Matthew 18:21-35 (Episode 378)

Matthew 18:21-35 (Episode 378)

Released Sunday, 29th December 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
Matthew 18:21-35 (Episode 378)

Matthew 18:21-35 (Episode 378)

Matthew 18:21-35 (Episode 378)

Matthew 18:21-35 (Episode 378)

Sunday, 29th December 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.

Use Ctrl + F to search

0:06

Hello listeners, this is Caleb Keith, director

0:08

of of the 1517 podcast network

0:10

with a special message for

0:12

you. for you. As the the year comes

0:14

to a close, the we podcast network want to

0:16

to thank you for being a

0:18

part of our mission. to declare

0:21

and defend the gospel of Jesus Christ.

0:24

For years, we've worked to share

0:26

the life -changing message of the

0:28

forgiveness of sins for you for

0:30

you. podcasts, articles, books, and events.

0:32

events. But we can't do it

0:34

without you. you. This year, we're

0:36

aiming to raise $300 ,000 campaign,

0:38

our end of year campaign

0:40

to sustain our mission and continue

0:43

creating content that proclaims the

0:45

good news of Jesus Christ to

0:47

the world. directly generosity directly supports

0:49

everything we do. podcasts producing one you're

0:51

the one you're listening to

0:53

right now, reaching reaching people at

0:55

home through articles, videos, and even

0:57

conferences the hope and are in need

0:59

of the hope and comfort

1:01

found only in the Gospel of

1:04

Christ. Would you Would you consider

1:06

giving a gift today? Every Every

1:08

donation, or big or small, helps us

1:10

share Christ's work. And again, our

1:12

our end of need is $300 ,000. Please

1:15

visit slash .org donate to

1:17

make your year -end gift

1:19

now. Thank you for partnering with

1:21

us to keep this message alive and thriving

1:23

for generations to come. to God's peace be

1:25

with you. you. Welcome

1:45

to another episode of of 30 minutes in the the

1:48

Testament 30 minutes in the New Testament the a

1:50

is a 1517 podcast. podcast You can go to

1:52

Go to 1517.org/podcast and check out all the

1:54

other living over there over there. While you're over

1:56

there make sure you check out everything

1:58

else the 1517 is doing It's the end

2:00

of the year guys when this comes

2:03

out is the very end of the

2:05

year and you still have time if

2:07

you haven't done it yet to make

2:10

that year end donation to 1517 to

2:12

keep all the stuff free keep the

2:14

podcast flowing free of charge into your

2:16

ear holes you know you need to

2:19

do it you know you get to

2:21

do it And so go ahead and

2:23

do that. You can go to the

2:25

website, go over to the donate link,

2:28

become a contributor. Thank you so much

2:30

to those of you who do that,

2:32

making all of it possible, keeping all

2:35

the good news, going over here at

2:37

15-17. Well, we are in Matthew Chapter

2:39

18. Jesus just got done talking about

2:41

some parables of a lost sheep, and

2:44

he says, man, tell you what, I'll

2:46

leave 99 sheep to go find one.

2:48

That's what I'll do. That bad sheep.

2:50

That sheep that's out there doing bad

2:53

stuff, I'll leave 99, go find him

2:55

and when I get him, I'm gonna

2:57

be excited. I'm gonna be rejoicing. Well,

2:59

the disciples rightly perceived it. He's talking

3:02

about sinners going astray. I mean, that's

3:04

what it means to be a sheep

3:06

that goes astray is that you didn't

3:09

just wander off sinlessly. No, no, no.

3:11

You got tempted away. And Peter wants

3:13

to know some stuff. And Peter wants

3:15

to know some stuff. Because Peter wants

3:18

to know some stuff, because after that,

3:20

because he said, hey, I just want

3:22

you to know that if your brother

3:24

sins against you, there's a sort of

3:27

an order to bring in that brother

3:29

back. But the whole goal here is

3:31

that, hey, you're trying to get your

3:34

brother back, just like I got that

3:36

lost sheet back. And of course, Peter,

3:38

he's got a question about this. I

3:40

mean, like immediately something or someone maybe

3:43

pops into Peter's head and he's like,

3:45

hmm. Let's just say, I'm with you.

