Living Waters Christian Fellowship - Lake Nacimiento - California

17:1  Then He said to the disciples, It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do
come!

2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should
offend one of these little ones.

3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.

5 And the apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith.

6 So the Lord said, If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and
be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at
once and sit down to eat’?

8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and
drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’?

9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.

10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have
done what was our duty to do.’

Introduction Love God and others. Yet sometimes it’s not so easy. Offenses, sins, rebuke, repentance, forgiveness, duty. To
dwell above...

1. We are commanded to love others, to be a blessing to them - it is our duty. v10

10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have
done what was our duty to do.’

Sometimes we want to do things only if/when we feel like it. But some things are commanded, they are our duty. Need to be
done whether we feel like it or not.

Christina going to class when she’s sick.

2. It is not loving, nor a blessing to offend others. v1-2

1  Then He said to the disciples, It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!

2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should
offend one of these little ones.

Offend = skandalon, to cause to stumble, to hinder their walk, to disappoint, disillusion

We have to be very very careful what we do to other people, the affect we may have on them. If we do something to hinder
them from following Jesus - loving God, other people, it is a very serious situation.

So many people want nothing to do with God, church, Christians because of the unkind and even brutal way they have been
treated by some so called Christians.

Some have gotten a glimpse of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees - who like presenting themselves as all holier than thou,
criticizing and judging other people, when they have a bunch of junk and garbage going on in their own lives.

Offend = skandalon, to cause to stumble, to hinder their walk, to disappoint, disillusion

It’s also good to get to the place in your Christian walk where nothing offends you. You are not a little one anymore.

3. It is loving to rebuke someone when he/she has offended us v3

3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

Sins = hamartia - your brother has missed the mark of love with you

Rebuke = epitimao - upon honor, to tell it like it is, call him to honor, to encourage him to do the right thing

4. It is loving to repent when we have offended someone and been rebuked v3

3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

Repent = metanoeo - to change your mind, have an attitude adjustment, to be sorry, to take steps to not re-offend, or miss
the mark again.

I got hit in the head with a sledge hammer. He was sorry, took steps, so did I.

5. It is loving to forgive when someone has offended us and repents v3

3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

Forgive = aphiemi - to let it go, case dismissed

But notice the 2 ifs. What if there is no repentance?

To say that we are to forgive someone who refuses to repent is asking us to do something God Himself does not do.

We may choose not to dwell on the sin or the offense. We may decide to treat the person with kindness even when they have
been unkind to us. We may hold in mind a potential forgiveness in case the person repents. We may choose to let it go, but a
person who will not repent for hurting another person cannot truly be forgiven, even by God.

I think Christians sweep a lot of really stinky stuff under the rug under the guise of forgiveness. True forgiveness cannot
happen unless there is repentance.

6. It is not loving, nor a blessing to refuse to forgive a repentant person when we have been offended. v3

3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

Are we more holy than Jesus? Do we have a higher moral gound than God?

7. We need to be committed to forgiving repeatedly v3-4

3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall
forgive him.

We need to get used to the idea that offenses will come, people will sin against us, even multiple times, even in one day,
and ask to be forgiven, and that it should be no big deal to forgive, because God has forgiven us.

8. We need to be committed to forgiving even when it’s not easy v4-5

4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall
forgive him.

5 And the apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith.

We act like it’s hard, like we need a lot of faith to forgive.

9. Jesus says we need to cowboy up and forgive v5-10

5 And the apostles said to the Lord, Increase our faith.

6 So the Lord said, If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and
be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at
once and sit down to eat’?

8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and
drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’?

9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.

10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have
done what was our duty to do.’

We act like it’s hard, like we need a lot of faith to forgive. But Jesus says it’s no big deal, that faith is readily
available (v6), and that if we forgive, even multiple times in a day, we have just done our duty and deserve no special
recognition. (v7-10)

Conclusions Love God and others. Yet sometimes it’s not so easy. Offenses, sins, rebuke, repentance, forgiveness, duty.

Bottom line - Jesus is serious about commanding us to keep the peace in our relationships with others. Inasmuch as lies
withing you, live in peace with all people.

So be careful not to offend, nor be offended. But if offenses come, tell it like it is, get an attitude adjustment, forgive,
even forgive repeatedly, and move on.

This is not a suggestion, but a command. It is our duty to do our best to get along and to resolve differences, offenses,
problems.