Forgive

Good morning Church, great to be with you today.

welcome to those joining on line. both right now or if your watching this in the future

Today we on continuing to discover How the Bride is to get ready for Jesus’s return

We’ve covered alot of ground. If you missed any you can always catch up online .

Today we want to talk about one of the most important subjects any christian can deal with.

The command to forgive. and yes it is a command.

We are expected to forgive those who wrong us and seek forgiveness of those we wronged

This guy gets a parrot but it's got a bad attitude and fowl (pun intended) vocabulary

He tries everything to change the bird's attitude and clean up its talk but nothing works. Finally, in a moment of desperation, he puts the parrot in the freezer. For a few moments he hears the bird squawking, kicking and screaming and then, suddenly, all is quiet. He opens the freezer door. The parrot steps out and says, "I'm sorry that I offended you with my language and actions. I ask for your forgiveness." The guy's astounded at the bird's change in attitude and was about to ask what changed him when the parrot continued, "By the way, may I ask - what did the chicken do?"

A man goes to the confessional. "Forgive me father, for I have sinned."

"What is your sin, my child?" The priest asks back. "Well," the man starts, "I used some horrible language this week and feel absolutely terrible." "When did you do use this awful language?" said the priest. "I was golfing and hit an incredible drive that looked like it was going to go over 250 yards, but it struck a phone line that was hanging over the fairway and fell straight down to the ground after going only about 100 yards." "Is that when you swore?" "No, Father." Said the man. "After that, a squirrel ran out of the bushes and grabbed my ball in his mouth and began to run away." "Is THAT when you swore?" asked the Father again. "Well, no." said the man, "You see, as the squirrel was running, an eagle came down out of the sky, grabbed the squirrel in his talons and began to fly away!"

"Is THAT when you swore?" asked the amazed Priest. "No, not yet." The man replied. "As the eagle carried the squirrel away in his claws, it flew towards the green.

And as it passed over a bit of forest near the green, the squirrel dropped my ball." "Did you swear THEN?" asked the now impatient Priest. "No, because as the ball fell it struck a tree, bounced through some bushes, careened off a big rock, and rolled through a sand trap onto the green and stopped within six inches of the hole."

"You missed the putt, didn't you?" sighed the Priest.

Forgiveness is something we can receive because of what Jesus did on the cross.

Forgiveness is something we give because of what Jesus did on the cross.

Forgiveness is what allows us to go to heaven when we die

Forgiveness is what allows us to walk in His blessing on this earth.

Forgiveness is a Big deal.

After Jesus answer the request from his disciples “Lord teach us how pray.

He continued on with this statement.

Matthew 6:14–15 NASB95

“For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

The devil know this. and for millennia has been using this to his advantage.

realizing he can restrict God from forgiving us. by getting us not to forgive.

So he creates these schemes getting people to cause hurt and pain to others with the hope they will not forgive.

and thus perpetuating un-forgiveness from God in heaven.

Jesus illustrated this truth in the parable of the Unforgiving debtor

Matthew 18:21–35 NASB95

Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. “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. “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. “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.’ “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

God expects us to forgive others when they hurt us, but I believe many Christians misunderstand what forgiveness is

To forgive others, we must understand the nature of forgiveness.

What does it mean to ask forgiveness or to forgive someone?

Lets approach this from a different angle.

What forgiveness is not

1. Forgiveness is not a feeling

 2. Forgiveness is not pretending you were not hurt

3. Forgiveness is not condoning what the person did to you

4. Forgiveness is not trusting the offender

5. Forgiveness is not relieving the person of responsibility

6. Forgiveness is not simply apologizing

apologizing is the world’s substitute for forgiving.

The bible never tells us to apologize. but rather seek and give forgiveness

· It is an unbiblical concept. It allows the wrongdoer to tell you how he feels (“I’m sorry”)

without acknowledging his sin and it does not ask the one sinned against to grant forgiveness.

What Forgiveness is

In biblical forgiveness, the wrongdoer admits, “I sinned against you,” and asks, “Will you forgive me?”

The one wronged must respond by promising, “I forgive you.”

Forgiveness – releasing resentment and pardoning one who has offended or hurt you – is rarely a one-time event.

The pain doesn’t necessarily disappear once you forgive someone.

And those closest to us may hurt us repeatedly, requiring us to forgive multiple times.

The best way to step toward forgiveness is to admit that you need to forgive.

Be honest with the Lord and ask Him to reveal any distorted thinking you may have about forgiveness.

That often begins with discovering the difference between what forgiveness is – and what it is not.

This is very different than just saying you’re sorry or saying to the one who wronged you, “Hey, don’t worry about it!”

Ephesians 4:32 NASB95

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Paul says that we are to forgive each other “just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

God didn’t say, “Hey, don’t worry about it, we all make mistakes!”

He didn’t just brush our sin aside.

He requires that the penalty be paid.

But in love, He sent His own Son to bear the penalty that we deserved.

When the guilty sinner repents of his sin and lays hold of Christ by faith, God graciously and totally forgives the debt of sin.

He releases the sinner from the guilt of his sin.

He promises not to remember those sins against him, in the sense of not bringing them up again for judgment.

To refuse to bring up the offense to use against the offender.

· When God says that He will not remember our sins any more

Hebrews 8:12 NASB95

“For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.”

He does not forget them in the sense of amnesia.

Rather, He means that He will not bring up any of our offenses against us in the future.

A. To refuse to think about the offense.

B. To refuse to talk to others about the offense.

If you say that you forgive someone and then tell others about the offense, you are trying to make the offender pay, which is not forgiveness.

Or, you’re trying to evoke sympathy or admiration from others at the offender’s expense. When you forgive, you choose to drop the matter.

The only exception would be if you fear that the offender may be trying to repeat his sin toward another person, who needs to be warned of the danger.

For example, if someone has molested your child and you see him hanging out with another family with young children, it is appropriate to warn them to be on guard.

C. To be reconciled with the offender as far as is biblically possible.

God forgives us so that we may be reconciled to Him and enjoy a close relationship with Him.

When we forgive others, we should also seek to restore the broken relationship.

This does not always mean becoming best of friends, but it should at least mean that we are cordial and friendly towards the person.

To say, “I forgive you, but I never want to see your ugly face again,” is not to forgive as God forgives!

Of course, if the offender does not truly repent of his sin, we cannot be truly reconciled or in a close relationship.

But even then, we are still commanded to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, bless those who curse us, and pray for those who mistreat us (Luke 6:27-28).

So, biblical forgiveness is a decision to release the offender from the guilt of his sin, to refuse to bring up the offense to use against him, to refuse to think about the offense, to refuse to talk to others about the offense, and to be reconciled to the offender if possible. Also, to understand forgiveness we must realize that…

D BIBLICAL FORGIVENESS IS COSTLY.

· It cost God the death of His beloved Son. It will not usually cost us that much, but it still may be very costly. I have read stories of parents who have forgiven the murderer or molester of their child. That is costly! At the very least, it costs us the time and effort to go to the offender and try to work on reconciliation. It does not happen automatically or when you are passive.

E. BIBLICAL FORGIVENESS IS UNDESERVED.

God forgives us by grace alone, which is undeserved favor. If someone has to earn it, it’s not forgiveness. If you make him pay or do penance, it’s not forgiveness.

F. BIBLICAL FORGIVENESS IS TOTAL.

God doesn’t forgive just some of our sins, saving some others to bring up later when He needs some leverage against us! He forgives them all (1 John 1:9). So we can’t say, “I forgive you for this, but I’m not going to forgive you for that!” It must be total.

G. BIBLICAL FORGIVENESS IS FINAL.

God doesn’t say, “If you do that again, I’m revoking your previous forgiveness!” He says (Heb. 10:17), “Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.” To forgive someone is to dismiss the case against him. You can’t bring it up again.

Much more could be said, but that gives us some understanding of the nature of biblical forgiveness. But, how do we put it into practice? We need the right perspective or mindset: