Seven Things God Expects of Every
Person
Genesis 22
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
28 March, 2010
AM
I.
Introduction (Ephesians 5:17)
A.
“What is God’s Will for My Life?”
B.
That’s THE question everyone should ask. That is the question to answer too!
C.
What
if God has a design for your life, and you are missing it?
1.
We
all know that if someone was a very talented pianist, and instead was locked
into the rut of being a pothole filler, and never got the chance to develop
their abilities, we would call that tragic, and a wasted life
2.
We
all know that if someone could really sing, and would be world famous for their
vocal abilities, but instead worked in a McDonalds, and never got “discovered”;
it would be tragic, and a waste for sure
3.
We
all would agree that if someone was designed to run, and climb, and scale
mountains, but instead crawled, and just sat, and never went anywhere – we would
call that a tragic waste
4.
The
same is true for Christians, who have been given something far more valuable
than some talent, or ability – every believer has been given the Holy Spirit of
God, so that they can do something miraculous, something infinite, something far
greater than they ever could before – and it would be tragic to never fulfil
that destiny!
D.
I am
speaking about doing the will of God!
E.
Last
week I tried to express just how fantastic the will of God really is. How great
is its design
F.
This
morning, I want to take one final look at the Will of God, and help you discover
your part in it. For there is only one will of God, and we all should live it!
II.
Message
A.
The Facts About the Will of God
(Genesis 22) – As Seen in Abraham’s Life
1.
God’s Will is Perfect - Absolutely
Perfect (22:1; Psalm
18:30) And God is going to prove it
a.
God’s will was perfect the day God called him out of
b.
And
it was perfect when He asked him to sacrifice his only son
c.
Faith is not believing God simply because what He is doing makes perfect sense
to you right now, but because it is HE that is working, and you know that He
cannot fail!
d.
In
other words, you believe God and trust God, because OF God!
e.
His
will is an extension of Himself! Neither one can fail!
f.
I
wish you believed that! But it is true, whether you believe it or now! No matter
what!
g.
Abraham had to learn it
h.
When
you start to believe this, then life starts taking on a whole different colour!
i.
You
will love each and every day you live, not because it is easy, nor because it
has no valleys, but because it truly is a gift from God for you to experience!
j.
Listen, We were Saved to Do God’s Will, not our Own
(1Peter 4:2,3; 2Co 5:14,15)
1)
Doing our own will has ONLY gotten us into trouble, and into sin
2)
If
you are born again…
a)
You
should not live the rest of your life to the lusts of men in
b)
That
is your highest calling: discovering, and fulfilling God’s design for your life!
3)
If
Jesus Christ truly died in your place…
a)
Then
you should not henceforth (from this moment on) live unto yourselves (our own
will, our own plans), but unto HIM, which died and rose again!
b)
The
death, burial, and resurrection earned Jesus the place of Lord of your life
(Philp 2:5-11). That means, the One who has the authority to direct your steps!
4)
Hey!
Every Christian has been saved with a Purpose, and the Bible says that purpose
is great! Greater than anything you could do on your own, no matter how talented
you may be!
a)
Moses was second to Pharaoh, but that was NOTHING compared to what God saved Him
to be – Moses the Lawgiver!
b)
Saul
of tarsus was on his way to being one of the greatest Jewish theologians of all
time, but that was NOTHING compared to what God saved him to be – Paul the
Apostle!
c)
Abraham was nothing until he started to obey God’s will for his life! No matter
what that was!
2.
God’s Will is Tough
(Genesis 22:2-4)
a.
Abraham offering Isaac shows just how tough it can be.
1)
This
was the hardest thing Abraham ever attempted!
2)
Isaac was not a toy, or a possession to throw away
3)
Isaac was Abraham’s only son, and Abraham was 113 years old here
b.
Haven’t you found God’s will to be tough most of the time? I have!
1)
Noah
building a foolish
2)
Jonah offering repentance to his most hated enemies – offering them a chance to
be saved from the wrath to come - that was HARD to do
3)
Joseph marrying Mary knowing that it would look suspicious, and that it was hard
to believe anyway about her baby being the Messiah – it was hard!
c.
I
don’t know when God’s will is easy to do, but to a soccer player, it is rarely
easy to make a goal either! Yet he strives for such a goal, no matter how tough
it may be!
3.
