EBG Preken

We pray together and for each other too
Matthew 6:9-13

An aspect of the Lord’s Prayer that I have not yet emphasized is its communal nature. Haddon Robinson says: “There is no ‘I’, ‘me’ or ‘mine’ in the Lord’s Prayer; it’s a prayer that is focused on community.” As you walk through this model prayer, you discover that the prayer requests that we tend to make for ourselves find their original intent in togetherness.
The “our” aspect
Returning to the warnings preceding the prayer, we are reminded that when you pray together it is not to be seen by others, nor is it to employ thoughtless words or phrases. We are ever focused on “Our Father”, who sees in private. Still, I find it remarkable that after encouraging His disciples to go into their prayer closet, that the model prayer is not focused on the individual, but on “us”. This praying together and for one another, then, finds its roots in closet praying. You ought not to pray before other people, if you have not first prayed in private.

The early Church understood this and gives us an important example to follow:
Acts 1:14 - After Jesus had ascended to heaven the 11 apostles gathered to pray. There were about 120 in all and they prayed for about ten days.
Acts 2:42 - After Peter's sermon at Pentecost, and the conversion of 3,000 people, “they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers."
Acts 6:6 - When the first deacons were chosen in the early church “they prayed and laid their hands upon them."
Acts 12:5, 12 - Herod was holding Peter in prison after killing James the Lord's brother. The response of the church was to get together to pray. The result was that an angel of the Lord released Peter.
Acts 20:36 - At his final departure from Asia, Paul met the elders of the Ephesian church and “he knelt down and prayed with them all."

The Church came together often for prayer.
Fighting individualism
So what is the significance of framing the example of prayer with plural personal pronouns? Well, one take-away is that Jesus wouldn’t commend our modern 21st century societal trend toward individualism. We have a “go it alone” and “I got this” attitude that leads us to focus on me. Fact is that this is a rebellion against God’s conclusion and decree in the garden that “it is not good for man to be alone.” Society at large tries to pretend to be in community through smartphones, online gaming, Whatsapp and social media… but they fail. Mankind is more alone today than ever before. We are so self-focused, we don’t truly connect with others. Being socially aware has been replaced by giving to ease your conscience… supporting hungry children in Africa… far, far away from my own circle of living.
The Bible does not present this… Jesus models a prayer that connects me with others - through praying together with them or praying for them.

Yeah but how? Okay… perhaps we don’t know how. So let’s get really practical.
Consider how we can pray the Lord’s Prayer for the people around us… think it through.

Our Father
Have you stopped and considered that Satan has effectively attacked this cornerstone of the family? So many of us have grown up with dysfunctional fathers, angry father, distant fathers and uninterested fathers that the fatherhood of God is a concept that might be foreign. Do you pray with others and lead them to the Father? Do you pray for others to be able to understand this foundational truth about God? He’s our Father!

Our Daily Bread
Have you prayed for other’s daily bread? That God would provide for others? Perhaps as you pray for another’s need, you discover God is tugging at your wallet. That you could be someone that God wants to use in providing for someone else’s daily bread.

Our Forgiveness
In marriage? Do you pray for the marriages represented in our Church? Forgiveness is central to a good marriage. And yet forgiveness is so hard when the person closest to you has hurt you.
Temptation

Lead Us not into temptation
Have you considered praying for the temptations others face? Think about the workplaces we walk into? We all have power-hungry bosses, annoying co-workers, long hours etc., etc. This makes us ripe for temptation. We all surf the same internet and need to be praying for each other.
Do you pray that God would lead us not into temptation?
And the list goes on… Have you prayed like that lately?

