What Should I Do, Preacher? Series

HoHum:

One time a woman asked the preacher, “What should I do, Preacher? I want to follow and serve Jesus. I want to do his work totally and completely.” The preacher said, “Great, you could be a part our weekly ladies Bible study group and later you could perhaps lead it.” The woman replied, “Be a part of the ladies Bible study group! But preacher, I really cannot get along with some of the people in that group. And I think some talk too much.” The preacher then said, “Okay, maybe you can just teach the children in the preschool Sunday School class twice a month, or maybe you can teach in our week long Vacation Bible School this summer.” “That may be a bit better.” the woman replied, “But I would rather do something else. You know, Preacher, that I have little patience with noisy children that keep on running around.” “Well then you can be a part our monthly visit to the depressed areas of the city to distribute food items to the poor, and assist in cleaning up their neighborhood,” suggested the preacher. The woman responded, “Oh Preacher, I love the poor. The only problem is that I am sensitive to odors, flies and mosquitoes. Isn’t there something else I can do?”

WBTU:

As I look at this passage of Scripture from Hebrews 10, one thing stood out above all others and this is God’s will. It is mentioned in vs. 7, 9 and 10.

We wonder about God's will. Mostly, we wonder what it is. We ask ourselves and others, countless times in life, questions such as, "What is God's will in this situation?" It's a good question to ask. The question implies a readiness to do God's will. But perhaps we're too eager to ask the question, presupposing our readiness. When we ask for God's will, do we really want to do it?

Thesis: Three questions this morning: 1) What was God’s will for Jesus? 2) What is God’s general will for us? 3) What is God’s specific will for us?

For instances:

What was God’s will for Jesus?

When we talk about God’s will we are talking about God’s plans, God’s purposes, God’s desires. We are talking about what God wants. God, as a good parent, wants the best for his children. He has things in mind for us. We can refuse God’s will for us, much like a child can refuse his parent’s will for him or her.

In Hebrews 8 we have a greater high priest than the OT. In Hebrews 9 we have a greater tabernacle than the OT. In Hebrews 10 we have a greater sacrifice than any in the OT.

For years many animals had been sacrificed. It explains in this chapter that the Law required these sacrifices to be made as a reminder of sins. These sacrifices did not take away sins.

Now, when we talk about God’s will for Jesus while he was on this earth, God the Father’s will for His only begotten Son is different than his will for us while we are on this earth. John 3:16- For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

We see in Hebrews 10:5 “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me”. The body that Jesus was given that we celebrate around Christmas was the body that was to be the sacrifice for the sin of all mankind.

John 1:29: John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! Jesus was born to die as a sacrifice.

It mentions in vs. 12 and 14 (and it alludes to it in vs. 10) the one sacrifice. There is only one acceptable sacrifice for sins and that is the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross of Calvary.

Many people try to offer up other sacrifices other than the one sacrifice of Jesus. Arthur Dimmesdale, the tragic figure in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter," offered up such sacrifices. Hounded by guilt for committing adultery, "He kept vigils, likewise, night after night, sometimes in utter darkness; sometimes with a glimmering lamp; and sometimes viewing his own face in a looking-glass, by the most powerful light which he could throw upon it. He thus typified the constant introspection wherewith he tortured, but could not, purify himself." Despite their intensity and frequency, his night-after-night vigils, like the year-after-year sacrifices of the priests, he could not cleanse his soul.

What is God’s general will for us?

Our will vs. Jesus will is different. We cannot die for our own sins or for anyone’s sins.

What is God’s will for us? When I talk about God’s general will I am talking about what is God’s will for all people in the NT age? These are things that apply to everyone: