Rebuke and forgive

Good morning and welcome in today today we’re going to take a look at a passage of scripture from Luke chapter 17:3-4

³ Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

⁴ And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

First of all today, He says if your brother trespass against thee.

The archaic definition for tresspass means a sin or an offense. A sin is a serious shortcoming or a fault in somebody’s life. It a transgression of a religious or moral law especially when deliberate. Sin is also a condition of estrangement from God resulting from such disobedience.

In theology it means a transgression of God’s known will or any principle that we’ve learned from the scriptures. (James 4:17)

Ultimately sin is the opposite of love for God or others. The reason why I say this is because Jesus summed it up in the two Commandments. He taught to love God and to love your neighbor. If It isn’t love then it’s sin.

If somebody wrongs you, you should rebuke them. It’s hard to know if you’re wronging others if they don’t ever say anything about it. When you rebuke you’re expressing disapproval or criticism of somebody because of their behavior or their actions towards you or others.

For an example of rebukes in the Bible, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in Matthew 23:29. The Lord Jesus rebuked Peter in Matthew 16:23. Peter rebuked the Jews regarding the death of Jesus in Acts 2:22. Steven rebuked the Sanhedrin acts 7:51.

If you’re going to rebuke somebody it can cause you to be very angry because of what has happened to you or others. That is a justified anger. When people sin against us, it upsets us. If somebody sins against you, rebuke them and if they repent forgive them.

I will give a very simple example of what this means. A child’s riding his bicycle too close to traffic and his dad yells at him to get away from the highway. The child rides his bike up to the dad and says I’m sorry. The dad says don’t worry about it, I love you. Simplistic isn’t it.

I’ve noticed a lot of forms of Christianity out there who are very unforgiving with others, which goes completely against the teachings of Christ. Jesus teaches In this passage when they say ” I repent ” to forgive. What they are doing is admitting and confessing their fault. The act of saying ” I Repent ” is the admission and confession of their fault otherwise they would never say that.

500 years ago that admission of fault was enough to get forgiven but because of a lack of love in the current age that we are in, and people’s unmerciful hearts, it has changed into a false gospel. That is what Prophecy in the scripture predicted would happen. People will be merciless, unforgiving, implacable and cold.

What God wants us to do is to admit the truth in our own hearts that we are wrong, which leads you to apologize to somebody and say I repent.

If you’ve apologized, you’ve done your part . If they don’t forgive you in their heart and reconcile with you, God’s will not forgive them at the judgment. It goes against everything He is.

People can over analyze this passage but it’s the simplicity of the Gospel.

Rebuke those who sin against you or hurt you, apologize and say I repent, forgive them from your heart and hold no grudge against them, and reconcile with each other. This process is not that difficult if the parties are willing.

Unforgiveness leads to bitterness,… not in the heart of the person who apologized, but in the heart of the person who won’t forgive.

We can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need so that we can get forgiven and what God wants from each of us is a confession. He wants us to repent and confess and say I did this wrong and I’m sorry Lord, and then he forgives us. That is the same kind of forgiveness we are supposed to show one another in the church.

God does not demand a changed life before he forgives us, just a confession, otherwise we would be earning our own salvation and forgiveness by works instead of by grace.

It’s God’s goodness seen through his grace that leadeth us to repentance. It is ultimately his forgiveness that causes us to change our lives around. We recognize his love through his grace and what he did for us at the cross. God has given you a gift of his grace and forgiveness when you apologize to him.

1 Peter 4:10 – As every man hath received the gift, [even so] minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Do you extend that same gift to somebody else or are you more demanding?

There are so many people today who do not even fathom how forgiving and loving God is. The reason why is in their carnal nature they do not want to forgive.

When we confess our sins it simply means to own up to our own faults. When we do, God forgives us.

Today we’re talking expressly about the relationships between one another in the church. If you do something wrong to others, admit your fault or your weakness to them. Own up to your own faults and sins. Just say I repent and I’m sorry. You can’t undo what has already been done so what else can you say but I apologize? We can’t change our past but it can be blotted out through forgiveness.

Their responsibility is to forgive you the way Christ has forgiven them. If they don’t forgive you as He does, they will be shown no mercy. What they have is a cold unforgiving heart. And that results in holding a grudge against the offending party.

James 5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.

A person apologizes, but yet the other party will not forgive.

We talked in depth about this the other day but that is not Christianity. God is far more merciful than what the world perceives. If people cannot forgive others when they apologize, they themselves will not be forgiven with God either. That in itself is too scary for me to even contemplate. The flip side of that coin is confessing.

Confession to others that you have wronged is required. It’s to admit your faults and say that I repent. It means to admit that you were wrong.

