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| SERMON #110 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, MAT 6:9. The phrase, "Hallowed be thy name," is a petition for a right posture of heart before God. In PSA 113:1 we read, "Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD." This petition of "Hallowed be thy name" is far more important than we will ever comprehend until we take time to meditate on it and study it. We must understand that the praise and glory of God's name was the purpose of His creation. V:2-3 continue, "Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised." This is the fulfilling of the purpose of His creation; that should be the main and first petition of our prayer: "Hallowed be thy name." The setting aside, sanctifying, and the hallowing of the name of God should be the central theme of every petition we bring before the Lord; it should be the first objective of our prayer. We not only need to refrain from taking God's name in vain literally, i.e., by the letter of the law, but Christ teaches us the spirit of the law in the Lord's Prayer. It is the spirit of the first table of the law: Godliness, to love God above all. We should love Him in our heart, in our soul, and in our mind so our whole being becomes dissolved in the love we have for God. The blessed name of God is to be exalted unto the ends of the earth. We need to ask God to grant that we may sanctify His name by our conduct. When we pray, "Hallowed be thy name," we must include a petition to keep us from evil; that He will keep us from bringing a reproach upon His name by our conduct. In 1TI 6:1 we read, "Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed." Even in our service, our daily walk of life, serving our Master, we must serve with humility and we must come under the yoke. The Lord Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light," MAT 11:20-30. It is by our conduct and our walk of life that we are to glorify His Holy Name. Rebellion of the church against authority, as typified by the wife, causes God's name to be blasphemed. Anything we do that is a rebellion against the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ or the authority of His Word (this includes everything we do that causes His name to be blasphemed) is a rebellion against authority. TIT 2:3-5 tells of the woman, "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness [That is a type of the church; it is the duty the church has to their master, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to the authority of His Word.], not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." We do not realize how the misconduct of the church gives occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme. Those who profess Christianity and do not walk worthy of the Name bring much blasphemy upon the name of God. Our petition, as we come before the Lord, should be that He would guide our footsteps aright before Him, that He would guard our hearts, that He would guard our walk of life so we do not bring reproach upon His name. This is all part of the petition, "Hallowed be thy name." We need to ask God to guard the thoughts of our hearts and the words of our mouths concerning God and our neighbour. Look at what we read in PSA 141:2-4, "Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. [How can our prayer come before the Lord as incense except that it be with that holy, reverent, Godly fear? "Hallowed be thy name" must be the first, utmost petition of our heart.] Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties." Also, "Hallowed be thy name;" expresses a desire that our prayer may come up before Him as incense, and that the lifting up of our hands shall be as the evening sacrifice. It is a matter of being able to lift our hands up that He might keep them clean, that He might set a watch before the door of our mouth and keep us from sin so His name might not be blasphemed on our account. We must ask God to give us a holy reverence for His name in our hearts and thoughts as well as in words. It is not only necessary that we remember the Lord in words, and that we don't openly take His name in vain, but within the secret intents and thoughts of our hearts there must be that holy reverence for God, for the holiness of His name. This same principle comes through in PSA 113:3, "From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised." We are to bring forth praise and honor to His name by our walk of life; we are to do so in the thoughts and intents of our hearts. In MAT 5:16 we read, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." It is by our walk of life that we hallow the name of God; by our walk of life He is being praised. How? His name is praised by our good works; by our walking in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ, we hallow and glorify the name of God. Scripture says, "that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." The Lord looks at our hearts when we come before Him and say, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." We hallow God's name by remembering those who are in adversity. HEB 13:3 says, "Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body." We must see that the Lord is looking at our attitude towards our neighbour as well as our attitude towards Him. We must look at those in bonds as if we were in bonds with them. We must look upon their afflictions, and our hearts should grieve. Then we should strive to relieve the adversities of our fellow man. We hallow God's name by being patient in affliction and danger. When the Lord sends affliction upon us, we must understand what we read in 1CO 10:10, "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer." We must never murmur when the Lord brings difficulties in our lives. We must never murmur against the hand of the Lord, but we must come seeking His purpose. Every time He sends affliction, it is to bring our hearts into the right posture before Him. The Lord never sends an affliction if it isn't to bring our hearts more tender before Him and bring our hearts more in reverence of His name, to hallow His name. We are not to murmur. Now see what it says in V:11, "Now all these things happened unto them [the children of Israel] for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." All of the things we read about the Israelites, how they murmured against the Lord, and how the Lord was wroth with them, are written for our example, for our admonition, to teach us what is pleasing unto the Lord. Our heart is so peaceful when we hallow the name of the Lord. In ISA 26:3 we read, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." We must hallow the name of the Lord in our daily, ordinary conversation, in our regular business transactions, and in everything that proceeds out of our mouths. In COL 4:6 we read, "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." The Lord is telling us our speech must be seasoned with salt. Salt is a deterrent against decay. Our speech must be such that it becomes a deterrent against moral and spiritual decay. Our speech must always be with grace and seasoned with salt that we would know how to answer every man. This is speaking of hallowing the name of the Lord in our everyday speech and conversation. Every conversation that we hold with any man must be seasoned with salt; it must have the effect of being a deterrent against a flippant or vain atmosphere toward God. Let your communication be yea and nay. We are not to speak a lot of vain and empty words, but our conversation must be yea, yea, and nay, nay. Watch what the Lord Jesus teaches us in MAT 5:34- 37, "But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." We are not to confirm small, everyday things with an oath. So many by-words are being used in today's society; so many extra words are added to confirm what we say. "But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven..." You have probably heard people say, "For heaven's sake..." They are adding a little emphasis to what they are saying, but the Lord Jesus says we are not to swear by heaven or any of these things. Whatever is more than yea, yea or nay, nay is desecrating God's name; anything more than yes or no is not hallowing the name of God. To hallow God's name, we must live to public ends. We must understand that when we lay before the Lord the first petition of our prayer, the central theme of it must be for His glory. When we say, "Hallowed be thy name," we are asking Him to guard the footsteps of our life. Now we must hallow His name by living to public ends, i.e., that God's name might be sanctified before the world. The woman of Samaria went out to tell her fellow man; she didn't go out to talk only to the Christians, but she proclaimed her encounter with Jesus aloud before the city. We read in JOH 4:28- 29, "The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" She was living to a public end; she was living to the end that the public might glorify the name of God. It was for God's glory that she came out and said, "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did." She had to go and confess her sin to the world, and she had to confess He had told her all of the things she had ever done. She had had five husbands, and the man with whom she was living was not her husband. Now she must go out before the world and say, "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did." She came there to tell the world how transparent she was before God for God's name to be glorified; "is not this the Christ?" You see, we must live for public ends, and that is hallowing the name of God. We may not have a selfish motive wherein we seek our spiritual joy; we must sometimes sacrifice our spiritual joy to be a witness going forth to the Lord's glory and proclaiming His name. We also see another instance of how the Lord Jesus commanded us to live to public ends that we may not be selfish. In this case the man out of the tombs wanted to go with Jesus, but Jesus forbade him. Often we don't understand when He says to His disciples, as in MAT 16:24, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Here is a man who wanted to follow Him, walk with Him, go with Him, and Jesus forbade him. We need to understand that when Jesus healed that man of the tombs, and the swine went down violently into the sea, the people were so afraid that they begged Him to leave their coast. The Lord Jesus did not leave them without a witness. He did leave, but He told this man to stay there, go home to his friends and tell them of the great things the Lord had done for him; then the man departed. The incident is reported in MAR 5:18-20, "And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. [See now how he was living to public ends.] And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel." You see, he was hallowing the name of the Lord; he was showing forth the wonders of God. He was fulfilling the intent of the petition of which we are speaking: "Hallowed be thy name." He had to do this by sacrificing his own chief joy by staying there to be a witness for the Lord. To hallow God's name is to mourn when we bring reproach upon His name. We all fall short in so many ways, and we often have a tendency to bring reproach upon the name of God. Nathan told David in 2SA 12:14-16, "Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. [Why did the child die? David's conduct brought blasphemy to the name of the Lord.] And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth." See the sorrow this reproach upon God's