Forgiveness (Chester).

Clint Miller

[0:04] Music

[0:12] Alright, well good morning everybody. Welcome again. My name is Clint. [0:16] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church and it’s good to be with you this morning. [0:21] Good to be up here and be able to share with you from God’s Word this morning. [0:26] I do want to again encourage you guys, I know especially those of you, some of you here at the Chester location [0:33] who have maybe never even been to the Midlothian campus. [0:36] I want to encourage you guys to come to the Christmas Eve service.

[0:41] It would be a great, one, it would be a great service, but two, it would be a great time to come up there [0:45] and also see kind of where this location came from. [0:49] So I want to encourage you to come out to one of those. [0:53] Over the last three weeks we’ve been kind of in a short series, a short Christmas series entitled [0:58] This is Christmas and what we’ve been doing is going through some of the things, some of the issues [1:04] that sometimes come up, they’re really there all year long, they never leave us,

[1:10] but sometimes they get inflamed during the Christmas season. [1:15] And so if you were here with us two weeks ago, we talked about joy [1:21] and how Christmas is a joyful time and all the things that go along with Christmas are great things [1:28] and we want to celebrate them well, but our joy is really rooted in the event, [1:34] the Christ event, the reality that God has come, that He hasn’t left us alone in our sin, [1:40] but rather He’s come and made a way for us to be reconciled to Him.

[1:45] And then last week we talked about disappointment. [1:49] Maybe that resonates with you. [1:51] I don’t know if you would consider yourself to be a disappointed person, [1:55] but the reality is we all deal with disappointment. [1:59] And so if we place our hope in the wrong things, we can expect more and more disappointment, [2:04] but if we place our hope in God, we can have good reason for hope.

[2:11] Now this week we’re going to be talking about forgiveness. [2:14] We’re going to be talking about forgiveness and that is going to entail relationships, invariably. [2:21] You can’t have forgiveness minus relationships. [2:25] And so this morning we’re going to focus in on that. [2:28] Now I don’t know what gives you the warm fuzzies when you think about Christmas. [2:36] I don’t know if that’s a campfire, right?

[2:39] I don’t know if that’s just everybody gathered around the tree. [2:42] I don’t know if you read a particular story or what really does it for you. [2:47] Some of you guys probably, if you’ve ever seen the movie Christmas Vacation, [2:51] you might be a Griswold guy, right? [2:53] If you guys remember that, he in the beginning there is getting geeked up over Christmas. [2:59] And what he’s getting geeked up about is having a big family Christmas.

[3:04] He wants everybody to gather. [3:06] He wants everybody to hang out there. [3:08] He wants that to kind of be Christmas. [3:12] And of course you see what happens. [3:15] It doesn’t go like he expected. [3:19] Hopefully you’ve seen that.

[3:20] If you haven’t seen it, you should check it out. [3:21] It’s a great movie. [3:22] Now beyond that, you might be, you may know how those things go. [3:26] And so you might be more of a home alone person, right? [3:29] You might resonate with that this morning. [3:32] Maybe if you could somehow lose your family for Christmas and end up maybe in New York,

[3:39] I think the second one’s better, but if you can end up in New York by yourself, right, [3:43] with somebody’s credit card, maybe you’d take that Christmas in a second. [3:49] Maybe that would be your thing if you could do that. [3:52] And part of the reason that you might be feeling that way is because of relationships. [3:58] Now relationships, if we’re honest, are tough. [4:03] Now the reality is we need them though.

[4:05] We need them though. [4:06] And that’s because we’re made in the image of God. [4:09] God is a communal God. [4:11] He’s three in one. [4:12] The Father, the Spirit, and the Son are in perfect community together. [4:16] And because we’re made in His image, we need relationships, right?

[4:21] We need them. [4:22] Without them, we know that our life will be empty. [4:25] Our life will be kind of hollow and it won’t be fulfilling. [4:28] And so we need them. [4:30] But we also realize that when we go after them, oftentimes what happens is they break. [4:38] They break.

[4:39] In fact, all of us have, to some degree, families, whatever that looks like for you in this season of life. [4:46] If you’ve been around that, you know relationships are tough. [4:50] And so the reality is we can’t escape them. [4:53] We need them. [4:54] But we also, if we’re going to have them, are going to need to be a forgiving people. [5:00] We’re going to need to be a forgiving people or relationships will just eventually, will just give up on them.

