The judgment of God in life, not after death, is the central claim in the passage, which expounds on Jesus' parable in Matthew 18. The sermon details the parable of the unforgiving servant, contrasting the immense debt forgiven by the king with the small debt the servant refused to forgive his own debtor, illustrating the severe consequences of failing to extend mercy. The core lesson is that while God's mercy is abundant, His judgment in life is real and can have lasting repercussions for those who harbor unforgiveness. The application emphasizes the necessity of forgiving others from the heart, as God has forgiven us, to avoid incurring God's judgment.
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And look at verse fifteen. And if thy brother sinned against thee, go show him his fault between thee and him alone. If he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Twenty-one. Then came Peter and said unto him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times Jesus hath unto him. I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king who would make a reckoning with his servants.
And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him that owed him ten thousand talents. conservatively, that's ten million dollars. Not for as much as he had not wherewith to pay. His Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down in worship, in saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the Lord of that servant being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him twenty dollars. And he laid hold on him and took him by the throat, saying, Pay what thou oest. So his fellow servant fell down and resolved him saying, Have patience with me. I will pay thee. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison, so he should pay back a tribute. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceeding sorry, and came and told unto their Lord all that was done.
Then his Lord called unto him, and said to him, Wow, wicked servant! I forgave thee all that debt, because thou besoughtest me. Shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow servant, even as I had mercy on thee, and his Lord was walt, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due, so shall also my heavenly Father do unto you. if you will give not everyone his brother from your heart.
Let us speak to God again in prayer. Now, Father, we are thankful for all things that you have put in your word, some things that give us joy, some things that give us hope, and other things that pull us up short, and make us examine all that's involved in your so great salvation. We pray that we shall not be so foolish, Father, as to look at the one and not the other.
Let us realize that you have put them both there. and one is as true as the other. That was told us of heaven, that is truth. That was told us of hell, that is truth. That was understand, Father, that was put them there side by side, and that was profit by reading the benefits of the one and the condemnation of the other. So for your goodness in enabling us to be here this day, We thank you, our God, gathered that some of those that confessed the name of the Lord for the purpose of singing your praises, of being fed, did not your son say, Feed my lambs, feed my sheep?
We thank you for that. So, Father, let them indeed be fed from the Scriptures by the Spirit of God. Now we confess our sins. Be faithful and just to forgive and cleanse. and glorify the name of thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. I have been asked about this parable across the ocean and in this country as well. I remember when I was speaking in England, yes, I'm an international celebrity.
A doctor that was studying at Oxford University asked me about Matthew eighteen. I said, perhaps someday I will give a message on it and then I will explain it to you fully. And then again, I will tell you something that happened to me many years ago. Somehow I was with my wife flying and we had a short stop in St. Louis, Missouri. And I had a friend there named Stuart Heinrich. And so I said, what I'm going to do is phone him and give him greetings.
So I telephoned him and I said, Mr. Heinrich, yes. I said, you are a teacher of the Word of God, aren't you? Yes. You answer questions about the Word of God? Yes. I said, well, I have a question. I said, if God ever forgives the death of sin, does He ever take back that forgiveness? He said, absolutely not. I said, well, how is it that in Matthew chapter eighteen, it says that I forgave thee that death, and now I'm taking back that forgiveness that I gave thee.
He said, it's a parable. He said, May I ask, who is this that is talking to me? I said, John Milton Mills. He said, you scoundrel here. He said, it sounded like your voice that I said, how could he be here in Missouri? And then he got away from Matthew, eighteen, and he never gave me the answer. And so that is why I am here today to tell you about Matthew chapter eighteen. I read it carefully to you, and I emphasize certain portions that you might not be as some who look at a portion that's difficult, and they say, it's a parable, and so they brush it aside.
