Hallowed Be Your Name

The Lord's prayer begins with our father who art in heaven, that assumes the existence of God, you live in a secular world you live in a world that is doing everything in its power to a race from human memory or thinking any idea whatsoever that the world in which we live, comes from the hand of God the father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth will renew your mind as we begin another week of messages by doctors. RC served for many years as copastor at St. Andrews Chapel and preach through entire books of the Bible including all four Gospels we are please this week to feature selected sermons from a series today from the Gospel of Matthew, the sermon on the importance of how the Lord's prayer begins we continue this morning with our study of the sermon on the Mount. This where looking at the portion found in Matthew chapter 6 and I will be reading verses nine and 10. I would ask the coronation pleas to stand for the reading of the word of God in this manner therefore pray our father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

This portion of the prayer talk to the disciples by our Lord is not just a ritual of religion, but in these very words we hear the truth of all mighty God. This is his truth. This is his word. Let us respect that and receive it as such. Please before I look at the text this morning with you.

I'd like to ask a very simple question of everyone who was here. I don't want you to answer it out loud. I just want to answer it in the silence of your own mind and the question is this why are you here this morning.

That's the question, let me qualify the question.

I'm not asking you why are you here this morning instead of playing golf or being at the beach or sleeping in the question I'm asking is, is more fundamental than that I'm asking, why are you here in this universe at all. The oldest and most puzzling question that thinking people have ever posed is the question why is there something rather than nothing. I've been hearing a lot recently from otherwise intelligent people who declare with assurance that is a scientific fact that the universe in which we live has come into being out of nothing, not just want to assure you, since you here this day in and day out that that statement is neither a fact, nor is it scientific whenever we asked the question for the reason for anything. If you have an upset stomach and you go to the doctor. The doctor was going to ask you questions and do an examination because he's going to try to find out the reason for your ailment. The cause of your predicament and the way he goes about it is that he considers the possibilities that may explain your condition and when we consider the possibilities of anything and that consideration the first thing that we do is to eliminate the impossibilities and once we've eliminated the possibilities.

Then we examine the possibilities and look at them closely to see which possibility has the most evident reason. Now when we asked the question why are you here why am I here.

Why is this world here and we consider the possibilities. The first impossibility that we can eliminate from our discussion and from our investigation is the impossibility that anything by any means can ever come from nothing. The most fundamental principle of science of physics and of metaphysics is the principal ask me hello meat ill fit out of nothing, nothing comes and the reason why out of nothing, nothing comes is simply because out of nothing, nothing can come. It's impossible for something to come out of nothing, even for God to come out of nothing, as all and omnipotent as God is.

Even God cannot bring himself out of nothing and so we know this also for effect that something exists. If nothing else, you exist and if anything or any one exists today. That means that always and ever.

Something has existed again. I put this before but I don't want to forget it. If there ever was a time that there was nothing. No God, no matter, no energy, no nothing, then nothing could possibly be.

Now, and since there is something now indisputably then that inequality proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that there has always been something will I hear the naturalist say to me at this point I know you're doing philosophy again. You're doing theology. Again, you're not doing science. Now I want to remind that person and anyone who thinks in that way that one when you look at proofs to make the statement maker quickly some of your gonna miss the import of what I know, but we distinguish between formal proof and material proof. If you want me to prove that I have glasses up here with me. I can lift them up and show them to you. You're looking at them. You're saying something physical, that's material proof I'm giving you material evidence for the existence of these glasses okay, that's material proof of formal proof is a rational proof a logical proof. A mathematical proof. 2+2 equal four. So you have formal evidence material evidence which is a higher form of proof the answer that's easy. Formal proof always trumps material proof logic always beats physical evidence and when the logic of the question is clear that nothing can come from nothing. All the so-called mountain of evidence that somebody tries to produce is always prompt by the formal principle ever forget that no one am I talking about questions like this one make title of the message today is hallowed be thy name. The reason is this, that there is a certain logic that is found in the Lord's prayer. There is an inner connectedness of all of the elements that Jesus taught us to pray for, and the first petition, as I've already indicated to before that he gives us is the petition, hallowed be thy name. That is what is the cycle say how should we pray, what should we pray for the very first thing that Jesus tells us that we should pray for is that the name of God would be regarded as holy because he is holy and what does it mean that he is holy, it means that he is other and different from anything that we experience or find in the material universe that God the creator differs from all creatures, and the primary way in which God differs from all creatures is that because he is uncreated and he is eternal. Whereas all of us are created all of us have a measurable age. We are not eternal.

We are temporal and if nothing else separates the creator from the creature. It is that high transcendent element of God's own being so marvelous, so majestic that he is worthy of the adoration of every creature. Now, even though the term hallowed be thy name is the first petition of the Lord's prayer is not the beginning of the Lord's prayer, Jesus didn't say when you pray, say, hallowed be thy name. No, he says when you pray at the beginning of your prayer you have to distinguish the one to whom you are praying again. If I remind you of a very simple axiom. The two things that you must always remember when you're pray is first of all who you are and second of all who God is, that will immediately set the structure and the atmosphere of your conversation, and so Jesus says when you pray, the first thing you do is you identify to whom it is your pray our father who art in heaven, just consider that form of address for a moment in the 19th century with the rise of European continental liberalism, the efforts, particularly in Germany, was to reduce Christianity and all world religions to their primary core and along with this came the efforts to reduce the essence of Christianity to its core. People like Adolph on Harnack said that the essential message of Christianity is the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man actually essence of religion, the touch of your heart that how many times have you heard that affirmation universal fatherhood of God, universal brotherhood of man. Well, whatever. Harnack Todd, let me remind you that that concept is alien to biblical Christianity as it can get.

