An Undeniable Duty

Would you turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 18. Once more, Jesus talks to us about his kingdom and what it's like in that kingdom and what we should be like as subjects of the king. And so we want to look at this portion of scripture to find out again how kingdom life should be lived and how we ought to understand the kingdom of Christ. Matthew chapter 18, we'll begin reading in verse 21.

Then Peter came up and said to him, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? As many as seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. 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 ten thousand 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 but when that same servant went out he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii and seized him 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 will pay you he refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt when his fellow servants saw what he had what had taken place they were greatly distressed and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place 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 mercy on you and in anger his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt so also my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart father now open the text of Scripture to us These are not just words on a page These are the living words of God intended to change us, intended to move us, intended to make us shine like subjects of our King.

So, use these words as you see fit today. In Jesus' name, Amen. I just can't forgive you. Those words ever come from your mouth? You've trusted your dearest friend with your heart when you told her about what you were struggling with and only to find out from someone else later that she told someone else about it. And now she comes to you, contrite, brokenhearted, for breaking your confidence, and when she asks your forgiveness, you say, I just can't forgive you.

You hurt me too deeply. Your wife, in a fit of anger, said some unkind things to you, things you thought were buried long ago, things in the past. She brings those old issues up and you are stunned and hurt. And later when she comes to you and asks you for forgiveness for the cruelty that she has visited upon you, you respond by saying, that was the most hurtful thing you have ever said to me.

I don't know whether I could forgive you or not. One of the elders has stolen some of the church funds, and now he stands before the congregation, a broken man repenting of his sin, a contrite man. As he stands there, you see people going to the front to extend to him their hands, and you see some of them crying as they offer their forgiveness. But you sit in the pew saying to yourself and fuming in your mind, I can't forgive him for that.

He ruined the reputation of the church in this community. There's no way I can forgive him for that. What about forgiveness in the community of Jesus' disciples? What about that? Jesus addresses that issue. He's not left us in the dark when it talks about how we ought to relate to one another and these sorts of things.

Now in this chapter for you see Peter begins by saying Lord how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him This comes from because just before that Jesus has talked about our duty of confronting sin within the community of disciples He's talked to us about the duty of going to someone who has sinned against us and trying to regain that brother, showing him his fault. And if he responds, if he repents, then you've gained your brother. You forgive him and you go on.

But if he does not, you take it to the next level. You get a couple witnesses, and they have a duty to confront this brother about his sin. And if he responds, it's over. But if he doesn't, it goes to the next level. It goes to the church. And the church now has the duty to confront this man or this woman about his or her sin.

And if they respond, fine, it's done. Forgiveness is offered. but if it is not, then you treat him as you would an unbeliever and a traitor. He tells us what to do when people are stubborn. We're commanded to follow those steps. And so Peter says, okay, so we do that, and someone repents. How often should we do it, you see?

What's our responsibility then? Having instructed us about confronting sin, the duty of confronting sin, what about forgiveness? We have a duty as God's people to confront and discipline where people are stubborn in their sin. We have the duty of confronting and disciplining, but we also have the duty of forgiveness. That too is a duty that Jesus lays upon us.

How should you handle the duty of forgiveness? How should you go about that? By the way, as we start, right away something becomes evident. That this is a duty. Forgiveness is something that Jesus commands of us. It is not something that we feel.

It is not something that we can do if we want to or not. It is something we must do according to Jesus. Well, let's look at what he says. He says, you've got to forgive one another without reservation. you have to forgive one another without reservation then Peter came up and said to him Lord how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him as many as seven times Jesus said to him I do not say to you seven times but 70 times seven Peter has an idea It common to all of us I going to be generous I'm going to be generous when it comes to forgiving my brother.

So he brings up an issue we all want to raise. How many times do I have to forgive? That's an issue that people are always asking. Well, okay, okay, so how many times do I have to do this? I mean, he's hurt me several times now. How many times must I do this? and so Peter proposed an answer okay how about like seven times now he thinks he's being generous because you see the rabbis of that day were saying if someone sins against you one time forgive him he sins against you the same way again forgive him if he sins against you a third time you forgive him if he sins against you a fourth time all the deals are off three times is enough okay if you haven't learned his lesson by then you're done with him don't forgive him three times is enough so Peter comes along and more than doubles that ah you see Peter like most of us think he's being big-hearted and generous he thinks he's being he's being big-hearted and generous because he takes the acceptable standard of the day and expands it right but Jesus comes along and says no no he doesn't expand the acceptable standard he gives us an entirely new standard because God does not use our standard he uses his own God's not interested in the acceptable standard by the way because he's God and he has a standard of his own so Jesus responds no Peter you've misunderstood God requires not a mere three times nor does he require a generous seven times he requires a radical 77 times or 70 times seven now Jesus is not giving us a higher number here Jesus isn't expanding the given standard he isn't saying at this point well start the count off and when you get to 491 then everything's done okay that's not what he's saying He's using hyperbole here.

