Our paragraph topic is: (The servant demands payment)
The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who desires to settle accounts with his servants. This is the parable that Christ told to his disciples as he was teaching them about forgiveness. He wanted them to have a clear understanding. He wanted them to know. He wanted them to feel within their hearts the meaning of forgiveness. Peter had asked how often they should forgive. And Christ wanted them to understand that there is no limit on forgiveness.
He told them, when the accounts came to be settled, would it show that they had compassion upon their fellow man as the king had upon his servant. Or would they be like the servant who had no compassion upon those that owed him? These are the servants actions. "But as that servant went out, he met one of his fellow-servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and he laid hold of him and throttled him, saying, 'Pay what thou owest.' His fellow-servant therefore fell down and began to entreat him, saying, 'Have patience with me
and I will pay thee all.' But he would not; but went away and cast him into prison until he should pay what was due."
What will you do? Will you be like the servant or will you take the position of the king? God has patience. God has compassion. God is forgiving. God is all knowing. Will you be like God our Father? Will you forgive? Will you have compassion? Will you have patience with your brothers and sisters as they continue in their ways? Will you have love for them as they struggle through the trials and tribulations of life? Will you be an example for them, demonstrating the love the God has for you and the love that your heavenly father has for them?
Our Father waits for us to have knowledge. Our Father waits for us to understand. Our Father waits for us to turn to him and believe. We are drawn by the world and all its glitz and glamour. For we are given to believe that we are successful it. We are given to believe that we can have what it has to offer. We are given to believe that if we only believe hard enough and work long enough that we can have the promises of this life. And when we try and fail who do we turn to? Do we change our game plan? Do we try a different strategy? Do we push the boundaries in our efforts to succeed? And yet we are already successful.
For within us lies the truth of who we are in Christ. And within us lies the truth of our success. Within us is the light of life given us by our father through Christ Jesus. And yet we are not aware of who we are in him simply because we are blinded by the physical. We are blinded by the world. We are raised in an environment that teaches us the rules of this world and not the rules of the spiritual world. The two contradict and conflict. Father have patience with me that I may learn your ways. Father have patience with me that I may understand the truth of who I am. Father forgive me my trespasses and help me to forgive others as you forgive me. Help me to have patience and love that I may see others as you see me.
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.
Our paragraph topic is: (Parable of the unmerciful servant)
Peter asked the question and Christ responded. He asked: " But how often shall we forgive?" How often shall we endure the hurt and the pain of our brother's and sister's sin and still forgive them of their transgressions? How often shall we stand by and watch them play the game of seeking repentance only to turn around and sin again? How often can we put up with their problems and not get angry? Is seven times enough, he asked? Christ wanted his disciples to know that seven times was not enough. Even if their brothers and sisters continue to sin, to forgive them should not be limited by the disciples inability to forgive.
He told them that they should forgive not seven times but seventy times seven. Forgive as often as it is necessary and then some. Forgive more than they can sin and then some. Forgive that they will know that you are different and that there is something in you that will not allow you to judge, to be angry, to not love, or to not forgive. Forgive that they will see that there is something inside that allows you to see them in a different light. Forgive that they will see that there is something inside you that allows you to be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful with you. Forgive that they will see that there is no limit to your mercy as there is no limit to his mercy and there is no lack to his justice.
And then Christ told his disciples this parable to help them understand why they should not limit their forgiveness. "This is why the kingdom of heaven is likened to a-king who desired to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun the settlement, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And as he had no means of paying, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. But the servant fell down and besought him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will pay thee all!' And moved with compassion, the master of that servant released him, and forgave him the debt."
When the time comes for the settlement of accounts will we meet our debts? At the judgment day when we are called upon to review our lives on the scale of justice will the scales tilt to good or will the scales tilt to evil? When we are faced with eternal happiness in heaven or eternal damnation in hell, how will we plead, guilty or not? Will we beseech justice to have mercy? Will we ask for clemency? Will we be sorrowful for our sins? Will we seek compassion? How will we plead?
It is the honesty in our hearts that will weigh upon justice. It is the realization that flashes before our minds that will awaken us to the judgment before us. And it is the absence of the worldly and the presence of the spiritual reality of who we are that will press upon us the justice that we face. We had the words. We had the teachings. We had the built in presence of right and wrong. And then we had the world that transformed us into physical beings that allowed us to hide behind the veil of untruth. Yet the end comes when we are faced with the truth of justice.
Christ gave us all that we should know. He came to us. He walked among us. He spoke to us. He left us to return to God his Father. And he sent us his presence in the Holy Spirit. He established for us the written word and built for us his church. The time for settlement comes. And it will come for all without delay or postponement. It cannot be stopped. It cannot be changed. It is the justice of God. Will you be ready? Will you be prepared? Our Father is merciful. Our Father is Loving. Our Father is forgiving. Have patience with us Father that we may come to know the truth of who we are in Christ! For we are lost. We are blind. We are influenced by evil. We pray that the day of settlement will not find us without your mercy, without your grace, without your love. In Jesus Christ name we pray. Amen.
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.
Our paragraph topic is: (Peter asks how often to forgive) Part2.
Christ was teaching his disciples about winning back the souls of their brothers and sisters. He told them to meet with thy brother/sister face to face to help them understand their transgressions. Help them overcome with love and not with anger, or hurt or pain. For these emotions will cause them to strike out, to exact revenge, to cause pain and hurt as they, thy brothers/sisters, did to them. Should they not be hurt! Should they not feel the pain? Should they not be angry, or vengeful? These are the questions that the disciples were thinking about when instructed by Christ to win back their brothers/sisters.
