Tonight congregation, I would invite us to open our Bible first to Psalm 115. Psalm 115. We're going to read that Psalm. And then we'll read there in Matthew chapter 5, that verse 16. And respond also with the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 47. Continuing on in our study of prayer in the Heidelberg Catechism, very helpful. I almost want to say useful, but all the catechism is so useful. But particularly in terms of our growth in our prayer life, we need this wise counsel. And from the word and summarized in the confessions, there is wise counsel. So then first this evening, beloved, to Psalm 115. Listen now as we'll read, and I'm going to read all of it, and then we'll repeat the first verse very close in its connection to what we'll have in Matthew 5 and verse 16. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth, Why should the Gentiles say, so where is their God? But our God is in heaven. He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak. Eyes they have, but they do not see. They have ears, but they do not hear. Noses they have, but they do not smell. They have hands, but they do not handle. Feet they have, but they do not walk. Nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them. So is everyone who trusts in them. O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. The Lord has been mindful of us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the Lord, both small and great. May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's. But the earth He has given to the children of men. The dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forever. Praise the Lord. And again, verse 1, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to your name give glory because of your mercy, because of your truth. Turn ahead then, congregation, to Matthew in chapter 5. And we're going to be paying careful attention to verse 16. Matthew 5, we're in the Sermon on the Mount as we were last time. Matthew 5 and verse 16. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. So for the reading of the word of the living God, let's turn our attention and tonight to the summary of it. We have it tonight in the Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 47. That question 122 in its answer then. So congregation, what does the first petition mean? Hallowed be your name means help us to truly know you to honor, glorify, and praise you for all your works and for all that shines forth from them, your almighty power, wisdom, kindness, justice, mercy, and truth. And it means, help us to direct all our living what we think, say, and do, so that your name will never be blasphemed because of us, but always honored and praised. These things, dear congregation, the Word of God does teach, and therefore, we do believe. Let's come again, bowing before Him and ask for His help in prayer, shall we? Let's pray. Lord, again this evening we are so very thankful for the Word of God. It is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It reveals the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts. Lord, we pray that our hearts would have that attitude of adoration and praise and our feet be ready to move in service of you. Give to us then this evening, Lord, unlike the idols who have ears that do not hear, give us ears that do hear, and eyes that do see, and mouths that do respond in adoration and praise of You, and hands ready to glorify You in all that we do. Help us in this, we pray this evening, asking in Jesus' name, Amen. Well, dear congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, this marvelous answer in the catechism well summarizes what true believing Christianity has long known. And it is this. Knowing God leads to a life of praising God. Knowing God leads to a life of praising God. Covenant family. When we well know God and His ways, then we and our ways will show it. Our life becomes a light of His glory the better we know His glory. Let's say that another way, which I hope doesn't come across sounding boastful, but it's simply historically true. that Reformed theology has long understood the beautiful marriage between knowledge and piety, the wonderful connection of understanding and godliness, that those two things go inseparably together and cannot be violated. And so, pray. Why? Because this is our conviction. We want God's name glorified by how we live. And so, pray. Our first plea is that we do all things to glorify God. Our first plea is that we do all things to glorify God. We're going to look at that this evening in the following three ways. First, this first plea has God and His glory as the object. Second, this first plea has spotlight grabbing man as the subject. And third, this first plea has a new desire and result, a new desire and result as the planned goal. What does our Lord teach us? as our first plea in his prayer. That we do all things to glorify God. And so we need to understand that this first plea has God and His glory as the object. Reformed theology, the reformers, the magisterial first-generation reformers, and then all those after them, the Westminster divines, the Puritans, and so many others in so many different countries, have plastered all over church confessions something the Westminster gets a hold of in its most clear language, and it is this, the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. It's not only clear in the confessions of such reformers as we trace them down through the ages, but it's in their preaching. You can read so many of their sermons now today. Click a few buttons in certain book houses and you can have those books delivered by Amazon in just a couple of days. You read it in their private correspondence. You read it in the books that they have published. That there's this long and continuing strain and stress in Reformed theology and preaching and teaching that the glory of God is the first and primary charge of the believer. And so come the disciples to Jesus. Lord, teach us to pray. Okay. Pray this way. Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. That's the first thing. Hallowed be Thy name. This is really, beloved, the entire purpose of all creation, Psalm 19 verse 1. The heavens declare the glory of God. This is, beloved, the entire purpose of all the creation in the creation. That is, the creatures, the people. Luke 2.14 Glory to God in the highest. Covenant family, the chief purpose of all creation, the chief purpose of all creation is the glory of God. No goal, end, plan, or purpose is above or more important than the glory of God. That means nothing is more important to God than the glory of God. What is it then the catechism says in answer 122 that should be the most important truth we come to learn our whole life and begin to ask as our first petition as we engage in earnest prayer. We begin to ask, Lord, what does that mean for me? How do I understand your glory? Who are you? Who is this God whose glory is the most important purpose in the final end of all being of every creature and of all creation? Isn't it the case that the believer says then, I must know Him. I must know Him. And why? Because Matthew 5.16, I am to shine out His glory. Now we need to work very carefully to unpack this passage, this verse, this evening, especially as we're going to get to that a little bit here in our first point in much more detail in our third point, but we think about how this language of light is so significant. I want you to be reminded of this in the answer to the catechism, 122, the answer to that question, what does the first petition mean? Now we might think, well, this idea of light is something rather particular to the Gospels, but here in the Catechism it picks up on this. Did you see it? In terms of the whole creation. Help us to truly know you, which is what we want to wrestle with for a few moments here. To honor, glorify, and praise you for all your works and, did you catch this? for all that shines forth from them." What things shine forth from His works? And here we are listed these things. Your Almighty power and wisdom and kindness, justice, mercy, and truth. These things of His glory shine forth. And so it is, beloved, that we need to wrestle with and grasp something of the significance of what it is we are called to do according to Jesus' words in verse 16, let your light so shine before men. And again we ask the question, God, how do I know your glory? How do I grasp something of your glory? And then, how do I show more of your glory and less of my particular interest? To that end, this evening, there are several diagnostic questions we need to evaluate tonight, if we wish, if we wish, to begin to really know the core of this first petition. And so, Covenant family, let's ask first, let's ask first a general question about our view of reality. It's kind of like you're taking a test and you just got the first block of knowledge, and now you're ready to answer the first question of the test, and here it is. Do I believe That my reason for being, the purpose of my personal existence, is the glory of God. You've got a yes and a no there. You might want to circle one of those. That my reason for being, the purpose of who I am, my existence, is the glory of God. Now that's a very important question, and I suppose you want to know why. Because if you answered yes, and I assume that we all answered yes, then there are implications to that answer, aren't there? And the implications go like this. All I do then must be toward that goal and for that purpose. When this is our worldview that my final purpose is God's glory, then everything about me must serve that purpose. My blessings and my trials, my monies and my poor, my need, my time and my rest, all of it serve the glory of God. Verse 16, let your light Whose? Mine. Yours. My what? My light. Well, what is that? We need to understand the answer to that on two different levels. And the first level is this, because everybody has something of this light, whether they be a believer or not. And here's where we enter into that in terms of being creatures, mere creaturely existence is this setting forth of a presentation of our person and who we are. That is to say, our light is all that makes me, me. That I shine out to those around me. that others see. Now in one way everybody has this kind of light. This is why the Apostle Paul later says even their light is darkness. And so this is the first way we need to grasp and understand this. People see your light, if we can think of it in those terms. Your external presentation of the internal you. And some of us like really to try to hide that, quite honestly, quite a bit. But it gets out. Now notice what Jesus says about it here. There's a particular way we need to understand this light and make use of it. How first, answer 122, are we to know Him? And so here's our second diagnostic question. It builds on the first, but it's necessary. Covenant family, how much of our day-to-day living has as its goal to know better and better who God is in all of his glory How is it that we are seeking to grow in knowing God? And beloved, here comes now the place where we need to ask about our internal consistency, or our internal inconsistencies, which lead to that presentation of the light, which is either a light for the glory of God, or as we're