1. II. WE FORGIVE OTHERS BECAUSE GOD HAS FORGIVEN US.
1.1. We tend to think our sin smells better than other peoples sin.
1.2. Do you get to pick your temptations?
1.3. Do you think they do?
2. APPLICATION
2.1. 4 Stages of forgiveness
2.1.1. 1. We hurt.
2.1.1.1. Forgiveness does not mean acting as though you weren’t hurt.
2.1.1.2. Real forgiveness begins by acknowledging the hurt.
2.1.2. 2.We hate.
2.1.2.1. It is an aggressive hate that wishes them ill.
2.1.2.2. Whether it is passive or aggressive, hate separates us from people we should belong to.
2.1.3. 3. We heal ourselves.
2.1.3.1. The first step in healing a hurt takes place within your own heart.
2.1.3.2. When you forgive someone, you perform spiritual surgery on your own soul
2.1.3.3. You choose to let go of your bitterness and hate and rewrite the history between you and the person who wronged you.
2.1.4. 4. We come together.
2.1.4.1. The goal of forgiveness is to invite the person who hurt and wronged you back into your life.
2.1.4.1.1. They don't need to repent for you to forgive.
2.1.4.2. Coming together is NOT..
2.1.4.2.1. An emotion
2.1.4.2.2. Trust
2.1.4.3. When I have to power to hurt, I don't When I have the power to bless, I do
2.1.4.3.1. Being polite is not condoning someone's behavior.
3. My story
3.1. What if they don't repent? Treat them like Jesus treated pagans, (don't know God) and corrupt Tax Collectors. (Zacchaeus)
4. Message Video
5. Matthew 18:21–30
5.1. Matthew 18:21 21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
5.2. Matthew 18:22 22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!
5.3. Matthew 18:23 23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him.
5.4. Matthew 18:24 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.
5.5. Matthew 18:25 25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.
5.6. Matthew 18:26 26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
5.7. Matthew 18:28 28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.* He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
5.8. Matthew 18:29-30 29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
6. Alexander Pope once noted, “To err is human, to forgive divine.”
6.1. There is nothing more Christlike than forgiveness.
6.2. We can forgive others without limit because God has done the same for us.
7. I. REAL FORGIVENESS HAS NO LIMITS.
7.1. The parable begins with a simple question:
7.1.1. “Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me?
7.1.1.1. Up to seven times?’ ”
7.1.1.2. Matthew 18:21
7.1.2. The limit that Peter suggested, up to seven times, was more than twice that required by Jewish tradition and probably seemed generous to him.
7.2. So Jesus’ answer probably came as somewhat of a surprise (Matthew 18:22).
7.2.1. Jesus took Peter’s number, multiplied it by itself, and then by ten, to reach a number that no one would bother counting to.
7.2.2. Jesus wasn’t extending the limits of forgiveness
7.2.2.1. He was removing them.
7.2.3. A Christian with a forgiving heart doesn’t keep records but forgives the one hundredth offense as readily as the first.
7.3. Jesus said this point numerous times
7.3.1. Luke 17:3 (NLT) 3 So watch yourselves! “If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive.
7.4. This is what God does, for Romans 5:20 states that “where sin increased, grace increased all the more.”
7.4.1. Romans 5:20 (NLT) 20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.
7.4.2. Romans 5:20 (NRSV) 20 But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
7.4.3. Likewise, we should never allow anyone's sin to surpass our willingness to forgive.