Good morning. Thank you for having me here, having our family here. And thank you for your support. Elder Mike Fournier is looking forward to working with him. And we thank you for your financial support too. The church name is Redemption Hill Church. We're meeting right now in our house. And then Lord willing, in two weeks we'll be at the middle school doing Bible studies. We're really looking to both make, our mission is to make and to mature disciples for Jesus. It's the same mission we all have. Jesus gave it to the church. In the spirit of that, this morning I'm going to be preaching on the theme of forgiveness, particularly within the church, because it's one thing to invite people into our body and our community, and it's another thing for them to come in and find a body that is torn apart. And so the Lord's will is that we cherish each other, that we forgive each other, that we love, that we forgive, and that we continue to do so. And so go ahead and turn to Matthew chapter 18. And I will be kind of reading and preaching a little bit at a time, kind of reading a little bit and then preaching, explaining, teaching, applying, and then going forward from there. From Matthew 18, verse 21 is where we'll begin. But before I start, would you bow your heads in prayer with me? Lord God, we thank you. We thank you for your word and your spirit. And I pray that you would apply your word to our hearts. Lord, I pray that you would take it and that you would open up and knock down our defenses. and give us a zeal for the ways of Jesus Christ, that we might be salt and light in this world, that we might be a loving, supporting community to one another, so that you are glorified in our midst. Jesus, we thank you for the forgiveness and mercies of God the Father. Warm our hearts with these truths today. And in your name we pray, amen. Do you have someone locked in debtor's prison? Do you have someone locked in your own personal debtor's prison? Your own father, spouse, someone close, maybe even a member within this own church? One of the hardest works of forgiveness is when someone close to us hurts us, offends us, comes Repentant asks for our forgiveness. We extend it. We forgive them. And then it happens all over again with the same person. That's really hard. And that is where Jesus is getting to teach us and push us more toward him today. And he does it in Matthew's gospel by telling a short story, a parable, and he uses the analogy of debt. Debt's a great analogy in America because we're all in debt, right? It's really powerful. What you know is that the more debt you have, the less control you have over your own finances. So, for instance, we have a mortgage. We live in Pleasant Hills. We've got to pay a certain amount every month. I'm sure some of you are paying off mortgages and you're looking forward to the day when you're done paying off that mortgage. Some of you may have student loans. Some of you may have credit card debt. Some of you may be paying off a car or a home equity line. As Americans, we have a lot of experience with debt. Our economy essentially revolves around debt and credit. And what we understand is that it does cut into our own financial decision making because it establishes, well, we have to do this first, otherwise, you know, we're going to get in big trouble. But what if you woke up tomorrow morning and it was all gone? What if you woke up tomorrow morning and you got a phone call and it said, an anonymous donor has paid off your mortgage, your student loan, and your credit card bill. Hey, good news, you're debt free. That'd be pretty sweet, wouldn't it? I would like that, I'd be up for that. So if any of you want to do that and really apply the teachings this morning, my number, no. But how long would it take mentally for you to go from, wow, I don't have those debts anymore, to this thought. Now I can afford to, I don't know, go to Paris, finish the patio. Buy a new fridge. We do calculations really quickly, don't we? Where we know we're encumbered with debt. If it's all wiped away, we often think what we can afford to do now that those constraints are gone. And the same is true of God's forgiveness to you. If you're here this morning, and I believe most of you are here as believers, having accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, frankly rejoicing in the mercies of God, whether they're awake in your mind or not at a given moment, you're debt-free before God. You're debt-free before God. You can afford to be merciful, therefore, in a way that no one else in this world can, who's not a Christian. And that's what Jesus gets at this morning. He says that Jesus says, you can afford, you personally can afford to keep on forgiving. And in fact, you can't afford not to. Verse 21, let's look at the verse. This is the question that prompts the story. 