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I hope you were right there when we had our last little heart to heart talk on this portion

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of the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray.

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Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us.

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And you remember that in our last little heart to heart talk I reminded you that this clause

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is the turning point of the prayer.

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And notice something.

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Jesus has so arranged this marvelous pattern for prayer, the pattern that we call the Lord's

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Prayer when in reality it is a pattern for our prayer.

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And Jesus has so arranged this marvelous pattern for prayer that it covers the entire ground

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of unfoldment of our souls completely.

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It omits nothing.

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It omits absolutely nothing that is essential for our salvation and to our Christian life.

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And yet it is so compact that there's not a thought, there is not a word too much.

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Every move fits into its place with perfect harmony and in perfect sequence.

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Anything more would be too much.

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Anything less would be incomplete.

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If you want to study something that is a masterpiece, study this part of the sermon that Jesus preached.

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Study the pattern for prayer that Jesus gave from his own lips.

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First he begins by telling us of this wonderful relationship that we have.

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Our Father.

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Jesus tells us who God is and then he moves right into telling us what man is.

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From there he tells us how we're to do our own work.

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That there is a perfect will for every human being.

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A will in the mind of God.

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A will in heaven for that life.

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For you and for me.

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And we should pray that his will in heaven should be carried out for our lives here and

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now on this earth.

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And yet all of us are created with a will of our own.

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Separate and apart from the will of God.

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We are created as free moral agents.

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But we are to pray that our will shall be so yielded, so surrendered to him that here

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and now our lives should be lived in perfect harmony with his will in heaven for our lives.

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From that step he explains the way in which we're to receive our true nourishment.

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Give us this day our daily bread.

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Oh up until now it's so wonderful.

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Oh it's so thrilling.

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Not one word has been said about forgiveness.

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Sin up until now has not been mentioned.

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Not one word has been said regarding sin.

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That's the reason I told you a second ago.

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That we are now to the place in the prayer where this clause is the turning point of

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the entire prayer.

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For now he comes to forgiveness.

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Do you want to know something?

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The forgiveness of sin is the central problem of life.

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It's the major tragedy of human experience.

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And I want you to see something and I want you never to forget it.

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We are faced here and now in this prayer with our inner relationship amongst men.

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And you cannot separate the spiritual from the material.

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You cannot separate your relationship with God from your relationship with man.

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You cannot do it.

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It's impossible.

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You cannot claim to be a wonderful child of the king.

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You cannot claim any spirituality.

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You cannot claim to be deeply spiritual and then treat your fellow men as though they

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were the scum of the earth.

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You can't do it.

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I repeat, you cannot separate the spiritual from the material.

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You cannot separate your relationship with God from your relationship with your fellow

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men.

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And right here in the center of this prayer, after he tells us our wonderful inheritance

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in Christ Jesus and that all that is His is ours, and here we are, away upon the pinnacle.

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We're on a glorious mountain peak when suddenly he brings us face to face with our inner relationship

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amongst men.

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Forgive us as we forgive.

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We cannot expect forgiveness from him while there is malice in our own heart.

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And this is the only petition of which Jesus gives us an exposition.

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In substance he's saying, we must get our pain done before we begin our praying.

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And there are a lot of folk who are saying an awful lot of prayers and doing an awful

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lot of praying who have never gotten the pain done.

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You treat your fellow men, you act like the devil when it comes to relationship to your

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fellow men.

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They despise you.

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You're mean, you're contemptible, you're unforgiving.

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You've been carrying a grudge in your heart for years.

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There's malice, there's prejudice, there's jealousy.

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But beloved, God lays it on the line.

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That's exactly what he does.

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We're obliged either to forgive our enemies in sincerity and truth or never again to repeat

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this prayer.

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He lays it on the line.

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Come on and face it.

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This is the most important thing that I could bring you this morning because some of you

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may be wondering why you haven't been getting an answer to your prayer.

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You may be wondering why you have no spiritual power in that life of yours.

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You may be wondering why you have no power in your testimony.

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Why you're not being used of God.

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Why there is no power in your example.

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Jesus literally shows us that we're obliged to either forgive our enemies or never again

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to repeat this prayer.

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I still say that the Lord has so constructed His prayer with more skill than ever a lawyer

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ever displayed in the casting of a deed.

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Yes ma'am.

