Episode Transcript
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, go therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Welcome to go teach all nations, bringing you Christ's teachings through australian and international speakers. And here is today's presenter Matthew Bloomfield.
Let's open with a word of prayer and we'll get into our message and study today. Heavenly Father, as we open your word now, Lord, as we come to you, we just ask please for your guidance. We ask please that the Holy Spirit would direct our thoughts, Lord.
He would direct our words, certainly direct my words, Lord. And if there are things in our lives that need changing, you would point those out to us, Lord. You would encourage us, you would equip us, Lord, that you would speak to us.
Today. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.
This will be the first message in this series, the cross. I've been wanting to do this series for several months, but lots of things have come up. But we're here now and I hope that you can trust that God has brought you here today to hear this message.
So without question, Jesus of Nazareth is the most influential person who ever lived. Would you agree with that? The scholar Reynolds Price, when comparing him to other world leaders and famous people, he said, Jesus of Nazareth is the single most powerful figure in all human history. Doctor William Johnson puts it clearly, he is the man who will not go away.
People come and go, kingdoms come and go, but God remains solid. Thank you, grace. More books have been written about Jesus than any other person.
More music has been composed about him and his life and in worship of him than anyone else. He's been the subject of more great works of art than anyone else, alive or dead. More great architecture has been created to honour him than any other person in history.
He's been the inspiration for many great social reforms. We think in modern era of the abolition of slavery. It was christians who motivated that.
Out of their love for Christ. He stamped his name on time itself. The calendar bears witness to his enduring influence.
History is divided between BC before Christ and ad Anno Domini, the year of the Lord. And millions through the ages have willingly died for him and they continue to die for him today. A Time magazine article at the end of the 20th century said this.
A serious argument can be made that no one else's life has proved as remotely powerful and enduring as that of Jesus. Does that sound about right to you? Clearly Jesus has made a supernatural mark on history, a mark that even the most ardent atheist has to stop and consider. Why has this man had such an influence? And he deserves serious investigation.
And perhaps no area of Christ's life has resonated down through history quite so much as the cross and the moments leading up to the cross and the crucifixion. That's what I'd like to spend the next several sermons looking at. I won't be taking next week.
Warren will be here. But I'd like to spend the next several sermons looking at that 24 hours period, the Thursday evening to the Friday when Jesus was crucified. Now, normally, when we look at the crucifixion and the events surrounding it, we look at it in a few different ways.
We look at it from the point of view that this is Jesus taking my sins. This is when he died for my sins. He paid the price for them.
We might look at the cross from the point of view of this is a fulfilment of prophecy. This is the end of the 70. Well, you know, the end of that last week of the 70 week prophecy in Daniel nine.
We might look at it, you know, this is Isaiah 53, Jesus bearing our sins. But I'd like to look at it from a different point of view because there were people there around Jesus at this time. This was a real event for real people.
There were friends of Jesus there, his family were there in those final hours, his followers, his enemies there were bystanders. And they were all touched in a powerful way in that final 24 hours before the cross. I'd like to start with one person that didn't even get to see the crucifixion.
But he played a significant role and his name is surely gone down in infamy. Who would that be? Judas. There are some powerful lessons for us in the life of Judas.
It's interesting that even though he's probably one of the most well known of all the apostles, if you mention the name Judas to anyone, Christian or not, they know what you're talking about. It's become a euphemism for a traitor, isn't it? And even though he's so well known, we don't know terribly much about him. There's no story about his background.
There's no story like some of the others where Jesus comes across him and invites him to follow me. There's none of that. There's no picture of Judas dropping his fishing nets and leaving everything to follow him.
He doesn't leave a tax collector booth like Matthew to follow Jesus. He just kind of appears on the scene, almost as if he's seen that Jesus is popular and he wants to be part of this movement. The first real description we get of him is found in John, chapter twelve.
This is the scene where Mary Magdalene comes in and she anoints Jesus feet with the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son. I always feel a bit bad for Simon.
