R911 Our Father

Welcome to the Monday edition of The Encouraging Word with Dr. Don Wilton. Today, a message that takes us straight to our Father, our Heavenly Father. In just a moment, Dr. Wilton is going to literally paint a picture with Scripture today as we head to the book of Matthew, chapter 6, beginning in verse 9, and study our Father. As we do so, we want you to know that we're excited to see what God is doing in our interconnectedness both online at www.tewonline.org, as well as on the phone at 866-899-WORD. You need to know that we would be thrilled to pray with you and for you, and every single day we're seeing God do remarkable things in the ministry with The Encouraging Word and invite you to be a part of it, be an encourager even.

All the details are on our website about how you can get involved at www.tewonline.org. Now let's open our hearts and open God's Word together to Matthew, chapter 6, with Dr. Don Wilton. I'm going to be focusing on one statement this morning in Matthew, chapter 6 and verse 9. I want you to just imagine for a moment here we find the Lord Jesus sitting on a hillside and all the people who loved Him were gathered around as they looked over the Sea of Galilee. What Jesus said in this prayer, called the Lord's Prayer, is quite significant and there is a statement here that He begins. He said, when you pray, this is what I want you to say, Our Father, which art in heaven. I want to speak to you this morning on just that one statement, Our Father. Now you'll remember, folks, that the Jewish people back in the time of Jesus, they rarely believed that God was somebody that you couldn't come anywhere near.

Now I want you to just listen to this for a moment. I don't want to reduce this to something overly simplistic, but to the Jewish mind, God was in a box. Some of you will remember the Ark of the Covenant and right throughout the Old Testament, people tried to gain access to God, but they couldn't. I mean, He's God, you know. How do you get to God? He's so magnificent.

He's so wonderful, so marvelous. And God was in a box. You remember even Moses tried to get near him and the bush burst into flames and God from within the bush said, Moses, take off your shoes because the place where you're standing is holy ground. Went up into the mountainside, wanted to look at the face of God. God said, are you kidding me?

You look at my face, you're going to die. Hit him in the cleft of a rock and just passed him by. The Jewish people believed that God was not only untouchable, you couldn't touch God, but He was unattainable. He was inaccessible. You couldn't talk to God. You couldn't have fellowship with God.

You couldn't be around God. You had to go through the high priest to do that. There were all these barriers and then Jesus arrived on the scene and all those barriers disappeared. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth and the life. No man can come to God the Father, but by me.

Now watch this, folks. In this passage, when Jesus was teaching them how to pray, certainly in the preceding verses, He said, listen, look at all those people on the street sidewalks, trying to impress everybody with how much access they've got to God. And He said, look at all those people reciting prayers, vain babblings and repetitions.

And Jesus looked at them and He said, I'm sorry. That's not what you do. I will not bless that. You don't repeat prayers over and over again.

Folks, we need to listen to that. The Lord's prayer is not designed to be repeated over and over and over again. It's telling us how to pray, giving us the content.

It's guiding our thoughts. And when Jesus gave this prayer to His disciples, He began and He said, our Father. Now there are two words for Father in the New Testament. And when Jesus spoke of our Father here, He used the word Abba, A-B-B-A. Abba.

Our Abba. Now, if you want a direct translation of that, the word Abba literally means Daddy, Dad. And when Jesus told us that we can pray to God the Father, He was giving us the reason why we can do that is because God our Father is our Abba. He's our Daddy. And that means that He is not only personal with us, but He is absolutely intimate with us.

We can share personal things with Him and we can be totally intimate with Him. And did you know that in all the prayers that Jesus shared and prayed, He uses the Aramaic form of Father, which is the word Abba. Speaking of the intimacy that happens between man and God, the accessibility.

When you talk about Daddy, you think about sitting on his knee when you're a little child and you think about that hug and you think about that protection. That's what Jesus was talking about. Now, to contrast that, remember when Jesus went to the cross and they beat Him up and He was hanging on the cross. And at the moment He took the sin of the world on Himself, He cried these words. He said, My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? He didn't use the word Abba. He used the word Pater, P-A-T-E-R, means the same word Father. There are two words, Abba, which is Daddy, which is this intimate personal God.

