Hallowed Be Your Name
Matthew 6:9
OKAY MGCC – it is October 9th 2022....
AND – as we gather together (on this beautiful Fall morning) I want to remind you of a few things, that...
God is real.
Jesus is alive.
His word is true
His promises are certain
We are His church, His people, and ‘in Christ’
Our past is forgiven
Our forever is secure,
And our today is surrounded with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit!
AMEN!
OKAY – a just few Scriptures to launch us into our conversation this morning.
Are you ready!?
I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. – Leviticus 11:44,45
NOW – the word ‘Holy’ basically means: godliness, Christ-likeness... a live lived distinct, different and set a part from the world around us.
You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own. – Leviticus 20:26
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. – Romans 12:1
To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people,
together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. - 1 Corinthians 1:2,3
Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. – 2 Corinthians 7:1
For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. - 1 Thessalonians 4:7
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. – 2 Timothy 1:9
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:14-16
Prayer
OKAY – so we are in an in-depth verse by verse study of the Gospel of Matthew... (The King and His Kingdom)...
AND CURRENTLY – we are doing a deep dive into the most well-known prayer in the world, a prayer that Jesus first unveiled (on that Galilean hillside)
in His Kingdom Manifesto.
A prayer that His people have been praying for 2000 years ago. A prayer that we know as the Lord’s Prayer.
NOW – last Sunday we began a deep dive into these 4 words of this prayer... Hallowed Be Your Name
AND – we said that there are basically 3 ways that we as God’s people can hallow His Name.
We hallow His name
(His reputation, authority, character and person ...
- When we gather to worship Him like we did this morning
- When we strive to understand more fully who God really is, as revealed to us in Scripture... and
- When we pursue holiness and strive to live a life that reflects God’s person and character and brings honor to His name.
God’s name is kept holy when His Word is taught in its truth and purity, and when we as children of God lead holy lives according to it. – Martin Luther
OKAY MGCC – here’s the deal...
The primary way that you and I Hallow God’s Name is (as we said last week) by pursuing a ‘personal-practical-progressive’ holiness…
PERSONAL (in our own lives)
PRACTICAL (we are actually doing something, living a certain way, like it is visible in our attitudes, actions and behaviors)
PROGRESSIVE (we are growing and maturing in our Christ-likeness, in our godliness... step by step and day by day)
AND REMEMBER MGCC – this personal-practical-progressive holiness is one of the reasons why God saved us… YES – He saved us because He loves you and... YES – He saved us for His glory... YET – Ephesians 1:4 also says;
For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. – Ephesians 1:4
Christianity is not just about what Christ has saved you from (God’s wrath and the penalty for your sins), but what He has saved you to.
OKAY – here’s the deal...
God has saved you: to live a holy life, a godly life, a life that is progressively looking more and more like the life that God the Son lived when He wore flesh and walked on this planet.
Get It?
NOW – when it comes to holiness in the church...
The primary, the fundamental, the central and preeminent problem is that... most of the people who claim to be following Jesus..
do not care all that much about pursuing it.
MGCC – what I am trying to say is that there is a gap (a pretty large one) between our passion for Christ (I love Jesus, yes I do, I love Jesus, how about you) and our pursuit of godliness.
UNDERSTAND – far too many Jesus-followers: feel, believe and live like they can love Jesus and be passionate about Him...
WITHOUT - any real concern whatsoever about pursuing a life of: personal-practical-progressive holiness.
WITHOUT – any real concern for living out the life that Jesus has called us to live, and that is worthy of His Name.
YEAH – I am afraid at times that we can be like the people who God rebuked through His prophet Jeremiah.
People who lived like the world during the week and felt it was totally cool to worship with passion at God’s House on the Sabbath.
"Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known,
(In other words live like the world, and any way that you want between ‘Temple Services...)
and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of thieves to you?
But I have been watching! declares the LORD. Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer. Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors. I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’ – Jeremiah 7:9-15
Our Father who art in the heavens
Hallowed be Your Name
QUESTION...
In the days ahead of you (as much as Lord chooses to give you) do you want to just pray those 4 words or do you want to live a life that brings honor and glory to God’s Name by reflecting (however imperfectly) His character, person and holiness?
B/S – if your answer is ‘yes’ to the latter, then you need to pursue a personal practical progressive holiness.
HOWEVER – for us to pursue holiness we need to know more ‘what it is’ that we are pursuing...
AND - that is what we began doing last week, by unpacking two statement...
