Take your Bibles and open them to the Gospel of Matthew. A familiar text to us, chapter 6, which our pastor spoke from last Sunday. Matthew chapter 6. Let's go to the Lord in prayer before we read God's word. Our Father in heaven, we thank you tonight for the very words that you have placed before us. We thank you for this time of worship, and we pray that all that takes place this evening would bring honor to your name, that your son, Jesus Christ, would be magnified in what he has done so that we might approach you with confidence. And we pray that your word would be clear. We ask for your blessing and for your presence. In Jesus' name, amen. Matthew chapter 6. In the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, beginning in verse 9, we read these words from our Lord Jesus. 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. It was a week and a half ago where I sat in an office in Washington, D.C. next to a friend of mine. We were the only two in the room. Just so happened in God's providence. My friend is a believer in Christ, which I am so thankful for. If you knew our relationship and our encouragement that he has for me and hopefully I for him in our workplace. And if you have those who encourage you in your workplace, you know the blessing that that is. But being alone, we began to talk about the gospel, and about Christ, and about living for Him in the workplace where we work. And our conversation turned toward prayer. And he made a confession to me because his life is probably just as busy, if not more busy, than mine. where he finds little opportunity, though he longs for it, little opportunity to pray. And being a former Roman Catholic, his confession to me was, you know, I find when I pray, my words just seem repetitious. They seem rote. It's almost like I've gone back to my Roman Catholic days, repeating the same prayers over and over and over again. He expressed this concern of his to me because of his longing to commune with the Father and with the Son and with the Holy Spirit through prayer, and he found that his communion was lacking because his prayer life was lacking. And I had to respond to him, and I said, well, you're not alone. There are times, even when we're saying our prayer, our blessing for a meal, when we give thanks to God for the food that he provides, there are times when I'm giving the blessing for a meal when I have to stop. And one or two times I've actually done that and said to myself, what are you doing? Your prayers are just repetition. They're just repeating the same thing that you've repeated over meals time and time and time and time again. I told him about that and We begin to think about how at times we do come before God, and we do pray thoughtlessly, without consideration of the one to whom we address. In this passage of the Sermon on the Mount, which is most commonly known as the Lord's Prayer, I'd like for us to focus on the preface of the prayer. the first four words. For it is in these four words, these four brief words, that Jesus begins framing our thoughts for prayer. Before any petition is made, before any request is given, Jesus draws the focus of our thoughts and of our hearts to the one we are addressing. our Father in heaven. Our catechism question emphasizes this reality of question 107 for this week. I think it's important to read it because it does emphasize this important reality of approaching God in a right way. Where question 107 reads, what does the preface of the Lord's Prayer teach us? What does the preface of the Lord's Prayer teach us? And the answer is that the preface of the Lord's Prayer, which is our Father which art in heaven, teaches us to draw near to God with a holy reverence and confidence as children to a Father, able and ready to help us, and that we should pray with and for others. Reminds us of the one to whom we pray, our Father in Heaven. So I'd like to focus our attention tonight on two very brief thoughts. One is to consider what Jesus means when he says, pray in this manner, our Father in Heaven. emphasizing the words, in heaven. And then second, is to focus our attention on what he means when he says, our Father in heaven. So let's think for just a few minutes, about first of all, about this preface to the Lord's Prayer to whom we address. And Jesus says we are to pray in this manner, our Father in heaven. our Father in Heaven. The 18th century Dutch reformer, by the name of Theodorus van der Groot, I believe that's how you say it, preached a series of sermons through the Heidelberg Catechism. And as you know, since the church has been through the Heidelberg Catechism, that goes through the Lord's Prayer. And on this particular topic, in addressing God as our Father in Heaven, he says this, that the Savior therefore admonish them that they should not view God in their prayers only as their Father, but rather as their Father in Heaven, so that they thereby will have a suitable impression in their soul of the majesty, glory, and pure spirituality of God. So he reminds us that Jesus, even in the introduction, the preface to the Lord's Prayer, that we should come before God as he is in heaven. Jesus is not teaching us here that God is confined to a single space or he is confined to some geographical location. Matter of fact, the emphasis throughout the scripture is just the opposite. Turn with me to the book 1 Kings chapter 8, Solomon's temple had just been built, the Ark of the Covenant had been placed in its right place in the Holy of Holies, and Solomon begins by blessing the assembly and by praying unto the Lord, and in 1 Kings chapter 8, look, beginning in verse 54. And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees, with his hands spread up to heaven. And as he begins the dedication of this prayer, earlier on in the chapter, in verse 22, at the beginning of this prayer, he also spreads out his hands toward heaven. And he addresses the Lord in verse 23 at the beginning of his prayer as well, where he