going to see in a moment in our second point, a light for our own names sake. Let's ask about the issue of internal consistency. Do we believe that our own purpose here on earth is God's glory? And of course, since we all say, at least now for this moment, yes, I do believe that, then the first part of our prayer is so very important as the Catechism gives it to us. Lord, help me to know You. Help me to know You so that there is an internal consistency about me where my desire and my action begin internally to line up so that I am living what I am praying, at least first inwardly before ever it comes out of me. Lord, help me to know Your glory. The catechism is so simple, isn't it? How is the first petition to be answered? Hallowed be your name means help us to truly know you. And there's that marriage between knowledge and piety. Well, secondly then, this first plea has spotlight grabbing man as the subject. There's a certain truth about this that it is so far all anti-us. It is anti-human. Do we see what we're saying here? Be your best so others can see you? Or is it be godly so that others can see Him? In true biblical Christianity, this desire of knowledge and understanding is all, in a certain sense, anti-human. I don't mean by that that we ought to be against humanity. But it is anti-us-ness. Or to put it biblically, we must decrease and He increase. His glorifying is our minimizing. It's the only way it works. Remember Psalm 115 verse 1. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to your name give glory. that might make for a very good moniker to put over our life as our life motto if you like such things about yourself. Covenant family, our fiercest battles, our fiercest battles against God's glory come from our own selfish, spotlight-grabbing hearts. We must understand that to be true about ourselves. He can't receive all the glory when we keep trying to grab some for ourselves. This is why we pray. Because praying is pleading. Because praying is asking. It is with God wrestling. Help me to honor you. Help me to praise You, not myself. Help me to glorify You, not myself. Help me to set Your interests as the first thing in my life, not my own interests. This is why the catechism wants us to stretch this out a little bit. Hallowed be Your name. Just thinking about that one phrase and what does it mean? Help me to know You, to honor and glorify and praise You because my inclination, O God, is to put myself out there. and to say about myself, do you see something good about me people? Come tell me quickly. This encompasses all we do and all we are. There is nothing about us that is not to be included in God being glorified by us. There is nothing in us that is not to be included in all things about us glorifying Him. And that's the hardest lesson for us to learn in this life. Let your light so shine before men that what? The stress of that, beloved, must not be lost on us. Because we are each here this evening impacted by sin's cursing touch. Now we might be very quick and ready this evening to agree with that as a theological statement in terms of total depravity. We might nod our heads and say, yes, that's right. Sin's cursing touch touches every part of me. It doesn't leave any part of me unscathed and unaffected and without being poisoned. And yet, Though we might like that language theologically, we still want to have our own light, don't we? Who we are, ourselves, to be that thing which first shines out to other people. These things are hard, beloved. These things are very particular, dear Christians. about the distinction between who I am and what I stand for and my personality strengths and my abilities and all of my gifts and those things are all good and all to be affirmed and all to be enjoyed and the competition there is between that and the glory of God to be the first thing that shines out that people see about us. What does that mean we have to know? It means we have to better know the glory of God. and who He is and how it is that His glory is what's working out through us. Maybe someone we've met for the first time or we're being introduced to somebody or in a social situation that we're with people we're unfamiliar with. We won't try to show to those people something about our own abilities and personalities and all of the good things about us, but rather we make a thoughtful choice. How will the glory of God be able to shine out from me here and now? Covenant family, when we are honest, when we are honest, we say that the most help we need from God for the honoring of His name is help with our own heart. And this is our confidence then when we pray. We believe God can help us to honor Him more than we honor ourselves. Now there are two ways really to get to know more about who we are and why it is that we need to so desperately and regularly repeat the prayer, the words, help me Lord to glorify you. There are two ways to know our sinful self and understand these things more clearly. There's the direct way and the indirect way to know ourselves. Now the direct way is to take scripture as that light, or as James uses the language, that mirror, and take scripture and shine it on our own thoughts, our own words, and our own actions to learn therein from the light of scripture shining onto us just who we are. Now that can be discouraging. It's discouraging for me every week, every day. I expect the same is true for each of us, but it's also important that we do that. that we use that direct path of having Scripture shine on us about who I am from the words of the Bible. But the catechism here is directing us to the indirect way of learning more about us. And