Christ: The way of Forgiveness
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Father Forgive them!
Father Forgive them!
A great day, place for this next installment in our Christ is the way series being it Resurrection Sunday. Today we will journey into forgiveness something needed, something commanded and something that brings freedom!
Forgiveness sought; victory purchased (Lk23:33-39, 44-46)
Victory put on display (Lk24:1-7)
34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.
(Insert: Christ on the cross picture here)
If it were not for the cross there would be no forgiveness of sins. Let me give you the passage to paint the picture, then see the victory at the resurrection that led to our forgiveness provided, offered to us, when we understand the need.
(BELOW SCRIPTURES ARE NOT ON THE SCREEN; STAY ON THE SLIDE CHRIST ON THE CROSS)
32 Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him. 33 When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.
34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. 35 And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, 37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!”
38 Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”
then jump down to
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two.
46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.
Now the victory was purchased by forgiveness, now it is time to briefly look at the victory displayed
(Insert: He is risen picture here)
THE BELOW SCRIPTURES ARE NOT ON THE SCREEN, PLEASE STAY ON THE HE IS RISEN SLIDE AT THIS TIME
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing;
5 and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? 6 “He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee,
7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”
So, forgiveness, needed, forgiveness purchased, forgiveness gives way to freedom so this fits right in the midst of our series where we looked at
Christ is the way to God, Life, Truth, Love, Joy, Peace, Unity and prayer.
When Jesus taught to pray He did emphasis,stress the importance, the need to forgive. If there is no forgiveness there is no salvation.
The Greek word for forgive is:
(Insert Aphiemi- Greek picture here)
It means to send away, to give up, keep no longer according to Thayer bible dictionary.
Websters says: “To give up resentment against or the desire to punish; stop being angry with; to pardon.”
(Transition) So this morning since we know Jesus provides the way of forgiveness via the cross and the resurrection there are a couple of things I want to touch on:
The way taught and exampled
The way put into practice
The Way of Forgiveness
The Way of Forgiveness
Remember what a disciple is? A follower, an ad-hearer of a teacher. The teacher can teach by precept/principle, and by example and we will look at both in this section so we can be a good disciple.
Taught by precept
Jesus in His teaching (Mt6:14-15; Mk11:25-26; Mt18:21-35)
Forgiveness of others is commanded
14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
In (Mk11:25-26) again you can see the command, that if you do not forgive you will not be forgiven.
In summary of (Mt18:21-35) you can see Peter asked the Lord how many times to forgive, up to 7 times? Jesus says 70 x 7 (meaning limitless)
Jesus gave a parable of the kingdom of heaven and a king and his slaves. Painting a picture of forgiveness, forgiveness given but then forgiveness not extended to others and it did not end well for the slave used in the illustration.
32 “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’
34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
Forgiveness of your brother is commanded, and commanded to be from the heart.
Paul in his epistles (Eph4:32; Col3:13)
Taught by precept by Paul in his Epistles to the Ephesians
32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Question: what was the reason for forgiving each other when you look at (Eph4:32)?
Because God in Christ has forgiven you.
Taught by precept by Paul to the church at Colossi
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
The forgiveness was to be all inclusive, you can see the word “anyone” and ‘whoever” in this verse.
Question/Point to ponder: In looking at Eph4:32 and Col:13, is forgiveness of others necessary, and does it mean anyone and everyone? Think about this when looking at these two verses.
(Transition) So, to sum this up, those who have been forgiven or are seeking forgiveness need to be forgiving of others. It is necessary it is commanded, it is applicable.
Taught by example
By Jesus from the cross (Lk23:34)
34 Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.” Dividing up his clothes, they threw dice for them.
Jesus in praying, calling on His Father to forgive is demonstrating his willingness to forgive, to offer forgiveness.
By Stephen outside the city (Act7:59-60)
59 They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.
(Transition) Forgiving others is not easy, I could say that it is not a part of our human nature. But there is a quote by Alexander Pope (a 19th century English poet and satirist) said:
“To err is human, but to forgive is divine”
So, how do we practice, apply forgiveness, to share in the divine nature of forgiveness since it is not a part of our human nature?
The way put into practice
The way put into practice
Forgiveness, we all want it, and it is not always easy to offer it to others, so as Christians that are commanded to forgive we need to be reminded or learn to develop forgiveness and deploy forgiveness.
Developing forgiveness
Remember why we must forgive (Mt6:14-15, 18:34-35; Jm2:13; Rom12:19-21)
We will not be forgiven unless we forgive others
14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
So, do you think this maybe, is, a salvation issue? Something to consider.
The unforgiving person will face judgment
34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”
I think we may have read this before, but I want you to get the point, the necessity of forgiving - punished without mercy
13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
Our duty is to forgive, to show mercy and leave vengeance up to the Lord, you can look up (Rom12:19-21) on your own, and I encourage you to.
Remember these things as we try to forgive (Mt18:23-34; Eph4:32, 5:1-2; Rom13:8)
When we sin we sin against God and the sins against us are pale in comparison (you can look up and read all the section in Mt18:23-34, we touched on earlier)
We need to remember we are called to follow the example of Christ as Paul told the church at Ephesus
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
You can go back and look at Eph4:32 about being kind and forgiving one another, we read earlier.
(Below is for outline only and can be removed from the sermon when printing)
Remember practical reasons to forgive
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(Insert Practical Forgiveness picture here)
Below are some practical reasons to forgive as located on the Mayo Clinic website some time ago and printed in an article>
Practical reasons to forgive
Healthier relationships
Greater spiritual and psychological well-being
Less stress and hostility
Lower blood pressure
Fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety and chronic pain.
Lower risk of alcohol and substance abuse.
(Transition): we are to turn the try to apply, from knowing, to willing to apply, to apply and in doing such it helps us to grow in Christ as a disciple, which is where we started today.
Deploying (expressing) forgiveness
Forgive others who ask for it (Lk17:3-4)
3 “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
It maybe asked do I need to forgive someone even if they do not ask for it or have not repented?
Forgive even when not asked (Mk11:25-26; ref: Act2:38, 3:19, 17:30; Lk23:34; Act7:60)
Repentance goes hand in hand with forgiveness and is instructed (see Act2:38) also look at
19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
And we cannot be ignorant about the necessity of repentance that leads to forgiveness, check out
30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
and we should do it when we pray, even if the person is not asked for it at the time
25 “Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26 “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”
Don’t hold grudges, for we know that Jesus and Stephen forgave without being asked to forgive (Lk23:34; ACt7:60 both of which we looked at.)
Here is a scripture to consider and a thought or two to consider with this scripture, this is not on your outline so note it down.
11 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?
God is perfect and He knows the heart of man whereas man can be deceived, persuaded, opinionated. We can misread, misjudge and in turn be misguided. Hence why we need to leave the judgment to God.
It is God who forgives sin and the guilt, and took on the penalty of sin on the cross
You may be familiar with the term “I will forgive but never forget” right? Well Henry Ward Beecher (19th Century clergyman, abolitionist) said:
“I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it can never be shown against one.”
Forgiveness is the letting go of resentment; remembering is not letting go!
(transition) So, where do you stand, forgiveness is needed, forgiveness for our sins is provided.
(Invitation slide- Forgiven)
Have you been forgiven, do you know you have been forgiven? Be forgiven today. (expand)
As Christ offered forgiveness from the Cross and displayed the authority to forgive at the resurrection we too are invited to share in the resurrection.
3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
Have you been raised? (expand)
Then may we remember:
Forgiven people forgive, be a forgiving people, follow the example of Christ and the others noted today. Remember it is commanded.
Forgiveness is both received and extended and today it is extended to you to repent and be forgiven of your sins.
(Song) (Prayer) (Exit)