What God's Will Could Never Be!

Text: Matthew 18:11-14

It is so good to be here today with you as we have come for many reasons but mainly because our Father is being honoured through our collective worship! God is so good and may His people always have a word of praise inside them for Him.
Please turn in your Bibles to Matthew 18:11-14- and read with me…
I don't know if any of our teachers ever have faced this or not, but maybe some of you parents can relate. Back in grade 6 there were a few of us (I think around 5) who really were always being picked on by our teachers. Now, there was one teacher in particular who really had it in for us and her purpose in life was to make sure she could fail as many people as possible. Oh, there were some students she really liked;
the people that sucked up to her and always wanted to pretend like they were following the rules. You know the kind, the ones who do their homework and listen in class. But for the rest of us who weren't 'hypocrites', she really only wanted to fail us!

It's tragic that such thinking actually traps so many people. Sometimes people look at their parents in that regard. Where mom & dad just want to make sure you are miserable. Or, we look at our bosses or fellow workers or even fellow church members in the same way. We convince ourselves that their whole mission as they walk this earth is to somehow knock us down.

There is another Person that gets this same sort of complaint as well and it really is perhaps one of the greatest tragedies of all. Many people view God or the Supreme Being as a very angry/vengeful God whose only goal is to punish the 'unworthies'. Our only hope with a God like this is to do something or say something or offer something that will appease His wrath and allow us to escape His punishment. When they imagine what God is like they see an old puppet master holding men and women by the strings over an open fire laughingly taunting them as the drama is being played out.
These people can even read their Bibles and the only image that stands out is the image of God's punishment on a disobedient people and His withholding blessings from others who left Him.

This morning however, I want us to look together at what Jesus said God's will could never be!
There is no question or at least there shouldn't be that Hell is a reality and it is sure to come! 2 Thessalonians 1:8,9.
Jesus himself said that there would be a place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. (Mark 9:48) Also, there is no reason to leave here and not think that Hell is a terrible place. It has the highest amount of terror than any place could have. How mankind needs to understand the danger of not looking up to God.

However, the question this morning is what does God want?
Is God like this sadistic grade school teacher whose only purpose in life is to make your life miserable?
Or, is there another side of God?

In our reading of Matthew 18- Jesus tells a story that is a favourite for many Bible students. The ninety & nine we call it.
Now, when we ask the question why Jesus came to earth, we could give a lot of reasons. Some are secondary reasons. Still valid, still needed, but primarily secondary. Some of these would include-
to show us what a man should be. (Matthew 3:17) Jesus showed us how to live. He showed us what type of life is pleasing to God. (1 Peter 1:21)
Another reason could be to set the record straight- he showed people where they were wrong and how they needed to be right.
But one thing we need to make note of and get our minds straight on is the primary reason Jesus came!
The story of the ninety & nine illustrates this!
Jesus came to seek & save the lost!
This is going to speak volumes about what God's will could never be for us and it is so important when we think about God's dealings with us. If the main theme of the Old Testament was the coming of Jesus and it was. If the main character of the Bible is Jesus Christ and it is. Than we must come to understand why he came! John 3:16,17!
Jesus' primary reason to come to earth was not to give God a reason to send people to Hell. Madame Robinson did not schedule a final test just so she could fail us!

So, Jesus begins to teach this very important truth:
Vs.12- What do you think?
Now, God is asking us here to look into our most intimate of feelings & see what His will must be!
If you had 100 sheep and one went missing, would you not go looking for it?
Once finding it, would you not rejoice in this?
There are two reasons Jesus brings this story up here:

He is talking in the immediate context of despising our brethren. He says don't do this (vs.10) because I came to save them.

This is the story of God! I am here to tell you about the Father.
Here is the deal:
my Father wants all souls. Yet, there are some who wander far away. Does that please the Father?
Not at all. For now, He goes on and all out search to find them where they are. Does that please Him to simply find them?
Not at all. For now, He picks the lamb on his shoulders and carries the lamb home. Does that finish the story?
Not at all. For now, he rejoices greatly in His precious find.

The story of God is the fact that He went after those of us who on our own were destined to die.
Here is Jesus' conclusion then:
It could never be my Father's will that any of His children should perish!

Listen closely, it could never be God's purpose in life to make our life miserable!
It could never be His plan to punish. It could never be His hope to throw us to hell. It could never be His desire to destroy. It could never be His mission to cruelly execute His wrath upon us in the flames of Hell.
Am I saying there is no Hell?
Not at all. There is a Hell. It is real, but it's not God's will for anyone to go there! 1 Timothy 2:3,4, Ezek.33:11, 2 Peter 3:9

Jesus said God's will was for all men to be saved.
Jesus also showed us that God's will was for all men to be saved.
If God didn't want to save us. If God just wanted to us to spend our days in turmoil, He would never have sent the jewel of Heaven to come down and suffer & die for us.

By the way, most of us eventually discovered that our teacher's goal was not to fail us, but to bring us along. Most of us soon discover that about mom & dad too- they only want to save us.

Isn't it something?
You walk this earth living life in any old way not caring about the path you are choosing. You may even begin to believe that God has it in for you. It's not fair, it's not right, it's not going to work out. You wander far and far not listening to the voice that calls you. Then one day you look up and before you is that old familiar face. That face that speaks of love and concern and he simply spreads his arms open and then you know:
there are the scars of love that prove what God has wanted for you all along.

So, we hear God's voice differently today:
He is not asking us if we want to go to Hell, but do you want to come to heaven?
How can we know? Revelation 5:6-10.
Won't you come as we stand and sing….

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