What we want to do today is talk
about forgiveness, and more specifically, the fact that God forgiving us
should drive us to forgive others in our lives. What I'd like to
do first is kind of set a basis here. You know, this whole thing
of forgiveness is assuming a mindset and a view of life that is pretty
unique to Christians. Not that other people in the
world don't forgive each other and believe in forgiveness, but
we have the great basis for forgiveness in Christianity in that we believe,
first of all, that there is such a thing as right and wrong. And
on that basis of right and wrong, We humans do wrong things. A lot of the world doesn't believe
in right and wrong anymore, so they don't ever do anything wrong.
They never apologize for it, and they never want to seek any
forgiveness. But Christians have as a basis for their whole worldview
that there is right and wrong, and that we do wrong. We do wrong
in two ways. We do wrong to God himself. and
we do wrong to each other. And therefore, we need forgiveness
from God, and we need forgiveness from each other. Another thing
that's interesting in the Bible as a basis is that it's very
clear in the Bible that only God can forgive sins ultimately. And in Matthew 9, Jesus taught
people that he forgave the paralytic of his sins. You remember the
story? And he said, your sins are forgiven. And the Pharisees
and the Jews who were looking on thought that that was blasphemy. Why? Because he was saying he
could forgive sins, this man. Only God can forgive sins. And
so they thought that that was blasphemy. And you remember what
he did. He said, OK, which is easier for me to say, your sins
are forgiven, or to say, I'm going to heal you. And he healed
the guy right there in front of him to show that he indeed
had the power and the deity to forgive sins. Wonderful story. The fact that we need forgiveness
on two fronts, forgiveness with God and forgiveness with man,
is in Matthew 6.12, the model prayer. Forgive us our debts. as we forgive those who have
debts against us." So forgive us our sins as we forgive those
who sin against us. And it goes on to say in that
passage that if we don't forgive others their sins, God won't
forgive us. We're going to talk about all
that later. First of all, what are the words used in the Greek
and the Hebrew for forgive? There's two main words in the
Greek and three in the Hebrew. In the Greek, you have apoluo,
which means to set free, to release, or to pardon. It's used of a
prisoner being set free. To let go, send away, or dismissed
is actually used of divorce. So you see the idea of setting
free, of releasing. And that's the word for forgiveness. It's used of releasing an assembly,
of letting them depart. But the main word in Greek is
ephiomi, It means, similarly, to let go, send away. It was
used of giving up one's spirit when a person died. It's also
used of divorce. To cancel, remit, pardon. It's
used of a loan or a debt. To leave, abandon, give up, let
go, tolerate. In the classical Greek, it's
to set free from a thing, to let off. Legally, to release
from an engagement or accusation. So this word for forgiveness
has a lot of wonderful base to it in the fact that it's a release,
it's a letting go. And we know from our theology
that it's not a release on God's part for free because his justice
has to be satisfied also. There was a price to pay and
that price is what the pastor talked about all morning, the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ was the price for our forgiveness.
So the pardon is not just God looking the other way at this,
it's Him releasing us legally because of a pardon being paid.
In the Hebrew, The first word I would mention is kephar, which
we get the word Yom Kippur from that, Day of Atonement. So kephar
means to cover, to cover. So you have this idea of forgiveness
also being to cover sins. That's the mercy seat. The covering
was the blood of the animals in the Old Testament, and now,
of course, ultimately the blood of the Lord Jesus. It's used
of covering with pitch, or covering with hair, cover skins, or to
pardon. It's to obtain forgiveness, to
expiate for an offender. Then the priest, it's used again
and again of the priest making atonement for, all the way through
Leviticus, you have to cover, to make atonement. And that's
what atonement is, it's a covering. There's also a Hebrew word, nasah,
which means to lift up or carry. Now this one, interestingly enough,
is what the pastor was talking about this morning in Isaiah
53, that the Messiah was to lift up or carry our sins, to bear
anyone's sins. Now, it can mean to bear the
punishment of one's own sin if you don't have a savior. That's
in Leviticus 5.1. And in Job 34, to expiate or
make atonement for, to pardon or forgive. And the last one
is salach, which means to pardon or forgive, lifting up again.
So the words would seem to indicate we have the idea of releasing,
letting go for a ransom. We have the idea of covering
over. And we have the idea of lifting up or lifting off of
someone. Now, in Ezekiel, the word kaphar
is used of God's covenant of atonement, when I am pacified
toward thee. And then in Daniel, it's used,
very interestingly, in the 70 weeks prophecy. You remember
that it said in the 70 weeks prophecy in Daniel 9, 24, that
the 70 weeks were decreed to finish the transgression,
to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, that's
kaphar, to bring in everlasting righteousness. And in the Septuagint,
the way they translate kaphar is with the word for propitiate,
which is so important in the New Testament, which means the
mercy seat or to propitiate. So let's go through The main
text that I'd like to lead you to today is Matthew 18. What I'd like to bring to you
today is the fact that since God has forgiven us of our sins
of so much, he tells us we are required to forgive others when
they sin against us. So let's talk about that for
a bit. In, as I already mentioned, in Matthew 6, 12, you have the
Lord's Prayer saying that. It's actually in the prayer,
forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And
he goes on to say, if you don't forgive others, I won't forgive
you. So in Matthew 18, verses 23 to 35, let's read this. For this reason, actually, let's
pick it up in verse 21. Because Peter came to him and
said to him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against
me and I forgive him? Up to seven times. Now you gotta
understand, seven is the perfect number in the Bible. And so Peter
says, up to seven times should I forgive him? He comes back
bugging me for seven times, asking for forgiveness. Jesus said to
him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times
seven. So does that mean the 491st time
he comes, you don't have to forgive him? No. He's telling him a perfect
number times another really perfect number. So you've got to forgive. We have to forgive people as
often as they come to us with something they've done. So he
goes on now to tell them the parable. Verse 23, 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. How much
is a talent worth? My understanding is a talent was greater than
15 years of labor's wages. 15 years of wages. And this guy had a debt for 10,000
talents. He'd never pay that off. But
since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded
him to be sold along with his wife and children and all that
he had and repayment to be made. 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. I believe
both of our Greek words are in that verse that we talked about. Okay, well then what happened?
Boy, that guy's got a weight off his shoulders. He should
be going away happy, huh? But that slave went out and found
one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. Now what's a denarius worth?
Denarius is worth one day's wages. A talent was worth over 15 years
of wages. A denarius is one day's wage. And he owed him 100 denarius. That's 100 days wages, less than
a year, versus 10,000 times 15 years, which would be 150,000
years. 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. But he was unwilling and
went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what
was owed. So when his fellow slave saw what had happened,
They were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord,
this is the big lord, the master, all that had happened. Then summoning
him, his lord said to him, 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
was owed him. My Heavenly Father will also
do the same to you. if each of you does not forgive
his brother from your heart. So this parable teaches us that
if we show a constant attitude of unforgiveness in our lives,
it just means we weren't saved in the first place. How can you
be forgiven this huge load of debt that we have on us and not
be able to forgive people that do things to you? with their
little trite stuff compared to our sins sending us to hell.
So it's a serious stuff. God has forgiven us. And what
does that really mean? Well, in Psalm 103.12, It says
that it's as far as the east is from the west. How far is
the east from the west? You can't say. So the Lord has
forgiven us our sins that much. Now, obviously, God doesn't,
he can't forget. He can choose to forget, and
that's what he does with our sins. And so because of the sacrifice
of Christ, they're never gonna come up again. It's hard for
us to believe, isn't it? There's just gonna have to be
some mention in judgment. I'm a little embarrassed, Lord.
There's gotta be some mention there. No, he's not gonna do
it. They're paid for, and God is
just, and there's no double payment with him. And so they will not
be mentioned again. Justice is satisfied. Now, let's
do turn to Isaiah 53. So interesting that the pastor
had that this morning. Let's just read down through
here concerning our forgiveness. And we'll start with, let's start
with verse four. Surely our griefs he himself
bore and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him
stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was pierced
through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being
fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed. All of us, like
sheep, have gone astray. Each has turned to his own way,
but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth like a lamb that is led to the
slaughter. like a sheep that is silent before
its shearers, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and
judgment he was taken away, and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression
of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned
with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death, because
he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth,
but the Lord was pleased, to crush him, putting him to grief. If he would render himself as
a guilt offering, he's the guilt offering for us. He will see
his offspring, he will prolong his days, that's the resurrection,
and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand
as a result of the anguish of his soul. He will see it and
be satisfied by his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant,
will justify the many, and he will bear their iniquities."
