It is not that I did you Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Niver. I would like to read what is
known as the disciples' prayer in Luke chapter 11. And it came
to pass that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased,
one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray,
as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, when you
pray, say, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily
bread, and forgive us our sins, as we also forgive everyone that's
indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Now, people call that the Lord's
Prayer, but it's actually the disciples' prayer. The Lord's
Prayer is in John chapter 17, when he prayed to his father,
but this is where he teaches his disciples to pray. And in
this prayer, we find out what a true disciple of Christ is,
what a believer really is. And I've entitled this message,
The Believer Defined by Prayer. Now you can listen to this prayer
that the Lord taught his people to pray, and you can find out
exactly what a believer really is, and you can know whether
or not you're a believer by what you see this prayer that our
Lord teaches us to pray says about a believer. The believer
defined by prayer. Now everybody to ever live, whether
within Christianity or outside of Christianity, everybody to
ever live at some time has prayed to some higher power when they're
in trouble. When trouble comes, sickness,
bereavement, everyone has thought of a higher power and prayed,
if you're out there, help me with this, get me out of this. Everyone has prayed when they've
been sick, oh, may I be healed if you're out there, may I be
healed. Or if they're in danger, if they
have a sick child, great need has driven everybody to pray
at some time. Now this does not mean they're
praying to God. The Lord gave us some insight
into this when he spoke of the prayer of the Pharisee. He said,
he stood and prayed thus with himself. Now he thought he was
praying to God because he said, God, I thank thee that I'm not
as other men are. He thought he was praying to
God, but our Lord lets us know that his prayer didn't get any
further than the ceiling. He prayed thus with himself. He didn't deny that he prayed.
but he prayed thus with himself. So that lets us know that while
a man might be going through the action of prayer, that does
not mean or necessarily mean he's praying to God. Now, when
the Lord Jesus knocked Paul off his high horse on the way to
Damascus, he said to Ananias, behold, he prayeth. Now he'd gone through the motion
of prayer many times. He was a Pharisee. Perhaps he
was one of those people who stood on the street corner so everyone
could see him praying and he could impress everybody with
his religiosity. And he was a very zealous man
and a very religious man. And he'd spend much time, so
he thought, in prayer. But now, for the first time,
The Lord says, Behold, he prayeth. You see, prayer is the breath
of faith. Wherever you have faith, you
have prayer. And once again, when the Lord
teaches us to pray, he teaches us what a Christian really is. Now, I love the first words of
this prayer. When you pray, say, Our Father,
who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy
will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Notice we're taught to pray as
an hour. as a we, as an us. You see, a Christian is a part
of something much bigger than himself. You see, he is part
of the same us that the Lord meant when he said to John the
Baptist, suffer when he came to be baptized of John, and John
said, I have been baptized of thee, comest thou to me? He said,
suffer to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness. You see, what the Lord did, He
did as an us. It's the same us as if God before
us. Who can be against us? It's all
believers. It's all the elect. It's all
the ones that the Lord has saved. We pray as an us. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ and His little brothers. Both He that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one. for the which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren." Now that is the us and the our
and the we. It's the body of Christ. It's
all for whom Christ died. It's every believer. And you
can't, we're not islands. We're not private individuals.
We're part of a glorious us. And he says, our father, which are in heaven." This is
a believer, he's part of this glorious us, and a believer is
a child of God. And he addresses his Father who
is in heaven. Now, a believer is a child of
God. Is everybody a child of God?
What did the Lord mean when He said to that one group of people,
you are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father,
you will do. He said to that same group, if
God were your father, you'd love me. So obviously He is not father
to all men. He's only a father to His children. Not all men, but His children.
Now, how does someone become a child of God? Well, first of
all, you gotta be united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, of Him
are you in Christ Jesus? You have to be united to Him.
You have to be one with Him. You have to be in Him. You have
to be, now, there's nothing you can do to make yourself that
way. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus? You see, if I'm in Him,
if God the Father is His Father, He's my Father too. You're in
Him by union, and you're a child by union. And this is mysterious.
