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.
IV. Two ways of finding out God's unwritten will for our lives.
A. Total commitment- Vs. 5- all your heart. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all of your soul and with all your mind. With all you have. Also with your wealth- Vs. 9. Hebrews 11:6 NIV And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
B. Trust and obey.
1. Trust- Vs. 5. The Lord will put the people and opportunities in our way to fulfill his will and plan for our lives. Don't have to knock down the door to find what God wants us to do, it comes to us.
2. Obey- vs. 5- lean not on own understanding. We have a big problem because sometimes we think that God doesn't know best. Oh, no, God must not have meant that. Let's continue to search until we find God's will. The problem is that we have found it; it is just that we are unwilling to do it, to obey.
Roger Staubach who led the Dallas Cowboys to the World Championship in ‘71 admitted that his position as a quarterback who didn’t call his own signals was a source of trial for him. Coach Landry sent in every play. He told Roger when to pass, when to run and only in emergency situations could he change the play (and he had better be right!). Even though Roger considered coach Landry to have a “genius mind” when it came to football strategy, pride said that he should be able to run his own team.
Roger later said, “I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory.”
V. Two things to consider when things turn bad when trying to do God's will.
We see many good outcomes when people seek to do God's will for their lives. What are some of those good outcomes? Vs. 2, Vs. 4, vs. 8, vs. 10, vs. 14-18
However, we see from the Bible and our lives that sometimes when we do God's will, it turns out bad. This is discussed in Proverbs 3.
A. We can have confidence even when it doesn't turn out good.
1. Look at vs. 25-26. Many people had bad things happen to them when they did God's will but they always seemed to maintain their confidence.
2. Jeremiah did God's will but it didn't turn out good. He was harassed and thrown into a well, etc (like many of the prophets). At the end of his life, he was forced to go to Egypt with some Israelites who refused to listen to God's directions.
3. We see Stephen doing God's will and being stones. We see the apostle Paul doing God's will and he is thrown into prison. However, we see something in their lives, confidence.
4. It is good to question ourselves and God to make sure we are doing what is right and godly. However, once we know we are doing what is right, we can have confidence in the Lord. This is how Stephen, Paul and Jeremiah remained bold in the face of adversity. We can lay our heads on our pillows at night and feel good. Proverbs 3:24.
5. Even Jesus did God's will but we see what happened. Good for us but bad for him. Hebrews 12:2-3: Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scoring its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
6. This idea today that if we do God's will, everything will be great and we will be healthy, wealthy and successful is wrong.
B. There are times when we do God's will, and it is a time of testing and growing.
1. Proverbs 3:11-12
2. James 1:2-4: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
3. Look up Hebrews 12:5- 11
4. Suffering is a time of growing. LeRoy Lawson tells in a recent Christian Standard about two times of growing in his life: when his parents got a divorce and when his son committed suicide.
5. But it is so hard. 1 Corinthians 10:13- No temptation (trial) has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted (tried) beyond what you can bear.
