Three Steps To Restoration - Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ brother sins, newscaster is upset on and on. We are a country not of sinners but a mistake.

There's just some systems. It was a mistake's influence received sin and that means this it can't be excused can't be ignored can only be forgiven going out today on this additional Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt Fellowship in the Words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie when Pastor Bill got for now is once again he shows us how God's word meets his name Simon Wiesenthal midyear was 1944 he was a young prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp.

And yes, he was a Jew as the Allied army approached, he realized that he would live in as they swept by the camp where he was.

His duties changed and he began carrying supplies to a hospital nearby. There he met a Red Cross nurse who simply asking the question, are you would you he said that he was and she said follow me. There is a young German officer covered in bandages, barely able to speak that needs to talk to you. His name was Carl and when Simon approached Carl. Carl started to confess what was torturing him three times, Simon writes that he wanted to get away each time Carl would grab his arm. See, it turned out that he was with a group of German soldiers pursuing some Russians who were in retreat in the Russian set a booby-trap and 30 German soldiers were killed by the booby-trap. He said that we were so enraged by what happened to us. We rounded up 300 Jews old young man, women and children and we drove them into a house and then we douse the house with gasoline and then we threw grenades into the house to ignite and he said that then what we did is we got into the periphery and any of them the tribe to come out. We would shoot to death as they come out of the house.

He specifically remember to mother and father jumping from seven second story window with the child in their arms, and he was part of shooting the three of them. He then said this, I cannot die without coming clean.

This must be my confession, I am left her with my guilt in the last hours of my life. You were with me.

I do not know who you are. I only know that you are a Jew and that's enough.

I know what I have told was terrible in the long nights while I been waiting for death time and time again I have long to talk about it to a Jew and beg forgiveness from only I didn't know whether there were any Jews left. I know what I am asking is almost too much for you, but without your answer I cannot die in peace Simon Wiesenthal said I thought about it for a moment and left the room. In 1969. After thinking about this for all those many years. Wiesenthal wrote a book called the sunflower and when he wrote the book the idea of the book was the described this exact situation.

He has a Jewish POW and German concentration camp and he invited theologians, philosophers, politicians to write to him in letter form and that became the book did he do the right thing over Wyoming only virtually every response he got was that he did the right thing by the way right. Wiesenthal was never really sure what would you what would you have done. Wiesenthal describes in his book how we used to see the mass graves of Jewish men and women just pile on top of each other 5000, 200 and time and just covered it with dirt mojo done.

Forgiveness seems to be a much easier topic when it's theoretical, especially for Christians, when we get into the idea of theology or theoretical. It makes a lot of sense to us. But what about when it's painfully real CM in the series forgiveness.

The cornerstone of all relationships and after all these years of preaching and teaching the word of God.

I have become a complete matter realist. I know that no matter what I teach or preach about forgiveness. There will be marriages that dissolve there will be friendships. The collapse there will be families that unravel there will be groups that support.

I understand that seen in all the years that I've been here. I also the realize that many of you are thinking or have thought a pastor will think in the future. Forgiveness doesn't work. It just doesn't work. I mean, I forgave nothing happened or it's been all these years and he or she will never forgive me.

I think the problem of that kind of thinking is you have a specific kind of forgiveness in mind what I would call the ideal of forgiveness. In other words, forgiveness that leads to restoration. In other words, a forgiveness that brings about a reconciliation and then a restoration of the relationship. But there's more to it.

If you're going for restoration, and simply forgetting no one spoke more clearly on this in a more succinct way than Jesus Christ in Luke chapter 17 Luke chapter 17 the context of the entire chapter is kingdom values for the followers of Jesus, so he jumps from one topic to another. Here is going to deal with forgiveness. He deals with service he deals with gratitude all kinds of things you try let his disciples know some very important things.

This is late in his ministry. The immediate context though of how important it is to get this point comes from one phrase in the beginning of verse three be on your guard, that's Jesus speaking to his disciples.

You be on your guard, there's in!