18 verse 21. Then Peter came up and said to him, to Jesus, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times? And Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times, but 77 times. Earlier in this chapter, if we just looked up a section, we would see that Jesus had just finished teaching his disciples how to confront brothers who've offended them so that they can actually forgive them. Those are often the steps we refer to. First, you go one-to-one. If they don't agree, you bring someone else. If they don't agree, you tell the church. But the whole goal is to bring about a repentant heart so you can then forgive that sister. So you can forgive that brother. So Peter naturally starts wondering, you know, are there limits to this? He says, okay, I hear you, Jesus. But what are we to do if it keeps on happening? In our language, we might ask, is there a point where forgiveness becomes enabling? In Luke's version, it's a similar exchange. Jesus says, if a brother sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times saying, I repent, you must forgive him. To which the apostles replied, increase our faith. Increase our faith, Jesus. Well, Jesus answered Peter's question, right? How many times? with a resounding all the time. But then he tells this story to increase our faith that we could actually do this, that we could actually live as disciples of Jesus. Now look at the first part of the parable, verse 23. Here we go, right? Here's the illustration. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. 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. So the servant fell on his knees imploring him, have patience with me and I will pay you everything. And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt." All right, let's pause there. How much is 10,000 talents? It's a whole lot of money. All right, so Jeff Bezos, do you know who Jeff Bezos is? CEO of Amazon, net worth of about $95 billion, with a B, dollars. Just to give you an example of how much money that is, if Jeff... These were rough calculations, so if you want to check my math, you can. But if Jeff were decided, I want to spend all my money, but I only want to spend $1 million a day, how long would it take for him to spend all $95 billion, to cash out and spend it? It would take him 261 years, spending $1 million every day, to spend $95.5 billion. That's the kind of figure this guy owes the king. That's what 10,000 talents means. We can't even get our head around that much money. It is an impossible loan. Jesus is saying he owes him an impossible loan. Now, apparently it was easy to borrow money back then, because I don't know how you get that much money to begin with. But Jesus's point is this, the debt has come due. The king, the master has come to settle accounts with the servant. The servant, it says in verse 25, Since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had in payment to be made, because that's what happened back then. You didn't just lose your property. You were collateral. Your person was collateral. Your wife was collateral. Your kids were collateral. In a slave economy, you were sold. We can at least get a few bucks for you, right? So the master is saying, no, you're done. And the servant comes in, and the servant's so desperate, he has this pathetic plea, right? Have patience with me and I'll pay you everything. I'll pay you it all. How on earth is he gonna pay? It's impossible, right? But here, right here is where God's mercies shine so clearly. God's mercies just sort of ripple right through this story, right to your heart, because you also have an impossible debt that you can't possibly pay. And what does the master say to the servant? He has mercy on him, right? It's like in 1 Peter 1.3, so the epistle of Peter, it says, according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The mercies of God connect all of scripture because God is compassionate, he is merciful, and he is gracious. to sinners who are in an impossible situation with respect to the holiness and the majesty and all that God has made us and summons us to be as his very own people. We're impossibly in debt. Micah chapter seven, it ends really beautifully. Listen to this. Listen to this hope. Listen to this hope. Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant, the chosen few, for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in steadfast love. Do you picture God delighting in steadfast love, delighting in his own steadfast love? That's exactly what Micah says our God is like. He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Your sins cast into the depths of the sea. How? How does God do it? Well, he pays it himself, right? Isn't that the gospel? The blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin, 1 John 1, 7. Even as Jesus tells the parable, he knows that in the kingdom of God, in the real world, debts don't vanish. Debts don't vanish. Real debts get paid, right? Someone pays him. The master forgave him 10,000 talents. That means the master was 10,000 talents poorer and the servant was 10,000 talents richer. That's how it worked. That 10,000 talents was rightfully his and the master paid it. Out of pity for him, The master of the servant released him and forgave the debt. Isn't that the mystery of the gospel? That God, Jesus, becomes the guilty party? And he takes on our sin and dies for it. Isn't that what this meal we're gonna take represents? Your debt and mine, paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. The servant was debt-free, what about you? You may be thinking, no, my sins are too much. I've got to do something. I've got to pay at least a portion of it. I got to contribute my 20 talents to God's 19,990 talents, right? No. Or you might be sitting here thinking, I don't know that much money to God. I'm not a murderer. My debt's a lot lower than whoever this poor guy was. Who was Jesus telling this story to? Did he assemble all the murderers and the worst people and said, hey, I want to tell you guys a story? He told it to Peter, right? He's telling this to his disciples. He didn't go running around looking for the people in prison and say, I've got a story about God's grace for your awful sins. He's looking at the disciples who gave up everything to follow him. He wants you to know this, the debt you owed was enormous. It's absolutely enormous. And it's not because of what you've done. It's not because your lives, just like mine, are stained by sin, because you say mean things, and you do hurtful things, and you don't love your neighbor, and you don't love your enemy, and everything we read about Christ calling for us, we know we come up short with, because you disrespect your parents, or you lie on a test, or you cheat on your taxes. That's not why your debt is enormous. Our debt's enormous because not of what we did, but who we did it toward. We did it toward the holy God of the universe, who owns, and all of this is his. And just as we heard it, John, he summons us to perfection and we fall so far short. And so our debt is enormous because God's majesty and purity and holiness are so grand that any single failure is immediately a debt beyond our repay. We can't do it and God does do it and he pulls us back through the healing power of Jesus Christ so that we can now afford to forgive other people. That's the power of this analogy is that now the servant walks out debt-free. It's like Dave Ramsey when they call up on the show. Have you ever listened to Dave Ramsey, financial counselor? People call up when they're finally paid off their mortgage and they do this thing where they just scream on the radio program. I'm debt free. And they're like, I'm debt free. And they like have this moment on phone or radio with Dave. And Jesus is saying, you're debt free. You're debt free. Your sins are paid for. That's why I came, not just to teach, but to die for you. And now with all of your freedom, and all of God's riches lavished on you, you can afford to keep on forgiving the people closest to you, who keep on hurting you, who turn back around, and who ask you to forgive them, and you're tired of doing it, and you think they ought to get their act together, and they don't, but you can afford to keep on forgiving them, and you can't afford not to. Verse 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. He was pretty fired up, huh? Choke is a big deal. He began to choke him, saying, pay what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, have patience with me and I'll pay you. He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 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. Now it's easy to get all high and mighty when you read this part of the story until you look back at Peter's original question, right? Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Remember, notice he asks about his brother. He doesn't ask about his enemy or the stranger. Peter says, what about the people closest to me? And I think for us that equates to kind of two groups of people. It equates to you all right here, your church family, right? Brothers and sisters in the Lord. And a lot of time it also equates to our blood family. The people, when they hurt us who are closest to us, it hurts more, doesn't it? Because they're supposed to be the safe ones. They're supposed to be the ones who go the extra mile and who love us and who look out for us. It hurts more. And Jesus is answering Peter's question, how many times do I have to forgive that hurt, Jesus? In your language, it might be, Jesus, how often will my spouse mock me and I have to forgive him? Jesus, how often will a church leader criticize me or ignore me? and I have to forgive them. I've been a pastor 10 years. I know we're not perfect. I've hurt some of my sheep, my folks, and I've asked for their forgiveness. Every one of us does it. The reality is that every time someone close to us sins against us, they take something from us. Every time they sin or hurt you or mock you, every time someone is cut into your heart and your hope and you felt that wound, and they've turned around and asked you to forgive them, it's cost you something, right? It's like they take a little piece of you, they take your ability to trust. You know, if you've forgiven your spouse 50 times for the same sin over 40 years, they've taken your ability to trust, they've taken your ability to love them, they've taken things from you. And you can reach a point in your life where you want to grab him by the throat and say, would you stop doing it and would you pay back what you owe me because you took so many things over the course of the years. For some people, it's an abusive parent. You want to grab him by the neck and say, you took 20 years of my life. You took my childhood. Pay back what you owe me. You wanna grab someone who's hurt you repeatedly and you wanna say, you took it from me, now pay back what you owe me, because that's what sin does. It takes and it hurts and it digs in. And it's a hard place to be. And Jesus warns us against locking those people away in debtor's prison. My challenge for you is very specific this morning. Have you locked someone away who you know is repentant and sorrowful and you refuse to forgive them because it hurts too much, because