Days of Unleavened Bread 2025:

Good afternoon everyone. It’s good to see you all on this wonderful holy day.

A Last Will and Testament is a document that people have filled out to convey their wishes when they die, or after they die. The church does have a booklet on the topic. We don’t talk about it very often, but it is amongst our collection of materials, and it is something very good to be aware of. But I did some research in preparing this message and I came across what turned out to be some rather unusual requests in people’s wills that they had written up before they died. I’ll share a few of them.

Some of these people you know, some of these people you may not. But this first one here is a hotel mogul Leona Helmsley. You’ve probably heard of her. She died in two thousand and seven and she wrote in her will that she wanted twelve million dollars left to her dog. Dog’s name was Trouble. She named her dog Trouble. Now, when it was all said and done, Trouble only ended up with two million because her grandchildren fought vehemently for all that money and those children had been cut out of her will, but they fought vehemently in court for that dog not to get twelve million. But you know a dog ending up with two million is not too bad. So I’m sure Trouble had plenty of fun with it.

Another one here is Canadian millionaire Charles Milner. He promised his entire fortune to any woman that would have the most babies during the subsequent ten years after he died. So whoever got the most babies, whatever woman had the most babies, got to get all of his fortune. Turns out, four women tied, each having nine babies over ten years. So they had to split the money, like I’m sure to pay for all those babies. It helped. This next one here is eccentric millionaire Wellington Burt stipulated that his vast fortune would not be passed on until twenty-one years after his last surviving grandchild died. So twenty-one years, no one would get any money until twenty-one years after his last grandchild died. Needless to say, there was a lot of bitterness in that family over such a thing to be written in a will.

Londoner Henry Budd expressly forbade his sons from growing mustaches. So if they grew a mustache, they were not entitled to his fortune. So I guess I wouldn’t have qualified for the fortune. Sticking with hair, Napoleon Bonaparte, when he died, he stipulated that his head be shaven and that his hair be divided up amongst his friends. No, thank you. No, thank you.

In his will, comedian Jack Benny requested that a single rose be delivered every day to his wife until she died. It’s a nice one, and that’s probably the most tame one out of all of these. And finally, a Vermont tanner named John Bowman requested that his mansion be kept ready for him and his family after they died, and it was to be kept ready for them once they were resurrected. So they had to keep up the mansion, they had to serve a four-course meal every night just in case they came back and they were hungry. So eventually they ran out of money, and then that was that.

So those are some rather unusual wills, and people probably don’t write anything quite that, out there, that crazy. People write more normal things. But if you think about it, it left me kind of thinking about it, why do they call it a will? You know, it’s the last will and testament. Why call it a will? It’s kind of a funny thing to call it. But once I realized it and thought about it, you know what? A will actually makes sense. The word will just means whatever you desire or intend to have happen. So if you’re writing up a will for someone, it’s what you are intending or what you desire to have happen once you die.

It turns out we talk about this idea of will all the time. It’s not really a foreign subject to us once we think about it. You can be willing to do something or unwilling to do something. You could be forced to do something against your will. So that means you’re being forced to do something that maybe you didn’t want to do. Will you marry me? I will. Something every would-be husband would like to hear once he poses the question. So this idea of will is actually very familiar. When we pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, we’re asking God for his desire to take place.

This idea of the will of God has been on my mind a lot lately, especially this time of year. Perhaps you can all say the same. You’re thinking about what is the will of God? And we think about it often, but especially this time of year, I’ve been thinking about it a lot. And, brethren, I want each of us over the next seven days to think a lot more about the will of God. I want us to really focus on the will of God, not just for these seven days, but especially for these next seven days and beyond. What is the will of God? So on this first day of unleavened bread, let’s explore what God desires of us. What is his will for us? And how can we align ourselves to it?

Turn to Ephesians five, Ephesians chapter five. We hear so much about post-lunch messages and everyone staying alert and awake, so hopefully a little humor at least got the blood flowing a little bit. Ephesians chapter five, we’ll keep it going here. Okay. Ephesians chapter five. Let’s read one of the main verses that was driving this message and the reason that I really wanted to share this message with you. Ephesians five, we’ll read chapter or verse seventeen. Ephesians five, seventeen, “Wherefore be you not unwise,” okay? Be not unwise, “but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” So wise people understand what the will of God is. Unwise people do not understand what God’s will is.

Brethren, I want to be wise. All of you want to be wise. Wise people understand what God’s will is. People ask all the time, what is the will of God in this matter? Or what is the will of God in this situation? What should I do? What would God have me to do? It’s a very popular question. Something we ask ourselves often, especially when we’re facing a decision. Something is in front of us and we’re not quite sure what to do. What is the will of God in this matter? Well, this verse is telling us that it’s possible for us to understand what it is. We just have to be wise in order to do that.

Matthew six. Turn to Matthew six. We’re going to read that prayer that I referenced in my introduction. Matthew six, the model prayer, something we pray daily. Matthew six verse ten, cutting into the prayer, repeating from earlier. “Thy kingdom come, thy will” so this is God, God’s will, “...be done, in earth as it is in heaven.” That word will there is a funny sounding Greek word. It’s thelēma, and it means a determination, a choice, or an inclination. And as stated, it is translated as desire, pleasure, or will. So our prayer on a daily basis is that God’s will be done here on earth just as his will is done in heaven.

There’s a lot there. First of all, that implies that in heaven, God’s will is done completely. So anyone or anything outside of God’s will cannot be in heaven. It really explains why Lucifer had to get pitched out. The fallen angels, they couldn’t be there. So we’re seeing that there is a place, heaven, there is a place where God’s will is always done. Just as significant, however, is the fact that on earth God’s will is not always done. Hence the prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it’s done in heaven.”

