WEBVTT 00:00:02.730 --> 00:00:06.129 Dear God, you brought us to this Sabbath day. 00:00:07.009 --> 00:00:10.470 We're reminded that we get to be in your army, 00:00:10.630 --> 00:00:14.230 that we get to serve you each and every day, 00:00:14.349 --> 00:00:18.690 that you are chasing after us, that we can love 00:00:18.690 --> 00:00:21.030 you because you have first loved us. Be with 00:00:21.030 --> 00:00:23.309 us as we open up your word this morning. In your 00:00:23.309 --> 00:00:29.510 name we pray. Amen. Let me do that one more time. 00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:35.460 So several years ago, I read a book. This is 00:00:35.460 --> 00:00:38.659 the book here. It's called Unbroken. And as I 00:00:38.659 --> 00:00:41.439 read this book, it told the incredible story 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:43.920 of someone who I actually hadn't heard of until 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:47.299 I read this book. His name is Louis Barini. He 00:00:47.299 --> 00:00:50.020 was born in New York but raised in California. 00:00:50.340 --> 00:00:52.979 At a young age, he was kind of gotten out of 00:00:52.979 --> 00:00:55.700 trouble. And so his older brother convinced him 00:00:55.700 --> 00:00:58.479 to start running, to join the track team. And 00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:02.979 he became a very quick... And for a time, he 00:01:02.979 --> 00:01:06.000 was the fastest miler in California. He never 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:10.000 quite broke the four -minute mile in the 1930s. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.079 And then he was so fast, he was so well -known, 00:01:13.079 --> 00:01:14.700 that he was going to try out for the Olympic 00:01:14.700 --> 00:01:19.040 team in 1936. Anybody happen to remember where 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:22.640 the Olympics were in 1936? It was in Germany. 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:25.799 It was in Berlin. It was famous for Jesse Owens 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:28.680 winning. So many medals. And Louis, although 00:01:28.680 --> 00:01:32.739 the mile was his best distance, the United States 00:01:32.739 --> 00:01:35.680 had some much faster people in that category. 00:01:35.719 --> 00:01:39.780 So he tried out for the 5 ,000 meter, the 5K, 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:43.700 5 ,000 meter race. And he made the team. He was 00:01:43.700 --> 00:01:47.799 able to make the team. And so he made it to Germany. 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:52.140 He competed in those Olympics. Do you think he 00:01:52.140 --> 00:01:55.859 won? No, he didn't. He did not win. He came in 00:01:55.859 --> 00:01:59.620 eighth, but he was the fastest American in that 00:01:59.620 --> 00:02:01.680 race, and he was kind of well -known because 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:06.359 as the race went on, he finished the last lap. 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:09.479 He set the record for the fastest lap on the... 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:13.080 on that very end of the race. He was way behind, 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:15.680 and he passed a bunch of people and came in eighth. 00:02:15.780 --> 00:02:18.259 And he's like, okay, the next Olympics, that's 00:02:18.259 --> 00:02:20.020 going to be my time to shine, because he was 00:02:20.020 --> 00:02:23.419 only about 19 years old. He's like, in 1940, 00:02:23.780 --> 00:02:27.020 those Olympics are going to be in Tokyo. That's 00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:29.180 where I'm going to shine, and I'm going to win 00:02:29.180 --> 00:02:31.479 some medals. Of course, we know those Olympics 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:35.800 never happened because of World War II. And soon, 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:40.780 Louis found himself as a... A bombardier on a 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:44.219 B -24 flying missions over the Pacific Ocean. 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:47.800 They were shot up. The plane was shot up. They 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:49.659 survived. But there was one mission where they 00:02:49.659 --> 00:02:51.819 weren't going to bomb anybody, but they were 00:02:51.819 --> 00:02:54.139 going to look for somebody who they thought maybe 00:02:54.139 --> 00:02:56.860 had crash -landed. They were looking for a life 00:02:56.860 --> 00:02:59.659 raft. And as they were making that journey out 00:02:59.659 --> 00:03:03.659 over the wide, vast, open ocean, something happened 00:03:03.659 --> 00:03:06.759 to their plane. It didn't get shot down. It just 00:03:06.759 --> 00:03:09.530 stopped working. And they ended up crash landing 00:03:09.530 --> 00:03:12.330 in the middle of the ocean. And Louie and two 00:03:12.330 --> 00:03:15.210 other people, so three people, were able to make 00:03:15.210 --> 00:03:18.330 it into two small life rafts. And that's when 00:03:18.330 --> 00:03:22.050 another deal began because they were in those 00:03:22.050 --> 00:03:26.430 life rafts for 47 days. You know, they had just 00:03:26.430 --> 00:03:28.750 minimal water. They were able to catch some rain, 00:03:28.930 --> 00:03:33.080 catch some fish. grab some birds, fight off sharks, 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:36.879 get strafed by the Japanese, dive in the water 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:41.840 with the sharks there. 47 days. Two of them survived 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:46.360 for that 47 days until they made it to an island. 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:49.639 Unfortunately, that island was held by the Japanese. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:53.719 So then those two were prisoners of war for the 00:03:53.719 --> 00:03:57.879 next two years, and they were beaten and tortured. 