Would you turn to Luke chapter
11 verse one. And it came to pass that as he
was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples
said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his
disciples. And he said unto them, When you
pray, say, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come. And here's
the second request that he said we should make. First, thy kingdom
come, and secondly, thy will be done. As in heaven, so in
earth. Thy will be done. Now we know the Lord's will is
going to be done, don't we? We know it. We rejoice in it. We're glad it's that way. We
wouldn't want it to be any other way. And yet we're taught to
pray to the Lord and ask him for this. Thy will be done. That is to be always in our thinking,
in our hearts. Thy will be done. I couldn't help but think of
the Lord in Gethsemane's garden when he, the scripture says,
was sore amazed and very heavy. And he said, Abba, Father, if
it be possible, let this cup pass from me. And that's one of those mysterious
things in the scripture. If it'd be possible, let this
cup pass from me. He knew he was getting ready
to bear all the weight of hell. And I can understand him praying
that. If it be possible, let this cup
pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done. Aren't you grateful to the savior
for that? Now, thy will be done is a desire
and your desires are what you really are. Thy will be done. And that's the desire of my heart.
That's the desire of the heart of every believer. Thy will be
done. Whatever it does to me, thy will
be done. I love that. Hymn we sing, take
my will and make it thine. It shall be no longer mine. I don't want my will to be done.
I really don't. I want the Lord to cut it out
of me, amputate it out of me. Thy will be done. Now God is,
and his will is a necessity of his isness, his being. God has
a will. There is such a thing as the
will of God. The Lord's a person. He's not
an influence or some kind of force. He's a person who has
a will, an intent, a desire, a purpose, and everything that
takes place is according to his will. Ephesians 1.11 says he
works all things after the counsel of His own will. We're told to, in 1 Thessalonians
5, 18, in everything, give thanks. In everything. I don't care what
it is. I don't care how painful it is. In everything, give thanks
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Isn't that wonderful? Everything
that takes place is his will concerning me, concerning you. If it happened, he willed it. I could think of so many different
examples, but the first thing I think of is the fall of our
first parents in the Garden of Eden. Why did they fall? It was all a part of God's will. He said, in the day you eat thereof,
you shall surely die. He could have prevented it. He
didn't because it was part of his good and perfect and acceptable
will. And what would we know of mercy? What would we know of his love?
What would we know of his grace? If it never happened, God had
made all things for himself. Yea, even the wicked for the
day of evil. I think of the cross. Acts chapter
two verse 23 says, him being delivered by the determinant
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. The early church said
in Acts 4, for of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou
has anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles
and the people of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. You know a scripture I love. Not a sparrow. falls to the ground
without your heavenly father. Something that is seemingly insignificant
to us over on the other side of the world, a sparrow died
and fell out of a tree. And it was all according to the
glorious, all wise purpose of God. He controls everything. His will is always done. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Now let me try
to make a few statements regarding the will of God. His will is
eternal. What's that mean? Well, whatever
it is now, it always was. It always was. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. His will is immutable. That means he doesn't change.
The Lord's not a man that he should repent. He never changes
his will. His will is always efficacious. That means his will, he's got
the power to make sure it always comes to pass. He said, have
I spoken it? Shall I not do it? Our God, David
said, is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever. he had pleased. It's not possible
for the will of God to be thwarted. Isn't that wonderful? It is if
you love him. If you love him, you're glad
it's that way. His will is causeless, and by that I mean there's nothing
outside of himself that determines what his will is. He never responds. He never puts out fires. There
are never contingencies or conditions that must be met for him to do
what it is he wants to do. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did he, in earth and sea and in all deep places. Our God
is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he had
pleased. His will is sovereign. That means whatever he wills,
it happens. There's nothing that can prevent
his will from happening. The scripture says he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. And none can stay his hand or say unto him, what
doest thou? God has a will. God has the power
to make his will come to pass. And God always makes his will
come to pass. You see, God really is God. He's
the only independent being. Now the Lord taught us to pray.
