To Forgive

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 27th of September, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

Family, think for a moment…  How often do you say the words, “I’m sorry”.  Now, because of my difficulty in understanding human speech at times, I tend to say it a lot, like, “I’m sorry…  Could you repeat that, please?”  Of course I usually shorten that to just, “Huh?” or “What?”, but you get the idea.

That’s not the kind of “I’m sorry” I’m talking about here, though.  I mean the kind where we’re apologizing for something wrong or hurtful we just did, even if unintended.  Now remember, I asked you to just think about this, but how often do we really, sincerely mean those words, rather than just being socially nice?  And how often do we hear, “I forgive you”, in return?  If we are sincerely apologizing for some ill-conceived word or deed, aren’t we hoping for forgiveness?  Or, again, is it just the socially acceptable thing to do?

Last week we read where the Apostle Paul said to "Pay all your debts except the debt of love for others — never finish paying that!"  Today I'd like to look at what we may consider another type of dept: a debt of forgiveness.  Oh, and there is definitely a risk in being unforgiving.

Please listen and follow to a lesson Jesus gave about forgiveness, that began with a question Peter asked, as recorded in verses 21 through 35 of the 18th chapter of the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!

23 “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. 24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 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.

26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

29 “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. 30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 32 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. 33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

--Matthew 18:21-35 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for such a good example of forgiveness being extended and forgiveness being withheld, of a forgiving person and an unforgiving person.  You make it clear that we are to be forgiving of others.  Thank You, Father, for yet another life lesson in our bible.  And now, Father, please open our hearts to receive Your message this morning.  Touch each of us with Your most Holy Spirit that we might be moved to forgive others in the same way we wish to be forgiven.  In the precious name of Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Writer Michael Williams notes that, “In his book, Lee: The Last Years, Charles Bracelen Flood reports that after the War Between the States, Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady who took him to the remains of a grand old tree in front of her house.  There she bitterly cried that its limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Union artillery fire.  She looked to Lee for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss.  After a brief silence, Lee said, ‘Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it.’”  Flood continued, “It is better to forgive the injustices of the past than to allow them to remain, lest bitterness take root and poison the rest of our life.”

Forgiving someone for a wrong they committed against us can benefit us more than the offender.  It removes the heavy burden of hatred and bitterness from our shoulders, from our lives.  It allows us – albeit slowly, maybe – to forget the injustice and go on with life.

Peter asks, “Is seven times enough to forgive someone who sins against me?”  Jesus answers, “No, not seven times, but seventy times seven.”  So let’s see…  Seventy times seven comes to 490.  It may take a while, but I guess on the 491st sin I can stop forgiving them.  Right?

No, that’s not exactly what Jesus meant.  He was just throwing out a larger number based on what Peter proposed to emphasize to His disciple that we are to forgive and keep on forgiving no matter how long it takes, no matter how many times we are sinned against, no matter how much it hurts.  Because that’s how many times God forgives us for our sins against Him.

Now, before anyone can say, “But I don’t sin against God anymore.”, when was the last time you said a cross word or had an angry thought against someone else?  When was the last time you judged someone?  When was the last time you turned your back on another’s need?

Family, we all sin.  We are all fallen, we all fall short of the glory of God, as the Apostle Paul puts it.  And God forgives us every time, and all because we accept Jesus as His Son and our Lord.  Not only does He forgive us, but He puts it aside and forgets we ever did anything wrong.  But a lot hinges on our showing forgiveness in turn.

In His parable, Jesus tells of a ruler who forgave the debt of a man who owed him a great amount.  But when it came his turn to forgive a paltry debt owed him, that man refused to forgive and demanded immediate payment.  When the ruler learned of this, he had the man hauled back in and tossed in prison until his debt had been paid in full.

The ruler called the man evil for not having mercy on his fellow man when the ruler had shown mercy to him.  And the lesson of the parable is clearly stated, that this is how God, our heavenly Ruler, will treat us if we refuse to forgive our fellow brothers and sisters.  Oh, and it must be sincere forgiveness, from the heart, Jesus says, and not just lip service.

Much earlier in his Gospel account, Matthew gives us a recording of what we have come to call the Sermon on the Mount, arguably the most important and impactful sermon Jesus ever delivered.  In that sermon, Jesus gives us a model of a prayer, one we can use to fashion our own prayers from, but which we have pretty much adopted as “the Lord’s Prayer”.  In that model prayer, Jesus includes…

12 "and forgive us our sins,

as we have forgiven those who sin against us."

--Matthew 6:12 (NLT)

And He follows it with…

14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins."

--Matthew 6:14-15 (NLT)

There again is that risk I mentioned.  If we refuse to forgive others, for any reason, God will not forgive us.  Unforgiveness results in being unforgiven.  In one version of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “God will be as hard on you as you are on others! He will treat you exactly as you treat them.”  If we truly believe in the words of our bible, then this alone should be all the incentive we need to be more forgiving of others in our daily walk.

The English poet Alexander Pope wrote the now well-known line, "To err is human, to forgive, divine."  This isn't to imply that only God, the Divine, forgives, but that to forgive others is godly, divine in its nature.

We're all human, we're all fallible, we all make mistakes, and we all need to be forgiven.  Let us set aside any feelings of pride or of being wronged when we seek forgiveness and when we forgive.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, who showed us what love and forgiveness is all about.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for forgiving us of our sin.  Your Son redeemed us, and by our discipleship of Him we are forgiven.  We know that we are imperfect, prone to do things that hurt others, that make Your frown.  Please help us cast aside all our sinful ways.  Help us live more righteously, more pleasing in Your sight.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to You and our Lord Jesus, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for giving us a good example of a forgiving person.  Thank You especially for the multiple warnings of what may become of us if we are not forgiving of others in this life.  To not be forgiven by our Father God would be a terrible fate.  Please help us be more forgiving.  Help us put aside all pride so that we can seek forgiveness for harms we’ve done.  And help us forgive and forget harms done to us.  Help us show Your love through our forgiving attitude.  And in showing Your love, help us seek the lost and lead them to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.