WEBVTT

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Okay, you can turn in your Bibles

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with me this morning

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to Ephesians 4.

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I'm not skipping the rest of 3.

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This is actually not part

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of the Ephesians series.

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This is one more topical message.

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I think next Sunday, Lord willing,

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we will resume Ephesians 3.

NOTE Paragraph

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Let's pray.

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Oh Father,

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I feel weak.

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These songs have expressed it -

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our weakness.

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Where else would we go, Lord,

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but to You?

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We know that it is the very 
characteristic of the wicked

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that they don't call upon You.

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But Lord, we call upon You.

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We need You.

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Lord, we don't want this 
to be an exercise in futility.

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We recognize when a man stands up

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to open up the Word of God,

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what is that?

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It's something that You've prescribed.

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It's something You've designed.

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Something can happen.

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It doesn't always happen,

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but something can happen.

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Something transformative,

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something life-changing,

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something upbuilding can happen

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if You but own it.

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Lord, I pray, own this next hour.

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Please. I pray in Christ's name.

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Amen.

NOTE Paragraph

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Ephesians 4:32.

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I am reading, actually,

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the parallel passage; the parallel verse

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to the 2nd of the 3 that Craig read

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in the first hour.

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If you're not already aware,

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Ephesians and Colossians

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obviously are not identical books.

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And there's aspects to them

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that are not parallel,

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but there is a great parallelism

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between the two.

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Some of the same thoughts

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and same ideas are communicated

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in both of them.

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"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,

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forgiving one another as God in Christ

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forgave you."

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Now when Craig read it,

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we weren't conspiring

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about what we were going to preach today.

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When he read the three verses that he read

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I thought, oh no, Craig,

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don't deal with forgiveness.

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And he even mentioned Denton I think,

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and I thought, oh no, 
where's he going with that?

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What did you say about Denton?

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Oh, Jesse's - yeah, when 
you mentioned that

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I thought, oh no! He's 
going to talk about -

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not Jesse's but somebody else's.

NOTE Paragraph

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Forgiveness.

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As many of you are aware,

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the topic of forgiveness came up

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at this year's Fellowship Conference

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in Denton, Texas.

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And it not only came up,

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but if you were there,

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such things happened at the conference

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that have not happened in others.

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We had a pastoral response immediately

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to a sermon that was given.

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And I know there was disagreement.

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If you weren't there, 
it pertained to forgiveness.

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There was lots of discussion.

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There's been discussion even here.

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I almost just went back 
to my Ephesians study

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and got away from this,

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but last time two weeks 
ago when I preached,

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there were some folks that were saying

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we thought you were going 
to touch on forgiveness.

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And I think James even 
said something to me

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and I thought, well, okay, 
maybe I should do that.

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I had some people say they were confused.

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I had some people that said,

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well, they heard the message 
and they weren't confused,

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and then they heard the two 
pastors that responded afterwards

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and they were confused.

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And it seemed like there 
was a measure of confusion,

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and if there's anything that 
I don't want to have happen,

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I don't want there to be any confusion

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on the subject in our church.

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So that's I wanted to visit it again.

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Maybe you listened to all that

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and you said we don't even 
know what the big deal was.

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Maybe you listened to it

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and you heard exactly 
what the big deal was

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and maybe you came down 
on one side or the other.

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Look, quite honestly,

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I am not the guy who's out 
there on the Internet

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just looking for a debate,

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looking for something I disagree with

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that I can just engage in.

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I'm not doing this just simply

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to throw my opinion in 
to an ongoing debate.

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That's not it.

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And I have no desire

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to have anybody ask me 
about the opinions of others,

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or what brother so-and-so meant,

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or why did he say this,

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or why did the other 
pastor respond this way?

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I was down in Monterrey one time

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and in a Q&A time, somebody said,

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"Could you explain how 
Charles Leiter's position

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differs from Josef Urban's 
position in this?"

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And it's like, "No, I can't do that."

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I'm not going to speak for other men.

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And I don't want to do that.

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And I don't want to be in the position

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of trying to tell you what different men

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mean by what they said.

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That's not my objective here.

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What I want to do is simply

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have us look at Scripture

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and my aim is pastoral.

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I'm concerned that we as a church

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not be confused about the nature

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of biblical forgiveness.

NOTE Paragraph

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So I'll get right to the point.

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Here in Ephesians,

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the Apostle Paul exhorts Christians -

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you see it.

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Look at verse 32:

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"Forgiving one another..."

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And here's the big term: "as."

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And all your Bibles have it.

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"...As God in Christ forgave you."

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Now some take this verse to mean this:

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Well, since we are to 
forgive as God forgives,

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let's think, hm, how does God forgive?

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Well, since God never forgives anybody

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unless they repent,

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therefore that's what it means

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by "forgiving as God forgives."

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That I will not forgive anybody,

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or I should not forgive anybody,

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unless they repent.

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That's basically how the logic goes.

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And if in fact we were to 
forgive the unrepentant,

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we're not forgiving as God forgives,

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because God doesn't forgive 
unless there's repentance.

NOTE Paragraph

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Now, at first glance,

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that might sound like 
tremendous reasoning.

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It might sound reasonable.

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It might sound like good logic.

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But I would propose this to you.

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That is a forcing a meaning here

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that is not to be found in the context.

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And one of the things that I fear

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happened at the conference

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is this text was brought 
out of its context

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and a point that the preacher

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was already determined to make,

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he found in this text 
and he made it with it

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because it kind of lent itself to it.

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The problem is that taken in context,

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I don't believe it bears 
that meaning at all.

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And so that's what I want to do.

NOTE Paragraph

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Brethren, this has to do 
with proper hermeneutics.

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If you are going to interpret a verse,

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don't take the verse by itself.

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You can come up with a lot of meanings

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for certain verses

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if you wrench it out of its context.

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But if you read the material around it,

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if you get a feel, especially if you

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read the whole epistle,

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and you just get the feeling -

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what does Paul have in mind here?

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In this case, I don't believe we have to

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read the whole epistle at all.

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All we have to do is go back up to v. 17

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and start to capture the feel

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of the argument that Paul is making here.

NOTE Paragraph

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Now, before we go back up 
to v. 17 and begin reading,

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I want to suggest another meaning.

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Yes, it means what it says.

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We are to forgive one another

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as God forgives us,

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but when Paul says that we're 
to forgive one another

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as God forgives us,

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the meaning is not

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that we're only supposed to forgive

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those who repent.

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Rather, the meaning is

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that I am to freely bestow my forgiveness

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to those who do not deserve it,

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just like God bestows His forgiveness

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to those who do not deserve it.

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That's the issue.

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And I'll prove that to 
you from the context.

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My point is this:

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Paul isn't even dealing with 
the terms of forgiveness.

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Like: The person I'm forgiving,

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do they need to have repented or not?

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He's not dealing with the terms.

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He's dealing with the heart.

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He's dealing with the individual.

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He's not even concerned about

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whether the other person is repentant

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or non-repentant - 
that's not the issue here.

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And I hope to convince you.

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The idea that Paul is teaching here

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that God only forgives those who repent,

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so we're only to forgive 
those who repent -

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that seems to miss the 
whole point of the passage.

NOTE Paragraph

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Now, let's look at it.
Ephesians 4:17,

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"For this I say and testify in the Lord

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that you must no longer 
walk as the Gentiles do."

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Now, you probably should stop right there

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because that's the context.

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The context is:

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Gentile conduct versus the conduct

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of those who have learned of Christ.

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Old man conduct versus new man conduct.

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Listen, the problem with the Gentiles

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is not that they indiscriminately 
forgive everybody.

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Over against, contrasted 
with the Christian

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who properly does it just like God does

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and only forgives those who repent.

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See, that's not the 
problem of the Gentile.

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The Gentile problem is not

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that they forgive everybody;

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that they forgive even 
people that aren't repentant.

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That's not even the thought here.

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"We must no longer walk 
as the Gentiles do..."

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How do they walk?
"...In the futility of their minds,

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they're darknened in their understanding,

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they're alienated from the life of God."

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That's the issue.

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You know, the new man is created

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in the likeness of God.

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The old man, the lost man, the Gentile -

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totally disconnected from God

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"because of the ignorance that is in them

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due to their hardness of heart.

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They have become calloused

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and have given themselves 
up to sensuality,

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greedy to practice 
every kind of impurity."

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But notice this - here's the contrast.

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"But that is not the 
way you learned Christ."

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I love that. I can't 
wait till we get to that.

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Because that is Paul looking at

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what is it that makes a true Christian

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who is no longer a Gentile?

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He's looked at Christ

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and he's learned of Christ.

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And you can tell.

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Paul means that if you've learned Him,

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your conduct, your action, your behavior,

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your character is stamped by that image.

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Now, he says this:

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v. 21, "...assuming that 
you have heard about Him."

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He doesn't look at everybody 
that's listening to him

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and think, oh yeah, 
they've got to be Christians

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because they're sitting in the church

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or because they're hearing 
this epistle read to them.

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He says, of course, assuming

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that you did hear about Him

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"...and were taught in Him

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as the truth is in Jesus."

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And what is this truth in Jesus?

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"To put off your old man."

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I know the ESV says "self."
The word is "man."

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The old man.

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The old you.

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"...Which belongs to your 
former manner of life

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and is corrupt through deceitful desires."

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And to be received, or renewed,

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"...in the spirit of your minds."

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So you see that, a renewing of the mind.

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You put off the old man.

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You see this comparsion.

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Gentile - you learn Christ.

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New man over against old man.

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The mind.

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V. 24, "to put on the new self

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created after the likeness of God

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in true righteousness and holiness."

00:15:04.787 --> 00:15:07.679
What's Paul's point here?

00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:10.822
Look, you cannot possibly continue to live

00:15:10.822 --> 00:15:12.220
the old kind of life.

00:15:12.220 --> 00:15:13.520
That's what he's saying.

00:15:13.520 --> 00:15:15.617
Not if you've learned Christ - you can't.

00:15:15.617 --> 00:15:18.264
It's not possible. Not if 
you've really learned Christ,

00:15:18.264 --> 00:15:21.019
and you really do know 
the truth as it is in Jesus.

00:15:21.019 --> 00:15:23.526
That's what he's saying.
It's an impossibility.

00:15:23.526 --> 00:15:25.722
This is not the way you've learned Christ.

00:15:25.722 --> 00:15:29.098
Assuming you have.

00:15:29.098 --> 00:15:29.930
That's the issue.

00:15:29.930 --> 00:15:31.809
You're no longer what you once were.

00:15:31.809 --> 00:15:34.059
You're a new man.
You're not the old man -

00:15:34.059 --> 00:15:36.300
carried about by all 
those deceitful passions.

00:15:36.300 --> 00:15:38.987
This is the comparison here.

00:15:38.987 --> 00:15:41.544
This is the back and forth.

NOTE Paragraph

00:15:41.544 --> 00:15:43.861
So what happens?

00:15:43.861 --> 00:15:45.656
Well, you put off the old man.

00:15:45.656 --> 00:15:47.237
You put on the new.

00:15:47.237 --> 00:15:50.822
You know what happens in v. 25?

00:15:50.822 --> 00:15:56.039
In v. 25, Paul begins to touch

00:15:56.039 --> 00:16:01.473
specific realities.

00:16:01.473 --> 00:16:03.846
He begins to touch on specifics.

00:16:03.846 --> 00:16:06.707
Notice this, v. 25,

00:16:06.707 --> 00:16:09.881
"Put away falsehood."

00:16:09.881 --> 00:16:12.145
You see, he generally says

00:16:12.145 --> 00:16:15.396
you put away the old man.

00:16:15.396 --> 00:16:18.681
You put it off. You put on the new.

00:16:18.681 --> 00:16:21.211
In v. 25, what he does is he breaks out

00:16:21.211 --> 00:16:22.873
in some very particulars

00:16:22.873 --> 00:16:26.048
about how that manifests 
itself in real life.

00:16:26.048 --> 00:16:29.276
And you see the contrast here

00:16:29.276 --> 00:16:30.808
back and forth.

00:16:30.808 --> 00:16:33.108
You have "put away falsehood."

00:16:33.108 --> 00:16:34.888
So what do you put on?

00:16:34.888 --> 00:16:39.067
Well, "let each of you speak 
the truth with his neighbor."

00:16:39.067 --> 00:16:40.661
And we could pull stuff out,

00:16:40.661 --> 00:16:43.393
but it's very obvious in verses like 25.

00:16:43.393 --> 00:16:46.469
V. 28, "Let the thief no longer steal."

00:16:46.469 --> 00:16:47.897
That's what you put off.

00:16:47.897 --> 00:16:49.211
But what do you put on?

00:16:49.211 --> 00:16:51.335
You labor, but not only labor,

00:16:51.335 --> 00:16:54.052
you do honest work with your hands.

00:16:54.052 --> 00:16:54.960
But not only that,

00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:57.005
so that you might have something to give.

00:16:57.005 --> 00:16:59.233
You see, the old manner of life -

00:16:59.233 --> 00:17:00.413
the new manner of life.

00:17:00.413 --> 00:17:03.323
There's these contrasts 
going back and forth.

00:17:03.323 --> 00:17:06.222
Well, the reality is, v. 31 and 32

00:17:06.222 --> 00:17:08.029
are a contrast.

00:17:08.029 --> 00:17:09.758
And you need to capture that.

00:17:09.758 --> 00:17:11.490
Because if you capture the contrast

00:17:11.490 --> 00:17:12.599
of these two verses,

00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:14.882
you recognize right away,

00:17:14.882 --> 00:17:18.379
Paul is not contrasting Gentiles

00:17:18.379 --> 00:17:20.636
who indiscriminately forgive everybody,

00:17:20.636 --> 00:17:22.756
and saying, "oh no, we shouldn't do that.

00:17:22.756 --> 00:17:24.701
You need to put that off.

00:17:24.701 --> 00:17:28.230
And you need to put on forgiving people

00:17:28.230 --> 00:17:30.152
the way God forgives,

00:17:30.152 --> 00:17:32.190
and He only forgives the repentant."

00:17:32.190 --> 00:17:35.657
That's not even here, folks.

00:17:35.657 --> 00:17:41.416
Look at the contrast.

00:17:41.416 --> 00:17:43.573
"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger

00:17:43.573 --> 00:17:45.783
and clamor and slander be put away."

00:17:45.783 --> 00:17:47.937
You see again: put away, put away.

00:17:47.937 --> 00:17:50.578
What is it that we put off?

00:17:50.578 --> 00:17:51.943
"...Along with all malice."

00:17:51.943 --> 00:17:53.479
And then what do we put on?

00:17:53.479 --> 00:17:55.562
Kindness: "Be kind to one another,

00:17:55.562 --> 00:17:59.132
tenderhearted, forgiving one another

00:17:59.132 --> 00:18:04.754
as God in Christ forgave you."

00:18:04.754 --> 00:18:06.181
Do you see it?

00:18:06.181 --> 00:18:07.743
The "put away."

NOTE Paragraph

00:18:07.743 --> 00:18:10.300
You know how contrast works?

00:18:10.300 --> 00:18:12.748
You have opposites.

00:18:12.748 --> 00:18:20.057
And the opposite of 
kind, tender, forgiving,

00:18:20.057 --> 00:18:28.639
is not undiscerning 
and forgiving everybody.

00:18:28.639 --> 00:18:31.809
The opposite is being bitter

00:18:31.809 --> 00:18:34.060
and not forgiving at all.

00:18:34.060 --> 00:18:35.057
That's the issue.

00:18:35.057 --> 00:18:39.880
Angry, wrathful, clamorous, slanderous.

00:18:39.880 --> 00:18:42.420
Paul isn't even thinking

00:18:42.420 --> 00:18:44.214
about the person who offends me

00:18:44.214 --> 00:18:46.334
and whether they've repented or not.

00:18:46.334 --> 00:18:49.874
That's not even on his radar.

00:18:49.874 --> 00:18:51.426
The conduct of that person -

00:18:51.426 --> 00:18:53.073
he isn't thinking that.

00:18:53.073 --> 00:18:56.259
Paul is concerned that we put on

00:18:56.259 --> 00:18:59.897
an expression of the conduct of those

00:18:59.897 --> 00:19:03.213
who are new men - no longer Gentiles.

00:19:03.213 --> 00:19:04.555
The expression of those

00:19:04.555 --> 00:19:07.034
who have learned of Christ.

00:19:07.034 --> 00:19:10.651
What he's concerned with is the new man

00:19:10.651 --> 00:19:12.532
that's in the likeness of God.

00:19:12.532 --> 00:19:14.607
And what is God like?

00:19:14.607 --> 00:19:16.571
God is a forgiving God.

00:19:16.571 --> 00:19:18.861
God is rich in mercy.

00:19:18.861 --> 00:19:20.835
We read that here in this epistle.

00:19:20.835 --> 00:19:22.835
"Rich in mercy because of the great love

00:19:22.835 --> 00:19:24.130
with which He loved us."

00:19:24.130 --> 00:19:26.146
Mercy, grace.

00:19:26.146 --> 00:19:27.074
And the thing is,

00:19:27.074 --> 00:19:29.931
we don't deserve any of it.

00:19:29.931 --> 00:19:32.381
And yet He freely bestowed - 
yes, we repented,

00:19:32.381 --> 00:19:33.797
but that's not the issue.

00:19:33.797 --> 00:19:36.840
The issue is you didn't 
deserve any of it at all.

00:19:36.840 --> 00:19:38.975
That's the issue.

NOTE Paragraph

00:19:38.975 --> 00:19:44.312
Notice, the companions here.

00:19:44.312 --> 00:19:47.920
It's not that he's pointing out:

00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:49.863
you need to be discerning

00:19:49.863 --> 00:19:52.053
as to who's repented or not.

00:19:52.053 --> 00:19:55.414
That isn't the companions 
of forgiveness here.

00:19:55.414 --> 00:19:58.006
The companions are kindness

00:19:58.006 --> 00:20:01.366
and tenderheartedness.

00:20:01.366 --> 00:20:03.874
Do you see what the issue is?

00:20:03.874 --> 00:20:12.824
He's not concerned about the conditions.

00:20:12.824 --> 00:20:15.600
He's not concerned about the shape

00:20:15.600 --> 00:20:18.310
of the person that has offended us.

00:20:18.310 --> 00:20:21.680
He's concerned about 
what's coming out of us.

00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:24.396
He's concerned about what that looks like.

00:20:24.396 --> 00:20:26.967
Kindness, tenderheartedness.

00:20:26.967 --> 00:20:29.570
These are the companions of forgiveness.

00:20:29.570 --> 00:20:34.073
Just as the companion 
of bitterness is what?

00:20:34.073 --> 00:20:35.324
It's wrath.

00:20:35.324 --> 00:20:37.336
It's anger. It's being hateful.

00:20:37.336 --> 00:20:38.975
It's being unforgiving.

NOTE Paragraph

00:20:38.975 --> 00:20:40.422
Bitterness.

00:20:40.422 --> 00:20:42.363
What is bitterness?

00:20:42.363 --> 00:20:43.837
You know bitter people -

00:20:43.837 --> 00:20:46.225
doesn't the word "sour"?

00:20:46.225 --> 00:20:49.743
Just sour people.

00:20:49.743 --> 00:20:51.487
They're bitter.

00:20:51.487 --> 00:20:53.391
They're unloving. They're unkind.

00:20:53.391 --> 00:20:55.194
They never find good in anything.

00:20:55.194 --> 00:20:59.611
They just seem to relish holding a grudge.

00:20:59.611 --> 00:21:01.135
I mean, sometimes it's amazing,

00:21:01.135 --> 00:21:02.593
you sit down with some people,

00:21:02.593 --> 00:21:06.602
and they will bring up 
something from the past -

00:21:06.602 --> 00:21:08.345
it could have happened years ago -

00:21:08.345 --> 00:21:10.683
like it happened yesterday.

00:21:10.683 --> 00:21:13.999
Just not forgiving, never forgetting.

00:21:13.999 --> 00:21:16.567
And then slanderous.
That's a companion there too.

00:21:16.567 --> 00:21:19.797
Because they just can't 
speak well of people.

00:21:19.797 --> 00:21:22.374
That's the idea.

00:21:22.374 --> 00:21:24.907
But that's not the way 
we've learned Christ.

00:21:24.907 --> 00:21:29.626
This is what it is to still walk

00:21:29.626 --> 00:21:31.775
as the Gentiles do

00:21:31.775 --> 00:21:34.557
in all that bitterness and ugliness.

00:21:34.557 --> 00:21:37.346
You see, that's what 
it is to be the old man.

00:21:37.346 --> 00:21:40.534
When Paul's unwrapping all of this,

00:21:40.534 --> 00:21:42.681
he's not even interested in the terms

00:21:42.681 --> 00:21:43.923
of repentance.

00:21:43.923 --> 00:21:49.221
He's interested in a God-likeness

00:21:49.221 --> 00:21:53.254
being reflected by us.

00:21:53.254 --> 00:21:55.567
A tenderness, a kindness,

00:21:55.567 --> 00:21:58.217
a disposition to forgive.

00:21:58.217 --> 00:22:00.258
The renewing of the mind -

00:22:00.258 --> 00:22:02.109
we saw that there - verse 23.

00:22:02.109 --> 00:22:05.541
"Be renewed in the spirit of your minds."

00:22:05.541 --> 00:22:08.124
You see, is this not the issue

00:22:08.124 --> 00:22:10.162
behind forgiveness?

00:22:10.162 --> 00:22:12.049
It's that there's a change in the mind.

NOTE Paragraph

00:22:12.049 --> 00:22:13.519
And we might go over there -

00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:15.048
we're not going to take 
the time right now -

00:22:15.048 --> 00:22:16.988
but we might go to that extended parable

00:22:16.988 --> 00:22:18.454
there in Matthew 18

00:22:18.454 --> 00:22:20.731
because it just gives such the mindset.

00:22:20.731 --> 00:22:22.125
What happens?

00:22:22.125 --> 00:22:26.404
I'm saved! I freely forgive!

00:22:26.404 --> 00:22:27.944
Why?

00:22:27.944 --> 00:22:29.466
Well, yes, I'm changed.

00:22:29.466 --> 00:22:30.678
Yes, I'm a new man.

00:22:30.678 --> 00:22:32.311
Yes, I'm no longer a Gentile.

00:22:32.311 --> 00:22:35.065
But I'm renewed in the spirit of my mind.

00:22:35.065 --> 00:22:36.410
In my mind!

00:22:36.410 --> 00:22:41.551
Something has happened in my thinking.

00:22:41.551 --> 00:22:44.122
Look, it's not that I don't realize

00:22:44.122 --> 00:22:45.589
that there are people who have

00:22:45.589 --> 00:22:47.886
sinned against me or offended me.