He's trying to say, he's saying to us, when it comes to forgiving one another, you forgive one another without reservation. You do it. You forgive them. You don't limit your forgiveness by frequency or quantity. You don't put a limit on it. Whenever forgiveness is sought, no matter how.

How many times you must forgive. You need to let that sink in. Some of you right now are saying, what about? Well, what about this? We're always looking for loopholes. You ever notice that?

We're always looking for loopholes. My brother once said that he took Greek in college so he could study the Greek New Testament and find all the loopholes. and that's what we do normally don't we we're always trying to find the exception we always want to put Jesus in a box you ever notice that Jesus is so radical we always want to put him in a box and say let's make this Messiah of ours let's make him a little more manageable he's really not serious here is he yeah he is yes he is he's dead serious you don't put a limit on it this has to be the reputation of the community of Jesus disciples now what exactly is forgiveness let me digress here for a moment because there are so many wrong ideas about forgiveness let's just do a little biblical theology of forgiveness here I want you to look at two passages that will help us understand forgiveness look at psalm 130 Psalm 130 Look at verses 3 and 4 If you're having trouble, it's right in the middle of the Bible, okay? Verse 3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. Now, a little bit of a lesson here on Hebrew poetry, which is what the Psalms are. Hebrew poetry is not built on rhyme or rhythm so much as it is on parallel thought. This is what you call an antithetical parallelism. That is to say, in Hebrew poetry, one line will say something and the next line will say the same thing only with different words That a synthetic parallelism This is an antithetical parallelism What do I mean by that Notice if you O Lord should mark iniquities that the first line Then look at the following line, but with you there is forgiveness.

So, the forgiveness is the opposite of what? Marking iniquities, writing a record, keeping a record. So behind the idea here in the Psalms is, I'm not keeping a record of this. You sinned against me, but forgiveness means it's gone. I've wiped the record clean. I'm not even going to refer to it anymore.

Okay? I'm not marking it. And so with God, when He forgives me, He's not marking that iniquity. Okay, turn over to Jeremiah 31, which is the promise of the new covenant. Again, remembering this poetic structure that Hebrew writers use in their writing. Jeremiah 31, verse 34.

Now watch. Watch what it says here. Promise of the New Covenant now. Verse 34. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more.

What does forgiveness mean? It means I will not remember that sin. Now wait a minute. He didn't say forget. He says I will not remember. Forgetting is something that just happens.

It's a passive thing. Not remembering is active. It's a promise. God makes a promise here to not remember. That is, he promises that I will not bring this up to use against you. I will not bring it up to use against you any longer.

It's forgiven, so I will choose to not remember. By the way, just a little bit of a footnote. Do you want to write a footnote in your notes? When you do the active business of not remembering, it often leads to forgetting. Okay? But to forgive then means to make a promise that says I promise not to bring this up to use against you with you It means I promise that I will not bring this up to use against you with anybody else And I'm making the promise that I will never bring this up to use against you with me.

I will choose to not remember. I will choose to not dwell on it. I will choose to say, I will not use that against you, and I will not use that against you even in my own mind. So it is a promise that I won't bring it up with you, with anyone else, or with me. That's what forgiveness is. Alright, let's turn back to Matthew 18 now.

So you kind of have an idea of what forgiveness is. Well, does this mean then, does this then make nothing out of the previous commands of church discipline? Right? Because someone might say, if your brother sins against you, just forgive him. Is that what Jesus says? No.

No, no. He says, if your brother sins against you, bring it up with him. Right? Look at verse 15 of this chapter. If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault. Just between the two of you.

And if he listens, you've gained your brother. What's he saying there? He's not saying, if your brother sins against you, all right, don't worry about it, just forgive. No, that's not what he says. What's implied there is that you go and show him, and he repents, and you forgive him, and you make that promise. Later, apostolic instruction built on Christ's commands indicate that forgiveness is based on repentance.

Turn over to Ephesians 4. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 32. I'll answer your questions. I know you've got questions right now popping up in your mind. I'll get to it. Just relax.

Some of you have got your stomachs are churning right now. You're saying that can't be true. Just relax. The Bible will give you some answers here. Ephesians 4, 31 and 32. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. be kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving one another as god in christ forgave you now let me ask you on judgment day is god going to say hey i all Is that what going to happen No Who does He forgive Who is the recipient of the forgiveness of God?

Those who repent and believe. Those who repent and believe. You see, God doesn't offer blanket forgiveness. He didn't just say, Yeah, it's alright everybody, you're okay. No. He offers it to people who repent and believe.

Now, let me answer a question here very quickly. Some of you right now are thinking, so I can just, if he doesn't repent, I'll just treat him like trash. No. No. You don't make that promise. You may have to go and bring it up with him, don't you?

If it's not forgiven. You've got to bring it up. You've got to regain your brother. And if he refuses, you've got to go and get some other people and bring it up with them. Right? If he repents, it's done. it's forgiven but if someone um you know if for example an unbeliever treats you badly and refuses to forgive what are you supposed to do to your enemy you love them you may have to bring this up in some situation but you love them okay so repentance is the condition for forgiveness and jesus is saying here now so we don't get lost in all this that in this context you go to someone and they repent.

Peter says, well, I go to the people and they repent and I go again and they repent. How many times? Seven times? And Jesus says, no, as many times as it takes to forgive, you forgive. So Jesus says, whenever your brother repents, you must forgive him no matter how many times he has sinned against you. You must forgive.

This is your duty before God. This is what Christ commands. You must forgive without reservation. That's what he says. Jesus is saying to us in this congregation, you better be in the habit of repenting and forgiving. It better be a normal part of your life.

It better be a normal part of your life as a family as believers, as members of the congregation, this should be a normal thing, not abnormal. Someone says, now just wait a minute. I don't know if I can handle that duty. That is a pretty hard thing. You know, I have a friend who hurt me so deeply, and now you're telling me, you're telling me, that when she came to me and said that she regretted what she did, I have to forgive her?

The answer is yes, without reservation. Forgive her. Jesus anticipates that objection, and so he tells a parable to show why you can and you must forgive this way. Let's read the parable, shall we? 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. 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, saying, Pay what you owe. so his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him have patience with me and i will pay you he refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt when his fellow servants saw what he had what had taken place they were greatly distressed and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place then his master summoned him and said to him you wicked servant i forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me you should and should not You have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you.

And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt. You must forgive one another without reservation because of God's grace. You must obey in this duty because of the grace of God. This is a parable describing life in the kingdom of God Now what the kingdom of God It not a geographical location It doesn have physical boundaries The kingdom of God exists wherever the reign of God exists And having come under God's reign, you live in a realm that is unlike the realm of the world around us, which lives under another ruler.

This reign of God establishes certain radical understandings, Such as what? Greatness is not measured by significance. Greatness is measured by service. Greatness is not measured by how many people serve you. Greatness is measured in how many people you serve. Radical different way of understanding and radical personal relationships.

You must forgive one another without reservation. So the king wants to get his books in order so he can settle all his debts. And while looking at the books, one of his servants was brought into his presence. This servant owed him 10,000 talents. In our money value, that would be about $1 billion. All right?

In other words, Jesus is indicating this is an unpayable debt. Now, don't ask the question. Some of you are asking, how does anybody get into $1 billion debt? Don't worry about that. Jesus is just trying to make a point here, okay? He's saying, this guy is so much in debt, it is absolutely impossible for him to pay that debt.

Consequently, the slave and his family and all his possessions will be sold. Now that would never pay the debt, because top going rate for a good slave, top dollar, one talent. It's all he's going to get out of it is one talent out of 10,000. Well, the slave begs for mercy. He's in a desperate situation. He begs for time.

He promises to pay it back, but to pay it back is impossible. He has no resources and he has no hope. And so he says to him, notice carefully, he implores have patience with me and i will pay you everything please please have mercy please be patient with me well the king takes pity on him and he cancels the entire debt not even asking Not even asking for a partial payment Not even asking for one talent He forgives the entire debt.

No sooner is this guy out the door when he sees a colleague of his, a servant of his, who owes him 100 denarii. Now, that is not an insignificant amount. A hundred denarii is about a hundred days worth wages. Okay? So you figure out a hundred five day a week, that's 20 weeks. That's not insignificant.

That's 20 weeks of your pay. All right? That's how much this one servant owed the other. But a hundred denarii, that's significant. But compared to the other debt, it's really utterly, completely insignificant. But the servant grabs his fellow servant, starts choking him and demanding that he pay it back.