What pursuing holiness is not
Why we must pursue holiness
OKAY – some more review.
And listen – we need to do some review because most of us have not thought all that much about pursuing holiness.
YES – for most of us there is a gap between our passion for Christ and our pursuit of godliness.
I. What Pursuing Holiness Is Not…
a) An option for God’s people
I MEAN – anyone who has spent even a little time in the Scripture, will see rather quickly that God has always called His people to swim upstream, to go against the flow, to cut against the gain… to be different, distinct, holy, set a part, from the world the world around them.
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:14-16
NO – that doesn’t seem optional, does it?
Pursuing Holiness Is Not
b) The means to our salvation
UNDERSTAND - we do not pursue holiness (godliness) in order to be saved, instead we pursue holiness and living a godly life because we are saved. IT’S – our position ‘in Christ’ that both enables and empowers us to begin living like Christ.
Pursuing Holiness Is Not
c) ‘Mere’ rule keeping
AND MGCC – as we said last week, the word ‘mere’ is critical in that statement… Why?
BECAUSE – pursuing holiness is never less than obeying God’s commands.
AFTER ALL – Jesus did not say, “if you love me, you will give up on rules and religion and do whatever feels right…” INSTEAD – He said… If you love me, you will keep my commandments. - John 14:15
BUT UNDERSTAND B/S – it so easy for us to turn our pursuit of godliness into ‘holiness-by-checklist.
YOU KNOW...
WHERE – we take care of a few bad habits and develop a couple of good ones, and think ‘hey, we’re all set and good to go on this holiness thing.
BUT MGCC – here’s the deal...
When we pursue holiness by checklist, our checklist (like the checklist of the Scribes/Pharisees) is highly selective.
Highly what?
LIKE - we end up feeling successful in our pursuit because.
We never murdered anyone (check)
We never committed adultery
We never stolen anything,
We don’t smoke, cuss out loud, watch r rated movies or get drunk on the weekends, and
We attend Bible study every week, Listen to Christian podcasts and read Christian books.
QUESTION... – but...
Are we prideful
Do we control our anger
Do we use our tongue in a negative way that hurts other people and tears them down
Do we reach out and serve the poor and needy
Do we love our enemies and
Do we have mercy and truly forgive (not keeping a record of wrongs) those who hurt us?
Pursuing Holiness Is Not
d) The way of the world
AND UNDERSTAND B/S – because it is not the way of the world (and remember the way of the world makes sin look normal and godliness look strange)
Because it is not the way of the world..
We will never make progress in our pursuit of holiness if we are waiting for the world to throw us a party in honor of this pursuit.
NOW - many Christians have the mistaken notion that if only we were better Christians, than the world would applaud and appreciate us... Not true.
YEAH SURE - you can focus on the virtues the world likes. HOWEVER - if you pursue true religion that cares for orphans and promotes purity (James 1:27), you’ll lose some of the friends you were so desperate to make.
B/S – here’s the truth...
Saving yourself for marriage,
staying sober on Friday night,
turning down a promotion to stay at your church,
refusing to say the f-word,
standing up for the rights for babies in the womb to live
promoting the biblical view of marriage, gender and sexuality
calling all forms of racism and the coloring coding of people... believing that ‘all lives matter.’
These are the kinds of things the world doesn’t understand. And we shouldn’t expect them to.
MGCC - The world provides no cheerleaders on the pathway to godliness.
INSTEAD – the world provides only ongoing and constant opposition.
Pursuing Holiness Is Not
e) About ‘separating ourselves’ from the world
AND – isolating ourselves from the world, you know, hunkering down in our little Christian fortresses.
II. Why We Must Pursue Holiness
a) We must pursue holiness Because We love God
AS – Jesus said...
If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
- John 14:15
AND MGCC – over and over again in Scripture God has commanded His people to be holy.
b) We must pursue holiness Because we do not want the way we live to bring dishonor to God’s Name
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. - Exodus 20:7
UNDESTAND - when we claim to be a Jesus follower (when we ‘take His Name’) and then we go out into this world and live lives that are in direct contrast to lives He has called us to live in His Word, we bring dishonor to His name.
We cause people to think less of God and His ways.
c) We must pursue holiness Because holiness is life in all its fullness
UNDERSTAND MGCC – a holy, distinct, set a part, God-honoring life... is the life that we were created to live…
It’s who we really are.
