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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18, as we come 
to the end of the fourth discourse this morning. Remember that the fourth discourse 
in Matthew, the fourth block of teaching is concerned with 
community or church relations, how the people of God are to 
deal with one another in the context of the local church. And I want to begin reading in 
chapter 18 at verse 15. Moreover, if your brother sins 
against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him 
alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he 
will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the 
mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 
And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if 
he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen 
and a tax collector. Assuredly, I say to you, whatever 
you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose 
on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you that if two 
of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will 
be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three 
are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. 
Then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother 
sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Jesus 
said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up 
to 70 times seven. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven 
is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 
And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to 
him who owed him 10,000 talents. But as he was not able to pay, 
his master commanded that he be sold with his wife and children 
and all that he had and that payment be made. The servant 
therefore fell down before him saying, Master, have patience 
with me and I will pay you all. And the master of that servant 
was moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt. 
But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants 
who owed him a hundred denarii. And he laid hands on him and 
took him by the throat saying, pay me what you owe. So his fellow 
servant fell down at his feet and begged him saying, have patience 
with me and I will pay you all. And he would not, but went and 
threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. So when 
his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very 
grieved and came and told their master all that had been done. 
Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, you 
wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged 
me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow 
servant, just as I had pity on you? And his master was angry 
and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that 
was due to him. So my Heavenly Father also will do to you if 
each of you from his heart does not forgive his brother his trespasses. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
blessed God and our Holy Father, we come before you now and we 
thank you for this opportunity to look to scripture. We pray 
for the ministry and the aid of your Holy Spirit. God, this 
is a most important topic affecting the church, affecting families, 
Grant us grace to receive these things with glad hearts. Forgive 
us for our sins and our unrighteousness. God, as we look at you, as we 
see your bounty and your graciousness and your kindness toward us, 
we stand amazed that we are not likewise toward others. God, 
give us grace to learn the teaching of this parable. Give us grace 
to receive these things. Give us grace, Lord God, to put 
them into practice in our daily lives. And help us now, we pray, 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. As I said, this fourth 
discourse in Matthew is concerned with community or church relations. And it's very intriguing that 
this section ends on the high note of forgiveness. The church 
must exercise discipline as we have seen in verses 15 to 20, 
but there ought to be that spirit of forgiveness that does permeate 
the entirety of God's people. The forgiven community must be 
a forgiving community. Forgiveness has already been 
dealt with by Christ in the Lord's Prayer. In fact, it's the only 
petition in the Lord's Prayer that is amplified in the following 
verses. Remember in Matthew chapter 6 
and verse 12, Jesus says we are to pray, and forgive us our debts 
as we forgive our debtors. And then in verses 14 and 15, 
for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father 
will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men 
their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. So I said this is a most important 
topic in the context of the church because it affects all of us. 
need to forgive as God has forgiven us. And this particular parable 
brings that point home with great clarity and I would suggest with 
great power. J.C. Ryle says this concerning 
this idea of forgiveness in the church. He says, it is a melancholy 
fact that there are few Christian duties so little practiced as 
that of forgiveness. It is sad to see how much bitterness, 
unmercifulness, spite, hardness, and unkindness there is among 
men." Now certainly we expect that sort of thing among non-Christian 
men. But when we come into the church 
of the Lord Jesus and we're dealing with persons who have been forgiven 
a 10,000 talent debt, and then those selfsame persons will not 
forgive those who owe them 100 denarii. I side with Ryle and 
say that this is indeed a melancholy fact that there are few Christian 
duties so little practiced as that of forgiveness. Well, the 
main passage or the main section in this passage is the parable. So I want to look at three things 
this morning. First, we'll notice the setting 
of the parable in verses 21 and 22. Secondly, the teaching of 
the parable in 23 to 34. And then finally, the conclusion 
of the parable in verse 35. But note first the setting. We 
are in a context, I've already mentioned, the fourth discourse, 
community relations, how the people of God are to deal with 
other people of God in the context of the local church. Remember 
in chapter 18, verses 1 to 4, there must be humility. If we 
want to be great in the kingdom, we will be like that little child. 
We will not be proud. We will not be arrogant. We will 
not be insisting upon our own place and our own position and 
our own pride. Secondly, there is a warning 
against causing offense in verses 5 to 9. The people of God must 
not cause offense toward others. The people of God are to try 
to help other people of God to make it to heaven. If we all 
viewed our role in the church in this light, I think it would 
help us tremendously. I think if we viewed that as 
our role in our homes, it would help us tremendously. What is 
my responsibility to my Christian wife? To help her to heaven. 
What is my responsibility to my Christian husband? It's to 
try and help him to heaven. What is our responsibility to 
our Christian children and our parents? To help them to heaven. 
What is my responsibility with my brethren in the church? It's 
to help them to heaven. It is not to put offenses before 
them. It is not to scandalize them. 
It is not to insist upon our own desires over theirs. The 
third section is the recovery of straying sheep in verses 10 
to 14. The church is about recovery. 
