Christ's Command For Addressing God In Prayer.

For our Scripture reading tonight, let's turn together to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1, where we read together the first 14 verses. Hear now the Word of God. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus, Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will, to the praise of His glorious grace which He has freely given us in the one He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of His glory. And for our confessional reference tonight, if you would turn with me in the back of the Psalter hymnal to Lord's Day 46. Lord's Day 46 as we continue the study we began a couple of weeks ago of the Lord's Prayer. Page 59 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. Lord's Day 46. Questions and Answers 120 and 121 as I read the question and together we confess what we believe with the answer. Question 120 asks us, Why did Christ command us to call God our Father? At the very beginning of our prayer, Christ wants to kindle in us what is basic to our prayer, the childlike awe and trust that God, through Christ, has become our Father. Our fathers do not refuse us the things of this life. God, our Father, will even less refuse to give us what we ask in faith. Why the words, who art in heaven? These words teach us not to think of God's heavenly majesty as something earthly and to expect everything for body and soul from His almighty power. Dear people of God, a couple of weeks ago as we began to consider Scripture's teaching of prayer as it is summarized in the Heidelberg Catechism, we saw that prayer that is pleasing to God is first of all, faithful. That is, it's from a heart filled with faith, extended to the one true God. As well, prayer that is pleasing to God is humble. In other words, we know the truth about ourselves in relation to God, that we do not deserve to come to Him in prayer. We do not deserve to be heard of God in prayer. Yet He hears us. And that's because prayer that is also pleasing to God is trusting. In other words, our assurance of being heard by God is based on the Lord Jesus Christ. And now our confidence of the certainty of true prayer becomes even greater as we consider the One to whom we are praying. When the believer bows in prayer, he or she is entering the very throne room of the Most High God and addresses God Himself. Now, when we want to say something to each other, when we want to get the attention of each other, then we might address each other using first names. We might say Mr. or Mrs. Or we might simply say, Hey you, I want to talk to you. But how you address another establishes a relationship between you and the one you are addressing. Or it recognizes a relationship that already exists between you and the one you are addressing. For example, if you say Professor Smith, that recognizes the teacher-student relationship. If you address another as Mr. or Mrs., that recognize a respectful relationship for your elders. Or if you say, Officer Jones, then you are recognizing a relationship of authority in which that one has been given authority and you are to submit to that authority. Jesus Christ taught us to address God in such a way that on the one hand, we are to be comforted because of the beautiful relationship that exists. It's real between God and His people. But at the same time, we address him with the honor that he deserves. Now it's interesting, and maybe these cadets here tonight know this, that when the President of the United States walks into a room, what do the people do? They stand to show their honor and their respect. And people as well are expected to look and dress their best when they are in the presence of the President of the United States. And the same is true when it comes to the Queen of England or any other earthly royalty. They all receive a certain degree of honor and respect. Well, then how much more are we to honor our God when in His presence? I preach to you this Word of God, Christ's command for addressing God in prayer. Indeed, it's a command. Yet this address is simple. It's to the point. And it is a prayer in itself, again, filled with comfort for the believer while at the same time expressing honor and reverence for God. And the two elements of the address of the Lord's Prayer are very simply, first of all, our Father, and secondly, in heaven. In Matthew 6, Jesus said, this is how you should pray, our Father who art in heaven. Let's remember now, prayer is a part of the believer's communion and fellowship with God in which the believer speaks with God. God speaks to His people through His Word of the Bible and His people respond to Him through a life of thankful obedience to be sure, but they are to respond first of all through prayer. Through prayer we can speak the glory of His name. Through prayer we can pour out our hearts to God. Through prayer we can thank God for all of His many blessings to us. And through prayer we can bring before Him the needs of others and ourselves. And our confidence of being heard is because He is our Father in Heaven. First of all, Jesus commands us to identify God as our Father. Why? Answer 120 begins, at the very beginning of our prayer, Christ wants to kindle in us what is basic to our prayer. The childlike awe and trust that God through Christ has become our Father. Beloved, Christ commands us to call God our Father because that's who He is. That's what He is. Yes, Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, but by the grace of God, we have become His children through adoption for the sake of Jesus Christ. We have become that which we were not before. Oh, all of mankind are His children by virtue of creation. He is the Father of all mankind, but not through redemption. Because our Lord Jesus Christ was perfectly obedient and actively obedient to the law of God. Now, boys and girls, that's kind of a fancy way of saying something that we know to be true, that Jesus was sinless. He was perfectly righteous. And because He was perfectly righteous and because He was punished for our sins, those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith, We have all of our sins forgiven and we have been given the righteousness of Christ as our very own and therefore God has adopted us to be His children. He has adopted us. He has made us to be a part of His family. It's not that we deserve this. Scripture is clear about that. Psalm 51 verse 5 says, Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. And Paul says we know, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Yet our only comfort, beloved, is that we are not our own, but with body and soul, in life and in death, we belong to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 43, God says to His people, Fear not, I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are Mine. You belong to Me. He has purchased us. You see, that's the beauty of adoption. Belonging. Paul says it beautifully in Ephesians 1, beginning at verse 5. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will to the praise of His glorious grace which He has freely given us in the one He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And in Romans 8, Paul says, the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now, if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. As God's children, we are heirs of God. Now, that rings a bell with us. We understand, especially with regard to our earthly relationships, what it means to be an heir. An heir is in line for something. There is an inheritance possibly in the picture. As God's children, we are heirs of God. We are entitled to His inheritance, a portion of His wealth. And for God's children, that is salvation full and free. You know, with regard to adoption, we have an imperfect earthly analogy. And that's, we know, when a husband and wife take a child not born to them, But take that child into their home and make that child their own by that legal process which we also call adoption. Maybe some of you here tonight are adopted. I'm not sure. But adoption, that child becomes a part of that family as if he was naturally born into that family. That child then belongs to that family. He receives the family name as His very own. That child receives the unconditional love and care and provision of the parents. That child is given the right to call his parents mom and dad. And as God's children, we have been given the right to call our God our Father. In fact, as Jesus commanded, we must call Him Father. And again, the Catechism tells us why. To kindle in us that childlike awe and trust that He is our Father. We are to be humbled with awe and trust because of that relationship. Humanly speaking, the parent-child relationship is to be an awesome thing. It is a relationship of dependence because children, until they are grown and until they are able to be responsible for themselves, depend completely upon their parents. Now, we know that this dependence becomes less and less as the child grows, but as we considered last week in connection with Ephesians 6, verse 4, and the duty of Christian parents for their children, parents exist for the sake of their children. God has given parents the task of raising His possessions, placing their souls in our hands to nourish and nurture them physically and spiritually and to point them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Boys and girls, and especially the young people who are here tonight, do you understand? Do you understand just how much you depend upon your parents for this life? And the catechism reflecting the teaching of Scripture is right when it says, our fathers do not refuse us the things of this life. And he might say, wait a minute, my dad says no all the time. But the things of this life is talking about necessary things. Needful things for this life. Not necessarily talking about things that we may want. And then, of course, this is the desire or should be the desire of all parents to give their children the necessary things of life. Jesus says in Matthew 7, He asks, which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, we'll give him a snake. And the expected answer there is no, we wouldn't do that. You wouldn't do that. Then he goes on, if you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him? Beloved, addressing God as our Father is to kindle in us, to arouse in us by the working of the Holy Spirit, childlike awe and trust. You see, young children have awe and trust for their parents. Most of us, I have a feeling, grow out of this. We forget what that's like when we're a young child. As a parent or even as an adult, we might recognize this in young children. But ourselves, as we grow up, we forget about that. But young children do have awe and trust for their parents. Unfortunately, as the child grows, this awe and trust tends to disappear to varying degrees. Maybe some of you have read what someone wrote. I read it at some point in time. I can't tell you when. I can't tell you where. It sticks in my mind for some reason. And I'll try to tell you what it is. It goes something like this. When I was a small child, my dad, we could put in parents, but I'll say my dad could do anything. And he knew everything. And as I grew, my dad didn't seem quite as big, but he still knew quite a bit and he could do most anything. Then when I became a teenager, He couldn't do anything right. And he didn't know anything. When I became a young adult, I began to see that he did know some things. And now that I'm a man and a father myself, I know just how wise my dad was and how much he knew. It's a paraphrase, but I trust you get the point. Young children have awe and trust for their parents. And it goes away for a time. We hit that valley as we grow, but it comes back as we grow and even become parents ourselves. But it is true that children with childlike faith are in awe of their parents. Dad knows everything. He can do anything. And there is no hurt that mom cannot make better. And little children trust their parents. Children trust that when dad is playing with them and tosses them in the air that he's going to catch them. It's not just going to let them fall to the ground and get hurt. Or if they're stuck in a tree and Dad says, Jump, I'll catch you. He'll do it. He'll do it. We can depend upon that. They wouldn't trust a stranger quite as much. Or when Mom makes a meal for the family, each child just knows that there's a portion of food for them. So then how much greater is our awe