Livng for the Will of God
The Christian must prioritize the will of God in all decisions, avoiding the temptation to consider consequences that can lead to sin and dethroning Christ as Lord.
A.W. Tozer emphasizes the necessity of prioritizing the will of God over social consequences in our lives. He warns that when Christians, including businessmen and pastors, allow the fear of repercussions to influence their decisions, they compromise their commitment to Christ as Lord. Tozer argues that true leaders must be willing to risk their jobs and reputations for the sake of preaching the truth, and that moral integrity should guide every action. He highlights the danger of allowing temporal concerns to dictate eternal values, urging believers to remain steadfast in their faith regardless of potential costs.
Text
The temptation to gear our lives to social consequences is frightfully strong in a world like ours, but it must be overcome all the way down the line. The Christian businessman when faced with a moral choice must never ask, ?How much will this cost me?? The moment he regards consequences, he dethrones Christ as Lord of his life. His only concern should be with the will of God and the moral quality of the proposed act. To consult anything else is to sin against his own soul.
Again, the pastor when facing his congregation on Sunday morning, dare not think of the effect his sermon may have on his job, his salary or his future relation to the church. Let him but worry about tomorrow and he becomes a hireling and no true shepherd of the sheep. No man is a good preacher who is not willing to lay his future on the line every time he expounds the Word. He must let his job and his reputation ride on each and every sermon or he has no right to think that he stands in the prophetic tradition.
And the same principle is binding upon the religious writer and editor. The scribe who will trim his copy to hold his job is unworthy of public confidence. The editor who will reject an article or a paragraph of an article because he is afraid to accept it is standing in the shadow of the fear of consequences. The publisher who allows desire for profit or the fear of losing sales to decide what books he shall print is on a moral level not too far above the money-changers Christ drove out of the Temple. All these examples point up to a grave modern evil, permitting temporal consequences to decide eternal issues.
Sermon Outline
- The Dangers of Considering Consequences
- The Importance of Prioritizing the Will of God
- The Consequences of Prioritizing Consequences
- The scribe who trims his copy to hold his job is unworthy of public confidence
- The editor who rejects an article due to fear is standing in the shadow of fear
Key Quotes
“The moment he regards consequences, he dethrones Christ as Lord of his life.” — A.W. Tozer
“Let him but worry about tomorrow and he becomes a hireling and no true shepherd of the sheep.” — A.W. Tozer
“The scribe who will trim his copy to hold his job is unworthy of public confidence.” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- As Christians, we must prioritize the will of God in all decisions, even if it means facing consequences.
- We must be willing to lay our future on the line every time we make a decision, rather than considering the potential consequences.
- By prioritizing the will of God, we can avoid sin and remain faithful to our Lord.