dealt with you will deal with this is actually going to be a two-part message i'll preach this entire message tonight lord willing but then i want to do a bookend on this so because next sunday night we're having families for families i will not be speaking i'm going to get brother noggle the entire time and then the week after that, I will actually be back with the New Beginnings class. By the way, if you're interested in that, if you want to find out what is Berean founded upon, what are the beliefs, and what do they stand for, what do we believe, how do we function, and you have questions about all of those things, we're actually having a 12-week course. We're in week two. Pastor Sweat, the founding pastor, is teaching. He taught last Sunday, and then tonight, he'll be teaching it next Sunday night. It will still be going, even though we'll have the Naugles here with Families for Families. And then we'll switch and pastor sweat or some of the other pastors will be Speaking preaching while I'm back teaching for three weeks and then pastor sweating are gonna leapfrog every three weeks. We'll be switching So I don't know when I'll get to the other message the other part of this So we'll have to do a little bit of a review But I trust that the Word of God tonight will be a challenge to your hearts and will be a help to you so take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 17 as we looked at the subject of granting forgiveness and Luke chapter 17. When Jesus taught on forgiveness, what did he mean? I often get this question, if I have preached a message on forgiveness, and invariably I would be very surprised if no one came up to me tonight after the service with some questions. Most often, the question, we're gonna look at some of those questions. When I've counseled people through different difficulties, one of the things that we have to deal with is the potential of an unforgiving spirit. bitterness and so what does it mean to grant forgiveness what is and one of the questions is well what is forgiveness well this word for forgiveness literally means to send away or to forgive a debt uh this word in the greek would be stamped on a bill once it was paid in full for instance when you make that last mortgage payment and now the bank doesn't own your house, you do, right? So to speak, we know all things are the Lord's, all right? But you get that final balance, nothing is due, it's paid in full. I remember when Chris and I were first married, she had a baby grand piano, but we lived in a mobile home. in Pennsylvania. There's no way a baby grand is going to fit in a mobile home trailer. And so my wife, of course, she was teaching piano and all that. She needed to run through songs and stuff at home and all that sort of a thing. Sometimes she would teach lessons in our home. So we ended up buying a Yamaha Clavinova. And so we were able to pay for most of it. We had to make a few months payments and it was a day of celebration when we got that final bill and it said paid in full and we didn't know anything. That's what this word means. It's the same identical word that's used in Matthew chapter 18 where Jesus also teaches there on forgiveness. And I will reference that passage a little bit tonight. But whenever I have preached or counseled on forgiveness, here are some of the questions that I get. And I want to address these tonight from this passage. Am I obligated to forgive someone if they haven't repented? And the reasoning goes, well, if God requires repentance before he forgives, then I should be required to forgive before there's repentance. Okay? So that's one of the questions or one of the attitudes that I have often encountered. And the other question is really kind of a two-part question. Well, what if they aren't truly repentant? What if they do it again? Isn't it amazing how God knows us and he gives us the answers in his word? Isn't that great? And so we're gonna find them tonight in God's word in Luke chapter 17 in verses one to 10. Now, before we get into this passage, I wanna preempt it by saying this. Well, let me ask it as a question to make a point. What is the first and great commandment? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, with all thy mind. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt. That is the overruling principle when it comes to forgiveness. It is not technicalities. It is not the depth or the length of the offense. The overruling law of God's word when it comes to granting forgiveness is the first and second great commandments. So let's look at Luke chapter 17, and it's gonna sound a little odd when we read the first verse or two, but you'll see the point in just a moment. The Bible says of the Lord Jesus in Luke 17 verse one, then said he unto the disciples, it is impossible, but that offenses should come. But woe unto him through whom they come. It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should offend one of these little ones. By the way, little ones does not mean children. It is not the Greek word for children. It literally means little ones, and what Jesus is talking about is a new or immature believer. And the word offend is not, well, you know, it's just a personal affront. Offend means, and we'll look at the word, but it really comes from the Greek word skandalon, and it means to ensnare, to trip up. Okay? And then in verse three, Jesus says, take heed to yourselves. And this is really a statement that links verses one and two with the rest of our passage that we will see tonight. And in verse three, he said, take heed to yourselves, if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if he repent, forgive him. And a lot of people go right there and say, see, Jesus said, if he repents, forgive him. And that's where