Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. To the Word of God. helps us to forgive. Because the motivation of our forgiveness Is God forgiving Plus Ephesians 4 verse 32, be kind to one another. tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ has forgiven you.
This is the verdict: the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor John Monroe. Followers of Christ should excel at forgiving others. After all, we have been forgiven by God. but often forgiveness is hard.
So today on the verdict, we're thinking of a very important story told by Jesus to better understand true forgiveness.
Now, let's join Pastor John Monroe as he begins this final message in our study in this part of Matthew. Why are we so slow to forgive others? The reality is that when we're wrong, there's something within us that wants that person to pay, to shame them. or tell others how bad they are. But forgiveness is one of the essential principles of the Christian gospel.
When Jesus was dying on the cross for our sins, he said, Father, Forgive them. for they know not what they're doing. This was a prayer that his executioners and all who had been responsible for putting him on the cross would experience his father's forgiveness. All of us need forgiveness, as all of us have sinned. And today we're going to listen to a story told by Jesus, which will challenge all of us on this important subject.
Are you a forgiving person? Have you noticed that our culture is very unforgiving? We talk about public shaming. particularly if the person is well known. We seem to enjoy exposing the faults and the foibles and the failures of people.
Faults and failures apparently are to be called out, and they're to be called out publicly. Even if someone apologizes, even if they ask for forgiveness, even if they delete that tweet or that. Post people still want to go talking about it. particularly if we don't like the person. Particularly if their politics or their opinions are different from ours, rarely is there forgiveness.
Have you noticed that? What's the teaching of Jesus? On forgiveness. Christians, followers of Jesus, should be specialists in forgiving others. The psalmist asks this question, If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
Which one of us could stand? before the holy God. The answer is given. But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be Feared. Those of us who are following Jesus should have an acknowledgement that all of us mess up.
The Bible calls that Sin. and that none of us by ourselves could stand before a holy God. And so Christians, we rejoice in redemption. We rejoice in forgiveness. We rejoice, as we saw last week, in the restoration of the brother or sister who has fallen.
We rejoice. In the grace of God. And forgiveness then. Is one of the most beautiful words of the Christian gospel. Just think of it.
Our guilt, our failures, our inadequacies, our sins, our shame. are all gone, obliterated, washed out. eradicated, remembered no more through the sacrifice. of the only perfect one. The Lamb of God who comes to take away.
our sin. Our subject this morning then is forgiveness. You'll recall That our Savior taught us to pray this way and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debts. debtors. All of us sin against God.
Every single one of us here. Need God's forgiveness, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But I ask you today. Are you a forgiving person? Is there someone In your life, that you have not Forgiven.
Is there a limit to forgiveness? How often are we to forgive someone, that person who offends us over and over again? Is there a limit? to the number of times that we forgive that person. To help us understand this important subject, forgiveness, Jesus tells a story.
We call it a parable. I ask you to open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 18. We're going consecutively through this gospel. And today we come to the last verses of Matthew chapter 18, where Jesus tells A story. We thought last week of restoration.
We thought earlier In the opening verses of Matthew chapter 18, the importance of becoming like a child. and receiving the kingdom of God. And now in verse 21, Peter came up. And said to him, Lord, how often will my brother sin against me and I forgive him? We saw last week that Jesus is talking about the brother who offends another one, and perhaps this prompts Peter to say, all right, well, how often?
Have I got to forgive this fellow? As many as seven times That's a lot of times to forgive someone, isn't it, sometimes? Verse 22, Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times. but seventy seven times. Or Seven times.
seventh day Here's the story. To illustrate the point, 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. And 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 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 forgive 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 then anger His master delivered him to the jailers. until he should pay all his debts. Verse thirty-five.
So also My Heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother. From your heart. Isn't that amazing? Story. A story of forgiveness which impacts all of us.
First of all, think of the cost. This servant has an immense debt. We read that the servant owed the master. 10,000 talents.
Now a talent was in that. Economy was the most valuable of all coins. This was a huge sum, 10,000 talents. It's been calculated. That it was as much as 275,000 years of labor for an average worker.
