In this final lesson of our Fundamentals of the Faith series, Pastor Dave Capoccia considers the topic of understanding God’s will for our lives and receiving His guidance. Pastor Dave answers three key questions in relation to this topic:
1. What do we mean by “God’s will”?
2. How should we respond to the different aspects of God’s will?
3. Practically speaking, how does God guide us in making decisions in our lives?
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morning and welcome to Sunday school to our last fof uh Sunday school lesson I’m glad if you have been with us as part of this series I hope you found it edifying we’ve done 24 lessons in total on the 13 chapters of this book but we are coming to an end today with our last topic God’s word and guidance and we’re really going to have to compress the lesson today because not only am I starting late but I also need to end early so woo this is going to be an interesting ride uh let me pray and we’ll get into the topic heavenly father I pray that you would um bless this time and show us Lord that we you have not left us derelict in terms of knowing your will you’ve shown us so help us to understand that and to fulfill your will in Jesus name amen okay so God’s Will and guidance is our last Topic in our fundamentals of the faith series and this is important because I’m guessing that you or somebody that you know has often struggled with the question of what is God’s will for me what does God want me to do especially when you face a significant life choice should I join this particular church should I marry this particular person should I pursue a career in this particular field should I take this particular job should I leave the job that I have should I buy this home should I witness the gospel to this particular person should I pursue this particular Christian Ministry should I seek to become a pastor what does God want me to do of course that’s that’s a good question to ask always looking to do the Lord’s will is a good thing to do as a Christian but people who ask ask these questions often are styed at how to arrive at an answer because how can you know what the Lord’s will is for such specific questions like these and these people feel like they can’t just shrug their shoulders make a decision to move on because what if they make the wrong choice what if they make the wrong choice that means they will end up dising pleasing the Lord without intending to they’ll displease the Lord invite his curse on their life chastening they’ll end up wasting a lot of time pursuing something they should never have pursued they’re going to bring difficulties into their lives they could have avoided if they’ only known and followed God’s will so this is a very distressing situation they don’t want to make the wrong choice they’re afraid of doing so so what often happens to Christians stuck in a situation like that they’re afraid of making the wrong choice but they’re not sure how to make the right choice they don’t they don’t make a choice they just kind of stay in that agonized indecision for a long time maybe you’ve been there I know I’ve definitely been there they’re searching for God’s will but they feel like they can never find out what it is so they don’t want to make a choice well I’ve got good news for you if you’ve ever been there or even if you are there struggling to find God’s will for your lives you can know God’s will you can know know with certainty how God wants you to act how to make decisions even for every part of your life so you can be confident God is pleased and you are walking in his blessed way you can actually know that you can know God’s will you can escape the prison of indecision does that sound like I’m I’m guaranteeing too much promising too much I’m not but the thing is you have to realize which aspect of God’s will you can know and are called to pursue because I think what gets us so entangled sometimes is that we think we’re supposed to know and fulfill God’s Sovereign will which is actually impossible when really what we should be seeking to know and fulfill is God’s commanded will which is possible and which gives you the specific command and the principles to handle every decision of your life for God’s glory so that’s what we’re going to talk about today in this final lesson we’re looking to answer three main questions today what exactly do we mean by God’s will how should we respond to the different aspects of God’s Will and then practically speaking how does God guide us in making decision decisions in our lives so if you haven’t already turned to your last chapter your last lesson in your fof books God’s Will and guidance we won’t have time to go over all the blanks but I will refer you to a few things in there as we go along let’s start with the first question what exactly do we mean by God’s will not sure if you’ve noticed yet in your study of the Bible but when the Bible talks about God’s will different verses talk about different facets or aspects of God’s will and you need to realize this or else the Bible’s going to sound hopelessly contradictory for example Psalm 1153 declares Psalm 1153 but our God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases it’s a great verse straightforward whatever God wants to do that’s what he does whatever he desires to do he does because he’s Sovereign because he’s the all powerful God he accomplishes all his will he accomplishes all his good pleasure you believe that but God also says in Ezekiel 18:23 Ezekiel 1823 do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked declares the Lord Yahweh rather than that he should turn from his ways and live and if you caught that what is God saying in