Intro…
Welcome to the Cornerstone Baptist church podcast. My name is Justin Wheeler, I am the preaching pastor for Cornerstone and today we are in week 49 of our journey through the Heidelberg Catechism. Today, I will be talking to you about question 124.
Transition…
This week we continue working our way through the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13 and we are going to focus on the phrase:
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…
Lord’s Day Focus...
Question 124: What is the third petition?
Answer: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” means, help us and all people to reject our own wills and to obey Your will without any back talk. Your will alone is good. Help us one and all to carry out the work we are called to, as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven.
I think that this is one of the more controversial aspects of the Lord’s prayer for several reasons. First, there is quite a bit of confusion about the will of God in general. Is God’s will for us something akin to a step-by-step knowledge of every facet of our lives? In other words, is God’s will some mysterious thing that is hidden and we are asking God to reveal it? Or is God’s will something that is fixed and knowable?
Second, there is also quite a bit of insistence in the Christian world for our will to be seen as the greatest gift that God has ever given to man. Man’s free will is a sacred thing in many Christian circles and that means that it would be wrong for God to violate the will of a human being in any way.
In order for us to get a grasp on what we are praying for when we say, “Your will be done on earth as in heaven” we need to try to understand the will of God more clearly.
So, let’s talk about the 3 Categories for understanding the will of God. First, there is something that theologians refer to as God’s Will of Decree or the Sovereign will of God. This refers to what God has ordained to happen from before the world was made. God’s will of decree is fixed and absolute.
Isaiah 46:9 I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose…I have spoken and I will bring it to pass: I have purposed and I will do it.
What God decrees to take place will unquestionably occur.
We see God’s will of decree in action within the New Testament when we look at Ephesians 1.
V. 4 - He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will…
V. 11 – In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of His will…
God has a plan and this plan was set in motion before the creation of the universe. This plan has been unfolding for ages and it was ultimately accomplished when Jesus came to earth and laid down His life to save God’s chosen people from their sin. This plan continues to play out as the good news of Jesus Christ spreads to the four corners of the earth and it will be consummated when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead and then usher in His kingdom upon earth. From start to finish this plan of God will be accomplished precisely according to God’s decree, God’s will.
God’s will of decree is also seen in that He upholds and accomplish his sovereign purpose down to the very smallest detail.
Matt 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
God’s will of decree accounts for and ordains the last breath of every sparrow, it accounts for the fall of every leaf, it accounts for the snowflake, the rain, and even the graying hairs on my head. This is detail beyond our comprehension but such is the knowledge and will of God.
God has a plan for everything, and He carries out that plan to perfection. This is God’s will of Decree.
There is a second category and it addresses God’s Will of Desire[1], sometimes referred to as His will of Command. This aspect of God’s will has to do with what He desires from His creatures and where the will of decree cannot be undone, God’s will of desire can be disobeyed.
Take for instance, the 10 commandments which lay out how God desires His people to live in the world. These commandments give moral direction for our lives and they reflect the very moral character of God Himself. But even though it is God’s will that mankind keep the 10 commandments, they are disregarded every day. It is God’s will that we love Him and not the world. It is God’s will that we obey Him but in our rebellion we disobey.
Seen in this way God’s will of desire refers to the call upon mankind to obey the commands of God and here are a few passages that reveal this distinction.
1 Thess 4:3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
That last passage makes clear that this aspect of God’s will relates to something that we are called to do. It relates to the way God commands us to live.
The third category refers to God’s Will of Direction and this describe how God directs us in making non-moral decisions on a day-to-day basis. These are the decisions about where to live, what job to take, and what person to marry; and of the three this is what we think about the most and it is the one most often abused.
When we talk about God’s will of direction, we are really asking the question, “Does God have a plan for my life that He expects me to live out?” The answer is yes! God does have a plan for us. He does want our lives to be directed by Him. He does want us to live in a way that brings glory to Christ and joy to us.
He wants us to trust in His sovereign will of decree. He wants us to follow His will of command by faith and the power of the Holy Spirit. And when it comes to His will of direction we rely on God’s Word; both the wisdom and direction it provides for us.
So, the question at this point is, which one of these are we praying for in the Lord’s Prayer? The Heidelberg says that we are praying for God’s will of Desire to be done, or God’s will of command to be obeyed.
Here’s the answer again,
Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” means, help us and all people to reject our own wills and to obey Your will without any back talk. Your will alone is good. Help us one and all to carry out the work we are called to, as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven.
We are praying for God’s will to rule over our own. We are praying for our hearts to be so moved with love for our heavenly Father that we reject our own wills and obey His will without any argument.
I’ve been a Christian long enough to know that this is a big prayer because I don’t want to submit my will to His and neither do you. Oh sure, ideally we would never place our will over the will of God, but in reality we do this all the time. Every time we sin we are placing our desire over God’s, our will over His. Every time we say, “I know what the Bible says, but I want to do this…” we are rejecting God’s will and substituting our own.
In His Word God has given us the knowledge of His Will. In God’s Word we have clear, unchanging, God-breathed direction for our day to day lives.
1. It is God’s will and purpose to save sinners by faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life.
2. It is God’s will that we seek His Kingdom above all else.
Matt 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
3. It is God’s will that we pursue sanctification (holiness) in grace wrought obedience to Christ.
1 Thess 4:2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor…
4. It is God’s will that we rejoice in the gospel, pray to God and give thanks for all of the blessings of God’s grace
1 Thess 5:16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
5. It is God’s will that we bear fruit and increase in the knowledge of God.
Col 1:9 be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
6. It is God’s will that we be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit 19 (which means) addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
7. It is God’s will that we submit our lives to God and be renewed in our minds by His Word.
Rom 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
This phrase in the Lord’s prayer is aiming to place God on the throne of our hearts and to help us recognize that His will alone is good. It is a prayer for God to help us because He knows we are going to need help to obey the way He calls us to. In fact, we are praying that He would work obedience in our lives such that it rivals the angels in heaven.
And all of this starts with us. This prayer is preoccupied with God’s glory not ours, with God’s kingdom not ours, and with God’s will not our own.
Thank you for joining me today to discuss this aspect of Christian prayer. Next week, we will dig a little deeper into the Lord’s prayer. I hope you will join me for that discussion as we look at Lord’s Day 50 and question 125.
Conclusion…
If you want to learn more about Cornerstone Baptist church, you can find us online at Cornerstonewylie.org. You can follow us on Twitter or Instagram @cbcwylie. You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/cornerstonewylie. You can also subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or google play to stay up to date on all the new content.
Thanks for listening.
[1] I am using the categorical language employed by Kevin DeYoung in his book Just Do Something chapter 2.
