22ND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. Amen.

In this same Savior, dear Christian hearers.

The duty, to reprimand a sinning fellow Christian from God's Word is a duty seldom exercised and, of course, difficult, to do, and yet it is an extremely necessary and holy duty.

That those who themselves are not earnest Christians do not reprimand their sinning fellow Christians is no cause for wonder; they have to fear that, if they would reprimand others, .they themselves would be told, "Sweep in front of your own door first," or as we.read in Romans 2, "Thou art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind...Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest

thou not thyself, thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God?" Vv.19a.21-23. Sad to say, even those who take pains to walk as true Christians very often neglect the duty of brotherly admonition. Oh yes, they take offense at the sins of those who want to be Christians and have joined a Christian congregation; they secretly and among their friends complain about members who are disorderly; but they do not want to go and admonish the sinner. That is the cause of inexpressible harm. Those who sin remain in their sins and drag, even more along with them; the congregation receives increasingly more worthless members and constantly sinks deeper into corruption; offenses increase; the congregation is poisoned; brotherliness disappears and mutual distrust takes over; God's blessing departs; the congregation ceases giving light to the world as a city on a high hill; honest and zealous people who are weak in knowledge do not want to join such a congregation, and many who once were members timidly withdraw and sever relations.

I admit that it is true that the duty of brotherly admonition is, as was said, one of the most difficult and, one might say, the most thankless of Christian duties; for the more zealously and faithfully, a Christian carries out this duty, the less he very often, yes, generally is appreciated. His love is explained as lovelessness, and instead of accepting the reprimand and improving himself, the one reprimanded hates the one who reprimanded him.

Nevertheless, this should not keep a Christian from fulfilling this duty, for it is extremely necessary and most holy. Every time God's Word admonishes us to love our neighbor and be concerned about his soul, we are also admonished to reprimand him when he sins against us or others. When the self-interested are reprimanded, they, of course, view this as lovelessness, but on the contrary, a Christian cannot act in greater lovelessness toward his fellow Christian than by letting him live on in his sins unreprimanded; yes, then he will be viewed by God as a person who hates his neighbor; the unreprimanded sins of his neighbor will be imputed to him and all the corruption which he could have prevented but because of sinful fear of man and love of ease did not, falls upon his conscience as his guilt. As he is justly considered a murderer who did not pull out someone who fell into the water or who did not warn a blind person of the precipice ahead of him, so he is a murderer of souls who does not reprimand his sinning fellow Christians.

In God's Word the duty of admonishing one's brother is expressly laid and impressed upon a Christian. We find this even in the writings of the Old Testament. In Leviticus 19 we read, "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart; thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him." V. 17. Psalm 141:5 says, "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head." The New Testament is full of similar statements. In Hebrews 3:13, "Exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." Most important of all is the admonition of the Savior, which we find in Matthew 18. There he himself says, "If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the moüth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." Vv.15-17. Oh, blessed the congregation where this brotherly admonition is practised! But woe

to those where it is omitted! There in spite of the purest and richest preaching of God's Word corruption must soon take control; it must at last become spiritually desolate; for every congregation is like a body; if every member does not want to do its duty, the entire body must necessarily die at last.

If reprimanding the sins of one's fellow Christian is commanded, is it permitted to hate him if he sins against us and is hard and irreconcilable? Definitely not! Though reprimanding the sins of his neighbor is a holy duty for Christians, he has the equally holy duty of forgiving him. .

The text. Matthew 18:23-35.

In the verses preceding our text we read how Christ impressed upon his disciples the duty of brotherly admonition. When Peter had heard this, he asked Christ, "Lord how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?" V. 21. Hereupon the Lord answered not only, "I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven," but he also told the parable in our text. So, permit me to show you:

HOW POWERFULLY AND URGENTLY THE FORGIVENESS RECEIVED FROM GOD

DRIVES A CHRISTIAN ON TO FORGIVE HIS BROTHER'S SINS

The reasons are:

I. The Sins from which God has Absolved him are Incomparably Greater than those from which he Should Absolve his Neighbor.

II. God did not Owe him the Forgiveness which He Gave, but he Owes it Indeed to his Neighbor as his Fellow Servant, and finally,

III. God will Again Charge Their sins to Those who do not Want to Forgive Their Neighbor.

I.

