So, continuing our study on prayer, and specifically the Lord's Prayer. Last time we began to discuss the Lord's Prayer, and we mentioned that it's the model prayer that Jesus taught his disciples upon his request for him to teach them how to pray. Prayer is an essential part of a healthy, vibrant spiritual life. And I think that as I mentioned the first week that I discussed prayer, if you ask a Christian or a typical Christian today about what is probably the weakest part of their spiritual life, it will probably be prayer. That will probably be either at the top or close to the top of the list. We seem to struggle with that. And so this mini-series here and the catechism, I think, addressed it as well in the spirit of trying to help us to be more prayerful. Thank you very much. actually enjoy a vibrant prayer life. Not to look at it from the point of view of simply something else that we have to do. We have to pray, we have to read the Bible, we have to do good deeds, et cetera, et cetera. But rather, look at it as a benefit, not only a benefit, but a privilege that we have the opportunity to come before the God of heaven and speak directly to Him. And that we have a Mediator who is always before God, interceding for us. And as we have mentioned before, a Mediator to whom God does not deny anything. So whenever our Mediator goes before God with a petition, you can be sure that it will be answered. We can have that confidence. The model, if you want to use that terminology, is Jesus himself. Jesus prayed often. For example, when he was about to select the twelve, he prayed all night. It would be hard for me to think of any time that I have prayed more than an hour or two. Maybe you're the same thing. Never mind a whole night in prayer. That's something that's very difficult for us humans to even begin to understand. And yet, the Lord did it, and He did it often. Obviously, the Gospels are but a snippet of Christ's entire life. At the end of the Gospel of John, John says that many of the things Christ did in the presence of disciples. Then he talks about that if all the things that he had done were written down, the world itself could not contain the books. And so you can be sure that for every time that we are told that Christ prayed all night, he probably did it many times. And before and during his ministry, not just during his ministry alone. So, let's read the Lord's Prayer once again, and again we're reading it, the version that Matthew has in Matthew 6, beginning with verse 9. His is more complete, more detailed, and so that's the one that we will read here. Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your 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 do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. And so there you have the Lord's Prayer in its more extensive version. So, getting back to the catechism, there's a couple of questions for us tonight. The first one is, what do we pray for in the second petition? In the second petition, the answer begins, which is, thy kingdom come. We pray that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it and kept in it, and that the kingdom of glory be hastened. God reigns where men deny themselves and pledge themselves to a heavenly life. Now, don't get me wrong, God reigns everywhere. God is a king, God is a sovereign, and all the world is under His kingship. Unfortunately, not all the world realizes that, not all the world admits that. They do not submit themselves to that kingship and to that lordship. Nevertheless, God is a king. But where men deny themselves and pledge themselves to live a holy, heavenly life, that is especially where God lives because that's where the example that His people show the world can be clearly seen. And through that example, as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5.16, let your light so shine that men will see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. So that is the way that God is seen by the world. God is not seen visibly, obviously, but God is seen by the works that He does in and through His people. In order for God's kingdom to come, we must begin by cleansing ourselves of the filthiness of the flesh and the spirit. 2 Corinthians 7 and 1 says just that. Paul admonishes the Corinthians to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of spirit and of body. Now, we know that God is the one that does the work in our lives. Through His Spirit, He brings about that regeneration and that change and our character, and in our nature. We're no longer children of wrath by nature. Now we have been translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son, as Paul says in Colossians chapter 1. Nevertheless, we still have a responsibility for us to cleanse ourselves just as much as God is cleansing us as well. And so there's that God sovereignty, human responsibility that goes into everything that we do. We need to examine ourselves to ensure that nothing that separates from the kingdom has a hold on us. Nothing of this world can have a hold on us. If it does, then we have not achieved that purity of spirit, of heart that the Lord requires of us. So, it's important for us to examine ourselves. 2 Corinthians 13, verse 5, Paul tells the Corinthians, examine yourselves. to see whether you're in the faith. And so that's something that we need to do at least on a daily basis. And I must confess, sometimes I forget, but it's something that we need to do because we need to make that course correction. We need to ensure that we're walking on the right path. Because if we don't know where we are, if we don't know we're walking in the wrong direction, then we're not going to get to where we need to go. So one of the scriptures that the Catechism uses as proof for its answer is Psalm 68, beginning with verse 1. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered, and let those who hate him flee before him." The Targum, which is spoken paraphrases, explanations, and expansions of the Jewish scriptures, understands that the psalm was written when the children of Israel were released from the Egyptian captivity. The consensus, however, among commentators is that it was most likely written when the ark was brought back from the house of Obit Edom. You can see that story in 2 Samuel 6 and 12. You remember that the Philistines had taken hold of the ark, and they had put it in the temple of their God. And you remember the God kept falling over, and God kept doing stuff, and so the Philistines decided, you know, the God of this ark is just not for us, obviously. So they decided to send the ark back. eventually made its way into the house of Obed-Edom. God blessed Obed-Edom and his house because the ark was there. And David then decided that he wanted to bring the ark back to Jerusalem where it belongs. This is an imprecatory psalm, where the psalmist appeals to God to impose himself on the world and especially those who hate him. Imprecatory is just the idea of talking about bringing judgment. upon the enemies of the people of God. In this case, against the enemies of God himself. So we are to pray for our enemies. That's what we're told in the Gospels. We're to love our enemies. We're to pray for those who do us wrong. But we're also to ask for God to defeat his enemies. There's an important difference there. God can do that. God is the one that brings about judgment. We are not. God is the one that condemns. We are not. So we pray for our enemies, but we also pray that God defeat his enemies and the work that his enemies are doing in the world that is an and an obstacle to God's work in the world, because the enemy is always working to thwart the works of God. This same psalm in verse 18, Paul quotes it in Ephesians 4 and 18, and speaks about Christ at his ascension, taking captivity captive, leaving gifts for men. In its immediate application, however, may also have reference to the works of Satan, as I mentioned. Satan is always working in the world to try to thwart the works of God. Even though Satan understands the Bible, understands that his time is short and that he will be defeated in the end, but he still wants to do as much damage as possible. as the epitome of sinfulness, the devil wants to do as much against God as he can possibly do. Even though his end is assured, that doesn't bring him to repentance, that doesn't bring him to change his mind or the work that he's attempting to accomplish in the world. Hebrews 10 and 29 says that it is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God. And notice here how the psalm talks about God arising, bringing judgment upon His enemies. Indeed, it is a fearful thing. I mean, imagine yourself standing before God on the day of judgment without Christ. You're naked before him, and you hear those horrible words, you know, depart from me into everlasting fire. I never need you. Nothing can be worse than that. And so that's why we need to examine ourselves again to ensure that we are in Christ so that we don't have to be the recipients of that condemnation. The ark, as I mentioned, symbolized God's strength and the place where he dwelt. 1 Samuel 4 and 4 says, the God who dwells above the cherubim. When God arises, it signifies that He is ready for battle. Numbers 10.35 begin by saying, rise, O Lord. And so when the Lord rises, it means He is ready to do battle against His enemies. And who can withstand Him? No one can withstand God at any time, but especially when He rises to war against those that are against Him. Psalm 51 and 18 is the second Scripture for us tonight. And it reads, By your favor, do good to Zion. Build the walls of Jerusalem. This is the psalm of David after he had been confronted by Nathan in the case of Uriah and Bathsheba. Remember the story? One of the famous ones of the Old Testament. Probably every children's book has it in it where David had committed sin with Bathsheba. And then he compounded the sin by having Uriah killed. When he couldn't get Uriah to go to his house and see if he could finagle the whole situation to try to extirpate himself from it, he had Uriah killed, thinking that that was going to solve the issue. Obviously, it's a good example of the effect that sin can have on the mind. Because how can David believe that God wouldn't see what he was doing? And that God wouldn't know what he was doing? And so Psalm 32 and then here in Psalm 51 are psalms of repentance in that affair. In the first part of the psalm, David appeals to God to forgive his transgressions. You remember how the psalm begins, you know, remember me, O Lord, because of your goodness, and so on and so forth. In the last part, he calls upon God to continue to forgive his sin, but this time he does so so that God's name may be made known. to the nations, and so that His goodness may be proclaimed to all." And that's where this verse 18 falls into. The idea is, God forgive me, not for my own sake alone, but also for your own sake, for your own name. Unfortunately, the reverse of what I mentioned before, when we live holy, clean lives, dedicated to the Lord, that take great testimony before the eyes of the world. Unfortunately, the reverse also happens sometimes. It happened to David here. When we don't live holy and pure lives and we speak of Christ, then what happens? The world has the opposite thought about God and about His Word. He is blasphemed. because of our actions. And so remember that our actions speak a lot louder than our words when it comes to those who are in the world. David wants to ensure that the sin he committed will not result in injury to his people as well. He wants to be held accountable himself, to be forgiven, but he doesn't want that sin to end up being a hurtful thing to his people. That is a clear sign of repentance. He's not only concerned for his own fate. and how this is going to affect himself, how he's going to be punished, but also what effect it's going to have on his people. Great sign of a great leader when he is careful about the fate of those who are entrusted to his leadership. He also wishes to avoid that the good name of God may be blasphemed because of the reproach he has brought upon it. We mentioned that already, right? He doesn't want God to be, his name to be marred or blasphemed because of his actions. Build the walls of Zion, protect your people with your mighty arms. Some folks believe that that has reference to the church age. referring to the church and the spiritual walls that are now our defense against the world and the way that God protects His people within the church. So that's why the next time somebody tells you, well, I'm spiritual, I'm a Christian, but I don't go to church, remind them that that means they're without the walls. They're not within the body, within the walls that God is protecting His people from the world. 2 Thessalonians 3 and 1. Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you. Pray for us. Paul, Silas, Timothy, in this case specifically, They were laboring in Corinth at the time, and they asked for prayers. Now, think about that for a second. 2 Thessalonians was written probably in the early 50s. That means that these Christians may have been, some of the older ones may have been Christians for maybe eight, nine years, not very long. Compared to Paul, certainly, who by this time had been converted for 20 years, had been a very zealous Jew, knew the scriptures, and yet he is asking for these believers' prayers. Even the strongest of believers need prayers. And sometimes those prayers can come even from the newest of believers. Have you ever thought about that? You can become a Christian today, and tomorrow you can be praying for the pastor, for example, who's been a believer for over 40 years. And God will hear those prayers just as much as He will the prayers of somebody who's been a Christian for 50 years or more. It's an amazing thing. It's a wonderful thing, really, that we all can pray for each other, and our prayers will be just as effective. Spurgeon said, what can a minister do if he has not the prayers of the saints? And I echo that sentiment. The minister can accomplish little if his people are not praying for him on a consistent basis. And so if you don't do already, and I'm sure that you do, but just a reminder, pray for our minister. Pray for our pastor, because he certainly needs it. It's a great responsibility. that he has. I'm sure that if he were here, he would tell you it's a great privilege as well, but it's also a great responsibility. So Paul says, pray for us. It is in the imperative and it's also in a present tense. In other words, the idea is continue to pray. Don't just pray once and then a couple of months later come back and pray again, but rather on a continual basis, pray for your ministers. It is imperative that we pray for those who are laboring, even in other congregations, in the mission field. for our pastors, for our teachers, our missionaries. We have done, a couple of times we have prayed for other congregations, sister congregations in Houston, the congregation where Lee is a pastor of in West Virginia. And I think we should do that more often. Certainly, we don't have to wait until we do it in a group setting. We can also do it personally, in our own personal prayers. We should do that on a regular basis. And Paul says, a prayer that the Word may spread. The literal meaning here is that the Word may run. You know how a forest fire, it just spreads and it runs. So that's the idea here, that it'll just continue to run unimpeded. and rampant. Satan is always opposing the Word, just like everything else that God does. We need the prayers of the saints to help us overcome that opposition. Prayer is our tool, one of the tools that we use to overcome that opposition. The Spirit of the Word has been entrusted to us. Therefore, we need constant prayer that we may carry out the charge to the utmost. So that when those opportunities present themselves, we can avail ourselves of them so that we can testify for the Lord. A lot of times we have these opportunities and they go by and we don't recognize them, unfortunately. And that happened just today to me. There was an opportunity and I didn't realize it until