Forgiveness of the Heart

Introduction

Tonight we are here to learn about forgiveness and unforgiveness of the heart.

We will learn about a parable Jesus told the crowd about forgiveness.

What does the bible say about Forgiveness?

Matthew 18:23–35 NKJV

23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

In Verse 23

Jesus says a Certain King, Why not just a king?

it says “the kingdom of heaven is like” then if says certain king. the king is God and we are his servants aka children of God.

In Verse 24

The servant owed is his master 10,000 Talents.

10,000 Talents would be about 226 million dollars today, an unfathomable amount of money.

The point was the servant owed a debt that was impossible to pay -just like the sin debt we owe God.

In Verse 25

the servant could never repay the debt he owes, the master says that he, his wife and his children are to go into slavery until he can repay the debt. His debt (sin is his bondage) All that he had would be sold to cover his sin, and he would probably still come up short.

In Verse 26

the Servant falls down and begs for patience, that he would repay it all he owed.

In Verse 27

The master of this servant saw his distressed condition and was moved with Compassion to forgive his debt. This is key because we will see later that the servant forgiven did not have compassion on his fellow servant and extend the same grace given to him.

1. What is Forgiveness?

Lexham Theological Wordbook ἀφίημι

to let go, to leave, abandon. Refers to leaving or abandoning a place, a person, or a thing

Forgiveness is letting go of what someone did to you and not letting it hold you hostage.

letting go is a very hard thing to do. that is why we need the help of God to let things go and give them to him.

In Verse 28

The forgiven servant went and found a fellow servant who owed him a 100 denarii. He laid hands on him and took him by the throat demanding he repay him. the 100 denarii which is vastly different from the sum he owed.

In Verse 29

The fellow servant also fell to his knees asking for patience also and he would repay him all he owed. The forgiven servant was unwilling to have the same compassion and grace that was shown to him.

In Verse 30

The forgiven servant had his fellow servant thrown into jail until he paid his debt.

2. Unforgiveness

The Forgiven servant had unforgiveness in his heart which led him to become violet and throw his fellow servant in jail.

Unforgiveness give the devil a toehold on you through bitterness and resentment in our hearts.

It hardens our hearts and holds us in bondage. It causes us to bad about a person behind there back.

It can cause us to have a short temper with the person we have unforgiveness with.

Example

About 8 years ago i had a really bad fight with my wife. I didn’t have a physical altercation with her. It got heated , she took off her ring and threw it on the bed saying she was done. She did’t end up leaving but It hurt me so bad and traumatized me. i had nightmares about her leaving me for years. I thought i had forgiven her. This past year i have been in a 12 step program. I realized in my 4th step, that i really haven’t forgiven her. i realized that my short temp i ave with her revolves from unforgiveness, which gave me bitterness and resentments. it causes me too get angry quickly over very stupid thing. like how the onions are cut. yes i know that is stupid. I have come to the realization that i am commited to forgive her. i say out loud i forgive her and ask God to bring my emotions along. I keep on forgiving her because i love my wife and i don’t to keep hurting her.

In Verse 31

The other servant saw all that had happen and became grieved. They went and to their master all that had been done.

In Verse 32

The master called the forgiven servant, a “wicked servant”, saying that he forgave his debt because he begged him to.

In Verse 33

The master also said you should have had compassion on your fellow servant like i had pity on you.

In Verse 34

The master became angry with the servant and He threw him into prison to be tortured until all of his debt was paid.

In Verse 35

3. God forgives us and we are called to forgive other people

If God cancelled our debt, why are we unwilling to do the same?

We cannot expect or demand mercy that we are unwilling to give.

According to Jesus, we should offer forgiveness in the same way that we desire it from God.

Conclusion

In Conclusion, we have learned what forgiveness is.

We learned what God says about forgiveness and how unforgiveness can affect you.

We learned the consequence of unforgiveness.