SERMON: THE LORD'S PRAYER: DOXOLOGY

 

I.  Introduction

      -- turn in Bibles to Matthew 6 -- this morning, I am going to be reading from the NKJV instead of the NIV

 

Matthew 6:9-13

King James Version

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

 

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

 

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

 

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

 

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

 

      -- most of us here are familiar with the WWJD movement -- a few years ago, there was a resurgence in the question, “What would Jesus do?”, and we saw WWJD bracelets and bumper stickers and t-shirts with that acronym showing up everywhere

      -- the question came from a book written in 1896 by Charles Sheldon called, “In His Steps” -- in this story, the members of a church in Kansas pledged to live their lives solely based on what Jesus would do in given situations by asking themselves the question, “What would Jesus do?” before doing anything -- the book was a resounding success and sparked the WWJD movement -- both at the turn of the 20th century and then again in our day

      -- but a lot of people are less familiar with the sequel to Sheldon’s book -- after the overwhelming success of “In His Steps,” Sheldon wrote the novel, “Jesus is here,” which tells the story of Jesus coming back to earth and physically appearing in the small town of Raymond, Kansas -- first to one person -- and then to a small group -- and then to crowds of people as He ministers to them and shares His message of hope and grace to the people of Sheldon’s day

      -- Sheldon was trying to get people to consider how they might live and react to Jesus being physically present in their midst in this modern age -- similar to how the Israelites had to respond to the very presence of God when Jesus came in the first century AD -- in other words, if Jesus was physically here with us today, how would we act? -- would we live our lives differently?

      -- Sheldon’s ultimate point was that Jesus is here -- even though we may not be able to see Him physically -- He is here with us -- He is present with us -- and we should recognize that by striving to live as He would want us to live and to offer Him all our praise and worship and glory each and every day

 

II.  The Doxology

      -- this morning, we are completing our series on the Lord’s Prayer by looking at the doxology at the end of verse 13 -- a doxology is a short hymn or exclamation of praise that we find commonly throughout the Bible or in other Christian writings or songs

      -- Paul includes quite a few doxologies in his epistles -- for example, in Philippians 4:20, Paul includes in his letter to the church at Philippi the phrase, “To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” -- and then he goes on to conclude his letter with a few more thoughts

      -- we find doxologies in the New and the Old Testament -- and they are quite common in the Psalms -- whenever you see a place in your Bible where the writer just stops and spontaneously praises God, that is a doxology -- and, just as another note, doxologies usually end with the word, “Amen,” so that’s another clue to you that you are seeing a doxology when you are reading through the Bible

      -- one doxology -- one song of praise -- that we are really familiar with is the song we sing together during the collection of the offerings in a lot of churches:

      -- "Praise God from whom all blessings flow -- praise Him all creatures here below -- praise Him above ye heavenly host -- praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”

      -- so, a doxology is just a short song or exclamation of praise to God

 

      -- now, depending on the translation of the Bible you use, you may or may not find a doxology here at the end of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:13 -- you might have noticed that there is no doxology in the NIV translation that we have been using throughout this series -- and you won’t find it in most of the more recent translations, such as the NIV, the English Standard Version, the New Revised Standard Version, and the New American Standard Bible

      -- the reason why it is excluded in these more recent translations is usually explained in a footnote at the bottom of the page -- the NIV notes at the bottom of the page that the doxology appears only in some late manuscripts and is not found in the earliest and most reliable copies of the Gospel of Matthew that we have

 

      -- we do find the doxology in the KJV and NKJV, and that’s why I read from the NKJV this morning -- the reason it’s in these translations is because the scholars who developed the KJV translation in 1611 did not have as many source documents as we do now -- since 1611, we have discovered a lot more original manuscripts and early copies of the Bible because of archeology -- for instance, think about the Dead Sea Scrolls -- those were not discovered until 1947

      -- so, the scholars in 1611 just didn’t have these earlier manuscripts available to them and they used the best copies of the Bible that they had at that time to develop their translation -- we just have a lot more reliable and earlier copies of the Bible now than they had in 1611, so these get used when modern scholars translate the Bible

 

      --so, we know that the doxology that we are all so familiar with at the end of the Lord’s Prayer was added at a later time by believers or scribes -- they probably did so to add an ending to the prayer that was in line with Biblical teaching and theology

      -- but even though we recognize that these words were added later, we shouldn’t hesitate to use them when we pray the Lord’s prayer or when we use this prayer as a model for our own prayers

      -- remember that I pointed out in the start of this series that this is a model prayer that Jesus gave us -- He did not intend for us to pray it word for word every single time like we generally do

      -- as a model prayer, then, it is perfectly acceptable for us to modify it and to pray with greater fervency in those areas where we feel a particular need -- whether that is in seeking God's help for our daily sustenance or with a temptation in our life -- or whether it is merely a time we need to praise and thank God for who He is and what He has done in our lives

     

      -- the doxology that has been handed down through the centuries and that has been added to the King James version of the Bible is an excellent summary of praise and thanksgiving to our God

      -- when I opened this message, I shared with you the story of Jesus appearing on earth in modern times that Charles Sheldon gave us in his novel, “Jesus is Here” -- and I told you that Sheldon’s main point in that story was to get us to consider and remember that Jesus is really here with us at all times, even though we may not be able to see Him physically -- and that because we know Jesus is here, we need to live as He would want us to live and to offer Him our praise and honor and glory with our lives and with our lips

      -- every time we recite the doxology at the end of the Lord’s Prayer, that is what we are proclaiming -- when we recite the doxology and pray it together in our churches or in our quiet times with God, we are telling the world that Jesus is here on earth today and we are giving Him all our praise and honor and glory

 

III.  How is Jesus here?

      -- so, how does the doxology express our faith in the truth that Jesus is here on earth now? -- it does this by giving us three glimpses into Jesus' ministry on earth, both now and in the future

      -- listen to the doxology again from Matthew 6:13

 

Matthew 6:13b

King James Version

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

 

      A.  Thine is the Kingdom

      -- the first glimpse of Jesus' ministry on earth today is contained in the opening phrase of the doxology, "for thine is the kingdom" -- as we have learned in our study of the Lord's Prayer, the kingdom of God refers to both the heavenly kingdom where Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father and the spiritual kingdom of Christ present in the world today

      -- we all agree that the kingdom of God is present where ever Jesus is -- Jesus told us in Matthew 18:20 that whenever two or three believers came together in His name, that He was there with them -- that means that Jesus is here on earth today -- He is in this sanctuary with us this morning

      -- without a doubt, Jesus is in our midst -- we may not be able to see Him physically, but He is here with us right now -- and when we pray this prayer -- when we say, "for Thine is the Kingdom" -- we are testifying to the fact that Jesus and the kingdom of God are present on earth today -- and that all of us who believe in Him and trust in Him as Lord and Savior are members of this kingdom

      -- the Bible also points out that not only is Jesus present with us when the church gathers together, but God is present and living within each of His believers in the person of the Holy Spirit

      -- 1 John 4:15 says that if anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, then God lives in Him and he in God -- and 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?"

      -- this truth is one of the unique things about the Christian faith -- when we pray, we are not praying to a distant God living in a heaven located somewhere in the cosmos -- we are praying to a living God who is with us and in us and in our midst and present in the world today

      -- how do I know that Jesus is here on earth today? -- because He lives in me and I can see His kingdom being made visible through the presence and the work of the church -- the body of Christ -- in the world today

      -- in the C.S. Lewis book, “The Dawn Treader,” -- one of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia series -- Queen Lucy is given the task of helping some people who have been enchanted and turned invisible become visible again -- so she goes into the room of the magician in the story and finds his spell book and says a spell that makes invisible things visible

      -- as soon as she says the spell, Aslan the lion, who is symbolic of the Lord Jesus, appears to her -- she cries out in joy and says, "I am so glad to see you here" and he replies, "I have been here all the time, but you have just made me visible"

      -- in the same way, the church of Christ -- the believers who gather in His name and who have the living presence of God within them -- make Jesus and His Kingdom visible to a watching world today

 

 

      B.  The Power of God

            -- the second glimpse of Jesus' ministry on earth is in the second part of the doxology -- it reads, "for Thine is the Kingdom and the Power"

      -- when the church of Christ makes Jesus visible to a watching world, what they see is the power of God made manifest through us

      -- I had a discussion with a coworker one time about karma and grace -- she said that she believed in karma and tried to live it out in her life -- you know, if you do good things, then good things will happen to you -- but if you do bad things, then bad things will happen -- now I know this is an oversimplification of karma, but this is what she said she was practicing in her life

      -- so, I countered back that I would rather trust in grace over karma any day -- I pointed out to her that karma will never work because we -- as humans born in sin -- can never be good enough -- but that grace works because it is the free gift of God and it doesn't matter how good we are -- we can't get more grace by being good or by doing good works -- grace was a gift from God, not depending on how good we are

      -- she said that grace was only for the future -- for after death -- for salvation -- and so I pointed out to her how the grace of God and the power of God working in our lives is demonstrated in the world every single day

 

      -- we know that Jesus is here on earth today because we can see the results of His presence and His power made manifest through His grace

      -- the world can't understand this, because they can't see Jesus -- they can't see the physical Jesus standing before them, so they don't believe He can be here on earth and they don't believe that He can be working today -- that’s why there’s been so much push back against Christians using the phrase, “You’re in our thoughts and prayers” -- the critics say that our prayers do nothing -- that we have to be physically doing something to make a difference in the world today -- their eyes are blinded to the truth that Jesus is here working and His power is made manifest in us and through us in response to our faith and our prayers

 

      -- it's kind of like the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus in John chapter 3 -- Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night and starts asking Him about spiritual things -- Jesus tries to help Nicodemus see past the material world and to the spiritual around him -- in verse 8, Jesus says, "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.""

