Speaker 1: 0:07

I invite you this morning to turn in your Bibles, if you have them, to Matthew, chapter 6. Matthew, chapter 6. Continuing on through the Forward in Faith series, and we've been looking at the Lord's Prayer and seeing how Jesus, in teaching us how to pray, is giving us really a vision for all of life. That's what the Lord's praying. We're praying for that God-centered vision, praying that we would be more God-centered in our life and in every way. Rather than self-centered and self-glorifying, we're praying that we would try to glorify God and honor Him in all things. Last time we were together, we considered the second petition, thy kingdom come, and you may remember that phrase is just referring to. We're not asking God to be sovereign, he's already sovereign. We're asking Him, through His sovereign grace, to bring his rule and reign that's what kings do His rule and reign into the hearts and minds and lives of people and have that then have a good effect out in their families and in society. And so that was the second petition. We want to move on to the third petition this morning, which is thy will be done. And that's important because when God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven, that's where we see that his kingdom has come in power and in grace, and that's how God's name is glorified. That's how God's name is honored, or, as Jesus put it, hallowed. That's how his name is hallowed, how God's name is honored, or, as Jesus put it, hallowed. That's how his name is hallowed. So let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask him to help us understand his word this morning. Father, thank you once again that we have the privilege to hear you, our creator and our King, speak to us the things of Christ, and I pray now, god, that you would, by your Holy Spirit, take these things spoken and we know, lord, they will not come back void. So accomplish your good purposes in the preaching of your word and save us, lord, in every way. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's pray the Lord's Prayer together. Would you pray it with me? Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Speaker 1: 3:18

I'm going to make a quick clarification and a brief application before I actually move on to our main points this morning. The clarification I want to make when we're talking about the will of God, it's important that we remember that God has a revealed will. He's making certain things known to us and then he has a secret or hidden will. There's things in the will of God that we're not aware of yet or that we may never be aware of. Deuteronomy 29, 29 says it like this the secret things belong to the Lord, our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. So God has made his revelation known in our day through the word of God right, but there are things that we don't know.

Speaker 1: 4:10

I mentioned in the first service. I said, for example, if you got in a car wreck yesterday, an hour before that happened, you did not know that that was part of God's secret will, as part of his secret plan in your life. But you found out it was previously secret or hidden and now it comes in by way of providence and his secret will is revealed. I had a person come up to me after the service says. We got rear-ended yesterday and I did not know that, but there's an example. So God has a revealed will and he has a secret or hidden will.

Speaker 1: 4:45

Now, why do I want to talk about this? Well, for one thing, many, many Christians, they understand adultery is wrong. They understand stealing is wrong, so on and so forth. Those clear moral commandments, okay, we understand. But what about? Am I to take this job or that job? Am I to go to this college or that one? Am I to marry this person or that person? And so on and so forth. And sometimes in life we can't turn to the Bible verse and say, oh yeah, there it is, I'm supposed to move to Tampa to take that job.

Speaker 1: 5:18

You know John, chapter 14. It doesn't work like that, does it? And so the Bible, 1 Thessalonians 5.21, test all things, hold fast to what is good. Well, how do you test all things? It's through the scriptures. So the Bereans, for example, in Acts, chapter 17, are commended by Luke. In that and by our Lord, they were no more noble than the Thessalonians. Because the Thessalonians? Because? Why? Because they would examine the scriptures and check it against even what the apostle Paul was preaching. So they knew their scriptures and they tested it. And so everything they heard in life, they tested by the standard of God's word. Isaiah the prophet puts it like this to the law and to the testimony to the law and to the testimony to the things revealed of God's word. Isaiah the prophet puts it like this to the law and to the testimony to the law and to the testimony to the things revealed of God, that's where we go when we want to know the truth and those things that we can stand on in life, even when things are a little fuzzy for us.

Speaker 1: 6:18

Now why is this important? Well, like I said, sometimes Christians get up to get themselves in a knot. Does God want me to stay in Tampa or move to Timbuktu? I don't know. Am I supposed to go to this college or that college? I don't know. And all of a sudden, how can I find out God's secret will? He hasn't made it clear to me. And what do I do?

Speaker 1: 6:42

And that's not all bad. We want to do wise, we want to make wise decisions, and sometimes our decisions are not even so much just between right and wrong, but good, better and best right, and we would like to know the wisdom of God in these things. So how do you approach things of that nature as far as the will of God? Well, scripture gives us guidance in this One. God says know my word, saturate yourself in my word. Right, and that's important, because we're called in life to use our common sense, but sanctified common sense, common sense and a conscience that has been trained by the word of God over time, so that when we come to situations, we can then apply the wisdom of God that we know from walking with Him.