Ezekiel 18:23 what is he saying that he desires who should not perish no oneish right he doesn’t want anyone to perish for wickedness he says I don’t have pleasure in the death of the wicked I would rather they repent and Escape my judgment but evidently just even from the scriptures plenty of wicked people have died without repenting so God’s expressed desire went unfulfilled so wait a second does that mean that God does not in fact do whatever he desires whatever he pleases or take another example Ephesians 1:1 Ephesians 11:1 says that God works all things all events all circumstances according to the counsel of his will everything is happening according to his will Ephesians 5:17 same book later says Ephesians 5:17 so then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is and we might put these verses together to conclude that we can and should know all things that God is doing and seek to fulfill our part in his will but then Ecclesiastes 115 comes along and says this is Ecclesiastes 11:5 just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant women so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things so Solomon says in Ecclesiastes there’s no way to know what God is doing how does that fit with Ephesians has God revealed his will to us or not are we supposed to know it or not can we know it or not we can resolve our confusion over these verses of the Bible if we recognize that there are three aspects to God God’s will as revealed in the Bible three aspects to God’s will not three Wills three aspects to God’s one will there is God’s Sovereign will there is God’s desired will or will of desire and there is God’s commanded will these overlap but they are not the same and we are to respond to these aspects differently if you look in your workbooks under Roman numeral 1 letter a number one we see a good definition of God’s s Sovereign will also called God’s decretive will which comes from his eternal decree God’s Sovereign will it says involves his ultimate complete control over everything nothing happens that is not in God’s plan history is really the unfolding of God’s purposes which happen exactly as he planned God’s Sovereign will this idea that his overarching plan for everything this is what the Bible is talking out in verses like Psalm 1153 he does whatever he pleases in Ephesians 1:1 he does everything according to the counsel of his will we could add Isaiah 14:24 Isaiah 14:24 which says Yahweh of hosts has sworn saying surely just as I have intended so it has happened and just as I have planned so it will stand we’re talking about God’s Sovereign will everything in life happens according to this aspect of God’s will if God has not decreed it if he has not willed it sovereignly it will not happen it does not happen but if God has willed something sovereignly will that event happen yes there is no contradicting God’s Sovereign will now here’s a question can we know God’s Sovereign will actually yes but only in certain situations when it’s already when it’s already happened or when he’s revealed it um prophetically or explicitly in the Bible we can only know God’s Sovereign will after the fact this is what Eccles Ecclesiastes 11:5 was talking about when it says you cannot know the activity of God you cannot see and understand his total totally his Sovereign will unless it’s already been revealed prophetically in the Bible or unless it’s already happened was it God’s Sovereign will for me to be here teaching you Sunday school today it was how do you know that because I’m here and I’m teaching you Sunday school it’s already happened it wouldn’t have happened unless God will it now that’s a silly example but now consider something more poignant if you get into an accident that leaves you with a permanent disability was that God’s Sovereign will yes how do you know that because it happened if he did not sovereignly will that it wouldn’t have happened that means it fit and his overall plan for that to happen to you no events in life neither terrible sins that you do or that other people do to you no tragic accidents no happy deliverances no great Joys are random all happens according to God’s Sovereign will but you may ask does that mean that God desires or enjoys everything that God sovereignly Wills to happen the answer is yes and no ultimately yes God desires whatever he ordains for the Revelation and enjoyment of his own Glory Psalm 1153 is true but this does not mean that God enjoys every particular part in what he sovereignly Wills because there’s another aspect of God’s will which is God’s desired will now this is not in your books though it is in the teacher teacher guide but I think it’s still useful for you to know the book doesn’t Supply an official definition even the teacher notes don’t so I have to give you my own working definition so here’s my description of God’s desired will God’s desired will or will of Desire involves the reflection of his character loving what is good and beneficial and hating what is evil and harmful God’s desire will is consistent with his Sovereign will but is not always fulfilled for the sake of fulfilling ultimate desires God sometimes leaves lesser desires unfulfilled even those lesser even though those lesser desires are sincere and glorious you know sometimes Christians have trouble with this I idea of God’s will of Desire because they cannot accept that the god of the universe would want something that he would leave unaccomplished for himself is he not the god in the heavens who does whatever he pleases one erroneous theological conclusion from that assumption is that God does not desire the non-elect to be saved if you’re non-elect they would say God doesn’t