Westminster Shorter Catechism

Q. 107 What doth the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer teach us?A. The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer (which is, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen) teacheth us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only, and in our prayers to praise Him, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to Him. And in testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say, Amen.Today we come to the last question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. In the last part of the Catechism, we have been looking at the means of grace— Most recently, we have been studying about prayer, and in particular looking at the Lord's Prayer where Jesus taught us the things we need to pray for. Today we come to the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:13).

Q. 106 What do we pray for in the sixth petition?A. In the sixth petition, (which is, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil) we pray, that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver us when we are tempted.As those who are in Christ, we do not want to be drawn away from the Lord. We love Him. From Him we have new life. We do not want anything to disrupt our communion with Him. That is why we pray that God will not lead us into temptation. In this prayer, we recognise that we are totally in God's hands for deliverance.

Q. 105 What do we pray for in the fifth petition?A. In the fifth petition, (which is, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors) we pray, that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we are the rather encouraged to ask, because by His grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others.Forgiveness is letting go of wrongs that have been done to you. You all know about this. God describes forgiveness as not holding our sins against us in His word.

Q. 104 What do we pray for in the fourth petition?A. In the fourth petition, (which is, Give us this day our daily bread,) we pray, that of God's free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy His blessing with them.You will notice a change that comes with the fourth petition from the use of the word "Your" to the use of the word "our." Here we begin to pray for our own needs. This shows that prayer for the things due to God comes first, for our needs, second. It is the same emphasis that we find in the Ten Commandments. The first four commandments concern our duty to God and the last six our duty to each other. But though it comes second, we are to pray for our needs.

Q. 103 What do we pray for in the third petition?A. In the third petition (which is, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven) we pray, That God, by His grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to His will in all things, as the angels do in heaven.As with last week, my text for this sermon is simply the words in Matthew 6:10, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

Q. 102 What do we pray for in the second petition?A. In the second petition (which is Thy Kingdom come) 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 that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.As we consider what it means to pray for God's kingdom to come, we will begin with a foundational question: What is the Kingdom of God?

Q. 101 What do we pray for in the first petition?A. In the first petition (which is, Hallowed be thy name) we pray, that God would enable us and others to glorify Him in all that whereby He maketh Himself known; and that He would dispose all things to His own glory.You see how important it was to Jesus that God's name would be hallowed. Today, we will see how this desire is foundational to all proper praying.

Q. 100 What doth the preface to the Lord's Prayer teach us?A. The preface to the Lord's Prayer (which is, Our Father, which art in heaven) teacheth us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others.Why does Jesus tell us to use the plural word Our when we address God? Our Father in heaven instead of My Father in heaven?

Q. 99 What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?A. The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught His disciples, commonly called The Lord's Prayer.Does it seem strange to talk about a rule for prayer? Isn't real prayer supposed to be spontaneous and free? It is to be a sincere expression of our desires, but it is also to be according to God's will.

Q. 98 What is prayer?A. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of His mercies.Today in our sermon series based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism, we come to a new section pertaining to the means of grace. Remember that the means of grace are the means God uses to bring grace to us. We have seen how He uses the word read and especially the word preached. We have seen how He uses the sacraments. Today, we are going to begin the section on prayer.

Q. 97 What is required to the worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper?A. It is required of them that would worthily partake of the Lord's Supper, that they examine themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body, of their faith to feed upon Him, of their repentance, love, and new obedience; lest, coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgement to themselves.Today we are continuing to look at the sacraments—specifically at the Lord's Supper. Remember that with a sacrament the Lord takes ordinary physical objects and appoints actions to represent the application of Christ's saving work in us. With baptism, it is washing with water to represent spiritual cleansing from sin. With the Lord's Supper, it is eating bread and drinking wine to represent the ongoing spiritual nourishment we have from Christ crucified. God gives us things we can see to represent things we cannot see. At the Supper, we look to be spiritually nourished, but only if we come in the right way. Today we are going to look at what is required of us in coming.

Q. 96. What is the Lord's Supper?A. The Lord's Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine according to Christ's appointment, his death is showed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace.See here how our dear Lord Jesus shows us what to do at the Lord's Table. He gives us a pattern of what He wants us to do until He returns. The central action is the giving and the receiving of the bread and wine. It is distributed in a very simple manner—to be eaten and to be drunk. The main concern is not to satisfy the palate or to nourish the body.

Q. 95 To whom is Baptism to be administered?A. Baptism is not be administered to any that are out of the visible church, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to Him; but the infants of such as are members of the visible church are to be baptised.Today, I want to show you from scripture that we are not to neglect the baptism of either those who profess or of their children.

Q. 94 What is Baptism?A. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to the Lord's.I will endeavour to explain this and to support it from the Bible so that you can better understand what baptism is. Mark begins his gospel with baptism, calling it the beginning of the gospel. He doesn't explain what baptism itself is because it was already known from the Old Testament.

Q. 93 Which are the sacraments of the New Testament?A. The sacraments of the New Testament are, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper.That is a simple question to memorise and answer, but it is not such a simple question to explain because the church has very divergent views. The view presented in our catechism is that of the churches of the Reformation (500 years ago) which sought to return to the teaching and worship appointed by Christ in the scriptures by Christ and His apostles. Ritualism had grown up in the first 1000 years or so such that the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church held to seven sacraments. Some modern evangelical churches do not believe there are any sacraments at all. Today I will attempt to set forth the Biblical teaching about this.

Q. 92 What is a sacrament?A. A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.What a gracious Saviour He is to give us sacraments as an additional help to our faith! Our scripture reading is from a passage that shows us His zeal for helping our faith.

Q. 91 How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?A. The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of His Spirit, in them that by faith receive them.Do not think that you are blessed simply because you were baptised and eat the Lord's Supper.

Q. 90 How is the Word to be read and heard that it may become effectual to salvation?A. That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.As you can see, the reception of the Word is a very serious matter. There are four soils, and only one of them receives the Word for salvation! Only the soil that is said to "hear the Word with a noble and good heart, keep it, and bear fruit with patience" bears fruit for eternal life. God must give us such a heart because none of us has it on our own, but if we are to be saved, we must have such a heart. The parable of the lamp shows that we must receive the Word instead of avoiding it. Jesus' command summarises it all when He says, in verse 18: Take heed how you hear.

Q. 89 How is the Word made effectual to salvation?A. The Spirit of God maketh the reading but especially the preaching of the Word, and effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort through faith, unto salvation.This afternoon we are going to look at how God uses the Bible in our lives.

Q. 88 What are the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption?A. The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are His ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.He Himself uses these means to bring the benefits of His redemption to us.