and turn with us to the Gospel of Luke Chapter 17. We were studying in the Gospel of Luke for several weeks and then this last six weeks we've been covering different subjects including our missions conference last Sunday. But now we come back to the Gospel of Luke and we come to Chapter 17. We'll be looking at the first 10 verses. Follow in your Bibles as I read. Then said he unto his disciples, It is impossible but that offenses will come, but woe unto him through whom they come. It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves, if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if you repent, forgive him. And if ye trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day, turn again, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him. And the apostle said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as the grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you. But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meet? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me till I have eaten and drunken, and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do. Let's pray. Father, we come before you today and ask your help in presenting this message, which is a message about forgiveness and faith. Help us to understand, Lord, that this is something that you command us to do, even though sometimes it is hard to do. But we thank you that you have forgiven us. And I pray that your action toward us would encourage us to do the same thing for other people. Everyone here today, Lord, needs this message, myself included. And so I pray that you would use it to speak to each of our hearts and accomplish your will. I ask for enablement to bring the message, and I pray that Jesus Christ will be honored and glorified through it all. We ask in His name. Amen. The Bible is God's Word that tells of God's forgiveness. From Genesis to Revelation we read of God's grace in providing and offering salvation for mankind. In Genesis chapter 3, the very beginning of the book really, after the introduction telling us about creation, the Bible tells us that Satan suggested sin to Adam and Eve and they followed through with that suggestion and they committed sin. But shortly after that, God provided skins for their clothing, skins that were provided from an animal that God had killed, and that animal died in the place of Adam and Eve so that they could be clothed and cover their nakedness. This was true because... This happened because God was showing a picture of what would happen when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins on the cross of Calvary. And so in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 we have the promise. God told the devil that he would send the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent's head. And then so we had the promise there. In verse 21 we had the picture as God kills an animal and uses the skin to make clothing for Adam and Eve. And then in 1 John chapter 2 we're told about the propitiation. So we had the promise, we had the picture, and then Jesus Christ came as the propitiation. Propitiation means satisfaction. And 1 John 2 verse 2 says, He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And so Jesus is the promised one who died for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day so that we could have salvation, so that we could be forgiven. says these words at the end of the Bible. And it's in Revelation chapter 22. So it begins with the sacrifice of that animal to provide skins and covering for Adam and Eve. And it ends with these words, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Grace is unmerited favor. It's forgiveness. God speaks of unmerited favor, forgiveness for our sins. In the beginning of the book, the Bible, and at the ending of the book, and then all the way through the book. In studying for this message, I found that the words forgive, forgave, forgiven, forgiveness, and forgiving occur, one of those words, at least one of those words occur 101 times in the Bible. I've studied all those passages. I looked them all up and read them and tried to understand what they were saying. And in all the Bible, these verses occur, and they occur in 24 different books of the Bible. The thought of forgiveness is seen in many other places in the Bible. That concept is seen through people, through actions of the Lord, and through pictures, and we see this throughout the scripture, and that the Lord speaks of forgiveness. In the passage before us today, we find Jesus teaching his disciples that they should practice forgiveness. God forgives and God is telling them that they need to practice forgiveness toward other people. Now we all enjoy God's forgiveness and avail ourselves of it every day of our lives if we're smart. I mean every one of us sin every day. We do something that displeases the Lord every day. And so we avail ourselves of the forgiveness of God every day. We are glad for that and yet we find it sometimes hard to forgive. We're glad to receive forgiveness, but we sometimes find it hard to forgive. Many struggle with that, forgiving people. It's hard for them. And I have to say that sometimes it's hard for me as well. But God tells us that we are to forgive, not because we feel like it, but because God tells us to. God commands it. Yes, it's good to be forgiven. But sometimes it's hard to forgive. As we study these verses this morning, we want to examine four things about forgiveness. And I think they'll be clear as we see this. First of all, the climate of forgiveness. Now climate, you know, we speak of climate, we think of weather, we think of conditions in a certain place, and we say the climate is right. If you say the climate is right for us to go fishing, You say the weather's