Jesus' Model Prayer: The Third Petition

In this post I am continuing a series on the Lord's Prayer. What follows are my teaching notes on the text in Matthew. I hope the blog's readers will find it helpful.

Introduction: Quote: George W. Truett once taught that, “To know the will of God is the greatest knowledge! To do the will of God is the greatest achievement!” (Quoted in “Toolkit,” Cell Church, Winter, 1996, p. 10 [Bible.org]).

I would add to Truett's observation one of my own, namely that to pray for the will of God is, perhaps, the greatest prayer. Now, we have seen in earlier messages that one cannot pray “hallowed be Your name” without also praying “your kingdom come,” because God's name is hallowed where He is honored as King. But neither can one pray “Your kingdom come” without also praying “Your will be done,” because God is not honored as King where His will is not obeyed. And it this third petition – “Your will be done” – that will be the focus of our attention here.

NKJ Matthew 6:10b “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

When we pray this prayer, we are basically asking for two things: 1) that God's will be done on earth, and 2) that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I. We are Asking that God's Will Be Done on Earth

In earlier messages we have seen that praying “hallowed be Your name” and “Your kingdom come” is praying both for the whole world and for ourselves at one and the same time. Such is true of praying “Your will be done” as well.

1) We are praying that God's will be done in the whole world.

This prayer will ultimately be answered with the coming of God's Kingdom in the future, but it is also answered as others come to know Christ and submit to Him as Lord. For example:

NKJ Romans 1:5 “Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name....”

Or, as the ESV translates this verse: “through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations....”

Application: When we pray that God's will be done on earth, we are praying that people will obey Him through acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

NKJ 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27 For 'He has put all things under His feet.' But when He says 'all things are put under Him,' it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. 28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”

Application: When we pray for God's will to be done on earth, we are praying for the ultimate victory of the Lord Jesus over all His enemies. We are longing for the day when all is clearly seen to be subject to His rule.

NKJ Philippians 2:9-11 “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Application: When we pray for God's will to be done, we are praying for the day when all will bow the knee to Jesus and acknowledge Him as Lord.

2) We are praying that God's will be done in our own lives.

Jesus is, of course, the greatest example of this:

NKJ John 4:34 “Jesus said to them, 'My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.'”

Application: What about you and me? Can each of us honestly say that, just as our bodies hunger for and crave food, so we crave the will of God? For example, is the desire that God's will be done the first thing in our thoughts and in our prayers each day, or do we think of breakfast first?

NKJ Matthew 26:36-39 “Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, 'Sit here while I go and pray over there.' 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, 'My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.' 39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, 'O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.'”

Application: There may be many times when praying for God's will to be done means that we must suffer for His sake. In such cases, can we pray, “nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will”? What kind of difficulties face you right now in your own life? Can you pray – after asking for God to take them away – “nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will”? If not, then I submit to you that you haven't yet learned to pray "Your will be done" as Jesus would have you pray it.

NKJ Hebrews 5:5-8 “So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.' 6 As He also says in another place: 'You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek'; 7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

Application: Are we servants greater than our Master? If He who was perfect learned obedience to the will of God by the things which He suffered, how can we think it should be any different for us?

Sadly, we may often plead with God for what we want first of all, as if we can somehow conform His will to our own. And we may often do this in order to avoid suffering. But instead of avoiding suffering, we may sometimes only delay it or make things even worse for ourselves by our refusal to accept His will ... like Jonah, who thought he could run away from God's will and ended up fish food.

Illustration: William Moses Tidwell offers the following illustration:

The carriage was being driven along the road. The mother sat on the front seat and the maid, caring for the spoiled baby, on the back seat. The child began screaming for something. The mother impatiently said, “Why don't you let him have what he wants?” The nurse let him have it. What he was crying for was a wasp on the window. Then he screamed vociferously when he felt the terrible sting of the wasp. The mother then called out to ask, “What is the matter with him now?” The maid quietly replied, “He got what he wanted.” How often have we seen this! It is better to seek the will of God first. (Pointed Illustrations [elbourne.org])

Illustration: On the other hand, we could learn the lesson of Jesus' life, as the missionary David Livingstone seems to have done:

David Livingstone tells how he was chased up a small tree and besieged by lions. He said the tree was so small that he was barely out of reach of the lions. He said they would stand on their back feet and roar and shake the little tree, and that he could feel the hot breath of the lions as they sought him. “But,” he states, “I had a good night and felt happier and safer in that little tree besieged by lions, in the jungles of Africa, in the will of God, than I would have been out of the will of God in England.” (William Moses Tidwell, Pointed Illustrations [elbourne.org]).

I submit to you that this is the kind of attitude Jesus wants us to have when we pray to our heavenly Father “Your will be done.”
 
II. We are Asking that God's Will Be Done As It Is in Heaven

Here we must think about how God's will is done in heaven. David gives us some insight 

on the matter in a similar prayer:

NKJ Psalm 103:19-22 “The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. 20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word. 21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure. 22 Bless the LORD, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the LORD, O my soul!”

David wanted everyone in all the places of God's dominion to praise Him and obey Him even as the angels in heaven do. But how do the angels in heaven obey God? Perhaps one example will suffice:

NKJ Luke 2:8-14 “Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.' 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'”

These angels can't help but praise God when carrying out His commands! They are filled with joy at the unfolding of His plans as they see His will accomplished!

Application: Have you ever read in the Bible of one of God's holy angels in heaven disobeying him? Have you ever read about any of these angels complaining about the will of God rather than doing it immediately and with joy?

Quote: Wayne Grudem highlights this same point in his Systematic Theology:

In both their obedience and their worship angels provide helpful examples for us to imitate. Jesus teaches us to pray, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). In heaven God’s will is done by angels, immediately, joyfully, and without question. We are to pray daily that our obedience and the obedience of others would be like that of the angels in heaven. Their delight is to be God’s humble servants, each faithfully and joyfully performing their assigned tasks, whether great or small. Our desire and prayer should be that we ourselves and all others on earth would do the same. (p. 404)

Conclusion: Jesus wants us to pray daily that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He knows that we need to align our wills with the Father's will every day, and He knows that we can best do this through prayer. What about each of us? Can we honestly say that we desire that God's will be done so earnestly that it takes precedence in our prayers even over our own needs? Does such a desire make us willing even to suffer so that His will may be done? And does such a desire show in our own immediate and joyful obedience to His will?

Jesus' Model Prayer: The Second Petition

In this post I am continuing a series on the Lord's Prayer. What follows are my teaching notes on the text in Matthew. I hope the blog's readers will find it helpful.

Introduction: Illustration: Many centuries ago, and many years after God had led the Israelites into the promised land, there came a time when they decided they wanted a king like all the other nations had (1 Sam. 8:5). We are told in Scripture about the responses of both Samuel and God to this request:

NKJ 1 Samuel 8:6-8 “But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, 'Give us a king to judge us.' So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, 'Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day -- with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods -- so they are doing to you also.'”

