Oh yes, Mrs. J reminded me, but that was 10 minutes ago. And Pastor Goldfish memory here, he doesn't do very well. We're resuming Children's Church this morning. She's very communicative, Amanda. I'm not telling you anything you didn't know, but she's very communicative. Anyway, we're resuming it. Omar and Tracy Schrock are gonna work with it for now, and we'll have some of the other guys. I always appreciate, and not just with reference to them, but the opportunity for husbands and wives to minister together. As you turn to Matthew 18, You know, it's my preference, quite honestly, just to preach through books. It's, I think, beneficial and realistically there's something very simple about it from the sermon prep standpoint. I know what passage I'm going to be working on, but we've been giving our time on Sunday mornings to the subject matter of forgiveness. Over the holidays, we'd moved into some holiday themes. I'm returning this morning to the subject. So let's go ahead and stand. I'm gonna read the entirety of Matthew 18. That's 35 verses. It's a little on the long side, but. Matthew chapter 18, beginning in verse number one. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come. But woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee, It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. For I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye, if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he findeth it, Verily, I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more. that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything, that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until 70 times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him 10,000 talents. But for as much as he had not to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had in payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him 100 pence, and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him, saying, have patience with me and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto their Lord all that was done. Then his Lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt because thou desirest me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his Lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay him all that was due, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you. If ye from your hearts do not every one of his brother, forgive everyone their trespasses. And let's pray. Lord, I pray for us that we would Do that which is being explained. I pray for your help for us to do that. I pray that you would work in us to have a desire to be like this. Help us please, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. And you may, of course, be seated. Well, there certainly is a theological dimension to forgiveness. It is taught as a Bible doctrine. And of course the basis of that Bible doctrine is that we need to be forgiven, that God has forgiven us in Christ by laying upon Christ all of our guilt and all of our condemnation. And part of the theology of forgiveness then is that Christ's forgiveness of our sin becomes both the example and the motivation that we should forgive the sins of others. Now there's a lot to that theology and we could spend a lot more time on it than we have, but I have spent several weeks laying out for us that dimension of the theology. That Christ died for our sins, that through his blood they can be remitted, that all who believe have God's forgiveness. And that again becomes the foundation of our relationship with each other. It is my intention to spend some time talking about that more practically. One of the problems, folks, is that it is one thing to have our heads filled with facts about forgiveness, but the act of forgiving is an entirely different thing, isn't it? And I don't want to ignore the realities of that. So there is, at least as I think of it, kind of the vertical plane that God has forgiven us. There is the horizontal plane that we are to forgive others. And I wanna speak a couple of weeks one when we dealt with Ephesians 4 and one in Matthew 18, just showing places where they intersect, where God is pretty emphatic that his forgiveness of us becomes not just simply an example, but becomes a defining moment in the way we forgive others. All of Matthew chapter 18 deals with God's people in the sense of them being a community of people. I just mention this periodically as Americans, we are very individualistic and we extend our individuality into Christianity and there are no shortage of people who believe that they can practice their Christianity privately and that will be It will be equally as valid and valuable as if they practice it in community, but the Bible will not let you go there. We are more than a collection of individuals. We are a true community, a true family of people. And the chapter begins by pointing out to us that we are not simply a community, we are a community of small children. that our entrance into God's kingdom comes not from those who are childish and immature, but from those who are childlike, who take their father at face value and seek him. Small children are not to be offended nor barred entrance into the kingdom, Matthew 18.6. They are not to be held in contempt simply because they are small children. Matthew 18, 10 and 11. And it is not the will of the father that any of the small children should perish. So the citizens of the kingdom, even though they are small children, are of great value to God. That is the introductory part of Matthew 18. And the prime orientation is always is God himself. He is the father and we are his children. Verses 15 through 20 deal with conflict within that community. What happens when people in the community don't get along? What happens when one does something that is hurtful or offensive or out of line to one of the others? And it is in this passage, folks, that we find what I would call the due process of Christian forgiveness. That God maps out, because we are a community, a way that a community should conduct itself. That private matters can and should be begun privately. And only when they are unsuccessful at