Would you open your Bibles with
me to Matthew chapter 6? Matthew chapter 6. I have in
these past few weeks been preaching through the model prayer, the disciples prayer as we can
call it, which begins in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 9. And the subject of the title
of these messages has been the manner of true prayer. And I
want to continue that today. We've talked about the glorious
fatherhood and majesty of God, our father, verse nine there,
our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And then
I've talked about the glorious kingdom of God. What a kingdom,
thy kingdom come. talked about the perfect will
of God. Thy will be done in earth as
it is in heaven. One of the true keys to prayer
is praying according to the will of God. Thy will be done. And then I want to talk to you
today, verse 11, give us this day our daily bread. I had originally
planned on finishing this and going into verse 12, forgive
us of our debts as we forgive, forgive us of our debts as we
forgive our debtors, the forgiveness of sin. But in studying this
passage, I want to conclude this in a couple of weeks with the
message on that forgiveness there. I think it deserves a whole message.
The grace of forgiveness is an awesome thing, isn't it? That
we stand in Christ forgiven of all of our sins. So today, I
want to talk to you about the complete provision of God. In praying to God, we pray for
him. Give us this day our daily bread. And bread there is symbolic of
all the necessities of physical life here on earth, everything
that keeps us going physically. But as you well know, bread is
also used in scripture to symbolize Christ himself, who is the bread
of life. Because in him, we who believe
find all the necessities of salvation. all the necessities, all the
requirements, all that it takes to bring forth spiritual and
eternal life. It's all in Him. And so in true
prayer, if we're gonna pray as we ought to pray, the manner
of true prayer, in true prayer we're to acknowledge that our
spiritual life, our spiritual well-being, our salvation, as
well as our physical life here on this earth, our physical well-being,
are all gifts from Almighty God. They're all, listen to me now,
they're all undeserved and unearned gifts from God. They're all of
God's power and of God's goodness. And this is a message that I
especially want our young people to understand. And I want you
to hear this very well. What we are expressing when we
say give us this day our daily bread, we're expressing our total
dependence upon God for everything we need. And we're expressing
thanksgiving to God for giving us what we need. And you know
I often, I've done this several times from this pulpit, I've
often told you, take a breath right now. Just breathe in and
breathe out. That breath was a gift from God.
Did you know that? Now, we don't go around thinking
that all the time, but it was. It was a gift from God, the very
breath you take. And when the Lord instructs us
to pray, give us this day our daily bread, he is talking about
here in this prayer our daily necessities of life as his people
here on earth. But I wanna say first a word
about salvation. His daily provision for our spiritual
and eternal life. And the issue there, as we look
unto God and do we depend on God, is this, the Lord will provide. He'll provide. Now that doesn't
mean He'll give us everything that we ask for and everything
that we desire. But he'll provide what he knows
we need, and in his wisdom, give those things that we want. And
when I say the Lord will provide, I think about Abraham. Turn back
to Genesis chapter 22. I always think of Abraham because
the first time, you know, in the Bible, we see these compound
names of the Lord. Jehovah dash something. We think about Jehovah Sid Canoe,
that's the Lord our righteousness. Well, Jehovah Jireh is the name
given the Lord will provide. And it's first here in Genesis
chapter 22. And you know what's going on
here? This is where the Lord came to Abraham and told Abraham
to bring his only son Isaac and sacrifice him to the Lord. And
as you know, Abraham brought Isaac up on the mount and he
had these men with him bringing wood and all the provisions there.
And he and Isaac went up on the mount and they built the altar
for the fire. And you remember when Isaac stopped,
he asked him, he said, where's there a lamb? Where's the lamb
for the sacrifice? We need a lamb. Because that
was the way to worship God. God had established that early
on. We need a lamb. And look at verse eight of Genesis
22. And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went
both of them together. Now, at that time, when Isaac
asked that question, he didn't know that he was to be the sacrifice.