Because the Bible does not teach the universal fatherhood of God. The Bible teaches a universal creator that God is the universal creator and that teaches the universal neighborhood of man that all of us are each other's neighbors and that we've all been made by the same creator, but the language of family the language of fatherhood. The language of brotherhood has a very narrow and special meaning in the Scripture and biblical categories. God has one son.

His only begotten son so in one sense, the only person in history that ever had a legitimate right to call God father was Jesus.

And yet when he tells his disciples how to pray.

They does this say to them when you pray that on your knees and say all God the father of Jesus, hallowed be thy name. Rather, he says when you pray, pray by saying our father. How can we ever legitimately address God as our father when, by nature, the Bible tells us we are the children of Satan that we are children of wrath, and God is not our father. The only way we can call upon him as our father dear friends, is because he's adopted us the Scriptures tell us that is only by the Holy Ghost, who has linked us to Christ, and has brought about our adoption into the family of God that we can now say the father so that every time we pray the Lord's prayer we ought to read, be reminded that we are praying as God's children, but as his adopted children and our elder brother is the only natural child of God, even Jesus himself. Now there was another sense in which the Bible and the Old Testament spoke about the son of God, metaphorically, symbolically, Israel, the nation was referred to as God's son to remember that when we looked earlier in Matthew's gospel, and we read of how Joseph was warned in a dream to flee from the wrath of King Herod and so he took his wife and the baby Jesus and fled into Egypt to escape the murderous wrath of King Herod. You remember that and we also remember that after the danger passed and Herod was removed from the saying that the word of God came to Joseph, telling him it was safe now to come home in order for the Scriptures to be fulfilled or what scripture was that that may be fulfilled, which the word of God said out of Egypt. Have I called myself. You see the original import of that statement out of Egypt if I called my son referred to the Exodus 1 Israel as God's child was put into bondage and God delivered them after hearing the grounds of his son, the nation of Israel.

He delivered them from Egypt. And remember how the Lord's supper was originally rooted in the Old Testament Passover and the Jesus enjoying the Lord's supper in his celebration of the Passover on the night before he was killed. What happened at the Passover.

You know the story of the blood that was put on the door posts than the angel of death came at the bidding of God, and he was coming to do what to bring the worst plague of all against Pharaoh and against Egypt. He is coming to slay the first born son in every Egyptian household including in the household of Pharaoh and the firstborn of their flocks was the significance of God was saying to the most powerful ruler on this planet. Pharaoh, if you will not respect my son. I'm going to kill yours. That night Pharaoh wasn't saying our father who art because the kingdoms of this world have no respect for the son of God in its metaphorical manifestation in Israel or in its perfect manifestation in Christ or in its manifestation in the adopted sons and daughters who we are. You live in a secular world you live in a world that is doing everything in its power to a race from human memory or thinking any idea whatsoever that the world in which we live, comes from the hand of God the father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth get rid of creation. You get rid of God, get rid of God, you get rid of law eliminate the create tour. There is no need for Redeemer and there is nothing sacred left before the God's will can be done on earth before God's kingdom can come to earth the way it has already come to heaven in a way. His will is done right now in heaven. The name of God has to be hallowed. There is no blasphemy in heaven. There is nothing profane in heaven. No one in heaven. Seraphim cherubim or the spirits of men departed in the assembly on high ever. There does anything else but the will of God, and they do it joyously, happily for his glory. And Jesus is saying to his disciples look.

I came here from heaven.

My father, who dwells in heaven sent me here and I know that the world is blind to him and blinded to heaven, but your inheritance is in heaven. And you cannot be a Christian while at the same time, assuming that this world is all the race because the radical proclamation of Jesus is that he comes from the presence of our father who is a great reminder to honor the name of our God. We live in a generation that refuses to believe in himself are challenging these days is to stand firm and to hope in God just heard a message from Dr. RC Sproul's verse by verse sermon series from the Gospel of Matthew and you're listening to Renewing Your Mind on this Monday. Thank you for being with us triple took nearly 2 years to preach to the entire Gospel of Matthew as he was pastoring St. Andrews Chapel here in Sanford, Florida. When you give a donation of any amount. The leader ministries today. We will send you the hardbound edition of RC's commentary on Matthew.

This is a great week for you to fill out your library each day were offering a different expositional commentary from Dr. scroll so request. Dr. Sproles, Terry today on Matthew when you call us at 800-435-4343. You can also give your gift and make your request online and Renewing Your Mind.word your financial support of leader ministries propels this teaching around the world online imprints and over the airwaves. We are proclaiming what truly matters were supporting the church in training others and your gifts make it possible. So we thank you all tomorrow. RC will be in the gospel of Luke and we will learn about the surprising reaction of the disciples when Jesus calmed the wind and the waves you would think they would sell their sour Westerners in the air and say to Jesus with so you do some great things, but this beats them all.

That's how wondrously I can't wait to go home and tell my wife and my kids what you did here on the Sea of Galilee. But that's not the response they had instead they were very much afraid tomorrow. RC will explain why I hope you'll join us for the Tuesday edition of Renewing Your Mind