      -- what Jesus is trying to get Nicodemus to recognize is that the Spirit is always at work around us, even if we can't see Him -- Jesus tells Nicodemus that the Spirit is like the wind -- we can't see the wind -- but we know it's there, because we hear it's sound and we see its effects

      -- just look at the images from Fort Meyers -- we couldn’t see the winds associated with Hurricane Ian, but we could sure see its effects through the damage it wrought -- nobody doubts that there was wind associated with Hurricane Ian because we can see the results

      -- in the same way, even though we can't physically see Jesus in the world today, we know He is here because we can see the effects of His power on the world around us in the form of changed hearts and changed lives

      -- we’re seeing it right now in Florida and South Carolina as God’s grace and power are being made manifest through His church to meet the needs of those affected by the hurricane -- humans cannot respond in the same way in their own strength -- while we can do some good -- we can touch others in some way -- we cannot touch lives and change things the way God can in response to the prayers and the actions of His church

      -- right now, we are seeing Christians pouring out their hearts and their lives -- spiritually, financially, physically -- to reach out and take care of their brothers and sisters who are hurting as a result of this natural disaster

      -- and this same story -- this same outpouring of God's power and grace -- occurs every single moment of every single day all around this world -- maybe not as visible as the outpouring of God's power has been in the wake of Ian -- but present none-the-less

      -- we know that Jesus is here on earth today because we can see His fingerprints in the lives that He touches each and every day

 

      C.  The Glory of God

      -- the final glimpse of Jesus' ministry on earth is at the end of the doxology -- it reads, "for Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory"

      -- when I think about the glory of God as it relates to the ministry of Christ -- I am immediately led to the moment when -- as the hymn writer says in "It is Well with My Soul" -- "my faith becomes sight"

      -- when all that I have hoped for and longed for and trusted in occurs -- when Christ comes back to earth and restores all of creation and reigns from the City of Jerusalem -- when the old earth and the old heavens have passed away and we see the new earth and the new heavens -- when God is with us and we no longer need the sun because His light illuminates the earth and the heavens -- that is the picture of the glory of Christ made manifest for all eternity

 

      -- when I think of the glory of Christ, I am immediately led to the passages on the second coming of Christ from 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 and Revelation 21:1-5 -- listen as I read these passages:  

 

1 Thes 4: 16-18:  "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  -- After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. -- Therefore encourage each other with these words."

 

Rev. 21:1-5:  "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. -- I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. -- And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. -- He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." --  He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.""

 

III.  Closing

      -- when we pray the doxology in the Lord's prayer -- when we proclaim, "for Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory" -- this is what we are saying -- we are saying that Jesus is here -- that His Kingdom and Power and Glory are present on earth today -- and we give Him all our praise and worship for who He is and what He has done and is doing in our midst

 

      -- Paul tells us in Romans 8 that all of creation has been groaning as it waits for its restoration at the second coming of Christ -- I think that is true for all of us -- whether Christian or not -- we all long for a better place -- for a place where there will be no more death or mourning -- crying or pain -- war or violence -- a place where things are good and where people are good and where life is what God intended it should be -- abundant and full because of His presence and His power

      -- even though the world may deny the presence of Christ today -- even though the world may deny that Christ is coming again to set up His kingdom and to restore creation -- secretly, in their heart of hearts, the world hopes that it will come to pass

      -- that is why the closing of this prayer is so important -- not only to us but to the world as well -- you see, when we pray this prayer -- when we cry out to God, "for Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory" -- we are telling a world without hope that there is hope -- we are telling a world awash in sin and evil that there is a better way -- we are telling a world that there is life available through our Redeemer and our Savior and our God

      -- when we pray this prayer and when we allow God to work through us and in us -- then the world will come to see the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory of God -- their lives and their hearts will be changed forever and they will be able to exclaim with us, "Jesus is on earth today!"

 

      -- as I close, I invite you to join with me in prayer for the world around us -- to pray that they might see God's presence through us as we minister to them in Christ's name -- as we make His kingdom and His power manifest in this world today

      -- maybe God is calling you this morning to make a commitment to serve Him more in the world -- to carry His light and His truth to a people seeking salvation -- to meet their physical and spiritual needs

      -- maybe He put on your heart someone you need to talk to about God -- or maybe He is calling you to become involved in missions or to become more involved in the ministry of this church

      -- maybe He’s calling you to go down to Florida with a missions team and to help the people hurting after the hurricane -- maybe He’s calling you to donate your resources or your money to help organizations already there on the ground

      -- whatever it is, if you have heard God speak to you this morning, please do not turn away from His call

      -- but let this doxology -- let your praise of God be on your lips -- and let your life be a song of praise to the God who loves us and heals us and saves us

      -- always remember that Jesus is here -- He is with us -- He is in us -- and we are His people -- the Kingdom of God on earth today

      -- let us pray

     

SERMON: THE LORD’S PRAYER: TEMPTATION

 

NAYLOR COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN CHURCH

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Matthew 6:9-13

 

Matthew 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

 

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10 your kingdom come,

your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from the evil one.’

