Thy will be done. On earth, just like it is in heaven. And this part of this prayer, like all the other parts, should be woven into our being, our thinking, and our desire. Not just reciting it, Thy will be done on earth, just like it is in heaven. When I pray this prayer, do I mean it? Is it the desire of my heart? Is this my prayer, even if it crosses my will? Thy will be done.

I was thinking about what I'd like for myself. I would like to have health. I've had it taken away. If you've ever been sick, you know it's more enjoyable to be healthy than to be sick as far as the way you feel physically. I don't want to suffer. I don't want pain. I'm a real wimp with regard to pain. I don't do well with it. I don't want to suffer.

But if it's the Lord's will for me to suffer, because it's for my good and His glory, and I can trust His character. I might not understand why He's doing what He's doing, but He does. And I trust His character. He doeth all things well. Therefore, if the Lord takes my health, and lets me suffer according to his wise and good providence.

If I'm not deceived, the prayer of my heart is not my will, but thine be done. Thy will be done. Let your will be done here on earth just as it is in heaven. Now, by the will of God, there is such a thing. There is such a thing. God has a will. God is a person. God has a purpose, a will. With regard to the will of God, we have in the scripture God's will of command and God's will of decree. or God's will of purpose and God's will of precept. His will of decree is what he purposed to take place. It's always done. Here on earth and here in heaven. There's nothing that takes place that is not His will being done. It's always done. His will of command is expressed in the Ten Commandments. This is God's will of command. It's God's will of command for me to have no other God before Him. It's God's will of command me to never commit idolatry.

It's God's will of command for me to never take his name in vain. It's God's will of command for me to rest. It's God's will of command for me to honor authority, to honor my mother and father. It's God's will of command for me to not kill anybody. It's God's will of command for me to not be guilty of sexual sin. It's God's will of command for me to not lie. It's God's will of command for me to not steal. It's God's will of command for me to not covet.

God's will of command. I love when the man says, what's the greatest commandment? And he answered to love the Lord God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength and your neighbor as yourself. That's God's will of command. In heaven, it's done perfectly. promptly, willingly, lovingly, joyously. Here on earth, his will of command is never kept.

Now, I know this from what the scripture teaches me about myself. I love God's law, and if I could, I would be perfectly obedient to God. I would never sin again. I would never have another proud thought. I'd never have another fill in the blank. I long to be perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ in all things.

But I know in myself, I've not kept one commandment one time. And if I believe I have, I don't understand the law of God. That's the only reason. Somebody says, well, I've kept one of the commandments, or two, or six, or seven. You have no idea what the law of God really requires. You're ignorant of the character of God, and you're ignorant of your own character. with regard to the greatest commandment, love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, all your might, love your neighbor as yourself. If that's the greatest commandment, then I am constantly in my experience breaking the greatest commandment, and you are too. Not one of us have ever kept that commandment. There's only one to keep the commandments of God perfectly, the Lord Jesus Christ. And our desire is that his will of command will be done here on earth, just as it is in heaven. Thy will be done. The will of God, as I said, there is such a thing.

God is spirit. He doesn't have a physical body like you and I do. I know God the Son does. He took on flesh 2,000 years ago and he's still flesh. Bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh. There's a man in glory right now. But God is spirit. He's not bound by space the way you and I are. We can't be two places at once. God's everywhere at once. He's not bound by time. We're locked in a sequence of events yesterday and today and tomorrow. With God, there's the eternal present. God is spirit. God is a person. And I don't know how to say this. God the Holy Spirit is a person. God the Son is a person. God the Father is a person. And if somebody is a person, they have intelligence and they have a will. We're creating the image of God. We have intelligence. We have a will. Not to say God has intelligence. Somehow that doesn't ring right. He's got omniscience. He knows everything. He's never informed about something. He never learns anything. He knows everything. Oh, his infinite mind.

