SAYING YES TO GOD'S WILL.

[Donn Jibben]

SAYING YES TO GOD’S WILL

Pastor Donn Jibben

Believers in the Lord, I have great news for you today!  The great new is this; Saying yes to God’s will in the end is always the best!  I said saying yes to God’s will in the end is always the best!

Jesus Christ, God’s son left the splendor of heaven and the perfect fellowship of the Father and the Holy Spirit to come to earth to seek and save the lost and to give His life as a ransom for you and me.  He was passionate about it all and He came on a Divine Mission to fulfill God the Father’s perfect will.

For a short 3 ½ years He spent the majority of his life teaching the disciples, ministering to the lost, sick and diseased and delivering those who were demon possessed.  He was indeed on a divine mission to fulfill God’s perfect will. During the last week of His ministry Jesus had a very eventful and busy week.  This week is known as the “Passion Week.”

Here is just a few of activities of Christ during that week:

• Jesus arrived in Bethany and there Mary wiped His feet with her tears and also anointed his feet with a very costly perfume.
• He fulfilled Zech. 9:9, riding triumphantly into Jerusalem.
• Jesus also cleared the Temple of money changers and declared that His Father’s house is a house of prayer.
• Jesus also instructed the disciples and taught them many valuable parables.
• He also had the last super with the disciples, bringing a whole new meaning to the Lord’s supper, encouraging them to always remember Him until He comes again.
• Following the last supper Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane with his three closes t disciples to pray.
• It was there in the Garden that Jesus prayed, under the great wine press of death one of the greatest prayers he would ever pray - He prayed for the Fathers will be done in his life!

You do know this morning there is great rewards for being obedient to God’s will!  Jesus was obedient to the Fathers will and look at the results!  No, it wasn’t easy and it wasn’t understood by everyone but it was the best thing for Jesus to do.  The results are out of this world-they are ETERNAL!!

As believers we truly are blessed to be recipients of Jesus Christ’s obedience in doing the Fathers will.  We also have a lot to look forward to when we receive our eternal rewards in heaven, for being obedient to the Fathers will for our lives.  Yes indeed friends, we will all be glad in the end when we have been faithful and obedient to God’s will for our lives.  Jesus experienced His resurrection morning and He is eternally blessed and so it will be with us as well when we say Yes to God’s will as well!

 

There is an older chorus that some of you may know and remember that believers use to sing and to enhance your memory I remind you of the words.

 The chorus goes like this: 

I’ll say yes Lord yes to your will and to your way; I’ll say yes Lord yes I will trust you and obey;

When your Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I’ll agree; and my answer will be yes Lord, yes.

SERMON TITLE:  SAYING YES TO GOD’S WILL

TEXT: MATT. 26:36-46

As believers, you and I can understand quite easily on this side of the cross, the implications of Jesus saying YES to the Fathers will had far reaching value.  Christ’s divine mission, passion and obedience to fulfill the Fathers will resulted in eternal redemption for the lost souls of mankind.

 Even though we may say yes to the Fathers will for our lives we cannot provide eternal redemption to anyone, however we can have a direct impact in seeing precious souls saved as we reveal the light and truth of Jesus Christ.  And that my friends, is what life here on earth is truly all about.  It saying yes to the Fathers will and having a direct impact in pointing others to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

AND SO IT IS THIS MORNING THAT I HAVE TWO POINTS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS TO YOU IN SAYING YES TO GOD’S WILL.

THEY ARE THESE:

I.  SAYING YEST TO GOD’S WILL IS NOT ALWAYS EASY

II. SAYING YES TO GOD’S WILL IS SOMETIMES HARD FOR OTHERS TO UNDERSTAND.

LET’S LOOK CLOSER AT EACH OF THESE POINTS MORE CLOSELY.

I.  SAYING YES TO GOD’S WILL IS NOT ALWAYS EASY.

Was saying “YES” to God’s will easy for Jesus to do?  No it was not.  Jesus repeatedly asked, “My Father if it be possible may this cup pass from me.”  Jesus, God’s son struggled with surrendering and saying “YES” to the Fathers will for his life.  Believe me, Jesus knew what was ahead.  What he was about to endure was great suffering, agony, physical torment and pain and beatings so bad that he was beyond human recognition (read Isaiah 52-53). But what was probably worse than all, was separation from the heavenly Father.

