“Kingdom of God: Christ and Will/God in Attitude to Others”

Let me start tonight by saying thank-you to all the brethren who ministered this summer.

We were blessed by each one.

I have often felt sorry, in these recent years, of ministers who have such difficulty finding capable pulpit substitutes when they go on vacation or for some other reason.

We have been blessed - for the Lord has seen to supplying ministry substitutes for us in His own, good, perfect way.

So - thank-you once again, brethren, for your good work.

Now - let us go on.   

John 4:34-35: ‘Jesus saith unto them [that is, His disciples], My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work. 

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest; behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look unto the fields; for they are white already to harvest.’

And, connected with the part of the passage that constitutes the disciples’ attitude is Peter’s breakthrough to what Jesus meant in the ‘doing of the will of God.’ 

And he applied what he learned of Christ by writing these words, in 1 Peter 1:13-22. 

I will read only parts of that passage. Read it all for yourselves at another time, if you like.
 
He wrote: ‘Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desire you had when you lived in ignorance.

But just as He is holy, so be ye holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’

Then, in v 22: ‘Since by obedience to the Truth through the Holy Spirit you have purified your hearts for the sincere affection of the brethren, see that you love one another fervently from a pure heart.’

And, in 2:15: ‘For it is the will of God that by your good conduct you should put ignorance and stupidity to silence.’

At the time of this encounter recorded in John 4, Jesus and His disciples were traveling through Samaria.

Because He was ‘wearied with His journey’, the disciples left Him to rest as they traveled into the city to do some food shopping.

While they were gone, Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman who had come to the well to fetch water.

His conversation with her ended with the special revelation of His Messiahship to her.

He spoke of ‘living water’ that would forever satisfy her soul and spirit.

And, not only would she find the means to true worship, but those true worshippers among her people would also worship God aright.

When the disciples returned, they saw Jesus talking to the woman and they marveled that He would do such a thing.

Why would they be so astonished about this?

That question is easily answered, for - you see - not only were the Samaritans hated by the Jews, but Jesus was talking to a woman, and a Samaritan woman, at that!

What an unacceptable thing this was for Jesus to be doing!

Not only did they look at the Samaritans, as well as women, in general, as being inferior, but they were also looking at the various unpleasantries of life with equal disregard to God’s will about them.

So Jesus drew their attention to their inclination of ‘skirting the will of God’ in their attitudes that needed correction.

This was a good time. It was a teaching that came directly after the woman left the scene to rush back to the city.

There she spread the good news of the revelation of Jesus among the city elders.

In the meantime, the disciples wanted Jesus to eat some of the food they had just prepared for Him.

And, here, He seized the opportunity to make a direct application to align their spiritual sight toward doing God’s will.

These two issues - of attitudes about others and of attitudes about circumstances - are being brought to light.

In Lu 6, He had told them such things as, ‘Love your enemies: do good to them which hate you’ and ‘...as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.’ 

So, now, in response to their urging Him to eat, He said to them: ‘I have food to eat which ye know not of.’

The disciples - without a second thought - misinterpreted His comment.

They took it and applied it in a literal way.

But that was obviously not Jesus’ intent.

He was speaking in terms of spiritual realities, as the text clearly implies!

He spoke the word that He treasured in His heart. 

But it had a mystery connected with it, a higher thought that the disciples could not understand at this precise moment.

Why was it not clear to them at this time?

I have already alluded to the answer to that question when I quoted the verses found in Luke 6.

First, there was a huge wall of superiority in them. Religious bigotry and unbending inclinations blinded their spiritual sight! 

Not only was there hatred and disregard for the heathen Samaritans, but there was also the ‘exalted male toward the lowly female’ attitude still coursing through their veins.

And, secondly, since they were probably dismayed about the four months of waiting, of undergoing the hot, dry, lingering months before harvest time, they were showing signs of being disheartened and weary early in the season. 

In both cases, their minds needed a ‘girding up’.

So - Jesus was making clear that His objective was to lead His disciples to the higher way of thinking that focused on the ‘doing of the will of God’.   

That was Jesus’ desire for them - and for all who are His.

He wants for each a heart so trained in godly character that it will hold fast to ‘doing the will of God’, no matter what attitude adjustments need to be made nor what the state of current affairs seems to be.

‘...as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart’, is how it must be!

For that ‘pure gold’ to come forth, the ‘Refiner’s fire’ was to be applied. 

‘Set the heart aright toward a complete devotion to God where you can see others as God sees all men’, Jesus was trying to tell them.

