Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: God will judge unforgiveness. And if you haven't dealt with this in a long time, you need to go before God and you need to ask God to give you the love and the mercy and the grace and the door to be open to go to that person that you've hurt or they've hurt you, to make things right so the peace of God can be ruling over your lives. That's what God desires.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio. The Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Well, it's good to have you along today for our continuing focus on forgiveness. Today, Raul will explore how hurts that aren't dealt with can become obstacles to the fullness of all that God desires for you.

Whether you've wronged someone and need to ask their forgiveness or you've been harboring bitterness and need to forgive someone yourself, God can give you the strength to move forward. Here's Raul Ries in Matthew chapter 18, verse 21.

Raul Ries: This morning we're going to be dealing with a subject that I think that every one of us not only have experienced it, but maybe you find yourself this morning in that situation. We'll be dealing with the unforgiving servant. When I began to read the parable and study it this week, I had to really pause in my own life for a moment. Because as I read it and I have to teach it, I have to first of all take an examination of my own personal life to see if I have against anybody unforgiveness. Otherwise, how can I teach?

I believe that unforgiveness has destroyed so many, so many people as they have become so bitter and hateful toward those people who have faulted them or hurt them that they're not willing to forgive and to forget, but to literally hold a grudge against them even to the point that you wish they were dead. I've been in that situation many times. I confess to you, many, many times.

You have someone that hurts you, someone that maybe speaks against you, and immediately the enemy, because you are a believer, the enemy will come in and will try to put bitterness in your heart. And he'll try to put hatefulness towards that person. I have seen so many people leave not only this church, but other churches.

When they got bitter against somebody, the reason they leave is because they're not only selfish, but they're not willing to humble themselves before God, but they're good at pointing fingers at other people. And it's always the other person's fault, but never my fault. I believe that there are many people today holding grudges for things that maybe a person has talked to you about or maybe they have done against you over the past years, or maybe just lately you've been hurt. Someone has hurt you deeply.

It's so sad to see people that are embittered by people that you love. One of the first things that when I came to the Lord, it was not just something that was phony, but I had a lot of bitterness towards my father because of the way I grew up and the things that I saw him do and the things that he did against me. My goal before I came to Jesus Christ, my goal by the time I was 18 years old was to literally murder my father, to kill him. It was in my heart since I was 15 years old.

By the time I became of age, there was such a distance from my father and myself that I couldn't stand him. There was such a grudge in my heart that when I came back from Vietnam, I was here for a while now and I had gotten married, and me and my father didn't get along. So one day we were arguing and he began to, actually he was a little bit drunk and he got a little bit physical, and that was the end of our last conversation.

I can remember a couple of weeks later when I got saved. I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. The first thing that I had to deal with in my own life is to go to my house and go to my father and tell him to forgive me, even though he was at fault because I wanted to make sure that my heart was right before God. I hadn't read the Bible yet, but I felt it in my heart.

If Christ can forgive me for such a debt and all the things that I had done in my life, then why couldn't I forgive my father? And you know what was so neat? When I walked into the house and my father was there, my mother, and my brother, I was crying and I was just really in an emotional state just sharing with him how much I loved them because Christ had given me this compassion and this love for my father that it took about 10 years later for my father to come to know the Lord.

Even though he continued to be angry and even though he continued to pursue in that anger and hatefulness towards me, yet God in such a way was working in my life. I had to make sure that my heart was right before the Lord. Maybe there are some of you here today that will be able to not only understand the parable but to relate to the parable of the unforgiving servant.

Because maybe there are many of you here that maybe you have something against your parents or maybe parents against their children, or maybe against your employer or employees, or maybe a friend or maybe an enemy. And there is no possible way that we can sit here and make the proclamation that we are believers in Jesus Christ if we really don't have true love in our hearts. Because love is the key.

We who are believers need to make sure that we have forgiven and made it right with those who got mad at us over the last past years or maybe just over the last couple of weeks. You need to make sure that between you and God, you have made it right. That's the only way that we can enjoy the peace of God and the joy of God.

If they do not want to forgive you, at least you have done what is right before God biblically and you can enjoy God's peace in your life. And you can grow and you can go forward. Because if we do not make things right between God and man, and if you don't forgive those that have come against you, then how in the world can God truly forgive you of your sins when such a debt has been given to God?

Remember what he said in the Lord's prayer as he was teaching them how to pray: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses." Maybe your wife committed adultery or your husband committed adultery, and you're not willing to forgive. Or maybe you say, "Well, I forgive you," but you keep bringing it up. That's not forgiveness.

