I want to share with you guys a little story about my friend David, King David, to be specific.
And yeah, this is the record that he gave me to kind of tell his story, okay?
So this is a challenging, powerful story, so I'm just going to read it with you guys.
So in the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites.
However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.
Then late one afternoon after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of his palace.
And as he looked over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.
And he sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told,
She is Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.
Then David sent messengers to get her.
And when she came to David's palace, he slept with her.
And then she returned home.
Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message saying,
I'm pregnant.
And I think in the story now, you can maybe imagine, it's not in the official record of David,
but maybe just that sense of guilt and shame.
Because as the king of Israel, he knew very well what God's design and God's heart and how God thought about adultery.
And you can maybe just imagine if you were in his shoes, I know it might be hard to imagine yourself in the shoes of a king,
but just this sense of, oh my goodness, what have I done?
How did this happen?
So the story continues.
David was a smart man, so I think, so he, my friend, probably just kind of survival mode, instinct,
figuring things out, kind of kicked in.
And it says this,
Then David sent word to Joab, the commander that he had sent out to fight the Ammonites.
He sent word to Joab saying,
Send me, Uriah the Hittite.
So Joab sent him to David.
And when Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along,
how the war was progressing, you know, the good pleasantries like that.
Then he told Uriah, go on home and relax.
David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace.
So you can imagine, you can probably guess, you know, why he wanted to send Uriah home, right?
Because if Uriah went home, you know, obviously, you know, had a good night with his wife,
everything would be patched up.
Everything would look fine on the outside, right?
The problem was this, Uriah didn't go home.
He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king's palace guard.
And when David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked,
What's the matter?
Why didn't you go last night after being away for so long?
And Uriah replied,
Okay, so David responded,
Well, stay here today and tomorrow you may return to the army.
So you can probably imagine David's trying to think,
What can I do to make this plan kind of work out?
So the next day, David invited him to dinner and got him drunk.
But even then, he couldn't get Uriah to go home to his wife.
And again, Uriah slept at the palace entrance with the king's palace guard.
So if you put yourself in David's shoes now, what do you do next?
You can just probably imagine that sort of anxiety as he's, you know, maybe laying in bed and thinking,
What am I going to do?
How do I fix this?
How do I cover this up?
So the next morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver.
So Uriah's going to deliver this letter to Joab, his commander.
And the letter instructed Joab,
Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest.
Then pull back so that he will be killed.
So Joab obediently assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall
where he knew the enemy's strongest men would be fighting.
And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight,
Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers.
And if you've never heard this story before, I trust, I mean, some of you I know, you've heard that.
You've never heard it before.
You know, this is a good reminder for us.
The main character is King David.
And he wasn't just any king.
You might kind of look at that story and say,
Yeah, I know, you know, kings are messed up and they do crazy things all the time.
But King David was one of the godliest and greatest kings ever to lead the people of ancient Israel.
The Bible even describes him as a man after God's own heart.
And that's quite the description.
If anyone ever calls you a man or woman after God's own heart,
Well, you can really kind of reflect on that and think if that's true or not.
So here, David, the greatest, godliest king of Israel,
described as the man of God's own heart,
commits this treacherous thing.
And although he was guilty of committing adultery and trying really hard to cover it up,
and ultimately getting Uriah killed,
the episode doesn't end there.
Because when you read on in the story,
you find that God sends the prophet Nathan
to confront David about everything.
And David confesses.
He says this,
I have sinned against the Lord.
And Nathan tells David that his sin will have consequences.
Of course, his sins will have consequences.
But David is forgiven,
and he will not die.
And so church,
that's what makes David a man after God's own heart.
Not that he was perfect,
but when he was faced with that reality,
when he was actually convicted and confronted with sin,
he confessed genuinely,
and he repented.
And today we're going through a series on the Lord's Prayer.
Last week we talked about,
God, your kingdom come.
Today we're going to look at when Jesus teaches us to pray,
our heavenly Father,
forgive us our debts.
I'll just kind of put that on the screen right now.
Our Father in heaven,
forgive our debts.
And in this time,
just in the next 20 minutes or so,
I want to simply show us
what Jesus meant by that
when he said,
forgive us our debts.
And how do we actually put that into practice?
