In connection with our consideration of the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer, Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread, we read together from Luke 12, Luke chapter 12, the verses 22 through 34. Luke chapter 12, 22 through 34. as we are called to give our attention to the reading of the Word of God. Then Jesus said to His disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens. They do not sow or reap. They have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds. Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith? And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink. Do not worry about it, for the pagan world runs after all such things, And your Father knows that you need them. But seek His kingdom. And these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out. A treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. I invite you to turn with me in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 62. Page 62, there at the top, we find Lord's Day 50. Lord's Day 50, question and answer 125 of Lord's Day 50. As we confess together with our mouths what we believe concerning this fourth request. The question asks, what does the fourth request mean? Give us this day our daily bread means do take care of all our physical needs so that we come to know that you are the only source of everything good and that neither our work and worry nor your gifts can do us any good without your blessing. And so help us to give up our trust in creatures and to put our trust in you alone. Beloved of the Lord Jesus Christ, when we come to the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer, we are now taught to bring our needs before our Heavenly Father's throne of grace. This petition deals with our appetite. For boys and girls, not simply an appetite for food, but an appetite for the things of life. We all have a certain appetite for the things of life. And as this petition shows us, there is a difference, and sometimes a big difference, between what we are hungry for and what we as Christians are called to be hungry for. In this petition, of course, we ask for daily bread. And then this petition is followed by the last two petitions of the Lord's Prayer, which deal with the forgiveness of sins and deliverance from temptation and evil. And you recall, I trust, that we said with regard to the first three petitions of the Lord's Prayer, There are petitions that deal with God that these petitions really focus on God's finished work of redemption, on the coming of Christ, and on the new kingdom. And with each of the first three petitions, we ask God in some way to include us. May God work in us as believers to truly know Him and therefore to honor His name. May He work in us so that we submit to His kingdom rule. And as well, may He work in us to delight in and to be obedient to His will. And all of this leading to the perfection of His kingdom with the coming of the new heavens and the new earth. And now then, with these final three petitions, petitions that deal with the believer, in them we beg for the Father's provision and for His grace of forgiveness and for His support of resisting the evil one. And we beg for these as long as we are between the world from which we have been called by God and the world to which we are going. Now, of course, we might be tempted to distinguish between our physical needs and our spiritual needs and then to say that our spiritual needs, that forgiveness of sins and strength to fight the evil one, are more important than bread. Seems to make sense for the believer, doesn't it? So then, boys and girls, why are we taught to ask for bread first before these things that deal with our spiritual needs? First of all, remember, for the Christian, all of life is sacred. Our Lord redeems our body as well as our soul. And in this life, you see, we need the physical strength to do that which we pray God will cause us to do in the first three petitions. This physical body is the vehicle of life. This body is the vehicle through which the spiritual life is lived. And our comfort is to be, beloved, that God does not disregard the flesh, but that our physical life is also important to Him. We need bread to live. That's no secret. But the day that we no longer need bread, congregation, think about it, is the day that we no longer need the forgiveness of sins or deliverance from evil. But today, this day, we still need bread. And therefore, as God's redeemed people, we are called to grateful living out of the hand of the great provider. Confessing the sovereignty of the provider. Confessing dependence upon the provider. Confessing confidence in the provider. And then confessing contentment with the provider. Those are the four things we want to look at this morning. By the very fact, beloved, that we are taught to look to our Father and say, give us, we are confessing that we need something. And that He alone has that which we need. And in this prayer then, this petition you see is also a prayer. In this prayer, we plead with God that He would graciously give us what we need. Again, why do we go to the Father asking for bread? After all, aren't the stores filled with bread? Boys and girls, if you've been to this grocery store with your mom or dad, you see a whole aisle full of bread