Talking with God - Part 4

All right, church, would you stand with me if you're able to take the Word of God and turn to Matthew chapter 6.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 6, we are continuing our second to last sermon here in our series on talking with God.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

Talking with God.

Matthew chapter 6, we read in verses 5 through 13, what we call the Lord's Prayer.

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

And we say the Lord's Prayer is less of a prescription and more of a pattern.

Less of a prescription and more of a pattern.

Jesus wasn't saying this is how you always have to pray.

But he was saying this is a pattern or a recipe for praying.

Section 1 focused on God.

God-focused petitions.

And now we're in section 2, which focuses on life-focused petitions.

I'm sorry, definitely not man-centered petitions.

All of our prayers should be God-centered.

And yet, these prayers to God, these petitions are focused on life.

So let's pick this up in verse 12.

Let's read it together.

You follow along as I read verse 12.

I'm reading from the Christian Standard Bible.

We finished up last week saying,

Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread, verse 12,

and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Like we mentioned earlier in the service, the subject this morning is on forgiveness.

And God spends quite a bit of time talking in this passage and throughout the scriptures on the principle of forgiveness.

So let's ask him to speak to us today.

God, we come to you in prayer and we thank you.

First of all, for who you are.

We thank you for how great, how mighty, how majestic you are.

And yet, how personal, how loving, how intimate you are with us.

I pray that you would speak to us each from your word.

Let us not miss anything that your spirit has for us today.

And if someone here does not know you and have that personal relationship with you,

let it begin today.

It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Thanks for standing.

I want to share this quote with you.

How many of you thought you'd come to church this morning and hear a quote from Will Smith?

Throughout life, people will make you mad, disrespect you, and treat you bad.

Let God deal with the things they do, because hate in your heart will consume you too.

That's what Will Smith had to say about forgiveness.

And then just fairly recently...

Look, I'm not trying to just pick on Will Smith, all right?

That was a tough spot.

Maybe not his most shining moment.

If any of us holds us to 100% to the words we say all the time, none of us are going to measure up.

But the truth of it is, forgiveness is hard.

Sometimes we know the right thing to do, and sometimes it's hard to do the right thing.

Even when we know we should.

So, let's look at the Bible.

Leviticus 19, verse 18.

Leviticus 19:18

Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbors as yourself.

Don't take revenge.

Don't bear a grudge.

Why?

Because it'll eat you up.

Before long, you're on a national stage slapping somebody on worldwide TV.

Nelson Mandela said it this way, an interesting quote.

Resentment is like drinking poison and hoping then that it will kill your enemies.

Anybody ever done that before?

I'm going to drink this poison of resentment and hope that you suffer for it.

Well, good luck with that.

It doesn't work that way, of course, right?

Now, in our heads, we know that.

We know that forgiveness is the right thing to do.

We know that resentment, bearing a grudge, is the wrong thing to do.

And yet, it is so difficult to live that out in day-to-day life.

So, number one, if you're taking notes in your bulletin, there's spots there for you to fill in.

Forgiveness is God's nature, not ours.

Forgiveness is God's nature, not ours.

Now, we know that to be true.

We know it is not natural for us to forgive.

What's the quote?

To err is human, to forgive is divine.

There's a reason that that has existed for so long, because it is true.

Forgiveness is divine.

It is God's nature.

It is not your nature, nor is it mine.

But, we should forgive.

But it's hard, right?

C.S. Lewis had several quotes on forgiveness when I was researching for this sermon today.

And this is the first one I wanted to share with you.

Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.

Isn't that true?

It's easy to tell others to forgive.

It's easy to want others to forgive us.

It is a much harder prospect when we are the ones who have to forgive.

Why?

Because we were wronged.

Whether in our own heads or in reality, we were wronged.

And in those moments, we don't want to think about how much we've been forgiven.

We don't want to think about all the times that we've wronged others.

We just want to live in that moment of justification and self-righteousness, saying,

I was right.

They were wrong.

They hurt me.

How can I possibly be expected to forgive them for that?

That's our natural attitude.

Let's go to Matthew 6.

We're not going to have it on the screen.

But back in your text, Matthew 6, we're going to jump down past the Lord's Prayer.

And let's read verses 14 and 15.

I think it's very interesting that when Jesus is teaching his disciples how to pray,

he gives them verse 12.

Forgive our debts, God.

As we also have forgiven our debtors.

