 in their midst, in dealing with sin in the church. We must understand this vital truth. It's sin left unchecked in your own life. Sin left unchecked in the church will spread like leaven. In an individual, it will spread like leaven. In a church, it will spread like leaven. It will corrupt and spread and defile, leading to more and more sin. Sin begets sin begets sin, works its way into every part, into every crevice, until it has finally consumed the whole. Galatians chapter 5 verse 9, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't die to leave you wallowing in your sin. Having set the Christian free from the penalty of sin, having set the Christian free from the power of sin, he will work in you by his spirit to set you free from the presence of sin. Amen? We praise God for that. Until one day, he gloriously releases us as he has our sister from that presence of sin forever and ever and ever. Paul tells every Christian, put off the old man, which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts. Christ did not die only to pardon your sin. He died to empower you against your sin. And if you're not trusting Christ for the power to fight your sin, how can you claim to have the pardon of Christ to forgive your sin? Lord didn't shed his blood either to leave his church overcome with 11 of wickedness. He will present himself to himself a glorious church, not having spot a wrinkle or any such thing. She should be holy and without blemish, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Therefore, Paul tells the church at Corinth and he tells every church, he tells our church this morning. He says purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump since you truly are unleavened for indeed Christ, our Passover was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with 11 of malice and wickedness, but with 11, the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. So why is it that the church in Corinth was so grossly disobedient to the Lord in dealing with sin? Why are professing churches today so grossly disobedient to the Lord in dealing with sin? The Bible clearly tells us to practice church discipline. The Bible clearly lays out instruction for us. The Bible clearly tells us to rebuke, to convince, to exhort with all long suffering and teaching. We are to confront lovingly, but we are to confront. We are to rebuke lovingly, but we are to rebuke. We are to correct. We are to instruct. We are to reprove and we are to call to repentance. The Word of God is clear on the issue of church discipline. We have clear instruction from the Lord on the issue of church discipline. The Word of God gives us clear instruction from the Apostle Paul regarding church discipline and this is one of the texts that we find that does just that. So why is it that the church today, by and large, has failed in this responsibility? Why don't they do it? Why did the church in Corinth, knowing this instruction, why did the church in Corinth fail to take care of sin in the church? Why did churches today fail to take care of sin in the church? Many churches today don't even know what it is. One reason is this. Paul describes the church at Corinth as glorying in the so-called freedom that Christ had won at the cross. They were glorying in what they thought was their freedom. He tells them in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 2, instead of mourning over sin like you should, instead of mourning, he tells the Corinthians, you're arrogant. The Corinthians would say, all things are lawful for me, all things are lawful for me. When Paul says you should be weeping in prayer, that that unrepentant sinner would be removed from among you. Today, you're seen as prideful, arrogant, or sinfully intolerant if you do practice faithfully church discipline. The glorying of the Corinthians has now evolved to suit the whims of the modern wicked false church. The so-called church that refuses to practice church discipline, according to the Lord's instruction, must believe themselves to be more loving, must believe themselves to know better. They must think of themselves as more patient or more tolerant than God. They turn a blind eye to sin in the church because grace abounds. We preach grace here. We practice grace here, right? They don't faithfully deal with sin because the teachers that they've heaped up for themselves are far too busy tickling their ears than to deal with the sin in their midst. Or they don't deal with sin. They don't deal with sin faithfully because they'd be exposed as a hypocrite if they tried to do it. They themselves haven't removed the giant plank from their own eye. So how are they able to effectively deal with sin in their midst in the midst of the church? They have justified sin by the absence of church discipline. They have justified sin in their midst, attempted to justify sin in their midst by their negligence, their disobedience in practicing biblical confrontation, biblical church discipline, just like they have justified their lack of evangelism, just like they have justified their lack of preaching on sin in judgment. Ultimately, ultimately, we know that it's a lack of love. It's a lack of love. Those that refuse to confront, those that refuse to practice discipline, a church where church discipline has been put off to the side, abandoned, it's ultimately ultimately because of a lack of love. That church, those