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:01.659 and starved, and forced to work in mines as they 00:04:01.659 --> 00:04:04.539 were taken back to Japan. And it was just not 00:04:04.539 --> 00:04:07.819 a pleasant situation at all. And finally, the 00:04:07.819 --> 00:04:10.879 end of the war came, and Louis was able to make 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:14.580 it back home. He went back home. He was picked 00:04:14.580 --> 00:04:18.000 on, especially because he was this famous Olympian. 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:21.300 And so they particularly tortured and abused 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:25.100 him. He made it back home. He met a woman that 00:04:25.100 --> 00:04:27.699 he married, and they became husband and wife. 00:04:28.939 --> 00:04:32.319 But he was upset because he'd gone through all 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:35.339 this. Because for two years, he'd been tortured 00:04:35.339 --> 00:04:39.379 and beaten. Soon he found himself with PTSD. 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:42.620 They probably didn't call it that back then. 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:47.019 And he was in depression. He was becoming an 00:04:47.019 --> 00:04:50.339 alcoholic. And his wife was ready to walk out 00:04:50.339 --> 00:04:52.800 the door. I'm tired of this. I'm done with this. 00:04:53.860 --> 00:04:57.699 And he was upset because of what he had been 00:04:57.699 --> 00:05:02.529 through. You ever get upset because of what you 00:05:02.529 --> 00:05:05.050 live through, because of what you go through, 00:05:05.209 --> 00:05:07.949 because of the circumstances that you find yourself 00:05:07.949 --> 00:05:11.110 in? Sometimes it's easy to get upset, and it 00:05:11.110 --> 00:05:16.370 seems as if our society today, oftentimes we 00:05:16.370 --> 00:05:20.110 look for reasons to be upset. We go searching 00:05:20.110 --> 00:05:23.029 out things that we can be angry about, people 00:05:23.029 --> 00:05:25.850 that we can be upset with because of how we're 00:05:25.850 --> 00:05:29.430 treated, because of what somebody says. And this 00:05:29.430 --> 00:05:34.470 whole idea of online communication. People go 00:05:34.470 --> 00:05:37.230 online just to find people to argue with that 00:05:37.230 --> 00:05:40.310 they don't even know. And that anonymity of the 00:05:40.310 --> 00:05:43.910 internet allows them to be extra cruel and pick 00:05:43.910 --> 00:05:46.709 on other people about things that normally you 00:05:46.709 --> 00:05:49.810 wouldn't argue about. You wouldn't care if somebody 00:05:49.810 --> 00:05:53.990 else said something else. But it seems as if 00:05:53.990 --> 00:05:58.879 in our society, people are out. to get someone 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:02.240 else. They're looking for some opportunity to 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:04.939 accuse someone of something or to hurt somebody 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:08.079 because of something or to sue somebody else. 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:11.339 Oh, I bought a coffee and I spilled it on myself 00:06:11.339 --> 00:06:14.279 and I got burned because the coffee was hot. 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:17.279 Well, let me sue the fast food restaurant or 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:20.879 whatever it is. What did Jesus say? How are we 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:24.680 supposed to act when others sometimes treat us 00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:28.319 in the wrong way. Let's go to the gospel of Matthew. 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:31.040 We're going to start in chapter 5. We're eventually 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:36.019 going to end in chapter 18. But Matthew 5 has 00:06:36.019 --> 00:06:38.100 what we refer to as the Sermon on the Mount. 00:06:38.899 --> 00:06:42.699 And Jesus says some things about how we treat 00:06:42.699 --> 00:06:46.579 other people. Start in verse 39. Verse 38 says, 00:06:46.699 --> 00:06:49.819 you've heard an eye for an eye and a tooth for 00:06:49.819 --> 00:06:52.819 a tooth. That's what you've heard. But Jesus 00:06:52.819 --> 00:06:57.319 says, but I tell you, Not to resist an evil person, 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:01.480 but whoever slaps you on the right cheek, turn 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:04.199 the other to him also. This is where we get the 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:07.600 idea of turn the other cheek. If somebody demands 00:07:07.600 --> 00:07:09.639 you to do something, once your coat, we'll give 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:14.160 them your overcoat as well. And it goes on down 00:07:14.160 --> 00:07:17.379 to verse 43, and it says, You have heard that 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:21.420 it was said, You shall love your neighbor and 00:07:21.420 --> 00:07:23.860 hate your enemy. That's what some people want 00:07:23.860 --> 00:07:28.259 to say. But Jesus said, but I say to you, love 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:32.639 your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:36.620 to those who hate you. And pray for those who 00:07:36.620 --> 00:07:39.980 spitefully use you and persecute you, that you 00:07:39.980 --> 00:07:43.560 may be sons and daughters of your Father in heaven. 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:46.220 No, we're not supposed to hate our enemies. We're 00:07:46.220 --> 00:07:49.350 supposed to love. Even our enemies, even those 00:07:49.350 --> 00:07:52.269 who are doing us wrong, we're supposed to pray 00:07:52.269 --> 00:07:54.970 for and we're supposed to care about because 00:07:54.970 --> 00:07:59.350 they are also people of God. And as we read the 00:07:59.350 --> 00:08:02.730 words of Jesus, we begin to realize that the 00:08:02.730 --> 00:08:07.610 kingdom of God is different than the world. And 00:08:07.610 --> 00:08:11.089 that if we are followers of God, we should respond 00:08:11.089 --> 00:08:14.370 differently to circumstances we find ourselves 00:08:14.370 --> 00:08:18.660 in. We can't do that on our own, but we can only 00:08:18.660 --> 00:08:22.519 respond differently by the grace of God. When 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:26.319 we're cut off in traffic, how do we respond with 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:28.519 the grace of God? When someone gives you that 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:31.579 look, oh, you know that look I'm talking about. 00:08:31.860 --> 00:08:35.379 When someone takes credit for your idea at the 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:39.179 workplace, how do we respond in those different 00:08:39.179 --> 00:08:45.039 situations? Too often, we feel... That we are 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:50.399 a victim. We feel that we are persecuted. That 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:52.659 other people are after us. That other people 00:08:52.659 --> 00:08:55.179 are trying to get us. The teacher doesn't like 00:08:55.179 --> 00:08:59.100 me. The boss doesn't appreciate me. I am being 00:08:59.100 --> 00:09:03.820 persecuted. There are people in the world being 00:09:03.820 --> 00:09:07.960 persecuted. But I hate to break it to you if 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:11.419 this is the case. You are probably not one of 00:09:11.419 --> 00:09:14.279 those people that are really... being persecuted. 00:09:14.919 --> 00:09:16.860 Because if you may or may not be able to see 00:09:16.860 --> 00:09:19.779 that, but the blue countries on that map, that's 00:09:19.779 --> 00:09:23.080 where Christianity is restricted. It's really 00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:25.779 hard to be a Christian. The green areas on that 00:09:25.779 --> 00:09:28.700 map, that's where people are outright evil towards 00:09:28.700 --> 00:09:32.360 Christians, and people are imprisoned or beaten 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:37.120 or killed. There's a story in the mission story 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:39.899 this week about a, actually it was last week, 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:43.500 a young girl named Tanya. who her dad came home. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:46.120 This is in Zimbabwe. Her dad is a professional 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:48.940 rugby player, so was often gone on the weekend. 00:09:49.139 --> 00:09:51.960 And he looked under something on the table, and 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:55.100 he found something new. It was a baptismal certificate. 00:09:55.799 --> 00:09:58.600 Tanya had been baptized the previous Sabbath 00:09:58.600 --> 00:10:02.519 while her father was out of town, and her father 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:05.179 came home and found that. A totally different 00:10:05.179 --> 00:10:08.340 animist religion tore up the baptismal certificate. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:10.759 If you go to that church again, I'm going to 00:10:10.759 --> 00:10:14.019 beat you. And so he tried to make sure that he 00:10:14.019 --> 00:10:17.299 would be home on Saturday mornings. Because if 00:10:17.299 --> 00:10:21.159 he was gone, he knew that she would go, her grandmother, 00:10:21.419 --> 00:10:25.840 to church. And Tanya began praying, God, help 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:28.500 me to be able to go to church. I miss going to 00:10:28.500 --> 00:10:30.059 church, but if I go, I'm going to be beaten. 00:10:30.259 --> 00:10:32.779 Help me to be able to go. And it was several 00:10:32.779 --> 00:10:36.279 months later, her dad was home on Sabbath morning, 00:10:36.379 --> 00:10:39.110 and her mom said, why don't you go? talk to your 00:10:39.110 --> 00:10:41.529 dad and tell him that you're going to go to church 00:10:41.529 --> 00:10:43.730 today. And she was a little nervous, but she 00:10:43.730 --> 00:10:46.309 went in and said, Dad, I'm going to church today. 00:10:47.269 --> 00:10:52.190 And he said, okay. That was that. After months 00:10:52.190 --> 00:10:54.909 of being threatened to be beaten, now she is 00:10:54.909 --> 00:10:58.929 able to go to church each week. And now her prayer 00:10:58.929 --> 00:11:01.889 has changed. No longer is she praying that she'll 00:11:01.889 --> 00:11:05.590 be able to go to church, but she's praying that 00:11:05.590 --> 00:11:09.340 maybe my dad will come with me. to church at 00:11:09.340 --> 00:11:12.580 some time in the future. So there are people 00:11:12.580 --> 00:11:16.100 in the world being persecuted, faith for their 00:11:16.100 --> 00:11:21.139 life, but probably none of us are in that category. 00:11:21.220 --> 00:11:23.639 Let's turn back over to Proverbs. We're going 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:26.559 to come back to Matthew, but turn to Proverbs 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:29.080 because even the Old Testament, this book of 00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:33.580 wisdom in Proverbs contains an idea, Proverbs 00:11:33.580 --> 00:11:36.980 19 and verse 11 is what we're going to read. 00:11:37.529 --> 00:11:42.669 It says the discretion of a man makes him slow 00:11:42.669 --> 00:11:48.929 to anger. Slow to anger. And his glory is to 00:11:48.929 --> 00:11:54.250 overlook a transgression. To overlook a transgression. 00:11:54.250 --> 00:11:56.809 When somebody says something or does something, 00:11:56.970 --> 00:11:59.350 that doesn't mean we pretend it doesn't happen. 00:11:59.809 --> 00:12:05.590 But no, we choose. That's not something we do 00:12:05.590 --> 00:12:09.779 on our own. By the grace of God, we choose to 00:12:09.779 --> 00:12:13.559 overlook that. We choose to go past that. We 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:16.899 don't let what someone else does to us determine 00:12:16.899 --> 00:12:20.159 how I'm going to live my life and walk my life 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:23.379 as a child of God. Let's turn over to Matthew 00:12:23.379 --> 00:12:26.500 18. This is where our scripture reading was from, 00:12:26.620 --> 00:12:31.620 where Peter comes to Jesus and he says in verse 00:12:31.620 --> 00:12:34.620 21, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against 00:12:34.620 --> 00:12:39.620 me? And I forgive him. Up to seven times? God, 00:12:39.659 --> 00:12:41.580 that's pretty good, right? If I forgive somebody 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:45.659 seven times, is that a good number? A good biblical 00:12:45.659 --> 00:12:49.419 number? In verse 22, Jesus said to him, I do 00:12:49.419 --> 00:12:53.179 not say to you up to seven times, but no, up 00:12:53.179 --> 00:12:58.659 to 70 times seven. Now, in my math, that tells 00:12:58.659 --> 00:13:01.779 me that's about 490 times. That's what my calculator 00:13:01.779 --> 00:13:04.830 would tell me. But I don't think Jesus is saying 00:13:04.830 --> 00:13:11.110 we need to have a checkbox. You know, 478, 479, 00:13:11.529 --> 00:13:18.210 490. Okay, 491, sorry. That's the limit. I'm 00:13:18.210 --> 00:13:20.889 not forgiving you anymore. I think what this 00:13:20.889 --> 00:13:23.570 is saying is that it's supposed to be an ongoing 00:13:23.570 --> 00:13:28.990 thing. That when people speak ill to us, that 00:13:28.990 --> 00:13:32.250 we are supposed to respond in a different way. 00:13:32.700 --> 00:13:35.220 than the world does. And then it goes on in verse 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:38.559 23, and Jesus tells a parable. We're continuing 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:41.320 our parable series that we've been preaching 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:47.179 through, and this parable is in response to this 00:13:47.179 --> 00:13:49.980 question that Peter asked, how many times do 00:13:49.980 --> 00:13:53.220 I have to forgive somebody? In verse 23, it says, 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:57.340 therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain 00:13:57.340 --> 00:14:01.419 king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 00:14:01.659 --> 00:14:03.379 All right, bring in the books. Let's see what 00:14:03.379 --> 00:14:06.100 people owe me. How much have I loaned out? How 00:14:06.100 --> 00:14:08.720 much have people paid back? What do people still 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:12.039 owe me? In verse 24, when he begun to settle 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:16.139 accounts, one was brought to him who owed him 00:14:16.139 --> 00:14:21.679 10 ,000 talents. That is a huge amount of money. 00:14:21.740 --> 00:14:24.320 That is millions and millions and perhaps billions 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:29.980 of dollars. Now a talent is a certain weight, 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:33.879 200 and some pounds of silver or gold. And so 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:38.500 if you add this up, it's basically beyond calculation, 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:42.139 beyond comprehension. And so again, I think the 00:14:42.139 --> 00:14:45.659 point of this is that this is unpayable. The 00:14:45.659 --> 00:14:49.480 tax revenue for one year in the province of Galilee 00:14:49.480 --> 00:14:53.860 was about 300 talents. 300 was the tax revenue 00:14:53.860 --> 00:14:59.200 for that. And so this is a huge amount that could 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:03.700 really in no way ever be repaid by a single person. 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:09.100 Notice verse 25. It goes on and says, But as 00:15:09.100 --> 00:15:13.179 he was not able to pay, obviously, his master 00:15:13.179 --> 00:15:16.940 commanded that he be sold with his wife and children 00:15:16.940 --> 00:15:20.820 and all that he had and that payment be made. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:23.659 Now this was not going to repay the debt. but 00:15:23.659 --> 00:15:26.840 it would be a common practice in ancient days 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:29.159 and really up to a couple hundred years ago. 00:15:29.299 --> 00:15:31.759 People could be thrown into debtor's prison. 00:15:32.259 --> 00:15:35.379 You're not going to get your money back, but 00:15:35.379 --> 00:15:38.419 it's punitive. There's some punishment. And if 00:15:38.419 --> 00:15:40.340 you're selling somebody into slavery, you'll 00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:44.159 get a few coins at least, but it's not going 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:47.379 to pay it back. But then verse 26, the servant 00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:50.360 fell down before the king. I want you to notice 00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:53.389 the words here. Pay attention to these words. 00:15:53.909 --> 00:15:58.590 Master, have patience with me, and I will pay 00:15:58.590 --> 00:16:02.009 you all. Lock those words in. We're going to 00:16:02.009 --> 00:16:04.490 talk about those again in a few minutes. Master, 00:16:04.570 --> 00:16:08.629 have patience with me, and I will pay you all. 00:16:08.809 --> 00:16:12.590 Note those words. But for now, just notice that 00:16:12.590 --> 00:16:17.429 this servant apparently has a very wrong view 00:16:17.429 --> 00:16:20.929 of himself. He thought some way, I'm going to 00:16:20.929 --> 00:16:24.450 pay this back. No, he wasn't. There was no way 00:16:24.450 --> 00:16:27.370 for him to do that. He had a wrong understanding 00:16:27.370 --> 00:16:31.049 of who he was and what his capability was. And 00:16:31.049 --> 00:16:35.070 if we move this to the spiritual realm, we can 00:16:35.070 --> 00:16:40.090 remember and recognize each one of us has a debt. 00:16:40.769 --> 00:16:43.710 You know, the Bible says the wages of sin is 00:16:43.710 --> 00:16:49.519 death. We have all fallen short of God's We have 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:52.899 all messed up, and that is a debt that we cannot 00:16:52.899 --> 00:16:56.600 repay. We can't make that right. We have sinned. 00:16:56.620 --> 00:17:00.259 We are falling short of God's glory. And the 00:17:00.259 --> 00:17:04.160 wages of sin is death. We have offended God. 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:07.180 We are debtors. We can never say, God, I'm going 00:17:07.180 --> 00:17:11.019 to make this right. Because we have earned that 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:14.579 wage of sin. We have earned that picture of death. 00:17:14.920 --> 00:17:17.970 And this man had a wrong... picture of himself. 00:17:18.130 --> 00:17:20.670 He thought that he could make it right. He thought 00:17:20.670 --> 00:17:25.630 that he could repay that huge amount. But notice 00:17:25.630 --> 00:17:28.130 what happened in verse 27. There's a picture 00:17:28.130 --> 00:17:33.009 of grace. Then the master of that servant was 00:17:33.009 --> 00:17:38.490 moved with compassion, released him, and forgave 00:17:38.490 --> 00:17:42.329 him the debt. That's a picture of grace right 00:17:42.329 --> 00:17:44.970 now. He had something that he could not repay, 00:17:45.289 --> 00:17:50.029 and this king, this master, released him of this 00:17:50.029 --> 00:17:53.109 debt, forgave him of that debt. And isn't that 00:17:53.109 --> 00:17:56.529 what God does with us? He says, if we confess 00:17:56.529 --> 00:18:00.589 our sins, he is faithful and just to do what? 00:18:00.910 --> 00:18:05.670 To forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 00:18:05.690 --> 00:18:10.210 That is what God does. How would we respond? 00:18:10.210 --> 00:18:15.410 How do we respond when a debt is relieved, when 00:18:15.410 --> 00:18:19.630 a burden is lifted? You know, if a church is 00:18:19.630 --> 00:18:23.390 paying off a mortgage, and when that day comes 00:18:23.390 --> 00:18:26.109 that that last mortgage payment is made, you 00:18:26.109 --> 00:18:29.210 ever been to a celebration like that? They actually 00:18:29.210 --> 00:18:33.269 light a fire in the church to burn that little 00:18:33.269 --> 00:18:35.630 mortgage note because they want it wiped out. 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:38.640 and gone forever. In the church building, there's 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:42.380 fire because they have paid off that mortgage, 00:18:42.460 --> 00:18:46.359 that debt is released. If a family pays off a 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:49.539 home, there's a celebration because the debt 00:18:49.539 --> 00:18:54.299 that hangs over them is relieved. How does this 00:18:54.299 --> 00:18:59.339 guy respond when this huge debt is paid off? 00:18:59.500 --> 00:19:03.500 It's not a response of joy. It's not a response 00:19:03.500 --> 00:19:06.559 of celebration. But we're going to see it's a 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:11.500 response of anger, of hatred. And sometimes that's 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:15.799 the response that we exhibit as we interact with 00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:20.059 others. Notice verse 28. It says, but that servant, 00:19:20.140 --> 00:19:22.700 right after the master of the servant forgave 00:19:22.700 --> 00:19:26.220 him the debt, but that servant went out and found 00:19:26.220 --> 00:19:29.720 one of his fellow servants. He went out looking 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:33.339 for somebody. It didn't just come up. He went 00:19:33.339 --> 00:19:36.579 out looking. for trouble, looking for something 00:19:36.579 --> 00:19:39.240 else, and he found this man who owed him a little 00:19:39.240 --> 00:19:43.380 bit. Does it ever seem like sometimes the people 00:19:43.380 --> 00:19:48.140 around us, or maybe we, do we go out looking 00:19:48.140 --> 00:19:52.920 for trouble? Do we go out looking to find the 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:56.000 wrong in somebody else? Do we go out looking 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:00.299 to find somebody that is offending us? Do we 00:20:00.299 --> 00:20:03.299 look for the worst in each other, at least from 00:20:03.299 --> 00:20:09.579 time to time? went out looking and he found one 00:20:09.579 --> 00:20:12.599 of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:15.740 denarii. A hundred denarii. Now what is that? 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:18.839 That's not 10 ,000 talents. Now in the Bible, 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:23.220 a denarii is the equivalent to like one day's 00:20:23.220 --> 00:20:26.220 wage. If you went and did work for one day, you 00:20:26.220 --> 00:20:29.180 would expect to receive in payment one denarii. 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:31.599 That was what you would earn from your labor. 00:20:31.700 --> 00:20:34.140 So that would be enough to buy your food. to 00:20:34.140 --> 00:20:37.640 pay for your house, your clothes, support your 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:40.700 family, whatever that was, for one denarii. So 00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:44.680 this is 100. So that's what, three, four months 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:49.480 of labor? So don't tell me, but just think, how 00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:53.599 much do you make in three to four months? That's 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:58.119 what this debt would approximately be. So a pretty 00:20:58.119 --> 00:21:03.099 big amount, but not impossible with tight budgeting. 00:21:03.829 --> 00:21:07.589 with maybe doing a little extra work, doing some 00:21:07.589 --> 00:21:10.769 overtime, taking another shift, making some good 00:21:10.769 --> 00:21:13.549 investments. It's a big amount, but it's not 00:21:13.549 --> 00:21:17.829 impossible. And what did this guy do? It says, 00:21:17.910 --> 00:21:22.250 the second part of the verse, owed him 100 denarii, 00:21:22.250 --> 00:21:25.450 and he laid hands on him and took him by the 00:21:25.450 --> 00:21:30.569 throat, saying, pay me what you owe. That's not 00:21:30.569 --> 00:21:33.869 the way to get your money back. To go and choke 00:21:33.869 --> 00:21:37.250 somebody out? He's not looking for finances. 00:21:38.390 --> 00:21:42.309 He's looking for a fight. He's not looking for 00:21:42.309 --> 00:21:45.829 a resolution. He's looking for some kind of reaction 00:21:45.829 --> 00:21:49.369 here. This isn't the way to go about it. Even 00:21:49.369 --> 00:21:51.890 though it was a big amount, this wasn't the way 00:21:51.890 --> 00:21:55.730 to try to get this back. Now, notice the next 00:21:55.730 --> 00:22:00.019 verse, verse 29. So his fellow servant... fell 00:22:00.019 --> 00:22:04.019 down at his feet and begged him, saying, let's 00:22:04.019 --> 00:22:06.799 think, have you heard these words before? Have 00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:12.220 patience with me, and I will pay you all. That's 00:22:12.220 --> 00:22:15.720 the exact same thing that servant number one 00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:18.819 had said to the master, the exact same words, 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:21.400 and now this other servant with a much smaller 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:24.900 debt is saying, you know, this is one I could 00:22:24.900 --> 00:22:28.000 pay you back. Just give me a little time. Have 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:31.410 patience. Wait for it, and I'm going to make 00:22:31.410 --> 00:22:35.990 this right. But that's not what he did. Verse 00:22:35.990 --> 00:22:39.950 30, and he would not, but went out and threw 00:22:39.950 --> 00:22:42.410 him into prison until he should pay the debt. 00:22:42.730 --> 00:22:45.690 He's not going to pay the debt in prison. So 00:22:45.690 --> 00:22:48.009 when his fellow servants saw what he had done, 00:22:48.170 --> 00:22:53.089 the other people around, they were very grieved. 00:22:53.190 --> 00:22:57.289 They were upset by this. They did not like the 00:22:57.289 --> 00:23:00.319 way that this went down. They did not like that 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:04.220 this man did not respond to the grace that he 00:23:04.220 --> 00:23:07.200 had received. He did not respond in a positive 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:10.940 way by sharing grace with someone else. And they 00:23:10.940 --> 00:23:13.480 went and told the master, they went and told 00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:16.700 the leader all that had been done. Do you think 00:23:16.700 --> 00:23:19.900 the master was happy about that? No, he was not. 00:23:20.900 --> 00:23:23.880 Then the master, after he had called him, said 00:23:23.880 --> 00:23:28.079 to him, you wicked servant. I forgave you all 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:32.220 that debt because you begged me. Should you also 00:23:32.220 --> 00:23:36.079 not have had compassion on your fellow servant 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:40.839 just as I had pity on you? You received forgiveness. 00:23:41.819 --> 00:23:45.799 Shouldn't you pass that forgiveness on to somebody 00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:49.099 else? Should you not have had compassion just 00:23:49.099 --> 00:23:52.440 as I had compassion on you? You threw him into 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:57.259 prison, torturers. He could pray this back because 00:23:57.259 --> 00:24:00.140 he was angry. And then verse 35, it says, So 00:24:00.140 --> 00:24:05.039 my heavenly Father also will do to you if each 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:08.680 of you from his heart does not forgive his brother 00:24:08.680 --> 00:24:13.660 his trespasses. This is the main idea of this 00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:17.079 whole parable. Peter said, How often do I need 00:24:17.079 --> 00:24:20.920 to forgive? Seventy times seven. Jesus says, 00:24:21.019 --> 00:24:25.480 We need to forgive. those who have wronged us. 00:24:25.579 --> 00:24:29.000 We need to forgive those who trespass against 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:34.900 us. You know, it's very closely to the Lord's 00:24:34.900 --> 00:24:36.920 Prayer. We talked about that a couple weeks ago. 00:24:37.220 --> 00:24:39.920 What's that one line? It says, forgive us our 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:45.779 debts as we forgive our debtors. Forgive us as 00:24:45.779 --> 00:24:48.859 we forgive our debtors. And if you look at the 00:24:48.859 --> 00:24:53.250 verse immediately after the Lord's Prayer, The 00:24:53.250 --> 00:24:57.809 very next verse in Matthew 6, verse 14, immediately 00:24:57.809 --> 00:25:01.309 after the Lord's prayer, it says, For if you 00:25:01.309 --> 00:25:04.869 forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father 00:25:04.869 --> 00:25:08.589 will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive 00:25:08.589 --> 00:25:12.109 men their trespasses, neither will your Father 00:25:12.109 --> 00:25:16.410 forgive your trespasses. Have mercy. That's pretty 00:25:16.410 --> 00:25:21.009 clear right there. We need to forgive as we have 00:25:21.009 --> 00:25:25.019 been forgiven. Because we are forgiven, we need 00:25:25.019 --> 00:25:29.559 to forgive. If we haven't truly accepted and 00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:32.880 recognized God's grace, if we aren't willing 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:36.700 to pass that grace to somebody else. We haven't 00:25:36.700 --> 00:25:40.240 accepted God's forgiveness truly if we aren't 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:44.339 willing to forgive somebody else. So as we look 00:25:44.339 --> 00:25:47.880 at this story, we can see, first of all, we need 00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:50.579 to have a correct view of ourselves. That first 00:25:50.579 --> 00:25:52.319 servant thought he could pay it back. I'm going 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:55.240 to pay it all back. No, we can't. We are desperately 00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:59.140 in need of a Savior. We can see that we need 00:25:59.140 --> 00:26:01.759 to, as we look at others, we need to not look 00:26:01.759 --> 00:26:04.880 for the wrong that they have done, but look for 00:26:04.880 --> 00:26:08.759 the goodness that God has placed in them. And 00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:12.319 then when we are wrong, we can respond with grace. 