WEBVTT 00:00:01.129 --> 00:00:03.649 You are listening to a message from First Baptist 00:00:03.649 --> 00:00:06.410 Church, Wichita Falls. For more information about 00:00:06.410 --> 00:00:08.929 First Baptist, click the link in the show notes 00:00:08.929 --> 00:00:15.589 or go to FBCWF .org. Today's message comes from 00:00:15.589 --> 00:00:19.929 Senior Pastor Dr. Bob McCartney. Let's open our 00:00:19.929 --> 00:00:23.890 Bibles this morning to Matthew chapter 18 verse 00:00:23.890 --> 00:00:28.789 21. We are excited about opening this passage 00:00:28.789 --> 00:00:31.829 of scripture because we're gonna talk about the 00:00:31.829 --> 00:00:36.170 pardon. We're gonna talk about The fact that 00:00:36.170 --> 00:00:39.429 we need to experience God's pardon and we need 00:00:39.429 --> 00:00:43.609 to extend that pardon to other people The power 00:00:43.609 --> 00:00:46.729 of a president to pardon someone who's been found 00:00:46.729 --> 00:00:48.909 guilty of an offense or who might be found guilty 00:00:48.909 --> 00:00:51.929 of an offense is one of the prerogatives that 00:00:51.929 --> 00:00:55.109 our president has. And you know, sometimes presidents 00:00:55.109 --> 00:00:57.009 pardon people and their pardons are a little, 00:00:57.469 --> 00:00:59.729 well, they become infamous. Sort of like after 00:00:59.729 --> 00:01:01.729 President Trump's first term, right at the end, 00:01:02.149 --> 00:01:05.840 he pardoned the rapper Lil Wayne. Now, I was 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:07.799 worried about Lil Wayne. He had been found guilty 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:11.180 on a federal gun charge and was facing prison 00:01:11.180 --> 00:01:12.959 time, and President Trump pardoned him. It means 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:15.500 it goes away. He can't be charged with that anymore. 00:01:16.579 --> 00:01:19.079 President Biden famously pardoned his son Hunter. 00:01:19.459 --> 00:01:21.620 That was kind of controversial. But there have 00:01:21.620 --> 00:01:24.459 also been pardons in the life of presidents that 00:01:24.459 --> 00:01:27.000 have actually been very, very important in our 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:32.140 nation. In 1980, or 1979 rather, President Carter 00:01:32.140 --> 00:01:35.659 at the time, pardoned every person who had been 00:01:35.659 --> 00:01:39.239 a Vietnam draft dodger. That was a really big 00:01:39.239 --> 00:01:41.680 contentious thing in our society, and he just 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:43.780 settled it by saying, okay, we're not going to 00:01:43.780 --> 00:01:46.260 prosecute this, we're just going to forgive this. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:49.420 But perhaps the most powerful pardon that was 00:01:49.420 --> 00:01:52.120 ever issued is one that has been long since forgotten. 00:01:52.939 --> 00:01:57.000 In 1868, after the Civil War, President Andrew 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:01.060 Johnson was denied his party's nomination to 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:05.680 be president again. He was not nominated and 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:08.819 he was not re -elected. Ulysses S. Grant was 00:02:08.819 --> 00:02:12.719 nominated and elected. And his party was completely 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:15.520 against him in a lot of ways. The nation was 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:18.900 divided over a question. What should we do with 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:21.719 Confederate soldiers and officers and the leaders 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:24.379 of the Confederacy? Should we put them on trial 00:02:24.379 --> 00:02:28.360 for treason? And the nation was divided on this. 00:02:28.629 --> 00:02:31.610 And on Christmas Day 1868, just before he left 00:02:31.610 --> 00:02:35.270 office, President Andrew Johnson pardoned every 00:02:35.270 --> 00:02:37.710 Confederate soldier, every Confederate officer, 00:02:37.870 --> 00:02:40.050 every Confederate leader, and it settled the 00:02:40.050 --> 00:02:41.969 question they could no longer be prosecuted. 00:02:42.729 --> 00:02:47.669 And historians say that it, that action was one 00:02:47.669 --> 00:02:50.629 of the most important actions in healing the 00:02:50.629 --> 00:02:54.250 nation from this bitter divide. You see, a pardon 00:02:54.250 --> 00:02:56.710 was the prerogative of a king in the ancient 00:02:56.710 --> 00:03:01.150 world. They had the absolute power to set aside 00:03:01.150 --> 00:03:05.629 a guilty sentence or an offense. And once they 00:03:05.629 --> 00:03:08.430 had done so, it could never be brought up again. 00:03:09.349 --> 00:03:12.490 Here's the great thing. Our king has the power 00:03:12.490 --> 00:03:15.590 to pardon. And not only that, but he's given 00:03:15.590 --> 00:03:19.310 us a command to extend that pardon power to others 00:03:19.310 --> 00:03:23.729 around us. Now all of us have either been harmed, 00:03:24.050 --> 00:03:27.439 hurt, or humiliated. by the words or actions 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:32.620 of other people. All of us at some point have 00:03:32.620 --> 00:03:35.800 known what it feels like to be hurt and offended. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:40.419 And because of that, we need to experience God's 00:03:40.419 --> 00:03:43.240 grace and power to extend a pardon to people 00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:47.840 around us. But the truth is this, all of us have 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:50.219 hurt, harmed, and humiliated others with our 00:03:50.219 --> 00:03:54.520 words and actions, and we need to receive a pardon. 00:03:54.699 --> 00:03:57.259 in many cases. So that's what we're going to 00:03:57.259 --> 00:04:00.719 walk through over the next few weeks. We're going 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:03.599 to talk about how this works in the lives of 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:07.319 our families, our co -workers, the people in 00:04:07.319 --> 00:04:10.479 our church. We're going to talk about what it 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:15.490 means to experience and extend the pardon. Now 00:04:15.490 --> 00:04:17.250 in the passage of scripture, we're going to read 00:04:17.250 --> 00:04:19.750 today, which is kind of lengthy So if you want 00:04:19.750 --> 00:04:22.250 to follow along keep your Bible open, I won't 00:04:22.250 --> 00:04:24.290 read it in its entirety, but we'll work our way 00:04:24.290 --> 00:04:28.410 through it Peter comes to Jesus. He says Jesus 00:04:28.410 --> 00:04:31.689 How often do I have to forgive somebody? How 00:04:31.689 --> 00:04:34.310 many times do I have to forgive someone who's 00:04:34.310 --> 00:04:36.709 hurt harmed or humiliated me? How often do I 00:04:36.709 --> 00:04:39.329 have to do that and Peter has a proposition that 00:04:39.329 --> 00:04:44.779 he offers to Jesus then Jesus responds with a 00:04:44.779 --> 00:04:48.519 precept. He gives us a precept and then he gives 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:52.019 us a parable in which he illuminates this. So 00:04:52.019 --> 00:04:54.000 that's what we're gonna walk through today. Let's 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.860 begin with Peter's question of Jesus in verse 00:04:56.860 --> 00:05:00.899 21 of Matthew chapter 18. Then Peter came up 00:05:00.899 --> 00:05:05.980 and said to him, Lord, how many times shall my 00:05:05.980 --> 00:05:10.379 brother sin against me and I still forgive him? 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:16.939 Up to seven times? Jesus said to him, I do not 00:05:16.939 --> 00:05:22.379 say to you up to seven times, but up to 77 times. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:24.800 Now you may be reading from a translation that 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:28.819 says 70 times seven. That phrase, that mathematical 00:05:28.819 --> 00:05:31.360 phrase is a little difficult to interpret because 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:33.959 it's not in a lot of other Greek manuscripts. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:38.339 And so it is either 77 or it's 70 times seven. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:40.860 And we're not really sure, but either way, that's 00:05:40.860 --> 00:05:46.470 a lot, okay? Let's talk about this from the principles 00:05:46.470 --> 00:05:49.189 that Jesus is giving us. Here's the first principle 00:05:49.189 --> 00:05:53.990 Jesus gives us about forgiveness. Stop setting 00:05:53.990 --> 00:05:59.709 limitations on forgiveness. Stop setting limitations 00:05:59.709 --> 00:06:03.430 on forgiveness. You see, there was a big debate 00:06:03.430 --> 00:06:08.430 in the society of Jesus Day and among the Jewish 00:06:08.430 --> 00:06:10.970 rabbis who were the teachers of the people about 00:06:10.970 --> 00:06:13.370 how many times should you forgive somebody. There 00:06:13.370 --> 00:06:15.610 was this one group of rabbis who were teaching, 00:06:16.430 --> 00:06:19.329 you are under no obligation to forgive anybody 00:06:19.329 --> 00:06:24.990 unless they come to you, they say, I'm sorry, 00:06:25.269 --> 00:06:28.089 I was wrong, please forgive me. If they come 00:06:28.089 --> 00:06:31.769 to you in contrition and they're humbled and 00:06:31.769 --> 00:06:34.589 they're honest about it, then you have to forgive 00:06:34.589 --> 00:06:36.389 them. But until they do, you don't forgive them. 00:06:37.269 --> 00:06:42.000 There were other rabbis who said, no, The first 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.819 time someone offends you, you have to forgive 00:06:44.819 --> 00:06:48.240 them. God forgives us, and so you have to extend 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:51.079 forgiveness to people. Now the second time, not 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:53.899 so much. It's kind of the old Irish proverb, 00:06:54.680 --> 00:06:58.019 fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame 00:06:58.019 --> 00:07:00.660 on me. So after the first time, you don't have 00:07:00.660 --> 00:07:02.600 to fear them anymore. There was another group 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:05.879 of rabbis that said, no, You have to forgive 00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:08.139 up to seven times. Now, you need to understand 00:07:08.139 --> 00:07:11.560 something. In the Bible, numbers are significant 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:14.300 many times. And the number seven is the number 00:07:14.300 --> 00:07:17.019 for completion. Think about seven days of creation. 