I invite you to turn back to
the book of Matthew chapter 6. Now if you will this morning take note beginning with verse 9 and let
us read this model prayer which our Lord gave to his disciples. After this manner, therefore,
pray ye. Our Lord is teaching his people
to pray. And this prayer is, of course,
designed for the Lord's people. He says, Our Father which art
in heaven, pray ye our Father which art in heaven. This prayer
is not for the ungodly and for the alien sinner, the sinner
that's outside the Lord Jesus Christ and the covenant of grace.
I was reading yesterday where the fellow that was shot last
spring here in Great Falls in the filling station that he said
that after he'd been shot three times as he was waiting, he'd
dial 911, he was waiting for the police and the ambulance
to come, that he prayed the Lord's Prayer, I believe it said, three
times. Now, I do not know whether this
man has a spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ or
not. I do not know whether he be one of God's children, whether
he be in the faith, whether he be a man that loves Christ, but
this prayer was not designed for the ungodly and for the sinner,
not for the lost. This prayer is a model prayer
for believers, our Father. And we do not believe in the
universal fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, as some
do. I certainly don't believe that.
I believe God is the creator of all men, but He is certainly
not the spiritual father of all men. He is only the Father, the
Heavenly Father, the spiritual Father of those who have experienced
the new birth in and through the grace of God in Christ Jesus. And so he said, after this manner
therefore pray you our Father which art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Holy is your name. And this word hallowed means
that we're to set aside a personal thing to be other than common. God is not common in that that
He's not as we are. God is holy, absolutely, completely
holy. And He said, Hallowed be thy
name. Holy is thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done in earth as it is in heaven. give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead
us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen I want to
speak this morning on verse 10 primarily on this phrase thy
will be done in earth as it is in heaven The title for our message
this morning is A Heavenly Pattern for Our Earthly Lives. A Heavenly Pattern for Our Earthly
Lives. And I want us to immediately
get right into the message. We have taken a little time here
in our opening remarks as we were reading our text this morning,
and I want us to just jump right into the message. And so, don't
think, well I've got a little time before I shift gears here
and get my mind engaged, because you don't have. We're going to
immediately begin in the meat of our text. And the first thing
that we want to talk about this morning is this, that the will
of God is done in heaven. The will of God is done in heaven. It's done in heaven by the angels. If you were to turn back with
me to the book of Psalms 103, and I wish you would turn with
me there, there's some blessed verses here that I want to read
to you. Psalm 103, we'll begin our reading
with verse 19. The Lord hath prepared his throne
in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord,
ye his angels that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye hosts,
all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. And so we find here that the
angels in heaven, that they do the will of God. Now in heaven
they do His commandments, we're told, hearkening unto the voice
of His Word. They do His will in heaven. Now we would to God that His
will were not only preached about, not only discussed, We often
hear people discussing the will of God, but we would to God that
men would not only preach about and discuss the will of God here
below, but actually do the will of God as it is done in heaven. Now in the Bible, we read in
the book of Revelation chapter 7 in verse 15, it says, Therefore
are they before the throne of God and serve Him day and night
in His temple. Now that's talking about those
who came out of great tribulation, had their robes washed white.
