"THY WILL BE DONE"

MATTHEW 6:1

A. "THY WILL BE DONE IN EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN"
  1. This petition, in the Lord's prayer, is most inclusive:
    1. It governs the moral relationship of men to the Creator and His creatures.
    2. This will is expressed in the law of the Ten Commandments - Ex. 20:3-17; Rom. 2:17, 18
    3. It encompasses the plan of redemption - Compare 1 Pet. 1:20 with Eph. 1:4-12
    4. It reaches back into the eternity of God, "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." - Ps. 40:7, 8
  2. If this petition is understood and offered in love and holy reverence, God will be pleased with our prayer:
B. LET US CONSIDER BRIEFLY, THE IMPLICATION OF THIS PETITION
  1. God's holy will:
    1. Is the supreme law of the universe.
    2. It is the very foundation of the government of God.
  2. This divine law is based upon two eternal principles:
    1. Love to God -- that is the heart of the law of the Ten Commandments - Matt. 22:34-38
    2. Love to our fellow man is like unto the first commandment - 1 John 4:7-11
  3. These divine principles are summed up in the golden rule, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them": Matt. 7:12
  4. The Ten Commandments are, as it were, ten streams having their source in the two great commandments stated by our Lord in Matt. 22:34-38:
    1. Love to God will lead to obeying God - 1 John 5:4, 5
    2. Love to men will lead to a harmonious relationship with others.
  5. The will of God is fully revealed in the Bible:
    1. 2 Tim. 3:15-17
    2. John 5:39; Isa. 34:16
C. BUT THE HOLY WILL OF GOD IS MOST INCLUSIVE
  1. It covers, as we have stated before, the moral relationship with God and our fellowmen:
    1. Expressed on the two tables given to Moses - Ex. 20:1-17; Matt. 19:16-21
    2. Emphasized very strongly in the gospel of Jesus Christ - Compare Matt. 5:17-20 with Heb. 10:15, 16; Rom. 3:31
  2. It includes our attitude toward God's plan to save us from sin:
    1. God will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth - 1 Tim. 2:4
    2. Our sanctification is a part of this divine will - 1 Thess. 4:3, 18
    3. That we shall believe on Him whom God has sent into this world to save us - John 6:28, 29
  3. God's eternal will is expressed wonderfully in John 3:16:
    1. It reveals God's will toward a lost world - 1 John 2:1-3
    2. It is in this will that we are sanctified - Heb. 10:10
  4. This will, will be the final test as to who will be saved and who will perish:
    1. Note the words of the Son of God as recorded in Matt. 7:21, 22
    2. The book of Revelation, too, states, in very striking words, the basis of entering into the holy city - Rev. 22:14
  5. "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven":
    1. Angels live by the will of God - Ps. 103:20
    2. Lucifer was evicted from his heavenly home because he rebelled against God's will - Isa. 14:12-17; Ezek. 28:12-18
    3. But what about our own personal attitude toward God's will?
      1. Do we delight in it? Rom. 7:22
      2. Or are we rebelling against His will? 1 Sam. 15:22, 23
      3. Is God's will the very source of our life and relationship with our God? Ps. 40:8


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