Truth Magazine

By Bill Hall

The tragic error of materialism lies in its failure to recognize the Christian’s true citizenship. Materialism focuses attention on the life that now is while the teaching of Christ focuses attention on that which is to come.

The Hall family once left the land of their citizenship to spend three years in Australia. Their three years in that country were pleasant. They made many friends. They enjoyed beautiful scenery along the way. They looked for opportunities to do good and lived in hope that the country would be a better place because they had lived there. When they left, there was sadness. They were leaving behind friends afid brethren, a work in which they had become emotionally involved, and a way of life that they had come to appreciate. But none of this dampened their enthusiasm for going home, for throughout their brief sojourn in Australia, they had kept in mind that the United States was their true home.

The house in Australia had been small and simple, but it had been more than adequate for three years. The furniture had been secondhand (or possibly third or fourth hand), but it really hadn’t mattered too much. Temporary conditions don’t require the very best.

Meanwhile, back at home, more permanent furniture had been carefully stored. Bank accounts had been kept open. Friendships had been continually nurtured and thought had been given to the family’s welfare when the time would come to return home. This is just the way it is with temporary residency.

How badly Christians in our generation need to recognize the temporary nature of their residency upon earth! “For our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20). When we look at the emphasis Christians place upon things. houses, cars, campers, boats, lawns, clothing, summer cottages, bank accounts, investments, etc., we get the impression that they think this earth is their home, that they will be here forever. When we see their obvious definition of success: fame, wealth, education, athletic prowess, etc., we see how enamored they are of the things of this world.

The kind of car we drive in is of no great importance; neither is the kind of house we live in, the clothing we wear, or the athletic abilities we possess. What is of great importance is the treasure we have in heaven. The number of friends we have on this earth is really of no great consequence. What is of great consequence are the friends we have in heaven who

will receive us into everlasting habitations. We are here for only a brief time; we can “make do” on little. Our riches must be stored in heaven, our permanent home.

We are not saying that this life must be miserable. It is good to enjoy the scenery along the way and to be thankful for the material possessions that make us comfortable in this life. It is good to cultivate friendships and to share the joys and sorrows of others. There is no inherent virtue in poverty or misery. But when we allow the material things of this earth to take our eyes off of heaven; when we become so engrossed with this world that we have no enthusiasm for going home; when we value our friendships here above those in heaven, we make a sad mistake and are in danger of losing our heavenly home.

When the time comes to depart, there will be sadness in leaving loved ones behind and a way of life that we have come to appreciate. To others we will have to say, “Preach the word … for the time of my departure is at hand” (2 Tim. 4:1-48). But while sadly saying good-bye to the life we have known here, we must “die in faith,” looking with genuine excitement to home over there. We paraphrase the words of one brother who said, “I am growing old and I know it won’t be long till I will be leaving this world; it won’t be long till I see God, see my Lord, and hear the angels sing, and I can hardly wait.” Our citizenship is in heaven!

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 16, p. 481
August 15, 1985

By Fanning Yater Tant

Brother Charles Fletcher House of Douglas, Arizona, known throughout the nation for his total commitment to the evangelization of Mexico, died of a massive heart attack on July 1. He was seventy-two years of age. His funeral service, conducted in both English (by Mack Kercheville) and in Spanish (by Pedro Rameriz Banda) was an occasion of great sadness for all. This sorrow was particularly evident among the Mexican brethren, whom he had loved so deeply, and who had reciprocated that love to the fullest. He had lived among these people, sharing in their humble life, and had won their hearts completely. Brother House is survived by his wife, Nattalee, his aged mother, Ira Maude House, his daughter, Marilyn Grimbly, a grand-daughter, Pam Greenspon, and a great-grandson, Jason Greenspon. Also grieving at his death will be an uncounted number of his “children in the faith” who had been led to Christ by his tireless efforts.

Through the years Brother House had written hundreds of letters to churches and individuals, pleading with them to recognize the great opportunity open to us in reaching the people of Mexico. Scores had responded, and there are now a number of small Mexican churches along the Mexico-U.S. border between El Paso and San Diego-churches which for years to come will be a living testimony to the unflagging zeal and dedication of this one man. May his tribe increase!

Brethren and churches who had been interested in the Mexican work, and who had from time to time sent contributions through Brother House to be used in furthering that cause may, if they desire, continue their contacts with that field through Brother Mack Kercheville (P.O. Box 3487, El Paso, TX 79923), or Brother Melvin Rose (179 B St., Brawley, CA 92227).

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 15, p. 471
August 1, 1985

In Oswald Chamber’s daily devotional guide, My Utmost For His Highest, the reader finds many pages concerning the subject of prayer. Here Is the meditation on prayer from August 23:

When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and . . . pray to thy Father which is in secret. Matthew vi. 6

Jesus did not say — Dream about thy Father in secret, but pray to thy Father In secret. Prayer is an effort of will. After we have entered our secret place and have shut the door, the most difficult thing to do is to pray; we cannot get our minds into working order, and the first thing that conflicts is wandering thoughts. The great battle in private prayer is the overcoming of mental wool-gathering. We have to discipline our minds and concentrate on wilful prayer.

