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The Lord's Prayer - Adult SS - Lesson 2: Hallowed Be Your Name

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  1. We're continuing looking at the Lord's Prayer this half term.

  2. ! And remember, you can think of the Lord's Prayer as Jesus teaching us the essentials of the Christian life.

  3. ! The things that are most important to the Christian life.

  4. Jesus is saying to us, just in this Lord's Prayer,

  5. that this is what you should prioritise and desire in the Christian life.

  6. So remember, we thought, what is prayer?

  7. Just think about what is prayer.

  8. It is us, his disciples, the children of God, coming to our Father, bringing our desires, our needs, our praise.

  9. And so prayer is bringing our desires to God, what we want, what is most important.

  10. And if you think about it, our desires can be all over the place, can't they?

  11. We can prioritise and we can want all sorts of things in the Christian life.

  12. But Jesus is teaching us here, this is what you should desire.

  13. This is what is essential.

  14. So he's not only teaching us how to actually pray, which he is.

  15. I hope by the end of this half term we will grow in our prayer life.

  16. We will know how to pray better because of this.

  17. But Jesus, he's also teaching us what matters most in the Christian life by teaching us how to pray.

  18. So the Lord's Prayer, do you remember what I said last week?

  19. It's kind of like a mini zoo.

  20. And you can walk around this mini zoo and you can see kind of all the important teachings of the Christian life.

  21. It's like a zoo of doctrines.

  22. And that's what we're looking at this term and next half term and after Christmas.

  23. We're going to be looking at the essentials of the Christian life.

  24. So next half term we'll look at the Apostles' Creed and then we're going to look at the Ten Commandments after Christmas.

  25. And all these things are the essentials of the Christian life.

  26. We're in the Lord's Prayer for this half term.

  27. And today we're looking at the next line and it's,

  28. Hallowed be your name.

  29. So last week we looked at our Father in Heaven.

  30. And today I want us to just to focus on this line,

  31. Hallowed be your name.

  32. But before we dive in, let's just pray this together.

  33. So Jesus said, pray then like this.

  34. Our Father in Heaven,

  35. Hallowed be your name.

  36. Your kingdom come.

  37. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

  38. Give us today our daily bread.

  39. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.

  40. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

  41. For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever.

  42. Amen.

  43. So just have a look at that second line.

  44. Hallowed be your name.

  45. This is the first petition of the Lord's Prayer.

  46. The first thing we ask for in the Lord's Prayer.

  47. So remember you can divide the Lord's Prayer into three parts.

  48. So last week we saw the first line, it's the address.

  49. It's who we pray to.

  50. We're not asking for anything there.

  51. We are kind of addressing God in that prayer.

  52. And then the next two lines, can you see, are petitions about God.

  53. We are asking things about God.

  54. And then after that, it's petitions for us.

  55. Asking things specifically about us.

  56. And today we begin the first of all the petitions.

  57. And this is asking God for something about God.

  58. We are asking that this is a request, asking him for something.

  59. We are asking, Lord, please, hallowed be your name.

  60. So again, we are in the God part of the zoo.

  61. And Jesus is teaching us something about God here.

  62. Two things in particular that I want to see today.

  63. Jesus is showing us God's big purpose in the world.

  64. And he's also showing God's desire for our lives.

  65. And this is what this petition shows us.

  66. So it's teaching us how to pray.

  67. But it's showing something, the essentials of the Christian life.

  68. And so the first thing I want us to see is this.

  69. God's big purpose for the world in this petition.

  70. So let's just understand what each of these words mean here.

  71. Because we often don't use words like these outside of the Lord's Prayer.

  72. So let's just have a think.

  73. What is God's name?

  74. God's name is who God is.

  75. God's name, you can think of, it's just the sum, the total,

  76. of all of God's character and all that he does in this world.

