WEBVTT

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 Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

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 This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons.

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 We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear

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 the latest message.

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 Thanks for listening.

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 Good morning.

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 Grateful that you guys are here with us at Willow Ridge Church, and grateful for everyone

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 who's joining us online.

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 If you've got your Bibles, going to open them up to Matthew chapter 18.

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 As I was standing there worshiping at the nine o'clock service, we were singing, going through

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 the songs, and we sang that hymn that we sang growing up many, many times for many of us.

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 And there was the line that I want to read and kind of start off with as we dive into the

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 message this morning.

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 One of the verses that we sang, it said this, and the things of earth will go strangely dim

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 in the light of his glory and grace.

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 And it struck me.

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 That's a song that I've sung going back to my childhood more times than I could ever remember.

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 But it's, there's some power in those words that I don't know have ever resonated with me

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 in my heart the way they did this morning.

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 And I think it's because of the topic of what we're going to look at this morning

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 in the parable of the unforgiving servant.

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 And what the truth of this verse, what it is drawing us to is this, that as I fully pursue God

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 in knowing him in a very close, intimate relationship, and as I think of and experience the grace

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 that that relationship gives me and I live in that grace, then the words of the song say

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 the things of the earth will go strangely dim.

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 And there's a couple ways we can look at that.

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 Number one, we either don't notice them anymore, which is not what I think it's talking about,

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 but more so they become foreign to us, that they don't matter to us as much.

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 That as I and as you as followers of Jesus Christ, as we seek to know him more, then there

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 are things about us, the way we view ourselves, the way we view our lives that begin to change,

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 that as we continually experience the grace of God in our life, that there are things in

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 this world that become foreign to us.

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 And as we talk about forgiveness, there's going to be a way that the world defines forgiveness,

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 and there's going to be the way that the Christians define forgiveness.

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 Scripture defines forgiveness.

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 God defines forgiveness.

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 And this parable that we just saw this cute little cartoon about is going to give us some

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 impossible challenges to face when it comes to forgiveness.

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 And so as we dive through this, as we long, what I want us to be able to go ahead and say

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 from the very beginning is this, if the way that I've always thought is going to be the

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 way that I continue to think, then sanctification is going to limit us.

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 That you and I, we have to come to a point within ourselves to say, God, not only change my actions,

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 God, not only change my words, but God, to the very core of, even to the point of the way

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 that I feel, God, change my emotions if I'm going to pursue fully after you.

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 You know, this parable kind of brings up the resonating truth in my life.

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 You've got to practice what you preach.

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 And this week has been a journey, a painful journey of seeing that maybe there's a little

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 bit more disobedience in me than I would like for there to be or admit for there to be.

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 But, but Jesus tells us very clearly, right?

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 Like, if you love me, you'll obey me.

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 And what we're going to draw from this this morning is that forgiveness is a command and

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 a requirement of God.

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 And I didn't do a very good job of this at the first service, but I do want to, I want to

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 start off by saying this, not only have so many of us been forgiven, but there are so

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 many of us in this room that have been victims.

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 And as we talk through some of the stuff that we're going to talk through and think through

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 some of the stuff that you're going to think through, I really hope that where your heart

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 leads you is into the difficult spots and into the difficult places and in the difficult

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 people, that to forgive someone is a hard and painful process to go through, that there are

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 men and women who are sitting in this room who have been abused, taken advantage of, lied

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 to, hurt, assaulted, and kind of go ahead and give you the end of the message, right, of

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 what we're going to drive toward.

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 It's going to be, yep, you still forgive.

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 And that's a very hard, complicated, difficult thing to do, but what we see in this parable

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 is Jesus requires it from us.

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 So let's start reading Matthew 18, starting in verse 21.

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 It says, then Peter came up and said to him, Lord, how often will my brother sin against

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 me and I forgive him?

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 As many as seven times.

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 And Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times, but 77 times.

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 Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with

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 his servants.

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 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents.

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 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children in

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 all that he had in payment to be made.

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 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, have patience with me and I will pay you

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 everything.

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 Out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.

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 But when the same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100

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 denarii.

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 And seizing him, he began to choke him saying, pay what you owe.

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 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, have patience with me and I will

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 pay you.

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 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.

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 When his fellow servant saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed and went

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 and reported to their master all that had taken place.

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 Then his master summoned him and said to him, you wicked servant.

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 I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

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 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you?

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 And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt.

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 So also my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother

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 from your heart.

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 And this is a heavy parable.

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 This is a heavy parable that plays out into a catastrophic consequence in the life of the

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 individual who is rebelling against the king or the master.

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 And it all starts with a question that Peter asks.

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 And if you know who Peter is, he's one of the disciples of Jesus.

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 And I firmly believe that as you had all of these different personalities, a part of this inner

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 circle and relationship with Jesus, that Peter desperately longed for the approval of Jesus.

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 I believe that he deeply, deeply loved him to the point to where, I mean, this is the guy

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 that goes after a trained group of Roman soldiers with a knife in order to defend Jesus.

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 And so I think within his heart is this desire to please Jesus, to prove himself to Jesus, and

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 to be obedient to Jesus.

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 And so he asks a question.

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 How many times, Jesus, do I personally need to forgive someone or have to forgive someone?

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 And then Peter gives his own answer.

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 Now, the video said seven times, 70, the passage that we just read said 70, seven times.

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 Let's just say the answer doesn't matter.

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 What Peter does is he exceeds the culture.

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 So Jewish culture during this time said that if you wronged someone, they were obligated to

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 forgive you three times.

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 So imagine, like, you've got this conflict with someone in your life, and you do something,

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 they have to forgive you.

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 You do it again, they have to forgive you.

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 You do it again, they have to forgive you.

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 The fourth time, you're done.

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 Whatever consequences you face, you face.

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 Whatever happens in the brokenness of that relationship, it's broken.

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 And so Peter comes and is trying to balance through kind of some of this stuff we're talking

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 about, right?

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 Like, what does it mean to follow Jesus in my culture?

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 And so he obviously knows three is not enough.

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 So he comes to Jesus, and he says, well, then how about seven times, right?

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 Like, is that this deep layer of obedience to you?

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 And then Jesus answers him.

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 His first answer, when he gives the number, helps us understand this, that forgiveness is

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 never given a number.

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 That's the point that Jesus is making.

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 Forgiveness is a continual journey that we walk on as we forgive others.

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 Because whether it's 490 or 77 times, who in here is counting the whole time, right?

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 So that's the point that Jesus is making.

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 It's the point that we're going to see and understand through the gospel.

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 But then the point of the parable is going to be this from Jesus, that forgiveness should

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 come from the heart of the individual who's been forgiven.

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 Now, the servant did nothing wrong or illegal to the other servant.

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 He did what the law required.

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 He did what society expected.

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 But Jesus is going to drive home this point that if you've been forgiven, then you should

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 forgive.

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 And all of us as followers of Jesus Christ, what is rooted in the doctrine of Christianity,

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 that we stand with hope and we proclaim.

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 And God hears your prayers and he hears my prayers and our praises rise up to him and they're pleasurable

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 to him.

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 Why?

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 Because we've been forgiven.

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 Like it all based in that.

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 So for us sitting here in this room should be a group of people that forgive.

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 So the king, at the very beginning, the servant comes to him.

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 King calls.

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 He's going to call his accounts in order.

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 And there's one servant that owes him a lot that we focus in on.

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 Now, the sum of money that is owed in today's currency would be a little bit over $1 billion.

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 Now, I don't know if you've ever gotten a letter from the IRS, right?

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 Typically, they're not good.

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 They always make you a little sick when you get one in the mail, right?

