Optional or Essential, Part 1

We are such a fortunate, blessed people to be able to look into the Word of God and see all that you have said. For in these last days, you have spoken to us through your Son, Jesus Christ. And this morning, we come together once again to examine what you've said. To realize, Lord, that these are more than just stories, they're more than just people that once lived. They are people that, through the power of Almighty God, were used in a mighty way. We thank you for that. We thank you for what you've done in their lives and what you want to do in our lives.

So many times we forget that what we read in the Bible is not just a record of what took place long ago, but in reality is the truth of what you want to see happen today in the lives of your children. This morning, as we examine once again your word, may our hearts be drawn upward toward glory, that we might see the face of our God, and thus, having seen you, live. Like you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We have been studying the life of Joseph in the book of Genesis, probably the most famous character in the Bible.

And this man is known because of his desire, willingness to forgive his brothers all their trespasses. And then to restore them to a place of prominence there in the land of Egypt. God used Joseph, God used one man. In the life of his brothers to trans their lives in order that they might become the nation that God wants them to be. God wants to use you in the life of your family. God wants to use you in the life of your friends, just like he used Joseph. The question comes: How much do you want to exemplify the character of God?

Because Joseph was a man who, more so than any other character in the Bible, exemplified the character of Almighty God. And so when we look at Joseph, we are seeing the work of Jesus Christ being played out in the life of a man totally committed to his God.

We realize that Joseph had two boys. One was Manasseh, the other Ephraim. And Joseph named those boys. By Manasseh and Ephraim, because they exemplified what God had done in his life. Manasseh means God has caused me to forget. Ephraim means that God has called me or caused me to be fruitful or literally doubly fruitful. And as you recall, when we studied the birth of those boys, we help you understand that in order to be fruitful. The present, you must forget the past. And the reason so many people are not fruitful in the present is because they refuse to forget the past.

With that forgetting the past comes the desire to forgive those who offended you in the past. We see that in the life of Joseph as he realizes that his brothers come to Egypt. He faces them. They don't recognize him. He recognizes them. He begins this long ordeal. As he begins working in their lives to bring them to a place of repentance. And as we have studied the book of Genesis, particularly the life of Joseph, we have seen how this man Orchestrated the events in the lives of his brothers to bring them to a point of repentance, to bring them to a point where they would see his desire to forgive them of their sins.

In our study, we want to take a few weeks to look at what the Bible says about forgiveness and how God has called you and me to be a forgiving kind of people.

I rec the words of Andrew Jackson when he was approached by his pastor being interviewed for church membership. His pastor said, General, There is one more question I must ask you. Can you forgive all of your enemies? Andrew Jackson was silent as he recalled his stormy life of bitter fighting. Then he responded, My political enemies I can freely forgive, but as for those who attacked me for serving my country, and those who slandered my wife, Doctor, I cannot. Forgive them. The pastor made it clear to Andrew Jackson that before he could become a member of his church and partake of the broken bread in the cup, his hatred and bitterness must be confessed and dealt with before God.

Again, there was an awkward silence. Then Jackson affirmed that if God would help him, he would learn to forgive his enemies. That's where God wants us to be. Lord, if you will help me, if you will guide me and direct me, I will forgive my enemies. Without God, you cannot forgive those who slandered you. You cannot forgive those who have abused you. You cannot forgive those who have wronged you. You cannot forget those who have come against you With God's help, it can happen. Without God's help, it will not happen.

We want to be able to explain to you how that's going to take place in your life and in mine by looking at the Word of God. We're going to begin by looking at a passage in Scripture that's not preached on very much. In fact, you might not even know it's there. It's recorded in Luke chapter 17. And we're going to ask and answer the question this morning: is forgiveness Optional or essential? We must answer that question. We must determine whether or not God has given us the option to forgive those who have offended us.

Or is it essential for me as a child of God to forgive those who have wronged me, to forgive those who have sinned against me? What I want you to do this morning is, I want you to think of that one person, or maybe your case is many people, that you have a hard time forgiving. Maybe it's a family member. Maybe it's a work associate. Maybe it's your neighbor. But somebody that has offended you, that has wronged you in such a degree. You have determined in your mind, I am not going to forgive that person.

Now, maybe that person is in church with you today. Maybe they're in this room, or maybe they're in another room in the church. But you know in your mind and heart that you have a hard time forgiving that individual. God has brought you here today because He wants you to teach you about what the Bible says about forgiveness.

and help you understand from the very get-go that forgiveness is not optional, it is essential. We looked last week at that phrase, that very first phrase on the cross that Christ gave, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.

That would set the tone for our study on forgiveness. Because Jesus Christ Himself would exemplify for us on the cross by the very first thing that came out of His mouth.

That he willingly extended forgiveness to those who physically ab him. Who verbally abused him, who literally put him on the tree and killed him? He would willingly extend forgiveness. That is what God has called you and me to do. Question is: how is that going to happen? Our outline this morning is very simple. There's an introduction, there's some instruction, and then there is some implications. First of all, by way of introduction, I want to look with you at some historical figures and what they said about forgiveness.