right. You know, it's good time. And if you say the climate is right to make an investment, that means everything is working right. It's good for us to make an investment in this particular thing. The climate is right. Well, let's talk about the climate for forgiveness. I think the Scripture would say that the climate for forgiveness is always good. I mean, there's always need for forgiveness. Let's notice how he says it. First of all, offenses, he says, are inevitable. Inevitable means they cannot be avoided. They will come. In verse 1, it says, Then said he unto his disciples, It is impossible, but that offenses will come. If you want to live in a perfect world, you're going to have to wait. God hasn't made the perfect world yet. There's coming a time when God makes a new heaven and a new earth and there'll be no more sin. But until that time, we need to understand, offenses will happen. It's inevitable they will take place. It is impossible, the Lord says, that offenses will... but that offenses will come. In other words, they will... there'll never be a time when there are not offenses. We will be offended by other people's actions from time to time. All of us are. There are times that people do things that we don't like, that hurt us, that offend us. That's going to happen. The Lord says it will. We live in a world controlled by Satan and God's archenemy. And most people in the world are also God's enemies. The Bible says almost everybody is going to hell. I'm sorry but that's what the scripture says. God says narrow is the gate that leads to eternal life. And few there be that find it. Few there be that find it. So true believers in Jesus Christ are going to heaven are in a minority. They're not a majority. So most people are in enmity with God. And sometimes even Christians get caught up into that. Because we are affected by the devil. We're influenced by the devil. And sometimes we offend people. All of us have done that. So offenses are inevitable. But also we need to understand offenses are serious. They're serious. Look at verse 1 again. He says, It is impossible but that offenses will come. But woe unto him through whom they come. God says, woe unto the person through whom the offenses come. Now that's true of all of us, we've all offended, and woe to the person, it's serious business, He says, when offenses come. And the particular thing He points out in this passage at the end of verse 2, He says that they should offend one of these little ones. Now the question comes, who are these little ones? Well, some people say those are children. There's one context in the scripture where the Lord speaks of that and He's talking about children. But this doesn't really mention children. It could be children. Some believe it means weak Christians, Christians who are weak and we offend them. It could mean that. But really, it can mean all Christians. Because I ask you the question, aren't we all little ones? In God's eyes, aren't we all His little children? It's something we need to know, and I imagine most of you understand this. There are no big shots in God's family. There are no big shots in God's family. If you think you are one, you're deceived. We're all God's little children. So woe be to the person that offends one of God's little children, one of God's people. Woe be to the person that offends them. And offenses will come, but woe be to the person that offends them. Word offend means to cause to stumble, to mess you up or maybe lead you into sin or cause you to feel something you shouldn't feel and to have a sin of the spirit that you shouldn't have. Woe be to that person that causes that to happen. And then the Lord says this, it were better. And we need to look at that. It says, it were better for that person, for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck and cast into the sea. The millstone was a donkey stone. It was a stone that was used to grind grain and things like that, maybe pulled by a donkey and sometimes it was called a donkey stone. But it was a big stone, weighed several hundred pounds. And the Lord said it would be better for the person who offends that a millstone were hanged about their neck and they were drowned and they were cast and planted in the sea. I don't think I'd want a millstone hanging around my neck if I was going swimming. I don't swim well anyway, and that would really do me in, and it would do you in as well. In other words, God said it's better for that person to die than for them to offend. Now, let me tell you something this morning I think all of you understand, and that is this. There are things worse than death. There are things worse than death. God doesn't say in here that we should, if a person offends, we should go out and tie a millstone around their neck and drown them. He said it'd be better for them. And you think about it, some of the sins that we commit or others commit, I mean the hardship it brings them, isn't it, wouldn't it be better just to die? I think of some of the sins I've seen in my life. Drug addiction. I've seen parents cry and weep over their child who had such abilities and so much potential, and then drugs just ruins it and brings them down. And it's terrible what had happened. And it would be better for that child, in a sense, never to have to go through that, not to have to bring all that hardship on the family, not to be that hurt by themselves. It would be better for them to die early before it ever happened. It would be better for them to die than for that to happen. I think of alcoholism. I've seen families destroyed by alcoholism. And I imagine that parent who has that child that goes down that alcohol trail and ends up the person who can't do anything without alcohol and it just destroys him and ruins his life. That parent would probably say, I wish my child that had never happened to them. It would be better for them to have died when they were doing right. It would be better for them to die when they were young than to have this life of misery. that's come upon them. I think of financial ruin by fraud. You've probably known of people who confiscated money from their employer or somebody else, and all of a sudden it came crashing down around them and hurt their family, and hurt maybe their church, and hurt their testimony, and just hurt so many things. And it would be better for that never to have happened. It would be better for them to die when they were doing right than to bring all that hardship. Think of immorality and how it's caused heartache to people, and distress to families, and moms and dads, and sisters and brothers, and husbands and wives, and it's destroyed people. I've seen it happen in Christians' lives, in pastors' lives. And I, just like anyone else, am tempted to sin. I mean, I'm a human being. But when I'm tempted to sin, and maybe it's a sin, the temptation of immorality, I remember these people. I remember these people that come to my mind. I remember a man who committed that sin, and he was brought down. He was a pastor of a church, and I went to see him, and he told me, he said, Earl, some people don't think I'm saved because of what I did. But he said, they don't understand how miserable I am. And so immorality sometimes brings great heartache and great trouble. And the Lord says that it would be better for that person to have died. So He says, woe unto them. The Bible says it like this, the way of the transgressor is hard. You see, the climate for forgiveness is suitable today because we know of all kinds of cases that people have done these things. They didn't die with a millstone around their neck. They lived and they sinned. And they brought reproach, and they brought heartache, and all these things have come down around them. And yes, it's true that they're living a life that's hard, worse than drowning. It'd be better for them. Now, we know that this doesn't mean going to hell. It doesn't mean millstone tying around the back and casting the sea is going to hell. Let's not talk about that because that would not be better. Hell would not be better. He's talking about death. He's talking about premature death. And so the climate for forgiveness is today. We know all of us know people who need forgiven because they've been hurt by sin. But then we notice also in this passage the command for forgiveness. This is what's hard to swallow sometimes, is the command for forgiveness. Look at verse 3. Take heed to yourselves, if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day, turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him. Wow, that's a big order. We must keep close to the Lord in order to forgive. It's not the natural thing for us to do. So the Lord says, take heed to yourselves. He's talking to his disciples. He says, take heed to yourselves. I mean, you can't do this naturally. I mean, it's not the natural thing for a person to do. Our sin nature makes us want to do something else. Our sin makes us want to not love and not forgive. Our sin nature makes us want to keep a grudge. So God says, take heed to yourselves. Don't let it happen. We must keep close to the Lord if we keep that from happening. And so people who offend live all around us and sometimes we join their ranks because we also offend. They've not been drowned by millstone, they're still living and they need our forgiveness. We must step up to the plate and forgive for their sake and for ours. God says forgive. Now let's notice how he says it. He says it's commanded, take heed yourselves, if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him, if you repent, forgive him. Thy brother trespass against you. Some brother or sister does something against you. And the Lord says, let's begin there, all right? They do something against you. All of you are bringing up things in your mind that somebody's done against you. I mean, all of us have faced that ideal climate, you know, when the forgiveness is needed, and all of us have been offended at one time or another. And so the Lord says, if thy brother trespass against thee. So he's done something that's hurt you. Here's what you're to do. He said, if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him. That means you go to him, and you rebuke him. You tell them what they've done. You tell them how it hurt you. Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 18, the Lord speaking on the same subject says this, If thy brother trespasses against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. It's not a public session, it's a private session. They've offended you, so you deal with them. And you go tell his fault between him, thee, and him alone. And if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. So what are you doing? You're going to not just tear them down. You're going to gain your brother. The person has hurt you. The person has offended you. You go not to destroy, but you go to men. You go to gain your brother. Tell them what they've done that's wrong. And the Lord says, tell them what they've done that's wrong. Rebuke them. You do it to gain your brother, and then he says this, if he repents, forgive him. If he repents, repents is a change of mind. Do you know if that change of mind is genuine? No, God does. But God says, if he says, I repent, I change my mind, I'm sorry, or I ask you to forgive me, or whatever it might be, then you forgive him. Then the Lord says, You might have to do it repeatedly. And God says this, and this is God's Word, not mine. It's not easy for me. It's not easy for you, but this is what