Brethren, this is very important to understand. Some people wonder, they’ll often maybe ask a minister, we may get this question, it might be a personal correspondence that comes in, why does God allow suffering? Why does God allow people to die? Why does God allow evil to take place in the world? It’s because everything on earth is not done according to God’s will. That’s why. It’s not like it is in heaven. It’s different here on earth, fornicating, and then killing the baby after it is not God’s will. Stealing from Walgreens CVS and then selling it on Amazon is not God’s will. Politicians and leaders lying to the people is not God’s will. That’s not what God wants to happen. Spoiled brats, throwing a tantrum in the grocery store, rebellious teenagers. That’s not God’s will. That’s not what God wants to take place. Atheism, religious confusion, none of those things are the will of God. That’s why we see them here on earth. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

I could go on with many more things that are outside the will of God. Second Timothy two twenty-six says that the devil has a will, and frankly, those things I just read, that I just spoke to you, just gave you, are a reflection of the devil’s will. But we want to know what is God’s will. Now, there are many misconceptions about the will of God. Many things that people don’t understand about God’s will. Some one misconception is that, in order to understand God’s will, you have to decode this secret message and this mysterious understanding to understand what God’s will is. You have to look to the heavens, look for a sign. Another misconception is that God’s will is about feelings and emotions. And again, the clouds partying and the angels singing and, “Oh, that’s God’s will.”

Another misconception is that only actions or thinking, or words that are overtly religious, thus sayeth the Lord, those things are what make up God’s will. Everything else is outside of God’s will. Religious speak is another way to put that. People can believe that you’re either fully in, or fully out of God’s will, that it’s black or white. You’re either fully within the will of God, or you’re completely outside the will of God. We can believe, people can believe that unanswered prayer, delayed prayer is somehow a sign that you’re not in the will of God. We’ve all been there. We can mistakenly believe that a life aligned with the will of God is problem free. Riding on clouds, easy-peasy, easygoing, clearly that’s the will of God.

Brethren, those are all misconceptions and things that we may not fully understand are traps that we can even fall into, let alone those out in the world. Turn to Romans chapter twelve. Romans chapter twelve. We don’t have to struggle to know what is the will of God what it means. We don’t have to struggle with that. Romans chapter twelve, read verse two. Romans chapter twelve verse two, “And be not conformed to this world,” but instead, brethren, “...be you transformed by the renewing of your mind.” We’ll come back to that. “...transformed and renewed in your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

So God’s will is good, it’s acceptable, and it’s perfect. Good means beneficial. Acceptable means fully agreeable and well pleasing. And finally, perfect means complete. So the will of God is beneficial, it’s fully agreeable, and it’s complete. That’s just one verse that we read about the will of God. And Paul is saying here, in order to understand the will of God and for us to be able to fully grasp or comprehend the will of God, our minds have to be renewed. They have to be transformed, so transformed, going from one state to another state in order to understand even what I just read. But if our minds are different, if they’re changed, if they’re transformed, if they’re renewed, then we have every opportunity to be able to understand the will of God.

God tells us a lot about his will. Let’s just go to several places. We’ll just go in sequence. First turn to Revelation chapter four. God talks a lot about His will. And you can say everything. God’s word is His will, but I mean specifically about His will, where there’s no doubt. Revelation chapter four, we’ll just go to several verses here. Revelation four verse eleven. Revelation four eleven, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you have created all things and for your pleasure they are and were created.” No man in heaven nor an earth nor under the earth that was able to open the book and to look there on.

So when we look, that was verse three. Pardon me. So when we look at it, we see that God’s pleasure, that word pleasure, means His will. That’s just another translation of will. So God’s pleasure in Revelation four eleven, that word pleasure, means will. So just see it as and for your will they are and were created. So all things were created for the will of God. So that’s the umbrella verse.

John chapter six. John chapter six verse forty. “And this is the will of Him that sent me,” referring to the Father, “that everyone which sees the son and believes on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” God’s will is for all mankind to have everlasting life. That’s what God desires. That’s what God wants. Ephesians chapter one. Ephesians chapter one verse five. We will start in verse four, “According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” So God wills or wants for us to be His children. His verses are very plain. We could very easily see what the will of God is.

First Thessalonians chapter five. How does God want us to act as his children? First Thessalonians chapter five, verse eighteen. First Thessalonians five eighteen, “In everything give thanks, for this,” giving thanks, “for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” God wants thankful children. He doesn’t want unthankful, ungrateful, entitled children. He wants us to be thankful.

Galatians chapter one. Galatians chapter one verse four, “Who,” referring to Christ, “...gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father.” God wants to protect us from an evil world. When we’re out and about and we see the world falling apart around us, whether it’s physical danger, financial dangers, various dangers, and negative things that we face, God’s will or desire is to protect us from that, to protect His children from that. No parent wants to see their child get hurt or to come to any harm or any danger. That’s all the will of God. He wants to deliver us from evil.

Several more. John chapter nine. John chapter nine verse thirty-one. “Now we know that therefore that God hears not sinners, but if any man be a worshiper of God and does His will, Him He hears.” So God does listen out for or listen to or hear those who worship Him and do His will. If you want to be heard by God, if you want God to hear your prayer, do His will, worship Him.

First Peter chapter four. First Peter chapter four verse two. Verse one talks about not living in the flesh. Verse two, “That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God.” God wants us to abandon a way of life living after the flesh. He wants us to instead live according to His will. He wants us to change. Let’s stay here in First Peter. Go to chapter two. First Peter two verse fifteen. First Peter two fifteen, “For so is the will of God, that with well-doing, you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” God wants us to do the right thing, do the right things. It’s beneficial for us. It makes us look good. It makes Him ultimately look good.

Remaining here in First Peter, let’s go three seventeen. First Peter three, seventeen. “For it is better, if the will of God be so, that you suffer for well-doing than for evil doing.” Uh-oh. Sometimes God also, sometimes His will also is for us to suffer when we do well. That one doesn’t flow as well as some of those other ones. But we’re clearly seeing God is saying that from time to time, His will is for us to suffer in well-doing. A couple more. Psalm forty. Let’s go to Psalm forty. Psalm forty verse eight. “I delight to do your will, O my God. Yes, your law is written in my heart.” God’s will is His law. Reading here that it’s written in a heart, and man is delighted to do it, but God’s will is His law.

First Corinthians one verse one. Many of the epistles set up just like this one that I’m about to read. First Corinthians one verse one. “Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God.” We have this apostle, this man, this minister, this elder, this leader in God’s church who according to the will of God, was put in his position over the brethren, and his job was to explain and expound on what we read in Psalm forty, which is the Law of God.

Brethren, just in that last few minutes, we just did a quick Bible study on the will of God. There is no excuse for us not to know the will of God. It’s very plain. We just went through, wait, what? Ten, eleven verses. There’s so many more. We’re going to talk about a lot more things today, but understand this book, this Bible, is available and open to you. If you are wise, we can understand the will of God. Was there anything there that I read that didn’t make sense? I could have taken each one of those and expounded and gone many different directions. Each of those could probably be its own message, but each of us have the wonderful, amazing, extraordinary running out of words, adjectives, opportunity to know what the will of God is. We don’t want to throw that away. We don’t want to take that for granted.

Back to those misconceptions. God’s will is not some coded secret or something that we can’t know. Parents don’t traditionally talk to their children that way. They want them to understand. They may not understand it first. They may have to eventually grow into the understanding. But God’s will is not some coded secret or mysterious planet. Follow basic Bible principles, things that are written for us to read, to meditate on, to study. God’s will is not about feelings or impressions, signs from heaven. It’s a misconception that’s not what God’s will is all about.

It’s not only actions that are overtly religious or religious sounding that make up God’s will. God’s will may be explained in that way. In some cases, things that are just clearly from the Bible, but they’re principles, life principles, doing the right thing, treating others as you want to be treated. Those principles are consistent with the Bible, but it’s not necessarily a thus sayeth. That’s not what completely and totally encapsulates the will of God.

There are areas in our lives, brethren, where we will be strong and fully follow the will of God and other places where we struggle to follow the will of God. So that debunks the misconception that we are either fully in the will of God or we’re completely out of the will of God. None of us are ever in that position. There’s some things that we’re doing just fine, thank you, and other areas where it’s like, oh, boy, when’s Passover?

I’m in trouble. Unanswered or delayed prayer does not automatically mean we’re outside of the will of God. It’s not that easy. It’s not always that clear. God’s timing is God’s timing. We may not be ready for whatever we’re praying about or whatever we’re wanting or whatever we desire. It may not be time for that yet, or it may never happen. Of course, a life that is according to the will of God is not problem-free. In some ways, it invites more problems. It invites more difficulties. It invites more challenges. Why? First of all, we’re swimming upstream. We’re going against society. We’re deciding not to take the easy road, easy street. That, in and of itself, is going to invite problems, let alone the challenges that naturally come along with it.

Brethren, that is the will of God, and that obviously didn’t cover it all, but those things are a part of the will of God, a part of what it means. We saw, obviously, God has a will, the devil has a will. We saw that, but they’re not the only two with a will. Turn to John one. Turn to John one. God, the devil, these divine celestial beings are not the only ones with a will. John chapter one. The context is something different here, but it is revealing. John chapter one, we’ll read verse twelve. John chapter one, verse twelve. This is talking about Christ being the Word. “But as many as received Him, to them gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name, which were born not of blood, nor by the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man, but of God.”

Man clearly has a will. Brethren, we have a will also. Not just God. Not just the devil. It’s not a surprise. That’s not a surprise. We were made in God’s image. God has a will, He created us, and gave us a will. We’re made in his image. The problem is our will and God’s will don’t always align with each other. That’s the challenge. God’s will, our will, not always together. Isaiah fifty-nine. Well, actually no, let’s go to Ephesians two first. Ephesians chapter two.

Ephesians chapter two, verse three. “Among whom also we had our conversation, our conduct, in times past in the lusts of our flesh,” we just read about flesh in John, “...fulfilling the desires of the flesh.” That word desires is the same word thelēma as will. So fulfilling the will of the flesh and the will of our mind or our thinking. “And were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” Sin, our flesh, that is what leads to that gap between our will and God’s will.

Isaiah fifty-nine. Memory verse. Mark it in your Bibles. It’s marked in mine. Isaiah fifty-nine, verse two. Isaiah fifty-nine two. “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God. Your sins have hid his face from you that He will not hear.” Brethren, our goal over the next seven days, these next seven days of unleavened bread, is to go above and beyond to figure out how to align our will with God’s will. That’s what these next seven days are all about. That is what this season is about.

How do I align my will with God’s will? Appearing to be Christian is not enough. Looking like a Christian on the surface is not enough. Let’s go to Matthew seven. Matthew seven. Putting on a dress, putting on a tie, carrying a Bible, smiling, “I’m doing well. Thank you. How are you?” It’s not enough. Matthew seven, verse twenty-one. Matthew seven twenty-one. “Not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Oh, that seems pretty like a good thing, Lord, Lord. No. “But he that does the will of my Father, which is in heaven,” that is who will enter into the kingdom of heaven.

It goes beyond looks. It goes beyond the surface. It’s good to be at Sabbath services, of course, it’s good to be here today, and those listening to this message being where you are amongst the brethren, but we have to do all of the things that God expects of us, all the things that He conveys when He talks about his will, the things that He wants done. Our will doesn’t always align with God’s will for a lot of reasons, a lot of reasons. Perhaps we haven’t studied the scriptures enough to even know what God’s will is on a matter. Maybe we just don’t know. You’re telling me it’s in the book, but I don’t know it. I haven’t read it. I haven’t seen it. I’ve forgotten it.

Well, not knowing that God’s will makes it difficult to follow it and to keep it if you don’t know it. That could be a part of the challenge. It can be that we’re relying on our emotions, relying on our feelings, getting caught up. “My feelings are hurt. I’m frustrated. I don’t agree with that.” Be a reason to be outside of God’s will? We can buckle from the pressure of the world. “Yes, we know what God’s will is, but in this situation, it’s hard to follow it. It’s hard to do it. They’re laughing. They’re pointing. They don’t want to be friends with me. They don’t want to be around me anymore. I’m being ridiculed.” That can make it difficult to do God’s will.

Sometimes we don’t do God’s will because we forget the big picture. We forget the big picture. We become shortsighted. We start to focus on the thing that is right in front of our noses instead of looking out at the vast world, the vast future that is in front of us. We just start to think short-term. We don’t think about tomorrow or next week or next month or next year. It could be, we can struggle to follow God’s will out of boredom. I just don’t want to do it anymore, or as I mentioned, frustration or FOMO, fear of missing out. “When I follow God’s will, I miss out on all that fun stuff that I see going on, all those things that I see others doing.” It could be a struggle for young and old.

You think young people don’t, us older folk, we have to go through that too. We get to go through that too, that struggle, that challenge. When we face opposition or face persecution from our employer, from our families, from our former friends, from each other, those are all things that can make it a struggle for us to follow the will of God. Yes, we know it. Maybe we’ve even done it before, but this time, I’m struggling. I’m struggling. Sometimes it’s just flat-out self-will. “I’m grown. I want to do what I want to do, and no one’s going to stop me.” None of you have ever done that, right? Brethren, don’t pretend you haven’t been there. You may not say it with all the neck-bobbing and all the attitude. You may not say it like that, but we’ve all been there.

“You know what? I’m just going to do it. No one’s watching. No one’s around. Who cares or everyone’s doing it? Even other brethren are doing it. I know it to be wrong, but everyone’s doing it.” Brethren, just personally, there are times where, you know what? I just want to do... Just me, I’m being real here. I just want to do what I want to do. It happens. It happens. Now, when it happens, I have a choice. I have a choice. I can succumb. I can succumb to it. It could just be in a conversation. I could be alone. I could be in a group. It can come at any time. That’s often when it’s the most challenging too, when you’re not expecting it. And you know what? I just want to do what I want to do. I have a choice to make. I have a choice. I can just be weak and succumb to it, or I can slow down and think about the consequences.

What are the consequences if I just choose to do what I want to do? Yes, I might be grown in everything, but what if I just decide to do what I want to do what will it lead to? What will be the consequences? What will happen later that I go, “Oh, what was I thinking? How did I allow myself to do that?” If I’m smart, I’ll slow down, calm down, and do the will of God. When I don’t do that, not if. When I don’t slow down and think through the consequences, that’s what I did. That’s what I did. I’m outside the will of God.

Brethren, we’ve all been there. We’ve all battled self-will. Self-will is not unique to any of us. Many Bible figures battled self-will. Think about Jonah. God told him, “Get up to Nineveh. Preach to those people.” Jonah said, “No, I’m going to do something else.” Next thing you know, he’s inside the stomach of a fish. Probably rethinking this, “I don’t know. I don’t know. I should have... I don’t think I thought this through.”

Think about Moses. God says, “Moses, I want you to go up and to deliver my children from Egypt.” Moses starts making all sorts of excuses, “I can’t do that. I’m not a good speaker. I can’t do this. I can’t do that.” God got angry with him and he was saying that to God, like it wasn’t like through like a third party. He was saying that to God. Self-will is dangerous. Think about Paul, Saul at the time. He’s persecuting, murdering Christians, that is outside of God’s will.

The rich young ruler, good man, good heart, kept all those commandments, but he didn’t sell all. That was God’s will. That was Christ’s will for him in that matter, and he failed it. He went away sorrowful because he had many possessions. That’s an example of someone who, for the most part, was doing God’s will, but in that one matter, he fell short. Went away, sorrowful. Couldn’t follow Christ. Peter denied Christ. Bold Peter, you know the one that just always jumped out there, always ready to go, ready for a fight. “Whatever you say, I’ll do it.” He denied Christ three times after being told he was going to deny Christ three times. We’ve all battled self-will. We all have operated outside of the will of God.

Turn to Romans chapter seven. Romans chapter seven. I say it partly to let us off the hook. Well, if Bible greats can suffer from self-will, I’ll be okay. Partly to let us off the hook, but not completely. Not completely. Romans seven verse fourteen. Romans seven, fourteen, this is Paul speaking, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal,” I’m fleshly, “...sold under sin,” in bondage to sin. Think about this time of year we were delivered from sin. This is a man, Paul, who was delivered from sin. He still struggled. He still went through his challenges.

“For that, which I do, I allow not. For what I do that do I not, but what I hate that I do.” We’ve all been in a situation where we’re doing that thing that we hate to do. We know it’s the wrong thing to do. That which I hate, yet that’s what I find myself doing. You could just feel the struggle in those words. It was written there for a reason. This man is bearing his heart. He’s opening himself. This is one of God’s apostles. This is a leader in God’s church. It’s being shared with us for encouragement to understand, you know what? If Paul’s been there, I’ve been there.

Our will, brethren, is very powerful. Our will is very powerful, extremely powerful. We have to control it. We have to control our will. Is that possible? Is it possible to control our will? Of course, it is. Of course, it is. A major reason that Christ was sent to earth was to show that it is possible to align our will with God’s will. Let’s go to John chapter six. John chapter six. Okay. A reason Christ came to earth was to show that it’s possible to align our will with God’s will. I mean, I thought he came to die for sins and I thought he came to fulfill prophecy, and you’re telling me that a major reason God sent here was to show that we can align our will with God’s will?

John chapter six verse thirty-eight. John six, thirty-eight, this is Christ speaking, “For I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me.” So we see that Christ was sent from heaven down to earth. Let’s not forget thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So he was sent from heaven down to earth to align his will with God’s will. To show us that it can be done. To demonstrate how it’s done. Christ, that God being controlled his will to align it with the will of God.

You think, “Okay, wait a minute. Aren’t they both God and they are both God beings?” But apparently Christ had his own will that was separate from the Father’s will. Would you not agree? But his goal, his point, was to align his will with the will of the Father. Christ was not some automaton. He had his own will. He had his own desires, but his goal was to align those and ensure that those aligned with the will of the Father.

Hebrews ten. Hebrews ten, verse seven. Hebrews ten, seven, “Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me.” So in the scriptures, it is written of me. “...to do your will, O God.” Everything we read, brethren, in this book, everything we read about Jesus Christ, is a demonstration or a manifestation of the will of God. It’s in the volume of the book. So when we’re reading about the thoughts, the actions, the desires, the things of Christ, those things are in line with God’s will, with the Father’s will. They’re written there for our example. They’re written there to encourage us and for us to copy and to share.

John four, Jesus Christ, spoke a lot about the will of God. John four, verse thirty-four. John four, thirty-four. One of my favorite verses. “Jesus said unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.” You say, “Okay, why is that your favorite verse?” It just sounds funny. “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.” That’s a peculiar way to say it. “My meat,” I know what meat is. It’s food, but Christ lived to do God’s will. It was like it was meat to him. It was food to him. It’s how He survived. We all survived from food, from a meal, from meat.

Well, Christ, yes, He ate food. He ate just like we did as human being but He’s saying He survived. He got his nourishment. He got His energy, His strength from doing the will of God. That’s an amazing way to put that. Do we see doing the will of God like that? Do we eat it? Do we eat the will of God? Do we see it as our nourishment? What gives us the strength and the energy to go on and to move forward? Do we wake up daily hungry for the will of God? I’m still trying to get there. I’m still trying to get there, but brethren, we should wake up hungry daily eating and being nourished from the will of God.

I am not standing here saying that’s something that’s easy to do. Like I said, I’m trying to get there, but I’m reading it though. I’m trying to get there. It’s not easy. Luke chapter twenty-two. It’s not easy. Doing God’s will was not even easy for Christ all the time. Oh, really? No, let’s read Luke chapter twenty-two. Doing the will of God is not always easy. Luke chapter twenty-two, verse forty-two. This is Christ talking to the Father. He’s saying, “Father, if you be willing, if it is your will, remove this cup from me, nevertheless,” so okay, if it’s your will, father, do this one thing, “but nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done.”

Let’s keep reading. “And there appeared in angel unto Him from heaven strengthening Him.” Christ was going through a struggle. He was going through a struggle to do the will of God. He’s acknowledging the struggle. God sent an angel to help Him. That’s how challenging it was. Brethren, when we’re struggling to do the will of God, will God not send us help? Will he not send us an angel to strengthen us? Are we asking for that strength to do the will of God? Christ asked for it. Jesus Christ asked for it.

Verse forty-four, “And being in agony,” He’s in agony in an attempt to align His will with God’s will, “He prayed more earnestly.” Look at what he’s going through. Read what he’s going through to align His will with God’s will. “And sweat, it were great drops of blood falling to the ground.” What a description of a man, a God being, doing all within His power and that’s not even enough. God had to send an angel. He had to go through agony. He had to sweat great drops of blood dropping to the ground in order to conform His will to God’s will.

You may think, “Okay, well, that’s Christ going through death.” We all have our limits. We all have our levels. We all have that thing that will drive us to agony. Sure, none of us could conform to this, but this was Christ. He was very capable. He could do a lot, but even He had a limit. Brethren, we all have our limits. Things that will drive us, if we allow it to, will drive us to our knees in earnest prayer and requesting the help of God.

The days of unleavened bread are symbolic in how we are to align our will with God’s will. In many ways, that’s what these days are about. Seven days. How do we do it? First Peter chapter five. Seven days. It begins here. First Peter chapter five, verse six. We’ve heard about this throughout the day. “Humble yourselves,” God can’t do it. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time.”

So, to align our will with God’s will, we must humble ourselves. Unleavened bread is flat. It’s not puffed up. It doesn’t contain leaven. It doesn’t contain that air, that puffed-up air. That’s a symbol of pride. We shouldn’t be puffed up with pride. When we’re puffed up with pride, that’s typically when our will gets away from us and it’s not aligned with God’s will.

Deuteronomy chapter sixteen. Unleavened bread is flat. We don’t typically eat it throughout the year. We eat it at certain times of the year. God chose unleavened bread for a reason. Deuteronomy chapter sixteen, verse eight, “Six days, you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day,” you should also eat it then as well, “shall be a solemn assembly unto the Lord, your God. You should do no work.” Therein over the next seven days, brethren, we are to eat unleavened bread. That’s why we made so much, just bags and bags and bags and bags and bags of unleavened bread.

