Daily Bread Daily Forgiveness Matthew 6:11-14

11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

We are Dependant on God for His Gifts.

We are Dependant on God for His Grace.

Andrew Bonar: "God likes to see His people shut up to this: That there is no hope but in prayer."

The Lord's Prayer reminds us of how dependant we are to be upon God for even the most basic needs of "daily bread."  "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11)

We depend upon God for everything, of course

It brings us back to a right dependence upon God.

George Mueller ran an orphanage in England during the 1880's for thousands upon thousands of children. He knew all about asking for bread, and he saw God provide time after time in astonishing ways. I treasure the poem he crafted in response to God's faithfulness (as recorded in his biography by A. T. Pierson):     I believe God answers prayer, Answers always, everywhere; I may cast my anxious care, Burdens I could never bear, On the God who heareth prayer. Never need my soul despair

Since He bids me boldly dare To the secret place repair,    There to prove He answers prayer.

 "Give us this day our daily bread"—serves as a clear and unmistakable reminder that we are merely creatures; God is the creator. We are needy; God is the provider. Our lives are frail, fragile, and wholly dependent on the goodness of God.  The petition "give us this day our daily bread" reminds us of our dependence on God for even the most fundamental needs of life.  Mohler

Prov 30:7 Two things I asked of You, Do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, 9 That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God.
"Give us this day our daily bread." "For what we are about to receive the Lord make us truly grateful." I learnt that prayer at my grandmothers house. She wasn't a good cook!   "Thank you for the food we eat. Thank you for the birds that sing, Thank you God for everything Amen."   "As the sugar dissolves in the tea, so may we be lost in Thee"   "God is great, God is good and so we thank Him for our food Amen!"     No Scratching of the eyebrows for us in Mcdonalds! "Every good gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights." James 1:17.  Peace is the gift of God. "He makes peace in your borders." Psalm 147:14. Health is the gift of God. "I will restore health unto you." Jer 30:17. Rain is the gift of God. "Who gives rain upon the earth." Job 5:10. All comes from God; he makes the grain to grow, and the herbs to flourish.

Is everything a gift from God? Then we are to seek every mercy from God by prayer. "Give us this day."  If everything is a gift, we do not deserve it.   Grace is a good way for us to reflect that everything we have is a gift from God and we must be grateful. 

God is Gracious: If all be a gift, then it is not a debt.  God doesn't owe us. We owe Him.  Whatever we receive from God is a gift; we can give nothing to him but what he has given to us. "All things come of you, and of your own have we given you." 1 Chron 29:14. David and his people offered to the building of God's house gold and silver—but they offered nothing but what God had given them. "Of your own have we given you." If we love God, it is he who has given us a heart to love him; if we praise him, he both gives us the organ of tongue, and puts it in tune.  For some of us.   "We offer, O Lord, of your own to you."

God is Good.  If all is a gift—then take notice of God's goodness. There is nothing in us that can deserve God's kindness; yet such is the sweetness of His nature, that he gives us rich provision, and feeds us well.

 He is never weary of giving. The springs of his mercy are ever running. He not only dispensed blessings in former ages—but he gives gifts to us. The honeycomb of God's bounty is still dropping.

He delights in giving. "He delights in mercy." Mic 7:18. As the mother delights to give the child the breast, God loves that we should have the breast of mercy in our mouth.

The Lord's Prayer reveals our hearts.  It reveals whether we are truly dependent upon God for the basic resources of life, or proud of ourselves of what we can gather for the basic things of life.

Have you ever considered how fragile we really are?

Two of my close friends this week have had the biggest operations possible for pancreatic cancer.  As a friend said, four surgeons pulled out all their insides and attached back only a little piece of pancreas, and took bits of most organs.  How fragile we are!

We are Dependant on God for His Gifts.

We are Dependant on God for His Grace.

Forgive Us Our Debts

If the petition "give us this day our daily bread" emphasizes our most urgent physical needs, the petition "forgive us our debts" emphasizes our most urgent spiritual need.

We are used to the Lord's prayer from the Anglican prayer book.   There is no dispute that what you have in your Bible's is a correct translation of the greek.

But when Tyndale does the first English translation in 1525 we have:

And forgeve vs oure treaspases eve as we forgeve oure trespacers. (Matt 6:12)

And forgeve vs oure synnes: For eve we forgeve every man yt treaspaseth vs. (Luk 11:4)

And The first Book of Common Prayer of Edward VI, 1549, by Cranmer, is based on Tyndale:

"And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. " 

It is sort of a summary to say trespasses.  Trespasses means sins.  Debts means what we owe to God because of our sins.  Debts goes that little bit further and it also makes more plain the way that our sins are dealt with.  As a debt, it can only be fixed by someone else paying the debt.

Sure if someone owes you money you can wipe off the debt. But in the end, the person wiping off the debt is the one who is paying for it.

Someone has to pay for it. Usually the person who wipes off the debt.

Being dependent upon God for our daily needs, means being dependent upon God for our spiritual needs too.  It means the first place we look is to the Lord in dependence, for forgiveness.

Debt = τὰ ὀφειλήματα ἡμῶν,         Forgive = ἄφες    to send away.

Psalm 103: 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Leviticus 16: 8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.9 And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD'S lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.10 But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.

Lev 16  ESV 7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting.8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel.9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering,10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

And forgive us our debts,.... Nothing is more frequent in the Jewish writings than to call sins חובי, "debts"; and the phrase, of forgiving, is used both of God and men.

So as we ask for daily bread, we also ask for daily forgiveness for our sins, which is what the word "debt" means. We were faced with an insurmountable debt because of our rebellion against the infinite God, but that entire debt has been wiped out because of the gracious work of Christ. In justification the Lord Jesus washed (past tense) all our sins away. Now, in sanctification, he washes (present tense) daily our sins away. The choice of this word reflects the fact that all sins place us in debt to God. In a more extended treatment and parable on this same concept in 18:21-35, Jesus used the idea of debt to teach about sin and forgiveness.

Saying we owe a debt to God means that we have failed to give him the obedience he is rightly due. We owe God our obedience, and we have failed to pay up. Thus, as sinners, we stand before God condemned, rightly deserving his just wrath. Only God's forgiveness can clear our guilt and establish a meaningful relationship between God and us. Mohler  

And only God being gracious gives us that forgiveness.

J. I. Packer The Lord's Prayer is the family prayer, in which God's adopted children address their Father, and though their daily failures do not overthrow their justification, things will not be right between them and their Father till they have said, "Sorry" and asked him to overlook the ways they have let him down. (Praying, 79)

Grace means God forgives us freely.

The freeness of Christ's death at the cross for you is your only hope of forgiveness.

Grace means God forgives us fully. The fullness of Christ's death at the cross for you is your only hope of forgiveness. He forgives all our sins. "Who forgives all your iniquities." Psalm 103:3. Hypocrites pass by some offences—but retain others. Would we have God so deal with us as to remit only some trespasses, and call us to account for the rest?

ESV 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity,

Grace means God forgives us finally.

The finality of Christ's death at the cross for you is your only hope of forgiveness.

12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Grace means God forgives us frequently.

13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

God forgives OFTEN. God multiplies pardon. Isaiah 55:7. Peter asks the question, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:21, 22.

Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

This is the only petition that seems to have a condition prerequisite to its fulfillment and two full verses of explanation following (6:14-15). The context is the relationship of a child to a father. This is "family forgiveness," not forensic or judicial forgiveness. Jesus is not saying that our forgiving is a necessary means to earning God's forgiveness. The Bible makes it clear that there is nothing we can do to merit God's judicial forgiveness, but that it is given freely (e.g., Rom. 5:6-8; Eph. 2:8-9).

One does not gain forgiveness by forgiving. But a person evidences his or her own forgiveness by forgiving others. Since this is family forgiveness, our sense of forgiveness is denied us when we deny forgiveness to others. As God's children, we are commanded to be forgiving. When we fail to forgive, we reap the consequences of spiritual and moral defeat.

To forgive is one of the highest evidences of grace.

 

Resentment DOESN'T WORK "Resentment kills a fool . . ."Job 5:2 "Another man dies in bitterness of soul . . ." Job 21:25a Resentment only hurts the person holding it. Like Curly of the Three Stooges strapping a stick of dynamite on his chest and saying "The next time Mo hits me, he's going to blow his hand off!" It's not so much what you eat, as what's eating you that determines your health. "It is his glory to pass over a transgression." Proverbs 19:11. It is more honor to bury an injury, than to revenge it. Anger and revenge denote weakness; a noble heroic spirit overlooks a petty offence. A gracious heart returns the unkindnesses of others with the sweet influences of love and mercifulness. "They repay me with evil for the good I do. Yet when they were ill, I grieved for them. I even fasted and prayed for them." Psalm 35:12, 13.

The STEPS Of Forgiveness
1. RECOGNIZE we're all IMPERFECT "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins." Ecc. 7:20
2. RELINQUISH my right TO GET EVEN "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath . . ." Rom. 12:19a

Pass by petty injuries and discourtesies, and labor to be of forgiving spirits. "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Col 3:13.
3. RESPOND to evil WITH GOOD "Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you." Lk. 6:27,28 "Love keeps no record of wrongs." 1 Cor. 13:5

Forgiving and requiting good for evil is the best way to conquer and melt the heart of an enemy. When Saul had pursued David with malice and hunted him as a partridge upon the mountains, David would not do him harm when it was in his power. David's kindness melted Saul's heart. "Saul lifted up his voice and wept, and said--You are a better man than I am, for you have repaid me good for evil." 1 Sam 24:16, 17. Such forgiving is heaping coals which melt the enemy's heart. Romans 12:20. It is the most noble victory to overcome an enemy without striking a blow, to conquer him with love. When Philip of Macedon was told that one Nicanor openly railed against him, instead of putting him to death, he sent him a rich present, which so overcame the man, and made his heart relent, that he went up and down to recant what he had said against the king, and highly extolled the king's mercy.

1Peter 2:20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
4. REFOCUS on God's PLAN FOR MY LIFE "Devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him." Job 11:13 If you have someone to forgive . . . DO IT NOW!

We resemble God. He is ready to forgive. Psalm 86:5. He befriends his enemies; he opens his hands to relieve those who open their mouths against him.

Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times." (Matt. 18:21–22)

Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, "I repent," you must forgive him. (Luke 17:3–4)

"He shall have judgment without mercy--who has showed no mercy." James 2:13..

Watson It is not a cause of God's forgiving us—but a sign. We need not climb up into heaven to see whether our sins are forgiven. Let us look into our hearts, and see if we can forgive others. If we can, we need not doubt but God has forgiven us. Our loving others, is the reflection of God's love to us. Oh, therefore, by all these arguments, let us be persuaded to forgive others. Christians, how many offences has God passed by in us! Our sins are innumerable and heinous. Is God willing to forgive us so many offences--and cannot we forgive a few? No man can do so much wrong to us all our life--as we do to God in one day!

FORGIVING AND FORGETTING LIKE CHRIST

1 Corinthians 13:5 "Love keeps no record of wrongs".

THE DANGERS OF KEEPING A RECORD OF WRONGS

Resentment must not be given an opportunity to set in.   Hebrews 12:14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;