Participants: Jay Gallimore, Kathy Matthews
Series Code: TAH
Program Code: TAH000107
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00:31 Welcome to Thinking About Home, I'm Kathy Mathews
00:33 and I'm glad that you're with us. 00:35 We're going to be talking about redemptive 00:37 discipline, a little bit more. And today, we're 00:41 going to be especially talking about 00:43 forgiveness. When you to redemptive discipline, 00:45 redemptive church discipline, redeeming 00:47 discipline in our families and once again the 00:51 President of the Michigan Conference of Seventh-Day 00:53 Adventist Jay Gallimore is with us. Welcome Jay. 00:55 Thank you, it's a joy to be here. 00:57 Oh! I'm glad you are here, it's been a good program 00:59 and I think we've something, maybe 01:02 really special for the people today. 01:04 It maybe, this maybe the most 01:06 important part that we talk about. 01:07 Okay. Uh-huh. It's fascinating, forgiveness. 01:09 Umm! So, easy to expect 01:12 there are other people. 01:13 Difficult to bring up in our own hearts. 01:15 In our own hearts, that's for those the difficulty 01:18 comes. Yes. 01:19 But Jesus do not leave the subject of redemptive 01:22 discipline without spending again more time 01:24 on forgiveness. Umm! Umm! 01:27 Then he did all the rest of it. 01:28 Umm! Umm! Or at least the other 01:31 section of the restoration part, 01:33 it talks lot about preventative. 01:34 A little bit about, how to put it back and 01:37 a whole lot about forgiveness. Umm! 01:38 Kathy, I think let's just turn to the scripture now 01:41 and see Peter's reaction to all of these things 01:44 that Jesus has had to say here. 01:46 Let's start with the scripture. 01:47 "Then Peter came and said to Him, 'Lord, 01:50 how often shall my brother sin against me, 01:53 and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" 01:58 Umm! Right. Peter caught the drift, 02:01 where Jesus was going. Umm! Why so? 02:05 Well, you know he didn't live in a society, 02:07 where forgiveness was, I think when you look 02:11 in the, in the context, the culture they lived in. 02:13 Umm! Umm! This was really a quite 02:15 a step, you know to forgive somebody one 02:17 time what something, but seven times. 02:19 Umm! Umm! But let's ask our self 02:22 that question. Okay. 02:23 If somebody punched me in the nose once, 02:30 would I be willing to forgive him. 02:31 Interesting example. Probably. 02:37 Maybe once. Probably, if they punch 02:38 me in the nose twice. 02:42 Well, if they punch me in the nose three times. 02:45 Now, we're not even anywhere near Peter's 02:49 seven. Umm! 02:50 I'm using an illustration to help us 02:52 Understand and helping my own heart to 02:55 understand. Umm! 02:56 How hard it is for us to be willing to keep 03:00 forgiving, now I didn't say keep indulging. 03:02 Right. It is different doesn't 03:04 mean I prove somebody punching anybody in the 03:06 nose. Right. 03:08 That should be dealt with. Umm! 03:09 But why do I forgive it, if the hurt keeps coming 03:13 and how often should I forgive. 03:15 Umm! And what is my capacity 03:17 to forgive. Umm! 03:18 So, my capacity to forgive is measured by 03:21 Jesus' response, which was an incredible response. 03:27 Because you know the answer. 03:28 It's not natural isn't? It's not. 03:29 It has to be spirit given. Umm! 03:31 You know, what about spouses forgiving each 03:34 other. What do you see there? 03:36 I think that is at the root of a lot of marriage 03:40 difficulty. Umm! Umm! 03:41 To keep forgiving in a marriage. 03:45 Umm! Is absolutely essential. 03:47 Umm! But, I don't think, 03:49 it could be done really with other changed heart 03:51 that are free, without the Lord changing our 03:53 hearts. Absolutely, you know 03:55 I've a little illustration that I like to share 03:58 with you. Please. 03:59 And I think it is hard for us to learn to 04:01 forgive. In fact, I think that many of us don't 04:04 know when somebody is asking for forgiveness 04:07 many times. That's true. 04:08 I've had an experience in years ago, not too 04:13 long after I become a Christian. I was 04:15 becoming very sensitive to the Lord's, 04:17 to please the Lord and there was an incident, 04:23 where the Lord convicted me that I needed to 04:24 ask a particular lady in the Church to forgive 04:27 me and you were to go publicly ask that sort 04:30 of thing and when they had not come to you and 04:32 it didn't appeared to be a problem. 04:33 But were you supposed to go and do it, you know. 04:35 Yeah! To restore, to reconcile, 04:37 to open the door for reconciliation and so 04:40 forth and I had a communion service one 04:42 evening, asked about this forgiveness and explained 04:47 that I would desired her forgiveness and the 04:51 answer was. Oh! Kathy, we all have our 04:55 idiosyncrasies and that is burned into my mind. 04:57 I never received your forgiven; I never 05:00 saw the body language, the recognition in the 05:03 eyes that I was neutering and struggling to ask for 05:05 forgiveness and it was just waved away and it 05:10 was painful for a while. But, I think people don't 05:14 always know how to forgive, it's difficult 05:16 for them to do that. That's right. Oh! 05:19 You really needed to hear that point was. 05:20 I didn't need to hear something. 05:21 You're forgiven Kathy. Absolutely. 05:23 That's what you need to hear, that's kind be the 05:26 sweetest words to the human heart from our 05:29 heavenly father. Yes, and can I add just 05:30 one other little thing on there. 05:31 Please, please. Because when I, 05:33 when we were talking about our children on 05:34 being sorry. We ask our children not to just say, 05:37 Oh! I'm sorry, that most of the time, not all the 05:41 time. Because some things, we just I'm 05:42 sorry I don't tend to you. You know, that sort of 05:44 thing. Right. 05:45 But with there was a real problem to go and not 05:48 just say I'm sorry, to go and say will you 05:51 forgive me and the other one was required to say, 05:54 I'll forgive you or you are forgiven and 05:58 these things to me had heavenly symbols. 06:05 I think of one of the most outstanding pictures 06:08 in my own mind from my youth was a, 06:10 I got in some trouble innocently, I didn't. 06:13 Umm! I didn't mean to get 06:15 in trouble, but it was done and I did what I 06:17 wasn't supposed to and somebody taken us to 06:19 Myrtle Beach for, because of certain 06:22 achievements in school and we have to go 06:24 group of us down and we were having good time. 06:26 They laid down some rules. It was a treat for 06:29 all of us and one of the rules was that you don't 06:31 go out without adult supervision on the beach. 06:34 Umm! Umm! Which was a great rule 06:35 and right one and for some reason we came back 06:40 some of those came back, when most everybody 06:42 else was gone and there are couple of girls there. 06:45 They will take a walk down the beach, 06:46 now this was not a boyfriend girlfriend 06:48 thing, there is no doubt over two words to it and I 06:52 said to myself. Well they will not 06:53 to go down to the beach by themselves, 06:54 so you know. I'm gonna go with them. 06:56 Umm! Kind of a thing, 06:57 well what I should have done is you just can't 06:59 do that. You know, you shouldn't do that and 07:01 certainly should not have violate the rules so 07:03 does we. Umm! 07:04 We got back, of course everybody was lying in 07:06 porches, and they were all worried. 07:07 You know you can just see the whole scene there. 07:10 Where did they go? And then it began to 07:12 wash over me, you know. How I had betrayed 07:14 everybody's trust. Umm! 07:16 And I don't remember how old I was. I must 07:19 have been 14, 15 years old something like that 07:23 and I remember after, you know they disciplined 07:26 us which they should have done they did it kindly. 07:28 They made it us understand the 07:30 seriousness of it, etc. Because you have 07:32 received instructions. I had, I was clear and 07:35 we knew better then they have. 07:36 But, I remembered you know laying in my bed and 07:41 just being overwhelmed with sorrow. 07:45 Umm! And where to find a place 07:47 by myself and I went outside in a stairwell 07:50 and where nobody, I felt could hear me and 07:52 and you know. I was just sobbing. 07:55 Umm! And of course boys 07:58 once in a while seem sobbing, you know. 08:00 Right, right. A kind 08:01 of a thing. But somebody heard me. 08:03 Umm! And it was the wife 08:05 of the principle. Umm! 08:07 And she had a great lovely heart. 