Submitting To God's Will Series

To one who asked him the secret of his service, George Mueller said: “There was a day when I died, utterly died;”—“died to George Muller, his opinions, preferences, tastes, and will—died to the world, its approval or censure—died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends—and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God.” (6102 George Mueller’s Secret as found in Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 1366). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.)

Submitting to the will of God means dying to self, and living unto Him. It was the hallmark of the Apostle Paul and his ministry in submitting to God's will. As we have seen, this submission was marked out by certain elements. Number one was the element of precision in verses 20 and 21. There is a very clear structured design and direction for the ministry of one who is moving in the will of God. Secondly, another key that marks a ministry in the will of God is providence. We saw that in verse 22. There is a sense in which God's sovereign will intersects at this point and He controls the circumstances to bring about the expression that is very personal for the individual believer. The third element we saw is the element of planning. Even though we trust in God's sovereignty, even though we look to God for direction and guidance and the moving of all the circumstances to bring about His will, we still involve ourselves in careful planning. And commitment to sovereign will does not preclude planning and dreaming and setting goals. The fourth principle that unfolds out of this passage in this wonderful insight into Paul's heart is the principle of priority from verses 25 to 28 as we saw last time. Paul says in spite of my dreams, in spite of my plans to go to Spain, in spite of my desire to come to you and get supplies and money and people and go on to Spain to evangelize an area that's never been evangelized, to take Christ where He's never been, as it were, to go where Christ is not named, where no church has been established, aside from the fact that that's my calling and aside from the fact that that's my dream, there is a priority in my heart that I must care for and that is this matter of taking an offering of money to the Jerusalem church for the relief of the poor saints and the conciliation of the Jewish-Gentile factions in the church. Fifthly last time we said there is the element of prosperity. For one who functions in the will of God there is prosperity in verse 29. He says that when I do come to you I know I'll come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. He knows because of past experience. He knows the condition of his heart is one of obedience therefore he receives the blessing of God in his life. Later he did come to Rome and he did enter into a blessed ministry. Even though he was a prisoner he had a tremendous impact. So he knew that he would prosper in the spiritual dimension when he functioned in the will of God. Precision, providence, planning, priority and prosperity are all elements of ministry in the will of God. They are the principles that mark out the person devoted to pleasing the Lord. (http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/45-118/the-ministry-in-the-will-of-god-part-3)

It was the will of God that controlled Paul's life. He was a servant, not living for his own design, not living to fulfill his own desire, but living to do the will of God. In the opening of 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and 2 Timothy, he introduces himself as an Apostle by the will of God. The will of God was that determining factor in his call to ministry. That is a very basic and rather obvious element of Christian living. Anyone in any service rendered to Christ seeks to do the will of God if indeed they're on target as they ought to be. (http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/45-118/the-ministry-in-the-will-of-god-part-3)

Paul’s shows us how to submit to God's will by understanding the 1) Purpose (Romans 15:30a) , 2) Prayer (Romans 15:30b-32), and 3) Peace (Romans 15:33) in the will of God.

1) Purpose in the Will of God (Romans 15:30a)

Romans 15:30a [30]I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, (to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf), (ESV)

A person who fulfills a divine calling is one who has a clear purpose in his service for the Lord. Paul appeals to the believers by “on behalf of,” or “with regard to” our Lord Jesus Christ. His appeal/urging introduces the exhortation to the readers to pray for his protection and ministry. Before giving that exhortation, Paul declared unequivocally that the overriding purpose for his request was to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ.