AM 7-1-07 HCBC
The Lord’s Table:
Celebrating God’s Forgiveness
Celebrate: rejoice commemorate
Rejoice = have fun – have a good time – party – enjoy yourself – make merry
Commemorate = observe – mark – keep – remember – honor
We celebrate the Lord’s Table
because we have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ
because our sins are forgiven!
Forgiveness: Where would we be without it?
Stubby Gerry
Pinocchio
The Backpack
What if our ability to speak was permanently reduced by 1% each time we used
unwholesome speech?
What if our ability to see was permanently reduced by 1% each time we looked at
something unfit for a Christian to look at?
What if we permanently gained 1 pound each time we ate more than what we needed?
What if our ability to be "close" to our spouse was permanently diminished each time we
had impure thoughts about someone who was not our spouse?
What if the closeness of our relationship with God was unchangeably diminished each
time we ever sinned?
That's what it would be like without forgiveness!
That's what it would be like without the ability to make things right again!
Wouldn't life be wretched and dismal and depressing without forgiveness?
I hope that you are none of these things today!
But if you are, perhaps there is some area of your life that you need to offer or receive forgiveness.
We cannot live as the people God wants us to be without giving and receiving forgiveness!
To help us focus our thoughts on what the Bible has to say about forgiveness,
let’s examine these four questions:
What is forgiveness?
How do we get forgiveness?
Who gets forgiveness from us?
How do we give forgiveness to others?
I. WHAT IS FORGIVENESS? Forgiveness is a PROMISE!
It is referred to 143 times in the Bible!
Forgiveness is a promise releasing the sinning person from the penalty of sin when requested.
Jer 31:31-34
Heb 10:15-18
II. HOW DO WE GET IT? Forgiveness is from God!
Micah 7:18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show
mercy.
Isa 43:25 "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and
remembers your sins no more.
Isa 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him
turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will
freely pardon.
Eph 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just
as in Christ God forgave you.
Jer 31:33-34 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that
time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach
his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all
know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will
forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
Psa 103:2-3 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who
forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
Acts 13:38 "Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus
the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Offender
Repent Luke 17:3-4; Revelation 2:5
Confess James 5:16; 1 John 1:9
Seek forgiveness Luke 15:17-21
Offended
Forgive Mathew 6:14-15; 18:21-22
Do not bring it up again to offender Jeremiah 31:34
Do not bring it up to others James 4:11; Proverbs 18:8; 26:20-22
If it comes to mind, think about something else. Philippians 4:8
III. Who gets it from us? Forgiveness is commanded by God!
Who ever asks!
Luke 17:4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes
back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."
Eph 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just
as in Christ God forgave you.
IV. How do we give it to others? Forgiveness is gained through confession.
Luke 17:4
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness.
2 Chr 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and
pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from
heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Jas 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so
that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and
effective.
Forgiveness - is not a feeling but an act of the will.
I believe that God would be pleased if each of us would consider,
in view of His forgiveness of us, each of the following questions!
Who are the persons I have wronged from whom I have not sought forgiveness?
Who are the persons whom I have not approached over wrongs that have separated us?
Who are the persons I refused to forgive?
In his book: "From Forgiven to Forgiving," Jay Adams makes the following
analogy:
When you return from a foreign country, you must pass through
immigration before leaving the airport. The immigration official will ask
you, "Do you have anything to declare?"
Before you next enter the presence of your heavenly Father, He asks the
same question of you-- "Have you anything to declare?"
He will not hear you if you refuse to forgive others and if you choose live in
an unreconciled condition with them.
Have you anything to declare?
Put it on your list and deal with it so that you may freely say to the Father:
"No. All those matters are cleared up once and for all."
What is forgiveness? A promise releasing the sinning person from the penalty of sin
when requested!
How do we get forgiveness? By asking Go and one another!
Who gets forgiveness from us? Anyone who asks!
How do we give forgiveness to others? Forgiveness is gained through confession!