"Forgive Us", Part 4

Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, thank you for today and thank you once again for the marvelous truth that you have given to us. That Father, we might study it, come to understand you and our responsibility and our worship of you. Thank you, Father, for how good you are to us, how forgiving you are of us. And may we learn to forgive as God in Christ Jesus has forgiven us. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. We have had the wonderful opportunity of looking at Luke chapter 11 to study the disciples' prayer, better known as the Lord's Prayer.

My plan was to finish the prayer before I went on surgical leave and vacation. It's not going to happen. But that was a plan. I mean, at least I had good intentions when we began Luke 11. But, you know, if the Lord tarries and I'm still alive after surgery and my kids don't kill me after vacation, then I'll be back in September to share with you once again the beautiful principles of the disciples' prayer. We've been looking at this petition, forgive us our debts as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.

Looking at it because it is so important because of how much forgiveness is neglected in the church, not just in the world, but in the church. And if we're ever going to be like Christ, then forgiveness must reign paramount in our lives. In fact, you can really look at someone's life and determine how close they are to Jesus by how willing they are to forgive those who have offended them.

Because the closer they walk with Jesus, the more they want to forgive, the more freely they want to forgive those who have offended them. And last week we gave you a verse, a verse that would help us understand what we were going to talk about last week, and of course this week, and next week, Lord willing. And that is Proverbs 19, 11, which states that a man's wisdom gives him patience, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. I mean, that verse is filled with richness. A man's wisdom gives him patience.

It's not that, it's human wisdom. It's the wisdom that God gives throughout the book of Proverbs. It talks about the wisdom that God himself gives. And once a man has the wisdom of God, he lives in the realm of longsuffering. He's a patient man. And it is his glory, it is his beauty to overlook an offense. Man looks the best when he overlooks the offense. Man shines the brightest when he overlooks an offense. But as we said last week, we are so thin-skinned. And we shouldn't be, because Jesus told us in Luke 17, verse number one, that offenses are going to come.

They are more than possible. They are probable, always probable. He said offenses are going to come. Woe to the man through whom they come, but they're going to come. So as we journey through life, we should be aware that offenses will come. And because they are always probable, you must be assured that they are providential. Did you know that? That when someone offends you, it's providential that God somehow, some way, is involved in your life to such an extent that he allows this person or persons to be a part of your life so that a scandalon, a stumbling block, a death trap comes your way.

If it's assuredly providential, then it is absolutely profitable. Now, we don't like to look at offenses as profitable, but if they are providential, then they must be profitable, right?

And so when someone offends you, you must understand that God has already said this is going to happen. If God has determined that it's going to happen, it must mean that it's providential. And if it's providential, it is profitable for you. That's what James says, right? James chapter one, verse number three, when he talks about when trials come, not if they come, but when they come, they come that they might produce endurance in your life.

Peter said that in 1 Peter 5.10, after you have suffered for a little while, God will perfect you. So I think that as we look at the realm of forgiveness, we must understand, listen carefully, that when the offense comes, you must learn to embrace the offense as providentially given to you by God for your profit.

Now, when we have an offense that comes our way, we don't look at it that way, do we? We get rather ticked off that someone would offend me. And yet the Bible says it is the glory of a man, the beauty of a man, to overlook an offense, that the wisdom of God gives a man patience to endure the difficulty.

We must learn to embrace the offense if it's providential. If God has told us that it's always probable, then you must learn that they're going to come your way. And I guess if you learn anything from our study of forgiveness, it's a lot easier to forgive someone when you know that God has allowed the offense to come your way, isn't it? Now, that's hard for some people to grasp. I understand that. I was reviewing things that have happened in my life over the last 15 to 20 years and realizing all the offenses that have come my way by people who have put stumbling blocks in my way, whether someone turns our family into child protective services, and they come to our door, and they want to interview our children.

I looked at it as providential and profitable. Welcome them into our house. Come on in. Love to have you. What do you want to know? Our life's an open book. We have nothing to hide. If someone wants to turn us into child protective services, that's okay, because God's in charge of our lives. We have nothing to hide. Interview our children. Go right ahead. And they did. Always profitable. Always profitable. Because God's in charge. Peter would say it this way. You have been called to inherit a blessing if you suffer unjustly.

I'm looking for the blessing. I don't know about you. I'm looking for the blessing. When someone decides to take me to court and to sue me because they believe that they have been mistreated by me, and their son who played baseball for me was mistreated by me, and wants to take me to court, I'm the kind of guy that says, let's go to court. It's good for me. I have nothing to hide. Nothing whatsoever. And I'm willing to stand before a judge based on my behavior, my coaching, my response to you as a parent, and your child.

Please, let's go to court. Why? Offenses will come. They're always probable. They're most likely possible. They are inevitable. But they are providential. And if they're providential, how I handle them will be extremely profitable for me and for my family. And so as I look and realize that throughout the years people have vilified my stand on what I believe the gospel is and the truth of that gospel, and people have spoken out against that, and me and slandered my name, this church, that's okay. That doesn't bother me one bit because I have a clear conscience.

And I know that the Lord is in charge of all things. And I know that He said that offenses will come. They're going to come. It's okay. It's okay. Because He says, woe to the one through whom they come. God will deal with them. I don't have to deal with anybody. My reaction and my response needs to be Proverbs 19.11. Man's wisdom gives him patience. It is the glory of a man, the beauty of a man. Man shines the brightest when he overlooks an offense. When was the last time you overlooked an offense?

Or maybe you're still harboring bitterness because of an offense. Well, if you are, your light is very dull. You're not shining very brightly. In fact, you might not have any light at all. Certainly, you don't have any beauty because you haven't overlooked the offense. And so you need to go back and realize what Jesus has said and follow the verses of Scripture. In fact, it was Peter who said these words, in this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, and if you have the trial, it is necessary, you have been distressed by various trials.

Peter says, in this you greatly rejoice, because the people that Peter wrote to had been offended. They had been treated unjustly. All they did was believe the gospel, stand on the truth, and many of them lost their lives because of that. And yet they were willing to see what Peter said when he said, in this you greatly rejoice, because Peter says, you need to know that your trial, whatever it may be, is only temporary. He says, it's only for a little while. You know, no trial you endure is ever forever.

You might think it's forever because you've been in it for a week, but it's not forever. You might think it's forever because it's been a year, but really it's only been 365 days. It's only for a little while, especially when compared to eternity, right? They're all very temporary, but they are necessary. So that means they're timely, not just temporary. They come at the right time. Your offense came at the right time in your life, because it's providentially planned by the God of the universe. And you have been distressed.

In other words, just because it's temporary, just because it's timely, doesn't mean that it's not going to be taxing upon your soul. It will be. It will be. Yet, listen carefully, it is thrilling if you have a biblical perspective. That's why Peter says, in this you greatly rejoice. Years ago, when we went through the gospel or the epistle of Peter, and we preached on first Peter chapter one.

A young man and his wife come to see me one night before church. And they said, we were in last Wednesday evening service, and we covered first Peter chapter one, verses six and seven.

We were in the service, we heard what you said, and we don't accept that. Okay, what don't you accept? Well, we don't accept that the trials are thrilling. We don't accept the fact that we are to greatly rejoice. And of course, my response was, really? What is your response to trials? What's your response? I mean, these were people who Peter wrote to, who were suffering greatly at the hands of Nero, who were being wrapped in pitch and set, impaled on poles instead of fire, instead of blaze. I would say that's pretty much an unjust situation.

And Peter tells them they need to greatly rejoice. Are you being wrapped in pitch and being impaled on a pole someplace? Because you're standing here before me, so I don't necessarily think that's the case. How bad can your trial actually be that you're not willing to take God's Word at face value? And they said, we just do not accept that we should rejoice in times of trials, so we're leaving this church. Okay, I'm sorry to hear that. Do you know how many times that happens at Christ Community Church?

Not just over that, but over many situations, that people just do not accept what the Word of God has to say about their situation and condition. What do you do with that? How do you respond to that? You would want them to submit to the authority of God's Word, but they are unwilling to do that. To this day, because I know the family, they are absolutely miserable, miserable, because they were not willing to overlook an offense that someone in the church had done to them. Were unwilling to look at the Word of God at face value, and they, to this day, and this is, listen, 10 years later, they are still bitter.

They're not involved in any church anywhere at all. Isn't that sad? That breaks my heart. That really breaks my heart, because they had the opportunity to grow, to embrace the offense, to realize that they might have been treated unjustly, and that they'd been called to inherit a blessing, and that they were just so quick to forfeit the blessing because they wanted to remain bitter. That's sad. It happens all the time. It happens so often, it amazes me. Peter would say these words in 1 Peter 2, this finds favor with God, if for the sake of conscience toward God, a man bears up unto sorrows when suffering unjustly.

If you've been offended, and someone has slandered your name, or someone has done something to you, and you have done nothing wrong, do you know what this finds favor with God? For what credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, and patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. Twice. It's bracketed. Hey, listen, this finds the favor of God. When you live a life that honors Him and glorifies His name, and people mock you and slander you and ridicule you and bring an offense toward you in an unjust manner, this brings favor with God.

And then it says this, for you have been called for this purpose. Whoa. That sheds a whole new light on it. You've been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was there any deceit found in His mouth. And while being reviled, He did not revile in return. While suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. You see, that's your response. The stumbling blocks are going to come.

And the reason it's the glory of a man to overlook an offense is simply because you have committed yourself to Him who judges righteously. You've admitted that you can't judge another man righteously. You just admitted that you can't take revenge, because if you do, you usurp the authority of God and say, I am the one who can bring revenge upon someone else. That's my responsibility. And thus, you usurp God's authority, and you play God in the life of the person you enact your vengeance on, which is, by the way, the height of blasphemy.

But Christians do it all the time, because they think that they have been wrongly accused, wrongly abused, and they somehow must get back at the one who offended them, all the while taking on God's sole responsibility, and thus losing the favor of God. Peter goes on to say these words. Let me sum it up for you, verse 8, 1 Peter chapter 3.

Let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit, not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead, for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. In other words, the Lord God says, you don't return evil for evil, but instead you return a blessing to those who have wronged you, because you have been called to inherit a blessing, a bigger blessing from God.

That's what your response is. And Peter says, let me reinforce it to you this way. Let him who means to love life and see good days refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking guile, and let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. In other words, don't say the wrong thing. Don't do the wrong thing. Seek peace, pursue peace. Why? Why do that? For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears attend to their prayer, and the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

God's face is against your accuser. God's face is against your abuser. God's face is against your slanderer. God's going to deal with it. You seek peace. You do good. You return good for evil, because you've been called to inherit a blessing. You want a blessing? You want a blessing from God? You follow what he says. Embrace the offense as providentially given and profitable for your maturity, because it is. God's not going to allow anything to happen in your life. That's not going to ultimately be for your good and for his glory, right?

So, you need to trust him amidst of it. And we told you last week, it's a pattern you were commanded to follow to forgive. It's a pattern that we're commanded to follow. Ephesians 4, 32 was the key text. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving as God in Christ has forgiven you. You forgive on the horizontal plane as you have been forgiven on the vertical plane. We covered that last week. The second point in our outline is not only is it a pattern that we're commanded to follow, it's a picture of Christ to the world.

How badly do you want to picture Christ to an unbelieving world? How badly do you want to picture Christ to your unbelieving spouse? How badly do you want to picture Christ to someone who is seeking to offend you, to bring a death trap your way? Do you really want to picture Christ to them? Do you really want to show them what Christ is like? Do you want to demonstrate to them Christlikeness? Or do you just want to get bitter and angry and show malice and become more bitter as time goes on? What do you want to do?