Perhaps even more sad than the fact that they had asked for another king in the first place is the fact that – even after Samuel went back to them and told them everything God had said – they still knowingly and willfully rejected the Lord as their King!

But a Christian is not such a person, is he!? Absolutely not! Among other things, a Christian is a person who has acknowledged God as His rightful King and submitted to Him as Sovereign Lord. This is why Jesus teaches His followers to pray for His Kingdom to come. But the question that arises in my mind is, What are we asking for when we pray:

NKJ Matthew 6:10a "Your kingdom come…."

What does Jesus mean when He says that we should pray that God's kingdom would come? Obviously Jesus does not take the time to answer this question when He gives the prayer as a model for us. So it would seem best to examine other passages in which Jesus and the Apostles taught about the Kingdom in order to answer it. After all, we do want to pray this prayer with understanding, don't we?

Now, as we have seen in previous messages, the Kingdom has both a present and a future aspect. It is present now and manifested through the Church and the preaching of the Gospel, but it has not yet come in its fullness. This awaits the return of Christ and ultimately the New Heavens and the New Earth. However, it does not seem that Jesus restricts this petition to only one of these two aspects of the Kingdom. So, keeping both the present and future aspects in mind, we will examine a number of passages this morning to see if we can't get a better idea about just what we are praying for when we pray, “Your kingdom come.”
We will examine 1) a number of Biblical passages that describe the Kingdom as not yet come, and then 2) a number of passages that describe the Kingdom as having already come.

I. The Kingdom Not Yet Come

Let's consider a number of passages which speak of the Kingdom as future:

NKJ Matthew 13:41-43 “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Application: So, when we are praying “Your kingdom come,” we are praying for Jesus to come in judgment, to manifest His just rule and to bring believers into the Kingdom of their Father.

NKJ Matthew 25:31-34 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world....'”

Application: So, we are praying that God's plan from before the foundation of the world will be accomplished, and we are aligning our hearts with His eternal purpose!

NKJ Acts 14:21-22 “And when they [Paul and Barnabas] had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.'”

Application: We are praying with the understanding that the coming of His Kingdom may bring with it many sufferings. And we are putting His Kingdom before our own comfort.

NKJ 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed -- 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory.' 55 'O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?'”

Application: So, when we pray “Your kingdom come,” we are praying for our new resurrection bodies and for the last enemy – death – to be conquered.

NKJ 2 Timothy 4:18 “And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!”

Application: We are praying with confidence that the Lord will preserve us for His Kingdom for His own glory.

NKJ Revelation 5:9-10 “And they sang a new song, saying: 'You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.'”

Or, as the ESV and NASB read, “have made a kingdom and priests to our God.”

Application: So, we are praying that people from every people group all over the world will come to know Christ as their Savior and Lord.

NKJ Revelation 12:7-10 “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 'Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.'”

Application: We are praying for the ultimate defeat of Satan and his minions.

II. The Kingdom Already Come

Let's consider a number of passages which speak of the Kingdom as present:

NKJ Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'”

Application: So, when we pray “Your kingdom come,” we are praying for repentance, not only for ourselves but for all who hear the Gospel. For it is only through repentance and faith that we experience His Kingdom as already come.

NKJ Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Application: When we sincerely pray, “Your kingdom come,” we are praying from and for a deep sense of humility and utter dependence upon God, not only in ourselves but in all who hear the Gospel.

NKJ Matthew 6:31-33 “Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Application: We are expressing in prayer a commitment to the Kingdom that comes first in our hearts and lives. This is no doubt why Jesus tells us to pray for God's Kingdom to come before we pray for our daily bread! His Kingdom is more important than our lives!

NKJ Matthew 12:28 “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Application: We are praying that the power of the Kingdom will be manifested through spiritual victory over Satan and his demonic legions now!

NKJ Luke 9:62 “But Jesus said to him, 'No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'”

Application: Again, when we pray “Your kingdom come” with understanding and sincerity, we are expressing our commitment to the Kingdom – a commitment that demands perseverance (and trusts God for it, as we earlier saw in Paul's example in 2 Timothy 4:18).

NKJ Luke 17:20-21 “Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, 'The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst.'” (My translation.)

Application: We are praying with the understanding that many will not see His Kingdom because they are constantly looking for the wrong thing and refuse to believe. But we are praying that His Kingdom will come despite such opposition and that many will be enabled to see His Kingdom is even now in their midst.

NKJ Romans 14:17 “...for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Application: So, we are praying for righteousness and peace and joy to be experienced and seen in the Church through the powerful working of the Holy Spirit.

NKJ Colossians 1:13 “[God] has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love....”

Application: When we pray “Your kingdom come,” we should be recognizing that it is only by God's power and grace that we have come into His Kingdom, and that many others throughout the world will also experience this power and grace through faith in Christ.

Conclusion: I hope seen in Scripture that to be a Christian is to be a part of God's Kingdom now. It is to having a consuming desire that His Kingdom would advance in this world through the preaching of the Gospel and the salvation of others. And it is to be filled with a longing for the ultimate coming of His Kingdom in the future return of Christ and in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

Wrap-around: But is this really true of us as it should be? What is it that we pray for most often? What is it that we communicate through our lives most clearly to others? Can others see through our lives who our King really is? Or would they think that we – like the ancient Israelites who rejected God as their King – want a king like the rest of the world has? That the master we desire is no different from the idols of personal peace and affluence that they themselves worship? Do we say that we want God as our King but live as though we wish He were not? Let us pray that such is not now the case and that it never will be the case! Let us pray passionately, “Your kingdom come!”

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About the Reformed Baptist View of Baptism

Stan Reeves, an elder at Grace Heritage Church in Auburn, Alabama, has written a helpful paper entitled FAQ on the Reformed Baptist View of Baptism. He offers brief, clear answers to a number of common questions about how we understand baptism according to Scripture. Here is the list of commonly asked questions for which he seeks to provide answers:

1. What books present the Reformed Baptist view of baptism?

2. What readily available short works present the Reformed Baptist view of baptism?

3. Considering that Old Testament believers were commanded to place the sign of the covenant upon their infant children, why do we not have clear explanations in the New Testament that this pattern of infant inclusion has been abrogated?

4. Doesn't Acts 2:39 indicate a continuation of the principle of including children under the new covenant?

5. Does the Reformed Baptist view prevent us from embracing God's promise to be a God to our children?

6. Is the sacrament of baptism a means of grace according to Reformed Baptist theology?

7. How can baptism be a means of grace in Baptist theology when Baptists assert that a person must already be saved to be eligible for baptism?

8. Doesn't I Cor. 7:14 teach that children of believers are covenantally set apart and thus eligible for baptism?

If you have ever had some of these same questions, you may want to check out Stan's paper here.

Free Audio Download of J. Gresham Machen's Christianity and Liberalism

ReformedAudio.org is offering a free audio download of J. Gresham Machen's important, classic work Christianity and Liberalism. You have the option of either listening online or downloading the file for each chapter to your computer.

