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.
How many of you have gotten yourself involved in an increasing amount of financial debt? Sometimes people have credit cards or bank loans and because of circumstances or hardships that have arisen in their lives, they simply do not have the funds available to pay off the debt against them. But there are times when a lender will legally cancel a borrower’s outstanding debt. Oftentimes they will refer to this as debt forgiveness, whereby they will completely release the debtor from any future financial obligation on what is owed.
This reminds me of the Christian life.
Each of us are in the same type of situation, because we have a debt that we cannot possibly pay. We have a sin debt with God, but through the grace that is found in Christ Jesus, we can obtain debt forgiveness.
Matthew 18:23-35 (KJB) 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. 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. 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. 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.
First of all, when we look at this passage, take note of how deeply in debt this man was. After all, 10,000 talents was an incredibly vast amount of money, a figure so huge that he simply didn’t have the funds available to pay. But when he humbled himself and cried out for mercy, the King took pity upon him, and completely forgave him of all of the debt. God wants to do the same thing towards each of us, but before forgiveness is humility.
Luke 18:10-14 (KJB) Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Just as the debtor humbled himself before the king, we must humble ourselves in the sight of God so we can obtain His mercy.
James 4:6-10 (KJB) But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
The Lord Jesus commands that when you sin against somebody in the church, that you are supposed to reconcile with them. This requires not only confession to God, but confession to the person that you have wronged. This is so important, because if people don’t seek to quickly restore the relationship by confessing their sins to them, then we are not supposed to have anything to do with them. It’s complete hypocrisy to claim that someone is in a close relationship with God, but then they cannot admit their faults to a brother in the church that they have sinned against. People such as these are engulfed in the pride of the devil, and are condemned of themselves. Confession of your faults, and reconciling quickly with those whom you have sinned against is one of the main doctrines of the Christian Life, because it shows that you genuinely possess Divine charity in your heart towards others.
But just like the debtor in the parable, all of us have accrued a sin debt with God. Some have sinned more than others, and their debt is larger, but our precious Lord Jesus died on the cross to pay off all of the sin debt against us. Imagine the relief that the servant must have felt when the king completely removed all of his debt burden. What an incredible act of mercy! But although he had been forgiven for so much, he was very unmerciful towards somebody who owed him very little. Rather than forgiving him, he threw him into prison instead, an act of complete cruelty, especially after he had been forgiven for his own massive debt. God wants us to be forgiving with others, just as He is towards us, but sometimes people cannot find forgiveness simply because they are too hardhearted to admit fault. God wants us to seek reconciliation with Himself and others, because God is capable of wiping our slate clean, and providing us with a multitude, of…..
……Debt Forgiveness
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.
https://tlkjbc.com/written-sermons/
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2055335/episodes
https://www.facebook.com/share/14RHGVBBHbG/
tlkjbc.com
Note: Any copies may be printed and freely distributed among those who have no internet service. There is no AI creative involvement in my writings, and must be left intact because they are very personal to me. These are not to be sold, and are made public only for the free benefit of Spiritual knowledge to those who are genuinely seeking the will of God.
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 