Welcome to Fife's Pulpit, to our Sunday morning service. My name is Pastor John and it's great to have you with us again. It's been a difficult week for me because I've not been that well, but I'll try and bring something to you that might help you, that might greatly encourage you, and I hope it might even be shorter, but I know I've said that before. Jeremiah chapter 20. I just want to use a verse here and then move on to another theme, but the verse is very meaningful for me at this moment of time. Jeremiah chapter 20, after he'd been persecuted by Pashur and he'd been really terribly badly used. He says in verse 9 of chapter 20, I say, I won't mention him or speak any longer in his name. But his message became a fire, burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I became tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail. Now, the prophet Jeremiah was persecuted by a religious leader called Pashur. And we'll just give a little background to that in a moment. But I want to read something from the New Testament. I just want to read to you the Lord's Prayer. Now, Matthew has this and so does Luke. And there are other manuscripts that have the prayer a little bit longer. And I will use the traditional Lord's Prayer that you are familiar with. And Jesus said to them, therefore, when you pray, you should pray like this. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we have forgiven those who trespassed against us. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Thine is the kingdom, thine is the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. Now that's the Lord's Prayer that you're probably familiar with. But let's go back again to the Prophet Jeremiah for a moment. He was persecuted by a religious leader called Paschua. Nobody's really sure whether Paschua was a prophet as such. But Jeremiah was beaten and chased, ridiculed because of his message that the people themselves would go into captivity. The pain for him was so great. I remember he was called to be a prophet when he was just a youngster and he felt too young, he felt unqualified. But now he was thinking of giving up. And in verse nine he says, I say I will not mention him or speak any longer in his name. But his message became a fire burning within my heart, shut up in my bones, and I became tired of holding it in that I cannot prevail. So he continued to preach. Now then, dear ones, I cannot lay claim to this scripture, for I am by no means in the same condition as this great man of God. But his experience of holding in the Word of God and unable to do so is, I think, the experience of many a preacher and pastor. Often we observe, we keep quiet, and soon the floodgates of Satan are open and we are powerless until God steps in. So if God has given you a message, and you're discouraged by the people's response, there's a temptation to just stop giving it. As Jeremiah, I've been in that position before. The preaching of God's word has caused me a measure of pain and anguish and pastoring people. I thought, you know, just let me be a bus driver or something like that. Just get me out of this. I will not mention it anymore. But then the fire begins to burn. But there is another kind of fire that I want to speak about with you today. For a long time now, I have been burdened by events around me. You've heard me say this on a number of occasions, and I may even be repeating myself. But I'm not in any way claiming to be like the Prophet, but just someone who has watched and sadly been upset by what I have seen. Some of you may disagree with my observations and they may seem harsh, for they are aimed at Christians Not at this sinful world, but I must speak. However, something burns within me to say these things. I have watched the professing Church of Christ slowly slide, and apostasy has crept in amongst many who were once leaders. I have seen denominations compromise themselves. Many Christians depart from the faith once delivered. In the middle of the last century, there has been a pronounced denial of biblical doctrine that built the church. Easy Believerism, Dispensationalism, Arminianism, Liberalism, and now Wokeism, which says that it recognises everybody, except for Bible-believing Christians. We are not allowed to speak. But combined that with the critical race theory, which will soon enter the weakened church, We have worship that is just self-enjoyment, led by a pop-type group, and the old meaningful hymns are often replaced by emotional ditties. I'm sure you know this too, the times when we used to go along to church and hear a sermon and be challenged. I remember the time in Edinburgh, where often I would go in the mornings to a church, me and my friend, and we would be deeply challenged that we'd go out that day in the afternoon to the mound and mingle amongst people, talking to them about the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a sense of worship, a sense of heaviness. But sadly we've stopped living for Christ and we've learned to survive for ourselves. In the Church of Christ there is no black or white. but many are still suspicious of other races. You know, Christians have always had mixed races in their congregations. When I was down in Brighton, for the years that I was there, we counted up around 50 different nationalities. If you include the Scottish and the Irish and the Welsh as well, but we had all of those different kinds of people, different colours, and different backgrounds. But the Church of Christ, there is no black or white. But we're still suspicious in our society of other races. And so-called Christians parade themselves outside clinics shouting abuse. They arm themselves and see violence as the way forward. Many are bitter conspiracists who refuse the God-ordained government. saying they want to prevent them from worshipping. It may be true in some instances, but this is not general. Certainly in this country, it's not. This is not persecution. For when persecution comes, we will know it. My wife, for instance, has no immune system and has to have needles injected weekly in her to give her some protection. Myself, I am immune suppressed. So for both of us, even getting a common cold could kill us. And that's why it is very difficult. We have to take those precautions in a time of pandemic. But the Church of Christ should care for its people to take sensible precautions, as the dear old