a lot of these questions come from. And I know for some people who've asked me, it is not that they are looking for an excuse not to forgive. They sincerely want to know, am I supposed to grant forgiveness if there's not been repentance? Because God does not grant forgiveness unless there's repentance. So how does that work? And for some people, it's a very sincere question. For other people, they are like a lawyer that's looking for a loophole in the law, and they go to this passage and they quote it as a loophole because they don't want to forgive. Now, I don't know the motive always when a person, sometimes the facial expression, the tone of voice, will give that away, but really, truly, even then, only God knows the heart. And so I wanna deal with this tonight in a way that I believe will be honoring to the Lord and be helpful for all of us. as we seek to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength, and all our mind, and to obey the second commandment, which is unto it, I shall love thy neighbor as thyself. In Matthew 22, 40, Jesus said, on these two commandments hang all the law and prophets. The key is to love God and to love our neighbor. So what is the first thing that we need to do? Here it is, expect, excuse me, expect spiritual snares. Jesus said, it is, in verse one, it is impossible, but that offenses will come. Expect snares. Expect spiritual snares. This word skandalon, okay, which is that a word for offend, okay, offenses, is translated a stumbling block. It actually literally comes from a word that means, if you tear the word apart, it means a crooked stick. and really what it is is it's a tripwire. If there were the kind of a trap where someone digs a pit, you know, and sometimes you see this in a cartoon or something where they dig a pit and then they put, you know, palm fronds over it like that, which I never kind of figured out how that's camouflaging it. If you have a dirt path and there's these green fronds across in this one spot, you know, do it, and you step right on that and down into the hole. But anyway, it's usually better disguised than that. But often what would happen is they'd actually sometimes put some sort of an object, like a rock, in that path and then what would happen is usually it's in a hunting situation where hunters kind of spread out if you've ever been some of you guys ever been on a deer drive where it's a bunch of guys in a line and they're trying to get kick up deer and then they're running and at the other end there's a bunch of guys spread out and they're shooting the deers they come running through Okay, and so the idea though is to kind of scare these the animal the prey in a certain direction And as that prey is running in a certain direction, then they trip over that rock and they fall into the pit That's what a stumbling block block is Sometimes it was a war strategy That an army would surprise an enemy and chase them and kind of a surprise attack caused them to turn and retreat And chase them right over a cliff The idea, though, of the crooked stick, or the scandalon, is to set a snare or trap, and it's kind of like the trip wire, where you actually accidentally hit it, and then you spring the net, or you spring the rope or the trap. And so expect spiritual snares. They are going to come. And here's the point of this passage. Not only should we expect it, but we need to love God and our brothers and sisters in Christ by avoiding becoming the scandal on it. Don't be the one by whom the offense comes. Be careful that you don't trip them up spiritually. And you'll see in a minute what I'm talking about. We're gonna work through some things first. But there's a couple of major points I wanna make on that. In the context of this passage, when Jesus says, look in verse two, it were better for him if a millstone were hanged about his neck and were cast into the sea than that he should offend or trip up, spiritually trip up one of these little ones. Literally one that's little in the faith, one who's a new believer or an immature believer. And here's what I believe Jesus is saying in the context of this passage, be incredibly careful to not sin against another Christian so that you don't spring the trap of the sin of unforgiveness. We need to be careful with that. And then love your brothers and sisters in Christ when they sin against you by having a Spirit-filled response. In Galatians chapter five, verses 22 and 23, the Bible says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. Now I wanna emphasize the next ones, long-suffering. Bible says that love covereth a multitude of sins. That is personal offenses. There's an idea of being patient with a person who keeps on sinning against you or doing things that maybe they're taking advantage of you. Maybe they just kind of, quote, get under your skin or rub your fur the wrong way, that sort of a thing. And there's a certain long-suffering impatience, especially if a person's new in the faith. They don't understand some things. They're still really, quote, rough around the edges. And God hasn't knocked those off. And God has rough edges that he knocks off all of us. Right? We need to be long-suffering, gentleness. Aren't you glad that we serve a mighty God? But do you know that our mighty God, Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Bible says of Him that a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking flax He will not quench. The point is that our God, who is so mighty in power, is gentle, and he wants us to treat others with gentleness. Goodness. The word goodness is the idea of benevolence or generosity. Have you ever heard this phrase, give them the benefit of the doubt? Some people are a lot more generous with giving the benefit of the doubt than