August 13, 2023
Matthew 6:9-15

The title of the sermon is "Kingdom Provisions: The Pattern Prayer, pt 2."¹ This section of Scripture is providing our spiritual nourishment to live the perfect lives God has called us to live. ¶ Jesus is still addressing three core elements of “Jewish piety” in this passage; that of fasting, praying, and giving.² In this part of the Sermon, Jesus has of course keyed in on praying, so we will continue our education in how to pray to the Father this morning. This is fitting for us for as we have already seen, there are many wrong ways to pray and thus to loose eternal rewards. ¶ We are in the second part of the Model Prayer. And Barclay keenly noted that, “The second part of the prayer, … deals with the three essential needs of man …, and the three spheres of time within which man moves.” So I will use his points for my outline. This part of the prayer deals with man.

• First, the prayer brings “the present to the throne of God.”
• Second, the prayer brings “the past into the presence of God,”
• And third the prayer “commits the future into the hands of God.”
  [633, Barclay, 1:199]

We have already looked at the first three petitions that appeal to the holiness of God’s name, His kingdom to come and His will being done on earth. ¶ The first petition dealing with people of faith deals with “the maintenance of life” of man, “and thereby bringing the needs of the present to the throne of God.” [633, Barclay, 1:199]

• Verse 11 Give us this day our daily bread,
• The “bread” in view probably refers to all our food, and our other physical needs. [635, Calvin, 3:20:44; Walvoord, Matthew: …, p. 53.]
• First thing to note is that this is a prayer for life sustaining things, not its luxuries. >>
• This prayer would be more identifiable in the first century where laborers were paid daily. The pay was low as and it was “almost impossible” for anyone to save any amount of money. (Carson, The Sermon …, 67; cf. Constable, et al.)
• As we can pick up on in Jesus’ parables, the society of Jesus’ ministry here was largely based on agriculture. One crop failure “could spell a major disaster” for a family, town or region. >> (Carson, The Sermon …, 67)
• So to pray, “Give us today our daily bread” was no empty request. >>
• Living with a small daily paycheck for one’s existence meant that people of faith were daily trusting in God and daily asking for Him for their sustenance. (Carson, The Sermon …, 67; Constable, et al.)

APPLICATION

• ILLUSTRATION: Even though I have spoke of the third world more often praying these types of prayers for “daily bread,” 60% of Americans too live paycheck to paycheck. Of the other 40%, over half could not afford a major financial setback in life. >>
• So there are prayers for daily sustenance in America and elsewhere.
• But when one looks closely at why this is we must admit that it is often from purchases of wants. >>
  • To this point, more than a couple of people have said, “This is a prayer for our needs, not our greeds.” (Constable, et al.)
• Life in developed nations is not quite as precarious as it was in the first century. Materially, we have so much more. But sadly, our comparative wealth has contributed to what Carson labelled “our thanklessness, [and] to our spiritual bankruptcy.” (Carson, The Sermon …, 68)
• Whereas, people in third world countries however continue to pray this type of pray with earnest on their knees on their dirt floors.
• Ironically, these have a blessing most of us might not ever experience. >>
• Their blessing is that their “total dependence” is on God." (Constable)
• This is especially true and contrasted by our culture “that glorifies self-sufficiency.” (Constable)
• So what shall we do:
  • Make sure we thank God regularly for what we have.
  • Share what we have with those in need.
  • Leaner financial lives. More giving with a cheerful heart?

TRANSITION
Now that we have covered the petition for the maintenance of life, and thereby brought the present to the throne of God. Let’s now look at the next potion that “asks for forgiveness, thereby bringing the past into the presence of God”

Verse 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

• This petition looks over our own past with sobriety and it sees two things:
  • #1 Our own failings which become legal debts to God.
  • For these forgiveness is petitioned.
  • #2 A looking back to ensure that forgiveness have been granted to those that are indebted to us through their sinful actions.
• Let’s look at our own debts first.
• “Viewing sins as debts was thoroughly Jewish (cf. Ps. 51:4).”[638, McNeile, p. 80] While most of the world excuses sin, “Because everyone does it,” the Jewish mind rightly viewed these as indebtedness to God.
• We owe: “our debts” = “that which is justly or legally due, a debt” (Thayer)
• The model prayer and its use of the phrase “our debts” calls for continual reflection of our own sins. >>
• On the heels of day by day bread … it seems to suggest a daily accounting of the other petitions that follow.
• Reflecting on our daily sins and enlisting God’s forgiveness has a cleansing effect. 1 John 1:9, calls for a naming of all known sins as well.
• This phrase including the word “debts” pulls our attention back to knowing that there was a legal requirement needed for sin, and God demanded a high price to be paid for our sin debt.
• It focuses attention on our behavior toward others not their behavior towards us.