It's only something God can do, but all of God's people are vitally
united to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the head, they're the body.
He's the vine, they're the branches. We're adopted children, if we're
children. First, we've always been in Christ,
if we're in Christ. There's never a time when we
weren't. Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
and all of God's people have been eternally united to Him,
and thus, children of God. But we're also adopted children. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 5 says,
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ unto Himself. Now if you're adopted, somebody
had to select you to be a child. That's how adoption works. You
select that person. You say, that's going to be my
child. And that's what God the Father did in eternal election
when He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before Him. That is adoption. But a believer is also a child
of God by birth. To as many as received Him, to
them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them
which believe on His name, which were born, birthed by the Spirit
of God, which were born, not of blood, Not of the will of
the flesh, not because of their own act of free will where they
decided by their free will to become children of God. You don't
do that. Nor of the will of man. It's
not because a bunch of people got together and said, we're
going to make sure that they're Christians. We're going to pray for them
until God finally answers our prayer. No, they're born of God,
not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will
of man, but of God, being born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. You see, a believer has been
birthed by God. He's been regenerated by God. He's been given a new nature,
a holy nature that he didn't have before. So a believer is
a child of God by virtue of union with Christ, by adoption, and
by regeneration. And what is the evidence that
I'm a child of God? The scripture says you are all
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. If you believe that Jesus
is God's Christ, God's word, God's prophet, God's priest,
the only one who can bring you into the presence of God, God's
king, he's the king of kings and he's the Lord of lords. He
has absolute sovereign control. He's not king in word only, he's
king in actuality. He rules and he reigns and you
love to have it so. Now, whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ, is born of God. That's the evidence of
being a child of God, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, thirdly,
a believer, first of all, is united to Christ. Secondly, he's
a child of God. And thirdly, he's a worshiper.
The Lord taught us to pray, hallowed be thy name. Now this isn't some
empty incantation. These are not empty words. Hallowed,
reverend, holy is thy name. Now the name of the Lord is who
He is. It's the person behind the name. The name of the Lord is His holiness. It's all of His excellent attributes.
It's His absolute sovereignty. It's His justice. It's His wisdom. It's His power and might. It's
every attribute of God. It's His omniscience. It's His
omnipresence. It's His immutability. Every
attribute of God the believer loves. The believer loves God
for who He is and he worships Him for who He is. He says, be
thy name." The believer is a worshiper. You know, the Lord said this
in John chapter 4, the hour cometh and now is when
the true worshipers, you know, we read in the scripture of vain
worship and ignorant worship, but here the Lord speaks of true
worshipers. The hour cometh and now is when
the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. God is spirit and they that worship
Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Now here's two
things that are absolutely necessary for worship. First, God the Holy
Spirit. You know, you and I cannot worship
God on our own. It's impossible. I must have
God the Holy Spirit. I must be given a new nature
that's able to worship God. You know, when I invite you to
come to Todd's Road Grace Church, I don't say come worship with
us. I hope you can. But the only way you can worship,
I'm not going to say to somebody indiscriminately, come and worship,
because it takes the Holy Spirit to worship. I'm not going to
just come worship. No. Come hear the gospel, and
I pray God enables me and you to worship, but it takes the
Spirit of God to worship the living God, because God is Spirit. And it takes the truth. It takes
the truth of how God saves sinners by Christ. The truth of the gospel. The truth of who God is. The
truth of who man is. The truth of how He saves in
the gospel. There's no worship without the
truth. Here's what is necessary for
worship. God the Holy Spirit and the truth. Paul put it this
way in Philippians 3. We are the circumcision. who
worship God in the Spirit. The only way you can do that
is if you have the Holy Spirit, if you have a new nature, if
you've been born of the Spirit. We are the circumcision, which
worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus. We trust, we
glory in, we rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to
boast in something, and it's not going to be ourself. We boast
in the Lord. The same word is quite often
translated, glory. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherever there's
true worship, you're going to find somebody who looks only
to Christ and rejoices only in Christ. Not in himself, not in
his works, not in his efforts, not in his deeds, but in Christ.
