Some of you won't, but that's all right. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Now, this is part of the disciples' prayer, and I preached a message a month ago or so. You are what you pray. A believer is defined by this particular prayer. I'm a child of the Father, our Father. I'm a worshiper, hallowed be thy name. I'm a subject of his kingdom, thy kingdom come, that kingdom which is not of this world.

Thy will be done. That's something I really want to be done. I want his will to be done, even if it crosses mine. I want his will to be done. on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. I'm dependent upon him for everything. Are you? If you're a believer, you are.

And then he gives us this part of this prayer, forgive us our debts. As we forgive our debtors, in Luke's account, he tells us to forgive us our sins. For we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us. So that we see from this prayer, the Lord teaches us to pray, that with sin, there is a debt involved, a debt.

Now I face every day my sin and my sins. I think of what John said, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. The truth's not in us. We've lost all credibility. That's talking about my sinful nature. Then in verse 10, he says, if we say we've not sinned, and there that word is a verb, With regard to everything I do, the prayer I just prayed, the sermon I just preached, there is sin involved in every action of mine. And that is ever before me. And David said, my sins are ever before me. My sin nature is always with me and the sins that I commit, they're ever before me.

I wonder how many times I've recited this statement, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And I wonder how many times I've prayed it in all sincerity, inspired by the spirit of God. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. So how is a sin a debt? Because that's what he calls it, a debt. How is sin a debt? Sin is a debt because it's against God.

David said against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Do you remember when the prodigal was returning to his father? He was going to say, father, I've sinned against heaven. That's what he said first. I've sinned against heaven and in thy sight. That's why there are no such things or there is no such thing as a little sin. It's against God. There are no little sins. Paul said, the wages of sin, that's the debt due. He's talking in that language. The wages of sin is death, spiritual death, physical death and eternal death, there is a place called hell.

Now, let's read verse 12 again and then read verses 14 and 15 together. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Four, verse 14, I think it's interesting, this is the only part of the prayer that the Lord commented on. He said, four, if you forgive men their trespasses, Your heavenly father will also forgive you, but if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.

Now, you'll notice they're called trespasses, debts, sins, and we're really not going to understand this if we don't have some understanding of what the Bible says sin really is. So what is sin? According to the scriptures, I know that if we would take interviews with people and say, what do you think sin is? Why, they would have an answer. Here's what I think it is, and here's what I think it is. But what does God's word say sin is? That's what I'm interested in.

Romans chapter five, verse 12, Paul said, by one man, sin entered the world. And death by sin so that death passed upon all men in that all sinned. When Adam sinned, I sinned. When Adam died, I died. And the reason I sin is because I have a sinful Dead in trespasses and sins nature. That's what the scripture says. You have to be quick and you are dead in trespasses. Even when you're alive, God says they're dead in trespasses and sins.

And because of this sinful nature, we don't become a sinner when we sin. We sin because we're a sinner. Now, I hope that is clear with us. We don't. Become a sinner when we sin. We sin because we're already a sinner, by nature dead in trespasses and sins.

Now listen to these scriptural definitions of sin. 1 John 3, 5, sin is the transgression of the law. Any lack of perfect conformity to the 10 commandments is sin before God. Sin's the transgression of the law. Romans chapter three, verse 23 says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. What a definition of sin, coming short of the glory of God is sin. And we read in Romans chapter 14, verse 23, whatsoever is not of faith, is sin.

Whatsoever is not of faith in Christ, looking to him only, I don't care what it is, it is sin. That's what the Bible says. James chapter 2 verse 9, if you have respect of persons, you commit sin. Now what is respect of persons? Treating somebody differently than somebody else because of how you can be advantaged by it. To even have respect of persons in God's sight is sin.

James 4.17, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not. You ever know to do good and don't do it? To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

1 John 5.17 says all unrighteousness. is seen.

Proverbs 24, 9 says the thought of foolishness is seen. Can God condemn me for my thoughts? Yes, he can. And he reads them all. The thought of foolishness is seen. And I love this definition from Proverbs 21, verse 4, a high look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked is seen. Even his plowing, because of that high countenance and proud heart, even his plowing, that which may seem wholesome in and of itself, is sin.