But then he comes back, circles back around to this idea of forgiveness in verse 14.

For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.

That's good news, right?

If you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.

But verse 15 is in there too.

If you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.

Well, what do we do with that?

Does that challenge the entire understanding of the gospel, the good news of Jesus,

the free gift of salvation and eternal life, does this erode this now?

Does it shake it?

Does it mess it all up for us?

No, it doesn't.

Let's look at Mark 11.

Mark 11 verse 25.

Mark 11:25

When you are praying, first, forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against,

so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins too.

Very similar, isn't it?

Very similar reading to what we just read in Mark, I'm sorry, Matthew 6, 14 and 15.

First, forgive those you are holding a grudge against,

so that your Father in heaven will then forgive your sins too.

Again, this is a little scary to read.

So what you are saying is, if I don't forgive them,

then God is not going to forgive me?

How many of you all have read this passage before and maybe struggled with it a little bit?

Yeah, thank you.

Thanks for being, yeah.

The rest of you just haven't read this passage before.

I get it.

No, I'm kidding with you.

I'm kidding with you.

Let's go back to Matthew and jump over to Matthew 18.

Matthew 18.

This one isn't going to be on the screen either.

We're turning our Bibles a little bit today, all right?

Sometimes we put it on the screen if it's a quick reference to a verse,

but this is a little bit longer passage,

and if you've got a Bible in front of you,

if you didn't bring one, there's one in the pew in front of you.

Matthew 18, verses 21, down through the end of the chapter.

Matthew 18:21

This is the parable of the unforgiving slave, okay?

Then Peter approached him and asked,

Lord, talking about Jesus,

how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me?

As many as seven times?

Jesus says, I tell you, not as many as seven, Jesus replied,

but 70 times seven.

Jesus is saying there's no magical number 70 times seven,

but the point he was making to Peter

is there's never an end to the amount of times

that we extend forgiveness to someone else.

Verse 23.

For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king

who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

When he began to settle accounts,

one who owed 10,000 talents was brought before him.

You understand that this amount of money,

he would never be able to pay back.

In his lifetime or many others,

he would never be able to pay back

this 10,000 talents that he owed to this king.

Verse 25.

Since he did not have the money to pay it back,

his master commanded that he, his wife, his children,

and everything he had be sold to pay the debt.

You think our world is in rough shape now?

This was how you settled debts back in the Bible days, okay?

A little scary.

You, your family, everything would be sold

to pay off your debt.

Verse 26.

At this news, the servant fell face down before him,

humbling himself, falling down before this king,

and he says, be patient with me,

and I will pay you everything.

Then the master of that servant had compassion,

released him, and forgave him the loan.

That massive debt that he could never repay,

the king took compassion and forgave him the whole thing.

So what happens?

The servant jumps up and throws his arms around the king

and says, you're my savior, I owe you forever,

and then went out and was as nice to everyone

as he could possibly be, right?

No, not at all.

Verse 28.

That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants

who owed him a hundred denarii,

a very small amount,

owed him just a little bit of money.

But the guy didn't have it.

So he grabs him, starts choking him,

and says, pay what you owe.

At this, the fellow servant fell down

and began begging him,

be patient with me and I will pay you back.

But this other servant,

who had just been forgiven so much,

he wasn't willing.

Instead, he went and threw him into prison

until he could pay what he was owed.

How does that work?

If you're in prison,

how are you going to go out and raise the money, right?

Because other people have to go raise it for you

to get you out of prison.

When the other servants saw what had taken place,

they were deeply distressed.

They went and reported to their master

everything that had happened.

Verse 32.

Then, after the master had summoned

that first servant back again from jail.

I'm sorry, not from jail.

The other guy was in jail.

My bad.

His master then says to him,

you wicked servant.

I forgave you all that debt

because you begged me.

Shouldn't you also have had mercy

on your fellow servant

as I had mercy on you?

And because he was angry,

his master handed him over

to the jailers to be tortured

until he could pay everything that was owed.

His world just got a whole lot worse.

So also, verse 35.

I would love if the story just ended right there.

But verse 35 says,

so also my heavenly father

will do to you

unless every one of you

forgives his brother or sister

from your heart.

Y'all, these are hard passages.

What do we do with these passages?

Again, I ask the question,

does this undermine everything

that we believe about God's

once for all death,

payment for our sin,

on that cross?

Does it undermine everything

we believe about God

being willing to forgive our sin

once and for all?

Not forgive our sin

until we mess up again

and then His forgiveness is withheld?

Is that what this is teaching us?

No.

That's what

someone who doesn't understand

the God we read in the Bible

could think.

That's what someone

who doesn't

take the whole counsel

of the book

and not just select passages

could think.

If you just read those passages

and left the rest of the Bible

on the shelf,

then sure, you could think

that if anyone ever

chooses to not forgive someone else,

then God will never forgive them.

But that's not true.

1 John 1-9

is in the book.

If we confess our sins to Him,

He is faithful

and He is just.

He is correct.

He is right in doing this.

He is justified

in forgiving us our sins

and cleansing us

from all wickedness.

All wickedness.

Even the wickedness

of unforgiveness.

Even the wickedness

that that wicked servant

showed to his fellow servant

after he had just been forgiven

so much.

Even if we reach

that level of wickedness

and selfishness,

God says

if we confess our sins

to Him,

He is faithful

and He is just

to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us

from that wickedness.

So,

let's go to number two.

Forgiveness

is a key part

of God

transforming

us.

This is the answer here.

Number one,

presented us

with a problem.

God says forgiveness

is a big deal.

If you don't forgive others,

I won't forgive you.

What do we do with that?

Number two,

forgiveness is a key part

of God transforming us.

Here's the secret.

The work of the Holy Spirit

within us

will cause us

to forgive others.

Does that mean

that if

you continue

to harbor bitterness

and

will never forgive

someone else,

does that mean

that you are not

a child of God?

That's between you

and God.

I'm just reading to you

what Jesus said

about the matter.

But I do know

that forgiveness

is a key part

of God

transforming us.

So God's

transforming work

within you

will bear

the fruit

of forgiveness.

C.S. Lewis

said it this way,

to be a Christian,

if you call yourselves

a Christian,

how many of you

in the room today

would say,

I'm a Christian

by uplifted hand?

Yeah, awesome.

You can put your hand down.

I want to make sure

most of us are on

the same page here.

If you couldn't raise your hand,

that's alright.

To be a Christian

means to forgive

the inexcusable

because God

has forgiven

the inexcusable

in you.

Now, oftentimes

we don't see ourselves

that way, do we?

Well, it's easier

to point our fingers

at someone else

and say,

what they did

is inexcusable,

but it's a lot harder

for us to look

in the mirror

and say,

I have done

the inexcusable

and God

has forgiven me.

I can promise you that.

It's really hard.

It's really hard,

especially when you've

been trying to live

a clean, moral life

and have as few

mess-ups as you can

and then you realize

the truth is

you are dirty,

rotten,

wicked,

to the core.

And apart from God,

there is nothing good

about you.

And you have been

forgiven by God

so much.

And not just by God,

you've been forgiven

by so many others

of so much.

So that is what

being a Christian

leads you to understand

that God has forgiven

the inexcusable in me

and so then I must

forgive the inexcusable

in others

even when it's hard

because God

will help us.

His Spirit

within us

will bear that fruit.

Ephesians 4.32

Be kind

and compassionate

to one another,

forgiving one another

just as God

also forgave you

in Christ.

Just as God

forgave us

when Jesus died

on the cruel cross

and endured

so much pain,

so much heartache,

so much sorrow

as God,

His Father,

turned His back

on His Son.

Jesus went through

all this torment,

all this suffering

so He could forgive

you and me.

so then

we are to be kind

and compassionate

to one another.

We are to forgive

one another.

God isn't asking us

to hang on a cross

and go through

what Jesus went through.

He's just asking us

to forgive each other

when we are wrong

just as God

forgave us.

So how does that look?

It looks like

forgiving your spouse.

It's one of my favorite

quotes on this.

A happy marriage

is the union

of two good forgivers.

How many of you all

have been married

a little while

can testify

that it's important

to forgive one another?

Yeah?

Anybody?

Yeah, of course.

Usually,

the problems

become bigger problems

because we won't

forgive each other

and move on.

Say,

yeah,

I've got to teach them

a lesson

that their behavior

was wrong.

You know who's really

good at teaching

lessons?

God.

You know who's really

not good at teaching

lessons to others?

Us.

We just make things

worse most often.

But if we leave

the lesson teaching

to the Holy Spirit

and we just

take the Christ-like

attitude of forgiveness

and we've got

a happy marriage,

whether that's

a husband and wife

or two church members

or parents and children

or a boss

and an employee,

neighbors,

friends,

co-workers,

whatever the relationship

is,

we must treat it

with the spirit

of forgiveness.

And then we'll have

the happiness

that the fruit

of the spirit brings.

Not based upon

the other person,

but based upon

God working in us.

Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Would you go there

with me again?

Romans 12.

How many of y'all

are starting to recognize

this passage now?

Romans 12 too?

We've been doing it

for months.

Like almost every Sunday

going to Romans

Romans 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12

and verse 2.

Any translation

that you read,

any Bible translation

that you read

in this passage

is going to be good.

But my personal favorite,

just for the wording's sake,

is the New Living Translation.

So that's what I'm going

to read from right now.

Don't copy the behavior

and the customs

of this world.

But let God

transform you.

There's that

transforming work

of God

leading us

from not being willing

to forgive

to forgiveness

through the work

of the spirit.

So, verse 2,

let God transform you

into a new person

by changing

the way you think.

I'm not,

now I'm no longer

looking for revenge.

That was my old way

of thinking.

I'm not bitter anymore.

That was my old way

of thinking.

I am purposing

in my heart

to let God

transform me.

And maybe He hasn't

fully transformed me yet,

but He's working on me

and I'm going to let Him

change the way I think.

Then you will learn,

verse 2,

to know God's will for you,

which is good

and pleasing

and perfect.

Look down at verse 3.

Because of the privilege

and authority

God has given me,

I give each of you

this warning.

Don't think of yourselves.

Don't think you are better

than you really are.

Be honest

in your evaluation

of yourselves,

measuring yourselves

by the faith

God has given us.

That's a great reminder.

Be honest

in how you look

at yourself

when someone else

has wronged you.

Remember that

you've wronged others.

You've been forgiven much

and so you must

then forgive much.

Go down to verse 9.

Go down to verse 9.

Don't just pretend

to love others.

Really love them.

Hate what is wrong.

Hold tightly

to what is good.

Love each other

with genuine affection

and take delight

in honoring each other.

We would say

we love each other

as members

of the body of Christ

in Henrietta, Texas.

We would say

we love each other.

But so often

we don't show

that genuine affection

and love.

That comes from

the Holy Spirit of God.

And He's not

transforming us.

Changing the way

we think

like He wants to

because we're

throwing up those walls.

Down to verse 14.

Bless those

who persecute you.

Recognize this

from the sermon

from the

Sermon on the Mount

when Jesus

talked about this.

Bless those

who persecute you.

Don't curse them.

Pray that God

will bless them.

Verse 15.

I'm sorry,

verse 17.

Never pay back evil

with more evil.

Now we're getting

really down to it here

with the forgiveness theme.

Never pay back evil

with more evil.

Do things in such a way

that everyone can see

you are honorable.

Do all that you can

to live in peace

with everyone.

Dear friends,

never take revenge.

Leave that

to the righteous

anger of God.

For the scriptures say,

I will take revenge.

I will pay them back

says the Lord.

Yeah, but God,

you haven't done it

according to my timeline.

You haven't done it

fast enough.

They're not suffering.

They're loving their life.

They don't feel

one bit sorry

for what they did.

Leave that to God.

Leave that to God.

Don't let them

eat you up inside

any more than

they already have.

Don't let them

ruin your life

any more

than they already have.

Leave that to God.

He said,

I will pay them back.

Instead,

verse 20.

Boy,

this is a mind shift.

Such a mind shift.

If your enemies

are hungry,

feed them.

Anybody want to

invite your worst enemy

over for dinner tonight?

Me neither.

I got them.

I don't want to

invite them up here.

I just gave you a clue.

Instead,

if your enemies

are hungry,

feed them.

If they are thirsty,

give them something

to drink.

In doing this,

you will heap

burning coals

of shame

on their heads.

Don't let evil

conquer you,

but conquer evil

by doing good.

You realize

that it's not about you.

It's not about me.

It's not about us.

It's about the greater work

of the kingdom of God.

And sometimes,

evil will come

against us.

But the victory

is not in

winning against

that person.

The victory

is God's work

going on anyway.

The victory

is God's love

outshining that dark

anyway.

The victory comes

when God

still continues

to see

your heart

chasing after Him

and saying,

yes, I was wrong.

Yes, I was mad

in that moment.