Speaker 1: 7:26

But that's not all. We also need to, as Proverbs says, seek out many godly counselors when we're making important decisions in life. There's wisdom in many godly counselors. Sometimes we have blind spots, even after we've walked with the Lord for years, that we need other people to speak into our life. And that's part of how God speaks into our life through people he puts in our life. And then, of course, you need to consider the burdens God's put on your heart. You know missionaries have this all the time. Why do they go to Japan over Southern Africa? Well, because, for whatever reason, god put a heavy burden on their heart for the lost people of Japan. So Stephen Hammond somebody we know he's going to Japan a young man, one of our friends, and so you also think about your circumstances in a practical way. Sometimes God just flat out closes the door. Well, he's revealing his will in that.

Speaker 1: 8:20

And then sometimes you, just you, make the best decision. You go through all this process. You make the best decision. You go through all this process, you make the best decision you can, and you make it, and you proceed by faith, in peace, and you do it with Christian liberty, because, christian, you have the Christian liberty to stay in Tampa or to move to Timbuktu. It's not morally wrong to move. It may not be the best, but it's certainly not wrong. Or it may be the best, I don't know. But that's how you go about your life and then what you do. As you proceed by faith, you rely upon what God has revealed to you clearly in the word of God, and you resolve to trust him and to do his will in whatever circumstance you're in. But with those two caveats I want to get to the main idea and then we'll proceed with our two main points this morning. But the main idea is just simply this In praying, thy will be done.

Speaker 1: 9:13

We're praying for God, our Father's grace, to do two things. One, we're praying to do something that's not natural to us. We're praying that we would cheerfully obey the commandments of God. It's one thing to obey as you bite a stick. It's another one to cheerfully obey the commands of God, in other words, to obey what he has revealed to us, what his will is. And then, secondly, we're praying for God's grace, our father's grace, to meekly submit to those hard things he providentially brings into our life by His sovereign will. We're praying for His grace to meekly submit to the sufferings that he appoints in our life. So let's look at these two aspects. I'm going to spend probably a good amount of my time on the first, but let's think about God's moral will. All right, god's moral will, his commandments.

Speaker 1: 10:10

In praying, thy will be done, jesus teaches us to pray for our father's grace, to cheerfully obey all his commands. Why? For his glory and his honor? Because the commandments reflect his holy character, his loving character. Our father is our father and we who have faith in Christ are his adopted children. But our father is also our king. The ancient world called their kings fathers and their subjects sons. And so Jesus is not only to our savior who saves us from our sins, but he is Lord. Yes, he's our savior who, when we put our trust in him, he saves us from our sins, meaning he saves us from the just wrath and judgment of God. He saves us from the sufferings of hell. But he's also our Lord, and he's not only Lord over us, but he's the sovereign Lord over all things. He's the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Speaker 1: 11:10

Now, why do I say this? Because the Lord doesn't. He's not just you can't have Jesus as Savior without having him as Lord. We can't cut him in half. He's of a piece. And so our Lord doesn't simply invite us to believe in him. I think in American culture we're more comfortable with that.

Speaker 1: 11:31

Jesus invites you. Well, he does in one sense, according to his kindness, does invite us to receive him by faith and therefore be saved from our sins and be granted eternal life and reconciled with God. Yes, but we have to remember Jesus is Lord and in his gospel, even more than an invitation, it's a command Believe in me, repent of your sins and believe in me. Christ demands that we believe in him and then, by faith, as we believe in Christ, out of that living faith will flow obedience and a life of repentance. That's what he commands. And what are we doing when we do that? In this petition, thy father, thy will be done. See, jesus is teaching us here that God demands and we're to pray for. And we're to pray for it because God demands that we renounce and forsake our own sinful wills and we submit to his holy and loving and sovereign will, his perfect will, again. We first do that by faith, by trusting in him and his promises of salvation, but then we also trust him that he is infinitely wise and infinitely holy and that his commandments are good, and we want to please him and honor him by fulfilling his commandments by faith and grace.

Speaker 1: 13:00

I like the title of John Piper's book what Jesus Demands from the World. There's a place for that his lordship. Sometimes I think we think about only what Jesus gives us, and that's amen. I think. If you're going to make a mistake, lean that way. But Jesus also demands things as Lord from us and we need to remember we're not our own spiritual authorities. He is, and before we come to know God, piper says you know? I think he makes a good point.

