The Lord's Prayer

The Setting of the Sermon on the Mount and the Familiarity of the Lord’s Prayer

And I had have had an opportunity to get to know one another just a little bit, and also I'm sure that some of you know Clark and Erica Schreibeis. They speak very highly of the church family here in Laurel Bible Church, and so it is a great joy for me to be with you all, to see more of your faces.

I know that we as a church have been praying for you as you transition with this new time of calling a pastor, and we're excited. I know Pastor Joe, our pastor over at Valley Bible Church, knows Rob Kinsley, I believe it is, just a little bit.

I think they've interacted a few times while they were even in seminary together, and has been very encouraged with him and getting to know him, and so we just want to let you know that we will continue to pray for you in this time as you transition and as he comes to be your full-time pastor here.

This morning, if you would, turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6, Matthew chapter 6. Again, as Chad had said, as you're turning in there, my name is Kurt Spencer. My wife is over here with our children, Vanessa and our five children, just to get you acquainted with a little bit of my family.

Our oldest is our daughter Maya, and our son Elijah, Ezekiel, Ezra, and Joel, and then we have two foster kids that God has graciously given us the opportunity to care for, and Amy is back watching them this morning.

Just to give you a little history, way back in the day of college and career, my wife and I knew Amy and her brothers, Phil and Andy Reinsma, and so there is a little bit of a history there. So anyway, Matthew chapter 6, we will be looking this morning at the Lord's Prayer.

It may be safe to say that most all of you, if asked, could quote the Lord's Prayer. It is a very familiar passage for some. Maybe just hearing it for the first few words could cause you to recite it.

Some of you may be thinking that even though it was spoken by the Lord, it was given to his disciples and to the crowd as he gave the Sermon on the Mount as an example of prayer. The passage is a familiar passage.

It is right after Jesus taught on the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount, but before we get there and as and before we read our passage, let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask for his blessing upon us this morning.

Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord God, for the opportunity to come before you. We thank you for your grace and mercy. Lord, you are worthy of worship, worthy of honor, worthy of praise, worthy of adoration, worthy of exaltation.

There is none like thee, O God. You are set apart, perfect in every way. You are the one who created us, man, in your image, and in six days you spoke creation into existence. Heavenly Father, you are far greater than we could ever fathom, yet in your grace and in your mercy you give us the written word where we may know you through the power of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

We thank you, Father God, for the illumination of your word through the Holy Spirit that is given to us as believers. We thank you, Lord, that you desire to teach us who you are and to shepherd us and to mold us and to shape us into your image for your glory, the image of Christ.

As we were created in the image of you, Heavenly Father, we have sinned against you. And we're mindful, Lord God, of what had happened in the Garden of Eden, yet we also know that we are sinners ourselves.

We sin daily. Lord, we need to come to you on a daily basis asking you to forgive us of our sins. Lord, you know that as redeemed, as those whom you've given new life in Christ, we are still living in a flesh that is not fully redeemed.

And so, Lord, we are thankful that you are gracious and merciful to us, a God who cannot allow sin to be in his presence. You clothe us as believers with the righteousness of Christ, where we may then be seen by you as righteous.

Lord, we thank you for the opportunity this morning to be reminded, as you reminded the disciples and the crowd there on the Sermon of Mount, and to us, Lord God, of who you are and how as believers we are to live in light of who you are and how you have redeemed us.

Lord, I pray that you would work in our hearts this morning as we look to your word for wisdom and for strength. I pray that you would guide and direct me, that, Lord, you would be exalted, that you would be glorified, for this is your word.

Thank you that we, as the body of Christ, can be your servants, that we can come to your word and listen to your word. Lord, may we also be doers of your word. And so, Lord, this morning, as we look to your word in Matthew chapter six, we ask that you would be glorified in all that we would think, Lord God, this morning.

May we, Lord, be molded and shaped by your word. Lord, we need you. I need you this morning, Father. We ask that you would work in and through us for your glory and honor. In Christ's name we pray, amen.

Well, follow along with me as I read in Matthew chapter six, starting with verse one of Matthew chapter six, and we will read through verse 15. Jesus is teaching again on the Sermon of the Mount, and he begins, Beware of practicing your righteousness before men, to be noticed by them.

Otherwise, you will have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. Verse two,. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogue, in the street, so that they may be honored by men.

Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that you give, so that your giving will be in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward in full.

But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless reputation as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.

So do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then in this way, our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us of our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.

Amen. For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. As I said, this passage is familiar.

It's right after Jesus taught on the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount. It is part of the Sermon on the Mount. In chapter 5 of Matthew, you see the Beatitudes given to us. And I'm sure many of you are familiar with these Beatitudes.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the gentle. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the poor in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those who have been persecuted, for theirs is the sake of righteousness.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is in heaven, is great. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were there before you.

That is just a little picture, a little reminder of the Beatitudes. And within the middle of this Sermon on the Mount, which Jesus preached to the crowds and to the disciples, chapter 5 through chapter 7, Jesus gives instruction then for his disciples, for the crowds, and for you and I on prayer.

As I said before, you may be able to give me chapter and verse of the Gospel that this is recorded in also, Luke 11, 2 through 4. This is a very familiar passage for most of us. In fact, many of us, again, could rather probably sing this or even quote the Lord's Prayer.

But there is a great danger that can come within the familiar, the well-known, the notable of Scripture. This danger lies within you and I in the reciting of the familiar. It may open the door to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.

You and I may be tempted to conclude that there is nothing else to learn. After all, we can quote this verse or these verses. At any given moment, you know these verses very familiar. But Jesus warrants his listeners not to use meaningless reputation in Matthew 6, verse 7.

There is nothing wrong with reciting prayer given to the disciples and to the crowd here. There's nothing wrong with singing it as a prayer. But we must do it out of a heart of worship before God. It must not be done in meaningless repetition.

We need to have an attitude of humility. As we begin our study this morning in Matthew 9 through 13, we will find three ways in which we are to have an attitude of humility. We are to have an attitude of humility in exaltation, verse 9.

An attitude of humility in submission, verses 10 through 11. And an attitude of humility in confession, verses 12 through 13. As believers in Christ, as we look at Matthew 6, verse 9, Jesus calls us to pray then in this way, our Father who is in heaven.

The true heart of everyone who is not unsaved is to sin or to live in a way that is not pleasing to God. But as believers in Christ, we have fellowship with God. Like our other relationships, God is both our Lord, excuse me, unlike our relationships, God is both our Lord and Savior.

He is to be closer than a friend or a brother. He is to be the one who we come to first. Excuse me, let me just pull that. With all our fears and our needs and desires. He is to have first place in our hearts.

When we come to God, we see Jesus's instruction here, as we have read already, that we are to address God as our Father. The reminder that He is all about God's glory, the Father's glory. As we focus not merely on ourselves, but on the glory of God Himself.

It is a confession that reveals, it's not meaningless reputation for believers to address God as our Father. For He is our Redeemer. He has redeemed us from the penalty of sin. For He is the creator of all good things.

In Genesis chapter 1, He proclaims that what He has created is good. But you and I know that we have sinned against God, unlike the way God had created us in the Garden of Eden. After God had created the world and man, He said that it was very good.

It was without sin. When man sinned against God, God brought forth His wrath against you and I. For sin cannot continue in the presence of the righteousness of God. Romans 6 .23. Sin brought forth death.

Man's relationship with God was severed. For in our sin, we have fallen short of being in the presence of our Creator. Not only are we removed from His holy presence, we have caused the wrath of God to be upon us for eternity.

When Jesus asked His disciples to address God as their Father, they are entrusting themselves to the Father who gives new life in Christ. They are renouncing their allegiance with the Father of sin and death, the evil one, because of God the Father's work in their lives.

He gave them a new heart, a heart to die to the ways of this world and to serve the Father. 1 John 2 .16 says,. The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the prideful way of life are not from the Father, but they are from the world.

This call to prayer here in verse 9 shows the confession of believers to entrust himself to the one and only Creator, Sustainer of heaven and earth. He dwells in heaven and He is not like us. He is the one who has created us to worship Him perfectly and completely for His glory and for His honor.

We are to come to God in humility. We are to bring forth our praise and our adoration to God the Father, for it is only by God's grace and mercy that we have been given the opportunity to call Him our Father.

As we call God our Father, we are in a sense confessing our wayward life apart from Him in this world. As we call God our Father, it forces us to deal with our sin rightly before Him. These are not mere words for us to recite.

It is a call to proclaim God's rightful place in our lives. The heart of our worship to God is to understand to proclaim with our being, all our being, His name by prayer before God Most High addresses Him as we see here in verse 9 as our Father.

He is our Creator, our Redeemer, who holds all things together. Isaiah 42, 6 -8 proclaims. Isaiah 44, 24 -28 and Isaiah 45, 20. Turn with me if you would in your Bibles to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42, verse 6.

I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness, and I will hold you by the hand and watch over you, and I will point you as a covenant people, as a light to the nation, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

I am the Lord, that is my name. I will not give my glory to another nor my praise to graven images. Behold, the former things have come to pass. Now I declare new things before they spring forth. I proclaim them to you.

Turn then over if you would to Isaiah 44, verse 24. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the one who formed you from the womb. I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by myself and spreading out the earth alone, causing the omens of boasters to fail, making fools out of diviners, causing wise men to draw back and turn their knowledge into foolishness, confirming the word of his servant and forming the purpose of his messengers.

It is I who say of Jerusalem, she shall be inhabited, and of the cities of Judah, they shall be built, and I will raise her up in her ruins again. It is I who says to the depths of the sea, be dried up, and I will make your rivers dry.

It is I who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd and he will perform all my desires, and he declares of Jerusalem, she will be built, and of the temple your foundation will be laid. One more. Turn over to Isaiah 46, Isaiah 46, verse 5.

To whom would you liken me and make me equal to compare me that we would be alike? Those who lavish gold from the purse and weigh silver on the scale hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god. They bow down, indeed they worship it.

They lift up the shoulders and carry it. They set it in a place and stands there. It does not move from its place. Though one may cry out to it, it cannot answer. It cannot deliver him from his distresses.

Remember this and be assured. Recall it to mind your transgressions. Remember former things long past, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there was no one like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying my purpose is established and I will accomplish all my good pleasure.

As we come before God in prayer, coming back to our passage in Matthew, we are, as we come to him, reminding ourselves of who he is. He is our father. He has redeemed us as believers that we may worship him and honor him.

We as believers, by the power of God, are putting to death the things of this world. By forsaking the way of this world, our allegiance is to the one and only God, the father who has faithfully chosen us before the foundation of the earth and has elected us to be the trophies of his grace and mercy through Jesus Christ, Ephesians chapter 1.

For we who were once children of the evil one and sin, God in his grace has adopted us into his family. For Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death, Romans 8 .2. As true believers, we are given the spirit of God to dwell in us as we submit to the spirit of God by putting to death the deeds of the flesh.

As we are led by the spirit of God, we are sons of God and in this manner we are adopted by God in which we are to cry out to him, Abba, father. For the spirit of God testifies with our spirit that we are in fact children of God, Romans 8, 1 through 15.

To address God as our father is to put to death a life of disobedience and live for him and for his glory. A life lived for the glory of God will then address him as our father in heaven, not of the sinfulness of this earth.

And then as Christ continues in verses 9 to the praise, to praise him, to lift up his holy name, to hallow his great and awesome name. Father, you are my father who dwells in heaven, we could pray and be reminded.

You are holy, not like us in any other way or like any so-called God which we have read in Isaiah. You are set apart from all things. You are the one and only true creator who upholds things and sustains this world.

In Psalm 15, David proclaims, O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may abide in your holy hill? Isaiah 6, 1 through 5 is Isaiah's vision as he saw the angels crying out, proclaiming God's holiness.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord who possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light. God proclaims in Isaiah 40, verse 25, whom then will you liken me that I would be his equal, says the Holy One.

In Revelations, Revelation chapter 5, we see the angels bowing down before God and also in Revelation chapter 15. If you would turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 5 and read with me in Revelation chapter 5, verse 11 through 14, then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them with myriads of myriads, thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

And every creature and thing which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them, I heard saying to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb, blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.

And the four living creatures kept saying amen, and the elders fell down to worship. Then over to Revelation chapter 15, verses 1 through 4, then I saw another sign in heaven, a great marvelous seven angels who had seven plagues which are the last.

Because of them the wrath of God is finished. And I saw something like the sea of glass mixed with fire and those who had been victorious over the beasts and his image and the numbers of his name standing on the sea of glass holding harps of God.

And they sang the song of Moses, the bondservant of God, the song of the lamb saying, great and marvelous are your works, O God, the mighty righteous and the true are your ways, the king of the nations who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name.

You alone are holy. All your nations will come and worship before you. Your righteous acts have been revealed. We see that God is worthy of worship. He is worthy of honor. He is worthy of praise. And Jesus reminds us here in the Sermon of the Mount here in verses 9 through 10, most familiar thought as the Lord's Prayer, that we are to exalt the Father, that we are to praise him, that we are to see him as the one and only true God set apart unlike us, without sin, perfect in every way.

He is not created. He is the creator. He is unlike us. It is only by the grace of God that we would come before him. And it is by his grace, then, we would be able to call him our Father and to hallow his name.

In humility as believers, we are to rest not in ourselves, but in God and in him alone. As we see God for who he is, our Father, he is holy. He is without sin, as we have said. He is worthy of worship, worthy of honor, worthy of praise.

