Sermons on the Lord's Prayer/Sermon 2

by Oliver Prescott Hiller

SERMON II.

"Hallowed be thy name."—Matthew vi. 9.

By the name of the Lord, in Scripture, is meant, not merely his name pronounced by the lips, but his Divine quality, character, nature—in a word, himself, and whatever proceeds from him. Names, as originally given, were descriptive of the character or quality of the person named; hence, names were significative. This is the character, for the most part, of the names mentioned in the Scriptures; they are expressive either of qualities in the individual, or of circumstances connected with him. This is the nature, also, of names in the spiritual world, as appears from the following passage in the New Church Writings:—"The reason why by the name of Jehovah or of the Lord is not understood merely the name, but all things of love and faith,—originates in the spiritual world. In that world, names such as are used on earth are not pronounced; but the names of the persons spoken of are formed from the idea of all things which are known concerning them, which things are summed up in one expression: whence it is, that names in that world, like all other things, are spiritual." "Nor are the names of the Lord or of Jesus Christ pronounced there, as on earth; but, instead of those names, a name is formed from the idea of all things which are known and believed concerning him, which idea is derived from all things of love towards and of faith in him. This being the case, the quality of every one there is immediately known, as to his love and faith in the Lord, merely by his pronouncing in a spiritual expression or name, The Lord or Jesus Christ: and hence also, they who are not in any love or faith towards him, cannot name him; that is, they cannot form any spiritual name concerning him."^[1] Thus, in the spiritual sense of Scripture, by name is signified quality, and by the name of God, His Divine quality, character, or nature.

But what, now, is the quality or nature of God?—for, understanding this, we shall know what it is that is to be hallowed. God, in his essential nature, is Love—Love, of an intensity altogether inconceivable to our finite minds; with which Love is united Wisdom, equally transcendent. But from that Divine Love and Wisdom there proceed goodness and truth, which are spiritual heat and light: these flow from the Lord down into the heavens, and into the minds of angels there, and also into the minds of men on earth, giving light to the understanding and warmth to the heart. In these, the quality or nature of God becomes perceptible to us, and appreciable by us: we perceive him in the beauty of truth, we are affected by him in the tenderness of love: wherever there is genuine truth and goodness, there the Lord is present.

This, then, is the name or quality of God—love and wisdom, or goodness and truth. To hallow, means to regard as holy, to reverence, to adore. Then, to hallow God's name, signifies to regard goodness and truth as holy; to reverence them, to love them supremely, to place them in our estimation above all other things. The meaning of these words, "Hallowed be thy name," is in truth similar to that implied in the first of the two great commandments given by the Lord, namely, to love God above all things. To "love God" is not meant to love him as a Person, but to love that which constitutes his Divine quality or nature, which, as before said, is goodness and truth. The command, to love God above all things, means that we are to value goodness and truth above all other things,—that we should prefer them to riches, or power, or the pleasures of sense. And why? because goodness and truth constitute heaven itself, with all its infinity and eternity of joys: these are all wrapped up in those two principles; and whoever is possessed of goodness and truth has possession of the keys of heaven; he has the "kingdom of God within him" even now, and after death will come into the full enjoyment of that kingdom and all its delights. As far, then, as heaven is above earth, and so much as eternity is longer than time, so far are goodness and truth more valuable than all earthly possessions. And thus the command of the Lord to love God above all things, is only an urgent and affectionate entreaty to us, to seek that which will make us most happy in the ages of eternity which we are destined to live. But the reason that goodness and truth do thus constitute heaven, and have in them so great happiness, is because they constitute, as before shown, the nature of the Lord himself, who is the life and soul of heaven, and the source of all true happiness.

This, then, in the most general sense, is the meaning of the words, "Hallowed be thy name,"—namely, to revere goodness and truth, to regard them as holy, to love them, and to prefer them to all other things. When, then, we utter these words, we pray that we may be enabled to love goodness and truth more ardently, that we may seek them more constantly and more steadily, that we may have strength to resist the temptations and overcome the evils within and without us, that hinder their progress in the soul, and that we may at length become established in that state of love and faith which is heaven in essence here, and which will be heaven in existence and in blessed experience hereafter.

This is the prayer for ourselves. And at the same time, we should, in uttering these words, lift up a prayer for others also. Our thoughts and interest extending to the world around us, we should feel and express the hope and prayer, that the Lord's name may be more hallowed on the earth, that goodness and truth may be more loved and more valued by mankind, and that their influence may extend more and more widely, carrying light, life, and blessing wherever they go. And while uttering this hope and prayer, we should make it practical, by adding to it the secret resolution of doing something ourselves towards this consummation, and pray for strength and the spirit to do more and more, by any and all the means in our power—first of all, by setting the example in our own life and conversation, conquering the kingdom of darkness first in ourselves, and then helping to conquer it in others.

Viewed in this light, we may note how comprehensive is this first petition of the Lord's Prayer,—that it includes all that follows. For so far as the Lord's name is hallowed, so far as goodness and truth are known and loved and practised,—so far the Lord's kingdom comes, and is established in the individual and in the world,—so far his will is done on earth as it is in heaven; so far, also, we receive from him our daily bread and all things needful, for "they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing;"^[2] and in the same degree, moreover, our trespasses are forgiven, and we are delivered from evil;" for as far and as fast as good and truth become established in the soul, evil and error are cast out, with their attendant anxieties and pains. Thus we may perceive that in this first petition of the Lord's Prayer is included, in substance, the whole of it. And this, as we are instructed by the Doctrine of the New Church, is the Divine style of writing, and it pervades all parts of the Sacred Word: when a series of propositions or truths is presented, the first in the series includes the substance of all that follow; the reason is, because the first truth or principle uttered is always a universal one, including under it all the particular truths connected with it: and the very original reason of this order and Divine style is, that God himself is the First of all things, and at the same time includes all things, for all things in his creation are derived from him, and he is omnipresent in them.

But now, in the second place, we have to consider the meaning of the words "Hallowed be thy name," in another and more confined sense. In this sense, by the name of God, is signified, the Holy Word, and at the same time, all things which the Church teaches from the Word, and from which the Lord is worshiped. That the Divine Word is in a certain sense the name of God, may be seen in this view:—By the name of God, as before said, is meant his quality, his nature, and whatever proceeds from him; for what proceeds from him is but himself going forth. Now, the Holy Word is the very Divine Proceeding itself; it is essential Divine Truth and Goodness, filling the heavens and the earth; it is, indeed, the Lord himself going forth to enlighten and bless his creatures. As we read, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God:" thus, in truth, the Word is God himself, and therefore is essentially his Divine quality or nature, and thus his name. Indeed, that it is his very name, may be seen from that sublime passage in the Apocalypse,^[3] in which the Lord is called the Word: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself: and he was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called the Word of God."

It has been shown, in the first part of this discourse, that the Lord's name is, in general, all goodness and truth; for these flow from him, and constitute his quality or nature as received and perceived by man. But the good and truth, thus flowing from God and received by man, are, in fact, the Word—for the Word, as before said, is the essential Divine Proceeding, thus is the Lord dwelling with man, and communicating to him whatever good or truth he possesses. In the Word, in its various senses, natural, spiritual, and Divine, is contained all truth, and, joined with it, all good; for truth is but the form of good, and they are united as body and soul. Consequently, from the Word, as the great fountain, are derived all true doctrines of the Church, all the truths of religion; and as all truth points to goodness, and is the only basis and foundation of genuine goodness, so from the Word, too, comes all spiritual good: and this, because the Word is God, and God is the Word. When we read the Word in a spirit of humility and devotion, we perceive not only the mind enlightened, but the heart warmed and elevated; which shows that the Holy Word is both truth and goodness—the one affecting the understanding, while the other acts upon the will. Thus is the Word essential goodness and truth. If, then, goodness and truth constitute the name of God, in an eminent sense is the Holy Word his name.

