This is killing the passion in your relationships.

Passion dies when debtors become collectors.

Let's look at it.

Debtors become collectors. One of the most bizarre parables Jesus

ever told, the stories he would tell that had a

deeper meaning. One of the most bizarre ones to me

is this one. In Matthew eighteen, verse twenty one. Peter

comes up to Jesus. He goes, Lord, you can't teach

him out. Forgiveness and grace and mercy is great. How

many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who

sends against me? Now what we're about to read, I

think it can come on the screen.

Maybe, yeah, there is.

And so he says, how many times shall I forgive

a brother or sister?

Now, what Jesus is about to do.

He's about to take the limit and the lid off

of the amount of grace and mercy that we would

offer to another human being. Because Peter's like trying to

show off.

He's like, I do it like up to seven times.

Wouldn't that be impressive?

And Jesus is like, nope, I tell you not seven times,

but seventy seven times. The better translation is seventy times seven.

And he's not saying on time four hundred and ninety one,

you can slip their throat he's saying. He's saying, seven

is the number of completion and perfection. So it's perfection

times perfection, completion times completion. Like as many times as

it takes, doesn't mean you allow people to continue to

abuse you. It doesn't mean you don't put distance in relationships.

Sometimes he's not what he's saying. He's saying, in your heart,

you get to forgive them as many times as it

takes for you to stay free. Watch this, This is

where it comes all comes together for me. He said,

all right, And apparently Peter doesn't quite get it. Peter's like,

all right, seventy seven. So on seventy eight I could

choke him out, and so so Jesus is like, all right, look,

give a story. The kingdom of Haunds like a king

who wont to settle counts with his sermons.

Next first, please, as.

He began the settlement, a man who owed him ten

thousand bags of goal, that's a lot. A man who

owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to

him since he was not able to pay the master ordered,

but he and his wife and his children and all

that he had be sold to repay the debt. And

at this the servant fell on his knees before him.

The patient with me begged, and I will pay back everything.

This is a picture of religion. By the way, God,

I'll pay you back. The master does not accept his offer.

He knows this is impossible. Look, you ain't paying me back,

but he Look, he takes pity on him. He takes

pity on him. And that's what God did for you

in Christ. You didn't like pay God bag. You didn't

all of a sudden stack up enough good works where

God's like, you know, that's bad. Number ten thousand. You're clear,

now you may go. This is not what happened. He

took pity on him, canceled the debt, didn't give him

more time, just tore the thing up altogether. He asked

him for more time, He said, now, how about we

just cancel this?

And he let him go.

What does he do with his newfound freedom, Well, when

he went out, she says, said. About when he went out,

you're expecting him to pay it forward, right, Because once

you have a payback mentality, it is very hard to

break out of. And if your relationship with God you

think is about payback. You're going to have a very

difficult time giving grace because you don't know how to

receive it. So he goes out, and he's had his

debt forgiving, but he hasn't had his mindset changed yet.

That's where a lot of Christians are, That's where a

lot of marriages are. You've had your sins forgiven, but

you're still operating by.

A ledger system. And so it goes out.

He finds one of his fellow servants. Let's say this

represents your husband or wife. I know this is not

commonly a marriage text, but I think it's an excellent one.

Who owed him one hundred silver coins. This dude got

forgiven for ten bags.

And now he finds somebody who owes him chump change.

Everybody say chump change, and I don't care how anybody

has ever offended you in your life. It is chump

change compared to how our sins offended a holy God.

Chump change. And so look what he does. He grabbed him.

He expect him to hug this dude. Hey man, I

just got some good news. I want to give you

some good news too.

I don't have to pay the Master anymore, so you

don't have to pay me now now going through likewise,

But he comes at to God and he grabs him

and he begins to choke him, and he said, pay

back what you owe me, he demanded from debtor to

collector in a moment. And this fellow servant, now we've

seen this scene before, fell to his knees and begged

him be patient with.

Me, and I will pay it back.

In other words, he just needs some of the same

grace that.

This guy just got.

But the man won't give it. And I wondered in

my mind studying this texasuitek. You know, I've always said

that the man had a bad heart. Maybe it wasn't

that his heart was bad, maybe just thinking. Maybe he

still intended to pay the Master back. So he sets

out to collect because he still can't believe that his

debt was canceled. Maybe he's still so stuck in this mindset,

this religious mindset.

He's going after this guy and he refuses. I don't

think he really got it.

If he really got it, he would have he would

have given it. Don't you think if you really get grace,

you'll give grace once your sins are forgiven. He who

forgives much loves much, don't you think. But he refused,

He said, no man, and he had the man thrown

in prison. We do this to people all the time,

We imprison them awaiting payback. Some of you have imprisoned

a spouse emotionally because it's something they did thirty six

months ago. Some of you have imprisoned spouse emotionally because

of something somebody else did to you that you're taking

out on somebody who didn't even do it. But when

the other servants saw, here's the thing about payback. If

you insist on living by the system of payback, you'll

always be the one punished. You'll always be the one

who ends up choked. Watch when the other servants saw

what had happened, they were outraged, and they went and

told their master everything that it happened. And then the

master called the servant and he said, you, wicked servant,

I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged

me to like you got in and you got set

free by grace, and now you want to demand what

the law requires of somebody else. Shouldn't you have had

mercy on your fellow servant just as I.

