and your encouragement, truly
a blessing to me. But yet most of the time I still
feel like a student in a class studying a subject. It's just way, way over my head.
That's the way it was for me in geometry in high school. It wasn't near as over my head
as these things. And I've learned that unless
God give me the grace, the liberty, the unction to proclaim Christ
to you, that I just simply can't do it unless He give it. And it's become apparent to me
especially in the last few weeks, months, that I am a student still
in school. Now today, in our time together
after services, we're celebrating the graduation of Ms. Georgia. And Georgia Lubman, not Georgia
Gibbs, Georgia, well, I won't go there. But if I've learned anything,
dear friends, I've been taught by the grace of God that in spiritual
things we never fully, we never fully or truly graduate
until we leave this world and go to be with Him. We are until
the day we physically die in need of teaching. from our great
and sovereign God. This week I read and I prayed
and I prayed and I read and when I was ready to give up, God taught
me something from just a few words in one of these verses.
Something that I believe is necessary for every one of us. If you've turned with me to Psalm
143, I want you to look at that first little sentence in verse
10 that Glenn read. Teach me to do thy will, for
thou art my God. Teach me to do thy will, for
thou art my God. This is a holy prayer to a holy
God. Teach me to do thy will." Just
a few little words. You know, prayers don't have
to be long to be effectual or effective. The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much." And this prayer comes
from the psalmist David, whom scripture says was the apple
of God's eye. Notice the first words of the
psalm in verse 1. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Hear my prayer, O Lord. You see,
prayers that come from the heart, Prayers that come out of a sense
of need, need out of a desperate condition. They're the ones that we're sure
that our great God will answer. You've heard me say many times,
I never saw anyone come to the Lord Jesus in the scriptures
that came bowing at his feet, worshiping him with a great need
that he didn't grant their wish, that he didn't heal them. What
was that old leper's prayer? I mention him every message it
seems, but what was that old leper's prayer to our Lord Jesus
Christ? It wasn't a long one, was it?
He got straight to the point. He said, Lord, if thou will,
you can make me clean. And our Lord's effectual answer
wasn't a long one either, was it? Oh, full of compassion, mercy,
and grace. He said, I will. He put forth his hand and he
touched that old leper with the compassion that only God can
have. And he said, I will. I will. Oh, may God be pleased to answer
this short prayer the same way. Teach me to do thy will. You see, sin is never a part
of God's will. This prayer shows that the one
who prays it sincerely desires to be free from sin forever.
When he says, teach me to do thy will, he's saying, Lord, take my sin
away. It's never God's will that we
should do wrong. But thank God He forgives us
for all our sin, all past, all present, all future. Teach me to do Thy will. I remember Charles Spurgeon once
said when Jonah wanted to flee from Nineveh, he found a ship
to Tarshish. And I'm sure that he thought
or said, how providential. There's a ship going exactly
where I want to go. Yet friends, no providence can
ever be an excuse for sinning against God. We ought to endeavor
to do right. And therefore we pray the simple
prayer, Lord, teach me to do thy will. What a humble prayer. What a humble prayer that David
prays. And I believe now this has become
my prayer. I believe that every day my prayer
will be, Lord, help me to do thy will. Teach
me. Teach me. I'm a student. I'm
in need of your teaching. It was a prayer of a man who
knew that he still needed teaching. He still had a desperate need.
Now I know that if God has saved us by His grace that we have
all that we need in the way of salvation. I know that. But as
long as we sojourn through this life, we need divine teaching. I believe, Lord, but help thou
my unbelief. The Apostle Paul said of himself,
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of
Satan to buff me lest I should be exalted above measure. And he said three times, I besought
the Lord, begged the Lord, that He might deliver me, that He
might depart from me. And what did our Lord say? My
grace is sufficient for thee. My grace. We accept God's providence. We bow to it. Why, we even become
thankful for it. Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God. Your grace
is sufficient for me, O Lord. One wise man once said, when
you don't want teaching, it's because you're too stupid to
learn. It's only a great fool of a man that thinks he has no
more to learn. Those who know themselves best,
those who know the world best, who know God best, always, always
have the lowest thoughts of themselves. That's just the way we're taught. To be lifted up, we must come
down. To live, we've got to die. Die to ourselves. Die to the
world. Live unto Christ. That same wise man said, they
have no wisdom of their own except this, that they are wise enough
to flee from their own wisdom and say to the Lord God of heaven
and earth, teach me to do thy will. This prayer doesn't say, teach
me thy will, even though that would be a good prayer. It says,
teach me to do thy will. I remember when my children got
to the age of where they were ready to walk. And Teresa and I just didn't
say, okay, come on, walk, start walking. Come on, you can do
it. Looking back, it almost seems
like it just happened that quick, but I got to thinking back about
that, and we had to teach them how to walk. Do you remember
when yours were little? What did you do? You took them
by the arms and you balanced them, and you did the little
baby steps behind them as they went across the floor. When they
lost their balance and stumbled and began to fall, you held them
up by your hands and balanced them and allowed them to walk
on a little further. That's teaching them how to walk. We caught them when they fell
and got them back on track and pretty soon we were able to let
go because we helped them and we taught them how to walk and
they started walking. Hosea 11.3, just a short verse. The Lord says, I taught Ephraim
also to go taking them by their arms. That's what God does for
His people. Teach me to do Thy will. Teach
me to walk right. Teach me to do. There's no salvation
in doing. There's no merit. There's no
reward. But asking God to teach me to
do His will is the prayer of every true child of God. Do we
still sin? Of course we do. Sin is what
we are. It's not what we do. But friends,
we hate our sin. We loathe it. We beg God to take
it away. Every true child of God does.
