Heaven Rules Our Conduct | Elder Ang Peng Hoe

You're listening to a message to go from acts church. We hope this message

will light up your day. So today I just want to teach. I

just want to teach on it. I pray that it gives us a better

understanding because when it comes to forgiveness, it talks about our conduct, and

why I say our conduct, thinking that our forgiveness is something that only the

Lord has to do for us, not not a responsibility on our end.

The Lord has to forgive me for the wrongs that I've done. No,

it's if you read the Lord's Prayer, which is what we're going to read

in a short whilst time, the part on forgiveness is actually a reciprocal prayer

that means you do something and then the Lord will do it for you.

And so if you read Matthew Chapter six, the Lord's Prayer, you can

you can read the entire prayer if you want, and all of us probably

have memorized it by heart, especially if you're from certain denominations. Definitely you

memorize it. But but I'm going to emphasize today on Versus twelve to fifteen,

okay, us to fifteen, which is the part that says and forgive

us our debts, as we forgive our debts, okay, And verse the

teen says, 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 aimed. Verse fourteen says, for if you forgive men their trestpasses,

your heavenly father will also forgive you. And verse fifteen says, but if

you do not forgive men their trestpasses, neither will your father forgive your tresspasses.

Okay, stay with me, okay, as I as I go trade.

We call this the Lord's prayer. Well, at at least part of

the Lord's prayer. You'll know the studying part. But technically it's a prayer

that the Lord never really needed to use himself. I mean, it's funny,

right if Jesus pray our Father who art in heaven and no, especially

this request when it comes to forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

I mean, well, maybe the second part, as we forgive our

debtors. I can imagine Jesus praying that, because we know that when he

went through the crucifixion, when people were speating at him, and and and

laughing at him, and they drove nails through his flesh. He did say,

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, So

the second part could be applicable. However, he could not have said the

first part of the petition because I think everyone, at least believers will all

agree that Jesus was redoubt sin and therefore he never needed to say forgive me,

because he was the spotless and the blameless son of God. That makes

sense, okay. But the closer for us, of those of us who

live, if we are drawn closer to the Lord Jesus day by day,

you will realize that every day you need to say, God, forgive us

our debts, because if Heaven really rules in our lives, then it is

it's important that Heaven must rule our conduct. It must rule how we carry

ourselves, especially when it comes to our relationship we've God. And this actually

tells me a number of things about what prayer is, what true prayer is,

because we will realize this. Firstly, true prayer always includes the word

forgive as well as the word give. Because if you analyze your prayers,

and I mean I do that, sometimes analyze my daily prayers. You realize

that you use the word give more than you ever use the word for given.

God, give me this, give me that, Give me that girl,

give me that man. Give me, give me the riches and the

glory. Give me that good job. If you know, it's a lot

of give me. Give me bread, give me health, give me comfort,

give me money, give me please, give me job. Is a

give me, give me, But a good prayer will always go from give

to forgive. And this tells us also that we are to bring to God

the needs of our soul as well as the needs of our body, because

when we ask for things, usually for our physical needs, but forgiveness is

really something that is just beyond our physical needs. It's a need of our

soul. It's a need of our inner being. So it tells me also

that I must constantly remember this what I desire, especially when it comes to

give and forgive. What I desire and what I deserve are two opposite things.

Okay, I will explain every statement that I make. I will explain

what I desire and what I deserve are two opposite things. Let me explain

this. No, we are all sinners, and when we say to God

give me, we must immediately remind ourselves that we do not deserve to be

given anything. Actually, that's the reality of it, and this is why

when we say give, because of how undeserving we to receive anything from God,

we must say forgive straight away. After that, let's look at it

from another perspective. Okay, and see which is more important. Which is

more important to you our obligation to God as our heavenly father, or should

the focus just be his obligation to us. If God is my heavenly father,

he has an obligation to feed me, to clothe me. And that

is why I need not worry about what I need to eat, why I

need to dream what I need to put on, because God is under an

obligation as a father. God has claimed me, claimed us as adopted children,

his sons and his daughters, and so now that is his obligation to

feed and to clothe his children, and we can claim that we can claim

that from the Lord. But if I only think of his obligation to me

as my father and not mine to him, then you realize that this entire

prayer is very one sided. Right, So what is our obligation to God?

