The Lord's Prayer – Penuel Baptist Chapel, Roch

“Give us day by day our daily bread.” (Luke 11:3).

To watch this service, please click on the link to our YouTube channel:
https://youtu.be/1SIXK2a3rU4?si=jwivMjTmWCuCTcig

This verse comes from the prayer that the Lord have us. It is a prayer from an eternity of fellowship within the God-head.

Each word in this prayer has been chosen specifically and derives from God Himself who delivers it to us. The timing of these words is also significant. It comes after acknowledging that God is Father and in recognising where He is (heaven), and it also comes after the declaration that His will is paramount (Luke 11:2). Only after these important things do we get this attention to our daily needs.

As a first lesson then, always put God first. When you come to prayer, give attention to the worship of God and remember who He is and what He has done before making any supplications. Joy in the Christian life only comes when we know Him truly through saving faith. The knowledge of God (truly) necessarily leads to the worship of God, for to know Him is to love Him. We worship God for whom He is and not just for what He gives us. To live truly, is to live for God. Job declared: “I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). When we are absorbed with love for God, food no longer has prime place. When the Lord Jesus was urged to take something to eat by the disciples after He had spoken to the woman of Samaria at the well, He declared: “I have food to eat of which you do not know,” and then when the disciples were puzzled about this, Jesus went on and said: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:32-34). When a young man falls in love with a girl he can barely eat! So, Christians can only be happy if God is first in their lives.

Bread. The small things of life.

The Greek word for bread actually means the basic essentials of life, not just bread. In some cultures that do not use bread as a basic staple in their diet they may well have some other word suggested in this text. The point is that the request is for the basic essentials of life. We are speaking of ‘needs’ here and not ‘luxuries.’ Now this reminds us instantly of how God works. He blesses us through the small things in life. Take for example the wonderful miracle of gathering in the manna as recorded in Exodus 16:14f. The Israelites were told to gather this manna that settled on the ground each day for their needs. They were explicitly told not to gather a surplus and hoard this for the next day because it would go rotten (Exodus 16:16,19). But some ignored the instruction and out of greed gathered more than they needed.

Consider also the story of the widow who had a small jar of oil left in the house as recorded in 2 Kings 4:2f. Elisha the prophet told her to gather lots of vessels and to pour the oil from the jar into the vessels. The Lord blessed this widow from a small jar of oil. Out of the lord’s provision she was enabled to pay off her debts and have what she needed. Or think also of Gideon who had 32,000 men in his army but faced 135,000 men in the opposing force (Gideon 7). Gideon thought ‘we cannot do this,’ ‘we are outnumbered.’ What did the Lord do? He made Gideon whittle down his army to just 300 men!

And then consider the fact that in Bethlehem long ago there was a weak baby boy lying helpless and in need in a manger, utterly reliant upon his teenage mother. How could this work out? And yet this baby boy was none other than Immanuel, God with us, and He broke the curse of sin though His sacrificial death at Calvary.

Bread. Our daily need.

God loves to bless people in the small things. We think we need all sorts of things in life but what we really need is this baby boy and this mighty Saviour whom to the world looks weak and impotent as He lay dying on the cross, but to us He is life! Now the Lord loves to bless not only in the small things but also even in the impossible things too. In Luke 16:10 we hear from the Saviour: “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16:10). If we had an abundance, we could easily be led astray by our own greed and sin. Those who seek riches are those who “fall into temptation and a snare,” because “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” and some who have gone this way have “strayed from the faith in their greediness,” (1Timothy 6:9,10). A covetous or greedy man has no inheritance in the kingdom of God (Ephesians 5:5). James points out that Christians sometimes “ask amiss” in their seeking for pleasure and the things of this world (James 4:3,4). Thankfully, the Lord mercifully withholds some things we seek for. So, we should ask for our needs and avoid greed. Our joy does not come from what we have, although He is a wonderful giver, but it comes from knowing Him.

We ask for our daily bread but know too that the Lord loves to give! We have abundant testimony to this in Scripture. For example, the Psalmist exhorts us to delight in the Lord:

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4,5).

