Our Father
Pastor Chad A. Miller
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 34:44
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· 33 viewsThe model for praying reminds us of the beauty and necessity of corporate praying, “OUR. This incredible opportunity is afforded to us because of a living relationship with have through Christ!
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Text: KJV
After this manner therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
For 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.
OPEN: 2 words can turn a relationship upside down / or right side up!
We begin the actual text of the Lord’s Prayer (aka The Disciples’ Prayer) today.
Couple of overview thoughts.
couldn’t have been meant to mechanically pray over and over (especially in view of the Lord’s direction on ho NOT to pray)
This was a prayer that Jesus could not pray Himself because it includes the request of forgivenessIt was revolutionary on so many levels.
The first 2 words are worth considerable pause and contemplation.
Lord’s Prayer Background and entry
How simple yet deeply profound the Lord’s Prayer is, as we can see even in brief outline:
The FATHERHOOD of God (and his loving care for his children);
The HOLINESS of God (and his holy sacrifice for us);
The KINGDOM of God (and his reign over all of life);
The WILL of God (and his perfect plan for us);
The PROVISION of God (day by day for all our needs);
The FORGIVENESS of God (for all sins and the sins of others);
The PROTECTION of God (from temptation and from Satan’s power); and
The REALITY of his KINGDOM, his power, and his glory forever.
(Lane T. Dennis, President and Publisher of Crossway books)
We have this great high privilege of claiming the Creator of all the Universe as OUR FATHER!
“OUR”
“OUR”
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
We reject individualism and self-centeredness and selfishness when we say OUR.
We are saved by Christ INTO a His body - the Church of the living God as well.
Do you notice what is stunningly absent? There is no first-person singular pronoun in the entire prayer! Jesus did not teach us to pray, “My Father who is heaven. . . . Give me this day my daily bread and forgive me my debts as I also have forgiven my debtors. And lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil.” The point is not to deny our own sins or our own needs, but to never leave the focus solely on ourselves. Mohler, R. Albert. The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down (p. 44). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
One of the besetting sins of evangelicalism is our obsession with individualism. Mohler, R. Albert. The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down (p. 44). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
One of our greatest problems and deficiencies in prayer is that we begin with our own concerns and our own petitions without regard for our brothers and sisters. Mohler, R. Albert. The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down (p. 46). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
OUR
"...to be a Christian is to belong to a church. No one gets saved and then wanders around him or herself, thinking about whether to join a church. People repent and are then baptized into the fellowship of a church. Looking to Christ as Lord means being united to Christ's people. It's automatic, like being adopted means you'll quickly find yourself self at a dinner table with brothers and sisters."
You were not made to fix your marriage on your own.
The way that God does His work in the world is through His body.
If I’m separated from the body, I’m separated from the activity of God in my life…and others will be deprived of it.
“God help me with my kids, marriage, job, direction in life”…he often sends that answer / help / encouragement through another part of the body of Christ
You cannot say the Lord’s Prayer And even once say “I”
You cannot say the Lord’s Prayer And even once say “My.”
Nor can you pray the Lord’s Prayer And not pray for another,
For when you ask for daily bread You must include your brother.
For others are included in each and every plea—
From the beginning to the end of it, It never once says “Me!”
(Zodhiates, vii.)
I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God
I’ve been washed in the fountain Cleansed by His blood
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod
For I’m part of the family, the family of God
“FATHER”
“FATHER”
9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
FATHER OF ALL?
We can call him Father because of the work of His Son.
NOTE: The German theologian Joachim Jeremias, a New Testament scholar, did a study in which he searched through the Old Testament ment writings and existent rabbinic writings from ancient Jewish sources. He could not find a single example ever of a Jewish writer or author addressing God directly as Father in prayer until the tenth century AD. He found examples of God being referred to as "the Father," but the word Father was never used in a direct form of personal address.
This reference to Father is not universal.
Mal 2.10
10 Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Acts 17.28
28 for
“ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
Scripture clearly shows us that God is the father to unbelievers only insomuch as He is the Creator and they/we are His creation.
