SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/26/2023 8:27 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “The
Example of Forgiveness”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matt. 18:23-35
Message of the
verses: I continue to write that we will look at these verses in this
parable that Jesus spoke as we go through it.
The slave realized the inexcusable guilt and as he was
sensing the king’s goodness he then did what we see in verse 26b “The slave
therefore falling down, prostrated himself before him.” John MacArthur believes that this was a
different kind of submission that this slave usually gave to the king, as it
was an act of total submission, of throwing himself completely on the monarch’s
mercy. “The man was guilty, condemned,
devastated, and genuinely penitent. He
had no defense and offered none.”
Now
remember we are talking about a parable that the Lord is giving to His
disciples, and the parable has to do with forgiveness, so we have to understand
that the slave represented a sinner who was now asking for forgiveness, so in
the same way of this slave, the sinner who was confronted by the Holy Spirit
with the gospel, which was the same way that the Holy Spirit confronted me 51
years ago today, as I too was confronted by the Holy Spirit acknowledging my
sin and standing guilty before the Lord accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my
Savior. I have to say that I was truly a
new-born believer in Jesus Christ and all I knew was that He had changed me
completely and I had a new life. Now
this slave went through the same thing in this parable as he cast himself upon
God’s mercy in Jesus Christ. MacArthur
adds “Every sinner should be overwhelmed by his sin as that man was overwhelmed
by his debt. He should have the attitude
of the tax collector who ‘was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but
was beating his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me, the sinner!’ (Luke
18:13). The Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12)
express the contrite attitude of this repentant sinner, who in spiritual
bankruptcy mourns over his sin and cries out for the righteousness of
salvation.”
In
this parable we see that as the man lay broken at the feet of the king, he did
not realize that he could never have repaid the debt no matter how long and
hard he worked. However his terrible
plight prompted the desperate plea, “Have patience with me,” and then this unrealistic
promise came from his lips, “I will repay you everything.” This task was impossible, but he nevertheless
begged for a chance to make good on his debt.
He, at this time had a faulty understand, but his attitude was right.
The
way this man acted is similar to the way that new believers sometime act, as
they will say things like “it is my desire to turn over a new leaf,” or perhaps
“I had better shape up.” What we see in
this parable is that the man acknowledged his sin and sincerely wanted to make
amends, but the truth is that he would never be able to make amends, as he did
not realize it at the time that he could not do it.
MacArthur
writes: “Commenting on the servant in
this parable, Martin Luther wrote,”
“Before the king drew him to
account, he had no conscience, does not feel the debt, and would have gone
right along, made more debt, and cared nothing about it. But now that the king reckons with him, he
begins to feel the debt. So it is with
us. The greater part does not concern
itself about sin, goes on securely fears not the wrath of God. Such people cannot come to the forgiveness of
sin, for they do not come to realize that they have sins. They say indeed, with the mouth that they have
sin; but if they were serious about it they would speak far otherwise. This servant, too, says, before the king
reckons with him, so much I owe to my lord, namely ten thousands talents;…But
now that the reckoning is held, and his lord orders him, his wife, his children,
and everything to be sold, now he feels it.
So, too, we feel in earnest when our sins are revealed in the heart,
when the record of our debts is held before us,…Then we exclaim: I am the most
miserable man, there is none as unfortunate as I on the earth! Such knowledge makes a real humble man, works
contrition, so that one can come to the forgiveness of sins.”
It
is true that the king well knew that, despite his good intentions, the servant
could never do the thing that he promised, paying back the dept as he promised;
but he did not chide the man for being foolish for his worthless offer. Rather. “The lord of that slave felt compassion
and released him and forgave him the debt” (v. 27).
This pictures an extraordinary picture of God’s
compassionate love for the genuinely repentant sinner who throws himself on His
mercy. This man only asked for patience
so that he might try to repay the king, but instead the king “released him and
forgave him the dept” (v. 27b). This is
what God does with the sin debt of those who come to Him in humble and sincere
patience.
MacArthur
e explains: “It must be noted that this parable is not
intended to present every aspect of salvation.
Obviously the Person and work of Christ and the essence of saving faith
in that work are not portrayed. The purpose
of our Lord here was to illustrate the matter of forgiveness between believers,
and the story is limited to that idea.
It simply depicts a man with an unpayable dept, who sought mercy and was
given it abundantly.
In
our next SD we will first of all talk about the word “dept” as that word is
important for us to understand as we go through this parable.
Spiritual meaning for my life: Looking at this parable, at least the part
that we have seen so far, reminds me of my salvation, and as mentioned that
took place 51 years ago today.
My Steps of Faith for Today: As we get into the last portion of this
parable, it is my desire that I do not act like this new believer did and not
forgive others who have wronged me.
1/26/2023 9:21 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment