We continue this morning in our series on the Sermon on the Mount.
Last week, we started a somewhat “mini-series” within the larger series, as we began to study the Lord’s Model Prayer.
This is the portion of the Sermon on the Mount wherein Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray.
This is not the only time this model for prayer is give by Christ.
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus is asked specifically by His apostles to teach them to pray.
Luke 11:1-4 “Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” [2] And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. [3] Give us each day our daily bread, [4] and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
This portion in Luke’s Gospel maintains the overarching themes of the prayer given in Matthew, with just a few slight variations.
It is a good reminder that the prayer is meant to be a TEMPLATE for prayer, providing not just a set of words to be memorized and recited, but instead it is the FRAMEWORK upon which a proper prayer should be built.
In our last message, we noted that proper prayer begins with REVERENCE.
When we approach Him, it is both in the VENERATION of His holy nature, and in the WARMTH of His Fatherly embrace.
This morning, we are going to look at the next two statements which move us from REVERENCE to SUBMISSION in our prayers.
Probably the least popular subject in Christian discipleship is that of “Submission”.
Whether it is the admonition of Scripture that wives submit to their husbands, or that believers submit to one another, or that the church should submit to the leadership of the elders, or that citizens submit to governmental authorities, anytime the subject of submission comes up, there is almost always an argument as to why it is not required “in my case”.
Yet, the Bible is not uncomfortable with this language - on the contrary, the Bible is peppered with the language of submission.
And the ultimate authority which we are told to place ourselves under is the authority of Almighty God.
In fact, all other authorities are expressions of that authority.
Whenever we are told to submit to any authority, it is because we are - by extension - submitting to God in the process.
Yet, therein lies the problem.
The thing that most of us have the biggest problem with is our submission to God.
As has been aptly quoted many times, “It is not the parts of the Bible I understand that bother me. Its the parts I do understand, but do not want to do.”
Our problem is not often that we are ignorant of the Bible, we just lack the desire to be obedient to it.
In our text today, Jesus gives two statements which are meant to be expressions of submission in our prayer life.
v.10 “Your kingdom come, Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.”
In this we see two expressions of submission.
1 - Submission to His Sovereign Rule
2 - Submission to His Sovereign Will
SUBMISSION TO HIS SOVEREIGN RULE
v.10a “Your kingdom come,...”
When Jesus says, “Your kingdom come”, He is making reference to God’s Sovereign Rulership over the universe... God is King of both heaven and earth.
It is God’s authority which Jesus wants us to acknowledge in this prayer.
The Psalmist describes the sovereignty of God to us, so that we can see the extent of God’s authority.
Psalm 33:6-15 “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! 9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. 10 The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. 11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! 13 The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; 14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, 15 he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds.”
When we say, “Your kingdom come”, we are making a statement of submission to God’s rulership in our lives.
He is the KING, and His Kingdom is our DESIRE.
When we pray “your Kingdom come” there is also a sense in which we are praying for more people to be added to the Kingdom through our evangelistic efforts.
We want God’s Kingdom to come into the hearts of men.
We want people to share with us in our blessed submission to God.
We know the beauty and the value of this Kingdom, and we desire that others become citizens of this Kingdom as well.
In addition to this, we are also praying for the final culmination of the Kingdom wherein Christ will return perfectly and finally in His Second Coming.
One of the biggest problems in modern Christianity - especially in America - is that there is really a LACK OF LONGING for Christ’s Kingdom to come.
Many people are comfortable in this life, and they love this life, and as such they have no desire for Christ’s Kingdom.
For many “Thy Kingdom Come” has been replaced with “My Kingdom Come.”
Illustration: “The Infinity Pill” I would imagine that if there were suddenly a pill which was made available which would grant eternal life - and infinite wellness pill - that the vast majority of people would take it. Not only in the world, but also in the church.
There is a love for this life which is ingrained within us.
And most people would keep hold of this life forever if given the opportunity.
But, the genuine Christian cannot live in this world of sin without longing for the Kingdom of God.
We DO NOT want this world of sin and depravity to go on forever.
We long for the redemption which will come at Christ’s return.
We are not even citizens of this world, and sometimes it is easy to feel like aliens... because we are.
Philippians 3:20-21 “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
Jesus told us that if we love this world, we are not His.
If we are His, we will long for another world.
Believers know this longing.
Every time I hear of a baby being killed within its mother’s womb....
Every time I hear of a family being destroyed by the ravages of sexual sin....
Every time I hear of a person committing acts of heinous violence on large crowds of people
Every time I hear of any of these things, my heart aches for this world... and yearns for another.
My heart achingly yearns, “God... let Your Kingdom come."
