Finding God's Will

Evening Service for 9/26/2010

Proverbs 3:1-26

HoHum:

Lewis and Clark expedition. This was a courageous thing. When they left St. Louis, they were going into uncharted territory without any contact with people back home. Meriwether Lewis invited William Clark along. This was Clark's response: "I will cheerfully join you and partake of the dangers, difficulties and fatigues, and I anticipate the honors and rewards of such an enterprise along with the many difficulties. But, my friend, I do assure you that no man lives with whom I would prefer to undertake such a trip as yourself."

WBTU:

A. I can assure you that to follow Jesus means entering into a journey with many dangers, difficulties and fatigues, but there is no other person with whom I would rather make that journey with than Jesus. The apostles left everything.

B. Tonight we are talking about God's will for our lives. Many people think that this is a complicated subject, but at the core of it it is deserting all our earthly pursuits and following him with reckless abandon. If we are doing that then God's will will be revealed.

D. So many people are wandering through life with no purpose, with no meaning. Most people fail not from lack of ability but from a lack of purpose and meaning.

E. Bobby Richardson- God, Your will, nothing less, nothing more, nothing else.

F. Romans 12:2 (Amplified Version)- Be transformed, changed, by the renewal of your mind- by its new ideals and its new attitude- so that you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the things which is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you.

Thesis: Let's talk about God's will for our lives from passages in Proverbs 3. All of them involve the # 2.

For instances:

I. 2 important facts

A. God has a plan and purpose for our lives.

1. The apostle Paul- God's instrument to the Gentiles.

2. My ministry here I believe is God's plan and purpose for me.

3. Ephesians 2:10- For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

4. Psalm 37:23- The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delights in His way.

B. God has promised to reveal His plan for us.

1. God does not delight in keeping His plans from us.

2. Proverbs 3:6

3. Car in the dark with lights on. Can only see far enough ahead to drive.

II. 2 aspects of God's will

A. The written or general will of God.

1. These things apply to all people at all times and in all situations. God's written Word must be followed. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17f- Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, nor the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these command will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

2. We follow the New Testament. Colossians 2:14- having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. If it is repeated in the New Testament as binding, then it is binding.

B. The unwritten or specific will of God

1. This is different for every person. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6: There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

2. Different seasons of life require different ministries and directions. Ecclesiastes 3:1- There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. Do things differently today because of age and maturity.

III. 2 principles for God's written will

A. We will never know God's specific will for us if we don't strive to follow his general or written will. We need to repent of our sins. Obey what we know. 1 John 5:3- This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome. Proverbs 3:7

B. Fall in love with Jesus. We do not follow God's written commands to achieve salvation. Jesus death, burial and resurrection are our salvation. Jesus came because we could not follow God's commands as we should. We follow God's commands because we love Jesus Christ and God and we want to please them. The more we love the Lord the more we want to follow God's ways. This is what is being talked about in Proverbs 3:3.