[5:06] The reality is God didn’t just give up on relationship. [5:11] You see, Jesus, one of the things, the great things that we celebrate during the Christmas season is that He’s come to bring forgiveness. [5:19] And so there’s John, John the Baptist, who goes out before Jesus in Luke 1. [5:26] Zechariah’s father is talking about the life of John and he’s saying, [5:29] John’s going to announce good news of salvation and he’s going to announce with that good news is forgiveness. [5:38] God’s going to make a way for forgiveness not only to be offered, but also to be paid for.

[5:46] And so that’s what we’re really going to be looking at today.

[5:52] I hope going into this Christmas season, I know I’m going to be gathering with some family. [5:58] I know you guys, I don’t know what you’re exactly going to be doing. [6:01] But what I want us to consider, not only really for Christmas, but also in your life is what’s the state of your relationships? [6:10] What’s the state of your relationships? [6:12] Is there strife between you and maybe a brother or a sister? [6:18] And I mean that both familial, both family-wise, but also church-wise, alright?

[6:24] We’re going to talk about that. [6:25] Hey, God gave you a new family. [6:27] I don’t know if you realize that or not. [6:29] But if you know Him, He’s become your father and you’re not an only child. [6:33] And so, one, we can’t act like that. [6:35] And then two, man, it’s going to get messy and it’s going to require forgiveness.

[6:42] [6:43] And so that’s what we’re going to get into today. [6:45] But I hope you’ll consider that. [6:48] But anyway, number one this morning, Jesus paid for your forgiveness with His life. [6:53] Jesus paid for your forgiveness with His life. [6:56] Now, the reality is nothing’s free.

[6:58] I think most of us know that. [7:00] And forgiveness is the same. [7:01] Forgiveness comes at a high price. [7:03] It’s a price paid or absorbed by the offended party. [7:08] Now, God is the ultimate forgiver. [7:11] Alright, we’ve got to get that straight.

[7:13] God is the ultimate forgiver. [7:15] Now, that’s a title that you’re probably not so much interested in. [7:18] Alright, if you think about it, to be the ultimate forgiver, [7:22] that would mean that you have to have a lot of offenses committed against you. [7:27] Alright, in fact, some of the most heinous offenses against you. [7:31] But then also the highest number of offenses against you.

[7:36] No one has been more offended than God. [7:42] And so in a culture today where we are quick to tell people how offended we are, [7:51] God is the most offended. [7:54] God deserves the most, yet He’s received the least. [7:59] And so we’ve got to understand that. [8:02] Now, God the Creator Himself, again, nobody is more worthy, yet nobody’s actually received worse.

[8:09] People have done some terrible things to one another. [8:11] If you’ve been around long enough, you’ve been a part of that, [8:14] whether it was the giving or the receiving. [8:16] But nobody has endured so much opposition and offense than God. [8:23] Think about it. [8:25] What do humans do fundamentally?

[8:28] Fundamentally, at our core, we de-God God. [8:33] We de-God Him. [8:34] We take Him and we make Him into something that suits our needs. [8:39] Now, that’s not a popular statement, but the reality is, [8:46] the book of Romans tells us that, the scripture tells us that, [8:49] and in our hearts, because of sin, because of the sin that’s entered into us,

[8:55] we do de-throne God. [8:57] We’d rather be our own gods. [8:59] Think about it. [9:00] How much say does God actually have in your life? [9:05] Is He on the throne of your heart or are you? [9:09] What determines how you actually act?

[9:11] Now, you can do that if you’re a Christian, or even if you’re not a Christian, [9:16] you can do that exercise. [9:17] But we are guilty of cosmic treason, rebellion against our Creator. [9:22] Again, that’s worse than any sin that a man has committed against another man. [9:28] The reality is, when you sin against men, it’s actually an offense against God, first and foremost. [9:35] We know that from the scripture.

[9:37] Now, God has to respond to this. [9:39] He can’t ignore it, but understand this this morning, that God isn’t obligated to forgive. [9:46] He’s not under any obligation to forgive these offenses, but He can’t ignore them. [9:51] And so for man, if you’re in a position, which you’re a man and you’re here, you’re a person, [9:56] you’ve been created by God, the reality is, with the psalmist, you have to say, [10:02] if you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

[10:08] If God the Judge is to mark your life, if He’s to judge you, and He will, [10:13] He will judge all of us, if He’s to judge you, and He’s to judge all of your offenses,

[10:22] nobody’s standing there. [10:24] You’re not winning that case. [10:27] There is no case, in fact. [10:29] And so, let’s see what God says about Himself. [10:32] If we look in Exodus, I think it might be up there, I think we had some slide issues. [10:36] If not, you can just follow along.

[10:39] But Exodus 34, verses 6-7 says this, [10:43] The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, [10:45] The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, [10:49] and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, [10:53] keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, [10:58] but who will by no means clear the guilty,

[11:02] visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children [11:06] to the third and fourth generation. [11:08] Now, how will this God forgive iniquity and transgression and sin, [11:12] but not clear the guilty? [11:15] If everybody’s guilty, how is that going to work? [11:19] There’s got to be something that’s got to give there.

[11:23] Now, one of the places in the Bible that I think really illustrates God’s forgiveness [11:27] is found in Exodus, and we’re going to go there here in a minute, [11:31] but this account should help us see why Jesus shows up. [11:37] If you don’t know why Jesus shows up here, [11:40] and why we celebrate his birth, hopefully this will kind of put that into perspective. [11:46] It should help us.

[11:49] Here’s what it says in Exodus 12 through 13. [11:54] Now, just to set the stage a little bit, the reality here is God’s people, [11:59] the Israelites, are in Egypt. They’re slaves. [12:03] They’re there, and the Pharaoh has enslaved them. [12:05] The ruler of Egypt has enslaved them, [12:08] and the Lord has sent Moses and told Moses to say,

[12:12] you know, let my people go. [12:14] We know that, hopefully. [12:16] Somebody knows it. There we go. [12:18] We can just have that. [12:20] Somebody get a microphone and go back there. [12:23] No. But that is the reality.

[12:28] And so Moses has gone. [12:30] Most of us are familiar with this story that he sends the plagues, [12:34] and God says that Pharaoh is going to harden his heart, [12:37] and Pharaoh does that. [12:39] He hardens his heart, and he won’t let the Israelites go. [12:42] And so let’s pick it up in verse 12.

[12:45] It says, For I will pass, this is the Lord, [12:47] for I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, [12:51] and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, [12:54] both man and beast, and on all of the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments. [12:59] I am the Lord. [13:00] The blood shall be assigned for you on the houses where you are.

[13:04] When I see the blood, I will pass over you, [13:07] and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. [13:15] So you’ve got God who’s at war with Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt, [13:20] and what he’s going to do is send a final judgment, [13:22] and it’s going to be in the form of the firstborn of each household is going to be killed. [13:30] They’re going to be subjected to judgment,

[13:32] and as a result they’re going to die because when judgment comes to sin, [13:40] the wages of sin is death. [13:41] Now this is a terrifying reality, right? [13:44] Imagine waking up and the firstborn of every home has been killed. [13:49] They’re dead. They lie there. [13:52] But God makes provision for his people.

[13:54] Now his people are in trouble. [13:56] They’re sinners. They can’t avoid the judgment. [14:00] And so what happens is God makes a way. [14:03] He makes provision. [14:05] This is where we see the forgiveness of God. [14:08] Now what mercy and grace is God’s show here?

[14:11] He says, go kill a lamb, go kill a lamb, [14:14] and take some of the blood and put it over the doorposts of your house. [14:19] And when the judgment comes, the Lord will see that blood, [14:23] and he’ll pass over the house. [14:25] He’ll pass over the house. He won’t take the firstborn. [14:30] Well, he should take the firstborn.

[14:32] Judgment is what we’re owed. [14:34] Forgiveness is what he’s given. [14:37] But he has to make provision for that. [14:39] And so why this blood? Why the lamb? [14:41] Well, something has to die. [14:44] Something has to die.

[14:45] And in this, instead of taking the firstborn, [14:50] God sees the blood, and that’s a substitute. [14:53] That lamb is a substitute lamb. [14:55] It’s in the place, and that is God’s provision for forgiveness.

[15:02] Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. [15:07] That’s out of Hebrews 10. [15:09] Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of 10. [15:13] Now, the Passover is great. [15:15] That’s not just an isolated event. [15:17] That’s not just about the Israelites and the Egyptians.

[15:20] It’s not just about God and Pharaoh, [15:22] but rather it is a foreshadowing, a preview of what Jesus is going to come and do. [15:31] Let’s go ahead and look at Matthew 26, verse 27 and 28. [15:35] There it says, [15:36] And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, [15:38] he gave it to them, saying,

[15:40] Drink of it, all of you, for this is the blood of the covenant, [15:44] which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. [15:51] Jesus is our Passover lamb. [15:55] A lamb, the blood of a lamb won’t do. [15:58] The blood of a perfect human being, well, that’s an adequate substitute. [16:02] So when we think about Christmas,

[16:05] what’s happening is Jesus is coming into the world [16:08] to make real forgiveness available for all who will come to God in repentance. [16:18] He makes it available. [16:19] God sent his own Son, and God didn’t pass over his own Son. [16:24] He didn’t pass over. He struck. [16:27] He crushed his Son on the cross,

[16:30] and the penalty of those sins, all the sins of the saints, [16:34] everybody who will come to him, [16:36] everybody who will know God through Jesus, [16:39] all those offenses, think about that, [16:43] from the beginning of time, all those of faith, [16:47] all the offenses, the real offenses,

[16:50] there’s a real penalty for those offenses, [16:52] all of them were paid by Jesus on the cross. [16:58] The judgment was executed, [17:00] the purchase was made, forgiven much. [17:06] And so we’ve got to understand that. [17:09] And so the Bible is the only religious book

[17:13] that makes a radical claim that God fully forgives people.

[17:22] And that’s because of Jesus, because of what he did on the cross, [17:25] because he’s made real forgiveness available. [17:28] And God actually can cancel our debt, and he actually can put them under the ocean. [17:34] He sends them away as far as the east is from the west. [17:39] He can make you white as snow. Imagine that. [17:44] But that is what we celebrate here at the Christmas time,

[17:47] and that is real forgiveness. [17:51] No shame, no guilt. Can you imagine that? [17:54] Some of you guys got debt, financial debt.

[17:59] I happen to be in that crew. [18:02] And so imagine just that being paid. [18:08] Somebody’s got to, it can’t just disappear. [18:11] Somebody’s got to pay it. Somebody’s got to take it. [18:15] And that’s what Jesus does. [18:17] But it’s gone. It’s not there. It’s not going to come back the next day.

[18:21] Jesus pays that debt. [18:23] Number two this morning, forgiveness matters because relationships matter. [18:29] Now, when this happens, when somebody turns to God, [18:35] when they repent of their sin and turn to God and trust God, [18:39] they trust Jesus for the forgiveness of their sin, [18:42] no longer do they relate to God as judge,

[18:45] but now they relate to God as a good father, as a loving father. [18:50] They’re in the family. [18:51] And like I said before, you’re not the only one in the family. [18:56] You relate to God as father, but you’ve also got a family. [18:58] But brothers and sisters, right? [19:00] So God reconciles us to Himself.

[19:02] He brings us into the family. [19:04] He’s creating a people for Himself. [19:07] It’s a family. We’re a city on the hill. [19:09] We’re described as, you know, the church is a pillar and buttress of the gospel. [19:16] It proves the gospel. [19:17] It’s evidence of the gospel.

[19:19] It’s the fruit of the gospel. [19:21] We’re to be that city on the hill. [19:22] We’re to be a family like no other. [19:24] We’re to be, as Christians, a new humanity, [19:28] radically different than those who are in Adam, [19:33] those who are marked by sin.

[19:34] We’re marked by forgiveness in the Spirit. [19:37] And so we are a new humanity, [19:39] and our relationships are to look radically different. [19:42] They’re to testify to the truth of the redemption that Jesus has made available. [19:49] Now, God cares way more about our relationships than we think. [19:55] I think that’s true.

[19:56] I think some of us think that our relationships, [19:59] yeah, of course we’d say they’re important, [20:01] but we don’t really measure what God thinks of them, I think, if we’re honest. [20:05] If God’s reconciled us to Himself and He’s reconciled us to each other, [20:09] then that ought to look like something. [20:12] It ought to look like what He describes it, what He wants us to look like.

[20:16] And the reality is, those relationships matter, but sin still exists, right? [20:22] We’re still people. [20:24] I mean, I’m going to sin again. [20:26] If you hang around long enough, I’m probably going to sin against you. [20:31] If you’re probably going to sin against me, right? [20:33] I mean, we know how relationships work, right?

[20:36] I mean, you guys, if you’re married in here, you know all of a sudden you’re under one roof. [20:40] You’re two sinners under one roof, and what does that bring?

[20:45] Strife, right? [20:46] I mean, it don’t take long, right? [20:48] And then go ahead and add some kids into that picture, then what do you got? [20:53] More sin, alright? [20:54] And so by, you know, five minutes into your day, somebody has offended somebody for real, alright? [21:01] So when God gathers a people under His house, we ought not to expect,

[21:07] we ought not to expect there to be no quarrels. [21:11] We ought not to expect there to be no sins against each other, but we ought to be a forgiving people. [21:17] And those relationships need to be sustained, and they only will through forgiveness. [21:23] The question is, are we a forgiving people? [21:25] Now, I think when strife comes up in our relationship, a lot of us are, [21:30] I know this is true for me in many ways, a lot of us are passive, right?

