A Time to Forgive God, Man and Self

Alright, let's get into the message. I have used the Life Application Commentary in Barnes Notes in preparing the message today. I'd like to get right into it. Let's turn over to Exodus 12. Exodus 12 and verse 7. Exodus 12 and 7. This is talking about the first Passover in the Old Testament. They were to kill a lamb, and they would do something with its blood. We see this in chapter 12, verse 7. And it shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts, and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Where they eat the Passover. We drop down to verse 12. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. Verse 13. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Hence the name Passover. I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

So here, brethren, we see something very special about blood. We see that blood is a symbol of deliverance. Blood is a symbol of deliverance. It symbolized deliverance from death. It symbolized deliverance from slavery in Egypt. It symbolized the beginning of a new life for those who lived in the Old Covenant, Old Testament, Israel. But for us as Christians, the blood also symbolizes spiritual deliverance. Freedom from the ways that produce death. Freedom from slavery to Satan and Satan's society. Freedom to move forward in terms of serving God. Now let's add to that two other areas that blood symbolizes. Let's go to Revelation 12. Revelation 12, verses 10 and 11. Revelation 12, verse 10.

And by the word of their testimony, they did not love their lives to the death. So here we see another thing, another area that blood symbolizes. Blood symbolizes overcoming Satan. Overcoming Satan. And of course, just as we made mention a moment ago, because of the blood of Jesus Christ, we have the freedom to get away from Satan, his way of thinking, his way of acting. We've got the freedom to leave an old way of life. We've got the freedom to begin to serve God. Now let's take a look at one other area. I'm giving this as a preface to what I want to cover with you today. Let's go over to Leviticus 17. And again, we see another symbol, the other way blood symbolizes something. We've seen blood symbolizes deliverance. We've seen blood symbolizes overcoming Satan.

And we see how blood represents something else. Leviticus 17. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.

So here we see where blood symbolizes a life of atonement. A life of atonement. You put all this together, we see blood symbolizing deliverance, overcoming Satan, and a life of atonement. In this case, we've been talking about atonement with God and atonement with man. But I'd also add a third thing. We can be at one with ourselves.

Now, as I was preparing the message today, I went into the internet to wiki answers. And I was wanting to know exactly what is blood do? The blood we've got coursing through our veins. What is blood do? And I guess I can read page after page. But I found a rather salient paragraph that gives an explanation as to the many things blood in our body does. Let me quote here now.

Blood doesn't have a function. It has several functions. It carries food and oxygen to the cells. It carries waste away from the cells. It serves as a carrier for various disease-fighting cells, such as the white blood cells. It also has a means of puncture-proofing the body. It clots, sealing up small holes quickly. Blood is also important in maintaining a constant temperature in your body. Now, God has created physical things that teach us spiritual lessons. And what are some of the lessons we learn from physical blood? We've seen the symbolism behind blood. Deliverance, overcoming Satan, a lack of atonement. As I was reading this, I thought, well, that's interesting. The physical blood carries food and oxygen to the body. In other words, blood nurtures the body.

Isn't that what the blood of Jesus Christ does? In a very real sense, we are nurtured because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Also, blood carries waste away. It is through the blood that the body writhes itself of those things that are toxic. And there are things in our life that are toxic that we need Christ's help with to rid us, to get those things out of our system, out of our hearts and minds.

Physical blood carries various disease-fighting cells, such as white blood cells. So in other words, blood protects us from attack. Jesus Christ is there to protect us from attack.

Blood has a means of puncture-proofing the body, or in other words, defending from hurt.

These are all things Jesus Christ does as our Savior. And certainly, our physical blood helps us maintain a constant temperature. In other words, it provides balance for us.

Now, two weeks ago, as we have been preparing for the coming of the Passover, two weeks ago we talked about the foot-washing.

The sermon I gave, the title for the sermon was, The Passover Reminds Us That We've Been Called to a Life of Humble Service.

Last week we discussed the bread portion of the Passover service, and my title for the sermon last week was, Passover is a Time to Reflect on the Commitment and Dedication of Jesus Christ.

Because we want to be the same way. We want to follow Jesus Christ. He is our ultimate pattern. He sets the high bar.

So today, brethren, if you'd like to take notes, here is the theme of my message today.

Christ's Passover sacrifice makes forgiveness possible.

Christ's Passover sacrifice makes forgiveness possible towards God.

Ooh! Forgive God? Why would we forgive God?

God doesn't sin. God doesn't do anything that hurt us. Everything God does is for our benefit.

But Christ's Passover sacrifice makes forgiveness possible toward God, toward man, and toward self.

Toward God, toward man, and toward self.

So let's begin by getting into this. Christ's Passover sacrifice makes forgiving God possible.

Now, what in the world did Mr. Deleisandro after he sold his house last Tuesday? Did he get so tipsy that he drank too much and... or maybe he fell out of bed and hurt himself and he's just not quite right? Is that the deal?

Brethren, God doesn't need forgiving the way you and I typically think of forgiving. He's not sinned. He's not done anything that isn't loving or in our best interest.

But God has done things to us in our life that has made you perhaps angry.

Perhaps God has done things in your life that has made you furious. Perhaps God has done things in your life that has made you shake your fist at him.

And you've not been on talking terms with him from time to time.

We're talking about, brethren, is there a time when you are particularly, and I, have been particularly angry with God.

And forgiveness is a mechanism by which we drain ourselves of anger.

So that's the idea I've got in mind here about forgiving God.

There are things God has done that has angered us, but we need to drain out that anger because it does us no good spiritually.

Let me give you some examples here.

Forgive God for your life's circumstances.

Some of you in this room have been given an awful bad hand of cards to play with.

You've been disadvantaged, have not been loved, have not been cared for, have been kicked to the curb.

You are all wonderful people. It has been my privilege to serve you over the last 19 years.

Some of you carry a heavy burden. You've been carrying this heavy burden all your life because of life's circumstances.

Sometimes, I'm sure, those circumstances make you really angry.

But God uses those challenges, God uses those circumstances in our life, for our best interest.

One of the things I'm doing is, after having gone through the open-heart surgery, I enjoy now going over to the GM and working out.

I lift weights and I do other things.

If I want to build muscle, I've got to have something that I'm working against. Otherwise, I'm going to look like a cream puff.

I'm going to go get a moon pie or something like that.

But I need resistance to be able to grow and to build muscle. The same thing is true spiritually.

God gives us something to resist. He gives us Satan. He gives us the world. He gives us mankind. He gives us our own human nature.

By resisting that, we grow in godly character.

So God gives us challenges. God gives us circumstances in life.

Let's take a look at Mark 6.

Let's elucidate some of this.

Mark 6, starting in verse 31.

Mark 6, 31.

And He said to His disciples, Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place, and rest awhile. For there are many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

Have you experienced that? You're so busy, you didn't even have time to eat.

You're working so hard, you're putting in an 8, 10, 12, 14 hour day. You come home, you're too exhausted. There have been times before Mary has come home, she's been too exhausted to chew her food.

She says, I'm not hungry. I say, well, it can be your portion.

But there are times when we were just so busy, you know, going hither and yon. And these men were like this. Now keep this in mind. These men were tired, they were worn out, they were probably on their last nerve. Verse 32, so they departed to a deserted place in a boat by themselves. But the multitude saw them departing, and many knew him and ran there on foot from all the cities. And they arrived before them and came together to him.

And so here these poor guys are wanting to have a little rest. Can you imagine you want to come home after putting in several long days, maybe a long week, you want to rest? And you've got a household of 50, 60 people? These guys are facing something that's pretty tough here. And Jesus, when he came out, saw a great multitude in more than 50 or 60, and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep, not having a shepherd.

So he began to teach them many things. And when a day was now far spent, again, these fellows are getting more and more tired, when a day was now far spent, his disciples came and said, It is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.

Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages, and buy themselves bread, for they have nothing to eat. Now notice Christ's response to this. But he answered and said to them, You give them something to eat. And you're thinking, say what? Really? What a week! There's thousands of people here. We're going to get to this in a moment. There may be 15,000 people here. And 12 guys are told, Hey, give this bunch something to eat. I think you ladies can appreciate that. Your husband comes home and says, Hey, I just invited the whole company over to the house today for it.

I've got nothing in the freezer! You give them something, and they said to him, Shall we go and buy 200 ninary worth of bread and give them something to eat? A little sarcastic here. And he said to them, How many loaves do you have? Go and see. When they found out, they said five and two fish. Christ wanted them to know something very important. That is, not to just look at things physically.

Not just look at what you don't have, but look at what you do have. You do have God on your side. You have the miracle-working power on your side, and things are going to change. Then he commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in ranks in hundreds and in fifties. Notice they were organized. There wasn't just some mob. People today like to say, Well, I don't like organized religion. Maybe they've been through a couple of splits in their life.

I just don't want organized religion. Well, you don't get that out of the Scriptures. The Scriptures talk about organized religion. Christ came to organize His church. Verse 41, they had taken the five loaves and two fish. He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them, and a two fish, and He divided among them all. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of fragments of the fish. Now, that's my idea of a fish fry. Lots of stuff there. Now, when those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

Now, you add the ladies and the kids, you may have had fifteen thousand people there. Immediately, He made the disciples get into the boat and go before them to the other side to Bissaeta while He sent the multitude away. Now, we're not going to go over there, but one of the reasons Christ is doing this in verse 45, everyone had just seen this tremendous miracle. A few loaves, a few fish, all of a sudden, maybe fifteen thousand people are fed. There was going through this crowd the idea that we need to make this guy king.

He will be a tremendous warrior king for Israel. And Christ realized that was going through the group. And so Christ wanted to put the brakes on that real quick. We see that over in the book of John. We're not going to go there, but that's why Christ wanted to stop this, because they were getting the wrong idea about why He was on earth. Verse 46, And when He had sent them away, He departed into the mountain to pray.

And when the evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. Now, we don't know if this means exactly the middle of the sea, or they were out there. At this particular point, the sea was four miles across. So they might have been actually two miles out there. Christ could still see them. And Christ realized that they were about to go through some really tough circumstances. Verse 48, When He saw them at Rowan, the wind was against them.

Now, about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. Now, Mark uses the Roman way of telling time. The Romans had four watches, from 6 to 9 p.m. to 12 midnight, from 12 midnight to 3 a.m. and from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. So we're looking at here the fourth watch, which would have been between 3 and 6 a.m.

These guys are tired. They've been rowing. They're exhausted. The wind, they bring the sails down. They're rowing. It's hard work. They're fishermen. A lot of them are fishermen. They're used to this kind of thing. But they're beat. They're tired. And it looks like, this is from now their perspective, it looks like Christ was going to pass them by.

Have you ever been in a place in your life where you thought that life was hard-growing in life, and God was going to pass you by? Have you ever felt that maybe God just wasn't interested in your situation? Have you ever felt that God wasn't aware? He didn't seem to answer your prayers? That's kind of what we have right here. Verse 49, When they saw Him walking in a sea, they supposed it was a ghost and cried out, for they all saw Him and were troubled.

But immediately He talked with them and said to them, Be a good cheer, it is I, do not be afraid. So once again, Jesus Christ is giving them circumstances that are very difficult, but He's teaching them valuable lessons.

And the lesson is to have faith, to walk in faith. Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. So if you think God is passing you by, that's not the case. If you think God's not listening to you, that's not the case. Sometimes God doesn't answer your prayers the way you may want, doesn't mean He's not listening. He may be saying no to you. He may be saying, well, let's wait a while. Let's put this on hold. Let's table this. Let's be patient. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure and marvel. So here we see a couple of examples back to back of God wanting people to be tested by their circumstances. And again, brethren, I say to you, we need to make sure we forgive God for giving us the circumstances we have. They may not be something we want. They may be hurtful or painful or very discomforting, but they teach us lessons. And that's very important for us. Now, another thing we forgive God for, and it's very similar to what we just went through. Not only do we forgive God for the circumstances of our life, we forgive God for the trials we have in our life. Forgive God for the trials He's given to you. You know, brethren, when I was putting my thoughts together here for the message and asking God to inspire the message, it came to me...

When we look at history, we see a number of really great families. In Europe, for example, you've got the Habsburg family. When you go through history, you see that a number of the Habsburgs ruled great sections of land and were a part of the Holy Roman Empire. Tremendous family, the Habsburgs. You see the English monarchy of the line of David. Tremendous family. In our nation, I guess if we were looking at great families, maybe you might think about the Kennedy family. But you and I are in a family that has no peer, no equal. We are a part of the family of God. And because we're a part of the family of God, He wants us to be like Him. He wants us to be like Jesus Christ, our elder brother.

And that means He's got to bring us up to speed as you and I go through life. Now, let's take a look at Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12. Starting here in verse 5, and you know where I'm going with this. Hebrews 12.5. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as two sons, as the family members. My son, my beloved son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him, for whom the Lord loves, He chastens and scourges every son whom He receives. Now, this is not pleasant to go through this. And we need, you know, if we're angry with God for what He's doing, and people many times will come to me and say, you know, I did all this to serve God, and what did God do? He took this away, He took that away, He took the other thing away. And I sacrificed, and what has it ever gotten me? And so on and so forth.

