Freedom in the Heart

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Christian greetings to each one of you in the precious name of Jesus. As I was studying for a message, I'm not sure if you call it interruptions or not, but there was booms and crashes and pops and snaps and crackles going on across the road. [00:00:33] Another man's celebration of liberty, of a liberty that comes from, I guess, physical freedom, a liberty that comes from defending your rights and standing and fighting. However, if there is not that freedom, then there's bondage. [00:01:04] And the thing that God has laid on, the sermon that God was laying on my heart was an aspect of freedom that whether we are physically in bondage, or I should say if we are in that state, we can still experience freedom in our hearts. I'd like to read for a text out of Matthew 18. I'd like to share this morning on maybe some of the principles of forgiveness. [00:01:37] This chapter here begins with Christ teaching on humility. And he acknowledges in verse 7 that there will be offenses. And later on in verse 15, he indicates of some ways that we can, proper ways that we can address those offenses. But I would like to read, begin reading in verse 21. And as Peter was thinking about this and how to respond to offenses, [00:02:14] Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven. I just briefly stop here as we think about his question. How often do I need to forgive? Until seven times? That sounds like a small number against what Jesus returned. But actually, if I understand, it was Peter was being liberal, for at that time the Jews would have considered three times a maximum for the same offense. [00:03:07] So in this, Peter was even being liberal, and yet Christ comes back and he says, not seven times, but seventy times seven. In essence, an innumerable number, or forgiveness that knows no end. And then he gives an illustration, a parable, or he says the kingdom of heaven is likened. It's in this way that we can draw from that, well, who is the kingdom of heaven? [00:03:39] Is not the kingdom of heaven those who have placed themselves under the lordship of Jesus Christ? We have made him our king, and it's to us who are in that position that this applies. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants and when he had begun to reckon one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents but for as much as he had not to pay his lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and his children and all that he had in payment to be made. [00:04:17] The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him a hundred pence. And he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. [00:04:52] And he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto their Lord all that was done. Then his Lord, after he had called him, and said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desirest me. Shouldest thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? [00:05:25] And his Lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly father do also to you If ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses And looking at this parable we can easily identify The two main characters of the king Having a forgiving heart and the servant an unforgiving heart [00:05:56] And there's a few things that seem to that seemed to stick out to me, a few different steps that both took. You know, we see this king, it says this king, which would take account of his servants. There was a king who required accountability, and he did so. He wasn't a haphazard king. He wasn't one that was loose with his money or not concerned, [00:06:29] But he called into account. He was realistic. And I would tend to imagine as this man was brought to him, the facts were laid out. He owed him 10,000 talents. and I believe that there was not a doubt in each of their minds that there was not a chance he could pay for this. He was unable to pay. It was a huge debt. The most conservative figure that I could find was that a talent would be 750 ounces [00:07:08] and it could be either of gold or of silver. So that means 10,000 talents is 7.5 million ounces. Now I didn't check Thursday as the markets closed what the value of gold is today or silver, but per ounce is probably several hundred dollars. So, maybe we can get a little bit of an idea. And, by the way, this was not a ruler. This was not a wealthy. It was a servant. And so, obviously, this debt was big. [00:07:43] But, as the king sat there, they acknowledged, or there was an accountability. And there was also an acknowledgement of the cost. He acknowledged that it was 10,000 talents, and they probably sat there and decided, you know, what are you worth, or how can you pay, and it was determined that he can't pay. and then the judgment was made and he said you have to sell yourself into slavery, your wife, your children, you have to sell the possessions you have so that payment can be made. [00:08:25] And I'm sure it would have never been in full, but there was an acknowledgement of the cost. It was going to cost this man his freedom until, I think often, in the year of Jubilee, they released