Today, I'm going to read a very familiar portion
of the Word of God to you. And immediately when
I say it's from the sixth chapter of Matthew,
you know that this chapter contains the Lord's
Prayer. And the Lord's Prayer is the most important
of all the Christian documents. It was very carefully
constructed by Jesus himself. with certain very
clear ends in view. It's a most important document.
But we do not dare take it out of context. And
that is the reason why I shall begin reading
with the very first verse of this sixth chapter
of Matthew. Take heed that ye do not your alms
before men to be seen of them. Otherwise ye have
no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Now here is a very clear -cut statement. Stop
just a minute. Analyze this. Take heed. heed
that ye do not your arms before men, to be seen
of them. Otherwise ye have no reward of your
Father which is in heaven. Therefore, when thou
doest thine arms, do not sound a trumpet before
thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the streets, that they may have glory
of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their
reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy
left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that
thine alms may be in secret, and thy father,
which seeth in secret himself, shall reward thee
openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not
be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray
standing in the synagogues and in the corners
of the streets that they may be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest, Enter into thy closet,
and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy
Father which is in secret. And thy Father which
seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But
when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as a heathen
do. Don't pray the same thing over and over.
over, it isn't a matter of saying prayers. Use
not vain repetitions as the heathens do, for
they think that they shall be heard for their
much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto
them, for your father knoweth what things ye
have need of before ye ask him. Now comes that
important part of this entire chapter. It's not
really the Lord's Prayer. It's the prayer that
He taught you and He taught me to pray. And it's
most important, again I say, this prayer is the
most important of all the Christian documents.
It was carefully constructed by Jesus. After
this manner, therefore, pray ye. And here it
is. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done
in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day
our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we
forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever. Amen. But
it doesn't stop there. For... If ye forgive men
their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive
your trespasses. You know, of all his teachings,
this prayer, is by far the best known, the most
often quoted. There are literally thousands and
thousands who quote it every Sunday. It's indeed
the most common denominator of all the Christian
churches. Every one of them, without exception,
uses the Lord's Prayer. It's perhaps the only
ground upon which they all meet. Every Christian
child is taught the Lord's Prayer. If your youngster
goes to Sunday school, that youngster is always
taught the Lord's Prayer. Any man, any woman
who knows absolutely nothing about the Word of
God, whenever you speak of the Lord's Prayer,
perhaps he does not quote it correctly. or perhaps
only a sentence or two, but he can quote even
those few words. And any Christian who prays
at all says it almost every day. Its actual use
probably exceeds all other prayers put together.
Undoubtedly, everyone who is seeking to follow
along The way that Jesus lived should make a
point of using the Lord's Prayer, using it intelligently.
I repeat, using it intelligently every day. Now,
in order to do this, we should understand that
the prayer is carefully constructed. As a whole
and constructed by Jesus himself. You know, many
people just rattle through it like a train just
going through a small railroad station. It's
just a matter of words to them, something that
they've memorized. Forgetful of the warning that
Jesus gave us against vain repetitions. And of
course... No one derives any profit from that
sort of thing. It isn't just saying the Lord's
Prayer. It isn't just repeating the Lord's Prayer.
If every Sunday morning you just repeat the Lord's
Prayer with your mind a thousand miles away,
probably on last week's business or planning
the business for the new week or thinking about
the one standing next to you. No. Even the Lord's
prayer can be a vain repetition. This great prayer,
the most important of all the Christian documents,
is a compact formula for the development of the
soul. It's designed with the utmost care. for
that purpose, so that those who use it regularly
with understanding, and I come again, with understanding,
will experience a real change of soul. I mean
exactly that. You cannot. have a real spiritual
understanding of this, the prayer that Jesus
taught you and taught me to pray, and pray it
every day without having something happen to
you. It's just like that. The only progress is
this change, which the Bible refers to as the
born -again experience. this wonderful experience
of regeneration. You cannot have a clear, thorough
knowledge of this prayer and pray it constantly
without having this marvelous experience happen
to you, this experience of regeneration. It's
like that. After all, it's the change of the
soul that matters. just a mere acquisition of
fresh knowledge received intellectually. That
will never change a soul. That will never give
you this wonderful experience of regeneration.
The Lord's Prayer is especially designed to bring
this change about and when it is Used regularly,
it does that very thing. Now, the more one analyzes
the Lord's Prayer, the more wonderful is its
construction to be seen to the individual. It
meets everyone's need just at his own level.
if that only provides a rapid spiritual development
for those who are sufficiently advanced to be
ready. But in its superficial meaning, it supplies
the more simple -minded and even the more materially
-minded people with just what they need at the
moment if they pray this prayer sincerely. It
all depends... on how you pray it. It all depends
on the spiritual revelation that you have received.
It all depends on your own sincerity. And it's
just like that. When we get into this prayer,
you'll understand what even the first two words
mean. Our Father. You cannot even pray those
two words without having something happen to
you inside. If you are absolutely sincere when
you pray those two words and you have the spiritual
meaning of those two words. Now, This greatest
of all prayers was designed with still another
purpose in view, quite as different as either
of the others. Jesus foresaw that, as the centuries
went by, his simple, primitive teaching would
gradually become over. laid by all sorts of external
things which really have nothing whatsoever to
do with it. He foresaw that men who had never
known him, relying, white sincerely no doubt,
upon their own limited intellects, would build
up theologies. and doctrinal systems, obscuring
the direct simplicity of the spiritual message,
and actually erecting a wall between God and
man. It's the easiest thing in the world for
even doctrine to build up a wall between the
Heavenly Father and man. It's the easiest thing
in the world. Theology can separate man from
God because many of these things are just intellectual.
But it's the simplicity of the spiritual message.
Oh, the simplicity of the relationship between
man and God. The simplicity between the individual
and his heavenly Father. And God designed this
prayer in such a way that it would pass safely
through those ages without being tampered with.
He arranged it with such skill so that it could
not be twisted or distorted or adapted to any
man -made systems. So that in fact it would carry
the whole whole Christ message within it and
yet not have anything on the surface to attract
the attention of the restless type of man or
woman. And so it turned out through all the changes
of Christian history, through all the changes
of man's thinking through intellect, through
all the generations since the time that Jesus
himself gave it. This prayer has come through
to us uncorrupted and unspoiled. As simple as
when Jesus gave it to us through his own lips.
As powerful as God himself. As powerful as all
of the promises of the word combined. Read it
again. The sixth chapter of Matthew.