You're with me back to Matthew
6. Matthew 6, let's read verses
9 to 13 again. After this manner, therefore,
pray ye, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. and forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever. Amen. When I was in my late 20s and
the Lord gave me a wife, and the responsibility of a home
and a career. And then especially in my early
30s when the Lord gave us children, I used to constantly, and I do
mean constantly, call my dad on the phone asking him to tell
me that life was going to get easier. Quite often, I hoped, does it ever slow down? Does it ever settle down? Does
it ever? I used to need for him to tell
me because there was a time when it all came on at once. Let me
just say, it all came on quick. Life tends to come on quick. And I used to need for him to
tell me, you know, as I was going through my stress and my pressure
and my worries and my fears that just hang on, hang on, you're
almost through it. It's going to get easier. And every time he would say.
But I hate to tell you this. But it's only going to get worse.
It's only going to get worse. It's only going to get harder.
The responsibility is only going to become greater. The stress is only going to become
more stressful. You know, kids in high school
think that, you know, life is just so stressful. Can't wait
to get out of high school so they can just, you know, buy
them a house on Easy Street. This is as good as it gets. Mom
and dad are covering all your worries right now, paying all
your bills. The trials only come more and
more frequently. And as it turns out, old dad
was right. You know, I can't speak for any
age past this age, but so far, he was right. The life that the Lord has given
to me has been and it is wonderful. I have a wonderful life. If any
of you are curious about my life, it's wonderful. I mean it. I mean it. It really is wonderful.
Other than the sin that I've committed and the sin that I
commit and the sin that I know I'm about to commit, I wouldn't
change anything. I wouldn't change anything. I'm thankful for where he has
me. I really am. I'm thankful for
what he has me doing. I'm thankful for everything he
has brought me through, and I mean that. I am thankful for everything
he has brought me through. I'm thankful that he's truly
given me a heart to believe that his grace is sufficient. I truly believe that by experience. I believe that. I forget it every
now and then, but I believe it. It has been sufficient and it
always will be sufficient the rest of my days on this earth. But just because I'm extremely
thankful, that doesn't mean that that life has been easy. Just because I'm thankful. That
doesn't mean that life has been easy. It doesn't mean that there
have never been any moments where I thought, I just don't, I don't
know if I can get through this. I just, I don't think I can get
through this one. I think this is gonna be the straw that breaks
my back. I can honestly say that life
on this earth is hard and I believe it will only get harder. I do
believe that. I believe that the Lord sends
some people through deeper trials than other people. I believe that the Lord sends
some people through deeper trials than other people. For some people,
the hardest thing that they endure may not even compare to what
others have had to endure. Just think about Job. None of
us have ever endured what Job endured. I don't believe any
of us ever will endure what Job endured. No matter how deep the trial
is, though, it will feel hard and difficult to the person going
through it. If that is the hardest thing
that they have had to endure to this moment in life, it's
gonna feel very hard and troublesome to them. And I also know and believe that
whatever the difficulty level is, the Lord will meet it with
the right amount of sufficient grace, the right amount. That's what gives me comfort
moving forward. If I only thought that things
were going to get increasingly harder, okay, I've now lived
through all the things I've lived through, and I've come to this
point, and if I only thought that things were now just going
to get from here increasingly harder, I would only have despair
concerning my future. But I know and believe by the
promise of God's word that God's sufficient grace will increase
with the trials that come. Accordingly, he giveth more grace. Accordingly. If I can look back
and say, I would have never thought it,
but the Lord got me through that. Then I can know in my heart that
the Lord will get me through this and whatever else may come. With all that being said, after
really thinking about life, sometimes I do that. Sometimes I think
about life. Sometimes I think about the reason for life, especially studying. I know you all think about it
too. After really thinking about life
and the realities that come with it and the hope that we have
laid up for us and the fact that we're traveling through here
as pilgrims and strangers. This is, I believe, the conclusion
of the matter for me. I believe after some real soul
searching, all of God's people would say, this is the conclusion
of the matter for me. No matter what, this is our desire. This is our
need, this is our desire. Verse 10 says, thy kingdom come, thy will be
done in earth as it is in heaven. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done. in earth as it is in heaven,
give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil. Come quickly, thy kingdom come. Come quickly. Come quickly. Your will be done in everything. Give us. We're beggars, aren't
we? Beggars in need. We have nothing. We are nothing. Give us. Forgive us. Lead us. Does anybody in here
need to be led? Lead us and deliver us. That's
the desire of our heart. If the Lord will come quickly. If the Lord will come quickly,
all of this will be over. Whether he he comes to burn up
the earth or he just comes to get one of us. If the Lord will
