When We Pray... Part 7 "Of Forgiveness" Matthew 6:14-15

 Dec. 24, 2023

From The Series: When We Pray…

Part 7 Of Forgiveness…

Matthew 6:14-15

Mountain View Evangelical Missionary Church

                We are concluding our series entitled “When We Pray…” A series that has centered around what is commonly referred to as the Lord’s Prayer is found in the center of what is known as the Sermon on The Mount located in the Gospel of Matthew. A sermon that Jesus did not need to rehearse before giving, nor would He have been anxious before teaching it, contrary to how it has been shown on a popular television show. Sorry, I just had to make that correction.

                This prayer was not so much the Lord’s Prayer, but rather a prayer taught to us by the Lord Jesus. It is the model for all of our prayers and not necessarily the exact words that we are required to pray each time. It is the template, or recipe for our prayers, not our actual prayers required from us. Not that there is anything wrong with praying this prayer, as long as it does not become something that is done by rote memorization, as long as it is not done in a disconnected manner. Remember what we have been learning, Jesus is concerned with our heart attitude when we do things with God or for God.

                I’m not going to do much of a recap this morning. We are going to dive right into today’s passage and read it so we will know what I am referring to this morning. Let us open our Bibles or turn to our devices and let’s look together at today’s passage. Please turn to Mathew chapter six starting at verse 9.

                If you don’t have your Bible with you today, there should be a Bible underneath one of the seats in the row in front of you. I will refer to that as our Pew Bible and I’ll give you page numbers as needed as we go along. We will be starting on page 787 of the Pew Bible.

                Since we have some guests this morning, I’ll just take a second to explain the bulletin. If you open your bulletin to the center section, you will see the portion that is dedicated to the sermon this morning. On the left page is a list of Scriptures that we have read so far for the Advent readings. You will notice some passages that are in Bold font. Those will be the passages that we will follow along with together in our Bibles. Here at Mountain View, we feel that it is important to have your Bible open in your lap while you are at church. The other passages listed in the bulletin will be passages that will be referenced this morning but were not necessary for us to turn to together. The right page of this section of the bulletin is reserved for your notes if you feel so inclined.

                This morning I am going to once again, read the entire prayer so that we will have context for today’s lesson, and then we will drill down on today’s passage. Please follow along in your Bibles with me.

                Please turn with me to Matthew 6, starting at verse 9 or page 787 of the Pew Bible.

READ MATTHEW 6:9-15

PRAY

                I’d like to open this morning with a quote from John Stott’s book “The Message of the Sermon on The Mount” John Stott was a prolific author as well as Pastor of All Souls Church in London, England for 25 years. One of his bestselling books is Basic Christianity which I highly recommend. In Mister Stott’s book on the Sermon on the Mount, in a paragraph where he is concluding this section that we have been studying for the past several weeks, Mr. Stott writes, “Thus the three petitions which Jesus puts upon our lips (in this prayer) are beautifully comprehensive. They cover, in principle, all our human needs: the material (daily bread), the spiritual (forgiveness of sins), and the moral (deliverance from evil). What we are doing whenever we pray this prayer is to express our dependence upon God in every area of our human life.”

                Let me repeat that last bit. “What we are doing whenever we pray this prayer is to express our dependence upon God in every area of our human life.”

                Continuing with Stott, “Moreover, a trinitarian Christian is bound to see in these three petitions a veiled allusion to the Trinity, since it is through the Father’s creation and providence that we receive our daily bread, through the Son’s atoning death that we are forgiven and through the Spirit’s indwelling power that we are rescued from the evil one.”

                Let me repeat that, “a trinitarian Christian is bound to see in these three petitions a veiled allusion to the Trinity since it is through the Father’s creation and providence that we receive our daily bread, through the Son’s atoning death that we are forgiven and through the Spirit’s indwelling power that we are rescued from the evil one.”

                Having read that in Mr. Stott’s book, now I don’t think the allusion to the Trinity is so veiled. Now…, at least for me, it seems obvious that the Trinity can be seen in this prayer. When we are observant, we can see references to the Trinity scattered throughout the Bible. This really shouldn’t be that surprising, as the members of the Godhead are not only inseparable, but they are also perfectly united in all that they do. Wherever we see the Father at work, we will also find the Son and the Spirit. Where Jesus is at work, we will find the Father and the Spirit working also. And finally, when we acknowledge the work and the indwelling of the Spirit in our lives as Believers, we will also find the presence of the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Or, we had best find evidence of them in our lives.

                The passage that we are going to study at length this morning teaches the importance of finding evidence of the work of God in our lives.

                Turn with me back to Matthew chapter 6 and let’s read today’s passage again. Matthew 6, verses 14 and 15, or page 787 in the Pew Bibles.

READ MATTHEW 6:14-15

                Two weeks ago, we looked at debt and forgiveness sought by us, from the Father, in this prayer. We examined the concept that the Old Testament taught when the first man and the first woman disobeyed God in the Garden when they sinned against God, a debt was incurred on behalf of all mankind.

                I know this concept of original sin is not popular in some circles. People think that the idea that they are saddled with a debt or a problem that was incurred by someone else, is unfair. How could a good God do such a thing to me? I’m a good person, I don’t deserve this treatment from a loving God!

                Before we go too much further, maybe we need to back up a couple of steps and examine our thinking. Let me ask you this question, “Do you hold a biblical view of God?”

                What do I mean by a “biblical view of God?” What I mean is, when you think of God in your mind, what do you see? When you think of Jesus, is this the image you see? Do you think of the talented actor Jonathan Roumie from the TV series, The Chosen?  

                Do you see Jesus as just this soft-spoken, kind-hearted, shepherd-looking, sandal-wearing type of guy who is all love and seems to be a bit of a push-over? Is this your Jesus? I think that this is at the root of why so many men have difficulty in establishing a relationship with Jesus. To be honest, I think some guys think that Jesus is weak and should not be respected. They see Jesus as lacking any of the skills or attributes that they desire in a leader. Hollywood and some denominations present Jesus as this quiet, kind soul, gentle as the day is long, and wouldn’t hurt a fly. A combination of Mr. Rogers and Buddha.

                Along the same lines is this image from the movie “The Passion of the Christ”. This image is very reflective of every crucifix statue found in every Roman Catholic church in the world. Miniatures of these are found on millions of necklaces worn around the world. Every set of rosary beads has a mini version of this on it. While it is important to remember what Jesus did for us on the Roman Cross nearly 2,000 years ago, this image once again portrays Jesus as a victim, not as the victor.

                Some people will subconsciously think of Jesus as being defeated by the Romans. Hung on a tree, like a common criminal. Actually, He was hung between two criminals on that final day. He was mocked by guards and passers-by as He hung there. Even one of the criminals mocked Jesus as the thief shared the same outcome as our Lord.

                Something to remember here: it is true that Jesus endured terrible pain while He was beaten, flogged, and nailed to a tree on our behalf. The greatest of His suffering, however, came during the three hours while he was separated from the Father while the Father’s wrath was poured out on Jesus for our benefit. This is what He did for us, it is not where He is now or what He is currently doing for us now. Jesus is no longer on the Cross. He was buried in a borrowed tomb and three days later, He raised Himself from the dead and appeared to over 500 witnesses. Then He ascended into Heaven.

                Jesus is currently sitting at the right hand of the Father, awaiting the designated time to return to Earth and establish His reign on the earth. A time that the Father has predetermined.

                Maybe, if you are a little older, maybe the image that you have when you think of Jesus of Nazareth is from a painting known as the “Head of Christ” which was painted in 1940 by Warner Sallman. A blue-eyed, blonde-haired image of Jesus that is devoid of any of Jesus’ actual Middle Eastern roots or ethnicity. An image that was calculated to have the most commercial appeal to Western markets possible. Through Sallman’s partnerships with two Christian publishing companies, one Protestant and one Catholic, the Head of Christ came to be included on everything from prayer cards to stained glass, faux oil paintings, calendars, hymnals, and even night lights. This image is hung in churches around the world.

            The problem with these images is that none of them are correct. I was going to include them in the PowerPoint this morning, but that would have made me a hypocrite. I would have been showing you the very images that I am criticizing others for showing. The problem with these images is that they are cultural images of Jesus. The danger lies in the fact that when someone mentions Jesus, these images may come to mind. Cultural images or cultural interpretation of who Jesus is, interferes with our biblical understanding of who Jesus is.

