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| Sermon #106 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, MAT 6:9. The previous message on the Sermon on the Mount dealt with the word "Our" endeavoring to show what it encompassed. There is such a richness in that word. In this message, with the help of the Lord, we endeavor to unfold the meaning of, "Our Father." This phrase, "Our Father," also has tremendous riches. Our text deals with the manner of prayer. Jesus teaches us, "After this manner therefore pray ye." We read in LUK 11:2 where Jesus says, "...When ye pray, say, Our Father..." This Scripture tells us that we could use the Lord's Prayer as a form prayer, and rightly so. He says, "When ye pray, say, Our Father...." However, in the text which we are studying, He says, "After this manner therefore pray ye." Jesus is teaching us the manner, the sequence, of prayer. Our hearts must come in the right posture. We learned that from the word "Our." As I have previously pointed out, our manner of prayer deals with the posture of the heart as the first consideration. The Lord Jesus deals with the posture of the heart towards our fellow man in MAT 5:17-48. The teachings of Jesus keep accumulating in the Sermon on the Mount. These verses teach the righteousness that must excel; we cannot come before the Lord with a heart of hypocrisy as the scribes and Pharisees did and have our prayers heard in heaven. Our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus also taught self-sacrificial love. We see the end result of self-sacrificial love, i.e., the conformity to the image of Christ. We see that when the Lord Jesus says, "Our Father," He is speaking of Himself as One with His body, the church. He is coming down so low; He is showing how we are being conformed to Him. We come to God, the Father, in harmony, as a oneness with Jesus. He is One with His body, the church. The self-sacrificial love of Christ must be revealed in our hearts. It must also be revealed in a spirit of forgiveness and in our conduct toward our neighbour. This is the preparatory position of the heart that Jesus taught to bring us into the proper posture for prayer. Matthew 5 deals with the posture of the heart towards man. Matthew 6 deals with the posture of the heart toward God in our Godly attitude towards our neighbour. Our attitude towards our neighbour is measured by the posture of our hearts before the Lord. Let's take notice; we see this in MAT 6:1-4, "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men [This is teaching the proper posture of the heart], to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets [We do not do the acts of mercy, as spoken of in MAT 5, to be seen by men. The Lord looks at the posture of the heart between Him and us.], that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. [The praise of men is their reward; they will not receive one from the Lord.] But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." Verses 7-8 continue, "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." Now He comes to the point in V:9; He says, "After this manner therefore pray ye..." He is saying that in this manner, i.e., we should pray, with this posture of heart towards our fellow man and between us and the Lord. MAT 6:5-8 deals with the need for a Godly attitude in prayer. This teaches us the need of heart preparation that our prayers might be effective. Jesus says, "After this manner therefore pray ye..." FOR OUR FIRST POINT , let's consider how this manner of prayer teaches a childlike relationship with God.FOR OUR SECOND POINT , let's consider how this manner of prayer teaches a family relationship with Christ, the Father, and the church.FOR OUR THIRD POINT , let's consider the importance of praying together.
FIRST, let's consider how this manner of prayer teaches a childlike relationship with God. When the Lord Jesus Christ teaches us how to pray, He does so by saying, "Our Father." As we address God as our Father, we come to Him in a childlike simplicity, it places us in a childlike position, and a childlike relationship. God's Word repeatedly uses the relationship between a natural father and his son to illustrate His relationship with His people. This is such a condescension of the Lord; the Lord comes so low that He will use illustrations we can understand to teach us His relationship with us as a little child. In PRO 3:12 we read, "For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." You see, the relationship between God, the Father, and His church runs parallel throughout Scripture with the relationship between a man and his son to teach us that intimacy, that Father-Son relationship He has with His church. The Lord Jesus gives such precious and intimate illustrations. When He speaks to shepherds, He uses sheep to illustrate what He is saying. He brings His illustrations down to a level that you and I can understand. Now the relationship between God, the Father, and His people is likened to a parental relationship,such as between us and our children so we will understand the loving pangs of a father; there is a family relationship. The Lord Jesus is teaching this when He teaches us to say, "Our Father." We must come before the Father understanding the fatherly pangs of love that He has for His children. This Father-Son relationship points to submission as well as honour. When we come before the Lord, calling Him "Our Father," we reverence and show Him the honour and submission that a son should show to his father. He says, "For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth," PRO 3:12. He wants us to come before Him as a child in submission to Him as a Father. So we must demonstrate a spirit of submission when we look to Him as our Father. In