go to to the altar to give your gift and you know that someone has something against you, what are you to do? Don't go to the altar.
26:46: Yeah, don't don't go.
26:47: Go straighten that out.
26:48: And this person, if he knows that you have sinned again or you have said that they should be running towards one of that's how the brothers and sisters in Christ should be doing them and living with one another.
26:58: The problem is we don't.
27:00: We'd rather back by devour one another and do those things.
27:05: Good.
27:06: Oh, yeah.
27:07: Yeah.
27:08: Instead of going and telling somebody what somebody did something to you, why didn't you go to them? Yeah.
27:14: When we don't get the.
27:18: Forgiveness or the conditions not met, especially with a secular person.
27:26: Are we like I said, we still have dealings and, you know, God still has shown mercy to them and still blesses them each day that he allows them to get up.
27:36: I mean, are we just at that time or do we.
27:41: If they're unwilling, if they're unwilling to repent, if they're unwilling to repent, are we just to set everything off from them or do we.
27:51: Is it someone within the local, the local assembly or.
27:54: OK.
27:56: A nonbeliever, maybe a worker or someone we a neighbor or something of that issue that, you know, we know they're not a believer.
28:11: And, you know, we try to reconcile.
28:14: But like you said, their justice is different from our justice.
28:17: But do we just.
28:20: There may come a time, depending on what type of how grievous that sin is.
28:24: You may have to just go, you know what? I can't.
28:26: I may not be able to be in contact with this person anymore.
28:30: Maybe it may come to that.
28:32: And then or it may.
28:33: You know what? I'm going to continue to love this person.
28:36: I don't know how.
28:37: You know, I don't know the whole relational.
28:39: Well, some of my employees.
28:43: Yeah.
28:43: You fire them.
28:44: You know, there's no I mean, you know, you've been in the same shoes as we deal with.
28:52: Yeah.
28:53: And, you know, we like to say that we just OK.
28:57: It gets to a point that we just you got to go.
29:02: There's nothing more I can do for you.
29:04: Or do we still show mercy to them as God has shown mercy? Well, as long as long as there's a progression towards trying to do what's right, we continue to extend grace.
29:15: But I mean, in the in the cases of theft or damaging a property as an employer at some point, you have to say, look, this isn't working.
29:26: And restitution is a biblical standard.
29:29: You know, that is part of clearing one's name and making what's right.
29:33: Right.
29:33: Even if you go to the second Corinthians chapter seven, that's part of it.
29:38: They're unwilling to do that.
29:39: Then it might be to cut ties.
29:40: But under but the biblical model that we can use for for one another and the one another's is that we have recourse through the local assembly to try to bring that brother or sister back to the right relationship, not only with God first and but the local assembly.
29:58: Hey, let's I want to get to this because this has to deal with a lot of.
30:04: Questions for forgiveness has to do with, well, what if I'm unwilling to forgive or what if I'm having a hard time forgiving? So let's read the parable.
30:14: I'm going to begin in verse twenty one, because this is what sets up the parable.
30:20: Now, chapter 18, then Peter came and said to him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him, he says, up to seven times.
30:30: That's what Peter says, and just to let you know, up to reason seven is because under rabbinical oral tradition was you forgive somebody three times after that.
30:41: They're done.
30:42: Well, Peter kind of ups the ante and says, you know what? I'm going to say seven times.
30:46: So he says, I'm going to give him double.
30:48: And then Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven.
30:54: For this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared.
30:57: Listen to this is the parable.
30:59: And for this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle his accounts with the slaves.
31:03: And when he had begun to settle them, the one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
31:08: Ten thousand talents would be, we'll just say, some astronomical figure of a billion dollars.
31:13: Anybody have a billion dollars in here? Could you get enough people, could y'all round up enough friends to get you a billion dollars? OK, so he says ten thousand talents was brought to him.
31:25: But since he did not have the means to repay his lord, he commanded him to be sold along with his wife and his children and all that he had and repayment to be made.
31:35: So the slave then fell to the ground and he prostrated himself before him saying, have patience with me.
31:42: I will repay you everything.
31:45: And the lord of that slave felt compassion, released him and forgave his debt.
31:51: But the slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii.
31:57: This is just say a half a year's wages.
32:01: And he seized him and began to choke him, saying, pay back what you owe.
32:06: So his fellow slaves fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, hey, listen to what he says here.
32:12: Have patience with me.
32:14: I will repay.
32:15: That should have rung a bell in his mind.
32:16: That's exactly the exact words he used to the man who just forgave him an astronomical, unrepayable debt.
32:24: He says he began to choke him, saying, pay back what you owe.
32:29: He fell to the ground, have patience on me in verse 30.
32:32: But he was unwilling and went and he threw him into prison until he should pay back what was owed.
32:40: So when his fellow slaves saw that what had happened, they were deeply grieved, came and reported to the lord all that had happened.
32:47: Then summoning him, his lord said, you wicked slave, I forgave you all the debt because you pleaded with me.
32:54: Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave in the same way that I have had mercy on you? And his lord moved with anger to see the distinction.
33:04: He was moved with compassion the first time.
33:06: Now that lord is moved with anger, he says, hand him over to the torturers until he can repay all that is there.
33:14: My heavenly father will also do the same to you if each one of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.
33:25: That's last week, last Sunday, when I said some of the most scathing words from the Lord Jesus.
33:30: At the end right there, he says, my heavenly father, that's a term of endearment.
33:34: That's how we're to address the lord in the lord's prayer.
33:37: My father who, and listen to what he says, my father in heaven will turn you over to the torturers.
33:44: So, here is this man who had an astronomical debt.