And I hope you see also that this prayer also says what it
doesn't say. Teach me to do thy will is also
saying not my will, Lord, but your will. Isn't that what it's
saying without saying it? It doesn't say to teach me to
do the part of thy will that I like, It doesn't say to teach me to
do thy will. Let me do my part and then I'll
do your part. No, it doesn't say that. Teach
me to do thy will. Teach me to bow to your providence. Teach me to trust in you in joyful
times and in sad times. Teach me to lean on Christ while
in comfort or in pain. Teach me to, with my whole body,
soul, spirit, to be conformed to Christ Jesus, my Lord. Not just because it's pleasing,
but because it's Your will. That's a prayer of resignation
and self-denial. Teach me to do Thy will. I desire to resign from my will. And anymore I pray, Lord, don't
give me my will. Not my will. And what an example
Christ our Lord is. He said, nevertheless not my
will, but Thine will be done. He's our example in all things. Notice this is a prayer of faith.
It's a prayer of believing and one of trusting. Teach me to
do thy will, for thou art my God. Thou art my God. This shows faith
in who the teacher is, doesn't it? My teacher is my God. I'm sure we all had teachers.
They were special because they took a personal interest in us
to learn things and to teach us things and to help us to succeed. We all have had our favorite
teachers. I had some teachers that I literally
loved. I still keep in touch with one
of them today. You know why? Because I knew
that he had my best interest at heart. He wanted me to succeed. He wanted me to do good. And I don't think that he would
disagree with you if I said that he loved me. He did. But friends, there's no one who
has more interest in you than our sovereign God, your
sovereign God. Thou art my God. Thou art my
God. to say that there's none who
cares about you more than He. The same God spoke the worlds
into existence, as we talked about in Sunday school. That
same God threw the stars into their perfect place with just
a flick of His wrist. No big thing. And that is the same God, dear
friends, that condescends to be our teacher. And He teaches us to do His will. When you give it considerable
thought, this is really a very reasonable and practical prayer.
It doesn't say, teach me to know thy will. There again, that's
a good prayer. That's a desirable request. Teach
me thy will. Teach me to know your will. But this says, teach me to do
thy will. Here's another old saying, that
an ounce of doing is worth a ton of knowing. And I'm immediately
reminded to what the Apostle James said. He said, but wilt
thou No, old vain man, that faith without works is dead." And in
that same chapter, James chapter 2, he said, for the body without
the Spirit is dead, and faith without works is dead. I talked
to Pastor Donnie Bell earlier this week, and always a pleasure
to talk to Donnie. And he was telling me about visiting
Brother Scott Richardson's funeral and he said as he walked up to
that old casket there lay that frail dead body. Brother Scott had lost so much
weight didn't even look like himself Donnie said and he said
I begin to rejoice. He said brother Scott's gone He's with His Lord. He's at the
feet of Christ. He said, this is just old shale.
