Sermons

Matthew 6:9 “who is in heaven “

Last week we began to look at what has been called a lot of different things…The Lord’s Prayer…the Our Father Prayer…the Model Prayer…the Disciples Prayer …all describing Jesus’ prayer He gave while preaching the Sermon on the Mount.

It’s interesting to note that Jesus first tells the disciples…based on the question one of them asked Him… ‘Lord teach us to pray’ [Lk. 11:1] …so when [vs.5-7] Jesus says, ‘when you pray’ He is actually suggesting how not to pray: don’t pray like the hypocrites…praying to be seen [7] …or babbling like the pagans using meaningless words…Jesus says: “Do not be like them” [8].

Jesus then tells them ‘what to pray’. Matthew records that prayer… [6] Jesus gives a command…it’s in the imperative voice…it is a command from Jesus Himself…a command calling for us to make prayer a habit.

It’s important to know…I said this last week…most translations of [Matthew 6:9] begin with: “this is how (Οὕτως) you (ὑμεῖς) (should) pray (προσεύχεσθε) …BUT the word ‘should’ has been inserted…the word ‘should’ is not in the original Greek text… adding the word ‘should’ implies that you should pray this specific prayer just like it is written…using these exact words…but that is not the intent.

The imperative voice is the reason for the addition of the word ‘should’ because of the command to pray…implying the need to pray this prayer exactly as it is written …the confusion is not to pray these exact words…the command is to use this prayer as a pattern…a more suitable translation could be “pray in this way“  

The “Lord’s Prayer” was never intended to be used as a repetitious mundane guide for prayer…but as a model to what to pray for…so clearly Jesus is presenting a pattern for our prayers…not just the words to use…these are the words from God Himself about the prayer that He desires.

The Prayer falls into seven clauses or petitions…the opening clause is:  

Our Father

Talked about this last week…this statement clearly implies that we are something more than God’s creatures …it implies a relationship…but it is also a reminder that God is distinct from His creation.

That is why this prayer prayed by an unbeliever is meaningless…they have no relationship with God…they have NOT been adopted into his family…they have not been regenerated or born again… they have NOT been made heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.

By calling God ‘Our Father’ conveys our relationship to God…it establishes us as sons and daughters…that as Christians we don’t live in isolation…when we sin… there are repercussions throughout the whole church…when a brother or sister suffers…we’re all affected…our calling is not…me…mine…or I…it is our father.

Which Art in Heaven

Is it OK if we talk about heaven for a minute…so is this sermon about the Lord’s Prayer or Heaven…well…first we have to establish something about Heaven… since it’s part of the prayer.

Probably something everyone is fascinated about…where is heaven…and when do we get there? …probably one of the most controversial topics among people today is what happens to a person after they die.

Want to share something with you about studying Scripture…here’s where the confusion and mis-understanding regarding the Bible comes from…when studying Scripture, we must build scripture upon scripture…precept upon precept…this is the surest way of knowing the truth and what the Bible teaches.

If we base our belief on a doctrine solely on one verse in the Bible there is a good chance we have taken it out of context…but if we study all the verses on a subject the truth will make itself evident…so let’s see if the Bible has a consistent teaching on where heaven is and when do we go there.

Obviously there is a tremendous fascination with Heaven…usually coming from NDE…maybe you’re familiar with the 2014 movie “Heaven Is for Real” about the 4-year-old son of a Wesleyan Pastor who claims to have experienced heaven during an emergency surgery.

The movie grossed $91 million in the United States alone…the book has sold over 10 million copies and spent 206 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list… if you don’t think there’s a fascination about heaven, two other books by doctors…Proof of Heaven, by Eben Alexander, and To Heaven and Back, by Mary C. Neal…both documenting NDE’s (Near Death Experiences) have also done quite well.  

 With respect to the four-year-old boy…He describes incidents with people he never met or knew about: describes meeting his great-grandfather who had died long before he was born….or an unborn sister he never knew about who had died in a miscarriage…and of having met Jesus.

