Please turn with me tonight to Ephesians chapter 4 as we read together beginning at verse 17 through chapter 5 verse 1. You will recognize, I trust, for those of you who were here this morning, that in many ways it's a parallel to what Paul says in Colossians chapter 3, the setting of the law that we read this morning. Again, Paul talking about what we are called to put off, what we are called to put on as those who have been redeemed, born again in Christ Jesus. And you may recall that as we have made our way through the catechism, especially the previous section on the Ten Commandments, that a couple of times we turn to this passage because it is so rich. Paul includes so much in this passage covering different commandments and now we turn to it again tonight with regard to the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer. Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. Indeed, something that affects us all, doesn't it? We've all been hurt by someone else. We've all hurt someone else. And therefore, this is indeed for you and me. Also, if you would turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 62 to Lord's Day 51, which deals with that petition. We'll look at that in just a moment. First of all, giving our attention to God's holy, inspired, inerrant word. Page 62 in the back of the Psalter hymnal, once you've found that. And we turn back to Ephesians chapter 4, beginning at verse 17. Again, considering verse 32 and even more pointedly, the second half of verse 32, which you will see in a moment. Hear now the Word of God, beginning at verse 17. So I tell you this and insist on it in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work doing something useful with his own hands that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. We ask God that He would bless the reading of His Word and consideration of it tonight. If you would also turn then to page 62 in the Psalter hymnal, you find Lord's Days 50 and 51. Lord's Day 51, as we give expression to what we confess concerning this petition. Question 126. What does the fifth request mean? And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors means because of Christ's blood do not hold against us poor sinners that we are, any of the sins we do or the evil that constantly clings to us. Forgive us just as we are fully determined as evidence of Your grace in us to forgive our neighbors. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, in verse 31, Paul says again, Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Get rid of it, Paul says. Yet we live in a world, don't we, that says that you have a right to be angry. You have a right to make those who have hurt you or who have sinned against you, you have a right to make them feel the pain. You have a right to make them pay. We see that especially in our day of frivolous lawsuits, don't we? Or you might see an interview on TV with grieving parents who have lost a child in some sort of a tragic accident, and in the midst of their grief, we know they cannot help but to say somebody has to pay. And I'm not saying that if someone has broken the law that they shouldn't suffer the decision of the court, they should. But for Christians, whatever the circumstance might be for you and me, when it comes to others who are involved, God says nothing doing to what the world says. He says with others, you do not return evil for evil or insult for insult. Instead, as Paul teaches, we are called to do the very opposite as hard as it may be. We are called to be kind. To be compassionate. In fact, to forgive even the unforgivable. Even the hard to forgive. Even those who really don't care whether or not they are forgiven. As we were reminded this morning, God's people indeed live in the midst of a tension between the old man and the new man. Paul understood that tension. He understood that believers are born again. That God's people have new life. That they are being renewed, transformed more and more by the work of the Holy Spirit. And all of this in the midst of a world of sin. All of this in the midst of a world that we used to be like. And he knew that Christians still struggle with sin and the temptation to, for example, again, adultery and lust. And therefore, Paul teaches here and again in Colossians and in other places that we are called to more and more put off and fight against the life of the old man. You see, the Christian life, and to put on and to practice the love that characterizes the new. The Christian life, beloved, is not a life of just sitting back and doing nothing. Of saying, well, hey, I'm in Christ. Hey, I'm forgiven. My sins are forgiven. I've got that confidence. And I don't have to do anything. Well, of course not we don't have to do anything. To be in Christ, that's all the work of God by His grace. But Paul makes it very clear that we are called to be active. We are called to be busy. Because we have a whole world out there that is against us. A world that we were like. A world from which we have been rescued. And Jesus and His servants say, get to work. And Paul says, instead of bitterness, and instead of anger and hatred and hurting others and slander and planning on deprive others in some way, be or become with the idea of to cultivate, to practice, Be, become kind, compassionate, caring. A compassion, that powerful feeling of love and pity toward another one that moves the compassionate one to kindness, being useful and helpful to others, desiring and seeking. Seeking the good and the benefit of others. Not seeking to hurt them, not to harm them, not to cause them to suffer, But instead, engage in the suffering of others. Do not say, well, it's their problem, not mine. But instead, he calls God's people to act toward others in a way that completely contradicts the sinful nature. Someone has said, instead of always being on the lookout for something you can find fault with, be always on the lookout for something you can praise. Be kind. Become. Practice kindness. Compassion. And I believe that that kindness and compassion is reflected most, as Paul points out here, in forgiving. Forgiving each other just as in Christ forgave you. What a motive! Just as in Christ God forgave you. Paul here, I believe, explains the fifth petition. Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. He teaches us here that the forgiven forgive. Now, some say that this petition, most likely because of the wording of it, that this petition means that we are forgiven by God only if we forgive others first. Or that we are forgiven only in the proportion by which we forgive others. But I trust you understand, that's not Jesus' teaching here. Remember, this prayer that He teaches, this prayer is a prayer for believers. This prayer is for those who are able to address God as our Father. It is a prayer for those whom Paul describes in Ephesians 1 when he says, in Him we have redemption. We have the forgiveness of sins. This is a prayer for those who are already forgiven by the grace of God. And our forgiveness of others, beloved, as the Catechism correctly says, is evidence of God's grace. God's grace of forgiveness of us. Our forgiveness of others is an unmistakable characteristic of that new life. And especially as it is expressed in the believer's relationship with fellow man. The forgiven forgive. First of all, as they are reminded of their own unworthiness. Of their own unworthiness before God. Paul says, God forgave you. The petition requests again, forgive us our debts. God forgave and forgive. This petition is a confession of sin. It is a confession that forgiveness is needed. And we know that debts is something that we owe. Boys and girls, if you owe someone some money, you have a debt to them for that amount of money. We owe God perfect obedience. It's always been that way. But we have failed and we fail to give it. But we owe God not only because of what we have failed to give Him, but we owe Him we are indebted to God also because of the evil that we have done. It's a confession of sin. And ours, we might say, is a broad spectrum of sin. In Psalm 32, David uses three terms, three different Hebrew terms for sin. We read it in the NIV. It says, Blessed is the man whose transgressions are covered, whose sin is forgiven, and then again, whose sin the Lord does not count against him. But in the Hebrew, it's three different words which we might think of as transgression, as sin, and as iniquity. The broad spectrum of sin that is ours includes transgression. To transgress, we know, means to cross over a boundary, to go beyond a boundary that has been set for us. young people, whether it's a curfew or boys and girls, whether it's the boundary of the yard. And don't go outside of our yard. To transgress is to go beyond the boundary that your parents have set for you. When it comes to sin, to transgress is to cross over the boundary that God has set for our living in relationship with Him. He has set His law as our boundary for our benefit, for our safety, for our good. And the second word very simply in the NIV is translated as sin. It means, as we know, to miss the mark. We think of the bullseye with a bow and arrow. Instead of hitting the bullseye, the arrow goes off to one side or the other. To miss the mark of the glory of God, that which pleases Him. And the third word is iniquity. The idea of being corrupted, twisted, crooked, in heart. A guileless spirit, as we sang, in the previous number. Turning aside, turning away from the path that God has marked out for us. Ours is a broad spectrum of sin, but also this petition points out our constant habit of sin. Forgive us our debts. It's in the plural. It's something ongoing, continuous, sadly. You see, sadly, beloved, we are not sinless. But by God's grace of sanctification and renewal of the Holy Spirit, more and more God's people sin less. Yet we know that ours is a constant inclination to sin. As the Bible says, even our best works are as filthy rags. And therefore, with this petition, we acknowledge our sin and therefore it is a confession of guilt. The Catechism describes us as poor sinners. And that doesn't mean that we're no good at it. We're very good at it. But the word poor there has the idea of wretched, unworthy, miserable, without hope, without a way of repaying God. We are, as someone has described it, criminals with no defense. Debtors with no assets. Imprisoned without hope. Guilty before God. You recall, I trust, with regard in Matthew 18, we find the parable of the unmerciful servant. that unmerciful servant who owed his master a mountain of debt he had. He begs for forgiveness. It's granted to him. His lesser servant begs him for forgiveness of a much, much smaller debt and he won't give it. And therefore, the first unmerciful servant is thrown into prison by his master until he can pay it back. And the quantity that our Lord uses in that parable points out the fact that the debt that that unmerciful servant owed was several lifetimes of earnings. Even if he could have worked every single day for his whole life, he would never even make a dent in it. And being cast into prison was a definite that he would never ever be able to repay it. And we know that Jesus shows us there our mountain of debt before God. There's absolutely no way that we can even begin to pay off even a small portion of it. It is unthinkable. You see, beloved, this petition is a confession of our unworthiness. We are to understand that before God even as Christians with confidence that God is our Father. As the Catechism answer 13 says, we increase our guilt every day as we