April 15

Gatherings “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”

Forgiveness

Matthew 18:20

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Shout to the Lord My Jesus, my Savior Lord there is none like You All of my days I want to praise The wonders of Your mighty love My comfort, my shelter Tower of refuge and strength Let every breath, all that I am Never cease to worship You Shout to the Lord All the Earth, let us sing Power and majesty Praise to the King Mountains bow down And the seas will roar At the sound of Your name

Song of

Praise

We Fall Down We fall down We lay our crowns At the feet of Jesus The greatness of Your Mercy and love At the feet of Jesus And we cry holy, holy, holy And we cry holy, holy, holy And we cry holy, holy, holy Is the lamb We fall down We lay our crowns At the feet of Jesus The greatness of Mercy and love

Song of

Worship

Forgiveness Matthew 18:21-35 21Then

came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin

against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?  22Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 23Therefore

is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which

would take account of his servants. 24And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

25But

forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

26The

servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.28But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.

Forgiveness 29And

his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him,

saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

30And

he

would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.  31So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32Then

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:

33Shouldest

not thou also have had compassion on

thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?  34And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.  35So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Forgiveness Luke 17:3-4 3Take

heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee,

rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.  4And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him  

Forgiveness

1) Sin Is Only Human...

• What is natural to "the flesh" (the carnal nature) when we have been hurt or abused or insulted is to strike back, to plot revenge, or to simmer in bitterness. This is "only human". But God requires forgiveness; else He will NOT forgive us. If we are unwilling--or unable--to forgive, then there is no use asking God for what He has told us He will not give. Matthew 6:14-15 -

14For

if ye forgive men their trespasses, your

heavenly Father will also forgive you:  15But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Mark 11:25 -

25And

when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have

ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

2) Is Denial Forgiveness?

Forgiveness

• The inability to really forgive is often due to a false concept that "forgetting is forgiving". Forgetting is NOT forgiving. To be sure, if we forgive we will forget as a result. But the reverse is not true: forgetting is not forgiving--it is denial.   • If we attempt to achieve a bogus forgiveness by deliberately putting "out of mind" the offense, we might be fooling ourselves and others that we have "forgiven". But all of the emotions and plots and hurt are still there-only held back by force of will in deliberated denial. But then we see "that person" again and all the bitterness and pain rise up again within us. Or, in the off moment--when such mental gymnastics cannot be maintained--we catch ourselves in an elaborate meditation of revenge or fit of rage and anger. Then we see just how deep and effective this sort of "forgiveness" is.  

Forgiveness • Denial is merely a delusion: flimsy, fake, and shallow. Forgiveness is real: robust and solid and deep. It is not an avoiding of the truth, but a dealing with it squarely, however painful.   • For those God chooses to forgive, He will "forget" their sins, "remembering them no more". But let us not accuse the omniscient God of not knowing something or of being ignorant of any fact. He has told us that nothing is beyond His sight. Rather let us understand the "figure of speech" and spiritual dynamic of how God forgives.   • The order here is essential. Forgiveness first, forgetting second. Until real forgiveness takes place, the offense is "in our faces" as regards that person, and it is the same with God. The sin comes between us, and cannot be "forgotten" until dealt with. If and when we enter into true forgiveness, we can then regard the person without the "offense" looming

Forgiveness

Isaiah 43:25 - "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more."   Jeremiah 31: 33-35 -

33But

this shall be the covenant that I will

make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.  34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.  35Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:  

Forgiveness

3) Revenge: The Lure of Sin  

• Bitterness, revenge, hatred, etc. have a perverted sort of appeal. Who has not felt the intoxicating lure of a grandiose meditation of scorching retribution? While we know this is wrong, it sure is great fun in the moment to fondle such thoughts. Ephesians 4: 25-32 -

25Wherefore

putting away lying, speak every man truth with

his neighbor: for we are members one of another. not the sun go down upon your wrath:

27Neither

26Be

ye angry, and sin not: let

give place to the devil.

28Let

him

that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

29Let

no

corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.  30And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

31Let

all

bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

32And

be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one

another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Forgiveness 4) Vengeance Is The Lord's   • Surely God has more power to pour wrath on our enemies than we do, and He surely sees the evil done all to clearly. So the thought may strike us to let Him do the dirty work. But when we think this through, it may not turn out as the carnal man within us might like. For let us face the plain fact that God has this habit of forgiving people and extending great mercy, at least for the time being.   • So... we may not see fire from heaven come down to consume those we wish would receive God's vengeance. It is not that He is letting them off the hook, it is just that He may take the painful punishment Himself.

Forgiveness Mat 5:21-22 -

21Ye

have heard that it was said of them of old time,

Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:  22But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, (**worthless, idiot**) shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Rom 12: 17-21 -

17Recompense

to no man evil for evil. Provide

things honest in the sight of all men.

18If

it be possible, as much

as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

19Dearly

beloved,

avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20Therefore

if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him

drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21

Forgiveness Proverbs 24:17 -  17Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Mat 5:44 - 44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Forgiveness 5) What Only God Can Do •Let us recognize that only God can forgive. It is not humanly possible. If we "get it" at all, it will be by God's very nature being imputed to us. And right here is the secret to real forgiveness. It is divine. We can do nothing with out God’s help. We must remove the robe of flesh and put on the robe of righteousness. We must live in the light. 2 Corinthians 5:17 -  17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. John 15:5 - 5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. Hebrews 4:16 - 16Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Matthew 11:28 - 28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Gatherings “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”

Forgiveness

Matthew 18:20

Wednesday, April 15, 2009