Well, take a look at the book of Hebrews. I'm not going to go there, but Hebrews 11. All those people went through. Talk about privation, where they were scattered among the countryside, they had to live in caves. Nobody lives in a cave unless you were forced to live in a cave. They were persecuted, they were tortured, and so on. But, you know, God, they all realized that God was doing something very special in their lives. They were building character. Verse 7, if you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father doesn't chasten? If you are without chastening, which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we've had human fathers who corrected us. We paid our human fathers respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the father of spirits and live? For they, our human parents, indeed for a few days chasten doesn't seem best to them. But God, for our prophet, that we may be partakers of what? Of His holiness.

There's a tremendous plan at work here. So, if you were getting mad at God because of our life circumstances, because of our trials, realize there's a big plan here for you. Verse 11, Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. Nevertheless, afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Brethren, when you and I forgive God for the trials we go through, it teaches us a multitude of lessons. Let me just cover a few of these lessons that we learn as we forgive God for the trials we're in. Trials help us to trust God's sovereignty in our life. Trials help us to realize God is in charge. He is the one who's guiding us through these things. You might want to put this into your notes. Romans 8, verses 28 and 29. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Trials help us trust God's sovereignty. Trials enable us to serve our fellow man. When you've had your heart ripped out of your chest, so to speak, and people stomped on it, you are much more compassionate. You're able to empathize with people. You're able to sympathize with people. You're able to walk in their shoes when they're hurting. Trials enable us to serve our fellow man. 2 Corinthians 1, verses 3-5. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we might comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. Trials help us to serve others. It's certainly rather than trials mature us. Trials mature us. When I think about the people that I've known in my life that have helped me the most, they have been the most mature people. They don't tend to be the people who are 16 years old, although you can learn lessons from children. They tend to be the people who have gone through life, they've experienced life, they've learned things, they've grown in wisdom, and as they've grown in wisdom, they can impart things to us. Trials help us mature. James 1, verses 2-4. Again, I won't turn now. I'll read it for you. James 1, verses 2-4. My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its full effect. So you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. One last area, brother, and I think we need to forgive God for, is we need to forgive God for the tragedies we see in the world. I think sometimes we take a look at world news, and we think, why is God not doing something? When we see these horrible pictures of little children starving in different parts of the world, when we see warfare, when we see just all the tragedies, the nightmare that takes place in many parts of the world, this country as well. Some events in human history have packed us so greatly, like in this country. If you're old enough, you remember when John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated. You remember when Bobby Kennedy, and you remember where you were at when Bobby was assassinated. You remember where you were at when Martin Luther King was killed. You remember those things. You remember when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. Maybe you were watching TV that day, and they were showing pictures of different astronauts, and what they were like, and their kids, and their families, and then you were watching the TV screen, and everything blows up.

I was in Goldsboro, North Carolina, about to start a Bible study when I was watching and saw that happen. Maybe you remember where you were at when the Twin Towers were attacked on September 11, 2001. Lee and I were out playing golf that day, and we were making the turn. We finished the first nine holes, we were making the turn, and as we came past the temporary clubhouse that they had there, between the two nines, a number of people were talking, and I said, well, what's up? You guys look really concerned. They said, we're at war. Of course, at that point, this was, I forget what time of the day it was, but, rumors every place. Rumors every place. As we were starting the 10th hole, they were saying, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. Of course, that wasn't true. But, you know, Lee and I heard that something was wrong, and I'll never forget that time. So, different things happen in the world. God is in charge of the world, but God has a plan for all mankind. And, brethren, it wasn't God who turned his back on mankind. It was mankind who turned his back on God. It was mankind who said, we don't want you. Leave us alone, and we're going to take out the tree of good and evil. Oh, it looked good, and there was some good to it, but there was plenty of evil. And that was a choice man-made. People want to talk... You ever notice when people talk about acts of God? There are always these horrible disasters. They don't look at a newborn baby, how beautiful and perfect it is, all over their fingers and toes. There's an act of God. No, they don't say that. They wait until some catastrophe is done as an act of God. Like all God does, they say, well, how can we rip wings off of butterflies? You know? Let's take a look at Luke 13.

Luke 13, verse 1.

Luke 13, verse 1.

There were present at that season some who told them about the Galileans, whose blood piloted and mingled with their sacrifices. They had mass murders back in those days. And Jesus answered and said to them, Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all the other men who dwelled in Jerusalem? I tell you no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

So what Christ was doing here is saying, you know, life is life and things are going to happen. This is Satan's world. He is the God of this world, and bad things are going to happen. Now, if you want good things to happen, you want a different world, then we've got to repent as a human race. James 4 James 4 Verses 13-15 Probably all of us can do better with this one.

James 4, verse 13, Come now, you who say today or tomorrow, you will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit. Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or do that.

So, let's remember, brother, our lives are in God's hands. God has a purpose for your life as an individual. You're not just some cog in some great cosmic machine. You are an individual that Jesus Christ died for. God the Father and Jesus Christ took their time and thought about when the best time to call you would be and how to best serve you by calling you and giving you the kind of start you needed.

So, remember, physical blood helps us in so many ways. One of the things it does, it rids the toxic material out of our system. And in terms of you and I as Christians, brother, we need to rid the toxicity that is in our hearts and minds that we've got anger toward God. So, Christ's Passover sacrifice makes forgiving God possible. Let's move on to our fellow man.

Christ's sacrifice makes forgiving our fellow man possible. Our fellow man. I'd like to have you turn, if you would, to Colossians 3, verse 13. Colossians 3, verse 13. I'm going to read this one verse in four different translations. You know, if you've got a Bible program at home, the chances are you probably have a number of translations on your Bible program. If you've got high-speed Internet, you can go to various sites that have many different translations.

I've been to sites that have dozens of translations. Or you may not have a computer at all, but you may have a number of books at your home that you can open up that are different kinds of Bibles. And many times, brethren, it really helps to get the essence of a verse by looking at a number of different translations. So, Colossians 3, verse 13. I'm going to start with the New King James, which says, Bearing with one another and forgiving one another, If anyone has a complaint against another, Even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

Notice the word there, complaint. A legitimate complaint against another human being. They've hurt you. Maybe they care, maybe they don't care that they've hurt you. Maybe they continue to hurt you. Maybe there's nothing you can do about that in terms of changing their mind. Some people are just that way. But notice, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. These are hard words to follow. They're easy to read. They're easy to understand. They're hard to implement. Let's read this same verse in the New International Version. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. So, notice it's not longer called a complaint. It's called a grievance. Maybe you've got grievances against somebody.

Let's read the New Living Translation. New Living Verse, Colossians 3.13. New Living. Make allowance for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you. So you've got complaints, you've got grievances, you've got offense. And lastly, I'm going to read the Bible in Basic English, Colossians 3.13. Being gentle to one another and having forgiveness for one another if anyone has done wrong to his brother.

Done wrong. Complaints, grievances, offenses, having done wrong. We are to be forgiving. Now, there is an essential truth that God wants us to appreciate every year, all the time, but especially at Passover season. Let's look at Matthew 18. Matthew 18. We're going to look at a good portion of this chapter. Matthew 18, starting here in verse 21. Matthew 18.21. Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him up to seven times?

So the context here is, how much forgiveness? From a human perspective, we want to believe, we want to think, we want to implement. Well, there's a cap. There's a lid. There's only so much forgiveness that I want to dole out to people. Seven is an awful lot. Jesus said to him, I do not save you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven. So Jesus' perspective, God's perspective, which should be our perspective, is that repentance and forgiveness is unlimited.

Now, brethren, when I say that, please understand what I'm saying here. I'm not saying that people who are hurting you, you should just start giggling and saying, oh, I love being hurt. No. I'm not saying that we condone what they're doing to us. I'm not saying that we say it's okay, it's not okay, we don't condone it. What they're doing is wrong and hurtful and so forth. But we need to drain the toxicity out of our system. We need to drain the anger. If we don't drain that anger, it's going to hurt us. We don't forgive people because of what it does for them, because it may do nothing. They may want to hurt us and continue to hurt us. We forgive because it helps us. It helps our relationship with God. And so we want to have the outlook that God, the Father, and Jesus Christ do, up to 70 times seven, verse 23. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with the servants. This king is like God, the Father, or Jesus Christ. And when he began to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. It's like us. We owe God... We have a tremendous debt before God. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded he should be sold with his wife and children, and all that he had, and to pay them to be made. Our sins cost us everything. Everything.