APPLICATION

• Jesus dies for your sin. Jesus dies for mine.
• No money was going to repay our debts, Hebrews 9:22 reminds us that God does require blood for the removal of sins. It says, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
• The debt was paid by our God, brother, friend, Lord Jesus.
• Jesus’ wealth of forgiveness is realized through faith in Him alone. Jesus + ∅
• The Bible is clear about our personal debts of sin …
  • They are unpayable by us.
  • There is a legal requirement due to God’s justice for sin.
  • This payment was paid by the Son.
  • The benefit of Jesus’ payment of His death is available all.

Now let’s turn our attention to the debts of others towards us. That is, others’ sins toward us.

• First, I would highly emphasize, forgiveness of others is a prerequisite to asking and receiving forgiveness from God.
• Verse 12b "as we also have forgiven our debtors."
• The English ESV translation is in the past tense. That is usual and is the closest tense we have to the Greek’s aorist tense. >>
• Aorist in the Greek. The aorist "concept of the verb is considered without regard for past, present, or future time."³
• We come to God in prayer having already forgiven those who have sinned against us.
• A point to drive home: The Bible leaves no room for a person of faith to harbor unforgiveness towards anyone at any time for any reason. Love our neighbor as our self. Switch places with empathy and forgive.
• Remember and NOTICE: The only proper seemly daily reflections on the sinful actions of others is “Have I forgiven everyone who has wronged me today before I approach God for my own cleansing?” COMMENT
• These action bring the good war against self–righteousness and unforgiveness.

There is a limiting phrase in this verse of 12b that no little ink has been used to explain what people think Jesus means. The phrase of course is “as we.”

• One must honestly conclude that the phrase means that our forgiveness is crafted by our own willingness to forgive others. It adds an important level of dependency.
• In other words the forgiveness we seek and seemly receive is measured in some way by our own responses to others’ sins against us.

There are really three interpretations as I see it:

• First, Constable wrote, “as forgiven believers we need to ask for forgiveness to restore fellowship with God (cf. 1 John 1:9). Judicial forgiveness removes God’s condemnation and inaugurates us into His family (Rom. 8:1). Parental forgiveness restores our fellowship with God within His family.” … “The second clause in this sentence does not mean that we must earn God’s forgiveness by forgiving other people. When we forgive others, we demonstrate our felt need of forgiveness. The person who does not forgive another person’s offenses does not truly appreciate how much he himself needs forgiveness.” (Constable)
  • Although he later slightly sharpens his view perhaps by quoting another in his notes, Constable did articulate the idea of, We need to forgive others so we “appreciate” how much we have been forgiven.
  • This choice of wording of his is not helpful because it discounts the passage to a fault while smacking of systematic theology (To borrow Carson’s phrase.).⁶
  • This view is not going to cut it. Especially with v 14-15 in the context 14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
    • ’tespasses’ “This is literally ‘to fall to one side.’ This meant, as do most of the words for sin in Hebrew and in Greek, a deviation from a standard, which is the character of God. It implied a conscious act of crossing a set boundary.” (Utley) >>
    • Observation wise, the passage needs no special care. It is straight forward and clear as is.
    • Forgiveness of God here is conditional.
    • If we live in unforgiveness towards others, we live in God’s unforgiveness.
    • If we forgive others God forgives us.
• So does the second interpretation help? The opinion was best written by Barbieri (phonic: Bar-beer-ee) in my studies. He wrote, “Personal fellowship with God is in view in these verses (not salvation from sin). One cannot walk in fellowship with God if he refuses to forgive others.”[641; Barbieri, p. 32; emphasis mine.]
  • So in this view something more than an “appreciation” is broken. This view says fellowship with God is.
  • This is what I will call “go to your room and stay there until you learn how to behave!” theology.
  • In this view unforgivness causes a real effect in our relationships with God.
  • So not only are human elationships not restored with unforgivness neither is our relationship with God on right footings.
• The third interpretation would say, “No.” When one refuses to forgive, he has proven that he is outside the faith and by default unable to benefit from God’s forgiveness. To this view Carson wrote, “His unforgiving spirit bears strong witness to the fact that he has never repented.” (Carson, The Sermon …, 69, et al.)
• The passage is difficult because there are few words giving. In other words, the interpretation is difficult to expound on theologically due primarily to a lack of immediate context. Jesus said few words here.

