Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
From conversations with Preacher Clark, late 1970's.
There is a prayer in the Bible that is often called the "Lord's Prayer", even though the Lord himself never prayed it. In reality, it is the disciples' prayer, not the Lord's prayer. Jesus told his disciples to use it as a pattern for their own prayers. It is still repeated today by many as a ceremonial prayer, but when we read it carefully, we see that it was a prayer given to a specific group of people, at a specific time in history, for a specific purpose. There is no one today whom Jesus would tell to pray this prayer in the exact form in which he gave it to his disciples because some of the words are no longer appropriate for men to pray. This is why:
First, the prayer was given to people who could rightly call God their Father even though they did not have His Spirit within them. In other words, it was given to people whom God considered to be His children before they were born again. This means that the people to whom Jesus gave this prayer were God's people, Israelites, living under the Old Testament while it was still in effect. These people alone, of all the people on earth, could call God their Father before receiving the holy Ghost baptism. God considered no other people on earth to be His children but Israelites. The Lord said to Israel through Amos (3:2), "You only have I known of all the families of the earth." And Moses asked the Israelites, "What nation is there . . . who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon Him for?" (Dt. 4:7).
The people, then, to whom Jesus gave this prayer were children of God who did not have the holy Ghost baptism. While Jesus lived on earth, the holy Ghost was not yet given (Jn. 7:37-39), but the Old Testament was still in effect, and the disciples lived under it; so, they were God's "children". Now, however, there are no such people in existence, for in this New Testament, "If ANY man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9). There are no longer any people anywhere who can call God "Father" who do not have the holy Ghost baptism. In this covenant, only born again people can call God "Father".
Additionally, the ones who were given this prayer were disciples of Jesus. When Jesus came, only those Israelites who loved Jesus, as the disciples did, were any longer considered to be the children of God. God disowned the Jews who rejected Jesus; they were considered to be children of the devil, not of God (Jn. 8:42, 44).
Secondly, in that prayer, Jesus told his disciples to pray that God's kingdom would come. Therefore, it is obvious that the prayer was given before the kingdom of God came.
"The kingdom of God", wrote Paul, "is . . . righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17), and the holy Ghost was given to man only after Jesus ascended into heaven in Acts 2. Men were first taken into the kingdom of God on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when they were baptized with the holy Ghost and began to speak in tongues. It is clear then, that since Jesus instructed his disciples to pray for God's kingdom to come, this prayer could only apply to the time before the holy Ghost came on the day of Pentecost. Anyone who is in God's kingdom does not need to pray that it will come.
The prayer that is often called the Lord's prayer was a prayer that only the Jewish disciples of Jesus could pray before the holy Ghost came. In the form in which it was originally given, it was not intended for any other people at any other time in history. We know it was not given to any Gentiles because they could not call God their Father. And we know that it was not meant to be prayed after Acts two because the coming of the holy Ghost was the answer to the prayer!
The flesh would make a ceremonial form out of everything Jesus ever did and said if it could. This prayer is no exception. Even to this day, multitudes without the holy Ghost repeat this prayer, calling on God as their Father when He is not, and praying for a kingdom to come that has been here almost two thousand years.
"The kingdom of God", wrote Paul, "is not in word but in power." And Jesus told his disciples in Acts 1, "Ye shall receive power after that the holy Ghost is come upon you." Then, we do not need to pray that God will send His power to earth; He has already done that. The power has come; if we repent and believe the gospel, it will fall on us. We do not need to pray that God will send the holy Ghost from heaven. It is here right now; if we repent and believe, we will receive it. We need not pray, "Thy kingdom come." God opened His kingdom to men long ago; if we repent and believe the truth, we will be taken into it. And when that happens, then, for the first time, we will be able to truly call God "Father", for we will then be children of His kingdom.