Pater, He used when He was on the cross because He was referring to God in His essential righteousness as God. You say to me, how does that work? Well, you know with your own father, you know those times when your daddy was just that cuddly teddy bear that you grew up just loving so much and all the fun and the fellowship and boy, that's my daddy. But I tell you, there were some times when your daddy wasn't the cute cuddly teddy bear, right?

Everybody nod like this. When Dad looked at you and said, I'm going to tell you something, son, this is not a popularity contest. I don't care if you don't like me for the rest of your life. I'm your father and you are not going to behave like that. I'm your father and God has given to you, to me as a responsibility. I'm responsible to God and I'm telling you, I'm going to lay the smack down.

You do that one more time. I'm going to tell you I'll amputate both legs. I'm going to hurt you. I'm going to make you wince. I'm going to do whatever it takes.

I'm going to get your attention one way or the other. You see, folks, when God comes into our presence, He speaks to us as righteous God, as the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. But when Jesus Christ came to this earth, what happened to him? He enabled God because he is God to become our Heavenly Father so that even in our worst circumstances, when we are hurting, when we are down, when we're in the deepest distress, when those times come, when the pain is so intense, when we don't know where to turn, that we not have this partner, this God who's a God of righteousness and who is just and who is holy, but we have our Heavenly Father who's able to take us in our every predicament and lift us up and give us strength beyond ourselves and enable us to be all that we can be because He brings us into His presence. Jesus said in essence to the disciples, listen, disciples, what's going on in your life?

Everything. Every pain, every hurt, every heartache, every struggle, every predicament known to man. Folks, when I look around our community, when I see what is happening to our people, when I think of the pain and the suffering of our people across the world in which we live, and Jesus Christ made an announcement concerning the daddiness of God the Father, this One who is so intimate and so personal, He picks us up when we cannot pick ourselves up and He does for us what we cannot do for ourselves, our Father, which art in heaven. So what about our Father? Who is our Father? There are several things that I think we need to note about this One who is our Father. Number one, He's the Father of all creation.

That's who our Father is in heaven. He's the Father of all creation. He exists eternally.

That verse from Psalm 90 verse 1 and 2, you are the everlasting God from everlasting to everlasting. He exists purposefully. He wants us to know Him and He exists.

He exists intentionally in that He demands of us a blind faith. You'll remember in Romans chapter 4 and verse 20, Paul reminds us of Abraham. Abraham was an old man.

His wife was way beyond childbearing age. And yet the Bible tells us that Abraham did not waver in unbelief regarding the promise of God because he is the Father of all creation. Now just think about that.

Just think about talking to Him. Folks, so many people in the United States of America today see God as the untouchable, unattainable illusion. But because of Jesus Christ, He has become our Abba. Because He is the Father of all creation. Number two, He's the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who is God? He's the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He reveals Himself through the Son and He redeems us through the Son. The revelation of God concerning Himself is only done through Jesus Christ.

And redemption, salvation for us only comes through Jesus Christ. Who is God? He's the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He exists. He's the Father of all creation. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Father of our abundant life. He's the Father of our abundant life. Jesus put it this way, He said, I've come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly.

I love that. He's the Father of our abundant life. He loves us despite ourselves. Anybody here willing to stand up and say that you deserve to be loved by God?

Not I. He listens to our every need. Paul said you can tell Him everything in everything with prayer and supplication.

Tell God about everything. He leads our every direction. In Proverbs we read that if you acknowledge God and you give it all to God that He will direct your paths.

Have you got a decision that needs to be made? You see, He's the Father of our abundant life. But not only is the Father of our abundant life, but He is the Father of our eternal security. He has us in the palm of His hand, folks. I want you to listen to this very carefully. He allows us.

And just think about that. He gives us permission to come into His presence. You see, before Jesus Christ came, you couldn't come into the presence of God. But God allows us to come into His presence. He gives us permission to approach Him. This is God that we're talking about. You mean to tell me I can come into His presence?

Absolutely. He allows me to do so. But He not only allows me to do so, He accepts us. He accepts us.

