Hello, and welcome to this week's service at Westminster Reformed Presbyterian Church. We are located out of Prairie View, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago. We are so glad you decided to join us today. This is our next sermon in the series on The Lord's Prayer by Pastor Brett Malin. Our scripture reading will be Proverbs 30, verse 8, and John 6, verses 35-59. Our sermon text will be Matthew 6, verses 9-13. So thanks for nothing. It was a comment that got a lot of reaction from many people and many people laughed at it. However, I think there's something very perceptive in this. It is perceptive when we consider how people see their relationship to the earth Allow me to be so bold as to say that although it was intended to be a joke, although it was intended to denigrate those who have Christian faith, I think that there are many Christians who believe it. They don't realize they believe it, but indeed they do. we could expand upon that prayer and we could say, well God, you didn't plant it, you didn't harvest it, you didn't transport it, you didn't stock it on the shelves, you didn't cook it, so thanks for nothing. I think that such a prayer would be adequate For those who do not pray, give us this day our daily bread. What I want to lay before you, what I want you to take from this, is that you must ask God for your daily provisions. And by doing so, you will show that you will understand that it is God who actually gives these things to you. Let me encourage you, in your prayers, as you struggle with what to pray, one thing that you must pray is that you might ask God for your daily provision. By so doing, you demonstrate that you understand who these things ultimately come from. In one sense, we could say that it was easier for Jesus' contemporaries to pray this. This is why they understood intimately what life could be like when crops failed. They understood what it meant to have droughts, what it meant to have insects that destroy crops and the like. I would say that because they did not have many of the things that we have, they were closer to the ground. They were closer to the food that they ate. It's really remarkable when you think of the United States as we live in this time and this place. Oftentimes, many people do not even eat Things which are that local. I trust that many of us in our houses have things which have come. Many of them from all over the country. Indeed, some from all over the world. We are, in a sense, divorced from the process of food production. Many of us. Whereas during Jesus' time, and through much of church history, much of history in general, people have been intimately involved in the food that they were eating and producing and they knew very closely what it would be like. Things go wrong and they are forced to go without since our Remarkable when we think of the fact that we have refrigerators, and we have freezers, and we have grocery stores. And we tend to have an assumption that all of these comforts, all of these things that we have, will always be there. And because they are there right now, we are less dependent upon God for them. Do not realize that we are not entitled to these things. And we do not realize that at any moment these things could be taken from us. And I dare say, I don't trust that there's no one in this room who is, as I'm about to describe, that there are some who have the faintest idea where things come from. This is a true story that I'm about to tell you. One time there was a man who was a farmer, and of course he deals in farm things. And of course being a farmer, he advocates for his vocation. He advocates that we need farms, because if you do not have farms, then you will not have food. To his utter astonishment, A man took issue with that, and he said, we don't need farms. Well, this man did not only have something involved because it was his vocation, but he has concern for the whole of the country to have enough food. He said, yes, we do need farms. Did you know this man said to him, we don't need them. because Walmart has all the food we need. This man said, where do you think the food from Walmart comes from? And he said, the back of Walmart. He said, what if they run out in the back of Walmart? And to his astonishment, the man said, There's always more in the back. I trust that we're a little bit more in touch with the process than that. In the back of Walmart or any store, it's not just this black hole where we just pull things out. These things are very important. Here is a man who has no idea about basics, seems to me. He has no idea where the things that he eats and where these things come from have intimate relation to the ground and to the earth that God has created. And at any time these things could be taken away. Almost like this guy thought that this was magic. But before we take too much stand upon him, how often are we like him? Maybe not fully, but we forget where our daily food comes from. It comes from a process that's going on all around us, but behind that, God is working God is providing these things as we sing in Psalm, Psalm 104 especially, but God is providing for the earth. Indeed, we should think primarily when it comes to food and to other things that this is God who is providing these things. We are quick to forget Because we have it right in the refrigerator. We have it on our counters and in the freezer. And we think we can always go back and get more. Indeed, we might even be prone to ask. Even if we don't do so out loud, we might think, why would I pray for something that's right there in front of me? Why would I even pray? prayer like this when I have plenty of food in my house. See that's just the problem. We're not realizing that our dependence upon God is day by day by day. Many times and in many ways we are like Gilmer who married Hosea Of course, Domer marries Hosea and then becomes a prostitute. Though some would argue that he was a prostitute from the beginning. That's a debate we can have at another time. Ultimately, Hosea goes and purchases her. Purchases her fully and purchases her seemingly out of prostitution services, and he says, now you will live with me, and now you will be mine. If you've not read it, Hosea chapter one and Hosea chapter three especially, and it's a picture of us. It's a picture of the way that we have so often prostituted ourselves before a false god, and what does the Lord Jesus do? He comes down. who purchases us by his own blood. And he says to you, you'll dwell with me. I go to prepare a place for you. It's