The Characteristics of a Forgiving Person Part 1

Pastor Mike will be speaking on The Characteristics of a Forgiving Person Part 1. He will be reading out of Philemon 1:1-7.

I don’t want you to think that somehow it’s some deep mystical magical formula that is going to help you to be motivated to be a forgiving person if you Question why you should forgive others. All you got to do is get to the foot of the cross Hello, this is pastor Mike Sanders welcome to hope worth having radio broadcasts We’re looking forward to studying the Bible together. And today we’re starting a new series called the characteristics of a forgiving Person we’re going to be looking into the book of Philemon chapter 1 of course, it’s only one chapter but a series of verses and we are looking forward to Looking at this all-important question relating to our relationships with other people So let’s get our Bible and let’s get to studying right now Want you to take your Bible this morning and I want you to go to the book of Philemon Now, I know you’re saying pastor Mike Philemon.

Where is that? Well, let’s start in the New Testament and if you get to the book of Hebrews It’s right before the book of Hebrews if you run into Titus It’s right after Titus and so it’s towards the end of the New Testament You should find Philemon in my Bible. It’s just one page So be careful because every once in a while some of my pages of the Bible get stuck together and you might actually skip over Poor Philemon, but I want you to get there now We are beginning a new series a new study that I want to begin through the book of Philemon now It’s a very short letter and so it won’t take us long but it is a powerful message and there are certainly many things that must be addressed in this book and Today we’re going to talk about the characteristics of a forgiving person the book of Philemon the whole theme is forgiveness that’s the purpose of the letter is the Apostle is addressing Philemon who was a leader in the church and Philemon had a runaway slave named Onesimus Whom Paul had led to Christ while he was in prison as it happens Philemon his owner was a Christian and so most likely the Apostle led Philemon as well to Christ and Onesimus was Paul’s brother in Christ and So now Paul is writing to Philemon and he’s encouraging Philemon to receive Onesimus as an equal brother in Jesus Christ Philemon was not only a leader in the church, but the church actually gathered in his home We’ll read about that the church at Colossae met in his house in the early church many of the churches Gathered in either public places or they met in people’s homes they did not have the right to have ownership or Property and certainly in the infant stages of the church. There was so much happening that thinking about trying to have a building or a place where the church would own and gather Was very difficult But they met in Philemon’s home and we see this throughout the scriptures many believers opened their home for God’s people together and to be able to worship the Lord now Philemon is being instructed and appealed to By the Apostle Paul and the instruction is that he is to forgive Onesimus He is to accept him That he is to understand and receive him as a brother in the Lord’s Family now when we come to this passage This is a very difficult topic of forgiveness and in these few weeks that we’ll be together about this letter this book in the Bible we’re going to address what is forgiveness and How do we forgive what is not forgiveness? Sometimes people struggle.

What are some of those obstacles that we have as believers to forgiveness someone once said That there can be no enduring relationships without forgiveness a husband and wife could never have many years of marriage without the willingness of both of them to be Forgiving and it’s the same way in the family of God What you’ll often see in the church is in America This is not true in other lands and other countries, but because there are so many gatherings of believers different places different buildings You go to some cities. There’s almost a church on every corner of That community and so as soon as somebody gets offended or they get hurt or they have a disagreement they run Rather than addressing those issues they run People like to run and they run from one church to the other now we understand that sometimes people might change a church for theological reasons or They may leave a church because of some of the ministries may no longer exist that they were receiving or needed We understand those things but in general We have to be careful that every time we have a disagreement with our brothers and sisters in Christ that we don’t fall into the trap of running to another church and We like to call them church hoppers and church shoppers and they run from church to church Thinking that no one will ever offend them in that new church. I like to tell our new members this It’s really a shocker to them when they take the membership class.

I want you to know that somewhere somehow Someway pastor Mike is gonna upset you. How about that now? It’s not intentional I don’t rise up every morning and say how can I hurt their feelings? But what I want you to know that a there’s flesh on these bones. I mean, I’ve been married 30 I’m coming up on 34 years May 19th.