So…what about those incidents…there is only one instance in the Bible where someone went to heaven and came back…most theologians believe Paul had a near death experience as a result of his brush with death at Lystra [Acts 14] where he was nearly stoned to death.

It would appear that Apostle Paul’s words in [2 Corinthians 12:1-10] refer to this experience as a result of that “near death” stoning …but unlike the modern experiences we read about today…in Paul’s experience of heaven he is remarkably tight-lipped on the subject…referring to the incident, in only sketchy terms.

Unlike those trips to heaven that included being greeted by all kinds of relatives who had passed on before them…including seeing pet dogs that had died…Paul gave no sensational detailed description of what he saw…only saying…that what he saw was too incredible for words…they were inexpressible…so glorious that words could not describe them.

Regarding what he heard…Paul said it was in a language unlike anything on earth …though he understood what was said, there were no words in the human language to convey what he heard…nor would he have been permitted to speak about it even if there were.

So why was Paul given this opportunity…God doesn’t do things without a reason …I think God may have provided Paul this vision of heaven to remove his fear of death and give him more boldness to preach the Gospel…and possibly why Paul was so intense in his defense of the resurrection…he had seen heaven.

Are these other NDE’s real…I don’t know…I’m skeptical…my initial reaction is they’re not… probably offending someone…but I have to ask…if they are genuine what purpose do they serve with respect to glorifying God…God does not and would not give you an experience for your own personal benefit.

Everything is for God’s glory… ‘well what about the witness it might provide to a lost person’…that scenario has already been addressed…in the story of the rich man wanting someone to be sent back from the dead to warn his brother to repent … Jesus comments…’If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’

I’m not really sure what purpose it serves for someone to ‘go to heaven’ and return.

SO…then…do people go straight to heaven when they die…are they sent to purgatory… or some other place…can we truly be certain what happens to the dead? I firmly believe we can.

The concept of purgatory came into existence at the end of the twelfth century…up until that point no one had even remotely conceived of such a concept…it is the invention of the Catholic Church…it is not a place [John Paul II / Benedict XVI] but rather the process where Christians after death go to for the process of purification.  (1 Corinthians 3:15 and 1 Peter 1:7). We’re in disagreement with our Catholic partners on this subject.

One thing for certain…we know that God and Jesus are in Heaven…but what about those who die? …do they immediately go to heaven…lot of controversy …some say no…some say yes…my take is NO they do not go to heaven when they die because there are very definite NO’s when it comes to entering heaven:

1. No one living can go to heaven because Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God [1 Cor. 15:50].
2. No one is admitted into heaven without their new resurrected bodies…and we don’t get those until Jesus’ second coming [Matt 22].
3. No one goes to heaven when they die because [John 3:13] …”No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”

BUT…I am convinced that when we die, we do go somewhere…and that somewhere is to be immediately entered into the presence of the Lord.

In two places Paul wrote that when we die our spirits immediately go to be with Jesus … [2 Cor. 5:6-8 / Phil. 1:21-23] …these two verses dispel the false teaching that after we die we enter into ‘soul sleep’ …really…Peter and Paul have been sleeping for 2,000 years!!

So, what happens at death…AGAIN…we CANNOT go to heaven until we are given immortal bodies…Heaven is a real place where the people of God will one day live… BUT no one goes to heaven until after the rapture and the judgement

when we are given our new bodies similar to the body Jesus had after His resurrection…so…in the meantime…after death are people just hanging out?

After death our souls are with the Lord, and we are fully conscious of being in His presence…although there is no verse that give us a geographical location…heaven is where God is…where God and the angels now live…where Jesus is now preparing a place for us to live[Jn 14:1-3].  

Jesus goes on to explain that it is the nature of God to be in heaven…and the nature of man is to be on earth…stating that God is in Heaven is conforming that God is The Cause…in religious phraseology heaven is the term for the Presence of God…so what will heaven be like:

1. We won’t miss our old lives.

Obviously going from Earth to heaven will be an upgrade…here’s the question… will I miss something from my old life…will it be available to me in heaven…I really enjoy playing my banjo.

In heaven…we will experience all God intends for us…God fashions us to want precisely what He will give us so what He gives us will be exactly what we want.