And he has a will. He has a purpose. God's will is God doing what He does because it's good in His sight. I love it when the Lord said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight. If it seems good in His sight, it's good in my sight. God's good. Everything with regard to Him is good. All of His attributes are good. God is good, and God is good all the time.

And the Lord rejoiced in spirit over that. I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You, You're the one that's done this. You've hid these things from the wise and prudent, and the Lord thanks Him for it. And you've revealed these things to babes. The Lord thanks him for it. And here's what he's thanking him for.

It seemed good in thy sight. Nothing else is needed. Psalm 115, verse three. Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Psalm 135, six. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places.

Daniel 4.35, Nebuchadnezzar said, he doeth according to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand. None can stop him from performing his will. Or saying to him, what doest thou?

Every believer, without exception, loves that. They love it. You know why they love it? because they love God. This is who he is. One that's not like this is not God. It's an idol, a figment of man's imagination. Every believer loves this God. They love his sovereignty because they love him.

Let me quote this scripture again that I just quoted. At that time, Jesus rejoiced in spirit. That's the only time in the Bible it says that. Think about that. At that time, Jesus rejoiced in spirit, saying, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.

And we rejoice in spirit as well, because we love and trust His character. shall not the judge of the earth do right." I believe whatever he does is right. He doesn't do it because it's right. It's right because he does it. And in his will of command, something is right or wrong simply because he commands it. No other reason is needed.

The great end of God's will, as I said, there is such a thing as the will of God. The great end of God's will is his own glory. God has only one purpose. He's only made one decree. It's the eternal purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I'll declare the decree. Thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. That's God's decree and every decree comes out of that. This is so mysterious. This day have I begotten thee. That's not a physical day. That's not an event of time. It's eternal continually. This is the only begotten and well-beloved Son of God. He's the only visible expression of the person of God's spirit.

The Lord said, he that has seen me has seen the Father. There's no seeing of God without the seeing of Jesus Christ and God's end is his own glory. The purpose of creation, thou has treated all things and for our pleasure they are and were created. The heavens declare what? The glory of God. The earth showeth forth his handiwork. The purpose of providence, everything that happens in time, is the glory of God. Every event. Every event will end up redounding to the glory of God.

We might not be able to see it right now, but we know it will because we know He's all-powerful and He causes His will to take place for the glory of His name. And most especially, salvation is to the praise of the glory of His grace. That's why He saves, for His glory, to the praise of the glory of His grace. Now let me say some things about thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The will of God. This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. The will of God.

First of all, his will is eternal. He said, I declare the end the goal, the final circumstance, what takes place, I declare the end from the beginning. And from ancient times, before the foundation of the world, the things that are not yet done, I said they would be in ancient times. Saying my counsel shall stand, I will do all my pleasure. God's will is eternal. History, in all of its details, even the most minute, is the eternal decree taking place in time. I love thinking about that. Everything that takes place, he determined for it to take place. He is God.

Proverbs 16.33, listen to this scripture. The lot is cast into the lap. When I was a kid, we would cast lots, and whoever got the shortest one, he won. There'd be a bunch of lots and cast them out, and it's a game, and it seems totally random. It seems like luck, chance, happenstance. The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof. Not most of it, the whole disposing thereof. is of the Lord, what seems to be random events or are ordained by him.

His will is eternal. His will is immutable. His decrees are immutable. They're not subject to any change. That's what immutability means. They can't change. Listen to this scripture from Psalm 33 11. The counsel of the Lord standeth forever. The thoughts of his heart to all generations. What security there is in that.

When he said, I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. That means my will changes not, my purpose changes not. That's why you sons of Jacob are not consumed. The decrees, the will of the Lord, it's free. What's that mean? The will of the Lord is free.

There's no necessity laid upon him. He never reacts to anything. He never responds to anything. No necessity is laid on him. He was free to create or he was free to not create. He has no reason for action outside of himself. How glorious he is. His will is absolutely sovereign. And that means he doeth according to his will. absolute sovereignty in His will. You know, if you believe His will is sovereign, you understand that you have no control. Everybody's control freaks to one extent or the other, and it's foolishness. You and I have no control His will is done all the time.