And out of anger we do that when we should never point our fingers or bring back dirt from the past and throw mud in front of that person's face. Because look at how much God has forgiven you for. Who do we think we are that we're not willing to forgive when Jesus Christ took the whole debt of sin upon himself in your life? For you he died. For you he paid the penalty of death.

How can we go to church and pretend that everything's all right and yet have unforgiveness in our hearts? That's to be a hypocrite, an actor. No wonder the church today is such a mess because of all the hypocrisy that we see today. People sing about love and they talk about love, but yet love is not in them. We need the love of God.

You might be saying in your own self, "Well, there are too many hypocrites in the church." Well then don't join it because you'll also pollute it. You'll just be one more hypocrite. You'll always see hypocrisy. You see it at work, you see it in your neighborhood, you see it at the church, you see it everywhere. But we need to be right with God.

Our heart needs to be in the right place so that God can bless my life. I had a situation maybe 10 years ago where we had trained up some pastors and one of the pastors that we had sent out was an older pastor, an older man. And he went out and he actually became bitter against me. I don't know why. He got into some weird doctrine and then about five years later out of all this bitterness, I got a call that this guy was dying. He was in his deathbed and he wanted to talk to me.

Now I went over to his house and I looked at him. I couldn't believe how skinny he was. He was dying of cancer. And he could barely speak. And I got down to his bed, I put my ear next to his voice and he said, "Raul, I called you because I want you to forgive me." I said, "For what?" And he began to share with me his bitterness. And he just began to weep and to weep and to weep, and then an hour later he went to be with the Lord.

You want to make sure you don't want to get to your deathbed before you ask for forgiveness. You want to make sure you do it now. This parable is one of the most incredible parables I have ever studied in my life for me personally because God dealt with me personally. And maybe today God brought you here just for this purpose so that you can deal with your own heart through this parable and make sure that you make things right with God.

Guest (Male): This is Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. We are committed to supporting your journey as you walk in step with God. Visit us anytime at somebodylovesyou.com for a wealth of resources and download our free app to keep biblical wisdom and encouragement at your fingertips. Let's continue with the final part of our study, the unforgiving servant.

Raul Ries: Let's read the parable and see what he says to us, beginning with chapter 18, verse 21. He says, "Then Peter came to Jesus and said, 'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him? Seven times?' And then Jesus said unto him, 'I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven,' 490 times. And then Peter said, 'Oh no, Lord.' That's what I would say. 'Man, that's too many times, Lord.'

That's what the Lord is saying. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king, he gives now the illustration, who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents of gold. That's about $10 million. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold and with his wife and his children and all that he had to make the payment be made.

Then the servant therefore fell down before his master and said, 'Master, have patience with me and I will pay you all.' It's kind of a picture in the parable as this master is God and here we are with a big debt of sin. And as we humble ourselves before the Lord and we begin to plead for mercy and for grace, the heart of God is touched by our pleading.

The servant fell down before him and said, 'Master, have patience with me, I will pay you all.' And then the master of the servant was moved with compassion and released him and forgave all his debt. Wow. Can you imagine that? Many of us here have been forgiven for so much that we've done and yet many of us already have forgotten that.

Why do I say that? Because of the rest of the parable. We are like the unforgiving servant today. Look what he says: "Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave all his debt. But immediately that servant went out and he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii." 16 cents was a day's wages among the Romans. 16 cents.

And he grabs his fellow by the throat and says, "I'm going to kill you if you don't pay me." Notice the bitterness, forgetting the grace and compassion of God. And he laid his hands on his neck and he took him by the throat and said, "Pay me what you owe me now." And so his fellow servant fell down on his feet and he begged him saying, "Have patience with me and I will pay you all."

And he would not, but he went and threw him into prison until he could pay the debt. How are you going to pay the debt when you're in jail? You can't. It's an impossibility. This young man is showing no mercy, no grace, no love. How quickly we forget what God has forgiven us for as we try to condemn, as we try to retaliate, as we try to come to that place where we have so much hatefulness that we don't care about people's needs anymore.

We don't care what happens. We're not willing to forgive, even though God has forgiven us. We don't have the heart of forgiveness. May God help us not to forget the parable. May God help us not to forget what a big debt Jesus Christ has paid for each one of us individually. Because first of all, I want to tell you that God is not pleased with you if you have unforgiveness. You say, "Wait a minute, what do you mean?" Listen to the rest of the parable.

