Matthew 18 - How to Forgive

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul had problems
Many people think that the Apostle Paul was this divine saint
The Apostles had problems with sin and distractions just like you, and I have
Castaway
Joseph had an encounter with Mrs. Potiphar
He ran away and probably without clothes on but was willing to suffer that shame vs. shame
with Potiphar
Many people understand the undoing, and they run
Don’t give the devil your card and say I will flee youthful lest but call me after 5 pm
Certain TV shows and channels don’t even go there
Certain magazines or internet channels don’t even go there
Certain people and what they like to do and where they like to go, don’t even go there
Matthew 18:7-9
What Matthew 18 is and is not
The context is not
how to be forgiven
but how to forgive.
Matthew 18:10
Hebrews says that angels are ministering spirits that come to assist us.
Jesus doesn’t say much about angels, but He also does not dismiss them
Matthew 18:11-13
One sheep is lost
Gone Astray
Sheep are proven not to have high mental acumen
Their elevator doesn’t always go to the top
Asinine, goofy, half-baked, peabrain, moron, blockheaded, unintelligent, foolish, STUPID
The emphasis that Jesus is making is not on the sheep being lost and why as much
It is about the shepherd and his responsibility to recover the sheep
ILLUS: Flock of Sheep…..A business is not afraid to lose 1%.
This story is about the employee losing 1% or stealing or giving it away. A shepherd was
responsible for every sheep for the chief shepherd or owner of the flock. He would have to pay
for every sheep he lost or that was killed
Cast Away vs. Gone Astray
I want you to think how valuable you are to God.
That is hard for some people
I talked to people all the time that knows that God loves everybody
They just say that He doesn’t really love and care for me
God is concerned that 1 little sheep might be lost!
That 1 little sheep is missing, that 1 little sheep is sick, that 1 little sheep died, that 1 little
sheep is hurting
Next time you think I am really nothing and God doesn’t care about me, remember this lesson1
Do not belittle
what God values
HOW dare you even think that about depreciating what God values!!!!
He is saying I will go after some dumb sheep and bring it back.
God died for you and cares for you waaaaay more
Matthew 18:14
The Solution:
The Shepherd would become a
sheep to find us and
restore us to God
Matthew 18:15-18
What do you do if you have been offended? You have been abused. You have been judged
wrong?
Most people, instead of really fixing it, say, “I will just deal with it, I’ll just let it go….no – u want
Because they will either harbor bitterness, or they will gossip about it to everyone.
There is a process to get forgiveness, and many people miss the 3 steps to forgiveness.
When a believer offends another believer
STEP 1:
Go Privately
You don’t go anywhere else. The way to get to God is to go through your brother
You don’t go to them to vent and make them squirm
It is not to go and hurt them but to win the brother or the sister
it is to get back on brother and sister terms, not to drive you further apart
Reconciliation
If they say…you’re crazy, I hate you, I will not ever speak to you again, I do not forgive you, you
don’t forgive me
When a believer offends another believer
Step 2:
2 or 3 witness
You go as a group
Deuteronomy 19:15-21
When you are connected to a body of believers, a church, you never take a brother to the law
When a believer offends another believer
Step 3:
Take it before the church
Third step is not always before everyone that is in the church. But the decision makers of the
church not necessary the leadership but the ones in good standing.
I Corinthians 5:1-5 until they change you treat them like a unbeliever because that is how they
have chosen to act.
An unbeliever that you want to be saved.
When a believer offends another believer
Step 4:
Treat them like an unbeliever
The key to this process is restore and show the seriousness of SIN in the camp.
You only have to take the steps when they don’t want to repent not because of the sin.
Matthew 18:18 God stands behind the decision both bound and loosed
It does not make the leadership the gospel police or the members the gospel salvation
Matthew 18:19 the Jews say you have to have 10 (number of judgement) but Jesus says 3 is
chuch size
You may say “why not just let it go..??? No cause you want so do this:
– The one sinned against forgives in their heart.
– Go and confront them about the issue
– Then tell them you are forgiven.
Matthew 18:21 “then peter”
490 times if they do it that many times you will lose count…491 �
Matthew 18:23 living bible 10 million dollars
:26 pay all, really?? nope but its forgiven
God paid a dept for you that He did not owe.
We cant be like the unbeliever that does not reflect forgiveness since we have been forgiven.