Little Johnny was so excited to try out his new slingshot. He and his sister Sally were visiting grandma on the farm for a couple of weeks and there was no better a time to work on his sling shot skills. First he’d aim at a row of tin cans he put on the fence, but after about 50 shots and 20 minutes, he’d only hit one. Johnny decided to shot at a bird in the tree, but he missed that too. He shot at grandma’s dog, but missed her too. Johnny was getting more frustrated by the minute.
It was getting close to dinner time when grandma called them in to was their hands. But on the way in to the house, Johnny decided to try one more time with grandma’s favorite duck. The problem was that this time, he hit his mark. The missile hit the duck in the head and killed it instantly. Johnny panicked! Grabbing the duck’s limb body he ran behind the barn and hid it behind a wood pile, before going into the house.
After dinner, grandma asked Sally to wash the dishes, but Sally turned to her brother and whispered, “Remember the duck!”
Apparently, Sally had seen what happened and was blackmailing Johnny into washing the dishes.
The next morning, the children were doing their chores when Sally handed her brother the broom she used to sweep the back porch and again whispered in his ear, “Remember the duck.”
All week Sally blackmailed her brother into doing her chores. Every time she wanted him to do something, all she would have to do is whisper, “Remember the duck!”
Finally, Johnny couldn’t take the guilt anymore and so he confessed everything to his grandma. His grandma held him close as he wept and said; “Johnny, I know you killed the duck. I was standing at the kitchen window when you did it and I saw it all. I could see the fear on your face and I forgave you the moment you did it, I was just wondering how long you were going to live with the guilt before you told me.
Many Christians are like Johnny, they have done something wrong and the evil one comes along and whispers in their ear to blackmail them. You’re guilty, God won’t understand, now do what I tell you.
Prayer is in many ways a process. It’s a continuum that moves us into the presence of God. What we have seen thus far is that
1. God is our loving Heavenly Father and that He desires for us to come to Him.
2. God is likewise a benevolent King and he desires for us to worship and come before His holy presence.
3. God wants us to humble ourselves and to live by His kingdom’s principles.
4. God wants us to know that He will provide for our needs, but that it’s important that we desire what He has for us.
Now these 4 prayer requests, acknowledgements and understandings thus far in the Lord’s Prayer are so significant because they prepare you for the 5th request in this prayer of prayers. “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”.
When you have spent time in God’s presence as a loving Father, a benevolent King, a Sovereign Lord and Great Provider, then your heart, your mind and your soul is ready to confront the sin in your life and come before your Redeemer.
Let’s face it, sin is ugly and it’s a terrible task master. It holds us in the bondage of guilt and the Evil one whispers in our ear and reminds us continually and the results are typically devastating.
When sin remains unconfessed we normally experience multiple symptoms:
1. We feel guilty and ashamed.
2. We avoid the topic or people and places that remind us of the sin.
3. We shut God out; sever our fellowship with Him and our fellowship with His people.
4. We often continue in the path of destruction because the evil one is whispering in our ear and were too afraid to go to the Lord.
This morning, I want to keep this simple because it can be so devastating. So I want us to look at a few essential facts about sin.
1. God’s Children Sin
Now if you think that you are above sinning, you already have. 1 John 1:8 says, if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So know it up front, you are going to sin, that’s not a question. 1 John 1:10 says, If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
Rom. 3:23 says that all have sinned
When we say in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our debts”, we are admitting our sin. We are acknowledging that we have done things, said things, thought things, and not done things that we should have done. We are taking responsibility for our actions before the Lord.
Now the word “debt” represents how much we owe to someone. A debt is an obligation. In essence, we are praying, “forgive us our obligations.” If you borrow money, you are obligated to pay that sum of money back.
But the question for us is why did Jesus use the word “debt” instead of “sin”, “forgive us our sins.” The same can be said of the words;
• Sin- is inability to do good (Rom. 3:23),
• transgression- is rebellion, to across the line (2 John 9),
• lawlessness- is contempt for God’s Law (1 John 3:4),
• trespass- a moment of passion (Matt. 6:14),
• wickedness- filthiness (Matt. 22:18),
• debt- consequence of sin (Matt. 6:12).
All of these words are definitions of the New Testament word for sin.
However, Jesus chose the word “debt” in this prayer of forgiveness. Some use the word “trespass” because they’re similar, but the most accurate translation is the word “debt”. The question is why? Why did Jesus use the word “debt’ in the prayer as opposed to the others?
Jesus used this word for sin here because it involves others. When we pray “forgive us our debts” we are praying forgive me of what I’ve done and the consequence of it. It’s saying, “Lord, forgive me of what I have done, and the harm, the hurt, the distrust, and the damage it has done to another or others”. It goes back to that obligation we have as Christians. It’s taking responsibility for our actions and behavior. That’s why Jesus says just prior to this in Matt. 5: 23"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
Why do you think the Lord has us pray right before this, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. If you recall, that means I am submitting to God’s rule in my life and to play and live by His rules. So having just prayed that, affirmed that and recommitted to it, we are now applying perhaps the most primary of all self-disclosing, self-revealing prays there is; “let me now come clean and make things right with God and with those around me that I have hurt, judged, taken advantaged of, hurt and so on.”
I believe that Jesus chose the word “debt” and put it in this context, in this prayer of prayers because it is so vital to our spiritual health and well-being. It lies at the very core of all we will be and can become. It is the very essence of what it means to be a Christian and to live a life worthy of the call and it will either make us or break in whether we move forward or fall back in our Christian lives.
Now please understand, simply praying “Forgive us our debts” does nothing in and of itself. They are not magic words like abra-kadabra. When we pray “forgive us our debts”, we are beginning a process of forgiveness and it is a process. The Word of God tells us in 2 Cor. 7:10 that “Godly sorrow brings repentance”. Now repentance by definition means “to turn away from.” And Godly sorrow means “to grieve over what grieves God”. In short, this “I am turning away from what grieves the heart of God and now as His child, grieves me.”
Johnny came to his grandma with Godly sorrow. The Prodigal son in Luke 15 came home with Godly sorrow. David in Ps 51 had Godly sorrow.
However, there are those, habitual thieves for instance that may be sorry they got caught, but experience no sorrow. Again, 2 Cor. 7:10 says Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. This thief is experiencing a worldly sorrow that doesn’t lead to repentance or salvation or no regrets. It only leads to death, hurt, pain and devastation to those who fall victim to it.
When we pray “Forgive us our debts,” it must be followed with an outward change or determination to change. I love what Micah 7:18 says, Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. 19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Now know that carrying around this guilt keeps you from fellowship with your Heavenly Father. You are still His child, He still loves you and you still have life everlasting, but there is a wedge that has been driven between you. Johnny had a hard time looking grandma in the eye. He had a hard time eating the cookies she made for him. He had difficulty when he read to him in the evening. He loves her, but feels awkward, uncomfortable and guilty around her and it affects their relationship. The same is true with our Heavenly Father when we do not ask Him to “forgive our debts.”
Now Jesus also says that we need to “forgive our debtors as well” as well as being forgiven ourselves. Why is this? When you pray this, you are in essence asking Him to treat you in the very same manner that you treat others. It’s really and extension of the Great Commandment, “To love God… and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Forgiveness is a circle—what you give is what you get. To be loved, we must love others. To make friends, you need to be a friend. When we forgive others the obligation we feel they owe us, we are doing it because Jesus did it for us.
Jesus said in Matt. 6:15 but if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Now some get confused by this verse because they think it says that God the Father won’t for give them of their sins and they will be eternally separate from Him. This is not what this is saying!!! Remember our little word study of the word sin. The word for sin here is trespass (which means something done in the heat or passion of the moment) it is, as we saw, very similar to the word “debt” and both will cause guilt that separates us from fellowship with God.
So, what Jesus is saying here is that He is going to hold us responsible for our actions as Christians. If we say that we are going to come under His authority and live by His kingdom’s rules, then we need to cancel the debt of others as He has canceled our debts when we do wrong. If we don’t then He will allow the natural consequences to bear upon us. Let me give you an example; my two son’s Ben and Josh have done something wrong. They both ask me for forgiveness for their part, but continue to fight with each other. It brings disharmony to our family. It causes such tension and strife, that it is making everyone uncomfortable. It is dishonoring to the family and dishonoring to the Lord. Though each one is talking to me and I am OK with each of them, they continue to feud with each other. Their feuding was causing such problems in the family that I’m going to have to ground them until this is resolved. Eph. 4: 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—
When you go to the Lord and seek forgiveness, you may be ok with Him. But if you have unresolved issues with others, you are creating discord within His family and He has to deal with it.
But perhaps the greatest problem with not dealing with this is that it gives the evil one a major foothold. Eph. 5: 26"In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold.
Satan has a hay day when God’s children bicker and fight. As long as he can keep us after each other, it keeps us from coming against him, out real adversary.
Scripture is unquestionably clear about forgiveness. It emphatically says:
1. Jesus set the example- Luke 23: 34Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
2. We are commanded to forgive- Col. 3:13 Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
3. The consequences of unforgiveness- Matt. 18: 34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
4. You remain in fellowship with God- Matthew 6:14For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
5. You cut off fellowship with God- Matthew 6:15But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Often we think that forgiveness is an option that we can pick and choose. However, forgiveness is not an option, but standard equipment in the life of a Christian.
Each day as you pray through the Lord’s Prayer, seek forgiveness and forgive others. Don’t allow it to build up in your life and as a result, take you down.