00:22:47.886 --> 00:22:50.012
But you know what you begin to realize?

00:22:50.012 --> 00:22:51.635
I've offended other people

00:22:51.635 --> 00:22:53.460
and I've sinned against other people,

00:22:53.460 --> 00:22:55.609
but more than that, 
I have sinned against God

00:22:55.609 --> 00:22:57.018
and I have done such things

00:22:57.018 --> 00:22:59.457
to despise His glory.

00:22:59.457 --> 00:23:01.786
I realize how kind He's been to me

00:23:01.786 --> 00:23:03.750
when I did not deserve it,

00:23:03.750 --> 00:23:07.332
and to be gripped by the fact

00:23:07.332 --> 00:23:10.033
of what God has done for 
you if you're a Christian!

00:23:10.033 --> 00:23:12.033
I mean, that's the thing.

00:23:12.033 --> 00:23:14.419
How can you hold a grudge?

00:23:14.419 --> 00:23:16.084
How can you be bitter

00:23:16.084 --> 00:23:17.658
when all you have to do

00:23:17.658 --> 00:23:19.492
is look at yourself in the mirror

00:23:19.492 --> 00:23:21.374
and recognize...

00:23:21.374 --> 00:23:25.142
you know, just start to list your crimes

00:23:25.142 --> 00:23:29.791
and imagine people that have done

00:23:29.791 --> 00:23:31.713
half your crimes

00:23:31.713 --> 00:23:36.418
and they've been in hell...

00:23:36.418 --> 00:23:40.435
You've sinned against light

00:23:40.435 --> 00:23:44.008
that people back killed in the flood,

00:23:44.008 --> 00:23:45.441
they never had.

00:23:45.441 --> 00:23:47.469
And if it's going to be more tolerable

00:23:47.469 --> 00:23:50.734
for people in Sodom and Gomorrah

00:23:50.734 --> 00:23:53.150
than for people in this 
age who've heard that,

00:23:53.150 --> 00:23:54.505
you know what it tells me?

00:23:54.505 --> 00:23:56.083
It tells me that there are people

00:23:56.083 --> 00:23:57.141
who died in that flood

00:23:57.141 --> 00:24:02.355
that are far less guilty because 
they had far less light than you.

00:24:02.355 --> 00:24:07.625
They've been in hell for millennia

00:24:07.625 --> 00:24:13.274
suffering, weeping, wailing - and justly,

00:24:13.274 --> 00:24:14.854
because their crimes demanded it.

00:24:14.854 --> 00:24:17.091
You look at God.

NOTE Paragraph

00:24:17.091 --> 00:24:20.068
Remember back to chapter 2.

00:24:20.068 --> 00:24:22.872
"While you were still dead

00:24:22.872 --> 00:24:25.475
in your trespasses," what happened?

00:24:25.475 --> 00:24:27.656
God had mercy because of His great love

00:24:27.656 --> 00:24:29.184
with which He loved you.

00:24:29.184 --> 00:24:31.409
He made you alive in Christ

00:24:31.409 --> 00:24:33.643
even when you were 
dead in your trespasses.

00:24:33.643 --> 00:24:36.422
Remember what God did for you 
when you were unrepentant.

00:24:36.422 --> 00:24:37.432
What happened?

00:24:37.432 --> 00:24:39.736
When you were yet sinners, 
Christ died for you.

00:24:39.736 --> 00:24:43.265
Unrepentant - before your repentance.

00:24:43.265 --> 00:24:45.873
Remember, God grants repentance

00:24:45.873 --> 00:24:46.997
to the Gentiles.

00:24:46.997 --> 00:24:48.588
Have you ever read that?

00:24:48.588 --> 00:24:50.604
Just think about how God is moving,

00:24:50.604 --> 00:24:52.265
what God is doing.

00:24:52.265 --> 00:24:56.200
We love Him because He first loved us.

00:24:56.201 --> 00:24:58.886
You just have to stop sometimes and think.

00:24:58.886 --> 00:25:01.756
Be blown away by what God has done for you

00:25:01.756 --> 00:25:04.398
because if you have that change of mind;

00:25:04.398 --> 00:25:05.406
if that goes on;

00:25:05.406 --> 00:25:06.927
if that's the renewing of mind

00:25:06.927 --> 00:25:09.005
where you're grateful and you're thankful,

00:25:09.005 --> 00:25:10.707
how can you look at somebody else

00:25:10.707 --> 00:25:13.128
who's committed so much less?

00:25:13.128 --> 00:25:15.761
Isn't that the parable 
there in Matthew 18?

00:25:15.761 --> 00:25:21.196
My debt was huge!

00:25:21.196 --> 00:25:23.570
It makes it really difficult.

00:25:23.570 --> 00:25:28.102
That's the issue in all of this.

00:25:28.102 --> 00:25:32.282
All the undeserved love and sacrifice -

00:25:32.282 --> 00:25:42.529
He spared not His only Son!

00:25:42.529 --> 00:25:45.869
When you get gripped by this reality

00:25:45.869 --> 00:25:49.440
you're suddenly freed from 
the power of bitterness.

00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:55.162
You show me a bitter Christian,

00:25:55.162 --> 00:25:56.979
a bitter and unforgiving Christian,

00:25:56.979 --> 00:25:58.663
and I'm going to show you somebody

00:25:58.663 --> 00:26:02.517
that is deceived.

00:26:02.517 --> 00:26:04.262
They're not a Christian.

00:26:04.262 --> 00:26:07.956
I can say that on biblical grounds.

00:26:07.956 --> 00:26:12.867
They're not a Christian.

00:26:12.867 --> 00:26:16.087
You see, it's in this way

00:26:16.087 --> 00:26:18.684
that God just sets us free

00:26:18.684 --> 00:26:21.668
to be kind to those who don't deserve.

00:26:21.668 --> 00:26:23.079
Do you recognize this?

00:26:23.079 --> 00:26:26.058
When somebody sins against you,

00:26:26.058 --> 00:26:30.714
that sin is a capital offense before God.

00:26:30.714 --> 00:26:34.504
They don't deserve to be pardoned.

00:26:34.504 --> 00:26:38.312
They deserve to be damned.

00:26:38.312 --> 00:26:40.116
But when you forgive them,

00:26:40.116 --> 00:26:42.228
you're being God-like.

00:26:42.228 --> 00:26:44.507
That's the issue. That's the issue.

00:26:44.507 --> 00:26:46.909
It's not terms of forgiveness.

00:26:46.909 --> 00:26:51.430
It's the fact that you're forgiving those

00:26:51.430 --> 00:26:53.829
who don't deserve your forgiveness.

00:26:53.829 --> 00:26:55.219
You're pardoning those

00:26:55.219 --> 00:26:57.753
who don't in any way deserve it.

00:26:57.753 --> 00:26:59.335
Just like you didn't deserve it.

00:26:59.335 --> 00:27:01.286
See, that's the issue.

00:27:01.286 --> 00:27:05.737
That's what we really need to focus on.

00:27:05.737 --> 00:27:09.190
You get people - I know there are people

00:27:09.190 --> 00:27:14.717
who have been horribly wounded by others.

00:27:14.717 --> 00:27:19.145
But we're able to forgive those things.

00:27:19.145 --> 00:27:21.259
They don't deserve to be forgiven.

00:27:21.259 --> 00:27:26.247
Why? Because God has forgiven you.

00:27:26.247 --> 00:27:29.231
He's forgiven me.

00:27:29.231 --> 00:27:32.683
Paul doesn't even remotely have in mind

00:27:32.683 --> 00:27:34.202
terms of forgiveness.

00:27:34.202 --> 00:27:35.415
That's not it.

00:27:35.415 --> 00:27:37.109
This is all about your attitude,

00:27:37.109 --> 00:27:40.257
about your disposition as a new man

00:27:40.257 --> 00:27:42.972
forgiving out of love, kindness,

00:27:42.972 --> 00:27:46.491
tenderness towards others.

NOTE Paragraph

00:27:46.494 --> 00:27:50.513
So, okay, you might say,

00:27:50.513 --> 00:27:53.247
okay, brother, we see that.

00:27:53.247 --> 00:27:55.457
That is the contrast.

00:27:55.457 --> 00:27:57.392
Contrasts are opposites.

00:27:57.392 --> 00:28:03.770
The opposite to forgiving as God forgives

00:28:03.770 --> 00:28:06.063
is bitterness.

00:28:06.066 --> 00:28:07.457
It's wrath, it's anger,

00:28:07.457 --> 00:28:10.322
it's obviously unforgiveness.

00:28:10.322 --> 00:28:11.344
That's the issue.

00:28:11.344 --> 00:28:13.887
The opposite Paul was bringing out

00:28:13.887 --> 00:28:16.991
is not: you're not of a discerning spirit

00:28:16.991 --> 00:28:19.669
and you need to figure out 
who's repentant and who's not

00:28:19.669 --> 00:28:21.143
and only forgive the repentant.

00:28:21.143 --> 00:28:23.300
That's not the issue.

00:28:23.300 --> 00:28:29.007
But you say, okay, even if Ephesians 4:32

00:28:29.007 --> 00:28:32.430
isn't specifically saying that,

00:28:32.430 --> 00:28:36.573
you haven't really proven that

00:28:36.573 --> 00:28:38.314
that nevertheless is the case

00:28:38.314 --> 00:28:40.585
because maybe it's taught somewhere else.

00:28:40.585 --> 00:28:44.173
And I would say, that's right.

00:28:44.173 --> 00:28:46.668
That's right, but because this

00:28:46.668 --> 00:28:51.257
is a foundational text to 
holding that position,

00:28:51.257 --> 00:28:53.200
I wanted to show you that

00:28:53.200 --> 00:28:55.111
that's not what it's teaching.

NOTE Paragraph

00:28:55.111 --> 00:28:57.975
But here's what I want to show you next.

00:28:57.975 --> 00:29:05.665
If you possess this heart of the new man,

00:29:05.665 --> 00:29:08.935
this God-likeness,

00:29:08.935 --> 00:29:11.264
true righteousness and holiness,

00:29:11.264 --> 00:29:13.398
if this characterizes you,

00:29:13.398 --> 00:29:17.871
you're one who's learned of Christ.

00:29:17.871 --> 00:29:21.830
That is going to manifest itself

00:29:21.830 --> 00:29:24.015
in at least three ways

00:29:24.015 --> 00:29:26.699
that I want to show you from Scripture,

00:29:26.699 --> 00:29:32.264
that I think just destroys 
this whole mindset.

NOTE Paragraph

00:29:32.264 --> 00:29:39.038
The first one, brethren, is 1 Peter 4:8.

00:29:39.038 --> 00:29:40.588
And you need to turn there,

00:29:40.588 --> 00:29:42.365
and you need to see this.

00:29:42.365 --> 00:29:51.659
"Love covers a multitude of sin."

00:29:51.659 --> 00:29:58.217
You know, if you look 
at the text in Scripture

00:29:58.217 --> 00:30:00.480
like Craig looked at this morning,

00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:05.605
that give like this "above all,"

00:30:05.605 --> 00:30:10.026
or, you've got that word here.

00:30:10.026 --> 00:30:11.906
Love.

00:30:11.906 --> 00:30:16.269
There's lots of Scriptures 
in the New Testament -

00:30:16.269 --> 00:30:19.702
this is the pinnacle; this is the sum

00:30:19.702 --> 00:30:26.998
of what it means to reflect Christ.

00:30:26.998 --> 00:30:33.362
"Above all, keep loving 
one another earnestly

00:30:33.362 --> 00:30:35.946
since love covers a multitude of sins."

00:30:35.946 --> 00:30:39.832
Now, if you take that text -

00:30:39.832 --> 00:30:42.845
before I say what I'm going to say -

00:30:42.845 --> 00:30:44.437
let me just point something out.

00:30:44.437 --> 00:30:50.592
The word "cover" - that 
is a synonym for forgive.

00:30:50.592 --> 00:30:53.727
If you say, hey, I'm not buying it.

00:30:53.727 --> 00:30:56.369
The word forgive isn't here.

00:30:56.369 --> 00:30:59.462
I don't think "cover" 
means the same thing.

00:30:59.462 --> 00:31:01.157
What does "cover" mean?

00:31:01.157 --> 00:31:07.056
Cover basically means to hide or to bury.

00:31:07.056 --> 00:31:10.129
And Scripture definitely uses

00:31:10.129 --> 00:31:14.461
these two terms side by side

00:31:14.461 --> 00:31:17.414
to express the forgiveness of sins.

00:31:17.414 --> 00:31:19.467
And we can look at different places,

00:31:19.467 --> 00:31:22.178
but the classic text would be this one.

00:31:22.178 --> 00:31:24.635
You don't need to turn 
there, but listen to it.

00:31:24.635 --> 00:31:25.818
Psalm 32:1,

00:31:25.818 --> 00:31:28.534
"Blessed is the one

00:31:28.534 --> 00:31:31.499
whose transgression is forgiven,

00:31:31.499 --> 00:31:33.870
whose sin is covered."

00:31:33.870 --> 00:31:37.062
That is a Hebrew parallelism

00:31:37.062 --> 00:31:40.468
where you basically have the same thing

00:31:40.468 --> 00:31:44.968
stated back-to-back in different terms.

00:31:44.968 --> 00:31:48.822
Covering sin is the same 
thing as forgiving sin.

00:31:48.822 --> 00:31:51.628
Covering sin is at the 
heart of what it means.

00:31:51.628 --> 00:31:54.426
It's the essence of what forgiveness is.

00:31:54.426 --> 00:31:56.271
It's to cover it over.

00:31:56.271 --> 00:31:58.894
It's to bury it. It's to hide it.

00:31:58.894 --> 00:32:04.191
That's the idea.

00:32:04.191 --> 00:32:07.369
What I want to show you is this,

00:32:07.369 --> 00:32:13.538
"Above all, keep loving 
one another earnestly."

00:32:13.538 --> 00:32:15.226
And you see, here's the thing.

00:32:15.226 --> 00:32:19.185
Here's what Peter sees.

00:32:19.185 --> 00:32:23.320
As the love increases,

00:32:23.320 --> 00:32:28.008
that church's ability 
to cover sin increases.

00:32:28.008 --> 00:32:30.095
Earnestly. Be earnest. Why?

00:32:30.095 --> 00:32:32.067
Because where there's much love,

00:32:32.067 --> 00:32:34.344
there's much covering.

00:32:34.344 --> 00:32:37.194
Where there's lovelessness,

00:32:37.194 --> 00:32:38.636
people become suspicious,

00:32:38.636 --> 00:32:40.500
they become critical,

00:32:40.500 --> 00:32:41.549
there's criticism.

00:32:41.549 --> 00:32:44.784
They put the worst spin on things.

00:32:44.784 --> 00:32:46.555
That's what happens.

00:32:46.555 --> 00:32:50.182
And it's like, if for no other reason,

00:32:50.182 --> 00:32:55.960
Peter goes right to this point that love

00:32:55.960 --> 00:32:57.951
is going to produce that kind of fruit.

00:32:57.951 --> 00:33:02.951
It's going to produce that kind of

00:33:02.951 --> 00:33:04.952
looking past small offenses

00:33:04.952 --> 00:33:07.171
and maybe even some larger ones.

NOTE Paragraph

00:33:07.171 --> 00:33:08.663
Lovelessness. Lovelessness.

00:33:08.663 --> 00:33:11.853
What happens then?
People are easily provoked.

00:33:11.853 --> 00:33:14.231
You know, we talk about 
being thin-skinned.

00:33:14.231 --> 00:33:16.442
Thin-skinned churches

00:33:16.442 --> 00:33:20.061
where people - it takes very little

00:33:20.061 --> 00:33:23.186
to provoke somebody.

00:33:23.186 --> 00:33:30.231
They're always easily offended.

00:33:30.231 --> 00:33:32.508
Always magnifying the wrongs

00:33:32.508 --> 00:33:38.084
committed against us.

00:33:38.084 --> 00:33:40.168
But love...

00:33:40.168 --> 00:33:42.840
Where love abounds,

00:33:42.840 --> 00:33:45.901
love is going to look past.

00:33:45.901 --> 00:33:47.668
Love is going to cover over.

00:33:47.668 --> 00:33:52.102
Love covers a multitude of sins.

00:33:52.102 --> 00:33:55.352
Many of the small and even 
some of the larger ones,

00:33:55.352 --> 00:33:56.822
they're readily overlooked.

00:33:56.822 --> 00:33:58.085
They're readily forgotten.

00:33:58.085 --> 00:34:00.402
The New American Standard -

00:34:00.402 --> 00:34:02.223
Craig quoted this earlier -

00:34:02.223 --> 00:34:05.159
but 1 Corinthians 13:5 (don't turn there),

00:34:05.159 --> 00:34:07.560
but the New American 
Standard says it this way:

00:34:07.560 --> 00:34:09.621
"Love does not take into account

00:34:09.621 --> 00:34:12.218
a wrong suffered."

00:34:12.218 --> 00:34:14.203
The ESV says "resentful."

00:34:14.203 --> 00:34:17.233
The old King James says, 
"thinketh no evil."

00:34:17.233 --> 00:34:20.823
But it's the idea of imputing evil.

00:34:20.823 --> 00:34:23.545
You see, where there's no love,

00:34:23.545 --> 00:34:25.811
people read things as evil.

00:34:25.811 --> 00:34:27.214
They put that spin on it.

00:34:27.214 --> 00:34:30.528
"Oh, you know why they did that."

00:34:30.528 --> 00:34:32.116
"I'm offended."

00:34:32.116 --> 00:34:33.686
There's always this suspicion,

00:34:33.686 --> 00:34:36.477
looking at people through those lenses.

00:34:36.477 --> 00:34:38.079
But where love is there,

00:34:38.079 --> 00:34:40.647
it's like I love that brother.

00:34:40.647 --> 00:34:43.166
And it's like John MacArthur says.

00:34:43.166 --> 00:34:44.676
He just views people based on

00:34:44.676 --> 00:34:46.185
what they're going to become

00:34:46.185 --> 00:34:48.629
and what they'll be in Heaven.

00:34:48.629 --> 00:34:51.808
That helps him.

NOTE Paragraph

00:34:51.808 --> 00:34:55.699
Now look, I know that there's

00:34:55.699 --> 00:35:01.547
two classic exceptions to this.

00:35:01.547 --> 00:35:03.893
There's two places in Scripture

00:35:03.893 --> 00:35:05.827
that clearly indicate

00:35:05.827 --> 00:35:11.148
that it's impossible to 
give a full expression

00:35:11.148 --> 00:35:13.876
of forgiveness unless there is a full,

00:35:13.876 --> 00:35:16.079
two-way transaction

00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:19.558
in the forgiveness process.

00:35:19.558 --> 00:35:21.563
And it's those cases spelled out

00:35:21.563 --> 00:35:23.849
in Luke 17 and Matthew 18.

00:35:23.849 --> 00:35:27.456
Now again, don't turn there please.

00:35:27.456 --> 00:35:30.857
But it's those texts that basically,

00:35:30.857 --> 00:35:32.920
and here's the thing,

00:35:32.920 --> 00:35:36.806
if you look at Luke 17.

00:35:36.806 --> 00:35:38.820
Let me read it to you. Don't turn there.

00:35:38.820 --> 00:35:42.043
Luke 17 says this, 
"Pay attention to yourselves.

00:35:42.043 --> 00:35:44.269
If your brother sins, rebuke him.

00:35:44.269 --> 00:35:46.919
If he repents..." there's repentance.

00:35:46.919 --> 00:35:48.823
"If he repents..." that's conditional.

00:35:48.823 --> 00:35:49.986
"...forgive him.

00:35:49.986 --> 00:35:52.226
If he sins against you 
seven times in the day,

00:35:52.226 --> 00:35:54.376
turns to you seven 
times saying, 'I repent,'

00:35:54.376 --> 00:35:55.520
you must forgive him."

00:35:55.520 --> 00:35:57.253
Now, the interesting thing is if you

00:35:57.253 --> 00:35:58.794
look at the context of that,

00:35:58.794 --> 00:36:01.631
that is basically Luke's account

00:36:01.631 --> 00:36:03.986
of what you find in Matthew 18

00:36:03.986 --> 00:36:06.717
where you get the fuller expression.

00:36:06.717 --> 00:36:08.544
"If your brother sins against you,

00:36:08.544 --> 00:36:10.044
go and tell him his fault

00:36:10.044 --> 00:36:11.336
between you and him alone.

00:36:11.336 --> 00:36:12.756
If he listens to you..."

00:36:12.756 --> 00:36:14.892
Now, the word repentance isn't used there,

00:36:14.892 --> 00:36:18.103
but if he listens to you - 
it's the same idea.

00:36:18.103 --> 00:36:19.932
"...You've gained your brother,

00:36:19.932 --> 00:36:22.823
but if he does not listen..." 
and it goes on.

00:36:22.823 --> 00:36:27.366
So obviously there repentance is mandatory

00:36:27.366 --> 00:36:34.368
or you actually put the 
person out of the church.

NOTE Paragraph

00:36:34.368 --> 00:36:37.437
But here's the thing,

00:36:37.437 --> 00:36:41.852
that approach is clearly

00:36:41.852 --> 00:36:45.031
from what Peter is teaching us

00:36:45.031 --> 00:36:50.614
not the way to deal with everything.

00:36:50.614 --> 00:36:52.471
There are times when forgiveness

00:36:52.471 --> 00:36:58.744
should be the unconditional 
response of love.

00:36:58.744 --> 00:37:00.841
That is what Peter is teaching us.

00:37:00.841 --> 00:37:03.559
Are there times when something 
is aggravated enough

00:37:03.559 --> 00:37:07.032
or are there times when somebody's 
sin is hurting other people

00:37:07.032 --> 00:37:09.956
and we need, out of love for them,

00:37:09.956 --> 00:37:11.575
out of love for the whole church,

00:37:11.575 --> 00:37:13.087
out of the love for the church

00:37:13.087 --> 00:37:15.474
and not allowing leaven to 
leaven the whole lump,

00:37:15.474 --> 00:37:17.780
are there times when love demands

00:37:17.780 --> 00:37:20.813
that we do pursue the sin? Absolutely.

00:37:20.813 --> 00:37:22.781
Are there times that love demands

00:37:22.781 --> 00:37:25.898
that we do pursue repentance? Absolutely.

00:37:25.898 --> 00:37:29.302
But what Peter is teaching us

00:37:29.302 --> 00:37:33.875
is that love will often

00:37:33.875 --> 00:37:39.270
manifest itself exactly like this

00:37:39.270 --> 00:37:43.038
where forgiveness is rendered to people

00:37:43.038 --> 00:37:44.862
as an unconditional response of love.

