Prayer As Taught By Jesus, Pt 1

Transcript

GRM 1033
6/7/2009
Prayer as Taught by Jesus, Part 1
Matthew 6:8-10
Gil Rugh


We're studying the Sermon on the Mount so turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6. Let me say a word about our study of scripture before we look into this passage. Amazing as it is, the eternal God has chosen to communicate His truth to human beings, has done it in His written word as we have it today. He has given it with the intention that we would know it and understand it. It's interesting to me that when He selected His original disciples, those twelve men, eleven of them faithful believers, He didn't go to the scholarly realms, didn't go to those with the greatest intellectual abilities necessarily. He went to common, ordinary men. They would be the vehicles to whom and through whom He would communicate His truth, but the intention that common, ordinary, everyday people would understand that truth. Now you and I as believers in Jesus Christ are privileged to come and study His word and God intends us to understand it. He has given us His Spirit as believers today to indwell us, to teach us and to enable us to know the Word. That doesn't mean that the study of scripture is not hard work, does not take serious study. We are indeed to apply ourselves with diligence to study the Word so we can handle it accurately and present ourselves approved to God. But you do not have to have a doctor's degree to know and understand the Word of God; you don't have to have great training. You have to be a serious student of the Word and you have to be a believer in Jesus Christ to be able to understand it for sure.

I say that because I'm impressed as I work through the Sermon on the Mount and have opportunity to read a variety of writers on the Sermon on the Mount, that much of the confusion comes from a failure to simply take the truth of the Word of God as it is given and be consistent, that the gospels are flowing in the same pattern as we had in the Old Testament. The Old Testament promised a kingdom to Israel, that kingdom would be established by the Messiah, the Anointed One, a Jew who would lead Israel as their Savior, establish the kingdom with Israel as the central nation, Jerusalem as the capital, and would rule over the world. So when John the Baptist came on the scene he came presenting a message of repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We're on the brink of the coming of the Messiah. You need to prepare for His coming, which involved repentance from sin, the preparing of your heart by believing in God and His message.

When Jesus Christ began His public ministry as we saw in Matthew 4 He had the same message. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Then we flow into Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount. And what Jesus is doing there is giving instruction to tell what is necessary to be part of the kingdom when it is established. Started out with the beatitudes, the blessings on those, as we saw, who have experienced spiritual life. The poor in spirit, you humble yourself before God, you recognize your sinfulness, your guilt and so on. The promises for several of those beatitudes being these will be the ones who will inherit the kingdom.

Now He reminded the Jews in chapter 5 verse 20, your righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees or you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. The Jews thought if they conformed externally to the requirements of the Mosaic Law, that guarantees. They are Jews, they are trying to keep the Law, they are sure to go into the kingdom. Jesus showed you needed a changed heart. The Law never was a way of salvation. Obedience to the Mosaic Law was to be a result of having a heart changed by faith in the revelation God had given, and now a desire to live out that submission to God in obedience to His Law. It always had to come from the heart. External conformity to the Law never was pleasing or acceptable to God.

When we came into chapter 6 Jesus moved from talking about the Law and its true requirements from the heart to talking about the religious practices of the Jews. And he gives three examples—alms giving or giving to help care for the needy in Israel, prayer and fasting. Three areas of the religious practices of the Jews that Jesus uses as examples of failure to truly be obedient in the heart. We noted the comparison, verse 2, when you give to the poor you don't sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites. We noted that expression, as the hypocrites. Why did they do it that way? A hypocrite being someone who put on a mask, pretending to be someone they are not. They do it so they may be honored by men. At the end of that verse, they have their reward in full. Note that pattern will be repeated three times—don't do it as the hypocrites, so that they may be honored by men, they have their reward in full. They did it for the approval of men, they got that approval, that recognition. That's all they're getting. There is no reward from God. They will not experience the blessings of the kingdom.

Come down to the subject of prayer in verse 5. Again you don't want to do it like the hypocrites so that they may be seen by men. They have their reward in full. Same pattern. You come down to the matter of fasting in verse 16. You don't do it for show as the hypocrites so that they will be noticed by men. They have their reward in full. That continual reminder. That is offset by the promise to those who do it with the concern to honor God and be pleasing to Him that you have in verse 4. If you do this in secret your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. The end of verse 6, your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you; down at the end of verse 18, your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

So that's the contrast He is drawing. It doesn't mean you can never do public things in worship. Of course, we'll be talking about prayer further. Jesus prayed in public, Paul recorded some of his prayers in his letters. In the book of Acts we find the disciples coming together to pray. The point is that these things all have to be done in total secret, the point He is making is you don't do it for display before men, you don't do it for the approval of men, you don't do it for recognition from men. These matters are to be done from the heart with a desire to honor God and be pleasing to Him. Any context where others would notice it is not an issue. We talked about our prayer life in this. Our prayer life is to be done in secret, Jesus said in verse 6, go into your inner room. That didn't mean we can never pray in public. Even when we pray in public, when I lead the congregation in prayer, I'm not praying to you. My intention ought to be I'm speaking to God and honoring Him as I come before Him. Your presence is secondary. Naturally as we talked about, my prayers have to be conditioned when you are here and I pray about things in the context of our church family rather than my personal family perhaps. But I'm not talking to you. Sometimes we get so nervous if we're going to pray in a setting where others are present. I don't know what to say, I don't know how to do it. Do it just like you do it when you are alone. I mean, when you talk to God alone you ought to do it intelligently, right? Not with broken sentences that make no sense. Sometimes our kids come running up to us, they want something and they are so worked up and excited they're just not making any sense. And you say, stop, settle down, you don't make any sense. Sometimes we come to God like that. So we ought to be careful. Do I talk to God privately? I encourage you, talk out loud, come and talk to Him. You get to hear your voice that way, that sometimes is intimidating when you do it publicly.

Jesus has talked about these three areas and we touched on all three. But He expands on the subject of prayer so we want to come back and look at the subject of prayer with you. We highlighted the basic verses. Verse 5, He told them don't pray like the hypocrites, they like to do it in a public setting where people can admire their majestic prayers or just be impressed by their godliness. They know how to pray kind of attitude. You do it in secret, that's the prime place. Then when you do it in public it's continuing a personal conversation with the God that I regularly talk with in secret.

Then some instructions, verse 7, when you are praying do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do. Jesus is talking to Jews, we never want to lose sight of the audience that is being addressed. He is addressing Jews. There is no concept of the church, no one knows anything about the church at this stage. He is talking to Jews about what is required for going into the kingdom, the ultimate reward for the Jew, the blessings of the kingdom. So when you pray, verse 7, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do. What do they do? They suppose they will be heard for their many words. Prayer beads, rosaries, memorized prayers just repeated over and over again, one of them being the Lord's Prayer, say so many “Our Fathers,” so many “Hail Marys” as though going through that would what? It is worthless repetition, it's just piling up words as though that meant something. The prayer wheel, just so you can get the prayer wheel going and the prayers come off. Just pagan ideas that somehow the more words you have, the more often you do it, the more pleased God is. That's not the case, it has never been the case so don't use meaningless repetition. Don't multiply words thinking that God will be pleased because you will be heard.

Come back to I Kings 18. An example of this in the Old Testament. Here Elijah the prophet is confronting the prophets of Baal. There are 450 prophets of Baal and there is one Elijah. And they are going to call on their god and Elijah will call on his God and the God who answers by fire in consuming the sacrifice that has been prepared will demonstrate that He is the true God. Verse 24, Elijah sets down the challenge. If you call on the name of your god, I will call on the name of the Lord and the God who answers by fire, He is God. The people said, that's a good idea. So he tells the prophets of Baal, you can go first. So verse 26, they took the ox which was given them, they prepared it, called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, oh Baal answer us. But there was no voice, no one answered. They leaped about the altar which they made. They are going to all kinds of things to get the attention of their god, I'm here, I'm here. You know somebody on a desert island trying to get the attention of a passing boat kind of thing. Listen to me.