God’s Will is for Worship
(Genesis 22:5-6) Not Profit
a.
Whatever God asks you to do will honour Him.
b.
Even
if you seem to fail!
c.
Designing God’s will is up to God
d.
Doing God’s will is up to you.
e.
And
only when you are actually doing God’s will, fulfilling God’s purpose for your
life, are you actually honouring Him, and worshipping Him! When you obey Jesus
Christ, and just follow Him, and do what he says to do in His word, that’s when
you are worshipping Him
f.
And,
obedience is better than all the singing, praising, praying, giving you could
ever do in a 1,000 lifetimes (1Sam 15:22)!
g.
Has
God asked you to do something?
1)
Witness to your Dad and Mom? tell them they must be born again and tell them how
2)
Humble yourself and apologize to someone?
3)
Gone
back and made amends to someone
4)
Gotten into a church ministry, and gotten busy serving the Lord where HE wants
you – not where you feel talented or able?
5)
Surrendered to becoming a pastor, a pastor’s wife, or a missionary?
h.
If
you really want to worship Almighty God, then obey Him! No matter what he asks
of you
i.
THIS is what Identifies You as a Christian
(Mat 12:46-50; 7:21; 1Jn 2:17; Rom 12:2)
1)
What
you DO identifies you as a Christian – as a Christ-follower
a)
Not
a list of beliefs, or a creed you can recite, or a building that you enter every
week
b)
And
not doing good deeds – NO!
c)
It
is when we do God’s will, THEN are we seen as belonging to Jesus
d)
When
we are disobedient to God’s will, we are an oxy-moron – a contradiction!
2)
A
person doing God’s will is a success! No matter WHAT God’s will may be! No
matter how small may be their task!
3)
But
a Christian ignoring, or disobeying God’s will is a failure, no matter what
accomplishments they may attain, and no matter how great may be their earthly
honour!
4)
Albert Einstein – failure
5)
The
Rockefeller family – worth over $300 billion dollars – failures
6)
Bill
Gates of Microsoft – dominates the PC world – a failure
7)
All
the soccer greats put together – all failures if they are not doing God’s will
for them
4.
God’s Will Stretches Our Faith
(Genesis 22:7-12; Hebrews 11:17-19)
a.
Always does
b.
God
always calls us to go beyond what we can do, trusting that it will be HE who
enables us (1Thes 5:24)
c.
The
principle is that God’s will always involves more of GOD than it does us
d.
What
do I mean by that?
e.
When
God calls us to do something, He always enables us to do it
f.
Faith is not doing what I know I can do – faith is knowing God will do what HE
can do!
g.
Abraham knew somehow …
1)
That
GOD would provide HIMSELF the answer to the problem in his life
2)
That
God would work everything out for good
3)
That
God would even resurrect Isaac
h.
Why
could Abraham trust God so far? Because he knew that God was dependable!
i.
You
Can Trust God’s Will Because it is Bound Tightly With
1)
His
Promises to never fail you (Deut 31:6; Heb 13:5)
2)
His
Faithfulness to his promises (Hebrews 10:23) - dependability
3)
His
Love toward you (Romans 8:35-39) – it is not flippant, nor shallow
4)
His
Presence (Psalm 23:4) – it is real. The person of the Holy Spirit in your life
5)
His
Provision (Philp 4:19) – abundantly above all that we could ask or think
6)
His
Blessings – God never leads to the defeat of anything but your pride (Ps 128:1)
7)
His
Deliverance/Salvation (James 1:18; 2Peter 3:9)
j.
That
is the testimony of absolutely everyone in the Scriptures
k.
It
is the testimony of my life
l.
AND
it is the testimony of every believer who has ever endeavoured to discover and
obey God’s purpose for their life!
5.
God’s Will Ought to be Known, by
Everybody! It really
is Possible for anyone to KNOW God’s Perfect Will – and I will show it to you!
a.
Quit
thinking you just have to struggle through life like a blind person
b.
Not
if you are born again! Not if your eyes have been opened!
c.
All
you have to do is WANT to know God’s will, and be willing to do it, no matter
what
d.
Psalm 143:10
e.
Psalm 25:4, 12; 27:11,12
f.
Romans 12:1,2 – you can even prove it!
g.
David knew God’s will for his life! Moses knew it! Jesus knew it! Noah knew it!
Jonah knew it!
h.
You
can know it! And I mean KNOW it! Beyond the shadow of a doubt!
i.
But
you have to have no limits on God’s will – not restrictions
1)
Anything but a missionary
2)
I’ll
do anything except preach
3)
I’ll
do anything except knock on a door and be a soul-winner
4)
I’ll
do anything except put up with HIM
5)
I’ll
do anything except go through sickness and disasters
6)
Nope! Can’t say any of that
7)
The
resolve of the Christian is, “No my will, but thine be done!”
6.
Sadly, God’s Will Can be Missed
a.
How?
How can that be true?
b.
God’s will does not just automatically happen in your life! God’s will is not
sovereign!
c.
Because God’s Will is dependent upon some things.
1)
My Faith in God’s Promises
– am I willing to trust God’s word? Most people blow God’s will for their lives
because they really have no confidence in God at all!
a)
Take
away their credit cards
b)
Take
away their social welfare
c)
Take
away their job, their health, their friends
d)
And
most people will have nothing
e)
But
a real Christian never loses anything, when they still have the Lord Jesus
2)
My Trust in God’s Love –
do I believe He really loves me?
a)
You
and I can blow God’s will by not resting in God’s love and care, and thinking we
have to do something to fix the trials we may be going through.
b)
Too
many people give up on God because they forget He loves them! And that those
valleys do not change that love
3)
My Choice – am I willing
to choose to do whatever God asks of me? I can blow God’s will by wrong choices.
a)
I
can choose to marry the wrong person.
b)
I
can choose to have the wrong friends and influences
c)
I
can choose to disobey God’s word
4)
My Heart (Ephesians 6:6)
– is my heart in it, or am I just dragging my feet, and only half-heartedly
attempting to do what God asks of me? I can blow God’s will with a bad attitude,
and most of us do!
5)
My Patience (Hebrews
10:36) – am I committed to see it through? I can blow God’s perfect will because
of impatience
d.
I
believe the saddest people are those who have never known the life lived in the
middle of God’s will!
B.
The Revelation of the Will of God
1.
What
Is God’s Will for Me? What is MY Purpose? I am going to tell you!
2.
No,
I’m not going to tell you who you should marry, or where you should live, or
what college to go to, or what car to buy. Nope! None of that stuff really
matters. Not in comparison to what I am going to show you this morning!
3.
We
are commanded to know and understand what God’s will is, and do you know what?
God doesn’t leave us hanging. He shows us clearly seven things He expects of
every person breathing today!
a.
Be Saved (1 Tim 2:4; 2
Pet 3:9)! Everyone must begin here!
1)
The
most frustrating part of Christianity is trying to convince people they are in
trouble
2)
And
that they should care about being in trouble with God
3)
God’s will is NOT that ANY end up in hell (Ezek 33:11)
b.
Be Saturated/filled with the Holy Spirit of God
(Eph 5:17,18).
1)
A
surrendering of your life to the work and authority of God over your will and
plans.
2)
People want a warm, fuzzy, good feeling
3)
But
the filling of the Holy Spirit gives power to obey
4)
If
you lived on top of Mt Everest, and got very little oxygen, and could only walk
100 metres a day before collapsing from exhaustion, what do you think you would
do if you could all of a sudden experience 100% oxygen? You would seek to live
where you could constantly breathe pure oxygen!
5)
The
same is true with the filling of the Holy Spirit
6)
In
your flesh you can do nothing
7)
But
by yielding to the power of the Person of the Holy Spirit in your life, you can
do ALL things through Christ!
c.
Be Satisfied/thankful in all things
(Eph 5:19,20; 1 Thes 5:18)
1)
This
is the will of God
2)
The
greatest things happen in the life of a thankful person – not of a bitter and
angry person
3)
If
God is in control, then the least you can do is start seeing everything as good!
4)
Somebody said this, “One of the marks of spiritual maturity is the quiet
confidence that God is in control - without the need to understand why He does
what He does.”
5)
Just
getting to the place where, no matter what is happening, God is doing something
awesome! And you are just grateful He loves you, and includes you in His
programme!
d.
Be Submissive as a SERVANT in everything you do
(Eph 6:5-8), remembering "ye serve the Lord Christ” (
1)
Everyone wants God’s will to be for them to be in charge, or to get the glory
2)
God’s will is always to make servants out of us
a)
David was a shepherd boy first before God made him king
b)
Jesus was a servant of all, before He comes one day to rule over all
c)
Paul’s greatest praise of himself was that he was a SERVANT of Jesus Christ
3)
Do
you serve ONLY yourself? What an absolute waste!
4)
The
will of God is for you to serve, give, wait on, assist, help others – even
though they don’t pay you, or they take advantage of you, or they don’t thank
you!
5)
Because one day, GOD will thank you, and make it all up to you!
e.
Be Sanctified (1 Thes
4:3-7).
1)
It
means to be holy
2)
Sanctification means that we separate our-selves from sins and temptations so
that we can be holy and clean objects in God's hands (2 Tim 2:21).
3)
This
involves every Christian coming away from all the activities and influences that
hinder us from serving the Lord with our whole heart (2 Cor 6:17,18).
4)
It
is God’s will for me to depart from iniquity (2Tim 2:19)
f.
Be ready to sometimes Suffer
(1Pet 3:14-17; 4:19).
1)
Going against the flow
2)
All
that live godly shall suffer persecution, embarrassment, mockery
3)
Be
ready for it
4)
Jesus said, rejoice and be exceeding glad (Mt 5:10-12)
g.
Be a Soul-winner (John
4:31-35; Acts 1:8)
1)
Christians think the Christian life is only about coming to church
2)
The
Christian life is about FRUIT
3)
If
all the people in the world were just consumers
a)
They
just lived, and worked, and played, and collected things, and bought houses and
cars, and lands, and toys…
b)
But
never got married, never got pregnant, never had a family, never produced any
real fruit…
c)
Then
our species would die off in less than 100 years! Period!
d)
The
only reason why humanity is still around is because people are still having
families and babies – they produce fruit!
4)
The
same with Christianity!
a)
If
everyone is just takers of the blessings of God
b)
Only
praying about themselves, and their wants and needs
c)
And
never seeking the lost, and preaching the cross, and compelling people to get
born again
d)
Then
Christianity would die out in less than 100 years as well
e)
The
only reason why Christianity is still here is because some Christians win souls!
f)
Just
think what this world would be like if every Christian won a soul every year?
g)
The
entire population of this world would be won to Christ in less that 60 years!
h.
Did
you know that doing all of that actually blesses YOU?! Actually benefits YOU!?
i.
How?
And Why?
1)
Because it puts you directly in line with the power of the Spirit of God
2)
Because it will end up being easier than if you lived in rebellion
3)
Because there are great blessings upon servants in God’s kingdom
4.
The
Question is, WILL YOU OBEY God’s Will?
5.
If
you ever get to obeying those seven things, all the other areas of life will
fall into place! Absolutely Guaranteed!
III.
Conclusion
A.
What
if God has a design for your life, and you are missing it? Tragic!
B.
Oh I
wish you knew God’s will for your life? Life is more than the job you are
working, or the family you are raising, or the bills you are paying!
C.
We were Saved to Do God’s Will, not our Own
D.
Doing the Will of God Identifies You as a Christian
E.
We Have Learned from Abraham in Genesis 22:
1.
God’s Will is Perfect - Absolutely
Perfect (22:1; Psalm
18:30) And God is going to prove it
2.
God’s Will is Tough
(Genesis 22:2-4)
3.
God’s Will is for Worship
(Genesis 22:5-6) Not Profit
4.
God’s Will Stretches Our Faith
(Genesis 22:7-12; Hebrews 11:17-19)
5.
God’s Will Ought to be Known!
It really is Possible to KNOW God’s Perfect Will
6.
God’s Will Can be Missed
F.
So, What is God’s Will?
1.
Be Saved (1 Tim 2:4; 2
Pet 3:9)! Everyone must begin here!
2.
Be Saturated/filled with the Holy Spirit of God
(Eph 5:17,18).
3.
Be Satisfied/thankful in all things
(Eph 5:19,20; 1 Thes 5:18)
4.
Be Submissive as a SERVANT in everything you do
(Eph 6:5-8), remembering "ye serve the Lord Christ” (
5.
Be Sanctified (1 Thes
4:3-7).
6.
Be ready to sometimes Suffer
(1Pet 3:14-17; 4:19).
7.
Be a Soul-winner (