Study the Word

Guest (Male): With the goal God has in mind for you, here's pastor Tom Keller.

Guest (Male): May I challenge you with something? Bearing with one another, accepting one another, putting up with one another, tolerating one another is not a small side issue to God. It is in fact the end goal of your spiritual journey. And the Bible says it is what marks you as mature in faith. It is in fact the culmination of your spiritual journey. It is the mark, the mark of your spiritual maturity. It's surprising for some to discover that loving one another is God's goal for our lives. What also may surprise some is that forgiveness is the key to this, but it is.

As we'll hear on today's study the word with pastor Tom Keller. Well we've been making our way through Colossians and have come to chapter three where we learn about our call to love and forgiveness. Here now to take us through this life-changing passage is pastor Tom.

Pastor Thom Keller: Today's lesson is on forgiveness. Harold and Miriam were firm believers in the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. After only 10 years of marriage they already had eight children. But when Harold was forced to move because of his job, he was having a very hard time finding an apartment where the landlord would be willing to rent to such a big family. And being a God-fearing man, he wasn't willing to lie about it in order to secure an apartment. Finally after being turned down one too many times, Harold had an idea. He said to his wife Miriam, Miriam, take six of our eight children out to the cemetery while I go to see the apartment.

Later that day when checking out the apartment, the landlord asked him, so how many children do you have? I have eight children, Harold truthfully replied, but six of them are with their mother in the cemetery. That's a little deceptive, isn't it? It's like my doctor said, you have to cut down to one cup of coffee a day. I said, doc, that is no problem. Deceptive, deceptive. And today's lesson we see that Satan has deceived many of us maybe into thinking that we can ignore the consequences of not forgiving others, but we can't. So let's take a look.

Colossians 3:13. Make allowance for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Read that again. Make allowance for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Note that there are two distinct points that Paul makes in verse 13. Number one, make allowance for each other's faults. And secondly, forgive one another. Looking at Paul's first point, make allowances for each other's faults. ESV says bear with one another. Holman Bible says accept one another. CEV says put up with each other.

ISV says be tolerant of one another. All of those words suggest the thought of putting up with things we dislike that we find in others. Those traits or actions that are irritants to us. So how do you do on that score? In other words, how well do you do tolerate with intolerating and putting up with those who irritate you? I looked up synonyms for those who irritate others and the name you're thinking that isn't in there. The synonyms are, listen, creep, loudmouth, know-it-all, vermin. That's pretty strong. Does anybody come to mind? Don't say it. Don't say it.

And probably equally important, are you coming into the mind of anyone else right now? So may I challenge you with something? Bearing with one another, accepting one another, putting up with one another, tolerating one another is not a small side issue to God. No. It is in fact the end goal of your spiritual journey. And the Bible says it is what marks you as mature in faith. It is in fact the culmination of your spiritual journey. It is the mark, the mark of your spiritual maturity. Can I prove that? I think I can. Second Peter chapter 1 verse 3 says by his divine power God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

We received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And Paul says that as we get to know God better and better, he will give us everything we need to live a godly life. And then in verse five he begins to list the progressive order of those marks. Says in view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence and moral excellence with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control with patient endurance and patient endurance with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

So these are the steps to spiritual maturity. And note that they are progressive, meaning that God determines your spiritual maturity based upon where you are currently on these steps. So here they are in order. Listen. Number one, a life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better, which leads to self-control, which leads to patient endurance, which leads to godliness, which leads to love for other Christians, which leads to verse seven which says finally, finally, the final step, the clear and final mark of a fully developed Christian is verse seven. And finally you will grow to have genuine love for some people, for most people, for people like you.

No. Finally you will grow to have genuine love for all people, all people. Listen, do you want your life to count for Christ? Do you want to know Jesus better and better? Do you want to become all that God has in mind for you to become all that he knows you can become? This is how. Listen again to verse five through eight in particular verse eight. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God 's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence and moral excellence with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control with patient endurance and patient endurance with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you put the old man to death and allow Christ to live in you instead of you, that is known as the exchanged life. We've talked about this before. Christ living in you instead of you. And the exchanged life is a spirit-controlled life. And the spirit-controlled life is a spontaneous life. It's spontaneous be because the Christ who now lives in you automatically, spontaneously, without any reservation or force compulsion by his very nature loves others, all others, all others.