Again and again and again, bear their iniquities. Therefore I
will allot him a portion with the great, he will divide the
booty with the strong, because he poured out himself to death.
That's like the drink offering that we talked about. And was
numbered with the transgressors, yet he himself bore the sin of
many and interceded for the transgressors. Okay, that's how much we've been
forgiven by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we must forgive others. If we can't forgive others, there's
something seriously wrong with us. Let's turn to Luke 7, 36
to 50. This is when the Lord Jesus went
to Simon the Pharisee's house, and you remember what happened
there. Luke 7, 36 through 50. Tell you
what, we won't read that, but let me just convey it to you.
So imagine, he's at dinner or lunch or something with Simon
the Pharisee. Probably got a pretty fancy place, huh? And so Jesus
is there dining with him. And in off the street comes a
woman of the street. And she comes in and she interrupts
what's going on. Simon's got to be very irritated
at this. And she starts washing Jesus'
feet with her tears, and wiping his feet with her hair, and anointing
him with oil, I think. And so Simon's got to say something,
saying, what's going on here? So let's pick it up there. saw this, he said to himself,
verse 39, if this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort
of person this woman is, who is touching him, and she is a
sinner. And Jesus answered him, Simon,
I have something to say to you. And he replied, say it, teacher.
A moneylender had two debtors. Now this story is different than
the other one. It's a little less difference in the money
owed, but it's the same thing. One owed 500 denarii, and the
other 50. So it's a 10 to 1 ratio. When they were unable to repay,
he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him
more? Simon answered and said, I suppose the one whom he forgave
more. And he said to him, you've judged
correctly. Turning toward the woman, he
said to Simon, do you see this woman? I entered your house,
you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with
her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss,
but she, since the time she came in, has not ceased to kiss my
feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my
feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you,
her sins, which are many, have been forgiven. For she loved
much, but he who is forgiven little loves little. Then he
said to her, your sins have been forgiven. Those who were reclining
at the table with him began to say to themselves, who is this
man who even forgives sins? He said to the woman, your faith
has saved you. Go in peace. Now, she loved a
whole lot because she had been forgiven a whole lot. And that's
the whole story here. If we realize how much we've
been forgiven and how much he loves us, we should give others
a break. Now, a few practical matters.
We've already talked about how often are we supposed to do this,
a lot. And how about confession? Is confession required? You know,
in 1 John 1, seven through 10, it says if we confess our sins,
he's gonna forgive us. Now, we understand sovereign
God, right? Is it because we confessed our
sins that God forgives us? Well, of course not. God is in
this whole thing. So the Holy Spirit, first of
all, convicts us of the sin we did so that we confess it. And the confession is for our
good, not God's. And so the confession is bringing
out our realization of the sin. But he's already forgiven us.
He's already forgiven us of everything we've ever done, in the future
even. but he wants us to confess it. And so what about this going
on with other people? It also says in 1 John 1, if
you walk in the light, then you are being forgiven constantly.
So if we walk in the light, we're constantly being forgiven, but
we're also constantly confessing those sins. So how do we relate
this to our fellow man? Now, first of all, It's the same
as true in the Old Testament. Let me just point out that when
the person brought that animal sacrifice that we talked so much
about to the tent, to the tabernacle, laid his hands on that animal
and transferred his sin over to the animal, he was essentially
confessing his sin. And there's some very interesting
phrases. Would you turn to Leviticus 4? In Leviticus 4, Then the Lord spoke to Moses,
saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, If a person sins
unintentionally in any of the things which the Lord has commanded
not to be done, and commits any of them, if the anointed priest
sins, as it should bring guilt on the people, then let him offer
a bowl. Now, look down at verse, verses,
it happens again and again. Look at verse 13. Now if the
whole congregation of Israel commits error, and the matter
escapes the notice of the assembly, and they commit any of the things
which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and they become
guilty. Now look at verse 22. And he becomes guilty, the end
of the verse. Verse 27. and becomes guilty. What does it mean? It means the
conviction of sin. So the Holy Spirit was at work,
also in the Old Testament, of course, to show people that they
had sinned. We don't know, I mean, we can
ignore it so easily, but the Holy Spirit shines a light on
us and tells us we have sinned. Now, look at Leviticus 5.1. Now, if a person sins, After
he hears a public adjuration to testify when he's a witness,
whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it,
then he will bear his guilt. Let's see. Somewhere I didn't, oh, verse
three. And then he comes to know it.
