Church History: There are things in the parable that we must consider:
I. The Master's Wonderful Clemency To His Servant Who Was Indebted To Him:
He forgave him ten thousand talents, out of pure compassion to him (Matthew 18:23-27).
Every sin we commit is a debt to God; We are all debtors; we owe satisfaction, and are liable to the process of the law.
There is an account kept of these debts, There is another day of reckoning coming, when these accounts will be called over, and either passed or disallowed, and nothing but the blood of Christ will balance the account.
The debt of sin is a very great debt; and some are more in debt, by reason of sin, than others. For the vastness of their number; a myriad, more than the hairs on our head, (Psalms 40:12). Who can understand the number of his errors, or tell how often he offends? (Psalms 19:12).
The debt of sin is so great, that we are not able to pay it; He had not to pay. Sinners are insolvent debtors; the scripture, which concludes all under sin, is a statute of bankruptcy against us all. Silver and gold would not pay our debt, Psalms 49:6-7. Sacrifice and offering would not do it; our good works are but God's work in us, and cannot make satisfaction; we are without strength, and cannot help ourselves.
If God should deal with us in strict justice; we should be condemned as insolvent debtors, and God might exact the debt by glorifying himself in our utter ruin. Justice demands satisfaction. The servant had contracted this debt by his wastefulness and willfulness, and therefore might justly be left to lie by it. His lord commanded him to be sold, as a bond-slave into the galleys, sold to grind in the prison-house; his wife and children to be sold, and all that he had, and payment to be made. See here what every sin deserves; this is the wages of sin.
To be sold. Those that sell themselves to work wickedness, must be sold, to make satisfaction. Captives to sin are captives to wrath. He that is sold for a bond-slave is deprived of all his comforts, and has nothing left him but his life, that he may be sensible of his miseries; which is the case of damned sinners.
Thus he would have payment to be made, that is, something done towards it; though it is impossible that the sale of one so worthless should amount to the payment of so great a debt. By the damnation of sinners divine justice will be to eternity in the satisfying, but never satisfied.
Convicted sinners humble themselves before God, and pray for mercy. The servant, under this charge, and this doom, fell down at the feet of his royal master, and worshipped him; his address was very submissive and very pleading; Have patience with me, and I will pay all that I owe, (Matthew 18:26). The servant knew before that he was so much in debt, and yet was not concerned about it, till he was called to an account. Sinners are commonly careless about the pardon of their sins, till they come under the arrests of some awakening word, some startling providence, or approaching death, and then, Wherewith shall I come before the Lord? (Micah 6:6). How easily, how quickly, can God bring the proudest sinner to his feet; Ahab to his sackcloth, Manasseh to his prayers, Pharaoh to his confessions, Judas to his restitution, Simon Magus to his supplication, Belshazzar and Felix to their trembling. The stoutest heart will fail, when God sets the sins in order before it. This servant does not deny the debt, nor seek evasions, nor go about to abscond.
However:
He begs time; Have patience with me. Patience and forbearance are a great favor, but it is folly to think that these alone will save us; reprieves are not pardons. Many are born with, who are not thereby brought to repentance (Romans 2:4), and then their being born with does them no kindness.
He promises payment; Have patience awhile, and I will pay thee all. It is the folly of many who are under convictions of sin, to imagine that they can make God satisfaction for the wrong they have done him; as those who, like a compounding bankrupt, would discharge the debt, by giving their first-born for their transgressions (Micah 6:7), who go about to establish their own righteousness, (Romans 10:3). He that had nothing to pay with (Matthew 18:25) fancied he could pay all. See how close pride sticks, even to awakened sinners; they are convinced, but not humbled.
The God of infinite mercy is very ready, out of pure compassion, to forgive the sins of those that humble themselves before him (Matthew 18:27); The lord of that servant, when he might justly have ruined him, mercifully released him; and, since he could not be satisfied by the payment of the debt, he would be glorified by the pardon of it. The servant's prayer was, Have patience with me; the master's grant is a discharge in full.
The pardon of sin is owing to the mercy of God, to his tender mercy (Luke 1:77-78); He was moved with compassion. God's reasons of mercy come from within himself; he has mercy because he will have mercy. God looked with pity on mankind in general, because miserable, and sent his Son to be a Surety for them; he looks with pity on particular penitents, because sensible of their misery (their hearts broken and contrite), and accepts them in the Beloved.
There is forgiveness with God for the greatest sins, if they be repented of. Though the debt was vastly great, he forgave it all, Matthew 18:32. Though our sins be very numerous and very heinous, yet, upon gospel terms, they may be pardoned.
The forgiving of the debt is the releasing of the debt; He loosed him. The obligation is cancelled, the judgment vacated; we never walk at liberty till our sins are forgiven. Though he discharged him from the penalty as a debtor, he did not discharge him from his duty as a servant. The pardon of sin does not go away, but strengthens, our obligations to obedience; and we must consider it a favor that God is pleased to continue such wasteful servants as we have been in such a gainful service as his is, and should therefore deliver us, that we might serve him, (Luke 1:74). I am your servant, for you have loosened my bonds.
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