Luke 11:2c

I want to read Luke chapter 11 verses 1 through 4 as we’ve been studying the Lord’s model prayer that he gave his disciples. 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 ye pray, say, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily breath, and forgive us our sins. For we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. May God bless to us his holy and sacred word this morning. When a person makes out a will, he tells the appointed executor in that will how he wants his estate to be disposed of all. after he dies. Now the executor is charged with carrying out the deceased will and intention exactly as he has decided. It’s up to the executor to follow what the person who has died has written out. So if you’re the designated executor, you can’t simply do as you as you. you please with the estate of this deceased loved one, you must do as commanded by the deceased. Our text speaks of God’s will and its need to be done. God reawealveals to you. God reveals to you his commands, which you are bound to carry out as his creature. You are to be the executor, if you would, of God’s will. And obey his commands, the explicit instructions that he gives in his word. Now, we have been considering Christ’s model prayer, and there are six petitions here that are laid out for us. The first petition we looked at, hallowed be thy name. The second petition is thy kingdom come. Here’s the third petition we want to look at this morning, and that is, Thy will be done. Now you must understand what is meant by the will of God here. Thy will. What is he speaking of here in this particular, the words here of this text? And I’ll begin by talking about what he’s not speaking about. You know, whatever God decrees, his eternal purpose is always done. There’s no possibility of that will not being done. My counsel shall stand, he says in Isaiah 4610, and I will do all my pleasure. We read in Daniel 435, he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can say his hand and say unto him what do is thou? or as Ephesians 111 puts it, who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. So God’s decreed will or purpose is certainly to be accomplished. Nothing can hinder or prevent it from being accomplished. Job 2313, but he is of one mind who can turn him and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. Or as Psalm 1153 says, Our God is in the heavens, He hath done whatsoever he have pleased. Romans 919, who hath resisted his will? The irresistible, invincible, will of God is not the subject here of our Lord’s model prayer. It would be impossible to pray with any certain about God’s decreed will because you normally don’t know what it is. Most of the time it’s secret. Sometimes he reveals a portion of it, but we don’t know what it is. And this secret will of God is absolutely certain to be accomplished. So he’s not asking us to pray about that. So we can set that aspect aside. But you need to grasp there is a distinction between God’s what we call his secret will and his revealed will. Now, if you would look with me at Deuteronomy, 2929, here is a very useful, I think, passage with regard to this. Deuteronomy 2929 says this, Deuteronomy 2929. The secret things belong on. to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and our children forever that we may do all the words of this law. So in order to understand what Christ is saying in this third petition, you need to recognize there are two types of the will of God that are spoken of in the Bible. There is a distinction between what we call God’s secret will, his decree, and God’s revealed will, which is his command. There is an area of knowledge that God keeps secret. The secret things. That belongs unto God. He doesn’t tell us about everything he’s going to do. This is his decreed will. It’s eternal counsel. It’s secret in the sense that he doesn’t normally divulge it. It’s sort of locked up in his own. breast and no angel or man knows what God is going to do until he does it. As Romans 11 tells us, his ways are past finding out who hath known the mind of the Lord or who have been his counselor. Now, when we talk about God’s secret will, we’re talking about every single aspect of life. There’s nothing that does not fit in that category. From the brisk wind, blowing upon the blades of green grass in your yard to the withering of the gourd that Jonah had over his head to protect him from the sun. It’s all God’s hand in all these things. The decline of one world power, as we see with Russia, or the emerging of another world power like China, as we see in our own world, is all in his hand. Every individual day of birth and day of death, God has already determined it. There’s a time to be born and a time to die. We studied that in the book of Ecclesiastes. The ultimate eternal destiny of every soul has been determined before they were even born by God’s secret will of election and reprobation. Even those terrible things, which happened to you in this life, whether you get a serious, car accident or