Why You Must Understand God’s Will

In this sermon, David Capoccia explores three questions regarding understanding God’s will:

1) Why should I understand God’s will?
2) How do I understand God’s will?
3) What is God’s will?

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Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.

well good morning let’s hear from the word of god before that let’s pray a great god such beautiful truth that we get to sing about thank you for the humility of your son we cannot imagine any greater expression of humility than his taking the form of a slave and submitting to death on our behalf and for your will oh father we thank you for being so kind lord be kind to your people now if you will of god please by your spirit work in your church now please allow your word to do the supernatural work in the heart of convicting and encouraging spurring the people on to righteousness grow your people today god use me as your means in jesus name amen amen okay do you understand god’s will for your life do you care to understand it how much do you care now perhaps you find these vexing questions saying to yourself of course i want to understand god’s will it’s just that i can’t seem to find it out i just don’t know what to do with the various issues in my life what does god want me to do regarding my job my spouse my children or my life situation how am i supposed to respond to my different problems if only god would show me what he wants me to do and tells me i would do it well what if i told you that you can know and understand god’s will for you in fact not only that you can know but that you must know how devoted would you then be to finding out god’s will how grateful would you be for understanding it and how zealous would you be in doing it well god has a word for you today regarding his will the message today that i want to bring to you consists of three main points in response to three questions here are the three questions why should i understand god’s will how do i understand god’s will and what is god’s will let’s start with the first question why should i understand god’s will to answer let’s turn to ephesians chapter 5.

we won’t spend the whole sermon in this passage but this is where we’re going to start i want to briefly examine a few verses in ephesians 5 ephesians 5 15 to 17. it’s on pages or it’s on page 1173 if you’re using the few bible ephesians 5 verses 15 to 17 i will read therefore be careful how you walk not as unwise men but as wise making the most of your time because the days are evil so then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the lord is let’s get some background on these verses these verses appear in the apostle paul’s letter to the predominantly gentile ephesian church though paul is jewish he was god’s special apostle to the gentiles including to the ephesians paul spent a considerable amount of time ministering personally to the ephesian church he writes to the ephesians to remind the gentile believers of their place in god’s plan of salvation consider how paul developed his message to the ephesians we’ll briefly walk through the book in chapter 1 paul details how the gentiles gentile believers have received every spiritual blessing in christ and how paul himself prays that these believers would realize the richness of their salvation inheritance from god in chapter 2 paul reminds the believers of what they were what they were dead in sin completely helpless and under god’s wrath and because they were gentiles far from god’s people and far from god’s promises but all of this changed because of god’s grace and mercy god elected these gentile believers god saved them by faith in jesus and brought the gentiles into the people of god in chapter 3 paul clarifies that this mercy from god to gentiles was a mystery a truth hidden in the old testament or partially concealed in the old testament but now fully revealed through christ and his apostles paul mentions his imprisonment to the ephesians but he explains that his imprisonment is worthwhile because it that imprisonment is part of god making known this formerly unknown but glorious plan of mercy to gentiles everywhere paul concludes chapter three by telling the ephesians how he prays that the salvation truths he’s just discussed would empower them empower them for what well you see paul did not remind the church of these truths thinking that people would just appreciate them and stay static no indeed you he expected even commanded that such great truths would provoke the people into action look at ephesians chapter 4 verse 1 for just a second just back in page ephesians chapter 4 verse 1 right after paul concludes or paul mentioned how he prays for them ephesians 4 1 therefore i the prisoner of the lord implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called in other words because of the greatness of the salvation you gentiles have received live your lives in a way that reflects that salvation that is worthy of that salvation well which way is that paul spells it out for them in the last three chapters of ephesians in ephesians 4 verses 1 to 16 paul explains that the believers ought to be united accepting one another loving one another and serving one another in the church with their gifts since they’re now all one in christ in chapter 4 verses 17 to chapter 5 verse 6 paul explains the believers are to lay aside the old gentile self with its wicked practices and put on the new self mold it in the image of christ put off lying put on truth telling put off anger resentment and quarreling put on kindness forgiveness and love put off stealing put on working and giving put off speech that tears down put on speech that builds up put off