He's gone down in history and the Bible is the father of Judas. That's all we know about him anyway. Who would betray him said, why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? This he said.
Not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief and had the money box and he used to take what was put in it. What do we learn about Judas from this? He's a thief. What does that tell us about him? What did he have a problem with? Money, greed, covetousness, all those things.
Now was Judas the only apostle who had character flaws? Were there others such as Peter, John and James? What were they known for? They had a temper. Can you think of any others doubting Thomas? You know, again, feel badland. That's how we remember him.
But there's a difference with Judas. Judas doesn't change. Throughout all the time that we know him this flaw in his character stays there.
And that's important to remember as we go through this in the next verse. In the next passage. We're just a couple of days before the crucifixion.
Then the chief priests, the scribes and the elders of the people assembled at the palace of the high priest who was called Caiaphas and plotted to take Jesus by trickery and kill him. But they said not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people. What were the religious leaders planning to do? Murder.
They wanted to kill Jesus. They wanted to trick him and they wanted to kill him. Why didn't they want to do it then and there? Yeah, there's a lot of people there for the Passover.
And they didn't want to create an uproar. They wanted to kill this man. But they wanted to be civil about it.
Didn't want to reveal their true colours. Didn't want to reveal their true colours to all the people that were gathered there. That's right.
So they didn't want to do it during this week because of all the people there. But an opportunity is presented to them. Then one of the twelve called Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and said, what are you willing to give me if I deliver him to you? They counted out to him 30 pieces of silver.
So from that time, he sought opportunity to betray him. There's a lesson here, a lesson from to do with the religious leaders. The decision to sin is not made in the moment that the sin is committed.
The decision to sin is made each and every morning when we decide whether we're going to follow God that day or not. We need a purpose in our hearts every day to be faithful to God. I because, as in this instance, they were thinking of committing the sin and Satan provided the opportunity for them to commit it right then and there.
And you better believe that if you haven't committed your life to God Satan will provide plenty of opportunity throughout the day to commit sin. So Judas is now looking for an opportunity. Opportunity to betray Jesus.
During Judas few years with Jesus, what sort of things had he seen? Miracles. Miracles. What sort of miracles had he seen? Healing, feeding the 5000.
What other things had he seen? People raised from the dead. What else? What had he seen about Jesus? His character, his love. Always taking them up mountains to pray.
Yeah, Jesus is giving character. Jesus stopped storms. He had power over the elements.
What was that? Leone? No, he didn't. He should have seen all that was going on. Not only had Judas seen all these things, but weren't the apostles sent out the disciples, in fact, in a large group were sent out and they performed miracles.
They cast out demons. Jesus trusted him with the work of an evangelist. Jesus had given Judas every evidence possible as to who he was.
Yet all this time, Judas is holding on to that original problem, that covetousness. Until it got to the point where it ruled every part of his life. The love of money, power, overbalanced his love for Christ.
And if we were to list the commandments, we would probably say, oh, covetousness. Not as bad as some of these other ones in a worldly way of thinking. And yet this covetousness grows to the point where Judas commits the most heinous of acts.
Then we come to the Passover supper. I invite you to turn with me in your bibles to John, chapter 13. The scripture will be up on the board, but you're welcome to read along in this passage.
We come to the Passover supper that Thursday night. Normally, when Jesus spent time with his followers, especially with the twelve these were times of joy, times of learning, happy times when they gathered together at the end of the day. Normally peaceful times.
But this evening, this Thursday evening, this Passover evening was different. Jesus was troubled. His heart was burdened.
Normally, Jesus face was radiant and lovely. But this evening, there's a shadow resting over Jesus. We pick up our story in verse one, John 13.
One now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from the world to the Father having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them till the end. And supper being ended, the devil having already put in the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to goddess, rose from supper and laid aside his garments, took a towel and girded himself.
After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. Here we have this scene where Judas is mingling with the other disciples as if there is nothing out of the ordinary, as if he was innocent of any wrongdoing. He's just there among the twelve.
