Knowing God Series #17
“Forgiven and Forgiving”
Review
I. The nature of God
II. The Attributes of God
A. God is infinitely GREAT in His ability / capacity
B. God is infinitely and perfectly PURE in His morality and judgments
C. God is infinitely GOOD in His relationships
1. God’s infinite LOVE
2. God’s infinite GRACE
3. God’s infinite MERCY
4. God’s Longsuffering, forbearing God
5. God’s Gentleness
6. God’s Forgiveness
I. REALIZE FORGIVENESS
A. Sin puts distance between us and God.
Your iniquities have made a separation between you and Your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, so that He does not hear." Isa 59:2
Guilt puts distance between everyone. God sent His only Son to bridge that gap. Through forgiveness we are reconciled to God.
B. Portraits of Forgiveness
C. Principles of God’s Forgiveness
In Him we HAVE redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us. Eph 1:7
1. His Forgiveness is Communicative
2. His Forgiveness is Character Based
3. His Forgiveness is Costly
4. His Forgiveness is Complete
5. His Forgiveness is Continual
Not until we realize the great debt paid on our behalf and our continual need for and granting of God’s daily forgiveness, will we experience the freedom and the motivation to release those who have sinned against us.
II. RECEIVE FORGIVENESS
A. Refusing Forgiveness brings consequences and bitterness
B. Receiving God's Forgiveness brings freedom from guilt
"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account." Rom 4:7-8
When God forgives, there remains no obligation or right to demand repayment from ourselves or anyone else. God has been offended. He has chosen to provide payment for us through His Beloved Son. Come to Him with confidence.
We have confidence to enter the holy place and draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
Until we properly perceive and receive God's forgiveness of our sins through applying the truth, we will not be able to effectively forgive others.
III. RECIPROCATE GOD’S FORGIVENESS
1. Forgiving others is Commanded
God clearly instructs EVERY follower of Jesus to forgive others AS the Lord has forgiven us.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as god in Christ also has forgiven you. Eph 4:32
2. Forgiving others seeks to Communicate when possible and directed by God
I must be certain about the motive for communicating my feelings of hurt.
Demand or expect repayment as a condition of relationship vs. restore the relationship
Self-centered vs. others-centered
My satisfaction vs. their sanctification or salvation
Vent rather than reconcile
Sometimes God tells us to only share them with Him. Other times God tells us to only pray. Sometimes God says if your brother sins against you -- go to him. Matt 18 If you think you have offended someone, God tells you to go immediately and reconcile. Matt 5
Sometimes communication may not be possible. We can’t forgive and forget. We remember but chose to refuse to demand repayment.
3. Forgiving others is Character produced
Put on love, for love covers a multitude of sins.
4. Forgiving others is Costly
We must be willing to bear the hurt that comes with relational storms with the infinite resources made available through Jesus Christ and the realization of the cost of our own forgiveness. God’s love floods our hearts. He provides all we need to bear the cost of forgiving others.
Forgiveness does NOT require us to deny the offense and the hurt but chooses to forgive the debt out of genuine love.
5. Forgiving others must be complete
Genuine forgiveness forgives all the debt. There are no demands that the past be recalled, recycled, rewritten or revised. These are fantasy demands.
Repayment is impossible
Revenge is impotent
Resentment is impractical.
We must never demand payment.
Cover the past with the love of Christ.
Restore the present with the faith and grace of Christ.
Reach to the future with the hope of Christ.
6. Forgiving others must be is continual
Forgive 70 X 7 (490) times in the strength of the Lord.
7. Forgiving others is critical
The cost of refusal to forgive others is far greater than the emotional cost of forgiving. God does not give grace (power) to rise above the cost of proud selfish bitterness and unforgiveness.He extends abundant grace on the humble and empowers them to absorb the cost of forgiveness.
Forgiveness is more for us than the offender.
Failure to forgive others strains our fellowship with God.
Failure to forgive becomes a life altering offense before God.
Failure to forgive imprisons us by the twin tormentors of guilt and bitterness.
Failure to forgive leaves us open to demonic strongholds.
BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil a place of operation. Ephesians 4:26-27
Failure to forgive (becoming debt enforcers) prevents us from full blessings in this life.
If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen. And we have this command from Him: the one who loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4:20-21
God will leave us in this self-erected prison until we pay what we owe. What do we owe? Forgiveness.
Then summoning him, his master said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 'Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?' And his master, moved with anger (which replace the compassion he felt earlier), handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart." Matthew 18:32-35
Don’t pray the Lord’s (disciple’s) prayer if you haven’t forgiven
“Forgive my debts AS I forgive my debtors.”
For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. Matthew 6:14-15
The ONLY way out of this prison house is realizing, receiving and reciprocating forgiveness.
