ARE YOU PLAYING THE HYPOCRITE PART FOUR

 

Matt 6:1-18

Here is a fact! God’s greatness and infinite glory is

elevated above us. “Our Father in Heaven” That is enough to scare the child of God, but also brings comfort for the child of God. To know we have been brought near by the saving life of His Son. Is a true blessing beyond description? Isn’t it? But there is something else that points us vertically to infinite Creator, when we come to the privilege of prayer, and that is what follows the opening statement. “Hallowed be your Name” (v9)

 

“Hallowed be your Name” means “I treasure, reverence, honor, glorify, cherish, praise, and magnify, your holy Name.”

 

A W Pink wrote, “This petition must take the precedence, for the glory of God’s great name is the ultimate end of all things: every other request must not only be subordinated to this one, but be in harmony with and in undertaking of it. We cannot pray aright unless the honor of God be dominant in our hearts. If we cherish a desire for the honoring of God’s name we must not ask for anything which would be against the Divine holiness to bestow.”

 

What is A.W Pink saying? Realize how wonderful His name is! God’s name is to be kept “hallowed” by His adopted children and set apart for their worship. See! God has many names and this made perfect sense for the people sitting on that hillside. Names, which speak volumes into the hearts of God’s creation and reveal aspects of His being.

Names like…..

 

Jehovah Shalom….means “The Lord Our Peace” was a name that Gideon hallowed by raising an alter to God by that name. Judges 6:24

“Jehovah” is translated as “The Existing One” or “Lord.” The chief meaning of Jehovah is derived from the Hebrew word “Havah”. Meaning “to be” or “to exist, the I”AM.” It also suggests “to become” or specifically “to become known”. “This denotes a God who reveals Himself unceasingly.”

 

Jehovah Jireh…. mean “The Lord Will Provide” was the name that Abraham came to know God on Mt Moriah, when God provided the sacrifice. Gen 22:14

 

Jehovah Tsidkenu…. means “The Lord Our Righteousness” is the name by which God revealed Himself to Jeremiah during captivity. Jer 23:6

 

The Old Testament identifies God also as….

 

El, Elohim, Elyon…. the name “El” is a basic name for God, this conveys the thought of being “first, Lord and strong”. Melchizedek identified himself as a priest using this term for God. “…He was priest of God Most High.” Gen 14:18

“El” is used approximately 250 times in combination with reference to God…. 

Almighty God …Gen 17:1

A Jealous God… Exodus 20:5

Great God…. Deut 10:17

Merciful God… Deut 4;31

Everlasting God… Gen 21:33

God of truth… Deut 32:4

Living God…Josh 3:10

Faithful God… Deut 7:9

 

“Elohim” demonstrates the fullness of God’s power; it’s used approximately 3000 times in Scripture to describe God, Himself and His supremacy over Creation.

“Elyon” presents a picture of God as the “high and exalted One”. We read in Genesis 14:19-20 "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!" Gen 14:19-20

 

“Adonai”… meaning “Lord or master” it is first used in Abram’s prayer after meeting Mechizedek “But Abram said, "O Lord GOD,..” Gen 15:1-8

 

“El Shaddai”…. traditionally “the Almighty.” Points to God’s strength are made perfect in weakness. It is used 31 times in the Book of Job.

 

The names of God are very important to the Nation

of Israel and they are the same for us.

 

As David wrote “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the 

name of the LORD our God.” Psalm 20:7

 

His name not only tells us who He is,

but what He is like.

 

Jesus gives the clearest teaching about what God’s name means, because Jesus is God’s greatest name. We read in John’s gospel this revealed truth. “I have manifested your Name to the people whom you gave Me out of the world.” John 17:6. Everything Jesus did in the flesh represented the perfect manifestation of His great name.

 

“Hallowed be Your name”

 

The root word means “to set apart as holy”, “to consider holy, “to treat holy”.

 How easily do we just utter those words without the slightest

thought to what we are saying?

As we read in Peter’s letter “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15-16. See! What Jesus is teaching here is that our prayer life is of the utmost importance. To the highest degree we are coming before the Father with the desire of our hearts that God’s Name would be sanctified, set apart for His “hallowed name.” Yet desiring that, and realizing that, I’m incapable of making that request from my heart, apart from the Spirit of God, that lives within me. This word “Hallow” is used in the same way when in reference to your sanctification. “but in your hearts (hallow) honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” 1 Peter 3:15

 

When you think about this word “hallow”

what comes to mind in light of 1 Peter 3:15?

 

We are to reverence, honor, acknowledge, because we are approaching a holy God. We are to confess that He is the supreme Almighty God, who is over our lives. A God, who we is personal with His adopted children; not with all creation, but a special benevolent relationship with His “called out ones.” So special Jesus said, “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.” John 17:6-10. The same one who intercedes for the child of God through the gospel. “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” Heb 9:24-28

 

Its knowing this truth about Him is what drives the child of God, to his or her knees in adoration and worship. Its knowing what was required for my sin debt is what transforms my heart to keep His name “hallowed”.

  

2. When You Are Praying Realize How 

Holy Is His Name.

 

“Hollowed be Your name” To hallow God’s name is to glorify and obey Him as singularly perfect. As John Calvin said “God’s name should be hallowed was nothing other than to say that God should have own honor, of which He is worthy, that men should never think or speak of Him without the greatest veneration.” Our greatest act of worship is to worship in singleness of mind of the One who is above all things. Hallowing God’s name begins in the heart by “Sanctifying Christ as Lord in our hearts.” All of Scripture makes it very clear that God is altogether holy and set apart from His creation. This is why prayer is a solemn time of communion with a holy God. This is why we begin our hearts in prayer with “Our Father” because He is. And we verify that with keeping His Name “hollowed” set apart for His glory. It begins here, first upward to God, not outward to mankind or inward to our needs.

 

We read in the book of Isaiah, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.” Isaiah 6:1-4

 

The ability to draw our next breath this morning is an act of divine mercy by a holy God, who owes us nothing other than justice for our behavior. God’s holiness is what separates and makes Him distinct from all of His creation. God’s holiness is more than just His perfection or sinless purity; it is the essence of His “other-ness,” His transcendence. God’s holiness exemplifies the mystery of His awesomeness and causes us to gaze in wonder at Him as we begin to understand just a little of His majesty.

 

It was Thomas Watson who said, “Holiness is the most sparkling jewel of God’s crown, it is the name by which He is known.”

 

R.L. Dabney wrote, “Holiness is to be regarded not as a distinct attribute, but as the result of all God’s moral perfection together.”

 

What these men recognized is what the prophet Isaiah recognized “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” Isaiah 57:15. See! It is the child of God crying out to the heavens, where our set-apart, glorious God, resides and sits over all creation. God’s name is to be “Hallowed” because….. The holiness is God’s very nature, the very essence of His being. The holiness is God’s permanent crown; it’s the shinning of all His perfections. The holiness is God’s backdrop for all else the bible declares about God. Knowing this truth is sufficient to draw us to our knees.

 

What Jesus is teaching is that the most important foundation of our prayers is to keep His name holy and hallowed. We live in a culture, and some in the church, who treat His name with resentment and as a curse word. As R C Sproul said “When we profane the name of God, we reveal our deep lack of respect and reverence for the God whose name it is.” Going back to last week’s opening statement that this prayer is only to be uttered by the children of God 

and no one else.

 

Because this world has no love, desire, or regard, for the God of the Scriptures. 

That is evident in the riots, the burning of bibles in Portland.

The outcry of “It’s my body” and murdering of the voiceless.

The neo-Marxist movement that gaining ground in North America.

The misuse and representation of the “Rainbow” by the alphabet groups.

The profane mishandling and carelessness of the Word of God in places that call themselves “Church” with a social gospel to please a narcissistic culture.

The bitter and angry mobs that thinks it’s ok to tear down statues and burn buildings and take what is not theirs.

 

We are living in the heart, the center

of, a profane people.

 

The same people that Isaiah wrote about who he lived amongst. “And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Isaiah 6:5. These are the same people who use the Lord’s name in a profane manner….possibly resighting the Lord’s Prayer growing up. We, God’s children, are to approach the throne of grace with this Biblical truth that He is our Father and we set apart His name and keep it holy.

 

At Pastor Burk Parsons of St Andrew’s Church there is a saying at the bottom of the bulletin as a reminder for the congregation. “We cross the threshold of the secular to the sacred, from the common to the uncommon, from the profane to the holy.” It’s similar to some churches that have this above the exit doors of their sanctuary. “Child of God you are now entering the mission field.” As we Worship here in song, Scripture reading, the preaching of His Word, we are coming into a place that God has set apart for His glory and His holy name. A place that keeps His name “hallowed” because of the great love He has shown to us through His Son and the gospel. Every time we enter this place, we come together to taste a little piece of Heaven in a chaotic world. Every time we approach the Throne of His grace we are approaching our Father who name is “hallowed be His name”

 

What does that look like to approach God and keep

His name hallowed in a chaotic world?

Well, we read in John’s gospel as Jesus was about to endure heavenly amounts of suffering, we learn this truth. “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name."…..” John 12:26-28

 

Father, glorify your name."

 

What Jesus was about to endure for fallen humanity as He prepared Himself for the baptism of suffering. He yet leads by example for you and me. He “hallowed the name of the Father.” As Paul said “For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Cor 6:20. What does that mean? Very simply this…. Use your body in ways that will show that God is more satisfying, more precious, more to be desired, more glorious than anything the body craves. Because we know what it cost us for our reconciliation; and we are now called, “Sons and daughters” of the King. Remind yourself this truth and let’s come together and exalt His name as a family. As David said ”I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt H-is name together!” Psalm 34:1-3

 

And it starts here! By keeping His name “hallowed”

as we approach our Father who is in Heaven.