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[0:00] I think I wore out my verse on the first three hymns. So it feels a little... It's the drawback of singing robustly.

[0:15] Alright. Today is Easter. And what do we celebrate on Easter? Resurrection.

[0:27] The resurrection. Of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. As we sang, death could not hold Him.

[0:40] He was raised because He paid the great wages of our own sins. He's raised as Redeemer. He is raised as Lord of Lords.

[0:52] King of Kings. Prince of Peace. Savior of sinners. Resurrection is God's acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice.

[1:07] It is the Father saying, It is done! Be exalted! You have completed the work I gave you to do.

[1:21] He has paid the debt for sinners. By the way, not for righteous people. Okay? Good news is only for sinners.

[1:32] His death is only for sinners. He has paid the debt for sinners. Who, by the way, ignored Him. Rebelled against Him.

[1:45] Turned to their own ways. Dismissed Him. And became enemies of Him. Yet while we were yet enemies, He died for us.

[2:00] Those same sinners who repent, who look upon Jesus and believe, these same sinners are saved.

[2:13] They are being transformed. They are being recreated in the image of Jesus. And we see that transformation.

[2:26] We see that recreation in the way that believers pray. They pray in not a natural way, but in a way of boldness.

[2:42] This morning, we are not going to be looking directly at the resurrection. Come for an Easter sermon on the resurrection. You're not going to be a peace of it.

[2:55] That is the impact of the resurrection. See, that's the impact of His raising. What difference did it make?

[3:08] Well, we have people who are transformed. Are in the process of being transformed. Mind you. Not there yet. Being transformed.

[3:18] No, it's okay. She can praise. She can praise. The rocks will cry out if she doesn't. We love that singing. So we're going to look at the impact of the resurrection, particularly in the way that believers pray.

[3:35] Pray. Pray. This is what we're looking at in Mark chapter 11. Now remember, in Mark 11, after Jesus' triumphal entry, remember He comes into Jerusalem, or He comes to the gates of Jerusalem on a donkey, not on a horse, not on a victory horse, but on a humble donkey as one who brings peace, not one who brings war.

[3:58] He comes to Jerusalem humble on a donkey, pronouncing Himself King, pronouncing Himself one who brings peace because of His own victory. Victory is about to be accomplished.

[4:14] And then He comes into Jerusalem and He pronounces the end of the house of prayer. He does a very, very dramatic sign. In fact, He does two signs we see. First, as He is coming on the way, He goes into Jerusalem, He looks at the temple, and He goes home.

[4:31] It's nightfall by then. And then He comes back the next morning, and He, on the way, He curses a fig tree. That's the first sign. He pronounces judgment on this fig tree, this poor little innocent fig tree.

[4:46] Which is funny because some of the commentators I read got all hung up on the innocent fig tree. Not quite so innocent. Not that the tree has morals. But it was a tree that appeared fruitful.

[5:00] See, because Jesus from afar saw it on it. If it leaves on the fig tree, that means there's budding fruit coming. And when He gets there and He discovers it's only leaves with no budding fruit, because you can, by the way, eat the budding fruit, though it's, you know, not want to make a regular diet of it, but if you're hungry, it serves in a pinch.

[5:22] He discovers there's not even any buds. So it's a deceitful tree. Symbolic of what He's going to do next. So He pronounces judgment on the tree, pronounces the end of its production, the end of its usefulness, which we see the next day, it is withered to its roots.

[5:43] But in between the story of cursing the fig tree and the next day discovering its withering is nestled this picture of Jesus going into the temple and quote-unquote cleansing it.

[5:55] But He's not cleansing it. He's condemning it. He's doing to the temple the same thing He did to the fig tree. The temple from the outside appears beautiful. It appears like everything's in order.

[6:07] It appears fruitful. He enters into the temple. He discovers that they have set up tables and business and there's buyers and sellers. What was, He said, to be a house of prayer for all nations?

[6:23] In the court of the Gentiles, they have made it a marketplace. Caiaphas has made it a competition to the other four markets out on the Mount Olives.

[6:35] He has brought that business into the temple and made it now permanently, as Jesus used the perfect tense, you have made it a den of thieves. He pronounces judgment on the temple.

[6:50] He's not cleaning it. He's not cleaning it. He's not trying to get it back into the right use because in two chapters, He's going to say that within 40 years, that temple's going to be leveled.

[7:03] And by the way, it's been 1,949 years since that day and not even a smidgen of rebuilding. unless God has some mysterious plan, I don't see it being rebuilt because what Jesus has done, He has leveled that temple and He's replaced it.

[7:24] Remember, He said after He did the cleansing in John, He said, excuse me, condemning in John, I'm used to the old language, He said, destroy this body and in three days, I will what?

[7:39] Raise it up. Resurrection day. I will raise it up. Talk about His own body. He's the new temple. And then after He's risen, the new temple is not in a building.

[7:52] It's in a people. This is now the house of prayer. Okay? Wherever the believers are, wherever you are, so there we have then this end of the house of prayer, the cursing of the fig tree and the next day we see verse 20, they pass by in the morning and Peter notices that the fig tree has withered away to its roots.

[8:17] Peter points it out to Jesus. Look. And then Jesus takes an interesting turn. And when we first read it, we kind of go, what?

[8:28] He answers Peter saying, have faith in God. What does cursing of the fig tree have to do with having faith in God? And then He talks, then He begins to talk about prayer.

[8:43] And not just normal kind of prayer, He's talking about mountain-moving prayer. I don't know about you, do any of you want that kind of mountain-moving prayer? Do you have any mountains you'd like to be moved? I don't mean because it's blocking your view.

[8:58] Lord, don't move these mountains. I love these mountains. I mean symbolically. Symbolically a mountain. Maybe it's a broken relationship.

[9:09] It's a mountain I can't fix. I desperately want it fixed. A lost child. A rebel.

[9:20] One who's given up on God. Do you want that mountain moved? Addiction. There's a mountain.

[9:33] Depression. Whatever that was. I don't know if that was a movement or what. See, the point is we all have mountains.

[9:47] And they're impossible things for us to fix. Okay? We want them moved. How do we move them? Jesus says prayer can move those mountains.

[10:04] So, we saw then last time we began to look at this, what is this kind of prayer? What is the effective prayer of faith? What does it mean to pray that believing it will happen?

[10:18] And what are the marks of this kind of effective prayer? So, we looked at the first two last time. Mark number one is in verse 22. Conviction. It's not just faith and believing but it's conviction in God's ability.

[10:35] Notice what he says in verse 22. Have faith in God. Not in how you pray. Not faith in yourself. Huh?

[10:49] We have faith in ourself. What am I, if I have faith in myself what am I going to do? I'm going to disappoint myself all over the place. Now, I understand we talk about having faith in who God has made you to be.

[11:00] Okay. But it's not faith in my ability. I'm faith, I have faith in God. Because who's God? Can he move mountains?

[11:13] Yep. He's done it. Jesus? Jesus can speak to the raging storm and be suddenly calm.

[11:26] And everyone who sees that goes, who is this? Who has that kind of power? Who speaks to a leper and he's cleansed?

[11:37] Who speaks to a deaf man and he hears? Who speaks to a blind man and he sees? Who speaks to Lazarus four days dead and he comes back to life? Who has that kind of power?

[11:52] It's God. Do I really believe that he is able? Do I have no hesitation? In other words, without doubting. No hesitation. No wavering.

[12:05] I absolutely believe he can. That's the first mark. Conviction. And then second mark is certainty in God's will.

[12:20] He says in verse 22, he talks about a whoever. He makes a general statement. He says, I say to you, this is not a command. He's not telling us to speak to mountains.

[12:32] Okay? This is a general statement. He says, truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be taken up a throne into the sea and does not doubt in his heart but believes what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.

[12:47] Okay? He's speaking generally. Whoever can do that. By the way, the whoever that can do that is Jesus. That's the only whoever who can do that. Who has that kind of power out of his mouth.

[12:57] Who can speak to a mountain. Then he's going to apply it. Verse 24, look, therefore, therefore, I tell you whatever you ask in prayer, believe that it will have, you have received it and it will be yours.

[13:10] See, there's the application. There's what you do. You don't speak to mountains. You speak to God. Okay? The application is I can't speak to that mountain and make it move but Jesus can.

[13:22] So I tell him, I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus. And believe he can and believe he will.

[13:35] See, it's certainty in his will. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. It's the certainty of things hoped for. Well, what is God's will? What is God willing to do? Well, let's see.

[13:47] What is he willing to do? Let's see. Is there anything here about what God's willing to do? There might be a few things. He might be willing and wanting us to trust him more.

[13:58] I can pray for that with certainty. He might want us, not might, he does want us to bear fruit. I can pray for that with certainty. Lord, help me bear more fruit.

[14:11] You got it. Don't expect it tomorrow. But it'll come. He might want us to restore broken relationships. Lord, can you restore broken relationships?

[14:27] Well, does he want to? He talks a lot about bearing with one another and forgiving one another and accepting one another. I think he wants that.

[14:39] Huh? There's all kinds of things we can pray for with absolute certainty. Does he want the lost to be saved? How about let's pray with certainty?

[14:51] Yes. Because it's not, oh, I wonder if he wants that. I don't have any doubt. You said it! Okay?

[15:03] With me? Okay, now the third mark in verse 25. And this is a little surprising because we're talking about this power of prayer and believe that you've already received it, have conviction and certainty.

[15:18] Then he brings in this thing of forgiveness. what does he bring that up for? It's just me and Jesus. What does it matter what other people do? Isn't it just about me and Jesus?

[15:34] Isn't it a private, my faith's private? Why does he bring other people into my business with him?

[15:48] Because they're inextricably linked. What goes this way or what goes this way affects what goes this way.

[15:59] What happens horizontally affects my vertical relationship with him. So as we look at verse 25, there's two questions I believe that he answers or he raises in his statement.

[16:13] One is, when are my prayers hindered? The answer is when I'm unforgiving. My prayers are actually hindered.

[16:25] I create a barrier to my prayers. And secondly, why? Why? So important. Yeah. What difference does that make?

[16:39] That's just others. I only care about my relationship with Jesus. Well, Jesus says his relationship with me has a lot to do with how you treat other people. In fact, not a lot, but everything.

[16:54] So let's look at those two things. So first of all, when does forgiveness affect Christian prayers? And by the way, this is for Christians' prayers. This is Christians' prayers.

[17:06] If an unbeliever who's wanting to believe God is praying, there's not hoops to jump through for God to listen to you. There's not a requirement for you to check off before he will forgive you.

[17:17] That initial forgiveness, I'll clarify that in a minute. This is for Christians' prayer. Have a Father in heaven. When does forgiveness influence Christian prayers?

[17:30] Well, let's observe three things here. First, the complaint and then the compassion and then I want to clarify something. The complaint, verse 25, he says, when you stand praying, whenever you stand praying, and by the way, stand praying, that's just, that was the common posture of the Jew in the day.

[17:48] They stood praying. Even if you go to Israel today and you go to the Wailing Wall, they're standing. That's their common. It's not that they don't kneel.

[17:59] There are people that kneel. Jesus kneeled. Paul kneels. There are times for kneeling, but the common everyday norm was standing and lifting up your hands to heaven.

[18:11] That was the Jewish norm. So he's just saying, whenever you pray, whenever you pray, forgive if, if you have anything against anyone.

[18:22] If you have a complaint against anyone. If you have something against somebody. Anybody, by the way. He doesn't say if you have a complaint against a brother. If you have a complaint, if you have something against anyone.

[18:37] So what does that mean? Something against somebody. Well, do you have bitterness? Do you have resentment?

[18:50] Do you have a grudge that you're harboring? I mean, these are common things we struggle with. I'm not asking for answers. I already know what the answers are. Of course you do. Of course you do.

[19:02] Because you're probably a lot like me. I thought I dealt with that. No, it's back. Grudges. Anger that's unresolved. This is, this is, by the way, a mountain.

[19:16] I'm going to need help doing this. The point is, if you have something against somebody else while you're praying, my relationship with the Father is directly linked to my relationship with others.

[19:30] It's not just me and Jesus. It's me and Jesus and others. Because as soon as I'm connected with Jesus, I'm in connection with others. Peter even says to husbands, 1 Peter 3, 7, he says, husbands, you need to live with your wives in an understanding way.

[19:50] You need to know some things about her. She's a weaker vessel, which doesn't mean she's weaker than you in a lot of ways because she's actually stronger than you in a lot of ways. But the word for weaker there means delicate, like a treasured vase.

[20:09] And you need to understand that. And you need to live with her in an understanding way. And then Peter says, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, what?