Let’s close with Paul’s prayer for the Colossian believers in chapter 1:9-14

Prayer is a strategic weapon

Matthew 6:13
Welcome to part two of the three petitions that flow from the exaltation of God the Father in Jesus’ model prayer. As I pointed out last week, hallowing God’s name, longing for His Kingdom to come, and asking for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, naturally lead to the three petitions that follow. This does not - in my opinion - necessitate a division in the prayer (addressing God and then getting to the point or worse: buttering God up in order to get what I need), but rather develops a natural progression as His fatherhood leads to the expression of our dependence on Him for our daily needs. His plan and will in Christ was my pardon and therefore I ask for His forgiveness. His will is my holiness, so therefore I ask for His direction in avoiding sin’s allurement. We confess our complete dependence on Him who knows what we need before we ask it (vs. 8) for today’s needs, yesterday’s guilt, and tomorrow’s dangers.

Before we continue
Before we continue with temptation, I want to re-address guilt, shame, and pardon. Many come from a background that has made guilt and shame an artform. You were taught very well the depth of your depravity and the wickedness in your heart and the sin it produces. Grace may or may not have been part of what you were taught, but it leaves you feeling less than pardoned. Let me explain that this is never as God intended it. God grants forgiveness in order that we would be pardoned from the canker of guilt and shame.
Let me diverge from our text this morning to prove my point.
> Hebrew 4:12-16 paints the picture without mincing words. We are filleted open before His eyes. Not a thought or even intent of heart is hidden from His eyes. Frightening? Perhaps. And yet this reality leads the author to invite us to boldly go before the throne of grace. Why? Because He already knows and has already forgiven all in and through Christ.
> Romans 5:1-5 Christ took away our shame and guilt. This is the truth about pardon, which is why Paul asks the question in Romans 6: should we continue in sin that grace may abound? That’s the risk of grace. He says… no way. And then in chapter 8 he makes the point crystal-clear: there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. What about the Great White throne judgment? That’s for unbelievers only.
> 1 John 2:1 even goes a step farther and explains that Christ is arguing our case in heaven.
Our shame for sin and subsequent guilt is intended to lead us to the cross where we see the payment for our sin and grants our access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ. Guilt is intended to move us towards Him - never to keep us from Him. And this makes way for the final petition: lead us.

His perspective on tomorrow: fleshly deliverance (6:13)
Christ third petition is for leading, which literally means to “carry in” and is the same word that is used in Luke’s account of the friends that bring the lame man on a stretcher and lower him into the house where Jesus is. Perhaps this is the clearest application of “Thy will be done”... in my struggle against my flesh I desire and petition God’s leading.
This begs the very important question “does God tempt us?” James’ answer is no (James 1:13-15) and performs an autopsy of sin. It comes from the lust in your heart, which is lured and enticed and when entertained incubates sin, which will kill you. Sin comes from your heart.
So if God doesn’t tempt us, why does Jesus teach us to pray like this?

The main petition is one of leading. The prepositions are perhaps the most helpful in understanding what is being asked. “In” describes movement in the direction of something. “From” generally describes a point of departure as in: moving away from something. If we leave out the second verb, perhaps this will help our understanding: Lead us not in the direction of temptation, but away from evil (“the evil” is better than “evil one”). Our natural bent is to walk right into temptation and the petition is that God would meet us in our need and change the direction of our step away from sin. And what does Jesus call this? We put the verb back: deliverance. He saves us from evil. Paul uses this exact same verb in his exclamation: Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

In 1 Corinthians 10:13-14 Paul places this petition in a different context and explains that every temptation is common to man and that God always has a way of escape. This is what Jesus is asking… Heavenly Father, lead me to find your way of escape.

More than a wishlist
Matthew 6:11-13

This second part of the Lord’s Prayer is generally explained as the “our needs” section of the prayer. Stating it this way evokes the idea that we’ve buttered God up with the right words at the beginning of our prayer - “Your Name, Your kingdom, Your will…” - and now we get to my stuff. That is a deficient way of considering Jesus’ model prayer for His disciples. One completely misses the point by making a division between verses 10 and 11… there is no subject change! Praying for daily bread, personal forgiveness and future temptation is the natural direction of “Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done.” Where does this need to take place? Exactly where verses 11-13 take us.

