Title Forgiveness
Contents The Great Gospel consists of the stories of Jesus centered on the five sermons of Jesus. Matthew 5-7 is the Sermon on the Mount, and Matthew 10 is the lesson on mission. Matthew 13 is a lesson about the kingdom of heaven, and Matthew 23-25 is a lesson about the end times. Matthew 18, which contains today's text, is Jesus' teaching about the church. The lessons needed in the community and church of Christians who believe and follow Jesus are gathered. Dear brothers and sisters, what is the most needed lesson in the church? The church does not exist alone, but is a community of many saints. What do you need in your relationship with other believers in this community? Matthew 18 gives us the answer. First, it requires childlike humility. Also, what the church needs is discipline. Finally, what our church needs is forgiveness.
Dear brothers and sisters, the topic of today's text is forgiveness. Forgiveness is needed in the church. Forgiveness is very important in the life of a saint. The Lord's Prayer says, "Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us." Immediately after Jesus said the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:14-15 again speaks of forgiveness. “If you forgive men, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you.”
Dear brothers and sisters, this year is almost over and we are approaching the Christmas season, which is glory in heaven and peace on earth. And we are approaching the new year of 2006. At this point, we need to sort out the past and welcome Christmas and the New Year with a new heart. How can you clean up your past and start fresh? It is through forgiveness. Dear brothers and sisters, I hope that you will clean up the past through forgiveness and welcome a merry Christmas with a new heart. I hope that you will welcome the new year with a heart in which everything is restored through forgiveness.
Today's text consists of Peter's question, Jesus' answer, and parables.
Peter asks Jesus a question. It was a question about forgiveness, a very important issue in the church. It's verse 21. “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother if he sins against me? Shall we do it up to seven times?” Peter must have heard Jesus' teachings of forgiveness. I knew I had to forgive. But wouldn't there be someone who could not forgive? What do you do with someone who has forgiven you and continues to sin against you? Peter asks questions and answers almost himself. Up to 7 times, the answer is that you must forgive. Perhaps Peter considers himself a very merciful person. Because many Jewish rabbis taught that it is enough to forgive up to three times.
Brothers and sisters, what do you think? What would you do if you had a brother who afflicts you, offends you, and sins against you for no reason? If you forgive, how many times can you forgive? No need to answer? The Bible has the answer, right? So, are you obeying the Bible? Anyway, what is Jesus' answer? Let's read verse 22 together.
Jesus' answer is literally incomprehensible. Endless forgiveness. It is to forgive unconditionally. Jesus' words are the truth. Life. I want you to believe that what the Lord says about forgiveness is the truth. I hope you will obey these words. If anyone does not obey these words, please repent. Don't use excuses or excuses for not obeying. It is the Lord's command to forgive unconditionally. Even if the forgiven person harasses us again and commits a sin, forgive us again. It is the will of the Lord to forgive endlessly. I hope you believe it.
Dear saints, to be honest, don't you think it's a little unfair? Do you think it's a difficult command? So Jesus shows us through parables why we must forgive unconditionally. A parable is a story with a lesson.
There was a servant who owed a certain king ten thousand talents. Do you know how much you owe ten thousand talents? That's about 300 billion dollars in debt. This servant could not repay. It is an amount that cannot be repaid even if you sell yourself, your wife, and your children, and sell all of your possessions. But the king had compassion on the servant and forgave him all his debts. It is the king's mercy and compassion towards him entirely. What an amazing gracious story. Think of the heart of a person who has received forgiveness of debts? You don't have to sell yourself as a slave. There was no need to lose a wife or children. All of my property was kept intact. He's a really lucky guy.
But the servant had a companion who owed him a hundred denarii. One hundred denarii is about five million debts. I met the colleague and caught him. They grabbed him by the neck and dragged him along, demanding that he pay off his debt. A friend who is in debt is on his knees and pleads with him. “Please, be patient. I will repay you soon.” and promise. The servant did not listen to his requests and supplications and put him in prison.
Dear brothers and sisters, where in the world is this guy? is this a person Are 300 billion won and 5 million won comparable? Whoever has 300 billion in forgiveness, who doesn't show the slightest bit of mercy for a debt of 5 million, is this person worthy of 300 billion? Everyone, does your anger rise when you see a person like this? So do i. He's a nonsensical person. He is a human that is not even a beast. Those who saw the scene in the parable were just as angry as you. Look at verse 31. The comrades saw this absurd scene and told the master everything. Hearing all of that, the owner was astonished. worked great. I called him and said “Evil servant, I forgave you all your debt at your request. Shouldn’t you have pity on your brother-in-law just as I have compassion on you?” The master made the servant pay 300 billion won in debt and put him in prison.
Saints, what would you have done if you were the master? Of course, he must have spoken like a master and punished the servant like a master, right? Isn't it? Everyone in the world would have done it with anger like the master. Because that servant is truly evil and ungrateful and inferior to a beast. Because he's a very bad person. No human can do that.
But, saints, if we do not do what the Lord has said, we can become like this servant. That we can be like those servants who get angry and angry and say nonsense. Verse 35. This is a lesson from Jesus' parable. Let's look at verse 35 together. “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless you forgive your brother centrally, each one of you.”
Dear brothers and sisters, if we do not forgive our brothers who have sinned against us, then why is God treating us like his servants? Brothers and sisters, like those servants, we all owed a debt of sin that we could never pay. Not 30 billion. It is an incalculable debt of sin. It is a debt called original sin brought with you at birth. It is the debt of sin that we have owed throughout our lives. It is a debt of sin to be committed in the future. Even if I cry, I can't repay you. I can't even try. I can't stand it either. Heavenly Father forgave all our debts through the cross of Jesus Christ. He was called righteous. He gave them the power to become sons and daughters and gave them eternal life as a gift. All this has been accomplished by the merciful grace of God. The people who have known and received this grace are me and you. We have been forgiven, we are being forgiven now, and we will be forgiven in the future. The church is where those who have been forgiven gather. We, who have received this tremendous forgiveness from our Heavenly Father, will not be any different from this evil servant if we do not forgive our brother who owes us a little sin in the church. Isn't it?
Dear saints, what is the greatest sin in the church? It is wrong to hurt other saints, but not to forgive a brother is the greatest sin. Failing to forgive a brother is a sin so serious that even God can't forgive him. Dear brothers and sisters, please forgive me now. Please forgive me in faith. I hope you decide to forgive. I want to forgive, but please don't make excuses that you can't forgive. Forgiveness is a will.
Still struggling to forgive? I hope you repent. And I hope you do not look to the brother to forgive, but look to the forgiveness of God through the cross of the Lord. God will help you through the Holy Spirit. Please forgive me and forget everything. He forgives our sins and erases them from our hearts, just as we erase the marks of the sand on the beach twice a day. Dear brothers and sisters, I hope that we too will forgive our brothers' sins and forget them all. So, I hope that you will solve your hatred, hurt, and anger with forgiveness and welcome the Christmas with love, joy and peace. I hope you leave the past behind and welcome the new year with hope, hope and anticipation. Dear saints, I hope you believe that forgiveness, forgiveness, and forgiveness is the only way to solve our problems and is life.