Extravagant Grace

Again, welcome to grace chapel...

Intro:

FUNERALS seem to always REMIND us of our own FATALITY…

NONE = IMMORTAL...

ONLY THING GUARANTEED = DEATH & TAXES

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WE NEVER KNOW the DAY...

**COULD be TODAY....TOMORROW… 50+ YEARS...

IN LIGHT of this UNCERTAINTY, WHILE we HAVE the GIFT of LIFE, which ALL of us HERE HAVE today…2 THINGS WE MUST DO B4 DAY of LAST BREATH....

BOTH HAVE to DO W/ FORGIVENESS & GRACE...

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READ STORY - GOSPEL of MATTHEW…CH. 18

RELEVANT to ALL of US

CONTEXT:

PETER had just ASKED JESUS....HOW MANY TIMES to FORGIVE? ---- 7 TIMES?

JESUS RESPONDS 77 TIMES (70X7) HYPERBOLE = DON’T KEEP TRACK.

(T) THEN, JESUS TELLS a PARABLE…STORY WITH a TEACHING PURPOSE.

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Text:

Matthew 18:21–35 (ESV)

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.

24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.

A TALENT was a UNIT of MEASUREMENT....WEIGHT

LARGEST MONETARY UNIT - ROMAN EMPIRE.

10,000 = LARGEST NUMBER GK LANGUAGE (ORIGINAL WRITING) HAD a WORD FOR....ENGLISH - MYRIAD.

JESUS is USING BIGGEST #’S POSSIBLE… LARGEST AMOUNT of LARGEST SIZE!!

REASONABLE CONSENSUS---OWED MASTER 50-70 MILLION DAYS of WORK.

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For a MODERN PERSPECTIVE:

MODERN ESTIMATE…AVG. PERSON - 90,000 HOURS of LIFE WORKING.

11,250 DAYS of WORK… (8 HOUR DAYS)

CONSIDERING LOW END CONSENSUS- 50 MILL. DAYS of WORK.

BASED ON 8 HOUR DAYS....MODERN SCHEDULE....OVER 4,000 LIFETIMES TO PAY DEBT.

16 HOUR DAYS....2,000 LIFETIMES....

16 HOUR DAYS, TWICE AS MANY YEARS WORKED, 1,000 LIFETIMES.

CONCLUSION - COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE TO REPAY. HE’S TOAST.

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25 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.

LITERALLY COULDN’T PAY- NO CHANCE....NOT THAT HE DIDN’T WANT TO!

MASTER ORDERED,, WHOLE FAMILY SOLD to PAY HIS DEBT

26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’

27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.

MAN BEGGED FOR OPPORTUNITY TO REPAY = WHICH WAS IMPOSSIBLE.

****NO AMOUNT of PATIENCE WOULD HAVE GIVEN the MAN ENOUGH TIME

MASTER DOESN’T GIVE OPPORTUNITY, HE CLEARS THE DEBT…100%

CAN YOU IMAGINE???

MANY HERE PROBABLY HAVE DEBT of SOME KIND…PERHAPS CRIPPLING

HOUSE

CAR

STUDENT LOANS

CREDIT CARDS

CAN YOU IMAGINE BEING LET OFF the HOOK?!

WALKING LIGHTER!

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Scene 2:

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.’

DENARII = 1 DAY’S WAGES

100 DENARII = STILL SUBSTANTIAL DEBT.

29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’

30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.

NOT ONLY DID HE REFUSE CANCEL, HE REFUSED to give the servant an OPPORTUNITY

100 DAYS of DEBT....REASONABLE TO PAY OFF…NOT IMPOSSIBLE

31 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.

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Scene 3

32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’

34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.

35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

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In this STORY, the MASTER = GOD, and the SERVANTS are HUMANS, SPECIFICALLY CHRISTIANS (KINGDOM OF HEAVEN).

Hom. Idea:

All humankind needs to receive vertical forgiveness from God and then freely offer horizontal forgiveness to others.

The WICKED SERVANT OWED a huge DEBT to the MASTER, that was IMPOSSIBLE to PAY.

ABSURDLY CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATE, 1000 LIFETIMES..

And yet this SERVANT EXPERIENCED GRACE. COMPLETE FORGIVENESS…DEBT CLEARED.

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In the SAME WAY, ALL of us ON this EARTH OWE an INCREDIBLE DEBT to GOD because of our SINS and TRANSGRESSIONS.

The SERVANT DIDN’T HAVE to WORK the DEBT OFF, BECAUSE HE COULDN’T have worked the debt off.

ONLY SOLUTION = ACT of EXTRAVAGANT GRACE

SAME WAY ---NO HUMAN, WORK INTO KINGDOM OF GOD.

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A MAN can only be SAVED from his SIN through the WORK of JESUS CHRIST on the CROSS. Where our DEBTS weren’t just CANCELLED, but they were PAID IN FULL....

JESUS DIED in OUR PLACE, TAKING our SIN, our SHAME, so we could RECEIVE his RIGHTEOUSNESS.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

WE AS SINNERS, RECEIVE CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH FAITH & OUR DEBTS PAID!!

ALL of GRACE...

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

MANKIND CAN’T EARN IT! IT MUST COME THROUGH GRACE!

SALVATION = FREE GIFT OFFERED to MANKIND BY GOD, THROUGH CHRIST’S SHED BLOOD FOR YOU!

RECEIVING FREE GIFT:

BELIEF in CHRIST’S DEATH & RESURRECTION

PROFESSION of LORDSHIP (LIFE & CREATION)

BE SAVED from CONSEQUENCES of SIN—ETERNAL SEPARATION from GOD.

You CAN BE SAVED & free TODAY,, BY GRACE....

***INSURMOUNTABLE DEBTS CAN’T BE WORKED OFF…ONLY FREELY FORGIVEN.

THAT’S THE GOOD NEWS GOD OFFERS TO HUMANITY.

YOU CAN FREELY RECEIVE THIS GIFT, TODAY!…IMAGINE the MAN in OUR STORY REJECTING MASTER’S OFFER,, WANTING to REMAIN in DEBT.....

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**MANY HERE TODAY, PROBABLY BELIEVERS....PROBABLY NOT WORRIED ABOUT YOUR STANDING B4 GOD...

The 2ND IMPLICATION:

In LIGHT of the FORGIVENESS RECEIVED, FORGIVENESS should BE FREELY OFFERED...

THOSE WHO ARE FORGIVEN CAN’T LIVE AS IF THEY HAVEN’T BEEN!…MUST FORGIVE OTHERS.

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**NOTE.....OTHER SERVANT,, HAD LEGITIMATE DEBT:

CERTAINLY, PEOPLE HAVE WRONGED YOU.

CERTAINLY THEY DON’T DESERVE to BE FORGIVEN...

YOU DIDN’T EITHER.

WE MUST REMEMBER, BY COMPARISON OUR DEBT WAS MUCH GREATER!!

POWER to FORGIVE:

FOUND WITHIN THOSE WHO’VE BEEN FORGIVEN...

GRACE RECEIVED is the SOURCE for GRACE GIVEN to others...

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FINALITY of DEATH = REMINDER:

WE NEED FORGIVENESS

WE MUST EXTEND FORGIVENESS to OTHERS...

NO SECOND CHANCES AFTER DEATH FOR EITHER ONE.....

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Two Questions:

CAN YOU SAY FOR SURE YOU’VE RECEIVED the GIFT of SALVATION & FORGIVENESS OFFERED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, SON of GOD?-------

Then second, CAN YOU SAY that YOU’VE FREELY FORGIVEN OTHERS of their trespasses?

The HARDEST OFFENSES can ONLY be FORGIVEN BY THOSE who have BEEN FORGIVEN.

VERTICAL DEBT = GREATER THAN ANY HORIZONTAL DEBT....

INITIAL STORY TOLD to FOLLOWERS of JESUS… REMINDER for CHRISTIANS to FORGIVE, TODAY…

***CALL: IF YOU’VE NEVER RECEIVED VERTICAL FORGIVENESS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, I’D LOVE TO SPEAK TO YOU AFTERWARDS...

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, THIS IS YOUR REMINDER THAT YOUR SALVATION WAS A FREE GIFT, YOU COULD HAVE NEVER PAID YOUR DEBT to GOD THROUGH WORKS… SO YOU SHOULD FREELY FORGIVE OTHERS AS WELL.

***Close in Prayer...