Matthew (Quality: Average, Incomplete)

[0:00] July 22nd, 1984, evening service, Mr. Walboys.

[0:22] Cheetahborough. In dependence upon the Lord, I ask you of careful attention to the chapter that we read, Matthew chapter 6, and the ninth verse.

[0:47] After this manner, therefore pray ye. I face a few remarks from the ninth verse that we follow in connection with it in the sixth chapter of Matthew.

[1:09] After this manner, therefore pray ye. This morning we considered those words in the 18th chapter of Matthew, when the Lord spake a parable under them with this thing, with this object in view, to set before them the lesson that men ought always to pray and not to pray.

[1:44] And here in this chapter we have more detailed guidance in how we should pray and for what we should pray.

[1:56] As we noticed this morning, the words were addressed to disciples, and so are these. So are these.

[2:08] This is part, of course, of the Sermon on the Mount. Seeing the multitude, he went up into a mountain. And when he was saved, his disciples came unto him.

[2:21] And he opened his mouth and taught them, the disciples saved. We come perhaps more especially to that aspect if we consider what it is to say our Father.

[2:39] Father. But in the earlier part of this chapter, we have commandments that we should not pray. Notice again the motives.

[2:53] How we are not to give our arms before men to be seen of. Is that obvious? Some things we can do, we cannot help.

[3:05] People know it. People know it. But we are not to do them with the object of being seen of men. The hypocrites there are the trumpet before.

[3:20] In these synagogues and in the streets. That, with that object, that they may have glory of men. I say unto you they have their reward.

[3:32] They have glory of men. God. But condemnation from God. When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites.

[3:47] When thou prayest, enter into thy closet. And when thou hast shut thy door. You see, we might as it were enter into a closet, into a secret place, but leave the door open, hoping that somebody will see us.

[4:06] And let us be proud of our humility. And let us be proud of our humility. Now, we can indeed fall into that trap. To be proud of our humility.

[4:18] We are to shut the door. And of course, especially does it refer to shutting the door of our minds. I know we cannot always remove distracting thoughts and noises that may be about us.

[4:36] But it is right, as we teach children to close their eyes, to hold their hands when they say their prayers, that we should remove distracting thoughts as far as we can.

[4:51] But further, one who is a member of our church, is said grace with a radio on.

[5:02] How can you say grace with a radio on. Is it shutting the door of our mind? When thou hast shut thy door, pray thy father which is in secret.

[5:21] Thy father which seeeth in secret shall reward thee all. When he pray, use not vain that.

[5:32] But how will this try as many a poor child of God? Those of us who have to speak so often in prayer before the people.

[5:44] How often we feel we ask for the same things. But there is no condemnation in that. Remember the Lord Jesus in the garden.

[5:57] When the Lord Jesus in the garden. When the Lord Jesus in the garden. When the Lord says a prayer saying the same words. We can be sure that we feel there was no vain repetition.

[6:10] Yet he said the same words. And we often feel in the same need. Ask for the same blessings. For condemnation is not on repetitions.

[6:26] But on vain repetitions. Thoughtless. Careless. Without fear. Moving to and fro like the door on his hinges.

[6:39] With no shame. We read in the Acts of the Apostles. Of those in Ephesus.

[6:50] Who cried for one hour. Great is Diana of the Ephesians. A vain repetition. Again in the second. The book of Kings concerning the prophets of faith.

[7:04] When Elijah told them to take one bullet. And he would take the other. And to call upon their God. And the God that answered by far.

[7:16] Let him be the God. And the priests of faith called upon their God. From morning to noon to night. Oh my.

[7:27] He is. And there was no sound. No answer to that. So called prayer. Use not vain repetitions.

[7:39] As the heathen knew. For they think that they shall be heard. For they must be. Be not ye therefore.

[7:51] Like unto them. For your father knoweth what things ye have need of. Before ye ask.

[8:07] We have to emphasize what we have need. I remind you in the last chapter of Philippians. We have this precious promise.

[8:19] My God shall supply all your need. Through his riches in glory. By Christ Jesus. You see how often we confuse our desires with our needs.

[8:38] And think that they are identical. When they are not. How often we have heard the word of God. Or come to his house.

[8:51] The thinking that we need comfort. But we have failed. We have received. Reproved. Rebeal. Exhortation.

[9:03] Why? Because that was what we needed. That was what we needed. And he supplies our need. As a wise father.

