If you'll turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 11, we're going to be reading verses 1 through 4, commonly referred to as the Lord's Prayer. But we're just going to dig in this morning to the third petition in that Lord's Prayer, which I think we're finding that these short petitions in the Lord's Prayer are very pregnant with meaning. And so we want to make sure that every time we pray the Lord's Prayer, as we did this morning, that we have grander and deeper thoughts about what we're praying and not get stuck in a routine where we think we're just kind of saying words without understanding the depth of those words. Luke 11, 1 through 4, hear now the word of God. Now it came to pass, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, that one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. So he said to them, when you pray, say, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who's indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Thus far the reading of God's word. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we do pray that as we dig into your word, that your word would dig into us. And as we search it, it would search us by your spirit and reveal to us the things we need to know. that we might have a deeper appreciation, not only of the depth of our sin, but of the height of your grace. We do not know how to pray as we should, so we do pray, we would give attentive ears to the way our Lord, our Savior has told us to pray. We pray in his name, amen. Back in 1971, they banned, I remember this, I was in high school, They banned cigarette ads on television and the radio. Maybe some of you remember that. My dad did television back in the early 60s. He was on a show called Law Man in 1961. And I got the tape. They sent me the tape. And probably the most interesting thing on the tape were the ads, the commercials. And one of them was a cowboy sitting, leaning against a tree, and a little lamb holding a lamb, smoking a cigarette. And it was like Viceroy or something. You just don't see that anymore. They banned it. You're not allowed to do it. And although it's not a law, what you almost will never see also in an ad is that somebody, when they're selling alcohol, lifting the drink to their lips and drinking it. It's frowned upon, even by the very companies that are selling this due to the very addictive nature and temptation surrounding the behavior. It's as if even our secular society, this culture in which we live, has come to recognize that we should limit the promotion of things that are destructive to our society. So hooray for them. Good job, I guess. You see, at the same time, the magazines that adhere to the tobacco and alcohol ad ethic have no problem blasting displays of personal intimacy of women or between men and women in their magazines. But at least we don't have a cigarette ad. We have sought to ban Dr. Seuss because of his hurtful portrayals while, and I had to look this up because I don't watch award shows, but while at the Grammys, the song that won the award had the most profane and violent lyrics imaginable. So it seems like, in theory, we know. We should not promote things that are destructive. But we just don't know what's destructive. Well, the question before us, and I think it's a question connected to this portion of the Lord's Prayer by will be done on earth as it is in heaven, is to what extent should Christians Seek to bring the wisdom of God into all areas of life. Thy will be done on earth. All of the earth or just some of the earth? Should we be at all concerned with the wider environment beyond the walls of this church? When I talk about wider environment, I'm talking about everything. Books, movies, the arts. Economics, politics, advertisements, all of this stuff doesn't merely affect our children, but it affects us. These things get lodged in our minds. And I think we're deluding ourselves if we don't realize that the world has a great influence upon the church. And what the world is promoting, we're dealing with as a church. The billboards. driving through Las Vegas are quite different than the billboards you see in Utah. So when we pray, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, does that include the whole earth? And by the way, as I had mentioned before, if we're praying for it, we also should be working toward it. We're not to be idle. We pray for our daily bread, but we still work for our daily bread. Some people, and I've heard people say this, just turn off the television. Don't buy the book. Avert your eyes. Well, that might be sound advice, even though averting your eyes when you're driving might be a problem. But is that the whole answer? Is the whole answer going, just try to ignore the evil things that are going on around you? Is that the whole answer? Is that all we have to offer? Try to stay away from it, but don't try to change it. Knowing how destructive things can be to the people we're called to love, do we not have some insight or counsel in terms of instilling the will of God in a wide and more expansive scale? is avert your eyes, all we really have to offer. We sometimes, when I was in college, there was a big argument between the nutritionists and the doctors. And they used to argue, you know, the doctors will take care of you once you're sick, but the nutritionists are like going, but we're going to keep you from getting sick. Is that what we are? We're going to treat you once you're sick, but we're not going to help you not get sick. in terms of the way the infections of the world will come after you. Now, there is debate on what I'm about to say. This sermon may be a little controversial in terms of how this world is to be governed. There's debate even among Christians. Now, let me just start with, as far as the world is concerned, and by the world I'm talking about the secularist, the naturalist, the person who doesn't believe, or at least say that they don't believe in God. As far as the world is concerned, the will of God is a non-starter. That is to say, the will of God doesn't even belong in the race. Now, if the individual religious person chooses to be religious, let him do so. in his home. Let him do so at his church. The world, according to this view, has grander resources to access regarding the direction of the nations. For the life of me, I can't figure out what that grander resource is. They never say what it is. They just want the Christian view out. We are to remain in our hovels. Now, that's to be expected by the world. You shouldn't be shocked by that. And you would think that there is a more monolithic view among Christians, that we all kind of agree, but that's not really the case. I often hear my Christian friends say, in regard to this topic about the kind of influence we should have on the world, they'll quote Jesus and his view on taxes, render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's." Now, I can't tell you how mistaken I think they are in terms of the way they're using that passage. They use it as if there are certain things in this world that God is either unconcerned with are as chosen not to govern. This section belongs to Caesar. That section belongs to God. Now let me just tell you something. In this world, most of the world is governed by Caesars, kings, presidents. So if that's what this passage means, God's in charge of a very little. The weather, earthquakes. Let me tell you, I don't think Jesus is saying, I'm cutting up jurisdictions. And some belong to God, and some belong to Caesar. Doesn't seem to comport well with what we read this morning, where Jesus says, all authority in heaven and on the earth belong to me. What about Caesar? No, Caesar is to bow the knee to me. Pay the taxes, but he is to bow the knee to me. Now, there are others, I think, a little closer to home. And I just still, as you know, when you read your Bible, when I prepare a sermon, my first thing I do is, how does this apply to me? Not how does this apply to you? There are brands of theology in our little circles who believe that God should and does practice authority over the kingdoms of this world, but with a resource which is different from the resource given to the church. They would say God governs the church by the Bible, but God governs the nations by natural law. Now, I don't know how aware you are of this whole idea of natural law, that since we're made in the image of God and God through his creation has revealed that he is. And so there is, we know enough about God to be, as Paul says, without excuse. So don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I think there is a thing called natural law. All men and women are endowed with the image of God and through God's creation know that God is. And they know enough about God to be without excuse. But what the people who promote this view seem to ignore is that the natural man will suppress that. He will not use it to govern his own life or the lives of others. He pushes it and pushes it. And the Greek verb there, it means to continue to push it down. Friends, if we learned anything from the flood of Noah, It is that if people are left to govern and be governed by human nature, the consequences are deadly. Finally, not finally in terms of the whole sermon, so don't get your hopes up. There are others, and I'm going to aim at my own denomination, because I think that we should be examining that which is closest to us rather than everything that's going on out there, like what's trying to get into the room? Within our denomination, there are many who think that it's a fool's errand to try to change the world, change the culture, affect politics, that it's a misplaced effort to pray and work in such a way that the entire world would walk in God's will in every category of life. Now, I have yet to see anyone in that camp really engage this portion of the Lord's Prayer very deeply. If you don't think we should, what are we praying for? Thy will be done on earth. What does that prayer actually mean? There are those who think that Christians should keep their noses out of politics, keep their noses out of culture. We're talking about Reformed seminary professors who write books about how wrong it is to engage the culture. When we pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven, are there portions of the earth for which we should not work or pray to make that a reality? Now, I'm going to resist going too deeply into this final category. Yet as I look at my notes, I went deeper than I intended to go. At the same time, I think that we should be more concerned with the issues within our own house. than other houses in the neighborhood. And so my critique here is something that we found in our denominational magazine in May of 2025. I'll be quoting from that. I will show you the quotations. We have a magazine called New Horizons. And as I read this, I found myself not only discouraged, but I felt like this is so destructive. Now, the reason I got interested in this little story