Forgiveness and Grace Matthew 6:12-15, NIV “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (For thins is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.) For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Hallelujah! I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “Forgiveness and Grace,” based on Matthew 6:12-15. Could you please repeat after me? “Forgiveness and Grace.” The greatest miracle and blessing we can experience in our lives is to believe in Jesus. No other blessing or miracle is greater than that. Jesus accomplished this wonderful work of salvation on the Cross. He granted His grace for all humankind on the Cross. The greatest grace of all is the grace of atonement of sin and forgiveness. No one can be free of sin. No one can be free from hatred, resentment, and bad memories of the heart. Jesus brought atonement to us on the Cross and set an example of forgiveness by forgiving those who crucified Him. People have bitterness in their hearts whether they realize it or not. Some live with hatred, resentment, and anger, coming from hurts and wounds in their hearts, which have piled up since their childhood. We need to overcome such bitterness and pain in our hearts through the grace of forgiveness of Jesus Christ. We need to be healed from such pain and wounds. When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, with great emphasis He taught them to forgive one another. First, I want us to think about the passage, “Forgive our debts.” Matthew 6:12 says, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Forgiveness starts with the expiation of our sins. The problem of sin is something that we need to solve. Mankind is destined to be born, live, and die in sin. That is why Romans 3:23 says, “. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Man was created to have fellowship with God, being superior to other creations, controlling all creation. However, Adam and Eve committed sin and consequently, sin entered into human nature. Now all people are under the control of sin. Sin has deeply taken root in humankind. There is no one who can be freed from sin. Nevertheless, Jesus solved this problem of sin on the Cross. In Matthew 6:12, the Lord teaches His disciples how to pray, “…as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Here, “debt” is related to sin. We all have debts-especially the debt of sin. Since we have the debt of sin before God, our life itself is hopeless. We need to pay this debt, but we do not have the power to pay it. We are living with a heavy debt of sin, which we cannot repay. To help us repay the debt of sin, God sent His one and only Son Jesus to earth and had Him die on the Cross. Jesus, who was sinless, took all the sin of humankind and died on the Cross in our place. Through His death, He gave us the gift of forgiveness. Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” God laid the iniquity of us all on Jesus. Jesus shed His blood. His body was wounded. He died on the Cross. Whoever believes in Jesus will receive atonement of sin through the precious blood of Jesus. He will become a precious child of God, forgiven of his sins. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Nothing can expiate our sins. Only the blood of Jesus can expiate all of our sins. Through Jesus, the debt we owe to God is cancelled by His blood. Since Jesus paid our debt, we no longer have any debt. All our sins are forgiven before God. Therefore, whenever we sin, we need to come to God and pray in repentance. We need to be forgiven by the power of the blood of Jesus. Forgiveness of sin should be practiced not only in our relationship with God but also in our relationship with our neighbors. Matthew 5:23-24 says, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” What does this mean? Suppose you are ready to go to church, but something bothers you, because you had a quarrel with your neighbor. You may have yelled at each other. It makes you feel uncomfortable, hateful, or resentful. The Scripture tells you to go and make peace with your neighbor before you worship God. If you come to church and worship God with hatred, complaints, bitterness, or resentment still in your heart, it will block you from God’s grace. Therefore, to receive God’s grace, you need to make peace with your neighbor before coming to church. You must make peace between husband and wife and between parents and children. The devil tries to alienate us, causing conflict among us, which provokes us to fight with our spouse. This causes conflict between parents and children. It alienates friends, making our relationships very uncomfortable. When you come to church, in order to receive God’s grace, you should make peace with your family first. You must make peace with other church members, too. If you have fought over trivial things, hurting each other, you must offer your hands of reconciliation first, saying, “I am sorry. Forgive me if I hurt you the other day. I made quite a blunder.” Do not avoid each other because of your worthless pride. Instead, be united with one another in love and harmony in the Lord Jesus. Since we are forgiven from the sin which we cannot possibly repay, we must forgive our neighbors over and over again. Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” In those days, their teaching suggested they forgive up to three times. Up to three times. So Peter set a rather generous limit-more than twice-and asked, “Would it be enough to forgive him up to seven times?” What did Jesus say? Matthew 18:21-22 says, “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.’ ” This means that we need to forgive one another over and over again. Why should we do that? It is because our enormous debt has been cancelled. Because we have been forgiven of our sin, the Lord tells us to forgive others. However, it is not easy to forgive. It is very hard to forgive those who cause inerasable pain in our hearts. Many cancer patients leave a word of regret when they die, saying, “I wish I had forgiven…” is at the top of the list. It implies that resentment causes cancer and, consequently, death. There are some people who are so obsessed by resentment. They cannot heal their wounds on their own. The Lord Jesus, who has brought atonement to us by His death on the Cross, gives us the strength and heart to forgive others by His love. Mr. Jungwon Ko forgave a serial killer who had killed his whole family. On October 19, 2003, he went home from work. No one answered his doorbell. He opened the door and entered the house. He saw his wife dying in the living room, who had been wildly stabbed and was blood-soaked. Bloodstains were everywhere in the house. Shocked, he ran upstairs and saw his only son who had also been wildly stabbed and was dead. He found the body of his 85-year-old mother next to the bathroom, also blood-soaked. He felt as if his blood were flowing backward at these horrible sights. He thought to himself, “I will take revenge. I will find the killer and tear him apart.” Hatred, anger, and the will to take revenge blazed in his mind. He was too pained to go to sleep. He was living in Kugi-Dong, Seoul. He had designed and built his own house 20 years before. He was living happily with his family in a house he had built. But one day a brutal serial killer had come and killed his family. His shock, pain, wounds, and hatred against the killer were beyond description. He spent each day only with the desire to take revenge, unable to sleep. He thought, If they catch the killer, I will kill him with my own hands. Then I will kill myself, too. The Lord Jesus came to him while he was agonizing and suffering from such pain. Jesus went to him and extended His hand to him. His friend took him to church. He accepted the Lord Jesus and became a new creation. After being born again in Christ, he experienced the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Jesus touched his pain, hatred, and sadness. Soon after that, they arrested the killer. His name is Youngchul Yoo. He is a notorious serial killer who has murdered more than 20 people. Everybody said he deserved the death penalty, but Mr. Ko filed a petition, asking for the court’s mercy. He also sent a letter to Yoo in prison, saying he forgave him. It is said that You was totally surprised at that letter. His story was made into a film in November 2008, under the title, “Are you there at the end of this long way-forgiveness?” Are you there at the end of this long way-forgiveness? Do you know what Mr. Ko does? He campaigns against the death penalty. He says, “Since a killer’s life is as important as my son’s, do not take it away from him.” People do not understand him and say, “How can you do that?” Other victims’ families even accuse him, saying, “Are you out of your mind? How can you forgive someone who killed your family?” We cannot forgive them on our own. The love of Christ Jesus, however, put in his heart the power to forgive the one who killed his family. It was Jesus who blessed him enough to forgive his enemy. He has not been a Christian for a long time. He is only a baby Christian, but he is totally changed, because the love of the Lord touched and inspired him. Therefore, we need to forgive one another. Our life on earth is short. It fleets away. Instead of living such a short life with hatred, resentment, and complaints, let us love one another as much as we can. Colossians 3:13 says, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. According to 1 John, one would be a liar if he hates his brother, whom he has seen, saying he loves God, whom he cannot see. 1 John 4:20 says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” We must know that our hatred and anger will destroy us, putting us into endless hopelessness. According to a world famous scientific journal “Society,” scientists researched the cause of various diseases. The top causes were psychological and mental. Stress causes unbalance in our hormone system, fatally affecting our bodies. According to their research, hatred and fear reduces the function of our immune system. The same is true with hypochondria. It confuses the immune system and hormone system of our bodies. Anger is another bad cause. Anger destroys the biological rhythm of our bodies, causing various diseases. It is said that 60 to 70% of our diseases are caused by stress in our heart. Hatred, anger, jealousy, resentment, frustration, and an unforgiving heart bring stress to our heart, eventually causing various diseases in our body. We need to be freed from such things through the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. We need to be freed from hatred. We need to be freed from anger and frustration. Then we will recover and be healed from disease. To forgive is God’s commandment. It is not optional but mandatory. We must forgive one another. When we work hard to forgive others, the Lord will pour His grace upon us. In Matthew 18, Jesus gave a parable about the kingdom of heaven. In His parable, there was a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. A man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. How much was ten thousand talents? One talent is equal to 6,000 denarii. One denarion is a day’s wage. Therefore, 10,000 talents amounted to 200,000, the year’s wage of a worker. He could make 10,000 talents if he went out and worked for 200,000 years. It was impossible for him to work for 200,000 years. In other words, it is impossible for him to pay for that amount of money. The servant fell on his knees before the king and begged. So the king took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. Since his debt, which amounted to 200,000, a year’s wage was cancelled, he was overjoyed. He