and trust to be for our Heavenly Father of whom the psalmist says knows our thoughts before we think them. He knows our words before we say them. He knows our lying down. He knows our rising up. He knows our path. He is acquainted with all our ways. His thoughts toward us, the psalmist says, are to numerous account. And Jesus says that this Father has the very hairs on our head numbered. The hairs on our head. Things so minute that really make no difference. And our God knows the number of them. He who clothes the lilies of the field and cares for the tiny sparrow, perfectly cares for His redeemed image bearers. And as the Catechism says, He will even less, less than our earthly fathers that is, refuse to give us what we ask in faith. Congregation, what an awesome truth. And you see, we are to be humbled by this and we can fully trust Him for this. Remember, God did not become our Father because we were such obedient and loving and worthy children. The truth is, by nature, we are children of wrath. But He has become our Father only because of His obedient, loving, and worthy Son, Jesus Christ. And therefore, we must call Him Father because Christ has earned us that privilege and He has given to us that privilege. Some, under the disguise of piety, say, I am so sinful and I am so unworthy, which is true of all of us. But I am such a miserable sinner that therefore I could never call God Father. He could never want me as His child. The congregation to do this is to make Christ work for nothing. In a sense. If we refuse to call God Father, then Christ descended into hell and suffered being forsaken by God in vain. To refuse to call Him Father is to slap Christ's benefits right out of His hands, including our adoption. But to be able to call Him Father. What a blessed gift. But then we cannot forget that when God gives His children what we need, that includes keeping away from us that which we don't need. Or keeping away from us that which would be harmful to us. Or giving discipline when that is needed. And this is how earthly parents are to operate as well because giving your child absolutely Everything your child wants does not necessarily make one a good parent. In fact, I dare say it makes one a bad parent. But notice this address also warns against selfishness. We are commanded to pray our Father. Not just my Father, but our Father. And just as Christ intercedes on our behalf to the Father, we are called to uphold each other in prayer. To pray on behalf of one another. You see, He is my Father because He is the Father of His people. God elected a people, you see. Christ's Bride is not an individual or a bunch of individuals, but Christ's Bride is a church. And we are called to pray on behalf of the brotherhood of Christ, those redeemed by Him, those who have been given true faith. Now, the Bible refers to God using many different names. God Almighty, Lord of hosts, so many others. There are many names for God that describe Him and honor Him for His attributes. But our Lord commands believers to address God with the highest name that we could ever use for God, and that is Father. Think about this for a moment. All of His other many names, beautiful names, describe our Father. This too is to be awesome to us. God Almighty is none other than our Father. The Lord of hosts is none other than our Father. The God of all mercy and of all comfort is none other than our Father. The Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, is none other than our Father. Cadets on the front of this bulletin tonight, Psalm 71, verse 3 says, Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go. Give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. This rock, this fortress, the only one to whom we can flee for refuge and salvation, is our Father. All of His other names describe His exalted nature. And that's why this address includes who art in heaven. At first, after considering the nearness of our Father with that beautiful relationship, Father and His believers, His adopted children, this might seem strange as if He is now being pushed out of our reach by saying He is in heaven. Pushing Him far away from us. But the Catechism also puts this in perspective when it explains in answer 21 to the question, why the words who art in heaven, these words teach us not to think of God's heavenly majesty as something earthly and to expect everything for body and soul from His almighty power. You see, God is indeed omnipresent. Present everywhere. The Lord said to Jeremiah, do I not fill heaven and earth? As well, the psalmist in Psalm 139 speaks clearly of God's presence everywhere and our God in His love as our Father condescends to His people that we might know Him. Yet, we may not pull God down to our level. We may not take away from His majesty and greatness. God's immensity, His greatness fills all things, yet heaven is His home. That's His dwelling place. By addressing Him as our Father who is in heaven, we are reminded of and we acknowledge that He is above all things. He is over all things. And I'm not talking about spatially here, even though we speak of heaven as being up there and hell as being down there. But God is greater than all things. He is sovereign. He is the highest law to which every other law is accountable. He controls all things. By saying He is in heaven, we confess that our Father is omnipotent. He is all-powerful. Beloved, He is our Heavenly Father, but He is not our buddy. He is not our pal. But our Father then is none other than Almighty God. And the fact that He is in Heaven also means that there is a distinct separation between God and our earthly fathers. As the Catechism says, we are to expect everything for body and soul from His Almighty power. We can hope that our earthly fathers will give us what we need. And as earthly fathers, we may desire to give our children everything they need, but we can and we must expect that our Heavenly Father will give us all that we need. Lord's Day 9 tells us why. Turn with me to Lord's Day 9. Question and answer 26. Question and answer 26, page 16 in the back of the Psalter hymnal. That is the beginning of the catechism consideration of the Apostles' Creed. Question 26. What do you believe when you say, I believe in God