Sin is against God. He's God. We are his creatures. We owe him obedience. We owe him gratefulness. We owe him love. We owe him thankfulness. Sin is a crime against him. Now, remember, we're talking about confessing our sins and asking the Lord to forgive us as we forgive those who are indebted to us. Sin is a debt to God. It's a crime against God. Now, God is judge.

Shall not the judge of the earth do right? Don't you like that? Don't you love that term for him? He's the judge. Judgment and justice are the habitation of his throne. He is the judge. Now, what would you think of a human judge that did not sentence what the law says to sentence against crime? Well, I'm gonna forgive it. Somebody robs a bank, well, I don't think he'll do it again. I'm gonna forgive it, let him back out into society. What's he gonna do? He's gonna rob another bank. Same thing with murder, take any kind of sin.

A just judge hands out the punishment for sin that the law demands. And if he doesn't do that, what is he? A loving judge? A forgiving judge? No, an unjust, wicked judge that we need to get rid of. We do not want a judge, that's a corrupt judge, that just lets sin go unpunished, that lets crime go unpunished. It's bad for us, it's bad for society, is just wrong. Now God is the just judge. And for him to fail to punish sin, but simply forgive it, would make him an unjust judge.

The only way sins can be forgiven is if the debt is first paid. Without the shedding of blood, that's the debt being paid, There is no remission of sin. Now, I think this was illustrated so clearly. After the first sin was committed, our first parents in the garden, they went and hid themselves from God's presence and they tried to cover themselves and cover their sin with their own making, the fig leaves and so on.

And what do you think they felt like? You know, they didn't confess their sin. They didn't ask for forgiveness. They just tried to run from God's presence. That's all they did. There isn't anything good you could say about what Adam and Eve did. But the Lord came to them, and I'd like to think of what they were thinking about when they saw the first blood shedding, and it was God that did it. He slew a lamb. I think it was a lamb. It doesn't say some kind of beast. I'm assuming it was a lamb. And for the first time, they saw that victim.

And that's what he was. He portrayed the coming Son of God whose blood would be shed for his people. But they saw that first blood drop to the ground, and they saw that living creature die. And they knew it was because of their sin. How must they have felt? I think of Cain and Abel. Abel comes into God's presence with blood. He knew it wasn't that blood that would make him accepted before God, but what that blood represented, the blood of the coming Son of God.

Blood had to be shed before sin. could be forgiven. Now why is that? Because sin is an infinite debt. And the only way sin can be put away is by the blood of Christ. Your blood wouldn't put it away. If I died for you, it would do you no good at all. But this is the Christ that died, the Son of God. Blood was shed to make satisfaction for that sin. The only way sin, here's how evil sin is. The only way sin can be put away is by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He had to die for sin to be put away. Turn with me for a moment to Romans chapter 4. This is a quotation from Psalm 32, verse 6. even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man to whom God imputeth righteousness." Well, that works, saying, and here's the direct quotation, blessed, oh, how blessed of God are they whose iniquities are forgiven whose sins are covered, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Now we read of the forgiveness of sin, and here's why those sins are forgiven, they're covered. covered by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and His covering makes them not to be.

They are no more. And because of that, sin is not imputed to them. Why is it not imputed? Because there's no sin to impute. It's been blotted out. It's been taken away. There is no sin to impute to them. Blessed is that man. Why is he forgiven? because the sins are covered. And what does that covering produce? The non-imputation of sin, because there's no sin there to impute to Him. It's washed away. It's gone. There is no sin anymore forgiven because of the covering. Because of that covering, There's no sin to impute.

I stand before God. Every forgiven sinner stands before God. There's nothing to charge me with. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies them. Who is he that can condemn? It's Christ that died, yea, rather, that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God.

Now, turn with me to Isaiah 43. I'd love you. This is such a precious passage of scripture. Verse 25, 25, I, even I, am, look at even and am, they're both in italics supplied there by the translators, but I like it better without it. I, I, like the Lord's even amazed by himself. Even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions. They're erased. They're put away. They're done away. They're gone. I, I, he that blotteth out thy transgressions.