really want you to come because if he did he would make you come now you can see the logic of that but that is an error believing that God can’t have lesser unfulfilled desires is an error for at least two reasons one because the Bible demonstrates otherwise we already noted from Ezekiel 18 that God doesn’t Des desire the death of the wicked but he nevertheless ordains it for many cases in multiple places we see that God says that he desires his people would be perfectly holy like he is but are his people perfectly holy like he is no they’re not so there is a desire that is not completely fulfilled or perhaps most obviously did God the Father want to unleash his wrath upon his beloved sin-bearing Son and did his son want to experience the holy unrelenting anger of the father if we believe that the father and son love each other at all we have to conclude the answer is no they did not want that Interruption to their love relationship who would this is why Jesus even says in the garden if possible father take take this cup away from me this wasn’t Jesus just having weakness in his humanness this is him expressing his love for the father I don’t want anything to come between us if there’s another way to accomplish salvation that doesn’t involve that let’s do it but there was another desire that both Father and Son felt even then for the sake of the glory of the Trinity and the salvation of a redeemed bride Father and Son laid aside a good lesser real desire for a greater desire their desire for no cross and only uninterrupted love was real and there would have been something terribly wrong in the godhead if they did not feel that desire the son’s like lay it on me father I don’t care if you put your wrath on me that doesn’t bother me if that’s the way the sun felt would be like what’s wrong with with you so these were real desires and it was important that God truly feels them but lesser Desires in the godhead often Make Way for greater desires the biblical record is clear clear on this but also aren’t we humans the same way this is the second reason to reject the error we regularly choose to do actions that we don’t desire for the sake of a greater goal that we do desire I don’t know about you but I don’t like working out but I do like the benefits of working out so even though I don’t desire every aspect of working out I do ultimately desire to work out or here’s a more noble example I do not desire to discipline or to inflict pain or distress on my child I don’t desire to make Benjamin cry if I did if I were okay with that that didn’t cause me any compunction there’d be something wrong with me as a parent but I have a greater desire for him that he be trained in right and wrong in self-control ultimately in the fear of God which requires disciplining him eventually so I set aside any good faithful Christian parent sets aside a lesser desire for the greater desire of loving my kid and loving God in the most important ways now you may say this is all a nice abstract theology Dave but what does this will of Desire have to do with our Lives why does this matter for us well for one Understanding God’s desired will helps us make better sense of what the Bible says but a more important reason is Understanding God’s desired will helps us answer the problem of evil and pain in our existence because what is the common objection anyone familiar with the world’s evil or who has gone through extreme suffering asks how could a good god ordain this how could he possibly determine this to be good the only way to answer those aching questions of the Heart by understanding the connection between God’s desired will and Sovereign will no in one sense God did not desire this sin to occur he did not desire this tragedy to occur he did not desire to put you through this suffering he’s not a callous God he doesn’t enjoy blasting people with pain or subjecting the world to the poison of sin that’s not who he is but he has has an ultimately good and loving purpose which he is working out even through sin and suffering and we understand that when we understand that truth we can rightly say whatever my God ordains is right and he does all things well and if you’re still a little bit unconvinced God himself says this in the Bible Lamentations 3 Lamentations 3 I found myself thinking about this passage now and then in the midst of unimaginable suffering God’s just judgment has come upon Judah and Jerusalem because the people would not follow him Jeremiah has witnessed it he’s seen people starved to death he’s seen people being carded off to captivity it’s like an apocalyptic Zone and all of it happened because God brought Wicked Babylon upon Israel he’s seen God’s Sovereign will come to pass but it’s devastating and yet where does Jeremiah turn in the midst of his incredible sorrow he reminds himself of God’s heart it says a number of things but what I want to draw your attention to is Lamentations 3: 31-36 Lamentations 3 31-36 where Jeremiah says by the spirit of God for the Lord will not reject forever for if he causes grief then he will have compassion according to His abundant loving kindness for he does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the land to deprive a man of Justice in the presence of the most high to defraud a man in his lawsuit of these things the Lord does not approve do you see even while he realized God had sovereignly ordained it he knew in God’s heart that those were not the kinds of things that God loved to see Wicked people prosper and Crush other people into the dust God does not love that you know what he loves is to restore his people and Jeremiah knew he would do that he would do that one day so let us never conclude