It came about at noon, this had been going on all morning that Elijah mocked them. You aren't supposed to mock other people's religion, but Elijah didn't know that. And he said, call out with a loud voice, for he is a god. Either he is occupied or gone aside, or he is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened. You know, he is busy, maybe he went to the restroom, you better call louder. Maybe he is sleeping. You know the silly thing is, they do it. So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out of them. You see this in some pagan situations today, and you see it on programs on the history channel or something and they are walking, cutting themselves, bleeding. Why? We're getting the attention of god.

These prophets think, now I have to do something, he is ignoring me. It's like a two-year-old throwing a tantrum to get attention. If I cut myself God will pay attention. When midday was passed they raved until the offering of the evening sacrifice. There was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention. Here is an example, we're going to get God's attention. People still do it. Why do they walk around doing prayer beads? We as believers do the same thing. Sometimes you listen to a believer's prayer, they say the same thing all the time. You sit down with your wife or your husband and you always say exactly the same thing. Some of us get the idea every time we come and talk to God we ought to say exactly the same things. We're just going through the repetition and the motions. We ought to pray and we say the same thing all the time. That's why pressures and trials and tribulation are good because all of a sudden my heart gets into my prayer then and it is good for me. So that's an example of the kind of thing that Jesus is talking about, not to that extreme always as the prophets of Baal.

Come back to Matthew 6. We'll say more about this many words a bit later. So He says do not be like them. And then He makes a statement, an interesting way to introduce a pattern for prayer. He says, your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. I mean, you understand what prayer is, it's not informing God, it's not bringing Him up to date, it's not filling in incomplete information He may be functioning on as though if He has a more complete picture He'll probably respond according to what I want. I have to come with the proper attitude, understand when I come into the presence of God in prayer He already knows everything that I could say, He already knows everything I could request. He knows what my needs are. I come and tell Him, Lord, I lost my job, you know I need to support my family. I may talk to Him like that with the understanding that I'm not informing Him. I'm just acknowledging the fact before Him, I recognize the need I have to provide for my family and You are the One who will have to provide for me so that I can provide for those that You have put under my care. Or a physical need, a financial need, a spiritual situation. Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. It's just like our children when they are young, they come and have a need. They don't have to tell you. They come and have worn a hole through the sole of their sneakers. It's not like you didn't know their shoe was worn out and they come and tell you. They learn to turn to you, to ask you to meet the need, to acknowledge that you are the one who meets their needs and has taken the responsibility to do that. There is benefit in that for them, but they are not giving you information you didn't have. Then sometimes you sit there with a smile in your mind, if not on your face, because they are telling you things like they are really filling you in. And it's cute because you already know this and in their young little minds they don't know. But Christ tells us, your Father already knows. So that clarifies things. I don't have to be concerned about filling Him in.

That doesn't mean I shouldn't pray. He told me to pray, He told me that I don't have because I don't ask. It's not a matter I don't have because He doesn't know, so there is a place for my prayer and God uses my prayer in His plan. But it's not because He doesn't know.

Then He says, pray then in this way. And it is interesting after what He has said, do not use meaningless repetition, just multiplying words that probably the prayer most often recited among Christians in the broad sense of the word is the Lord's Prayer, which is not the Lord's Prayer. No indication Christ ever prayed this and it's not a prayer He would need to pray. Nor is there any indication that any of the disciples or anyone else ever repeated this prayer. When Paul tells a church that he is writing to what he prayed, he didn't say I prayed the Lord's Prayer. Yet in some of our churches they don't feel you've worshiped if you haven't recited the Lord's Prayer. First keep in mind the Lord's Prayer is directed primarily to Jews anticipating the earthly kingdom. But there are things for us to learn from this prayer and there is a pattern here that is established.

You'll note the simplicity of the prayer in verses 9-12. He's not multiplying words, it is simple, direct and to the point. Pray then in this way. Our Father who is in heaven. We start out with addressing God, the Father. That's why in our prayer we address our prayers to God the Father on the basis of the finished work of God the Son. And the Spirit of God moves in our hearts to direct us in our prayer and even bring our prayers before God with a completeness that we couldn't have otherwise. Our Father. He said in the previous verse, your Father knows what you have need of before you ask Him. So start out your prayer with our Father. There is a personal family relationship. I can come to God with my requests, I can come to God with my prayers, with my needs because He is my Father. The picture is clear.

When my kids were young and they were at home they would come and ask me for things. That's not something every kid in the neighborhood could do. They can go and ask their own father, their own parent. Here we come to our Father, that's the starting point. Our Father who is in heaven. You get into a touchy area here. I mentioned when Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal. We think we shouldn't make fun of or mock other people's religion. I think we ought to be careful and be respectful and thoughtful and kind and understanding when we talk to people, but there is no way for us to get around to being viewed narrow, even arrogant. Because you understand the only people who can pray to God are true believers. They are the only one who have God as their Father in the sense that we are talking about here.

Turn over to John 1. Some talk about the universal fatherhood of God and there is a sense where God has created all things and in that sense you might say He has brought all things into existence. But He is not the Father in that sense as scripture develops it. You understand apart from Jesus Christ no one can come to God with their requests and prayers and be received and heard by Him. John 1:12, but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God. To those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood nor of the will of flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. You see you have to be born again. John 3, Jesus' words to Nicodemus, you must be born again, you must be born from above. Here as many as received Him He gave the right to become children of God. You understand not everyone is a child of God. You have to be born spiritually, a second time as Jesus will tell Nicodemus in John 3, to become a child of God.

Turn over to Galatians 3:26, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. You have to become a child of God. Not just anyone can call God Father. Many people reciting the Lord's Prayer, our Father who are in heaven, hallowed be thy name and so on. They have no access to God, God is not their Father. You become a son of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And down in chapter 4 verse 6, because you are sons, God will send forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying abba Father. You see there the work of the Spirit in our hearts and moving us in prayer and our coming before God.

Come back to Proverbs 28:9, he who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination. Here addressing the Jews, if you do not come with hearts of submission and obedience to the God of Israel and manifesting that heart submitted to God by their obedience to the law that He had given to Israel, even their prayer was an abomination. You understand religion ............. We think well at least they are religious, at least they pray. What do you mean? Do you understand that every time an unbeliever comes in prayer to God they are offending God? That it is an abomination to God that they would have such arrogance to think that they can come before Him on their own terms and in their own way? Remember Jesus said I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me. We want to be careful as believers. We think we're being king and thoughtful by encouraging them. Well, keep going to church, keep praying. I want to tell the unbeliever, you ought to stop praying, it would be better for you to quit your religious activity in going to church, too. Now if they're going to a Bible preaching church, they ought to keep going where they hear the Word of God, of course, their general religious activity. I want them to know, do you know that your prayers can be an abomination to God, something He hates, something that offends Him? Remember the worship of Israel in Isaiah 1, stop, you are trampling My courts. It is sacrilege for you to be coming with your sacrifices and so on because your heart hasn't been cleansed from its defilement. First your sin has to be washed, you have to be washed white as snow, Isaiah 1:18.

So prayer is a great privilege, but it is only for those who have been born into God's family. That was always true, that was true in Israel. Only true believers in Israel. That's why we have Proverbs 28:9, to be reminded that prayer is for the believer to come to God who has Him as his Father. Come back to Matthew. You can just jot down John 8:44. Remember what Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day? You are of your father, the devil. There are religious Jews, you are of your father the devil. You understand the devil's children cannot come to the God of heaven and seek their requests, seek blessing from Him.

