August 31, 2007

• The Will of God is not Lost

  I listened to this JMac sermon awhile back, but didn't have time to write it up.  I think it's worth it, so here goes.

  The will of God is not lost.  We all search for it as if it is hidden, but he has made it very plain.  People sometimes think that the will of God is exactly what they do not want, as if it is God's intention to spoil all are fun.  They think that God's will is as enjoyable as a diet - painful, somber, sorrowful and hard.  God's will is not about what we should be.  It is about what we should do, in other words it is about obedience in all areas of life, including relationships, choices and directions.  Psalm 143:10 is not a plea to understand, know or find God's will.  It is a plea that we be taught to DO God's will.  It is a matter of obedience to what has been revealed, not the gaining of new information.  The Psalmist David is not asking for help in understanding God's will.  He is asking for empowerment to carry it out, leading us to assume that David knew what God's will was in the first place.

  Jesus taught us to pray that God's will be done and that our lives be carried out in pursuit of God's will. Doing God's will is doing both what God requires and what He desires, and is done out of love, gratitude for all that He has done for us, in honorable worship and out of a desire to be useful. 

  What does the concept of God's will involve?  It is something that God himself fulfills and accomplishes.  In creation, we see that God speaks and it is done. His will is absolute and determined.  It is unalterable, and will be fulfilled totally from beginning to end.  No one can change the will of God.  It is determined in His purpose and executed by His power.  It will always be done, and nothing other than His will will be done.  History moves from a diving beginning to a divine end, and God controls it all.  God has a will for man.  He has revealed what He desires from man in His Holy Law, but man doesn't keep it.  This has no negative effect on God  accomplishing His will.  We are free to choose our sin, but God's will overrules by divine providence.  He works everything, including human choices, to His own glorious ends.  God has unmistakably revealed His will in the Bible.  He wants us to know it, so he doesn't hide it.  He holds us responsible for knowing it, and makes it plain.  If we do not know God's will, what awaits us is sin, death, judgment and hell.

  First, God's will is that we be saved.  He wants everyone delivered from eternal punishment.  It is so very much God's will that Christ died on the cross to accomplish it.  It is God's will that we establish a saving relationship with Him by believing in the work of Christ on the cross and putting out faith in it.  John 6:38 urges us to "behold the Son" and believe in Him that we may have eternal life.  It is pointless for a person who does not know that Jesus is his savior and has not received forgiveness for his sins to ask about God's will.  He has no right to ask of anything from God while he is still in sin and rebellion.  We must make a commitment of our lives to God in repentant faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.

  Second, God's will is that we be spirit filled.  We are to be filled with God in our hearts and allow Him to control us.  We are no longer to live our lives in foolishness and ignorance.  If we continue to read the Bible, we learn more of what it is that God wants us to do.  When we allow our minds to be soaked in God's truth, our minds and emotions will come under His control as the Holy Spirit helps us to apply the Bible to our lives.  The result will be lives filled with love, praise, thanks, worship, humility and joy.

  Third, God's will is that we be sanctified, or separated from sin.  We are to stay away from sin, including sexual sin.  I Peter 4:2 says that our bodies are for God's use and not for lust.  Free sex is never free.  There is always a price to pay.

  Fourth, God's will is that we be submissive.  We are to submit to God, to one another in humility, and to church elders.  We are also urged to submit to human institutions so that we do not bring reproach on the Bible.

  Fifth, God's will involves suffering.  God knows what suffering does for us.  It builds up our endurance, and this is pleasing to God.  We are to follow Christ's example and entrust our souls to God in times of suffering.  It makes us strong and perfects us in God's sight.  God knows that real power depend upon our humble weakness, which is the product of suffering.  (Let us not confuse this for suffering the consequences of sinful actions - that is discipline.)  God also uses suffering to bring us closer to Himself. 

  When we suffer, there is no where else to go but to God, and this enriches our prayer life.  God uses suffering to display his grace and love.  He does not remove the problem, but helps us to believe more deeply in His promises and have greater assurance of our salvation.  God also uses suffering to perfect His power.  His power begins to operated in its fullness when we have reached the end of our resources, and when we are broken and no longer able to trust ourselves to get through trials alone.  As long as we are able to trust in our own abilities, money, plans or cleverness, as long as we are still operating, God doesn't operate.  God releases His power through our emptiness.  Let us embrace the divine purpose.

  Sixth, it is God's will that we be saying thanks.  I Thessalonians 5:18 tells us to give thanks in our circumstances, because this is God's will for us.

  If we are doing these first six things, then God is controlling our minds, actions and wants.  He naturally plants His desires in our hearts, and make it our delight to follow them.

  ---

  Malachi 3:3 says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

  This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.  One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study that week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says:  "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."   She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it." If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.

  ---

  The Refiner's Fire - by Steve Green

  There burns a fire with sacred heat
  White hot with holy flame
  And all who dare pass through its blaze
  Will not emerge the same
  Some as bronze, and some as silver
  Some as gold, then with great skill
  All are hammered by their sufferings
  On the anvil of His will

  I'm learning now to trust His touch
  To crave the fire's embrace
  For though my past with sin was etched
  His mercies did erase
  Each time His purging cleanses deeper
  I'm not sure that I'll survive
  Yet the strength in growing weaker
  Keeps my hungry soul alive
  
  Chorus:
  The Refiner's fire
  Has now become my souls desire
  Purged and cleansed and purified
  That the Lord be glorified
  He is consuming my soul
  Refining me, making me whole
  No matter what I may lose
  I choose the Refiner's fire
  

   

  • 11:55
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