Forgiving and Forgetting, Part 1A

Lance Sparks
Transcript
Father, we thank you so much that you use Jesus Christ to be the Savior of mankind. And our prayer this morning is that as we continue our study on forgiveness, we would realize that Jesus Came to forgive men of sins. That's why he was born in order that he might die, in order that we might experience new life in Jesus Christ our Lord. And today, as we look into the Word of God, I pray that all of our hearts would see once again the greatness of your character. In Jesus' name, amen. A number of years ago, there was a young man by the name of Chris Carrier.
He was 10 years old at the time. As he got off the school bus, he was met by a man who introduced himself to him as Chuck. Chuck told Chris that he was going to have a surprise party for his father. It was going to be a Christmas celebration. But it was going to be a surprise for his father and asked young Chris, who was 10 at the time, if he would come and help him decorate for that Christmas party. Of course, young Chris was enthusiastic about the opportunity to surprise his father, and so he would follow Chuck.
They would get into Chuck's car and he would drive him to a remote area and begin to stab him repeatedly in the chest with an ice pick. He would then take young Chris Carrier to a remote place in the Florida Ever, excuse me, take a gun and shoot him in the head, leaving him for dead. But Chris didn't die. In fact, the bullet missed his brain, exited his right temple. He laid unconscious for six days. In the Florida Everglades, until he awoke, made it to a road where a man would pick him up, take him to a hospital, and for two weeks he'd lay in a hospital bed recuperating.
He would try to describe to the police the character of this man Chuck and they would develop a sketch of this man. One of the police recognized that this man that was drawn on this sketch was really a man by the name of Dave McAll. And so they would bring Dave McAllister into a lineup in the police precinct, and young Chris Carrier would observe these men. But he was unable to pick out Dave McAll. And because there were no physical ev to convict Dave, he was set free. Until 22 years later, when Dave McAllister would go into the police station and confess of the crime they committed to young Chris Carrier.
Chris had escaped with only blindness in his right eye. Upon confessing, he was admitted to a nursing home because of his health. It was about to die, and the policeman called Chris Carrier and told him that Dave McAllister had confessed to the crime 22 years earlier. Chris, of course, went to the nursing home and met Dave McAllister face to face. And Dave asked Chris to forgive him for what he did. And Chris's response was, I've already forgiven you. And Chris, during the remaining days of Dave McAllis's life, would bring his children in to visit.
Dave McAllister, and they would sing songs, they would read scripture, and they would talk to him about the Lord. Even his wife would come in as they would spend the remaining days with Dave McA. Explaining to him the gospel of Jesus Christ, our Lord. I wonder how you would respond if the person who came and stabbed you and shot you asked you to forgive them. Would you forgive him? Say, well, things turned out well for young Chris Carrier. He only had blindness in one of his eyes. Maybe. What about Melissa Jenkins, who gathered together with a group of high school students at Heath County High School to pray one morning in December?
And a 14-year-old boy would walk up to that group of students who were praying and begin to shoot them. Three would die, five would be seriously wounded, one of which was Melissa Jenkins. The media had a hard time understanding why a 14-year-old boy would just go up to a group of students praying around a flagpole and shoot them. But even more than that, they had a hard time understanding how parents and children who were shot would extend forgiveness to this young boy, who would come up and out of the blue begin to spray them with bullets.
It would be Melissa Jenkins who would, through a mediator, while she would lay in the hospital bed with a bullet in her spinal cord, being paralyzed for the rest of her life, would say, please tell him that I forgive him for What he did. How is it that people can do that? What is it that would prompt a Christian to extend the hand of forgiveness to those who have injured them? Simply this. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse number 16 says that the believer has the mind of Christ. That is, because we are partakers of the divine image of God, the divine nature of God, there is something in the believer that causes him to extend forgiveness to those who have wronged them.
