In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. given that this fifth sermon of today, in a series of six or sextet of sermons on the catechism, is on the Lord's Prayer and Ten Commandments, and that the first commandment of the Decalogue is prefaced with the words, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. I make mention of the fact that the 1578 Elizabethan calendar states on today, 6 April, to remember the fact that, quote, Joshua and the Jews camped before Jordan the space of three days. Joshua 3, 1, unquote. And so after being redeemed from slavery in Egypt and after receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, the children of Israel now entered the Promised Land. And so this is the typology of redemption, pointing to our redemption through Christ as symbolized by the Old Testament Passover lamb with repentance from sin as seen in the Ten Commandments and entrance into heaven as seen in the Promised Land. Let us pray. We beseech thee, almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people, that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Almighty and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent, create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Welcome to all listening to this address. This is the fifth in a sextet of sermons on the catechism in which the Anglican short catechism found in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer is the model catechism and thus the primary catechism being considered. Although some other Protestant catechisms that also use the same five great symbols of the Christian faith, to which the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, Ten Commandments, and Holy Sacraments of Baptism and Communion are referred to in a secondary way from time to time. The first four sermons were on the Apostles' Creed. Today's fifth sermon, on Thursday 6 April 2017, is on the Lord's Prayer and Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, and next week's sixth sermon, on 13 April 2017, is on the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. Thus, the first part of this sermon will consider the Lord's Prayer, and the second part of this sermon will consider the Ten Commandments, or Holy Decalogue. Now, lest I be misunderstood in today's sermon on the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments, let me say that I'm not suggesting that, for example, the Lord's Prayer or the Ten Commandments in isolation are a gospel standard. Rather, I'm saying the five great symbols of the Christian faith. the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Holy Sacraments of Baptism and Communion, as elucidated upon in connection with the other matters found in the immediate context of the Anglican Short Catechism, and as properly understood through reference to the theology in the wider context of the Anglican 1662 Book of Common Prayer and 39 Articles, are a gospel standard. Now, a warp is a fabric. and a woof are the threads that cross the warp of a woven fabric. I note that in the English Churchman newspaper of 11 and 18 December 2015, the Reverend Mr Kirkland says, quote, From childhood, the Apostles' Creed, Ten Commandments, Beatitudes and Lord's Prayer are among the first things usually learned. They form the warp and woof of British society." Well, sadly, I don't think I could agree with Mr Kirkland that in contemporary times they do form the warp and woof of British society, but I would agree that historically they did, and in contemporary times they should be part of the warp and woof of British society, Australian society, North American society, and so on. With regard to evidential proof for the existence of God, the founder of Bob Jones University in the USA, Bob Jones Senior, who died in 1968, refers in his audio recording Word of Truth 345 to the need for a first cause, which is one element of Article One of the Apostles' Creed. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And with respect to experiential evidence for the existence of God in harmony with his usage of the Lord's Prayer, Bob Jones Senior says in Word of Truth 318, quote, Some people say you cannot prove that there is a God. Well, I can. I've proved it. If there's ever been one prayer answered in the history of the world, that's all the proof you need that there is a God. Prayer is mentioned early in the Bible, for in Genesis 4, 26, we read, Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. The combination of prayer and obedience to God's Word is seen in the Old Testament in Daniel 6, where we read in verse 6 that, kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed, and this was in connection with his submission to God's word, with reference to the second commandment of the Holy Decalogue in Exodus 20, thou shalt not make, bow down to, nor serve any graven image, as we're told in verse 7 of a decree in the Babylonian Empire of the 6th century BC, that Daniel repudiated, in which men were forbidden by a heathen law to ask a petition of any god or man for 30 days, save the idolatrised king of Babylon. And this same combination of prayer and obedience to the revealed will of God in His holy word, is also seen in the New Testament with the selection of the first deacons in Acts 6, where we read in verse 2 that the 12 apostles said, it is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables, verse 4, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. And so once again, the dual importance of prayer and God's word is here seen. And this nexus means, one ought not, as sometimes happens, to pray, God bless this mess. For example, the UK introduced homosexual marriage in 2013, and as is clear from, for example, Romans 1, to, for example, save two sodomites, God bless this mess, is to pray to God, but not obey God. Indeed, the criminalization of sodomy in the UK is now a much needed and long overdue law reform measure. And following a Mohammedan terrorist attack on the Westminster Parliament, it was reported by My Christian Daily in March 2017 that a number of Members of Parliament asked for prayers as they and their colleagues returned to Westminster." But with the much-needed ethnic cleansing of the UK, now a long overdue law reform measure, the United Kingdom's politicians have instead been ruthlessly attacking the Genesis 9 to 11, Psalm 2, 10 to 12, and Acts 17, 26 social cohesion of the white Protestant Christian ethnic race of Britons with post-World War II immigration and multiculturalism, with, for example, coloured Mohammedan immigration. the Anglican Diocese of Sydney magazine, Southern Cross, in this month's edition of April 2017 says, quote, The men say they were merely preaching the gospel and answering questions on the difference between Islam and Christianity. Their counsel argued that they had a right to preach, and quote, from the King James Bible in a public place. The pair were ordered to pay 2,000 pounds in fines and costs, unquote. And commenting on this in a front page article entitled, Bristol Preachers Convicted of Provoking the Heathen to Rage, the Anglican newspaper, English Churchman of 17 and 24 March, 2017, describes this as part of a wider, quote, regrettable trend to prosecute Christian preachers, unquote, saying, quote, in essence, the preachers had named Islam and other religions as false. It was the Muslims who were present and raging, unquote. And the politicians have been doing many other bad things. For example, my Christian Daily of 29 March 2017 reported, quote, Parliament, the focus of last Wednesday's attack is, sub-quote, celebrating, end sub-quote, 50 years since the passing of the Abortion Act, which has led to the killing of 8 million unborn babies, unquote. And most of them are further connected with fornication. And as for decades, most of the politicians have been wickedly acting as fifth columnists, as by anti-discrimination laws and multiculturalism. They seek to crush, pulverise and destroy the national identity of the white Christian British ethnic race and attack biblical Protestant Christian morals in law and society. Indeed, they presently have a sex role pervert in the office of Prime Minister. And so the prayer, God bless this mess, won't be heard by a holy God who saith in Proverbs 28, 19, he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. Article 35 of the Anglican 39 Articles, Book 2, Homily 7, entitled Of Prayer, composed before the King James Bible of 1611, and so not quoting from the AV, in which the word fain means glad, says with reference to a number of scriptures, including Psalm 5015, quote, There is nothing in all men's life well-beloved in our Savior Christ so needful to be spoken of and daily to be called upon as hearty, zealous, and devout prayer. By the mouth of His holy prophet David He saith on this wise, Call upon me in the days of thy trouble, and I will deliver thee. Likewise in the gospel, by the mouth of his well-beloved Son Christ he saith, Matthew 7, Ask, and it shall be given you. Knock, and it shall be opened. For whosoever asketh, receiveth. Whosoever seeketh, findeth. And to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. St. Paul also, most agreeably consenting thereunto, 1 Timothy 2, willeth men to pray everywhere, and to continue therein with thanksgiving. We read in the book of Exodus, Exodus 17, that Joshua, fighting against the Amichalites, did conquer and overcome them, not so much by virtue of his own strength, as by the earnest and continual prayer of Moses. who, as long as he held up his hands to God, so long did Israel prevail. But when he fainted and let his hands down, then did Amalek and his people prevail, insomuch that Aaron and her being in the mount with him were fain to stay up his hands until the going down of the sun. Otherwise, had the people of God that day been utterly discomfited and put to flight. Now then, dearly beloved, seeing prayer is so needful a thing, and of so great strength before God, let us, according as we are taught by the example of Christ and his apostles, be earnest and diligent in calling on the name of the Lord. Remember the parable of the unrighteous judge and the poor widow, Luke 17. how she, by her importunate means, caused him to do her justice against her adversary, although otherwise he feared neither God nor man. Shall not God much more avenge his elect, saith our Saviour Christ, which cry unto him day and night? Remember also the example of the woman of Canaan, Matthew 15, as she was rejected of Christ and called Dove, as one most unworthy of any benefit at his hands. Yet she gave not over, but followed him still, crying and calling upon him to be good and merciful unto her daughter. And at Leng, she obtained her request. Let us learn by these examples to be earnest and fervent in prayer, assuring ourselves, John 16, that whatsoever we ask of God the Father in the name of His Son Christ and according to His will, He will undoubtedly grant it. Unquote. Now, in the first sermon in this series of six sermons, reference was made to how in about 150 or 160 AD, with reference to the weekly Christian Sunday assembly, Justin Martyr refers to, quote, where they are assembled to offer prayer, unquote. And we also see from Justin Martyr's account the usage of biblical authority, when he says the writings of, quote, the apostles or prophets are read, unquote. And though he does not give us specific detail on what was said in the assembly when they quote, offer prayers, unquote, from the biblical perspective, we cannot doubt that such prayer is well-exampled in the words of our Lord as found in the Lord's Prayer of Matthew 6, 9 to 13, and Luke 11, 12, 2 to 4. And so the Lord's Prayer is one of the five great symbols of the Christian faith upheld in the Protestant catechisms of the Reformation, not only in our model catechism of the Anglican Short Catechism found in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, but also in the other Protestant catechisms upholding these five great symbols of the Christian faith as referred to in a secondary way in these sermons from time to time, such as the Lutheran Luther's Short Catechism, Calvin's Catechism, the Dutch Reform Heidelberg Catechism, or the Presbyterian Westminster Shorter Catechism. For while prayer includes more than the Lord's Prayer, in biblically sound sanctification development, one will never, as it were, outgrow the basics of the faith found in these five great symbols. And so, for example, one will still return to say the Lord's Prayer or Apostle's Creed. And in Luther's short catechism, Martin Luther recommends that, for example, in one's daily evening devotions, one should, quote, say, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen, then kneeling or standing, repeat the creed and the Lord's Prayer." The Lord's Prayer may be used in different contexts and in both public and private devotions. For example, in the Anglican 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the importance of the authority of Scripture for the Protestant is manifested in the fact that the main public worship services of morning and