Verse 30: "And he would not, but he threw him into prison until he would have paid the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what he had been doing, they were immediately grieved and they came and they told their master all that this fellow had done. And then his master, after he had called him, said unto him, 'You wicked servant, I forgave you all the debt because you begged me. Should not you also have compassion on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you?'"

Hey, don't forget what God did for you. Don't forget who you are. Most important, don't forget who God is and what God did for you because we so easily forget about forgiveness. Immediately we want to retaliate. Immediately we want to get even. Listen what else he says: "And his master was so angry that he delivered him now to the torturers until he should pay the $10 million." Imagine that. He should have kept quiet. Should have received forgiveness.

But check this out, verse 35: "So my heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you from his heart does not forgive his brother his trespasses." Wow. That's heavy. That's why I'm telling you you've got to get it right with the Lord. God's not going to put up with garbage. God is love, but God will judge. You see, in the instruction concerning conflicts and misunderstandings that are raised here by not only the question by Peter concerning one's obligation to forgive the offender, Peter himself knew that forgiveness was the characteristic of God and that God is love and God is righteous in his judgment.

But Peter also understood that the Pharisees demanded forgiveness as an evidence of personal righteousness. They had it all wrong. The actual Pharisee said you can only forgive three times. That's it. And then no more. Peter said seven times. The Lord said 490 times. Peter perhaps recalls what Jesus Christ had said in previous chapters where he said, "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also."

But then again, what is that? You're submitting your will to the will of God, love, not retaliation, not hatefulness, not wanting to destroy. That's a greater witness. Thus, it seems to me that as Christ is requiring here that forgiveness has to be individual. From each one of our own hearts, we have to learn how to forgive. That's why when Peter said and he asked the question, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother?"

He said to him what? "Up to seven times? No, Peter. Up to 70 times seven," 490 times. As many times as you can forgive. Heavy. We are never, ever to have unforgiveness in our hearts, but we are to forgive and forget. Otherwise, if we do not forgive, then how can we receive the forgiveness of Jesus Christ in our lives?

In Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 3:13, Paul said, "Be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ Jesus forgave you." And then in Colossians 3:13: "Bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do." We must forgive.

Remember that Jesus Christ is our example to forgiveness. If you can't forgive that person and make things right, then how can the grace and the mercies and the love of God be with you? It can't. I don't know how many of you here today are being spoken to by the Lord, but I know God spoke to me this week. Because there are times that we forget that we hold these little grudges, maybe against your wife or against your husband or maybe against another person.

And if we let the sun go down in our anger, then what happens is we get hardened, we become callous, and pretty soon we're wanting to murder that person. If you let it go, it will become harder and harder and harder to forgive. You must deal with it immediately.

Guest (Male): Today's message has underscored God's desire for us to live with peace and rest filling our hearts, not anger, hurt, or guilt. If we ask the Lord, he'll help us to both forgive and seek forgiveness. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's lesson is titled The Unforgiving Servant. If you'd like to get an unedited version, we'll be happy to send it to you for a donation of $5 or more. Just call us at 800-634-9165.

Now, as you think about taking this potentially very difficult step of forgiveness, we'd like to tell you about five key lessons from this series we're currently airing. This forgiveness collection is available on CD or thumb drive. Illuminating the Lord's willingness to pardon sin and restore lives, each lesson will inspire you to extend the same grace to others that God has shown to you.

Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order Raul's collection of five messages on forgiveness. We'll send you the flash drive for just $7 or the CD set for $20. The number again is 800-634-9165. You can also write to us at Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765.

This is a listener-supported ministry, and we're thankful for your tax-deductible gifts. Your partnership is so crucial to the success of our mission to share the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Join us next time as we continue with more in this forgiveness series. We'll see how life with Christ begins with repentance and humble surrender paves the way for heavenly purpose as we embrace the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now once again, here's Raul with a closing thought from today's lesson.

Raul Ries: God will judge unforgiveness. And if you haven't dealt with this in a long time, you need to go before God and you need to ask God to give you the love and the mercy and the grace and the door to be open to go to that person that you've hurt or they've hurt you, to make things right so the peace of God can be ruling over your lives. That's what God desires from each one of our hearts here this morning.

That servant was forgiven and then he went out for 16 cents, 16 pennies, and he wanted to kill his own servant and then he put him in jail. And when the master of the house found out, he brought him back in, he says, "Now you're going to go to jail. You're going to be tormented and you're going to pay back the $10 million you owe me." You'll never get out of jail until you pay, an impossibility. May God help us and give us the wisdom and the knowledge to become a loving people and a forgiving people.

Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.