Well, good morning again, if you would take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Colossians. We're going to continue this morning looking at verse 13, and I think that in terms of The messages that I have preached that perhaps has had a quite profound impact, more than many others, got many comments in the past week about it. Some of it kind of cut to the quick, and I think it's a topic that all of us can certainly use exhortation and instruction in. It has been an issue, obviously, over the course of the history of the church that Christians have been perhaps known more for their contention than for their love and for their willingness to forbear and to forgive. And so, again, we're going to continue with that theme this morning as we look at the balance of verse 13, looking to Christ as our example as to why we forgive. and using that as the model for how we are going to be engaged with other people. And so, we'll spend some time this morning, Lord willing, working through that principle and that example. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we do love You. Thank You for this glorious day that You've given to us. Thank You for all the blessings You've bestowed upon us. I Thank You, Lord, for watching over us and keeping us, protecting the church, and thank You for having Your hand upon our vacation Bible school time. Thank You for all of those who work so diligently and hard to make this a time of of enjoyment for the children and to present to them Jesus and to communicate the power of the gospel and the wonder of salvation. Thank you, Lord, for that opportunity and the facilities that we have to do those things. We pray, Lord, for the presence of your Holy Spirit today. Help us to understand your word. We're here today for the purpose of leaving different than we arrived, to worship you both in spirit and in truth, and so may we be kindled anew in our love for you and our love for each other, loving each other than being demonstrated by our willingness to forbear and to forgive and to do so as we model what you have so graciously done for us. We pray that you would keep us, preserve us for your glory and for your honor alone. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Colossians chapter 3. Looking at, of course, verse 12 is the portion that we've been looking at in part here and in verse 13, so let's pick up with verse 12 beginning to read there, Colossians 3.12. So as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. So Paul there identifying five Christian virtues that ought to be always evident in some degree in the Christian life. Now of course we understand that the Christian life is often plagued by battles and defeats and regression. We seem to live more in Romans chapter seven than we do in Colossians 3.12. And we understand that, we understand that in the context of who we are still in our fallen flesh that we have struggles and fights that are at times intense and we can even have seasons where these virtues may be glaringly absent in terms of not being demonstrated by us consistently. Understanding that, we get to look to Jesus Christ, who never failed in any aspect of these virtues. He always did them perfectly. And so, while we may at times despair, our despair is resolved, our assurance is secured in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And so we keep our hope in that, and we do these things out of love for Him. And so, as we have those seasons in our lives, oftentimes they're brought about by a distance from Christ. As we move away from Him and as we do that, we reflect less and less who He is. Verse 13, bearing with one another, that's the idea of forbearance, and forgiving each other, the idea of forgiveness. Whoever has a complaint against anyone, Just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. We saw that similar language in Ephesians chapter four this morning. 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 richly dwell within you with all wisdom and teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." And so last week we talked about the idea that what Paul's expectation here is really that Christians are going to be ones who demonstrate its health by the exercise of the virtues that are present for us in verse 12, and in particular demonstrated then, these virtues that are listed in verse 12, are borne out in the action of forbearance and forgiveness. Now, of course, this action of forbearance and forgiveness is something that we're called to do. And as I noted last week, and it's very important, you must understand that in the context of your salvation, God working in you, bringing you to Himself, as Paul has explained at the beginning of verse 12, everything that we're called to do In the balance of chapter 3 and moving into chapter 4, these imperatives are based upon the doctrine, the indicative of election, that God chose you for a particular reason in the context of service that would be demonstrated through your life. He didn't choose you because He knew you would do these things super good and you were a real catch. He chose you so that you would ultimately demonstrate them the reality of your salvation being born out. by the presence of these virtues. And so I want to be mindful of that and for you to be mindful of that as we consider what Paul is saying to us. So, when we're slighted, when we're offended, when we're hurt, our automatic response is not to be ones who lash out in anger, in retribution, in revenge, in spite, with slander, with avarice, with anger. Those things are things that are indicative of the unregenerate. But rather, what we do in our automatic response ought to be one of forbearance and forgiveness. Now friends, This is what we're called to do as the redeemed of Christ. Now, I know it's a tall order, and I would submit to you that it's probably one of the most difficult areas of our lives. This is one of the most difficult things to do. Our inclination is to carry grudges. We may say that vengeance is the Lord, but He's helping me prepare the ground. But he isn't. You know, it's interesting to me that people oftentimes are so deeply offended over something, whether it be small or large, and they feel as if it's incumbent upon them to take care of it. And they think that they're going to take care of it in a way that's going to be clever and unique and perfect. Yet the Lord reminds us that we are not to be people who are engaged in that because He is going to deal with it. And trust me when I tell you that He will deal with it in a way that you never thought of. And He will deal with it in a way that will be something that ultimately causes His glory to be exalted and not yours. So, for Paul, this is critically important for the church in Colossae to understand. Now, I'm not certain, we don't know from church history whether or not there was a particular issue going on within the Colossae church that caused Paul to want to raise this particular issue. Oftentimes, Paul would write to address something that was going on. We know that Epaphras walked a long way to go and talk to Paul, primarily about the issue of the false teacher, but I'm certain that he communicated perhaps other things to Paul that were also a concern to him as a pastor within the church in Colossae. So it makes sense that Paul is reminding, as he would the church in Ephesus, of these very same principles. Isn't it significant that we have these epistles where you have this reoccurring theme present about the issue of forbearance and forgiveness? And that the way that we demonstrate the reality of the five Christian virtues and ultimately our love for each other is by being people who forbear and forgive. Now certainly Paul's teaching applies to the world, how we interact with people. What we do in the context of our interactions with other people in the world is driven as well by these virtues. We demonstrate to people that we are indeed different people by the way that we react to certain things. I see this all the time as a lawyer. People come to me and they talk to me, they want their pound of flesh. They want their revenge, they want their vengeance. And even though I can appeal to them, and I do, I will tell people, listen, there is a different way to resolve this. Can you forgive them? Will you be forbearing? No, absolutely not. Scorched earth, hit the nuclear button. Okay, here we go, lock and load. But in the church, and for us as the redeemed of Christ, that is not the alternative. Even Paul would say, in 1 Corinthians chapter six, he hears that in the church there, they're suing each other. And he says to them, that cannot be. You don't do that. You don't, even though you think your rights have been violated, you have been somehow legally offended or something has been breached in the context of the law, you don't assert that. You forbear and you forgive. This is the level to which Paul wants us to be engaged in that level of relationship with each other, one which is driven ultimately by love, and as we will see today, as an example of what Christ has done for us. And so, friends, my challenge to you is to be mindful of the idea that when offended, your automatic reaction is not to be the nuclear button, to not engage in scorched earth. I mean, I've talked to people who have carried grudges against other people for decades, and they say they're Christians. How can that be? How can it be? Whether it's a family member, a friend, a co-worker, a colleague, and in particular, in the church. I know people in the ministry, in churches, who are absolutely angry to the extreme level with other people in church. or in churches. Paul tells us that a root of, or we're told in Scripture rather, that a root of bitterness can be very problematic, and I think oftentimes we forget that those roots of bitterness turn into forests of anger. They grow into a valley of thorns and thistles which take then decades to eradicate. you deal with it and you take care of it. And so Paul here is saying to us, be mindful of that. And for him, the DNA of the church ought to be demonstrated in its healthy forbearance and forgiveness attitude. According to Paul's thinking, a healthy church is typically characterized by actually following what it professes to believe and has allegedly experienced. So you say to me, Pastor John, I'm a Christian. I'm great, I'm glad for that. You and I will be together forever. Isn't that wonderful? But if you're constantly angry, if you're constantly engaged in the idea that you're going to get your revenge and you're going to carry out your agenda, then there's a problem. There's a real problem. And that begins to erode the church and it ultimately belies the assertion that you somehow are in Christ. For Paul, the DNA of a Christian dictates the idea that our automatic response is one of forbearance and of forgiveness. And so Paul is driving home this reality by emphasizing the consequences of one's salvation. This is born out of our election before the foundation of the world, a people chosen, peculiar, set apart, set aside, identifiable by the fact that we don't react like the world reacts, that we have an element within us through the Holy Spirit that compels us and moves us towards a reaction that is entirely different than that of the world. We are not to be known for our contention, we are to be known for our love and our generosity of spirit towards other people and towards those within the body of Christ, and in particular, those with whom we fellowship week in and week out. A house divided cannot stand, a church divided cannot stand, a church torn apart by anger, revenge, rift, will be a church that can never succeed. And so we have to take heed to these words. This is incredibly practical, and it hits where it hurts. And so we want to be exhorted, we want to be instructed. The word of God is profitable for those things, and this is one of those occasions when it really is. The idea that we are of Christ is borne out by the presence of these certain Christ-like virtues, bearing in mind that all these virtues that are listed in verse 12 are those that are found in the person of Jesus Christ. And as we grow in Christ, these virtues increasingly permeate our life and saturate those around us. The body of Christ becomes saturated in these virtues and as a consequence it becomes a haven of peace and of rest and of exaltation of the glory of Christ. Now we're going to sin. We're going to fail. And even in the context of that we need to be ones who forbear and forgive. And so this is Paul's point when we look at what he says then in the balance of verse three as we look at this particular portion of the verse. So looking at, I'm sorry, verse 13 of chapter 3. So looking at, again, verse 13, Paul says, bearing with one another and forgiving each other. So we understand that the grammar there speaks to us of the idea that these are actions that are of a continuous, ongoing nature. You don't just have to forgive people on Sundays. You don't get to be angry on Wednesdays, even though that's the least favorite day of the week for me. I don't know why, it just is. I tend to be grouchy on Wednesdays. This is continuous for us. This is something that is ongoing and it's something that we're growing into as well. The language, the grammar of this is really significant because what we ultimately see by the grammatical structure and the use of the Greek is that forbearance and forgiveness become the proving grounds of our faith. As we noted last week, you say to me that you're a Christian. Okay, well, do you forbear? Do you forgive? Is that what you're known for, or are you rather known for cutting off people's heads? It bothers me at times in a congregation that there could be a particular person who's known for being the angry person, who's being the person who's easily offended, the person who is always wearing their emotions on their sleeves and is quick to be upset and to exact their revenge in some manner. You can't be that person. You just cannot be that person. The church cannot thrive. And if we're walking around on pins and needles, always concerned that we're going to slight or offend this particular person, then I would appeal to you, friend, that you need to get right with Christ. You don't want to be that person. And a person who persists in that attitude and in that mindset, and if they say to me, well, he's just that way, she's just that way. I will say to them, then, they're in the wrong way, and they're on a way to destruction. Because I submit to you, the Scripture is clear, when God saves somebody, He changes them. He changes them. And so I would say to you, husbands and wives, and this goes to the idea of what we're going to be talking about in my 15 series message for women. I'm just teasing, of course. It's fourteen messages. But even in marriages we see this. Husband gets angry at his wife, and there's this constant grudge. There's this constant element of vengeance. They're both believers. They both come to church. They both get in the car on Sunday mornings. They drive to church. They may not speak to each other, but they come in, they smile at other people. They don't smile at each other. because they're not forbearing, they're not forgiving. There's nothing so big in your marriage or in your life that you cannot forbear or forgive. And the reason for that is because God has forgiven you. And what did He forgive you? He forgave you in the context of His holiness that you were an affront, that you were in sin, that you were wicked, born in depravity, conceived in iniquity, yet He chose to save you. Who are you to not forgive another person? Paul basically would say, I guess in street language, who do you think you are? What are you doing? What is going on? Again, keep in mind, and if you've not written anything down, please write this down. Forbearance and forgiveness are the proving grounds of faith. Forbearance and forgiveness are the proving grounds of faith. So I'm gonna tell you right now, as your pastor, one of the things that I watch for and I look for is this. Not that I'm walking around sneaking and looking around corners at you, but I want to see the attitude of forbearance and forgiveness being demonstrated amongst us. And when it's not there, that's a problem, and that's a real concern to me. When it's not there, that's the devil's playground, and it will turn a church inside out. It will destroy the unity of the church. It will hinder its work and its purpose. And so we have to be very cautious about this. So Paul here moves then into the idea of the basis for why we do these things. So we see here that when we do this, okay you may say to me, pastor, it's like a kid at home, you say sit down, and they say, well I'm sitting down but I'm standing up on the inside. And you say to me, well pastor, okay I'll forbear and I'll forgive, but I've got a grudge. I'm going to get that. You've got to understand. He's going to tease that attitude out because he's going to say that we can't give this forbearance and forgiveness in some grudging way. The ground and motivation of such grace are set forth when Paul adds this condition in verse 13, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. So you say to me, well, pastor, why on earth should I do that? Why should I forgive that person? I can't stand them. because Christ forgave you. But you can't imagine what they did to me. Christ forgave you. You don't understand the hurt and the harm and the deep feelings I have about, it's unimaginable. Christ forgave you. But Christ forgave you. But you don't, Christ forgave you. See, friends, you just don't get to go there. You don't get to go there. Now, here's the thing, too. There are people, and we've all met them, who have their nuclear eruption leaving all the carnage in their wake, and they're perfectly fine. They've gotten it off their chest. They walk off smiling, and there's carnage behind them. I used to work for a guy like that. come in, blow up. His name was Ebenezer Scrooge. He'd come in and he'd scream and yell and just erupt. The rest of the day was in turmoil. He was walking around smiling. That happens in the church too. That happens in the church too. So what Paul is saying to me is this, you don't do this begrudgingly. You don't just kind of do it on the surface and pretend your way through it. No, the motivation and the ground for your forgiveness and your forbearance is because the Lord forgave you, so also should you. We read that very same thing in Ephesians 4.32 this morning in our scripture reading. Paul, again, emphasizing this important principle, Christ as the example, Christ as the picture. You comprehending, and this is why doctrine is important, because when you're taught the doctrine of total depravity, when you're taught about the doctrine of sin, and how much God hates sin, and that sin is an affront against his thrice holiness, then you will begin to comprehend how important it is that you then do the same thing in the context of dealing with what people have done to you. You've not been forgiven some small matter. Now keep in mind, this is what people do. Well, people will say, I am not a Stalin. I am not a Hitler. I was never that bad. When God saved me, it was a good thing. The church got a benefit when God saved me. I was a catch. I was already doing good things. I was already prepared to be engaged in the process. I'm not really one who falls within the category of what he's talking about here. But friend, you were a vile sinner. Paul would refer to himself as a vile sinner. David the same way. even harkening back to his very conception. So, we don't do this grudgingly. We do it as Christ did it. It's important that Paul emphasizes this idea of using Christ as an example through the grammar structure of this passage. He has this conjunction, a comparative conjunction, in verse 13, which is just as. So look at this with me, if you will. Your Bibles open, please. Whoever has a complaint against anyone. So there, we know the category of offender. It's everybody. Alright? There aren't people who are excluded. So it's everyone, whatever you've got, whoever, it's comprehensive, he's reaching into everyone's pockets here, has a complaint against anyone. Now, Paul doesn't say, oh, the complaint. Let's categorize the complaint within valid complaints and invalid complaints. Anybody who has an invalid, he's not saying that. It's any kind of complaint. So in your mind, you don't get to begin to kind of filter through it and say, okay, this is that exception where I get to be really angry. I don't have to forgive them for this. I don't have to forbear." He says any complaint about anyone, for any reason. Notice the comprehensive nature of the category. And again, Christians think within categories. So now we have a category of forbearance and forgiveness. It's any kind of complaint. It's all sorts and types of complaints. It's every nature and degree of complaint from any source. Very comprehensive. So when he says just, so he moves into the idea then of using Christ as this example, he says just as. Just as, so this comparative conjunction provides the hinge point of similarity between our forgiveness and that of Christ. That of Christ. We're reminded in Scripture that our sin, in the context of its forgiveness, is forever vanquished from God. It is as far as the east is from the west. You have been forgiven both the past, the present, and your future sin. Forever. Indeed, Paul will tell me in Colossians chapter 2 that this forgiveness is for all our transgressions. Go back to verse 13. When you were dead, of chapter 2, when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, it can't get any worse than that. That is a comprehensive demonstration by Paul of the depravity in which you existed when God saved you. He made you alive together with him. Now, look what happened in the context of the regeneration, having forgiven us all our transgressions. Now, a transgression is an affront, a violation of the law in its most comprehensive sense. Not only did He forgive it, He did what? "...having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." That's what we're talking about here. This is no small matter. And so when Paul uses this little comparative conjunction in verse 13, just as he's reaching back into the theology of chapter two, he's basing this argument that he's making in verse 13 on what the doctrine taught us in chapter two, verses 14 and 15, or 13 and 14. So we can see here, then, that this is indeed the hinge point of the similarity between our forgiveness and that of Christ. Some translations use the phrase, even as, rather than just as, or according to, or in proportion to, or in the degree that. So those are other ways of saying it. You can look at the passage and say, in the degree that the Lord forgave you. Well, we know from the degree described for us in verses 13 and 14 that it's almost immeasurable in the context. It was in proportion as, if you want to say it. Well, what's the proportion, pastor? It's beyond comprehension. It's immeasurable. It's of a degree of magnitude times millions and millions. This is the hinge point. So the standard for us, always, as the redeemed of Christ, is the Lord forgave you. So this is what I want you to do. The minute that you got that tinge coming, you know what I'm talking about. You know it, come on. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Your response in your mind, so our minds have been changed, right? We're not thinking the way Christians ought to think. I'm going to be reminded in that instance of offense that I was an offense to God and He forgave me. That's how it works. And that's how it's supposed to work every single time. There's no exceptions. And so Paul here says, the Lord forgave you. And just as He forgave you, so too you do that. When Paul makes reference to the Lord here, it is likely that he's referring to Jesus Christ. emphasizing the work in person of Christ in that context, the fact that in His active obedience that He came and bore for us our sin, the punishment of it, which He did not deserve. the horrible, horrible, horrific death on a cross reserved for the most vilest of criminals. He suffered for you and for me and in the process paid for the penalty of our sin and in that context offered to us and provided to us an incomprehensible level of forgiveness forever and forever and forever. You can never be more forgiven than you are right now or the second that you were saved. You do not become more forgiven. God does not increase his forgiveness of you. He forgave you in Christ which was comprehensively complete to the utter degree of all sins that you could ever commit, will commit, and might commit in the future. That's how comprehensive this is. It's interesting, too, is that he says here that as He forgave you, just as the Lord forgave you. This is in the Aorist tense, which indicates an ongoing, continuous nature of forgiveness. Boom. Wow. Just as He, just as the Lord forgave and continues to forgive and will always be forgiving, so to you. That's really unbelievable. And so for Paul here, he wants to make certain that we're understanding just how significant this call to forgiveness is as it relates to our position in Christ. He's describing the forgiveness of the Lord towards us. He did it for you. Again, that's a plural pronoun, acknowledging Christ's death for each one of us. and picturing us as a redeemed company, together. And so Paul here says, so also should we. This word so brings it all back into focus and points us towards the direction of having this attitude of forbearance and forgiveness. What is true of Christ towards us should also be true of us toward one another, always. And again, this pronoun you is plural, laying the responsibility upon each one of us. It's not just for a select few within the church to demonstrate this. It's not just for the elders. It's just not for whomever else. It's for all of us together, a whole body practicing such grace among ourselves. Now, we can't forgive in the most comprehensive way that Christ did. He did it once and for all, as we know from Scripture. His sacrifice was thorough and full and complete and such to the degree that it's never having to be offered again, ever, not ever. Christ alone is our sin bearer, yet because of what He has done for us, we can and must, in like fashion, extend grace to one another, not holding our offenses against one another. Reflecting on the relationship of Paul's instruction here tells us and reminds us of what Christ himself would teach in Matthew chapter 18 verses 23 through 35. Let's turn there for a great example of this being borne out. What does this look like in real time? We have a great example from Christ here in Matthew chapter 18. And so we're going to put some shoe leather to the teaching that Paul has given us in Colossians 3. Now, we understand that the debt that we owed was an insurmountable one. That Christ came and lived the life that you and I never could. that He provided to us all that we would need in His active and passive obedience, and that the Father accepted that. And in accepting that, He extended to us all of His work forever, forgiving us of our sin and making us righteous in Christ. Again, Paul, hearkening back to the idea of our unity in Christ, is building upon that same theme. If we're united to Him, then we ought to be ones who forgive like He forgives. Keeping in mind, too, in Colossians 3.10, I'm being told that I'm continuously in a state of renewal in which the image of Christ is being pressed into me. As I'm being formed into His image, this attitude of forgiveness and forbearance ought to become more evident as I mature, understanding that that renewal communicated in verse 10 is of a continuous, ongoing, increasingly evident nature. And so in Matthew chapter 18, we see this. Then Peter, well, we could spend a whole lot of time just there. Then Peter. Peter, what are you gonna do now? Now what? Then Peter came and said to him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven. I would have loved to have seen the look on Peter's face at that moment. For this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him." Now, 10,000 talents is an incomprehensible amount of money. That's what's being communicated here. It's a debt that he could never pay. He was never going to be able to pay that. no matter what he did or how long he lived. So the idea in the parable, the story already, is that the person who he's bringing to himself cannot pay the debt. He has no means by which to do that. But since he did not have the means to repay, verse 25, his Lord commanded him to be sold along with his wife and children and all that he had and repayment to be made. That's a hard verse. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him saying, have patience with me and I will repay you everything. And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. So what's the motivation? He felt compassion for him. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii. It's a very minor amount of money. And he seized him and began to choke him saying, pay back what you owe. So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will repay you. Remember, those were his words to the king, were they not? But he was unwilling, and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, You wicked slave. Now look at the context here. Look at what he's called. for not forgiving." Wicked. He's called wicked. You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave in the same way that I had mercy on you? And his lord moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that he was owed, that was owed him. A sobering verse, 35. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart." From your heart. So that eliminates that kind of begrudging, yeah, I'm going to forgive him, but I'm not really. I'm going to forbear, but not really. And so what we see here is that Christ is addressing with this important subject the forgiveness of injuries, the forgiveness of being sinned against, the forgiveness of being harmed. What Christ is telling us is that to know how to conduct ourselves when we are ill-treated is a great moment, is of great moment to our souls. And the rule laid down here must, of course, be interpreted with a sober-minded qualification. In the context of we don't dismiss things that are a violation of the law, we don't dismiss personal harm that has occurred in the context of physical consequences of being beaten or ill-treated in that context, the Lord has graciously given us civil magistrates and a system by which those offenses can be addressed and ought to be addressed. We don't ignore those things. But in the context of these personal issues, we are to bear much, to put up with much, and rather than quarrel, we are to overlook much and submit to much. Rather than have any strife, this is what we're being taught here, we are to lay aside everything like malice and strife and revenge and retaliation. Because those feelings are only fit for the heathens, for the unregenerate. And people who demonstrate that are utterly unworthy of a disciple of Christ. Those things ought not to be evident if you claim to know Christ. And indeed, the implication here by verse 35 is that you cannot be a disciple of Christ and be that way. That's the implication. Now friends, you've got to hear me about this. This is a big deal. This is an area that we so struggle in, and the warning here is a sober one. Christ is saying that people who persist in this attitude are, like this particular slave, wicked, outside of God's will, and are separated from Him to the extent to which they are going to be judged eternally for it. That's a big deal, friends. We have far too long allowed these kinds of sin to exist within the church and within our own lives. As Jerry Bridges would say, they have become, it has become a respectable sin. A sin we just, oh, that's just the way they are. That's just the way it is. You know old Joe, don't cross him, he'll cut your head off. Don't do that to her, she'll tear your heart out. Christ is saying to us, may it never be. Indeed, what a happy world it would be if this rule of our Lord's was more known and better obeyed. How many of the miseries of mankind are occasioned by disputes, quarrels, lawsuits, and obstinate tenacity about what we call our rights? Today is Juneteenth. It's about people paying for something. It's a revenge holiday. You are a certain type of person, and we're going to be reminding you of it, and you're going to be someone that's going to be categorized in a demeaning, disparaging way, because we want our vengeance. We want our pound of flesh. permeates the church. The whole idea of social justice and wokeism is driven by an idea that we don't forgive, we don't forget, we don't forbear, we hold on and we push and we get our due resorts out of those people. We get our pound of flesh. This is so wrong. We're missing the point. We're missing the very thing that Christ is teaching us. If you have been forgiven, then you must also forgive and you must forgive much, regardless of the level of offense. I've been treated differently because of the color of my skin, forgive them. I have been, people have taken things from me, forgive them. People have treated me harshly and discriminated against me in the context of my employment, forgive them. Forbear, forgive. Man, this is hard. This is really hard. And I'm a lawyer. So, we're told that we have two powerful motives for exercising a forgiving spirit. We have the picture as we do for Paul in