Foundation of Forgiveness
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Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
; “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” ; "forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive."
bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
A Soapmaker, who was not saved, walked along the road with a preacher one day. He said to the preacher, “The gospel you preach has not done much good. There is still a lot of wickedness in the world, and wicked people, too.” Quietly they walked on. The preacher did not reply to his friend’s comment until they passed a dirty little child making mudpies in the gutter. With this before them, the preacher spoke, “Soap has not done much good in the world, I see; for there is still much dirt in the world, and many dirty people about.” “O, well, you know,” said the Soapmaker, “soap is only useful when it is applied.” “Exactly,” said the preacher, “so it is with the gospel we proclaim.”
o He had an unpayable debt
Forgiveness is at the very heart of Christianity because it is the message of Christianity. We are never more like God, than when we forgive. Alexander Pope said; “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”
§ His debt was astronomical
Forgiveness is a tremendous concept. Marianne Williamson said; “The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world.” Bernard Meltzer was a United States radio host for several decades. His advice call-in show was called "What's Your Problem?" Meltzer said, "When you forgive, you in no way change the past--but you sure do change the future." Noted religious author Agnes Sanford said, "As we practice the work of forgiveness we discover more and more that forgiveness and healing are one."
He had an unpayable debt. His debt was unpayable because it was astronomical in size. A talent was 20 years’ worth of wages which equates to 200,000 years’ worth of work. The Greek for ten thousand is “murion”. We derive our English word “myriad” from it. This word in Greek is simply “the highest”. It is a number beyond numeration. He owed an amount that was simply incalculable and therefor unpayable.
No one could fathom this man’s debt. They had never seen such quantity and believe me they had seen quantity. The total revenue collected by the Roman government from Idumea and Judea and Samaria, the total revenue was 600 talents. The total revenue collected from Galilee was 300 talents.
C. S. Lewis was right when he said, "We all agree that forgiveness is a beautiful idea until we have to practice it." Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.”
You might want to know that when the tabernacle was built, the Lord said to them, I want you to overlay all these elements in gold. You know, arc of the covenant and many other things had to be overlaid in gold. You might want to think back on that and imagine all of that precious gold that overlaid all of those factors in the tabernacle and if you're curious about that, it tells us in Exodus Chapter 38, verse 24, that there were 29 talents of gold.
A Soapmaker, who was not saved, walked along the road with a preacher one day. He said to the preacher, “The gospel you preach has not done much good. There is still a lot of wickedness in the world, and wicked people, too.” Quietly they walked on. The preacher did not reply to his friend’s comment until they passed a dirty little child making mudpies in the gutter. With this before them, the preacher spoke, “Soap has not done much good in the world, I see; for there is still much dirt in the world, and many dirty people about.” “O, well, you know,” said the Soapmaker, “soap is only useful when it is applied.” “Exactly,” said the preacher, “so it is with the gospel we proclaim.”
I form and aim my prayers in this manner because I know our Lord is willingness to show forth His forgiveness in lives for the first time. Furthermore, I know that He desires and demands His disciples to live out that which He has accomplished in their life.
When the temple was built the whole place was overlaid in gold and that was only 3,000 talents.
§ Our sin is astounding
If we are to apply subsequent teachings on forgiveness we must first lay a foundation on which those teachings are built. According to Scripture quoted earlier, and , our foundation for practical forgiveness must begin in our understanding of our positional forgiveness. If it is to be our common practice as Christians to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us then it is imperative that we have a clear understanding of our own forgiveness in Christ.
Scripture is replete with texts to choose from when laying this most important foundation. Today I have chosen, with the Spirit’s help, the parable of “The Unmerciful Servant”. This parable will help us to answer our given question today; “how does God forgive,” and next week’s question, “how often do I forgive.”
Now think with me on this because this is really a profound truth. This is our sin and therefore the second foundational point of this parable our sin is astounding. We are brought before God in a moment of confrontation which is purposed to lead us conviction. We are faced with the fact that our sin is incalculable. It could not even be counted. It cannot even be numbered in its volume.
Before we read today’s text let us first take a moment to establish the atmosphere or context in which it was spoken as this will lend us a greater understanding.
Paul says, in "When I saw what I really was, when I saw God's law and I looked at my sin," he says in 7:13, "I saw the utter sinfulness of sin." or the exceeding sinfulness of sin.