is the reason it really picked my curiosity was because the story begins with the exact question that we, prior to joining our denomination, asked of those who were like the experts in the different denominations. We wanted to pick the best denomination. We got down to two, the OPC and the PCA. Just like churches, no denomination is perfect, so don't get me wrong. But we didn't know the difference. They both were Westminster Confession, and we were in a meeting, and we asked both representatives, what is the difference between the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church of America? You guys have the same confession. Well, I'm not going to get into the answer that They gave, but I will tell you this, the answer we're about to see here is demonstrably different than the answer that was given to us. And if we were given the answer you're about to see, we might have gone off in a whole different direction. In 1997, the OPC historian, so he was an official, Charles Dennison, was asked, and I quote, What would you say is the difference between the PCA, Presbyterian Church of America, and the OPC, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church? And again, this was the precise question that we asked. But the answer was way different than the answer we were given. The answer, quote, the PCA has cultural aspirations and the OPC has none. The letter went on to explain that the OPC does not condone or practice or pursue, quote, revolutionary political action within the American socio-political economic scene. The main guy that attracted us to this denomination was a guy named Greg Bonson, who I guarantee you would have disagreed with this. The Lord took him home young. I would have liked to have seen his response to this. One of the many things I found striking in this article is how they wish to dismiss the political laws given to Israel. You know, we have God giving in the Old Testament to the nation of Israel very detailed laws about the way a society is to be governed. And these people are saying, that's just not for us. In the article, we read that the theocracy which has really become a bad word, theocracy. The word just means that God's in charge. And by the way, everybody has one. Everybody's got some God who's calling the shots. So it's not whether or not there's going to be a theocracy. The question is, who's the God and the theos? The explanation as to why we are to leave that out of what we're supposed to do. And I hope you get this. I'm not gonna spend a lot of time. If it's not clear, stay for Q&A and re-ask it. Quote, that the theocracy of the Old Testament, Israel, typified nothing short of the perfect kingdom of God, the consummate state of heaven. So we shouldn't imitate it because it typifies heaven. Because let's let that sink in. I think it should be obvious that if that, quote, theocracy is a type of heaven, if it's a picture of heaven, if it foreshadows heaven, and we're called to pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven, like, are we getting there? Shouldn't we look at that as the very thing we should be praying will happen? OK, well, let me just say. I don't think Old Testament Israel is a type of heaven. I don't agree with that statement. What I'm merely trying to do here is follow their own logic to its necessary conclusion, that you can't argue against us imitating a society where God has given laws that most closely typify what's going on in heaven. I don't think that makes any sense. And I don't wish to push this too much further, but I'm going to anyway. The writer explains, and I quote, the words of Christ do not contain a political or social agenda. I think it's difficult to read one verse coming from the lips of Christ that don't contain a political or social agenda. It's very hard to kind of go, he talks about marriage, he talks about economics. So this whole thing, to me, I'm just wondering where it's coming from. Finally. and not finally for the whole sermon, just for, I don't know why I keep writing finally here when I have no intention of ending. We see a sort of benediction in that article to emphasize our commitment to political and cultural insignificance. He writes, may the Lord preserve the OPC from incorporating any form of cultural transformation into its pulpits. I read that and I'm like, where in the world is this coming from? In contrast to all of this, what is it we're praying for in this petition? Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So I'm leaving the critique now and pursuing, just as we finish up in the last couple of pages here, what it is we're actually asking. God's will. What does it mean, God's will? There are two major things meant by the will of God. One is his decretive will, and the other is his perceptive will. What we see first is his decretive will, that is, that which God decrees to happen. And if you guys were in the Westminster Confession class, you know chapter three is of God's holy decrees. And God has decreed all things since before the foundation of the world. The sparrow doesn't fall to the ground apart from the will of God. It is God who will decree what happens. It's His secret will. We don't know what's going to happen. The only time we know what His decreed will is, is when it happened. And we recognize that nothing happens apart from the hand of God. He topples nations, and he has the hairs on your head numbered from the greatest to the smallest. God decrees whatsoever comes to pass. We see in Revelation 4.11, you