God says. If he should trespass against thee seven times. Now, that wouldn't be so hard, you know. This guy does me wrong seven times, but then the Lord says something else. He says seven times in a day. I mean, in one day. He comes up and slaps you and you go, you know, he does this in public. He slaps you and so you go to him in private and you say, that wasn't right what you did to me. And he said, oh, no, I'm sorry. Would you forgive me? And so you forgive him. Later that day, he comes up and slaps you again in public. So you go to him in private and you tell him the same thing and he says, I'm sorry I did that. You forgive him. You know, by this time you're saying, well, the guy didn't really mean it, but that's not our part. That's not what we're supposed to decide. We're just supposed to do what God says. He says, I repent, you forgive. And so we forgive. Forgive means to remit punishment. It means to cease to demand penalty. It means to grant pardon. You know, just like God does for us. You know, I'm reminded of 1 John 1, 9. It says, We confess our sins. He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Faithful means He always will. Just means He can. He can do it for us because He paid for our sins. And so He's faithful. I imagine everyone here has gone to the Lord and said, Lord, I'm sorry. And then it happens again. You say, Lord, I'm sorry. And then it happens again, you say, Lord, I know you're getting tired of hearing this, and I know I messed up again, but Lord, will you please forgive me? And I'm so glad 1 John 1, 9 is there because God says, I always will. I always will. If you confess, He'll forgive. And so then He says, but not one, two, three times, but seven times in a day. Well, no, that, of course, bothers some of us because that would not be easy to do. And old Peter, you know, Peter is much like we are. And the Lord was teaching this in Matthew chapter 18 and Peter interrupted and said, Lord, how often should I forgive my brother? Till seven times, and I understand the rabbis taught they would do it three times. So he says, till seven times, he was being generous. He said, Lord, should I forgive him seven times? And here was Jesus' response. Not Pastor Earl's response, Jesus' response. And he said this, till 70 times seven. Now he didn't mean keep a record, I believe, and 490 times you say, well, 491st, no, I won't forgive. The Lord's saying, indefinitely. Just keep on doing it. Why? Because God said so. Because God said so. Not because we feel good doing it, but because God says so. It's a command of the scripture that we forgive. Now, that's hard. So let's talk about something else. Let's talk about the cultivation of forgiveness. The command of forgiveness is clear. Cultivation of forgiveness is, how do we cause that to happen? I mean, how do we cultivate it so that we can have the heart that will forgive? And the Lord describes it in verse 5. He said, the apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith. You know, I probably would have said the same thing, Lord, I can't do that. Lord, I can't forgive seven times in one day the same guy over and over again and he says I repent and I forgive him. Lord, I can't do that and I'm going to have to have more faith in order to do that. And so they say, increase our faith. Well, the Lord knows that that's exactly what we need. We need faith. Cultivation for forgiveness involves two things at least, and that is faith. Lord, increase our faith. They understood they needed more faith in God to do what He commanded them. And the Lord said to them, He said, if you have faith, the size of a grain of mustard seed. Now, that's small. That's small faith. In other words, He's saying probably to most of us, our faith is not very big. We need to have more, but you know, if we just had more, it'd still be little compared to what's possible. But he said, you don't have to have a whole big bunch of faith. He says, if you have a little faith in God, here's what you could do. He said, if you have faith, As a grain of mustard seed, you might say into this sycamine tree. The sycamine tree sometimes says sycamore, but it's not the sycamore that we know. It's like a mulberry tree in that day, in that place. And it was known to have a root system that was very strong. It was almost impossible, was impossible for a person to dig up the roots of a sycamore tree, of a mulberry type tree. And so the Lord may be standing by this tree, and He says, If you had faith the size of a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you. Plucked up by the root, and be planted in the sea, and it'll obey you. Now, does that mean that if we just have enough faith, we want to cut down a tree here? But rather than cut it down, we're just going to take it up by the roots. And we're going to say, Lord, I really believe you can do this. Take up this tree by the roots, and it's going to come up. I don't think it means that, because it's probably not God's will for that to happen. You see, the Bible says, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Our faith is to be established on what God tells us to do. If God wants us something to happen and it's His will to happen, it can happen. If God wants to pluck up a tree by the roots and plant it in the sea, He can do it. It's not too hard for God. But it's got to be God's will. And we pray in God's will. And the Scripture teaches us to pray in God's will. And if we pray in God's will, He can do it. Can God change a heart? Yes, He can. Can God transform a life? Yes, He can. Can God take and change the results of a sin? Yes, He can. And so we say that if we just had the faith the size of a grain of mustard seed, God could do this. So what's it take to have the type of forgiveness that God says? What's