1 00:00:00,480 --> 00:00:02,480 All right, my name is Eric, one of the pastors here. 2 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:06,600 Glad to be here with you. We are continuing on in our 3 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,040 series in the book of Matthew, first book of the New Testament, 4 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:15,520 which is all about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus 5 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:18,600 Christ. We call Jesus our King. 6 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:23,000 We believe he came and brought his Kingdom with him when he 7 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,360 stepped down 2000 years ago. And it's, it's unfolding before 8 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:34,080 our eyes as we speak. And today we're in a portion of 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:37,040 the book, Matthew 5 through 7 is called the Sermon on the Mount, 10 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:41,240 famous sermon of Jesus. And we've reached somewhat of a, 11 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:44,400 a masterpiece. You know, not every piece of 12 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:46,720 art. Can you call it a masterpiece. 13 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:52,520 A masterpiece is something that you see or that you look at and 14 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,720 every time you see it, something new jumps out at you. 15 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,960 The beauty of it just causes you to feel something new. 16 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:02,480 Maybe you've never felt before. Maybe you understand something 17 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:04,200 that you've never understood before. 18 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:11,600 It brings about just joy. And as you view the beauty of 19 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,840 this masterpiece. And, and I would say that that 20 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:21,920 would be a good, a good explanation of what the Lord's 21 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,280 Prayer is. We are going to look at the 22 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:26,680 Lord's Prayer. John just read that for us 23 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:29,520 beforehand. We're going to break it down. 24 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:35,480 But I've titled today's message the Lord's Prayer, the pattern 25 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:39,400 for posture and priority and prayer. 26 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,000 And why do I call it a pattern? Because sometimes we get 27 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:48,360 confused about this prayer and we think we're supposed to 28 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:53,200 repeat it verbatim, as if God wants us to mindlessly chant or 29 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,520 quote words to him and somehow he's pleased with that or he's 30 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,920 going to, we're going to get some extra blessing. 31 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:04,520 But really what it is, is Jesus is teaching his disciples, 32 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:09,240 Christians, how to pray. And he starts it out with this. 33 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:14,400 Pray then like this. It doesn't mean to chant it or 34 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:18,040 say every word exactly. And that's the only way that you 35 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:22,160 can pray. Remember the context before 36 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:24,160 this. Jesus is calling out the 37 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,960 hypocrisy of the religious leaders in Judaism, the 38 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,640 Pharisees. He's he, he, he, he said things 39 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:35,120 like don't be like the hypocrites who pray too long 40 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:40,040 with wordy prayers or don't be like the Pharisees who pray with 41 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:44,480 pride. But here's a model of what 42 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:48,520 prayer should look like in the Christian's life. 43 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:52,640 And what we're really focused on are the contents of this prayer 44 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:56,960 that Jesus is teaching us. How are we supposed to approach 45 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:06,080 God with these requests that we have now a man named Origen in 46 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:11,040 the late 2nd century and into the 3rd century, early church 47 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:13,640 father wrote a book called the Treatise on Prayer. 48 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,720 And from the Lord's Prayer, he kind of brought out these four 49 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:20,560 points of what a prayer should hold. 50 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:23,800 And, and that's where we actually get this axe acronym 51 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:27,160 that we pray in our church. Adoration, confection, 52 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,280 Thanksgiving, supplication. He, he pulls it out of there. 53 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:35,000 Like these are kind of the four main themes of this, this 54 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,440 prayer. And so that's where that ACTS 55 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:41,560 acronym comes from that we, we like to use to have kind of a, a 56 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:48,360 full prayer in our service. But I've answered the question, 57 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,000 which was our main idea today is how should we pray? 58 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,960 We're going to look at the contents and I'm not going to go 59 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,680 along with the ACTS acronym. It may it may jump out every 60 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:04,120 once in awhile, but simply prayer. 61 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:10,280 How to pray is to talk to God, praising him and making requests 62 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:14,080 or petitions, but doing so in a posture of worship and humility, 63 00:04:14,720 --> 00:04:20,279 acknowledging His Holiness and our neediness. 64 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:26,400 So you can see kind of some 2 themes here in this, in this 65 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,720 main idea or, and how I've answered this question is 66 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:32,440 there's praise in making requests. 67 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:36,520 We're doing it in a posture of worship and humility. 68 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:41,120 We're acknowledging His Holiness and our neediness. 69 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:48,360 And I believe that this prayer is broken into two categories or 70 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,680 two categories with three priorities in each category. 71 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,120 Now I want to quickly look at the entire passage. 72 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,720 I've kind of made a visual for us to maybe learn from what I'm 73 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:01,840 talking about here, how we can dissect this, this verse. 74 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,480 If you look at it, the two categories are we're praying to 75 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:12,080 God first, and then we're asking for our needs second. 76 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:18,920 So as as you look at it says our father, so let your name, your 77 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:24,360 Kingdom and your will be done. So we're praying to God for his 78 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:28,360 glory about his priorities that our our will would be aligned 79 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,800 with him. So it's your, your, your so 80 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:37,880 that's the first priority is praying to God in a in a posture 81 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:43,680 of praise and worship. And then we move to now I'll ask 82 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,040 for what I need. So it says give us, forgive us, 83 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:52,120 lead us, deliver us. So you could call this divine 84 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,000 petitions. You start with the divine to 85 00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:00,920 God, and then you move into the human petitions, the upward and 86 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:03,680 the inward. And another thing I'd like to 87 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:08,400 point out here is it says us. So this is meant to be a 88 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,520 corporate prayer. Obviously you can pray this 89 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:14,600 prayer or, or I mean the model or the pattern of the prayer 90 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,960 should should fill your personal prayer life and and direct your 91 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,640 personal prayer life. But was when Jesus was preaching 92 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,960 this Sermon on the Mount to a group of people, his his people 93 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:31,200 who are going to, to start the church, he was, he was saying, 94 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:34,840 use the word us like we're praying together. 