Hi, this is the Human Proclaim podcast, The Messages of John Fonville. You're listening to season four called Pray This Way: The Divine Pattern of Righteous Prayer. Here's John with message number seven called Petition for the Bread of Life. What I want you to see this morning is that because the Lord's Prayer and the words of institution, which is the Lord's Supper. Because the Lord's Prayer and the words of institution are Christ's very words that he spoke to us.
The church historically has sought to keep those words closely together. The Lord's Prayer, if you look, occurs in virtually every ancient liturgy of the church. And the two ingredients That comprise the heart of the church's liturgy, the form of worship, the two ingredients. that comprises the heart of the liturgy. or the Lord's Prayer and the words of institution.
And everything in worship revolves around these words. Because these are the only two formula that Jesus has specifically given his church and commanded the church to use in worship. His command to say the specific words of the Father of the Our Father is given to us in Matthew and in Luke. When you pray, say. In his command to repeat the words of institution.
What we'll do this morning is actually given in the words of institution themselves. This do.
So the Lord's Prayer is, we might say, a constant companion to the sacraments. If you look at Lutheran churches, Lutheran churches. Which follow the historic liturgy, they always place Christ's words in the Lord's Prayer before his words of institution in the Lord's Supper. And the reason Lutheran churches have done this is because this order, the reason for this order is because the Lord's Prayer, listen carefully.
So I want you to go. The Lord's Prayer asks. For that which the words of institution promises and gives. Each of the petitions of the Lord's Prayer. finds its answer in the Lord's Supper.
What we also have to understand is that at the heart of the church's corporate worship, that's here today, at the heart of what we are doing today, listen. At the heart of our prayer life. At the heart of preaching. At the heart of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and baptism. Do you know what at the heart of that is?
Gift. All this is the same. is a divine gift. From our triune God to us.
So the Lord's Prayer and the words of institution and the Lord's Supper go hand in hand together. They cannot be separated. And so, I'm going to take you through the whole Lord's Prayer and show you how that happens this morning before we come to his table. Jesus teaches us that righteous prayer begins with the address, Our Father.
So, the opening words in prayer remind us that prayer begins as a gift. Prayer is a gift. Jesus teaches us that prayer begins by addressing God the Father, listen, who the Bible says is the fountain or source, the author and giver of every good and perfect gift. Isn't that great? Second, this address, Our Father, teaches us that righteous prayer begins with the recognition that our Father has given us the highest of all good gifts, namely Jesus.
And the highest privilege of the gospel, which is adoption. And then third, the address, our Father is a gift because this address is a gift because only Jesus, the eternal Son, has the inherent right to call God his Father. You don't have that right. You don't have that privilege. It's a gift.
The fact that only Jesus has this right to call God his Father is a critical ingredient in a right perception of the meaning of the entire prayer of the Lord's Prayer. The words, our Father, listen, imply the reality of the incarnation. That the eternal, unique Son of God has become our flesh. And as such, becoming our flesh, he now enables us by the Holy Spirit to call his Father our own Father. Jesus teaches this to Mary Magdalene.
He says to her, he says, after his resurrection, his resurrection appearance to Mary Magdalene, listen to what he says to her. I am ascending to my Father and your Father. I am ascending to my God and your God. God is our Father in and through Jesus Christ alone, and that's pure gift. At the very beginning, Jesus' words remind us that genuine righteous prayer is only something we can do because we are in Christ.
Which is a gift. It is only in Christ, union with Christ, that we can come to the Father in prayer. In addition, his instruction, Our Father. Is given to those who have been baptized into the Father's name.
So, the Sermon on the Mount is already anticipating the Great Commission. Matthew 28:19. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. How do we make disciples? Baptizing.
Baptizing them in the name of the Father. And of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And this opening address, our Father reminds us of the gift of baptism. Which signifies and seals to us the blessings of the gospel. Listen to question 69 in the Heidelberg Catechism.
