Well, good morning, Church. It's really great to see you all this morning. It's nice to have some sunshine and feel warmth on my skin again. As you remember, we started a three-part series on the Lord's Prayer last week. We looked at the first three petitions. And before we get going to our next three this morning, I quickly want to glance over what we did last week, just to refresh our memories. So you remember that we examined what it means for God to be called our Father, and that as our Father who is also the King of the universe, He is the one who looks after us, provides for us. And as his children, we can come to him as a father, knowing that when we pray, he hears us. And these prayers are various. Some of these prayers can be like, hallowed be thy name, which means glorify your name. Your name be glorified. And you'll remember that we said that this glorification of God's name happens both In those who are believers, when they become Christians, they glorify God, but also in the destruction of the wicked. God's name is glorified in both. You'll remember we also spoke about what it means for God's kingdom to come. Speaking about God's kingdom coming in the hearts and minds of people when they become Christians, and then also seeing God's kingdom come in the here and now, in the good and the perfect things in life. And also, ultimately, echoing what John said in Revelation, in, come, Lord Jesus, come. When we say, your kingdom come, we're, in fact, asking for Jesus to return. And then finally last week we also looked at the will of God. Praying that God's will be done means that our wills be bent to his. Our wills not be done so that God's will may be done. Looking at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as well as Job. So as we continue today, I quickly want to make a short point just to clarify something I mentioned last week about written prayers. You'll remember I mentioned the Puritan form of written prayers I just want to state it categorically that I do believe there's a massive difference between the Lord's Prayer and written prayers as Jesus told us to pray the Lord's Prayer. So reciting it, memorizing it, saying it is good. And we should do that. It's completely different than written prayers. But the point I want to make, and something that I think is not just important for the Lord's Prayer, but things like the Psalms, good books, good theology, is that when we become so familiar with the things of God that it doesn't even do anything in our hearts or in our minds, when we're just mumbling the words, we're sort of missing the point. of these things. And that was the point I was trying to make, that when we come to the Lord's Prayer, let us be mindful and meditate on God's Word as he has given it to us. So last week we saw that God, our Father, is our King. He's a King who is the one who rules over all. He's the one whose will be done. He's the one whose kingdom come. And today I want us to see a different aspect of our Father. He's not only the King whose kingdom come and whose will we want to see being done on earth as it is in heaven, but he's also the great provider of all we need. And that is the title of our sermon this morning as well, Our Father, the Great Provider of All We Need. And the part of the Lord's Prayer we'll be looking at this morning is Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And we will see God's provision in three ways today as we look at these three petitions, or three requests. Firstly, we will see God's provision in the good things in life, or the physical things. Secondly, we'll see God's provision in forgiving our debts. in a sense, giving us a debt-free life, forgiving our sins. And thirdly, his provision in leading us, providing a way that we may not be led into temptation, but indeed living a life that is delivered from evil. And I'll be going over these three points again for those of you making notes. And as I said last week, I would really encourage you to take notes and have your Bible with you, because I'll be going over several scriptures. And for many of them, I won't read them. I'll just mention them. So going over these in the week will be really helpful as we as a church think about what this prayer means for us as a church but also individually. So let's jump into the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer. Give us this day our daily bread. And this is our first point for today's sermon. God, the provider of the good things in life. God, the provider of the good things in life. Now in this petition, we simply ask God to give us our daily bread. And I think this request makes sense in a country like Norway, where bread is the staple food for many people. But maybe in Indonesia or Malaysia in the East, this is like asking God for our daily rice. Or in Poland or in Eastern European countries, giving our daily potatoes. You know, it's asking God to give us the good things in life. That by his free grace, he may give us a competent portion of the good things in life. And also, that we may enjoy his blessing with these things. Because, I mean, what is the point in receiving the good things in life when it's not accompanied by God's blessing? We see a great example of this in