  77. So look at Psalm 111.

  78. He sent redemption to his people.

  79. He has commanded his covenant forever.

  80. Holy and awesome is his name.

  81. So God in himself, he is holy and awesome.

  82. And so his name is simply who he is.

  83. And look at Isaiah 50.

  84. Let him who walks in darkness and has no light,

  85. trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

  86. So to trust in the name of the Lord, do you see, is to rely on God.

  87. Because God's name is who God is.

  88. Okay.

  89. So it's not just the actual letters of his name we are talking about.

  90. We are talking about just God.

  91. When we speak God's name, we are speaking about God.

  92. But it also means a little bit more than that.

  93. God's name is also who God is known as.

  94. It's his reputation, his fame.

  95. That's one way you can remember it.

  96. God's name is God's fame.

  97. God's name is God's fame.

  98. So look at Ezekiel 20.

  99. But I acted for the sake of my name,

  100. that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations.

  101. So in Ezekiel, the nations thought that the Lord was a small God,

  102. that he wasn't very holy,

  103. that he's not very powerful,

  104. that he didn't really care about his people

  105. and couldn't really do much about them.

  106. That was the nation's view of God, his reputation.

  107. And so God says here he's going to act to change that view

  108. for the sake of his name,

  109. for the sake of his reputation, his fame.

  110. And that's why we even use that.

  111. So when someone's reputation has been smeared,

  112. we say their name has been dragged through the mud,

  113. don't we?

  114. Their reputation has been ruined.

  115. It's not right.

  116. So God's name is simply who he is

  117. and the reputation of who he is, his fame.

  118. Okay, so that's God's name.

  119. What does hallowed mean?

  120. Hallowed, it means to be recognized as holy or holified.

  121. I'll explain that in a second.

  122. So hallowed, we don't really use this word at all, do we?

  123. Hallowed, it comes from the word holy.

  124. You can even see, I broke down the Greek a little bit,

  125. if you're interested in the Greek.

  126. So it comes from, so the word hallowed is hagiastheto.

  127. And hagios in Greek just means holy, right?

  128. So you can even see hagias is a bit like hagios.

  129. It comes from the word holy.

  130. And so it kind of literally means holified,

  131. to treat something as holy.

  132. And what does holy mean?

  133. Holy means set apart.

  134. So the opposite of holy is,

  135. I asked the kids at Swansea this question,

  136. so don't answer this, kids,

  137. if you remember me asking this.

  138. Think in your heads, what is the opposite of holy?

  139. Think in your heads, what is the opposite of holy?

  140. I think our first instinct,

  141. so the opposite of holy is sinful.

  142. I think that's probably our first instinct, maybe not.

  143. Ah, see, Rory Shade, he's like, no, no, no, no.

  144. I was in Swansea.

  145. No, the opposite of holy is common.

  146. The opposite of holy is common.

  147. And so holy means set apart from the common.

  148. So think of the Sabbath day is made,

  149. it is, God considers it holy, right?

  150. So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, they are common days.

  151. But Sunday, the Sabbath, that is holy, right?

  152. Think of the tabernacle, right?

  153. Like other places in the world are common, right?

  154. You know, that field over there is common.

  155. But the tabernacle is considered holy.

  156. It's set apart.

  157. It is a place like no other, right?

  158. And so when we pray, hallowed be your name, we are saying, Lord, please, would who you are, your name, your fame,

  159. would it not be treated as common, but as holy, as different, as other?

  160. Lord, we ask, would the whole world see God as he really is?

  161. Which is the same as desiring to glorify God, for God to be glorified.

  162. So now just think about glorifying God, okay?

  163. So to hallow his name is to glorify God.

  164. So I just now want us to think about glorifying God.

  165. I think that's a helpful way to get into this.

  166. So when we glorify God, or God glorifies himself,

  167. it's not that God is getting more glory in himself.

  168. It's not like he had less glory and he kind of needs topping up a little bit, okay?

  169. It's not that.

  170. No, to glorify God is to recognize him and treat him as glorious and worthy.

  171. So you can think of it like this.

  172. So God, okay, God is glorious in himself, right?

  173. He has perfect glory, right?

  174. No more, no less, it's perfect.

  175. It cannot be added to, it cannot be taken away.

  176. God is 100% more, he's infinitely, perfectly glorious, right?

  177. He has glory.

  178. And in creation, which is this circle down here,

  179. this is all things creation down here.