Thy will be done on earth here in my life. Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. Now in heaven, I love to think
of this. His will is done perfectly. Constantly. Unhesitatingly. Cheerfully. Immediately. Without question. Now is his will done on earth
like it is in heaven? No. You don't have people cheerfully
doing his will. Now everybody, whatever they
do, he's in control of, but you don't have people cheerfully,
willingly doing his will. Now, somebody may ask, how can
you say that his will is always done and yet say it's not done
in heaven or in earth the way it is in heaven? It seems like
those two statements seem to contradict one another. How can
it be that his will is always perfectly done and yet his will
is not done on earth as it is in heaven? Well, there's his
will of purpose or decree. That will is always done. And
then there's his will of precept or command. And that will is
not always done. When we sin, We cannot say it
was God's will for me to commit that sin. Can't say it. Can't blame God. Now, if you sinned, could he
have prevented it? Yes. You remember in Genesis
chapter 20, where Abimelech said, out of the integrity of my heart,
I didn't touch Sarah. And the Lord said to him, You
didn't touch her because I didn't allow you to. That's the reason. Any sin you do not commit, any
sin I do not commit, it's because the Lord God prevented it. But
can we for a second blame him for our sin? I think of Romans chapter nine
where he says, you'll have mercy on whom he will have mercy and
whom he will. He, heartless. That's what the
Bible says. He has mercy on whom he will
have his mercy and whom he will, he heartens. Then Paul says,
well, thou wilt say unto me, why does he yet find fault? For
who has resisted his will? How can he hold me responsible
if he heartened my heart? How can he judge me for my sin
if he heartened my heart so that that's what I did? It was because
he heartened me. How can he hold me responsible? I've thought
that. I surely have. I've thought that.
I love Paul's answer. Nay, but O man, who are you to
reply against God? Since when do you have the moral
authority to sit in judgment upon what God does and say, I
think that's wrong. I don't agree with that. Whatever
God does is right. Do you believe that? Shall not
the judge of the earth do right? Turn with me for a moment to
Deuteronomy chapter 29. be done. Now this is a very important
verse of scripture. They're all important. I guess
I'm being kind of redundant when I say something like that, but
this passage of scripture is very helpful. Verse 29, Deuteronomy
29, verse 29, the secret things belong unto the Lord our God. What are the secret things? It's
the stuff he hadn't revealed. It's things that haven't happened
yet. You know, whatever takes place tomorrow, it's a part of
the secret things. I don't know what tomorrow holds,
but I know who holds tomorrow and the secret things, the things
that are not revealed. The things that have not happened
yet, that we don't know anything about. And you know, I'm so thankful
I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. I don't want
to know what's going to happen tomorrow. What if it was something
real bad? Oh, I'd just be, I wouldn't even sleep tonight, I'll guarantee
you. I don't want to know what's going to happen tomorrow. But
he knows what's going to happen tomorrow. And everything that
happens tomorrow is according to his will. The secret things
belong to the Lord. Aren't you glad everything all
of tomorrow is in his hands and nothing's going to happen except
what he wills to happen. The secret things belong to the
Lord, but those things which are revealed belonging to us
and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this
law. Now, the secret things do belong
to the Lord. And you know, I've got to say
this, I trust him. I trust him. I'm not worried
about tomorrow. I trust him. I know he's in control. And I know he knows what he's
doing. And I know I don't know what he's doing, but I don't
feel like I need to. I just, I trust him. He's whatever he
did, he's God. And we trust him. But the things that are revealed,
now there are some things that are revealed. I tell you, let
me tell you something that's not revealed. The names of, of God's elect
in the Lamb's book of life are not revealed. I mean, we don't
have access to the Lamb's book of life, do we? That have all
the names of God's elect written down. But does that mean I just wait
around and see what happens and find out if I'm one of the elect
on judgment day and I just wait and I'll find out then? Is that?
No. Peter says to give diligence
to make your calling and your election. Sure. Now here's something
that's revealed. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Now that's something that's revealed.
And that tells me if I call on his name, I shall be saved. Lord, I'm calling on your name. Save me. Save me by your power,
by your grace, by your will, all your glorious attributes.
