Forgive as Jesus Forgave

As Jesus  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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I coached girls softball for a couple years when I was a youth pastor…I was watching a game and it was the bottom of the last inning with no outs and the home team was down by two points. The bases were loaded and the batter was ready. The pitch came and the hit went flying into left field. All the runners sprinted around the bases and even the batter made it to home safely.
The celebration started as the batter ran across home plate. But while the celebration was going on, the opposing team took the ball and touched third base, second base and first base then the umpire called three of the runners out. And the home team lost by one point.
Create Tension
As Christian’s we have a wonderful guarantee of eternal life, one that seems will always be ours. But, like the softball game that was lost because of an unknowingly error, there is something that can cause us to not receive the win we think we have.
This dangerous spirit that can reside within us all can keep eternal life from us.
It is subtle
it is often justified by out thinking
it can overtake the most spiritually mature
it is the most dangerous of attitudes
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Matthew 6:14–15 (NLT):
14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Let me begin with a definition of forgiveness that we owe to each other. It comes from Thomas Watson about 300 years ago. He is commenting on the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” and he asks
When do we know we have forgiven others?
Answer:
When we strive against all thoughts of revenge; when we will not do our enemies mischief, but wish well to them, grieve at their calamities, pray for them, seek reconciliation with them, and show ourselves ready on all occasions to relieve them. (Thomas Watson, Body of Divinity, p. 581)
I think this is a very biblical definition of forgiveness. Each of its parts comes from a passage of Scripture.
1. Resist thoughts of revenge: Romans 12:19 ‘Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God.’
2. Don’t seek to do them mischief: 2 Thessalonians 5:15 See that no one pays back evil for evil
3. Wish well to them: Luke 6:28 (NLT): Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.
4. Grieve at their calamities: Proverbs 24:17, “ Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall; don’t be happy when they stumble.”
5. Pray for them: Matthew 5:44 (NLT): “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”
6. Seek reconciliation with them: Romans 12:18 (NLT): “Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”
7. Be always willing to come to their relief: Exodus 23:4 If you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has strayed away, take it back to its owner. 5 If you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, do not walk by. Instead, stop and help.
Here is forgiveness: when you feel that someone is your enemy or when you simply feel that you or someone you care about has been wronged, forgiveness means,
1. resisting revenge
Returning the same measure the wrong that was done to you.
2. not returning evil for evil,
Any small act of evil for the wrong that was done to you.
3. wishing them well,
A desire to see good things happen to them
4. grieving at their calamities,
Feeling sorrowful for the bad things that happen to them
5. praying for their welfare,
More than a desire, but acting on their behalf before God for their well being
6. seeking reconciliation so far as it depends on you,
do everything in your power to restore the relationship
7. and coming to their aid in distress.
When evil befalls them you come to their aid
All these point to a forgiving heart. And the heart is all important.
I feel the need to point out a couple other aspects of forgiveness…
Forgiveness is not the absence of anger against sin… - just because we are not angry with the sin anymore doesn’t mean we have forgiven them…some people hate others and don’t even remember what they did to them.
Forgiveness is not the absence of consequences of one’s actions… - Jesus forgives our sins and so we will not face the eternal punishment for our sins, but the consequences of our actions many times are not removed.
Forgiveness of the unrepentant person looks different
Why we don’t forgive others?
Because we don’t realize how much we have been forgiven!!
In Matthew 18 Jesus tells a parable about a servant who was forgiven a great debt…
We have been forgiven for something we could never repay…and yet we sometimes hold onto un-forgiveness because of a much less offense.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:35—“unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
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