people believe that they love more than Christ loves or love more than God himself. So in love, we're not going to address that. We're not going to deal with that in that way. What that shows is that ultimately, they don't love his word because his word clearly instructs them to be obedient in this because of love. Ultimately, they don't love the Lord who purchased the church with his own blood and then says, keep her holy. Ultimately, they don't love the church else they wouldn't let her be overrun by the enemy. And they certainly don't love the sinning person. They would allow them to continue in unrepentant sin to the destruction of their soul. Some may think that church discipline is unkind or unloving. What does that person think when their eyes open in hell? In all of this, the church loses her witness to the world. She becomes an abomination, ceases being the church. This is not the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, we're speaking of. In a scathing rebuke says this, you who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, do not commit adultery. Do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? Sounds like many, many churches today. Paul says the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. If your church doesn't practice faithful church discipline, then you don't go to a church. It's something else, but it's not the church. There's no question. There's no question that church discipline can be corrupted. Church discipline can be abused. And it's very often, it's very often seen as corrupt or abusive by the wicked. Not often that a sinner going out under church discipline agrees with the process of church discipline, but it is an act of humility. It is an act of love to trust the Lord and obey his instruction for the church. We must humble ourselves, submit ourselves to this practice for his glory, our good and the good of that one who is confronted with our texts and with other texts in the Bible, providing the instruction. That's what we're committed here to do as a church. We must be faithful to this practice. No matter how, quote unquote, counter evangelical culture it becomes, no matter how few other churches actually do what they're supposed to do, we are committed here to obeying the Lord and obeying God's word. And we must, we must be loving. We must be faithful. We must be patient. We must obey from the heart the Lord's gracious instruction for the purity of his body to church. We have to do what he's called us to do and trust him in every case that he is loving, that he is kind, that he is gracious, that he is merciful, that he is compassionate, that he's patient. He knows what he's doing. He alone is wise. And so we must commit ourselves to submit to the Lord and faithfully and lovingly deal with sin in the church. And it's essential. So we go through a text like this that we understand clearly how to do it. We have to understand how to do it. And we have several texts from the Lord in his word that tell us exactly how to do it, making it all the more amazing why people today, why churches today don't. Now as we've seen this practice, the practice of church discipline will most often involve a four step process outlined forced by the Lord in Matthew chapter 18 verse 15. First in Matthew chapter 18 verse 15, there's the private confrontation. You go to a sinning brother and you tell him his fault between you and him alone. It's private. If he hears you, meaning that he repents and he turns from his sin, then you have gained back your brother. You've won your brother. First step is private. The second step is plural. If he doesn't hear you, you take two or three more with you so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, that word may be established. If he hears the two or three or four of you when you go, step two, then you've gained your brother. The process stops right there. But if he doesn't, he doesn't repent. And the third step is public. First, there's a private confrontation. Second, there's a plural confrontation. Thirdly, there's a public rebuke. You take it to the church. The Lord Jesus Christ has instructed us that you take it to the church. Tell the church, let the church go to work on calling that sinning person to repentance. Lastly, as we see here in our text in second Corinthians chapter two verses five to 11, Paul calls it step four, the punishment. The punishment that Paul says is inflicted by the majority, by the church, which includes here specifically a withdrawal of fellowship, putting away from our midst, as Paul has called us to do, as the Lord has called us to do, putting away from our midst the evil person. Keep no company with anyone so called a brother involved in that unrepentant sin. This must be done. It must be done. Lord has called us to do it. Last, as the Bible says, anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. This is a responsibility of every single Christian. Not just some nebulous entity called the church, you and I make up the church. That entity is formed by its members. We are all members of one another. And we have a responsibility, each one of us, in this process. You notice the private and the plural directly involves you. The public step, step three also involves you. Step four, by the way, also involves you. You individually, us corporately, this is our responsibility. Our responsibility is defined for us in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 25, among other places where the Bible says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. If you're not assembling yourselves together with us, how can you exhort faithfully? If you're not woven into the life and fabric of this church, how can you exhort? How can you hold someone accountable? How can you love in that way? I would submit to that you can't. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting, but contrasting forsaking with exhorting. You show up and exhort one another, so much the more as you see the day approaching. Four, what are the stakes here? What are the stakes? If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. The stakes couldn't be any higher. If someone hears sin willfully after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation, which will devour the adversaries. If you truly love your brother and you will be all about this work, if you truly love your sister, you're going to be about exhorting them and encouraging them, helping them to persevere, laboring with them, bearing with them, praying for them. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verses 5-11, we see a circumstance in the church there in which the Corinthians had been confronted regarding their sinful refusal to root out pervasive sin in the church and for their neglect to practice biblical church discipline. At the hard rebuke of Paul, they had to repent of their disobedience. And in fresh commitment to righteousness in the church, they've had to confront now a sinning member of the church and eventually put them out under step four of church discipline. In the last words today, we looked at three stages, three stages from verses 5-6 that often accompany such a process. First, we looked at the grief experienced by the church at Corinth, the grief that had swamped the church over their sin. The grief that had swamped the church as a result of the sin of this enemy combatant that opposed Paul. So the sin of the church has caused sorrow in Corinth. The sin of this enemy opponent of Paul has caused grief in the church at Corinth. And Paul said, if one member suffers, then all members suffer with it. It's not isolated to that one person. You need to understand your sin is not isolated to you in the body of Christ. When you sin, others are grieved over it. When you're sinning, others are grieved over your sinning. It causes suffering sorrow in the church. One member suffers. All the members suffer with it. I think about that with me for just one moment, right? On an aside, we rejoice when people run strong for the Lord here. When we see the work of God in them, the work of God's Spirit fueling them, right? We see them patiently enduring, reading God's word, growing, making progress in the faith, serving the Lord faithfully, serving the Lord joyfully, loving their brothers, preaching the gospel. We rejoice in that. It is a cause for rejoicing. What is it a cause for when they're not, when they're not running faithfully, when they're not trusting Christ, right? When they're lagging behind, when they're walking toward the precipice of apostasy. What does that cause? It causes grief. It causes suffering. It causes sorrow. People mourn over you when you don't walk faithfully for the Lord. And that's why people come to you and talk to you and remind you and exhort you and love you in that way. Brother writes and it's like, tired of people coming up to me and asking me what's wrong or asking me how it's going. Why are they coming up to you? Because it's not going well and they know it and you know it. And they love you and they care for you. They want you to show up. They want you a part of the body. They want you obeying the Lord. They want you faithful to these things. Why? Because he who endures to the end will be saved. So that's the one time experience. This is a Christian life. And listen, we're in a boat together. We're in a boat together. The author to the Hebrews tells us, feed to the things that you've heard lest you drift away. And not only that for yourself, but you are to see to it that your brother perseveres, that your sister perseveres, lest anyone fall by the same example of disobedience. So grief has swamped the church over their own sin, over the sin of this man. The effects of sin aren't restricted to merely the one member in sin. And if left unchecked, if left unchecked, that sin spreads like 11 defiling many. You have to ask yourself sometimes, right? If our whole church, if our whole church, if that member, and that member, and that member, and that member, if their walk with Christ looked like my walk with Christ, what would we look like as a church? Secondly, we saw the punishment. The second stage, we saw the punishment. The punishment, as Paul words it, inflicted by the majority. That's not, again, not putting them on the rack, not drawing and quartering, turning the thumb screws. Here it's referring specifically to the practice of church discipline. For the Lord's sake, for the church's sake, for the sinner's sake, they confronted that man in his sin because he failed to repent. They eventually put him out of the church, turning him over to Satan for the destruction of his sinful flesh. Lastly, we saw the response, the response of the man who was put out. We saw the response of the church at Corinth. When it repented of its sin, we see that in 