Why? For my own sake. Not because you said I'm sorry. Not because you apologized. Not because of anything you've done. or thought, or are. I do it for my own sake. See, God doesn't need to find a reason in me to forgive me. He does it for his own sake. And if he had to find a reason in me to forgive me, guess what? I would not be forgiven. Behold, I, even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions, iniquities, sin for my own sake. and will not remember thy sins.

You know why I don't remember them? Because there's nothing there to remember. They've been blotted out. They're gone. Nothing there to remember. Somebody brings an accusation against me on judgment day and God said, I don't have any record of it. Nothing there. Didn't happen. Look at these people he's speaking of in verse 22 of Isaiah chapter 45. Here's the description of these people that he forgave.

But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob, but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. Thou hast not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings, Neither has thou honored me with thy sacrifices. I've not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense. Thou has bought me no sweet cane with money. Neither has thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices, but thou has made me to serve with thy sins. Thou has wearied me with thine iniquities.

I, even I am he. that blotteth out, erases, makes not to be thy transgression for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins. I love that passage in Hebrews chapter eight, verse 12, where he says, I'll be propitious to their iniquities and their sins. I will remember no more. You see, the act of propitiation makes them to not be removed, non-existent.

Now, if someone has sinned against us, and everybody here has been done wrong, you've been treated unjustly, you've been treated in a wrong way, we forgive them. We forgive them. By the grace of God, we forgive them. Now remember the Lord's warning, if you don't forgive men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses. We forgive them. But when we forgive them, we're wary of them, they did us wrong. You know, Joseph didn't forget what his brothers did. He said, you did this, and you meant it for evil. He didn't forget about what took place.

We're wary of them, and perhaps, probably, put them on a little bit of probation, wait and see how this works out, see if they do better. Certainly can't trust them. Trust is earned. Isn't that so? Trust is earned. You don't just trust somebody. Trust is earned. But when God forgives, no probationary period. No holding off to see if trust can be earned, because you are perfect in His sight when He forgives you. His non-remembrance of sin is seen in how He treats us all the same.

Now, I don't know about using this illustration, but I'm going to use it. I read this this week about two men, and I'm going to name them. R.C. Sproul. You ever heard of him? He's kind of one of the head reform preachers. And Billy Graham, the Arminian preacher, the free will preacher, R.C. Sproul might be the foremost of the reform guys. And let me say, I don't like that word reform. Reform from what? You know, the truth never needed reform. And whenever we use the word reformed, it's just, it's not good. But he is one of the head honchos of the reformed group. And Billy Graham is the free will Arminian works preacher. Somebody asked Sproul, will we see Billy Graham in heaven? Look what he preaches. Will we see Billy Graham in heaven?

His answer was no, because he'll be so close to the front and we'll be so far back, we'll never see him. Now, I use these men and their names to show the nature of this. What that is saying is people will be treated differently. Good old Billy's gonna be at the front. Me and you're gonna be in the back. We're never gonna see him. And that is making a fleshly distinction and difference, and it's completely denying God's non-remembrance of sin. If I'm in heaven, I'm not gonna be, I hope I feel like I belong in the back, but I'm not gonna be backing somebody up there up front. Everybody's the same in glory. And the parable of the, workers in the vineyard makes that so clear. The fellows that worked an hour were given the same wages as the guys that worked 12 hours. The exact same thing.

You see, there's a true non-remembrance of sin. And I am so thankful for that. Now, the gospel does not end with the forgiveness and non-remembrance of sin. And remember, these two things go together. where you have the forgiveness of sins, you have the non-remembrance of sin, because there's no sin to remember. The sin's been put away before the forgiveness takes place. The gospel does not end with the forgiveness of sins and the non-remembrance of sins.

