The Parable Of The Unmerciful Servant

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Today, on Real Life Radio.

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He’s telling us that we need to become like a little child. Not childish, childlike. And a childlikeness is a child filled with faith. Children have faith. They’re just, isn’t it bizarre? To me, that is an amazing testimony of God. A child is born trusting.

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This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible. Looking for real answers in real time? JackHibbs.com is your go-to destination for resources on faith, world events, and everything in between. Explore Happening Now, where Pastor Jack Hibbs takes a timely, no-nonsense look at today’s biggest issues, blending biblical insight with the latest headlines. Now, whether you’re curious about the world around you or you want guidance on a personal level, Pastor Jack has you covered. And, by the way, don’t miss the Real Life Network. It’s packed with relatable, family-friendly content that really speaks to everyday challenges and triumphs, offering something really valuable for every member of your family. Now, if you’re new to the faith, you want to refresh your perspective, start with that tab that says Know God, an accessible, welcoming space to learn and reflect and find your footing. Now, whatever your path, jackhibbs.com has the tools and the insights and the encouragement that you need. Tune in, log on, find something real. Once again, the website jackhibbs.com. On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues in his series now called The Parables of Jesus and a message titled Parable of the Unmerciful Servant Part One. Now, whenever Jesus spoke to the crowds, he often spoke in parables that are relatable stories illustrated in full color, if you will, but with common themes. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that the parable of the unmerciful servant shows us what it means to forgive and to be forgiven. This is important in that forgiveness directly shapes how we deal with others in our lives. Now, with his message called, Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, Part One, here’s pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs.