00:37:44.862 --> 00:37:46.547
Which is much to say that there are

00:37:46.547 --> 00:37:49.834
many times where we are 
going to deal with sin

00:37:49.834 --> 00:37:53.420
simply by covering it over

00:37:53.420 --> 00:37:55.805
and sweeping it under the rug.

00:37:55.805 --> 00:37:57.262
That's what he's teaching.

00:37:57.262 --> 00:37:59.175
You say, "(Gasp!) We can't do that!"

00:37:59.175 --> 00:38:01.288
That's not the way God does it.

00:38:01.288 --> 00:38:05.136
Well see, if you put that 
meaning on forgiveness

00:38:05.136 --> 00:38:07.961
then you come to that conclusion.

00:38:07.961 --> 00:38:09.472
But again, I want to emphasize,

00:38:09.472 --> 00:38:13.311
the heart of this is kindness

00:38:13.311 --> 00:38:15.292
and it's tenderness.

00:38:15.292 --> 00:38:16.550
And when you have a church

00:38:16.550 --> 00:38:19.676
full of those kinds of people...

00:38:19.676 --> 00:38:21.251
let me just ask you.

00:38:21.251 --> 00:38:25.860
How do you want to be treated?

00:38:25.860 --> 00:38:28.642
Do you want to be in a church

00:38:28.642 --> 00:38:33.249
where every single offense,

00:38:33.249 --> 00:38:34.418
somebody's right there?

00:38:34.418 --> 00:38:37.498
That's grounds for confrontation!

00:38:37.498 --> 00:38:40.266
Matthew 18! Did you see him?

00:38:40.266 --> 00:38:44.002
He didn't say hi! Confront him!

00:38:44.002 --> 00:38:45.495
He wasn't loving!

00:38:45.495 --> 00:38:47.837
That wasn't loving!

00:38:47.837 --> 00:38:52.739
He wasn't smiling!

00:38:52.739 --> 00:38:54.747
Have you ever been around people

00:38:54.747 --> 00:38:59.664
that want to attack you for everything?

00:38:59.664 --> 00:39:02.975
You don't want to be 
in a church like that.

00:39:02.975 --> 00:39:04.736
(incomplete thought)

00:39:04.736 --> 00:39:06.852
You know what it is to be around people

00:39:06.852 --> 00:39:08.609
that are kind and tenderhearted

00:39:08.609 --> 00:39:14.181
and how they deal with your rough edges

00:39:14.181 --> 00:39:17.564
and inconsiderateness and impoliteness

00:39:17.564 --> 00:39:20.520
and immaturities and the too often,

00:39:20.520 --> 00:39:26.640
frequent, petty infractions... right?

00:39:26.640 --> 00:39:29.227
We're not a perfect people.

00:39:29.227 --> 00:39:32.838
And we come in here with 
all of our rough edges.

00:39:32.838 --> 00:39:34.536
Do you want somebody right there?

00:39:34.536 --> 00:39:37.988
"Matthew 18! Matthew 18! I saw it!"

00:39:37.988 --> 00:39:39.806
No, you don't want to be in that.

00:39:39.806 --> 00:39:41.530
But you do want to be in a church

00:39:41.530 --> 00:39:44.082
where if sin has a grip on you in a way

00:39:44.082 --> 00:39:46.239
that's harming the church or harming you,

00:39:46.239 --> 00:39:51.107
you want somebody to deal with it.

00:39:51.107 --> 00:39:52.616
If it's the kind of leaven

00:39:52.616 --> 00:39:54.897
that's really destructive to the church,

00:39:54.897 --> 00:39:57.410
then out of love for all the church,

00:39:57.410 --> 00:40:00.449
we definitely want to deal with it.

00:40:00.449 --> 00:40:04.562
You know, there's just a feel.

00:40:04.562 --> 00:40:06.645
Like Paul said to the Corinthians.

00:40:06.645 --> 00:40:09.669
I think it has somewhat 
of the feel of this.

00:40:09.669 --> 00:40:13.320
You had Christians that 
were suing each other.

00:40:13.320 --> 00:40:18.077
And he said it's better to be wronged.

00:40:18.077 --> 00:40:19.911
In other words, you would do better

00:40:19.911 --> 00:40:22.338
to drop the court case 
against your brother.

00:40:22.338 --> 00:40:24.595
Just accept being wronged. Let it go.

00:40:24.595 --> 00:40:27.194
Forgive and go on your way.

00:40:27.194 --> 00:40:30.722
Better to be defrauded 
than do what you're doing.

00:40:30.722 --> 00:40:38.652
I think that has something 
of the spirit of that.

00:40:38.652 --> 00:40:40.184
So that's the first thing.

00:40:40.184 --> 00:40:42.412
Brethren, you can't get away from it.

00:40:42.412 --> 00:40:45.996
You cannot get away from it

00:40:45.996 --> 00:40:49.396
that Peter is teaching

00:40:49.396 --> 00:40:52.548
that there are many sins

00:40:52.548 --> 00:40:58.877
that love covers without any condition

00:40:58.877 --> 00:41:01.068
on the part of the offender.

00:41:01.068 --> 00:41:03.568
That is the reality.

00:41:03.568 --> 00:41:06.594
He sees the church, in fact,

00:41:06.594 --> 00:41:10.400
the higher the love is,

00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:13.228
the more we are going to

00:41:13.228 --> 00:41:16.220
unilaterally, unconditionally,

00:41:16.220 --> 00:41:19.455
without requiring 
repentance of the individual

00:41:19.455 --> 00:41:21.466
going to sweep it under the rug.

00:41:21.466 --> 00:41:23.342
That's what he sees and that's why

00:41:23.342 --> 00:41:29.339
he wants that kind of fervent love here.

00:41:29.339 --> 00:41:32.863
He's not looking for a holy church.

00:41:32.863 --> 00:41:34.410
That's not the issue.

00:41:34.410 --> 00:41:36.925
The issue is kindness,

00:41:36.925 --> 00:41:40.429
tenderness, forgiving.

00:41:40.429 --> 00:41:46.013
That is entirely the opposite of unholy.

NOTE Paragraph

00:41:46.013 --> 00:41:48.342
But here's the next thing.

00:41:48.342 --> 00:41:49.651
Here's the next thing

00:41:49.651 --> 00:41:53.773
that the spirit that Paul 
is wanting us to reflect

00:41:53.773 --> 00:41:55.146
of the new man,

00:41:55.146 --> 00:41:57.858
here's another way 
that it manifests itself.

00:41:57.858 --> 00:42:03.986
It manifests itself in our prayer life.

00:42:03.986 --> 00:42:08.318
Every place where Jesus talks

00:42:08.318 --> 00:42:12.548
about forgiving when we pray -

00:42:12.548 --> 00:42:14.519
unconditional.

00:42:14.519 --> 00:42:15.848
And I want you to see it.

00:42:15.848 --> 00:42:17.639
First one, Sermon on the Mount.

00:42:17.639 --> 00:42:19.674
Go to Matthew 6.

00:42:19.674 --> 00:42:26.145
I do want you to turn to these.

00:42:26.145 --> 00:42:28.972
Here is another 
manifestation of the new man

00:42:28.972 --> 00:42:31.667
who's robed with kindness

00:42:31.667 --> 00:42:33.689
and tenderness and forgiveness.

00:42:33.689 --> 00:42:38.081
His prayer life is a constant witness

00:42:38.081 --> 00:42:40.838
to his forgiving spirit.

00:42:40.838 --> 00:42:44.293
If you don't know about this,

00:42:44.293 --> 00:42:46.285
I want to challenge you.

00:42:46.285 --> 00:42:48.746
Obviously, Jesus is not giving us

00:42:48.746 --> 00:42:50.592
in any of these accounts

00:42:50.592 --> 00:42:53.100
an exact formula for how we should pray.

00:42:53.100 --> 00:42:54.673
When He says, "pray like this:

00:42:54.673 --> 00:42:56.092
Our Father Who art in Heaven,

00:42:56.092 --> 00:42:57.330
hallowed be Thy name..."

00:42:57.330 --> 00:42:59.034
He certainly isn't saying that you

00:42:59.034 --> 00:43:01.468
need to articulate that verbatim.

00:43:01.468 --> 00:43:02.952
When He says pray like this,

00:43:02.952 --> 00:43:05.485
He's meaning capture the essence

00:43:05.485 --> 00:43:07.535
of His prayer.

00:43:07.535 --> 00:43:09.927
Those should be areas of emphasis

00:43:09.927 --> 00:43:12.301
in your own prayer life.

00:43:12.301 --> 00:43:15.262
Matthew 6:9,

00:43:15.262 --> 00:43:18.360
"Pray then like this,

00:43:18.360 --> 00:43:21.804
'Our Father in Heaven,
hallowed be Your name.

00:43:21.804 --> 00:43:23.879
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done

00:43:23.879 --> 00:43:25.376
on earth as it is in Heaven.

00:43:25.376 --> 00:43:27.240
Give us this day our daily bread...'"

00:43:27.240 --> 00:43:28.737
Now notice this.

00:43:28.737 --> 00:43:30.455
It doesn't speak of transgressions.

00:43:30.455 --> 00:43:33.225
It doesn't speak of sins specifically,

00:43:33.225 --> 00:43:37.284
but the idea here is our debts.

00:43:37.284 --> 00:43:40.208
"Forgive us our debts

00:43:40.208 --> 00:43:43.459
as we also have forgiven our debtors."

NOTE Paragraph

00:43:43.459 --> 00:43:45.506
Now if you define a debtor,

00:43:45.506 --> 00:43:48.696
what is a debtor?

00:43:48.696 --> 00:43:51.279
Somebody who owes you something.

00:43:51.279 --> 00:43:52.532
They owe.

00:43:52.532 --> 00:43:56.041
That's the idea behind a debtor.

00:43:56.041 --> 00:43:58.210
The idea here is you have debtors,

00:43:58.210 --> 00:43:59.695
which means what?

00:43:59.695 --> 00:44:01.257
When somebody sins against you,

00:44:01.257 --> 00:44:03.471
they owe you something.

00:44:03.471 --> 00:44:05.977
That's the issue of hell.

00:44:05.977 --> 00:44:09.154
You see, this is the problem with sin.

00:44:09.154 --> 00:44:12.370
We incur a debt with God

00:44:12.370 --> 00:44:14.449
that we just simply can't pay.

00:44:14.449 --> 00:44:18.574
And Jesus paid it. All of it.

00:44:18.574 --> 00:44:20.115
But here's the idea,

00:44:20.115 --> 00:44:24.695
this says "our debtors."

00:44:24.695 --> 00:44:28.976
There's no distinguishing

00:44:28.976 --> 00:44:31.547
or delineating between

00:44:31.547 --> 00:44:32.752
the debtor who repents

00:44:32.752 --> 00:44:35.444
and the debtor who doesn't repent.

00:44:35.444 --> 00:44:40.785
None of that.

00:44:40.785 --> 00:44:43.692
"Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil."

00:44:43.692 --> 00:44:47.669
V. 14, "For if you forgive 
others their trespasses,

00:44:47.669 --> 00:44:50.376
your heavenly Father 
will also forgive you.

00:44:50.376 --> 00:44:53.031
But if you do not forgive 
others their trespasses,

00:44:53.031 --> 00:44:55.952
neither will your Father 
forgive your trespasses."

00:44:55.952 --> 00:44:58.509
Nothing to do with whether 
they've repented or not.

