So you all have your notes today and can see that we're back in the Lord's Prayer. In our previous examination of the first three petitions of the prayer, that God's name be hallowed, that his kingdom come, and that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven, we focused upon praying mainly for the glory of God. And today we're gonna begin to look at the last three petitions of the Lord's Prayer, which are focused on praying for our good, which, as it turns out, also redounds to the glory of God. The first of these petitions is centered specifically on our physical good, which will be highlighted in our reading of the prayer. I'll begin reading in Matthew chapter six, verse nine, where our Lord and first gave us this model prayer, and said, in this manner, therefore, pray, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Let's take a moment to pray. Holy Father, we do thank you so much for your word. We thank you that our Lord Jesus taught us to pray by giving us a model prayer. We thank you that it is recorded for us through the power of your spirit, through the inspiration of your spirit, and through our departed brother Matthew. Lord, we Thank you that we have such an anchor for our souls as your word. And we just pray today, Lord, that you would help us to understand it as we should, to gain from the examination of this petition of this prayer, the things you would have us to gain in our understanding today, and help us to apply it to our lives, I pray, so that we might become more like Christ, not only praying like him, but living as he would have us to live, showing his love to others, magnifying Christ in our lives. We ask this for your glory and in the name of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The petition that we're contemplating today, I believe is reminiscent of one of the Proverbs of Agur, the son of Jacques. This is in Proverbs 30, verses eight and nine. When he wrote this, remove falsehood and lies from me, give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with the food allotted to me. Lest I be full and deny you and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. Now, Agur, in his spirit-given wisdom, knew the dangers of having too much on the one hand and of having too little on the other. He knew that each of these conditions brought its own set of temptations with it, so he prayed that he would receive just enough to comfortably sustain him and still keep him constantly dependent upon God. Wise man, indeed. I think this is the same type of attitude our Lord Jesus desires us to have when he teaches us simply to pray for each day's needs. Such is the attitude I believe that we should utter the prayer in today's text, in which our Lord Jesus teaches us to pray, give us this day our daily bread. Now, although this request seems very simple, I think it actually has more depth than many may realize, so we're gonna take some time this morning to examine each of the parts of this prayer in order to bring out its significance, I hope, more clearly. We'll focus our attention on four distinct aspects or emphases of the prayer, each of which I think makes a demand on us. First, we need to begin with understanding what is meant by the reference to bread. This is a literal translation of the Greek word used by our Lord Jesus, although here it's being used as a figure of speech known as a synecdoche, which is where you use a part for the whole. In this case, the word bread is meant to refer not just to a loaf of bread, right, but to the food we need every day. So, in fact, the basic necessities perhaps of daily life So when Jesus teaches us to pray for our daily bread, that's what he's referring to, these basic necessities of life. He's certainly not referring to luxuries, right? But to basic necessities. I've quoted him in the past. I think D.A. Carson puts it quite well when he says in this regard, the prayer is for our needs, not our greeds. That's the focus. You know, since we live in such an affluent society and possess so much more than just the things that we actually need. We can easily fall prey to the kind of materialism that mistakes wants for needs. And we live in a culture in which 10-year-old kids think they need an iPhone. No 10-year-old kid needs a phone, period. in my estimation, right, most adults probably don't need an iPhone, not really. They could live without one, right, if it meant the difference between, you know, paying your electric bill and having one or something like that. We just, we have a distorted notion of what needs are, I think, in our culture. And that's just one of lots of examples we could probably give. And so, for example, we can find ourselves praying for another car or a bigger house when the house we have is sufficient or for better clothes because the culture we live in makes us think we need such things when we really don't. Our Lord Jesus, however, wants us to focus primarily on what we really need. In this way, he teaches us, I think, the important lesson of contentment. This is not a prayer you can pray without being content. In fact, it demands that you learn to be content if you're gonna pray it with any kind of sincerity. I think the apostle Paul demonstrates this attitude, the attitude that Jesus wants each of us to have when praying this prayer, when he writes this in 1 Timothy 6, verses seven and eight. For we brought nothing into this world, he writes, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing With these we shall be content. Food and clothing were the basic necessities of life in those days, right? To be sure, praying for our daily bread, for our basic needs, and no more, is a prayer of contentment. There have been those, however, who have felt that a plea for our daily bread and thus for our basic physical needs is just too mundane a concern to be included in such a prayer. They have thus sought to spiritualize the meaning of this. As John Stott has pointed out, for example, some of the early church fathers, such as Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine, all interpreted our daily bread as meaning the invisible bread of the word of God. And we should certainly want the word of God every day, right? You can't pray the things that Jesus has already said to pray, that God's name be hallowed, right? that his will be done on earth, that his kingdom come, without knowing the word and without wanting to know more of it, because how else are you gonna find out his will that you're praying about, right? So it's presupposed, certainly in this prayer, that you're gonna want to know the word, but is our daily bread referring to that is the question. Some also interpret it as a reference to the bread of the Lord's Supper, as did Jerome, when in his Latin Vulgate translation, he rendered the meaning as super substantial bread. That is, as bread that is more than just physical bread, because they thought that Jesus' actual body was in the bread. I don't have time to talk about what's wrong with that. Let's just say that on this point, Jerome and those like him were metaphorically challenged. There's just no good reason, though, in the context to think that Jesus is referring to either the Word of God, as much as we should desire it, or the Lord's Supper, as much as we should desire to partake of that. These interpretations are simply examples of eisegesis, rather than exegesis, right? They read into the text a meaning that is not there, rather than reading out of the text a meaning that is readily apparent to anyone without a preconceived agenda. Such misreadings of the passage also miss a very important point, namely that God truly does care about such things as our most basic physical needs. They reach out for these spiritual meanings because they don't seem to want to credit God with that, I guess. They think somehow God must not be concerned about those things, but he is. And Jesus will make that point Again, later in the Sermon on the Mount. So these are not mundane, trivial things to God. These are not trivial to us, and he loves us. They definitely aren't mundane or trivial to the person who lacks clothing or food. They're of the utmost importance to such a person. I think Kent Hughes drives home the same point when he writes in his commentary in this verse God wants us to bring our everyday needs to him, even if they seem trivial. He does not demand that we approach him only when we have raised ourselves to some kind of spiritual elevation above the everyday things of life. The greatness of our God lies in his descending to meet us where we are. And that is certainly the implication of such a prayer. And in fact, it's even more so given the man who taught us to pray it. Talk about condescending to meet us where we are. He took on human form, the form of a servant. He became obedient to death, even death on the cross. So I would put to you that we're reminded of the grace of God as we pray this prayer, which leads us to our next point of emphasis. Second, we must ask God to give us our daily bread. Notice the word that Jesus uses there, give. Jesus wants us to remember when we pray that although we must work to meet our basic needs, he's not saying we shouldn't do that, all that we have ultimately comes as a gift from God. Jesus does not want us to become self-dependent or self-sufficient, but to be mindful every day that we're dependent upon our Heavenly Father for everything that we have. Such humble dependence upon God runs directly counter to the so-called rugged individualism and self-sufficiency that our culture prizes so highly. But again, the fact that we are to be dependent upon God in no way diminishes our responsibility to work to meet our own needs and the needs of others. For example, the Apostle Paul admonishes us to work in his second epistle to the Thessalonians. In 2 Thessalonians 3 verses 10 through 12, he writes this, for even when we were with you, we commanded you this, if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. So that's the attitude of the person who prays every day, give us this day our daily bread. He doesn't say, well, I pray that God would give me my daily bread and I'm gonna sit on my hands and do nothing. No. Paul goes on to say, for we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. People that don't work don't put themselves usually to doing good things, right? He says, now those who are such, we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. So these people are refusing to work, whose bread were they eating? They were defending one of the other believers. They were taking from those believers daily bread. It's very selfish. At any rate, we can say, I think, that typically we just expect God to answer this prayer to meet our basic needs through the provision of work. Now there'll be times to be sure when our job may not quite cut it, and God will provide in other ways, and sometimes even miraculous ways. He does do that sometimes. But first he provides work, which is a good thing. If you go back and read Genesis, you will discover that the very first human being had a job. The oldest job in the world, some people get it wrong what the oldest profession in the world is, it's gardening. And Adam had that job. So God, even before the fall, designed that human beings work, and that work was a good thing. It's reflected the fact that he does creative things, right? It's one of the ways we image him. So work is an important thing. Jesus presupposes all that when he teaches us, right? Give us this day our daily bread. Third, we must understand our Lord Jesus' use of the plural when he teaches us to pray. Give us our daily bread. And this is a point I've highlighted when I went over the prayer to begin with. Jesus wants us to remember every day that we're part of a family of believers who also have the same needs that we have. He doesn't want us to be selfish in seeking