Well, in reality, our obligation to God is to live a holy

life because he is a holy God. Our obligation to God is to live

a perfect life. That's because he is a perfect God. And that's why

Scripture says that we are being perfected for this very, very purpose. And

that is why we need to say forgive, because we can't possibly do any

of this by ourselves, and forgiveness for me is the key that unlocks a

lot of brick truths in our lives. So let's understand the prayer that Jesus

taught his disciples, especially the petition with a condition attached to it. And

many people have actually difficulties over this condition because it says, forgive us our

debts, as we forgive our debts. But I'll start with the first part

first. Okay, let's start with this statement forgive us, this phrase forgive

us, because even this phrase sometimes presents a bit of a difficulty for Christians.

Okay, I'm going to paint you some pictures of how believers or Christians

can sometimes behave because some Christians think it is bad to pray forgive us our

sins. They feel that it's like you're promoting in theority complex or guilt complex,

that it will always cause them to always be digging around their own inner

being to look for the sins and the things that are causing them to It

will eventually end up causing them to doubt their faith. That's why they don't

like to talk about forgiveness of sin. What they want instead is to get

them away from all sense of guilt. And they want to always be in

the joy and peace and never think of sin and only think of salvation.

So sometimes they have that in mind, know, don't have to seek for

forgiveness once for all, that's it. But then on the other hand,

they are also Christians who think they do not need to pray the Lord's prayer.

And this is why because when they come to Christ all they in their

minds they think that everything is wiped out, wiped out clean, and you

don't have to worry about anything anymore moving forward, and you can live gloriously

in a lot. Okay, so let's let's study the Lord's prayer. Why

do we think Jesus gave us the Lord's prayer? Okay, that's the first

question we have to ask. Why did he give us the Lord's prayer?

And let me begin by saying that I think the Lord's Prayer was given to

the disciples to follow Christ. In fact, I don't think I'm quite confident

it was for that very reason, as a guide to show how to depend

on God. Because you realize this, He didn't give it to the crown.

He called his disciples to him. And you go back and read the

scripture Matthew chapter six. He called the disciples. So these were his disciples.

He congregated them, And is it teach us to pray? And he

was telling them how to do it? Makes sense? So I take it

that he taught the Lord's prayer to those or us who are following him as

his disciples, a prayer of how we should conduct ourselves towards God and towards

one another. Okay, so now there are the two extremes that must be

We must be careful to avoid the two extremes. And it is quite similar

to what I just highlighted just now. One is this idea, this idea

that there will never be any more need for confession or forgiveness in a Christian's

life. I think that it's quite an extreme view, and I don't believe

you'll find it in the Bible, because it is to Christians that the Apostle

John when he wrote the letters in One John, he says, if we

confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and

to cleanse us from all and righteousness. So it is extreme to say that

once you become a Christian your sins are forgiven. That means that from then

on there's no more need for confession, no more forgiveness is required. Some

people take that stand. But if we again read what the Apostle John wrote,

he's talking about if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just

to forgive us. It's an ongoing thing. And then he goes on to

says, actually, if you read one genre, he goes on to say,

if any of you claim to not have sin, you're a liar.

It's quite strong, no one joint. So I think it's it's hard for

us to take that view that once you become a Christian you never need to

confess anymore. Okay. The other thing is this, that's the other extreme,

because some believers seem to be very uncertain about their selves, and they

can be as uncertain as one Sunday to another Sunday. You know, they

can come to church on Sunday, praise the Lord, hallelujah, sing a

few songs maybe, you know, confess their scenes there, and then it

comes to Monday, and then they did something wrong on Monday, and then

they are like, am I still a Christian? After doing something wrong?