calling God, "Our Father," we honour Him as a son should honour his father. EXO 20:12 says, "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." It is this family relationship that is being taught when we come before the Lord. When we can come before Him as "Our Father," we come honouring Him and demonstrating our submission to Him as "Our Father." This honour is what God was claiming in MAL 1:6. Stop and ponder this to see how the Lord condescends so low, how He pleads with us in His Word. "A son honoureth his father [Do you see how the Lord pleads for His honour in a family relationship?], and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?" MAL 1:6. Wherein do you and I despise the name of the Lord? We do show disrespect if we do not honour Him as a Father. The Lord is pleading with you and me saying, "if then I be a father, where is mine honour?" God is coming so low; He is pleading with you and me. This is what the Lord Jesus teaches us in the perfect prayer by saying, "Our Father." He comes to show us that we must come before His Father and our Father, honouring Him as a Father. In PRO 13:24 we read, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." Our heavenly Father demonstrates His love to His children as we see in PRO 3:12, "For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." PRO 13:15 says, "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." When we come before God as "Our Father," we are coming in a spirit of submission; we see His chastening hand as a token of His tender, Fatherly love. If we honour Him as a son should honour his father, we recognize that a father who loves his son will use correction. When we come to our heavenly Father, honouring Him as a Father that loves us, we cannot come to Him murmuring; we cannot come before Him with dissatisfaction, but we must come before Him with the Spirit of Christ in total submission to His will. That is the family relationship we refer to when we say, "Our Father." The Lord uses this Father-son relationship to demonstrate His love for His dear children. "If then I be a father, where is mine honour?" The Lord loves His children; He will teach them to honour Him. How does He do it? "Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him." The Lord comes with His rod of correction; that is the Father-son relationship that we recognize when we say, "Our Father." We recognize the chastening hand as a Fatherly stroke of love in the family relationship. Follow this in DEU 8:5. "Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee." We must consider in our heart that when the Lord puts His finger upon us, He is telling us that we are in a wayward condition. We are not honouring Him as a Father. When the Lord Jesus says, "After this manner therefore pray ye," The Lord teaches in our text that our heart must be in a submissive spirit to be in the right posture before we can truly come to Him and say, "Our Father." We see His chastening as a chastening of love because as a father chastens his son, so the Lord chastens us. When we come to Him and say, "Our Father," we are bowing in honour to His Fatherly correction and love. God's Word says in PSA 89:32-33, "Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." The Lord is showing us His faithfulness when He chastens us. If a man spare his rod, he hates his son. If the Lord would spare the rod, He would be showing hatred to us, but He says His faithfulness will not fail. Isn't that precious? Are we able to come in a childlike spirit before the Lord and accept that the Lord puts His finger upon us in faithfulness to us? Are we that faithful to our children? Sometimes we come so far short in our faithfulness to our children. Have we truly been faithful to our children? The "rod of correction" is the means, not necessarily a rod, that disciplines and corrects a child. Have we truly used the "rod of correction" when they were young, when they were one, two or three years old? The foundation of their character is being laid during their early years. Childhood is when rebellion is broken; foolishness that is bound up in the heart of a child is driven out with the "rod of correction," PRO 13:15, while they are yet children. The older children get, the harder it is to successfully apply the "rod of correction." When my children are 35 to 40 years old is a very poor time to start using the "rod of correction." Their characters are molded; they were molded when they were little. The Lord says He is faithful to His children! "Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." When we come before the Lord and say, "Our Father," it shows that spirit of submission and a spirit of acceptance of Fatherly love that He brings upon us; it shows that we come to Him as our Father, honouring Him as a Father. When we come before the Lord to ask any petition of Him, we must remember His exhortation which speaks to us as His dear children. You see, when we come before Him to ask a petition,if we come to Him in rebellion, we will never receive our petition. HEB 12:5-7 says, "And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" The Lord does not forget His faithfulness. When we come before Him saying, "Our Father," we are asking and pleading the faithfulness of a father; we are asking that He will not leave us to destroy ourselves in our own foolishness. Sometimes it is hard to come before the Lord and ask the Lord to open our eyes to see our foolishness. He says that He will remain faithful; He will not leave us to destroy ourselves, but He often comes with His chastening hand. God's faithfulness is revealed in PRO 13:24, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." When does a parent chasten a son? The time to rebuke him is when he is walking in rebellion. We