interesting. Hosea chapter one, Hosea chapter three. These two chapters narrate what's going on there. But right in the middle is a poem. And it's a rough poem to read sometimes because it's near to a divorce poem where she's being thrown out and she's being embarrassed and shamed before he goes and calls her back. Hosea 2.8 says this, for she did not know that I gave her corn and wine and oil. and multiply her silver and gold. Here's a strong moment. Gilmer, the wife of Hosea, she thinks that all of her purchasers, all of her paramours, all of her johns, if you will, they're the ones who are providing. But ultimately, God is saying to an adulterous Israel, to an adulterous woman, you never realized that it was I who was giving you these things. Christian, acknowledge that you have what you have because of the kind hand of God, your Heavenly Father. James, the book of James chapter 1 talks about that every good gift comes down from the Father of life. Talking about God the Father, the one to whom we pray in the Lord's Prayer. There are other things that are implied in this prayer as we meditate upon this. Give us this day our daily bread. One thing that is implied in it is morning prayer. Implied in it is morning prayer. I'll show you that momentarily and argue for it momentarily. But for now, Psalm 5.3, we did not stain it. Wish we could sing every psalm every Sunday, or at least half. We can't sing them all. Psalm 5, the priest says, My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord. In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. You ought to have communion with God. You ought to have fellowship with God in the morning. I trust that many of you, or the majority, have sung that psalm in Psalm 5. I hope you're seeking to fulfill it. My voice will you hear in the morning. It's interesting, Matthew Henry, the pastor and teacher from a different century than ours, he has Three lectures, really kind of three sermons. They were preached not on an award day. That's actually what people used to do at other times in the week. They'd go to listen to lectures, but even those were more like sermons. He has a three-part series. You can get a tray off the internet for a very inexpensive amount. He basically argues in this that you ought to seek to keep communion with God in the morning. That's the first lecture. And then throughout the day, and that's the second lecture, and you probably can guess that the third one is seeking to keep communion with God in the evening. Seeking God all day. Not every minute of the day, obviously. We know we have many vocations and we have many obligations. seeking God, we might bless God. I left that hanging though, did I not? Morning prayer flies, give us this day our daily bread. I would argue that it very much is. How much sense does it make for us to wake up Jump out of bed into a big hurry and start to conquer the day. Think about all the things that we have to do. Sometimes we think we're men of action, we're women of action. Getting things done, getting things crossed off lists. Certainly identify with that. Start conquering the day, start doing all these things and then morning leads into afternoon and afternoon leads into evening and we have had very little thought upon God. Or maybe you might be a little bit different, wanting to sleep really, really late and really slow to get motivated and slow to get it at all and eventually moseying through the day with little thought of God. Maybe those are two extremes, but I trust that we may identify with one, maybe different days, maybe with both. Well, how much sense does it make to be either one of those, and then to go to the Lord, finally having thought about Him, and say, give us this day our daily bread. The implication of this, though it's not explicit, I think it's implicit, the implication is that we ought to, at least sometime early in the day, pray that God would give us the things that we need. That when God would give us our daily provisions, our daily bread, So may we do so. May we begin each day, starting with God our Heavenly Father, seeking his glorious name, seeking that his name would be glorified, seeking that his kingdom would advance, seeking that his will would be done in our lives, Teaching that we might be right with as many men as we're able to be right with. In other words, that we might forgive those who have sinned against us. Since God has forgiven us in Christ. We must pray for contentment in what God gives us as well. Proverbs 30 verse 8, as we read, remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me. The implication here is when we pray, we are praying for today's provision. The proverb writer In Proverbs chapter 13, he knows about the dangers. He knows the dangers of having too much, and he knows the misery of having too little. So knowing the misery of having too little, he says, give me what I need. In other words, echoed in our confession, give us this day our daily bread. But of course, give me not poverty, but nor riches. Now what's he saying here? Is it a sin to be wealthy or to be rich now? No thanks. It may cause other problems. It may cause many problems. One of them is that it may be more difficult for you to get into heaven because you love your things more than you love God. causes other problems as well. When you have plenty people are more inclined to take whether they do so by asking or whether they just do it. All sorts of problems come with it. Give me neither poverty nor riches but let me walk that fine line Between these two, the proverb writer understands that it needs to be content with what God gives. How often are Christian prayers, maybe especially in this country, simply asking for poverty, or asking for riches now, rather, that I might have, that I might receive, Very common, really, is the desire that we would have our best life now. But that's a scary thought, if we would have our best life now. Our best life is the life to come, the life with God in Christ. Right now, your life, by faith, is hidden with Christ in God. In the future it will be revealed. we'll see the one who, though he was rich, made himself poor for us, that we might be rich, not with material blessings, though this earth and this life, but of the life to come, a time in which we are fully sanctified, a time in which these things will not be traps or nets for us. As we pray for the small things, we pray for the small things. It helps to inform us that God is the one who takes care of the larger things as well. So as you approach God and