As we learn from the close of our text, Christ through this parable wants to incite Christians to absolve their fellow Christians from their sins. That is why he pictures a king of whom he relates the following things: The Icing held an accounting with his servants, and lo! when he began to reckon, one of them was found who owed him 10,000 talents. This was a huge sum, which he could never repay, for one talent according to our figuring was $1,500,00; the whole debt amounted to $15,000,000,00. What did the king do? Since the servant was not able to pay, the lord commanded that he and his wife and children and everything he had be sold to make payment. The servant fell down, worshiped him, and said, "Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all." And behold, the lord took pity on this servant, set him free, and also canceled his debt. But what happened? This same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him 100 denarii; he seized him, choked him, and said, "Pay me what thou owest." Then his fellow servant fell down, pleaded with him, and said, "Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all." He would not, but went and threw him into prison until he paid what he owed.

What is the meaning of this parable? That is very obvious. By the king Christ means God, the King of all kings, by the servants the rational creatures of God, angels and men, by the servant who owed the king 10,000 talents, men, by the 10,000 talents the sins of men against God, by the fellow servant one's neighbor or fellow Christian, and by the 100 denarii the sins which a Christian commits against another.

First of all, what does Christ intend to teach with this first part of his parable? He evidently intends to show that a Christian owes it to God to forgive the sins of his fellow Christians; for as that servant out of love and thankfulness toward his lord, who had canceled his debt of 10,000 talents should have canceled his fellow servant's debt of 100 denarii, so out of love and thankfulness toward his God, who has forgiven him so many sins, a Christian should forgive his neighbor his offenses from his heart. And is that not true, my dear Christians?

Think of what God has done for you! You, like all men, owed God 10,000 talents; you had transgressed, all ten of God's commandments a thousand times, yes, countless times; you shamefully had squandered all the blessings which God had entrusted to you; in thoughts, words, and deeds you had insulted God by omitting the good and doing the evil; you were worthy of being sold to hell as Slaves of sin with everything which you were and had. You were not able to pay your debt to God.

Yet what did God do? Did he deal with you according to, etc.? No; from eternity he thought of how he could help you - his Son - as soon as you were born, through baptism - and even after your baptism when you accumulated new sins - God often held, an accounting with you in your conscience, presented your guilt to you from the Law and threatened to reject you but only that you might turn to his grace; for the moment you from your heart prayed to God for patience, God immediately in grace canceled your debt of 10,000 talents.

Do you not owe God thanks for that? Yet how do you intend to thank God? God never does anything to harm you, so that you can forgive him in return! Neither can you give him anything, for all is already his! So that you can thank him, he has declared, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Mt 25:40. If one of your fellow Christians sins against you, then know that here God is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself thankful toward him and his forgiveness.

So what are they doing, who do not want to forgive their fellow Christians? They show such black ingratitude toward God, that all creatures would shudder at it. They deny completely that God has forgiven them their sins. They are like a murderer standing under the very gallows ready to be executed, but who suddenly is pardoned and upon his return shows his thanks for the pardon by immediately committing a new murder.

Therefore, all of you who have received forgiveness of your sins from God, watch your heart closely. If men sin against you, think of the grace you have received from God and that you, therefore, owe it to God to forgive your neighbor in return.

We, however, continue. Christ continues thus in his parable, "So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant. I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desirest me; Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?" Vv.31-33. Our attention is especially directed to the fact that the king said to the unfaithful, servant that his debtor is his fellow servant; he, intends to say: I was your lord, and yet I have canceled all your great debt; how much more should you have forgiven your debtor his insignificant debt, since you are not his lord but his fellow servant?

Here we have the second reason why Christians should forgive their fellow Christians their sins; they, in the second place, really owe it to their fellow Christians.