Yes, I hated it

and I struggled

not to hate

that person.

But I understand

that though my flesh

is weak,

I want the Spirit

within me

to truly make me

different

than Joe Blow

next door.

And I want

the love of God

to shine

through forgiveness

to this person

in this situation.

I'm still working

on this, y'all.

There's people

that I still struggle

to forgive

in my life.

But God can.

He is strong enough.

He can help us

through that struggle

and we can reach

a place

of forgiveness.

Corrie Ten Boom,

a woman who was

persecuted

because she was a Jew,

suffered things

that you and I

probably never will.

She said a profound

quote on forgiveness.

Forgiveness is an act

of the will

and the will

can function

regardless

of the temperature

of the heart.

Our heart is weak.

Our heart is deceitful.

It will deceive us.

It will lead us astray.

But when we make

God's will

our will,

we can be strong

enough to overcome

the temperature

of our heart

which might be

ice cold

toward that person.

And instead,

we can feed them.

We can give them

something to drink.

We can show love

to them

which will

absolutely

confound them,

confuse them.

Like, what?

Why are you

being this way to me?

By the power of God.

C.S. Lewis,

this is his last quote

on forgiveness

that we're going

to share today.

Getting over

a painful experience

is much like

crossing monkey bars.

Kids in the room

just perked up.

Monkey bars?

I like monkey bars.

Some of y'all

got to think back

a little bit

to the last time

you did monkey bars.

We're able to do

monkey bars

without just

immediately dropping off.

You have to let go

at some point

in order to move forward.

Isn't that true?

Remember when you're

teaching your kids

monkey bars

for the first time

or when you were a kid

and doing monkey bars

for the first time

and you just kind of freeze?

It's like,

man, I know,

I know I got to let go

but I feel like

if I let go

I'm going to fall.

At some point

you've got to let go

to move forward.

So here's the application.

Are my prayers

being limited

because I'm not letting go

and letting God

change me?

I can't move forward

because I'm not letting go.

What they did

was too hurtful.

I'm still suffering

for what somebody did to me.

and you're going to

continue to suffer.

We are going to continue

to suffer

until we let go

and let God change us.

He can do it

but he's got to change

the way we think.

He's got to change us

from the inside

and let his will

be stronger

than ours.

Would you pray with me

in this moment?

God,

whatever is going on,

whatever bitterness,

whatever anger,

whatever resentment

is being held tightly

in hearts

in this room

this morning.

I don't believe

it's any accident

that you laid it

on my heart

to preach through

the Lord's Prayer

and lead our church

into a season of prayer

and I'm confident

that there is forgiveness

that needs to happen

in this room.

For the next few minutes

we're not going to stand.

Sometimes we stand

and sing.

We're going to keep

our seat this morning.

For the next few minutes

would you work on hearts

just to keep their heads bowed,

keep their eyes closed

to shut out distraction

and just focus

on what you would have them

to do in forgiving.

I'm going to do

the same thing, Lord.

Start with me.

Go throughout my family,

throughout the other families

in this church,

the individuals in this church

and let this community

be impacted

by a forgiving body

of believers

at First Baptist.

Maybe there's phone calls

that need to be made

after this service.

Maybe there's conversations

face to face

that need to happen.

But God, I pray

that you would go ahead

and work in us, Lord.

The music plays.

We're going to sing

one verse of a song

and then just have

some quiet prayer.

And we'll be out of here

in a couple minutes

and we'll go to lunch.

But I pray that God's Spirit

would lead us

to forgiveness.

Maybe there's somebody

in this room

that needs to be forgiven

of their sin.

We talked about Jesus

dying on the cross.

Easter's coming up.

We're going to celebrate him

rising from the dead

and we know that he's alive today

and hears us when we pray.

But while our heads are bowed,

would you be bold enough

to slip your hand up

and say,

I need Jesus to forgive me

of all my sin.

I need to become his child today.

Thank you.

Anybody else?

You can put your hand down.

Thank you.

If that's you,

while everybody's

seated and praying,

I'd love for you

to slip out the back doors

and I'll be in the back

to talk to you

just for a moment

about how you can know

that you're forgiven

and that God is your Father.

For the rest of us,

would you continue on in prayer?

Brother Greg's going to lead us

in a verse of a song.

You can sing along softly

while in your seat

if you'd like to.

But right now,

let God have his way

in your heart.