  180. In creation, God has revealed his glory.

  181. So he reveals, he reveals who he is, how glorious he is, how great he is.

  182. He reveals that in creation.

  183. So that's his fame, right?

  184. We can know how glorious he is here and he reveals his glory in creation.

  185. His fame is known in creation.

  186. And in creation, we can glorify, we can recognize that glory,

  187. which is to say we glorify him.

  188. And so, in a way, it's kind of recognizing and reflecting that glory that he's revealed to us,

  189. kind of back to God.

  190. So when we glorify God, we are kind of recognizing and reflecting his glory back to him.

  191. And we can do that in praise, in obedience, in worship, in thankfulness, right?

  192. It is saying, yes, you are glorious, God.

  193. And so notice, God isn't getting any more glorious in himself here.

  194. We are just recognizing how glorious he is.

  195. And we can do that in creation, we can do that more or less, actually.

  196. So you can say some arrows are big, some we can really recognize how glorious he is.

  197. We can be really thankful, or sometimes we cannot.

  198. Sometimes the arrows can be very small and we don't glorify God that well at all.

  199. And when that happens, again, God is not more or less, he's not less glorious when that happens.

  200. But we just don't recognize him as we should.

  201. And so, but God is glorious either way.

  202. And so, you can think of God's name in the same way, right?

  203. So God, his name is who he is, right?

  204. His name is his glory, right?

  205. So God, his name is who he is.

  206. And he reveals his name in creation.

  207. He reveals just who he is, his glory, in creation.

  208. He reveals his fame.

  209. And how are we meant to respond to that?

  210. We are to hallow his name.

  211. Another same kind of principle as glorifying.

  212. We are to hallow his name.

  213. And again, you can hallow it more or less.

  214. And so God is glorious and perfectly holy in himself.

  215. That's his name, the glory of his name.

  216. And we can recognize that hallow it.

  217. And in the Lord's Prayer, we are asking that the world, we and the whole world would recognize who God is.

  218. Hallow his name.

  219. And reflect and recognize his glory properly.

  220. So you can think of creation.

  221. Creation is meant to be like a mirror.

  222. So God shines his glory, shines who he is, down onto creation.

  223. And creation is meant to be a mirror to kind of reflect it.

  224. Or you can think of the sun, right?

  225. So the sun is bright in itself, right?

  226. We can't add to the brightness of the sun.

  227. But the sun shines on earth.

  228. And we can know the brightness and the power of the sun by seeing that light hit us all around us, right?

  229. And sometimes we can try and shut out the light.

  230. And sometimes we can reflect it very well.

  231. But the sun is shining either way.

  232. That's a bit like how you can think of God's glory or when he reveals himself, right?

  233. Does that make sense?

  234. I'll just pause there for a second.

  235. Does that make sense?

  236. God's glory, his name, hallowing, glorifying.

  237. Okay.

  238. Well, Jesus is teaching us here.

  239. He's teaching this as the first petition.

  240. Because Jesus is saying, in the Christian life, this is number one.

  241. This is the number one desire we should have.

  242. It is God's glory.

  243. The thing that matters most in the world is that God is recognized and treated as he should be.

  244. So not treated as common, not treated as irrelevant, but as holy and glorious and God.

  245. And remember, Jesus is shaping our desires here.

  246. So this isn't always our desire.

  247. Remember, the arrows can be big and small or sometimes the arrows cannot exist at all.

  248. This isn't always our desire.

  249. This isn't the world's desire.

  250. But he's teaching us that this is what should be our ultimate desire.

  251. Because actually, this is God's ultimate desire.

  252. For his name to be hallowed.

  253. Jesus, in this prayer, he's aligning our desires with God's desire.

  254. And I want us to see that.

  255. I want us to see in what ways that this is God's great desire.

  256. And I want us to see that by asking, by saying, why does God do anything in this world?

  257. Right?

  258. What is his purpose behind all that he is doing here in creation?

  259. And so I want you to break out in groups.

  260. I've got A to I.

  261. Quite a few questions there.

  262. I think you can work quite quickly through them.