based on God’s Sovereign will that God innately desires sin or suffering or approves of these things by no means he merely ordains them as the way that he would accomplish his ultimately good and glorious plan so God’s Sovereign will is what he ordains God’s desired will is what he’s wish is what he wishes for but doesn’t always fulfill for the sake of fulfilling greater wishes there’s one more aspect to God’s will that we not only can know but we are responsible to know and that’s God’s commanded will also called God’s preceptive Will from the word precept or Rule and get a definition of God’s commanded will on the next page under number two God’s commanded will is revealed Through the Bible as laws or principles it is the aspect of his will to which men are held accountable this is the aspect of God’s will that the Bible is consistently commanding for you and I to know and to do like we saw earlier in Ephesians 5 17 don’t be foolish but know what the will of the Lord is we also read in Romans 12:2 Romans 12:2 and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is that which is good and acceptable and perfect not talking about the Sovereign will here here or even God’s desired will we’re talking about his commanded will what did he reveal he says I want you to do this he says you need to know that you need to prove that with the way you live probably my favorite verse for clarifying God’s commanded will versus God’s Sovereign will is Deuteronomy 29:29 you can turn there if you want otherwise I’ll just explain it to you Deuteronomy 29:29 the context here the context of this verse is God through Moses is warning Israel against apostasy and also foretelling what God’s curse will look like on a coming disobedient generation so don’t apostas and in the future if and when there is an apostasis generation this is the curse this is what it’s going to look like and you can imagine upon hearing that or reading that as an Israelite you might be tempted to wonder oh when’s this going to happen maybe I’m part of the apostasis generation did God sovereignly ordain that or if it’s not me when’s it going to come Israelites might be tempted to figure out the Sovereign will of the Lord but Moses redirects their thinking and energy with Deuteronomy 29:29 when he says the secret things belong to Yahweh Our God but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever that we may observe all the words of this law that’s very clarifying we could restate it this way don’t try to figure out God’s Sovereign secret will that belongs to God God wants you to focus on his revealed will to know and Obey what he actually told you for the Israelites was the law well what is God’s re revealed will for us what has God commanded what’s his commanded will for you and me well too many things to list here but it’s interesting if you just look up will of God or God’s will in the Bible you’ll see them attached to phrases like this you are it is God’s will for you you to believe in Jesus John 6:29 it is God’s will for you to know to teach and to do everything that Jesus commanded Matthew 28:20 it is God’s will for you to love the Lord your God with all your heart all your soul and all your mind Matthew 28 or Matthew 22:37 it’s God’s will for you to love your neighbor as yourself Matthew 2239 it is God’s will for you to be Sanctified even exercising self-control sexual self-control over your body that’s 1 Thessalonians 4:3 it is God’s will for you to be wise and to exercise wisdom his wisdom in your varying circumstances and with varying people that’s Ephesians 5:15 Proverbs 4:5 Colossians 4:5 it is God’s will for you to give thanks in all circumstances 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and and we talked about this last time it is God’s will for you to suffer righteously doing good to those who do not do good to you while you entrust yourself to a God who will ultimately Grant you Vindication and justice that’s 1 Peter 2:15 and 4:19 so really we Christians don’t have any business saying oh I wish what I knew what God’s will for me is right now if only he would tell me brother or sister he did tell you he is telling you in his word stop looking for the secret Sovereign will that’s not for you devote yourself to his revealed commanded will this is the aspect of the will of God that you can know in full and for which you are accountable to fulfill now someone might say but these commands you’ve mentioned the commands of the Bible they’re General how do I know God’s will on the specifics well God has not only revealed specific words to obey in his Bible but also principles principles to apply so that you may always act in love wisdom and the fear of God for example one guiding principle from the Bible appears in 1 Corinthians 6:12 1 Corinthians 6:12 Paul writes all things are lawful for me but not all things are profitable all things are lawful for me but I will not be Mastered by anything now consider how useful this one verse is for making decisions about certain matters that the Bible does not address specifically should you have a Netflix subscription can you drink alcohol what about smoking marijuana if it’s legal in your state can you regularly sleep in till 2 p.m. in the afternoon well these verses give two important principles to help answer questions like these first even if you’re allowed to do it will it prove spiritually profitable for you and second even if you’re allowed to do it does the activity have the strong probability of mastering you and distracting you from your fun mental Devotion to Jesus Christ now sometimes the anwers are going to vary depending on the person sometimes they won’t as I sometimes say certain questions