If you do this, if you do that, if you stop doing that and start doing this, you're gonna have the forgiveness of sins. No! Gospel begins with the complete forgiveness, the complete non-remembrance of sin. That's the starting point. Justification first, forgiveness as a result. Let me show you a passage in Psalm 130, if you turn with me there. Verse two, Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

If thou, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? What if he marked your iniquities, even in your Bible reading, in your prayer? I mean, I'm ashamed to admit this, but I don't know how many times Today, when I was trying to pray, I fell asleep while I was praying. Can you imagine being in the president's presence and just, you know, we're so weak, we're so sinful. If our Lord should mark iniquities, oh Lord, who should stand?

And here, what an iniquity it is for me to, I was praying, I'm letting you all know I'm praying. I mean, there's sin in everything. At least he was trying to pray. There's just sin in everything. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who should stand? But, look at verse three, verse four, but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be, what? Feared.

A man or woman has never had the true fear of God until they've seen how He forgives iniquity. And when we see the gift of His Son in putting away sin, His awesome justice, His holiness, His righteousness, His love, all of His attributes manifest, when we see that by the grace of God, there's the fear, there's the reverence, there's the respect for God. When does a man respect God? when he understands something about forgiveness and not before then.

Back to our text. Verse 12, forgive us our debts. Their debts against God, we're asking for forgiveness, for him to pay the debt, and that's what he did. That's how my sins are forgiven, through him paying the debt. It's not just God sweeping them under the carpet. Him paying the debt, but don't miss this. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And like I said, this is the only part he commented on. Verse 14, If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Question, and I'll just imagine somebody in here is thinking this. Does that mean us being forgiven is conditioned upon us forgiving? I won't be forgiven unless I forgive, and the reason I'll be forgiven is because I forgave. Is that the case? No. A resounding no. You're not forgiven because you forgave somebody else. You're forgiven because Christ died for you. That's why you're forgiven. No other reason. Not because of your magnanimous spirit in forgiving somebody else. We ought to forgive people.

But I'm not forgiven because I forgive. But I know this, if I don't forgive, I prove I've never been forgiven. That's the issue. If I refuse to forgive, I demonstrate that I have never been forgiven. If I fail to forgive, it's proof that I don't understand anything about forgiveness.

Now turn with me to Colossians chapter three. Verse 12. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, humility, meekness, longsuffering for bearing one another. and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do you. Do you have something against somebody, a quarrel against them? Forgive them. Just forgive them the way Christ forgave you. freely, completely, graciously, without forcing a probationary period upon them, forgive them as Christ forgave you. Turn with me to Mark chapter 11. Verse 25. Mark chapter 11, verse 25.

And when you stand praying, forgive. If you have ought against any, or if they haven't apologized, forgive. What if they've not demonstrated proper sorrow? Forgive. Forgive. And when you stand praying, forgive. If you have ought against any, forgive them, that your Father also, which is in heaven, may forgive you your trespasses. We can't think about forgiveness without turning to Matthew chapter 18. Would you turn with me there? This should be a familiar parable to us. Verse 21, then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?

Till seven times. I think that Peter thought that was being magnanimous, to be able to forgive seven times. Somebody do you wrong seven times, you forgive them. I mean, there's gotta be a limit. Is seven the limit? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until 70 times seven. That means unlimited. It doesn't mean that for 491 times it's okay. It means unlimited. As many times as he sins against you, forgive him.

Therefore is the kingdom of heaven, verse 23, likened unto a certain king which should take account of his servants. Now, any time I read the kingdom of heaven is like, it perks my attention. What is the kingdom of heaven like? And when you've begun to take, reckon, One was brought into him that owed him 10,000 talents. Now, this is a ridiculously large amount of money that no one could ever pay. It's up in the billions of dollars.

There's no way this guy could pay this debt off. Now, this has something to do with our sin, doesn't it? We can't pay for our sin. It's far too great. We have nothing to pay. This man's brought forth, he owed Oh, this is my debt, this is your debt, an unpayable debt, 10,000 pounds, billions of dollars. Everybody in this room, if you had to pay billions of dollars back, you couldn't do it. I mean, you couldn't, under no circumstances could you do it. Verse 25, but for as much as he had not to pay, he didn't have a dime, he had nothing. Would that be you?