3:47

Say it was the same person, like

3:49

how much, like what if it was

3:52

like the, don't you feel like guys

3:54

in this situation, Peter, it's not just

3:56

like a number question, but it's a

3:58

person question and Peter doesn't want to

4:01

say a name, but someone's in his

4:03

head where he's like, yeah, but like

4:05

what if someone's like really, really treading

4:08

on thin ice man, there's got to

4:10

be a limit. to like how often

4:12

you do this sort of thing. Yeah,

4:14

that's a reasonable question. I mean, you

4:17

know, in one sense, this is a

4:19

very reasonable question. It's very human. Very

4:21

human. Very human. Very human. And so

4:23

we picked up at verse 21. It

4:26

says, then Peter came up and said

4:28

to him, Lord, how often will my

4:30

brother sin against me and I forgive

4:33

him? So that that question is understandable.

4:35

It's like, well, what's the limit here?

4:37

Maybe it is James, you know, he's

4:39

just like, acts like my literal brother,

4:42

Lord. This guy, this guy. Who knows?

4:44

I mean, and it very well could

4:46

be. And so Peter wants to, I

4:48

mean, he knows he's dealing with a

4:51

God that's all about that grace. I

4:53

mean, he knows who he's dealing with.

4:55

And so he makes a suggestion. He

4:57

says as many as seven times. Now,

5:00

of course, the tradition at the time

5:02

in Judaism was that you were obligated

5:04

basically to forgive some three times. Peter's

5:07

doing double plus one. Yeah, I mean,

5:09

so you can tell, I mean, you

5:11

can just see Peter being like, I

5:13

know I must be on the right

5:16

track here, like going above and beyond.

5:18

radical forgiveness from Peter. Yes, double plus

5:20

one. Peter thinks like, I'm gonna throw

5:22

something out there that's gonna seem very

5:25

gracious, like to the Lord, like the

5:27

Lord's gonna be like, oh. Wow, Peter,

5:29

that's a great number. And not only

5:32

that, it's a very biblical number, Peter.

5:34

I mean, you're really on your completion.

5:36

Yes, you've been reading your Old Testament

5:38

having you, Peter. You're right, it is

5:41

seven times, actually. Yeah. But that is

5:43

not what Jesus says to him. Instead,

5:45

we read in verse 22, Jesus said

5:47

to him, I do not say to

5:50

you seven times, but 77 times. Now,

5:52

important to note, there's a couple different

5:54

ways that that can be translated. in

5:56

some of your translations it will say

5:59

70 times 7 times other times you

6:01

know it's four hundred ninety is not

6:03

a great biblical number though so we

6:06

had to do something with that yes

6:08

yes so you know they so So,

6:10

you know, depending on your, you know,

6:12

the way that the translators in your,

6:15

your version did it, the point here

6:17

is that no, you're supposed to go

6:19

way past seven times. In fact, you're

6:21

supposed to always be willing to forgive.

6:24

I did. Well, I think that probably

6:26

like Peter's, you can see it in

6:28

Peter's eyes probably and he's starting to

6:31

do math. Like he's got his fingers

6:33

out and he's like doing them and

6:35

Jesus is like, let me tell you

6:37

his story to explain to explain to

6:40

you. that you can stop doing the

6:42

math. He's like, I've only got 10

6:44

of these. Because the point here is

6:46

not like a number, right? So like,

6:49

don't get your hand up. Like, what

6:51

Jesus is saying is like, listen, dude,

6:53

there, the fact that you're asking how

6:55

many times is showing that you don't

6:58

get what I'm saying. So I'm going

7:00

to tell you a story. about that

7:02

you're going to really want to just

7:05

maybe forgive and don't worry about the

7:07

number of times that you're having to

7:09

do it. But I mean just because

7:11

I've heard it so many times I

7:14

think it's important to dispel in people

7:16

that there's you know some deeper secret

7:18

knowledge significance to the number that Jesus

7:20

is putting out here like there's no

7:23

like. We're not going to do some

7:25

specifically biblical mathematics on this to come

7:27

out with like the symbolic representational number

7:30

here that means until, you know, whatever.

