Restoring the Neglected Virtue, Part 2A

Thank you, choir. Let's pray together. Lord, we are grateful for the reminder that we are to trust in the Lord with all of our heart. And lean not unto our own understanding. But in all our ways we are to acknowledge you. And Father, we pray that in our ways today you would be supreme in our thinking. And pray, Lord, that as we commit our lives to you, asking you to lead us and to guide us, that we would learn to delight ourselves in the Lord. And pray, Lord, that our heart would be one that is fixed on Jesus alone.

Help us not to forget how important it is to spend time alone with you. Communing with you, developing a relationship with our God. And may it even be. Fueled by this morning as we spend time once again in the Word of God. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We've had the last several weeks the opportunity to speak about the topic of forgiveness as it applies to your life and to mine as we have taken a break from our study in the book of Genesis. By looking at what it means to forgive our fellow man, helping us to understand better the life of Joseph as he was one who would forgive his brothers all of their sin.

And we heard even testimony on Wednesday evening of people whose relationships have begun to change because of their willingness to forgive. Those in their family and to reach out to them with care and concern. And that's a great testimony to the work of God in the lives of the people of the church who are committed to serving Him and delighting themselves in the Lord, understand what He has. For them. A couple of men wrote a book entitled Forgive and Love Again. They tried to define forgiveness with these terms.

To forgive is to turn the key, open the cell door, and let the prisoner walk free. To forgive is to write in large letters across a debt, nothing owed. To forgive is to pound the gavel in the courtroom and declare not guilty. To forgive is to shoot an arrow so high and so far that it can never be found again. To forgive is to bundle up all the garbage and trash and dispose of it, leaving the house clean and fresh. To forgive is to loose the moorings of a ship and release it to the open sea. To forgive is to grant a full pardon to a condemned criminal.

To forgive is to relax a stranglehold on a wrestling opponent. To forgive is to sandblast a wall of graffiti, leaving it looking like new. To forgive is to smash a clay pot into a thousand pieces so it can never be pieced together again. I like those. But I like mine better. To forgive is to obey what God has commanded his slaves to do. That's mine. To forgive is to obey the command God has given his servants to do. The bottom line for us is whether or not we decide we're going to do what God has said.

Obedience is the bottom line of Christianity. Hearing what God says, believing what God says. And then acting upon what God says for your life and for mine.

That's why we spent the last two weeks in Luke 17. For the Lord said, When you have done that which has been commanded you, You are still unworthy, for you have done only what you have been commanded to do. You're unprofitable servants. If you forgive your brother his sins. That's what you have done is exactly what I've told you to do. Don't think you yourself better than anybody else. Don't think that you have accomplished great feats and goals in life. You have just accomplished What I've told you to do.

And you know, people have a problem with that. We have a problem with the fact that God has commanded us to do something and we are His slaves and He demands that we obey what He says. Although As His servants, He doesn't treat us like slaves. He treats us as His children. He loves us, He cares for us. And that's a great blessing. But for the most part, we have trouble. We have trouble with verses such as Luke chapter 9. If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it. You see, the reason we have a problem with Luke 17 and doing what God has commanded us to do is because we haven't understood the gospel properly. You see, we forget that our Lord Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. And yet in our modern evangelicalism today, we have a hodgeposh of all kinds of things floating around out there that we have not completely, entirely understood the gospel.

J said the same thing in Luke 9 and Luke 14, Mark 8, Mark 10, Mark chapter 16, John chapter 12. The Gospels reiterated. If you want to follow me, you must deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me. Folks, that is the gospel presentation. Unfortunately, modern-day Christianity has sold us a bill of goods. They have told us you can come to Jesus and you can have him as your Savior and one day, down the road, you can make a deeper commitment to God. And you can take up your cross then, and then you can be a disciple of Jesus's.

Folks, that is a false doctrine from the pit of hell. That's wrong. That is not true. Because Jesus never said that. Jesus didn't come and speak about the deeper life. He wasn't a Keswick speaker. He wasn't a conference speaker on how you could have a better walk with him. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. And he gave the same gospel presentation. If you want to follow me, if you want to be one of mine, if you want to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you've got to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.

If you want to save your life, you're going to lose it. But if you're willing to give your life away, you'll save your life. If you're willing to relinquish yourself, You see, self-denial, surrender, sacrifice. We don't like those words because they don't play to my self-est. They don 't play to building me up and making me feel good about myself. But Christianity is about bearing the cross of Christ. Christianity is about self-denial. Christianity is about sacrifice and surrender. And you don't hear that.