He is the only one and true God. His name is to be praised. His name is to be hallowed. The word for hallowed here is hagiazo in the Greek, or holy. It is set apart. It is unlike any other. He is the creator of all.

We have been created as believers to worship God, to exalt his holy name. As believers, we are to have an attitude of humility that brings praise to God the Father, proclaiming his holiness, giving him praise, exalting him in his holiness.

This, in turn, should cause a devotion to honor his holy name. And as we honor his holy name, we are to live our lives apart from sin, entrusting our lives to him. And when we do sin, we are to confess it, asking him to forgive us, knowing that he has, as the scripture says, past, present, and future forgiven us of our sins.

God knows our hearts, and he desires for us to come before him in prayer and to exalt him as our Father. Our life should reflect our call to him in prayer. We are to come before God as our Father and ask him to forgive us of our sins.

We are to praise him, to give him honor, to give him adoration. But sadly, even for believers, for you and I, our prayers can often be, as one man has said, their prayer is like sailors they use their pumps only when the ship is leaking.

As believers, we are to call upon God to give him praise and adoration and thanksgiving, and not just for our needs. We are to come before God and to rejoice with him and to exalt him and to honor him in prayer.

And as we do these things, I believe our actions will reflect the fruit of God working within our lives. We have looked this morning at the attitude of humility seen in the exaltation of God the Father in verse 9.

Humble Submission to the Father’s Kingdom and Will

Secondly, we will see the attitude of humility in submission, verse 10. As Jesus calls us to submit to him and to think of God first and foremost, he says in verse 10, after exalting the Father, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

This is a reminder that we are not our own. We have been bought with a price. We have been given new life in Christ. Each day you and I live, we are to live for the glory of God and for his honor. We are to look forward to his kingdom and to his coming.

A pastor writing on the kingdom of God quotes, our greatest desire should be to see the Lord reigning as king in his kingdom, to have the honor and the authority that has always been his, but that he has not yet come to claim.

And as believers, we know this here in this world that we live in, that God is king and he is Lord and he is the one who is reigning, but sin is taking its toll on this world. And one day there will be a new world where God will reign perfectly in our hearts, for he is perfect and he does reign perfectly, but we are stained in this world by sin.

One day God's wrath will be poured out as we read in Revelation and sin will see the wrath of God and the penalty of sin will come forth as God's wrath is poured out. As believers, we are not our own.

We are to live for the glory of God. We are to proclaim God's kingdom, to call people to repent of their sin, to turn from their life of disobedience and to live a life of obedience to God's holy word here before us this morning.

As believers, we are to meditate on the word of God, that we may know him and serve him. Each day we live, we are to get up with a passion to make the Lord known in all that we do, in all that we say.

This is a reminder as we pray, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Our hope and expectation in life is to see the kingdom of God where everyone is doing what is done in heaven as the angels do exactly what God asks them to do in heaven.

David in Psalm 103 verse 20 tells of the obedience of the angels in heaven. They are obeying the voice of his word. Jesus reminds us in his example of prayer to submit to the father's will, looking forward with zeal to his kingdom reign on earth and to daily die to self and the things of this world and to live for him and for his glory.

Confession, Forgiveness, and Dependence on God’s Provision

The third attitude we see here in this prayer is an attitude of humility in confession. We have looked at the attitude of humility in exaltation, the attitude of humility in submission, and now the attitude of humility in confession.

Jesus calls us to confession verses 11 through 13. He says, give us this daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors and do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil.

Jesus is reminding his readers or his listeners here that we are not God, that we are bowing our knee to the one and only true God and he is the one that gives us our daily needs. He is the one who provides for us and cares for us.

It is him that we are to look to on a daily basis. You and I are called to work and to work for the glory of God as we work. Our dependence is to be not on our own pride of accomplishment but in God who gives us the ability to work and a mind to understand all good things have come by him.

You know, whether we are an athlete or whether we have been gifted in the workplace, whether we are managers or architects or engineers or laborers, we have all been given the ability by God. It does not come from us.

In fact, we cannot choose whether we are five feet tall or six feet tall. We cannot choose whether we have blonde hair or no hair or brown hair, right? All these things are given to us by God. Now some of these things are the effects of the fall.

Like I believe that the hair on my head is leaving me because of the sin of this world, right? And this is the effects of the fall. Now scripture doesn't tell me I'll have a head of hair when I'm in heaven, but I will be made complete and I will be made in his image.