Jesus came to fulfill the Fathers will.  Luke 9:51 reads, “he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem”.  He knew that in the fullness of time his Father had sent him to seek and save the lost (Gal. 4:4). He knew that he would soon be lifted up on the cross as to provide his life and blood as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.  Yet, we read in our text that Jesus prayed fervently these words, “Father if there be any other way possible way, let this cup pass from me.”  He was overwhelmed as he prayed in deep anguish that he sweat great drops of blood.  He had such great emotional agony in about what was to transpire as He, who knew no sin would shed his blood and give his life as a ransom to His father for the sins of mankind. Gethsemane actually means “winepress or oil press” and means being pressured to the point of emotional death.  So we that it was not easy for Jesus to say “YES” to the Fathers will.  Anyone of us would have easily buckled under the load and pressure. Yet we see Jesus, in his foreknowledge of what was to come, still prayed in surrender these words, “Father not my will but yours be done”.

John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work”. To this historical truth today we all need to be deeply thankful that Jesus said “YES” to the Fathers will and that he was obedient to the Fathers will to go to Jerusalem and to Golgotha’s hill.  It was not easy for Jesus but he was committed to fulfilling the Fathers will at all cost.

In Direct application:  Do you desire to fulfill the Fathers will for your life?  Have you said “YES” to His will?  Do you, like Jesus desire to be obedient in fulfilling the Fathers will no matter what the cost is? It may not be easy, it may be agonizing and it may cost you more than you ever thought.  Yet, there is always great rewards in being obedient to the Fathers will! Always!

Here are some things we know to be the Fathers will:

Have you responded to the Jesus work on the cross, repented of your sins and received Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord and is your name written in the Lambs book of Life? (Salvation).

Are you to resign from your current job and move on to something better that the Father has for you?

Is there someone who has wronged you and sinned against you that you need to forgive?

Are you in an inappropriate relationship that you need to break off?

None of these may be easy for you do, but with God’s grace you can!  There is no better place to be than to say “YES” to the Fathers will, regardless of the cost. We must see that saying “YES” to God’s will is never a cost but a blessing!

SO WE SEE THAT SAYING YES TO GOD’S WILL IS NOT ALWAYS EASY. BUT IT’S ALWAYS THE BEST IN THE END WHEN WE TRUST AND OBEY AND SAY YES!

 SAYING YES TO GOD’S WILL IS ALSO NOT ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD BY OTHERS AND THAT IS POINT NUMBER TWO.

II. SAYING YES TO GOD’S WILL IS NOT ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD BY OTHERS.

Just think, Jesus had spent 3 ½ years with his disciples and yet they did not understand God’s perfect will for Him.  Jesus had taught them through many parables and teachings, illustrations and miracles and He even taught them about his death but they did not understand.

Matthew 16:21-23, as well as Luke 18:31-34 records this very truth.  Let’s look at Matt. 16:21-23.

“From this time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began rebuke him, “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”  Jesus turned to Peter and said to Peter, “get thee behind thee, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

So, we can easily see here from this scripture reference that not even the disciples, who were close to Jesus understood Jesus Saying “YES” to God’s will.  It is like this sometimes, those closest to you may not understand you saying ‘YES” to God’s will and “YES” for God’s will to be accomplished in your life.  To them it may not make any sense at all.  They look at you, and like Peter want to rebuke you and go against God’s divine plan for your life.  Its then that you will need to trust in your heavenly Fathers heart and plan for your life.  Just like Jesus did.

You must be willing to go against the flow and current of those closest to you if you know that God the Holy Spirit has spoken to you and desires for you to fulfill His plan for your life. No matter the cost.

Psalm 40:8 “I desire to do your will oh my God.”

Matthew 12:50 “For whoever does the will of the Father in heaven is my brothers and sisters.”

1 John 2:17 “The man who does the will of God lives forever.”

Jesus said “YES” to God’s will for his life.  It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t understood by everyone.

There has been a few times in my Christian walk when I know that others, and some of them very close to me probably wanted to rebuke me and thought I’d lost my mind.  But when God the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart and gives you a divine purpose, a Mission, a Vision and a Dream it’s always best to say “YES” to His will.  In the end, it is always the best!

Missionary David Livingston: (Africa) “I would rather be in the heart of Africa and be in God’s perfect will then be on the throne of England and be out of God’s will.”

IN CONCLUSION:

Saying “YES” to God’s will is always the best in the end!  Believe me friends you will never be ashamed when you stand before your heavenly Father when you have accomplished his will for your life.

Saying “YES” to God’s will is never easy and it is not always understood by those closest to you but in the end saying “YES” to God’s will is always the best!

WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT SPEAKS TO YOU, WITH YOUR WHOLE HEART AGREE AND SAY YES TO GOD’S WILL!!  WHY NOT SAY “YES” TO GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE TODAY!  IT’S ALWAYS THE BEST PLAN AND IT’S THE ONLY PLAN!

WHAT HAS THE HOLY SPIRIT BEEN SAYING TO YOU THROUGH THIS TEACHNG?

In Christ’s love 

Pastor Donn Jibben