[20:25] Is there an understanding way if I don't treat her with honor? My prayers don't get through? Yep. Because this way affects this way.

[20:39] we can't divorce the two. So what do we do? So if I have something against anyone, well, okay, this is why this is part of the daily prayer Jesus gives us, right?

[20:56] Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. Give us this day our daily bread. Wait a minute. Forgive us our debts.

[21:07] Stop there. Move on. That's not how he put it, is it? He's checking on us. Forgive us as we forgive. Oh, he's checking on us. Because you can't fool God.

[21:21] You can say, oh, I want, I want, I want. I don't want to give. Right? So what do we do? So he says, forgive. If you have something against anyone, forgive. Well, what's forgive?

[21:34] It means simply let it go. Let it go. Can you hear that? Let it go.

[21:48] It takes a bit of faith. Because we're getting too easy. Let it go.

[22:00] Put it away. Put away what? Any complaint, any offense, any hurt. It could be as bad as a betrayal or abuse, or it could be as simple as disappointment.

[22:13] Put it away. Well, how do I know if I have something against somebody? Well, are you avoiding them? Are you harboring a grudge?

[22:24] Do you find that you have an attitude when their name comes up, or their face comes in? You find yourself becoming annoyed. Yeah, it just starts in little things. And then, are you seeking God's mercy while at the same time withholding mercy from others?

[22:44] You have a barrier. Your prayers are hindered. So pray and forgive. So I want to clarify something. To what extent is this forgiveness?

[22:56] What does it mean to forgive? Does that mean I gotta get the relationship restored before I can pray? No. It's just forgive. It doesn't mean I have to seek reconciliation before I can pray.

[23:11] Now, I'm gonna want to when I've forgiven, when I've truly forgiven. I'm gonna want to because God's spirit is in me. I'm gonna want to seek reconciliation. But, when I'm praying, I just need to let it go.

[23:27] Trust God to help me with the reconciliation thing later. Okay? And forgiveness does not mean that you have restored a relationship. It does not mean that you have restored trust.

[23:40] Okay, that's very important. Okay? Forgiveness just simply means I let it go. I am going to bear that cross. That wage that they owe me, that injustice or that pain or that debt they have toward me, I'm saying, I'll take it.

[24:03] I'll absorb it. I will bear it. Because I do deny myself and take up a thing.

[24:19] That's what it means. If I've been hurt, if you've been hurt, and we all have, we've suffered injustice, we've been disregarded, we've been dismissed, we've been slandered, we've been betrayed, people of broken trust, and some dear friends have done that.

[24:43] That's what really stinks. I need to forgive them for my own sake. so that I will not carry bitterness in my heart.

[24:58] So that I will not, like Paul says, have unresolved anger which becomes a foothold, an opportunity for the devil to just make that into a whole mountain in my heart.

[25:16] So it's for my sake and for my relationship with the Father's sake to let it go. Always forgive. They don't have to repent first either by the way.

[25:28] I have some questions ask me, well I've got to wait until they repent, right? No. You have to let it go. Jesus didn't wait for the soldiers crucifying him to repent before he forgave them.

[25:41] Father forgive them, they don't know what they do. I'm sure he forgave Judas long before. To forgive others is an act that proves that we are actually God's children.

[26:00] To forgive is a godly act. It is a Christ-like act. It is the way the Father treats us. And it's the way that his children respond in an unnatural way to things that hurt them.

[26:17] So Jesus in Luke 6 is teaching about the distinction between true followers of Jesus, true believers and others in the world.

[26:30] He says true believers are going to do things that are totally unnatural. They're going to love their enemies. They're going to be merciful and not seek vengeance. Now, that's not what all Christians always do, is it?

[26:44] That's not what we always do. But when we submit to him and we trust in him and rely on him, then we're enabled to do those impossible things.

[26:57] So listen to what Jesus says. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to get the same back.

[27:09] But love your enemies and do good and lend expecting nothing in return. See, that's not normal. And your reward will be great.

[27:22] And, listen to this, and you will be sons of the Most High. In other words, you're just like God. Not just like, but you're reflecting. You're his children. I see daddy in you.

[27:34] Right? For he is kind to who? Ungrateful. Ungrateful. And evil people. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

[27:47] Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, poured out.