The point of the story is a parable, remember? Point of the story is this: that this debt is so big, it is so immense, it is impossible for the servant to repay. And so when he asks, as he does in verse 26, have patience with me and I will pay you everything, the Master knows that I could give him several lifetimes and there is no way that he could pay this.
So the man Out of mercy, out of kindness, out of compassion, what does he do? Verse 27. He released him. and forgave him the dead. The debt is immediately cancelled, fully and finally discharged.
The Ten thousand talents no longer have to be paid. The servant is now totally free of his debt. That's awesome forgiveness, isn't it? The king The master gives up his right to collect the debt and he turns the debt into a gift. You're now free.
It's gone. Just think of it. Imagine if you are We're in debt, are in debt. Say $100,000. And your creditor calls you.
And says the debt is totally forgiven.
Someone has stepped in and has paid your debt, it's totally wiped out. Your immense dead. which worried you and fretted you. Not only is it forgiven, it's forgiven at no cost to you. That's forgiveness.
Forgiveness is the cancelling of a loan. It is the raising of a debt. It's the cleansing of the record. It's the expunging of the record. It is the letting go of the wrong It is the release of the offender.
And a man's dead. It's totally paid. What's one of the points of the parable? It's an obvious one, isn't it? That in God's eyes, we are in debt because of our sin.
Our debt is an immense Pile sin after sin after sin after sin. It piles up between us and God. And It is so big. You have sinned so often that it is impossible for you, yes, utterly impossible, for you to repay that debt. The Bible says our sins are like scarlet.
We cannot wash them away. Our sins are like chains. We cannot free ourselves. Our sins are like a disease that we cannot heal ourselves. We don't have the drug to heal the disease.
The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. And we cannot give ourselves new Life. Our sin Do you understand? is an insurmountable debt.
So when we talk about forgiveness, Let's not cheapen it. An understanding. That God, in His grace, through the sacrifice of His Son, offers you total forgiveness, that is an act of stunning. Grace. You say, how is that accomplished?
We can't stand before a holy God. No, God, in his love, sends his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And through his death on the cross, God's Son fully pays the price for our forgiveness. Paul puts it this way: Colossians 2, verses 13 and 14: Having forgiven us all our trespasses by Notice this: by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Our sin is presented as a debt.
Some of you are as old as I am, and you can remember the days when you would go to the store. And uh there was the bill. And on the counter, there was a piece of wood and a spike coming out of it, and when the bill is paid, it was put on the spike. Do you remember that? Not the college students.
Okay. There was a time when there was no computers. Can you believe that? And that was the way that the debt Uh was forgiven. It's over.
God takes That huge, huge debt of your sin. I want you to personalize it. Don't think of others, of your sin. of my sin. And Paul says, He cancels it.
How does he cancel it? It's nailed to the cross. of our blessed Redeemer. Fully Freely and finally forgiven through the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ. That's why we call Him Savior.
The debt of our sin is cancelled. It costs our Great God. The giving of his son, but it comes to us freely, no cost. We sometimes sing Jesus. Paid it all.
All to him I owe. That God's forgiveness of our sin. is beyond human calculation. Writing in Ephesians 1, Paul says, it is according. to the riches of his Great.
The cost. Do you understand this? That when your sins are forgiven, They're gone. And they're gone forever. Our society They want to Remind us.
Particularly on social media now, they want to remind us of someone's failures. To public, shame them. That's not the way God does it. When God forgives you. The dead is completely Canceled.
It's gone and it's gone forever. The Bible says he remembers our sins no more. They are washed away, they are eradicated, they are eliminated, they are discharged. As the Korah says, gone, gone, gone, gone, yes, my sins are. Gone, gone forever.
This is the awesome forgiveness. of the immense debt of our sin. only through trusting in Christ. Secondly, the comparison. We read the comparison.
What a difference! One debt, a huge debt, is totally forgiven. On the other hand, a tiny debt. The creditor refuses to forgive. The first man, the debtor, had been forgiven 10,000 talents.
Like a billion dollars.
Someone owes him. A hundred denarii, that's a tiny debt. That's like, say, five bucks. You've been forgiven A million dollars, and yet you will not forgive that person five bucks. Notice verse 28.