And I love it that way. You know, the worst thing could happen to me is if God left me to myself and let me go whatever way I wanted to go, I'd end up in hell. You would too. Thank God for his sovereign will. He said, I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I will be gracious. And there's no worship of God if there's not some understanding of that.

The leper came into his presence and said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Have you ever prayed that prayer? If you haven't, do it right now. Lord, if you will, you can. Make me clean. That leper came and worshiped him, and there is no worship of the living God unless there's a bowing before the sovereignty of God. Somebody says the word sovereign's not in the Bible. That seems redundant. Why would you even add that? Well, it's not, but it's on every page.

God is God. He is in absolute control. And this is the way this leper came to him. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. His will is efficacious. What that means is he has the power to make his will come to pass. And he does make his will come to pass all the time. His will is never thwarted. His will is never frustrated. If he wills it, it must be, it's certain, it's a completed action before it even takes place. His will relates to all events. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter 16. Proverbs chapter 16, verse 1. The preparations. My marginal reading says the disposings, the disposition, the inclination.

This covers everything about us. The preparations of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue, what he says, how he responds is from the Lord. Everything. I love when that man was cursing David and Abishai said, you want me to come take his head off? David said, the Lord said, curse David. You can be dead sure of that with regard to everything that takes place. The preparations, the inclinations, the dispositions of the heart of the man and answer from the tongue is of the Lord. Verse four. The Lord, Jehovah, hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Look in verse nine. A man's heart deviseth his way.

I'm going to plan to do this. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to do this so that won't happen. I'm going to not do this so this will happen. I'm devising my way. We do it every single day. I'm devising my way. But what's it say? But the Lord directeth his steps. Did you hear that? The Lord direct at the steps. I've already read this, verse 33. The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Now this includes the free and uncoerced actions of men. He's sovereign over them all.

Now listen to me. I do what I want to do. You do what you want to do. The will is involved in everything. And you can't ever say, as Flip Wilson used to say, the devil made me do it. You made yourself do it. We have a will. It's not free. It's in bondage to our sinful nature, but we do what we want to do. and God is completely sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions of men and devils. He's in control of everybody.

Now, the great scripture that demonstrates this It's in Acts chapter four, when the early church, and I love this, this was the early church. They hadn't been converted but a few weeks when they said this. And look at the understanding they had. They said, of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou has anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles and the people of Israel, that's everybody, were gathered together to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. done. And we have the glory of the cross and the accomplishments of the cross and the glory of Jesus Christ because of what everybody was doing when they were driving the nails in his hands and his feet.

It's what God's will and purpose determined before to be done. It covers everything I love the story of Joseph. Now, first of all, Joseph's a type of Christ. Everything about him is a type of Christ. I love going through his life and seeing that, but you think of him being the favored son. The father gave him the coat of many colors.

He was the favorite, and his brothers hated him for it. They despised him. And they wished him ill. They wanted him dead. And when they had a chance, they threw him into a pit, intending to kill him. And one of them said, no, we won't make any money out of that. Let's sell him as a slave. And the Midianites come and get him. And they come and tell their dad. They strip him of his coat, put blood on it, say, is this your son's? And how cruel to their father. Oh, he said, my soul's going to go down to the grave, sorry. How cruel. What a bad thing these wicked men did.

He's sold into Egypt. He gets a job. He does well for two years. And you know the story of Potiphar's wife accusing him of rape when he hadn't done anything, and he's thrown into prison for 12 years. The Scripture says his feet were hurt in stocks. There he is rotting in prison.

I wonder what it was like. I know what I'd be like. But he had such a positive attitude. He'd look at other prisoners. If they looked sad, he goes, what's wrong with you? I love to think of his demeanor, this man Joseph in prison. And he interpreted some dreams. You remember that. He interpreted some dreams of the butler and the baker. And it came true. The butler had his head removed. The baker had his head removed and the butler was restored to his station.