You see, one of the prime characteristics of the believer is that they are willing and they are wanting to extend forgiveness to those who have wronged them. You see, if we struggle with forgiveness, if we have a hard time forgiving those who offended us, could it be we don't have the mind of Christ? Could it be that we are not partakers of that divine nature? You think of a man like Chris Carrier, a person like Melissa Jenkins, who can forgive someone who would do something so bad to them. And yet, for some of us, we have a hard time forgiving the guy who ran us off the road last week.
We have a hard time forgiving someone who might have spoken an unkind word to us. Yet these people would willingly extend the hand of forgiveness to those who wronged them. How about you? It's important that we forgive. It's important that we forget. Today and our next time together, we're going to talk to you about forgiving and forgetting. If we're going to learn to forgive, we need to examine the teaching of our Savior. If we're going to learn to forget, then we need to explore the testimony of the scriptures.
This morning we'll talk about the forgiveness aspect. Next time we're together, we'll talk about the forgetting aspect. Aspect. In terms of forgiveness, there is a passage that we need to study. So we're going to look at that this morning.
And as a result of that, there's a problem we need to solve. There's a prescription we need to seek. And lastly, there's a prospect we need to secure. That's our outline, that's where we're going. The text is Matthew chapter 6. Verses 14 and 15. We've talked about this throughout our study on forgiveness, and this morning we're going to examine it, help you understand what it means to forgive as God Himself has forgiven you. Matthew 6, 14 and 15 is the only commentary that Christ gives on what is commonly called the disciples' prayer.
Many people call it the Lord's Prayer. It's not the Lord's Prayer. It's the disciples' prayer. It's the Lord teaching the disciples how to pray his way in order that they might effectively communicate with their Father above. And in that prayer, there is a statement in verse number 12 that reads as follows: And forgive us our debts as we also have for our debtors. You know, we can pretty much recite the disciples' prayer, but for the most part, very few of us could begin to explain the elements of that prayer to someone who asked us.
And it's important for us to come to grips with what the Word of God teaches in order that we might be able to pray effectively, right? And a lot of times our prayer life is hindered because we don't understand how to pray God's way. Once we understand how to pray God's way, then we can be effective at beseeching the throne of God and watching Him work in our lives in a very significant manner. It's important for us to understand what Matthew 6, verse number 12 means. And so our Lord, in a very unique way, would begin to expound on that.
He didn't expound on hallowed be thy name, or thy kingdom come, or thy will be done, or give us this day our daily bread, or lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. But he did expound on the forgiveness aspect of that prayer. You see, once God gives us, God wants to deliver us. But God will not deliver us out of temptation unless we understand forgiveness. That is so important. And a lot of times we find ourselves subjecting ourselves to temptation, following after sin, not understanding why that's happening all along, never realizing what the Bible says.
About forgiveness. And that's a priority when it comes to understanding God's call upon our lives. And so the Lord would expound upon this part in verses 14 and 15. And it says this. For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. We read that and we say, we understand that. And then it says, but if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. And we must ask ourselves, how is it a child of God can have un sins? That's the passage we need to study.
Once we understand this passage, there's a problem that we need to solve. And then there's a prescription we need to seek. In order that we might somehow secure the prospect God has for our lives. That's where we're going this morning, okay? You with me? Good. You're all awake? You look good? You smell good? Let's see what the good word says to us this morning. First of all, the passage we need to study: two things I want you to see.
Number one, what it doesn't mean. Number two, what it does mean. Pretty simple, right? What does that mean? If the Bible says that God delights in mercy.
If the Bible says over in Micah chapter 7, verse number 18, who is a God like thee who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of his possession?
He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot. Yes, Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths. Of the sea. God casts away our sins. Micah 7, 18 and 19 says that. He delights in mercy. He delights in unchanging love. The Bible says over in Jeremiah 31, verse number 34, that I will pardon.
And remember their sin no more. The Bible says that God has forgiven our sins. Past tense. That is, that God has taken away all of our sins, not some of them, but all of them. He doesn't retain any of them. The Bible says that he remembers them no more.