95 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:38,240 We're praying not just with our own selfish needs in mind, but 96 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:43,560 those around us as well. So I've got 2 points today and 97 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:47,160 it's I'm first going to talk about the priority to focus on 98 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:49,200 God. And then we'll talk about our 99 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:52,480 needs. And so the first priority of 100 00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:57,040 prayer is focused on God's glory. 101 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,960 Let's go to the first verse. Pray then like this, our Father 102 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:06,360 in heaven, hallowed be your name. 103 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:13,000 Now he starts with our Father. This is this is a big deal 104 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:19,480 because it was only a few times in the Old Testament vaguely was 105 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:23,360 God called Father. He was he and and God the Father 106 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:28,040 has always been he's always had that role in in the Trinity as 107 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:33,480 as God the Father. But but Jesus says our father 108 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:36,080 now he's saying he's your father. 109 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:40,920 And this was Jesus's favorite way to address God in the Sermon 110 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,000 on the Mount. He says it 17 times and over 44 111 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:47,720 times in in the entire book of Matthew. 112 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:53,480 He says father, not just transcendent God, God who 113 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:55,440 created everything and stepped back. 114 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:59,840 And now he's just waiting for us to to either mess this thing up 115 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:04,680 or follow him. Now he is like a father to us. 116 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:10,680 And he was certainly a father to his only son, Jesus, the eternal 117 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:16,000 son. In fact, Jesus in Mark 1436, he 118 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:20,240 called him ABBA Father. What is ABBA father? 119 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:26,400 So father is the Greek term pater, but ABBA was the Aramaic. 120 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,320 And so there's very few places in the Bible that are written in 121 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:34,200 Aramaic or it's it's just inserted in there among the 122 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:38,200 Greek because that was also the regular language right there in 123 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,240 the Middle East. And then the the book of Hebrew 124 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:47,280 is obviously in the Old Testament or the book of the 125 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:49,760 Old, the Old Testament is written in Hebrew. 126 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:54,440 Sorry, but ABBA father, what does that mean that that means 127 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,840 father, but it but in its original language carries this 128 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:05,640 more intimate name like a small child would would sit on his 129 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,400 father's lap and and call him daddy. 130 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:13,520 It's this intimate name daddy that that he allows us because 131 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:19,560 in in Romans 815 and Galatians 46, Paul takes this word ABBA 132 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:23,480 father and says now that the Spirit of God has adopted us as 133 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:27,960 sons and daughters of God. And now we get to come to, as 134 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:32,880 Jesus is saying, our Father and even going deeper, he's our 135 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,240 daddy. He's our your daddy, father. 136 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,400 Now I just want you to pause for a moment and realize this 137 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:46,560 privilege that we have. We get to call the God of the 138 00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:48,600 universe. If you are a Christian here 139 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:52,080 today, you've believed, if you believe in Jesus alone for the 140 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:55,960 forgiveness of your sins, the most powerful being in all the 141 00:09:55,960 --> 00:10:02,240 universe wants us to come to him like we're going to our father 142 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,760 on earth, our daddy. And maybe some of us didn't have 143 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,520 that healthy relationship with our fathers, but we can have 144 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:14,320 that and we can have that in a more perfect, beautiful way that 145 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:20,320 we as his children can come and say, Daddy, I think so much of 146 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:24,040 you, and I'm so needy. I have all this stuff going on. 147 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,480 I have questions for you and you're the all wise one who 148 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,480 knows everything. Please answer my questions. 149 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:37,440 This means that God is personal. He's not just transcendent and 150 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:41,120 powerful that he is. It says our Father in heaven. 151 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:48,000 So he is above all and over all and God Almighty. 152 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:52,600 But he's also personal and near. The Bible says He's everywhere 153 00:10:52,680 --> 00:10:56,160 all at once. So that starts our prayer out. 154 00:10:56,160 --> 00:11:03,480 We talked to him, we're talking to our Father, and then it goes 155 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:10,040 on to say hallowed be your name. What does hallowed mean? 156 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:13,360 It means to be holy or sanctified. 157 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:19,600 Actually, interestingly enough, that's where we get our holiday 158 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:24,960 Halloween from this word. And before it was, you know, 159 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:29,280 became this kind of Christian Pagan mixed holiday. 160 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,720 It was called All Hallows Eve. And then the following day was 161 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,520 All Saints Day. And that was a day where the 162 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:42,760 church recognized and honored Saints from the past and, and 163 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:47,080 current Saints, Saints are just believers, Christians. 164 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,920 But basically the history was that the night before they would 165 00:11:53,920 --> 00:12:00,520 basically, you know, mock, mock the devil and mock the idea of 166 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,120 death because death for the Christian is no more. 167 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:06,360 Later. It's, it's morphed into all 168 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,840 kinds of, you know, weird things that Halloween is now. 169 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:14,040 But just that's where we get this, this, this, that's where 170 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:18,240 they got the name for Halloween because hollow or hallowed means 171 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:23,000 to be holy or sanctified. And the prayer is, is that God 172 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,400 would be holy. But the question is, isn't God 173 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:29,520 already holy or his name holy? And the answer is yes. 174 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,760 But if you take the verse into context, it's got these three 175 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:38,640 requests and it says on earth as it is in heaven. 176 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:46,280 So while God's name is completely held holy among all 177 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:50,000 of heaven, it's not so yet on earth. 178 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:54,400 Not everybody knows God and that everybody has reverence for God. 179 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,200 Not everybody fears God on earth. 180 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:02,200 And so our prayer is coming to him and saying, oh, that people 181 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:08,960 would know how holy you are. And oh, how we as Christians 182 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:14,120 would represent you in the world. 183 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:22,000 God's name means something. It represents who he is. 184 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,320 You know, in, in, in. In ancient times, a name meant 185 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:28,920 more than just identifying different people. 186 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:34,440 And I believe, you know, when we pick our babies names, I know 187 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:36,760 we're probably spending tons of time reading through books. 188 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,720 What does this name mean? What does that name mean? 189 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,280 And, and so we're trying to give meaning to our children's names. 190 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:47,680 And sometimes I, I believe that the name can, can be maybe 191 00:13:47,680 --> 00:13:50,800 indicative of, of the person's personality and God's 192 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:56,680 sovereignty. But on a grander scale, God's 193 00:13:56,680 --> 00:14:02,680 name reveals how he is like his name. 194 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:09,720 Elohim is a plural form of a singular name referring to His 195 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,600 Holiness, His trinitarian creating power. 196 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:16,560 The name used in in creation and and earlier places in the Old 197 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:19,920 Testament or El Shaddai means God Almighty. 198 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:26,400 Elian means God most high. Adonai is Master Lord Yahweh. 199 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,960 His personal name speaks of eternality, His perfection, his 200 00:14:29,960 --> 00:14:34,080 self-sufficient efficiency. Other attachments to his name 201 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:38,720 are justice and righteousness and peace and provider and and 202 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:44,840 shepherd. And so his name carries a lot of 203 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:48,480 weight and it has reputation. You have you ever heard that 204 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:54,760 that phrase like, I don't want to, I don't want to dishonor the 205 00:14:54,760 --> 00:15:01,280 family name or my father's name because a name means something 206 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:07,600 and God's name means everything. It's it, it, it represents his 207 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:12,800 character. And so oh, that we would, we 208 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:17,200 would represent and as Christians, as adopted sons and 209 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,680 daughters, that we would go out into the world and, and 210 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:25,080 represent your name rightly and not bring dishonor to your name 211 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:27,920 and who you are. Oh, that everybody would know 212 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:30,040 you. That's what we want. 213 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:36,360 How does this happen? Well, in our posture we first 214 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:40,840 acknowledge God for His name in the holiness of who He is, and 215 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:44,160 then together as Christians we proclaim it to the world. 216 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:49,360 I love what first Peter 315 says it says, but in your hearts 217 00:15:49,360 --> 00:15:53,200 honor Christ the Lord as holy or hallowed. 218 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:56,240 But then it goes on to say, how do we honor Him like that? 219 00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:00,440 Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asked you 220 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:03,000 for the reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with 221 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,320 gentleness and respect. So we're going out there and 222 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:11,120 we're representing God by telling others about Him, and 223 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,280 we're making his name and his reputation holy. 224 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:18,840 We're keeping it that way as we learn how to defend our faith. 225 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:26,200 That word apologia or apologia is where we get the word 226 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:32,000 apologetics for make a defense. This is defending the faith. 227 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,360 If anyone asks you a question or if you're out there evangelizing 228 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,480 and you're telling truth, it's that's apologetics. 229 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,480 And that's how we bring fame to the name of God. 230 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,800 We should be doing that. That's our prayer. 231 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:49,240 Oh, that your name would be hallowed. 232 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:52,720 And then it goes on and says and that your Kingdom come and your 233 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:59,880 will be done on earth again. Some of the similar, similar 234 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:03,760 direction is that your name would be made holy in all the 235 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:08,400 earth, that people would know you and that God, your sovereign 236 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:14,280 rule as king of the universe would take over this place, take 237 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:18,200 over the the world. So what is God's Kingdom? 238 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:22,000 As I alluded to the idea, when Jesus came down, he brought the 239 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,560 starting of his Kingdom, his reign here on earth and he's 240 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:29,080 slowly taking ground and he takes it through people's 241 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:32,040 hearts, through the church, through the preaching of the 242 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:35,120 gospel. Right now we can see the visible 243 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:37,240 Kingdom of God right out here on the floor. 244 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:43,080 This is the Kingdom of God visible, and we, like soldiers, 245 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:49,120 are sitting here getting our training ready to go out to 246 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:55,560 defend the faith and to bring about the love and grace and 247 00:17:55,560 --> 00:18:00,240 kindness that God through Jesus brought to this earth. 248 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:03,680 That is his Kingdom. We're praying for his Kingdom to 249 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:07,760 come. Now, it's interesting, you know, 250 00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:11,280 if you don't believe in God's sovereignty as a Christian, and 251 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,960 sovereignty really just means that God's in control of 252 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:20,920 everything and he rules over everything, and thinking about 253 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,320 prayer and praying that his Kingdom would come. 254 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:28,680 Well, His Kingdom comes through changing hearts and taking them 255 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:32,320 from the Kingdom of darkness, the Bible says, and transferring 256 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:35,360 them to the Kingdom of the beloved Son or the Kingdom of 257 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:41,280 light. If we don't believe in God's 258 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:46,200 sovereignty, then why would we ever pray a prayer that says, Oh 259 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:52,400 Lord, would you save my brother and sister, my mom or dad, my 260 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,120 son or daughter, my neighbor, my coworker, my friend? 261 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,240 Like what's the point in praying that prayer if we don't believe 262 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,480 that God can actually make it come about? 263 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:10,480 Like we must believe that that God will make his Kingdom come 264 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:12,640 about. We want it and we're we're 265 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,920 waiting for it and we want to play our role in it, which is 266 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,800 sharing the truth. And that's how God does change 267 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,520 people's hearts. But again, we're asking 268 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:29,240 ultimately not for our our part of it only to be done. 269 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,480 We're saying God, let your Kingdom come, bring your Kingdom 270 00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:37,320 down here, take over, take control not just of the earth, 271 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:41,880 but of people's hearts. And who wouldn't pray a prayer 272 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:43,960 that says God have control of my heart. 273 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:51,760 I would love to be controlled by God like rather than sometimes 274 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:56,760 my own stupid decisions and will like and how how terrible I feel 275 00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:59,560 when I go against God's will and I sin against him. 276 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:04,280 God take control of me. Let your Kingdom come into my 277 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:10,360 heart, let it work its way out. And God is the one who's doing 278 00:20:10,360 --> 00:20:14,880 that. In Mark 426, when Jesus was 279 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:17,480 explaining the Kingdom, he said the Kingdom of God, as if a man 280 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:19,120 should scatter seed on the ground. 281 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,920 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and 282 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:28,000 grows. He knows not how, what what's 283 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:29,440 he, what's he talking about here? 284 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:32,960 It's that that seed that's being scattered is what the church is 285 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:34,960 doing. What you and I individually go 286 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:40,640 out and do is we share the seeds of the words of the gospel, but 287 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:45,120 ultimately we don't know. It's like a mystery how that 288 00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:49,760 seed gets planted in a person's heart and then actually sprouts 289 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:53,040 and becomes life. That's the mystery of the 290 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:58,680 Kingdom of God that we are praying for to happen in our 291 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:06,320 community, in new communities. So this, you know, reminds me of 292 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:10,040 what Paul says in First Corinthians 36I planted, Apollos 293 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,200 watered, but God gave the growth. 294 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,720 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only 295 00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:21,080 God who gives the growth. God, it's so funny to me when 296 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:25,960 we, you know, treat church as if it's some kind of a business and 297 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:28,920 we've got to have all these ideas and marketing schemes and 298 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:30,680 everything to try to reach people. 299 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:36,440 When it's clear in Scripture that we spread the seeds of the 300 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:41,840 gospel by telling people and then God does the work of the 301 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:44,840 growth. We don't need to be concerned 302 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:51,560 about church growth. God is growing it by by changing 303 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:56,800 hearts, but asking for his Kingdom to come is that his his 304 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,520 churches would be planted all over the place and they would 305 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:03,160 grow. And in fact, I'm excited we have 306 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:08,920 for one of the first times a church planter with us that's 307 00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:13,000 we're planning on planting a church in Tremont next year. 308 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:18,120 And Jason Parker and his family are here and going to be here 309 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:22,400 with us, you know, serving right beside us, alongside us, because 310 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,720 they're praying for the Kingdom of God to grow in Tree Mountain. 311 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:31,160 And that's what we want. We want God's Kingdom to come on 312 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:33,520 this earth. That's why we we pray for it. 313 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,440 We do the work, but we're praying ultimately relying on 314 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:43,000 God and his sovereignty, which is also His will, by the way, 315 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,720 where it said his let your will be done. 316 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:52,720 God's will is that people would come to faith and hit, and His 317 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,960 people would go share the good news of Jesus Christ. 318 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:08,840 Now God has two wills because one's called a moral will and 319 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:11,920 one's called His decree or decreed of will. 320 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,520 Not everybody follows God's moral will. 321 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,920 We want we even ourselves. We cannot follow God's moral 322 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:24,400 will perfectly. And so again, we're praying God 323 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:26,480 that your will would be done on earth. 324 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,880 Even in my life and my church's, my church family's life, my 325 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,480 family's life and people around me, that people would follow 326 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:36,640 your law and your commands. But it's not happening perfectly 327 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:41,560 yet as is as it is in heaven. There is no sin in heaven, but 328 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:45,360 there's still sin on earth. We want God's will to be done on 329 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:51,920 earth, but God is also in control and we know that his 330 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:59,560 will will happen in the sense that everything that He's chosen 331 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,240 to come about will come about. Everything that He's allowed to 332 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:08,120 come about will come about. Even though God is in control, 333 00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:11,320 he allows us to make wrong choices and things like that. 334 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:16,960 But before the world was ever created, and this, this might 335 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:20,080 blow your mind as we're thinking about a posture of praise and 336 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:25,960 worship of God is that he knew all of the evil that was going 337 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:30,120 to happen, every sin that you would ever do, every bad thing 338 00:24:30,120 --> 00:24:32,920 that would ever happen on earth, every good thing that would ever 339 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:38,320 happen and come about. And God chose to create it the 340 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,080 way it is now. Now you think, well, couldn't he 341 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:44,760 have gone through every different scenario in his mind 342 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:49,320 as a creator, as an engineer sits down and says, here's some 343 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:51,440 different scenarios and here's the best one. 344 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:53,520 Couldn't