The church is about assistance. How does James end his epistle? It's on this note of recovering 
a sinning brother. And then in verses 15 to 20, 
as we've seen over the last while, the restoration of sinning brethren. Oftentimes we jump to the end 
and we see that statement from Christ, tell it to the church, 
treat him like a heathen and a tax collector, and we forget 
the long process that's involved. We forget that the emphasis is 
upon recovery and forgiveness and restoration. And even in 
that activity of calling him a heathen and a tax collector 
and putting him out, it's with the hope that as his flesh is 
delivered over to Satan, his spirit will be saved on the day. 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then we come to this section 
on forgiveness. What is to permeate? What is 
to saturate the people of God but this spirit of forgiveness? 
Now notice the question by Peter. Verse 21, then Peter came to 
him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against 
me and I forgive him? Good question, isn't it? It's 
probably occasioned by what has preceded in verses 15 to 17, 
the idea of dealing with a sinning brother, and specifically verse 
15. Notice, Jesus says, if your brother 
sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and 
him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. So 
Peter's question is probably natural to a degree. How many 
times in a day, or how many times in a week, or how many times 
in a month, or how many times in a year am I going to be called 
on to do this for my brother? Probably a question that would 
well up in our hearts as well if we saw or we heard Jesus teach 
us concerning verse 15. I think a couple of things we 
need to observe is that he's dealing with brethren. He's dealing 
in the church. He is dealing with Christians. 
That's what he says. How often shall my brother sin 
against me and I forgive him? He's not talking about his physical 
brethren. He's talking about his spiritual 
brethren. This is church conduct. And I think the questions assume, 
and the context as well assumes, that the brother here is repentant. The brother here is repentant. The idea is that the brother 
comes back, the brother asks for forgiveness. How many times 
am I supposed to extend forgiveness? The reason why I believe that 
is the case is verse 15, and then as well a parallel in Luke 
17. Jesus teaches, if your brother sins against you, rebuke him, 
and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven 
times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you saying, 
repent, you shall forgive him. So the assumption here is that 
we're dealing with a repentant brother. Now notice, specifically, 
what Peter says. How often shall my brother sin 
against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times." Now, Peter 
is being large-hearted here, at least in his own estimation. 
Rabbinic thought was that three times. It's kind of like the 
state of California. They have a three-strike-you're-out 
rule. You go and knock off three... You go commit three robberies 
and you get caught each time. Well, then the third time you're 
in prison for life. Imagine that. What if they only 
had a one-strike rule? Probably dissuade persons from 
doing those sorts of things to begin with. But Peter probably 
thought he was being very large-hearted. The rabbinic tradition said three 
times. Peter doubles it and adds one. So he's got seven, that number 
of wholeness or that number of completion. Now when Jesus responds, 
he corrects him. When Jesus speaks to Peter, we 
know that the idea is not that the person is to count how many 
times they have forgiven another. If you are counting how many 
times you're forgiving persons, you're probably not forgiving 
them. Okay? That's just a basic rule 
of thumb. If you are counting how many 
times you are forgiving your brother, you are probably not 
forgiving them. But just take this number for 
a moment and consider it up to seven times. As I said, Jesus 
corrects Peter. Listen to C.H. Spurgeon. He says, 
it is true, Peter did not go far enough. Jesus says 77 times. or 70 times 7. But it's a lot more than this 
basic number. So Spurgeon says, it is true, 
Peter did not go far enough, but do we go so far? Do we go 
as far? Are not some professors very 
mindful of small grievances? Have many of us grace enough 
even for 7-fold forgiveness? Pay attention. This is not ethereal. I'll give you a bit of a clue 
as to my process in sermon prep. I get to the text, work through 
it, outline, go through commentaries, all that sort of thing. And then 
pretty much consistently, there's a point in the preparation that 
I think, this is the most important sermon I've ever preached. This 
is the most important message that our church has needed to 
hear. This is the most necessary thing for the families who gather 
together in the Free Grace Baptist Church. Now, I don't know which 
one really is the most important, but this has to be a top three. Because it is the reality that 
people sit against us, isn't it? Doesn't the whole context 
assume that persons are going to sin against us? How do we 
deal with that? Is it with bitterness? Is it 
with wretchedness? Is it with unkindness? Do we 
have as large a heart as Peter when he expresses himself in 
verse 21 up to seven times? Are you the kind of person that 
likes the rabbinic tradition? And it's only because it was 
settled. I'd really rather not go three. One is enough for me. Notice the corrective given by 
the Lord Christ to his question. Jesus said to him, I do not say 
to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Now 
there's probably an Old Testament reference here. There's probably 
an Old Testament backdrop in Genesis 4.15, when God says that 
if anyone harms Cain, vengeance will come upon them sevenfold. And then when we drop down in 
the narrative to Genesis 4.24, Lamech boasts about vengeance. He says, if Cain shall be avenged 
sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold. Probably the correct reading 
in terms of verse 22 is not 70 times 7. It's probably 77 that 
has as its backdrop Lamex words, which teach us something. If 
vengeance and an avenging spirit predominated that pre-flood world, 
then an attitude of forgiveness, an attitude of grace, an attitude 
of kindness and pity and compassion is to predominate in the church 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. R.T. Frantz says, the disciple 
must be as extravagant in forgiving as Lamech was in taking vengeance. That's what Christ is pressing 
to Peter in this particular instance. Now, I think it's important here, 
brothers and sisters, to make a qualification. We're dealing 
with brethren who repent. We are not dealing with criminal 
activity. Ladies, if you are married to 
a man who abuses you, or molests your children, and then takes 
a passage like these and says, well, you have to forgive me. 
70 times 7. You have to go to 490 times. You need help. This is not the 
text that an abuser comes to and says, well, you have to forgive 
my wretchedness and my wickedness. So we need to qualify this criminal 
activity. The law of God provides redress 
to those who are victimized by godless men or godless women. Women can be just as wretched 
as men can be. So we need to make that qualification. We're dealing with sin among 
brethren. We're not dealing with crime. 
We're not dealing, as I said, with child molestation. Your 
husband does something like that or a woman does something like 
that. Well, you've got to forgive me. You just have to forgive. 
You just have to forgive. No, you need help. You need some 
assistance. You need to bring the law of 
God to bear and to make redress for those who would abuse others. 
So please know that I believe that and affirm that. But the 
specific meaning here, I do not say to you up to seven times, 
but up to 70 times 70, is be a forgiving person. Does that 
make sense? It's a pretty simple parable 
that we're going to look at in just a few moments. What's the 
point? Be forgiving. Let go of things. Don't harden 
your heart. Don't treat everybody as if they're 
Hitler because they said something to you that was untoward. Brethren, how many times have 
you and I sinned against others? Note the disparity in the text, 
10,000 talents versus 100 denarii. We'll go ahead and do the math 
right now. One talent was 6,000 denarii. So the servant who owes his master 
owes him 60 million denarii. The one servant who owed his 
fellow servant owed him 100 denarii. There's a huge disparity in what 
God has forgiven us and what typically we are asked to forgive 
others of. Notice I say typically. Bad things 
happen to Christ's people. There is sexual abuse. There 
is child abuse. There is spousal abuse. There 
are crimes that victimize the people of God. And I don't want 
to just say some trite thing. Well, you got to forget. There 
is issues to be dealt with, repentance to be dealt with, criminal punishment 
if necessary. I want to make sure I'm sensitive 
to all that. But in the typical garden variety 
life of a Christian, We have never, ever, ever been sinned 
against the way we've sinned against God. And if we look at 
that 10,000 talents and we consider 60 million denarii, our sins 
exceed that. In fact, those two terms together, 
the word is literally a myriad of talents. Some commentators 
suggest, because it's in the plural form, that it wouldn't 
be translated like 10,000. They say a better translation 
of Jesus' words here is like zillions, kajillions. It is an outlandish figure. It is an extraordinary debt to 
show God's extravagant grace to His people. And those who 
have received extravagant grace ought not to freak out and cut 
people out of their lives when that person owes them a hundred 
denarii. You see, brethren, this is where 
we live. We get our noses bent out of 
shape. If someone dares sin against 
us or in our presence, we want to avoid them. We want to stay 
away from them. Now, of course, if they're doing 
horrific things, we don't want to be in their presence. If they're 
looking at porn or they're visiting prostitutes, certainly we don't 
want to be in their presence. There's times when husbands and 
wives deal with each other at arm's length because they don't 
extend forgiveness. There's times when brethren, 
their relationships are ruptured in the church of Jesus Christ 
because they don't extend forgiveness. Instead of loving the brother, 
receiving the brother and restoring the brother, I'm not going to 
have anything to do with that brother. I don't want anything 
to do with him because he sinned against me. It's crazy. It's terrible. The meaning, France 
says, I think very well. Peter's question was misconceived. If one is still counting, however 
generously, one is not forgiving. Davies and Allison says, one 
is not being commanded to count, but to forgive without counting. 
The text in verse 22 is not emphasizing counting offenses, but to forgive 
without counting. Who cannot but see that the idea 
here is not to keep a tally in your daytime plan book and check 
it off every time your wife sins. When you get to 490, or when 
you get to 77, say, that's it, it's been a banner day, it's 
been real, it's been fun, but I'm not going to see you anymore. 
No more forgiveness for you. That's not what he's teaching. 
It is to be without limit. It is to be grand, it is to be 
extravagant, it is to be extraordinary. The margin in the New King James 
renders 1 Corinthians 13, 5. Love keeps no accounts of evil. The NIV has it. It keeps no record 
of wrongs. Have you been with that person 
where you know or you suspect they have a document with your 
name on it on their computer? They keep it on the desktop so 
that they can double click quite easily and enter your infirmity, 
enter your transgression, enter your iniquity. There's people 
that you deal with that it seems as if they have a record of wrongs 
that you have done to them. Sometimes these people you call 
wife, sometimes these people you call husband. Sometimes these 
people will dredge something up that you thought was dead 
and buried three years ago. But what about May 4th, 2000, 
when you said thus and thus? It's terrible. Have you ever 
been on the receiving end of that? I'm not saying my wife 
does that by any stretch. Have you ever? You thought something 
was dealt with? You thought something was over? 
You thought something was closed off and sealed off and out it 
comes again and it's being pushed into your face. This is precisely 
what Paul says love does not do. It does not keep a record 
of wrongs. It may not be a computer. It 
may be a pocket notebook. Pull it out and write down the 
malady and keep it up for later. That's just wrong. The point 
here is Davies and Allen says, or Alice says, one is not being 
commanded to count, but to forgive without counting. Now note the 
teaching of the parable. There's three sections or three 
scenes. First, the king and his accounts, 
verses 23 to 27, the servant and his fellow servant, verses 
28 to 30, and then the king and his servant, verses 31 to 34. 
Notice the king and his accounts. Jesus says what he says elsewhere 
in Matthew's gospel, verse 23. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven 
is like. The kingdom of heaven compares 
two. The kingdom of heaven is structured like this. These are 
the ethics, these are the norms, these are the patterns, these 
are the ways of the kingdom. Now I want to head off a theological 
challenge right at the paths. If we take this Literally. If we apply it to Christian soteriology, 
we're going to run up into some troubles. Because the king forgives 
the 10,000 talent debt of this particular man. When this particular 
man doesn't forgive his fellow servant, the king then throws 
him into prison. to be tortured until he pays 
back the debt. Some may say, well, in Christian 
soteriology, if God forgives our debt, can we lose that forgiveness? Does he revoke that forgiveness? 
Does he cast us off into hell? No, Christian theology, in terms 
of the analogy of scripture, does not teach that God forgives 
and then God revokes. The parable does not teach everything 
about Christian soteriology. The idea that the kingdom of 
heaven is like indicates that there are certain things that 
are common between the kingdom of heaven and between the kings 
of earth. And the emphasis here is in the 
large-hearted forgiveness of the king to his servant and the 
necessity for the servant to exercise that forgiveness as 
well. That's Christ's point. in this 
passage. But notice, the slave and his 
debt. I've already mentioned an extremely 
large sum of money. One talent was the equivalent 
to 6,000 denarii, so we're dealing with 60 million. Some say, well 
that seems too high. It had to be denarii. The point 
is, is that Jesus is using this astronomical figure to underscore 
what the believer has been forgiven of, to see the great debt that 
has been canceled out. If we try to tame the number 
and control the number and put spins on the parable to yield 
a more realistic understanding, one commentator says, then we 
take the imagination and put it in the filing cabinet. Jesus 
oftentimes uses language in order to shock his hearers. When Jesus 
says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle 
than for a rich man to enter into heaven. That is to shock 
the hearers. when Jesus indicts the religious 
leaders and he says, you strain at a gnat and you swallow the 
camel. That is to shock and probably 
amuse the hearers. That's funny, isn't it? You strain 
at a gnat, you swallow the camel. That's an outlandish illustration 
of how foolish it is to be a Pharisee. The same is true here. 10,000 
talents is what this man owed. He's unable to pay. He could 
have lived a thousand lifetimes and not been able to pay this. 
He can't pay his debt. He can't pony up the dough. He 
can't present to his master the thing that he needs to do. Notice, 
he was not able to pay. Verse 25, his master commanded 
that he be sold with his wife and children and all that he 
had in that payment be made. Again, this is outlandish. The 
top price of a slave would be about 2,000 denarii. The idea 
here is indentured servitude. According to the Old Testament 
law, if a man could not pay his debt, you know what happened? 
He still had to pay his debt. You need to understand this. 
If I stole from you, and I was caught stealing from you, and 
I couldn't pay it back to you, because I've already went out 
and spent the money, do we just say, well, that's the way it 
goes, that's the price of doing business? No, I'm sold into slavery, 
wherein now I work in order to pay that debt. You see, people 
today that get stolen from are victimized twice. They not only 
don't get their money back that a robber steals from them or 
a burglar takes from them, but through taxation, they have to 
pay for that particular person to be subsidized in a federal 
institution. It's the double whammy on the 
victim. But the Bible wasn't that way. The Bible was pro-victim. And in this instance, the master 
makes the decision to take the man and his family, put them 
into slavery so that he can pay back what he owed. Now note the 
response of the servant. He comes and he falls on his 
knees. He addresses the master and he 
petitions the master and he pleads with the master and he says to 
the master, please be patient with me. Please just give me 
some time. Just give me a little while and 
I will pay back all that I owe. Which again is an outlandish 
claim. There's no way the man could 
pay back this 10,000 talent debt. I love what Matthew Henry says. 