the Father, almighty maker of heaven and earth, that the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by His eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ His Son. I trust Him so much that I do not doubt He will provide whatever I need for body and soul and He will turn to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this sad world. And then listen to this. He is able to do this because He is Almighty God. He desires to do this because He is Faithful Father. People of God, for this reason, our Father expects us to remain earnest in prayer. That favorite hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, echoes over and over again, take it to the Lord in prayer. Now, the answer to our prayers may not come when we want. The answer may not be what we want. God's answer might be no. He might make us wait for a while, but we are called to pray faithfully, fervently, and expectantly. If you remember, Elijah on Mount Carmel prayed seven times for rain. He prayed faithfully, he prayed fervently, and he prayed expectantly as he sent his servant seven times to go look to see if God had answered yet. He knew that He would. But then we can also think of the Jerusalem church, which we read about in Acts 12. Peter was in prison. He was going to be put to death the next day. And therefore, the church was gathered all night long at the house of Mary, the mother of John, and they were praying faithfully. They were praying fervently. And during the night, you recall that the angel miraculously frees Peter. He walks to Mary's house. He knocks on the door. And after the servant girl Rhoda went to the door, she ran back and told the people that Peter was at the door. And they said, what? You're out of your mind. There's no way that's possible. It must be His angel. They weren't praying expectantly. And they almost missed God's answer to their fervent prayers. Beloved, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ taught us to pray to our Father in Heaven because as His adopted children, with Him as our Father, He has promised and desires to take care of us. And because He is God in Heaven, He is able to do this. And when we pray, the Holy Spirit of God helps us to lift our minds, to focus on things above, not on the things of this earth. And our comfort must be that as His children, for Jesus' sake, This earth is not our home. We have our houses, beautiful as they might be. But this earth is not our home. But His home, His heaven, is the believer's home. And that means that today, in this life, believers are people of two worlds. On the one hand, our feet are firmly planted here on this earth with our earthly relationships, our earthly work and cares and anxieties and so forth. Yet we are pilgrims. simply traveling through to a better place. Every night we pitch that tent, we pound those stakes in the ground, and we stay there for the night, but every morning we pull up those tent stakes and we continue on that journey for another day of travel as we are traveling through to a better place. Our citizenship is in heaven where Christ is seated at the right hand of His Father and our Father. And Jesus Christ sent His Holy Spirit who, as Ephesians 1.14 says, is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. And that inheritance, as Peter says in 1 Peter 1, is incorruptible and undefiled, and that does not fade away and is reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. And of course, we know by God's grace that all of this is ours already today. Ephesians 1, verse 3 says, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Now, beloved, as we close, I hope it's clear that although the Lord's Prayer, as you know, it's recited as a token prayer on many public occasions, And in many public places, yet not just anyone can truly pray this prayer. This prayer, as well as all true prayer, is the believer's prayer. And only the believer's prayer. It is a prayer for Christians. Because only Christians have the privilege and the command to call God Father. There's only one way to the Heavenly Father. And that is through Jesus Christ who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one, absolutely no one comes to the Father but through Me. Today, so many, even religious scholars, are doubting this. And some who even claim to be Reformed are teaching that Jesus is not the only way, but He is simply one of many ways of salvation. How dangerous and how wrong, because if Jesus Christ is not our only Savior, and His Father is not our Father. God in His mercy has provided the one and only way of salvation, Jesus Christ. And those who come to Him through Christ, those who come through Christ, find the Heavenly Father who delights in our salvation. But those who reject the way Jesus Christ, trying to pave their own way or not even wanting to come to the Father, They are children of the father of lies, the devil, who delights in their destruction. Beloved, children, young people, adults, have you found that way by the grace of God? You see, our comfort is that once adopted as a child of God, there is no greater security. Because as Paul says in Romans 8, no created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. When you pray to our Father who art in heaven, beloved, your prayer can rise no higher and your comfort can be no greater. Amen. Shall we pray? Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we count it a privilege to be able to come to You as Your children, adopted for the sake of Jesus. And Father, we pray that Your Holy Spirit will work in our hearts in such a way that we would be in awe of who You are as our Father, that You would even consider taking us into Your family. And that we might be built up in trust and faith knowing that You will not leave us or forsake us, but You will give to us all that we stand in need of. O Lord, may each and every one here tonight know You as the Heavenly Father. And if there is one here tonight who does not know You as that Father, Lord, work in their heart. Bring them to their knees, crying out for salvation only through Jesus Christ, that they too might know, might be able to claim You as their Father who art in Heaven. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake and in His name. Amen.