If He Repents Forgive Him (Luke 17:3-6 and Matthew 18:21-35)

Jesus said, “If he repents, forgive him” (Luke 17:3-6). In Matthew 18:21-35 Jesus told the parable of the unforgiving servant. Both passages teach the importance of forgiving because we’ve been forgiven. Christians should be the most forgiving people because we are the most forgiven people. Table of contentsFamily Worship GuideSermon Notes for If He Repents Forgive Him (Luke 17:3-6 and Matthew 18:21-35)Lesson One: Rebuking sin is a wisdom issue.Lesson Two: Christians should be the most difficult people to offend.Lesson Three: Rebuke sin to prevent bitterness.Lesson Four: If he repents forgive him an unlimited number of times.Lesson Five: Forgiveness is a matter of faith versus effort.Lesson Six: If he repents forgive him, because God forgave you. https://youtu.be/WAkOXvWKQIM Jesus said, “If he repents forgive him” (Luke 17:3-6). Christians are the most forgiving people, because we are the most forgiven people. Family Worship Guide Directions: Read the following verses and then answer the questions: Day 1: Luke 17:3, Proverbs 10:12, 12:16, 19:11, James 5:20, 1 Peter 4:8, Ephesians 4:2—Why is rebuking sin a wisdom issue? What does it mean to overlook an offense? What does it mean that love covers a multitude of sins? How do we know whether to rebuke sin or overlook it? Biblically speaking, what is patience (hint: it doesn’t mean being good at waiting)? Day 2: Hebrews 12:14-15, Luke 17:4-6, Matthew 17:20, 18:21-22—Why does rebuking sin help prevent bitterness? What are some of the dangers of bitterness? Why does the Bible talk about bitterness having a root? What did Jesus mean when He said that a little faith could move a tree or mountain? Why is forgiveness an issue of faith versus human effort? Day 3: Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13, Matthew 18:26-32—What are some of the benefits of forgiving others, for us and the person we forgive? What is the primary reason we should forgive others? What made the wicked servant wicked? Sermon Notes for If He Repents Forgive Him (Luke 17:3-6 and Matthew 18:21-35) The title of this morning’s sermon is, “If He Repents Forgive Him” On Sunday mornings we’re working our way through Luke’s gospel verse by verse, and we find ourselves at Luke 17:3. Let me give you an idea of where we have been, where we are going this morning, and where we are going next week. Where we have been: last week we dealt with the beginning of the verse. In particular, the words pay attention to yourselves. This morning we are going to deal with most of the rest of the verse: if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. I said most of the rest of this verse because next week we are going to deal with the repeated phrase if he repents. Notice it is in verse 3 and verse 4… Luke 17:3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and IF HE REPENTS, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I REPENT,’ YOU MUST FORGIVE HIM.” Twice we are told to forgive our brother if he repents. What question does this leave you with? What if he doesn’t repent? Next Sunday’s sermon is titled, “Is Repentance a Condition for Forgiveness, or Should We Forgive Unconditionally?” For now, notice that even though the verse only says if your brother sins, we know from the context that it means if your brother sins against you. Also, the parallel account in Matthew 18 says if your brother sins against you. And this brings us to lesson one… Lesson One: Rebuking sin is a wisdom issue. Rebuking sin is a wisdom issue, versus a black and white issue, because there are verses encouraging us to rebuke sins against us, and there are verses encouraging us to overlook sins against us… Proverbs 19:11 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and IT IS HIS GLORY TO OVERLOOK AN OFFENSE. The Amplified says, “It is his honor and glory to overlook a transgression or an offense [without seeking revenge and harboring resentment].” It is a credit to us, or sign of maturity, to overlook an offense: The more mature you are the greater the offense you can overlook. The more immature you are the more easily you are offended and the less you can overlook. Proverbs 12:16 The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult. One more time… Proverbs 12:16 The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult. Vexation means wrath, which is how it’s translated in the NKJV, or anger, which is how it’s translated in the NASB. Fools are quickly filled with wrath or anger, but the prudent – or wise – ignore – or overlook insults. This brings us to lesson two… Lesson Two: Christians should be the most difficult people to offend. I can look back on times when I was offended, and I’m ashamed by some of the things that offended me: I can look back on times when people were NOT offended, and I was impressed. It