08:10 Mrs. Carlson did and I'll never will 08:12 forgot her coming out in a stairwell and putting 08:14 her arm around me. Amen. Umm! 08:16 And telling me, that I was forgiven and assuring 08:20 me of that forgiveness. Umm! 08:21 That has stuck like a little beacon in the back 08:24 of my life, as I'm going down, 08:27 Umm! life journey, 08:29 what a precious moment, what a precious thing 08:32 she did for me at that moment. 08:33 Umm! Good example of what the father would 08:34 do for you. Yes, our heavenly father, 08:38 the savior's arms are open, ready to forgive us 08:42 and Peter I guess I had caught the drift. 08:44 He just didn't catch the picture big enough. 08:47 Umm! And I often thought about 08:48 this, how glad I'm Kathy. That there is no 08:51 limit to the father's forgiveness. 08:52 Umm! Umm! I've said, you know, there is such 08:56 things of unpardonable sin. Umm! 08:58 But the scripture is clear the unpardonable sin 09:00 is because the human being hardens their heart. 09:03 Right. Not because of father 09:04 has a small reservoir Right. 09:07 of forgiveness. Right. 09:08 And we need to keep that in mind. 09:10 That's right. We need to keep that 09:11 clear in our mind. That's right. So, I think 09:13 your point about the family. Umm! 09:16 Is well taken that there needs to be, we must 09:19 have an attitude to forgiveness is what I 09:21 call it. Right. 09:22 Abraham Lincoln was wonderful about that, 09:25 I don't know if you remember George Pickett, 09:27 George Pickett was the southern general, 09:30 who led terrible, could fetter a charge. 09:33 Right. At one end, he was a 09:34 terrible part of the battle and of course, 09:37 he and Lincoln had been friends together 09:39 before the civil war. Umm! 09:42 And after civil war, Lincoln went to Richmond, 09:45 Virginia. Umm! 09:46 And his aide said that he went into 09:49 Jefferson Davis' office and shut the doors and 09:53 they were kind of embarrassed because 09:56 it was a long time. So finally someone went 09:58 and opened the door, there they found. 09:59 That great President of the United States with 10:02 his head on Jefferson Davis' desk sobbing, 10:07 weeping. Umm! 10:08 And then he say, he looked up and 10:09 he dried his tears, look I want to go to George Pickett's 10:12 house and they said, well he's probably not 10:15 there. He said that's alright, I don't want to go 10:16 there anyway. Umm! 10:18 So, he went to George Pickett's house, 10:19 knocked on the door and George Pickett's 10:21 wife came to the door. 10:23 Umm! And he said, who he was 10:26 and she put her hand of course to your mouth, 10:27 because you know what they think, you know. 10:29 Yes. And given all those 10:31 circumstances and out from behind her skirts, 10:35 peaked little George Junior Pickett. 10:38 Two years old and Abraham Lincoln reach down and 10:41 scooped him up. Umm! 10:42 In his arms and you know, how two year old faces 10:45 are, they could be a little gluey you know. 10:47 Anyway, that he planted a great big dewy 10:49 kiss. Umm! 10:51 Right on Abraham Lincoln's face and 10:53 Abraham Lincoln's face lit up and then Abraham 10:55 Lincoln said something, that ought to burn in all 10:58 of hearts. He looked at little George and he said 11:01 to little George. He says you tell that daddy is 11:03 yours. That lovable old rascal. 11:06 Umm! That I still love him and 11:10 I forgive him and the war is not gonna make any 11:13 difference between us. Oh! Wow. Umm! 11:15 That's an attitude to forgiveness already now. 11:18 Right. Person still has to 11:19 experience that forgiveness; we talk 11:20 about that little bit. Umm! 11:21 You see those attitudes in the Church. 11:24 Right. I have to stories to tell. 11:26 Right. But one story is, 11:28 the stories of contrast, so let me tell the bad 11:31 news first. Okay. 11:33 Story. Good news is not good to; 11:34 you know how bad the bad news is. 11:36 I think you're right, that's true with the 11:37 gospel. That's right. 11:41 This happened in a Church that I won't 11:43 mention where, but it happened in a Church, 11:46 where this small Church had somebody had 11:51 witnessed to a person, who had been in prison 11:54 and this person was out of prison and were 11:55 struggling, he is struggling poverty there he had a 11:58 family back together struggling to get their 11:59 life put back together. Umm! 12:01 And in this context, this person is trying to 12:03 become active in the Church. 