Matthew 18:21-35 (KJV)
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 brothers there trespasses
WHILE YOU`RE STILL STANDING REACH OVER AND SHAKE YOUR NEIGHBORS HAND
AND IF YOU DON`T KNOW THEM THE RIGHT THING TO DO IS INTRODUCE YOURSELF
AND TELL THEM -----NEIGHBOR YOU NEED TO
(PUT THAT DOWN BEFORE YOU HURT YOURSELF)
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS
VERY BRIEFLY THIS MORNING/EVENING
I want to spend a few moments dealing with a heavy load that each of have a problem with .
A heavy load that many of us have been carrying far too long;
A heavy load that causes us to be bitter and never really get better;
A heavy load that causes us to carry a grudge and harbor hatred in our heart;
A heavy load that has many Christians frustrated, depressed, and disgusted with life and living.
And It`s the heavy load of unforgiveness.
Let's be honest for a moment,
Forgiving people is not a easy thing to do?
Especially when the people that have tried to hurt you have not bothered to apologize.
And the truth of the matter is
Forgiveness can seem impossible when the person that caused the damage continues to do things that hurt you over and over again.
Have anybody ever been down that street before?
You see
This text before us is for those of us that's really struggling and just when you thought you could forgive
Something else happens and you know that unforgiveness for you is a heavy load.
This text is for Christians that knows the pain of a broken relationship.
We have been played like a video game and our emotions are torn and our feelings are hurt.
And, for us unforgiveness is a heavy load.
This text , is for Christians who say we love Jesus but have a hard time forgiving others.
And If you are the kind of person that can hold onto hatred
Like a sponge holds water and you are tired of your heavy load,
I stop by _____________ this morning /evening to encourage you
To "Put, That Down Before You Hurt Yourself!!!”
In the text before us
Jesus is teaching His disciples how to deal with a really heavy load.
Notice what Matthew says,
Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?
Till seven times?
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven.
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every
one his brother their trespasses.
But my question to you this morning/evening
Is forgiveness an area of struggle for you?
Have you been hurt and have found real forgiveness difficult to deal with?
Have you ever really struggled with the heavy load of unforgiveness?
And if your earnest answer is yes,
Then "Put, It Down Before You Hurt Yourself!"
And I know the question of the hour is why must we put it down?
But I`m glad you ask because
(First of all),
We need to put it down because if we hold on to it we forfeit our right to divine sympathy.
In other words .
How much dirt do you have in your back yard ?
Okay, I know that was too personal for you?
Let me ask the same question a different way.
Have you ever made any mistakes that you need God to forgive you for?
And If your answer is yes then you need to drop your heavy load!
Because If we want God to forgive us, then we must forgive those that have hurt us!
In the text before us
Jesus uses a narrative and according to the story a servant owed the king more than fifteen years’ worth of income.
The king forgives his debt; in fact, it says that "
That the king was moved with compassion."
In other words he had some sympathy for this brother!
But This same brother that was just forgiven had a man that simply owed him some chump change.
And, he took him by his throat and demanded payment.
The forgiving king gets ear of it and says, "After I let you off the hook for fifteen years of back payments you could not forgive
Since you cannot forgive him, I will not forgive you.
And the fabrication of this text teaches us that
If we want GOD to be merciful and forgive us
Then we must put down our heavy load and forgive others
Well I hear some of you saying
Passa I forgave them but i`m not going to forget what they did
Then you haven’t forgave
***************************************
WELL SECOND REASON IS
We need to ditch our heavy load because our freedom is at stake.
You see my brothers and sisters
Real forgiveness happens when you decide to let the prisoner go free.
Only to look into the mirror of your hurt and pain to see that you are the one in handcuffs!!!
Let's face it,
The people that have hurt you have gone on about their business.
And we are the one wearing the shackles.
In other words
We are letting them rent space in our mind
And they don`t send a check at the frist of the month for rental fee
And, the only way out of bondage is for you to let yourself off the hook.
Because in the text
The word "forgave" means to set a prisoner free,
To let a boat float away,or to release a caged bird.
And When we forgive people that have hurt us,
The bondage and shackles of unforgiveness are opened and we go free.
Remember this,
Unforgiveness will make us miserable.
Unforgiveness will stress us out
Unforgiveness will have us counting our problems instead of our blessings
But, real forgiveness can heal a broken heart.
And it's the only way to deal with a heavy load.
Because as long as you hold on to it the longer it will hold on to you
**************************************
Well the third reason we need to put down our heavy load is because
Our future is on the verge of a breakthrough
You see my brothers and sisters
God is at His best with human hurt that needs healing.
God is at His best with broken people that need to be restored.
And, God is at His absolute best with wounded people that need a breakthrough!
Here's a great question for you to answer right quick.
Are you ready to be healed from the heavy load of unforgiveness?
Get this,
God is able if you are ready.
Because the focus of this parable should not be placed upon the servant that cannot forgive,
but on the king that can!
Because forgiveness is an unexpected breakthrough!
Nobody expects to be forgiven for everything that they've done.
But when God shows up
You can always expect things to change and a breakthrough to come forth!
Here's the breakthrough for you,
God is in the forgiving business
And has already forgiven us!!!
We are free to go!
You see my brothers and sisters
The cross is vacant and the tomb is empty!
And since the cross is vacant and the tomb is empty
We need to put that down before we hurt ourselves
Because when we put it down and let the Lord carry it
We will find out that what`s too heavy for us ,
Is just right for the Lord!
That’s why Jesus tells us in
John 13:34-35 (KJV)
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
IN OTHER WORDS
The key to forgiveness is love
Can I borrow a skinny minute and tell you what i`m talking about
You see it was Love
That step out of Heavens Glory into earth shame
Got on heavens elevator came down through 42 generations
And the bottom floor was a virgin name Mary
Born in Bethlehem ----reared in Nazareth
Baptized in the Jordan tempted in the wilderness –betrayed by one of his own
You see
It was love that led up a mountain call Calvary
Nailed to and old rugged cross
It was love that look toward heaven while on that cross
And said Father forgive them for they no not what they do
It was love that
Died on that cross for your sins and mine
They place Him in a borrowed tomb
He went down to the depths of hades preach a 3 day revival and set the captives free
But i`m glad that ain`t how the story
BUT EARLY -------I SAY EARLY ---EARLY THAT 3RD DAY MORNING
LOVE GOT UP WITH ALL POWER IN HIS HAND
---AND SINCE HE GOT UP YOU OUGHT TO SHAKE YOUR NEIGHBORS HAND
AND TELL THEM PUT THAT DOWN BEFORE YOU HURT YOURSELF
AIN`T GOD ALRIGHT
IF YOU KNOW WHY DON`T YOU GIVE HIM A HAND CLAP OF PRAISE