  263. There aren't any trick questions.

  264. If you find the answer, say it, move on.

  265. And just figure out what is God's big purpose behind all his actions in the world.

  266. Lots of different actions there.

  267. Break out in groups.

  268. I'll give you a few minutes for that.

  269. Work quite quickly.

  270. Okay.

  271. Okay.

  272. Okay.

  273. Okay.

  274. Okay.

  275. Yeah.

  276. Yeah.

  277. Yeah.

  278. Thank you.

  279. Thank you.

  280. Thank you.

  281. Thank you.

  282. Thank you.

  283. Thank you.

  284. Thank you.

  285. Thank you.

  286. Thank you.

  287. Thank you.

  288. Thank you.

  289. Thank you.

  290. Thank you.

  291. Thank you.

  292. Thank you.

  293. Thank you.

  294. Let's wrap it up there.

  295. Don't worry if you haven't finished.

  296. We'll go through them all.

  297. So let's, don't be shy.

  298. Just shout out some of your thoughts.

  299. So we're looking at what is God's big purpose in the world.

  300. Okay, so let's think about creation.

  301. What is creation designed to do?

  302. Say it again.

  303. Just shout it nice and clear.

  304. Yeah, yeah.

  305. The heavens declare the glory of God, right?

  306. Creation itself is designed to bring glory to God.

  307. It's meant to be like a mirror reflecting how glorious God is.

  308. He is, he's the creator.

  309. Look at his handiwork.

  310. Look how powerful he is and wise he is and mighty is to do all of this.

  311. Creation is designed to have all these arrows pointing out perfectly, saying God is glorious.

  312. He is the creator.

  313. And what did God make man to be?

  314. Got to think a little bit on this one.

  315. How does it relate to glory as well?

  316. What are some of your thoughts?

  317. Ollie, go on.

  318. What are some of your thoughts?

  319. Well, you know, we're just thinking creation because we're made in an image.

  320. Uh-huh.

  321. Which gives us value and it makes us glory bearers.

  322. We bear the image of God.

  323. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

  324. And we always fall well short of that.

  325. And yet through our salvation, we can bring glory to them through our salvation, through our sanctification.

  326. Excellent.

  327. So we reflect something of God in a way that creation doesn't.

  328. Yeah, yeah.

  329. Yeah, that's great.

  330. So, well, you're thinking a little bit ahead to salvation.

  331. So don't think about salvation for a sec.

  332. Just think about how we are created.

  333. Like, think about Adam.

  334. We are created to be images of God.

  335. Kind of like mirrors.

  336. Reflecting who he is.

  337. Right?

  338. So not actually God, but like a mirror kind of gives an image, a reflection, a representation of who God is.

  339. That is what we are meant to be.

  340. So all of creation is meant to show how glorious God is.

  341. But man, humanity in particular, is meant to show how glorious God is.

  342. And we can do that in our knowledge of God, in our obedience to him, in our dominion over the earth, in our righteousness and our holiness.

  343. Okay?

  344. That's how God has made man to be.

  345. So if all of creation is a mirror, man is meant to be kind of like a, what's that?

  346. How would you do this in physics?

  347. Like a magnified mirror.

  348. Right?

  349. We're like an intensified lens where you really see God's glory.

  350. Right?

  351. Ruben even preached this a few weeks ago.

  352. Man is the image and glory of God.

  353. Why does God provide for the whole world?

  354. Why does he give food and rain and keep us living and give us just so many nice things in creation?

  355. As a witness to himself.

  356. As a witness to himself.

  357. Exactly.

  358. As a way of letting people know his name, who he is.

  359. Particularly his goodness.

  360. For he did good.

  361. It was a good witness to him.

  362. Why does God judge the nations?

  363. Jesus.

  364. Ezekiel.

  365. So that they would know he is the Lord.

  366. Go on, Alison.

  367. Are you going to say that?

  368. So they would know his name.

  369. Yeah.

  370. Know his name.

  371. He wants to manifest his glory among them.

  372. That they will know that he is the God in charge.

  373. He's the righteous one.

  374. He's holy.

  375. I manifest my holiness in her.

  376. You can't just get away with your evil.

  377. Similarly, why did God make Pharaoh?

  378. For this very purpose, I've raised you up to show my power so that my name, my fame might be proclaimed in all the earth.

