Beloved congregation, this morning we're going to be considering together the third petition of the Lord's Prayer, a third petition that says, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We need to ask ourselves, though, what is meant by that phrase, God's will? The Bible reveals to us that There are different ways of looking at God's will. There is God's secret will and God's revealed will. God's secret will includes God's plan for the world and every individual in it. From eternity, God has determined everything that's going to happen. Whether we get married or not, for example, how many children, we shall receive? That's God's secret will. God knows that all. He's determined it. Who will be saved and who will not be saved? That's part of God's secret will. But then, there's also God's revealed will. What God has disclosed in the Bible to us. The Ten Commandments, for example, are part of God's revealed will. You shall not steal. That's part of God's revealed will. You shall serve no other gods but me. That's part of God's revealed will. And the Lord has revealed some of his plan for this world. For example, that Jesus Christ is going to come back in the clouds of heaven, though he has not revealed to us what day that will be. So when we pray, Thy will be done, what are we referring to? God's secret will or God's revealed will? It is God's revealed will. God's secret will is being done all the time. God's revealed will is what we pray will be done. The Lord told Israel a long time ago through Moses in Deuteronomy 29 verse 29, the secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever. So in the third petition, God wants us to remember our place before him as his creatures. And God wants us to be busy with our business, not his business. I was richly blessed as a boy to have a God-fearing uncle who took the time to speak to his nephews about the things of God and of the Bible and of salvation. And he would tell us always, now boys, repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And in those days, I thought I was really smart and I would say, sure, Uncle Joe, but what if I'm not elect? Then it won't matter anyway. And then he very wisely told me, Jan, you don't mess with God's business, whether you're elect or not. You do what you are commanded to do, repent and believe the gospel. That's your business. It's just a little example of God's secret will and God's revealed will. God hasn't revealed to us. who will be elect, but he has revealed to us how everyone can be saved by repenting and believing the gospel. So with that, we turn our attention this morning to Matthew 26, verse 39, and Lord's Day 49, question and answer 124. Matthew 26, verse 39, this is God's word, and he went a little further. and fell on his face and prayed, saying, Oh, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. And then especially these words, nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. And verse 49, what is the third petition? And the answer, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, that is, grant that we and all men may renounce our own will and without murmuring obey thy will, which is only good, that so everyone may attend to and perform the duties of his station and calling as willingly and faithfully as the angels do in heaven." And from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 103, what do we pray for in the third petition? In the third petition, which is, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven, we pray that God, by His grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to His will in all things as the angels do in heaven. This morning we consider that together, the prayer for Father's will to be done. We want to know, first of all, what is really the content of that prayer? And secondly, what is the call of that prayer? And what is the consequence of this prayer? So first, what is the content of this prayer? We read together from Matthew 16, where the Lord Jesus, and that's not the only time he did it, told his disciples what the future is going to be for him. From that time forth, Jesus began to show unto his disciples that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day. Matthew uses the word that Jesus said the word must. He must go to Jerusalem. And the Greek of that word is it is absolutely necessary for him. We call that in scripture a divine necessity. Jesus must go to Jerusalem to suffer. Jesus says that is the will of my God in heaven that I must go to Jerusalem and suffer. Now children, how did Jesus know that? How did Jesus know that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer and be killed and be raised again the third day? How did he know that? How did he know that? That was God's will for him. And remember, if Jesus can command His disciples and us to pray, Father, Thy will be done, then Jesus Himself must be doing His Father's will. But before Jesus can do God's will, He must know God's will. So how did Jesus, the man, know that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer and be killed? Jesus knew that. Jesus the man knew that because Jesus the man read the Old Testament. And that was God's revealed will concerning the promised Savior. God had said already in Genesis chapter 3 that the seed of the woman would come and that he would crush the seed of the serpent. Jesus knew that referred to him. God had revealed