And then they come back on a Sunday to get the recharge to get back

their assurance. So it's almost like they're in their out. They don't have

this assurance that they are God's children. So these are two extremes I feel

neither of which is biblical. No, but I've gone through both in all

honesty, haven't you gone through those times when you in your mind's like one

save always say, are going to ask for forgiveness anymore? Because I'm spotless

and I'm blameless. No, and I can do most, I can do

whatever I want. It is it will automatically be white clean. I don't

have to keep on confessing my wrongs. And then suddenly when there's the conviction

that comes like, oh no, you still need to confess. And then

when we confess and then we feel better, and then when we wrong,

make the wrong mistakes and then then were like uncertain about our faith again,

and then we go back to confessing, and then after that we did something

wrong, and it's like the back and forth, back and forth. There

are two extremes. I don't think any of it is biblical, because on

the one hand, there are those who say, I'm finished with sins all

together since I became a Christian. I don't need to keep coming back as

a miserable sinner. And then there are those who are at the other end,

who say, I never know whether I'm a Christian or not because I've

seen yesterday and then undid all the good work and I've got to start all

over again. I believe neither of this are the biblical positions. So what

is the biblical position on seeking forgiveness? Have we ever thought about that?

Because we can't be living the I don't need forgiveness altogether? Neither can be

Can we be living the Am I really forgiven or not? Because every day

as I seem to need confession. Okay, let me take you to some

parables. Okay. In particular, there was a story in which you can

actually get from the Gospels. Of all the gospels talk about the moment before

Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper, there were some things that was happening. Matthew

chapter twenty six, Mark chapter fourteen, Luke chapter twenty two. But I'm

going to take a story from John chapter thirteen one to thirty eight, and

you will remember this story, and I hope he draws some light to our

understanding, because this was a story where Jesus wanted to wash the feet of

the disciples. Who was the disciple Peter? So it was Peter. So

Jesus stopped the towel and said, Peter, I want to wash your feet,

and then Peter tried at first to refuse, right, remember that,

and then Jesus says, if I don't wash you, we can be friends.

Don't read the scripture. That's what he actually says. He literally said,

you can have no part with me, which means we can't have fellowship

together. So then Peter swung to the other extreme no that he says,

well, washed me all over, and then Jesus gently told him that he

didn't need washing all over now since he had already been washed. But there

was the dirt he picked up on his feet, And we understand that maybe

we might not. Okay, but back in those days in the Middle East,

they all wear sandals. Okay, where sandals they walk everywhere. So

what gets dirty is actually their feet. That's why before going into a person's

house, what happens, since they will usually washed the slaves. We actually

washed the slaves. Let me tell you that he's the one that washes the

feet of the people. And no, Jesus wanted to clean that part the

feet to keep the fellowship between them, and I believe Jesus was saying something

clearly about forgiveness. You see, a Christian who has been born again and

comes to Christ has been washed all over. Right, that's the symbol of

what baptism. It is baptism. So we've been washed all over through the

waters of baptism, washing from hate to toe. They have been washed clean.

They are clean through the word of God. We believe that, and

that's why part of our Christian doctrine is not just go and make disciples,

but also to baptize them. To baptize them, that's part of our initiation

steps into the faith. But as they walk through life, they are going

to be picking up what the on their feet. They will still need to

get a daily washing, and Jesus is saying, I want to wash your

feet. Let me do that. If I don't wash your feet, we

can't be friends. We can't have fellowship. In other words, I believe

Scripture teaches us that if a Christian sins and Christians do right and doesn't get

forgiven, what they stand to lose is the fellowship with the Lord. They

lose their joy in prayer, they lose their life of worship, they lose

their desire to share Crist with other people. It is this that Jesus was

bordered about, and it is this that the Lord's Prayer is about, a

daily cleansing to keep your fellowship with the Lord pure, simple and sweet and

clean, to allow Heaven to rule our conduct every day of our lives.