12:05 Umm! There was an elder there, 12:07 who looked at this individual one day and in 12:10 the company of other people and he said to 12:12 this person. He said, you are never going to 12:16 mount to anything in this Church. 12:18 Umm! Can you imagine the devastation that 12:20 must have caused. Umm! 12:21 He never gonna to mount anything in the 12:23 Church, I think the reason that elder said 12:26 that is because he didn't understand forgiveness 12:27 and forgiveness doesn't mean you necessarily put 12:32 somebody back into leadership. 12:33 Right. But it does mean that 12:35 they are included and that you make them part 12:38 of the family again. Right. Umm! 12:42 In contrast to that story. 12:43 Umm! Is another story, 12:44 I won't use the last name Helen Levy. 12:46 Umm! I was out in North West 12:48 ministries out in the great pacific North West. 12:50 Yes. Where you're from Kathy. 12:51 Umm! And I was teaching ministers that were 12:54 coming out of the schools and one minister that 12:58 they send me. Minister to be, was this 13:01 couple, he had very interesting background 13:04 he had been a lawyer. In fact he had been city 13:06 attorney. Umm! 13:07 And he had grown up as, in the Church as an 13:12 Adventist and basically rebuild and went down 13:14 that road and in fact he told me, he says you 13:18 know, he says I would stop drinking three months out 13:20 of the year. Just to prove, 13:21 I could stop drinking kind of a guy. 13:22 Oh! Yes. But he made enough money 13:24 finally and he wanted, what he wanted to do. 13:26 He divorced his wife and there is a whole sad 13:29 story of course. Umm! 13:30 But, he said I wanna to get a boat to ride up 13:33 and down the Puget Sound and just lead the life. 13:35 So, he kind was attracted to young 13:39 Baptist girl and she was kind of going down same 13:41 road, he was going and so they started living 13:43 together and they roam on this boat and going up 13:46 and down the Puget Sound. You know, the Holy Spirit 13:48 is wonderful, it does wonders, 13:49 he began to work and live his heart. 13:52 And she said to him, one day she says, 13:54 we really have to go to Church somewhere, 13:57 we need to go to Church and he said. 13:59 Well, yes, I don't think we can go to any Church 14:02 except an Adventist Church and so he thought 14:05 he kind of put it off that way, she kept at it and 14:07 kept begging about it, so finally she said okay. 14:08 Alright, I know well there is an Adventist 14:10 Church out here on one of the islands. 14:13 Umm! And we will go, 14:14 he said you know. He was just frightened 14:17 to go to that Church, he said we look shabby, 14:20 we reek the marijuana. Oh! Wow. 14:23 And he says, so we got the boat drive and they 14:27 started to the church and he says, it was a 14:28 sunny day and he looked up there and he says 14:31 here are these ladies standing outside the 14:33 Church with their hair all nicely fixed, 14:35 looks like they are in their 60's or 70's or 14:38 even older and he says. He just knew that, 14:41 when they walked up there. These folk were 14:44 just couldn't, couldn't handle them you know 14:46 and he says. He got up there and he says those 14:50 ladies took one look and all their nice Sabbath 14:53 clothes one look at them and merely through 14:56 their arms around Levy hugged her and told how 15:00 glad they were to see him and her and made over 15:04 them. Umm! 15:05 And the long story that he said I just 15:07 poured so much love it brought him back. 15:09 Umm! And they were both rebaptized. 15:10 Amen. And he is a successful 15:13 minister today. Umm! 15:15 Just it's amazing, what an attitude 15:18 of forgiveness. Umm! 15:19 Will produce, you know in human heart. 15:22 In the hearts of others. That's right. 15:23 That's right. Yes. 15:28 Let's talk about the Church and 15:29 I think that's what we were saying. 15:32 I think the Church is got to have 15:34 an attitude to forgive. Umm! 15:36 When people comeback. Umm! 15:37 And you know what if people go stray again. 15:42 I had a situation that really illustrated this; 15:49 it was and we haven't had many Churches, 15:52 so it is very hard to pick out where this was 15:54 as far as that's concerned. 15:56 But a neighboring church, there leader in 16:02 that Church, home disintegrated. 16:06 Because of his getting involved in a fair, 16:10 his Church did the right things, 16:11 appealed to him, pled with him, please. 