come quickly, all of this will be over. If the Lord's will is
done, all of this will be good. If the Lord will give us what
we need for today, we will be content and satisfied with plenty. If he will forgive our sins,
we'll have peace in our souls. If he will lead us, we will walk
wisely. I don't want to walk like a fool. If He will lead us, we will walk
wisely. If He will deliver us, we will
be safe. Verse 9 says, After this manner,
therefore, pray ye. After this manner, therefore,
pray ye. These are the things that we need and we desire. He
said, So pray for them. Pray for them, pray for them
with reverence to the Father, acknowledging that every good
and perfect gift comes from his hand. Verse 9, after this manner,
therefore, pray ye our Father. Doesn't that sound so nice? Our Father, which art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. There is
so much help in dwelling on and thinking on and calling on the
holy, hallowed name of the Father. We sang sweet hour of prayer
tonight. We sang sweet hour of prayer
last Wednesday night. I don't know if anybody remembers
that. But I just like it so much and considering this, I wanted
to sing it again. Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour
of prayer that calls us away from a world of care. There's so much help. We need
so much help. We need some help, Lord. That's
how Psalm 12 starts. There's so much help in just
calling on and and entering into and thinking on and dwelling
on. our hallowed Father, the Holy
Father. Hebrews 4 says we can approach
the throne of God with boldness to find mercy and grace to help
in our time of need. And that's exactly what we're
doing when our hearts turn upward. Do you know that experience? Sometimes, you know, we all the
time we come into this place. Life is busy. Life is chaotic.
And you come in and your mind is on everything under the sun. And then we sing some wonderful
songs and we read this glorious scripture and we close our eyes
in prayer and the Lord. Turns our heart upward. And he makes us ready for worship. And we have a moment of holy
communion with the hallowed father. Just remembering his holiness,
it's great help in our time of need. The holiness of his omnipotence. That means his glory, his power,
his might. All of that is in the person
of his son. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, when
you pray, you pray to the father. And we do. But everything that
we have from the Father is in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Holy Father, the holiness
of his omnipresence, he is everywhere at the same time. He's everywhere at the same time.
Wherever you need him to be, he's there. He's there. You say, I need him
to be with me and I need him to be with my loved ones. He
is. Maurice Montgomery used to tell
the story of when he went into the service, he was getting on
a bus, you know, headed off to boot camp and. His dad final
last words to him before he stepped on the bus with son, remember.
God goes everywhere. Wherever you go, he's there.
That's so comforting. It's so much help. Oh, our father, which art in
heaven, our father, which art in earth. Our father, which art in the
trial and in the circumstance, our father, which art in us. Our father, which art in Christ. Our Father, which can only be
seen and known in Christ, the one who is the fullness of the
Godhead bodily, hallowed, holy, and reverent is thy name. Verse
10 says, thy kingdom come. I know that young people are
not ready for life on this earth to end. I know that. I know that young people, young
people are not, you know the Lord's gonna come back with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God.
He's gonna pull his elect home and everything else is gonna
go. Done. And I know that young people
are not ready for life on this earth to end. I also know that
middle-aged people and old people are not ready for life on this
earth to end. I know that. That is proven when the sentence
of death comes. As soon as the doctor tells you
your days are numbered, we already knew that. The Lord told us that. We said that for decades. You
know, man's days are numbered. And as soon as the doctor gives
you a number, Is there a medicine? Is there
a clinical trial? Is there some way to extend this? Right? I'm even talking about believers
in this. The Lord gives us a piece about it. The Lord does give
us a peace about it and He does wean us from this world. These
trials wean us from this world. We get so tired of the effects
of sin. We're so tired of it. But it's
still a fearful thing because all we really know about it is
what we can see on this side and this side it doesn't look
very good. But with that fear and uncertainty
being acknowledged, Our desire is to be with our Lord. Our desire
is to be with our Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ. We trust Him. We trust Him. He said it would
be okay, and we trust Him. And we want Him to come to us,
not only in our moment of leaving this world, but right now. Lord,
Thy Kingdom come, right now. Come to us. Come into our hearts. Thy kingdom come right here.
Come into our circumstances. Be near to us. Draw us near to
you. And show us your will in this
matter and in every matter. Come to us and show us your will
in this. Isn't that what we want? I, you
know, we're going to look at not much longer, but we're going
to look at everything he has to say here, but you can summarize
it in those two things right there. Come to us and show us
your will. That's what we need. Verse 10,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. It was your will to choose us.
Lord, keep us. It was Your will to save us.
You know why any of us are saved? It was His will to save us. It
was Your will to save us, Lord. Call us. Let us hear Your voice. Let us
know Your presence. Don't you want to hear His voice? Don't you want to know His presence?