2. We won’t become angels.

You don’t become an angel when you die…we won’t be angels but we’ll be with them…death is a relocation of the same person from one place to another… “you don’t take anything into heaven when you die”…Yes you do…your character…the place may change but you remain the same.

3. We won’t be tempted.

One of my favorites…no temptation…no sin…we are righteous as a result of our faith in Jesus…it is imputed to us by God…it brings us into a right relationship with Him…God will never withdraw His holiness from us; therefore, in heaven we cannot sin.

It has been suggested that we will never forget the ugliness of sin…hope that is not so…but it’s suggested there’s a reason for that

By remembering the ugliness of sin…and what sin costs…every time we see the scarred hands of Jesus we’ll remember…how it impacted our fellowship with God during our time on earth…remembering that will cause us to never want to sin.

We’ll never be deceived into thinking God is withholding something good from us…which is partly what sin is.

4. We will have work to do.

The idea of working in heaven is foreign to many people…yet Scripture clearly teaches it…when God created Adam, he “took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15)…work was part of the original Eden…what makes people think heaven will be any different?

God Himself is a worker…He didn’t create the world and then retire…Jesus said, “My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (John 5:17). Jesus found great satisfaction in His work. “‘My food,’ Jesus said, ‘is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work'” (John 4:34).

We’ll also have work to do…it will be satisfying work that will be enjoyable… work that’ll never be a drudgery…all for God’s glory.

5. We will still experience emotions.

In Scripture, God is said to love…laugh…and rejoice…as well as be angry, happy, jealous and glad…to be like God means to have and express the same emotions… in heaven emotions will exist for God’s glory and our good.

6. We still won’t know everything.

God alone is omniscient…when we die, we will see things far more clearly… understating things we never realized before…and we’ll know much more than we know now…but we’ll never know everything… that’s a relief to me…because I plan on being in school.

In heaven we’ll be flawless…but being flawless doesn’t mean knowing everything. It’s part of being finite…the angels don’t know everything…and Scripture says they long to know more (1 Peter 1:12) …we should long for greater knowledge, as the angels do…and we’ll get to spend eternity gaining that greater knowledge.

7. We will recognize one another.

Scripture gives no indication of a memory wipe causing us not to recognize family and friends…Paul anticipated being with the Thessalonians in heaven…and it never occurred to him he wouldn’t know them…Paul even express the anticipation of an afterlife reunion [1 Thessalonians 4:14-18] …wouldn’t be much of a celebration if we couldn’t recognize an acquaintance…or forget someone’s name.

8. What will we do to avoid boredom?

People sometimes say, “I’d rather be having a good time in hell than be bored in heaven.”…Note the assumption: sin is exciting and righteousness is boring…rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.

I already mention we’ll have work to do…believing the assumption that I’ll just be bored means you’ve fallen for the devil’s lie…in reality, sin robs us of fulfillment …sin doesn’t make life more interesting…it makes life empty…in heaven there is an endless reservoir of fascination—boredom becomes impossible. In heaven we’ll be filled—as Psalm 16:11 describes it—with joy and eternal pleasures.

9. If our loved ones are in hell, won’t that spoil heaven?

In heaven we’ll see clearly that God revealed Himself to each person and that He gave every opportunity for every person to seek and respond to Him [Romans 1:18-2:16] …everyone deserves hell; no one deserves heaven…BUT… Jesus went to the cross to offer salvation to all [1 John 2:2]

God is absolutely sovereign and doesn’t desire any to perish [1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9] …yet it is inevitable that many will perish in their unbelief [Matthew 7:13]. Heaven by Randy Alcorn, Tyndale House Publishers.

OK…all that comes out of the phrase ‘who is in heaven’?  …the place we’re all going to spend eternity in does have some hazy areas of understanding…some are more concrete than others…BUT…for certain…the people who go to heaven are all alike in one way:

—we are all sinners who have placed our faith in Jesus as Savior [Jn. 1:12; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9].

—we are all sinners who have accepted God’s offer of forgiveness.

—we are all sinners who have repented of their old ways of living for Christ [Mark 8:34; John 15:14].

—we have not attempted to earn God’s forgiveness but have served him gladly from grateful hearts [(Psalm 100:2].

The most important fact regarding heaven: heaven is a real place…heaven is the dwelling place of God…and one day we will all be there together forever.

Matthew 6:9 “pray in this way, Our Father“

Don’t know about you all…but I can’t imagine what it would have been like to

have walked and talked with Jesus as He made his way across Galilee…if we could have been there and watched as He touched the sick…amazed as He walked across the waves of a stormy sea… imagine what it would have been like to ask Him whatever question came to mind?

BUT…Scriptures do record that at least one of the apostles did make one request [Luke 11:1] “one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray…” Jesus then teaches the disciples what has been called the Lord’s Prayer.

Matthew’s account is a little more detailed…we talked last week about the different types of prayer…and the seriousness of prayer…and the issues regarding prayer.

God takes praying serious…it’s conversation between Him and us…and He’s not tolerant of any foolishness…praying that uses endless repetitions…empty phrases…meaningless words…praying with the desire to be admired by others making promises that you’re not intending to keep…or prayer that is thoughtless or offensive to God…that’s being on thin ice.

In Jewish life prayers were offered at least twice a day…often times three times a day [Acts 3:1] …devout Jewish men were expected to pray at 9 am…at noon… and at 3 pm…here’s the problem with that…not that praying three times a day is bad…prayer was a natural, regular, and necessary part of Jewish life…the problem is with us.

Any spiritual practice may start out with a great feeling and intensity…we’ve all been there…maybe…I’m getting up early every morning to read the Bible and pray…nothing wrong with good intentions…but they can quickly turn into a meaningless ritual…that’s what had happened with the practice of the Jews in the first century…it became something they just did…it was meaningless.

That’s why on more than one occasion God reminds His people that He wants their hearts, not their empty sacrifices…after asking the question “With what shall I come before the Lord?” Micah answers with this — “And what does the Lord require of you?” 

To act justly…to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” [Micah 6:8] ….in other words God wants their hearts, not their meaningless ritual.

Because God does take praying serious…before Jesus tells the disciples how to pray, He cautions them on how NOT to pray…don’t use the many words like the pagans do…don’t do that…the Lord’s Prayer is set in contrast to the pagan prayers of [6:7-8] where Jesus lists some of the kind of praying done by pagans and says… “Do not be like them” [8].

Praying comes with a warning [vs 5-8] [5] you must not be like the hypocrites praying to be seen [7] or babbling like pagans…this is actually another way of Jesus saying, “You have heard it said…but I say unto you….” only now Jesus is using a different phrase to correct their practice…. “and when you pray”

Here’s the difficulty with prayer…prayer requires faith …WHY…because we’re praying to someone we can’t see and expecting an answer we can’t control… even among Christians… but especially to the unsaved…prayer runs contrary to the world in which we live…consequently…not only is prayer often neglected but is difficult to do.

Even as Christians…we often suspect if we do pray…they’ll be no answer…or perhaps it is not the answer we desire…so we leave prayers unoffered…turning a deaf ear to what the Spirit might have said to us if only we had been listening.

I think if we would all be honest with ourselves this morning…we’d admit that prayer…for the most part…is an undisciplined area of our spiritual life…possibly sporadic at best…erratic most of the time.

Prayer is talked about more than anything else and practiced less than anything else…yet…it remains one of the necessary disciplines we must include in our spiritual lives if we are going to continue to be conformed to the image of Christ.

When you look at the Lord’s Prayer it is unique among all the prayers of the Bible but it’s a bit confusing…even though it’s called the Lord’s prayer:

…it never mentions the Lord.

…it’s prayed in all churches, but it never mentions the church.

…it doesn’t mention: virgin birth…atoning death, or bodily resurrection of Christ.

…it never mentions the Holy Spirit.

…it’s prayed by all denominations…but never mentions a priest, bishop or pope.

…it’s prayed by Christians who split over doctrinal issues but it never mentions a single word about any doctrines. 

…it’s prayed by Christians whose concern is heaven…but it never mentions heaven or hell.

Prologue, page 1, The Greatest Prayer, John Dominic Crossan

Something else that’s interesting is the Prayer contains no singular pronouns…all petitions are for…“ our…us…or we” …there is no “I” in the Lord’s Prayer…this is a safeguard against selfishness…a reminder of our responsibility to intercede for others…even above ourselves…even when praying alone as suggested in [vs.6] …going into the secret room…there is no place for individualism in the Kingdom.

This prayer…we call The Lord’s Prayer is also called the “Our Father” prayer by our Roman Catholic friends because of the way in which the prayer begins…and it’s also been referred to as “The Model Prayer” by some.  

In both Matthew and Luke, Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray, and so if we need a title for this prayer, we could call it The Disciples’ Prayer…it was a prayer Jesus taught to his disciples…here’s its importance.

If someone were to ask you to give them a summary of the Christian faith on the back of an envelope…probably the best response would be to write out the Lord’s Prayer’ A conversation with The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams.

It was a prayer that was never intended for universal use…Jesus never intended it to be for all men…just to His disciples…those who are the possessors of grace… who are truly converted…on the lips of an ungodly man it is entirely out of place.

God does not hear the prayer of an unbeliever…if you have never asked Jesus to be your Savior…then trying to pray to a God you don’t believe in or trust in… is ineffective…the only prayer God hears from an unbeliever is the prayer of salvation… in response to the genuine seeking or the faith by that person.

In other words, the “Disciple’s Prayer” is a “family prayer” and you must be a member of the family of God to be able to address Him as Father…He is Father only to those who are His children.

People have this mis-conception that God hears everybody…all I have to do is pray…that’s not true…God doesn’t hear everybody…if you are not a child of God then you are children of the Devil [John 8:44-45] the only prayer God will hear from that person is the prayer of repentance.

As Christians…God will not hear the prayers of Christians who deliberately and purposely engage in and remain in sin…that makes you a sinner… “we know that God does not hear sinners” [John 9:31] …because they are out of fellowship with God [John 9:31].

So if you are born again (John 3:3) then He is your Father…pray to Him as Father.

Many theologians equate this prayer with the Ten Commandments…this prayer found in this section of Matthew many scholars believe was in the portion of the sermon dealing with the giving of the “law” for the Kingdom of God…much like Moses gave the Law for the nation of Israel.

Jesus uses the phrase repeatedly in the Sermon on the Mount — “You have heard it said…but I say unto you….” By making that statement Jesus was attempting to restore the Law given by Moses to its original intent.

Over the years the law had become a rigid set of “do’s and don’ts” that it was never intended to be…it was meant by God to be a “law of the heart” — a way to live that separated God’s people from all others.

Much like the Ten Commandments which can be divided between those dealing with our relationship with God…no other gods…no idols…misusing God’s name …and keeping the Sabbath…the first four commandments.

AND…the second six which deal with our relationship with each other…honoring parents…not murdering…not committing adultery…not stealing…not lying…and not coveting.

The Prayer that Jesus taught his disciples…just like the Ten Commandments…  also deals with our relationship with God and each other…Jesus starts out talking to the disciples about prayer by saying “and when you pray” [Matthew 6:5,6,7] giving them suggestions on how prayer should be delivered…in [v 9] he shifts to a more demanding statement telling them how to pray.  

Let’s take a look at what Jesus says to his disciples regarding praying…most translations begin with the words:  “this is how (Οὕτως) you (ὑμεῖς) (should) pray (προσεύχεσθε) …the word ‘should’ is inserted in most translations…but the word ‘should’ in not in the original Greek text…adding the word ‘should’ implies that you should pray this specific prayer…implying using these exact words…but that is not the intent.

In [vs.5-7] Jesus says ‘when you pray’ suggestion how not to pray…and what to do when you pray…BUT…here Jesus is giving us a command…it’s in the imperative voice…it is a command from Jesus Himself…probably why a command calling for us to make prayer a habit … prayer is not to be a “pastime” but a lifestyle.

