Serve His Will
The sermon 'Serve His Will' encourages listeners to offer themselves to God and be disposed of by His will, trusting in His sovereignty and seeking to develop a mind like Christ's.
Mary Wilder Tileston emphasizes the importance of wholehearted dedication to God in all aspects of life, urging believers to offer their entire day to Him for active service or silent suffering according to His will. She encourages surrendering personal preferences and ambitions to align with God's tasks and purposes, being willing to be forgotten or transformed by His hand. Tileston calls for a prayer to have the mind of Christ, to be disposed of as He sees fit, whether for joy or sorrow, esteemed or slighted, surrounded by friends or dwelling in solitude, serving in familiar or foreign lands, and being willing to go, do, and suffer as Christ wills.
Text
And, whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.
COLOSSIANS 3:23
IF you love Him as I want you to do, you will offer Him the whole use of your day, as you open your eyes to the light of each morning, to be spent in active service or silent suffering, according to His good pleasure. You will not select the most agreeable task, but His task, whatever it may be; you will not disdain humble service, or be ambitious for distinguished service; you will lie, like a straw, on the current of His will, to be swept away and be forgotten, if it pleases Him, or to be caught up by His mighty hand and transformed thereby into a thunderbolt.
ELIZABETH PRENTISS
Let us pray Him, therefore, to shed abroad in us the mind that was in Christ; that we may offer up our-selves to be disposed of as He sees best, whether for joy or sorrow; to be slighted, or esteemed; to have many friends, or to dwell in a lonely home; to be passed by, or called to serve Him and His kingdom in our own land, or among people of a strange tongue; to be, to go, to do, to suffer even as He wills, even as He ordains, even as Christ endured, "who, through the Eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God."
HENRY EDWARD MANNING
Sermon Outline
- Serve His Will
- The Mind of Christ
- The Will of God in Our Lives
- Joy and Sorrow
- Friendship and Loneliness
- Service and Suffering
Key Quotes
“You will not select the most agreeable task, but His task, whatever it may be;” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“Let us pray Him, therefore, to shed abroad in us the mind that was in Christ;” — Mary Wilder Tileston
“who, through the Eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God.” — Mary Wilder Tileston
Application Points
- We should seek to serve God's will in everything we do, whether it's in grand or humble ways.
- We should trust in God's sovereignty and goodness, even in times of joy or sorrow.
- We should be willing to go wherever God leads us, whether it's to serve Him or to suffer.