The other disciples don't know what Judas has done, what he was planning. But did Jesus know what was going on? Absolutely. As Jesus works his way around the twelve there and he's washing their feet.
Feet. He comes to Judas, he kneels down, picks up those soiled feet and he starts washing them. He wipes them with the towel.
What do you think is going through Judas heart at that moment? I imagine his heart's about ready to leap out of his chest. The massive amount of guilt. And here's Jesus right here in front of him.
And he has this moment, this moment of wanting to confess everything and make it all right for a moment. But again, that covetousness pops up, revises in his heart. It all floods back to him.
And so instead of his heart being softened, Judas heart is hardened. He's offended at what Jesus is doing. He goes back to his worldly way of thinking and he thinks, oh, if Jesus can do this, if he can stoop down and serve all these people, then he's not going to be king.
He's not going to be king and rule over a nation. All hope of worldly honour is gone. And he dismisses all that conviction that the Holy Spirit was putting on his heart.
And he decides at that moment that he's been deceived by Jesus and there's no hope of any future with him. Then he came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to him, Lord, are you washing my feet? Jesus answered and said to him, what I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.
Peter said to him, you shall never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I do not wash you, you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head.
Jesus said to him, he who is bathed need only to wash his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all of you, for he knew who would betray him. Therefore he said, you are not all clean.
Why do you think Jesus is dropping these hints throughout the evening? He's trying to reach out to Judas. None of the other disciples knows what's going on. But Jesus says, you're not all clean.
No, it's not. And so Jesus is trying to help Judas recognise who he is because only God can read the human mind. Jesus was trying to get him to pick up on that.
Jesus is constantly giving him evidence throughout this evening that he is divine and he carries on doing this. I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen, but that the scripture may be filled, fulfilled.
He who eats bread with me and has lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it comes that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am healed. He most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives me.
And he who receives me receives him who sent me. When Jesus had said these things, he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray me. Could he have said it any clearer? And it's interesting, he says, he lays it out so plainly to him without saying his name and pointing to him, he says, I tell you these things before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am he.
Isn't that interesting. Now, it's important to note that that word he is supplied by the translators in the Bible, he's saying, I'm telling you these things before they come to pass. Judas, I'm telling you these things that only you could know, that are on your heart.
I'm telling you these things because I am. Where else do we see that phrase in the Bible? God's name. When Moses was called, he said, tell them that it's I am who's called you.
Yes. So Jesus gave him every opportunity he possibly could. He spelled it out.
There's nothing else that he could have done. No appeal was spared. Jesus gives him opportunity after opportunity, mercy after mercy.
But every time Judas pushes back, that old sin of covetousness pops up again. Then the disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke. Of course, Judas knew what Jesus was talking about, but none of the other disciples knew what he was on about.
And they were probably distraught. And we read in other gospels, they go around saying, oh, is it I? Is it I, Lord? And it starts this uproar and this conversation going between the disciples, who's Jesus talking about? What's he talking about? And they get into this big discussion between them. And as that discussion's going on, this little side conversation takes place.
Now, there was leaning on Jesus bosom, one of the disciples whom Jesus loved. We understand he's talking about John. Simon Peter therefore motioned to John to ask him, who's Jesus talking about? Then, leaning back on Jesus breast, he said to him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, it is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.
And having dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Jesus here is giving evidence to John and to Peter is saying to them, I'm giving you evidence so that later on, when you look back, you'll understand what I was saying. He's showing them his divine foreknowledge and the conversation dies down.
Now, after the piece of bread, Satan entered Judas and Jesus said to him, what you do, do quickly. But no one at the table knew for what reason he said this to them, for some thought, because Judas had the money box that Jesus had said to him, buy these things we need for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. According to verse 29 we just looked at, we understand that Judas was the treasurer.
What sort of things was Judas required to do in his work as treasurer? He would sometimes have to give money to help the poor. What other things buy food for the group, purchase for the poor. We know that Judas stole things for himself, but it's interesting to know that Jesus placed him in this role on purpose.