That is the ‘doing of the will of God’ which is your meat.

In other words, in word and deed, to ‘do the will of 
God’ is a man’s spiritual food!

Jesus, of course, knew whereof He spoke for He was doing this Himself in every conceivable way.

He saw as God saw all men - from a heart of pure love. 

For every man to know that, He set aside his own life.

Thus, He told them: ‘My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me.’ 

That was His ‘meat’, His ‘food’. 

It was His sustenance. 

The joy and strength of His life was doing the Father’s will.

The ‘doing of good’ was not just duty and pleasure to Him.

The satisfaction of completing everything God had planned for His life was greater than satisfying His physical need of food.

As He did good to all others, God gave Him the ‘meat’ of knowing He was doing what God was doing.

God gave Him the ‘meat’ of knowing He was ‘one in service’ with God.

What He ‘ate’ in the encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well was the ‘better part’, the higher part’, of satisfying hunger. 

The revelation He gave of Himself and His ministry was ‘drink’ to her, too. It was ‘living water’ as He gave out the things of God to her!

And she received it, just as God the Father had planned for this to happen!

Because of it, the Gentile world opened through the testimony of Himself that this woman would carry onward to her people.

How it must have pleased His heart to see her heart so opened to the Gospel He gave her!

Is it any wonder He could say: ‘My food is to do the will of Him that sent Me’! 

In it, He was indicating how much higher the spiritual is than the physical.

To see these effects of ‘doing the will of God’ as his ‘meat and drink’, to see that Jesus was not living on physical ‘bread’ alone’, but on every word that proceeded from the mouth of God - that was the important part for these men to see. 

They had ‘attitude problems’, for sure.

They could only see the ‘blackness’ of the Samaritans and the lowliness of a woman’s life. 

It was this superior attitude about others, this idea that they were called to change the Samaritans, that was the crying issue!

So - they needed to learn the importance of ‘doing the will of God’ as their spiritual food, too. 

It was as if He was saying to them: ‘Yes - you are talking about the harvesting of this grain that you see here in the field.

That is still four months away.    

You are thinking of being weary, hot, tired, listless, and fatigued, drained with the work you have already done and with what you see that yet needs to be done in these fields.

But - let me inform you that the harvest I have come to garner is already ripe.

These people - the Samaritans - are also in the sphere of God’s love and they are ripe to receive it, as you could see by this woman’s response.

But - I tell you! You have a prejudice - you have a superior attitude toward these people. You think yourself to be better than they!

Open up your spiritual eyes! 

You need to do the will of God in the casting away of your prejudices first!

Get rid of that ungodly attitude you have about others!

My ‘meat’ is to do the will of Him Who sent Me and to finish His work’ - even among those you so loathe!  

Do you not realize that, in God’s eyes, you are no better than they are! 

Do you not realize that extending My love to this Samaritan woman and to that nation is extending God’s heart of love to them?

Do you not realize that the ‘doing of the will of God’ means to extend His mercy, to extend His grace, to extend His forgiveness, His kindness, His faithfulness to all peoples?

Yes - Jesus was pressing hard on this issue!

Peter caught the message, for he, later, wrote: ‘For it is the will of God that by your good conduct you should put ignorance and stupidity to silence!’  

Ignorance and stupidity about others is not the kind of spiritual ‘food’ Jesus taught His disciples to eat.  

Let me ask this question now: When will we stop conforming to the base attitude and spirit of mind that seeks to dominate us and keeps us from ‘the doing of the will of God’ ourselves?

The writer to the Romans wrote much later: ‘Do not let the world around you squeeze you into its mold, but let God remold your minds from within.’

The disciples were ignorant in their attitude about others.

Neither did they know how God intended women to be treated.

And to add to that, they were even ignorant on how to meet unpleasant circumstances!

But Jesus said that was not the ‘food’ He ate.

His food was the ‘meat and drink’ of submitting to the Father’s will. He went about doing good to all!

As it was to Him, so it must be with each one of His own!

Each one lives only in His kingdom and in His service by doing His will in this matter!

So I urge you. Move over! Yes - move over!

Let Christ within you take over!

Let His refining fire make you ‘pure gold’ in this issue of attitudes about others!

Keep doing the ‘will of God’ toward them and you will be spiritually nourished with heaven’s good food!

I will close here for tonight. 

May the Lord give grace and change us fully into His likeness!

Amen. 

Let us pray!    

Song: ‘My heart’s desire is to be holy, set apart, ready to do Your will.’