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 A handful of times I've gotten one and it's always that we found an error, you owe us this

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 much more money.

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 And it's like, oh no, here we go again, right?

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 But imagine you get something in the mail today.

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 And it's that you owe, through something you did, $1 billion.

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 There's no repaying that.

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 There's no coming back from that.

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 The life you live, the life I live, it is over.

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 And so the servant, he looks at the master knowing that he can't repay it.

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 And he says, have mercy on me and I will repay you.

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 And here's what the king knows, he can't repay him or else he wouldn't be a servant.

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 And so the king looks at this man who in desperation is appealing before him and he knows that he

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 can never repay.

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 And so instead of attempting to have him do something which could never be done, that he could never

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 fulfill, he cancels it and he forgives him.

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 And this is the gospel.

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 This part that happened right here at the very beginning of the parable is what happened when

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 you and I came before him with every sin, past, present, and future.

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 That was more than we could ever forgive, more than we could ever go back on, more than we could ever repay.

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 And God, through the blood of Jesus Christ, made the record clean.

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 And it's the beauty of the hope of the gospel that we find.

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 So that we're not going and trying to figure out how to get everything back and right standing.

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 God says, you can't.

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 So I will through Jesus.

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 So this guy should be leaving pumped and excited.

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 One billion dollars wiped out, completely clean, set to live a new life, moving on forward.

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 And then as he's traveling, there's another servant that passes by him.

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 And he owes him some money.

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 So he goes and he confronts him.

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 Now, he just owed a billion and it's gone.

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 And the servant owes him $5,000.

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 Now, let's be honest.

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 $5,000 is a lot of money.

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 I don't know anybody that's getting offered $5,000 and is going, no, thank you.

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 Right?

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 I don't need that.

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 No, no, no, yes, please.

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 I'll take that very, very happily.

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 Right?

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 So there's a, we don't want to minimize what's gone on.

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 There's been an offense that's there.

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 But he's been experienced so much more than was there.

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 So you would think, well, he's been forgiven.

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 And so what's owed to him is a fraction.

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 So he'll forgive that.

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 But the scripture tells us, no, that he begins to choke him.

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 He wraps his hands around his neck.

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 And I got this picture of this this morning as I was reading through.

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 So just imagine he's holding him down and his hands are around this man's neck.

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 And he's squeezing as tight as he can because he's so angry that $5,000 is owed to him,

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 even though $1,000,000,000 has been forgiven.

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 And he's squeezing, he's squeezing, he's squeezing.

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 And the guy's begging for his life.

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 Begging for his life.

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 And he says, no, you're going to go to prison because I'm going to get what's mine.

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 I'm going to get what should come back to me.

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 And people hear about it.

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 People see it.

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 They start talking about it.

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 And some of them report back to the king what happened.

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 And so the king calls him back in.

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 And the king's livid.

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 And he has the wicked servant punished.

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 Scripture tells us until he can pay back the debt.

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 But the word that's used there implies that the king knows he'll never be able to pay it back.

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 Jesus says, we, as those who've been extended mercy, even though we don't deserve it,

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 should change us at our core, that we extend others' mercy,

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 even though we feel like they don't deserve it.

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 So, go forgive people.

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 You know, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

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 But this has been done to me.

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 Well, go forgive people.

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 Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

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 I don't know that I can do that.

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 But go do it.

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 And here's the question that I began to ask myself this week.

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 I want to begin to battle within my own life, in my own walk, in my own journey,

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 in my own relationships with people, as I desperately want to know God and please Him.

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 Why is forgiveness so hard?

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 And I think it's because of what we talked about at the very beginning.

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 That you and I, the church, has bought into the lie of forgiveness.

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 And we've established the lie of forgiveness of the truth of our life

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 instead of the truths about forgiveness.

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 So, quickly, I want to share with you guys four lies and four truths about forgiveness.

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 Lie number one is this, the lie that we've bought into.

