Many sermons have been preached on the Lord’s prayer and at times the Lord gives a new revelation on it.
“Pray, then, in this way: ‘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 also have forgiven our debtors. (This is referring to moral debts.) And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil (the evil one). For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.’ For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” Matthew 6:9–15.
Two of these verses speak about the sense of continuity a worshiper must feel: … hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Is the Lord instructing us to get busy and pray or the Kingdom of God won’t come? No, the Kingdom of God will come whether you pray for it or not. You are instructed to pray, because as a citizen of the Kingdom, as a child of the Kingdom, you have a sense of continuity in the entire overall picture from ages past to the ages yet to come. As a cog in the wheel you are praying and believing. The whole expression of your spirit is for that Kingdom to come forth. If you maintain that concept of the continuity of events and your place in the overall picture, it makes a great deal of difference.
The American people rarely have a sense of belonging. The English used to have it, boasting that the sun never set on the British Empire. A man might be working in a factory earning barely enough to subsist, and yet he had a sense of pride in being a part of the British Empire. On the other hand, Australians don’t have that sense of belonging. Australia was originally settled by people who were brought our of the penal colonies and jails, and sent to colonize Australia. This resulted in a lot of rebellion and independent thinking. They almost refused to become a country for they insisted on being individuals. During World War II the American people had that sense of belonging because they were fighting two wars, one in the Pacific and one in Europe. Everyone was working together building ships and planes; and in supporting the war effort all had a feeling of continuity. The same thing existed in the founding fathers who suffered in bringing forth a nation.
America now has lost her sense of continuity, however. Too many radicals no longer care about the future of the country. They seem more concerned in destroying than in constructively building for the future. This is because Satan is trying to disrupt everything.
We as individuals may not be falling short as Americans—I’m using that illustration to show that you will not get anywhere in this world or in this walk until you feel as if you belong to the Kingdom of God. It is very difficult to continue in this walk if you are constantly wondering if you even belong in it. Have you had moments in which you wondered if you were really a part of it—if anyone even wanted you around?
At the beginning of this walk our minds did not focus on a sense of continuity. This was a fresh new move of God’s Spirit. However, as we continued, we realized that the restoration of all things was what the prophets had prophesied since the foundation of the world. Then we began to see the overall picture of how it has been unfolding day by day, year by year, and century by century. A sense of continuity took hold of us and as we accepted that, we found ourselves delivered from many problems. As long as you don’t know where you belong, where you are going, what is going to happen to you, or how things will turn out, you are lost and frustrated. I know that I am chosen of the Lord as one of His mouthpieces to speak forth the living word; and as I speak it, I must be faithful to it. It gives me the sense of the destiny of God to fulfill today.
Paul said of David, “David by the will of God served his own generation and slept with his fathers” (Acts 13:36). We don’t usually think of King David as one coming on the scene with a sense of destiny. We think of Him as killing a giant and building a kingdom, as collecting money and material for the temple, as committing a few sins, and doing some things well. However, David had such a sense of continuity that when King Saul was trying to kill him, and David found him in a cave sleeping, he cut off only part of his garment, but spared his life. He knew that God had made Saul a king, and would take care of Saul’s present rebellion. No one could interfere with it, because it was God’s kingdom and it was unfolding. “Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever”—this was uppermost in David’s mind. You can learn from David to look right at a situation where people are coming against you like a flood—without allowing it to affect you—if you know that you are God’s servant, raised up to speak God’s word. Then you look up and pray: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Such a man has a sense of continuity deep in his spirit.
With deep humility my vision is expanding every day, with a sense of the continuity of my ministry as an apostle of the Lord and of His Church, and the vastness of it. I don’t know what God is going to do—whether He will allow it to be small, great, or as a tidal wave. But I do know that I will continue to proclaim that word now at this focal point of history.
There have been other men and other groups who seemed to sense their destiny and the continuity of the Church. They didn’t try to achieve anything special or unique; their only goal was to fulfill what God wanted at that particular moment in the bringing forth of His unfolding plan.
Most people working at their jobs have no special interest in the company that employs them. They perform their own specific duties without any sense of the overall purpose and importance of those duties, without understanding the business their company is part of, its history, or what services it has to offer. Because their job is boring and uninteresting, they come home tired. On the other hand, when someone participates in a company and understands its purpose and the overall picture, it becomes an interesting and challenging venture. We must find this in our walk with the Lord. Some of our young people have not yet grasped the overall picture: the fact that they have been set into the Body of Christ in its end-time expression.
We are heralds of a new Kingdom, publishing His word. In the great continuity of the Church we are entering into a phase in which we must go back and observe the early Church as it unfolded. We are participating in another chapter, as we update the book of Acts in this year’s edition. This sense of continuity must be in our minds. It is important that we not only grasp the various aspects of this walk, but that we sense its significance in the building of God’s Kingdom.