The central focus of Matthew’s gospel is to draw men and women into the kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ. Throughout his gospel, Matthew carefully and systematically presents the components of genuine belief.
This is a critical element in bringing someone to true salvation. Every one of us must be brought to the point where we see this mountain of sin incalculable. It's a little wonder when Job was brought there that he said, "I abhor myself." It's little wonder that when Ezra was brought there, he said, "oh my God, I am ashamed and blushed to lift my face to thee my God." And he had his face in the ground. "For our iniquities are increased over our head and our trespasses gone up to heaven." It's the same kind of attitude that we find in the heart of David who even though He was a man after God's heart prayed with a tear-stained face, "Oh Lord for thine own name sake, pardon my iniquity." You see our sin is a debt and it is a debt that is beyond calculation. It's so great that we can't even estimate it and it let alone pay it.
The fact that a person must enter the kingdom assumes he is born outside of it under the rule of Satan and that he is not naturally a heavenly citizen under the rule of God. The purpose of the gospel is to show men how they may enter the kingdom and become its citizens, moving from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son
Look at verse 25 and see what happened; “and since he could not pay.” Now this is the most dire circumstance imaginable. "His master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made." Now this is just punishment friends. This is a real debt, not an artificial one.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
It is God’s desire to have men come into His kingdom, and He does not wish “for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (). The purpose of Christ’s ministry and the ministries of John the Baptist and the apostles was to call people to the kingdom. That is still the supreme task of the church.
It is God’s desire to have men come into His kingdom, and He does not wish “for any to perish but for all to come to repentance”
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
). The purpose of Christ’s ministry and the ministries of John the Baptist and the apostles was to call people to the kingdom. That is still the supreme task of the church.
The purpose of Christ’s ministry and the ministries of John the Baptist and the apostles was to call people to the kingdom. That is still the supreme task of the church.
focuses on those immature, unperfected, childlike qualities that believers demonstrate as they conform to the fullness of of Jesus Christ.
o He was facing an unending damnation
If you ask yourself what this means, let me tell you what I believe it's referring to here. I think this is a picture of hell. I think verse 25 is talking about hell in spiritual implications. Now keep in mind that the debt could never really be paid anyway. Where else are men sent to pay for their sin? Where else do people go as punishment for the debt they owe to God? This is talking about hell. It's talking about eternal hell. Now listen very carefully and you'll learn something about hell. People go to hell to pay for their sins, but one thing you need to know is all eternity in hell will still not pay for their sins.
This chapter is a single sermon by our Lord on the specific theme of the childlikeness of the believer. He emphasizes this teaching by bringing a child into their midst as to magnify and make tangible this vital lesson. We know by the Greek word used that this child was either a toddler or infant.
Jesus speaks directly to the reality that we are spiritual children with all the weaknesses that childhood implies. It is also essential to see that the chapter teaches the church, as a group of spiritually unperfected children how to get along with each other.
What the parable is saying is the debt is unpayable. It is so vast that it could never be paid. You could never recover what was lost. The glory stolen from God could never be returned to God. There is no way that men forever in hell could pay the debt off, but they're going to spend forever there paying as much as they can anyway. It is a sad fact that men who have spent eternities in hell will be no better for their payment than they were when they began, so they'll be no more fit for heaven at the end of that time were there end, than they would be at the beginning when they started it.
This is a terrible picture and the king is not a tyrant but just. In fact, he's been merciful in not calling this individual to an accounting long before he did. You know that life in itself is an act of mercy. You could have been sent to hell as soon as you born, true? But God has been merciful and maybe He's called and convicted your heart again and again and again and again. However you have rejected and rejected and reject until he ultimately sends you to pay for the sin that you wish to hold to yourself, He will be a just God.
The first lesson in this masterful sermon is that everyone who enters the kingdom does so as a child (vv. 1–4). Jesus then teaches that all of us in the kingdom must he treated as children (vv. 5–9), cared for as children (vv. 10–14), disciplined as children (vv. 15–20), and forgiven as children (vv. 21–35).
- He was convicted by his debt.
The setting for the sermon is indicated by the phrase at that time, which refers to a period soon after Jesus told Peter to go to the Sea of Galilee and retrieve the coin from the fish’s mouth (17:27). While Peter was paying the tax with the coin or, more likely, just after he returned, the rest of the disciples came to Jesus, possibly at Peter’s house in Capernaum.
Our text today is verses twenty-one through thirty-five. We will concentrate our time on verses twenty-three through twenty-seven. Our aim today is to connect Paul’s teaching on; “forgive others just as God in Christ Jesus has forgiven you,” to Jesus parable which contains insights on how God forgives.
o Posture
o Plea
Before we read today’s text take a journey with me by closing your eyes. Go in your mind’s eye back to the day of your salvation. If you can’t because you have never been saved then remain reverent by keeping your eyes closed. Go back to that day. What do you remember? Do recall people, place, or pastor/preacher, if there was one, who was there? What caused you that day to place your faith in Christ as Savior? What did you experience? Now open your eyes and read today’s text with me as we see how God receives and redeems sinners.
What does this parable teach us about God and ourselves?
What does this parable teach us about God and ourselves?
Lesson #1 about God - He calls men to give an account of their debt.
Lesson #1 about God - He calls men to give an account of their debt.
Look at verse 26. . . .. First of all, he was in the right posture, he fell down. He was broken. I think the man was devastated. I think he was totally shattered. I mean, I think he was at the end. He knew what he faced. He couldn't pay the debt. He was going to lose his freedom. He was going to be in permanent bondage, because he could work his whole lifetime, you see, and never pay it off. Just like hell, you can work eternity and never pay it off. So you never get out of it. Once you go into the service of that man to pay off that debt, you're in abject slavery till the end and he could see that and there was no way out. He doesn't plead for justice. He got justice. He doesn't deny his sin. He admits it. He fell down, crushed, broken, prostrate, and humble. He was in the right attitude, the attitude where God wants men to be when He convicts them of sin, right?
It was common in those days for there to be periodic times of accounting. What we see taught in this passage is that God calls men to a periodic accounting. It isn't necessarily accounting such as that of the great white throne judgment, which is final judgment. However this time of accounting is that of great conviction when men are called to face God for what they're doing with their life.
Overwhelmed with his sinfulness, shattered by the debt that he could never pay and facing an eternity of inability with no relief in sight he pleads for mercy. He's admitting his sin, he's broken, he's humble, and he’s in the very spot that God wants to bring every man. Where is that you might ask; on his face, in the dust, like the publican beating his breast saying "Lord be merciful to me, a sinner. I see a debt I cannot pay. I see a mountain of sin that can never be eliminated. I face an eternity of hell." He is a broken man and like so many broken men, he doesn't really understand everything. He says, "have patience with me." He pleads for compassion for the lord's patient endurance.
God calls men to an accounting for their lives. For some people that might be happening today for the first time and for others this maybe the hundredth time.
He pleads for mercy and he ask for patience so that he could pay back everything. Now this is like folks who are under conviction. The first response that comes to them when they are overpowered by guilt, when they're confronted with the sinfulness of sin is I've got to shape my life up. I've got to get my life better. I've got to get rid of the guilt. I think I can be a better person. I want to turn over a new leaf. I want to make some resolutions. I want to sort of moralize myself and reform myself. He's admitted his sin. He's seen the lossness of his condition and he really doesn't quite understand how that the debt could ever be paid and so he just says just give me a chance at. I'll do the best I can and he's like people who in the midst of their convictions seek to be religious.
In Romans Chapter 1, it says that God has deposited in man the knowledge of Himself. God has given to man in the environment around him enough information that he may follow that path to the knowledge of God. God has given man the intellectual capability to understand and reason and see the truth. God has presented to him the revealed word, the Holy Spirit. In other words, God has given a treasure to men that they are to perceive it from Him and they are to follow that perception to the full understanding of who He is and what He wants. God periodically calls men to such accounting.
It is not uncommon for people in this position to respond in this manner. They want to be better before they know they can come to Christ and receive a gift from Him. This is sort of a pre-salvation conviction. However he possesses a Beatitude attitude. He's humbled, he's broken, he cries for mercy, he sees the enormity of his sin, and he knows the king is the king and has control. He says, just be patient with me. Just show me a little patience and I'll do everything I can to pay it back. I want it to be right. He's saying I want to be different. I'm sorry about what I did. The heart attitude is right. Everything is there. It's just that he doesn't understand the grace of forgiveness yet. So the lord has him right where he wants him.
Now like the man who is convicted of sin, he sees his sin, he cries for mercy, he doesn't fully realize that he can't do what he thinks needs to be done and so he's in a dire situation. The convicting power of the law of God has smashed and crushed him. Notice that king has no comment on the utter impossibility of what he says in verse 26. He doesn't say oh foolish man you can't pay. What does he say?
You could see the same concept in where it says that the Holy Spirit has come to convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit periodically at the discretion of the sovereignty of God to call men to an accounting of conviction. You've been there at one of those junctures if you're a Christian. When you came to Jesus Christ you were called to an accounting. Someone preached a sermon. Someone confronted you with a sinfulness of sin. Someone showed you the law of God and how miserably short of it you were. Someone demonstrated to you that you had violated the law of God and you looked in your heart and by the convicting work of the Spirit and the word of God, you saw that it was so. And you saw yourself for what you are, a sinner, and you came for the grace of salvation.
For some of you conviction was heightened by a physical illness or by the death of someone you love very much or the loss of a job or a painful experience. God calls men to such accountings.
He received compassion by having his debt forgiven. (v.27)
o The king forgives his debt by . . .
The apostle Paul was going along in his life and it seemed as though everything was going well, when out of nowhere, God took him on the Damascus Road, slammed him in the dirt, blinded him, and called him to accounting. I believe it was in that very interval of his life that Romans Chapter 7 became a reality to him and he looked inside his life and he saw the exceeding sinfulness of his sin.
§ Absorbing the sin
The Lord confronted Paul on the Damascus Road about the sinfulness of his sin. Paul responded with repentance because he saw the sinfulness of sin, he had a right response, but not all people do.
The rich young ruler was confronted by Jesus Christ. He was blinded by his sin of self righteousness. He could not see the sinfulness of his sin. He believed himself to be righteous through law keeping until Christ pulled backed the curtain of His heart and revealed to Him that he was a law breaker. Instead of confessing his sin he choose to keep his lifestyle. He had an accounting that day, but he rejected the accounting.
When he saw the sinfulness of sin, he had a right response, but not all people do. The rich young ruler was confronted by Jesus Christ. He too thought that sin was only external issue of what you do or don't do. When he was asked if he kept all the law he said all those things have I done since I was young, and the Lord drove the point to his heart as if to say it isn't what you do or don't do on the outside, it's what's in you and what I see in you is covetousness and what I'm going to tell you to do is sell everything you have, get the money and give it all to the poor and the man walked away.
§ Absolves the sinner
"And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him his debt." Oh what a marvelous. Oh the grace of that verse. Write it somewhere in your Bible, grace. He forgave an absolutely incomprehensible debt in a moment out of compassion for the debtor. He loosed him. What does it mean? He released him from the obligation. He freed him from the debt. Why did he do that? He was moved with what? Compassion! Where does compassion come from? It comes from love. This man happened to love that servant as God loves all men.
Why he was convicted, but he rejected the conviction. He had an accounting that day, but he rejected the accounting. He was told that he was covetous in the heart and that the sin problem wasn't something on the outside, it was something deep on the inside. At the moment of his accounting, he turned his back and walked away. Paul on the other hand was held to an accounting and he saw the law of coveting. He saw the law of lust. He saw the law of evil desire but instead of turning and walking away, he embraced the Savior who alone could deliver him from his sin and he was redeemed.
All men come to that same accounting and it may happen again and again and it may be rejected again and again and for all of us who know Christ at one time, it was accepted and we entered into eternal life. So what we have here then is God calling men to the accounting of conviction of sin.
You say well what did the guy do to deserve that? He didn't do anything. But you know how you get the forgiveness of God? You know how you receive the forgiveness of God? Well, you come to God with a broken heart over your utter sinfulness knowing you could never pay the debt. Crying out to God for mercy and patience in a dire situation and facing eternal judgment and saying Lord please. And in the midst of that brokenness does God come in His tender forgiving grace and loving kindness and forgive your debt.
This leads us to our next observation. We are not only called to give an account but we are confronted with the debt of our account. Look at verse twenty-four as it helps us to see the sinfulness of sin. If one is to see the sinfulness of their sin they must be confronted with their sin. Don’t overlook the phrase “one was brought.” This statement reinforces the teaching of
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands; no one seeks for God.
If no one seeks God then how does one find God and his forgiveness? ; answers this question;
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
He would never have come if he had not been called. He is like his first parents, Adam and Eve, they did not seek God for forgiveness and reconciliation but rather God came to them.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
You see it is this call that awakens us to our trespasses and sin. Adam and Eve were aware of their sin before called but they did not understand the magnitude of their sin until they called for confrontation.
Lesson #1 about Man - Our sin is astronomical.
Lesson #1 about Man - Our sin is astronomical.
Now all that possibly could be said about salvation isn't said here, but there's something wonderful said here that may not be said very many other places in the Bible about that. And so it is a marvelous, marvelous parable. I believe the moment the sinner recognizes his sin, the moment he comes to the only one who can possibly deal with that sin, the moment he confesses that in and repents that sin and admits that sin and worships the God who alone can forgive that sin, the moment he does that and the moment he hungers in his heart for some way to pay that sin back, that's when God rushes in with the forgiveness made available in Jesus Christ who already paid the debt Himself anyway.
September 11th, 2001 just past 9:00am, Stanley Praimnath, Vice President for Fuji Bank, was in his office in the South Tower at WTC when his phone rang. “Are you watching the news?’ asked a woman in the Chicago office. “Are you alright?” “I’m fine” he said wondering why she had called. Just then he turned to gaze out the window at the Statue of Liberty, as had been his routine. The surreal sight of a low-flying commercial jet, heading straight for his tower disrupted his view. He dropped the phone in mid-sentence and dove to the floor. Curling under his desk he began praying to God, “Lord, help me” he prayed desperately as the aircraft smashed into the tower.
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands; no one seeks for God.
; what then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. If no one seeks God then how does one find God and his forgiveness? answers this question; “for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” He would never have come if he had not been called. He is like his first parents, Adam and Eve, they did not seek God for forgiveness and reconciliation but rather God came to them. states; and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” You see it is this call that awakens us to our trespasses and sin. Adam and Eve were aware of their sin before called but they did not understand the magnitude of their sin until they called for confrontation.
If no one seeks God then how does one find God and his forgiveness? ; answers this question;
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
He would never have come if he had not been called. He is like his first parents, Adam and Eve, they did not seek God for forgiveness and reconciliation but rather God came to them.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
He would never have come if he had not been called. He is like his first parents, Adam and Eve, they did not seek God for forgiveness and reconciliation but rather God came to them. states; and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” You see it is this call that awakens us to our trespasses and sin. Adam and Eve were aware of their sin before called but they did not understand the magnitude of their sin until they called for confrontation.
You see it is this call that awakens us to our trespasses and sin. Adam and Eve were aware of their sin before called but they did not understand the magnitude of their sin until they called for confrontation.
for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” He would never have come if he had not been called. He is like his first parents, Adam and Eve, they did not seek God for forgiveness and reconciliation but rather God came to them. states; and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” You see it is this call that awakens us to our trespasses and sin. Adam and Eve were aware of their sin before called but they did not understand the magnitude of their sin until they called for confrontation.
You see it is this call that awakens us to our trespasses and sin. Adam and Eve were aware of their sin before called but they did not understand the magnitude of their sin until they called for confrontation.
The smell of jet fuel in the air, equipment scattered all around, rubble covering the floor, dust in the air, he began clawing across mound of debris. “Lord, I have to go home to my family,” he wheezed. “I have to see my daughters.” Just then he saw a light. “I am here to help you.” He thought, “This is my guardian angel! The Lord sent somebody to help me!” Praimnath’s guardian angel was Brian Clark, a Christian who was an executive 3 floors below. The two miraculously climbed out of the rubble to safety.
He had an unpayable debt
He had an unpayable debt
Praimnath stated, “My Lord has some unfinished tasks for me.” “I took the tattered clothes I was wearing that day, put them in a box, and wrote DELIVERANCE all over it. I told my wife, ‘if I ever get spiritually cold, I want you to bring this box to me, open it up, and show me what the Lord brought me from.”
His debt was astronomical
His debt was astronomical
He had an unpayable debt. His debt was unpayable because it was astronomical in size. A talent was 20 years’ worth of wages which equates to 200,000 years’ worth of work. The Greek for ten thousand is “murion”. We derive our English word “myriad” from it. This word in Greek is simply “the highest”. It is a number beyond numeration. He owed an amount that was simply incalculable and therefore unpayable.
No one could fathom this man’s debt. They had never seen such quantity and believe me they had seen quantity. The total revenue collected by the Roman government from Idumea, Judea, and Samaria, the total revenue was 600 talents. The total revenue collected from Galilee was 300 talents.
You might want to know that when the tabernacle was built, the Lord said to them, I want you to overlay all these elements in gold. You know, arc of the covenant and many other things had to be overlaid in gold. You might want to think back on that and imagine all of that precious gold that overlaid all of those factors in the tabernacle and if you're curious about that, it tells us in Exodus Chapter 38:24, that there were 29 talents of gold.
When the temple was built the whole place was overlaid in gold and that was only 3,000 talents.
Lesson #2 about Man - Man through religion will attempt to save himself.
Lesson #2 about Man - Man through religion will attempt to save himself.
Now think with me on this because this is really a profound truth. This is our sin and therefore the second foundational point of this parable our sin is astounding. We are brought before God in a moment of confrontation which is purposed to lead us conviction. We are faced with the fact that our sin is incalculable. It could not even be counted. It cannot even be numbered in its volume.
Paul says, in
Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
"When I saw what I really was, when I saw God's law and I looked at my sin, I saw the utter sinfulness of sin." or the exceeding sinfulness of sin.
"When I saw what I really was, when I saw God's law and I looked at my sin," he says in 7:13, "I saw the utter sinfulness of sin." or the exceeding sinfulness of sin.
This is a critical element in bringing someone to true salvation. Every one of us must be brought to the point where we see this mountain of sin incalculable. It's a little wonder when Job was brought there that he said, "I abhor myself." It's little wonder that when Ezra was brought there, he said, "oh my God, I am ashamed and blushed to lift my face to thee my God." And he had his face in the ground. "For our iniquities are increased over our head and our trespasses gone up to heaven." It's the same kind of attitude that we find in the heart of David who even though He was a man after God's heart prayed with a tear-stained face, "Oh Lord for thine own name sake, pardon my iniquity." You see our sin is a debt and it is a debt that is beyond calculation. It's so great that we can't even estimate it and it let alone pay it.
This is reinforced in verse 25; “and since he could not pay.” Now this is the most dire circumstance imaginable. "His master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made." Now this is just punishment friends. This is a real debt, not an artificial one.
He was facing an unending damnation
He was facing an unending damnation
If you ask yourself what this means, let me tell you what I believe it's referring to here. I think this is a picture of hell. I think verse 25 is talking about hell in spiritual implications. Now keep in mind that the debt could never really be paid anyway. Where are men sent to pay for their sin? Where else do people go as punishment for the debt they owe to God? This is talking about hell. It's talking about eternal hell. Now listen very carefully and you'll learn something about hell. People go to hell to pay for their sins, but one thing you need to know is all eternity in hell will still not pay for their sins.
What the parable is saying is the debt is unpayable. It is so vast that it could never be paid. You could never recover what was lost. The glory stolen from God could never be returned to God. Man’s sin debt is infinite therefore hell is infinite.
This is a terrible picture and the king is not a tyrant but just. In fact, he's been merciful in not calling this individual to an accounting long before he did. You know that life in itself is an act of mercy. You could have been sent to hell as soon as you born, true? But God has been merciful and maybe He's called and convicted your heart again and again and again and again. However you have rejected and rejected and reject until he ultimately sends you to pay for the sin that you wish to hold to yourself, He will be a just God.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Plea
Plea
Man’s tendency is to choose the wide path that leads to destruction. How do we know this to be true . . .
Look at verse 26. . . .. First of all, he was in the right posture, he fell down. He was broken.He was devastated. He was totally shattered. I mean, I think he was at the end. He knew what he faced permanent bondage. He understood that he was incapable of restitution.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
He doesn't plead for justice. He got justice. He doesn't deny his sin. He admits it. He falls down, crushed, broken, prostrate, and humble. He was in the right attitude, the attitude where God wants men to be when He convicts them of sin.
Lesson #2 about Man - Man through religion will attempt to save himself.
Lesson #2 about Man - Man through religion will attempt to save himself.
Overwhelmed with his sinfulness, shattered by the debt that he could never pay and facing an eternity of inability with no relief in sight he pleads for mercy. He's admitting his sin, he's broken, he's humble, and he’s in the very spot that God wants to bring every man. Where is that you might ask; on his face, in the dust, like the publican beating his breast saying "Lord be merciful to me, a sinner. I see a debt I cannot pay. I see a mountain of sin that can never be eliminated. I face an eternity of hell."