In this sense, then, by hallowing the Lord's name, is meant, to revere and regard as holy and most holy the Divine Word; to look upon it as being the Lord's visible presence, as it were, with us in our households; to go to it daily for light and instruction, and to listen to its teachings as to the Lord's own voice, for truly it is the voice of the Lord: "Thus saith the Lord" is its constant affirmation. The doctrine of the New Church teaches that the Divine Word is the great medium, both of conjunction with the Lord and of communication with heaven; that it is, as it were, the golden chain that links earth to heaven and to the Lord; that when it is read even in the letter, in a spirit of humble devotion, the effect is to bring angelic and heavenly influences round the mind of the reader, tending to deviate the understanding and warm the heart; while at the same time, the Lord himself, who dwells in the midst of his Word, acts upon the spirit with a regenerating influence. The true way, moreover, to love the Lord, is to keep the precepts of his Word: "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them," saith the Lord, "he it is that loveth me." To hallow the Lord's name, then, in this sense, is to understand these truths in regard to the Divine Word, to believe them, to feel them, and to act upon them. He who, understanding the power, the grandeur, the divinity of the Holy Word, and having too some knowledge of the interior sense that fills and sanctifies the letter, goes each morning to the sacred volume, and reading and meditating upon a portion of its contents, in connection with prayer to the Lord, receives thus into his mind a degree of heavenly light and warmth,—and at the same time stores up and impresses distinctly on his memory certain practical truths and commandments,—and then, closing the book, goes to his daily work and duty, and there strives to bring the light, warmth, and precepts he has received and learned, into act in his intercourse with his fellow-men—whether by resisting temptations to sin that are presented from without, or by struggling against evils that are excited within, or by endeavouring to perform some use and do some good to his neighbor,—such a man truly hallows the Lord's name as it is manifested in his Word, and daily does he hallow it; he truly worships the Lord, not in thought only, not in feeling only, but in action and life; and he is and will be blessed; for "Blessed," said the Lord, "are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it."^[4] "Herein," said the Lord, "is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." Thus, to glorify God, to hallow his name, is to hear his Word, and do it.

But now, in the third and supreme sense, to hallow the name of God, is to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, in his Divine Humanity, as the one God of heaven and earth: for, in the highest or supreme sense, by the name of God, is signified the Humanity which God assumed in the world and glorified. That this is so, may be seen from the following considerations. As often before said, by name, is signified quality; by God's name, therefore, is meant his Divine quality. But, as remarked in the beginning, the quality or nature of God, as he is in himself and in his infinite Divinity, is totally above man's comprehension, because man's mind is finite, and the finite cannot comprehend the infinite. It is only in what is derived from him, in a modified form, as it were, that his quality or nature becomes appreciable to our minds. Now, as before shown, goodness and truth are derived from him; and these two great principles filling heaven, and coming down into the minds of men on earth, give to men and angels an idea of God and of his Divine quality or nature: they are as it were his representatives dwelling in the minds of his creatures. Thus, then, goodness and truth constitute the name of God, as manifesting his quality. In the second place, it was shown that the Word is derived from God, and is the essential Divine Proceeding from him, containing in itself all the principles of goodness and truth, and is thus truly God's representative on earth, and as it were, his dwelling-place amongst mankind. And thus, the Word, as manifesting his Divine quality, is also the name of God. But now, there is a third form, in which God has manifested himself to men, more fully, more distinctly, more perfectly, than in either of the others—namely, in the personal form of Jesus Christ. By assuming a Humanity upon earth, God not only spoke to men, as through his Word,—not only gave himself to be mentally perceived, as by his truth in the understandinsg and his love in the will—but he actually showed himself to men's eyes, and made himself visible to them in a Personal form. Through this, he spoke audibly Divine words, he did visibly Divine acts,—through this, he stood amongst his creatures, and walked upon the earth which he had made. In this human form, he was called Jesus Christ, which means the Saviour, and the Anointed; for he had assumed this Humanity, not only to manifest himself to men, but also that he might become their Saviour from the Infernal Powers; and that Humanity was called "the Anointed," as being consecrated and sanctified by the Divine love within.