He's the Father of my eternal security. It's one thing to be allowed to do something. It's another thing to be accepted when you do it.

You see, folks, it's one thing to be allowed to come into His presence, but it's another thing to be accepted when you are. Have you ever seen someone famous and you want to get somebody's autograph or maybe some famous singer that you know or musician or whatever, and you do everything to try and get that autograph. And finally, someone makes it possible and says, OK, come on, you can get this famous person's autograph. And so you finally get up to them and you've got your pen and you've got your cap or whatever it is you want them to sign or a piece of paper and they sign it. But they make you feel like dirt when they do it. It's like, they gave you permission to come and get an autograph, but they didn't accept you when you did.

Now, watch this, folks. The Bible says that Jesus Christ made an announcement when He said, when you pray, you are praying to the one who is intimate and personal. He said, this is the one who is the father of your eternal security. He not only has given you permission, He allows you and accepts you, but He adopts you. He literally adopts you as one of His sons.

Bible says, despite where we've grown up and despite what's happened and despite our sinfulness at birth, when we give our hearts to Jesus Christ, we are being adopted by this one who is Abba, Father, the Father of our eternal security. You're listening to Dr. Don Wilton, our teacher here on The Encouraging Word. We'll be back with the rest of today's message on our Father in Matthew chapter 6 in just a moment. But as we take this breather, we want to remind you that not only is this 30-minute broadcast an important part of growing in your faith, but perhaps you could use a two or three-minute jumpstart to your day every day in God's encouraging word. Dr. Don has prepared a wonderful email that goes out every morning about 6 a.m. that gives you an opportunity to apply God's word the way you're going to walk through the entire day.

Now, I know some are using it late in the afternoon. My bride actually likes the physical copy, puts it over her visor, and will do that in carpool line or wherever she gets a chance. You need to know that we believe so strongly in the power of God's word on a daily basis. The booklet, it's absolutely free. You can call for your copy right now at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. Just say you'd like a copy of The Daily Encouraging Word Bible Guide, or if you'd rather, you can sign up online as well at tewonline.org. Just sign up for The Daily Encouraging Word email.

That's online at tewonline.org. Now back to today's message with Dr. Don Wilton. He adopts us and then He holds us. I love this in John 10, 28, I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of my Father's hand, out of Pater's hand.

P-A-T-E-R. Out of the righteous one's hand. Because He is Pater. He is righteous. He is God.

But because of Jesus Christ, He is my Abba. My Heavenly Father. And He loves me.

And I can be intimate with Him and I can share everything with Him. And then He welcomes us. He welcomes us. Well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of the Lord.

Amazing thing when Jesus gathered the disciples. He wasn't just trying to be kind. He wasn't trying to smooth over the cracks. Jesus never gathered the disciples around and said, listen, what we're going to do is we're going to pretend together that your predicaments have never happened. We're going to just pretend together that because you have a relationship with God, that you're never going to suffer physically. You're never going to suffer emotionally. That you're not going to go through the challenges of life.

But I'm going to tell you what to do. Pray like this. Our Father, Abba. Now watch this, folks. This is the best part of it all. What does this teach us about our Father?

What's in it for me? I want you to listen to this carefully. It teaches us, first of all, that we have nothing to fear. Our Abba and our access to our Abba teaches us that we have nothing to fear. Folks, do you know how many people have a spirit of fear in them? Do you know that there are many Christian people who are bound by a spirit of fear? You may be one of them. You say fear of what?

Name it. Some people are afraid of small spaces. Some people are afraid of nature, lightning and thunder. Some people are afraid of tomorrow.

Some people are afraid of facing up to their circumstances. Some people are afraid of death. Bible says death has lost its sting.

The Bible says, folks, that because Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to come into the presence of our Father, that intimacy means that we have nothing more to fear. He takes it away. I've told people many times, yesterday's dead and gone. I've got no control over yesterday. Tomorrow, as that old song said, is out of sight. Anybody know what's going to happen tomorrow?

