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[0:00] Amen. We're continuing to look at the Lord's prayer line by line. And today we're looking at the next line. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

[0:12] ! And so to begin, let's pray this prayer together. Pray then like this. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

[0:28] Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

[0:42] For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. So as I said, we're on to that next line. Forgive us our sins.

[0:53] And just as a reminder of the structure, remember you can break up the Lord's prayer into three sections. So there's the address. That's the first line. Who we pray to. Then the next two lines are petitions about God, asking things about God.

[1:07] And then petitions for us, asking things specifically about us. But remember that the petitions about God that we did, these aren't, and compare that to the things about us, these aren't separate things, remember?

[1:24] They're very related. Remember, we saw last week when we asked for our daily bread, we're asking for our essentials to survive in order that we can do the previous petitions.

[1:37] We asked for daily bread so that we can hallow God's name. We asked for daily bread so that we can do God's will. And so today's petition, as we think about it, we must remember it's related to all of that too, right?

[1:53] Now that we are alive, now that we have our daily bread, what is the most important thing for us? Being right with God. This petition is acknowledging our sins to God and asking that he would forgive them, to have a right relationship with God.

[2:13] Now that we are alive, we've got our daily bread, this is what matters, a right relationship with God. And again, Jesus, he's teaching us something here. So yes, he's teaching us how to pray, but he's also teaching us the essentials of the Christian life.

[2:30] He's taking us to that mini zoo, remember, filled with different topics of the Christian faith, and he's teaching us the essential doctrines, right? We are learning something here about the nature of sin, about our great need in salvation, what Christ has done for us on the cross, and also how we need to forgive others.

[2:54] So there are lots of parts of the zoo here today. We've got God, sin, humanity, salvation, human relationships. And I want us to visit all these different places, right? But first, we need to define some of the terms here.

[3:10] Clarify exactly what we're praying for here. Because firstly, you might kind of just realise, there are different words used when we pray this, right?

[3:22] Is it sins, or is it debts, or is it trespasses? And also, what do we mean by forgiveness? We use that word a lot, but what do we mean by that?

[3:34] And also, we're going to get on to the big question we can have about this, this line in the prayer. If we are already forgiven by Christ on the cross, once and for all, then why do we need to keep asking for forgiveness in this prayer?

[3:50] So we will get on to that, but first, let's clarify and define some things. Sins and debts and forgiveness. That's the first thing I want us to look at. So just notice, Jesus uses different words as he teaches the Lord's Prayer at different times.

[4:08] So in Matthew, so he teaches it in Matthew and in Luke, in kind of two different occasions. And in Matthew, Jesus uses the words, do you see, debts. Sin is something owed.

[4:23] Sin is a moral debt to God. And then in Luke, Jesus uses the word sins, which means, sins literally means missing the mark.

[4:35] It's saying sin means falling short of God's standard. And then also in Matthew, Matthew 6, 14. So this is just after the Lord's Prayer, when Jesus is kind of going back to teaching.

[4:48] He mentions trespasses. And trespasses, it means going off the path, right? So sin is kind of crossing the boundary of God's law.

[5:01] And so we've got all these words, debts, sins, trespasses. And then in the IPC, what we're going to say later in the service, we say sins as well.

[5:12] Forgive us our sins. So we've got all of this, but what words should we use? Well, in one sense, we could use any of them, right? Jesus teaches us all these different words.

[5:24] And so you could use any of them. But it could all be summed up with the word sins, right? They all roughly mean the same thing. And they're all referring to sin.

[5:38] And so you could use any of these words, but it's pretty much summed up in the word sins. Which is why when we say the Lord's Prayer in church, we use the word sins. It's kind of a helpful way of just capturing it all, okay?

[5:51] So don't feel you have to only say sins. But that kind of summarizes it. But today, I actually want us to think about the language of Matthew that Matthew uses.

[6:03] And I want us to think of sin as debt. Sin as debt to God. Jesus, he's taking us to the sin part of the zoo here.

[6:15] And he's also taking us to the creation and salvation parts of the zoo here. And by teaching us to pray this, he's teaching us some essential things, four essential things here.