Lord, don't let me feel far from You. Don't let me come into Your
house and have no communion with You. Verse 10, thy kingdom come, thy
will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Verse 11, give us
this day our daily bread. Men and women who are believers,
men and women who were chosen by the father and redeemed by
the blood of the son and called by the spirit of grace, those
men and women cannot live on this earth by bread alone. They can't. They must have the
words that have proceeded out of the mouth of God. It's a scary thing and sadly
it's so easy to do, but it's a scary thing to become so caught
up in the world that we start living on more of the world's
bread and less on the heavenly bread of the word of Christ.
Because we will start feeding on it. The less that we eat of
the heavenly bread, the less hunger we'll have for it. And it's just so the less you
eat of something, the less hunger you have for that. And we will become spiritually
malnourished and we will become strong in the meat of the flesh. but weak in the meat of the spirit.
And that's one of the most fearful things to a child of God. That
is one of the most fearful things to me. I'm the pastor. I'm the one who has to stand
up here and talk. Lord, please give us what we need. Give us what we need. There's
one thing needful. Give me that. Let me see my need. Feed us with Your Word. Your
Word is truth. It's knowledge. It's wisdom.
Your Word is what we need. Christ being the Word. Christ
is the Word. He's what we need. Verse 10 says,
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as
it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Forgive
me of my sin. Every time I read, every time
I read, as we forgive our debtors, I'm so convicted by that. Every
time I read that, I've been reading that this week and I've read
it many times today. And I read it for our scripture
reading and I'm reading it right now and every time I am so convicted
by that because I even sin in that. This old cold hard heart
even sins in that. You know what I need? Forgive
me of my sin. Forgive me of my sin. I need
and I desire for the Lord to forgive me of my sin. Well, Gabe,
didn't he forgive you on the cross? Yes, he did. Yes, he did. His blood paid the debt that
satisfied God and provided forgiveness for me. But I feel so much guilt
carrying out the sin. that he paid for, that he already
paid for. I feel so much guilt. Even though
he forgave me in his will and purpose before the foundation
of the world, and even though he forgave me in his own body
on the tree, I need for him to forgive me
right now. I need him to forgive me right
now. I need for him to come to me and say to me, I still forgive
you. I still forgive you. I have forgiven
you with an everlasting forgiveness. You are forgiven in the blood
of an everlasting covenant. If I can have that, everything
will be okay. If I can have that, everything
will be okay. Verse 9 says, After this manner, therefore, pray
ye, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation. Something stood out to me today
on this. That most definitely is talking
about the temptation of sin. I always read that. Don't lead
me into the temptation of sin. The temptation of sin is all
around me, all inside of me, at all times. My Lord does not
have to lead me into the temptation of sin. I'm in it. I'm in it. That is also referring to our
temptation of Christ. Lord, let me not tempt you. Have you ever heard of tempting
the Lord? Let me not tempt you with a lack
of faith? With an ignoring of your word? or a trying of your patience
with me. Let me not put myself in a position
where you need to discipline me. Peter, Peter was so disciplined
by our Lord, wasn't he? And he said in his epistle, brethren,
humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. So he doesn't have
to humble you. And that's what I want. Lord,
teach me the path of humility. Teach me the, just let me not
get myself in a position where you need to punish me, chasten
me. Deliver me from my own evils. Deliver me from all of my evils. After our brother Cody Groover
died, I was talking to Winna on the phone and she said that
a prayer that she and Cody constantly asked the Lord for was that he
would allow them to not bring reproach on the gospel throughout
the course of their ministry. And what a thing to pray for.
What a thing to pray for. I need to pray that for myself
in the ministry and you need to pray that for yourselves.
You're in the ministry too. I desire that so greatly. Verse
13 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. As
you delivered us eternally, Lord, deliver us daily. Deliver me
daily. Deliver us from us. Deliver me
from me. Deliver us from what we are.
Deliver us from what we do. I need you, I need you. In order to get through life,
I need you. And as I said to you just a second
ago, I believe really we can sum our need and our desire up
in the first two requests here. Come to us. and your will be done in everything.
Lord, come to us and have thine own way. At all times, that's what we
need. Lord, you come be with us and show us your will. Your will be done in everything.
That's what will get us through this life. His presence and his
will for our good and his glory. The end of verse 13 says, for
thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Lord, be with us. Reveal your will concerning us.
Give us, forgive us, lead us, and deliver us for Christ's sake. Amen. If he will do that and
keep our eyes and focus on that, everything will be fine. He'll
get us through it. Amen.