1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:04,320 As we are working our way week after week through the Lord's 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:06,640 Prayer, hopefully you're not becoming discouraged with the 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:12,920 pace. Every word, every phrase, every 4 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,880 line is pregnant with meaning and deserves our careful 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:21,880 attention as it has had by the church for thousands of years. 6 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:27,840 Since Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, I myself, in 7 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,760 prepping, have had to leave an atrocious amount of material 8 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,560 behind. If you can believe it, each line 9 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:40,560 has at least a library of books supporting it, defending it, 10 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:42,840 showing how important that it is. 11 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:50,600 So you're welcome, I'm going fast. 1st we look carefully at 12 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,120 the invocation. We say Our Father in Heaven. 13 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:58,200 What do we mean? There's a theology of adoption 14 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:03,200 that we are able to call God our Father and Father implies the 15 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:05,760 Son and the Holy Spirit. We talked about how prayer is a 16 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,240 family affair, a Trinitarian endeavour. 17 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:14,120 We also notice that it's our Father in heaven, not my Father 18 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:16,120 in heaven. We pray as a corporate body, a 19 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,520 great company of believers, the church. 20 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:22,320 This is our prayer that we pray together and with Father. 21 00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:25,480 We think of intimacy and loving kindness, but it's also 22 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,240 reminding us that it's a heavenly Father who made 23 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:34,000 everything and everyone the omnipotent, the omniscient, the 24 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:35,800 God of glory that we're praying to. 25 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,800 And so we come into the invocation with both intimacy 26 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:43,040 and awe, assuming this posture of prayer ready then to present 27 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,800 our requests to God. And we notice too, that the the 28 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:48,520 order of these petitions is important. 29 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,280 And you'll notice that the first three are all about God. 30 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,600 We're not ready to pray for our knees until we've calibrated our 31 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:03,520 faith that we've made once again in prayer God, the highest good, 32 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:08,639 our greatest treasure. So we pray for the fame of His 33 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:13,480 name, that His glory would be known throughout the world. 34 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:16,280 Hallowed be your name. Can it be first place? 35 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,080 And we noticed that if we care about his name and he's a king 36 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,360 with a Kingdom, we have to care about His Kingdom too. 37 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:26,800 And so we pray about his authority. 38 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,240 We prayed about his authority spreading throughout the world. 39 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:34,520 And we noticed that though the devil has set up sort of a 40 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:39,440 imposter fake Kingdom, that Jesus the King came and dealt 41 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:44,200 him a nasty blow. And though, and throughout time, 42 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:47,480 his Kingdom is continuing to move its way through the bread. 43 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:52,200 And we are looking forward someday to King Jesus's return 44 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:56,880 where he will rule the nations. And we pray to that end. 45 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:00,000 Come quickly, Lord Jesus. But of course, if we care about 46 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,760 his name and we care about his Kingdom, we have to care about 47 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:07,120 his agenda too. For his will has been rebelled 48 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:10,840 against. And we must care deeply that his 49 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:14,840 will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 50 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:18,360 This morning, I'm really only going to take your will be done. 51 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,640 And we'll wait till later to talk more about what this phrase 52 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,400 means on earth as it is in heaven. 53 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:27,880 But today we need to kind of carefully think about what God's 54 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,840 will is, because there's an awful lot of confusion swirling 55 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,000 around the notion of what is the will of God. 56 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:45,280 Friends, we need God's will to be done, but we also want to do 57 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:51,720 things our own way, for we too are complicit in the rebellion, 58 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:55,160 and inside our hearts is a big old no to God. 59 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:04,080 For some reason, we believe that if we submit to his will, he's 60 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:10,160 bound to make us miserable. I want to live life in my own 61 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:11,880 way. I want to be the captain of 62 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:17,560 captain of my soul. So we have this problem and we 63 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,880 need to pray His will be done as a prayer of our own 64 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,440 sanctification to be made holy, to really want His will to be 65 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,880 done even more than our own. But besides His will to be done 66 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:31,920 in our obedience and being holy, we also need guidance, don't we? 67 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:37,080 And this we're plagued by this, a need for knowing what God 68 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:43,400 wants me to do with my life. There are so many decisions to 69 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:49,920 make and none of the answers seems clear, writes Kevin 70 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:53,080 Deyoung in this lovely little book. 71 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:58,800 This gem called Just Do Something, A Liberating Approach 72 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:03,880 to Finding God's Will And then very long subtitle Are you 73 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:05,720 ready? Just Do Something. 74 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,000 A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will or How to Make a 75 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:15,680 Decision Without Dreams, Visions, fleeces, impressions, 76 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:21,680 open doors, random Bible verses, casting lots liver quivers or 77 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:26,040 riding in the sky, et cetera. One of the most practical books 78 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,440 I have ever read. I commend it to you. 79 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:32,920 He sets up the problem like this with stacking decisions that 80 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,800 give us stress. There are so many decisions to 81 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,400 make and none of the answers seem clear. 82 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:42,200 What should I do this summer? What should be my my major B. 83 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:46,560 What kind of career do I want? Do I want a career? 84 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:49,360 Should I get married? Who should I marry? 85 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:51,960 Do I want kids? How many kids? 86 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:54,560 Should I play sports or sing in the choir? 87 00:05:54,920 --> 00:06:00,080 Ask Brighton Hill audition you Where should I go to college? 88 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:04,120 Should I even go to college? Should I go to grad school? 89 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,080 What job should I take? Should I stay in my current job? 90 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:09,280 Should I be a missionary? Should I become a pastor? 91 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:11,240 Should I volunteer here or there? 92 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:13,840 Should I leave home and test the waters elsewhere? 93 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:19,040 It doesn't get better as you get out of the education phase of 94 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,840 your life. What about buying a home? 95 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:25,640 Is now the time to buy a house? How should I spend my money? 96 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:28,720 Where should I give my money? Where should I go to church? 97 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,200 How should I serve my church? What should I be doing with the 98 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:35,040 rest of my life and where and with whom should I be doing it? 99 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:39,400 When should I retire? What should I do in retirement? 100 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,440 So many questions weighing us down. 101 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:48,080 We desperately want God to tell us the future and yet the young 102 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:51,040 rights we walk by faith and not by sight. 103 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,000 God's will is not some secret plan that he holds like this 104 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:04,020 that it's your job to guess at that. 105 00:07:04,020 --> 00:07:08,380 We need to be so worried sick. If we guess wrong and ruin our 106 00:07:08,380 --> 00:07:14,300 lives, how do we interpret adversity or suffering? 107 00:07:15,580 --> 00:07:18,460 Are we supposed to think, oh man, I must have made a mistake 108 00:07:18,460 --> 00:07:21,220 back then I ate cornflakes instead of Cheerios and I'm on 109 00:07:21,220 --> 00:07:29,760 the wrong path? Super insightful, wise words 110 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,360 about the will of God. And so we come this day to the 111 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:37,800 second or the third petition rather, that God's will will be 112 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:40,680 done. We pray that his name will be 113 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:42,840 honored, His rule will be realized. 114 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:48,080 And now we're praying that His agenda, his will, will be obeyed 115 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:54,160 and realized in our lives. So powerful, so helpful. 116 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,520 But we need to talk a little bit more about what this means. 117 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,400 What does it mean? My friends, the Bible actually 118 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:06,440 talks about God's will in a variety of ways. 119 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:11,320 Insightful theologians and Bible commentary commentators and 120 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,200 pastors have kind of narrowed down to main ways of thinking 121 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:18,040 about it. His secret will, if you want, 122 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,240 and his revealed will. Now that they like to put a lot 123 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,200 of different names on this, sometimes the secret will is 124 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:31,120 called his will of decree, his revealed will, his will of 125 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:35,159 desire. So you'll see 2 main categories 126 00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:37,919 labeled half a dozen different ways depending on whatever that 127 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,360 commentator wants to draw out. I'm following Wayne Grudem and 128 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,080 his vocabulary here, if you're interested in knowing that 129 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:47,720 theologian. His secret will. 130 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:52,440 So it seems like the Bible does tell us that God is sovereign 131 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:56,200 over all things, that nothing actually can happen apart from 132 00:08:56,200 --> 00:09:01,680 his will. That's kind of mind blowing. 133 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:04,720 How can there be evil? How does he not become the 134 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:08,360 author of evil if he can say that all things happen according 135 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:13,120 to the will of his counsel? He remains holy. 136 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:17,440 He remains righteous. Somehow he is able to work even 137 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:22,040 evil into his plan to accomplish His ends, which are His glory 138 00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:27,600 and our good. His secret will does not make 139 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:31,960 him the author of evil. It is inscrutable and is beyond 140 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,160 finding out. And the Bible talks about this 141 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,280 in different places. Let's look briefly at Daniel 142 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:44,200 chapter 4, verse 35. All the inhabitants of the earth 143 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:48,760 are counted as nothing, and He does according to His will, a 144 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:53,200 court among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the 145 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:57,240 earth, and none can stay His hand or say to him, what have 146 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:00,080 you done? There is a secret will which is 147 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:05,760 beyond our understanding, which He has the sovereignty over 148 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:09,800 everything that happens. By the way, you should note that 149 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,320 there are not 2 wills in God. There is only one will in God. 150 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,880 But there are two different aspects or ways of thinking 151 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:21,520 about this one will, His secret will and His revealed will. 152 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,800 Regarding the secret will, again let's look at the story of 153 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:30,600 Joseph in Genesis briefly. Joseph was treated pretty poorly 154 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,120 by his brothers, but the end of the story works out to their 155 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:36,320 good in Genesis chapter 50, verse 20 of this amazing 156 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:38,960 statement from Joseph about what happened in his life. 157 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:44,640 As for you, my brothers, you meant evil against me, but God 158 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:48,560 meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be 159 00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:55,120 kept alive as they are today. There's a secret will and God 160 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:58,800 where he orders things according to His ends. 161 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:03,960 But there is also in Scripture reference to his revealed will, 162 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:10,760 the will that he sets out there expecting his creatures to obey. 163 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,920 He's given them some manner of freedom to obey or disobey, and 164 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:18,080 this is where evil comes from. And he puts out his revealed 165 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:25,560 will and asks us to obey it. Genesis 2929 says this kind of 166 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:29,680 look at there's a kind of a both end on the wills, the one will, 167 00:11:29,680 --> 00:11:33,280 the secret and the revealed. The secret things belong to the 168 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:37,120 Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us 169 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:42,360 and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this 170 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:46,360 law very close tie there between the revealed will of God and 171 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:52,720 what the words of this law that are that he expects to be obeyed 172 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,880 in the world as a standard of his righteousness. 173 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,160 So that's kind of helpful. We get these sort of two aspects 174 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,960 of the of God's will, his secret will and his revealed will. 175 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:07,400 We kind of understand that his revealed will has to do with his 176 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,320 commands. We can also think about His 177 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:15,960 revealed will as events that happened in the past, as events 178 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,280 that happened in the past, because He has allowed these 179 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:21,280 things to happen. You say that was God's will 180 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:30,280 after it occurs. So then some practical biblical 181 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:35,000 counsel from God's Word about how we ought to pray this 182 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:39,040 prayer. How do we pray this prayer? 183 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:43,040 But before I get to my list, which I have 4 items to share 184 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:46,800 with you before I get to that, we have to remember what I've 185 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:48,520 been sharing with you every week. 186 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:52,360 That we don't only pray to the Father, we pray to the Father in 187 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:54,880 the name of the Son by the Holy Spirit. 188 00:12:55,400 --> 00:13:02,160 And so when we think about this particular petition, Thy will be 189 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,080 done on earth as it is in heaven, we need to think about 190 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:10,280 Jesus for a second because it is only because of Jesus, his 191 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:15,120 person and his work, only because of what he has done for 192 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:20,240 us that we can pray. Your will be done. 193 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:23,880 When really all I really care about is Dan Blosser's will to 194 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,200 be done. It is a miracle of the gospel 195 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:31,480 that I'm able to pray. Thy will be done, and it comes 196 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:34,400 if you're listening and paying very close attention to your 197 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:36,720 Bible through Jesus, his own work. 198 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:42,920 Doesn't it sound so much like his prayer in Gethsemane before 199 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:45,880 the crucifixion and the resurrection and the ascension? 200 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,440 He says three times in the Garden of Gethsemane. 201 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:53,480 If it's possible that this cup passed, Lord, but then he says, 202 00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:56,520 but not my will, but yours be done. 203 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,880 Friends, believer, Christian, if you go by the name of Christ, 204 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:04,600 the only way that you can pray Thy will be done is because 205 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:06,960 Jesus did it first in the Garden of Gethsemane. 206 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:14,040 And that is how we pray in His agency, because He is the one 207 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,160 even praying in us. But it's not just Jesus as the 208 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:19,920 one praying Thy will be done, it's the Holy Spirit. 209 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:23,520 The Holy Spirit's involved too, my friends, And it's a 210 00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:29,320 miraculous empowerment by his agency that allows us to say 211 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:31,040 these hard words. Thy will be done. 212 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:34,920 Because when we say Thy will be done, we're praying that God 213 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:37,680 will start with us, that he will make us holy. 214 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:42,880 And he can only be made holy by the Spirit of holiness, the one 215 00:14:42,880 --> 00:14:45,360 who is animating and breathing and causing. 216 00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:50,960 So we pray in the name of Jesus, by the agency of the Holy 217 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:53,640 Spirit, the Spirit of sanctification, Thy will be 218 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:56,520 done. And we must also remember, 219 00:14:56,520 --> 00:15:00,040 because we are American individualists, that we're not 220 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,560 just praying alone by ourselves, for ourselves. 221 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,560 God, you may, your will be done in Dan Blosser's life, I'm also 222 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:14,280 praying Thy will be done to our Father in a great company of 223 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:19,320 believers, the church. We pray together, Thy will be 224 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,200 done. So how do we pray it in Jesus 225 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,640 name, by the Holy Spirit as individuals and as the church. 226 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:28,560 But I want to give you some very practical things to think about 227 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:35,080 as we move forward wondering how we ought to pray this prayer. 228 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:38,080 And the first thing that I want to say is that we pray it by 229 00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,120 warring. By warring. 230 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:43,360 And I'm not talking about guns and missiles here. 231 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:46,640 I'm talking about the spiritual warfare that comes from the 232 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:50,960 power of the praying Saints. This warring is against the 233 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:55,040 enemies of God, which are classically given to us in the 234 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:59,920 Bible, summarized by many of the catechisms that say that the our 235 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:02,960 great enemies, God's great enemies, are the world, the 236 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:07,560 flesh, and the devil. The world, the flesh and the 237 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:09,640 devil. If you are listening carefully 238 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,920 in our Scripture reading from first John, you have the world 239 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,960 in the flesh clearly in view. And in the greater context 240 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,680 there's even reference to overcoming Satan himself. 241 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:23,920 But we war against the world, the flesh and the devil when we 242 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:26,880 say thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 243 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:30,800 Let's look at this text again from First John. 244 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:36,680 First John 215 believer do not love the world or the things in 245 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:38,320 the world. Now what does he mean? 246 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,840 What's the world? The world according to John in 247 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,320 this text is not referring to the beautiful things of God's 248 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:49,720 world, but the anti God system under the control of the devil 249 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,600 and the sinners that have followed him, enculturated and 250 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:58,360 systematic and institutionalized sin, and also the things in this 251 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:02,200 world that tempt us off of God that we make into idols do not 252 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,520 love the world nor the things in the world. 253 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:09,040 If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in 254 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:10,160 him. That's harsh. 