evening prayer and Holy Communion all start with a reading from Holy Scripture. And in the case of the Communion service, that Scripture is also a prayer in the form of the Lord's Prayer, as found in Luke 11, 2-4. Now, on the one hand, in the forms of prayer to be used at sea in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, there's a section entitled, quote, general prayers, short prayers for single persons that cannot meet to join in prayer with others by reason of the fight or storm, unquote. And one of those prayers is the Lord's Prayer as found in Matthew 6, 9 to 13. So that if one knows this prayer, one has already learned one of the prayers one may recite in such a situation. Although, obviously, one can also pray the Lord's Prayer in many other contexts as well. But on the other hand, our Lord teaches us in Matthew 6-7 not to use vain repetitions as the heathens do. This does not mean, as certain Puritans claim, repeating something like the Lord's Prayer in the liturgy, as we see Christ Himself repeated the Lord's Prayer found in Matthew 6, 9-13 in a slightly different form, and without the closing doxology, in a different context in Luke 11, 2-4. And also we see repetition used in the curses of Deuteronomy 27, or the fact that Psalms can be sung many times, not just once. Rather, faint repetitions, as the heathens do, are the type of thing we read of in Acts 19.34, where the pagans at Ephesus, with one voice, about the space of two hours, cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians! Or vain repetitions, as the heathens do, is the type of thing we find in 1 Kings 18.26, where the heathens called upon the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And so when we say the Lord's Prayer, it's important that we think about what we are praying and not simply repeating it without thought. And so on the one hand, I reject the view of certain Puritans that repeating something like the Lord's Prayer in the liturgy is the type of thing our Lord refers to when he says in Matthew 6, 7, use not vain repetitions as the heathens do. And indeed, I think it's a blasphemy against God to make such a claim. As in this immediate context, our Lord and Savior then gives the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6, 9 to 13 as an example of what to do so as to be not like the heathens. But, on the other hand, I would consider that the way the Romanists abuse and misuse the Lord's Prayer in their Rosary, in which invocation of Mary in what is known as a Hail Mary is used like a heathen Hindu mantra, so that there are ten Hail Marys followed by the Lord's Prayer known as an Our Father and then this is repeated again and again as an example of abusing and misusing the Lord's Prayer so as to turn it into vain repetitions as the heathens do for it's used like a heathen, Hindu mantra. And on my website of www.jvinmcgrathboks.com, at the Roman Pope is the Antichrist, I show an artwork I saw in the Vatican Museum in August 2001 by Ramon de Vargas from Spain in 1934, which shows a Popish woman falling asleep from boredom due to the monotony of the Rosary's repetitious prayers with 10 Hail Marys. Followed by one our father again and again and again. In the words of Article 35 of the Anglican 39 Articles, Book 1, Homily 5, quote, "'Honour be to God who did put light in the heart of King Henry VIII and gave him knowledge of his word and an earnest affection to seek his glory and to put away superstitious and pharisaical sects by Antichrist, invented and set up against the true word of God. God grant all us to assure pharisaical and papistical living of man's feigned religion.'" And briefly, to pass over the ungodly and counterfeit religion, let us rehearse some other kinds of papistical superstitions and abuses as of beads, of lady psalters and rosaries, of purgatory, of masses, masses satisfactory, of stations, of bells. and such other superstitious fastings of pardons and decrees and councils of Rome, so that the laws of Rome, as they said, were to be received of all men as the four evangelists. And the laws of God also partly were left off and less esteemed that the said laws, decrees and councils with their traditions and ceremonies might be more duly kept and had in greater reverence. Thus were the people through ignorance so blinded, unquote. And so, to be sure, Article 35 of the Anglican 39 Articles here includes, quote, beads and rosaries, unquote, as an example of the feigned religion of Antichrist with his papistical superstitions and abuses supported by various laws of Rome. And in this context, I note that in an ungodly society that grieves me in many particulars, One of these many particulars is the fact that I see this popish idol of the Rosary stuck in a picture form on car windows, thus giving offence to the godly who naturally hate to behold such idols of Antichrist, which by mereolatry deny Christ alone and abuse and misuse the Lord's Prayer as vain repetition. But returning now to the proper use of the Lord's Prayer as found in religiously conservative Protestant Christianity, where it is used as it should be with thought about what we are praying, and not in some rapid repetitions like the Romish Rosary, which is like a heathen Hindu mantra, and the type of thing condemned by our Lord when He says in Matthew 6-7, But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do, When I say it is used thoughtfully and sensibly, put in its proper context, the Lord's Prayer is one of the five great symbols of the Christian faith found in various Protestant catechisms of the Reformation, such as our model catechism of the Anglican Short Catechism in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The Lord's Prayer is found in different contexts in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke, and this teaches us it is meant to be repeatedly recited. And after the Ten Commandments, the Anglican Short Catechism follows the Luke 11, 2-4 form of the Lord's Prayer in omitting the doxology, found in the Matthew 6, 9-13 form, and among other things refers to that which is needful both for our souls and bodies, and God's defence of us in all dangers, both spiritual or ghostly and bodily. And so it says with regard to seeking to keep the precepts of the Decalogue, quote, Catechist, my good child, know this, that thou art not able to do these things of thyself, nor to walk in the commandments of God and to serve him without his special grace, which thou must learn at all times to call for by diligent prayer. Let me hear, therefore, if thou can say the Lord's prayer. Answer, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Question, what desirous thou of God in this prayer? Answer, I desire my Lord God, our heavenly Father, who is the giver of all goodness, to send his grace unto me and to all people, that we may worship him, serve him, and obey him, as we ought to do. And I pray unto God that He will send us all things that be needful, both for our souls and bodies, and that He will be merciful unto us and forgive us our sins, and that it will please Him to save and defend us in all dangers, ghostly and bodily, and that He will keep us from all sin and wickedness, and from our ghostly enemy, and from everlasting death. And this I trust He will do of His mercy and goodness through our Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore I say, Amen. So be it." Unquote. Turning now to the Lord's Prayer as we find it in our Lord's Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6, 9 to 13, with the doxology as it is used in various parts of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, it consists of a Prefatory section, seven petitions and a concluding section. The Prefatory section of the Lord's Prayer is, Our Father which art in heaven. Prayer is here addressed to God the Father, and the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 3.14, And I here note a parallel emphasis in both the Lord's Prayer and Article 1 of the Apostles' Creed in focusing on God the Father. And while the reference to God in the Decalogue's first commandment, I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me, is Trinitarian. It is notable that the Lord's Prayer, Apostles Creed and Ten Commandments all start with the God focus. Sometimes people hear people saying this or that first, some put themselves first, some put their country first, some put money first, but we are here taught to put God first. Furthermore, the language that God incarnate taught us to pray is patriarchal language in which we address our Father which art in heaven. This patriarchal image reminds us that in the natural order created by God, Man was made by God to be a patriarchal creature in which, under God, headship of the family, church, and wider society should generally be patriarchal. And since all human beings should find their identity in patriarchal structures, patriarchal language should be used, such as mankind. For example, this teaching of the creation and the fall in Genesis 2 and 3 is found in 1 Corinthians 11, 1 to 16, and 1 Timothy 2, 11 to 3.13. And because God is here called Father, we are also reminded of His care and love and concern for His creation in general, and man in particular. Scripture recognises both a broad, universal fatherhood of man and universal brotherhood of men, and also a limited, more intimate, spiritual fatherhood of God exclusively to Christians, with an associated limited brotherhood exclusively of Christians, meaning true Christians. That is, religiously conservative, Protestant Christians who are saved by the blood of the Lamb, regenerated by the power of the Holy Ghost. The wider universal fatherhood of man and wider and looser universal brotherhood of men is taught in Acts 17 where on Mars Hill in Athens the Apostle Paul says to pagan Greeks in Acts 17 24 God made the world and all things therein seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth Verse 28. For in him we live, and move, and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said. For we are also his offspring, verse 29. We are the offspring of God. And so all men are here said to be the offspring of God, in which offspring is Greek genos, and carries the idea of family descent or kindred. And that comes from man's common descent from Adam, whom God made in his image. For though the diverse races of man are no longer of one blood, we are nevertheless reminded in Acts 17.26 that all men originally came from or of one blood in Adam. And in the wider context of Luke, Acts we read in Luke 3.38 that Adam was the son of God. But there is another closer and more intimate spiritual fatherhood of God that applies only to true Christians as God's sons, of which we read in Galatians 4.4-7. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God had sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore, thou art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. For we read in John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The Anglican short catechism here refers to, quote, my Lord God, our heavenly father, unquote. Luther's short catechism says of this petition, God would tenderly urge us to believe that he is our true father. And Calvin's catechism asks, why do you call God our father in common rather than my father in particular? And Calvin gives the answer, each believer may indeed call him his own father, but the Lord uses the common epitaph that he might accustom us to exercise charity in our prayers and that we might not neglect others by each caring only for himself. And with respect to the fact that, like the Apostles' Creed and Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer starts with a God-focus, Our Father, which art in heaven, it is to be noted that biblically the Church of Christ has a prayer-focus on God and God alone. By contrast, the Church of Rome, which is the Church of Antichrist, though theoretically using the Lord's Prayer, does not regard God the Father as approachable through God the Son, who taught us this prayer, but rather claims that His wrath must first be placated. by invocation of Mary or other saints interceding for someone. And so, in Romanism, worship of God is called Latria-worship, as opposed to Dulia-worship, in which so-called saint and angel mediators are given Dulia-worship, and indeed Mary is given Hyper-Dulia-worship. And so in Article 35 of the Anglican 39 Articles, Homily 2, Book 2, entitled, Against Herald of Idolatry, the Roman papal antichrist is first identified by referring to this Roman Catholic teaching of Latria and Dulia worship. And then quoting Daniel 1138, the homily makes reference to idolaters who, quote, worship images as though by them saints, as they say, they were delivered from lameness, sickness, captivity, or shipwreck. Is not this to worship images so earnestly forbidden in God's Word? If they deny it, let them read the 11th chapter of Daniel the prophet, who saith of Antichrist, he shall worship God whom his fathers knew not with gold, silver, and with precious stone, and other things of pleasure, unquote. And so too, the Presbyterian Westminster