Luke 17:3b-4 (3)
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-Let me invite you to turn to Luke 17 again this morning.
We’re going to be back at the beginning of the chapter.
We started this section last week...
...with our focus being primarily upon...
...those “Warnings for the Offender” . . .
...that we saw in Verses 1-2.
Well, this morning’s focus...
...is going to be on the other side of that coin.
In Verses 3-4 the primary focus...
...is going to be on:
Giving “Instructions for the Offended”
(As Christians, we have a responsibility to Christ...
Both ways!)
Whether we’re the cause of offense...
Or, whether we’re the one being sinned against...
Christ has exerted his Lordship over our responses.
And that’s what we’re going to see clearly...
...in our text (and it’s cross-references) today.
-We’re going to begin reading back in Verse 1.
Please follow along as I do.
This is the Word of the Lord:
1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!
2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,
4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
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Pray
-Let’s begin with a quick bit of review:
First of all, we need to remember...
...that Jesus is directing these commands:
1 And he said to his disciples...
So, is that an “us” or “them” situation for us?
US, right?
This is particularly applicable… to US!
-Here was the first warning...
The one that had sort of...
...introduced the main point that followed:
1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come...
“Skandalon” = Temptations, Stumbling Blocks, Offenses, etc.
Expect it, Christian!
You’re going to have to face them.
-But, then he warned:
1 . . . “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!
Invoking the prophetic oracle of doom...
...upon those who caused such stumbling and temptation!
-Then, he specified...
2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.
To “Skandalidzo”
Who were they?
We saw that answered in Mark 9...
42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin...
So, this is a protection for (as Robbie ably said):
The Children of God!
And so Jesus was warning:
Watch out how you treat my people
Don’t provoke them to sin against me...
If you do...
I’m coming after YOU!
-And finally, we saw that same warning and protection...
...being applied by the Apostle Paul...
...within the sphere of Christian liberty...
...with Paul concluding for himself:
13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
And then commanding us:
20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats.
21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.
Then, we had read this summarizing statement, in...
10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
This is the consistent and persistent...
...message of God’s Word.
-Now… We started Verse 3 BRIEFLY last week.
But, since it serves as a...
...connection between the two sides of the coin...
We’re going to begin with it again today:
3 Pay attention to yourselves! . . .
3 “Be on your guard! . . .
3 Take heed to yourselves: …
So, what is this?
It’s a call to self-reflection and examination.
One that is similar to passages, like...
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise...
34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life...
36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength...
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Similarly, ours is a call to ongoing...
Watchfulness
Vigilance
Prayer
Humble self-examination
Ongoing repentance.
It’s the very OPPOSITE...
...of “Lazy Boy Christianity.”
-Now, commentators disagree...
...on whether this command is meant...
To point backward (to the warning about causing sin/offense)
To point forward (to the command to forgive when offended)
Or, if it’s equally applicable to both.
I think it’s the latter.
I think it applies equally to both.
There’s just as much danger...
...in withholding forgiveness...
...as there is in causing offense in the first place!
(Hopefully, I can persuade you of that...
...before the end)
-But for now, let’s read on:
The first thing Jesus says after that...
...might come as a surprise:
3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins...
So, we’re still talking about...
… “those little ones” who believe in Jesus, right?
Now...
Without looking down...
What do you think he’s going to say?
This is what he says… (at least first):
3 . . . If your brother sins, rebuke him...
(i.e., give him a verbal correction)
Now, why would Jesus say that?
Isn’t that unloving?
Wouldn’t it be more Christian, to...
NOT confront him?
Skip straight to forgiveness?
NOT NECESSARILY!
We have to “Pay attention to ourselves,” here...
(i.e., what motivates us to do this)
...but, the Bible presents...
...a rightly motivated rebuke...
as an act of Christian love or charity...
And, it presents the refusal to do so...
...as an act of hate!
Let me show you:
The foundational passage is found in:
17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.
Don’t internalize the offense
Show him his sin
Rebuke him IN LOVE
Do you see how closely this lines up, with:
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
Why do we tell him his fault?
To vent our frustrations?
To express our anger?
To get relief for ourselves?
NO!
-For HIS spiritual benefit!
-For the sake of unity and restoration
Our motivation matters!
And, while we’re on the obligation to pursue...
Don’t forget about this command of our Lord:
23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
Whether you’re...
The offended
The offender
The obligation is the same:
Pursue Reconciliation with your brother!
Christ Commands it!
I think it was Jay Adams who said, that...
“When it comes to reconciliation...
...you should meet each other on the way!”
-Now, if you don’t pursue each other in reconciliation...
...this tends to happen.
Look at the next verse in Leviticus 19:
18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
(Our text is in perfect harmony with this)
To love your neighbor...
Is to “reason frankly with him” about his sin.
-Again, think about the implications of...
5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
Consider also what James wrote in...
19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back,
How are you going to do that?
By correcting them, right?
20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Is that an act of love?
Would it be loving him...
To know he was heading toward destruction
To say nothing about it...
Just to keep from hurting his feelings
Just so he won’t be mad at you?
Would that be “loving your neighbor as yourself?”
(Our society has this all wrong).
To be nice to someone...
To MERELY avoid hurting their feelings...
Doesn’t necessarily mean that you're loving them.
Often times, we do that...
More out of love for ourselves
Than out of love for the person.
And let’s go a step further:
To affirm someone in their sin...
...is an act of hate!
You’re encouraging them to do something...
...that is going to bring them...
...spiritual and/or eternal harm.
If you’re going to love your brother...
...in a biblical sense of the word...
...then you can’t just ignore verse 3.
-But… let’s be careful:
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Sevenfold Forgiveness
There is a right way and a wrong way to confront sin.
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Sevenfold Forgiveness
We need to go to one another
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Sevenfold Forgiveness
We need to go to one another
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Sevenfold Forgiveness
We need to go to one another
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Sevenfold Forgiveness
We need to go to one another
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Sevenfold Forgiveness
We need to go to one another
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Sevenfold Forgiveness
But we
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Sevenfold Forgiveness
Do we care enough to confront, and are we godly enough to do it
-So, loving confrontation is the first step.
What we read about next in Verse 3...
...ought to flow from that:
3 . . . If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,
That’s the intended result, brethren:
Repentance
Forgiveness
-Now, undoubtedly, some will say:
“If you follow what Jesus is saying here, closely...
Then it means that...
You aren’t REQUIRED to forgive someone
Until/Unless they repent.”
Notice:
3 ...If your brother sins . . . and if he repents, forgive him,
For example, no less than R.C. Sproul wrote:
Christians sometimes think that they are required to forgive all people, whether they repent or not. But I cannot find that teaching in the New Testament.
There are places where Jesus and others convey that kind of forgiveness before there is repentance; for example . . . Jesus . . . Stephen . . .
We are permitted to grant forgiveness where repentance is not present, but forgiveness is not automatically required.
The Bible makes provision for disciplinary action to be taken within a church, or to take one’s case before the civil magistrate.
Similarly if somebody steals your property and refuses to repent, within the context of the biblical ethic it is permissible to involve the law to seek restitution. — R.C. Sproul
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Now, as much as I respect...
Dr. Sproul, himself...
The things he’s allowing for in that...
(Those are valid allowances)
(Under the right circumstances)...
...I would still caution you...
...not to assume that those things...
...can’t/won’t EVER happen...
...unless you first withhold forgiveness.
Here’s why I stress that:
1.) Those things are valid Christian “rights”
2.) Verse 3 isn’t the only text that has to be considered!
Think about these:
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
At the very least...
...you always have to forgive your brother or sister in Christ!
(Remember, that’s the context of our text as well)
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
No contingency given there, either
Also, stated forcefully, in:
14 ...if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
Notice: The more generic term “others”
Not “brothers,” or “each other,” etc.
15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
(We’ll see this idea later in Matthew 18, too)
Guys, I’m a “play it safe” kind of guy...
But, my counsel to you is...
...to err on the side of...
Don’t withhold forgiveness from ANYBODY!
Taking appropriate legal/disciplinary action against someone...
(Hopefully via the church)
(Not the State)
...doesn’t necessarily mean you’re withholding forgiveness!
It might!
It certainly could mean that!
But, it shouldn’t!
It should be a both/and situation for a Christian.
-Alright, look at Verse 4.
Here too, Jesus heads off our tendency...
...to try to find exceptions for our obedience:
He says:
4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day...
Why the number 7?
Is that meant to be a literal numeration?
In other words...
Does what he’s about to say...
...no longer apply once you reach the 8th time?
Of course not!
The number Seven was...
...a highly symbolic number for the Jews, right?
For example:
164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.
Does that mean exactly and only seven times?
It means he does it continually, right?
How about:
16 ...the righteous falls seven times and rises again...
Does that mean he stays down on the eighth time?
It means he always (generally speaking) rises again, right?
-Furthermore, we have a case study...
...that answers that question for us:
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
Is he merely increasing it by seventy?
Is he drawing the line at 78? (or 491 for that matter)
Of course not...
What’s he getting at?
You always forgive your brother!
ALWAYS!
-Alright, let’s read on...
...a little further:
4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’…
Guys...
— If someone keeps sinning and “repenting” that much...
...are we going to believe they’re actually repentant? —
Probably Not!
You know what that indicates to me?
That our forgiveness...
...is not to be contingent upon:
The quality of their repentance
How emotionally satisfying it is to us
Whether it sufficiently resolved our grievances
That doesn’t appear to me to be...
...the criteria for our forgiveness of others.
The criteria for our forgiveness of others...
(particularly, our Christian Brothers and Sisters)
...is what’s at the end of Verse 4.
It’s the fact that Jesus...
...our Lord and Master...
...Commands us:
4 ...you must forgive him.”
Even if...
4 ...he sins against you seven times in the day...
Even if, he unconvincingly....
4 ...turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ . . .
Even then:
4 ...you must forgive him.”
Why?
2 Reasons:
Because your Lord is commanding it
Because God has forgiven you!
-If you have your Bibles open, turn to Matthew 18.
Jesus speaks to this so plainly...
Through a parable!
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.
24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
25 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.
26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’
27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’
29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’
30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.
31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.
32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’
34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.
35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
(Wholly and entirely)
(From the very depths of your being)
Release them!
God has released you and I...
...of infinitely more!
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Let’s pray
