Post on 03-Jan-2016
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
We just heard a story of
forgiveness, now for one of
unforgiveness and its dire warning!
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
Matthew 18:21-35
21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often
shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”22 Jesus said to him, “I do
not…
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
…say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy
times seven. 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is
like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And
when he had begun to settle accounts…
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
…one was brought to him who owed him ten
thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that
he had, and that payment be made.
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have
patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the
master of that servant was moved with compassion,
released him, and forgave him…
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
…the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and
found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he
laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying,
‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow…
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
…servant fell down at his feet and begged him,
saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should
pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow…
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
…servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told
their master all that had been done. 32 Then his
master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You
wicked servant! I forgave you all that…
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
…debt because you begged me. 33 Should you
not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity
on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until
he should pay…
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
…all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each
of you, from his heart, does not forgive his
brother his trespasses.”
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
The talent in this parable was worth
about 6,000 denarii, so that one debt is
600,000 times as large as the other.
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
More significantly, 10,000 (a myriad) was
the highest Greek numeral, and a talent
the largest unit of currency, so that 10,000 talents was the largest easily described debt.
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
For comparison, the combined annual tribute of
Judea, Samaria, and Idumea around this time was only 600 talents and one denarius was a day’s
wages, so that 10,000 talents would be about 200,000 years’ wages
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
A Story of Unforgiveness
Has Anyone Ever DoneAnything to Hurt You?
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
A Story of Unforgiveness
Have You Ever DoneAnything that has Hurt
Another?
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
“He that cannot forgive others breaks the
bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to
be forgiven.”Thomas Fuller
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
A Story of Unforgiveness
Unforgiveness may be the very sin that keeps
morefrom Heaven than any
other!
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
Two Prisons
#1 The Place We Put Those
Who Trespass Against Us!
A Debtors Prison
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
Two Prisons
#1 The Place We Put Those
Who Trespass Against Us!
A Place of Separation!
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
Two Prisons
#2 The Place We Put Ourselves!
The Tormentors!
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
Two Prisons
The Tormentors
“I will forgive,but not forget!”
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
Two Prisons
The Tormentors
“I have a right to be mad!”
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
Two Prisons
The Tormentors
“Things will never bethe same!”
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated.
We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tired into a
single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one
destiny, affects all indirectly.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
A Warning & A Promise
It is a Sin that bringsits Own Punishment
A Self-Inflicted Wound!
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and
beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness,
humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and
forgiving one another, if anyone…
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
…has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”
Colossians 3:12-13
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
A Warning & A Promise
A Grace that is Greaterthan All My Sin
A Greater Redemption!
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the
prisoner was you.”Lewis B. Smedes
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
“As my sufferings mounted I soon realized
that there were two ways in which I could
respond to my situation -- either to react with
bitterness…
FORGIVENESSForgiving Others:A Tale of Two Prisons
…or seek to transform the suffering into a
creative force. I decided to follow the latter
course.”Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.