Then we want to see the biblical facts, and then we want to look at your practical feelings. First of all, some of the historical figures.

It was George Herbert who said these words. He who cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass him. Isn 't that good? Listen to the words. Of Henry Ward Beecher. He says, I can forgive, but I cannot forget. Is only another way of saying, I refuse to forgive. He went on to say, God pardons like a mother. Who kisses the offense into everlasting forgiveness? It was Francis Bacon who said, This is certain: that a man Who studies revenge, keeps his wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well.

It was Booker T. Washington who said, I will not permit any man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him. That's good, isn't it? What's the Bible say? What are the biblical facts? Proverbs chapter 19, verse number 11. The discretion of a man deferre his anger, and it is his glory to pass over a transgression. Proverbs 24, 17 says it this way: Rejoice not when thine enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles. Think about that verse for a moment. So many times when our enemy falls, we say, God got him.

Man, it's so good. And we rejoice when he stumbles. But the Bible speaks against that. When your enemy falls, don't rejoice. When he stumbles, don't be glad. Why? Because you're to be praying for that persecutor. You're to ask God to do a mighty work in his life. You know, Ephesians:, that we are to be. Kind and tender, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us. How about that famous prayer? I mean, if you go to any funeral today, if you go to any church today, I imagine that everybody in that auditorium could recite for you the disciples' prayer.

It's known today as the Lord's Prayer, but it's really not the Lord's Prayer, it's the disciples' prayer in Matthew chapter 6. And pretty much any unbeliever that you know and I know can recite that prayer. And in that prayer, there's a certain phrase, Father. Father, cause us to forgive our brothers. Help us to forgive those who have tres against us. The world can verbalize it. The church can come together and memorize it and then recite it. But it's very interesting that when you study the disci' prayer, our Lord only makes one commentary on that prayer.

He doesn 't make a commentary about daily bread, he doesn't make a commentary about the will of God. He doesn't even make a commentary about his kingdom and the coming to earth. He makes the commentary just on the part about forgiveness. In fact, it's almost like an epilogue at the end of the prayer. Because once he closes the prayer, he says, For if you forgive your brother his trespasses, so will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses. But If you don't forgive your brother his trespasses, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you your trespasses.

Those two verses, Matthew 6, verses 14 and 15, are amazing verses. Because you've got to ask yourself the question: how is it as a believer I exper Unforgiveness from God. When the Bible says that God takes my sins and separates them as far as the east is from the west, and the Bible says that our Lord remembers them no more.

And now he comes back in Matthew 6 and says, If you refuse to forgive your brother his trespasses, your Father in heaven is not going to forgive you your trespasses. How could that be? Well, you're gonna have to come back next week and the week after that to understand those things because we're going to explain them to you. We're not going to explain them to you today. We're just going throw that little tidbit out there to you so you can come back because we want you to understand exactly what the Bible says.

We need to forgive our brother. But it's interesting that our Lord would make a commentary on the disciples' prayer on only one aspect of it. And he would do it right after he gave it because he knew, he knew what a problem we would have forgiving those who have sinned against us. Historical figures, biblical facts. How about the practical feelings? There are some of you here today. Who are thinking to yourselves, saying to yourselves, there is no way on God's green earth that I am going to forgive.

So-and-so, my husband, my son, my daughter, my wife, my neighbor, my boss, my pastor. My Sunday school teacher, my babys, whatever it may be. No way, I'm not going to do that. Because when push comes the shove, for most of us, our feelings take priority over the facts. Is that not true? Our feel govern how we respond. For most of us, we live in the realm of this society's emphasis. What do you feel like doing? How does it make you feel? Because if it makes you feel good, it must be good. If it makes you feel bad, it must be bad.

But I love the Bible because God never asks, How do you feel? He never asks that question. You want to know why? Because in the theological realm, it is irrelevant how you feel. What is relevant is what God says about how you feel.

That's the important thing. And we want to be able to think theologically. We want to be able to think biblically. We want to be able to. Responds spiritually. To do that, the Spirit of God needs to operate in our lives, to function in our lives, so that we can do what God has called us to do. It's not that God doesn't care how you feel. Because he does. He cares about everything. But God is concerned about what you do. Based on what he has already said in his word. And so that's what we want to talk about this morning.

So we move from the introduction to the instruction. If you haven't got your Bible, Luke chapter 17 is where we're at this morning. Let me read it to you, and then we're going to make some comments on it.

Here it goes. Verse number 1. And he said to his disciples, It is inevitable that stumbling blocks should come, but woe to him through whom they come. It would be better for him if a mill were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. Than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day and returns to you seven times saying, I repent. Forgive him. And the apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith.

And the Lord said, If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you. But which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him, When he has come in from the field, come immediately and sit down to eat? But will he not say to him, Prepare something for me, to eat, and properly clothe yourself, and serve me until I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink. He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he?

So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, We. Are unworthy slaves. We have done only that which we ought to have done. I love this passage of scripture. I love it because I've never heard anybody preach on it. I'm sure people have preached on it. But I love it because you're going to understand why people don't preach on it after we get done this morning. Because it is so clear and so important for you and me to realize what God has called us to do. First of all, look with me at the problem.

Every one of his face. It says, and he said to his disciples, now he said this to his disciples on a day called Sunday. So it was a day like today. And this day began in Luke chapter 15 about the parable of the lost sheep. Then went on to talk about the parable of the lost coin, and then to talk about the parable of the two lost sons. And then he would talk about the parable of the unjust steward in Luke chapter 7, 16. And then he'd give a whole scenario about hell, the rich man. In hell and Lazarus.

Now we're in Luke chapter 17. And he comes to his disciples. He says to them. This is important because you see, Jesus was accused in Luke chapter 15, verses 1 and 2, of associating himself with sinful people, with wicked people, with tax gatherers. Okay? And now he's going to explain why he does that kind of thing. It's important in the context because, you see, The emphasis in Luke, listen carefully, is on the humanity of our Lord. Remember, it was John who emphasized the deity of our Lord. It was Mark who emphasized the servanthood of our Lord.

It was Matthew who emphasized the kingship of our God. But Luke would tend to emphasize the humanity of our God. This is the human part of God that you need to grasp. That's why Luke 17 is where it is. Because we in the human realm need to understand how God in his humanity operated. Remember, Luke says, the Son of Man Came to seek and to save that which was lost. The Lord came. Because he loves and lives to forgive man of his sins. We talked about that last week. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

So now you begin to understand. The background behind what God is going to say in Luke 17 because it talks about the reason Christ came in his humanity was to seek and to save those who were lost in order that he might forgive them of their sins. Meaning that as the children of God, we now have to look to seek to forgive those who have wronged us. You with me so far? He begins by looking at the problem we all face. It falls into two categories. Number one, being offended, and number two, being the offender.

He says this. It is inevitable, inevitable, that stumbling blocks should come. Here's a problem every one of us face. That is, Christ says, I want to let you know something from the very outset.

Everybody who is here today is going to be offended. There's going to be a stumbling block that comes your way. And we think of stumbling blocks. We think of a stone or a block in the road that causes us to trip. And to us, on the outset, it's no big deal. But the word is scandal, which goes way beyond just a little stumble. It 's a word that means a death trap. Now that's a little bit more graphic, isn't it? Think about a death trap. Something that caused you to fall over in such a way that it's like almost a death-like existence.

Something that's happened to you so badly that to be dead would be better than what you experienced. Now, you get the picture? Because now we're looking at life and saying, I don't want this. I don't need this. I don't deserve this. And please, don't let me offend you, but I've got to tell you this.

To use that phrase, I don't deserve this, or I don't need this, is to tot blow the sovereignty of God completely out of your life. Whenever you say, God, I don't need this. God, I don't deserve this. God is saying, wait a minute. I'm the Creator. If you have it, you probably need it. You might not think you deserve it, but in all reality, from the biblical viewpoint, what do we all deserve? Hell, right? So, what you're getting now is really no big deal comparison to hell, right? So, you have to look at it from a biblical perspective.

We look at things from the world's perspective. So understand this. It is inevitable that stumbling blocks are going to come your way. You cannot get around it. Maybe it's going to come because someone spoke a word against you. It was a verbal slander, a verbal abuse. Maybe it was a bad example that someone set and caused you to fall into sin. Maybe it was an abusive lifestyle that maybe a parent or a babys Put your way and took you further down the primrose path of destruction. I don't know what your experiences might be.

But the bottom line is: Jesus says it is inevitable. That these things are going to come your way. It's inevitable that you're going to be offended. But woe, woe, he says. Cursed is the one, he says, through whom they come. Don't be one of those that causes a death trap. You see, all of us fall in those categories, don't we? Being offended or being the offender. A lot of times we've offended people. Sometimes we mean to do it. Sometimes we don't. Sometimes we say we don't mean to do it, but in reality, we do mean to do it.

But we fall in those categories. That's a problem every one of us face, right? You face it, I face it. And Christ from the outset says: listen, every one of us are in the same boat. We're going be offended and we're going to offend others. But woe, cursed is the man through whom they come. Cursed is that man. He says, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. Who are the little ones?

The little ones are the sinners and the task gatherers that he sat down with and associated himself with while on earth. Luke chapter 15, verses 1 and 2. That's the context of where we're at. It would be better for the man who caused one of these sinners to stumble, one of these tax gatherers to stumble, to experience a death tra existence. It would be better that a millstone be hung around his neck and that he be thrown into the depths of the sea. It would be better for him to die a horrible death than to offend another brother.

To offend another person. Listen, God's serious about this stuff, isn He? You ever seen a millstone? Things are huge, man. They are huge. I mean, there's no way one man can lift it. And Christ says, it will be better for you than if this millstone were tied around your neck and you were just cast overboard.

And you flailed and gasped for air and died a horrible death than to even think about offend one of my little ones. That's a problem we all face. And Christ is serious about how we deal with other people. He says that in Hebrews 6, verse number 10, He's not going to forget your labor of love. He's not going forget it. He sees it all, and one day he's going to reward it. That's our God. He's a merciful, compassionate, graceful God. And we praise him because of it. I'll leave you with that thought until we gather again tonight.

Let's pray.