THE INDISPENSABLE NECESSITY OF FORGIVENESS FOR CONTINUED FAVOUR WITH GOD

22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Job 31:19–20 KJV 1900

19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or any poor without covering; 20 If his loins have not blessed me, And if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

Matthew 18:15–35 KJV 1900

15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. 18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. 21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Job 22:6–11 KJV 1900

6 For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, And stripped the naked of their clothing. 7 Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, And thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. 8 But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; And the honourable man dwelt in it. 9 Thou hast sent widows away empty, And the arms of the fatherless have been broken. 10 Therefore snares are round about thee, And sudden fear troubleth thee; 11 Or darkness, that thou canst not see; And abundance of waters cover thee.

Job 31:19 KJV 1900

19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, Or any poor without covering;

Proverbs 21:13 KJV 1900

13 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, He also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

Matthew 6:15 KJV 1900

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

What is forgiveness? Thomas Watson (English Puritan preacher) described forgiveness as

 Resisting revenge. , “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for

the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord.”

 Don't seek to do them mischief. , “See that no one repays another with evil

for evil.”

 Wish well to them. , “Bless those who curse you.”

We know that under normal, natural circumstances, repentance should precede forgiveness. Put in another way, forgiveness must follow repentance. If we follow this line of thought or argument, we need to be careful not to miss the beauty of God’s kind of forgiveness. We are to forgive one another as Christ has forgiven us! Not only that, we are to look after those who are less well situated than us. Job was falsely accused by Eliphaz of being mean, miserly and of mistreating the weak and vulnerable. These allegations are so serious that if you did them to people today, regardless of what you suppose they have done to you, God will be really angry with you (see ).

 Grieve at their calamities. , “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not

let your heart be glad when he stumbles.”

 Pray for them. , “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who

persecute you.”

 Seek reconciliation with them. , “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”

 Be always willing to come to their relief. , “If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him.”

We know that under normal, natural circumstances, repentance should precede forgiveness. Put in another way, forgiveness must follow repentance. If we follow this line of thought or argument, we need to be careful not to miss the beauty of God’s kind of forgiveness. We are to forgive one another as Christ has forgiven us! The Standard of Forgiveness is As Christ Has forgiven Us! If you go below this standard, you have failed. secondly, our own forgiveness is dependent on our forgiving others! It is clearly written that if we do not forgive those who offend us, then God will not forgive us.

It is clearly written that if we do not forgive those who offend us, then God will not forgive us.

1. FORGIVENESS BEFORE SERVICE (RECONCILE FIRST)

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No one is permitted to participate in the service of Christ, who is not willing from their heart to forgive those who offended them. As it is written, he who desires the office of an overseer, a deacon or worker, desires a good thing. But He/she must be willing to drop all charges against those who have offended him/her, and from the heart forgive them. This is a prime condition for service in the Kingdom of Christ. This is a necessary condition for our own forgiveness before God (). It couldn't be clearer. If you fail to forgive, case closed. You can never be forgiven by God!

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Matthew 6:12 KJV 1900

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Judging from this Scripture, are we justified to withhold forgiveness of someone who injures us, offends us or trespasses against us, but refuses to repent and apologise to us? We don’t have to wait for someone to repent, and apologise to us before we can forgive them. No! We have to forgive even if the offender has not repented.

2. FORGIVENESS BY SEVENS (UNLIMITED FORGIVENESS)

No! We have to forgive even if the offender has not repented2. FORGIVENESS BY SEVENS (UNLIMITED FORGIVENESS)

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The apostle Peter’s question suggests that He believed that if you forgave seven time a day you have done really well; and if you refuse to forgive after seen times, you are justified. But Jesus put him right, telling him that you don’t stop forgiving. In scripture, the number 7 is used for completeness. It derived its meaning from God’s creation of all things. On the 7th day it is said that God rested from His creating, after completing his creation. It’s like Jesus was telling Peter, don’t just count how many times you are offended. Just go on forgiving as you are forgiven. For many people this is quite challenging. In , Paul lists the manifestation of the old nature and encourages all believers to show their true nature and desist from all these - lying, anger, wrath, stealing, corrupt communications, grieving the Holy Spirit. Most of these are also related to unforgiveness. Instead of allowing ourselves to be controlled by these, the apostle encourages us to become tender hearted, to forgive as Christ has forgiven us.

True forgiveness is a limitless exercise because that is how God forgives us. I used to do a little arithmetic with Christ’s answer to Peter’s question: Peter was to told to forgive 70 x 7 times, or 490 times in a day. There are 8 working hours of 60 minutes each, or 480 minutes in a day.

If you interpret Christ answer in this form of arithmetic progression, you’d have to forgive a person who offends you every minute from 9.00 am to 5.10 pm.

3. FORGIVENESS OF FELLOW SERVANTS (WITHOUT WHICH NO FORGIVENESS)

How much do you owe God? And how much does your neighbour owe you?

Is there someone who you need to forgive?

Is there someone who you haven’t talked to in a long time because of what they did?