So our Father denotes an intimacy. What a privilege to call the living God our Father. But you'll note the next statement. Our Father who is in heaven. There is a balance here. We have the intimacy of a family relationship with God to call Him Father, but that never degenerates to the casualness of being flip, being less than reverent because He is our Father who is in heaven. I never lose sight of the fact when I come to Him as my Father, He is my heavenly Father and I come with that awe and reverence and respect for Him as the God of heaven.

Come back to Psalm 11:4. The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven. The psalmist, you see the personal crying out to God so often, speaking with warmth and intimacy to God. But he never lost sight of the fact he is coming before the One who is enthroned in heaven. Turn over to Psalm 20:6. The psalm starts out seeking the Lord's help, may the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. Verse 2, may He send you help from the sanctuary, on it goes. May He grant, verse 4, your heart's desires. Verse 6, now I know that the Lord saves His anointed, He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. That solemn awe and respect. He is my heavenly Father, but He is in heaven.

Turn over to Ecclesiastes, great verse, one you probably have underlined or marked in your Bibles, one we should remember. Ecclesiastes 5. And a reminder, we have already touched on verse 1, guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools. For they do not know they are doing evil. See in Israel they are going to worship, but they are doing evil. Then a reminder, verse 2, do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought, but bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth. Therefore let your words be few. Reminder, don't be hasty in word or impulsive in thought. You know I ought to give careful consideration. When I was young I was going to ask my dad for something, I gave some thought to it, I was careful. He was my father here on earth, but there had to be respect. He was always the father, I was always the child. Here the distance is even greater, even though the intimacy is even greater. He is my Father who is in heaven. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. God is in heaven, you are on earth. Never forget who He is and who you are. Therefore let your words be few.

That's why in our worship together the bulk of our time is spent seeing and listening to what God has to say. This is His Word, He has spoken. My prayers are to be informed by a knowledge of what He has said. It's far better that I listen to Him than He listen to me, right? We're going to see as we walk through this prayer that it is informed with biblical truth. I mean, I come in prayer and talk to God. You say if He had listened to what I had said He would already know the answer to that, I've already addressed that. Oh I didn't have time to listen to what you had to say, Lord, but I'm here telling you what I have to say. God is in heaven, you are on earth. Let your words be few. That doesn't mean you can't have a longer prayer time with God but understand the right balance. It's more important that I listen to God than God listen to me. We don't divide our worship time with songs and then the teaching time because the key part of our worship is when we come and hear the word of God and submit to it. That's true in the songs as they are sung, as the Word of God is to be sung, and then as it is taught. We are listening to God and bowing humbly in His presence to hear what He has to say. When I come and talk to Him I come acknowledging He is my Father and I come with confidence to a throne of grace, as Hebrews 4 says. But I acknowledge you are in heaven, you are the solemn God, you are the Lord of all, you are the One before whom I bow. I come because in your Word you have said, and I come asking because you have promised this in your Word. I come with my needs to Him because He has promised He'll meet my needs. I'm not coming to inform Him.

Come back to Matthew 6. We won't take time to go to Revelation 4-5, many of you are part of our study of Revelation on Sunday nights. You ought to read Revelation 4 and see what it is like to come before the throne of God in heaven. That is an awesome, awesome scene and I am reminded I am coming to call upon my Father who is in heaven. Go to Revelation 4 and reread that this afternoon. God is in heaven, this is the One I'm talking about, this is the scene. We see in Revelation our prayers being brought before the throne of God in heaven. I don't come flippantly, I don't come lightly, I don't come casually.

