April 5, 2026: Forgive Us - Matthew 6:12

It's hard to imagine going from a.

Lower place, the crucifixion of our Lord, the spectacle of

torture and shame. From that low place to this

scene that Emma just read for us.

He's alive. He's speaking to me, how can

this be? And that that reversal, that

that reversal gives hope no matter what we face in life,

anything is obviously possible with God if he can raise the

dead and. It is this.

That we celebrate this morning as we gather in His name.

After this Holy Week as. We've been moving through this

is somber tone, this funeral procession to this this morning,

these hallelujahs, this exultant music celebrate the resurrection

of our Lord Jesus Christ this morning.

We've been working our way as a church through a series on the

Lord's Prayer for weeks. Now about the second-half of.

The prayer we've talked about, the address, our Father in

heaven. And talked about how important

it is to understand that we have a father who is.

Adopted. Us in the gospel, who is

intimate and loving, but also a heavenly Father, one who is

omniscient. He knows all omnipotent He can.

Do. All that he is not only willing,

but able. This is the one to whom we pray.

Jesus taught his. Disciples, how to?

Pray with this prayer and over the weeks we've taken on the

first three of the six petitions that are all God centered.

Focused on his name and his Kingdom and His will.

And just last week, we transitioned to the second-half

of the prayer, which you see up there part of it.

Give us. This day, Our Daily Bread.

We talked. About last week and today we

move into the next petition and forgive us our debts as we.

Forgive our debtors weeks ago when I was.

Preparing and planning. I got so excited.

That we would be. Talking about the forgiveness of

sins on Easter Sunday. Magnificent.

Praise God. So we'll talk a little bit about

what this means and forgive us our debts as we forgive our

debtors. Perhaps you've heard this prayer

before and you didn't say debts and debtors there.

Maybe you said trespasses. Forgive us our trespasses as we

forgive those who trespass against us.

Maybe you said their sins. Forgive us our sins as we

forgive those who sin against us.

Maybe your translation has wrongs.

What does this word mean that gets translated in so many

different? Ways.

Talk here. It's using a language of debts.

Is he talking about money here? Is this a a prayer about your

visa bill or your mortgage? Your car payment is not.

Lord is using the word debts to refer to transgressions, sins,

things that we have done against.

Some kind of? Holy.

Standard Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against

us. And this is the only of the

petitions that Jesus in the near context in Matthew 6 kind of

expands on a little bit using even uses the word.

Trespasses here. For if you forgive others their

trespasses, the things they do against you, your heavenly

Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others

their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your

trespasses. What does that mean?

What does it mean for us to receive forgiveness as we give?

Forgiveness does that. Mean that our forgiveness of

others causes our forgiveness with God.

That our forgiveness with God is conditional somehow upon our

forgiveness of others. I'm going to talk about.

That a little bit this morning as we expand on this.

What does it mean? For us to.

Have forgiveness and give forgiveness.

Everyone needs this, don't we? Everyone needs forgiveness.

It's also super difficult. Whether you're on one side or

the other, it's hard. Maybe you are the one that has

been sinned against. Somebody has offended you.

Someone has dumped something that is wrong to you.

It's hard to. Forgive them.

And the greater the offense, the more difficult it is to forgive.

We want to punish, we want revenge.

We want to. Get even.

So it's hard to give. Forgiveness if you've been

sinned against. But it's also hard to.

Get forgiveness if you're the one that has done the.

Sinning to admit. That you're wrong is hard.

It's. Humiliating.

To approach the one that you've offended is scary.

To have to ask for forgiveness is humiliating.

And if they shut you off and refuse to give it, you reside in

a unreconciled state. Just.

Painful forgiveness is hard. We're there.

We're the ones that have to. Grant it.

Grant it or to receive it. It's difficult.

Everybody needs forgiveness. We need forgiveness not only in

our. Interpersonal relationships with

one another, but we also need forgiveness with God.

To not know where we stand with. God is terrifying.

To not know if our conscience is OK with God.

It makes it hard to sleep at night if you're sensitive to

that. But on the other hand, if you're

not and you galvanized your heart, you harden your heart,

and you say, I don't really care about my relationship or my.

Or my. Standing with God, whether

you'll admit it or not, that's. Scary too, very sad.

Everyone needs forgiveness. We're.

Going to talk this morning about the need and the provision for

our. Forgiveness in the Gospel.

We will not have time this morning to talk.

In completeness. About this petition.

For forgiveness. This is Part 1 and I will.

Next week, talk. About Part 2 SO.