I don't. Now I've got plans, but I don't know about tomorrow. But I do know that this moment is the moment God's given to me. I've got nothing to fear. Number two, what this teaches us about our Father is that we have ultimate protection. Not only do we have nothing to fear, but we have ultimate protection. You know, it's what I love about marriage. Did you know that the Bible says this, folks?

Listen to this. The Bible says, therefore, a man will leave his father and mother and will cleave to his wife and the two will become one flesh. Now, when Jesus was speaking here about this prayer, he was talking about the fact that our Father means we have not only nothing to fear, but we have ultimate protection. But also, number three, that we have permanent companionship.

Here's what Jesus was saying. He said, this is not just about saying a prayer. It's about permanent companionship.

It'll never leave. But number four, it means that we have continual provision. When we pray our Father, our Father, which art in heaven, we are invoking the continual provision of God.

Why? Because my God shall supply all your need, all of it, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. You see, it was the by Christ Jesus that constituted the abba-hood of the partering of God.

It was because Jesus came that the channel was open, that the provision of God was made available. But it also means, number five, that we have complete forgiveness. We have complete forgiveness. That's what Jesus was talking about when he said, pray our Father, we have complete forgiveness. Love the story of the prodigal son.

I think it should be called the story of the loving Father. By the way, is there anybody here who has displeased God at any time? I'll guarantee you, I have. Anybody here who's ever messed up? I have. Anybody here who's hurting? Anybody who's hurt the heart of God?

I have. I'm going to tell you this incredible thing called the complete forgiveness of God is continual. It's a permanent, continual, complete forgiveness. When I come to him, into his presence, I'm coming into the presence of a holy and a righteous and an intimate God. I'm coming into his presence and he's saying to me, I completely forgive you.

I completely forgive you. What an incredible message of the Gospel. What an unbelievable statement. You mean to tell me that that's available to me and to you?

And then one final one. What does this teach us about our Father? That we have guaranteed access. We have guaranteed access to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. You see, friends, this is not a momentary thing.

This doesn't take place one minute and not the next. Jesus said, our Father, which art in heaven. He was talking about guaranteed access into the heart of a God who loves us despite ourselves. Guaranteed access into his presence now and for all time and for all eternity. Do you know the one thing that I know to be so true?

So shall we ever be with the Lord. What a comfort. What a joy.

What an access. What a saviour. Folks, listen to me. When Jesus spoke to his disciples, he was giving to them the crown of all jewels. He was telling them, you can come into the presence of the Lord.

Abba Father, Holy God. Thank you for listening to me. Thank you for accepting me. Thank you for allowing me to come into your presence through your son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is indeed the way.

It's the way we're allowed to come into the presence of an almighty God through his son, Jesus. It starts with a commitment of being open and honest with God, of turning our back on where we have been, the sinful life we have lived, and starting afresh with Jesus. I pray that you've been blessed as I have and challenged by the study of God's Word today. But applying the Word of God to our lives starts with a relationship. Before we get away, would you take a minute and listen to perhaps the most important 60 seconds of our pastor today.

This is Don Wilton. God has spoken to you, hasn't he? And you ready to give your heart to Jesus?

I'd love to help you right now. Would you pray this prayer with me and accept Jesus into your heart and life? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner.

I know that Jesus loves me and died for me on the cross. Right now, I repent of my sin and I confess my sin to the Lord Jesus Christ. Come into my heart and save me today and forgive me for my sin. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. If you've prayed that prayer, we'd love to get alongside of you and celebrate with you and send you some literature and help you as you begin to grow. And I want you to know that I love you very, very much.

Welcome. I know that some of you have given your life to Christ today. Some of you have prayed to rededicate your life. And you know that today is a day that we move forward from.

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That's 866-899-9673. Give us a call and let us know how God's stirring in your life. And let us put resources in your hands that will help you grow. As you connect with us, The Encouraging Word, T-E-W online dot O-R-G is also the source for a lot of information, not only about the resources that might bless you, but also information about who we are and how we are seeing God change lives every single day. Somebody gives their life to Jesus Christ through the ministry of The Encouraging Word. And if you'd be interested in partnering with us prayerfully and financially, what we call that is an encourager. We need your support.

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