THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. Matt. 5, 6, 7 (29)

January 5, 2019

24-7-18

Key: SCHAFF: “When the Lord open his mouth, we should open our ears and hearts” 

GOOD WORKS WITHOUT OSTENTATION. Matt. 6:5-15 … Prayers …6

Matt. 6:9-13, “The Lord’s Prayer” as it is commonly called is so rich and sweet, and because the Saviour expressly gave it, on two occasions, Matt. 6:9-13 and Lk. 11:2-4 as a model of praying. “It cannot be maintained that he made it our duty to repeat this prayer whenever we pray, or to use these precise words from beginning to the end whenever we feel moved to adopt the prayer… The prayer contains no allusion to the meditation of Christ, says nothing about asking in His name, for which the disciples were not yet prepared Jn. 16:23, like many other portions of scriptures, it was especially adopted to the precise times in which it was spoken, and the interpretation and applications of it must be made accordingly”- Broadus, John A.

  1. Matt. 6:11 “Give us this day our daily bread” or “Give us day by day our daily bread” Lk. 11:3.
    1. The divine doorway through which you past into daily walk with the Lord is to commit your ways unto the Lord. Ps. 37:5-7. We are to commit the things which we are powerless to change into the hand of God. We are to describe our day to Him point by point-food or the days needs, people in our life, places, events, and decisions. Jas. 4:1-2.
      1. Our daily needs. 1Tim. 6:7-8, Pro. 30:8, 2Thess. 3:12, 1Tim. 5:8. We need to depend on God for a job to survive- ‘For the man who is not, day by day, doing work which will earn his dinner, must be stealing his dinner’ Ruskin. The petition here is primarily for daily physical needs and not spiritual nourishment. It should be noted that it is this day or daily need as we are warned “Be not anxious for the morrow” Matt. 6:34, Phil. 4:6, Jas. 2:15, Act. 6:1, 2Kg. 25:30. This day is simply ‘today’ and the fact that manna was given daily further confirms this. Ex. 16:4-5
      2. People in your life. Job. 1:1-5. Pray for your wife, and your children one by one. You also need the extended family. Eph. 3:14-15. The local Church, the widows and the single needs your prayer. Ps. 68:5-6
      3. Ask for guidance in taking major decisions in the day. Ps.25:4-5, 1Kg. 23:9-14, Act. 16:6-9, Ezr. 8:21-23, 31. The key to knowing God’s will is to ask for it, ask for it every day. That doesn’t mean He will reveal every details of your day before it happens, it means His purpose will be fulfilled by the time the day runs out. Rom. 8:28-29
      4. Commit the events of the day into the hand of the Lord. Neh. 1:11; 2:1-4, 2Sam. 15:31; 17:14. Take note that Ahithopel’s counsel was as an ‘oracle of God’in 2Sam. 16:23. “Order each day before Him. Joyfully ask God for the daily bread of His will for you- and be at peace” –Jack Hayford in ‘The Shepherd’s Staff.
      5. It continues