If somebody wrongs you, rebuke them, if they say I repent, they are admitting that they are in the wrong. When they do that you have to forgive them in order to obey Christ.

Continuing on in our study Passage He says….

And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Now remember, this is a command of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

1 John 2:4 “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

When you say the words I repent you are showing in that admission that you have sorrow for what you have done or or else you would have never admitted to it. It’s the same thing as saying I’m guilty in an earthly courtroom.

Just the ability to say I’m sorry is an admission of fault. Think about somebody driving down the highway and a state patrolman pulls them over and says that you were driving too fast. He had you clocked at 65. You simply respond to the officer saying I’m sorry. Just in that word shows that you admit fault, which by the way is something that insurance companies hate when you do.

When somebody says these words in the church, you are supposed to forgive them.

When you go to Jesus and confess and admit your faults, Jesus forgives us. It’s immediate. God doesn’t hold our sins over our heads. He ceases to remember them. Quite different than people who profess Christianity today who remember your faults and won’t forgive.

Don’t confuse that with Christ’s forgiveness and the true grace of God. We can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need and we can know in our hearts that He is going to forgive us. That is because we have faith.

Otherwise why would we come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need. We come boldly because we know he’s going to forgive us. We recognize his love and His forgiving nature.

A lot of people who profess Christianity Today really are lost in understanding the fact of how God it’s so forgiving and merciful to sinners. That’s why Jesus taught when he returned would there be faith on the Earth.

There’s going to be no groundswell of Christianity before the return of Jesus but a complete downfall of the truth, and those are the facts my friends.

Even when people don’t forgive when you apologize, Christ does. It is true that God’s forgiveness and grace will result in a change in our lives, but we do not change first and then get forgiven. We get forgiven first and that feeling of freedom and liberty from our past misdeeds causes us to repent to the point that we change our ways.

So I want to make sure you understand that. God doesn’t require that you change your ways first and then come and get forgiven. We come to the cross the way we are. Jesus wants to forgive us. He died on the cross while we were yet sinners.

Jesus didn’t demand that we change first before He forgives us. Those who believe that concept are believing a complete falsehood in the Christian faith. The apostles taught that you cannot earn forgiveness because it’s a gift.

The more that we are forgiven, the more we realize how much we are loved and cared for by God. It’s the goodness of God seen in his grace that leadeth us to repentance. Remember it was the religious leaders of Jesus day who were so upset with him because he was simply forgiving others who came to him in faith.

Sadly it still happens today in forms of Christianity were people will not forgive others when they apologize.

Luke 7:36-50

³⁶ And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.

³⁷ And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,

³⁸ And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

³⁹ Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

⁴⁰ And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.

⁴¹ There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.

⁴² And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

⁴³ Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

⁴⁴ And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

⁴⁵ Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.

⁴⁶ My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

⁴⁷ Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

⁴⁸ And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

⁴⁹ And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

⁵⁰ And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

take a look at this following verse.

1st Peter 3:21

²¹ The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

God cleanses our conscience through baptism even though we haven’t put away the filth of the Flesh in our own hearts and Minds yet. The church is a place that is filled up with sinners who are amending and changing their ways but it does not happen in one day. How long did it take you to ride a bicycle the first time that you got on it?

Thank God for his mercy and his grace so that we can grow. How long does it take a tomato seed to come up out of the ground…. in one day?Thank God for his mercy and Grace towards wretched sinners. God cleanses our hearts and our minds when we come to him and confess our sins and partake of Holy Communion. This is why God has provided a sacrifice for our sins. It’s so that we can get forgiven when we need to.

Christ wants us to be that forgiving with each other.

When someone apologizes and says I repent you need to forgive them because Jesus forgave you. Now remember when we get forgiven that doesn’t mean that we should use that Grace as an occasion to the flesh but everybody in the church has their own weaknesses and faults and we have to help each other out. We don’t want to be a stumbling block to other people but pick them up and help them because God is our helper. He gives Grace to help us.

It’s easy to stand in judgment over others like they did to the adulterous woman in the Gospels, but not so easy to forgive.

Don’t forget that Mercy is greater than judgement. For many years I’ve always enjoyed playing the game of spades. I taught it to my family years ago. In this game the Spades Trump everything else just like Mercy Trump’s judgment. It’s like having an ace in your hand that will beat everything else but you have to use it. You have to be able to pull out that card and use it at the right time.

Judgment has a purpose. Rebuking someone else has a purpose. But don’t forget forgiveness is greater than it all. True charity in a person’s heart will forgive others. We need to forgive others the way that Christ forgave us.

That’s where I’m going to stop right now, but Lord willing we’ll talk some more later. Till then bye-bye everybody.