Save me by who you are. That's revealed. That belongs
to us for us to do it. You don't need to worry about
whether or not you're led. You don't need to worry about
it. What you need to do and what I need to do is call upon the
name of the Lord. Serves what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Listen to this. God commands
all men everywhere to repent. There's something that's revealed. The Lord said, him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. That's something revealed. If you come, he will not cast
you away. You'll be embraced. You'll be
received if you come. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. Now there's something revealed.
And you look, I do believe that Jesus is the Christ. I believe
He's God's Christ. I believe He's God's prophet.
I believe He's God's priest. I believe He's God's king. I
need Him to be my prophet. I need Him to be my priest. I
need Him as my king. And the Bible says, Whoso believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. You and I can conclude
from that. I'm born of God, because I do believe. You know, when
I was thinking this morning, I was thinking that scripture,
I quote so often, 1 Timothy 1.15, Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. And I thought to myself, that's
the only thing, at the time, I wish I felt this way all the
time, but that's the only thing I could get a hold of. And you
know what I concluded from that? He came to save me. And you know
what? He saved me. You see, the secret
things, they belong to the Lord, and that's fine there. But the
things that are revealed belong to us and our children that we
might do the things written in this law. Now, sovereign grace never kept anybody
out of heaven. Election never kept anybody out
of heaven. Brings people in. And it ought
to give everyone in here the encouragement to call upon his
name. Now, when God saves somebody,
that individual becomes someone who knows his will, desires his will, and does his
will. Anybody that God saved. They
become someone who actually knows the will of God. You know, I
know his will. Someone says that seems presumptuous.
No, it's not. You'll see why here in a few minutes. They know
his will. They desire his will. That's the actual desire of their
heart. That's what we want. We pray.
When we pray, thy will be done. It's not going through the motions.
We're really asking, Lord, thy will be done. That's what I want.
Take my will. Make it thine, it shall be no
longer mine. Take my heart, it is thine own. It shall be thy royal throne. And a believer is someone who
actually does his will. These three things. Number one,
when God saves somebody, that individual becomes someone who
knows God's will. Now turn with me to John chapter
15 for a moment. Verse 15. Henceforth, I call you not servants. For the servant knoweth not what
his Lord doeth. Now, what's a servant do? He
just does whatever his Lord tells him to do. Does he say, I need
an explanation for this? No, he doesn't get an explanation. Do it. That's the way. I remember, I don't know how
many times I heard mine when I was a kid. I never agreed with
it, but it was true. My dad always told me, I don't
owe an explanation to you for anything. And I never liked that,
to be honest with you. I never liked it. I mean, who
would? But when the Lord says that,
you understand it, don't you? A servant doesn't have to know
why he's told to do what he's just called upon to do it. But
look what the Lord says. He says, henceforth, I call you
not servants for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth,
but I've called you friends. Friends, for all things that
I've heard of my father, I have made known unto you. Now, the Lord says to his people,
you're my friends in this sense. This is how you're my friends.
Now, everybody, isn't it wonderful to have a friend that you can
pour your heart out to? that you don't have to be guarded
around, you don't have to guard what you say because you're afraid
of how they'll take it or how they'll use it, but you know
that whatever they say, they'll put it in the best light, and
you can make yourself known to them, and they don't hold you
off, they make themselves known to you. What a blessing it is
to have a true friend. You know, some people go through
life without really ever having a friend, and what a blessing
it is to have a true friend. You know, husbands and wives
ought to be best friends. Best friends, making themselves
known to each other. But the Lord says, I've made known to you what's
in my heart. Do you know if you're a believer,
the Lord Jesus Christ has disclosed to you that which is most precious
to himself. What an honor. What a blessing. What a great privilege. He said,
I've made known unto you my will. You know, the very will when
you're a believer, you know, the very will of God. You know, in Acts, chapter 22,
verse 14, and I said, Paul, the God of our fathers has chosen
thee that thou shouldest know his will. I know His will. For instance, the Lord let us
know this in His Word. This is the will of Him that
sent me, that of all which He hath given me I should lose nothing,
but raise it up again at the last day. I know it is. It's
His will for everybody that the father had given him that he
was going to raise him up and save him. We know the will of
God. This is the will of him that
sent me that everyone that seeth the son. Now, salvation, as far
as our experience goes, begins with seeing the son. You see
who he is. I tell you what, when you see
who He is, you'll see who you are, and not before then. But
when you see who He is, you'll see who you are, and you'll see
your need of Him. Everyone that seeth the Son and
believeth on Him. This is God's will. Everyone
that seeth the Son and believeth on Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life, and I'll raise Him up at the last day. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
10. This is the Lord Jesus speaking
in verse 7. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it's written of me, to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin, thou wouldest
not, neither hadst pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come, to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
covenant of works, that he may establish the second, by the
witch will. We are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. That word
once for all means perfectly completed never to be repeated.
I can't get any more sanctified than I am and I'm sanctified
by the supreme will of God. He willed my sanctification and
it came to me through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Paul already knew God's will
of command. He didn't know his secret will.
If that were the case, you could tell everything that will happen
tomorrow with mathematical precision. But Paul came to do what his
will of redemption was and is, and you and I do as well. You know, the leper understood. Something about the supremacy
of God's will You remember what the way he came the scripture
says he came and worshiped the Lord saying He came and worshiped
fell at his feet saying Lord If you will You can make me clean You believe that Do you believe
in the supremacy of his will to that extent? If he wills it,
you're clean. Leper knew that. And you know,
that's really what worship is. He came and worshiped him, saying,
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Oh, the supremacy of
his will. We know all he's got to do is
will it. Kind of like the Roman centurion.
He said, Lord, I didn't count myself worthy to come to you.
Neither thought I thought I didn't think myself worthy for you to
come to me. But speak the word only, will it? And my servant
shall be healed. And we know his will, don't we?
Now, I don't know his will decree in the sense that I don't know
what's gonna happen tomorrow. I don't know whose names are in the Lamb's
book of life and I don't I don't know what's going on and all
that kind of stuff but I know the will of God. It's the will
of God for everyone that Christ died for to be saved. We love
his will. James 1 18 says of his own will
begat he us with the word of truth John 5.21 says, the son
quickeneth whom he will. If you're quickened, it's because
he willed your quickening. Matthew 18.14 says, it's not
the will of your father in heaven that one of these little ones
perish. I love that scripture. God is
not slack, as some men count slackness, but as long suffering
to us were not willing that any should perish. but that all should
come to repentance. I'm not going to perish. I'm
going to come to repentance because God willed for it to take place. Oh, we love the supremacy of
his will and we know it. Now, I know this too. I mean, I know his will and this
is whatever happens is his will. It doesn't matter what it is. Whatever happens, it's his will.
And I know this, it was done for my good. and for His glory. Now believers know the will of
God. Every believer does. There's
no such thing as a believer that doesn't know the will of God
in the sense that I'm talking about. We know His will of redemption. But not only do we know His will,
there is a desire, a true heartfelt desire for His will. We're taught to pray, Thy will
be done. Now we know His will will be
done, don't we? We know that. But we're taught
to pray by the Lord. Thy will be done. If my will is contrary to yours,
change my will. Cause my will to be nothing less
than thy will. And whatever your will is, that
is what I'm satisfied with. Make me willing in the day of
your power. David said, teach me to do thy
will. Work in me both to will and to
do thy good pleasure. There was a lady that was dying. And I remember when I was sick,
people asking me, well, what do you want? What do you want
to happen to you? And I was very sick. And I remember I would
answer, well, whatever the Lord's will is, that's what I want.
I'm in it. I'm in it. But this lady, they asked her,
they said, well, what do you want to be done? She was dying. Do you want to live or do you
want to die? She said, well, whatever the Lord's will is. And the fellow
said, well, I know that. I know that. But if you had your
will. What would you want to be done?
She said, well, I'd say, Lord, whatever your will is, that's
what I want done. There is a childlike delight and submission to the
will of God where we actually want it done. And whatever it
does to us, that's OK. I mean, you hope it's not something
that's going to be very difficult. But still, you want his will
to be done. Thy will be done. There is a willingness to do
His will. I love that scripture where Paul
says, to will is present with me. Romans 7. To will is present
with him. Now, he went on to say, now how
to perform that which is good, I find not. I got the will. The will is present with me.