It says that they're before God and they serve Him day and night. And that's in contrast to here
on earth that we just serve God spasmodically. We do not serve
Him as the host above serves Him. Now in John 4 and verses
23 and 24 it talks about the true worshipers and Jesus said
the hour is coming and now is when they that worship God in
spirit and truth They that worship God will worship Him in spirit
and in truth. And in heaven, the will of God
is done in spirit for all of those that are in heaven, they
are also spirit. Now it is done in truth, it is
done with undivided heart, and it is done with unquestioned
desire in heaven. The will of God is done in heaven. Now in heaven they do God's will
constantly and they do it without failure. I would to God that
it was so with us in this life. Now they do God's will in heaven
universally without picking and choosing what commandment they
will obey. We are, I fear, all affected
more or less with this goal, a certain part of obedience. As we read in the Word of God,
something is very difficult to do, something is very hard for
us, something is just plain downright hard work for us to do, and therefore
we forget it. Now it ought not to be so, but
it is. Partial obedience, my friend
this morning, is actual disobedience. And if a man picks and chooses
through the commandments of the Word of God as to what he wants
to do, or what he will do, then that individual is disobedient
unto God. Now, if anything be the will
of God, if anything be revealed, spelled out plainly in the Scriptures
as the will of God, then we have no choice in the matter, because
the choice is made by the Master, and we have no choice in the
matter. Let us pray, brother, sister,
and pray hard in these days that we may neither misunderstand
the Lord's will, nor forget it, nor violate the Lord's will in
any way. Oh, that the will of God was
done on earth as it is being done in heaven. we can say that
His will is done in heaven instantly and without hesitation by all
of those who have gathered over there. Now that's wonderful that
we can say that and that the Word of God makes that clear
to us that there is a place where the will of God is being perfectly
done by the redeemed. Oh, to do what God bids us to
do as God bids us to do it and do it on the spot and at the
very moment that we discover that that's the mind of the living
God, to be obedient immediately to what God reveals in His will. We must not consult with flesh
and blood or make a reserve for our own selfishness, but at once
vigorously follow the divine will. Next, I would like to say
that the will of God is done in heaven joyfully. It's done
in heaven without the slightest weariness. Now here in this world,
you know, we many, many times grow weary in well-doing. But in heaven, the will of God
is done joyfully and without the slightest weariness. When
our hearts are right with God, it is a glad thing to serve God,
though it be only to unloose the latches of our master's shoes
or to be a doorkeeper in the house of God, it is a glad thing
to serve the Lord when our hearts are right. It is a joyful thing
to serve the Lord, to do His will, to do His bidding, to resolve
to do what God wants us to do and to do it. It is a glad thing
to serve the Lord. Next, in heaven, the will of
the Lord is done humbly. There is no boasting or bragging
in glory. The flesh will have been dropped
off before we get there. Therefore, there won't be any
bragging or glory in heaven being taken upon ourselves. The will
of God is done humbly in heaven. Their perfect purity is set in
a frame of lowliness. All those there are humble and
lowly. There's not a spirit in heaven,
there's not one in eternal glory that will brag about them having
participated in the work that got them there. Every one of
them will understand that they got there purely by the grace
of God through the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
here too often we fall into pride and self-congratulation and it
defiles our very best works here in this world. We often flatter
ourselves. We whisper to ourselves and say,
well, we're doing quite well. We just seem to be getting along
real well. We just seem to be making a lot
of progress in our life. We think and say that there's
no self involved whatsoever in our service, but our self-contentment
proves that we're lying to ourselves. There's a whole lot of self wrapped
up. There's a whole lot of pride
in everything that we do here in this world, but it's not so
in heaven. The will of God is done humbly
in heaven. Now we must be kept low at the
feet of our Lord Jesus Christ here in this world if we're going
to accomplish much. Let me say that self might have
allowed us to do ten times more God might have allowed us to
do ten times more than what we've done if it were not for self-exaltation. If we'd not been full of pride,
if we'd not been so quick to glorify and honor ourselves and
to exalt ourselves in this world, we might have done a whole lot
more. The Lord might have trusted us with a whole lot of more success
than what we've had in this world. Now I do not find it, as I have
described to you, this obedience of those in heaven to the will
of God. I've not found it hard to describe
here the model. as it is in heaven, as it is
done in heaven. It's no difficulty to talk about
it because we read so much in the Word of God about them being
conformed to the mind of God, the will of God, and in submission
to God, serving Him day and night without weariness in the Scripture. But where the problem comes in
is to copy it. to copy the model. That's where
the work is. That's where the difficulty is
for us to pray as our Lord said here in this prayer, Thy will
be done in earth as it is in heaven for the model to be transferred
to this world and to this earth. That's where the work is. Now
unless, and listen to me this morning, unless we be endued
with the strength of God, we shall never do the will of God
as it is done in heaven. We will not begin to do the will
of God in this world as it is being done in heaven. To this
the unaided wisdom of Solomon could not attain. The Holy Ghost
must transform us and leave the earthly in us captive to the
heavenly or there will be no conforming in this world to the
will of God. Now I'm telling you that God
will have to do a great work in every one of us if there's
going to be any part of our lives that's going to be in tune with
the will of God. If there's going to be any part
of our lives that's going to honor and glorify Him in obedience
to His will and word, it'll be because of the transforming work
of God in our souls. It'll be because God has touched
us in an unusual way. And God, in many, many times,
He does afflict, He tries He chastens His people and He brings
them to the place where they can have a desire toward Him
that is strong and firm and resolute in which they want to do the
will of God in their hearts at all costs. But I'm telling you,
God's going to have to do something in us or it's not going to be
the case. Now, the second place, we talk
first of all about the fact that the will of God is being done
in heaven. Now you all rejoice because the will of God is being
done over there and when we get there, the will of God will continue
to be done. We'll do it and we'll do it perfectly. Now this expression, Thy will
be done in earth, we have discovered that it is a prayer that we're
to pray to God. First of all, I want to say this
because I believe it's important and I think that we have to say
this at this time in this message. I'd like to say that there is
a definite sense in which the will of God is done, is being
done at this very time on earth also. There is a definite sense
in which that is the case. For the Lord doeth, the Bible
says in Daniel chapter 4, the Lord doeth according to His will
in the arm of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
God is doing His will, there is a sense in which He's doing
His will in the earth right now. Let us consent that it is so. Let us say amen to the Word of
God and to the truths that are taught there about God working
His own sovereign will and purpose in the lives of men in this world. Listen, we ought not desire the
alteration of the will of God in any sense, in any respect.
Ephesians 1 and 11 says, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. Now this will
of God is the secret will of God. God has a will that is secret
to Him. A will that only He knows. A will that He only has to do
with. We don't have anything to do
with it. We don't interfere with it. We're not to interfere in
any way, shape, or form with the will of God that He's working
here in this world. Now this will may cost us dearly
after the flesh. And we may feel, according to
the flesh mind, that this will is exactly contrary to us. But this is the will of God that's
being done. That will may bring us many bereavements
by the time our lives are over in this world. Only God knows
who will be taken next out of our lives. Only the Lord knows.
My mother, she passed away one year ago on the twelfth day of
August. And it's amazing how quick that
year went away, but nevertheless, bereavements do occur, and they
occur by the will of God, by God's will. And so this will
of God, this secret will of God, knowing only to Him is the time
of our departure of this life. Known only to Him is how many
of our loved ones that we'll have to bury before we also leave
this world. But sickness and loss in this
world also comes by the will of God. And you know there are
many things that are difficult for us to understand and many
times our wheels are crossed here in this world by the things
that happen, by those things that transpire, come to pass. And this is the secret will of
God being worked out. This is God working all things
according to his own good pleasure. Now there's so much that we would
like to say about this. We don't know as much about it,
maybe, as we would like to know about it. But the book that reveals
the secret will of God is chained to the throne of God. Only God
knows that which He is secretly working out, but we know it's
His goodwill and pleasure, and we must learn to say, it is the
Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him good. It's God that is working
out His will. Let him do what seems good to
him. Now we should not only yield
to the divine will, but we ought to acquiesce in the will of God
so as to rejoice in the tribulation which it ordains in our life. rejoice in it because the will
of the Heavenly Father is being done. Now this is a high attainment
indeed for a man to be able to bow joyfully and to submit oneself
to the will of God as it's being worked out in his life when maybe
it's so contrary to our flesh mind. And then to say, for the
preacher to get up and say that we ought to so acquiesce in it
that we would rejoice in the tribulation, the trouble which
it brings and ordains in our lives. Now this, as we said,
is a high attainment, but we must strive to reach it. We must
pray against our own will. And there are places where in
eternity it will be revealed, where the people of God struggled
in prayer, where they prayed, where they earnestly cried to
God that the Lord would go ahead and do His will, even in spite
of our own flesh and our own flesh mind, even in spite of
what we wanted, nevertheless the will of God be done, where
we cried to God the walls of buildings and fields and woodlands
and other places will testify in eternity that this poor soul
wanted the will of God to be done even if it was contrary
to every thought I had concerning the flesh. The will of God must
be done. And that is the prayer of the
Lord's people, and we must strive to submit ourselves to the secret
will of God. Now the scripture says that the
secret things belong to the Lord, but the things revealed belong
to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the works
of this law. That's Deuteronomy chapter 29
and verse 29. Now, what that means is that
the secret things belong to God. That's His secret will. We don't
know all about what God's doing. We can't explain the ins and
outs of what the Lord is doing, but God is at work doing His
will in the world. But those things which are revealed
in the Word, those things which God has been pleased to spell
out in His Holy Scripture, the Word of God itself, is revealed. That's the revelation of God's
mind. That tells us what we're to do
in order that we might keep all the words of this law. Now in the scriptures, many,
many times in the Old Testament, and this is one of the cases,
When the word law is used it has reference to the whole word
of God The whole revelation of God the revelation of the whole
mind of God is what it means Just like in the New Testament
when it talks about the gospel that has to do with everything
from God predestinating our salvation and and slaying the Lord Jesus
Christ in his mind in old eternity and the outworking of his the
work of redemption at Calvary's cross. It has reference to all
of that. The gospel. It has reference
to the whole work of redemption. And so the law here is the whole
word of God. So the secret things belong to
God. The things that are revealed
in the Bible belong to us and to our children forever. forever
as long as time lasts. Now wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Now Deuteronomy 4 and
39 says, Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine
heart, that the Lord, he is God in heaven above, and upon the
earth beneath there is none else. God is in the heavens and God
is working His will both in heaven and on earth. In Isaiah 44 and
24, Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, He that form thee from the womb,
I am the Lord that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth
the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself. God has done this. He has spread
out the heavens. He did it alone. Nobody helped
Him. Nobody assisted Him. And God
has spread abroad the earth by Himself. He has a purpose in
it and He's working it out. In Isaiah chapter 46. And if
you would turn there with me, listen to the reading of these
verses. Remember in verse 9, remember
the former things of old, Isaiah 46 and 9, for I am God and there
is none else. I am God and there is none like
me. Declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying
my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. calling a
ravenous bird from the east, the man that executes my counsel
from a far country. Yea, I have spoken it. I will
also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. I will do it, God says. And so God is at work. Now beloved,
to pray this prayer, the expression, Thy will be done on earth, first
of all, it is an expression when you pray it and when I pray it,
and when we pray it sincerely, I mean when we Pray it with all
of our hearts when we mean it. I mean when we're just not using
words. I mean with Judgment Day honesty,
we're praying, Thy will be done on earth. It is an expression
of harmony and sympathy with the sovereign will of God. That's
what it is. How can a man pray thy will be
done on earth unless he is in full sympathy with the will of
God? It is that we are in agreement
with his sovereign will. We may not understand it. We
may not be able to reconcile all the ins and outs of it. It
may be theologically way over our heads. But we are in sympathy
with it, we are in agreement with it. We are in agreement
with God's will. Now not everybody is happy about
the will of God being done on earth. But happy or glad, the
will of God is being done. It's being worked out in this
secret sense that we mentioned a few minutes ago. And we're
going to have considerable more to say about the will of God
being worked out, practically the will of God being worked
out as we conform to the word of God in a few moments. But
I want you to get this clearly worked out in your mind this
morning, that not everybody is happy about God working his will. Turn back to Psalms. The earth
set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against
the Lord and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands
asunder and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in
his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion. Now here it is evident that the
heathen rage, they go into a rage and they imagine a vain thing. And that is, as the kings of
the earth, they set themselves and the rulers, they take counsel
together, they try to figure out how they can come against
the Lord and against his anointed. Saying we're going to break his
bands asunder. We're going to cast his cords
from us. We're going to get out from under