Confession 25.6, in referring to the Pope of Rome as the Antichrist, has a footnote reference to Revelation 13.6 which reads, And this the Church of Rome does by claiming that various saints, such as Mary, should be prayed to as mediators. And Article 35 of the Anglican 39 Articles, Book 2, Homily 7, entitled Of Prayer, says, quote, let us consider what prayer is. St. Augustine calleth it, subquote, a lifting up of the mind to God, that is to say, a humble and lowly pouring out of the heart to God, end subquote. So we must only and solely pray unto God. For to say that we should believe in angel or saint or in any other living creature were most horrible blasphemy. against God and His Holy Word." And Homily 2, Book 2, entitled, Against Peril of Idolatry, also condemns icon idolatry, which is a well-known feature of Eastern Orthodoxy, even though it predates the Great Schism of 1054, when the Eastern Orthodox left the Roman Catholic Church, as this form of idolatry existed in the Eastern Church, when it was a part of the Roman Church, under the Pope, between 607 and 1054 AD. And so both invocation of saints, whether in the Romanism proper of Roman Catholicism, or the semi-Romanism of Eastern Orthodoxy and some Puseites, is condemned as idolatry in the Anglican 39 articles, in harmony with such biblical teaching as 1 Timothy 2, 5 and 6. There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom for all and the teaching of Christ our Lord in the Lord's Prayer that our prayers should go to God and God alone in the words, our Father which art in heaven. The first petition of the Lord's Prayer is, hallowed be thy name. Concerning petitioning God, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh in Northern Ireland, James Usher, who died in 1656, says, quote, Petition is a religious calling upon the name of God by suit or request in which we desire and beg all things necessary, either for things of this present life or for things of the life to come, unquote. And the Church Father and Doctor, St. Augustine, who died in 430, says, quote, when we say, subquote, hallowed be thy name, end subquote, we do not mean that God's name is not holy, but we ask that men may treat it as holy, unquote. and the words of the Lord's Prayer, hallowed be thy name, also show a parallel emphasis with the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20, which in the third commandment says, thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain. And Article 35 of the Anglican 39 Articles, Book 2, Homily 7, entitled Of Prayer, citing, for example, 1 Corinthians 10.31 says, quote, we make our prayers unto God chiefly to respect the honor and glory of his name, whereof we have this general precept in the apostle Paul, Paul, whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever you do, look that ye do it to the glory of God, unquote. And so too, on this petition, Calvin's catechism says, quote, by the name of God, scripture denotes the knowledge and fame with which he is celebrated among men. We pray then that his glory may be promoted everywhere and in all, unquote. And once again, we find that this biblical teaching of the Church of Christ is turned on its head by the Church of Antichrist, which is the Church of Rome. Now the words of our Lord Christ in Matthew 23, 9, and call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father which is in heaven. On the one hand, do not prohibit us from calling biological or racial fathers father. For example, the fifth commandment includes the words, honor thy father. And in the parable of Lazarus and Debes at Luke 16, 24, a Jew who is not the spiritual son of Abraham, but is a biological son of Abraham, refers to, quote, father Abraham, unquote. And nor does Matthew 23.9 prohibit us from having spiritual fathers, as we read in 1 Corinthians 4.15 of such fathers. And in verse 17, St. Paul then refers to Timotheus, who is my beloved son. And so we may, for instance, as in the ordinal of the Anglican 1662 Book of Common Prayer, appropriately address a bishop as reverend father in God. But on the other hand, our Lord's words in Matthew 23, 9, call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father which is in heaven, do prohibit us from using father in a spiritual titular manner, such as is done with Romish priests who are called father, followed by their surname. For example, if their surname is Kildare, then father Kildare. And so likewise, this forbidden spiritual titular usage of father is found among the semi-Romanist Eastern Orthodox and semi-Romanist Puseites and semi-Puseites. all of whom claim to believe in the Lord's Prayer and yet thus blaspheme the name of the Father in violation of the Third Commandment of the Holy Decalogue, as by their actions they repudiate the teaching of the Lord's Prayer. Our Father, hallowed be thy name. And in Romanism proper it is indeed found with the Pope of Rome himself, as the Pope also most wickedly and blasphemously takes upon himself one of the names reserved for God the Father by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For we read in John 17 11 that God the Father is called by God the Son. Holy Father. And yet this title of Holy Father doth the Pope of Rome blasphemously take upon himself. And we read in Revelation 13, 5 that the papal Antichrist doth speak blasphemies. And in 1 John 2, 22, he is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. But once again, this is the same issue that we faced with the misuse of the Apostles' Creed by the Roman Church and other heretics. And we no more jettison the Lord's Prayer than we do the Apostles' Creed on this basis. Rather, we repudiate such abuses and misuse, and we uphold the true biblical teaching of the Lord's Prayer and Apostles' Creed. Commenting on the first and second petitions of the Lord's Prayer, Martin Luther says, quote, If I say, hallowed be thy name, I must thereby say, may the name of the papists and all who blaspheme thy name be accursed, condemned, and dishonored. If I say, thy kingdom come, I must thereby say, may the papacy, together with all kingdoms on earth that are opposed to thy kingdom, be accursed, condemned, and destroyed." Unquote. The second petition of the Lord's Prayer is by Kingdom Come. The Anglican Short Catechism refers to, quote, our heavenly father, who is the giver of all goodness, to send his grace unto me and to all people, that we may worship him, serve him, and obey him as we ought to do, unquote. Martin Luther says, quote, God's kingdom is godliness, chastity, purity, gentleness, tenderness, and kindness. We are saved only when God reigns in us, and we become his kingdom, unquote. The Presbyterian Westminster Short Catechism says that this petition, quote, We pray that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed, and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it." And with reference to a footnote in Revelation 22 20, He which testifieth these things saith, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Also praying for the future, quote, kingdom of glory, unquote. And the Dutch Reformed Heidelberg Catechism says, thy kingdom come means, with reference to God, quote, rule us by thy word and spirit that we submit ourselves more and more to thee, preserve and increase thy church, destroy the works of the devil, and all violence which would exalt itself against thee, and also all wicked counsel devised against thy holy word, till the full perfection of thy kingdom take place, wherein thou shalt be all in all, unquote. The words, thy kingdom come, have a triple focus. Firstly, on evangelism. As our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ says in Mark 115, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent ye and believe the gospel. And so we should pray for the conversion of souls by the proclamation of the gospel. For example, praying for any unsaved loved ones. For instance, in his Confessions, Book 3, Augustine, who died in 430, tells of how his mother, Monica, who died in 387, prayed for his conversion, saying to God that though she was, quote, a boring and detesting the blasphemies of my era, unquote, O God, thou, quote, drewest my soul out of that profound darkness, my mother, thy faithful one, weeping to thee for me, and thou hurtest her, O Lord, and despisest not her tears, unquote. And commenting on this, Martin Luther refers to the example of Monica's prayers to God for her wayward and unconverted son, Augustine, and how following his conversion he, quote, devotes himself to the study of theology and turns out to be such a teacher that he shines in the church to this day, unquote. Secondly, Thy Kingdom Come looks to sanctification of the believer, as we read in Romans 14, 17 and 18. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God. But thirdly, there's a sense in which the kingdom of God is not fully ushered in until the second advent. For with respect to heaven that a saint's soul goes to at death, as well as the future kingdom of God on earth after the second advent, we read in 1 Corinthians 6.9 that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And in the Beatitudes, in Christ's Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5.5, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. And so too in Matthew 13.43, or 26.29, or 1 Corinthians 15.24. And in the book of Revelation, on the one hand, you read in Revelation 12.10, now, not in the future, but now has come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God. But on the other hand, we read in Revelation 11, 15, not that only at the second advent, when the seventh angel sounds the trumpet, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. And so in various scriptures there's the idea that the kingdom of God has come both with justification by faith when men accept the gospel of saving faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior who died in our place and for our sins when he hung on Calvary's cross before rising again the third day and also in sanctification or holiness of living of believers. But there's also the idea in scripture that the kingdom of God has yet to come in all its fullness and for this awaits the second advent. And so when we pray in the Lord's Prayer, thy kingdom come, we are praying firstly for evangelism this side of the second advent to bring people into the kingdom of God here and now. We are praying secondly for our sanctification in the spirit as elements of the kingdom of God are developed more and more in us. And we are praying thirdly for the second coming of Christ at which time the kingdom of God shall come in its greater fullness. And so we find a parallel emphasis here between elements of thy kingdom come in the Lord's Prayer, firstly, in justification by faith. In Article 2 of the Apostles' Creed, I believe in Jesus Christ. Secondly, in sanctification in the spirit, which is related to one function of the Ten Commandments and one element of Article 9 of the Apostles' Creed, I believe in the Holy Ghost. And thirdly, in Articles 8 and 12 of the Apostles' Creed, he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. And once again, we find that this biblical teaching of the Church of Christ is perverted by the Church of Antichrist. For the Roman Catholic catechism commentator William Most says, quote, the phrase kingdom of God often means the church, unquote. And then from this point in practice, the Roman church seeks to glorify herself rather than God and set up herself rather than the word of God as the ultimate authority. Let us rather keep our eyes fixed on God as we pray, thy kingdom come. The third petition of the Lord's Prayer is, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. The Anglican short catechism refers to, quote, our heavenly father, who is the giver of all goodness, sent his grace unto me and to all people that we may worship him, serve him, and obey him as we ought to do, unquote. And the low church evangelical Anglican bishop of Liverpool in England, Bishop John Ryle, who died in 1900, says, quote, our truest happiness is perfect submission to God's will. And it is the highest charity to pray that all mankind may know it, obey it, and submit to it, unquote. In the second sermon, references made to the fact that our Lord's words in, for example, Luke 22, 42, Father, if they'll be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done, routed the monothelites who claimed Christ had only one will. Whereas the Orthodox recognized that Christ subjected his human will to the divine will. But there's another element to this. in that we're told in 1 Peter 2.21 of Christ leaving us an example to follow. And while we have only one nature, to wit, a human nature, we should likewise seek to subject our will to God's will. There's a joke in Anglican circles in which a messenger knocks on the door of an Anglican clergyman, and both the minister and his wife come to the door at the same time. The messenger says to the rector, that he has been offered an appointment as a bishop, if he so desires to accept it. The minister says he must first go from the rectory to the adjoining parish church and pray about the matter before he responds. And then while he is on his way to the church, his wife says to the messenger, look, I'm terribly sorry, but I'll have to go now because we've got to start packing. And there's two points I wish to make from this Anglican joke. The first is that it reminds us that any man who's an Anglican minister and is offered appointment as a bishop, even if it's the auxiliary bishop of Woop Woop, is most unlikely to say, no. And the second point about this joke is it reminds us that we need to be very careful that when we go to prayer seeking God's guidance on a matter, or praying that God's will be done on a matter, that we sincerely and genuinely pray after the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who was both fully God and fully man, when in Luke 22, 42, subjecting his human will to the divine will, he prayed, Father, not my will, but thine be done. And that's an important example for us when we pray in the words he taught us in the Lord's Prayer. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. And lest I appear to be unduly cynical about all Anglican clergymen, let me also say that one of the rectors at St. Philip's Church Hill some years ago now, from 1984 to 1988, was the Reverend Mr. Harry Edwards, who died in 2008. Mr Edwards used only the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and authorised King James Bible for the lessons in the liturgy or the sermon. And his grave epitaph is a quotation of Isaiah 26.3 in the AV. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. And Harry Edwards told me of how he had been offered the position of Dean of the Anglican Cathedral of Perth in Western Australia. And he asked them, would this require I wear a chasuble and do other things associated with the Puseism of that cathedral? And they replied to him that it would so require this. And then in submission to God's will, he declined their Puseite proper offer. Now, it's not easy for an Anglican clergyman to knock back a position such as dean of a cathedral. But it does also go to show that the joke I mentioned in Anglican circles is not always true. There are men who will knock back preferment. In submission to the words of the Lord's prayer, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. And we also see a parallel emphasis here between the words of Article 9 of the Apostles' Creed, I believe in the Holy Ghost, with respect to sanctification, in the words of the Anglican Short Catechism, quote, I learn to believe in God, the Holy Ghost, who sanctifies me and all the elect people of God, unquote, and also the petition of the Lord's Prayer, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven, and also the 10th commandment of the Holy Decalogue, thou shalt not covet. What a contrast between the example of Mr. Harry Edwards, who knocked back an offer to be made Dean of a Puseyite Cathedral, and the attitudes of lust exhibited by those who do not pray in biblical sincerity, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Of which there are many examples. For example, the incumbent Dean of the Anglican Cathedral in Sydney, sets aside the word of God in Genesis 6 and 10 forbidding racially mixed marriages by entering such a forbidden union contrary to the 10th commandment, thou shalt not covet. or certain women in the Diocese of Sydney set aside the Word of God in Genesis 2 and 3 and 1 Timothy 2.8 to 3.13, becoming deacons. And more widely in both the Diocese of Sydney and the Anglican Church in general, and the entire Western world in general, we find that in violation of the Tenth Commandment, thou shalt not covet, there's a lack of that Christian-type character and submission to God's Word that truly says the words of the Lord's Prayer. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. And truly says the words of the Apostles' Creed, I believe in the Holy Ghost with respect to sanctification. And we find in general that there is no serious submission to the will of God by, for example, the religious apostates of potpourri, or the religious liberals, or the secularists, and so on and so forth. But our Lord Jesus Christ has taught us to pray, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. The fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer is, give us this day our daily bread. Concerning the word daily in the petition, give us this day our daily bread, found at both Matthew 6.11 and Luke 11.3, William Mount says in his analytical lexicon of 1993 that this word occurs nowhere else in Greek literature except in the context of the Lord's Prayer. And the work of the canon of Canterbury Cathedral, Arthur Robinson, who died in 1928, in the church catechism explained, which contains both some good and bad material, aptly and well says, quote, the Greek word epiusios, thus simply rendered in English, is a very remarkable one. It is not to be met with in any previous biblical or classical literature. It appears to be an adjective derived from epiusa, the coming day so that the literal translation would be our bread of the coming day. Our rendering daily is that which has prevailed from the beginning of the western church and no other would more adequately express the meaning of the petition." The Anglican short catechism says, quote, and I pray unto God that he will send us all things that be needful both for our souls and bodies, unquote. And the low church evangelical Anglican bishop of Liverpool in England, Bishop John Ryle, who died in 1900, says, quote, We are here taught to acknowledge our entire dependence on God for the supply of our daily necessities." Give us this day our daily bread, refers to both temporal and spiritual feeding. For we read in Deuteronomy 8.3, man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord. And our Savior Christ refers to this scripture in Matthew 4.4, which in the Holy Gospel, according to St. Matthew, is just two chapters before he gives this petition in the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6. And we find that the Church of Christ's focus on both temporal and spiritual feeding in this petition of the Lord's Prayer, give us this day our daily bread, is once again badly distorted by the Church of Antichrist. For the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church at 2837 says, quote, the Eucharist is our daily bread. The power belonging to this divine food makes it a bond of union. Christ himself is the bread who, sown in the virgin, raised up in the flesh, kneaded in the passion, baked in the oven of the tomb, reserved in churches, brought to altars, furnishes the faithful each day with food from heaven, unquote. Now the Roman mass is rightly described in Article 31 of the Anglican 39 Articles as, quote, blasphemous, unquote. And in the Anglican 1662 Book of Common Prayer, in the final rubric of the communion service, as, quote, idolatry, unquote, with respect to adoration of the consecrated element. And the Presbyterian Westminster Confession 29.6, Congregationalist Savoy Declaration 36, and Baptist Confession also, quote, transubstantiation is the cause of gross idolatries, unquote. And we here see a Romans 125 example of those who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For the Romanists are not subject to God's infallible book in seeking temporal and spiritual feeding in the petition, give us this day our daily bread, but rather they pervert this petition as part of their idolatrous and blasphemous focus on the alleged transubstantiation of the Roman mass. Now, once again, we do not jettison the sacrament of Holy Communion because of its abuses and misuses by Romanists and semi-Romanists, any more than we jettison the Apostles' Creed or Lord's Prayer because of its abuses and misuses by Romanists and semi-Romanists. Nevertheless, we can say with respect to this misfocus found in the catechism of the Roman Catholic Church that this is an example of idolatry, such as we read of in Romans 1.22, professing themselves to be wise. They became The fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer is, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. There is a parallel emphasis in both Article 11 of the Apostles' Creed, I believe in the forgiveness of sins, and the Fifth Petition of the Lord's Prayer, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. The third man of the Reformation, Thomas Cranmer, who was a Marian martyr at the hands of the Romish Queen, Bloody Mary, in 1556, says in the Anglican Short Catechism, I pray unto God that he will be merciful unto us and forgive us our sins and this I trust he will do of his mercy and goodness through our Lord Jesus Christ." The Low Church Evangelical Anglican Bishop of Liverpool in England, Bishop John Ryle, who died in 1900, says, quote, we confess that we are sinners and need daily forgiveness, unquote, and quote, we are taught the great importance of a forgiving spirit. It fills a prominent place in the Lord's Prayer. The only profession we make in all that prayer is that of forgiving those who trespass against us. It is our test of being forgiven ourselves," unquote. Which is interesting in the context of the following sixth petition, and lead us not into temptation, which includes a petition for God to not put us to a test of character. But returning now to this fifth petition, the Presbyterian Charles Hodge of Princeton University, USA, who died in 1878, says, quote, The proof that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5.19, is that He does not impute to men their trespasses. Not to impute sin is to forgive sin, Romans 4.5. The catechism of the first man of the Reformation, Martin Luther's Shorter Catechism says, quote, And I think that fact reminds us that the Lord's Prayer should really be said daily, for among other things we need daily forgiveness of our sins. And note that we directly ask God for forgiveness of our sins, rather than going through some alleged earthly mediator, such as a Popish priest in a confessional, or some Puseyite priest in a regular confession. Our petition is directly to God our Father. And the catechism of the second man of the Reformation, John Calvin's catechism asks, quote, could no mortal be found so righteous as not to require this pardon? Unquote. To which the answer is given, quote, not one. When Christ gave this form of prayer, he designed it for the whole church. Wherefore, he who would exempt himself from this necessity must leave the society of the faithful. And we have the testimony of scripture, namely, that he who would contend before God to clear himself in one thing will be found guilty in a thousand, Job 9.3. The only refuge left for all is in his mercy." And so this petition also reminds us of the impossibility of sinless perfection. For we fallen, frail men, in the words of 1 Kings 8.46, There is no man that sinneth not, and in the words of 1 John 1.8, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. And hence this fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer strikes down the claims of heretics to sinless perfection. For example, the heretical Eastern Orthodox churches claim to believe in the Third General Council of Ephesus in 431, yet contrary to its anti-Pelagian teachings, they devalue original sin by claiming that sinless perfection is possible for fallen men. And indeed, they claim that one of their so-called saints, which they pray to, is one that has attained such sinless perfection. Unlike the Roman Church in the Council of Trent 5.5, the Reformers distinguished between being declared righteous by faith, that is justification, and righteousness from moral growth in holiness, that is sanctification. In this life we are imputed with Christ's righteousness before God only by faith in a legal sense. and due to original sin, sanctification never leads to sinless perfection, but is attained at glorification when original sin's effects are gone, as taught in Romans 117 and chapters 5 to 8. By contrast, the heretic Charles Finney of Oberlin College, Ohio, USA, who died in 1875, devalued original sin and claimed regeneration was, quote, an instantaneous change from And so too the Seventh-day Adventist church. which is dealt with in Anthony Hakima's 1963 work, The Four Major Cults, and Geoffrey Paxton's 1977 work, The Shaking of Adventism, is deeply divided between rival factions. One group claiming sinless perfection is possible, and another group claiming it's not. But contrary to the claims of all such sinless perfection heretics, Christ teaches us to pray and forgive us our trespasses. Concerning the words, as we forgive them that trespass against us, if a brother does us wrong and apologises to us, sincerely seeking our forgiveness, we cannot withhold it, but must give that forgiveness. In the words of Ephesians 4.32, And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. And if that carrot does not induce you to forgive your brother, then consider in private study the stick wielded by Christ on this matter by reading our Lord's response to the Apostle Peter's question in Matthew 18, 21 to 35. Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him. Now, this sermon is being preached during Lent. And on the one hand, we read in connection with the 2 Thessalonians 2, 3, falling away, that first came in order for that man of sin, the Antichrist Pope of Rome, who arrives from 606 AD on a 25 March Annunciation New Year's Day calendar, or from 607 AD on a 1 January New Year's Day calendar, in 1 Timothy 4, 1 of how some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and the doctrines of devils. Now many biblical prophecies are written with a prophetic type that's applicable closer to the time of the Bible writer, pointing to a future greater fulfillment, and commanding to abstain from meats in 1 Timothy 4, 3-5, looks like it had a prophetic type applicable to some ascetics, and so the passage could still be used for anti-ascetic purposes. But in its greater fulfillment in connection with the great apostasy of Daniel 11 37, 2 Thessalonians 2 3 and 1 Timothy 4 1, commanding to abstain from meats is found in the papal antichrist, as seen in the church of Rome's fasting rules, such as abstinence from various foods during Lent, because it's linked to justification by works, and thus what 1 Timothy 4 1 calls the doctrines of devils, so that in Galatians 3 once and Paul says to those in works righteousness, oh foolish Galatians, Who hath bewitched you? But on the other hand, there's a very different and biblically sound fasting, or lesser discipline of abstinence from certain foods, which may be undertaken during Lent as a way of remembering one's sinfulness, as found in the rules of the 1662 Anglican Book of Common Prayer, which is in harmony with, for example, Mark 2.20 and Romans 14.5 and 6. And so the Protestant Christian may engage in fasting, or more commonly nowadays, the lesser discipline of abstinence. For example, during Lent, forgoing milk in one's tea, other than on red-letter feast days such as Sundays and Annunciation Day on 25 March, because this is undertaken by someone who rejects justification by works and believes in justification by faith alone. who does this in order to remember his own sinfulness, and man's sinfulness, and the sourness of sin. And a good way to remember the sourness of sin is to abstain from some kind of sweet thing during Lent, such as milk, or sugar in one's tea, or coffee, or chocolate, or ice cream, or biscuits, or something like that. And so during this season of Lent, we should be remembering the sourness of sin, the impossibility for us fallen men of sinless perfection, our need for a savior from sin found in Christ alone, and the need for our forgiveness by God through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who died in our place and for our sins when he hung on the cross at Calvary. The sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer is, and lead us not into temptation. The Anglican short catechism says, quote, I pray unto God that it will please him to save and defend us in all dangers, ghostly and bodily, unquote. Firstly, the Greek noun peirasmos, here rendered temptation, can refer to a trial or test of character. For example, in its verbal form peiradzo, the Greek Septuagint uses it to render the Hebrew nasar for tempt. When we read in Genesis 22.1 that God did tempt Abraham with respect to his son Isaac by putting him through a trial or test of character. And we live in a day and age where there are many trials or tests of character for the Christian. The truth of religiously conservative Protestant Christianity, which is the only true form of Christianity, which is the only true religion, is attacked by the ecumenical compromise with, for example, Romanists, semi-Romanists, Montanists and others, and also by the interfaith compromise with infidels and heathens. The pure word of God, as found in the Neo-Byzantine Textus Receptus, and as most accurately, though not in absolute word-perfect form, is translated in the authorised King James Bible of 1611, is attacked by many so-called modern versions. God's Genesis 9 to 11, holy racial laws of white race-based cultural nationalism in countries such as Australia, the UK and the USA, are set aside in the Western world, contrary to, for example, Act 1726, by wicked, anti-patriotic, anti-racists opposing all forms of racial discrimination. God's Genesis 2 and 3, holy patriarchal laws are set aside. Contrary to, for example, 1 Corinthians 11, 1 to 16, by wicked, sex-role perverted feminist ideology. God's holy chastity laws are set aside by, for example, fornicators, adulterers and sodomites. God's holy laws on the sanctity of human life are set aside by those advocating abortion and euthanasia and so on. But while God may allow certain bad things under his permissive will, we pray and lead us not into temptation, for we do not desire that under God's directive will we should be put to the test and made subject to the pain and strain of trials or tests of character. And secondly, Temptation in the petition, and lead us not into temptation, can refer to enticement into sin. And in this sense, also in its verbal form, per radso, we read in James 1, 13 and 14, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And in this James 1, 13 and 14 sense, Martin Luther's Shorter Catechism says, quote, God indeed tempts no one. But we pray in this petition that God would guard us and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us nor seduce us, and though we be assailed by them, that still we may finally overcome and gain the victory." John Calvin says, quote, our petition, therefore, is that we may not be overcome or overwhelmed with temptation, but in the strength of the Lord may stand firm against all the powers by which we are assailed. That being thus taken under his charge and protection, we may remain invincible by sin, the gates of hell, and the whole power of the devil." The Presbyterian Westminster Shorter Catechism, with reference to Matthew 26, 41, watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. Here says, quote, we pray that God would keep us from being tempted to sin, unquote. And so, in a parallel emphasis with the Ten Commandments, this sixth petition of the Lord's Prayer, and lead us not into temptation, points to the need for holiness of living, and so in a parallel emphasis with the Apostles' Creed, the need for a Trinitarian God-focus and associated dependence upon that Almighty God to strengthen, help, and offend us. And so we must look to God and no other power, whether the alleged saint-mediators of Romanism and semi-Romanism, or the false gods of heathenism, or anything else, For we must look to God alone in antithesis to the pressure to conform to ungodly worldly values and lifestyle in seeking to live out a biblical, Protestant, Christian lifestyle and value system. The seventh petition of the Lord's Prayer is, but deliver us from evil. The Anglican Short Catechism says, quote, I pray unto God that he will keep us from all sin and wickedness, and from our ghostly enemy, and from everlasting death. And this I trust he will do of his mercy and goodness through our Lord Jesus Christ." The Presbyterian Westminster Shorter Catechism, with reference to 2 Corinthians 12.8, where the Apostle Paul says, for this cause I besought the Lord thrice, says, quote, we pray that God would support and deliver us when we are tempted, unquote. Luther's Short Catechism says, quote, we pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would deliver us from all manner of evil, of body and soul, property and honour, and at last when our last hour shall come, grant us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this veil of tears to himself into heaven." And in his works, Martin Luther also refers to how in answer to prayer, God delivered those of the Reformation from political powers, Mohammedans and Romanists, when he says God, quote, held back hostile attack of emperor. Turk and Pope, unquote. And we too today need God's protection and deliverance from the evil designs of ungodly secular political powers, Mohammedans and the Roman Pope. And in terms of D for delivering us from evil when we are tempted, these are summarized under four Ds. Danger, temporal and spiritual. Death, everlasting. Devil or Devils and Decalogue Breaking. And we find a parallel emphasis of this petition in the Lord's Prayer, Deliver Us From Evil, both in the words of Article 9 of the Apostles' Creed, I believe in the Holy Ghost, with respect to sanctification. In the words of the Anglican Short Catechism, quote, I learn to believe in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifies me, unquote. And also in the specificity of the Decalogue, which is also set forth in classic Protestant catechism, such as the Anglican Short Catechism. And so in this petition we seek God's protection from what the Anglican Short Catechism calls our ghostly enemy, that is, Satan. A point also made in Calvin's catechism which says, quote, And so Calvin here also points to the element found in the Anglican Short Catechism as, quote, And in specific terms, this means we seek God's help to walk in holiness of living as found par excellence in the Ten Commandments. And the Anglican Short Catechism, Luther's Shorter Catechism, and the Dutch Reformed Heidelberg Catechism all make the point that this also includes a petition for our everlasting life in heaven. In the words of 1 Thessalonians 5.23, in which the first chi is rendered as and, in the authorized version, and by those who reasonably consider soul and spirit, here is a is here a poetical synonymous amplification by repetition and which may also be reasonably rendered as or which is how I shall here render it. And the very God of peace sanctify you holy and I pray God your whole spirit or soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ The concluding section of the Lord's Prayer is, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. Oh, sorry. Yes. The Presbyterian Catechism says here, quote, The Lord's prayer teacheth us to make our encouragement in prayer from God only, and in our prayers to praise him ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to him." Unquote. And so, once again, we see a God-focusing prayer as opposed to any other focus. For example, on alleged saint mediators, such as occurs in Romanism proper and some forms of semi-Romanism. Following the Luke 11, 2-4 form of the Lord's Prayer in omitting the doxology found in the Matthew 6, 9-13 form, on the one hand, the doxology is not used for the Lord's Prayer in either the Anglican Shorter Catechism or Martin Luther's Lutheran Shorter Catechism, but on the other hand, following the Matthew 6, 9-13 form, the doxology is found in Calvin's Catechism, the Dutch Reformed Heidelberg Catechism, and the Presbyterian Westminster Shorter Catechism. But this is not a denial of the doxology by, for example, the Anglican short catechism, as we find both forms of the Lord's Prayer are more widely used in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. However, the doxology was omitted at Matthew 6.13 by the old Latin Papists of pre-Vatican II Council times in their Dewey-Reams version, and as further discussed in my Textual Commentaries Volume 1 on Matthew 1-14 at Matthew 6.13, In addition to my comments there on the poor translation of the new King James Version, the doxology is omitted in the old Latin papers Clementine, Vulgate, and also omitted or put in square brackets as allegedly, probably not, being in the original text, in the case of the NASB, in corrupt neo-Alexandrian versions, sadly found in so many professedly Protestant churches, such as, for example, the New American Standard Bible, English Standard Bible, and New International Version. And so these corrupt Latin and Greek-Alexandrian texts lacked the correct reading of the Neo-Byzantine text, Textus Receptus, which has the support of the majority Byzantine texts from ancient times, a number of ancient church Greek writers, and a number of old Latin versions, here at Matthew 6.13. That the doxology is in fact part of Holy Writ is an issue of divine preservation, as we read later in St. Matthew's Gospel that our Lord says in Matthew 24.35, heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away and the doctrine of the divine preservation of Holy Scripture found in such passages as 1 Peter 1.25 is one element of Article 9 of the Apostles Creed I believe in the Holy Ghost the final conclusion of the Lord's Prayer is the Amen which can be included in the concluding section or can be thought of separately. The Anglican Assured Catechism says, and therefore I say, Amen, so be it. With reference to such scriptures as 1 Corinthians 14, 16 and Revelation 22, 20 and 21, the Presbyterian Shorter Catechism says here, Testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say, Amen." And Article 35 of the Anglican 39 Articles, Book 2, Homily 9, says, quote, Justinus Martyr, who lived about 160 years after Christ, saith, subquote, upon the Sunday assemblies, the head minister offereth prayers and thanksgiving with all his power, and the people answer, Amen. End subquote, end quote. And that now brings us to the end of the first part of this sermon on the Lord's Prayer. And so we now come to the second part of today's sermon on the Ten Commandments. Like the Lord's Prayer, Apostles' Creed and Sacraments of Baptism and Communion, the Ten Commandments are one of the five great symbols of the Christian faith upheld in the Protestant catechisms of the Reformation. This context is important as if the Ten Commandments are put in a different context of Jewish symbols, such as the Star of David, then they are used as a symbol of the Jewish faith. But we are considering them as a symbol of the Christian faith. The word Pentateuch is from the Greek penta, meaning five, and tchoukos, meaning an implement, a book. And so it refers to five books. Specifically, it refers to the first five books of the Holy Bible written by Holy Moses. And the name of the fifth book of the Pentateuch is the Book of Deuteronomy, which is from Latin deuteronomium, from the Greek Deuteros meaning second and nomos meaning law, that is the second law. For the Ten Commandments or Holy Decalogue was given twice and the word decalogue comes to us via the Latin decalogos from the two Greek words deka meaning ten and the noun logos meaning word in the accusative plural form of Deca Logus, meaning ten commandments, as it is found in the Greek Septuagint rendering of Exodus 34-28 and Deuteronomy 10-4. And so with Deca meaning ten and Logos meaning a thing uttered, the meaning is the ten things uttered in reference to the ten commandments of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Now, the second commandment prohibits idolatry. For example, the type of thing we find with the idol of Buddha, which heathen Buddhists bow down to and offer such things as flowers and incense to, or the many idols of heathen Hinduism. And after Moses received the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, We read that the Israelites made a syncretism with heathen concepts of idolatry, just like Romanists and various semi-Romanists make a syncretism with heathenism by having idols in churches, for example statues or icons of Mary or other saints whom they pray to, and thus give divine attributes to, and so the Israelites engaged in idolatry with a golden calf. And in Exodus 32 9, we read, And in Deuteronomy 9, 16 and 17, Moses says to the children of Israel, Behold, ye had sinned against the Lord your God, and have made you a molten calf. Ye turned aside quickly out of the way which the Lord had commanded you. And I took the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and break them before your eyes. And then in selected excerpts from Deuteronomy 10, 1 to 4, Holy Moses says, The Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone, like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, verse two. And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou breakest, verse three. And I hewed two tables of stone, like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on the two tables, according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the Lord spake, and the Lord gave them unto me. And so the first giving of the Ten Commandments or Decalogue in Exodus 20 was repeated a second time after Moses broke the first set with the second giving of the law in Deuteronomy 5. Now the basic Ten Commandments are the same in both Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. But in the second giving of the law, some of the wording is altered. Most notably, the fourth commandment of Exodus 28 to 11 focuses on the six creation days followed by the seventh day of rest in Genesis 1 and 2 as the reason for the weekly Sabbath, whereas the fourth commandment of Deuteronomy 5, 12 to 15 focuses on the redemption of Israel from Egypt as the reason for the weekly Sabbath. And so in the same way that we have three synoptic gospels, St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, and no one later synoptic gospel replaces an earlier synoptic gospel, but all three complement each other. So likewise, the second giving of the Holy Decalogue in Deuteronomy 5 complements the first giving of the Holy Decalogue in Exodus 20. And so we can use either of these forms, just like we can use the Lord's Prayer of Matthew 6, 9-13, which contains the doxology, or the slightly different form of it without the doxology in Luke 11, 2-4. However, by Protestant convention, the Holy Decalogue as found in Exodus 20 is the one most commonly used. The authority of the Ten Commandments is upheld throughout the New Testament. Although there is some modification to some of the precepts, in the New Testament, as for example, Matthew 19, 9 and 1 Corinthians 7, 2, repeal Old Testament polygamy laws, and so the Seventh Commandment now requires monogamy. Thus our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ upheld the moral authority of the Ten Commandments to isolate sin, so that in the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, we find in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5 to 7, that in Matthew 5, 21 to 26, our Lord uses the sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill, to show that this precept includes forbidding a man being angry with his brother without a cause. And in Matthew 5, 27 and 28, he uses the seventh commandment, thou shalt not commit adultery. to show that this includes sexual lust. And so Christ is here upholding the Decalogue and making the point that his provisions cut more deeply than these Jews thought, reaching to one's motives and thoughts. And our Lord makes a similar point in John 7, 1 and 19, when he says to the Jews who sought to kill him, did not Moses give you the law? And yet none of you keepeth the law. Why go ye about to kill me? And so the fact that they had an intent to kill Jesus is here isolated as a violation of the sixth commandment. And so too, our Lord makes a related point about the reach of the Decalogue with respect to the Eighth Commandment, thou shalt not steal of Matthew 19, 18, when in Matthew 21, 12 to 16, he cleansed the temple and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple. Among other things, saying to the Jews that, ye have made it a den of thieves, with the implication that they were involved in the exorbitant overpricing of the animal sold to be used in sacrifice. And so Christ here teaches that under God's law, one can steal by overcharging with high prices. And James 5, 1 to 5 also teaches that it is theft to pay wages that are too low. And so these economic matters should be carefully and prayerfully considered. And in Matthew 15, 1 to 9, our Lord uses the fifth commandment in Matthew 15, 4. honour thy father and mother, and then denounces them for violating this precept by elevating their traditions above it, saying in verse 6, Thus have you made the commandments of God of none effect by your tradition. So too, in Matthew 19, 16 to 22, he uses the Ten Commandments to isolate sin, saying in verses 18 and 19, "...thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honour thy father and thy mother." Now to the question, why does Christ here isolate in Decalogue order the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Commandments, and then the fifth commandment, the answer is that unlike in later tradition, where we artistically show the first four commandments on the first tablet and the last six commandments on the second tablet, in Jewish tradition, by putting the numbers 1 to 5 on the first tablet, the first five commandments are referred to, and by putting the numbers 6 to 10 on the second tablet, the last five commandments are referred to. And so the commandment order in Matthew 19, 18 and 19 is making the point that Christ is here upholding both tablets of the Decalogue. Since his citation of the sixth to ninth commandments represent the second tablet, and his citation of the fifth commandment represents the first tablet, and thus he is upholding all of the ten commandments. And then in Matthew 28, 1, we read, "...in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." And you will notice that in your King James Bibles, the word day is in italics as being added by the translators, because the word week is Greek sabbatone. And this is a double entendre, meaning both week and Sabbaths. so Christ rose on the first of the week simultaneously means the first of the Sabbaths, thus instituting the Christian Sunday Sabbath and hence in making Sunday the seventh day of the working week and hence the seventh day of the fourth commandment. Matthew 28 1 upholds the fourth precept while changing the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday for Christians who so keep it in memory of our Lord's resurrection. And so too the Holy Decalogue is upheld throughout the rest of the New Testament. For example in Romans 7-7 or 13-9 or James 1-25 or 2-10-12 where we read For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. And those words of James 2.10, for whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all, in the clear context of the Ten Commandments, means that St. James is here contextually upholding all of the precepts of the Holy Decalogue. We see this also in the imagery of the final judgment in Revelation 11.19, where St. John says he has seen in the heavenly temple, the Ark of His Testament. And as shoes go in a shoebox, so the Ten Commandments go in the Ark of the Testament or Covenant. Thus we read in Hebrews 9.4, of the Ark of the Covenant, wherein was the golden pot. that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant, that is, the Ten Commandments. And so in apocalyptic language, Revelation 1119 is referring to the final judgment by the standards of the Holy Decalogue. And contextually, this includes, though is not exhausted by, a special reference to the Second Commandment. Thou shalt not make, bow down to, nor serve any graven image, as related to the idolatrous events of the Mark of the Beast era. in Revelation 13 that immediately precede Christ's second advent. Now, there are multiple uses of the Ten Commandments, firstly at the point of justification by faith alone, secondly for the purposes of sanctification, And thirdly, for church discipline, for example James 2.24, you see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. And so in matters of church discipline there is a justification of works, not before God for the purposes of salvation, but before men for the purposes of church discipline. For example, a man who has not committed adultery cannot be excommunicated for committing adultery. Fourthly, the decalogue can be used as a covenant of works for salvation, in which no fallen man can keep it to the required standard, and so should be driven to cry out for mercy under the covenant of grace, as taught in, for example, Matthew 19, 16 to 22, and Galatians 3 and 4. Or fifthly, in harmony with the establishment principle taught in, for example, Psalm 2, 10 to 12, Lawmakers should use a basic level of the decalogues precept for moulding the moral values of law and society. And sixthly, as a divine revelation, also evident from godly reason, Romans 1 and 2, as a standard of final judgment, for example, Revelation 11, 10. Although for the believer, Christ's perfect righteousness in keeping the law is imputed to him. And so this really cuts at the unsaved who are judged not only for original sin imputed to them from Adam's primal sin, but also on the basis of their own inability to keep the decalogue, Romans 5, 12 to 14. which is one element, though not the only element, of verse 20. The law entered that the offense might abound. With regard to this fourth usage, that is, as a covenant of works, comparison of Luke 18 to 24, in which a Jew hopelessly seeks justification by works, says to Christ, good master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Christ then cites obedience to the Ten Commandments. with Luke 10, 25 to 27, where a Jew, hopelessly seeking justification by works, says to Christ, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Christ cites Deuteronomy 6, 5 and Leviticus 19, 18, saying, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength and with all thy mind and thy neighbour as thyself. It's certainly relevant in the different Justification by faith context of these sermons for showing the decalogue can be summarized in these two great commandments of love for God and one's neighbor, as indeed it is in the Anglican short catechism. However, except for this one matter I draw out with reference to a passage dealing with this fourth usage of the decalogue as a covenant of works, which no fallen man can ever keep to the required standard of God's perfection. It's not my intention for the purposes of this sermon to consider in any great detail these third, fourth, fifth, or sixth uses of the decalogue, but rather, in harmony with the Protestant catechisms, to really focus more on the relevant usage of the Ten Commandments, firstly at the point of justification, and secondly for the purposes of sanctification. Now, as also discussed in my book, The Roman Pope is the Antichrist, in a chart I have in Part 1, Section 5a, in the context of conviction of sin for the purposes of the glorious gospel of justification by faith alone in the atoning merits of Christ, in 1 Timothy 1, 8-10, The Holy Apostle St Paul goes through the Ten Commandments as they are found in the first giving of the law in Exodus 20 and the second giving of the law in Deuteronomy 5 highlighting some examples of egregious breaches. And so whereas in Romans 7.7 he cites the 10th commandment in the first giving of the law at Exodus 20.17, thou shalt not covet, and then says in Romans 7.12, wherefore the law is good, in 1 Timothy 1.8 he says, But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully, verse 9. Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, in which the words lawless and disobedient are the antithesis of the words used at the second giving of the law, where in Deuteronomy 5.1, Moses said, Hear the statutes and judgments which I speak. that ye may learn them and keep them and do them. And then in 1 Timothy 1.9 St. Paul says the law is for the ungodly and this parallels the word God and none other gods in the first commandment which says I am the Lord thy God thou shalt have none other gods and also the word God in the second commandment prohibiting idolatry which says I am the Lord thy God, I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. And then in 1 Timothy 1.9, St. Paul says, the law is for sinners. This parallels the words, the iniquities, in the second commandment, which says, thou shalt not make, bow down unto, nor serve any graven image, for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children. And also the words, not hold him guiltless, in the third commandment, which says, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, but taketh his name in vain. And then in 1 Timothy 1.9, St. Paul says the law is for unholy and profane. And since in Leviticus 20 verse 3, the Lord says not to profane my holy name this parallels the words in the third commandment which says thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain and since we read in nehemiah 13 17 and 18 that to break the sabbath is to profane it and in one Timothy 1.9, the word unholy parallels the words in the fourth commandment, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. And Profane also parallels the words in the fourth commandment, the seventh day is the Sabbath, in it thou shalt not do any work. And then in 1 Timothy 1.9, St. Paul says, the law is for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslaves. And these parallel the words of the fifth commandment, honour thy father and mother, and the words of the sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill. And then in 1 Timothy 1.10, St. Paul says, the law is for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind. And this parallels the words of the seventh commandment, thou shalt not commit adultery. and those prohibiting sexual lust in the Tenth Commandment. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, because a morally lawful marriage between a man and woman is the only legitimate forum for interpersonal sexual relations. And so 1 Timothy 1.10, he isolates two egregious breaches of this morality. First with whoremongers, that is, men who in a heterosexual context fornicate with a whore, whether simply as a consensual act with outpayment of money to a slut or adulterous woman, or with payment of money to a harlot or prostitute. And brace yourselves for some unpleasant and explicit sexual language as I refer to the egregious breach of this morality in them that defile themselves with mankind. That is, any form of homosexual, sodomite acts, such as oral sodomy, known in the Latin as sodomy per os, or that form of sodomy known in the Latin as sodomy per anum. Then in 1 Timothy 1.10, St. Paul says, the law is for men-stealers, referred to in Deuteronomy 24.7, also known as kidnapping, and this parallels the words of the Eighth Commandment, thou shalt not steal. And then in 1 Timothy 1.10, St. Paul says, the law is for liars, and this parallels the words of the Ninth Commandment, thou shalt not bear false witness. And then in 1 Timothy 1.10, St. Paul says, the law is for perjured persons. And this parallels the words of the third commandment. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. And the words of the ninth commandment, thou shalt not bear false witness. And then in 1 Timothy 1.10, St. Paul says, the law is for any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. And this is a broad generic reference, but it includes those not exhausted by, reference to the 10th commandment thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbor's and so we here see the 10 commandments used at the point of repentance in connection with justification by faith. Now the Greek word for nine is N-A-R and there are some people who argue for what's called the Ennealog, meaning nine commandments, as opposed to the Decalog, meaning ten commandments. For example, it's well known that in the Roman Catholic Church, the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 are generally written in such a way that the second commandment, thou shalt not make, bow down to, nor serve any graven image, is well hidden from her idolatrous slaves, that is, the souls of men she holds in bondage. With the tenth commandment being split into two in order to get the number 10 back, so that thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife is made the ninth commandment. and thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods is made the tenth commandment. And hence article 35 of the Anglican 39 articles at homily 21 book 2 says quote If they had known of God's word as much as the Ten Commandments, they should have found that the Bishop of Rome was a horrible blasphemer. Lest the poor people should know too much, the Bishop of Rome would not let them have as much of God's word as the Ten Commandments, holy and perfectly, withdrawing from them the Second Commandment." And this accords with biblical prophecy of the great apostasy of Daniel 11, 37, 2 Thessalonians 2, 3, and 1 Timothy 4, 1, giving rise to the Antichrist. For in 2 Thessalonians 2, 3, St. Paul calls Antichrist that man of sin. And in Romans 7, 7, St. Paul isolates sin by the Decalogue, saying, I had not known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except the law had said, thou shalt not covet. And Daniel 11 37 says Antichrist shall magnify himself above all. And 2 Thessalonians 2 4 says he exalted himself above all that is called God. And one way the papal Antichrist does this is through his attack on God's word by setting aside God's laws prohibiting idolatry as in fulfillment of Daniel 7 25. He shall think to change laws. The Roman pope sets aside the second commandment. For we further read in Daniel 11, 38, that he shall honor the God of forces, a God whom his fathers knew not, shall he honor with gold and silver and with precious stones and pleasant things. Verse 39, a strange God, he shall acknowledge and increase with glory. And so in form, the Roman Church refers to the decalogue, but in substance, she uses an analog that removes the second commandment. And Article 39 of the Anglican 39 Articles also refers to those who claim the New Testament abolishes the Third Commandment in connection with an oath in court. And so, too, there are those who claim the New Testament abolishes the fourth commandment. But whether with reference to the second, third, fourth, or any other commandment, this ennealogue or nine commandments nonsense is clearly wrong when, for example, one considers the imagery of Christ upholding the two tables of the Decalogue in Matthew 19, 18 and 19, or the imagery of final judgment by the Ten Commandments in Revelation 11, 19. The analogue claim is clearly wrong when, for example, one considers the words of James 2.10 in the clear context of the Decalogue. For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For St. James is here contextually upholding all of the precepts of the Holy Decalogue. And the analogue claim is clearly wrong when, for example, one considers St. Paul's usage of the Ten Commandments at the point of repentance in connection with justification by faith here at 1 Timothy 1, 8-10, and also his clear use of the 10th commandment in Romans 7, 7. And a second usage of the 10th commandment relates to those who have already been justified by faith, namely, the usage of the Decalogue for the purposes of sanctification of the believer or holiness of living. On the one hand, in an issue we aren't focusing on today, in Romans 7, 1-6, Paul says the believer has died to the law of the Ten Commandments as a covenant of works, seeking justification thereby, for he is justified by faith alone under the covenant of grace. But on the other hand, in Romans 7, 7-25, St Paul uses the Ten Commandments for the function of isolating sin in a believer's life. And though some have tried to interpret Romans 7, 7-25 as referring to an unconverted man coming to the point of conviction of sin in connection with repentance for the purposes of conversion, It's clear from the usage of the present tense that this refers to the saved man, St. Paul, who says in Romans 7.14, I am present tense, carnal, sold under sin. And in Romans 7.22, he says, I delight in the law of God after the inward man. And this is something that the regenerate man does, and the unregenerate man doesn't. And so Romans 7 to 25 is dealing with the usage of the Decalogue in sanctification of the believer. In the Old Testament, the prophet, Holy Jeremy, prophesied in Jeremiah 3.16. In those days, saith the Lord, They shall say no more, the ark of the covenant of the Lord, neither shall it come to mind, neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visit, neither shall that be done anymore. And so Jeremiah here prophesies a time when the Ten Commandments written on stone shall be abolished and be no more. And he further refers to this in Jeremiah 31, 33. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my law in the inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people. And so the Decalogue written on stone was to be abolished in order that it might be written in human hearts under the new covenant. And we Christians now live under the new covenant in the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so that addressing the church as Israel, we read in Hebrews 8.10, for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their heart, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. Verse 13. In that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old. And so we Christians should have the precepts of the Decalogue written in our hearts and minds. That the old Jewish laws of the Old Testament do not continue to bind us Christians of necessity is taught in such passages as Colossians 2, 14 and 16. And we also find a specific example of this teaching in the book of Ephesians, where St. Paul says in Ephesians 2, 15 that Christ abolished the law of commandments contained in ordinances. That is, the Jewish laws written in ordinances, as opposed to the Decalogue, which was written on tablets of stone. So that later in Ephesians 6, 2 and 3, we read that the moral law of the Ten Commandments remains binding. And hence, for example, the fifth commandment, honor thy father and mother. And that this is a sanctification context is evident from the words, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And other examples are given cross-referable to the Decalogue. For example, lust idols, cross-referable to the first, second, and tenth commandments. In the words of Ephesians 5.5, referring to a covetous man who is an idolater. Thus we read in Article 7 of the Anglican 39 Articles, quote, the law given from God by Moses as touching ceremonies and rites do not bind Christian men, nor the civil precepts thereof. thereof ought of necessity to be received in any commonwealth. Yet notwithstanding, no Christian man whatsoever is free from obedience of the commandments which are called moral." And so one finds these moral laws of the Decalogue in, for example, the Anglican Short Catechism, or the Presbyterian Westminster Catechism, Chapter 9, and Shorter Catechism. And the interested lister will find a greater discussion of this issue of Article 7 of the Anglican 39 Articles in my sermon available at www.sermonaudio.com of 24 October 2013 against racially mixed marriages. Now, both in this sermon and more generally, I most commonly follow the New Testament in passages such as Matthew 19, 18 and 19, or Romans 7, 7 and 13, 9, in giving abbreviated shorter forms of the Tenth Commandment. For example, thou shalt not bear false witness for the Ninth Commandment, though the longer form adds against thy neighbour, or thou shalt not covet for the Tenth Commandment. But there's a place for both the shorter and longer forms of the Decalogue, and in, for example, the prefatory pages of Volume 6 of my textual commentaries on Mark 4 and 5, one will find a chart showing both the shorter and longer forms of the Decalogue. And using the longer form, the Anglican short catechism refers to the promises made by godparents at infant baptism, including the, quote, promise for you that you should keep God's commandments. Tell me, how many there be? Answer, 10. Question, which be they? Answer, the same which God spake in the 20th chapter of Exodus, saying, I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, one. Thou shalt have none other gods but me, too. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and show mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 4. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all that thou hast to do, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou and thy son and thy daughter, thy manservant and thy maidservant, thy cattle and the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it. Five, honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Six, thou shalt do no murder. Seven, thou shalt not commit adultery. Eight, thou shalt not steal. Nine, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Ten, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his. Question, what does thou chiefly learn by these commandments? Answer, I learn two things, my duty towards God and my duty towards my neighbour. Question, what is thy duty towards God? Answer, My duty towards God is to believe him, to fear him, and to love him with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul, and with all my strength." And as previously stated, this includes reference to the summary of the Decalogue in Deuteronomy 6.5, based on a comparison and contrast of Luke 10.25-27 and 18.18-24. here made with special reference to the first four commandments. And the catechism is also here influenced by such scriptures as, for example, Hebrews 11.6, he that cometh to God must believe that he is. And Psalm 111.10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And also with reference to the first, second, third, and fourth commandments, the Anglican short catechism says, my duty towards God is to serve him truly all the days of my life, unquote. With reference to the First Commandment, I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me. The Anglican short catechism says, my duty towards God is to put my whole trust in him, unquote. In the words of Proverbs 3.5, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. With reference to the third commandment, thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain. The Anglican short catechism says, quote, my duty towards God is to honor his holy name and his word, unquote. For in the words of Psalm 66.2, we honor his name. If we honor his name, then we must honor his word. For we further read in Psalm 138, two, I will praise thy name that has magnified thy word above all thy name. With reference to the second commandment, thou shalt not make, bow down to, nor worship any graven image. And the fourth commandment, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. The Anglican short catechism says, my duty towards God is to worship him and to give him thanks, unquote. And with further reference to the fourth commandment, to call upon him. For contextually, the second commandment forbids one to serve or worship a graven image, because one should worship or serve only God. And the fourth commandment includes this element of public worship and giving thanks to God. For we read in Leviticus 23.3, the seventh day is a holy convocation or day of assembly. In the words, of Hebrews 10.25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. And in the double entendre of the Greek, sabbatone, meaning both week and sabbaths, in John 20 verse 1, Christ rose on the first of the week, simultaneously meaning the first of the sabbaths. And then, in John 20, 19, with this same Sunday sacred as terminology, we read, the disciples were assembled, and Christ appeared to them. And again, in verse 26, on the following Sunday, again his disciples were assembled within a meeting place. And Christ appeared to them. Or in Luke Acts, in the double entendre of the Greek sabbatone, meaning both week and sabbaths, in Luke 24.1, Christ rose on the first of the week, simultaneously meaning the first of the sabbaths. And then in Acts 2.1 on Pentecost Sunday, the apostles were all upon the cord, assembled in one place. And in Acts 20 verse 7, on Sunday the disciples came together to celebrate communion. Now we know from Galatians 4.10 through reference to Leviticus 23 and Numbers 28 and 29, that the New Testament prohibits Gentile Christians from keeping the Jewish liturgical year, for we read, Ye observe Sabbath days and new moon months and annual times and sabbatical years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. And so Gentile Christians at Galatia were prohibited from keeping the weekly Jewish Sabbath of Saturday. But we also know that the church at Galatia sanctified Sunday. For we read in 1 Corinthians 16, 1 and 2, the Apostle Paul saying, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye, upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store. And this was a financial collection. And in this church at Corinth, which we know from 1 Corinthians 12-13 had both Jewish and Gentile Christians in it, all sanctified Sunday from 1 Corinthians 16-2, since the first day of the week, or Sunday, is here mentioned in the 1 Corinthians 15 context of Christ's resurrection. For example, 1 Corinthians 15 20, but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. And the Sunday imagery of firstfruits is again mentioned in 1 Corinthians 16 15. And this is the firstfruits Sunday imagery as seen from Leviticus 23 10 and 11, as is the Sunday imagery of Pentecost in 1 Corinthians 16 8 as seen from Leviticus 23 15 and 16. so that the reason for Sunday's sacredness in 1 Corinthians 16.2 is contextually explained through reference to Christ's resurrection, the fulfillment of Old Testament typology, and early church history such as the day of Pentecost Sunday in Acts 2. Now in Isaiah 66 22 the Sabbath is said to be a day of worship and in Psalm 92 a psalm or song for the Sabbath day we read it is good to give thanks unto the Lord and in this 1 Corinthians 16 2 Sunday sanctifying church at Corinth We read in 1 Corinthians 14.25 that the assembly was a place to worship God and in 1 Corinthians 14.6 a worshipful place for saying Amen in public prayer and the giving of thanks. The Anglican short catechism further says Question, what is thy duty toward thy neighbor? Answer, my duty towards my neighbor is to love him as myself and to do to all men as I would they do unto me, unquote. And as previously stated, this includes reference to the summary of the Decalogue in Leviticus based on a comparison and contrast of Luke 10 and 18 and here made with special reference to the last six commandments and with reference to the fifth to tenth commandments of the catechism is also here influenced by Matthew 7 12 where our Lord says in the Sermon of the Mount all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you Do ye even so to them? For this is the law in the prophets." Now, our Lord states this as a general moral principle of the Old Testament, but given that he specifically upholds the Decalogue in Matthew 5, we cannot doubt that this is a very relevant moral principle of the Ten Commandments, as rightly here cited in the Catechism as a Christian understanding of the Decalogue. With reference to the fifth commandment, honor thy father and mother, the Anglican short catechism says, quote, my duty towards my neighbor is to love, honor, and succor my father and mother, to honor and obey the queen and all that are put in authority under her, to submit myself to all my governors, teachers, spiritual pastors, and masters, to order myself lowly and reverently to all my betters, unquote. And this is the type of teaching one finds in Romans 13 1 to 10 or Ephesians 6 1 to 9, though it is subject to the teaching of Acts 5 29 we ought to obey God rather than men. For example, in Daniel 3, the three holy children of Israel rightly refused to worship an idol contrary to the second commandment, as Daniel 3-4 says they were commanded to do. With reference to the sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill, the Anglican short catechism says, quote, my duty towards my neighbor is to hurt nobody by word or deed, to bear no malice nor hatred in my heart." And this is the type of teaching one finds in Matthew 5, 21 and 22, or Romans 13, 9 and 10. With reference to the seventh commandment, thou shalt not commit adultery, and also that element of the tenth commandment found in the longer form, as thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, The Anglican short catechism says, quote, my duty towards my neighbor is to keep my body in chastity, unquote. And this is the type of teaching one finds in the broader meaning of the Seventh and Tenth Commandments we discussed in connection with 1 Timothy 1.10, where the heterosexual word, whoremongers, and the homosexual words, them that defile themselves with mankind, make the point that a morally lawful marriage between a man and woman is the only legitimate forum for interpersonal sexual relations. For example, the reserved delicacy of Tyndale's English rendering, them that defile themselves with mankind, in the Greek is ἄσυν οἰκοίτης, a compound word meaning men who have coitus with men, and whose two constituent parts of arsenos, meaning man or mankind in the narrow sense of miles, and coiti, meaning coitus, are found in the Greek Septuagint rendering of Leviticus 18.22, which describes such mild homosexual acts with mankind as an abomination. And also Leviticus 18.22-29, where abominations, such as sodomy with man a beast, are said to defile the sodomites. And hence, in staying with the allusion to Leviticus 18, the rendering preserved in the authorized version of 1611, them that defile themselves with mankind. With reference to the Eighth Commandment, thou shalt not steal, the Anglican short catechism says, quote, my duty towards my neighbor is to keep my hands from picking and stealing, unquote. And with reference to the Eighth Commandment, thou shalt not steal. And Ninth Commandment, thou shalt not bear false witness. The Anglican Short Catechism says, my duty towards my neighbor is to be true and just in all my dealings, unquote. With reference to the Third Commandment, thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain. And Ninth Commandment, thou shalt not bear false witness. The Anglican Short Catechism says, quote, my duty towards my neighbor is to keep my tongue from evil speaking, lying, and slandering, unquote. with reference to lust idols, forbidden under a combination of the first commandment, I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods but before me. The second commandment, thou shalt not make, bow down to, nor serve any graven image. And the tenth commandment, thou shalt not covet. The Anglican short catechism says, my duty towards my neighbor is to keep my body in temperance. In harmony with, for example, Colossians 3.5, referring to covetousness, which is idolatry. Philippians 3.19, referring to those whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly. Or Galatians 5.20 and 21, which says that those in drunkenness shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And in verses 22 and 23, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. And with reference to the 10th commandment, thou shalt not covet, the Anglican short catechism says, quote, my duty towards my neighbor is not to covet nor desire other men's goods, but to learn and labor truly to get my own living and to do my duty in that state of life unto which it shall please God to call me, unquote. Now there's a lot more that could be said on each of these precepts of the Ten Commandments than one finds in the Anglican Short Catechism. But one has to crawl before one can walk and the Anglican Short Catechism gives a basic introduction to the precepts of the Decalogue and so what's being said will suffice for the purposes of today's sermon on the Decalogue being one of the five great symbols of the Christian faith used in the Catechism. Let us pray. Almighty and ever-living God We thank thee for the truths of thy holy word set forth in the five great symbols of the Christian faith used in Protestant Christian catechisms of the Reformation, such as the Anglican Short Catechism. We thank thee for the two symbols of the Ten Commandments and Lord's Prayer that we have considered in today's sermon. We thank thee that thou didst thunder from Mount Sinai, the Holy Decalogue, thereby giving us this law of liberty. We thank thee for thy completed word which teaches us about these and other matters in conjunction with the guiding and illuminating power of the Holy Ghost. O Heavenly Father, lead us, guide us, teach us, guard us in our pilgrim way here in earth, till at the last we come to the eternal heavenly joys that thou hast graciously prepared for us through the redeeming merits of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.