Does that make sense? Does that makes okay? But we must okay,

let's take no, no, let's take note of some words that the New

Testament uses for sin so that we get a better idea of the context of

the Lord's prayer. I told you I'm going to go a little bit deep,

but understand that we need that daily washing, the feed so that we

can keep the fellowship with the Lord. Okay, some of the words for

sin. The first word is this word called anomia, which just means sheer

lawlessness, someone who doesn't recognize any rules for life. That's whever he or

she wants. Okay, sounds like sin. The second word that we see

throughout the Bible, Okay, that the English just translates sin. The second

word is parabasis, which means to step over or trespass, or to step

over a line thing of a fans with a sign ass keep out, and

then you go and step over. Word. Well, that's that's the word

para basis. Okay. Now, I just want to highlight these two words

are not in the Lord's Prayer. Okay. The third word is a word

called harmasha, which someone words may be quite familiar with because I remember one

of the homes we thought on this the word for sin, which is just

it just means to miss the monk. Okay, you miss the monk,

you fall short of your target. That is the word used in the Lord's

Prayer that we see the concise version in Luke. There's a shotter Lord's prayer

in Luke. It uses that word hamasha. The fourth word is parapoma,

which means to you can like you're falling on an icy road. You sleep,

you did something. It's almost like accidentally to do something that you had

no intention of doing, but it's still it's still led to something that was

wrong eventually. And this is the word that you see in the second part

of the Lord's Prayer, where it's not part of the Lord's prayer, it

is part of the teaching where it says, for if you forgive men their

trespasses, your heamily father will also forgive you. But if you do not

forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespassers. That was

the word paruptoma the faith and the last word I want to highlight, and

it's the word that is used in Matthew chapter six, the part of the

Lord's Prayer itself is this word called feel or FEELI markay. I'm not I'm

not a Greek scholar, so I I can pronounce it forppy. But this

just means that your debts what you owe. That is the word that is

used in the Lord's Prayer in Matthew, which I believe is a prayer for

believer us. Okay, so the word that's is actually a clearer translation because

it is not so much about trespassing. I know some versions of the English

Bible translates forgive us our trespasses, but the NKGB I believe gives a slightly

clearer translation is just forgive us our. That's so basically when you talk about

that's it's almost like falling short of your target, not doing what we should

have done, and therefore it is us owing God something. Am I still

making sense? Think of it as a debt that means you're owing God something

because you did not do something. Actually, this forgiveness is for what we

call sins of omission. That means the things that you did not do,

rather than sins of commission the things that you go in do to others.

Let's try to explain it, sir, stay with me. Let me try

to explain this to your Have you ever felt that you have left something undone

which you know you ought to have do it? No, at the end

of the day, it's like, oh, what a fulfilling day. And

then something because I don't know, I don't know if there's any Christian who

would there saying no, I get to the end of every day and I

can say that I have done every single thing that I'm supposed to do,

or every single thing that I ought to have done. In fact, I

believe that many things that we did not do but we should have done.

I really believe that when anyone walks closely with Jesus, the more you think

of the things that you have done. Maybe it could be the messages that

I should have send to someone. Maybe it could have been I should have

visited so and so who is not well instead of sitting now and watching YouTube.

I don't know. It could be any one of these things, because

the more you look at your life, the more you realize the things that

you did not do that you should have done. It could be I did

not say a kind word to Sam, or I don't know, Stephen forgot

to take the trash out when he was supposed to take the trash out.

So the Lord's prayer is not so much concerned with the bad things you did.

The bad things you did definitely will spoil a relationship with the Lord,

and you need to repent. Okay, all of us who accept that.

But the Lord's prayer here is actually the emphasis includes the good things that you

did not do, and this gives a whole different perspective the good things that

you did not do. This is important because what is essentially the consequence of

that is it can spoil your friendship with God. God wanted you to do

this thing. He wanted you to write that letter. He wanted you to

go and cheer that person out. He wanted you to go and tell someone

about him, and you didn't do it, and you owed him that.

So Jesus is essentially reminding us to get our debts paid. Now we are

to do that every day with the Lord. Get the accounts straight with him,

and go to baits straight and write in him. Stay with me,

let's take it even deeper and hopefully we get even more clarity. I hope

you'll get where I'm going with this. Jesus once told this parable in Luke

chapter seventeen seven to ten about a servant who was plowing a field. Okay,

servant plowing a field, minding sheep, and then he came in and

he was going to sit down and chill, but his master said, bring

my meal first. Okay. So a servant working hard all day plowing the

field, wanted to sit down after work, but the master says, bring

my meal first, so the serone had to go on and bring the meal.