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the teacher tonight, that you would be our Marielle, that you would be our teacher, and that we would be the students. That would, first of all, presuppose that we have an ear to hear and a heart to receive and hands and feet to obey. And Lord, tonight I pray that there would be great grace upon this service. Not because we’re at church, not because we happen to be here, but because of the magnitude and the meaning of what your son taught 2,000 years ago and how it is such a critical issue for us tonight. It just may very well be the most important issue in the body of Christ in this 21st century. So Lord, Be mighty with us this evening. In Jesus’ name we pray and all God’s people said, amen. We’ll grab your Bibles tonight and turn, if you would, to many places, but to start in Matthew chapter 18. Matthew 18 tonight. Grab your Bibles, Matthew chapter 18. We’re looking at now in our parable series, all the parables of Jesus. We’re looking tonight at the parable of the unmerciful servant. found in the Gospel of Matthew, the unmerciful servant. Very important, we’ve really gotta get this down, and in fact, so much so that if we don’t finish tonight, that’s okay. Because what’s most important tonight is that you and I be convicted by the Holy Spirit, he’s the only one who can do this, and then be exhorted by the Holy Spirit be admonished by the Holy Spirit, instructed by him in the word of God that we might obey what is before us because this is critical stuff. Matthew 18, I’m gonna ask you to hold your finger, keep your finger there, mark your spot. As we get into this introduction, it’s vitally important. Understand, as we look to the parables, church, that the teaching and the preaching ministry of Jesus was and is given to us with the sole purpose of a redemptive, listen, of a redemptive and restorative nature. That is, the gospel goes out. God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but the Bible says that through Jesus, the world might be saved. The ministry, the teaching and preaching of Jesus was to bring people to a redemptive understanding of God’s mission and God’s word. and then a place of restoration that in a sense that he would bring us back even Before, as it were, the Garden of Eden, before the fall, that we would walk with God again and experience God again, but we’ve got to get a cancer dealt with in our lives, and that is our sins being forgiven, being born again. And the Bible tells us in John 3, verse 15, you know it, but we don’t often read it in a greater context. John 3, 15 says, whoever believes in him, Jesus said, should not perish, that is hell, but have… Eternal life, that is heaven. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish, that is hell, but have everlasting life, that’s heaven. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Notice this. Verse 18, he who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already. The word actually means in a state of condemnation because he has not believed, trusted, relied upon, put faith in the name of the only begotten Son of God. So the teaching and preaching of Jesus is a redemptive and a restoration Message, this is vitally important. Hosea, mark this down by introduction as we get into this parable of the unmerciful servant, the unforgiving servant. Hosea 12.10 says, I have also spoken by the prophets and I have multiplied visions and I have given symbols Through the witness of the prophets. Jesus in his parabolic teaching is going to bring all these things together. And as we’ve been saying before, teaching in such a way that it is crystal clear to the open heart, to the willing heart. But to the heart that’s not open, the very truth that sets one free, that very truth winds up being a weight, as it were, to pull one down. It all depends on how the word lands in the heart. And I’ve said this numerous times on Wednesday nights, but I say it again because tonight in the direction we’re going, your spiritual maturity and development is absolutely critical. There’s nobody exempt from the application of this parable tonight. It’s so very critical. That’s why there’s a ginormous introduction to it, quite frankly. Hebrews chapter one, verse one. The Bible tells us God, who at various times and in various ways spoke, in times passed to the fathers by the prophets, verse 2, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son. That means if anyone else comes today, for example, preaching some other gospel or contradicting the word of God, listen, the Bible says God spoke to the fathers by the prophets and he has spoken finally, the word means, by his son Jesus. So think about it. Every quote revelation since the coming of Christ has been nothing but an imposter to what God has said. Vitally important again. John chapter one, verse 14. The Bible says, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. The glory as of the only begotten or glorified of the Father. Exclusively, by the way, there will not be another. Full of grace and truth. We have more verses. Get this, church, it’s absolutely important. The parable teaching of Jesus demands our response. In Psalm 78, verse two, the Bible says, I will open my mouth in a parable and I will utter dark sayings from of old. God speaking truth and revealing truth. So let’s look at this in our study. In Matthew chapter 18, look with me all the way now back just a bit to verse two. Look at the very beginning, though this is not the section, this is all preparation. In Matthew 18, Jesus is speaking and he sets it up. He, of course, knows everything. He knows exactly what Peter is gonna ask for a moment. We’ll come to Peter’s question here in a second. But Jesus knows exactly where this dialogue’s going. And notice this, everybody. Matthew chapter 18, verse two. Profound truth. Then Jesus called a little child to him and set him in the midst of them and said, assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me. That’s the setting to what Jesus is about to teach. He’s telling us that we need to become like a little child. Not childish, childlike children. And a childlikeness is a child filled with faith. Children have faith. They’re just, isn’t it bizarre? To me, that is an amazing testimony of God. A child is born trusting. Isn’t it tragic to think that there are people who mislead children? In fact, Jesus said, woe unto those who offend the littlest of these. Listen to this. Anyone who offends a child or misleads a child. Jesus said, in the day of judgment, it will be better for that person to have had the millstone tied around their neck and thrown into the depths of the sea. That’s Jesus speaking. Jesus, meek and mild, walking along the shores of Galilee. says, you offend a child. You abuse them. You mess with their heart and their mind and their spirit. And Jesus said, when I get done with you, it would have been better for you to have a 2,000 pound stone tied around your neck and thrown in the bottom of the sea. That is gonna be an awesome day. He sets it up. Now look at verse 15. Move ahead. Here it is. Moreover, If your brother sins against you, I’m going to keep reading, keep the verse on the screen. Has anyone ever sinned against you? Can I have a witness? Some of you are lying right now in church. In fact, by the looks of the hands, there’s more liars here than not. We’ve all been sinned against. Listen to this. This is a mandate by Jesus. Go… and tell him or her his fault between you and him alone. If he or she hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more that by the mouth, now he quotes Deuteronomy, by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established Verse 17, and if he refuses to hear you, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen, like a non-believer, like a tax collector. Assuredly, I say to you, verse 18, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, It will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. The context is having a childlike heart in the assembly of the church. That’s all of us here tonight. We are to have a childlike heart, yet dealing with… the offenses that have been done against us, or we may have offended another, sinned against someone else, that in our childlikeness, we need to deal with these very serious issues. And the church tonight, around the world, is suffering because we don’t, as individuals, obey this portion of Scripture.

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You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.

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Someone has sinned against you, lied about you, gossiped about you, offended you. Listen, you and I, we have lied about someone else. You say, what? I’m making a point, not to lie. You and George Washington, I understand that. But here’s the deal. There’s times when you and I have said things with passion and what we thought was absolute truth and then only later to find out that it was wrong. Boy, is that not happening today in our internet world? Things get out there in a second and then you find out the truth a few days or a few months later. People are… quote, quoting others when in reality that person is misquoting. The person that they’re quoting never said that thing or whatever it might be. People, I told you before, I had someone take my name and send a very belligerent letter to a very world famous leader in the church, put my name on it, And that man was horribly offended, and thank God he and I got together and I got a chance to tell him, I didn’t write that. And look, that may be happening to you. You may be sitting right here all comfortable, but somebody is sinning, using your name or against you, or gossip or rumors. We may not even intend to, but we say things that we ought not to be saying. We say things like, for example, well, we really need to pray for Bobby. I’m making that up right now. I’m not saying anybody here. No one told me nothing, but I’m making Bobby up. We need to really pray about Bobby, and someone naturally is going to say, well, what about Bobby? Oh, you haven’t heard? You hear what I’m saying? Immediately, that goes to sin. Gossip. We need to be very careful. I’m telling you, I know we won’t get through the message tonight, the next few weeks. It’s okay because you know what? If we obey what’s being said here tonight in this teaching of Jesus, it may not only revolutionize your life and my life. It could very well lead to revival in our hearts and in this church. Think about it. If we decide to obey God in this thing, which I believe personally is one of the greatest hindrances to the advancement of the church in our age today, is that the church is full of unrecognized sin, if that’s even possible to say, because we have either said things or we’ve done things or someone has done something against us and we’ve not handled it rightly. And verse 21, look at it now. I just gave you the setting. Here’s the question. Thank God, Peter’s so cute. I love this guy. Jesus is teaching what he’s teaching and Peter’s still hung up on verse 15. He’s what, wait, what, what, what? That’s great. He says, remember verse 15 says, more of your brother’s sins against you, go and tell him his fault privately. Peter never heard anything after that. We know so much. about how we ought to walk because of Peter. Isn’t he great? I love that guy. I can’t wait to meet him. It’s gonna be great to meet him. Look at verse 21. Then Peter came to him and said, notice the other guys didn’t. They’re all acting like they knew what Jesus was talking about. Peter came to Jesus and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times. This is huge, because first of all, there’s no doubt about it, Peter is thinking, I’m gonna be very generous now, and I’m gonna look real good in front of these disciples and Jesus. So if I know someone, Jesus, who sins against me, do I forgive him up to seven times? Here’s the answer, verse 22. And Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven.