Proverbs. In Proverbs 30, we read, two things I ask of you. Deny them not before me before I die. Remove far from me falsehood and lying. Give me neither poverty nor riches. feed me with the food that is needful for me. So here we see Solomon coming to God, praying for God's provision, and we see him asking for something, feed me with the food that is needful for me, but also asking that God would take away falsehood and lying. You see, God's provision for us in the good things in life is both in giving us the things we need, but also taking the things we don't need away, so that we may enjoy the good things in life. This is very similar to the story of Job that you remember I was speaking about last week, who he trusted God so much that he was like, Lord, I trust you in the giving as well as in the taking away. So you see, the person who comes to God praying, Lord, give me today my daily bread, comes with empty hands saying, Lord, you are my provider. Give me the things I need in this life and take away the things I don't. You know better than I, you know what I need. You can provide for me and my family in a significantly far greater way than I can. And you know, as Carmen and I have lived in Norway for the last three years, we've noticed that for Norwegian Christians and for people growing up in Norway, God's provision seems to be quite a big roadblock in their spiritual life. And the biggest reason for this is, for a lot of Christians in Norway, they don't really have to rely on God's provision all that much. I mean, you have the state looking after you. So instead of turning to God first, a lot of people would turn to the state. And while I believe that things like love and the state can be good and that God in his common grace has provided for people in Norway, we as Christians here in Norway need to set our hope on God first. He is ultimately the one providing for our families. So instead of turning to the state first, we should allow scripture to align our hearts that we may see that God is ultimately the one who provides for us and that we should turn to him first. Plan B, you know, Nav didn't reply to my email, maybe I should pray for God's provision. No, as Christians, we should go to God first and ask for his provision. But maybe you're not from Norway. In South Africa, and I think in the US, we have this Protestant work ethic, where we think the harder I work, the better I'll be able to provide for my family. And the question I have for us, who are from these backgrounds, is who is the one providing for your family? Is it you? Or is it God? Will your constant working and trying to provide for your family, working 80, 90 hours a week, will that be the provision that God gives your family? Or is God the one? who is providing for them. And while, again, the Protestant work ethic is good, and I believe work is something that God has given to us, this is really about our hearts, as Matt has said, about looking at our hearts and thinking about who do we trust for to provide for our families? Do we rely on ourselves, or do we rely on God? I mean, look at the birds of the air. For they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you, be worrying, can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, Will he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? That was Matthew 6. And here we are reminded that in the way that God clothes the lilies of the field and feeds the birds of the air, God is ultimately the one who clothes you and your family. He's the one who feeds you and your family. In fact, for a lot of us men who take big pressure on ourselves to provide for our family, This takes massive pressure off of us. Yes, we should work hard. Yes, we should not be lazy. Laziness is a sin. But the weight of caring for your children is not on your shoulders. God is their provider, first and foremost. He is the one who feeds them, who clothes them. Men and women, in many cases, you're a mere instrument in God's hands. And he's the one who uses you to make his providence known, to your children. And again, like I said, this takes massive pressure off of us. So this petition doesn't only speak about physical providence, it also speaks about the good things in life. Matt just read for us from James 1, where we see that every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. You see, everything good that we have is from God. If you enjoy something, it is really good, it's something that you have that is great, God is the one who gave that to you. But in James 1, we also see mention of trials and tribulations, which, according to James, should be considered pure joy. And so as we look at the next two petitions, let us keep James 1 in mind, where there's this sense of every good gift coming from God including trials and tribulations, which we might not think is that great. We should even consider these things pure joy. So let's look at the next two petitions. These two speak a bit more about God's spiritual provision for our lives. In the fifth petition, we read, and forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors. And this is the second point for today's sermon, God the provider, of a debt-free life. God, the provider of a debt-free life. So when we