THY WILL BE DONE
The Bible declares that the experiences of life, both good and bad, come equally to all God's children. That being true, I think you'll know what I mean when I speak of one of those, "I think I've died and gone to Hell days." This day generally begins well and goes down hill from there. You rise to a bright clear day. Your wife is especially beautiful and thoughtful, the children seem like great treasures from heaven. Then something happens, it may be identifiable, like an accident, or a disturbing phone call. It may be nothing more than a miss spoken word by a family member and what began as a heavenly day turns hellish in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, divorce sounds like a plausible and pleasant course of action, murdering the kids seems like the right thing to do. But, that will solve nothing for the nightmare seems to be coming from within you as much as from outside of you. The day seems long, the ears of God shut, you long for the unconscious peace of sleep, but night is so far away. You didn't plan on a total melt down of the household, indeed, of your life, but, here it is and it seems like the end of the world. What happened? Well I'll tell you what happened. God had plans for your day that you weren't ready for. You were surprised by what, till today, had been God's secret will for your life. As His plan began to unfold before your eyes you responded with fear, anxiety, anger, and rebellion. Will there be a next time? There doesn't have to be, if you begin right now preparing yourself. The lesson for this morning is a good place to begin. Let us return to the Lord's Prayer where Jesus is in the process of teaching us how to pray, and in so doing, how to live.
(Matthew 6:9-13 NASB) "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. {10} 'Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. {11} 'Give us this day our daily bread. {12} 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. {13} 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
When you pray, said Jesus, "Pray in this way!" Thus far, we have learned that our prayers must be addressed to our Heavenly Father. He is the one we worship, honor, and depend on for all things. However, OUR needs must not be the first concern. We are to pray for and seek the Hallowing of the name of God. We are to pray that God receive the praise honor, adoration, and worship due His Holy Majesty. Then personally, we pray, "May all that I am, say, and do, bring Glory and Honor to God, my Creator and Savior." This is the purpose and goal of all creation, to Glorify God, (Romans 11:36)! The Hallowing of God's name must be the Christian's central concern.
This is why he goes on to pray, "Thy Kingdom come." To pray, "Thy Kingdom come," is to ask God to bring all His holy will to completion. It is to pray for the salvation of the lost, for when one has been born again, the Kingdom of God HAS come to him. When we take this petition to our lips we are praying that this present order of things would soon come to an end. We are asking that Jesus would come again to rule and reign over the new heavens and earth. We are praying, "Thy Kingdom Come, in me, in all the elect, and in all the earth." This is the desire of God's children. This will hallow His name.
Having prayed for the Hallowing of God's name and the coming of His kingdom, we must now pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." This is necessary, seeing that a King will have no praise, no honor, no glory, in a realm of rebels. On the other hand in a kingdom where all the subjects live to please and honor the king, His name is hallowed, His Kingdom HAS come. So, Jesus teaches us to pray for the will of God to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
But what is meant by, "the will of God." The phrase refers to the whole of God's will, of which a portion is revealed to us and much of it is not. This is the truth set before our eyes in Deuteronomy 29:29 NASB. "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law."
The "Secret Will of God" is that which He has planned from all eternity but, in all wisdom, has not made known to us. Then there is His "Revealed Will." This element of God's will is found in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. These are the things our all wise Father deemed it necessary that we should know. The "secret will and the revealed will" of God are two elements of God's overall and eternal plan. Part of this plan is made known to us, and part of it is not. It is both secret and revealed. Further, part of that which is secret today will be revealed tomorrow. For instance, when I wake up tomorrow morning I discover that it is God's will that I live another day, or at least part of the day. Someday, when my lifeless body is discovered, those that remain will know what God had kept secret for all the years of my life, that is, the appointed day and manner of my death. In this way God's secret will is made known to men, but only after the fact and never before. One has said and rightly so that, "Every time we read our daily paper we are, "catching up", on what was the secret will of God until He caused it to unfold in time and history." Yesterday it was a secret, today it is revealed to us, but only after the fact and not before.
The Christian must prepare himself for the discovery of God's secret will each day. Further he should not be anxious or fearful about it neither should he try to discover it before the fact. I offer two reasons for this. One, God has decided we do not need to know the things He keeps secret, therefore, we should not try to know them. Second, It is God who has planned the whole of History for our good and His glory, therefore, the unknown is FOR us and CANNOT be against us, there is no danger in our future.