His perspective on… (11-13)
As we move into the three petitions Jesus makes, we need to first consider the perspectives that are offered. His first petition deals with the here and now… our daily bread. What we need today. The second petition deals with our past - forgiveness for tresspasses. The third petition - which we will look at next week - deals with our future. Not our distant future, but what comes next… leading us away from temptation.

His perspective on today: bodily provision (11)
This is wide term… far wider than ‘bread’ would lead us to believe. The term encompasses all of life’s basic needs. Some interpret it to include the roof over your head, good health, work and security. Jesus is petitioning for the basic human needs. A reference to God’s care of His people in the desert seems appropriate - he gave them manna, sources of water and shoes that didn’t wear out. We serve a God who takes care of the needs. You must not forget Jesus’ initial statement before this model prayer about God’s sovereign knowledge of what man requires.
This petition might sound strange in our ears, since we live in such wealth. Isn’t this a petition that poor people pray? That misses the point of where this petition takes us. This is not the cry of the starving, but the honest recognition of dependence.
Everything that we have comes from God (Gen. 1:29-31) and David acknowledges this in His kingly prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10ff.
Do you express your gratitude to God for all that He has provided for your daily survival and comfort? Do you consider that your job security, income, nourishment, shelter and health are all provided by the great King - your father?

J. I. Packer said: “The prayer of a Christian is not an attempt to force God’s hand, but it is a humble acknowledgement of helplessness and dependence.”

His perspective on my past: spiritual pardon (12)
The literal meaning of “to forgive” is “to let go of”. When an offense takes place a debt accrues. We owe another person. The judicial meaning then is to let go of my right to exact payment of the debt. In the case of God, His Son pays the debt and settles the account. His righteousness for my filthiness. This is a very personal grace, because our offense is personal - we are not held accountable for Adam’s sin… we have enough of our own!
We are all guilty. Romans 3:23 explains that we have all sinned… we have come short of God’s glory. Literally the word means “missed the mark”... and archery term to have missed the bullseye. Our arrows don’t even make it half-way down the field. The penalty is eternal death (Romans 6:23). The Ten commandments teach us how far we have crossed from the relationship boundaries… we have loved others more than Him, we have served lesser things and devoted too much time to them, we have failed to cherish the relationship with Him above all else. We have angered a jealous God and we understand we need a Savior. That’s what the law does… it brings us to our knees and points us to our need for a Savior.
Romans 5:8… God shows us His love in this: while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. That is mercy. That is grace. That is where our pardon for sin stems. And His sacrifice wipes our slate clean.
What is fascinating is that Jesus expresses this in the model prayer… this is never something that we should “get over”, nor is grace something that we will cease needing. The Christian still sins and continually comes back to the giver of grace and we petition Him to let our trespass go, knowing that He will. Why? He’s my dad.

The principle that follows the petition is not one of making God’s forgiveness dependent on me. Our feeble attempts to do right always fail… that would be bad theology. So what is this teaching us? This is grace leading to a changed life. When all of your tresspasses have been pardoned and your sins removed as far as the east is from the west (Psa. 103:12), you will extend that grace to others in your life. Forgiveness costs us something - we let go of our claim - and when we bear that cost we act like our dad… we follow in His footsteps.
Here’s the thing… holding on to unforgiveness and bitterness and closing your heart to others evidences that something isn’t right… which is the point. If you refuse to forgive - which isn’t the same as finding it hard to forgive - then God’s grace has not been evidenced in your heart (read verses 14-15). This leads to Jesus’ parable in chapter 18.
Lord Herbert said: “He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.”

When we pray “Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” we naturally find contentment in what God - the King, but also my dad - has provided for me and considers necessary for me. I petition Him for my daily needs, acknowledging my dependence on Him and gratitude for what He gives.
Thy will be done also takes care of our past, since He willed for Christ to bear our guilt, so we could be with Him forever - in His Kingdom, which I desire to come.

