April 16, 2023 · Pastor Matt Stokes
Matthew 18:23-35
Healing
Forgiveness
Wisdom
Resentment
Hurt/Pain
Pastor Matt Stokes
“Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.
- Matthew 18:23-25
“But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
- Matthew 18:26-27
“But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
- Matthew 18:28
“His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
- Matthew 18:29-30
“When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
- Matthew 18:31-34
“That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”
- Matthew 18:35
Those who do not show forgiveness to OTHERS, show no tangible evidence that they have been forgiven, THEMSELVES.
Take an honest look at yourself & ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any misguided thoughts you may have about forgiveness.
We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ…
- Ephesians 4:15
Forgiveness doesn’t eradicate responsibility.
Forgiveness IS releasing resentment.
You can’t have a heart filled with hate for a person that you’re asking God to bless.
No man can serve two masters: for he will hate one and love the other; or he will hold to the one and despise the other.
- Matthew 6:24
If there wasn’t personal pain in the process, we’d all be so much more forgiving!
Forgiveness is hard because there are so many different levels & nuances to offenses.
Being yielded to the Spirit may have stopped when the hurt came in and the un-forgiveness began.
What about you? What’s your story?
The whole scope of scripture has to be considered to come to the right conclusion on what forgiveness is.
Do you have the confidence that you have glorified God in the way you have handled your hurt?
Forgiveness can be ours if we are willing to let the love of Christ conquer our personal pain.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17
