East Baptist Church – Denison, TX

The Wonderful Freedom of Forgiving

Matthew 18: 21-25

Before we stand for the reading of our Scripture for this Lord’s Day I would like to ask you a question: How long has it been since somebody hurt your feelings? Ripped you off? Stolen from you? Slandered you? Gossip about you? Or just plain offended you?

Hear our Lord as He says you will be hurt by others. Matthew 18:7 (NASB77) ⁷ “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!” One of the biggest stumbling blocks is refusing to forgive.

Our Creator God knows us better than we know ourselves. Plain and simple: you are going to be offended, and you are going to offend others! Sometimes you will be offended and at other times you will be the offender! Jesus said, “.. For offenses must come.” It is a part of being in the human race! Friends betray us, a parent abuses us, a spouse is unfaithful, an employee robs us blind, a deacon disappoints us, a staff member snubs us, a pastor lets us down.

Most of us at one time or another will say, “Forgive them? After what they did to me? If you knew what they did, what they said, how they treated me, you would know why I cannot forgive them and why I want to get even!”

My beloved, let me sum up the parable we are about to read:  If you are going to follow Jesus and allow Him to touch you in a healthy loving relationship you must be willing to forgive like Jeus, like He forgave you, is forgiving you and will forgive you. Please notice I used all three timelines forgave, will forgive and is forgiving.

The freedom in forgiving: Matthew 18:21-35 (NASB77)

21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus •said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a certain king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
24 “And when he had begun to settle them, there was brought to him one who owed him ten thousand talents.
25 “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
26 “The slave therefore falling down, prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything.’
27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.
28 “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 “So his fellow slave fell down and began to entreat him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’
30 “He was unwilling however, but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.
31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.
32 “Then summoning him, his lord •said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me.
33 ‘ Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?’
34 “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
35 ” So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Let me tell you what forgiving is not: Forgiving does not mean that you instantly stop hurting emotionally. Deep wounds take a very long time to heal.

Forgiving does not mean forgetting! Now when you do forgive, you no longer use your memory against them, but real forgiveness, real freedom-giving forgiveness does not mean that you will forget.

The Word Peter and Our Lord are discussing in the Greek, means “to dismiss, to give up something, to send away, to release something.” Let us look at two examples in Scripture.

This word was used to describe Peter and Andrew leaving their nets after Jesus called them to be His disciples in Matthew 4:20, “Then they immediately left their nets and followed Him.”  These two men did not forget their nets or their boat; they just chose to leave them behind! So, learn this about forgiving: forgiveness is a choice! And if you have not chosen to release that offense, if you haven’t chosen to dismiss it, you have not forgiven them and you are still in bondage to them!

The forgiveness that Jesus is talking about means to dismiss it, to leave it behind, to send it away, to release it. Psalm 103:12 (NASB) ¹²  As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

We have looked at “The Definition of Forgiving” now we need to look at “The Duty to Forgive”. I wonder if Peter was remembering the end of the Lord’s Model Prayer? Matthew 6:14-15 (NASB77) ¹⁴ “For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ “But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

So… for Peter to ask, “up to seven times” was very impressive. I mean, Peter doubled what the Law required and added one to it! (Our Lord’s coming moved us above the letter of the Law to the Spirit of the Law.)

Note: In our verse the Lord uses 70×7 to indicate forever. ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”

It is our duty to forgive someone who sins against us 490 times, but why? You and I are to forgive others because Jesus has forgiven us! Because you are now a forgiven person, you are now to be a forgiving person! It is your duty!

When the evil man’s wickedness was brought to the attention of his lord, the king had him arrested at once. Matthew 18:31-35 (NASB77) ³¹ “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. ³² “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me. ³³ ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. ³⁵ ” So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”