[21:34] You might know that you offended somebody, or they might have offended you, [21:37] and there might be some stink in between y’all, right? [21:42] But what do you do? [21:43] Well, oftentimes we just, man, maybe it’ll just go away, right? [21:50] I know sometimes with my wife, it’s just like, we’ll just get up tomorrow and it’ll be all different, right? [21:57] I don’t want to actually deal with it.

[21:59] I don’t want to actually go and work about forgiveness. [22:02] I just want to wake up and, oh, next day we got things to do, here we go, right? [22:07] That’s how I roll a lot. [22:12] Now, Matthew 23-25 gives us a different picture. [22:16] God wasn’t content with the strife. [22:19] He wasn’t content with the stink.

[22:20] He actually did what? [22:22] He did quite a bit about it, right? [22:24] He sent his son, and so we need to take notes on that. [22:29] But Matthew 5, 23-25 gives us a picture. [22:32] There it says,

[22:44] So in there, I mean, what is Jesus talking about? [22:59] You think you’re doing a good thing. [23:01] You’re up there. [23:02] You’re to worship God. [23:04] And then Jesus has the audacity to say, hey, if you’ve offended your brother, you should go to him first. [23:11] You should stop what you’re doing altogether.

[23:13] I care deeply about that relationship. [23:16] In fact, that relationship is worship. [23:20] And so you need to go and write that before you come to me and offer your gift.

[23:27] Now, in that text, that could mean the easy rebuttal to him is Jesus, my brother, is days away. [23:35] Jesus is like, well, you should get started then. [23:38] You should get going, right? [23:40] Then come back and offer your gift. [23:42] And so that’s you see what’s happening there. [23:44] That’s initiative, right?

[23:47] We actually have to take that serious. [23:48] We actually have to go and do that. [23:51] And so I think that I think that would help us and that would go a long way. [23:55] You know, in a well-oiled household, there’s not going to be an absence of sin. [24:01] There’s not going to be an absence of sin. [24:05] What there does need to be is an aroma of grace and forgiveness.

[24:10] All right. [24:10] And that means that nobody’s surprised by the sin. [24:15] They just clean it up each and every day. [24:17] And so when strife comes into the relationship, they’re quick to pick up the pieces, right? [24:24] They’re like people who actually clean the dishes every day. [24:27] They don’t leave them for a week.

[24:29] And all of a sudden you’ve got piles and piles of stuff and you don’t want to deal with that mess at all. [24:37] But you’re going to have to. [24:39] And so know that. [24:42] Now, there’s several reasons why we struggle to ask for forgiveness.

[24:47] And why we struggle to forgive, by the way, forgiving somebody is tough. [24:51] It’s tough, especially if they wound you deeply. [24:55] And often we do do that to each other. [24:57] But no one is claiming it’s easy. [24:59] It’s hard and humiliating. [25:00] And when you’ve blown it with somebody, when you got to go to them, you know, one of the fears you might have is that this person’s going to think I’m a real schmuck and they’re never going to talk to me again.

[25:11] Anybody, right? [25:13] When we’ve blown it really bad against somebody, I mean, you’re embarrassed, right? [25:17] And so we go to that. [25:18] Let’s take some wisdom from seven Proverbs 17 nine. [25:22] See what it says there. [25:23] It says, whoever covers an offense seeks love.

[25:28] Whoever covers an offense seeks love. [25:30] But he who repeats a matter separates close friends. [25:35] So what does it mean to cover an offense? [25:37] If somebody comes to you and says, man, I’ve blown it with you. [25:41] I’ve sinned against you. [25:42] I’ve done this.

[25:44] It’s going to be painful. [25:45] It’s going to be hard. [25:46] But you ought to you ought to forgive that person. [25:49] You need to forgive him right in that moment. [25:52] But the reality is when this happens, what what do we kind of think? [25:58] I mean, sometimes we’re like, are you serious?

[26:03] And and maybe some of our initial reaction is the I’m going to do the same thing to you. [26:08] Right. [26:09] I’m going to get even.

[26:11] You’re going to do that to me. [26:12] I’m going to do something to you. [26:13] Or maybe we don’t want to cover the offense. [26:16] Maybe we just want to go and tell somebody we want to go gossip about it. [26:21] We want to go tell other people what this person’s done to you and defile their name. [26:29] Now, Proverbs says to love somebody is to cover that.

[26:32] And by covering, you have the ability there to be a conduit of grace. [26:37] It doesn’t mean cover in the sense of cover up. [26:39] It means somebody is trying to deal seriously and reconcile with you and you need to forgive it and cover it. [26:46] You don’t need to go run around telling everybody. [26:49] And we even do this in some ways. [26:50] We even tell people in some kind of guys like we’re warning them or something about this person.