  379. Again, I am the powerful one, not you, Pharaoh.

  380. That's why he raised Pharaoh up.

  381. That's why that history turned out the way it did.

  382. In Ezekiel 36, God promises to give his people a new heart and save us.

  383. Why?

  384. Yeah.

  385. Indicate the holiness of my great name.

  386. Yeah, there you go.

  387. Indicate the holiness of my great name.

  388. It's to hallow his name, to know that he is a God like no other.

  389. He is holy.

  390. He cares about his people.

  391. And he is wonderfully gracious.

  392. Which links to our next question.

  393. Why did Christ shed his blood?

  394. This was to show God's righteousness.

  395. So the cross and salvation, it shows lots of things.

  396. But in particular, well not in particular, one of those things, it displays God's righteousness.

  397. God doesn't just pass over sin.

  398. He must punish sin.

  399. And our sin has been punished in Christ.

  400. And that shows God is a righteous God.

  401. He's not more righteous because of that.

  402. But he is the fame of his righteousness.

  403. It's known on the cross.

  404. And why does God want the gospel preached?

  405. So that, this is a little bit trickier, so that through the church, as the gospel is preached and people are saved,

  406. he does that so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

  407. It's actually, it's talking about angels.

  408. God saved you so that the angels would know just how wise God is.

  409. You can imagine the angels looking down on your salvation, being like, God is incredibly wise.

  410. Look how he saved that boy, that girl, that man, that woman.

  411. It displays to all, even to the heavenly places, who he is.

  412. And so why did God choose to save sinners?

  413. This is a wonderful summary of everything.

  414. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace.

  415. He did all of this so that the glory of his grace, just how incredible his grace is, would be praised.

  416. It's his name.

  417. It's his fame.

  418. So can you see that all that God does in this world, he has one big purpose behind it all, to glorify himself.

  419. So that the world would recognize his greatness, his fame.

  420. And that is to say, God does all things to hallow his name.

  421. It's just Romans 11.

  422. For from him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory forever.

  423. And this is the big purpose of why creation exists at all.

  424. This is all, all of this is meant to recognize and reflect God's glory.

  425. John Calvin put it really well.

  426. He says, creation is a theater of divine glory.

  427. So this, what we are in right now, we are in a theater designed for God's glory to fill it.

  428. And his name, who he is, to be recognized and praised and treated as holy.

  429. So why is creation exist?

  430. It's so that these arrows can be big and huge and point out and glorify God.

  431. And at the center stage of this theater is salvation.

  432. Christ stands at the center of this theater, the center stage.

  433. And this is where God is not only recognized as creator, but as our redeemer.

  434. And we really see who God is in salvation.

  435. We see our God.

  436. He not only created this, our God is gracious and merciful and righteous.

  437. And he saves sinners.

  438. And we recognize that when we hallow his name.

  439. And so Jesus says, this needs to be your number one desire, because this is God's number one desire.

  440. It's why he does anything at all.

  441. And so before we ask for anything else in the Lord's Prayer, ask for anything for ourselves,

  442. we must desire God above all.

  443. Because he's the most important thing in the Christian life.

  444. J.R. Packer says this, God matters infinitely more than we do.

  445. And we can so easily forget that, can't we?

  446. We often think about our name first before God's.

  447. And so we are praying here, Lord, be first in my life.

  448. Not my name be hallowed, but yours.

  449. And Jesus wants us to lead with this in this prayer, because then it shapes all the other desires after that.

  450. So think about your kingdom come.

  451. Jesus is saying, we are not just to want to live in a better world, but we want to know God as king in this world.

  452. And when we pray for daily bread, we're not just asking for life to be easy,

  453. but we are asking God for his kindness to be known.

  454. When we say forgive us, we're not just asking, I just really want a clear conscience,

  455. although that is a part of it.