Then Peter spoke out, asking the question, how often should we forgive. How often should we accept their transgressions? How often should they, the disciples, allow their brothers/sisters to betray them, to bear false witness against them, to lie against them, to cheat, to steal and then to seek forgiveness? Is seven times enough before they should stop forgiving? Is seven times enough before they should turn their backs on their brothers/sisters? Is seven times enough before they should cast them out and never allow repentance again? Christ answered Peter's question and told them what they should do.
Jesus said to him, "I donot say to thee seven times
, but seventy
times seven.”
Peter was a simple man, a fisherman. Everything for him was black and white. He felt strongly and deeply. Yet he was a sensible man. He wanted to know practical things, things that he could apply, things that he could grasp, things that he could know. He knew forgiveness. He knew how to accept that some people make mistakes. He knew that we are all human, not perfect, so we would err. Yet he wanted to know how long should we accept the errors of others. How long should we allow sin to be committed against us and still forgive? He wanted to know if there is an end to the ability to forgive.
At what point do we stop forgiving and start to hate? At what point do we stop forgiving and start to take revenge? At what point do we stop forgiving and ourselves turn to the sin that we seek to forgive. For this is the pit that we open ourselves to fall into if we place a limit on that which is given to us from our Father
. Christ told them, his disciples, as he tells us today, that there is no limit on forgiveness. He told them that there is no limit on the love that we should have for our brothers/sisters who sin against us.
We have a merciful Father, a God who is love, a provider, a protector, a creator. It is he who is all forgiving, all loving, all merciful and all just. And it is through his love that we become love. It is through his forgiveness that we are forgiven. It is through his mercy that we become forgiving of others, our brothers/sister. For if they truly knew who they are, if they truly knew where they come from, if they truly knew that their actions are not the actions of children of a loving God, they would not commit sin. Sin comes to influence. Sin comes to take over. Sin comes to commit sin. Sin comes to recruit others to sin.
But Christ came that we would know who we are without sin. Christ came that we would have life anew. Christ came that the light of life would shine within us. And Christ left that we may have the light of the Holy Spirit reside within us, to guide us through the influences of sin. How often should we forgive? He told us seventy times seven. He told us they do not know what they do. He told us to forgive without limits. He told us to forgive with love. He told us to forgive that they may see the goodness and the light that is within and know that their Father in heaven loves them. For through you and with him and in him we are the light of the world. So come! Let your light shine for those who cannot see. Let your light shine for those who know not. Let your light shine for those who have not. And you too will know the truth of who you are in Christ.
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.
Our paragraph topic is: (Peter asks how often to forgive) Part 1.
If thy brother sin against thee, show him his fault between thee and him alone. Talk to him/her face to face. Help them to understand their sin. Win thy brother/sister back from the clutches of evil. For evil will come. Evil will tempt. Evil will possess and will not let go. Fight for the soul of those that are lost that they may return to the light and leave the darkness that has enticed them to sin. Forgive thy brother/sister for they are under the influence of sin and they do not know the transgressions that they have made.
The battle is with sin and the weapon is love for we who love our brothers and sisters. We who treasure their light as we treasure our own, love them. We who love them forgive them of their trespasses. We who love them forgive them their sins. We who love them forgive them the things that they do against us. They do not know that evil has influenced them.
Forgive them one time. Forgive them two times. Forgive them three times. Forgive them seven times. Is this enough? This is the question that Peter wanted to know from Christ. How often should we continue to forgive our brothers/sisters of their sins? How often should we have patience with our brothers/sisters? How often should we open ourselves to their sin in order that they may be forgiven? This is Peter's question for he wanted to know. Then Peter came up to him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?"
Is seven times enough? How many times should we forgive? How many times must we accept the sins of our brothers and sisters and still love them? For they would sin against us. They would sin against others. They would sin against their families, their children, their mothers, their wives, their fathers, they would sin against all who would not accept their ways. And they would even seek to influence us to sin. For this is the way of sin. Transgress and seek others to transgress with you. Sin seeks companionship. Sin seeks others. Sin seeks all to sin against the God our Father. For this is the way of sin.
And we who seek not to sin, stand in the way of sin. For sin would seek to have us limit the love of the Father. Sin would seek to make us angry. It would seek to turn us away. It will seek to stop us from loving. It would seek to make us not forgive. For how often should we forgive? How often should we tolerate? How often should we put up with the same things over and over again? We too would be angry. We too would be tested. We too would seek to turn away that we would not have to love. But Christ is love. Christ is forgiveness. Christ is the life that was given to us that we may shine in the darkness. He is our strength. He is our protection. He is our provision. He is our all. For through him and with him and in him, we become love. We are examples of the love from the Father. It is our love that shines forth in the world against the evil that would possess all.
Come! Know the truth of who you are in Christ. See the life that is within you. Feel the love of the God your Father that will overwhelm you, engulf you, fill you, and nurture you. For we are his children and he is our Creator, our Father. And nothing can separate us from him. The light of Christ awaits your call. The light of Christ awaits your desire to be with him. The light of Christ stands at your door waiting for you to open it that he may come and reside within you. Open your heart! Seek to know who you are in him! He awaits you. He loves you. He will be with you always.
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.