You may also want to check out other free downloads from the site, which include selections from such works as John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion, Jeremiah Burroughs' The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, J. C. Ryle's The Duties of Christian Parents, and John Frame's The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God.

e-Sword Updated From 9.6 to 9.7

e-Sword, what I recommend as the best free Bible study software program, has been updated from version 9.6 to version 9.7. Here is the description of the update from the e-Sword website:

The editors have been broken out into their own view and are no longer located in the Commentary view. Also, a new Journal Notes editor has been added to the Editor view to join the Study Notes and Topic Notes!

You can now Search the Bibles and other modules using Regular Expressions (REGEX). While a bit complicated for typical use, this functionality adds powerful searching capabilities when that might be needed.

Inline notes and cross-references are now possible in Bible modules. The NASB Study Set has been updated to take advantage of this new functionality.

If you haven't already tried e-Sword, I suggest you check it out.

Jesus' Model Prayer: The First Petition

In this post I am continuing a series on the Lord's Prayer. What follows are my teaching notes on the text in Matthew. I hope the blog's readers will find it helpful.

Introduction: Quote: William Shakespeare once wrote:

Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
("Othello", Act 3 scene 3).

Shakespeare hit upon something that is regarded as virtually universally true, namely that a person's name and his reputation are intertwined. What one thinks when he hears or uses a man's name, he thinks of the man himself. This is true also of God, and this is why Jesus teaches us to pray:

NKJ Matthew 6:9b "Hallowed be Your name."

In attempting to better understand this petition, we will seek to answer two questions: 1) What does it mean to hallow His name? and 2) Who do we pray shall hallow His name?

I. What Does it Mean to Hallow His Name?

[1] Hallowed be – Greek hagiázō = “make holy, consecrate, sanctify; (1) of things set apart for sacred purposes consecrate, dedicate (MT 23.19); (2) of God's name treat as holy, revere (MT6.9)” (Friberg Greek Lexicon #212, BibleWorks).

So, the point isn't that we make God's name holy, but that we revere it as holy, that we acknowledge it as the holy name that it already is. His name is holy because He is holy, and we properly acknowledge His holiness when we desire every day to see His name acknowledged as holy. so then, this is just another way of saying that we should acknowledge Him for who He really is. When we want to see God's name honored and sanctified before others, it is because we want Him to be so honored. This is why the Apostle Peter tells us that we need to be ready to give a defense for our faith in God:

NKJ 1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear....” (Italics mine.)

To sanctify God in our hearts is simply to recognize who He truly is as a holy and sovereign God and to honor Him as such in our hearts. For, if we do not honor Him this way in our hearts, we will never do so before others. This is assumed by Peter, and it is something that even the most mature and godly believers can sometimes fail to do. Consider, for example, the case of Moses when the people of Israel complained that they had no water:

NKJ Numbers 20:7-12 “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 8 'Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.' 9 So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, 'Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?' 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. 12 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.'” (Italics mine.)

I submit to you that if Moses could fail to hallow God before the people of Israel, then we too can fail to hallow God before others! No wonder Jesus wants our first petition – our first thought in prayer – to be that God's name be hallowed. He knows that we need to make this the focus of our hearts first thing every day. And He knows that we are not ready to call out to God in prayer unless this is our primary aim.

[2] Your name – In this context the only way Jesus has told us to address God is as “our Father” (vs.9a), so we can assume that we definitely want Him to be hallowed as such. But when God's name – or one of His many names – is referred to in Scripture, it is a way of revealing something about who He is. For example:

1) NKJ Exodus 3:14 “And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”'”

Here God tells Moses the meaning of His proper name, Yahweh, although there are a number of other names by which He also revealed Himself. This name reveals that He is the self-existent One. He is thus sovereign creator of all else that exists. So, when we pray that His name will be hallowed, we are praying that He will be acknowledged as such.

2) NKJ Exodus 33:19 “Then He said, 'I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.'”

God's name identifies Him as the gracious and compassionate One. So, again, when we pray that His name will be hallowed, we are praying that He will be acknowledged as such.

3) NKJ Exodus 34:14 “...for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God....”

God's name reveals that He will not share His glory with another and that He is justly angered when we give to another the honor and worship that is due to Him alone. When we pray that His name will be hallowed, then, we are praying that He will be worshiped as the only true God, aren't we?

Quote: John Stott has done a good job of summarizing the matter (The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, p.147):

The name of God is not a combination of the letters G, O, and D. The name stands for the person who bears it, for his character and activity. So God's 'name' is God himself as he is in himself and has revealed himself. His name is already 'holy' in that it is separate from and exalted over every other name. But we pray that it might be hallowed, 'treated as holy', because we ardently desire that due honour may be given to it, that is to him whose name it is, in our own lives, in the church and in the world.

Quote: Chip Bell has also given a good, brief explanation of Jesus' meaning here (“The Paternoster - A Model Prayer Matthew 6:9-15,” Bible.org):

When we speak of God’s name, what we really mean is God himself. So this first request is a longing to see God treated as special, to see him recognized as God and treated as only God deserves to be treated.

There are two separate aspects to this request: one in the present and one in the future. There will be a time when God is finally treated as holy by all of creation. That’s way in the future. Partly this prayer is longing for that day to come when everyone in the world recognizes and honors God. But there is also a present aspect. This is a prayer that right now, among us, more and more people would recognize who God is and begin to treat him the way only God deserves to be treated.

This leads us to our next question ….

II. Who Do We Pray Shall Hallow His Name?

Notice that when Jesus teaches us to pray, “hallowed be Your name,” He does not restrict this in any way. For example, He does not limit the request to “hallowed be your name in me,” or “hallowed be Your name in the Church.”

In addition to the general nature of the petition, the following petitions also indicate that we are to desire that God's name be hallowed by all people everywhere, for Jesus says immediately following this that we should pray that His kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10).

I would suggest to you that we simply cannot desire that God's name be hallowed in our own lives without wanting this to be true of everyone else as well. How, after all, can we sincerely desire that God be honored and yet not be bothered at all that so many dishonor Him!?

Let's consider some Scriptural examples that demonstrate what hallowing God's name looks like. We will focus our attention upon the Psalms. As we do so, we will see how the people of God associated worshiping Him with praising and honoring His name. These examples will also demonstrate not only a desire that God be hallowed in the life of the individual believer, but also in the lives of others and throughout the earth:

NKJ Psalm 7:17 “I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.”

NKJ Psalm 18:49 “Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles [nations], and sing praises to Your name.”

NKJ Psalm 22:22 “I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You.”

NKJ Psalm 23:3 “He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.”

NKJ Psalm 25:11 “For Your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.”

NKJ Psalm 31:3 “For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name's sake, lead me and guide me.”

NKJ Psalm 63:3-5 “Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. 4 Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.”

