The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1907, Page 42

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42

The Lutheran Pioneer.

*“sBe Not Conformed to This World.”’

Rom. 12, 2.

In these words the apostle Paul warns all Chris-
tians against conformity to this world. The world
consists of those who are not born again and who
still live according to the flesh. Christians should
not have their aims, nor adopt their principles, nor
imitate their ways, nor follow their customs, nor
admire their tastes, nor engage in their pleasures.
The Christian confesses with St. Paul: “God for-
bid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified
unto me, and I unto the world,’ Gal. 6, 14. The
Christian is God’s friend and cannot at the same
time be the world’s friend; for the world is God’s
enemy. “IXnow ye not that the friendship of the
world is enmity with God? Whosoever, therefore,
will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God,”
James 4, 4.

There are thousands who sneer at all this as out
of date and as “old fogyism;” but no matter what
people say or think, the word of the Lord abideth
forever: “If any man love the world, the love of
the Father is not in him,” 1 John 2, 15.

—_——E— sss

The Lord’s Prayer.

Matthew and Luke (Matt. 6, 9—13; Luke 11,
1—+4) tell us that Jesus Himself taught His disci-
ples the prayer which we duly prize as the gem of
all. Upon a certain occasion one of His disciples
came to Him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, as
John also taught his disciples.” In answer to this
request, Jesus said, “When ye pray, say, Our Father,
which art in heaven,” ete. For this reason, because
Jesus is its Author, we call this prayer the Lord’s
Prayer.

This prayer we Christians use upon all occa-
sions. It was spoken at our Baptism. It is spoken
at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, at the
marriage altar, at the sick- and deathbed, in days
of sorrow and days of joy. It is the best and most
perfect of all prayers. Yet how often is it not
thoughtlessly spoken! Luther once said, “The
Lord’s Prayer is the greatest of martyrs on earth,
for it is ill-treated and abused by everybody.” Such
being the case, let us endeavor to get at the mean-
ing of this prayer of prayers, so that we may pray
it according to God’s will.

The Lord’s Prayer is divided into three parts:
the Introduction, the Seven Petitions, and the Con-
clusion.

Tue Inrropuctrion.

Christ teaches us to address our God as “Our
Father, which art in heaven.” Christ might have
told us to address God as Lord, Creator, ete., but
instead of doing so, He tells us to say, Father.
Why does God want us to address Him as Father?
For it is plain that sinee Jesus is God, that it is
God Himself that teaches us so to pray. If we
give the matter a little thought, it will become clear
to us that God desires to encourage us by the use
of this winning name. As Luther puts it: “God
would by these words tenderly invite us to believe
that He is our true Father, and that we are His
true children, so that we may with all boldness and
confidence ask Him, as dear children ask their dear
father.” A true father is one who loves his chil-
dren, and true children are those which the father
recognizes and loves as his own. ‘This is, indeed,
a wondrous love on the part of God, that He should
acknowledge us as His children, a love so great that
John at the thought of it cries out in joyful amaze-
ment: “Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God!” 1 John 3, 1. Therefore, to re-
move all doubt and fear, God here bids us to ad-
dress Him as Father. In and through Christ, for
Christ’s sake, God has adopted us as His true chil-
dren and given us the blessed privilege of calling
Him Father, and by faith in Jesus’ merits we re-
ceive the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father, Rom. 8, 15, and enter the blessed family
in heaven and earth which is named of our Lord
Jesus Christ, Eph. 3, 14. 15. Though we are sin-
ners, yet through faith in Christ we are God’s chil-
dren, and we pray with firm confidence that our
heavenly Father will hear our prayer in Jesus’
name for Jesus’ sake.

But Jesus bids us say, “Owr Father.” Why not,
“My iether”? Because all believers in Christ are
the children of God, and therefore brethren and
sisters in Christ who should love each other. And
this love which Christians have for cach other must
also reveal itself in their prayers. We must not
selfishly think of ourselves only, but of our fellow-
men, and make our intercessions for them. And
what an exalting thought is this, that, as we are
praying for others to our Father, they are also in-
cluding us in their prayers! We are not alone,
but everywhere holy hands are uplifted in prayer