By Request - Anger & Forgiveness - Living Grace Fellowship

Wednesday 04/20/16

Series: By Request

Message – Anger & Forgiveness

All unforgiveness is sin but not all anger is…

Eph 4:26-27,

“(26) Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, (27) and don’t give the Devil an opportunity.”

Q. What is the root of unforgiveness?

A. A distorted sense of injustice

Q. What is the root of anger?

A. Self (self protection, self awareness, pride…etc.)

Let’s read Mat 18:15-35…but before we do let me give you some background on what preceeds verse 15 in this chapter

Veres 1-14 deal with…

The simplicity of children (literally or figuratively).

Children do not typically hold on to anger or unforgiveness. In fact, most children will automatically seek to mend fences – assume they were in the wrong and seek to make things better or simply let it go and move on.

It tells us that offenses that cause people to walk away from their stedfastness in Christ and follow after sin will undoubtedly happen but WOE to those who lead or encourage them in that direction.

Then it tells us if something within you causes you to sin – remove it from you even if it is an appendage.

Then it tells us not to look down on, hold in contempt or despise other Christians who appear to be of low degree or of less nobility or spiritual stature than yourself. For Jesus Himself will seek out the 1 that strays and rejoice more over that one than over all the ones who did not stray.

THEN He tells us addresses US collectively as the one who gets wronged…

“(15) If your brother “offends or wrongs” you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. (16) But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. (17) If he pays no attention to them, tell the church. But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you. (18) I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven. (19) Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. (20) For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”

Sin is the miss the mark of the Torah – the character of God, so all sin is actually against God NOT man. You can suffer a wrong – be the object hurt in an act of sin, but the mark missed is NOT yours but Gods.

Rom 12:16-21,

“(16) Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. (17) Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. (18) If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. (19) Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord. (20) Therefore “IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM; IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON HIS HEAD.” (21) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

What is it in you that makes it hard to let go of a perceived wrong?

Protective of self – Don’t want to be wronged.
Self-justice – Want them to know and acknowledge what they did to me was wrong.
Self-vengeance – want them to experience what they did to me and make them sorry for it.
Saving face – what to humiliate them in front of others to make them feel the scorn you felt.
Self-righteous – Can’t let go until I know they are truly sorry for their actions.

Which one of these is not IN ITSELF a sin against God?

What in that list cannot be answered in your inter-personal relationship with God alone?

Letting go and trusting God

(21) Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how many times could my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” (22) “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus said to him, “but 70 times seven. (23) For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. (24) When he began to settle accounts, one who owed 10,000 talents was brought before him. (25) Since he had no way to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. (26) “At this, the slave fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ (27) Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan. (28) “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’ (29) “At this, his fellow slave fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ (30) But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed. (31) When the other slaves saw what had taken place, they were deeply distressed and went and reported to their master everything that had happened. (32) “Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. (33) Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ (34) And his master got angry and handed him over to the jailers until he could pay everything that was owed. (35) So My heavenly Father will also do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart.”

So how does God view offenses and forgiveness?

1Peter 4:19,

“(19) Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”

We closed with an old song from an awesome group called White Heart. The song is called Seventy times Seven…

This is where we ended our discussions on chapter 6 , The Speaking Voice of A.W. Tozer’s book, The Pursuit of God. We will be continuing on in this chapter next Wednesday…Blessings!

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.

If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but all outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.

Blessings!

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!