And that's what James is saying. He said, when the Spirit leaves
the body, it's dead. And even so, faith without works
is dead. Lord, teach me to do Thy will. Let me show my faith by my works,
your works, not mine, yours. And Paul said, if I had the faith
to remove mountains and have not love, he said, I'm nothing. I'm nothing. Oh God, teach me
to do Thy will. Cause me to love You with my
whole being. Cause me to love my brothers
and sisters as much as I love myself. James said also in that wondrous
chapter, If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of food,
and one of you say to him, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled,
notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needful
to the body, what does it profit? We looked at that briefly in
a study of Ruth on Wednesday nights. And basically what James
is saying is if a brother or sister be naked or their clothes
are just ragged, and you hand them an empty clothes hanger
and say, okay, be warmed, well, that would be ridiculous, wouldn't
it? If they're hungry, destitute of food, and you hand them an
empty plate, what have you profited on? Lord, teach me to do. Teach me to do Thy will. Oh, for Thou art my God. You know, it's pretty natural
for us to pray, Lord let me have my own way. And we don't necessarily
say it that way. We don't say those exact words,
but often times that's really what we're truly asking. Lord, I pray that thy will be
done, but I sure wish and hope that you do this or that." That's
what we're saying. Christ is our great example in
all things, as I said. He said, He was fixing to go to the cross
for you and I, those of you that love and trust Him. He was fixing
to take your sin upon Himself. He that knew no sin was made
to be sin. And He was fixing to work out
and had worked out a perfect righteousness for you. And the
Scriptures say that He sweat great drops of blood. Oh, can
you imagine the burden, the sorrow, He was a man. He was all God,
but he was all man. And he said, Lord, if it be possible,
nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done. Oh, I pray that I can truly,
truly say that. Lord, not my will, but Thine
be done. However God chooses to answer
our prayers, I'll tell you this, our prayer is to be, Lord teach
me, teach me. You know what's best for me.
You know what, your will's always best. Is that not right? You
know all things. You work all things after the
counsel of your own will. You work all things together
for the good of those that love you and trust you. then it just
makes simple sense to say, teach me Lord to do thy will. It's
for our good that we do. Now allow me just to say a few
more words and I'll wrap this up. I know it's getting a little
warm in here. What does it mean to do God's will? It means God help me to do as
your word tells me. Help me to do as Christ showed
me. Help me to love Christ with all
my heart and all my soul, with all my mind. Our Lord said that's
the first and great commandment. The will of God is for us to
love Him with all our being. It's for His glory, His honor.
That's why salvation is of the Lord. Man gets no credit in the
matter. He had nothing to do with it. And the second is, just like
it, love your neighbor as yourself. I can't express how much I love
you. But I'm afraid I don't love you
as much as I love myself. Lord, teach me to do Thy will.
Teach me to do Thy will. Our Lord said, on these two commandments
hang all the Law and the Prophets. This is a book about Him. To
do God's will is to love and trust His providence. To see
every trial and tribulation is one sent by Him for our good
and His glory. Lord, teach me to do Thy will
thoughtfully. Teach me to do Your will immediately. Help me to do it cheerfully.
Teach me to do Thy will constantly and completely. Teach me to do
it watchfully and spiritually with courage. When I'm ridiculed,
teach me to do Thy will. When I'm threatened, tempted,
tested, slandered, teach me, Lord, teach me. Put down my pride. Put down myself. Make me willing
to be anything and do everything You want me to do. Only God can make it so. So while
we not pray, Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Only God can answer prayer, and
God only answers prayers that aren't asked amiss. James says,
you lust and you have not, you kill and you desire to have and
you cannot obtain, you fight and you war, yet you have not
because you ask not, and you ask and receive not because you
ask amiss. You ask for the wrong reason.
You ask for the wrong things. But you may consume it upon your
lust. Friends, with this prayer comes
an answer of peace and comfort. There's good reason to expect
that it will be answered. For thou art my God. If God has given us himself,
let me ask you, will he not give us his teaching? If God gave to us His only begotten
Son to die in our place as a criminal, what we were, a notorious sinner,
will He not give us His teaching? I'm certain that He will. I'm certain that He will. A popular thing a few years ago
was a little bracelet that a lot of young people wore that said
WWJD, what would Jesus do? Friends, that's not the issue.
Unless God give me grace, I'd never do what Christ did. The
issue is this, what Jesus did. Oh, in studying His perfect life
and the Scriptures, we see the will of God. This is the will of God that
sent me. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. Teach me to do thy will, for
thou art my God. And this is the Father's will
which sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I shall lose
nothing, not a one. But you raise it up again at
the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the Son..." Oh, that's
it. We must see the Son in our salvation,
in our redemption, sanctification, redemption. And friends, even
after we believe, I must see Him every day. Lord, let me see
Christ. Let me hear again that old, old
story, how my Savior came from glory. Everyone would seeth the Son
and believeth on Him. Do you believe on Christ this
morning? Is He your all and in all? He's your only hope of salvation,
dear friends. What think ye of Him? Do you
know whose Son He is? For thou art my God. Those that see Him and believe
on Him have everlasting life. Christ said, and I'll raise Him
up at the last day. There's only one who can teach
us. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. To find
true knowledge, we turn from all other teachers and look to
the great and omnipotent God. It's not by natural strength.
It's not by human power. man doesn't have either. It's
not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.