So this would be the introduction to the Lord's Prayer. There's actually six petitions in the Lord's Prayer, six requests. The first three, it's regarding His name, His kingdom. And a matter of fact, it will be in Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6, 9 through 13. Matthew chapter 6 But in the in the Lord's Prayer you have three you have six petitions you first you have the address and then you have the six petitions the first three regarding his name his kingdom and His will and the last three it's regarding his regarding our our daily needs our forgiveness of sins and the way we forgive others and and how we should not be led into temptation but delivered from evil. So that's the Lord's Prayer. First the address, six petitions, and the first three regarding his name, his kingdom, and his will, and the other three, the last three, is regarding our daily needs and our forgiveness and how we forgive others and how we depend upon depend upon God to not lead us into temptation, but to deliver us from evil. But we're going to begin with the address, the way we approach God. The way we approach God. So Jesus in Matthew chapter 6, starting from verse 9 through 13, He begins to tell His disciples how to pray. He says, pray then like this, Our Father, Heaven the address the way we come to God as children to God to a father I Mean notice who who is Jesus speaking to he's speaking to? Who is he speaking to when he says pray then like this is he speaking to? The whole people of the all the people in the world is he speaking only to the Spurgeons of the world is he speaking only to the Raven Hills of the world or of or the washers or Ian Bounds who wrote on the book of prayer? Who's he speaking to here? He's not speaking to the strongest of saints or the most holiest of saints or just adults or for older people. He's speaking to his disciples. He's speaking to Christians. Christians, all different with all different personalities, all weak and all needy, all who sin, all who struggle, But all who share one thing, that God is their father. God is their father. So the Lord Jesus says, pray then like this, our father, our father. See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and so we are. If you're a Christian right now, so you are a believer in God. You're God's child by grace, not by anything you have done. And so we come to Christ teaching here, and he's telling us, this is how you address God, our Father in heaven, our Father in heaven. Well, what a blessing that we can come to God If you remember Corey's teaching, the encouragement to pray, he was touching upon these truths here as well. And in Jeff's teaching as well, he was regarding God's character. And this is our God, our Father in heaven. Know that he's in the heavens, but our Father as well. In Thomas Watson's work on the Lord's Prayer, regarding the address to our Father, he says this, and it's really encouraging, he says this. Princes on earth give themselves titles expressing their greatness as high and mighty. God might have done so and expressed himself thus our king of glory, our judge. But he gives himself another title, our father, an expression of love and condescension. He comes down low to us. that He might encourage us to pray to Him. He represents Himself under the sweet notion of a Father, our Father. Our Father. And this is so encouraging that God will humble Himself and come so low and say, you know, express Himself as our Father. This high and holy God. It would have been alright if you would have said, if Jesus said, hey, pray then like this, our Father. If Jesus would have said, pray like this, Almighty God, who is in heaven, or Holy God, and rightly so He is. Rightly so He is. Praise God that He's holy, He's righteous. Our Father is in the heavens, our Father in the heavens. For God is in the heavens and He does what He pleases. Heaven is His throne, and earth is His footstool. This is the God that we approach. But Jesus says here, when you prayed, say, Our Father in Heaven. Our Father in Heaven. So that's, we're coming, we're coming to God as our Father. That should let you know, that's so much encouragement right there. You're in a relationship already, it's by grace. It's by grace. You're in this relationship with your father. He knows everything about you. You're in this relationship. And how did you become in this relationship? We already know the gospel truths, truths that we need to be reminded. It was God's working in us. You remember John chapter 1, where Jesus says, those who received him, those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. just by grace. We were never at, there was a time where we didn't have no relationship with the father. All of our sins separated us from God. We were children of wrath, children of disobedience. We didn't know God. We were living according to the course of the world, according to Ephesians chapter two. We didn't know him. We didn't have a relationship with him. But God in his mercy sent forth his son. Sent forth his son. And He sent His Son to die upon the cross for us. And the work of salvation, the order of salvation, you have this work that God regenerates