this God that rules in the heavens. We're going to get out from under
this God that has a sovereign will. We're going to break the
bands and we're going to get away from this God. We don't
like this. We're not in sympathy with. We're not in harmony. It shall
never be heard from our lips. The will of God be done on earth
as it is in heaven. We're against it. And we'll break
out if we can. Now that's rebellion. Now in
Psalm 10 In verse 4 it says, the wicked through the pride
of his countenance will not seek after God. God is not in all
his thoughts. The wicked. Notice it, the wicked
through the pride of his countenance. Will not seek after God. He wants
nothing to do with God. He's a proud man. He don't need
God. He doesn't need God. He won't
humble himself before God. He's not interested in God working
his will. He'll not seek after God and
God's not in his thoughts. God is excluded from his thoughts. This is the wicked. And he's
not happy about God reigning and God being sovereign and God
having a will which he is working out in this world. But saints
will rejoice that God is on the throne. Psalm 97 and 1 says,
The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice. Let the multitude of
islands be glad thereof. What does it say? It says the
Lord reigneth. Let the earth rejoice. Let the
islands, the multitude of the islands be glad. The Lord reigneth. God's sovereign and He's working
His will. The will of God is being done
on earth. The people of God pray this text.
It is the desire of the soul. They say let it happen. Your
will be done. And there's not a one here today
genuinely converted, born of the Spirit of God, washed in
the blood, filled with the Holy Spirit of God, who is not in
sympathy and agreement with the sovereign will and purpose of
God being done on earth as it is in heaven. And if it's contrary
to you, then it's because you're yet in a state of rebellion against
the God of the Bible, even though the Scripture does say in Isaiah
55, verse 8 and 9, His thoughts are not our thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." I tell you this morning,
we don't live long in this world, having been redeemed by the grace
of God and having experienced the touch of God in our own souls
and having been brought out of darkness into light. We don't
live long trying to do the will of God without us discovering
the truth of that verse that we just read to you out of Isaiah
chapter 55. We discover it that our ways
are not His ways and we've been trying to say that this morning
already in this text. But now This prayer, when we
pray it, Thy will be done on earth, is also an expression
of submission to His will, whatever it is. They, the children of
God, want that will to be done. We, however difficult we find
it, and this morning it might be very difficult for somebody
here to find joy in submitting to the will of God. Oftentimes,
we feel like in our lives, and I've been there and I think probably
some of you have where our submission in this life is not a joyful
thing at all. It's not joyful to be subject
to the will of God in this life. We feel somewhat like we might
feel if an enemy, a foreign enemy invaded this country and we were
suddenly put under their dominion and their reign and rule We would
feel a great deal of hostility toward them, and we sometimes
feel that toward the will of God. Is that right? I mean, sometimes
when you get afflicted, sometimes whenever there's sickness or
illness comes in your life or in somebody's life that you love,
and sometimes whenever there's so many losses, it seems like
that's all you have is losses. And sometimes whenever there's
such things happens, only God knows that these things are very,
very, very disappointing and trying to a soul. And we may feel somewhat that
there's no such a thing as a man being able to joyfully submit
to the will of God. But my friend, we are to strive
to do that. We are to joyfully submit to
the will of God. It is a submission of trustful
reliance to a Father. You know, we said earlier that
our Father is in heaven. And Jesus said, you pray, our
Father which art in heaven. It's a Father, you see. There's
a father-son relationship. God said, you'll be my sons and
daughters, said the Lord, the Almighty. And so we're His children,
and it is a trustful reliance on a father. And I think that
when we are able to see that, that this God that is sovereign
and that is working his will and purpose in our lives, that
he's not a tyrant, and that he's a loving father and he gave his
very best when He gave His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that He
does truly, truly love us, and that there is no way that we
can ever get out from under the love of our God, that He loves
us genuinely, and that He will never, never allow anything to
come into our lives that is not eternally the very best for us. And we need to submit ourselves
joyfully to the Lord, looking past the things which are seen
to the things which are not seen. Because the things which are
seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
And we're to get our eyes on those things and look past the
very things in life that we think that are so difficult this time
making us have hard thoughts toward God and feeling bad about
God's will and not wanting to submit ourselves joyfully to
that will. Now may the Lord help us with
that. Now I want you to turn with me to Romans chapter 12. I want to know how to submit
myself to the will of God and do the will of God in this life. I want to be able to do that.
And I want you to be able to do it, and I want you to look
here with me in Romans 12, verses 1 and 2, and here's what we're
to do in order that we might be subject to the revealed will
of God in our life. Now listen to it. I beseech you,
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world,
but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you
may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of
God. Now, here it is. What is the end of us being conformed
not to the world? Now, this is a complaint that
I hear often by many in this world today, and that is that
there's a great attempt on the part of the world to get us to
conform to it, to suck us in as it were, that we may think
like it thinks, that we may talk like it talks, and that our actions
and deeds might be conformed to the ways of the people of
the world. Now this is a complaint I'm telling you that I hear often
from the Lord's people. And there's some of you right
here that's made that complaint. And I believe that it's my complaint
to you this morning and before God. that we feel somewhat like
that there's an effort being made, an overwhelming effort
being made to that we be conformed to the will and to the ways of
this world. And I don't want any part of
it. I want to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. I
want my mind to be transformed. Now the way that the mind can
be transformed is by adhering to, listening to, Hearing the
Word of God. Hearing the Bible expounded and
preached. Reading the Scriptures. Enlightening
oneself, as it were, by taking up the Word of God and studying
diligently the mind of God as it's revealed on the pages of
Holy Scripture. Study the Word of God. Read the
Bible. And then the end in mind is that
we may prove what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will
of God as we live out our life, as we present our bodies a living
sacrifice. Brother, sister, this has to
do with a deliberate laying down of our lives, our desires, and
our wills in order that we might do and find that acceptable and
perfect will of God, that good will of God. That good will of
God is spelled out in the Bible. Now listen to me this morning,
and this is the question in this hour. Can we pray this prayer
sincerely and live it? Thy will be done in earth. as
it is in heaven. Can we pray that prayer sincerely? Now, beloved, it is a vain and
empty thing to pray that the will of God be done on earth
as it is in heaven and then go out and live our lives contrary
to the revealed will of God in the Bible. Now it's a vain and
empty thing to do that. God will not lead us. He does
not lead us to do anything that is contrary to His revealed will
in the Word of God. The mind of God is revealed and
we're to find it and we're to walk in compliance with that
will as it is revealed. This is to be our concern and
what a difference it would make if we were totally and absolutely
ominous. We are, listen to me now, we
are to be honest in the seeking of the mind of God. I know there
are some areas we may not quite understand. There are some situations
we may not know exactly what to do about. But God's will is
spelled out in the Word. And we need to seek it and to
try to find it with all of our hearts. And I believe that if
any man wills to do the will of God, he will know the doctrine,
he'll know the teaching, whether it's of God or whether it's of
man. Do we honestly and sincerely
want His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven? Do we want
it? Do we want it? Are we honest? Do we want it? Well, I'll tell
you this prayer will get a hold of you. This will get a hold
of you. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Can we sincerely have a prayer
meeting around this verse? Can we be sincere in our effort
to find the will of God? Now we are to be against what
is contrary to God. What is revealed in the Bible
as being contrary to God, we are to be against it. Is that
alright? Would you be in favor of being
against what is contrary to God? Well, we cannot pray thy will
be done on earth unless we are against what God is against. Now look in the book of 2 Corinthians
chapter 10 I want to read verse 4 and 5, and I want you to listen
to what the Apostle Paul had to say. Let me begin with verse
3. For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not roar after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not fleshly, they're not carnal, but mighty through God
to the pulling down of strongholds. casting down imaginations and
every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ. every thought, even to the obedience
of Jesus Christ. That's what the Word of God teaches.