He says sinners are insolvent debtors. Sinners are insolvent 
debtors. That means we are unable to pay 
back. He says the scripture which concludeth 
all under sin is a statute of bankruptcy for us all. That's 
what the man does. He pleads with the master. He 
says, please, please, please give me some time, be patient, 
and I will pay you back all that I have. Again, just how outlandish 
this is. And what does the master do? 
The master, as we see, verse 27, the master of that servant 
was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 
Isn't that a picture of the gospel of free grace? Isn't that what 
happens? We come to God owing 10,000 talents. We come to God with this outlandish 
debt. We oftentimes come to God with 
this outlandish claim that I will work hard and I will try to pay 
it back and I will do thus and thus and I will cross my T's 
and dot my I's from here on out and I'll do everything right, 
Lord. We try to barter with God. What does God do? He is moved 
with compassion. He released him and He forgave 
him the debt. This is great grace for an outlandish 
debt. You would think this man who 
had been forgiven much would now go in turn and love much, 
wouldn't he? You see Jesus' point? You see 
what Jesus is saying? You have received this kind of 
forgiveness. You have been spared from the 
debtor's prison. You have been spared from the 
torturers. You have been spared from eternal 
punishment. You have been begraced richly 
by God. How ought that to affect you? 
It ought to affect you in such a way that when persons sin against 
you and they repent, you forgive them. You don't count, you don't 
tally, you don't open the document with their name, you don't put 
your notepad back in your pocket after you wrote down another 
one. Brethren, the text is very clear, very simple. Now notice, 
the slave or the servant and his fellow servant, the same 
scenario, down to the same pleading, but a quite different response. 
The hundred denarii. One denarii was a workman's daily 
wage. Notice, the servant had a fellow 
servant who was indebted to him. He owes him a hundred denarii. 
Notice in verse 28, and he laid hands on him and took him by 
the throat saying, pay me what you owe. You see, Jesus is using this 
imagery to show us how bad this is. You've just been forgiven 
10,000 talents. You walk outside of the master's 
palace and a brother says, I don't have your 100 denarii right now, 
which is about three to four months of wages. I don't have 
it right now. You grab him by the throat and 
you shake him to the ground and you say, pay me, pay me, pay 
me. Isn't that what it looks like 
when we've been forgiven much and we won't extend forgiveness 
to others? Do you see how wretched it is 
when you hold grudges? Do you see how bad it is when 
you do not bear and forbear? When you do not do what Paul 
says? Paul nails the interpretation 
of the parable. In Ephesians 4, he says, forgiving 
one another even as God in Christ forgave you. There is no debt 
owed to you that's so great that should make you seize the person 
by the throat and shake him to the ground. You say, well, I 
never do that. Jesus is using this language 
to show us, to demonstrate for us what it looks like when we 
do not forgive from the heart. It's a powerful, powerful parable. 
The servant falls down before his fellow. The servant pleads 
for patience. The servant begs him and says, 
have patience with me, verse 29, and I will pay you all. This is realistic. Servant number 
one could not pay back 10,000 talents. Servant number two can 
pay back 100 denarii. Servant number two puts his shoulder 
to the plow and he works three to four months and then he's 
able to pay the debt. All the more reason why servant 
number one should be merciful, should be kind, should be gracious. Jesus is exacerbating the situation 
to demonstrate for us the fact that servant number one is a 
wretch. Servant number one is wicked. 
Servant number one has problems. Servant number one has not dealt 
with and understood what extravagant grace really is. Now notice what 
happens. Verse 30, he would not, but went 
and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. The servant 
had him thrown into prison in order to pay the debt. He couldn't 
sell the master's slave. The master could sell his own 
slave, but this servant could not sell the master's servant. So he had him thrown into debtor's 
prison, something that was lawful by the way, according to Matthew 
5, 25 and 26. Listen to what Davies and Allison 
says here. They said that the action is as surprising when 
we see the response of servant number one to servant number 
two. The action is as surprising, these men write, as the master's 
forgiveness of the unforgiving servant. Not because it is unlawful 
or unjust. It was lawful and it was just. If a man owed you and he couldn't 
pay you back, debtor's prison was a reality. Again, we don't 
like the concept, we don't like the idea, but in these days and 
ages, the victims got paid back. He said, the action is as surprising 
as the master's forgiveness of the unforgiving servant, not 
because it is unlawful or unjust, but because it trumpets hypocrisy. It trumpets hypocrisy. The wicked 
servant asked for and benefited from mercy, yet refuses to bestow 
it. He has broken the golden rule 
of 712 and treated another as he would not wish to be treated." 
Now, notice the king and his servant. Isn't it intriguing in verse 
31, the fellow servants go and report him? Don't forget our 
context. Don't forget the connection to 
verses 15 to 20. What is done in the church cries out for justice. What is done in the church by 
persons who are not exhibiting grace and mercy and kindness 
to others will be witnessed by others and the appropriate steps 
will be taken. Don't forget that. It's intriguing, 
too. It's one of those things where 
I heard Pastor Mark Sarver said that pride is like bad breath. 
Everybody knows you have it, but you. As a general rule, when 
people are throwing gum and mints at you, there's a reason. Take 
the gum and mints, chew them up, and be happy. This unmerciful 
and ungenerous and unkind spirit may not be evident to you, but 
it is to others. It is seen by others. People 
know. People get Verse 31, so when his fellow 
servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved and came 
and told their master all that had been done. They gave him 
the details. They explained it explicitly. That man master that came out 
of your palace, the one you had forgiven, the 10,000 talents, 
we saw his fellow servant come along. And his fellow servant 
owes him 100 denarii. And the one you had forgiven 
or canceled the debt of 10,000 talents, grabbed him by the throat. He cast him to the ground. And 
then that man pleaded and begged for pity, for mercy, for patience. And he would not. He had him 
sold or he had him thrown rather into debtor's prison so that 
he could pay back his debt. These men report to the master 
the very specifics that they had seen. Now notice in verse 
32, his master after he had called him said to him, you wicked servant. 
It's very intriguing when the man's crime or the man's guilt 
was not paying back 10,000 talents, the master doesn't call him a 
wicked servant. But when the man does not extend 
mercy, forgiveness, kindness, and compassion to others after 
he himself had received it, now he's a wicked servant. Notice. His master, after he 
had called and said to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you 
all that debt because you begged me. I forgave you all of it. Cancel. Done, gone. Notice, and should you not, should 
you not have had pity on your servant or on your fellow, just 
as I had pity on you. John Gill says with reference 
to this. Let me just find my passage here. 
Such an instance of pity and compassion did not only set him 
an example worthy of his imitation, but laid him under an obligation 
to have acted such a part. The fact that we have been forgiven 
much ought to promote much forgiveness on our part. Right? And then as well, the great disparity 
between our debt to God and our fellow's debt to us ought to 
promote forgiveness on our part. When we consider the great debt 
that's been cancelled in terms of the 10,000 talents, and our 
brother comes along and he owes us 100 denarii. We don't grab 
him by the throat. We say, bless God Almighty. He 
has canceled my debt and therein I'm going to cancel your debt. 
And that's not even what the requirement is. It's not necessary 
that he even cancel the debt. But give him the three to four 
months so that he can work and pay it back. Christostom says, 
he who considers his own sins is more indulgent to his fellow 
servant. That bears repeating. I want 
you to listen. He who considers his own sins 
is more indulgent to his fellow servant. What have you been forgiven 
of? How are you going to treat that 
person? What have you been cleansed from? How are you going to deal 
with that woman you said I do to 20 years ago? What have you 
been forgiven of? How are you going to treat the 
brother or the sister in the church who sinned against you, 
but confessed it, has repented? Are you going to hold on to it? Are you going to put it in the 
heart, put it in the filing cabinet, log it in, tell them, yes, I 
forgive you, but not really? What's the underscored lesson 
when we get to verse 35? Heads up, you need to forgive 
from the heart. It's not this, I'm going to go 
through the motions because that's what everybody expects me to. 
I'm going to just say this because I want to get out of this situation. 
I'm just going to do my obligatory statement, but I'm really going 
to harbor it in my heart, and I'm really not going to let it 
go. That kind of stuff goes on today. Maybe not here. Maybe 
you're all just forgiving everybody and you're just, you know, loving 
or living on love and fresh air and you're going to skip home 
today and any bad thing that happens, you're going to, I forgive 
you, I forgive you. But, you know, at least in my 
world, this is a very important sermon. Notice the response of the master. 
His master was angry. and delivered him to the torturers 
until he should pay all that was due to him." Calvin correctly 
says the papists are very ridiculous in endeavoring to light the fire 
of purgatory by the word till. The papacy purgatory here. He 
will be in this place under the torturers until he pays back. Let me just give you a bit of 
advice. There is not a lot of money to 
be made in torture. when you're the tortured. There 
might be in the torturer, but there's not in the tortured. 
You're not making bank when you are suffering torture. So the 
idea here is not until, as if it's a time of purgation, and 
once it is sufficient, then you will be released from the prison. 