You might have said, wow, so unreasonable and demanding. This servant

has worked all day and then now you go and make him get your meal.

But you think not that what Jesus went on to say in that parable

in that teaching, he says, do you think that servant should be thanked

for doing that extra thing for his master? Question mark? And then he

was answered no, because when he has he has done all that he is

commanded. He has only done his duty. Okay, makes sense. In

the same way, when you obey Jesus, you should also say that we

are also unprofitable servants who have simply done a duty, because this is a

parable of the unprofitable servant. Sometimes we all think a very strong the words,

but Jesus is saying, he's only done what he's supposed to do.

Did he bring profits? And that's the word that I want to highlight,

unprofitable, because when we have done our best for God and we get to

the end of the day in that to God for what we haven't done,

we are still unprofitable. We simply cannot outgive God. That's the reality of

it. He has still done more for us than he ever got back from

us, and therefore we are still in that we still fall short, and

that is why we need to pray to God for forgiveness daily. We need

God's forgiveness in our lives. Our conduct towards God is one that is constantly

seeking his pardon, constantly seeking his mercy and his grace, because what we

really deserve is actually his judgment. Therefore, it is when we do this,

when we seek the lords forgiveness, it puts us right in fellowship we've

got because we allowed him to wash our feet, then he rules our conduct.

Does that make sense? That is the first part. Only forgive me

because some of us I told you we struggle with I need to sick forgiveness.

Why do I need to stick forgiveness for already? One time means cover

all, and then the other one is like, oh I see forgiveness today,

Then today I feel bad and I see forgiveness. That to that,

let's let's understand it what that means. And why is it that we need

to sick forgiveness daily? Because daily we are in debt to the Lord.

And that's why we're saying, Lord, for give us our debts to you.

That is why it's something that I always, until today encourage people to

pray the Lord's Prayer daily daily, because you want to get your account straight

with the Lord every day. Lord, I want to be in fellowship with

you tomorrow morning. So I'm going to Lord forgive me my debts when I

we come the morning, Lord forgive me my debts. That makes sense.

So, now that we have established that every believer needs to seek the Lord

forgiveness, I think that's clear. Now comes the condition as we forgive our

debtor. Now you thought the first part was difficult, well, this subsequent

phrase in the Lord's Prayer has also caused a lot of difficulty for people because

it's probably the most difficult thing to do. Initially, we probably thought seeking

forgiveness from God daily is the hardest thing to do. But now we are

told that God will forgive us only if we forgive others that even harder.

Most of us understand that the Gospel of Christ is free forgiveness. Science we

think free forgiveness, free grace, no conditions, no bargains, no contracts.

Doesn't God say that if you repent and believe, you are forgiven?

No in our minds. Yet here we are in the Lord's Prayer being told

to do something for someone else before God will forgive us. Almost feels like

I have to work for my salvation. I never thought of that. Isn't

this going Isn't this God going right against the principle of free grace and saying

I won't forgive you your sins until you have been out and done something for

someone else. Is it not putting a condition to forgiveness? Think about dinner.

Think about it again. We must always be reminded that the Lord's Prayer

is not a prayer for the unbeliever, and he was never meant to be.

It is a prayer for Christians, for the believer, a daily prayer

for the follower of Christ. Remember that. Don't forget that context. What

then, does the condition mean? Does it mean that God has laid down

a law that unless we pass forgiveness on, he won't forgive us. Well,

I don't think it is that God can forgive us science we always think,

oh we don't pass on, then God cannot forgive us. I don't

think it's is that he can't forgive us if we do not meet the condition.

I think it's a case of he won't, that's a difference. The

real reason why he doesn't forgive those Christians who don't forgive others is very simple.

It doesn't feel like it. I know when I say that, you're

like what he does not want to. It is the feelings of God that

actually matters here. Let's let's study another parable, and this is the parable

that Jesus shared with Peter. Okay, And in this parable, I'm sure

y'all are familiar with it. Jesus was asked, how many times should we

forgive a person? In which I believe we can draw some truth into this

particular matter is from Matthew chapter eighteen, verses twenty three to thirty five,

and it's basically the story that there was a king, a very general.

