DIVINE WILL
Andrew E Mutton
Matthew 6: 9-10
Hebrews 10: 35-37
Ephesians 6: 5-7
I would just like to say a brief word as to divine will. I was encouraged by what our brother who has already spoken said as to that which God looks for in a household. Maybe the primary bearing of this occasion is to encourage our brother and sister in these things, and I trust that will be so, but it is also that all of us may be encouraged with them in respect to what is referred to in these scriptures as the will of God: the will of God which is based on something so stable that it will never for eternity be shaken; the will of God that the Lord Jesus places here in this moment where He is teaching his own to pray right in the centre. He says, “let thy kingdom come, let thy will be done as in heaven so upon the earth”, the will of God being done upon the earth as it is in heaven.
Our brother has spoken about what proceeds in our households, and how they are to be held for God, and I am encouraged by what he has said, the will of God being done upon the earth as it is in heaven. What a standard, beloved brethren: what a standard that is! And the more I have thought over this scripture, the more I have recognised how far short I fall of that. How is the will of God made known in heaven? How is it being carried out? How is it being seen in heaven at the present time? I cannot give an exposition as to that, but what I can see is that there is an area where nothing, nothing at all, is out of accord with God’s own will. What He desires, what He wants for His own heart, what He wants for us, what He wants in terms of what responds to Him, what glorifies Him: all is the will of God. And Jesus says here as He teaches them to pray, “let thy will be done as in heaven so upon the earth”. Heaven comes first in this account: “as in heaven”. May we all in our own lives and in our households - and our brother and sister setting out on married life - seek to find what it is that proceeds in heaven, seeing that God is looking for a correspondence to this will here on the earth. There will be a time, of course, when all will be in accord. There will be a time when God will be all in all. I think that probably sets the standard for our households and our lives, that the will of God is everything - really everything - to us.
In the second scripture we read in Hebrews, we find that the word is set for a time when endurance is needed, and when times are difficult. I am aware that we meet today, as our brother said in his prayer earlier, when circumstances maybe appear very difficult. There are things upon the hearts of the brethren, sorrows and difficulties, whether personal, household, or testimonially; things that are difficult. The writer says here, “Cast not away therefore your confidence”. Do not cast it away. Why? Why can we still have confidence, beloved brethren, at the present time? Why can we encourage and set a young husband and wife on their pathway with confidence and with certainty? Because the will of God does not change. And the will of God is (and I suppose we look at it as the working out of His purpose) that there should be a man and a wife. There will be a Man in heaven who has a wife. And this marriage today speaks to us of that. Now that is no less a standard than the will of God; it is no less a standard. Maybe we feel humbled, and slow in even speaking about it when we realise how far short we come, but he says here, “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense”. Whether it be in matters of our households, or whether it be in the sorrows that bear upon us, there is recompense from the One whose will is to be done. He says, “that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise”.
We have spoken about Abraham; he was to receive the promise, the will of God having been done. Will we overcome in the strifes that are referred to earlier on, and the afflictions, the prisons, and the plundering of goods? What is the result of that? If the will of God is done you receive the promise. He goes on to say a little after that what may be part of that promise is. Part of that promise is that in a very little while, “he that comes will come, and will not delay”. I think that doing the will of God hastens that day in our hearts and affections, as we seek to find out and work out what is the will of God for us. We have been very blessed in Witney that we have had several young households set up recently: set for the testimony of the Lord. And I might say simply, the pathway for our brother and sister will not be exactly the same as the pathway for the other households in the company. What they have to do is to seek to find the will of the Lord in their marriage, and in their household, and in their company, as we all do. If the will of the Lord is done, “having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise”.
And finally I just touch on the reference in Ephesians. You might say the will of God, as in Hebrews, is quite broad and the thought of the promise goes far wider than I have just touched upon. But here there is a depth to the will of God that reaches to the soul, the spiritual depth of those who do the will of God: “doing the will of God from the soul, serving with good will as to the Lord”. I would leave with each one of us: How deep does my understanding and desire to do the will of God go into my soul?. Maybe I know the right thing to do or say, and it might be the right thing according to God, but do I understand and know His will - His will for me today? You might ask this about the circumstances in this company here right now - our sister’s grandfather having been taken and to buried next week. I cannot imagine that there is anyone in the room who would have chosen the circumstances of today or this week for this occasion. However it says here, “doing the will of God from the soul”. None of us would say that God makes a mistake. All that has happened has been in His will and in His ways and, therefore, it is up to us; and I would especially commit it to our young couple, to find in the exigencies of life and in the way that God leads us, what is His will, and do it; do it from our souls, and it will be of the greatest blessing for us and the greatest glory to God.
For His Name’s sake.
At a marriage meeting in Grangemouth
3rd August 2018