[9:17] Children like me. We would always want to feed as it were. At one case. But how bad it would be for the child's health. And how bad it would be for our spiritual health.

[9:30] To always have everything we deserve. Your father knows what things he have need of.

[9:42] Before he asks. Yet. As I concluded this morning. We are to pass. That he will give the Holy Spirit.

[9:55] Unto them that ask. Coming then to this ninth verse. And that which follows in connection with him.

[10:08] After this manner they are for. Because of those things written before. Therefore. I give.

[10:20] A few things then. Concerning this prayer. In general. Before we. Look at it in detail. It is the prayer.

[10:33] That is referred to. As the Lord's prayer. But. I often feel. That is a misnomer. He did not need to pray.

[10:44] Forgive us our debts. As we forgive our debts. He did not. For a need to pray. To be delivered from evil. It is the prayer.

[10:56] He taught his disciples to pray. Or after this man. His prayer. If we needed to. Pinpoint the prayer of the Lord's. Is that prayer in the garden.

[11:07] When he prayed. When he prayed. When he prayed for his father. Concerning that. Which laid before him. And then again.

[11:20] I want you to notice. That. In this prayer. There. Are three. Petitions. That do not ask.

[11:31] For anything. For the person. That is praying. The first three. Petitions. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth.

[11:43] As it is in heaven. Ask for things. That are for God's glory. Not. As yet. For the. Anything.

[11:54] For the person. That is praying. God's glory. Should be. First and foremost.

[12:05] In your prayers. And mine. And the good of his people. Should be second. And our. Sermons. And very. For the. And also.

[12:16] Grand. We might say. The two. Great. The commands. That the Lord.

[12:27] Spoke of. Have their spiritual. Significance. As well as their natural. Thou shalt love. The Lord. Thy God. With all thy strength. With all.

[12:37] Thy might. And him only. Shalt thou serve. And the second. Is like unto it. Thou shalt love. Thy neighbor. As thyself.

[12:48] Thy. So we should see. God's glory. Trust. In our prayers. Before we even.

[13:00] Ask anything. For ourselves. And then. Notice too. That throughout. This prayer. There is the hour.

[13:11] That the us. The we. Answer. a united prayer one for another. He said that later, if two or three of you would be together to ask anything in my name, it shall be done only.

[13:33] What about you then to unite in prayer with the Lord's people? Now the prayer commences thus, Our Father.

[13:51] I emphasise that it is a prayer after which his disciples are to pray, not the world. Would he teach the world to say Our Father?

[14:05] Can you and I take that claim upon our lips? Our Father. For think of the things which flow from.

[14:19] If he is our Father, then we are sons. If sons, then he is. Join heirs with Jesus Christ. If so we reside with him, we shall be glorified together.

[14:38] Our Father. Perhaps it is the prayer of the one here to be able to take rightly that claim upon their lips.

[14:51] As the dear Him writer said, My God, my Father, blissful name, O may I call thee mine, may I with sweet assurance name a portion so divine.

[15:14] How far. What love, what you, there is one to another in this expression.

[15:27] We cannot dwell now and thank the promise, but is it not so naturally that likeness of times between sons and fathers? I have said to me that when people have spoken on the telephone to one of my sons, they could not distinguish whether it was he or myself, there was a likeness.

[15:54] And so there should be spiritually the likeness between us and God the Father if we are the sons. We should not only speak like Him, we should walk like Him, and the many things that might be considered in this aspect.

[16:14] But we move on, our Father, which art in heaven? We are to remember that.

[16:29] In either Proverbs or Ecclesiastes, we read, He, God, is in heaven, and we are of an earth. Therefore, let our words be filled.

[16:42] We only have one long prayer in the Scripture, the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple, but for the most part, the prayers of the Lord's people could be shown.

[16:58] We mentioned one this morning, the prayer of Peter, Lord, save me. There are others, Lord, help me. Lord, others, hate for me.

[17:10] Help thou my unbelief. I say, when we are in an urgent, a distressing, dangerous condition, our prayers will not be a lot, but they will be real.

[17:27] He is in heaven. Even naturally, a person of His height, whether upon a mountain or a tree top, can see far more than those that are down in the valley.

[17:46] And so it is here, we should bear this in mind, especially when we pray, I will be done, that He can see far more than we can.

[17:59] I've often thought, and I mentioned this morning how we are surrounded with parables, I've often thought spiritually what a lesson there is for us in the Charles Cheeksaw puzzle.