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 Forgiveness hurts me and helps them.

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 We oftentimes live in the false reality that forgiving someone benefits the offender

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 and not the forgiver.

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 Like that they're good and we have to continue to suffer.

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 Through this.

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 It's the heart of Peter's question.

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 When they've sinned against me, God, how many times do I have to get hurt and get hurt and get hurt again?

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 The law tells me three, I'm going to say seven, am I good after that?

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 And Jesus says, not continually.

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 Over and over and over again.

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 And the lie is this, that if I forgive someone, that it is going to hurt me and is going to help them.

00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:21.100
 As believers, when we forgive others, what happens is this.

00:18:21.220 --> 00:18:28.820
 We break the tension between us and them, but we allow the tension to exist between them and God.

00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:40.380
 That as we extend forgiveness, what we leave them with is the opportunity to wrestle with what they've done before the Lord.

00:18:40.380 --> 00:18:45.720
 Because the truth is this, forgiveness brings healing.

00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:56.680
 When we forgive, we empower ourselves to release what holds us back.

00:18:57.160 --> 00:18:58.780
 Think about the last time you were angry.

00:19:00.340 --> 00:19:01.680
 Were you in a good spot?

00:19:03.560 --> 00:19:04.640
 Emotionally, were you good?

00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:07.340
 Spiritually, were you good?

00:19:08.820 --> 00:19:09.960
 Physically, were you okay?

00:19:11.120 --> 00:19:11.560
 No.

00:19:12.520 --> 00:19:18.860
 Because what anger begins to do is it becomes to drain and drain and drain.

00:19:19.900 --> 00:19:26.400
 You know, the truth is, just as the debt that you and I owe Jesus could not be paid back on our merit, on our behalf,

00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:32.680
 so too those who have hurt you, they cannot take it back, they cannot make up for it,

00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:36.800
 they cannot repay it, their debt to you cannot be paid.

00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:46.460
 And so the only action that will bring an end to the internal battle which you face in this is forgiveness.

00:19:47.620 --> 00:19:53.020
 Not restitution, we'll talk about that in a little bit, but in forgiveness.

00:19:54.480 --> 00:20:01.240
 You see, the truth is that when you forgive, you set yourself free.

00:20:01.800 --> 00:20:04.220
 The second lie that we believe is this.

00:20:05.300 --> 00:20:06.760
 Forgiveness is easy.

00:20:07.780 --> 00:20:09.160
 That's a lie that we believe.

00:20:09.900 --> 00:20:13.660
 It might not be what we impart on ourselves, but it's what we impart on each other.

00:20:13.880 --> 00:20:17.900
 I don't know how many times I've heard the phrase given to me in advice,

00:20:18.320 --> 00:20:21.580
 you just need to forgive and move on, right?

00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:22.300
 You ever heard that?

00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:24.220
 You ever tried to do that?

00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:26.980
 It's complicated.

00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:28.340
 It's hard.

00:20:28.340 --> 00:20:28.940
 It's hard.

00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:33.560
 It's hard to just forgive and to move on.

00:20:34.100 --> 00:20:35.380
 Now, here's what I would argue.

00:20:36.200 --> 00:20:43.060
 That within your ability and my ability in and of ourselves, true forgiveness is impossible.

00:20:44.060 --> 00:20:51.160
 That in our depravity and in our sin and in our human nature, you and I cannot do it.

00:20:51.780 --> 00:20:54.020
 But Jesus calls us to it.

00:20:54.800 --> 00:20:58.720
 And so the truth of forgiveness is this, that forgiveness is a work of God.

00:20:59.820 --> 00:21:01.280
 Forgiveness is a work of God.

00:21:01.560 --> 00:21:08.160
 When true forgiveness takes place in your life and mine, the anger's not buried, it's gone.

00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:16.580
 And forgiveness takes place when God removes the anger from our hearts.

00:21:17.160 --> 00:21:25.080
 So many times, we think the process of forgiveness begins and ends with two people sitting down trying to work through their difficulties.

00:21:25.380 --> 00:21:26.560
 But here's what I want to tell you.

00:21:27.120 --> 00:21:35.100
 True forgiveness begins when the person who has been hurt falls on their knees before God and begs God to do something.

00:21:36.620 --> 00:21:39.240
 It's the work that God does.

00:21:41.540 --> 00:21:42.880
 You understand this.

00:21:43.800 --> 00:21:53.120
 In your journey of being hurt, in your journey of being taken advantage of, in your journey of being abused, they cannot repay you.

00:21:54.420 --> 00:21:59.380
 Only Jesus can restore what was taken from you.

00:22:00.860 --> 00:22:02.080
 And that's what we begin to see.

00:22:02.820 --> 00:22:09.300
 The third lie that we believe is this, that forgiveness victimizes me again.

00:22:10.020 --> 00:22:20.400
 That when I forgive someone, I'm just simply allowing them to hurt me again and again and again.

00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:23.640
 And now, I'm doing this to myself.

00:22:24.900 --> 00:22:27.760
 But forgiving others does not turn you into a doormat.

00:22:28.780 --> 00:22:31.140
 Forgiving others does not take your voice away.

00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:34.400
 Forgiving others does not make you weak.

00:22:34.900 --> 00:22:43.560
 For when you forgive an offense, you're not giving the offender the right to abuse you again and again and again.

00:22:44.040 --> 00:22:52.160
 And also, as we think through these in our lives, forgiving others does not remove protective boundaries that you've placed in your life.

00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:54.400
 Yes, there are people who have hurt me.

00:22:55.040 --> 00:23:01.380
 Yes, there are people who, if they were in my life in the way they were before, they would hurt me again and again and again.

00:23:01.380 --> 00:23:08.320
 Forgiving them does not welcome them back into my life without the boundaries to protect me.

00:23:08.580 --> 00:23:16.000
 But forgiving them does say, I can release from my heart what you've done and allow you to have this between you and the Lord.

00:23:17.040 --> 00:23:23.740
 Forgiveness does not victimize me again because the truth is forgiveness does not mean reconciliation.

00:23:24.540 --> 00:23:27.660
 It's so important for us to understand.

00:23:28.360 --> 00:23:30.120
 Forgiveness is not reconciliation.

00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:35.180
 We hope that reconciliation comes, but forgiveness is not reconciliation.

00:23:35.740 --> 00:23:36.720
 So what's the difference?

00:23:37.060 --> 00:23:43.440
 In order for reconciliation to take place, there must be mutual trust that's there.

00:23:43.660 --> 00:23:44.720
 That's not forgiveness.

00:23:46.100 --> 00:23:47.340
 That's not forgiveness.

00:23:48.380 --> 00:23:54.440
 The other person needs to change in order to be reconciled.

00:23:55.280 --> 00:23:59.200
 The other person does not need to change in order for you to forgive.

00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:06.740
 The other person doesn't have to change for you and I to acknowledge that they no longer have control of our life.

00:24:07.580 --> 00:24:17.560
 Reconciliation does not have to happen in order for you and I to realize that within us, they do not control my mind, my thoughts, my physical activity,

00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:22.620
 that I have been set free from this to walk in the fullness of my relationship with Christ.

00:24:24.300 --> 00:24:26.320
 That's what forgiveness begins to look like.

00:24:27.320 --> 00:24:32.600
 Because the last lie is forgiveness is condoning.

00:24:33.780 --> 00:24:35.060
 Forgiveness is condoning.

00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:37.060
 Understand this.

00:24:38.380 --> 00:24:44.040
 When the man first appeared before the king, the king never said it was okay that what he did.

00:24:45.420 --> 00:24:50.840
 The king never looked at the crowd around him and said, ah, you guys just forget about it.

00:24:51.740 --> 00:24:53.360
 It's not a big deal.

00:24:54.300 --> 00:24:59.520
 In fact, go get him even more so that we can give even more to you.

00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:02.220
 You see, that's what we think forgiveness is.

00:25:03.300 --> 00:25:05.640
 We think forgiveness is living free of consequences.

00:25:06.280 --> 00:25:08.360
 We think forgiveness is allowing them back in.

00:25:08.560 --> 00:25:12.200
 We think forgiveness is giving over and over and over again.

00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:16.320
 The king in the very beginning in that moment said, no, no, no.

00:25:16.420 --> 00:25:22.980
 We have to deal with this and in my grace and in my mercy, here's how we're going to deal with it.

00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:29.220
 I'm going to make the accounting problem go away even though it negatively affects me.

00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:30.580
 Strike it clean.

00:25:30.760 --> 00:25:33.140
 But you know this is what was done.

00:25:33.380 --> 00:25:37.900
 He never wants the king condones what was done to him.

00:25:38.840 --> 00:25:45.520
 And the hard part, I think, for so many of us to pursue after is a truth that comes with forgiveness.

00:25:46.100 --> 00:25:48.480
 Is that forgiveness is confronting.

00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.160
 Forgiveness is dealing.

00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:58.020
 Forgiveness is working in the situation and not pretending that it's not there.

00:25:58.380 --> 00:26:00.520
 That's what forgiveness is.

00:26:00.700 --> 00:26:06.380
 In both instances, the king calls him back before him.

00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:12.680
 And so Jesus calls us to forgive, but he calls to confront.

00:26:13.600 --> 00:26:19.620
 And then that confronting is where the growth happens and where the growth takes place.

00:26:20.760 --> 00:26:21.820
 And here's the deal.

00:26:22.600 --> 00:26:23.780
 I know it's hard.

00:26:25.060 --> 00:26:26.320
 I know it's painful.

00:26:26.320 --> 00:26:29.300
 I know it makes us vulnerable.

00:26:32.280 --> 00:26:44.960
 But Jesus says that all of us who are known by him and who are called by his name have been forgiven beyond a billion.

00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:56.980
 And what's been done to us in the light of his glory and grace is minuscule in the gospel.

00:26:58.660 --> 00:27:00.940
 Several years ago, I was at a conference.

00:27:02.400 --> 00:27:05.200
 There's a guy named Francis Chan who was there, and I'll never forget this.

00:27:06.540 --> 00:27:10.520
 And he was talking about what we have rights as.

00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:20.480
 And as American citizen, and we should in the country that we live, we think about our rights a lot.

00:27:21.380 --> 00:27:25.700
 What we can do, what is owed to us, the standing in which I have.

00:27:26.520 --> 00:27:36.920
 And gathered in that auditorium was close to 80,000 people, and they were from all countries all over the world that were gathered in there for this conference.

00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:48.680
 And Francis Chan said, look, he said, if we're going to understand that we live out the truth, right, that the things of the earth will go strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace,

00:27:48.980 --> 00:27:51.940
 then here's the rights that we have.

00:27:53.340 --> 00:28:01.340
 Here's the standing that we have as we are sojourners on this earth, that this earth is not our home, but our home and our eternity is set with him.

00:28:01.480 --> 00:28:04.500
 He said, two things that can never be taken away from us.

00:28:05.180 --> 00:28:07.080
 So there's only two that the Bible guarantees.

00:28:07.780 --> 00:28:12.640
 Number one is no one can take away from you the fact that you're a child of God.

00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:15.160
 You can't even remove it from yourself.

00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:24.420
 You and I, the blood of Jesus, seals us in relationship with him, and no one can take that away from us.

00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.700
 Set and sealed, praise God for all of eternity.

00:28:28.700 --> 00:28:29.680
 He said, that's right number one.

00:28:31.240 --> 00:28:32.940
 And he said, right number two is this.

