Luke 11 and the will of God

Luke 11:14-28  The Will of God is....?

    Jesus was casting out a demon /devil but even this action was questioned by the religious leaders of the church of that day , the Pharisees.  They were so incensed by Jesus that they said ," he casts out devils through Beelzubub, the chief of the devils." 11:15  Jesus challenges the religious leaders of then and as well as today, " BUT if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you."  Jesus challenges us to know God's will and do it as well. 

     A woman in the crowd lifted up her voice, " and said unto Him ( Jesus), ' Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, ' Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it."  We too as a people do not adore people or movements. We listen to the Word for the Will of God for the Word is God's inspired, without error and our way in this life and the life to come.  The Church can err; General Councils can err ( Article  19 in 39 Articles pb page 606), but the Word of our endures forever. Isaiah 40:8 " The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."

    When God speaks to us we could be like the people in Jeremiah 5 ( our WED Evening Prayer reading of last week ): " For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me saith the LORD.  They have belied ( lied about-NIV) the Lord...and said...evil shall not come..."  God speaks to such churches and prophets who do not believe His Word, " Wherefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, ' Because ye speak this word, Behold I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them." 5:14

      We wish to be like the people that Jesus said were blessed---those that hear the Word of God and keep it, not those who say God is not truthful when He has spoken already. In Mark 3 we read words about how Jesus spoke to His family and doing God's will. His mother and His brethren were seeking Him 3:32 and he said, " Behold my mother and my brethren ! For whosoever shall do the will of God , the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother."

     The important thing is doing the will of God. In all of our lives, that should be first. It is easy to get this reversed and that are people that will help us do that unknowingly often.  The world has its own ideas of what we should be doing.  Our world today will let us have our religion,  but that should not interfere with what others wish to do.  The world rushes on and does not take the necessary time to listen to God.  We live in such a society that keeps saying to us to be happy we must have more and more and do more that entertains us.  Observing the Lord's Day is out of vogue for example.  I was speaking to someone this week about how we have gone from bad to worse with Sunday observance.

      The Scotsman, Eric Liddell was portrayed in a movie that was very popular several years ago, " Chariots of Fire". He ran in the 1924 Olympics, but refused to run on Sunday because he wished to observe the Lord's day.  He still ran on Saturday and won a gold medal.  People respected him for his strong commitment to his faith. Later he became a missionary to China.

     If we were to go through the Bible itself we would find this a constant theme throughout, " doing the will of God."  It would be helpful for example to start with the faith Hall of Fame, Hebrews 11.  Noah was such an example in 11:7 . He " moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house."  It was not easy I imagine to do all of this when others looked upon him as a crazy person.  But Noah was a "just man and walked with God." Gen 6:9

      We should be asking, " How can I know God's will?" That is the best question we can ask and the fact that we are asking it at all is wonderful.  There are some things we cannot know. God had His plan which we do not know ,i.e. the future.  He has revealed to us how to live. Deut 29:29 is a good vs. about this, " The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." ( Sometimes we hear this called the decretive will of God or secret and the one we know is the preceptive or revealed will of God)

        If you are struggling with the will of God now for your life, I would say, start with what you know.  For example, we know we are to believe in God and in His Son to have eternal life.  Then we are to live in this world so that we may grow more and more like Jesus .  Too many people are neglecting the revealed will of God because they are thinking that they want to know more.  There are some things we will not know and never know.  But God is not leading us astray if we acknowledge Him and let Him direct our paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

          ST Ignatius asked that we imagine ourselves on " our own deathbed, looking back at the decision(s) we are now trying to make.  What path do you wish you had chosen?  Another way of doing this is to imagine how your own obituary will appear someday and what you hope it will say." in Hearing With the Hear- A Gentle Guide to Discerning God's Will for Your Life, by Farrington.

         We could spend many hours talking about doing the will of God. Each of us despite our age have a living relationship with God that should be growing every day as we read the Scriptures,  listen to the Word preached on the Lord's Day services receive the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper gratefully.  Jesus followed the will of God all the way to the Cross.  And He said in those famous words in the Garden, " Not my will, but thine be done." Luke 24:42  This is the way of true life and happiness. " Yea , rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."Luke