Sermon in Minneapolis 24.04.2009

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.

For this service this evening, I will read a portion of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, a portion of verse 10. These are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Amen.

In the beginning, I want to thank you for the warm welcome this evening, brothers and sisters. It's nice to be here with you, the Minneapolis congregation, and so many visitors for this festive weekend of spring services and meetings. As we heard in the welcome, it is our prayer that God would open His word unto us and again nurture us and uplift us on this pathway of living faith.

The text which I read this evening is a very short one. But we often find in God's word, His living word, that in a few words, there can be so much for us to learn, to hear, to be reminded of. And it's certainly a portion that's been in my heart and mind in recent days, thinking of the matter of God's will.

Now, this portion is from the Sermon on the Mount, a sermon which our Lord Jesus spoke as He gathered together with His disciples. And with the multitudes having followed Him, we can certainly picture that many were also standing about listening in. So many precious teachings were included in this long sermon.

Sometimes when I haven't been able to be at services, but some of my family has been there, I will ask them, "What was the text this evening? From what portion did the speaker, the minister, speak from?" And I have to say that seldom can they tell me. I think it's the nature of all of us, except for perhaps the speaker brothers, that unless we really make a special note to listen at that point in time, we probably miss what was the text that was spoken from for this particular service.

But even for you many children here this evening, it might not be so easy for you to remember that this is a portion of the 10th verse of the 6th chapter of Matthew. Maybe it's easier for you just to remember the text itself.

When we pray this prayer, our Lord's Prayer, I'm sure I know that I don't, and I wouldn't expect that it's different for most, but we don't stop very often to consider what is the real meaning of the prayer and the words that we are saying. And so, if God wills, we just will consider this little portion here this evening.

We know that Jesus saw that the disciples didn't know how to pray, what they should pray, and probably not even to whom they should pray. And it was a matter that needed to be taught. It's the same for us. We've needed to be reminded to pray and to be taught the matter of prayer, how it belongs to us as children of God.

As Jesus began this prayer, He said to whom we are praying: "Our Father, which art in heaven." So it's good that we remember that we are praying to God.

Jesus then said in this prayer, "Hallowed be Thy name," that God's name would be holy, honored, feared, respected because He is our Creator and He guides and leads in all manner of our lives.

Then He taught that "Thy kingdom come," that God's kingdom would come unto us, that we would be able to be in God's kingdom, that His beautiful kingdom on earth would be revealed unto us. This we pray.

And then, again these words, "Thy will be done." We should stop and consider what is meant by God's will.

We use this word will in our lives. It means someone with a desire, perhaps persistence. Somebody that has a strong will. We might think of as being particularly determined in some way or other. Even when we pass from this life, we say it's good if there's a last will and testament, that one would have a will that expresses their wishes and their desires concerning what should take place with their earthly belongings that they are leaving behind.

But scriptures tell us what God's will is. In the Gospel of St. John, again the words of Jesus:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

God so loved the world that He gave unto us His Son, that none would perish but all would have everlasting life, would all enter Heaven's glory one day.

For these words of Jesus in the sixth chapter of John:

"And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day."

"And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

So God leads and guides our lives. This we believe. And His will is that we would believe upon His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that we would believe upon His suffering, His death, and His victory on our behalf.

God and God's will is that we would not sin, transgress His commandments, but because we are faulty, sin-corrupt, we have needed His grace and mercy and the salvation work of His Son.

God's will is that we would be obedient unto Him.

And then we say, has it been easy to accept God's will in our lives? Has it been easy to comprehend that that which takes place is truly His will, especially when it hasn't been what our will might have been?

Certainly, even here there are many examples of scripture where God's will has been revealed and His workers have been obedient, even yet struggling at times.

We think, for example, of Noah there in the Old Testament, needing to build that ark on dry land and how foolish it was or appeared in the mind of man. Yet it was God's will that this take place because God had His plan and He knew what would be in store.

Noah was given wisdom and strength to accept God's will, to be obedient, and to construct that ark.

Certainly for Patriarch Abraham, when he was instructed to take his long-awaited son Isaac up to the mountain and prepare him as a sacrifice, was it easy to believe that this would be God's will, that this would take place, a matter so contrary to what Abraham would have wished in his own mind?

But in obedience of faith, he prepared for that moment of sacrifice until God guided and led the matter and provided the ram and the thicket instead.

We also have the example of Jonah, instructed to go preach in Nineveh but resisting the will of God, incurring God's wrath until the matter took place as God had wished and intended.

Even our Lord Jesus Christ submitted Himself unto the will of the Heavenly Father when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. His disciples accompanying Him had fallen asleep, and He was there in agony, sweating blood with the weight of the sins of the world on His shoulders and His heart.

He prayed to God and said, "Let this cup pass from me, dear Father, but not as I will, but as Thou wilt."

So even with Jesus, the Son of God, we have that example of how He submitted Himself to the will of the Heavenly Father and in this way endured the death on the cross.

And so we pray, "Thy will be done."

We pray, dear brothers and sisters, that God's will would be done in our lives. But again, we know it isn't easy when it feels that our will and His will don't coincide.

I'm sure we all can look back at our lives in the past. We have seen our intentions, we've seen the plans that we have made, and we have seen how often they went a different direction than what we had thought or envisioned or prepared for.

But then we can ask, as God's children desiring to be obedient to God and His will, wanting His will to take place in our lives, which was better, our will or God's will?

I think then we must humbly bow our heads and say, it is good that my will didn't take place because God's will was so much better.

God truly was guiding and protecting.

Yes, we have those times of struggle and trials, times of distress, temporally in this life, perhaps health issues and so on, matters which we don't understand, and it's hard for us to think, is this really God's will that my life would be this way?

But when we can look at even these matters as being God's will, even when we don't understand them, and still putting our hope and our trust, our faith in Him that He knows best and He is leading and guiding, then it's so much easier to accept that which is taking place.

Even though we don't understand where this course may lead, knowing that God is leading, guiding, and protecting is so comforting.

We have such beautiful songs in our new hymnal, but even older ones that are still so precious.

When I think of this matter of the will of God, these words come to mind:

"The will of God is always best and shall be done forever, and they who trust in Him are blessed. He will forsake them never; He helps indeed in time of need. He chastens with forbearing; they who depend on God their friend shall not be left despairing."

"God is my comfort and my trust, my hope and life abiding, and to His counsel wise and just I yield in Him confiding."

"The very hairs His word declares upon my head He numbers by night and day. God is my stay; He never sleeps nor slumbers."

"When life is run and I this world am leaving, grant me to say, 'Thy will be done.' By faith to Thee still cleaving, my heavenly friend, I now commend my soul into Thy keeping."

"Or sin and hell and death as well through Thee the victory reaping."

Another psalm says:

"Oh soul, let God forever guide you and trust in Him through all your days. He'll be your strength and walk beside you and keep you on salvation way. He does not build upon the sand who trust in God Almighty's hand."

I know that it's a lesson I need to hear over and over again: to trust in God's will and not my own, to remember how He has guided and blessed in so many ways, and also believe that when one endeavors in living faith, He won't forsake us but will keep guiding us.

And so we want to do His will, God.

This portion that we read that we've been considering says, "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

We all know that heaven is a beautiful place, a paradise of eternal happiness. No more of these earthly sorrows will be there, but eternal joy and singing with our Heavenly Father and the saints.

Here scriptures say that we're praying to God that His will would be done here as it is in heaven.

So if God's will can take place here in our lives, how can it be anything but wonderful and glorious and a blessing?

The struggle which we have of our flesh against the spirit is often one of our will against God's will.

But oh, again, how we could accept God's will and then the struggle goes away.

I know that again it's not been easy for me to always understand or accept that the course of life is God's will when it's different from my own fleshly desires.

And I ask even for this and all my sins, can you forgive me, brothers and sisters?

And to you also, uplift your hearts to believe all sins forgiven in Jesus' name and precious blood, God.

And pray that you could accept His will: "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

In Jesus' name, Amen.