Word of Salvation – Vol. 13 No.19 – May 1967
The Supremacy Of God
Sermon by Rev. G. I. Williamson on Matt.6:9b
Scripture Reading: Psalm 145
Psalter Hymnal: 172:6+8; 13; 224; 281; 304:1
Beloved Congregation,
You will observe that the Lord’s Prayer like the Ten Commandments is divisible into two tables. The first four commandments express our duty to God, and the last six our duty to man. In a similar manner, the first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer are centred upon God, and the last three upon the needs of man. We are taught to say “thy name… thy kingdom… (and) thy will,” before we say, “our daily bread… our debts… (and our) temptation!” And this means, quite obviously, that true prayer must begin with a consciousness of and a concern for the supremacy of God.
And nothing could be more evident than the fact that this is contrary to human nature. For the natural impulse of the human heart is rather to assert the supremacy of self! Is it not true that we must constantly fight against this tendency in all our prayers? Is it not our very nature to consider first ourselves – our material desires – our own families – or even our own spiritual welfare, before we even think of the honour and glory of God? And even when we pray for the will of God to be done, and the Kingdom to come, it is often our own welfare that is the primary interest! We desire these things – and pray for them – because we want them for ourselves!
But it is not so with the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray. For in this prayer the first concern is God! It is God for his own sake, and apart from all others.
I. REVELATION
God’s name is not a mere label. It is rather what we would call His reputation. We see this quite clearly in the history of the Bible. We are told that the Lord called Moses to lead his people out of bondage in Egypt. But Moses was afraid that the children of Israel had forgotten the meaning of God’s name. “Behold,” said Moses, “when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say unto them?”
As the Psalmist once said, “If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.”
And the sad fact is that the vast majority of people in this world have forgotten the name of the Lord. They are like Pharaoh of old, who said: “Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice…? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go!” The Bible says that this is the condition of the whole world, apart from the saving grace of Christ. But we must not think that this sad condition is due to any failure on God’s part! As if it were God’s fault, rather than man’s fault, that his name is not hallowed in all the earth! No, the Bible clearly teaches us that God’s name is clearly revealed to men! For “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.” The name of God is clearly written on everything that he has made. So that the Psalmist can say, “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth.” “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse,” says the Apostle.
And not only is God’s name clearly revealed in the works of creation. His name is also clearly revealed in what we call the works of providence. God’s works of providence are his holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures and all their actions. And this means that God exercises such a powerful control of all things in this world, that again men cannot help but have before them the revelation of His name. It was for this reason, says the scripture, that God did not destroy his people in the wilderness. It was also for this reason that the Apostle Paul was required to suffer many things. “And in very deed”, says the scripture concerning ‘hard hearted Pharaoh’, “for this have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.”
So it is not because of any obscurity in the revelation of God, that men do not know his name! But it is rather because of the undeniable fact that men do not like to know his name. As the Apostle Paul says: “and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge!” so they “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” Of course, such people may still use the word ‘god.’ They may even use it constantly! And yet, because they change the meaning of the word, it must truly be said that they “have forgotten the name” of the Lord. They have forgotten it because they did not like to remember it. And this is quite understandable. For the Bible says that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” When men know the name of God, they also know that God is holy! They know that he hates sin, and that he will punish it. And the fact is that lost sinners cannot stand to know this, apart from the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
It is for this reason that Christ came to the world. “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world,” said Jesus, “thine they were, and thou gavest them me..and I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it.” When Christ came to the world he came to reveal unto men the glorious name of God. But the very people who prided themselves on the fact that they knew God, were not willing to receive him. “I am come in my Father’s name,” he said, “and ye receive me not.” They thought that they knew God’s name, but they really did not. They had changed God’s name so that it was no longer the same as it originally was. “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father,” said Jesus. “There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me – for he wrote of me.’
The precise point of difference between Jesus and these people who thought that they knew the name of God, but did not, was the supremacy of God! Jesus never wearied of testifying of the supremacy of God.
1) That is why Jesus taught so plainly that salvation was wholly of God, rather than partly the work of man! The Jews of his day believed in the doctrine of man’s free will. They believed that it was within the power of every man to turn to the Lord and walk in his ways. But Jesus said “no man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” And he also said, “no man can come to me, except it were given unto him of my Father.” When Jesus said, unto these Jews who believed in the power of man, “without me ye can do nothing” they were infuriated beyond measure.
(2) And it was the same when Jesus spoke to them of God’s eternal election. “Ye believe not,” said Jesus to the Jews, “because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish… My father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand… then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.” It was because of this teaching of the supremacy of God in eternal election, that they were ready to kill our Lord.
(3) And it was, again, the same when he taught them about his own purpose in coming to the world. Jesus said, “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing!” And again, when he was about to lay down his life for his sheep, he said, “I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me… for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified” The Jews of Jesus day did not like the idea that Jesus came to die for his elect only! That was too much emphasis upon the supremacy of God.