have more than one right answer but they don’t have an infinite number of right answers and there are many principles like these in the Bible so that even we who live in America in the 21st century can know what is God’s will for us what is God’s revealed will Comm Ed will even in the specific situations that we face this is one of the reasons that we say that the Bible is sufficient for all of life and godliness which is a principle we’ve seen I think again and again in our fof series especially from verses like 2 Peter 1 2: 4 he’s granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness in 2 Timothy 3:16 which mentions that it equips us for every good work is anything you fundamentally need for life and godliness God says I’ve given it to you in the Bible in my commands and in my principles God’s word comprehensively prepares us to face the problems of life in this world even to make all our decisions so now that we’ve clarified what we mean by God’s will let’s ask our second question how should we respond to the different aspects of God’s will well let me ask you oh actually uh yeah so if we’re following along kind of in the flow of the book this is on the next page letter C response to God’s will we’ll ask two sets of questions here how should you respond to God’s Sovereign will and God’s desired will I’m going to put those together because I think they they fit most together how should you respond to these aspects of God’s will what would you say yeah Faith trust that’s got to be a big one what else obedience okay obedience well I mean The Sovereign will isn’t so much commanded um but I think obedience we’ll see a little bit later okay gratitude yeah thankfulness that’s a good one what else yeah Mike for God’s Sovereign will yeah so I think what Mike mentioned uh praying knowah that fits more the other aspect of God’s will but for God’s Sovereign will we’ve mentioned some good things already trust thankfulness uh Judy you were gonna say something yeah worship um Danny what were you gonna say yeah acceptance not just kind of like begrudging acceptance but even glad acceptance uh odd acceptance holy fear should come upon us when we think about God’s Sovereign will and God’s desired will now I’ve only in my brainstorming I only mentioned two of these things but I think you you you guys came up with some other good ones Proverbs 35-6 I think is a good prescribed answer to God’s Sovereign will even his desired will trust in the Lord trust in Yahweh with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight you can trust you can depend on God rather than yourself because he’s Sovereign and you know that his desires are good 1 Peter 4:19 says 1 Peter 4:19 therefore those who also suffer according to the will of God should entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right as God ordained your suffering then entrust your soul to God he’s working this out according to his secret plan which you don’t know but you can trust him he’s good God Ecclesiastes 3:14 talks about how holy fear and humility should come upon us when we think about God fulfilling his Sovereign will even when we don’t understand it Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that everything God does will remain forever there is nothing to add to it and there’s nothing to take away or take from it for God has so worked that men should fear Him Proverbs 3:7 adds Proverbs 3:7 do not be wise in your own eyes fear the lord and turn away from Evil so but Steve also mentioned gratitude we could put that up up there as well how about God’s commanded will how should we respond to God’s commanded will some of you already gave some answers on this one yeah you should obey that will learn it know it teach it to one another and do it help one another to do it Ephesians 5:17 which we already mentioned so then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is Colossians 3:16 let the word of Christ Rich Le dwell within you with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with Psalms and hymns and spiritual ssongs song singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God in 1 Thessalonians 5:14 1 Thessalonians 5:14 we urge you Brethren admonish the unruly encourage the faint-hearted help the weak be patient with everyone one of the things I try and emphasize throughout my teaching here at the church is that yes you have an individual obligation but it’s not you the Bible and the Holy Spirit no you need your brethren as well and your brethren need you that’s actually prescribed that’s that’s part of God’s commanded will in the Bible okay so in an overview fashion we’ve answered our first two questions now it’s time for the third practically speaking how does God guide us and making decisions in our lives okay we’ve got kind of the God’s side of it and we know generally how we are to respond but practically more specifically how should we make our decisions we should of course be aware that God does guide us in fulfilling his Sovereign will without are even noticing many times God is moving in our hearts and arranging the circumstances around us to accomplish his ultimate good pleasure Proverbs 16:9 says Proverbs 169 the mind of man plans his way but the Lord Yahweh directs his steps you can probably testify looking back over your life how God directed you into certain places or to meet certain people or into certain Ministries and you didn’t even realize it at the time but you see now how it all turned out for your good and God’s glory now praise the Lord for that however what is to be your focus fulfilling God’s Sovereign will or fulfilling God’s commanded will his commanded will don’t worry about the Sovereign will remember we’ve