immorality and greed put on thankfulness in ephesians 5 verses 7 to 20 paul describes how the believers have been illumined by the light of christ and that they ought not to walk in darkness rather expose the darkness by their righteous lives and by their righteous words in ephesians 5 21 to chapter 6 9 paul explains how salvation ought to manifest itself in proper submission and caretaking and relationships husband and wife child and parent slave and master and then finally in ephesians 6 verses 10 to 20 paul explains how the believers must arm themselves for spiritual warfare endure the day of testing and remain on the alert in prayer as dwayne mentioned earlier as is often the case in paul’s letters paul starts with the theology the doctrine and then gives the application detailing how true doctrine leads to necessary and right practice in one’s life now our verses the one i want us to look at ephesians 5 15-17 they come in this latter application section of ephesians now that we have an idea of the background of these verses what specific instruction does paul give in them well let’s look at those verses again visions 5 15-17 there are three commands given in these verses be careful how you walk do not be foolish and understand the lord’s will however these commands are all related to and actually build on one another to be careful how you walk is to not be foolish and to not be foolish is to understand the will of the lord if you understand the will of the lord you won’t be foolish and you will be careful how you walk so really the central command is the one in verse 17. understand what the will of the lord is but why should you understand the will of the lord like i said that’s our first question we want to answer that or rather we’re going to have paul answer that paul gives five reasons for why understanding the lord’s will is critical and we’re going to look at each of the five first because god commands you you need to understand god’s will because god commands you to understanding god’s will is not something for only pastors or certain christians it’s for all christians anyone who confesses to be a follower of jesus so the lord and the judge of the universe commands you this morning to understand his will second reason because christ has enabled you you must understand god’s will because christ has enabled you to understand notice that therefore at the beginning of verse 15 this word is always used to denote a conclusion based on what was just said well what was just said look back at verses 8 to 14. let’s reread that i know we read it earlier but or dwayne read it earlier but let’s see that again verse 8 chapter 5 for you were formerly darkness but now you are light in the lord walk as children of light for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth trying to learn what is pleasing to the lord do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness but instead even expose them for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret but all things become visible when they are exposed by the light for that for everything that becomes visible is light for this reason it says awake sleeper and arise from the dead and christ will shine on you notice the contrast in these preceding verses between light and darkness formerly these ephesian gentiles were darkness totally ignorant and totally evil this is just like what paul says earlier in chapter four just look for a moment at chapter four verses 17 to 19.

paul says so this i say and affirm together with the lord that you walk no longer just as the gentiles also walk in the futility of their mind being darkened in their understanding excluded from the life of god because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their heart and they haven’t become callous have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness the ephesians used to be like the rest of the gentiles darkened in understanding hard of heart and full of sin but christ changed them christ has risen upon the ephesian believers like the rising of the sun and he’s illumined their understanding so that they can learn what is pleasing to the lord and actually do it this is different from what they were before and if you are a christian this morning this is also true of you you are no longer in ignorant darkness you have been illuminated by christ you can and must understand the will of the lord so this is one of the truths in mind and the therefore of ephesians 5 15.

why else do you need to understand god’s will here’s the third reason because you are christ’s light in the world you must understand the will of the lord because you are christ’s light notice in the preceding context that we just read the illumination christ provides is not simply internal it also causes the enlightened one to himself become a light ephesians 5 8 you are light in the lord ephesians 5 11 do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness but instead even expose them expose them how not by discussing and examining evil but by shining christ’s righteous light your life now devoted to christ is to be the light that causes men to realize their sinfulness and to see the righteousness of god your words and deeds should be light that exposes darkness and causes men to wake up and turn to jesus but you won’t be able to do this unless you understand the will of the lord so this also is a truth in mind in the therefore verse 15 of ephesians 5.

so we see the third reason to understand god’s will what’s the fourth well here’s the fourth because of the wickedness and trouble of this present time you must understand god’s will because of the wickedness and trouble of this present time notice the phrase the days are evil in verse 16.

