Mills, John Milton: Accountability To God 02 ~ Matthew 18;

Matthew chapter eighteen, starting at verse twenty one. The Savior had said in verse fifteen, if thy brother sin against thee, go tell him his fault between thee and him alone. Verse twenty one, Then came Peter and said to him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him, until seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven. Therefore, is the kingdom of heaven like 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 million dollars. But 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 and worshiped him, 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 seventeen dollars. And he laid hold on him and took him by the throat, saying, pay what thou owest. So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, saying, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he should pay that which was due. 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 him unto him and said to him, Thou 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 wroth and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due. So shall my heavenly Father do unto you, if you forgive not everyone his brother from your heart. Let us speak to God again in prayer. Prayer. Our Father, we are thankful for the plainness of thy word. We are not concerned with what men think of thy word. We are thankful for the plainness of thy word, that thou hast made known thy mind, that thou hast told them about a heaven that they can have if they will have Christ as Savior, and a hell that is their portion if they will not have Christ as their Savior. Thou hast told them this, our God, whether they like it or not. We are thankful that while telling men this, thou dost instruct your children who could become placent, complacent, and self-satisfied, resting in the assurance of sins forgiven, feeling free to live as they please in this world. We are thankful, our Father, that that was spoken plainly to us as well. So let us take to heart this parable that thy son spoke to Peter and to us, and make we profit in this life by it. You know our sins, we confess them. Be faithful and just to forgive and cleanse our God, as you have promised, and empower the lips of him who speaks, and prepare the hearts, our hearts that are so frivolous and filled with the world and things that pertain to us. Our God, by thy spirit, work upon our hearts this hour, we pray. Hear us in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. How many of you believe the words that I read to you this morning? Be careful if you say, I believe them, because if you believe them, your life will completely change. Now, who can tell me the verse that follows the last verse of the Lord's Prayer? You know the Lord's Prayer, Our Father which art in heaven, and for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen. Does any brother know what the next verse says? This is what it says. You have prayed, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. But this is what the verse says after you finish the Lord's prayer. It says, for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your trespass. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses. Do you believe that? I know you don't believe it, because if you did, whenever a brother that had sinned against you was approaching you, you would open your arms and welcome him at the opportunity to forgive him the trespass that he committed against you, because the only way you can be sure that your trespasses are forgiven is by forgiving the trespasses of men against you. Now, I don't believe you believe that. It hasn't entered your soul, the significance of that verse. And another thing, if I ask you, have your sins been forgiven? Has God forgiven you your debt? If you say, yes, he has. Well, do you believe what that parable says? That the same one who forgave that debt can take back the forgiveness that he gave you? You say, this is heresy. This is the first time I've ever heard anybody preaching heresy from this pulpit. I see. I simply quoted to you the words of our Savior. The same God who forgave can take back the forgiveness. You say, but I have eternal life. I shall never perish. Why, that is one of the foundational truths that is taught in this assembly. Eternal security. My sheep hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. I give unto them eternal life. They shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. That's what the Bible teaches. I embrace that wholeheartedly. But at the same time, the Savior who told you those words told you these words. If you forgive not man your trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses. Now, which words do you believe that the Savior spoke? You say, I must believe them both. Why, of course you must. Now, I'm going to give you a little relief. It's this. There is not one aspect to forgiveness, but there are two aspects to forgiveness. I introduced you to that last week. I told you this. The message last week was the accountability of all God's creatures to their creator. And this week the message is of bringing to account one of God's creatures because of his conduct in this world. Listen to this verse. It says in First Timothy four that Godliness has promise for all things. It has promise for the life that now is, and of that which is to come. It speaks about some people that have hoped in Christ only in this life, and it speaks of some who have hoped of Christ in this life and in the life to come. You say, well, that is right. The Bible does speak about my life down here. It mentions threescore and ten, fourscore. It does mention that. And then does it mention another life? It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. You say, yes, but that is life in the next world. Then God speaks of two of our existences. Our existence, as Paul said, the life that I now live in the flesh. And he speaks about flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God. This corruptible must put on incorruption. Therefore, after the life in the flesh, there is a life that is ours in the world to come. And God's forgiveness pertains not only to that life to come, but