255 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:14,520 Keep reading for all that is in the world and the ESB has 256 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:16,880 desires here. Probably a better term would be 257 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,839 lust. It's a very negative desire here 258 00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:23,119 in this text, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh 259 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:25,839 and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the 260 00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:31,600 Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away 261 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,880 along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God 262 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:40,640 abides forever. We war, friends on our knees 263 00:17:41,120 --> 00:17:46,280 against our lustful desires, the lust of the flesh, the lust of 264 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:50,200 the eyes, and the pride of life that so plague us every single 265 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:55,080 day we go. We war against the world and its 266 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:59,720 systems that combine to display Gentile power and oppress 267 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:04,080 everyone around them. And we war ultimately against 268 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:09,440 the devil himself as we pray Thy will be done. 269 00:18:10,360 --> 00:18:12,680 But that also puts pressure on us, doesn't it? 270 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:15,680 Because it may mean that we're cherishing something. 271 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:20,360 We're cherishing some, some desire that we want to keep. 272 00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:22,200 This is mine, Lord. You're going to have all the 273 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:25,160 rest, but not this thing. This is, this is mine. 274 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:32,080 Thy will be done means not only that we're warring, but that 275 00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:37,120 we're giving things up. We're saying when we say thy 276 00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:40,840 will be done, we're also saying not my will, but yours be done, 277 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:45,520 aren't we? That brings us to a second idea, 278 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:50,240 which is accepting, accepting God's will. 279 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:56,000 There are certain things that are going to happen to us that 280 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:01,920 we don't want to happen to us. You're going to get a diagnosis, 281 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:04,160 you're going to get a phone call. 282 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:09,360 There's going to be something in life that's going to happen. 283 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:14,600 And friend, if we cannot pray Thy will be done, we may 284 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:21,120 completely collapse and despair. So when we pray Thy will be 285 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:25,680 done, we are preparing our hearts to accept suffering in 286 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:33,640 some manner. Paul, when he was in his 287 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:38,400 missionary work, asked the Lord to take away something and God 288 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,440 said no. It's a very famous text, Second 289 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:44,440 Corinthians chapter 12, beginning in verse 7. 290 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:49,000 He says this Paul. So to keep me from becoming 291 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,440 conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the 292 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:54,880 revelations, let me stop right there. 293 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:59,440 Paul's a great apostle. He's given glimpses of heaven. 294 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:01,960 He's given revelations from Jesus Christ himself. 295 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:07,120 And Paul saying, in order for me to not get the big head, does 296 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:09,800 that be a problem if you're supposed to be apostle Jesus 297 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,120 Christ, the most humble one? In order to keep me from getting 298 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:17,960 the the big head, I was given some tormenting suffering. 299 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:23,160 That's like a thorn stuck. A thorn was given me in the 300 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,720 flesh. He's even going to call it 301 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,200 Satanic. A messenger is Satan to harass 302 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,240 me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 303 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:31,320 There it is, a purpose statement. 304 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:36,840 Again. Three times I pleaded with the 305 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:41,520 Lord about this, that it should leave me. 306 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,600 Stop there for a second and think about the parallel. 307 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:51,840 Three times our Lord prayed, let the cup pass, and he said, not 308 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,440 my will, but yours be done. And now the apostle saying three 309 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:59,560 times I prayed, I prayed, I pleaded with the Lord about 310 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,640 this, that it should leave me. God, don't you know I'll be more 311 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:05,680 effective if I don't have this annoying suffering? 