Participants: Ronny Shelton
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000222
|
00:31 Hello, and welcome to Faith Chapel.
00:33 I'm Ronny, Shelton and I hope that you've brought your weapon 00:37 with you today because we fight a spiritual battle. 00:40 We fight not against flesh and blood, as Peters says, 00:43 but we fight a spiritual battle, and we need a spiritual weapon. 00:47 So if you will, get your Bible and let's open it up to 00:50 the eleventh chapter of Mark, and we're going to talk a 00:53 little bit today about forgiveness. 00:55 Is forgiveness important today? 00:58 Not just forgiveness from God to us, but forgiveness from us 01:03 to each other. 01:04 If we look in our Bibles now, Mark 11, starting in verse 24 01:34 I see a couple of things that just stand out in those 01:37 two verses. 01:38 There's a couple of themes that come to the surface. 01:41 One is about answered prayers. 01:44 The other is forgiveness one to another. 01:48 Does it seem like in your prayer life that sometimes 01:50 your prayers aren't going any higher than the ceiling? 01:55 That they just don't seem to be getting through to God. 01:59 It seems like you're just not getting any answers; 02:03 that God is not home. 02:04 Well, let's talk a little bit about forgiveness today. 02:09 I wanted to know a little more about forgiveness so I went to 02:12 Webster's Dictionary, and I looked up forgiveness. 02:16 There it says to give up resentment against; to give up 02:21 the desire to punish; to stop being angry with; to pardon; 02:26 to overlook; to cancel or to remit. 02:29 Okay, I know what Webster's says about it, you may say, 02:33 but what does God say about forgiveness? 02:35 How important is it to God? 02:39 Let's turn in our Bibles back to Matthew 5. 02:43 Matthew 5, and we'll find that in the Old Testament God set up 02:52 a sacrificial system to take away sin. 02:56 They based that upon the sacrifice of the coming 03:00 Messiah, Jesus Christ, who would be the Lamb of God. 03:04 So before a sinner could hope to take part in the sacrificial 03:08 rights, certain conditions had to be met. 03:11 Let's look at one of these conditions in verses 23 and 24. 03:36 You see, God had set up a system whereby a sinner could have his 03:41 sins purged. 03:42 But before this could happen the sinner had to bring a 03:45 perfect lamb to be sacrificed by his own hands. 03:51 It had to be perfect because it represented Jesus Christ. 03:55 Jesus says that on the way to the alter to give that sacrifice 04:00 if you remembered that your brother had anything against 04:04 you, He says, go and make it right first. 04:08 Go make it right. 04:10 Does it seem like your prayers aren't being answered? 04:13 Does it seem like they're not going any higher than the 04:15 ceiling in your room? 04:16 Maybe there's a problem between you and a brother or a sister 04:20 that needs to be dealt with. 04:22 Jesus said, don't just bring Me your offerings, but bring Me 04:27 a clean heart as well. 04:28 So the system in that day was being abused. 04:32 People were making sacrifices without repentance 04:35 in their lives. 04:36 God addressed this issue in the first chapter of Isaiah. 04:41 There He talks about this abuse of the animal 04:45 sacrificial system. 04:46 Let's look at verse 11. 05:09 I am full of those things! 05:10 I am full of the blood offerings He says. 05:14 I'm tired of them, you see, because people were making the 05:17 sacrifice having never changed their way of life. 05:21 Their daily routine just continued, continued, continued. 05:26 The system was being abused. 05:28 Let's look at verse 15 as it goes on. 05:46 Our hands are full of blood, He says. 05:48 So I'm not going to listen, He said. 05:50 I'm not going to hear you. 05:51 I'm going to stop up My ears. 05:52 I'm going to cover My eyes because your hands are full of 05:55 blood, and I'm not seeing that you're changing anything. 05:58 God said, I don't desire the blood of animals. 06:01 I'm fed up with your ceremonialism, 06:04 your traditions, your meaningless patronizations, 06:08 your legalism, He says. 06:10 I'm getting fed up with that stuff! 06:11 Let's read on in verse 16 and 17. 06:14 God, you see, wants us to change our hearts. 06:40 You see, God wants us not to just continue to go through 06:44 an act of repentance, an act of bringing our sacrifice to Him, 06:50 without changing our hearts. 06:54 He's tired of us just going through the motions; time, 06:58 after time, after time. 06:59 How many times do we come down before the alter, and we say, 07:03 Lord forgive me, I've messed up again! 07:05 Then we turn around and we go right back to the same old 07:08 lifestyle, over, over, over, again and again. 07:15 You see there, God says, I'm tired of you going 07:19 the same old way. 07:21 It's time, He says, for us to clean up our act, 07:23 to put away evil. 07:25 Cease to do evil, He says. 07:28 Learn to do well. 07:30 Do the work of a Christian is what He's saying. 07:32 After all, we've been called to be a peculiar people, 07:38 a royal priesthood. 07:40 I'm convinced, even now, that the great forgiving nature of 07:44 our God is being abused by His people. 07:47 We are abusing that system of God's grace 07:50 and God's forgiveness. 07:53 People are committing the same sin time, and time, 07:56 and time again, and on and on, thinking God will always 07:59 forgive them, and He will. 08:07 But there's is no forgiveness for premeditated sin 08:10 if we plan in our hearts to continue, time, after time, 08:15 after time. 08:18 Finally God says, I'm tired of your sacrifices. 08:21 I'm tired of your words without deeds. 08:25 Talk is cheap, we like to say. 08:27 Sometimes we keep going back to God and we're saying something 08:32 like, Well, I know it's wrong, God, but I'm weak. 08:35 You understand, I'm human. 08:36 I'm born with this nature. 08:37 I can't help it. 08:38 What can I do? 08:41 It's the poor nature I was born with, you understand. 08:44 See, God knows all of that. 08:46 We have to make a commitment. 08:49 We have to make a decided commitment within our lives, 08:54 within our hearts, that we are going to change our lives, 08:59 and make that effort. 09:00 As we do we will find that God will step in and He will make 09:06 those changes with us. 09:08 Now He's not going to make them if we don't want them. 09:11 If we show to Him that we don't want Him, 09:13 He's not going to make them. 09:14 It's only as we search for Him, seek Him, hunt for Him, 09:19 look for Him, and dig in the scriptures to find Him, 09:22 that we'll find Him, when we've searched for Him 09:26 with all of our heart. 09:28 We have to make a commitment, brothers and sisters, you see. 09:34 You can't expect God to take away those cigarettes until 09:41 you've made the commitment to stop buying them. 09:46 You see, He's not going to run ahead of you and take them. 09:51 As you take them off of the shelf, He's not going to 09:53 put them back on the shelf. 09:54 If you go to the store and you take them down, 09:56 and you put them in your cart, He's not going to stop you. 09:58 But when you've made that commitment to top smoking, 10:04 or whatever sin it might be, when you've made that decision, 10:07 God is going to strengthen you. 10:09 He's going to give you what you need to meet that challenge. 10:13 You see, He doesn't just say, Head down this road. 10:16 This is the way to heaven. 10:17 Go that way, and good luck. 10:19 I hope it works out for you. 10:20 That's not God! 10:23 God points the direction, and then He empowers us to go along 10:30 that road that He just sent us on, and He travels with us 10:33 all of the way, but we have to make that first step. 10:36 We have to make the decision that we're going to live for 10:41 God, and we're going to stop those things, and by His grace, 10:45 He will empower us to fulfill just that; to give us strength. 