it pertains to this life as well. And I'm going to quote you a verse from the Psalms that you should know. It says this: God was a God that forgaveth them, but took vengeance of their doings. You say, how can that be? If he forgave them, but he took vengeance of their doings. You say, well, if you forgive, you forget. Oh no. There is the forgiveness, and there is also the vengeance that God can take of your doings. Now, this is the answer to those of the holiness group that teach us the only way you can keep man on the straight and narrow path is by filling him with fear of being lost and going to hell. When you teach him that he has eternal life and he shall never perish, that gives him license to live as he please. No, what God does is this. He gives you eternal life. He tells you you shall never perish, but he does not give you license to live as you please. He tells you this. He says the life that you live on earth has consequences that will affect you and your wife and your children and your property as long as you're living down here on this earth. And that's what God wants you to understand. And so the holiness say, oh, I see. Then God will not take away eternal life, but he will take away all enjoyment and peace and prosperity down here until we leave this world and go into the next. That's exactly what God said. He is a God that forgave them, but took vengeance of their doings. Let me ask you, when the children of Israel sinned in the wilderness, and Moses interceded for them, was he successful? You say, yes, God said, I've heard your petition, I've answered your prayer. He said, nevertheless, they're going to wander in the wilderness for forty years until their dead carcasses fall along the way. Well, were they forgiven? You say, yes. Did God take vengeance of their doings? You say, yes. So, all of you who say, I rejoice that I'm in God's hand. Why, that's one of the most terrifying things I can think of. This is what it says in Hebrews ten: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. You say, well, it's a comforting thing to know that you're in his hand for salvation. Yes, but God is not like you and your children. It says in Hebrews that we chastened our children the way we thought best, and evidently the way we think best today is to let them do anything they choose. Why, if you even quote the book of Proverbs about foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod will drive it far from him, or they will arrest you, you see, for child abuse. I thank God for every discipline my parents ever placed upon me. Had they placed more, I might have been a better man earlier. But now, do you see, if parents do anything to children, why, the children can go and report it and have their parents arrested. I'm not speaking of abuse. I'm not speaking of injuring your child, but I'm speaking of a discipline that God speaks of in his word. But God says, when you're in my hand, it is a fearful thing to fall into my hand. And that is why I know you do not believe that, because you take comfort in saying, I'm in God's hand, I shall never perish, nobody shall pluck me out of his hand. And it also says concerning that hand, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Why? Because God is not one who lets his children live as they please in this life. But if he does, and you are so smug in saying, I've lived the way I please, I go to church when I please, I pray when I please, I do as I please. In that smugness, you understand this, what God has done in all of your rejoicing, because God hasn't taken that hand and shaken you with it and brought judgment with that hand. Because of that, something like I read to you in Matthew eighteen has occurred. Here is one of God's servants, and I'll give you more details as we go along, but this is the gist of it. One of God's servants has had committed to him God's goods, and he has been responsible for losing ten million dollars. You say, how could it happen? Why ask all the men about the savings and loans around here. They can tell you all about how money that belongs to other people in their hands, how it can slip through their fingers. But here is a man when ten million dollars was an amount that was incalculable. Now, why, some of the wealthy people of the world could go around and give out ten million dollars many, many times, but at this time, what the Savior is conveying is a debt that is impossible to repay. So here is a slave now, and he is held responsible for ten million dollars. And what is that a picture of? It is a picture of you when you sin against God and run up debt after debt after debt, and God does not lay his hand on you and bring you to account. Now, let me ask you, had you rather have God to bring you to account and discipline you in a moderate way? Or would you rather let God go on for years and years and years without bringing you to account until finally he says, all right, this is the day, come and give an account of the way that you've been living. And you say, I owe you ten million dollars. And at that day, God says, then you are going to prison, and your wife is going to prison, and your children are going to be sold into slavery, and I'm going to take everything that you own and sell it, and I'm going to take back this debt that you have let accumulate all of these years. I'm calling you to account now. So all of you who have been so smug and said, well, God has always smiled upon me, and some who do sin against God, they say, does God hear? Does God know? Does God see? Indeed he does. And so some who think that they are escaping and mocking God are going to discover that God is not mocked. It is simply this, that in your case, since you wanted it that way, God has let your debts accumulate, accumulate, accumulate, until finally, not only are you involved, but your wife and your children, your property, and everything that you have is brought to account, and God says, now you are going to pay. So this is what you have to understand. All of you who have rejoiced and can say, I know what it is to be in the hand of God. I know my sins are forgiven. Then understand the two aspects of forgiveness. There is the eternal