It’s because we’re supposed to eat it over the next seven days. It’s a visceral physical reminder that we are to be flat, that we’re not to be puffed up. Now, after the days of unleavened bread, bring on the puffy leaven bread but not during the days of unleavened bread. We have to eat it every day. Every day. We must lower ourselves to walk with God. That’s Micah chapter six, verse eight. Lower ourselves in order to walk with God. We, of course, heard about that in an earlier message. So, we’ve started into this idea of how to align our will with God’s will. Let’s keep going.

Another way to align our will with God’s will is to seek it. We have to seek God’s will. John chapter five. We have to seek God’s will. John chapter five, verse thirty, Christ speaking, “I can of my own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is just.” I could spend a lot of time on that. This is Christ saying he can do nothing of himself, so we don’t stand a chance. I’ll keep going. “Because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father, which sent me.” Brethren, we must seek God’s will. We must look for it.

It’s not always obvious, it’s not always apparent, it’s not always jumping up into our faces and showing us. Sometimes we have to scratch and claw. We have to seek God’s will. We have to look for it, find it. What is the will of God? We must be willing to do that. One of the things that can be very confusing is when you have to make big decisions and those big decisions come up and you can’t just turn to a verse per se and figure out, okay, what is the will of God?

In preparation for this message, I was talking to one of the ministers and he brought up a great point. His point was, when you’re considering what is the will of God, you have to consider all of the factors in a given decision. Not just the ones that you want to consider or the ones that may immediately come to mind. One of the examples he gave was searching for a job. Okay, so you’re out of work, you’ve been out of work for several months and you want to work. God said, “If a man doesn’t work, he doesn’t eat.” I want to work. And finally, you get that callback. Finally, you have an opportunity to work. It’s what you want to do. It fits your resume. It fits your experience. Your first impression of it, it’s wonderful, it’s great. The pay is good. “This is clearly the will of God. Everything is amazing.”

You get to work in an independent environment. You get autonomy. You get freedom. You have to work on the Sabbath. You have to… Oh, wait a minute. I got to work on the Sabbath? What is God’s will in this matter? So many times, I have fun with it and it can seem obvious, but it’s not always that obvious. But his point was, and I agreed with it. I said, “You know what? I got to share that with brethren and it’s true.”

Sometimes we can get so caught up and we’re looking at, “Okay, what is God’s will in this matter?” And we can look at every other factor, God wants me to work. It’s great pay. I can do the work. I can tithe. I can do everything that I got to do. It’s a good environment. It’s independent. It’s what I want to do. It’s what God, the talents God gave me, you know, remember you got to do the talents because I want cities. So, it’s everything that you want, except I got to work on the Sabbath. It’s not God’s will. It’s not God’s will.

We have to seek God’s will. We have to look at all of the factors, not just the ones we want to look at, not just the ones that are convenient for us. Just because God says, “If a man doesn’t work, he doesn’t eat.” It doesn’t cancel out God saying can’t work on the Sabbath. God’s law doesn’t work that way where it kind of cancels each other out. No. No. That’s called human steam, self-will. That’s something we want to obviously avoid.

We have to consider all the factors. Go to Proverbs chapter three. We have to seek God’s will. We have to look for it. We have to look for the things that, in effect, as I like to say, decisions that make themselves. To me, that decision about working on the Sabbath, despite all those other wonderful things, that’s a decision that makes itself. I don’t have to agonize over that.

Now, I can say so much more there. If the employer says work on the Sabbath, you can try to negotiate your way out of it. You can say, “Oh, I work Sundays, I’ll do this. I’ll come in on Christmas, I’ll do this, I’ll do this.” But if at the end of the day, they said, “You got to work on the Sabbath,” then that’s that job is not for me. Proverbs chapter three. Other factors as you seek God’s will.

Proverbs chapter three, verse five, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” So we have to trust God, first of all. We’re seeking his will. We’re leaning not to our own understanding. We’re not just focusing on the things we want to focus on. “In all your ways, acknowledge him.” So it’s a package deal, everything there has to line up with God’s will, God’s word, and he will direct your past. “Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil.” That’s the formula. That’s the filter through which we take our decisions, those big major decisions through. That’s how we see God’s will.

Another way to align our will with God’s will is to pray for it. Pray for God’s will. First John chapter fiver. First John chapter five, verse fourteen, “And this is the confidence that we have in him that if we shall ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” So we have to ask things, brethren. We have to pray about things according to God’s will. Now I have a piece of advice for you. I have a piece of advice. Don’t pray for anything that’s outside of God’s will. Profound, right? No one ever does that, right? It happens a lot. Don’t pray for things that are outside of God’s will.

Now you may not know what God’s will is, and you may be seeking God’s will in a certain matter, but don’t pray for things that are outside of God’s will. Now it’s not always obvious like murder.

Okay. Sometimes it can be a little more murky, a little cloudy, but you know your weaknesses. Something that… Okay, you have a struggle with finances. You’re not the most financially sound, disciplined person. Don’t pray for a credit card, an unsecured credit card with a ten thousand dollar limit, “This is the will of God.”

Don’t pray for things that are outside of God’s will. If I’m reading it right, he won’t hear it. And that’s for our protection. That’s for our safety. So it’s important to know God’s will and allow what you know about God’s will to lead your prayers, to be a part of your prayers. Before we, I’ll put it this way, take up God’s time with a certain request or a certain prayer, let’s make sure it’s a part of his will, otherwise, we’re just talking.

First Thessalonians chapter five. Now, once we know God’s will and we pray for it and it doesn’t happen, we give up, right? First Thessalonians chapter five. We just give up and move on to the next thing. “Oh, well, it wasn’t in God’s will for me.” First Thessalonians chapter five, verse seventeen. Short verse. “Pray without ceasing.” Sometimes, brethren, our God just wants to know how bad we want it.