2 Corinthians chapter 7. And due to the loving, faithful obedience of the church to follow the Lord's wise and loving and gracious direction and deal with the sin of that man, the man involved at the center of this conflict has repented of his sin. And God has granted him repentance. God has humbled him. Glorious, praise the Lord. As Paul says, the punishment inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man. Praise God. Praise God. That's the point, right? That's the purpose. That's the goal, the aim. What if he had not repented? Right? As we've considered our text. What if he had not repented? What if he didn't turn? Well, having gone all the way through this process, standing stiff necked against the pleading and the reasoning of many brothers, refusing even to hear the elders given responsibility by God to watch out for his soul, he refuses even to hear them, won't listen to his brothers, won't listen to his sisters, won't listen to his elders, then this becomes the distinguishing mark of that one who had never truly repented of his sins in the first place. Unrepentance, unrepentance, apostasy. He is the apostate, self-deceived, still in the bonds of his iniquity. No matter his one-time profession, this one is determined to be the one who never truly repented to begin with. And at some point, at some point, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame. And he will stand before God on judgment day to hear God say to him, I never knew you. We look at the grief, the punishment, the response. So what now? What now? So we work through our text. A loving and faithful practice of church discipline doesn't end with putting the unrepentant sinner out of the church. It doesn't end there. It has restoration as its aim, has reconciliation as its goal. And you'll find an outline for our text on the notes page in your worship folder. We look at 1.1, the setting. Next now, we'll look at 2.2, the instruction in verses 7 and 8. We'll get to the test, 0.3 in verse 9, and we'll look at 0.4, the warning, verses 10 and 11. So at this stage of the game as we work through our text together, verse by verse, our commitment, our commitment to lovingly and faithfully dealing with sin in the Lord's church isn't complete. There's more to be done. We have more to do. Let's begin with Paul's instruction then in verses 7 and 8. Paul's instruction in verses 7 and 8. Look at verse 6 with me. Begin there. This punishment, this withdrawal of fellowship, this punishment of church discipline, putting that evil person, as Paul says, away from you, this punishment, which was inflicted by the majority, is sufficient for this repentant man. So that, verse 7, so that on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and to comfort him, let's perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore, now Paul says, I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. So we have, at this point in the process, we have exacted the appropriate revenge. We have gotten the appropriate retaliation, right? We believe that he has appropriately and sufficiently suffered. So now it's time to restore him. Is that how that works? No. No, the purpose of church discipline is not retribution. The purpose of church discipline is repentance and restoration. The purpose of church discipline is not retribution. The purpose of church discipline is repentance and restoration. By the grace of God, and it is by the grace of God, it is a work of God's spirit. It is a blessing of God's grace. The desired goal for this man, this enemy combatant in Corinth, has been achieved. He has been brought to repentance. The punishment, Paul says, is sufficient. This man has evidently repented. And in accord with the marks of genuine repentance that Paul gives us, and we looked at last Lord's day in 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 11, the church has been a witness to his godly sorrow. There's an obvious change in this guy, right? An obvious evident change in him. Godly sorrow over sin has produced new diligence, has produced righteousness and holiness and a desire, a hunger and a thirst for righteousness and holiness. In righteous indignation or holy anger over what he has done, he works to make it right. He works to clear his own name, and he works to vindicate the church. He works to vindicate those he has wronged. A holy and sober fear of God fuels a great desire that is matched with his zeal to live it out. In other words, this is biblical repentance. Biblical repentance is not just that I'm sorry. Biblical repentance is not simply a verbal profession. Jesus says in Matthew 18, if he repents, you have to define that term biblically, then you have won your brother. So 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 5, the church turns him over to Satan for the destruction of his sinful flesh, so that for the purposes of restoration, reconciliation, right? For the purposes of his repentance, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, verse 14, Paul says, if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person, Paul says, and do not keep company with him. Why? To what end? So that, Paul says, he may be ashamed. He may be ashamed. That's necessary, isn't it? To bring about repentance, to bring about mourning over sin, shame, guilt, and acknowledgement. He must come to feel the weight of his sin. If he doesn't come to feel the weight of his sin, repentance will be out of reach. He must come to feel that his pride is crushed. He has to mourn over his sin, all for the purpose that he would turn back to Christ in genuine repentance and faith. It's not to leave him in that condition. It's not punitive. It's not retributive. It's restorative. It's aiming at repentance so that he would turn back. Listen, you stay here today. Maybe you're sitting here. I've had many conversations over the years like this. Oh, I believe I'm a Christian. When I was this age or that age, 3, 4, 12, it doesn't matter. Listen, 17, 28, 36, 52, and you say to yourself, I'm a Christian, but you've never felt shame or guilt over your sin. Your relationship to sin has never changed. You've never been brought to an acknowledgement that you are retched, that you are carrying upon yourself a body of death. You don't see God as infinitely holy and yourself as deplorably wicked. And listen, you are not a Christian. That is necessary. It's part and parcel with genuine biblical repentance. We must be brought to shame over our sin. That's what crushes our pride. God lifts up the humble. What did he do with the proud? He cast them down. And when that sinner repents, when that sinner turns from their sin, mourning over their sin, recognizing, acknowledging their transgression against God, when that sinner repents and turns, then he'll find the Lord Jesus Christ there ready to forgive, standing there ready to forgive, praise God. And when that sinner in the church turns from their sin, he should also find the church there ready to forgive. So the instruction from the apostle Paul now in verses 7 and 8, this instruction includes one, what to do. Secondly, why to do it? What to do, why to do it? Verse 7, Paul has stated that the punishment that was inflicted by the majority is sufficient. So now verse 7, Paul begins on the contrary. Rather than continuing to treat him as a tax collector and a heathen, rather than continuing to withhold Christian fellowship from him, but based on his evident repentance, Paul says, you ought rather to forgive. You ought rather to forgive. When someone repents, first thing you do is forgive. You're standing there in a posture of readiness. With repentance, there is forgiveness. Now in the immediate context, this forgiveness, Paul is requiring of the church at Corinth. It's a church, it's a corporate body, forgiving this formerly unrepentant man. But bear in mind, that church has members, made up of its members, and each member then is responsible for forgiveness. Forgiveness may be corporate, as in the case of restoring and a repentance center from church discipline, but forgiveness is also intensely personal. So how should we define then biblical forgiveness? We're going to take this week and next week to talk about that, but turn with me now to Ephesians chapter 4. How are we to define biblical forgiveness? Look with me at Ephesians chapter 4, beginning in verse 31. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 31. We have dropped our bucket, so to speak, in a very deep well. We can talk about this for a very long time. We won't make it through 2 Corinthians before the Lord comes back. That's okay, right? Ephesians chapter 4 verse 31. Paul says here, let all these unforgiving attitudes be put off, put away from you, right? Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. It begins here with sins that ruin relationships, sins that break Christian fellowship, sins that demonstrate a lack of forgiveness, sins involving resentment. That's what bitterness is. It's holding a grudge, a fuming animosity, and antagonism, a seething antagonism. It's resentment, outbursts of rage, sumas, that's wrath, outbursts, smoldering anger, smoldering antagonism, strife or contentious words, that's clamor, defaming or demeaning someone. All of that is an indication of or motivated by malice. That's malice. How do you know when someone is unforgiving? Because they're bitter? How do you know when someone is unforgiving because they're contentious, harboring a grudge? How do you know when someone is unforgiving? Because they're angry at that person, that church, that pastor, that person, right? How do you know that someone is unforgiving because they seek to defame them or demean them or belittle them, harm them with their words? All of that is an indication of and motivated by malice. Paul says rather, verse 32, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, it's compassionate, right? Tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you, and there it is. We are to forgive one another just as God in Christ has forgiven us. We are to forgive one another just as God in Christ has forgiven us. That's the essence of Paul's instruction in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verses 5 to 11. That's the lens through which we are to understand biblical forgiveness. We are to forgive one another just as God in Christ has forgiven us. Before we dive into that well, it bears noting that Paul, back in our text, 2 Corinthians chapter 2, Paul alludes to a minority in the church at Corinth that may have been unwilling to forgive. Look at that text with me, 2 Corinthians chapter 2, look at verse 6. Paul implies by referencing the majority, he implies that there's a minority in chapter 2 verse 6 that was in disagreement with the actions taken by the majority. Now, either that means one, that they