As far as the actual, in my experience, doing it, I find not," he said. He didn't say, I make mistakes
sometimes. He said, I find not. You know, there's a very real
sense in which his will of purpose is always done, and there's a
sense in which his will of command is never done. You never do as
you would. Paul said, that which I would,
I do not. And what I hate, that's what I end up doing. But there is a willingness to
do his will. I think that scripture in John 7, where the Lord said,
he that will do his will. Did you hear that? He that will
do his will shall know the doctrine, whether it be of God. Do you
know a failure to discern the truth? is a result of an unwillingness
to do His will. And where there's a willingness
to do His will, you'll know there's a discernment of the truth. Not only is there a knowledge
of His will, not only is there a willingness to do His there
is an actual, literal, positive doing of His will. Remember when the Lord said in
Matthew 7 21, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that, what? Doeth the will of my Father. which is in heaven. That's the
only ones who will enter heaven. Those people who actually do
his will. He said, many shall say unto
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your name?
In your name, have we not cast out demons? And in your name,
have we not done many wonderful works? Then shall I profess to
them, depart from me. ye that work iniquity. I never
knew you. Now who is that person who actually
does his will? Beloved, it's the person who
believes the gospel. When I believe on Christ, when
I trust the Lord Jesus Christ as all that will make me acceptable
before God, when I look to him the same way God looks to him.
God looks to him for everything he requires of me. I look to
him for everything God requires of me. I trust him the same way
God does. You know when I do that? When
I believe on his name, I'm doing the will of God. When I love
his people, I am doing the will of God. I am keeping his commandments. Not just admiring it, but keeping
it. 1 John chapter 3. I'm so thankful for this verse
of scripture. You know, I think of those times where the Lord
says, whoso keepeth my commandments, he it is that loveth me. And
I think, well, have I kept his commandments? Because if I haven't,
I'm not somebody who loves him. What does it mean to keep his
commandments? Because when I look at the 10 commandments, this
is one of the great mysteries of the gospel. I haven't kept
one commandment one time in myself, but in my Redeemer, I've kept
them all. That's why I don't try to keep
the law. I've kept it. I don't try to keep it. I've
kept it. And I love God's law. But as
far as in my experience, seeing where I've kept any of these
commandments, I'm being as honest as I know how to be, where I
haven't kept one of those commandments, not even once. Not in my heart. You know, thy commandment, David
said, is exceeding broad. I want you to ask yourself the
question, have you kept any of those commandments where God
would say, yep, pass the test? No, no. I know that. But let me tell you some camp
commandments that I have kept and am keeping right now doing
his will. First John chapter three, verse
23, and this is his commandment that we should believe. rely upon the name of his son
Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us commandment. I'm keeping that. I am relying
right now on his name. This is the name wherewith he
shall be called the Lord our righteousness. I'm relying on
his name as all that's needed. I'm believing the same thing
the thief believed when he said Lord Remember me. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. That's a reliance upon his name. And I love everybody
who loves him. I know it's one thing to say
it and it's another thing to do it, but every believer Whoso loveth him
that begets, loveth also him that is begotten of him." Every
believer loves the Lord's people and loves my soul. I want everybody to
believe. I really do. I want everybody
to believe. I love men enough to where I want to tell them
the truth, and I want them to believe the gospel, and I want to be an example to
them. I want to be an example of love, kindness, graciousness. But we love one another. We love
the people of God. Now, I love that scripture in
Romans chapter 12, where Paul says, I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies. What's it mean by our bodies,
your body? That's what he means by it. 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. And be not conformed to this
world. This world that hates the Lord
Jesus Christ. This world that has no desire
for his salvation. This world that has no regard
for the living God. Would be much happier if there
were no God. Be not conformed to this world. Don't be impressed with the ways
and the maxims of this world. Be not conformed to this world,
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you
may prove that good and that acceptable and that perfect will
of God. Truly the cry of our heart is,
thy will be done. Let's pray.