Jesus was trying to reach Judas. Even in this role, he could see Jesus was hoping that through this practise of giving to the poor, of buying things for others, that Judas would pick up on that. He needn't be covetous.
He needn't covet things. He would get into the practise of giving and giving. But he didn't.
He was meant to get used to giving to others. Having received the piece of bread, Judas then went out immediately. And it was night.
There's a powerful line in the book, desire of ages. It says night. It was to the traitor as he turned away from Christ into outer darkness.
It was night for Judas. It goes on to say, until this step was taken, Judas had not passed beyond the possibility of repentance. But when he left the presence of his lord and his fellow disciples, the final decision had been made.
He had passed the boundary line. Judas then goes ahead with his plan to betray Jesus and we'll look at what happened in Gethsemane where he betrayed him with a kiss. We'll look at that in a future sermon.
And then we come to the end of Judas life. When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put him to death. And when they had bound him, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor.
Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that he had been condemned, Jesus had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us? You see to it. Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed and went and hanged himself.
It's a pretty sad end, isn't it? The other disciples had faults but they repented of them. They allowed Jesus to correct them. But not so with Judas.
He held onto them. That's what the Bible says. Burst open.
Yeah. Judas came to church, didn't he? Judas was a leader in the church, wasn't he? He preached, healed, he cast out demons. He had all the trappings of a Christian, all the outward display of a Christian.
But he held onto one thing. God tried to work on it, but Judas wouldn't allow God to change him. God brought it to his attention again and again and again.
Each time he resisted, happy for God to address other things in his life, but not this thing. We have to think very carefully when we look at Judas because he had all the outward display of a Christian. He was well regarded by the other apostles.
Is there some sin in our lives that we're holding on to now? I don't mean a sin that you're struggling with, but one that you've chosen to hold onto, a sin that you've given up on changing. God has pointed it out to you. Maybe he's pointed out to you ten years ago and you ignored it then.
Maybe you let it slide. You justified it. You said, everybody gets angry.
It's no big deal. Everyone looks at programmes on tv they're not supposed to. The only time I can get this work done is on Sabbath.
Those are the sorts of ways that Judas would have justified himself as Judas is sitting there with the money bag his thought pattern would have gone something like, you know, I've been working for Jesus for three years. I'm doing a lot. I'm doing the treasury wrong.
You know, Jesus is going to come into his kingdom soon. I might as well take my payment now. I've earned it.
I'll just take this and put it in my pocket. All the while he's doing that, the voice of the Holy Spirit is getting quieter and quieter. Not because the Holy Spirit is quiet, because Judas is blocking his ears.
And when Judas walked out of that supper room that evening, he was a dead man walking. He was alive and walking around, but he was dead, as good as dead. So how do we ensure that we don't end up like that, as dead men walking around, coming to church, going about our daily lives, but our fate is sealed.
Now, this is a question that I get relatively often in my online ministry. People write in and they say, I think I've committed the unpardonable sin and they've lost all hope. They think they're lost.
So before going any further with this message, we need to know that we serve a God of love, a God of forgiveness. He promises that if we come to him, he will forgive us. Isn't that right? Doesn't matter what the sin is, does it? No, it doesn't.
People have committed heinous things. I'm sure people here, I'm sure we all have done things that we deeply regret. Doesn't matter.
God will forgive it if we bring it to him. There's no guilt too great for God to cleanse away. And we get a picture of that from the last supper.
All through the evening, Jesus is prompting him, trying to give him opportunity. Jesus said, therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, Menta. But the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven.
Man, the first part I say to you, Jesus said, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven. We should be thankful for that, right? Every sin will be forgiven that we bring to Jesus. But Jesus doesn't end there, does he? The second part says the blasphemy or sin against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
Almost sounds like a contradiction on the surface, doesn't it? He says, every sin will be forgiven, but not the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. So how do we make sense of this? Both of these statements are true. At the same time, when we understand the role of the Holy Spirit, we understand what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is.