name brought upon David. What does the word therefore mean? It was because he saw that the child was smitten for his reproach, for the reproach David had brought upon the Lord's name. That was so grievous to David; it was more grievous than losing his child. David, "therefore," besought God for the child. Why? God pronounced death upon the child because David had brought reproach and blasphemy upon His name. Now David wanted the Lord to show mercy and forgive the blasphemy he had brought upon God's name by sparing the child. That is the meaning of "David therefore besought God for the child." We must understand that our sin must cause our hearts to mourn, and grieve, and sorrow when we bring reproach upon the name of God by our conduct. The object of this petition, "Hallowed be thy name," which is the first petition of the Lord's prayer, is to sanctify the name of Jehovah. It is to set it apart as holy, to sanctify that name, to hallow that name. Throughout the Old Testament sanctifying and hallowing have one and the same meaning; it is to sanctify, set apart as sacred, the name of Jehovah. Jesus said in our text, "After this manner therefore pray ye." The hallowing of God's name must be the manner and purpose of our prayer. This is to be the motive and intent of our heart; our motive for receiving every petition we ask is for the honor and the hallowing of God's name, We must recognize how jealous the Lord is of His name when we pray, "Hallowed be thy name." In EZE 39:25 we read, "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name." It is for His name's sake that He will forgive Israel; it is for His name's sake that He would have mercy even though they had sinned against Him so many times. Sometimes when we come before the Lord, we must do like Joshua and Moses; we must say, "...and what wilt thou do unto thy great name?" JOS 7:9b. If the Lord would deal with us according to our sin, He would cast us away forever, but for His name's sake He will have mercy. That is what the Lord is saying here about Israel. He is so jealous of His name that for His name's sake, He would forgive Israel, and for His name's sake He would bring again the captivity of Jacob. Using God's name in an empty way is very displeasing to the Lord. Take notice of what we read in EXO 20:7, "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." That word vain means without meaning or substance, without some purpose, without spiritual reverence. If you read the Ten Commandments, you will see where it says, "Thou shalt not kill," and "Thou shalt not commit adultery," but there are no threats with them. Violations of these commandments are grievous violations against our neighbour, but taking God's name in vain is an affront against Him in person! Therefore, this is why the Lord has placed a threat upon violation of that command: "... for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." Any means that brings reproach upon His name is taking His name in vain. The Lord is so jealous of His name. God's name is hallowed by showing reverence for His commandments; showing reverence and honour, even for our natural father, is the one commandment with promise. See what we read in EPH 6:1-3, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. [It is out of reverence and honor for the Lord that we will obey. How?] Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." Look at the contrast between doing that which brings reproach upon the name of the Lord—He will not hold them guiltless—and showing reverence and honor to your father and mother (or to authority). Why? "That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." When it speaks of children obeying their parents, we are to also understand that the Lord Jesus Christ says in MAT 18:3, "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." In other words, you cannot serve the Lord if you do not become as a little child; that means to show honor unto our heavenly Father, to honour His Name! "Hallowed be thy name" is such a powerful prayer. There is so much contained in that first petition; it's the central theme of every petition—the hallowing of His name, "That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." To hallow is to set apart as sacred, or holy. In EXO 20:11 we read, "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." He sanctified it; He hallowed it. Stop and think about this for a moment. We are not seeing a new commandment in EXO 20:11. The Lord is reiterating what took place in eternity before the fall. From eternity, from before the fall, God has ordained that this day be hallowed. Why? It is to be set aside for the purpose of hallowing His name; no work or entertainment is to distract from serving the Lord on His day. The Sabbath is to be set apart for His honour and praise as we read in ISA 58:13-14, "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honour him [It is His holy day, He has hallowed and sanctified it.], not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it." We cannot pray to the Father, "Hallowed be thy name" if we do not hallow the day which He set apart to hallow His name. We must understand that when we desecrate the Sabbath day; we are bringing blasphemy upon the name of the Lord. It is His honor and His name that are connected to His day; He has so ordained before the fall. We must understand that the Sabbath was not instituted at Mount Sinai; the Sabbath was instituted as His day of rest and sanctified before the fall. EXO 20:11 says, "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." "Hallowed be thy name," is to show a reverent spirit in prayer. God's name is holy. LEV 22:2 teaches us, "Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, that they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD." All