[26:56] Yeah, it’s probably gossip. [27:00] It’s probably. [27:01] And so God talks when two people get together and there’s a problem, it should end there. [27:05] It should be able to end there in most cases.

[27:11] Now, forgiveness is the hardest. [27:13] Oh, one other thing with that is, I mean, imagine that somebody comes to you thinking they’ve really blown it. [27:21] You have the opportunity there to be a conduit of grace. [27:24] You have the opportunity there to actually free that person from their guilt that reflects the gospel. [27:30] And you should take great joy in that. [27:33] I’m not saying it’s not going to be painful, but man, to be a part of God’s forgiving of one another, that is a beautiful thing.

[27:42] And you ought to you ought to glory in that. [27:44] You ought to glory in that. [27:46] Forgiveness is one of the hardest things that we do. [27:48] You know what? [27:49] It’s really not fair. [27:51] Nobody deserves forgiveness.

[27:52] We don’t forgive because people deserve it. [27:55] Now, we can start drifting there. [27:59] We can start drifting there. [28:00] Peter does, and he gets his perspective kind of adjusted, to put it lightly. [28:06] But we need our perspective adjusted as well. [28:09] Matthew 18, 21, 22 says this.

[28:12] Then Peter came to him, came to Jesus, and he said, Lord, how often will my brothers sin against me? [28:19] And I forgive them as many as seven times. [28:24] Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times, but seventy seven times. [28:32] Now, Peter’s coming to Jesus and he’s like, man, I’m impressed. [28:35] Jesus with this. [28:38] I’m going to forgive somebody seven times.

[28:41] I bet Jesus will be real happy with that. [28:45] Now, he had good reason to think so. [28:48] Normally, people were expected at that time. [28:50] A lot of rabbis thought that you could forgive somebody three times. [28:56] We probably like that rule. [28:57] Maybe you notice the three strike rule.

[28:59] If somebody busts me three times, that’s it. [29:02] It’s over. [29:03] I don’t need to forgive them. [29:04] But Jesus goes farther. [29:06] He says there’s actually no limit. [29:09] There’s actually no limit.

[29:11] Now, why? [29:12] Why can he say that? [29:13] Well, he paints a picture of why he can say that in verse 23. [29:18] Pick it up there. [29:19] It says, Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. [29:25] When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.

[29:31] And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made. [29:39] So the servant, well, he fell on his knees imploring him, have patience with me and I will pay you everything. [29:46] And out of pity for him, the master of the servant released him and forgave him the debt. [29:51] Now, this is a crazy story, right? [29:53] First of all, the king has every right to settle his accounts here. [29:57] But he shows up and this debt, this debt is unlike any debt.

[30:04] The point of the debt is that it’s an infinite amount of debt. [30:06] The guy has no chance. [30:07] I think some modern people, some modern accounts compare it to being six billion dollars. [30:13] Right. [30:13] So if you had that debt on your head right now, I’ve got a debt for six billion dollars. [30:19] What you need to understand is that’s not going away.

[30:22] It’s not one that you can really get back. [30:25] You can’t do it. [30:27] And so what’s actually happening here is this guy has actually forgiven somebody a debt that he has no chance of paying for. [30:34] Now, watch what happens.

[30:38] From there, it says, But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred dinari. [30:45] And seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, Pay what you owe. [30:51] So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, Have patience with me and I will pay you. [30:55] He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. [31:00] When his fellow servant saw that what had taken place, they were greatly distressed. [31:05] And they went and reported it to the master.

[31:09] All that had taken place. [31:11] Then the master summoned him and said to him, You wicked servant. [31:16] I forgave all that debt because you pleaded with me and should not you have have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you. [31:28] And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers until he could pay all of his debt. [31:32] And so also, my heavenly father will do to you every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from the heart. [31:43] Your ability to forgive other people must be grounded in the reality that God has forgiven you a debt far greater than what anybody has a debt to you.

[31:57] Your account that God has freely forgiven is much higher. [32:04] I don’t say that lightly. [32:05] I know some of us have been greatly offended in our life by other people. [32:09] Some of us will be. [32:12] But that debt is infinitely greater. [32:16] And the Lord has forgiven you.

[32:18] He’s taken the penalty. [32:20] He’s paid the price. [32:22] He bit that. [32:26] So the reality there is that’s got to be the basis. [32:30] So if you’re struggling to forgive somebody, you need to think about what you’ve been forgiven. [32:39] You need to meditate on that passage.