I would trust you would choose to be Christlike and to forgive as God in Christ has forgiven you, because it pictures Christ to a lost world. Let me show you that.

Matthew chapter 9. If you've got your Bible, turn it with me, if you would, please. Matthew chapter 9. This is the incident, the only incident in the Gospels that talked to us about Matthew. He's only one who gives it, and he's the one who talks to us about himself, and he appears in no other scene, no other incident. This is it. He has written the Gospel of Matthew, but this is the one scene he includes himself in because he was a tax collector, and he is the only apostle associated with his occupation in the four lists of the apostles.

He's associated with his occupation because it was such a despicable occupation, and he emphasized the fact that it was the God, our Lord, who forgave him. And so it says in verse number 9, and as Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting in the tax office, and he said to him, follow me, and he arose and followed him. And it happened that as he was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax gatherers and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and his disciples. Why is that?

Because those are the only friends Matthew had. He didn't have any other friends. He didn't have any godlike friends. He didn't have any holy friends. His friends were tax gatherers and sinners. Those were his friends. Those are the people he associated with. And really, the sinners weren't even his friends because he would always gather taxes from them. So virtually, he basically had no friends, but he had an association with the low life. And so when he had a dinner, he wanted to invite those of the low life because that's the only people he knew.

So they gathered together for a dinner, and when the Pharisees saw this, verse 11, they said to his disciples, why is your teacher eating with the tax gatherers and sinners? But when he heard this, he said, it is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. In other words, Jesus says, it's not those who think they are saints, but those who know they are sinners who need a physician.

And Jesus says, but go and learn, verse 13. Now that phrase, go and learn, is a rabbinical phrase, which is a rebuke, which says, you're ignorant. You don't know this. You should, but you don't know it. And of course, the Pharisees, who prided themselves on the Old Testament, should have known what the Lord God said in the Old Testament. So Jesus says, because you are ignorant, you need to go and learn that which was said in the Old Testament.

And he quotes Hosea 6, verse number 6, when he says, I desire compassion and not sacrifice, and I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. He quotes from the book of Hosea. He says, what I'm looking for is compassionate people, people who are merciful. You're so into your rituals that you can't even begin to show compassion and kindness and love to those who so desperately need to have experienced compassion and forgiveness. And the book he quotes it from, the book of Hosea, is a prophet of God whose wife became a prostitute.

Her name is Gomer. And she would go around from city to city prostituting herself. And God told Hosea, you cannot divorce your wife, but you must go after your wife. Because you, Hosea, are going to demonstrate to the people of Israel, you're going to picture to the people of Israel my forgiveness as you follow your wife and you pay all of her bills and you extend a hand of forgiveness to her, you will show to my people Israel that's exactly how I am with them. I am kind. I am compassionate. I am forgiving God.

And I am after you all the time. And that's what Hosea did to the point where at the end he was able to buy her back as she stood there naked on a block where slaves were sold. He bought her back as his own after she had prostituted herself with many a man. But he bought her back and forgave her. I don't know any man today who would do that with his wife. But I know very few men who truly want to picture Christ to the world either. And that's the essence of forgiveness, right? To picture Christ to the world, to offer forgiveness in a way that would demonstrate our Lord when he said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.

Our God is a forgiving God. That is the hallmark of his attributes. He forgives those who have wronged him, those who have offended him, those who have sinned against him. It's a picture of Christ to a lost world. Let me ask you a question.

Is that what you want to do? Is that the picture you want to paint to a lost world? Or are you settled in that painting a picture of bitterness, anger, malice, revenge, retaliation, because that's how you want to be seen? That's cool for you. That's hero-like for you. That settles your soul. You know, maybe you haven't been humbled enough by your salvation, because those who are saved have been humbled to the point where they realize that God will forgive them any sin, past, present, or future, forever.