Psalm 103 says that he separates them as far as the east is from the west and refuses to remember our sins. So why is it then the Lord would say, but if you don't forgive your brother his transgressions, neither will I forgive you your transgressions? How do we reconcile that? How can a believer have un sins? Well, certainly not in terms of our standing with the Lord, right? If we are a child of God, we are a child of God. Nothing's going to change that. If your son sins against you, He is still your son, right?
You are still his father. And no matter what your son does, no matter how. Bad he might rebel against your authority, how bad he might walk away from you and your family. He is still your son. You are still. His father, that will never change. His standing with you will never change. His position with you will never change. Right? Because he is your son. Same way it is in the spiritual realm. My standing with God never changes. My position with God will never change. Paul would say in Romans chapter 8: who can bring a charge against God's elect?
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. John would say over in 1 John chapter 2, I run into you, little children, because your sins are for. They're all taken care of. They've all been wiped away. So it cannot mean that my standing with God changes. My position with God changes because, in a judicial sense, God has taken away my sins. That's why the Bible says.
He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God and Him. No matter how you look at it, when God looks down from heaven, He sees me as righteous.
Why? Because he sees me cloaked in the righteousness of Christ. And so when he sees me, that's why the Bible says that we are seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
In order for us to be seated in the heavenly places, there has to be something about us that there is nothing that can be held to our account that will cause us to be sinful in heaven. So, God declares us as righteous people. That happened when we gave our life to Christ. Romans 3 talks about the fact that we have been justified. That is, we have been declared right before God. That God, in a judicial sense, Has declared us not guilty in his presence. That's never going to change. That's the remarkable thing about eternal security.
My standing with God, my position with God, never standing. Never changes because God as judge has wiped out the guilty verdict. God as Father desires to forgive all my sins. So it cannot mean that somehow my standing with God will change or my position with God will change because I have committed some act. So, what does it mean when it says, but if you do not forgive your brother his transgressions, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you your transgressions? It cannot mean that my standing with God changes in a positional sense, but it does mean that my relationship with God changes.
In terms of a parental sense, that is this: if I sin against my God, there is something that happens between me and my God. If you go back to the illustration about your son sinning against you, he is still your son. You are still his father. But there's something that changes in the relationship, right? The intimacy is no longer there, the communion is no longer there. The fellowship is no longer there. Why? Not because you as a father have changed, but because your son has rebelled against your authority.
Because your son is unwilling to subject himself to your rulership. Because your son has sinned. The Bible says, 1 John chapter 1, verse number 4: John says, I write unto you that your joy Maybe full, right?
He goes, I want you to have fullness of joy. How does somebody have fullness of joy? Number one, when they are forgiven of their sins, and number two, when there is fellowship with the Savior.
That's how you have fullness of joy. That's why, when the angel came to the shepherds, he said, What? He said. For unto you, this day in the city of David has been born a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Before he said that, he said, I bring you good tidings of great what? Joy. Here's the joy. The joy is this: there's going to be a Savior who's born. He's going to forgive you of your sins. And because He forgives you of your sins, you can expect. And enjoy the fellowship with your Savior. That's fullness of joy.
That's why when David said these words in Psalm 51. Make me to hear joy and gladness. David had not heard joy or gladness in his life for the time that he did not confess his sin to the Father. Why is that? Because the relationship between David, the king on earth, and his father in heaven was the very fact that he had committed a sin. He didn't confess the sin. So there was something between David and his father. So he said, make me to hear joy and gladness. Let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice, he says.
Because there hasn't been rejoicing in my life. There hasn't been fullness of joy. He says, Hide thy face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from thy presence, and do not take thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation. He didn't say, Restore to me my salvation. David didn't lose his salvation, he lost the joy of his salvation. When you sin against God, you lose. The joy of your salvation.
You lose fullness of joy. You have forgiveness of sins, but you don't have fellowship with the Savior. You got to have that communion. You got to have that intimacy. That happens when you confess your sin. That's why Jesus said: listen, if you forgive your brother his transgressions, guess what? There is forgiveness full and free from me. We have a great relationship. But.
If you decide not to forgive your brother his transgressions, we can't have a relationship. We can't have one of intimacy. We can't have one of communion. We can't have one of fellowship. Why? Because the Bible says in Psalm 66:18, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not what?