00:26:12.380 --> 00:26:17.130 We need to forgive because we are forgiven. And 00:26:17.130 --> 00:26:19.670 we can say, sure, that makes sense, Pastor Greg. 00:26:19.750 --> 00:26:22.349 That makes sense when somebody cuts me off in 00:26:22.349 --> 00:26:25.849 traffic. Sure, I'll forgive them. That makes 00:26:25.849 --> 00:26:28.490 sense, you know, if somebody teases me or laughs 00:26:28.490 --> 00:26:32.410 at me. But what about the real issues? What about 00:26:32.410 --> 00:26:37.269 those things that I deserve to be upset about? 00:26:37.630 --> 00:26:41.049 What are those things that I deserve to get some 00:26:41.049 --> 00:26:44.750 sort of revenge or some sort of justice? that 00:26:44.750 --> 00:26:48.569 rudeness or that abuse or that disloyalty or 00:26:48.569 --> 00:26:52.150 that rejection or that unfaithfulness. And I 00:26:52.150 --> 00:26:55.150 will say that God wants us to be safe. God wants 00:26:55.150 --> 00:26:57.849 us to be in places where we are protected and 00:26:57.849 --> 00:27:00.789 our family, but we can also still continue to 00:27:00.789 --> 00:27:04.849 treat people the way that God would treat people. 00:27:07.210 --> 00:27:10.089 What were the words of Jesus about persecution? 00:27:11.670 --> 00:27:16.440 We read it in Matthew 5. He said, turn the other 00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:21.019 cheek. He said, pray for your enemies. Pray for 00:27:21.019 --> 00:27:23.220 those who persecute you. Those are beautiful 00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:28.259 words, Jesus. But what about the actions of Jesus? 00:27:28.700 --> 00:27:33.079 What did Jesus do? Well, we can remember night 00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:37.819 in Jerusalem outside the walls when Jesus had 00:27:37.819 --> 00:27:41.369 every right to be offended. He had every right 00:27:41.369 --> 00:27:44.170 to bring whatever judgment down that he could 00:27:44.170 --> 00:27:47.109 because that crowd came to him as he was praying 00:27:47.109 --> 00:27:50.990 in a garden. Jesus was praying. And the mob came 00:27:50.990 --> 00:27:54.390 and they arrested him and they grabbed him and 00:27:54.390 --> 00:27:57.190 they dragged him away. They hit him in the face 00:27:57.190 --> 00:28:01.769 when he had done nothing, when he had said nothing 00:28:01.769 --> 00:28:08.710 offensive. They pulled out his beard. made no 00:28:08.710 --> 00:28:12.710 threats to anybody. They spit in his face, and 00:28:12.710 --> 00:28:16.549 he had done nothing wrong. You know, there's 00:28:16.549 --> 00:28:19.509 an old gospel song that says he could have called 00:28:19.509 --> 00:28:23.670 10 ,000 angels. If he was there on that night, 00:28:23.730 --> 00:28:27.009 he could have called 10 ,000 angels to destroy 00:28:27.009 --> 00:28:31.390 the world and set him free. He could have called 00:28:31.390 --> 00:28:36.680 10 ,000 angels. Anybody know the next line? but 00:28:36.680 --> 00:28:42.319 he died alone for you and for me. He could have 00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:45.480 called, he could have smote them, he could have 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:48.099 destroyed them, but instead he said, Father, 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:51.680 forgive them, for they don't know what they're 00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:55.359 doing. Father, forgive them, for they don't know 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:59.619 what they're doing. In 1 Peter 2, we've got just 00:28:59.619 --> 00:29:04.220 another verse or two here. 1 Peter 2, notice 00:29:04.220 --> 00:29:09.140 what it says. In verse 21, it says Christ suffered 00:29:09.140 --> 00:29:12.880 for us, leaving us an example. Then it says who, 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:16.039 when he was reviled, did not revile in return. 00:29:16.119 --> 00:29:20.940 When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed 00:29:20.940 --> 00:29:25.460 himself to him who judges righteously. Jesus 00:29:25.460 --> 00:29:28.180 didn't strike back. Jesus didn't fight back. 00:29:28.359 --> 00:29:33.000 Jesus allowed God to take that place of judgment. 00:29:33.220 --> 00:29:37.240 Jesus allowed God to do all that. Now, there's 00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:40.819 a saying that psychologists and pastors have 00:29:40.819 --> 00:29:44.039 maybe noted. You've probably heard it. It says, 00:29:44.180 --> 00:29:48.680 hurt people, hurt people. If somebody's been 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:51.180 hurt at some point in their life, they are more 00:29:51.180 --> 00:29:54.839 likely to pass that on to somebody else, to pass 00:29:54.839 --> 00:29:57.900 that pain and suffering. Hurt people, hurt people. 00:29:58.259 --> 00:30:01.039 And in the sinful world, there's a lot of people 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:04.980 that have been hurt. And perhaps the flip side. 00:30:05.630 --> 00:30:10.869 of that saying is that forgiven people forgive 00:30:10.869 --> 00:30:17.529 people. And we, you and I, have been forgiven. 00:30:17.910 --> 00:30:22.650 So we can forgive, not because somebody doesn't 00:30:22.650 --> 00:30:25.390 deserve something, not because we like how we 00:30:25.390 --> 00:30:29.109 were treated, but we can forgive because we were 00:30:29.109 --> 00:30:33.430 forgiven. Have you recognized that you're someone 00:30:33.430 --> 00:30:36.779 who makes mistakes? Have you recognized that 00:30:36.779 --> 00:30:40.299 you're someone who daily is in need of a Savior? 00:30:40.599 --> 00:30:45.380 Have you accepted God's grace today? Are you 00:30:45.380 --> 00:30:49.460 willing to forgive because you are forgiven? 00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:54.380 Louis Zamperini came back after being tortured, 00:30:54.619 --> 00:30:59.119 after being beaten. He met a young lady who became 00:30:59.119 --> 00:31:03.480 his wife. He became an alcoholic, depressed. 