In the stadiums of conferences around the country, because nobody's going to walk the aisle. Nobody's going to come. Who wants to do that? And so we say, you know, that's for the deeper life. Really? Yeah, discipleship is for the more committed Christian, really. Is that what Jesus said? Listen, the disciples weren't even called Christians till Antioch. Before they were called Christians, they were called what? Disciples. Followers of Christ, learners of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why Christ said, go into all the world and make what?

Disciples. Baptize disciples. He didn't say go to all the world to make little Christians and then encourage them to commit themselves to a deeper life down the road. Jesus never taught that, unfortunately. That's what is taught in 95% of the churches in America today. That's a heres from the pit of hell. Let me reiterate it one more time: it's wrong, completely wrong.

Jesus never said that. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. That was his mission. And so when you start talking to people about forgiveness, and because that's what God has commanded his servants to do, they say, wait a minute. I don't want to be called a slave. I don't want to be called a servant. I don't want to be involved in sacrifice and self-denial, cross-bearing, losing my life. That's for me when I want to become more committed. Unfortunately, it could be you never truly were born again to begin with.

Because a true child of God says, Lord, if that's what you command me to do, that I will do. Because you said it, Lord. That's a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's one who's given his life to Christ. That's one who's willing to give his life away because he's recognized the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on his beh. And that's why people have problems with Luke 17. That's why people have problems with forgiveness. Because to forgive is to obey what Jesus Christ him has commanded his servants to do.

And the child of God says, as 1 John tells us, the commands of God are not burdensome. Right? To the child of God, the commands of God are not burdensome. They're freeing. But to the one who's not a child of God, oh, the commands are a burden. Oh, they are a burden. Why? Because they cramp his selfish, narcissistic lifestyle. But to the child of God, it's different. God, you've commanded it. Help me to obey it. Does it mean you don't struggle to obey it? You do. Because you have your own sinful desires.

But at the bottom of your soul, you are saying, Oh Lord. I have a hard time with this, but I want to do it because you have told me to do it. And that's the heart of a true follower of Jesus Christ. A born-again Christian who has Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of his life. For those who teach that you can have Jesus as Savior and some dying down the road make him Lord, they are false prophets. They are not truly born again, and they will lead you to the pit of hell. You need to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Please understand what Jesus has said. And therefore, we begin to understand His commands and want to follow those things. And we've been talking about forgiveness, how to restore that neglected virtue. Because for most people, it is a neglected virtue. And yet the highest point of our Christian life is to be able to have a forgiving kind of spirit. So I want to talk to you about that today and begin to give you some principles that we'll cover this week and next week and in the following weeks to help you understand several principles on how we restore that neglected virtue in our lives.

Principle number one is this. To forgive is important because it is a pattern that we are commended to follow. It's a pattern we are commanded to follow. So, if we're going to restore that neglected virtue, we recognize it's command, but it was patterned by the one who went before us, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so we follow that command based on his pattern, based on his lifestyle, based on how he lived his life. John said it well: if you abide in him, and he abides in you. 1 John chapter 2, verse number 6.

Then you need to walk as he him walked. You need to live the life that Christ him lived. If you claim to be a Christian, if you claim to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then at the heart of your soul, you want to be able to live as Jesus Christ himself lived through the power of the Spirit of God energizing you from day to day. And so it's a pattern that we are commanded to follow. Turn with me in your Bible to Ephesians chapter 4.

Ephesians chapter 4, verse number 32. It says this, and be kind to one another, tender, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. There's the pattern. Just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. There's a pattern that we are commanded to follow. And Paul articulates it for us in Ephesians 4, verse number 32. We are able to forgive our brother his sins only because Jesus Christ him has forgiven us our sin. And I began thinking about that and thought to myself, how has God forgiven us in Christ Jesus?

If we're going to follow that pattern, he set a pattern for us. How did that happen? Well, first of all.

God's forgiving us was one that was demonstrated by fervency. There was ferven in his forgiveness. You see, our God is a God who loves to forgive. We forget that, don't we? I love what the Lord God said to Moses. He said this, and the Lord descended, Exodus 34, verse number 5. And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed up in front of him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kind and truth, who keeps loving kind for thousands.