forgiveness of sins that has to do with the lake of fire in the next world, but there is that forgiveness of sins, the temporal forgiveness of sins that has to do with the life that we live down here, and that is something that God says is conditional and remains conditional as long as you live. We're not talking about your eternal forgiveness, thank God, just like some are going to be at the judgment seat of Christ, and all you'll have there is a pile of ashes, because everything you've done for God will be burnt up. And at the same time, when you leave this world to go into the next, if you have trusted Christ as Savior, you will leave with a heart burdened with regrets for the life that you've lived, what it's done to your wife, and what it's done to your children, and what it's done to your property, and the reputation that you have dishonored with the Christians with whom you have associated, and all along you've gone through life saying, God has smiled upon me, and I am eternally secure, for as God says, the forgiveness that I have imparted to you pertains to two lives. It pertains to the life to come, but it also pertains to this life and my forgiveness that decides how things go with you in this world, that is conditional, and it is dependent upon how obedient you are and how much you please me. Do you remember this verse? It says, when a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. You say, it it does say that. So there are ways that are pleasing to the Lord, and he can make his enemies to be at peace with you. But what if your ways are displeasing to the Lord? You say, why, he can stir up my enemies and cause them to bring remorse and fear into my life. And that's just what he'll do, and that's what he's telling you. This is what it says in First Timothy four. It says, godliness has promise of this life and the life which is to come. Well, then ungodliness also has consequences in this life as well as in that life to come, and this is what God wants you to understand. Now, here is my confession. It is this, that in all the years that I've been saved, many sins have been committed. I have confessed them to God, and God has forgiven me. But there is one sin, to my knowledge, that I have never committed, and that is this, holding vengeance and an unforgiving spirit in my heart, ever saying I will not forgive to a man who has sinned against me, who comes and falls down and beseeches forgiveness. God is not going to hold me responsible for that. In fact, here is one thing that I'm wondering. When has anyone who has sinned against me ever had the truthfulness, the rectitude to come and say, I was wrong, I sinned against you, and I want you to forgive me? When is the last time you did that? Gone up to a brother that you've sinned against and quit making excuses and said, I have sinned against you, and I want you to forgive me. When have you last done that? And at the same time, if any brother came to you seeking forgiveness, when have you just as readily as God forgave you when you smote upon your breast and said, God be merciful to me, a sinner, when have you as readily forgiven that brother who came and said, I have sinned against you? Do you understand that when this man ran up a debt of ten million dollars, nothing derogatory was spoken about him. Just this, God said, I'm going to collect. This debt has been run up to ten million dollars, and you are going to pay. That's all he said. But the God who said the debt must be paid concerning how things are going in this life, when the man fell upon his knees and besought him and worshipped him and said, have mercy with me, I will pay thee all. That God who was going to sell him and his wife and children into slavery, it said he was moved with compassion, and he forgave him all that debt. Thank God that he to whom I prayed the first time, God be merciful to me, a sinner, and he forgave me my sins for all eternity. That same God, when I sin down here, he can forgive me my sins with the temporal consequences in this life. Thank God he can be moved with the feeling of mine infirmities. I rejoice in that. However, if this God in whom you boast, are your sins forgiven? You say, oh yes. Well, then you believe in a God of forgiveness. You say yes. Then you have taken upon yourself a twofold obligation. It is this. It is the realization of how enormous was the debt that God forgave you in the first place. You understand? But perhaps you are one who says, I never owed God ten million dollars. No, your debt was so small, it only required that the Lord Jesus go to the cross of Calvary and be alienated from his God, forsaken by his God, be made sin for you. That's how little your debt was. You say, oh God, how great was my sin? Yes. And what I have done against you in comparison to what you have done against God, tell me that. You say, it is so trivial. Why, of course it is. All the bad things that you and I do against one another, in comparison with what we have done in sinning against God, and the grief and sorrow that we have caused the Father in giving his Son to die for our sins, you say, why, what we do against one another is so trivial. I see. Well, when this man who had sinned against God fell upon his knees and worshiped him and said, have mercy upon me, and I will pay all. How many of you believe that he could pay ten million dollars when he was a slave, and it wasn't his money in the first place? You say he could never pay it. I see. Then the forgiveness was all of grace the second time as well as the first time. You have committed the smallest sins. Tell me, how are you going to pay God back? Tell me how. You say, well, I won't do it anymore. That's fine, but what about what you've done in the past? Can you wipe your slate clean? You say, no, God has to do that. And on what grounds? You say, by, by grace, the same grounds that he saved me in the first place. That's exactly right. That is your basis through life. And what must be instilled in your heart is this, that having accepted the gracious, unmerited forgiveness of God for your sins, then you have to deal with your fellow man that same way. And you must reason this way, and the