It is once again time for the Weekend Sermon. I hope that everyone is doing well. I would like to thank everyone for reading the blog, and I would like to thank you all for your prayers over the last few weeks.
I have been feeling a lot better over the last few days. I am able to breathe well, and I haven't been as tired. I am working hard on writing, and I had some more poetry accepted for publication for which I am grateful to the Lord.
Last week, my neighbors who live three houses down from me were driving home from church when they were in a terrible car accident. The wife died and her husband is still in intensive care. Please pray for this family during this difficult time.
Please continue to pray for peace in the world. Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and Iraq all need our prayers for peace.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us remember to pray for Chad and Bhutan. Pray that people in these two nations will hear the message of the love of Jesus.
Today, we will continue with our ongoing series of messages on the parables of Jesus. For today's message, we will examine what the parable of the unforgiving servant has to teach us.
The occasion of this parable begins when Peter asked Jesus a question about forgiveness. Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive someone who had sinned against him. Peter thought that he was being radical when he mentioned that one should forgive someone seven times. Imagine Peter's shock when Jesus told him that he should not forgive seven times but that Peter should forgive others seventy times seven times.
In order to further illustrate his point, the Lord Jesus told the parable of the unforgiving servant. In this story, a man owes a huge debt to the king. The man has no way to pay back his debt. The king orders that he be sold along with his family in order to pay the debt. The debtor pleaded and begged for mercy. The king was moved by the man's pleas, and the king forgave the great debt that was owed.
Later, this man who was forgiven of such a large debt found a fellow servant who owed him a small amount. The man who had been forgiven seized the other servant and demanded that he repay his debt. When the other servant begged for mercy, the man who had been forgiven did not extend mercy. He had his fellow servant thrown into debtor's prison.
When the other servants saw what had happened, they informed the king. The king was furious, and he ordered that the servant who had been forgiven be brought before him. The king called him a wicked servant telling him that he should have forgiven just as he had been forgiven. The king then handed him over to prison until the debt was paid.
This parable teaches an extremely important lesson to us. All of us have been forgiven, and all of us need to practice forgiveness.
We are just like the servant who owed a huge debt that we could never repay. That is why Jesus came in order to take away our sins and provide us forgiveness and salvation. We could never save ourselves, and we could never be forgiven without the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross.
When we reflect on how much we have been forgiven of, we should praise and thank the Lord for his mercy and grace.
Even after we have come to repentance and faith in Jesus, we often fail to follow the teachings and the commandments set forth by the Lord Jesus. We need to be forgiven for sins of commission and omission. Thankfully, we can go to the Lord and receive His forgiveness whenever we fall into temptation and sin.
Since we have been forgiven of such a great debt, we as believers in Jesus must be people who forgive others for what they do to us. As Jesus said in the Lord's Prayer, we should pray forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. As Jesus says at the end of this parable, the Father will not forgive us if we are not willing to forgive our brothers and sisters.
Forgiveness is hard. When someone hurts us very badly, we don't want to forgive them even if they ask us to. However, that is not following the example or teaching of Jesus. Jesus even forgave those who crucified Him saying, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
I know in my own life that not forgiving others for what they have done to me only leads to more hurt. It is best to let things go. Leave things in the hands of the Lord and be willing to move on.
I don't know if you have someone in your life that you need to forgive. I pray that you will ask the Lord Jesus to give you the strength to offer forgiveness so that the relationship can be healed.
This week,, remember how many times the Lord has forgiven you. Be grateful for the Lord's amazing grace, and give Him all the glory, honor and praise.
Next week, we will continue with our series on the parables of Jesus. I will post the verses on Monday, and I will have a book review on Wednesday. May God bless you all. Amen.
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