Let's pray together. Great God, living word, speak to us now from the revelation you gave to the apostles and others marked out by you. Thank you for preserving that word till today. But Lord, help us to value it, to listen to it, and to put it into practice. By your spirit, we ask that you do this. In Jesus' name, amen. I just don't think I can forgive him. She doesn't deserve to be forgiven. I'll forgive, but I won't forget. Ever found yourself saying or thinking statements along those lines? Certainly they are common in our society. Our modern American culture doesn't really understand the concept of forgiveness. Refusing to forgive and seeking revenge are almost exalted as virtues today. At the very least, inability to forgive is treated as normal, even the expected, the normal, inevitable outcome of experiencing hurt. Yet our Lord Jesus in the Bible, He declares something in stark contrast. Jesus says that those who do not practice a lifestyle of forgiveness, they are also those who have not been forgiven by God. To say it another way, if you find that you are not able to exercise both frequent and full forgiveness with others, even those who sin against you in frequent and substantial ways, It is probably because you do not know God and have not been forgiven by Him. Does that sound shocking to you? It really shouldn't be, because this truth is all over the Bible, especially in the New Testament. It's just another application of the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And it is the logical outcome the logical results when you understand the wonderful news of salvation in Jesus Christ, which is what we've been celebrating over the past few weeks, isn't it? A few months ago in our Biblical Counseling 101 Sunday School class, which you can still find online, I recommend that to you, in one of the lessons we talked through the what and how of biblical forgiveness. We didn't have much time to explore the why. Why should we forgive others? Therefore, as we start another year, 2022, I want to return with you to a crucial passage of the New Testament. It is all about why the gospel should motivate us to forgive. And my prayer is that as we are making various commitments and resolutions before God as to how we want to live this upcoming year. One clear resolution will be, I pray, that this year, even today, we will forgive others their offenses and seek with all diligence to reconcile with them because we have been forgiven by God. Please take your Bibles and open to Matthew 18, verses 21 to 35. Matthew 18, 21 to 35. The title of today's message is, Forgive As You Are Forgiven. Forgive as you are forgiven. Just a quick word of background before we read our text. Matthew 18 represents part of our Lord Jesus' teaching to the disciples about how to live in a time when God's kingdom is coming, but is delayed. And as we heard read earlier, the discourse of Matthew 18 starts out with a foundational truth, and that is true disciples of Jesus, if they want to get into the kingdom of God, they must become like humble children. Pride will surely keep you away from heaven, God's kingdom, and salvation. Only those who have been transformed into humble dependent, trusting, obedient children will know God's mercy and see God's salvation. This position as children will manifest in the lifestyle of those children, of those children of God. And the rest of Matthew 18 illustrates how in some pretty profound ways, including when it comes to the issues of sin and forgiveness. which is what we'll see. Let's now read our text, Matthew 18, verses 21 to 35. Then Peter came and said to him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven. For this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king. who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children, and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, have patience with me, and I will repay you everything. And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii. And he seized him and began to choke him, saying, pay back what you owe. So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, have patience with me. and I will repay you. But he was unwilling, and he went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved, and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. And summoning him, his lord said to him, you wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave in the same way that I had mercy on you? And his Lord moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart. As you see, Matthew 18, 21 to 35 is the parable of the unmerciful slave. And it is a parable that is as engaging as it is instructive. In this parable, we find profound teaching on forgiveness, both in how man needs God's forgiveness and how man needs to forgive his fellow man. In this parable, Jesus shows us three reasons Three reasons why God's children, the forgiven, always forgive others. And I'll give you those reasons as we go along. But before that, let's look at the question that prompts Jesus' teaching in parable. Go back to verse 21. And then Peter came and said to him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? This is the question That is the foundation for this whole section. How often should I forgive someone? Or to say it another way, is there some limit to forgiveness? And if so, what is that limit? Notice Peter offers a seemingly generous answer to his own question by saying up to seven times. Some Jewish teachers in that day taught that one should forgive a person only three times. And they base that off of something in Amos chapters 1 and 2, where God says, for three transgressions and for four, I will not revoke punishment. That's taken out of context. But that's what they said. Three repeated sins must be God's limit, so it should be ours, too. That was their thinking. And besides, offering any more forgiveness? That would just encourage people to sin more. Only three. But not for Peter. Look at Peter. He goes as high as seven here. That might seem pretty pious. I'm more forgiving than most. I'll forgive up to seven times. But after that, you're dead to me. But our Lord Jesus gives a response that would have surprised Peter and the other disciples. We see it in verse 22. Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven. number there could mean the original Greek could mean 77 or 490. Now, with Jesus' statement, we might ask, wait, wait, wait, wait. Is Jesus saying that the limit for forgivable sins is just further out than Peter thought? That there are more strikes before you strike out? No, that's not the way to understand this, as the parable will definitely confirm for us. Rather, Jesus is making a point by contrast. Peter, You think seven times is generous? Try 10 times that. Try 70 times that. The point is, our forgiveness is to have no limit. No matter how many times a person comes to you in repentance, seeking forgiveness, you are to forgive him. Just as Luke 17 verses 3 and 4 says, And no matter how many times or in what terrible ways, and people can sin in pretty terrible ways against you, no matter how much, you are to, as the Lord's child and as Jesus' disciple, forgive that person in your heart and look to see, with eagerness, repentance and reconciliation play out in your relationship. And we are talking about a real forgiveness here. This is not gritting your teeth and forcing an, I forgive you, from your lips. Verse 35 of our passage, if you just glance ahead, it emphasizes that real forgiveness is forgiveness from the heart, what your heart really affirms. You must, as a child of God, fully forgive someone and release him from his debts that he has to you by his sin. From the heart. Now, there is a, I think, apparent beauty, loftiness, and holiness in this standard that Jesus gives to us. And it is patterned after God's own heart and his forgiveness, but is it possible Can God's people really forgive like that? Yes, if you have a humble childlike heart that loves and trusts God. If you have, if you become like a child before God, you can forgive. You can immediately, repeatedly, and fully forgive from the heart even the worst offenses. the worst misunderstandings, the greatest neglect, the deepest betrayals. You can forgive and you are called to do so. The key in achieving this and the key encouragement to this is becoming more acquainted with God and his forgiveness, which is what Jesus's parable will help us do this morning. As I said, in this parable, Jesus shows you three reasons why God's children, the forgiven, always forgive others. And we see the first reason in the beginning verses of the parable, verses 23 to 27. Number one, God has forgiven you your great debt. Why should you forgive? God has forgiven you your great debt. Let's reread these verses. For this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, have patience with me, and I will repay you everything. And the Lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. Notice the phrase kingdom of heaven in the beginning of verse 23. Jesus is telling us here about an aspect of how God's kingdom operates. Which means the understanding it will be key to entering into that kingdom and receiving salvation. A situation that Jesus presents, illustrative of the kingdom of God, as of a lord or king calling his slaves to account for their debts to him. Now, the slaves here are clearly no ordinary slaves. We can see that they are allowed to use vast amounts of wealth. They own property, and they can be sold to others along with their families. Some have suggested that the picture here is evocative of an oriental king and his ministers, like a great king of Babylon or Persia. He's settling accounts with these ministers or these vice governors, who were servants to the king and even slaves, in a certain sense. That may be the picture, but regardless, we see that the situation of one of these slaves is extraordinary. Notice verse 24 says, that this one slave owed the king 10,000 talents. Now, maybe that number, that description doesn't mean much to us, but it certainly would have meant a lot to the original audience. The original audience probably would have gasped at hearing this amount. That is a staggering debt. You see, one talent was a large unit of money. One talent was worth about 6,000 denarii. And one denarius, a silver coin, it was the wage of the average manual labor for one day. If you were manual labor, you would earn a denarius by working all day. A talent is 6,000 denarii. And this first slave, by owing 10,000 talents, he owed the equivalent of 60 million days of labor. to underline the crushing nature of this debt. From what we can tell, there were not even 10,000 talents in circulation as money in the ancient world. He owed more than the money that existed. And could you imagine the equivalent today? Could you imagine having a debt that was greater than the amount of circulation in our world? According to one source, There's an estimated $80 trillion in world circulation today. $80 trillion. Can you imagine having a personal debt that is greater than that? That was this slave's debt. Therefore, those listening to Jesus would have thought of this debt in only one way. Absolutely unpayable. It's unpayable. There's no way that any slave could ever pay off this kind of debt. This yields for us, then, two important implications. The detail of this debt amount yields two implications, and the first is, this slave must be the worst money manager of all time. How could a person manage to rack up a debt this extreme? It's like the slave was trying to mismanage his lord's money. But this slave, of course, is only a figure. Remember, this is a parable of the kingdom of heaven. So who does this first indebted slave represent? You. You are this first slave whose debt is so vast and absolutely unpayable. And your mismanagement is the disobedience of your life. You were born a sinner, and everything you do is sin. Think of all the lies you've said, every mean word you've said, every lustful thought that you thought, every worry that wracked you, every complaint you uttered or thought, every hateful idea you had. every hateful deed you did. And these are just the beginning of your sins. Fundamentally, we all have to admit, outside of Jesus, we do not love God with all our heart, nor do we serve him as he deserves, which is the essence of God's law. Even the supposedly good things that we do are tainted by selfishness and pride and are therefore an offense to a holy God. So you and I, in our beginning state, we have an incredible debt to pay back to God, and we cannot pay it. There's another implication here, though, based on this debt amount, and it's about the king. Secondly, this king is incredibly, almost irresponsibly generous. I mean, we might wonder at the ineptness of this slave to accrue this debt, but we also have to ask why the king would let him get away with it. I mean, either the king is similarly inept and irresponsible, or the king is so good, so powerful, and so patient that he not only desires but can afford to be patient with this terrible slave. even up to a debt of 10,000 talents. At any time before this moment in the text, the king could have said, what are you doing, slave? Are you trying to ruin me? It's time to get rid of you and get some compensation. But the king hasn't done that. Instead, he has said, I won't call him to judgment yet. I'll give him a little more time. Now again, this King or Lord, He's just a figure in this parable and who is the King really? The King is God. God is so great. He's so good. He's so powerful that He has decided to be patient with your incredible debt. Your incredible sin debt before Him. God was not obligated to be patient with you. or to give you more time, but he has been because that's who he is. He's that loving and he's that merciful. He chose to extend that mercy to you. You have not served God nor honored him as God, but God has not judged you the way that you deserve. He has given you more time, but what have you done with it? outside of Jesus we have to admit we have not used this extended time to make amends rather only to rack up more debt such a state how do you think God will react to you now should you not run to God for mercy seeing the true nature of your debt what happens next in the parable according to verse 25 The king crunches the numbers and discovers what would have been obvious to all. The slave is not able to repay the king. And seeing how there's no real prospect of future repayment, the king decides to at least get a few pennies worth of repayment by selling this slave, or if it's indeed a minister, by selling him into slavery along with the man's family and his possessions. This, by the way, would hardly make a dent in the man's debt But at least the sale would allow the king to see some justice after so much financial unfaithfulness and mismanagement. But notice, something stops the king from this course. Look at verse 26 again. The slave humiliates himself as much as he can. He throws himself on the ground, he lies prostrate with his face to the floor, and he asks the king for mercy. Have patience with me, the slave says, and I will repay you everything. Now, in one sense, this request is ludicrous. More patience to you, O most unworthy of slaves? More patience so that you can rack up more debt using my money? The slave even promises that he will pay back everything, which I'm sure must have gotten a laugh from the original hearers, because there's no way that anyone's going to be able to pay back 10,000 talents. That is unpayable. Besides, the slave's track record is not exactly in his favor. It's not like the debt's been going down over time. It's only gotten worse. Yet, how many people, even some of you, are saying the same thing to God. God, give me more time and I'll make things right with you. I'll do more good works. I'll say more prayers. I'll do more Bible reading. I'll attend church more. I'll give to the church more. God, I will pay off this debt, I promise. Don't speak or think so foolishly. You cannot pay off your debt by works. None of us can. You are like this slave. Your attempts to pay the debt, to repay the debt, they only increase the debt. Eventually, God's patience with your brilliant repayment plan will run out. And you also will be sold. Not to satisfy the debt, but to satisfy God's justice. And to whom or to what will you be sold? It's the eternal punishment of a place called hell. Not to work off your debts, it cannot be repaid even through eternal suffering, but to satisfy God's holiness and anger and justice. With such a Terrible future. Surely you would not continue to insist on repaying God this way. Why not instead ask God for mercy? Because look at what God does for the slave in the form of the king here. Verse 27. And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. Don't misunderstand. The master didn't spare the slave because the master appreciated the slave's desire to repay the debt. I'm sure the king totally ignored that senseless promise. Rather, the king felt compassion. He felt pity, compassion for this foolish, desperate debtor and decided to show mercy. He forgave the slave's debt. He totally released him from it. No work, no penance, no compensation required. The Lord merely decided to show mercy when the slave asked for it. And is that not incredible forgiveness? What incredible forgiveness for such an incredible debt and to such an undeserving debtor. But how? Any bank or creditor who forgave such a massive debt would be instantly ruined. You cannot forgive that much and not be destroyed by the financial consequences. So how is it that God can absorb the consequences of his forgiveness? Well, as the Bible testifies, it was not without great cost. Because God is holy and just, he is not able, as some imagine, to just sweep sin under the rug and say, no biggie, just forget about it. No sin is a big deal to God. If God let even one sin, one evil act, one word, one thought go unpunished the way it deserves, He would fail to be good. He would fail to be holy. He would contradict his very being as God. He would need to go out of existence. All sin needs repayment. If not by the debtor, then by some creditor on the debtor's behalf. But who could possibly intercede to pay your debt and my debt? It's 10,000 talents. Only one person. Only God Himself. Again, God did not need to do this, but because He is that good in His heart, because He is that forgiving, God determined to totally pay off the sin debt of His children. And this God did by sending His Son, the Word, our Lord Jesus, God in the flesh. He sent Him into the world to live a perfectly righteous life and to die a death on a cross. suffering the wrath of God, hell itself, the price that our sin deserves. Though this debt of sin is unpayable for any mere man, it can be paid by someone whose wealth, so to speak, is infinite, the God-man. Only God can pay off man's sins once and for all. And this Jesus, our Lord Jesus, did for all those who believe in him. He did it at the cross. Jesus not only paid the sin debt of all sinners, but then he credited to each one of them his own righteousness, his own perfect life, so that each of those believers, even us, if we have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, might be forgiven and fully reconciled to God. Jesus, double exchange, is taking the debt, is crediting His righteousness. It was accepted by the Father, proven by some of the last words of Jesus on the cross when He says, it is finished, all done. And it was proven again by Jesus' own resurrection from the grave three days later. That meant that the Father accepted His sacrifice, His payment. As we sometimes sing, Jesus paid it all. How does one become one of God's forgiven children? It's by doing what any person ought to do when they're seeking forgiveness. You come humbly, just like a little child, and you ask for mercy. You confess to God that He is who He says He is, and your sin is what He says it is. And you repent of your sins. You turn from your sins in your old life. And you ask for God's mercy on you. Not on the basis of what you've done or what you will do, but on the basis of what God has done. And on the basis of who he is in his heart. You embrace Jesus Christ as your only savior, your saving substitute, and the master of your life, your Lord. And you begin following him. no matter what the cost. Don't misunderstand this repentance and faith. It is no work. Rather, this faith, this belief is what the Bible testifies is a gift from God himself. Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, for it is by grace you have been saved. Through faith in this, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God so that no man may boast. God gives the faith, and in response to the faith, he promises that you will be saved. Acts 16, 31, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. First John 1, 9 also says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You don't have to wonder, oh, I hope God will save me. You know he will. How? If you come to Him in repentance and faith, and just ask Him for mercy, Jesus has done it all. And when we believe that, when we take the Lord at His word and believe Him, we can echo the words of King David in Psalm 32-1. Psalm 32-1, How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Each of you If it has not already happened, you can be forgiven today by God. Your 10,000 talent debt, you can be forgiven. God is ready to forgive. He's calling you even from this passage to come be forgiven. So what stops you from doing so? Why not come to him for mercy just like the slave does? We see the first reason that God's children forgive. Number one, God has forgiven their great debt. And this is already an amazing story, especially for what it's showing us about God and his forgiveness. But there's more to it. A very instructive second reason made by contrast. Number two, why do God's children always forgive? Because God demands You forgive lesser debts. Number two, God demands that you forgive lesser debts. And we see this reason illustrated for us in verses 28 to 30. Let's just start with verse 28. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. And he seized him and began to choke him, saying, pay back what you owe. Just when you thought the story couldn't get any more surprising, after that incredible forgiveness, the parable takes a shocking turn. You'd think the reaction to having your 10,000 talent debt forgiven would be celebration, adoration of the king, telling others the good news about how they can have their debts forgiven, or something along those lines. But not for this slave. Unthinkably, what he does next, according to the story, is that he goes to collect a debt from a fellow slave. And notice, it says he went out and found him. It wasn't like he just ran to him and said, oh, by the way, you have a debt against me. He went and looked for him. And consider the size of this lesser debt. 100 denarii, it says. Now, this is no amount to sneeze at. It's a little more than three months' wages. Now imagine someone owed you three months of your own salary or your husband's salary. That's no chump change. That's a decent amount of money. But what is it in comparison to 10,000 talents? I like one calculation I found. This second debt is approximately 0.0001% of the first debt. It's one hundred thousandth. The first debt was unpayable. The second debt, though substantial, it is payable. But consider the first slave's approach to his fellow slave about the debt. He seizes him and chokes him. What? Can't you remind somebody about his debt without resorting to bodily violence? especially after you yourself received this life-giving good news. And then we hear what the first slave actually says to the second slave. He says, pay back what you owe, or more literally, pay back if you owe. He's basically quoting a proverb to this fellow slave. Those who owe have to pay back. That's just the law of the world. Pay up. No exceptions. The irony is, of course, almost painful. You're going to quote this proverb even after what just happened to you? Anyone listening to this story has to think, what is wrong with this slave? Why is he acting like this? What happened to the humble, desperate, grateful slave that we saw just a verse ago? Now we have this proud, greedy, selfish, self-righteous, despicable debt collector. And it only gets worse. Because notice how the fellow slave responds, verse 29. So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him saying, have patience with me and I will repay you. Does that sound familiar? It's almost the exact same thing the first slave had done and said to the king. The second slave doesn't react as he might have reacted. He might have fought back against the first slave, or told him off, or invoked the aid of some other slaves to restrain this one intent on choking him. But the second slave doesn't do that. He humbles himself before the first slave, despite being mistreated by him. And he confesses his genuine debt and need for mercy. Surely, at such a humble response, so reminiscent of the first slave's own response to the king, the first slave would have mercy, right? The debt is so small by comparison, and his fellow slave has so humbled himself in his request. Why not grant mercy? Why not forgive? My brothers and sisters, is it not the same for us and our sin debts to one another? In this fallen world, it is inevitable that people will sin against us. And not just the people of the world, but people in the church. People who you love and who say they love you, they will still sin against you. Sometimes in small ways and sometimes in very big ways. The debts that others incur with us, they are substantial. They can't just be brushed aside. Yet what are they in comparison with what we have been forgiven? We who are in Christ should be in a constant state of happy celebration for forgiveness that we've received. We will not be sold into judgment. Why fuss about some smaller debt? We've been forgiven by the King. D, to forgive one another, is to walk in the very footsteps of God and to magnify His forgiveness. We demonstrate to others the same kind of forgiveness that we've received and say, look at God. He's forgiven this way. I want to forgive this way, too. If you're forgiven this morning, don't you want to exalt God and His great character and His forgiveness in your own life? Christians ought to be known for their readiness to forgive and the fullness of their forgiveness, no matter the offense. This is all patterned after God and His forgiveness. But sadly, this is often not the case. Too many people, even we Christians, imitate the shocking behavior of the slave that we see in verse 30. Look there now. But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. This first slave wasn't willing to forgive. He wasn't even willing to patiently extend the loan. Rather, he had his fellow slave locked up until the debt should be repaid. Now, here's where a big question emerges in this story. How can the second slave pay off his debt when he's been thrown into prison? That's a good question. You know what the answer is? He can't. This is why debtors' prisons are illegal in our country and why they were not even known in the Roman world in which Jesus was living. If you throw a debtor in chains, You've essentially doomed him to death and or lifelong imprisonment because he can't do the work that will enable him to get out of debt. It's not like he can run a business from the dungeon, and certainly the dungeon caretakers are not going to pay him anything. In such a case, The debtor's only hope would be for his friends and family to scrape together enough to pay off the debt and get the man out. But without the imprisoned man's own work, the family will have a much harder time securing enough money to live, let alone pay off this man's debt. And what if the man has no friends or family who are able or willing to intercede on his behalf? By throwing him in prison, this first slave has, in cruelty, damned his fellow slave into a kind of living hell, suffering his debt but never able to repay. And all this from the one who only moments earlier was forgiven 10,000 talents. What an outrage. What an injustice! What disgusting ingratitude and selfishness! We should have an emotional reaction to this detail in this story. Yet, how many professing Christians, even us, do exactly the same thing? Despite your own forgiveness, you won't forgive others. You constantly nurse the hurts you've received, reminding others by mistreating them or by retreating from them how much they've hurt you and how much they now owe you. Even though you do this, at the same time, you are never willing to release them from their bondage, from the prison you've constructed for them, You actually want them to suffer as a punishment, as a lesson. And as they get frustrated at your continual lack of forgiveness, you only dig in your heels more and become even more committed to not forgiving them. You want to put people in a type of unforgiveness hell to satisfy a twisted sense of justice that has come from your own heart, warped by pride. Now, have others genuinely sinned against you? They have. Should they have known better? Yes, they should have. Do they need to genuinely repent and seek forgiveness? They do. But you have your own obligations. Is your heart ready to forgive because of how ready God's heart was ready to forgive you? Are you like the father of the prodigal? In another parable in Luke 15, who at the very first sign of repentance, when the other was still a long way off, but was beginning to come back, do you run to that person, put your arms around them, because you're so desirous to see them reconciled to God and to you? Yes, it may take time to rebuild your relationship in some cases. But once you go forward in the rebuilding process together, totally releasing your fellow slave who is just like you, releasing him from the wrong he's done to you. Won't you do to others what you would have them do to you? And indeed, what has been done and is continually being done for you by God. You must take this seriously. Because if you say, yeah, yeah, Pastor Dave, I hear all that. But I just can't forgive him. Or I forgive him, but I don't want to see him anymore. If your heart is still, unforgiving. If you take the path of the first slave in this parable then you must beware because his outcome will be yours. In verses 31 to 35 we see the third and final reason why God's children forgive. Number three, God will not forgive the unforgiving. God will not forgive the unforgiving. Look at verses 31 to 34. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. And summoning him, his lord said to him, you wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slaves and in the same way that I had mercy on you? And his lord moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. This part of the story is not that unexpected. I mean, surely the first slave did not believe that his cruel action against another one of the king's slaves would go unreported. I mean, did he? Word got back to the king. And so the king summoned again his first slave. May I say as an aside that If you are nursing unforgiveness or bitterness in your heart towards anyone, then be warned. Word is getting back to God about it. He knows. He hates to see that kind of injustice, especially when he kindly offers the forgiveness that he does. Will you really impugn the goodness of God when you insist that you shouldn't forgive the ones that God himself is willing to forgive? God, your king, eventually will summon you and deal with your behavior as it deserves. And look what God, via the figure of the king, does with the slave here. Verse 32, the master calls the slave what he is, Wicked, you wicked slave. He reproves the slave for the same reason that any of us would. That slave did not show the same mercy to his fellow slave that the master had shown to him. Only a wicked slave unaffected and unappreciative of his master's mercy could do this. So what does the master do? He revokes the first slave's pardon and saddles him again with the 10,000 talent debt. Now someone will ask, wait, how can the king nullify his previously expressed forgiveness? Doesn't that make his forgiveness false? And more importantly, if we're studying the figurative nature of the king, does this mean that God can revoke his forgiveness, withdraw salvation? People can lose their salvation. Is that what this parable is saying? Well, here's what we need to remember. Parables are all about the main details, not the side details. There are too many verses in the Bible that clarify that those who are truly saved cannot lose it. They cannot be lost even through their own sin. So this is not proving that God can revoke His forgiveness. Nevertheless, the Bible is also clear that those who are truly saved will be changed. to become lovers of God, lovers of good, and lovers of obedience to God. And they will ultimately persevere in righteousness until the end. You know what that righteousness includes? The good fruit of forgiveness. Thus, Jesus in other passages is able to say, Matthew 6, 14 to 15, if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your father will not forgive your transgressions. These truths go together. Mark 11, 25, whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. And now, back here in our passage in Matthew 18, the king decides to use the same standard on the first slave that the first slave attempted to use on his fellow slave. You won't forgive your fellow slave? Then I won't forgive you. You're determined to leave your fellow slave in unforgiveness hell? Then I will do the same to you. Thus verse 34 says, and his Lord moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. Now again, we have to ask, how will the first slave be able to repay his debt now that he's in prison and even under torture? Well, the answer is the same as it was before. He can't. The first slave already never could have repaid the debt even when he was not in prison. But now, after showing such wickedness and ingratitude, The king is determined to exact a new measure of justice by torturing the slave for the slave's great wickedness. And a torture that will never end. In so doing, the king chooses to do to the slave as the slave sought to do to others. Now, brothers and sisters, here the very sober conclusion that our Lord Jesus gives in verse 35. Right when we read about that terrifying moment in verse 34, Jesus then adds, my heavenly father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your hearts. Wow. Let that sink in. Make no mistake, the price of your unforgiveness or my unforgiveness is eternal torment in hell. What a fearful prospect. What a fearful thing it is to face the unforgiveness of God. To refuse his forgiveness and to be eternally, therefore, unforgiven. If the unforgiveness of man is torture, how much more the unforgiveness of God, especially when His generous way has been so freely and sincerely given. So dear friends, consider what an awesome word our Lord Jesus has given us in this passage today. Awesome in all the facets of that word. awe-inspiring, beautiful, glorious, joyous, but also unsettling. Very serious. Christ's main message to us is clear. God's children, as they're forgiven, always forgive others. And Jesus has shown us why in the parts of this striking parable. Number one, God has forgiven our great debt. Number two, God demands we forgive lesser debts. And number three, God will not forgive the unforgiving. So consider your response this morning. Have you first of all sought the forgiveness of God simply by faith in Christ? Have you come to him in repentance and faith and asked for mercy? And if you have, if you do know God's forgiveness, you must ask yourself, do I forgive others? Do I forgive others with the same kind of forgiveness that I was given? Do I forgive others from my heart? And do I look to see that forgiveness play out in a reconciled relationship? Ask yourself also this, to whom do you need to grant heart forgiveness today? Who's that person you've been avoiding? Who's that person every time you think about them, you just feel filled with bitterness? Who's that person that you are determined not to do them any good because of how they've hurt you in the past? You need to forgive that person from your heart. You know that God will take care of it. If there's some justice that needs to be administered there, God says, let me handle that. Don't take your own vengeance. Rather, do good to those who don't do good to you. Overcome evil with good. God is sovereign. He allowed that hurt to happen to you in his own wisdom and goodness. So you can say, God, I don't need to hold on to this hurt. I can trust you with it. And I can forgive that person in my heart. To whom do you need to extend heart forgiveness today? And as a follow-up, with whom do you need to work out as much as you are able? Relational reconciliation and the rebuilding of relationship today. We can't always bring about transactional relational forgiveness. We should always forgive from our heart, but we long to see if someone has indeed wronged us. That person come to repentance so that there can be forgiveness in the relationship. It can be restored fellowship. It can be the rebuilding of that bond. Do you forgive from the heart? And do you look to see forgiveness played out in a relationship? Where does that need to happen in your life today? The Lord's Spirit is directing you to think on that and to act on that. Don't be a mere hearer. Be a doer of the word. And remember, Important word from Jesus in another place in the Bible Matthew 5 Matthew 5 verses 23 to 24. I'll just paraphrase it You must seek reconciliation with an estranged brother before Any of your worship or service to God is acceptable He says if you have your all your sacrifice on the altar You've been on a long line just as you could offer it and then you remember that your brother has something against you Leave the offering there and go and be reconciled to your brother That's more important to God. Don't test God's forgiveness of you with your own unforgiveness of others. Rather, forgive as you have been forgiven. Let this be your new resolution and our new resolution as a church for this year, starting from today. If we will do this, We know church will be blessed and the Lord will be glorified. Let's pray. Lord, your forgiveness is amazing. Our debt was indeed unpayable. Our sins were so heinous in your sight, and yet you forgave us. Oh Lord, people sin against us in some pretty hard ways, some pretty terrible ways, and yet by comparison, it is so little. and you are able to take care of us. So for whatever forgiveness needs to happen today, this morning, my Lord God, our Lord God, whether it's forgiveness between us and you or forgiveness between us and one another, I pray that you'd bring it about by your spirit. Glorify yourself as we extend your forgiveness that you've given to us. In Jesus' name, amen.