And they are so humbled that God will forgive them, they don't even want to withhold forgiveness from somebody else. It's a pattern. Forgiveness is we're commended to follow. It's a picture of Christ to a lost world. It is the priority, point number three, in caring for others.

It is the priority in caring for others. How do you know that you're a caring person? You forgive. How do we know that? Matthew chapter 18. If you got your Bible turned there with me, if you would, please. Matthew chapter 18. In Matthew 18, we have the first instruction given to the church.

In Matthew 16, we had the first time the church is mentioned. I will build my church, Christ says, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

In Matthew 18, you had the very first instruction given to the church, and it deals with the purity of the church.

If you see a brother in sin, you go to your brother. You confront him, you rebuke him. If he repents, you've won your brother. If he doesn't, you go with two or three other witnesses. If he repents, you've won your brother. If he doesn't, you take it to the church. Why? Because you are so concerned about, listen carefully, the purity of the church and the preservation of a soul. You care so much about the church of Jesus Christ, and you care so much about that person's soul, you go to them and you confront them on their sin because you want them to be in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

You want them to walk with the Lord because you know that their testimony or lack thereof is effecting the testimony of the church of Jesus Christ. You know that, and you are concerned about the purity of the church. Are you concerned about the purity of the church? How do you know someone's concerned about the purity of the church? They're going to go to their brother who's in sin and confront them on it. If you're not concerned about the purity of the church and you're not concerned about the preservation of one's soul, you just let him continue in sin.

Right? Just let him go on sin. It's his life. Let him deal with it. Really? One sinner destroys much good. One little leaven leavens the whole lump, the whole kit and caboodle. You got to deal with it. So God gives the first instruction to the church.

This is how you deal with sin in the church. You got to deal with it. So the disciples are listening to this, right? Verse 21. Then Peter came and said to him, Lord, how often shall I or shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him up to seven times. Now, where did he get that number? Well, we know from the book of Amos, Amos chapter one, Amos chapter one, verse three, verse six, verse nine, the rabbis taught you can forgive somebody three times, but on the fourth time, the hammer's got to fall.

So three times in Amos one, God talks about transgressions three times, and then the fourth time the hammer falls. So the rabbis translate that as saying, okay, if someone is sinning against you three times, you forgive them. But the fourth time, where? You bring the hammer down. Peter doubles that, adds one. Why does he do that? Because he knows Luke 17, verse number four, I think it is. When Christ says, if your brother sins against you seven times in a day, you forgive him.

And remember the apostle's response? Increase our faith. We can't do that. I mean, the rabbis gave us a rule of thumb. Here it is, three times, fourth time, bring the hammer. Now you're asking us to do it seven times in a day. Oh, we need faith. And of course, you know, the parable of the Lord says, it's not about faith, it's about obedience to me. So Peter, being a wise apostle, knows what Jesus has already said, knows what the apostles have, the rabbis have taught. And so Peter says, so Lord, if we're to confront a sinning brother, he's offended me.

I go to him and I rebuke him. Okay. How many times? Is it seven times? Is that the number? Here's the question. Lord, is there a limit on forgiveness? That's the question. It's not about how many times, it's about what's the limit. So I know what the limit is because once I get there, I can say, okay, that's it. Jesus said, this is how many times. Now, no more forgiveness for you. He's looking for the number. See, we're all like that. I forgave you four times. I'm not doing it again. Five times. Are you kidding me?

No, I'm not doing that again. So Peter says, is there a limit? Jesus responds by saying this, I didn't say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times. Seven. Wow. Now remember, a couple of weeks ago, we told you if in a 24 hour day, you sleep eight hours and you're up the rest of the time, that means if someone sins against you seven times in a day, it's every two hours and 15 minutes, right? Well, if you are to forgive 70 times seven, that means that person in the same 24 hour day, having slept eight hours, then he's awake for the other 16 hours.