in the Old Testament that there can be no remission of sin except by the shedding of blood. God had revealed in the Old Testament that death on a cross was a cursed death. God had inspired the prophet Isaiah to prophesy of a suffering servant who would be rejected and despised, who would die for the transgressions of many. who would be buried with the wicked, Isaiah 53. And the Old Testament made it perfectly clear to Jesus what God's will for him was. He must go to Jerusalem to suffer and to die. And he began to show his disciples these things. He showed it to them. That means he showed it to them from the Old Testament. That's where it was revealed. He began to teach them from scripture. that he must go to Jerusalem. Now, what's so important for us this morning as we consider that third petition is Peter's response to Jesus. When Jesus said this, how does Peter respond? Well, it's as if he grabs Jesus by his cloak and begins to shake him and rebuke him. He said, no way, no way, God forbid that that should happen to you, Jesus. And we can understand Peter, can't we? His soul loves his Lord Jesus. He doesn't want his dear friend to receive that kind of abuse, to suffer many things from the chief priests and the elders, and to be killed. No way, says Peter. But what's Peter really saying? Peter, in his rebuke of Jesus, says to Jesus, forget about God's revealed will. Forget God's will. It doesn't matter. Instead of doing what God wanted of him, Peter says to Jesus, stay away from Jerusalem. Protect yourself, be it far from thee, Lord. This shall not be unto thee. And it's no wonder that Jesus responds the way he does. Remember what he says to Peter at that time, children? Get behind me, Satan. That's what he called Peter. Get behind me, Satan. Why does he say that? because undermining obedience to God's will is a work of the devil. It's a work that comes straight from hell. Now, do you think that Peter consciously attempted to get Jesus to disobey God's will? Well, we're not told, but what we are told is Jesus' reaction to this. Verse 24. If any man will come after me, let him deny himself." You see, serving God and following in obedience to God requires self-denial. And self-denial means that you set aside your own natural hearts, wishes, and desires It requires that you even let friendships be broken if that's necessary in order for you to obey God's revealed will for you. And Peter certainly considered Jesus his friend and Jesus considered Peter his friend too. So instead of speaking without thinking, instead of letting his emotions and his feelings rule him, Peter should have kept his mouth shut, and he should have prayed before he spoke. He should have prayed this third petition, Father, Thy will be done. Show us, Lord, what it is that Thou would have Jesus to do, and what He would have us to do in this situation. That would be a request to God to give Peter strength to deny himself, that he would receive strength to accept God's revealed will, even if that revealed will meant that his good friend and master Jesus would die, suffer and die. The way the Catechism words it is, grant that we may renounce our own will, and without any murmuring, Obey thy will, for it alone is good. Peter should never try to hinder the Lord Jesus from doing his father's will, even if that will includes horrible suffering and death. And Jesus should never obey his father's will for himself, even if that will includes and involves a horrid death on a cross. Jesus says it in the context. Verse 25, whoever will save his life shall lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. You begin to see something of the content of that third petition. But how powerful is that content then? Well, we read Matthew 26 too. And there Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane being greatly tempted. He's tempted here to forget about God's revealed will for himself. to run in order to save his own life. That's the temptation he's facing here in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of his betrayal. Jesus, it says, began to be sorrowful and very heavy, deeply distressed. A great despondency has come over Jesus as he awaits the coming horrors of the cross. And that's when the man Jesus pours out his troubled soul to his Father in heaven. He says, Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. As if Jesus is saying, Father, thy wrath against the sin of all mankind is too much. I feel so weak that I'm afraid I cannot bear the wrath. I can't drink the awful cup of the wrath of God. Lord, please let it pass from me." And then he remembered. He remembered that he came to do what God's will was for him to do. And what God willed his son to do is very clear to Jesus from the Old Testament. So Jesus prays on for strength to deny his own will and obey his God, his Father's will. Nevertheless, he says, not as I will, but as thou wilt. Verse 39. Oh Father, grant me strength to carry out this impossible task that you have laid upon me. Father, it is Thy will that I must do, not my own will. As burdened as I am with the horrors of the cross, Thy will be done. Grant strength, Father, to deny myself, strength to do what You would have me to do, strength to go to the cross, that cross that Thou hast cursed. So the righteous Jesus realized I must not be concerned with my own well-being. Instead, I must deny myself totally and completely in order to do the will of my God and Father. That's really the content of this third petition. I must deny myself totally and completely in order to do the will of my God and Father. And that's what Jesus wants his disciples and his people of today to, you and me, that's what he wants us to have in our minds when we speak to Father in heaven, thy will be done. It's not our ourselves. It's not our own well-being that we are to have in mind. We are to implore God to grant us the strength that we need to set aside ourselves so that we may do what God has told us to do, what He has revealed in His will for us to do. That's the content of that prayer, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So what is the call of this prayer? See behind this request to deny our own will lies the doctrine of total depravity. If we have to pray to God for the strength to deny our own will, that means that our will is opposed to the will of God. Our natural will disregards God. Our natural will ignores God. Our natural will says, do your own thing, do it your way. Whatever feels best to you, do it that way. But in the third petition, we ask Father God for strength to renounce our own will. And instead, for strength to do God's will. And that requires self-denial. It's taught in Matthew 16. that we read together. Peter had an emotional bond with Jesus. A bond of love with Jesus. A bond of friendship that had developed over the years. And that's what prompted Peter to burst out to Jesus, be it far from Thee. In Greek it actually says, take pity on yourself. Don't let this happen. But Jesus instructed Peter after that outburst, that Peter should deny himself, that Peter must set aside his emotional feelings about Jesus and instead seek God's will. That doesn't mean that Peter was not permitted to love Jesus. No, he certainly was instructed to love Jesus and to love his neighbor as himself. Remember, love God above all. and love for the Lord God that Peter had to humbly accept God's will for his friend and master, Jesus. So you see that even our emotions are to be subjected to the will of God. In Gethsemane, Jesus didn't wish upon himself the pain of that coming cross. That's why he prayed this anguished prayer, but Jesus had to deny himself too. He had to give priority to his Father's will, even if that meant the impossible cruelty of the cross. Our feelings, our desires are to be subject to the will of God. No one here wishes for emotional and physical pain for ourselves, do we? And we don't want hardships for our loved ones. But here's the Lord's instruction. Love God above all, and your neighbor as yourself. And this is part of that prayer. Thy will be done. Enable me, Lord, to love thee above all. and my neighbor as myself, thy will be done, not my will, not my child's will, but thy will be done. Not our family's will, but thy will be done. Not our church family's will, but thy will be done. Always thy will. Because it's God's will that our love for Him be stronger than our love for ourselves and for our children, parents, husbands, wives, property, and our love to God is to influence and to dictate to us that we do God's will, even if that means that some loved one on this earth might be hurt by our obedience to God's will. So Jesus' instruction is that we seek God for the strength to do His will. And we seek God for the grace and the strength to obey His commands. And we need the supernatural strength to deny ourselves in order to do His will. So we read the Bible and we say, does God want reconciliation in a broken or breaking marriage relationship? Does he want that to be reconciled? Yes, of course he does. Because he says, what God has put together, let not man put asunder. And so we pray thy will be done. We're asking God for strength to do what we know already God wants us to do. For strength to do what we find so very, very difficult to do. for strength to set aside our own feelings and emotions and desires in order to carry out the will of God according to His commandments. Does God want us to always tell the truth even though that truth may cost us dearly, especially in our society now? Oh yes, He does. Even if we're tempted to twist the story just a little bit to make ourselves look a little better. Jesus says that's what you pray for. Grace and strength to always speak truth. For strength not to worry about the consequences of obeying God. Asking God for strength to trust that He will look after us no matter what our situation is. And that kind of total self-denial and complete submission to God's revealed will, let's be honest, that is a struggle for us all. No one, no one does this always wholeheartedly. But here now is the beauty of the third petition. Thy will be done. The prayer that the Lord teaches his people. God wants us to come and take all those struggles to obey and lay those struggles before his throne of grace and beseech our father in heaven for strength to act and to react to the circumstances in life, whatever they may be. Not like Peter did in Matthew 16. but rather as Jesus did in Matthew 26. Sometimes, I don't know how that is with you, but sometimes I'm almost afraid to pray, Thy will be done. Because it may involve things that I do not like. It may involve very painful matters for my life and yours. Thy will be done. knowing that that's going to call for self-denying, battling my own will, striving to live according to God's will. As I read my Bible, what about times when I don't agree with God's dealings in my life? What about times in our lives when everything seems to be against us? Oh, then especially we need to be praying, thy will be done. Grant us that we and all men, including our children, may renounce our own will and without complaining, obey thy will, which is only good. God's will is always and only good. And we are called to renounce our own wills and obey God's will without complaining. And that applies to children, too. Here's God's will for you children. Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Obey your parents in all things, for this is the will of God in Christ concerning you. Not just obey. but obey without murmuring. Philippians 2 verse 14, do all things without complaining and disputing, so that every one of us may attend to and perform the duties of our station and calling. At every step of life, we need the grace of God to renounce our own wills, to obey without complaining, to attend to the duties of our station and calling, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Grant it to us, Lord. We're basically asking God for the grace of obedience, the grace to deny ourselves. That's not part of our DNA. The grace to obey, the grace to deny self. And sometimes people bring this up too, they say, well, what about God's will and my salvation? When I'm praying, Thy will be done. Remember, we're talking about God's revealed will. What is God's revealed will for you? God's revealed will, according to Acts 17 verse 30, is that all men, all people everywhere are to repent. That's God's revealed will. And God's revealed will is, according to Jesus' first sermon in Mark 1, verse 14, repent and believe the gospel. That's God's revealed will. And we pray, thy will be done, because we know we will not repent. And we will not believe. And we know that as a result of that, God has to condemn us forever in hell, but we have to remember that our inability is caused by our unwillingness. That our natural will is so corrupt that it will not stoop before God's holy will. And so the need of every sinner is for the Holy Spirit to renew our wills and to break our old will. Because even if we were able to do God's will, we wouldn't do it. That's what it means to be corrupt by nature. So we cry out to God, O Father, Thy will be done. Grant me the repentance and faith that You command. so that I may renounce my own will and do the will of my God without complaining and murmuring. Here's something of the content of this prayer and of the call, basically the same. Content is self-denial and the call is to self-denial, to deny our own wills. But what is going to be the consequence What's going to be the result of praying such a prayer? We'll consider that after we sing. 3.22. If we are honest with ourselves and with each other, then we will acknowledge that we're more inclined to react like Peter did than we are to react like Jesus did. We're very much inclined to take our emotions into account and letting our feelings toward ourselves and towards others determine if or even to what extent we're going to even try to carry out God's commands. But the question arises, are we actually able to avoid responding like Peter did? and to begin responding like Jesus did? Dear believers, do you think God will really answer our petition? That we really deny our own will and carry out God's will? Or should we just give up? And say, well, this is doomed to failure before we even start. What consequences does a prayer like this have? Jesus told us we would receive whatever we ask. John 14 verse 13. That doesn't mean that you just ask for whatever we might want, but we're to ask for all that God has commanded us to pray for. And this third petition is what we are commanded to pray. And Jesus Himself, the Savior Himself, instructs us to pray this petition. And because Jesus ordered us to pray it, we may firmly believe that He will hear this prayer. That God will answer our petition in such a way that He will enable us, even in small beginnings, to deny our own will and obey God's will. because this petition, like all the others, has a promise included in it. You remember your Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed this very petition. Not my will, but thy will be done, he said. He besought the God of heaven and earth to grant him strength so that Jesus could set aside his human concerns for his own well-being and accept the difficult path that God had laid out for him, that God had decreed for him. And even as Jesus prayed this petition, he would know that God would hear his prayer. Why? Because that prayer expressed to his father, in the garden was perfectly in line with the Father's own will for Jesus. God sent an angel to comfort him. We read in Luke 22, verse 43. In the garden, he prayed, not my will, but thy will be done. But once he was on the cross, Christ is on the cross, then he is forsaken by God. And this prayer is no longer answered. On that cross, Jesus, forsaken by God, receives no strength from his God and Father to do God's will. On the cross, he is rejected and he's handed over to the powers of the devil. Children, do you think that Jesus could have prevented that anguish of Calvary? That agony. All he had to do for even just one moment is bow the knee to Satan and disobey God's voice. And in his fight not to do that, Jesus prays the third petition. Not my will, but thy will be done, O my Father. grant strength to deny myself and to do thy will." And on the cross, God's will was that Jesus would be utterly, completely forsaken by God. Why? Because, dear believers, your sins and my sins were piled onto Jesus. And God could not look upon His Son in that condition. He had to persevere in His own strength in doing the will of God, and that's exactly what He did. In His own strength, He triumphed. He did God's will. He conquered the devil and his whole dominion. He conquered death and overcame. And so what's now the consequence of that for us today? When we pray, thy will be done. Well, because Christ on the cross was not answered when he prayed the third petition, we shall be answered when we pray it. The form for the Lord's Supper says it so richly and beautifully, doesn't it? He was forsaken by God so that we might be accepted and never more be forsaken by Him. Because of what Christ did on the cross. For Christ's sake, dear believers, God has become our gracious Father. A Father who loves us and so loves us He wants us to be able to live as His children, doing His holy will. And for Christ's sake, we can ask for strength to deny our own will, to do God's will, and we shall receive that strength from God Himself. like all the other petitions that we pray by the grace of God and through faith, this petition that the Savior has given to us. We don't pray it. It's a little shallow hope maybe of maybe receiving an answer. Oh no, this is a prayer that shall be answered for God's own people. factual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, says James chapter 5, 16. Jesus wants us to pray this petition, thy will be done. So we are to know the will of God before we begin to pray it. So that we know what we're actually praying for when we're praying for grace to obey His will. Means we have to know God's will. And how can we know God's revealed will? From the Holy Bible. That's where He has revealed for us in His word what His will is for us. And so we study that word. so that we know God's will. It's something we've done for years. It's something we keep on doing in our homes, at church, at school. What does God want of His covenant children? We know what He wants. He's revealed it in His word. This is how you live before me. This is what I want from you. But we are so weak. We are so backward. And by nature, we love our own will more than the Lord's will. And for the Lord's people, that's beginning to change. Our wills are being molded and shaped and directed to become one with God's will, but it's a work in progress. It's far from perfect. But the Lord sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ to take our place. And that Son, Jesus, sends forth His Holy Spirit so that our wills might be renewed and that we can begin to live like the children of God, doing His will. No, not perfectly. That won't happen until our eternal destination. But now already, Here in this lifetime, day by day, we may ask the Father of all grace to enable us to do his will in all circumstances of our lives. We can ask. And he wants us to ask. And we may believe. Father will answer this petition too. And the day is coming Dear children of God, when even the struggle of doing God's will shall be over. It won't be a struggle anymore. It'll be done readily, wholeheartedly, constantly, perfectly, all the time. Soon the Savior's coming back. Very soon. And then we will be perfect. enabled perfectly to do the will of God without fail. As perfectly and faithfully as the angels do it now in heaven. Amen. Let's pray. Oh Father God, We bless thy great and awesome name for the prayer that Jesus has taught us. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Oh, Lord God, we beseech thee. Thou would give us grace to renounce our own wills to do God's will. We may do it because that is the only good will. Lord, continue and deepen thy work in thy people, shaping and molding our wills to be more and more conformed to the will of God. We acknowledge, Lord, we are stubborn people. Many times our own will is what we strive for and drive for. Lord, break our wills again. Show us the beauty of obedience to the will of God, thy revealed will. Give us grace, Lord, not to meddle with the secret will of God. We may be concerned with the revealed will of God, what it is that you want us to do and how you want us to live in this world as the people of the Lord. And Lord, we pray for those who are still strangers to the grace of God, who buck against Thy will constantly. Lord, we pray, break them. Break their hearts, break their pride, their stubbornness. Cause them to bow before King Jesus. For Thy Holy Spirit to work mightily and powerfully through Thy Word, in all of us and bless us as a congregation that we may constantly be praying this prayer as thy people that we may renounce our own wills and we may seek to know and obey the will of God. Lord, we pray for forgiveness of the sins we have committed also during this worship service. Lord, blot those sins out in the precious blood of Jesus. We pray for safety on the way home and back again this afternoon. Oh, Lord God, reunite us, we pray, under thy word. We pray that that word may be blessed and brought home by the Holy Spirit in this day into all of our hearts. In Jesus' name alone, we pray. Amen.