mention the word debt, for many of us we might think money that you owe on a house or a car. And if you look at Norway, Norway is actually one of the countries in the world with the greatest household debt compared to what people earn. And for most people in Norway, it's a debt that they're able to settle. So even though Norway has a massive debt, household debt, that is, people are, for the most part, able to settle that debt. People earn well. The interest rates are low. So for most of us, this petition doesn't hit us as hard as it should. You see, for most of us, when we think about debt, we think about something that in the future we might be able to settle. But the debt we are asking for God's forgiveness, the debt we are called to settle in God's economy is a debt that you will never be able to pay off. In fact, it's the debt that we owe because of the guilt of our sin. And unlike the bank for closing your house or taking your car, this debt leads to eternal hell, eternal death. It doesn't lead to you losing your house or your car. It leads to damnation, eternal death. So in the sixth petition, we pray that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all of our sins. That is the debt that we're asking He's pardoned for. It's all of our sins. When we pray this debt, Or when we pray this prayer for God's forgiveness of our debt, we essentially pray what Matt read this morning in Psalm 51. So in Psalm 51, we find David crying out to God. And this psalm is one of David's most famous psalms. It's a psalm written after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, and also killed Bathsheba's husband. So this is David coming to God, messing up big time. And this is what David says. Have mercy on me, O God. according to your loving devotion, according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. So a quick note before we continue. Here we see David approaching God, asking for God's mercy based on God's loving devotion, based on God's great compassion. So here we see David knowing the God that he prays for. And this should be our hearts. In fact, when we come to God our Father, our great provider, we cannot come to him not knowing who he is. We need to know God when we come to him, our God of great compassion. As we continue in verse two, wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be proved right when you speak and blameless when you judge. And a second note here, it is important when we come to God asking for his forgiveness, it is because we ultimately sin against God. You know, when you read the story of David, you might think, man, committing adultery, that's really, that is actually sinning against Uriah, Bathsheba's husband. Or when he killed Uriah, it's like, oh, well, the state is the one keeping him accountable because he killed somebody. No, in fact, his adultery with Bathsheba was first and foremost a sin against God. Just like any sin we commit, whether you lie to your father or your mother or a coworker, That sin is not committed against them first and foremost. Every sin we commit is committed first and foremost against God. He is the one we are guilty to. In verse five, David tells us, surely I was brought forth in iniquity. I was sinful when my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in the inmost being. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. And here we see that David, Thinking about his sin, thinking about the sin that he committed, doesn't only mention the actual sins he committed, but he's also mentioning what we would call original sin, the sin that he was born with, the sin we inherited from Adam. And we need forgiveness from that as well. So here in Psalm 51, we see a great example of somebody who understands their debt, who understands the guilt of their sin, and how our hearts should be aligned when we come to God asking for him to forgive our debts. We as a church, we as individuals should recognize that we, by nature, stand condemned before God. Both in the sins we actually commit, the actual sins, but also because we are born guilty. Church, we are not only guilty when we sin, we are in fact born owing God a debt. Born owing God a debt we cannot pay. And if it wasn't for the work of Jesus on the cross, we would be utterly hopeless. Or as Ephesians 2 puts it, being dead in our trespasses and sins. Ephesians 2 tells us that we walked following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath. like the rest of mankind. You see, in Ephesians 2, at the start of chapter 2, we see that we are dead, following the devil, children of wrath by nature. But in chapter 2, verse 5, we find the great hope that we as Christians have. Ephesians 2, chapter 5 tells us, but God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us. when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised up with him and seated with him in the heavenly places, so that in the coming ages he might show you the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. You see, this is why the debt we owe is paid by God. because we could never pay it. We are dead in our trespasses and sins. We cannot pay. We are dead. How does a dead person pay a debt? But Paul also tells us that we have been saved by grace so that no one