The
Lord’s Prayer
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Christ’s
Longings
From these
statements, we gather that material
things do not impress God, “for
all those things hath Mine hand
made.” He made the heavens with
all their glory and beauty, and He
inhabits eternity. Yet He longs for
something which man can only supply
– the love of a pure redeemed
soul.
Christ felt
this longing on earth. “The
loneliness of Christ, separated from
the heavenly courts, living the life
of humanity, was never understood or
appreciated by the disciples as it
should have been. He was often
grieved because His disciples did not
give Him that which He should have
received from them.” A vivid
illustration of Christ’s hunger
for the love of man is revealed in
the question He asked Peter, repeated
three times: “Simon, son of
Jonas, lovest thou Me?” John
21:17. This was after the
resurrection. Christ could have gone
to heaven and there received the
worship and adoration of the heavenly
host. This would have been wonderful,
but not enough. “He longed for
human tenderness, courtesy, and
affection.” This the angels
could not give, for they had not been
permitted to follow Him in His
humiliation. Hear these wonderful
words: “If a man love Me, he
will keep My words: and My Father
will love him, and We will come unto
him, and make Our abode with
him.” John 14:23. And to the
last church Jesus said, “Behold,
I stand at the door, and knock: if
any man hear My voice, and open the
door, I will come in to him, and will
sup with him, and he with Me.”
Revelation 3:20. Let us open the
door.
The prayer
that the kingdom come will not be
fully answered until we reach the
earth made new. This prayer brings to
us the responsibility to do all in
our power to help bring about its
fulfillment. We have a definite work
to do, for the gospel of the kingdom
must be preached in the entire world
before the end can come. These two
things, therefore, we must do: preach
the gospel, and prepare ourselves for
that great event. It is of little use
that we pray for the kingdom to come,
if we do nothing to further its
coming. As we begin to comprehend
more fully the meaning of this
prayer, we agree with the statement
that no prayer is real prayer that
does not include the kingdom.
It is a
serious question how far a Christian
can honestly pray for the kingdom to
come, while making every preparation
to stay in this world. We know that
Jesus said in the parable,
“Occupy till I come.” Luke
19:13. This has been made to mean
that we may build and carry on as
usual, when the word has no such
meaning. In the parable of the
nobleman “he called his ten
servants, and delivered them ten
pounds, and said unto them, Occupy
till I come.” The Revised
Version says, “Trade ye herewith
till I come.” That is, “Use
the talents I have given you.”
The Greek means, “to be busy
with, to trade.” The servants
had been given ten talents. Now the
nobleman said, Trade with them; get
busy. That this is the meaning is
evident from the parable itself, for
when the master returned, he called
the servants together ‘that he
might know how much every man had
gained by trading.” To apply
this parable to anything else than
trading with the talents each man had
received is to wrest Scripture.
This, then,
is our work while we are waiting for
the Lord to come. Busily engaged in
the work of God, we may justify our
existence. Let us trade with the one
talent we have, and God may give us
another.
“Thy
Will Be Done”
“Thy
will be done on earth, as it is in
heaven.” This petition is built
on the fact that God’s will is
not now being done on earth. If
God’s will were done, there
would be no war or hatred among
nations. There would be no injustice
or cruelty, no sickness, sorrow,
suffering, or tears. Peace and
prosperity would prevail, joy and
happiness reign supreme.
How have
present conditions come about? They
are the results of the selfishness,
ambition, and greed of men who have
forgotten that they arte their
brother’s keeper.
As a
consequence, some nations have an
abundance of that for which others
are starving. There is enough food in
the world for all, but men have not
learned the blessing of sharing with
those who are less fortunate. Men
have forgotten the golden rule; they
have forgotten God.
God’s
will is well expressed by the prophet
who said, “I know the thoughts
that I think toward you, saith the
Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of
evil, to give you an expected
end.” Jeremiah 29:11. The
Revised Standard Version more
correctly reads, “I know the
plans I have for you, says the Lord,
plans for welfare and not for evil,
to give you a future and a
hope.” When this was written,
Israel had sinned grievously, and it
appeared that there was no future for
them. However, God had plans for them
and encouraged them to try once more.