00:28:34.360 --> 00:28:37.360
 You have the right to suffer for the glory of God on this earth.

00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:39.580
 So go and do it well.

00:28:41.900 --> 00:28:42.780
 Just struck.

00:28:44.920 --> 00:28:48.760
 And when I take that, and I look at it in the light of forgiveness,

00:28:50.260 --> 00:28:55.640
 and I think of the people that I had to think through this week.

00:28:58.420 --> 00:29:02.140
 People who have done things to me, who have done things to my wife, who have done things to my kids.

00:29:03.740 --> 00:29:06.820
 People who have sought to attack and to abuse.

00:29:08.600 --> 00:29:10.200
 And I look at what they've done to me.

00:29:15.040 --> 00:29:16.500
 And then I look at what I've done to Jesus.

00:29:19.700 --> 00:29:30.040
 And Jesus' words on the cross, as he hung there, bleeding and naked, as those who tortured him.

00:29:31.320 --> 00:29:32.160
 Jesus' words.

00:29:33.560 --> 00:29:35.260
 Father, forgive them.

00:29:35.980 --> 00:29:37.900
 They know not what they do.

00:29:38.600 --> 00:29:40.340
 And that's forgiveness.

00:29:43.300 --> 00:29:46.980
 For so many of us, you've got the 5,000.

00:29:48.700 --> 00:29:50.000
 And it's holding you back.

00:29:51.060 --> 00:29:52.500
 And it's time to let it go.

00:29:53.520 --> 00:29:55.160
 Because you've been forgiven for the billion.

00:29:56.320 --> 00:29:57.120
 Would you pray with me?

00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:08.940
 God, we thank you so much for who you are, for what you've done, for your love for us.

00:30:11.380 --> 00:30:17.020
 Lord, we thank you of your forgiveness and your grace that you give us.

00:30:19.020 --> 00:30:20.880
 We thank you that it comes freely.

00:30:22.020 --> 00:30:23.520
 Not because we obtained it.

00:30:23.640 --> 00:30:24.780
 Not because we earned it.

00:30:26.120 --> 00:30:27.400
 But that you gave it.

00:30:28.620 --> 00:30:34.740
 Lord, even before we were created, you made a way for our sin, for who we are.

00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:39.700
 So that, Lord, even before we mumbled the words, I'm sorry, I repent.

00:30:40.080 --> 00:30:41.460
 Lord, I'm desperate for you.

00:30:41.460 --> 00:30:48.380
 You had made the way for us through the power of the resurrection, through the work of the cross.

00:30:50.620 --> 00:30:56.480
 Jesus, I pray for all of us that are gathered here in this place, where we're online,

00:30:58.220 --> 00:31:03.420
 or that where this conversation really begins is not who do you go from here and forgive,

00:31:04.140 --> 00:31:08.220
 but the conversation begins with, do you know that you've been forgiven?

00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:12.380
 It's just a question that I ask for everyone.

00:31:13.760 --> 00:31:17.280
 Do you, have you received the forgiveness of Jesus Christ?

00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:20.860
 Have you received what he's given you?

00:31:21.960 --> 00:31:26.560
 Because one day we'll be like the servant that's been called before the king,

00:31:27.240 --> 00:31:29.080
 and we've got to make right the account.

00:31:30.180 --> 00:31:32.880
 And we're incapable of making it right.

00:31:34.140 --> 00:31:42.120
 And the only way that the debt has been paid is through the work of Christ.

00:31:45.060 --> 00:31:54.440
 And so do we begin with, have you received, have you accepted the forgiveness of Christ for the sins of your heart?

00:32:01.300 --> 00:32:02.820
 Every head bowed, every eye closed.

00:32:02.900 --> 00:32:03.960
 I want to ask a question.

00:32:06.760 --> 00:32:07.580
 It's just me.

00:32:08.500 --> 00:32:12.020
 If you're here in the auditorium, don't worry, nobody can see you on camera.