must understand that when we see the Lord putting His finger upon us, we should come fleeing to Him, crying, "Oh, Father, show me where I am walking in rebellion. Open my eyes to see my foolishness and turn me, turn my heart, and bring me into submission to thy will." As David said in PSA 119:176, "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments." The Lord does not chasten just because we are children. I once heard a man say that he was going through tremendous chastening from the Lord. He said, "I believe the Lord showed me that it was for no reason in particular; the Lord is just chastening me like a father does his child." Stop and analyze this idea. If you have raised a family, did you line up your children and chasten them all just because they were children? PRO 13:24, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." When I raised my eight children, I never chastened them just because they were children; I never used the "rod of correction" on a child if it wasn't for some disobedience or some attitude that was wrong which could develop into a bad character. There had to be a purpose for any chastening. The Lord does not just chasten; He "chasteneth betimes," but it is never without a cause! He chastens when there is a rebellion or there is an area of sin in our lives which displeases Him, but the Lord will never chasten just to be chastening. We are chastened because we walk contrary to His will. The Lord wants repentance! He wants us to come before Him as "Our Father," demonstrating a spirit of submission to His will. Watch what we see in REV 3:19, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten [Now see what is to be accomplished by this chastening!]: be zealous therefore, and repent." Why does He chastise us? He wants to bring repentance, a change of attitude, submission, and remorse over sin. The Lord does not chasten to fill us with a slavish fear of hell; He chastens to break rebellion, to dissolve our will in His will. Then we will desire to do what is pleasing to the Lord; desiring His nearness and love. LUK 6:46 tells us, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" How can you and I come before the Lord and say, "Our Father," and still walk in a known sin? When we address God as our Father, we confess to understand His Fatherly hand is bringing us into subjection to His will. We are pleading a Father-son relationship. PRO 3:11 says, "My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction." Christ speaks of a blessed relationship in MAT 18:2-4; He shows us what constitutes a proper posture of heart to come before Him in prayer. "And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." At what point is Jesus saying this? He is talking to His disciples, not the world. When the disciples of Jesus Christ were striving over who would be the greatest, the Lord Jesus reproved them saying, "Except ye be converted," i.e., unless you change that attitude, unless you have a change of mind and heart, and unless you stop striving to see how great you can be, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven; you cannot enter into the service of the Lord without that childlike relationship that a son has with his father. Until we receive a childlike spirit, we cannot come before God and say, "Our Father." It is mockery if we come to God as our Father with our heart filled with rebellion. V:4 continues, "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." You see, when our hearts are in the right posture, when our hearts come into that childlike relationship with God as our Father, then we shall understand what Jesus meant. Those who will humble themselves as a little child will come with a childlike spirit. The Psalmist understood what it was to cry unto his heavenly Father as a little child. It is so precious to see the childlike spirit demonstrated in the Book of Psalms. PSA 131:2 says, "Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother [See the childlike dependence in a parental relationship]: my soul is even as a weaned child." I have seen this with livestock. I have seen calves cry for their mothers when they are weaned, and the mothers cry for their babies. We know how it is when little children are weaned. They cry, they are not satisfied, they have a longing desire for their mother's breast. "Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child." David came before his heavenly Father with a hungering desire after Him as a Father to be fed with the Word. That is the family relationship that we must learn to understand. This relationship is what Peter referred to when he said in 1PE 2:2, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." When we have that childlike spirit, when we come before God with a childlike frame of mind and a spirit of submission, we have a desire as a newborn babe. There is only one way newborn babies can express their hunger, that is when they cry for milk. Our souls will cry unto the Lord for spiritual food in a like manner. We see the result of God's tender, Fatherly love in ISA 26:16, "LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them." When the Lord sees us destroying ourselves, when He sees our heart become lukewarm, when He sees us going out in sin, He is faithful to us. His faithfulness does not fail. He comes with His chastening hand and His Fatherly love. They poured out a prayer when His chastening was upon them; that is what Isaiah is speaking about in this verse. He is talking about the heavenly relationship between a child and his father. Our heavenly Father brings His dear children into subjection so they will enjoy the peaceable fruits of righteousness. These peaceable fruits of righteousness are the greatest blessings we can have on this earth. What are