went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. A businessman usually borrows and lends. One hundred denarii is about 100 days’ wage. The other servant could have paid him back by working for about three months and ten days. Even though his debt about 200,000, a year’s wage that was cancelled, he grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. Since the man did not have the money, he went off and had the man thrown into prison. Upon hearing this, the master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured. This story applies to all of us. Even though our huge debt of sin has been cancelled, just like the servant who had owed his master 10,000 talents, we do not forgive others who owe us a small debt. We do not forgive those who hurt us a little bit or those who have caused a little damage to us. As true born-again Christians and precious children of God, we must practice forgiveness in our lives. Jesus summarized His parable as follows. In Matthew 18:35, Jesus said, “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” Moreover, the Lord tells us to love our enemies. Matthew 5:44 says, “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” We will be blessed when we forgive others. The conclusion of Jesus’ message spoken in the evening on the day of His resurrection was about forgiveness. John 20:23 says, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Are there some people that you have not forgiven? Is it impossible for you to forgive them? Then pray to the Lord, saying, “Lord, give me the power to forgive. I cannot forgive them with my own strength. Help me to forgive them through Your love and forgiveness.” I pray that you will be freed from the bondage of hatred, pain, conflict, and wounds by being seized by the grace of the Lord. Second, we must pray to the Lord, “Lead us not into temptation.” We must pray, “Lord, do not let me fall into temptation.” Matthew 6:13 says, “And lead us not into temptation.” We will face many trials and temptations in our lives. Trials and suffering, however, are for our benefit in the end. Romans 5:3-4 says, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” There are two types of tests. One is the test to discipline and mature us, and the other is temptation, the snare of the devil, which leads us into destruction. We must overcome temptation from the devil. We take tests regularly at school. Students study hard for a test and their knowledge grows by going through the test. If not properly prepared, they will not do well on the test. God allows us to go through some tests so that our faith will grow in our Christian life. We will become more precious children of God by passing those tests. James 1:2-3 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” The temptation in Matthew 6 refers to the temptation from the devil. The devil wants to destroy us by tempting us to indulge in greed and worldly pleasure. The devil is behind all temptation, making all kinds of evil schemes to make us fall. The devil tempted Adam and Eve. The devil entered into a serpent, tempted Eve to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam ate the fruit, too, bringing sin into the lives of humankind. When Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights, the devil came to Him and tested Him three times. He told Jesus to change the stones into bread. The devil also told him to throw himself down from the highest point of the temple. Again, the devil showed Him all the kingdoms and their splendor, and said, “If you will bow down and worship me, I will give you all this.” Each time Jesus resisted the devil by the Word. We must fight temptation. We take and pass tests, but we must fight and defeat temptation. What should we do to defeat temptation? We must focus on the Cross. We must march forward with faith, fixing our eyes on the Cross. Day by day through the Cross we become a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” There are specially trained dogs for the police and military purposes. They are so well trained that they listen only to their masters. Part of their training includes putting a lump of meat in front of the dog, yet forbidding it from eating the meat. The master throws a lump of meat to the dog, forcing it to focus on him. If the dog turns to the meat in an attempt to eat it, the master hits the dog. This method trains the dog to focus on the master. When the dog is well trained, it will focus on its master, without looking at the meat. A well-trained dog will become a good watch dog, not paying any attention to the bait when a thief throws a piece of meat with poison in it. The same is true with us. When a lump of temptation comes before us, we should not look at it. We must focus on Jesus Christ. We must focus on His Cross. When we look at temptation, we are likely to fall into it. What we see, what we hear, and what we think determines our destiny. If we keep thinking about temptations, if we look at the place of temptations, and if we talk about them, we are likely to be contaminated by them. I pray that you will focus on the Cross of the Lord Jesus, trusting in it and gaining victory through the Cross. Moreover, we need to watch and pray. Martin Luther always prayed at bedtime, “Forgive me of all the sins that I have committed today.” He prayed in the morning, “Lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil today.” The night before the Crucifixion, Jesus told His disciples to keep watch with Him and pray. Matthew 26:40-41 says, “Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?’ he asked Peter. ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.’ ” The night before the Crucifixion, the disciples were sleeping. While Jesus was praying so hard that His capillary vessels burst and His sweat was mixed with blood, they were sleeping. It was the reason why they fell into temptation. Peter even denied Jesus three times. Therefore, in order not to fall into temptation, we must watch and pray, focusing on the Cross. Moreover, we need to avoid the place of temptation. 