And thirdly, Paul says, we have no confidence in the flesh. Absolutely
none. We look to Christ only. So the believer is a worshiper. Next, the believer is a subject
of the kingdom. We're taught to pray, Thy kingdom
come. We're a subject of another kingdom,
the kingdom of God. We're a citizen of another country,
the kingdom of God. You know, the kingdom of God
is not something you see. But it's something that is. You
know, the thief understood something about this when he prayed, Lord,
remember me when you come into your kingdom. He knew the Lord
was a mighty king and that he must be successful. He knew he
wouldn't stay on that cross. He knew he wouldn't stay dead.
He said, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Paul
said the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. It's not do's
and don'ts. It's not man-made rules and regulations
and this is how to live and this is how to act like a Christian.
No, it's none of those things. It's righteousness. There's only
one righteousness, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and
every believer possesses his righteousness. My sin became
his, his righteousness becomes mine. Righteousness and peace,
the peace that comes from knowing I have his righteousness and
joy in the Holy Ghost. You cannot have His righteousness
and the peace that comes from having His righteousness without
having joy, true joy in the Holy Spirit. Oh, the believer is a
member of the Kingdom of God, a subject of the Kingdom of God.
And the next thing the Lord teaches us to pray, tells us something
about what a believer is, He said we're to pray, Thy will
be done. As in heaven, so in earth. The believer is a servant of
God who truly desires the will of God to be done. And if his
own will is contrary to God's will, his prayer is, not my will,
but thine be done. Take my will and make it thine. It shall be no longer mine. He's got a heart that's been
made willing. I love that scripture, Psalm 110.3 says, Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. Willing for what?
Willing for His will to be done. That's what we truly want. That's
what we truly desire. That's the desire of our heart.
Thy will be done. Now the next thing He teaches
us to pray in verse 3, give us day by day our daily bread A
believer is one who is poor and completely dependent upon the
provision of God. Give us this day our daily bread. I'm totally dependent upon you
for all things, whether physical or spiritual. Christ, the bread
of life, give us this day our daily bread. I need you to be
my provider, to provide all things for me because I'm poor. I can't
provide anything on my own. and I need all things to come
from my great heavenly benefactor who is my Father. Give us this
day, just we're not worried about tomorrow, you're in control of
tomorrow. Give us this day our daily bread, very much like the
manna. They were to gather it early, and they were to gather
just enough for that day. Oh, give me this day what I need. You know, a believer is somebody
who's needy and who's totally dependent upon God to provide
all their needs. Now, the next thing he teaches
us to pray is forgive us our sins. A believer is a sinner. That's what a believer is. He's
a sinner. And he believes that. You don't have to convince him
of that. The believer is a sinner. And I don't mean what most people
mean by that. You know, if you ask most people,
are you a sinner? They'd say, well, yeah, I'm human. I make mistakes. I'm
like everybody else. I don't beat myself up about
it. But yeah, I make mistakes. I'm only human. I'm a sinner.
That's not what the Bible means by being a sinner. Let me tell
you what the Bible means by being a sinner. If you're a sinner,
that means all you do is sin. You haven't kept one commandment
one time. You look at God's holy commandments
and you realize that all you have done is broken them. Not
only do you sin all the time and everything you do is sin,
you know that you cannot not sin. You can no more stop sinning
than you can create a universe. You're not using that as an excuse
for your sin, but you know that you can't stop sin. And you know
if you're a sinner, you know deep down in your heart you can't
look down your nose at anybody. You can't set in moral judgment
as a moral superior to anybody. Anything anybody's done, you
know if you're tempted to do it, you'll do it too, and you'll
be worse than them. You're unable to set in judgment
on anybody if you're a real sinner. And if you're a sinner, you know
you have no claims on God. You can't say, Lord, you need
to do this because I didn't know. You have no claims before God.