pray this prayer daily. It is to be a constant reminder for you and me of our unworthiness before God. And therefore, a reminder of our unworthiness compared to others. And what I mean is compared to the sins of others against us. Our unworthiness before God is so much greater than the unworthiness of the sins of others against us. There is no comparison. Yet, isn't it true that our natural tendency is to treat the sins of others against us as even worse than our sin against God? No one has ever been hurt as bad as I have been hurt. No one has ever treated me that bad. I've certainly not treated anybody else that badly. We may not say that others' sins against us are worse than our sins against God, but we might very well act like it when we are not willing to forgive others. You see, beloved, our sin against each other is sin against equals. Sinner versus sinner. And I think, too, that even when someone sins against us, we're not so hurt by the fact that they have sinned against God, which ought to grieve us. But we are more hurt because of the result. We are angry because of the result of their sin to us. Our sin against each other is sin against equals, but our sin against God is sin against a perfect, holy, righteous God against His very being who has never ever sinned against us. And indeed, our sin against each other is also ultimately sin against God, and that ought to really grieve us. But the simple truth is no one has ever sinned against you and me as bad as we have sinned against God. Our sin against God is nothing but criminal. It is worthy of nothing less than the everlasting punishment and torture of hell. And the worst that we have suffered because of the horrible treatment from others does not begin to compare to the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, even as He was suffering on the cross, even as He was bearing the punishment against your sin and mine, He forgave. And that's why Paul teaches that the forgiven forgive. First of all, being reminded of our own unworthiness. We must see that. We must see that oh so clearly. And then in the second place, the forgiven forgive as they remember their own forgiveness. You see, that's why we have new life. Apart from forgiveness, there is no hope of new life. But ours is new life because of the forgiveness that we have received and received it in Christ alone. Paul says, just as in Christ God forgave you. And that simple phrase is a simple reminder of the cross of Jesus. Just as in Christ. And Paul picks that up again a little bit later at the beginning in the first verse of chapter 5. And the catechism picks that up when it says, because of Christ's blood, our forgiveness is not because of us, not because we have merited it, not because we have earned it or are good enough for it, but in spite of us. As Paul says in Romans 4, verse 25, He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. And in chapter 5, he goes on, you see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this while we were still sinners. Christ died for us. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us in our place. so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And as Isaiah says in Isaiah 53, He was bruised, He was pierced, He was crushed for our iniquities, for our transgressions. Beloved, may we never tire of hearing about that great exchange that Jesus Christ took our place. May we never tire of being reminded of our unworthiness, that mountain of debt, And of God's forgiveness of all of it in Christ Jesus. Because as Peter says, He redeemed us with His precious blood alone. Indeed, beloved, this is a reminder of that greatest gift that you and I could ever receive that we needed the most. As one commentator says, the Lord Jesus Christ places before us our great debts in order that we might see His great payment, His full satisfaction. Oh, what a glorious picture. Oh, not necessarily of our great debt, but of His great payment that wipes it all away. There's nothing left. There's nothing left to be done. He paid it all. As we sometimes sing, sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. And therefore, too, what a reminder of our confidence that those who have repented, who believe and trust in Jesus Christ by the grace of God alone, for them, God does not, as the Catechism says, hold against us poor sinners that we are, any of the sins that we do or the evil that constantly clings to us. Listen to those words. God does not hold them against us. You and I are the masters of holding another's sin against them. We do want to hang on to it. Put it in the drawer. Tuck it in the back pocket for when we might need it most. For when we might have to make them feel a little bit bad. But God does not hold against us. Never again will He say, Remember when? Never again will He remind us, you did this. Ours is an assurance of pardon. As Psalm 103 says, as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As Isaiah 43 says, He remembers our sin no more. You see, if even one sin was not paid for and forgiven, even our original sin, that corruption, we would have no hope. we would be headed for hell. Yet none of it remains. And yet, beloved, no sin is too great for the blood of Jesus. Maybe you are here tonight and you're here because you think it's a good place to be. You're here every week. But you struggle inside. I am such a great sinner. I have done too many things wrong that God certainly cannot forgive me. that Christ's blood, certainly there isn't enough to go around. In the name of Jesus Christ, I call you to humble yourself, to trust in Jesus Christ alone. Because His blood is more than sufficient. It is plenty effective. His forgiveness is complete and sure. And therefore, beloved, we remember our forgiveness even as we request it daily. There