2 Peter 1:4 says, “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” Hallelujah! An alcoholic should not go near a bar. Even if he is determined to watch the bar from outside, he will find himself inside the bar without even recognizing it. Even though he was only going to watch other people drink, he will be drinking in no time. Why does this happen? That is because he goes near such a place. An ex-gambler should not go near gambling. He should not say, “I will just go there and watch others gamble.” The moment he sets his feet there, he will start gambling. Drugs are so prevalent in Korea these days. They spread as fast as poisonous mushrooms. Some drug dealers bring drugs from foreign countries and provide drugs for some celebrities and actors. Once addicted, it will be very hard for them to come clean. They need to be treated in a hospital. According to a study about drug users, an ex-drug user sometimes yearns for drugs even after many years of a drug-free life. He may have been a long time drug user and stopped it at a hospital or a rehabilitation center. But if he goes back, he goes back to the very beginning. He cannot come out. He should firmly cut it off. If he allows just one more time, he will go back to his old habit and be totally wrecked. Drugs are dreadful. They destroy people. We need strong determination here. We must cut off any temptation. We should never be dragged along by temptation. Joseph overcame temptation. When the wife of his master Potiphar, an Egyptian captain of the guard, tried to seduce him, he refused and ran out of the house. Since he avoided it, he could become the prime minister of Egypt later. On the other hand, Samson, even though he had been greatly used by God, could not overcome Delilah and fell in her lap. His head was shaven and his eyes were gouged. Bound with bronze shackles, he was set to grinding in the prison. The choice is yours. We must firmly resist temptation. If it is necessary, we must run away from it. If we stay at the place of temptation, we can never overcome it. Remember that Samson fell into temptation, because he could not go away from Delilah’s lap. Do not compromise with sin. Do not go to a place of temptation. Resist it in the name of Jesus. Avoid any contact with temptation. Experience the marvelous grace of God by resisting temptation. Stay away from those who are sin-soaked. Do not go to a place of temptation. 1 Corinthians 15:33-34 says, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’ Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God-I say this to your shame.” We are exposed to various temptation 24 hours a day. Worldly pleasure throws bait at us all the time. Since there are so many harmful Internet sites filled with pornographic content, young people easily fall into temptation. Satan tries to destroy and kill us by all means. That is why we need to watch. We need to resist temptation. I pray that you will resist temptation in the name of the Lord. Moreover, we must pray, “Deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:13 says, “…but deliver us from the evil one.” The evil one indicates Satan. Therefore, this Scripture verse means, “Deliver us from Satan.” What does the devil do? John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” The devil desperately tries to destroy us. He accuses us. He depresses us. He causes various diseases. The devil accused Job before God even though Job was faithful to God. The devil accused him and took away all his possessions and all his children just overnight. His wife left him. His friends came and blamed him. The devil put Job in a miserable state. However, Job kept his faith in the Lord. He overcame all the accusations of the devil. Later, he was blessed twice as much as before. Our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8-9 says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” We must be filled with the Holy Spirit and defeat the devil with the power of Jesus Christ. Mark 16:17 says, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues.” Hallelujah! Drive out demons in the name of Jesus Christ. Speak in new tongues. Heal the sick. Perform the miracles of the Lord. We are great victors in the Lord. Revelation 12:11 says, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” We must march forward with faith, trusting in the power of the blood of Jesus, which was shed on the Cross. We need to resist all kinds of temptation around us. We need to claim victory over it. We need to be blessed in the Lord. The Lord Jesus achieved this great victory for us 2,000 years ago. He has given us the power to forgive. Since we have received this precious gift, free of charge, we need to forgive each other for the rest of our lives. We need to forgive those who have hurt us. When we love and forgive one another, we will enjoy freedom, joy, and blessings. This world will turn out to be a beautiful place. Moreover, we need to gain victory over temptations. We need to resist them. Instead of falling into temptation, we have to resist it. We need to be delivered from evil, experiencing God’s wonderful power and miracles. I pray that the Lord will bless you this way. This is my earnest prayer for you in the name of the Lord. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father of infinite love, grace, and mercy, we have been enslaved to hatred, pain, and bitterness. Now we are freed from these snares by the power of the blood of Jesus. We are renewed. Now we want to forgive one another. We want to love one another. Help us to resist temptation. Help us to give glory to You by fighting and defeating the devil, our enemy. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.