others. Benevolence, that's goodness. We often assume the worst instead of the best. Study 1 Corinthians 13. Godly love, agape love, assumes the best, not the worst. And then faith, and we're gonna talk about that, because you know what the disciples' response to Jesus is when he talks about forgiving their brother, their trespass, if they're repentant, is, Lord, increase our faith. Does that ever strike you a little odd? Actually, in the context, it's very appropriate. We'll talk about that in a minute. And it takes us, we who are saved and dwelt by the Holy Spirit, being submitted to the Spirit, to actually have a faith-filled response that then enables us to forgive and to have a confident expectation that God's glory and our best will be worked through the situation. And then meekness. A lot of that definition of meekness that says it is my strength under God's control. And then temperance. There's a certain balance. It is not an overreaction. It is not an oversensitiveness. It is a balanced perspective, both of the principles that apply to the temporal that God gives us to help us navigate this life while always keeping the eternal perspective in view. There is a certain temperance to that. If you love weapons like I do, you know about tempered steel. Some of you have seen when I did my series on swords in the Bible, I have a Toledo sword. It's made in the traditional style. Toledo steel was developed by swordsmiths in the city of Toledo, Spain. Toledo, Spain became known as the city of the swords. When I was over there visiting some of our missionaries, I asked one of our missionaries to help me to find a sword maker. I didn't want one of these little fake swords that you hang on the wall. I wanted a real sword that was considered a live blade, an authentic sword. And he found me one. And we went into the old part of the city of Toledo, took this little shot. Nothing impressive about it except what was produced. And those swords were amazing. And I have an archer's sword from Toledo, Spain, made from the Toledo steel. And it is a tempered blade. It's a live blade. And you know what, there is a whole process, and I can preach a whole message on what it means to become tempered steel. Because true tempered steel, just like with a blade, one of the cool things, when I was talking to one of the sword makers, he showed me one of the advantages of having the Toledo steel and how it's tempered. He took a sword that was about this tall from hilt to tip, put it on a block of wood like this, and he pressed down with it as hard as he could, and he bent that sword. But as soon as he lifted it up, it went exactly straight. And there needs to be a firmness that we are resolute and loyal, fiercely loyal to the word of God and we are pursuing Christ. There needs to be a flexibility in our life that causes us to have a temperance and we don't snap. Let me ask, put it this way. How would you like to, quote, be dealt with if you were the one in the wrong? Sometimes we get kind of riled, we're sinned against. We get pretty righteously indignant, don't we? But how about when, how would you like to be treated if you're the one that's in the wrong? And by the way, that other message, that bookend message is going to help us. Biblically, what does it mean to seek forgiveness? because we are commanded to grant forgiveness and we are commanded to seek forgiveness among the family of God. Failure, and this is the key, this is what ties these three verses together. Failure to grant forgiveness can produce bitterness in the unforgiven person. You can be the scandalin', in another believer's life when they sin against you legitimately and you are unwilling to biblically forgive them. And you can set the trip wire of the trap of them falling into bitterness because you were not willing to follow the example of Christ and obey the commandment to biblically forgive. So first is expect spiritual snares. By the way, we're all going to be sinned against. We're all sinners. We're going to sin against others. We're going to be sinned against. It's not an excuse, but it's reality. As long as we are in this sinful flesh, we still have this sin nature in this temporal life. We're going to be sinned against and we are going to sin against others. And there's a biblical way to handle that. What is the second thing? First is to expect spiritual snares that are going to happen. The second is this, exercise spiritual alertness by rebuking in a timely manner the sinning Christian. Exercise spiritual alertness by rebuking in a timely manner the sinning Christian. Hebrews 12 15 commands us looking diligently. Matter of fact, that's an interesting word. It is used of shepherds that are watching over the sheep. They're alert to any animal that would prey on the sheep. They are alert as they go into a field to make sure that there are no harmful plants because sheep many times are undiscerning and they'll eat just about any kind of plant and some of them could poison them. So exercising diligence, it's a shepherd term, looking diligently. lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. So we need to exercise spiritual alertness by rebuking in a timely manner. Say, why a timely manner? Because it needs to be very close to the time of the offense, but sometimes we need to step back and get right with God ourselves. When you study out through the scriptures, like in Galatians chapter six, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fall, what? Ye which are spiritual, do what? Restore such a one. How? In the spirit of. That's one of the fruit of the Spirit. But then what's the next part of that? It's very important. Command. Considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. That's why I say in a timely manner. You need to