Jesus did not say when you pray… pray these exact words…this is implied in the erroneous addition of the word ‘should’ suggesting using this as the ‘model prayer’. …this prayer was never meant to be a ritualistic recital…but a guide for praying… that’s why a more suitable translation could be “pray in this way“ using the format suggested here…we are to use this prayer as a pattern.  

The problem with reciting a prayer from memory is that this kind of prayer becomes “meaningless repetition” …something Jesus had just told His disciples just four verses earlier not to do.

The “Lord’s Prayer” was never intended to be used as a repetitious mundane guide for prayer…but as a model to what to pray for…so clearly Jesus is presenting a pattern for our prayers…not just the words to use.

The Prayer falls naturally into seven clauses…the first clause:  

“Our Father”

This statement clearly implies that we are something more than God’s creatures …it implies a relationship…that is why this prayer prayed by an unbeliever is meaningless…they have no relationship with God…they have NOT been adopted into his family….they have not been regenerated or born again… they have NOT been made heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.

By calling God ‘Our Father’ implies and involves the duty of obedience to God

having established the Fatherhood of God and our relationship to God as sons and daughters…that God and man are parent and child…Jesus goes on to enlarge upon the nature of God and to delineate the function of each in the grand scheme of things.

Jesus explains that it is the nature of God to be in heaven, and of man to be on earth, because God is the Cause, and man is the manifestation…in other words, God is the Infinite and Perfect Cause of all things…and God’s expression was manifested in making our physical bodies.

Here’s the importance in that…a little theological dissertation here…there is a misunderstanding about the relationship of God and man that is the cause of all our difficulties.

Trying to have a manifestation without a Cause is atheism…that’s the idea that “I just arrived…don’t know how I got here but…here I am” this is attempting to have a Cause without Creator…that leads people to suggest that I’m my own personal God…hence the importance of realizing that God is our creator and so we rightly call Him Father.

Going to God as our Father establishes THREE facts.

FIRST…no fear about our lives right now…God predestined a purpose for you individually…God loves you enough to give you a place in His plan…your being born at this particular time in history is NOT by chance…God has a specific plan for you…how do I know that…the Bible tells me so.

Acts 13:36 – David after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep…God arranged all the physical scenes of history before creation… which guarantees every scene in life works to God’s eternal purpose—your ability to hear God is directly proportional to you being in God’s will…some elect to seek that purpose for which God “predestined” them…others elect to openly reject it

SECONDLY…it means having no fear of the future…our salvation is secure.

God is the father of all our resources…all the resources of heaven and earth are available to us… to meet both our spiritual and our physical needs.

THIRDLY…it clearly defines that God and Jesus…although they are One, they are not one-and-the-same…Jesus establishes this point carefully when he says, “Our Father” …Jesus Himself addressed God as Father (some 60 times in the Gospels) …never referring to Him by any other name! Virtually all of Jesus’ prayers were addressed to God as Father (one exception in Mt 27:46)

In the Old Testament ’Father’ as a title for God was rarely used (only 14 times) …where “father” does occur with respect to God it is commonly by way of analogy, and not used to directly address Him (Deut 32:6; Ps 103:13; Isa 63:16; Mal 2:10) …even more rarely was it used in reference to an individual…only twice in the Old testament is Abraham referred to as ‘father’ (Isa. 51: 1 / Jos. 24;3).

BUT…in the first 18 verses of Matthew 6 Jesus calls God ‘Father’ 10 times… teaching us that as kingdom citizens we are to address God as Father…an idea that must have surprised most of His audience…we are not to pray to saints…or angels …or any other created thing…but to the everlasting Father…the Lord of heaven and earth.

I’m purposely stopping here because I want you to understand the seriousness of what I have said…because…if you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior… have never trusted in God as your heavenly Father…there is really no sense in going any further in this prayer because if you have never done either one of those two things…it all stops right here. In order for us to pray the way that Jesus taught His disciples to pray…we  need to understand the meaning behind the words…we need to acknowledge that God exists and He is the creator of heaven and earth…the supplier of all our needs… and Jesus is His Son, rather than simply repeating them in a parrot-like fashion.