And When You Pray | And Forgive Us As We Forgive (Part 8.8) Embracing God's Heart on Forgiveness: Excuse-Proof Forgiveness - "The Proof" of Principled Forgiveness - 07/18/2021

Part 2 July 18, 2021 "...And When You Pray" And Forgive Us As We Forgive Matthew 6:12; 14 & 15 Embracing God's Heart on Forgiveness: Excuse-Proof Forgiveness The Proof of Principled Forgiveness Matthew 18:21-35 Matthew 18:21-35 which reads: 21 Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 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." START Here: This morning we're returning to our ongoing series taken from the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew Chapter 6. Our current focus is on verse 12 which focuses on "forgiveness" and reads: 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. In short it is saying: 12 And forgive us, As we forgive. This verse is known as Petition Number 5 in the Lord's Prayer. As we expand on the principle of forgiveness, our lesson has since taken us into deeper territory on the subject which has landed us in the 18th chapter of Matthew, verses 21-35. [SLIDE] The title of today's message installment is: The Proof of Principled Forgiveness Matthew 18:21-35 When we were last here at this passage, we listened in on a conversation between Jesus and Peter where Peter asked Jesus "how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" (Matt. 18:21). We discovered that Peter was keeping score on the forgiveness scorecard and was apparently nearing or having reached the SEVEN-time limit which probably stemmed from some culturally accepted rule that had been put in place by the Jews. 22 Jesus said to Peter, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Then, Jesus proceeded to give Peter a view of biblical "forgiveness" from heaven's perspective. He went on to say: [SLIDE] Matthew 18: 23-27 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. That's where our lesson ended when we were last at this passage. I wanted to end on a high, positive note. I intentionally ended it at that point because I wanted this scenario to marinate in your minds before decoding it and addressing the second half of the story. As Paul Harvey, the famous radio broadcaster used to say, before hearing ... "The Rest of the Story". This morning, I want to breakdown some imperceptible facts related to the forgiven servant in Matt. 18. [I may refer to him as the 10K servant from time to time.] As most of you know, there are two sides to every story. But regardless of which side you listen to, the TRUTH always resides in the middle. Thinking back on the first half of the story of the forgiven servant who was forgiven a debt of 10 thousand talents, I wanted you to reflect on how this servant was made to feel after being forgiven such a vast amount. Someone said in today's dollars the 10 thousand talents would be worth over 3.48 billion dollars]. ...But the point Jesus needs us to see is that the 10K debt was unpayable by the servant even if he were given 10 thousand lifetimes to pay it. [SLIDE] Ten Thousand Talents Worth in Today's Dollars: $3.48 billion in modern money 10,000 talents is 200,000 years of labor! It is 60,000,000 working days. Ten thousand talents were symbolic and synonymous for "impossibly unachievable". (Our sins can never be forgiven without Jesus's blood). So, given that, how do you think the forgiven servant was feeling after having been forgiven such a large sum of money? Perhaps: Great, elated, better than relieved, wowed, excited, ecstatic, beyond expression, and totally overcome with emotion? But what might the 10K servant been so elated, appreciative, relieved, or happy about? This question would seem to be a no-brainer seeing we just witnessed him have an insurmountable debt wiped away. It would seem obvious that he would be thrilled, overjoyed, and exhilarated. But is that true? Is that the case here. Is that an accurate assessment of this servant's level of gratitude? By the way, What was his level of gratitude? Was he truly grateful and about what? Let's test it! Exactly, what was the servant's attitude and motive toward having his debt wiped out and being forgiven? * Was he jubilant about being forgiven a large debt? * Or, was he overjoyed that his wife and children didn't have to go to prison and be enslaved with him? * Or, was he relieved that his resources (cars, boats, houses, rental property, jewelry, stocks & bonds, businesses, etc.) were spared and not seized and liquidated? * Or, was he thankful that his reputation as a businessman and dignitary was not blemished or destroyed? Now, let's look back at each of our own salvation experience [and contrast it with the motive of the forgiven servant] . The ultimate case of FORGIVENESS. When you got born again, "were you elated, relieved, excited, ecstatic beyond expression, thrilled, overjoyed, exhilarated? Exactly, what were all these emotions driven by? Similar to the forgiven servant's case, was your attitude and motive tied to having been forgiven of sin because of Christ, or . . . did your relief and elations stem from other indirect motives - like the fact that: * You were no longer going to hell. * You now had eternal life? * Or, that you would know be accepted by the church and church folk? * Maybe you made God a promise that if He delivered you or fixed something for you, you would give Him your life. * You needed to get saved in order to marry another saved person or you could sing in the choir? * And on and on. Did you know that all these will weaken a