 

            -- I want to open by sharing with you the story of Robert Robinson -- Robert was just a little boy when his father passed away in 18th century England -- without a father in the house or a strong male figure to guide him, Robert quickly fell in with a bad crowd, and was soon given to all sorts of bad influences -- night after night he would go out carousing with his friends, drinking and gambling and enjoying all the vices the world had to offer

            -- one night, he and his friends found a drunk gypsy woman, and they began to harass her and they demanded that she tell them their fortunes for free -- finally, she pointed a finger at Robert and said, "This one will live to see his children and his grandchildren"

            -- that struck a chord with Robert -- he thought to himself, "If I'm going to see my children and grandchildren, then I'm going to have to change the way I'm living" -- shortly after this experience, he decided to go hear the Methodist preacher George Whitefield

            -- in order to avoid seeming weak in front of his friends, he suggested that they go with him and heckle Whitefield and the crowd that came to see him

            -- Whitefield preached on the text: "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Matthew 3:7) -- Robert left in dread, under a deep sense of sin that lasted for three years

            -- finally, at the age of twenty, he made peace with God and immediately set out to become a Methodist preacher himself -- two years later, in 1757, he wrote a hymn which expressed his joy in his new faith -- a hymn that we most of us know and have sung in church, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing"

            -- but Robert's story doesn't end there -- not long after this hymn was written, Robert left the Methodist Church -- he left his ministry -- he left his faith -- and he wandered again along the roads and byways of his youth -- traveling again along the path of iniquity

            -- one day he was traveling by stagecoach and there was a woman sitting there across from him reading a book of hymns -- she ran across a hymn that she thought was wonderful and started to hum it quietly to herself -- finally, one verse just caught her attention, and she asked Robert what he thought of it

            -- "prone to wander, Lord, I feel it -- prone to leave the God I love -- here's my heart, O take and seal it -- seal it for thy courts above"

            -- Bursting into tears, Robert said, "Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then."

 

            -- Robinson’s life reflects a disturbing reality in all our lives, for all of us are prone to wander from the God we love -- we are prone to want to go our own way -- but there is a better way -- a better path -- for us to be on

            -- this morning, we’re going to talk about that as we continue in our sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer

-- as we have said, the Lord’s Prayer was given by Jesus to us as a model prayer -- as a framework from which we might tailor our prayers to God for our own lives and our own situations

 

            -- the prayer starts with praise and adoration -- it calls for God’s kingdom and will to be expressed on earth as it is in heaven -- and then moves into the parameters of our daily lives -- touching on and asking for God’s help in the present, the past, and the future

            -- we ask for God’s help in the present when we pray, “give us this day our daily bread”

            -- we ask for God’s help in overcoming the past when we pray, “forgive us our trespasses” -- forgive us for what we have done

            -- this morning, we’re going to focus on verse 13 as we pray for God’s intervention in the future and ask Him to “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”

 

II.  Lead us not into temptation

            -- so, let’s begin by answering the question, what is temptation and where does it come from?

 

            -- when we think of the word temptation, we immediately assume that it means an allure to sin -- an inducement to do evil -- that it means we are being drawn or enticed to give in to sinful desires in opposition to God’s word

            -- that is the modern conception of temptation -- it’s the way we use that word today -- but that is not necessarily how the Bible uses that word

 

            -- if you look at the Greek word that is translated temptation here in Matthew 6:13, it is actually a morally neutral word that simply describes the act of being tested¹

            -- it refers to trials and tests that you are facing -- which is important to note because this verse causes a lot of confusion among people

 

            -- at face value, it looks like Jesus says we are to pray to the Father to not lead us into temptation -- which sounds like God is the source of temptation in our lives -- but we know that cannot be the case, because James tells us in James 1:13, “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.”

            -- so, if God cannot be tempted by evil and does not tempt anyone, then why would we pray, “Lead us not into temptation?” -- it doesn’t seem to make sense since God does not tempt anyone in that way

            -- but when you understand the definition of the Greek word that is translated here as temptation to mean a trial or a test, what we are asking God to do is to not lead us into trials or tests that are likely to result in temptation and sin -- in other words, we are asking God to not lead us to the point where we will not be able to turn away from temptation and sin in our lives

            -- it is a recognition of the fact that Robert Robinson made so clear in his hymn when he wrote that we are all prone to wander -- prone to leave the God we love

            -- when we pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” we are literally praying to God to keep us from wandering into places where we might give into temptation and sin

            -- it is a prayer of protection from ourselves

 

            -- in James 1:14 we read, “each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed” -- so, our temptations come from our own desires, not God -- our temptations come from within us

            -- so, praying to God in this prayer to “Lead us not into temptation,” is akin to saying, “Protect us from ourselves -- protect us from our own evil desires -- protect us from wandering away as we are prone to do”

 

            -- before I leave this thought, I want to expound a little more on the topic of trials and temptations

            -- trials and tests in our lives are not a bad thing -- trials and tests prove our faith -- they strengthen our spiritual backbone -- they make us stronger and able to stand against spiritual attacks and evil desires in the future

 

            -- it’s kind of like the way trees react to wind -- I’ve mentioned before that trees that grow sheltered in a forest are not subjected to wind in the same way a tree growing by itself is

-- when a tree is subjected to wind on a regular basis, it responds by growing deeper and stronger roots -- its stem gets stronger -- and it is able to withstand extreme gusts of wind without harm

-- but a tree growing sheltered from wind does not put down deep roots -- it does not grow stronger because it is not subject to the pressures of the wind -- and if you thin a forest and leave such a tree standing on its own, it is more apt to fall because it simply does not have the strength to stand