No, his master was angry, delivered him to the torturers until he 
should pay. All that was due to him. Now note the conclusion of the 
parable. We've seen the setting, Peter's 
question. We've seen the parable, the three scenes. Now we come 
to the conclusion, verse 35, so my heavenly father also will 
do to you if each of you from his heart does not forgive his 
brother his trespasses. The justice of God and the judgment 
of God are held out here as much as the mercy of God as a motive 
for forgiveness. Why should we forgive somebody 
a hundred denarii? Because God's forgiven us 10,000 
talents. Why should we forgive somebody 
100 denarii? Because if we don't, it will 
manifest that we ourselves have never been forgiven, and we will 
suffer the wrath and the fury and the justice of God. Previous 
in James 2.13, for judgment is without mercy to the one who 
has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Judgment is without mercy to 
the one who has shown no mercy. Now notice, the disciples' responsibility. The Father will do this to you 
if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother 
his trespasses. I've already indicated that in 
Matthew 6.12 we are told Pray to God, forgive us as we forgive 
those who are indebted to us. And then 14 and 15 amplify that. The idea there, as we saw, is 
not that when I forgive, now God forgives me. The idea is 
that God has forgiven me and therefore I manifest it in a 
life of forgiveness to others. It is not causal. It is not a 
condition. If I forgive, then God will forgive 
me. It is a consequence or a result. Because God has forgiven me, 
I in turn forgive others. Watson on Matthew 6 says, it 
is a sign of God's forgiving us. It is not a cause of God's 
forgiving us, but a sign. We need not climb up into heaven 
to see whether our sins are forgiven. Let us look into our hearts and 
see if we can forgive others. You see, that's his point. So 
my Heavenly Father also will do to you, if each of you from 
his heart does not forgive his brother, his trespasses. So when 
we forgive others, what is that an evidence of? That God has 
forgiven us. If we do not forgive others, 
guess what that is an evidence of? That we have not been forgiven. That we are still in our sins. That we stand in need of the 
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The forgiveness, as already alluded 
to, must be from the heart. You see, Jesus doesn't say, okay, 
just, you know, grimace, bite your upper lip and say, I forgive 
you, and then run home and enter the data on your computer. You 
need to forgive from the heart. You need to forgive from the 
heart. It's not external. It's not formal. I was thinking 
about this earlier. What does it mean from the heart? 
It means real. It means true. It means deal 
with it. It means put it away. It means 
don't dredge it up again and hold it in front of your brother 
or your sister's face. From the heart means biblically. A whole bunch of people will 
bite their upper lip and say, I forgive you, and then reorient 
their lives to avoid the person they have allegedly forgiven. Again, maybe this has never happened 
to you. You just deal beautifully with 
everyone. You should have been a unicorn. You should have just 
sort of flown around the rainbows and the bluebirds and, you know, 
had them all hymn thee because you are so awesome in the way 
that you forgive. Is it ever interested you what 
Paul's command to husbands are? And husbands, do not be embittered 
against your wives. Notice that Paul does not say, 
husbands, don't punch your wives. I'm sure Paul means that. Husbands, 
don't kick your wives. I'm sure Paul means that. Husbands, 
don't drive them out to the forest and send them out to pick flowers 
and leave them there. I'm sure Paul means that. But 
do not be embittered against them. Why does Paul say that? Because that's what rises up 
in a husband's heart. Bitterness. A lack of forgiveness. This idea that how could she 
ruin my day? Because she woke up that morning, 
she went to God in prayer and said, Lord, lead me in the destruction 
of my husband's day. or wives. Your husbands are probably 
not calculating how they can destroy you. I say probably. There's a lot 
of wretches. But for the most part, in a Christian 
home, it's bitterness. It's an angry spirit. It's a 
lack of forgiveness. It's a hardness. It's pride. It's an arrogance. It's these 
sorts of things that bring destruction. And the same is true in the context 
of the church. You don't have brethren forgiving 
each other. What happens? Party spirits and sects and cliques 
and churches within churches. How about we all just get along? 
I will invoke Rodney King on that one. Why can't we all just 
get along together when we've been blood-bought by the Son 
of God Himself? And he has given us parables 
like these designed to show us that as God has forgiven us, 
we in turn forgive one another. And then I close with this statement. I close the exposition. We'll 
do application, but it will be quick. Do not get it in your 
head. Don't start doing the unforgiving. Pastor Butler, that wretch goes 
over 1230 and I can't stand him and I'm never coming back. Please 
just don't do that this morning. Listen to what France notes here. I thought this was brilliant, 
I thought this was ingenious, and I thought it was worthy of 
quotation. The parable is in the educational 
tradition of Nathan's parable of the ewe lamb. Remember that? Nathan comes to King David, tells 
him a story about a man who owned a ewe lamb, a poor man who looked 
at that ewe lamb as if it was part of his own family. And then 
a rich man comes and he essentially takes that ewe lamb away. David 
gets incensed. David gets upset. David is full 
of outrage. And what does Nathan do? You 
are the man. It's in the Friends. The parable 
is in the educational tradition of Nathan's parable of the ewe 
lamb. The hearer reacts along with the fellows in the story. 
You react, at least to some degree, at that servant, don't you? He 
comes out, cancelled debt, 10,000 talents, gone. He no longer is 
required of him. And then he goes and he lays 
hands on his fellow servant. Doesn't that make you mad? Doesn't 
that upset you? It certainly upset his fellow 
servants. He says, the hearer reacts along with the fellows 
in the story with fury to the insensitivity and arrogance of 
the slave who could not see the inconsistency of his own behavior 
and thoroughly approves of the gruesome punishment he receives 
in verse 34. Don't we like that? Verse 34, 
isn't that what is worthy of him? He doesn't pay back, or 
he doesn't let the man pay back the 100 denarii when the master 
gives the order. Throw him into the prison, throw 
him in there until he pays back the debt. Doesn't a bit of justice 
rise up in your heart and say, yay, yay to the master. That's 
the way to deal with persons as wretched. He says, but then 
the punchline in verse 35 returns the story back on the hearer. 
