ACCOMPLISHING GOD S WILL ON EARTH 1 John 2:15 ~ 17 Paul needs hand held INTRO We ve come to the third of six petitions in the Lord s prayer o First petition (most important) ~ hallowed be Your name reminds us that everything we do should be designed to bring glory and honor to God s Name o Second petition ~ Your Kingdom come reminds us that when we accomplish the first petition we re assisting the growth of God s Kingdom o Today we ll consider the third ~ Your Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven It took me 2 yrs to figure out whether it was God s Will for me to become a pastor; and it s taken me some 15 yrs to even come close to becoming that pastor o How is God s Will accomplished on Earth seems like an important issue We re all part of God s Family ~ and there are family chores to be done How do we determine which responsibilities we should be doing o To answer this important question we must consider three prior issues: 1) How does God s Will get accomplished on Earth 2) What is God s Will for us 3) What s the problem HOW DOES GOD S WILL GET ACCOMPLISHED ON EARTH Jesus instructs us to pray: Your Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven o SS Lsn Aug 24/5: Conversion of Cornelius helped us see from Acts Chpt 10 that an Angel shared with Cornelius his need to see Peter and He was also told that he needed to speak with Cornelius By doing so both men accomplish God s Will o God doesn t usually accomplish His Will on earth through angels ~ in fact, the word we translate as angels literally means - messenger God accomplishes His Will on earth through His obedient children us When we sincerely pray this specific petition from the Lord s Prayer o we re making a commitment to fulfill God s Will (purpose) for our lives 1
When we sincerely pray this specific petition from the Lord s Prayer o we re asking God to take control of our lives and fulfill His purpose through us o The Bible tells us something simple ~ yet very profound: Eph 2:10 good works are not at odds w/ the fact we re saved by God s grace works aren t how we are saved they indicate we are saved o We should consider them ~~ the fruit of our Christian life o Paul ~ What do real firemen do respond to fires or just show up at the station wearing their uniforms eat meals and watch TV o Please know that God had a specific purpose for us before we were born Let s notice what King David wrote in: Psm 139:16 God has His Will (purpose) and Jesus wants us to pray that His purpose be accomplished on earth just like it is in Heaven o Another important question seems to be: How is God s Will fulfilled in Heaven Bible indicates the Angels do God s Will wholeheartedly ~ joyously, and completely So Jesus wants us to pray that God s Will be done here on earth wholeheartedly ~ joyously, and completely An important purpose of prayer as Jesus is teaching us in the Lord s Prayer is to allow God s Will to come to earth ~~ and accomplished through us o Jesus our example on how to be a Child of God shows what I mean: Luke 22:42 Even in His suffering, Jesus DOES the Will of the Father Have you ever stopped and considered what our fate would be if Jesus hadn t accomplished God s Will o What would have happened if Jesus didn t complete God s Will wholeheartedly During our Revival Series we learned as God s Children ~ we re His Ambassadors o Our willingness to sincerely pray: not my will, but Yours be done will influence the eternal destiny of many people we know & come in contact with 2
Some might be thinking: What good is prayer if all I can get out of it is God s Will o Some think the purpose of prayer is to get what they want Here s a fundamental truth ~~ a guiding principle ~~ for all of God s Children: God always wants what we want - if we have enough sense to want it God wants what is best for us God s Will isn t always the easiest or most comfortable ~~ but it is always what s best for us and our the development of our character o God never promised us a smooth flight just a safe landing God never said being a Christian was going to be easy ~~ but He did promise it was going to be worth it Confident God s Will was for me to become a pastor but o In 1997, choose not to attend the Seminary rebelled against Greek & Hebrew I began serving as a pastor in 2001 ~ some 2 years later than if I had gone to Andrews and was much less prepared than I should have been With hindsight ~~ I know with God s help I would have passed God wants to bless us and make us happy o But for that to happen ~~ we must submit to His Will for our lives Key to true and lasting happiness is to find God s Will (plan) for your life Here s a good starting point: Jer 29:11 ~ 14 a When we surrender to God s Will for our lives ~~ He will prosper us spiritually o He will give us hope a purpose for living And He ll give us a positive future in this life ~ and in the life to come John 10:10 b TRANS We can t truly pray: Your Will be done on earth unless we re committed to finding and fulfilling God s Will (purpose) for our lives o The primary way God s Will gets accomplished on earth is thru His children: US 3