he have made a better one? 345 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:59,360 Well, let me tell you, this is the best one because God created 346 00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:02,680 it this way. Now that doesn't take away the 347 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,840 pain and the suffering and the evil that happens in the world 348 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,600 and the questions that we might have, which is why we should be 349 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:13,000 praying God to the omniscient God. 350 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,360 But remember Jesus when he was in the garden and he said, ABBA, 351 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:22,600 Father, what did he say when he was about to go to the cross to 352 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:26,560 suffer? He said not my will, but yours 353 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:32,880 be done. So praying ultimately is 354 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:36,760 aligning our wills with God's will when we're saying let your 355 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:41,760 will be done. So that's how we get into the 356 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:46,600 posture of prayer is acknowledging God, who he who he 357 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:49,440 is, giving him the praise and worship that he is due. 358 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:53,600 And then we can move into this second part of the Lord's 359 00:25:53,600 --> 00:26:00,240 Prayer, which is focused on human needs, says give us this 360 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:07,800 day, Our Daily Bread. Now this can mean like a general 361 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:13,200 health and well-being the the, the, the basic needs for 362 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:15,880 provision. Again, when Jesus says pray like 363 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:21,480 this, he's saying get the general truths out of this and, 364 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:26,760 and extend your prayer. Use this as a, as a, a template, 365 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,040 as a, a guideline, as a foundation for your prayer. 366 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:35,680 And this part can be where we're asking God to provide for our 367 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:37,920 daily needs. Now, this is a humble thing to 368 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:43,120 think about because it's, it's moderate. 369 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:47,920 We're not saying God give me my monthly bread, my yearly bread, 370 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,560 like take care of give me so much, put a bunch into my 371 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:58,480 storehouse so that I can I can decide how it's distributed in 372 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:02,880 my own life. We're saying God give us what we 373 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:05,720 need. We we need to rely on you and 374 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:10,920 not ourselves. Give us Our Daily Bread. 375 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:15,600 In fact, Proverbs 3030 verse 8 and 9. 376 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:19,680 It's a beautiful prayer. Remove far from me falsehood and 377 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,480 lying. Give me neither poverty nor 378 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,120 riches. Feed me with the food that is 379 00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:29,080 needful for me, lest I be full and deny you, and say, who is 380 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:32,040 the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and 381 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:35,400 profane the profane the name of my God. 382 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:42,880 You see, we're humbly relying on God rather than going out 383 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,840 thinking that we're the the, the, the master of our own lives 384 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:54,120 and we're going to solve our our life of provision needs. 385 00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:59,840 No, God wants his people to be dependent on him like a child to 386 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:03,680 a father. And we get out of we get out of 387 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:07,440 this, we step out of this dependence on God. 388 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:10,800 And in our pride, we think we've got to make a name for 389 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,000 ourselves. Going back to the the first part 390 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,160 of the prayer, let your name be hallowed in all the earth. 391 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,760 But we're like, but I'd also like my name to be on a 392 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:22,360 billboard somewhere or, you know, on a, on a big building on 393 00:28:22,360 --> 00:28:24,400 the side. That would be really cool, 394 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:27,640 right? Like Goldman Sachs and what's 395 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:29,400 your last name? Whatever that is, right? 396 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:37,840 This is a prayer of daily provision of of humility. 397 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:44,640 God, we need you as our Father. In Exodus 13, in the wilderness 398 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,920 journey of Israel, God was supernaturally providing the 399 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:51,600 food for Israel, manna and quail. 400 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:56,160 So bread from heaven and the meat from a bird and how he 401 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:02,480 provided it was daily. He said go gather as much as you 402 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:08,080 need for the day and no more and people would go out and gather 403 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:11,000 their food daily. If someone gathered more than 404 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,800 what they were supposed to or save some for the next day 405 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:19,280 they'd wake up and had worms all in it and it stink except for 406 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:24,600 one day Friday. He said gather enough for two 407 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:28,160 days because I don't want you to work on the Sabbath. 408 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:36,600 And so God was teaching them to rely on him and he provided 409 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:41,080 everything that they needed to follow his commands and to do 410 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:45,760 his will. So in the same way this kind of 411 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:52,440 makes me think of now not in the same degree is the the Sabbath 412 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:54,760 in the New Testament and the Sabbath in the Old Testament the 413 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:57,640 same. It is believed that the Sabbath, 414 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:04,880 the Christians changed it to Sunday and but it, it's in the 415 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:09,640 created order of God says work 6 days and rest one day a week. 416 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:13,880 And again, think about our reliance on ourselves when we 417 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:15,920 say, no, we've got to work every day. 418 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:17,720 We've got to work on the Lord's Day. 419 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:21,240 We've got to make sure that we've got enough money because 420 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,920 we don't believe that God's going to provide for us. 421 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:27,600 And so instead of making the Lord's Day and worshipping him a 422 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:31,560 priority, we're like, I'm going to, you know, work some overtime 423 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,200 this week. Now I will say that there is 424 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:42,160 obviously Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and the Sabbath was 425 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:43,840 made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 426 00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:48,240 So we're not we're not legalistically saying I can't do 427 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:51,800 anything on Sunday. If again, he made the point like 428 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:55,440 if someone's sick, if there's a need, if your job makes you work 429 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,280 on Sunday, all these types of things, like that's not a sin. 430 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:04,600 But the