And when he, the Holy Spirit comforter, has come, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgement. And it goes on to say, however, when he, the spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth. So what are the two main roles of the Holy Spirit according to this? Convict us of sin and to lead us into truth, to guide us into all truth.
The Holy Spirit is God's agency, or the special person of the Godhead that works especially for our conversion and our conviction. Without the Holy Spirit, no one would feel any sorrow for sin and no one would ever be converted. Now, we use this phrase, feel convicted of sin.
What does it feel like when the Holy Spirit convicts you of sin? Guilt. Conscience. You know, we use these phrases.
What does that actually feel like? Bad. Yeah, feels bad. Any other thoughts? Sad because you know you've done wrong.
Any other thoughts on that? You feel worthless. Yeah. Yeah.
All those things, I think, feel disconnected from God. Yeah, sickness. Now, we've already spoken about what happens when we confess our sins to God.
He promises to forgive us. We know that first John one nine. But what happens when we don't confess our sins? When the Holy Spirit convicts us of what is wrong? We harden our hearts.
We carry on. He who covers his sins will not prosper. But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
This is incredibly dangerous. I don't think people realise quite how dangerous it is to resist the Holy Spirit, because the first time around, it might seem like something of no big deal. But when we look at the pathway of Judas, what might have started with something small just grew and grew and grew until he reached the point of no return.
So if the Holy Spirit points out sin in our lives, or he reveals to us a new truth, you come along to church and you learn something new and you think, oh, I need to change that in my life. What do we need to do? Do it. How quickly should we react to that? Yeah, pretty quickly.
David said, I made haste and did not delay to keep your commandments. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptised and wash away your sins. Calling on the name of the Lord.
Whenever this topic comes up in the Bible, there's normally an urgency associated with it. This is not something to fool around with, not something to play around with. When you're convicted of sin, you never should wait till you feel right or you feel like you can come to God.
You always act straight away. And the same is true when we're convicted of a new truth. When we see a new truth that we need to adapt into our lives.
There's no safety in waiting. Satan would love it if we delayed to make things right. It gives him an opportunity.
The Bible repeatedly says we need to act immediately. The Holy Spirit not only brings conviction, but he brings light into our lives. That was the true light, which gives light to every man coming into the world, which is why God warns us.
But the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter until the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness. They do not know what makes them stumble.
Then Jesus said to them, a little while longer, the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.
Isn't that right? When you look at. Judas, rejected the Holy Spirit for so long, didn't know where he was going. And that's why he had such an abysmal end, such a horrible end.
Notice the prayer that David prayed after he committed that horrible double sin of adultery and murder. He said, do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your holy spirit from me. He understood this.
He understood how this worked. And he prayed that God wouldn't take his holy spirit from him. We need to make it a habit to follow truth as soon as we hear it, because the alternative is pretty frightening.
And with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who do not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. So what happens when we reject truth or choose not to follow it? We have to follow something.
And so if we've rejected the truth, Satan will happily bring deception into our lives, and we can follow that. Isn't that what happened with Judas? He rejected the truth, rejected the conviction, and we can look at him and say, how deluded could you be? You've been a witness to Jesus for three and a half years, and you go and betray him. I like that.
Truth hardens where it doesn't save. This is all pretty serious stuff, but something we need to take on board. But I hope that you can see from the end of Judas life that God is more than prepared to work on us.
When we look at the last supper the whole night, Jesus is there desperately trying to win over Judas. When you look at that story, he's doing that more than anything else. Judas is his real focus.
There that night. So if you take nothing else away from today, take this home. It's a strange situation.
On the one hand, Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray him, didn't he? He knew that. He knew what was going to happen and yet he spends the whole night trying to win him over. I think there's booklets out there on foreknowledge versus foreordination.
Do we still have those booklets? As I was thinking about this, I thought this is a strange situation. Jesus knew Judas was going to betray him, yet he spends the whole night working on him. And the only conclusion that I can come to with this is that Jesus couldn't help himself.
The Bible says that God is love, even in the face of a hopeless situation. Jesus character was such that he couldn't help but reach out to Judas and try and win him because that's who God is. That's a good point, Robin.
Yeah, he's showing us his character in that, that he's more than willing to save. I like that. That's right.
This whole thing is about revealing God's character, isn't it? Everyone's looking on and we can see that God is love. No, Judas didn't take up that opportunity that Jesus presented to him. So if the Holy Spirit is calling you to make a change, don't wait.
Maybe you have never properly accepted Jesus as your lord and saviour. I hope you all have. But, you know, people can come to church for years and years and never ask God to save them.
If you haven't done that, I invite you to do that. Or maybe you've been ignoring the Holy Spirit's prompting to make a change in your life and now's the time to make that change. Now's the time to invite Jesus in to make that change.
Let's close with prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for your patience with us. Lord, we thank you for the constant prompting of the Holy Spirit, our Lord.
That he sees fit to work with us and to work on us, our Lord. If there are a people here in the congregation today, Lord, or people listening online that know that they need to make a change in their lives, Lord, who know that there are areas of their lives or habits or things that they've developed that are not in harmony with your word, Lord, I ask, please, that you would strengthen them. You would strengthen them to not only come to you, but, Lord, to have victory in their lives.
Lord, we know that it is you and you alone who can make these changes. Lord, let our path forward from here and now be different. Lord, let us trust in you.
Help us to remember the wonderful love that you have shown to Judas, Lord, and your working in his life, Lord, even when it seemed like a hopeless situation. Help us to remember that you are love and we can come to you. This message was made available by the Masterton Seventh Day Adventist Church.
For more resources like this, visit Mastertonsda.nz. there's a story about a man in France who was bitten by a rabid dog. This was years before a treatment had been discovered for rabies. When it was determined that the dog was actually rabid, a kind doctor told the man he had only a short time to live.
After hearing this horrible news, the unfortunate man asked the doctor for some paper and a pencil and then started writing furiously. After a few minutes, the doctor interrupted, if you're writing out your will, you have time. Think carefully about your estate.
You still have a few days left. The patient replied sharply, I'm not making out my will. I'm making a list of all the people I'm going to bite before I die.
Bitterness some people are controlled by it. They have been treated cruelly and wish bad things would happen to those who caused them harm. Some brood for years, tormented by the memories of the wounds that they received.
Sometimes they are so angry that they want to make sure something bad does happen. But the Bible says this is the worst possible solution to resolve the hurt in our lives. The real solution to dealing with injustice from others is not vengeance.
It's not unchecked anger or bitter brooding. It shouldn't be a surprise. But the answer is forgiveness.
If you want to experience an abundant life in Jesus, you must learn how to forgive those who have hurt you. The topic of forgiveness goes deeper than many of us think. Let's look at the importance of forgiveness.
There are some beautiful promises in the Bible about God's forgiveness to us. Psalm 51 seven purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Isaiah 118 come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord.
Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. God instructs us that he is able to put forgiveness in our hearts too.
Mark eleven, verses 25 and 26. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him that your father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your father in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Ephesians 430 32 and do not grieve the holy spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. In Matthew 18, Jesus shared instructions on how to deal with someone who has wronged you.
Well, after that, Peter believes hes got a handle on what Jesus was sharing. In his usual fashion, he pipes up in Matthew 1821 and 22. Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him up to seven times.
Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven. You might think Peter was being a bit stingy with his mercy. Forgive someone only seven times.
We might have to forgive our spouses that much in a single week. But in the time of Christ, religious leaders thought that God was willing to forgive you only three times. It was three strikes and you're out.
Long before baseball was invented, Peter, knowing Jesus was indeed merciful, bravely doubled the number of times he had been taught to forgive someone. And he added one more for good measure. But Christ's response shocked not only his disciple, but tragically shocks many people today.