may boast, not as a result of works. And that's a second reason why God is the one paying our debt. So that we cannot boast. We cannot be like those people saying, well, after 15 years of paying my house, we're finally debt-free. After five years of paying for the house, I'm finally debt-free. The debt we owe God is not like settling a house or a car. We cannot boast because it doesn't matter how hard we try or how many things we attempt in this Christian life, our debt is settled by grace alone, not by our great abilities. So if you're sitting here this morning, and you don't know whether your debt is actually settled, you're unsure if God has forgiven you because of his great love and mercy, if you don't know Jesus who humbled himself on a cross to settle your debt, then it is my plea truly is that you would turn to God because you cannot settle this debt yourself. Unlike any debt you might face in this life, this is a debt that leads to eternal damnation. Turn to God and plead for his mercy, plead with God that he may be the one who settles this debt. And for those of you that have been saved, for those of you that know this great debt that has been settled on your account, let us not forget that we are also called in this petition to forgive others. This petition reminds us that as God forgives our debts, we should also forgive the debts of others. Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors. So God's grace not only forgives us our debts, but God's grace also enables us to forgive those who've sinned against us. And, you know, we should not forget this because at the end of the day, no matter how much or how egregiously somebody sins against us, that sin is still significantly less than the debt or the guilt we're owed to God. And if he can forgive us, who are we to remain unforgiving? We find a great parable of this in Matthew 18. In fact, would you please open your Bibles to Matthew 18? Let's read this together. I believe this is such a great parable that we can meditate on. Matthew 18 from verse 21. Matthew 18, let's read from verse 21. So in Matthew 18 verse 21, we see Peter coming to Jesus. Peter is saying, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times? And now, in Judaism, let's remember that three times would have been enough. In Judaism, if you forgive somebody three times, that was really generous. So Peter, in fact, asking Jesus if seven times is enough, was Peter coming to Jesus actually wanting to show that he was quite a virtuous follower of Christ. Seven times, that's almost double. That's more than double that the normal Jews would. How does Jesus reply? Verse 22, Jesus answered, I tell you, not just seven times, but 77 times. Because of this, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle an account with his servants. And as he began the settlements, a debtor was brought to him owing 10,000 talents. And now just a quick note here. One talent in New Testament times would have been 20 years worth of wages. So in today's terms, this would have been, say, 6, 8, 10 billion dollars, or 60 billion kroner. I mean, this would have been an enormous amount. The point here is that this man was never going to be able to settle this debt. So similar to our sinful estate to God, this man owed a debt he could never pay. In verse 25, since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt. along with his wife and children and everything he owed. Then the servant fell on his knees before him. Have patience with me, he begged, and I will pay back everything. His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt and released him. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. And again, a hundred denarii would have probably been about three months worth of work. So still, a substantial amount of money, but probably like $15,000. So here we have a guy who owed about $6 billion, but $15,000, or 60 billion kroner or 150,000 kroner, so a massive difference. And what does the servant do? Well, verse 28 tells us, he grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, pay back what you owe me. So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, have patience with me, and I will pay you back. But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt. When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all this to their master. Then the master summoned him and declared, you wicked servant. I forgave all your debt because you begged me. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? In anger, his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should repay all that he owed. This is how my heavenly father, will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart. Scary parable, but this parable makes it quite clear why we should forgive others. The guilt of your sin, the debt you owe God, is like six billion dollars. It's a debt you could never repay. And we were forgiven that debt. We were forgiven a debt we could never pay. And so when we have a brother or sister who sins against us, perhaps they slander us, perhaps they lie to us, Perhaps they even make an egregious sin against us. That sin is like a few thousand dollars indebted to us. How can we not forgive such a small debt if such a massive debt has