You will no longer feel lost or frustrated, as an individual not knowing who he is or where he is going, if you know you are an essential part of God’s plan. Whether or not you are performing any great function, you are still a part of the Body and operating as a member of the Body. You need to say in your heart, “Lord, make me aware; give me that realization.”
In the old order we called it “loyalty.” On loyalty Sunday, they recalled to mind what the denomination had done, building up everyone’s loyalty to it. With pride one would say, “This is a church my grandfather helped to build; my father was in it, and now I’m in it. The pastors had counseling periods with the young people, explaining to them their family’s place in the church, instilling in them a sense of pride and loyalty to it. Using a human method, they were in effect, trying to instill that sense of continuity.
If you young people only had the sense to realize who you are, you would lift your voices and sing, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” not as a petition of some little ones praying, “Oh dear God, I hope You win instead of the devil.” It isn’t that kind of prayer; it is a vibrant battle cry, with the triumphant faith of those who look up and say, “Father, we worship You; hallowed be Thy name; we are Yours—Your sons. Your Kingdom is going to come forth and we are a part of it.” That sense of continuity is very much needed.
Give us this day our daily bread. The literal translation is, “Give us this day our bread for the coming day.” We want to have it ready so we can make the toast in the morning when we get up. It is an aggressive appropriation of His provision. Pray that prayer, not like a beggar, but as children asking for bread from the heavenly Father.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.)
This is not the prayer of a sinner. It is the prayer of someone who wants his moral debts forgiven, the kinds of sins that are indebtedness. The word “trespasses” does not appear in the Lord’s Prayer, neither in Matthew nor Luke. Luke 11:4 reads, And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Let’s hold the idea in our minds that it is dealing with the relationships of the righteous. There isn’t too much petition in this saying, “Oh, dear Lord, we committed a blunder. Would You please forgive us?” It is not that kind of a prayer. It is the prayer of a chronic sinner, who is perpetually sinning and prays, “O Lord, I did it again. I slipped. I sinned. O, God, forgive me.” This is the prayer of a righteous man who is expecting something. “Forgive us our debts, our sins, Father, as we also forgive those who have sinned against us.” It involves the relationships of righteousness. “I forgive because I am Your child, Lord. I expect You to forgive me, and I’ll not hold things against another man because he is indebted to me or has transgressed against me. I know what Your love is. I know You love me and will forgive me and take care of me.” That describes what this petition in the Lord’s Prayer actually means. It is speaking of the relationship of a righteous man, “Forgive us as we forgive.”
Repentance must be learned. We must continually be deeply repentant if we are to remain in the grace of God. We are expecting because we are giving. This is the principle of priming the pump. To the merciful Thou wilt show Thyself merciful (II Samuel 22:26). Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8). We can set forgiveness in motion. If we give it, we can expect to receive it. We can show mercy. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7. If we do not forgive, the process stops right there. But we are determined to forgive. We are going to love. We will be merciful. And because we start it in motion as God’s children, it comes from God to us.
The Psalmist said, “With the froward Thou wilt show Thyself froward” (Psalm 18:26). That is the way it works. Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. Luke 6:38. Do you want blessings to come to you? Then send out blessings and believe that they will come to you. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Galatians 6:7, 8. This is the relationship of righteousness.
“There is a purpose in our lives. We are going with God to the Kingdom that He speaks of in the Lord’s Prayer. He protects us as we go through life, in this walk with Him, carrying out His appointed task that He has given us.”
You are mortal until your work is done. You see what you are supposed to do; you set out to do it; and God will see that you get the job done.
“We have taken up from where the apostles and prophets of old ended. We have that continuity and are walking all the way to the end spoken of in the book of Revelation.”
“There is a rest in just entering into what God has ordained for you to walk in, not of striving or seeking a place. It’s that continuity—all walking together as one, as the prophecy in Joel 2:7–8 says, … and they shall not break their ranks: neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk everyone in his path.…”
“One of our problems is a sense of frustration, and often this frustration comes when people have an idea that they are not really in God’s perfect will of their lives, as far as the ministry is concerned. I believe the Lord sets us in the Body as He wills. If you are an arm, you are an arm. Don’t try to be a leg or a shoulder. Then as you move along with the Body, you are not frustrated. You have a ministry to perform and no one is going to be able to substitute you or take your place. You are different, and your ministry is different but it is not any greater nor any less than that of anyone else. When we feel this and it becomes a revelation to our heart it takes away all the frustration. If the Lord sets you in as an elder, fine. If He sets you in as a deacon or as a doorkeeper, fine. As a member of the Body, you are a part of the whole Kingdom of God working together. You are not struggling trying to produce something or become something or prove something.”