Who forgives iniquity, transgression, and s. The Lord has ascribed Himself to Moses. It says, Moses, this is the kind of God I am. There is a fervency in God's forgiveness. It's the whole attitude behind who He is as a forgiving. comp God. It says over in Nehemiah chapter 9 verse number 17, I am compassionate, slow to anger, I am a forgiving God. Over in Daniel 9 verse number 9. Forgiveness belongs to God. Forgiveness belongs to God. Daniel would plead to God based on his character. He is a forgiving God.

And so there was a fervency behind God forgiving us because that's what He wants to do. Read the parable of the prodigal son, a parable that is so misunderstood. So misinterpreted. We'll spend five weeks on Luke 15 just to help you understand the character of God because it is so misunderstood today. But the parable of the prodigal son helps us understand the character of our God who loves to forgive because he is a forgiving God. That's the way our Lord is. And so we understand that the forgiveness of God, number one, is based on the fact that He fervently forgives His people.

He passionately goes after them. He seeks to forgive. He wants to forgive. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish. He wants man to come to him because he wants to forgive them their sins. The next thing I noticed about how God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us is that not only does He forgive us fervently, but He forgives us factually. That is, it's a fact. It is certain. He hath forgiven us. He has. A true child of God has experienced the forgiveness of God.

It's a fact. It's not something we hope for. Well, I hope that I've been forgiven of my sins. Ah. Based on your understanding of the forgiveness of God helps you understand the security of your God. The eternal security of your God. Those people who don't believe in the eternal security have a hard time with the forgiveness of God. Our God is a forgiving God. And God has forgiven us, hath forgiven us all of our sins, because that's the way our Lord God is. That's why in Isaiah chapter 1, verse number 18, he said, come, let us reason together.

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. I'm going to cleanse you. I'm going to take the stain of your sin and remove it completely. Because that's the kind of God. I am. That's the kind of God we serve. It says over in Isaiah chapter 43, verse number 25: I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions. For my own sake. God doesn't forgive you your sin for your sake. God forgives you your sin for His sake. Isn't that good?

You see, we think God did it for us. He did secondarily, but primarily he did it for his own self because he's going to get the glory. He did it for himself. It says over in Isaiah 44, verse number 22, I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud and your sins like a heavy mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. God says, I wipe everything away.

You can't see it. It's like a thick cloud. You can't see it, like a heavy mist. You can't see it in front of you. It's all gone. You can't see Anymore. God forgives our sins fervently. Factually, the third way we need to understand the forgiveness of our sins as God has forgiven us in Christ Jesus is that He forgives them frequently.

Consistently, continually. There's a frequency about His forgiveness. Not only has He forgiven our sins in the past, but He forgives our sins in the present, and He forgives them in the future as well. But there's a frequency about his forgiveness. There's a ferven about his forgiveness. And there is the fact about his forgiveness. But to understand the frequency of it, Is amazing because you and I both know that we sin continually, and yet God Himself frequently cleanses us from all of our sin. That's why the Bible says: if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

You see, we have a hard time understanding God's forgiveness because when we have those who are close to us and we ask them to forgive us, they tend to give us the cold soda, right? They tend to say, yes, I forgive you, but then don't talk to you anymore. And we think that's how God is. But we think that we ask God to forgive us, and God just kind of turns the cold should. I forgive you, sure. Then turns the cold should away. And then refuses to talk to us anymore. That's not the way God is. He says, if you confess your sins, I'm faithful.

I am faithful. I'm just. I forgive you your sins. The frequency of it. Remember John 13 on the eve of the crucifixion when Christ, the disciples began to argue about who was the greatest in the kingdom? And Christ went over to gird him with a towel and filled a basin full of water and began to wash the disciples' feet. And Peter, Lord, what are you doing? Lord, what are you doing? You're not going to wash my feet. Christ says, Peter, if I don't wash you, you have no part with me.

He says, oh man, give me a bath, Lord. Throw the whole thing on me because I need it in Christ. What did Christ say? Peter, Peter, you've already been cleaned. You've already been cleaned. You don't need a bath, but you need a foot washing. That is, you don't need to be clean positionally because you are. But practically, from day to day, there needs to be that cleansing. And that's important because I frequently will forgive all of your sins, Peter. Keep close accounts with me. But I willingly want to forgive.

