The Will of God
Notes
Transcript
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever hit a wall in your walk with God?
Be honest, I know I have
I feel like I’m not growing or I’m not effective enough
or I’ve messed up so much that I’m not sure that God can even use me
All human thoughts
As I was studying the other day in my quiet time
I prayed to God that He would give me a simple answer
on how to be more effective in my ministry and my life
Low and behold, that’s the King James for
right there in front of me was the answer to my prayer
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank You God for the answer!
It was that simple
so all I need to be effective in my life is to focus on
virtue (goodness), knowledge, self-control (not one of my stronger qualities, but ok)
steadfastness (perseverance also combined with patience, ugh!)
godliness (which is impossible without all the others)
brotherly affection (liking people that you may not like or may not like you!)
love (agape love, self-sacrificing love)
This is what it takes according to God’s Word to be effective and fruitful
IT was what I asked for,
but not necessarily what I wanted to hear
Now I have a choice
Do I do what God wants?
or do I ignore it and do what I want?
RECAP
RECAP
This is a model prayer, not necessarily meant to repeat as rote
Jesus didn’t mean for us to use this as a recitation
Matthew 6:7 (ESV)
“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
He wanted us to use this as an outline, a structure
Matthew 6:9 (ESV)
Pray then like this:
Not pray this exact wording
or pray these words
but pray in this manner
It begins with the address
Matthew 6:9 (ESV)
“Our Father in heaven,
Our Father or dearest Father
abba, daddy
an intimate relationship
Where God lives
in heaven
remember heaven isn’t necessarily a place
it is a realm, a different sphere
one that is currently present right here where we are today
but one that cannot be seen by us
Everything we do and say
are witnessed by God and his heavenly host
because they are right here with us
they just exist on a different plane than we do
3 Petitions
3 Petitions
Matthew 6:9 (ESV)
hallowed be your name.
Hallowed be Your name
Your name be made holy, set apart
may Your name be made great
Matthew 6:10a (ESV)
Your kingdom come,
Your Kingdom Come
The already, but not yet tension
Paul addresses Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:5 -
5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Paul just shared with Timothy
that there will be a time
when people will "not endure sound doctrine"
or better said
"people will have no stomach for solid teaching
but will fill up their stomach with spiritual junk food
catchy opinions that tickle their fancy
they'll turn their backs and chase mirages" from the Message
So Paul tells Timothy to
be watchful in all things
accept the hard times with the good
Keep sharing the gospel
and fulfill your ministry
Timothy's ministry had started but wasn't finished
Paul knew the end of his race was coming
but he knew that Timothy wasn't done yet
similar to what Jesus is telling us here
He knew that the end of His time on earth was coming
but that He would be coming back
and that the people that he was leaving on earth
had work to do
This is the tension of the already come, but not yet finished
God's Kingdom was already here
Jesus had come
but it would not be completed until Jesus comes back
He came as a lamb
and returning as the Lion
He came as the redeemer
but returns as the King of kings
Matthew 6:10b (ESV)
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Your Will be done
There is a lot packed into this one statement
The big question I would commonly get is
what is God’s will for my life?
another question that arises from this statement is
Is Jesus referring to his second coming?
or is Jesus referring to right now?
Hasn’t some of God’s will already come?
What does the will of God really mean?
God’s Will
God’s Will
When we open up the rabbit hole of God’s Will
Let me say that we will never be able to cover all that is necessary in a short 3 hour sermon
But there are some highlights we can look at to understand the will of God
and more importantly
what does that mean for our lives today?
Let me first answer the question, what is God’s will?
As a whole, when the Bible says God’s will
what does that mean
The easy answer is God’s Will equals, what does God want?
And that’s a kind of a huge statement
Because there’s what God wants for our lives
which is what most people think about
when they hear the words, “God’s will”
but it’s way more than than what God wants for our lives
Present Will versus Future Will
Present Will versus Future Will
Here’s what I found out
Let’s start with, has God’s will already come or is it coming?
Is what God wants completely fulfilled?
Or is there more to come that God wants?
The answer to those questions are yes
This statement is kind of the summary of the first two petitions already said
Hallowed be your name and Your Kingdom come
God’s wants are for His name to be made holy both now and in the future
and God’s will is for His kingdom to come both now and in the future
So God’s wants are happening right now and what He wants for in the future.