I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven. Now, Jesus wasn't setting a literal limit of 490 times. God isn't sitting up in heaven checking off the number of times he has forgiven you.
Otherwise all of us would have already exhausted our quota. God's mercy doesn't run out at 490 allotments of grace. As long as we are willing to repent, the Lord will forgive.
The issue is that God asked the same of his people. Don't keep track of how many times you have forgiven your friend, your coworker, your spouse for his or her unkind words or actions. God claims and has proven time and again in your life and mine that he is merciful and gracious, long suffering and abounding in goodness and truth.
The Lord does not quickly give up on us. It's interesting. The Bible is full of promises that connect forgiveness with the number seven, a number representing completeness and perfection.
How many demons were cast out of Mary Magdalene? Luke, chapter eight, verse two. And certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary called Magdalene out of whom had come seven demons.
How many times will a righteous man fall and rise again? Solomon said in proverbs 20 416, for a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again. But the wicked shall fall by calamity. The gospel of Luke adds in Luke, chapter 17, verses three and four.
Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him.
And if he sins against you seven times in a day and seven times in a day, returns to you saying, I repent, you shall forgive him. If God forgives us completely and asks us to do the same for others, how do we know if weve done that? Whats the true measure of forgiveness? If God tells us that the forgiveness we have in our hearts, or lack thereof, is an indication of where our hearts truly are, then it would be important to know what true forgiveness looks like. Some say true forgiveness is when you give up wanting to retaliate.
I think theres some truth in that. Some say true forgiveness is when youre able to restore a situation. I don't think that's entirely true.
We live in a broken world, and sometimes damage is irreparable. It's not always practical to restore what is lost or safe. Someone may have harmed you or a loved one.
It might be unsafe to be close to them. I'd like to share with you a story that I think illustrates true forgiveness for the Christian. It's a story about a young lady.
The Bible doesn't give her a name. In fact, it only has a few verses recorded about her. But ive probably read her story a hundred times.
We call her little maid because thats what most people know her as. The story is found in the second book of kings, chapter five. The king of Syria had defeated the armies of Israel.
Since that time, the Syrians had continued fighting along Israels border. Life was difficult living in this time and place, never knowing when the syrian army might strike your town. Amidst all this, there is a young family, little maid's family.
Her parents were committed parents. They had morning and evening worship together. They shared with little maid the stories from scripture.
The crossing of the Red Sea, the exodus and the plagues. Abraham and Sarah, the flood, creation. Joseph when he was taken and sold as a slave but remained faithful to God.
It was a simple life, but a good one. Can't you just imagine them in that small home, no tv or computers there. In the evening, after a light dinner, they would gather around the table in the dim light of a little oil lamp.
They would pray together. This was a family who really understood what God's plan for the Hebrews was, that they were to share God's love and the coming salvation. Little maid learned all this and she took it to heart.
She accepted God's plan for her parents, tried to make life as normal as possible in their house. But eventually the war came to them. Imagine her father being drafted off into the war.
The beautiful picture of a little family huddled around. The candlelight is shattered. Syrian soldiers burst in.
They grab little maid and they separate her from her family. Don't take me away from my mother. But the cruel raiders took no notice of her cries.
They had done this dozens of times before. They threw her on a horse behind a big, burly syrian soldier and set out for Damascus. Weeping all the way.
The little maid sobbed out between her tears. Why did God let this happen to me? Why? In the big city, she was sold as a slave and became the servant of the wife of Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria. That's where we enter our story.
Second kings. Five, one, two. Now, Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and I honourable man in the eyes of his master because by him the lord had given victory to Syria who was also a mighty man of valour, but a leper.
And the Syrians had gone out on raids and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naamans wife. This might have seemed like a hopeless situation, but God was at work even in this horrible series of events.
You see, little maid could have been sold anywhere. But God made sure she went to a good house. Yes, they were the enemies.
But Naaman, as the text says, was an honourable and upright man. How homesick and hopeless she must have felt that first night in the big house with all those strange people. It was not like her little house back in Israel.
Yet she didn't forget to say her prayers. Her parents had brought her up to love the God of heaven and she made up her mind that she would be true to him, whatever might happen. Just like Joseph in the story she had heard many times before.
Even though she was in a foreign land and Naaman had overseen the destruction of little maid's country because her parents had taught her well, she couldn't help but feel compassion for them. She had every right to be angry with them, to hate them, to not cooperate with them. She so knew the love of God that forgiveness was a natural response for her.
Her mind had been trained. God had done a mighty work in her little heart. Captain Naaman had that most dreaded disease.
Leprosy. The little maid had seen lepers before and knew the awful things the disease did to them, her kind heart went out in sympathy to her master and mistress. She longed to do something to help them.
But what could a little girl do so far from home in a strange, strange land? Here was her opportunity to introduce Naaman and his wife to the God of heaven that the little maid knew so well. Let's carry on our story in two kings, chapter five and verse three. Then she said to her mistress, if only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, for he would heal him of his leprosy.
And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, thus and thus, said the girl who is from the land of Israel. Can't you imagine? Little maid takes her chance introducing the prophet Elisha into the conversation. He could heal Naaman.
She catches Lady Naaman's attention. Who is this prophet Elisha? What has he done? Well, take a seat. We're gonna be here for a while.
Why, the other day, Elisha raised a dead boy to life. Yes, he was quite dead. Everybody say so.
And once he made the bitter spring of Jericho sweet. And his master Elijah did some wonderful things too. He made a poor widow's barrel of meal and jug of oil last minute, many days, maybe a whole year.
Once even brought fire down from heaven on the top of Mount Carmel and burned up the sacrifice, even though it was soaking wet with water. Oh, yes, my lady, the God of heaven is a wonderful God. And Elisha is his prophet, a man of God.
I'm sure he would heal your husband if you just go to see him. Well, that's just what he did. He was healed.
And it's pretty clear Naaman became a worshipper of Jehovah after that. I believe this is what true forgiveness looks like. Little Mae desired Naamans salvation and healing.
Even though he represented the enemy of her people. Her desire to see him saved was stronger than anything else. The reason for that, the love of God was in her heart.
How can we think like little maid in Ephesians 432 and be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you? We are told that it is the love of God and his forgiveness of us that will be our motivation to forgive others. Romans, chapter five, verse eight. But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
When Jesus was on that cross, held on by a few nails, his whole weight bearing down on those points, along with the weight of all the sin, the wrongs that you and I have experienced, those things that harmed us those things that we have held onto for years, they were weighing on Christ as well. Those sins that we would never share with anyone but God, they were put on Christ. We can't even begin to imagine the weight of what was put on Jesus.
Yet amidst all that, he was able to look down and say, Father, forgive them. If you are holding on to anything, any wrong that was done you, if there are people who hurt you and you don't want to be in eternity, God has felt your pain. He wants to bring you healing.
He wants you to experience forgiveness for your sake. Look to Jesus. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
If you would like to look to Jesus to learn more about him and how he can help you find forgiveness today, then I want to recommend to you this book, the desire of ages. This book brings together a comprehensive look at the life of Jesus, especially the closing moments around the cross. You can request this book on our website www dot mastertonsda dot NZ.
This book is completely free and without obligation. You can find more bible based videos like this one on our website along with a live stream message every Saturday. God bless you as you prayerfully consider who you might need to forgive today.
Friends, I would like to share with you a short piece entitled my body. My name is William Acland. Eat my body and drink my blood.
The Lord said long ago, as he watched them eat of the common things of the stalks and chaff that the devil brings, and the dry husks of this world's food. Eat his body and drink his blood. They queried in disbelief.
How can we do that and be accepted in the faith of our fathers? Long believed. Now how can that do me good friends, I speak of a purer world than this poor earthly soda of the word and the way that you should live, of the sacrifice I am soon to give, and the victory gained by the life I've lived to bring you back to God.
This programme has been brought to you by 3ABN Australia radio.