take some time to consider yourself. What is your attitude? What is your heart response? Is there any culpability on your part? Anything you need to get right with God? Anything you need to ask that person for forgiveness? but you go to them in a timely manner. And it means you don't wait and just say, well, this problem will go away on its own. It'll just resolve. Maybe I don't need to deal with this. If you have been consistently sinned against and the spirit of God is saying to you that brother, that sister in Christ is headed on a wrong path. It was not a one-time incident. It wasn't just your imagination. You've given them the benefit of the doubt. You've loved them. You've been long suffering. You've had a meek and gentle spirit towards them. that they have sinned against you and it is clear and it ought to be out of a heart of concern and compassion for them and also a heart of concern and compassion towards the church. Because that root of bitterness bring up trouble you and thereby many be defiled. Bitterness, unforgiveness between believers and a body of Christ can cause great division. And God hates those that sow discord among the brethren. That's one of the things the Bible says in Proverbs, God hates, he that soweth discord among the brethren. So we must be on guard against anything that could cause division in the church. We must rebuke the offending brother or sister. Look with me in verse three, take heed to yourselves. This is that being on high alert, same spirit of Hebrews 12, 15, exercising spiritual alertness. But look what the command is, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. And the instruction over in Matthew 18 verse 15 has a very important instruction not included here that I'd just like to add. In Matthew 18, 15, Jesus said, moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault. How? Between thee and him alone. So if that brother or sister in Christ has sinned against you, you need to privately go to them. You don't put your grievance on social media. You don't gather with some friends at Starbucks and cry crocodile tears into your coffee to kind of engender some compassion. No, you go to that brother or sister, having prayed through it, having been considerate, because you love your brother and sister. Remember what's the first and great commandment? Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. And the second, love your neighbors yourself. That brother, that sister sinned against you. They're not right with God. They're not right with you. It is unloving for you to not say anything and confront them when it is obviously and clearly a sin. Faithful are the wounds of a friend proverbs tells us but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful and by our silence We can be sending the kiss of an enemy Because it's never not right and it's gonna spiritually harm them and it can cause division within the church Therefore we we need to rebuke them at love, but we need to do it First of all privately you say what if they don't respond privately then in Matthew chapter 18 the Bible says you take one or two more with you I would say you would you would find somebody, maybe a spiritual leader within the church. It may be a couple of the deacons, maybe one of the pastoral staff and a deacon or something like that. And you say, hey, listen, this is what's happening. I have confronted them. I don't want to gossip, but this is what's happening. And they're not responding. I'm really concerned about them. This pattern is continuing and they are unrepentant. and you pray for that person, and then the two or three of you, you go together and you confront that person again. If they continue to be unrepentant, then you come to the church leadership, and then the elders of the church, which would be the pastors, will discuss it and decide it, and then if that brother or sister is still unrepentant, then we have to exercise church discipline. That's the biblical pattern. There is a way to deal with this, but it starts with in a very private, loving way. And again, the overriding principle is to love God and love our brothers and sisters in Christ. We don't go to them to rebuke them so that they can wallow on the ground and kiss our big toe and offer us up apologies until our anger is satiated. No, it is to restore that brother so that they're right with God and we're right with each other, that unity is there, they've been spiritually helped. We have taken warning since we've taken the time to examine ourselves and gotten things right with God, we've been spiritually helped. And that which Satan meant to destroy can be used to restore. The word for rebuke means to censure, to admonish, or to charge sharply. I would apply it then in this way, to rebuke. means to kindly but firmly state the specific sin, citing scripture, encouraging repentance and restoration with Christ, appealing for personal reconciliation, and offering forgiveness. That's what it means, I believe, in the application here in this passage to rebuke a brother or sister in Christ who has sinned against us. In Luke chapter 17 verse 3 and Matthew 18 verse 15, the sin against one is commanded to go to the sinning one. The sin against believer is always under biblical obligation to seek the restoration of the sinning Christian. So although I believe it is implied in the scriptures, I cannot say the Bible clearly teaches that you must forgive an unrepentant brother or sister in Christ if they've sinned against you. Remember that question at the beginning? Well, if they have not repented, am I under obligation to forgive them? I cannot clearly say before they repent that you are obligated to forgive them, but I can tell you clearly based on the word of God that you must, You are obligated to