Three Strikes

Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to look at a passage of scripture but before we do that I wanted to ask you a question.

Do you know what mercy is? Merciful means : treating people with kindness and forgiveness. Our God is filled with mercy and he extends to us His forgiveness through His Son Jesus Christ. In order to receive mercy we must be able to confess our faults and apologize to God and others from our hearts. If we simply admit our faults God is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all of our sins.

True restoration contains 3 elements. Rebuke and apologies, forgiveness, and complete reconcilliation.

There are many people today who have a great problem with forgiving others in their heart when they apologize. It’s a requirement by God to forgive others. When you don’t forgive others from your heart and forget the past and rejoin with them it only results in bitterness. Without reconciliation it’s only keeping a grudge.

Forgiveness is conditional in the fact that if you won’t forgive others God will not forgive you.

Matt 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Look at what Jesus Christ did for us at the cross. He bled and died so that we could have forgiveness. He loved us so much that he laid down his own life yet there are people in the church who refuse to forgive others when they apologize. The resurrection and God’s forgiveness are the central part of the Christian faith.

When somebody says I repent it means to have a change of heart. To simply say those two words is an admission of fault.

In baseball they have a rule called three strikes and you’re out but in the Christian faith it’s 490 strikes. The reason why is because God wants us to hit a homerun and finally overcome our sinful conditions. In the church I believe it’s each member’s responsibility to help others overcome sin or problems rather than being judgmental and condemning.

Someone might make more mistakes along the way and have to apologize again. Ultimately this is not what God wants because he wants us to go and sin no more. He doesn’t want us to continue repenting from dead works but if any man sin we have an advocate with the father our Lord Jesus Christ.

Even when we make mistakes in the church, God gives us ample amounts of grace to get up and try it again. He gives us hope. He gives us grace to mature and become what he wants us to be, but if you want forgiveness from God you have to forgive others from the heart and reconcile with them because without reconciliation, true forgiveness in the heart never really happened.

Matt 18:21-35

²¹ Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

²² Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

²³ Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.

²⁴ And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

²⁵ But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

²⁶ The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

²⁷ Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

²⁸ But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.

²⁹ And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

³⁰ And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

³¹ So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.

³² Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:

³³ Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

³⁴ And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

³⁵ So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Our God is filled with mercy and he extends to us his forgiveness through his son Jesus Christ. In order to receive mercy we must be able to confess our faults and apologize to God and others from our hearts, then you must learn to be forgiving with others and go and do the same.

As I said before many times you can’t undo the past or the wrongs that you have committed, but God can change our future through his mercy and forgiveness. He wants to completely blot out our transgressions, removing them completely from our conscience and our hearts.

Luke 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.

Micah 6:8

….what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.

The Lord’s prayer teaches……and forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. 

When you ask God to be forgiven for your faults are you showing that same mercy and forgiveness to others?

Let’s think about those things for today and Lord willing I’ll talk to you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye-bye everybody❤

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