33:48: He had no way of paying it back.
33:54: His lord or master, picture of God, forgave him.
33:58: Then what did he do? He goes out and he finds somebody that owes him chump change, and he chokes him, puts him in prison.
34:05: What should have that person done? Scripture tells us, what should he have done? He should have forgave that man, shouldn't he? That's right.
34:13: Actually, he should forgive less because he was forgiven much more.
34:18: Back to the story of when the woman, the adulteress came in and Simon, the Pharisee's house, and he said, who's been forgiven much, loves much.
34:29: Well, here, he should have been, you know what, let me go find someone that owes me something, and I'm going to forgive.
34:36: I'm going to do exactly what's been done for me to them.
34:40: That's not what he did.
34:42: It's because he did not have a heart of forgiveness.
34:44: It's because he did not take into account how grievous his debt was.
34:49: Think about this.
34:50: If you're here today, and you have a heart that says, I am unwilling to forgive someone who has offended me, I want you to know, if you got up at 7 o'clock this morning, you have sinned against God more now than a person will ever sin against you in your life.
35:08: Understand that.
35:09: Every nanosecond that we do not love the Lord God with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength, that is an offense against a holy God who's glorious and majestic.
35:19: And just do the nanoseconds between now and 7 o'clock this morning.
35:24: That's why we should be forgiving to one another.
35:27: If God has forgiven us great sin, great debt, we should be willing and ready to forgive whomever for whatever.
35:34: Now, in times when there's been heinous sin, is that going to be difficult? Yes.
35:45: Yes.
35:46: I've never had a loved one murdered, but a couple weeks ago, that friend of Sybil's that was stabbed 31 times and died, the parent says, we're glad that the death penalty was taken off the table so that this man would have an opportunity longer to repent.
36:06: I was just like, man, I don't know if I could say that.
36:10: I don't know if I could say that.
36:12: I hope that I would.
36:14: And we all kind of want to say, oh, I would be the same way.
36:17: Well, I don't know.
36:19: I don't know.
36:20: When I heard that, I was just like, oh, wow, that man is far more sanctified than me.
36:25: It's easy to say when it hasn't happened yet, but when it happens, then that's when you...
36:30: Sure.
36:32: Sure.
36:33: So to not let bitterness grow within us, what are we to do? Constantly bring whatever that sin is that has been sinned against us, bring it before the Lord.
36:43: Why am I becoming bitter about this? Why? Is it because I feel like I deserved better? If that's the case, then you have an issue of pride.
36:56: If it is, well, I just want that person to understand that what they did was wrong.
37:00: Well, then if you haven't gone to them, start there.
37:04: And then if that doesn't work, then go to them with someone in private.
37:10: And then every time you think about that sin that's been done against you, you just need to remember how deeply we sinned against God.
37:18: How deeply we sinned against God.
37:22: We got three and a half minutes.
37:28: Ma'am? Yeah.
37:31: Now, in this case where you read just the parable, does it not appear on the surface level that our forgiveness from God is contingent on forgiving others? On the surface level.
37:46: But we don't pull out a parable and make a one to one equivalent to everything else that we're trying to convey.
37:53: He's trying to convey that if your brother comes to you and you have a heart that is unwilling, you understand? Unwilling.
38:04: If I say I ain't going to forgive Andy for whatever he's done.
38:09: Well, one, I need to check why do I feel that way? Know that it's a sinful inclination.
38:14: And then if I continue down that path of, hey, of unwilling to forgive, it shows that my heart has not been converted, shows my heart's not been converted.
38:26: Because someone who's been forgiven will forgive.
38:30: J.
38:30: Adams book.
38:31: You've read it, obviously.
38:32: Great book.
38:34: Great book.
38:34: And if you don't read, you should read.
38:36: Read.
38:38: Read it.
38:39: It'd be good.
38:40: Unpacking Forgiveness by Chris Braun.
38:42: Excellent book.
38:44: Excellent book.
38:45: All right.
38:47: Any outbursts of anger, riots or demonstrations? Disagreements that we could fix in a minute and a half? No? Andy, you'll close us? Father, again, thank you for our time together, Lord.
39:03: Help us to understand one another as you are, Lord.
39:10: And help us to put them into practice in our lives, Lord.
39:13: Just grant us the grace that we need to do what, so often it's difficult for us to do, Lord, because we are so, so slow to learn.
39:23: And yet, above it all, you have forgiven us in Christ.
39:26: So thank you for that.
39:27: And may our worship be pleasing to you.
39:30: In Jesus' name.
39:31: Amen.
40:22: Can we holler at him? I would like that.
40:36: I will speak up.
40:38: No, no, it isn't you.
40:39: It wasn't you.
40:40: It was like, I didn't have it, and I just wanted to make sure I could listen.
40:43: Yes, ma'am.
40:44: And I want to get that quote.
40:46: How do you spell his last name? B-R-A-W.
40:54: Excellent book.
40:56: Thank you, sir.
41:02: I had fun with this year's papers.
41:05: I'm impressed that you're in one of these.
41:09: It's a few passes, sir.
41:10: I got you.
41:12: Thank you.
41:12: Thank you.
41:21: Thank you.
41:22: Thank you.
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41:25: Thank you.
41:25: Thank you.
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41:40: Thank you.
41:40: Thank you.
41:40: Thank you.
41:40: Thank you.
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41:41: Thank you.
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41:48: Thank you.
41:51: Thank you.
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41:57: Thank you.
42:03: Thank you.
42:10: Thank you.
42:11: Thank you.
42:11: Thank you.
42:11: Thank you.
42:11: Thank you.
42:13: Thank you.
42:13: Thank you.