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490.

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Some of you are doing the math already. Okay, I’m really thinking. I forgave that guy probably about 489 times. Therefore the kingdom of heaven, here’s the parable begins, verse 23. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. when he had begun to settle accounts, by the way, this speaking about the end of the age, who was brought to him, who owed him 10,000 talents. What does that mean? It simply means this. It is an amount, and it doesn’t matter what culture. If it’s Roman, if it’s 2,000 years ago, if it’s Roman, or if it’s Jewish, in the context, it doesn’t matter. Whatever the culture is, the math is multiple lifetimes. What is owed is multiple lifetimes of giving back. It’s impossible. You understand that? You can’t, in the scenario Jesus is painting, there’s no way that this guy can get out of his debt. Verse 25. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold… and his wife and children and that all that they had and that the payment be made. Wow. Sounds like the American economy. Sounds like our debt. The servant therefore fell down before him saying, Master, have patience with me. Now this is kind of stupid that this guy’s even thinking this way. Have patience with me like about 100 lifetimes worth? It’s beyond my ability to pay. I will pay you all. That’s impossible. The whole situation’s impossible. Verse 27, then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants, his buddies that he knew, who owed him 100 denarii, four bucks. And he laid his hands on him and took him by the throat. saying, pay me what you owe. So his fellow servant fell down, sound familiar? At his feet and begged him saying, have patience with me and I will pay you all. And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what he had done, they were very grieved and came and told their master all that had been done. Verse 32, then his master, this is the generous one you know in the beginning. after he had called him, said to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you all of the debt because you begged me. And should you not have also had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? And his master was angry and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly father also will do to you Each, if you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses. This is one of the longest parables. It is certainly, in my opinion, if you could put a priority on them, at least in our culture and our age, one of the most important for sure. Listen, mark this down if you would. Our view and our value of forgiveness, church, as an individual or as a church, is inseparably tied to our hatred and our disdain for sin. If you and I do not hate and disdain sin and understand what sin did to God, then you and I will not have a very big high value or estimation of forgiveness. Does that make sense? Listen. When we meditate, and I know we don’t often do that anymore, but we need to do that, we need to nurture that. When we meditate on what God has done for us, when we really take it in, stop and pause, and begin to saturate yourself in what God has done for us at the cross, Jesus, the brutality, the torture, the mutilation of innocence at the cross, What he did for us was of such great expense because sin is so hideous and so bad that God endured the punishment because of his great love for you and for me.

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pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, Part One. Thank you for being here today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s new series called The Parables of Jesus. It’s a series highlighting the teachings of Jesus while he was walking around here on this earth. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. What if the greatest battles in life aren’t fought with swords and armies, but with the struggles of the heart? What if the most defining moments of leadership come not from triumph, but from pain, betrayal, and humility? How do we handle being misunderstood or wronged, and how do we navigate the deep waters of authority, submission, and forgiveness? In A Tale of Three Kings, Jean Edwards takes us inside the lives of King Saul, King David, and Absalom, illustrating the powerful lessons learned from their brokenness and their failures. Through these kings, we discover that true leadership often comes through humility, suffering, and trusting God’s sovereignty, even in the most difficult seasons. This book will challenge you to reflect on your own heart, leadership, and your walk with God. A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards. It’s available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio.

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Today, more and more Christ followers are living out their faith no matter what. And one way we can help is through our website. At jackhibbs.com slash real radio, you’ll find access to Pastor Jack’s devotions, YouTube channel, podcasts, Facebook, live streamed events, and so much more. Again, our website is jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. And don’t forget to download the Real Life mobile app for on-the-go access to all that Pastor Jack has to offer.

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This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.