are some who say that, well, if you have asked for forgiveness once, you don't ever need to ask for it again. Even when you sin, you don't have to confess that sin and ask God for forgiveness. You've done it once. That's all it takes. All of our sins are forgiven, past, present, and future. And indeed, that is God's promise, isn't it? Yet, just as Jesus teaches His people to ask for daily bread and to honor God's name in prayer on a regular basis, so He teaches us to ask for forgiveness. This is the pattern of the believer's prayer that Jesus teaches is to be for our whole life, throughout our life. We sin daily. And therefore, He calls us to pray for and claim God's promise, His cleansing blood of Jesus each and every day. every day through this petition. We express our dependence on and our confidence in the trustworthiness of the Father's love and Jesus' blood. Jesus' blood never needs to be shed again. And what has been shed never loses its cleansing power. It never loses its effectiveness. And as we remember our unworthiness, And as we remember our forgiveness in Christ alone, our forgiveness then is also reflected towards others. It's a natural outpouring. It's a natural byproduct or result of the forgiveness of God in the believer's life. You see, the one that realizes what forgiveness from God truly is, is that mountain of death that you and I can't even begin to fathom. That's completely canceled. The one who realizes what the forgiveness from God truly is cannot refuse to forgive others, whether we think they deserve it or not, whether they ask for it or not. How? Just as in Christ, God forgave you. How was that? How can we describe God's forgiveness of you and me? Freely. Generously. wholeheartedly, eagerly, completely, genuinely. No strings attached. As we said a moment ago, never again will He bring it up and stick it in your face. And that is how we are called, beloved, to be imitators of God, Paul says. Letting the wrong that may have been done against you and me go. Let it go without a demand for punishment. let it go without a demand to be paid back. Instead, seeking to restore the relationship with the other as Jesus teaches in Matthew 5 and Matthew 18. And especially in Matthew 18, if you read that, you recognize that we find there what we call the steps of discipline. But even as we consider the steps of discipline, that does not speak to us about how to incriminate my neighbor. But our Lord teaches us how to gain a brother. You see, beloved, it is impossible to seek or to enjoy God's forgiveness while pampering, while promoting an unforgiving spirit toward others. But a desire to forgive is, as the catechism says, evidence of God's grace, evidence of God's grace of forgiving us, evidence of the Holy Spirit living in us. And therefore, this petition, beloved, is a prayer for continued renewal. A prayer that the Holy Spirit of God would continue to work in your heart and mine, molding and shaping us, making us more and more those who would desire to forgive. It's not easy. Forgiveness is not easy. We still struggle with the sin of selfishness that clings to us and that sinful nature that wants to remain angry and wants to get revenge and wants to make another pay. Yet, beloved, the desire and the effort that is in God's people by the Holy Spirit, it is real. By grace, we find ourselves wanting and seeking to forgive. And more and more, little by little, day by day, it becomes a way of life. It becomes a habit. It is the fruit of Christ's work in us. it shows the power of the Holy Spirit in us. As someone has said, just as the blood of Christ heals our life, so the Spirit of God heals our relationships. You see, those who are forgiven begin to look at their neighbor differently. Not out of spite, not out of suspicion, not out of fear. But they begin to look at their neighbors as fellow human beings, fellow citizens in need of the grace of God, a grace, we pray, that is demonstrated by us being gracious to others. The forgiven forgive. Knowing that their sin against God is so much greater than anyone's sin against them. And being so grateful that God will not make me pay or make me feel the eternal pain of my sin against Him. desiring the forgiveness and the reconciliation of the offender with God and praying that God will use me to demonstrate that forgiveness so that the one who sins against me may be drawn to God if it is His will. Dear people of God, freely we have received the forgiveness of God in Christ and therefore with joy may we freely give forgiveness to others. Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we confess that we do need to be reminded of our unworthiness before You. Even as we struggle with sin and commit sin daily, we are to be reminded of that. Only then to be also reminded of Your forgiveness, Complete forgiveness in Christ Jesus. There are a lot of things in life, Lord, that we call a miracle, but in a sense we might say this is indeed a miracle. We cannot even begin to fathom it. Your forgiveness of us in Jesus. And we pray that more and more we might demonstrate that new life of love for God above all and our neighbor as ourselves demonstrated in being a forgiving people. For indeed, we know that the hurts will not stop coming. We may face them daily. But yet, You have given to us a greater joy that overpowers any hurts we might experience. And therefore, too, You have equipped us and empowered us by Your Holy Spirit to in sincerity and truth forgive others. Father, may we delight in reconciled relationships. especially with brothers and sisters in Christ, that we might enjoy the love of God expressed toward one another and living with the joy of such a great fellowship in Christ Jesus. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake, and in His name we pray. Amen.