whether you get cancer, these things are in God’s will, his secret will, his decreed will. we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to what? This purpose. So there’s this area of knowledge which God has revealed to you, which we call his revealed will. So the secret things belong of the Lord. But, as he says in this text, the things that are revealed to us, for us and our children, are the things that are of his law, as he says here. that we might do them. The revealed will is made known through all the words of his law. In other words, the commands of Scripture. This is what God expects you to do. So the will of God that belongs to you and particular here, is what he would say is pleasing in his sight and what he commands you to do. The secret will doesn’t belong to you. He hides that in most of it, anyhow. But the will of God found in the law is known and it’s taught through all generations, really. These commands of God will never change. Thou shalt not kill is not going to change. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not covet. Not to use idols in worship. Not to take the Lord’s name in vain. To remember the Sabbath day and keep it. Those things aren’t going to change. Youth are told to do these things, to obey these things, to practice these things. So Scripture, especially the commands of scripture as the revealed will of God instruct you on what God expects you to do and how to live. So you should consider now this interaction between the secret and revealed will of God’s. All that you know about God’s purposes, is decrees, his planes, have been revealed to you in Scripture. and they begin to make up the revealed will of God to you. For instance, prophecy is part of God’s decreed will that he has seen fit to tell you in advance what he’s going to do. Now, he doesn’t always tell you all the details of how he’s going to do it. He just tells you I’m going to do this. Those other things are still secret. But the reason why you should follow a certain course of action is because, God has revealed it in His word to you. When Moses told Pharaoh, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let my people go. That was God’s revealed will to Pharaoh. You need to let my people go. However, Pharaoh was defiant. You recall the story. He didn’t want to obey God’s revealed will. Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. At the same time that he was disobeying God’s revealed will, Pharaoh was actually obeying the secret will of God. For God told Moses ahead of time, before he even went in before Pharaoh. He said, I’m going to harden Pharaoh’s heart that he shall not let your people go. Why? Because God is going to bring these plagues upon Egypt and therefore bring honor and glory to his name, not only among the Egyptians, but throughout that whole region. Thus we read in the book of Romans chapter 9, verse 17, for the scripture set unto Pharaoh, even for the same purpose, if I raised the up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. So Pharaoh disobeys God’s revealed will. but he fulfills God’s secret will. And that’s the interaction between these two wills. But our focus is mainly on what God has told us we should do. What he has revealed commanded us to do. But we should be aware of this other aspect. Because of time, I’m not going to deal with Joseph and his brothers. I had Russell read that text, but that’s a parallel passage, where his brother certainly didn’t treat him well. They didn’t love their brother. They were like able. And, you know, in the situation, Cain, treating able, how he treated him. That was wrong. It was evil for the way they treated him. Sold him into slavery and everything else. With intention, remember at first to kill him. Ruben says, that’s not to kill him. But what’s the thing? does he say at the end? You meant it for evil, but God, you didn’t follow God’s revealed will. You shouldn’t treat me like Kane treated able. But God and his secret will purpose had some other purpose to save us as a family from being destroyed. So you can study that on your own. I won’t dwell on it. But so you need to grasp the distinction here between God’s secret and revealed will. Now, you were to pray that God’s revealed will be done. There was a time when God’s will was perfectly obeyed on this earth. When God first created Adam and Eve, placed them in the garden, he gave them one command that we are knowledgeable about. They were told thou shalt not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and eat. Now we don’t know how long they didn’t, they avoided disobeying the Lord. But we do know that at one point they were walking with God in the cool of the day and there was fellowship with God and so forth. And so they had not disobeyed God up to that point. However, through Satan’s temptation, they disobeyed God’s revealed will and they ate off the permitted trick. And man fell into sin. And ever since that, man has been in opposition to all the commands that revealed will of God. Whatever God has commanded, in his law and so forth, man is opposed to it. Man wants to break asunder those bonds that God puts restrictions as we read in Psalm 2. that God has put on man. To this very day, we see man in this state. now our desire, since we want to see the kingdom of God advance and grow, That can only be realized when people are brought to salvation and they do the revealed will of God. that’s as simple as that. so you are praying for a return to a point where God is obeyed and men live lives in compliance with the will of God as it is revealed in his commands. This prayer then in its ultimate sense can only be fulfilled when God ushers in the new heavens and the new earth and gets rid of all sin. But you must understand this is what we’re talking about. We talk about praying, thy will be done. We’re saying that men would comply with God’s commands of Scripture. Now, secondly, you should pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He says here, as in heaven, so in earth. This is the second part of the prayer, or the petition, if you would. Now, what does this mean? May I suggest to you that this means specifically, you are to do the will of God angelically. What do I mean by that? Well, the Lord would not only have you do the will of God, but he wants you to do it in a specific manner, and he wants you to follow the example of the holy angels in heaven and how they carry out God’s commands. You were to render service to the Lord as the heavenly angels obey their creator. When God’s gives them a command, they carry it out. Now being a sinful creature, as you and I are, this is the difficult task for us. But even as a child who was asked to copy maybe the letters of the alphabet, but learn how to write them, and even though the copy is not as good as the print that they’re copying, they’re trying to copy. And so our duty is, you know, this is our goal up here. We’re probably down here somewhere, but our goal is to be up here. Our goal is to reach that point. So you were to do the will of God angelically. Now, there are several things I want to point out about how the angels do the will of God. I think that would be helpful to us. You were to do the will of God constantly. Now look with me at Psalm 103, verse 20. Psalm 103, verse 20. verse 20. Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commands hearkening under the voice of His Word. The angels never become weary of doing God’s will. They serve him day and night, according to Revelation Chapter 7. The holy angels constantly hearken under the voice of the Lord. They’re busy doing whatever God bids them to do. They never question God’s orders or refuse at any time to obey them. They just actively are about serving the Lord. If God sends Gabriel to Mary to announce the birth of Christ and so forth, he goes on that, errant, he doesn’t ask any questions. If God sends Gabriel to Daniel to reveal to him the prophecy of the 70 weeks in Daniel Chapter 9, off he flies. The Bible says he flies. He flies. He is rushing swiftly to carry out that purpose. And Holy Angels are like busy honeybees, going in and out of the hide, so this speak. You’re always, you know, going back to God’s throne, they have given a command. Off they fly to carry it out. Here’s what Psalm 106.3 says, Blessed is he that doeth righteousness at all times. That’s what we should be doing. Your life should be taken up with this idea. That we should be thinking about, I must be about my father’s business all the time. Sadly, believers are often very inconsistent in carrying out God’s commands. You read in Scripture how Moses is told to command Pharaoh to let my people go. But what does he do? Moses argues with God and says, can’t you get somebody else to do this? Can’t you get another messenger? God tells Jonah, I want you to go to Nineveh and preach the gospel of those Gentiles. how heathen up there. And what does Jonah say? I don’t want to do that. I’m going to go in a different drive. I’m not going to do that. There’s Gideon. He has to be coaxed. You remember the story? he has to be coaxed into obeying the Lord to lead the Israelites against the Medianites. God has to coax him along, so to speak. So you can start out with good intentions and then falter drastically. But the Bible says we’re to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Like the angels. 1 Corinthians 1558. So here’s what we’re going to pray. We want to pray for perseverance that we could be like the angels in this constantly. fulfill what God has commanded us to do. Notice something else here. You’re to do the will of God impartially. Notice verse 21 here in Psalm 103. Bless ye the Lord, all ye host, ye ministers of His that do his pleasure. Can you imagine an angel saying to the Lord, instead of doing his pleasure? if an angel said to the Lord, I don’t want to do that. I want a more prestigious mission. That’s even mundane. That’s too mundane for me. No, the holy angels do his pleasure whatsoever the Lord desires, whether it be great or small. Whether it be something fantastic, like striking down all the Assyrians that are outside the gate of Jerusalem, whether it be just simply getting Peter, springing him out of jail, it doesn’t matter. They just go about it. They do it. None say to God, well, that’s too mundane. That’s too simple. That doesn’t meet my standard, you know. I’m a glorious angel. I should have something more prestigious to do. Here on earth, people often pick and choose one commandant to obey, and then they want to ignore one of the other commandments that God has given us. You remember the incomplete obedience of King Saul. Saul did not fulfill God’s command to utterly exterminate the Amlicites and their flocks and their herds. Why? Because he decided that maybe it would be best if he kept the king and the best of the flocks and the herds and whatever he thought was valuable. He did the Lord’s wisdom. in an incomplete manner. He did as he wished. He did according to his pleasure, not the Lord’s pleasure. So what do the Lord do? Well, he removes him from his kingship. But what does the Lord say? I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. He will obey me, Acts 1322. So you will. are to do the will of God impartially. You are to do the will of God promptly. Look at Daniel chapter 9 with me a minute. Daniel Chapter 9 verses 21 and 22. Yea, whilst I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly. He was sent swiftly. touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give these skill and understand. Now, to demonstrate their willingness to carry out God’s purposes is will, the holy angels are described as having wings. There’s something about promptness here. They swiftly fly. Carry out God’s commands. There’s no hesitation. Isn’t the way we should obey the will of God? I read a story that took place during the Civil War where General Lee one day sent a message to Stonewall Jackson, his right-hand general, if you would, and said, next time you come past my headquarters, stop in, I want to talk to you. Well, General Jackson received a, message and immediately prepared to leave the next day. He rose up early, rode eight miles to Lee’s headquarters against a storm of wind and snow. And he got there when Lee was just finishing breakfast. Lee was surprised to see him. And he inquired why Jackson had come through the storm. And General Jackson replied, but you said you wish to see me, General Lee’s slightest wish is the supreme command to me. And off he went through the stormy. Now, if we could just put that into the spiritual realm, when it comes to the commands of God, I fear Christians are procrastinators, that they delay in complying with God’s will. But the scripture says in Psalm 119, verse 60, I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments. that’s the way we ought to be. Lastly, you’re to do the will of God, willingly and cheerfully. Now look with me at Revelation 7. Revelation 7, verses 11 and 12. And all the angels stood round about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts and fell before the throne on their faces and worship God, saying amen, blessing and glory and wisdom, and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever. Now the book of Revelation reveals much activity of the angels of God. There’s no groaning, there’s no complaining, but what we see is cheerful service. You remember Solomon was visited by the Queen of Shiba, and when you, she came and visited King Solomon. She marveled at the happiness of his servants. Remember that? Happy are thy men. Happy are thy servants, which stand continually before thee, that hear thy wisdom. Now, if that’s the case with Solomon, and there’s a greater than Solomon that’s here. Can imagine what it’s like to be around the throne of God, God and have these commands given out to us and see the wisdom of God in all that he undertakes to do. If such cheerfulness is possible on an earth level, imagine how much greater it should be around the promise. Angels delight to do God’s will. It doesn’t matter what the task is. They love to be employed in the service of God, so they run joyfully. I wish we had that spirit about us. that we say, here I am, send me. I’m willing. I’m ready to go. Can you say with David in Psalm 48, 40, verse 8, I delight to do thy will, my God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. I delight to do it. God wants willing, cheerful, laborers who will obey his commands. No murmuring and complaining. So we should pray that we’d be like the angels in this matter. We need to be doing the will of God angelically, constantly, impartially, promptly, and cheerfully. So do you know what the will of God is? Do you understand what he says here? These are the commands of Scripture. Do you pray for the ability to obey the commands of God? Because we struggle with this. And thirdly, are you willing to do the will of God like the angels do it? Those are the things that he’s praying about, asking us to pray about in this text of Scripture. So let us think about this and comply with it. Do as is commanded here.