Colossians chapter 3, beginning with verse 1. Our focus today will be on verse 13. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you, sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. In these, too, you once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away, anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another. And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you. So you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Again, today, our focus will be on verse 13, bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you. So you also must forgive. Let's pray. Fathers, we come to this your word, we acknowledge our complete dependence upon the work of your spirit. To illumine our hearts and to teach us the truth of your word. We recognize that apart from your spirit, we would not understand. Yet, as you work in our hearts and lives, we pray that you would search our hearts. That you would drive your truths deep into us. that you would open up to us the riches of your grace and mercy, that even as we see our continued need for you, we would see your grace, which is greater than all our sin. Speak to us from your word and teach us as we seek to be people after your own heart, to live in ways that will bring you honor and glory. Work by your spirit, we pray. For we ask in Jesus' holy name, amen. Today as we look at verse 13, we recognize that this verse flows out of this whole section. Especially out of verse 1. That the Lord has challenged us that if we have been raised with Christ, that we are to seek the things above. Where Christ is. Where He is seated. The things of His kingdom. Coming to Christ has transformed us. It has made us new creatures. by the work of His Spirit. He has continued to work in our lives, but He has taken us from death to life. For those of us who trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our hearts of stone have been replaced with hearts of flesh. We now have hearts that are alive to serve the Lord. He has transformed us. And it's according to this new nature that we have received. We are to now live in accordance with that. But we are to put off the things that we used to do, the ways before we came to Christ. And you'll find the list in verses 5 through 8. Those are things that we may struggle with. Maybe not all of them, but some of them will be issues we will continue to grapple with. But we are to continue to work to put those things to death and to live in the fullness of what God has given to us as those who have received a genuine new life in Christ. We are to clothe ourselves as those who have been chosen by God, those who have been made holy by His grace and mercy. Verse 12, and that we are to seek Compassionate hearts. Things that the Lord has given to us by His Spirit and by His grace. And to grow in these things. Kindness, humility, meekness, patience, as we seek to be faithful to the Lord. And then we see this shift from verse 12 to verse 13. Now the Lord, through the Apostle Paul, makes it practical to us. He calls us to live in a way that will bring Him honor and glory in the specifics of dealing with forgiveness and bearing with one another. So here, verse 13 is a practical application of what God has done and is doing in our lives. That verse 13 flows out of these previous verses and challenges us to realize that the power and the conviction of a transformed heart comes from new life in Christ. That's where it comes from. Verse 13, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. This flows out of what we have received. We, as God's people, have received forgiveness. We have been forgiven by the Lord. He has forgiven our sins. Christ has paid the penalty on the cross, bearing our sins for our sake and giving us life in Him. And so this forgiveness that we are called to offer comes ultimately from what we have received, forgiveness. And that is what motivates us. It isn't guilt. It isn't obligation. It isn't shame. Often we use those things to motivate us to do all kinds of things or to stop doing things. But here the Lord gives us not only what we are to do, but how we are to do it. We are to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. It is to be what we have received that also motivates us to do what He calls us to do. Look back again at Matthew chapter 18. It's still on page 823. The Bibles we have here. In Matthew 18, we recognize in verse 21, Peter asked Jesus a question. He asks him, how many times should I forgive my brother if he sins against me? My guess is that probably flows out of a real life circumstance where Peter was really struggling whether he really needed to continue to forgive someone or not. The text doesn't tell us that. The rabbis would argue over how many times to forgive, but at the most they would usually go three times. Three was sort of the top end of forgiveness. Well, Jesus sort of blows that out of the water. He says 70 times 7, a number that would be incalculable. You are not to try to mathematically come to terms that when somebody reaches 490 or whatever the number would be, okay, now I'm done, finally. But you are to continue to forgive again and again and again. And then, in light of the question, to apply the truth to his followers, and to Peter in particular, he tells a story. He tells a story about a master who was dealing with the accounts of his servants. It was time for him to clean everything up. And so he has a servant that owes him 10,000 talents. Now, that's probably predominantly meaningless to you. If you've done lots of weights and measures in Bible times, you might have a feel for it. How about this? One talent equals 6,000 denarii. Does that help? Not yet, right? Well, some commentators will suggest that this amount of money would be 10 to 12 million dollars. But I don't think that really deals with the issue. That's a lot of money. But that's nothing compared to what I think Peter would have sensed. An average working man on an average day would make one denarii. That's what he would make for working eight hours in the day. One denarii. Six thousand times ten thousand, if my math is right, is sixty million days worth of work. Now, I didn't do the math, but somebody did it for me, that an average worker will work 10,000 days. That's probably a five-day week. Work until you're 65 would be my guess. These guys would work six-day weeks, and they'd probably work until they would die or couldn't work anymore. 