Speaker 1: 13:32

There's a hundred other things that we think are more important or more attractive than doing God's will, and you can think about them Health, family, job, friends, sports, health, family job friends, sports, peace. Be with you, duke fans and you Auburn fans. Music, food, sex hobbies, retirement, whatever it is you can fill it in a thousand other things right Now. These are all good gifts from God, and God gives them to us because he wants us to enjoy them. These are not bad things, but what's the greatest burden of our heart? It is not natural for us to have as the greatest burden of our heart to honor and glorify God. Apart from his sovereign grace and the Holy Spirit at work within us. We have to know God. And then, when we come to know God and we begin to mature, we begin to pray.

Speaker 1: 14:26

At a certain point, if not from the beginning, at least somewhere along the way, we begin to pray like the psalmist in Psalm 119. It's the longest chapter in the Bible 176 verses. It's like the Washington Monument right there in the middle of the Bible as a monument to the word of God. Listen to some of the verses and the heart of the psalmist With my whole heart I seek you. Let me not wander from your commandments. I've stored up your word in my heart that I might what? Not sin against you. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes. When was the last time we thought I'm going to delight in your commandments? God, I will not forget your word. Teach me, o Lord. You see how. He realizes he needs the grace to do this. The psalmist, even as he's praying, he realizes he needs God to teach him and empower him by his grace. Teach me, o Lord, the way of your statutes and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. Lead me in the path of your commandments. Why? Because I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish gain. Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things and give me life in your ways. Now we don't have time to go through all 176, but they're there.

Speaker 1: 16:08

Psalm 119, 105, probably the most famous verse of that Psalm your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. There is a kind of light that the commandments of God bring into the believer's life that delights the soul of the believer. Psalm 119, verse 47,. Listen, I find delight in your commandments, which I love. Here's how Jesus put it John 4, 34. It is my food to do the will of him who sent me. His father sent him. It is my food to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. It was the very thing that fed Jesus' soul was to do the will of his Father in heaven, our Father. That's a very satisfaction. That's what fed his heart. It's what he longed to do above all things. You hear it in Psalm 119, the same appreciation for the commandments of God.

Speaker 1: 17:18

Listen, the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul Now. Law there means more than the commandments of God. Listen, the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul Now. Law there means more than the commandments. It's the scripture, but it includes the commandments. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. There the scripture is called. The fear of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. There the scripture is called the fear of the Lord, that which gives us true worship of God. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. Now listen. More to be desired. Are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb?

Speaker 1: 18:03

Why do I say this? Are God's commandments a killjoy to you? It's a fair question. Are God's commandments only those things? Their only function in life seems to be to convict you of your sin and make you feel pretty bad, which they should, by the way, to a level. But is that? All that the commandments of God do for you Is just convict you, and just? They're just this constant reminder that all I do is seem to fall short, and that's about it. And they're just this constant reminder that all I do is seem to fall short, and that's about it. That I need Christ for my salvation, and amen, by the way, that's a critical thing that the law of God does. We need to know our need for Christ.

Speaker 1: 18:51

But you see, jesus is writing this to his disciples, this model prayer, and he's saying to us listen when you pray, don't forget the preface. When you get to, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Because what's the preface? Who are we praying to? Our Father, the one who loves us, our Father, who art in heaven. And you see, if you don't know God as your Father, the commandments are only going to serve one function To beat you up. And most certainly we do need to know and understand. We failed miserably in word, thought and deed. The holiest saint on earth fails every day in word, thought and deed with the commandments of God. But that's not all the commandments are there for to show us the purity of the infinite holiness of God.

Speaker 1: 19:44

No, the psalmist, notice, doesn't pray. And the psalmist was a sinner, just like you and me. But you'll notice, he doesn't say your word is a club to my head and a sword to my ribs. That's not what he's praying. No, he says your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. There's a gratefulness, a gratitude. He loves it. He's thankful to God for them. What am I saying? Have you come to see the commandments in your relationship with God, through faith in Christ, that these commandments come from your heavenly father, who loves you? These commandments come to one who loves you beyond measure, showing you how to honor his name and give you that pleasure of honoring your Father, guiding you in love, in the path of true joy, in the way of true soul satisfaction, in the way of life.

Speaker 1: 20:40

Again, the psalmist doesn't say here and pray. I find absolute misery every time I look at your commandments, which I hate. But he prays. I find delight in your commandments, which I love. How can the person get to that place? How can he pray like that? And the reason is he's learned to pray it through the lens of the gospel. He's learned to see the commandments in a covenantal way, not just in a one-sided way, but in light of the whole covenant.

Speaker 1: 21:14

Well, paul in Romans 7, I think the apostle Paul knew the Lord, a godly man. But even the apostle Paul in Romans 7 could say, within the Christian life, I delight in your law and the inward man, but I do the very things I hate. Can you relate to that sometimes? Don't you ever just look in the mirror and say I'm sick of you, right? Sometimes we get sick of ourselves, just right. I do the very things I hate. And you see, the law will remind us that we're not Jesus, you know, fully conformed to Jesus. Yet.

Speaker 1: 21:50

But David prays in Psalm 130 that with the Lord there's forgiveness of sins. Aren't you glad? With the Lord, there's forgiveness of sins. And what does this mean? How can the psalmist delight in the commandments of God? How can the psalmist delight in the commandments of God? He can delight in them because now he sees them as those things coming from his father and these commandments no longer condemn him. He's been freed from the condemnation of the law and now he sees that these things are here to help him Even when they convict him, are here to help him. Even when they convict him. They're there to help him, not to crush him. Because of Christ, they no longer condemn him.

Speaker 1: 22:34

It's why Romans 6.14 says you're not under the law but under grace. What does that mean? It doesn't mean the law has no role in the Christian life. It means you who have faith in Christ are not under the condemnation of the law, but you're under the favor and grace. You're under the favor and power of God's grace. That's what it means. The law is not there any longer to convict you or condemn you. Rather, it will convict you but it won't condemn you if you know Christ.

Speaker 1: 23:04

And so you think about all the commandments of God and think about this. Let's just take the greatest commandment. Jesus says you shall love the Lord, your God, with what? All of your heart and with all of your soul and all your mind and all of your strength. Now, which day did we do that? What day was that? Which 10 minutes did we do that? What a standard, you see, the infinite holiness of God and his character is reflected here, and we're not even getting yet to and love your neighbor as yourself. We're not even getting yet to and love your neighbor as yourself, let alone. Oh, and by the way, love your enemies too, right? So you just see, the law will slay us if we just look at the law, and only the law by itself, because it goes on to talk about our call to worship the Lord alone.

Speaker 1: 23:58

We're not to have any other things that we put above God. Well, every time we sin, we do that. We're to have no graven images, which means we're not only to worship the right God, but we're to worship him in the way that he prescribes, not the way that we feel like it. And he tells us how to worship him in his word. We're not to take the third commandment, not to take his name lightly. What does that mean? Or not to take it in vain? Yeah, it includes don't cuss, but it's saying don't take him lightly in anything that you do, in word, thought and deed. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy under the Lord. Honor your father and mother, which means all authorities in your life, not just your parents. You're not to murder.

Speaker 1: 24:38

The flip side is we're to promote in love life in all things. We're not to commit adultery, but we're to do what Promote purity in our own life and in the life of our neighbor and in society. We're not to steal, but we're to have loving care, not just for our own property but for our neighbors. You see, jesus said love is the principle that permeates the commandments. We're not to bear false witness, but we're to do what Protect the reputation of other people, even when they fail, and not gossip. We're not to covet but to be content in plenty and in want. And we're to obey all these things not just outwardly, but get this if you ever obeyed something but you kind of bit the stick as you obeyed it, okay, all right, I'll take the garbage out. You know right, you don't really want to. So it's not really just kind of well now that we obey all these commandments outwardly, but inwardly, in the heart, listen in all humility and cheerfulness and faithfulness and diligence, zeal, sincerity and constancy, and on earth, as it is in heaven, like the angels, perfectly obey in heaven.

Speaker 1: 25:46

I'm worn out just from saying that paragraph. The commandments of God. Psalmist says your commandments are exceedingly broad. Well, they sure are. There's a lot there. But have you come to see the law through the lens of the gospel? Have you come to see the law through the lens of the gospel? What do I mean?

Speaker 1: 26:09

I'm going to say it again that Jesus Christ not only died for your sins and your place, on your behalf, as your substitute why? So that you could have all of your sins forgiven, past, present and future but he also listen lived the perfect life of obedience in your place, on your behalf, as your substitute. Why? So that God could declare you perfectly righteous, as if you'd obeyed every tittle of the law. And that's what goes on legally upon the record books of heaven next to your name, when you come to Christ by faith. And you see, this is why Paul in 1 Corinthians 1.30 can say Christ is our righteousness. We do not establish our own righteousness, christ established it for us. And Jeremiah the prophet calls him the Lord, our righteousness. Chapters 23 and 33 both say that. So what do we do with all this? Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for his people, but Jesus also lived the perfect life for us. So now, what does that mean for the law? Now the law is our friend. Now the law is your light and your lamp and your guide and your food, and it is your plan for living and giving of your time, talent and treasure to the glory of God, our Father. That's what it means. It no longer condemns us, but it's our guide.

Speaker 1: 27:36

You know, if you're in Christ, sometimes people will say well, you know the good works of Christians, that's just filthy rags. I'm going to tell you again no, it's not. Isaiah did not mean that for believers. He's talking about unbelievers who don't know God. At the judgment, god views their good works as filthy rags because none of it was done to his glory. It may have done good to society, but it certainly didn't do anything for his glory in terms of their heart motive.

Speaker 1: 28:07

But as a Christian, when you're in Christ, even your most sincere, imperfect works are pleasing to God, your father, because you're in Christ, you're united to him, and Christ has perfectly fulfilled the law in your place, and God loves the sincerity in the hearts of his children, even when they fall way short. Like I've told you before, it's like the four-year-old who cleans his room. He does it with all his heart, but when the mom and dad see it they're like good job, son. And you know they tried, but they did it in love, and so it is in the Christian life. This is why Jesus said come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me why? Because I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find what Rest for your souls. You see, the weight of the law and the weight of the condemnation of the law. You don't have to carry that around ever again. Aren't you glad? He says, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Well, it sure is.

Speaker 1: 29:18

And so, god's moral will we're praying for? What are we praying there? Our Father, thy will be done. We're praying for God's grace. It's not natural for us, we're praying for his grace, to obey his commands. Lord, I desire, but my flesh is weak, help me. And then, secondly, god's providential will. Right, what am I talking about? God's will is is secret, and then sometimes, through providence, we learn that what was previously secret is no longer hidden. He's made it known to us, and so when we pray, thy will be done.

Speaker 1: 29:51

Jesus teaches us to pray for our father's grace, to meekly submit to his appointed sufferings in our life for his glory and honor. The truth is, god appoints hardships in our lives and he gives different people different burdens and afflictions and sufferings and pain and agony. Your health takes a blow and you're stunned by the diagnosis. Relationships rupture and you live your life with an open chest wound. A friend you never thought would betray you does just that. You have to bury a loved one. On it goes. Life is a blessing, but in a fallen world I say it yet again life is hard. And if it's not hard for you yet hang around. What do we do when someone hurts us or we get a diagnosis of a terrible disease or whatever? Fill in a thousand examples. Well, I've learned. I can't claim I've learned it that well, I'm still trying to learn it, but it has helped me. I'm going to say again Mike Milton helped me years ago and I'm still trying to learn this. But he says there's three things that helped him and he shared it in his little book.

Speaker 1: 31:16

Hit by Friendly Fire, he said the first thing we need to do in such circumstances, when we're suffering and hurting and in hardship, is to take off our crown. What does he mean? Father, you're the king, I'm not. My life is not my own. You're my creator, you're my redeemer. You have the sovereign right to use my life for your glory any way of your choosing, and if there's any way you can take this cup from me, that'd be great Lord. But you're the king, not me, and so I humbly submit to you and your will and bring this into my life.

Speaker 1: 31:56

Second, we get on our knees with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. My father, if it be possible, let this cup pass for me nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Let your will be done, father. I can feel the fighting in my will. Lord, I'm struggling. I don't like this, but give me the grace to submit meekly to your will. You see, this is humility and meekness. And then, thirdly, take up your cross and follow Christ.

Speaker 1: 32:26

Christ suffered for us and there's a large place for suffering in the Christian life to the glory of God. We devote our sufferings and hardships and disappointments to Christ's honor in his glory. That's devotion. Tim Keller says. Unless we know and have assurance that God is our father, we can never, we'll never be able to say truly thy will be done. To pray thy will be done is to pray for God's grace right To glorify and honor him in our betrayals. Luther and Augustine and others have pointed out that if we don't trust God in our betrayals we'll become angry and bitter, and we have to see that God is working, even in the sin that they committed against us, and sometimes that's extremely hard.

Speaker 1: 33:22

Joseph, when he was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery into Egypt. He rises to the second man in power in Egypt and then there came a point where he was before his brothers and could have crushed them and killed them in revenge. But he says in Genesis 45, 5, and now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. In Genesis 50, verse 20, joseph said to them as for you, you meant evil against me. You see how he didn't excuse it. It was evil what they did, but God is so great he can even work through evil to accomplish his purposes. You meant evil against me, joseph said, but God meant it for good. And isn't that what we see in the cross of Jesus Christ? All those who put Christ to death meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, to save the world.

Speaker 1: 34:14

This is the greatness of God. His will often perplexes us, but we ought not to doubt him. And when we do begin to doubt him, where do we look? We look at that cross. That's where we get clarity that he loves us in spite of our suffering. Keller says if we can't sincerely pray and say that I will be done from the bottom of our hearts, we will never know peace. And I think that's right. And so we're praying for God to help us be at peace with his will Romans 8, 28. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those called according to his purpose. That's what we're praying for. Lord, let me grab hold of that. Let that not just be in my head but run through my veins, that you're doing something good here, even though I don't understand it. And, god, I don't have to understand it, because I know that you love me. And the only way you can know God loves you when you're suffering and hurting, even facing death, is to look at that cross of Jesus Christ. There you see him bleeding and dying for you and your sins. And if God goes into the depths of hell for you through his son, he is worthy to be trusted. And Christ was raised from the dead. He ascended into heaven. He's interceding for his people even now, and one day he's going to come and make all things new, aren't you glad? I want to encourage you.

Speaker 1: 35:45

This little pastoral plug read or listen to Christian biography. If you're not a reader, listen to it. It's a great time. We can just in your drive time, put on some audio or something. Listen to a Christian biography. Let me give you some examples why. You know it's amazing. They told us in seminary try to read at least one Christian biography a year. I think that's a good goal. Make it an effort. When you read about John Owen, for example, many pastors are aware of his 16 volumes of. He's considered the greatest English theologian of the last 500 years. When you read, he lost all 11 of his children to death it does something. And then you see how God sustained him in a darkness I don't even think I can comprehend. And not only did he sustain him, he used him, and so that's why we pray for God's grace. Our Father, thy will be done. What about John Payton?

Speaker 1: 36:52

The Scottish missionary went to the New Hebrides Islands as a young man. One of the elders in his church told him not to go. You'll be eaten by cannibals, he said. He said, well, you're an elderly man, it won't be long You'll be eaten by cannibals, he said. He said well, you're an elderly man, it won't be long, you'll be eaten by worms. And on resurrection day we'll both be raised the same. A lot of wisdom for a young man right there. But nevertheless, the first year he was there he lost his wife and his only son had to sleep on their graves so the cannibals wouldn't dig them up and consume them. And God sustained him and used him and converted those cannibals. And there's Christians in the New Hebrides to this day. That's why we pray Our Father, thy will be done.

Speaker 1: 37:42

Horatio Spafford, a wealthy Chicago lawyer. He was a friend of DL Moody. He lost his four-year-old son, horatio Jr, to scarlet fever. Spafford had it good, things were going well for him in life. Then he loses his son, horatio.

Speaker 1: 37:59

Two years later, or, excuse me, a year later, 1871, there was the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city, wiping out many of Spafford's properties. And then, two years later after that, his family was going to go on a trip to England. So Spafford got delayed by business. He sent his family on a cross by ship which sank. His wife Anna survived, even though they found her unconscious at the time, but his 11-year-old daughter Anna, 9-year-old Margaret, five-year-old Elizabeth and two-year-old Tanetta, they all perished at sea. But to this day, if you read about them, god sustained them by grace and used them, and to this day we still sing a hymn.

Speaker 1: 38:43

He wrote after that, and to this day we still sing a hymn. He wrote after that, when peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows, like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say it is well. It is well with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blessed assurance control that Christ has regarded my helpless estate and has shed his own blood for my soul. My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I shall bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. And Lord, haste the day when the face shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back like a scroll, the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul.

Speaker 1: 39:39

Don't read Christian biography and say to yourself, oh, I don't have any troubles. Yes, you do. You don't have to lose 11 children to be qualified to be hurting and have an agony of soul. When you read Christian biography, don't say, oh, I don't have any problems. Say, oh, I see how God sustained him. By grace, john Owen, by grace, after losing 11 kids, he'll sustain me and help me too. Same God, he's our father. That's how you read Christian biography. Don't say you don't have problems. God cares about your problems and we have a savior. Lastly, hebrews 5, 7,. In the days of his flesh, jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears. Did you know that Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears to him, who was able to save him from death? And he was heard because of his reverence.