And so I know that I’m not perfect But I want you to understand that whether it’s a relationship in the home or relationships in the church, the only way that these Relationships can work is that we have to be forgiving We have to be forgiving. I’ve served here for almost 20 years now and We’re in our 20th year. And how does that happen? I mean some churches have already been through four or five six pastors since I’ve shown up and How does that happen? Well, I would say to you that you are a very forgiving people But before you pound your chest don’t forget I’m a very forgiving pastor So in order for us to have a relationship this long it takes Grace, and it takes forgiveness.

It takes God’s good work in each of our hearts So I don’t want you to misunderstand this passage. I don’t want you to somehow say well I’m gonna stay home during this tough lesson on forgiveness but I’ll tell you another topic that I want to address with you and that is what does the Bible teach about slavery and Why doesn’t the Bible? directly condemn slavery as A matter of fact when we read the scriptures we see that those who are slaves and those who are masters are given instructions on How to treat one another That’s sometimes very difficult for Unbelievers much less believers to process in their mind. So you hang in there.

We will not address it today but we will be addressing this topic of slavery and how do we address this as Believers because it will be brought up in conversations It will be as you’re out there Witnessing for Christ brought up by many especially the younger generation as they try to understand why? The Bible does not condemn slavery so today I want to talk about the characteristics of a Forgiving person note with me again in verse 1 the Apostle says Paul a prisoner of Christ Jesus and Timothy our brother to Philemon our beloved friend and fellow laborer to the beloved at FIA Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church in your house Grace to you and peace from God and our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ I think my God making mention of you always in my prayers hearing of your love and faith Which you have towards the Lord Jesus and towards all the saints that the sharing of your faith May become effective by the acknowledgement of every good thing Which is in you in Christ Jesus? for we have great joy and consolation or comfort in your love Because the hearts of the Saints have been refreshed by you Brother, remember that the Apostle is writing this letter So that he can encourage his dear brother in Christ Philemon to forgive Onesimus the Apostle ran into Onesimus not out on the street market or any particular place outside in the community, but he ran into him in prison and Amazingly the Apostle Paul being a great man of faith Was continuing to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ Somewhere in the midst of all that was happening in this prison The Apostle begins to have a spiritual conversation with Onesimus and helps him to understand that he is a sinner in need of a Savior Onesimus responds in humility and honesty before God and receives the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior Now I’m sure that Onesimus was telling the Apostle his story All of the details all of the mistakes and all the things that he had done we learned that Onesimus was a man who was a slave to Philemon and That he was a runaway slave not because somehow he was mistreated But because he had stolen money from Philemon the Apostle begins to disciple Onesimus and begins to train him that he needs to make things right with Philemon and that he needs to once again restore and do restitution to what he had taken from Philemon that is the whole background of This letter and the Apostle begins this letter not with condemnation to Philemon Not even to coming in there with a lot of pressure and a lot of demands upon Philemon But what we really see is that Paul is giving a favorable assessment of Philemon’s character It’s important for us to understand that because as the Apostle was teaching us about the character of Philemon He is also teaching us the kind of character we need Because if we’re to be a forgiving person, there are certain things that need to be true in our life if we’re a person of anger and bitterness and hate if we’re a person that as soon as we Disagree with somebody we torch the bridge and everything is over then we’re not going to have the characteristics of a forgiving person as We’ve already stated to you. There is no lasting relationships without forgiveness You can’t have a lasting relationship with your children without forgiveness and children can’t have a lasting relationship with their parents without forgiveness We understand that whether the Relationship is in the community at the job or in the church or in the home That there are no lasting relationships without forgiveness When we think about this great question of why? Why should I be a forgiving person? We can certainly come up with a lot of things that are true and they are healthy in your life But the bottom line for the believer as to why we should be a forgiving person is because Christ has forgiven us. I Don’t want you to think that somehow it’s some deep mystical magical Formula that is going to help you to be motivated to be a forgiving person if you question why you should forgive others all you got to do is get to the foot of the cross and Realize that you were not worthy.