Had mercy on you.

Now I hear it, our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be you your kingdom. Come, you will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

And give us a stay, our daily bread, and forgive

us our debts as we forgive our debtors. How dare

you choke somebody else when God had mercy on you.

How dare you ask God for patience and you demand payback?

How dare you bow your need to God and then

stand over your brother, your sister, your husband, your wife.

Choke is saying, pay me what you owe me. So

I don't know about you, but I want to give

a lot of grace because I think I'm gonna need

a lot to make it to heaven and make it

through this life. I can't choke you because I know

that I'm the one who should have been choked. I

know they usually whatever I see in you as a reflection.

Of something that I know is in me.

And so his master in anger handed him over to

the jailers to be tortured. Doesn't say the master tortured him.

He handed him over to be tortured. And see that's

what happens in a marriage. When you're so quick to

bring up all all these offenses, and you're so quick

and you keep a five year history of things that

she said or things that he did, and you can

pull it up on command.

It's amazing. You just got it on speed dial.

You just put it predictable, like whoa. You're a collector.

You think you're God's bounty hunter. And when you live

that way, God says I got to hand you over.

What's just because of Romans thirteen eight. Romans thirteen eight,

It says it's as listener. It says, let no debt

Romans thirteen eight, Let no debt remain outstanding. Debt remain outstanding,

except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever

loves you came into your relationship with God as a debtor. God,

have mercy on me a sinner. If you're saved, if

you're set free, if you're filled with God, if you

have forgiveness, if you have a mission of sins, if

you've been cleansed. It wasn't cause you paid God back.

It's because you bowed down on your knees and He

took pity on you, and he had mercy on you.

Now don't you get up off your knees and start

grabbing people by their throat. Don't you get up off

your knees and start putting your hand on your hip

and waiting for him at the door every.

Time they mess up.

Sometimes you better get your hand off your hip and

uncross your.

Arms and throw your arms around.

Somebody and say, I forgive you.

Like He forgave me.

I give grace like I was given grace, and grace

will change a lie.

Half of y'all are convinced. Let me put it to you.

This way in the Old Testament, when something unclean, Japaul

uses this analogy. He says, the husband who doesn't believe

is sanctified by the wife who does believe.

It's not just about you.

The wife who doesn't believe is sanctified by the husband

who does believe. It doesn't mean that your relationship with

God can be transferred to another person, but your relationship

with God can transform another person when they see the

example of the grace that you claim to have been

given operating toward.

Them, It'll change them. It'll change them, it'll change them.

Nagging won't change them, fuss them won't change them.

Demanding won't change them, but grace will change them. Grace

is power, Grace will wash, Grace will sanctify.

But in the Old Testament, I'm almost.

Out of time.

You got time, you got time, you got time. Can

I tell you?

In the Old Testament, when the unclean was in contact

with the clean, like they had all these laws that

when something unclean ceremonially unclean, many issues could cause someone

to be ceremonially unclean. When the unclean contacted the clean,

in the Old Testament, the unclean defiled the clean. But

one day Jesus changed this because one day Jesus was walking.

Along and a woman who had an issue of.

Blood, which would have made her unclean.

She came up on her knees.

Behind Jesus because she knew she couldn't approach him with

equal standing, she touched the hymn of his garment.

The unclean touched the clean. But see in the Old.

Testament, if the priest was clean and got touched by

the unclean, the unclean would defile the clean.

What makes Jesus a great.

High priest is that when that unclean woman touched him,

who was the essence of purity and perfection, the unclean didn't.

Defile the clean.

The clean purified the unclean.

Now, if Christ is in.

You, sometimes sometimes you gotta allow God to use you

to touch somebody else with.

The same grace.

That He reached out and rescued you with.

I'm a debtor. I don't know about you. I'm a debtor.

I'm not a collector. I'm a debtor. I'm not a collector.

I remember that he paid a debt he didn't owe it.

I owe a debt that I couldn't pay.

And it's because of His blood and his righteousness that

I'm counting on every day when I access I access

the throne of grace boldly, because Jesus, my High Priest,

wasn't afraid to touch the unclean.

But he touched me, and he changed me, and he

made me whole.

And I refuse, I refuse to hold your sin against

you when God didn't count my sin against me.

This will change some marriages. If we can become debtors together.

We all need the same grace. We're breathing in the

same oxygen that was enabled by God's grace. We're all

living on the same stuff. Let no debt remain us

to any he is at the continuing debt to love

one another.

For whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

Love will take you way further than the law ever could.

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