APPLICATION

• In these cases of few words, I usually think about them broadly not try to narrow them down into sharp opinions. I remain as flexible as possible while trying not to violate other passages of known Scripture. So …
• Is it ever possible for a Christian to live in a condition of unforgiveness –even for a day– and thus be out of fellowship with God?
• Are there plenty of “professing Christians” who do not know Christ. This we know to be true from Matthew account of the gospel. Well these “professing Christians” may be marked most clearly by unforgiveness.
• Take away: In my mind both the second and third views are realities in this life regarding unforgivness.
• I think, through indifference, just like praying well … we can become indifferent to our debt owed for our sins. We can stop thinking of them the way God does. Then we stop asking for forgiveness even.
• I would caution all who would explain unforgiveness away.
  • Remembering Jesus comments should help a believer come to terms with the ugly sinful, self-righteous, haughty, presumptuous, excusatory attitude of unforgiveness; not the excusing or even coddling of it.
• WE MUST FORGIVE:
  • All people are guilty. We are talking about degrees of guilt, but our guilt remains.
  • People have been hurt; some tragically. There is still no allowance for unforgiveness.
  • Self-righteousness is born from one excusing their sin while condemning others.
  • Paul said, to the Roman church that they did the very same things that they were wagging their fingers at others for doing.
• What if I am not ready to forgive someone?
  • Always ask for what we don’t possess: ask God for a heart of forgiveness.
  • Meditate on your own forgiveness.
  • We walk in grace and need to be thankful for that, but we must extend that same Christ-like grace to others.
  • Refusing to forgive others receives Jesus’ strongest rebukes and condemnation latter in Matthew’s account.
• So to what degree are we to forgive? “Should disciples forgive war criminals, serial murderers, and abusers of children?” Yes. (France, The Gospel of …, 253)

TRANSITION
Now that we have covered the petition asking for God’s forgiveness and having therefore granting forgiveness to others, thereby bring our “past into the presence of God,” the next petition that asks for help in temptation, thereby committing all the future into the hands of God."

The last petition in the Model Prayer starts in verse 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

• I covered vv 14-15 already. But notice verse 13 is in the middle of Jesus teaching on forgiving others.
  • Carson had a savvy observation regarding this. He wrote, “The fact that the plea to avoid temptation is placed between the petition concerning forgiveness (6:12) and its further [explanation] (6:14f.) may possibly suggest that the temptation primarily in view is the temptation to be bitter [toward others] …” (The Sermon …, 71)
• The Bible teaches that all of our temptation are common to humanity.
• Also, remember, the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted. (Blomberg, 120)
  • "Even though God is not the instrumental cause of our testing, He does permit us to experience temptation from the world, the flesh, and the devil (cf. 4:1; Gen. 22:1; Deut. 8:2). Therefore, this petition is a request that He would minimize … our testing that could result in our sinning (cf. 26:41). [642]⁴
• There is a natural humbleness to it this request: “God don’t lead me towards temptations where I shall fail you.” (cf. Prov. 30:7-9; [642])⁴
• Humbleness is one of the keys to not be trapped by temptations.

“But” introduces the alternative. (Constable)

• Verse 13b "but deliver us from evil."
• “Why should we ask that we may be kept from evil? For the great and wonderful reason that our fellowship with God may never be broken.”[646, Lloyd-Jones, Studies in …, 2:77]
• We are in essence praying, God “Lead us, not into temptation, but away from it, into righteousness, into situations where, far from being tempted, we will be protected and therefore kept righteous. As the second clause of this petition expresses it, we will then be delivered from the evil one.” (Carson, The Sermon …, 70)
• Here there is a recognition of one’s own weakness in to the world’s temptations.
• Here we see an asking for God’s continual deliverance keeping us from the trappings and pit falls of the world.
• We are seeking God’s wisdom and power to keep us out of the secret, dark places of tempations, remembering how easilly we are overpowered by forces of darkenss, so we may remain consistantly at the Lord’s table and in close fellowship with Him.

