Sermon Tone Analysis

You will see in this model of prayer given to us by the Lord Jesus that immediately after the preface of the prayer which is in the words:

"“Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven...”

We see that there are six petitions that follow.

The first three mainly relating to God and His honor: Our Father’s name, kingdom, and will.

Then the last three to what concerns us: bread, pardon for sin, and victory over the evil one.

This point sets the nail that Jesus is going to drive home to our hearts in v33:

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.”

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So the first thing we seek for in terms of God’s Kingdom is to maintain a zeal for the name of the Lord.

“Your name be honored as holy.”

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These are the words we want to consider this morning.

Seeing that God’s Name be regarded as holy is top priority.

God’s Name PRIORITY.

“Your Name”

Seeing that God’s Name be regarded as holy is top priority.

This is prayed before we ask for daily bread.

As Christ stressed concerning love: "This is the greatest and most important command.”

() Which was to love “the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

So to here, the greatest and most important petition is that God’s Name be honored as holy.

It’s top priority.

God’s Name PRIZED “be honored as holy” It’s prized above all the other petitions because one day, we won’t have to pray for our daily bread.

Because, there will be no hunger where we are going.

Or “forgive us our debts” because there will be no sin, nor,

“do not bring into temptation” because the old serpent is not there to tempt, where we’re going.

Yet the honoring of God’s Name, shall be of great done for ever and ever, in the singing of hallelujahs, which is nothing short of honoring His Name.

Every person in the blessed Trinity, God the Father, God the Song, God the Holy Spirit, must have this honor, to be honored as holy.

We intentionally set God’s Name above every name and not only admire God but adore Him!

His Name is to be honored.

Seven Glimpses of the Name of God

Here is a brief glimpse of the Name of God.

Here is a brief glimpse of the Name of God.

1. God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.

Say this to the people of Israel, I AM has sent me to you” ().

The most fundamental thing that can be said about God is that He is.

And the most staggering thing to our imagination is that He never had a beginning.

He simply is—from all eternity.

2. God said to Moses again, "He said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you.

I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.””

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At the heart of God’s name is the reality of His sovereign freedom.

He makes His choices on the basis of His own infinite wisdom.

He alone in all the universe is self-determined.

3. Again God said to Moses, "I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, ...’” ()

Not only does God exist in sovereign freedom, He is infinite in power so that He cannot be thwarted in any of His free choices.

Almighty omnipotence is the guarantee of His faithfulness.

4. When God came down a second time to Mount Sinai,

the first thing he did was to declare his name:

"The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, "maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin.

But he will not leave the guilty unpunished...” ()

So we learn on Mount Sinai that the existence, the freedom, and the omnipotence of God stand in the service of His mercy and His love.

5. God says to John in the book of Revelation (21:6), “It is done!

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.”

Every human being, great or small, had his beginning in God,

but even more important, will have his end in God.

God is everybody’s Omega.

Everyone present this morning is going to meet Him

either as a fountain of life or as a lake of fire.

6.

To Isaiah the Lord says, “I am the high and lofty One whose name is Holy” (57:15).

He is holy.

He is above and separate from all that is common and ordinary, because He has extraordinary value.

Coins and stamps and diamonds are valuable in direct proportion to how rare they are.

If they are one of a kind, we separate them from the run of the mill

coins and stamps and diamonds,

and put them in some out of the way place.

So God inhabits a place infinitely above our ordinary world.

And the wonder of the gospel is that in Christ

God comes near to dwell with crushed and humble saints.

7. Finally, God declares again on Mount Sinai,

"Because the Lord is jealous for his reputation, you are never to bow down to another god.

He is a jealous God.” ()

Which translates out to His Name is Jealous!

God has created us to love and enjoy Him, and He feels a

holy indignation when our hearts are lured away to love and enjoy other things more.

So our God exists from all eternity,

He is free,

He is omnipotent,

He is merciful,

He is the beginning and end of every person that will ever live,

He is holy, and

He is jealous for our undivided affection.

That is His name.

Jesus teaching us to pray this way is God’s way of bringing our priorities in line with His.

We are to bring our hearts into line with the jealousy of God to hallow His Name and we will pray with great effect.

May our first and all determining prayer be for the honoring of God’s Name!

So what’s it mean to honor God’s Name as holy?

Let’s look at a couple of ways that this word honor or treat as holy is used in relationship to God.

Flip to Isaiah 8.

Moses has had it with these complainers and strikes the rock twice with his staff and the water gushed out and so did the stinging words of God:

And notice the key words: “Because you did not trust me to demonstrate My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.””

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These words give us our first answer to the question: what’s it mean to honor God as holy?

It’s to believe Him.

John said, “He who does not believe God has made him a liar” ().

When you make somebody a liar, you profane that person’s name.

This is the opposite of treating the person as holy.

Not trusting God is the exact opposite of honoring His Name as holy.

"Do not call everything a conspiracy these people say is a conspiracy.

Do not fear what they fear; do not be terrified.

"You are to regard only the Lord of Armies as holy.

Only he should be feared; only he should be held in awe.” ()

Here’s a text that explains what it means to honor God’s Name as holy.

We honor His Name as holy by not fearing what men fear but fearing God.

Very practically it means that when God commands you to take your stand for him in a hostile situation,