Scripture: Matthew 7:20-22; John 6:38-40; John 8:25-27
Today, we arrive at the 8th in our series
of messages on John Wesley’s paper “The Character of a Methodist”. In this paper, Wesley wrote “Agreeable to
this his one desire, is the one design of his life, namely, not to do his own
will, but the will of him that sent him.
His one intention at all times and in all things is, not to please
himself, but him whom his soul loveth.”
These were not John Wesley’s original thoughts, but rather, they were based
in those that Jesus shared with us in John 4:34 where
we read - “’My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him
who sent me and to finish his work.’”
In addition, He also told us that “50 For whoever does the will
of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother (Matthew 12:50).” So not only is Jesus committed to living in
the will of His Father, but we are told that if we desire a relationship with
our LORD, we had better be
walking in the Father’s will, too! Now
before anyone thinks that it was a lot easier for Jesus than it is for us,
consider just how much time the Christ spent in prayer, seeking the way of divine
will for His own life!
Maybe
that’s the problem for us – how often do we go to prayer, seeking God’s
guidance and will for everything we do in this life? Is our constant desire to “please” the LORD,
or does our own pleasure tend to take precedence from time to time? The will of God will never be in step with
our own desires, but His will can always bring greater opportunities and
greater glory than anything we could ever conceive of.
So today, we consider what living
in the will of the Father and the Son will do for all who believe and trust and
walk in the will of God.
Read Matthew 7:20-22
This passage occurs near the
end of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and He is obviously speaking of the standards
that will be used in the Judgment. The measures
that will be used to try us won’t be what we say, it won’t be in our physical
appearance, it won’t be on the places we live, it won’t be who we hang out
with, and it definitely won’t be the church we worship through - it will only
be about the One whose Will we live and serve in!
But perhaps the question that
should be a challenge for us today is this – who is it that Jesus is offering
this passage for? Specifically, it is
most likely for His disciples, but honestly, it just may be for anyone who was
present on the hillside that day, and even more so, for any of the Pharisees
who were always following after Jesus, trying to catch Him in some slight or
violation of the Law of Moses!
But just in case any of us
may be breathing a sigh of relief, believing that it could never be for us, it is
just as important a warning for anyone of any age, as well as for this day, who
believes that they have done so many good things in the name of Jesus, that a
special place in heaven will be awarded in their honor!
That will be a false hope, to
say the least! If we ever believe that
we have to cry out “LORD, LORD” to get His attention, and to list all that we have
done for Him because it could make all the difference in God’s verdict on us,
then we are sadly mistaken, and all the mercy of the heavens won’t do us one
bit of good!
The truth is that unless we
are living and acting and speaking completely within the will of the Father, this
warning is, absolutely, for us.
Read John 6:38-40
What is there about God’s
using a “food” metaphor to speak about the Goodness that can come to us when we
trust and believe in His Son Jesus? Why food? A
similar phrase is offered in Proverbs 9:5-6 – “Come, eat my food, and
drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your
simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”
Why is “good food” so
important for us? It helps us to grow in
a healthy way, it helps us to live in a productive posture, it helps us to have
a long and worthwhile existence. And
what if we eat in an unhealthy way, subsisting on junk food, or items that have
no nutritional value at all? Life will
be difficult and far shorter than it could have been!
This is what Jesus meant by
claiming that He is the Bread of Life’. He
is the food of spiritual power, the way to enhance life to live eternally, and
not just in a physical sense. When we
“feast” on Jesus, we receive Godly wisdom, spiritual understanding, a
Christ-centered life, and the promise of God for eternity.
And Jesus gives us an even
more important promise that comes directly from the Father – that it is God’s
Will that when we give this spiritually nourished life to Christ, we shall
never have the desire for anything else!
And God has no greater desire than we should come to the LORD
Jesus for the “food” that feeds us for eternity!
Faith in Christ nourishes us
that well.
Read John 8:25-27
Jesus had just told the Pharisees “23… You
are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins;
if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.” (John 8:23-25). At
this bold statement, they were not only confused, but they became rather angry
at the LORD! And now they hear that one day, Jesus is
going to judge them, even though they have always believed that they,
through the authority of the Sanhedrin, were the only ones who could judge anyone!
The problem with the Pharisees is that they thought
that if they could just silence Jesus, their problems would all be
eliminated. But this is assuming that
the words and the thought and the authority behind them was from Jesus Himself,
but the truth that comes to us through the Christ wasn’t His to claim – it was
the Father’s to speak and send, and the LORD’s, as well as ours, to
share with the world. Human judgment that was
brought against the man Jesus, or against any person who walked on the face of
the earth, would never accomplish anything, except to make the judgment against
them even sharper!
Jesus is the voice of the Father, and when we hear
the commands that Jesus gave us, we were placed under the yoke of the Father,
and from that moment on, it became Godly Law that demands our obedience, and
the people of the world become subject to His judgment.
In describing the Character of a Methodist, as well
as that of every Christian, John Wesley wrote “There is not a motion in his
heart, but is according to his will.
Every thought that arises points to him, and is in obedience to the law
of Christ.”
Every breath that we take, every beat of our heart,
every word that we speak, and every life that we reach out to, must point
directly to Jesus. For it is the will of
our heavenly Father that faith, trust, and obedience to His Son is the only way
that should ever matter in our lives.
All else must fall under His Cross.