Our Father who is in heaven. There are six requests in this prayer, we're not going to get through them all. Three are addressed to God and our desire regarding God and then three address our needs and requests for God to meet our needs. Interestingly, all three of these requests are given in what in Greek is the aorist imperative. Doesn't mean anything to you because it is Greek, so it is Greek to you. But the aorist imperative is the sharpest way, strongest way to give a command. But we are not giving God commands in prayer. But it is used here to express the intensity of our desire, the seriousness of this matter that I'm coming before God with. Because remember He is our Father who is in heaven and I'm coming to talk to Him about matters of importance. I recognize the seriousness of this, the importance of this. I come informed by what He has said and that's how my prayer is formed.

So we started out addressing God, not my needs. The first three requests focus on God, my desire that what He has promised concerning Himself will be accomplished. This is the most important thing, that God be honored. Hallowed be thy name. Name stands for God and all that He is. Hallowed, this is the word that we get words like saint, sanctified, holy from. Hagiazo is the verb. Means to be set apart from sin, to be honored as the One who is holy. Hallowed be your name, and your name be held as holy, be honored, given the recognition and respect that it is due. The opposite of this would be to profane God's name, to hold it in disrespect, to dishonor His name. Now keep in mind He's talking to these Jews in preparation for a coming kingdom. And what He is addressing here and these Jews start out because what is the great promise to the Jews? Of a coming kingdom, a kingdom on this earth over which Christ will rule. That's when God's name will be held in honor. He will be given the respect, recognized as the Holy One. His name will not be profaned.

Turn back to the Old Testament to Ezekiel 36. The context here of the new covenant promised to the nation Israel in the context of the kingdom that will ultimately be established for Israel, further elaborated in Jeremiah by the prophet Jeremiah. But look at verse 20, when they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name. There you see, profaned My holy name, the name that was to be holy, was to be hallowed. They did the opposite, they profaned it. When they were scattered in judgment they didn't recognize it. The Assyrian captivity has already occurred back in 722 B.C. Now in the days of Jeremiah and the Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C., Israel is scattered among the nations in the judgment of God. When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name because it was said of them, they are the people of the Lord, yet they have come out of His land. But I had concern for My holy name which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went. You see the contrast here. These Jewish listeners, Jesus gives them this pattern of prayer, they would be familiar with it. Hallowed be your name.

Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, it is not for you sake oh house of Israel that I am about to act, but for My holy name which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I'm going to act. He's going to restore Israel, He's going to establish a kingdom for Israel, but He's not going to do it because Israel deserves it. He's going to do it because He promised it to Israel, His name is at stake. I will vindicate the holiness, verse 23, of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. But I will vindicate the holiness. Hallowed be thy name. Remember that.

The nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover I will give you a new heart, put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you, cause you to walk in My statues. You will be careful to observe My ordinances. Then you will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers. So you will be My people and I will be your God.

Reminds them in verse 32, I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Lord God. Let it be known to you what God is going to do. He's going to see that His name is hallowed, held in holiness when He bring Israel back into the land, when He cleanses them from their sin, gives them a heart of flesh and not a heart of stone that will be obedient to Him and submissive to Him, puts His Spirit within them. We're talking about the kingdom, when Israel is in the land cleansed from their sin as a nation. Now what is happening? God's name is being hallowed.

Come to Isaiah 29. Similar kind of context. God is going to bring discipline and judgment on the nation after which He will bring to them blessings. Verse 22, Jacob shall not now be ashamed nor shall his face now turn pale. But when he sees his children, these are descendants of Jacob and Jacob's name was changed to Israel. Sees his children, the work of My hands in his midst, they will sanctify My name. Hallowed be thy name, sanctify it, acknowledge its holiness, honor it. Indeed they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, they will stand in awe of the God of Israel. Those who err in mind will know the truth, those who criticize will accept instruction. You see the context here, it's when Israel is gathered back. Then they see the hand of God, that's when we have the salvation of Israel, the establishing of the kingdom.