God's secret will controls and governs the whole of creation, that is why we need not fear the future. Consider a few texts with me. (Ephesians 1:11 NASB) "also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS WILL,"
(Matthew 10:29 NASB) "Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father." (That is, without it being the will of God. God has taken back the life of every sparrow that dies! He has done so in accord with His eternal plan.)
(Daniel 4:35 NASB) "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But HE DOES ACCORDING TO HIS WILL IN THE HOST OF HEAVEN AND AMONG THE INHABITANTS OF EARTH; AND NO ONE CAN WARD OFF HIS HAND Or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?'"
(Isaiah 46:10 NASB) "DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING AND FROM ANCIENT TIMES THINGS WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN DONE, SAYING, 'MY PURPOSE WILL BE ESTABLISHED, AND I WILL ACCOMPLISH ALL MY GOOD PLEASURE';" God's will cannot be frustrated!
This is why Paul burst into the crescendo that concludes Romans chapter eight. There, he asked, "If God be for us, that is the God I've just described, who can be against us?" Then he answers, "I am persuaded that nothing can remove us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Why, because, the unchangeable, Omnipotent God of Daniel 4:35 is the God that saves and keeps all His children. He will do all His pleasure and it is His pleasure that all the redeemed be perfectly sanctified and taken to glory, to be with, and like Jesus!!!
Brothers and Sisters, there is no danger in the future, even if the future doesn't unfold like we've planned it, and it will not! There is nothing to fear for a wise and loving God has planned out our lives from the foundation of the world. The secret things belong to God, therefore, we are not anxious for tomorrow. Matthew puts it like this, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. {34} "Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. (The secret things of tomorrow are in the hand of God.) Each day has enough trouble of its own." (That is, dealing properly with what God has in store for us today demands all our attention.) (Matthew 6:33-34 NASB)
In other words, were not to be concerned about the future, the unknown. We must instead search the scriptures today to discover how we are to respond to the revelation of His secret will for us tomorrow. So, when we pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," we are saying, "O Father, let Thy will be revealed TO me, let it be accomplished IN me, and let it be performed BY me. Make me WILLING and ABLE to SUBMIT to all your will for my life with a glad heart. Grant that I should enjoy the pleasant days you have for me. Grant that I should be thankful, reverent and at peace in the midst of the trials you have planned for me."
We have in the scriptures an example of a man who had prepared his heart and mind to deal properly with the unfolding of God's plan for his day, his name is Job. Suddenly, he experiences terrible calamities, (Job 1). His property is stolen and destroyed. His children are killed. What does Job do? In the midst of his grief He worships God! And in the midst of his worship he declares, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord." The day had unfolded, the secret will of God had been revealed and Job responds in a proper way. Then, he is stricken with terrible disease. Instead of supporting him, Job's wife, no doubt overcome by the tragedies they had experienced together, said to her husband, "curse God and die." This is the same as saying, "If that's the kind of God you worship, I want nothing to do with Him!" It's the same as accusing God of injustice or of being unfair, as we humans measure fairness. "Curse God and die," she said. Job's reply reveals to us that He understood what we are speaking of today. He knew that God was the first cause and Governor of all things and that whatsoever came to pass was from His hand. "Curse God and die," no says he, "Shall we receive good at the hand of God and not evil?" In all this, the scriptures declare, Job did not sin with his lips," (Job 2:10). He was, in essence, saying, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." He was practicing humble submission to the secret, but now revealed, will of the living God.
Another good example of a person who had prepared himself to face the good and evil that God had planned for his day is Joseph, (Genesis 39). You know the story. He was a servant in Potiphars house. The wife of his master was an unfaithful woman. She worked on Joseph day after day trying to get him to commit adultery with her. Joseph, however had hidden the "REVEALED WILL" of God in his heart in preparation for this day, he, therefore, knew that adultery was sin, and fled to safety. Joseph was, in essence, saying, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." He knew the will of God and, by grace, he obeyed it.
