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God's Will • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction: How Do We Know?
Last week I spoke about God’s sovereign will. His master plan that has been in place since before the foundation of the world was formed. “God willing” points to the humility of those who believe in Him in accepting that He has a master plan and that His will, will be done. He gives us free will and we can make plans for our lives but our plans are subordinate to His. The great thing is that He has not left us in the dark and He doesn’t expect us to find our way on our own. He has made a way for us to know how to live and to know what He expects of us.
He provided us with all the information we need, to know what His will for our lives is. This information is His revealed will. It is revealed throughout the bible. It begins in chapter one of Genesis and ends in chapter 22 of the book of Revelation.
The commands are presented to us in different ways depending upon the author of the book. Some of the commands come with a promise of good when followed like Matthew 6:14 ;
14 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
Forgive others and He’ll forgive you. It’s pretty simple.
And some commands come with a promise of bad if they are not followed such as James 5:9
9 Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.
Judge and you shall be judged, once again pretty simple.
The one thing to remember is that there are a lot of commands to follow. We can’t learn them all at once and we can’t do them all at once. So study and learn what God’s revealed will is and then make them a part of your everyday. As you learn more you will become more like Jesus and your light will shine brighter before men.
Here is a part of a psalm that points to God’s revealed will as being the best thing for us in our everyday lives.
Scripture: Psalm 119:105-112
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
106 I have sworn and I will confirm it, That I will keep Your righteous ordinances.
107 I am exceedingly afflicted; Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
108 O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, And teach me Your ordinances.
109 My life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts.
111 I have inherited Your testimonies forever, For they are the joy of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, even to the end.
The light on the path shows the way to travel. Most lights only illuminate enough to keep you moving in the right path. We don’t need to see everything, as long as it leads us in the right path. His Word is that lamp that shines the light and His word is the revelation of His will for how we are to conduct ourselves in this life.
Transitional sentence: God did not leave us to wander through darkness without a lamp to light our way.
What is the lamp He provided to light our way?
It is, as I said, His Revealed Will. The revealed will of God is concerned with the ethical principles and standards that God has revealed in Scripture for His people to follow. It includes commandments, guidelines, and teachings that reflect God’s character and desires for how humans should live in accordance with His will. This aspect of God’s will provides a moral framework for making decisions and discerning right from wrong.
The lamp He provided for us, according to Psalm 119:105-112, is His word, ordinances, law, precepts, statutes and testimonies. But what are all of these things?
To begin with:
i. God’s word refers to the Bible/Scripture, which is seen as God’s communication to humanity, containing His will, truth and guidance.
ii. His ordinances are authoritative rules.
iii. His law is a whole collected body of laws; sometimes one or more of the five books of Moses and other times simply an unspecified set of laws.
iv. His precepts are rules of personal conduct.
v. His statutes are authoritative rules.
vi. His testimonies are solemn statements made under oath or as part of a covenant.
Yeah - there is a bit of overlap with these definitions but you need to remember this is English. We don’t have the same variations in definitions as the original Hebrew has and each of these words is also a different word in Hebrew, each of which have meanings specific to the use. We lose a little bit in translation by having the same definition for multiple words.
b. But why do we need to follow all of these rules? Romans 12:2
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
The transformation and renewing of the mind will bring about a desire to follow the rules. The renewing brings a desire to do the will of God. The renewing brings a desire to walk a path of righteousness.
God’s word, ordinances, precepts, and statues act as guard rails along the path to keep us from straying off the path. The stuff on the other side of the guard rail looks good but the only thing over there is a whole lot of ugly. It might be safe to walk on the wild side for a short while but the other side of the guard rail is full of pitfalls and snares designed to trap you in sin and turn you back to the darkness.
That’s why we don’t want to be conformed to this world and it’s seductive ways. We want to be transformed, changed and made new by the work of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in our lives. Transformation sets us up on the path and gives us a lamp which will help us walk the path without straying to the left or the right.
c. The desired outcome of God’s will is sanctification. 1 Thessalonians 4:3a
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification;
According to
Easton’s Bible Dictionary Sanctification
SANCTIFICATION involves more than a mere moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the influences of the new gracious principles implanted in the soul in regeneration. In other words, sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man. It is the special office of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption to carry on this work. Faith is instrumental in securing sanctification, inasmuch as it (1) secures union to Christ, and (2) brings the believer into living contact with the truth, whereby he is led to yield obedience “to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come.”
This is the desired outcome of walking the true path of righteousness. Sanctification, which draws us nearer to Jesus and makes us more like Jesus.
2. So here is the story of how God’s will was revealed to humankind.
Once upon a time there was a man named Moses. He was kind of special. He was a Hebrew born in the usual way in the country of Egypt back in the day when the Hebrews were enslaved as a people by the Egyptians. At the time newly born Hebrew boys were to be killed because the Hebrews were growing to strong for the Egyptians to handle. Well this boy was not killed. Instead his mother sent him down the Nile in a ark, that’s right an ark. It was actually just a reed basket but it was used to save his life. The basket was found by the princess of Egypt and she kept him and raised him as her own. Well fast forward a few years, things happen which involve the death of an Egyptian and Moses is on the run for murder. He finds his way to a country called Midian were he finds a wife, Zipporah, starts a family and learns to keep sheep. Can you imagine, the prince of Egypt keeping sheep. That’s the first 40ish years of the life of Moses and is covered in chapters 1 and 2 of the book of Exodus.
a. The revelation of God’s will for all humanity begins with a burning Bush. That’s one of those miracle things that pops up in many of the stories of God’s people. When Moses goes to see this thing he gets his first taste of God’s personal will for his life after he receives an explanation about what God is about to do. Exodus 3:10 says:
10 “Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
That sounds like a mission to me. Of course Moses, like so many other missionaries, requires a lot of convincing before he picks up his walking stick and packs his bag and gets on his way.
b. That’s when everything changes. Moses returns to the land of his birth and the land of enslavement. He begins his mission - let my people go. If you don’t know the whole story check it out. As Moses and his brother Aaron press Pharoah to let their people go God begins to stretch His hand over the land of Egypt to destroy them and force Pharoah to drive the Hebrews from his presence. In order to force Pharoah to release His people, God reveals His will to Moses; as God’s wrath rains down on Egypt. It begins with:
water turning to blood - Moses looks an awful lot like Charlton Heston
frogs covering the land
gnats covering the land
At this 4th plague God makes a distinction between His people and the Egyptians. With this plague only the Egyptian’s livestock in the fields die
Egyptians break out in boils
Hail devastates the land
Locusts cover the land
Darkness covers the land
And then the final plague - the death of the first born.
This is when things really start to get interesting. This is the beginning of chapter 12. This is when God begins to reveal His will to Moses and Aaron. It begins with the ordinances for the passover lamb followed by the ordinances for celebrating and observing passover as a continual annual festival to the Lord to celebrate all of the great things He has done, especially the passing over of the first born of the Hebrew nation as He slaughters the first born of Egypt. These ordinances are for the nation of Israel but everything has to start somewhere.
c. At this point the story changes again. The Hebrews leave Egypt and Moses begins to document the trip from slavery to the promised land. Along the way God shows His faithfulness to the Hebrew nation and Moses records these events as the testimony of God. Moses also records God’s statutes and precepts for His people that they may do well in the land of milk and honey when they finally get there. But it’s at chapter 20 where God’s will for the conduct of men is recorded. Exodus 20:2-17 is the record of the Ten Commandments. After that God reveals a lot more about His will and how we should live. This revelation of God’s will is recorded in the first five books of the Bible; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. All five books are attributed to Moses, all five books show the will of God specifically for His people Israel and generally for all of humanity. God’s specific will for all those who believe in His Son, Jesus Christ will come later, about 1300 years later.
3. So where do we go to find God’s revealed will?
a. Well generally the Bible is considered the best place to find His will. There are other texts but most Protestant Christians stick to the 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books of our Holy Bible.
In talking about His revealed will; can anyone think of the first bit of revealed will and where it is found? The first bit is found in Genesis 1:28-30
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so.
This is God’s first imperative command for the human race; be fruitful and multiply. That was probably an easy command to follow, it was the second one that didn’t go so well. They ate the fruit they weren’t supposed to eat.
Here’s a list of other things that God wills for His children. This list is only a small example.
1. Salvation for all: 1 Timothy 2:3-4
3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2. Holiness, Sanctification and Avoiding Sin: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7
3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,
5 not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
6 and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.
7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.
3. Service: 1 Peter 4:10
10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
4. Submission to Authority: Romans 13:1-2
1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
5. Rejoice, Pray and Give Thanks: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always;
17 pray without ceasing;
18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
All of these and many more point to God’s Revealed will for mankind.
b. So, what are all of these verses? Well, they are Imperative commands. To put it simply they are “completely necessary” for us to fulfill God’s will for our lives. As you read your bible you will see that there are positive, negative and exhortative imperative commands. Even though they are different they all carry the same idea of necessity. As you read along you may also notice that there are things that are called Indicatives. These are statements of fact like “God loves you.”
So the imperative is a command or instruction for believers to act, while an indicative is a statement of fact about what God is doing or has done. The key principle is that biblical imperatives always flow from the indicative, meaning obedience stems from gratitude for God’s grace, not as a way to earn favor. God’s actions (the indicatives) empower believers to respond with actions (the imperatives).
An example of the two working together is Philippians 2:12-13
12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
“Work out your own salvation… for it is God who works in you”
Work out your own salvation is the imperative, and God works in you is the indicative. Our desire to work out our own salvation flows from the fact that God is working in us. The imperatives and indicatives working together motivates obedience which makes following these commands possible and even desirable.
So with all of that said:
c. You can follow God’s revealed will, or you can pass on it. If you choose to follow there are promises in the indicatives that are attached to the imperatives. One good example of this is that God so loved the world and all those who believe will have eternal life.
But if you pass on following God’s revealed will there are promises there too. Promises that leave you isolated and separated from God for eternity.
Exit: God has a master plan that he is bringing about as He weaves a Grand Tapestry together. A Grand Tapestry controlled by His sovereign will. But He isn’t weaving this Tapestry together all by Himself. Every person on earth has a part in this Tapestry. Some for good and some for ill. Those who are participating for good are helping by taking His revealed will to heart. Our participation and acceptance of His ordinances, precepts and statutes keep us following a path that was planned out for us from the beginning. And those who are participating for ill have to be manipulated and controlled to keep their part in the Tapestry in order. Following the path set out for us by the Father is not a hard path to follow.
Some of God’s commands can be hard, like forgiving someone you believe doesn’t deserve to be forgiven, or maybe praying for someone who just destroyed your car. The great thing about these commands is that you aren’t expected to do it alone. As believers we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us. It’s through His power that we have what we need to do the hard things. It’s only through His power that we can even understand all of these commands let alone do them.
If you don’t have the Spirit of God dwelling in you so that you are able to understand and follow God’s commands then you need Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. It’s only through faith in Jesus that you will be reconciled to God, Forgiven of your sins and accepted into the family of God. As Romans 10:8-10 says:
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
So there’s one last command for you, especially if you do not believe. Confess, Believe and be saved.
Pray:
