On Earth as it is in Heaven

Part of the Lord's Prayer includes 'on earth as it is in heaven'. What is this? It defines the first three petitions in terms of desires concerning them. We want God's name hallowed on earth to the same extent that it is in heaven, God's kingdom to be as complete in its reign on earth as it is in heaven, God's will obeyed to the same extent on earth as it already is in heaven. To desire, request and expect anything less is to ignore Jesus' instruction for our prayers.

Evangelism: Motivation

There are several motivations - good motivations - when it comes to evangelism. Here's one: jealous worship. (HT: Gary West Davis) The petition 'hallowed be thy name' reminds us of this motivation. There is to be within the soul of every Christian the deep desire to see the Father honored by every person walking this globe. That such honor is not the case is to be something that troubles every child of God. The particulars of how one responds to this situation will differ according to things like calling and context. But we all are to desire that this lack be changed until God, our Father, is honored 'on earth as it is in heaven'.

Reflections on God: Doxology

We come, now, to the last part of the Lord's Prayer.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Matthew 6:13

This last bit of the Lord's Prayer isn't a petition. It's a doxology. And what's that? A doxology is an expression of praise to God. If you think about it, the Psalms are filled with doxologies. The last of the canonical Psalms is pure doxology. But doxology is not just an Old Testament thing. Here's one example from the New Testament.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20–21

And as you can see in this example, a doxology usually speaks of some particular aspect of God that is being praised. In this case, it is how He powerfully answers prayer.

I think that you will agree that a doxology is a fitting way to end the Lord's Prayer.

But there are depths here, depths that need to be explored if we are going to understand and appreciate what doxologies are about. So, a few questions.
 

Stray Thoughts: So, What Do We Do? Grieve

Last time I answered the question in my title by talking about rejoicing. I tried to be careful to make clear that rejoicing isn’t the same as being happy. It was suggested to me that I needed to say more about that before I move on to what I was planning on writing next: following Jesus. So, here I am. (And thanks to the person who made the suggestion. You know who you are.)

What I’m going to do is talk about grieving.

Reflections on God: Deliver Us From Evil

We return to consider more aspects of who our God is and what He’s up to. This time we’ll use this petition of the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Deliver us from evil’. Let’s see what Jesus has to teach us from this.

It’s an obvious fact that there is evil all around us. Even just a quick look, especially these days, will confirm that. And there are plenty of places in the Scriptures that will also confirm that. Here are just a couple.

[Jesus] gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, Galatians 1:4

[Make] the most of your time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:16

Our world is filled with evil. That, of course, isn’t the whole story, but it is an important part of it.

Reflections on God: Lead Us Not Into Temptation

I’m here, again, to take a look at some Scripture to see what it has to say about the nature of the God whom we worship. I do this because grasping more and more fully what God is actually like is the basis of being able to worship Him better and better, and thus to serve Him wholeheartedly. And all of this will result in a changed life that will be used by the Spirit to change the world.

Continuing the pattern of that last few weeks, I’m going to use one of the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. Today, it’s: ‘Lead us not into temptation’.

The first question to ask about this Scripture seems obvious to me. Does God actually do this kind of thing? Does He actually lead His children into temptation? Well, He must. If He didn’t, why would Jesus have us pray like this?

Reflections on God: Daily Bread

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been using the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer to guide our reflections on who God is. Today, we’re going to take a look at the next petition, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. What does this have to say about God? Well, there is an important assumption in this petition that will answer that question. The assumption is that our Father provides all that we need.

Now, that will sound appropriately spiritual sounding to many, but it would be fair for someone to ask me how I got that from a prayer about bread. I have an answer for that question. In literature, you can refer to the whole of something by mentioning only a part of that something. This is not something that I have created. It’s something from the smart people. They even have coined a fancy grammatical label for it: synecdoche, ‘a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part’.

Reflections of God: Thy Will Be Done

So, what does this petition from the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Thy will be done’, have to teach us about what our God is like? To answer that, we’ll have to first clarify something. What is this ‘will of God’? There actually are a few ways that this phrase is used in the Bible. I think that you can see that it’s important to be clear on the way that it is used in this petition.

Sometimes ‘the will of God’ is about what God has decided to do.

all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’ Daniel 4:35

In this passage, God has decided what is going to happen and that’s the end of that because it’s His will.

But then, there are other times when ‘the will of God’ has to do with something different.

Reflections on God: His Kingdom

We’re back to take a look at God. Once again, we’re going to use something from the Lord’s Prayer to guide us: ‘Thy kingdom come’.