So when you come back to Matthew 6, hallowed be your name, these Jews are praying for the coming kingdom, that time when your name will be honored, sanctified, held as holy, you the holy God by the obedience of your people, Israel. And it's a testimony to the nations of the world.

The second request, your kingdom come. Again no room for confusion here. I've been reading a variety of writers on the Sermon on the Mount. There is a lot of confusion, but so much of the confusion comes from an unwillingness to acknowledge that God had spoken to this subject clearly in the Old Testament and we are continuing that same emphasis on the kingdom. We are not in the kingdom, I keep telling you this. How do I know? Come back to Isaiah 2. I keep taking you to these passages in Isaiah because it's easy, but the prophets are filled with messages on the kingdom. You see what will happen here when the kingdom comes. Isaiah 2:2, now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, will be raised above the hills and all the nations will stream to it. Mt. Zion will be the capital of the world with Jerusalem. And a mountain becomes a symbol of a kingdom. And Israel with Jerusalem as the capital will be the chief of the nations of the world and the Messiah will reign from Jerusalem.

All the nations will stream to it, many people will come and say, come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us concerning His ways, that we may walk in His paths. For the law will go forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between nations, will render decisions for many peoples. They will hammer their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, never again will they learn war. I hold out we are not in this kingdom. Have you read anything in the news or watched the news on North Korea? Iran? The Middle East? If you think we're in the kingdom, I can't help you. You are so totally confused you ought to go get some good sleep, then get off your medication. You can't hammer your swords into plowshares. Nation will not lift up sword against nation. Never again will they learn war. The law is not going forth from Zion.

Come over to Isaiah 9:6, a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. His name will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, eternal Father, prince of peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom. You have to have Christ on the throne of David in Jerusalem, and until that happens you don't have the kingdom. To establish it, to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. We're not in the kingdom. The child was born, he came, he offered the kingdom, it was rejected. He will come again and establish that kingdom. Until then we are not in the kingdom.

Come over to chapter 11. The first part of the chapter talks about the Messiah and His character and so on. He'll judge with righteousness, verse 4; He'll strike the earth with the rod of His mouth; with the breath of His lips He'll slay the wicked. Verse 6, the wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will like down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together. A little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the holy of the cobra, the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den. They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, in all the kingdom. For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. We're not in the kingdom.

Nothing in the New Testament changes this. We have not already started the kingdom but yet there is future fullness of the kingdom. The kingdom is not here. You can't have the kingdom without the king on earth reigning from Jerusalem. These qualities are not here.

Come over to Acts 1. One of the favorite expressions among scholarly theologians today is already, not yet, regarding the kingdom. It's already started but it is not yet here in its fullness. Understand what the Old Testament says about the kingdom. Nothing in the New Testament changes that and we can't use the New Testament to go back and redo the Old Testament. Acts 1:6. Christ has died, He has been raised from the dead. He spent the last forty days or so ministering to His disciples. On the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after, the Spirit will come and the church is established in Acts 2. But note as He meets with His disciples, verse 3, He had been appearing to them over a period of forty days, speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. So during this forty-day period He had been instructing His disciples now as the resurrected Christ concerning the kingdom of God. And what is their question in verse 6? So when they had come together they were asking Him saying, Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel? After forty days of instruction their thinking on the kingdom hadn't changed. Is it now that you will establish the kingdom? What's His response? Guys, I've been trying to tell you for forty days the kingdom is already here, you are in it, just not all its fullness. No, He doesn't. They still have the understanding of the kingdom that the Old Testament prophets had. It has to be established by the Messiah with the nation Israel as its center on this earth.

He said to them, it's not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority. You don't need to know when I will establish the kingdom. No clarification here, no attempt to correct misunderstanding that the kingdom has already begun. So your kingdom come was the prayer of the Jew. These Jewish disciples in Acts 1, now the kingdom, that's our desire. Why? They are praying in accordance with God's Word. Right? God has said in the Old Testament that His name would be sanctified, He would be held as holy. Hallowed be your name. He has said He would establish a kingdom, He described that kingdom over and over and over again. And they are praying, Lord, your kingdom come. You see you come before God on the basis of what He has said. And the kingdom is the kingdom He has promised to Israel.

