Brothers and sisters, if you want to turn in your scriptures to Exodus 16, as we continue to look at the Lord's Prayer tonight, we'll start just by reading a portion of Exodus 16. We're going to be looking at the fourth petition tonight of the Lord's Prayer. So let's give attention to God's word, Exodus chapter 16. I'm gonna begin at verse one. They set out from Elim and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai on the 15th day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the people of Israel said to them, would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full. For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. And the Lord said to Moses, behold, I'm about to rain bread from heaven for you. The people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily. So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, at evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we that you grumble against us? Moses said, when the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling, that you grumble against him, what are we? Your grumbling is not against us, but against the Lord. Stop there. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you. for your word. We thank you for the abiding of the spirit. We thank you, Lord God, that you open our eyes and you illumine our paths. And we ask now by the work of your spirit that you would continue to teach us tonight. Teach us by and through the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ as we continue to dig into the model prayer. Help us to understand, Father, what it means when we pray. Give us our daily bread. We pray that you'd lay this upon our hearts, that you'd open, Father, our eyes and our ears to the working of the Spirit. We would be taught by Him. We would give you all the glory and exalt the name of Christ Jesus. We ask this in His precious name. Amen. Well, brothers and sisters, as we have been, we'll continue tonight to study this model prayer, the Lord's Prayer, taking a few weeks in the past and now a few weeks to come in the future to focus on that prayer that the Lord Jesus has given to us, that model prayer, which serves as kind of a structure for us in all of our prayers. and that we might individually and collectively be taught by the Spirit tonight as to how we can better approach the Lord and set forth our petitions and supplications before him. Let's review as we do that, as we've been spending several weeks now in this, and the first thing that we did is we looked at the preface to the prayer, Our Father which art in heaven, and as we did so we learned that we're praying every single time, not just as we pray the model prayer, but every time we come before the Lord. In prayer, we're doing so as one of his children. In fact, prayer is a unique way for us as his children to communicate with him. In fact, others can't do that. Those that are not his children cannot. And we're taught that even in the preface, our father. Not all can refer to the creator God as their father, only those who've been adopted and brought in. And so we pray as a child to our heavenly father as the one, the only one who is ready and able to help to give those things to us that we're asking for in accordance with his will. And as we do so, as we pray to God, our father, we're doing that with others and for others, and we're doing that in faith. We have to be praying in faith. There's no other way that we could come before the God of creation and call him our father. unless, unless it was by faith. And we got into the first of these six petitions, hallowed be thy name or hallowed be your name. And we asked, what what is a petition? As we began this stretch of six, we find that it is basically a request that we make of God coming before him as our father. and we do it in his name. We're doing it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we're doing it, as we are seeking the Lord's face, we are, in a sense, in our hearts, hallowing his name and all things by which he is made known. And to hallow means to set him apart, not that we, in fact, or in reality are setting God apart. He's already done that himself. He is the only God, the only living and true God. And so by that he has already set himself apart from all other things set himself apart from his creation. But to hallow him is to do that in every single aspect of our lives. And so as we pray the model prayers, we're meditating upon this, even if we don't use those words. That should be part of our meditation, part of our prayer, that God would cause us in everything that we do to hallow, to set apart his name, to honor it, to revere it, as Watson says here, in the whole course and tenor of our lives. The second petition, Your Kingdom Come, was much broader than maybe we had anticipated as we got into it. As the Shorter Catechism relates to us, it said that Thy Kingdom Come involves the destruction of Satan's kingdom, Slides are doing it again. It involves the destruction of Satan's kingdom, it involves the advancement of the kingdom of grace, and it involves our request, our petition, that the kingdom of glory would be hastened. And so as we looked at those things, we saw that Satan's kingdom is not only real, but he has sway over many in this world right now. We're calling upon God that he would continue to dismantle and ultimately destroy Satan's kingdom, his power over every single thing. Even though he's been bound and restrained, he still has power that he wields. And in that prayer that his kingdom would come, we are asking that the Lord would continue to dismantle and break down Satan's kingdom. We're also asking that God's kingdom of grace, which he has now brought into our hearts, would only increase. We need that. We need the work of the spirit to continue to work upon us. And that's what we're praying, is we pray that your kingdom come, that the kingdom of grace would increase our faith, our love for others would be growing abundantly as a spirit abides within us. And then the kingdom of glory, the ultimately Christ returning, that he would do so quickly, that God would hasten that day, that there would be no more tears. We got to the third petition, which we looked at last week, your will be done. And again, this involves so many things. It involves this idea that by grace, God would make us able and willing. And then we saw three things to know, to obey, stop slides, to know, obey and to submit to his will in all things. That's a big petition, isn't it? We see that within heaven, within the heavenly realms where God is seated, all things are happening according to his will. And we're asking that that would take place here on this earth. We're petitioning God very specifically that would take place. In order to do that, we must be able to know God's will. He must give us the ability to obey his will. and then finally to submit to his will. We saw that last week as we covered that. Well, today, this week, we want to touch upon now this fourth petition, our daily bread. I'm sorry, these slides continue to jump, seemingly having a mind of their own, but we'll try to restrain them. And so here is the prayer. Let's go over it once again. In this manner, therefore, pray. Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Well, this afternoon or this evening, we're going to be focusing upon that fourth petition, which is give us this day our daily bread. And in that, according to the shorter catechism, let me go back again. We're praying that of God's free gift, we might receive a competent portion of the good things of this life. And enjoy his blessing with them. Let's break that down. Let's break that down into four points or four meditations. In this fourth petition, we're going to be thinking upon meditating upon the fact that we're asking God to freely give material things needed to live according to his will. That we would be trusting. And his wisdom to provide daily. That we would confess our complete dependence upon him. And finally, that we would enjoy and content ourselves in God. Four meditations, four things, I think, that are caught up in this fourth petition. Let's break them down one by one. Starting with asking for bread, that's really very simple thought that is contained within this fourth petition. It's very express and it's set forth in its face. And in asking for bread, We might say that this fourth petition is the one which directly involves the physical world. It does. We are asking that God would give us daily bread. Brothers and sisters, I think if we're just focused upon that, if we just limit ourselves in our thinking and our meditations, that this is all about food. Asking for enough food, I think we cut this petition very short. I think we fail to appreciate how this fourth petition deals directly with our hearts and our faith. As I write here, it would be a great mistake to consider this petition as merely being a request for food. It certainly is on its face, but it goes much deeper into our hearts as we pray this and meditate upon it. God did make man body and soul. And unlike God, humans do need food and clothing and shelter to survive. in order to continue to seek his righteousness and his kingdom. Children of God need physical strength. Everyone does. We all need clothing. We all need shelter. And so as we consider this, we're going to consider that first, but then we'll drill down. Think of the one who does provide. As we ask God to provide daily bread, we need to keep in mind that he is the one from whom all things come, that he is the provider. And we see that immediately in Genesis as God creates and then as he places the man into the garden, don't we? God creates the garden. He forms the world. He creates all things. And then he creates that special place, the Garden of Eden, where he places the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground, God causes to spring up every tree that's pleasant to the sight and good for food. That is the perfect place then. Everything's very good at this point. Sin has not entered into the world. And as God creates, we read at the end of chapter one of Genesis, everything was very good. And here we have a special place of things being very good. This is where Adam was placed to tend, to keep, to watch over this place, which was productive. It was pleasing to sight. It was good for food. Every tree, every single one, That's the very goodness of creation represented in Eden, where Adam was placed. But Adam sins. And so as a result of Adam's sin, as a result of his transgression of the one command that he was given by God, what happens? Well, we see that the serpent is cursed. We see that the woman is going to have pain and childbirth, amongst other things. And then finally, as we get to Adam, the one who was given the command directly by God, what does God tell him? The ground has been cursed because of you. Because of your sin, because of your transgression, because you rebelled against me, the ground is cursed. In pain you shall live it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. Are you seeing the picture? We're going from that place of abundance, that place of beauty, a place where the fruit trees were bringing forth luscious fruit, abundant fruit, to now Adam being cast out into the place from which he was taken. And that place is cursed, and it will bring forth thorns and thistles. Now we should see that there's a connection between the Lord's prayer and what happened in the garden and what happened as a result of Adam's sin. That we're praying that God would give us the daily bread that we need. Why? Because of our sin. Because we sinned in Adam. If you were listening to Romans last Sunday afternoon, we were learning that. That we sinned in Adam We have guilt as a result of Adam's sin. It lays upon us. And indeed, the earth was cursed because of our sin in Adam. And now it naturally produces, out of its curse, thorns and thistles. Thus, we have to pray to God that he would overcome the curse that he placed upon the earth so that we might eat bread. You see how it's connected with our sin? This prayer is so very much connected with our hearts, even when we're speaking only of the ground producing bread that we might eat. The dominion which man was to exercise over creation was now in question. As Adam is being removed from the garden, placed in the wilderness, where thorns and thistles will grow. He was called to exercise dominion. And now it's called into question the ability of Adam to watch over and keep that which had been which he had been placed as a ruler over was greatly diminished. All this a result of his sin and now corrupted heart and defiled mind and knowledge. Adam, just like we need to pray. For daily bread. that God in his mercy would, even though the land was cursed and subject to producing thorns and thistles, would produce in toil bread. You see how the prayer is connected directly to our sin. And so as we're praying, We're recognizing that this prayer arises out of the fact that we've sinned against God and that he's the one who can provide and does provide. As. As we see in Acts chapter 14. being told that men turn from these vain things to a living God who made the heaven and the earth. See that is all that is in them. In past generations, He allowed the nations to walk on their own ways, yet He did not leave Himself without witness. Here, we're speaking about God. God did not leave Himself without witness. How do we know that? For He did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. God has overcome, in a sense, the curse. Not that the curse has gone away, but that God yet provides for his people, indeed for all people. Even though the earth is cursed, even though it's producing thorns and thistles, he shows himself, he witnesses to his mercy by providing rains, by providing bread, by satisfying our hearts with food. As we ask for daily bread, we ask that he would continue to pour out his mercy upon us. Listen to me, this is from Isaiah 51, you who pursue righteousness. You who seek the Lord, for the Lord comforts Zion, he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden. Her desert like the garden of the Lord. You see what the prophet Isaiah was saying. We have a picture of waste places, the wilderness where Adam was placed, that God himself comforts those who are pursuing righteousness by providing for them, by making the wilderness like the garden, by bringing bread out of that which naturally, because of the curse, produces thorns and thistles. You see how Isaiah connects so very clearly. The curse. To our hearts. Those who pursue righteousness. And as we do, the God will provide. He'll make the desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her. And then finally, Deuteronomy. As Moses is looking back upon the 40 years of wilderness wandering as he's writing in this last book to the Israelites before they enter the promised land, he calls them to remember the way God had kept them those 40 years, that he might humble them, testing you to know what was in your heart. He humbled them with hunger and fed them with manna. He might make them know that man does not live but every word comes from the mouth of the Lord. Even as we're asking for daily bread, we're asking that the Lord would continue to feed us. Yes, physically, but also spiritually. Connection between bread and the Lord Jesus Christ is clear. Connection between bread and the Lord sustaining us. Yes, physically, but also spiritually. is abundantly clear." Well, this petition also calls us to trust in his wisdom, doesn't it? As we pray, give us this day our daily bread. We're rehearsing every single time the truth that every follower of the Lord Jesus Christ is called to trust in him for his very breath. Give us this day our daily bread. We can't survive without food. We can't survive without nutrition. But it's more than just bread. We have to have Christ in order to have breath itself, in order to have true life. We not merely trust in God and Christ Jesus to provide, but believe and know that he gives according to his perfect wisdom and knowledge every day. Give us this day our daily bread. We're trusting as we pray that prayer, that God gives according to his wisdom. Think of Proverbs 30. As the writer of the proverb. Calls upon God to remove from him falsehood and lying again, spiritual things, give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I'd be full and deny you and say, who is the Lord or lest I'd be poor and steal and profane the name of my God? You see what what the writer, the inspired writer was asking God. That he would provide in his wisdom that in the wisdom of God, he wouldn't provide too much or too little. Because the writer, the inspired writer, knows that his heart can be led astray by worldly things, by hunger, by abundance. And so he's asking, he's praying that God would provide out of his wisdom, not out of the writer's wisdom. He's trusting that God would do that, that he will provide just the right amount at the right time. Jeremiah. Writes this about the man who trusts in men. Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength. As we pray, give us our daily bread, we're praying that we would not be relying upon ourselves. We'll talk about that in a minute. Curses the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. As we're trusting in something other than God, whether it's in ourselves, whether it's in our refrigerators, whether it's in our grocery store, whether it's in our jobs to provide the money we need, whether it's in our bank accounts, If we're trusting in those things, our heart is turning away from the Lord. We would not even be able to pray, give us this day our daily bread, because relying to ourselves, the one who trusts in man and makes his flesh his strength is like the shrub in the desert, shall not see any good come, shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness. But then, Jeremiah contrasts it. With this. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. Whose trust is in the Lord. Like the tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream does not fear when he comes for its leaves remain greens, not anxious in the year of drought. You see how Jesus pulls many of these things together for us. in the Sermon on the Mount. You see how the writer of Psalms begins with this idea? As we trust in God, as we trust in his wisdom, as we call out to him for daily bread, that's exactly what we're doing. That should lead us to not be anxious in the year of drought. Maybe the best example we have in scripture, one of the greatest teachings comes from Job. Job was not trusting in his wisdom. Job was not trusting in his material things. He had some things wrong. He needed to be corrected by God. As Satan comes and takes away his family and his material wealth and afflicts him with sores, Job recognizes that God provides in his wisdom, naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I think that's caught up in our petition. Give us this day our daily bread. We, in a sense, are modeling what Job was saying. The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, and blessed be the Lord in all these things. We're trusting in your wisdom, God. Give us this day our daily bread. Not only trusting in his wisdom, but confessing our dependence, aren't we? Fourth petition is an acknowledgment that we do not have the power or the ability to sustain ourselves. We're trying to grow some vegetables this year. Some of them are coming. Some are not. But it's not because of what we've done. Well, maybe it is. But they're not growing because of what we've done. It's all God. He's the one who brings forth the fruit. We're completely dependent upon him. In other words, we're completely dependent upon the one living, the one living and true God of creation. The Lord has not only made all things, but provides for and sustains them, including us. Isn't that what we read of in the creation account? Of course it is. And God said, let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed. Each according to its kind. And it was so the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds and trees bearing fruit, which is their seed. Each according to its kind. God provides. He's the one. Comes from his hand. We're completely dependent upon him. In our culture, we tend to think we're dependent upon the trucks that bring the groceries to the grocery store and the refrigeration, and the fact that the grocery store has people who can check us out, and that they stock the shelves and do it well, and that's not the case. None of those things would be there if God weren't sustaining, providing. completely dependent upon God. The God who made the world and everything in it. This is Paul's sermon on the mount to those who were unbelievers, who sought after false gods. Being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he's needed anything. Since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. He was starting from scratch with those who were worshiping false gods, idol worshipers, teaching them who God is, and that they were being sustained every single day by the one who gives life and breath into everything. Yes, give us our daily bread. We're confessing our dependence upon God Almighty. Jesus Christ who sustains and upholds everyone, isn't it? I don't think we have to wait until we get to the letter to the Hebrews, but once we get to the letter to the Hebrews we see so very clearly in the third verse as a reference to Jesus Christ that he's the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature. And here it is. He, meaning Jesus Christ, upholds the universe. by the word of his power. Jesus Christ has ascended upon and up to heaven, and now seated at the right hand of God, given all dominion, power, and authority, he is the one who was present at creation, who spoke into existence all things, and now he continues to uphold and sustain the universe. This picture really isn't adequate. for this is just an image of one holding a glass ball. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, upholds all things. And now as Paul writes to his son in the faith, He is charging Timothy to charge the people who are rich in this age, not to be haughty nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. Brothers and sisters, again, in this country, God has blessed us with much prosperity, And there is a tendency for us to depend upon those things we have stored up. But that's a false hope. Our prayer, this model prayer, does not ask that God would build up and help us to depend upon bank accounts or retirement funds. No, it asks for daily bread. Like the man who built up silos, tore down a silo that was too small and and built a larger one because the Lord had blessed him with an abundant crop and and he stores up his crops and he sits back and he thinks now he's set for life. And the Lord took it away from him that very night. We're not to set our hopes on riches. They're false hopes. This prayer of seeking daily bread is confessing not only our dependence upon God, but that we are not to place our hopes upon wealth, upon riches, upon anything within this world. We are confessing our dependence and knowing as we do confess that every good and gift and perfect gift is from above. coming down from the Father of lights with whom there's no variation or shadow due to change. He's the one who loves to give to his children, who's constantly giving to his children. And as we're confessing our dependence, we're also expressing our thanksgiving, aren't we? God, we depend upon you to give us our daily bread, and we're so very thankful that you do. We know that every gift and every perfect gift is from you. And there's no variation or shadow due to change. Well, finally, that as we meditate upon asking God to give us our daily bread, we're also seeking that he would help us to enjoy him and be content. We should be at the same time thinking and asking that God would, by his spirit, enable us to become content with that which he determines to give us. The things that we've already discussed kind of culminate here, don't they? That we're trusting in the wisdom of God to give us those things that he knows that we need according to his perfect and holy wisdom. We're depending upon him. to do so, we're confessing our dependence upon him. We are knowing that our need for food comes out of our sin, that the land would be producing thorns and thistles if it weren't for the mercy of God. And here it kind of culminates in meditating upon being content with that which the Lord gives us according to his perfect will, according to his perfect knowledge, and according to his desire that we all grow closer to Christ, that he enable us to be content because of who he is and how he loves us. The Israelites give us a wonderful example of discontentment. We can see that throughout their wilderness wanderings if we open up the Book of Exodus, but then as we get to Numbers, it becomes, I think, even more powerful. If we'd opened up Numbers 11, we see that the people were complaining in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes. And when he heard it, he was angry. His anger was kindled, and it burned among them and consumed outlying parts of the camp. People cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. It didn't stop there. Verse 4, the rabble. was among them had a strong craving and the people of Israel also wept again. God had just destroyed outlying parts of the camp and here they are again grumbling and complaining before God, oh that we had meat to eat. Remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic, but now our strength is dried up and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at. That is a picture of discontentment. There's a picture of failing to trust that the Lord in his wisdom was giving to them in his goodness, good gifts from heaven. Giving them what they needed in the time that they needed it. In fact, using the manna to test them. And the Israelites failing the test. It's easy for us to point fingers at them. Oh, that we had fill in the blank. We're called to be content. It's prayer that God would give us. Our daily bread is an encouragement to contentment. It's also a meditation that God would work powerfully within us by his spirit to enable us to lean into and become content. Paul did, not by his own strength, but by the strength of the spirit as he's in jail, as he's in prison, as he's suffering, as he takes the gospel, as he carries it about. In his letter to the Philippians, he ends it with this, as he knows that there's discontentment within the church, as he knows that there's strife within the church, as he calls them to contentment. I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. That's the secret. Paul faces plenty. He faced hunger. through Christ. He was content in Christ. And that overflowed into every aspect of his life, even as he suffered hunger. For he knew that that was from God. He knew that this was to draw him ever closer to Christ. And so his contentment in his Christ was only increasing. He's learned. He learned in whatever situation to be content. As we pray this prayer, give us our daily bread, it's also a prayer that God would be teaching us to learn how to be content. Psalm 34. This kind of sums it up for us, I think. I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth. I will taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. I will fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack. Young lions suffer and want hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Give us our daily bread. Brings us to this, doesn't it? So we're petitioning the Lord to provide, we're petitioning him as well to increase our trust in his wisdom, to confess our complete dependence upon him and to know that he's pouring out good gifts upon us, to be content with that, to taste and see that the Lord is good. And that praise should continually be on our mouths, even as we pray this prayer. Well, that's a short overview of the fourth petition. Next week, Lord willing, I can get the slides to stop. Next week, Lord willing, we'll touch upon the fifth petition, forgive us our debts. Amen.