I am NOT worthy of any forgiveness that God might show upon us and When we think about our life and our journey of faith as we are trying to be fully devoted followers of Christ you know, there are many times that all of us have stumbled and We have fumbled and We have made bad choices We have had bad thoughts and our motives have not always been pure and we have stumbled in our effort to live faithfully for the Lord Jesus Christ But yet as we have already taken time in this service We have clung to that promise that if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to do what church forgive us He not only forgives us, but he cleanses us of all of our unrighteousness that God is effectively and he is constantly working within me shaping me and Sharpening me to reflect the very image of Jesus Christ in this world and There is nothing more that’ll bring out the best of you and the worst of you Than having a relationship with another human being Because we are flawed people We are naturally and I’m throwing myself in there. I’m not picking on you But I want you to know we are naturally selfish We were like the old advertisement of Burger King. We wanted our way right away, man, I Went to the hospital this many years ago to visit one of our members and they were getting ready to have surgery and right there in the waiting room there was a big old sign and said it’s all about you and I want to tell them it’s not But I kept my mouth shut lest I be thrown out of the hospital And make the front page the pastor thrown out because he insists it’s not about you friends I want you to know as hard as it is for us to understand this that it’s not about us.

It’s about the Lord Jesus It’s about us glorifying God. It’s about us living our lives for him So as Paul was making this big lift This big ask if you will to Philemon He begins to commend him He begins to encourage him and he teaches us the three characteristics that are needed If any of us are going to be a forgiving people What are the characteristics that we see in Philemon that need to be in us? Number one is that we need to have a passion for pleasing the Lord We need to have a passion for pleasing the Lord Do not think that somehow pastor Mike is brushing over the first few verses because I’m not we’ll come back to them But in relation to what I want to share with you, I want you to look at verse 5 The Bible says that the Apostle says of Philemon I’m hearing of your love and faith Which you have towards the Lord Jesus Philemon was a man of faith. He was a man of love.

He was a man who not only had faith But he had this incredible love and so we learned that this is at the outset Should be the desire of every believer who understands that because we have been forgiven by Christ that we must be a Forgiving people but in order for us to forgive We need to have the characteristic of a desire and a passion to please the Lord What is it that helps us to please the Lord first is faith in the Lord We never are under the assumption that everyone that gathers with us truly has faith in Jesus Christ We never are under the assumption that people have all received Christ and trusted him as their Lord and Savior We recognize that even in the body and the family of God There can be those who have gone through the motions who have taken all the classes and they’ve done Everything that they’ve been asked for but they’ve never truly had faith in Jesus Christ the Apostle continues to hear positive reports about Philemon One of those things that he hears is that this is a man of faith That he is a man who has faith Towards the Lord Jesus Christ and I want you to see that and I want you to know that and when we think about faith I want you to remember not all faith is saving faith Did you hear me not all faith is saving faith you say pastor I believe I Believe well, I am convinced that there are many who miss heaven by 18 inches That is they have a head knowledge of Jesus Christ, but they have never in their heart fully Received Christ as their Lord if I could send out a warning to all parents and grandparents It would be to make sure that you are having healthy discussions with your children and your grandchildren About what is true faith? You don’t get to heaven because your parents are leaders in the church or that they are active in the church or they are Faithful in the church. You don’t get to heaven because of your parents and grandparents faith you get to heaven because you Truly in your own heart have received Christ as your Lord and Savior Saving faith isn’t just a head knowledge about Jesus. We know that the Bible tells us the demons believe also There is a distinction of what is saving faith and Yes, the demons believe and yes, they have this mental Acknowledgement and they recognize that Jesus is the Son of God and they recognize that Jesus was sent from the Father and he came to this earth and died on a cross and that he Resurrected the third day they have all that information But they have never experienced the transformation of the gospel of Jesus Christ in Our hearts we are constantly Admonished by the Apostle that we are to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith.