His colleague begs for mercy. And by the way, Jesus wants you to see this. What does he say to this servant? Have patience with me and I will pay you. Do those words sound familiar? They're the exact same words that the first servant said to his master.

Have patience with me and I will pay you back. The exact same words. Doesn't ring a bell with this guy. Doesn't make a difference. He doesn't hear his own voice in those words. Instead, he throws the guy into prison until he pays his debt.

Well, some other servants see all this happening and they're distressed. And so they go to the king. They go to their master with a detailed report. And so the master recalls the unforgiving servant and pronounces judgment on him. He calls him wicked. You note that.

He calls him wicked. He reminds him of the great debt forgiven him. And that the same mercy must be repeated in his relationships with his colleagues. And so then he hands him over to the jailers to be tormented. By the way, you will notice in the ESV, there's a little footnote on jailer at the end of this parable. and the footnote says, torturers. He's talking about tormentors here.

I'm going to give you over to those who will torture you. Now what's the point of Jesus story Jesus parables are so good know you already know where this is going You already know where this is going, don't you? It's clear what he's saying. How is it then that you can and must forgive one another? You must forgive one another without reservation because of God's grace to you. because of God's grace to you that the debt that God forgave you was no small thing.

Oh, listen to me. You may look at your life and say, yeah, it wasn't such a good life, but I'm forgiven. And by God's standard, your life was horrible. You incurred an incredible debt. Sin always incurs a debt, a liability to punishment. And the debt you incur because of your sin against God is an unpayable debt.

When you look at your life, you've got to think this. What God forgave me. Even some of you young people here who have grown up in Christian homes and you don't have a life of horrible things going on, always remember this. What God forgave you is an unpayable debt. Because if you never believe in Christ, the debt will be discharged by an eternity in hell and you still won't discharge the debt that you owe god that's how great your debt is and think about that why does god say the punishment is eternity of torment because that is how great your sin is in his eyes you have no resources and no hope at repayment.

The debt that God canceled, by the way, the debt that God canceled required payment on his part. You can't pay the debt. You know what this master does? He pays it for you. Turn over to Colossians for a moment. Honestly, I love this passage.

Colossians chapter 2 let's start reading in verse 13 watch what he says here and you who were dead in your trespasses and the unrighteous circumcision of your flesh God made alive together with him having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands this he set aside nailing it to the cross he's drawing a picture here if you owed someone a debt and you weren't going to pay it back he would post it in a public place it would be a bill of indictment that said you owe this much money and so there's your debt that's what stands against you the law of god says you owe and here's what you need to pay and what did god do he nailed it to the cross he set it aside and he nailed it to the cross he paid the price of your debt by the way that's why god can forgive you. That's why God just doesn't say to everybody, oh, hey, you're all forgiven. No big deal.

Forget it. Why can't God do that? Because he's holy and just. And to do that, he would no longer be just. Well, how can he possibly forgive then? Someone else paid the debt.

And so God is now free to forgive you when you believe in the one who paid that debt. And so that's nailed to the cross. He sets it aside. It no longer stands and says, you owe. You don't owe anything. It's been nailed to the cross.

Jesus suffered the torments of hell on the cross. He experienced separation from God at that point. He experienced true torment on your behalf. Now the question comes, what happens when another disciple sins against you? it is a great sin it is not a little thing it is a great sin it's a hundred denarii that's not a little thing it's significant it may hurt it may cause great suffering it is not a small thing to be sinned against don't hear me say this i'm not saying that that you can forgive because it's not that big of a deal some people can sin against you in horrendous ways that hurt deeply and may have rippling consequences for a long time.

Don't hear me say it's no big deal. It is a big deal A hundred denarii is not a small amount but you hurt But if that brother repents you must forgive him because no matter how horrendous that sin is it is nothing compared to the debt that you owe God Do not feel victimized and cry out, I can't. It's too much to forgive. Jesus says it's not too much he says it's not too much and notice the person who says I can't God calls Jesus calls what wicked wicked now that is hard isn't it all of you most of you here are sitting here right now recalling someone who hurt you really deeply and you're saying now and God says if he repents and I don't forgive him, I'm wicked?

Yeah. Yes. Why? Because you take that debt and put it against the debt that you've been forgiven. And there's no comparison. There is no comparison.