Believer's ability to extend complete forgiveness to others if Christ's sacrificial death, burial and resurrection aren't at the heart of your salvation. So you ask, How so? It is so, because none of these motives are premised upon experiencing Jesus' complete forgiveness of you. None of the reasons mentioned take into full account that when you and I were yet sinners, Christ was dying for us -- the ungodly. None of these consider that Christ gave His very life through a horrible crucifixion and forgave me and you for every sin and injury we inflicted upon God in violation of His law. [SLIDE] Daniel 9:9 says . . . To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace Colossians 1:13-15 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and [a]conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption [b]through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Take note that the servant begged for patience, but he got more than patience and more than time to pay off the debt. What he got was forgiveness and a debt wiped out. But tragically, the second half of the story reveals what was really going on with this servant in regard to FORGIVENESS. Let's take a look: [SLIDE] Verses 20-35 reads: 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." These verses are the flipside of the forgiveness coin. They reveal the true heart of the forgiven servant. They also reveal God's heart toward Believers when it comes to forgiveness. As we break this passage down, I want you to keep in mind that the king and master in this story is representative of God. Let's take this passage verse by verse. [SLIDE] Verse 28 says: 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!' This verse tells us about 10 things that reverses everything that was done in the previous passage. Above all it proves that the forgiven servant didn't accurately recognize the significance of the forgiveness extended toward him by the king. He only saw himself and the things that were of interest to him. Proof of this is the fact that verse 28 conveys a sense of urgency and haste coming from the 10K forgiven servant to find his fellow servant who owed him some money. The Scripture says: "But that servant went out [seemingly immediately after being forgiven] and found [not happened to run into but found (hunted him down) one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii (about 3 months wages); and he laid hands on him (violently) and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!' [SLIDE] This verse shows us two important facts: 1. Although the forgiven servant fell down pleading with his master in verse 26 saying: 26 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' In reality, he was bankrupt. He was broke. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have had to track another servant down for a measly three months' rent. He should have had a few dollars from the 10k left. 2. Secondly, it shows that he did not honor or appreciate the "true forgiveness" the king extended to him. Just to reiterate: He only wanted his own interests protected - meaning his family, wife and children and material resources [the likes of his yacht, mansion, winter home, vacation home, businesses, Bentley, Ferrari, Bugatti, his clout, reputation, and position of influence. Had he not been forgiven by his master, all of his stuff would have had to go and be liquidated, and his family broken up and sold - wife going one way and the children the other, and he too would have been sold into slavery. So, it is with all Believers who refuse to forgive one another on the basis of Christ's forgiveness of them. This is evidence of us not having comprehended the depth of God's forgiveness of us. This is evidence of what heaven sees in our hearts when we have only our interests as the priority instead of the real gift of forgiveness that God has provided us through Jesus's Blood. That's why the servant was as able leave his master's house and go right off as if "forgiveness" never happened, and violently demand of his fellow servant the very thing he was forgiven of. We ourselves are capable of doing the exact same thing. [SLIDE] Verse 29 says . . . 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' This is an exact re-run of the type begging and pleading we saw coming from the forgiven 10K servant. 26 The 10K servant therefore fell down before the king, 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. The only difference is the principle of truth: which is that the 100 denarii servant realistically could have paid his debt given a little time. The second difference is the absence of grace and compassion. The 10K servant didn't give a second thought to the fact that he, only hours before, was forgiven an impossible amount of debt. Yet, his response to the pleas of the 100 denarii servant for an extension to pay off the debt was: [SLIDE] Verse 30: 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. Please, no pity here, but soberness. This passage will easily yank on your emotions. But I caution you to beat back emotions of anger and revenge for the forgiven servant. Beat back the spirit of judgment and condemnation. Try to remain neutral, then ask: [SLIDE] How could a person who has just been forgiven an incomprehensible amount debt be so: Ruthless, merciless, cavalier, and unforgiving? Let's answer that next week! For now, read and meditate on this passage and ask God to enlighten your heart on what Christ-centered forgiveness is all about. The Proof of Principled Forgiveness 1