Dr. J. Vernon McGee :: Chapter 2: On Speaking Terms With God

CHAPTER 2

On Speaking Terms With God

Men, great in both scholarship and humble faith, have sat before the Lord’s Prayer intent upon finding the underlying richness of its perfection. Resultant of their research and study, some have determined that the Lord’s Prayer falls into six petitions; others have felt that there are eight; while the opinions of the great Augustine and Martin Luther were agreed that there are seven petitions. This point we will not here debate. However, I am of the thinking that there are three petitions relating to God and identified by the little pronoun Your—“Hallowed be Your name,” “Your kingdom come,” and “Your will be done.” And then there are four petitions relating to man and marked out by the words our and us—“Give us this day our daily bread,” “Forgive us our debts,” “Do not lead us into temptation,” and “Deliver us from the evil one.”

Although the above “breaking down” of the Lord’s Prayer is essential to our understanding, we will turn from it and concern ourselves, for the present, with the introduction or invocation of the prayer. Three striking statements lie here in the introduction: “Our Father,” “in heaven,” and “hallowed be Your name.”

Our Father…

As we go into the study, we come first of all to the statement, “Our Father.” This was startling to the Old Testament saint, for as far as we know he never, under any conditions, called God “Father” in a personal way. It is true that Israel, as a nation, was called a son. God commanded Moses to tell Pharaoh that Israel was His son and to let him go. That is repeated again in Deuteronomy. But you do not find individual Israelites calling God “Father.” He was the Father of the nation, of His people, but the individual was the son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So they did not approach God as a father.

Now let us note carefully that Moses was called a servant; following the thread, we see that David also was called a servant; and still following the development of relationship, we come to the Ethiopian eunuch and find that he becomes a son of God. How? Through faith in Jesus Christ! You can see something radical has taken place!

Now in a very real sense, all of mankind are the sons of God by creation. Paul, when speaking to the Athenians on Mars Hill, said, “For we are also His offspring” (Acts 17:28). But the word he used is not that of sonship—huios in the Greek—rather, genos which carries the meaning that we are His creation. God created Adam who was called a son of God. Then Adam sinned, and after the fall he begat a son who was like him in his fallen nature. From then on, mankind was no longer considered sons of God in any personal way whatsoever.

I want to say this kindly, but one of the most pernicious lies abroad in our land is that of the universal Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. There has never been spawned in the depths of hell a thing more deceiving. A great scholar of the past called them “a moronic simplification.” Reduced to simple English, anyone who speaks of the universal Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man speaks as a moron.

I am confident that the Word of God provides sharp proof of the fallacy of this teaching. Not too many years ago there was a case in Ohio of a one-year-old boy being kidnapped from his parents. Five years later a little lad was located in an orphanage who looked as they felt their son would look at that age. They concluded that their long quest was ended and ordered a blood test to determine if the boy was their long-lost child. But, sadly, he was not, and the newspapers carried the headline: “Science Shatters Dream.” Likewise, Scripture shatters the dream of those who long to establish the teaching of the universal Fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. There is a blood test that must be made, and we are only declared to be sons of God through this blood test! We are sons of God only through a washing by the blood of Christ. It is that blood which establishes our sonship with God the Father.

Often we find ourselves turning to that great field of music, the spiritual, for the gospel in homespun. Certainly there is one spiritual that needs to be sung in this day—it is “Everybody Talkin’ ‘Bout Heaven Ain’t Goin’ There.” Not everyone becomes a son of God today. Just because we are members of the human family does not grant us the position whereby we can say, “Our Father.” As the young couple had to turn away from the little lad at the orphanage, so God has to turn His back on a person who does not come the blood route—the way He has outlined. I know these are days of slipshod thinking, when sentiment passes current for the gospel, but God has fixed just one way!

