# Sermons on the Lord's Prayer/Sermon 6

SERMON VI.
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."—Matt. vi. 12.
This portion of the Lord's Prayer, when rightly understood, will be found to have a most important and practical meaning.
We must first explain the signification of the terms. The term "debts" is here used in the sense of trespasses or sins. This is plain from the parallel passage in Luke, "Forgive us our sins;" and also from the Lord's own comment on this prayer in the succeeding verse: "For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Father will also forgive you." The reason that "debts" has such a meaning, seems to be this. A debt is something due to another, but not paid: hence it implies the idea of delinquency, defect, fault; and according to the greatness of the debt, is the degree of the delinquency. Now, to our Heavenly Father, the Divine Creator and Saviour, from whom we have received the gift of existence, and from whom come, directly or indirectly, all our enjoyments and blessings natural and spiritual,—we owe the deepest debt of gratitude, and, with it, worship, love, and, withal, obedience. "When, then, we do not pay these debts, ​—if we do not make these returns that are due,—if we do not love and worship him as we ought,—if we do not yield obedience to his commands,—then we are delinquents; and our delinquencies are sins against him. It is on this ground, probably, that offences against our Heavenly Father are called "debts," that is, returns of gratitude and obedience due, but yet unpaid.
Now, the prayer is, that the Lord would forgive us these "debts"—would pardon our offences, our sins against him. And this subject of the forgiveness of sins opens up a wide field of thought, and one on which the light of the New Church Doctrine shines with peculiar brightness.
That doctrine teaches that the Lord always forgives, for he is Love and Mercy itself; that is, he never entertains any feeling of revenge or even of anger against any one, nor any desire to punish any one, however great his sins or offences may have been. "The Lord," says the New Church Doctrine, "remits to every one his sins; and never punishes for them, nor ever imputes them to any one, nor brings accusation against any one, inasmuch as he is essential Love and Goodness. When Peter asked him. How often his brother might sin against him and be forgiven,—whether seven times? the Lord answered, 'Not seven times only, but seventy times seven.' What then must be the extent of the Lord's forgiveness, who is Mercy itself?" "But," it is added—and this is a most important qualification of the previous remark,— ​"though the Lord forgives all, nevertheless sins are not on that account wiped away, for this can be effected only by repentance."
Now, here is a distinction most important to be observed. The old idea—and one still extensively prevalent—in regard to God's forgiveness of sins, is, that he has but to speak the word "pardon," and at once the sins are blotted out, with all their painful consequences, and the man can be at once received into heaven. But such a view shows an utter ignorance of the nature and constitution of the human mind, and also of the nature and laws of Divine order. Were it possible for men to be thus forgiven,—were nothing needed but for the Lord to speak the words "I pardon,"—there would not remain an unforgiven sinner in the universe, nor would there be any hell at all, but the Lord, in his infinite love, would draw all his creatures to his arms, and make them happy in heaven for ever.
But such is not the nature of things, nor the nature of man, nor the nature of man's relation to his Maker. Man, in order that he may be man, and not a mere machine, is constituted with freedom of will; which implies the power to pervert his own nature, if he will, and thus to bring himself into disorder and consequent unhappiness. Suppose, then, that a man, abusing his freedom, disobeys the Divine commandments, which are the laws of heavenly order, and falls into sin. By repeated acts of disobedience, he perverts his nature and his tastes, forms evil habits, and sinks into a low ​and miserable state. At length, some painful blow, some excess of sin, bringing excess of misery, rouses him from his degradation, wakes his conscience from its sinful lethargy, causes him, like the "prodigal son," to reflect on his wretched condition, recalls to his mind his former state of peace and innocence ere yet he had left his Heavenly Father's house,—that is, before he had wandered away into the paths of vice and wretchedness,—and with a sudden determination, he resolves to "arise and go to his Father," he determines to return to the Lord his God, confess his sins, and pray for pardon of his transgressions, and begin a new and better life.
He keeps his resolution. He has not far to go; for "the Lord is not far from any one of us." He is always near, watching over his erring children, and noting with joy the first movement towards a return. The young man throws himself on his knees before the Lord his God, and prays most earnestly for forgiveness of his sins, promising with heart-felt asseverations not to sin any more, but to begin a new course of life, and to live henceforth in obedience to the Divine Word, and in a manner accordant with the Lord's will.
Like the loving father of the prodigal, the Lord at once forgives; he calls up no recollections of the past, but tries, as it were, to forget it all: for, "He desireth not the death of a sinner; but rather that he turn from his wickedness and live," and he declares in his Word, that "If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, ​he shall not die: all his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done, he shall live." Thus the Lord, so far as tenderness, and love, and feelings, and Divine rejoicings of spirit go,—entirely forgives, and, as it were, takes the repentant sinner to his arms.