My friends, most suppose that if they are greatly insulted, it is indeed not right to avenge oneself on them; but whether they should forgive him all his insults, whether they should love him in return and take a liking to him, is entirely up to them; if they would do this it would show special generosity and grace. Yet that is not true. It is true that God owes us no love, no forgiveness, for he is our Creator, our Lord, our absolute Despot; we belong to him with everything which we are and have; we are completely subject to him; he can deal with us like the potter with the clay who can make out of it whatever he wishes, a vessel of honor or dishonor. After we have transgressed God's holy Ten Commandments and have all become sinners, we cannot demand grace from him. If God would have permitted all men to be lost, no man could have said to him, What are you doing? He would still have remained righteous. That God sent his only begotten Son into the world to save men, and that he has forgiven them all their sins and wants to save those who repent and believe in his dear Son, did not take place because his righteousness had compelled God to do it; this was a deed of his free, fathomless love, grace, and mercy. Therefore, those who will be saved will together With all the holy angels in eternity praise nothing but this grace.

It is not so with us. None of us is the lord of someone else; on the contrary, we are debtors to all our neighbors, and especially to our fellow Christians, as the apostle says, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another." Rom 13:8. We owe love to all our neighbors, our fellow Christians; even if he has offended, us, we owe it to him to offer him our reconciliation and still more, to be reconciled with him if he himself asks us for it.

Hence, what do they do, who do not forgive their offender from their heart, who no longer speak to them in a friendly manner, nor cross their threshold, nor see them, or those, who,as they say, mocking God, forgive the offence but will not forget it? What are such irreconcilable persons doing? They are not only unthankful to God, but they also sin grievously against their neighbor; they not only stop practicing a noble generosity, they also deny their neighbor something which they absolutely owe him and are pledged to show him, and which he has the perfect right to demand of them; they make a god out of themselves and thus become even greater and more blamable sinners before God than he who offended them, no matter how great the offense had been. Yes, they become like Satan, who in his hatred and wrath is also irreconcilable; to become angry is certainly human, but to want to remain angry - that is devilish.

III.

In the third place, a Christian should forgive his neighbor his sins because he owes it to himself. We read at the close of our text, "And his lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespasses." Vv. 34,35.

From this we see that as dear as a Christian's and salvation is to him, so earnestly does he have to guard himself against harboring hatred and ill will in his heart and refusing to be reconciled with his offender. For God's wrath rests upon irreconcilableness. He is not a Christian and does not belong in Christ's kingdom, for Christ's kingdom is a kingdom of love, grace, and reconciliation. His sins are not forgiven him, for God will only forgive in the measure that he

forgives his neighbor, as the Fifth Petition says, "And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." If an irreconcilable person had forgiveness before, he has again lost it by his irreconcilableness. He is not in the faith; if he thinks he is, it is a deception, for faith is active through love. His baptism is in vain for him, for he has broken the baptismal covenant. In vain he does other things which are called good works, for they spring forth from the evil fount of an irreconcilable heart; they, therefore, do not please God. Vain is his worship; he serves the devil. In vain he prays; he cannot pray the Lord's Prayer in faith; the Fifth Petition condemns him; God does not hear him. In vain he goes to church and hears God's Word; it cannot save him, for a curse lies on his heart. In vain he goes to the Lord's Supper; he partakes of it unworthily to his damnation. Vainly does he refrain from other sins and lead a secluded life; for wherever the sin of irreconcilableness rules, there all sins rule; whoever keeps the whole Law and sins in only one point, he is guilty of all. An irreconcilable person has no promise with which to comfort himself; all the threats and curses of God in his Word are directed against him.

Woe, therefore, to the one who dies in this state. He dies accursed and does not get to see God; the gates of heaven are closed to him; in vain he cries, "Lord, open to me!" Christ answers, "I never knew you; depart from me you evildoer." He comes under judgment; he finds no grace; Jesus is not at his side; he does not recognize him as his own. He is as assuredly damned as God's Word is sure and true. He will be hurled to hell as a hypocrite and apostate and as a child of sin, darkness, and the devil. He will be given over to the tormentors and will be tormented by the without end, and the smoke of his torment will ascend from eternity to eternity. His worm will not die neither will his fire be quenched. Repenting like Cain, he will torment himself and yet not find mercy, for there is no deliverance from hell.

Oh, let us then become terrified at the fearful, devilish sin of irreconcilableness. Let us examine ourselves, whether we are angry with anyone in this world, and if someone finds this in himself, let him repent in time and quickly become reconciled with God and man, in order that he may stand on the fearful day of reckoning and not be ashamed. May our heavenly Father grant that to us through Jesus Christ, his dear Son, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

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