PASTOR JOHN COWLES
BRIDGE CHURCH
JESUS SAID WHAT?
Forgive Seventy Times Seven! – Week 3
Matthew 18:21-35
Matthew 18:22 - Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
Matthew 6:14-15 ESV - For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE
Matthew 18:21-22 ESV
2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT - For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.
DON’T
Matthew 18:23-27 ESV
Ephesians 2:4-5 NLT – But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
We need to forgive others as God has forgiven us.
Micah 7:19 ESV – He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Isaiah 44:22 ESV – I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.
WALK IN
Matthew 18:28-31 ESV
As Christians we have been forgiven much, yet we can often act like this ungrateful servant and not forgive as we have been forgiven.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 ESV – Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.
WE NEED TO
Matthew 18:32-35 ESV
He doesn’t keep count of our offenses. He doesn’t carry the debt. He sets us free through the mercy he has shown us. We need to forgive like Jesus!
Forgiveness Prayer
Jesus, help me.
I don’t have the feelings of forgiveness, but I trust you.
When I think about those who have wronged me, I am tempted to take matters into my own hands, holding onto the pain, the bitterness, and the resentment, that would poison my soul and make it impossible for me to receive grace from you.
So right now, I begin to release to you
I ask you to heal the pain, to set me free, and to make me whole. I may never experience reconciliation, but I choose to begin the journey toward forgiveness right now in this moment. I surrender my hurt, my pain to You and I ask that You help me to forgive them as You have forgiven me.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.