He will be guilty. So he comes to know his guilt.
All right, the same thing in the New Testament. We come to
know our guilt. All right. Let's talk about our
fellow, all right, our relationships in the world. We have Christian
brothers and sisters, like here today, and we have the non-Christian
world we deal with. How are we supposed to deal with
people who sin against us? Well, you would hope that if
it's a fellow Christian, that they would confess to you their
sin. And that's indeed what the Bible
teaches, is that in James 5.16, it talks about confessing your
sins to one another. Now, this is not some big meeting
where we all get up and start confessing sins that you don't
even know about and could care less about. That's a disaster. That's not what it means here.
The only reason we would confess sins to one another is I've hurt
you for some reason and I need to confess it to you to get right
with you. So that's in James, but then also you have in the
Old Testament the laws of restitution. And do you realize in Numbers
5-7 that you were supposed to, in the Old Testament, make full
restitution, and they go into detail, like you borrowed your
neighbor's lawnmower, only it was a bull or something, and
you killed it somehow. You're supposed to make restitution
plus 20%. So that was the Old Testament
rule, pretty practical. So in the New Testament, under
the New Testament economy, let's say one of us does something
against each other. And I either don't realize what
I did to you, or I do realize it and I'm not about to say something.
What is the, and it's just bugging you to death, and you can't get
over it. What's the New Testament method? Well, you know what it
is, it's in Matthew 18. You're supposed to go to that
person first, if he's sinned against you, and talk to them
about it. If that doesn't resolve it, you're supposed to take somebody
with you, or two people with you. And so you have a witness
that, you know, gets a little more serious, and then, if that
doesn't work, you bring it before the whole church. Well, obviously,
it's not talking about some petty little offenses. It's talking
about some pretty serious stuff, right, to do that. So I guess
what I understand about this is I'm not going to, okay, you
did something against me. I can go to you, and I should,
to get it cleared out. But I shouldn't do that with
just petty little things. So with Christians, we're supposed
to have a aboveboard relationship and not hold any of these things
under the surface. And when he said, when Peter
said, how many times do I have to forgive somebody who comes
to me? He didn't say it in other Christian, he just said in general. So that's gotta be in the non-Christian
world too. They may not confess things to
us as much, but they may. But OK, I'm driving to something
here. There's a better way. And I think
the better way is love. If you would turn to 1 Corinthians
13.5, 1 Corinthians 13.5, do you know that Holding a grudge against somebody
can even lead to physical problems. I mean, who are you hurting?
You're not hurting the other person. You're hurting yourself
or myself. If you're going to hold a grudge
against something that happened 20 years ago that that person
has forgot about long since, it's only going to be hurting
you. So in 1 Corinthians 13.5, I believe, is our prime word
here. This is all about love, the characteristics
of love, agape. Does not act, verse five, does
not act unbecomingly. Okay, here we go. It does not
seek its own, is not provoked. You know, true love is not even
provoked in the first sense of the word. Does not take into
account a wrong suffering. Wow, what a loaded phrase. This
is the word legitimate. from the main word in the New
Testament for justification, but at the root, it's an accounting
term, which means to put on the books. So real love does not
put on the books a wrong. Some people are just so ready
to put a wrong on the books. This is what wrecks marriages.
This is what wrecks friendships. It's just everywhere we look.
But if we would learn from this, from our example, of course,
from the Lord himself, that true love does not take into account
wrong. What I'm saying here is, we don't
have to have our little book out open all the time. Writing
down, so and so did this to me today, I'm gonna be looking for
him to apologize. Or, you know. Keep an account
of everything. Well, that'll just tear you apart,
won't it? So we need to, I believe, forgive each other and others,
even when they don't come and confess it to us. Ideally, they
should. And if it's just bugging us to
death, we should go to them, as Matthew 18 gives us guidance
for, and bring it out to them, but not just stew on it. In Proverbs
10, 12, it says, hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all
transgressions. So there's that covering again.
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions. God
is the judge, and we are only along for the ride, and so let's
let him judge sin, and we will forgive others when they sin
against us. It'll only hurt us if we don't.
So this parable made a real impression on me. I think it, coupled with
the story of Simon and that woman, are amazing instructions in the
Bible for what we're supposed to do.