little child said it this morning, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God also in Christ Jesus forgave you. Suppose God treated you the way some of you have treated your brothers and sisters here when they've sinned against you. You say, I don't think I would have gone in God's presence asking forgiveness because I would wonder if he would forgive me. Yes, that's right. But come every soul thy son oppressed, there's mercy with the Lord. You knew that God was like that father looking down that road for that son who had been in the far country. When he came home, his father ran down the road to meet him. Why? Because the father knew his son wanted to come back home again, and that's how eager his father was to have him home again. And if someone has sinned against you and you saw him coming to your house, driving up in your driveway, what would you do? Would you go out and help him, or would you make it as hard as possible for the man to come out and say, now tell me more, tell me how bad you were, explain these things that you've done to me, tell me. Did God tell you that? You say, no, when he saw me coming up that road from the far country, he ran down before I said anything to him, and he embraced me, and he kissed me. I see. Then it says, then we are to forgive one another, even as God also in Christ forgave you. All right, that is the first thing that must be instilled in you. The very conception of forgiveness. I have been forgiven. Therefore, I in turn must. That is the first lesson that you must learn. And what is the second lesson? It is this, that if you will not let that lesson be instilled in your heart, then you are going to go through hell on earth. If you will not have the first, God said, you will have the second. You're not one who can say, forgive, and then go out and be unforgiving. And this is what bothers me so very much about those who talk about forgiveness of sins, salvation by grace through faith. This is what disturbs me, is that having said, I knelt at the altar, I approached God in the name of his son, and my sins were forgiven. It says as soon as this man was forgiven ten million dollars, it said he went out looking for somebody that owed him seventeen dollars. Now, what kind of spirit was in that man's heart? I'm thinking this, that if you owed me such a pittance as that, and I just come from my master's presence, having been forgiven ten million dollars, and you saw me and I saw you, and you started to run, I would say, no need to run. Friend, forget that seventeen dollars. It means absolutely nothing. Do you understand? But what kind of man is it that has had such little impression made on him, that as soon as he has been forgiven ten million dollars, he rushes out finding somebody that owes him seventeen dollars? You say, what a niggardly spirited man that is. And this is what bothers me about evangelical Christians. I've seen it my whole life long, that they're ready to bring you to account if you don't know every doctrine of grace, if you don't know that you're saved eternally, if you don't know about coming to the Lord's Supper, if you don't know all of those things, oh, they're ready to grab you by the throat, rather than understanding that as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. To be forgiving, long suffering, the Lord's servant must not strive, but I've seen those who know every doctrine of grace. They can tell you ever so meticulously everything that the Bible says about salvation and eternal security, but when it comes to experiencing the love of God that works upon them, that has caused them to become compassionate and forgiving and long suffering, like unto their Savior who died for them on the cross, they know absolutely nothing about that. Now, I'm wondering about their salvation, first of all, but if not, I say, oh God, I anticipate the life that they're going to lead, and I've seen some evangelicals that go through life, and there is no joy. The only thing that they know, I have eternal life, and I'll never perish. I have eternal security. They have no fellowship with God. They have no joy. They have no love. The other Christians are afraid of them. Nobody wants to be around them, to fellowship with them, and yet they know that they have eternal life. They indeed, they may have it, but there is the enjoyment of life. Christ said, I am come that they might have life and might have it abundantly, and there is the enjoyment of life. He giveth us richly all things to enjoy, but there is no enjoyment of life. Why? Because they say they know what it is to be forgiven, but they know nothing about forgiveness. And so God help every one of you here. If there is any enmity in your heart, you go and you get rid of that. If your brother sinned against you, go tell him his sin, tell him his fault. And if you have sinned and your brother has not come to you, you go to your brother. Why? Because God can crush the life out of you. And as he gave them forty years of wandering in the wilderness with no hope of ever entering into the promised land, that's what he can do to you in this life. Yes, your sins for all eternity have been forgiven if you have trusted in the precious blood of Christ, but God's forgiveness and the way things happen to you in this life is conditional upon that spirit that is in your heart. God has forgiven you, and by God's grace, you forgive me. Let us pray. Now, Father, that was said, come not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for in thy sight no man living is righteous. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. So instill in us that fear, our God. The consequences of being forgiven and yet willing, unwilling to forgive. Our God, let us understand that there is that life to come, but there is also this life here, and we're in the hands of a God who will never let us go, but we are in the hands of a God into whose hands it is a fearful thing to fall. You are not mocked, our God. What we sow, we shall reap. So teach us the lessons for eternity, and teach us the lessons for time in this world as well. Let us enjoy that abundant life, we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.