-- that’s the idea of trials and tests that God allows into our lives -- when we stand against the trials and tests that come our way -- when we stand against the temptation to wander away from God and His word -- we grow stronger and better able to stand against such trials and temptations in the future -- trials and temptations make us stronger in our faith

-- that’s why it says in James 1:2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

-- so, trials and tests are good things -- the problem comes when we allow the trials or tests to lead us down paths we should not go -- when we follow our Godly desires and try to fulfill them in ungodly ways -- this is the path of temptation -- this is the path of sin

 

-- to sum up how this works, temptation and sin begins within us -- with desires that we have to do something or to get something -- these may be good and Godly desires, but a lot of times, we try to fulfill these desires in ways that God doesn’t want

-- for instance, we all have the need and desire to eat -- and God wants us to eat to keep our bodies strong and fully functioning -- but when we overeat or overindulge in food, we are going past our need and fulfilling that desire in an ungodly way -- in a way God did not intend

-- it’s the same way with sexual relations -- having sexual relations is a natural, God-given desire -- but God intends for those desires to be met within the bounds of marriage -- when we try to meet those desires outside of God’s plan, then we have wandered from His path and are following our own way and are moving into temptation and sin

-- we are led to wander from God and give in to temptation and sin by three different sources -- first, ourselves -- as we give into our sin nature and follow our own evil desires, as James puts it -- second, the world -- which tries to lure us into following its path and not God’s -- and finally, the devil -- Satan and his minions try to lead us away from God and try to get us to follow the path of sin rather than God’s path

 

-- so, we pray to God to lead us not into temptation, but to deliver us from evil -- the evil within us -- the evil in the world -- and the evil from our spiritual enemy, Satan

-- “the good news is that when we pray this prayer -- when we pray "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" -- God gives us His strength and His power to turn away from the temptation that is before us

-- “He doesn't allow us to be led into temptation but leads us away from temptation -- as it says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."”¹

 

-- to sum this up, when we pray “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” we are praying “Lord, please do not lead us into a trial which will present a temptation stronger than our power to resist it, but give us your strength to stand against it -- and, if necessary, snatch us from the fire of sin and desire -- keep us from danger and evil in our lives -- whether that is our own evil desires, or the evil of the world or our spiritual enemy”

 

III.  Closing

            -- I want to close by sharing with you a story about Rich Mullins -- Mullins was a very famous and admired Christian musician and songwriter -- he died in 1997 in a car wreck at the age of 41

            -- Mullins once confessed in a concert that he struggled with watching pornography while traveling alone -- One of his spiritual mentors told him, "It's not that you're so bad, it's just that you're not supposed to go out by yourself."

            -- So, Mullins took a friend along with him on a trip to Amsterdam near its famous red-light district -- he said he was hoping his friend would fall fast asleep and start snoring so, as Mullins put it, "I thought, 'Maybe it would be fun to just take a walk and be tempted.'"

            -- Mullins sat up all night waiting for his friend to fall asleep -- but he never did, providing Mullins with the support he needed to not be led into temptation

-- while he was warring with his own evil desires, Mullins picked up a notebook and wrote the words to one of his more popular songs, 'Hold Me, Jesus' -- let me share a verse from that song:

 

    “And I wake up in the night and feel the dark.

    It's so hot inside my soul I swear there must be blisters on my heart.

    So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf

    You have been King of my glory

    Won't You be my Prince of Peace"²

 

            -- this verse is a reminder that temptation comes to all of us -- this darkness of the soul that Mullins speaks of in that song we find within us, too -- whether we’re a new believer or a mature saint or leader in the church -- it’s the same darkness Robert Robinson spoke when he lamented in his hymn, “Prone to wander, God I feel it, prone to leave the God I love”

-- there is in all of us this natural bent to disobey God and give in to temptation and sin -- to go our own way -- to wander from the God who loves us down the path of temptation and sin

            -- but the good news that we find in this prayer is that God is always with us -- that as we pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” God gives us a fresh outpouring of His grace and gives us the strength and power we need to turn away from the path of temptation and sin and to follow His path of holiness and righteousness

 

            -- Fleetwood Mac famously sang, “You can go your own way -- Go your own way-- You can call it another lonely day -- You can go your own way -- Go your own way”

-- to go your own way is to go the way of temptation and sin

            -- the alternative is to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” and to go the way of God

            -- the choice is yours

            -- let us pray

----------------------

1 Precept Austin Commentary

2 Luke Gilkerson, "'Hold Me Jesus': A Prayer for Porn Addiction," Covenant Eyes, June 17, 2010

 

SERMON: THE LORD’S PRAYER: FORGIVENESS

 

Naylor Christian Community Church

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Matthew 6:9-13

 

Matthew 6:9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

 

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

10 your kingdom come,

your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from the evil one.’

