Forgiveness
Introduction
I. It is great folly to neglect things which are needful and profitable.
A. Especially is this true with things pertaining to the soul.
B. Man’s greatest need is FORGIVENESS.
1. Since we live in the midst of sin we have need to forgive and
to be forgiven.
2. We sin against God, one another and ourselves.
3. Christians are to be of one mind and our association together
is for the purpose of furthering our spiritual growth and extending
the borders of kingdom.
a. A spirit of forgiveness is essential to our success as individuals
and as a church.
b. Without it there will be backbiting, strife and div.
1) Souls will be lost.
2) Growth will be stifled.
4. We need forgiveness and we need to forgive.
II. Forgiveness is man’s highest achievement.
A. “To forgive is divine – to refuse is devilish.”
B. We are never more like Christ than when we forgive those who
sin against us.
Body
I. What does it mean to forgive?
A. Definition: “Hold one as though no offense has been given, - in love,
sympathy for; interested in as though nothing had happened.”
B. Give serious thought to the meaning of the word “forgive” and you will
know that to simply speak the words, “I forgive” does not nec. mean that
you have reacted in such a way that you have forgiven.
II. Why must we forgive?
A. God commands it. “And when ye stand praying, forgive” (Mk. 11:25).
1. When we think about the consequences of failure to forgive, (strife,
division etc. we have to be impressed with the importance of it.
a. But we have to be even more impressed with the importance of it when
we consider the fact that God commands both the offender and the
offended to take initiative to bring about reconciliation.
1) The OFFENDER: (Matt. 5:23,24) “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother
hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way;
first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”
a) The worship of the guilty is hindered until peace is restored, and he must
take the initiative.
b) Often it is harder to get the offended to exercise a willingness to forgive
then to lead the guilty one to repent.
c) We should not make it hard for the offender to come.
2) The OFFENDED: (Matt. 18:15-17) “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between
thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not
hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three
witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto
the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an
heathen man and a publican.”
a) We see here what…is to do, but often the wrong attitude is seen: “He
sinned against me – let him come…”, or, “I just want have anything to do
with him.”
b) Such an attitude is contrary to God’s will.
c) The offended is to go the offender and rebuke him, if he repents he is to
be forgive (Lk. 17:3-4).
d) If he does not hear, the offender is to take one or two witnesses that “every
word may be established.”
i. If this fails it is to be brought before the church…
B. We must forgive because of the examples set.
1. Think about Joseph forgiving his brothers….
2. And Stephen’s forgiving spirit toward the angry Jews who were
stoning him: “Charge not this sin against them…”
3. And the Christians all over who forgave Paul for the murders of
their brethren.
4. The greatest example is that of Jesus.
a. At his crucifixion, while hanging on the cross, having been beaten, spit on,
and mocked, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
(Lk. 23:34).
b. Jesus showed the spirit of forgiveness when the greatest sins had been
committed against Him.
1) We have trouble forgiving our brethren for things said and things done that
amount to very little.
2) Many of us simply need to grow up.
C. We must forgive because we ourselves have been forgiven.
1. Paul said, “And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another
even as God has forgiven you.” (Eph. 4:32)
a. One reason, then, why we must forgive is because we ourselves have
been forgiven.
b. Perhaps whenever we find it dif. To forgive some other person, if we’d stop
and think how much the Lord has forgiven us we would not find it so difficult
to forgive that person.
2. Paul repeated the same admonition to the Colossians.
(Col 3:13) “Forbearing one another and forgiving one another. If any man have
a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also, do ye.”
3. So, we must conclude that we must forgive because God command it, because
Jesus set the example, and because we ourselves have been forgiven.
D. In the fourth place, we must forgive one another in order that we may be forgiven
in the future.
1. Our Lord tells us, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father
will forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your
Father forgive you your trespasses” (Mat. 6:14-15)
a. Here we have a plain statement that unless we forgive those
who sin against us, God will not forgive our sins.
b. In Mk. 11:25, Jesus said, “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against anyone, that your father
also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
2. God’s estimate of an unforgiving spirit is found in Mt. 18:23-25:
“Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would
take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was
brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But 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. The servant therefore fell down,
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and
forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his
fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him,
and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant
fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will
pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should
pay the debt So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very
sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then 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: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion
on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and
delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So
likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive
not every one his brother their trespasses.”
a. This “certain King” represents God.