The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, Master, I have patience with me, and I will pay you all. In other words, please be merciful. Be patient. How many times, brethren, do you ask God to be patient with you? How many times have I asked God to be patient with me? How many times have we used the analogy that, spiritually speaking, we are all a work in progress, and it's like we all have the little orange barrels all around us?

This is the orange barrel season, and around us there are all these orange barrels, because we are a spiritual work in progress. Verse 27, Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt, just as God forgives us of our great debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him a hundred to marry. You know, just a little debt.

And he laid hands on him and took him by the throat. I mean, this guy was really... he was after some things here, saying, Pay me what you owe. So you have somebody here who's got a very short memory. They were just forgiven by God, by analogy. Now God wants this person to forgive his fellow human beings, and he says, No, I'm going to grab them by the throat. So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, If you have patience with me, I'll pay you all.

He said the same thing. And the person we had just previously been forgiven, what did he say? And he would not have went and threw him into prison, till he should pay the debt. Now, in reading that brethren, does that make sense to you? Verse 30, If you're thrown in prison, how can you pay a debt? You can't. What we're looking at here in verse 30 is an idea. The idea is that the one person put the other person in such a position they couldn't win.

They couldn't win. Have you and I done that? Have we been so unforgiving and we've carried a grudge that the other person just couldn't win? There is nothing they could do, absolutely nothing they can do, to solve a situation. So the point, brethren, is that God wants us to have forgiveness in an unlimited amount, because that's the way God thinks. Again, we're not condoning sin or wrong action.

We're forgiving because it gets the poison out of our heart. Thomas Adams, who lived in the early 1600s, said that he that demands mercy and shows none, ruins the bridge over which he himself is to pass. He that demands mercy and shows none ruins the bridge over which he himself is to pass. William Archer Ward wrote, Life lived without forgiveness becomes a prison. That's very true, brethren. Life without forgiveness becomes a prison. We become a prisoner in our own hearts and minds. We're bitter. We also need to forgive our fellow man for the sins of omission. Maybe it's not what somebody has done to you. Maybe it's something that people have neglected to do for you.

Let's look at James 4, verse 17. James 4, verse 17. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. Now, the sins of commission are readily seen. They're easily seen. But the sins of omission are not easily seen. Sometimes they're murky. Sometimes it's a little hard to understand what's going on. But a couple of examples. A couple of examples. Perhaps you might say, I was heading for trouble.

They knew I was heading for trouble, and they didn't lift a finger to help me. They didn't lift a finger to help me. Or, I was in need. But you never called me. You never wrote me a card. You never sent a letter. You never made a phone call. I was in need, and you weren't there for me. A sin of omission. The parable, the Good Samaritan shows that the priests and the Levite were guilty of not stopping to help. They were guilty of the sin of omission.

They didn't do anything. And certainly, Brother, we want to forgive our fellow man for not just the sin of omission, but for unintended consequences. Have you done something in your life, and you really hurt somebody? You weren't intending to hurt somebody, but the consequences of your actions or your words really carved somebody up, really hurt somebody. So we need to forgive our fellow man for unintended consequences. Let's take a look at Luke 23. Luke 23. Verse 33. Luke 23, 33.

And when they had come to the place called Calvary, they crucified him, and the criminals won on the right hand and won on the left. And Jesus said to them, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.

Unintended consequences. The Apostle Paul knew this. He said in 1 Corinthians, had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. And so there may have been people who have hurt you, brethren, or me, unintentionally. And again, we need to drain the anger, realize, Father, forgive them. They didn't know what they were doing. They didn't know the consequences. They didn't know all the ramifications of what they said and how that was going to affect me. Or when they talked to other people about me, all the ramifications that came back to me to hurt me so. Lastly, brethren, Christ's Passover sacrifice makes forgiving ourselves possible.

And sometimes I think this is the hardest one of all. Forgiving ourselves. Forgiving ourselves, brethren, is essential. And I think there's a tendency with Christians who are very dedicated and committed and so forth. We hold ourselves so accountable, we demand so much from ourselves. And that's not necessarily bad, but we also have to realize that in all of this, there is forgiveness. There's tremendous forgiveness. That's why we have Passover. God doesn't want us walking around with all of our sins chained to us. We go to God, we ask for forgiveness. If we're repentant, we're forgiven. Let's look at Jeremiah 31.

Jeremiah 31.34.

No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest limbs of the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. I will remember no more. Brethren, if God will remember our sin no more, why do we want to bring it up to his attention?

Why do we want to do that? It's not healthy. It's not good.

I've quoted...let's go to Isaiah 38. I've quoted this on numerous occasions in the 19 years I've been your pastor here. Isaiah 38.17.

Isaiah 38.17. Indeed, it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness. So Isaiah says, you know, we go through life's trials. They were bitter. But, as I grew closer to God, I had peace.

But you have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption. For you have cast all my sins behind your back.

You have cast all my sins behind your back. When something's behind our back, it's out of you. It's out of mind. And so when Satan wants to start triggering thoughts in your mind, well, you know you really blew it yesterday.

You know, you're trying to watch your anger. You know you've got a bad temper. And it's flared up. It slipped. Jack came out of the box. You know? Jack came out of the box. And Satan wants to remind you of that, remind you of that. But that's where, when Satan wants to whisper those words in your ears, that's when you push that down. You put it behind your back. Yes, we're fallible. Yes, we make mistakes. We mess up.

But if God wants to forgive us and forget it, as human beings, unfortunately, we're not like God in that sense. We can't many times forget. But we can. When something pops in our mind, we can push it out of our mind. And that's what we have to do. Push it out of our mind. Put it behind us. Now, there's a scripture here I want to read to you that I hadn't really thought about it this way. But let's take a look at Acts 10 for a moment. Acts 10. We tend to apply this in a certain way, but I want to add something here. Acts 10, verse 34. And Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. God is not a respecter of persons. And we always quote that verse in terms of how we relate to other people, or other people relating to one another. God shows no partiality. But, let's throw ourselves in the mix. If God doesn't show a partiality, why should we show partiality toward ourself? Why should we put ourselves in a dungeon when God doesn't? There's no need for us to put ourselves in a dungeon when God has forgiven us. Let's make sure we don't show partiality when it comes to the fact that we have sinned, we've made mistakes, but God has forgiven us. And so, if you think God can forgive those people for what they've done, certainly God can forgive us for what we've done. Let's not be partial. Let's realize there's an equal playing field there.

Brethren, forgiving ourselves is not about forgiving. It's about not bringing offense up to yourself in negative ways. It's about letting go. Let those things go. Don't let sin have a hold on you. We're not slaves to sin anymore.

By the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we have been liberated. Philippians 4. Philippians 4.

Verse 9. Philippians 4, verse 9. Paul writes to the church here, one of his most beloved churches, Philippians 4-9, The things which you have learned and received and heard and saw in me these do, and the God of peace will be with you. So Paul says, I've learned over the course of decades in the church, having God working with me, I've learned certain things. And by learning those things, I have peace with God. What has he learned? Verse 8. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there's any virtue and if there's anything praiseworthy, think on those things. Not in how the jack came out of the box yesterday, and that you had to spend too long to get jack back into the box.

That's a step backward. We don't need to be there. We want jack in the box, though we don't need to be laboring and laboring and laboring, thinking about how we messed up. God doesn't want that. That doesn't serve any good purpose.

When it comes to forgiving ourselves, brethren, there's some lessons we need to learn. A lack of personal forgiveness exhausts us. If you can't forgive yourself, you're going to be one exhausted Christian. It takes energy to be hateful. It takes energy to go around angry. Bloodshot eyes, the stomach, veins in your neck. Resentment. All that takes a lot of energy. Negative energy. Regret. All those kinds of things. We don't need that. That's why Paul said whatever things are true and so forth, that's what we meditate on. Satan wants us to be exhausted. He wants us to think on the negative and to live there. We don't want to live there.

Keep that in mind. One last thing, brethren. Please hear this. I've seen this happen too many times.

Hurting people. People who are hurting. Hurt other people. If you're a person who's hurting and you're wallowing in your hurt and you're not allowing God to work with you, you will hurt other people. Hurting people hurt other people. It's a well-known fact that hurting people hurt others.

So please get healing. Get healing from God the Father. Get healing from Jesus Christ. The reality is you can't change some of the things that have happened. You can't change anything in the past. What's past is past. But what you can do is go to God and ask for strength to carry on. You can ask God for the strength and the wisdom to put those things behind your back and to be forgiving.

So today, brother, we took a look at something that's very important for us at Passover season. We've taken a look at Christ's Passover sacrifice and how it makes forgiveness possible. How we forgive God. How we forgive our fellow man. And how we forgive ourselves. I look forward to being with you Thursday evening to conduct the Passover.