sided with this man in sin and thought that he shouldn't be disciplined, right? Or two, these are supporters of Paul who were particularly offended and they thought this guy deserved a greater punishment. They weren't ready to forgive. Now, Paul's comments relating to the sufficiency of the punishment in verse 6 and then his call for a reversal and their approach toward this man in verse 7, it's most likely that that minority, the minority that he implies there falls into the second camp. They thought this guy deserved greater punishment. They weren't ready to forgive. They've been offended by the grievous sin of this man. They're not willing yet to forgive him. They don't believe that the punishment has been sufficient as Paul is saying that it is. They want to turn the screws a little harder, want to keep them on the rack a little longer, right? They're not looking for repentance. They're not looking for repentance. They're looking for penance. They're looking for their pound of flesh. That's what they're looking for. They want him to grovel. They want him crawling back through broken glass. That's not how God in Christ has forgiven us, is it? That's not how God in Christ has forgiven us. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18. This is a text again that we are familiar with. It deals with the subject of church discipline, but immediately on a heels of instructing with respect to church discipline, the Lord tells a very sober parable. When a person repents, when they repent, we are to forgive. I see this on a regular basis. If you've been involved in counseling for any length of time or you've helped brothers and sisters in the church, maybe you've helped to resolve conflict between the brother, another brother in the church. It's very common. Such is common to man. Someone gives evidence of repentance. They're not perfect. Listen, but there's evidence there of not perfection, but direction. There's evidence of repentance, genuine turning from sin. That genuine turning from sin or repentance is followed by fruits. And the other person involved in the relationship, the other person involved in the conflict, holding on to bitterness, overpass the fences, holding on to a grudge, withholds true forgiveness and wants to crank down the screws on every new offense and wants to keep the hammer on this person who has repented. They say that they've forgiven. I'm forgiven. I've forgiven them. I've forgiven her. But is that how God in Christ forgave you? They're not willing to accept repentance. They want penance is what they want. They want retribution. I've lived this way for so long. Now you owe me. And they act in accord with that sinful feeling. They're trying to exact from them their pound of flesh. And what they're doing is they're failing to forgive. They're failing to forgive. I've heard it said before that a godly marriage is made up of two good forgivers. It's going to be a godly marriage. It's going to be two good forgivers. Is that true, married couples? So the Lord gives us this parable immediately following his teaching on church discipline, that teaching in verses 15 through 20, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault. If he hears you, meaning if he repents, you're forgiven. So then Peter asks a very obvious question in verse 21, Matthew chapter 18 verse 21. What about repeat offenders? Peter came into him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother, another believer, write a brother, how often shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him up to seven times. And Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 77 70 times seven. In other words, don't count. Don't count. A Christ like heart doesn't keep count. Is that the way God in Christ forgave you? Then don't count, right? Don't count. Don't keep count. This is the way in which God in Christ has forgiven us. You have an exorbitant debt of sin that you can't possibly count, right? The Lord knows every single one of them, and yet he doesn't keep count. Luke 17 verse 3 adds some clarity for us. Luke records, if your brother sins against you, revoke him. And if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you saying, I repent, you shall forgive him. In other words, our forgiveness is to be like the Lord's forgiveness. Unrestricted, praise God, uninhibited, freely given, lavish, generous forgiveness. The Paul, Paul instructs us that love bears all things. Love believes all things. Love hopes all things. Love endures all things. So in many cases, you'll take them at their word in love and forgive them on the spot, right? Because that's how Paul defines love. That's how the word of God defines love. You'll take them at their word in love and forgive them on the spot. However, that doesn't mean that in some cases, it won't be necessary to see fruits of repentance before acting with forgiveness. And we can all imagine circumstances in which that's the case, right? The Lord is not suggesting here that we put discernment on the shelf, that we ignore patterns of unrepentant standing. He's not saying that we should be gullible regarding faked repentance or simply overlook faked counterfeit repentance. John the Baptist told the Pharisees that need to go and bear fruits befitting repentance. So we can all imagine circumstances like the abusive spouse or the serial liar where fruits of repentance are necessary. However, however, the following parable is told to the one who is tempted to withhold forgiveness. It's told for the benefit of the one who refuses to forgive as God in Christ has forgiven them. So let me ask you, are you in a relationship where there is bitterness? Right now, are you in a relationship where there is bitterness, where there is wrath, where there is anger or clamor, where there's evil speaking, where there's slander, where there's gossip, where there is malice? If you are in that kind of a relationship rather than a relationship of prevailing kindness, prevailing compassion, prevailing tenderheartedness, prevailing forgiveness, then listen to this parable, verse 23. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents. In other words, a vast, it's an immeasurable sum, an unpayable debt, unpayable debt. One said that all of the taxes, all of the region of Judea, given to the Roman government, was as much as 600 talents per year. This is 10,000 talents. It's a vast, innumerable sum. That vast, immeasurable and unpayable debt is symbolic of the very real debt for sin that every single person in this room, every single person on the planet owes to God. That vast, immeasurable debt is symbolic of the very real debt that you owe God for your sin. You have sinned against God. You owe a debt to God that you cannot pay. Do you acknowledge it? Sitting here before God, God is your witness. You have stacked up sin against him from your birth. David said, in sin, my mother conceived me, brought me forth in iniquity. David says, sin upon sin upon sin upon sin, transgressions against the God who made you, who is perfect and holy and just and righteous and good, lament, mourn, weep. That's the response to sin. Shame, guilt. Do you acknowledge it? Your guilt has reached into the heavens. As Job says, right? Let your laughter be turned to mourning, your joy to gloom. Humble yourself in the sight of God. That's the debt that we owe. Verse 25. But as this man was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold. He was sold with his wife and children and all that he had and that payment be made. So the servant therefore, verse 26, he fell down, prostrated himself, put himself on his face in the dust, saying, Master, have patience with me and I'll pay you all. His only hope here is mercy. His only hope here is grace. It'd be like the tax collector in the temple beating his breast. Have patience with me and I'll pay you all. What a foolish thing to say. There's no way he could do it. There's no way he could pay. That's a plea of his heart. Anything. But what I know is coming. Overwhelmed by the guilt of your sin. The way that this man is overwhelmed by his debt. You cry out to God, God be merciful to me, the sinner. He knew he couldn't pay. But in verse 27, then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, moved with compassion. He released him and forgave him the debt. Now this is the way that God in Christ has forgiven you if you are in Christ. If you turn from your sin to put your faith and trust in him, then God in compassion in Christ, because of Christ, by virtue of Christ, atoning work on the cross, he just releases you and forgives you your debt. That immeasurable debt wiped off the map. This is a picture of the forgiveness of God offered freely in Christ to anyone who repents, to anyone who entrusts themselves to Christ. Now the man is too ashamed to ask for anything more than the king's patience. It's like the prodigal son coming back to the father, just make me a slave in your household. Too ashamed to ask for anything more than that. But the king, the king forgives it all, rich in grace, abounding in mercy, loving kindness. When you acknowledge the exceeding sinfulness of your sin, when you turn from it to Christ, trusting him alone as Lord and Savior, then your ocean of debt is washed away. You are forgiven forever. He doesn't fix you to the rack, does he? And turn the screws. He doesn't make you climb up staircases, kissing each one, burn it off in centuries and purgatory. He doesn't make you do anything. Christ's sacrifice, Christ's atoning work is sufficient. He doesn't make you run a gauntlet of punishment to exact from you some payment. Why? Why? Because Christ's atoning work is sufficient to forgive you of all your sins forever. Christ pays it all. When the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross, bearing the undiluted, the full wrath of God for the sins of his people, he did not fail to nail every single sin to the cross. He bore all of the wrath. He drank all of the cup he paid for, all of your sin. And then he said, it is finished. There's nothing more to be done. There's nothing more to be paid. There's nothing more that can be done. It's all been done. That should have caused this guy to rejoice. Right? It should cause us great rejoicing. But, verse 28, that servant then went out and he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. And he laid hands on him, took him by the throat saying, pay me what you owe. That seems unimaginable, doesn't it? Are you kidding me? It would have been shocking to hear that. It is shocking to hear that to read that. This is the heart in actions. This is the heart in the actions of the unforgiving person. This is a picture of someone who withholds forgiveness. It should shock. It should be abhorrent for us to consider that. But we have all, every single one of