 

 

            -- on Friday at work, we were discussing different religions and what makes those religions distinct from each other -- because of my position in the office, I kept quiet and just listened as my coworkers shared what they thought about Christianity and Islam and then the various Christian denominations and cults

            -- I couldn’t help but think about the time when C.S. Lewis’ colleagues were discussing the very same topic at Oxford -- he happened by, and knowing that he was a very vocal Christian, they asked him what he thought made Christianity different from all the other religions in the world

            -- “Oh, that’s easy,” he said. “It’s grace.  Grace is the difference between Christianity and all those religions.” -- he went on to explain that all the other religions in the world tell their adherents, “Do -- do this if you want to be saved for eternity” -- while Christianity is best summed up in the word, “Done -- because all the work required for salvation was accomplished by Christ on the cross as He atoned for our sins and the sins of the world, and all we have to do is receive that forgiveness through grace”

            -- I am certainly no where near the intellect of C.S. Lewis, but I agree with what he said that day -- however, I think there is more that sets apart Christianity and Christians from all other religions

            -- in my mind, there are three words that define us -- three words that set us apart from all other religions -- the first being grace, of course, as Lewis correctly pointed out -- the second is love -- Jesus Himself said the world would come to know us by our love -- and the third is forgiveness -- for in no other religion is forgiveness such an encompassing and defining characteristic

            -- grace -- love -- and forgiveness -- the three attributes of God that we should be seeking in our lives and that we see intertwined in this prayer given from Jesus to us

 

            -- this morning, we are continuing in our sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer -- and we find ourselves focusing on verse 12, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”

-- other translations say “debts” instead of trespasses -- regardless of the recent discussion in the country concerning the forgiveness of student loans and how some used this very verse to support the action, Jesus was not talking about financial debts in this prayer -- He was talking about forgiveness for the sins that we have committed against God and against others -- and the sins they have committed against us -- as always, Jesus’ focus was spiritual and relational -- and ours should be, as well

 

            -- I do want to preface this message by pointing out that we struggle with forgiveness in our lives -- both divine and human forgiveness -- I’ve been a pastor now for a good while -- and out of the all the sermons and topics I have preached on, the harshest responses have come when I preached on the topic of forgiveness because out of all the commands in the Bible, the command to forgive others is the most difficult for some of us -- and we see that command emphasized in this prayer and in Jesus’ expansion of His thoughts on forgiveness in the verses that follow

            -- so, let’s talk a little this morning about forgiveness and what this sentence in this prayer means -- and about what Jesus is telling us here about how we should be living based on our relationship with God and with others

 

II.  Forgiveness

            -- so, look back at verse 12 with me

 

Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

 

-- we see in this verse Jesus addressing two different aspects of forgiveness

-- the first, “Forgive us our trespasses,” is a plea to God to forgive our sins -- a plea for divine forgiveness for the wrongs that we have done

            -- the second aspect is seen in the phrase, “as we have forgiven our trespassers,” which recognizes the royal decree to forgive others when they sin against us

            -- let’s talk about each of these now

 

            -- first, the forgiveness of God

            -- the Bible makes it clear that we are all sinners -- we have all committed wrong against God -- we have all disobeyed His commands

-- Romans 3:23 says, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" -- and Psalm 51:4 says "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge."

 

            -- every sin -- every time we commit a trespass or owe a debt -- even if it's to another person -- is ultimately a sin against God -- it is an example of how we failed to follow His commands and His standards and have missed the mark that He set before us

            -- so, Jesus calls for us to go before God daily and to ask for the forgiveness of all the sins and debts and trespasses that we have committed -- because they were all committed against the holiness of God

 

            -- we do this first when we come to Christ in recognition that we are a sinner who needs forgiveness and ask Jesus to forgive us for our sins -- believing in our hearts that Jesus is God -- that He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins -- and that He rose on the third day in proof of victory over sin and death

            -- this is the good news of the gospel -- this is how we are saved -- the Bible calls this justification -- justifying grace -- grace that forgives you of your sins and that pardons you from all the wrongs you have committed and all the wrongs you ever will commit -- not because of anything you have done to earn that forgiveness -- but because of the blood of Christ and the grace of God

 

            -- but as all of us know, salvation does not equate to perfection -- and just because we have been forgiven of our sins and been cleansed by the blood of Jesus, every one of us still sin on a regular basis

-- it's a part of life -- it's a part of being a human -- as John wrote in 1 John 1:8, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”

-- so, we still sin -- but God makes provision for that through His sanctifying grace -- the Holy Spirit working in us and through us to make us more like Jesus every day, so that we begin to choose not to sin and rely on His power to turn from our sins and to follow His commands

-- that’s why John goes on to say in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”

-- this is the heart of Jesus’ direction in the Lord’s prayer for us -- this is why He tells us to pray every day, “Forgive us our sins...”