312 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,400 Clearly it must be your will to heal me from this. 313 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:21,520 Pleading 3 times says no, it's not God's will to take it from 314 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:23,560 take it from me. He wants me to be humble, He 315 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:27,040 wants me to be dependent. And he says, but he said to me, 316 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:31,760 my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in 317 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:34,240 weakness. We have to be able to accept 318 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:43,210 some things. You can come up with another 319 00:21:43,210 --> 00:21:45,370 example. And Mary, the mother of our 320 00:21:45,370 --> 00:21:52,570 Lord, the Angel comes to her and says, what seems like craziness, 321 00:21:52,770 --> 00:21:56,280 Mary, and you're going to have a kid conceived by the Holy 322 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,440 Spirit, not by your betrothed. What? 323 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:05,720 That is not what I had on my plan for my life. 324 00:22:11,170 --> 00:22:15,410 At the end of this Annunciation, she says, may it be unto me. 325 00:22:15,410 --> 00:22:19,170 As you have said, she accepts this thing. 326 00:22:20,850 --> 00:22:23,210 We not only accept suffering from the Lord, but we also 327 00:22:23,210 --> 00:22:27,200 accept blessing from the Lord, things that we don't deserve 328 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:30,440 that just come into our life and filling things up. 329 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:32,600 I want don't want you to think that accepting is wholly 330 00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:34,840 negative. It is often negative, but it's 331 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,080 also very positive sometimes. And ironically and 332 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,120 paradoxically, you'll even have people who are going through the 333 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:44,640 most suffering ever, but the the blessings that they are 334 00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:48,320 receiving through walking with Jesus, experiencing the 335 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:52,040 sufficiency of his grace, so overwhelmed the suffering that 336 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,080 they have that they'll say weird things like I wouldn't have had 337 00:22:55,080 --> 00:23:01,640 it another way. And you're like, what did you 338 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,680 just say? I probably wouldn't have had it 339 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:10,040 another way. Now we are very careful to not 340 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:13,680 make evil into good and we pray for healing and we pray. 341 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:18,440 We pray, we pray, but we also must notice that the accepting 342 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,800 what we cannot change, good or bad, as it comes to us, is a 343 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,560 very sanctifying influence on our life. 344 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:30,440 As we pray, not my will, but yours be done, or thy will be 345 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,560 done on earth as it is in heaven, we have to accept. 346 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,360 But the third thing to notice is that this is really a prayer for 347 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:45,600 about our own obedience. There's so much we need to obey 348 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,720 when it comes to the Lord's will for our lives. 349 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:52,000 And sadly, we can be so focused on major decisions that we're 350 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,520 not paying attention that when really we're supposed to be 351 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:57,480 praying my will be done is praying to obey the commands of 352 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:01,760 Scripture. And so here we need something 353 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:07,160 greater attentiveness to obeying God's Word. 354 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:09,560 CS Lewis, one of my favourites, You guys like him too. 355 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:15,200 I think some of you do. He talks about this particular 356 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:21,160 petition in his book on prayer Letters to Malcolm, Quote. 357 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,360 I took this petition at first exclusively as an act of 358 00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:27,720 submission. I thought of God's will purely 359 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,840 as something that would come upon me, something of which I 360 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:35,680 should be the patient. Thy will be done. 361 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:37,280 But then he thinks about it again. 362 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,880 But a great deal of his will that has to be done is to be 363 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:43,400 done by God's creatures, including me. 364 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:49,320 That's the petition, then, is not merely that I may patiently 365 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:57,040 suffer God's will, but also that I may vigorously do it in the 366 00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,000 long run. I am asked to be given the same 367 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,120 mind which was also in Christ. And when I take the petition 368 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:08,680 this way, I find the words have a more regular daily application 369 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:13,080 for me. For there isn't always, but we 370 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,960 don't always have reason to suspect there is some great 371 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,640 affliction looking in the near future. 372 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,880 But friends, there is always, there are always duties to be 373 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,760 done. Usually for me, neglected duties 374 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:32,240 that need to be caught up with. Thy will be done by me. 375 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:39,360 Now brings one back to brass tacks the obedience that comes 376 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:43,320 by praying Thy will be done. Did you know that there are over 377 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:47,600 1000 commands in Scripture? 1000 commands. 378 00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:51,720 Now you can sum them up in really neat ways like love God 379 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,680 and love your neighbor. Convenient, but God thinks we 380 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:58,280 need more specificity than that and gives us 1000 commands. 381 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:00,360 Now. I don't know about you, but I 382 00:26:00,360 --> 00:26:03,360 immediately get syllabus shock from something like 1000 383 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:04,920 commands. Says the pastor. 