us, right, have exhibited some degree of this unforgiveness in our own hearts, haven't we? Forgiven an immeasurable debt only to turn with an unforgiving attitude toward our brother or our sisters with our hands around their throat saying, pay me what you owe. Some debt that by comparison is absurdly small. We put our hands around the throat of our brother or our sister. Verse 29, so his fellow servant fell down at his feet, begged him, saying, have patience with me. I'll pay you all using the same words, right? This man just used, using the same words. Verse 30, and he would not. But he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. He would have been the recipient of a lavish and immeasurable grace, refused to forgive a debt that by comparison was a small and easily dismissable offense. Doesn't mean that the person wasn't offended. Doesn't mean that the offense wasn't real. But let's put the offense in a proper perspective, right? By comparison, easily forgiven, easily dismissable. The inconsistency of it, the hypocrisy of it, the incongruity of it reveals the utter wickedness in the heart of the one who will not forgive. That's the point. That's the point. The Lord wants us to see through the parable, wants to see unforgiveness as abhorrently wicked, considering how we've been forgiven. Verse 31, so when his fellow servant saw what he had done, what had been done, they were very grieved, came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you? We who have been forgiven so much, can we not forgive the comparatively small things done to us? Verse 34, and his master was angry, delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. No longer moved with compassion, now the master is moved with wrath against sin. So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if each of you from his heart, verse 35, does not forgive his brother his trespasses. Back in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 6, the instruction from the apostle Paul in verses 7 and 8, what to do, and why to do it. Considering what to do, Paul says in verse 7, the discipline has been sufficient. On the contrary, you ought rather to forgive. For this minority in the church to refuse to forgive this repentant sinner is for this minority in the church to refuse the forgiveness that God has shown to them in Christ. My heavenly Father will also do to you, if each of you from his heart does not forgive his brother his trespasses. This, it's at this point, right? It's at the point of unforgiveness when church discipline is harsh and abusive and heavy-handed and blasphemous. This is what Paul would describe as having dominion over their faith in chapter 1, verse 24. This is what Peter would call lording it over your faith in 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 3, refusing to forgive. It would be just as shameful and just as sinful for the church at Corinth to refuse forgiveness to this repentant sinner as it was for the church at Corinth to sinfully refuse to deal with sin in the first place. You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you? Forgiving people forgive, right? Where to forgive? You know what your lack of forgiveness causes? Your lack of willingness to restore, to reconcile, to love, to comfort, to rejoice. It causes despair. It causes despair. It causes sorrow. It causes grief. Considering why we forgive the repentant sinner, Paul says in verse 7, you ought rather than forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Overwhelmed, that word swallowed up, devoured, consumed. The word means drowned. Drowned in too much sorrow. Is there no point to repentance then? If you can't repent and be forgiven, will you imprison the one that Christ made free? This outrageously unlike Christ and outrageously unlike the gospel. Paul says, confront him or comfort him. Paul says, comfort him, forgive him. Let your attitude of heart toward him be like the attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ toward you in forgiveness. Why? Lest he be swallowed up with sorrow. Lest he be swallowed up with sorrow. If that repentant brother were forced to press forward in sorrow alone, verse 11, Satan would gain an advantage over them. Satan would gain advantage over him. Satan would gain advantage over the church at Corinth. What is true of this man is also true of the Christian that refuses to embrace the forgiveness of God in Christ by faith and the one who refuses to forgive. Next week, we'll conclude our text, discuss further the nature of forgiveness. But time eludes us. We as a church must be committed to a faithful, loving, biblical practice of dealing with sin in the Lord's Church. Not, it doesn't end at the point of step four in church discipline when you put somebody out. It has the aim of restoration, has the aim of reconciliation, has the aim of repentance, has the aim of the glory of God, the holiness and purity of the Lord's Church, the good of that repentance center, and for our eternal good. Amen. All praise, honor, and glory, dominion, and blessing to him who has forgiven the sins of his people and so graciously forgives. Let's pray together. Take a few moments. Praise silently. Ask the Lord to work in your heart and deal with any sin there related to a refusal to forgive. Ask the Lord that we would be faithful in this practice of loving our brother, loving our sister in this way. Let's pray together.