A Look At How Christ Performed God’s Will
Luke
9:51-56
I. Introduction - 2 Pet 3:9
A. One of the greatest subjects in all the Bible outside of the subject of Salvation is “The Will of God!”
B. Just as there is so much in the Bible about Salvation in Jesus Christ, there also is so much about God’s will
C. The key is in understanding God’s will, finding it specifically for your life, and living it! Here in 2 Pet 3:9 we find that God’s first desire is:
1. Clearly that NO ONE die and go to hell
2. Clearly that ALL would come to repentance - all would be saved!
D. Once a person has trusted Christ, what’s next? If God had such strong intentions for you to turn to Christ to get saved, would He have some other intentions now that your ARE saved? You bet!
E. To better understand God’s will, and how to live it, let’s look into the life of our greatest example, the Lord Jesus Christ!
II. Message - Understanding God’s Will (Luke 9:51-56)
A. The Lord Has A Fixed Goal To Reach (9:51)
1. Jesus knew the will of God - not mysterious, or guess-work - He had a job to do - being “received up” (the resurrection, being glorified, Saviour, heaven) but it involved first going “down” (to Jerusalem, to the cross, to the tomb)!
2. The Lord did God’s will, one day at a time - just like you and I - Providing our example! (Heb 12:2)
a. He knew God’s will to be done that day - head to Jerusalem
b. He knew God’s will to be accomplished by His life - has no false delusions about what they do to prophets in Jerusalem
c. He sets His face toward His target
d. Determines to let nothing side-track Him
3. Note that He never was sidetracked, or in a hurry! That ought to encourage us - He will never be late, but He rarely is early either!
B. The Lord Works According to His Own Time Schedule (9:51) Not ours
1. No one on earth understood the schedule that Jesus was following.
a. The Bible refers to God’s schedule as “His time” - The Lords works everything out, but only “in His time” (Eccl 3:11)
b. Christ came in the “fullness of time” (Gal 4:4) at the exact point in time that He should come! He didn’t come when Adam and Eve sinned, nor after the flood, but in His time!
c. The Lord Jesus did not wait until the last minute to start doing God’s will, He was busy from the start (Luke 2:41-50)
5. PRINCIPLE: Quit trying to figure out eternity - The Lord wants you to live by what you know to do right now - Live FOR eternity!
a. People want to know HOW LONG they have before thay have to get saved, or start living a different way
b. The Lord says TODAY is the day of salvation - you have no guarantee of tomorrow (2 Cor 6:1) not at the point of death!
c. Find out what you are supposed to be each day from God, and then do it - that is our greatest challenge!
C. The Lord Uses People To Accomplish His Tasks (9:52)
1. It is called “Delegation” Every business understands it
2. God can doing anything, but He would rather allow us to “get in on the act” - Allow Him to use you!
3. The Lord called out 12 men to follow Him so that He could pour out His life into theirs, so that they could go and pour out His life into someone else’s, so that they could go and do the same, until He returned! That’s HIS way of doing things - one-on-one
4. It puts the responsibility upon the Christian! If we don’t find out what God wants done, and do it, then the job wont get done! That’s why the world is in such a state as it is - because Christians are not willing to stand up and be counted! To comfortable!!!
5. The people that God uses are servants - messengers - not kings, and important people - just postmen and postwomen! The servants here are not referred to as “apostles!” We just deliver messages, and prepare people to receive Christ!
D. The Lord Expects People To Not Always Respond Correctly (9:53)
1. The Samaritans loved Jesus - but only for what they could get from Him! They had “GENIE FAITH” in Jesus
2. But, when Jesus had other plans than just THEIR benefit in mind, well then, they weren’t interested in this Jesus anymore!
3. Sadly, that is most people’s view - they only want a God they can get something out of - they only want a govt that gives them something - they only want a job that benefits them (no “low life” jobs for me man, I want only the high tech big pay stuff)! SELF!
4. The Lord expected this!
5. Instead of getting mad at Jesus for not being THEIR servant, the Samaritans should have believed His word, and served Him so that He could get on His way to the cross for all humanity!!!
E. The Lord Has To Spend A Lot of Time Dealing With Christians Who Don’t Respond Correctly (9:54-56)
1. Even mature Christians will over-react to these situations
2. You see, the disciples thought that everyone should accept Jesus, and serve Him! To them, it made perfect sense - He was Messiah!
3. But people have free-will! And it is that free-will that hurts God the most because instead of choosing to love and live for God, people love and live for themselves!
4. So now comes two of Jesus’ most mature disciples, James and John saying they were ready to call down fire from heaven to destroy those unworthy Samaritans!
a. These “Christians” had what I call “IMAGE FAITH”
1) They only wanted a perfect, popular, and professional Jesus that everyone would love and follow!
2) They did not want to follow a Jesus who was laughed at, mocked by people - it would affect their reputation!
3) They thought that no one should be allowed to get away with treating Jesus that way - it might mean THEM having to be treated THAT way someday
b. The danger with “IMAGE FAITH” Christians is that they claim to be able to do miracles, and judgments, and claim to have Bible verses that back up their conclusions!
5. The Lord has to strongly rebuke His own disciples!
a. The problems with James and John (their attitude):
1) They had wrong expectations - THEY were more in the wrong than the Samaritans
2) They disliked bad experiences - but, don’t we all?!
3) They wanted easy fixes - but that would have meant Jesus forfeiting the bigger plan - all for what?
b. This proves that even mature Christians can be used as tools of the devil aginst the work of God (Cf Matt 16:21-23) Christians can be led by “other” spirits than the Holy Spirit!
c. Christianity is never to be propigated by the sword! You are never to force someone to follow Christ! The hallmark of Bible Christianity is we don’t use guns, violence, or threats - We only present the facts, warn of the future, and plead for personal conversion!
d. Elijah’s situation was different. He was not sent to be Saviour
1) Jesus came NOT to destroy anyone’s life
2) Jesus came to save life - not just deserving life, but the undeserving - the sinner, and the clean & moral people!
F. The Lord Just Keeps On Going (9:56)
1. He doesn’t lose any sleep over the situation
2. He keeps His goal the priority - nothing is allowed to diminish it
3. There are others who will receive Him - they make it worth-while
4. But Jesus had to keep going if He was going to find them, and if He was going to finish the job that God had for Him to do!
III.
Conclusion - In Order To Do God’s Will for Your Life
A. Have A Fixed Goal To Reach
1. Know the will of God - Find out what it is for you to do
2. Do God’s will, one day at a time
3. Determine to let nothing side-track you
B. Work According to God’s Time Schedule - Not your own!
1. Don’t wait until the last minute to start doing God’s will
2. Focus on an eternal scale - not according to convienence
C. Allow God to Use People To Accomplish His Tasks (9:52)
1. Allow Him to use YOU for His purpose - Be a servant of the Lord
2. Allow God to use others - they may or may not do what the Lord wanted - but you better worry about yourself first!
D. Expect People To Not Always Respond Correctly
1. Most people have “GENIE FAITH” in Jesus - they only want a God they can get something out of
2. Their reaction to the Lord should not affect your determination to follow the Lord - and it should not affect your compassion on their ignorance OF the Lord!
E. Allow the Lord To Deal With You When You Don’t Respond Right
1. Don’t get all caught up in “IMAGE FAITH”
a. Only wanting a perfect, popular, and professional Jesus that everyone would love and follow!
b. Not wanting to follow a Jesus who was laughed at, and mocked by people - it would affect YOUR reputation!
c. Thinking that no one should be allowed to get away with treating Jesus that way - it might mean YOU having to be treated THAT way someday - and it does mean it!
2. Don’t use the Bible to back up your bad attitudes towards people!
3. Realize that you can be used of the devil to hinder, and oppose God’s plan. Better stay close to the Lord (daily walk with God)!
4. Always remember, Jesus came NOT to destroy anyone’s life - He came to save life - and that means anyone who will just cry out and ask for forgiveness from their sin, and salvation of their soul!
F. Just Keep On Going - Keep on serving the Lord! Living for Him!