The Will of God

Luke 11:2

How is God’s will done in Heaven

How is God’s will done in heaven? A Sunday-school teacher was once questioning his class as to the meaning of petition, “thy will be done,” when he said, “And how do you suppose that the angels, who are to be our patterns, do God’s will?” Several very proper answers were given, and, at last, a little girl arose, and said, “Why, sir, they do it without asking any question!”

I. It is certainly done zealously.

Neither lagging nor loitering; no lame excuses for neglecting God’s will. Can we claim to be zealous, even in a moderate degree? Are we zealous enough to do things which really call for no special sacrifice or endurance?

II. The Angels in heaven do God’s will reverently.

Contrast the four-and-twenty elders, whom St. John beheld in his vision, falling down before the divine redeemer and casting their golden crowns in the dust (Rev 4:11) with the conduct of sinful mortals. They treat God’s holy temple with disrespect, refuse to bend their stubborn knees in prayer, and then ask whether the lesson which the reverent behavior of the angels teaches has been perfectly learned.

II.    Again: God’s will is done in heaven perseveringly.

The angelic host “…serve him day and night in his temple…” (Rev 7:15); and “they rest not day and night” (Rev 4:8) in their exalted ascriptions of praise.  While the weakness of our moral nature obliges us to rest, even from the offices of our religion, the blessed spirits in the better land move swiftly, without sense of weariness, and worship God with undistracted soul.  What a change must come over us before those who fancy that they are patterns of propriety-merely because they attend public worship for a brief hour, Sunday morning and evening-will be prepared to serve God day and night, in the heavenly sanctuary.

III. God’s will is also done in heaven with cheerful alacrity.

The passage from the vision of Isaiah (Isa 6: 1-3) need hardly be quoted to prove this point.

IV. Angels, moreover, do God’s will in heaven harmoniously.

Jealousy and envy find no admittance there.

V. Once More: God’s will is done in heaven perfectly.

Imperfections and frailties mar our best services on earth. Angels no sooner learn the will of God, than it is promptly and perfectly obeyed.

-Pastor Randy V. Crosslin