7:32

And it's just, it's what Jesus is

7:34

just saying, yeah, you got to, Jesus

7:36

got to forgive him. Yeah. This is

7:39

stop keeping track. If anything, if there

7:41

is any sort of secret to this

7:43

number. you could connect it back to

7:45

Genesis Chapter 4 where Lamech who is

7:48

guilty of murder says at one point

7:50

in Chapter 4 verse 20 war if

7:52

Keynes revenge is sevenfold then Lamech is

7:54

77 fold and the whole idea is

7:57

that Lamech is saying he is His

7:59

vengeance is unstoppable. It goes on forever.

8:01

Well, Jesus sort of does the opposite.

8:04

He says, no, no, no, the mark

8:06

of the Christian is that you're going

8:08

to forgive in that kind of unstoppable

8:10

way. Right. So it's just like, listen,

8:13

this is what you do. You forgive

8:15

your brother. Yep. And so yeah, to

8:17

that, he does tell a parable illustrating

8:19

what it should look like. He says,

8:22

in verse 23, therefore the kingdom of

8:24

heaven may be compared to a king.

8:26

who wished to settle accounts with his

8:29

servants. When he began to settle, one

8:31

was brought to him who owed him

8:33

10,000 talents, which basically is just an

8:35

insurmountable large amount of money. And since

8:38

he could not pay, his master ordered

8:40

him to be sold with his wife

8:42

and children and all that he had

8:44

and payment to be made. So the

8:47

servant fell on his knees imploring him,

8:49

have patience with me, and I will

8:51

pay you everything. and out of pity

8:53

for him, the master of that servant

8:56

released him and forgave him the debt.

8:58

But when that same servant went out,

9:00

he found one of his fellow servants

9:03

who owed him a hundred denarii, and

9:05

seizing him, he began to choke him,

9:07

saying, Pay what you owe. So his

9:09

fellow servant fell down and pleaded with

9:12

him, Have patience with me and I

9:14

will pay you. He refused and went

9:16

and put him in prison until he

9:18

should pay the debt. When his fellow

9:21

servant saw what had taken place, they

9:23

were greatly distressed distressed. and they went

9:25

and reported to their master all that

9:28

had taken place. And his master summoned

9:30

him and said to him, You wicked

9:32

servant, I forgive you all that debt

9:34

because you pleaded with me. And should

9:37

not you have had mercy on your

9:39

fellow servant as I had mercy on

9:41

you? And in anger his master delivered

9:43

him to the jailers, until he should

9:46

pay all his debt. So also my

9:48

Heavenly Father will do to every one

9:50

of you, if you do not forgive

9:52

your brother from your heart. This is

9:55

the gospel of the Lord. I don't

9:57

have said it before, but they did.

9:59

Like when Jesus. This preaches the law

10:02

like he doesn't he does not mess

10:04

around. Yeah, he's no wayroom. No, man.

10:06

No, man. The law always accuses. Yeah,

10:08

and he's not doing it in a

10:11

way that's like giving you some sort

10:13

of man be pay and be checklist.

10:15

Like this is this is why you

10:17

end with and do it. Don't just

10:20

do it like with your mouth. You

10:22

got to do this from your heart

10:24

and it's like ooh. Okay. I always

10:27

wonder. I mean, we don't even spend

10:29

any time on this. But it's always

10:31

funny to me, like the concept of

10:33

throwing somebody in jail until they can

10:36

pay their debt is always just a

10:38

funny one to me. It's like, yeah,

10:40

well, they're now making money in jail.

10:42

That was initially why jails were built

10:45

or were formed. Debtors present or debtors.

10:47

Yeah. That's such a weird concept to

10:49

me. Didn't debtors present, I think this

10:51

is right, back in the day. They

10:54

farmed. Well, yeah, you were basically a

10:56

slave to the state at that point

10:58

and the state was like, well, we're

11:01

going to we're going to imprison this

11:03

person and they're going to do labor

11:05

and we're going to pay them. But

11:07

we're not actually going to pay them.

11:10

It's just going to go toward their

11:12

debt. So like you end up never

11:14

really working it off. Which would be

11:16

the same thing with our servant here,

11:19

by the way. I mean, there's no

11:21

chance of him being able to work

11:23

off 10,000 talents. Yeah. So a talent.

11:26

Generally, a talent is about like 20

11:28

years worth of wages. So if you

11:30

do that math, it would take him

11:32

like, if he gave everything, he needed

11:35

to live to be 200,000 years old

11:37

to pay this off, like it's an

11:39

absurd amount of money. Dan, did you

11:41

do that math without a calculator just

11:44

now? Yeah, that's weird. That's pretty impressive,

11:46

yeah. Well, he didn't have that eighth

11:48

grade algebra. And I always tell people,

11:50

you have to be weird with doing

11:53

sort of one-to-one analysis with things like

11:55

things like talents. This is measured always

11:57

in something that's just the idea of

12:00

time of time work. That's the only

12:02

way we can really do it. And

12:04

the idea of time work really. I'm

12:06

getting too in the weeds, I'm sure,

12:09

and so just make me shut up.

12:11

But the idea of like time value

12:13

really changed after the Industrial Revolution, let's

12:15

just do that. And so it's really

12:18

hard to do sort of comparisons between

12:20

our dollars or something like that. And

12:22

that's why it's always just compared to

12:25

time. It's supposed to be a insurmountable

12:27

amount of debt, like a debt that

12:29

you could never possibly pay out. A

12:31

debt that you could only owe to

12:34

God because it would be impossible, I

12:36

think, to even get in this much

12:38

debt with like another person, right? It

12:40

would never happen. Now, one of the

12:43

things that happens was- What did he

12:45

buy to getting that much debt? I

12:47

don't know even know how you could

12:49

owe this much, right? So this is

12:52

obviously, like, the point is that this

12:54

is a debt owed to the king,

12:56

owed to God, that you have a

12:59

debt that you could never ever ever

13:01

ever repay. Now, the other thing about

13:03

this that sometimes people do, that sometimes

13:05

people do, that sometimes people do, that

13:08

I think- is not a good thing

13:10

to do is they treat this other

13:12

debt as if it's absolutely nothing which

13:14

is not which is not true. It's

13:17

a hundred days worth of labor. It's

13:19

a hundred days worth of labor. Yeah,

13:21

so like that and so like is

13:24

it payable? Yes, but like it's not

13:26

ten bucks like it's not that it's

13:28

it's a lot of money like that

13:30

this other guy owes him. And I

13:33

think the reason that you should look

13:35

at it that way is that. in

13:37

life, like what the point of this

13:39

story is that you owe God something

13:42

that you could never ever ever repay.

13:44

And that there are debts that people

13:46

owe you and these obviously debt here

13:48

is synonymous with like being sent against.

13:51

This is like it's about forgiveness. But

13:53

you're going to have like legitimate. sin

13:55

happen against you, right? That is not

13:58

just no big deal, that you will

14:00

be called because of the great forgiveness

14:02

you get from Christ. Even that debt,

14:04

which seems like a decent-sized debt here,

14:07

like this guy really does owe this

14:09

to you, God does... that you would

14:11

forgive all things right that every that

14:13

you that that's that would be your

14:16

response this is the whole thing this

14:18

is the whole problem with the unforgiving

14:20

servant is that he does not really

14:23

recognize or appreciate just how much he

14:25

has been forgiven that's and that's why

14:27

he then feels justified in going after

14:29

this guy that owes him because he

14:32

doesn't really he really doesn't appreciate it

14:34

Here's what I here's how you to

14:36

deal with this. It's not just that

14:38

he doesn't appreciate it It's that and

14:41

that this is why this parable has

14:43

to do with faith and why forgiveness

14:45

has everything to do with faith Because

14:47

what this servant that's been forgiven all

14:50

of this massive debt doesn't do is

14:52

he doesn't trust it. I was saying

14:54

that's right. He doesn't believe it. He

14:57

thinks that like it may be the

14:59

case that this guy's gonna change his

15:01

mind so he's gathering up his his

15:03

his his hordess Correct. So he's like,

15:06

I'm going to need to go accumulate

15:08

what is owed to me so that

15:10

if this this guy changes his mind.

15:12

So he has this this this lack

15:15

of trust and what this good master

15:17

has done where he's like, I hear

15:19

it, but I'm not sure. Do I

15:22

really trust it? Can I really live?

15:24

Can I live the rest of my

15:26

life believing that this debt will not

15:28

be called? Uh, that's the problem. Because

15:31

if you Live your life not trusting

15:33

in the forgiveness that you have in

15:35

Christ this will? Make you someone then

15:37

who doesn't dole out forgiveness easily well,

15:40

and you're going to try to keep

15:42

gathering up your good works to pay

15:44

got back. Yeah, if we were to

15:46

back up to the I mean, there's

15:49

a part of this story that is

15:51

like really really really harsh and it

15:53

is not that the servant starts choking

15:56

his fellow servant the debt that the

15:58

original servant owes the master is so

16:00

big that the only way it could

16:02

be, you know, even come close to

16:05

being repaid is not just that the

16:07

servant be put into slavery, but that

16:09

his wife and his children be sold

16:11

and put into slavery and all that

16:14

he owns be sold and given to

16:16

the master. I mean, there's, that is

16:18

some. Talk about preaching the law, like

16:21

since he could not pay his master,

16:23

ordered him to be sold with his

16:25

wife and children, and all that he

16:27

had and the payment be made. If

16:30

you want to know at the end

16:32

of the day what you owe God

16:34

for your sin, it's that everything that

16:36

you are and everything that you value,

16:39

be sold, be taken from you, and

16:41

be given to God. So if you

16:43

want to know what you're being forgiven,

16:45

it's all of that. And what you're

16:48

being given is all of that. So

16:50

you're being forgiven everything and what you're

16:52

being given back is everything that you

16:55

could possibly think of valuing. And that's

16:57

the level of forgiveness that you're asked

16:59

to put trust in. And the fact

17:01

is you cannot put trust in it

17:04

and on your own and this is

17:06

also I think an example of that

17:08

you could not like just on your

17:10

own you could not believe that anybody

17:13

would do that that they had the

17:15

right over everything that was yours and

17:17

it was rightfully theirs now and that

17:20

they just gave it back to you.

17:22

Yeah. And. No questions asked. I give

17:24

you, and you can't, this is why

17:26

at the end of the day when

17:29

Jesus continues to talk about this, and

17:31

we've already had some chapters where he

17:33

has, and we'll have more where he

17:35

does, that this sort of faith is

17:38

just an absolute miracle of the Holy

17:40

Spirit. It just is an absolute miracle

17:42

of the Holy Spirit. And the illustration

17:44

that this guy does not have that

17:47

faith is the fact that he's going

17:49

and he's... his good works

17:51

because he's gonna try

17:54

to offer this

17:56

back to the this back

17:58

to the Or he

18:00

thinks that he might

18:03

have to Or you

18:05

said. that he might have to

18:07

the level said. he's been forgiven of

18:09

huge. been and what he's owed

18:11

to him is big owed to is of

18:13

value. is of value. But it's still not

18:16

anything that could come anywhere

18:18

close to what he actually owes

18:20

the the that's an important point

18:22

to make. It's not that

18:24

you don't have sins that have that have

18:26

been committed against you. you. Right. not

18:28

that people haven't done you wrong. you

18:30

wrong. And it's not necessarily

18:32

even saying that forgiveness is saying

18:34

that Ah, you know, it's real easy. oh, you

18:36

know, I mean, it's a I mean, it's a

18:38

death to self. Because when, when, I

18:40

in in literally in Greek

18:43

is, is like is like

18:45

to loosen or to release someone. Yeah.

18:47

And so and so you're you're

18:49

You're being asked to trust that God is

18:51

going to work all things out for good. out

18:53

for good you forgive someone.

18:55

someone. And being asked to

18:57

trust that he really really has

19:00

that of grace So then at

19:02

the end, this whole whole thing

19:04

is being set up in a, even,

19:06

even Peter's question that started this out from the

19:08

started this out from the last episode from this

19:10

one, how goes from this one, how many

19:12

times do I have to forgive, right? Peter's mind

19:15

mind is in the law, and he's thinking

19:17

about this in the terms of an

19:19

earthly economy. He wants to know. to know. Well,

19:21

if he's forgiven me once and

19:23

I've forgiven him forgiven him going above

19:26

and beyond and I've come out

19:28

ahead, right? and I've this is also

19:30

how the this about, but think about

19:32

how this switch thinking about, but the

19:34

end how this switch at, verse 35, where

19:36

it comes out of sort of

19:39

an earthly earthly economy and

19:41

it goes back into the reality

19:43

of the situation. So my heavenly

19:45

father will do every do every. due

19:47

to every one of you, if if you

19:49

do not forgive your brother from your heart.

19:51

your heart. And it changes this from from like a

19:53

one, two, two, three, four, five, six, seven,

19:55

eight, nine times where we're sort of counting

19:57

the way we count money money or the the

19:59

way count. assets or the way we count

20:02

our good works or something like that.

20:04

And it changes it into what is

20:06

the reality that it that in faith

20:08

by the work of the Holy Spirit

20:11

it's your heart that is the thing

20:13

that is changed and that your heart

20:15

that can cling to Christ alone and

20:17

believe. And that's what makes you realize

20:20

and believe and trust that like Dan

20:22

said that your these sins are actually

20:24

forgiven. And there's does two things for

20:26

you. One it gives you absolute... freedom

20:29

and it makes you realize that you

20:31

actually have no ground on which to

20:33

stand to not forgive someone else. Yeah,

20:35

well this is this is why you

20:38

know like Luther will say like all

20:40

forgiveness is God's forgiveness. Yeah. What he

20:42

means by that is just that the

20:45

only way is possible for you to

20:47

forgive others is to realize that you've

20:49

been forgiven right like all forgiveness what

20:51

to person a person flows from the

20:54

forgiveness that you have in Christ. So

20:56

if you're trusting in that then you

20:58

can. extend forgiveness to other people. I

21:00

think there's like a real practical thing

21:03

too here where I would do this

21:05

both ways where one, when you're dealing

21:07

with God or with other people, don't

21:09

ask for patience, ask for forgiveness. Don't

21:12

do this thing where you say like

21:14

just be patient with me and I

21:16

pay the whole thing. No, you won't.

21:18

You will not pay this whole thing.

21:21

Instead, just ask for the thing you

21:23

need, which is absolution. Ask for forgiveness

21:25

and you will get it. And also,

21:27

the second part of this, which is

21:30

what God expects from you, is when

21:32

your neighbor who sends against you, ask

21:34

for patience or ask to make it

21:37

up for you to give them forgiveness.

21:39

Give them the thing they need, not

21:41

the thing they're asking for. And then

21:43

I know it's a parable and you

21:46

don't want to draw too much from

21:48

too much from it. You like believe

21:50

in like, you know, Christ died for

21:52

everyone and like, you have, you're always

21:55

talking about the grace of God in

21:57

Christ and forgiveness and all this stuff.

21:59

But yet I hear you say that

22:01

you like don't believe in like once

22:04

saved, always saved. What's that? about, like,

22:06

how can these things go together? And

22:08

his parables like this, let you know,

22:10

you know, or they'll say, like, if

22:13

Christ died for all sins, then, like,

22:15

how can anyone be judged? And you're

22:17

like, well, there is a parable where

22:19

debt is reinstated quite obvious, like, it's

22:22

quite obvious, like, where this guy was

22:24

forgiven, and now his debt has been

22:26

reinstated because he didn't trust in that

22:28

forgiveness, man. You can see

22:31

the same principle, by the way, in

22:33

the parable of the sower, especially in

22:35

Luke's account of it, where the word

22:37

for believe that is used to describe

22:39

what the rocky soil and the thorny

22:41

soil do is the exact same word

22:43

for believe that is used in the

22:45

rest of the New Testament. Yeah, for

22:47

sure. And this is the thing, not

22:49

damning anyone here, but if you're reading

22:51

the New Testament, if you're reading Jesus

22:53

particularly, if you find yourself repeatedly, if

22:55

you find yourself repeatedly, just... unwilling to

22:57

forgive people like this should like give

23:00

you pause you should let the law

23:02

do its work that's not a good

23:04

thing right like that is that is

23:06

not something that that Christ you should

23:08

find that troubling because I this is

23:10

a big deal to him not just

23:12

for your neighbor but also I mean

23:14

just practically like we know what harboring

23:16

unforgiveness does to us psychologically well unforgiveness

23:18

choke out faith well it's I mean,

23:20

I don't think I'm going too far

23:22

here, and I think I know that

23:24

Dan, at least Dan agrees with me,

23:26

that's because I think we've talked about

23:29

it, but this is the sin against

23:31

the Holy Spirit at the end of

23:33

the day. Again, if it is, what

23:35

causes this man to go out and

23:37

seek his debt from the fellow servant

23:39

is that he does not trust in

23:41

the forgiveness that he's been granted, you

23:43

know, does not trust that it's enough,

23:45

and is therefore really rejecting it. That's

23:47

what that's what it is at the

23:49

end of the day to be unforgiving

23:51

is to reject. your forgiveness. And that

23:53

is, you know, what does the Holy

23:56

Spirit give you? He gives you the

23:58

faith to grab hold of that forgiveness.

24:00

And if you've now, you're no longer

24:02

trusting it, that is the sin against

24:04

the Holy Spirit here. But the debt

24:06

is then reinstated. The other thing I

24:08

was going to say is going back

24:10

to one of the things you said

24:12

when you quoted Luther, that all forgiveness

24:14

comes from God. And we don't bring

24:16

a lot of cultural references into this

24:18

show, which is probably good thing, but

24:20

I watched too much TV not to.

24:22

But one of the things you'll notice

24:25

in popular culture representations of somebody sending

24:27

and knowing that they've sent and then

24:29

sort of talking to the people in

24:31

their lives about it, you will not

24:33

hear, for the most part, in anything

24:35

that is sort of, that is secularly

24:37

cultural, someone say to another person, I

24:39

forgive you. You'll hear this. you have

24:41

to learn to forgive yourself. Yes, all

24:43

the time man. And I mean, I

24:45

just, watching a pretty good show and

24:47

it was just a great case of

24:49

that in there and the dad literally

24:51

said to the daughter, I can't forgive

24:54

you, you have to learn to forgive

24:56

yourself. And I'm like, oh my lord,

24:58

how horrible. But at the end of

25:00

the day, you know, that is a

25:02

myth. If you're to believe the Bible,

25:04

the idea that you can forgive yourself

25:06

is a myth. You don't have that

25:08

kind of authority. You don't have that

25:10

kind of authority, you don't have that

25:12

kind of power, you have to have

25:14

either Jesus himself or somebody standing in

25:16

Jesus' place who's called to forgive you.

25:18

Some preacher that's called to forgive you.

25:21

And then the Holy Spirit works through

25:23

that to give you faith which trust

25:25

and clings to that forgiveness. It actually

25:27

sets you free. And that's sort of,

25:29

that's what went on here. So is

25:31

there gospel here? Yeah, I had pity

25:33

on him and I forgave him all

25:35

of his debt. This is the gospel

25:37

of the Lord. But then what happens

25:39

is sin creeps in. Well, you know,

25:41

and to that end, there's for me,

25:43

the favorite part, my favorite part of

25:45

going to my church every Sunday is

25:47

really twofold. It's number one, beginning the

25:50

service with confession and absolution and having

25:52

that word of absolution, pronounced over me,

25:54

being done to me. And in related

25:56

to that, kind of the same thing

25:58

when we take communion. And it's proclaimed

26:00

to me. that the body of Christ

26:02

and the blood of Christ is given

26:04

to me for the forgiveness of my

26:06

sins. I need to hear it all

26:08

the time. And so as a point

26:10

of application here, if we're going to

26:12

be people that display forgiveness, we need

26:14

to be in places where we're receiving

26:16

forgiveness all the time, which is another

26:19

argument for the necessity of being a

26:21

part of a church that's handing out

26:23

absolution very liberally. Yeah. Like if you're

26:25

listening to this and you're like, I've

26:27

got some unforgiveness going on, like there's

26:29

some people or there's a person and

26:31

I've not forgiven them. And it's justified.

26:33

Yeah, or even if you're just like,

26:35

you're hearing this and you're just saying,

26:37

I need to, let me just encourage

26:39

you to this. One, I want to

26:41

say like, there is forgiveness for that.

26:43

So like, and be forgiven, of course,

26:46

like from that. And then use the

26:48

forgiveness that you receive that you. This

26:50

is the thing about about unforgiveness like

26:52

unforgiveness is a Dangerous place for faith

26:54

and unforgiveness is is a slow death

26:56

to yourself You're not hurting this other

26:58

person like the way you think you

27:00

are you are hurting your Corrie Temboom

27:02

has this great line where she forgave

27:04

the the guy that ran the concentration

27:06

camp that where sister died and like

27:08

where she was for a long time

27:10

and he faced a fate for this

27:12

guy and and and He asked for

27:15

forgiveness and she gave it and she

27:17

says, uh, forgiveness. is releasing a prisoner

27:19

just to find out that prisoner as

27:21

you and like that's that is how

27:23

this works like if you've ever like

27:25

truly forgave someone like you think you're

27:27

liberating them which you are but you

27:29

you are liberated in this moment unforgiveness

27:31

will kill you it's not a good

27:33

way to live it's a sin and

27:35

so it's way it weighs on you

27:37

and it destroys you It's like, uh,

27:39

lots of something similar, you know, a

27:41

little bit more, uh, I don't know,

27:44

funny, but she says, uh, not forgiving

27:46

someone is like drinking rat poison and

27:48

waiting for the other person to die.