and bread products and all different kinds of bread and all different shapes and sizes. But as the Catechism rightly says, that we come to know that You are the only source of everything good. Even in the details of life, such as our bread. The older version of the Catechism says that God is the only fountain of all good. God is the source or fountain. What a beautiful imagery, a fountain. The idea there that a fountain gives forth water, water pours forth in great abundance. But in other words, He is the provider. But not only that, He is the only source or fountain of all good or benefit to us as believers. This petition, you see, is a confession of the sovereignty of the provider. We don't have time this morning, unfortunately, to talk in great detail about the sovereignty of God. Something that we need to do. The beauty of the sovereignty of God. God is over all things. All things are subservient to Him. He controls everything. Nothing happens by chance. He's not surprised by anything. All things, all of creation belongs to God. He made it. He says that the cattle on a thousand hills belong to Him. You see, we cannot give to God even one thing that doesn't already belong to Him except for our sin. He is the one, according to the psalmist in Psalm 104, who prepares our food and drink, our clothing and shelter, even for the creatures of the earth. He sends springs of water to give drink to the animals and He provides trees as homes for the birds. He waters the hills. The psalmist says, He causes the grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the service of man that He may bring forth food from the earth and wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make His face shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart. And the psalmist goes on then to say that all creatures wait for their food from God in due season. And other portions of Scripture speak the same way. Luke 12, which we read, tells us that God feeds the ravens. He clothes the lilies of the field. Again, nothing happens by chance but only by the sovereign, providential hand of God. Indeed, we speak of the economy. We speak of industry. We talk about commerce. And all of these play a part in bringing food to our tables. However, ultimately, it is God who rules and governs even these things. Commerce, industry, the economy. And He does it absolutely. And therefore, in whatever way and by whatever means, we come by our daily bread, beloved. We cannot, we may not boast in ourselves. We are not to boast in our strength. We are not to boast in our wisdom or in our intelligence. or in mankind at all. Our boast can and must only be in God. He alone can and must give us our daily bread. And as Luke 12, verse 30 says, your Father knows that you need them. How does He know? Because He is sovereign. And that includes His omniscience. He knows everything perfectly, past, present, and future. You see, beloved, by our sin, We have forfeited to the right to all of the outward blessings of this life. And we deserve to be completely deprived of all of these outward blessings by God. Yet in Christ Jesus, He lifts our eyes to the great provider who alone is the source of everything good. And by looking to our Father in heaven and asking Him to give us this day our daily bread, we also then confess our dependence upon the provider. Because God is sovereign. And all things belong to Him and all things depend upon Him. Therefore, we too depend upon Him to give us that which we need. In the desert, you recall, that Israel depended upon God's provision and they experienced His goodness each and every day in the daily manner and in the quail that they received. Psalm 104, verses 28 and 29 tells us, You open your hand, they are filled with good. You hide your face, they are troubled. You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. Now again, all of this may seem somewhat strange to us, especially again as we see grocery store after grocery store filled to capacity with food. As we talked about in the first service, right now they're not quite so full because of the strike, but generally speaking, you know that's the case. Grocery stores filled to capacity. Malls and shopping centers line our streets with literally everything that we could ever need. As well as the world would say, It's not God that drives the economy. But man drives the economy by supply and demand. Through man's ingenuity, industry operates. It's because of man's work that things are bought and sold and food is put on the table. And beloved, indeed, we work. We are supposed to work. Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 10, If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. You see, this petition, Give us this day our daily bread, It does not contradict the idea of work, but it very much demands work. Those who are lazy are told in Proverbs chapter 6, Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer, or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest. Indeed, when it comes to bread, a farmer must plant the seed and raise the wheat. The miller must grind the flour. The baker must bake the bread. As someone in my previous congregation reminded me, the bread man must deliver it to the grocery store. He was a bread man. And the grocery store must sell the bread. But you see, all of this is a part of the provision of our Heavenly Father. A moment ago we quoted from Psalm 104, and notice again verse 14, He causes the grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the service of man that He may bring forth food from the earth. And a little bit later, it talks about gathering in that food. And I hope you get the point. God not only created the physical world, but He also created the laws of nature so that the soil would accept the seed. And with the appropriate amounts of sunshine and rain, the seed would grow. God created all of those things that we call natural resources and He hid them in the earth for man to discover and find. God has given man intelligence, wisdom, the ability to do His work, the strength to carry out His task, yet it is all from God down to the very air that we breathe. Indeed, the Bible is correct when it says, in Him we live and move and have our being. And that's why we can claim no right to anything, beloved, and we depend upon Him for everything, even the ability to get the necessary bread in our hands. But there's also another element to this dependence, which the catechism makes clear when it says, Neither our work and worry nor your gifts can do us any good without your blessing. Neither our work or worry nor God's gifts will do us any good apart from God's blessing. Without God's blessing, everything is vanity and all things, without God's blessing, become a curse to man. All that God gives apart from faith in Jesus Christ would become a curse for the faithless one. Because he did not see these things as gifts from God's hand. You see, beloved, with God's blessing, all things work for the believer's good and benefit the believer for eternity. But without God's blessing, the more the unbeliever indulges in, the more danger he faces. Asaph found that out in Psalm 73. He was envious of all of the health and the wealth and success of the wicked. But then God revealed to him that the wicked were on a slippery slope. And the more that they enjoyed the things of this life apart from God, the more that they slid further away from God. Micah 6, verse 14 says, You shall eat, but not be satisfied. Hunger shall be in your midst. And Haggai 1, verses 5 and 6, both these verses from Micah and Haggai talking about a situation where the people had rejected God. Those verses tell us, Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You have sown much and bring in little. You eat, but do not have enough. You drink, but you are not filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages, earns wages to put them in a bag with holes. In other words, it just falls right back out. You see, whether rich or poor, as Joel makes clear in the second chapter of his prophecy, it is only with God's blessing that one can be satisfied. The congregation with God's blessing. The provision that He gives today is a down payment of His provision for eternity. But as the rich farmer found out who built bigger barns and decided to eat and drink and be merry, he found out that without God's blessing, nothing is secure. Not even life itself. Why is God's blessing necessary? As our Lord said to Satan, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Life depends upon God's blessing. Beloved, we depend completely upon God to provide us what we need with His blessing. His blessing must be attached. We depend upon that, and therefore we are called to trust Him for that as well. This petition is also a confession of confidence in the provider. The last sentence of the answer says, and so help us to give up our trust in creatures and to put trust in you alone. It's so easy for us to put our trust in something else, to put our trust in our own abilities or in our employer or in our bank account or in our retirement plan or even in our well-stocked and well-supplied freezers and pantries. But confidence in any of those things, really, beloved, is temporary and it's hopeless. Jesus makes it clear in Luke chapter 12, a portion of the Sermon on the Mount, that if God takes care of the things of this earth that don't have a soul, then those who have a soul and who believe on Him by grace through faith ought to have no other object of confidence and trust. How much more will He care for those who have a soul? And this is alone as sure as Psalm 55, verse 22 says, Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you. He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. Beloved, that's what the Reformation taught us, didn't it? That's what the Reformation of the church brought back to God's people. Certainty. Confidence. Assurance in God alone. Not in ourselves, where it ought not be. But only in our God alone who saves us. And we can have such confidence in our Father that Jesus taught us to ask for our daily bread. Don't forget we pray, give us. Not give me, but give us. We don't pray selfishly, but we pray on behalf of all of God's people. We are a family. And those who love their neighbor as themselves. And now we're talking in the narrow sense as we have considered in 1 John, the sense of our brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ also desire for their brothers and sisters in Christ, that which they desire for themselves. But notice we call this daily bread ours. As if we own it already. And