[6:27] First, I just want us to just highlight and notice some of these things. Firstly, praying this, it shows us we are morally bound to God.

[6:38] So I don't want us to miss something kind of obvious but fundamental here. As we pray to God, Jesus is saying we need to address our sins and seek his forgiveness.

[6:52] And by doing that, Jesus is revealing something about the relationship between humanity and God. We are not just dependent on God.

[7:04] We saw that last week with Daily Bread. But we are not only just dependent on God. But we are morally accountable to God. It's a thing like this, right?

[7:17] So we saw last week all things are dependent on God. But actually, we are also... There's something essential to see here.

[7:30] As creatures, we are morally accountable to God.

[7:40] Morally responsible toward God. So no part of creation and no human lives just in a vacuum where they have just no responsibility to God.

[7:53] No, to be human means to be accountable to God. And this prayer shows us that there'd be no point in praying this, no point in Jesus teaching us to pray this, if this wasn't the case.

[8:07] So we are, as creatures, morally bound to God. But this also shows us something else. This shows us the nature of sin. It shows us sin is a debt to God.

[8:20] So it's significant Jesus uses this word to describe sin. Because it shows to be accountable to God. That means we naturally owe something to God.

[8:35] Just to be human means we owe everything to God. So think of the great commandment. What is the great commandment?

[8:46] Deuteronomy 6. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Everything.

[8:58] God deserves all our love and devotion and everything in our lives. That is what is owed to him. And that is just what it means to be morally bound to God, morally accountable to God.

[9:12] It means we owe him everything. And when we don't do that, when we sin, that means we haven't given God what he deserves.

[9:24] And therefore we are in debt to God. And that's what it means to be a sinner. And this is what has happened in sin.

[9:35] So in a broken creation. We are in debt to God.

[9:55] But we've not given him what he deserves. And therefore we're in debt. But we're also in debt because there is also now a punishment for sin.

[10:09] We are in debt not only for the things that we owe. But we are in debt for the punishment of sin. So it's just like if you steal a million pounds from a bank.

[10:20] You are in double debt there. You now owe a million pounds. You've got to pay that back. That's what the bank deserves. But you also owe time in prison, don't you?

[10:32] There's a double debt. That's what the debt kind of implies, involves. Well, that's the same with our sin. We are in debt. We are in debt. The love that God deserves.

[10:43] And we are now in debt. The punishment for not giving him that. And because we have sinned against an infinitely holy God.

[10:54] That debt that we owe is now infinite. Sinners are in an infinite debt to God. And so just think, even the smallest sin against an infinite holy God, that means an infinite death.

[11:13] Which is why eternal hell is not unfair. Sometimes I might can go to that, like, that's too much. That's unfair.

[11:24] Everlasting hell. But it's not. It is just and right. Because that is the appropriate punishment to pay an infinite debt.

[11:36] Which is why Jesus has this here in the Lord's Prayer. Now that we have our daily bread. Now that we're alive. This is what we need to care about in the Christian life.

[11:48] Our sin against God. It is essential that we care about this and address it. And so he's teaching us here the nature of sin.

[11:58] It is a debt to God. But he's also teaching us something about the Christian heart. It shows us Christians still sin. Again, let's not miss the obvious here.

[12:11] This is a Christian prayer, isn't it? We are praying as Christians to our Heavenly Father. And so Jesus knows the Christian life, it's going to have sin in it.

[12:23] We aren't perfect this side of heaven. And so the Christian life, it's going to be filled with wrestling with sin. And struggles with sin. And committing sin. And so he knows we need to continually come to God with that burden.

[12:38] And so by praying this, Jesus, yes, he's recognizing sin in the Christian life. But he's also then taking us to the salvation part of the zoo.

[12:50] And he's showing us what humanity's great need is. Our great need is forgiveness. So if debt is the problem, Jesus is teaching us, well, forgiveness is the answer.

[13:05] And so forgiveness, that's what God achieves in salvation. There's a lot he achieves, but that is one of the central things he achieves. And that is why it's so central to our faith.

[13:18] It's here in the Lord's Prayer of all things. It's in the Apostles' Creed, which we're going to say later. What do we confess in the Apostles' Creed? I believe in the forgiveness of sins.

[13:29] It is central to our faith. But I want us to see what forgiveness actually means. Because we use the word a lot. It's central to our faith.

[13:41] We confess it in the Apostles' Creed. But let's actually unpack what that word means. What is forgiveness? And so I've got some verses there for you. I want you to break out.

[13:51] Look at the language of how forgiveness is described in these verses. They're described in different ways. And I want you to ask, when God forgives us, what happens to our sin?

[14:02] And kind of the flip side of the coin, how does God treat us when we are forgiven? It's kind of the same question, but just from different angles. And so look at those verses, break out. And I'll give you two minutes for this.

[14:13] Two minutes. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it.

[14:26] Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go for it.

[14:58] Go for it. Go for it. Go for it. Go away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away away Thank you.

[15:32] Thank you.

[16:02] Thank you.

[16:32] Thank you.

[17:02] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. One more minute. Thank you.

[17:13] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[17:25] Thank you. okay let's bring it back together now so let's see what we have i want you to shout some things out when god forgives us what happens to our sin how does god treat us when we are forgiven uh what are some of the things we saw highlight some of the language yeah forgotten our sin is forgotten god doesn't remember it anymore right now we need to realize what that means okay so god is omniscient right kids should remember that adults definitely god is omniscient he knows all things he can never actually forget anything he knows all things so this doesn't mean he's just suddenly not omniscient anymore what it's trying to say here is that he doesn't remember our sins against us anymore he doesn't kind of call our sins to mind he doesn't you can say you could say like he doesn't whisper them to the angels it is just not brought up front anymore in god's mind he doesn't remind us and he doesn't call it to mind in that sense um yeah it our sins are forgotten that he remembers them remember what else remembers them all right what else covers them right it's kind of the it's a different image now isn't it it's it's as if our sins are like a stain um just this dirty mark uh that is so obvious to see but in forgiveness god covers them it's like they're hidden right so he doesn't see kind of the guilt anymore he doesn't see that that stain anymore our sins are covered right so it's kind of this varying language here we've got kind of memory we've got covering uh what else removes them right yeah uh some 103 right removes them as far as the east is from the west so that they're not on us anymore right um and how far is east from west um infinite right east never east is always the east west is always the west that they can never touch right um he removes them from us right so they're not they're not to us anymore uh how else how else is it described cancelled right so now this is going back to debt language right in forgiveness our debts are wiped out cancelled and that all relates to the cross doesn't it on the cross what was jesus doing he was paying the debt it was all nailed up there cancelled out paid for um uh and so that there is no debt to your name anymore right so if god had a list of everyone's name and everyone's sins next to them and what they owe right in forgiveness it's all just struck out white so next to your name it is just blank well actually it's more than blank next to your name it doesn't actually have sins anymore it has just christ righteousness christ righteousness right

[21:28] forgiveness forgiveness forgiveness forgiveness forgiveness forgiveness forgiveness forgiveness is just wiping it out and justification is actually saying actually you are now righteous not just wiped out but righteous um uh what else let's write that down cancel debt there you go what else gives peace right that's the result of forgiveness it's now peace with god okay so debt debt is a that's something that stands between two parties in a relationship isn't it right if you have a debt with someone if you owe something like you're not right with them right there's a fracture there but in forgiveness we are now reconciled brought back to god loved now as children of god sin's no longer that barrier and we're we're reconciled there's peace now that there's forgiveness anything else how does god treat us when we're forgiven cleanses us right now yeah there's now another image right so cleansing so that's now the back to the the picture of the picture of kind of a stain or dirt but um forgiveness is all washed away god doesn't see that dirt anymore forgiveness is a cleansing and then just notice the language um in romans 4 of he doesn't count count our sin against us do you see that um it's not to our name anymore think of that picture right of our name and the sin against it right he doesn't hold that sin against us anymore it's not to our name he doesn't use it against us he doesn't repay us for it if it's a debt he doesn't force us to pay it or seek revenge for it he doesn't treat us as guilty anymore he doesn't hold your sin against you anymore in forgiveness not held against us and so this is what we mean by having our sins forgiven by god right it is this full picture that there's so much language here because there is so much to it it's such a full picture but i just want us to kind of like tie it all together and just realize when god forgives your sin you can kind of sum it up like this it's like god says to you these five things that are written here for you it's like god says to you i will not think about your sin i will not talk about it to others i will not bring it up and use it against you i will not let it stand between us and hinder our personal relationship but instead i will bless you with the blessing of christ and so if jesus is teaching us the nature of sin he's also teaching us the nature of forgiveness here being forgiven it's not merely just having this feeling inside of us like oh i feel forgiven yes forgiveness it does give us a clear conscience but forgiveness it's more than that forgiveness it's an objective relational fact between you and god forgiveness is when the divine judge doesn't hold our moral debt against us anymore it's cancelled gone never to come back forgiveness is god once and for all just taking away our sin it is not on you but that raises the question if we are forgiven

[25:29] by christ on the cross once and for all why are we asking for forgiveness here well the key to seeing this is to realize that when we pray this we are praying to our father not to our judge and this is the second thing i wanted to see i'll stop there for questions just if you've got any burning questions about what we've just covered just any clarification any questions great let's dive in to the second point so this is this is a key thing to understanding this prayer we are not praying this as people who are not saved or we've lost our forgiveness and we just need to come back to our judge and kind of get the debt cancelled again no we're not coming to god as judge that's all been dealt with on the cross no we are coming to god as father and we are confessing our sin as his children for the sake of having a good relationship with our father so it's a bit like when my daughters so i've got three daughters it's like when they come to me confessing their sin well the two oldest the third's not old enough to do that yet but when the two older ones come to me confessing their sin let's say they've stolen something from me it's like that i want them to come to me and find forgiveness with me and i want that for the sake of our relationship right not because they aren't already loved they are completely loved and it's not because they might stop being my children there's no chance of that no i want them to come to me because they are already my children and because i already love them and i want them to be open with me and i want them to know and experience my love and forgiveness which they already have with me and so they come to me seeking forgiveness not because i might just disown them not because i'm in a state of hatred toward them no because i want i want them to do that so that they are right with me and we can enjoy our relationship together well it's the same with god he wants his children to come to him because like any good father he cares about our sin and he wants us to be open with him so that we can have a good relationship with him in fact though our sin is forgiven 100% forgiven it's all done away with with christ on the cross yet our heavenly father doesn't like our sin and i want to just to see that in the bible i want us to see how the bible talks about the christian sin so just break out into groups just for a minute and just answer this how does god feel about the believer's sin look at these verses and also i've just thought of a question which i haven't written down but i want you to have a think after you've looked at that try and answer the question does this mean god's wrath remains on us does this mean god's wrath remains on us i'll write this down but i'll give you a minute go for it breaking through and i'll give you a minute and i'll give you a minute may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may

[29:49] Thank you.

[30:19] Thank you.

[30:49] Thank you.

[31:19] Thank you. Okay.

[31:30] Let's have a think. How does God feel about the believer's sin? How does he feel about it? It displeases him.

[31:47] Yeah. This is this sobering story of David and Uriah and Bathsheba. Right? So it has this, it tells that all the events in 2 Samuel 11, it goes through the whole story.

[31:59] And at the end, it just ends with this kind of sobering line. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. God's chosen king, the one whom he loves, whom he's justified, the one that he cares for, his father.

[32:16] However, this is how he feels about David's sin. It displeased the Lord. Now, we need to just realise the language there.

[32:28] This isn't, this doesn't say angry. It doesn't say wrathful. It doesn't say condemnation or anything like that. It says displeased.

[32:38] So it's not, this is, if this is how God feels about the believer's sin when we sin, it's not that his wrath is still on us.

[32:49] Because that's all fallen on Christ. Christ has drunk the cup of God's wrath completely. There's nothing left in it. And it's not that we are unredeemed or lose our salvation when God is displeased with us.

[33:00] No. It's that he is not happy with our sin. And because he is our father, he really cares about our sin.

[33:12] He wants a holy people. And so sin, it of course displeases him. My daughter's sin, it displeases me. Of course, I'm not happy with it.

[33:24] Which is why Ephesians 4 says it grieves God. Not that God is kind of, you know, fragile and has all these emotions and gets upset.

[33:35] But this is human language to show that God does not give approval to our sin or just say that it's okay. But also notice in Hebrews, it says God disciplines us in our sin.

[33:51] So out of love, God may do things in our life as loving discipline so that we don't fall into that sin again. And so this is not punishment out of wrath, but this is discipline out of love.

[34:08] It would be not loving if I, I would not be loving if I never disciplined my children if they, when they sin. But actually it's loving to discipline it, which is what the father does for us.

[34:22] And that's why we can still be forgiven, completely forgiven, but also experience the consequences of our sin. So my daughters might confess their sin. I completely forgive them.

[34:33] I love that they've done that, that they've confessed their sin. And I completely forgive them and love them. But they still may lose TV time. I might take that toy away, whatever it may be.

[34:45] Well, we might, let's say, confess our sin of murder to God. Be completely forgiven with God. But we will still have to go to prison. I might confess the sin of gossip to God.

[34:58] Be forgiven. But the consequences of maybe people not trusting me with information anymore, that will still be a reality. But all those consequences are God's loving discipline to keep us from sin because he's our father.

[35:15] Though we are forgiven, every sin paid for, justified, we cannot lose our place as children of God. Yet the Lord is still displeased with our sin.

[35:27] He doesn't like it. And so Jesus says we need to come to him with that sin. Just like our earthly fathers, we need to come and be open.

[35:38] And so we pray to God to forgive us, not because we aren't already forgiven on the cross. No, we aren't coming to God as judge to say, justify us and cancel our death again.

[35:49] No, we are coming to our father, confessing our sin as children and seeking his forgiveness, knowing that we always have forgiveness with him.

[36:01] Knowing that God will always respond to us. You are cleansed. I remember it no more. It is all covered. It is all dealt with. And I love you.

[36:11] I'm your father. You're my child. You're forgiven. And so this prayer is just, it's us keeping a short account with God. So kind of not storing up all our sins, holding it in, but just regularly being open with him.

[36:28] It's communion with God. It's just living life with our God. It's about having a healthy relationship with our father and getting to enjoy that relationship with him.

[36:39] Because actually it's when we store up our sin. That's when it festers, doesn't it? When we have all this unconfessed sin, it builds up, eats away at us.

[36:52] And that's when, in those moments, we don't want to come to God. It's like the more sin we have, the more actually we feel we can't bring it to God. It's kind of too shameful. It's too much to bring.

[37:03] And so we don't want to come to him. We don't want to hear from him. We kind of have second thoughts about going to church maybe that week. And we can't really engage with the sermon.

[37:15] And we don't want to pray to him. And that's all happens when we kind of store it up. But when we confess our sin, just let it go. Give it to God. Bring it to the light.

[37:26] It's just a huge relief, isn't it? That burden is lifted and we just get to enjoy God again. That's why David prays after that incident with Bathsheba.

[37:38] Psalm 51. Have mercy on me, O God. Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Praying this prayer that Jesus is teaching us here, it restores joy in the Christian life.

[37:52] Coming to God saying, Father, I've done this again. I need your mercy. Lord, please forgive my debts. Let me know your forgiveness once more.

[38:03] And it means we're now right with our Father. And we get to enjoy salvation. And Jesus is saying, this is what matters. This is what is essential for the Christian life.

[38:15] Don't be burdened by your sins. Don't let it fester. Don't neglect the joy that you can have, should have. But be right with your Heavenly Father. But finally, he's also teaching us something else essential in the Christian life.

[38:30] Not just forgiveness from God. But our need to forgive others. And it's the final thing I want us to see. Forgiven people forgive. Forgiven people forgive.

[38:41]  I'll stop there just for one minute for questions. Is there any questions just on that second point? Please may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may