1) His servant represents Christians.
2) The reckoning which he made with his servants is typical of God’s
judgment of us.
3) The ten K talents which the servant owed the master represents our sin
against God (great amount).
4) The helplessness of that servant to pay his debt represents our inability to
forgive our own sins.
b. This “fellow servant” is a brother in Christ.
1) The 100 shillings, which he owed to the other servant represents our sins
against one another.
2) This servant taking his debtor by the throat represents our attitude toward
our brother.
3) The sorrow of the fellow servants when they saw this represents the sorrow
of the saints when they see children of God who are not willing to forgive
one another.
c. God’s wrath and punishment is depicted for us in the Lord’s anger as he took
this servant and delivered him up to the tormentor.
1) And so our Lord said that the heavenly Father will do this to us unless we,
from the heart, forgive one another of our trespasses.
2) No plainer statement of God’s attitude toward an unforgiving spirit can be
found than this.
IV. Questions About Forgiveness (two)
A. How often or how many times must we forgive?
1. Answer: Mat. 18:21-22 “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother
sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto
him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven."
2. Quiet obviously the Lord wasn’t teaching this was a definite number,
that we are to count and when we reach it to say, “That’s it buddy,
no more!”
a. Forgiveness is not a matter of arithmetic and bookkeeping.
b. As often as one sins and forgiveness is requested forgiveness
must be extended, and we can’t play God by saying, “He didn’t
really repent.”
B. Should we forgive one who will not repent?
1. This is a difficult question because of varying circumstances and the
question: “What is repentance?”
2. If a brother sins against you and you go tell him – he knows he did
but has a bad attitude and just refuses to make things right – you
are not obligated to forgive him.
a. We are not obligated to forgive.
b. God does not forgive one with such a spirit and neither
does He expect us to do it.
1) This is not to say that we are to harbor ill feelings toward
him and seek to get even.
2) But to the contrary, we should seek to do him good and seek to lead
him to repent.
a) Such a one not only has sinned against you but also has sinned against God.
b) More than that, he has “sinned unto death” (1 Jn 5:16)- has turned his back
on God and thus needs to do more than repent of the specific sin against you.
i. He needs to turn from Satan to serve God.
ii. This would represent a “general” repentance.
3. You say, “I don’t see anything difficult about that.” Well, here is where the difficulty
lies:
a. Suppose a brother sins against you and he did not know that he did and no
one tells him.
b. Can you decide that you are going to forgive him?
1) After all, the brother intended no harm and he continued to be your friend.
2) It’s up to you, isn’t it?
3) You might decide to overlook it and go on like it never happened, and often
we do that very thing.
4. Now I want to make a point…not just a hypothetical example, but it involves real
life everyday situations.
a. A man repents and obeys the Gospel; when baptized every sin is forgiven and
forgotten by God.
1) But this man does not immediately attain perfection (maturity), he (among
other things) says and does things that offend brethren (Jas. 3:2,8).
2) Every time a brother tells him what he has done he repents and apologizes.
3) But some brethren never tell him and therefore he cannot and does not
specifically repent of those sins.
4) Now get this: When I teach that there is such a thing as general repentance
and specific repentance, and that general repentance and confession covers
such things as this, I’m accused by some preachers of teaching forgiveness
without repentance, but the charge is false.
5) When brethren oppose the idea of general repentance it necessarily follows
that they believe only in specific repentance.
6) But if every sin must be specifically repented of, then all of us who can’t
recall all the sins we have committed are without hope, and I’m sure I would
be included.
b. It isn’t uncommon for a Christian to “Err from the truth” and stay away for a
period of years, during which time he commits numerous sins.
1) When such a one is converted from the err of his way how can he ever
gain confidence that he is back under the grace of God if he must recall
all the sins he has committed since baptism?
2) Some of my brethren get very disturbed when we tell them that man can’t
always do that and that God doesn’t expect that we do.
3) What should such a brother do?
a) We all might as well admit it, he can’t do what these brethren are saying
he must do.
b) What should he do, be baptized again? No, the Bible doesn’t teach that
such is necessary.
c) What then can he do that will enable him to have confidence that he is
forgiven?