Puritans did during the Great Plague in London. Where is the care or compassion? Now I know, I know I'm ranting a bit, but these things I have observed and they really burn in my heart, as they do in the hearts, I know, of many others, maybe even those of you that are listening. But what I see is a harsh face of modern Christianity opposing authority in a way that the New Testament never did. Paul never opposed the idol makers in Ephesus so that they went out of business. No, no. He preached Christ and people were converted and he preached his kingdom. And is that what put the men out of business? Against slaves, we've said this before, we're not told to revolt, but if they could obtain freedom, let them do it, but otherwise obey their masters. The apostles never preached against the heathen authorities, but instead preached Christ. And if this was seen as another king to challenge Caesar, then so be it. They never went on protest marches or rebelled against authority, but took what the authorities gave them and it was this witness that touched people. The old martyr Polycarp, who was actually a disciple of the Apostle John, when challenged by the authorities to deny his Lord, He stated that the only thing he had done wrong was to serve Christ for the last 86 years. And he died. Not for any rebellion, but for his love and faith in Christ. He wasn't rebelling against authorities. He was simply stating that he loved Jesus. OK, now rant over. I have not done it in a high voice because it would just about choke me anyway. So what's the problem? Well, I maintain it is really simple, that we have just basically lost our way. and our purpose of being Christians. We are followers of Christ, who was gentle but firm, but preached the good news. He paid taxes for him and Peter, he obeyed authorities by not resisting arrest, and he gave himself over to the authorities to be crucified. But what really burns in my heart is that Christians today are not following the simple pattern laid down by our Lord of how we should pray and what we should do and be seeking to do. Instead, I think it's a dangerous thing that we've been sucked into the world and missed the whole kind of point of our faith. For his kingdom is not of this world, but it is a heavenly kingdom ruling in the hearts of men and women. In Matthew and Luke, when the Lord taught his disciples about prayer, against the backdrop of the selfish, hypocritical praying authorities, he was not only teaching them about the need to pray, which is very important, and that's what we should be doing about our society today, but also what we should pray for, which also gives us our battle plan in this world. Some people say that this prayer is a pattern, the Lord's Prayer, for our prayers. By the way, there are others that say it's not the Lord's Prayer, the Lord's Prayer is in John 17. And of course there's a truth in that, but we refer to this as being the Lord's Prayer. And they say, well, this is a pattern for our prayers. Now that may be true, and I think it is true. Nevertheless, I maintain this, that the prayer itself, in its received form, really does need no adding to. It is plain, it is simple, and it is a fulfilment what we should be aiming to do and follow today. This prayer should be our passion in this world. and we will not get sidetracked. Of course, we are to care deeply about people and help those in need and can rise up against injustice, but the prime directive is this prayer. Now, I just want to show you what I mean by this. Now, I will use the traditional version of the prayer that our Lord left us with. As I say, some manuscripts leave off the ending, but I will include it. And it is also, by the way, as a word of warning, not my intention to expound the prayer in any fullness. We could maybe do that some other time if God spares us. But what I want to do is to show you what it expresses is vitally important for today. Remember that this is a prayer given by our Lord to those he was soon to leave on earth. And its words and structure should be our prayer right now. And that's very important. It begins like this. Our Father, who art in heaven. Immediately. This is a personal prayer. God is our Father, the Father of all Christians, our Father. Then this involves us all. No one is exempt, doesn't matter what colour you are or what background or what nationality. He is our Father. And Jesus scoops up the disciples and all those that are Christians in this great opening statement, our Father. Then the Lord tells us that our Father is not an earthly Father, but lives in a different dimension. We are to realise that He is Spirit, and is to be worshipped in spirit and truth, as it says in John 4. Although he is said to be in heaven, this does not need to be understood as him sitting up there, wherever it is, and not being involved at all with what is going on earth. It's not kind of like that at all. Charles Haddon Spurgeon puts it like this. The empire of the maker comprehends the upper and lower regions. The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's, is a quote. And the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. He sustaineth all things by the word of his power, both in heaven above and on earth beneath. And so Spurgeon is saying, quite simply, that although our father is in heaven, he's very much involved and is everywhere within us. If we ascend to the highest mountain, he is there. Therefore, we are to be in touch with the King of the universe, to lift our eyes from the earth and look up. Hallowed be thy name, says the Lord. Put simply, he is utterly holy and perfect in all that he does. He cannot lie, he cannot make a mistake, and all that he does is right. And today we must look up and we must look away from this sinful hearth. This prayer takes us to God in his splendour. And then we move to his purpose and our desire, says Jesus. After we've focused ourselves in the right place to make sure our thinking is right, Jesus goes on to say, thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now this to me is the most important part of this prayer. What should we be doing today? Surely this is our prayer and priority. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. What should we be doing today but spreading the good news of the kingdom? Again, remember this is a prayer to be used, says Jesus, whenever you pray. Lord, help us to commit ourselves to you, to the expanding of your kingdom, as Jesus has asked us to do. What is the will of God then in heaven? Surely it is that he is worshipped and adored. What then should be our aim on earth but to see that he is loved and adored, to see that his kingdom reign in the hearts of men and women, boys and girls, is fulfilled so he is glorified? How do we defeat the corrupt society? The answer is here, by proclaiming Christ and his kingdom and all that will come under his rule. Thy kingdom come, is our prayer every day. Father in heaven, you are holy. Thy kingdom come, to cleave the darkness by the light of his kingdom, to see the conversion of nations and all men, women and boys and girls that might know him. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as in heaven. That and that should be our priority. Not confronting this or confronting that. You may be called to do that again. But our main priority is to cry out every day. We don't need to add to these words. Thy kingdom come, O Lord. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Again, what was Paul's passion? As he said, it was not to rebel against authority, but to preach social justice or anything like that to the unconverted. But I am determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified. He didn't leave behind him anything of any structure in that sense, except his teaching. But he left behind him converted people, kingdom people. And the prayer is that the Lord taught us, rebukes us today, for we need reviving. Maybe that's a study we could look at. And putting right and aligning ourselves with this prayer. And the Lord continued with such compassion. He's not only mindful of his own kingdom, of his own glory, but he's mindful of you and I. Give us today. We are to pray our daily bread. The Lord is concerned that we cared for and our desire must be simple. All we need to complete this task is a simple daily provision. Christian lives simply in that sense. He has clothes, adornment, being content, says our Lord. You see immediately how the God who dwells in heaven thinks of our daily provision. How kind is our God. But now there's something else that comes here for us which is a bit of a cruncher. He says, Jesus says, forgive us our trespasses or debts as we forgive those who trespass against us. And this is another great witness and testimony to this world. What makes the Christians stand out is that we forgive those who oppose us or hate us. You see, in Polycarp, there was no bitterness. He humbly bowed his head, same as the first martyr, Stephen. He humbly bowed his head at those that hated him. those that sin against us, and we are to forgive them in exactly the same way as the Father forgives us. Forgive us our trespasses as you forgive us trespasses too. So as the Father forgives without condition, You see, I sadly know of some who profess to be Christians who cannot forgive. They never pray this prayer. They ought not to if that's what they're doing. And what do they do? What do they know of the mercy of God if they will not be merciful to others? It is unthinkable. How can such a people extend the Kingdom of God on earth? How can they say that God forgives you sins and yet you will not forgive another person's sins or trespasses against you? It is unthinkable. It is despicable. It is terrible and it is the plague so often of many, many Christians. Make sure you, dear ones, as you're listening to this, say, I will not hold any grudges. I will forgive just as God forgives me. And put their transgressions as far as the east is to the west and remember them no more. Then he goes on again, the Lord says, He needs, the believer needs protection. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, or do not bring us to the time of trial or testing. Here is the prayer asking the Lord to keep us, to deliver us from this evil world. As we extend the kingdom, we need not only our daily provision, not only a forgiving spirit to demonstrate to this world, but also to be kept from harm. And this prayer tells us that. There are things for us in this prayer daily. Would you pray daily and say, Lord, your kingdom come, Put bread upon my plate today, Lord. Put clothes upon my back. Oh, and let me forgive others just as you've forgiven me. And please, please keep me from failure and from temptation and a time of trial. And then the prayer ends in these great words in most of the old versions. And I love these words. Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. You know what Amen means? It is quite simply, let it be so. What I have said, I mean, let it be so. Put a great end in. You see this prayer starts with God's great glory and ends there, just as our Christian life begins with the blaze of God's glory and then the service continuously of every day and then it will end with a witness of God's glory in heaven. Now what is it I'm saying? Well, it is really very simple. I am not the one to attack Christians who may be involved in society. Neither am I attacking the world and society around us, for they are sinful and are dark and therefore are just the same as we were until the light of Christ shone on us and showed us our sin. But my concern is the Church of God and my challenge is that the simple words of this prayer alone are sufficient. If you and I prayed it daily and meant it, thinking through the words and remembering that the Lord himself gave us this prayer to pray, to accompany us in this world. Let's not get sidetracked, please, dear ones, but realise why we're here, what our mission is, but to cry in prayer, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive others that trespass against us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Let it be so. Amen. That is our battle cry as we go out into this world to proclaim the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us do that and continue to do it. Let me pray. Father, thank you that you're in heaven and yet on earth. Thank you that you are such a holy and glorious God. that your kingdom will come on earth as in heaven. And one day the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. One day Christ shall ride out in glory with a double-edged sword from his mouth, slaying his enemies. One day, O God, one day In the meantime, will you not revive your church, O God, so that we may rejoice greatly in you? Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.