Berean Break
Feb. 22, 2004 broadcast
Disciples Prayer (part 2 of 2)
by George Sinkie
[review: Disciples Prayer - part 1]
Greetings on this Lords Day
morning and welcome to the Berean Break. My name is George
Sinkie and it is such a privilege to share this time with you.
Last week we began to look at the prayer that Jesus gave
to His disciples, as an example of how to pray. On todays
program, we are going to continue to look at that prayer. Before
we go on into our study today, lets go to God in prayer.
Great and Loving God in heaven,
We thank You for this day in our lives, And we praise and glorify
You name. We thank You for Your word, That gives us everything
we need to be right with You. Help us to reject the man-made
creeds and catechisms of this world. Dear Lord, as we study
prayer this morning, Help us to learn to pray more as You want
us to. In Jesus Name, we pray!! AMEN !!
To
review very briefly, we saw that this was not a prayer that Jesus
wanted us to say over and over and over and over again, as so
many well-meaning but misguided people do today. This was
a model of how to pray, not what to say. We also considered
how the prayer starts out with giving reverence to God. Each
time we pray we need to understand to whom we are talking. Then
we saw how this prayer does not apply today in the asking for
the kingdom to come. There are so many false religions
that teach that Jesus failed to set up the kingdom and will one
day return to earth to set up that kingdom. But the Scriptures
teach that the kingdom was set up in the first century, that
Jesus began to reign and is reigning now and will continue reigning
until He comes again to destroy this earth. If you would
like to receive a copy of last weeks program, simply send
us a request, they are offered free of charge.
Now lets continue on, to
see more on how to pray. We are ready to look at verses
11-13, so lets read Matthew 6:11-13,
11 Give us this day
our daily bread.
12 And forgive us
our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not lead
us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Thine
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.]
The
next thing that Jesus mentions in His model of prayer is petitioning
God for our daily needs. It is significant to noted that
He mentions simple our daily bread.
First of all, we need to understand that bread was often
used as a term referring to food, not just exclusively of what
we think of as bread. It is true that bread made up a majority
of their diet but they did eat many other foods as well. Jesus
wanted His disciples to understand that they were dependent upon
God on a daily basis. Living for God and being reliant
upon God is a daily thing for the disciple. In Luke 9:23,
Jesus shows the daily aspect of being a disciple.
23 And He was saying to
them all, If
anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take
up his cross daily, and follow Me.
James
also gives us warning about thinking too far into the future,
in James 4:13-17.
13 Come now, you who say,
Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city,
and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.
14 Yet you do not know what
your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that
appears for a little while and then vanishes away.
15 Instead, you ought to
say, If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this
or that.
16 But as it is, you boast
in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, to one who
knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is
sin.
When
we become concerned about the bread for tomorrow and the day
after that and next week and next month our faith God is going
to suffer. Jesus goes on in the Sermon on the Mount to
address this problem. Read with me Matthew 6:31-34
31 Do not be anxious then,
saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we
drink? or With what shall we clothe ourselves?
32 For all these things
the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that
you need all these things.
33 But seek first His kingdom
and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to
you.
34 Therefore do not be anxious
for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day
has enough trouble of its own.
Knowing
that God is there on a daily basis is a comfort to those who
are His disciples. Jesus next turns His attention to the
disciples need for relationship. In verse 12, He considers
both the disciples relationship with other people and also his
relationship with God.
12 And forgive us
our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Disciples
need to have Gods forgiveness just like everyone else.
I have encountered religious groups that claim to be Christian
and yet they teach that Christians do NOT sin. The Scriptures
are very clear that to say this is to lie. Listen to Gods
teaching through John, in 1 John 1:8-10
8 If we say that we have
no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have
not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Jesus
teaches here in Matthew 6:12, as He does in so many other places
that we are extended the same kind of mercy by God as we give
to other people. It is important that we do not misunderstand
this to teach that we design our own plan for forgiveness. Someone
may look at this verse and say that they forgive every one of
every thing without that offending person doing any thing, and
therefore God will forgive me of doing any thing without me having
to do any thing. This is not what this verse is saying
at all. God has given His plan of salvation, now under
the New Covenant - that we believe, repent confess and be immersed
in water for the forgiveness of our sins - and if we do not obey
His will we cannot have our sins taken away by the blood of Jesus.
Jesus is dealing with the feelings that we have for other
people. Peter discussed this with Jesus and we have Jesus
teaching recorded for us in Matthew 18:21-35
21 Then Peter came and said
to Him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me
and I forgive him? Up to seven times?
22 Jesus said to him, I do not say to you,
up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
23 For this reason the kingdom
of heaven may be compared to a certain king who wished to settle
accounts with his slaves.
24 And when he had begun
to settle them, there was brought to him one who owed him ten
thousand talents.
25 But since he did not
have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along
with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment
to be made.
26 The slave therefore falling
down, prostrated himself before him, saying, Have patience
with me, and I will repay you everything.
27 And the lord of that
slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.
28 But that slave went out
and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii;
and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, Pay back
what you owe.
29 So his fellow slave fell
down and began to entreat him, saying, Have patience with
me and I will repay you.
30 He was unwilling however,
but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what
was owed.
31 So when his fellow slaves
saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and
reported to their lord all that had happened.
32 Then summoning him, his
lord said to him, You wicked slave, I forgave you all that
debt because you entreated me.
33 Should you not also have
had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?
34 And his lord, moved with
anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay
all that was owed him.
35 So shall My heavenly
Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother
from your heart.
The
final verse of this prayer is Matthew 6:13
13 And do not lead
us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Thine
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.]
Jesus
has dealt with the reverence we should show God, the kingdom
of God which has now come into existence, the need for the sustaining
of this physical body, and the effect our relationship with other
people has on our relationship with God. Now He looks at
the life the disciple is to live before God. As Jesus points
out God is not to lead us into temptation. Back in the
book of James, God says very plainly that temptation is not from
Him. Read James 1:13-15
13 Let no one say when he
is tempted, I am being tempted by God; for God cannot
be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted
when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
15 Then when lust has conceived,
it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings
forth death.
Jesus
also includes a petition to God for deliverance from evil and
God does provide that way. Paul writes of this in 1 Corinthians
10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken
you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will
not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with
the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you
may be able to endure it.
This
prayer is a wonderful example of how to pray but
we should never fall into a trap of simply saying these words.
[review: Disciples Prayer - part 1] |