The 490
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Our sermon will be in Matthew 18:15-35
We have a website: https://tahlequahworshipcenter.com/
Dinner after service
Service this Wednesday Night - We are in the book of John
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Prayer requests
Gerald
Georgey
Dorcas
Cristy’s Grandparents
Sandra
Donna
Ukraine
Joe & Family
Kevin Black
I want to welcome all that are joining us online.
Thank you for being here with us.
Cristy has some songs picked out for us.
Are you ready to worship?
Let’s make a joyful noise
Songs
Just A Little Talk With Jesus
I’ve Got Peace Like A River
Holy Spirit
The 490
The 490
I don’t know many heard about this, but the SBC convention had some controversies this summer.
They are reeling from the report that came out that detailed the abuses and cover ups that were swept under the rug over the last few decades.
Our convention did as well, but not to the extent.
That’s not even the worst church controversy.
The pope visited Canada last week and apologized for the genocide and forced conversions that the Catholics did to the native tribes in Canada (America too).
Listen, churches and whatever the catholics call theirs, make mistakes.
Christians make mistakes.
We often talk about forgiving others, and we should, but there are some things that are criminal where law enforcement needs to get involved.
Getting back to forgiveness, most of the time we mishandle it.
We get upset at little things and withhold the forgiveness that God gives us.
Today, we are going to talk about forgiveness and how we handle sin and disagreements.
15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.
16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’
17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’
29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.
32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’
34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.
35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”
The Peace
The Peace
This first section of scripture is detailing what you should do when a fellow Christian wrongs you in some way.
The point that Jesus is making is that we need should keep the peace.
If we follow these rules then things should go well
The rules if someone sins against you are:
Go and talk to them (in Love)
Take one or more as a witness and talk again
Tell it to the church
If they don’t listen, then they are no longer part of the church
What’s the point of all this?
To keep the peace.
Instead, what often is done?
It eats away at someone until some kind of blowup happens
Someone blew up on me the other day - They stopped in the middle of the road and got out of their truck and caused a scene.
I said “God Bless You”
Another incident happened to me years ago where I wronged someone by accident.
They just skipped to step 2
So what’s wrong with that?
There was no reason to involve anyone else.
There would have been less hard feelings.
Does that mean that if someone does any little thing to you that you go confront them?
Jesus talks about how we are to take an insult and turn our cheek
I think this is talking about a more serious issue
However, at some point, the issue is to be taken up by the Church
The idea here is that the church takes the issue up so that it doesn’t mar the church
However, if they don’t listen, you take them to court
I think the point Jesus is making here is that he wants Peace, he wants God’s people to be different.
He wants Peace.
One of the issues that I was talking about that happened at the National Convention should have been talked about among ourselves
Instead, it has marred our name. It has broken the Peace
I think we need to:
The Parable
The Parable
Peter comes to talk to Jesus. He was a little confused.
It went against everything he had been taught.
It goes against our nature.
When someone comes to us asking forgiveness, we don’t want to forgive.
Jesus then says it’s 70 * 7 - that’s 490.
He then does what he often does and he uses a story to illustrate his point.
I’m going to try to put this in our terms.
A VP of the bank comes to the bank owner because of non-payment and failed businesses maybe even fraud, he owes billions.
He comes to the owner and begs to be given the chance to repay.
The owner is moved and does not throw him in jail, but allows him to continue to pay it off.
The VP then goes and finds a customer who owes him about 10k and he mercilessly throws him in prison.
These amounts are meant to shock those listening.
Think about it - billions vs thousands.
Notice what what the customer asks him for: Patience.
The Patience
The Patience
The problem that we often don’t forgive.
Even for minor things.
We don’t have patience.
There’s a reason I brought this sermon to you this week.
I listened to a podcast that was discussing these ideas and I realized that while I forgive, I do hold on to grudges.
I forgive and forgive and then at some point I my heart starts to harden.
Maybe I was like Peter and I was forgiving 7 times.
But Jesus says 70 x 7.
The point is not to forgive 490 times, but to keep forgiving like God forgives us.
The point is not to forgive 490 times, but to keep forgiving like God forgives us.
You see, God is Patient with us.
That means we need to be patient with others.
The amount that we owe God can never be repaid.
Why can’t we forgive others that by comparison owes us almost nothing?
I want to read something out of 1John 3:10-15
10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
The question I have is: Do you understand how much you have been forgiven?
In Luke 7:40-50, we see Jesus trying to teach Simon about forgiveness.
There is this woman who is washing Jesus’ feet with her hair and her tears.
She’s a sobbing mess.
We often look at that in what I think is the wrong perspective.
We think that Simon has been a righteous man and so hasn’t done much wrong, but I’m not sure that’s what Jesus is teaching here.
I think he’s showing Simon that he hasn’t been saved.
If I sit down to add up what I have done wrong, I’m going to need a bigger calculator.
I’m looking down the throat of this massive mess that I’ve created and I don’t see a way out.
When we get to that point, then we can be saved.
If you don’t have Love,
you don’t have the Lord.
If you don’t Forgive,
you haven’t been Forgiven.
If you don’t have Love,
you don’t have the Lord.
If you don’t Forgive,
you haven’t been Forgiven.
This is a harsh staying.
There are periods that we all go through where we aren’t forgiving others.
I think my best answer when someone asks whither or not I’m still upset is to say “Upset about what?”
And that’s the truth. I don’t always forget about it, but I do forget often.
God doesn’t hold it against us either.
Sometimes there are natural consequences, like if you fall off the wagon and start drinking again.
You could get arrested for it, but God will still forgive if you cry out to him.
1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
Let’s read 1 John 3:3 again
3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
I want you to think about something.
Lizzie has a dog that had 12 pups. 1 died before we got home.
Some of them look German Shepherd like her, and some of them look quite a bit different.
But all of them are dogs.
She is a dog and she had a dog.
We as Christians are re-born.
Do you see where I’m going?
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
So let’s close with this thought again:
If you don’t have Love,
you don’t have the Lord.
If you don’t Forgive,
you haven’t been Forgiven.
If you don’t have Love,
you don’t have the Lord.
If you don’t Forgive,
you haven’t been Forgiven.
I don’t know about you, but I need this reminder.
God is still working on me.
How about you?