Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of Scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
When you were a child, did you ever accidentally hit a baseball through your neighbor’s window? You felt really bad about what you did, so you went over to apologize. You assumed that he would be as forgiving with you as your dad is, but the truth is that he lacked the quality of forbearance. He told you you were going to have to pay for all the damage that you did. Even when you humbly requested their forgiveness and to forgo the debt, they refused to forget the matter, and told you that they would bill you for the expenses.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
Forbearance is defined as the refraining from the enforcement of something that is due. When someone humbly confesses their faults, we are supposed to forgive them, canceling their debts as God has forgiven us. We must show forbearance to each other in time of need.
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.
In the story, the King displays forbearance. The man who was brought before him owed him a lot of money, but he simply couldn’t pay the bill. But when the debtor finally came to his senses, and realized what was going to happen, he confessed his faults and begged the king to be merciful. Because of this, he completely forgave him, and freed him of the entire debt.
All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Each of us has accrued a sin debt with God. But before any of us can be forgiven by God or others, contrition and confession must first happen toward those whom you have wronged. In order for the king to release him of the debt, he needed to admit his faults, because if he hadn’t, he would have suffered the punishment for what he owed. This is why people must seek reconciliation in the church. You need to quickly confess faults one to another so sins can be forgiven and forgotten. But some people will be too cold-hearted to apologize, and if that is the case, you are not supposed to have anything to do with them. God doesn’t want people to perish, He wants them to repent, because when they do, he can show them His merciful forbearance. We need to be the same way toward each other in the church.
Colossians 3 ¹² Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³ Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
When somebody sins against you it doesn’t feel very good, does it. We have to enter into suffering because of the wrongs committed against us. But this is exactly what Jesus did when he died on the cross. Clearly we are not supposed to avenge ourselves, but God will bring tribulation and punishment upon the impenitent. But when somebody accepts the error of their way, and comes to the realization inside of their heart that what they have done is wrong, they need to humbly confess faults to God and to others. Confession is a huge part of the Christian Life, because if people cannot quickly admit fault when they wrong others, they are ensnared with the pride of the devil, and will suffer the consequences with God. It’s either punishment or forgiveness, and it all comes down to one’s contrition and confession of faults. Remember that before one can obtain mercy, they must ask for it. This is exactly what the man did who was indebted to the king. Compassion and forbearance can only flow, when you cry out for mercy, and accept your own shortcomings. In the church we need to quickly accept our faults, confess our faults, and forgive faults because each of these processes are qualities of divine charity.
Ephesians 4 ¹ I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, ² With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
On the other hand, some people will absolutely refuse to forgive somebody for something that they have done. They expect God to forgive them, but they won’t forgive others who humbly seek their forgiveness. In complete hypocrisy, they pray the Lord’s prayer and ask God to forgive them, but they won’t forgive the penitent heart of another person. Those who do this will lose their salvation, because God will not forgive them for sins that they have committed.
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.
“For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” James 2:13
How forgiving are you with others? Are you as merciful with others, as God has been with you? Are you capable of showing compassion to the penitent? Will you be forbearing with a neighbor, when they humbly apologize for….
….. The Broken Window
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 groups. 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.♥️
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 