It’s who God intends for us to be
It is as Paul writes in 1 Timothy... LIFE - that is truly life.
d) We must pursue holiness Because it brings God glory
When we pursue holiness… when we live the lives we are created to live it brings glory to God.
UNDERSTAND...
Our personal, practical, progressive holiness reveals to the world what God is like and how life can be lived.
YES – just as the heavens declare God’s glory so can your life and mine...
AGAIN - it is one of the great mysteries of God, that he has allowed the holiness of his name on this earth to be bound up with the character and conduct of his people, of you and of me.
I MEAN – come on, how awesome that we can play a part in hallowing the name of the great and near God.
f) We must pursue holiness Because it is absolutely possible
By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. – 2 Peter 1:3
NOW – one of the primary reasons why we do not think that holiness is possible is because we mistakenly have concluded that holiness means or is equals to perfect obedience.
BUT LISTEN - if being holy and walking in a manner worthy of His Name means that...
I never lose my temper, I never lust, I am never lazy, I never use my tongue in a destructive manner, I never shade the truth, I never struggle to forgive
and I never do any good thing with mixed motives, well then of course holiness is impossible.
Likewise, if God-pleasing holiness means I have to be filled to the brim with every virtue, without any room for improvement, I’m wasting my time even attempting to be holy. BUT LISTEN - expecting perfection from ourselves or others is not what pursuing holiness is about.
UNDERSTAND - God does not expect your good works to be flawless in order for them to be good. I MEAN - if God only accepted perfect obedience from his children, the Bible would have nothing good to say about Job or David or Elizabeth or anyone else except for Jesus.
MGCC - why do we imagine that God is unmoved by our heart-felt attempts at obedience? He is, after all, our heavenly Father. LIKE... What sort of father looks at his daughter’s homemade birthday card and complains that the color scheme is all wrong? What kind of mother says to her son, after he gladly cleaned the garage but put the paint cans on the wrong shelf, “This is worthless in my sight”? What sort of parent rolls his eyes when his child falls off the bike on the first try?
OKAY – here is what I am trying to say about pursuing holiness. EVEN THOUGH – we can never do or not do anything to make us right with God... THAT – does not mean that our acts of obedience and pursuit of a (personal-practical-progressive) holiness does not matter to Him.
MGCC - the Bible clearly teaches that holiness is possible. This is good news, not bad news. You have permission to see the evidence of grace in your life. You are allowed (and expected) to be obedient. You will never be perfect in this life. You cannot do anything to earn God’s love. But as a redeemed, blood bought, Holy Spirit filled child of God you don’t have to be a spiritual failure.
By the mercies of God you can “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom. 12:1).
III. What Pursuing Holiness Looks Like
a) The renewal of God’s image in us
AS WE KNOW – mankind was created in God’s image and likeliness, but sin quickly entered the world and distorted that image…
BUT – the good news is that Christ came to restore that image...
By dying for our sin, make us right in God’s eyes when we surrender to His Gospel (FRB)...
And then by starting us on a pursuit of a ‘personal-practical-progressive’ holiness... and day by day and moment by moment restoring that image.
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. – 2 Corinthians 3:18
Pursuing Holiness Looks Like
b) It looks like a life marked by virtue not vice
NOW - don’t let those 2 words freak you out.
Here are my definitions for both (in the context of our conversation)
Virtue – the ‘stuff of God’ that we need to ‘put on’
Vice – the ‘stuff of the world’ that we need to ‘take off’
NOW - as you read the New Testament, especially the letter to churches… you see a basic pattern…
EARLY - in the letter… writers like Paul tell the churches this is who you are, this is what Christ has done for you…
AND THEN – they wrap up the letter by saying okay, in light of this (of what Christ did and who you are ‘in Him) –
HERE - is how you must live…
HERE - are the things you must take off and put to death in your life (vices) AND HERE - are the things that you must put on and clothe yourself with (virtues)…
NOW – there are many examples of this in the NT
(Mk 7, Rm 1,13; 1 Cor 6; Galatians 5, Colossians 3)
I will just share one passage.
So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.
You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony… - Col 3:5-14
AND AGAIN – remember that we are pursuing a ‘personal-practical-progressive’ holiness.
NOT PERFECT – but making progress.
A progress measured not day by day…
BUT BY – “hey I am living more God’s way then I was 1 year ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago.
Pursuing Holiness Looks Like
c) It looks like obedience to God’s commands
NOW - we’ve talked about this already…
BUT B/S – it bears repeating, a life a holiness looks a lot like...