you. It's His power, it's His work alone. And then He helps you, you're able to respond by faith and repentance. You're able to respond by faith and repentance. And not only that, the moment that you believe in Christ, there's a transaction. Your sins are imputed to Christ and His righteousness is imputed to you. And you're saved by faith. But it doesn't stop there. Those truths are very glorious, and we can speak about them. There's much men that spoke about them and preached upon them. But there's this other doctrine between justification and sanctification, which is the doctrine of adoption. The doctrine of adoption. As Wayne Grudem said, he said, it is possible for a man to be regenerated. It's possible for a man to be justified, legally right before God. But he also says, but this other blessing as well is fairly important. This doctrine of adoption that you have. You're in the royal family. You're inside the house of God. Not only a servant to Christ, to God, but you're also adopted. You get all the privileges, all the rights as a child, very taken care of. Adoption. It's important that we understand this privilege of adoption. It's important that we understand that God is our Father. It's really important. Because if you're not viewing God as your Father, then you can struggle. You can struggle. You can struggle with many areas. Vody Bachman said this. He said two things. He said one of the greatest things that he sees in people struggling with assurance Either they're just in sin, they're dabbling with sin, they need to let go of that, and therefore they struggle with their assurance. Another thing he says this, and I agree with, he said that one of the greatest things why they struggle with assurance, because they're not viewing God and growing in this understanding of their adoption, and growing in this understanding of God being their Father, therefore they struggle. They view God as a judge, looking out to see if you're innocent or guilty. He did this, or you didn't do that. You might not admit that, but some people live like that. But it's very important that you get this understanding that God is our Father. That's encouraging to us, because we know our Father knows us. So if we're living like that, not viewing God as our Father, we can be weak. Probably can be self-righteous. Probably struggle with assurance. But know this, there's so much confidence, there's so much freedom knowing that God can sympathize with you as a father. He knows your weakness, He knows your conditions. So there's no need of fear and always look at Him in a way that's wrong. Because what does the scripture says, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom you cry, Abba. So it's important that we recognize that the one that we approach, the way Jesus is teaching, when you come to God, know that he's your father, your father. And God perfectly, he perfectly, he perfects all the qualities of a father. All the qualities of a father. A father who loves. As a father, he perfectly provides for his children. As a father, he perfectly protects his children. As a father, he perfectly loves and has compassion. He disciplines as well. And that would be almost like our outline this morning. As a father he perfectly provides, protects, he perfectly comforts, he perfectly disciplines, he perfectly has compassion. That's our outline this morning. We want to know and be encouraged how God our Father perfectly perfects all these qualities of a father. The first one is as a father he perfectly provides. Earthly fathers, or fathers of this world, or parents, they can be hindered, or single parents, they can be hindered from providing for their children. They can wake up one day, they can be sick one day, they can have to call off from work, but see God, He's all-powerful, nothing hinders Him, for He's all-powerful, the same who provides, who provides and feeds the birds of the air. Matthew chapter 6, Says neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your father feeds them. And yet your father feeds them. Are you not more value than they? But if God so clothed the world, the grass of the field, verse 30, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we What shall we wear? I mean, think about what shall we wear? Then He goes on in verse 31, Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. So God provides For the birds of the air, He provides all these things. I mean, if you were to zoom out and look at the whole vast of the world, all the birds of the air, all the grass that close certain parts of the world. If you were to zoom out, He's taking care of the world. He feeds the creatures in the ocean. He feeds the birds of the air. And how much more you? He says, you're more valuable. He's a good Father. He provides. He's able to provide. He perfects this quality of a Father. He's able to provide for you. He's able to provide for you. He's able to provide. In Matthew 7 verse 9 as well, you see Him how He provides and He tells His people. He says, and which of you, his son asks him for a bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him? If you, that just tells you right there, if we lack anything, we know