That means he sins against you every 1.9 minutes of the day. Every 1.9 minutes if it's 70 times seven. I mean, the point is there's no number. It's unlimited, Peter. Forgiveness is unlimited. It's not limited. It's always offered to those who have offended you. And then he gives a parable, very familiar parable. Listen to what he says. For this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a certain king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. Now listen, this is how the sphere of God's rule and those within it behave.

This is the kingdom of heaven. This is those who are in the sphere of the rulership of the king. This is how it works. But he says this. And when he had begun to settle them, there was brought to him one who owed him 10,000 talents. Now folks, there's no number comparable to that. It's an incalculable debt. It's millions upon millions upon millions upon millions upon millions. 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 in repayment to be made.

Now he can't pay it, right? But all of his children and himself will have to deal with the consequences. The slave, therefore, falling down, derostrated himself before him, saying, have patience with me and I will repay you everything. Now he can't. He can't repay him everything. It's impossible. In fact, over in 1 Corinthians, it's an incalculable debt. It's countless how much he owed. But if you give me time, I'll do all I can to repay it. We can't. And the Lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.

He fully forgave the debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves and who owed him 100 denarii. That's, a denarii is a day's wage, 100 denarii, that's about three months payment. And he seized him and began to choke him, saying, pay back what you owe. So his fellow slave fell down and began to entreat him, saying, have patience with me and I will repay you. Same thing he said. Same thing said in verse number 26. It was almost like there was an echo. Verse 30, he was unwilling, however, but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.

He was unwilling to forgive a man who owed him just a minuscule amount compared to what he owed the king, which was a countless number. Verse 31, so when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved. They saw a person in the kingdom of heaven who was unwilling to forgive. So what did they do? They came and reported it to the Lord, all that had happened. They went to God. There's one among us who's unwilling to forgive. Lord, you need to deal with that person. Lord, you need to deal with them because we don't know what to do.

He's like the leaven in the lump. And nobody likes the fellowship with the bitter. You ever notice that?

Except the bitter. The bitter like the fellowship with the bitter. The angry like the fellowship with the angry. But those who aren't angry and those who aren't bitter and those who are compassionate and loving, they don't fellowship with the bitter, the angry, the those who want to show malice. They don't want to associate with those people because they have nothing in common, right? Because one little leaven leavens the whole bunch. That bad influence is not good for us, is it? They know that. They go to the king.

Lord, you got to deal with them. You got to deal with them, Lord. So the king does. Listen to this. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as 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. Whoa, that's horrible, isn't it? You say, well, it's just a parable. It's not real. It's just a story that Jesus told.

Well, verse 35 is not part of the parable. Listen to what Jesus says. So shall my heavenly father also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart? Whoa, do you mean to tell me that my God in heaven will turn me over to the torturers? You got it. You got it. This word torturers, same word used in Matthew chapter eight, verse number six, to speak of the centurion's servant who was about to die and was in great pain. Same word used in Luke 16 verses 23 and 24 of the rich man in the Hades who was tormented because of the heat.

Same word used in second Peter chapter two, verse number eight, to describe the torment of Lot's soul because he lived in Sodom and Gomorrah.

In other word, it's a word of supreme agony. It's a word of pain. It's a word of discomfort. It's a word that describes what God does to those who are unwilling to forgive their brethren, their fellow servants, the sin against them. Doesn't the book of Hebrews say that whom the Lord loves, he what? He scourges. Whoa. Wow. And by the way, if the Lord doesn't scourge you, you're not one of his. Because if he loves you, he is going to scourge you. He disciplines his sons. He disciplines his daughters.

Do you know that when you live in the realm of unforgiveness, not only do you show that you don't care about anybody else but yourself, but you will have put upon you the scourging chastisement of your heavenly Father to deal with your bitter, selfish, angry attitude. God will deal with you. Do you know that that's how I have come to deal with people in our church over the years? Deal with them, Lord. Deal with them. They're unforgiving. You need to handle them, Lord Jesus. You need to do what you do best because nothing that I say is going to change them.

But Lord, your scourging will change them. Your discipline will change them. Your torture of your child will change them because if they don't change, they were never a child of God to begin with. See that? And so therefore, you turn them over to the Lord to deal with them. And sometimes that's all you can do, right? Because the priority in caring for somebody else is to be willing to forgive no matter what the offense because it's the glory of a man to overlook an offense. It's the beauty and brightness of a man that overlooks the offense.

It is the ugliness of a man that holds on to the offense. It is the wretchedness of a man that holds on to the offense. Not his beauty. Not the beautiful brightness that's supposed to shine as lights of the world so that all can see the glory of God. Surely the brightness isn't shining forth. It's dull at best. It's barely flickering at best. And so therefore, the wisdom of God gives a man patience, gives him a long-suffering spirit so that he can overlook the offender and the offense because he knows some way somehow God's involved.

You know what? That's what made King David so unique because King David was a man after God's own heart for two reasons and two reasons only, two main reasons. One, he never sought revenge and he was always repentant of his sin. That's what made him a man after God's own heart. Remember the story in 1 Samuel 24 where he and his band of operators are hiding in the caves of En Gedi. When we go to Israel this year, we'll go to En Gedi. You'll be able to see all these different caves. One of them is where David was hiding in 1 Samuel 24.

He was hiding in the cave and Saul had 3,000 men hunting after David. Now David had been anointed as king. David was anointed king of Israel but yet he had yet to ascend the throne. The throne was his, right? But he wasn't going to ascend the throne as long as Saul was still king. And so he ran from Saul because Saul wanted to kill him. So he was in the caves of En Gedi. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 24 that Saul went in to relieve himself in one of the caves.

He wanted to go to the bathroom. And the men of David said, you got him. He's in your hand. God has delivered him into your hand. Kill him. Kill him now.

And as Saul was relieving himself, David went up to him, took out his knife and slit a piece of his garment. And before he could put the knife back in its sheath, he was already convicted of a sin. He was convicted of the thought of even wanting to take revenge on Saul. That's how sensitive David was to the Spirit leading his life. And so David, after Saul left, went out to the open part of the cave. Now as men, they didn't understand this. And you know what? Your family won't understand this. Sometimes the people in your church won't understand it when you are willing not to retaliate, but you're willing to forgive and to overlook the offense.

And David went out because he knew that he was not to lay his hand against the Lord's anointed. And he went out and showed Saul the piece of his garment as Saul was down now in the valley of Gengeti. And Saul was gripped because Saul knew that he was in the hand of David, and David spared his life. And Saul knew that if the roles were reversed, he'd have killed David instantly. But Saul understood that David was a man of mercy, a man of forgiveness, a man of kindness. And David had the opportunity to seek revenge, but he wanted to show the care and concern that his God would show to one who was a sinner.

And that's what he did. That's what he did. And when you read 2 Samuel chapter 1, after Saul and his son Jonathan, their heads were hung on the walls of Bethshon there in the land of Israel, David had nothing but praise for the wicked king Saul. Nothing but praise because he was God's man at God's time, and David knew that. How would you respond? When your enemy's in your hand and you have the right to enact revenge, do you realize that it's the Lord's responsibility to do that? Do you realize that it's the glory of a man to overlook an offense?

I would trust that you do. There's so much for us to learn about following Christ and living for Christ. I want Christ Community Church to be a place where forgiveness reigns supreme in the members that are here, that we are more than willing to forgive those who have offended us because we want to picture to them Christ. We want to show our priority to care because there's a pattern we are commanded to follow, and that is we are to be forgiving as God in Christ has forgiven us. Let's pray. Father, thank you for today and all that you have taught us.

May we learn to follow you without question, to glorify your precious name. May we be forgiving of those who have offended us. For your name's sake we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.