00:07:17.399 --> 00:07:21.779 It was completed. So after seven, no grace for 00:07:21.779 --> 00:07:26.139 you, okay? I mean, it is done. But up to seven, 00:07:26.220 --> 00:07:28.920 you got to forgive. So Peter comes to Jesus and 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:32.540 he says, hey, Jesus. Look at how gracious, how 00:07:32.540 --> 00:07:35.879 merciful, how spiritually mature I am. I'm siding 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:39.420 with the most gracious rabbis. I'm saying up 00:07:39.420 --> 00:07:42.019 to seven times. Aren't you proud of me, Jesus? 00:07:43.699 --> 00:07:47.480 And Jesus says, no, Pete, that's not the way 00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:50.879 it works, bud. He says, I don't say to you up 00:07:50.879 --> 00:07:54.199 to seven times. Now Jesus, either way you look 00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:59.279 at it, multiplies. the numbers of times that 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:02.620 we have to forgive. He places an obligation on 00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:07.360 us that is really quite eye -opening. He either 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:11.300 says up to 77 times or up to 70 times 7. Now, 00:08:11.300 --> 00:08:13.720 some of you have done the math. That's 490 times. 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:16.180 Okay, at 491 I don't have to forgive anymore, 00:08:16.339 --> 00:08:23.560 right? The word forgive means to erase. So I 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:26.790 want you to think about this. You offend me and 00:08:26.790 --> 00:08:28.990 I've got a white marker board in my office and 00:08:28.990 --> 00:08:32.830 I put your name on it I put one right there You 00:08:32.830 --> 00:08:35.690 hurt me you you did something that harmed me. 00:08:35.690 --> 00:08:38.649 You did something harm my family So you have 00:08:38.649 --> 00:08:41.690 offended me. I got a one right there and then 00:08:41.690 --> 00:08:47.690 I forgive you and I erase it and the count starts 00:08:47.690 --> 00:08:53.799 all over You see what Jesus is teaching? is not 00:08:53.799 --> 00:08:57.559 that you get to keep score. It's that there are 00:08:57.559 --> 00:09:02.860 no limitations on forgiveness. Now that's powerful 00:09:02.860 --> 00:09:06.299 and it's stark. And to be quite honest with you, 00:09:06.340 --> 00:09:11.399 it seems difficult. It really does. See what 00:09:11.399 --> 00:09:14.259 Jesus is saying to you and me is that we set 00:09:14.259 --> 00:09:18.940 limits on forgiveness and God doesn't. This past 00:09:18.940 --> 00:09:22.259 Monday night I got home I was actually preaching 00:09:22.259 --> 00:09:24.700 out of town and I got back in time to see the 00:09:24.700 --> 00:09:27.179 end of that national championship game. I must 00:09:27.179 --> 00:09:30.100 be honest with you, I was disappointed. I'm not 00:09:30.100 --> 00:09:32.440 a huge Houston fan, but as a Tennessee volunteer, 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:35.899 I was really pulling for Florida to lose. It's 00:09:35.899 --> 00:09:37.639 not I wanted Houston to win, I just wanted Florida 00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:40.259 to lose and I got disappointed. But with a minute 00:09:40.259 --> 00:09:42.360 and 24 seconds left in the basketball game, one 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:46.320 of Houston's best players committed a silly foul. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:48.590 He shouldn't have done it. I mean, he should 00:09:48.590 --> 00:09:50.470 have been, had his head in the game more. He 00:09:50.470 --> 00:09:52.629 committed a silly foul and he fouled out. It 00:09:52.629 --> 00:09:54.830 was his fifth foul. And he goes to the bench 00:09:54.830 --> 00:09:57.110 and he can't participate anymore. You see, that's 00:09:57.110 --> 00:09:58.690 what we want to do with forgiveness. We want 00:09:58.690 --> 00:10:01.590 to say, okay, where is the number that I get 00:10:01.590 --> 00:10:03.629 to put people on the bench? I get to put them 00:10:03.629 --> 00:10:08.750 out of my life. I get to no longer have to deal 00:10:08.750 --> 00:10:11.799 with them. All the mess that they bring into 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:15.480 my life and what Jesus is saying to us is stop 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:19.360 setting limitations on forgiveness Now we rationalize 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:21.779 why we can set limitations on forgiveness. Let 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:23.980 me give you a few of these that I've tried to 00:10:23.980 --> 00:10:27.000 think through First of all, some of us say I 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:31.379 can't forgive because the hurt is too big The 00:10:31.379 --> 00:10:34.620 hurt is just too big Now I want to speak directly 00:10:34.620 --> 00:10:37.919 to some of you and an audience this size with 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:42.970 campuses and I know this is out there. Some of 00:10:42.970 --> 00:10:47.570 you have been hurt in a really big way. Some 00:10:47.570 --> 00:10:52.649 people have suffered abuse, and some people have 00:10:52.649 --> 00:10:57.809 suffered betrayal. Some people have been hurt 00:10:57.809 --> 00:11:01.330 in ways that are big. And I'm going to tell you 00:11:01.330 --> 00:11:04.110 that forgiveness doesn't mean you minimize the 00:11:04.110 --> 00:11:09.929 hurt. It's real. It's hard. It is big. But I 00:11:09.929 --> 00:11:12.190 want you to see this from a different angle and 00:11:12.190 --> 00:11:17.909 that is That the longer you hang on to that big 00:11:17.909 --> 00:11:21.710 hurt the more of a burden it becomes on your 00:11:21.710 --> 00:11:25.889 life So some of us just keep waiting for that 00:11:25.889 --> 00:11:28.409 person to finally come to the realization that 00:11:28.409 --> 00:11:31.269 they're wrong and They're gonna come back and 00:11:31.269 --> 00:11:35.610 they're gonna apologize And here's what they've 00:11:35.610 --> 00:11:38.950 done. You've rationalized why you can't forgive. 00:11:39.470 --> 00:11:42.750 They've minimized what they've done. And until 00:11:42.750 --> 00:11:45.230 the Spirit of God reveals it to them, and for 00:11:45.230 --> 00:11:46.929 some who are lost, it's not gonna happen in this 00:11:46.929 --> 00:11:49.429 lifetime, they minimize what is done. I mean, 00:11:49.429 --> 00:11:50.789 if you even went and talked to them and said, 00:11:51.149 --> 00:11:53.730 how bad that they hurt you. I mean, they'd do 00:11:53.730 --> 00:11:56.649 the, but did you die? I mean, they'd say that. 00:11:56.690 --> 00:11:59.190 I mean, it was like, they minimize what they 00:11:59.190 --> 00:12:03.039 did to you. I realize the hurt is too big. But 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:06.460 the burden is too big to carry. You need to let 00:12:06.460 --> 00:12:09.580 it go. The second rationalization that we use, 00:12:10.580 --> 00:12:16.159 I need more time. I need more time. Now, forgiveness 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:21.559 is a decision and a process. It's both a decision 00:12:21.559 --> 00:12:24.620 and a process. It's not just either or. You must 00:12:24.620 --> 00:12:27.500 decide to forgive, but you have to forgive over 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:31.139 and over and over sometimes. This past week. 00:12:31.139 --> 00:12:33.379 I had lunch with a friend and he brought up a 00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:36.139 situation in which quite honestly I I was hurt 00:12:36.139 --> 00:12:38.879 and I it brought you know it brought back some 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:41.179 of those old memories of some of that what I 00:12:41.179 --> 00:12:44.720 went through and I Remember going out after lunch. 00:12:44.779 --> 00:12:47.159 I sat in my truck and I said Lord once again. 00:12:47.340 --> 00:12:52.960 I forgive them. I set them free because I The 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:57.559 more time I take with that the more that digs 00:12:57.559 --> 00:13:01.590 into my soul It's sort of like a plant a weed 00:13:01.590 --> 00:13:04.269 and here's how the writer of Hebrews put it see 00:13:04.269 --> 00:13:06.389 to it that no one comes short of the grace of 00:13:06.389 --> 00:13:09.149 God and That no root of bitterness springing 00:13:09.149 --> 00:13:12.929 up causes trouble and by it many be defiled see 00:13:12.929 --> 00:13:16.690 what happens when I don't forgive a very real 00:13:16.690 --> 00:13:22.330 hurt is that that offense Becomes a root of bitterness 00:13:22.330 --> 00:13:25.889 and then it springs up and listen to what the 00:13:25.889 --> 00:13:28.769 writer of Hebrews says by it many are defiled 00:13:28.750 --> 00:13:31.470 I want you to understand this. You cannot be 00:13:31.470 --> 00:13:34.529 bitter toward one person. You can't be bitter 00:13:34.529 --> 00:13:36.070 toward one person. You can be angry with one 00:13:36.070 --> 00:13:38.529 person, but you can't be bitter toward one person. 00:13:39.210 --> 00:13:42.509 Because bitterness is not a rifle shot that goes 00:13:42.509 --> 00:13:46.649 to one person. Bitterness is buckshot. And it 00:13:46.649 --> 00:13:49.450 hits everybody around you. And it hurts everybody 00:13:49.450 --> 00:13:52.950 around you. So this, I need more time. Now it 00:13:52.950 --> 00:13:55.009 may take some time to work through a process 00:13:55.009 --> 00:13:59.100 of forgiveness, but start today. Start today. 00:13:59.500 --> 00:14:05.620 Number three, they aren't sorry. No, they're 00:14:05.620 --> 00:14:07.799 probably not. They don't even think what they 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:10.080 did was wrong or somehow they've made excuses 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:12.740 for it. And what we want to do is that until 00:14:12.740 --> 00:14:14.779 they tell us they're sorry, we're going to keep 00:14:14.779 --> 00:14:17.679 them in a prison cell in our mind. We're going 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:21.549 to punish them. Because if I forgive them I set 00:14:21.549 --> 00:14:25.529 a prisoner free. Yes Forgiveness sets a prisoner 00:14:25.529 --> 00:14:32.490 free, but what I find is the prisoner is me When 00:14:32.490 --> 00:14:36.309 I forgive I set myself free or allow God to set 00:14:36.309 --> 00:14:40.970 me free from the burden and number four they'll 00:14:40.970 --> 00:14:45.789 just do it again I've heard this one before you've 00:14:45.789 --> 00:14:48.649 said it before I've said they'll just do it again 00:14:50.669 --> 00:14:57.889 Peter's question and Jesus answer Assumes they'll 00:14:57.889 --> 00:15:05.350 do it again up to seven times Maybe more Let 00:15:05.350 --> 00:15:09.509 me I want you to hear me forgiveness is always 00:15:09.509 --> 00:15:17.090 risky business It's always risky business, it's 00:15:17.090 --> 00:15:22.259 a relational risk To say I forgive you. I wipe 00:15:22.259 --> 00:15:24.960 the slate clean. I'm not gonna bring this up 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:27.980 anymore This is not going to be a barrier between 00:15:27.980 --> 00:15:31.519 you and me As much as possible now I do need 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:33.700 to say one thing to bring clarity to this and 00:15:33.700 --> 00:15:35.539 I don't have time to go into it today I promise 00:15:35.539 --> 00:15:40.559 I will Forgiveness and reconciliation are two 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:43.899 different things Forgiveness is part of reconciliation, 00:15:43.899 --> 00:15:47.840 but reconciliation goes a step farther There 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:52.200 are some cases when forgiveness is imperative 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:57.720 in your life, but reconciliation is perhaps not 00:15:57.720 --> 00:16:02.559 possible or wise. I think specifically about 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:05.500 abuse cases. So let's just kind of think in terms 00:16:05.500 --> 00:16:09.340 of that. Now, Jesus says stop setting limitations 00:16:09.340 --> 00:16:12.240 on forgiveness, but then he tells a parable. 00:16:12.700 --> 00:16:15.519 He goes immediately into a story about forgiveness. 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:18.799 And the second thing that Jesus would say to 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:21.960 us is, you first of all need to see your great 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:24.120 need for forgiveness. After you stop setting 00:16:24.120 --> 00:16:26.720 limitations, here's why you can stop setting 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:28.799 limitations, because you need to see your great 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:32.240 need for forgiveness. He tells his story beginning 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:35.600 at verse 23. For this reason, the kingdom of 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:39.100 heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts 00:16:39.100 --> 00:16:42.039 with his slaves. And when he had begun to settle 00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:48.220 them, one who owed him 10, Thousand talents was 00:16:48.220 --> 00:16:50.759 brought to him, but since he did not have the 00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:54.139 means to repay His master commanded that he be 00:16:54.139 --> 00:16:58.200 sold along with his wife and children and all 00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:01.659 that he had and repayment be made So the slave 00:17:01.659 --> 00:17:03.980 fell to the ground and prostrated himself before 00:17:03.980 --> 00:17:06.779 him saying have patience with me and I will repay 00:17:06.779 --> 00:17:11.200 you everything and the master of that slave felt 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:15.920 compassion and He released him and he forgave 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:22.019 him the debt. This king has a, my translation 00:17:22.019 --> 00:17:25.640 says slave, some translations say servant. And 00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:28.519 this servant, when the king audits the books, 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:31.640 the king's kinda suspicious some money's missing 00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:36.079 or being wasted, so he has a doge. They go in 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:40.359 and look at all the books. And they find out 00:17:40.359 --> 00:17:43.509 that this one guy, This King's Elan finds out 00:17:43.509 --> 00:17:49.470 this one guy has somehow managed to either squander, 00:17:50.150 --> 00:17:57.250 embezzle, or waste 10 ,000 talents. So when you 00:17:57.250 --> 00:18:00.730 think slave or servant, you can't think about 00:18:00.730 --> 00:18:05.029 the guy who cleaned the palace latrine. That's 00:18:05.029 --> 00:18:07.710 not this servant. He would not have access to 00:18:07.710 --> 00:18:10.849 that kind of money. But everyone who served the 00:18:10.849 --> 00:18:16.920 king was a king's servant. So this guy is someone 00:18:16.920 --> 00:18:23.960 who has access to a lot of money. 10 ,000 talents 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:30.119 is an absolutely unimaginable sum of money in 00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:32.579 the day and age of Jesus. Our national debt is 00:18:32.579 --> 00:18:37.099 at $37 trillion. I can't even fathom how many 00:18:37.099 --> 00:18:40.680 zeros that is and how much money that is. I mean, 00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:43.680 this guy has squandered that kind of money. I 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:45.619 mean, it's like billions and billions, maybe 00:18:45.619 --> 00:18:48.319 trillions and trillions. He has just run up a 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:52.380 debt that is just incredible. And you go, how 00:18:52.380 --> 00:18:53.960 could he have possibly done that? Well, he's 00:18:53.960 --> 00:19:09.859 a government department head. possible sum to 00:19:09.859 --> 00:19:16.099 repay. It is absolutely impossible for him to 00:19:16.099 --> 00:19:21.259 repay this. And so the king is ready to throw 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:24.920 him in prison. Not just him, but his wife and 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:27.059 his children are gonna be sold as slaves. They're 00:19:27.059 --> 00:19:28.900 gonna apply that against the debt. They're gonna 00:19:28.900 --> 00:19:30.779 sell his house. They're gonna sell his wife's 00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:34.920 jewelry. It's all gonna be liquidated. But the 00:19:34.920 --> 00:19:37.200 truth is that no matter how much money he raises 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:39.720 in this, It's not gonna make a difference, it's 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:44.619 not gonna make a dent. Because this sum of money 00:19:44.619 --> 00:19:49.200 that he owes the king is an absolute unpayable 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:54.599 debt. And that is exactly the picture that Jesus 00:19:54.599 --> 00:20:01.019 wants to paint. You see, we owe our king an unpayable 00:20:01.019 --> 00:20:06.559 debt. The picture of this king. Who hears the 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:11.119 pleading of his servant for mercy and? When the 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:15.559 king says he felt compassion for him he released 00:20:15.559 --> 00:20:19.740 him and he forgave the debt it is the picture 00:20:19.740 --> 00:20:24.839 of Our unpayable debt to our king we have a sin 00:20:24.839 --> 00:20:28.920 debt That there is no way that all the rituals 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:32.660 all the religious ceremonies all the baptisms 00:20:32.660 --> 00:20:36.769 all the all the tithing all the acts of service 00:20:36.769 --> 00:20:38.930 to the kingdom, go to a foreign country, be a 00:20:38.930 --> 00:20:41.230 missionary, devote your life to Him. You can't 00:20:41.230 --> 00:20:45.509 make a dent in your sin debt. But we have a gracious 00:20:45.509 --> 00:20:53.190 King who says, I will forgive your unpayable 00:20:53.190 --> 00:20:58.309 debt. It's amazing. You see, this servant did 00:20:58.309 --> 00:21:07.630 not deserve forgiveness. And neither do I. Couple 00:21:07.630 --> 00:21:12.170 of weeks ago. I mean as a as the parent of a 00:21:12.170 --> 00:21:13.769 high school student as a parent of a high school 00:21:13.769 --> 00:21:18.369 athlete I was absolutely stunned. It's really 00:21:18.369 --> 00:21:22.289 bothered me The story that came out of the track 00:21:22.289 --> 00:21:26.569 meet in Frisco, Texas about one student stabbing 00:21:26.569 --> 00:21:30.289 another student Austin Medcalf was the student 00:21:30.289 --> 00:21:33.789 who died. By the way, there is a family connection 00:21:33.789 --> 00:21:35.589 in our church. You could just pray for someone 00:21:35.589 --> 00:21:38.650 without knowing their name necessarily. And I've 00:21:38.650 --> 00:21:42.349 prayed with them and extended my compassion toward 00:21:42.349 --> 00:21:45.170 them. But it really bothered me. But let me tell 00:21:45.170 --> 00:21:48.289 you what challenged me. The morning after it 00:21:48.289 --> 00:21:51.150 happened, Jeff Medcalf, Austin's father, was 00:21:51.150 --> 00:21:55.670 talking to Fox 4 News out of Dallas. And they 00:21:55.670 --> 00:21:58.029 asked him how he felt toward the young man who 00:21:58.029 --> 00:22:00.789 had done this. And Jeff Metcalf's statement was, 00:22:01.230 --> 00:22:07.230 I've already forgiven him. Now, I'm going to 00:22:07.230 --> 00:22:09.450 tell you how challenged I was by that. I don't 00:22:09.450 --> 00:22:12.509 know where I am on that. I mean, if I put myself 00:22:12.509 --> 00:22:15.309 in his shoes, I don't know. I don't know if I 00:22:15.309 --> 00:22:20.210 can say that. But I was impressed by Jeff's walk 00:22:20.210 --> 00:22:23.210 with the Lord to be able to say, I know I needed 00:22:23.210 --> 00:22:25.309 to forgive him and I've started. I've made the 00:22:25.309 --> 00:22:27.490 decision and I bet it's a process. But he says, 00:22:27.609 --> 00:22:31.309 I'm doing that. And some would say, but that 00:22:31.309 --> 00:22:33.390 kid didn't deserve to be forgiven. No, and neither 00:22:33.390 --> 00:22:39.009 did I. But there is a God in heaven who issues 00:22:39.009 --> 00:22:43.190 to me a full free pardon for my unpayable debt. 00:22:44.450 --> 00:22:47.769 And so Jesus would say, we need to see our great 00:22:47.769 --> 00:22:51.960 need for forgiveness. You see I am convinced 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:55.819 of this That until you see the seriousness of 00:22:55.819 --> 00:22:58.559 your sin, you will never grasp the greatness 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:04.160 of his grace Until we understand the seriousness 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:07.079 of our sin, we will never grasp the greatness 00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:11.259 of his grace fourth or the third and finally 00:23:11.259 --> 00:23:14.880 There's a misprint if you take notes, so here's 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:18.920 the point start practicing authentic forgiveness 00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:22.440 Now to Jesus' audience when he tells his story 00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:26.440 about this gracious king who forgave this incredible 00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:29.339 sum of money, I mean, that would have been the 00:23:29.339 --> 00:23:33.319 end of a great story. But at verse 28, Jesus, 00:23:34.019 --> 00:23:38.160 the master storyteller, puts a twist in this 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:41.720 that nobody sees coming. Imagine listening to 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:45.440 this for the first time. But that slave, that 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:48.390 servant, the one who's been forgiven, went out 00:23:48.390 --> 00:23:50.910 and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 00:23:50.910 --> 00:23:54.210 a hundred denarii and He seized him and began 00:23:54.210 --> 00:23:58.190 choking him saying pay back what you owe So his 00:23:58.190 --> 00:24:00.670 fellow slave fell to the ground and began to 00:24:00.670 --> 00:24:03.769 plead with him saying have patience with me and 00:24:03.769 --> 00:24:08.589 I will repay you But he was unwilling and went 00:24:08.589 --> 00:24:11.190 and threw him in prison until he would pay back. 00:24:11.269 --> 00:24:14.710 What was owed So when his fellow slave saw what 00:24:14.710 --> 00:24:17.710 had happened They were deeply grieved and came 00:24:17.710 --> 00:24:19.890 and reported to their master all that had happened, 00:24:20.349 --> 00:24:24.690 then summoning him. His master said to him, you 00:24:24.690 --> 00:24:29.549 wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because 00:24:29.549 --> 00:24:33.349 you pleaded with me. Should you not have also 00:24:33.349 --> 00:24:36.269 had mercy on your fellow slave in the same way 00:24:36.269 --> 00:24:39.950 that I had mercy on you? And his master moved 00:24:39.950 --> 00:24:41.970 with anger, handed him over to the torturers 00:24:41.970 --> 00:24:45.380 until he would repay all that was owed him. My 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:48.160 heavenly father will also do the same to you 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:51.319 if each of you does not forgive his brother From 00:24:51.319 --> 00:24:55.799 the heart there's a twist in the story This guy's 00:24:55.799 --> 00:24:58.980 been forgiven an unpayable debt He would have 00:24:58.980 --> 00:25:00.799 been in bankruptcy for the rest of his life, 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:05.559 and he's been set free He goes out There's one 00:25:05.559 --> 00:25:08.980 of his co -workers. It says fellow slave a fellow 00:25:08.980 --> 00:25:12.579 servant There's one of his co -workers Maybe 00:25:12.579 --> 00:25:14.579 he's a guy that he had loaned a hundred denarii 00:25:14.579 --> 00:25:19.680 to. And the Bible says that he goes over to him. 00:25:19.859 --> 00:25:22.660 He demands repayment when he doesn't pay up, 00:25:22.660 --> 00:25:26.460 he chokes him. The guy falls to the ground and 00:25:26.460 --> 00:25:29.079 he pleads for mercy and he uses almost the exact 00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:32.079 same words that this servant had used with the 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:38.980 king. He owed him a hundred denarii. Let me tell 00:25:38.980 --> 00:25:40.779 you about a hundred denarii. I told you about 00:25:40.779 --> 00:25:43.940 ten thousand talents like this is unpayable debt 00:25:43.940 --> 00:25:49.539 a hundred denarii Was about four months wages 00:25:49.539 --> 00:25:53.140 for the average working person in the days of 00:25:53.140 --> 00:25:57.380 Jesus You made a denarii day take out the 52 00:25:57.380 --> 00:26:02.220 Sabbaths and so that's about four months wages 00:26:02.220 --> 00:26:06.180 Last year in America the median income was $58 00:26:06.180 --> 00:26:10.539 ,000 the median income. Let's round up to 60. 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:14.119 Four months' wages would be a third of that, 00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:19.200 $20 ,000. You are forgiven an unimaginable sum 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:23.160 of money, and somebody owes you $20 ,000. Now 00:26:23.160 --> 00:26:26.859 look, $20 ,000 is not nothing, right? But it's 00:26:26.859 --> 00:26:29.500 manageable. I mean, if you look at the balance 00:26:29.500 --> 00:26:31.960 on your car note, some of you owe more than that. 00:26:32.259 --> 00:26:34.500 But you got a payment plan. You're paying this 00:26:34.500 --> 00:26:39.440 debt off. This debt is manageable. It could be 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:43.779 it could have been repaid but this servant refuses 00:26:43.779 --> 00:26:49.200 To extend the same forgiveness that he's received 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:54.160 No one challenge you With a simple statement 00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:57.440 When it comes to those of us, especially who 00:26:57.440 --> 00:27:02.039 are followers of Jesus who have experienced the 00:27:02.039 --> 00:27:06.410 radical grace and mercy of God that has completely 00:27:06.410 --> 00:27:09.250 and totally forgiven us our sin. We have embraced 00:27:09.250 --> 00:27:12.650 the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross who has paid 00:27:12.650 --> 00:27:19.309 our full price. We have received forgiveness. 00:27:21.509 --> 00:27:30.089 Forgiven people should be forgiving people. Those 00:27:30.089 --> 00:27:33.089 of us who have experienced the grace of God in 00:27:33.089 --> 00:27:35.990 forgiveness through Jesus. should be the first 00:27:35.990 --> 00:27:40.950 to extend that forgiveness to other people. And 00:27:40.950 --> 00:27:43.250 when we don't practice authentic forgiveness, 00:27:44.069 --> 00:27:46.809 there's some fallout. First of all, there are 00:27:46.809 --> 00:27:49.710 shattered relationships. Four times in this part 00:27:49.710 --> 00:27:53.859 of the parable, He refers to fellow slaves. These 00:27:53.859 --> 00:27:55.720 are people that work together. These are people 00:27:55.720 --> 00:27:58.420 who lived around one another. These were people 00:27:58.420 --> 00:28:02.200 who forged friendships. And now because of unforgiveness, 00:28:02.500 --> 00:28:05.579 those relationships are shattered. Unforgiveness 00:28:05.579 --> 00:28:10.460 does that. Second, we lose the respect of others. 00:28:11.339 --> 00:28:14.440 His fellow servants watched him. First of all, 00:28:14.440 --> 00:28:16.180 they knew what had happened in the palace. They 00:28:16.180 --> 00:28:18.440 knew the king had forgiven him all this debt. 00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:23.690 And now they watch him. choking his fellow servant, 00:28:24.569 --> 00:28:26.690 and they lose respect for him. They go to the 00:28:26.690 --> 00:28:29.869 king. They tell the king what's going on. When 00:28:29.869 --> 00:28:33.569 I was in college, I was from a very small town, 00:28:33.730 --> 00:28:37.430 but when I was in college, my coach in high school, 00:28:38.049 --> 00:28:42.470 a man that I loved and respected, got cross ways 00:28:42.470 --> 00:28:44.589 with some folks. It's a small town, so some of 00:28:44.589 --> 00:28:46.329 you who are small town people, you kind of get 00:28:46.329 --> 00:28:49.259 this. He got cross with some people, some people 00:28:49.259 --> 00:28:53.279 got mad. There were some accusations made and 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:57.339 eventually they fired my coach. Well, it's a 00:28:57.339 --> 00:29:00.319 small town. He still lives in a small town. And 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:02.599 I came home from college one weekend and I go 00:29:02.599 --> 00:29:05.519 into the dairy bar. It's where you got a burger 00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:08.660 and a milkshake. I go in, my coach is in there. 00:29:09.180 --> 00:29:12.779 I love my coach. I go over and I sit down with 00:29:12.779 --> 00:29:16.339 my coach. We're talking. We didn't talk about 00:29:16.339 --> 00:29:18.220 anything about the firing. We're just talking. 00:29:18.259 --> 00:29:20.759 He's asking how college is all that sort of thing 00:29:20.759 --> 00:29:25.519 and a few minutes some people come in and They 00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:27.859 were talking and they said hey, have you heard 00:29:27.859 --> 00:29:32.720 about mr. Smith? Now mr. Smith I knew was kind 00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:35.599 of the ringleader He was kind of the one who 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:38.740 was really pushing for my coach to get fired. 00:29:39.059 --> 00:29:42.240 He was instrumental in I said, have you heard 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:45.359 about Mr. Smith? He's been diagnosed with stage 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:47.460 4 cancer. There's no cure for the cancer that 00:29:47.460 --> 00:29:55.339 he's got. And my coach said, couldn't have happened 00:29:55.339 --> 00:30:02.200 to a nicer guy. I love my coach. I still love 00:30:02.200 --> 00:30:06.880 my coach. He's in heaven. But my respect for 00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:13.099 him that day wasn't drained. But it took a hit 00:30:13.099 --> 00:30:19.180 My respect for him that day went down You see 00:30:19.180 --> 00:30:22.980 When you are unforgiving when you let that root 00:30:22.980 --> 00:30:27.539 of bitterness spill out It ruins your testimony. 00:30:29.019 --> 00:30:32.259 I Mean, why would the people around you in your 00:30:32.259 --> 00:30:34.140 office or in your neighborhood or the other parents 00:30:34.140 --> 00:30:37.079 on your kids team? Why would they want this grace 00:30:37.079 --> 00:30:39.259 that we talk about if that's what it produces? 00:30:40.650 --> 00:30:45.109 It ruins our testimony. But third and finally, 00:30:46.150 --> 00:30:51.849 when we are unforgiving, we experience the displeasure 00:30:51.849 --> 00:30:57.089 of our king. He, in a very dramatic way in the 00:30:57.089 --> 00:31:01.769 parable, experiences both the best favor of his 00:31:01.769 --> 00:31:05.130 king in one moment, but now he experiences the 00:31:05.130 --> 00:31:08.950 displeasure of his king. And just let me say 00:31:08.950 --> 00:31:12.140 this to you. Those of you especially who are 00:31:12.140 --> 00:31:17.200 followers of Jesus God desires to bless you God 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:20.660 desires to pour out his favor upon you, but there 00:31:20.660 --> 00:31:23.000 is absolutely no doubt about this. This is biblically 00:31:23.000 --> 00:31:28.460 true Unforgiveness blocks God's best blessings 00:31:28.460 --> 00:31:34.299 in your life It always does If you have an unforgiving 00:31:34.299 --> 00:31:37.799 spirit God will not pour out his blessings and 00:31:37.799 --> 00:31:44.779 favor on you He just won't. And that's why you 00:31:44.779 --> 00:31:48.579 need to pursue a decision that leads to a process 00:31:48.579 --> 00:31:55.700 where you forgive. You pardon. You set them free. 00:31:56.380 --> 00:32:03.279 You let it go. Why? Because forgiven people are 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:09.450 forgiving people. You've been listening to a 00:32:09.450 --> 00:32:11.750 message from First Baptist Church, Wichita Falls. 00:32:12.269 --> 00:32:14.690 For more information about First Baptist, including 00:32:14.690 --> 00:32:17.430 gathering times and locations, click the link 00:32:17.430 --> 00:32:21.549 in the show notes or go to FBCWF .org. We'll 00:32:21.549 --> 00:32:22.410 see you next week.