NKJ Psalm 66:1-2 “Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! 2 Sing out the honor of His name; make His praise glorious.”

NKJ Psalm 72:18-19 “Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things! 19 And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.”

NKJ Psalm 79:9 “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; and deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, for Your name's sake!”

NKJ Psalm 80:17-19 “Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. 18 Then we will not turn back from You; revive us, and we will call upon Your name. 19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!”

We should also remember that Jesus Himself demonstrated a consuming desire that the Father's name be glorified:

NKJ John 12:27-28 “'Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? “Father, save Me from this hour”? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.' Then a voice came from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.'”

Conclusion: Many examples could be given, but I hope we have all seen that Jesus is not really teaching a new concept. He is teaching us to pray as all true believers have always prayed. And He expects us to have the same desire for God's glory that all true believers have always had. Indeed, he wants us to have the same all-consuming desire that He has for the Lord's name to be hallowed among the nations.

Application Question: Does this desire express itself in your prayer life? Does a desire for His glory eclipse all other desires so that it is the first petition of your prayers? If not, then you should definitely begin to follow Jesus' direction for payer in this passage.

Jesus' Model Prayer: The Opening Address

Back in February I posted a teaching outline on Jesus' model prayer contained in Matthew 6:9-13. In it I presented an overview of the Lord's Prayer and examined some lessons we could learn from the context and overall content and structure of the prayer. This outline was well received and the post has consistently been in the top ten posts read by visitors to the blog. So I have decided to offer a series of teaching outlines that take a closer look the prayer. I will follow the original overall outline point by point for each post in the series. In this post, we will focus our attention upon the opening address of the prayer.

Introduction

Illustration: We often address others in a way that demonstrates respect for them. For example, when I was in the U.S. Navy, I and my fellow sailors were always required to address officers as “Sir.” But we discovered that it was sometimes difficult to call certain officers “Sir” if they were not very easy to respect because of their actions or attitudes.

Another example would be the way most parents expect their children to address them with respect and thus do not allow them to call them by their first names. They do not think that such a collegial manner of address would properly express the kind of respect children should have for parents.

This is because the way we address someone often indicates what we think of them. So it is with God. How we address Him, and what is in our hearts when we address Him, reflects what we think of Him. This is why it is appropriate for us to spend some time here focusing our attention upon how Jesus taught us to address God in prayer.

NKJ Matthew 6:9b "Our Father in heaven ...."

There are three observations to be made about this opening address, namely 1) that God is our Father, 2) that God is Our Father, and 3) that God is our Father in Heaven.

I. God is our Father

Addressing God as our Father in this way is definitely a new emphasis that came with Jesus' teaching.

Quote: As D.A. Carson correctly notes (EBC, Vol.8. p.169):

The fatherhood of God is not a central theme in the OT. Where "father" does occur with respect to God, it is commonly by way of analogy, not direct address (Deut 32:6; Ps 103:13; Isa 63:16; Mal 2:10).... [N]ot till Jesus is it characteristic to address God as "Father" (Jeremias, Prayers, pp. 11ff.). This can only be understood against the background of customary patterns for addressing God.

The overwhelming tendency in Jewish circles was to multiply titles ascribing sovereignty, lordship, glory, grace, and the like to God (cf. Carson, Divine Sovereignty pp. 45ff.). Against such a background, Jesus' habit of addressing God as his own Father (Mark 14:36) and teaching his disciples to do the same could only appear familiar and presumptuous to opponents, personal and gracious to followers.

 So, Jesus brought a new emphasis upon God as our Father, but it is also noteworthy that He did so using a particular word for father that stressed the intimacy of our relationship with Him as such.

Quote: From the NET Bible notes:

13sn God is addressed in terms of intimacy (Father). The original Semitic term here was probably Abba. The term is a little unusual in a personal prayer, especially as it lacks qualification. It is not the exact equivalent of “daddy” (as is sometimes popularly suggested), but it does suggest a close, familial relationship.

I agree that the term most often used by Jesus with respect to our heavenly Father would have been the Aramaic word abba. I think this is a certainty given Mark 14:36 and the later teaching of the Apostles, who derived great comfort and confidence from this term of affection for God and its implications for our relationship with Him. For example, Paul wrote:

NKJ Romans 8:14-16 “14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God....”

Illustration: From 2000+ Bible Illustrations (e-Sword):

A missionary was teaching a Hindu woman the Lord's Prayer. When he got to the end of the first clause, "Our Father which art in heaven," she stopped him. "If God is our Father," she said, "that is enough. There is nothing now to fear."

Application: When we feel the strong desire to call out to God as our Father, and to love Him as His children, it is evidence that we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts and truly are His children by adoption. Sometimes we may struggle to obey the Father's will and to follow the Spirit's leading, but if we still possess a deep desire in our hearts to call out to Him as our dear Father in Christ, then that is the Spirit's witness to us that casts out fear. This is an important way in which the Holy Spirit brings us comfort.

NKJ Galatians 4:6-7 “6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

Application: So the fact that we may cry out to God as “Abba, Father” also reminds us that we are His heirs, and that a great inheritance awaits us in Heaven!

But the fact that God is our Father also reminds us of His love for us:

NKJ 1 John 3:1a “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”

Because God loves us as a father, His love for us precedes our love for Him.

Illustration: For example, when my own children were born, I already loved them. And their love for me has always been a response to my love for them. So it is with our Father's love for us:

NKJ 1 John 4:19 “We love Him because He first loved us.”

Now, getting back to the use of the term abba, I have already stated my agreement with the NET Bible translators that it is the word that Jesus would have commonly used. But I also agree that our word “daddy” may be a bit too familiar a term to adequately capture the nuance of the Aramaic word abba – even if it is a similar word in the kind of affection it denotes. You see, it does communicate the kind of affection that our word daddy denotes, but it also carries with it a note of great respect that may sometimes be lost in our use of the word daddy. So, we are to remember that we can and should approach Him just as a little child affectionately approaches his Father, calling him “daddy,” but we are never to forget that He is a holy Father (more on this below), as Jesus also demonstrates through His own example:

NKJ John 17:11 “Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.” (Italics mine.)

II. God is Our Father

When Jesus says that we should address God as our Father, He is not just giving us a model prayer for corporate praying. He is also reminding us that we must always remember as we pray that we are a part of a family that includes many brothers and sisters in Christ, all of whom address the Lord as their Father.

Application: 1) We must avoid both the rampant individualism and the selfishness of our culture, in which one's own personal peace and affluence have become the primary concern. 2) We must remember that our relationship with God breaks down the barriers that we so often have with others, including ethnic barriers:

NKJ Galatians 3:26-28 “26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

NKJ Revelation 5:9-10 “9 And they sang a new song, saying: 'You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.'”

Daily calling out to God as our Father should remind us of this important aspect of our lives as Christians.

III. God is our Father in Heaven

This phrase reminds us of at least two things:

1) That God is transcendent.