been forgiven of us? And perhaps you struggle with this. I mean, forgiveness is really difficult, especially if it is close to home. Perhaps if it's a family member. Man, it's really difficult to forgive. Pray that God would enable you to forgive since he has not only forgiven us, but he has also enabled us to forgive those who sin against us. God is therefore our provider of a debt-free life, as he has sent Jesus to die for our sins. He has forgiven a debt we could never pay. And so, with God's help, we should also endeavor to forgive those who sin against us. Let us now turn to our final petition of this morning sermon. and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And so in keeping with the theme of God being our provider, our third point this morning, God the provider of a temptation-free life. God the provider of a temptation-free life. So in this petition, we essentially ask God for two things. Firstly, we pray that God would keep us from being tempted to sin, And secondly, this prayer could also be prayed to ask for God's support and deliverance when we are tempted. So both God's deliverance from temptation, but also God's keeping us from being tempted in the first place. Let's look at these requests briefly. Firstly, we ask that we would not be led into temptation, asking that God would keep us from even the temptation to sin. So we examined Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane last week when we looked at Jesus relinquishing his will and accepting God's will. But looking at Matthew 26 again, looking at the same prayer, we find Jesus praying and being sorrowful as he's going back to his disciples. And in Matthew 26, verse 41, we see Jesus speaking to Peter, telling him, watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. So Matthew 26, 41 shows us the wisdom of Jesus as he teaches Peter about temptation and also how we should consider dealing with the temptation to sin. You know, the most common teachings on sin and how to live sin free is to not even be tempted in the first place. And this is, I mean, people who are on a diet could tell you this. The best way not to eat chocolate or cake is to not have it in the house, not to have that temptation to even eat that chocolate in the house. Why? Well, because on January 1st, you're really willing to go on a diet. You know, the spirit indeed is willing, but when you see that chocolate, the flesh is weak. And sin, brothers and sisters, is considerably more desirous to our flesh than chocolate. Our sinful flesh wants to sin. That is why it's important for us not to even give sin a foothold in our lives. We should not even be in the position where the sins we struggle with can tempt us. You remember we saw in David that he was conceived in sin. We are born into sin. We are sinful by nature. Our natures desire sin. So we need God's help. We need God's help to keep us from the temptation to sin. Why? Well, because our spirits, even though they are willing, our flesh is weak. Our flesh is weak and tends to give into sinful desires. I mean, all of us have testimonies of this, where we really struggle not to do a specific sin, but as soon as it knocks on the door, we give into it. That is why we should be humble when we approach God, saying, Lord, keep me from this temptation. Do not even let this temptation come over my path, for I'm not strong enough, Lord. My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak. And friends, the Lord is faithful to answer our prayers. When we come to the Lord earnestly asking Him and desiring to not even be tempted by sin, He's faithful to answer our prayers. But this petition also asks for the Lord's support and deliverance when we are being tempted. Deliver us from evil. And in this part of the prayer, we acknowledge that the enemy, Satan walks around like a roaring lion, seeking to destroy us, seeking our ruin, and that we need God's deliverance from him. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot even save ourselves from our sin. We cannot save ourselves from the temptation to sin. We need God's deliverance. We find a great example of praying for God's deliverance in the life of the Apostle Paul. One of my favorite passages in the entire New Testament is 2 Corinthians 12. In 2 Corinthians 12, we read about a thorn given to Paul in his flesh. Now, while it is uncertain what this thorn is, we know that it was given to Paul and he calls it a messenger of Satan, a messenger that came to harass me to keep me from being conceited. And in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 8, we read, three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said, my grace is sufficient for you My power is made perfect in weakness. Who does Paul turn to for deliverance? Who does Paul turn to when this messenger of Satan continues to harass him? He turns to God. He turns to the only one who knows he can actually deliver him, the one who can save him from this messenger of Satan. Paul realizes that he cannot deliver himself, that this thorn was in fact given to him to keep him from being prideful. So instead of relying on himself, instead of delivering himself, which could have possibly led to pride, Paul realizes that God's grace is sufficient for him