Date: February 11, 2024
Time: 6:36 pm
Song: No Longer Bound by Forrest Frank
Hi friends!
Sundays are one of my favorite days of the week. I want to share my sermon notes from this Sunday with you. I believe it will bless your life:
Date: February 4, 2024
Speaker: Bro. Johnathan Morrison
Title: The Gratitude That Comes With Grace
Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35
“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this, the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt, and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Alexander Pope said that to error is human but to forgive is divine.
We appreciate Jesus because he not only preached forgiveness but he practiced forgiveness as well.
Jesus' last words before his death was Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
Jesus understood that managing relationships with broken imperfect people is a struggle.
It’s hard to navigate relationships with difficult toxic people.
And forgiving others is a challenge that some of the most loving people wrestle with sometimes.
It is not always natural to forgive. It is something that we must learn and practice.
In the bible, Christ models to us how to forgive.
In the text, Peter asks Jesus how often should I forgive my brother who sins against me.
Scripture reference: “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Matthew 18:21 NIV
During that time, the teachers misinterpreted the Bible and took Amos 1:6 out of context.
Reference scripture: “This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Gaza, even for four, I will not relent. Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom,”
Amos 1:6 NIV
From this, they determined that God would not forgive more than three times so they didn’t have to forgive more than three times.
This is where Peter’s question came from. He wanted to know from Jesus how often he had to forgive people.
Peter wants to know how to deal with difficult people and forgive them.
We all struggle with something.
Sometimes we struggle with patience and forgiving others.
Sometimes we struggle with loving others.
Sometimes we are hurt by others and it makes it hard to show compassion again.
We have to be careful not to develop our own standards on how we love and forgive others.
When we do that we set a limitation on what true love and forgiveness look like.
Sometimes the hardest people to forgive are those who are closest to us. Those who are supposed to love us but treat us like enemies.
We can’t fall in love with our own righteousness because we can miss out on our own need for forgiveness.
Peter should have asked Jesus how many times should my brother forgive me.
We have to ask ourselves the same question because we also need forgiveness from others.
Peter seemed more aware of his brother’s need for forgiveness than his own need for forgiveness.
He was looking outward instead of looking inward.
We have to do the same. We must look inward, at ourselves, and not outward.
Peter was missing the principles of Jesus' instructions.
Jesus stressed the importance of forgiveness by days don’t forgive seven times but up to seventy times seven.
Reference scripture: “Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:22 NIV
It wasn’t about the number of times. It’s about the attitude and disposition.
Jesus was saying forgiveness doesn’t keep score. It doesn’t keep a record.
True love and forgiveness don’t keep a record or account.
And if you keep a record then you are not forgiving in the first place.
Jesus is saying we should forgive so much that it becomes a part of who we are and a part of our DNA. It becomes a part of your character.
We live in a world where we are conditioned to get back at people and not forgive but Jesus is saying this is not how we should live.
We must live in a way that it feels unnatural for us not to forgive and love others.
In the text, with the parable, Jesus was saying that a failure to forgive others turns victims into victimizers.
You become what you detest.
When you refuse to forgive others you become an oppressor.
When you are offended and refuse to forgive not only does your enemy victimize you, but you victimize yourself.
When you forgive, you set yourself free.
When you refuse to forgive you are holding yourself in prison for un-forgiveness.
You keep yourself stuck in prison because you’re keeping someone else in prison.
You have to set yourself free by letting them go and forgiving them.
Parable Reference scripture: “As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this, the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt, and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”Matthew 18:24-35 NIV
One of the ways you know that you have truly forgiven someone is when you can walk away even when you feel like they haven’t paid and you’re okay with that.
It’s not because the person has made it right, but you have permitted yourself to be set free.
God says give the hate and anger that you feel to me and you go free and let me deal with them.
Reference scripture: “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.” Romans 12:19 NIV
Jesus forgave a debt that he didn’t owe for us and we must forgive others when they sin against us.
All of us have missed the mark and messed up and God forgave us.
XO,
Dr. Rich 💋