what does this phrase mean well if we look elsewhere in the bible we see similar phrases evil day evil days or evil age or even evil time and these words are used to refer to a time of trouble or a time of great wickedness or sometimes both for example in the same book ephesians ephesians 6 13 paul describes the evil day as the day of testing or the day of temptation you have to stand in the evil day paul says in psalm 37 19 the psalmist speaks of a time of evil as being a time when the land experiences famine so not necessarily have to do with wickedness there but it’s a time of trouble and then amos 5 12-13 just another example amos uses the term evil time to describe a time in which wickedness is everywhere and the righteous have to be shrewd even to survive so the meaning of this phrase in ephesians 5 16 is similar paul is drawing attention to the wicked troublesome time in which the ephesians live this is an evil age fast approaching the judgment of god this is a time of many trials and difficulties a time where evil is praised and good is condemned when parents turn against children and children against parents when many fall away in persecution when false teachers come into the church to ravage the flock and teach error and when many sins and temptations are at hand to cause believers to stumble but if that was true during the days of the ephesians it’s also true today if not more so if there is any time critical for you to know god’s will certainly now is the time because the days are truly evil it is a time of trouble it is a time of great wickedness to not understand god’s will is a sure way to suffer painful injury and even total ruin by the way some think they can or should ignore the things of god until a certain danger or trouble is passed they might say yes i understand god’s will is important but i’ve got a lot going on right now i’m really struggling life is hard i can’t afford to pay close attention to the things of god right now maybe later once the troubles pass do you not see how this way of thinking is the exact opposite of what paul declares here the fact that life is hard and the fact that you are struggling shows that you need to pay attention pay more attention to god’s will not less let us not be deceived so we see a fourth reason why we need to understand god’s will but what’s the last reason at least here in this passage the fifth reason because of the happy prospect of a wisely lived life you must understand god’s will in order that you might live a happy and wise lived life wisely lived life notice how emphatic these three verses are about the idea of wisdom verse 15 walk carefully and not as unwise but as wise and verse 16 making the most of your time verse 17 so then do not be foolish why such an emphasis on wisdom well this is to make a point paul is saying if you don’t know or understand the will of god then you are living and you will live foolishly however if you do understand god’s will then you will be wise and able to walk carefully able to make the most of your time in this difficult age who doesn’t want to live a wise life a skillful life a happy life the best life god says you can only have that if you understand my will notice also the phrase in verse 16 making the most of your time your bible might have a little note that tells you this phrase is literally redeeming or buying back the time our world is in such a state that it’s like your time has been stolen from you and without your knowledge and without your consent your time has been put to fruitless purposes because of these evil days everything you do will simply result in waste your time will be meaningless it will bring you no profit it may even hurt you someone else has made or rather this world system and evil one and the flesh have made your time on earth useless how do you prevent that from continuing you have to as it were go into the marketplace and ransom your time you have to buy it back you’ve got to make this time valuable or useful to you again how do you do that well paul tells you you have to understand the will of the lord unless you understand the will of god you will not be able to redeem the time or live a wise life so let’s sum up our answer to this first question why should you understand god’s will you must understand god’s will because god commands you christ enables you you are christ light you live in difficult days and you will reap the happy reward of wisdom if you do hopefully you see god’s will is critical for you to understand but how do you understand it how do you know what god wills and what god doesn’t will what god wants for you and what god doesn’t want for you well this is the second question we want to answer how do you understand god’s will the answer here is actually simple but for the sake of edification let me first describe to you what does not reveal to you god’s will i want to briefly discuss seven inadequate means of determining god’s will seven inadequate means of determining god’s will and the following while important aspects of the christian life not saying that these things are evil and that you should never have anything to do with them they are by themselves not enough to show you what god wants for your life what are these inadequate means number one feelings feelings cannot show you god’s will sometimes you hear or maybe you’ve even said i just feel like god wants me to do this or i feel god is calling me to this area or i just really feel at peace about this decision but do your feelings really show or confirm god’s will again feelings are important they do function as a kind of mental shorthand when it comes to assessing situations and making decisions however god has never promised to reveal his will to people through feelings and praise god for that or else we might become terribly confused how could you know whether the feeling you were feeling was really from god or force from something or somewhere else well someone might say well you just know when it’s from god well how do you just know with another feeling but then how do you know that second feeling was really from god the argument becomes circular let us not be misled here feelings cannot tell you god’s will did not paul feel like he was doing god’s will when he dragged away christians to prison and death did not the corinthians feel like they were doing what was right when they tolerated sexual sin in the church did not the church of laodicea and revelation feel like they were secure and approved by god when they were actually in desperate need of repentance jesus tells them so moreover you know what jeremiah says jeremiah 17 9 the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick who can understand it in your flesh you have a deceitful heart you may really be convinced that your feeling is direction or confirmation from god but you can’t know if that’s true not simply based on your feelings your heart may be deceiving you but you may ask what about being led by the spirit aren’t we supposed to as christians be led by the spirit that is true the bible commands us to be led by the spirit but that doesn’t mean being led by vague feelings or promptings being led by the spirit actually means putting sin to death and putting on righteous behavior it means obeying god’s commands given to you in the bible the command to be led by the spirit appears in two places romans and galatians let me just show you one so that you understand why i’m saying what i’m saying romans 8 12-14 you can just listen here’s what paul says there romans 8 12-14 so then brethren we are under obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh for if you are living according to the flesh you must die but if by the spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live for all who are being led by the spirit of god these are sons of god do you hear how the context of being led by the spirit is actually sanctification the other instance in galatians that’s galatians 5 16-26 speak similarly put off the fruits of the flesh put on the fruits of the spirit that’s how you’re led by the spirit walking by the spirit or being led by the spirit is not a vague hyper-mystical experience but it’s a very practical though still supernatural one you put off the deeds of the flesh and you put on the deeds of the spirit and this only happens by the working of god’s holy spirit now it is true the gospels and the book of acts sometimes describe the spirit literally leading people places or delivering discernible messages from god but god was doing something special in those days on the earth and in the church just as we do not practice exorcisms speak in tongues or administer healings today so we also do not look for the spirit to literally prompt or direct us through feelings or some other means so to get back to my point here feelings cannot tell us god’s will they are inadequate number two desires desires cannot tell you god’s will your desires cannot tell you god’s will now this is similar to feelings many of the same principles apply how do you know whether your desire is also god’s desire how can you be sure that it’s not your own heart deceiving you you may say i’m a christian shouldn’t my desires lead me in that way well not necessarily when it comes to desires some inappropriately apply psalm 37 4.

psalm 34 37 4 says this delight yourself in the lord and he will give you the desires of your heart some say well this verse is not about god giving you whatever you want what this verse is saying is that whenever you are delighting in god you will naturally desire the things that please god and he will consequently be pleased to give them to you that may be so but just because you think you are delighting yourself in the lord does not mean that you actually are nor necessarily is every one of your desires according to god’s will did not the corinthians desire to all minister the showy gifts in the church but this was wrong this was the wrong desire did not righteous david a man after god’s own heart desire to number the soldiers of israel but this was evil and it was judged by god did not isaac the patriarch desire to honor esau above jacob even though god declared that the older would serve the younger isaac’s desire was wrong so your desires like your feet like your feelings are not reliable indicators of god’s will number three circumstances your circumstances cannot tell you god’s will we fall into this chat very easily though don’t we when we say things like i think god wants this to happen because everything is falling into place or this must not be but god’s will because so many things are getting in the way or the reason these hard things have happened to you may be because you need to repent of something now it is true that the bible instructs us to take wise advantage of opportunities as they arise it’s also true that sin and righteousness have natural consequences so that blessing often accompanies good deeds and hardship often accompanies evil deeds but you know sometimes the reverse is the case you do what’s right and you seem to be punished for it or you do what’s evil and you seem to get away with it and prosper therefore the result does not tell you whether something is right before god’s eyes or not and moreover just because something is lining up from our perspective does not make it god’s will and just because there are significant roadblocks to something does not mean that it’s not god’s will we cannot base our understanding of god’s will simply by trying to interpret the circumstances because we have incomplete information we have incomplete understanding sometimes actually we must resist what looks like a golden opportunity and we must persevere through what seems like a dead end did not sarah and abraham look at their hopeless child bearing circumstance and determine that the promise of a child from god must be fulfilled through hagar that must be what god wants us to do i mean look he’s prevented me from having children and so based on their interpretation of the circumstances they came to a wrong conclusion and they transgressed god’s marriage design they made abraham polygamous did not jesus disciples when they saw jesus manifesting many messianic authority and power determined that the arrival of god’s millennial kingdom in israel was imminent the kingdom’s about to come rome’s going to be kicked out and based on this conclusion did not peter rebuke jesus when jesus spoke of suffering and death and based off this same conclusion did not peter strike the servant of the high priest with the sword when the mob tried to seize jesus the disciples were mistaken but peter committed evil because of it he was