As God asked.
Matthew 6:9-10

But didn’t you already preach on this? Why yes. Yes, I did. I was struck - in preparing for this sermon - by the fact that there is far too much to be preached in this passage. So I decided to preach two sermons and in this second Sunday I would draw out an aspect that I did not cover two weeks ago.

Introduction - 500 years of Reformation
Protestant Churches everywhere are celebrating the event that kick-started the Reformation today. In January of 1517 Johann Tetzel was officially called to the ministry of selling indulgences for Pope Leo X. He traveled like a pedler through Germany and managed to empty people’s pockets. He who purchased an indulgence was ensured a partial or even complete forgiveness of their Ecclesiastical debt. The indulgence could also be purchased to shorten the length of the stay of a loved one in purgatory.
The reasoning was that Christ had accomplished and endless supply of good works and the saints had more good works than they needed to inherit salvation. These works of Christ and the Saints comprised the “treasury of excess good works”, which was owned by the Church and managed by the Pope. Therefore the pope can write an indulgence check to those who have a deficit of good works. Since 1343 this is still official Church doctrine.
Tetzel traveled with a big box and preached this doctrine with a diddy that went something like: When the coin dings, a soul from purgatory springs. The proceeds went to various Church building projects, but especially the Saint Peter’s basilica in Rome.
A story that is told from this time period is of a nobleman that approached and asked Tetzel if these indulgence checks were sold for sins not yet committed. Tetzel explained the affirmative, upon which the man purchased a check signed by the pope. Then he proceeded to mercilessly beat Johann Tetzel and when he was finished returned the indulgence letter and walked away forgiven.
Eventually Tetzel ended up in the area of Wittenberg. Parishioners that ended up in Martin Luther’s confessional showed little evidence of sorrow for their sins and appealed to their indulgence letter - purchased from Tetzel and signed by the pope. Their guilt had already been paid. Luther was appalled.
This led him to write 95 academic arguments against the sale of indulgences and on October 31, 1517 he nailed his complaint to the door of the castle-Church in Wittenberg. 500 years later the reverberations from Luther’s hammer can still be felt.
The Renaissance brought a change in thinking. People longed for the classical period: the politics and wealth of the great Roman era. Their mantra became: “back to the sources” in seeking to discover what the great thinkers of that era taught. This thinking eventually infiltrated into the thinking of theologians, who returned to the sources - Scripture in the original Greek and Hebrew. Many were becoming carefully critical of practices and teachings in the Roman Catholic Church. Luther was one of these monks.
The greatest heritage of the Reformation was a simple belief, that we adhere to and was well-voiced by Luther: sola Scriptura - the Scripture alone. The statement: “show me in the Bible” is a belief that we hold dear today.
In reading about Luther I came across a letter that he wrote to his barber in Wittenberg - a good friend. He had inquired who one ought to pray and Luther commented on the Lord’s prayer - I would like to share his insights this morning.

Luther was appalled by the mindless rehearsing of the Lord’s prayer without the slightest thinking of what is being prayed. He called it abuse and made the corollary between the first three commandments in Exodus 20 to the introduction of Jesus’ prayer.
Prayer brings us back to God’s beginning with us

The first command implied (9)
The first command to Israel is that they worship only Him. As we have learned in our Bible study on Wednesdaynight, the way in which the ten commandments are written and placed after Exodus 19 (read it - God is protecting His people like a father protects his children) teaches us that God is describing the parameters of a relationship more so than prescribing rules for salvation. God saved His people out of Egypt and then gives this saved people ten commandments. The first three set up the relationship. God longs for an exclusive relationship with His people. Much like a marriage ceremony, God asks to be exclusive in their lives. Love me above everything else - and let me be the only one.

The second command enacted (9a)
The second command regarded their worship, which was to be without icons or idols. They were to worship in spirit. There was no specification of locality in this worship. That was not important… it was to be in spirit - as Jesus explains to the Samaritan woman at the well. You worship without going somewhere or seeing anything. The Lord’s prayer is exactly that - to be done anywhere and at any time, by those to love Him.

The third command in action (9b)
The third command was relational as well: cherish my name. Make it holy in your thinking and speaking. Our relationship with God is not to be treated as trivial. We are not to approach or worship or think of God like the world with its take-it-or-leave-it mentality. Religion is something I do on Sunday… the rest of the week God is out of my mind. Asking the Father’s name to be hallowed is to re-align your heart with who God is and what He means to you. That’s why “Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done” follow from this heart-alignment.
This prayer brings us back to where God wants us to be… it it our delay in this busy world as we wait for God’s direction in life.

Luther said: “How shall God’s Name be hallowed among us? When what we believe and live is truly Christian.” Too often what we believe and live does not align.
Luther stood up to this blasé Christianity. Much like David he was moved by zeal for God’s Name. Grace was at stake with Tetzel. True repentance had been short-circuited. True forgiveness was no longer sought after. And Luther brought us back to Scripture.
Do we have such a zeal?

Prayer, holiness and the God of Peace
1 Thessalonians 5:23-28

This is the last sermon in this series. I have mixed feelings. I have enjoyed preaching through this book and wish I wasn’t leaving it.
Paul draws his final encouragements and exhortations to a close in two magnificent verses (23-24) and then ends the letter where he started: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” Grace has been one important theme in this letter - a letter that he asks be read to all the brothers - and it is where Paul chooses to draw his readers’ attention at the end of this letter. He leaves us amazed at God.
How so? Well, last week’s sermon was heavily invested on my side of things… rejoice - at all times; pray - unceasingly; be grateful - in everything. Why? Because this is God’s will for you. Don’t extinguish the Spirit, don’t despise the prophesies, but test everything and keep what is good. And then the capstone: keep yourself from every form of evil. No tall order… and it seems to all be on me.
Perhaps I left you thinking that… holiness is something I need to accomplish. Not entirely, because now Paul offers a benediction in which he wishes two things from God: that He might make us holy and that we might be kept blameless at Christ’s return. And what He is asking for… that’s what we want to unpack this morning.

The God of Peace 23a
Literally Paul says here: “And may He - the God of peace - Himself…” What a personal God we serve. He involves Himself intimately in the affairs of man. God Himself will make us holy. He does not expect us to make strides in personal struggle and in keeping ourselves from. God does it Himself. But why the God of peace? There have been quite a few that ask this question… why does Paul address God as the God of peace in this context. Personal holiness is not often thought of in the context of peace.
Romans 5:1 gives us a reason perhaps. Through justification by our faith we have peace with God. Justification is a legal term that is akin to acquit. We have been declared righteous through our faith in Jesus Christ and because of this legal ruling we have peace with God. It is through this peace with God that He acts on our behalf, beginning a work in us that He will complete. A work that Paul calls sanctification. It is God’s will that we become holy - and because we are at peace with Him, He can work it in us in such a personal way.

Thorough sanctification 23b
“May God sanctify you through and through.” This pictures a completed sanctification. The word here is a strengthened form of ‘whole’. In some ways it is an exaggerated term - perhaps even hyperbole. Complete is already complete. Today we like to add the word “super” to everything to intensify the verb we are using. But compete is one of those words that already signifies completeness in its definition. And yet, here we have a intensified verb for complete. Really complete… super complete… sanctified super-complete. Paul is asked for a thorough sanctification.

Purpose-driven sanctification 23c
Then Paul introduces three aspects to humanity - spirit, soul, and body - that has spawned voluminous writing on the constitution of mankind. Does man consist of material and immaterial (body and spirit) or of three parts body, soul and spirit. Or is man - as the Jews view man - holistic (a living soul). To argue this misses the point entirely, since Paul is focused on the completeness of man, not to define man’s inner divisions. More dangerous, however, is the idea that man is a trinity, as God is a trinity (created in His image). This is not the case. A body without a spirit or soul is dead - it cannot live without the immaterial parts, which immediately argues against a trinity. Man is created in God’s image in that he was given personality (intellect, emotion and will) and that He is a moral being capable of choosing good or evil.
What Paul is explaining here is that man is completely - all the way through - kept. Paul may be - perhaps - arguing against Greek philosophical dualism. The Greek Philosophers believed that man was body and soul and that the body was evil (earthly) and the soul was divine. The human struggle, then, is to rid oneself of the body and ascend to the heavenly. This spawned the idea that it did not matter what a person did in the body, for it was evil.
When Paul is discussing the complete and thorough sanctification and discussing the preserving of man, he begins with the preservation of the spirit and then includes the two terms that Greek philosophers use: soul and body, to prove the eternal value of the body (look back at chapter 4). The point, however, is that man is completely and entirely preserved blameless.
This impressed the believers in Thessalonica is evidenced by the inscription on some ancient Christian graves in Thessalonica: amemptos… which means “blameless.” What an expression of confidence in the work of God.
Paul requests that the believer might be kept blameless at the Parousia of the Lord (emphasis is Paul’s) Jesus Christ. When He comes, may we be constantly guarded completely blameless.

The God of Faithfulness 24
And then Paul’s capstone: God called you… He is faithful to do it. It echoes Philippians 1:6 - He who began a good work in you will complete it. God is faithful to us to do it… we are commanded to do it… He is going to do it. Now that is an incredible liberty. God calls us to holiness, but He is the One that sanctifies. Live this way… but I’ll do it. This is the grace of God… to call us to something and yet do it Himself. Our’s is more a matter of getting out of the way of the work that God wants to do.

Pray and Greet 25-26
And then Paul asks that the believers will pray in such a way for them as well. No one is above this need and dependency on God. Greet one another… I’m just going to add this in closing… the only way you can greet one another - and ‘with a kiss’ is simply a cultural reference… it doesn’t mean we need to go around kissing each other - the only way you can greet one another is if you are meeting one another. You need to be in Church. The writer of Hebrews warns us: don’t make it a habit to be out of Church (10:25). You need the encouragement and you need the challenge… and you need the prayers of your believers. Be in Church. Stop skipping because it’s inconvenient or hard. The necessary things of life are always hard.

So…
Is holiness your wish?
How thoroughly do you want to be sanctified?
What is het goal of your sanctification?
Who is making you holy?

Day or Night people?
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

What you already know (1-2)
Paul appeals (as he did in chapter 1) to personal knowledge. They already know about certain things. He uses a few phrases that need explanation:
>Times and seasons
These are two terms - the first referring to measurable time like on a calendar or clock and the second referring to seasons or events by which time is marked - that are used in Scripture to refer to God’s final plans for Israel… the end-times events. The disciples ask about the end times in this manner. (Acts 1:7; 17:26)
>The Day of the Lord
This was used by the Old testament Prophets and denotes the day when God will intervene in history to vindicate His chosen people, destroy their enemies, and establish His kingdom. (Isaiah 13:9-11, Joel 2:28-32)
>Thief in the Night
This was an image that Christ used in describing the sudden nature of this judgment. (Matthew 24:42-43)

They didn’t need instruction, because they already knew the theology of what to expect.

What they don’t know (3)
Unbelievers are unaware of God’s plan and will be unprepared for His coming. It will be swift, sudden and vehement. Like a woman going into labor, it overcomes you and it will be excruciating. Judgment is certain.

What you need to know (4-10)
Paul contrasts the life of an unbeliever with that of a believer and challenges the believer to stop living like an unbeliever. Why? Look at verse 10. You are not destined to receive judgment. You are to be saved. So, put on the armor and stop living like you don’t know.