[28:01] I don't know. Whatever, you know, you get excited and that kind of stuff. Yeah, giving, it's coming back. Not like you expected, though. Not like you expected. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

[28:20] As you treat others, so you will be treated as the children of God. So when we forgive, we're like dad.

[28:34] We're like papa. We're like the father. Forgiving. Being merciful. Being kind to ungrateful people. We're doing stuff people don't do. And when we're not forgiving, we're hindering our own prayers.

[28:54] We're putting a barrier, a wall between us and God. God hasn't put the wall there. We did. By our refusal to forgive and be merciful to others.

[29:05] So it brings us to our second question then. When is prayer hindered? It's hindered when we're unforgiving. Why is it important that Christians forgive others?

[29:18] Why? So I want you to notice three things here again. There's comfort, there's clarification, there's compassion. And then I'll start with C because I'm obsessive about that. Helps me.

[29:29] I'm sorry. So the comfort first of all. In verse 25 he says the first part is if we stand praying and we have anything against somebody we forgive.

[29:43] Why? Look at the second half of the verse. So that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. Why is it important?

[29:54] So we can have forgiveness in a nutshell. We need to explain that a little bit. So that the Father may forgive you. So unforgiveness not only hinders my prayer but the Father.

[30:13] Something's broken now. He's poured out all his forgiveness on me and then I go and treat somebody else. Right?

[30:25] And I've put up a barrier. It is a barrier to my relationship with the Father. How we treat others affects our relationship with the Father.

[30:37] So I want to clarify something here. This is about relational forgiveness not about salvation. So many can read into this verse.

[30:49] Remember our principle last time? We need to let Scripture interpret Scripture. We need to look at other texts. If I'm unclear on a certain text it's like what does that mean?

[31:02] Does that stand for everything all the time? Like if I pray for anything does that mean it's always answered? Well no. There's a lot of other passages that talk about prayer and help me understand oh okay, oh okay.

[31:15] Usually prayer takes a long time. Is this like the widow pounding at the door? It's not a simple name it and claim it kind of thing. Same here.

[31:26] What about this forgiveness? How do I initially receive forgiveness from the Lord? I repent and believe. I don't have to go through a checklist.

[31:38] I don't have to jump through hoops. I can't do anything to save myself. I simply receive. Right?

[31:50] Life. And that comes with recognition of what I'm receiving. Why I need that forgiveness. Okay? This is about relational forgiveness.

[32:01] This is not oh oh oh if I don't forgive anybody else then I lose my salvation. Right? No. You didn't do anything to get your salvation. You can't do anything to un-get it.

[32:12] It's in God's hands. Okay? So it was a gift. He's talking about now just relationship with him now after you're a child of him. Because notice look at verse 25 it says whenever you stand praying forgive if you have anything against anyone so that who?

[32:32] Your father. Did you notice that it says your father? Did you notice that he's already your father? father? This is not somebody first time coming who's not yet a child of him.

[32:47] This is about somebody that okay he's already my father so that your father may forgive. This is about relationship. Okay? This is not a loss of salvation kind of thing.

[32:59] It's about seeking mercy and grace from my father while I myself am merciful. So what does the father give us? What's the compassion? So that your father also who is in heaven may forgive you what?

[33:20] Your sins? Your trespasses. Your trespasses. Not just your mistakes and errors. Your trespasses. What's a trespass?

[33:31] You ever seen a no trespassing sign? What's it mean? Don't cross this barrier or you will be depends on who the owner is.

[33:48] Boy that was interesting. Right? Trust path. There's a line and I cross it.

[33:59] Okay? He will forgive you when you have deliberately crossed the line. Not just your mistakes. Not just your errors.

[34:10] Not just your oh I didn't mean that. Oh I'm so sorry. No my uh uh I ain't doing that today. I'm not praying today. I don't feel like praying today.

[34:22] I'm gonna cross that line. I may not be doing it that way but that's how I see and I just go sometimes.

[34:34] Sometimes. Don't we? Sometimes we're real rebellious. That earthly stuff that's still in us comes up.

[34:48] Well it's natural. It's unnatural not to sin. Isn't it? Sin is natural. So he will forgive those those deviations those crossing of the line those strains and rebellions.

[35:07] And as God's child who has received much forgiveness how can we not forgive? okay when you say it that way but at the time when I'm hurting I'm not thinking like that.

