So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’“So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.So his fellow-servant fell down and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee.
4 sermons cite this verse
… At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full. Moved with compassion, the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him, started to choke him, demanding, pay back what you owe. Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, be patient with me and I will pay you back. But he refused. Instead, he had his fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed and they went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you your entire debt because you asked me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant as I had pity on you? …
… Will my Father in heaven do to all of you, if you do not, each of you, forgive your brother from your hearts, Matthew chapter 18 verses 23 through 35. Jesus compares God, his father, to this king. Now, that doesn't mean that God is like this fictional king in every sense, but at least in one sense. In God's family, forgiveness is a non-negotiable. It's not up for debate, because forgiveness is what makes us who we are. It doesn't mean it's easy Just necessary Necessary because God is not willing That even one of these little ones be lost Not lost to him, not lost to us And we're not going to change God's mind on this And we shouldn't try We can't give up on anyone Because God hasn't given up on us Jesus' story is a comfort and a warning It's a comfort because no debt is too much for God to forgive on account of Jesus. And a double comfort because Christian forgiveness doesn't start with us, but with God. …
… and all his possessions and payment be made. So the slave fell on his knees before the king saying, have patience with me and I will pay you everything. And out of pity for him, the Lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. And seizing him by the throat, he said, pay what you owe. Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, have patience with me and I will pay you. But he refused. Then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, They were greatly distressed. They went and reported to their Lord all that had taken place. Then his Lord summoned him and said to him, you wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave as I had mercy on you? …
We're looking at, we started a series that I guess could be called a series on character or virtue. At least a lot of people would use those words out in our culture for what we're going to be talking about. But I don't think it's not, it doesn't fit. Those are not adequate terms. We saw last week that Paul, in the famous love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, says that we must remember that morally virtuous behavior can arise out of a heart filled with deep spiritual emptiness. In other words, what Paul said, just a real brief summary. He says people can live, they can be loyal to their families, they can be generous to the poor, deeply committed to moral principles and to biblical principles as well. And the heart motive for that, the force for that, the dynamic for that, can be one of self-centeredness, self-absorption, self-interest, self-righteousness. So see, a character, morally virtuous behavior can arise out of a heart that hasn't actually been changed, that hasn't really been supernaturally changed. …