I Know some Christians they don’t like that and they have even expressed that to me when I preach on it And they tell me that I should not encourage people to examine the faith and I tell them I teach the whole Council of the Lord of God From Genesis to Revelation. I teach it all and I want you to know I’m not trying to create insecurity in your faith I’m not trying to cause you to doubt your faith I’m not trying to somehow Explain away some particular spiritual experience you may have had in your life But I want to make sure that you have a genuine relationship and faith with the Lord Jesus Christ saving faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life and It is necessary for salvation Saving faith is that I’m willing to turn away from my sin and I’m willing to turn to Christ for my salvation and If you’re just one of those people who said, you know, I got to get this person out of my life They keep talking to me about salvation They keep talking to me about Jesus and I just pray the prayer and I pray it so I can get them out So I can get mom and dad off of my back So that they will leave me alone and I can just say yeah, I prayed that prayer Well friends, I want you to know that’s not saving faith you must humbly come to God and be honest with him and Receive him as your Lord and Savior We see in Philemon that he not only had faith in the Lord, but he had a love towards Jesus Christ Look at the text again, and it says he talks about his love his faith Certainly he had a love towards Jesus Christ This is what I think is the greatest mark of a disciple That if you say you’re a true follower of Christ that it is love That is the supreme mark of discipleship It is not just something that pastor thinks about or has thought up or has dreamed up But it is actually the Word of God For the Bible teaches us that when Jesus was asked what is the greatest or we could put it this way the most important commandment in the Bible If you were to think of it this way You might think what is the bottom line of the Bible? The Bible says a lot and sometimes we can get lost in the weeds and trying to figure out this and that and what should we? Believe what shouldn’t we believe but really here’s the bottom line Matthew Jesus’s response was recorded in Matthew 22 verse 36 through 38 The question was master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him thou shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart With all your soul with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment How do I know that? My faith is real You’re gonna truly want to love God You can’t get enough of Jesus that your love for him is not only intense But it is passionate and you long to please him you long To spend time with him You understand that God is calling you to love when you read first John when people come to me and they say I’m not sure That I’m a believer.

I’m not sure that I I Truly have the assurance of my salvation. I encourage them to take time to read through first John and Why would I tell him that because first John is really summed up like this in That God is constantly challenging us to love him and Not to love the world We are commanded many times to not love the world not love the things of the world and you see the direction of your heart is a Reflection of your heart. It’s not that you’re perfect It’s not that you’ve got everything figured out and it’s not that you even have all the answers But the question you have to ask yourself, what is the direction of my heart? Is it a heart that loves God? Is it at a heart that desires to please God and to serve God? This is the Manifestation that you are a true disciple of God now I Also want you to see the second characteristic of a forgiving person It is not only that they have a passion to please the Lord, but they have a passion to be patient with God’s people I Know some of you saying check I got the first one pastor but this second one I’m gonna really struggle with hey, I want you to know I’m right there Remember that you know, I have to go through all this putting this together.

It’s torturous sometimes Putting a sermon together because God is you know attacking me He’s working on Mike Long before I come before you and have to present these wonderful truths that are in the Word of God I’ve been wrestling with them. Some people say what’s wrong with the pastor? Well, it may be that he’s under the heavy weight of conviction of the Word of God It’s not that I don’t like you it’s just that God has been working on my own heart And I got to be ready and I got to be prepared personally to stand before you But here is this second point that I want to bring to your attention about Philemon is that he was a person who was patient With God’s people the Apostle brings this to our attention and I want you to see up on the screen how I asked them to put it up there because Remember the Apostle said I’m hearing of your love and it wasn’t just his love for God But it was a love towards all the Saints not just the ones that are nice to him Not just the ones that work with him not just the ones that cooperate with him that Philemon is a leader in the church and he Had a love it was well known that he had a love towards all the Saints and that the sharing of your faith may become Effectively by the acknowledgement of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus Wow That’s a lot to think about But let’s break this down in order for me to be patient with God’s people I first just like my relationship with God. I have to have a love For people true faith expresses itself in love There are no long lasting relationships without forgiveness and that is what the Bible is teaching us when we think about the Characteristics of a forgiving person and whether it’s you forgiving someone or someone forgiving you We all stand in need of forgiveness from one another but the greater forgiveness that we need is found in Jesus Christ and we’ll never have a Forgiving heart if we ourselves have not received the forgiveness of Jesus Christ So we encourage you to humble your heart before him today and to receive him as your Lord and Savior And to acknowledge your sinfulness before him and as you repent and believe God will wash away your sins and give you a brand new start and then you’ll have the great opportunity to forgive Others as God has done a great work in your life Now we want to remind you that at hope worth having we have a website you can learn more about forgiveness More about the ministry more teaching of God’s Word.

So check us out on hope worth having Dot-com that’s hopeworthhaving.com and learn more about this ministry and how you can grow in your faith This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope worth having