point I'm just trying to make here is, is our rhythms in 431 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:11,120 life prove our worship. And so when we think we've got 432 00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:18,280 to do all this stuff rather reliant on God, even in not 433 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:24,920 participating in weekly worship, I think our priorities are 434 00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:26,720 getting out of line with God's will. 435 00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:31,520 Again in Deuteronomy 8, he in the book of Deuteronomy, he 436 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:36,200 looks back at all that had happened in the 40 years of the 437 00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:43,560 wandering of Israel and he says this, he says, and he humbled 438 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,960 you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did 439 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,040 not know, nor did your Father's know that he, he might make you 440 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:53,960 know that man does not live by bread alone, but might man lives 441 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:57,320 by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 442 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:03,000 So God was teaching them and it in the Bible says in the New 443 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:07,040 Testament, it was written down for our instruction as well that 444 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:09,720 God's going to take care of them. 445 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:15,720 And also this daily bread that Jesus is talking about isn't 446 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:18,520 just physical needs. This is also spiritual needs. 447 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:20,800 Now you guys have probably all seen that little booklet. 448 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:23,040 You've been around the Christian world for a while. 449 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:26,240 It's Our Daily Bread. It's a little booklet every day. 450 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:31,680 It's a Bible reading, maybe a devotion or whatever Jesus says, 451 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:35,960 quotes this this verse when he combats the devil in the 452 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,200 wilderness. He says man doesn't live by 453 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:42,360 bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of 454 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:44,240 God. And so going back to this idea 455 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:47,960 of Sabbath, if we think that we have to work so much for our 456 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:54,080 physical needs, but we forget about our spiritual needs, 457 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:59,400 again, we're out of rhythm and falling out of the will of God. 458 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:01,840 We need his word. We've got to have priority. 459 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:06,120 We ought to organize our lives in such a way that we're taking 460 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:12,040 in a moderate amount of food and water, our physical needs, but 461 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:15,560 also our spiritual needs as well. 462 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:18,360 So when he says, give us this day Our Daily Bread, he's 463 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:20,760 providing. And God has provided a church 464 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:29,680 for us, and he's provided his his word for us so that we can 465 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:31,680 take in that spiritual sustenance. 466 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:37,560 Moving on, this one's huge. Forgive us our debts as we also 467 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:41,400 have forgiven our debtors. So here's a question. 468 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:49,200 If this is a Christian prayer, aren't Christians already 469 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:53,680 forgiven? So why are we having to pray for 470 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:58,680 more forgiveness all the time? That's a question. 471 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:05,160 Well, the answer is yes, we are forgiven once for all time. 472 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:08,440 The Bible says past, present and future. 473 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:13,120 When Jesus died on that cross hit the the the atonement of it 474 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:16,760 goes backward into history and forward all the way to the end. 475 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:23,400 He his death was sufficient for every sin of everyone who would 476 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:31,480 ever believe in Him. But God wants us to be humble 477 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:35,880 and to come to Him and recognize our sin. 478 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:39,920 It took humility for the first time to come to Him to ask for 479 00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:41,960 that forgiveness. And now, if He's going to 480 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:44,840 completely save us, if He's going to continue to change us, 481 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:49,120 we've got to keep recognizing the sin that put Him on the 482 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:54,360 cross. We still sin even though we've 483 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:57,680 been forgiven. Therefore, in humility and 484 00:34:57,680 --> 00:35:04,280 acknowledgement, knowing that we need God to help us in our 485 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:07,520 sinfulness, we go to him in prayer. 486 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:10,680 We should make a a regular habit, a daily habit of 487 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:15,920 confessing our sins and naming them, naming what kind they are. 488 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:22,240 Now, we're not going to remember every single one of them, but as 489 00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:26,880 much as is brought to your mind in prayer as you look over your 490 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:33,280 life, to be honest to God and say God, yeah, that one, that 491 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:37,120 was an honoring to your name. That one I did yesterday, the 492 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:40,280 day before. Lord, I confess that to you. 493 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:46,120 I'll tell you when, when I do that, I feel so freed. 494 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,280 There's no burden. I'm not keeping secrets with 495 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,240 God. God knows everything already. 496 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:54,440 He says that in actually in verse 8 right before it. 497 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:57,320 For your father knows what you need before you even ask him. 498 00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:00,160 He's, he's omniscient. He knows everything. 499 00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:03,600 Why not just tell him and be honest then so we don't have 500 00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:08,000 this weird awkward wedge in our relationship where I'm not being 501 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:11,600 truthful? He's already forgiven my sins, 502 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:16,120 so why not just name them and take away the power it has over 503 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:19,120 me? That's what I tell people when 504 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:20,720 they come to me with counseling is like. 505 00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:24,600 Have you cleaned your slate with the Lord first? 506 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:30,120 Maybe you're feeling guilt and shame, wanting to mask that by 507 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:34,440 self medication or some sinful erratic behavior. 508 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:38,920 Let's get right with the Lord by humbling yourself and admitting 509 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:46,480 when sin is sin in your life. Now here's an interesting thing 510 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,120 then it says as we have also forgiven our debtors. 511 00:36:49,720 --> 00:36:55,960 And then let me bring this into it. 14 and 15 are actually not 512 00:36:55,960 --> 00:37:00,640 in the prayer verses 14 and 15. They are a commentary on verse 513 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:05,480 12 and it says for if you forgive others their trespasses, 514 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:07,360 your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 515 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:10,600 But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will 516 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:13,920 your Father forgive your trespasses. 517 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:18,200 Now what does that mean? Does this mean that at the 518 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:23,880 moment of my death, I must have gone back into all of history 519 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:26,680 and made sure that I have forgiven everyone? 520 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:30,400 Otherwise, when I die, I'm not sure that I'm going to be 521 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:34,160 forgiven because I've held a bunch of things against other 522 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:36,240 people. No, that's not what this means. 523 00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:40,360 Let me just give you some some rest there, OK? 524 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:44,440 Nobody could possibly know all the things that they need to 525 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:48,440 repent of first and foremost. But secondly, remember the 526 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:50,240 context of the Sermon on the Mount. 527 00:37:50,240 --> 00:37:54,360 It's he's talking to Christians who are already Christians, and 528 00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:59,000 he's saying blessed are those meaning if you are a Christian, 529 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:05,640 you will be pure in heart, you will be merciful, you will look 530 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:08,880 like Christ. It will happen because God is 531 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:13,080 working it out in all of us. And So what will be a natural 532 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:19,040 result of being a Christian and making a habit of praying is 533 00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:21,960 that we're not going to hold as many grudges against people 534 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:24,080 because we're going to be humble enough to save. 535 00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:29,280 Wow, I've been forgiven so much. How am I not going to forgive 536 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:35,560 other people? Again, going back to the context 537 00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:37,720 of chapter 6, not being a hypocrite. 538 00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:40,400 I can't sit there in prayer and be like, God, I confess all my 539 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:41,400 sins to you. Thank you. 540 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:43,160 I know you've already died for my sins. 541 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:46,480 And then leave it there and be like, yeah, but I'm going to 542 00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:50,560 hold this, this, this and this against the people in my life 543 00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:55,960 right now, right? This is God helping us to get 544 00:38:55,960 --> 00:39:00,200 out of our hypocrisy, to love better, to forgive others. 545 00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:05,760 When you and I forgive, we are more like Christ than we ever 546 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:10,920 will be. Now it's not to say that you 547 00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:14,080 can't forgive and still have boundaries with people that need 548 00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:16,640 to earn trust back. I'm not going to go into that. 549 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:19,920 You guys talk about that at your small groups, your Bible 550 00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:24,280 studies, or with your families. But we need to be aligned with 551 00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:28,160 God and be reminded to show the same grace that we've received. 552 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:30,920 Again, Colossians 313 bearing with one another. 553 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:34,040 And if anyone has a complaint against one another, forgive 554 00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:37,440 each other. As the Lord has forgiven you, so 555 00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:43,920 you all must also must forgive. Forgiveness is the sign that you 556 00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:48,680 are a Christian. Be kind to one another, tender 557 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:52,440 hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. 558 00:39:53,720 --> 00:40:02,440 Now I want to get to the gospel, to the one who is unforgiven and 559 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:10,200 stands before God, ready to be judged if he or she passes away 560 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:16,120 or if God comes back. And you cannot forgive anyone 561 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:18,120 until you yourself have been forgiven. 562 00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:24,600 So why does these these passages use the words debts and 563 00:40:24,600 --> 00:40:28,560 trespasses? Verse 12 said debts and debtors, 564 00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,880 and this one says trespasses. Well, it's two different Greek 565 00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:37,000 words, but they're both are getting at what sin is. 566 00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:42,480 It's forgiving someone's sins. And when you and I sin, it 567 00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:44,840 incurs a debt between US and God. 568 00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:50,040 God requires all of His creation to live by His commands. 569 00:40:50,200 --> 00:40:54,360 And when we fail to do so, we fall into this negative balance. 570 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:58,840 And now a payment is due. And the problem is that that 571 00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:02,480 debt that we incur against God because of our sin against an 572 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:11,600 eternal holy God is such a high price that it would be justice 573 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:16,120 for us to spend an eternity paying the price in hell. 574 00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:21,320 We cannot pay that price and therefore the consolation is OK. 575 00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:25,560 You're going to be paying for eternity in hell for that sin 576 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:29,560 against the holy God. Only eat The eternal Son of God 577 00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:36,160 could be the substitute then for how massive our sin is for Him 578 00:41:36,160 --> 00:41:41,560 to come in and to be able to pay that debt by His sinless life 579 00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:46,120 taken on the cross. And As for the trespass, it's 580 00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:50,160 similar in that God has set his holy standard of commands and 581 00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:53,480 laws as a boundary. And you guys have all seen signs 582 00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:57,200 back in the day or, you know, not even not too many years ago, 583 00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:01,760 I used to love, you know, going exploring. 584 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:06,080 I grew up in Hooper and so going in fields and, you know, hunting 585 00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:08,800 birds and things like that and just exploring. 586 00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:12,160 And there was one time in Ogden, we were, you know, Ogden is not 587 00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:15,840 like Hooper, but there was a little piece of land. 588 00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:17,000 This is a beautiful piece of land. 589 00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:20,240 I took me and my boys through. There was like a little canal 590 00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:23,720 and it was like the most wooded area in, in Ogden. 591 00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:27,440 And then we got started getting our way in and you see these 592 00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:32,680 signs like no trespassing, like something like vicious dog going 593 00:42:32,680 --> 00:42:34,680 to attack you or whatever, you know. 594 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:38,320 And so we're walking through and lo and behold, there's a guy 595 00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:42,360 standing at the edge and he's got some pit bulls and they're 596 00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:47,360 barking and he let one go. And I was like, what are we 597 00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:49,840 going to do? And some the dog didn't get to 598 00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:51,360 us. But man, that was scary. 