NOTE Paragraph

00:44:58.509 --> 00:45:00.814
I want you to see this 
again in Mark's Gospel.

00:45:00.814 --> 00:45:05.151
Mark 11:25.

00:45:05.151 --> 00:45:09.148
Because Mark and Luke bring this out

00:45:09.148 --> 00:45:13.789
in especially helpful terms.

00:45:13.789 --> 00:45:16.657
Mark and Luke.

00:45:16.657 --> 00:45:24.354
Mark 11:25,

00:45:24.354 --> 00:45:29.248
"Whenever you stand praying, forgive

00:45:29.248 --> 00:45:38.987
if you have anything against anyone."

00:45:38.987 --> 00:45:41.245
What are you going to say about that?

00:45:41.245 --> 00:45:47.814
That is entirely inclusive.

00:45:47.814 --> 00:45:50.057
There's no exceptions there.

00:45:50.057 --> 00:45:52.277
"So that your Father 
also who is in Heaven

00:45:52.277 --> 00:45:53.864
may forgive you your trespasses."

NOTE Paragraph

00:45:53.864 --> 00:45:55.423
Now go over to Luke 11.

00:45:55.423 --> 00:45:57.930
Because we see it again.

00:45:57.930 --> 00:46:06.870
And again we have this superlative.

00:46:06.870 --> 00:46:09.267
I mean, just a word 
that's all-encompassing.

00:46:09.267 --> 00:46:12.903
It's big. It's vast.

00:46:12.903 --> 00:46:14.829
Luke 11:2, "He said to them,

00:46:14.829 --> 00:46:18.119
when you pray, say,

00:46:18.119 --> 00:46:20.207
'Father, hallowed be Your name,

00:46:20.207 --> 00:46:21.361
Your kindgom come.

00:46:21.361 --> 00:46:22.935
Give us each day our daily bread

00:46:22.935 --> 00:46:25.922
and forgive us our sins,

00:46:25.922 --> 00:46:28.202
for we ourselves forgive

00:46:28.202 --> 00:46:32.069
everyone who is indebted to us,

00:46:32.069 --> 00:46:35.103
and lead us not into temptation...'"

00:46:35.103 --> 00:46:36.885
Here's the thing.

00:46:36.885 --> 00:46:39.041
Here's the thing about the new man

00:46:39.041 --> 00:46:42.091
who's put on Christ;

00:46:42.091 --> 00:46:45.136
who's being transformed more and more

00:46:45.136 --> 00:46:47.761
into the likeness of God.

00:46:47.761 --> 00:46:51.376
True righteousness. True holiness.

00:46:51.376 --> 00:46:53.804
He is able to go before God in prayer,

00:46:53.804 --> 00:46:56.822
and you can see, Jesus wants us

00:46:56.822 --> 00:47:05.283
talking to God about forgiveness.

NOTE Paragraph

00:47:05.283 --> 00:47:07.699
Now isn't that interesting?

00:47:07.699 --> 00:47:11.012
Let's just stop right there.

00:47:11.012 --> 00:47:14.085
Why?

00:47:14.085 --> 00:47:17.221
This is how a Christian is to pray.

00:47:17.221 --> 00:47:20.092
Why should I be asking 
God for forgiveness?

00:47:20.092 --> 00:47:21.309
Let me ask you this.

00:47:21.309 --> 00:47:24.799
Do you believe in the doctrine 
of justification by faith?

00:47:24.799 --> 00:47:27.773
Do you believe that the day 
that you first genuinely believed

00:47:27.773 --> 00:47:31.542
that all your sins were washed away?

00:47:31.542 --> 00:47:36.180
Then why are you still 
praying for forgiveness?

00:47:36.180 --> 00:47:37.940
However you answer that question,

00:47:37.940 --> 00:47:39.337
let me ask you something.

00:47:39.337 --> 00:47:47.616
Has God already forgiven 
you before you repent?

00:47:47.616 --> 00:47:51.197
I'm hoping so!

00:47:51.197 --> 00:47:54.490
You see, the argument even

00:47:54.490 --> 00:47:57.776
concerning God and how He forgives sin

00:47:57.776 --> 00:47:59.759
doesn't really stand

00:47:59.759 --> 00:48:01.823
because there's a myriad of examples

00:48:01.823 --> 00:48:07.963
of God forgiving sinners of their sin

00:48:07.963 --> 00:48:11.088
before that sin was even committed.

00:48:11.088 --> 00:48:12.515
I mean, if we really believe

00:48:12.515 --> 00:48:14.767
in the doctrine of justification by faith,

00:48:14.767 --> 00:48:20.676
and we really believe that all 
of our sins are pardoned,

00:48:20.676 --> 00:48:23.385
at a previous time we're 
declared righteous

00:48:23.385 --> 00:48:26.355
in the courtroom of God -

00:48:26.355 --> 00:48:28.703
and yet, Jesus is teaching us

00:48:28.703 --> 00:48:32.438
as Christians we should still be

00:48:32.438 --> 00:48:36.260
confessing our sins.

00:48:36.260 --> 00:48:39.575
That's part of being a Christian.

00:48:39.575 --> 00:48:42.077
Why? Well, if we do sin,

00:48:42.077 --> 00:48:44.084
we have an Advocate with the Father,

00:48:44.084 --> 00:48:45.567
Jesus Christ the Righteous.

00:48:45.567 --> 00:48:49.195
If we confess our sins, He's 
faithful and just to forgive them.

00:48:49.195 --> 00:48:52.421
There is no question that in 
our relationship with God

00:48:52.421 --> 00:48:54.988
in an ongoing fashion,

00:48:54.988 --> 00:48:58.837
there's a place for bearing our souls

00:48:58.837 --> 00:49:01.109
and confessing our sins to God.

00:49:01.109 --> 00:49:03.541
What Jesus is teaching us

00:49:03.541 --> 00:49:06.738
is when you do,

00:49:06.738 --> 00:49:10.408
you should specifically refer

00:49:10.408 --> 00:49:14.560
to how you forgive other people.

00:49:14.560 --> 00:49:16.726
Isn't that clear from all of these texts?

00:49:16.726 --> 00:49:19.647
He wants us mindful of that.

00:49:19.647 --> 00:49:24.169
The reality is that the new man

00:49:24.169 --> 00:49:28.087
who's convinced that God has saved him

00:49:28.087 --> 00:49:31.200
of all these sins that he didn't 
deserve to be forgiven of,

00:49:31.200 --> 00:49:33.434
he can go before God in his prayer life

00:49:33.434 --> 00:49:34.863
and he can look up

00:49:34.863 --> 00:49:37.257
and he can lookinto the very face of God,

00:49:37.257 --> 00:49:41.723
and he can say, "Father, forgive me,

00:49:41.723 --> 00:49:43.839
because I know I haven't been perfect.

00:49:43.839 --> 00:49:45.050
I know I haven't,

00:49:45.050 --> 00:49:47.724
but forgive me as I forgive others."

NOTE Paragraph

00:49:47.724 --> 00:49:51.272
And not just a put on like 
Craig was talking about.

00:49:51.272 --> 00:49:52.910
This isn't just something you say.

00:49:52.910 --> 00:49:54.607
This isn't just lip service.

00:49:54.607 --> 00:49:56.853
This isn't some hypocritical statement

00:49:56.853 --> 00:49:59.712
that you lift up to God 
and there's no reality in it.

00:49:59.712 --> 00:50:02.006
You don't say it unless you mean it.

00:50:02.006 --> 00:50:05.046
Which means, you ought 
to be able to do inventory

00:50:05.046 --> 00:50:08.202
every time you pray.

00:50:08.202 --> 00:50:12.603
And ask yourself is there anybody -

00:50:12.603 --> 00:50:14.149
do you do that?

00:50:14.149 --> 00:50:16.947
I find that absolutely necessary.

00:50:16.947 --> 00:50:19.668
I want a clear way to the Lord.

00:50:19.668 --> 00:50:21.434
And it's like I can't go to the Lord

00:50:21.434 --> 00:50:24.091
if there's something on my conscience.

00:50:24.091 --> 00:50:29.703
I consider that to be a prayer-stopper.

00:50:29.703 --> 00:50:32.020
It's more serious than that.

00:50:32.020 --> 00:50:34.364
You can tell from these texts.

00:50:34.364 --> 00:50:36.450
But I consider that to be a prayer-stopper

00:50:36.450 --> 00:50:38.175
if there's any kind of bitterness,

00:50:38.175 --> 00:50:40.278
any kind of separation.

00:50:40.278 --> 00:50:43.603
If I feel like I know 
somebody in the church

00:50:43.603 --> 00:50:45.735
has this thing against me

00:50:45.735 --> 00:50:47.759
and I have not yet tried to resolve that -

00:50:47.759 --> 00:50:49.665
it's one thing if you try to resolve it

00:50:49.665 --> 00:50:51.012
and as much as possible,

00:50:51.012 --> 00:50:53.545
you're seeking to be 
at peace with all men

00:50:53.545 --> 00:50:55.965
and you've done what's 
possible in your power.

00:50:55.965 --> 00:50:58.715
There's some things that 
no matter how hard you try...

00:50:58.715 --> 00:51:01.365
but we ought to be able to say that.

00:51:01.365 --> 00:51:04.020
Even people who have never repented.

00:51:04.020 --> 00:51:07.653
It's like, Lord, I have forgiven them.

00:51:07.653 --> 00:51:09.547
I'm not holding anything.

00:51:09.547 --> 00:51:12.309
I don't know of any grudge 
that I have against anybody.

00:51:12.309 --> 00:51:13.557
There's no bitterness.

00:51:13.557 --> 00:51:14.815
You want that!

00:51:14.815 --> 00:51:17.142
That's clearly what Jesus is saying.

00:51:17.142 --> 00:51:23.168
Your prayer life.

NOTE Paragraph

00:51:23.168 --> 00:51:26.003
And you can see,

00:51:26.003 --> 00:51:27.890
there's not a word here

00:51:27.890 --> 00:51:29.953
in any of these verses about repentance.

00:51:29.953 --> 00:51:31.221
It's not the issue.

00:51:31.221 --> 00:51:38.605
Forgiveness here - it doesn't come in.

00:51:38.605 --> 00:51:40.410
The man who knows that he's forgiven

00:51:40.410 --> 00:51:45.434
only in and through the 
shed blood of Jesus Christ,

00:51:45.434 --> 00:51:48.235
he's a man who's constrained 
to forgive others.

00:51:48.235 --> 00:51:52.282
It really should be easy.

00:51:52.282 --> 00:51:53.735
I mean, I'm telling you,

00:51:53.735 --> 00:51:58.868
if I had some four billion 
dollar debt with the bank,

00:51:58.868 --> 00:52:00.951
and they forgave it,

00:52:00.951 --> 00:52:03.457
and then somebody that owes me $40

00:52:03.457 --> 00:52:05.143
comes and says they can't pay,

00:52:05.143 --> 00:52:08.912
it's like seriously? Am I going 
to have the guy strung up?

00:52:08.912 --> 00:52:12.579
It's like God has forgiven me for so much!

00:52:12.579 --> 00:52:16.082
Don't worry about it, brother!

00:52:16.082 --> 00:52:18.147
But it's debt. And we feel it different.

00:52:18.147 --> 00:52:20.943
We feel it more than just 
financial because it's personal,

00:52:20.943 --> 00:52:22.678
and it's insult, and it's offensive

00:52:22.678 --> 00:52:24.280
because we're talking about sins;

00:52:24.280 --> 00:52:26.048
we're talking about people wrong us.