And so that is just my own thought. But we know that God is the one who created us. And it is so sad to see in this world today that there is very little or no recollection of God as the one who has created them and given them the ability.

This afternoon, if some of you follow football, you will see athletes who stand out above many. But how many of these athletes will give praise to the creator who has created them the ability to do what they do?

Now there is discipline and there is diligence to study and to work hard and to do what they do, but God has given them the ability. The Bible teaches us that he has the power to give life and to take it away.

The scripture also teaches us that nothing takes him by surprise. That everything that we face today and tomorrow is in fact known by God. And he is in control of it all. And I don't fully understand that, but I know that he is sovereign and the king of kings and lord of lords.

And he is in control of all things. And he works it all for his glory and for our good. And as believers in Romans chapter 8, we see that God desires us that we would be complete in Christ. That we would have the image of Jesus Christ within us.

And it says in Romans chapter 8 that God causes all things to be good. And it says later on that we would be conformed to the image of Christ. He uses everything in this world, whether it is sickness or the death of a loved one or whether it is even in some cases a family member who doesn't see the word of God as is in scripture or whatever it may be.

God uses the things he has given us in life for his glory. And the purpose is that we would be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. You and I know as believers there is no such thing as a self-made man.

Yet the world praises those who proclaim their own autonomy. Rare is the day that man gives glory to God in the counting of his riches or his accomplishments. Yet God is the giver of life and all things in life.

Jesus reminds us to think about the day at hand and not to worry or be greedy but depend on God for each day's needs as they come. This does not mean that we don't plan ahead but that our plan should be in submission to God's perfect plan.

We need as the provision for our daily life we need to live in light that God is in control. In Matthew 6 30 through 34 we are to seek God and his kingdom and he will then give us our needs. Our daily bread that is given in this passage is another way of asking for our daily needs.

Our physical bodies are in need of nourishment not only spiritually but also physically. Yet most of the time we forget the spiritual. I can't remember a time when I truly missed a meal yet how often are we reminded of missing an opportunity to pray and to come to God in prayer.

Not only will God supply our physical needs he will also apply supply our emotional needs. In verse 25 of chapter 6 we see the command not to worry about our life as God will provide. Jesus in his prayer to his disciples calls them to ask for forgiveness of their sins.

Verse 12 a true heart of confession understands the weight the heaviness of their sin before God who is holy righteous and just. In the asking you and I know and confess that we have been wrong in our actions.

We have been disobedient. We have dishonored God. We have not done what he has asked us to do. True confession does not harbor hold on to the wrongs other have done to us. We don't blame others in our sin.

We ask God to forgive us of our sin. We don't say well but but uh I didn't have uh the opportunity this person did or I was tired. No we're to confess our sins asking God to forgive us. We are to see the reality that we are sinners in need of his grace and mercy.

There is a heart of compassion also as we confess our sin. A heart of knowing that God has truly forgiven us. Is it a heart that demonstrates our love for the Lord in forgiving others as he says in the latter part of verse 12.

Forgive us of our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. Colossians chapter 3 verse 12 says we have been chosen of God holy and beloved. We are to put on a heart of compassion kindness humility gentleness and patience bearing with one another and forgiving each other whoever has a complaint against anyone just as the Lord has forgiven you so also should we.

Bitterness and anger towards others exist when you and I are not seeking first the kingdom of God. When we don't forgive others as God has forgiven us we are seeking our own will and living in disobedience the one who has given us new life in Christ.

Only in God's strength can we honor God as Jesus concludes and do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil. For we know that God does not tempt us to sin as James 13 through 15 teaches. This is a confession to trust God in temptation that God will provide a way out and cause us to endure and not sin.

First Corinthians 10 13. These last few words given here as you see maybe in some of your translations it is omitted but it is given here in the New American Standard in brackets because they are not found in the most reliable manuscripts.

They are in brackets for this reason because they may have not have been in the original manuscript but one pastor writes of this these few words in the last part of 13 here we can conclude that God is to be glorified above all and it is his kingdom and his power and his glory in all things forever.

This form of prayer that we are learning here today is not the only way we can pray but our prayers must have an attitude of humility in our exalt exaltation to God and our submission and our confession we are to honor God as we live for him and for his glory.

We have seen in verse 9 as Jesus reminds us the attitude of humility in our exaltation of God the Father. We have seen in verses verse 10 our attitude of humility in submission to him that his will would be done that we would honor him and live for him and for his glory and then thirdly an attitude of humility in our confession that we are not God and that we need him on a daily basis and in fact not only are we not God but we sin against God and we are to confess our sins asking him to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from our sin.