When we delight in the Lord we find that he will also give us the desires of His heart because our hearts will be in tune with His. James also speaks to us of the goodness of God in giving wisdom:

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:16,17).

How easily we can be deceived by the world’s trinkets! The Lord delights to give wisdom to the lowly and humble, to such as have true faith (Proverbs 2:6,7). What an incredible God who demonstrates His love to us in the giving of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Romans 5:8; Colossians 2:3). If we are overrun with difficulties God gives grace (Ephesians 2:8). If we face times of conflict or anger against us, God gives peace (John 14:27). In those times when we have had enough and want to run away He gives us a new start, a new beginning, a new creation (2Corinthians 5:17). When we are weak, alone, and without strength, He gives us His strength (Philippians 4:13). When we are lost and without hope, the Lord gives us hope (Romans 15:13).

Bread. Communion in fellowship.

To end our message note that the statement we are looking at is: “give us ..” not “give me ..” We are commanded to walk and live in a community with other brothers and sisters in the faith. Our plea for daily bread is a corporate one. As the body of Christ we seek the Lord for all our daily needs, and we do this together in fellowship with one another. Christ, in His infinite wisdom, calls us to make requests in community. The Lord Jesus is not a vending machine. We are not simply to ask and receive blessings and then go off on our own way. We are a family. The world will come to know that we are Christ’s disciples if we truly love one another (John 13:35). Our gathering together draws our focus upon the Lord and not upon our own self-indulgences. We seek what he wants and desires and not what we want.

To watch the morning service, please click on the link to our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/QcBDGAezUBE

Text reading: Psalm 51

Text focus: Matthew 6:12: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

The topic for today’s messages is “forgiveness.” This morning we shall look at the first part of Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts …” and this afternoon the second part, “… as we forgive our debtors”.

“And forgive us our debts …”

The context of this statement is the model prayer the Lord gave to His disciples. In many ways this verse is the fulcrum or pivot of the whole. The root of all of humanity’s problems and difficulties is the need for forgiveness. But forgiveness from what? The Greek word translated as “debts” is a legal term meaning “to what is justly owed.” In Luke 11:4 where the model prayer is given again the word used there is “sins” (“and forgive us our sins”). This word is rightly translated in Luke as “sins” as it means “departing from doing what is right.”

Now we have in the model prayer a daily request for forgiveness. Why? Why request this daily? Why is sin seen as a debt to the Creator of all things?

The answer to these questions is that it is God the Creator who gave us life. Here are just a selection of Scriptures which affirm God’s right to ownership of our lives:

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. (Job 33:4).

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13).

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10).

God gave us our life. So, every breath we take, every step we make, is all because of God who made us. We owe Him everything. Without Him we have no life.

Pause a moment. Take a deep breath in and then out. God gave that breath to you – all our breaths are God-given.

Now God gave us life so that we might delight in Him and glorify Him. But instead, we waste life doing what we want rather than what God (who is utterly good) desires. This departure from what God desires from us is called “sin” and this sin creates a debt. We use our breaths (given of God) for self to do as we please, whereas God actually gave us these breaths to glorify Him.

I wonder if you have ever borrowed money or maybe you have lent money to someone? What happens if the debt owed cannot be paid? If such occurs, then various things result. There is estrangement. The debtor avoids the lender because they cannot pay. When the lender comes around for the money to be repaid the debtor hides or doesn’t answer the door. There is also the terrible feeling of guilt. The debtor is always in debt to the one who lent the money, and this imbalance doesn’t go away. The debtor feels guilt at not being able to repay the debt owed. Debt also causes shame. A person in debt is considered to be of lower value generally in society. The wealthy are situated in the top ranks whilst those in debt are considered of lower value. Finally, debt causes anxiety. It is something that always hangs over the person. They are never free from the problem, and it leads to worry about how they can continue on and get clear of the debt. Estrangement, guilt, shame, and anxiety are some of the fruits of being in debt when you cannot repay what is owed. Debt is a terrible thing for relationships. If you owe a friend money you cannot repay you will likely feel these effects in your relationship to that friend. Debt causes fear, loneliness, separation, guilt, shame and so on.

