The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1918-02-01

words, "Our Fa- 4zM L
ther which art in
heaven" 1t directly invokes Gods ear.
1t is great thing to know God as
Father. The heather do not SO know
him and even the Old Testament re-
veals him only as Father of Israel as
nation. Christ has shown us the
Father. AS Creator, God is the Father
of all men; yet Jesus said to some who
were children of God in this sense,
aye are of your father the devil" To
pray the Lords prayer Alright we must
be born again and thus enabled to cry,
"Abba, Father"
Our Father is "in heaven or, liter
ally, Gin the heavens" In the Bible
three heavens are recognized. First,
there are the atmospheric heavens
| where the birds fly and the clouds
float; our Father is there and holds
the dying sparrow. Then, there are
the planetary heavens, where the stars
burn; our Father governs all this host.
Finally, there is the third heaven"
the heaven Of heavens, where God
| dwells in n special sense. If we pray
! to such n Father, we should be rever-
ent, for he is in heaven and we are on
earth; we should be confident, for he
is of unlimited power; we should be
spiritual in our worship, not confirming
it TO forms or places.
When we say "our" Father, we join
in prayer with the whole family of
God.
The first petition is, "Hallowed be
thy name" The name of God is his
revealed character. This is made
known in nature, in the Bible and,
| above all, in Jesus Christ, who said,
| ''He that hath seen me hath seen the
Father" The meaning of the petition
is given thus by Samuel Rutherford:
| "We pray that God would make all
men know and glorify him in his holy
nature, word and works; and that we
may glorify him by holy life, and
| that his enemies that dishonor him
were COMPOUNDED"
| A Story of John Fletcher Of Madeley.
An example of truly hallowing Gods
name Is found in John Fletcher of
Madeley, leader in early Methodism.
He carried with him the very air Of
heaven. Once, when some friends rode
up to his door, he called for refresh
ment and, after the custom of the day,
cake and wine were brought. AS he
passed the cake he said reverently,
''The body of our Lord Jesus Christ"
and as he passed the wine, 1.-THE blood
. Il 4 .,e.t \
be sacrilege for most Christians to do
that, but it seemed fitting for him, for
he did all things to the glory OF God.
The second petition is, "Thy king
dom come" The very "come" in the
Greek is in a tense which implies Il
sudden catastrophe, and not gradual
coming. Indeed, as the commentator,
III. A. w. Meyer, points out, the petit
| ton refers primarily to that kingdom
of the Messiah which will be ushered
in when the Messiah appears. We
usually speak of it as the millennium,
when Christ with his glorified church
will rule over the redeemed earth.
For the Christian this petition is
synonymous with, "Come, Lord Jesus"
for the kingdom will come with the
king. An American scientist once said
to Doctor Kelman of Scotland, "Amer-
lea needs an emperor" Doctor Kel-
man expressed surprise at such a
statement and remarked that America
would need an infallible emperor.
Precisely" replied the scientist, but
we know the man and are waiting for
him; his name is Jesus" "The thrill
of that reply" says Doctor Kelman,
twill never leave me-"
The Joy of Doing Gods Will.
The final petition is, "Thy will be
DONE" We usually associate this with
the thought of trial and our minds re-
vert to Christ's agony and prayer in
Gethsemane. But we should not for
get his words at the well Of Sychar
after talking with the sinful woman
of Samaria. "My meat is TO do the
will of him that sent me-" Indeed we
find the secret Of JOY only In the will
of God, for our hearts were made for
him and are restless until they rest
In him. In Mr.. Moody's room In the
Moody Bible institute hangs motto,
wonderfully illustrated In his own life,
'He that doeth the ill Of God abideth
forever"
The phrase, "On earth, as II is in
heaven" seems to belong to all three
of the petitions. We pray that his
name may be hallowed, his kingdom
come and his will be done-on earth
as in heaven. Happy day when this