This parable reinforces an early Jesus teaching from the Sermon on the Mount
He pleads for mercy and he ask for patience so that he could pay back everything. Now this is like folks who are under conviction. The first response that comes to them when they are overpowered by guilt, when they're confronted with the sinfulness of sin is I've got to shape my life up. I've got to get my life better. I've got to get rid of the guilt. I think I can be a better person. I want to turn over a new leaf. I want to make some resolutions. He's admitted his sin. He's seen the lossness of his condition and he really doesn't quite understand how that the debt could ever be paid and so he just says just give me a chance. I'll do the best I can and he's like people who in the midst of their convictions seek to be religious.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.
For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Man’s tendency is to choose the wide path that leads to destruction. How do we know this to be true . . .
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Religion appeals for patience but a relationship applies His pardon.
Religion appeals for patience but a relationship applies His pardon.
It is not uncommon for people in this position to respond in this manner. They want to be better before they know they can come to Christ and receive a gift from Him. This is sort of a pre-salvation conviction. However he possesses a Beatitude attitude. He's humbled, he's broken, he cries for mercy, he sees the enormity of his sin, and he knows the king is the king and has control. He says, just be patient with me. Just show me a little patience and I'll do everything I can to pay it back. I want it to be right. He's saying I want to be different. I'm sorry about what I did. The heart attitude is right. Everything is there. It's just that he doesn't understand the grace of forgiveness yet. So the lord has him right where he wants him.
Now like the man who is convicted of sin, he sees his sin, he cries for mercy, he doesn't fully realize that he can't do what he thinks needs to be done and so he's in a dire situation. The convicting power of the law of God has smashed and crushed him. Notice that king has no comment on the utter impossibility of what he says in verse 26. He doesn't say oh foolish man you can't pay. What does he say?
Lesson #2 about God - His compassion is astounding.
Lesson #2 about God - His compassion is astounding.
The king forgives his debt by . . .
HAbsorbing the sin
HAbsorbing the sin
He absorbs the sinners debt
He absorbs the sinners debt
Absolves the sinner
Absolves the sinner
He absolves the sinner.
He absolves the sinner.
"And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him his debt." Write it somewhere in your Bible, grace. He forgave an absolutely incomprehensible debt in a moment out of compassion for the debtor. He loosed him. What does it mean? He released him from the obligation. He freed him from the debt. Why did he do that? He was moved with what? Compassion! Where does compassion come from? It comes from love.
Now all that possibly could be said about salvation isn't said here, but there's something wonderful said here that may not be said very many other places in the Bible about that. And so it is a marvelous, marvelous parable. I believe the moment the sinner recognizes his sin, the moment he comes to the only one who can possibly deal with that sin, the moment he confesses that in and repents that sin and admits that sin and worships the God who alone can forgive that sin, the moment he does that and the moment he hungers in his heart for some way to pay that sin back, that's when God rushes in with the forgiveness made available in Jesus Christ who already paid the debt Himself anyway.
September 11th, 2001 just past 9:00am, Stanley Praimnath, Vice President for Fuji Bank, was in his office in the South Tower at WTC when his phone rang. “Are you watching the news?’ asked a woman in the Chicago office. “Are you alright?” “I’m fine” he said wondering why she had called. Just then he turned to gaze out the window at the Statue of Liberty, as had been his routine. The surreal sight of a low-flying commercial jet, heading straight for his tower disrupted his view. He dropped the phone in mid-sentence and dove to the floor. Curling under his desk he began praying to God, “Lord, help me” he prayed desperately as the aircraft smashed into the tower.
The smell of jet fuel in the air, equipment scattered all around, rubble covering the floor, dust in the air, he began clawing across mound of debris. “Lord, I have to go home to my family,” he wheezed. “I have to see my daughters.” Just then he saw a light. “I am here to help you.” He thought, “This is my guardian angel! The Lord sent somebody to help me!” Praimnath’s guardian angel was Brian Clark, a Christian who was an executive 3 floors below. The two miraculously climbed out of the rubble to safety.
Praimnath stated, “My Lord has some unfinished tasks for me.” “I took the tattered clothes I was wearing that day, put them in a box, and wrote DELIVERANCE all over it. I told my wife, ‘if I ever get spiritually cold, I want you to bring this box to me, open it up, and show me what the Lord brought me from.”
[2] MacArthur, J. (1989). Matthew (). Chicago: Moody Press.