He had nothing to pay. His Lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and children and all that he had and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshiped him saying, Lord, have patience with me. Now remember, he didn't have anything. Have patience with me and I'll pay it all back. All these billions of dollars, I'll pay it all back.

Now, did the man really believe that he could do this? I don't know. Maybe he did, but I know he couldn't. Maybe he lied to himself to think, well, if I get this and I have this, it'll, it'll, no. He couldn't pay it back. But look what the Lord said, then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. Now, I can see where that Lord would have become angry with the man, you can't pay me this back. You've got yourself into this mess and you tell me you're gonna pay me back, just have patience.

But no, this glorious benefactor, and this is the God of glory, he was moved with compassion. And the reason wasn't found in this man, the reason was found in himself. You see, the reason the Lord forgives is because of himself. This is who he is. He delights in forgiving sin. He loves to forgive sin because he loves what his son did on Calvary's tree. And it's a joy to him to forgive sin. He was moved with compassion and the reason was found in his compassion. Oh, his compassions fail not. The glory of our great God. He was moved with compassion and loosed him. He set him free and forgave him the dead. He was all blotted out. If your sins are forgiven, they're all forgiven. They're gone. They're blotted out. They are not.

Verse 28, the same servant. went out and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him 100 pence. That's not much money. Put at it what you want, $20, $100. If you owe me $100, you could come up with a way to pay it. You could. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants, which owed him 100 pence, and he laid hands on him. and took him by the throat. I mean, you think of the violence of this. I mean, he grabbed him by the throat saying, pay me what thou ow'st. And his fellow servants fell down at his feet beside him saying the same thing this guy did.

Have patience with me, and I'll pay thee all. And he could have done it. And he would not. Now think of what he just experienced. Billions of dollars. Forgiven. Debt free. And this guy comes up that owes him $20 and he grabs him by the throat. Pay me what you owe me. Have patience with me. I'll pay it all. He would not but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt.

So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry. I'd be sorry at that sight too, wouldn't you? And they came and told their Lord all that was done. Then his Lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant. I forgave thee all that dead, because thou desirest me. Should not thou also have had compassion, had mercy on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? What's that passage in James?

He'll have judgment without mercy on him who hath shown no mercy. and mercy rejoices against judgment. And his Lord was wrath and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him. And that is a debt that would never be paid. And he would always be in the hands of his tormentors. And I believe that reference is hell.

That's where this man went. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if from your hearts. That's not just going through the motions. That's not just giving the right answer because you know it's expected of you. This is something done in your heart.

If from your hearts you forgive not everyone his brother, there trespasses. In closing, five reasons to forgive. Number one, if we don't forgive, we'll not be forgiven. Number two, we will be forgiven as we forgive in the manner which we forgive. Number three, we will be happier in forgiving. It may be a selfish motive, but instead of resentment over being done wrong and holding a grudge, in forgiving, that burden disappears. It's not there anymore. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2, beginning in verse 10, to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also.

For if I forgive anything, to whom I forgive it, for your sakes forgive I it in the person of Christ, lest Satan should get the advantage of us. Listen, if I don't forgive, Satan's got hold of me. Could that happen to a believer? Absolutely. And here is the last reason I want to give for forgiveness. Forgiving somebody from our heart freely. is the most God-like thing you or I will ever do on this planet. Now remember, this prayer tells us what a believer is. Forgive us our debts. A believer is a sinner. A believer is a forgiven sinner. and a believer is a forgiving sinner. May the Lord stamp this by his spirit in our hearts. Let's pray.

Lord, how we thank you for the forgiveness of sins, the true, real blotting out of sins, the non-remembrance of sins accomplished by thy son. And Lord, let us see that we've been forgiven a debt we could have never, ever paid. And you found the reason in yourself because of the blood of your son. And Lord, deliver us from being that man who was forgiven, like that man who was forgiven and refused to forgive. Cause us to be forgiving, gracious, merciful people from our hearts. And Lord, only by your grace can we be enabled to do that. But please do this for us and in us. And once again, we thank you and praise you for the complete forgiveness of sins. In Christ's name we pray, amen.