You are the man. How many times have you not forgiven? 
How many times have you not exercised grace? How many times have you 
been embittered? How many times have you been 
unforgiving? How many times have you and I done what this servant 
has done? But because we're not dealing 
with 10,000 talents versus 100 denarii, because we don't have 
fellow servants ratting us out to the king, because there is 
no place of torment that we find ourselves in. It doesn't seem 
as bad, does it? It doesn't seem as harmful, does 
it? It doesn't seem as wretched, does it? But Jesus tells us it 
is as wretched, as servant number one. France says the application 
in keeping with the tenor of Peter's question is to the individual 
disciple, every one of you. None are exempt from the demand 
to reflect the divine mercy. That's what he says. So my Heavenly 
Father also will do to you if each of you from his heart does 
not forgive his brother his trespassers. It's probably tempting for us 
to look at servant number one and say, what a wretch. It's 
probably tempting for us to see persons in our life who haven't 
forgiven us and say, what a wretch. But it's difficult for us to 
see when we don't extend mercy, when we don't extend kindness, 
when we don't extend forgiveness to others. In conclusion, in 
terms of forgiveness, A couple of thoughts by way of practical 
application. First, the Christian will be 
sinned against by his brethren a lot. You say, well, that's pretty 
obvious. It's obvious and it bears repeating. Do you actually 
think you're going to float through this life like a unicorn amidst 
rainbows and bluebirds? Do you actually think there's 
not going to be any friction, any tension, any hardship, or 
anybody who ever sins against you? Do you actually think you're 
going to just bounce through life with no issues or problems 
or hardships? If you actually think that, you 
need to stop thinking that and understand the implication and 
assumption and a presupposition in the passage is that Christians 
will be sinned against a lot. Seven times seventy. Secondly, 
the Christian must reflect upon mercy received and thus extend 
mercy to others. That's the emphasis. You have 
been forgiven much, therefore forgive others much. If the community 
of the forgiven is to function properly, they will be a forgiving 
community. We cannot serve the master who 
is full of grace, mercy, pity, and love in an attitude of harshness, 
hardness, obstinacy, and a wretched disposition toward those whom 
we're supposed to love. Thirdly, the Christian should 
consider the great disparity between our debt to God and the 
other's debt toward us. We ought to consider that. You 
ever stop and think? Sixty million denarii sounds 
like a lot, doesn't it? I suspect it's a low, low, low 
estimate in terms of our sin against God. Imagine if somebody 
numbered your sins. I think they'd all I think they'd 
exceed 60 million. Again, chrysostom, he who considers 
his own sins is more indulgent to his fellow servant. Fourthly, 
the Christian ought to consider the cross as the blessed source 
of forgiveness. As I said, Paul nails the parable, 
and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as 
God in Christ forgave you. Colossians 3.13, bearing with 
one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint 
against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must 
do. And then finally, the professing 
Christian who does not practice forgiveness is self-deceived 
and hell-bound. If you are not forgiving others, 
this is an evidence and a manifestation that you yourselves have never 
been forgiven. You may struggle, you may have 
to pray to God to help you. It's interesting, in the parallel 
passage in Luke 17, after Jesus says what he says in terms of 
forgiving people, do you know what the apostles say? They say, 
increase our faith. What do they mean? Lord, it takes 
faith to live the way you say. It takes faith to conduct ourselves 
toward one another the way you say. It takes faith in our beloved 
God and our beloved Jesus to live in the manner that is consistent 
with your holy word. So brethren, take this to heart. Consider this parable of the 
unforgiving servant, but the very forgiving master. And if 
you are not a Christian here, if you have come here this morning 
and a lot of these concepts are strange or they're odd or they're 
weird, just get this. that God Most High is a God full 
of grace, a God full of mercy, a God full of kindness, a God 
who sent His Son into this world to save sinners. That Son lived 
in obedience to His Father's law, that Son died as a sacrifice 
on a cross, As a satisfaction for divine justice, that son 
was placed in a tomb and on the third day he rose again. And 
that son now sits enthroned at the right hand of God the Father. 
And that son will come again in glory to judge the living 
and the dead. You have 10,000 talents worth 
of debt. You have 10,000 talents worth 
of sin. You have 10,000 talents worth 
of transgression and iniquity and a lack of conformity unto 
the law of God. And there is one in this world 
who can cancel that debt. There is one who can bring forgiveness. There is one who brings mercy. And it's the Lord Jesus. Believe 
on Him and your debt will be forgiven. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
the Word of God and we thank you for this parable of the unforgiving 
servant. Help us, God, to see our responsibilities 
and passages like these in our homes and in our church. Grant 
us grace to be large-hearted, to be tender-hearted, to forgive 
one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven us. We ask that 
you would go with us now. We pray that you would help us 
to have a blessed Lord's Day. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord, amen.