That's what his father had in mind. But where's the lamb? Some
commentators say that Abraham's words here in verse 8, my son
God will provide himself a lamb, that it literally means that
God will provide himself, meaning the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb
of God. And that could be, I don't know
if Abraham had that in mind or not, but he knew the Lord would
provide. And it says, if you look over
in verse 14, after, you remember what happened, how he laid Isaac,
bound Isaac and laid him on that altar and he lifted that knife
and the Lord stopped him. The Lord stopped him. And then
over in, and Abraham looked over in a thicket and there was a
ram. God had provided a ram. And of course, all that was a
test for Abraham. The book of James tells us this. It was a
trial. Abraham, do you believe God?
And of course, by the power and grace of God, Abraham showed
that he did believe God. But look at verse 13, it says,
Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him
a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and
took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the
stead of his son. Now that's a picture of the substitutionary
work of Christ, the Lamb of God for his people. And verse 14
says, and Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh,
which means the Lord will provide. It's the Mount of the Lord, and
it shall be seen. The Lord will provide. And the
point is, is this. First, the Lord will provide
everything that his people need and that he requires for salvation
in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, there's nothing
that we bring to the table. There's nothing that we bring
to present to God that would recommend us unto God, or that
would earn or deserve His favor. In Christ, and in Christ alone,
the glorious God-man, God manifests in the flesh, and based upon
His finished work on Calvary as our surety, our substitute,
and our redeemer, God provides everything He requires and all
that we need for complete salvation. Romans 8.32 says, he that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, that is all
of his people, how shall he not with him also freely give us
all things? If we have Christ, we have it
all. Ephesians one and verse three,
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings. How many spiritual
blessings? All spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
We know that salvation is gained and maintained by God's grace
through Christ, who is our bread of life. We read that, look back
there in John chapter six in the opening verses that I read.
But look at John 6 and verse 28. It says here, then they said
unto him, what shall we do that we might work the works of God?
Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God,
that you believe on him whom God, whom he hath sent. And then
he starts talking about the type of the manna falling in the wilderness
that fell on Moses and the Hebrew children. And he tells him, as
I read at the beginning, he says in verse 35, Jesus said to him,
I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. He
is our daily bread spiritually. And by nature, we have no spiritual
abilities, but in salvation, it's God who gives us the knowledge
and the desire to come to Christ for salvation. Salvation is not
by our will, it's not by our goodness or our power, it's all
of God's grace in Christ, for we are His workmanship. The Bible
says in Matthew chapter five and verse six, blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
be filled. And what are we filled with?
Listen to this, this is 1 Corinthians chapter one. And this is the
way God has set up the matter of salvation for his purpose
and for his glory. In 1 Corinthians chapter one,
it says that God has done all of this for his people through
Christ by his grace. In verse 29, that no flesh should
glory or boast in his presence. And listen to this, verse 30,
but of him, of God, Are you in Christ, Jesus, who of God is
made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption? That is, all the wisdom that
God requires and that we need is found in Christ, who is the
embodiment of the wisdom of God. How does God save sinners? How
can God be just and justify the ungodly? How can God be both
a just God and a savior? A righteous judge and a merciful
father? How can he be both? It's only
through the glorious person and finished work of Christ. That's
why Christ died on the cross. And that's the wisdom of God,
the scriptures say. That's the gospel wherein the righteousness
of God is revealed. How can a sinner stand before
God and be forgiven of all of his sins on a just ground? Only by the blood of Jesus Christ.
How can a sinner stand before God and be justly declared righteous
in his sight? Only by the righteousness of
another, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he's not only all the
wisdom God requires and we need, he's all the righteousness that
God requires and that we need. He's our righteous, sanctification. He is what sets us apart and
makes us holy. and redemption. He is the full
redemption price. Now the reason God set that up,
verse 31, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. You know, that's the simplicity
of Christ. I think about that a lot. You know, the Apostle Paul, he
told the Corinthian believers, he said, I'm jealous over you
with godly jealousy. for I have espoused you to one
husband. But he warned them of false preachers
inspired by Satan who would come in and try to subtly corrupt
their minds away from the simplicity that's in Christ. And what is
that simplicity? Some translators say that word
would be better translated singularity. Either way, here's what it means.
that everything that I have, everything that I need, everything
God requires is solely in the glorious person and finished
work of Christ. And that's it. And so when we
pray give us this day our daily bread, when we're talking about
salvation, that's Christ. We feed upon him, we feed upon
his word. His word is our bread. He said
man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes
from the Father. It's all in Christ. It's all
by Christ. But here's the second thing,
and this is what I believe this prayer is mainly directed to
in our daily lives. God freely gives us what we need
to sustain us physically. For each day that he gives us
here on earth. All we need in life. James wrote
it this way, James 1 17. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above. and cometh down from the Father
of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. And
here's what I believe he's saying, and this is what I really want
the young people to understand. Old people too, we need to understand
it too, but as you start out life, you start out your career,
you start out in school and whatever you're gonna do, In true prayer,
we need to acknowledge that we've never earned or deserved any
of the blessings we have from God. Now, when you go to work,
well, let me start this way. When you go to school, and you
study hard, and you get that A, you've earned it, but let
me ask you this question. Who gave you that brain inside
your head? Who gave you the ability and
the opportunity? Do you think every child in the
world has the same ability? You know, we talk about all people
are created equal. Well, we're created equal in
the sense that we're all human. We all have rights. We all have
equal opportunities. But I'll tell you what, everybody
in the world's not an Albert Einstein. Everybody in the world's
not a pro athlete. There's some inequality there,
see? And what I'm asking, the point I'm trying to make here
is, who gave you these abilities, these opportunities? Who determined
that you would be born of godly parents, for example, and be
raised in Albany, Georgia, rather than some poor third world country? Abandoned. Who determined that? Well, you know who determined
that? God did. You didn't earn or deserve that.
And what I'm telling you, yes, work hard, study hard, get that
A, but always attribute it ultimately to the Lord God. And the same
way when you work a job, you earn your paycheck, but who gave
you the physical abilities? Who gave you the opportunity?
Not everybody's got a job. Who wants one? Who gave you that? Well, God did. We may come up
with a great idea, we may work hard to succeed, it may result
in making a lot of money, but know this, that it was God who
gave you the mental abilities, the physical abilities, along
with all the opportunities to do that, to be successful. So, the point is, we're to depend
totally upon God for our daily bread. We're to use the means
that God's given us for his provision. All who are capable of working,
we're to work hard. I'll never forget one time a
lady, a young lady, well, I'd say in her 40s, she came in,
she'd been watching our TV program, this was years ago. And she said
she wanted to come to our church. I said, well, you're welcome,
come on, you know, told her the service times and all that. And
she told me, she said, She said, well, I just want you to know
I'm living totally by faith. I said, oh, really? She said,
yeah, yeah, I'm living totally by faith. I said, well, what
do you mean by living by faith? She said, well, I quit my job
about six months ago, and I'm just depending on the Lord to
take care of me. And I told her, I said, well,
I got news for you. You're not living by faith. She said, what
do you mean? I said, faith believes the word
of God. And the word of God says, if
you don't work, you don't eat. 1 Thessalonians, or 2 Thessalonians
chapter three. Well, she didn't come to church.
She left. But that's the truth. If you're
capable of working, what does God's word say? Work. Now, there
are people who are incapable because of their physical disabilities
or whatever, and we're to be compassionate and help take care
of them. But you're not living by faith if you're living against
what God's word commands. Listen to this, this is 1 Timothy
5 and verse 8. If any provide not for his own
and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the
faith and is worse than an infidel. That's it. So we pray. Give us this day
our daily bread. And we know we're totally dependent
upon God for our spiritual well-being and our physical well-being.
