I'm going to read two portions, first beginning in verse 6 and then beginning and then down to verse 21. Matthew chapter 18, beginning in verse 6 and then 21. This is God's holy, infallible, and imperfect Word. His Word to us, His children. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses, for offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offenses come. If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. For it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my father who is in heaven and One more verse for the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost and Then verse 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? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. 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. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all. Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 denarii, and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat. saying, pay me what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him saying, have patience with me and I will pay you all. And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 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. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? And his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due him. So my heavenly father will do you if each of you from his heart does not forgive his brother his trespasses. This is the word of our God. A while back I read a book on on marriage called What Did You Expect? And it's a good title. It was written by Paltrop, and in it he tells this story. He says, Nathan stood there with the crumpled note in his hand. He had found it on the floor of their walk-in closet. Things had been hard since then. His wife, Anita, had made no denials. She had become emotionally infatuated with the co-worker. The relationship had not been physical in any way. In fact, they had never been together outside of work, but the note was devastating nonetheless. Anyone reading it would have called it a love letter. He doesn't know why he digs it out day after day and reads it again and again. He just does. Anita seems remorseful and is doing everything she can to make amends. Nathan is thankful that she quit her job, but he can't get past the note. It stands in the middle of his life like an Everest, an Everest that he knows he needs to climb, but that he knows he never will. Now perhaps, like me, you feel the pain of betrayal in this relationship. And then as we hear of Anita's actions, we see her repentance, her remorse. She quit her job. Hope begins to rise. There may be a light at the end of the tunnel. Restoration seems possible. But then those final words come crashing in. And perhaps your heart sinks as mine does when I read this and read those words, never will. Never will. Those are the words of unforgiveness. This man has committed in his heart to never forgive. And because he will not forgive, he will not know the joy of forgiveness. He will not be reconciled to his wife. He probably will not know the depths of his own sin. And worst of all, he will not walk in the way of the Lord his God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who made atonement for his sin, whose entire life was about forgiveness. And he will not know the heart of God. for it is the heart of God to forgive. And if this man steadfastly refuses to forgive, not only will he not know God, but he may hear those most terrible of all words from God himself, I never knew you. You see, what did you expect, Nathan? You married a sinner just like yourself. Did you expect that she would never hurt you? And what do we expect in this world? We live in a world full of fallen sinful human beings. We are married to a sinner. Our children are sinners. Our co-workers are sinners. Our fellow Christians that we worship together with are sinners. Every one of us in this life will experience the hurt of being sinned against. And so we need to ask ourselves, are we people who forgive? Is it in your heart to generously and willingly forgive? You see, the Lord Jesus Christ leads the way in forgiveness. Even as he was dying on the cross, Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do. It is godly to forgive. And so we should not be surprised that God commands every one of us to forgive from the heart, just as Christ forgave. I think the scriptures affirm really throughout the Bible that forgiveness is one of the most vital characteristics of a Christian's life. We will daily face the task of forgiving those around us and in many ways forgiveness will determine success or failure in your life. It will determine happiness or sorrow, peace or turmoil in your life. You must be a forgiving person if you want to be a godly person. The theme of this passage is Christ's command that we forgive without limit. In verse 15, Well, let me back up. In this whole chapter, Jesus is talking about sin. In the passage that we read, he talked about how significant sin is and how sin causes brothers and sisters to stumble. And then down in verse 15, he's talking about how to be restored. And he says, moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. Now in the midst of this teaching by Christ, Peter asks, well, a very question that any one of us might ask. He says, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? You see, Peter lives in the real world. He has experienced the hurt, the pain of being sinned against. He says, okay, Lord, I can forgive once, but what is the limit? What if my brother sins against me again? What if my brother sins against me seven times? Must I forgive? And verses 22 through 35 of this chapter constitutes Christ's answer to that question. What is the limit? How many times must I forgive my brother when he sins against me? And so we're going to look at Christ's answer to that question in three parts. First, what is forgiven? Second, how do we forgive? And third, what are the consequences of unforgiveness? And so we consider first, what is forgiven? Look with me back at verses 21 and 22. It says, then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven. Now the first thing that we notice is that we are commanded to forgive sin. Peter asks, how many times if my brother sins against me must I forgive? You will never forgive a mistake. You will never forgive ignorance. You will never forgive a weakness. You forgive sins. Now, don't misunderstand. Mistakes, weakness, ignorance, all these things are human and they cause great trouble on this earth and great trouble in relationships. But a weakness requires patience. and forbearance, not forgiveness. Ephesians 4 verses one and two says, Paul is writing, he says, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love. You see, this is the standard way that we as brothers and sisters in the body of Christ must live with one another. In gentleness, in humility, in lowliness, bearing with one another in love, long-suffering. This kind of long-suffering forbearance is the way that brothers and sisters live together in the body of Christ. It is the standard of Christian living. But forgiveness is something more. And what's the difference? It is important to distinguish the difference between a weakness and a sin. And it is important because of one little word in verse 21. And the word is against. You see, sin is committed against you. Sin is against God. And while in this passage it doesn't translate completely, the word here means against in a sense of being directed into you. And so the picture is that sin is like an arrow drawn and released directly your heart. And this is what makes forgiveness so difficult. If a brother or sister slanders you by bearing false witness it hurts because it was intended to hurt. It was directed. Murder, anger, adultery, theft, slander, assault, gossip, These are all directed and intentional sins against a brother. The secular world, we might think of the word violated. If someone has broken into your house and stole something, then people feel violated by that sin against them. We bear with weaknesses and mistakes forgiveness. Sin requires forgiveness. Now what about sins of omission, sins of negligence? Are these sins also directed and intentional? Sins of omission are as hurtful as sins of commission. We can think of the fifth commandment. Neglect of honor due the father or mother is a sin and It's a sin because it takes something that belongs to the father and mother honor We think about neglect of a spouse You know God designed your wife to have a love and compassion and understanding through the means of her husband. And so to neglect a spouse is to commit a sin against them, every bit as much as a direct sin of commission. It is to take something away that God intended one of his children to enjoy on this life. And I think you can see the point here. If you have been on the receiving end of sin of neglect, you know that it hurts. And it requires forgiveness. Now, one thing more I want to say about what is forgiven about sin. Sin incurs a debt. In Luke 11.4, says and forgive us our sins as we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Because sin is directed and hurtful it takes something from someone and so sin always incurs a debt and because of that Jesus is going to use a picture of a debt canceled as an image of forgiveness of sin. Sin incurs a real debt and so forgiveness cancels a real debt. Now hopefully you can see Peter's question in a better light now. Peter's not asking about mistakes or inconveniences. He is asking about intentional hurtful sin. My brother intentionally slanders me, must I forgive? Yes. He slanders me again, must I forgive? Yes. He slanders me again, must I forgive? Yes. Okay, Lord, what is the limit to this kind of forgiveness? And Jesus answers, I do not say up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven. There is no limit to God's command that we forgive. Now, the point of covering what is forgiven is this. It is the tendency, it is the desire of the human heart to seek every path possible to avoid forgiveness. You see, it's easy to bear with a mistake and feel that we are forgiving, and then to face a real and an intentional directed sin. then to think to ourselves, now wait a minute, that was intentional. I'm not going to forgive that. But that is precisely where forgiveness begins. The danger is this, we must not minimize forgiveness or we will minimize sin. Now Let's just stop and let me ask you to consider. Have you been hurt? Has someone sinned against you intentionally? Are you ready and willing to forgive? Or let me ask it another way. Do you love forgiveness? Do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ enough to forgive them? And enough to forgive them over and over and over again? Can you go to God and pray as Jesus taught, forgive my debts as I forgive my debtors. What is forgiven is sin. And so forgiveness is a significant task. It is vital in the life of every Christian. And so secondly, we need to ask, how do we forgive? If we look at verse 23, it says, therefore, this is Jesus answering the question. He gave a very significant answer. Forgiveness is without limit. And so he tells this story to explain his answer. He says, therefore, The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. 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. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, Master, have patience with me. I will pay you all. Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. Jesus is saying therefore the kingdom of heaven is like this and if you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ You are adopted into God's family. You are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. And what Jesus is saying is that forgiveness in the kingdom of heaven looks like the forgiveness of the king. And so he's going to give us a picture of the forgiveness of the king. That forgiveness in our own lives might look like the forgiveness of the king. So in this story, we have a king and a debtor. And it says a certain king wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And so we see that the debt is owed directly to the king. And the picture is that a debt for sin is owed directly to God. Just as David said in Psalm 51 verse four, against you, you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge. Our debt of sin is owed directly to God. And so forgiveness in the kingdom looks like the forgiveness of the king. And next we notice the size of the debt. It says one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. And one talent was about 20 years wages. So 10,000 talents was about 200,000 years worth of wages. And an astronomical amount. I mean the earth has been around what, 6,000 years. So this was a debt beyond what this servant could ever possibly pay. And of course, the point is that our sin is beyond what we could ever possibly pay to our Lord. We are dependent entirely upon his forgiveness. You know, this servant, and the picture is for us, sin, in this lifetime or even in eternity in hell, there is no way to repay the debt of sin. And we also notice the severity of not paying. It says that the servant and his whole family were to be sold and cast into hell. Never. The picture is precisely this. The wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is eternal death. Living in the wrath of God rather than the blessing of God's love. Now in this story, as judgment is about to fall, the parable takes a turn. And the servant cries out to the master to have compassion upon him. And it says that the master had pity on him and forgave him all that debt. We need to review a little bit about what does the Bible mean by forgiveness. And we've, I may have talked about this before in this congregation, but we should review. When Peter said, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? It says, and I, aphiomi. aphiomi, forgive, in the Greek, aphiomi. And it means to separate, to banish, to cast away. When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, it says that his disciples aphiomi him, they scattered, they left. When Jesus healed the noble man's son of his fever, it says that the fever aphiomi him. It was gone. It means to separate, to cast away. Psalm 103 verse 12 says, as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. You see, your sin is cast as far as the east is from the west. It is an eternal distance. The picture is that those sins are entirely gone. They are irretrievable. God's forgiveness is irrevocable. They will never be recalled against you. And one of my favorite pictures comes from Isaiah Chapter 1 verse 18 where God says come Now let us reason together says the Lord though your sins are like scarlet. They shall be as white as snow in the picture of this a sin permeates every fiber of a cloth and yet God can Separate out that stain and cast it away There is no sin so dark a stain that God cannot separate it. There is no stain so interwoven into your life that God cannot separate it and cast it away. This is a picture of the forgiveness of the king. Now does God forgive and forget? And the answer is of course he does. The Bible's language of forgiveness leaves no doubt that God forgives and forgets. Your sins are cast as far as the east is from the west. There is no bringing back those sins. You see, when God forgives, it's not like he leaves your sins right there, so the next time you goof up, he can say, oh, and reattach your sins to you. No, those sins are separated and banished away. In Jeremiah, chapter 31, God says that he will make a new covenant with his people. And then he says this, for I will forgive their iniquity and their sins I will remember no more. Now we know that God knows all things and just as our own minds are amazing memory machines. But what God is saying is He will never take your sins and hold them up before Him that He might hold them against you, that He might judge you on the basis of your sin. Another picture is that those sins are put on Christ and Christ took them to the cross. They are gone because of the work of Christ. God's forgiveness is complete. It is thorough in our lives and it is irrevocable. Now do you remember the story that I began with? You see as long as Nathan reads and rereads that note day after day he will never forgive because he will never forget. And if God ever gives him the grace to actually forgive, then he will forget. And one day that note will quietly slip away in the trash, and it will be gone, and he'll never bring it up again. And that memory will fade into the distant recesses of his mind. And he will forgive, and he will know the joy forgiveness. And one other thing about God's forgiveness, the nature of God's forgiveness is one of the reasons that I think it is a mistake to separate forgiveness from restoration. You see, when God forgives us, he takes down the barriers. We are adopted into his family. The barriers that kept us apart are gone. God has transitioned from a judge to a loving father. And I know that on this earth there are circumstances that require considerable rebuilding. But the principle is clear. Forgiveness clears away the barrier to ultimate restoration. Now we need to hold up our lives to this picture of forgiveness. Does your forgiveness look like this? Do you treat forgiveness as a debt that is canceled and gone? Is it closed and forever done? Is your forgiveness irrevocable? Are forgiven sins irretrievable? Do you forgive and forget within the ability your mind? And especially do you refuse to bring another sins and hold them up before you so that you might condemn them, condemn them through them? When you forgive, does your forgiveness begin the way to restoration? Now another important aspect of the story is that just the size of the debt tells us something about forgiveness. The forgiveness that we are asked to do is small in comparison to God's forgiveness. All sin is ultimately against God. Let me look at verse 27 for a minute. This verse says that the master both forgave the debt and that he set the servant free. Sometimes this is translated released. You see being unforgiven is like being in prison. And you know if you have sinned This world often wants to say, you know, that's a prison of your own making. You didn't have to sin in such a way. And that may be true, but Jesus sets the captive free. Do you set the captive free by your forgiveness? Forgiveness in the kingdom looks like the forgiveness of the king. Now thirdly in this story, Jesus tells us the consequences of not forgiving. Look with me at verse 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, took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay you all. And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. Now, this is an unexpected turn in this parable. After what this servant was forgiven, 200,000 years of wages, we would expect him to be so overjoyed at being released from prison, at having the debt canceled, that he has a new lease on life, so to speak. We would expect him to go out with joy and gladly forgive his fellow servant. But that's not what happens. He hardens his heart. And he has his fellow servant thrown into prison until he could pay. Now, one of the things that's interesting is the size of the debt. The servant owed 100 denarii. This is approximately three months of wages. And although it's nothing in comparison with 200,000 years worth of wages, it's still significant. This is a quarter of a year of