Untitled Sermon (2)

As we forgive The Proportion for Forgiveness—

"...as we forgive our debtors."... For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

[15] But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 6:12b,14-15

The call to forgive is an indirect call, but it is a very strong call to forgive.

In another text similar to this one, "forgive" is in the imperative mood which makes it a divine command.

Forgiveness involves a change of relationship between the wronged person and the wrong-doer.

It will involve restoration of a broken relationship and privileges.

Forgiveness is not probation.

It is complete dismissal of the charge.

We are to forgive as Christ has forgiven us.

When He forgives us, He does not hold any sins against us.

He wipes our slate clean.

We are brought back into fellowship which sin had broken.

Mark 11:25—And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

In its use in regards to forgiveness, the word translated "forgive" in our text means "the dismissal of a punishment or of a debt."

It means you no longer hold against someone a wrong they have done to you.

You have dismissed the charge.

The guilty party is no longer obligated to you because of a wrong they have done to you.

You are going to have times when you get mad at someone and stay heated for a while, hopefully not too long.

BABY IN THIS CHRISTAIN WALK, YOU WILL FINE PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT BOTTON TO PUSH.

OH YES, THEY CAN TAKE YOU THERE.

Eventually, you cool off and forgive the person who TOOK you THERE.

The fact that you have forgiven and continue to forgive is a sign of God's grace working in your life.

There may be someone here who have been recently offended and are still in emotional shock and have not been able to properly respond with forgiveness yet.

The point is if you are a Child of God, a believer, you can and will forgive!

· Not maybe

· Not might

· Or I’ll think about it

You will forgive.

Forgiveness is not easy.

It is very difficult, in fact.

One reason for the difficulty is that "our corrupt nature thirsts for retaliation."

Your duties are difficult to do and this duty to forgive is one of the most difficult of them all.

When someone has wronged you, the flesh gets very upset, and even though there is repentance by the offending one, the bitterness of the flesh still does not want to forgive.

The difficulty of this duty emphasizes the fact that it is not easy to live a holy life.

2 Timothy 3:12 (KJV) 12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Those who would picture the Christian life as something fit only for weaklings are very ignorant of the character of Christian duties.

Jesus says, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

It is those folks who have no desire to forgive anyone who are in soul danger.

A merciless, unforgiving heart will receive neither forgiveness nor mercy from God.

Matthew 18:32-35—

Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:

[33] Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

[34] And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

[35] So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses.

Thomas Watson, the great Puritan, said, "A man can as well go to Hell for not forgiving as for not believing."

Charles Spurgeon stated, "Unless you have forgiven others, you read your own death-warrant when you repeat the Lord's Prayer."

C. S. Lewis wrote: "No part of His teaching is clearer and there are no exceptions to it.

We are to forgive them all,

· however spiteful,

· however mean,

· however often they are repeated.

Our unforgiving hearts make our prayers die on our lips.

AND D.O.A. DEAD ON ARRIVAL

The Lord's Prayer can then be nothing more than a self-inflicted curse—

a prayer of doom instead of blessing, for if we pray,

"Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors"

with unforgiving hearts, we are asking God not to forgive us!

If we say, "I will never forgive so-and-so for what he or she has done to me," and then go and take this petition on our lips, we are quite deliberately asking God not to forgive us.

AND IF GOD DON’T FORGIVE YOU, YOU ARE TRULY HELL BOUND.

So is "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors"

IS IT a curse upon you or a blessing?

Are your most precious possessions your "grudges?"

Do you pride yourself on the fact that you never forgive? How sad!

All it requires is honesty.

Does the state of your heart regarding forgiveness indicate grace or not?

Someone said,

"To forgive is divine; to not forgive is demonic."

So let me ask some probing questions here.

Do you need to forgive your wife or husband?

Make up your mind to do so right now. AND START ALL OVER!

HUSBAND 1 PETER 3:7

“LIKEWISE, YE HUSBANDS, DWELL WITH THEM ACCORDING TO KNOWLEDGE, GIVING HONOUR UNTO THE WIFE, AS UNTO THE WEAKER VESSEL, AND AS BEING HEIRS TOGETHER OF THE GRACE OF LIFE; THAT YOUR PRAYERS BE NOT HINDERED.”

Have you been unwilling to forgive your parents for things that have happened in the past, perhaps many years ago?

Promise God that you will do it. In fact, do it today!

HAVE YOU BEEN UNWILLING TO FORGIVE YOUR BROTHER OR SISTER”

PARENTS ARE YOU UNWILLING TO FORGIVE YOUR SON OR YOU DAUGHTER?

Have you forgiven that employer or neighbor or church member who wronged you?

Do you have a grudge against your last church, or this church, or its pastor, deacons, or members?

HAVE YOU FORGIVING YOURSELF?

Forgive today!

Forgiveness is not a psychological trick.

It is a miracle and God can help you do it.

If He commands you to forgive, He will give you the ability to do it.

Ephesians 4:32—And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

We have seen that true praying is a "family affair" because we are praying to "Our Father."

If the members of the family are not getting along with one another, how can we claim to have a right relationship with the Father?

PLEASE BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF, CAN YOU COME TO CHURCH AND DON’T HAVE AN ILL FEELING TOWARDS YOUR BROTHER OR SISTER?

The emphasis in 1 John 4 is that we show our love for God by loving our brothers AND SISTERS.

When we forgive each other, we are not earningthe right to prayer; for the privilege of prayer is a part of our sonshipin Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness belongs to the matter of fellowship.

If I am not in fellowship with God,

I cannot pray effectively,

but fellowship with my brother AND SISTER helps to determine my fellowship with God.

Thus, the matter of forgiveness is important to prayer.

The important thing about prayer is not simply getting an answer, but being the kind of person whom God can trust with an answer.

Can the Lord trust you with His answers?

Better yet, do you know how to forgive others?

Many people struggle with forgiveness.

We are to avoid bitterness and an unforgiving attitude at all cost because it is so destructive.

It has a destructive effect upon us and those around us.

How Does an Unforgiving Spirit Affect Us or Others?

1. It Duplicatesthe person we are bitter toward.

We become like those whom we resent.

IT WILL CONTROL YOU, ALL YOU CAN DO IS THINK ABOUT THAT PERSON WHO HARMED YOU.

HOW MUCH TIME IS SPENT ON THAT PERSON.

SAVE YOUR TIME AND FORGIVE.

One day a little boy named Julian fell down while chasing butterflies in a field of tall grass.

Soon afterward, the boy's left eye started hurting, so he was taken to a doctor.

The doctor couldn't find the source of the irritation, so he just gave the boy some ointment and sent him home.

Eventually Julian's eye problem went away.

About a year later, though, the boy started complaining of cloudy vision.

His parents took him to an eye specialist, who was stunned by what he discovered.

Apparently when Julian had fallen a year earlier, a tiny grass seed had implanted itself in his cornea.

Slowly the seed had grown and had actually sprouted two little leaves in Julian's eye.

The seed had to be removed immediately in order to save the boy's vision.

SO, WHAT’S THE POINT PASTOR?

THE POINT IS THIS!

Anger and bitterness are like that tiny seed of grass.

It has a way of festering and growing to the point where our spiritual vision is:

· clouded,

· distorted,

· and infected

And we are distracted from focusing our life on the Lord.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS, THE ARTHUR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH.

For this reason, if we are going to see clearly, we need to remove the unforgiving attitude and change our focus from sinners to the Savior who is the ARTHUR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH.