Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
For hundreds of years, people have fought in sword duels in order to protect their honor. These types of engagements were a pretty common practice back then, as they would go out early in the morning to fight against each other. But many times people were very cruel and merciless to their opponent. Sometimes when one of them got slashed, they would cry out for mercy but the victor would simply run them through with the point of their blade and go back home. Even in the wild West, there were many pistol fights that went on between cowboys. Sometimes when one of them got wounded in the street, rather than showing them any pity, they would kill them right on the spot.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
There are a lot of unmerciful people in this wicked world, but in the church, we are called to be pitiful with others. Pity has been defined as feeling sorrow and compassion caused by the suffering of others. Having pity on others will cause you to be both merciful and forgiving with them.
Matthew 18 ²¹ Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? ²² Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. ²³ Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. ²⁴ And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ 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. ²⁶ The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. ²⁷ Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. ²⁹ And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. ³⁰ And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
³¹ So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. ³² 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:
³³ Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
³⁴ And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. ³⁵ So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
This story is about financial debt, but it also illustrates the debt of sin that we have with God and others. Each of us have sinned in some manner, and our debt has accrued over time. Some people have sinned more, and some less, but no matter how big the debt, we each need to be merciful with each other. The Apostle Paul referred to himself as the chief of sinners, and when He got forgiven by the Lord, he became a very merciful and forgiving man. True charity will confess faults to a wronged brother. True charity will forgive the offender from the heart. If it’s done properly, then there will be no longer a memory of past wrongdoing. Then you can partake of Holy Communion together, and wash away your sins in the blood of the Lamb.
Many forms of false Christianity claim that you can forgive but not forget, but those who make that type of statement will stir up the Lord to anger. The reason why, is He will not forget their sins at Judgment Day, and they will be cast away from His presence forever! This is such a perverted and hypocritical statement coming from someone who professes Christ.
“I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” Isaiah 43:25
When someone sins against a brother, their sins will be remembered, unless they go through the process of repentance, confession and reconciliation with them. Only then can their sins be washed under the bridge and completely forgotten. Some people actually believe that they don’t have to confess their faults to others in the church, but that is also a heretical belief. Some of them are so arrogant that they’ll even join up with some other church, just so they don’t have to apologize, or reconcile with others.
Reconciliation is a huge part of one’s salvation, because it shows that you are walking in the true grace of God.
The King was extremely offended with his servant, just as Jesus threw over tables in the temple! But after the servant confessed his faults, the king granted him Mercy. When this happened, there were no more hard feelings anymore. He was completely expunged of sin, and they continued in their relationship with each other once again. The servant maintained his position in the King’s house, the burden of financial debts was removed, and his family was not taken away from him.
The same Spiritual concept is taught in the parable of the prodigal son.
The Son recognized the error of his way.
He confessed his faults to his dad.
He got forgiven for what he had done.
And then their relationship continued like nothing had ever happened.
Luke 15 ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, ¹⁹ And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
²⁰ And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. ²² But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: ²³ And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: ²⁴ For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
The father showed pity to his son when he humbly admitted his faults. He was so humble that he asked to be treated as a servant! Contrition, Contrition, Contrition. Only through these qualities can one be reconciled with Jesus, with a Dad, or even one’s brother in the church.
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” James 4:10
This is why repentance is so important, because if you never do it, you are dead in your sins. Nowadays this huge form of false Christianity will claim to be reconciled to Christ and then willfully sin against a brother, then tell him to take a hike! Without repentance, these people will end up in the Lake of Fire, and if I said anything else I would be a liar like them.
In fact, the entire Christian life is about repentance, and if people can’t repent towards a brother they have wronged, their salvation will be lost. Whether it’s confessing to God for a personal sin against Him, or whether it’s confessing to a brother in the church, people have to repent or they will perish.
If you cannot repent towards those whom you have seen, how can you possibly repent towards God whom you have not seen? They can’t. It’s just religion without God, and a complete lack of divine charity.
You are supposed to treat others the way that you want to be treated, so if you have done something to someone else that you couldn’t imagine being done to you, then you have sinned against both them and God. Without repentance, these impenitent types of people are supposed to be treated like a heathen and a publican, because they are walking in a state of unbelief and sin. Anyone who claims to have received forgiveness from the Lord, must show that same mercy to others, otherwise they will experience the wrath of God.
“Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:” Romans 1:31
Genuine love and forgiveness is being depleted upon this Earth, and it’s going to get far worse before the return of our Lord Jesus. It’s already looking like the days of Noah. The most terrible part of it all, is that it comes from a lot of forms of false Christianity. They refuse to confess faults. They refuse to forgive sin. They refuse to forget. And they refuse to reconcile. People who do such things are not going to receive mercy from God, because they are living their lives in incomplete contravention to the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What a perilous age that we are passing through! What an implacable false religion surrounds us!
People who reject Divine love.
People who reject love and obedience to Christ.
And people who are ten times worse than the merciless man in….
…….The Sword Fight
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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