In English Bible. There's no punctuation the Greek text with the word orders reverse and that's why the! Needed be on your guard. This important implies something else. This is hard viewing your guard NIV I think is translated so watch yourselves. Jesus is saying something here. What's he talking about will look back to verse one. He said to his disciples. It is inevitable that stumbling blocks, but woe to him, through whom they have come. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he was thrown into the sea. Then he said it would if he would cause one of these little ones to stumble, Jesus, and what we need to be on our guard against causing others to sin. In this context he may referring to young believers in Matthew 18 he's referring to children clearly because he has the children come to him and then he says, is there probably not parallel accounts but probably accounts in two different periods of time, but on the other hand, he says you have to be on your guard against the temptation of not forgiving those who sin against adult because other people to sin, but don't you get caught not forgiving those who sin against you. Be on your guard. He then gives three steps to the restoration process. How do you get from a sin to a restored process. Jesus said three steps ideal forgiveness begins by dealing with sin. Honestly, notice viewing your guard if your brother sins now that seems kind of obvious to us but maybe not as obvious as you think. Here's what were supposed to forgive sin. That's what we forgive sin not the reason I say that is, there may be people around you work every day. There may be siblings and your family, neighbors, in your neighborhood, you may be married to one of these people and they do a lot of things that irritate you.

They annoy you they upset you, but that's not necessarily sin you seek. People can annoy you without sending people can upset you without sitting the problem in that case is not them. The problem is you. You see, it's your problem.

As a Christian when people act like that and it's not sinning. What is that requiring your part.

Well how about a few synonyms, enduring. How about forbearing. How about patient. How about long-suffering about tolerant. You see, that's what we are to be some of us get kinda confused with that and we think that anybody that upsets us deserves our forgiveness. They don't effectively take it far enough we may deserve. There's you see you can turn that attitude into sin.

Think of Miriam and Moses. She was jealous of Moses ginned up sinning against Moses because of the jealousy Moses at Menninger Masson, David was David sinning against all know was offset with yes was irritated by as we know it through the spirit more than once. You see, that has to do with us. There's another factor here, though, if your brother sins that support is not very popular now was last time a newscast you heard that word is upset on and on.

We are a country not of sinners but a mistake. There's just made a mistake. That's always just a mistake. It was a mistake, but it was a sinful mistake you see it. Sin and that means this it can't be excused, it can't be ignored can only be forgiven if he can only be forgiven. CS Lewis says it well. He's a real forgiveness means steadily looking at the sin the sin that is left over without any excuse.

After all allowances been made and seeing it for all its horror it's dirt its meanness and its malice is that of sinners. It also can't be buried so many people bearing this Barry sin you can. Again, it has to be forgiven first. Mark McMinn says this we all know the phrase time heals all wounds.

He then says but unintended wounds do not automatically heal. Time heals clean wounds, he says, but soil dirty wounds fester and get infected.

He said the same thing happens both in our inner being and in our relationships when we attempt to suppress the sins done to us. If your brother sins against you, not I know what you might be thinking there's a cliché that we live by forgive and forget.

Right you just forgive and forget. First of all it's it's hard to forgive. It's impossible to forget. And I know some of you were spiritual always come up to me afterwards insipidus, place in the Bible.

I read them earlier in the series were God forgets thoughts of the remember your sin no more.

Okay, no, what does he mean when he says if he says God forgets and never remembers your sin, then why are the Scriptures filled with the sins of believers. If God forgot Omar David sins in here yet and written down by the power the Holy Spirit, he will. David sings down I thought he forgot that's not exactly God's God think he forgets much. You see, I think there's something else here.

It means he does not remember them against us. He never remembers them against us. It is not a treatise on the basis of our sins because he forgives. That's what he means.

Gregory Jones writes this he said is largely a mistake to say forgive and forget. Whether the judgment of grace enables us to the power of the Holy Spirit to remember well when God promises the blot out Israel's transgressions and remember their sins no more, as he said to Jeremiah, God is not simply putting bygones be bygones. Rather, God is testifying to God's own gracious faithfulness to us. If you're going to have restoration in a broken relationship because of sin, the ideal forgiveness begins with dealing with the sin honestly viewing your guard if your brother sins here. Step two.