But what happens? Well, if you're sick, go to the
doctor. Students, if you want good grades, study and work hard.
Pray for the things we need, even things we want that are
not opposed to God's revealed will. Do what's necessary to
receive these things, and thank the Lord God for his provision.
Thank you, Lord. And in all this, as we go through
life as believers, we have to keep things in perspective. Now,
if you'll look back at Matthew chapter six, and look over at
verse 24, I'm gonna conclude this message by reading through
this passage here. I'll make a few comments, not
many. But here's how you put things in perspective. And here's
what the Lord says in the Sermon on the Mount. Look at verse 24.
He says, no man can serve two masters, for either he will hate
the one and love the other, or else he will hold on to the one
and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Most commentators agree that mammon there has to do with money
and physical, material things that we accumulate. Things we
all desire. And he says, verse 25, therefore
I say to you, take no thought for your life. Now what he's
talking about is anxiety, anxious care, worry. You have to think about your
life, you have to think about your jobs, you have to think
about your families, you young people, you have to think about
school. Sure you do. But don't be overly anxious,
he says, don't take no thought for your life, what you shall
eat, what you shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall
put on, is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment? What he's saying here, don't
spend more time thinking about your wardrobe than you do thinking
about the Lord. Thinking about his word. Verse
26, behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, Neither do
they reap, nor gather in barns. Yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are you not much better than they? Which of you, by taking
thought, by worrying, can add one cubit unto his stature?"
You can't do that, see? You can't add one more second
to your life. by worry. And verse 28, and why
take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet
I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these. Wherefore, for this reason, if
God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is and tomorrow
is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you,
O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, what
shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we
be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek." You know, when he mentions Gentiles there,
he's talking about the heathen, unbelievers. This life is all
they know. And they're tied to this earth. When the Bible talks about somebody
being worldly, that means this life is their concern. This life
is their hope. And so he says, for your heavenly
father knoweth you have need of all these things. But now
here's the key. Look at verse 33. Seek ye first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these things shall be
added unto you. Seek ye first the kingdom. Make it your main
concern to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Now how do I do that? You seek
Christ as a sinner. Come as a sinner seeking Christ. For He is the only righteousness
we have. He's the only perfection of righteousness
that we know and can find. He's the only one through which
we as sinners have the gift of righteousness. You know what
righteousness is? It's a right standing with God.
It's a just standing with God. What is that based on? The fact
that I've done well? No. What is that based on? It's that Christ has done all
things well. Righteousness is the merit, the
value, the worthiness of His death on the cross for His people. He is the Lord, my righteousness,
so I seek Him. And all these other things will
be added unto you. That doesn't mean we're never
supposed to think about the things of this world and how we're to
get along and how we're to prepare for these things. No, but seek
ye first salvation. Seek ye first a right standing
with God. Seek ye first the forgiveness
of my sins. I'm a sinner. Whether I'm rich
or whether I'm poor, I'm a sinner. And I need forgiveness. And God
who is a just God cannot forgive me unless His justice, His honor,
His holiness is magnified. Where am I going to find that?
Seek the riches of eternal life, life beyond this veil of tears. And I know it's harder for young
people to get this into mind because you think you're going
to live forever. Well, the only way we're going
to live forever with God is in Christ. And that's what he says. Verse 34, take therefore no thought
for tomorrow. Now you have to think about tomorrow.
You have to make plans. All of us do. But don't let your
thoughts about your plans for tomorrow get in the way of your
seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. For
the moral shall take thought for the things of itself, sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof." And what he's saying there is, worrying about these things,
it's not going to change it. Worry will not help it. Getting so
caught up and bogged down into this world and serving mammon,
materialism, money instead of God, Do you any good? Here today, gone tomorrow. Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. And that to
me is the whole issue in our prayers to saying, God, give
us this day our daily bread. Depend upon God. Thank God for
all that we have and all that He gives. Every good and perfect
gift is from Him. All right.