Unforgiven (2)
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21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
Forgiveness
Forgiveness
There are some people, for which forgiveness in not appropriate.
We cannot approach this topic lightly. There is too much on the line.
“I could never forgive “…..fill in the blank
Story of forgiveness.
Story of forgiveness.
Corrie Ten Boom - The Hiding Place
It was in a church in Munich where I was speaking in 1947 that I saw him - a balding heavyset man in a gray overcoat, a brown felt hat clutched between his hands. One moment I saw the overcoat and the brown hat, the next, a blue uniform and a visored cap with its skull and crossbones.
Memories of the concentration camp came back with a rush: the huge room with its harsh overhead lights, the pathetic pile of dresses and shoes in the center of the floor, the shame of walking naked past this man. I could see my sister's frail form ahead of me, ribs sharp beneath the parchment of skin.
Betsie and I had been arrested for concealing Jews in our home during the Nazi occupation of Holland. This man had been a guard at Ravensbruck concentration camp where we were sent.
Now he was in front of me, hand thrust out: "A fine message, fraulein! How good it is to know that, as you say, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea!"
It was the first time since my release that I had been face to face with one of my captors and my blood seemed to freeze.
"You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk," he was saying. "I was a guard there. But since that time," he went on, "I have become a Christian. I know that God has forgiven me for the cruel things I did there, but I would like to hear it from your lips as well. Fraulein - "again the hand came out - "will you forgive me?"
And I stood there - and could not. Betsie had died in that place - could he erase her slow terrible death simply for the asking?
It could not have been many seconds that he stood there, hand held out, but to me it seemed hours as I wrestled with the most difficult thing I had ever had to do.
For I had to do it - I knew that. The message that God forgives has a prior condition: that we forgive those who have injured us. "If you do not forgive men their trespasses," Jesus says, "neither will your Father in Heaven forgive your trespasses."
Still I stood there with the coldness clutching my heart. But forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. "Jesus, help me!" I prayed silently. “I can lift my hand. I can do that much. You supply the feeling."
And so woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me. And as I did, an incredible thing took place. The current started in my shoulder, raced down my arm, sprang into our joined hands. And then this healing warmth seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes.
"I forgive you, brother!" I cried. "With all my heart!"
For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and former prisoner. I had never known God's love so intensely as I did then.*
Peter’s Question
Peter’s Question
How often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?
Has some prerequisites attached.
Discipline and Prayer.
If your brother sins. (Brother in Christ)
Alone in private
Take 1 or 2 more with you.
Take it to the church.
If no repentance …let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
The prerequisite for forgiveness is that your brother or sister repents.
(They recognize their wrongdoing and seek restoration.)
Does that mean you don’t have to forgive the “Gentiles and tax collectors”?
Does that mean you don’t have to forgive the “Gentiles and tax collectors”?
Sort of…..yes.
Forgiveness - Let go, release, permit.
It carries the idea that you are owed something and you choose to wipe away the debt you are owed and not hold it against someone.
That is why the Word of God never tells you specifically to forgive your enemies.
Very generally:
14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
25 “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.
He doesn’t tell you to forgive your enemies, because they don’t owe you anything. You are not entitled to anything in their regard.
Getting angry, holding ill will toward someone that is not a brother or sister in Christ is like getting mad at your dog for not making your morning coffee.
When Jesus was on the cross, He recognized that the sins of the Roman soldiers were against God.
He didn’t say, I forgive them, but asked…..
34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.
How the word does tell us to treat our enemies has to be stated.
27 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
back to your brother
Your brother or sister sins against you.
You show them their sin…….You don’t have any rights if you don’t.
And they repent.
How many times do you forgive them?
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
Parable
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
24 “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
1 Talent = 15 years wages of labor
10,000 talents = 7 Billion dollars.
25 “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
26 “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’
27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.
Forgiveness
28 “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’
29 “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’
30 “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.
$12,800 - 100 days labor.
31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.
32 “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
33 ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’
34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
…
35 “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
You need to recognize the world doesn’t owe you an apology.
If a brother, or sister owe you anything, it is up to you go to them and show them……Otherwise you forfeit your right to hold it against them.
You can never forgive anyone else more than what God has already forgiven you.
You can’t do it on your own….
Forgiveness is both an act of the will, and a cleansing of your heart.
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.