[32:41] You need to understand that God’s forgiveness is infinitely great. [32:47] And while that’s going to be tough in hard situations, you can do it. [32:52] You have the ability to do it. [32:54] If you know God, if you know the forgiveness that you’ve received, you have the ability to give.

[33:01] And so this is why in Luke 17, when we talk about forgiveness, Jesus is telling people how often they have to forgive, how much they have to forgive. [33:13] He looks at them, the disciples look at them and say, Lord, increase our faith. [33:19] Increase our faith. [33:22] That’s not so they can go do mystical things. [33:25] That’s so they can forgive each other.

[33:28] Increase our faith. [33:29] Forgiveness is hard. [33:31] But you need to be able to do it. [33:32] And we are. [33:34] Now, number three this morning, how you forgive says something about your relationship with God. [33:40] How you forgive says something about your relationship with God.

[33:44] Hopefully you’re seeing that you can and you must forgive. [33:47] It’s vital. [33:49] Relationships matter deeply, but forgiveness must play out in them to sustain them and to point to the reality that God has not only reconciled us to himself, but he’s reconciled us to each other.

[34:03] Forgiveness is a fruit of knowing God. [34:07] You ought to test yourself. [34:09] What is your heart to forgive? [34:12] What is your heart to forgive? [34:15] Is it easy for you to forgive those closest around you? [34:20] Is it easy to forgive those who are further from you?

[34:24] Either way, forgiveness is a fruit of knowing God. [34:29] It’s not the natural. [34:29] The natural is to get even. [34:32] The natural is to give it right back. [34:35] Forgiveness is a fruit. [34:36] Now, in the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray.

[34:40] He says, Forgive us our debtors, or rather forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. [34:46] Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. [34:49] And then immediately after that, Matthew 6, 14 to 15, he says this. [34:54] He emphasizes that, For if you forgive others, their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. [35:01] But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. [35:08] Now, God cares more about forgiveness than we think.

[35:11] I hope that’s bleeding through. [35:13] I hope that’s one of our takeaways today. [35:17] And so even if you look at the wording of that, Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, [35:22] what you’re praying to the Lord there is that the Lord would forgive you, your Father. [35:26] You’re reconciled to him legally, but you’re in relationship with him. [35:29] We know that sin breaks relationship.

[35:32] A son sins against his father, that’s got to be worked out. [35:36] A husband sins against his wife, that’s got to be worked out. [35:40] Your kids sin against each other, that’s got to be worked out, right? [35:44] Everybody’s in the family, nobody’s going anywhere, right? [35:48] But it does take work to reconcile. [35:52] It does take work to reconcile, and it has to.

[35:55] But you’re praying, Lord, forgive me like I’m forgiving other people.

[36:01] Well, what kind of forgiveness do you want? [36:03] We know we all want pure forgiveness from God. [36:08] We want total exoneration. [36:10] But are we giving that? [36:12] Are we giving that? [36:14] Are you giving that to those closest around you?

[36:17] And so that puts that in perspective, hopefully. [36:21] Look at Colossians 3, verses 12 through 13. [36:23] It says, Put on then, as God’s chosen one, holy and beloved, [36:27] compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, [36:31] bearing with one another. [36:32] And if one has a complaint against another,

[36:35] forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, [36:38] so you also must forgive.

[36:42] So put on the new man, basically, is what he’s saying there. [36:45] Now, when we are wronged, we think that, you know, well, I’ll do the same. [36:50] Or maybe you’re just patient, like I was talking about before. [36:52] Or maybe you just think it’s going to go away. [36:55] Or maybe you want to, sure, I’ll accept your forgiveness, [36:59] but I’m going to hold on to it.

[37:02] Really, in your head, in your heart, you’re keeping an account. [37:05] You’re keeping it over that person’s head, [37:07] and it’s interfering with your relationship with them. [37:11] But the reality is, what you need to do is consider what you’ve been forgiven, [37:16] and do the same. [37:18] Now, real forgiveness, Biblical forgiveness, always has one aim, reconciliation.

[37:27] Biblical forgiveness has one end in mind, reconciliation. [37:31] And so that always, always is going to require two parties, okay? [37:37] Somebody who’s been sinned against, somebody who’s sinned, okay? [37:42] The goal for that person is the one who’s committed the offense [37:45] to repent of their sin and to be reconciled. [37:47] That is a prerequisite.

[37:49] There can’t be real reconciliation unless somebody admits the problem. [37:53] We know this. [37:54] You guys don’t accept apologies from people unless what? [37:58] Unless they actually are repentant. [38:01] Unless they actually agree that their behavior is inappropriate, sinful, [38:06] and it’s against you, needs to change.

[38:10] You have to have change of mind and change of behavior. [38:12] You have to repent. [38:14] And so the reality is that that’s what it’s aimed at. [38:19] I want us to know that. [38:21] And so going into it, you’re not going into beef with somebody, all right? [38:26] You’re not going in to let them have it.

[38:29] If somebody sins against you and they don’t even know about it, [38:31] you go to that person and you want to clear the air, don’t go there with a bat, okay? [38:40] It’s not going there to let them have it, all right? [38:44] Your aim is that you guys, you brothers and sisters who are in the same family [38:48] will be reconciled to one another. [38:51] And so you go gently as God has gently dealt with your sin where repentance has occurred.

[38:58] That’s how you go to your brother. [39:00] And so we want to know that. [39:02] Again, increase our faith.

[39:05] Biblical forgiveness is not what the culture talks about sometimes. [39:09] The cultural perspective has become, well, [39:12] forgiveness is more of just a thing that I do in my heart towards somebody. [39:17] And I just don’t carry resentment and, man, everything’s good and fine.

[39:23] No, you don’t want to carry resentment. [39:25] The Bible doesn’t want you to carry resentment. [39:27] And somebody who’s unrepentant in their sin, you ought not to resent that person. [39:31] You ought to stand like God stands to that person, which is eager to forgive, [39:37] eager to forgive, forbearing, right? [39:41] Praying for that person, wanting their good,

[39:43] wanting them to turn from their sin and be reconciled to God in themselves. [39:47] And so that’s what you’re after. [39:50] And so there’s other things there. [39:53] But I do want us to understand that forgiveness is, again, not a feeling. [39:57] It is a mathematical equation.

[40:02] Somebody’s paying a debt. [40:04] And if you’re going to forgive somebody, you’ve got to absorb it, [40:08] just like God absorbed it. [40:09] Now, you can do that knowing that Jesus actually paid for that sin, [40:14] that it was actually put on his shoulder. [40:17] Lastly, 1 Peter 2, 22, 23 says that he committed, that’s Jesus,

[40:22] he committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. [40:25] When he was reviled, he did not revile in return, [40:28] and when he suffered, he did not threaten, [40:31] but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. [40:36] So Jesus, of course, if we’re going to follow Jesus, [40:39] we’re going to be treated like Jesus by some.

[40:43] People are going to be nasty to you. [40:45] People are going to revile you. [40:47] People are going to call you things. [40:49] People aren’t going to like that you submit gladly to the Lord [40:54] and you declare that news. [40:56] And so what are you going to do?

[40:57] Well, 1 Peter tells us you don’t revile. [41:00] You follow the example of Jesus. [41:02] You follow the example of your King, [41:04] and you don’t revile, and you entrust yourself to God.

[41:08] Guys, it’s not our job to get even. [41:11] It’s not our job to give justice. [41:13] It’s our job to declare the good news of the Gospel [41:18] and entrust all that to Jesus. [41:20] Sins will be reckoned. [41:22] God will judge.

[41:24] Nobody’s going to get away with anything. [41:28] But don’t waste your time trying to be the one who dishes that out. [41:32] Entrust yourself to him, and he will take care of it. [41:38] So this Christmas season, consider what’s the state of your relationships. [41:43] What’s that say about your relationship with God? [41:46] Do you need to reconcile with people?

[41:49] Do you need to go to people? [41:50] Maybe it’s people in your family this Christmas. [41:53] Maybe it’s people in the church. [41:54] Maybe it’s people in your neighborhood. [41:56] I don’t know what it is. [41:58] But consider what God has done on your behalf.

[42:03] The one who’s been offended more by all of us than anyone else, [42:08] consider what he’s done, what he’s given, [42:10] and go apply that in your relationships horizontally. [42:14] This morning, we’ll celebrate the Lord’s Sable [42:17] as we do each and every Sunday here. [42:20] In the front of the building, there’s three tables.

[42:24] And so on them, you have the cup and the bread. [42:29] And so the cup representing his blood, [42:32] his blood that was poured out for the forgiveness of his sin, [42:34] his body that was broken. [42:36] Jesus is our Passover lamb. [42:39] As you consider that this morning, I pray that you would come.

[42:42] If you’re a believer, if you know Jesus, if you’ve trusted him, [42:46] if you’ve turned from your sin, these tables are open to you. [42:50] If you haven’t, I’d implore you to consider turning to Jesus. [42:55] Consider, has he forgiven you? [42:59] Have you received that forgiveness? [43:02] And maybe this morning could be the morning where you really receive forgiveness.

[43:07] And these tables would be open to you. [43:09] Guys, come when you’re ready.