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The Messiah’s Secret – The Lord’s Prayer

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The  Messiah’s Secret – The Lord’s  Prayer
   Our Father in heaven , hallowed be your name
Your kingdom come your will be done on earth
as in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. 
Lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil. 
For the kingdom the power and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
 
During this time we had ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ as a meditation in two ways: pictures and words on the screen and the prayer sung from a CD. Prepared by our Worship Leader.
 
A frame of another cube.
With each of these boards there was a verse from the Lord’s Prayer and one or two pictures that related to the readings: Hebrews 12: 18-29.   Luke 13: 10-17
The children came to the front of church and described the pictures that they had stuck on the board and the adult with them related to us all, the pictures with the Lord’s Prayer and readings.  Matthew 6: 9-13 
When you look at the contents of the Lord’s Prayer it embraces our Christian way of life, in our humanity.
In the prayer we are touched by the nearness of God, we give thanks as he upholds the structures that provide the practical requirements for daily living. The importance of forgiveness. The awareness of our faith being tested and as children of the kingdom of God applying Jesus’ victory over the devil and his activities.
1/   Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven. 
The pictures on the board: Moses and the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai. A family representing the church. Pictures of people. Universe. Light. Tell the World about Jesus. 
 
God is our Father; he loves us and cares for us. We are allowed to call God, Father or daddy, a very personal term. 
The Chorus ‘Abba Father’ beautifully describes our relationship with God our Father.
“Abba Father, let me be Yours and Yours alone, May my will for ever be ever more your own. Never let my heart grow cold, never let me go. Abba Father let me be Yours and Yours alone.” Mission Praise No 3 Dave Bilbrough, Thankyou Music,

 

*The Israelites could see the smoke and fire surrounding the upper reaches of Mount Sinai. God was almighty and awesome and even Moses trembled with fear. Israel’s relationship with God was reverential.
2/ Give us this day our daily bread.
                                           

The pictures on the board: Loaf of bread (2). Moses in conversation with God. Grapes and figs. Jesus feeding the 5,000 people. Evangelism –sowing the seeds of the kingdom. A wheat field. Hope reaching out in mission. A bird.

On the Israelites wilderness journey God provided manna (bread) daily from heaven. God feeds daily the birds and all living creatures. Jesus in his prayer asks God to give us this day our daily bread.
Jesus is the bread of life; Jesus said that his words were spirit and life
3/ Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

 

The pictures put on the board: God would provide a lamb, Jesus on the cross. The prodigal son embracing his father. The empty tomb.

God our Father knows that we will fall into sin, the pictures express the forgiveness we received when we first turned to Jesus and the ongoing forgiveness that is ours in Jesus.
We ask Jesus to forgive us, when by our words and actions we fail to walk in his love. We revere God by keeping his word. Jesus said that if we love him we should keep his words to us, by loving one another.
*In the true story of the Israelites Exodus from Egypt they held God in high esteem and tried to be obedient to his commands. Moses interceded on behalf of the people and God forgave those who rebelled against him. Exodus 14: 10-16.  17:3-7
 In our reading the Israelites before they approached the mountain had to consecrate (set apart) themselves by washing their clothes. Even then they were held back from going closer to the presence of God.
*Debt to God
The first-born redeemed for 5 shekels.
“Every first-born man among your sons you shall redeem.” Exodus 13: 1,13.
“Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast . . . . nevertheless the first-born of man you shall redeem, . . . .And their redemption price (at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.” Numbers 18: 15, 16.
“And the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him (Jesus) up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons.” Luke 2: 22-24.
*Our Redemption through Jesus’ Passover
The Hebrew people at the start of their wilderness journey were instructed by God that only the people who were circumcised could eat the Passover Meal, they were a sanctified people, set apart by God’s covenant with Abraham, and the many Gentiles who accompanied them out of Egypt could not participate in the meal. These were the people who had connections with the descendants of Jacob but were not circumcised.
This gives insight into Jesus’ words concerning sanctification.”I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not pray that thou should take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth, as thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth.” John 17: 14 – 19.
The words of Jesus in his prayer spoke of his disciples being in the world but not part of it.
Jesus – The Passover the Lamb of God laid down his life for us for the forgiveness of sins. In repentance and faith Jesus releases us from the bondage of sin and the devil.  The blood of Jesus written on the door posts and lintels of our hearts sets us free from all that stands against us.
The Holy Spirit the sanctifier acting on the word, Jesus. –  We are sanctified, set apart for the righteousness of God dwells in our being; we are in the world but not a part of it.
“You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you.” John 15: 3, 4.
 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6: 20.
“But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6: 11
*In the second part of this verse “as we forgive those who sin against us.” 
Jesus asks us to forgive those things were other people have offended or hurt us. Jesus does not want his church to condemn people and bring them under judgement and punishment.
*Moses was a judge among the people of Israel. The people brought their disputes to him for his judgement believing that God would speak through him.
The Jews expected Jesus to be like Moses, but he did not judge people: when the two brothers came to Jesus to settle their dispute over their inheritance. Jesus responded by saying, “Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?” Luke 12:13, 14.
The woman caught in adultery was not condemned by Jesus. He asked those who brought her before him asking him to make a judgment over her under the Law of Moses. Jesus’ response “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” John 8: 3-11.
4/ Lead us not into temptation.