He promised that if they would search
for Him with all their heart, He
would hear them and would turn their
captivity. Jeremiah 39: 12-14.
God is not an
angry God who lies in wait to catch
men off their guard so He can punish
them. Hear these heartening promises:
God “doth not afflict willingly
not grieve the children of men.”
Lamentations 3:33. If God at times
must punish, He does it reluctantly.
He is “not willing that any
should perish, but that all should
come to repentance.” 2 Peter
3:9. His desire is to “have all
men to be saved, and to come unto the
knowledge of the truth.” 1
Timothy 2:4. From the very beginning,
God has “chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit
and the belief of the truth.” 2
Thessalonians 2:13. This is the will
of God, even your
sanctification.” 1 Thessalonians
4:3.
These texts
reveal God’s plans for men. He
wants every man saved, and is not
willing that even one should be lost.
His plan includes both a hope and a
future, on the condition that we seek
Him with all our heart.
When we
therefore pray that God’s will
be done in earth as it is in heaven,
we align ourselves with divine power
to bring this about. Just what,
specifically, does God want us to do
so that He can work out His plan in
us? What is my duty?
A government
expresses it will through its law.
Each nation ordinarily has a
fundamental law, written or
unwritten, generally called “a
constitution,” which is binding
upon all the people. This
constitution prescribes and defines
the duties of the citizens and is the
standard to which all other laws must
conform. In a country ruled by a
dictator, there is no constitution.
The will of the dictator is the
supreme law, from which there is no
appeal.
When God
formed Israel into a nation, He
publicly entered into a covenant with
the people, upon adherence to which
they were to become His people and
receive His blessings. Moses thus
records the event: “And ye came
near and stood under the mountain;
and the mountain burned with fire
unto the midst of heaven, with
darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
And the Lord spake unto you out of
the midst of the fire: ye heard the
voice of the words, but saw no
similitude; only ye heard a voice.
And He declared unto you His
covenant, which He commanded you to
perform, even the Ten Commandments;
and He wrote them upon two tables of
stone.” Deuteronomy 4:11-13.
The covenant
law that God proclaimed from Sinai
reads as follows: “God spake all
these words saying,…
1.
Thou shalt have no other gods before
Me.
2.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness of
anything that is in heaven above, or
that is in the earth beneath, or is
in the water under the earth: thou
shalt not bow down thyself to them,
nor serve them: for I the Lord thy
God am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate Me; and
showing mercy unto thousands of them
that love Me, and keep my
commandments.
3.
Thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord
will not hold him guiltless that
taketh His name in vain.
4.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it
holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and
do all thy work: but the seventh day
is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work,
thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter,
thy manservant, nor thy maidservant,
nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that
is within thy gates: for in six days
the Lord made heaven and earth, the
sea, and all that in them is, and
rested the seventh day: wherefore the
Lord blesses the Sabbath day, and
hallowed it.
5.
Honor thy father and thy mother: that
thy days may be long upon the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
6.
Thou shalt not kill.
7.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8.
Thou shalt not steal.
9.
Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbor.
10.
Thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor’s house; thou shalt not
covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor
his manservant, nor his maidservant,
nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything
that is thy neighbor’s.”
“These words the
Lord spake unto all the assembly in
the mount out of the midst of the
fire, of the cloud, and of the thick
darkness, with a great voice: and He
added no more. And He wrote them in
two tablets of stone, and delivered
them unto me.” Deuteronomy 5:22.
“And I turned
myself and came down from the mount,
and put the tables in the ark which I
had made; and there they be, as the
Lord commanded me.” Deuteronomy
10:5.
Christ in His Sermon
on the Mount endorsed this law, and
compliance with it was made a
condition of salvation. Matthew
19:16-22, Mark 10:17-22, Luke
10:25-28, 18: 18-23.
From early Christian
experience I had been taught that in
religion there is no place for
independent judgment, that I was not
to use my mind, but trust in God and
have faith. The advice was well meant
and largely true. We are to have
faith, and we are saved by faith and
not by works. However, the suggestion
that we are not to use our minds is
entirely untrue. We are to serve God
with our mind as well as with other
faculties. Hear these words of
Christ: “And thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind, and with all thy strength: This
is the first commandment. And the
second is like, namely this; Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
There is none other commandment
greater than these.” Mark
12:30,31. See also Matthew 22: 37;
Luke 10:27. As a fresh breath from
heaven come the words, “Come
now, and let us reason together,
saith the Lord.” Isaiah 1:18. Is
it possible that God invites me to
reason with Him? Paul supported the
idea when he said, “Consider
what I say; and the Lord give thee
understanding in all things.” 2
Timothy 2:7. “Consider” is
defined: “To look closely, to
examine, to think about, to ponder in
order to understand and decide, to
observe, comprehend.” Did
Paul mean that I have a right to
consider what he said? To think it
over? And what did he mean when he
said, “I speak as to wise men; judge
ye what I say.” 1 Corinthians
10:15. Perhaps we had expected to
hear Paul say, “Swallow what I
say.” Instead of this, he
appealed to men’s good sense,
and told them to consider what he
said. He was so sure of his grounds
that he was will to leave the
decision with the hearers.
God is pleased when we
use the mind He has given us and
seriously consider a matter before
taking action. Such is not an act of
disbelief, but of intelligent faith.
There must indeed be no doubtful
hesitation in obeying God; but
ordinarily He gives us time for
reflection, that we may see the light
in His light and follow on to know
the Lord.
Little children should
be taught to obey without
questioning. However, as the child
grows older, the wise parents will
use a different method. They will
spend time in explaining the reasons
for certain requirements. As the
child gets the parent’s
viewpoint, there will be intelligent
co-operation, unless the child is
willfully stubborn.
It is thus God deals
with us. He wants to reason with us;
He wants us to consider, to judge.
God treats us as grownups, which
appeals to a child. As we think
matters through, we see wisdom in
what might otherwise seem an
arbitrary and unreasonable demand.
God could sit on His
throne and issue His sovereign
decrees without giving any reason for
them. However, He chooses the better
way. He reveals His secrets to His
servants, the prophets. Amos 3:7. He
talked things over with Abraham
before destroying Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis 18:20-33. He would never dare
give us the right to think, did He
not know that when we have time to
consider the matter, we would agree
with Him. How can any fail to
appreciate such a God! He makes us
feel that we count. We are not mere
automations. Let no one
misunderstand. God demands obedience.
However, He talks things over with us
and leaves to us the final decision.
While, generally
speaking, every request that God
makes of us is a reasonable request,
there are times when He tests us to
see what we will do under certain
circumstances. He tests us to see if
we have learned to trust Him
absolutely and if we will obey even
without understanding them. Of such
was the order to Simon Peter,
“Launch out into the deep, and
let down your nets for a draft.”
Luke 5:4. Jesus was no fisherman, and
Peter was. In addition, Peter had
been fishing all night and caught
nothing, and in daylight, it was no
use to try again. Peter made a weak
protest (verse 5), then let down the
net, and the result was a greater
catch than Peter had ever had before.
This was Peter’s first lesson in
obedience. Years later when Christ
told him to cast the net on the right
side, there was no arguing. John
21:6. Peter could have argued that
there was no more fish on the right
side than on the left. However, he
had learned his lesson.
When Abraham was told
to take his son Isaac and offer him
on the mountain God should show him,
he did not hesitate. Genesis 22:2,3.
He could not understand, but in
previous years, he had learned to
trust God. Abraham stood the test for
obedience.
These are interesting
events, and there are others in the
Bible. God likes to talk over with
His men, to prepare them for the time
when there must be prompt and instant
obedience.
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