  456. But we are asking, Lord, would your mercy be known?

  457. Deliver us from evil, not just generally defeat evil, but your judgment to be known in this world.

  458. When hallowed be your name is our ultimate desire, it shapes everything else in our lives.

  459. All our choices, it takes our eyes off ourselves and it lifts them to God.

  460. Now, I want us to think, what does that practically mean for our lives and the world?

  461. What exactly are we asking for then when we pray hallowed be your name?

  462. Well, that's the next thing I want us to see.

  463. We've got a few minutes to do this.

  464. Break out into groups.

  465. Have a look at these two questions.

  466. I've given you some Bible verses to help you answer them.

  467. You don't have to stick to them, but use them as fuel for thought.

  468. I'll give you a couple of minutes.

  469. Thank you.

  470. Thank you.

  471. And I present it to myself.

  472. And this is such a good sort of time.

  473. And I go, thank you.

  474. And I'm totally hidden who's actually

  475. raised my hands.

  476. All the time.

  477. I've never met the people who are

  478. presented to me.

  479. I asked that they could

  480. have a question.

  481. I'm sorry.

  482. I'm sorry.

  483. I'm sorry.

  484. I may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may may

  485. Thank you.

  486. Thank you.

  487. Thank you.

  488. Thank you.

  489. What have we seen in Romans 1?

  490. Idolatry.

  491. Idolatry, yeah.

  492. It's kind of, there's a lot going on there in Romans 1.

  493. It is, so when we suppress the truth,

  494. that doesn't hallow God's name, unbelief.

  495. We are not recognizing him as God.

  496. Also, we don't give thanks to him.

  497. Ingratitude.

  498. Ingratitude.

  499. For all that he gives us.

  500. And so this doesn't only apply to unbelief.

  501. Unbelief is not giving thanks to God,

  502. thanks to the one who made us and sustains us.

  503. But it's also, we see that in our own lives, don't we?

  504. Just the grumbling, just the ingratitude.

  505. We so easily forget to be thankful to God

  506. for all that he has given us.

  507. And that is not hallowing God's name.

  508. And then unbelief, it culminates in idolatry, doesn't it?

  509. Right?

  510. It does not hallow God's name.

  511. It doesn't recognize his worthiness.

  512. When we don't worship God,

  513. that is not giving his name what he deserves.

  514. And it's not what we're designed for either.

  515. But what are we designed to do?

  516. We're designed to worship,

  517. to reflect God,

  518. his worthiness in worship.

  519. How about Romans 3?

  520. What did you see in that?

  521. We talked about the Third Amendment, actually.

  522. Taking the Lord's name in vain.

  523. Even connecting it to the Aaronic blessing.

  524. And number six,

  525. how the Lord has placed his name upon us.

  526. And so we represent, we glorify God,

  527. by association with his name.

  528. So in Romans 3,

  529. God's blasphemy amongst the Gentiles.

  530. So in a way,

  531. it's actually very broad and square

  532. with that Third Amendment.

  533. As it works out,

  534. your entire life and conduct and speech

  535. and everything that you do

  536. as a Christian,

  537. as a little Christ,

  538. is taking his name in vain.

  539. It's not hallowing or blessing

  540. and glorifying him.

  541. Not just simply in the way you use the Lord.

  542. It's not easy.

  543. He places his name upon us as his people.

  544. Yeah.

  545. Yeah, but that's really helpful.

  546. Yeah, but the Third Commandment

  547. isn't just about swearing

  548. and using, say, OMG

  549. or something like that.

  550. It is that,

  551. but it's also more than that.

  552. We have the Lord's name imprinted on us, right?

  553. We belong to the Lord.

  554. We carry his name,

  555. his fame around with us.

  556. And so Romans 3,

  557. it is talking about God's people here.

  558. It's talking about the Jews.

  559. And law-breaking,

  560. a lawless life,

  561. whilst also having God's name,

  562. it brings his reputation,

  563. it drags his name through the mud,

  564. doesn't it, right?

  565. The name of God is blasphemed

  566. because of you, right?

  567. It shows a disdain for who God is.

  568. It shows he's not very holy.

  569. It's a disrespect to the lawgiver.

  570. It doesn't image the righteousness of God,

  571. does it?

  572. And that is true for all the world,

  573. all law-breaking,

  574. but particularly in God's people,

  575. because we particularly bear his name.

  576. And Psalm 2,

  577. it kind of,

  578. it just goes global,

  579. doesn't it, right?

  580. How does the world

  581. not hallow God's name?

  582. It's pride,

  583. rebellion,

  584. opposing God

  585. and his rule,

  586. opposing King Jesus,

  587. who is the King of Kings.

  588. And so,

  589. what do the nations do?

  590. We hallow our own names instead,

  591. right?

  592. And we do this individually

  593. and we do this on a global scale

  594. and national scale.

  595. And so,

  596. when we pray,

  597. hallowed be your name,

  598. we are praying that the nations

  599. and the leaders

  600. would hallow God's name.

  601. And we pray that about

  602. the assisted suicide bill,

  603. right?

  604. Praying,

  605. praying for that,

  606. was praying that our MPs

  607. would hallow God's name.

  608. And so,

  609. that's kind of

  610. thinking the negative side.

  611. Let's think a bit more positively.

  612. In what ways

  613. can we hallow God's name then?

  614. Right?

  615. So,

  616. it's all implied

  617. in the opposites

  618. of the first question.

  619. But kind of positively,

  620. how can we hallow God's name

  621. and give him glory?

  622. Matthew 5.

  623. Through our good works,

  624. we probably

  625. can suddenly

  626. shrink from

  627. but actually

  628. as we

  629. do good works

  630. and obedience

  631. and gratitude

  632. to God

  633. and people

  634. will see that

  635. along the way

  636. we should describe that

  637. to actually

  638. on good works

  639. because

  640. because of God

  641. not because of ourselves

  642. that will give glory

  643. to God

  644. it will shine

  645. a light

  646. for us.

  647. Yeah,

  648. yeah,

  649. absolutely.

  650. It's there in John 15

  651. as well.

  652. It's by

  653. that you bear much fruit

  654. that my Father

  655. is glorified.