Rebuke him if your brother sins rebuke him ideal forgiveness confronts sin courageously. By the way if you've ever done that with someone you know how much courage it takes. If your brother sins rebuke him, but does that mean rebuke compound word epi tomorrow epi tomorrow tomorrow means something that is honored or valued. Epi means against in other words, something that is dishonorable, dishonorable behavior. That's what sin is viewed as that's like saying to someone this is dishonorable, is dishonorable to God dishonorable to Christ dishonorable to me. You see if your brother sins rebuke him now some of you like this verse but if you like it. I don't think you're rebuking anybody. I think of condemning people you see when he talks about rebuking here. It's not punitive that's not what it is. He's not saying Boykin brother since you got to see in your liver that you maybe want those people that just like a look at what all the people around you and see if anyone's doing anything wrong.

So you got there people to believe they have the gift of admonition. That's not that's not how it works and we can look at it will come back your bench are looking a couple of the verses versus go the Old Testament.

Leviticus chapter 19 Moses writing Leviticus chapter 19 just to versus verses 17 and 18. There's a lot of good stuff in those two verses Moses writing Leviticus says this you shall not hate your fellow countrymen in your heart you may surely reprove your neighbor same idea you notice, you shall not hate your fellow countrymen in your heart.

You shall surely you may surely reprove your neighbor, rebuke them, admonish them, he says, but shall not incur sin because the leg or neighbor influence you in that way.

He said you shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

I am the Lord. Now notice what is talks about. He says were not. They hate our brother and were to love them in the midst of that love and hate sandwich. The main courses here. You may surely reprove them. In other words, if I love you and you sin. I reviewed if I love you see this is a matter of self-righteousness. This is in a matter some punitive behavior. This is an act of love and by the way, when Jesus said rebuke it's an imperative mood. It's commanded he said when someone sends you rebuke them now when sure you couple examples here told me the book of acts chapter 20 the book of acts chapter 20 and I will look at verse 31 Paul was speaking for the last time to the elders of the church of Ephesus visibly the last words I ever hear from him. Paul was in Ephesus for three years that church got more of his personal attention than any church any speaking and warning.

He keeps saying to these elders you be on your guard you.

Be alert, watch out. Savage wolves are going to commit the outside. Teachers commit assumes I leave you deal with them, but verse 31 is the one I'm most interested in.

He says therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years. I did not cease to admonish Eiji three years of admonition three years, and the implication the policy.

Speaking to the elders and he said each one of you for three years. When you send I rebuke you when you send I rebuke you now this is not self-righteous because we know Paul is not.

This is not punitive. In fact, parses them explain the context he says therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years. I did not cease to admonish each one with tears with tears sees attitude is heartbroken and like doing this. This is in some self-righteous thing this is a punitive. This is with tears. This is with tremendous humility using pulses at it. I don't enjoy this process of all who would ever enjoy rebuking and admonishing anybody who would enjoy that a self-righteous person. The apostle Paul would not, by the way, where did that get Paul with them. Well, look down at verse 36 and when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all and they began to weep aloud and embrace Paul repeatedly grown men notice even talk about all the things he taught them he taught them a lot.

He talks about how he admonished how he rebuke them for three years. I would Paul do that because Paula Jesus Christ understands the incredible consequences of sin. Since horrible since terrible sin is not only the reason our Lord went to the cross and died, but sin is the reason we have tears in our life agony and relationships, life can become miserable because of sin, because as a principal or play God is not mocked. Whatever a man or a woman so so shall you reap. There are consequences of sin, and sin not only hurt you to hurt everybody about how you everybody that cares for you. Think of what happens.

Think of an alcoholic, abusive husband and father. With that sin. Think what happens to that marriage and those children to grow up in a household. Think of it, you see somebody has to stand up a salmon rebuke. You see, we have to deal with that. That's what Paul was saying bathroom number on the radio ministry of fellowship in the world.

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I'm Jason Denhardt. Thank you for listening to fellowship in order