these hallowed things were set apart as sacred for the Lord and are to be held in reverence because God's Name is connected to them. See how Aaron and his sons were admonished "...and that they profane not my holy name in those things which they hallow unto me: I am the LORD." How much more we profane God's holy name if we profane His holy day which He has hallowed, which He has set apart as holy. Stop and think about this. We cannot make God's name more holy, but we can hallow it through a deepening sense of its holiness. We must hallow it, we can set it apart as holy; we can hold reverence for His name by keeping His day holy. We can hallow God's name by a meek, submissive spirit, under the discipline of our Father's correcting hand. When our heavenly Father comes with His chastening hand, we can show the hallowing of His name by a confession of subordination to God's superiority. In MAT 18:3-4 Jesus said unto them, "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. [You cannot enter into the service of the Lord until your heart is in a proper posture where you can hallow His name and look unto Him as holy—as a holy Father. You must come with childlike submission. You cannot serve the Lord with a heart of rebellion.] Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." In other words, the one who humbles himself, who hallows the name of the Lord, who becomes insignificant in his own sight before God becomes greatest in the sight of the Lord. They shall be the greatest in the kingdom of God, and they will come into the greatest service unto the Lord. "Hallowed be thy name," confesses that God alone is worthy of the honour bestowed upon Him. He will not share His honor with any man, being, or idol god. He will not share His glory. God's name is hallowed when His people are truly the salt of the earth. "The salt of the earth" means to be a deterrent to the decay we see in the world. The book published by Triangle Press, LITTLE DAISY AND THE SWEARING CLASS, tells how little Daisy faithfully reproved people who profaned the name of God. It tells how an Army General was so concerned and hurt because he had offended such a sweet, little girl. As he expressed his sorrow to her for offending her, this hurt her even more. When he asked her why, she asked, "Why should you be so concerned about offending a little child and not fear offending the God whose name you blaspheme? He hears you, and He is offended!" The book explains that beautifully. This little girl was being the "salt of the earth" by showing how terrible it is to offend God by profaning His name. MAT 5:13 says, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." When we can show others how offensive it is to the Lord when we profane His Holy Name, we are becoming the salt of the earth. The ultimate end of every prayer should be that God's name might be glorified. We must understand that the glory of His name is the purpose of His creation. The motive and purpose of whatever petition we lay before the Lord must be that in granting it, God's name will be glorified. The Lord's prayer really says, if I may paraphrase it a little, "Father, glorify Thy name in giving me my daily bread; Father, glorify Thy Name by pardoning all my sins." The purpose and motive for seeking a pardon for our sin may not be from a selfish motive seeking only to escape the consequences of sin. We see that we have brought reproach upon the name of the Lord by sinning; then our motive should not only be the pardon of our sin, but that we might be delivered from serving sin so we may glorify Him. We may then live to His honor, that He might give us a right spirit, that Spirit of Christ. The pardoning of our sin may not be petitioned on a selfish basis, but it must be petitioned that He might be glorified as being so merciful to such a wretch as me. Since all things flow from God, and through Him, all things must flow to Him and for His honour. Every benefit that we receive from the Lord, therefore, must flow back to Him and be used for the hallowing of His name. In His preparatory language for the Lord's prayer, Jesus warned of the leaven of the Pharisees in seeking their own honour. The Lord Jesus Christ, in preparing the ears, hearts, and minds of His hearers for the Lord's prayer, cautioned them against the prayer of the Pharisees that was for their own honor. In MAT 6:5 we read, "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward." You see, the Lord Jesus Christ was laying the preparatory work for the proper posture of the heart, for the hallowing of God's name. When we pray, the motive is not to be for our honor, but the motive must be for the hallowing of the name of God. Such hypocrites will not receive a reward from God; their reward comes from the people who see and hear them, and it will not be a blessing. Jesus' opposition to this leaven of the Pharisees is to make the hallowing of God's name the chief end of our prayer. All our petition must center in, and be regulated by the hallowing of God's name. Joshua was jealous for God's name when he prayed in JOS 7:9, "For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name?" The great name of Jehovah would be blasphemed by the heathens, and that was the central theme of Joshua's prayer. He was not primarily concerned that Israel would be destroyed, but "...what wilt thou do unto thy great name?" We must understand that any true prayer that is acceptable before the Lord must have the hallowing of His name as our central motive. We will pray, "Hallowed be thy name," when we understand what we read in DEU 28:58-59, "If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD..." then the LORD will send plagues instead of blessings. Why should we obey His holy Word? It is to show a holy reverence for the Law Giver! "...that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD." The central theme of every God- centered petition that we bring before the Lord must be to hallow His name. The psalmist hallowed God's holy name in PSA 99:3, "Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy." We understand this when our hearts are right before the Lord. When our hearts can come before the Lord and truly say, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name," we are really saying, "Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy." That Sun of righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall arise unto those who hallow His name. See what we read in MAL 4:2a, "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings." Isn't that exactly what we read in DEU 28:58? It is to those who fear His name, that have a holy reverence, who hallow His name, and who tremble at His name, not with a slavish fear, but with a holy awe that "...the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings." When Jesus reached the climax of His obedience unto death, even the death of the cross, even at that point, His chief concern and prayer was that His Father's name would be glorified. You must understand that the purpose of Christ coming down and condescending and becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, was for the glorification of the name of His Father. His chief concern and prayer was that His Father's name would be glorified. Take notice of what we read in JOH 12:27-28 where the Lord Jesus Christ had come into the Garden of Gethsemane, coming to lay down His life. He had pleaded that if it might be the Father's will, He might spare Him. Think of the paradox. The Son of God stood before the holy wrath of His Father upon sin. "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause [for the Father's glory] came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. [In the climax of His struggle with death Jesus' prayer was, `Glorify thy name.'] Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again," JOH 12:27-28. In the climax of His struggle with death, hell, the grave, and Satan with all the powers of hell, in such a time His first petition was, "Father, glorify thy name." Do we understand the significance of "Hallowed be thy name"? Do we have but a glimpse of the tremendous significance that Christ teaches us in the Lord's Prayer: "After this manner therefore pray ye"? Here we see the footsteps of our Saviour whom we are to follow; here He is in the pangs of death, and He says, "what shall I say?...Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." God's name will be hallowed in the hearts of those who have learned to know Him, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. If you understand what it is to know the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ whom He has sent, you will have a holy reverence for His name. Jesus said in His intercessory prayer in JOH 17:3-5, "And this is life eternal [What is life eternal?], that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. [Then He says in the very next breath,] I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. [He submitted to the will of the Father and finished the work given Him to do wherein He glorified the Father.] And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." Now Jesus comes pleading for His Father's glory. How? He had glorified the Father and finished the work that was given to Him to do. The Father was so glorified with how His Son finished the work He had given Him to do, that He answered this prayer and also glorified His Son for such obedience, for such a reverence and hallowing of His name. For the fact that the Son had so hallowed the name of God, the Father rewarded Him as we see in PHI 2:8-11, "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name [See how the Father answered that prayer]: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." When the Father spoke from heaven, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again," see how this was done the second time; it was in glorifying His Son! Again, the glory of the Father is the central theme of His answering the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus prayed, "And now, O Father, glorify thou me," it was yet for the Father's glory that He glorified the Son. He gave the Son such glory "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,..." This is what the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching you and me when He says, "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." The very act of glorifying the Son and granting His petition was for the glory of the Father. The Lord said by the pen of the psalmist such powerful words in PSA 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." This is what we must understand when we come before the Lord with any petition, regardless of what it is; the motive and the central theme of every petition is that the Lord might be glorified. "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." Our text says, "After this manner therefore pray ye [This manner is the substance of the prayer]: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." The objective of every prayer and desire of the heart must be that God's name should be hallowed. We read in PSA 113:3, "From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised." What does this really tell us? In other words, everything must begin and end with one motive: that God's name would be glorified. The Father's glory was the purpose of His creation, and that is the beginning of the prayer the Lord teaches you and me: "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." Amen. |
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