Tonight, I invite you to turn with me to Matthew 18, Matthew 18, we'll read from verses 15 through 35, the text being verses 21 through 35, the parable of the unmerciful servant, as it is entitled, beginning at verse 15, reading through the end of the chapter, again, the text verses 21 through 35. Hear now the word of God. If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him. Be patient with me, he begged, and I will pay back everything. The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt, and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. Pay back what you owe me, he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, Be patient with me, and I will pay you back. But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. You wicked servant, he said. I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart. Shall we bow in prayer, asking for God's blessing upon His Word. Father, again in Jesus' name, as we come before you, we thank you for your most holy Word, which we have read, which we now anticipate to be preached. We pray for your blessing upon your word, that by the power of your Spirit, our hearts might be open to receive that word. Again, we must confess that apart from the blessing of your Spirit, your word is just empty words to our ears, but with the blessing of your Spirit, we thank you and praise you that with new hearts, we can hear and understand and believe. We pray, Father, that you would build each one of us up in the most holy faith. And indeed, may you receive all the praise and the honor and the glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen. Dear people of God, the theme of this passage is very clear, as I trust you have already understood. Even the context which we read lays before our eyes the teaching of forgiveness and restoration. And I believe that I can confidently say that each one of us, both young and old, understands that this is something that is very, very difficult for us. And that's because forgiveness has to do with a wrong that has been done or a hurt that has been inflicted. And maybe this wrong or this hurt is the result of some unkind word that has been said to you or some unkind deed that has been carried out against you. And well, let's be honest, it's just not easy to forgive. and sometimes it's even harder to forget see every day we pray or at least we should forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors yet we are not always so willing to do what we pray we are to do but we must also confess that sometimes beloved we just don't want to forgive and forget because if we don't that gives us a little bit of power It gives us a little bit of an advantage. Forgiveness, you see, some would say, is for the weak, for those who don't have the strength and the resolve to get even. But this power, this advantage, which of course is a false power and a false advantage, but this power or advantage allows us to have something over the one who wronged us, something that we can hold against them, and maybe there will be an opportunity sometime to use what they have done to use it against them. To throw it back in their face. This might come in handy. It might be to our advantage. And we must confess that in our sin, it's a whole lot easier to hold grudges than it is to forgive. Even the boys and girls we witness learn at a very early age how to hold grudges against others. But our Lord makes it clear in this passage that this is antithetical to. It is the very opposite of the actions that are expected of kingdom citizens. This parable is talking about the relationship of the king of the kingdom with his kingdom citizens and in turn, the relationship that is to exist among those kingdom citizens. And the Gospel comes to us tonight with Christ's teaching of the infinite mercy of kingdom forgiveness. And we want to consider from this parable The demonstration of compassion, the repayment of cruelty, and the revoking of clemency. Now, Jesus uses Peter's question as the opportunity to teach this kingdom truth. Verse 21, Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? See, Peter had picked up on what Christ had just said before, that if your brother sins, go to him, talk to him, and try to get him to mend his ways. Got the pattern? Go, talk, and seek his eternal well-being. And Peter no doubt remembered what Jesus had taught in Matthew 5, that if you come to worship and you remember that your brother has something against you, stop what you are doing. Don't you wait for him to come to apologize, but you go to him. and try to straighten things out. And there's an issue by itself which we could probably spend a number of sermons on. But I will only challenge you and myself to apply that to ourselves. But beloved, do you follow the command given in verse 15? If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. So Peter thought that he was being generous here seven times. The rabbis taught that forgiveness must be given three times. You know, three strikes, you're out. After that, that one deserves no more forgiveness. So here, Peter more than doubles it. How generous. He almost makes it sound like forgiveness is some sort of a commodity that can be weighed and measured and counted and then parceled out that it could be given out a little bit at a time. But when that limit is reached, the flow is shut off, like shutting off the water. In the spigot, so no more water comes out of the hose. Peter meant to exaggerate a little, but Jesus makes it clear that the spirit of forgiveness knows no boundaries. I think the NIV could be more clear. I believe that when it says 77 times here, we are to understand that 70 sevens, most translations, even in the footnote in the NIV, has 70 times 7. And 70 times 7, we know, obviously, is 490. But Jesus isn't telling us to count to that, and when one gets to 491 times that they need to be forgiven, that we forgive that one no more. Very simply, even if it is 77 times, this is meant to teach us that forgiving mercy is to be infinite. It is to be unending. There is to be no limit to and no becoming weary of practicing forgiveness. And beloved, forgiveness is not something that one can calculate as we often do, especially based on how another has practiced forgiveness toward you. Forgiveness is a state of the heart. Peter's question, you see, really was just as ridiculous as asking, well, how often must I love my wife and my children? Now, we would all say all the time, right? In this parable, we find contrast between the king and his servant, between the large sum of money and the small, between the extraordinary kindness and the cruelty. And first, we see the demonstration of compassion by the king. Many commentators suggest that the servant was among those who were appointed by the king to serve as governors over the provinces of the king's kingdom. and part of their job then was to collect the tax money and bring that to the king. We don't know for sure if that's what Jesus had in mind, but he makes it clear that this servant had an enormous debt. 10,000 talents. On the surface, that might not seem like a big deal to you and me. We might think in terms of $10,000, which is not how we're to think of that. In those days, a common wage for a day of work was one denarii. At six denarii per week, it would take 1,000 weeks just to earn one talent. That's 19 years. And that means that one would not even earn five talents in his lifetime. This guy owed 10,000 talents. It would take 192,308 years to earn 10,000 talents. And that's just to earn it. This doesn't even consider how long it would take to save it. You've got to take your living expenses out of that, of course. But the point really is simple. I trust even the boys and girls understand. The point is that this debt was unimaginable. It was unfathomable. And the text makes it clear that the servant was flat broke. Verse 25 begins, Since he was not able to pay. And the force of the Greek there tells us that not only did he not have the money at that particular time, but he never would. He never would be able to repay his debt. The king would never get his money back from this servant. But then in order to recover just a little bit, even a fraction of it, the servant, his wife, his children, and all that he had would be sold to repay the debt. You see, beloved, the debt had to be paid. It had to be paid. And the practice of selling families into slavery to pay back large debts was not uncommon. And then notice the actions of the servant. I think sometimes it's good for us to re-examine the details of the story in order to really digest what's happening. In verse 26 we read, The servant fell on his knees before him. Be patient with me, he begged, and I will pay back everything. The servant has absolutely nothing to offer the king but to worship him. And as a last resort, the servant threw himself at the mercy of the king, knowing that he was totally and completely dependent upon the king. But we know that in this case, it was not true worship. Not only because of what happens later, but because of the promise he made. Remember what we just said about the size of this debt. Yet in his desperation for his life, what does he say? I will pay back everything. he promised something which was absolutely impossible. Maybe some of us have been in situations when we would say or do anything in order to get out of trouble, even make promises to God. Martin Luther making a promise to the saint in the storm he was in, if you spare me, I'll become a monk. Oh God, if you get me out of this tight situation, I'll become a missionary. Or I'll give half of my income to the poor. Or I'll become a preacher. This servant had nothing to lose, you see. And maybe to his surprise, his plea for mercy, to his surprise, found compassion and pity. The king looked upon the servant's hopeless condition. He not only freed him, but he wrote off the entire debt. What an act of mercy! This servant was literally restored to life. And since the king could not be satisfied by the payment of the debt, he would be glorified by the pardon of it. And beloved, as I trust is clear, this represents our debt of sin to God. The enormous, the enormousness of that debt, and it represents our lack of ability to pay it. Our debt is so great, so enormous and eternal, and we are totally bankrupt to pay. the only thing we can do is plead for the mercy of God and even this we cannot do apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Yet that debt must be paid. And God has had compassion on His people for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ. Paul says in Romans 5, verse 8, but God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That verse is simply amazing to me. While we were yet sinners, when we couldn't even take a step in God's direction, Christ died for us. God, in His mercy, has not given His people over to what we deserve. But He has accepted the payment made in full by Christ. And in His grace, He has given that which we do not deserve. Forgiveness full and free in the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has given to us life eternal. We could not satisfy our debt to God. Jesus had to for us. But God glorifies Himself as He forgives our great debt for Jesus' sake. And what response then does God's compassion require? Well, the very opposite of the servant's repayment of cruelty. You see, we read the second part of this parable and really, we ought to shake our heads. How could this be? Was the first servant's attention span and memory really that short? The second part is almost an instant replay of the first part of the parable, yet with some significant differences. And we are given the impression that with the first servant, the king gave him the opportunity to explain his situation. But he, in turn, when he finds his fellow servant, He grabs him, and one translation says he grabs him by the throat and he begins to choke him even before saying a word to him. Even before demanding to be paid back. He's choking this fellow servant. The fellow servant also pleads for mercy with almost the same words. Notice the difference again. The first servant asked for patience and said that he would pay back everything, which we know was impossible. The second servant also asks for patience and simply says, and I will pay you back. This was a realistic goal, you see. A hundred denarii was nothing more than pocket change compared to the first servant's death. The second servant owed one six hundred thousandth of what the first servant owed, an amount that could realistically be repaid. Boys and girls, what that means is if the first servant owed $600,000 to the king, the second servant owed a dollar to the first servant. That's the difference in what they owed. But the plea for mercy from the second servant fell on deaf ears, and the first servant then exercises his lawful right, and he threw servant number two in prison. He repaid compassion with cruelty. And by doing this, beloved, he cast a dark shadow over the glory of the king's pardon. Now there are a couple of lessons here that we must learn. First of all, it's clear that the first servant did not really understand what had been forgiven him. Sure, he knew that 10,000 talents was an enormous amount of money. But he completely took the king's compassion and forgiveness for granted. It didn't really mean anything to him other than to save his own neck. He thought he was off scot-free now. But those who do not receive God's word of forgiveness in faith do not truly understand their predicament and their grave need for deliverance. But another detail that we must understand is the comparison of sin committed against God versus sin committed against us. And this is so extremely important. Again, this parable is talking about the relationship that is to exist between kingdom citizens, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, a relationship that exists based on mercy that we have received from God. And as we look at the amount of each debt, it seems lopsided. To be sure, 10,000 talents versus 100 denarii. In a sense, it's meant to be ridiculous. It's meant to be an exaggeration. The point is that the sin committed against God far exceeds the sin committed against each other. Not that the sin in itself is any less sinful because we know that when we sin against each other, we are also sinning against God. But the offense, the offense against our holy, sovereign, majestic, perfect God is enormous compared to the offense against a fellow sinner. When a fellow Christian has wronged you and wronged you greatly, beloved, that does not even compare with even one of your sins or my sins against God. Hitler, Hussein, others, these men sinned against millions of people. Their crimes were cruel and devastating. Yet that didn't even compare with the effect of their sin or my sin or your sin against the Most High Majesty of God. You see, sometimes when we are sinned against, we want to think that no one else has ever had it so bad. And no one else can understand. And we have a right to be angry. We have a right not to forgive. But Jesus is teaching in this parable that any sins committed against you and me are nothing of no real value compared to our sin against God. We are commanded to love God above all and our neighbor as ourselves, which means that we are not to sin against each other. But when someone does sin against you, Jesus makes plain in the King's revoking of clemency what your response is to be. The fellow servants, those who are watching, we might say from the outside, were greatly distressed. One translation says deeply grieved for the servant who was thrown into prison to be sure, but also because of the first servant's cruelty in response to the king's compassion. The glory of that compassion had been stained. Justice must be done. And the king, we read, emphasizes the servant's wickedness and his enormous debt and the king's forgiveness when he says, you wicked servant, I canceled or forgave all that debt of yours because you begged me. In other words, he didn't deserve to have his debt canceled, to be forgiven, not in the least. But then notice what the king says in verse 33. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? And again, in the Greek language, that's the kind of question that expects the answer, yes. Yes, he should have had mercy on his fellow servant. And this mercy should have been ongoing. It should have been never-ending. He had been forgiven such a great debt that it was his lasting obligation to show the same forgiveness toward others. He should have been so grateful that he would forever follow the king's pattern or example of mercy for dealing with others. The king revoked his clemency. Boys and girls, that means he withdrew his mercy and compassion and the servant was punished worse than he would have been at first. He was, as verse 34 says, turned over to the jailers to be tortured until, until he should pay back all he owed. Now this is not to be understood that it was possible to repay back everything. We've already established that, but the point is that he will never be able to pay back all. And therefore the torture will be never ending. That's a description for the punishment, for unrepented and unsatisfied sin. Everlasting torture. Verse 35, there Jesus says, This is how my Heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart. And people of God, this verse is in essence Jesus' answer to Peter's question, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? The answer? Never stop forgiving from your heart. When we are sinned against, we must remember our sin, beloved. We must remember the enormity of our sin against God, the offense of our sin against God, and at the same time remember God's forgiveness. The debt that has been paid. James echoes this verse in James 2, verse 13, when he says, For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. But then Jesus says, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Why is the kingdom of heaven that one pearl of great price, which is to be desired more than anything else. Because of how much we don't deserve it, and because of such a great price that Jesus paid, we owe God an infinite debt that even if we spent eternity trying to pay it, we would never even begin repayment. As the Bible says, when we've been obedient, we've only done our duty, what God requires of us. But for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through true faith, God has forgiven them for the sake of Christ's perfect satisfaction. And to understand, to understand the overwhelming, staggering debt we owe to God and to experience the wonder of God's forgiving grace, which is a part of that firm confidence that we have in true faith, that then cannot be met with two-faced neglect. The forgiven must be filled with awe and thanksgiving and therefore be moved to forgive. To know that we deserve to be consumed by the wrath of God and that we are completely undeserving of His grace must move us to compassion. It is our lasting obligation, beloved, to forgive our brothers and sisters, but it must also be our delight to do so. The prophet Micah says, And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? God promises forgiveness to those who repent and believe by grace through faith. But those who do not repent and believe and therefore do not receive God's forgiveness, they will never enjoy His forgiveness. The unmerciful servant gave proof that he was not truly repentant, he was not truly forgiven. Paul tells us in Romans 1 that those who are unforgiving are deserving of death. And like the unmerciful servant, will spend eternity in the torture room of hell paying for their sin. But the forgiven cannot help but to forgive. This is the natural response of a new heart. God gives the assurance of His forgiveness through faith to those who, by the Spirit's power, are willing to forgive. The kingdom of heaven, beloved, is a kingdom of forgiveness. The king of the kingdom has forgiven kingdom citizens, and kingdom citizens, in turn, must always be ready to reveal the forgiving Spirit to each other. And the fundamental principle of that kingdom forgiveness is that it is to be without end. Beloved, we sit here together tonight and I'm sure that many of us have someone in our minds, even at this very moment, that we have not forgiven for something. And I must warn you and myself that this forgiveness talk is not just empty words. It's not merely suggestion for us to do with whatever we want. We need to understand that our act of forgiveness, although it doesn't determine, It does not determine whether or not God will forgive us. It is evidence for or against being forgiven. It is hard to forgive. Again, we think that by forgiving, we are giving up something like some sort of advantage over the one who needs to be forgiven. But that's an advantage that's from the devil. Christians are called to forgive from the heart. wholly, sincerely, forgettingly, and thankfully. That's characteristic of God's forgiveness, as the psalmist says, as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. You see, we can never forgive as God has forgiven us. And may we be ever grateful that He doesn't forgive as we do. Yet He calls us to practice that which we have received. We must forgive each other knowing that together we go to the foot of the cross and together we stand daily in need of God's forgiving grace. The communion of the saints is a communion of forgiven kingdom citizens who forgive by the grace of God. And only as you understand more and more by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit how great was your eternal debt that God has canceled against you for Jesus' sake. Only as you understand that more and more will you also understand how insignificant may be another's debt toward you. So do you understand the infinite mercy of God's forgiveness? Are you a forgiven kingdom citizen? Are you a forgiving kingdom citizen? You see, it cannot be one without the other. And you can only be forgiving if you have been forgiven. Paul says in Ephesians 5, Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we pray that as we are molded and shaped by Your Word day by day, as Your Holy Spirit is active and busy, continuing that work begun, that work of sanctification in us, that indeed, O Lord, You would make us a more forgiving people day by day, that we would not hold grudges against each other, but that we might realize the joy and delight that You give so quickly when reconciliation is made. May we not be too proud of people to go approach our brother and sister in Christ, but that we might know that as we seek reconciliation and as we are forgiving toward one another, that indeed through that as well you prepare your people for glory. We thank you, O Lord, for your forgiving grace of us. We cannot even begin to imagine how great was our debt of sin. Yet, Father, just to know that the debt has been paid, how precious, how wonderful. We thank you and praise you for such a great salvation, such a precious gift. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.