Nor is this state of Divine forgiveness without its effect on the repentant person himself. He feels, for the time, an interior peace and joy. And why? Because he has, so far as intention goes, returned to the Lord: he has, in purpose and resolve, turned from his evil courses; and thus, so far as ends and resolutions are effective, he is a new man, and is now looking towards the Lord and heaven, while, before, his back was turned upon them. So far, then, he is a changed man, and consequently, so far, he has the reward of turning again to the Lord, by coming for the time into a state of peace.
But are the man's evils removed? Are those habits of sin, confirmed by long indulgence, so easily broken? Are those evil passions, which have been so long his masters, to be subdued and brought under by a repentant sigh and tear? No! when he becomes cool again,—when the first agonies of remorse are over,—when another day's sun shall rise upon him, or another week has passed away,—he will find the serpent creeping up his limbs again: he will find his old evil passions and inclinations returning upon him; and it will require all his resolution, together with constant ​prayer to the Lord, to put them down and keep them down.
This experience every spiritual man must have gone through. And this shows us, that the Lord's forgiveness of our sins is one thing, and the removal of our evils quite another. After the Lord has forgiven,—after we have seen our evils and confessed them before the Lord, and have felt for the time, in consequence, an inward peace, which is the sign of the Lord's recognition of us as his repentant children, and of his acceptance of our good resolves—is the work then done? No! it is but begun: the difficult part is now to commence. We have but come to the Lord, acknowledged ourselves his subjects, and looking to him for strength, have buckled on our armor for the fight; for now it is to begin:—the fight with our evils, the combat with our long-cherished and often-indulged inclinations, the struggle with our passions and lusts, which hell has long infused, and which hell means still to stir up, and of which it will not easily let go its hold. But it is our comfort, that we have an Almighty power to support us, an Omnipotent arm to aid us, the great Redeemer's strength to sustain us. He fought with all the Powers of hell before, when in his humanity on earth; and by continual victories, gained to himself full dominion over them, and stands now ready to help us in our hour of need. And if we pray to him fervently, and then strive as of ourselves,—little by little, we shall find the enemy give way,—gradually we shall gain the mastery over our passions,—one after another our evils will be brought into ​subjection and submission, and their power over us will be broken. And then will the Lord by his Holy Spirit remove them, and introduce heavenly affections in their stead, and inspire love to God and man, and re-mould our spirits, and regenerate our hearts, and prepare us for our heavenly home. Thus will our sins truly be pardoned, by our evils being removed. Such and no other is the order of man's regeneration; such is the true manner of the remission of sins.
But now we have to consider the second part of this petition, which will be found to have an important bearing on the first. The words are, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." "As," means here, "according as," or "in proportion as:" "Forgive us our trespasses, in proportion as we forgive the trespasses of others against us." That such is the meaning, is evident from the Lord's comment, immediately following—(and what is remarkable, it is the only part of the Prayer which he does comment upon, showing thus, it would seem, his view of its importance). "For," he says, "if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Here, now, is a very important subject for reflection: here is a condition laid down in regard to the forgiveness of sins, which needs to be well considered.
Why is it that the Lord will not forgive our trespasses, unless we forgive the trespasses of others against us? Because he cannot. We know that the ​Lord never acts arbitrarily: he never says, "I will," and "I won't," without there being a principle of truth, a law of Divine order, on which the "will" or "will not" is founded. And why can he not forgive our trespasses, unless we forgive the trespasses of others? If we recur to the true meaning of forgiveness, as before explained, the answer will be clear. It was shown that the forgiveness or remission of sins, means, in fact, the removal of evils. Now, evils cannot be removed by the Lord, so long as man clings to them, cherishes them, and will not give them up. When we indulge feelings of anger, revenge, ill-will towards those who we think have injured us, or who we consider have been guilty of trespasses against us, we are cherishing evils in our hearts, deep and horrid evils—for there are few evils deeper or more infernal than a spirit of retaliation and revenge. And while we so cherish these evils, they cannot be removed: in fact, we do not wish them removed, we are not willing to have them removed: we fondle and caress this viper, and hug it to our bosoms, till it stings us to death: we cherish and brood over our wrongs, real or imagined, and form plans of revenge, little thinking that, in so doing, we are gathering around us infernals of the deepest dye, and letting ourselves down amongst the societies of hell. But truly we are so doing. Every evil thought or passion indulged, connects man with infernal spirits, and the longer it is indulged the more closely is he conjoined with them, till at length it becomes difficult to extricate himself from their grasp; and if he does not by a violent effort tear ​himself away from them, he becomes their slave for ever.