-- it’s not that we haven’t been saved -- it’s that we have continuing sin in our life that affects our relationship with the Father that must be dealt with -- and so, through the process of sanctification and the grace of God, we recognize our sins and our trespasses and ask God to forgive us of those sins, so that our relationship might be restored and we would grow in grace to become more and more like Jesus in our lives and might walk in His light and in His life daily

 

-- that’s the first aspect of forgiveness in the Lord’s prayer -- and no one has a problem with that -- we all like to know that God has forgiven us for our sins and our trespasses and our debts against Him as we are justified through the atoning death of Christ on the cross -- and we all like to know that God’s grace and mercy continue in our lives through the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, so that when we sin, He is ready to forgive us of those sins when we go to Him in prayer as Jesus teaches us here, asking the Father to forgive us for our trespasses

-- it’s the second aspect of forgiveness that we see here in verse 12 that causes us to stumble -- and that has elicited the harsh responses to my messages on forgiveness -- “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”

 

            -- this is a clear call from Christ for us to forgive those who sin against us -- and this is perhaps the hardest thing we are called to do in our Christian life

            -- when someone sins against us, it means they have wronged us -- sometimes seriously -- sometimes physically or emotionally or spiritually -- it means they have hurt us -- and yet Jesus tells us that we must forgive those people who have trespassed against us because the Father has forgiven us for our sins against Him

 

            -- we see a parallel passage in regards to our call to forgive others in Colossians 3:12-15 -- if you would, turn with me over to that passage or listen as I read it

 

Colossians 3:12-15

New International Version

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

 

            -- here we see the Apostle Paul echoing Jesus’ command in the Lord’s prayer -- he is reminding of us of who are in Christ and how we are to conduct ourselves -- Paul points out that God's people are called to demonstrate compassion and kindness -- humility and patience -- with others -- we are called to offer God's mercy to others -- and to forgive whatever grievances -- whatever trespasses -- whatever wrongs -- that others have done to us, simply because we have experienced the loving grace and forgiveness of God for the sins in our own lives

            -- just as Jesus commands in the Lord’s prayer, we are to forgive as the Lord forgave us -- as it says in Luke 6:36, "be merciful, just as your Father is merciful"

 

            -- forgiveness is to be one of the defining characteristics of a Christian -- and a lot of us struggle in this area -- we hold grudges -- we refuse to forgive those who have wronged us -- we want to see them hurt just as we were hurt

            -- years ago, I preached a message on forgiveness, and after the service, I had someone angrily tell me that I didn’t know what I was talking about -- that God could not want them to forgive someone who had wronged them

            -- you see, one of their family members was brutally attacked and raped -- the guy was caught and tried and put in prison -- but this person refused to forgive the rapist -- and that unforgiveness took hold and bitterness grew in their soul and in their spirit -- it wasn’t enough for them that the rapist went to jail -- they wanted them hurt -- they wanted them punished beyond belief -- and the thought of being told to offer them forgiveness was more than they could bear

            -- but that is exactly what Jesus is telling us to do here -- what Christ is trying to get us to see in this prayer is that if we are truly God's people -- if we have truly been touched by God's mercy and grace and forgiveness -- then we will live out the commandment to "love our neighbor as ourselves" by pouring out God's mercy and grace onto others -- by forgiving others for the trespasses that they have committed against us even though they don't deserve it

 

            -- if we find that we cannot forgive others, then it may be that we have never actually accepted forgiveness ourselves -- we may be like the Jewish people in Jesus' day -- claiming to represent God while not truly loving and serving Him with our whole hearts

            -- one scholar said, "no one can reasonably imagine himself to be the object of divine forgiveness if he is deliberately and habitually unforgiving towards his fellow men"

            -- and as the authors of the book, "Truefaced," point out, "if we harbor unforgiveness in our hearts towards others, how can we even pretend that we are truly desirous of His forgiveness toward us?"

            -- the Apostle John said something similar in 1 John 2:9 -- "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness."

            -- in other words, how can we say that we are in the light -- how can we say that we have truly received Christ's gift of forgiveness if we refuse to forgive those who have wronged us?

 

            -- a lot of us Christians claim to be filled with God Himself -- we claim to possess within us His truth and His light and His love, but then, rather than showing that love and mercy and grace to others by forgiving them when they sin against us, we turn our backs to them and give them our resentment and hatred and unforgiveness -- is it any wonder that we see so much backlash against Christians in our society today?

            -- but this is not the way of Christ -- there is no question about it -- Jesus makes it perfectly clear here in this prayer and Paul reiterates it in Colossians -- if you are a Christian -- if you have been forgiven by Christ for your sins -- for all the debts and trespasses against Him -- you must forgive others when they trespass against you -- you must live a life of gracious forgiveness

 

            -- look down at verse 14-15

 

Matthew 6:14-15 -- “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly. Father will also forgive you. But if you don't forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 

            -- Jesus expands on what He has said about forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer here in these verses -- He tells us that if we forgive others when they sin against us, then the heavenly Father will forgive us for our sins -- but if we do not offer forgiveness to those who have trespassed against us, then God will not forgive us for our sins

-- there are a lot of passages in the Bible that give me pause -- that really speak to how serious our actions or our inactions are -- and this is one of them

-- Christ is literally telling us here that if we do not forgive others -- if we do not forgive those who trespass against us -- those who have wronged us -- then we will not be forgiven by God

            -- now I want you to know that this is not talking about your salvation -- when you come to Christ in faith and ask Him to forgive you for your sins and to be your Lord and Savior, you are justified in the sight of God -- you are saved from your sins and are given eternal life in Him

            -- that is not what this passage is referring to -- this passage is talking about our relationship with God and with others and our daily walk with Him -- about the sins that we still commit even though we are Christians -- and about how we are to react when others sin against us

            -- Jesus tells us here that as Christians, we are to be people who forgive -- we are to be people who love -- we are to be people of grace -- because God loved us and forgave us our sins and gave us His grace