they've done it too many times. And what I'm summoning you today is to hear that challenge from your Savior, Jesus Christ, and to say, you know what? You can afford to forgive them even though it hurts. Don't traffic, Paul Tripp says, don't traffic in dirty money. Dirty money is unforgiveness where you maintain power in a relationship because you keep someone always the weaker party. When you don't forgive your repentant spouse, you make them feel bad, and you make them feel weak, and you make them feel like they owe you, and it gives you a sense of power in the relationship. That's dirty money. You've got the kingdom of God. You've got the grace of God poured in your heart. You don't need that dirty money. When you withhold forgiveness from the repentant sinner, you're taking power in the wrong spot. God is saying, I've given you everything you need. Remember, so you refuse the dirty money and you turn and you remember the mercies of God that wiped away your enormous, unpayable, impossible debt, that gave you riches beyond compare, so that when the repentant brother or sister comes to you again and again and again, you can say each time, I forgive you. Who am I not to forgive you? Because of all God has forgiven me. And if we don't, hear verse 32. Then his master summoned him and said to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had had mercy on you? And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt, his 10,000 talent debt. So also my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. Jesus moves beyond the metaphor of money to our hearts. He says, do you claim God's mercies? Do you call me Lord? Then you will be merciful and you will be forgiving. Christians, we should be the most merciful people on the planet, shouldn't we? I mean, honestly, right? A head nod, maybe? Yeah? You with me on this? We should be the most forgiving people on the planet, shouldn't we? Because we stand forgiven by God. We don't need to become debt collectors. We've got all the money we need. This guy was still debt collecting, even though his debt was wiped clean. He didn't need that money anymore. Go ahead, 100 denarii. You know what? I forgive your debt. When we hold back and we refuse to forgive, it's like we're debt collectors and we're millionaires at the same time. And Jesus says it can't be that way. He says, if you refuse to show mercy, guess what? You're not my disciple. He's not saying you came and were saved and now you're unsaved because you're not showing mercy. He's saying you've never grasped God's mercies to begin with. Christians today, and I'm closing on this, Jesus is your savior. If that's true, you have all the mercies and riches of God. Your enormous debt has been wiped clean. That is true. Because that's true, you ought to be forgiving and merciful and gracious and generous because you don't need to hold on to that dark, dirty money of unforgiveness. You're an heir to the kingdom of God, right? You're inheriting the kingdom of God. When Jesus comes again, he's going to say, I've prepared this for you as well. What on earth do you need any false, fake kind of power and money in? You can keep on forgiven through the pain because you know you stand in union with God through Jesus Christ in your life. And if you don't, I say get hold of Jesus today. Experience God's forgiveness today. Because ultimately every sin we do, everything we fail is a failure against the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the Holy One on high. And it's to Him we owe the debt. But praise God, He has made a way to forgive us of all our sins and all our trespasses. And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. So today, when you leave here, you will be tempted to judge the sermon. You will, I know. You'll be tempted to find something wrong with it or something annoying about how he talked or uses his hands. He must be Italian. He must be from New Jersey. What does he know about Pittsburgh people anyway? You're going to find some little loophole that you're just going to let yourself walk right out of all the implications on. That's your temptation. Because I do the same thing when I'm in your shoes. There's no loophole. No matter how well or poorly I've done in trying my best to explain this, Jesus Christ is talking to you if you're his disciple. And he's saying, remember the mercies, apply them in your life, don't keep anyone in debtor's prison, be a forgiving, merciful saint. and you will bring such glory and honor to your Father, and you will feel joy and peace in your heart that nothing but forgiveness can bring. Let's close in prayer. Lord Jesus, I pray that we would not be mere listeners. Father, I know in any group there are people in it who have locked people away in debtor's prison. I know that's true in this room, Lord, as true as it's in any church. My prayer is for those brothers and sisters in this room who are convicted by the word of God, that you would couple up their conviction with the courage, with the courage to follow Jesus, to come to the repentant one in their life and to really and truly Tell them, I forgive you and I'm going to keep on forgiving you because of all that Jesus Christ has done for me. Thank you for your mercies. Lord, prepare our hearts to receive your meal today in remembrance of the great cost that you paid to set us free. Jesus, in your name.