Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from Matthew 18. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Our topic this morning is forgiveness. First, and most important, when we talk about forgiveness we have to begin with God’s forgiveness. The constant message of the Bible, Holy Scripture, is that God forgives us our sins. This was the principle purpose of Christ’s suffering and death on the cross, and His glorious resurrection! It was “ABOUT FORGIVENESS,” the Lord Jesus taking away our guilt and condemnation.
- Everyone who knows about God’s gracious love, and His merciful forgiveness, gets around to another question – that asked by Peter in our text. Jesus speaks of it in His parable: those who are forgiven ought also to forgive others. So forgiveness, our forgiving of others, is quite at the heart of our Christian faith and living.
- Our forgiving is important – for a variety of reasons. First, God wants us to be like Him, full of gracious love, mercy, and forgiveness. Second, God commands us to love as He has loved us, and this includes forgiveness and mercy. Third, if we do not forgive we cannot have any relationships with other human beings – since all human beings are full of sin. Fourth, just like us, our neighbor needs forgiveness. Fifth, forgiveness is good for us; it is cathartic, it expunges our anger, hatred, and desire for vengeance. Finally, it is good for everyone for us to be like God, to be godly in our behavior and our relationships, and the premier aspect of godliness is love and forgiveness.
- Still, forgiveness is one of the hardest things that we have to do. This is especially the case if our forgiveness is to be “from the heart.” That is, it is difficult to truly forgive rather than simply “feigning” forgiveness and mercy – which we often do. We say “I forgive you,” but there remains a good deal of hurt, anger, pain, frustration, and animosity in our hearts.
- However, there is good news in this encouragement from Jesus: God does not ask us to do anything that He has not already done for us. We can be certain that God has already forgiven us – from the heart. And this includes our sinfulness that impedes our “forgiving” of others.
- So Jesus bids us to contemplate this critically important topic of forgiveness. And it is certain that:
I. We, Like Peter, Also Have Questions About Forgiveness
A. Like “How Much Forgiveness Is Enough?”
Text: “Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
B. Or Perhaps We Wonder “How Much Forgiveness Is Too Much, So That By Our Forgiveness We Seem To Be Negating The Judgment Of God’s Word And Giving License To Sin?”
Statement: Most of us would agree that Peter was thinking very graciously and generously – for a sinful human being. Think about your forgiveness. Would you really forgive a friend “as many as seven times”? I find it regrettable when I have to forgive a friend once. Two or three times and I begin to think about giving up on the friend and rejecting him. I suppose that if I really had to, I might be able to get up to seven times – but a great deal of disgruntlement and irritation would have to be endured. And I would begin to wonder if my “forgiveness” was doing any good if the friend continued committing the same wrong against me!
Application: The statement of Jesus, as illustrated in the parable, is remarkable and challenging. When He told Peter that he was to forgive “seventy times seven,” He wasn’t suggesting that Peter needed to get a bigger tablet to keep record on. He meant that Peter was to forgive without limitation, to always forgive. This is what the king did in the parable – he forgave his servant an outrageously absurd amount – ten thousand talents! This would amount to several million dollars today.
Transition: The point of the parable is to lead us to consider how much God has already forgiven us, and how blessed we are to have His forgiveness. For in truth:
II. God Has Forgiven Us Hugely
A. Compute Your Number Of Sins, If You Were To Average Only Ten Sins A Day, 3,650 A Year. Over The Course Of An Average Lifespan Of 80 Years, This Would Amount To 292,000 Sins!
B. Obviously, Such A Debt Would Negate All Of Our Rights And Goods; There Would Be No Way To Repay God
C. But God Has Forgiven All Our Sins In Christ’s Death On The Cross
John 1:29 “Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.”
2 Cor. 5:19 “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.”
1 John 1:7 “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Statement: Is God’s forgiveness complete and enduring? Absolutely! Does God’s forgiveness give us license to continue sinning? Of course not! Sin is still sin, and it is evil, and it requires forgiveness! Forgiveness never gives license to sin; it is required by sin. If forgiveness makes sin to be “no sin,” then there is no further need for forgiveness; forgiveness has destroyed itself.
Application: The necessity that we have for God’s forgiveness is shared! Look at your neighbor – your spouse, your child, your parents, your brothers and sisters. They are just like you – in dire need of the same forgiveness. Not only from God, but also from us. And we are in the same need of forgiveness from others! Peter could just as easily have asked, “How many times do I sin against my brother, and he forgives me? As many as seven times?” We would be undone, utter outcasts, if others would only forgive us seven times!
Transition: And yet, many of us have felt the sting of someone not forgiving us for even one sin, or perhaps something that was not a sin but something they considered an “offense.” We understand what a great evil the refusal to forgive truly is when we are the ones who receive no mercy! And so:
III. Jesus Teaches Us To Love And Forgive One Another Just As God Loves And Forgives Us
A. There Is To Be No Uncharitable And Hypocritical Judging Of God’s Servants
Text: [The master’s words to the unforgiving servant] “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?”
Epistle: “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls! And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. . . . Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. . . . So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”
B. There Is To Be No Refusal To Forgive, Ever
Text: “Jesus said to Peter, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.’”
C. We Must Understand: The Refusal To Forgive Others Negates Our Reception Of God’s Love And Forgiveness – It Destroys Faith
Text: “So also My Heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”
Statement: It is not that God’s forgiveness is unavailable to those who refuse to forgive. Rather, the refusal to forgive is a refusal to be forgiven, a refusal to live in God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. This is impenitence and unbelief – to not show the same mercy to others that we so desperately need from God.
Application: The fact that forgiving others is difficult for us, extremely difficult at times, is cause for grave concern and fear, and for deep repentance and pleading to God that He would graciously have mercy on us and forgive us. It is only out this kind of deep repentance that we will learn to forgive others – as often as necessary, and to forgive others “from the heart.” To do so is be and behave like God does toward us!
Conclusion: So our questions about forgiveness, our forgiveness of others, are all answered in God’s forgiveness of us. Forgiving others cannot be instructed philosophically or academically; the principles of forgiveness can only be learned by living in God’s gracious forgiveness and mercy!
This is important – all who have been forgiven know that they are obligated to love as God has loved us. Our sinful and hardened hearts find this difficult – excruciating at times. For this we must repent, and return again and again to God’s gracious forgiveness. By and by it will make sense, and become easier for us to forgive others.
Thanks and praise be God for His great love for us, for His full and complete forgiveness, and for His patience in teaching us “ABOUT FORGIVENESS.” Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.