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He actually makes our claim to our own forgiveness to depend upon our forgiveness of others.

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That's it.

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Now He gave something and everything I'm giving you comes from His own lips.

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You need not fear that that which I am giving you is not correct doctrine or that I may

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be misleading you in your theology because all that I'm doing is giving you the words

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from the highest authority in heaven and earth.

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That's Jesus, God's Son.

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And who is a better authority on prayer, on how to pray than the Son of God?

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Because everything that you and I receive in prayer must come through Jesus.

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Everything.

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I don't care what your prayer is that you're praying.

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I don't care what the desire is that you're desiring of Him.

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Everything that you receive through prayer must come through Jesus.

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There is no greater authority then than Jesus Himself when it comes to this thing of prayer.

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I continue giving His own words as He gave an example.

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Here comes Peter.

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He was always the spokesman for the crowd.

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Always.

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Peter always said things and did things where angels would fear to tread.

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I guess that's one reason I have an awfully warm spot in my heart for Peter because I'm

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kind of like that myself.

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I want to know.

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And sometimes I think the disciples put Peter up to some of the things that he asked.

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But this is once when I believe it was Peter's own thinking because this would be just like

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him.

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He probably had someone who was getting on his nerves.

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He knew the teaching of the Master.

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And he had forgiven this one over and over again until his patience was wearing thin

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and he was just about ready to knock his block off.

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He was going to literally take those words, faith without works is dead.

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He had exercised faith long enough.

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Now he was going to do a little works on the guy.

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And so the word of God says, then came Peter to him, that's to Jesus, and said, Lord, how

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oft shall my brothers sin against me and I forgive him.

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And then before Jesus could answer, Peter put the words right in the mouth of Jesus

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and gave the answer himself because he had it all fixed in his own mind.

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I've forgiven him for the last time and now the eighth time I'm going to knock his block

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off, till seven times, this is what Peter asked, isn't seven times enough to forgive

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him?

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And Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times

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seven.

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Then Jesus didn't stop.

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He continued.

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Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king.

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And remember that certain king is our wonderful king of kings.

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The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants.

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And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents.

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But for as much as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, his wife and

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his children, all that he had and payment to be made.

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The servant therefore fell down and worshiped him saying, Lord have patience with me and

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I will pay thee all.

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And then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, loosed him, forgave him the

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debt.

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Now who is he talking about up until now?

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He's talking about you.

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He's talking about me.

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For not a sinner has enough wealth, has enough righteousness of his own, has enough wherewith

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to pay for his way into heaven or to pay for the forgiveness of his sins.

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Not one of us.

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Had we all the wealth of the world combined with all the wealth in the worlds to come

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and laid this wealth at the feet of Jesus and said here, here it is all of it, please

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may we buy our salvation.

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He would laugh and say, there's not enough wealth in the universe to pay for the forgiveness

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of even the smallest sin.

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You have not enough righteousness of your own, for your own righteousness is as filthy

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rags in my sight.

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Therefore, what has he done?

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In love, in compassion, in mercy.

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He has written across our debt of sin paid in full with his own shed blood.

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Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, loosed him, forgave him the debt.

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That's you, that's me.

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Our debt is paid in full.

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But the same servant that steal you, that steal me, we have been forgiven.

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The same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants that owed him a hundred

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pence, 20 cents, a little less than two bits.

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Then he laid his hands on him and took him by the throat saying, pay me that thou owest.

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And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, besought him saying, have patience with me

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and I'll pay thee all.

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And he would not.

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But he went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt.

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So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told their

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lord all that was done.

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Then his lord, after he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave

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thee all that debt because thou desirest me.

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Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity

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on thee?

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And his lord was raw, delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was

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due unto him.

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Now here it is.

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So likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts, not just

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your lips, if ye from your hearts, here we have sincere forgiveness.

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Forgive not every one his brother there trespasses.

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Yes, ma'am.

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We are obliged either to forgive our enemies in sincerity and in truth from our hearts

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or never again to repeat this prayer.

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Jesus actually makes our claim to our own forgiveness to depend upon our forgiveness

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of others.

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You and I cannot demand our own release from sin before we release our brother.

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Do you want to know something?

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Preachance of others is literally the vestibule of heaven.

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And Jesus has led you, he has led me to the door.

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Obey him.

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Amen.