16:13 You know don't go down this road, 16:15 don't head down that way. 16:17 Practice the principles. Yes, and for whatever 16:20 reason it didn't work. He chose the 16:22 the wrong road. Umm! 16:24 And they ended up eventually 16:26 disfellowshipping him and this new wife. 16:31 Some weeks later or maybe a month 16:34 or so later I forgot how much time. One Sabbath 16:37 this new couple now shows up 16:39 at our Church. Umm! 16:42 And the elders came to me, afterwards and they 16:46 said now pastor how we gonna handle this. 16:48 Right. You know, how are we gonna 16:50 treat this folk. Umm! 16:52 And I said, well what do you think Jesus 16:54 would do or what does the scripture teach us. 16:56 Yes. We must not, sometimes you know, 16:58 we ask that question. What would Jesus do, 16:59 we put our own values as what Jesus would do 17:02 but the real question is what would the 17:03 scripture teach us, what Jesus teaches 17:05 the scripture? And we said to 17:08 ourselves well it means then that 17:10 Jesus would try to reach them and try to restore 17:12 them back to the Church family. Right, Umm! 17:14 So, I said well, we will treat them like any 17:16 other sinner that walks through these doors. 17:18 We will love them and that is we work on 17:21 the condolence what's happening, 17:22 because the devastation is terrible. Right. 17:24 I mean you can never talk about restoring 17:27 people without remembering the awfulness 17:30 of what sin has done and the consequences 17:33 that it causes. Right, Umm! 17:34 Peter never forgot his rejection of the Lord. 17:38 He didn't. He never forgot, 17:39 what he had done and it spurred him 17:41 and motivated him to do all the better 17:43 for the Lord. That's right. 17:44 Our favorite teacher one time 17:45 had said that really sanctification 17:48 is a deepening repentance. 17:50 Oh! I can see that. Do you like that? 17:52 I like that. A deepening sorrow for sin. 17:55 Umm! And not to put you in 17:57 despair, but to keep you in the right place. 17:59 That's right, time went on and we had a camp 18:04 meeting and I was asked to stand down 18:07 and receive people who were coming and 18:09 response to the call? Umm! 18:10 And this couple came forward. Umm! 18:12 And so I prayed with them and they wanted 18:14 me to come out and visit with them. 18:15 Umm! Before I did that, I went 18:16 to the elders though I said. Now, 18:18 how shall we handle this? How shall 18:20 we apply this redemptive discipline principles. 18:23 Right. So, we came up with 18:25 about 5 or 6 points. First of all we said 18:28 there had to be genuine repentance, 18:29 now I want to say. The repentance 18:31 does not mean, I'm sorry because I caused 18:33 lot of pain. Umm! 18:34 Repentance says, I'm sorry for what I did and 18:37 if I had to do it over again. 18:38 I would never do it. I would not do it, Umm! 18:41 I would not do it, you're right. 18:42 So, we wanted to hear that kind of 18:44 repentance from these folk. Umm! 18:46 And then that they would be willing to 18:48 express sorrow to the injured parties. Right. 18:51 And that's tough, that's not easy. 18:52 Alright. And that they would then 18:54 be willing to, I left the Church that they had 18:58 hurt be healed. Umm! 18:59 But that Church, would say yes. 19:00 I think we're healed enough from you 19:02 to move back. Right. 19:03 In the Church membership, now let 19:04 me hasten to add. That I believe 19:05 that Jesus can forgive and save 19:08 right on the spot when repentance is expressed. 19:11 Umm! But, we're talking about 19:13 restoring damage here. Yes, you're, 19:15 you're dealing with human minds and feelings 19:17 and you have to go long a pastor win back trust. 19:20 That's right and, and there has been a lot of, 19:22 a lot of damage and that we want 19:24 to consult our conference 19:26 leadership too. Umm! 19:27 And what they would say and then we want to 19:29 say to our own Church family. Is this gonna 19:30 cause division among us, are we're ready as a 19:32 Church family to bring and to redeem 19:35 and restore. These good folk 19:37 and then that there should be some kind of 19:39 at the Baptism not explicit either the 19:42 pastor or some may be. Some kind of 19:43 expression of sorrow. Umm! 19:46 For what's transpire. Oh! Jay, 19:48 that needs to be done, doesn't it. 19:51 Yes and if those things are met then 19:55 you begin to see real repentance take place. 