Sermon on the Mount: Will be Done
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Sermon on the Mount – Will be Done
Matthew 6:10
1. Introduction – This morning we are closing out the first half of the Lord’s Prayer.
a. Over the past few weeks, we’ve stared directly into God’s glory.
i. Reminded ourselves of who God is, what he is about, what his kingdom is like.
1. We’ve seen that when we pray…we are to start with God.
a. We are to focus on our relationship with him…he is our Father.
i. But we must never forget that he is our father in heaven.
ii. When we pray, we must hallow God’s name.
1. We must remember that he is holy, omnipotent…we are to bring God the honour and glory that he deserves.
a. We must have a burning passion and desire for others to see God the way we see him.
iii. We must pray for God’s coming kingdom…that more people will come to know Jesus as Lord…
1. And that God will bring history to its God-ordained end.
a. And today we’ll explore God’s will.
i. What is God’s will?
1. How can we know God’s will? What does God’s will being done on earth look like?
iv. We’ll explore answers to those questions today.
b. When we pray like this…as Jesus taught us to pray…when we start with God, focus on his name, his kingdom and his will…
i. When we make our relationship with him a priority, when we give priority to his kingdom and will in our lives…
1. When we give priority to hallowing and glorifying God’s name in our lives…
a. When we pray like this…we will be less likely to pray mindlessly or carelessly.
i. We’ll be less likely to pray for frivolous things.
ii. We are less likely to pray for our name, the expansion our kingdom and the completion of our will.
1. The first half of the Lord’s Prayer puts our focus where our focus should be…God’s name, kingdom and will.
a. Hear God’s Word…Matthew 6:9-13.
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
2. As it is in heaven – But before we look at God’s will…we’ll first look at this phrase…on earth as it is in heaven.
a. Now, it looks like this phrase is attached to the end of the petition about God’s will…
i. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
1. However, this phrase can rightly be applied to the first 2 petitions of the Lord’s Prayer also.
a. As we’ve seen the last few weeks, if we have a burning desire for God’s name, then we’ll long for God’s name to be hallowed and set apart on earth as it is in heaven.
i. If we have a burning desire for God’s kingdom to come…
1. Then it makes sense that we long to see it come to earth…in all it’s glorious power and perfection…
a. As it is currently in heaven.
b. And if we are serious about doing God’s will…
i. Then we will long to conform to it and submit to it…to obey it…on earth, as it is currently obeyed in heaven.
3. God’s will – So this morning we are diving into this third petition of the Lord’s Prayer…your will be done.
a. What a huge subject…the will of God.
i. And before we look at what we are praying when we say this petition…we have to first define God’s will so we are all on the same page.
1. God’s will…how can we define it succinctly so we can all remember it?
a. God’s will is God’s purpose and desire.
i. His desire for the good of all his people and the glory of his name.
1. The psalmist wrote of his desire to do God’s will.
b. Jesus said that while he was on earth he was following the will of the father…
i. And in all he did and all he said, Jesus perfectly submitted to and obeyed God’s will.
1. God’s will…God’s purpose and desire.
4. Be Done – So now that we know what God’s will is, we can begin to dissect and understand this petition…you will be done.
a. Remember this is a prayer for God’s will…not ours, to be done.
i. Your will…your purpose, what you desire…may that be done.
1. And when we pray this request, we are praying for 2 things simultaneously.
a. We are praying that the world over…God’s will will be done.
i. What we are praying is really a continuation from last week’s petition.
1. If God’s kingdom is to come on earth as it is in heaven, that also means that God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
2. As more and more come to know Jesus as Lord, more and more people will be submitting to God’s will.
b. But this is also a personal request, we are praying that in each of our lives…in my life and in your life…may God’s will be the one that I pursue. May God’s will be the one you pursue.
i. May God’s desires be our desires…may God’s purposes be our purposes.
1. May God’s will be the will we are most passionate about.
a. This may be the number 1 question Christians ask…Definitely a popular question among teens and young adults…
i. “What is God’s will for my life?”
1. And while this is a popular and very important question…we aren’t really going to answer that question today.
b. It would be a difficult question to answer on this scale because each answer would be different for each individual.
i. It would require a different sermon for each person, and we just don’t have that kind of time.
c. So instead of focusing on answering this question individually and personally…
i. Instead what we are going to do is look at tools for discernment.
1. Hopefully we can arm ourselves with some tools so we can discern God’s will.
a. But ultimately the goal isn’t simply discerning God’s will…the petition says, “your will be done…” not your will be discerned.
d. So today I want to explore 3 tools…3 actions…that will help us to discern and ultimately obey God’s will on earth as it is currently obeyed in heaven.
i. The 3 tools we’ll look at are knowledge, submission and obedience.
5. Knowledge – Let’s first look at attaining a knowledge of God’s will.
a. And this isn’t simply done by sitting around and thinking and wondering and pondering.
i. Though thinking and praying are part of it.
1. My youth pastor when I was growing up would say “If you want to know God’s will, you have to know God.”
a. And I think his statement is bang on. We first have to know God.
i. Who he is, what he’s about.
1. We have to know God as God as revealed himself in the pages of Scripture.
ii. We have to know that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding is steadfast love and faithfulness.
1. We have to know that God is love, that he cares for us like a father cares for his children.
a. We must know that God sent his Son Jesus to die for our sins so that we can have a right relationship with him.
i. Want to know God’s will…get to know God.
b. But the apostle Paul gives us another piece to the puzzle of knowing God’s will.
i. Look at Romans 12:2.
2 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.
1. How can we know God’s will? Which by the way, Paul calls – good acceptable and pleasing…
a. Paul first puts it negatively…by NOT conforming to the pattern of this world.
i. As God’s people, we are to not look like the word around us.
1. We are to reach out to the world, serve it, pray for it…but we aren’t to model it’s pattern of behaviour or thinking.
2. Romans 12:2 fits right in with the SM, because the SM teaches Christians an alternative way of living.
a. Not conforming to the ways of this world…not doing what they do, not talking like they talking, not behaving like they behave…
i. And then Paul makes a positive statement…not conforming to the world…but instead, transformation.
ii. How? By trying harder? By being a better version of yourself?
1. No, by being transformed…notice the passive there, not something we do but the transformation is something that is done to us.
a. And this transformation happens, by the renewing of our minds.
i. By ridding ourselves of the pattern of this world and instead conforming ourselves to the ways of Jesus.
c. If we change the way to think, we’ll change the way we act.
i. If we don’t think like the world, not conformed to its pattern and way of life, we won’t think like it.
1. And if we renew our minds by focusing on the ways of God…then we will be transformed.
a. And look at the end of the verse…through renewal and transformation and testing…we’ll be able to what???discern what God’s will is.
i. Know God to know God’s will…renew your mind and be transformed…then you’ll be better equipped to discern his will for your life.
6. Submission – The next part for us to look at isn’t really a popular word…we have to submit to God’s will.
a. Have you ever noticed that sometimes what we want and what God wants are different from each other?
i. This is when submission to God’s will comes…this is where one of the great tensions of the Christian life comes in to play.
1. We all have our own wills, our own ideas of what we should do and where we should go.
a. But then God comes along…and through Scripture reading, prayer, through renewal and transformation…God shows us the path he wants us to take…
b. So now we are at a crossroads…we are not robots, we are free to decided which path we are going to follow.
i. We are free to do our own will…or we are free to choose to do God’s will.
1. So in this request there is some serious tension that hasn’t been there in previous weeks.
a. These are 2 realities…God’s will and our will…we can’t deny either one…so what will we do?
i. As God’s people, we are to acknowledge God’s sovereignty and control over everything, but also knowledge our will…
c. And that’s where submission comes in to play. Yes, we have a will, our own plans, our own dreams and desires…
i. But this petition is for us put those things aside, and submit ourselves to God’s will.
1. An example from my own life.
a. During my academic endeavours, I was fully convinced that I was on a journey into the world of academia.
i. But as ai got into that world, I realized that academia sometimes asks form really dumb questions.
2. And through my studies, conversations with my field ed supervisor, I came to acknowledge that there was some tension in my life.
a. What I wanted and what God wanted.
i. So a decision had to be made – academia or pastoral ministry.
ii. And I ultimately submitted to what God wanted and instead of pursuing a career in the academic world…I pursued pastoral ministry.
1. Its one of the ways I know that I’m called to be a pastor – it wasn’t my idea at all…but something God laid on me.
7. Obedience – We know God, through renewal and transformation we know God’s will.
a. We submit ourselves to God’s will…laying aside what we want.
i. But there’s one more step, the petition doesn’t say, “your will be known…” It says, “Your will be done.”
1. So, when we know God’s will, when we have submitted to God’s will…acknowledging that his ways are best…
a. We must actually do God’s will.
b. It would have done me no good to know God has called me into pastoral ministry…but not actually become a pastor.
i. I would not have meant this petition at all…Your will be done, but I’m still going to do my own thing.
1. That’s not praying this request thoughtfully…it giving lip service to it…
a. Your will be done, we are committing ourselves to actually do God’s will.
i. Here’s how we can do that.
c. Previously we looked at Romans 12:2, well in Romans 12:1, Paul writes that as God’s people we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices.
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
i. When we live our lives as sacrifices offered to God…when our lives are acts of worship dedicated to God and the pursuing of his will…
1. When we aren’t living selfishly but sacrificially…
a. When we aren’t trying to grow our name, and our kingdom and do our will…we are living sacrifices…doing God’s will.
d. Another way to do God’s will on earth is what one of my favourite authors calls the duty of self-denial.
i. This is where submission and obedience converge.
1. We deny ourselves what we want…and we pursue what God what’s for our lives.
a. Look…this isn’t a miserable thing…it’s not that God desires to ruin our lives and to make his people sad and miserable
i. God does everything for our good and for his glory.
ii. So if God wills something for your life…you can rest assured that if is way better than anything you could have ever concocted.
8. Closing – I want to close with this…a perfect example of knowing, submitting to and doing God’s will.
a. Obviously, we’ll look at Jesus.
i. Jesus’ knew God’s will…he knew he was to go to the cross to die for our sins.
1. But we also see Jesus submitting to God’s will. In the Garden of Gethsemane…Jesus was praying…and you see the tension…the same tension you or me experience.
a. The battle between what we want and what God wants.
ii. Jesus wanted the cup of suffering to pass from him, but the Father wanted him to go to the cross.
1. And ultimately Jesus submitted to the will of the Father.
a. And Jesus prays this exact petition – not what I want, but your will be done.
i. Have you ever made that connection? That Jesus not only taught his disciples to pray this way…but this is way the he prayed.
2. And have you thought about his…when we pray this petition, your will be done…you are praying the exact same prayer Jesus himself prayed in the garden…when he was facing the same tension we face.
b. And ultimately Jesus did the will of the Father by giving his life as a ransom for many – as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
i. And he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
1. Your will be done…a petition with some tension in it. A petition that we would set aside our will, our dreams and desires…
a. And it’s a prayer for knowledge…a prayer of submission…and ultimately a prayer of obedience as we seek to do God’s will on earth…as it is done in heaven.