384 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:09,600 And you guys get syllabus shock. I hated the first day of school. 385 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,200 It was even worse in grad school. 386 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,560 You go to your first class, Here's the syllabus, and you 387 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,880 have to see written down in the syllabus all the things that are 388 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:20,560 going to get done in just a few short weeks. 389 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:23,160 You're totally overwhelmed. You go to the next class and 390 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,000 they do it against you, and you go to the next class and they do 391 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,800 it again to you. I'm like freaking out. 392 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,960 And so when pastors and theologians load me up with the 393 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:38,000 weight of this book and say 1000 commands and cheerfully act like 394 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:44,720 they can just easily obey it, then that's a little annoying. 395 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,480 It's burdensome. How can I obey? 396 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:53,120 Plus the fact that my flesh doesn't want to. 397 00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:56,240 And now this is not a very happy experience. 398 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,680 This is even supposed to be 1000 commands. 399 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,640 We're supposed to obey, so I don't want to give you the 400 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,080 impression that you can just suck it up. 401 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:12,280 Oh, Christian, pull yourself up by your proverbial bootstraps 402 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:16,960 and do some tricks and tips and follow 1000 commands. 403 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:20,920 It's not like that. You need God to be working in 404 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:25,560 you to begin to obey, and we must work actively doing so. 405 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:29,240 The good news is I wanted to show you this text from Hebrews 406 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:36,280 13 as we think about obeying the Lord, to just bask briefly in 407 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,120 the resources that we have to obey His word. 408 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:46,560 Naomi, the God of peace, OK, not some angry, crazy person who's 409 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,960 about to ZAP you, the God of peace that you've experienced in 410 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:56,440 the gospel, this loving Father who brought again from the dead 411 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:00,760 our Lord Jesus. Oh, that God of peace, the one 412 00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:04,680 that can raise the dead. He can probably help me obey, 413 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:06,920 can't he? The one who raised the dead. 414 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,120 He's not only willing, he's able. 415 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:14,480 Brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd 416 00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:17,320 of the sheep. Beautiful, beautiful, tender 417 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:20,600 metaphor. By the blood of the eternal 418 00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:23,400 covenant, His promises that will never fail. 419 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:31,200 Equip you with what? With everything good. 420 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:37,560 Why, that you may do His will, that you may obey Him, working 421 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,200 in us that which is pleasing in His sight. 422 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:44,960 Again, all by yourself try on yourself, trying real hard. 423 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:53,440 No, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. 424 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:56,560 Amen. Christian, we pray Thy will be 425 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:00,960 done and then we are equipped by the Good Shepherd Himself with 426 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:04,760 everything that we need to obey him, to please him, to follow 427 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,200 his will. It's good news. 428 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:14,720 Not only are we going to be warring and accepting and 429 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,040 obeying, we also do need discerning. 430 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,800 And this is kind of where we started off, all these big tough 431 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:25,120 questions of life and we want to know A or B, Does God want me to 432 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:27,600 buy this car, that car? Does he want me to go to this 433 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:31,800 college or that college? Should I date this girl or that 434 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:33,280 gal? I don't know what? 435 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,280 Would you just give me a sign, please? 436 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:41,720 And this is where the Young's advice in this book cuts through 437 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:47,200 all the confusing noise and frankly, blasphemous thoughts 438 00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:50,600 concerning how to discern the will of God in our life. 439 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:52,400 Bunch of noise out there, friends. 440 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:55,840 I've been working with college students especially for over a 441 00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:58,880 decade and there's just a lot of noise in the system. 442 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:05,720 How do I discern God's will? What if I made a mistake first 443 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:07,120 thing that comes up? That's hard. 444 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:15,560 Oh I just, I chose wrong. Seeking fleeces, putting out 445 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:20,080 tests, worrying a lot about really neutral decisions that 446 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:23,200 probably the Lord doesn't actually care about that much. 447 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:26,680 If it really is a non moral category, you can pick 448 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,400 cornflakes or Cheerios. He doesn't care. 449 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:31,560 You know what he does care about? 450 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:33,560 He cares about your Christ likeness. 451 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,720 And over and over again, Dejung says he cares more about your 452 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:40,760 virtue, your fruit of the Spirit, than he does about where 453 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:43,400 you live or what kind of car, what kind of house, or what your 454 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:44,720 major is. All of these things are 455 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:46,640 important to God. He cares. 456 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:50,560 But when we're talking about God's will, the categories in 457 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:53,720 Scripture are mostly about obeying His commands. 458 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,120 And the Bible just frankly doesn't tell you what major 459 00:30:56,120 --> 00:31:01,120 you're supposed to pick. There's freedom, so we pray Thy 460 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:03,640 will be done, and we understand that there's a lot of freedom 461 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,960 within God's will, but we're also acting, asking Him for some 462 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:13,120 guidance, and we're asking for Him to attend our choices, to 463 00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:16,960 give us the wisdom from Holy Scripture to be able to weigh 464 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:20,360 things out. He's never going to tell you 465 00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:22,080 ahead of time what exactly what it's going to be. 466 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:27,120 We walk by faith, not by sight, but you can load up with 467 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:30,360 biblical wisdom. You can seek wise counsel. 468 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:33,800 You can make wise choices. You're going to fail sometimes. 469 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:38,640 And the Lord's going to redeem it all in order to enhance His 470 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:42,600 glory and to enhance your good as well. 471 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:46,120 And that is good news. Paul himself talks about his 472 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,440 plans and Scripture. He talks about wanting to go 473 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:50,680 over here but being prevented, wanting to go over here. 474 00:31:50,680 --> 00:31:53,320 And it worked out, being called by this other guy to come over 475 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:55,320 to Macedonia. He's always discerning. 476 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:59,640 And this is the apostle Paul. Look what he says in Romans. 477 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:03,240 One For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the 478 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:07,320 gospel of his Son, that without ceasing, I mention you always in 479 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:13,480 my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last 480 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:17,160 succeed in coming to you. He doesn't know. 481 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:21,560 He hopes. In the meantime, he's praying 482 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:26,080 and he puts it in God's hands and if it works out that it must 483 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:27,720 have been God's will, if it doesn't, then it wasn't. 484 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:29,880 And that's OK. That's OK. 485 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,480 We ourselves, as we make our plans and exercise Godly's 486 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:36,960 discernment and seek counsel, we make our decisions and we are 487 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:39,760 supposed to say not literally every time, but at least to have 488 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:42,440 it in our hearts. If the Lord wills, we will do 489 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:48,440 this, or go there or do that, and so we pray Thy will be done 490 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:52,400 on earth as in heaven as it is in heaven, asking for godly 491 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:56,920 discernment according to His word in the community of faith. 492 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:04,800 So to conclude, the devil is leading a rebellion against the 493 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:07,600 will of God and has fallen sinners. 494 00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:15,000 We're part of it, but thanks be to God, our Lord Jesus came to 495 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:19,320 do the Father's will, praying thy will be done. 496 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:25,360 And so he invites us to join him by faith and pray your will be 497 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:27,200 done no matter what we're facing. 498 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:32,040 This is good news, my friend. We've been concluding by praying 499 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:35,120 out loud the Lord's Prayer together as a community of 500 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:37,160 faith. When we get to the part about 501 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:40,640 deaths or trespasses or sins, we'll pray trespasses. 502 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,400 So would you join me in prayer? If you don't know, it's OK, You 503 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,120 can just listen. Let's pray together. 504 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:53,040 Our Father, who are in heaven, hallowed be thy name, Thy 505 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:58,440 Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 506 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:02,840 Give us this day Our Daily Bread, and forgive us our 507 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:07,560 trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. 508 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:12,280 Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 509 00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:17,480 For thine is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. 510 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:18,520 Amen.