If you're listening and you're. Thinking Pastor Dan, you left

out. You left out some pretty

important stuff about forgiveness.

That's OK Stay tuned. Come back next week, we'll talk

more about forgiveness. But this morning I want to talk

about the. Need and the provision of

forgiveness. Let's let's talk about the need.

For forgiveness. Biblically, we learned several

things. I will work my way through

several texts so that you can see the need of forgiveness is

vast and great because the sin problem is universal.

The Bible teaches us that all have sinned and fall short of

the glory of God. So no matter how perfect someone

seems to you, they. Are sinners.

They've broken God's. Standard and fall short of His

Holiness. The need for forgiveness is

great because it's a universal problem of sin.

It's also an inherited problem. The Bible teaches in Romans 5

this therefore, just as sin came into the world through.

One man that. Is Adam.

So many generations ago and death.

Through sin so death spread to all men, because all sin.

This text. Teaches us that we have

inherited. A sin nature.

From our. Parents and our grandparents

all. The way up to Adam.

This is why you never had to teach your children the word.

No, and why teaching them to obey is so much harder to teach

them. Than it is.

For them to disobey, they're just naturally.

Good at it. We are born sinners.

We've inherited this from our parents.

This Bible verse also says that there's a consequence this.

Notion of death. Death we think of as separation

two types of death, a separation from God whereby we are not born

as friends of God, but in a state of enmity or.

Enemies of God. And we also have a separation.

We all face this of our physical bodies separating.

From our souls. So because of sin, we face

physical death and spiritual death, a type.

Of separation. So we can see that this is a

huge. Problem.

It's not only universal and inherited, but it's pervasive.

Let's look at. This text that.

Shows. How devastating this is to our

person. And since they the humans.

Did not. See fit to.

Acknowledge. God.

God gave them up to a debased. Mind.

To do what ought not to be done. They're sinners.

And they were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil,

covetousness and malice. They were full of envy, murder,

strife, deceit, maliciousness. Can be easy to think.

Hey, you know what, Dan? You know sin.

Yeah, it's a problem. But I'm not as bad as the people

in prison. I'm no murderer.

The Bible clearly teaches that we are bad.

You know. Some are worse in some ways than

others from the consequences standpoint, but this list has

not only murder. On it but.

Attitudes. Things in our mind and our

hearts. Covetousness, malice or hatred,

envy, these things are. Sometimes kind of.

Hard to see or detect. Even in our own lives, I think

we will all believe that the sin problem is pervasive.

No one really would like. No one would.

Really enjoy. Seeing a movie.

Played publicly of their inner life, we know that we are

sinners. This text goes on to say.

They are gossips. Slanderers, haters of God,

insolence that means rude. Haughty.

It's arrogant. Boastful inventors of evil,

disobedient to parents. Foolish, faithless.

Heartless. Ruthless.

Though they know there's an intuition, they know God's

righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to

die. We kind of know that this is

really bad and it. Deserves a consequence.

They not only do them but give approval.

To those who practice them. So we can see the sin problem is

universal, it's inherited, it's pervasive through our entire

persons. And it has a penalty, which is

death. Bible also teaches.

That it can. Gather up an unpayable moral

debt. And This is why the word debt is

helpful, because we can kind of think in terms of money to think

of a debt that is too big for you to pay.

When I was preparing, I, I looked up what's the, the

record, the. US record for the longest prison

sentence sentenced What's the longest prison sentence?

That has. Been given out by.

A judge. Not the longest prison sentences

someone has served. Obviously your own lifespan

would limit. That.

But what's the longest prison sentence in U.S. history?

That has been rendered against a perpetrator.

You ready for? This 30,000.

Years. Now, at first we think that's

absurd. Why would a judge?

Ever sentence someone past? A normal lifespan.

Why? It's because even unbelievers

have a moral intuition that we can steal more and take more

than we can possibly repay. You take someone's life, you

can't get that back. You rack up a moral debt far

surpassing your own. Ability to pay it and even the

justice system you think? Oh, maybe that was really old.

No, that's from 1994. And they're more They're even

recent examples of prison. Sentences that exceed lifespans.

Because the courts have to give a strong demonstration to the

perpetrator, but also to the. Victims of crimes that what just

happened is really, really bad. An unpayably bad problem.

So we kind of understand the math.

Here a little bit we have an intuition that helps us get

closer. But Jesus.

Helps us too. He helps us with a.

Parable demonstrating forgiveness.

What forgiveness is like. Using an economic.

Metaphor in Matthew chapter 18. I'll read the first part of the

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

parable. Matthew chapter 18 therefore the

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to

settle accounts with his servants When he began to

settle, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents.