Now I understand, you know, and when I preach these things, and
I'm glad it's so, that I cannot preach something like this and
feel an indifference to it as I'm preaching it. I'm glad that
as I preach something like this, there is a trembling that goes
through my soul. Because, beloved, there needs
to be a trembling in every child of God as we face the fact that
we're in this world and that we are to sincerely to be praying,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then set
out to live out that will in our lives, that this prayer would
be fulfilled and brought to pass by our own living in this world. Is that alright? That's exactly
what makes me tremble. We've got to do this. This is
to be our concern. Now, brother, sister, we have
a perfect example. And I know that some people may
think, well, it's just impossible to ever be that anybody could
do the will of God on earth. It's impossible. It can't be
done. None of us are able to do it. And I know, as I said
earlier, we just do the will of God spasmodically. We do the
will of God when we have a good day. We do the will of God if
we just feel like it in certain areas. But this is not something
we do as we ought to do, but we have a perfect example of
one who did the will of God on earth. Bear with me if you will,
I know it's hot, I know these flies are aggravating, but bear
with me just a little bit longer if you will please. I'm going
to talk just a little bit about the perfect example of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. It's wonderful to know that there
was somebody who did the will of God on earth. Somebody did
it right here on this earth. In Psalm chapter 40 and verse
7 and 8 it says, Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the
book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea,
thy law is within my heart. The Lord Jesus said, I delight
to do your will, I delight to do it, yea, your law or your
word is within my heart. Now in John 6 and 38, Jesus said,
for I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the
will of Him that sent me. I came out of heaven, Jesus said,
I came down to the earth. not to do my will, but the will
of him that sent me. John 4 and 34 says, Jesus saith
unto them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and
to finish his work. In Hebrews 10 and 9 it says,
Dan said he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. And then it
says, what this will involves, he says he taketh away the first,
that he may establish the second. Meaning that Jesus came down
here to do the will of God. It involved he took away the
covenant of works and he established the covenant of grace. The Lord Jesus Christ in obedience
to the Father by the which will, it continues to say, we are sanctified,
set apart through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. That's verse 10. Hebrews and
so beloved we see that Jesus did the will of God on earth
in our message on the subject of nevertheless we told you that
Jesus prayed three times nevertheless not my will but thy will be done
Jesus did God's will on earth I think he did it joyfully because
the Bible says he endured the cross despising the shame thereof
for the joy that was set before him I think he did what he did
with a secret joy in his heart. And He is our example above all. He is the one we're to reflect
upon and think upon and meditate upon and attempt. He is the rule
of our life as believers, as Christians in this world, Christ
and His example. Now last of all, this expression,
by will be done on earth, is an expression of faith. It is
an expression of faith. Can we believe that it can be
so enough to pray for it? Can we believe that? Somebody
said, well preacher, I just cannot think that the will of God could
ever be done. I think it's a notion that is
is entirely impossible and therefore I can't pray this prayer thy
will be done on earth. I just can't do it. Now it's
an expression of faith. Now let me say something that
prayer is a meaningful exercise. Turn with me to the book of Luke
chapter 18. the book of Luke chapter 18, and I want us to
look here at this little parable at the beginning of this chapter.
I'm telling you that when one comes sincerely and honestly
to pray this prayer, thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven, that he is exercising faith. in prayer, faith in the
God who hears prayer. And here in this chapter, the
Lord Jesus spoke a parable unto them to this end that men are
always to pray and not to faint, not to say it's no use, no need
to pray, nothing will happen, this won't happen, the will of
God won't be done on earth, and there's no need to pray for it.
Well, the Lord told this story about the unjust judge. And scripture
says that he feared not God, neither regarded man. But there
was a widow in that city and she came to him and she told
him that she had an adversary and she wanted him, this unjust
judge, to avenge her of her adversary. And he would not for a while.
He just wouldn't do it. He wouldn't get off his seat
of do nothing and get up and do something for this woman.
He wouldn't do it. But after a while, the scripture
said that he said within himself, though I fear not God nor regard
man, yet because this widow troubleth me, because she just keeps coming
and won't let me off the hook, she'll not give it up, she insists
on it coming to pass, she insists on me doing something for her,
He said, I will avenge her lest she wear me out by just keeping
on coming to me. And the Lord said, I want you
to hear what the unjust judge saith. I want you to hear what
he saith. And shall not God Listen to it
now, and shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and
night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that
he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man comes, shall he find this kind of faith on the earth that
makes people just keep coming and coming and coming and knocking
and knocking and knocking and calling and calling and calling
and begging God, that His will be done on earth as it is in
heaven. Will He find anybody that believes
that such a thing can ever occur in this world? Will He find anybody
with any faith to believe the Word of God and to believe that
prayer is a meaningful exercise? Will He find anybody that believes
it? Now there are so many things in my life, so many things in
your life, there are so many situations that I need to be
continually crying to God about, I am crying to God about, and
I need that God would avenge me, that God would visit me,
that God would answer my prayer, that something would be done
on my behalf, that I would be delivered, that God would help
me, and I think every one of you feel the same way about it.
But faith You just don't have the faith to believe such a thing
could occur, that God can do what you really need to have
Him do for you. Well, turn with me hurriedly
and we'll close to the book of James, the book of James chapter
5 and look at verse 13. James chapter 5 and verse 13.
I'm sorry it's not verse 13 it is verse 16 verse 16 where he
says the writer James says confess your faults one to another and
pray one for another that you may be healed The effectual,
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And it says,
Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are. You know,
he had prayed that it wouldn't rain. And then he prayed that
it would rain. And when he prayed it wouldn't
rain, it didn't rain. And when he prayed it would rain,
it did rain. And he was a man subject to like passions as we
are. He was bothered and disturbed.
Various appetites of the flesh as you and I are. Had problems
as everybody does in dealing with the old nature, the old
corrupt nature of the heart. He had problems with it too.
But the scripture says that this man, he prayed And God heard
him when he prayed that it wouldn't rain and it didn't rain, prayed
that it would rain and it did. God sent down his blessing upon
the land, withheld it and sent it down according to this man's
prayer. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much. My question is, do we really
believe that the will of God can be done on earth? as it is
in heaven. Have we given up hope that anything
will ever transpire in this world where the hand of God will come
down and where God will really do something in this world, where
the Lord will win the day? Oh, for the day when it shall
be so, His will done on earth as it is in heaven. It was once
before the fall. Remember? Back before the fall
in the Garden of Eden, the will of God was done on earth. Do
you believe that? I believe that. And I believe it can be done
again. It will be again. And 2 Peter chapter 3 and 13
says, Nevertheless, we according to His promise look for new heavens
and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherein dwelleth
righteousness, wherein dwelleth the will of God, the good will
of God being done on earth. What a day that will be. What a wonderful day that will
be. Well, let us have prayer and
we'll be dismissed. In the name of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, we pray that these words this morning that were
spoken here in this assembly and before this assembly, that
they might be taken to heart Forgive our sins, our father,
and our weaknesses and our frailties, and forgive us, Lord, wherein
we've been hypocritical, and wherein we've prayed one way
and lived another. Forgive us, O God, of our weaknesses
and our frailties and our sins, and grant the true revival break
out in all of our hearts. and all of us be more given up
to, dedicated to, given over to the mind of God as it's revealed
in Holy Scripture. We pray it in Jesus' name and
for His sake alone, Amen.