This would be a great place to live if everyone lived by this Bible principle. The fact is, many among us would be irate, to say the least, if others treated us the way we treat others.
Illus: Have you ever been on the side of the road trying to get someone to allow you to enter the traffic flow? Car after car drives by, and it appears they can not see you in your predicament. At least that is what they would like you to think.
But I have noticed something. (humor) If it happens to be a nice looking woman, in a nice car, it is amazing how many men can see her predicament.
If it happens to be a nice looking man, it is amazing how many women can see him in this predicament, and will allow him to enter the traffic lane.
But suppose the shoe was on the other foot. Suppose they are the person trying to get out into the traffic flow, but every one drives by them as if the only thing they have to do is sit all day on the road side and watch the traffic go by. THEY WOULD BE UPSET!
In times like this, you wish you had a ten foot banner that you could hold up that says, “DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM TO DO UNTO YOU!”
We often say, “Children are rough on each other!” They can be unmerciful in how they treat each other!
But children are not the only ones who are unmerciful in how they treat each other. For example, they might say to each other:
• You are ugly!
• You smell!
• You have bad breath!
• You are dumb!
• What tribe do you come from?
It seems there isn’t anything they won’t say to each other!
But listen, as rude and unmerciful as boys and girls are with each other, I have seen adults act just as bad if not worse.
They do not care in the slightest how they might hurt or embarrass someone. For example, have you ever seen an adult:
• That had a full head of hair, walk up to a man who has lost his hair, and make fun of him
• That was thin, walk up to a person who has a weight problem due to a health condition, and make fun of him
• That was a college graduate, walk up to a person who does not have a good education, and make fun of their poor grammar
Some of the meanest and unkindest things that can be imagined are done by childish adults. And many times it comes from those who profess to be saved.
If anyone did the same thing to them, in the same way, they would be furious.
There isn’t a person here that is exempt from someone making fun of them and embarrassing them. But the folks that do this have such a high opinion of themselves, they think they are above being picked on.
A person that does this, does it for one or two reasons:
• They do it because of contempt for the person they are trying to hurt or embarrass
• Their parents raised a stupid child
It could be a combination of both of these.
The Lord told this parable so we can see how UNMERCIFUL, MEAN-STREAKED, and UNKIND SOME FOLKS CAN BE.
I. LOOK AT THE SITUATION
Look at Matt. 18:21-22, we read, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”
Notice the motivation for this parable comes from a question that Peter asked the Lord Jesus.
Look at verse 21, we read, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?”
Notice, Peter asked the Lord how many times he should forgive a brother. He asked, “Should I do it seven times?”
WHY DID HE CHOOSE THE NUMBER 7?
The number 7 is the number of completion or perfection. Possibly, since that number stands for completion or perfection, he chose this particular number to show complete forgiveness.
We do not know exactly why he chose the number 7. He could have just randomly chosen this particular number. But we do know this; to forgive someone seven times is certainly being gracious.
Why? Because if you do some people wrong one time, they will never forgive you. NEVER! NEVER!
They might say they did, because they have concocted their own definition of forgiveness, but the fact is they DO NOT EVEN KNOW THE MEANING OF FORGIVENESS!
Peter wanted to know if seven times would be sufficient. He must have been shocked when the Lord said, in verse 22, “…I say not unto thee, until seven times; but, until seventy times seven.”
Someone might be saying, “You mean the Lord expects me to forgive someone 490 times?” Well, actually, the Lord said “Seventy times seven” because people said “Seven times.”
Had Peter said, a thousand times, the Lord most likely would have said, “A thousand times a thousand.” In other words, the Lord is teaching UNLIMITED FORGIVENESS.
He is a forgiving God, and because we have been forgiven by Him of our many trespasses, He now expects us to forgive others.
We have LOOKED AT THE SITUTATION, but also let’s-
II. LOOK AT THE SERVANT
Notice, this servant finds himself owing someone around 12 million dollars. When he was in this situation, he asked for mercy and received it.
Look at verses 23-27, we read, “Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.”
This servant had a debt of 10,000 talents.
The money exchange is difficult to establish, it ranges from 5 million to the billions. The amount of money that he owed, according to Dr. J. Vernon McGee, was around 12 million dollars.
The Lord uses a ridiculous figure of money, so that we might see how much He has forgiven us of the many sins we have committed.
The King was not only gracious to give him the time he requested to pay the debt, the king FORGAVE HIM OF THE DEBT ENTIRELY!
But now, when someone else was in the same situation, and came to him and asked him for forgiveness, HE WOULD NOT BE AS GRACIOUS!
Look at verses 28-31, we read, “But the SAME SERVANT went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence(around $17.00 dollars) and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. AND HE WOULD NOT: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.”
Illus: Someone said, “An unforgiving spirit shows that a person basically is ill-natured, self-centered, and spiritually immature. And unforgiveness reveals that a person has not grown to be like Christ in his nature and understanding, compassion and love.”
This explains why we see so many people with unforgiving hearts today among many professing Christians. They are spiritually immature and do not know a thing about the compassion of Christ.
Illus: In The Tale Of The Tardy Oxcart, Charles R. Swindoll, Word, p. 216 stated:
• We are most like beasts when we kill
• We are most like men when we judge
• We are most like God when we forgive
III. LOOK AT THE SOLUTION
Illus: When it comes to forgiveness, many folks remind me of the story that Chuck Swindoll tells of a converted boxer. It goes like this: A successful Irish boxer was converted, and became a preacher. He happened to be in a new town setting up his evangelistic tent, when a couple of tough thugs noticed what he was doing. Knowing nothing of his background, they made a few insulting remarks. The Irishman merely turned and looked at them. Pressing his luck, one of the bullies took a swing and struck a glancing blow on one side of the ex-boxer's face. He shook it off and said nothing as he turned the other cheek. The fellow took another glancing blow on the other side. At that point the preacher swiftly took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and announced, "The Lord gave me not further instructions." Whop! (The Tale Of The Tardy Oxcart
Charles R. Swindoll, Word, p. 214.)
While this may be humorous, it certainly is not scriptural, because the Lord did give us further instructions. The solution to the problem is what this parable is teaching - FORGIVENESS.
Illus: Dr. J. Vernon McGee, said, “If God forgave our sins in the same way we forgive others, none of us would be forgiven.”
Look at this servant who was forgiven of a debt of about 12 million dollars, but would not himself forgive someone else a debt of $17.00 dollars.
Look at verses 32-35, we read, “Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O THOU WICKED SERVANT, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”
Notice, the Lord said this was a “WICKED SERVANT”.
WHY DID THE LORD SAY THIS WAS A WICKED SERVANT?
Because the unforgiving have one set of rules that apply to themselves, and another set of rules that apply to others. They will cut themselves all kinds of slack, but they will not cut others any slack at all.
When we are truly saved, and we know how the Lord has forgiven us of our many sins, we can forgive someone who has done us wrong.
The reason the Lord called this servant wicked, was because he would not forgive.
We can only forgive others when we realize that God has forgiven us of what we have done, which is far worse than what anyone has done to us.
This is why the Bible says, in Ephesians 4:32, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
Some say, “I can forgive, but I CAN NOT FORGET!” It is true that perhaps you can’t forget, but you CAN forgive. Only God has the capacity to FORGIVE and FORGET!
But let’s look at what it means “Not to forget”. That is, we may have the ability to recall the offense to our minds, if we choose to do so, but for all practical purposes, we so disregard the offense that it is "out of mind."
How can we forgive AND forget?
Illus: In Reader's Digest, a contributor told of an Aunt Ruby and Uncle Arnie, who had adopted a baby boy after five years of trying unsuccessfully to conceive. To their surprise, a short time after the adoption, Aunt Ruby discovered she was pregnant, and she later gave birth to a boy.
One day when the two boys were eight and nine years old, the teller of the story was visiting Aunt Ruby, and a woman in the neighborhood came to visit. Observing the children at play, the woman asked, "Which boy is yours, Ruby?" "Both of them," Aunt Ruby replied.
The caller persisted. "But I mean, which one is adopted?" Aunt Ruby did not hesitate. In her finest hour, she looked straight at her guest and replied, "I've forgotten."
When we are adopted as God's children, we quickly come to cherish our heavenly Father's forgetfulness. For he chooses to forget our sins, to forget our wayward past, and to give us the full rights of sons and daughters. He treats us as if we had never sinned. (Contemporary Illustrations For Preachers, Teachers, & Writers Editor Craig Brian Larson, Baker Books, p. 13.)
Conclusion:
I started this with a question Peter asked, but I want to close with another question, “Can a person truly be forgiven when he will not forgive?”
Let’s see what the Word of Gods says about this, because we have a lot of folks today who say they are saved, and they have unforgiving hearts.
Look at verse 33-35, we read, “Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”
How ever you interpret these verses, I certainly do not want to find myself on judgment day with an unforgiving heart.
Because forgiveness is such a big issue, the Lord Jesus taught it on many occasions.
• Look at Matthew 5:7, we read, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
• Look at Luke 6:35-36, we read, “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
• Look at Matthew 6:14-15, we read, “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
• James 2:13, we read, “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.”
It just doesn’t look good on the Judgment day for those who have unforgiving hearts.
I. LOOK AT THE SITUATION
II. LOOK AT THE SERVANT
III. LOOK AT THE SOLUTION
You can hear Dr. Odell Belger preach on Youtube. Please type Youtube Lykesland