already said this you will not miss God’s secret Sovereign will okay because God’s Sovereign will is always going to be accomplished he doesn’t need your help to do it you’re not going to miss it you focus on what he told you to focus on his commanded will but does God guide you practically even there he does though we must beware of expecting God to act with us in ways that he has not said he would act with us in terms of guiding us under Roman numeral 2 there have been times in Biblical history when God gave direct guidance as part of fulfilling his commanded will it was part of his revealed will God spoke directly to a person or he granted a revelatory vision or dream or he sent a qualified and supernaturally verified Prophet to deliver a command to a person I think sometimes we feel like that’ be really great if God did that right now that’d be really clarifying for me but as we’ve discussed in previous lessons this is not the way that God operates right now in fact this is not the way God usually operates it was kind of an anomaly historically speaking according to the biblical record that he would do this it’s not that he can’t do this but the Bible leads us to expect that he does not so if you’re looking for the revealed will of God God don’t look for a new prophecy a vision a dream or a person who’s supposedly touch in touch with the Divine will that’s not where you’re going to find it and don’t look for God’s commanded will and superstitious signs with providential circumstances for example in making a decision don’t open your Bible to a random page and say God will surely answer me through this that sounds Pious that sounds spiritual but God has not promised that he works that way you say well he’s Sovereign he’s going to he’s going to make where my finger land that he’s going to make that exactly where he wants yes but you don’t know how to interpret that there’s no way to safely interpret God’s message to you via this method because you’re not letting God speak in the way he said he actually speaks in context you basically can make the Bible say whatever you want to say using that method or as another example don’t look at your circumstances don’t look at your circumstances alone for signs of God’s commanded will like if you’re praying for a boyfriend or a girlfriend and somebody new moves in next door to you don’t interpret that as this must be God’s will this is a significant other I should get to know you don’t know that you don’t know why God had that other person move in next to you maybe it was a test and also beware of trusting a feeling of Peace as an indicator of God’s will your elders cannot tell you how many times we have heard Believers justify unbiblical unwise decisions with well I prayed about it and I feel peace over this decision your feeling by itself is not an indicator that you are obeying God’s commanded will some people have peace when they are disobeying God others may feel a lot of turmoil even when they are obeying God I mean look at Jesus in the garden do you think he had peace and in that moment I mean in a certain way yes but he’s sweating drops of blood he’s under tremendous stress and yet he was fulfilling the will of God the commanded the revealed will of God fundamentally God’s commanded will is not revealed through your feelings you need something more reliable all right but what what is more reliable how does God guide us even by his Spirit to fulfill his commanded will today it’s not directly like it was in certain times in the past but indirectly through four basic categories of guidance and these are reflected on the right side of the column I’ll walk through them briefly first and foremost when needing practical guidance on making decisions as to whether this fulfills God’s revealed will you must start with sorry you must start with God’s word the scriptures you ask yourself okay I’m considering this decision but what commands and principles of the Bible must I keep in mind in this decision for example if you’re deciding whether to take a certain job or not you should be asking your questions like well taking this job provoke me to sin violate my conscience or directly cause others to sin because the Bible commands against those things will taking this job still allow me to pursue other biblically commanded priorities like serving my family and fellowshipping with and serving the church because those are commanded priorities in the Bible Well taking this job actually enable me to care for my own family and still have something to give to others because maybe there’s a job that you would like to do do but it simply will not help you pay the bills well guess what the Bible commands you fulfill your own obligations if at all possible and then have something to give that’s commanded that those are principles from the Bible and of course there are others always in making decisions start with God’s word as a lamp to guide your feet in a dark and uncertain world now the others are really going to flow out from this God’s word is your basis but the others are just applications of things that the word says second and I’m not going in the exact same order that’s in your book seek out and when you’re trying to make a decision in the revealed will of God seek out additional wisdom and counsel seek out additional wisdom and counsel now this is not because the Bible is somehow not enough it’s an insufficient word because this is this is rather because this is what the Bible itself commands the Bible commands Gathering relevant knowledge as you can in order to make decisions and the Bible commends inviting the advice of wise people who know about the kind of situation you’re in Proverbs 12:15 says Proverbs 12:15 the way of a fool is right in his own eyes but a wise man is he who listens to counsel you’re not a wise person if you say all right I’m going to go to the scriptures I’m GNA I’m going to figure out God’s commands and principles and that alone is what’s going to help me determine my decision now the Bible itself says you should also seek counsel you should acquire additional knowledge if you can so for example if you’re trying to discern what is the spiritual gift with which you can serve God’s people and God’s Church don’t just rely on your own analysis ask other people to discern what your gift is and try even especially if there’s not enough information for others to give a recommendation try out serving in different ways allow this to be a kind of research Gathering try out serving in different ways and see what kind of service or what kind of service is you find yourself to be most skilled most joyful and most fruitful because there God is guiding you to fulfill his will not a sovereign will his revealed will God wants you to exercise these principles of course prayer goes along with this as well you should be praying to God for wisdom and for Good Counsel Now understand how that comes to you we’re not really looking for God to just zap new knowledge into our minds he hasn’t promised that but we’re asking God to use the means he has ordained God give me a fuller understanding of your Bible and its wisdom and its principles give me a fuller understanding of this situation by my research by my talking to people and give me Good Counsel from others help me to discern what they’re saying whether that’s really helpful or not that’s the way God fulfills our prayer for wisdom so if you’re looking for God’s guidance in specific decisions and situations you’re starting with the word of God you’re asking for counsel and seeking additional wisdom and a third way the Spirit guides Us in fulfilling the commanded will is Providence or I would add the label opportunities you say wait I thought you said we weren’t supposed to look at Providence all right let me explain you should not use circumstances alone to try and figure out God’s will God’s commanded will but one of the principles of God’s word is that we seek to make the most of our opportunities we even saw this recently in Colossians right Colossians 4:5 and Ephesians has a similar principle you want to make the most of your opportunities so one of the Avenues of guidance that you would to pay attention to to pay attention to when making decision are the opp opportunities presented to you and ask yourself how can I make the most of what I have and do my circumstances actually preclude me from acting in otherwise what would be good ways for example when we were in Los Angeles when I was at the Seminary one of the kind of funny problems that Grace Community Church had you know it’s the church John McArthur connected with the Seminary is that they had too many people who were gifted and teach teaching because you got all these guys coming into Seminary they’re they’re looking to exercise this gift refine this gift but guess what there’s already a ton of good teachers at the church so these people they may have gotten Good Counsel they may be looking according to the qualifications and the recommendations of the word and saying I’ve I believe I have this gift God wants me to use this gift but there’s no opportunity to use it they don’t need it right now so what is that person supposed to do just do nothing well I guess God doesn’t want me to serve no God commanded that you serve his people with whatever gifts he’s given you if you don’t have the opportunity to use a certain gift in a particular place well see what other opportunities are there maybe there’s another way that you can serve or and in some cases some of my Seminary colleagues did this they actually went and attended a different Church they say you got a ton of teachers here that’s great but they’re hurting for teachers over there so if I’m going to fulfill What the Lord Has revealed for me to do I want to pay attention to the opportunities to the circumstances that God has given so that’s what I’m talking about you are asking yourself in a situation yes I want to know what the Lord has commanded from his word I want to get Good Counsel but what are my actual opportunities because I want to make the most of those and then finally fourth and final way the Spirit guides Us in fulfilling the commanded will of the lord it’s listed here as conscience or conviction I kind of like conviction but I also would use the term desires you should pay attention to your desires to discern the will of the Lord you say what are you talking about this one comes forth for a reason if you really are been seeking have been seeking the Lord’s commanded will if you even sought Good Counsel you paid attention to your circumstances and looked at your opportunities one question you should also ask yourself is do I want to do this do I desire to do this because Brethren one of the simplest principles of God’s word is that when a choice is permitted to you by God and when you’re seeking to choose it for his glory god actually says you should do as you like do what you would like to do do what you feel drawn to do do what is your conviction to do I’m thinking about this from Romans 13- 14 when it’s talking about individual convictions in the church should I celebrate this day as a special Hol day should I abstain from eating certain foods different people within that church were going to come to different conclusions as to what was going to honor God now if they’re exercising their proper principles they’re they’re thinking through