He told his parable, a king, in his generosity and pity, forgive

this man of millions of dollars okay I'm paraphrasing. And then he heard that

same man whom he forgive forgave went out and threw a fellow man into jail

for a much smaller sum okay, maybe four thousands of dollars. So the

king was angry and said, I take back my forgiveness the words of Jesus,

teach us how God feels about your unforgiveness. You see, God is

my father, so I think I know how he feels because I am also

a father. Imagine me, Okay, none of your parents accept the couple,

Maybe Steven and Sai a week and start imagining. Amen. Amen,

Okay. So if you have say you have two children, okay, and

your children come to you and they said that can I have a suite?

And then you give Yeah, you give both one suit each, okay,

And then you found out after that that one of them stole the suit from

the sibling at the street, at both the suits and then came back to

you and asked that can I have another suit? What would you say,

Stephen? Parenting one on one, what would you say to that child?

Would you give the child another suit? I mean you'll probably say you're not

getting another suit from me. I am actually very upset with what you did.

Right. Why would you be angry because one of the children did this.

It's actually for a very simple reason, because you don't want your child

to grow up like that. And if you were to go on indulging a

child behaving badly, he or she will grow up being naughty, being selfish,

eventually being a klaptomanic. I don't know someone who likes to steal things.

Right. God wants us to grow up and be more like him,

and he wants us to be forgiving as he is forgiving. If he were

to forgive you each day your dad's and you will not forgiving others, he

would actually be encouraging you to go on behaving like that. And he's not

that kind of father. He would be naturally upset with you. And if

you are not prepared to forgive others their debts to you, then he is

not going to forgive yours. You would be angry. Now I can totally

understand that it makes sense in this context as well, right, because God

is just telling us how he feels about us, and he's talking about his

children, he's talking about Earth's believers. Christians, do you expect him to

go on wiping out your debts if you don't wipe out other people's debts.

If he were to go on doing that, he would be doing you harm.

He would not be destroyed. He would actually be destroying your character.

And God is not that kind of father. Jesus stated what his feelings are,

and I can see his reasons for it. You see, an unforgiving

person does not know what he is asking for when he says forgive. When

he comes to God and say forgive, if you are unforgiving, he doesn't

know what it really means. And unforgiving person will not appreciate forgiveness even if

he gets it, And unforgiving person will be made more unforgiving if he is

forgiven. Under those circumstances. God's will for us is to grow up to

be more like him. Forgive seventy times seven times. That's what he's said.

In other words, be like your heavenly father, because daily we go

to him and confess, right, and we believe that daily he wipes off

our deaths. Right. God will not forgive your dad's at the end of

each day if you are not learning to be like him. Otherwise it would

not be good fathering and it would be bad discipline. I know it's strong,

but God is not all about thirty bears, and so I mean he

is. He is a father, and a father disciplines and a father teach

us. If we carry on in life with a conduct that never forgives,

then my only hope for each and everyone overseas that we never sin. And

that's not easy. Right to sum this up in towards forgiving forgiven, that

is the law for Christians. This is not a hate matter. It's actually

a heart matter, and therefore it's a heart matter. I know it's hard,

and I know sometimes no it's easy, you know, to say,

give us this day, our daily break. There is no conditions attached to

that request. God will give us death for the asking. But here God

says, I can't give you this just because you are asked, not unless

you first forgive. Therefore, if I'm praying this prayer while holding on to

grudges, while holding on to bitterness, while holding on to resentment, while

holding on to jealousy, I'm literally asking God not to forgive my own debt

to him. I know our heart's cry will still always be God. This

is such a difficult thing to do. Forgiving others seems almost impossible, especially

when we conclude that the other person has wronged me, that this nation has

wronged me, that this military has done us all wrong, and we deserve

better and we deserve to hold it against them. They owe us something and

they can't pay up and I'm not going to just let go of that that.

I know it's hard, but many of us live in that constant tug

of war in our lives. No, we need the daily forgiveness from God.