[35:26] Right? That's why it's hard to forgive. My natural impulse is I want to hit back. I want to strike back. I want to hurt back. I want to tell everybody else about how bad they are.

[35:39] Oh that's really tempting. Gospel. Slander. Even if what I'm saying about them is true. That's not my that's not my inner trusting believing transform being transformed person wanting to do.

[36:02] That's my outer wanting to do. You know the story. Remember the parable Jesus told about the unforgiving servant? And it started remember Jesus was talking about forgiveness and he was talking about the process of if your brother sins go reprove him in private.

[36:18] Keep it just between the two of you. And if he listens you won your brother. If he doesn't listen to you then you bring some witnesses along. Not witnesses Witnesses that are big guns for you. Witnesses that are objective and will observe all the facts.

[36:31] Maybe I don't have it right. Maybe I'm in the wrong. So I do that. I'm trying to restore this relationship. If it doesn't work then I take it to the whole church. Restoration's so important.

[36:43] Repentance is so important to take it to the whole church. Which isn't everybody seated here. It's all those who we know are members and we know are on the same page.

[36:54] We're going to go pray and seek them and humbly plead with them. So he's talking about the process of forgiveness. So then Peter says Lord how many times should we forgive?

[37:06] forgive? How often do we forgive? And then he's up to seven times? Like, like, yeah, I think I'm being pretty impressive and pretty tolerant with that one.

[37:23] Jesus up here bless your heart. I know you mean well. No, up to 70 times seven which is a Hebrew way of saying every time.

[37:37] Every time. And then he tells the parable. He tells this parable about the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants and when he began to settle one was brought to him who owed him Mark do the math on this, okay?

[37:56] Oweed him 10,000 talents. Now a talent is 20 years worth of wages. One talent. So one, so 20 years, no, yeah, 20 years times 10,000.

[38:13] 200,000. I think. How are you going to pay that? How in the world are you going to pay 200,000 days worth of wages?

[38:27] That's ridiculous. It's impossible. It's unpayable. It's a debt I cannot pay. Sound familiar? Yeah. Then, so he owes him that and since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold and his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made.

[38:44] He's not going to get 200 grand back. He's going to get something. So the servant fell on his knees imploring him, have patience with me. I will pay you everything. Still thinks he can pay back. And I pity for him the master of that servant released him and forgave the debt.

[39:01] In other words, absorbed it. Absorbed the debt. That cost that master. I'm not getting anything back. And the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 denarii.

[39:20] One denarii is one day's wages. So 100 days wages. Not petty. That's a real hurt. 100 day wages.

[39:32] I kind of need that. So he went and seized him and began to choke him saying, pay what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, have patience me and I will pay you.

[39:47] But he refused and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servant saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.

[40:00] Then his master summoned him and said to him, you wicked servant. By the way, unforgiveness is wickedness. You wicked servant.

[40:12] I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you?

[40:22] And in anger, his master delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all his debt. What's most remarkable about this story is the next comment that Jesus makes.

[40:38] Jesus said, so also my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.

[40:52] So shall my heavenly father do to you. Do what? Hand you over to the torturers? What? What's that mean?

[41:02] Is that hell? No. No, tortures. It's like Psalm 2 when David had not confessed his sin with Bathsheba and how he killed Uriah and did all the stuff that David did, remember?

[41:17] Psalm 32, he describes how God's hand was heavy on me. I'm worn out and I'm just miserable. So in other words, you will, if you are a Christian and you are unforgiving, you will be, promise you, you will be miserable.

[41:37] You will be miserable. You've opened a door for the devil to do some stuff. You're holding grudge in your heart. You think you're going to be happy and content?

[41:51] You think you're really going to get back at them by they don't even care. And then it makes it worse and I get even more angry. So forgiveness is crucial.

[42:06] Peter to Jesus, how often shall I forgive him up to seven times? Peter, how often do you want God to forgive you? Up to seven times? Okay, you've got seven chances.

[42:19] That's it. How's that work? No, I don't, I, I, I, it's like the kids on my bus. Do you want fairness? You want justice?

[42:31] Mr. Bill's not fair. Okay, you want fairness? Uh, let me, no. We want, okay. Christian forgiveness is the fruit of a growing, transforming Christian.