19:57 Umm! So, when I went, I took 19:59 someone with me. Umm! 20:00 We went to visit and I asked them this 20:03 question about. How do you feel about 20:07 what you've done? I never will forget, 20:09 he just broke down and wept. You know, 20:12 he said and I'm really sorry, but he said, 20:14 I'm sorry for I did to God's Church 20:15 and they both expressed real sorrow 20:18 and repentance. Their son has said 20:20 why don't you just break those folk up 20:21 you know and send the back 20:22 the other partners. Umm! 20:24 And I don't have this, I don't have this on screen. 20:26 But Jeremiah Chapter 3, if somebody wants 20:28 to read it in cross reference said with 20:30 Leviticus 24. Umm! 20:33 You'll find that God says very clearly, 20:36 that if a man divorces his wife or women 20:40 vice versa and that individual marries 20:43 another person. Umm! 20:45 That it is an abomination that, if that 20:48 new marriage. Umm! 20:50 Ends either by the husband dieing 20:52 or he divorces or vice versa 20:54 Umm! the other one that is an abomination 20:58 to God for that first husband to 21:00 take that wife back, who is not been 21:02 married to somebody else. Umm! 21:05 So, it seems like the scripture is clear, 21:07 once that you got to get on 21:09 going along with life. Right. 21:11 And you got to focus on that. I think, 21:13 there is a lot of wisdom to that. 21:14 I'm no counselor or Psychologist, 21:15 but there is, there is so much water under the 21:17 bridge and that kind of thing to try 21:19 break it up. Right. 21:20 Put it back together. Right. Right. 21:21 So, the scripture seems to be clear about that. 21:23 But let me hasten back to where we were with 21:26 what was happening here. Umm! 21:28 And so, we spoke out these other things. 21:32 Umm! And they were both very 21:33 willing for those kind of things to happen, 21:35 that took a while for the other Church to 21:37 come to a place, that it's elders are 21:39 willing to say, okay we think now. 21:40 We're ready for them to make that step. Umm! 21:42 But that Church finally came to that place, 21:44 so we're ready for them for your Church 21:46 to pull these folk back in. Umm! 21:49 And they wrote letters of sorrow to injured 21:52 parties, to ex-spouses, children and made 21:55 verbal apologies to them and then we had 22:00 our own counsel in the Church 22:01 and they said we're ready and then they're Baptism 22:04 and this took a period of time, this was not 22:06 instantaneous. Umm! They made beautiful statements 22:09 of sorrow. Umm! Now explicit, everybody knew 22:11 what the story was. Right They did know. Right 22:13 Those who didn't know, didn't need to know. 22:14 Right. But, they made those expressions of sorrow 22:17 and to my knowledge are still functioning in the Church, 22:21 so then, and then the elders came to me with this 22:25 question, what if this new marriage breaks up. Umm! 22:27 I can refer them back to Jesus. Seven times. Seven 22:31 times, so I said we got to be willing to work for 22:34 the repentance again. Right, Umm! And so that's 22:36 got to be always the attitude Umm! of the Church. 22:42 Right. Which is expressed by the way in the parable 22:44 Umm! And then we have to go to that parable now. 22:46 Okay. And that parable is found in Mathew 18:23 22:50 to 35. "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may 22:54 be compared to a certain king who wished to settle 22:56 accounts with the slaves. And when he had begun 22:59 to settle them, there was brought to him one who 23:02 owed him ten thousand talents. But since he did 23:04 not have the means to repay, his Lord 23:06 commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and 23:09 children and all that he had, and repayment made. 23:12 The slave therefore falling down prostrated 23:15 himself before him, saying 'Have patience with me, 23:18 I will repay you everything.' And the Lord 23:21 of the slave felt compassion and released him and 23:24 forgave him the debt. But the slave went out and 23:27 found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 23:30 a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began 23:33 to choke him, saying. 'Pay back what you 23:34 owe.' So the fellow slave fell down and 23:37 began to entreat him saying. 'Have patience 23:40 with me and I will repay you.' He was 23:44 unwilling however, but went in and threw him in 23:48 prison until he should pay back what was owed. 23:52 So when his fellow slaves saw what had 23:53 happened, they were deeply grieved and they 23:56 came and reported to their Lord all that had 23:58 happened. Then summoning him, his 24:00 Lord said to him. 'You wicked slave, I forgave 24:02 you all that debt because you entreated 24:04 me. Should you not have mercy on your 24:06 fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?' 24:09 And his Lord moved with anger, handed him 24:13 over to the torturers until he should repay all 24:16 that was owed him. So shall My heavenly 24:20 Father also do to you, if each of you does not 24:24 forgive his brother from your heart. "Umm 24:29 It's quite a story from your heart. Yeah. And I 24:33 really can't we will come back to that I don't 24:35 think that any of us can forgive, unless first 24:38 our hearts forgiven our hearts. 24:39 Umm! I'll connect the prodigal son 24:41 for a second. Umm! I wanna ask a question. 24:43 We had fun with that last time. Oh! Yes. When did 24:50 the Father forgive the prodigal son? Well long 24:54 before he ever came home. Usually, you will have three 24:57 answers. Umm! One is well I forgave 25:00 him when he came home. Umm! Another one say, well 25:04 I forgave him when he left. I like to suggest that he 25:10 forgave him the day he was born. Oh! That's, well 25:16 that's a concept I don't think I thought of. 25:18 We all know our children grew up and 25:24 there is not ever a child that doesn't grow up at 25:26 somewhere on the line doesn't bring some 25:29 disappointment paying to parents part 25:31 apparently but I think the forgiveness is 25:35 already in the parents heart, ready to forgive 25:38 now, let me say because sometimes you can 25:40 misunderstand this, umm! because I'm not talking 25:43 about indulgence here. Obviously, the father 25:45 would not indulge his younger son's rebellion 25:47 because the boy left home, but I'm talking 25:52 about an attitude, a position. Our heavenly 25:56 father has forgiveness in his heart as we came 26:00 into existence. The scriptures says before 26:03 the foundations of the earth he already had a 26:05 plan. Yes, that's right. That made it 26:08 possible for him, he had forgiveness, but made it 26:11 possible for him to restore us. So, the fascinating 26:15 thing here is with the prodigal son, is that the 26:17 prodigal son could have stayed in the pig pen and never 26:21 experienced his father's forgiveness. Repentance is 26:26 the path to the experience of forgiveness. Amen. 26:30 And we got to ever keep that in focus 26:32 we cannot, we cannot ever come to the place that 26:35 says well shall we forgive you so everything 26:37 is alright, but the person is not repentance. 26:39 Right, you can't restore a person without 26:41 repentance, without repentant. We played beside little 26:44 bit, I thought about that some because 26:45 could the father forgiven, so if, though it 26:49 was there, if the child had not displayed that 26:53 attitude. It's right, it's right. So, I again I want 26:59 to say in the little time that's remaining here that 27:01 forgiveness does not necessarily, I don't mean 27:05 automatically restoring leadership in the 27:06 Church. I need to understand that. Yes. 27:08 There is too much of okay we have forgiven him, he 27:11 is back and I was pretty back in leadership that, 27:13 there is two different issues all together 27:15 leadership and forgiveness. I want to give 27:19 that there is two kinds of things that will make our 27:21 father, a heavenly father hostile in the end of 27:24 judgment, what if we become a stumbling block 27:26 right and two if we are unwilling to forgive. 27:30 Ah! Ah! As Jesus made it very clear about 27:33 that, here is, is a, is a quick summary of why 27:39 redemptive discipline needs to happen. First of all 27:44 because judgment is coming and second of 27:47 all because we want to bring joy to the father's heart. 27:50 Amen. Thank you brother Gallimore for joining us. And 27:53 I want you thank you for joining us as well. 27:55 Join us again next time On Thinking About Home. |
Revised 2014-12-17