Easy.
Similar to God’s kingdom
God’s perfect will, His wants, cannot fully be finished
until God’s complete kingdom comes
however, there are part of God’s will, God’s wants
that have already been accomplished fully
When God spoke the heavens and the earth into existence
He said let there be light and the lights turned on
He said let there be trees and there were trees
He created man in His image
and a fully grown and developed man appeared
Revealed Will vs. Hidden Will
Revealed Will vs. Hidden Will
These are what are known as God’s revealed will of God
Things we can know that God has said
because when God wills something, it’s going to happen
and it is recorded for us in The Bible to read about it
This same revealed will that made worlds
is also the same will that redeems our soul
The question becomes how did God do these things?
In the future, how do we know who we are going to marry?
How do we know our careers?
How do we know how many children we will have
how do we know our death date?
Well that is the hidden will of God
The hidden wants of God
We don’t really know the logistics of how God saves people.
We don’t know our death date
we don’t know any of these things
we don’t even know for some of us
if we will get married
if we will have a career
These are all determined by God’s hidden will or wants
The revealed will of God says
We are sinners and separated from God
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
If that were the whole story, God would be a terrible God
God’s revealed will says this though
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God redeems us through His Son Jesus Christ
If we place Jesus as Lord over our lives
and we believe that God sent Jesus to die and rise for us
we will be saved
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
The hidden will of God are where people get messed up
Is God fully sovereign to choose who will get saved and predestine people?
Or does God allow free will to give people the choice?
This is the hidden will of God. We don’t really know
and we won’t really know until we get to our heavenly home and can ask Him
and even then, we may not know because it is the hidden will of God.
What gets in the way of the wants of God is simple
human pride
Pride is the fall of mankind
and pride cross wires God’s will with our own wants
When we place our wants ahead of God’s will
God takes His hands off and allows us to in most cases
and we take control of our lives
which in most cases isn’t a good thing
The Bottom line in all this is
We cannot know the hidden will of God because it’s none of our business
That’s why it’s the hidden will of God
We should spend far less time worrying about the hidden will of God
like Calvinism and Armeneanism
or when is Jesus going to return
and trying to understand all the prophesies of the Bible
and be more concerned about the revealed will of God.
What has God definitely said we are supposed to be doing?
Here’s an example:
1 Thessalonians 4:3 (ESV)
For this is the will of God, your sanctification:
In other words
God’s revealed want for everyone is this
grow in maturity with Him
whatever job you may get
whatever town you live in
Where you are going to school
whomever you marry
how many kids you are going to have
when is Jesus coming back
all these are secondary to the revealed wants of God in our life
The first is growing in holiness
and holiness is following what we know in the commands of God
That’s called sanctification
When we pray for God’s will to be done
For God’s want to happen
We are praying for His wants, both revealed and hidden
to be done both here now and in the future
through our own lives and in His kingdom
and are covenanting, promising with Him
that we will allow Him to work through us
Don’t pray “Your will be done”
and then not allow God to work through You
that would be called lying
That brings us to this part of the prayer
Jesus goes further and says
Matthew 6:10 (ESV)
on earth as it is in heaven.
Why would Jesus say this?
Matthew, vols. 1-4 (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary) (Wrong Understanding of God’s Will)
The very fact that Jesus tells us to pray Thy will be done on earth indicates that God’s will is not always done on earth. It is not inevitable. In fact, lack of faithful prayer inhibits His will being done. In God’s wise and gracious plan, prayer is essential to the proper working of His divine will on earth.
I received a piece of mail on Monday that was interesting
The mail was from an organization that was clearly looking for support
The first paragraph read some interesting finds
The letter says, “We believe America is under God’s judgment and unless we dramatically change course, our country is doomed like other once-blessed empires in the Bible.”
Let’s break this down a little bit
against what God’s revealed wants actually say in His Word
First, our country doesn’t appear in the Bible, anywhere
Second, to call our country an empire implies an emperor which we don’t have
unless you count God as the one sovereign ruler
and I’m sure that most will argue against that
Third blessings are not always about peace and prosperity
sometimes blessings come by way of not granting things
and most blessings can come through adversity as well
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
I think the biggest offense is when they claim we are under God’s judgment
First, If you are a believer in Christ
you are no longer face God’s judgment
Second, God’s judgment is coming one day, but it’s not here yet
The country cannot be under judgment
The people can be though
We are all under judgment if we choose to ignore the gift of Jesus Christ that God sent to each one of us
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The choice is to remain under God’s judgment, death
or receive the free gift of God who is Jesus Christ
This is how the revealed will of God works in our lives
We can get spam mail like this
and read it through what God really has communicated about His wants
However, God’s wants aren’t always being done on earth because
The earth is broken
it became broken the second sin entered into the world
sin entered the world through the first humans
and from that point on, when they rebelled against God
sin has been here ever since
So for God’s will to be fully restored and fulfilled
God’s full kingdom must be restored
and for God’s full kingdom to be restored, Jesus has to come back and claim it
Until that time
unless God’s people, Christ believers, are fully engaged with God
praying to God, dependent on God
sharing God’s gospel with the lost
making disciples of all people
and being deployed into the world
God’s will is not being accomplished here on earth
The prayer that Jesus was teaching is simple
Lord, whatever You have going on in heaven
whatever wants you are able to accomplish there
We want here on earth as well to the best of Your ability
and the best of our ability to allow You to accomplish it through us
We’ll never achieve heaven on earth
but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ask or try to get there
That’s God’s want for us
sanctification, growth, becoming more like Him.
Dependent on Him which is why we pray
When it comes to praying for the will or wants of God
It is both praying for His plan to come in the future
but also praying for His plan to happen in our lives right now
and praying for God to use us as well as
promising God we will be able to be used
Three simple questions to answer in your life
Do You Pray?
Do You Pray?
This is part of how you fulfill the will of God.
IF God’s will is growth, sanctification
who do you depend on for your every day needs?
Notice Jesus didn’t start with our needs first
He started with our dependence on God first
That brings us to
How do you pray?
How do you pray?
Are you praying in sincerity or just going through the motions?
The first three lines of the model prayer all focus on God
the rest focus on the needs of the disciple
But how self-centered our prayers usually are, focused on our needs, our plans, our aspirations, our understandings. We are often like tiny infants, who know no world but the world of their own feelings and wants. One of the greatest struggles of the Christian life is to fight the old sinful habits, with their constant and unrelenting focus on self
Do you pray in faith?
How many people pray in obligation or just obedience
believing that because God is sovereign
whatever He wants to happen is going to happen anyway
Why would Jesus then tell us to pray for God’s will to be done on earth?
Why would Jesus pray himself for the cup of God’s wrath to be passed from him is it weren’t possible?
Why would Jesus tell the story about the persistent widow who wouldn’t leave the judge alone
When we pray in faith, we believe that God will hear and answer our prayers
Does that mean that He will always give us what we want?
absolutely not!
First, sometimes what we want isn’t in our best interest
Second, sometimes what we want, isn’t what will glorify God in the end or accomplish His purpose
But we can have faith that He will answer us in some way.
Remember it’s about what God wants
and what what will glorify Him
and accomplish the things He needs for His Kingdom
What do you pray for?
What do you pray for?
Are you praying for God’s will or your own?
How many times do we try to pray people out of heaven
when their greatest desire is to go there
and they would probably be better off?
I understand we do that because we don’t want to let them go
But if we truly believe that heaven is a better place
we should pray for an easy transition
rather than trying to keep them here
When we list a bunch of health issues
are we concerned because they might experience pain?
So we pray to make ourselves feel better
rather than what God may need to accomplish in their life?
The revealed will of God says that He can use suffering to bring people closer to Him
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
Are you making His name great and holy in Your prayers?
Or is it easier to jump into a conversation
without addresing the Father and Creator
without reverence to Who He is?
Are you praying for the kingdom of God to come soon?
Realizing that we still have work to do
and that we don’t know the hidden will of God
of when Jesus is coming back
We are to pray for God’s kingdom to come
and honestly and selfishly, the sooner the better
However, if you know people that are lost
You might want to pray for them as well
praying for God’s kingdom to come could be a selfish prayer
Especially if you know of people that need to hear the gospel
and you are praying for Jesus to come back
because you are tired of living
and fighting with the world
Are you praying to be part of the kingdom to the best of your ability?
Praying for God’s wants to be accomplished in your life?
praying for You to be usable and for God to use you
These are all wrapped up in the prayers
Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
