Matthew 18:23-3523Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 24And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 25But 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. 26The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 27Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 28But 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. 29And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 30And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 31So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 32Then 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: 33Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 34And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 35So 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)
Here is another view of the kingdom of heaven where a certain king took account of his servant, and of what they had been doing, so God takes notice of all that we do, nothing is hidden from Him.
One man was brought before the king who owed him 10,000 talents. That amounts to about $2,357,500.00, a large sum of money, isn’t it? You could not pay that debt, nor neither could I.
The man was to be sold, his wife and children and all that he had, in order to pay that debt, but with all that, it would not be enough to pay that large sum of money.
What was the poor man to do! He was in great distress, and fell down before his lord and said,
“Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.”
The man made a promise that he could not keep, so the king felt sorry for him and forgave him all the debt.
Was that not wonderful grace, (undeserved favor) shown to the man, and he should have said,
“I will see how much grace I can show to others, to let others see how glad I am that I have been forgiven so great a debt,”
Dear children, we all have sinned against God, and our sins have been piling up every day, for years, and we could not pay God enough to have even one sin forgiven, and how could we pay for the great pile of sins, What shall we do!
God in His love to us sent the Lord Jesus into this world to be the Saviour, and those who will accept Him as their own Saviour, He forgives all their sins and makes them fit to live with Him forever.
But what did the man do who had been forgiven such a huge debt? He went out and found another man who owed him the small amount of about $15,00, and when he could not pay, he took him by the throat, and cast him into prison till he could pay him the small sum.
Children, what do you think the man should have done who had been forgiven the very large debt?
We would have supposed that after he had been forgiven such an enormous debt, he could easily have forgiven the small one.
The first man shows us just how wicked our own hearts are. We know, if anyone says anything against us, how we rise in anger about it, and make a great fuss, and do not forgive the one who we may feel has done us the wrong. Perhaps it amounts to very little, and we could easily overlook it and say nothing about it. People could not say anything against us that would compare to what was said against the Lord Jesus, and He did not, make trouble about it. He was meek and lowly.
When the lord found out what the first man had done, he said,
“O, thou wicked servant” (let us not give our Lord the occasion to say that about us), I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desirest tne: shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?”
He was delivered to the tormentors, till he should pay all.
“So likewise shall My heavenly Father also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses.”
ML 07/25/1943