Thursday, July 03, 2008

and some more



Sermon notes
The need to forgive, why? Hurt ourselves, give the devil a foothold, if you forgive you will not give the enemy a chance to outwits us, for we are not unaware of his schemes,2cor2
-mental torment
-nothing keeps you in chains more than unwillingness to forgive
Nothing stops a church growing more, than bitterness, unforgiveness, pride


Think of the worst thing anybody ever did to you, why should you forgive that? Required by God (Matt 6 v 9-15) This,then, is how you should pray:Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts,as we forgive our debtors. Your relationship with God is bound to others
If you can’t forgive, you can’t have true freedom in Christ. relate to others as God relates to us. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. God is judge and Father destiny secure, your daily victory is at stake


Essential for freedom (Matt 18 v 21-35) Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Pocket calculator, 78, blow brains out. Rather continue to forgive for your own sake, God doesn’t want you in bondage and bitterness because of your past
The extent of our own debt (Luke 7:47)
Pharisee Simon, woman washes feet with tears, £500, £50, who would love more? Those who have been forgiven much love much, those forgiven little love little. Our best is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) forgiven much affects our capacity to love others.repayment is impossible Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
Ten thousand talents, millions, Jesus saying repayment is not an option, another way has to be found. Your debt to God was far to large 2 repay
-Mercy is required The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'
Understanding concepts
Justice- giving people what they deserve
Mercy- not giving people what they deserve, we are to be merciful, as God is merciful, in other words we are not to give others what they deserve
Grace- Giving people what they don’t deserve, we have to go further, begins with us and God
Freely you have received free you must give, we relate to others in the same way God relates to us.
So lets see what the servant does v 28 "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. 3 months wages, not trivial debt, but much less than his!
The need to forgive
His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?‘ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. TORTURE, spiritual torment
"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
So that no advantage be taken of us
(2 Cor 2 v 10-11) I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. Do not let him get a foothold
What does it mean to forgive from the heart? Not being British, not quick and forgotten
I choose to forgive……………
For (what they specifically did to me) which made me feel……………
The crisis of forgiveness
-Forgiveness must be extended to others, Jesus said if we come to church, and remember, we need to leave our offering and be reconciled, by confessing we are in the wrong, asking forgiveness and making it right
If we have offended we go to make amends, but if someone offends us we go to God.
-the crisis of forgiveness is actually between God and us
-Why forgive? To stop the pain. You may say “you don’t know how much hurt has been caused” they are still hurting you!
_woman who has been left by her husband for another woman “I will never forgive” who does it hurt? Not him. Fisherman. Hook, leave it in?
When we forgive we may think we are letting them off the hook, but by not forgiving we are the ones on the hook in pain, never getting free!
What is forgiveness?
-Not forgetting, God forgets? No he says I will remember no more, I will put it far away, I will not dredge up the past against you! Husband/wife argument, I am not forgiving you, you can’t forgive simply by forgiving
-Not tolerating sin, wife/children suffering abuse, be submissive? Nope! Woman and abusive mother
Not seeking revenge, I want to have the satisfaction of hating that so and so, you lose, on the same level as the abuser. You say “I want revenge” what does God say Rom 12:19, “leave it to me”, let them off your hook, but they are not off God’s hook -Where is the justice? The cross, for all sins, either Christ will pay, or they will
God will settle all accounts, when you forgive you give it all to God to take it
What is forgiveness -Resolving to live with the consequences of another’s sin.
If you are to forgive like Christ how did he forgive? He took our sins upon himself, in a sense we have to do the same, forgiveness is to live with someone else’s sin “not fair” nope but we are to do it anyway, (Adam), our choice is to do it with bondage of bitterness or freedom of forgiveness
Forgiveness is to set a captive free, and then you realise that you are the captive!
-forgiveness is between you and God, he commands you to love because he has forgiven you! He knows bitterness ruins you and others, and miss out on the 10:10 life. Not about right and wrong, rather clearing the rubbish and walking away, for your sake, not the person who hurt you.
We can only do it with the power of God by the holy Spirit, can we just ask him to show us who we need to forgive and let him work through us to do so?
“Lord will you please show us if there is someone we need to forgive in order to walk in the freedom you have won for us, Lord in your power help us forgive and go before us in our walk with you, thank you Lord, Amen.

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