just looking at the circumstances and did not the disciples also when they saw a man born blind make a fundamental mistake when they assumed that either that man or his parents had committed some sin to make him blind to cause him to be born blind but jesus clarified that this circumstance was not from sin at all but it simply came from god’s plan to give him give himself glory therefore we cannot use mere circumstances to determine god’s will we should not be looking for some sign of god in our circumstances number four what else is inadequate to show us god’s will experience you cannot use your experience or the experiences of others as your way to determine god’s will yet this happens all the time doesn’t it someone may say i have found that when i declare the gospel this particular way people respond positively so this must be the right way to do it or a recent scientific study has found that this is the right way to parent or so many people been blessed by this person in his ministry how can you say that he’s not from god that he’s not approved by god brethren we have to face the fact that as vivid or commonly reported as any experience may be the conclusion based on that experience may be wrong did not sennacherib king of assyria determine via experience that no kingdom or god could stand in the way of his conquest yet god proves nakarib dead wrong once nacrum approached jerusalem and blasphemed yahweh could not many of the apostles and prophets have determined based on their rejection and suffering that they were experiencing could they not have determined that something was wrong with their message or perhaps in the way that they were declaring it yet god affirmed these persecuted messengers as faithful and as the ones who would receive reward peter also in his second letter foretells of a time when scoffers will based on apparently what is what seems like an apparently uniformitarian experience of life on earth that is everything proceeding in the future just like it always has in the past peter foretells that there will be some who based on this uniformitarian experience reject and mock the idea of a coming judgment everything proceeds as it always has that’s silly to think that there’s going to be some coming catastrophe but peter said these scoffers are fools they forget the tumultuous changes that the earth experienced during the creation and during the flood the mocker’s conclusion then based on experience was wrong again so let us not be led astray experience even when it is dressed up with the name science cannot tell you god’s will number five supernatural revelation supernatural revelation will not tell you god’s will now for this one it’s not so much that it cannot tell you god’s will but that it does not despite the claims of many god does not speak to his people today in dreams visions audible speech or other forms of direct revelation just as paul says in ephesians 2 20 the foundation of the apostles and prophets has been laid there’s no need for a new foundation to be laid by new prophets or new apostles or new revelation god’s revelation in the scriptures is complete and it’s sufficient but this doesn’t stop some from looking for or claiming new direct fresh revelation from god even though today’s prophets are nothing like the prophets that god sent at certain times in the past bible’s prophets and apostles were 100 accurate in their proclamations they performed verifiable miracles that demonstrated their divine authority rather their authority from god and they spoke revelation that perfectly conformed to already revealed scripture in contrast those who proclaim to be recipients of new words from god today are often inaccurate or vague in their predictions or rather their proclamations have no or highly contrived validating signs and they speak revelation that contradicts the bible brethren prophets who don’t have god’s credentials have always played god’s people they were there in the old testament they were there in the new testament and they’re still with us today these people are more interested in personal gain than in actually doing or declaring god’s will let us beware let us beware of the seduction of supposedly fresh revelation from god now just beware of practices like listening prayer i don’t know if you’ve heard of this but it’s a prayer that is supposedly two-way the prayer speaks to god and then listens for god to speak back into his mind let us beware of books like sarah young’s jesus calling while not necessarily heretical on what it declares in its pages you can see from the forward it’s written with the understanding that the bible is not enough and that fresh words from jesus are possible and even necessary let us not be misled god does not show us his will with new supernatural revelation so we’ve seen five two more number six tradition tradition cannot tell you god’s will now don’t get me wrong traditions are not always bad many christian traditions are harmless and even can be helpful but just because it’s traditional does not mean it is god’s will i’m sure you can think of various traditions that we have where the people have in american christianity resting from work on sunday coming to church in your sunday best singing hymns in church preaching in a suit like i am today praying before meals having sunday school on sunday morning celebrating christmas celebrating easter and always ending prayers with the words amen again these things aren’t necessarily bad but can we say that they are god’s will that if you don’t do them that you actually rebel against god let us beware of placing too much trust in tradition we’re not the samaritans led astray by the traditional practice of worshiping god outside of jerusalem even worshiping a golden calf it’s what their fathers always did did not jesus rebuke the pharisees when they elevated to the level of divine command what was simply jewish tradition washing hands before eating not picking heads of grain on the sabbath and fasting regularly the religious leaders of jesus day even went so far for the sake of their tradition to forbid doing good on the sabbath if it meant doing anything that looked like work jesus severely rebuked and condemned the pharisees for this brethren there are good traditions but traditions by themselves cannot show you god’s will one more an