Hear me. It's not that he physically can't hear you. God hears everything you say, right? So it's about fellowship, it's about intimacy, it's about communion, it's about a relationship with God that's filled with joy. And God says, if you're unwilling to forgive your brother a sin, that means you're harboring sin in your heart.
A bitter spirit. An angry spirit, an unforgiving spirit, and that's going to cause a breach between me and you, God says.
You see that? That's the passage we need to study. Number two, there's a problem we need to solve. Problems are two areas. When I am unwilling to forgive my brother his transgressions, commun with God is interrupted. That's number one.
Communion with God is interrupted. Remember John 13? We've referred to that on several occasions. But in John 13, remember when Christ took the wash basin and began to wash the disciples' feet? And Peter said, No, Lord, don't do that. You're not going to wash my feet. And Christ said, If I don't wash you, you have no part with me. And what did Peter say? Well, then throw the whole basin on me. Clean me up, Lord. And this is what the Lord said: John 13. He said this, he who has bath needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean.
And you are clean, but not all of you. Referring, of course, to Judas. He says, You are clean, Peter. Why? Because you've been bathed. You've been washed. In what's going to be the blood of the Lamb here in just a few short hours. You've been bathed, Peter, but what you need is a daily cleansing. What you need is a daily washing. That's what needs to happen. So when John would say, we want you to have fullness of joy, 1 John 1:4, he goes on to say, 1 John 1:9, that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
In order for you to experience fullness of joy, there must be that daily cleansing, the daily washing away of your sins. That's why we confess our sins to God. You see, in order for us to have that intimacy, that communion with our God, so there's no breach between me and my God, that we have fullness of joy, complete intimacy, and experience communion. With one another. And so, the problem that needs to be solved is: number one, communion with God is interrupted if I don't forgive my brother.
That means I'm harboring sin against my brother, which is sin against God. And number two, chastening from God is inevitable.
Chastening from God is inevitable. If communion with God is interrupted, chastening is inevitable. Inevitable. And you know what? This is where some of you are today. You're experiencing the chastening of God in your life. Turn with me to Matthew 18 for a moment.
Matthew chapter 18. Again, we have already alluded to this passage before, but we're going to take you back to it because there's something you need to understand: that chastity from God is inevitable if I do not forgive my brother's sins. Matthew 18, verse number 21. Then Peter came and said to him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him up to seven times. The rabbi said, You've got to forgive three times. Peter doubled that and added one, thinking he was pretty good.
And Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but to 70 times. 7 Peter. For this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a certain king. Stop right there. This is what the kingdom of heaven is like. God is giving you a picture of the kingdom of heaven. Remember, when Christ came, he came preaching the kingdom of God. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. So repent, believe the gospel. Christ comes and says, This is what it is, or this is what it's like in my kingdom. This is where it's like, remember when the word kingdom is used, it just is a word that means the rulership of Christ.
So, in other words, those who are under the rulership of Christ, those who are in my domain, those who see me as their king, this is how it happens. in my kingdom. You follow me so far? This is what the kingdom of heaven can be compared to. He says, A certain king who who wished to settle accounts with his slaves, and when he had begun to settle them, there there was brought to him one who owed him ten thousand talents. Which is equivalent to $10 million. Now, maybe for you, that's not very much money.
A guy like me. That's a lot of money. Okay? This guy owed 10,000 talents or $10 million. $10 million is a lot of money today. Think about how much $10 million was back in Jesus' day. It was an unrepayable debt. Red. 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, and repayment to be made. The slave, therefore, falling down, prostrated himself before him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.
And the Lord of the slave felt compassion, and released him and forgave him the debt. Now, why would the king do that? For one reason and one reason only. It's the disposition of the king to be forgiving. That's why he forgave. See, the problem is. When it comes to forgiveness, the reason we don't forgive is because we want to advance our kingdom and not God's kingdom. But if you want to advance God's kingdom, You will forgive. And you will forget. But that's next week's message. Let's pray.