What benefits do we receive from this baptism, this sacrament of baptism, that as surely as I am washed outwardly with water? whereby commonly the filthiness of the body is taken away.
So certainly I am washed with his blood and spirit from the pollution of my soul, that is, from all my sins, and that is pure gift. And so the words, Our Father, remind us at the opening of this prayer that we have been gifted the right to address God as our Father. And that provides boldness and access to Him as we call upon Him in prayer, our Father. It's all gift, the highest of all gifts, Jesus. The highest privilege of the gospel of gift adoption rests at the heart of Christian prayer, at the heart of the Christian's worship in church.
And then Jesus teaches us to pray the first petition. Hallowed be your name. And when we pray, hallowed be your name, we are asking the Father, make yourself holy among us, magnified, glorified among us, and throughout the whole world, glorify yourself. And the Father answers this petition chiefly, listen, chiefly by the gift. of his son.
Who perfectly fulfills this petition in his incarnation when he prayed in John 17, I glorified you on earth. And so the answer to the second petition. Is held out to us in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which is a gift in and of itself, because in this sacrament, Jesus' words of institution. Are the answer to hallowed be your name petitioned on our behalf through the Son, whose body and blood are given to us for the forgiveness of our sins, so that we can be the Father's adopted sons? And every time we observe the Lord's Supper.
We receive anew the promise and gift of the Father. What is that? That our sins are wholly forgiven for Christ's sake alone, and that we are his beloved adopted sons, whom the Father loves and delights in. That's a gift at this table. And this gospel, which honors and magnifies the Father in Christ, who was sent by the Father to redeem us, who were under the law, why?
So that we might receive adoption as sons, Galatians 4, 5. Martin Luther says this. He says, for Christ came into the world by the Father's will and took our nature upon him. That he might be made a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and so to reconcile the Father to us. And that we, by fastening our eyes on Christ, might be drawn and carried straight to the Father.
Hallowed be your name. And so it is this divine doctrine, it is the gospel which takes away all glory from men, all wisdom from men, all righteousness from men, takes it all away and gives all glory, wisdom, and righteousness to God alone. It sets forth the grace and glory of the Father and of the Son because it attributes all glory to God and nothing to man in the matter of salvation. The gospel attributes all glory to God in the matter of justification, of sanctification, of glorification. Beginning, middle, and end, your whole life is a gift.
Entrance into the kingdom of the Father. It's a gift. Which leads us to the second petition, your kingdom come. We saw last week that this petition recognizes that the Father's kingdom is a gift. Entrance into the Father's kingdom must be pure gift.
Why? Because it is the Lord God Himself, Genesis 3:24. who drove men out of his kingdom. and placed at the east of the Garden of Eden the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned in every way. to guard the way to the tree of life.
And since it was God Himself who drove man out of his kingdom. and prevents him upon threat of death To come back into his kingdom by man's own obedience and effort. It must be God who then brings men back into his kingdom. And he brings man back into his kingdom by pure gift. How different is this petition?
Your kingdom come, praying and asking the Father, Father, do the impossible as we saw Jesus' encounter with rich young men. Do the impossible. Bring fallen, dead sinners into your kingdom. That's the petition. How different is that petition from the majority of evangelical Protestants?
Sixty. Eight percent. Who in a recent survey conducted by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research? Agreed that a person obtains peace with God, that is justification. That is entrance into the kingdom of God.
68% agreeing that you get peace with God by you first taking the initiative to seek God. And if you take the initiative, God will respond and give you grace. Sixty-eight per cent. Agreed with that. Fifty-four percent of evangelical Protestants agreed.
That an individual must contribute his or her own effort. for personal salvation. Fifty-four percent. Said, salvation is not a gift, and it is not by grace alone. The findings of this survey, those two alone, there's a lot of them, but those two alone represent what many in the medieval church believed prior to the Reformation.
Prior to the Reformation, medieval believers believed that God saved by grace. But An individual also had to believe that their own free will and cooperation with grace was their contribution to that grace of salvation. It was Jesus. Plus, not Jesus. Period.
So the popular medieval phrase that was spread throughout the church was this, quote, God will not deny his grace to those who do what they can. The popular version today, which the overwhelming majority of evangelicals surveyed believed is a scripture verse. is God helps those who helps themselves. Or, as the survey states, a person obtains peace with God by taking the initiative to see God, and then God responds with grace. 68% evangelicals believe that.
The results just mentioned in the survey, you know what that is known as theologically in the church? It's called semi-Poagianism. Let me just tell you what that is. Semi-Pelagianism just simply says that grace is necessary for salvation, but that your will is totally free by nature to choose to cooperate with that grace. And so, according to the result of the survey, the majority of evangelical Protestants, 68%, think that salvation is synergistic.
Do you know what that means? It just simply means this: God and the believer cooperate together to be saved. You do your part. And God will respond with his part. But if you don't do your part, God's not going to give you grace.
Pelagianism. It's where semi-Pelagianism comes from. Pelagianism just simply says salvation doesn't even come by grace. It just simply comes by following the example of Christ. Do this and live.
You don't even need grace. And I want you to understand that Pelagianism has been condemned by more church councils than any other heresy in the history of the church. In addition, the Council of Orange, I'm sure most of you know all about the Council of Orange, right? You just read about it all week this week. The Council of Orange, 529 AD.
That's a long time ago. 529 AD at the Council of Orange. The Council of Orange condemned semi-Pelagianism. The council listened, condemned those who thought that salvation was conferred by the saying of a prayer. That is, you take the initiative and God will respond.
It condemned that. And instead, in 529 AD, this council affirmed that God must first awaken the center and grant the gift of faith before a person can even see God and be saved. Thank goodness for the Council of Orange. And so, in contrast to this recent survey that just came out last week, the second petition of the Lord's Prayer teaches us that all that comes from the Father in the Son by the Holy Spirit to us is all gift. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, asks them in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7, what do you have that you did not receive?
The answer is nothing. William Whedon. He serves as a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod's Director of Worship and the International Center Chaplain. Listen to what he says about the Christian life and faith. He, Jesus, came forth from the Father, one free Son.
But he goes back to the Father, bringing with him the fruits of his labor. Three children.
So completely free that all of the faith has come to them as a gift. They see it all as gift. Nothing about what we earn or deserve, only gifts given lavishly and freely. The Father gives the Son. The Son gives the Spirit and the Father.
The Spirit gives you faith that binds you to the Son, and the Son rejoices to present you to the Father as all gift.
So when we pray, your kingdom come. We are asking the Father. Bring the blessings of your future kingdom into the present through means of word and sacrament. By the means of word and sacrament, God's rule and blessing invades this present age. The Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the gospel and through the administration of the sacraments, he descends in complete resurrection power and raises dead hearts to life.
That's what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2. The Holy Spirit, working through the gospel, awakens sinners. He conquers their hearts. He resurrects them from the dead. And He grants them the gift of faith.
And the whole saving act is all of grace. It is all gift. It's not of works lest any man should boast. And so the Holy Spirit Through the gospel, he is ruling and conquering the rebellious hearts of men, uniting them to Christ, bringing people, Revelation 5 says, from every people, tribe, nation, and tongue, the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant, and he is bringing all of those people under his rule and blessing of his Father's kingdom. That's an all gift.
And that's what this sacrament reminds us of. And then we come to the third petition: Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This third petition flows from the prior two. Those who have approached God the Father in the name and the place of Christ. God the Father gives entry into his kingdom.
And that it is his good and gracious will to do so. What is the will of the Father? The Father's will is that you have eternal life, entrance into his kingdom, that you have eternal life in his Son. How do I know that? Because Jesus told me.
John 6:40. This is the will of my Father. You don't have to guess. Here it is. What is it?