says, the Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like you, who keep your covenant with mercy, who keep your covenant and mercy, with your servants who walk before you with all their hearts." And then he emphasizes and confesses the faithful covenant-keeping God that has brought Israel to this point of dedicating the temple. And then verse 27, as he continues to pray, he asks this question, But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which I have built." As Solomon was dedicating the temple, he is reminding Israel, as he is reminding us, that there is no God in heaven above, there is no God on earth beneath, like the God of Israel, the only one true and living God. that there really is no house that can be built for him. The temple could not contain him, and that's the point. As Solomon addresses Israel, that even though he's built this temple and God would uniquely manifest his presence in the Holy of Holies at the proper time, and even though it was a unique and gracious manifestation, Solomon reminds us that God is not contained. in this small square, in this small room, that the heavens and the heavens above the heavens cannot contain him, how much less this temple that I have built. And we won't take time to do it, but I would encourage you, if you were to read through the rest of 1 Kings chapter 8 through the end of this prayer, there is a repetition that happens in this prayer of Solomon. that he emphasizes particular aspects of the life of Israel. He emphasizes particular sins, and he talks about God's forgiveness and God's faithfulness and God's acting on behalf of his people. But when he talks about God's acting throughout the rest of the remainder of this chapter, and where he acts from, and where he forgives from, he uses the phrase, forgive from heaven. act from heaven, restore from heaven, judge from heaven. Right after he has just said that the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, he tells us that God acts from his dwelling place, which is in heaven. This confession and prayer of Solomon reminds us not only of the immensity of God, the omnipresence of God, that He is fully present everywhere at all times and in all places. He is immense, beyond our comprehension. And when we talk about God's omnipresence, that He is everywhere, that He is all places, we do not mean that part of God is over here and part of God is over here. But if we take God in His totality, He fills everything, as though we could maneuver around different aspects of where God is in His person. But when we talk about the immensity of God and the omnipresence of God, what we mean and what the Scriptures mean is that God is fully present everywhere, at all times. He is as fully present in this room as he was in the presence of Solomon when he lifted up his hands to heaven and voiced these words. The same God. He does not change. Immense in nature and in person. In our family worship times we often, I say often, it may just be often in my mind, but it may be seldom in the minds of my children and wife, but there are some times when I remind them that the Christ that we read of and the God that we read of in the scriptures is the very God before whom we sit. The God of Abraham, who revealed himself to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, is the very God before whom we open our scriptures in the evenings and read. He is immense. The Bible talks about the fact that God is in heaven, emphasizing several aspects of God's activity and God's actions toward his creation. I want us to just think about three of those. By referring to the fact that God, our Father who is in heaven, we are reminded that the God whom we address has sovereign rule and supremacy over all of His creation. He has sovereign rule and supremacy over all of His creation. Turn to Psalm 115. Psalm 115. Reading verses 1-8. In this text, the psalmist is contrasting the one true God with idols. And the Word of God says this, 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? Verse three, 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. contrasting the very worthlessness of idols, the powerlessness of idols, with the one true and living God, whom we are told that our God is in heaven and he does whatever he pleases. His sovereign rule and supremacy over all things. We're also taught the fact that our God is in heaven reminds us that he is also the absolute Lord and has absolute authority over all things. That's also another way of saying what we just said, that he is sovereign and that he has supremacy over all things. But his lordship and his authority also is pointed to when we think about the fact that he is in heaven. Look at Psalm 103, verses 19 through 22. Psalm 103, beginning in verse 19. The Lord has established His throne in heaven. In other words, His throne is fixed. It is certain. The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all. Bless the Lord, you His angels, you who excel in strength, who do His word. Heeding the voice of His Word, bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you ministers of His who do His pleasure. Bless the Lord, all His works and all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Our Lord in heaven, our God in heaven has absolute Lordship and authority over all that He has made. But the Scripture also teaches us that this fixed and established throne of dominion is over all His creation. It reminds us, even in addressing Him, that He is the God who transcends His creation and gives to all things their existence. He transcends His creation and gives to all things their existence. Turn to Isaiah 66. Isaiah chapter 66. reading just the first two verses. Thus says the Lord, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build me, and where is the place of my rest? For all those things my hand has made, and all those things exist. says the Lord. But on this one I will look, on him who is poured of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word. We are given a picture of the exalted sovereign of all