that God who, we know that God knows that we give things to our children. And we're not perfect, we can be evil. We're evil sometimes. And if we know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more would God give good things to those who ask Him? He'll give them His Holy Spirit. This is very important. This is why it's very important to pray the fourth petition. Give us our daily bread. So God is able, God is able to provide for those, provide for His children. He's a perfect Father. Another privilege we have because of our adoption that our Father will not only provide for us, but He will protect us. A Father who will perfectly protect us. Since He is all-wise and all-powerful, knows how to perfectly provide for us, and know how to perfectly protect us, As Daniel said, blessed be the name of God forever and to whom belong wisdom and might, He can protect us. And as the scripture teaches in Isaiah, it says, Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous hand. I mean, when your child is in harm, they usually run to you when they're afraid. But, or when you see your child in danger, if you have kids, or afraid, you run to them. You run to their aid. You see their need. You see they need help. And how much more a father? How much more a father? He'll run to you. Because you've been bought by him. He loves you. He knows your needs. He knows your condition. I don't have no kids, but I remember one time I took my little niece, Alina, to the thrift store. And she was trying something in the fitting room. And I remember she couldn't open the door to get out. And she was panicking. She was like, tío, tío. That's uncle in Spanish. And I was like. Started getting like worried. I want I was trying to do anything I can do to open this door, and I would have done something But I was really worried about her I don't know what was going on in this fitting room but I heard her crying for help and she had that voice where it sounded like she was crying and But there was an employee there an employee there that that what's caught up helped me open the door I Just think about that. She's my niece and I was very concerned about her how much more if she was your daughter You would if you probably man be more worried and probably be trying to break the door down and If that's the case when we cry to God, he knows our concerns. He knows how to sympathize with us He'll come for our aid because he's a perfect father And then He also provides by protecting us. He protects us by intervening in our life, keeping us away from certain things, certain directions to go, certain places that you should not go. He also protects us by giving His Word. His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathways. His Word that God has given. And He's all wise. You look at the book of Proverbs, how it's written as like a father to a son. how it's written to a father as his son. He says, my son, for example, Proverbs 1.10, my son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, come with us, let us lie in wait for blood. He says, my son, do not walk in the way with them. So you see the Proverbs, how it's written. So God has given us his word to keep us, to protect us. And it'll be a very wise thing that we keep his word. It'll be a very wise thing, especially for young men. You know the psalm says, for I hid in your word in my heart that I may not sin against you. How can a man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. So God has given us his word that we may not sin against him, that we might not go to places that are dangerous, certain people to be protected from. He knows he's all wise. He's all wise. He's a really good father. This is why it's important to pray the other petition where it says, lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. Deliver me from evil. Make sure we have time to pray here. These are some of the privileges that we have that accompany adoption, that we have the rights. And God promises that he'll take care of us. Another way that God perfectly, the qualities of a father he perfectly, he keeps, as a father he perfectly perfects good discipline because he loves us. Proverbs 11 chapter 3 verse 11 it says, my son do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary in His reproof for the Lord reproves him who whom he loves as a father the son in whom he delights and there's more Passages dealing with that as how God disciplines us whom the father loves he disciplines those whom he loves So you see God? His loving kind is disciplining us He also disciplined us by his word by showing and exposing certain things in our in our life convicting us and Warning us and it's good that we are disciplined by our father That's that's God as a father he perfectly perfectly perfects the quality of a father and disciplining us I Know this brothers up even though that God has called us to obey him even though that God has called us to obey to obey Him, to honor Him. We're called to do His will. Though this, even though when our hearts wander away and we don't seek His counsel, we don't keep His word or listen to His instruction, and we can all confess and admit about ourselves, we can admit, we can confess this, that we have done this before. I know this, He is a Father. He's a Father who loves, who pities us with compassion. He's a Father who perfectly loves. That's another point. Who perfectly loves us. Even though we don't perfectly obey Him, He's not gonna be like looking down at us like a judge, but He's a Father who has compassion. And you know the Psalm 103 just shows you how gracious He is. He pities us. He knows our frame. We are but dust. In Psalms 103 it goes on like this in verse 8. The Lord is merciful and gracious and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sin nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he redeem our transgressions. He removes our transgressions from us as a father who shows compassion to his children. So the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame. He remembers we are dust. That's Psalms 103 verse 8. Verse 8, starting from verse 8. And I think it might be through 14. It might be past 14. Psalm 103, starting from verse 8. And you can read down on that. So, we know this, that even though our Father perfectly provides, He perfectly protects, and perfectly disciplines, and he perfectly loves us. He's a gracious father. I was talking to Steven Wilkinson last Sunday. We were talking about this, and he said, we're talking about when you discipline your children. He said, you know, yeah, I was encouraged. I think Chris Stanfield encouraged him, saying, yeah, when you discipline your child, make sure you You make sure afterwards you forgive them, you love them, you restore them, let them know that you love them. And you see that? That's a counseling from a father to Stephen. And how much more our father? How much more love and graciousness and sympathy and closeness and restoration would he give to us when we don't perfectly keep his ways? We don't need to always think that God's looking down on us in a wrong way. We can come to Him so freely, so confident, to His throne of grace. We can come to Him and ask, O Father, that's the other petition, forgive us of our sins. It's one of the other, the last three of the petitions. We can say, forgive us of our sins. So my encouragement is basically to let you know that, hey, the address in the Lord's Prayer is that you need to address Him as Father, because He's your Father, who knows you, He knows your needs. He sees the secrets, He knows your, you can be, there's so much freedom to know how He views you. Last week when you sinned, or yesterday when you failed to honor Him, or today, this morning, when you probably failed, you probably didn't make it to your reading plan, What makes you right before God? Christ. What makes you accepted by God? Christ. He's a good father. He can sympathize with us. He loves us. You see that in His gracious, redeeming love. You see that in the beginning where God elected His people from the beginning as adopted children. You see the electing love of the Father. You also see the redeeming love of the Father sending the Son to come and lay down His life. Willingly, He came in love. The Father sent the Son in love. The Son came willingly to lay down His life in love. And not only that, my friends, He justifies us. I mean, He calls us heirs with Christ. We have an inheritance with God. Fear not, the Lord Jesus says, for it's your good father's pleasure to give you the kingdom. We have an inheritance with Christ. We have all these riches. We have eternal life. Most definitely, we have the privilege to be with God forever. The privilege to be with God forever. So know this, God loves us. He has an eternal love for us. He has a love that's set upon us by grace. It's not anything that we can do. It's a glorious love. Know this, on your best days, on your best holy days, He's not a father who loves you more. And on your worst days, He's not a father who loves you less. He's a father who loves perfectly. So that's my encouragement to y'all. Encouragement from God's Word and from myself, which is very encouraging to me, the weeks that I had to study these things. And I'll just leave room for prayer. And we can come to God as our Father, who sympathizes with us, who knows our needs. So let me close in prayer, and then we can pray. Father, Lord, I just thank You for being so gracious to me, Lord, and being so merciful to me. Lord, I thank You that You know all of our needs, God, even in this very moment. I thank You, Father, for sending Your Son. Thank You for Christ and His perfect salvation, this Thank you for his salvation, God. Thank you for his cross. Thank you for his resurrection. Thank you for his righteousness. And Lord, that we're able to spend eternity with you, Lord, which is a privilege, which is a grace that you have given us. I pray you would bless these people here, my dear brothers and sisters. I pray you would help us to pray this morning. I pray for those who might hear this message, God, I pray you would encourage them. I just thank you, Father, for your kindness this morning. And may you help us to pray, not only this day, but for now on, Lord, help us to address you as our Father and to live in light of that. Thank you, Father, in Jesus' name, amen.