00:31:04.509 --> 00:31:08.170 And as I'm reading this book, this book had everything 00:31:08.170 --> 00:31:12.910 that I like to read about. This guy was a runner. 00:31:12.970 --> 00:31:15.569 I like running. This guy was in the Olympics. 00:31:15.690 --> 00:31:18.609 I love the Olympics. And next year, there's the 00:31:18.609 --> 00:31:20.769 Winter Olympics coming up. You're going to hear 00:31:20.769 --> 00:31:24.450 lots of stories about the Olympics. This guy 00:31:24.450 --> 00:31:27.029 was in World War II. I like reading about World 00:31:27.029 --> 00:31:29.869 War II. It's fascinating to see that historical 00:31:29.869 --> 00:31:34.319 part. Survived in a life raft for 47 days. I 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:36.819 like reading about survival stories and nature 00:31:36.819 --> 00:31:40.500 stories and man versus nature and all that. But 00:31:40.500 --> 00:31:43.960 when the war was over, there's still this much 00:31:43.960 --> 00:31:47.859 of this book left. He's home from the war, and 00:31:47.859 --> 00:31:52.400 there's this much, you know, 50 pages. What in 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:56.039 the world is happening? I didn't know how this 00:31:56.039 --> 00:32:01.240 story ended. His wife was ready to leave him 00:32:01.240 --> 00:32:04.559 because of his abuse, because of his alcoholism, 00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:07.039 because of his depression. But before she left 00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:10.680 him, she went down the street in Los Angeles, 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:13.960 somewhere across town, and went to a big tent. 00:32:14.859 --> 00:32:17.220 And there was a young preacher in that tent named 00:32:17.220 --> 00:32:21.200 Billy Graham. He was talking about the love of 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:24.960 Jesus and the grace of Jesus. And as she went 00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:29.250 to that meeting, That revival meeting with Billy 00:32:29.250 --> 00:32:32.930 Graham, she gave her heart to Jesus. And she 00:32:32.930 --> 00:32:35.309 said, you know what? I'm going to stay with this 00:32:35.309 --> 00:32:38.069 guy. And she went home and she began to encourage 00:32:38.069 --> 00:32:41.170 Louie. Louie, you come with me. You need to come 00:32:41.170 --> 00:32:45.170 to this meeting. And finally, probably to make 00:32:45.170 --> 00:32:48.869 her stop, what's the word? I don't want to say 00:32:48.869 --> 00:32:51.529 nagging, but that's the one that popped into 00:32:51.529 --> 00:32:56.480 my head. To stop this discussion, he went. And 00:32:56.480 --> 00:32:58.440 as he was listening to Billy Graham talk about 00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:02.640 Jesus, he gave his heart to Jesus and surrendered 00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:07.220 all of that anger and that depression and that 00:33:07.220 --> 00:33:11.079 alcoholism and that abuse that he had tied up 00:33:11.079 --> 00:33:13.319 in his heart. And he recognized that the power 00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:16.579 of Jesus, that Jesus died for his sins, the power 00:33:16.579 --> 00:33:19.299 of Jesus forgives him and that he needs to forgive 00:33:19.299 --> 00:33:23.420 because he was. And so as he interacted with 00:33:23.420 --> 00:33:25.460 Billy Graham, Billy Graham helped him to kind 00:33:25.460 --> 00:33:29.160 of start a ministry and to go and speak, especially 00:33:29.160 --> 00:33:32.299 to young people, about living their life for 00:33:32.299 --> 00:33:36.119 Jesus. And it was in about 1950, five years after 00:33:36.119 --> 00:33:39.900 World War II ended, that Louis went back to Japan. 00:33:40.259 --> 00:33:44.720 And he went to a prison where those guards were 00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:48.990 serving now as prisoners. Those guards who had 00:33:48.990 --> 00:33:51.269 tortured him, who had starved him, who had beaten 00:33:51.269 --> 00:33:54.170 him, who had mocked him, they were now in prison 00:33:54.170 --> 00:33:57.549 for war crimes. And he went before them and he 00:33:57.549 --> 00:34:00.089 talked to them. And he told them about Jesus 00:34:00.089 --> 00:34:04.069 and gave them Bibles. And he said, I forgive 00:34:04.069 --> 00:34:10.130 you because Jesus has forgiven me. And he said 00:34:10.130 --> 00:34:12.809 that some of them even accepted Jesus in that 00:34:12.809 --> 00:34:16.750 moment. An incredible story of someone who... 00:34:16.920 --> 00:34:21.000 through so much, but because of Jesus was willing 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:24.079 to forgive those who wronged him. We can remember 00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:27.679 that we can forgive because you are forgiven. 00:34:28.380 --> 00:34:30.300 Is there somebody that you need to forgive this 00:34:30.300 --> 00:34:33.760 week? Is there grace that you need to accept 00:34:33.760 --> 00:34:37.360 that Jesus is pouring out, but you haven't truly 00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:41.360 accepted it? It's my prayer that you'll open 00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:44.900 your heart to Jesus to accept his grace and to 00:34:44.900 --> 00:34:47.250 share it. with somebody else. Let's bow our heads 00:34:47.250 --> 00:34:52.610 for prayer. Dear God, forgive us. We're sorry. 00:34:53.250 --> 00:34:55.630 We know we have messed up. We know we fall short 00:34:55.630 --> 00:34:59.050 of the glory of God. Forgive us for those words 00:34:59.050 --> 00:35:02.630 that we have spoken, for that distraction that 00:35:02.630 --> 00:35:04.730 we have had which has turned our eyes away from 00:35:04.730 --> 00:35:07.650 you. Forgive us for those interactions which 00:35:07.650 --> 00:35:10.869 did not bring glory to your name this week. Lord, 00:35:10.909 --> 00:35:14.750 help us to accept that grace, but not just accept 00:35:14.750 --> 00:35:18.780 it, Help us to share it, to pass it on to somebody 00:35:18.780 --> 00:35:22.159 else, to forgive because we are forgiven. In 00:35:22.159 --> 00:35:22.900 your name we pray.