 

-- as believers, we have been forgiven such a great debt against God -- and because of this, we are called to offer that same forgiveness to others through the power of the Holy Spirit within us

-- this is not natural for us -- it is impossible for us to do in our own flesh and in our own strength -- to forgive others as Christ has forgiven us -- to forgive others as Christ commands in these verses -- is only possible through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit within

 

-- I imagine most of you in here are familiar with the name Corrie Ten Boom -- Corrie and her sister Betsie were arrested by the Nazis during World War II for concealing and hiding Jews in their home in Holland and were sent to a German concentration camp -- Corrie’s sister Betsie died a slow and terrible death in the camp as a result of the treatment they received there

-- after the war, Corrie began a ministry of evangelism and spoke throughout the world about Christ and His redeeming love -- in 1947, Corrie was speaking about God's forgiveness at  a church in Munich -- after the service, a man came up to her and asked to speak to her

-- she immediately recognized him -- he was one of the guards at the concentration camp where she and her sister Betsie had suffered -- He told her that he had become a Christian, and with extended hand he asked for her forgiveness

-- Corrie struggled with her feelings, but when she recalled the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:15, she knew she had to forgive, even though she didn’t have the strength to do so -- She silently prayed, "Jesus, help me!" and thrust her hand into the hand of her former tormentor and said, “I forgive you”

 

-- to not forgive others as Christ commands is a “rebellious, blatant, open act of disobedience representing a willful choice. In other words, to not forgive is to sin against God, [our] ultimate Forgiver.

“If somebody hurts us, either deliberately or unintentionally, and we do not forgive them, then the potential is for us to develop bitterness, which hardens the heart -- unforgiveness hinders our fellowship and relationship with the Lord” [Commentary by Precept Ministries, Austin]

-- that is why Christ tells us here to ask God to forgive us, as we forgive those who trespass against us -- it is for our own good -- it is to heal our wounded hearts -- it is to make us like Him so that we can be His image-bearers and reflect His grace and mercy to those who don’t deserve it

-- “Someone has said, "Forgiveness is not a case of 'holy amnesia' that wipes out the past. Instead, it is the experience of healing that drains the poison from the wound."

-- God asks us to do for others what He has done for us through Jesus Christ. He'll give us strength to forgive.” [D J. De Haan, Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI.]

 

-- In his book, “Lee: The Last Years,” Charles Bracelen Flood tells the story of the time when Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady after the Civil War -- she took him to the remains of a grand old tree in front of her house -- There she bitterly cried that its limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Federal artillery fire. -- She looked to Lee for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss -- After a brief silence, Lee said, "Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it." -- It is better to forgive the injustices of the past than to allow them to remain and let bitterness take root and poison the rest of our life. (Michael Williams)

 

            -- in this prayer, Christ commands us to ask God to forgive us as we have forgiven those who trespass against us -- it is a conditional clause, but one that is intended for our good -- for the healing of our soul -- so that we might not become bitter and poisoned by the hate of unforgiveness

 

III.  Closing

            -- I want to bring this to a close by sharing with you a story from Prison Fellowship Ministries, the organization founded by Chuck Colson to reach out to prisoners with the love and forgiveness of Christ

            -- at a Prison Fellowship banquet one night, Albert Quie, the president of the organization, was taken aback by a statement made by a lady in attendance as she was leaving the dinner -- she told Albert, "The man I ate dinner with tonight killed my brother."

-- she told Albert how this man had murdered her brother during a robbery, served 18 years at the prison at Walla Walla, and how he was then paroled and began work at a dairy farm -- learning of this, she sought him out -- not out of vengeance or out of a desire to see him punished even more -- but to offer him forgiveness for what he had done to her family

-- it would be nice to say that her actions led him to dedicate his life to Christ, but that didn’t happen -- but her act of grace and mercy and forgiveness touched him deeply -- at that Prison Fellowship banquet, he said, “Christians are the only people I know that you can kill their son, and they'll make you a part of their family. I don't know the Man Upstairs, but He sure is hounding me."

-- this man’s story is unfinished; he hasn't yet accepted Christ -- But just as Christ died for us regardless of our actions or acceptance, so this woman forgave him without qualification -- she forgave him his trespasses, because of the forgiveness she had received through Christ (Albert H. Quie, President of Prison Fellowship Ministries, Jubilee, p. 5)

 

            -- this is unnatural -- it is supernatural -- it is only possible through the grace and the power of Christ within us -- but this is what we are called to pray for in the Lord’s prayer -- this is how we are called to live as Christians saved by grace

            -- as we close, I want you to consider what Jesus is saying in this prayer -- what He is calling us to do when He tells us to ask God to “forgive us our trespasses, as we have forgiven those who trespassed against us”

            -- forgiveness is hard -- it is hard to receive -- and it is even harder to offer

            -- if any of you are struggling with unforgiveness in your life, I would encourage you to spend some time reading through this passage this week and reflecting on what Jesus says here in Matthew 6 about forgiveness

            -- if anyone wants to talk about it -- or has any questions about it -- I would be happy to meet with you at any time

            -- with that, let us close, and let us go to God in prayer

            -- let’s pray