This is the will of my Father that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. What is the will of the Father? That you look on the Son, that you believe in Him, and by believing in Him, have eternal life and give the gift of resurrection. That's pretty good, isn't it? I like that, Will.
Listen to Galatians chapter 1, verse 4. Paul says the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age. Why? according to the will of our God and Father. Why did Jesus deliver us from our sins in this evil present age?
Because it was the will. of God our Father. That's why Martin Luther comments on these words. He says, When you acknowledge this to be the will of God the Father, Through Christ. Then wrath ceases.
Fear vanishes. Neither does God the Father appear to be anything other than merciful, who by his determinate counsel willed that his Son should die for us, that we might live through him. Your will be done. That's what we're praying. The words of Jesus in the Lord's Supper are the words of, listen, the last.
Will and testament of the Son of God. In Luke 22, verse 15, Jesus says to his disciples, I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before our supper. The Lord's Supper that we're observing this morning had been on Jesus' heart for a long time. He says he had a fervent desire to share this covenantal meal with his disciples because in Luke 22, verse 14 and verse 53, later on in the chapter, he knew that his hour had come. What was that hour?
The hour was the hour that the Father, by his will, had determined for him to become the true Passover lamb. who would be sacrificed for the sins of his people. And Christ's fulfillment of Passover was at the culmination of what he had come to do for his people, namely to give or gift his body and blood for the forgiveness of his people's sins. And it is the sacrificed Christ. It is his body and blood that is offered to us in the Lord's Supper, and this is the will of the Father.
And so the gift prayed for, your will be done, Father, is answered in the Lord's Prayer by the Son. This is my body. This is my blood, which is given for you. The Father's will is done. Receive this gift.
And then following these first three petitions, which are addressed to God the Father, your name, your kingdom, your will, Jesus transitions in verses 11 through 13 to personal petitions. Give us, forgive us, lead us, deliver us.
So in the fourth petition, Jesus teaches us to pray, give us this day our daily bread.
Now, this personal petition includes prayer for God's blessing on our food. I pray when we eat, I pray, Father, take this food and do for it the purpose for what you've given. Give us health. But this petition means far more than this. Doesn't mean less, but far more, which is good.
Some see this petition as directing believers to the Lord's Supper, and I think it does. Give us this day our daily bread and means, namely, give me Jesus, who is the bread of life. Like the manna that came from heaven to sustain the children of Israel as they traveled through the wilderness.
So the Lord gives us the Lord's Supper to sustain us in our pilgrim journey through the wilderness of this present evil age until we arrive in the fullness of the Father's kingdom in the future. And just like the Passover feast, The Lord's Supper is a sign and seal, that means guarantee, of covenant renewal for strengthening God's people. And it's not your renewal, it's his renewal of his promise to you. The Lord's Supper, listen, it is food for the journey. Which is grace.
Which culminates in the perfected kingdom. The church is by Christ's command in this prayer asking for daily bread for Christ, according to his specific word in the words of institution, he provides it. What we ask for in the Lord's Prayer, He provides it in this sacrament to strengthen us on our journey home. And then Many scholars, as pointed out, believe that the word translated daily doesn't mean today, but tomorrow.
Now we learned last week that the kingdom of God has come, but it's not yet consummated. And we have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age. Hebrews 6, verse 5. We've tasted. But we long for the fullness.
of the Father's consummated perfected kingdom. We long for the time when the Father will rule and bless not only our lives in perfection, but this whole world. And so when we pray, give us this day our daily bread, maybe perhaps what we're saying is, give us bread for tomorrow. Give us bread for tomorrow. In other words, we're not only praying in a material sense, but in a spiritual sense.