that's not because it belongs to us by right. It's not because we have taken our hard-earned money to the store and paid for it. It's not because of anything we have done. It is ours because it comes from our Father. The One who has called us and made us to be His children. The One who shares with us all of His bounty. In His fatherly kindness, He promises to give us what we need and He has set apart for our daily use. Our daily bread. You see, beloved, those who are saved by the gracious hand of the Father may expect, may expect that the Father will open His hand and care for and provide for His children. As parents, we do the same for our children, don't we? When they come to the dinner table, our children may claim a portion of food as theirs. Why? Because mom or dad made it specifically for them. They took into consideration how many mouths needed to be fed by this particular meal. Same thing with our clothing. and our other needs, boys and girls. Your parents, as believing parents, have promised for the sight of God to care for you both physically and spiritually. That's why they clothe you. You don't have to worry about running around without any clothes on. Indeed, you may not have the most up-to-date, the most stylish clothes, but you're not going to walk around without clothes for your body. Beloved, we are not strangers who come to God for a handout. But we are children. Those who are a part of His family. Those who are to trust in His providing hand and have confidence that He will indeed provide. But then we are also called to be content. In fact, one who truly prays this petition makes a confession of contentment with the provider. And actually, we are called to be content when our Father gives us what we need. I think we need to pay particular attention to this. to be content when God gives us what we need. You see, beloved, this petition calls for contentment with the simple life because we are taught to ask for the simple yet necessary things of life. The word bread here points to the simple needs of life. Now, we don't ask only for bread, but we ask for anything needed to sustain the physical side of life. That's what bread stands for. Bread here means food and clothing and shelter and health and work. I say that in a general way. Anything that we need to sustain the physical side of life. The Catechism rightly says, do take care of all our physical or bodily needs. And this is a request that God would protect and cherish the life which He has given to each and every one of us in this world and supply us with that which He knows that we need. And that, of course, then begs the question, doesn't it? What is it that we need? What is it that we need? Remember, our Lord taught this prayer in a time when most people spent most of their day in activities relating to gathering and maintaining sufficient clothes and shelter and daily food, even grinding the wheat into meal and the flour to make the bread. And in that setting, the petition asks for no more than what the people can reasonably expect or hope for. It's so different today, isn't it, with big industry, canned goods, and so forth. Today we take these same necessities for granted. And let's be honest, our needs list has grown substantially. Yesterday's luxuries have become today's necessities. And no doubt today's luxuries will become tomorrow's right, which everyone should enjoy, according to some. And indeed, certain luxuries make business and living a little bit easier, but they are not necessities. Contrary to popular demand or opinion, microwaves and things like TVs and air conditioning and cell phones and computers and even extracurricular activities that many of us and our children participate in are not a part of what Jesus calls bread here. Very simply, they are not. Now if God has given to us these things, it's not wrong to have them and to enjoy them so long as we recognize the hand of the giver and that we enjoy them with thanksgiving and enjoy them to His glory. But we may not set our heart on them and idolize them and seek them and covet them and think we deserve them. We may not set them in the place of God. We are called to seek God's kingdom and His righteousness first. Yet with this petition, We are called to be content and satisfied with the barest necessities of life. And that contentment, beloved, includes having today our daily bread. You see what that means? We are to ask for today and trust for the future. Tomorrow hasn't been given to us yet. It may never be given to us. And that's why our concern is to be for today. Now, having pantries and freezers full of food and planning for the future is not wrong. The ant teaches us that. That's the better part of stewardship. But anxiety about the future, as if God were not in control, that's wrong. Worry and anxiety about the things that God controls, worry which leads to doubt, is sin. And instead, beloved, we are called to have a childlike faith that even if we go to bed tonight with no food in the cupboards, Think about this. Even if we go to bed tonight with no food in the cupboards and no money in our pocket to buy food tomorrow, yet God has provided for us for today. And we are to trust that He will provide for tomorrow. Does that describe your faith in His provision? It's hard, isn't it? It's hard for each one of us. It's hard for me. I cannot imagine that. It's a scary thought. But what does daily bread really mean? This word is used only once in Scripture, and I believe that Christ is teaching us by using daily bread. He is teaching us here simply to ask for enough. What I mean is He is teaching us to ask for the proper portion. Not to ask for more than enough, not to ask for less than enough, but to ask only for what is enough. Lord, please give us today enough for whatever situation of life lays before us. And understand, beloved, that sometimes enough will not be enough to fill your empty stomach, yet for whatever reason, God knows that it's just what you need. Paul in Philippians 4 calls for contentment in any and every situation of life, whether well-fed or hungry, whether in plenty or in want. And, boys and girls, a man named Augur in Proverbs 30 tells us why when he says, Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food allotted to me, lest I be full and deny you and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. Beloved, if you can't imagine going to bed tonight with no food in the house and no money to buy food and being content in the Lord about that. Then ask yourself, I must ask myself, have I enjoyed so much for so long that I have denied the Lord? You see, we must confess that our appetites are for so much more than what we need. We are addicted to the luxuries of life. But our prayer must be that God, through His Spirit, would curb our appetites so that we would never lose sight of Him. And I trust it's clear, congregation, that this is truly the believer's prayer because the unregenerate man cannot possibly take this petition upon his lips because everything it calls for is directly contrary to what he wants and desires. He wants more than just bread. He wants more than just enough for today. He wants abundance stored up for a long time. He's not satisfied with enough, but he wants the world Because in this life, you see, you're not normal. In fact, you're abnormal if you don't want and you don't strive for the abundant life according to the world standards. You're a little bit weird. You just don't fit. The unregenerate does not depend upon God, but upon himself. He is not content with daily bread for today, but he wants long-term security. And that's because for the unbelieving world, bread is the end. It's the end. The physical side is the end in their mind. He fails to recognize the sovereignty of God and therefore doesn't realize that he's on a slippery place. And of course, we know what the Bible says about those who lay up treasures on earth, moth and rust destroy, thieves break in and steal. So, beloved, what are you hungry for? What are you hungry for? Are you satisfied with God's daily portion for today? Remember, we are pilgrims traveling through this life to a better place as our citizenship is in heaven. We're campers, if you will. And on a camping trip, and I'm not talking about camping in a motorhome or a trailer with the full luxuries of life, but I'm talking about hardcore camping. On that kind of a camping trip, you only take the necessities of life. His promise for those who seek first His kingdom and His righteousness is that all these things, namely daily bread, will be added to you. Why is this? Because of our eternal bread of life and living water, Jesus Christ. Our Lord suffered for our bread. And He was parched by thirst for our water in order to give to us all the rights of children of God. He earned for us provisions for eternity. And beloved, for Jesus' sake, our daily bread is a promise and a gift of God's grace given to those who believe. given as a means to glorify God, to honor His name. And along with our daily bread, we are given the strength to submit to God's kingdom rule, to be obedient to His will, but also to repent of our sins daily and ask for forgiveness daily. And He gives us strength, His strength, to flee temptation and evil. This is His guarantee for this life. Those who reject the provisions of God will never be filled. Instead, they will suffer the agony of spiritual starvation forever. But those who taste and see by God's grace that the Lord is good, they will enjoy eternal provision and the bounty of heaven. Amen. Shall we pray? Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank You and praise You for the comfort and the assurance the confidence that is ours oh Lord that you are the great provider you are the one who gives us all that we need both for this life and the next and Father may we be content with your provision whether little or much whether well fed or hungry whether in plenty or in want knowing that all that you give to us is that which we need and we thank you for that Father, may we be drawn closer to You because of Your provision that indeed we would not forget You. We are so very rich. Each of us has so much more than we could even think or imagine, so much more than we deserve. And may it be, O Lord, that we would examine our lives and take a close look to see that we would not be drawn away from You by our provisions, We'll be drawn closer to you to give you thanksgiving and praise. And may our lives indeed be lives of thankfulness to you for who you are and all that you have done. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen.