Sermon Tone Analysis

13 May 18

In the King’s Service: Live Like Our Lord

Turn to 1 Peter 4

As I mentioned last week, I am invited into the King’s service.

Jesus said to His first disciples, “Come, follow me.”

Jesus continues to issue out that invitation.

After all, He is the King and the King is calling.

As you may know, I enjoy stories about kings, knights and dragons - that fantasy genre.

In these stories a good king will lead his army on a quest - perhaps to defeat a terrible enemy or come to the aid of allies or rescue damsels in distress – and dudes in distress, too - not dudes in a dress, but dudes in distress.

They always fight against the odds ….

There’s a part of me that likes that adventure.

And in the real world, our King does the same thing - He calls me into His service, then leads me to go and make disciples, to fight the enemy, to push back darkness and to rescue.

The Christian life, if I allow it, is an adventure in the King’s service.

But if I make the Christian life about me - then I’m not really in the King’s service.

What does it mean to be in the King’s service?

There are many objectives, quests if you will, but for this series,

Our Objective: To Serve.

Again, we’re talking about the spirit gift that God has given me for His service.

Of course, being in His service includes others - love God and your neighbor.

During this series, I’m asking myself how do I become a servant of the King?

How do I reach this objective?

Backward planning

- identifying the steps necessary to reach my objective.

1) Crown Christ as Lord

- I must set Him apart as King of my life – 1 Peter 3:15.

We talked about pledging fealty to my King.

2) Think Like our Lord

- I learn to think like Him when I take the time to observe Him and then assimilate his nature into mine.

That should lead to some action …

3) Live Like our Lord

Again, look at

Living for the will of God, among many things, is really what separates Christ from anyone else.

He had absolute adherence to the will of God.

The will of God was paramount to anything else in His life.

People wanted to make Him a leader; wanted Him to overthrow the Romans, wanted Him to do this and do that, go here and go there - but here’s the thing -

Jesus had only one agenda.

Even while dying on a cross - people yelling at Him to come down He stuck to His Father’s agenda.

That should be my goal - to do what I see my King doing - to spend the remainder of my days doing the will of God.

So, let’s take a moment and talk about God’s will.

When we speak of God’s will, it’s helpful to break it down into 4 categories - and I’ve discussed before, but it merits a review.

Keep in mind, not all people agree … this is my theology.

1) God’s General Will.

God’s general will is universal - it is for everyone.

For instance, it is God’s will that all people love Him and love their neighbor.

It is God’s will that we don’t murder, steal, don’t lie and so on.

God’s will that we respect, honor, serve, care for one another ….

Knowing God’s will for my life begins with The Word.

If I want to know God’s will for me, most of it is in Scripture.

A lack of knowing God’s will, in most part, is due to a lack of reading and/or obeying His Word.

The second category is …

2) Gods’ Specific Will.

This is limited to a specific individual or a select group of people.

For example, God might call a congregation to go to Timbuktu for a mission trip; while another congregation is called to start a local daycare.

Individually, God might call me or convict me of something that only applies to me and no one else.

That’s God’s specific will.

Number three is …

3) God’s Absolute Will.

These are events that are immovable and nonnegotiable.

God has determined this or that will or will not happen and nothing we do can change it.

For example, the Messiah’s birth, death and resurrection - all happened precisely when God determined.

No amount of board meetings or voting or prayer could have changed those events.

Even the devil couldn’t prevent it from happening - though he tried.

That leads me to believe, that even prayer is powerless regarding God’s absolute will.

And I wonder how much time I waste praying about things that won’t change.

I don’t know, but I’m sure I do.

Lastly,

4) God’s Permissive Will.

This area is broad.

I would suggest that this is the area where God allows life to be life - for good or bad.

We laugh, and Pepsi comes out our nose - just life.

Predetermined by God? Possibly?

Within God’s permissive will, is a gift called freewill.

I can make choices – both good choices and stupid choices.

I can choose God or reject God.

Life.

Within God’s permissive will, I believe it is easiest to see God working.

This is the area where prayers are mostly answered.

This is where I can actually “move” the hand of God, so to speak.

Not control or manipulate.

But this is where I can really be involved in shaping the world, in making a difference in someone’s life - where I can choose to make life all about me or about my King.

Within God’s permissive will, I also find the need for spiritual warfare.

Not going to get into that - just food for thought.

How does knowing all that help me live like my Lord?

Now, I don’t sit around thinking, “Now, is this God’s specific or permissive will or …” - no, I don’t need to do that.

But knowing that helps me evaluate my life, my prayers and life in general.

The important thing is to know that God has a will and a plan for life - and I am included in it.

I avoided saying God has a plan for my life, because when we say that, we tend to put on blinders - the things they put around horse’s eyes that prevent the horse from seeing anything around them - so their focus is really narrow.

When we hear that God has a plan for my life - boom - the blinders go one and we think God’s will is just about me.

That is unbiblical thinking.

God’s will for my life is never about me only.

It is always within the greater context of His will and plans for the world - specifically within the context of saving a lost and broken world.

For example, 1 Thes.

4:3 & 7 states, it is God’s will that I should be sanctified - that I should be pure and holy.

Is my sanctification only for me?

Never.

It is always about my relationship with God and my relationship with others.

Now, I want to remind us of what got us to this point.

So how do we discover the will of God and therefore live the rest of our lives for His will - like our Lord?

Again, His general will - it’s all in Scripture.

Read it - obey it.