Dec 21
5
Baptist Catechism 110
Q. 110. What do we pray for in the third petition?
A. 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. (Matt. 6:10; Ps. 103:20,21; Ps. 25:4,5; Ps. 119:26)
Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:1–8
“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1–8, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
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What do we mean when we talk about “God’s will”? In fact, two things can be meant by this phrase. One the one hand “God’s will” can mean that which God has planned. On the other hand, “God’s will” can mean that which God has commanded. I wonder, can you see the difference between the two ways of talking about God’s will?
Let me illustrate by asking a question. What is God’s will for me tomorrow?
Well, if we take “God’s will” to mean that which God has planned, then I must admit that I don’t have a clue what God’s will is for me tomorrow. How could I know? Only God knows! He knows the future (for he has decreed the future), I do not. So taken in this way, God’s will concerning the future is largely a mystery to us, for no one knows what his specific plans are.
But if we take God’s will to mean that which God has commanded, then I do know God’s will for me tomorrow. In general, his will for me is that I trust him, obey him, and live for his glory.
Do you see the difference between the two ways of talking about God’s will?
Theologians have terms for these two ways of talking about the will of God.
God’s commanded will is sometimes called his prescriptive will, or his revealed will. What is God’s will for my life? Well, it is that I do what he has commanded, prescribed, and revealed in his word.
And God’s will concerning his specific plan for our lives is sometimes called his decreed or hidden will. We cannot know it, but we can entrust ourselves to him as we submit to it.
Please allow me to read a few scripture texts to illustrate the different uses of the term. After reading a verse I will ask you, is this an example of God’s revealed will, or his hidden will?
1 Thessalonians 4:3 says, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality…” Is this God’s revealed will, or his hidden will? Revealed! For here God tells us what he wants from us. He commands sanctification. He commands obedience.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Is this God’s revealed will, or his hidden will? Revealed! For here God tells us what he wants from us. He wants us to give thanks in all circumstances in Christ Jesus.
In Luke 22:42 we find Jesus praying in the garden of Gethseminay. He is in agony, and he says, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’” Is this a reference to God’s revealed will, or his hiden, secret, and mysterious will? It is a reference to his hidden will. Here Jesus, in his humanity, is saying, I’d really rather not go through this suffering, nevertheless, Father, I want your purposes to be accomplished. Here Jesus submitted himself to the Father’s decree for him.
One more. 1 Peter 2:15 says, “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” Revealed or hidden will? Revealed. God is here revealing that his will (command) for us is that we do good. This is how we are to “silence the ignorance of foolish people”, by doing good.
So then, let me ask you, what is God’s will for your life?
Will you get married, and if so, to whom? Some of you are saying, I know the answer to that! Well, yes. Because it’s happened! But for others, that question remains a mystery.
What will you do for a living? Where will you live? What sorrows will you experience? What joys? How long will you live? All of these questions have to do with God’s hidden will for us. We will know only after they happen.
But in another sense we all know exactly what God’s will is for us. We are to progress in sanctification, avoid sexual immorality, give thanks in every circumstance, and do good. In general, we are to obey God’s moral law. We are to love God with all our being, and our neighbor as yourself, This is God’s will for us.
Now, let me ask you this: What should we concern ourselves with? Or, what should we worry about? God’s revealed will, or his hidden will? Do you know what I mean by that? What should we pour our energy into? Answer: we should devote ourselves to obeying God’s revealed will while at the same time submitting ourselves to his hidden will.
This is really what Jesus was teaching when he said, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:25–33, ESV).
If you will allow me to take this teaching from Jesus and relate to the issue of God’s revealed and hidden will, I would say, Christ here teaches us to concern ourselves with God’s revealed will. “[S]eek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you…”, he says. And he commands us to not concern ourselves with issues pertaining to God’s hidden will. “[W]hich of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”, he asks. That’s a good question! In other words, what is the point of worrying about what the future holds?! It accomplishes nothing! What are we do then with our concerns about God’s hidden will? There is nothing for us to do except live with trustful submission to the Lord.
Look, this is what the third petition of the Lord’s prayer is all about.
Q. 110. What do we pray for in the third petition?
A. 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. (Matt. 6:10; Ps. 103:20,21; Ps. 25:4,5; Ps. 119:26)
When we pray “thy will be done” we are saying, Lord, be gracious to us.
“Make us able…” In other words, give us the strength that we need.
And “make us… willing.” In other words, change our hearts, our appetites, our affections…”
So that we might “know” your will. What is this a reference to? It must be a reference to God’s revealed will. In other word, we are to pray, Lord teach us your law! “[M]ake us able and willing to know… your will.”
And furthermore, “make us able and willing to obey… your will.” Again, this must be a reference to God’s revealed will, for only his revealed will (his law) can be obeyed.
Notice the distinction between knowing and obeying. It is one thing to know God’s word, it is another thing to obey it. Can you know God’s law and fail to obey it? Yes, people do that all of the time! But can you obey God’s law if you don’t know it? No, to obey God’s law you must know what it says. So we are to pray that God will graciously enable us both to know God’s law and to obey it. Or to put into the terminology of James 1:22, we are to pray that the Lord would empower us to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving [ourselves]” (James 1:22, ESV).
Lastly, we are to pray that God “would make us able and willing to… submit to His will in all things.” I think the language of submission here pertains to God’s hidden, secret, or mysterious will. What are we to do with God’s revealed will? We are to know it and obey it! What are we to do with God’s hidden will? Well, what else can we do except submit ourselves to it? I think this is what Peter means when he says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6–7, ESV).
Christains are to know and obey God revealed will, and they are to humbly and patiently submit themselves to his hidden will. I don’t know what is harder! Sometimes we really struggle to obey what God has commanded, and sometimes we really struggle to surrender ourselves to what God has decreed. We are to pray for his gracious aid in both things.
The catechism answer ends with this little remark, “as the angels do in heaven.” That’s pretty cool to think about. In heaven there are elect angels. These angels did not rebel in the beginning, nor will they ever rebel. The worship and serve God faithfully day and night. They obey him always, and they submit themselves to his decree. Our aim is to be like them in this regard. Lord, help us.
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Conclusion
Q. 110. What do we pray for in the third petition?
A. 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. (Matt. 6:10; Ps. 103:20,21; Ps. 25:4,5; Ps. 119:26)