Colossians 3, 13. One who has been forgiven much ought to also forgive. This is exactly the point that Christ is emphasizing in instructing Peter when to forgive. How often do I forgive? Always forgive, always forbear. But Lord, I can't do it that many times. Forgive them because I have forgiven you an infinite death that you can never repay. Do you understand? Do you comprehend the nature, the heinousness of your sin? Do you know what it took for God to forgive you? Do you know he didn't have to forgive you? He didn't owe you anything, nothing, yet he extended to you a great pardon and mercy that's beyond comprehension. This is what Christ is saying back to Peter. Peter's struggling with the idea, how many times do I have to forgive these people? How often do I have to put up with their slights and their offenses and their hard words? Lord, is there a limit that I can reach and I can take my own vengeance? And basically Christ says to him, no, you always forbear, you always forgive. A hundred times over. always. And so, Peter is taught an important lesson and so too are we. As with Paul, so too Christ gives us the motive for forgiving others to be the recollection that we all need forgiveness at God's hands ourselves. And that's a continuous thing. Every day we fall short. Every day we miss the mark. Every day we sin. Yet He forgives. Over and over and over and over. You cannot exhaust the well of His forgiveness. It is infinite. And it's forever. So friends, where are you right now? Should you be reminded of the fact that there's a coming day of judgment and that people who do not forgive and forbear will be there with the rest of the unregenerate? I went to church all my life, but you did not forgive and forbear. You did not demonstrate that you belong to Christ. If you think you're going to slip into eternity by being known as a person who will not forbear and forgive, you are sadly mistaken. You are sadly mistaken. So let these truths sink down deeply into our hearts. J.C. Ryle would lament, it's a melancholy fact that there are few Christian duties so little practiced as that of forgiveness. It is sad to see how much bitterness, unmercifulness, spite, hardness, and unkindness there is among Christian men. Yet there are few duties so strongly enforced in the New Testament scriptures as this duty is, and few the neglect of which so clearly shuts a man out of the kingdom of God." Shuts him out. Do you hear me? It shuts him out. We're often told that we should forgive ourselves. But I would submit to you that we should forgive ourselves, but not at all, and others much, much more. So where are you? Where do you stand? This is where the rubber meets the road. This is shoe leather theology. This is it. You want to know what a Christian's supposed to be? There you got it. Pastor, what am I supposed to do? Well, there you have it. It can't be more clear. We are grateful to God who extends to us grace and mercy, but what's clear to me here is that in this area and with sin, when it becomes the permanent nature and habit of a person, there is grievous concern over whether that person truly knows the Lord. And so, as Paul would say to us in Colossians chapter 3 verse 13, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. I want to say to you this, is there somebody in this church that you're carrying a grudge against? that you're angry with, that you're upset with, and I don't care to what degree it is, you need to get right with that person in Christ. You need to go to them, and you need to talk to them, and you need to ask their forgiveness, and you need to deal with these issues. Do not carry this with you. If you need to talk to your wife or your husband or your children about these matters, do it, and do it now. Do not allow these things to linger. If you need to get right with a person in your community or your neighbor for some offense, then you need to forgive them and you need to move on. That's what Christians do. That's what Christians do. But my, no, no buts. It's what Christians do. That's hard. I know it's hard. Trust me. But that's the attitude that we should have, and especially within the church, friends. If there's any of that going on here, you need to deal with it. It needs to be taken care of. Get right with folks. Forgive people. Forbear. Church cannot prosper. if it won't happen. Lord, we love You. Thank You for this day. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for this exhortation. These are difficult words, Lord. Our tendency is to just shred and rip and tear. Forgive us for that. We're reminded that we have been forgiven much. Help us to have a better attitude of that. Help us to be overwhelmed by your mercy that you've extended to us like the picture of the slave in the parable that you told to Peter. May we be always mindful of how much we have been forgiven. Lord, we know that you're merciful. We know that we have failed in this area. Often, please forgive us in Christ. And we know that you will, you are faithful and just to forgive. If we confess our sins, you will blot these things out, and you will always forgive, and you are quick to forgive. You are long-suffering and patient with us. Thank you for that. And we rejoice that we are known by you through Jesus Christ, who never committed these sins, who always lived perfectly for us, and we can rest in that. But may that reality be reflected, Lord, in the way that we treat other people, how we forbear and how we forgive. Give us the grace, the gospel grace that we need to do these things, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. God bless.