The Lord's Prayer - Part 4a - Forgive Us Series

Dr. Bradford Reaves

Crossway Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD

www.mycrossway.org

This morning we are moving through the Lord’s Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount. I have to tell you that as I’ve studied the Sermon on the Mount, I have found my own faith greatly transformed and encouraged. I have read the sermon, read a book or two on it, and I’ve preached short series on it, but this is the first time I’ve dug deep into the words of Christ. And the more I examine the richness of our Lord’s words, the more I feel overwhelmed and staggered by the implications of what Jesus gave us.

That has never been more true, than when I came to the words from this morning’s passage on forgiveness, and what I thought would be an examination this morning on the significance of forgiveness in our lives has turned into a study that will carry us through the next couple of weeks. I encourage you to pay close attention, particularly these next few weeks. If we truly practice the words of Christ in our lives, I promise you that your life will never be the same. Let us read the whole passage together:

“Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread. 12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’] 14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. (Matthew 6:9–15)

If there were ever a greater need in man’s life, it would be forgiveness. And when I say forgiveness, I am saying that we need the forgiveness of the Master, and we need to master forgiveness ourselves.

John Iverson said, “The man who refuses to forgive destroys the bridge over which he must cross.” (Sermon Central)

After his assassination attempt in 1982, President Ronald Reagan publically forgave Hinkley and even wanted to meet with him, although, he was advised not to since Hinkley, a sociopath, would misinterpret the gesture, according to Reagan Biographer, Craig Shirley.

However, Reagan’s attitude after the 1982 attempt on his life made an impression on his daughter, Patti Davis: “The following day, my father said he knew his physical healing was directly dependent on his ability to forgive John Hinckley. By showing me that forgiveness is the key to everything, including physical health and healing, he gave me an example of Christ-like thinking.” (Sermon Central)

Forgiveness is the key to healing and especially the healing of the soul. It is essential because, without God’s forgiveness, you are destined for a sinner’s hell. However, with God’s forgiveness, you are introduced to an eternal fellowship with God that goes on forever. That forgiveness was provided to you on the Cross as God’s son hung there, paying the price you cannot pay for the sins you could not avoid. Thus the topic for us this week and next is the greatest need for the human heart for salvation and our continued fellowship with God.

With that, we must have a solid understanding of sin because sin has a two-fold effect on our life. First, it damns man to eternal suffering in hell. That’s our default eternal destination absent of God’s forgiveness. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. That sin has indebted us beyond our ability ever to deem us righteous. The second effect of sin is that it robs us of the fullness and abundance of life given to us through fellowship with God. If we, though we have been redeemed, continue to allow sin to rule over us, we spiritually hobble our lives to enjoy the victory due to us through our Lord Jesus Christ.

To better understand that, let’s first look at the biblical definitions of sin. There are four words from the Greek that we are going to look at to understand the depth of God’s forgiveness better:

"Hamartia" = "To miss the mark." This is the general Greek word for sin and is used 221 times. It is an archery term that means you’ve missed the target. It is not that you are off the bullseye, but rather you’ve fallen short of missing the mark completely. Romans 3:23 tells us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” The idea is that sin keeps us from being able to shoot their arrow far enough. All of us. Not one person. Romans 3:10 “10 as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;”