[42:49] It's a process. Paul instructs Christians in the church in Colossians 3. He's urging them to grow. And listen to how he's teaching them in Colossians 3.

[43:01] He says, put to death therefore what is earthly in you. That's a, that's a very clarifying way to say that. Put to death what is earthly in you.

[43:13] We see, we still have earthly in us, don't we? You're not putting to death everything. You're not putting to death all my feelings. I'm putting to death what's earthly in you.

[43:24] Sexual immorality. Wait a minute. Christians struggle with sexual immorality? Yup. Impurity, passion, evil desire, covetousness, which is idolatry.

[43:36] On account of these things the wrath of God is coming. In these you too, Christian, you too once walked when you were living in them, but now, see things are different now.

[43:48] Now, put them away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed, process, being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator.

[44:12] Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, all this stuff that doesn't come naturally.

[44:24] Put on kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with one another. That's just bearing with other Christians, by the way.

[44:38] Why don't Christians get along? If you're around long enough, you'll see. Bearing with. Because we're family. We're going to get on each other's nerves.

[44:49] We're going to disappoint one another. We're going to hurt one another. Bear with. And forgiving. Forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven you.

[45:04] So you also forgive. See, forgiveness is not easy. This is not the message. It's not easy. Sometimes forgiveness seems absolutely impossible. Because, oh, you don't know how hurt.

[45:18] I get it. I've been pretty hurt. Maybe not as deep as you, but I've been pretty hurt. I understand how hard that can be. Still get that.

[45:34] Yet Christians have help. Christians have a gift from God. And His name is the Holy Spirit. He is within us.

[45:46] He's teaching us, helping us, encouraging us, comforting us, convicting us. Sometimes it's... He's very gentle, but every once in a while He'll bring a Louisville slugger.

[46:09] I mean, when we're real obstinate, huh? It is part of Christian growth, being transformed, learning to put off the old and the new.

[46:20] Can we find something to apply in this? We must battle our old nature. What is still earthly in us.

[46:33] We must battle it, and then battle it again, and then battle it again. It never goes away until you get that resurrected body. It's our nature.

[46:48] We who are believers have two natures. We have the old one, which does everything that's natural. We have the new one, that wants to do what God wants. That's not natural.

[47:00] So we have the battle. As God's children, as we trust in His strength, as we rely on His Spirit, we are enabled to do that impossible thing to forgive.

[47:20] Sometimes it gets easier. And every once in a while God brings one along. Did you say God brought it? Yeah. God's kind of behind everything.

[47:31] Yeah. He knows what He's doing. Ah! Jesus sitting up there in heaven and imagine Peter, Randy needs a test today. Randy needs a little sharpening up.

[47:45] Peter, watch this. Oh, Lord, be easy on Him. That's how I think like that. Jesus is up there. It's for our good.

[48:01] If you're not a believer today, if you have never experienced God's forgiveness, true releasing, guilt-removing, spirit-freeing forgiveness, Jesus invites you, He calls you, He wants you to come to Him.

[48:31] Come to Him and ask. Ask. And keep asking, by the way, until you know He's answered you.

[48:44] Because Jesus is kind of like that. It's not like if I just ask Him once, He's got to give it to me, right? No, He's going to test your faith. You really want it?

[48:55] Let's see. Peter, watch. Like He did with that woman, remember? A Syrophoenician woman who wanted her daughter, demon-possessed daughter, to be healed.

[49:10] And Jesus kind of dragged it out. Put it slow. Pray, pray, pray until He answers you. Recognize your sin.

[49:20] Recognize your debt to God that you cannot pay like that unforgiving servant that owes 200,000 years of debt. Turn to Him.

[49:30] Seek from Him a new heart, new eyes, new ears. Today, today we celebrate the resurrection. He died for sinners.

[49:44] And He was raised for our salvation. It is our faith in His perfect sacrifice, His redemption of sinners that is the way that we receive the gift of righteousness.

[49:59] We are considered righteous in His eyes. Because He is risen. I say it again. He is risen.

[50:13] He is risen indeed. Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank You for Your work in our lives. Thank You that You are such a kind God. Kind to ungrateful.

[50:24] You are merciful to the undeserving. Look at how You've shown mercy to us. We don't deserve it. Help us, O Father, to be more like You.

[50:35]  so that You might hear our prayers and that our prayers might move mountains. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.