go to them privately and to lovingly, in the biblical definition of the word, rebuke them. If they have sinned against you, you need to speak the truth in love, pursue spiritual restoration of that believer, and seek unity within the body of Christ, the church. David Guzik said, clearly, especially in the light of the words that follow, Jesus did not intend here to narrow our focus of forgiveness. If anything, his intent was to broaden our work of forgiveness. He wasn't giving us a reason to not forgive or to be less forgiving. And I agree with his evaluation of the passage. Loving other believers with the love of Christ means that I am always ready and willing to forgive. You know, I personally believe that that is why some Christians make every excuse to not go to the fellow believer that sinned against them. They have what I call the Jonah syndrome. What did Jonah do when he finally got right with God and the fish spit him up onto the dry land? He went into Nineveh and he traveled through that city. It took him three days to do it. And he's preaching repent for the Lord will destroy the city in three days. And he's boys preaching that as he's walking through. And then what's he do when he gets all the way through Nineveh, he goes up on a hill and he sits down and what does he do? Pray for repentance and faith. Pray for a great spiritual awakening of Nineveh. No, He's sitting there rubbing his hands with glaze saying, all right, hot dogs, I'm gonna sit here and I'm gonna get a ring side seat to watch God's destruction on Israel's enemies, these wicked, violent, evil people. And sometimes we have the Jonah syndrome. We don't want God to restore that person or bless that person, we want to see God's judgment fall upon that person. And that is a wicked, ungodly, unforgiving, bitter attitude and there's no way to make that pretty. And then three, expand your faith by obedience. Look what the Bible records. Because the Bible says in verse four, So you know that other question that I mentioned? Well, what if they're not truly repentant? Well, first of all, you're not God. You don't know their heart. And the second thing, Jesus said, if they come to you seven times in a day, and seven times does not mean on the eighth time, then you don't have to forgive them, okay? Seven is the number of completion or perfection, what Jesus is saying is over and over and over. Matter of fact, in Matthew 18 passage, what prompts Jesus' teaching in Matthew 18, 15, is that Jesus is talking about forgiveness, and Peter comes and said, Lord, how oft shall I, my brother trespass against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times? And what he was thinking was, seven being the number of completion means I'll forgive him seven times, but on the eighth time when he comes to me, I'm gonna clean his clock. I'm gonna smack him right in the face. I'm gonna get revenge. Because I fulfill my obligation to seven times. I don't have to forgive on time number eight. That's what Peter's thinking. That's what he's hoping Christ will say when he asks that question. And Christ said, I say not unto you until seven times, but until what? 70 times seven, 490 times in a day. Can't get like that one out. And I don't believe that's even what Christ is implying. I think what he's saying is you forgive as often as you need to. Aren't you glad God does that with us? 1 John 1, 9, if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness any time and every time we come before the Lord and how often we blow up before him, he always grants us that forgiveness and restores us and he is right to do so. And he expects us to forgive after the same manner. And then in verse five, the apostles said unto the Lord, isn't that interesting? Do you find it interesting that in Luke 17, that Luke calls them the apostles, not the disciples or the 12? I believe that there is a purpose in that, and a point. We won't get into that tonight, just for sake of time. The apostle said to the Lord, increase our faith. Look at Jesus' answer. The Lord said, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this sycamine tree, be thou picked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you. So, expand your faith by obedience. Many times have we said, we heard someone say, I just can't forgive. And you know what my response is? Well, Jesus said in John 17, five, without me, you can do nothing. So you're right. On your own, you can't. But here's the thing. If God commands me to do something, he will give me the grace And He will enable me to do what He commands. And He says, confront, rebuke, forgive. And forgive, and forgive, and forgive. Because that's what our Savior does. And that's the example He has set for us. And that's what He has commanded us. What is the point of what Jesus is saying with the sycamine tree? and the mustard seed. He's saying this, a minuscule amount of faith exercised in obedience to the commands and promises of God can uproot the deepest, broadest, strongest spiritual obstacles. And most often, those obstacles lie within us. Often, though that person sinned against us, we're a bigger problem. And we're our own worst enemies, even worse than that person and what they've done towards us. Sin habits can be uprooted by faith. Every Christian can be victorious over sin, and we ought to, by the grace of God, and it's part of the fruit of the Spirit, walk in faith, which says, I'm gonna forgive that person, believing that God's gonna forgive them, that he's gonna restore them, and they're gonna get victory in that area in their life, and we're gonna be restored in fellowship, and unity within the body of Christ is going to be maintained, rather than, I don't even know if they really mean it. Oh, they'll never change. They've done this