Jesus clearly and severely spells out that those who are unbelievers have another Father spiritually in John 8.44
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
The Bible records those 2 kingdoms to which the children of this world belong.
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
We were alienated. He was Judge, King, Ruler, Holy…and we were not. We were rebellious.
Jesus made a way to the Father for us.
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
OT vs NT?
OT Fatherhood of God (MacArthur’s helpful summary)
As Father of the Nation (1 Chronicles 29:10)
First Chronicles 29:10 gives God the title: “Lord God of Israel our Father.” That refers to Him as Father of the nation.
As a Father Who Is Near (Psalm 68:5)
A father is closer than an uncle or a cousin or a friend or a neighbor. Psalm 68, while using dramatic language to refer to the grandeur of God’s power, simply says that God is “a father of the fatherless” (v. 5).
As a Gracious Father (Psalm 103:13)
A father is forgiving, tenderhearted, merciful, and gracious to His children, which is very true of God: “Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him” (Ps. 103:13).
As a Guiding Father (Jeremiah 31:9)
A father leads his children and gives them wisdom and instruction. That was also true of God’s relationship to Israel. He said of them, “With weeping they shall come, and by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, on a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I am a Father to Israel” (Jer. 31:9).
As a Father Who Requires Obedience (Deuteronomy 32:6)
Because God was their Father, the people were required to obey Him. Deuteronomy 32:6 reiterates that: “Do you thus repay the Lord, O foolish and unwise people? Is not He your Father who has bought you?
Because the people of Israel constantly rebelled against the Lord and his statutes, because they went hard after pagan gods - they had pushed God away as Father. MacArthur writes,
“To them He had become little more than a relic of the past, a remote being who once called and guided their ancestors.”
John F. MacArthur Jr., Alone with God, MacArthur Study Series (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1995), 47.
NT FATHER revealed by Jesus
A compassionate and caring and capable Father who will give us what we need for His sake and His glory!
11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
IN HEAVEN
IN HEAVEN
9 Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
We are to be reminded, right off the bat that God is above us!
He is God, we are not!
He is not the “man upstairs”
not merely a benevolent force in the universe
not a tribal deity.
This is the God who rules and reigns from on high,
enthroned over all creation who enjoys the unending worship of the angelic host.
the high and holy God.
Our Father is in heaven; he is transcendent.
Because we are calling out to this God of the Bibled who is enthroned in the Heavens, our lips are NOT the key…our heart is!
Now the “Don’t Pray Like This” begins to clear up a bit...
This is not some pagan god that we have to rouse from his sleep
This is not some shallow moment meant for public display only - what a travesty to APPEAR to draw close to him with our lips with hearts that are far from Him.
6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Alone with God God is Our Father
When you begin your prayers by calling on “Our Father, who art in heaven,” you indicate your eagerness to go to Him as a child, knowing He loves you. And you’ll find that He is eager to lend His ear, His power, and His eternal blessing to the requests of His children if it serves them best and further reveals His purpose and glory.
CLOSING
A fitting close and summary of this incredible truth of “OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN” can easily be found in Psalm 103
Of David.
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
14 For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Just before we pray this morning, I would ask the question, “Can you say OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN with sincerity?
It’s not uncommon for politicians to pander to the crowd that is in front of them. Not too long ago, when they were dedicating the property of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, one such state-level politician attempted to wax religious when he stated, “this is great…God is love…we are God’s children…every single person is one of God’s children.”
Respectfully…that is incorrect. We are all God’s creation - every single human being bears the image of God. Deserving of dignity and significance and security. But only the REDEEMED, the BLOOD BOUGHT, those who have passed from the kingdom of darkness to become CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT…ONLY the ransomed, adopted, repentant, those who have been transformed by the explosive power of God, Himself through the presence of the Holy Spirit and the finished work of Jesus Christ…only we can say Abba, Father…we are the our…Are you in that number?
If not, I’ll stay as long as I need to today…to pray with you. Talk with you. Show you God’s Word. There is no shame in coming forward after the service - All of that shame (that would keep you from God) was nailed to a cross on Calvary’s Hill at Golgotha.
Let’s Pray...