You need to see the grace of God in forgiving you. Instead of looking here, you need to look here. this is where your concentration must be. You must see everything in perspective. You must see the perspective of your sin against God and this person's sin against you. The only way you can do your duty is to concentrate here. What happens to the unforgiving servant? he's given over to the torturers to pay now Jesus has one more motivation here one more motivation to help us forgive one another he says you must forgive one another without reservation because of God's grace but he also says you must forgive one another without reservation because of God's judgment verse 35 so also my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart from your heart without reservation no subterfuge allowed in this matter you forgive from the heart you not saying to yourself I forgive but I not going to let it rest You're saying, you know, I'll love him, but I don't have to like him.

What hogwash is that? Right? No, no, without reservation. I'll forgive him, and I'm going to rebuild that relationship. jesus promises eternal judgment to all those who are characterized by an unforgiving spirit that's serious now why do i say eternal judgment because in context here um here that's what he's talking about in chapter 18 verse 3 same chapter he says um truly i say to you unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven and then when you come down to verses eight and nine he says and if your hand or your foot causes you to sin cut it off and throw it away it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire and if your eye causes you to sin tear it out and throw it away it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire so when he talks about torture and judgment here the context makes it clear he's talking about eternal judgment.

He makes similar warnings all the way through this book. Now, is this some kind of works righteousness? Is God saying I've got to earn my way to heaven by forgiving people who sin against me? Absolutely not. Because he's saying this is done by people who have been forgiven. Right?

You've already been forgiven. So it's not a way of earning your way, but it's a way of showing you've been forgiven because those who have been forgiven will be forgiving there are some people say yeah i'm saved god's forgiven me i just don't i don't do too good on that duty but you know that's no big deal remember what jesus said in matthew 7 they're people who say to me lord lord did we not cast out demons in your name did we not do these great works in your name and he says, depart from me, I never knew you. Those who come into the kingdom of heaven are those who do my Father's will.

There's the proof. Are you forgiving? It's not earning anything, it's saying, have you been forgiven? It shows you that And yet it is more than just testing the reality of the faith it is a means that God going to use to cause you to obey When you tempted to hold that grudge Jesus wants you to take this warning seriously. It will move you to forgive. It's the means that he uses to help you grow.

Now listen to me. Do you have an unforgiving spirit? Do you have an unforgiving spirit? Do you hold grudges? Some of you here this morning may be holding grudges against your parents. You may be holding grudges against someone else.

You may be holding grudges somewhere. You have an unforgiving spirit. You are playing with fire. You don't have a right to be bitter and angry and unforgiving. Look at your heart. Look at your heart.

Listen to the warning that Jesus gives. Forgive from your heart or face judgment. Now look, someday soon, someday soon, you can count on it. You can bank on it. Someone in your family, someone in this church is going to sin against you. Count on it. we are fighting against the flesh and the devil and the world.

Count on the fact that someone in this congregation will sin against you. Here's the question. What will you do about it? And what will you do when that person comes to you and says, please forgive me, I should never have done that. Will you be like that wicked, hard-hearted, unforgiving servant or will you reflect upon the greatness of the debt that was forgiven you that you once owed this king who forgave every bit of it will you see his son suffering on your behalf you didn't deserve it but he gave himself up and suffered the very torments of hell so you could be forgiven will you see the son of god hanging on the cross when that person comes to you and asks for your forgiveness?

Will you compare your brother's debt to the debt that you once owed? Maybe someone in this place today, already, I don't know, maybe there's someone of you that needs to take care of this. Maybe you're the one who has to go to your brother or sister and say, forgive me, forgive me, what I did to you was wrong. And maybe there's someone here that you know you have to go to somebody who's done that. and you've told them, get out, you need to go and you need to repent and you need to ask forgiveness and then offer forgiveness to that person.

Dear people, this is serious business. This is not an option for us. This is what God expects of us. And by the way, when you say it's impossible, you're absolutely right. It is. Without the grace of God, it is impossible.

The hurts go deep, but the grace goes deeper. Ask God for His grace and then step out in obedience believing that He will give you the power to do it Don hold grudges If you holding grudges you need to deal with it if someone has sinned against you and you're just holding that grudge you need to go and help that person repent don't have an unforgiving spirit listen my friends may God help us to be the kind of people that are radically different than the world around us. It takes no supernatural grace to hold grudges and be unforgiving.

No grace required for that. But let the grace of God just shine from the congregation as we make it a habit of repenting and forgiving. Father, thank you for your word. The marvels of your word are amazing. the teachings of our Savior and our King reach deep into our hearts. Would You help us now? Oh God, help us because of Your mercy and by Your grace to be this kind of people.

Help us. For Your glory, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. Thank you.