10:52 Again, God tells us in the book of Psalms, Psalms 51, 10:59 starting at verse 16. 11:29 King David said, Lord, I know that You're not after 11:32 blood sacrifices. 11:33 You're after a new heart, 11:35 We have to give Him our heart to make it new. 11:38 Create in me, Oh God, a clean heart, and renew 11:41 a right spirit within me. 11:43 God desires a contrite, and a broken spirit from us; 11:49 something that He can use. 11:51 Jesus says, Go and make it right with your brother. 11:56 Go make it right, He says. 11:59 Matthew 18:15. 12:02 Turn back with me to Matthew 18:15, and there it says: 12:21 You see, He says, Go to your brother. 12:23 You know there's a problem. 12:25 Your prayers aren't being answered. 12:26 You're saying, Lord, Why aren't you answering my prayers? 12:29 Then you know there's a problem between you and your brother. 12:33 We are instructed to go to him, one on one, you notice. 12:39 It says go to your brother, and if he hears you, thou hast 12:43 gained thy brother, Jesus says, you see. 12:46 He didn't say, Take it to the neighbors. 12:48 Take it to the friends. 12:49 Take it to where you work. 12:50 Spread it all around in the family. 12:52 He says, If there's a problem, go to your brother and talk it 12:56 out with him. 12:57 If your brother hears you, you have gained your brother. 13:01 Between you and Him alone. 13:05 And then Peter says, Lord how often shall I forgive 13:12 my brother for the same offense? 13:14 Till seven times? 13:16 You see, here's a case where Peter thought that he was doing 13:20 something really generous, because the tradition of that 13:23 days said, I must forgive my brother three times. 13:26 Peter thought, I'll be generous on this. 13:29 He said, Lord, how much must I forgive my brother for the 13:32 same cause, the same offense? 13:34 Till seven times? 13:40 Jesus said, No, Peter, not seven times but seven times seventy. 13:45 Seven times seventy! 13:48 I've thought about that. 13:49 Was He actually saying keep track; get out your book, 13:52 and start writing them down every time somebody's offended 13:54 you put it in there again. 13:55 I don't think He means that. 13:58 We don't keep track of them. 14:01 I'm sure that He didn't mean 389; you've got grace 14:06 one more time. 14:07 Now 489 and 490 and it's over. 14:11 I don't have to forgive you anymore. 14:12 I don't think Jesus meant that. 14:13 But you're not free to punch him in the nose, as it were. 14:17 But Jesus goes on further then in this matter. 14:22 Let's look down at verse 23; 23 to 25. 14:55 Wow, that's a huge debt! 14:57 That's a huge debt: 10,000 talents. 15:01 If it were silver, you know, , 15:03 If it were silver 10,000 talents in today's standard would amount 15:07 to 3 billion, 840 million dollars. 15:11 A huge debt! 15:13 A debt that could not be paid. 15:15 When the man was brought before the king, the king said, 15:18 We've checked the records, and you owe me 15:22 3 billion 840 million dollars, and I want my money. 15:28 I want my money. 15:29 Let's look at verse 26, 27. 15:55 At that magnitude, 3 billion, 840 million dollars, 16:00 and the king had compassion on him and turned him loose. 16:04 He forgave the debt. 16:07 What a gracious king! 16:09 What a gracious king. 16:11 He had compassion, and he forgave him. 16:15 Then you would think, well, what now? 16:17 So now the man is returned back to his place, and we find 16:21 in verse 28 and 30: 16:55 Till he should pay the debt! 16:59 Do you see a problem with that? 17:01 The first man was called in before the king. 17:05 He went before him and he owed a huge debt; nothing like 17:08 the second man owed. 17:09 Nothing like he owed. 17:11 The first man fell down and he worshipped the king. 17:16 He said, Lord forgive me. 17:18 Give me time, he said, and I will make it right. 17:21 Forgive me! 17:22 Have compassion on me. 17:24 The king did. 17:26 The king had compassion on him. 17:28 He forgave this enormous debt that he could never repay. 