Bible Lesson: Parables-Our Lord's-The Unmerciful Servant

Bible Lesson: Parables-Our Lord's:
Parable: The Unmerciful Servant.

Text:
Matthew 18:21-35 KJV
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.

Matthew 18:23-35 NLT
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!
23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him.
24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.
25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.
26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’
27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded.
30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened.
32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me.
33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’
34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

The eighteenth chapter of Matthew is a chapter filled with “offenses.”

Matthew 18:1-35 KJV

The Offense:
1)Aggrandizement: verses 1-3.
2)Pride: verses 4,5.
3)Harm to children: verse 6.
4)Personal Sins: verses 7-9.
5)Harm to children: verses 10-14.
6)Brotherly Offenses: verses 15-20.
7)Lack of Forgiveness: verses 21,22.
8)Unmerciful: verses 23-35.

This is “no-place,” for the child of God!

This parable, begins with our Lord's reference to the previous thought, that of Peter's question, “...how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?”

Jesus instructs Peter, that as for His followers, forgiveness, has no end!

And what of us, who have been forgiven a life time of sin.

I John 1:8-10 KJV
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Our Sins:

1)Sins of Commission (i.e. willful).
2)Sins of Omission (Things we should do, that we don't.)
3)Sins of Innocence (Sinned, and not even known it.)

Acronym of the word “coy: innocence (for our purpose-spelled C.O.I.: “don't be coi about sin, we have sinned!”)


Our responsibility:

Matthew 6:12 KJV
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Matthew 7:2 NLT
For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging (In this case, forgiving.) is the standard by which you will be judged (forgiven).

Mark 11:25,26 KJV
25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Luke 17:3,4 KJV
3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Colossians 3:13 KJV
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

Matthew 5:7 KJV
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.


Oh, the greatness, of forgiveness with God!

Notice in the story that the servant, asked king, verse 26 “...Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.”
The servant owed the king, millions of dollars, and yet we read...

verse 27 “Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.”

The King in his pity and compassion, did not “extend the time of payment”, as the servant had begged, no much more wonderful than that, he “forgave him of all his debt!”

Our debt was so great that no man, could pay it, and yet the King in His Wonderfulness, paid our debt for us, forever forgiving us!

Psalm 103:8-12 KJV
8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always chide: neither will He keep His anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.

Isaiah 1:18 KJV
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Romans 5:8,9 KJV
8 But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

II Corinthians 5:21 KJV
For He hath made Him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Colossians 2:11-14 NLT
11 When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.
12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins.
14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

How careful we must be to forgive others.

Ephesians 4:32 KJV
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

I John 3:14,15 KJV
14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.