Taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1978 by the New York
Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
The Torrey Collection - Chapter 3
III. THE BEST TEXTS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIFFICULTIES
1. "I am too great a sinner."
1TI 1:15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance:
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the
worst.
ROM 5:6, 8 You see, at just the right time, when we were still
powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. . .But God demonstrates his own
love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
ISA 1:18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though
your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they
are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."
JOH 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal
life."
ACT 10:43 "All the prophets testify about him that everyone who
believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
LUK 19:10 "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
JOH 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever
comes to me I will never drive away.
2. "My heart is too hard."
EZE 36:26-27 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of
flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my
decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
3. "I must become better before I become a Christian."
MAT 9:12-13 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who
need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I
desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners."
LUK 15:18, 20-24 I will set out and go back to my father and say to
him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. . .So he got
up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his
father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his
son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. "The son said to him,
'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer
worthy to be called your son.' "But the father said to his servants,
'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger
and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's
have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive
again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate."
LUK 18:10-14 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee
and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about
himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers,
evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a
week and give a tenth of all I get.' "But the tax collector stood at a
distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and
said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' "I tell you that this man,
rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who
exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be
exalted."
ISA 44:22 "I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins
like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."
4. "I am afraid I can't hold out";or, "I am afraid I shall fail, if I
try."
JOH 10:28-29 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no
one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to
me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's
hand.
ISA 41:10, 13 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed,
for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold
you with my righteous right hand. . .For I am the LORD, your God, who
takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help
you.
1PE 1:5 . . .Who through faith are shielded by God's power until the
coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
2TI 1:12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed,
because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able
to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
JUD 1:24-25 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present
you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--to
the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through
Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
2CH 32:7-8 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged
because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is
a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of
flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our
battles." And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king
of Judah said.
2TH 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect
you from the evil one.
ROM 14:4 Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own
master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to
make him stand.
1CO 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.
And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can
bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that
you can stand up under it.
5. "But I am so weak."
2CO 12:9-10 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my
power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more
gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That
is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in
hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I
am strong.
PHI 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
1CO 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.
And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can
bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that
you can stand up under it.
6. "I have tried before and failed."
LUK 22:31-32 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But
I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when
you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
ROM 8:3-4 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened
by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,
in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met
in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to
the Spirit.
ISA 40:29-31 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of
the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and
fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They
will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they
will walk and not be faint.
PSA 119:11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin
against you.
1JO 5:4 For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the
victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
1PE 5:6-10 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that
he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he
cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil
prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist
him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers
throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And
the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ,
after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and
make you strong, firm and steadfast.
7. "I can't give up my evil ways."
GAL 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what
he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature
will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the
Spirit will reap eternal life.
PHI 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
JOH 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
1CO 15:1-4 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I
preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your
stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I
preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I
received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he
was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
8. "I will be persecuted if I become a Christian."
2TI 3:12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ
Jesus will be persecuted.
MAT 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of
righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you
when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil
against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your
reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who
were before you.
MAR 8:35, 38 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. If
anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his
Father's glory with the holy angels.
ROM 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth
comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
ACT 14:22 . . .Strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to
remain true to the faith. "We must go through many hardships to enter
the kingdom of God," they said.
ACT 5:40-41 His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and
had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of
Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing
because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the
Name.
2TI 2:12 If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him,
he will also disown us.
HEB 12:2-3 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of
our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning
its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you
will not grow weary and lose heart.
1PE 2:20-21 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for
doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you
endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called,
because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you
should follow in his steps.
9. "It will hurt my business,"; or "I will lose my position."
MAR 8:36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet
forfeit his soul?
MAT 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all
these things will be given to you as well.
10. "There is too much to give up."
MAR 8:36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet
forfeit his soul?
PSA 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor
and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is
blameless.
ROM 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us
all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all
things?
1JO 2:15-17 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything
in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the
boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from
the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does
the will of God lives forever.
HEB 11:24-26 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known
as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with
the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short
time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value
than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his
reward.
LUK 12:16-21 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain
rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do?
I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll
do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will
store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have
plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat,
drink and be merry."'
"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be
demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for
yourself?' "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for
himself but is not rich toward God."
PHI 3:7-8 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the
sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to
the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose
sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain
Christ.
11. "The Christian life is too hard."
MAT 11:30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
PRO 3:17 Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.
PRO 13:15 Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful
is hard.
12. "I am afraid of ridicule."
PRO 29:25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in
the LORD is kept safe.
MAR 8:38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous
and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he
comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.
13. "I will lose my companions."
PRO 13:20 He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of
fools suffers harm.
PSA 1:1-2 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates
day and night.
1JO 1:3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you
also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
JAM 4:4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the
world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the
world becomes an enemy of God.
14. "I have no feeling."
What feeling do you expect?
a. "The joy that Christians talk of"
GAL 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness. . .
ACT 5:32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit,
whom God has given to those who obey him.
1PE 1:8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though
you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an
inexpressible and glorious joy.
MAT 10:32 Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge
him before my Father in heaven.
EPH 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were
marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.
ROM 10:10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are
justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
b. "Sorrow for sin"
1. Passages for the careless.
ROM 3:22-23 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus
Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God.
1JO 1:8, 10 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and
the truth is not in us. . . If we claim we have not sinned, we make him
out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
MAT 22:37-38 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the
first and greatest commandment."
PSA 130:3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could
stand?
ISA 57:20-21 But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot
rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. "There is no peace," says my
God, "for the wicked."
JOH 8:34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a
slave to sin.
GAL 3:10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it
is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything
written in the Book of the Law."
JOH 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever
rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
HEB 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because
anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards
those who earnestly seek him.
JOH 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does
not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the
name of God's one and only Son.
ROM 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
2TH 1:7-9 . . .And give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as
well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in
blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not
know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be
punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of
the Lord and from the majesty of his power.
JOH 8:24 "I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not
believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your
sins."
JOH 8:21 Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will
look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot
come."
REV 21:8 "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers,
the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and
all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
This is the second death."
HEB 10:28-29 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy
on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do
you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God
under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the
covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
2. Show that it is not feeling sorry for sin, but turning away from
sin and receiving Christ that God demands.
ISA 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our
God, for he will freely pardon.
JOH 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his
name, he gave the right to become children of God.
ACT 16:31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be
saved--you and your household."
15. "I have been seeking Christ, but cannot find Him."
JER 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your
heart.
LUK 15:3-10 Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has
a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-
nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes
home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says,
'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the
same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who
repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to
repent.
"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not
light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and
says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I
tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over
one sinner who repents."
LUK 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
All passages under Chapter 2
16. "I have sinned away the day of grace"; or "God won't receive me."
JOH 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever
comes to me I will never drive away.
ROM 10:13 "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
2CH 33:1-13 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he
reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. He did evil in the eyes of the
LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had
driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father
Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made
Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped
them. He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had
said, "My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever." In both courts of the
temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He
sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced
sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and
spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to
anger.
He took the carved image he had made and put it in God's temple, of
which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this temple and
in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I
will put my Name forever. I will not again make the feet of the
Israelites leave the land I assigned to your forefathers, if only they
will be careful to do everything I commanded them concerning all the
laws, decrees and ordinances given through Moses." But Manasseh led
Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil
than the nations the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.
The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.
So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of
Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him
with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. In his distress he sought
the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the
God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by
his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to
Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.
17. "I have committed the unpardonable sin."
(Show just what the unpardonable sin is.)
MAT 12:31-32 And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be
forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be
forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be
forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be
forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
(Explain Hebrews 6:4-6):
HEB 6:4-6 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened,
who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,
who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the
coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance,
because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again
and subjecting him to public disgrace.
(This describes one who "falls away," i.e., becomes an apostate,
renounces Christianity, and goes back to Judaism; not one who merely
falls into sin, as Peter did. Then use the passages under 16.)
[Note: The unpardonable sin is really the sin of unbelief. The Holy
Spirit seeks to convince the world of the truth of the Gospel,
therefore when someone rejects the Gospel they simply are declaring
that they feel that the Holy Spirit is a liar--blasphemy. This sin is
only committed when a person makes the final and unchangeable decision
not to believe the Gospel.]
18. "It is too late."
DEU 4:30-31 When you are in distress and all these things have
happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your
God and obey him. For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not
abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers,
which he confirmed to them by oath.
2PE 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some
understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
REV 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears
say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let
him take the free gift of the water of life.
19. "Christians are so inconsistent."
ROM 14:12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
ROM 2:1-5 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on
someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are
condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is
based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet
do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or do
you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and
patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward
repentance?
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are
storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his
righteous judgment will be revealed.
MAT 7:1-5 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same
way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use,
it will be measured to you.
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay
no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your
brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time
there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank
out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck
from your brother's eye."
20. "God seems to me to be unjust and cruel."
ROM 9:20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is
formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?'"
ROM 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of
God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
ISA 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts."
JOB 40:2 "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let
him who accuses God answer him!"
HEB 12:5-7, 10-11 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement
that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's
discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord
disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a
son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For
what son is not disciplined by his father? . . .Our fathers disciplined
us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for
our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems
pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a
harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by
it.
21. "There are so many things in the Bible which I cannot understand."
1CO 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that
come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he
cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
ROM 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of
God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
1CO 13:11-12 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like
a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish
ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then
we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully,
even as I am fully known.
PSA 119:18 Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
2PE 3:16-18 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in
them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to
understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the
other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard
so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and
fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever!
Amen.
22. "There is someone I can't forgive."
MAT 6:15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will
not forgive your sins.
MAT 18:23-35 "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who
wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the
settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife
and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. "The
servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged,
'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on
him, canceled the debt and let him go.
"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him.
'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. "His fellow servant fell to
his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you
back.' "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown
into prison until he could pay the debt.
When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly
distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said,
'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't
you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In
anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until
he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will
treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
EPH 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each
other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
PHI 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
GAL 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against
such things there is no law.
Taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (C) 1978 by the New
York Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Index of Preacher's Help and Notes
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