Pastor's Blog

Good Morning, Dear Family.

We begin with these words, words which describe the reality of the hope of the day and of the future:

ASV Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the righteous is as the dawning light, That shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

ASV 2 Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spake to me: One that ruleth over men righteously, That ruleth in the fear of God,

ASV 2 Samuel 23:4 He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, A morning without clouds, When the tender grass springeth out of the earth, Through clear shining after rain.

And then our text so far:

KJV Matthew 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

KJV Matthew 18:22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

NLT Matthew 18:23 "For this reason, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him.

KJV Matthew 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

A little review from yesterday:
Depending on the conversion system used to calculate this sum, it could be anywhere from ten million dollars to 150 million dollars, which is clearly an unpayable sum. It is an upayable debt, which illustrates the impossibility of our ability to pay personally or atone for our sin debt. How much is my/your sin debt anyway? Based on the Word is far greater than my/your ability to pay. What should be my/your response? What was the response of the man that had the unpayable debt before him. A response is necessary, but before the man's response, Someone else responded first. Take a look........

ASV Matthew 18:25 But forasmuch 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.

ASV Matthew 18:26 The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.

ASV Matthew 18:27 And the lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

ASV 1 Peter 1:17 And if ye call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear:

ASV 1 Peter 1:18 knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers;

ASV 1 Peter 1:19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb without spot, even the blood of Christ:KJV 1 Peter 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Now, how does the man respond to being released from his debt and that it will not be required that everything that he owns be sold, including himself? How does he receive this amazing grace? How have you/I comprehended this total forgiveness by our King?

Dear Holy Father, please open this to us, this gift of grace which cannot be comprehended with our minds, but a gift that may be received from you in the work of your Son.

Til next time, rest in the total release of the unpayable debt through Him,

In Christ,

Pastor Orval Wirkkala

Good Morning, Dear Family.

KJV Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

This morning we will return to our discussion centered around the parable which is recorded in the 18th chapter of Matthew in which Jesus answered a question asked by Peter concerning how many times we are to forgive another. We ask the Lord that through the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit that we would be able to understand and receive a greater revelation of how great the grace of God is as it has been shown through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, for us and to us.

KJV Matthew 18:21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?

KJV Matthew 18:22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

Before we start into this parable, we need to get it into context with the rest of the chapter. Jesus emphasizes humility in chapter 18 by using a child as an illustration to teach us that we are to have a childlike spirit; one which trusts, is forgiving and is eager to learn. He then reveals his heart for the lost (v 11), teaches of how we are to address faults between two people in the church, which then leads to Peter's question to Jesus.

Peter starts out with this reasonable question according to the way that we look at things, that as with everything else in this life, there must be some kind of limit as to how many times we must forgive someone who is continually offending us and then asking forgiveness for the same offense. In the book of Amos, there seemed to have been some kind of limitation on how many times forgiveness would be extended, so perhaps Peter thought he was being generous when he doubled the amount and added one more time to boot:

KJV Amos 2:6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;

Jesus then begins the parable by which He begins to illustrate with time less word pictures which are common in all nationalities and cultures, which are understood by all.
Before He begins the parable He sets the pattern for Divine forgiveness with the words, "Til seventy time seven". He reveals the fact that with the Lord there is always grace and mercy for those that desire to come to Him.

NLT Matthew 18:23 "For this reason, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him.

KJV Matthew 18:24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.

Depending on the conversion system used to calculate this sum, it could be anywhere from ten million dollars to 150 million dollars, which is clearly an unpayable sum. It is an upayable debt, which illustrates the impossibility of our ability to pay personally or atone for our sin debt. How much is my/your sin debt anyway? Based on the Word is far greater than my/your ability to pay. What should be my/your response? What was the response of the man that had the unpayable debt before him. Well, next time we will find out.

Til then, rest in His forgiveness.

In Christ alone we are forgiven,

Pastor Orval Wirkkala