ask him to give you today your daily bread, or tomorrow if you should pray, I hope that you will, asking him for your daily bread, even if you already have it in your house, even now. May it bring you to your greater need. Your greater need is your spiritual need. May it cause you to focus upon that. Not only, though, ought we to pray in preparation for the day, for what God has given to us, what we hope that God will give to us, but we also must pray thanking Him for what He has given to us. Indeed, we should pray before we eat, and it is right to do so. Indeed, we should say that if we pray early in the day, asking that God would give us this day, our daily bread, than when it is before us. We see the fulfillment of that and we thank him for it before we begin. It's very common for many people, even some Christians, to just begin with you and to think nothing of the fact that it is God who has given you these things. It's almost like the way that dogs, pigs, what do they do? Without even a thought of it, they begin to tear into their food. That is not the calling of a Christian. That is not the calling of one who has been adopted into the kingdom of God and is a son or daughter of God the Father. Many non-Christians, though, they think nothing of these things. They act like animals by not acknowledging God, who is the giver. They are, as the psalm says, not the one that we have sung today, they are asked to be prepared. When you pray to God in preparation and ask God to give you your daily bread and then when your daily bread is set before you, you thank him for it, you distinguish yourself from the animal kingdom and the ungrateful humans who take after the animal kingdom more than those who have been created in the image of the perfect and right God. May we stand back from these things and acknowledge that Every good gift comes from a loving, merciful, gracious Father. But as we consider these things, and as we seek to come to them with gratitude, let us do so mindful of the fact. Praying for these small things, point our minds to large things. Praying and thanking God for these carnal things ought to cause us to look to heavenly things and spiritual things. And of course I speak about the need that you have for Jesus Christ. In John chapter 6, Jesus is making a reference, he's pointing to, Things that go on in the book of Exodus understand that after the children of Israel are brought out of bondage, they're brought out of slavery, they're able to see Egypt humbled, they're able to see the passing through of the Red Sea or the Sea of Reeds And in doing that they see that God is almighty and all-powerful and he is greater than the gods of Egypt. And in their time of what they thought would be entering into the promised land, the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and to their seed, what happens is they begin to rebel against God And they begin to murmur against him. And so they do not immediately go in. In fact, they wander for 40 years in the wilderness. Of course, God provides for them in that time. And he provides for them manna. He provides for them a bread-like substance that falls from heaven. Of course, they're not content even with that because of their memory. Jesus points to that and he says, our fathers ate manna in the wilderness and Jesus teaches them what that manna in the wilderness ultimately pointed to. Indeed, Jesus is the one that that pointed forward to. Jesus is the bread of heaven. Jesus is the bread that comes down from heaven. That was just a shadow. That was just a picture. substance is put before their eyes, and in this end times age we can say that the substance is placed before you as well. The substance is Jesus Christ himself, the bread from heaven. This is not like that bread in the wilderness though. You see, if you would eat of that bread, you would eventually die. We trust that it was filled with all of the things necessary for the nutritional needs of the Israelites. We trust that it was not un-nutritious like cardboard or something like that. probably had all of the vitamins and minerals and nutrients that they needed to sustain them for their time. But! They all died. What is set before Jesus and his hearers, and what is set before us this day, and in a sense what is set before us every day, is Jesus Christ the bread of heaven. And this is a bread that if you eat of it, you live forever. This is a remarkable bread. This is a bread that if you eat of it, you find your dwelling in heaven. Now, of course, the listeners are offended by the appearance of this man standing in front of them. And he says, you need to eat my flesh. And they're thinking, whoa, this guy's a little weird. This guy's a bit strange. The problem is they're overly literalizing what he's saying, talking about carnal things pointing towards heavenly realities. That sort of literalism was common to many of the Jews. Of course, Nicodemus in John chapter 3, when he hears that you need to be born again, or you need to be born again, when he hears that, he says, I need to go inside of my mother's womb and come out again? No, no, no, no. That was your first birth. Now you need to be born again. heaven. You need to be born from above. You need to be born spiritually. That is your need. Similarly so, to receive the spiritual truth, you must eat of the bread of heaven. To eat of the bread of heaven, to partake of Jesus Christ, that is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we say faithfully, trust Him, believe upon Him, acknowledge that He is a righteous and glorious and powerful Savior. And we ascend to that truth, that is to say, We say, that is my savior, that is my lord, that is the lover of my soul, that is the one who is merciful and gracious to me, an undeserving sinner. We also trust him. We cast off all of our trust in ourselves, all of our trust in our ability, to bring about our own internal life, even our ability as so-called to bring about bread. We trust in Him as we look to Him. So I put that to you this day, that we're trusting in Jesus Christ, the Savior. Let me put that another way. Have you eaten of that bread? Are you continuing to eat of that bread daily as you have intercourse with your Savior through the word and through prayer? May you do so this day and every day for your good, for your enjoyment, and for the glory of God. Let's pray. Thank you for tuning in. Please review our Facebook and YouTube pages for further teachings. We pray you will join us next week. 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