 

The pictures on the board: The cockerel. The hen. The barren landscape. The open door.
 
The writer of Hebrews tells us that God will discipline us by gently showing and convicting us when we are not listening to his words.
God will test our faith as a result we strengthened and our faith increases.
 
*The temptation must have been very great to disobey Moses and God. The people of Israel were not to set foot beyond the designated area on the Mount Sinai.
5 Deliver us from evil.
On this board: The tank relating to war. The boat rescuing merchant seaman taken hostage at sea. Jesus praying for the lady bound for 18 years with the spirit of infirmity. The life changing experience of the cross and that’s expressed with the caterpillar being changed into a butterfly.

 

In our gospel reading the lady had been bound by Satan for 18 years and Jesus healed her releasing her from the spirit of infirmity.
The number 18 is mentioned twice in these verses 10 – 17.
The significance of the number 18
18 made up of 3 sixes 666.
666 are associated with Satan’s activities in the Bible.(see blog God the Mathematician) 

At the beginning of Chapter 13: 4 Jesus said, “Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worst offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” 18 people of Jerusalem who were killed when the tower fell on them, unless they repented 
The 18 who were killed when the tower fell on them, came under judgement because of Israel’s sin. The fig tree that bore no fruit, again symbolized Israel’s sin. The tree was given a reprieve for a year hoping that the gardener’s tender loving care would help it to produce fruit  
In Jesus’ compassion he gave them the sign of Israel’s reprieve when he released the woman from Satan’s bondage with the spirit of infirmity. It also is prophetic of the restoration of Israel in the last days when Jesus returns. 
Applying Jesus’ victory over the devil and his activities.
The Lord’s Prayer has been used as a sword in releasing a person from Satan’s afflictions and bondage.
The power of forgiveness in bringing healing to soul and body, the prayer of deliverance from the spiritual activities in peoples’ lives and homes. Truly an amazing prayer.
6/ For the kingdom the power, and the glory are yours now and forever. Amen.

 

This last sentence was added between 1st and 2nd Century. The church calls it the ‘Doxology’ a sentence of praise. The King James Bible includes this last sentence in Matthew 6: 13.
The pictures express worship and mission. People singing and praising God. A passport. A disciple in conversation with a man pointing the way to find Jesus.
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Everything on the board includes what the Church is about: worship, praise, healing and communicating the gospel so that people come to know Jesus by having faith in him.
 The churches praise in this Doxology re-enforces that the kingdom message, that there is great celebration in heaven over each person who accepts Jesus as their Saviour.
Good news
On Wednesday I heard from my sister who worships at a Pentecostal Church in Manchester that a revival has begun in South Wales. The outpouring began in April of this year in the  Victory Church, Cwmbran, Wales. 
healing, Moses, paralytic, Tad Lincoln

The Messiah’s Secret – Jesus is the Lord our God

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The Messiah’s Secret – Jesus is the Lord our God.  