are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created. God is in charge. Now you may ask then, is this part of what we're praying for when we pray, I will be done? If God's doing it anyway, why do I need to pray that he'll do it? Just so you know, Luanne and I are pretty much in agreement on every last single thing we both believe. Thank you. Why do we pray it? Certainly because he says so. But I ought to say I think it goes beyond that. We should include God's decreed will because we are praying with a deferential heart. We pray that God's decrees come to pass. It wasn't as if Jesus didn't know the plans of the Father. When in the garden, he said, Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. He's like, I don't want to do it, but your will be done. James teaches that we should pray the same way. that we ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that. Friends, it is in the course of human events that we are to pray for and content ourselves in God's righteous decrees and judgments. Not my will, but your will be done. We pray, and you've heard this come from me many times, recognizing that God's answers to our prayers are always superior to the prayers themselves. He doesn't do everything we ask him to do and thank God for that. Woe to him, we read in Isaiah 45. Woe to him who strives with his maker. I read something recently I thought was really interesting in terms of the sovereignty of God. That the rebellious man may shake his fist at God, but God determines how many times he's going to shake it. Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds. OK, we can argue with each other. Of the earth shall the clay say to him who forms it, what are you making? Or shall your handiwork say, he has no hands? Woe to him who says to his father, what are you begetting? Or to the woman, what have you brought forth? It's this idea of cursing the providence of God has no place in the life of the Christian. We are to always willingly subjugate our wills to God's will, knowing, as I said, that his answers are always superior to our request. His plans are better than our plans. Our prayers should always include, but thy will be done, not mine. Now, the second sense in terms of the way the will of God is understood is in precept. It's God's moral will. It's what he commands to be done. And when God reveals to us his moral will, it should be considered a wonderful thing. You're going to hear a lot of bad advice in your life. But the advice you hear from God isn't just advice, it's a command. And we should thank him for it, for this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. It may feel burdensome. I mean, we read passages like this in the Bible, that God will not tempt us beyond what we can bear. But I've discovered what I think I can bear and what God thinks I can bear are two entirely different places. So sometimes keeping the commands of God feels like a weight. But disregarding the commands of God, you end up in prison. Jesus considered doing the will of his father as food. Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me to finish his work. So what is God's will for my life? The 18 to 28-year-olds at my house, A week from tonight, we're going to talk about that in more detail. But I will just say, broadly speaking, God's will is that I continually quell my will and desire to seek to obey His commandments. Why? For the advancement of His kingdom. All to say that when we pray, thy will be done, we are praying that his plan for history unfold, that the people of history seek to obey his wise counsel. And two more quick questions before we finish. And this really is almost finishing. That is, for whom are we making these prayers? And how do we actually ascertain what the will of God is? And we need to pray kind of with soundness of thought, right? We should know what we're asking God to do when we follow this petition. Now, for whom are these prayers to be made? Well, I would say God is to be honored and obeyed by every single person in every single category of life. Psalm 72, 11, yes, all kings shall fall down before him, all the nations shall serve him. We read also in Psalm 138, four and five, all the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of God. All to say that the scope of this prayer has no boundaries. There's no lead covering over certain categories that we should not be praying for. You've heard me quote this from Kuyper, but I'm going to quote it again. I think he's spot on. There's not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, mine. Secondly, the means by which we access the perceptive will of God. How do we figure out what the will of God? We're going to pray for everything. How do we figure out what the will of God is? It should be obvious. It was in the new member question, right? We figured out by the word of God. And friends, the word of God in terms of what we should access to find out what the will of God is true for the Christian and non-Christian. Regarding natural law, I mentioned it a moment ago. As already stated, the unbeliever may know things, but will suppress them. And just so you know, again, this is coming from the reformed thinkers who all love John Calvin, and I like John Calvin too. So let's quote John Calvin on his view of natural law. And it's just the way he's talked, so don't get mad at me. It is doubtless true that if we were not very dull and stupid, the signatures and proofs of deity, which are to be found in the theater of the world through