I see. So if it's a parable, it doesn't have any meaning. You say, yes, but if It doesn't mean what it seems to mean. That is why they speak of it that way. And others look at it and say, oh, that is a picture of Israel and the Gentiles. And others look at it and say, oh, that is a picture of one who professes to be saved, but he's really not saved. And the holiness people would say, Why, of course, here is a man that was saved and he lost his salvation.
And all of those interpretations are wrong. I tell you what it says and you prove me wrong. I told you that I've come here so long and I've never told you anything that was wrong. So you prove me wrong if you're able. Did you notice that the Savior said In Matthew eighteen, if thy brother sinned against thee, go show him his fault between thee and him alone. You see, if thy brother sinned against thee, for if they are brethren, they are part of the family of God.
You say, yes. And if he hears thee, thou hast gained thy brother. Yes. And if you do not gain your brother, he is dealt with by the church. Because he is your brother, a disobedient brother. And at the end of the parable, lest you interpret it in a way that the Lord Jesus did not tell you to interpret, he said, So shall the Heavenly Father do unto every one of you, if he forgive not his brother from the heart. And so you're going to tell me now that this is not the family of God, not the forgiveness of one brother to another brother?
If there's any way that you can make it mean something else, tell me. But if it says brother, then I take it as being brother and brother. That is why in having five messages to give you this month, I told you how as you grow older, you are able to take one subject and expand it. Whereas, as a young man, you take a multitude of subjects and put them together and seek to get one message. Well, I told you last week from Hebrews nine twenty-seven, it is appointed unto men once to die. But after this the judgment.
So there is a judgment of God after death. But today it is the judgment of God in life, in the land of the living. There is going to be a judgment after death, but this is a portion of the scriptures that tell us there was also a judgment of God in the land of the living. And this is what some Christians refuse to acknowledge. but if they had read the Scripture and thought it through, and so often I've simply brought certain portions of the Word of God to the attention of honest brethren, and they say, well, of course, how is it that I overlook that?
And I will tell you, first of all, that this is not the judgment seat of Christ. It is not, as the passage is, in Matthew twenty-five, It is not as in Hebrews nine twenty-seven, not the coming of the Lord and not after death as in Revelation twenty at the great white throne, none of those judgments. But this is the judgment of God in life. And some Christians refuse to believe that God will judge them in life. But have you ever heard this verse? Judgment must begin. at the house of God.
When? You say, at the judgment seat of Christ. You say, no. No. So God says, judgment must begin at the house of God. It begins here. It doesn't end here. I told you that there are so many areas in which God's children are going to be judged. I told you that after death the judgment I told you that they will be judged as to what they are doing when the Lord Jesus comes and now little children abide in him that when he shall appear we may have boldness and not be ashamed from him at his coming you say yes when he comes and also concerning Simon Peter that's what started this series this he spake signifying by what manner of death he should glorify God.
So your manner of death can glorify God or dishonor God. Your activity that you are engaged in when the Savior returns, you will be ashamed or proud when the Lord sees what you are doing. And also, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he had done, whether it be good or bad. But, that is at the judgment seat of Christ. And even there some have said this, for at the judgment seat of Christ we only receive the good things. That's remarkable. When I read, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he had done, whether it be good or bad, but we're just going to receive the good things there I leave it to you then as to what is the significance of the judgment seat of Christ but in this instance I know that it's not the judgment seat of Christ for this reason we'll try to make it the judgment seat of Christ for a moment because this king is making a reckoning with his servants let's pretend it's the judgment seat of
Christ then It says that at the judgment seat of Christ, this man who has squandered his master's goods, because of that, he has to be sold, and his wife and his children, you say, but at the judgment seat of Christ, why are man's wife and children? Of course they're not. And also, at the judgment seat of Christ, are we going to have people standing around? praying to the king because of the behavior of the man that is being judged. You say, don't all of those things are settled?
