Luke 22:39-46; Lords Day 49

 

Dr. Joel Beeke, in a sermon on the Lord’s Prayer, wrote that in this petition, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we reach the heart and the purpose of prayer because prayer is not intended to change God’s will. He wrote: “People often erroneously assert that prayer changes God. That’s not the purpose of prayer, however. Prayer doesn’t change God; prayer is designed to change us, to bring our will into harmony with God’s will. Prayer is designed, when the Spirit blesses it, to teach us to cry out, ‘Thy will be done.’” 

 

One reason why that is, is that only the will of God is good. Our will is always contaminated by sin, even as believers. That is why the Heidelberg Catechism teaches:

 

“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” means:

 

Help us and all people
    to renounce our own wills
and without any back talk to obey your will,
   for it alone is good.
 

The catechism is teaching that the petition, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” includes asking God to help us renounce our own will by submitting to him without any back talk.

 

Renouncing our own will is not an easy thing to do. And that would be the case even if our will was not sinful. In Luke 22:42 we read that classic prayer of Jesus, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Even though Jesus was, and ever will be, without sin, it was hard for him to submit to the will of his Father. In verses 43 and 44 he prayed: “‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”

                         

How much harder it is for us, then, who are sinners, to renounce our own will! Yet that is part of what we mean when we pray “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

 

 

When we pray this petition, we are also asking God to help us to be obedient to his will, even when it doesn’t seem “good, acceptable and perfect.” We know that God’s will is always good. Romans 12:2 tells us: “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.” (NIV: “his good, pleasing and perfect will.”) The catechism also says, “Your will alone is good.” But sometimes, from our human perspective, it doesn’t seem that way, does it?  

 

Consider the will of God the Father for his only begotten Son. Isaiah 53:10 says: “It was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer.” He would bear the cross alone; he knew his disciples would sleep even in his hour of trial. Jesus knew he would be betrayed with a kiss. At the last supper with his disciples Jesus said, “The hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table.”  (Luke 22:21)

                 

He knew it was his Father’s will that the disciples would desert him; that Peter would deny ever knowing him three times. He knew he would suffer the cruelest of deaths, crucifixion. And he knew all those details when he left the glory of heaven for the humiliation of a birth in the manger. Hebrews 10:5-7 describes how Christ views Christmas:

 

 

And even with that eternal knowledge of what his Father’s will entailed – the salvation from our sins through saving faith in our Savior who suffered so excruciatingly – and even though he is perfect, without sin, Jesus struggled to pray, “Not my will, but yours be done.”

  

How much more so for us who are weak sinners! When we pray that petition, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we must pray realizing that often God’s will for our lives is not the easiest way for us to live, humanly speaking. God’s will is not that we take the wide and easy road that leads to destruction, but the steep and narrow path that leads to everlasting life. 

 

With that knowledge we also rejoice to know that God’s ultimate will for our lives is our salvation from sin and eternal blessing with him in the glory yet to be revealed. It was a knowledge of that will that led Jesus to cross, as he submitted his will to his heavenly Father’s will.

 

And as we submit our will to the will of our faithful, triune God we are to look to Jesus. He submitted his will to his Father’s will, agonizing as it was; yet he submitted joyfully and without backtalk. In the words of Hebrews 12:2 “...Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

 

 

On the path of eternal life, we find that it is God’s will that each one of us bears a cross. We are called not only to share in the glory of Christ, but also in his suffering. One of the “hard sayings” of Jesus is in Matthew 16:24-26; there Jesus told his disciples: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”

 

Yet for everyone who carries the cross, strength is provided, and God’s will, which initially may seem like a heavy burden, becomes our strength and deliverance.

 

An ant was carrying a long straw, a very heavy burden. The ant came to a crack in the sidewalk where two slabs of concrete joined together. Water was gushing through from a recent rain. The torrent of water was much too deep and fast for the ant. It looked as though there was no way across until the ant took the straw, the straw that had been such a heavy burden, and laid it across the ravine formed by slabs of concrete. Walking on the straw, the ant was delivered over the torrent of water to the safety of the next slab. 

 

It is no different with the cross which we carry. It is a burden at times. We are identified with Christ. The ridicule aimed at him is aimed at all who follow him. As Philippians 1:29 points out, “It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.” And Paul told Timothy, “…All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Tim. 3:12-13) No wonder Jesus told his disciples, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15:20)

 

But what deliverance the cross also brings! Ask any Christian who has spent time in the valley of the shadow of death – a fight with cancer, a close call because of an accident, spiritual battles with doubt and temptation – ask them what their source of strength and comfort was and is. What is their comfort? What is their strength? What is their deliverance? It is the merits of Christ on the cross and his willingness to forgive and sanctify his people. The very thing that may seem like a burden becomes their joy, their deliverance, their strength in the time of sorrow.

 

 

Not only is it God’s will that we bear the cross of the gospel, but also that we are tested and strengthened by trials. Consider James 1:2-4: “Consider it pure joy… whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

 

Or consider 1 Peter 1:6-7: “…You greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

 

Or consider Romans 5, where the Apostle, writes: “…We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom. 5:3-5)

 

It is through the trials of life that we realize most acutely our need for the Lord and his strength. In times of trial we are reminded how weak we are in ourselves and how limited our own resources are. But these realizations are used by the Lord not only to test us, but also to strengthen and purify us as we rely more completely upon him.

 

We see that in the lives of all the apostles, and perhaps especially in the life of the apostle Paul who wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:8-11: “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”

 

Yet, at those times of trial, we often wonder: “Why would God’s will, described as “good acceptable and perfect,” include these trials for us?” But when we look back at our lives, we will see that his will for us is indeed good, acceptable and perfect. Through the trials of life we are tested, strengthened, and purified as we rely on God’s strength and not ours. At times of trial we are brought to a submission of our will to the perfect will of our faithful and loving God.

                                           

 

Not only is it God’s will that we bear the cross, that we face trials and suffering, but also, that at times we experience discipline. Hebrews 12:5-11:

 

   For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and chastises every son whom he receives.”

 

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.    

                       

These are things that we don’t think often enough about. It is so easy to recite the Lord’s prayer. Most of us know it by heart. But do we realize what we are really praying in that little petition? De we realize that we are asking God to help us renounce our own stubborn will? Do we realize that we are asking God to help us obey his will – even when it involves the cross, trials, persecution, and discipline?

 

 

Not only that, but in this petition, we are also asking God to help us carry out our work in life as willingly and as faithfully as the angels in heaven.

 

In every sphere of life – whether driving a truck, teaching school, doing laundry or learning third grade arithmetic or seventh grade history – whatever God calls us to do, we are to do it as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven.

 

Psalm 103:20-21 exclaims: “Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.” Angels never hesitate to do God’s will. He never has to ask them twice to do something. They always do their work joyfully and eagerly.

 

By contrast, we are often like the little boy whose mother asked him to sit down. He refused, so she told him again, sternly. This went on for a little bit, and then seeing that his mother meant business the little boy sat down. But he said: “I’m sitting down on the outside, but on the inside, I’m still standing up!” 

 

Our submission to the Lord’s will over our will is often done with the same stubbornness of that little boy. Yet, when we pray this petition from the heart, not just with our lips, we are asking God to enable us to carry out the work he has called us to do with all the joy, willingness, and faithfulness of angels.          

 

That, too, is part of the petition, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” In that petition we are saying, “Lord, whatever you call me to do in life, help to do it faithfully, willingly, joyfully, like the angels in heaven, for the sake of my Savior, Jesus Christ!”

___

           

Our human wills are so very strong. Like that little boy who was told to sit, we may sit on the outside, but inside, we are still standing up! But in this petition, we are praying, “Lord, help me to renounce my own will. Help me to submit to your will, even when it is hard to bear the cross, to suffer trial, and endure discipline.

 

“And Lord, whatever you would have me do, help me to do it joyfully, willingly and faithfully. Help me to follow the example of your Son who summitted himself to your will, agonizing, yet joyful. In other words, by my prayer I’m not asking you to change, O Lord, but rather help me to change, to submit my stubborn, sinful will to your holy, perfect will.”

      

May that request always be not only on our lips, but in our heart, as we seek to live according to the perfect will of God! Amen.

 

 

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                                         Luke 22:39-46; Lord’s Day 49

 

I.  When we pray: “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” we are praying that:

      1) Our heavenly Father will enable us to submit to His will (42)

 

 

 

 

       2) We will obey God’s “good, acceptable and perfect” will (Romans 12:2), even when it is

            God’s will that we:

             a) Bear a cross (Matthew 16:24-26)

 

 

 

 

             b) Are tried, strengthened, and purified by trials (James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7)   

 

 

 

 

             c) Face discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11)

 

 

 

 

     3)  God enabling us, we will strive to carry out the work God has called us to do as

           willingly and as faithfully as the angels in heaven (Psalm 103:20-21)                          

 

 

 

 

II.  Application: When we pray this petition from the heart, we are asking God to help us

      accept His will for our lives – and to do His will – joyfully, willingly, and faithfully

      (Romans 12:1-2)