was a sign of their maturity. And I can look back on times when people WERE offended, and it made them seem petty and immature. When you think about the people in your life who are the most easily offended, you probably are not thinking about mature people. You are probably thinking about immature people…and maybe we should be thinking about ourselves. Some of you might remember some of our good friends from California, Dave and Naida Gomes. They served as mentors to us. Dave seemed like nothing ever offended him. I asked him about it one time and he said… “It is impossible to offend a dead person.” He meant that when we become believers we die to self. The flesh is dead, so we shouldn’t let it be stirred up by offenses. And if that’s not a good enough reason to avoid being offended then I would offer this… Some of the most miserable people are the most easily offended. They go through life regularly upset at the people around them. They regularly feel like they are being mistreated: They are upset in the workplace They are upset in their marriage They are upset in their church And here are a few more verses making a similar point that we should overlook offenses… Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers – or forgives – all offenses. The word covers is synonymous with forgives. Think of the word atone, which literally means cover, and is associated with forgiveness. People offered sacrifices that atoned for, or covered sin, until they could be forgiven by Christ’s sacrifice. So if we love people that love is going to cover or forgive their offenses. And this verse is quoted in the New Testament… 1 Peter 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since LOVE COVERS – OR FORGIVES – A MULTITUDE OF SINS. I have shared with you before that the world causes us to look at certain words un-biblically. For example, the world wants us to believe love is a feeling or emotion over which we have no control. But the Bible presents love as a choice over which we have complete control. We choose whether to love people by our actions toward them, hence being able to love our enemies. Patience is another word that the world causes us to think about un-biblically. For example, the world wants us to think that being patient means you’re good at waiting. If you are patient, you don’t mind sitting at a red light. You have been in line at Walmart for forty-five minutes while there are thirty-seven open registers without cashiers. But you have a smile on your face, and when you finally get to the cashier, my brother-in-law Boyd says, “I am sorry about the wait,” but you say, “No problem at all. It just gave me time to recite Scripture that I have memorized and pray for different people.” Biblically, patience is more synonymous with endurance, perseverance, and longsuffering…which is how the Greek word for patience is often translated. Being patient means you put up with a lot, whether it is trials or offenses, without getting upset or becoming offended. The Greek word for patience is hypomonē (who-pah-muh-nay) and part of the definition is, “bear ill treatments bravely and calmly.” Listen to the way this verse summarizes it for us… Ephesians 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, WITH PATIENCE, BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE. This verse says patience is bearing with people in love or being longsuffering. What does it mean to [bear] with [people]? Basically, it means putting up with them…well. That’s what it means to be patient. So all this makes it seem like overlooking offenses is mature. Maybe you heard the title of this sermon and thought, “This means I’m going to get to rebuke all the people who have upset me, but now you’re saying the opposite.” There is a place for that as we’ll see, but the balance is that it can be mature to overlook and NOT rebuke. Now regarding overlooking, I’ll add… If we think we have overlooked something we must be honest about whether we have are not. What I mean is, if we say we have overlooked something, but: We keep thinking about what the person did We are still upset with the person We treat the person differently Our relationship with the person is damaged Things are awkward Whenever we see them we are reminded of the offense. We clearly haven’t been able to overlook the offense and we need to rebuke the person. In these instances, saying we overlooked the offense isn’t a sign of maturity. It’s a sign of immaturity. Because here’s what I have seen a few times… People don’t want to go to the person that sinned against them. They say, “I have overlooked the offense. I am not offended. Everything is fine.” But they are offended, they haven’t overlooked the offense, and everything is not fine. And because the offended person won’t acknowledge that they are offended it is very hard to improve the relationship.