APPLICATION
1. Reflect on your life.
2. Repent of your own selfish disobedience
3. Resolve to fully forgive those who have offended you
One final attribute flowing out of God’s goodness.
7. God is Faithful
a. What is faithfulness? Description
Faithfulness is a characteristic that can be best understood by enlisting a number of other synonyms. We would describes someone as faithful, dependable, reliable, trustworthy, steadfast, a person of their word, true, loyal, committed, consistent, unfailing, unwavering.
The core concept has to do with dependability and trust to carry out what is promised.
It could apply to people or things or animals. Faithful Ford - Trusty knife - Faithful spouse - Loyal dog - Dependable Maytag washer, Faithful servant - Trusted friend
b. What causes unfaithfulness?
A number of factors enter into lapses in faithfulness.
Lack of interest or commitment
Lack of knowledge or insight
Lack of ability or skill
Lack of authority or influence
Lack of energy
Lack of time
Lack of focus
Lack of memory
Lack of discipline or self-control
Distraction
Oppression
Sin and selfishness
Unfaithfulness may be intentional or unintentional. No matter the reason, the result is the same.
The person did not provide the desired or expected benefit when we needed it.
c. What makes God faithful?
None of these factors affect God. His divine love eternally commits Him to Himself and His creatures and creation.
His omniscience enables Him to know everything about everything at all times.
His omnipotence provides all the necessary energy and power to carry out His word.
His eternity eliminates the limitations of time.
His sovereignty gives Him absolute authority.
He is disciplined and focused.
His holiness eliminates the sin and selfishness factors.
He can’t be distracted or oppressed.
He never falters, forgets, forsakes, forfeits His word or fails.
He is absolutely faithful.
It is His character. He does not change.
He must be faithful; He can be nothing else.
He is faithful in all things at all times. Psa 33:1-5
He says what He means and does what He says. Deut 7:7-11
His faithfulness is forever. Psa 100:4-5
His faithfulness is immeasurable. Psalm 36:5-9
His faithfulness is GREAT! Lam 3:19
He is clothed in faithfulness. Psalm 89:1-8
d. How do we know God is faithful?
Creation declares God’s faithfulness
Psalms 89:1-8
The universe continues to function in absolute precision. The fact that we still have air to breathe and food to eat on this planet testify to God’s daily faithfulness.
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." Genesis 8:22
The rise of every sun and the turn of every season continually testify to God’s faithfulness.
The Bible records continual accounts of God’s faithfulness
Every historical event in the Bible testifies that God always does what He says He’ll do.
Answers to prayer, precise fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies, healing, deliverance, direction given, promises made, all testify to God’s faithfulness.
Sarah considered God faithful to do what He promised and her womb was opened and she conceived well beyond her child bearing years.
God said it wouldn’t rain and it didn’t rain.
God said death would result from sin and death came upon all men.
God told Israel He would take them to the Promised Land and He did.
God promised judgment for sin and judgment came.
The core of faith has to do with a fundamental belief in God’s faithfulness to His promise.
Romans 4:20-25
God promised deliverance and He delivered.
People tell stories of God’s faithfulness
Volumes have been written recounting stories of God’s faithfulness.
We personally experience God’s faithfulness
The fact that you got up this morning is a testimony to God’s faithfulness.
Scripture declares God’s faithfulness in spite of circumstances
In spite of the extensive Biblical accounts of God’s faithfulness …
In spite of the volumes of testimony shared by people throughout history…
Even in spite of our own personal experience of God’s faithfulness…
…we can’t help but struggle with the times it seems God hasn’t been faithful.
Yes, He is faithful, but ABSOLUTELY faithful? There are times when it seems God faltered.
There are times when it seems God forgot. There are times when God forsook us and took a break. There are even times when we feel like God didn’t honor His word. What about the times when it felt like God failed to act on our behalf? There have been times when God seemed to be no different than my dad. It seemed I was all on my own. I have felt abandoned, forgotten, ignored, and sometimes forsaken. How can I proclaim that God is faithful when I sometimes feel the opposite? I am not alone.
Listen to one of the most powerful and glorious declarations of the faithfulness of God.
The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I have hope in Him." Lamentations 3:22-24
This sounds like the testimony of someone who has enjoyed a glorious answer to prayer.
These are the words of resolute trust in the faithfulness of God by experience.
Now listen to this same writer just moments if not seconds before this compelling statement.
I am the man who has seen affliction Because of the rod of His wrath. He has driven me and made me walk in darkness and not in light. Surely against me He has turned His hand repeatedly all the day. He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away, He has broken my bones. He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship. In dark places He has made me dwell, like those who have long been dead. He has walled me in so that I cannot go out; He has made my chain heavy. Even when I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer. He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked. He is to me like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in secret places. He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces; He has made me desolate. He bent His bow and set me as a target for the arrow. He made the arrows of His quiver to enter into my inward parts. I have become a laughingstock to all my people, their mocking song all the day. He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drunk with wormwood. He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust. My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness. So I say, "My strength has perished, and so has my hope from the LORD."
Lam 3:1-18
God called Jeremiah as a young man. God called him to be His spokesman during one of the darkest times in Jewish history. He was called to an awesome task.
Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations." Then I said, "Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I am a youth." But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am a youth,' Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you," declares the LORD. Jeremiah 1:4-8
God even promised his protective hand along the journey. Jeremiah 1:17-19
"Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you before them. Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city and as a pillar of iron and as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you," declares the LORD. Jeremiah 1:17-19
What more could a pastor ask for? What more encouragement than the promise of God’s presence? How can he lose? In the years that followed, Jeremiah would experience imprisonments, beatings, loneliness (he was even forbidden to marry), rejection, attempted assassinations, public ridicule, and – most painful of all – the apparent failure of God’s faithfulness. There were moments of deep joy and enthusiasm increasing the confusion and disappointment of the current circumstances even more.
I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, Nor did I exult. Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone, For You filled me with indignation. Why has my pain been perpetual And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream With water that is unreliable? Jeremiah 15:17-18
At the time that Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations, he had just survived the shocking siege and fall of Jerusalem. It lasted a year and a half – eighteen hellish months that must have seemed like a decade. Caged like rats their food ran out. Water was scarce. Thousands starved. Disease ravaged the city. Mothers cannibalized their own babies. Jeremiah himself was despised, branded as a trader, tortured for declaring the word of God. And then it was over. The Temple destroyed. The city dead. According to Jewish tradition, Jeremiah, now literally skin and bones, sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, overlooking the devastation of his once a beautiful city: city of David, the capital of Solomon’s glory, the queen of the kingdoms, with tears streaming down his gaunt, deeply creased face, he wrote Lamentations 1:1-2.
This was followed by the words of excruciating emotional pain read earlier ending with the declaration, “my strength has perished, and so has my hope from the Lord.” God, you did this. You have forsaken us. You failed me. You turned on me. This was Jeremiah’s state of mind moments before his glorious declaration of God’s great faithfulness. What happened?
Did Jeremiah experience some glorious vision?
Did some unrecorded miracle transpire between verse 18 and 19 that renewed his faith and restored his hope? What did Jeremiah “see” that transformed the declarations of his soul from despair to hope? The hymn writer made one unfortunate error in his noble attempt to capture the sentiment of this passage in the 1920s.
Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning by morning, new mercies I see…
The reality is Jeremiah didn’t see a thing. There was no visible evidence of God’s mercies at all to change his perspective. Morning by morning brought continued horror, pain, and dread, but certainly not new mercies. Nothing changed about Jeremiah’s circumstance. So what changed?
Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness. Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Lamentations 3:19-21
The difference? Humble prayer and eternal perspective. What did Jeremiah recall to mind that brought such inspiring hope? He recalled the truth of the Scriptures regarding the character of God in spite of the circumstances of life. He remembered the eternal declaration of divine Scriptures in spite of the present dilemma of desperate situations. Scripture declares that God is faithful and the Scriptures cannot lie.
In spite of any circumstance you may face, by the authority of the word of God concerning the character of God, I declare to you today that God is faithful. He never falters. He never forgets. He never forsakes. He never forfeits his word. He never fails! Unfaithfulness is impossible for God. He can no more be unfaithful than he can lie. No matter what man does or says God remains faithful.
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:13
He promised to finish His work. He must be true to ALL His promises.
e. What is God faithful to do?
We will cover in more detail a biblical listing of specific areas of God’s faithfulness next week.
Great is his faithfulness!
f. What should I do?
You might feel like God has forgotten you today. The heaviness of your circumstances may cause you to feel abandoned. We will expand on these four suggestions next week.
Remember His faithfulness
Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Psa 36:5
Remember what the Bible says about God’s faithfulness.
Remember that these truths are true in spite of what we see or feel in the present.
Remember examples of God’s faithfulness in the past.
Remember that the fact you are breathing is testimony to God’s faithfulness.
Remember that his mercies are new every morning because of his great faithfulness.
Entrust your soul to a faithful creator and father
Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. 1 Peter 4:19
Declare His faithfulness
Speak it! Sing it!
I will sing of the lovingkindness of the LORD forever; to all generations I will make known Your faithfulness with my mouth. Psalm 89:1
The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
Live Faithfully to God and each other
Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2