27:50

Yeah. Yeah, it is, man. Like, I

27:52

mean, it totally, it's, and everybody's been

27:54

there. Poison. 100%. Yeah, this is why

27:56

you have, you know, Paul say things

27:58

like, hey, be careful that like no

28:00

root of bitterness takes it. Well, what

28:02

is that? What happens with root? Where

28:04

does that come from? It comes from

28:06

our forgiveness. And what you say it'll

28:08

do is it'll choke out faith. This

28:11

is your whole reason that forgiveness is

28:13

such a big deal to Jesus is

28:15

because he knows that it's an enemy

28:17

of faith. It is. I don't have

28:19

a better cross. Yeah, that is true.

28:21

I know the moment in your life

28:23

when you've looked the most like Jesus

28:25

and it's when you've forgiven someone who

28:27

doesn't deserve it. Like this is true

28:29

of everybody. Amen. Because this is what

28:31

he's about. And so yeah, I would

28:33

take this and if you do have,

28:35

and you probably do, you know, you

28:37

say like, you know what, there are

28:40

people that I need to forgive. Man,

28:42

do, do do do do that. That's,

28:44

be free yourself, free yourself, free them.

28:46

live in the freedom of Christ's forgiveness,

28:48

trust in that, like it is trustworthy,

28:50

like you can trust it, don't doubt

28:52

it, go hear the gospel, and the

28:54

way that, and the way that, and

28:56

the way that this faith is fed,

28:58

that trust in this forgiveness is, that

29:00

you need to hear the gospel and

29:02

receive the absolution over and over again,

29:04

like I was saying, and this, this

29:06

is how that faith is going to

29:09

be maintained to this forgiveness that you

29:11

have in Christ, but. But I would

29:13

caution you I would

29:15

caution you who you're

29:17

somebody who thinks list of

29:19

people I a long

29:21

list of people I

29:23

haven't forgiven and

29:25

justifiably so because they

29:27

haven't adequately repented

29:29

or they haven't said

29:31

they're sorry or

29:33

whatever it is. sorry or

29:36

whatever it is. To quote

29:38

my dad, don't think that's

29:40

think that's going to

29:42

stand before the the

29:44

one fire. eyes of fire. I

29:46

don't think it's going

29:48

to. to. Like to this

29:50

to this. Obviously not. I'm so glad

29:52

so glad you

29:54

found a way to

29:56

squeeze that quote

29:58

in here, Dan. Well,

30:00

he he he was

30:02

to. I don't think it's going

30:05

don't think it's think it's

30:07

going to stand. Well he Well,

30:09

he asked the

30:11

question. was 15 years

30:13

old old sitting in he

30:15

service that going to

30:17

stand that the one

30:19

to of fire? He

30:21

yelled the one with odds of

30:23

fire? He yelled it and I

30:25

I got the distinct

30:27

impression that the

30:29

answer was answer was no.

30:31

you? you? All right right,

30:34

guys, well, we are

30:36

of time. We will

30:38

leave it there.

30:40

Hey, next week, it's

30:42

going to be gonna

30:44

be to they got

30:46

the We're a question

30:48

about divorce, so

30:50

that should be fun.

30:52

about divorce, so that get

30:54

into that we'll see

30:56

what Jesus has to

30:58

say. I'll see you guys

31:01

then. guys right, see you See you good

Rate

Join Podchaser to...

  • Rate podcasts and episodes
  • Follow podcasts and creators
  • Create podcast and episode lists
  • & much more

Episode Tags

Do you host or manage this podcast?
Claim and edit this page to your liking.
,

Unlock more with Podchaser Pro

  • Audience Insights
  • Contact Information
  • Demographics
  • Charts
  • Sponsor History
  • and More!
Pro Features