But the same is true with regard to God. However, in the case of God, the problems and breakdown is that much greater, for God is prefect and true. We are not in debt to God concerning money or Mammon, but in respect to life. The life we have is given of God for a purpose – a good purpose. We have taken that life and squandered it on baseless, worthless things. As we do so we run up more and more debts in connection with the Lord.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23).

Breaking terms with God is breaking terms with the life-giver. This leads to death and ultimately to eternal damnation. God is a God of order and justice, and this problem of our debt is a legal one. We are legally bound and are now owing God what is justly owed. All who sin are breaking the law and become lawless (1 John 3:4). All sin is lawlessness. The use of legal language in the model prayer is given because sin is utterly serious. It is not a matter which can easily be discarded. When we break the law, just reparation and repayment must be made.

Sin, our ongoing sin, is the cause of our debt, our increasing debt, to God the life-giver. We cannot give back the life He has given because we do not have the ability to create life. Life can only come from God, the source of life. When He gives life it is a very precious thing and to waste it in sin and all that opposes God is a serious matter. What will happen now? We have squandered life given of God and we cannot ever repay this debt incurred because we do not have the ability to create the life we have wasted. Sin creates: loneliness, guilt, shame, estrangement.

Now notice also that this is very personal. It is “our” sin. It is “my” sin. It is not just sin in general, but the wasted life moments I have squandered. Now God is just and wholly so. The debt we have built up creates a terrifying situation for us. The Lord God who gave us life holds us totally accountable for this debt that we have incurred personally. All of us are in this predicament. Each of us has wasted the life-breaths we have been given for folly and rebellion, and now the Lord looks on and asks: what have you done with the life and the life-breaths I gave you? Now many will reply at this point: is not the Lord gracious and merciful? Will He not simply let these things go and make no mention of it all? Well, we must understand that God is just and holy. The reason He takes our sin so seriously is because He takes us (His created image-bearers) seriously. Dr. Paul Blackham put it like this:

“He does not hold us to account because He is a tyrant. He holds us to account because He loves us.”

Here is the good news. God values us so highly. He values us so much that He is jealous when we turn from Him and commit sin. Imagine a good father with his children. When they disobey and cause mayhem the father does not stop loving them but disciplines them and brings them to see the error of their ruinous ways. God values us so highly and He will not let us go. He is so serious about us and about our debt that we have incurred that He will do anything necessary to redeem us. He is so serious about dealing with our debt and our due, and so serious about getting us back on track, that He gave us His only begotten Son.

If you doubt that God is serious about you and your debts He replies: “I am Jesus-serious!” He says unequivocally: “I sent My Son, My Precious Only-Begotten Son for you!” He came into that which He had made (in the incarnation). He became history to pay off all the debt you owed. Your sin was so expensive – seriously, astronomically expensive – that it cost the Son of God His life. Christ fulfilled our potential for He was perfect and sinless. And on the cross He died the just death that we deserved. On Calvary all sin was paid in full.

If we now have faith in Him and trust Him truly then we are moved from the red to the black! He has done everything legally required to clear all of the debts. There is no limit to what God will do to free you from guilt, isolation, anxiety, fear and estrangement that such debts caused. God the Father loves you, but He hates the sin. He loved you so much that He sent His Only Son to pay the debt you owed by dying in your place, and He lived a perfect life which you ought to have given in return for the life-breath He gave you.

Why did He do this? It is so you no longer have to hide from God and you don’t have to avoid Him anymore. You do not need to worry about how to make amends. You do not need to be ashamed, nor to feel guilty at all anymore. All that the Saviour did in His life and in His death met the requirements each of us should have given to God our Creator. If you truly trust in Him, you have been washed clean, and the slate of debts has been scrubbed and wiped clean. There is no need to be anxious, nor fearful anymore, for all sins have been dealt with in Christ. And so, we can readily come to Christ for all has been forgiven. Not simply swept away under a carpet, but dealt with fully and legally. There is now no debt left for it has all been paid in full.

The word “forgive” in Matthew 6:12 is from a Greek word which can also mean “to let go,” “to be released,” or “to be sent away.” It has the idea of freedom and it can also mean “to cover.”

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:36).

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. (Galatians 5:1).

And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. (1John 3:5).

And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” (1Peter 4:8).

having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Colossians 2:14).

The Lord has covered, He has washed, He has sent away our sin and released us from it so we can live in free fellowship with Him. Christ paid for it all!

The Lord wants you to believe the truth that all sin has been wiped out, annulled, dealt with, paid for, and removed, and He wants you to trust this daily. Remember that He asks us to pray this prayer daily. Not simply because we sin every day, but He asks us to pray this daily so that we do not forget that our sins are utterly forgiven. We can thence rest in blessed, loving, full, communion with Him who has freely forgiven us all our sins.

We can only pray this prayer because of what Christ has done in His life and on Calvary in His death. As a result of Christ’s work we have full and free forgiveness. Now forgiveness comes to us only by us truly knowing Christ. Do we know Him? It is not enough to just believe intellectually – the devil does that, but it does him no good. Do you know Him? Are you in right relationship with Him so that you know that your sins are all dealt with completely?

“… as we forgive our debtors.”

Sin causes damage to relationships, but God has forgiven us freely. In Matthew 18:21-35 we read the parable of the unforgiving servant. Peter asks the Lord: how often should we forgive someone a debt? Up to seven times? The Lord replies by increasing what Peter thought was a perfect number (7) and multiplies it to 70 x 7, which effectively indicates an infinite number – the complete (7) completion (7) multiplied by all-encompassing (10). Now if we truly recognised the scale of forgiveness by God for our own sins, we must conclude that we have no right to bear a grudge against others. If God has forgiven me all of this, how can I not forgive others when they sleight me or sin against me? In the parable, the amount of debts for each one are meant to show us the incredibly large debt owed to God, compared to the much smaller debts we incur one to another. We might say that the unforgiving servant was forgiven a debt of £1000,000, whilst the debt he was owed was just £10. How we need to recognise the incredible and awesome release of debts we have been given of God! And how insignificant are the debts we are owed one to another. One person likened the difference between the debt we owed God and the debts we owed one another to the height of the cathedral roof in comparison to the minor undulations of the floor surface. The vast distance between the ground and the roof in a cathedral speaks of the immense debt we owe to God, whilst the little bumps and indentations in the floor are the depth or height of the debts we owe one to another.

Now it is essential we recognise our complete forgiveness in Christ for all sin we have committed, past, present and future. We are now utterly secure with God. We have peace with Him. And so, because God has forgiven us so much, we ought also to forgive one another. If we cannot forgive others, then it is doubtful that we appreciate that we have been forgiven by the Lord. Now in Matthew 6:14 we learn that the forgiven one is a forgiving person. The same is true with regard to mercy. The one who has received mercy is himself merciful. The model prayer of Matthew 6 is a beautifully crafted prayer, but there is a significant amount of space given in this to the topic of forgiveness.

Stephen, the first martyr, prayed for his murderers as they stoned him, asking for their forgiveness. Now forgiveness is not something we understand as something we earn. Because we are forgiven, we can therefore freely forgive others. If we do not freely forgive others, then there is an issue concerning our salvation. Psalm 137:9 might be considered a very unusual text to turn to. It does not appear to be a very Christian sentiment. However, it is important to note that the Psalmist is not taking such an action himself and he is not telling anyone else to do it either. What he is doing is speaking honestly. He knows that the Lord will bring about justice, and when justice is done it will be good. We have clear commands in the New Testament about forgiving one another.

12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. (Colossians 3:12,13).

And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32).

Let us bask in the forgiveness of God in Christ and let us freely forgive one another!

Tag: The Lord's Prayer

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