17:32 So the ungrateful servant then went out, and he went down 17:38 the street, and he bumped into a man that owed him a small fee, 17:43 a small penance, which amounted to $3,200. 17:50 $3,200 was what it amounted to. 17:53 He grabbed this man and he said, Pay me what you owe me. 17:57 Pay me, he said, and he took him by the throat and he shook him. 18:01 He said, Pay me, or I'm going to have you arrested 18:04 and thrown into prison. 18:10 Do you see a problem with that? 18:12 I do. 18:15 Let's read on. 18:18 Verse 31. 18:57 Wow! 18:58 I want to say today, I am that man. 19:02 I am that man who owes 3 billion 840 million dollars. 19:07 I'm that person. 19:08 I know a lot of you are too. 19:10 You owe a debt like that; a debt that we could never repay. 19:16 God looks at our record and He says, I want payment. 19:19 All we can do, since we can't pay, is fall at His feet and say 19:25 Lord, forgive me. 19:27 Have compassion on me. 19:28 I can't pay that kind of a debt. 19:30 I can't pay that debt; not and live to tell about it. 19:34 I've said sometimes during this sermon, I've asked people, 19:37 Can you pay for your sins? 19:38 Have you thought about it? 19:40 Can you pay for your sins today? 19:44 Some times I ask that and I see people saying no. 19:46 I want to tell you today, You can, you can pay 19:49 for your sins. 19:50 You can pay for your sins. 19:53 Millions and millions of people will pay for their sins 19:57 with their lives. 19:58 Losing eternal life; losing heaven because they are paying 20:02 for their own sins with their lives. 20:04 But I can't pay for my sins and still make it to heaven. 20:08 Only Jesus can do that for me. 20:09 I am a man who owes a debt of 3 billion 840 million dollars. 20:16 Jesus forgave me that debt. 20:20 As ungrateful as we are we leave His presence and we go down to 20:25 the man on the street, and when he has a little offense against 20:28 us; not even too much, we want to grab him 20:32 by the throat and shake him. 20:33 Do you see a problem here? 20:35 God forgave me much, and I can't forgive my brother the slightest 20:39 little infraction against me. 20:41 You see, there's a big problem there. 20:44 There's a problem. 20:51 Ungrateful! 20:52 The ungrateful servant had him arrested and thrown into prison. 20:57 In verse 35; let's look at verse 35. 21:18 Wow! 21:20 Did you see that friends? 21:21 Did you see what happened there? 21:22 The debt was reinstated! 21:26 The ungrateful servant's forgiveness was cancelled. 21:29 The load was put back upon him. 21:32 Jesus said we must forgive from the heart. 21:36 You know, a lot of times you'll hear some apologies which I like 21:40 to call plastic apologies. 21:42 They're like a little piece of plastic. 21:44 They don't mean very much. 21:45 Jesus says unless we forgive, from the heart, all of those 21:53 debts, that 3 billion 480 million dollars that was taken 21:57 off my shoulders, is now put right back on. 22:01 I have to stand before God with the weight of all of those sins 22:05 on my shoulders. 22:07 I can't do it! 22:08 I can't handle it. 22:09 Jesus said if we cannot forgive that same debt is put back 22:15 upon us. 22:16 Neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses, He says. 22:24 I owe a huge debt like that, and I know you do too. 22:27 I'm not the only one. 22:29 You owe a debt very similar. 22:31 You can't pay. 22:32 I can't pay. 22:33 All we can do is fall on His grace this morning for mercy, 22:38 and say, Lord have compassion on me today because I can't pay. 22:42 Jesus is willing, and He is able to forgive that debt, 22:49 if I am willing to forgive the debt of my neighbor. 22:53 It's based on a big if there. 22:56 For such a little bitty word as if, so much is based upon it. 23:00 Let's look at Matthew 6:12. 23:06 There it says: 23:13 You see, that little word as in there: forgive us our debts, 23:18 Lord, as we forgive others their debts. 23:22 So what if we're not forgiving others? 23:24 Do you see from that text we also aren't being forgiven. 23:28 We can go on down to verses 14 and 15. 23:51 Let's look at that again. 23:53 If we forgive men their trespasses. 23:55 If we do, he says, then your Heavenly Father will also 24:00 forgive you. 24:01 But if you forgive not them their trespasses, neither will 24:07 your Heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses. 24:11 Do you see what I'm saying? 24:12 If we cannot forgive each other, God will not forgive us. 24:16 It's as simple as that. 24:17 No need to think you're going to heaven, or I'm going to heaven, 24:21 and I'm going to walk on the other side of the street, 24:23 because I might meet John on the street. 24:24 If there's that problem between John and me, friends, 24:28 we're not going to be there. 24:30 We're not going to walk on the other side of the 24:32 street in heaven. 24:33 We have to get past that. 24:36 We have to call our brother, John, Bob, or whoever, 24:40 and say, Brother, let's talk. 24:41 There's a problem between you and me, and I feel it. 24:45 I know you feel it as well. 24:46 We're kidding ourselves to think we're going to heaven 24:50 with this in the way. 24:51 Our prayers are not being answered because we have a 24:54 problem with our brother. 24:56 We're kidding ourselves if we think we're going to heaven, 24:59 and are going to walk on the other side of the street, 25:02 because it's not going to happen. 25:06 From those texts you can see we are forgiven as we 25:11 forgive others. 25:12 Not because we've forgiven, but as we've forgiven. 25:15 It's an on going thing. 25:16 It's not just I forgave them one time. 25:18 It's an on going forgiveness, an on going thing. 25:24 We are forgiven as we forgive others. 25:28 There we have it! 25:33 Lord may we realize the importance of 25:37 forgiveness in our lives. 25:39 It's too often overlooked. 25:40 It's too often overlooked thinking it's no big deal. 25:45 I just won't talk to them today. 25:48 God says that we must be forgiven as we forgive others. 25:54 There's no other way. 25:55 It's big. 25:57 It's huge. 25:58 So many of us think we're heaven bound; think we're heaven bound 26:03 because maybe we're keeping the commandments. 26:05 We're observing the Sabbath. 26:07 We're giving our tithe. 26:09 We're working in the church. 26:12 Yet I know a case of a lady one time who made a trip to the 26:17 hospital to visit someone that was sick; a godly woman, 26:21 a woman that was in church every week. 26:23 She walked into this room, and she looked to the side, 26:28 and she saw someone over there that she'd had a problem with 26:32 for more than twenty years. 26:33 She turned around and walked out. 26:36 She didn't visit the sick relative. 26:38 She just looked to the side, and saw who else was there, 26:41 and turned and walked away. 26:43 Jesus says that we will be forgiven as we forgive others. 26:50 It's a serious matter. 26:52 It's so often over looked. 26:54 We are not going to heaven, brothers and sisters, 26:57 and walk on that other street, and stay out of 27:00 their boundaries. 27:01 That's just not going to happen. 27:02 To find peace and harmony in our lives... 27:06 You see, Jesus knew that saying we must forgive would bring 27:10 peace and harmony in my life and in yours. 27:13 I can find peace in a troubled world by forgiving my neighbor, 27:19 forgiving my brother, or the offender, whoever that might be. 27:23 I can find peace with God and with my brethren if I will turn 27:28 it over to God and forgive. 27:30 In Jesus' name we pray once again, Dear Father. 27:33 Fill us, Lord, with forgiveness in our hearts one to another. 27:38 May we see the importance, Father, to forgive our neighbor 27:42 so that we might be ready for heaven. 27:44 Lord, forgive us as we forgive our debtors. 27:48 In Jesus' name, Amen. 27:51 Again, thank you brothers and sisters. 27:53 We'll see you again next time on Faith Chapel. |
Revised 2014-12-17