00:52:26.048 --> 00:52:27.522
Just having a debt against us

00:52:27.522 --> 00:52:29.042
isn't necessarily wrong.

00:52:29.042 --> 00:52:30.641
Maybe not being able to pay it,

00:52:30.641 --> 00:52:32.174
there's some wrongness in that,

00:52:32.174 --> 00:52:33.662
so we can take it personally.

00:52:33.662 --> 00:52:35.849
But we don't have to take it personally

00:52:35.849 --> 00:52:38.460
because God hasn't taken it so personally

00:52:38.460 --> 00:52:40.081
that He's cast us into hell.

00:52:40.081 --> 00:52:41.382
He so loved the world

00:52:41.382 --> 00:52:43.261
that He put His own Son on that cross

00:52:43.261 --> 00:52:45.508
and He allowed Him to 
suffer what He suffered.

00:52:45.508 --> 00:52:47.182
He crushed Him under His wrath.

00:52:47.182 --> 00:52:48.830
He put that cup to His lips.

00:52:48.830 --> 00:52:50.513
He poured His soul out like water.

00:52:50.513 --> 00:52:51.869
And what are we going to do?

00:52:51.869 --> 00:52:54.338
Look at this Son of God -

00:52:54.338 --> 00:52:57.308
(incomplete thought)

00:52:57.308 --> 00:52:59.468
among the sons of men -

00:52:59.468 --> 00:53:01.530
here you've got John the Baptist,

00:53:01.530 --> 00:53:05.732
and Jesus says the things 
He says about him,

00:53:05.732 --> 00:53:09.057
and he says I'm not worthy to touch

00:53:09.057 --> 00:53:11.366
the latchet on his sandal.

00:53:11.366 --> 00:53:12.975
We have One worth that much

00:53:12.975 --> 00:53:15.778
and God did not spare Him, 
but gave Him up for us,

00:53:15.778 --> 00:53:17.717
who were what? Useless, worthless,

00:53:17.717 --> 00:53:20.874
weak, wretched, hell-deserving.

00:53:20.874 --> 00:53:23.907
We were children of wrath 
like the rest of mankind.

00:53:23.907 --> 00:53:25.737
And we're going to look at that

00:53:25.737 --> 00:53:30.323
and after everything that 
God has done for us?

00:53:30.323 --> 00:53:32.583
In our prayer, there ought to be

00:53:32.583 --> 00:53:34.759
such gratitude and thankfulness

00:53:34.759 --> 00:53:37.755
and a realization - this is 
the renewing of the mind.

00:53:37.755 --> 00:53:39.229
Not always going before God

00:53:39.229 --> 00:53:40.971
where you feel insulted,

00:53:40.971 --> 00:53:44.558
like I haven't gotten 
out of life what I deserve.

00:53:44.558 --> 00:53:47.604
God, give me, give me, give me!

00:53:47.604 --> 00:53:50.239
(Incomplete thought)

00:53:50.239 --> 00:53:52.347
When you go before the Lord

00:53:52.347 --> 00:53:53.960
and there's gratitude, like,

00:53:53.960 --> 00:53:57.140
"Lord, I cannot believe You saved me."

00:53:57.140 --> 00:53:59.166
It's really hard to look at somebody else

00:53:59.166 --> 00:54:02.290
and say, "I'm not forgiving you."

00:54:02.290 --> 00:54:04.600
I'm going to harbor this grudge,

00:54:04.600 --> 00:54:08.131
so just deal with it.

00:54:08.131 --> 00:54:09.896
So our prayer life,

00:54:09.896 --> 00:54:12.597
clearly this prayer life,

00:54:12.597 --> 00:54:17.624
there's no aspect here

00:54:17.624 --> 00:54:19.519
of whether they've repented or not.

00:54:19.519 --> 00:54:21.233
The prayer life is it should be one

00:54:21.233 --> 00:54:24.921
where it's all covered; it's all released.

00:54:24.921 --> 00:54:26.188
I'm not harboring it.

00:54:26.188 --> 00:54:29.642
Yes, I know that some individuals

00:54:29.642 --> 00:54:32.452
may need to repent in order

00:54:32.452 --> 00:54:34.333
for there to be reconciliation

00:54:34.333 --> 00:54:36.531
and for relationships to be restored

00:54:36.531 --> 00:54:41.462
the way that would be best.

00:54:41.462 --> 00:54:43.734
But that isn't the issue.

NOTE Paragraph

00:54:43.734 --> 00:54:47.821
And the last one that I 
want to bring up here is this:

00:54:47.821 --> 00:54:50.406
Paul specifically mentions

00:54:50.406 --> 00:54:52.759
learning Jesus.

00:54:52.759 --> 00:54:54.715
Assuming that you have heard of Him

00:54:54.715 --> 00:54:56.204
and have been taught the truth

00:54:56.204 --> 00:54:57.696
as it is in Jesus.

00:54:57.696 --> 00:55:06.954
But he assumes that 
we've learned of Christ.

00:55:06.954 --> 00:55:11.189
Brethren, we do not want to minimize

00:55:11.189 --> 00:55:15.068
or dismiss or explain away

00:55:15.068 --> 00:55:18.475
our Lord Jesus Christ on that cross

00:55:18.475 --> 00:55:20.302
saying "Father, forgive them,

00:55:20.302 --> 00:55:23.037
for they know not what they do."

00:55:23.037 --> 00:55:24.906
If you look at that,

00:55:24.906 --> 00:55:26.223
and you tear that apart

00:55:26.223 --> 00:55:31.674
to where He was praying 
for their forgiveness,

00:55:31.674 --> 00:55:34.425
but it doesn't say Jesus forgave them -

00:55:34.425 --> 00:55:36.691
if you want to try to 
make that distinction,

00:55:36.691 --> 00:55:38.334
I think you are trying to separate

00:55:38.334 --> 00:55:41.016
what God never meant to be separated.

00:55:41.016 --> 00:55:45.321
Let's look at that. Luke 23:33.

00:55:45.321 --> 00:55:47.401
Have you learned Christ?

00:55:47.401 --> 00:55:48.874
Here's the classroom.

00:55:48.874 --> 00:55:56.005
Let us come and sit at His feet and learn.

00:55:56.005 --> 00:55:59.327
The new man is a man who's learned Christ.

00:55:59.327 --> 00:56:00.958
Let us learn.

00:56:00.958 --> 00:56:05.829
Luke 23:33.

00:56:05.829 --> 00:56:09.106
"When they came to the 
place that is called the Skull,

00:56:09.106 --> 00:56:11.458
there they crucified Him 
and the criminals,

00:56:11.458 --> 00:56:13.653
one on His right hand 
and one on His left.

00:56:13.653 --> 00:56:15.786
And Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them,

00:56:15.786 --> 00:56:17.438
for they know not what they do.'"

00:56:17.438 --> 00:56:19.410
Now, here's one thing we know for a fact.

00:56:19.410 --> 00:56:20.624
They're crucifying Him -

00:56:20.624 --> 00:56:23.717
no evidence that they've repented.

00:56:23.717 --> 00:56:25.749
No evidence of that at all.

00:56:25.749 --> 00:56:27.738
There's no reason to assume it.

00:56:27.738 --> 00:56:29.056
Who is He speaking about?

00:56:29.056 --> 00:56:31.039
Probably both Jews and Romans.

00:56:31.039 --> 00:56:32.838
They're both killing Him.

00:56:32.838 --> 00:56:36.439
(Incomplete thought)

00:56:36.439 --> 00:56:40.466
Jesus specifically said to Pilate,

00:56:40.466 --> 00:56:42.749
(the Jews) crime, their sin is greater,

00:56:42.749 --> 00:56:44.741
but He wasn't saying therefore

00:56:44.741 --> 00:56:47.317
you have no crime in this.

00:56:47.317 --> 00:56:50.621
He's praying for them.

00:56:50.621 --> 00:56:52.507
"Father, forgive them,

00:56:52.507 --> 00:56:54.793
for they know not what they do."

00:56:54.793 --> 00:56:55.775
I say this again.

00:56:55.775 --> 00:56:58.566
We dare not try to explain this away

00:56:58.566 --> 00:57:01.189
by saying that there's 
no actual forgiveness

00:57:01.189 --> 00:57:02.840
taking place in this text.

00:57:02.840 --> 00:57:05.413
Or, that Jesus is only praying 
for their forgiveness,

00:57:05.413 --> 00:57:07.335
but since no repentance has taken place,

00:57:07.335 --> 00:57:09.251
there's no forgiveness of any sort here.

00:57:09.251 --> 00:57:11.307
Now look, I recognize they need to repent

00:57:11.307 --> 00:57:14.694
if His Father is going to forgive them.

00:57:14.694 --> 00:57:18.928
But I'm not talking about what God does,

00:57:18.928 --> 00:57:23.029
I'm talking about the 
heart of Christ in this.

00:57:23.029 --> 00:57:25.757
That's the issue.

NOTE Paragraph

00:57:25.757 --> 00:57:27.795
Answer me this.

00:57:27.795 --> 00:57:32.994
What is forgiveness?

00:57:32.994 --> 00:57:36.668
Forgiveness means -

00:57:36.668 --> 00:57:40.003
you can look it up in your lexicons -

00:57:40.003 --> 00:57:42.717
it means to let go.

00:57:42.717 --> 00:57:44.641
That's good right?

00:57:44.641 --> 00:57:46.566
Even if we're talking about a debt.

00:57:46.566 --> 00:57:48.616
You let go.

00:57:48.616 --> 00:57:50.526
We could use "cover."

00:57:50.526 --> 00:57:53.170
That's good imagery as well.

00:57:53.170 --> 00:57:58.247
It means to let go.

00:57:58.247 --> 00:58:04.609
Jesus - notice - has He let go?

00:58:04.609 --> 00:58:08.085
Is He bitter? Wrathful?

00:58:08.085 --> 00:58:11.311
Angry? Clamorous? Slanderous?

00:58:11.311 --> 00:58:14.432
All those things that Paul was describing?

00:58:14.432 --> 00:58:19.163
Or has He let go?

00:58:19.163 --> 00:58:24.563
Jesus unconditionally is showing them

00:58:24.563 --> 00:58:27.850
kindness and tenderness here.

00:58:27.850 --> 00:58:30.334
He's let go.

00:58:30.334 --> 00:58:33.890
If this isn't forgiveness,

00:58:33.890 --> 00:58:35.827
how else would you define it?

00:58:35.827 --> 00:58:37.244
I mean, the attitude -

00:58:37.244 --> 00:58:39.540
because that's what 
Paul's concerned about.

00:58:39.540 --> 00:58:41.034
It's the attitude.

00:58:41.034 --> 00:58:43.228
It's the kind attitude.

00:58:43.228 --> 00:58:46.463
It's the tender attitude.

00:58:46.463 --> 00:58:49.975
It's the God-like attitude

00:58:49.975 --> 00:58:52.399
of not holding our crimes against us

00:58:52.399 --> 00:58:55.924
and forgiving us when we don't deserve it.

00:58:55.924 --> 00:58:59.511
Is that not what's 
flowing from Christ here?

00:58:59.511 --> 00:59:03.009
Kindness and tenderness.

00:59:03.009 --> 00:59:04.949
What did they deserve?

00:59:04.949 --> 00:59:07.552
They're killing the Son of God!

