Sermon Central
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A Famine Of The Will Of God
Contributed by Tom Carpenter on Jan 4, 2014 (message contributor)
Summary: Jesus' meat (food) was to do the will of God. Today we have a famine of the will of God, but the Lord has prepared a feast, if we will but be obedient.
Matt 6:9-13 (KJV)
(9) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. (10) Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (11) Give us this day our daily bread. (12) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. (13) And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
John 4:31-34 (KJV)
(31) In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. (32) But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. (33) Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? (34) Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
What is a Kingdom?
• First, we must remember that modern or standard English is one of the youngest languages on earth today.
o Originated out of Old English (influenced by Germanic languages), which was a language modern speakers would not even understand unless they studied it as a second language.
o Only in the 1400s did early modern English begin to emerge as a distinct language.
• The word “kingdom” was never spoken by Jesus.
o Comes from old English dom (dome), which means belonging to a jurisdiction or realm of authority.
o The king’s dom become the kingdom and was a reference to the area under the rule of a king.
• The Greek word Jesus spoke was Basileia and it means a realm under authority.
o The kingdom of God is real.
o The kingdom of God can be accessed.
o The servants of the kingdom do the will of the king!
Luke 9:62 (KJV)
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Born into the Kingdom
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
And he (Saul) trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
• Before our encounter with Christ, we do our own thing. We turn to our own ways.
• When we encounter Christ, we say with Saul who became Paul, “What wilt thou have me to do?”
Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.
(1) There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: (2) The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. (3) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (4) Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? (5) Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
• The Kingdom of God is something you’re born into. When you are born again, you are made a citizen of God’s kingdom.
• As a child of the kingdom we must seek to do the pleasure of the king.
Doing the Will of God
(31) Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (32) (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
(9) For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; (10) That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; (11) Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.