             Voddie Baucham has some interesting teachings on this idea of images of Christ. Voddie teaches that any image of Jesus violates the second commandment as found in Exodus 20:4 which reads, “⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”

            I have to admit that at first, I didn’t see eye to eye with Voddie on this. At first, I thought that this verse simply referred to a forbidding of creating idols of created things, like the Golden calf. But a careful reading of the passage reveals that it refers to “anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” Anything in heaven is forbidden: angels, the Father, Jesus, and/or the Spirit are all forbidden.

            We have to be aware and be wary of anything that interferes with our biblical understanding of who Jesus is. Why is that important? Well, an incorrect view of who Jesus is and what He accomplished for us on the cross, will lead to barriers between us and the Lord, and even false doctrines will pop up or false teachers will lead us astray.

            When I think of the attributes of God, I think of a diamond and the many facets that are found on the surface of a cut and polished diamond. The purpose of the facets is to catch the light and reflect the light back to the person looking at the diamond. Each slight change of direction allows a new facet to catch the light and reflect the diamond's brilliance back to us.

            Keeping the illustration of the diamond in mind, if we concentrate on only one facet of Jesus’ attributes, (let’s say love) then we run the risk of missing all the other brilliant aspects of God’s character. If we think of Jesus as only Love, then we ignore the strength that Jesus showed after His prayer in the Garden at Gethsemane and how He still obeyed the Father and went to the cross. If we concentrate only on love, then we miss the humility that Jesus showed in taking on human form and adding it to His already complete form as Creator of the Universe.

            If we concentrate only on love, then we miss the justice required in His actions so that Jesus could be the penal substitution on our behalf. If we concentrate only on love, then we miss His Holiness that allows Jesus to be the spotless lamb that takes away the sins of the elect. If we concentrate only on love, then we miss the image in Revelation 20 of the returning conqueror on His white horse, a symbol of war, and the ultimate defeat of Satan and death.

            If we concentrate only on love, then we miss the attribute of Jesus as Creator and sustainer. Colossians 1:16-17 tells us, “¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

            So, what the heck does all this have to do with me, or with Christmas, or even with today’s passage? I’m glad you asked.

            If we have an incorrect view of the Father and Jesus Christ, we will miss the significance of the two most important events in human history. If we do not understand that Jesus is God who has existed since before time began, then we will miss the significance of His birth. If we forget that Jesus is God and when He came to Earth and he chose to be born to a virgin and to take on human form, that did not make Him any less God.

            Jesus was fully God and fully human while He walked the Earth. He still is fully God and fully human even now, the only difference is that now He inhabits His glorified resurrected body that we, as believers, will all enjoy one day. Jesus no longer needs to cloak His Glory. It is on display for all to see, and we will see it at His return. How this exactly works I cannot explain to you, but let me share a concept that might help you grasp this concept.

            The word antinomy may be helpful in understanding this concept, while not explaining the mystery. The human mind, because it is made in the image of the Creator, can hold complex ideas while still not fully understanding them. For example: Jesus is fully God, while also being fully human. Jesus is not 100% God plus 100% human. Jesus is not 200% of anything. Jesus is, however, fully God and fully human at the same time. He cannot be less than fully God for therefore He would be lacking in His divinity. At the same time Jesus cannot be less than fully human or else He would not be the acceptable sacrifice that we need Him to be to satisfy the Father. So, we say that He is “fully God and fully human”.

            Here is another antinomy:  If we do not understand that Jesus is God who has existed since before time began, then we will miss the significance of His birth. How can a God who has existed before time began, have a birth? He has a birth because He took on human form and stepped down into His creation for us. He lived a life where He was tempted and lived through the trials that we face, work, hunger, thirst, and tiredness, all perfectly and without sin so that He could be the suitable and acceptable sacrifice on our behalf.

            I keep using the term “sacrifice” and you may not be familiar with it. What I mean by that, is what the Bible teaches us. When God created the heavens and the Earth, He created a perfect place. In the perfect place, He first created a man from the dust of the ground and literally breathed life into his nostrils. Then God saw that it was not good for man to be alone, and so God created a helpmate for the man from the man’s own flesh.

            God walked in the garden daily with the man and the woman in the cool of the day. All that God asked the man and the woman was to not eat of the tree in the center of the garden. But a creature was also in the garden and the creature deceived the woman into eating the forbidden fruit. The woman shared the fruit with the man who also ate the fruit.

            After they had eaten, the man and the woman became aware of their sin and tried to cover their shame with leaves from a plant. God found them trying to hide from Him and God demonstrated that sin against Him is so severe that blood must be shed to understand the severity of the sin. The man and woman were then clothed in the skins of sacrificed animals and they were expelled from that perfect place.

            A curse was also placed upon them, a curse so severe that it would be passed on to their generations through the seed of the man, for He failed in his duties, for he was given dominion over all the earth.

            The Bible tells us that through the years, God chose a people and God gave them the Law as a means of how they should live their lives. He raised leaders and prophets to speak to His people on His behalf. Warnings and curses and blessings would come from these prophets over the years, as God’s people carried out a cycle of obeying, then ignoring, then disobeying God’s commands until punishment was inflicted on the people to drive them back to their Father and they would receive the blessings, only to repeat the cycle all over again.

            This went on for a few thousand years until finally a time came when God went silent for four hundred years and He refused to speak to His disobedient people. Then a supernatural event occurred. A miracle, a Christmas miracle if you will. A member of the Godhead, in perfect obedience to the Father, chooses to carry out the plan that was laid before the foundation of the world was laid. The Son chose obedience, He was conceived through the work of the Holy Spirit and took on human form, born of a virgin, so that the seed of the sin from the original man, could not be passed on to Him who was perfect.

            The Son lived a life and chose 12 dedicated men to train and follow Him and to teach them the next stage in God’s plan. A plan that no longer required the blood of animals to demonstrate the seriousness of their sins. A plan that no longer required a priest to act as the go-between from God to His children. A plan that included a once-for-all sacrifice that would pave the way back for fallen, sinful humankind to once again be in a relationship with the Father, almost as good as in the beginning.

            As part of the plan, one of the twelve would betray the Son. He would be arrested, given an unjust trial, convicted and condemned even though He had committed no crime. The Son would be beaten and scourged and hung on a cross between two thieves. While the Son was on the cross, He would forgive one of the thieves and welcome Him that day in paradise.  From noon until three in the afternoon, the wrath of God would be poured out on Him and He would be separated from the Father.

                Then, as it is explained in John 10:17-18, “¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

            With those acts, Jesus secured forgiveness from the Father on our behalf. We have received the vertical forgiveness that we cannot earn, and we certainly don’t deserve, yet it was secured for us by the sacrifice of the Son as a gift. A gift that we call Grace. The Holy Spirit will work in your life just as He did in the life of Mary, only the Spirit will replace your heart of stone with a heart of flesh so that you will stop your rebellion against God. When you repent of your ways, when you turn from your sins, and turn towards Jesus, you will then become the adopted children of the Father and will have an equal share of His inheritance.

            Friends, if you have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour, if you have been offered the gift of Grace if the Spirit has shown you the error of your ways, I urge you to pray and accept Jesus today. It truly is the most magnificent Christmas gift that you could ever have. If you have questions, please come see me after the service, or reach out and call or email me. My contact details are on the back of the bulletin.

            So that is the vertical forgiveness that is available to us- Grace.

            All that was just the introduction to today’s message, so let’s finally get to the passage for today.

            As a reminder, let me read the passage back to you. “¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

            So what is Jesus saying here exactly. I just finished telling you that you can do nothing to earn this gift of Grace, then why is Jesus saying “If I do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins”? Did Jesus die for my sins or not? Did Jesus “pay it all” like the hymn tells us? Or, must I do something to earn this gift after all? Must I forgive everyone that ever wronged me before God the Father will forgive me?

            This must be one of those errors or contradictions in the Bible that my unbelieving friends are always telling me about. I knew I couldn’t trust the Bible or anything that those preachers said. If that’s what you’re thinking, just hold up buttercup.

