Optional or Essential, Part 2

God wants to use you in the life of your family. God wants to use you in the life of your friends. The question comes. How much do you want to exemplify the character of God? 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. That's where God wants us to be. With God's help, it can happen. Without God's help, it will not. Happen. And we're going to ask and answer the question this morning: is forgiveness optional or essential? Our outline this morning is very simple. There's an introduction. There's some instruction. There is some implications. Proverbs chapter 19, verse number 11. The discretion of a man deferreth his anger, and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.

You know, Ephesians 4:3, that we are to be kind and tender, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us. But I love the Bible because God never asks, How do you feel? 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. 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 one. 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 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. 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, Inc 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. First of all, look with me at the problem every one of us face.

From there, we're going look at the process of forgiveness. And then we're going to look at the plea for faith.

And then we're going to look at the parable about faithfulness. First of all, the problem every one of us faces.

It says, and he said to his disciples, this is important. 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. It's inevitable that you're going to be offended. But whoa, whoa, he says. Cursed is the one through whom they come. So he gives us the process of forgiveness. That's point number two.

He says, Be on your guard. If your brother sins, Rebuke him. That's a good thing. If your brother sins, rebuke him. And that's important. Because the Bible tells us the conditions for our rebuking. 2 Timothy 4, verse number 2, you preach the word in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and instruction. Whenever you rebuke another brother, you do it with great patience, with a long fuse, and you always do it with the wor of God. You see, we want to rebuke our brother based on how we feel.

Never rebuke based on your feelings. You made me feel this way. It's not about how you feel. Why? Because the same person can do the same thing to somebody else and they not feel that way. Right? So it's not about how you feel, it's about how they have violated the word of God. So when you rebuke a brother with all long-suffering and patience, you are saying, listen, the Bible says.

This. You did this, therefore, you violated what God's word said. You are completely out of the picture. Why? Because when sin happens, sin is about offending God more than it is about offending you, right? So therefore, when you rebuke another brother, when you rebuke another sister, when you rebuke another friend, you go to that person and say, you know what? This is what God's word said. This is how you violate the word of God. That's a concern to me because I'm more concerned about your relationship with God than I am about your relationship with me.

You see, our problem is that we are more concerned about how we relate to other people than how those other people relate to God and how I relate to God. That's why we've got to think biblically. That's why we to think theologically. Because now we're doing it on a plane that says, this is what God says, this is what you did, this is what God says about what you did, and my concern is for you and your relationship with the living God, therefore, because of your violation of what God has said.

You have sinned against God, and thus sinning against God, you have sinned against me. That is the proper way to rebuke your brother. Now, you rebuke your brother, and he does the same thing again. In fact, Jesus tells us that. He says, if he repents, that's what I want you to do. I want you to forgive him. Now, you understand that, right? He comes back and he says, You're right. I v the word of God. I was wrong. Would you please forgive me? What do you say? I forgive you. Let me say at the outset one more time.

I've said it probably 2 times. That never say, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, is a game by Parker Brothers. The biblical word is, please forgive me. You can say, I'm sorry, would you please forgive me? But never say, I'm sorry, and leave it at that. That means nothing. That means, hey, let's play a game. I'm sorry. You're sorry, I'm sorry. No, to say, I was wrong. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. That's the way to do it. And then Jesus says this: And if he sins against you seven times a day and returns to you seven times saying, I repent, what are you supposed to do?

Forgive him. Now, think about that for a moment. If you go to your brother and you rebuke him and you say, You violated the word of God, you need to do what God's word says. He says, You're right, I was wrong. Please forgive me. You forgive him. And he comes back again the same day, does the same thing, and you confront him again, and he says, You're right. I was wrong. Please forgive me. You're going to forgive him. And he comes back again. Now, think about this for a moment. Let's say, let's say, let's look at 24 hours in a day, right?

If you're a sluggard, you'll sleep eight of those hours. All right? And so let's take out eight of those hours and say there are 16 hours left in the day. Okay, 16 hours in a day. That means that he would have offended you every two hours and 15 minutes of that day. So that is, every two hours and 15 minutes, he does the exact same thing. And if he asks, or if he repents, you ought to forgive him, Jesus says.

You say, well, wait a minute. If he does it seven times in a day, he couldn't have really repented, could he? I mean, is he really sorry for what he did? I mean, how will I know if he truly repented? That's not the point of the story. We're going to cover that later on. The point is, it's not about whether or not you think or feel that he has truly repented. The point is, your responsibility is to forgive your brother. That's the important element. You're to forgive him. Peter says, Lord, am I going to meet the biblical limit?

By forgiving my brother seven times in a day, and Jesus says, on the contrary, Peter, seventy times seven.

That is, forgiveness is to be something that you willingly and continually extend to those who have offended you. The point being is that there is never a time, Peter, that you don't extend forgiveness to your brother because you are representative of me to a lost world. Now, we have a hard time with that. Christ is saying, this is not humanly reasonable. Because some of you are out there thinking, you what, I can't do that. And God says, you're right, you can't, but I can do it through you.

And that's where you need to be. You see, he puts it at a situation where he says, I just can't do that. That seems so far beyond, Lord, what you want me to do. It doesn't seem possible, it doesn't seem reasonable. To forgive my brother every 1. 9 minutes for the same offense all day long. And you think about how many times we offend the Lord Jesus Christ every moment of every day, and yet He continually extends forgiveness. Forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness. That's our Lord. And that's what He wants to see happen in your life and in mine.

The disciples, they thought it was kind of unreasonable. So listen to how they respond. Verse number five: inc our faith. Oh Lord, we can't do this. This is so un. We got to have more faith if you give us more faith. We can do it. You know what they did? They offered an excuse not to forgive. God, if you't give me more faith, I can't forgive my brother. So, God, it's all up to you. You have to increase our faith. Meaning, well, I couldn't forgive my brother today, so God must not have increased my faith, so it must be God's fault.

Listen how Jesus responds. He says, 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. What kind of answer is that? Jesus said this: It's not about faith. You don't need more faith. That's not the issue here. The issue, and it hits right at the core of their carnal hearts. The issue here is not about faith. The issue is obedience. That's the issue. The Christian life is to be lived in such a way that you obey what God says.

You see, the reason we don't forgive somebody is not because we don't have enough faith. It's because we, at the core of our beings, refuse to be obedient to God. That's the bottom line. Now, we're not going to come out and say, I'm just not going be obedient to God today. I'm not going to do that. That's not what we say, but that's exactly how we act when we are unwilling to forgive our brother of their sin. So, what does Christ do? Christ gives a parable on faithfulness. This is so good. Before they could ever answer again, he says this.

Let me explain it to you. This is. The parable on faithfulness. He says, Which of you, having a slave plowing or tennis sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, come immediately and sit down and eat? Come on in here. Warm yourself by the fire. Let me, as the master, let me get you some hot cocoa.

Take it easy. Put your feet up. I know you've had a hard day. Which of you, Christ says, would say to a slave, having worked all day, sit down, take it easy, rel.

Says this, 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. Isn't that what you say? You're the master. You say, I know you've had a tough day. Too bad. Fix my dinner. Take care of me. And when I'm being taken care of, then you can take care of yourself. Fix my food. Get my drink ready. Get my fire going. I know you've had a cold day. I'm cold too. But I'm the master. You're the slave.

You say, wait a minute. That's not very nice. That's not very fair. Let me ask you a question. When is it unfair to treat a slave like a slave? It's never unfair to treat a slave like a slave. You see, this parable is rooted in the slave-master relationship. See? In those days, the master could kill a slave if he wanted to and never be charged for a crime because the master was in charge. He could do anything he wanted to a slave because he was in charge. Slave had to obey. Had to obey. And Christ says these words.