  656. Right?

  657. So it's in our

  658. distinctness

  659. being salt

  660. and light

  661. in this world

  662. by bearing much fruit

  663. is our holiness

  664. our godliness

  665. holding out hope

  666. to the world

  667. salt and light

  668. is also that

  669. distinctness

  670. that brings

  671. glory to God

  672. it hallows

  673. his name

  674. it shows

  675. just how glorious

  676. God is

  677. that

  678. people see

  679. what God is like

  680. through his people

  681. we are like a lens

  682. that people

  683. see God

  684. through

  685. and so

  686. hallowing God's name

  687. it means

  688. transform our lives

  689. so that we reflect

  690. that

  691. 1 Peter 4

  692. is the same

  693. it's in our love

  694. for each other

  695. our forgiveness

  696. of one another

  697. it shows the love

  698. and grace of God

  699. to the world

  700. and then Psalm 34

  701. magnify the Lord

  702. with me

  703. magnify

  704. it may

  705. it's not like a microscope

  706. microscope makes

  707. what is small

  708. seem bigger

  709. but magnifying

  710. magnifying

  711. sorry

  712. magnifying

  713. it's more like a telescope

  714. right

  715. so like looking

  716. at a galaxy

  717. through a telescope

  718. it seems small to us

  719. but it's actually

  720. unimaginably

  721. unimaginably big

  722. right

  723. that's what we want

  724. God

  725. to be in our lives

  726. you are unimaginably big

  727. make that be known

  728. how big you are

  729. and that's worship

  730. right

  731. how do we hallow his name

  732. in worship

  733. is what we're going to do

  734. this morning

  735. and so praying

  736. hallowed be your name

  737. we are asking

  738. for the God's fame

  739. the greatness

  740. of who he is

  741. to be known

  742. in our own hearts

  743. in our words

  744. in our lives

  745. in the church

  746. it is praying

  747. for sanctification

  748. protection

  749. unity

  750. fruit

  751. so that creation

  752. we reflect him

  753. as he deserves

  754. but we also

  755. we're praying

  756. for the world

  757. here as well

  758. this is an evangelistic

  759. prayer

  760. not only that evil

  761. would be avoided

  762. but people

  763. would repent

  764. and hallow

  765. God's name

  766. and so this is

  767. a comprehensive

  768. prayer

  769. we are asking

  770. that in whatever

  771. events unfold

  772. in our lives

  773. this thing

  774. that's coming up

  775. that I'm worried

  776. about

  777. I may not know

  778. what's coming

  779. I may not understand

  780. why or how

  781. this is playing out

  782. but Lord

  783. in everything

  784. would it all

  785. glorify you

  786. Jesus is ordering

  787. our desires

  788. to make that

  789. number one

  790. and so this is

  791. what is most

  792. essential

  793. in the Christian

  794. life

  795. and just to finish

  796. I want us to

  797. realize asking

  798. this is for our

  799. good

  800. I just want to

  801. end on this

  802. quick thought

  803. so we might be

  804. tempted to think

  805. that this is

  806. it's all about

  807. God and just

  808. nothing about us

  809. like God has to

  810. get the glory

  811. but we just kind

  812. of have to put up

  813. with it

  814. and the Christian

  815. life is just

  816. kind of dreary

  817. and we're just

  818. getting dragged

  819. along just doing

  820. whatever God

  821. wants

  822. but no I want

  823. to see God's

  824. glory is our

  825. happiness

  826. because just

  827. think back

  828. to why we are

  829. made

  830. what is our

  831. main purpose

  832. in life

  833. to glorify

  834. God

  835. which means

  836. we are most

  837. human

  838. we are most

  839. fulfilled

  840. and we are

  841. most happy

  842. when we glorify

  843. God

  844. so remember

  845. the shorter

  846. catechism

  847. we've got it

  848. there for you

  849. what is the

  850. chief end of

  851. man

  852. what's the

  853. chief purpose

  854. the main

  855. purpose of

  856. man

  857. man's

  858. chief end

  859. is to glorify

  860. God

  861. and to enjoy

  862. him forever

  863. so do you see

  864. glorifying God

  865. and our joy

  866. they go together

  867. sin

  868. not hallowing

  869. God's name

  870. that brings

  871. the misery

  872. and the problems

  873. and the worries

  874. that's when we

  875. don't do

  876. what we're

  877. designed for

  878. that's like a car

  879. driving into water

  880. that's not what

  881. it's designed for

  882. and so it ends

  883. up in a disaster

  884. but our lives

  885. are better

  886. truly fulfilled

  887. truly

  888. true happiness

  889. when we

  890. hallow

  891. God's name

  892. in fact the

  893. whole world

  894. is a better

  895. place

  896. when

  897. God's name

  898. is hallowed

  899. our good

  900. is his glory

  901. his glory

  902. is our good

  903. this is the

  904. meaning and

  905. purpose of

  906. creation

  907. and salvation

  908. and so praying

  909. this

  910. Jesus is teaching

  911. us

  912. this is actually

  913. the meaning

  914. of life

  915. this is what

  916. matters most

  917. in the Christian

  918. life and all

  919. of life

  920. our father

  921. in heaven

  922. hallowed

  923. be your name

  924. sorry I ran

  925. over

  926. we won't do

  927. questions

  928. let's just

  929. come to me

  930. for questions

  931. after

  932. let's just end

  933. by praying

  934. this together

  935. pray then like

  936. this

  937. our father

  938. in heaven

  939. hallowed

  940. be your name

  941. your kingdom

  942. come

  943. your will

  944. be done

  945. on earth

  946. as it is

  947. in heaven

  948. give us

  949. today

  950. our daily

  951. bread

  952. forgive us

  953. our sins

  954. as we

  955. forgive those

  956. who sin

  957. against us

  958. and lead us

  959. not into

  960. temptation

  961. but deliver us

  962. from evil

  963. for yours

  964. is the kingdom

  965. the power

  966. and the glory

  967. forever

  968. and ever

  969. amen

  970. away