00:32:13.780 --> 00:32:15.740
 If you're at home, we can't see you either.

00:32:17.820 --> 00:32:21.220
 I know this week I've had to work through, I'm still working through,

00:32:21.360 --> 00:32:23.360
 some people that I need to forgive in my life.

00:32:25.060 --> 00:32:31.940
 And I recognize that it's hard, it's difficult, and that I desperately need Jesus.

00:32:34.740 --> 00:32:43.920
 So here's what I want to do before the band starts playing, I want to be able to pray for you if that's where you find yourself this morning.

00:32:44.740 --> 00:32:52.260
 If you know someone in your life, maybe from five minutes ago or from 50 years ago, and they've hurt you,

00:32:53.460 --> 00:33:00.440
 and you can't live in that forgiveness, you know you need to forgive them and you just can't do it.

00:33:01.180 --> 00:33:07.340
 Would you be bold enough in your faith, confident enough in your standing in Christ, just to raise your hand?

00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:11.540
 Just leave them up there for a second if you don't mind.

00:33:19.320 --> 00:33:20.520
 I want to pray for you guys.

00:33:22.740 --> 00:33:23.700
 God, I thank you.

00:33:25.520 --> 00:33:30.640
 The people who are acknowledging the struggle that they have,

00:33:31.980 --> 00:33:38.320
 where they recognize within themselves that this is not something they can do through their own work or their own power,

00:33:38.500 --> 00:33:44.920
 but they desperately need you through the working of your Holy Spirit in their life to help them,

00:33:45.180 --> 00:33:48.120
 to enable them, to empower them to get to forgive.

00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:55.720
 So Lord, in your kindness and your graciousness,

00:33:57.080 --> 00:34:00.560
 Lord, as they seek to obey you and to pursue you,

00:34:00.800 --> 00:34:02.820
 Lord, I pray that this heart of forgiveness,

00:34:03.040 --> 00:34:08.380
 that this seed that is planted in their hearts will begin to manifest and grow and blossom,

00:34:08.500 --> 00:34:10.880
 into something absolutely wonderful and beautiful.

00:34:12.560 --> 00:34:18.920
 Whereas those that have been forgiven by a billion can understand what it means to forgive those by a thousand.

00:34:19.260 --> 00:34:23.080
 Lord, and as we walk out of here in the newness of life,

00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:26.800
 that the earth, it does grow dim in light,

00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:29.720
 in light of your glory and grace.

00:34:31.180 --> 00:34:33.980
 So Lord, they have no more hold on us.

00:34:35.100 --> 00:34:36.980
 The chains have been set free.

00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:40.460
 The anger, the bitterness is gone.

00:34:42.240 --> 00:34:43.760
 And Lord, it's just you.

00:34:45.100 --> 00:34:45.900
 It's just you.

00:34:47.300 --> 00:34:48.700
 So Lord, teach us how to forgive.

00:34:49.660 --> 00:34:50.760
 Teach us how to love.

00:34:51.240 --> 00:34:54.580
 And may it come out of a heart that has been forgiven.

00:34:55.520 --> 00:34:56.780
 Jesus, we praise you.

00:34:57.200 --> 00:34:58.200
 We love you.

00:34:58.800 --> 00:34:59.680
 In your name we pray.

00:35:00.100 --> 00:35:00.360
 Amen.

00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:20.520
 Thanks again for listening to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

00:35:21.180 --> 00:35:23.340
 We hope that you enjoyed listening to this week's message.

00:35:23.940 --> 00:35:27.380
 If you'd like to learn more about who we are or explore additional resources,

00:35:27.940 --> 00:35:32.400
 visit us online at www.willowridgechurch.com

00:35:32.400 --> 00:35:35.940
 or by searching for Willow Ridge Church on Facebook and Instagram.

00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:47.360
 Transcription by CastingWords