He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? I am so thankful that you worked all day today. Christ says, the master doesn't thank the slave for doing the work of a slave.

I mean, you're going go to work tomorrow, and your boss is going say, you what, I am so glad you're here every morning at 9 o'clock and go home at 5 o'clock. I just really appreciate you being here every day on time and leaving on time, 9 to 5. I appreciate that. Why? You're supposed to be there at 9. You're supposed to be there until 5. That's what your contract says. So you do what your contract says, right? Your master doesn't thank you for doing what you're commanded to be doing. That's what you're supposed to be doing.

The master's not going to thank the slave for doing what he's commanded to do. That's what he is supposed to be doing. Very important as Christ tries to help his disciples and us understand. The point is this: Obedience to the slave is not optional. It is. Essential. And when he has done that which is essential, or that which he has commanded to do. He deserves no credit or reward for what he has done because he has fulfilled his daily obligation. That's the point. Very important. So, what are the implications?

One verse. Verse number ten. I'm going to give it into you two ways. Fact, number two, fortunately. First of all, fact.

Christ says this way in verse number 10. So you too. So me too what? So you too, like the slave. So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say We are un slaves. We have done only that which we ought to have done. Jesus says this way.

So you too. When you forgive your brother. Willingly and continually for his offenses. So you, like the slave, listen to what he says. Are un for no m what the offense caused you. No matter how many times the offense has come your way by that same person or other people, when you forgive your brother, you are still an unworthy slave. Because what you have done is what you have been commanded to do. You see, we think that when we extend forgiveness, The world says, Oh man, how could you forget? You are amazing.

And God says, You are unprofitable, you are unworthy. Because you have only done that which was your duty to do. Folks, let me help you understand something.

That's the fact of the Bible. The Bible is this: we have a relationship with our God that is pictured to us in different ways. For instance, if I say that we are the branches, we will say God is what? The vine, right? If we say that we are the bride, we'll say Christ is what? The bridegroom. If we say we are the body, we will say Christ is the head. If we say we are the sheep, we will say Christ is And we love to talk about those things, right? He is the shepherd. We are the sheep. He is the protector.

He is the guider. He is the one who watches over us. Oh, we are the bride, but he is the bridegroom. And one day he's going to bring us home to be with him. He's going to take care of us. Oh, we are the branches, but He is a vine, and He works through us and He produces fruit in us. But there is another picture that's portrayed in the scriptures that is so clear: He is master. We are. Slaves. See, we don't have to preach about that. We don't like that. He's the master, we're the slaves. And isn't it i that Paul, the apostle, that man who wrote thirteen different epistles in the New Testament, would Characterized himself what?

As a bonds of the Lord Jesus Christ. I, Paul, a bonds of the Lord Jesus Christ. He saw himself enslaved to a master. Same thing Peter said, same thing Jude said, same thing John said. We are slaves. But you see, we don't like to think of ourselves that way. Slaves? He's the father. We are his children. And it's true, we are. But let's look at the facts first, okay?

Fact, he is the master. We are the slaves. And when we do what God says to do, as Master, He says, You are unworthy, you are unprofitable, you have only done that which was commanded you.

But we like to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. And think, you know, yeah, I forgave him, I set him free. Boy. God's looking down at me saying, oh, I can't believe what my child did. I'm saying, I did it, Jesus. I forgave him. Uh-uh. God's saying, you are unworthy. You've only done that which you've been commanded to do. You see, in terms of the implications, Jesus says, you too.

Understand this, you too. I know him over time. I know him over time. Forgive me. But I had a hard day moving yesterday, and I had a hard day moving on Friday, and I had a hard day moving on Thursday, so I didn't have a lot of extra time to study and prepare and to condense this thing. So I going to give you everything I got, okay? So bear with me. Because if you don't get this, it's going to be a long lunch for you today. And so Christ says, so you too.