So God's forgiveness is based on the fact that it is fervent. It's factual. It's also frequent. But there's another thing. God's forgiveness is free. You didn't earn God's forgiveness. You didn't merit God's forgiveness, did you? There was nothing you did, there was nothing in you that would cause God to forgive you because you're a sinner. So am I. So we understand that the Bible says over in Titus chapter 3, it is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.

You see, mercy Greater than forgiveness because God's mercy allows him to be forgiving, right? And so, therefore, because he is a merciful God, he longs to forgive those who sin against him. And Paul made it very clear: it's not by works of righteousness, it's nothing you did, it's according to his mercy. And Romans 9 tells us that God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy. It's all a choice of God. It's a free gift. Free gift. Oh, did you repent of your sins? Yes, you did. Did you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Yes, you did. You had to to be saved, but we know from the Bible that the repentance is a gift and belief in God is a gift. No man can. Can believe in God unless God grants him the gift of belief. And no man can repent of his sins unless God grants him the gift of repentance. It's a gift. And so, when a man repents of a sin, when a man believes in God, when a man confesses Jesus as Lord, it's because of God's work in his life. It's a free gift. And God's forgiveness is free. And not only this, it's full.

It's free and it's full. It's all encompassing. God never said, I'll forgive this sin and that sin, but I'm not going to forgive this one. He forgives us all of our sins, not just some of our sins. That's why we have an advocate, right? 1 John 2:1 speaks of the fact that we have an advocate with the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because Revelation 12:10 says we have an accuser. If Revelation 12:10 says that Satan stands before the throne of God, accusing the brethren day and night, there is a constant accusation in heaven to the throne of God concerning you.

And so we have an advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ, who stands in our place, defending us before the throne of God, defending us and saying, I've taken care of that sin. I took care of that one too. I took care of that one over there. Oh, yeah, the secret one. I knew about the secret one too. I took care of that one. He's taking care of all of our sins. That's our advocate. It's free and it is full. It encompasses every sin. That's the way our God is. So, we are to forgive one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us.

That's the pattern. It's a pattern of ferven, it's a pattern of fact. It's a pattern of frequency. It's a pattern of freedom. It's a pattern that's full. Finally, it's a pattern that's forever.

Forever. Why? Because it's the forgiveness of God that allows us entrance into His kingdom. We couldn't go there, sinners. We couldn't go in there in sinful bodies. Why? So, what did Christ do? He cloaked us with His righteousness. He gave us the garments of salvation. And therefore, the forgiveness of God is full and free. That's why Paul would say, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He says in Romans 8:3, who's going to bring a charge against God's elect? Who can bring a charge against God's elect that will stick?

Nobody can. Not even Satan himself. Why? Because it's God who justifies. It's God who makes us right with Him. It's God who declares us righteous before Him. It's God who does those things. That's why nothing can separate us from the love of God. And so when we began to or begin to examine the scriptures, we realized that God says, here's a pattern.

I want you to forgive your brother. I want you to be compassionate. I want you to be tender. I want you to be forgiving toward one another, even as God, for Christ's sake. Hath forgiven you. There needs to be a ferven about your forgiveness towards your brother. You see, there's an attitude, right? We talked about it three weeks ago, Luke:. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. That was the attitude of our Lord, right? That was his attitude. He came to seek and save that which is lost.

He came to forgive man his sins. That was his attitude. That was his desire. That's what he wanted to do. There needs to be that kind of fervency in our lives that, yes, I am willing to pardon iniquity. I am willing to forgive my brother. That's what I want to do. For the most part, most of us say, we don want to do that. And you see, that's where it begins with a fervency. In order that there might factually be that forgiveness, God hath forgiven us, we will forgive our brothers and we will forgive them frequently.

That's why Christ says forgiveness is unlimited, not limited. When Peter says, up to seven times, Lord, Christ says, no, 70 times seven, Peter.

Forgiveness is unlimited. There's a frequency behind it. Why? Because God frequently forgives you your sins, right? So there's a pattern that we are commanded to follow. And then you begin to understand that it's free. I freely forgive and I fully forgive. I don't hold some sins in check and forgive other sins. I fully forgive my brother all his sins. And that forgiveness should be final, and that forgiveness should be forever. We need to forget about it and move on. See, it's a pattern we're commanded to follow.

He is a forgiving God. Are you a forgiving person? It's a pattern you're commanded to follow. It's a picture of Jesus Christ to a lost world. Let's pray.