Come back to Matthew 6. One more request here as we conclude. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now there is a sense when God's will is always done on earth because He rules over all. Come back to Daniel 4. The context here with Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar had to come realize, verse 32, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes. Down in verse 34, Nebuchadnezzar realizes this. I bless the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever. For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. But He does according to His will and the host of heaven among the inhabitants of earth. No one can ward off His hand or say to Him, what have you done? That is the universal kingdom of God, that's not the kingdom that He is talking about when He promises an earthly kingdom. That kingdom includes everyone, unregenerate, regenerate, it included Nebuchadnezzar as a godless pagan. That's what he acknowledges, God rules over everything, every creature by virtue of the fact that He is God and has created it all. It's under His sovereignty. But the kingdom He has promised to establish on this earth is a kingdom ruled over by His Son on this earth. That is totally yet future.

So when you pray back here in Matthew 6, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, that is the complete obedience that characterizes heaven, toward God. On earth the will of God is being done as He uses man's disobedience and rebellion, even for the accomplishing of His purposes. But there is none of that going on in heaven. And a look forward to the kingdom, this is what the Jews are praying for, that time when your will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. There will be complete obedience. And in that kingdom there will be no overt rebellion tolerated, as we've seen on other occasions. It will be a time when the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Righteousness will characterize that kingdom.

So you see the Jews are coming out of this Old Testament background. Lord, the intense desire of our hearts as we come before you is that your will as revealed in your word be done, the time when you will be honored and held up as holy before all. Your kingdom will come, your will will be done on this earth. Again, the pattern for prayer for these Jews, but we learn from it. We come and our desire ultimately is we are looking forward to a kingdom to be established on this earth, too. And we as the church will be part of that kingdom and have a unique role in it. But we are also looking for the coming of the Lord before that time, and gathering me into His presence with other believers. But my prayer, I want to come informed by the scripture, start off by acknowledging God and His greatness, the desire for that time most of all when God will be honored and recognized for who He is. Then we'll be ready to turn to our needs and ask for God to give us our daily bread, forgive us debts, not lead us into temptation but deliver us from evil.

So the patter here and the order is the same for all of us. Some of the content here is more specifically directed toward the Jews in anticipation for the kingdom. But in light of the promises to the churches we saw in Revelation 2-3, the church has special privilege of ruling and reigning with Christ in that millennium as well. And I look forward to that time when Christ will reign on the earth and God will be held holy by all, the kingdom will be here, God's will will be done around the world. I won't have to teach the Word of God because the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. We come to God informed as His people with an intense longing that the things He has said and promised be brought about because we are His obedient children. That's our foremost desire.

Prayer is a great privilege. Think about it, you can come to the God of heaven and talk with Him as your Father with reverence, respect, but confidence. We come with confidence to the throne of grace. But only if Jesus Christ is your Savior. Unredeemed people cannot come before God's throne and be accepted by Him, except as they come repenting of their sin and trusting Him for their salvation. And you can do that today and experience that cleansing that causes you to be born into His family and thus able to address Him as you Father.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your truth. Thank you for your Word. What a privilege and honor it is to call you Father, the One enthroned in heaven, the One in splendor and awe, before whom all the host of heaven are gathered. And we come with the confidence of knowing that we are accepted because we come as your children. We come because Jesus Christ is our Savior, He is our high priest. We come because you have told us to come. We have come with requests because you have promised to hear and to answer. So we come and thank you for the Savior you have given, thank you for your great power that some day will bring to an end the conflict of the kingdoms of this earth and bring all into subjection to the kingdom of your Son. We give you praise. In Christ's name, amen.