When we pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," are;
1. Surrendering our will to His will, unreservedly. We are renouncing our cooperation with the will of Satan. (2 Timothy 2:26 NASB) "and they may COME TO THEIR SENSES and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do HIS WILL." When a person is born again he is set free from bondage to Satan's will. For the first time in his life he is able to flee from the devil to do God's will for him. Therefore, he prays, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." In this petition he prays for divine power and grace to resist the Devil that he might flee from him. He prays for grace to do that which is pleasing to His New and Holy Father, he prays for sanctification. (1 Thessalonians 4:3 NASB) "FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD, YOUR SANCTIFICATION;
Further, he is declaring his intent to defy his own will when it conflicts with God's revealed will. (1 Peter 4:1-2 NASB) "Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the SAME PURPOSE, because he who has suffered in the flesh has CEASED FROM SIN, {2} so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh NO LONGER FOR THE LUSTS OF MEN, but FOR THE WILL OF GOD." This prayer begs the grace necessary to do and deal with the will of God.
2. Second, when we pray this petition we are asking that God enable us to learn His revealed will for us. (Psalms 119:27 NASB) "Make me UNDERSTAND the way of Thy PRECEPTS, So I will meditate on Thy wonders." (Romans 12:2 NASB) "And do not be conformed to this world, but be TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, that you may prove WHAT THE WILL OF GOD IS, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Colossians 1:9 NASB) "For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL IN ALL SPIRITUAL WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING," (Ephesians 5:8-10 NASB) "for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light {9} (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), {10} TRYING TO LEARN WHAT IS PLEASING TO THE LORD."
How does a Christian learn what is pleasing to the Lord? You guessed it, by faithful exposure to His revelation, the Bible. One must put himself in the way of learning by making use of the means of grace God has given him. Private bible study and prayer is essential to learning God's will. Corporate bible study and prayer is another vital element in learning what pleases our God. Then, there is the primary means of learning God's will and that is the Pastoral Preaching and teaching of the Word of God. There are many, many Christians with many unanswered questions, and objections. However, it seems many wish only to complain, to recite the same questions, the same objections, year after year while the means by which the questions may be answered, the objections removed, are neglected. The person who prays this prayer with sincerity of heart, "Thy will be done," is a person of action, who will make use of all the means of grace given to him so that all his thoughts and deeds are at last pleasing to God. May God in grace give us all such a Berean spirit.
3. As we pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven", we are begging God for the grace to submit to His secret will as it unfolds before our eyes. (Acts 21:10-14 NASB) "And as we were staying there for some days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. {11} And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: 'In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him (Paul) into the hands of the Gentiles.'" {12} And when we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. {13} Then Paul answered, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." {14} And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, "THE WILL OF THE LORD BE DONE!" You and I have great need in this area. We need, and, therefore, must often pray for, the grace necessary to submit, like good children, to our Fathers designs. When we have finally learned that it is God who holds today and tomorrow in His hand. That it is God who has ordered every detail of every circumstance FOR OUR GOOD AND HIS GLORY. When we have learned this we will be able to respond to the days providence like our old Brothers Job and Joseph. We will be able to offer up true worship on the most difficult of days. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NASB) "REJOICE ALWAYS; {17} PRAY WITHOUT CEASING; {18} IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS; FOR THIS IS GOD'S WILL FOR YOU IN CHRIST JESUS."
4. Fourth, when we pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," we are praying, once again, for the coming of the Kingdom and the Hallowing of God's name. We are calling upon our Heavenly Father to bring all things to His appointed conclusion. We are looking forward to the new heavens and the new earth, the removal of all the effects of the curse. By this petition we hasten the coming of the day when the wicked will be removed, when Satan, will be cast into the lake of fire with all the unbelieving. We pray for the day when the Saints of God, bought by the blood of Jesus, will have entered their final state of glorification. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."
(Revelation 21:1-8 NASB) "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. {2} And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. {3} And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, {4} and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." {5} And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." {6} And He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. {7} "He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. {8} "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
Brothers and Sisters, the will of God is done by us , when our wills are resigned to His, when we patiently submit to every adverse dispensation of providence; when our hearts and actions are, in some measure, conformed to His word. We do His will when what is done is done in faith with a view to His glory. The Christian is the only one who can do the will of God for he is strengthened to do so by grace. The Christian desires to do the will of God as it is done in heaven by the heavenly hosts. The heavenly hosts obey our God voluntarily, cheerfully, speedily, without delay, constantly, without any interruption, perfectly and completely. They are our examples, their behavior is our goal. So, we pray, "Our Father who art in Heaven Hallowed be Thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."