And this story of David
that I just kind of narrated for you
is really helpful for us to understand debt,
this nature of debt and forgiveness.
Because the concept of debt is normally economic, right?
When we think about money we owe to others,
we will describe that as a debt to them.
But when we think of debt at a broader level,
and we kind of see how it applies to so much more than money.
You know, when we look at King David,
King David,
the godliest, greatest king of Israel,
God gives him everything
so that he can represent God
as the king of Israel
and lead his people.
But when he does these terrible things
with what God has given him,
with what he's received,
using the idea of debt,
we can say that David is now indebted to God
because he failed so miserably
to be the king that he was supposed to be.
In the Bible, that's what God calls sin.
So when we look at prayer and forgiveness today,
I mean, if you haven't felt it already,
my hope is that we realize
that this should be a heavy topic.
It is a heavy topic.
When we look at David's life,
you know, sin and spiritual debt
touch every aspect of our lives.
Everything.
So we need to face it head on.
And we need to look at what it means
for us to pray regularly
about forgiveness
and all the issues that come with it.
So if we're going to take
the Lord's Prayer to heart,
we, the first thing we must do
is we've got to recognize
just the magnitude of debt.
It's not a small thing,
the magnitude of it.
And today, whether you're a Christian or not,
you might look at David and say,
well, you know, that's crazy,
you know, what he did.
And that's very messed up.
I've never done anything like that.
I mean, I've lived a pretty good life overall.
And even those of us
who've learned
about the seriousness of sin
and how God's standards are perfect,
I think we can kind of drift back
to thinking that we're not all that bad.
You might not say that
sort of intentionally
and consciously in your head,
but you might kind of just
default back to thinking,
oh, you know,
maybe I was pretty bad at one point,
but now I've recovered.
Now I've gained my footing again.
Now I'm on the way to righteousness.
And I'm doing well.
Now I remember back in university,
way back when,
when I was really far from God.
I didn't really have any interest
in following him.
I would probably say
that was kind of one of the low points
in my life.
Just completely engrossed
with enjoying myself
and, you know,
spent a whole year
just partying hard
and working hard
and just kind of doing my thing.
I just remember making,
I remember waking up one morning
after about a whole year
and just thinking,
this can't be who I am.
This can't be all that I am.
There has to be more
to this.
And it was then
that I really thought
long and hard
about God's purpose
for creating me
and how I might fulfill
that purpose.
And I came to the realization
that some of you
may have also come to realize
that God created us
to worship him
with our entire lives
so that every last part
of our lives
would reflect his glory
and his goodness.
And I definitely
wasn't doing that
in that year
of partying hard
and working hard.
I mean, sure,
I wasn't covering up
adultery
and I wasn't trying
to get my classmates killed
and my roommates killed.
Sure, I wasn't doing that.
But when I started reading
the Gospels,
when I started reading
what Jesus said
about anger
and lust,
that ultimately,
to God,
even the traces
of anger
and lust
in my heart
were to him
the same
ultimately as murder
and adultery.
You know,
anger becoming murder
and lust becoming adultery.
These,
I realized
something profound
that sin
and death
are not just
about actions.
Right?
They're about
the smallest
of our motives,
the smallest
of our intentions,
the smallest
of our desires
from the depths
of our hearts.
And every person
in this room,
including myself,
has mixed motives.
Every person
is capable
of the darkest
and most evil things
when it's only happening
in our minds.
Right?
And I would like
to think
that given
a particular
environment
or a particular
circumstance
or a particular
upbringing,
I would easily
be capable
of turning
those desires
and letting them
manifest in actions.
You just need
the right environment.
Right?
Pure motives
count.
And if you think
about it,
we as humans,
we certainly
care about humans.
I mean,
human motives,
right?
I mean,
just think about it
honestly.
If you looked
at your spouse
or your child
or your parents
and they only
acted
like they loved you,
how would you feel?
You know,
they acted,
they're the best
Oscar award winning
actor and they
acted great
like they loved you
day after day
after day.
Oscar winning
performances,
but inside
there was no
real desire
or at least
the motives,
the intentions
were really mixed.
How would you
feel about that?
And if you
care about those
motives,
how much more
do your motives
matter when it
comes to the
perfect God
who created you?
How much more
would that matter?
So the key
to this
is realizing
that debt
is a big
deal.
