FORGIVENESS
IS ESSENTIAL
Rev. John W. Gerald
I. FORGIVING TO BE FORGIVEN
Mt 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Mt 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
Mt 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Would we have a chance if God treated us just as we treat others? What if he forgave us only as often as we forgive others? Could we stand condemned before God by our unforgiving spirit? If we forgive in the same manner that we would like to be forgiven, it could change everything.
II. POWER TO FORGIVE
Mt 9:6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go
unto thine house.
As evidence of His power to forgive, He demonstrated His power to heal. The man was released from his sickness AND his sin!
James 5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
III. FORGIVENESS UNLIMITED
Mt 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Mt 18:22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
We should forgive as often as we would like to be forgiven, even unto seven times a day! Most of us would need more than seven times in a day!
Mark 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Our prayers are hindered by an unforgiving spirit. God will not respect the person or the prayers of those who hold grudges against others. If we are finding it difficult to get answers to prayer, we need to check out our attitude toward others.
IV. FORGIVENESS AND COMPASSION
Mt 18:27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
Mt 18:32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Mt 18:33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
Mt 18:34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Mt 18:35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
Compassion makes forgiveness possible. The lord of the servant had compassion upon him until he saw that the servant had no compassion upon his fellow servant! The LORD will have compassion upon us, if we have compassion upon our fellowman who have offended us. God will bind us as long as we have not tried to be reconciled, and we continue to keep our fellowman bound for his offenses against us when he has asked our forgiveness.
V. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OFFENDER AND THE OFFENDED
Lu 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
Lu 17:4 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.
I have heard people say: "If he doesn’t apologize to me, I won’t forgive him." and "I have given him one chance, and that’s all he’s going to get." Can you tell what is wrong with these statements?
VI. WHAT WE GIVE IS WHAT WE GET
Lu 6:37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Judging and condemning go hand in hand. Only the Judge has the right to condemn, but individuals attempt this all the time. It is accounted as a sin to him who does it. It is far better to forgive than to condemn. Forgiveness sets both the offender and the offended free. As long as we hold someone else accountable for some offense or debt, we are also bound in the same bondage. When we free them, we are also freed. Think of it as being bound in a pair of handcuffs together!
VII. FORGIVENESS RESTORES
2Co 2:7 So that contrariwise ye [ought] rather to forgive [him], and comfort [him], lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
2Co 2:8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm [your] love toward him.
2Co 2:10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I [forgive] also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave [it], for your sakes [forgave I it] in the person of Christ;
Forgiveness heals.
I remember speaking to an old man and his wife about an offense they suffered during the Uniting Conference in 1939 at Divide Church. I asked him for forgiveness for the church. It brought tears of relief to his eyes, and restored his faith in our church. He and his wife later joined Divide church, even though they were too ill to attend, but they were received joyfully. I know about the power of forgiveness to heal!
VIII. THE CONDITION OF GOD’S FORGIVENESS
1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.
Confession is essential to forgiveness and salvation. It is also essential to our sanctification. We cannot pass over the essentials for a higher experience. God is faithful in all things, and he is faithful to forgive and to cleanse!
IX. THE GREAT EXAMPLE
Lu 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
As his tormentors continued to humiliate him and inflict pain upon him, he saw their greatest needs, and ministered to them. He asked the Father to forgive them for what they had done, and were still doing, to him in ignorance.
Is it easy to forgive? Humanly speaking, no, it is not! But if we could see things in the light of eternity, we would make haste to be reconciled with our brothers, that we may have God’s forgiveness. I certainly do not want to spend eternity in a literal burning hell because I wanted to punish someone for an offense against me.