Was that just a whim, a prayer? “Oh, you know, it’d be nice.” Or do we really want it in our bones? Do we feel it? We’re praying for a family member. We’re praying that an unconverted spouse just stops giving us grief. And it’s just a heartfelt prayer. Sometimes we just have to keep praying and keep going and keep going. That our children will just listen to us for once. That our boss would just stop being so mean to us. That my best friend will stop telling me all my business. Sometimes we have to wait for those prayers. We have to pray without ceasing but don’t give up. Don’t give up.

We pray for the will of God and we continue to pray for the will of God. We’ve sought God’s will, we’ve prayed for it, but another way to align our will with God’s will is to know it. We have to eventually know what God’s will is. Colossians chapter one. I talked about knowing God’s will to direct our prayers. We have to obviously know what we’re seeking. So if we know God’s will, we’ll know it when we find it.

Colossians chapter one verse nine. “For this cause, we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will and in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.” The Bible is God’s will. We open our briefcases, open our purses, open our Bibles. We are opening the will of God. Brethren, if you want to know the will of God, keep your nose in the book. Keep your nose in front of your computer screen on e-Sword, Blue Letter Bible. Whatever your Bible, your scripture, the way to read the Bible of choice. Keep your nose in front of it. Be familiar with it. Study it. Meditate on it. Think about it.

And it’s not just about reciting verses. We don’t just, okay, remembering the verses, that’s great, you’re a parrot. You can recite and just say what you just read. Great. And I don’t mock it. It’s nice. But the key is to know how to apply it. I’d rather know how to apply a verse, even if I don’t quite say it with the thou and the thus, but if I know how to apply it, I’m in a much better position.

It’s the reason for articles and sermons. Okay, why do we write articles? Why do we give sermons? We could just stand here and just literally read the Bible. “Okay, it’s God’s will. I’m just going to read it. In the beginning.” Just go all the way through. I’d be up here a while. You’d all be asleep. But the reason for articles and sermons is to take the word of God and show us how to apply it. How to apply the will of God to our lives.

When you’re reading that article, the point, what the writer is attempting to convey with God’s help is to show, “Okay, here’s a verse. Here’s how it applies to you.” A man is standing up and giving a sermonette. “Here’s this one verse. Here’s how to make it a part of your everyday or your thinking or your well-being. Here’s how to apply it.” A sermon is several verses doing that. That’s the point of those. It’s to expound on what the will of God is. That’s what it’s for.

If you want to align your will with God’s will, you have to do it from the heart. Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six. You have to do it from the heart. Ephesians chapter six. Verse six. Ephesians chapter six, verse five. We’ll start in verse five instead. “Servants,” we’re all servants to God, “be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as unto Christ.” So this is referring to being a servant of men. We do that on our jobs. We do that in different capacities.

Verse six, “not with eyeservice as men-pleasers,” so we don’t just do the right thing when people are looking. You heard that when you were younger growing up and we hear it now. You don’t do it just when people are looking, “but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” From the heart. We have to put our hearts into doing the will of God. It has to be heartfelt. Remember the meat? My meat is to do the will of God. That’s coming from that same place. We don’t want to just do the will of God to look good in front of everyone.

You know, when I’m around the brethren, I’m doing the will of God. But when I’m by myself, look out. You wouldn’t even recognize me. Who’s that? Who’s that guy? Who’s that gal? I don’t recognize them. We don’t want to do it with eyeservice. It wears off. And, oh, by the way, God sees us anyway. Even if other people don’t see us. But be one way. Now, don’t get me wrong. Don’t get me wrong. If you saw me, if you saw me in front of my kids at home, my wife, I could be a little different. You might say, “Who is that guy?” But just generally speaking, be who you are.

You know, I could let my hair down. I could be a little goofy around people I’m close to. Hopefully, you can say the same. You’re not exactly the same way with everyone all the time. But as a way of life, when it comes to doing the will of God, we should be the same. We should be the same no matter who we’re in front of. We have to be real, be who we are. Luke twelve. Another way to align your will with the will of God is to remember that you will be accountable for what you know. You and I will be accountable for what we know. Luke twelve. Luke twelve, forty-seven. It’s a great principle here.

Luke twelve, forty-seven. “And the servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will,” so he knew the will but didn’t follow it, “shall be beaten with many stripes.” We know a lot, brethren. We have a lot of knowledge. We have a lot of knowledge. Think of all the things you learned just before you went down into the baptismal waters. All the things that we learned about God’s plan, how He works with mankind, all of the details, why the ways of men don’t work. We understand what faith is. I mean, all of that knowledge, all of those books that we read and studied, all that knowledge.

And this is before we went down into the baptismal waters. This doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of all the things we’ve learned since then. All the knowledge that we’ve been given since then. Brethren, we’re going to be held accountable for that. We are accountable for that knowledge. God is going to hold us accountable. He didn’t just cast pearls before swine. That knowledge was meant to be taken in and put to use. It’s intended to be sobering. The threat of a belt on your hind parts, that’s always been pretty motivational to me growing up.

But it’s interesting here, it says, “Beaten with many stripes.” If you know the will and don’t do it, beaten with many stripes. Verses go on to say, if you didn’t know, you’ll be beaten with a few. But we’re going to be accountable for what we know. And that is tremendous motivation to help us align our will with God’s will. It’s meant to be motivation. It’s meant to remind us of what we’re doing.

Another way to align our will with God’s will is to be around people who are doing God’s will. Be around the brethren. Be around God’s people. Birds of a feather flock together. Eagles don’t fly with buzzards. I’ve never seen it. Be around people of like mind, people who are interested in the will of God. It makes things a lot easier.