Obeying the commands of Christ
Doing what He says, because we love Him…
Calling Him ‘Lord, Lord’ - because we are doing what He says.
NOW I KNOW – that it sounds really spiritual to say that God is interested in a relationship, not in rules.
YEAH – it may sound spiritual, but it’s not biblical.
UNDERSTAND...
From Genesis to Revelation the Bible is full of commands. AND LISTEN – these commands are not meant to stifle our relationship with God...
BUT TO - protect it, seal it, and define it.
MGCC - Never forget: that first God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, then he gave them the law.
NO - God’s people were not redeemed by observing the law, BUT - they were redeemed so they might obey the law.
AND B/S – it is the same with and for us...
“By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3).
We can talk all day long about our love for God, but if we do not keep his commandments we are liars and the truth is not in us (1 John 2:4).
Pursuing Holiness looks like...
The renewal of God’s image in us
A life marked by virtue not vice
Obedience to God’s commands, and
Jesus
Pursuing Holiness Looks Like
d) It looks like Jesus
OKAY - SO IF, holiness looks like the restoration of the image of God in us, THEN - it shouldn’t be surprising that holiness also looks like Christlikeness, BECAUSE...
Jesus is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15)
HE is the exact imprint of his nature (Heb. 1:3)
The whole goal of our salvation is that we should be conformed to the image of God’s Son (Rom. 8:29).
For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:29
UNDERSTAND – in Jesus we see the best, most practical, most human example of what it means to be holy.
He is our model for love (John 13:34),
our model for humility (Phil. 2:5–8),
our model for facing temptation (Heb. 4:15),
our model for steadfastness in the midst of suffering
(1 Pet. 4:1–2), and
our model for obedience to the Father
(John 6:38; 14:31).
Kevin DeYoung (a hole in our holiness)
We see all the virtues of holiness perfectly aligned in Christ. He was always gentle, but never soft. He was bold, but never prudish. He was full of mercy, but not at the expense of justice. He was full of truth, but not at the expense of grace.
In everything he was submissive to His heavenly Father, and He gave everything for His sheep. He obeyed His parents, kept the law of God, and forgave His enemies.
He never lusted, never coveted, and never lied. In all that Jesus Christ did, during His whole life and especially as His life came to an end, He loved God with His whole being and His neighbor as Himself.
IF somewhere down the road you forget the Ten Commandments or can’t recall the fruit of the Spirit or don’t seem to remember any particular attributes of God, you can still remember what Holiness is by simply remembering His name. – Kevin DeYoung ‘The Whole In Our Holiness’
IV. How We Pursue Holiness
a) First BY... Wanting It!
NOW - I know like me that you may not have not thought all that much about ‘pursuing holiness’ before we began our deep dive into those 4 words ‘hallowed be Your Name’
BUT – let me ask you... do you want it? LIKE...
Do you want to pursue a life that is godly, Christ-like, different, distinct, set a part from the world around you
Do you want to pursue a life that looks like the life that Jesus lived when He wore flesh?
Do you want to pursue a life that brings glory to God (revealing to the world who God is and how life can be lived)?
Do you want to pursue a life of holiness…
that is the ‘life is all its fullness’ and
that is the life that Jesus bought for you on a blood stained cross 2000 years?
YEAH – we have talked about the reasons why you should pursue holiness, but do you really want it enough to really commit to the pursuit?
b) We Pursue Holiness By Fueling It!
FIRST and FOREMOST by connecting to God…
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing
Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
– John 15:5-8
c) We Pursue Holiness By Working It!
Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. – Phil 2:12,13
Yeah what need is… some
Spirit-empowered, Gospel-Drive, Faith-Fueled
EFFORT!
Check off each box that you will commit to the Lord to do.
Read your Bible on a regular basis (Romans 10:17; 2 Timothy 2:15)
Pray to the ‘Our Father’ on a regular basis
(1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Give a generous % of your income to His Church
(1 Corinthians 16:1,2; 2 Corinthians 9:6,7; Malachi 3:8-10)
Check off each box that you will commit to the Lord to do.
Serve in the church (Matthew 20:28; Ephesians 4:16)
Attend church regularly (Hebrews 10:25)
Show compassion to the hurting in our world (James 1:27)
Share the Gospel with someone who is lost
(Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:9)
Evaluate what attitudes or behaviors you need to remove or add to your life (Colossians 3:3-14)
WHY?