Father, Give us the blessings of the consummated kingdom today. When we come to the Lord's table, we not only remember, that is, cognizantly aware in the present moment, we not only are cognizantly aware of Jesus' past saving work, We're not only cognizantly remembering and aware of his present saving work with us now by the Holy Spirit. But we are cognizant of and anticipating the consummation of saving work in the future. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:26. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
And until he comes, those words of institution, until he comes, listen, that unmistakably points us to the Father's consummation of his kingdom. In every celebration of the Lord's Supper, there's a miniature anticipation. of the consummation of the Father's kingdom is called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Revelation. Listen to John in Revelation 19, verse 9. Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
The marriage supper of the lamb was anticipated in the predictions of the messianic banquet. Guess what? In Isaiah chapter 25. In Isaiah chapter 25, this messianic banquet is a consummation of the Father's kingdom. And listen to what the prophet Isaiah says.
He says, On this mountain, the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food. A feast of well-aged wine. Of rich food, full of marrow, of aged wine, well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples. That's the curse.
He will just swallow it up. And the veil that is spread over all nations, he will swallow up death forever. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. And it will be said on that day, behold, this is our God. We have waited for him.
Your will be done, your kingdom come. We have waited for him that he might save us. This is the Lord. We have waited for him. Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
That's an amazing passage. And so when we pray, give us bread for tomorrow, we're acknowledging there is one thing needful. Jesus. Who's going to bring me to this great banquet? Where the Father is going to spread this great feast.
Forever and ever, and we'll rejoice in his salvation.
So we pray, Father, give us Jesus, the bread of life. Bring into our lives now the blessings and powers of your coming kingdom. And sustain our weak faith as we journey through this present evil age. Through this wilderness, and bring us safely to the age to come. Give us bread for tomorrow, that's what that means.
And all of that. is gift. And then we come to the fourth petition: forgive us of our debts. It comes immediately after the fourth petition. Father, remove every sin in my life that would keep me from receiving your rule and blessing in my life.
Forgive me of all the incalculable debt that I owe to you for having broken your law. And this prayer Forgive us our debts. Is answered in Jesus' words of institution. Listen to Matthew 26:28. Father, forgive us our debts.
Jesus says, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Prayer answered. Prayer answered. The gift of forgiveness of sins is at the heart of the Lord's Supper. In prayer, we're asking the Father for forgiveness of our sins, and He graciously gives us the answer through Christ in this sacrament right here.
The Lord's Supper holds forth to us the guarantee of the Father's gracious provision of Christ's death, which has canceled all our debt. Listen to the Apostle Paul in Colossians chapter 2. You who are dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you're not in the kingdom, you're dead. God the Father Made alive together with Christ. He raised you from the dead.
How, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt. That stood against us with its legal demands. This Jesus set aside, nailing it to the cross. Forgive us of our debt. Jesus answered, I've canceled it on the cross, the debt that stood against you, and is given to you in this gift right here.
And then Jesus teaches us finally to ask our Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Father Protect me as I journey through this present evil age and bring me safely to yourself in the consummation of your kingdom. And the Lord's Supper is the sacrament, as I said, of covenant renewal. It is God the Father renewing his promise to us in his Son to seal us forever by his Spirit to bring us home safely. It is God the Father in this supper promising to preserve us for the sake of Christ alone.
And this is why Jesus instituted this supper for us on our behalf. to tell us that we are listened secure in him. Forever. And so as we see the Lord's Prayer, As we see that the Lord's Prayer is kept close with the words of institution. We see, listen, that these words of institution.
Powerfully give what we ask for. And the Lord's Prayer. Isn't that amazing? The Father, listen in the gift of prayer. We are led to the Father.
And then the Father, as we pray to him, directly leads us to the gift of his Son and the Lord's Supper. Not great. We're led to give thanks for the gifts we receive in the sacrament, namely Jesus and all of his saving benefits. What else is there left to say after all that other than just thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift? That's what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9, verse 15.
Thanks be to God the Father for His inexpressible gift. What is the Lord's Supper? It's just simply Thanksgiving. Thanks for listening to the Him We Proclaim podcast with John Fawnville. Him we proclaim as a ministry of John Fondill of Paramount Church in Jacksonville, Florida.
You can check out his church at paramountchurch.com. We look forward to next time.