See, we forget. We forget what the Word of God says. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own. 1 Corinthians 6, 19. Forget about the fact that you are not your own because you're not. Why? You have been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. You have been bought off of the slave block. Because you have been redeemed by Jesus Christ our Lord. He goes on to say, For you have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20. You are not your own, but we want to think we are our own. We have been captivated by the me of our society. We have been captivated by the world. We have been taken captive by the world's way of thinking, thinking that we deserve something, that we are owed something. And God says, You have been purchased.

Listen, you were once a slave of Satan, and I bought you back by my blood, and now you are my slave. And you are to do what I said, and when you do what I say, you glorify me. And it's all about me, God says.

It's not about you, it's about me. You are the slave, I am the master. Those are the facts of the Bible. And that's why nobody preaches on this text. Because they have to emphasize the slave-master relationship, they don't want to do that. Because they want to let you off the hook. See, at Christ Community Church, we don want to let you off the hook. People want to say, you know what, you have an excuse for not being obedient to God. You know what? There is no excuse for not being obedient to God.

Nothing that holds water, at least. And the Lord says, listen, you need to understand the truth when it's all about my wants, when it's about my happiness, when it's about my self-est, when it's about my needs. It's about me. It's as if I am master and God is slave. We got it reversed. That's not what it is. So you start talking about self-sacrifice, you talk about surrender, you talk about self-denial, you talk about obedience. People say, oh, I don want to do that. But that's what Jesus talked about.

And that's why narrows the gate. And few there be that find it. The implications? Factually, he is master. We are slaves. Fortunately, he doesn't treat us like slaves. Isn that good news? Aren't you glad you came? He's the master, we're the slave. You know what? He doesn't treat us like slaves. We respond as if that is the scenario because it is, but our Lord doesn't treat us like slaves. In fact, you know what? He wants to reward you. He does. And when you live in obedience to him and follow his commands, aren't you waiting to hear those words?

Well done, thou good and faithful what? Servant. Aren't you wanting to hear those words? I am. And one day, God is going to praise us. Can you imagine that? God's going to say, welcome to my kingdom. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. You did it. And one day God's going to reward you. Slaves aren't rewarded. But you see, in the slave-master relationship in the spiritual realm, we are the slaves, but as our master, God doesn't treat us. As slaves. You know, God doesn't owe you anything. Doesn't owe you a thing.

You were a sinner. You rebelled against Him. But because of his love and grace and mercy, he demonstrated all that to you through his death on the cross, bought you back, claims you for him. The hymn writer said it this way: Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were an offering far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life. My all. Child of God says, I want to serve my master.

Child of God does not say, I have to serve my master today. I have to forgive today. I have to extend mercy today. I have to love today because my master said I had to do it. Uh-uh. What the child of God says?

This is how you you a child of God. I want to extend mercy today. I want to love today. I want to forgive today because all that God has done for me demands all that I have. And that's what I want to do. It was said of John Wesley, who conquered England as a great preacher of the gospel on horseback. said the thing that kept him going through rain, sun, sleet, hail, everything, the thing that kept him going from day to day was the assurance given him that Christ had forgiven him. All of us sins. It could be that the reason you have a hard time forgiving people is because you have not yet experienced the forgiveness of God.

For those who have truly experienced that forgiveness, willingly want to extend that forgiveness. I'll leave you with that thought until we gather again next Lord's Day. Let's pray. Pray. Father, we thank you for this day and all that you have done, and how, in your wonderful mercy and love and grace, have done for us what no one person could ever do or the whole world could do. Because you are God, and because of your wonderful forgiveness of our sins, you have said, This is what you are to do. And when you have done it, say to yourself, I am unworthy.

I have only done that which I have been commanded to do. And yet, as our master, you don't treat us like slaves. You treat us in a way we do not deserve. And for that, we as your children will be eternally thankful. If there be one today who does not know you. Has not experienced the forgiveness of God. May this be the day that happens. In Jesus' name, amen.