wages. And I think the point is that Sin against our brothers and sisters. It's nothing compared to our sin against God, but it is real. It is something. Forgiveness is real. Sin is real. Sin has real effects. And the second thing we notice about this servant is the hardness of his heart. Not only did he not forgive his fellow servant, But it says that he took his fellow servant by the throat. It says that he had him thrown into prison. And I think Jesus is being very intentional in his language here. And the truth is this, there is no neutral ground. If you refuse to forgive, you will not be neutral. You will end up being harsh, critical, and even cruel. And by the way, did you notice that this servant made no response to the king? In verse 27 it says, the master of that servant was moved with compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. And verse 28 says, but that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants and laid hands on him and had him thrown into prison. Now, wait a minute. What happened to the servant's response to the king? What happened to his joyful thankfulness expressed to the king? He immediately went out and found another servant and had him thrown in prison. There is something wrong with this servant's heart and that is precisely the point in Jesus' story. This servant is completely focused on himself. What can he get? It appears from the way that Jesus told the story that he never really even saw the king for the king, for the goodness of the forgiveness that he received from the king. All he knew was that he was free and he could go out and pursue what he wanted from a fellow servant. And this is a picture of an unforgiving heart. Selfish, beyond imagining. And we continue in verse 31. It says, so when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and they came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? And his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due him. It says that the master called the servant, you wicked servant. In Greek this is a vocative. It means that he's not just telling the servant you acted wickedly. He is giving that servant a title. He is labeling the servant wicked servant. He is saying wicked servant is a descriptive, is a descriptor of the servant's heart. He is identifying an essential characteristic of this servant. We also notice that unforgiveness is contrasted with compassion. See the master forgave all that debt because he had compassion. And compassion is a very beautiful word. It means to be moved to your very core. And the master says that this servant should have had mercy on his fellow servant. And the assumption is that if he had mercy on his fellow servant, then he would have forgiven. Forgiveness follows mercy. If the servant loved his fellow servant, if the servant had mercy in his heart, then he would have forgiven. Now finally, this parable ends with a very terrible warning. In verse 34, says that the master delivered the unforgiving servant to the torturers until he should pay it all. And the ESV softens this somewhat and says jailers but the word is very definitely tortures. It is a picture of hell and it is a terrible and fearful end. It is eternal for the servant for he can never repay and there's no way to escape. And then in the next verse Jesus brings this warning right into this room into each of our hearts. He says so my Heavenly Father will do to you if each of you from his heart does not forgive his brother his trespasses. And I know this is a difficult teaching but we must not soften it. The word tortures appears precisely once in the New Testament. The point of this parable is that unforgiveness on the outside is a sign of an unregenerate heart on the inside. A man or a woman who persistently from the heart will not forgive has no place in the kingdom of heaven. Remember that Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is like this. Forgiveness within the kingdom of heaven looks like the forgiveness of the king. The issue of forgiveness is the issue of heaven and hell. It is the issue of life or death, of joy or sorrow in life. Jesus said in Matthew 6.14, for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Now to conclude, let us just consider, is there an unresolved conflict in your life? Has someone sinned against you? Do you need to forgive? Do you need to go to that person willingly, generously to forgive? Do you need to set the captive free? Why won't you forgive? You know the only alternative to forgiveness is to become harsh and cruel like the servant. There is no neutral ground like so many things in the gospel. Have you experienced the forgiveness that Christ purchased on the cross? Have you been set free from death? Is your heart full of the gratitude of being forgiven for your tremendous debt of sin against the Father? And do you love God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind? And do you love your brothers and sisters yourself. First John 4 20 says, if someone says I love God and hates his brother he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? See forgiveness is a gospel issue. It is a matter of a new heart. It is a matter of God's Spirit at work within us to transform us to love. God and to love our brothers and our sisters. How many times must you forgive? Jesus says 70 times 7. There is no limit to forgiveness in the kingdom of God because there is no limit to the forgiveness of the king. Because Christ died on a cross to take our sins away completely, to cast them as far as the East is from the West. Because Christ died that we might live, and that we might live in the kingdom of heaven, and that we might live being conformed to the image of the King. Forgiveness is this, set your heart upon Christ, have compassion, and forgive from your heart. Not just once, but 70 times seven, amen. Let's pray. Our Father, we are thankful that you have given us your word, that you have revealed something of your heart that we might know you, that we might love you more, that we might obey you. Lord, that we might see the beauty and the greatness of your forgiveness for us. And Lord, that that forgiveness through the gospel might sink into our hearts. And Lord, that we might be forgiving people, that we might forgive as Christ forgave. Lord, we pray that you work to conform us more and more to the image of Christ. And Lord, we look forward to that day when we can see you face-to-face and we can feel your forgiveness and your love. In Jesus' name, amen.