so many times before. That's not a statement of faith. Statement of faith says, I believe that God can do it. Mulberry tree had such an extensive and deep root system that it could live for hundreds of years. So the point that Jesus is making is that it would take an incredible amount of force to uproot. And this really, the sycamine tree is actually a mulberry tree. To pick it up and remove it and have it cast in the sea. So, trust God to work repentance in the offender's heart. What if they're not truly forgiven? What if they do it again? Trust that God is at work, that God forgave them. He can work repentance in their hearts. Faith in God's pardoning mercy will enable us to get over the greatest difficulties in the way of forgiving our brethren. That's what Jesus is saying in these verses. As with God, nothing is impossible, so all things are possible to him that believes, including the restoration of that brother or sister in Christ and victory, consistent victory in their life. Remember that practical sanctification is a process, is it not? We're all growing, are we not? And we need to understand that that person who has sinned against us that brother, sister in Christ, they are still growing. We don't expect, but we desire it. When God confronts us with sin in our lives, we should have the desire and the expectation, I'm gonna confess it, I'm gonna forsake it, I'm gonna walk in victory, I don't wanna go back to that, I don't wanna do that again. But I think most of us would have the common experience that often we have repeated that failure, have we not? And sometimes it happens over and over and over again. And while we may, as one preacher said, we may never be sinless, we should be sinning less. And we should be gaining victory. A little child, when they're learning to walk, well, first they crawl, right? And then they pull themselves up and they stand and they can kind of have some balance, right? And then they take a step and they fall down. And then they get up and they take a few steps and they fall. But you know what, eventually we expect, and the normal thing is that the more they keep at it, the better they're gonna learn to walk and navigate. And it's the same thing in the Christian life. And we need to have that same grace, that same long-suffering, that same faith, that same expectation, that same loving desire that God would do that in that person who has sinned against us. Remember, that practical sanctification is a process. I love what this author said. He said, we are not permitted to judge another's repentance. If someone has sinned against me seven times in a day and kept asking me to forgive them, I might think that they were not really sincere. Yet Jesus commands me to still forgive them and to restore them. And then acknowledge that your obedience to forgive is expected, not exceptional. Look what Jesus says. because it's all in the context, this is all connected. Look in verse seven. But which of you, having a servant, a bond slave, plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he has come from the field, go and sit down to meet? You say, that's not what you do. They've been working out in the field, they come in from the field, and you don't say, hey, dinner's ready. Just go ahead and sit down and eat. No, and will not rather say unto him, make ready, wherewith I may sup or eat. And gird thyself and serve me till I have eaten and drunken, and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink. That's normal. Doth he, does the master thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow, or I think not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all these things which are commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants, we have done that which was our duty to do. Acknowledge that your obedience to command is not exceptional. Whoa, look at me! They sinned against me so deeply, they scarred me, they tore apart my life for the way they sinned against me. But look how spiritual I am. and how I forgave them. Boy, aren't I a super Christian. Certainly we would never mouth that to anybody. We would never say that. We might think that. Might have that attitude. And that's why Jesus puts this here. He brings us back to a humble reality. You and I are his. And we are doing what he commands us to do. He says forgive. This is not exceptional. This is normal. This is what's expected of us to do. Does it take the exceptional grace of God to forgive? Yes, and that's why we give him the glory because he is the one who gives us the grace to obey the command to forgive. We give him the glory and we worship him because he has forgiven us and given us his grace to be able to freely forgive others and God forgives them and he restores them and God forgives us and he restores us and he brings us unity within the body of Christ and he does it all for his glory and it builds his kingdom to God be the glory. We're just unprofitable servants. We have done what was commanded us to do. Folks, you know what? We owe God everything because we have been bought by a price of his blood. It is our responsibility. We are commanded, and God will enable us. to forgive, grant forgiveness, expect spiritual snares, exercise spiritual alertness by rebuking in a timely manner the offending sinning Christian, and expand your faith by obedience. Step out by faith, forgive. And maybe for some of us, we need to step out by faith to obey the command to lovingly, privately confront and biblically rebuke that brother or sister in Christ. It is one of the most loving things that we can do for one another. And God expects us to do so. And aren't you glad that He confronts us? Aren't you glad we're rebuked by His Holy Spirit? Aren't you glad that He always forgives and restores