Vision Statement Sermons

Sermon #2 Surrendering to His will

October 17^th Revised from the January 13, 2002 Sermon

Say the vision statement with me: Living for Jesus by, surrendering to His will, serving in His kingdom, and sharing His message.

Today we look at the second part of the statement: "Surrendering to His will."

What does it mean to surrender? We sing a song called "All to Jesus I surrender." What does that mean? It means to put yourself under the control of another. In war, when you surrender, you are totally at the mercy of your captors. They control you completely. You have no say, little rights, and are fully dependent on those who are controlling you.

There is a difference between capture and surrender. When you are captured someone overpowers you and takes you without your consent. When you surrender, you are making the move. You are active in handing yourself over. You are placing yourself under the control of your master.

Here is another thing about surrender. It is a complete action. In war there is no partial surrender. In Christianity it is often different. When we surrender to God he takes us and gives us His perfection, then he turns us back over to ourselves and asks us to live under His direction. In a sense he asks us to demonstrate to Him and the world that we have surrendered. No guards, no barb wire, no task master barking orders, no work camp and controlled environment… it is just, live your life, but do it differently. Live for my will and not your own.

Psalm 40:8 on page 879 makes a statement that I think we need to be able to repeat. It says: "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."

Here the Psalmist desires to do God’s will and to help him do so he has placed God’s law in his heart.

Later on in the Psalms we read of the psalmist expressing what I would say is my problem.

In Psalm 143:10 on page 978 the psalmist asks for God to teach him the will of God.

My problem is twofold. One part we have already talked about. That is the problem of surrendering to God’s will when I want to do things my own way. Sometimes "my will" is strong enough that it is almost blinding.

The second problem is really knowing what God’s will is. When I have a heart to surrender myself to God’s will, I need to have a good idea what that looks like. So I find myself wondering: "What is God’s will?"

Are these issues to you, or is this a confession and a sermon for one?

The remainder of the sermon will look at two parts of the last problem. We will briefly look to answer two questions: "Is everything God’s will?" and "How do we listen to God and know what His will is for us as individuals?"

Question 1.

Is everything God’s will?

Some ideas of why someone might think that. What makes this seem like a good answer? If God is really God shouldn’t He get what He wants, when He wants, in the way that He wants? God should be able to make sure that He gets what He wants!

Present the truth.

To me the center of this off centered theology is an understanding of the interrelation of two aspects of God’s interaction with mankind. These two aspects are his "transcendence" and his "immanence." To what level is God above and unconnected to the world, and to what level is he in the world controlling and making things his way?

Now these two aspects have to be matched with our understanding of two philosophical ideas. These are the ideas of "determinism" and "choice." A fully convinced determinist suggests that everything in your life is predetermined. You have no choice in life only the appearance of choice. In contrast, the proponent of choice suggests that nothing in life is laid out. Every moment, every thought, every second, is a choice.

So, let’s look at this question. What is God’s will?

We tend to ask the question: "What is God’s will for my life?" That is a poor question. A better question is: "What is God’s will, and how can I join him in it?" We must adjust ourselves to God’s will, he is the master and we are his servants. He does not serve us because our perspective is limited while his understanding is pure and holy.

God has laid out a few things that we know are his will. These are biblical principles that are throughout the entire Bible.

Now here is where our class becomes difficult. If God wants these things why does he not have them?

* He is patient.

* He honors the attempt.

What that means is that our choice is the major factor in the level of God’s immanence, his control over our life. He is controlling your life to the level that you are in tuned to his will. So not everything is God’s will. Because God can only express himself in pure love we can know that God cares for us while we are suffering. It is much more likely that we brought trouble into our lives, or that the consequences of someone else’s actions have brought pain or suffering.

Now the second question:

"How do we listen to God and know what His will is for us as individuals?"

We have looked at Psalm 40:8 where the psalmist has placed the Law of God in his heart in order to be able to do God’s will.

That is one part of knowing what God’s will is. Through listening to the Holy Spirit speaking through the word of God. What does God tell us of His expectations? What do the examples of Biblical people tell us about God’s will?

Here are the ways that Henry Blackaby brings out in his work "Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God." He states that God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstance, and the church to reveal himself and his will.

This all starts with the basis that God’s will is being done and that our role as believers is to connect to the will of God. Too often we try to get God to do our will, instead of working to find out what God is already doing, and joining Him in His work.

Let’s look at the ways that God speaks to us today to let us know what His will is.

The Holy Spirit speaks to us through the Bible. It is His communication to man and the Spirit makes it alive in our hearts.

The Holy Spirit also speaks to us through prayer. He guides our hearts and our conscience as we come to Him listening for His direction. Listening is a part of prayer.

The Holy Spirit also speaks to us through circumstance. In John 5:19-20 on page 1654 we read this:

Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.

Jesus did not take the initiative in what to do for the Father. The Father let the Son know what he was doing, and when the son saw the father’s activity it was his invitation to join him.

God used circumstances in Jesus’ life to guide him. He will do the same for you. Jesus watched circumstances to know where the father wanted to involve him in His work. We need to be aware as well so that we can surrender ourselves to His service.

The Holy Spirit also speaks to us through the church. What is meant by that? We believe that God is working through our congregation. He is leading the body as its head. Through the relationships of the body God can speak to you about His will as they lead you to the scripture. Other members can help you understand what God’s will is. They do this through sharing their experiences, and through their perspective of the activity of God.

Knowing what God’s will for you is best formed when all of these factors are considered. What does the Bible say, what am I learning in my prayers, what circumstances have I noticed, and what is the advice and perspective from the body? The combination of these questions will help you hear what God’s will is, and then you make the choice of surrender.

God’s will can be known, and our responsibility as believers is to join him in his action. If we are living for Jesus then we need to surrender the control of our life over to God so that He can lead us. Surrendering to God frees us to join God in doing His will so that He receives the glory.

How are you doing with this? Who is really in control of your life? Are you seeking to do God’s will or are you asking Him to do yours? Take note of how often you ask for God’s perspective verses how often you let God know what you want.

Living for Jesus by surrendering to His will… let’s do better this week.

Next Week: Serving in His Kingdom – (include the hospitality part as well).