This sermon is about doing the will of God.  As we follow Jesus, we use remember that he said, I come to do thy will, Heb 10:7, 9.  The will of God was so important to Jesus Christ that he found it even before he was a teenager and went right about doing it.

When Jesus was just 12 years old, he explained to Joseph and his mother that he had stayed behind when they left Jerusalem because, “I must be about my Father’s business,” [Lk2:49].  During his earthly ministry, he testified, “I do always those things that please him”.

In Mark chapter 3, Jesus was approached by his family who wanted him to stop what he was doing and tend to some family business.  Instead of going with them, he instructed his disciples in the will of God.  He told them, “For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother,” [Mk3:35].

Bob Jones, Sr. said that a successful man is the one who finds what God wants him to do and then does it.  This sermon is about doing the will of God in your life.

But the question is, “How?”

First, you must have the desire to do his will.

The Bible says about pastors, “If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work,” [1 Tim 3:1]. While not everyone is going to be a pastor, the idea holds true that a man starts out finding the will of God for his life when he has a desire to do it.  Ultimately, you do what you want to do.  If you don’t want to do God’s will, you won’t.  However, if doing the will of God is important to you, then believe Ps 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart”.

Second, you must deny yourself. 

Jesus demonstrated one of the greatest examples of doing the Lord’s will instead of his own in Mk 14:36.  Even when he did not want to take our sins and the wrath of God that was  poured out upon them, he still submitted to his Father’s will when he prayed, “not what I will, but what thou wilt.”

There comes a point in your life when your will crosses God’s will and you must forsake your own will to do his will. Jesus said to his disciples, “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it,” [Matt 10:38-39]. What you end up doing may be what you have always wanted to do but you’re not going to get there without first laying down your own will.

Third, you must be transformed.

Your nature is the nature of a man. Your interests naturally are earthy. But in order to find God’s will you must be heavenly minded. Therefore Paul said, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God,” [Rom 12:1-2].

So, you have to cut off the influences that make you worldly and you have to concentrate on the influences that transform you into a heavenly minded person.  You can start by putting off the old man and putting on the new man, Eph 4:22-24.

Fourth, you have to act on it.

You can’t just sit around and hope to find God’s will for your life. You have to be doing something for him now. Bob Jones, Sr. said that the best way to prepare for tomorrow is to do what you ought to do today. God’s will is found along the road of service. James put it this way, “Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” [Jas1:22].

Fifth, you have to trust God.

Ps 37:5 says, “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Prov 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” So, to accomplish anything that God wants you to do, you are going to have to trust God to get you there.

You cannot put your trust and confidence in man to do for you what only God can do through you.  This will involve living by faith.   2 Cor 5:7 says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.”  Unfortunately, much of what is done today that is attributed to the Lord’s will is just man involving the Almighty in man’s own plans.

Sixth, you have to rely on God’s grace.

In 1 Cor 15:10, Paul says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” Paul knew that the work he was getting done was being accomplished through the supernatural power of God. He was working beyond his human capability.  He knew that most profoundly when he was too weak to do what needed to be done [2 Cor 12:7-10].

Conclusion

If doing the will of God is important to you, you should find out where you are in this list of six things.  And then you should strive to go to the next step.  You will find that doing the will of God is the mom satisfying endeavor you will pursue in this life.