10,000 days' work. That's the entire amount of money that a normal worker would make would be 10,000 denarii and you would owe 60 million denarii. That's a lot of money. That is an insurmountable amount of debt. Comparatively, that would even be more expansive perhaps than the national debt, which is hard for us to even conceive. There is no way he could pay him back. This servant falls on his knees before his master and says, forgive me, I will pay it back. Well, who's he kidding? There's no way he'll pay this back ever. The master has mercy on him and he forgives him. Now, this same servant then goes out and he finds another servant that owes him a hundred denarii. Now, that's significant. A hundred days work. That's a third of a year's salary. That's a lot of money. And he goes out and he starts choking him and shaking him. Pay me everything. The other servant pleads. I can't. Give me time. I'll pay you back. But that servant throws the other servant in prison to pay it off. Now, there were other servants that were watching this whole scenario unfold before them. And they go back to the master. And they say to the master, this is what he did. The master calls him back in and says, I will not forgive you because you did not forgive your fellow servant. And whether we really like it or not, Jesus says to Peter, so also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. I think forgiveness from a human standpoint is impossible. I don't think in our human strength we can really forgive anybody. Now, I could be wrong. The Scripture doesn't exactly say that. But I think forgiveness is an unbelievably difficult thing to do. And here Jesus tells Peter this story And in the story, there are all kinds of loose ends. There are all kinds of questions. Well, how did the servant get so much debt? That's not important. What's important is that what that servant received had absolutely no bearing on the way he lived his life. It didn't change him at all. For us as God's people, we need to remember that we have been forgiven an insurmountable debt. If you stop and think that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. I don't think we've ever done it. Not even for a moment. So from that standpoint, even as regenerate people, we continue to accrue debt. Were it not for the grace of God and the forgiveness that we have in Christ. If we were on our own, we'd be dead in the water. We couldn't save ourselves. And so Jesus uses this illustration to call Peter and to call us to see the importance, the necessity for our transformed hearts to live in the fullness of what we have received. It's not that we can do it perfectly. It's not that we'll do it flawlessly. It's not that we can do it in our own strength. We can't. It's by the grace and mercy of God. But we are called to be people who forgive. who respond to those around us with forgiveness. So first, I think we have to see our need for forgiveness. We so often minimize our own sin and maximize the sins of others. We fail To judge ourselves by the same standards we judge other people. We judge ourselves by our intentions. We judge other people by their actions. If I meant to do it, even if I didn't do it, I'm okay. But the fact that you didn't do it, you're not okay. We need to be reminded of our debt before God, our need for forgiveness. And then we need to acknowledge and see this forgiveness that we have received and that what we have received is an insurmountable debt. We don't know the depth of our hearts. You know that lovely, uplifting verse in Jeremiah 17, 9, the heart is deceitfully wicked above all else who can know it. We don't know. How much we need the Lord's forgiveness. And so when we see things that other people do to hurt us, and other people do hurt us, other people genuinely sin against us. You see that word in verse 13 that says complaint? It means complaint or blame. That word really means a legitimate reason why you would have cause to recognize someone has sinned against me, and I can hold it against them. That's legitimate. The Lord's not saying we can do that. But He's acknowledging that we, as His people, will have people who will sin against us, and sometimes very badly. But still, no matter how bad, they sin against us. Our debt with the Lord is far greater than anything we can even imagine. It far outweighs and outstrips what other people have done, are doing, or will do to us. Now, again, forgiveness is different than holding people accountable. It's different than dealing with unresolved issues. It's different than confronting people who need to be confronted. Forgiveness is not really dealing with whether or not someone for their own spiritual well-being needs to be confronted and dealt with on an issue. What the Lord is dealing with in verse 13 of Colossians chapter 3 is the necessity that for those of us who have transformed hearts by God's grace, by His indwelling Spirit, by His work in our lives, by His grace, We have the call and the ability by His grace to forgive. It