We are living in a day of beauty parlor religion. We settle for bubble bath salvation instead of being plunged beneath the crimson flow that washes white as snow. We have mouth-wash conversions instead of becoming new creations in Christ Jesus. We wear toothpaste smiles on our faces instead of the joy of the Lord in our hearts. We talk more about halo shampoo than about the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We give talcum powder testimonies rather than those saturated with the fragrance of Christ. We live rosewater lives rather than lives manifesting the life of the Rose of Sharon. There is lipstick redemption instead of the precious blood of Christ. Synthetic jewelry is being worn instead of adorning the gospel of grace. And the glamour of Hollywood is being substituted for the glory of the holiness of God.

We must rise above the sham and come to an understanding of the fact that everyone is not a son of God. We can become His son in only one way. Think of it: Even Nicodemus—a Pharisee with a God-given religion, a moral man, a man under Judaism who stood head and shoulders above everyone else—could not call God “Father.” The Lord Jesus said to him, “…Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). And in his Gospel, John says:

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right [or, even better, the authority, for that is the meaning of the word] to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12)

My friend, is this first statement, “Our Father,” your precious possession for use in prayer? Can you rightfully use it before the Throne? Is He your Father through faith in Jesus Christ?

…In Heaven…

One of my many moments of being spiritually thrilled is upon examining the second statement, “in heaven.” But to be correctly translated it should read, “in the heavens,” for it is plural, not singular. While it was the custom in the New Testament to use the plural for the word “heaven,” it was not always the rule. When you drop down to Matthew 6:10 it reads, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” and here it is in the singular and means the heaven of heavens where God’s throne is. But in the second statement, the word is in the plural: “in the heavens.” How wonderful that is!

And why is this so wonderful? There are three heavens mentioned in Scripture. The first is identified by the Lord Himself when He spoke of the birds of the heavens—the air spaces. These, then, are the first heaven. Then we read in Scripture of the stars of heaven—the stellar spaces that make up the second heaven. And finally, out in the vastness of His space somewhere is the throne of God—the third heaven. Paul spoke of being caught up into the third heaven. So, then, this prayer tells us that He is “our Father in the heavens”—the first heaven, the second heaven, and the very throne of God itself. How that thrills us! It is the answer to man’s wisdom today. I trust that some of the wonder and glory of this is beginning to break in upon your heart.

Greek philosophy projected several theories, one of which was atheism. This was based upon the premise that there is no God back of this universe. This prayer tells us that back of this universe there is a God and He is “our Father in the heavens.” Back of creation there stands a personality—GOD!

Several years ago, an astronomer, speaking before an Astronomer’s Association in London, called attention to a mass of new findings that revealed an ever-expanding universe. Then he commented, “In comparison to this universe—astronomically speaking—what is man?” A very scholarly, godly member of the body arose and said, “Sir, man is the astronomer.” Man, living here on this earth, has looked out into space and, somehow, come to a workable understanding of it. But the Great Architect and Creator, “our Father in the heavens,” looks down upon man in his feeble attempt to understand the creation by some physical means.

Then there is the pernicious philosophy of pantheism abroad today. It goes by several names, but it is a philosophy holding that creation is the sum total of God—that there is no God other than the combined forces and laws manifested in the existing universe. Therefore, its followers worship the sea, the moon, the sun, and every other material thing in nature. To them, God is matter—the sum total of everything. But this prayer says, “Our Father in the heavens.” He is not a prisoner in this universe. He is beyond and above it. He is in the air spaces, in the stellar spaces, but He is far removed from His universe today—He is more than creation! He is the One sitting upon the throne of the universe, and He has it under His control!

And still another philosophy appears; it is known as deism. This system teaches that while God created this universe, He just wound it up as you do a clock and then went off and left it to take care of itself. Yes, it is true that He is beyond space upon the throne of the universe. Proverbs says that God is far from the wicked, and David, being mindful of this, was continually in prayer, “O Lord, do not be far from me” (Psalm 35:22). But Scripture also tells us that He is a very present help in time of trouble. How glorious it is that this One, who is the Creator of the universe, came to this earth and in His redeeming work went to the cross, rose from the dead, and is today at God’s right hand. But listen as He says, “…Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20) and “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). For where two or three are gathered in His name, He is there (see Matthew 18:20). He is the omnipresent God, but at the same time He is ever-present to help us as we face life with its problems and burdens.

