Forgiving God’s Children | Matthew 18:21-35

Scripture

• Matthew 18:21–35

About this sermon

Introduction: The process that our Lord sets forth for the correction of God’s children, requires heart-work on both sides of the correction. There is heart-work required for repentance to occur. God uses His church for the protection, the preservation, the perseverance, of His people. Sin is confronted, and then humble repentance is needed. We need for our God to work in our hearts, and in the hearts and our brothers and sisters, if sin is to be confessed and forsaken. ESV Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. But anyone who has lived for long as a Christian knows that heart-work is also needed on the part of the one (or ones) confronting the sin. There is heart-work required for FORGIVENESS to occur. It is not uncommon for a person confronted with sin to admit they’re wrong and to ask for forgiveness, only to meet with skepticism, or with a hard heart. This is especially true when bitterness has developed. It seems clear that Peter understood this. Peter is listening to what our Lord was teaching about the correction of God’s children, and He has a question. There is something on his mind, and what was on HIS MIND, is the same thing that is often ON OUR MINDS. WHAT ARE THE LIMITS TO THIS? Are there limits to forgiveness? What does God truly require of us in this matter? How do we judge the sincerity of a person’s confession? How often do we have to go through something, suffer something, before we can draw a line in the sand and refuse to forgive? THIS IS A QUESTION THAT OFTEN ARISES WHEN THE OFFENCE SUFFERED IS ESPECIALLY PAINFUL. Can we admit that sometimes forgiveness can almost seem scandalous? “Forgive that?” “Forgive THAT PERSON?” Forgiveness can be difficult when it seems to offend our sense of fairness. There is some kind of betrayal. There is an especially painful shattered expectation (I never expected this from you). There is a mistreatment of us on the part of someone to whom we have demonstrated special goodness or proven ourselves faithful toward them. So that our forgiveness of such an offence and such an offender just doesn’t seem right. This sort of thing was on Peter’s mind. And we can be glad that it was because his question allows our Lord to answer OUR QUESTIONS. • A QUESTION RAISED BY THE CORRECTION OF GOD’S CHILDREN (vs.21) Peter has heard the teaching, and a question is on his mind. He approaches Jesus, and the way that he phrases the question is interesting. It is very unusual and very specific. The first part we might expect. The second part is the unusual part. “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” “As many as seven times?” What is going on in Peter’s mind? D.A. Carson — “In rabbinic discussion, the consensus was that a brother might be forgiven a repeated sin three times; on the fourth, there is no forgiveness. Peter, thinking himself bighearted, volunteers “seven times” in answer to his own question—a larger figure often used, among other things, as a “round number” (cf. Lev 26:21; Dt 28:25; Ps 79:12; Pr 24:16; Lk 17:4).” Now, that observation by Carson is instructive in more than one way. It demonstrates how often professing believers in the Word of God, sometimes try to adjust the Word of God to fit their sensibilities. What the rabbis were doing in Christ’s day, people are STILL doing. BE CAREFUL, BECAUSE PEOPLE DO THIS IN PERSONAL WAYS — IN UNOFFICIAL WAYS. We don’t lead some sort of rabbinic school, we just substitute our own sense of what MAKES SENSE TO US instead of what God actually says that ISN’T COMMON SENSE, IT IS DIVINE WISDOM AND REQUIRES DIVINE POWER to be lived out.

Topics

• Forgiveness
• Parenting