of creation, who has created all things. All things are made by his hand, and not only are all things made by his hand, but by him all things exist. He transcends his creation, and yet in this text we are shown not only is God exalted and transcendent in the heavens, but he is also imminent. He is with us. He is near to the humble and to the faithful. Isaiah 57 and verse 15 says, For thus says the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in a high and holy place. When I graduated from college, or as I was preparing to graduate from college, one of the things that was unique about the particular college I attended was for a bachelor's degree, you had to sit for two hours in an oral examination before two professors. I don't know if it was just, well, I do know it was God's providence, but I was going to say something else. It was God's providence in the very fact that the two men to whom I had to sit before for a two-hour oral examination. One was a man I highly respect even to this day because of his influence in my own life, but he was the most prominent New Testament theologian and expert in Greek that we had in the school. And the man sitting next to him was the equivalent of the Old Testament professor who knew Hebrew and his Old Testament scriptures as well as the other gentleman knew Greek and the New Testament scriptures. Well, to say the least, as a very young 22-year-old young man sitting outside the office not wanting to go in. I was at the very least nervous for probably thinking back, and it's been a long time, thinking back, very intimidated. Not knowing what they could ask or what they would ask, they could ask me anything, anything they wanted for two hours. but even though they were highly degreed professionals, highly knowledgeable in theology and in the New Testament and the Old Testament scriptures, being able to read the Hebrew and the Greek text without any helps. There's something, and even thinking back on that day, there's something that was a part of that situation, a part of that fear, It was actually an encouragement to me. Because these two men, as I entered into their office, I knew that they were not my enemies. They were not there to fail me. They were not there to embarrass me. But even though I went before them in some level of fear and trepidation, I knew that they loved me. It didn't take away all the fear, but it certainly did provide some level of comfort. Theodorus Vanderbrou as he transitions from addressing God as our Father in heaven, he reminds us also that we do address God as our Father. this high and lofty and exalted, all-powerful, all-sovereign, creator and sustainer of heaven and earth, who is so immense that he cannot be contained in the heaven of heavens. Jesus tells us to pray in this manner, our Father in heaven. And we come before this God as our Father. And Dr. Van de Groot says this, being desirous to teach his believing people to pray properly, Christ first leads their souls to a clear consideration and acknowledgement of the Most High God to whom they must utter their prayer. However, in so doing, it is His will that they not only have a suitable perception of His adorable greatness and glory, but also a suitable perception of the special relationship that they have with Him, a relationship that should prompt them to bring their supplications and petitions before Him with freedom and with the complete confidence that He will hear them. How is it that we can come before this God who is in heaven and address Him as our Father who is in heaven? The Bible refers to God as Father in more than one sense. The Bible talks about God as our Father because He is our Creator. Malachi 2.10 says, Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? So the Bible speaks of God as the Father of all creation. That's not the sense in which Jesus means it here in Matthew 6. God the Father is also referred to and taught in the Scriptures as the First Person of the Trinity, the Father of His eternally begotten Son. Turn to Hebrews chapter 1. giving us the distinction between the Father and the Son, the Son being the express image of His person. We read these words, and I'd like to read verses 1 through 8, what it teaches us about the Father and the Son. God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. So God the Father has now spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did he ever say, You are my son, today I have begotten you, and again I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. But when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God worship him, And of the angels, he says, who makes his angel spirits and his ministers a flame of fire. But to the Son, he says, your throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. This text reminds us of the distinction within the Godhead, God the Father and God the Son. but also teaching us that the Father has begotten the Son. That does not mean that there was a beginning of Christ as a second person of the Trinity. But it is teaching us that as the Son of God, He was eternally begotten by God, by God the Father. And as the eternally begotten Son, He was also equal with God. For His throne, as the Father says of the Son, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. So when we go back to Matthew chapter 6, and we read these words of Jesus, where He says, In this manner, therefore, pray, Our Father in heaven, He is not talking about our Father as our Creator, and neither is He talking about addressing God as our Father as if we were His begotten Son. But rather, He is referring to the other way, the last way in which the Scriptures refer to God as our Father, that He is our Father as we are His adopted children. His adopted sons and daughters. Galatians 4 verses 4 through 7 reminds us of this truth. Let's read that, Galatians 4 verses 4 through 7. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God. through Christ. And we don't want to miss this. Because in order for an enemy of God to be made a son of God, there had to be a redemption. There had to be suffering. It's at this point in studying through this text and even thinking about it through this afternoon, I thought even though we really don't have time to do this, but at this point it would be a very perfect time to remember what we learned in Sunday school this morning. Going through Isaiah chapter 52 and 53 of the suffering servant. of our Lord Jesus Christ being our penal substitute and atoning for our sins through His suffering and through His work of redemption. We need to realize that for us to call God our Father as adopted children, for us to pray to Him with confidence as our Father, that we need to know His Son, that we need to be of His children by faith in Christ, to understand that it is through Christ that we have redemption, that it is through Christ, the Son of God, that by His death, His burial, and His resurrection, sinners are made righteous in the sight of God, that by His perfect life and His perfect death, He has redeemed sinners from their sins, so that those who were once sons and daughters of the devil have been transferred into the kingdom of God and are now sons of God, sons and daughters of God. But that did not come without a price. For God to adopt us and to become our Heavenly Father, He sent His only begotten Son, into the world, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. And John reminds us of this in the opening of his gospel in John chapter 1, when he tells us that in Christ who came to his own, and his own did not receive him, but to as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God. He gave them, those who believe in His name, to become children of God. John is right in his writing in his first letter, when he says, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God. 1 John 3, verse 1. And in Hebrews chapter 2, verses 10 through 13, we are told that it was fitting for Him, that it is fitting for God the Father, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their faith perfect through suffering. That it is through the sufferings of Christ, His death and His resurrection, that sinners and enemies of God by nature can be made children of God. So that when we come to Him in prayer, we can call Him our Father in heaven. It doesn't change Him. He is still in heaven. He is still sovereign. But the gospel changes our relationship to Him. so that we can call Him our Father. We don't have time to do this, but if you were to read through the Sermon on the Mount, and I would encourage you, if you were to read through the Sermon on the Mount and look at all the references that Jesus mentions just in the Sermon on the Mount of God the Father, you would find that God the Father to His children is kind. that He provides sovereign care for His children. He watches over us. He has love and mercy and compassion toward us. He has fatherly pity upon us and is gentle and kind toward us. I think the best description of this I read in studying was a description that John Calvin gave when he was referring to or commenting on Luke chapter 15. It's a full paragraph, but it's worth reading this evening. Calvin says that he designed to show in how much greater abundance we may expect it from him. He designed to show and how much greater abundance we may expect it from him who is not only a father, but the best and most merciful of fathers. And better to assure us that he is such a father, if we are Christians, he has been pleased to be called not only a father, but our father. As if we were pleading with him just like this, possessed of so much affection for thy children, and are so ready to forgive. We thy children approach thee and present our requests, fully persuaded that thou hast no other feelings toward us than those of a father, though we are unworthy of such a parent. But as our narrow hearts are incapable of comprehending such boundless favor, Christ is not only the earnest and pledge of our adoption, but also gives us the Spirit as a witness of this adoption, that through Him we cry aloud, Abba, Father. And whenever, therefore, we are restrained by any feeling of hesitation, let us remember to ask of Him that He may correct our timidity in placing us under the magnanimous guidance of the Spirit and enable us to pray. boldly. After this manner pray, Our Father in Heaven. So we make two quick applications. One is to those who struggle in prayer. I would ask you to consider the words of Christ, the totality of the teaching of scripture, the wonders of the gospel, the sufferings of Christ on your behalf, so that you can be an adopted child of God, and that you can, through Christ, approach the God of heaven, and you can call him your Father. I would encourage you to think upon this because there are many who have wrong conceptions and ideas about what God the Father is like. But go to the scriptures and look at Christ. For when you see Christ, you see the Father. And you can come boldly to the God of heaven who rules the entire universe as his child. But in closing, let me just ask you very plainly, do you know God as your Father? Do you know God as some distant topic that is talked about on Sundays? Some distant person, some God-like figure that you really don't really comprehend or understand? but do you know Him as your Father? There's only one way that sinners like you and like me can draw near to God and to pray like Jesus instructs us to pray, our Father in Heaven. And that is by, first of all, coming to Christ, trusting in His death and His resurrection, to save you from your sins and to reconcile you to the God who made you and to the God who sustains you and gives you your very breath that you breathe. The Son who is willing to save all who come to Him is the express image of the Father for all who come to the Son. have the same welcome when they come to the Father. May we be encouraged to draw near to him. Let us pray. Father, thank you for your word. And I pray that your Holy Spirit would guide and instruct, encourage,