(Luke 18:9-14) - “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in
themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went
up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I
am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this
publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the
publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every
one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted.”
i. It appears that the attitude of some of my brethren is very similar to that
of the Pharacee.
ii. No doubt he was religious and did a lot of good things, but he failed to
admit that he was a sinner.
iii. We have men posing as preacher of the gospel that you couldn’t get to
admit to being guilty of a sin…
iv. If you find something that you are sure is a sin and point it out, they’ll say,
“That was just unfortunate”, or “God doesn’t consider such things as
being sin.”
Examples: Let me show you some quotes of what some are saying – the thing I’m talking about :
Herschel Patton wrote: “But failure to reach the mark of perfection as
we purposefully endeavor to serve God is not transgression (sin), for
God has not demanded perfection of us. (n this realm, God’s mercy,
longsuffering, and grace is manifested in not charging us with sin; hence,
there is no need for cleansing…weakness and blundering in developing
patience, courage, longsuffering, love, etc. (unless they lead us to
commit sin), do not make us sinners in need of cleansing.”
James Zachary – “It is true that when a man has committed a sin, any sin,
he is by that sin separated from God (Isa. 59:2)”
He misapplied Isa 59:2, which teaches no such thing and neither does
any other passage. What he is clearly teaching is that every sin, no
matter how great or what the attitude…automatically results in the
Christian ceasing to “walk in the light” and is thus fallen from grace and
is lost.
v. They claim that there is security in their position, but anyone who can
see through a ladder can see that it is based on having perfect knowledge
of sins and being presently without sin.
c. We have been dealing with the question:
“Can we forgive one who will not repent”
1) If he rebels against you and God, you are not required to forgive.
2) If however, for some reason you don’t tell him…and you and he continue
to be friends, of course you can forgive and go on like it never happened,
if you so choose.
3) Brethren, let us not be guilty of saying that God cannot forgive a sin without
there being specific repentance and specific confession.
4) Remember what the Pharisee said: “Be thou merciful to me a sinner”, and
that Jesus said he was justified?
a) If this is one’s attitude shouldn’t we forgive.
b) God did, and the Pharisee did not name any specific sins, did he?
Conclusion
I. Want to read couple of stories:
A. Making The Most of Life – (by Brownlow p. 34)
B. Gospel Sermons – (by Dehoff pp. 200-201)
“Most of the trouble in the church and most of the trouble between brethren comes up
over little things which really would not amount to anything, anyway. An example of this
used so often by the late T.Q Martin: ‘In Estill County, Kentucky, at the little village of Irvine,
the county seat, this incident occurred. A doctor remarked concerning two young
men – roommates home from college who had just left his office – “The Taylor boy is a
brighter boy than the Williams boy.” A lady in the office heard it and went and told Mrs.
Williams before going home. She also told other people that the doctor said the Taylor
boy was a brighter boy than the Williams boy. These two families had been friends in
years gone by. Their sons were roommates at college but this little remark on the part
of the doctor was magnified until the two families had a falling out. The boys returned
to college but they would not room together anymore. They graduated from college. One
became a lawyer, the other a doctor. They settled in the village of Irvin. One August when
the election had grown quite hot, these two young men met on the street and engaged in
an argument. One drew his pistol and shot the other. That one, as he fell, drew his pistol
and killed the one who shot him. Both boys were killed. One of them just before he died,
said, “How foolish, how foolish, how foolish” three times.
These two mothers, broken hearted, continued to live in the little village of Irvin. A short time
later one of the mothers said, “I am going over to see the other lady.” Her husband said,
“She’ll spit in your face if you go over there.” She prepared some rose cuttings, went over
to see that lady and said, “I am going to plant some rose cuttings. I am going to plant one
on your boy’s grave. I want you to plant one on my boy’s grave.” These two mothers wept.
They forgave each other. They embraced. Together they went to the cemetery and planted
their roses. But how late they waited! How great was the trouble caused by a wagging
tongue and an unforgiving spirit!’
C. There is no Bible subject more important than the matter of forgiveness.
1. We are in need of forgiveness of God that we might stand justified
and prepared for life after our death.
2. We need to forgive one another so that the work of the church will prosper.
3. And we need to forgive ourselves…so we can have peace of minds, or a
positive self image and thus be able to do more in the kingdom of Christ.
D. Let us all practice forgiveness and seek to teach others to do the same.
E. Every time one learns the true art of forgiveness, the world is made a better place.
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