Forgive Us Our Sins - The Lord's Prayer - Part 4 Series

Forgive Us Our Sins

(This sermon is a shorter sermon due to being delivered via Facebook/Live during the Covid-19 shutdown)

Today Pastor Karenlee will be reading from Matthew 18:21-35. When she reads it, it will not read exactly like the NIV which we usually use. She will be reading from the International Children’s Bible which is not a children’s story Bible but is an actual, authentic translation. I would recommend it for any child who is beyond the “story” Bibles and ready to read a real Bible for themselves. I would also be confident in saying that it could be used for daily devotions or casual reading.

But, before she reads today’s Scripture let’s take a brief review of what we have seen so far in the “Lord’s Prayer” found in Matthew 6.

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed is Your name!”

- We pray to God alone …

- We come to Him in reverence and awe …

“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”

- God’s will is to be the highest priority in our lives just as it is in heaven

“Give us this day our daily bread …”

- God is the source of all we need; we should trust Him

- God provides our daily physical sustenance

- God also provides our daily spiritual sustenance through the Word of God and prayer

Today we arrive at, “Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven out debtors.” Matthew 6:12

Now, Jesus doesn’t just drop it at that point; He goes on to say in Matthew 6:14-15

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

OUCH!!!!! That’s harsh!!! Does He REALLY mean that????

Imagine praying it this way, “My Heavenly Father … please forgive my sins in the same way and to the same amount that I forgive others who sin against me and I fully understand and realize that if I refuse to forgive others you will not forgive me.”

Would we ever be brazen and bold enough to pray that prayer?

What is our natural instinct? “God, You know what they did to me. Please make them regret it!” Now, we probably wouldn’t actually say that but we sure might think it, right?

But, really! How serious is the Lord about this forgiveness thing? Is He REALLY going to base my forgiveness on how I forgive others?

(Pastor Karenlee reads today’s Scripture - Matthew 18:21-35 ICB

Found on the last page …)

(Prayer for help …)

Sometimes this can be confusing because when we say:

- “Forgive us our debts” - (in at least 36 translations) we think of financial debts

- “Forgive us our sins” - (in at least 9 translations) we think of sins which we normally think of as sinning against God

- “Forgive us our trespasses” (not an accurate translation - only found in a prayer book from the early 1500’s and in a pre-KJV Bible called the Matthew’s Bible)

So, what was Jesus talking about, debts or sins?

From His follow up explanation He was talking about spiritual debts.

But, isn’t any wrongdoing really a spiritual debt?

If you borrow money from someone and purposely do not pay it back when you have the means to do so isn’t that stealing, isn’t that a spiritual debt? I mean, you could repay it but you refuse to do so.

If you borrow money from someone and purposely do not pay it back when you have the means to do so isn’t that lying, isn’t that a spiritual debt? I mean, you said you would repay it but you either had no intention of paying it back or changed your mind.

Stealing and lying are both sins against others and sins against God and we are charged by God to forgive them!

FORGIVENESS IS NOT ALWAYS EASY!!!

UNFORGIVENESS IS HARDER!!!!

Illustration:

Sin against you is a seed. With a seed you have a choice.

You can pluck it up and destroy it or you can bury it in your heart and water it and pull the weeds around it until it grows up into a giant, ugly tree of hatred that casts a shadow of bitterness and resentment over your entire life. You may want to get out from under the shadow and out into the sunlight but you can’t because you have to keep on watering and fertilizing and caring for the tree that darkens your life.

If that is the case in your life you need help. You need help from the One Who has forgiven you the most. You need help from the One Who said, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing” after they had nailed Him to a cross. (Luke 23:34a)