Such is the true state of the case. How, then, is it possible for one who cherishes an unforgiving spirit towards others, to have his own trespasses forgiven? To have sins forgiven, or, what is the same, to have evils removed, is, in fact,—as the New Church Doctrine teaches,—to have our spirits removed or withdrawn from infernal societies; for so long as man is in evils, he is in connection with such societies, and it is from that source that the evils flow in. But if man indulges his evils, he is, as just shown, binding himself more and more closely to infernal societies; and he cannot be separated or withdrawn from them except by ceasing to indulge the evil, and by fighting against it. But he who will not fight against an evil—as the evil of anger and revenge, for instance—but prefers to indulge and cherish it, does not suffer himself to be withdrawn from the company of the infernal spirits who are in that evil. In this state, it is impossible that that sin should be forgiven him; for he does not ask to have it forgiven: he rather chooses it and loves it: he is not willing to be withdrawn from that hell. And as all evils are connected together—therefore by binding himself to one, he, in a manner, gives himself up to all; and thus his other sins and trespasses cannot be forgiven, while he voluntarily indulges in any one sin.
How can a man kneel down with a sincere heart, and say to the Lord, "forgive me my trespasses," while he is conscious of cherishing an angry and unforgiving spirit against his fellow-man? He cannot: ​his prayer is either hypocritical or unmeaning; and such a prayer finds no response. "If I regard iniquity in my heart," says the Psalmist, "the Lord will not hear." No! the prayer cannot be heard, because it is not a true prayer: the iniquity cherished in the heart chokes the words as they issue from the mouth, draws down the thought as it aspires to heaven, and extinguishes the prayer's very life.
Says the Lord, "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remember that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way: first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." Whether we approach the altar in prayer or in worship, it is all in vain, whilst we are conscious of having done an unatoned wrong to others, or whilst we are cherishing feelings of hostility for supposed wrongs done to us. Both states are evil, and unrepenting evil cannot pray, nor is its worship accepted. We must "first go and be reconciled to our brother, and then come and offer our gift:" we must first make amends for the wrong we have done,—if we have done wrong to others,—or we must put away from our hearts any feelings of enmity towards others on account of the wrongs, real or supposed, which they may have done to us. We must remove from our hearts feelings of anger and ill-will, before we presume to come into the presence of our Maker. How can hell mix with heaven? But anger is hell, and the Lord is heaven—and they cannot approach each other.
​But perhaps we may think ourselves justified in cherishing angry feelings, on some particular occasions, in consideration of the greatness of the wrongs we may have suffered. If that be our excuse, we need but call to mind the Lord's parable of the king and his servants. "Therefore," said the Lord, "is the kingdom of heaven likened to a certain king, who would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant, therefore, fell down and worshiped him, saying. Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, who owed him a hundred pence; and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying. Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not; but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt. So, when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after he had called him, said to him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: shouldest thou not also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord ​was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due to him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."
There, now, is the lesson: there is the Divine declaration, and it will be fulfilled to the letter. If any one fancies himself justified in indulging anger because he has been wronged, let him think how much more justifiable would our Divine Master be in exercising wrath against us. "If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" Have we not, each and all, sinned against him again and again, in thought and word and deed,—and if he should take revenge for all these wrongs against his Divine law, where should we be? And yet if we are wronged in the least degree by our "fellow- servant,"—our fellowman, we fancy we are justified in being angry and taking revenge to the utmost. How do those accounts square with each other? How will those reckonings stand, when a comparison is made?—and it will be made at our judgment. Our fellow-servant owes us a hundred pence; but we owe our own Lord ten thousand talents: such is the proportion between the wrongs done to us, and the wrongs which we ourselves have done.
Let us beware, then, how we cherish an unforgiving spirit, if we wish to be ourselves forgiven. Let us hasten to put away all feelings of anger, revenge, and ill-will, and come into a state of love and ​kindness, of Christian forbearance and forgiveness towards all men, if we would be drawn out of hell and be elevated into heaven. "Recompense to no man," says the Apostle, "evil for evil. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written. Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thy enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink." "For," says the Lord, "if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
* ↑ xi. 4.
* ↑ Divine Providence, n. 280.
* ↑ True Christian Religion, n. 409.
* ↑ Ezekiel xvii. 21, 22.
* ↑ Psalm lxvi. 18.
* ↑ Matthew v. 23, 24.
* ↑ Matthew xviii. 23-35.
* ↑ Psalm cxxx. 3.
* ↑ Romans xii. 17, 19, 20.