Notes

^{Notes from above may not be in numerical order.}

¹ The sub-title of the sermon taken from France, The Gospel of Matthew, 241.
² Evans, 121; cf. Carson, The Sermon …, 56, Plumptre & France, 130.
³ “Greek Parsing,” “Definition of ‘Aorist.’” Blue Letter Bible.
⁴ Rick W. Byargeon, “Echoes of Wisdom in the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9-13),” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 41:3 (September 1998): 353-65. As quoted in Constable.
⁵ Alexandre Tanzi, “Even on $100,000-Plus, More Americans Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck”, January 30, 2023, Bloomberg.com, accessed Aug. 13, 2023. See also, Jessica Dickler, “Unrelenting inflation is driving up costs, leaving more Americans living paycheck to paycheck”, 8/1/2022, cnbc.com, accessed Aug. 13, 2023.
⁶ A phrase Carson used in another context, The Sermon …, 60.
⁷ “This petition is a hefty reminder that, just as we ought consciously to depend on God for physical sustenance, so also ought we to sense our dependence on him for moral triumph and spiritual victory. Indeed, to fail in this regard is already to have fallen, for it is part of that ugly effort at independence which refuses to recognize our position as creatures before God. As Christians grow in holy living, they sense their own inherent moral weakness and rejoice that whatever virtue they possess flourishes as the fruit of the Spirit.” (Carson, The Sermon …, 71)
⁸ “The [Model] Prayer clears the way for a healthy theology of self-esteem, for it deals with the classic negative emotions that destroy our self-dignity. The [Model] Prayer offers Christ’s positive solution from these six basic, negative emotions that infect and affect our self-worth: (1) Inferiority: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.’ (2) Depression: ‘Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.’ (3) Anxiety: ‘Give us this day our daily bread;’ (4) Guilt: ‘And forgive us our debts,’ (5) Resentment: ‘As we also have forgiven our debtors;’ (6) Fear: ‘And lead is not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.’”[649, Robert H. Schuller, Self-Esteem, pp. 48-49; edits mine]

Works Cited

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, there may be numbered notes that are URL linked; these are usually retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and I usually include other citation information from Constable as well (e.g. authors’ names).

Other Works Cited

Note: Not all of the resources below were used in this particular sermon outline.

Augsburger, David. Dissident Discipleship. Brazos Press, 2006.

Blomberg, Craig L. Matthew. New American Commentary, vol. 22, ed. David S. Dockery, et al., Broadman Press, 1992. May be sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/matthew0000blom

________. Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation. Baker Academic, 2004. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/preachingparable0000blom/page/82/mode/1up)

Bruce, Alexander Balmain. The Training of the Twelve. Ed., A.C. Armstrong and Son, reprint 1984, Kregel Publications, 1971 edition.

Carson, D. A. The Sermon on the Mount : an Evangelical of Matthew 5-7 Exposition. 1978, Baker Book House, fifth printing, 1989. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/sermononmounteva0000cars/page/54/mode/1up

_______. When Jesus confronts the world : an exposition of Matthew 8-10. Originally published by Inter-Varsity Press in 1988, Paternoster, 1995. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/whenjesusconfron0000cars/page/n3/mode/1up

Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Our Daily Bread Publishing, web ver.

Davies, W. D. and Dale C. Allison, Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. T. & T. Clark, 1988. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/criticalexegetic0001davi/page/n7/mode/1up

Evans, Craig A. The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew-Luke. Victor, 2003. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/bibleknowledgeba00crai/mode/1up

France, R. T. The Gospel According to Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1985.

France, R. T. The Gospel of Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000fran/page/n6/mode/1up

Harrington, Daniel J . The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 1, A Michael Glazier Book, Liturgical Press (publ.), 1991. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000harr/mode/1up

Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. Baker Book House, 1984.

Phillips, John. Exploring the Gospels: John. Loizeaux Brothers, 1988.

Plumptre, E. H. “Matthew.” Commentary for English Readers, Charles John Ellicott, Compiler/Editor, Lord Bishop of Gloucester Cassell and Company, Limited, 1905. Sourced from BiblePortal.com. Click here for a list of the authors of the CER.

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Zondervan, 1995.

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