Pharaoh had those dreams and the butler remembered there's somebody in prison that can interpret dreams and they bring Joseph out and Joseph interprets the dreams. They make him the head of Egypt, only behind Pharaoh. This young boy that came there as a teenager, and now he's the head of all of Egypt. If you were going to have food, it was up to Joseph. You had to go to him for it. What a type of Christ that is. And finally, his brothers come to Egypt.

They see him. They don't know who he is. He knows who they are. He spoke with them with a rough voice. And they were scared to death. They thought, our sins have come to haunt us. And when he made himself known to him, I am Joseph, does my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him, for they were troubled, terrified at his presence." We're in trouble now. They couldn't even speak. And what did Joseph say to them? You meant it for evil. Everything you did was wicked, willful, malicious. You did it for evil. There was nothing. How cruel, how heartless, how wicked they were to their brother. But God meant it for good to save much life. And that is precisely what happened. He brings good out of evil all the time. All the time. We can't see it all. He does. And whatever happens, he always brings good out of evil.

His will is supreme. You know, people talk about a higher power or higher being, that's way too low for him. He's the supreme being. His will is supreme to all others in authority and power. stature, the supreme being. Once again, that was on display in creation when he willed all the universe into existence by an act of his will. His supremacy is seen in providence where he controls every event, all for his glory and how his supremacy, the supremacy of his will is seen in salvation. I love that scripture in Hebrews 10, 10, by the witch will, God's will. by the which will we are sanctified, declared by God to be holy once for all. It can't be changed through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Excuse me.

When we pray, thy will be done. It's going to be. There's a prayer that's going to be answered. You can be sure of it. Thy will be done. There verily is a God that answereth prayer. And whatever He's going to do, He's going to move His people to ask for it. That's in prayer. We should never have some kind of fatalistic attitude. Oh, we're encouraged to ask our Heavenly Father, to make our supplications to Him. We say this with this prayer, thy will be done. And one of these days here on earth, it's going to be done just like it is in heaven.

There'll be no sin at all. His will will be done. Now, how is all of this to affect me personally? I was thinking before this, I don't want people to have the correct theology of the will of God. I want people to pray. I want to be somebody who prays, thy will be done, and really mean it. Where that's the desire of my heart, that His will is done.

And you think of the Lord in Gethsemane's garden, and I know we can't really enter into this. We can read it and be astounded by it, but the Father passed a cup before Him. And he knew what was in that cup. That cup had the sins of his people that he was going to drink into his own body and bear the sin of his people. He knew what that meant. We don't. I say, I hope with a broken heart, it's so, why doesn't sin bother us any more than it does? Oh, it bothers us, but not as it should. But He's the only one who knew the evil of sin.

And the Scripture says when He saw that cup, He sweat great drops of blood. Not at the thought of the physical pains of the cross, but the thought of bearing sin and being forsaken by His Father. He sweat great drops of blood. And as a man, He prayed, if it be possible, Let this cup pass from me.

If there were some other way for God to save sinners, he would have answered that prayer. But there wasn't. This was God's purpose. He's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and I don't know how to understand. I feel like an idiot trying to talk about it, but he's the Son of God. As a man, the thought of being made sin overwhelmed him.

But then he said, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. I hope that's my prayer. Thy will be done. There are some who don't want his will to be done. blows out of the water, salvation by works and free will. If the only thing He's done is His will, well, that takes me out of the picture. That takes away my hope of me saving myself, me contributing my salvation. I'm in the hands of an absolutely sovereign God who can save me or pass me by. I don't like that. I do. I do. The only hope I have is for Him to will my salvation.

David said, thou has given commandment to save me. We'll not have this man reign over us. He is reigning over you right now. But all who do not hate this love this because this is necessary for our salvation. God wills it. Don't you love that passage of scripture in Philippians 2, 12 and 13 where it says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. I love that exhortation. He saved us, we have a salvation, and we're called upon to work it out. With fear and trembling, with this understanding, it's God that worketh in you, both to will and to do His good pleasure. Now that gives me encouragement to work it out. Work out what God's worked in. God's worked in you, both to will and to do. is good pleasure. If I've never truly prayed, thy will be done. May I do so tonight? Thy will be done.

