The Truly Forgiven by God are Forgiving of One Another #2

In this part of the sermon: The sermon continues from a previous message, re-reading Matthew 18:21-35 and reiterating the core principle: 'the truly forgiven by God are also the truly forgiving of one…

The debt of ten thousand talents is explained as 'multiple millions of dollars' to convey the immense, incalculable nature of the servant's debt to the king, paralleling humanity's debt to God.

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king who would make a righteousness, and when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him that owed him ten thousand talents, multiple millions of dollars.

1:04 - 1:23 Read in full sermon

The point: If you would grow in the God-like disposition of a forgiving disposition, dwell frequently and dwell much on the magnitude and wonder of God's forgiveness to you.

The contrast between the king's forgiveness of ten thousand talents and the servant's refusal to forgive a hundred denarii is likened to the difference between 'Matterhorn or Everest and the Mole Hill' to emphasize the disproportionate nature of the servant's mercilessness.

You have mercy on your fellow servant even as I had mercy on you. It is evident that this wicked servant never really grasped the concept and the wonder of forgiveness. Apparently all he grasped is the king has let me off the hook. That's all that affected him because he no sooner is, quote, forgiven his debt, but he goes out and finds a fellow servant who owes him, a pittance.

20:14 - 20:44 Read in full sermon

The point: If you would grow in the God-like disposition of a forgiving disposition, dwell frequently and dwell much on the magnitude and wonder of God's forgiveness to you.

The 'ten thousand talent debt' is further illustrated by imagining 'dollar bills lined up from the GW Bridge to the loop in Chicago' to help listeners grasp the vastness of their sin debt to God.

Go back again and again to the reality of how great was our debt. As I was listening to Pastor Donnelly's, begun to listen to his series on justification, in his opening sermon, he was underscoring why we need to be justified because we are sinners and in seeking to make people feel the weight of their sin, he was speaking of the fact that God's law surrounds us, encompasses us, touches us every moment of every day, of every week, every hour, in every circumstance. The inner thoughts, the attitudes, the dispositions, and how when we take seriously that that law demands one hundred percent conf...

21:29 - 22:55 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And if you and I would maintain a disposition of tender-hearted forgiveness to one another, we must dwell often and dwell long on the magnitude and the wonder of God's forgiveness toward us.

Martin shares that if he could wear out a verse by using it, James 1:5 and 1 John 1:9 would be worn out, illustrating his frequent reliance on God's promises for wisdom and forgiveness, and God's limitless grace.

This Sovereign has forgiven us all. How can we go to fellow worms, fellow mortals, fellow dependent creatures, and take them by the throat and say, I'll never forgive? It's impossible. And to the extent that you and I live basking in the wonder of God's grace, immersing our souls daily in the contemplation of how the mighty, the mountain of our indebtedness has been sunk into the sea of God's forgetfulness, we'll never play a numbers game with forgiveness because God plays no numbers game with us. I have said on a number of occasions to closer friends, if you could wear out a verse in the Bibl...

23:44 - 24:53 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first pastoral application exhorts believers to grow in a forgiving disposition by frequently contemplating the immense magnitude and wonder of God's forgiveness towards them…

Martin shares his instinctive response when asked for forgiveness ('it is my joy to forgive you'), illustrating the natural outflow of a heart steeped in God's forgiving grace.

In fact, I have found when people come to me and ask my forgiveness for this, that, or the other, the words that almost instinctively come to my heart when they say, Pastor, or brother, or Al, or dear, sweetheart, whoever it is. It's only one person who calls me dear and sweetheart. Okay. Will you forgive me? The words that often come so naturally to my heart is, it is my joy to forgive you.

26:49 - 27:24 Read in full sermon

The point: If you're tempted to fudge on your obligation to forgive others, go back to the very words of Jesus that we've studied together today and dare to plant them in the crosshairs of your conscience.

The phrase 'fudge in the theater of our consciences' is used to describe how people rationalize or diminish their obligation to forgive others, highlighting the self-deception involved.

If you're tempted to fudge on your obligation to forgive others, it's amazing how we can make fudge in the theater of our consciences.

28:39 - 28:52 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Lord, I'm tight-fisted, narrow-hearted, constricted and restricted in my disposition of forgiveness. Lord, give me exactly what I'm manifesting to John, to Henry, to my husband, to my wife. You want to do that? I dare yo…

Learning to apply biblical truths to one's own heart, particularly regarding forgiveness, is described as 'learning how to self-medicate the soul,' emphasizing the personal responsibility in spiritual growth.

This is learning how to self-medicate the soul. This is learning how to self-medicate the soul in the Christian life. And you'll make very little progress in the Christian life unless you begin to become an expert self-medicator. You go to pray and you're conscious of certain sins that are loading down your conscience and making you uncomfortable to draw near to God.

33:08 - 33:33 Read in full sermon

The point: You do not have the right to entertain for a moment any disposition of heart, but a disposition of forgiveness.

An example of 'fudging on the ethical norms of sexual fidelity' is used to parallel the seriousness of fudging on forgiveness, showing how believers should confront themselves with biblical motivations and warnings.

What do you do if you begin to fudge on the ethical norms of sexual fidelity? Well, I hope you say, You say a lot of things to yourself. I'm the purchased possession of Jesus. Verse Corinthians 6.

34:43 - 34:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not foolishly try to cancel your debt your own way through good works or self-improvement, as it will not cancel one iota of the debt.

Martin references listening to Pastor Donnelly's sermon series on justification, specifically his emphasis on the pervasiveness of God's law, to underscore the weight of human sin and the need for justification.

into your conscience. He's trying to get eternity into your silly world of time and of sense and of stuff and the things you can only see and touch and feel. So you can't ignore your debt. You're conscious of it. Oh, you're not conscious of the magnitude of it, but you can't ignore it. It's there. You know it's there. It's a haunting reality. It's there and you wonder if and when the sovereign of the universe is going to call you to give an account of that debt. And yet you foolishly try to cancel it your own way. That's exactly what broke the heart of the Apostle Paul when he thought of his J...

47:17 - 48:13 Read in full sermon