Sermon Tone Analysis

PART 2 - August 29

"...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

This morning's message focuses on the second half of the parable of the found in Matthew Chapter 18: Verses 28-35.

It is the culmination of our long running mini-series on forgiveness originally taken from the Lord's Prayer:

12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

Our message title remains

The Proof of Principled Forgiveness

Seeing Forgiveness from Heaven's Perspective

[Excuse-proof forgiveness]

Let's resume our lesson with a re-read of verses 23-35, then address

"forgiveness" principles from the second half of this parable.

Please turn with me to Matthew 18 Verse 23

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."

These verses are the flipside of the forgiveness coin.

It's true, they reveal the true heart of the forgiven servant, but in reality, they show us ourselves and the potential we have to be ruthlessly unforgiving - even after receiving Christ's forgiveness.

This second half of this passage is a warning to every believer to drop your excuses when it comes to forgiving people in your life.

Above all, these verses reveal God's heart toward His children when we elect to be unforgiving.

As we walk through this passage down, I want you to keep in mind that the king and master in this story is symbolic of God.

Let's begin . . .

We already know that the main servant in this parable has been forgiven a great sum of debt - over $3.4 billion dollars.

Because of the grace and compassion of his master, his debt slate was wiped clean - no questions asked, no requirement to pay it back, no Chapter 7 or 13.

No going to prison, no selling of wife and children or liquidating material passions.

Just like that, verse 27 says:

27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

Now, let's follow this servants reaction to his master's incomprehensible act of forgiveness.

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 is unbelievable!

The behavior displayed by the "just-forgiven" servant contradicts everything that was just done [for him].

[It doesn't cancel it out, because this is a picture of Christ's forgiveness of him and us at salvation - totally irreversible.

But what the forgiven servant's actions prove is that he didn't accurately recognize the significance of the forgiveness extended him by the king.

If we're not careful, neither will we.

The forgiven servant only saw himself and the things that were of interest to him relative to the master's compassionate pardon of him.

Proof of this fact is found in verse 28 which conveys a sense of urgency and haste coming from the forgiven servant.

It is appalling to see him anxiously leave the presence of his master and rush out to find his fellow servant who owed him a little 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!'

Does this look like a person who is a child of God?

How could a person who has just been forgiven an incomprehensible amount debt be so: Ruthless, merciless, cavalier, and unforgiving?

Think of it this way: Consider the concepts of Horizontal Forgiveness and Vertical Forgiveness.

Horizontal is flat and level - the distance between two parallel points like east and west, man and man - Saint to Saint.

Vertical is up and down like north and south; or like a standard elevator .

.. up - down.

When applied to forgiveness, vertical forgiveness is between God and man.

But horizontal forgiveness is between you and me, me and you, person to person and limited to the earth realm.

(More on that later).

The reason the forgiven servant could be so violent and ruthless toward his fellow servant after having been forgiven such a great amount of debt is because he was dealing from a position of horizontal forgiveness.

I believe the forgiven servant never fully comprehended the unconditional forgiveness his Master (symbolizing God) lavished upon him.

The forgiven servant only wanted to be excused from paying back what he owed -- not because he was in love with Christ, but so he wouldn't have to suffer embarrassment: loss of clout and position, loss of family, and loss of material possessions.

And so, as it was with him, so it is with us - that anytime a Believer has opportunity to forgive - it is impossible to do so completely without first acknowledging VERTICAL Forgiveness.

That is, Christ's forgiveness of us.

When vertical forgiveness isn't clearly experienced in a believer's life, then his ability to extend forgiveness to others will always be difficult and incomplete at best.

This is 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.

Now to 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 servant in Matthew 18: 26, 27.

Verse 30 says:

30 And he would not but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt.

This is a picture of "man's brand of forgiveness".

Better known as "horizontal forgiveness".

We now know that Horizontal forgiveness is man to man forgiveness.

It is temperamental and it runs hot and cold, but mostly lukewarm.

You never know what to expect because it is unpredictable.

It's driven by a man or a woman's personal persuasions, personal biases, prejudices, triggers, emotions, culture, history, family upbringing, and customs of the times - anything but what is spiritual.

Horizontal forgiveness alone is a dangerous place to be in because it rests in man's control.

It has the potential to go in so many directions - including the good, bad, ugly, awful, revenge, retaliation, regret, remorse, restitution and maybe reconciliation.