Matthew 18:21-22

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21 Then Peter came and said to Him, ``Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?'' 22 Jesus said* to him, ``I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Jesus goes beyond the Jewish traditional way of thinking about forgiveness-3 times was required!

As I see it, there are five steps in forgiving another person: 1. Remind yourself that this person is only human!

2. Relinquish your right to get even! The truth of the matter is that it is impossible to get (exactly) even. You will either not get back at them enough or you will overdo it. There is just no way to get even!

3. Be ready to hurt in order to heal! You must take the pain all by yourself! This is the real secret to the dynamic of forgiving someone. You must pay for and not demand that they do!

4. Wish them well! This could be the best real evidence that forgiveness has taken place. Try praying for them-for their success!

5. You may have to repeat the process! When Jesus was asked how many times a person ought to forgive another. His answer was 70 X 7 or 490! By the way, this doesn't mean that at 491, you can go them even!

When you make amends, you don't do it for others, but for yourself!

If you don't solicit forgiveness, you can't work well for God!

If you don't forgive others, God can't work well for you!

Matthew 18:18-20

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18 ``Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. 19 ``Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 20 ``For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.''

Although I've understood and taught the simple message of JESUS PLUS NOTHING, I think I've missed something about Jesus and walking with Him. What was missing in my thinking and experience was what we have taught right here. There are two insights here that blow my mind:

1-The principle of 2 or 3 in agreement. The power of 2 or 3 who are in agreement is incredible. This is not just agreeing together about some thought or issue. It is being in the spirit of agreement with a few brothers/sisters. When walking in that kind of agreement, God will respond.

2-The principle of 2 or 3 gathering together. The power of 2 or 3 gathering or walking together is incredible. Remember when Paul, Silas and Timothy strolled into Thessalonica-traveling and in the spirit of agreement together? Their togetherness in Jesus invites Jesus to powerfully move among them and spill over into the hearts of the Thessalonians and He did. The promise here is that when 2 or 3 gather together in the name of Jesus, Jesus will show up!

If you knew that Jesus was going to show up somewhere, wouldn't you do whatever you could do to be there? This brings us back to 3 habits:

FIRST--Walking with Jesus-IT ALL STARTS RIGHT HERE ONE DAY AT A TIME.

SECOND--Walking with others-PAYING ATTENTION TO GATHERING TOGETHER IN AGREEMENT IN THE NAME OF JESUS.

THIRD--Waiting on Jesus to lead out-JESUS WILL SHOW UP!

Matthew 18:15-20

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Jesus gives explicit instructions for what we are to do among family members in the family of Jesus. The normal approach is to sit in judgment or to gossip about it or to simply ignore it. NOTE the steps.

1) If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. It's so important that you understand that this first step will solve the problem most of the time and the person and relationship are salvaged in the process. HOWEVER, most of the time this first step is so rare.

2) But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. Here, again, this is a great second step. You go to the person alone first, then take another or two brothers or sisters with you if he refuses to hear you.

3) If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; THEN, if he refuses to listen to the 2 or 3 of you, then you are instructed to take this person before the church. What is the church? The church or assembly of believers that the person has been connected to. Note that it is assumed that this brother or sister is participating in a fellowship of believers and this fellowship has a built-in accountability factor that will save most family members' lives.

4) and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. THEN, if he refuses the urging of the fellowship around him, you are to let them go-view them as an outsider-as a person who is not in the fellowship any longer.

In addition to the clear steps on what to do, it is interesting to me that these believers in the early church were in fellowship with one another. Please understand that if a believer is not connected to an intimate fellowship, there is little hope for the one another dynamic.

Matthew 18:11-14

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11 ``For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. 12 ``What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? 13 ``If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine, which have not gone astray. 14 ``So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

Here is the heart of God. Jesus came to seek out and save those who are lost. He is looking for the one who is lost and doesn't have it altogether. This should be one of the most encouraging of Jesus' words.

In the time of Jesus the flocks were often communal flocks; they belonged, not to an individual, but to a village. There were, therefore, usually two or three shepherds with them. That is why the shepherd could leave the ninety-nine. If he had left them with no guardian he would have come back to find still more of them gone; but he could leave them in the care of his fellow-shepherds, while he sought the wanderer. The shepherds always made the most strenuous and the most sacrificial efforts to find a lost sheep. It was the rule that, if a sheep could not be brought back alive, then at least, if it was at all possible, its fleece or its bones must be brought back to prove that it was dead.

"We can imagine how the other shepherds would return with their flocks to the village fold at evening time, and how they would tell that one shepherd was still out on the mountain-side seeking a wanderer. We can imagine how the eyes of the people would turn ever and again to the hillside watching for the shepherd who had not come home; and we can imagine the shout of joy when they saw him striding along the pathway with the weary wanderer slung across his shoulder, safe at last; and we can imagine how the whole village would welcome him, and gather round with gladness to hear the story of the sheep who was lost and found. This parable teaches us many things about that love.

1. The love of God is an individual love. The ninety-and-nine were not enough; one sheep was out on the hillside and the shepherd could not rest until he had brought it home. However large a family a parent has, he cannot spare even one; there is not one who does not matter. God is like that; God cannot be happy until the last wanderer is gathered in.

2. The love of God is a patient love. Sheep are proverbially foolish creatures. The sheep has no one but itself to blame for the danger it had got itself into. Men are apt to have so little patience with the foolish ones. When they get into trouble, we are apt to say, "It's their own fault; they brought it on themselves; don't waste any sympathy on fools." God is not like that. The sheep might be foolish but the shepherd would still risk his life to save it. Men may be fools but God loves even the foolish man who has no one to blame but himself for his sin and his sorrow.

3. The love of God is a seeking love. The shepherd was not content to wait for the sheep to come back; he went out to search for it. Jesus came to seek for those who wander away. God is not content to wait until men come home; he goes out to search for them no matter what it costs him.

4. The love of God is a joyful love. Here there is nothing but joy. There are no recriminations; there is no receiving back with a grudge and a sense of superior contempt; it is all joy. So often we accept a man who is penitent with a moral lecture and a clear indication that he must regard himself as contemptible, and the practical statement that we have no further use for him and do not propose to trust him ever again. It is human never to forget a man's past and always to remember his sins against him. God puts our sins behind his back; and when we return to him, it is all joy.

5. The love of God is a protecting love. It is the love which seeks and saves.

God's love is relentless, no matter what!

Matthew 18:7-10

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7 ``Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! 8 ``If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 ``If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell. 10 ``See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually, see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

It seems obvious that Jesus is not literally talking about plucking out your eye, since you could go on sinning with one eye, one hand or one foot. These body parts are an illustration of allowing yourself to be overtaken and become a stumbling block to any other believers. I believe when Jesus speaks of little ones or little children, these are the same as believers-new believers. All were new baby believers.

Jesus is saying that we must take drastic action not to allow anything we do to be an offence or a stumbling block to other believers.

NOTE one more thing. Stumbling blocks/offences/sins are inevitable!

Timothy, my son, and I are both a little perfectionistic in certain areas. We both feel so badly when we have blown in a musical or sermon presentation-something misspoke or some sort of blunder. We commiserate often how horrible the feeling is that we carry with us all week. But this horrible, painful feeling cannot be nearly a intense as what Jesus is warning us to be careful of.

So, take a loss (a foot, a hand, an eye) rather than to participate in the stumbling block movement.