that biblically getting good counsel from one another that’s all good but in the end what is the counsel from Paul Let each person be convinced in his own mind let him do what he wants God is pleased with both of those choices or we could bring in Ecclesiastes again Ecclesiastes 11:9 Ecclesiastes 11:9 Solomon writes Rejoice young man during your childhood and let your heart be pleasant during the days of Young Manhood and follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things now if you’ve been with me before through Ecclesiastes I don’t interpret that as a sarcastic statement yeah enjoy yourself but you’re going to pay for it later no Solomon’s consistent message in that book is enjoy life enjoy life as a gift from God so if you’re young and you have an opportunity to enjoy certain things you should do so but always in the fear of God recognizing that he is going to hold you accountable for it so it is with us God actually commands us that as we are seeking to conform ourselves to his will when we’ve in a sense checked all the other boxes we can check we should do what we we enjoy we should do what we want to do now this has to be balanced with the other three I’m not commending selfishness the Bible’s not commending selfishness but God does validate our desires as a source of guidance you can be confident that even when you say I I’m I’m doing this not only because I think this fits with wisdom but because it’s one it’s what I want to do God says that’s what I want you to do that’s holy before me you can do that to my glory some specific examples of this applications for this one of the qualifications for being an elder one of the qualifications for pursuing pastoral Ministry according to 1 Timothy 31 is that you want to do it 1 Timothy 3:1 says it is a trustworthy statement If any man aspires to the office of overseer it is a fine work he desires to do you shouldn’t be an elder if you totally do not desire that work now that could use a little bit of explaining you say oh I don’t desire the position I don’t desire the accountability I don’t desire the the pain that comes with that well those are nobody desires that that just comes with being a faithful Christian but if you desire to Shepherd and to teach and to evangelize and and counsel those are the things that you find joy in God says that is an additional piece of guidance that I’m moving you to fulfill my commanded will again balance with the other three or here’s another example maybe this will sound silly to you but it’s not silly to some people a few times in my life I have been asked by a young person whether he should pursue a romantic relationship with someone that he does not find attractive you know what my answer to that is no why would you do that one of the commands of the Bible is that you rejoice in your spouse including his or her appearence why would you make that command harder on yourself right from the start besides I don’t think that other person would want to be pursued in that way you don’t you don’t you’re not attracted to me why should we pursue a relationship you should pursue a person that you actually want to pursue who fits yes with the other things that the Bible says now of course there is there is wisdom in being open to a person or a situation that you did not desired at first but simply asking yourself what do I desire what am I attracted to where do I want to be that’s another important source of guidance but these things they they need to all work together and when you operate according to these things the spirit himself is actually guiding you to fulfill his revealed will of the scriptures because these are scriptural principles scriptural guidances I should say this also oh and we we have to end when you’re making the decisions of your life and and you follow these things you’re still going to be taking some risk might say well I don’t know if this is going to work out I this might bring trouble later yes but you know what God didn’t ask you to make perfect decisions you don’t have the ability to do that because you’re not all knowing and all powerful all he asked you to do is to make wise decisions and he said he’d take care of the rest so you’re using these principles you’re conforming yourself to his word as best you can he says good that’s all I’ve asked I’ll take care of the rest all right I’m sure there’s more to say about that but we have to end because the Children’s Choir needs to come in and practice by the way if you could right after the Sunday school class please adjourn to the fellowship hall so that they have uh their own space and they don’t give away their song but that’s it for today and for our fof series if uh you should check the bulletin today for an announcement of our next Sunday school series I hope that you’ll sign up for that we’re going to be doing uh the next level of our Biblical counseling training and I think that’ll prove very valuable for all the congregation but especially for those who are married and those who are part of a family which in one way or another is going to be all of us so uh look forward to the next Sunday school series that’s going to be starting in January but that’s it let me close in prayer and you’re going to ask me questions afterwards Lord God thank you for guiding us thank you Lord that you have shown us your revealed will and that’s all we need to know you can take care of the Sovereign will but we will trust you and and give you reverence for it but Lord you’ve shown us what we need to focus on so Empower us Lord to do your will help us to know your will but also give us the the faith to trust you as we seek your will in Jesus name amen all right thank you everyone