Quote: William Hendriksen is insightful here (Baker New Testament Commentary, e-Sword):

Note also the combination of immanence and transcendence, of condescension and majesty. “Our Father” indicates his nearness. He is near to all his children, infinitely near. Therefore with confidence they approach the Father’s throne, to make all their wants and wishes known to him, that is, all those that are in harmony with his revealed will. They need not be afraid, for God is their Father who loves them. Yet, he is the Father in heaven (literally “in the heavens”). Therefore, he should be approached in the spirit of devout and humble reverence.... Also, whereas the words “Our Father” indicate God’s willingness and eagerness to lend his ear to the praises and petitions of his children, the addition “who art in heaven” shows his power and sovereign right to answer their requests, disposing of them according to his infinite wisdom.

2) That Heaven is our real home.

Recall the words of the Apostle Paul:

NKJ Philippians 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ....”

I think Jesus wants us to think of the same thing when He teaches us address God daily as our Father in Heaven.

Conclusion

Application: In closing, I want to suggest a couple of ways that it seems Christians today may struggle with addressing God as Father:

1) Some may have allowed themselves to become too familiar in addressing God. They are so used to addressing God as Father that they have lost their sense of wonder that it is the all-powerful, all-present, all-knowing, sovereign God of the universe that they are addressing!

Quote: William Hendriksen is again helpful here (BNTC, e-Sword):

The chumminess or easy familiarity that marks a certain type of present day “religion” is definitely antiscriptural. Those who indulge in this bad habit seem never to have read Exod. 3:5; Isa. 6:1–5; or Acts 4:24!

Quote: Or as D.A. Carson correctly notes (EBC, Vol.8. p.169):

Unfortunately, many modern Christians find it very difficult to delight in the privilege of addressing the Sovereign of the universe as "Father" because they have lost the heritage that emphasizes God's transcendence.

2) On the other hand, some may struggle to call God their Father because they have been so disappointed by their earthly fathers. Many who have come from broken homes or who have had abusive or unloving fathers may experience difficulty here.

Illustration: In my my own experience of having come from a broken home, I found it difficult as I grew up to believe that my own earthly father truly loved me. Since then, however, I have learned much about what the love of a father is by experiencing it in my own heart toward my children. But most importantly – before I ever had any children of my own – I learned what a father's love is like from my heavenly Father's love for me! And I can assure you that, if we struggle to understand a father's love because we have never really experienced it from our earthly fathers, then we need to learn from our heavenly Father what such love is really like, because He can show it to us as no other ever could! Let us begin by calling out to Him daily as Jesus teaches us to do, as "our Father in heaven."

Some Helpful Thoughts About Worship

Yesterday Rick Schupp, Pastor at the Amman International Church (AIC), commented on a series the elders at the church have begun on worship. You may read his thoughts at his blog, A Voice in the Desert, in a post entitled A Recipe for Worship. Here is a brief preview offering some Biblical perspective on worship:

We are in the middle of a series of messages on worship at AIC. (I encourage you to listen to the first two if you haven’t already. Links to the podcasts are available at http://www.ammanchurch.org/) Worship is defined in so many ways – many of which are not helpful. Jeff Townsend [a fellow-elder at AIC] suggested a great definition of worship this past Saturday. He said: “Worship is the heart response to the supreme worth of God, expressed in all we say, think or do.”

That definition may seem too broad to some. There has been a tendency to define “worship” as singing or the singing portion of a church service. Certainly music and song can be worship. But the New Testament specifically and the Bible as a whole seem to have something bigger in mind. Worship is our whole-life response to God. He is our creator and sustainer. He is our Lord and redeemer. He is our rock and our fortress.

Paul wrote in Romans 12:1, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Some translations say “reasonable worship” instead of “spiritual worship”. Paul’s point is that in light of all God has done for us in showing mercy through the cross, the only reasonable, spiritual thing we could possibly do is offer ourselves back to him. All we are and all we will become…everything…should be offered to him. Our heart response should be to offer our lives to him who gave his life for us.

I am glad to see that Rick has entered the blogosphere, and I recommend reading his blog on a regular basis.

Reformed Baptist Blog Will Now Offer Updates Via Twitter

Back in July I announced that I will personally be active on Twitter, but now I have also added the Reformed Baptist Blog feed to my Twitter account, so it should be an additional way to stay updated on the latest blog posts. This post is not only an announcement of this new feature but also a test to see if it works. 

If you want to follow the blog on Twitter, you can check the "Follow Me" button on the right panel of this blog.

Themelios - A Free International Evangelical Theological Journal

"Themelios is an international evangelical theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith." This is the opening line of the description of the journal at the Gospel Coalition website. Many of you may already be familiar with this journal -- at least to some extent -- if you have had some bible college or seminary studies and had to research and write papers. But for those who may not be familiar with it, here is the description from the website:

Themelios is an international evangelical theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith. Its primary audience is theological students and pastors, though scholars read it as well. It was formerly a print journal operated by RTSF/UCCF in the UK, and it became a digital journal operated by The Gospel Coalition in 2008.

Themelios is published three times a year exclusively online at The Gospel Coalition. It is presented in three formats:

iPaper (a Flash-based interface that allows flexible viewing without requiring you to download the document)

PDF (for downloading and citing pagination)

HTML (for greater accessibility, usability, and infiltration in search engines)

Themelios is copyrighted by The Gospel Coalition. Readers are free to use it and circulate it in digital form without further permission (any print use requires further written permission), but they must acknowledge the source and, of course, not change the content.

D.A Carson currently serves as the General Editor of the journal. Past contributors include a wide variety of scholars such as D.A. Carson, J.I. Packer, John Stott, Gordan Wenham, Richard Bauckham, Gerald Bray, Craig Blomberg, Geoffrey Bromiley, I. Howard Marshall, Richard Mouw, Michael Homes, etc. As you can see, there is a pretty eclectic group of scholars, and many of them would not hold to Calvinistic, Covenantal, or Baptist views. But it is still worth checking out.

All the issues since 1975 are freely available for download and reading here. See what you think.

Watch a Biography of America For Free

Since tomorrow we will celebrate our countriy's birthday, I thought I would share with you a free series I found our about. It is called A Biography of America and involves a number of leading historians discussing and explaining the various periods in the development and history of America.

Each roughly half-hour episode includes a clickable link for key events, maps, transcripts, and a full video. Here is a listing of all 26 episodes:

1.NEW WORLD ENCOUNTERS: THE BEGINNINGS OF AMERICA

Professor Donald Miller introduces A Biography of America and its team of historians. The program looks at the beginnings of American history from west to east, following the first Ice Age migrations through the corn civilizations of Middle America, and the explorations of Columbus, DeSoto, and the Spanish.

2.ENGLISH SETTLEMENT: NEW ENGLAND AND VIRGINIA

As the American character begins to take shape in the early 17th century, English settlements with dramatically different personalities develop in New England and Virginia. Professor Miller explores the origins of values, cultures, and economies that have collided in the North and South throughout the American story.

3.GROWTH AND EMPIRE: THE BEST POOR MAN'S COUNTRY

Benjamin Franklin and Franklin's Philadelphia take center stage in this program. As the merchant class grows in the North, the economies of southern colonies are built on the shoulders of the slave trade. Professor Miller brings the American story to 1763 with the Peace of Paris and English dominance in America.

4.THE COMING OF INDEPENDENCE

Professor Maier tells the story of how the English-loving colonist transforms into the freedom-loving American rebel. The luminaries of the early days of the Republic -- Washington, Jefferson, Adams -- are featured in this program as they craft the Declaration of Independence and wage the war for freedom from British rule.

5.A NEW SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT

After the War for Independence, the struggle for a new system of government begins. Professor Maier looks at the creation of the Constitution of the United States. The Republic survives a series of threats to its union, and the program ends with the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson on the Fourth of July, 1826.

6.WESTWARD EXPANSION: THE EMPIRE OF LIBERTY

At the dawn of the 19th Century, the size of the United States doubles with the Louisiana Purchase. The Appalachians are no longer the barrier to American migration west; the Mississippi River becomes the country's central artery; and Jefferson's vision of an Empire of Liberty begins to take shape. American historian Stephen Ambrose joins Professors Maier and Miller in examining the consequences of the Louisiana Purchase-for the North, the South, and the history of the country.

7.THE RISE OF CAPITALISM: THE UNSEEN HAND

Individual enterprise merges with technological innovation to launch the Commercial Revolution — the seedbed of American industry. The program features the ideas of Adam Smith, the efforts of entrepreneurs in New England and Chicago, the Lowell Mills Experiment, and the engineering feats involved in Chicago's early transformation from marsh to metropolis.

8.THE REFORM IMPULSE: RELIGION AND INDIVIDUALISM

The Industrial Revolution has its dark side, and the tumultuous events of the period touch off intense and often thrilling reform movements. Professor Masur presents the ideas and characters behind the Second Great Awakening, the abolitionist movement, the women's movement, and a powerful wave of religious fervor.

9.SLAVERY: THE SOUTH AND SLAVE CULTURE

Professor Donald Miller introduces A Biography of America and its team of historians. The program looks at the beginnings of American history from west to east, following the first Ice Age migrations through the corn civilizations of Middle America, and the explorations of Columbus, DeSoto, and the Spanish.

10.THE COMING OF THE CIVIL WAR

Simmering regional differences ignite an all-out crisis in the 1850s. Professor Martin teams with Professor Miller and historian Stephen Ambrose to chart the succession of incidents, from "Bloody Kansas" to the shots on Fort Sumter, that inflame the conflict between North and South to the point of civil war.

11.THE CIVIL WAR: VICKSBURG

As the Civil War rages, all eyes turn to Vicksburg, where limited war becomes total war. Professor Miller looks at the ferocity of the fighting, at Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and the bitter legacy of the battle"and the war.

12.RECONSTRUCTION

Professor Miller begins the program by evoking in word and image the battlefield after the Battle of Gettysburg. With the assassination of President Lincoln, one sad chapter of American history comes to a close. In the fatigue and cynicism of the Civil War's aftermath, Reconstructionism becomes a promise unfulfilled.

13.AMERICA AT ITS CENTENNIAL: THE REVOLUTION BETRAYED

As America celebrates its centennial, five million people descend on Philadelphia to celebrate America's technological achievements"but some of the early principles of the Republic remain unrealized. Professor Miller and his team of historians examine where America is in 1876 and discuss the question of race.

14.INDUSTRIAL SUPREMACY

Steel and stockyards are featured in this program as the mighty engine of industrialism thunders forward at the end of the 19th century. Professor Miller continues the story of the American Industrial Revolution in New York and Chicago, looking at the lives of Andrew Carnegie, Gustavus Swift, and the countless workers in the packinghouse and on the factory floor.

15.THE NEW CITY: PLANNED ORDER AND MESSY VITALITY

Professor Miller explores the tension between the messy vitality of cities that grow on their own and those where orderly growth is planned. Chicago"with Hull House, the World's Columbian Exposition, the new female workforce, the skyscraper, the department store, and unfettered capitalism"is the place to watch a new world in the making at the turn of the century.

16.THE WEST

Professor Scharff continues the story of Jefferson's Empire of Liberty. Railroads and ranchers, rabble-rousers and racists populate America's distant frontiers, and Native Americans are displaced from their homelands. Feminists gain a foothold in their fight for the right to vote, while farmers organize and the Populist Party appears on the American political landscape.

17.CAPITAL AND LABOR

The making of money pits laborers against the forces of capital as the 20th century opens. Professor Miller introduces the miner as the quintessential laborer of the period"working under grueling conditions, organizing into unions, and making a stand against the reigning money man of the day, J. Pierpont Morgan.

18.TR AND WILSON: TWO FACES OF POWER

Professor Brinkley compares the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson"the Warrior and the Minister"in the first decades of the 20th century. Professor Miller discusses American socialism, Eugene Debs, international communism, and the roots of the Cold War with Professor Brinkley.

19.A VITAL PROGRESSIVISM

Professor Martin offers a fresh perspective on Progressivism, arguing that its spirit can be best seen in the daily struggle of ordinary people. In a discussion with professors Scharff and Miller, the struggles of Native Americans, Asian Americans, and African Americans are placed in the context of the traditional white Progressive movement.

20.THE TWENTIES: THE TENSIONS OF PROSPERITY

The Roaring Twenties take to the road in Henry Ford's landscape- altering invention-the Model T. Ford's moving assembly line, the emergence of a consumer culture, and the culmination of forces let loose by these entities in Los Angeles are explored by Professor Miller.

21.FDR AND THE DEPRESSION

Professor Brinkley continues his story of 20th-century presidents with a profile of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Brinkley paints a picture of America during the Depression and chronicles some of Roosevelt's programmatic and personal efforts to help the country through its worst economic crisis. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt is at FDR's side and, in many respects, ahead of him as the decade unfolds.

22.WORLD WAR II: TOTAL WAR

America is enveloped in total war, from mobilization on the home front to a scorching air war in Europe. Professor Miller's view of World War II is a personal essay on the morality of total war, and its effects on those who fought, died, and survived it, including members of his own family.

23.THE FIFTIES: FROM WAR TO NORMALCY

World War II is fought to its bitter end in the Pacific and the world lives with the legacy of its final moment: the atomic bomb. Professor Miller continues the story as veterans return from the war and create new lives for themselves in the '50s. The GI Bill, Levittown, civil rights, the Cold War, and rock 'n roll are discussed.

24.THE SIXTIES

Professor Scharff weaves the story of the Civil Rights movement with stories of the Vietnam War and Watergate to create a portrait of a decade. Lyndon Johnson emerges as a pivotal character, along with Stokely Carmichael, Fanny Lou Hamer, and other luminaries of the era.

25.CONTEMPORARY HISTORY: CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT 1972

The entire team of historians joins Professor Miller in examining the last quarter of the 20th century. A montage of events opens the program and sets the stage for a discussion of the period-and of the difficulty of examining contemporary history with true historical perspective. Television critic John Leonard offers a footnote about the impact of television on the way we experience recent events.

26.THE REDEMPTIVE IMAGINATION STORY, MEMORY, AND IDEN

Storytelling is a relentless human urge and its power forges with memory to become the foundation of history. Novelists Charles Johnson (Middle Passage), Arthur Golden (Memoirs of a Geisha), and Esmeralda Santiago (America's Dream) join Professor Miller in discussing the intersection of history and story. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., closes the series with a reflection on the power of the human imagination.
I hope you enjoy the fourth of July holiday this year.

Now, as with any discussion of American history, one is going to encounter potential biases in the historians doing the work, but this series should still be helpful if you keep on your critical thinking cap while you read and watch. You can see them all here.

I hope you enjoy your fourth of July holiday!

Christians Unjustly Arrested in Dearborn, Michigan

The description of the video at Godtube reads:

These Christian missionaries were exercising their constitutional rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion, but apparently the Constitution carries little weight in Dearborn, where the Muslim population seems to dominate the political apparatus.

Somehow I don't think we've seen the last of such things.

Update 25 June 2010




This is a video of an interview on FOX News of two of the men who were arrested, along with their lawyer.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Confronts Two Current Errors About Church and Family

Before we consider the two errors I have in mind, it is appropriate first to briefly consider the meaning of the Jeremiah text, in which God promised through the prophet Jeremiah that He would one day establish a New Covenant with His people, a promise which found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ:

NKJ Jeremiah 31:31-32 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah -- 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.”

Here the Lord says that the New Covenant will be different than the Old Covenant which the the people of Israel broke, and He implies that the difference will be that it will be an unbreakable covenant. That this is so – and how it is so – becomes clear in the following verses:

NKJ Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

The New Covenant will not be like the old, breakable covenant because God will ensure that those who participate in the New Covenant have the law within their hearts. Indeed, there will be no one who has partaken of the New Covenant who does not have a new heart. Ezekiel put it this way:

NKJ Ezekiel 36:26-27 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

So we can have assurance that we will be preserved in covenant faithfulness such that we will never lose the blessings of the New Covenant, and this will come about through the gift of the Holy Spirit and the transformation of our hearts. But there is more:

NKJ Jeremiah 31:34 “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

There are two New Covenant blessings mentioned here:

First, unlike the Old Covenant, everyone who is a member of the New Covenant community knows the Lord.

Second, unlike the Old Covenant, everyone who is a member of the New Covenant has his sins forgiven.

It is clear that when God says that all in the New Covenant will know Him, He does not just mean that they will know about Him, but rather that they will have a personal relationship with Him as believers who have been forgiven by Him. Nevertheless, there are two current errors that deny this fundamental teaching, either expressly or by implication.

The Error That the New Covenant Church is Made Up of Believers and Their Children

The first error is held – and has been held for centuries – by our Presbyterian brethren. This is the error that teaches that, like the Old Covenant community, the New Covenant community is made up not only of believers, but of believers and their children. This means that the New Covenant Church includes unbelievers and covenant breakers. But the problem with this view is that is treats the New Covenant like the Old Covenant in the precisely the way in which God said it would be different! For He clearly indicated that the New Covenant would differ from the Old in that it would be an unbreakable covenant consisting only of those who truly know Him.

Now, I certainly do think we may have hope that children born to believers may indeed come to faith in Christ and thus become a part of the New Covenant community. But there is no such promise in Scripture. All we can do is pray for our children who have not yet come to know Christ and continue to lovingly share the Gospel with them, with the hope that God in His providence has placed them in our families for this very purpose.

The Error That the New Covenant Church is a Family of Families

The second error is held by a small but growing minority of our Baptist brethren, even by some who would call themselves Reformed Baptists. This error is remarkably similar to the previous one and teaches that the local church should be viewed as a “family of families.” But the problem with this view is that, as with the previous view, the Church is viewed as being like the Old Covenant community in the inclusion of our children, whether or not our children are believers.

Now, some who describe the church this way would definitely not want to agree with the implications of the Presbyterian view. For example, Voddie Baucham has sought to distance himself from some of the errors associated with the "family of families" concept, here and here. He admits that the phrase is potentially problematic, and he is forthright about the way the terminology may lead or has led some to wrongly conclude that it is an attempt to describe the nature, rather than the ministry, of the church. However, even though he admits that this terminology – terminology which he and his church have helped to promote – is "enigmatic," I think he fails to see how much the terminology has been taken by many common advocates of the Family-Integrated Church Movement (FICM) themselves as descriptive of the nature of the Church, his own belated protestations notwithstanding.

In addition, Scott Brown, another man who has done much to advance the "family of families" view of the church, has posted a series of articles responding to Reformed Baptist objections to this terminology. One of these articles is entitled The Church is a "Family of Families" -- Part 5 and is subtitled "What have we learned from this controversy over 'Family of Families'?" In this article Brown speaks to the way he believes FICM advocates have often been misunderstood and of the way the National Center For Family Integrated Churches (NCIFC) will make use of the phrase "family of families" in the future. Although he says that it no longer appears in current NCFIC literature and has been removed from their core document, "A Biblical Confession for Uniting Church and Family," he also states that, "We have no intention to abandon the use of the phrase or the concept behind it. It is a very important principle that undergirds a biblical understanding of church and family life."

Thus while Brown obviously sees that the phrase "family of families" has been problematic when used as a descriptive term for the Church, so much so that it has been removed from all of the NCFIC literature, he nevertheless thinks that there is no need to abandon use of the phrase among FICM advocates.

 

So we have a situation in which two of the leading voices of the FICM recognize the problem with the "family of families" terminology, but sadly neither are really willing to stop using it. I find this deeply troubling, since the phrase is clearly not just problematic because it leads guys like me to misunderstand them as making a statement about the nature of the Church when they really don't intend to do so, as Baucham suggests in the defense posted above. Rather it leads to problems among FICM advocates themselves, a number of whom I have encountered in pastoral ministry and who have clearly seen the term "family of families" as describing the nature of the Church. And, frankly, I can understand why they have thought so, since this is a hard conclusion to avoid given the nature and grammar of the phrase when tacked onto the sentence "The Church is." Thus, when they have consistently heard the motto, "The Church is a family of families," how does it not sound like an expression about the nature of the Church? And how, by the way, was such a problem with the language not foreseeable? I think we all know how a slogan can take on a life of its own, and this one has definitely done so.

In addition there is often a strong, consistent, and Biblically unbalanced emphasis among FICM advocates upon the biological family that eclipses any emphasis upon the Church as a spiritual family, an emphasis that tends to reinforce the notion that the term "family of families" is indeed descriptive of the nature of the Church.