Now, most of us don't measure our.

Money and talents anymore? What does that mean?

That's a ridiculous. Amount of money.

In today's terms, billions and billions of dollars. 10s of

billions of dollars and since he could not pay, his master

ordered him to be sold and with his wife and children and all

that he had and payment to be made.

Fine, Liquidate, let's see what we can at least.

Find here. And so the servant fell on his

knees, imploring him. Have patience with me and I will

pay you everything. Which that in itself is

impossible. He's pleading for forgiveness of

the debt. Verse 27 and out of.

Pity for him. It's compassion to the master.

The master of that servant released him and forgave.

Him the debt now. You could ask yourself, OK, that

all makes sense. It really makes sense for a

super rich guy who is owed money to, you know, sort of wave his

hand and forgive the debts, right?

No problem. But what happens if we're

actually talking about a? Moral.

Debt where there are victims of. Crimes.

Where the master or the judge can't just wave his hand and

pardon everything and still be just.

Does anybody want to live in a world where the justice system

just lets off all the criminals off the hook?

Now don't do that again. Bye bye.

See you go. Empty all the prisons, let them

all loose. What does that mean for the

victims and for their families? No, there is more.

Required of justice is. There a justice problem here

with letting people off the hook?

Yes, yes, there. Is.

And the Bible, actually. Deals with this.

That God, in order to grant pardon, needs to exact penalty.

From something to. Make things just so that we know

that he's righteous and that's some flaky pushover that just

says that's OK. To horrible heinous crimes and

that cost my friend. This fund of forgiveness comes

at the cost of His own Son, the Son he loves, Jesus Christ

fully. God, fully man, lived a perfect

righteous life and paid the penalty for sinners that they

may be granted a just pardon. Look at the language from the

Bible, Romans 3, now verses 25 through 26.

God presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement.

Through faith in His blood, He did this.

To demonstrate his. Justice, you see.

We have to. Show.

That sin is sin because in his forbearance up to this time, he

had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.

He did it to demonstrated justice.

At the present time, so. As to be just.

Righteous. Judge and the one who justifies.

Who can grant pardon? Those who have faith in Jesus.

The need for forgiveness is so vast and expensive that it cost

the Son of God his life. So we've considered the need.

For forgiveness and explored briefly its profound depth.

Let's. Talk about the provision of

forgiveness, which you've already got a gotten a little

bit of a preview of in those verses the.

Provision of forgiveness. Comes from the gift of Jesus.

The wages of sin is death, that's what we deserve, but the

free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.

Our Lord, the provision comes from His person, His body and

soul, His perfect obedience, fulfilling the.

Law also comes from him negatively by bearing the curse

of the law on our. Behalf experiencing the penalty

of sin separation from God for. US.

But he didn't stay dead. Hallelujah.

On the third day he arose, and so therefore we can have new

life. Paul says it this way in First

Corinthians 15 for what I Paul received.

The Gospel I passed on to you as of first importance.

That Christ died. For our sins according to the

scripture. That he was buried.

And then when? He was raised.

On the third day, according to the scripture, this is the

provision for forgiveness. 2nd Corinthians 521 gives you very

clearly this idea of substitution, that somehow our

sins could be placed upon this righteous substitute, that he

could receive the penalty for our sin so that we may justly.

Be granted A pardon by faith. God made him.

Jesus. Who had no.

Sin totally innocent. To be sin for us, so that in

Him. We might become the

righteousness of God. Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

So what's next? How can we?

Apply these great truths to our life as we pray.

Forgive us our debts as we forgive those our debtors, those

who have sinned against us. Well, first friends, in order

to. Be able to extend forgiveness.

We have to 1st receive God's forgiveness.

And this is the part where we call out to you, if you've never

accepted the Lord Jesus to be your your Lord and Savior, where

you you can, you can do that. Well, Pastor Dan, how would I do

that? I don't know what you're saying.

Say, well, if you find yourself convinced that you are a Sinner

indeed, and you have a troubled conscience and you've wondered

how to make that. Right.

And maybe you've even tried ways to pay it back, doing good

things, giving your money, doing this and that, and you just

realize that that's. Kind of impossible.

The debts. Too big.

The Bible says that you can throw yourself.

At the feet of Jesus and cry out.

Have mercy on me, a Sinner. Forgive.

Me, I trust in your provision on my head.

On my behalf you. Can cry out to him in prayer.

Lord save me. I'm tired of trying.