private resolution should they escalate, and sometimes they escalate into the community at large. But as always, since we are a community, and because the community is God's family, is God's kingdom, the goal is the regaining of a brother. The goal is not the exclusion of any, but the regaining of a brother. But again, in verses 18 through 20, the prime orientation is God himself. We are God's small children, and God has a will for us, and it's not his will that we should perish. So don't offend. but there will be offenses within the community. And it is God's will that we gain each other in brotherhood, in our relationships. And verses 21 through 35, which are really the gist of the passage that we will look at this morning, address a question that really flows out of verses 15 through 20. In chapter 18, verse number 15, moreover, if thy brother trespass against thee, and then down to verse number 21, then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how off shall my brother sin? They're the same verb. They're translated with two different words in our King James Bible, but they're the same word. And that verb is used only three times in the entire Gospel of Matthew. Here twice in Matthew 18 and once in Matthew 27 for when Judas Iscariot confesses his sin. How often shall I sin? Or how often shall my brother sin against me? So to some extent our debt is to Peter who asked the question that we all want have answered. This is the question, folks, verse number 21. It's a common question, we all ask it. Do I have to forgive? Do I have to forgive? How often do I have to forgive? How often my brother sinned against me and I forgive him? Till seven times Peter is being, within his world, very generous. when he suggests seven times. And I would point out to you folks that the repentance that is involved is not Peter's issue. Peter wants to know how many times he has to forgive. In Peter's world, many of the rabbis taught that your obligation extended to three times. and that if you had forgiven three times, you had exhausted all of the grace that would be necessary of you. So when Peter asked the question seven, he's really doubling the expectation. I think, folks, that it's not a stretch to put the question this way. How much do I have to put up with? before I can be done with you. Jesus responds to the question with a principle in verse number 22. Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until 70 times seven. This is not the place for us to get out the Excel worksheets. Jesus hasn't, seriously, Jesus hasn't answered a deep personal question. Let's not ridicule Peter here. Let us realize that Peter is speaking for all of us. How much do I have to put up with from people? What is the limit? At what point in time Can I write it off and be done? Jesus doesn't answer that question with a math class. Jesus is using a math illustration to describe the abundance and magnitude of graciousness that should characterize those of us in the kingdom. Genuine forgiveness, folks, is not numerical and mechanical in nature. To jump well ahead of myself, where would you suppose you would find yourself if God imposed a mathematical formula of forgiveness upon you? as if life were some gigantic game show where after X number of wrong answers you were disqualified. Low score is out. Now I could not prove this, so I would not go to the mat with you over this. But I strongly suspect that Jesus is responding in kind but in contradiction to Lamech in Genesis 4.23. Lamech said unto his wives Ada and Zilla, hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech, for I have slain a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly lamex 70 and sevenfold. This is virtually identical, particularly if you were to look at the Greek Old Testament. This is virtually an identical construction, 70 times seven. Seven or 70 times seven. These are the only two places where this construction is used in the Bible. Lamech is setting the pattern for an unbelieving world that vengeance will be multiplied. Some read in Genesis 4.23 a veiled threat to his wives. Don't mess with me. I've already killed once. Nobody will mess with me. I will get my pound of flesh. in spades, we might say. So Matthew 18 and verse number 22, folks, is not about math, it's about a mentality. It's about a way of thinking about generosity and a forgiving spirit. Jesus is not suggesting that sin is not, or is inconsequential. He's not saying that. He's not saying, look, you guys are overblowing the issue. You're overstating the hurt and the wound, and you just need to forgive. He never says anything like that. He doesn't act like that himself. He doesn't command us to act like that. Neither is the Lord suggesting that there is some kind of simplicity that can drive this. As I've already said, and as I hope to deal with in a sermon, the concept is simple, right? I am to forgive. The practice is difficult. I've been hurt, injured, wounded, wronged. The Lord never suggests that forgiveness simply undoes everything that had happened. We've dealt with that extensively from the life of David. God forgave him for his sin with Bathsheba, but things were never what they once were. To go back to Matthew 18.22, folks, the point I think that Jesus is making is that forgiveness is not some kind of a commodity that can be measured. It's not like milk that is sold by the gallon or hamburger that is sold by the pound. It is a gracious way of thinking about each other. It is a gracious way of thinking about each other, not in the absence of real wounds, but in the presence of real wounds. And I would argue that it is a grace because many times that is exactly the word that is being used in forgiveness. Charity. Charity. Hey, do me a favor. Do me a favor while you're doing this, would you swing by and grab this for me? Do me a favor. Biblically, hey, do me a favor, forgive me for my sin. One of the ways that we know that Jesus is articulating a principle of gracious generosity is from the parable. There's one question, how much do I have to put up with? Seven times? There is one answer, not seven, 70 times seven. One verse for the question, one verse for the answer, many verses for the parable that explain it. The question and the answer are explained in the parable. It is a parable about the kingdom because remember this is a book about the kingdom and God's people are in community in a kingdom. So here's what the kingdom is like, verse number 23. The kingdom is like a place where the king is gonna talk to his servants. The word account is the Greek word we all know, the word logos. The king is gonna have a word with us. That's the nature of the judgment, whatever the conclusion of the judgment, folks, and we all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God. We're all going to have our own individual conversation with the Lord about the lives we lived and the things we did. That's what's going to happen. You know, folks, periodically I'll ask somebody to come to my office and many times it's just, you know, for no reason. you know, no significant reason. I mean, maybe there's a ministry I want them to entertain, or maybe there's a question I have for them. But it is not uncommon when I say to people, hey, can you come by the office to talk? They immediately go, well, what kind of trouble am I in now? What did I do? And if they don't say it frequently, they think it, well, I wonder what I did. Now, that's the way people respond to having a conversation with their pastor who is going to have the same conversation with the Lord that you are, every one of us shall give an account of himself. And the kingdom is like this. The kingdom is like having a talk with the Lord. And in this case, the subject matter of the conversation is pretty narrow and pointed. He would take account of his servants, and when he began to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him 10,000 talents. Now, we know that transposing talents into dollars and those kinds of things is a pretty tricky business, but I don't think that it's a stretch to peg the value. It's somewhere in the vicinity of $20 billion. Be with a boy. So here's a conversation, the king is gonna have a conversation with one of his servants and the conversation goes like this, I've been going over the books and here's what you owe, $20 billion. And he had nothing to pay, verse 25. The Lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and children and all that he had in payment to be made. Oh, the debt's the debt, right? The debt's, there's no convert, right? It's not like this, you owe $20 billion. No, I don't. It's like this, you owe $20 billion. I don't have $20 billion. Well, then I'm gonna sell you and sell your wife and sell your children and whatever I can get, I can get. The servant, verse 26, falls down to worship saying, Lord, be patient with me and I will pay thee all. Then the Lord of that servant, verse 27, here's the critical moment. The Lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. Sent it away. Remitted. Pardoned. That same servant then went out. That same servant then went out and found somebody that owed him 100 pence. Verse 28. So here's a man who five minutes ago was standing in front of a $20 billion debt facing being sold into slavery, his wife sold into slavery, and his children sold into slavery, who miraculously, generously, instantaneously, spontaneously is forgiven the entire debt who immediately upon that forgiveness thought to himself, I'm gonna go find the guy that owes me a hundred pennies. Now the pence is a little easier to find because we know from the gospels that a penny is about a day's wages. And just for the sake of simplicity, a hundred days wages is about a third of your annual salary. So whatever a third of your annual salary is, is what you're on the hook for in this case. or what somebody owes you. You've just been forgiven $20 billion. And somebody owes you a third of your annual salary. Verse number 29, And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Same word, same pleading, same begging, same request. Verse 30, And he would not. but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt. So having being forgiven 20 billion, he now refuses to forgive a third of a year's salary. And before I go any further, folks, let us not forget that the wrongs that we are on the receiving end of, in other words, the third of a year's salary in this case, is real money. The ways that we hurt each other are real injuries. And sometimes the repercussions of those wounds are ongoing for a long time. And I don't just mean emotionally. I mean, the things that we do to people, the things that we say to people, the way that we treat people, those have residual consequences. I would be willing to bet, were I a gambling man, that every one of us here could reach back into our childhood and recall somebody who was very hard on us in their words or their deeds. We've not forgotten yet. Be patient with me and I will pay thee all. There are witnesses to this because remember, we are a community. And so the servants go and tell their Lord the way this one servant recently forgiven $20 billion is treating a fellow servant who owes him a third of a year's wages. And the Lord comes back and changes his mind. And he calls him wicked and the Lord, verse 34, is wroth and delivers him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him. Let's just think about the parable briefly. Before we get to the conclusion, and you know the conclusion is out there, it's verse number 35. Jesus is not just telling stories because he heard a good one. As is true in every part of the storyline of Matthew 18, the central figure is the king, who is the heavenly father in verses one through 14. Who is the one wielding ultimate authority? Verses 15 through 20. And who is the one who is ultimately offended? In verses 21 through 35. And so we know first the way the king responded to the insurmountable debt, $20 billion, be patient with me and I will pay you all. Well, let's just make it a math. Let's just quantify it for simplicity's sake, supposing, folks, that the price that was required of you to enter into heaven, let's just make it very simple. All that you need to get into heaven and live in eternity with God is $20 billion. It can all be yours for the sum of $20 billion. Where will you get that kind of money? And if some of you have that kind of money, where is it? That's what I wanna know. Just joking. And how much patience would God have to give you before you could get $20 billion? How long would it take you? Please don't pull out your calculator and your phone. But how long would it take you at your present rate of earnings to earn $20 billion? It's an insurmountable debt. And again, folks, just as Jesus isn't talking ultimately about money in verse number 21 or 22. He's not talking about money in the parable. I mean, he's using money to make a point. But if you had $20 billion, you couldn't buy your way into heaven. But it is indicative of our inability to be able to do anything to stand acceptably before God. We have been commanded to love him entirely, unreservedly, heart, mind, soul, strength, and him only. It would be easier to come up with $20 billion. And the penalty for paying the debt is severe, the loss of everything that he has. And yet the Lord, the King, is moved with compassion. And part of the fact that he's moved with compassion, folks, is the fact that this man couldn't pay. I mean, it's not within the realm of possibility to pay. Forget about how sorry he might have been, or how repentant he might have been, or how much contrition he might have experienced. He couldn't pay the debt. So the master had compassion. There is the benchmark. So that when I get to Matthew 4, I mean to Ephesians 4, right? I'm to forgive you even as God in Christ forgave me. because the debt that I owed was insurmountable. And no matter how bad I felt about the debt, there was no way that it was ever going to be paid. And so the master had compassion and he absorbed the loss. And then that same servant turns around and the hands that were supplicating in verse number 26 have now been turned to strangling in verse number 28. He fell down and worshiped, have patience with me and I will pay thee all. And now he's got a fellow servant by the throat. Pay me what you owe. And the king is very angry at this. And who is surprised? Who could possibly be surprised that the king would be angry at this? And so that we are under no false impressions about where Jesus is going, verse number 35 is very pointed and clear, isn't it? So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you. If ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses, Well, that's a challenge, isn't it? Does the Lord mean that you can't go to heaven without forgiving? Well, he certainly cannot mean that our forgiveness is a work that we do that would earn us heaven, can he? It cannot possibly mean that that would undo an entire Bible of teaching salvation by grace. But does that really help me? Here I am a believer. The basis of my entire relationship with God is the fact that he forgave me. And the basis of my entire relationship with everybody else is that there is some line out there beyond which you cross, I will not forgive you. And God's position then is, well, then that's gonna put us at odds. And I think that's really the point that's being made there. Folks, is that these things are not just simply about us. I'm mad at you, you're mad at me. I hurt you, you hurt me. I've had all of this that I'm gonna take from you because you just keep doing this. And there's a God out there who is a participant in the entire scenario. who will not allow himself to be relegated to the back room in these matters. So let's just imagine that this isn't a criteria for getting saved, but that this is something that the Lord says to two people who are equally in the kingdom. Both servants, right? There's only one Lord and everybody else is a servant in this scenario. And two servants are at each other over how much one owes the other. And it impacts their relationship with their master. Now again, folks, we understand it's kind of the doctrine and these are the facts. And then always, because we're just mortal human beings, we take all the facts that we know and we bring our feelings to them. But here is nevertheless the criteria. The benchmark of our interaction with other people is not how much they owe us, but how much we owe God, always, always. Let me suggest to you two prices. And I realize that somebody may be asking, okay, but how do we get there? And I don't have a simple answer, but we are going to tackle it as a question. How do we get there? But let me just tell you that the Bible states two things that are clearly going to happen. If we dig our heels in and harden our hearts and refuse to have a generous spirit which I would argue is what is being articulated by Jesus in verse 22. Just as Lamech brought a vengeful spirit to the world, I'm gonna get vengeance. Those who have been forgiven by God bring a forgiving spirit to their relationships. Number one, it is going to impede your relationship with God. It is very hard to navigate the world of Christianity, folks, even if you're a believer, or especially if you're a believer with an unforgiving spirit who has a God who has stated unalterably that he will no longer forgive you. That your relationship with him is kind of frozen into that moment from this point in time, Anytime you want to talk to the Lord or ask the Lord about something or have the Lord's help, there is this gigantic padlock on the relationship, your unforgiveness. Secondly, folks, the Bible is very clear that unforgiving spirits do not just sit there, they fester. They corrupt those who have them. This is not modern pop psychology, folks. This is Bible doctrine. You will ruin yourself with a hard heart. You will ruin yourself with a hard heart. You will become bitter and shriveled and it will affect every relationship you have and the way you think about everything. It is the root that will grow many plants. So as a minimum, folks, there is no excuse for us to hide behind the hardness of it. You know, I know I'm supposed to forgive, but this is just a very hard thing. Well, it's a very hard thing to not forgive. It's a very hard thing to not forgive also. Let's pray. Father, may this be the characteristic of us.