will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him. As many as seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times, but 77 times. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, have patience with me and I will pay you everything. And out of pity for him, The master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. And seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, Pay what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, Have patience with me, and I will pay you. He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. Let me open up this in prayer. Lord, as we now give attention to your word, open our eyes that we may behold wonderful things from your word. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let me begin this by asking you a question. Do you really find it hard to forgive someone who has seriously offended you? Maybe he was one of your closest friends, maybe you're a family member, and Are you struggling right now to let the thought go out of your mind? In October 2006, a 32-year-old man named Charlie walked into an Amish school in Lancaster County and shot 10 young girls, killing five of them before killing himself. It was an extremely difficult time for the families of these young girls who were killed or injured as well as to the wife and parents of this killer. Parents of this young man were in extreme sorrow and shame and they wanted to move out of the town. But some of the Amish families came to them the very night of the shooting to say to them that they want them to stay. Not only this, some of the Amish family later attended the burial service of the killer, hugged the widow and hugged other family members. This was one of the greatest examples of forgiveness extended to the undeserved in modern times. Similarly, none of us deserves forgiveness, but by nature, Bible shows us that we are children of wrath. But God, who is rich in mercy, extends forgiveness to all who come to Him in faith and repentance. Psalm 103 shows us that, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases. God forgives all your iniquities. He has removed your sins as far as east is from the west. But do you find it hard to forgive your brothers and sisters in Christ? We are in Matthew chapter 18. Jesus has just taught his disciples how to deal with a sinning brother. Look at verses 15 to 20. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." This is the context which we have in front of us for this parable. Jesus is here speaking about a sinning brother who is part of a church. He's not speaking about who is a Gentile, who is not a believer. And what is the step? If somebody has offended you in the church, Jesus is showing us a three-step process. First, go and tell your brother in private about his fault. Go to him and tell him. Brother, you have offended me. This is sinful, this is wrong. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a Gentile and tax collector. So Jesus has already taught his disciples, how should you deal with a sinning brother who offends you, who sinned against you. But now Peter has a very interesting question here. Some people learn in life by way of asking questions and Peter is one of them. He likes asking questions. He asked Jesus, Lord, How often will my brother sin against me? And I forgive him as many as seven times. Perhaps Peter is thinking about the first step in dealing with his sinning brother in the church. If all the three steps have been exhausted, then he is like a Gentile and a tax collector. But something like that does not happen often. but then if in the first step, you confront him and he says sorry, he repents, but again, he does the same thing, what happens? Again and again, again and again, if he does the same thing, what happens? Is there a limit we could place on the number of times we grant forgiveness? Some Jewish rabbis recommended that granting forgiveness for three times and no more. forgive him three times and no more. But I think Peter thinks that he is more generous. He says as many as seven times. But Jesus in turn says to him, I do not say to you seven times, but 70 times seven. This is the context to the parable which we have in front of us. So what I want to show you from these verses are, if you do not forgive the sins of your brothers and sisters in Christ, then your father in heaven will hold your sins against you. If you do not forgive the sins of your brothers and sisters in Christ, then your Father in heaven will hold your sin against you. This we are going to see under three headings. The greatness of God's mercy to us in Christ Jesus, verses 23 to 27. Then, the littleness of our brother's sin against us, verses 28 to 30. And the third point, the terrible consequences of indulging in an unforgiving spirit, 31 to 35. Point number one. the greatness of God's mercy to us. So Jesus now proceeds to tell a parable to his disciples. Jesus often spoke to his disciples by way of parables. Parables are amazing. Parables are short, pithy stories, earthly stories with heavenly meaning. and very wisely Jesus would confront the sins of people through the parable. what happens in the parable. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made. This is a picture of a king and his provincial servants who collected tax revenue on his behalf. It was a very common sight in first century. Notice the sum, it is phenomenal that this debt is phenomenal. He was supposed to collect all this revenue and he was to give it back to the king. And this number, look at the number, 10,000 talents, 10,000 in Greek language. was one of the highest numerical expression in those days people could express. It is like we saying billions or zillions we maximum we can think of zillions that's what you see here. So somebody who owed a phenomenal debt to the king perhaps a thousand times the annual revenue of Galilee Judea, Samaria and Edomia put together. In today's sum, almost like he owed billions of dollars to the king. And the servant was not in a position to pay the money back to the king. Perhaps he was careless. Perhaps he squandered the wealth on himself. Perhaps he gambled the money. We don't know what happened, but he is not in a position to return the money back to the king. And now for him is the day of reckoning for him. It is a day of judgment for him. And now he is not able to pay. So what does the king do? And now the king is angry with him because he is not able to pay, the king orders him to be sold with his wife, children and all that he had. Notice how the consequences of the head of the family flows to the whole family. My dear brothers and sisters, your sin and its consequences may very well flow to your family, especially your head of the household. It may very well flow to the family because he is not in a position to pay back the king. He is to be sold with his family and all that he had. But even if he sold with his family, and all what he had, still the king wouldn't have received his due because the debt is huge. It's phenomenal. It is impossible for the servant to pay the debt in his lifetime. So what is left to the servant? The only thing which is left for the servant is just plead for mercy. Just plead for mercy. That is what he is doing. Now he is pleading for mercy. He's begging. Suddenly he has become humble. He has a posture of humbleness. He kneels. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, asking, begging, have patience with me and I will pay you everything. And out of pity for him, The master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. What do we see here? We see the goodness of this king. We see the mercy of this king. His good that the master has moved with compassion towards him. The master has forgiven him all the debt. Notice not only he releases him but forgives all the debt. He was just asking for a time. Give me more time and I will pay all the money back. But not only he releases him, but forgives all the debt. He was trying to buy back the time to pay it back, which is virtually impossible. But now his debt has been forgiven in totality. He can go free without paying any debt. Is this not the condition of all sinners? Is this not what Jesus is speaking to you today morning? There is no way you could pay for your sins which you commit against on a daily basis. Think about this. Least minimum, if you commit an average of 10 sins a day in your thought, word and deed, In a month, how many sins you will commit? You will commit at least 300 sins. In a year, 3000 sins. In 50 years of your active life, more than 150,000 sins. That's a lot of sins you have on your account. Can you pay for your sins? The answer is no. Psalm 130 says, If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? If Lord starts marking iniquities, if He starts judging you, then you won't stand. but with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. Have you been to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins? Have you been cleansed by His blood? If no, then today is the day His mercy is great to all those who come to Him in faith and repentance. If the answer is yes, do you consider the greatness of God's mercy to you in Christ Jesus? Do you remember right now how great God's mercy to you as a servant was and as a servant was not in a position to pay back the king even if he would have worked the whole life the same way you won't be able to pay for your sins. There are people in the world, those who are from the East, Hindus and Muslims, they want to pay for their sins by working, by doing all kinds of travel to holy places, travel to rivers and and travel to a place where saints have lived. But there is no way anybody could pay for their sins. Our God is a holy God. He's a just God. He cannot just let go of the sin without punishing. But in Jesus, you do have forgiveness. But I want to ask you, do you strongly hold a grudge against your brothers and sisters in Christ? who trespass against you? Do you have an unforgiving and critical spirit? If yes, consider the littleness of your brother's sin against you. What happened again in the parable? He was forgiven of his debt. King had forgiven him of all the debt. But notice verse 28. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, Pay what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, Have patience with me, and I will pay you. He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. What has happened here? He was forgiven of 10,000 talents. And one of his fellow servant, how much he owed him? Just 100 denarii? That is like a few days of wage for a day laborer. Look at this. the paltry sum of his fellow servant's debt. But look at the cruel nature. He begged him, have patience with me and I will pay you. And it was very much possible for him to pay. It was not impossible. This was not a big sum. But he choked him. This man has just owed almost 1% of the debt the servant owed to the king. But he chokes him, rejected all his pleas, and threw him into the prison. An unforgiving spirit can literally blind you. No matter what your brothers and sisters have committed against you, no matter what sin, no matter what offense they have brought into life, it is never compatible to the offenses which you do against God on a daily basis. My dear brothers and sisters, never forget the mercy you have received at the cross. This fellow servant this wicked servant forgot the mercy he had just received. He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. His fellow servants they were disturbed. They looked at this what has happened and for them it was difficult to fathom how could he not forgive his fellow servants when he has been forgiven of such a great debt. Then his master summoned him and said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you? And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt. So also my Heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. My dear brothers and sisters, there would come a day when God will judge you. Matthew chapter 7 shows us For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. And now this wicked servant, he has been judged with the same judgment. He was shown mercy, but he did not show mercy back to his fellow servant. And now he has been judged. So what is Lord teaching you from this parable, this warning? From this parable, from this section, what is Lord teaching you? He's warning you. If you have a critical spirit, if you have an unforgiving heart, if you find it hard to forgive your brothers and sisters who trespass against you, there is a warning from Jesus. This is not also the prayer we say often, saying, Lord, forgive our sins as we forgive our debtors. Maybe you should pray, Lord, help us from the temptation of unforgiveness and lead us not into the temptation of heartlessness. Forgiveness brings reconciliation and restorations in the church. It brings unity in the church. It is obeying the commandment of Jesus. It is fulfilling the Jesus high priestly prayer in John chapter 17, in which Jesus prayed that his disciples would be one as he is one with the Father. I want every member of this church to be of a forgiving disposition, to be of a forgiving heart. Forgiveness does not makes you a doormat. Sometimes people think if I forgive a person often, then I would become a doormat. In Luke chapter 17, Jesus shows us that if your brother sins, if your brother sins against you, rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day and turns to you seven times saying, I repent, you must forgive him. You do have a responsibility to confront those who sin against you. You would be a doormat if you do not confront the person. But you do have an active responsibility to go to the brother, to go to the sister, brother. You have sinned against me. You have offended me. This is the thing. This is the problem. And you do have a responsibility to confront. And if your brother or sister listens to you, you have gained your brother. But many times we do not confront those who trespass against us, those who sin against us. that is your mistake, that is your problem, that's actually wrong, because many times you withhold the opportunity of sanctification to Him. If you go and confront privately, very carefully, with grace in your speech, so often it may happen that He may listen to you, and He may consider his or action and he may repent. So by not confronting, many times you miss that opportunity. But again, I want you to notice the warning. So also my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. You do have a responsibility to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart. Why would you not forgive? Look at what the king had said to the servant. We do get a clue here. Verse 33, And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? Because King had shown mercy on this servant, he should have had mercy on his fellow servant. Because God has had mercy on you, you are supposed to be merciful to your fellow brothers and sisters. If you are merciful to your brothers, fellow brothers and sisters, that means you understand the mercy of God to you in Christ Jesus. Never forget that while you were yet sinners, God had mercy on you. He forgave all of your sins in Christ Jesus. He forgives all of your sin and trespasses. But if you still continue to harbor a very critical and unforgiving spirit, then maybe you have not been to Jesus. Maybe you don't know Him. You do not know Him. You do not understand His mercy. Then today, I want to invite you to come to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who is meek and lowly and humble. And He forgives all those who come to Him. But maybe you are a believer and you struggle with granting forgiveness, those who sin against you. Then let me encourage you from this passage, which we have in front of us today morning, that ask Lord to search your heart. to give you a heart of mercy, a heart of forgiveness, a disposition of forgiveness, as Lord has forgiven you of all of your sins. And let us, and let God encourage you with these words as we pray. Oh, gracious Heavenly Father, your mercy is great towards us and Christ Jesus. You have forgiven all of our sins and iniquities. You have blotted out our sins. You have removed our sins so far as far as east is from the west. Lord, give us the same disposition that we would also forgive those who transgress against us. Help us to fulfill your command to be one with your people. Help us to love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Because you have said, if you love one another, the people of the world would know that you are my disciples. Continue to build us in faith. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.