is what we are to do. Again, we may deal with other things as we look at issues, but forgiveness is central to what we're called to do as God's people. So, what does it look like? I think it may look different for all of us. We may handle things differently than other people. But it will be genuinely spiritually struggling and praying and working through our needs to forgive. Our need to forgive. Our need to deal with issues where we have been hurt or we have been maligned. It will deal with the reality that we are no longer to hold grudges. And we may struggle with that. We may be guilty sometimes. But as the Holy Spirit convicts us, we need to repent and let go of holding on to those grudges. We'll need to be honest and open in trying to work through issues. We have to deal with our relationship with the Lord and with other people. Again, Here in this verse, in Colossians chapter 3, it is understood that you will have legitimate cause to hold issues against other people. You will have cause for blame or cause for complaint. Other people will be guilty. They will sin against you. And if we're honest, we're going to be guilty too. Don't like to look at that side of the coin so much. But there'll be times when we will also be guilty of sinning against others and needing their forgiveness. True story. Heard it from a pastor friend, so it has to be true. He had two women in his church. One of them worked at the grocery. The other one shopped at the grocery. When the story was told to me, it had been 20 years since these two women had talked. Because the woman who shopped at the grocery was convinced that the woman who worked at the grocery, when she checked her out one time, she deliberately bruised her bananas. And she refused to talk to her. Now, That seems petty and strange. It's not the only story like that I know. Sometimes people assume things and then that assumption takes on a life of its own. And that belief becomes their reality, whether it has any bearing in fact or not. And rather than going and talking to this woman and seeking to be reconciled, she hardened her heart. Bitterness came in. And they were irreconciled for over 20 years. I know a man that he genuinely believed that if a person was not a believer, that they stood in a place where they had not been forgiven by God. Okay? Therefore, he didn't have to forgive them for anything. The Scripture doesn't call us to that kind of attitude. Here, it seems that in Colossians chapter three, we're dealing really mostly with believers. First, John four, 19 and 20, we love because he first loved us. If anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. We often think it's much easier to love God whom we haven't seen than to love those that we have seen. But here John tells us we have to love one another as well. But then think about what the Scripture says about unbelievers. 1 Thessalonians 3. Now may our God and Father Himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another. Those would be fellow believers. And for everyone else. We are called to be people who love and who forgive. So, let me ask you today. Who do you need to forgive that you have not forgiven? Who have you put in a prison in your soul And in your mind or your soul, you either torture them or you ignore them. No bread, no water, hoping they will die an ugly death, or just deciding you don't care. I remember years ago, I was asked with respect to a person, do you forgive this person? I said, yeah, I forgive him. I just don't ever want to talk to him again. And you know what he said to me? He said, that doesn't sound like forgiveness. He was right. It wasn't forgiveness. I just kidded myself. I'm not saying forgiveness is easy. I think forgiveness spiritually is one of the hardest things we will ever do, or it may be the hardest thing. But we don't do it alone. We do it as people who have received a transformed heart. We have been given a heart of flesh. We have been made alive spiritually. And it's by the grace and mercy of God. And it is in light of the forgiveness that we have received. So we forgive freely because we have been forgiven freely. This word that the Lord uses in verse 13 can mean to forgive or to give freely, graciously, give as a favor or to forgive. I think here the ideas are combined. So it's to forgive freely. not holding on to anything, not holding back, but genuinely forgiving. And it's used, this verb is used twice in this verse in reference first to the way we are to forgive, but then also the way that Christ has forgiven us. And when he says just as, You have been forgiven by Christ. It's not that we can forgive other people with the same power and intensity and eternal decree, but it's in light of the fact that Christ has forgiven me, so also now I forgive others. That I forgive because I have been forgiven. When I have trouble with people forgiving them, one of the most helpful things for me to do is to pray for them. Now, I'll confess, when I'm having trouble forgiving them, I don't want to pray for them. My first temptation is, dear Lord, persecute them so they will know how they have sinned against me, or similar language. But I need to pray for them. I can pray for their conviction, but I need to pray for the Lord to work in their lives, too. I need to pray for them to grow spiritually. That helps me. And sometimes I'll tell the Lord, I'm not really ready to do this, but I know I need to. So I'm going to do this. And I pray that you'll work. And I know that as I'm faithful, He works in my heart and life. He gives me grace. He gives me strength. Even when I don't feel like it. Our love is to increase. We are to pray for our enemies. We are to pray for those who persecute us. We are to love one another. We are to forgive. And we will have good reason The Lord will give you opportunity to forgive, I promise, because people will sin against you. It's going to happen. It has already. And we need to forgive. But notice too, He deals with two things. He deals with forgiveness. I wanted to deal with that first, even though that comes at the last part of the verse. Notice the first part of the verse. Bearing with one another. The power and conviction of a transformed heart is to patiently endure one another's weaknesses. It may not be that someone directly sins against you. But it's to bear with their weaknesses. It is to endure. It is to recognize that people will do things that will get under our skin. They will irritate us. And they may not be directly sinning against us, but we are to bear with one another because we are God's people. Sometimes that will be difficult because there will be character traits that bother us more than others. Sometimes we will recognize, I hold on to things that are petty. They really aren't that important. And I need to grow through this as well. to bear or endure. Both of these verbs, forgiving and bearing, are in a present active sense. It is to be a way of life. It is to be continual. It's something that we are to do. And the Lord tells us, we already knew this, but He really tells us if we have to bear with people and we have to forgive people, that means that we will have problems in our relationships and that our relationships aren't perfect. Hollywood lied to us again. We already knew that. It won't be perfect. There will be battles. But we are to forgive, we are to love. And I think the challenge is as Christ has borne with us, so we bear with others. As Christ has forgiven us, so we forgive others. The more that we see our need for forgiveness, the more that we see what Christ has done for us, I think that naturally and logically frees us up spiritually to be able to forgive. If I think I'm better than other people, I'm going to have a whole lot more trouble forgiving them because I think I'm on a higher level. But if I recognize the desperate need that I had, standing before my Master, owing more than 10,000 talents, and He has had mercy on me by sending Christ into the world to rescue me from my sin, and setting me free from the bondage of sin and death, so that now and for all eternity I will not pay for my sin. I bear them no more. They are nailed to the cross. And so, my life is a response to praise the Lord and to see the need to forgive others as they sin against me. When we forgive, it changes people. Sometimes it changes the people we forgive. Sometimes they have no idea what we have done, what we feel that we have endured. But when we forgive, it always changes us. Corrie ten Boom tells the story that when she was in Germany after the war, talking about the horrific realities of living in a concentration camp, trusting in Christ and enduring those days after the service. A man came up to her and says, yes, it is good that the Lord forgives us. And when she saw him, she recognized him. She recognized him as one of the guards that had leered and jeered at her. Who had abused her verbally. Perhaps even physically. Of bathing all these women in a group when they were naked and taunting them. And her hand froze at her side. Realizing that at that moment, hatred welled up in her heart for this man and for all that he represented. And she was overwhelmed. And she recognized her continuing need for forgiveness and to forgive. And in that moment, she prayed, Lord, help me, I cannot forgive. And she prayed that God would forgive her. And it was in that moment she was able to raise her hand, to shake His hand, and to realize by God's grace that overwhelming sense of forgiveness that she had in Christ. that empowered her to forgive this man. Now, sometimes for us, you know, probably always for us, it will probably always take longer than just a moment. But by God's grace, He will give us grace and strength to forgive. He will work in our hearts. I think when we think of it that your relationship with Christ is more important than anything else you have. It's more important than anything else you have. And when there's something that's so important to you that's more important than anything else you have, you will do almost anything to make sure it's firm and strong and safe. And when we see the need to forgive in light of what Christ has done for us, How can we hold on? It'll be a struggle. But get in the trench. Do the battle. Pray. Read the Scripture. reflect on what you've been forgiven. And I think we will see the Lord continue to transform our hearts and lives by the renewing of the work of His Spirit in us. Because we who trust in Christ have a transformed heart. Because we've been made alive in Christ. Let's pray together. Father, I pray that by Your grace that You will convict every one of us of those we need to forgive. And I pray that You will be gracious and patient with us. But by the work of Your Spirit, I pray that You will be persistent with us. That You will work in and through us that our desire would be to forgive and to deal with these issues that we need to, with those who have hurt us, who have maligned us, who have betrayed us, who have sinned against us, sometimes horrifically. We confess, Lord, that we have sinned against You far greater than anyone has sinned against us. And so we pray that by Your grace and mercy, You would work in our hearts, fill us with the joy of our salvation, remind us of what You have done. And then by the work of Your Spirit, give us grace to forgive one another and to bear with one another just as You have forgiven us. For we ask in Jesus' holy name, Amen.