Mark chapter three. Mark chapter three. Verse thirty-five. Mark three, thirty-five. Let’s start in verse thirty-three. Mark three, thirty-three. “And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round on about them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren.” Thirty-five, “For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.”

Those who do the will of God are a part of our family. We may not do it perfectly, but we’re seeking the will of God. We’re striving to do the will of God. We have an interest in knowing the will of God. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we come every week. That’s why we keep God’s holy days.

That’s why we sit through two services to do what? Learn more about the will of God. When we’re around those who want the will of God, who know the will of God, we can learn something. We seek counsel. We have the ministry. They know the will of God. We have pillars in the congregation. They know the will of God. We can lean on each other. You know, “What is the will of God in this matter? What should I do?” Or sometimes we don’t have to say anything. Person just shares something from their past. And it’s like, “Wow, if that ever happens to me, I’m going to do that very thing.” You now know the will of God in that matter.

Sometimes, just objective advice can help. It may not even be from a member. If you have an ear to hear, sometimes someone from the world can say something to you that’s proven, it’s principled, and you say, “You know what? That’s the will of God in that matter. That makes a lot of sense. That makes a lot of sense.” To align our will with God’s will, another way is to be patient. Be patient. Luke twenty-one, nineteen. This is hard too. We have to be patient. Sometimes we just want what we want when we want it.

Luke twenty-one. Classic verse, Luke twenty-one, nineteen. Luke twenty-one, nineteen. “In your patience, possess you your souls,” or lives. Brethren, sometimes we just have to be patient. We have to be patient to learn or see God’s will on a matter come to pass. We have to be patient. Sometimes God’s will on a matter can change, and His will in that given situation changed because we changed. Now, we’re in a much better position to be able to step into His will.

It could be a situation that was never intended for us. It could be either one. You may want, “You know what? I want to be married. I want to get married.” God says it’s not good for man that he should be alone. On the one hand, that’s God’s will. But if you’re not ready for marriage, this can go for women as well, if you’re not ready for it, it is not God’s will at this point in time. Be patient. Find out. If something’s not happening, find out why isn’t it happening? Dig into it. Make it your business to figure out what may be the issue, what may be the problem.

Become in the case of marriage, become that spouse or that mate that God would be comfortable giving another one of his children to. Be patient. In some cases, however, you may discover that marriage is not for you, that it is not in God’s will for you. It could be a tough pill to swallow, especially if you don’t know that at first. But be patient. Stay close to God. Don’t be weary and well-doing. Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water just because, you know, you may not be stepping into God’s will in one matter. “You know what? I’m just going to throw this whole thing off then.” Well, that’s not good.

That’s not good. And it’s not just the kingdom. When it says, “Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season, you’ll reap if you faint not.” We often apply that to the kingdom and it has application, but that’s not the only situation. We reap in many things. You reap what you sow. Be not weary in well-doing. Continue to do the right thing. You’ll reap in due season if you don’t give up. If you stop doing the right thing, you will not reap in due season. Don’t faint. Don’t give up. Finally, recognize that in order to align our will God’s will, it takes help from Him. Hebrews thirteen. Hebrews thirteen. We need God’s help.

We need God’s help. Hebrews thirteen. Hebrews thirteen, twenty. “Now, the God of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will.” So we see here, God is the one making us perfect in order to do His will. This is not something we’re doing on our own. “Working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever.”

When we’re doing God’s will, when we find our way doing God’s will, we can’t take the credit. We can’t take all the credit. We can take some of it because we’re obeying it. We’re listening to it, but we cannot nearly take all of it. It is God working through us, showing us the path, telling us what to do. First of all, he created the path to even walk on, but He’s the one leading us and guiding us down that path.

He does that through His spirit. He gives us the fruits of the spirit to mimic and to copy. Those fruits represent His will. We have love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, gentleness, faith, meekness, temperance, all those things work together. They all manifest the will of God. God does that through His Holy Spirit. The ultimate goal, brethren, of aligning our will with God’s will is found in Colossians four.

Colossians chapter four, verse twelve. Colossians four, twelve, “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salute you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.” That is the purpose. That is the purpose of God’s church. The mother, God is the father, God’s church is the mother, and working together, father and mother, the goal is for us to stand perfect and complete.

Hebrews ten. God has something remarkable planned for us. Hebrews chapter ten, verse thirty-six. Hebrews ten, thirty-six. “For you have need of patience,” we see that word patience again, “For you have need of patience that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.” After you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.” What is the promise? First John chapter two. So we don’t get the promise before the having done the will of God. We get it after.

But what is that promise? First John two, seventeen. First John two, seventeen, “And the world passes away and the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God abides forever.” So the earth passed away in this set up, but he that does God’s will abides forever. That is the promise. God cannot lie. If we do God’s will, we receive the promise. That promise includes abiding forever. It’s interesting as we conclude, it’s interesting, this last will and testament that we started with is such a powerful analogy. There’s a lot more that going on there than may meet the eye.

That’s the document that’s left behind for an heir that shows what’s to be left behind once a person dies for the heir. In Romans eight, sixteen, it talks about us being children of God, heirs of Christ, joint-heirs with Christ. Brethren, we’re all heirs. The Father wrote the Bible. The Bible is His will. The Bible has two testaments. Christ sent His son to die for us, and in His death came an inheritance for all of us. A powerful, powerful analogy for us to appreciate.

Brethren, we are heirs to all that Christ has if we do His will, if we follow His will, if we do the things He wants us to do. To qualify for this inheritance, brethren, we just have to do one thing, align our will with God’s will.