            Let’s back up together and review what I’ve been saying this morning. I started with the requirement that we have a biblical view of God. A view that the Bible tells us, not one from art, or culture, or friends, (especially unbelieving friends), nor do we want to accept a view that TV or Hollywood presents to. What is the biblical view of God?

            Well, I tried to explain that to you in the Gospel presentation that I just gave. I explained God’s plan for bringing us back to Him. This is another important starting point in our understanding of what the Bible teaches. We must ask ourselves if the way we view and read the Bible is from a man-centered point-of-view, or a God-centered point of view. Do we impose our opinions and points of view onto Scripture, or do we allow Scripture to speak to us and adjust our thoughts and will to God’s point of view and allow Him to teach us what He desires?

            Do we think we run the show, or do we allow the Creator to teach us how things are? Let’s turn to a book in the Old Testament that will help clarify this point. We are running out of time here, so we won’t have time to read the entire chapter. Turn with me to the Book of Daniel and chapter 4 of that book. This will be on page 723 of the Pew Bible. Your homework for this week is to go home and read the entire chapter four of the Book of Daniel and meditate on what God is saying here.

            You guys jump down to verse 34 and wait for me while I paraphrase the first part of the chapter. Daniel was a Jewish prophet that had been captured by the Babylonians and the King of the Babylonians received a vision in a dream and no one could properly interpret the vision for the King.

            Daniel is finally brought to the King and tells the King what the dream/vision means. Nebuchadnezzar had disrespected God the Father and would be punished for seven years. The King would be humbled and live like a wild animal until he was finally brought to a point of obedience and recognition of who God truly was and who actually was in control of all things.

            Turn with me to verse 34 as we read what Nebuchadnezzar says after he has had his senses restored to him.

READ DANIEL 4:34-35

            How does that sit with you? Here is what these verses will reveal to you. If you think, “What do you mean, ‘All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing’?” If that insults you or rubs you the wrong way, that reveals you have a man-centered view of God. If you try and explain that verse away as saying something else, or only applying to Nebuchadnezzar and not to you, or just for the Babylonians, but not for us today, then you have a man-centered view of God.

            Now, if you have a God-centered view of Scripture, you will accept this as fact, as truth, and you will see it as being consistent with other passages where God is described as the Potter and we are the clay.

            With a God-centered view of Scripture, we will understand Matthew 6: 14 and 15 as telling us that if we are His adopted children, then we have already received the gift of Grace, which we cannot earn, so therefore these verses are telling us that our forgiveness of others is proof of our being saved and a child of the Father.

            We will have a complete understanding and appreciation for what Jesus has done for us, not because we are so smart, but because the Holy Spirit will have revealed this to us. We will forgive others around us, because we have been forgiven by the Father. Because Christ paid the price for our sin-debt, we must also forgive those who sin against us.

            We must forgive all the sins, not just the big ones. The Father desires unity among His people, and we will be exploring this in-depth in the New Year as we work our way through the Book of Nehemiah. This horizontal forgiveness is the application for this passage today.

            Verse 14 again says, “¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Why will He forgive us? Because of our actions, we earned His forgiveness? No, because of our actions, we prove that we are His and we are forgiven. Because of our actions, we show we are already one of His adopted children, and thus, we are forgiven.

            We can forgive, because He so fills us with His love, that we cannot help but pour out that love on others. If you are unable to forgive, perhaps it is because you are trying to accomplish these things without the help of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps, you need to approach the Father with the humility of Nebuchadnezzar and acknowledge that you need the Father’s help in resolving this issue. Ask Him to help you to see the other person with His eyes. Ask Him to help you to love them enough with His love to forgive them.

CONCLUSION

                If you found this message interesting and would like to learn more about prayer, or if you missed any of the sermons in this series, you can find them on our website: mvemc.com/messages-2023/ or you will find written transcripts of these sermons on my blog “OhThoseBereans.blogspot.com”. There is also a link on the church’s website to the blog. Check page 6 of the bulletin for more details.

                We forgive because we are already forgiven.

Today’s doxology comes from 1 Chronicles 29:11-13, “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honour come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name.”
Have a blessed Christmas and may the Lord extend travel mercies to you in the coming week.