only our own needs, but to be mindful of our brothers and sisters in Christ as we pray for our own needs. He wants us to be praying not just for our needs, but for theirs too, every day. Remember that Jesus also commends those who help to provide for our brethren who are less fortunate. Consider, for example, his teaching in the parable of the sheep and the goats. I'll read a good section of it from Matthew 25, verses 31 through 40. And this is a much misapplied text. Politicians have misapplied it in recent years to push certain social programs, right? But they don't even understand what Jesus is talking about. In Matthew 25, beginning in verse 31, our Lord says, when the Son of Man comes in his glory, referring to his second coming, right? And all the holy angels with him. Then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats, and he will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on his right hand, come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Four, I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see a stranger take you in or naked and clothe you? Or when did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? He's knowing that there are a lot of people come judgment day that will never have walked with Jesus on this earth like the disciples did in the first century, right? And they'll wonder, when did we do this? And even the disciples who walked with him were used to him meeting their needs most of the time, right? And the king will answer and say to them, assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, my brethren, You did it to me. Now, it's key to understand what Jesus means when he says, my brethren. If you look through the gospels, it's very clear when Jesus speaks of his brethren who he really means. He says things like, my brethren are those who do the will of my father. Jesus regularly defines his brethren as those who trust in him as the Messiah and accept him for who he is, true believers. So he's not talking about here man's humanity to man in some broad sense. He's talking about the fact that there are gonna be a lot of believers in the future who are gonna be naked and need to be clothed, who are gonna be imprisoned and need to be visited, who are gonna be sick and gonna need help. And we can't say we love him and not love them in their need. That's what he's talking about. Those who love Christ will love his people That's what he's talking about. And that's the same mentality that we're supposed to have in our head when we pray. Give us this day our daily bread. We're the kind of people who can't pray without thinking of our brothers and sisters and their needs. We can't pray for our own needs without thinking of them and praying for their needs too. That's the kind of people Jesus wants us to be. And when he gives us this model prayer, he's building into the language that lesson. So we'll remember to every time we pray it, that we're part of a larger body. Kate Hughes has a similar insight on this passage when he writes this, every time we pray this prayer from our heart, we are affirming our solidarity with our brothers and sisters. When we pray, give us today our daily bread We are also making an implicit commitment to help provide bread for needy friends. The prayer is a stretching, broadening petition. We not only depend on God for practical provision, we commit ourselves to be part of God's answer for others in need. I think taken in the larger context of Jesus' teaching, that's right on the money. Our Lord Jesus definitely wants us to remember every day, not only that we have a Heavenly Father upon whom we can rely, but they were also a part of a spiritual family of brothers and sisters who also seek His glory and who also depend on Him as their Heavenly Father. And we all depend on Him daily, which leads to our fourth and final point. Fourth, we must ask God to give us this day our daily bread. Notice the emphasis on this day and daily in the reading of the text at this time. Now the phrase, this day, in the New King James Version, is actually one Greek word, semiron, which means something like today, this day, or this very day. It can be taken in any of those three ways. The word translated daily, and I think I put this in your notes for you, in the New King James Version is the Greek adjective, epeusios, that's a mouthful, that sounds like two words, doesn't it? It's a difficult word, not only to pronounce, but, Because it only has three undisputed occurrences in known ancient Greek literature. You go back to the oldest Greek literature we have from the first century and after, and there are only three undisputed occurrences. One is here in Matthew 6.11. Another is in Luke 11.3, which is another recording of the Lord's Prayer. It's taught by Jesus on another occasion, I believe. And one is in a late first century Christian writing called the Didache, which means the teaching. It can also be called the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles by some. But that is actually just quoting the Lord's Prayer, this portion of the Lord's Prayer. So it doesn't really help us to understand it any better. But I think the way that the prayer is stated in the Gospel of Luke does offer a bit of help in understanding the meaning of the word. In the New King James Version, here's how Luke 11.3 reads, give us day by day our daily bread. So instead of saying, give us this day our daily bread, or today our daily bread, he says, give us day by day, or according to each day, our daily bread. In both the ESV and the New American Standard, the text in Luke reads, give us each day our daily bread. I think this helps to narrow the possible meaning of epiusias, translated in both passages as daily. all these translations as daily, and it helps to narrow it down, I think. Still, most scholars have proposed two possible meanings for this Greek word in the Lord's Prayer, which is why I'm taking some time to go over it. You might run into different ways of reading this. It either means for the current day, referring to today's bread, when it refers to our daily bread, or it means for the coming day, referring to tomorrow's bread, In my opinion, Jesus is almost certainly referring to the food we need on the current day that we're praying, today or this day. Because he says, this day, give us this day or today our daily bread. And there's also an admonition later in the Sermon on the Mount of which this prayer is a part. This prayer is just a part of a larger teaching. In Matthew 634, he'll go on to say, therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow or worry about its own things, sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Probably makes it more likely when he teaches us to pray, give us today our daily bread, he means for that day and not the next one. Trusting God and not worrying about tomorrow. Of course, I suppose somebody could say, well, one way to not worry about tomorrow is to pray about it, right? So you could come back with that. But I think the fact that he says, give us today or this day our daily bread means this day. the day we're praying it. As DA Carson helpfully observes, the prayers for one day at a time, today, reflecting the precarious lifestyle of many first century workers who were paid one day at a time, for whom a few days illness could spell tragedy. So, we might be more apt to think about tomorrow. They were too. Everybody, every generation of believers who've ever lived since the fall worries about tomorrow, right? even though they shouldn't, especially if they're a believer. They worry about tomorrow. But think if you lived in the first century, you'd probably be more apt to worry about today if you got up in the morning and didn't know how you were going to eat today. Who's going to hire me? You're so consumed with today, you're probably not thinking about the next day as much. How do I feed my children today is your primary concern. So they might have found it a little easier to pray this prayer with some sincerity. Might be a little harder for us when most of us don't have to worry about what we're gonna eat today or even tomorrow or even the next day after that. We've got it so easy. So we're gonna be more tempted not to trust God maybe for today like we should. But we still ought to have the same mentality, shouldn't we? We can be sure that even though we're not in the same precarious situation as most of the first century hearers would have been in, not all but most, we can be sure that Jesus wants us to still live one day at a time just as he wanted them to live. Rather than to let the concerns of tomorrow cause us to fail to trust God fully for today. and for each and every day. Now, there's certainly nothing wrong with making plans for the future. James talks about this. It's okay to make plans so long as we say, if God wills, we will do this or that, right? So there's nothing wrong with making plans, but there is something wrong with being so driven by worry for tomorrow that we begin to put our trust in our own plans. rather than in God. That's one of the dangers of being so focused on forward-looking. It's not a bad thing to be focused on, so long as we don't let that consume us in a way that we start to forget that we live by God's grace every day, and everything we have comes from Him. And we can be so consumed about planning for the future and worrying about tomorrow, we forget all about depending upon God today. that everything we have today is by his grace, is a gift from him. Jesus doesn't want us to be like that. He teaches us, pray, give us this day our daily bread. Anyway, I hope that this time spent thinking together about the meaning of this very simple petition, give us this day our daily bread, has been a helpful reminder to all of us. about what we're really saying when we utter this prayer. What does Jesus really want us to be thinking? What's the mindset that this kind of praying demands of us? I hope I've helped with that. I just ask that God grant us the grace to pray this prayer with the kind of heart Jesus wants us to pray it. every day, every time we pray it. Let's take a moment to end in prayer. Holy Father, it's been my hope that you've used me as your very weak servant to proclaim your word faithfully today and to help myself and others here to remember that Jesus often said very simple things that had very deep meaning and impact, and that make very strong demands of us if we really just stop and think about it for a minute, and don't just pass over it, thinking because it's such a simple statement, surely we already understand it, and then we miss important things. Help us not to do that, Lord, I pray. Help us to really stop and ponder the things that you tell us in your word so that we can better understand what they demand of us and help better to glorify you and magnify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in this fallen world. Lord, we thank you that you do meet our needs every day and that we don't have to worry about tomorrow. And forgive us for the times that we do. Forgive us for the times that we have forgotten that everything we have today is a gift from you. because we become so self-reliant that we think we did it ourselves. And we forget that we wouldn't have the jobs we have, the homes we have, the lives we have apart from your grace. We wouldn't have been born into such a culture as ours apart from your grace. That with all of its faults certainly doesn't leave most of us worrying about tomorrow that much. So forgive us when we fail in these ways. Help us to just trust you humbly with childlike faith every day, believing that you do care about everything in our life because you love us so much. We'll give you the glory for what you do and answer these prayers in the name of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, amen. Thank you once again for your kind attention.