[18:13] You see, we look at one piece, our piece, we say what a peculiar shape, as it were, my life is. when I look at it, there doesn't seem to be any pattern upon it.

[18:29] There doesn't seem to be anything recognisable upon it, to fit in with God's great order. But you see, He looks at the whole, the whole completed work of grace in the whole of the church through the centuries.

[18:48] and it would not be complete if our peace was missing. Our peace has to fit in. And when we look at the whole completed peace in heaven above, what a beauty there will be seen there, that we cannot see now, when we see by level upon earth.

[19:12] which are in heaven. Hallowed be thine only. The first prayer then, on this prayer, Hallowed be thine only.

[19:29] To be hallowed is to be treated with respect and with love and love. how grieving it is to hear God's name or the name of Christ taken in vain so common in our generation.

[19:50] At least it should be, is He so with you? How do you feel when you hear His name taken in vain?

[20:02] When you hear those words of Christ upon the cross, when He called my God, my God, why is they not forsaken?

[20:13] When they say those two words as an exclamation, let me say it will grieve you in proportion to your love.

[20:28] If it was your husband, your parent, your wife, your child that was spoken of knocking the door, you still say, don't speak about them like that I love.

[20:42] But if it was a politician or someone for whom you had little respect, it wouldn't concern you, would it? so it is concerning this, if you hear His name and take it in vain, it will grieve you in proportion to your love to God.

[21:04] And you will say, as it were, and then this will apply, of course, His spirit to your own heart, for we have to confess our sins, these things creep in our own hearts.

[21:18] Hallow be thy name, in thy heart, all, as well as in my house, and amongst those with whom I may have to do, Lord, thy dear name, made in love, honoured, and treated with respect.

[21:41] Hallow be thy name, thy kingdom come. How often we find the parables commence, the kingdom of heaven is like unto souls.

[22:01] Indeed, we have told those that were here this morning, who are speaking from one of them, later in this gospel, as we call it in Matthew, the parable of the tales.

[22:14] The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man, we sowed good seed in history. But as you know, it goes on to speak of the tales of us.

[22:26] What does the kingdom of heaven then refer to? Clearly, it does not refer to heaven, but there be no tales left. There be none in heaven above without any of any garment.

[22:41] Another parable to which the kingdom of heaven is like. There will be none cast out there. The kingdom of heaven is the gospel dispensation on earth where Christ reigns as king.

[23:02] Sad then it is that there are many who profess in life who have not honour been done, who prove to be tales. Thy kingdom come.

[23:17] Do you and I then pray for him to reign over us as king, to make us subjects to his will, obedient?

[23:34] Thy kingdom come. We know his kingdom will come, but we are to pray for it. Thy kingdom come.

[23:49] Thy will be done. in earth as it is in heaven. Now, many are our failings in this respect.

[24:08] The hymn writer puts it in a nutshell. Father, thy will be done in words we oft express when in our hearts we want our own and wish our sufferings less.

[24:30] When you and I say, thy will be done, the third prayer of this prayer, do we really mean or do we want our own?

[24:41] God, for the mercy when afflictions and tribulations are sanctified. When they come in our path, they are either sanctified and we bow under them, or they will leave us in a rebellious condition, which they will, except they be sanctified.

[25:05] I've often thought of that case of Aaron, who despite his failing in making that golden calf and many other failings, yet we feel persuaded he was a child of God.

[25:23] He had four sons, two of them offered strange fun, Nadab and Abihu and were slain before the Lord.

[25:34] Two of them were raised up as priests, Elysia and Elysia. And when those two sons were slain, Nadab and Abihu read, Aaron held his peace.

[25:52] Aaron held his peace. Her song it was too, and yet it was sanctified, as you can find, by reading that chapter.

[26:05] He was not left in a rebellious condition. How solemn were those words that Samuel spoke on to him saw?

[26:17] Rebellion is as the sin of wheat's crop, and stubbornness is as idolatry. God was left to a rebellious condition, and a self-righteous condition.

[26:44] man chapter 37, after his friends had spoken to him some seven or eight times each, I think you will find, and he had asked them each time, he said, no doubt, sarcastically of course he said it, no doubt, but ye are the people, and wisdom will die with you, for I am as wise as ye are, and so.

[27:09] And he continues, if I have done this, an evil thing, if I have not done that, but righteously, let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley.

[27:22] The words of Job are ended. So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

[27:35] And as you know, Elihu spoke, and then God spoke to him out of the world, and all of the world incestful. And then Job said, behold, I am tired.

[27:50] Behold, I am tired. No longer righteous now in his own eyes. And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he played for his three friends, when he was brought to say, I will be done, his captivity was turned.

[28:15] You see, the trial had done its work. In the book of Daniel, we find the three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast bound into the farm.

[28:32] And as you know, probably heard dead sick. But when they came out, they had lost nothing but their bonds. They were now able to walk.

[28:44] They were not able to walk before they were cast into the fire, but they could walk when they came out. do you and I know what it is to fall under his will and lose our conscience in the fire?

[29:01] when we are brought to say thy will be done, then we are, as it were, set at liberty. As comes to one's thought in passing, I have not observed it until recently in reading that portion of the word of God.

[29:23] I think you find it in Numbers 9 concerning that man who, or those men who desire to keep the Passover, and to what help of man, they would be fouled by the dead body of a man that they could not keep the Passover on that day.

[29:46] And Moses brought their place before the Lord and the Lord said, they were to keep the Passover in their case to be following up.

[29:58] how many as it were of the Lord's people desiring to keep his ordinances are held back as it were through feeling to be defiled by the dead body of a man.

[30:14] They are saying with the apostle Paul, though wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this day? But though he felt that dead body inside him as it were, he did not keep him back from keeping the Lord's word.

[30:34] He had already, when he wrote the epistle to the Romans, that followed the Lord in his ordinances, he had already in that connection said, die will be done.

[30:47] And feeling his indwelling sin. We are not to wait for our pension in this life. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

[31:07] In heaven there is no sin and therefore there is obedience. So we try to pray for obedience to be done and performed in earth.

[31:24] the Lord spoke a parable concerning a man that had two sons. He said to the first, go labour in my vineyard.

[31:37] And he said, I go son. But he went. He said to the next, go labour in my vineyard. And he said, I will not.

[31:48] But afterwards, he repented and did. which of them did the world of its heart. Not that we excuse him in his rudeness and his disobedient words, but afterwards he repented as it is in heaven.

[32:09] Give us this day our daily bread. The first bread now that asks for anything for those who are praying.

[32:27] And of course it has its application to our daily food, but we do not dwell upon that, but more especially consider it as it sets forth the bread of life, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.

[32:44] But he doesn't say give us this week or this year, but this day, this day. How sad if we only have a one day a week religion.

[33:02] Do you and I desire daily spiritual food? I said in another connection this morning that prayer Moses teach us to number our days, not our years, that we might apply our hearts under this.

[33:20] So we emphasize this day a daily portion for our son. Give us this day our daily bread.

[33:35] bread. The bread, that we cannot take upon it sets forth the Lord Jesus Christ. This is set forth in that ordinance of his son.

[33:50] He chose bread as a symbol of himself. Many things could have been chosen, but in the infinite wisdom of God's bread was to be the thing.

[34:04] We therefore should carefully consider what it sets forth. We cannot eat rain straight from the harvest field. It would do our bodies no good even if it were pure.

[34:19] So Christ coming into this world by setting a good example, walking uprightly in his days on earth was like pure grain in the harvest field.

[34:34] But for him to be made spiritual bread, as with the grain, it had to be crushed, crushed into flour.

[34:47] And the flour has to be heated in the fire to be made into bread. And so he was crushed under the weight of broken law, sweat away drops of blood in the heart.

[35:05] His holy soul heated in the fire that our sins deserved, and thus he became the living breath. And except he eat the flesh of the son of man, he had no life.

[35:23] Do you say evermore give us ministry? Do we feed upon him? Now, if we feed upon me, or indeed any other food, he becomes part of us.

[35:43] The food we eat enables our bodies to grow and gives us energy to walk and to live. we cannot say our fingers grew as a result of our breakfast, and our feed grew as a result of our loaves, the whole fit be framed together.

[36:04] We cannot distinguish, but we know if there'd be no food, there would be no growth. And so as we feed upon him, there will be a growth in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

[36:25] Now, you cannot measure your spiritual growth as you may measure a child's growth against the doorpost. If you do indeed as it were put your soul against the doorpost to see whether you've grown since last year, you will find, if you have grown, that you are smaller than you were here before, that you are lower.

[36:48] this is growth spiritually, to grow downwards in your own estimation. For the more thy glory strikes my eye, the humber I shall love.

[37:05] Remember that word in the prophecy of Malachi, the order in which it comes. They shall go forth and grow up as calves of the storm.

[37:19] Not they shall grow up and go forth, that's the order in which we rely on. How many of us have said, when I've grown spiritually, then I'll go and walk in these orders.

[37:33] For it may be to go forth and preach the word, when I grow, that they shall go forth and grow up. They have to go forth in their own weakness and the growth of us.

[37:51] Give us this day our daily life. There is much teaching in the feeding of the multitudes, the 5,000 and the 7,000.

[38:08] Jesus took the bread and blessed it and gave it and gave it to the disciples and laid it to the multitude. They that were sent out.

[38:22] He broke the bread. He broke the bread. You've never read in the scripture that the Lord Jesus cut him the bread with a knife. I've sometimes thought as the plate was being before us, God looked upon the bread, broken.

[38:41] However, every piece is different. You see, if it was cut with a knife, the pieces would be so similar. Square, rectangular, triangular, as the case may be, they'd be similar in size and shape.

[38:56] But broken, every piece is different. And so, as you feed them from Christ, you won't feed exactly to some other child of God.

[39:07] Your portion will be definite in his timing and his degree and his manner. But all his people will feed upon him himself as the bread.

[39:27] And he took the bread and gave it to the disciples and made them a multitude. The disciples were few in comparison with the thousands that were sat down.

[39:39] So some were fed while others were still hungry. Perhaps you have returned from the house of God and others have spoken that the food that their soul is feasting upon, but you are still hungry.

[39:56] You're further down the road, you. you see, the last one had been fed. 4,999 were fed before the last one, but the last one did not go hungry by.

[40:18] They did all eat and were fed. give us this day our day, he prayed.

[40:29] And then again, I was looking at what you're assuming in Luke chapter 11, again incidentally, where the Lord taught his disciples to play this prayer again, in very similar words.

[40:43] But after that he spoke a parable to them, concerning a man that had a friend who came to him at midnight and said, friend, lend me three words.

[40:56] A friend of mine in his journey has come to me and I have nothing to set before me. How often we that go forth to peace feel the illness condition. But though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his opinion more tuner him.

[41:20] Immortunity is urgent pleading. You see, the Lord does not feed his people just because they are his friends, but because of their importunity, because of their prayer pleading.

[41:39] Because of his importunity, he will rise and notice, give him as many as he needed.

[41:51] He came saying, lend me three times. He was given, not lend any, for we can never reply, he was given as many as he needed.

[42:09] It may have been three, but I doubt it's very, very much. much. It might have been one, it might have been third, but the important thing is, it was as many as he needed.

[42:25] So we have in the figure of the children of Israel in the Old Testament in the wilderness, concerning the man, he that gathers much of nothing over, and he that gathers little, they know they, they all received as much as they needed.

[42:49] And again, in Deuteronomy 8, we read, they shall remember all the way the Lord thy God has led thee these forty years in the wilderness, and suffered thee to hunger.

[43:02] Yes, the children of Israel have hunger in the wilderness, but you never find they died of starvation. They died of other things, but never of starvation. So that he to hunger, to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart, whether thou would his commandment or no, and that thou shall know that man doth not live by great heart, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, doth man live.

[43:35] Another thought that before we pass on, this was one of the temptations that the devil came to the Lord Jesus concerned. Command these stones that they be made breath.

[43:51] Now, Christ, with omnipotent power, could have made stones naturally into breath, but not only would it have been seen by obedience to the devil's suggestion, but it would have been presumptive, presumptive.

[44:13] It would have been tempting God. We cannot run now upon temptation, though it does come further in this prayer, but presumption or tempting God is when we put God to the test.

[44:35] Now, consider it, and we must pass on quickly, concerning daily bread. If your soul and my soul is hungry, just as in natural things, we should go where from experience and teaching we have reason to know that food is to be found.

[44:55] If our bodies are hungry, we go to the pantry or to the refrigerator. We don't go to the car or look in the garden.

[45:07] We go where we expect food is to be found. Now, God can feed the souls of his people wherever they are, in their homes, in the office, in the factory, in their cars, or wherever it may be.

[45:27] But, as we are enabled, we should go as the opportunity is given where we know food is, in his world, and in his house.

[45:43] Give us this day our daily bread. And, forgive us our debts. Again, in Luke 11, he calls it, he speaks of treasureses, our sins.

[46:00] Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debts. But this word, debts, brings one source to that parable of the two debts.

[46:13] Perhaps this may be a trumpet to one if they and franchise us Telang.

[46:23] . Thank you.