SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/30/2023 9:55 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-9 “The
Example of Forgiveness”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matt. 18:23-35
Message of the verses: “23 “For this
reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a certain king who wished to
settle accounts with his slaves. 24
"And when he had begun to settle them, there was brought to
him one who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 “But since he did not have the
means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and
children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 “The slave therefore
falling down, prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me,
and I will repay you everything.’ 27 “And the lord of that slave felt
compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that slave went
out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he
seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you
owe.’ 29 “So his fellow slave fell down and began to entreat him,
saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 “He was unwilling
however, but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was
owed. 31 “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply
grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 “Then
summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that
debt because you entreated me. 33 ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your
fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?’ 34 “And his lord, moved with anger,
handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
35 “So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive
his brother from your heart.’”
We begin this 9th SD on
the parable that Jesus spoke to His disciples about forgiveness by once again
talking about the slave who was forgiven all, but with unimaginable
callousness, this forgiven slave was unwilling however, but went and threw his
subordinate in prison until he should pay back what was owed (v-30). One wonders why this slave would ask for
repayment after he himself had been forgiven so much, as this was grossly
insensitive; to abuse and imprison his debtor for failure to repay so little
was, in the words of one of the commentators who said that it was a “moral
monstrosity,” to say nothing of foolishness, because in prison the man could
never earn money in order to repay his debt.
MacArthur adds “Such unforgiveness not only is morally unthinkable and
bizarre but irrational.”
When a non-believer comes to know
Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, especially if they are older like I was,
(almost 27) and if that person led a sinful life in the past, I believe that it
is difficult for that person to forget all of their past right away. Now because of this it is not as difficult to
do some things like this salve was doing to his slave which was under him. This higher ranking slave was use to dealing with
money, probably mostly in a corrupt way, and so it would have been natural for
him to treat the salve under him this way.
With that said it was very wrong for him to do what he did, and
unfortunately that is the way that believers treat other believers then and
today. This parable is an unflattering
picture of the sinful flesh that still resides in every believer and that has
caused great conflicts and damage within the church since the church began. An example of sinfulness in the early church
was the sin of Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, who
sold a piece of property and gave the proceeds to the Apostles to help the
poor, but held some back and did not disclose that so the Lord took them to
heaven earlier than they thought would happen.
This story is seen in Acts chapter four, which is when the church was
very young.
The church
at Corinth was really not typical of early congregations, however it shows
clearly the extremes to which the flesh can lead those who belong to Christ and
who possess His own nature and Spirit.
In this church we can read in Paul’s letter to them, and I am
talking about his first letter, we find rich people who had no sensitivity for
their poorer brethren, eating their own food at the Lord ’s Supper and leaving
nothing for and embarrassing those who had nothing (1 Cor. 11:22). Another thing that they did described in 6:1
is that they did not resolve their differences between each other but actually
took them to court. Paul gives them a stern
warning about this later on in chapter six.
In Paul’s
letter to Titus he wanted him to remind the believers under his care “to malign
no one, to be, uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for
all men.” He then gives the reason God
commands those virtues of His children:
“1 Remind them to be subject to rulers, to
authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, 2 to malign no
one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. 3 For
we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various
lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one
another. 4 But when the kindness of God
our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which
we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of
regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us
richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that being justified by His grace we
might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a
trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak
confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to engage in
good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men” (Titus 3:1-7).
MacArthur
writes “Jesus point in the parable is the same as Paul’s here: Those who have been graciously, totally, and
permanently forgiven by God for their immeasurable sins against Him are to act
like the divine children and heirs thy have become by reflecting the love and
compassion on their heavenly Father.
They are to ‘be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each
other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven [them]’” (Eph. 4:32).
I
have been trying for some time now to memorize verses in the 6th
chapter of Romans, as these verses speak about believers being dead to
sin. Believers still have the flesh to
contend each and every day of their lives while on earth. It is my belief that when a person is
born-again that the nature that we are born with is taken away from us, however
we still have to contend with the flesh, and that is what we do battle with
each and every day. Let us conclude by
looking at Romans 6:11-12 “11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin,
but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that
you obey its lusts.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: Remember that it is the flesh that I battle each day and that can cause me to fall into sin, can cause me to be unforgiving
to other believers.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
Continue to work on my memory verses from Romans chapter six.
1/30/2023 10:59 AM
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