us? We need to illustrate that to others in the way that we treat them. Let's bow our heads for prayer. Well, Father, I believe the context here is brothers and sisters in Christ forgiving each other. There is the possibility, because Jesus was talking to his apostles who were Israelites, they were Jewish, that he also meant his brother, their fellow Jews, even if they were unsaved. Lord, how can we witness the gospel that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, to forgive them of their sin if we are unforgiving towards them. Lord, how can we talk about the love and forgiveness of Christ if we don't show it by the way that we treat unbelievers who sin against us? So Lord, give us the grace to forgive Those who are unbelievers, we expect them to sin against us. But we also expect that you can take those opportunities and use those as ways of, through us, expressing your loving kindness and your desire to forgive them if only they will repent and believe on Christ. Within the body of Christ, we know we are commanded to forgive one another. And we are commanded to confront one another. And Lord, I pray that for those who tonight have realized by your Holy Spirit that they have been unforgiving. that they need to consider themselves and make some things right with you, and then they need to seek your guidance and carefully move forward to lovingly, privately rebuke that brother or sister in Christ, so that there can be a restoration of that one to you, and there can be unity within the body of Christ. Lord, give them the grace to do that. May they step out by faith and believe that you will do as you have promised to do, and give supply for every need, fully outfit or equip us. to obey your command, to grant forgiveness. And Lord, if we have been sinned against, oh Lord, help that not to be a snare and help us to never set a snare towards the brother or sister in Christ, either by sinning against them or by not being forgiving to them, which could spring the snare of bitterness in their own life. Lord, may we with great joy and with great hope, be obedience to you. May we be delighted that we have an opportunity to exemplify your grace, your forgiveness. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed for just a moment tonight. The next Sunday night when I have opportunity to preach, I'm gonna talk about seeking forgiveness. And I would encourage you, if even tonight's message has not been that You need to deal with this topic, but the other side of it, you need to go to a brother or sister in Christ and seek forgiveness. But let me encourage you with that. May all of us ask the Lord, through his Holy Spirit, to prepare our hearts tonight, should there be a brother or sister in Christ who comes to us to rebuke us. And that God would give us a tender heart, both to that brother or sister in Christ, as well as to his Holy Spirit, that we would respond properly and be restored. Let the Lord examine your heart tonight. Don't just pass this off as, well, it's not me, I don't have a problem with this. Let the Holy Spirit show you if there is this need. If you find yourself making excuses, if you find somebody's or some incident coming to the forefront of your mind, that may be an indication that you need to deal with this topic tonight. And the first way is to dedicate yourself to the Lord tonight in prayer, to taking the next step of obedience so that you can please the Lord. You know, sin is not just doing what God forbids, it's also not doing what God commands. And if we don't go to that errant brother or sister and rebuke them in love, if we don't grant forgiveness, then we are not right with God. We want God's blessing on this church. As we looked at this morning in Acts 5, we want to be a thriving church. If we're gonna be a thriving church, we must walk in the fear of God, and walking in the fear of God will result in wisdom and holiness and obedience. I'm gonna pray, and then Pastor Mike will lead us in the dismissal chorus. I'll be back at the connection point for a few minutes after the service. It may be that this has really struck a chord in your life, in your heart, a real need, and you'd just like for me to pray with you. It may be that you would need some biblical counsel about how to go about some specific aspects of what you know you need to do. I would be glad to help you with that. Please come back and let me pray with you and help you. Ladies, I know Chris would invite you to go and talk to her or go to any of our pastors or their wives. They'd be glad to help you with this need tonight. And for those of you that are guests with us tonight, I know we have some visitors with us, some guests, thank you for coming. I'd encourage you to come back to the Connection Point and just introduce yourself. I'd like to get to know you a little bit and just thank you for visiting with us tonight and see how we can be a spiritual help to you. Father, thank you for your word. It's not always easy, but it is always right. And we know that your grace will always empower us and enable us to do that. Working us through your Holy Spirit. Lord, sometimes it's easy to think or to ask that you would fill us and control us until we come to an application like this, where manifesting the fruit of the Spirit through what we've seen tonight in forgiveness becomes a real challenge. But when we not yield to the flesh, may we crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts, May we walk in the Spirit in obedience and victory and help us, Lord, to be able someday to rejoice in heaven over the work and the transformation that you worked in us tonight through the ministry of your word. In Jesus' name, amen. Would you stand with me right now as Pastor Mike leads us in the dismissing chorus?