SO ~~ WHAT IS GOD S WILL FOR US One way to consider this question is to see that God has a Moral Will (general will) that s the same for all of us and He has a Special Will ~ different for each of us God s Moral Will (general will) is revealed thru His Word in the form of principles o There at least 3 things to be aware of when considering God s Moral Will o First God wants us to love Him because He loves us ~ 1 John 4:19 Because ~~ God s incredible love arouses our love as a response A Scribe came to Jesus and asked which Commandment in the Law was the greatest { story is recorded in Matt Chpt 22 } o to answer, Jesus quotes Deut 6:5 This means God wants us to love Him with everything in our being When we love God as the Bible teaches ~~ we ll naturally want God s Will to come to earth through us o Second God wants us to be like Jesus God doesn t expect everyone to dress or look like Jesus God wants us to have the character of Jesus o That s what Rom 8:28 is all about verse make more sense when we also read V 29 This passage doesn t mean all things that happen to us are good God wants us to know that He can use everything that happens in this sin-sick world to chip away at the rough edges of our character o and transform to become more and more like Jesus When we understand this ~ the problems and pains of life take on a completely new meaning our perceptions @ those challenges change God has a divine purpose for every problem He allows us to have When a difficult situation comes your way ask yourself: Wonder how God will use this to make me more like Jesus? Don t know for sure about you 4
But for me to be more like Jesus I have to be more forgiving When someone hurt or betrayed Jesus He forgave them o Consider His prayer from the cross ~~ Luke 23:34 Whom do you have to forgive?? For me to be more like Jesus I have to be more patient Jesus left the throne room of Heaven ~ where there was no sin; no pain; and no tears o and He came down here to faithfully live in this sill-filled world which caused Him many tears ~~ and much pain God is trying to get me to become more like Jesus by allowing delays, disappointment, lots of problems to come by way o When they do we take comfort in the promise of Gal 6:9 o Third God wants us to bring others to faith in Christ TRANS Consider with me 1 Tim 1:15 Clear statement of why Jesus came and our status w/o His Love Jesus came not only to save us from the penalty of our sins but also that we might have an abundant life (already read John 10:10) If we want God s Will to be done on earth then we must keep in mind a key fact concerning God s Will found in 2 Pet 3:9 If Jesus came to give humans an abundant life then it s logical that folks won t really have that abundant life w/o Jesus o God s Will is for us to help bring others to the source of that abundant life that s His plan ~ He doesn t have a back-up Who shared the Good News w/ the Ethiopian we studied last week in SS Not an angle ~ an Ambassador for God: Philip the evangelist Now we know how God s Will is accomplished on earth and what His Will for us ~ so: WHAT S THE PROBLEM?? o Here s the problem ~ because of our fallen state as sinners we all have a natural desire to be our own boss to do our own thing 5
Our Society is full of examples which illustrated this character weakness o Maybe best example is Frank Sinatra s song: May Way Video ~ song touches a fundamental idea notice the spoken words o Song has been recorded by countless professional artists and is sung so often in karaoke clubs ~ that many have outlawed it s performance Sinatra Doctrine was the name the USSR used to describe their policy of allowing Warsaw Pact nations to determine their own internal affairs Bible talks about this problem ~ Ish 53:6 a We can address this problem by praying the first three petitions of the Lord s Prayer: o Hallowed be Your Name ~ reminds us we can t arrogantly come into God s presence, forgetting whom we re addressing o Your Kingdom Come ~ reminds us God is then King and we are His subjects in His Kingdom. He leads & we follow o Your Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven How does God s Will come to Earth through you and me 1 Peter 2:25 What is God s Will for us ~~ at least three parts: o God wants us to love Him o He wants us to be like Jesus o He wants us to serve as His ambassadors So - What s the Problem our natural tendency is to do our own thing Power Point Slide: (God s) workers need to remember they are pledged to co-operate with Christ, to obey His directions, to follow His guidance. Every hour (we) are to ask and receive power from on high. (We) are to cherish a constant sense of the Saviour s love, of His efficiency, His watchfulness, His tenderness. They are to look to Him as the Shepherd of their souls. (For) Then, they will have the sympathy and support of the heavenly angels. Christ will be their joy and crown of rejoicing. Their hearts will be controlled by the Holy Spirit, and they will have knowledge of the truth which merely nominal believers can never gain. Counsel to Parent, Teach & Student; pg 284 Pls Sit Down Hymn # 575: Let Your Heart Be Broken 6