This on my own and receive his forgiveness and the freedom that

comes from having a clear conscience as free as prisoner

who's been granted pardon is walking out.

Paul again in 2nd Corinthians 520.

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were

making his appeal through us. I'm.

Saying that as a pastor in the church right now.

As somebody who's been entrusted with the gospel message, acting

in God's behalf, I'm making an appeal.

We implore you. What a.

Great word. Strongly ask with urgency.

We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.

Have mercy on me, a Sinner he will fulfill.

His promises, as surely as Christ has risen from the dead,

are the words of our Lord. Mark 1/15.

The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe. In the gospel it's good news for

great need receive his forgiveness.

Now, maybe you've been a Christian for a long.

Time, you say? Yeah, Dan, that's my story.

Wonderful to celebrate that on Easter.

Sunday we need. To talk about.

Extending forgiveness, don't we? And this is really hard.

It's not like when you get saved it just becomes super easy to

forgive people. All the time.

Forgiveness is difficult, and as in the Lord's Prayer, we pray

daily for Our Daily Bread, in the Lord's Prayer we pray daily

for help to forgiving, forgiving people.

It's a ongoing, daily, sometimes hourly, moment by moment task.

That person who's harmed you, that rival that's embittering

you. That person that said that

thing, this guy you spinning and up.

At night, just burning that person you don't want to talk

to, that person you hide from. It's a type of prison.

We'll. Talk more about.

The dynamics of forgiveness next week.

But today we just need to remember that one of the ways

that we show and see evidence of Christ in our lives is how we

forgive. You know, there's a a saying

that has earned the right to be a cliche.

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, walks like a duck,

it's probably a duck. Christians who have been

profoundly. Changed by Christ's forgiveness.

They speak a certain way, They feel a certain way.

They act a certain way. Which means that they.

Study and practice and ask for God's help in forgiving others

because they've been forgiven. Because the second-half of the

parable paints a rather grim scene.

That should be. For all of us as well, a

warning. Remember the story?

This servant who's been forgiven billions and billions of

dollars? This is what happens next.

But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow

servants who owed him. 100 Denarii.

What are these words again? How much money is that?

I don't usually use the word denarii.

Now this is a significant debt, probably represents, you know,

1/4 of a year of salary, maybe 10s of thousands of dollars.

Not insignificant, and yet in the parable it's being compared

to 10s of billions. So the point is any forgiveness

that we withhold. Relative to the.

Forgiveness that we have been given.

Is rat, might as well. Be an infinite gap.

Look at how quickly it descends into violence and seizing him.

He began to. Choke him saying pay what you

owe. So his fellow servant same

response. Fellow servant fell down and

pleaded with him. Have patience with me and I will

pay you. He refused and went and put him

in prison until he should pay the debt.

This creates a scandal among. The servants and they're going

to go tell. On him.

Good. When his fellow servants saw

what had taken place, they were greatly distressed.

They went and reported to their master all that had taken.

Place. And his master?

Summoned him and said to him, You wicked servant, I forgave

you all that debt because you pleaded with me.

And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as

I had mercy on you? And in anger, his master

delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his

debt. Jesus.

Concludes this way so also my heavenly Father.

Will do to. Everyone of you, if you do not

forgive your brother from your heart.

Our forgiveness of others does not 'cause God's.

Forgiveness. It shows that.

We've been forgiven. It's a characteristic.

Sign of a believer. Now we'll talk next week a

little bit about consequences. That doesn't mean that there's

no consequences. You can forgive somebody and

there can still be grave. Consequences.

But the Christian has been so. Changed.

And they are praying for a. Forgiving heart that they have.

A A stance and a readiness. To forgive, no matter what the

consequences may be. And I love the way.

Paul puts it in Ephesians 4. Be kind to one another, tender

hearted, forgiving one another as God and Christ forgave you.

Friends, I don't know where you are with this.

If there's something that you need to be able to release and

to forgive, we're going to move into a communion time and we'll

consider how the forgiveness that we are granted bit by bit

comes daily, kind of like this communion meal comes.

May you be strengthened. The forgiveness that we so

desperately need is. Provided by the gift of Jesus

Christ, who died for our sins. Was buried and rose again.

Hallelujah. I've been concluding by inviting

you to pray with me the Lord's Prayer.

If you don't know the Lord's Prayer, that's OK, You can just

listen. When we get to the part about.

Debts and trespasses and sins, we'll say trespasses, just to

make it easier for us to all say the same thing.

Will you pray with me, our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day Our Daily

Bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those

who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but

deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, the

power, and the glory, and forever.

Amen.