Luke 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation… I. Notice the connection and dependence. Having prayed for our daily bread, we are next taught to pray for pardon. And this method is, indeed, most wise and most rational. For — 1. The guilt of sin many times withholds from us those earthly comforts we stand in need of. 2. Without pardon of sin, all our temporal enjoyments are but snares and curses unto us. II. The words themselves. 1. The petition. (1) What our evangelist calls sins, St. Matthew calls debts. We stand indebted to God, both as we are His creatures, and as we are offenders. By the one, we owe Him the debt of obedience; and, by the other, the debt of punishment. (2) Now here to excite thee to a fervency in praying for the forgiveness of thy debts, consider — (a) The infinite multitudes of thy debts. (b) That God, who is thy creditor, is strict and impartial. (c) That the least of all those thy debts makes thee liable to be cast into the prison of hell, and to be adjudged to eternal death and punishments. (d) Consider, thou canst never pay God, nor discharge the least of thy debts for ever. (3) And, now that I have showed you our misery by reason of our debts, and you have seen the black side of the cloud which interposeth between God and us, so give me leave to represent to you our hopes and consolation, in God's free grace and the Divine mercy in dissolving this black cloud, that it may never more appear. And here let us — (a) Consider what the pardon of sin is. (b) The pardoning grace of God, in respect of us, is altogether free and undeserved. (c) The pardoning grace of God is not free, in respect of Christ; but it cost Him the price of blood. Let us consider unto whom this petition for pardon is directed. And that is, as all the rest are, to our Father, whose laws we have violated, whose justice we have offended, whose displeasure we have incurred, and to whose vengeance we have made ourselves liable and obnoxious, to Him we sue for pardon and remission. Hence we may collect this note: That it is the high prerogative of God alone to forgive sins.If, then, it be the prerogative of God alone to pardon sin, hence we may, for our abundant comfort, be informed — (a) That our pardon is free and gratuitous. (b) It is God that pardons, therefore our pardon is full and complete. (c) Is it God that pardons? Then, for thy comfort, know that He can as easily forgive great and many sins, as few and small. (4) NOW, in this petition we pray not only for the pardon of sin, but likewise for all things that are antecedently necessary to obtain it. As — (a) We pray that God would discover to us the horrid odious nature of sin. (b) We pray that God would humble us under the sight and sense of our manifold transgressions; that, as our sins have made us vile in God's eyes, so they may make us vile in Our own, to loath ourselves in dust and ashes for them. (c) We pray that God would give us His Spirit, to enable us to confess our sins cordially, and sincerely to pour forth our hearts before Him, and to acknowledge our manifold provocations with shame and godly sorrow, upon which God promised to grant us pardon and forgiveness. (d) We beg a more clear understanding of the sacrifice and atonement made by Jesus Christ, through which alone all pardon is purchased and procured; to know both what it is and why ordained; and, likewise, the knowledge of God's rich and free mercy; and the conjunction of this sacrifice and mercy together, in the great mystery of the freeness of Divine grace, and the satisfaction of Jesus concurring to the remission of our sins and the salvation of our souls. (e) We pray that we may have a high esteem of Christ, and may hunger and thirst more after Him and His righteousness, through whom alone pardon of our sins is to be obtained. (f) We pray that we may be brought over to close with the Lord Jesus Christ by a lively faith; that His righteousness thereby may be made ours, and we, by that righteousness, may obtain pardon of our sins, and an inheritance among them that are sanctified. 2. The condition or plea annexed to this petition. (1) The act: forgive. (2) The object: debtors. (3) The limitation of this object: our debtors. (4) The proportion or resemblance, in particle "as." Our forgiving of others must have these qualifications — (a) It must be unfeigned and cordial from thy very heart and soul; for so thou wouldst have God forgive thee. (b) Thou art obliged likewise to forgive freely, without any recompense or satisfaction from others. (c) We must forgive others fully and completely; for God doth so. (Bp. Hopkins.) Parallel Verses KJV: And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. |
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