Posted under Sermons
Forgiveness
De 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
Matt 18:21-35
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like…
a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” NIV
We have Peter coming to Jesus and asking, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jewish law says that one only has to forgive his brother twice. Peter is saying look a what a good Jew or what a good person I am. Look how great I am because I will forgive my brother seven times. But Jesus comes back and tells him a different answer. 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Jesus wants you and I to go farther than what man’s law or what religion says we must do. He want us to walk in forgiveness, Why? Because He knows what unforgiveness will do to a person. How unforgiveness will effect ones health, how unforgiveness will effect your relationship with your spouse and with another person, and more importantly how it will effect your relationship with God the Father.
Because of unforgiveness Satan will build upon that sin and he will whisper more lies into your head. You wouldn’t be able to sleep at night because you keep playing over and over the conversation in your mind. Thus, your immune system gets out of balance and sickness can set in because of the lack of a deep sleep. You can not shut down your thoughts at night because you plot about getting even with the person who has hurt you. Because of the hurt and internal pain, one does not sleep at night. If you are married and you don’t forgive your spouse of their sin committed against you, the pain will just keep on growing and growing. The Bible says that the relationship is doomed.
When a person sins against you, and another person sins against you that hurt will build upon another and another. Now that hurt becomes a sore. This sore now becomes infected and cancerous. Now your body is sick and contagious. All you want to do is to react to the hurt. When you speak poison comes out in your words and out in your actions. All you want to do is to hurt and to kill anything and everything around you. The only person that you hurt and kill is your self.
Because of sin God can not hear your prayer Do you know that unforgiveness effects your relationship with the Holy Spirit. Unforgiveness grieves the Holy Spirit, and thus keeps the Holy Spirit form moving in your life. When you die the sin of unforgiveness will keep you from entering heaven. There will be no sinners in Heaven. When you walk in unforgiveness and you refuse to forgive you will allow a spirit of bitterness to enter into your life. You open yourself to tormenting spirits.
Satan is out to destroy the marriage and the family unit as we know it as today. Satan knows that marriage and children pleases the heart of the Father. He knows that when the husband and wife prays together that there is power in their prayer. That when a family comes together to study His Word, to pray, and to worship God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit there is exploding power. This is the kind of power that moves heaven and earth. We come united with one heart and one purpose to do the will of the Father.
Satan knows that if he can keep us fighting and bickering in the Church he has us defeated. That is why he wants you and I to be walking in unforgiveness towards one another in the Church. He knows that if we would become more forgiving and walking in love towards one another and toward the people around us the Church would explode in the power of the Holy Spirit. We would come together with one heart, one Spirit, and one mind. We who call ourself the Church of the Living Christ need to come together and cross denominational barriers. We need to unite as the body of Christ. Thus, we would supply all the needs to the body. We would get souls saved for the kingdom of God. We would be able to move in love and power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus gives us this parable about king. 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” NIV God the Father is king in this story. God is full of love, grace, and mercy. He is ready to forgive us of our sin. You and I forget that we sin and we hurt Him. When we sin we hurt Him and the Lord Jesus Christ. They are ready to forgive us when we hurt them but we are not ready to forgive others when they hurt us. Therefore we need to put on the mind of Christ We need to look at our brothers and sisters in Christ and those who are around us with eyes of God. We need to see them as the Father sees them. We need to walk in forgiveness, grace, and mercy. We need to walk in the love of Christ. Maybe you might be the one who has hurt someone. You need to ask them to forgive you. You need to ask the Father in Heaven to forgive you. Then you need to forgive yourself. Right now you are the one that is hurt and in pain because someone has hurt you by their words and by their action. Time has passed and the pain now has become so great that you don’t know where to begin. You don’t know how to forgive and the pain is so great that it seems like forty pound weight is on your chest. You start with a very simple prayer, and when you pray, pray from a sincere heart. Father help me to forgive those that have hurt me and used me. Get ready because God is going to peel you like an onion. Layer after layer will come off until He gets to the core of your heart. That forty pound weight has now been lifted off your chest. Now God can bring healing to your spirit, mind, and body.
When we walk in the Spirit of forgiveness and we practice the act of forgiving it will become easier and easier to forgive. Thus, when somebody offends you and sins against you it will become almost automatic coming out of your mouth “Father forgive them for they do not know what they do. Father Bless them and watch over them.” Because now you and I are walking in the Spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. By asking and allowing God to forgive those who hurt us we now give Him permission to move in our life. We also allow God to move in the person who committed the sin. Thus, we allow God to bless us and to bless them also. Go in peace.
Now receive the benediction.
Num 6:24-26 24 “‘”The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ‘
Dennis
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