This is the attitude that God desires of us, that we yearn that His Kingdom come.
SUBMISSION TO HIS SOVEREIGN RULE
SUBMISSION TO HIS SOVEREIGN WILL
v.10b “...Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.”
NOTE: In a previous sermon, I made the point that the reason why God knows all things which will ever come to pass is that He has already decreed what will come to pass.
His eternal decree - His determined plan and purpose - cannot be thwarted.
He is sovereign, which means He has all control.
In one sense, God’s Will is always done, because He has authority over all things whichsoever come to pass.
Yet, in this passage, we are told to pray, “Your will be done.”
Why would we be admonished to pray for God’s will to be done if God’s will always done?
Herein lies a place where we need to understand an important DISTINCTION.
When we talk about God’s Will, we can speak of it in two ways:
The Preceptive Will of God
The Decretive Will of God
The Preceptive Will of God is that which He has given to us in His Word.
The Bible contains all of God’s precepts, His commands.
And beloved, these are not always obeyed...
In fact, they are universally rejected by man until God chooses to regenerate the heart.
The Decretive Will of God is the guiding force for all of human history.
Within the Decretive Will of God, God has chosen to allow men to rebel against His precepts.
God is directing all human events toward the ultimate end wherein He will be most glorified, and this Will cannot be thwarted.
So, when Jesus commends us to pray “Your will be done”, to which of these is He then referring?
The primary focus of this prayer is in regard to the Preceptive Will.
In heaven, all of God’s precepts are followed.
The disobedient angels have been cast down, and the only ones in the presence of God are those who obey His every command.
So, when Jesus says, “On earth as it is in heaven” we can deduce that the prayer is noting the absence of something on earth which is a reality in heaven... and that something is OBEDIENCE.
When we pray, “You will be done”, we are praying that God’s Precepts be obeyed on earth.
All men are under the sovereignty of God, but yet not all men obey God’s Precepts.
Men rebel, and their rebellion brings chaos, hatred, strife, murder, and all sorts of other hellish realities.
What an awesome world it would be if all lived by God’s precepts!
And this is our prayer.
We pray that men would forsake their sin and turn to God in obedience.
In essence, this is a prayer for obedience.
We pray that all men would submit themselves to God and be obedient to His commands.
We pray that men would abandon their own sinful wills and obey the Preceptive Will of God as it is shown to us in sacred Scripture.
But this is also a prayer of submission.
By saying, “Your will be done” we are also tacitly implying that we seek ourselves to obey His Preceptive Will.
We are saying, “God, I submit to Your commands over my life. I submit to Your sovereign control. I rebuke my own rebellious heart and I will follow Your precepts with all my strength.”
The statement, “Your will be done” is made up of four very powerful words.
And I can never recite them without being reminded of the Words of Christ the night before the crucifixion.
He said, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
Beloved, the cup to which Jesus was referring was the wrath of God.
You and I deserve that cup, but Jesus took it for us.
He asked that it be removed... if there was another way.
But there wasn’t, and so He took it.
My reason for pointing this out now is because we are called to submission, of which Christ is our most powerful model.
When we are having trouble obeying God’s precepts, we need to look back at our Savior.
In the face of the very wrath of God, He bowed His head and said, “Your will be done.”
May it be that when we are faced with he inevitable struggles, trials and temptations of this life, that we would be able to say with conviction, “Lord, Your will be done.”
Our prayer should be:
Grant us submissiveness to your precepts, Oh Lord.
Break our very knees beneath us if you must.
But let us never stand in rebellion against you.
CONCLUSION: There is a lot of talk in the world about “knowing God’s will for your life”.
There are books, videos, blogs and even entire conferences about the subject.
And I have had many people over the years come to me inquiring “What is God’s will for me?”
Let me share with you, as a conclusion to this message, God’s Will for us all.
1 Thessalonians 4:3a “For this is the will of God, your sanctification”
Sanctification is the process whereby a believer is conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
The will of God is that you be conformed to Christ.
This means that you submit to His will in all areas.
And that You long for His kingdom to come.
Beloved, this morning you are in one of two conditions.
You are either in Christ by faith and repentance, in which case I pray that you are being actively submissive in your life and conformed to the image of Christ.
Or you are outside of Christ, in which case I pray a different prayer for you --- I pray God would make clear to you your need of Christ, break your heart under the weight of your sin, and convert your heart today.
Sanctification, which is God’s ultimate preceptive will, does not begin until we have been born again.
So, I call you today, to repentance of sin and faith in Christ.
You need a Savior, and Jesus is the Only Savior.
I pray God would work a miracle in your heart today, that you would submit yourself fully and trust Him today.