they? HEB 12:11 says, "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous [My children cried when they were chastened, that's not joyous!]: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." How often we see these peaceable fruits when a child has been chastened. One day I saw one of my grandchildren chastened. Afterward she came to her father, climbed up on his lap, and put her arms around him asking him to forgive her; she was pleading with him saying, "Daddy, I want love." That is the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Rebellion is broken and the heart is brought into total submission; that father-son relationship is so precious. Nothing is more precious than when a child comes and says, "I want love," and starts confessing her wrongs and admitting that she was wicked. Then she asked for love, for a kiss, and an embrace. These are the peaceable fruits that come from chastening. The Lord is faithful. When we can come before the Lord saying, "Our Father," we are claiming that relationship between us and God. Our Lord can have no fellowship with rebellion. When we pray after this manner, "Our Father," we confess a childlike submission to His will. Hear what Jesus said in LUK 22:42, "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." See the Spirit of Christ in that childlike relationship with His Father. See the spirit of submission, "nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." Jesus is not dictating to His Father to do this or this or this. When we come in prayer, we must come, "Saying, Father, if thou be willing," i.e., if it is Thy will. Jesus Christ demonstrated such a humble, childlike spirit as a pattern for us.
FOR OUR SECOND POINT, let's consider how this manner of prayer teaches a family relationship with Christ, the Father, and the church. Notice how "Our Father" shows a harmony and a total oneness between God, the Father, the Son, and His church as one family. God is a common Father to all mankind by creation as we see in MAL 2:10, "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?" In a creation relationship, we have God as a common Father because He is the Father of all mankind. We find the same thing in ACT 17:28, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring." So in creation, God is a common Father to all mankind. God, the Father, is a Father to all the saints in a special manner, by adoption and regeneration. I want you to understand the family relationship between Christ and His church. Christ is a natural born Son, conceived by the Holy Ghost, but Christ's church are children by adoption. As sons of Adam we are sons of a fallen race; by adoption we are brought into that spiritual, heavenly family by regeneration. See this in EPH 1:5, "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." We become the sons of God by adoption. In the Lord Jesus Christ, through His blessed atonement, it is in that purification of the washing away of our sins by the blood of Christ that we are brought into the family by adoption. He becomes our brother through sanctification as we see from HEB 2:11, "For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." Jesus becomes a brother in this family relationship. Now when the Lord Jesus says, "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father..." we must see that He includes Himself in a family tie between us and Himself, and between us and the Father because we are now a brother to Christ by adoption. Now we become sons. Even in the laws of our land, if you legally adopt a child, that child has every right of a natural born child and many more. You can disinherit a natural born child, but you cannot disinherit an adopted child. When you adopt a child, that child becomes a part of your family; our adoption into the family of God is effected by the blood of Christ. In GAL 4:6 we read, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." We are sons by adoption. We have been adopted into God's family through the work of regeneration, by the blood of Christ. We are brought into a spiritual family. In our text Jesus placed Himself in a family relationship with His church when He said, "Our Father." That is a tremendous relationship. We are walking on holy ground when we talk about it. When we can say, "Our Father," we are speaking of a family relationship between Christ, the Father, and the church. This relationship is a family oneness; it is "Our Father." In His prayers, Christ addressed God as His Father; now He is teaching us to say, "Our Father." In JOH 17:1 we read, "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee." We see this again in JOH 17:5, "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." He speaks to God as His Father because He is a natural born son; He was conceived by the Holy Ghost. When you and I come to say, "Our Father," we are claiming the adoption of sons, claiming to be a part of the spiritual family; we become one in Christ, one in that spiritual family. Oh, beloved, what a paradox it was when Jesus said in JOH 17:25, "O righteous Father..." On the one hand Jesus looked at the righteousness of God and His just demands under the law; on the other hand He saw that tender, Fatherly love of which I have been speaking. How could these two characteristics come together? The righteous demands of the law stood between them. Jesus' eye was on the fulfilling of what the psalmist said in PSA 85:10, "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." Where did mercy and truth meet together? They met together on the cross at Calvary, they met together in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Mercy and truth met together. Truth could not fall to the ground; "God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die," GEN 3:3b. Death