hours later. long after everything had been done and I couldn't go back and make it right. So unfortunately that happens to us a lot of times and so we need to be in prayer so that we have to have a prayerful spirit so that we can be sensitive to the spirits leading in those situations. Again spreading that I may encounter no obstacles. The world is belittling beset by unbelievers. And even so-called believers are besetting the church, speaking against the church, speaking against the Word. Not long ago, I saw this video where Todd Friel, I don't know if you know who he is, Todd Friel, you know, Wretched Radio. And he was talking to supposedly another believer because he was doing one of his college open-air preaching things. I don't know if you've seen some of those videos. Okay. And so this person who was supposed to be a believer was sort of contradicting him. and saying, well, you know, that's your interpretation, which is sort of common. How often have you spoken to so-called believers who are always talking about how that's your interpretation and all in an effort to try to blunt the edge of what you're telling them, which is the truth, right, of the gospel. And so even those who call themselves believers a lot of times are a hindrance to the spread of the word. And that's an unfortunate thing, obviously. that those who call themselves believers are throwing roadblocks before the spread of the word. And so it's not just the unbelievers that are a problem, it's the so-called believers as well. Whether they're true believers or not, that's not for me to say, but nevertheless, they're problematic all too often. That the word may be glorified, meaning that it may be honored and exalted. This may be an allusion to the applause of the victor gain at the end of a race. That's an imagery that Paul used a lot. If you read Paul's letters, you see that he's constantly talking about the races. and the one that wins the race, and so on and so forth, he liked that metaphor. And so it has the implication that we are running for the goal and that we're going to achieve that goal, and that only when we get there, only when we finish the race, Will we gain that applause? The more the Word spreads, the more that God is glorified. Men cannot glorify God without knowledge of His will. And His will is only contained in His Word. So, don't let those folks that talk about how they get revelation from God and all that, deceive you into thinking that God has a different will than His Word. That is not true. That is not biblical. It's only in His Word. His Word alone contains His will. It is upon the Word that we focus and shine a light not our own purposes and designs, right? So we shine a light on the word. When we talk to folks, and that's what's so difficult sometimes when you're dealing with people who call you a bigot or prejudice or whatever, and you're shining a light on the word, you're showing them what the word says, and yet they attack you personally. That's a difficult thing to bear. But nevertheless, we have been told that we're going to be attacked, we're going to be persecuted, But we need to make sure that we are so because we're shining a light on the world and not because we're being obnoxious or somehow being difficult. The Thessalonians are seen as the example. It is interesting to note that the Jews of Thessalonica were the exact opposite of most of the Gentiles. Remember in Acts 17, what happens? The Thessalonian Jews kick Paul and his companions out of Thessalonica. But notice what happened. The Gentiles and some Jews, but primarily the Gentiles, received the word. And they believed it, and this church is the result of that. And the interesting thing is that of all the churches that Paul writes in the New Testament, the church at Thessalonica is probably the only one where he never says anything negative about them. There's always something in the other churches. Perhaps Philippi is another one. But with the other churches, there was always some issue or another. But when it comes to Thessalonica, Thessalonica was sort of the example to be upheld before everyone. And so interesting from the beginnings they had to where they were at this time. Romans 10 and 1 says, brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. If the kingdom is to come, then as many as possible need to be partakers of it. So let us try to bring as many people into the kingdom as we possibly can to exert maximum effort. Let's have a true burden for the soul of all our countrymen. Let us desire it in our hearts, not simply with our words. Let's pray for their salvation, that God will be pleased to grant them repentance unto salvation. Let's look at people as people who are in need of Christ. not as somebody who cut you off in traffic or somebody who did you wrong or somebody who stole money from you, but rather as people who are in need of Christ, who if they do not repent are going to be condemned in the end. And so we need to look at them with compassion because that is what God calls us to do. May proclamation of the truth always carry with it the love that we have for our listeners. We're angry at the devil for what he has done. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 speaks of the blindness that the people in the world have. The devil has blinded their minds and they're unable, incapable of seeing the glory of the gospel. Although we preach the truth that men will be lost if they continue in their rebellion, we don't draw pleasure from that fact. We're not like the folks who stand out there and yell at people and call them names and tell them how much God hates them. On the contrary, we try to get them to repent and to enjoy the blessings of God's salvation so that they can enjoy the blessings of God's love. So we're not out there beating them over the head with the Bible. Rather, we're showing through our lives, number one, our kindness, our peace, our love, the love and peace and kindness that come from God, and also with our words that the Gospel is the only answer to their sin problem and to their lostness problem. We are indeed unsparing in declaring the lostness of man, but we are tended and affectionate toward the objects of our preaching. And so the important thing is not being compromising. We cannot be compromising, but at the same time, we need to be kind. So don't compromise the word, but do so in a kind way. as Ephesians 4 and 15 tells us, that we are to speak the truth in love and only in love. If we do not speak the truth in love, well then we need to take a step back and make sure that we recalibrate so that those two things go together. Our society is Perhaps after the Jews, the most taught in the ways of God, and yet they are among the most blind. Have you thought about that? Think about the availability of the word in our society today. I mean, everywhere. Devices in a printed form, internet, television, etc. Everywhere, the Word is out there. And yet, the illiteracy when it comes to spiritual matters that our society has is breathtaking, really, when you think about it. And so, again, we need to be out there preaching that Word. Paul knew that outside of Christ, no one, not even the Jew, is saved. A clear repudiation of those who think that the Jew is still the people of God in a salvific way. That is not true. The church now is the people of God. And those Jews that are within the church are indeed part of that people of God, but there's no nation, no geographical nation that makes up the people of God any longer. Yet he knew that they had been entrusted with the oracles of God. They had all kinds of advantages. and yet they were unbelievers. Again, not unlike our society today. Now, we know that God has sovereignly chosen those whom we will save, but we preach to all indiscriminately. That is our charge. We're optimistic that all those to whom we preach will believe. So we don't go out there and preach and say, well, I know that nine out of the ten people that I talk to are never going to believe. No, we go out there with the idea that God is going to save, and we hope that He will save all of them. that we preach to. And that should be our approach when we preach to folks. Not, again, as something that we need to do to check a box, but because we enjoy, because we love the souls of those we preach to. Revelation 22 and 20, He who testifies to these things says, Yea, I am coming quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. No longer the angel talking here in Revelation, but Christ Himself brings the final word. Think of the symmetry of the Bible, right? How does the Bible begin? It begins with God. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And how does it end? With the Lord saying, I will come quickly. And so there's a perfect bookend. to all that is the Gospel God creates and God will come in the end to destroy and to make new. Wonderful symmetry to the Word of God. There's a sense in which the Kingdom is with us now, but there's also a sense in which it will come later. There will be a Kingdom that is yet to come. The Lord Jesus will inaugurate His Kingdom at His coming. Now, of course, there are some who believe there's a millennial thing. Other people don't. You have the a-millennials, you have the pre-millennials, and you have the post-millennials, and the something-millennials, and nothing-millennials, right? There's a lot of varieties, a lot of flavors of that idea. And so I'm not going to get into that now. You may have your own ideas, you know, and that's okay. When it comes to eschatology, that's one of those things that is difficult. Because it hasn't happened yet. And so because it hasn't happened yet... We really don't know how it's all going to take place. One thing's for sure, however, no believer disputes that there'll be a heavenly kingdom, and that in that heavenly kingdom, righteousness will dwell. 2 Peter 3 and 13 tells us so, right? So there's that assurance that there will be a kingdom, and that that kingdom will be sinless. John MacArthur talks about the thing that he's going to enjoy most about heaven is that there's not going to be any sin. And that certainly is going to be a wonderful thing. I think that the most wonderful thing of heaven is that Christ will be there, but not having to deal with sin is also among my favorite ideas of heaven, certainly. The parousia has been delayed for nearly 2,000 years. God is patient. He wants many to be saved, and His timetable is a lot longer than ours. It was centuries between Adam and Noah. It was centuries between Noah and Abraham. Between Abraham and Moses. between Moses and Christ, and it has been centuries since Christ came and went back to heaven. So his timetable is much longer than ours, right? We're here on earth for just a little bit of that timeframe. For