(4) And it was, once more, the same in Christ’s teaching concerning the work of the Holy Spirit. The Jews liked to believe that it was within the power of every man to believe and be saved. But Jesus clearly said that it was the sovereign Holy Spirit who could make men new creatures in him. “The wind bloweth where it listeth,” he said, “and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.”
When Jesus prayed, he said, “Father, glorify thy name.” He desired the supremacy of God! He delighted in it! It was the joy and strength of his heart! But with us it is not so. And that brings us to our second point, which is, that in order to pray this petition, there must not only be a revelation of the supremacy of God, but also a revolution in the sinful heart of man! For it is only when man is basically changed, by God’s almighty grace, that he can desire and rejoice in this supremacy of God.
II. REVOLUTION
It is a very easy thing to say “our Father which art in heaven, hallowed by thy name!” But it is something else to pray that is, to mean what these words teach us. And we see this in two great areas of human life.
(1) We see it, first of all, in the realm of Christian doctrine or theology. The Bible clearly teaches us that the whole of our salvation is due to the might and power and grace of God alone! It teaches us that we are utterly dead in trespasses and sins, and that we have neither the desire nor the ability to turn unto God.
And so the Bible teaches us that we are saved only because we are elected of the Father, redeemed by the precious blood of the Son, and regenerated and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. For the Bible says that “of him, and through him, and to him, are all things, to whom be glory for ever.”
And yet, how common it is for men to disagree with the clear teaching of God’s word. They say: no, that is not logical! For if God decides who will be saved like a potter decides what he will do with one lump of clay, then it would not be the sinners fault if he were not saved! As Paul wrote in the Epistle to the Romans, “thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? for who hath resisted his will?” Or again, if this salvation of God is entirely by his grace and power, then it will seem to the natural wisdom of man that we might as well sin the more that grace may abound. If I cannot save myself, or even begin to do anything to save myself, then I may as well sin the more, in hopes that I will receive more grace! So reasons the mind of man. But again, asks the Apostle, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.” And we could go on to give other instances from the new testament. But what do such instances as these teach us?
(a) Well, they teach us that salvation is by the power and grace of God alone. Otherwise, the Apostles would never have faced such ridiculous objections.
(b) But they also teach us that even when people do hear the true gospel, it is no easy thing for them to bow in humble reverence and submission unto God. It is a hard thing for men to really submit themselves completely to the supremacy of God!
(2) And it is not only difficult to do this in the realm of doctrine. It is likewise difficult to do so in the arena of life! The Bible says that God exercises a complete or absolute control over all things, so that not even a sparrow can fall to the ground except by his will. And again, he has counted the hairs on our heads and appointed the bounds of our habitation and days of our sojourn. Or to express the same truth in a more propositional way “he has foreordained whatsoever truly he called ‘accidental.’
But what a hard thing it is to humbly submit to the absolute sovereignty of God. Remember how Job was cast into the depths of trouble and affliction! His wife said to him: “Curse God and die.” She was not willing to accept the supremacy of God. But even though it was not easy for Job, he did accept it. He said, “the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” It was also hard for the Apostle Paul to submit himself completely to the sovereignty of God. He prayed earnestly three times that God would remove his ‘thorn in the flesh.’ But God said, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” And the Apostle then said, “hallowed be thy name.” But the Israelites did not say that in the wilderness, when they murmured against the Lord.
When we say “hallowed be thy name” we are not to think that we are asking God for something that is not already a reality. For the Bible makes it clear that God has hallowed his name, and that he will hallow it again. “Let them praise thy great and terrible name, says the Psalmist, “for it is holy… holy and reverend is his name” and “according to thy name so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth.” When Jesus prayed that God would glorify his name, “then came there a voice from heaven saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” Nor is this petition a re- quest that God would manifest or reveal the glory of his name. For the Lord has already revealed that his name is holy. His name is excellent in all the earth. And he has set his glory above the heavens. No, it is rather simply a petition to the effect that we might “give unto the Lord the glory due his name.” For it is in the wicked heart of man that God’s name needs to be hallowed. And this requires a complete change – not in God – nor in the works of God – but only in the sinful heart of men.
And thanks be to God, there are such people in this world. They do acknowledge the supremacy of God. They rejoice in it. It is the light of their path, and the strength of their heart. Was it not Paul who said, “I am ready to not only be bound but also to die at Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord”? It was this same man, you remember, who once said – concerning his opposition the Christian Church – “I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests.” And yet, when his whole being was created anew by the gracious Spirit of Christ, he was willing to lose everything for the honour and glory of that same name! He would go anywhere, and suffer any hardship, in order to vindicate the name of the Lord. And we hear from the Apostle himself the reason for this great zeal for the name of the Lord. For Paul says, “according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power – unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given… for I am the least of the Apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am.” You see, it was because of the overwhelming realisation of the fact that he was nothing – that he deserved nothing – and that he did nothing to effect his own salvation, and because God was everything and had done all by his grace – that he was so strongly motivated to seek the honour and glory of God.
So we see in this first petition, not only a revelation of what God is but also, the revolution that must take place in our own hearts if we are to pray this prayer. For it is only when the truth of God’s gospel, and the name of the Lord therein revealed, becomes the experience of our hearts, that we can truly pray, “hallowed be thy name. It is only in such an experience of our own nothingness and of God’s mercy, that we can make a complete and willing submission to the supremacy of God.
III. RESTORATION
But let us not forget that this is also the secret of prayer which prevails with the living and true God. And this is so, even though it will not seem so to the mind of the natural man. It would seem to the natural mind, that this whole concept of the absolute supremacy of God, and the entire submission of man to that supremacy would be the end of all prayer! If God is supreme and if he already does his will in the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth – and if we must simply, and above all, submit to this divine sovereignty – then the natural man will say: ‘What is the use of praying?’ And yet, strange as it may seem, this is not the end, but rather the beginning of all true prayer!
Suppose for a moment that God were not supreme. Suppose that he did not have his way’ in everything. Suppose, for the sake of argument, that God did not choose sinners to be his children, but left it strictly up to sinners to choose him for their God. Suppose also, for the sake of argument, that the complete change of the sinners heart were not effected by the power of the Holy Spirit alone, but rather by the self-generated efforts of the sinner himself. Then I ask you, what would be the use to pray to God about it? If it really were up to the sinner himself to save himself, then it would do no good to pray to God about it. The only thing that would make any sense would be to pray to the sinner himself, or rather, simply talk to him about it, and plead with him to do what we want him to do. For if God is not supreme, absolutely supreme, in such cases, then the sinner himself must be supreme. And if the sinner is supreme, then it is perfectly obvious that God himself is completely helpless in the matter. They cannot both be supreme! And if God alone is not supreme, then there really is no basis for prayer at all.
But when we “ask in faith, nothing wavering” the Bible says that “it shall be given”. And the fact of the matter is that all the great prayers in the Bible are squarely based upon this wonderful and absolute supremacy of God.
(a) Take for example, the prayer of Abraham for the city of Sodom. Now Abraham knew very well that God was going to destroy the city of Sodom. And he also knew the waywardness of Lot. He knew that there was no excuse for the fact that he had gone to that wicked city to live. Yet we find this Abraham, making earnest intercession to God. He boldly intercedes for Lot, and never wavers in his faith and supplication. So we must naturally ask, ‘How is it that Abraham can pray this way?’ And the answer is unmistakeable. He prays this way because he truly seeks the supremacy of God. He knows, and desires, that the Lord of all the earth will do what is right. But it is just because of this, that he is sure that the Lord will not destroy the righteous with the wicked, and that he will hear the earnest prayer of his servant according to his word of infallible promise.
(b) Or consider, again, the great prayer of Daniel during the long captivity of the Children of Israel in Babylon. Why does Daniel insist upon praying for the wayward people of God, even at the risk of his own life? And how can he still ask the Lord’s mercy, after all the apostasy and sin of which they had been guilty? Well this is how Daniel concluded his prayer: “O my God, incline thine ear and hear: open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies. O Lord hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O My God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.” It was because of Daniel’s concern for the honour and supremacy of God’s own name, that he had the courage to pray.
(c) And, to give but one other illustration, perhaps you will remember the tearful prayer of Hezekiah, when the prophet told him that he would soon die of his great sickness. Why then does Hezekiah turn his face to the wall, to plead with God in prayer? Is it because he seeks his own welfare, and believes in the supremacy of man? No, not at all. For this is what he said: “Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth.” Which was as much as to say, that he believed that God was a God of mercy and of truth. So he also believed that God would never deny his own name, by spurning the plea of them that love and serve him. And again, Hezekiah’s prayer was heard because he thus understood, and desired, the supremacy of God.
And so we see in this first petition, when it is truly offered up to God, what we can only call a restoration to the blessed security and certainty that belongs to the children of God. For the Lord himself has said, “them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” The more we truly honour God, from the heart, the more he himself will hear and answer our prayers. But the more we withhold this honour and esteem, the more he himself will hold back his blessings from us. But is that not the whole of the message of the Gospel? For our Lord himself said that when we seek our own life, we lose it. But when we lose ourselves for God’s sake, we really find ourselves. Man was made in the image of God. When in that far off paradise, man saw God as his all in all, he him- self was everything that he could have been. As long as God was supreme, man was in paradise. But when man sought to be something on his own; when he sought to make himself, rather than God, supreme…he lost all. And now the gospel – and the Lord’s Prayer – call sinners back to God. It says: lose yourself and you will find yourself. It says, be nothing, and let God be all in all. And then you will find that you are restored to everything good that comes to them that love God.
So it is that none can really pray, and be heard, except those who say: hallowed be thy name which is simply a humble desire that God might be all in all, and that we might receive our ‘all’ from him. Thus it is that we must have revelation – and then revolution – in order to also have restoration!
Amen.