 President Abraham Lincoln’s son Tad Lincoln used his accessibility to his father to help those people in greatest need who came to the White House to see his dad. When the person wanting to see the president entered the White House they gave their calling card to the valet. The valet would take the cards in order and then put them in a stack on a desktop. This desk was located in a hallway at the top of the stairs. As each person finished their business with the president, the valet would then go to the stack of cards and call the persons’ name that was on top of the stack. Many a time, however, Tad felt that this presented a problem: If others before them took too long and the hour approached 2, any remaining persons waiting would have to come back the next day and start the process over again, as that day’s cards were thrown out. However not to worry! Tad was on the lookout. He made a regular habit of chatting with those waiting. If the person had a particularly “sob” story — grieving widow, an unemployed family man and so forth — then Tad would help matters along. He would quietly go up the stairs and move that person’s card to near the top of the pile, making sure that they were seen by his father, President Lincoln.
Tad had access to his father, the President because of his relationship with him. Other people had to go through protocol and wait their turn.
Access to God.  Exodus 24.
Moses had access to God, he met with God on more than one occasion on Mount Sinai. There God gave him his laws and commandments to administer over the Hebrew people.
In our reading Moses wrote down the laws that he received from God approx 600. The Israelites having accepted these laws Moses ratified them with blood, the blood from the sacrificed oxen. Half of the blood was sprinkled on the book containing the laws and the other half on the people.
The significance of the blood; everything under law was purified by blood; the blood atoned for sin against God. Leviticus 17: 11. Hebrews 9: 22.                                                                                            
The people committed their lives to this agreement.
Moses went up the mountain again, with Aaron and his two sons Nadab and Abihu and the seventy elders, where on this occasion they all saw God, under his feet a sapphire pavement. It is interesting to note that the Israelites then and now have no statues or images of God in their places of worship. (The third commandment).
 Moses went up on the mountain again to receive from God the commandments written on tablets of stone and the laws regarding the sanctuary spending 40 days and nights on the mountain. Joshua accompanied him to a certain point. On this occasion Moses was given the plans to make a sanctuary, a dwelling place for God to be amongst his people. God travelled with them as they journeyed through the wilderness towards the Promised Land.                                                                                                                                                              

In the Gospels we read that everybody had access to Jesus the  Lord our God.
On Jesus’ arrival at Capernaum in Galilee a paralysed man was brought by his friends on a stretcher to be healed by Jesus. A number of scribes were present watching and listening, they overheard Jesus say to the man, “Take heart my son; your sins are forgiven.” Jesus knowing the scribes thoughts, “This man is blaspheming.” Jesus said to them, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’?
 The Jews believed that sickness was as a result of sin.                        
The book ‘Beyond Belief’  Y Course. Peter Medows & Joseph Steinberg with Donna Vann.
“Jewish people believed physical suffering was caused by the person’s sin. For a person to be healed meant their sin had been dealt with, and only God could do that.”
God could forgive sin through an offering being made at the temple. Sin and the causes of sin came into the world through the fall of Adam and Eve.                                                                                        
 For Jesus to forgive and heal this man meant that Jesus proved he was God.
“But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He then said to the paralytic – ‘Rise, take up your bed and go home.” Matthew 9: 1-8.
The Messiah’s Secret page 57
Jesus referred to himself as the Son of man, a title belonging to the Messiah, the anointed one. Jesus was making the point that he had the authority from God his Father, as he and his Father are one, to forgive this man’s sin and through healing the paralysed man he proved that he was God made visible in the flesh. John 5: 17, 18.
Not all sickness is caused by a person’s sin. The man who was born blind, Jesus said that it was so that the work of God could be revealed in him. John 9
Jesus has made God accessible to us today through his cross.
The Communion commemorates and invites every believer to partake of the blessings of the New Covenant that has been ratified (legally binding) by the blood of Jesus. “This is my blood of the New Covenant.” Mark 14:24 The Covenant is based on love and forgiveness of sin and keeping faith in Jesus, in his words.
“Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my word, and my Father will love you, and we will come and make our home within you.” John 14: 23.
This becomes a reality when in faith we turn to Jesus in repentance saying sorry for our sins against God. Jesus has bore our sin upon the cross, so releasing us into the freedom of God’s forgiveness through his resurrection. As a result the Lord comes into our whole being and dwells within us.
 As a result we take hold of our position in our relationship with God our Father and Jesus Christ, and just like Tad Lincoln used his position to access his father, we have access to God’s throne of grace where we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Whatever our needs are we can expect the Lord our God to intercede on our behalf. Like Tad the Lord uses us to intercede for others. We are seated with God in heavenly places far above all principalities and powers; Satan has no dominion over us. When we pray to Jesus our Lord and God, we address or end our prayer in his name.

Lord Jesus, we pray for those who are struggling with doubts about Jesus of who he is in relation to God, may they take hold of the words recorded by the Apostles, proving that Jesus is the Lord our God and may these words become real to them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.