Well, of course they are. This is in the judgment seat of Christ after death. This is the judgment of God in life, in the land of the living. This is what David said. I've paid it unless I believe to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And so there is the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, and there is the judgment of the Lord in the land of the living as well. And this is something that I recall years ago, an elder in a meeting when I told him this, saying to me, why has no one ever told me this before? And perhaps because it is so starving, it is so difficult to accept that we refuse to speak on it or we refuse to accept it.
It is just like when the Savior said, these shall go away into everlasting punishment. People do not want to believe that. It's a horrible thought, but our Savior who said, the ones on the right hand shall go away into eternal life. Yes, I believe that. And the ones on the left hand shall go away into eternal life. damnation, death. People say, I don't believe that. Is that not strange? Run beside the other, and we embrace the one, but reject the other. They're both true. Now, I can't labor it anymore. You think it through, and you will see it's impossible for it to be the judgment seat of Christ.
It is judgment in the land of the living. And there is a consolation in this parable But at the same time, there was a dire warning against those who think that they can sow to the flesh and not reap corruption, think that they can sow and not reap what they sow. But the consolation is this. If you have sown to the flesh before the judgment falls, if by your behavior you can persuade the king to remit that judgment, then there is hope.
The remainder of your life can be changed and not the condition, explained in Matthew eighteen, of being sold into slavery with your wife and children, your lamb confiscated, everything taken away from you. That is an ending that is so dire in its consequences that we do not like to think about it. That this is the way our Savior described it, and he is not one for exaggeration. Now, if this is so, the consolation, that some of us may have this judgment ready to fall upon us, but by intercession and pleading and casting ourselves at the feet of God, we can avert this judgment.
that should rightfully fall upon us. That is the consolation. But the warning is this, that if you are able by prayer and supplication, as this man in Matthew eighteen was able to persuade the king to remit that judgment, then there is a responsibility of a new behavior afterwards. once you've received this pardon from the chain. Now, it says, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his mercies, his compassion, his loving-kindnesses, they are not.
They are new every morning. And so, the first time I trusted Christ as Savior, I received his mercy. And then I received his mercy day after day, every cent. And so here is another mercy of God. A mercy that saved this man from a life, the remainder of his life, one of misery. And God, in a word, remits it all and allows him to go free. How great a consolation. And this is what some of you should take to heart because there are unconfessed sins. And there was persistence in sin.
And you do not know when God is going to make a reckoning with you concerning the life you've been living. And if he does, that will bring you to your senses, and then you will pray. But certain things build up before God does this. I cannot imagine such a thing. I've heard of some debts run up. But I've never heard of a ten million dollar debt, why not? I heard of this man and Roman, and one of them was unwise, and had credit cards, and then of thousands and thousands of dollars, until finally it was demanded by the bank, you must pay because you over-extended all of these credit cards.
And so then they had to come to their senses, and now for years and years they'll be paying off the debt. But how many of you for the rest of your life think you could raise ten million dollars and pay off the debt with the salary you're getting now? Of course not. And especially if the laborers then were making a penny, a penny, how long would it take? What the Savior is trying to tell us here is that this debt will never be paid. That if God makes a reckoning with you in the land of the living, and it is of this magnitude, it will take the rest of your life to try to pay it off, and you will never resolve the debt.
That's what God wants you to understand. That there are some judgments that he sends upon us like this. follow may carry for the night the joy coming in the morning. How delightful when a judgment of God comes and it lasts a night and we come to our senses and then joy coming in the morning. But what if sin has occurred persisted in and we have sinned to such an extent that it's like a ten million dollar debt how can you ever pay off that debt as long as you live you say you never can and that is the pity that is the pathos of this man's plea he's a slave and the money he is using is not his own it is like if you would like to understand This man that's representing a company that handles finances in Britain, and he lost billions of dollars, and
even the Queen of England lost her money, and finally the company gave up in bankruptcy. It wasn't his money. He didn't lose anything of his, but he bankrupted this financial institution that had been going on for years. Now, evidently, this potentate was a man like a sheikh of the East that has oiled today billions and billions. What is ten million dollars to him? But if a slave has to pay it back, that is a different matter. And so here is a debt that has run up to an magnitude of ten million. And then he says, I'm going to make a reckoning with my servant.
And he starts examining everything that is done. And he finds out that he owes him ten million dollars. Now, think of your life. That is why the old brethren said, keep short accounts with God. Why? Because if the account builds up to such a great amount, God himself intervenes. And he brings you to your senses. That if the things that I do, continue no longer than this, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Then I'm not going to run off a debt of ten million dollars. But this one let that debt accumulate, accumulate, and he would not do anything about it.
And so finally the king himself had to intervene. The same thing happened in the case of David. There was David who first at all lusted in his heart at the Bathsheba. And then he arranged to have her walk to him. And then it was adultery. And then there was deception to her husband, sending him to the front. And finally, it was murdered. And then after he had Uriah, the Hittite, murdered, he said, well, give consolation to Joab and say that the sword does not have a special person. It falls on one. It falls on the other.
And then for months and months he goes on in his sin. And absolutely nothing is said. But then God has a reckoning. David, he does it through Nathan. Nathan says, I have something to tell you. Tell me. And you remember that story told him about the you, lamb. And David's heart is touched about it. when he sees the enormity of that wicked man that would treat a little lamb that way. And when he said the man is worthy of death, Nathan said, you are the man.
And then he started telling David what was going to happen. He said, because you have sinned, he said, your wives are going to be ravished in the daylight. the healing that you have done in secret. Your wives are going to experience it in the daylight. Your sons, he mentions other sins. This child is going to die. The sword will never depart from your house. And Nathan said, Your sins is forgiven. Nevertheless, you have given great occasion to the enemy for blasphemy in the name of God.
Now, please notice, that David is forgiven, but the consequences remain. Do you understand? So there are some things that even a man after God's own heart, if he lets them build up, they cannot be completely removed. Yes, he went on, but his life was never the same. Then there is absalom in his life. There is Ammon in his life. There was Adonijah, his son, in his life. And then all of these things come upon him, and they're irremediable. Nothing could change them.
Do you understand? That is why you do not presume to insist that the grace of God will let you die, will let you sin with impunity. I remember one Dear Christian, saying this, Jesus Christ is crazy about me. Another woman saying, he'll never lay his hand upon me. He wouldn't have to do anything to me. I want you to understand that you, God's child, he will kill you in this life. I am terrified of God. Why? Because you've read it. You read it every week at the Lord's Supper. It says, because of your disregard of the Lord's Supper, your irreverence It says some of you are weak and some of you are sickly and some of you are dead.
And these are Christians. They were judged not because they were lost, but because they are Christians. Now, he doesn't strike them dead at first because there is irreverence at the Lord's Supper. But he didn't persist again, on and on, and they were sick and they were weak. But finally, they would not repent. And God sent death upon them. And that's why I'm terrified of God. There are those who say, fear, the fear of the Lord. That's reverential trust. I take it to be absolute fear as well. Because if I presume to do something like go out and commit adultery and murder, I would not be taken by surprise if God struck me down dead.
Because I was his own. Do you understand? And so in talking about the mercy of God, why this very powerful shows the abundant mercy of God, that so in one who could have built up a debt so great could have that debt forgiven. All that God was going to do, God said, I'm not going to do it. Would you not think that a man could have received a second benefit of mercy from God of that magnitude? would there ever be changed? Would it not his heart be filled with grace and mercy and compassion? And so it says immediately he goes out having had his whole life remitted from misery and judgment to one of freedom.
But I told you about the second fifty years. Now he goes out and sees one of his fellow servants. It's the same word. He's a servant, and this man is a servant. And it grabs him by the throat, and he says, You owe me twenty dollars. Pay. And now, notice the similarity of what happened. What he had just done, falling at his king's feet, this man falls at his feet and asks him for the same blessing. And he said, Never. you're in prison. And so this poor fellow servant of his is in prison.
But when that happens, the servants, his other fellow servants care about it and the enormity of his acts. And so they go and tell the king. That's a beautiful thought. What does it mean? It means that it's some of us as God's children hear of another that has done wrong. And it so strikes us we do not go and pray, oh God, tribute that man. But we go and we demand the judgment of God on that man. And God listens to his servants.
Remember that. It says the other servants went and prayed to God, told him, the situation that existed in this man's life. And then the king makes another reckoning with him in life. He said, I forgave you all that debt because you asked me. He said, and should not you have had mercy and compassion and forgiveness upon your fellow servant. He said, therefore, that debt that I took away, I am placing it upon you again. you're going into prison and you'll stay there until you pay all that debt. What does it mean?
It means this, that there are some judgments of God that may last a day. There are some that may last a week. But there are some judgments of God that last the rest of your life. until the day that you die, you will never be able to throw off that judgment of God. Why? Not because of something that you did, but something that you failed to do. You failed to forgive as God forgave you. And so, if you ask me, must I forgive as a child of God?
No, you do not have to give again. as you've been forgiven, but I promise you this, if not your life will be one torment. I told you in First Corinthians, what God can do. First of all, you go along a little in sin, and you are weak, and then you persist in sin, and then you become sickly, and then you will not repent, and God says, that's the end, and then you die. And so some of them continued in sin for the rest of their lives. And God did not say, well, I'll just forget this judgment that I said I was going to send upon him.
The judgment is carried out. And so this man could not again have the sentence of God reversed, because there were conditions upon the mercy of God, unspoken conditions. he expected the man to learn by his display of mercy and compassion and forgiveness. They showed that to his brothers and sisters in Christ. And therefore, when I am to forgive you, it said, we are to forgive, even the shah, for Christ's sake, forgiving us. Well, then, there's no basis for that. That's true. But the only condition is this.
It's brought out in the Gospel of Luke. It says, if you are brought to sin against you seven times in the days, and turn and say, I repent, thou shalt forgive. God never tells you to forgive a man who does not beseech forgiveness. You're not to let a man stand against you and just say, I forgive you. Go ahead, do what you please. God says you are not to forgive. If this man sins against you, he said earlier in Matthew eighteen, you go and speak to him and tell him what he's done wrong. And if he hear thee, you gain your brother. But if he doesn't hear you what?
Oh, forgive him anyway. Not at all. You take one or two more. And then with those that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall be established. But if you don't hear them, well, forgive him if you tell it to the church. And if he doesn't hear the church, Excommunication is to be and to be, as in heathen and as a publican. And the Savior said that. And so, yes. When you sin, you must repent. And I can say this. In my lifetime, I do not know it. I've ever seen a handful of people who have come and said, I've sinned against you. Will you forgive me?
Why, I think I would be so filled with compassion and amazement. I would say... Indeed, indeed. But I cannot remember when someone came in supplication, confessing his guilt and asking forgiveness. Why, that's enough to touch a man's heart. But if he did, it's not I may or may not forgive. The Lord Jesus said, I must forgive. Because if not, he says, the Lord will do to you as he did to this unrepentant sinner, who would not forgive his brother. The judgment seat of Christ after death. The judgment of God in the land of the living.
Beware. Do not run up such an unpayable debt. Time is gone. Let us pray. Our Father, thou dost know that there are shortcomings that we have. You yourself tell us. how small they are in comparison to what great debt this man's was. And yet we have sinned. And as the beginning, so we say again, we confess our sins, Father. And so as you in your grace have forgiven us at the first, and day by day, so teach us when our brother says, I repent, to forgive.
Having been forgiven, let that nature be within our hearts. Having been shown, Mercy, let us be merciful, and having enjoyed the benefits of being forgiven. Let us enjoy dispensing this forgiveness and the benefits that come from our brother and sister in Christ being forgiven by us. Let us learn this lesson, our Father, of your judgment in the land of the living. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord, we pray. Amen.