WEBVTT

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I hope you were right there when we had our last

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little heart -to -heart talk on this portion

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of the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray. Forgive

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us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass

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against us. And you'll remember that in our last

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little heart -to -heart talk, I reminded you

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that... This clause is the turning point of the

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prayer. And notice something. Jesus has so arranged

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this marvelous pattern for prayer, the pattern

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that we call the Lord's Prayer, when in reality,

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It is a pattern for our prayer. And Jesus has

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so arranged this marvelous pattern for prayer

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that it covers the entire ground of unfoldment

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of our souls completely. It omits nothing. It

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omits absolutely nothing that is essential for

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our salvation and to our Christian life. And

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yet... It is so compact that there's not a thought.

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There is not a word too much. Every move fits

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into its place with perfect harmony and in perfect

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sequence. Anything more. would be too much. Anything

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less would be incomplete. If you want to study

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something that is a masterpiece, study this part

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of the sermon that Jesus preached. Study the

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pattern for prayer that Jesus gave from his own

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lips. First, he begins by telling us of this

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wonderful relationship that we have. Our Father.

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Jesus tells us who God is, and then he moves

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right into telling us what man is. From there,

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

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is a perfect will for every human being. A will

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in the mind of God. A will in heaven for that

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life, for you and for me. And we should pray

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that His will in heaven should be carried out

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for our lives here and now on this earth. And

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yet all of us are created with a will of our

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own, separate and apart from the will of God.

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We are created as free moral agents, but we are

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to pray that our will shall be so yielded, so

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surrendered to Him, that here and now our lives

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should be lived in perfect harmony with his will

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in heaven for our lives. From that step, he explains

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the way in which we're to receive our true nourishment.

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Give us this day our daily bread. Oh, up until

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now, it's so wonderful. 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. Not

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one word has been said regarding sin. That's

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the reason I told you a second ago that we are

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now to the place in the prayer where this clause

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is the turning point. Of the entire prayer. For

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now he comes. To forgiveness. And do you want

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to know something? The forgiveness of sin. Is

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the central problem of life. It's the major tragedy

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of human experience. And I want you to see something.

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And I want you never to forget it. We all. faced

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here and now in this prayer with our inner relationship

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amongst men. And you cannot separate the spiritual

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from the material. You cannot separate your relationship

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with God from your relationship with man. You

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cannot do it. It's impossible. You cannot claim

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to be a wonderful child of the king. You cannot

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claim any spirituality. You cannot claim to be

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deeply spiritual and then treat your fellow men

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as though they were the scum of the earth. You

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can't do it. I repeat, you cannot separate the

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spiritual from the material. You cannot separate

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your relationship with God from your relationship

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with your fellow men. And right here in the center

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of this prayer, after he tells us our wonderful

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inheritance in Christ Jesus, and that all that

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is his is ours, and here... we are, away up on

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the pinnacle. We're on a glorious mountain peak

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when suddenly he brings us face to face with

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our inner relationship amongst men. Forgive us

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as we forgive. We cannot expect forgiveness from

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him while there is malice in our own heart. And

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this is the only petition of which Jesus gives

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us an exposition. In substance, he's saying,

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we must get our... pain done before we begin

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our praying. And there are a lot of folk who

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are saying an awful lot of prayers and doing

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an awful lot of praying who've never gotten the

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pain done. You treat your fellow men, you act

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like the devil when it comes to relationship

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to your fellow men. They despise you. You're

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mean. You're contemptible. You're unforgiving.

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You've been carrying a grudge in your heart for

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years. There's malice. There's prejudice. There's

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jealousy. But, beloved, God lays it on the line.

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That's exactly what he does. We're obliged either

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to forgive our enemies in sincerity and truth

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or never again to repeat this prayer. He lays

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it on the line. Come on and face it. This is

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the most important thing that I could bring you

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this morning because some of you may be wondering

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why you haven't been getting an answer to your

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prayer. You may be wondering why. You have no

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spiritual power in that life of yours. You may

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be wondering why you have no power in your testimony.

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Why you're not being used of God. Why there is

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no power in your example. Jesus literally shows

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us that we're obliged to either forgive our enemies

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or never again. to repeat this prayer. I still

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say that the Lord has so constructed his prayer

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with more skill than ever a lawyer ever displayed

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in the casting of a deed. Yes, ma 'am. He actually

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makes our... claim to our own forgiveness to

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depend upon our forgiveness of others. That's

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it. Now, he gave something and everything I'm

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giving you comes from his own lips. You need

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not fear that that which I'm giving you is not

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correct doctrine. or that I may be misleading

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you in your theology. Because all that I'm doing

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is giving you the words from the highest authority

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in heaven and earth. That's Jesus, God's Son.

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And who is a better authority on prayer, on how

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to pray, than the Son of God? Because everything

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that you and I receive, in prayer must come through

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Jesus. Everything. I don't care what your prayer

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

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desire is that you're desiring of Him. Everything

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that you receive through prayer must come through

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Jesus. There is no greater authority than than

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Jesus himself when it comes to this thing of

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prayer. I continue giving his own words as he

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gave an example. Here comes Peter. He was always

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the spokesman for the crowd. Always. Peter always

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said things and did things where... angels would

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fear to tread. I guess that's one reason I have

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an awfully warm spot in my heart for Peter, because

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I'm kind of like that myself. I want to know.

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And sometimes I think the disciples put Peter

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up to some of the things that he asked. But this

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is once when I believe it was Peter's own thinking,

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because this would be just like it. He probably

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had someone who was getting on his nerves. He

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knew the teaching of the master. And he had forgiven

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this one over and over again till his patience

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was wearing thin and he was just about ready

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to knock his block off. He was going to literally

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take those words, faith without works is dead.

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He'd exercised faith long enough. Now he was

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going to do a little works on the guy. And so

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the word of God says, then came Peter to him,

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that's to Jesus, and said, Lord, how oft shall

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my brother sin against me and I forgive him?

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And then before Jesus could answer, Peter put

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the words right in the mouth of Jesus and gave

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the answer himself because he had. It all fixed

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in his own mind. I've forgiven him for the last

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time, and now, the eighth time, I'm going to

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knock his block off. Till seven times? This is

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what Peter asked. Isn't seven times enough to

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forgive him? And Jesus said unto him, I say not

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unto thee until seven times, but until seventy

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times seven. Then Jesus didn't stop. He continued.

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Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto

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a certain king. And remember, that certain king

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is our wonderful king of kings. The kingdom of

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heaven is likened unto a certain king which would

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take account of his servants. And when he had

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begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which

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owed him ten thousand talents, but for as much

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as he had not to pay. His lord commanded him

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to be sold his wife and his children, all that

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he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore

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fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have

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patience with me, and I will... Pay thee all.

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And then the Lord of that servant was moved with

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compassion, loosed him, forgave him the debt.

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Now, who is he talking about up until now? He's

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talking about you. He's talking about me. For

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not a sinner has enough wealth, has enough...

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righteousness of his own has enough wherewith

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to pay for his way into heaven or to pay for

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the forgiveness of his sins not one of us had

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we all the wealth of the world combined with

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all the wealth in the worlds to come and laid

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this wealth at the feet of Jesus and said, here,

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here it is, all of it. Please, may we buy our

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salvation. He would laugh and say, there's not

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enough wealth in the universe to pay for the

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forgiveness of even the smallest sin. You have

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not enough righteousness of your own, so your

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own righteousness is as filthy rags in my sight.

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Therefore, what has he done? In love, in compassion,

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in mercy, he has written a cross, our debt of

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sin paid in full. with his own shed blood. Then

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the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion,

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loosed him, forgave him the debt. That's you,

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that's me. Our debt is paid in full. But the

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same servant that still you, that still me, we

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have been forgiven. The same servant went out

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and found one of his fellow servants that owed

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him a hundred pence, twenty cents, a little less

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than two bits. And he laid his hands on him and

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took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou

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owest. And his fellow servant fell down at his

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feet, besought him, saying, Have patience with

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me, and I'll pay thee all. And he would not.

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But he went and cast him into prison till he

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should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants

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saw what was done, they were very sorry and came

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and told their lord all that was done. Then his

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lord, after he had called him, said unto him,

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O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that

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debt, because thou desirest me. Shouldest not

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thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant,

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even as I had pity on thee? And the Lord was

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wroth, delivered him to the tormentors, till

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he should pay all that was due unto him. Now

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here it is. So likewise shall my heavenly Father

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do also unto you. If ye from your hearts, not

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just your lips, if ye from your hearts, here

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we have sincere forgiveness. Forgive not everyone

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his brother there trespasses. Yes, ma 'am. We

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are obliged either to forgive our enemies in

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sincerity and in truth from our hearts or never

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again to repeat this prayer. Jesus actually makes

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our claim to our own forgiveness to depend upon

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our forgiveness of others. You and I cannot demand

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our own release from sin before we release our

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brother. Do you want to know something? Forgiveness

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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. Amen.