those slaves. But until then. But then we see the response of the king. He acknowledged the 10,000 talents, but his response was mercy. He said, because of the compassion in his heart, he forgave him the debt. [00:08:59] it says he loosed him and forgave the debt that was more than what the man, the servant, was asking for the servant had only asked for patience and isn't that the way forgiveness works often and that is a forgiving heart extends beyond what is asked now the servant also was in a similar situation situation. And he also called into account someone who owed him. And this man owed him a hundred pence. And he said, you owe me. You pay that amount. He acknowledged the cost in the sense that the man said, I don't have it. I can't pay it. And so the judgment was made. He said, you're going to have to go to prison for the cost. [00:09:55] The response was, even after he pleaded with him, it was refused, and said, you will pay, and he threw him into prison. And then it goes on to say how the king, well, maybe I should look at a few different differences that I noticed as well. We could notice the differences in verse 23. I notice that the king did not hold grudges. If you notice, when he called this into account, he called his servants, and when one was brought unto him, you kind of get the feeling that he wasn't singled out. [00:10:42] There was an accountability to all, and this man came and became aware that he had a debt. As I thought about that, I thought, now come on, a king does not realize that this man has such a great debt? I imagine he did. But look at the difference between a forgiving heart and an unforgiving heart. And that is that the fellow servant went out and found that man that owed him. He was on a mission. He was looking for this man. It wasn't, I don't know, can you sense the difference there of the two different hearts? One was brought unto him and the one went out to find. [00:11:32] I also notice another thing in verse 25. Obviously they talked in the first scenario, they talked about what this man was worth. And the reference is made, but for as much as he had not to pay. It was obvious to both of them that he didn't have what he needed to pay. But as we see the second scenario of where the servant went out, it says the unforgiving man or the servant went out and his approach was entirely different. [00:12:11] It says he laid hands on him. And I don't think he laid hands on him to give blessing as we do as we send people out to voluntary service. But he laid hands on him to inflict pain. It says he grabbed him by the throat. It means to choke, to throttle, to inflict pain. It was to leave no trace on his mind who was the boss. And that's the way oftentimes an unforgiving heart approaches, and that is to inflict pain. [00:12:48] I see another one, difference. And that is the one judgment was that he is sold into slavery. The other was cast into prison. I believe one was worse than the other. However, I didn't have good references as far as researching that. But you know the way that we here in the U.S. or that the U.S. treats its prisoners is quite different from most other countries. While prison life I don't think is ever wonderful, in most countries it's very horrible. [00:13:25] And if we even read in the scriptures here, throughout the scriptures, you read about prisons in the form of dungeons, pits, cisterns. You read of stocks, shackles, bread and water. It's not a very attractive sight. And I believe that the prison was worse than the slavery. [00:13:57] Another reason that I tend to believe that way is that a forgiving heart is almost always more generous in acknowledgement of the cost than what an unforgiving heart is. An unforgiving heart always wants to meet fire with fire plus a little bit more, or a little bit more fire. We also can see some differences in their responses, and one was of compassion, the other was of vengeance. [00:14:31] And you know, as this came to be, these servants observed this second scenario, And they told the king. And the king brought him back and rebuked him and just asked the question, you know, here I forgave you all that did. Why could you not have compassion with your fellow servant, even as I had pity on you? And he needed to place judgment on him, condemning him to a life of torment [00:15:03] And Jesus finishes here and gives this warning that this is what will happen to us To you and I if we don't forgive our fellow man I believe all of us this morning would want to have, desire to have a forgiving heart What does it take to forgive? Well, Webster's gives some good definitions, I believe. Webster's says to give up resentment against or the desire to punish. [00:15:37] Just to stop being angry with. Pardon. The second definition is to give up all claim to punish or exact penalty for an offense. I'll read that again. To give up all claim. to punish or exact penalty for an offense. To me, I guess, in my own words, I would just say it's just plain stopping keeping score. It's no more black marks. We wipe the slate clean. [00:16:10] And in verse 35, Jesus says, If ye from your hearts forgive not, indicating to me that there can be times or there may be times when there's external forgiveness, but not internally or not on the heart. And I guess, could we say then that real forgiveness has to do more with the response of our emotions or on an emotional level? [00:16:42] I remember Paul Weaver once said, when we forgive, we remember without pain that incident. Just as Jesus recognized in verse 7, we live in a fallen world and offenses will come. And there have been times when you've been wronged, you've been unjustly used, you have had harsh words come at you. You feel trashed, picked off the bones. [00:17:17] And I think all of us can realize and remember that we've had, that there have been times when we have been the one who wrongly accused. When we have spoken, spit out that harsh word. Or when we have been the cause of someone's hurt. We have made mistakes. But even worse than that, as Paul says in Romans 6, for we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. [00:17:51] You know, God has needed to place a judgment on us and say, the soul that sinneth, it's going to die. For the wages of sin is death. We were, we having a debt that could not be paid, eternally lost, unable to get back And then God in his compassion, because he so loved the world, he sent his only son to pay for us [00:18:22] Through his blood he paid our debt, he redeemed us, he paid the price And today, you and I stand here today, if we've accepted the plan of salvation, and we are totally unable to repay God for the cost of salvation that was provided through His Son, it's only through Jesus Christ and His blood that we are forgiven. [00:18:55] And as Ephesians 4.32 says, that we are to forgive others even as God for Christ's sake. It's because of Christ has forgiven you. You know, I believe that this is one of the most important foundational aspects of forgiveness. You know, as we realize the great debt that we had, that we owed, and was forgiven, wiped clean, I think that gives us strength to extend forgiveness to others. [00:19:35] When we acknowledge, just as obviously this servant did not, was either too filled with pride, self, he did not see or could not understand the extent of his forgiveness, and therefore went out and couldn't extend that to anyone else. I think also there are other ways or other choices I might say that can help us in gaining a forgiving heart. [00:20:10] You know sometimes or in the past I've observed already in some situations where an incident happens or an offense takes place and the individuals put it underneath the carpet. We just don't talk about it. We act like it didn't happen and go on with life. Is that real forgiveness? I'm not sure. I see a little bit of a pattern here. It doesn't seem to fit in with a pattern that we see in this parable. [00:20:44] You know, I think that there's a proper way of dealing with offenses and he gives an indication or how we can begin in verse 15 by communicating, going to your brother who's offended you or trespassed against you and communication there. Here, he talks there with the individual. There's a sense of which there's an accountability. We're realistic and we recognize that this has happened. This has happened. And this is what is hurting me. [00:21:28] And there's an acknowledgement of the cost in saying that for this man it was 10,000 talents that he owed. And I wonder, is there a place in dealing with the offense to acknowledge the cost? And maybe that's for you and I is, you know, what you said was untrue. It wasn't the truth. And it's hurt my reputation. It'll probably take years for me to rebuild or for me to gain that back. [00:22:04] Or maybe it's, you've embarrassed me in front of my friends, in front of my peers. Or maybe what you have done to my son or daughter is going to leave scars for the rest of his life or her life. Or maybe you can fill in the blanks. But there's another step that needs to follow, and that is the proper response. We acknowledge what it cost, but then we say, because I love you, I forgive you. [00:22:44] I give up all claims to any resentment or payment. And I wonder if it's not helpful as we count the cost and then am willing to release that, that we can continue on and remember that without pain. You know, it says here that the king loosed him. He let go entirely. [00:23:16] I think of Joseph in the Bible, and when I think of him, I think of a few different things. I think of moral integrity, but also of a forgiving heart. You know, he forgave his brothers, as we've been studying Wednesday evenings, forgave his brothers. And not only then, but after his father died, they came again, asking for forgiveness for fear of their lives. And he again extended forgiveness. And then he says some things that I think we can see a bit of how he saw this situation in verse 20. [00:23:50] He says, ye thought it evil against me, but God meant it for good. He saw God in the picture of this whole scenario. You know, and I wonder if we can see, I believe if we can see God having a purpose for this situation. it may be to break us it may be to mold us closer to him [00:24:21] it may be to show us show us ourselves but I think that if we see God in the picture we can open our hearts and we can be more willing to forgive or find it easier to forgive you know Jesus that's how Jesus Jesus, as he was hanging on the cross, could say, Father, forgive them. They don't even know what they're doing. They were just doing the plan of God. They were just being in the will of God, and yet he extended. He looked beyond. [00:25:01] You know, I believe that often people who hurt others are people who are hurting themselves. And when I can take the focus off of myself and the way that they have hurt me and look beyond, look beyond the offense and with compassion see needs in that individual's life and how I can minister, how I can help. and how my response can be to help that individual. [00:25:34] I think real forgiveness has begun. You know, isn't it amazing though in real life sometimes how little things we trip over. You know, we don't trip over the big steps but it's often those little two inch steps that we stumble or kick or the little stones that we stumble. And I think I read in the Daily Bread, there was a man who walked from San Francisco to New York City. [00:26:11] And after he accomplished that feat, he was asked, you know now, what was the most strenuous, what was the most difficult part of his trip? And he replied, you know, it wasn't climbing those mountains, it wasn't even going through those hot, dry deserts. But the thing that almost defeated me was the sand in my shoes. You know, what do we do with those little irritants, or the little pokes, the little misunderstandings? [00:26:49] What we feel is so inconsiderate. How do I respond? And I'm not sure that there's always a place to approach every little thing. But how do I, for myself, how easily can I become defeated? And when we allow those little things to continually irritate, to fester, those things build and they can be the source of our defeat. [00:27:20] Paul in Colossians 3.13. As he talks about putting on some of the Christian garments, he says, Forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. You know, can we accept a brother or a sister the way he is? I don't know about you, I know I have some little quirks, and I'm sure we all do. [00:27:51] Can we accept a brother or a sister and accept that maybe they do things or say things or have different ways about them? How quick are we to forgive, to extend love and forbearance for them? I don't want to say that we can ever assist each other in growing, in refining. But can we maybe look beyond and see those quirks as being meant for my good [00:28:26] You know, if we don't choose forgiveness, we default in bitterness I just don't find a middle road You know, when we choose to hang on, then bitterness is what happens And I believe very first and foremost is and the Bible is very clear in Matthew 6, 14 and 15 and also here in the last part of the chapter that we read that when we hold on, when there is bitterness in our hearts, that can affect our destiny. [00:29:07] The way we forgive, the way we hold on, can affect us in eternity. And not only will it affect us then, but it affects us here. When I become embittered, I become a slave or enslaved to the individual that I resent or hold against. You know, bitterness robs me of peace. Bitterness robs me of joy. of pleasure. When I hold a grudge, it adds physical stress even to my body. You know, when we hold a grudge or hold bitterness, it even dominates our thoughts. What happens if we're at a social gathering and that individual comes? It can ruin the evening. That person we are enslaved to. He controls what we are. [00:30:06] And the more bitter we become, the more our focus is on Him and the more like Him we become. It's inevitable. And I remember something that my father experienced. He did not like or he did not appreciate the way that his father ordered his home. And he always said, I'm not going to do that. [00:30:38] I'm not going to be like my father in the way he treated the children and his wife. But as time went on, he saw again and again doing the same things. And it was not until he forgave his father that the focus was changed and he could have victory. You know, the choice is yours and mine this morning. We can be enslaved by bitterness, or we can be free by forgiving from the heart. [00:31:13] I believe love and forgiveness is that oil in a bearing, or oil in a sprocket. It's that which makes it run smoothly. And I trust that I know there's difficult times And there's times when we need to ask God to continue His work To help us to overcome To see things in His perspective [00:31:46] I'd like to close by reading Micah 6 He says, He has showed thee, O man, what is good And what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God. I trust that's each one of our desires and may God help us as we face whether small things or larger things that we can respond in a way that brings honor and glory to him. [00:32:24] and in a way that gives us freedom. There's many blessings that are associated with forgiveness and I didn't take the time to go into all that. But when we are able to let go, then we are the one who will receive the greater blessing.