creation, are abundant enough to incite us to acknowledge and reverence God. But as all those surrounded with so clear a light, we are nevertheless blind to splendid representation of the glory of God, without the aid of his word would profit us nothing, although it should be to us as a loud and distinct proclaiming sounding in our ears." He's basically saying, no matter how loud God says it, you're not going to hear it by merely looking at the sun or by examining a leaf. Again, it tells you enough that you know there is a God and that you're without excuse, but you certainly can't build a system of ethics by watching a cloud. In terms of where we are to access God's moral will, I think our confession says it well. Nothing earth shattering here. Question 98, where is the moral law summarily comprehended? Answer, the moral law is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments. You want to know God's will? They are summed up in the Ten Commandments. Then they extend from there. And who is required to obey God's moral law found in the Ten Commandments? Again, our confession, I think, says it well. Here's the answer to question 91. The duty which God requires of man, all men, is obedience to his revealed will. Where do we find God's will? In the Bible, in the Ten Commandments. And it is the duty of all people to obey it, not just some people, all people. And I want to just briefly state that the moral law is a benefit to Christians, to us, in that it shows us how to live. And not only that, it shows us, as we try to live in it and fail, how much we are bound to Christ for him fulfilling it for us. You don't know how sinful you are until you find out, number one, what sin is, and then try not to do it. And then all of a sudden, you realize, wow, sin is a powerful enemy. Who will help me? And the answer is Christ and the moral laws of benefit to unbelievers, because it awakens the conscience. to flee from the wrath that comes. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. And these people want to take it out of the culture. They want to take it out of politics. They're going, we need to be more concerned with salvation. Theologians like to number things, right? So what is the first use of law? The first use of the law is that it reveals to us that we're sinners and that we need help. And so if you remove that, you end up in a culture where people really believe that evil is good and good is evil. And I would say it's nothing less than irresponsible and even sinful to seek to remove that from the culture in which we live. Again, our confession teaches the value of the Word of God, because people will say, but the Bible doesn't talk about so many things. It doesn't tell you how to change your carburetor. No, I don't know if it tells me specifically how to change my carburetor, but I know righty-tighty and lefty-loosey, because God has created the uniformity of nature. And if I abandon that, I don't know where all the parts are even going to go. But our confession, I think, teaches it well in terms of the expanse of God's word and what it actually speaks to. The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life. You know what that sounds like? Everything. is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture. Or as the Apostle Paul put it, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. They just want to put a parentheses in there, but not in politics or culture. that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. There's nothing that we need in terms of determining that which is good and right and true beyond the word of God. It's sufficient. And finally, we see the phrase, as it is in heaven. A lot can be said by that. What's going on in heaven? God is worshiped. There's no sin. There's no guile. There's unfathomable peace, unfathomable joy. We want that. But I would like to end by moving into that which is more personal, because a lot of what I'm talking about this morning is out there. And you're going, OK, there's problems out there. But what about here? This prayer, I think, must include a petition to God to seek the darkness Because darkness has no place in heaven, right? To see the darkness within our own hearts and ferret it out. Thy will be done in my own heart, as it is in heaven. Search me, and know my wicked ways, and teach me to walk in the everlasting way. It's part of what this prayer includes. Like the angels in heaven. We saw that in the catechism question, and again Calvin taught that we are to be constantly ready to execute his commands. So we desire that all men may have their will formed to such harmony with the righteousness of God that they may freely bend in whatever direction he shall appoint. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we do thank you that you have a plan. And even when we make our plan, you direct the steps. And we do pray that we take great comfort in knowing that you do govern these things, yet at the same time, help us not to be lethargic. It seems like the world knows they're in a fight, and we think we're playing a game. Help us, Father, to be well-armed with that spiritual armament, that wisdom, love, and joy, and peace, and patience, and kindness, and the counsel that comes from above. to serve you well in every capacity and in every category of life. And we do pray that you would reveal to us, even in our own hearts, just where we fall short, that we may repent and seek to walk more in alignment with your will. And we pray in Jesus' name, amen.