It's a serious
thing
when it's
to God,
the perfect
God.
When you owe
a debt to God,
that debt
is massive.
Why?
Because God
is the perfect
embodiment
of everything
that is good.
Perfect motives,
perfect actions.
And so when
he has called
us to be
like that
in our lives
and we fail
to live up
to that
calling,
the debt
is massive.
So the reality
is today,
you know,
if any of us
think that we
are somehow
good enough
to pay that
debt,
I think we're
just delusional.
You know,
those mixed
motives in my
heart mean
that I can
never reflect
God's glory
the way I
was intended
to.
Just going
back to the
debt idea,
right?
If you are
permanently
bankrupt,
if you are
permanently
insolvent,
how on earth
can you
pay your
debts?
Right?
You have
nothing,
nothing to
pay back.
And although
that was a
rhetorical question,
you may have
guessed the
answer is
Jesus Christ.
Since we
cannot possibly
live that
perfect life,
God lived it
through Jesus.
He lived that
perfect life
through Jesus
Christ.
And since
the only
way for us
to pay
the debt
is through
death and
separation from
God,
Jesus was
crucified and
separated from
God on our
behalf.
So this
is the first
step for us
to remember.
We need to
put our faith
in Jesus
Christ and
what he did
for us.
We need to
do that every
day.
And if
you're in
this room
today and
you've never
put your
faith in
Christ before,
today is as
good a day as
any, I think,
to do that.
Because Christ
is the only
way that a
bankrupt,
insolvent
people can
pay back that
debt to
Jesus.
Now you
might be
sitting in your
chair and
thinking,
well I know
that, I've
heard that
before.
And the
truth is, I
have, because
everything I
just shared
with you, I
realized all
of that 13
years ago when
I woke up that
morning and
thought to
myself, my
life is so
stupid.
All this days
and days of
partying and
studying hard,
what's the
point?
I'm just
going to do
more tests and
work for the
next job and
work for the
next promotion
and work and
work and work
until the day I
die.
And it was
just an endless
search for the
next thing.
And I just
woke up and I
started thinking,
wow, this is
really meaningless
and really
hopeless.
I realized all
of that that
day 13 years
ago.
And as I
learned how to
follow Jesus,
as I learned in
the Gospels what
it looked like to
actually find true
purpose and meaning
in my life and
thinking about how
God designed me,
as God worked
in my life,
yes, I did
grow, I did
mature, I
realized all those
things that I
just described to
you.
But then something
happened.
As I grew, as I
mature, I started
to forget the
depths of my sin.
I started to
kind of think,
oh, maybe I'm
good enough now
because I started
to do a lot of
the right things.
I had sort of
built this
reputation of
being a
mature person.
I think someone
might even have
dared to call me
or pray that I
was a man after
God's own heart.
Maybe just once.
And I think I
had achieved the
status of being
a mature or
good Christian,
whatever that
means.
and I felt
more happy about
what I had
done.
I might not
have consciously
thought that,
but I started to
feel more happy
about what I
had done than
what Jesus had
done on the
cross.
And Jesus
became a nice
name for my
identity, Christ
follower, Christian,
a church leader,
a fellowship
leader.
It became a
nice name, a
nice title for my
identity, but
Jesus actually
wasn't the one I
depended on 100%
to pay that
debt that I
needed to pay.
And now kind of
looking back in
that journey, man,
how arrogant and
prideful was I
to think that
somehow, you
know, through my
own talents and
effort and whatever
other attributes, I
was becoming a
better person.
I was getting
closer to God.
And I must
confess to you
today, I need to
come back to
Jesus too.
And I
understand it's
not that simple.
I understand that
some of you have
really given credit
to God for what
he's done in your
life, for how your
hearts have been
transformed, because
so have I.
I've given plenty of
credit to God in my
life, which is why I
know from experience
that we'll always have
this temptation to
credit ourselves, to
start feeling a sense
that we've done it,
we've finally reached
that plateau.
And that's why I
love this cross
chart that we've
shown to you
before.
This cross
chart is a
description of how
in our journey,
spiritual journey,
true maturity is
actually a growing
awareness of God's
holiness.
It's not that God
becomes more holy,
he's been pretty holy,
I think, through all
of eternity.