But yet it is so hard to release the forgiveness to others. But

I want you all to remember this always always come back to this. Jesus

forgave us on the cross. Let's bring it all back to the us,

if you put it all in perspective. I wonder if we ever realize how

difficult it is for God to forgive us, if we think that it's so

hard, it's so hard for us to forgive others. I know it is.

You know I've held on I've held on to grudge for a long time.

I've seen family members who have held on to grudges for years that kids

and nothing good ever comes from me. But it's real. But let's put

it into perspective. Do you ever realize how difficult it is for God to

forgive us? You see, with us, if I can't forgive my neighbor,

or I can't forgive this relative, or if I can't forgive this person

who has said something bad against me, is usually my pride is usually myself

is usually my reputation on my rights, and I have got to go and

crucify myself to forgive the other person, literally like a lord, this is

my cross. But we've God is not that though we've got. It's got

nothing to do with right. Why is it so difficult for God to actually

forgive us? I tell you why. Because of his purity, because of

his holiness, because of his goodness. He just cannot bear sin. Think

of what sin does to God and he hates sin. How difficult it is

for God to forgive sin. How does he get around this difficulty of our

sin our debts? He gets around it by paying them for me. That

is the only thing that makes it possible for God to forgive my debts.

You see, the word forgive in the Hebrew language me two things. It

means to remain or to cancel a debt, and it also means to pay

for It's one the one way or the other. To cancel the debt or

to pay for it. I mean some of your loans, like co co

work in a bank. Well, one way to wipe out the dead is

either it's canceled from the bank or someone pays it, pays it up right

now, imagine this with me in the Middle East. Say you're in the

marketplace back then when this was all written. If you're in debt, what

happens is your dad is actually say you owe this shop something. Then your

dad is actually your your name is written on a piece of paper and then

you pin it up in the marketplace for everyone to see. That means I

owe this person this amount of money. Well, it's an other incentive as

well to pay up faster because your name is stuck on the guy's shop.

But even man is actually willing to pay your debt and cancel it for you.

What he does is he will come along, he will take out that

thing, he will fold the piece of paper over and he will write his

name on it, and then he will pin it back on the post.

Basically, he's canceling it, put a nail on it, and write his

own name on that. Cross out his own name on that sheet of paper,

and then your dad's are done. In Colosions, Chapter two, verse

fourteen, he actually says Paul actually says that God has in Christ taken the

bond of debts which was written against us, and nailed it to the cross.

He has finished it and written across it is none under but the name

of Jesus forgive us our debts. I know it is so difficult for God

to forgive us, as it is for us to forgive others. But the

difficulties will resolved at the cross, and every act of forgiveness is actually written

in the blood of Jesus. Finally, I pray that you all know because

and you all experienced this and discovered this. Is there anything like the joy

of forgiveness, the joy of knowing that it is over and it is done

with, knowing that the person who has forgiven you will never mention it again,

Knowing that this person loves you, Knowing that he would actually slaughter the

fattened calf for you, knowing that he will actually put a ring on your

finger, knowing that he would actually put shoes on your feet and put a

rope on your back and bring you home. That's forgiveness. That is what

the Lord did for us, and that's what he does for us every single

day when we go to him and say, Lord, forgive me my dad's

that I owe you. Forgive me, not just for the things that I

did against people, forgive me for the things that I did not do which

I should have done, and he wipes it clean. You know, I

can't imagine a conversation that God the Father and Jesus, who sited right next

to him can have. No. Some days, maybe God the Father will

pick up a name. No, this person, this person has done a

lot of call a bad rapshet Okay, all sorts of things, did a

lot of bad things in life. And all Jesus is going to do is

show his nail pierced hands and wrist and tell God the Father, I don't

know what you're talking about that because it's all done. It is all finished,

and I paid the price, I canceled the death. Are we ready

to appropriate and to receive this forgiveness as we learn to forgive others. We

hope you've been blessed by this message. For more information on our church,

please visit as Church to RG. We are also active on Facebook and Instagram.

We're believing that this week is going to be a good week. I

hit for you. God bless