REFORMED CHURCH, BELLVILLE: SUNDAY 10
MARCH 2002: EVENING SERVICE
Our help is in the Name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
Beloved, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and the Lord
Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
AMEN.
Psalm of praise: 89:1,6
Prayer
Psalm 1:1.
Scripture reading: Psalm 1.
Text: Catechism Sunday 49
Psalm 1:6
For
the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1 speaks of two paths which a person can choose to follow. Let us
say, there are two possibilities in accordance with which a person can
live. One possibility is to live righteously. The other is to live
wickedly (unrighteously).
The following is said of the righteous:
- He does not follow the counsel of the wicked.
- That means that he does not listen to the advice or
recommendations of evil people, because he has a greater need to listen
to everything the Lord commands of him.
- The righteous person does not mingle with sinners.
- The Lord offers him better company. He prefers to communicate
with the Lord in his thoughts and prayers.
- He also finds it easier to mingle with the children of the Lord:
with church folk and with the elect.
- The righteous person does not sit in the seat of the scoffers.
- He does not join forces with foolish persons, nor does he
ridicule the law of the Lord.
- He finds pleasure in contemplating and obeying the law of the
Lord.
- This is well put in the Psalm:
But
his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and
night.
These things are characteristic of a life dedicated to the service of
God.
They are therefore also characteristic of a true believer, because they
are inherent in his lifestyle. Our lives must also be conducted in
accordance with this style:
- Our life must be a thanksgiving to God.
- It must be a life in which the will of the Lord is done in our
earthly life, as it is done in heaven in the life of the angels.
- We must have a real desire to to do the will of the Lord - in
other words, to continually consider the will of God, and then to
accept every decision of the Lord in our lives.
- It must be a life of prayer in which we ask that the Lord's will
be done in our lives.
When we pray: Your will be done, the following three things are true of
the act:
- It is the prayer of a reborn or regenerate heart.
- Secondly, it is enjoined by the Supreme King.
- Thirdly, we have in this prayer the example of the angels.
1. It is the prayer of a reborn or
regenerate heart.
We may only pray that the will of the Lord be done on earth if this is
truly a need with us.
- We can only pray this if we have experienced a soul-felt desire
to flee from sin with all the strength at our command.
- We must pray this part of the Our Father because we are tired of
being fettered and tyrannized by the world and the sins of earthly
existence.
- Anybody who is reborn - and we are all reborn - experiences
revulsion at what is wrongful.
- This prayer is therefore testimony that we are striving with all
our might against the work of Satan everywhere we come across it.
All of us, indeed, share in the grace of the Lord. This was surely why
He died on the cross for our sake. We know therefore that we are
blessed. What is the effect of this?
- Just because of this we know the Lord.
- We are those of whom Psalm 1 speaks when it refers to those who
do not walk in the counsel of the wicked.
- We have no wish to go along with the godless. We wish to do the
will of the Lord.
- We know that the godless proclaim a false religion.
- We realize that their life, which they pretend before all to be
so pleasant, is in fact a life without a future.
- We realize that their lives are chiefly concerned with mundane
matters, with pleasure, and with things of purely temporal nature.
- It amounts to this: such people do not wish to do the will of the
Lord on earth as it is done in heaven.
Read Psalm 1 carefully. You will then notice that there are three
stages of decay in the life of man:
- It is stated in the first place that the righteous man does not
go along with the godless. He does not follow their counsel.
- Then the Psalm refers to someone whose fall has progressed
somewhat. He mixes with the godless. He stands among them.
- The third is no longer one of the righteous, because he has
already become one of the godless. He sits in the seat of the scoffers.
Or, as it is formulated in some translations, he has joined those who
have no use for God.
The writer of the Psalms states very clearly to what extent each of
these does the will of the Lord.
- The first knows and serves the Lord, and he lets the Lord's will
be done on earth, because he follows no godless counsel.
- The second, who goes about with unbelievers, is quite deeply
under their influence. He does wrongful things with them. He already
shares in the counsel of the wicked. The will of the Lord is no longer
the most important consideration in his life.
- The last has joined the scoffers.
- They are people who understand nothing of the will of the Lord.
- They do not understand that we believers are called to obedience
to the will of the Lord.
- The person who has joined them can no longer turn back and leave.
He has finally abandoned the will of the Lord.
We would not have been able to realize these things if the Lord Jesus
had not died for us.
- We now live a life enlightened by grace. This presupposes that we
have a desire and an endeavour to do the will of the Lord.
- Precisely this makes us realize that not one of us can, in his
own strength, do the will of the Lord.
- The Lord Jesus' death on the cross had the result that the Holy
Spirit was poured out over us. On the one hand, He opens our eyes to
see the state in which we are, and on the other hand He guides us in
our desire to break out of this state of sinfulness and to serve God
with all our heart.
This is naturally our motivation for this prayer of the Our Father.
That is why it is said that only someone with a reborn heart can pray
this prayer. We know the Lord.
- We know Him first as the Creator of heaven and earth.
- We know Him also as the Redeemer through Jesus Christ.
- In practical terms, this means that the Lord has revealed His
omnipotence to us, and that we have learnt from His revelation in the
course of history that God is irresistible and relentlessly persevering
in the fulfilment of His will.
What of other creatures, such as the angels?
- The devil and his angels were disobedient in heaven. For that
reason they were defeated by Jesus' death and resurrection, and will
even be annihilated as a result of their disobedience.
- Christ's death on the cross merely affirmed that the devil and
his angels, even in their condition, can do nothing without God's
permission.
Like all the other prayers of the Our Father, this one is not selfish.
- It is not a prayer that only I must be obedient to the will of
God.
- It is a prayer that all people on earth must obey to the will of
the Lord, just as the angels in heaven - that is, those who did not
lapse into sin with the devil - obey the Lord's will.
The reason for this earnest prayer for all believers is that all
believers are at the present time subjected to the stress and struggle
to distinguish between good and evil. After all, the true believer has
at heart the earnest entreaty that the Lord will come to the succour of
all the elect in their need.
2. Secondly, it is enjoined by the
Supreme King.
- The Lord is the King of the Church.
- He is the only Lawgiver.
- He is also the only Redeemer.
He ordained that part of our thankfulness for the profound redemption
which He accomplished for us should be expressed in our prayers.
Amongst others, in our prayer that the Lord's will be done on earth -
and also that this be manifested in our obedience.
- The will of the Lord is unchangeable, and therefore this
instruction with regard to our prayers will also never change.
- That is why it is written in the Catechism that we are to obey
the Lord without any questioning of His will.
- Because the Lord does not tolerate any insolent backtalk or
questioning of His will, this also means that those who do not follow
His instructions with regard to prayer will have to endure the
consequences eventually.
We must be quite clear in our own minds about the meaning of the prayer
"Your will be done". This means that we undertake to act in accordance
with the will of the Lord in literally every aspect of our lives:
- In our family and family life
- In our church
- In our politics
- In our social institutions
- Everywhere
This can only come about if we approach every part of our lives in
terms of the fundamental principles involved, and continually weigh our
intended actions in respect of what would be important from God's point
of view. In other words, we must live scrupulously principled lives.
- After all, the Bible teaches that the Lord does not allow people
who live self-willed lives to get away with it without suffering the
consequences and He always chastises wilfulness in religion.
- Applied to our practical situation, this means that my family
life forms part of my religious observances.
- It furthermore means that my social life and my circle of friends
are also places where where I must live in accordance with and give
substance to the will of God.
This entire matter naturally has a warning light as well.
- We must guard against piously acting in accordance with the will
of God, but continually complaining about having to do so!
- There is no virtue in doing the will of our Creator with one
groan after another at being required to do so.
- We must do the will of the Lord willingly and faithfully. We
must, in other words, truly want to do so.
3. Thirdly, we have in this prayer the
example of the angels.
The Lord refers to the angels as an example in our prayer in order to
encourage us.
- From their example we learn that the Lord's will can be done.
They are creatures like ourselves, and they obey the Lord faithfully
and willingly in heaven.
- The angels are, of course, mentioned for another reason as well:
as a reproach to satan.
- He was a figure of importance, but at one stage refused to do the
will of the Lord. His disobedience was punished by his being cast out
of heaven.
- There is, for him, the further promise that is yet to be
fulfilled, namely that he will be cast into hell at the second coming
ofthe Lord.
- He is thus an example of what will happen to those who do not
listen to the Lord.
We have in this also the example of the Lord Jesus Christ - the Son of
God, our Lord and Redeemer.
- In the Old Testament we read of the Angel of the Lord, the
Uncreated Angel who remains faithful to the will of God in His ministry
of mediation.
- Yet we know that this specific manifestation of a heavenly Being
was that of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
- The Lord Jesus is the Head of the angelic hosts, and He is always
faithful and obedient to the will of the Father.
- He devoted His entire life on earth to serving the will of His
Father. Up to His death.
- Of course, it could be argued that it was not necessary for Him
to die as a man, because He is Himself God; but as a man He was
obedient to the will of His Father, so that it could be made possible
for us to enter heaven.
- Through His obedience the portals of heaven have been opened to
us, who are disobedient.
- Yet there is more: Through this merit accomplished by Him we
gained the right to pray.
- We can now pray in His Name: Your will be done - also in my life.
- We can now pray for something which we would, outside of Christ,
not often want to do.
For that reason this prayer is also a testimony by which we express our
gratitude for the Lord having changed us that we truly no longer wish
to commit sin.
- We are thankful that we have been so transformed that we can now
pray under the guidance of the Holy Spirit:
Teach, O Lord, how I may serve You,
Guide me on the rightful way.
Bend my heart and make it willing
That with joy I follow You.
Teach me everlasting truth,
Draw my wayward thought toward You;
For You are my Saviour Lord,
I shall always wait upon You.
AMEN.
LORD'S DAY XLIX
124. QUESTION. What is the
third petition?
ANSWER. Thy will be done, as in
heaven so on earth. That is: grant that we and all men may renounce our
own will1, and without any gainsaying obey Thy will, which
alone is good2; that so every one may discharge the duties
of his office and calling3 as willingly and faithfully as the
angels in heaven4.
1. Matt.16:24; Tit.2:11,12 2. Luke 22:42; Eph.5:10; Rom.12:2
3. 1 Cor.7:24 4. Ps.103:20,21
Closing prayer.
Closing Psalm: 121:1
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
AMEN.
Rev. Dr. M.J. du Plessis
Reformed Church, Bellville.
10 March 2002
Scripture quoted from NASB.