But our growing
awareness of it, and
a growing awareness of
my own sinfulness, that's
spiritual maturity.
recognizing that any
given moment, there's a
darkness in your soul,
in your heart, there's
mixed motives that will
never truly go away, and
even as you wrestle and
grow in holiness, grow in
obedience, grow in
serving God and being
obedient to him, actually
the very depths of your
soul are still tainted,
and there's always this
growing sense of your own
sinfulness.
righteousness.
And that's when you
realize that the cross
becomes magnified, it
becomes greater and
greater.
Not that Jesus' salvation
and sort of the resurrection
sort of has become
greater, but your growing
awareness of the value of
Jesus just kind of comes
back at you.
God, you have done such an
amazing thing.
I didn't even realize how
great my debt was 13 years
ago.
And hopefully 13 years from
now, I will realize even
more.
That was a debt I could not
repay and no amount of good
performance could have
repaid.
You know, think about the
last time you felt genuine
emotion about that cross.
in complete awe of that cross
of Calvary.
Like if you were a man on
death row and you have now
been pardoned.
Maybe imagine that you were
an orphan thinking back to
the day.
You're an orphan with loving
parents right now thinking
back to the day that you
heard the news that you were
going to be adopted.
It's pretty amazing, right?
And the cross is infinitely
more amazing than that.
And how you feel about it
today just might be an
indicator of how much you
recognize and you continue to
recognize the size of your
debt and how much it cost God
to absorb that debt.
You know, Jesus taught us to
pray, forgive us our debts
as a model for our prayer
lives.
To remember that debt.
To remember the size and
magnitude of that debt.
It's clear that he wanted us
to remember our constant need
for forgiveness.
Yes, the cross has showed us
that we have been forgiven.
once and for all.
But we are still imperfect.
We are still full of mixed
motives.
And we still fall short daily
of God's perfect standard.
Every day, there's a part of
my life, however small, that
still says to God, God, I
don't need you in this.
I don't need you in my life.
I want to live my way.
I'm the God of my life.
And sure, you might not say
that verbally, but in your
heart, there's things where
you're effectively, de facto,
saying that to God.
So this aspect of prayer,
forgive us our debts that
Jesus modeled for us, it's
really about confession.
Confessing our debts to God and
our need for his forgiveness.
forgiveness.
And the reason why I don't
confess to a human priest
is because I know that Jesus
Christ is the high priest and
he is the only person I need
to access God and to access
God's forgiveness.
But the practice of forgiveness
is still so important.
And that's something I know that
I neglect.
This actual ritual, this actual
process, this actual act of
asking God for forgiveness.
But this model of prayer, this
model that Lord Jesus in his
Lord's Prayer modeled to us, that
is something that he shows us.
We need to do it intentionally and
consciously, approaching God
through our high priest, Jesus
Christ, to ask for forgiveness.
forgiveness.
But remember, as we do this, we
approach a God that isn't
distant.
It says, our heavenly Father, our
Father in heaven.
And that's how this series
started.
You know, we spent an entire
sermon talking about our Father
in heaven.
So when you think about
confession, how much of a
much do you want to forgive your
child when they genuinely
confess and they're genuinely
sorry?
And if that's the case, how much
more does your God, your perfect
heavenly Father, want to forgive
you?
God tells us in Scripture that he
has removed our sins as far as us
from, as west is to east.
If you can even imagine how far west
is from east, that's how far God has
removed our sins.
And the Lord is like a father to his
children, tender and compassionate to
those who fear him.
So do not forget in confession that
you are coming before a holy God but
also a perfect heavenly Father who
desires to forgive you when you
genuinely confess.
So we're going to spend some more time
to respond in confession after the
sermon, but before we put that into
practice, the Lord's Prayer tells us
something really important that we must
do before we come before our heavenly
Father.
It says, forgive us our debts as we also
have forgiven our debtors.
And church, that's a condition, a caveat
that I always kind of gloss over and
forget when I think about the Lord's Prayer.
Forgive us our debts as we also have
forgiven the ones who owe debt to us,
our debtors.
And that phrasing in the Lord's Prayer tells
us that there is an intimate and direct
connection between the forgiveness that we
experience from God and the forgiveness that
we offer to others.
That word as is important because you can
also translate that as like.