Watchman Nee says this, quote, it is this spontaneous life that represents what should be the normal Christian life. It manifests itself in love for the unlovely, for the brother who in natural grounds you would not like and certainly could not love. It works on the basis of what the Lord sees in the possibility of that brother. You pray something like this, Lord, you see that he is lovable and you love him. So love him now you through me. So when you read the first half of verse 13 in the future, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, New Living Translation says it this way, make allowance for each other's faults.

When you read that, when you read that, remember this goes way beyond forgiving. Here God calls us to have an attitude of acceptance for all people, believing in them, believing in them to become all that God knows they can become. I put this clip in my Bible 30 years ago and I refer to it from time to time cuz it's so profound. Just listen to what this says. A good disciple maker understands the importance of anticipation. A good photographer can project how a picture will turn out before he ever snaps the shutter. Based on his experience with film speed, lighting, type of lens and a multitude of other factors, he can see the final picture before he actually takes it.

God sees us in the same way. When he looks at us, he sees what God sees can be. He sees us completed in Christ. Bob Foster says, quote, Jesus called the 12 disciples not so much for what they were, but for what he knew they could become. In the same way, we should begin to see others not for what they are currently, but for what they are yet to be. It was said that Michelangelo could see a statue in a block of marble. Each of us is a sculptor that God has entrusted with various pieces of marble with other people.

Some are larger than others, some are rough and outwardly disfigured. But they all await the refinement of God's chisel. All are masterpieces yearning to be unleashed. But the disciple maker, as disciple makers, we need to reflect back to those we help what we see them becoming. Goethe observed the power of this principle when he said, quote, treat a man as he appears to be and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, which is what God does for us, doesn't he? That's what God does for us.

But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be and you help make him what he should be. People can intuitively sense whether we really believe in them or not. He ends by saying this, the people in our lives whom we have loved and have been influenced by were people who could anticipate the potential we had in becoming. He ends by saying the best teachers and parents do this instinctively. We anticipate. I like weird people, the black sheep, the odd ducks, the rejects, the eccentrics, the loners, the lost and the forgotten.

More often than not these people have the most beautiful souls. Have you discovered that? That's so true. Additionally verse 13 says that we are to forgive when we are wronged. Make allowance for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. It says New King James, bearing with one another, forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so also so you also must do. Even as Christ forgave you, even as Christ forgave you, so you must also forgive. And forgiveness is at the very core of our relationship with Christ.

It's been said if our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a savior. And forgiveness is at the core of our relationship with others as well. Have you ever heard of the first cause argument? It was originated by Thomas Aquinas who lived 1225 to 1274 and it is an argument for the existence of God.

The idea goes something like this, that everything that exists, everything had something that caused it. There is nothing that exists that came from nothing. And so logic dictates that someone or something had to cause the world to exist. Cause and effect. The cause is God and the effect is the resultant world. It's known as the argument of first cause. Now I would postulate that the first cause for our broken relationship with God is our sin. And our broken relationship with God can only be reestablished by us seeking forgiveness. It's the first cause of our broken relationship, sin.

A Sunday school teacher had just concluded her lesson and wanted to make sure she had made her point. She said, can anyone tell me what you must do before you can obtain forgiveness of sin? There was a short pause and then from the back of the room a small boy spoke up and said, sin? That's not a problem for us, is it, sinning? And in mirror fashion, I would again suggest that the first cause of our broken relationship with others, listen, the first cause of our broken relationship with others is likewise getting stuck in the mire of sin, ours or theirs, which can only be reestablished by way of forgiveness.

Either ours seeking forgiveness from them or our granting forgiveness. The argument of first cause of nearly all broken relationships. And this is why this issue of forgiveness is such a huge issue in our Christian life. My guess is, my guess is, of the people that I meet with in prayer counseling, 90% 80 to 90% of the relational issues that we look at, unforgiveness is the first cause of that continuing break that is never been dealt with. And this is why Jesus spoke so often and so strongly concerning forgiving one another. In Matthew 6 verse 14, but when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, that your father in heaven will forgive you your sins too.

Do you ever think of taking that literally? When you're praying, first forgive so you don't forgive, stop praying. Wow. Don't pray until you forgive? That's strong. And then in the Lord's prayer, Matthew 6 verse 12, it says this, and forgive us our sins as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And in Matthew 18 Jesus gives a great insight to the hidden cost of unforgiveness. In Matthew 18 Jesus starts a discussion with Peter by answering a question that Peter had asked about a repeat offender like you and me. Matthew 18 verse 21. Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me, seven times?

The rabbis taught three times. And Peter started to figure Jesus out and he said, I'll double it and add one for good measure. That's probably a safe number. Seven times? No, not seven times, Jesus replied, but 70 times seven. And then in the context, in the backdrop of that unlimited forgiveness, Jesus goes on to tell a story about forgiveness. Matthew 18 verse 23. Therefore the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.

He couldn't pay. So his master ordered that he be sold along with his wife, his children, and everything owned to pay the debt. But the man fell down before his master and begged him, please be patient with me and I will pay it all. Then his master was filled with pity for him and he released him and forgave that entire debt. But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time.

Be patient with me. Same thing he said to the king. This man says to him, be patient with me and I would pay it, he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and put in the prison until the debt could be paid in full. When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, you evil servant. My translation says you hard-hearted wretch. I forgave you that tremendous debt just because you pleaded with me.

Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you? Then the angry king, the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. That's what my heavenly father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart. Do you get the story? Man owes the king millions of dollars. He says, be patient, I'll pay it. The king realizes he can't pay it. He says, look, it's forgiven. That guy goes out on the street, finds a guy that owes him a couple thousand bucks, grabs him by the throat, says, pay it up.

He says the same thing, be patient. No, nothing doing, you're going to prison. The king's friends find out. They tell the king. He brings him back in and he says, you hard-hearted wretch. I forgave that huge debt just cuz you asked me to. You won't forgive this measly little pittance. You're going to to prison. In verse 34 the king James it says and his Lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors. Listen, this is critical. And delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him. Delivered him to the tormentors.

In Greek the word is taste. Taste and it means one who elicits truth by way of torture as on the rack. The word is used interchangeably as a term for a jailer because the business of torturing was assigned to the jailer. Now do you get the point? The king placed this unforgiving man in prison, in prison and as such handed him over to the master of the prison to torture him until he paid back every last cent. But here's the kicker. Here's where you and I walk into this story, where we walk into this prison if you will and where we are stretched out on the rack.

Listen to verse 35. So my heavenly father will do to you. Do what? Turn you over to the tormentors. So my heavenly father will do to you if each of you from his heart does not forgive his brother his trespasses. Did you get that? If you refuse to forgive those who have wronged you, you will be you will be. Listen, can Jesus lie? No. Then you will be, you will be right now in jail, turned over to, maybe already are in jail, and into the custody of the jailer himself, Satan, so that you can be tortured until from your heart you forgive those who have wronged you.

You know, people say why would God allow that to happen? Because he knows unforgiveness is so devastating that if he let us just bypass it and forget about it and move on, it would continue to cause a cascade of problems in our lives. So he set turns us over to to the tormentors so that we're constantly reminded by that. And how do we do that? Verse 35. How does he do that? Says that's what your heavenly father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart. You stop refusing to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.

You choose to forgive. You say, but you don't know what that man did to me. No, I don't. And I would never try to minimize his or her sin against you. But here's the truth. Your refusal to forgive them injures you and even others because people stuck in bitterness hurt people, even those who did not hurt them. It touches more than just those two people involved. We'll hear more about the effects of unforgiveness next time when pastor Tom Keller returns to study the word. Hey, in the meantime, be encouraged to receive God's forgiveness and extend forgiveness in Jesus's name.

You can hear this message again online at ccleb.com or subscribe to our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon. If you'd rather have a CD copy, call us at 717 273 5633. Have you been helped by the ministry? Let us know that. It would be so encouraging to pastor Tom and the team. Give us a call at 717 273 5633 or write to Study the Word 740 Willow Street Lebanon, Pennsylvania 17046. You can also email us through the website at ccleb.com. Study the Word is made possible through the generous support of listeners just like you. And thank you for helping us reach out with the love and truth of Jesus Christ at a time in human history where people really need biblical encouragement.

You can give online at ccleb.com or call 717 273 5633. We hope you'll visit us sometime here at Calvary Chapel Lebanon. For our service times and more information go to ccleb.com on the web. You can also watch our live stream there at ccleb.com or on our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel Lebanon. Study the Word with pastor Tom Keller is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Lebanon Pennsylvania. May God richly bless you as you study the Word.