in this moment of weakness that he finds himself in. That in his fleshly weakness, in realizing that his flesh is weak, Paul realizes that God's power is made perfect in that weakness. That is why we turn to God for deliverance. We realize from a humble heart that we are weak. We cannot keep ourselves from sinning. We cannot even deliver ourselves. We need God's power in our weakness. Now before we conclude with this point, I think it's important to mention that This doctrine of God's deliverance and keeping us from temptation should not lead us to passivity. I think a lot of people can read this and think, well, I prayed for God to keep me from temptation, the temptation came, then I prayed for God to deliver me from that temptation, and I sinned. So is God not keeping up with Jesus' heart of the bargain? I prayed these things and I still sinned. Is God at fault? And this is why I think the doctrines of sanctification and mortification are so important when we as Christians meditate on things like sin and temptation. Sanctification essentially tells us that we as Christians grow as we become more Christ-like. We grow by reading God's word, for example, or by praying. When we pray and read God's word, our desires and affections become more Christ-like. So as we become more sanctified, we can more easily live unto righteousness and die unto sin. So we, in a sense, as we behold Jesus, as we look unto Jesus in his word, become more like him. And so sin will become less desirous. Sin starts to become ugly and we can actually start to desire the things that God desires. When we see sin for what it is, When we read scripture and behold Jesus and see the ugliness and the sinfulness of sin, we can more easily say no to that sin. So while we should ask for God's deliverance, ask for God's keeping us from temptation and delivering us from temptation, we as Christians should be proactive. We should spend time in God's Word, getting to know God's Word, meditating and memorizing God's Word, so that when sin comes knocking on the door, we can face the enemy with the Word of God. And the idea of mortification also comes to view. And mortification essentially just means putting to death the desires of the flesh, you know, wrestling with the sinful desires, not just giving in to them, So we pray for God keeping us from temptation, delivering us from temptation. But when we see temptation coming, when we see it knocking on the door, we wrestle it. We conquer it. You know, I have Genesis 4-7 as a screensaver on my laptop, which reminds me of this every day. Genesis 4-7 tells us, you will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out. Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you, but you must subdue it and be its master. And this is ultimately what mortification means for us as Christians. Recognizing that sin crouches at the door, waiting for you to give in. But you need to decide, with the help of God in prayer, that you will be sin's master, that you will indeed be able to say no. And sometimes we fail and we turn to God for forgiveness. But this is the Christian life. Not giving up when we give in to sin, but continuing to wrestle with our flesh day in and day out. So as we draw to a close this morning, let us consider what it means for God to be our provider. Church, do we trust that God is a good God a good father, and a better provider for ourselves and our families than we are. Do we merely view prayer as a backup plan when our first plan for provision didn't work? Or do we turn to God first and foremost for his provision in our lives? As we pray for God to give us our daily bread, let us be reminded that the same God who clothes the lilies of the field and feeds the birds of the sky is our Heavenly Father who cares for us. Let us turn to Him with our needs, big and small, for He will surely give us all that we need, and even greater than we need. As we turn to God in prayer, let us find a great hope in the gospel of Jesus, which has given us the greatest gift, the greatest gift of eternal life. As our debts are forgiven, our debts that we are born with, are forgiven in the death of Christ, a debt we could never pay, a debt we could never settle. But as we meditate on this great gift that God has given us, let us not be unforgiving. Let the forgiveness that God has given us and shown us lead us to forgive others. Those who sin against us, let us forgive those people as well. And finally, God is our provider. is also able and willing to keep us from temptation, which leads to sin. He's able to deliver us from temptation and he's able to keep us from temptation in the first place. Let us therefore not only rely on our own ability to deal with sin, but run to God as we run away from sin. Turn to God, who is the one who promises to deliver us from temptation. So church, as Christians, This portion of the Lord's Prayer reminds us that we are beggars coming to God with empty hands, asking Him for everything in life. The physical things we might need, as well as the spiritual things we might need, the forgiveness of sin and keeping us from sin. And church, what a great hope we have that our good Father is faithful and able to provide for us all that we need. Let us pray.