must come upon sin. He died unto sin, and that is where truth and mercy met together. "Righteousness and peace have kissed each other." The righteous demands of the law and peace to us as sinners have kissed each other. That is where the adoption by Jesus Christ was purchased. We look to our heavenly Father to spare us as we see in MAL 3:17, "And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." Do you see that Father-Son relationship again? "I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son..." When He comes to make up His jewels in that day of Judgment, when the elements shall burn with fervent heat, when the earth shall be rolled up as a scroll, then He will spare. How? "And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." If we are to be spared, we will come to serve the Lord. Those who will enter the kingdom of service unto the Lord must do so in this life because it is those who have served the Lord that will be spared. We look to our heavenly Father in our weakness and infirmities. When we see our infirmities and how short we come, then we have to come to Him in the atonement of Christ. Have you ever had a child pleading for you to forgive him? I have many times. Those fatherly chords of love start vibrating; then we have compassion on the child. We see this in PSA 103:13-14, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." Who are those who fear Him? They are those who reverence His will. We see how far we come short, but we have a holy, reverent desire to do what is pleasing to the Lord. "For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." When we have to come before the Lord in our weakness and infirmities, when we have to plead forgiveness in the blood of Christ, then those Fatherly chords of love begin to vibrate. Why? He remembers that we are dust; He knows our frame. Isn't that precious? The Father has such tender love that He pities His children. We must come unto our heavenly Father with boldness, knowing He will not deny us anything that is good for us. We must not be afraid and tremble when we come before our heavenly Father saying, "Our Father." We must come to Him as a son that loves His Father and knows his Father loves him. Because of the intimate relationship between Christ and His church, we can come with boldness before "Our Father's" throne. HEB 4:15-16 says, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." As a member of a family we can come with a boldness that is not appropriate for someone outside the family. LUK 11:11-13 says, "If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Isn't it beautiful how the Lord Jesus uses that relationship of a father with his son to illustrate the condescension of the Lord, to illustrate those Fatherly chords of love? We must come to Him with boldness as to a father, and we must be able to come to Him saying, "Our Father," when our heart is in the right posture. We must come to Him asking for the Holy Spirit, that Spirit of Christ. Will He not grant it? See, "how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" When we come repenting of our sins, our chief desire is to come into the service of God even as the prodigal son's desire was to return into his father's service. We must look unto the Lord as a Father with our eyes lifted unto Him like the prodigal son said in LUK 15:18-21. When we come before the Lord it is very appropriate that we ponder and meditate what we must say unto the Lord. We need true repentance; we must not come and just rattle words, but we need to come with substance from the heart. Luke 15:18-21 "I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. [He is showing he doesn't deserve to be called a son; he forfeited that right, but he has a heart's desire to come into his father's service. That is what you and I have to do.] And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." The Lord brought His chastening hand and brought the son into want. The son would have fed on the husks that the swine had left, but he came to himself. Now that was the father's love! The Lord was faithful to the prodigal son and sent His chastening hand to bring him home. See the fatherly love when we come to true repentance. Such repentance will build the relationship between us and the Lord. The Lord will see our turning and repenting heart, that change of mind, if we are no longer running after the things of this world, and we have a heart that is crying for the sincere milk of the Word. Then He comes running to kiss and embrace the son while he is still a great way off, before he ever gets there. The father embraced him before he even had a chance to say what he was going to say. While he was yet speaking, the Lord blessed. After the father had kissed his son, then the son said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." When the heart has resolved to turn unto Him as the Father, the Father has already turned with His love before we even have a chance to recite our confession of sin before the Lord, before we have even had a chance to plead His promises. While we are yet speaking, He has answered; He knows what we stand in need of before we ask. However, He is looking for the posture of the heart that is willing to serve Him. Jesus gave this parable to lift our eyes by faith to see our heavenly Father's love for His dear children in LUK 15:22-24, "But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe [the robe of Christ's righteousness. When our hearts begin to melt, coming into subjection to the will of God, and we come with true repentance, the Father has already said, `Bring forth the best robe'], and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand [the emblem of His eternal love], and shoes on his feet [Let's not forget this one! i.e., give