We must have a selected place for prayer and when we get there the plague of flies begins This must be done, and that. “Shut thy door.” A secret silence means to shut the door deliberately on emotions and remember God. God is in secret, and He sees us from the secret place; He does not see us as other people see us, or as we see ourselves. When we live in the secret place It becomes impossible for us to doubt God, we become more sure of Him than of anything else. Your Father, Jesus says, is in secret and nowhere else. Enter the secret place, and right in the center of the common round you find God there all the time. Get Into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless in the first waking moment of the day you learn to fling the door wide back and let God in, you will work on a wrong level all day; but swing the door wide open and pray to your Father in secret, and every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 15, p. 471
August 1, 1985

By Jady W. Copeland

Prayer occupied a very important place in the life of our Lord. On one occasion, He prayed all night. On other occasions, He found a quiet spot away from the crowd and prayed. In this article we would like to look at the model prayer found in Matthew 6 and a similar prayer in Luke 11. Some have thought the model prayer was a composite of prayers, or that the two mentioned above were the same prayer. But there is no reason to think that He would not have said similar things on more than one occasion. In Matthew He taught the model prayer as a part of a discourse on hypocrisy as He condemned the Jews for doing their righteousness “to be seen of men.” In the three examples of such hypocrisy was the example of prayer, and when He condemned their prayers, He taught them how to pray. In Luke I I one of the disciples asked Him to teach them as John had taught his disciples to pray. There is no evidence that it was to be used as a liturgical prayer. In our study we will follow the fuller account, that of Matthew.

Leading Up To The Prayer

The Jews loved to pray, as they stood in the synagogues and on the street corners, “to be seen of men.” Their motives were wrong. But they had their reward from such prayers — “to be seen of men.” Vain repetitions were condemned. Not all repetitions in prayer are vain. Jesus prayed three times for much the same thing in Gethsemane. So there is a difference in the “vain repetition” of Matthew’s account and “importunity” of Luke 11:8. One is empty, meaningless words, and the other is persistent appeals to the Lord that he desires. In one there is much sound and little thought; in the other there is sincere desires of the heart expressed repeatedly to appeal to the mercy of God. If one doesn’t receive from God what he desires the first time, he needs to examine his motives and thoughts.’ Paul said “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17) and these are not “vain repetitions. “

“Relationships” Implied In The Prayer

In the prayer we have eight relationships implied that are worthy of note. (1) Father-child: “Our Father.” Every man can understand the close relationship of father-child regardless of which civilization he is in. (2) God-worshiper: “Hallowed be thy name.” A man worships, praises and adores the one he worships. (3) King-subject: “Thy kingdom come.” (4) Master-servant: “Thy will be done.” (5) Suppliant-benefactor: “Give us this day our daily bread.” (6) Creditor-debtor: “Forgive us our debts . . . .” (7) Guide-follower: “Lead us not into temptation. ” (8) Redeemer-redeemed: “Deliver us from the evil one.” God stands in a peculiar and many-sided relationship to His followers. Truly He can supply our every need, and prayer helps to make us realize our dependence on Him (Phil. 4:19).

The Prayer

We often divide prayers into three parts: adoration, thanksgiving, and petitions. In this model prayer we see no particular reference to thanksgiving, but in a more general way we divide the model prayer into these two parts: (1) God’s glory and (2) man’s needs, both material and spiritual. In the prayer we see honor and praise to God, the conversion of man to the rule of Christ, man’s material needs and his spiritual needs, past and future. First let us notice the section dedicated to God’s glory.

God’s Glory “Our Father”:

In the Old Testament God was often said to be the father of the nation, yet passages such as Psalms 103:13 give us also the concept of the father-child relationship on an individual basis. An invocation of the Jews was often, “O Lord, God of our fathers” (Deut. 26:7; 2 Chron. 20:6). In addressing God as the Father, we give Him praise and adoration for giving us life and all the blessings a father can give a child. Jesus, in His life, gave us a fuller concept of the Father character with His love, care and protection for us as a father would his children. What a wonderful thought that, as His child (Gal. 3:27), we can approach Him in prayer and believe He will provide us with all needs. He is a divine Father without limitations in wisdom, knowledge and power. Only God’s children in Christ can expect spiritual blessings from Him.

“Hallowed Be Thy Name”:

“Hallowed”-to make holy. It means to set apart or to sanctify or make a person or thing set apart for a holy cause. It is the opposite of “common.” It shows adoration, reverence, wisdom and glory with reference to the Father. Contrast this expression with the vulgar, blasphemous way men use His name in cursings and swearings. Also contrast this with the thoughtless way men use His name (even though unintentional, perhaps) in frivolous ways with mechanical, thoughtless and common expressions which they have heard others use.

“Thy Kingdom Come”:

The kingdom (reign of Christ) had not yet begun when He taught His disciples to pray. He had not sat down at God’s right hand as king (Acts 2:29-35). God exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name to which all must one day bow in submission (Phil. 2:9). Once the sacrifice had been made, He ascended to God to rule till He put His enemies under His feet (Heb. 10:12). David prophesied of this in Psalms 110:1, and Peter affirmed it to be a fact in Acts 2:34-36, but when He gave the model prayer, it was not a fact. Often men try to adapt the prayer to us by saying “the kingdom is to come into our hearts” or that the future kingdom is to come, or even that the eternal kingdom is to come, but this is not the meaning of the statement of the Lord. The long wait for the coming of the kingdom of Christ was nearing an end, and Jesus taught the disciples to pray for its consummation.

“Thy Will Be Done, As In Heaven, So On Earth”:

This petition is tied to the former. It is tied to the great commission also. As angelic beings were subject to Him, so the prayer was for men to be as well. The purpose of Christ coming was to save men, and this was to be done through the power of the gospel (Rom. 1:16). Prayer needs to be offered for men to submit to the will of Christ but disciples also must remember that since the gospel is the power of God to save, we must feel the need to teach them (2 Tim. 2:2).

Man’s Needs

The second part of the prayer concerns itself with the needs of man. Man’s material and spiritual needs are met by the Lord (Phil. 4:19).

“Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread”:

While some believe this to be “spiritual food,” it seems to me He desires us to pray for our material blessings. It is true that He has promised the necessities if we seek the kingdom first (Matt. 6:33), but John says, “Beloved, I pray that in all things thou mayest be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 Jn. 2). This is praying for material things. The word “pray” there is “wish” in some versions, but W.E. Vine says “to pray (to God), is used with this meaning in . . . 3 John 2, R.V.. . . ” (An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, V. 3, p. 199). Disciples need not only to give thanks for material things, but to seek His blessings, thus making us realize from whence they come. Note that he did not pray for luxuries, but only for the staff of life.

“And Forgive Us Our Debts, As We Also Have Forgiven Our Debtors”:

Luke says, “sins” as we forgive those “indebted to us.” Foster makes the point that “debt is a wider term and includes both sins of commission and omission” and adds that “trespass emphasizes sins of commission” (Studies In The Life Of Christ, p. 864). Note that Jesus uses the word “trespass” in v. 14 in commenting on the prayer. Here we have an example of a disposition and attitude man must have before God will have that attitude toward us. God shows mercy if we are merciful (Jas. 2:13), and here He will forgive if we forgive our fellow man.

“And Bring Us Not Into Temptation, But Deliver Us From The Evil One”:

God allows us to be tested but not beyond our ability to resist (1 Cor. 10:13). There is no contradiction between this and James 1:13. Christ was tempted (Heb. 2:18) and the heroes of old were also (Heb. 11:37), but this doesn’t mean God desires us to sin. We are drawn by our own lust. We are allowed to dwell where temptations arise (Gal. 6:1). God tested Abraham (Gen. 22:1), but while He did not desire him to sin, He wanted to know of his faith. When Abraham stretched forth his hand to kill Isaac, God said, “. . . now I know that thou fearest God. . . ” (Gen. 22:12). Temptations come from Satan (1 Cor. 7:5; Matt. 4:1), but man’s faith is tested when he is allowed to be put in the position of being tested. Jesus said, “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41). The word “one” (evil one) is not in the original, but the translators of the American Standard thought the idea was there. It is hard to tell from the original, but the thought is little changed if he speaks of Satan or simply to deliver us from evil –generally.

Many ancient manuscripts add to this prayer, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen.” While it is not in many of the better manuscripts, it is much like the beautiful expressions found in such passages as Revelation 5:13; 7:12; 11:17, and others. It is a great expression of praise and adoration that would always be in order as we lift our voices heavenward.

Truly disciples today can learn much from prayer. Included in it is a truly comprehensive concept of all that man needs-in a material way and in a spiritual way. Not only must we be forgiven of the Lord, but we must pray that we have the wisdom to avoid temptations and to be able to resist such. Too often we don’t take the way of escape that the Lord provides (1 Cor. 10:13). Too often, I am afraid we don’t give the Lord enough praise and adoration in our prayers.

Conclusion

Let us not fall into the habit of meaningless and empty words repeated from others’ prayers, but from our hearts pour out our thoughts to our Maker and Redeemer in fervent adoration, thanksgiving and praise; and earnestly seek His blessings from a sincere heart, thinking more of what He thinks than what brethren think.

Guardian of Truth XXIX: 15, pp. 464-465, 467
August 1, 1985