the 2,000 years that Christ has been gone, an average human will live maybe a twentieth of that if they're lucky, and usually much less than that. For most of human history, it's been a lot less than that. But God's timeline is much longer, because He wants a lot of people to be saved, a lot of His people to come to Him. As Peter mentions, right? Not willing that any should perish, not any of you should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And so He is waiting for all of His people to be gathered in, and then when that last individual, when that last of the elect comes in, is gathered in, then God will finish arising and will then come, but not before then. And so, we love His appearing, as 2 Timothy 4 and 8 tells us, but we do not say to God, well, why are you taking so long? Because God knows His timetable and He knows it perfectly. So whether He chooses to come tomorrow or whether He chooses to wait another 5,000 years, He is doing it the right way. Now an interesting thing here about John's response to Christ is that literally it means, yea, be coming. So not only the final coming of Christ's coming in the clouds and in heaven, but it's a plea for God to accomplish His plan and work that leads to the final event. In other words, be coming continuously. Be doing the work that you need to do to bring about that final coming. And so God is indeed working in the world. He is accomplishing His purposes, even though we may not think so, but He is doing so. Sometimes behind the scenes, sometimes a little more visibly, but He is doing it. Matthew Henry said, Come Lord Jesus, put an end to this state of sin, sorrow and temptation. Gather thy people out of this present evil world and take them up to heaven, that state of perfect purity, peace and joy, and so finish thy great design and fulfill all that word in which thou hast caused thy people to hope. And to that we say a hearty amen. But we still have another question, right? So we're not quite done. The next question is, what do we pray for in the third petition? And the answer is, in the third petition, which is, I will be done in earth as it is in heaven, we pray that God, by his grace, will make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to his will in all things, as the angels do in heaven. This is not the secret will of God, right? Which he is accomplishing, but it's revealed will, obviously. God does not hold us responsible for his secret will, for his secret designs. He holds us responsible for his revealed will. And his will is, and our prayer is, that it may be done on earth as it is in heaven, where nothing and no one goes against God. In heaven, the will of God is done all the time. And of course, I realize that by saying all the time in heaven, I'm sort of like, you know, that's something that's sort of hard to understand, the idea of time in heaven. But nevertheless, there isn't any instance where God's will is not done in heaven. Nothing in heaven defiles or defies God. And so that is the way that we pray that God's will may be done on earth. So that nothing defiles and nothing defies God. We must work to rid ourselves of anything within us that is contrary to the will of God. I mentioned that already. Cleansing ourselves, examining ourselves, giving ourselves over to the Spirit so that the Spirit can tell us, look, This are the kind of things that you need to work on, so to speak. And of course, He's not going to come to us by night and tell us like that, right? But we are led by promptings, by urgings, and especially by the Word of God. The Word is the one that's going to tell us specifically where we need to change. Psalm 119, 34 to 36. Give me understanding that I may observe your law and keep it with all my heart. Make me walk in the path of your commandments for I delight in it. Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to dishonest gain. The psalmist implores God to guide and lead him in the correct way based on God's revelation and not his own intuitions or belief. When we trust God rather than ourselves, we will always be led in the right path. Someone and I were talking just a little while ago about emotions, and how emotions are not necessarily bad. God has given us emotions, and so we shouldn't completely suppress them. But they're something that we must control, because our emotions a lot of times can deceive us. We need to think about things clearly, rationally, be clear-headed about things, and not allow our emotions to be the ones that dictate what we believe and what we do and what we follow. But again, our emotions are something that can be good in its proper setting and under the proper conditions. To have understanding, according to the psalmist, is to observe and keep the law of God. To keep it with the whole heart is to keep it with undivided attention and complete commitment. So that is what having understanding is all about. You keep the law, you understand it better. The more you do the will of God, the better you understand it. And so the psalmist reminds us of that very fact. And he says, with undivided attention, complete commitment. Don't be committed today and then not committed tomorrow, but make it a consistent thing. We humans are famous for being hot and cold often, right? Whether it's spiritual lives or in many other ways. Today we're just on fire and then the next day it sort of like wanes a little bit, right? But rather we need to keep fanning those flames and being committed to Christ all the time. We are to incline or apply our hearts to the testimonies of God, not to other dishonest affairs. 2 Corinthians 2, 14-17, Paul talks about that very thing. We preach the gospel, and we do so not for sordid gain, but we preach it in sincerity. So when we speak the law, when we speak the gospel of Christ, we do so in sincerity, not for dishonest gain. And that's not just about money. In the context that Paul is talking about, it has to do with financial gain. but gain of any kind. We don't do it because we want to gain something out of it. Rather, we do it because we love our God and we love those that we speak to. God does not incline the heart to evil, but he may suffer it to be inclined. This is similar to asking him not to lead us into temptation. The entire psalm is a recognition by the writer that he is completely dependent on God. Were it not for God, he would be hopelessly lost in sin. God doesn't owe us anything. He simply is merciful, and he is gracious. And if it were not for God's mercy and grace, we would all be hopelessly lost. But he has decided here he wants to choose for himself a people. We are the beneficiaries of that mercy and of that grace, and so we should live accordingly. Work in me both the will and the ability to do your good pleasure, as Philippians 2 and 13 tells us. Acts 21 and 14, And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, The will of the Lord be done. You know, this may seem a strange verse when we're talking about prayer and about the things of the Lord Prayer, but not really. It demonstrates that we are willing, as mature believers, for God's will to be done, even when it goes against our desires. The context here is, one of the prophets came to Paul and said, if you go to Jerusalem, or when you go to Jerusalem, they're going to bind you and they're going to hand you over to the Gentiles. And so the Christians, the believers, started entreating Paul and saying, don't go, don't go, right? As any of us would do if we have somebody that we love. And we know that something evil awaits him if he were to take a certain action. But Paul tells him, no, he feels compelled to go by the Spirit. He needs to go. And so in the end, the believers say, the will of the Lord be done. And so they commended him to God's protection. The judge of all the earth will do right, as Abraham said in Genesis 18, even if it seems dangerous at the time and even if it seems counterintuitive. In the end, he is accomplishing something through that work. And because Paul was handed over to the Gentiles, he had the opportunity to go and testify in Rome. No telling how many souls were saved there because Paul was in jail in Rome for two years. Interesting. And so this is not fatalistic, stoic resignation. This is confidence in God's provision, in a living God who is accomplishing His will. A good example of God's sovereignty in man's activity. They sought to persuade Paul not to go, but they commended him to God in the end. In the end, After we have done all we can do, we have to realize that God's will reigns supreme, and we should commit ourselves to that will and to that faithful Creator. Psalm 103, 20 and 22. Bless the Lord, you His angels, His mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all you works of His, and all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, all my soul. The psalmist began this psalm with an exhortation for his soul to praise God. And now it ends by exhorting all creation to do so. The angels do all of God's bidding. They serve as an example for us to follow. When God speaks, they obey, and so should we. God's Word should be our bidding and our command. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory, as Isaiah 6 said. The cherubim and the angels crying that about the Lord, and that's what they do all the time. Again, I'm saying time in heaven, but for our purposes, it's all the time. It can also have reference to the works of God's redemptive labor, those whom he has created anew. And so not just about the fact that God created the heavens and the earth, the universe, but also the creation, his new creation that he has created in each one of us in Christ. So we are to praise him for being the creator of the universe, also for being the creator of his people and the creative work that he is doing every day in the life of his own. God's dominion extends to the whole of creation. Our praise should extend as well for all of his attributes. Not just the attributes that people seem to like most, right? His love, his mercy, his grace, but also his wrath and his judgment, right? Because those are also his attributes and they are perfect just like the other attributes are perfect. We should praise God for all of them and we should praise him for the fact that he is who he is. So the psalm ends as it begins. He now joins the chorus of all creation in blessing God. Again, I quote Matthew Henry, God's praise is a subject that will never be exhausted and therefore we should never think this work is done until we come to heaven where it will be forever in the doing. And so once we begin to praise God from the day of our redemption, from the day of our salvation, it will never stop for the rest of eternity. And so with that thought, I leave you tonight, and hopefully it's been a benefit to you.