…Hallowed Be Your Name

Now let us turn to the last great statement made in the introduction: “Hallowed be Your name.” More correctly translated, it should read, “Let Your name be made holy.” The name of God stands for all that God is. When the Lord was leading the children of Israel out of Egypt through the wilderness, He sent His angel and told them, “I want you to obey Moses; do what he tells you because My name is in him” (see Exodus 23:21). That means all that God is—all that God stands for—is in His name.

There is a very interesting verse in Leviticus: “And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death” (Leviticus 24:16). The name of God was so reverent to the children of Israel that they did not even pronounce it. In their long history they completely lost its pronunciation. Consequently, no one knows today the pronunciation of that mystical tetragrammaton, YHWH. We have it translated “Jehovah”—some say it is “Yahweh”—who is right? No one knows! And why do we not know? Because the name of God was so holy, so sacred, and demanded such reverence that the children of Israel dared not even pronounce it.

In conservative circles today there is a familiarity with the name of God that ought not to be. You and I become too familiar with things that are sacred and holy, and we need to be very careful in this. It is tragic when a man or woman out on the street takes God’s name in vain—but the thing that is more tragic is the blasphemy of the sanctuary. And do you know what that is? It is the thing of which I am continually reminding myself. We who walk into the pulpit do so with such frequency that we become familiar with it. We can brush against holy and sacred things so constantly that they can become commonplace. When a guest speaker comes to our pulpit, I always observe his manner as he approaches the sacred desk. And you who come to the pew—you do well to be reverent in His presence in the house that has been dedicated to Him. God, deliver us from treating as commonplace the things that are sacred before You!

But let us think upon the way in which you and I can make God’s name holy. Can we add to that which is already infinitely holy? Certainly not. Then what did our Lord mean by the statement, “Hallowed be Your name”? We are sure that He meant more than that we should arise in some Sunday morning service and repeat with the others, “Hallowed by Your name.” He meant that by our lives we are to make God’s name holy.

There are two men whose names are mentioned in Genesis: One was a disgrace to the name of God, and the other commended the name of God. These two men had one characteristic in common—they always built an altar where they chose to dwell. When Abraham went into Canaan, a Canaanite passing by observed that they had a new neighbor for he had seen his altar. Everywhere Abraham went, he built an altar to God. And Abraham began to do business with the Canaanites who found him to be honest. They found that everything Abraham said invited their confidence. Finally they reached the conclusion that the God whom Abraham worshiped was a holy God, and surely the name of God was made holy in Canaan because of the life of Abraham.

But when Jacob started out, he could not be trusted. Do not attempt to explain away the first part of his life, for it held only dishonor. Two things always marked the path over which he had gone: He had built an altar and he had defrauded someone. One day God met him as he was en route—he was alone and God led him down by the brook Jabbok. And God told Jacob that he could not continue conducting himself in that manner, for God’s name must be made holy. And God caused the socket of Jacob’s leg to be dislocated. I believe that God will do that today for anyone of His children who is bringing dishonor to His name.

Paul said to his people in that day, “…the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you…” (Romans 2:24). My fundamental friend, my premillennial brother, let us go to the top of yonder mountain where He gave the Sermon on the Mount—we need to go there. We must have men and women who name the name of God and whose lives correspond to it!

I commented to a friend of mine, “If I ever leave the ministry—and there are times when I am tempted to do it—it will not be due to a loss of faith in the Book.” There was a time when I had doubts about the Bible, but today I do not have a single doubt; I am willing to stake the eternal destiny of my soul upon the accuracy of the Bible. I believe it with all my heart. If I ever leave the ministry, it will be because of leaders who profess to know the name of God but blaspheme that name in their living. Go to the top of the mountain and listen as He reveals His will. I know we are not saved by the Sermon on the Mount, but you and I can make His name holy by reading it and abiding therein. I know it is a ministry of condemnation, but it will cause us to flee to Jesus for refuge, for salvation, deliverance, and power; and we will become God’s child by faith in Jesus Christ that we might be enabled to make His name holy in our living. Are you hallowing God’s name in your daily life?