So, what’s this about? God is a king who rules over creation. This is a common enough theme of the Scriptures. Here’s just one sample:

The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Psalm 97.1

However, you may have noticed that not everyone is all that glad when it comes to God’s rule. There is a rebellion against the King. It is a rebellion that started back in the Garden of Eden. Obviously, that’s not good, and something needs to be done about it.

The Lord’s Prayer: Doxology

To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! Revelation 5:13

That is a bit of Scripture from Revelation. It’s a doxology. That is, it’s a declaration of praise. I bring that up because the Lord’s Prayer ends with a doxology.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Matthew 6.13

This morning we’re going to take a look at this thing called doxology.

The Lord’s Prayer: Deliver from Evil

Today, I’m going to talk to you about evil. And the reason for that is, I’m sure, obvious. Jesus teaches us to pray about evil.

…deliver us from evil. Matthew 6.13

Evil is something that people don’t talk much about, not seriously. I think that it would be good if that were to change. One result of taking evil more seriously would be that we would then pray this petition more seriously. I think that that would be a good thing.

I usually start out with a definition. But you know the definition of evil. It’s the opposite of what is holy. But for what I have in mind, more than a definition is needed. What is needed is sense of the evil that is all around you. You need to feel it.

The Lord’s Prayer: Temptation

The petition of the Lord’s Prayer that we are going to look at this morning is a bit strange.

And lead us not into temptation. Matthew 6.13

So, what’s so odd about this? I think that this question will answer that. Would the Father actually lead us into temptation? Evidently so. Why else would Jesus teach us to pray like this, to ask Him not to?

By itself, that raises some interesting questions. But it gets worse when you connect this petition with another bit of Scripture.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. James 1.13

That sounds pretty clear. God never tempts anyone.

So, on the one hand, the Father could lead us into some temptation, into some situation where we will be tempted, something that we are to ask Him not to do. But then, on the other hand, we are also told that He would never do something like that. There seems to be a conflict here. Would the Father bring about our being tempted, or wouldn’t He? It seems that we have two bits of Scripture that don’t fit together.

The Lord’s Prayer: Forgiveness Explained

We’re returning to consider again the petition of the Lord’s Prayer that deals with forgiveness.

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6.12

Jesus is assuming something here. He is assuming that we do, in fact, forgive others. And, as I explained last week, if someone refuses to do that he will not be forgiven by God.

Now, it would be great if there were no questions about forgiveness so that Christians were able to quickly and properly forgive others. But it seems that there is some confusion in this area. Sin will do that. So, I’m going to spend today’s sermon dealing with some of that.

The Lord’s Prayer: Forgiveness Required

We return, this morning, to look at the petition of the Lord’s Prayer that deals with forgiveness. We spent last week on this, and it appears that we will be returning to it next week also. There is much that is going on here. And I want you to understand as much of it as possible. It is as you grow in your understanding of the truths of Scripture that you will grow in your devotion to Jesus.

Everything that I will say about this petition turns on one small word.

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6.12

The little word that I want you to notice is the word ‘as’. What’s it doing here? It’s expressing a relationship. We are to pray that the Father forgive us our sins against Him even as we have forgiven others their sins against us. This little word makes a very big difference.

The Lord’s Prayer: Forgiveness Received

Today, we will take a look at one of the key elements of the Christian faith: forgiveness. It makes sense that in the prayer that He calls His disciples to pray, Jesus includes this petition:

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6:12

There is much going on here, much to understand and much to enjoy. So, we’ll just be looking at the first part of that petition today and return next week to look at the rest.

We’re going to start where we often start, by looking carefully at the words. Being sure to understand the words is so critically important. Many problems arise because people aren’t clear on the words. And much that will benefit can be missed because people aren’t clear on the words.

The Lord’s Prayer: Thy Will Be Done

We’re continuing our look at the Lord’s Prayer. Today, we’re going to be exploring the third petition.

Thy will be done. Matthew 6.10

I’ve been praying that the Spirit will use what I have to say about this part of the Gospel so that you will take another step in maturing as disciples of Jesus. Let’s see what He will do.

As usual, we need to start by being clear about the words. And there has been confusion about these words. What does the Bible mean when it mentions God’s will? Something Moses wrote helps us to answer that question.

The Lord’s Prayer: Thy Kingdom Come

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1.14-15

That’s how Jesus began His ministry among us, by preaching about the kingdom of God. This is a bigger theme of His ministry than what most have noticed. And its importance to Jesus is reflected in this: Of all the items for prayer that He could have included in His model for prayer, He included a petition about the Father’s kingdom.

Thy kingdom come. Matthew 6.10

This morning we’re going to take a look at this petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

Since the theme of the kingdom of God isn’t well known we’re going to start by spending some time exploring it. And to do that, as is so often the case, we need to go back to the Garden.