You're like that leper. You come into his presence in
all of your leprosy, in all your sin, and you worship him saying,
Lord, if you will. You can make me clean. A believer is a sinner, and a
believer is a forgiven sinner who forgives others. Forgive
us our sins as we forgive everyone that is indebted to us. A believer
is one who forgives because he has been forgiven. Now, let me
give you five very powerful reasons to forgive. First, if you don't,
you won't be forgiven. The Lord said, if you forgive
not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive
you your trespasses. Second reason is we will be forgiven
in the same manner and measure in which we forgive. The Lord
teaches us to pray. Forgive us, for we forgive everyone
that's indebted to us. The Lord's going to measure out
your blessings in the basket you bring. As you forgive, you'll
be forgiven in the same manner. And if we forgive, I know this,
we'll be happier people. And if we fail to forgive, the
scripture says in 2 Corinthians 2, 11, Satan has the advantage
over us. But you know, I think this is
so glorious about God. It's his nature to forgive. That's
who he is. Part of His name is forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin in Exodus chapter 34 when
He proclaims His name before Moses. And when we forgive, that's
the most God-like thing we can do. Forgive us our sins as we
forgive everyone that's indebted to us. And then He taught us
to pray and lead us not into temptation. Considered that last
week, but I don't want to be tried. Doesn't mean I'm, I know
I will be tried. I know the Lord's gonna send
trials my way, but I'm permitted to pray this, Lord, don't let
me be tried and prevent me from being tempted to sin. I know
that if I'm tempted, I'm so weak, I'll fall. Don't let me even
be tempted. Now, what a wise prayer. It's
wise because the Lord gave it to us. And if in our heart we
do this, this is showing some true spiritual wisdom, some awareness
of who we are. I'm so weak that if I'm tempted,
I'll fail. Lord, let me not even be tempted. What a blessing to be able to
pray that prayer. Let me not be tried. Let me not
be tempted to sin. And then the last thing he teaches
us to pray is deliver us. from evil. Rescue us is the word. Rescue us from evil. Now, there is such a thing as It's been around a long time.
It was around before the fall of our first parents. In the
garden, there was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And Satan is the evil one. He was around before the fall. He was the one who tempted our
first parents. There is such a thing as evil. There is the evil one. Satan, deliver me from him. When
I hear religious people talk about dancing on the head of
Satan and rebuking Satan and all, it gives me the creeps. I don't want to have anything
to do with him. Deliver me from the evil one. And then there's
this evil world, what Paul calls this present evil world that
hates God. Deliver me from the evil world,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life, all that's contrary to God. Deliver me from this evil
world. But the main person I'm asking
to be delivered from that's evil is myself. In this same chapter, after the
Lord has talked about prayer, he says to his disciples, if
you then, being evil, know how to give good goods unto your
children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Now, do you do a double
take when the Lord says, if you then, being evil, That's me. I know it. The Apostle Paul said,
when I would do good, evil is present with me. That's my old
nature. And I am my own greatest enemy. I have no doubt about that. The
reason I fear the wicked one, the reason I fear the evil of
the world is because of the evil that's in me. And I say, Lord,
deliver me from evil. Save me from myself. I'm my own worst enemy. So, Lord, rescue me from myself. Rescue me from evil. Now, in the Lord teaching us
to pray, he teaches us what a Christian is. A believer is defined by
this prayer. He's part of the great us. All
believers, if God be for us, who can be against us? What a
blessed privilege to be a part of this great us, united to the
Lord Jesus Christ. A believer is a child of God
who prays our Father who art in heaven. A believer is a worshiper. He says from his heart, hallowed
be thy name. He worships God for who he is. And a believer is a subject of
the kingdom of God. Christ is his king. And a believer is someone who
truly wants and desires God's will to be done, thy will be
done. on earth as it is in heaven.
Let it be just like that. That's the desire of my heart.
A believer is one who's completely dependent upon God for their
provision. A believer is one who is a sinner,
who forgives as a forgiven sinner. He's one who's weak and needs
deliverance from temptation, and he's one who needs to be
rescued from evil. the evil one, this evil world,
and most especially the evil of self. Now, would this describe
you? This description of a believer,
would this describe you? Well, if it does, if the shoe
fits, wear it. You are a child of God if this
describes you. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at todsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.