what is that indirect way? It is to see from Scripture, as Scripture shines this out, to see who God is from all His works. from what shines out about Him. And to take that as our touchstone, to take that as the rule, to take that as the perfect standard. Now, this is what glory is. This is what holiness is. He is what perfection is. And to say if we learn Him and know Him, well, now I know something about myself. Because I see what holiness is. And I know what glory is. And so we pray, Lord, show me who You are. Show me who You are. Let's ask ourselves tonight another of those important diagnostic questions. And this one's a little harder. It's a little bit more challenging. It's for those of you who are reading your Bible regularly. You ready for it? Are we reading the Bible because we want to know more who God is? There can be a variety of reasons why we are reading Scripture, and it's not to say those other reasons aren't good or aren't important. But is it the case that the primary thing we are seeking to know from Scripture is something of the glory of God, of His perfections, of His purity, of His majesty? Is that why we are picking up the Bible and reading it? Coming to family, God has given us the Bible so that We will come to learn who He is in all of His glory. That is the first reason that we should be reading the Bible. And so then thirdly, this plea has a new desire and result as the planned goal. Notice in the language of the Catechism's answer two very significant words. that are repeated in the catechism. I've already alluded to them and mentioned them in this sermon, but they are so valuable. Help us. Help us to truly know you. And it means help us to direct all our living. But the simple truth is that prayer is this, dear Christians, help me. Help me. What this shows us, dear Christians, is that prayer begins to have a purpose. That is, that there is a purpose that is expressed through our praying. What is that purpose according to the second part of Lk. 47? It is this, so that Your name, God, will always be honored and glorified by my life. There is great joy in that prayer, dear Christians, you see, because your life and your actions, and your ways, and your thoughts, who you are, Matthew 5, verse 16, begin to so shine out before men that God is glorified. Now is Jesus talking here about good works? Is that what light means? Well, yes, of course, that's what He's talking about. But all of the things that we do outwardly are works. And the way that phrase is given to us carefully here is that our works would be good in the term that God defines good to be, that is to say, glorifying to Him. And so let your light, your life, your actions, your ways, your thoughts, your words, who you are inwardly as a believer seeking to glorify God in your heart, so shine out before men that they come to understand what is your purpose, what is your goal, what is your drive, what is your intention to do with the days of your life, and that is to glorify your Father in heaven. And this is why the catechism gets at this right. Help us. Help us. Oh Christians, I don't think it would be that helpful for me this evening to say to you, now turn your fill-in-the-blanks page over and on the blank side make a list of the top 10 things that you believe about yourself. Do not right now bring glory to God. I don't think it would be that valuable to spend time doing that because it would be quite discouraging, wouldn't it? Because we all have those things, don't we? That's why the prayer is, help me. Lord, help me. that I would glorify You outwardly. And that when people hear me and see me and know me, what they know about me is that there is a God full of glory. Covenant family, the first thing, the first thing the Son taught His church to ask for is the very thing the Father desires to work in us. That His glory shines out of us in all we do. And so what becomes the case about this prayer is that our petition, our plea, because that's what it is, it's a begging, it's an asking, it's a requesting of God, lines up entirely, gloriously, perfectly with what God is working out in us. It's what the child of God prays for and asks from our Heavenly Father. Oh, Christian, This is our first request because we live with a redeemed heart. It is the first petition of the Christian because we have redeemed minds. The old has gone. Behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5.17. And that means it is not unusual. And we should not think it to be unusual. for the regenerated person to want more of the glory of God to be seen through him or through her in this life. Because that is according to the trajectory of regeneration, Romans 8.30. And what is the end of the trajectory of regeneration, Romans 8.30? It is glorification. Let the glory of God be seen in us and through us. Covenant family, our prayer now to glorify God now in all we do here is really a plea to see this fallen world as less interesting and the world to come as completely exciting and desirable And so we say about ourselves, and we pray with earnestness, O God, through me, your glory. Amen. Lord, we pray again this evening that you would glorify yourself and that your glory would be seen through all these, your people. You have given them redeemed hearts. You are giving them sanctified minds. And You are bringing them from glory to glory. And would it be, O Heavenly Father, that that glory of Yours would increase through us? That the light that shines out from us, those good works, would be those things that bring glory to Your name? We pray for help, Lord. This is a prayer. We're making a plea. Help us. We ask in Jesus name. Amen.