So confusion is rampant, and astonishingly the blame for the confusion is usually placed by them on those of us who disagree. But, again, we do not see the language as problematic just because it leads to a misunderstanding of their position by those on the outside who might be critical, but also because it leads many within the FICM movement to erroneous ideas about the Church. Yet we are still told that we are just being too critical and unwilling to listen attentively to the way they qualify the language. However, in my opinion, the confusion that has come about is their fault, for they are the ones who have employed such easily misunderstood language in the first place. And until FICM advocates such as Baucham and Brown are willing to reject such language entirely, this confusion will continue to reign among many (and guys like me will have to keep writing posts like this one).

I will conclude by saying that this is more than a little disturbing to me as a pastor, whose primary objective is to help the Church understand God's Word better rather than to accept the obfuscation of important theological matters. And I have to say frankly that I just can't get my head around the idea of a pastor who does accept the use of such language, apparently just because he can't let go of a pet term no matter how truth-distorting it might be.

Such a situation just makes me think that some of these men have lost sight of what is really important. In elevating an emphasis upon the biological family to a place of such central importance that it eclipses clear Biblical teaching about the true nature of the Church as a spiritual family, along with an unwillingness to state that matter in a fundamentally sound way, they may just be losing sight of some truly essential matters. For example, if the need to state important Biblical truths in a way that helps to promote clarity in understanding is not seen by them as being of grave importance, then they have got a bigger problem than we all might think. I, for one, think that stating Biblical truth in a clear and understandable way is always a crucial matter. And I think that seeking to avoid the use of language that distorts important Biblical teaching and easily leads to misunderstanding is equally important, don't you?

Chris Poe Interviews Jeffrey Johnson

Earlier today Chris Poe posted an interview with Jeffrey Johnson, author of The Fatal Flaw of the Theology Behind Infant Baptism. You can read it here.

Recent Discoveries by the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts

In a recent special edition E-Newsletter, the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts announced the discovery of a number of New Testament manuscripts:

A team from the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM) just returned from a month-long trip to Greece and Romania. They were in Athens, Meteora, and Kozani for the first two weeks (all in Greece); for the last two weeks, they were in Craiova, Iasi, and Bucharest (all in Romania). Remarkably, during this expedition they discovered at least ten New Testament manuscripts! Every time a new manuscript is discovered it becomes one more piece in the puzzle of the genealogical tree that all manuscripts are connected to. Each tells its own story, and every handwritten manuscript is a unique document—a witness to the original text.

Among the manuscripts CSNTM discovered on this expedition is a seventh-century majuscule codex. There are a little more than 300 majuscule manuscripts of the New Testament, so this codex is in rare company. And manuscripts from the seventh century (600s) are very few in number. About 15–20% of all the New Testament manuscripts are from the first millennium. So, any manuscript from before AD 1000 is a real treat!

Another manuscript unknown to New Testament scholars was a very large lectionary from the eleventh century (see photo). Housed at the Museum of Art in Iasi, Romania, it is a magnificent volume. Weighing in at over 20 lbs., with exactly 800 pages of text, it’s no lightweight! In fact, this manuscript is the fourth longest and third largest lectionary from the eleventh century that exists today. The team from CSNTM photographed it using their new Graz Travelers Conservation Copy Stand.

If you have an interest in New Testament textual criticism or just like to hear news about recent discoveries and issues, you may want to check out the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts website.

A Memorial Day Reflection on Christian Patriotism

Although it has been two days since Memorial Day, I thought I would share some thoughts I had while celebrating that holiday this year, especially since there have been some recently who have questioned my patriotism due to my stance on the American Revolution. For, as regular readers of this blog already know, back in February I wrote an article entitled The American Revolution: Was it Biblical? in which I concluded that it was not Biblical and that Christians should not have taken part in it. Unfortunately, some Christians seem to think that this view somehow makes me less patriotic than I should be. So today I would just like to state something of my own view of patriotism as one who is both a Christian and an American citizen.

I will begin by briefly explaining my understanding of the word patriotism and then deal with my understanding of what it means to be a Christian patriot. I understand the word patriotism basically to mean "love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it" (see here, for example). And, given this understanding, I would say that I am indeed a patriot with respect to two countries, my heavenly country and my earthly country, in that order.

First, because my ultimate loyalty is to the Lord Jesus Christ, it is to His kingdom that I pledge my highest allegiance (Matt. 6:33). Thus I understand that my true citizenship is in Heaven (Phil. 3:20) and that I am really just a pilgrim on this earth who seeks a heavenly country, just as did my forefathers in the faith (Heb. 11:8-16). But I do not think this makes me less of a patriot when I consider my earthly country, for my Savior has taught me to pray to my Heavenly Father every day, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10). And His Apostles have similarly taught me to pray for those in political authority over me, as when Paul says, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2:1-4). Or consider Peter's exhortation:

NKJ 1 Peter 2:11-17 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 2 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. 13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men -- 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

So, as a sojourner and pilgrim on this earth I am to be a good citizen who prays for and submits to those in authority for the sake of the Gospel and the glory of God. And this makes me a better citizen of my earthly country, not a worse one. Indeed, it means that I should be willing to show the love of Christ to and for my country, even to the point of sacrifice for the good of my country.

Second, then, I pledge my allegiance to my earthly country under God and gladly serve my country as I am able and insofar as it does not conflict with my primary allegiance to God. This is why, when the Lord saved me while I was serving in the United States Navy, I saw no conflict between that service and my devotion to Him. It is why, had my health and the situation in my ministry allowed it, I would already have been in Afghanistan or Iraq (as an Army or Navy Reserve Chaplain, something I still hope to do, Lord willing). It is also why I gladly maintain my membership in the Veterans of Foreign Wars, an organization that honors our veterans and seeks to do all it can to see to it that they are well taken care of. Indeed, I am glad that the National Commander of the VFW posted an article this week on The Meaning of Memorial Day, in which he reminded us:

As America’s older war veterans fast disappear from society’s landscape, there are fewer and fewer standard-bearers left to carry the torch of remembrance. Such traditions will live on only if there is a vibrant movement to which that torch can be passed.

Now, more than in past years, the enduring relevance of Memorial Day should be clearly evident. With two wars under way, the public has no excuse not to remember.

This much is owed to the more than 5,400 Americans who have died thus far in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Why is it, I wonder, that – in my experience at least – so many Christians today like to talk of their love of country, and perhaps question the patriotism of someone like myself, when they could apparently care less about the price that has been paid, and continues to be paid, by so many of our service men? These men gave what Lincoln called their "last full measure of devotion" for their country, and I suspect that, if more Christians had as much devotion for the Lord, they would be far better citizens than they are. I hope they would join me in seeking to be the kind of citizen and patriot that Jesus would have us be, one who, because he loves the Lord first, is also able to love his country in a self-sacrificing way.

For a related article by Jeff Johnson, see Giving Uncle Sam His Due.