Now, in this Humanity, the quality or nature of God was manifested to men with a fullness and distinctness, far beyond that of any of the other forms in which the Divine has sought to make himself comprehensible to his creatures. There was, in the first place, a visible form before them, which they could behold with their eyes, and through which they could receive a distinct idea of the character within. It was the Divine indeed thickly veiled,—but it was as much as they could then bear. Moses, himself, a mere man, was obliged to veil his face, when he came down from the mount, after being merely in the presence of God: but here was God himself: how densely then was it necessary to veil himself with a material covering! Yet it was "all glorious within:" and to those who could bear it, as to his disciples in his transfiguration on the mount, he sometimes showed his interior Humanity, with the face "shining as the sun." Yet even through the outer form, though still material, and yet unglorified, the Divine quality was distinctly manifested to all who had the mental eye to perceive and the heart to feel it. In words of truth, in looks of love, in deeds of power, such as never before came from man, was that Divinity manifested. Even the Jewish officers cried, "Never man spake like this man."^[5] "No one," said Nicodemus, "can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him."^[6] The Lord himself declared, "He that seeth me, seeth the Father"—thus testifying that the Divine was manifested and made visible through him.

It is in this sense, then, that the Humanity of Jesus Christ, as manifesting distinctly and strikingly the quality or nature of God, is called the name of God. And that this is what is signified in the Supreme sense, by name, may be seen from some striking passages of Scripture. Jesus said, "Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."^[7] Here the humanity is plainly refered to; the expression, "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again," implying that the glorification of the Humanity, or the work of making it Divine, was a process gradually accomplishing. Again, "Jesus said, I am come in the name of my Father"^[8]—that is, the humanity presented itself before them, in the name or as the name of the Father—that is, to manifest the quality of the Divine Being or God before his creatures. The same is meant by the Lord's command to his disciples, to ask in his name—"If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it;"^[9] "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you."^[10] To ask the Father in the Lord's name, is to pray to the Divine through the Human—for in no other way can the Divine or the infinite God be seen, or thought of, or addressed, than as he was manifested in the Humanity on earth: Jesus Christ was "God manifest in the flesh:" "No man cometh to the Father," he said, "but through me:" "I and the Father are one."

Thus, then, it may be seen that, by the name of God is signified, in the highest or supreme sense, the Humanity which God assumed in the world—that Humanity, which, being glorified, became at length, and still is, and will for ever be, the Divine Humanity. Then, by hallowing the name of God, is meant, in this sense, to revere, to regard as holy, to worship, the Divine Humanity. When, then, we look up in prayer, uttering the words, "Hallowed be thy name," we should behold in thought the Lord Jesus Christ, in his Glorified Humanity, standing as it were before us, and smiling upon us; and to Him, as the true and only God, we should offer our humble petitions. Doing thus,—in the very act of uttering the prayer, it is answered; while saying the words, "Hallowed be thy name," we are actually hallowing it in the highest sense—by looking to the Divine Humanity and worshiping the Lord as God. And while thus hallowing his name ourselves, we should feel and express the wish and the prayer that his name may be more and more hallowed, that the Divine Humanity may be more and more worshiped in the earth, that thus the day may be hastened when there will be "one Lord over all the earth, and his name one." And truly, when thus the Lord's name shall be hallowed, in all the senses of the term—when goodness and truth are loved above all other things—when the Divine Word is revered and obeyed—and at the same time the Lord himself, in his Divine Humanity, is worshiped—then truly will his kingdom come, and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

1. Apocalypse Explained, n. 102.
2. Psalm xxxiv. 10.
3. xix. 11-14.
4. Luke xi. 28.
5. John vii. 46.
6. John iii. 2.
7. John xii. 28.
8. John v. 43.
9. John xiv. 14.
10. John xv. 16.