it take to have that continual type of forgiveness, genuine forgiveness? It takes faith. We have to break all of our fears and all of our arguments and we have to say to the Lord, Lord, I can't do this, but you can. Lord, I can't change me, I can't change them, but you can, and I believe you, and I will do what you tell me to do, even though all these things are shouting to me and saying, don't do it. I believe you, and I trust you, and I obey you. It takes a lot of faith, but faith in God will allow you to forgive. But then it takes something else. Faith is, whether forgiveness is cultivated by faith, but faith, forgiveness is also cultivated by obedience. You see, he illustrates this, I believe, in beginning verse 7. I struggled with this passage as I was studying it and wondering how this all fits together. But I believe I understand now how it fits together. And the Lord says, Faith is cultivated by obedience. Notice how he says it in verse 7. But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him, by and by, when he is come from the field, go and sit down to meet? Now this is a master who has servants, in those days something like slaves, and they were working for them. And this master, when he has these people that are working for him, do all this work in the field, and they come in tired, does the master say, you all sit down and I will fix your food for you? No, the master doesn't say that. The master says, you're my servants, probably hired servants, and you were paid to do this, and I will go get ready for my supper, and you fix my supper and bring it to me. And after I'm through, then you will eat. But he will not rather, verse 8, saying to him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken, and afterward thou shalt eat and drink. Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not, or I think not. Does he commend that servant for doing the things that he was commanded to do? The context is that the Lord commands us to forgive. And God doesn't say that we come to the place where we don't forgive. You say, well, I'm too tired. I don't like what's happened. I'm upset with what's happened. I can't forgive. The Lord says, you're my servant. You do like I commanded you. And you will cultivate my forgiveness by obeying me. You will do what I commanded you to do. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which I commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do. We don't say, But I've lived a good life as a Christian. I've done so many good things. I've never done this sin that has offended me. And I'm not about to forgive them. The Lord says, when ye shall have done all those things which have commanded you, don't say, I'm a good servant. God would say, I'm an unprofitable servant. I've only done what you told me to do. Our response is obedience. We don't have to forgive. We don't have to feel like forgiving. We don't have to come to the place where we say a person deserves forgiving. The Lord says we do it because God commands us to. And so that's the key is to forgiveness is faith and obedience. But let's close by something else. And that's the consequences of forgiveness. This makes it good. You say, well, I don't know if it's worth it. I just don't know if I can do that. The Lord gives us a lot of reasons The consequences of forgiveness. Let me go through them quickly. First of all, forgiveness pleases God. You see, obedience to God always pleases God. In Hebrews 11, verse 6, it says, without faith it is impossible to please Him. So the disciples said, Lord, give us more faith. And the Lord says, if you have a little faith, you can do this. And so faith in God pleases Him. So we have faith. We say, Lord, I don't want to do it. But I believe you, Lord. I'll trust you. I'll leave it all up to you. I'll just do what you told me to do, and I'll leave it in your hands. That will please God. The consequence is it pleases God. Without faith, it's impossible to please Him. Another reason is forgiveness makes us like Jesus. You know, our ultimate desire is to be like Jesus. The Bible says when we go to be with Him in heaven, He's going to make us like Him. And so He's working on us to make us more like Him. And the scripture says in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 1, Be followers of God as dear children. The word followers there is the Greek word that means mimic or imitate. What God does, you do. And so when we forgive, we're really being like Jesus. John 8 verse 11 tells us an account of Jesus. There was a woman taken in adultery and she was brought before Jesus. They didn't bring the man, I don't know why, but they brought the woman. And they said, Lord, she was taken in a very act of adultery. She should be stoned. And Jesus stooped down and he wrote in the sand. And finally he said to the people, he said, those without sin cast the first stone. So they all began to walk away. And Jesus and this woman was left alone. She said, where are thine accusers? And she said, they've gone, Lord. And Jesus said this, neither do I condemn thee. go and sin no more." I believe that woman was brought to repentance. She felt bad because of what she'd done. She was standing in the presence of purity. And Jesus says, neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. That's forgiveness. We should be like Jesus. Jesus did that. Also, forgiveness demonstrates our thankfulness for being forgiven. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32 says be a kind one to another forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you but I'm not that bad a sinner let me tell you how bad you are every one of you here are so bad that if you got what you deserve you'd split hell wide open Because all have sinned and come short of God. We do not deserve to go to heaven. Jesus died for us. You say, but my sin is not that bad. Let me tell you what separated man from God. Adam and Eve ate the wrong fruit. It was an apple or a pear or something like that hanging on a tree. God said, don't do it and they did it. And it brought sin on the whole human race. It was that bad to disobey God and all of us have. And God says, forgiveness demonstrates our thankfulness to God for forgiving us. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. We've been forgiven. Colossians 3, verse 13, forbearing one another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. The Lord says, I did it for you. You should do it for others. And so it demonstrates our thankfulness to God. Also, forgiveness guarantees our forgiveness. Turn your Bibles quickly to Matthew chapter 6. We have several verses written down here, but we'll not look at them all, but Matthew chapter 6. Also, Matthew 18, 3, and Matthew 11, 25, and 26, Luke 6, verse 37, Luke 11, verse 4, all these verses say this. Matthew 6, verse 12 says, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Verse 14, if ye forgive men their trespass, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespass, neither will your Father forgive your trespass. God says that forgiveness of others guarantees God's forgiveness of us. You see, if we harbor iniquity in our heart, the Lord says that will affect us. And it'll make it so that we're not right with God. And really, if we want to be forgiven, we need to forgive others. Also, forgiveness assures us of victory over the devil. In Ephesians 6, verse 6, it says, The shield of faith enables you to quench the fiery darts of the devil. In other words, the devil's out to get you, Christian. He's out to destroy you. He's out to turn you bitter. He's out to make you the person God doesn't want you to be. God says, forgive, and God wants us to forgive. And the Lord says, forgiveness assures us victory over the devil because with the shield of faith, you can only forgive if you have faith, you know. With the shield of faith, we're able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And there's an interesting passage in 2 Corinthians 2. There was a man in the church that had been disciplined by the church, and he had repented. And the church wouldn't let up on him, wouldn't forgive him. And they kept up that discipline toward him, and he couldn't make it right with the church, even though he'd made it right with the Lord. And Paul said, don't do that. He said, hold off on that man. Don't do that to him. And he says this, he says, Satan uses unforgiveness as an advantage to us. He says, you forgive him lest Satan take advantage of that. Oh, how unforgiveness builds up in our hearts all kinds of sins and the devil will take advantage of that and he'll bring you down because you won't forgive. And so forgiveness assures us of victory over the devil who's trying to destroy us. Victory keeps us out of prison. Do you know that? Brother, forgiveness keeps you out of prison. Matthew chapter 18 tells about that. You'll have to look at it later. And the Lord says that the man, He forgave this man who owed him 10,000 talents. It was just many millions of dollars. And the guy was so glad that the Lord had forgiven him, so he went out, and after that, and he had a guy that owed him 100 pence, 100 days' wage, nothing compared to what he owed the master. And boy, he made him, he was down hard on him, he demanded he pay that, and the Lord says, all right, you bring that servant here, I'll deal with him, and I'll put him in prison where he's tormented. You know, there's nothing worse than prison, the prison of unforgiveness, because it torments us. Deliver Him to the tormentors. All kinds of things will torment you if you won't forgive. I mean, the hatred that builds up in your heart will torment you. The unforgiving spirit will torment you. All the sins of the spirit that happen because of that will torment you, and you will be hurt more than the person that you needed to forgive. And so the Lord says, if you forgive, it'll keep you out of the prison of torment. And then finally, forgiveness allows us to have answered prayer. Psalm 66 verse 18 says, if you regard iniquity in your heart, the Lord will not hear you. So if we don't take care of this, the Lord won't hear us. It'll affect our prayer life. Everyone here has things that have happened to you. And some of you maybe held a grudge because of it. Why don't you let the Lord deal with that? Jesus said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Let God deal with that. Forgive the person, have faith to trust God to take care of it, to do what needs to be done, and the Lord will bless you for it. It's worth believing the Lord and forgiving. A clerk was caught embezzling and was summoned to the office of his employer, who was a Christian. The least the man could expect was a blistering dismissal. He might even be turned over to the police. When the clerk entered the office, the older man spoke his name and asked him if he was guilty. Shamefully, the employer stammered out, The employer told him he was not going to press charges, but then asked, if I take you back, can I trust you? When the surprised but still remorseful clerk assured him that he could be trusted, the employer continued, you are the second man who has fallen, has been pardoned in this company. He said, I was the first. I'm showing you mercy because I received mercy. God's forgiven us. Let's forgive others. Let's pray. Father, thank you today. for the passage that we've looked at in Luke chapter 17. Lord, how we have been forgiven, we thank you for that. How we need to be forgiving, help us with that. And I pray that we might be like you, in Jesus' name. Amen.