When the same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii and seizing him. Think of the wickedness of this man. He began to choke him saying, pay what you owe. And he refused. to allow them time to pay it.
and he put him in prison until he should pay The debt. The master describes this man in verse thirty two as Wicked. And this lack of mercy. And his lack of forgiveness are contrasted. with a magnificent mercy and bountiful forgiveness.
of the master. This man's attitude His actions are dreadful. And so the master is angry. And hands this man, this ungrateful man, who had been forgiven this huge debt. but refuses To forgive a small debt, he hands him over.
to the jailers. What's the point?
So not this point. Point I think we sometimes forget so refusal. To forgive is very Seriously. With God. Do you understand that?
To forgive that person, whoever he or she is, it's very, very serious. And Jesus, in this skillful story, is contrasting One man's magnificent forgiveness with another man's lack of forgiveness of a tiny, tiny debt. See the word of God helps us To forgive. Because the motivation of our forgiveness And the pattern for our forgiveness. Is God forgiving Uh Ephesians 4 verse 32, be kind to one another.
tenderhearted forgiving one another. even as God in Christ has forgiven you. That's it. Be kind, be forgiving. Be tender-hearted.
God has forgiven you, therefore. You. Forgive that. person. Colossians three Verse thirteen.
I had the privilege of officiating at a Marriage during the week. And referred to this verse. As the Lord has forgiven you.
So you also must Forgive. Brother, sister. Has God forgiven you? Yeah. As God has forgiven you, so you also must, must.
Forgive. And so we pray, forgive us our debts. as we also have forgiven our Tethers. That is Forgiving others is the gracious overflow of God forgiving us. See, that offense, that wrong.
that that person committed against you is trivial. compared with the immense debt of your sin against God. What do we do? We tend to minimize our own sins. excuse them, rationalize them, and we exaggerate The sins of others.
Today I want you to reflect. on God's awesome forgiveness of you. And I want you to forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. The cost, the comparison, the choice. Yes, a choice is to be made.
Every single one of us, I guarantee, has been wronged by someone.
Some of you have been hurt and wronged very, very badly. Perhaps by A parent. Perhaps you were abused by your father. Perhaps you were betrayed by your husband or your wife. You're wronged by a teacher or an employer, a coach, a close friend.
A business partner, a church leader. And your pain and your hurt are very, very deep as you sit here today. The sense of betrayal may be devastating. You're overwhelmed with, perhaps outraged by, the hurt and the injury, and we don't want to minimize that, that is true. It causes you tremendous pain and Sadness, anger, resentment.
Bitterness. Perhaps that happened a long time ago, but that wrong committed against you It's deep within you. And you live with it day in. The outs.
So read this parable. Jesus is saying, now you've got to make a choice. You have to choose to forgive. That individual. You say they don't deserve it, John.
If you knew how badly I was treated, you would be careful as to what you're saying.
Well Here is the word of God. I know your initial instinct is to seek revenge. I want you to listen to Jesus. I want you to let that wrong go. I want you to discharge the debt.
I want you to release that person. I want you to stop keeping a record of that wrong and constantly talking about it. There is to be in true forgiveness There is a total letting go of the Wrong. Letting go of any thought of retaliation, of reprisal, or revenge. You see, forgiveness is a choice.
You say, well, I have forgiven them, but they keep coming back and doing the same thing over and over again. Is there any limit to forgiveness? Jesus said to him, I do not say to you seven times. But seventy times. Seven.
Now I understand in many cases reconciliation with a person may not be possible. Particularly if that person is unrepentant. I understand. I'm not talking here primarily about reconciliation. I'm talking first.
For forgiveness. There can be no true reconciliation unless first there is forgiveness. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever.
but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry.
Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte.
We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ, We invite you to join us for our Sunday services. For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? I have to ask if you've received the forgiveness of your sins from God. Your sin not only offends other people, more importantly, it offends God. This is why Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Receive His forgiveness and then from a heart of love and forgiveness, God will help you to forgive that person who's wronged you so badly.
This is what it means to live a life of freedom in Christ. receiving and granting forgiveness. We'll continue thinking of forgiveness next time. Join me then. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict.
I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
