Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of Scripture from 1st Peter.
“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Peter 4:10
A steward is a person who administers anything as the agent of somebody else. Think about a manager at a retail store who is charged with the responsibility of watching over it. They take care of all of the company’s things, and watch over the employees and the customers. Like a grain elevator stores grain, the church is a storehouse of God’s grace. God grants each of us the incredible gift of forgiveness and plants it deep inside of our hearts. As a good steward of His grace, we want to take what He has given us, and extend it to others in their time of need. We must be very forgiving with each other because Christ has been very forgiving with us. This is essentially what the Lord Jesus taught the Apostle Peter in the very beginning.
Matthew 18 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.
When we are baptized into our faith, God washes all of our past sins away through His incredible Grace. Like canceling a huge debt that you owe, He wipes our slate clean, and completely forgets our past misdeeds. But when you get forgiven, God expects you to be forgiving with others, as a good steward of His manifold grace. When people refuse to extend forgiveness to the penitent, it provokes God to wrath, which will result in Him withholding His forgiveness from them.
Matthew 6 ¹⁴ For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: ¹⁵ But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Forgiveness is a gift from God and one of the main precepts of the Christian Life, but some people are going to require more of it than others.
“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Ephesians 4:7
Sometimes I think about a child who is trying to learn how to ride their bicycle, but they keep falling off. They feel really bad and even discouraged by their lack of progress, but the parent picks them right back up and says ….”Try it again.” It is mercy that helps us to finally succeed and defeat sin permanently. God grants us grace to overcome sin, and we must grant grace to others so they can overcome sin.
“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Matthew 5:7
“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:” Luke 6:37
But some people cannot find forgiveness with God or others because of their own pride. They essentially slam the door on mercy because of the hardness of their own hearts. To obtain forgiveness with God, you have to confess your faults to Him. It’s the same thing with a brother in the church that you have wronged. If you don’t seek reconciliation with them, then you cannot obtain their forgiveness. Scripture commands that those who choose that path are to be treated like a heathen. This is because they are completely unspiritual and have no concept of love or contrition.
Matthew 18 ¹⁵ Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. ¹⁶ But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. ¹⁷ And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. ¹⁸ Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
The pride of impenitence will destroy your relationship with God and others. To truly love your neighbor as yourself is to put yourself into their shoes. If you had been treated the same way, how would you feel? People know when they are doing wrong, they just don’t want to admit it. No matter how forgiving and merciful you might be towards others, many of them will be too proud to repent. God does not forgive everybody, neither can we, when people do not seek mercy and reconciliation.
1 Peter 5 ⁵ Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.⁶ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Like the humble publican, some people will recognize the error of their own way. All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but salvation begins by admitting your faults. Heaven rejoices at one sinner who repents, and like the prodigal son returning home, each of us must be ready and willing to forgive, knowing that God has forgiven us. We must be a vessel of mercy, an ambassador of Christ, giving to others what we have received from God, as a faithful and….
…….Good Steward
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious goups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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