00:59:07.552 --> 00:59:10.498
One of the greatest crimes ever committed.

00:59:10.498 --> 00:59:12.139
He's not holding on to it.

00:59:12.139 --> 00:59:14.383
There's no grudge. There's no bitterness.

00:59:14.383 --> 00:59:15.560
He's let go.

00:59:15.560 --> 00:59:17.992
You can call that, you can define that

00:59:17.992 --> 00:59:21.115
by whatever terminology you want,

00:59:21.115 --> 00:59:23.517
but you need to learn of Christ.

00:59:23.517 --> 00:59:25.166
Put the term on it you want,

00:59:25.166 --> 00:59:30.436
but that's the spirit of the new man.

00:59:30.436 --> 00:59:31.668
And you see it.

00:59:31.668 --> 00:59:34.302
You see it projected right onto Stephen.

NOTE Paragraph

00:59:34.302 --> 00:59:36.986
Acts 7:58 - just one last place

00:59:36.986 --> 00:59:38.246
I want you to turn.

00:59:38.246 --> 00:59:40.834
Acts 7:58.

00:59:40.834 --> 00:59:47.113
Because here comes a disciple of Christ.

00:59:47.113 --> 00:59:49.904
The martyr Stephen.

00:59:49.904 --> 00:59:51.518
And we know -

00:59:51.518 --> 00:59:55.710
we know that the Spirit 
that was so pervasive

00:59:55.710 --> 00:59:58.580
in the life of Christ

00:59:58.580 --> 01:00:04.194
is shining forth from Stephen as well.

01:00:04.194 --> 01:00:07.445
In Acts 7:58, "then they cast him

01:00:07.445 --> 01:00:13.498
out of the city and stoned him."

01:00:13.498 --> 01:00:18.175
You should probably think about stoning

01:00:18.175 --> 01:00:22.293
before you just read over it too quickly.

01:00:22.293 --> 01:00:24.397
In fact, probably if you 
looked on YouTube,

01:00:24.397 --> 01:00:26.641
I imagine with everything out there today

01:00:26.641 --> 01:00:28.118
you can probably find pictures,

01:00:28.118 --> 01:00:31.894
because there's enough women usually

01:00:31.894 --> 01:00:37.498
who have been stoned in the Middle East.

01:00:37.498 --> 01:00:39.475
"The witnesses laid down their garments

01:00:39.475 --> 01:00:41.335
at the feet of a young man named Saul,

01:00:41.335 --> 01:00:43.337
and as they were stoning Stephen,

01:00:43.337 --> 01:00:46.027
he called out..."

01:00:46.027 --> 01:00:49.096
You imagine - a rock hits you.

01:00:49.096 --> 01:00:53.333
I mean, bang - concussion.
Bang - your teeth are out.

01:00:53.333 --> 01:00:56.590
Bang - your rib is broken.

01:00:56.590 --> 01:00:57.797
And what's happening?

01:00:57.797 --> 01:00:59.196
He's not just covering up

01:00:59.196 --> 01:01:01.614
and thinking about defending himself.

01:01:01.614 --> 01:01:03.500
"'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,'

01:01:03.500 --> 01:01:05.947
falling to his knees, he cried out

01:01:05.947 --> 01:01:08.750
with a loud voice,

01:01:08.750 --> 01:01:12.767
'Lord, do not hold this 
sin against them.'"

01:01:12.767 --> 01:01:14.346
There's the spirit of it.

01:01:14.346 --> 01:01:16.509
Stephen's prayers for 
those who stoned him.

01:01:16.509 --> 01:01:18.965
Another example. Example of what?

01:01:18.965 --> 01:01:22.704
They're not repenting - 
they're killing him.

01:01:22.704 --> 01:01:25.844
Obviously there's no repentance.

01:01:25.844 --> 01:01:26.966
But the issue is this,

01:01:26.966 --> 01:01:28.864
unilateral - you know what that means?

01:01:28.864 --> 01:01:30.645
That's the opposite of bilateral -

01:01:30.645 --> 01:01:32.293
well, not the opposite,

01:01:32.293 --> 01:01:35.902
because you could have trilateral.

01:01:35.902 --> 01:01:38.474
But it's the idea of: all by yourself.

01:01:38.474 --> 01:01:39.667
Unconditional.

01:01:39.667 --> 01:01:42.709
You're not requiring anything of them.

01:01:42.709 --> 01:01:46.286
You just unilaterally, 
unconditionally let it go.

01:01:46.286 --> 01:01:47.526
You're forgiving them.

01:01:47.526 --> 01:01:49.649
The fact that Stephen 
prayed for God's mercy

01:01:49.649 --> 01:01:51.483
on his murderers shows

01:01:51.483 --> 01:01:53.742
that he has already forgiven them.

01:01:53.742 --> 01:01:57.077
Now it's true, God's forgiveness

01:01:57.077 --> 01:01:58.699
is not going to be granted to them

01:01:58.699 --> 01:02:00.085
apart from their repentance.

01:02:00.085 --> 01:02:01.734
That is absolutely true.

01:02:01.734 --> 01:02:04.757
But Stephen himself - what has he done?

01:02:04.757 --> 01:02:08.588
He's already made a deliberate,

01:02:08.588 --> 01:02:11.949
conscious choice to relinquish

01:02:11.949 --> 01:02:13.850
his right to vengeance,

01:02:13.850 --> 01:02:15.270
to retribution.

01:02:15.270 --> 01:02:17.220
He's let it go.

01:02:17.220 --> 01:02:18.992
He's forgiven them from his heart.

01:02:18.992 --> 01:02:24.779
Again, if you don't 
like the term forgiveness,

01:02:24.779 --> 01:02:26.937
what in the world is forgiveness

01:02:26.937 --> 01:02:29.649
if it's not that?

01:02:29.649 --> 01:02:31.473
That's what we want in the church.

01:02:31.473 --> 01:02:35.423
That's the kind of reaction 
to people that we want.

01:02:35.423 --> 01:02:38.820
If somebody had suffered such things

01:02:38.820 --> 01:02:41.189
as Christ and Stephen have suffered

01:02:41.189 --> 01:02:42.649
and they came into this church

01:02:42.649 --> 01:02:44.163
and yet they were manifesting

01:02:44.163 --> 01:02:46.270
tenderness and kindness

01:02:46.270 --> 01:02:48.878
and a willingness to 
let go like these men,

01:02:48.878 --> 01:02:52.579
we wouldn't be scrambling for terms.

01:02:52.579 --> 01:02:55.011
We would say, wow, 
that's a forgiving person.

01:02:55.011 --> 01:02:57.230
Why? Because that's the 
way we use the term,

01:02:57.230 --> 01:02:58.841
and that's what it means.

01:02:58.841 --> 01:03:01.614
It means to let go of things like that.

01:03:01.614 --> 01:03:03.152
Call this what you will.

01:03:03.152 --> 01:03:07.450
You may argue that it doesn't say

01:03:07.450 --> 01:03:08.827
Jesus forgave them.

01:03:08.827 --> 01:03:10.812
It doesn't say Stephen forgave them

01:03:10.812 --> 01:03:12.813
in either of these passages.

01:03:12.813 --> 01:03:15.043
But I would just appeal to this,

01:03:15.043 --> 01:03:18.483
what does it mean to forgive?

01:03:18.483 --> 01:03:21.169
Because if it doesn't mean 
what these guys are doing,

01:03:21.169 --> 01:03:24.667
I have no clue what it means.

01:03:24.667 --> 01:03:28.152
To me, that's... well, you say, to you?

01:03:28.152 --> 01:03:30.373
That's your opinion.

01:03:30.373 --> 01:03:34.592
This is what the term means.

01:03:34.592 --> 01:03:38.037
It means to let go.

NOTE Paragraph

01:03:38.037 --> 01:03:40.866
What's the point in all of this?

01:03:40.866 --> 01:03:44.485
My point is this:

01:03:44.485 --> 01:03:47.759
there's not a time -

01:03:47.759 --> 01:03:51.130
whether people have repented or not -

01:03:51.130 --> 01:03:53.889
there's not a time to hold 
grudges or bitterness.

01:03:53.889 --> 01:03:57.875
There's not a time that 
we shouldn't let go.

01:03:57.875 --> 01:04:00.065
Now, I recognize,

01:04:00.065 --> 01:04:02.104
I recognize there's times

01:04:02.104 --> 01:04:03.923
when to have reconciliation

01:04:03.923 --> 01:04:06.690
and have the relationship restored,

01:04:06.690 --> 01:04:09.849
we need repentance from the other person.

01:04:09.849 --> 01:04:11.861
And I recognize there's times

01:04:11.861 --> 01:04:13.628
to say to people in the church,

01:04:13.628 --> 01:04:17.583
unless you repent, we're putting you out.

01:04:17.583 --> 01:04:20.955
But you know what, even 
when we have to do that,

01:04:20.955 --> 01:04:24.850
we can let go.

01:04:24.850 --> 01:04:27.053
Even when we have to do that,

01:04:27.053 --> 01:04:29.838
love can be dictating - not selfishness;

01:04:29.838 --> 01:04:33.583
not this self-bitterness.

01:04:33.583 --> 01:04:35.239
This is the attitude.

01:04:35.239 --> 01:04:37.553
Even when we have to discipline people,

01:04:37.553 --> 01:04:43.054
we can manifest a disposition

01:04:43.054 --> 01:04:46.788
like Stephen, like Christ.

01:04:46.788 --> 01:04:48.749
"Father, forgive them."

01:04:48.749 --> 01:04:50.170
I mean, we fear for them.

01:04:50.170 --> 01:04:52.772
You know when we discipline 
people out of the church,

01:04:52.772 --> 01:04:54.887
I think where their path is going to lead

01:04:54.887 --> 01:04:56.572
if they don't repent.

01:04:56.572 --> 01:04:59.384
I say, Lord, please -

01:04:59.384 --> 01:05:01.396
especially after coming under the truth

01:05:01.396 --> 01:05:02.813
and experiencing the light -

01:05:02.813 --> 01:05:07.327
their hell is going to be greater.

01:05:07.327 --> 01:05:09.058
I fear for people.

01:05:09.058 --> 01:05:13.840
You tremble for them.

01:05:13.840 --> 01:05:16.139
But this is the heart.

01:05:16.139 --> 01:05:17.389
This is the heart.

01:05:17.389 --> 01:05:20.069
Kindness, tenderness, forgiving

01:05:20.069 --> 01:05:25.364
as God in Christ forgave you.

01:05:25.364 --> 01:05:28.851
The issue isn't the terms of repentance.

01:05:28.851 --> 01:05:32.742
The issue is: you didn't deserve it,

01:05:32.742 --> 01:05:35.422
and God forgave you

01:05:35.422 --> 01:05:36.831
beyond your wildest dreams!

01:05:36.831 --> 01:05:38.725
Hasn't He done things for you that are

01:05:38.725 --> 01:05:43.110
so out there you can't hardly believe it?

01:05:43.110 --> 01:05:45.154
Then, in the light of that

01:05:45.154 --> 01:05:48.932
and that mindset,

01:05:48.932 --> 01:05:52.032
let go.

NOTE Paragraph

01:05:52.032 --> 01:05:54.074
Father, I pray, give us this spirit.

01:05:54.074 --> 01:05:57.722
May it be pervasive here.

01:05:57.722 --> 01:06:00.417
I ask this in the name of 
our Lord Jesus Christ,

01:06:00.417 --> 01:06:01.358
Amen.