who desire to be baptized in November. And so we're excited about what God is doing in Barrie. But it is good to be here this evening. And we'll be looking at forgiveness from the parable in Matthew chapter 18. And as we think about forgiveness, forgiveness is one of those topics that sometimes we have a love-hate relationship with. It is one of those topics that We love talking about the forgiveness that God extends to us. But we struggle with the topic when it comes to us forgiving those that have wronged us. Some of that is because there's a misconception and misunderstanding, and sometimes the teaching has not been quite right, when it comes to forgiveness. But as we think about forgiveness, we live in an era where forgiveness is being pushed aside. We live in an era where grace is being pushed aside. And really, forgiveness is right along with grace because forgiveness is not deserved. And grace is the extending of what is not deserved and giving what the good that is not deserved. And as we stop and think about this. We live in a day We often have heard about cancel culture more recently. What is cancel culture? Well, you've done something wrong to me, and you are canceled for life. But not only that, not only that you have done something wrong to me, but you have done something wrong that I don't like. Maybe you've said something I don't like or agree with back when you were in university. And I don't care if that was 30, 40, or even 50 years ago. I'm canceling you for what you've done way back then. That's the day and age we live in, right? But what kind of future does that have for anybody? Because the truth is, is we are all human beings. We're all human beings able to fail. And we do fail. So what kind of future can we have in relationships with anybody if we cannot grant forgiveness to one another? Now, I don't know your background, but I could guarantee you every one of us has been hurt by somebody. And many of us have been hurt extremely deep by individuals. And the question is how do we process that? How do we move forward in that? Now it could be a friend who has betrayed you. It could be a parent who abused you. It could be somebody within the church. Many different types of hurts that have come our way. Now I'm not here to defend them. In fact, If I sat down with you and heard your story about what they've done to you, what they said about you, or said to you, or how they treated you, or how they rejected you, I would probably agree with you. And I would agree with, they deserve to pay you back. Because really what forgiveness is, and we'll look at, is the canceling of a debt. writing off a debt, whatever that debt may look like. Do they owe you? One sense, yes. Do they deserve to pay you back? Yes. But so many times, there is no possible way for them to pay you back. Now, as we look into the word of God in Matthew chapter 18, This comes right after the passage, really, as Jesus talks about what sometimes we call church discipline. In other ways, really, I would prefer to call it church restoration, because it is the goal and desire is to restore the relationship, the relationship that has been broken. In fact, we'll begin reading in Matthew chapter 18, in verse 15. It says, "'If thy brother shall trespass against thee, "'go tell him his fault between thee and him alone. "'If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.'" So really the goal is gaining your brother, gaining your relationship. "'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 a 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 Peter asks a question. After hearing this about what Jesus has talked about people sinning against you, It says, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Until seven times. Now as Peter comes to Jesus, he does not ask, why should I forgive them? Because he knows in his heart that he ought to. But instead what he asks is, how many times do I need to forgive him? And he puts the figure up seven times. I mean, seven is the perfect number, right? And it's said that three times is what was expected or taught that you should forgive. So he's doubling and adding and using the number perfection. Jesus, is that good enough? Is that the amount of times that I should forgive somebody that has wronged me? So Jesus tells us a parable, probably a parable that many of us are familiar with. It says in verse 22, Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until 70 times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take an account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, One was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand 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 ow'st. 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 them 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 as the Lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors, 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 forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses. So as we think about Jesus, As he relays these spiritual truths, he's constantly bringing in stories that would become relevant to the people, to help them understand. And so many times, Jesus uses far extremes. Whether it was the priest and the Levi, and the Samaritan, when it's talking about the Good Samaritan, and the Samaritan, the outcast, well, that was the hero of the story. whether it was the publican and the Pharisee, the tax collector and the Pharisee who go into the temple and pray. One is a complete outcast, despised, and the other was highly esteemed in the religious circles. And yet it was the publican, the tax collector that walked out justified. Jesus loved to use extremes. And here in this story, He brings it home for Peter to understand. He brings it home for us to understand. And he does it by telling a story. This man, he calls in his servants. He begins looking at the accounts. He's reckoning his servants and looking at what they owe. And he realizes one owes 10,000 talents. Now, as we read through this, and in just a moment, we find 100 pence. Now, those are extremes, 100 versus 10,000. And if that was all that we saw, well, that's a big number. 10,000 is a big difference than 100. But the difference is talents and pence as well. And they say that One talent was worth about 6,000 pence. So throw that into the calculation. Now we're talking, and just for my understanding, we find in other passages where a man's labor for one day was about one pence. So I just try to round it up 100 pounds for one pence. Easy. Now some people might make more, some people might make less, but that's just an easy figure. So if we were doing some of this calculation, that would be about 10,000 pounds versus 6 billion pounds. It's not just 10,000 pounds versus 100 pounds. Now, just to bring it right on for who has 6 billion pounds? Not me. It was something so infinite, it could never be paid off. Basically, 10 or 100 pence, that would be maybe five months worth of labor. But at the same rate, it would be the 10,000 talents would be about 150,000 years worth of labor. Think about that. And when he calls in the servants, and he recognizes this man owes and a massive amount, in our figures, at least six billion pounds. The man pleads with him, please give me time, be patient with me. Could you imagine, well, first imagine, imagine yourself being six billion pounds in debt. And then somebody says, you need to come and you need to pay it today. What would you say? I can't. But this man is begging for a little bit more time. Otherwise, he's going to be sold into slavery. There was no bankruptcy in that day. Instead, there was slavery. And you would have to work until you could pay something off. Not only you, but your whole family. And that was what was taking place. And this king, this ruler, is moved with compassion, verse 27 says, and loosed him and forgave him the debt. Wrote the debt off. Canceled it completely. Wiped it out of the books. He was no longer a debtor. As the story goes, That same man walks out, finds somebody else who owed him, on our day, 10,000 pounds. Now, 10,000 pounds is a lot of money for us, right? It is. And if somebody owes us 10,000 pounds, you need to pay me back. And he demands him, pay me now. And the answer that the man uses is the same answer as what the first servant used. As he mentions, have patience with me and I will pay thee all. Give me a little bit more time and I'll get the money to you. Please give me a little bit more time. But he would not have it. Instead he puts him in prison. Then the first master calls him in and says, I forgave you everything, and yet you could not forgive this other individual. But as Jesus brings this story home, that very end, he says, so likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto him, or unto you, if from your hearts Forgive not every one his brother their trespass. Now, as we come back to the story just a little bit, there is an element, as we stop and think about forgiving those, and he's pointing at how much God forgives us through Jesus Christ. And that forgiveness is not just wiping away the debt, but how Jesus has absorbed our debt. Because if you were driving my car, and you smashed my car, and I said, I forgive you, you don't have to pay for it, who pays for it? I do. Or, I drive around in a smashed vehicle, right? Either way, I bear the shame of a smashed vehicle, or I pay the cost to repair it. I'm letting you off But I'm absorbing it. And Jesus does not just let us off, but He absorbs the payment for our sin. An enormous amount that we could not pay. Then the question comes down, what about the people that hurt us? That wrong us? That harm us? And Jesus speaks about forgiveness here. And He speaks about the forgiveness in our hearts. Now, there's several different elements when it comes to forgiveness. There's several hindrances that come to forgiveness that cause people not want to forgive. And some of those instances is about justice. If I forgive somebody, Justice will not be served. And justice ought to be served. Just started listening to a book, Forgiveness by Timothy Keller. It was his final book just before he passed away. And you know, as he mentions, if we do not forgive from our hearts while we seek justice, it is not justice that we actually seek. It is revenge. Justice can only be served when forgiveness takes place first. Because as long as we are not going to forgive, we are looking for them to pay us back. And that's revenge. Another element that takes place is about trust. The idea that forgiveness is the automatic restoration of trust. But it's not. Forgiveness is the releasing of a debt, not the re-emplacement of trust. And there are different elements. I'll talk about this in just a moment. But these are so many times why people do not want to forgive. Because of, well, what they assume about forgiveness. Now, in some ways, when we stop and think about forgiveness, there has been much abuse that has taken place, and it has been taught, you need to forgive it and keep it silent. And yet, those are things that should have been dealt with by legal, legal enacting with those things. But instead, because it was kept silent, more people were abused, more people were hurt. And so there is a forgiveness from the heart. It is letting go from our heart and saying, I am not going to demand you to pay me because it can't be repaid. It's writing the debt off, but that is not removing of the consequences. And even if we were to look at God's forgiveness, When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, our sin has been written off. We will not be held accountable for our sin. But how many times have we realized that though I will not stand account for my sin one day, I do live with the consequences of my sin today. Consequences are different than punishment. And in that same way, when we think about forgiveness and extending that forgiveness, it is that releasing them from our heart. As it mentions there in verse 34, going back to verse 33 when the man says, or in verse 32, I forgave thee all that debt because thou desires me shouldest now thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant even as I had pity on thee and as Lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him now this is not speaking about a man losing his salvation by not forgiving somebody else but what this is talking about is when we do not release and forgive somebody, it is bitterness that begins growing up within our hearts. And bitterness is a prison that will torment any person who holds it. Bitterness really is a trap that we think we are holding the other person accountable, and we think we are becoming their masters. But really what is taking place is they have become our master. And what happens is what has happened in the past, when we hold it tight in bitterness, it will hinder our future. And as we hold on to bitterness, we become a victim, a victim for life. So as we think about this, delivering to tormentors, it is that tormenting within bitterness. You know, as we stop and think about Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4 in verse 31, Paul, as he wrote, he says, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Verse 32, he says, and be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be therefore followers of God as dear children. Paul is writing, he's saying we must let go of the bitterness. And as we hold on to bitterness, really all of the other things come out of bitterness. The wrath, the anger, the clamor, the evil speaking, the malice. So much of that grows out of bitterness. But he says instead, let those things go. But instead be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake. hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God as your children. He says, this is what we are called to do. Now going back just a moment, as I mentioned briefly about trust. So many times there is an expectation. Somebody is hurt deeply and yes, we are called to forgive. There is almost an assumption that is taught that that means an automatic trust to be restored. But that's not necessarily what forgiveness is when it comes to relationships. A person on the street, how much do I trust them? A stranger, somebody who I've never met. I don't trust them. It's not that I don't trust them, but there's just not a trust that's been built up. They owe me nothing, right? And that's what forgiveness is. It is the canceling of a debt. You owe me nothing. Back when I worked in the States, I worked as a painter, and I worked for a man for a week. He owed me 1,200 pounds. A few months went by. I asked him, sent invoices, nothing. A year goes by, still nothing. And I used Quicken, and it was there. It was on my sidebar. He owes me 1,200 pounds. Every time I opened up Quicken, looking at my accounts, it's still there. Three years goes by. You know what I finally had to do? Come to the conclusion, he's never gonna pay me. There's no reason to chase him up. I deleted it. He didn't know that I deleted it, but in my head, in my mind, I was releasing it. It was zero. But when it comes to trust, am I gonna go out and do a whole bunch of work for him and allow it to build up for a great amount without asking for a certain amount? Probably not. When it comes to trust, when I walk down the street, I have absolutely nothing against the stranger, but am I going to allow them to watch my children while I go off for a day or two? Absolutely not. Am I gonna hand the keys to them for my house or my car? Absolutely not. Why? Because there has not been a trust that has been built up. And when we forgive, that does not mean an automatic restoration of trust. And this is many times why many people do not want to forgive. Because that expectation that everything is back to normal, no, trust has to be built. Confession has to take place. Forgiveness can be granted, releasing from the heart before somebody actually confesses to you and asks forgiveness. In our hearts, we desire for that relationship to be restored. But trust cannot be restored until there is actually confession that is made. The recognition of wrong that has taken place. And really that is what going back to verse 15. Speaking about that church restoration. If somebody has wronged you, go to them. Let them know what they've done to you. And if they repent, you've restored a brother. You've restored that brought bringing it back in. And that is the beginning of that restored relationship. When we look at this passage, this man owed, say, six billion pounds. That was written off. But does that mean the master would lend him six billion pounds the next day? Probably not. but he may lend him a thousand pounds. And he that is faithful in little things will then become faithful also in much. And so it's helpful to understand the broader picture of forgiveness. When it comes to a legal matter, we can forgive in our hearts, but there are certain things that still need to be dealt with by the authorities. But in our hearts, we're saying, I'm releasing you. I'm not calling for vengeance. And as we think about as followers of Jesus, and we look at this passage, and we look at what Jesus Christ has done for us. We are all called to forgive. to recognize what God has done for us, extended that forgiveness to us. And in our hearts, as it mentions there in verse 35, so likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses. You know, as we stop and think about forgiveness, We stop and think about what Christ has done for us. The first step is really, have we asked God to forgive us of our sins? If we haven't, God has extended that to us. He desires us to receive that forgiveness. And as we followed him, we may have somebody come to our mind, somebody who's wronged us. Somebody's who hurt us. You know, it's something that we have to recognize. And we have to come to the conclusion, what have they done to me? What do they owe me? And what do I need to cancel of the debt? Now, if they're around, it's important to go to them, to speak to them. It's not just letting it go, but as it mentions, about restoring a relationship. Where that confession can be made, the restoration begun, and forgiveness granted. But there are some people that can't have a restored relationship. Whether they've passed away, they're gone out of our life, whatever it might be. there still must be a forgiveness from our heart, releasing it from our end. Otherwise, it will haunt us and weigh us down. And that bitterness will continue to grow in our hearts. And we will become a victim, not just in that circumstance, but in every area of life. But as followers of Jesus, we are called to let it go. Not calling in. the debts. And as Jesus mentions here, and He gives this story, and as Paul mentioned, about let all bitterness and wrath and malice, all of that, let it out. Away. But be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. And sometimes our With the chapter and verses it breaks it apart and so we stopped there but that's why I kept on going. In spite of the chapter and verse break, be therefore followers of God as dear children. Really another way of saying it is be therefore imitators of God as dear children. We are called to imitate God just as he has done to us. extending to those around us. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do thank you for your love and your mercy. The forgiveness that you've offered and the forgiveness that you've granted. Lord, I pray that you would help us to extend forgiveness to those around us. Not calling in the debts, but releasing it. Lord, I pray that you would help us to become more like you. And relationships would be restored. And more around us would come to know you as their Lord and Savior. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. This time we'll sing our closing song. Standing on the promises of Christ my King, let's stand as we sing. Standing on the promises of Christ my King, through eternal ages let His praises ring. Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing, standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. I am standing on the promises of God. I am standing on the promises that cannot fail. When doubt is sought without a fear of sin, I, the living Word of God, I shall prevail. I am standing on the promises of God my Savior. I am standing, standing. I am standing on the promises of God. Standing on the promises I now can see, earth and present planted in the blood for me. Standing in the liberty where Christ made free. Standing on the promises of love. Standing, standing. you. Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord, Bountiful in eternity by the strong cord, Overcoming daily with the spirit and soul, Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, Standing on the promises of God my Savior, Amen. And aren't you thankful for the promises that God has given to us? If I could ask Jamie to close us in a word of prayer. Amen.