This is why in everything we can give thanks. 1 Thessalonians 5, 18 says, in everything give thanks. Whatever it is, no matter how painful it is, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you. It's just what you need, what He gives you. He does all things well. In everything give thanks. It's painful to think about whatever it is I'm called upon to give thanks for, but I know that He is God, and that He's the first cause in all things, and whatever He does is right. Whatever He brings my way is His will for me. In everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

In our thinking, we acknowledge His will. I love, if we're thinking right, and we are if we're thinking, We acknowledge His will. We're gonna do this Lord willing. Lord willing. That's always up front. We know we won't do a thing apart from His will. Everything in time, everything that happens and takes place in our life or any place, we'll do this Lord willing. We know the only way we'll do it is Lord willing. We acknowledge His will. We submit to His will. The will of the Lord be done. Samuel came up to Eli, the high priest, and said, God's gonna kill your two sons. And Eli said, it's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. We submit to his will.

And I love the scripture in Romans 12, one and two, I beseech you by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Anything else is unreasonable. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you might prove that good and perfect and acceptable will of God.

Ephesians 6.6 says, doing the will of God from the heart.

Ephesians 5.17 says, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Well, what is the will of the Lord? We're gonna close with Matthew chapter seven. Would you turn with me there? Verse 21.

Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. A lot of people say, Lord, Lord. Not everyone says that. Lord, Lord means you know me. Lord, Lord, you know me. Lord, Lord. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that, what? doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven. No one's gonna enter the kingdom of heaven that does not do his will. Now listen to what this crowd says. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, We've done your will. Have we not prophesied in thy name? In thy name, we've cast out devils. In thy name, we've done many wonderful works. The quantity, many. The quality, wonderful. You know us. We've done your will.

And then will I profess unto them I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Now, I have no doubt that everybody in this room listening to that, they fear, what if that happens to me? I can see it happening to me. Wouldn't it be terrifying to Think you're saved and on judgment day, find out the Lord never knew you. And he says to you, depart from me and you're going to go to hell and spend eternity. Every one of us is scared of that.

When we read that, what is it to do the will of God? It's to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. John 6, 29. This is the work of Him that sent me, that you should believe on Him whom He hath sent." Now do you see the simplicity of that? You're called upon, if you want to do God's will, you're called upon to believe on Him whom He hath sent. Now this is so simple. You believe He was before God ever sent Him.

He's the Eternal Son of God. Do you believe that? He was, He's the Creator. He's God the Son. He was before God sent Him. God sent Him and He did what God sent Him to do. And you are relying on Him only. That is to do the will of God. To do the will of God is to believe the Gospel. And let me remind you, this is not good advice. This is God's command. Look to Christ only, throw everything else out. Throw everything else out and look to Christ only.

Trust him as being able to save you. Be like those blind men that came into the house where the Lord was, they're blind, I love to think of stumbling around, they heard his voice. That's how they travel, they heard his voice. And they got in the house, he said, do you believe I'm able to do this? I'm asking you that question. Do you believe that he is able to save you with absolutely no contribution from you? He saves you, you're saved.

That is to do the will of your Father, which is in heaven. Aren't we thankful for the will of God? Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your will. How we thank you that your son came down from heaven, not to do his own will, but the will of you who sent him. How we thank you for sending him. How we thank you that he did everything you sent him to do, that he saved his people from their sins.

And Lord, I ask in Christ's name that you would not let anybody in this room leave not believing on your Son. Lord, only you can work faith, saving faith. And I ask in Christ's name that every one of us will be enabled by divine grace, by your Spirit, to look to thy Son only and find Him to be all in salvation and to rejoice that we need nothing else but simply being found in Him. In His name we pray. Amen.