us a different walk of life]: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry." The Lord comes with all these blessings when our heart is turned to Him, when we can truly come before Him and say, "Our Father." When our hearts truly come into submission to Him in that childlike spirit, then He comes and puts on us that best robe and takes away all our sin. He puts on us the ring which is a token of eternal love, and He puts shoes on our feet so we no longer will walk in the ways of sin. Finally, He calls for "the fatted calf," to kill it; to eat, and be merry. There is such joy in heaven over one sinner that repents for he was lost and is found. When we come pleading for mercy, we do not come to Mount Sinai, but to a reconciled Father. So many people preach a gospel of Mount Sinai, and that is so terrible. They use the whip of hell and damnation to scare people into serving the Lord—a legalistic view. We are not coming to Mount Sinai. HEB 12:22-24 says, "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." We come to a tender-hearted, loving Father, but we must come in submission. We can't come with rebellion in our heart because He will not own us as His son until He uses His chastening hand to drive the foolishness out of our hearts. In JER 3:4 we read, "Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth?" When the Lord comes in the soul, then we cry out, "My Father." Many times we forget the duties of a son, but God never forgets the mercy of a Father. The prodigal son went into a far country; he wasted all his sustenance with riotous living. He forgot the duties of a son, but his father never forgot mercy. "Our Father" never forgets mercy; we might forget our duties to Him; we might wander away in riotous living, but when He brings us back in repentance with His chastening hand, He is still faithful to our soul; He never forgets the duties and mercies of the Father. Jesus, the Son of God, though He had no sin, learned obedience as we read in HEB 5:8, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered."
FOR OUR THIRD POINT, let's consider the importance of praying together. "Our Father" teaches us the importance of praying together. In MAT 18:19-20 we read, "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." "That if two of you..." also teaches us to join together in prayer. You could say, "Well, I'm alone and praying, maybe that is just as good as if you and I came together and had a prayer meeting." I don't agree with you. No, that is not the Word of God. "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For [I want you to notice that connecting word, for. ] where two or three are gathered together [That doesn't mean you can be here and I can be fifty miles away. `where two or three are gathered together'] in my name, there am I in the midst of them." The Lord wants us to come together for prayer so that when we come together and lay our hearts open before the Lord, saying "Our Father," we do it in harmony and a oneness of spirit. Two or three gathered together in His Name is what the Lord wants us to do. When we come to say "Our Father," He doesn't want us to be scattered like sheep upon the mountain; He wants us to be brought together. "Our Father" teaches us to pray for each other. In GEN 20:17-18 we read, "So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife." We see how the Lord is teaching us that we must pray for each other. May the Lord give a spirit of prayer to pray for those who do not know how to pray. "Our Father," teaches us how we are to pray together. Let's see what is a proper way of coming together for prayer. This is very important; the Lord wants us to walk in His way for Him to come down to bless us. We must do it in submission to His ordained way. Look at JAM 5:16-20, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." We must come together, wash each other's feet, i.e., to help each other identify areas in our lives that need to be corrected. Confess your faults; we may not sit in a defensive posture to justify the sin we are walking in. We must pray one for another that we may be healed. JAM 5:17-20 continues, "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." The Lord wants harmony and oneness in this family in a childlike spirit. That oneness of spirit must be demonstrated by walking together in a oneness of purpose as one body. As we come before our heavenly Father, we must come unto His mercy seat. HOS 5:15 says, "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early." Let's look at this verse again, closely. The Lord goes out with His chastening hand; when He puts His finger upon us, He says, "I will go and return to my place..." That place is the mercy seat, and He will wait that He might be gracious; he will wait until He hears the cry, "till they acknowledge their offense." The prodigal son acknowledged his sin, he said, "I will go unto my father and say unto him, Father I have sinned." See his willingness to confess his sin, but his father met him while he was yet a long way off. The son's heart was in the right posture. The Lord is looking for that posture of heart in you and me; it isn't that we merit anything by praying. When the heart is in the right posture, and there is a repenting spirit, a turning from sin, a turning unto the Lord; then it is pleasing unto Him. The Lord says when "...they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early." As we come before our heavenly Father, we must come unto His mercy seat. He says, "I will go and return to my place," i.e., the mercy seat. The Lord is sitting on the mercy seat, and He will wait until we acknowledge our sins and seek His face. In our affliction we must seek Him early. Amen. |
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