If you think about it, forgive us our debts like
we also have forgiven our debtors.
God, forgive me just like how I forgive others.
That's a scary thought, isn't it?
When I thought about that, I can only ask and
expect God's forgiveness of me to be like the
forgiveness we extend to others.
And I want to be clear here, the forgiveness that
you extend to others, it's not a way to earn God's
forgiveness.
I mean, we've already highlighted how impossible
it is to pay our debts to God.
And it's very clear, God is so clear in Scripture
that we need to put our faith in Jesus and
follow Him to receive lasting forgiveness from
God.
But that doesn't make us perfect right away,
right?
As we continue to confess our sins, confess our
debts, as we continue to appreciate that massive
distance between God's holiness and our sinfulness, we
continue to experience God's amazing grace, right?
And it's precisely because of that forgiveness, because
of that joy that you experience in forgiveness that we can
quickly and genuinely forgive our debtors.
You know, when I grow in appreciating that gap that we saw in the cross
chart, recognizing that our debt is huge, my debt is huge, I actually start
realizing the debt that others owe me is actually quite small in comparison,
right?
And also, we need to think about the people.
As we think about the people that we need to forgive, we need to remember that sin,
that debts, although, yes, they hurt all people around us, they hurt, they show us the
brokenness in the world, and they do hurt the people around you.
Sin is ultimately something that only God can be the judge of.
Let's go back to the story of King David and his sin.
So you remember, Nathan confronts him, and David just confesses.
But what does he confess?
He says, Lord, I have sinned against you.
And after this episode, God actually inspires David to write Psalm 51.
And David writes this inspired prayer.
In Psalm 51, he prays this,
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.
Against you and you only, God.
Now, David obviously wasn't saying that his sin didn't hurt and didn't affect others.
That's obviously what he isn't saying.
But what he's showing us is that he recognizes that God alone is the judge of his sin.
And if a perfect God is the judge of everything, you know, the harm we cause to others, if you
think about it, actually that's even more serious.
Because God judges every one of us with perfect justice.
So what that tells us, what Psalm 51 tells us, is that as we forgive our debtors, we don't need to hold on to that role of being judge as well.
God is the perfect judge.
And as we forgive, as we let go, as we give that burden to God, we can remember that God is the one to judge.
And that is not a burden for us to carry.
And I think, church, that really helps me when I think about forgiving those who have hurt me.
Our Father in heaven, forgive us our debts like we also have forgiven our debtors.
There is clearly a condition there.
Can you truly say that you have experienced God's forgiveness if you're unwilling to forgive others?
How can I say that I continue to experience God's forgiveness when I continue to hold on to unforgiveness in my own heart?
There is clearly a connection.
Our forgiveness of others is a sign, a warning light to us of how much we understand and appreciate and have grasped the depths of God's forgiveness for us.
And this is why the Lord's Prayer teaches us, pray regularly in confession.
Father, forgive our debts.
And that's what we're going to spend a bit of time doing right now.
And I want to invite the band to come up and just create some space for us to reflect and pray as we put this into practice.
Confession helps us to appreciate and remember how great a debt God has forgiven.
And it inspires us to forgive the much smaller debts that others owe us.
And guys, I know, I know that some of us, a lot of us have experienced serious hurt and pain in our lives.
And I'm not trying to just kind of brush that aside.
Those debts that others owe you are serious indeed and they might feel massive indeed.
And that's why Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer, we have to start with recognizing that it's our Father in Heaven that we're praying to.
Remember that definition of prayer that we've been sharing?
Prayer is a child calling out to their Father in Heaven, their loving Heavenly Father, in response to Him reaching down to us.
Reaching down to us like a loving Heavenly Father.
And God knows every single hurt, every single debt that is owed to you.
And He wants you to know this morning that He loves you.
And His love for you, your identity as His child is all you need.
So this is the time that just call out to Him.
Receive His love and forgiveness again.
And as you receive that love and forgiveness, let that overflow into your forgiveness of others.
I'm just going to take the next five minutes or so and just practice that to live that out in your own hearts.
To pray and to confess.
We're going to put a few points on the screen if that helps inspire you to kind of just give you something to latch on to.
But the important thing is just be free right now.
Just be honest to pray to God to say,
Our Father, my Father, forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are our debtors.