599 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:56,840 You've seen those signs that say trespassers will be violated to 600 00:42:56,840 --> 00:43:03,360 the fullest extent of the law. Well, when we sin against God, 601 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:07,200 we are crossing a boundary line that God demanded us not to 602 00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:11,000 cross. And in large part, these things 603 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:17,120 our own good. Sin not only hurts God, but it 604 00:43:17,120 --> 00:43:19,640 hurts others as well. And so the consequence of our 605 00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:23,840 trespasses is death. But Jesus took our place so that 606 00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:27,720 we could live forever with him. And so the prayer that you must 607 00:43:27,720 --> 00:43:31,120 pray is not the Lord's Prayer yet, but simply confess to God 608 00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:35,440 that you are a Sinner and that you believe Jesus Christ died 609 00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:38,760 for you. That's the only prayer that God 610 00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:40,280 will listen to of yours right now. 611 00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:45,880 But listen to this beloved Colossians 213 And you who were 612 00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:49,800 dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, 613 00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:53,040 God made alive together with him, having forgiven all your 614 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:56,600 trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood 615 00:43:56,600 --> 00:44:00,320 against us with its legal demands, He set it aside, 616 00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:04,520 nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and 617 00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:09,120 authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them. 618 00:44:10,720 --> 00:44:14,880 Isn't that beautiful that our sins and trespasses were paid 619 00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:18,480 for on the cross? They were nailed there and then 620 00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:21,520 that last part of that says he disarmed the rulers and 621 00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:24,600 authorities. That leads us to this last part 622 00:44:24,600 --> 00:44:28,200 of the prayer lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from 623 00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:32,120 evil. Now that we understand our sin, 624 00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:35,960 we we ask God to help us not do it anymore. 625 00:44:37,160 --> 00:44:40,360 We recognize the price that was paid and, and and the 626 00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:47,200 consequences were so big. We hate feeling sick and 627 00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:51,600 disgusted with ourselves for doing the wrong things. 628 00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:54,760 And so we're saying help us, oh God, not to wander outside the 629 00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:59,880 boundary line of righteousness and so incur more debt in 630 00:44:59,880 --> 00:45:04,840 trespasses against you. And though Jesus paid all of my 631 00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:11,800 sin debt, if I had the possible, if I had the ability to, as I 632 00:45:11,800 --> 00:45:15,200 think about my Savior Jesus Christ hanging on the cross and 633 00:45:15,200 --> 00:45:19,720 being nailed there and whipped and beaten for every one of my 634 00:45:19,720 --> 00:45:25,400 sins, if it was in my capacity at all, I would want to not put 635 00:45:25,520 --> 00:45:30,280 one more ounce of sin on to Him that He has to endure. 636 00:45:32,400 --> 00:45:34,440 And that should be how we think as Christians. 637 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:38,360 We want to get rid of this sin once and for all. 638 00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:42,040 We're asking for His power over the temptations of the world, 639 00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:45,400 the flesh, and the devil. So many temptations in the world 640 00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:50,840 are imposed on us as Christians. Us having our own flesh, 641 00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:54,320 nature's still here. As Christians, we have our evil 642 00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:58,760 desires that are at war with our spiritual side of us, and we 643 00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:04,000 have the world and Satan himself, the evil 1 tempting us 644 00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:09,400 with sex, money, power to be unequally yoked with unbelievers 645 00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:12,080 in the world, spending most of our time with them rather than 646 00:46:12,400 --> 00:46:16,040 with those who are faithful, living, worldly ourselves, or 647 00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:19,440 maybe even fully withdrawn. Not even doing the will of God, 648 00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:21,520 not making his name famous in the earth. 649 00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:25,000 We're tempted to make our own names famous. 650 00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:29,320 We're tempted to laziness. We're tempted to complacency, 651 00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:32,800 we're tempted to quote UN quote good things that take away from 652 00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:36,280 God things we're we're we're tempted to idolatry. 653 00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:39,560 We're tempted to be self focused in this world. 654 00:46:39,560 --> 00:46:43,040 And Jesus knows here as in the end of this prayer, He knows, 655 00:46:45,080 --> 00:46:49,760 since He's the only one who has ever overcome all in temptation 656 00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:54,760 without sin when He resisted the devil in the wilderness. 657 00:46:55,680 --> 00:47:00,240 But that's the model then is that we trust in His Word to 658 00:47:00,240 --> 00:47:03,680 combat the schemes of the evil. 1 As he said man, doesn't he? 659 00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:07,360 He used the Word of God every time to fight the enemy. 660 00:47:07,360 --> 00:47:10,400 We ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen our spiritual walk, 661 00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:16,120 to become more disciplined. And finally, we ask to be 662 00:47:16,120 --> 00:47:20,920 delivered from all sin, all of the evil of the clutches and 663 00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:23,000 vices that are on our mind, body and soul. 664 00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:29,040 This is full salvation. When we're finally saved 665 00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:35,040 completely out of this corrupt and evil world, God will make 666 00:47:35,040 --> 00:47:37,560 all things new and take us together with Christ to settle 667 00:47:37,560 --> 00:47:39,480 in our new home. And we long for that. 668 00:47:40,240 --> 00:47:45,320 Oh Lord come, Lord Jesus come are some of the last words in 669 00:47:45,320 --> 00:47:49,800 the Bible, in Revelation. We, we long for just come and 670 00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:55,320 get us because man, sometimes it's unbearable and we long to 671 00:47:55,320 --> 00:47:58,720 be with our Father, our Daddy in heaven. 672 00:48:01,080 --> 00:48:04,800 So this is the model of prayer. Pray then like this. 673 00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:09,960 It's simply just talk to God. But remember to have these two 674 00:48:09,960 --> 00:48:15,480 priorities of of praise and making requests in a posture of 675 00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:18,600 worship and humility, acknowledging His Holiness and 676 00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:22,720 our neediness. Let's pray, Father, we do come 677 00:48:22,720 --> 00:48:29,960 to you knowing Your Holiness, wanting your Kingdom to come, 678 00:48:30,800 --> 00:48:33,640 wanting your will to be done in our lives and other people's 679 00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:38,680 lives around us. We pray that you'd be made, made 680 00:48:38,680 --> 00:48:41,760 famous. Your name would be hallowed 681 00:48:41,880 --> 00:48:47,960 among every person who lives in my household, all the households 682 00:48:47,960 --> 00:48:50,680 in this church and the households around us. 683 00:48:52,240 --> 00:48:54,120 Help us to do our part. But we know that You're 684 00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:56,520 sovereign and we ask you to do your part. 685 00:48:56,520 --> 00:48:59,880 And we come in humility, knowing our neediness. 686 00:49:01,200 --> 00:49:03,840 Give us our daily needs. Help us. 687 00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:07,320 Help us to be humble enough to admit our neediness and our our 688 00:49:07,320 --> 00:49:09,680 sinfulness. Help us bring it to light so 689 00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:13,080 that we can confess it and get rid of it, trusting that you've 690 00:49:13,080 --> 00:49:17,960 saved us. And Father, one day we ask God 691 00:49:17,960 --> 00:49:24,680 that you would send your son again, that we would come, come 692 00:49:24,680 --> 00:49:27,960 to be with you in the new heavens and the new earth. 693 00:49:27,960 --> 00:49:31,160 Until then, Father, help us to continue in prayer, always in 694 00:49:31,200 --> 00:49:32,080 Jesus name, Amen.