Sermon Tone Analysis
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Again, welcome to grace chapel...
Intro:
Funerals seem to always remind us of our own fatality…none of us are immortal and we will all have to face death someday.
And the thing is, we never know when death will come for each of us, it could be today or tomorrow, for some of us it could be 50 or more years from now.
We never know.
In light of this uncertainty, while we have the gift of life, which all of us here have today, there’s two things we must do in preparation for the day that we take our last breath.
Both have to do with forgiveness and grace and grace is the theme of my message this morning.
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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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
MASTER DOESN’T GIVE OPPORTUNITY, HE CLEARS THE DEBT…100%
CAN YOU IMAGINE???
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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).
Big Idea: And we see within this story the two things that all human beings need before their death…to receive vertical forgiveness from God, and to 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.
Salvation was never something that a man could earn on his own.
It’s all an act of grace by God that is received through our faith.
For when we believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose again, and we confess our belief and his Lordship, we can be saved from our sins, our debts can be paid, as a free gift.
Salvation could never come through works, because our debt was too great for us to pay off on our own…but we can receive this unmerited favor, just as the servant in this story.
It is freely offered to all of us here.
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The second implication:
Then, in light of the forgiveness received, forgiveness should be freely offered.
For those who have been truly forgiven, can’t live as if they’ve not been, for it is the most transformational thing that could ever happen in this world.
This is the freedom offered through the cross to those who receive Christ.
The other servant had a legitimate debt…this is not to say that people haven’t wronged you, or me, or any of us at some point in our lives...
But what is most important, is the grace that is extended by the savior, for our debt to God in comparison was so much greater.
Yet this ability to forgive is often only found first in the freedom and forgiveness that has been received by those who are in Christ.
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The finality of death is a reminder for all of us of our need for forgiveness, and our need to extend forgiveness to others, because once death has come there aren’t any second chances.
So I want to offer a moment of silence for all of us to search our hearts…where do you stand vertically before God, and horizontally amongst family, friends, etc.
Can you say that you’ve received the free gift that God gives to mankind through his Son?....That is the most important question.
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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.
Knowing that the vertical debt will be greater than any horizontal debt possible.
This parable was told to followers of Jesus and the implications for Christians hold for today.
If you do not have that vertical forgiveness, I would love to speak with you after the service.
And for all those who have it, I want to encourage you to continually examine your heart to ensure that you are offering to others the forgiveness they don’t deserve, but that we are called to extend.
Even more than 77 times.
Closing song: “I Can Only Imagine”
***Close in Prayer...
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