adequate means of determining god’s will this is number seven counsel getting counsel from others does not necessarily show you god’s will understand the bible does commend the getting counsel as a way to approach decisions proverbs 12 15 the way of a fool is right in his own eyes but a wise man is he who listens to counsel it’s good to receive counsel the bible declares that but there is such a thing as receiving mistaken evil or unhelpful counsel because proverbs also says proverbs 12 5 the thoughts of the righteous are just but the counsels of the wicked are deceitful just because you were seeking counsel even counsel among those who confess to be christians does not mean that the council that did that they give you must be god’s will did not job’s friends as good intention as they were give foolish counsel to job telling job repent of sin even though job had held fast it was integrity joke was not in sin and their counsel was rebuked by god did not david’s warrior companions loyal to him as they were offer foolish counsel when they offered to strike down king saul for david one of them even suggested that must be god’s will look god has given him into your hands so that you can kill him that’s obvious based on the circumstances but this was wrong counsel and david rightly refused to harm the lord the lord’s anointed did not paul’s companions when they heard the holy spirit prophesied that paul would be imprisoned in jerusalem give paul misguided counsel by begging paul not to go acts makes clear though that paul was bound in the spirit to make the trip to jerusalem and god plainly validated paul’s decision by later telling paul take courage as you have solemnly witnessed my cause at jerusalem so you must witness at rome also paul was right but the council he received was misguided counsel then by itself cannot show you god’s will we could perhaps add other inadequate methods of determining god’s will to this list beyond these seven but the bottom line is that there is only one reliable god-ordained way for you to understand god’s will and what is that way well now let’s address our second question from the positive side we’ve looked at some things that are inadequate to give you god’s will but how do you understand god’s will well here’s the answer only by the careful study of god’s word god’s word is the only way for you to understand god’s will it is the only way god’s word is what properly informs and if necessary rebukes your feelings god’s word is the final check on whether your desires are godly or not god’s word sits as the judge of your circumstances and experiences everything may look like it’s going wrong but the bible may yet declare no this is god’s will for you persevere or if everything is going right the bible may yet declare this is not god’s will for you everything seems easy if you go this way this is not god’s will god’s word is the sufficient supernatural ever fresh revelation given so that no other word is necessary god’s word shows you what traditions are good and helpful and what traditions are weak and useless god’s word is the basis and measurement for all counsel determining whether that council is truly wise or not and is this not obvious actually from paul’s epistle to the ephesians i know it’s been a while since we actually looked at our passage but in chapter four and five paul keeps on telling the ephesians they are to know and to do god’s will but he never explains where they’re gonna find god’s will why not because it’s plain the the apostle is itself giving them god’s will he’s declaring the word of god to them this is god’s will for you he says this is how you ought to walk this is how you want to live and one central part of god’s will is the passage we looked at understand god’s will it is god’s will for you to understand his will you see god’s will is intimately tied up with his word if you want to know god’s will you’ve got to know his word there is no other way we often pray to god to show us his will or to give us wisdom but i’m not sure we’ve thought enough about what exactly we’re asking for when you pray to god for wisdom don’t expect god to beam some divine revelation into your head expect god to open your eyes as you learn and as you discuss his word because that’s where all his wisdom is doesn’t have any other wisdom outside of what’s his what’s in his word and the bible declares this listen to second peter 1 verses 2 to 3.

second peter 1 verses 2 to 3 grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of god and of jesus our lord seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence did you hear what peter said apostle peter says that the knowledge given to us in christ that is the gospel from the scriptures the scriptures itself it has granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness that’s very comprehensive or listen to colossians colossians 2 1-4 this is paul speaking now for i want you to know how great a struggle i have on your behalf and for those who are laid to see it and for all those who have not personally seen my face that their hearts may be encouraged having been knit together in love and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding resulting in a true knowledge of god’s mystery that is christ himself in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge i say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument paul is saying the same thing colossians as peter says in his letter in the revelation of christ in the word about christ which is what the scriptures are you have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge you’ve been given god’s wisdom and it is complete so that you have no need to pay attention to the arguments of others propounding different gospels or other necessary revelation and then second timothy 2 timothy 3 16-17 all scripture is inspired by god and profitable for teaching for reproof for correction for training in righteousness so that the man of god may be adequate also translated complete even perfect equipped for every good work that also is comprehensive everything you need for life for wisdom for the good works god has called you to is right here in the scriptures if you want to know god’s will if you want to have god’s wisdom it’s all here it’s all here in the bible nothing else can and nothing else will show you god’s will is it any wonder then the bible commands us to study it to meditate on it to talk about it with each other all the time perhaps you’re thinking wait that’s it i thought you said i can know god’s will for my specific situations but the bible doesn’t tell me that actually it does but we need one final clarification to help us see everything clearly we’ve seen why we need to understand god’s will we’ve seen how to understand god’s will but now let’s ask our third question what is god’s will what actually is the will of god that we’re supposed to understand through the bible here’s the answer god’s will is what he commands you to believe and to do god’s will is what he commands you to believe and to do we sometimes get confused when it comes to the will of god because there are different aspects to god’s will and so it will be useful to take a moment to distinguish them now reformed theologians often refer to three aspects or three types of will in god there is his sovereign will his permissive will and his prescribed will i’ll briefly explain each god’s sovereign will is what it sounds like it is the transcendent world that works everything good and evil for god’s own glory and for his own enjoyment that’s god’s sovereign will now when the bible tells you that you must understand the will of god it’s not talking about his sovereign will god’s sovereign will be done no matter what if you know it or not it doesn’t matter it’s going to happen even those who do nothing or who even rebel against god they are going to accomplish his sovereign will moreover god’s sovereign will is not fully knowable though god has revealed some of what has happened in the past and some of what god will do in the future he hasn’t revealed everything and he doesn’t intend to even for our own lives there is no way to know specifically the name of the person you’re going to marry which specific job you’re going to get how specifically you’re going to get through a trial or when or how specifically you’re going to die you don’t know that you can’t know that god hasn’t revealed that it does you no good to try to determine god’s sovereign will it always comes to pass and god has chosen not to reveal it moreover god even expressly counsels against trying to look into the secret things of god deuteronomy 29 29 says this the secret things belong to the lord our god but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever that we may observe all the words of this law so we have god’s sovereign will that’s not what we’re supposed to be seeking after another type of will and god is god’s permissive will now this one’s a little bit more difficult to understand than god’s sovereign will the permissive will describes the expression of desires from god that he does not necessarily fulfill for example god told moses that god would destroy the people of israel after they made the golden calf let me alone i’m going to destroy this people and i’ll make of you a great nation but this was not god’s sovereign will as we can see from what plays out god had actually already ordained that moses would intercede and say god don’t destroy israel for the sake of your own name for the sake of your promises for the sake of the nations that are going to see what happened don’t do this god already ordained that moses would intercede in that way and that god would spare his wrath from israel nevertheless that expression of a desire from god that he did not fulfill is god’s permissive will as another example jesus said of jerusalem when he when he arrived there close to his crucifixion that he longed to gather the people in jerusalem under his wings like a hen gathers her chicks but jerusalem was unwilling and therefore it would not come to pass jerusalem would instead be judged and left a ruin now again there is an expressed will here there’s a desire for something to happen but it is not god’s sovereign will because whatever god’s sovereign will is it comes to pass you know the psalmist says our god is in the heavens he does whatever he pleases this is not god’s sovereign will this is an example of god another example of god’s permissive will where he expresses the desire to do something that he does not necessarily fulfill understand of course that god’s permissive will does not violate god’s self-satisfaction or self-sufficiency the fact that he expresses things that he does not end up doing does not mean that he’s somehow lacking or that he’s unhappy in any way so it is a little bit difficult to understand in that aspect but there is this other will in god this other aspect of god’s will hopefully you understand we’re not to be seeking after this will either not the sovereign will not for mr will it’s the third will the third type of god’s will is god’s prescribed will what do i mean by prescribed well think prescribed like prescription it’s what the doctor ordered god’s prescribed world is what he actually commanded people to do this will is what the bible is talking about when it comes to understanding and doing god’s will just as the latter half of deuteronomy 29 29 says but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever that we may observe all the words of this law he’s told you his will it’s in the law at least for them at the old testament his prescribed rule is there that’s what you’re to pay attention to not the secret things and that’s a good thing because god’s prescribed will is not something that we simply have to wonder about or it’s not some secret knowledge that we must struggle to discover and perhaps we never will actually get to it no god has made his will plain through the word he’s revealed it to us god says believe this stop believing this do this don’t do this this is wise this is unwise that’s his prescribed will and what god doesn’t address specifically god still gives you the principles so that you can always make wise decisions they say well what’s god’s will for me in this area the bible doesn’t talk about it specifically well god’s will for you in that area is for you to apply the principles that he has given in his word that’s god’s will for you don’t look for some divine sign or word outside of what god has given in the bible just listen to what god actually said to you what he has given is as we’ve seen comprehensive and sufficient therefore seek god’s will you’ve been illumined by christ you’ve been made as light the days are evil but everything you need to buy back the time is in god’s word so what is god’s will for you then besides know his will well that’s what you must find out that’s what paul commands find out the will of god you’ve got the resource you’ve been enabled in your understanding now read the scriptures read the scriptures daily talk about it all the time talk about it wrestle with it when you talk it talk it over with one another come and be equipped by the ministries of the church that examine and teach the word you need to understand god’s will don’t stay away from it don’t give excuses for why you can’t if you believe god’s word at all believe god when he says you need to understand it and you need to do it here’s a sampling of god’s will for your life as declared in his word be holy be united practice love to each other be truthful be discerning use your gifts to serve the church encourage each other put off anger put off anxiety be discerning be sexually pure give thanks pray all the time submit to and honor the government embrace the roles given by god for husband and wife be a good employee persevere through suffering boldly declare the gospel of course there’s more my brothers and sisters we need to do these things this is god’s will for us this is god’s wisdom for us this is what he has specifically prescribed for all of us and this is what christ has enabled us to understand and to do this is how you will be a light but this won’t happen and you won’t gain the benefit unless you actually commit to it unless you diligently seek understand and do god’s will from his word woe to us if we take god’s charge to us lightly to understand his will so we’ve seen today the answers to our three questions i’ll review them first why should you understand god’s will god commands you christ has enabled you you are christ’s light to the world you live in difficult days and you will reap the happy reward of wisdom second how do you understand god’s will only through careful steady and learning of the scriptures third what is god’s will for you it’s what god prescribed for you in his bible believe his word and obey his commands let me just ask you some application questions as we close think about this how much do you care about understanding god’s will when god looks at your life does he see someone who values his word as more precious than gold more precious than silver someone who is obviously seeking it diligently consistently or does he see someone who treats god’s word as a common thing someone whose activities just keep getting in the way of the bible someone who just can’t seem to find time to study or to learn god’s will have you been relying on something else besides god’s word to show you his will have you deferred to your feelings or the wisdom of the world thinking that you are doing god’s will when actually your behavior contradicts what god actually expressed in his bible are you relying on your circumstances to show you what god wants for you or do you pay attention to what god actually said what he said plainly god has blessed you with a church that has special equipping ministries based on the word sunday school the main service home groups iron man ladies bible study side by side do you go to these if not why not is god’s will not important do you and your family not need god’s wisdom or if you think that one of these ministries is lacking what are you doing to give feedback to contribute or to help improve the ministry so that the whole church might benefit if you do love god’s word and you’ve come to understand much of his commands do you do them do you live out a consistent testimony of righteousness so that you can say by god’s grace with paul imitate me as i imitate christ if not why not it’s god’s will for you to have such a testimony that’s what being a christian is why don’t you fulfill god’s will what has entangled you what is holding you back of what do you need to repent god’s will centers on the church are you committed to god’s church if not why not why aren’t you here in the church’s gatherings why aren’t you serving in the church why aren’t you talking with leaders about how you can serve don’t excuse yourself with your busyness or your troubles we’re all experiencing the same evil days we’ve all got troubles we’re all busy but that’s why we need to be serving one another these days are evil we need each other because of the busyness because of the troubles everything else on earth is passing away but your service for christ gains you an eternal reward are you seeking that reward will you commit yourself to god’s church you stop will you stop arranging your life around what ultimately doesn’t matter and start prioritizing what god prioritizes does your family see your commitment to learn understand and do god’s will are you setting a good example before them and do you have a testimony do you have the testimony that god calls you to have before the world a testimony of light learning and doing what is pleasing to the lord that which romans says is good acceptable and perfect if you are walking well keep on the lord will reward you when he comes if you have stumbled in your walk repent for you can yet receive jesus reward start being committed start learning start doing god’s will fully but if you’re not willing to repent to fully commit to bear fruit of repentance then you must fear because those who don’t do god’s will will be judged yet what an amazing truth is this that we like the ephesians we’re once dark in our understanding far from god but now been granted to see the light of christ and understand all of god’s wise and good will let’s pray god we thank you for giving your will revealing the mystery of your will will you’ve made it plain and yet god we know that some things in it a little bit more hard to understand than others we thank you that you’ve given you’ve given gifts to the church so that we can help one another understand and do your will but i pray that all of us here at calvary would be so committed to your will so committed to your word not giving excuses anymore but gaining the benefit of living according to your wisdom in this difficult time but please do the necessary work grow your church mature your church bless your people in jesus name amen