The topic, or actually the message this morning
is, can we really know God's will?
Now I'm going to touch on things we've
talked about over the last year or two,
obviously because you can't, God's will in many
areas is inexhaustible.
But there are principles and some of these
principles I'm going to remind you about.
And I'm also going to use a lot
of quotes from people.
We have scripture and we also have quotes
because what I want to do is reignite
that passion to follow God and understand His
will.
I would say this is probably the number
one question out there, isn't it?
What is God's will for my life?
I just don't know where God's at.
He's not answering my prayers.
Should I sell?
Should I buy?
Should I move?
Should I listen to Shane yesterday in his
sermon on health?
Lord, what is your will?
And just first off, let me get this
out there.
What I'm concentrating on is what we know
to be God's will in His word.
You can never go wrong that way.
And I think many times we try to
worry about things that aren't in His word,
neglecting what we do know to be in
His word.
For example, people, you know, let's say buying
a house or selling a house.
It doesn't tell you, okay, on June 20th
of 2017, go and do this.
Lead of the Spirit, these things.
And sometimes, is it God's will that this
church ever starts another service?
Is it God's will that this church ever
plants another church?
You can't turn to Matthew.
But there are principles that you can apply
to your life.
And we find ourselves in Acts 21.10,
talking about the ministry of Paul, and as
we stayed many days, Acts 21, verse 10,
and as we stayed many days, a certain
prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
And when he had come to us, he
took Paul's belt, so he took his belt
off of Paul, and he bound his own
hands and feet and said, thus does the
Holy Spirit, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem
bind the man who owns this belt and
deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
I actually had a five-minute point here
on this, and I keep going back and
forth on this because of time and things,
but this is a genuine word of wisdom
or a word of knowledge.
You ever hear that in the Bible, that
the Spirit gives some the word of wisdom,
some the word of knowledge?
This is a genuine prophet.
It's okay not to, you know, that term's
okay.
The Bible uses it.
We worry about the guys who put prophet
on their business card, right?
And they're telling everybody that they're a prophet.
The people will know that you are working
in that gifting.
Now, this is a prophetic word.
It's this man, Agabus, he was a prophet.
The Holy Spirit showed him that Paul was
going to be bound in Jerusalem if he
were to go.
So often we would, if somebody gives you
a word of wisdom or a word of
knowledge, it's usually something that's burning on their
heart that, you know, I've got to talk
to you.
All week this has been on my heart.
I don't know if this is God, I
don't know what it is, but I've got
to share it.
And once you share it, it confirms the
word of God, or it confirms many times
what they're feeling in their own spirit, or
it will rebuke them.
That God brings something, you know, to your,
are you cheating on your spouse?
It's been on my heart.
And then the person breaks down because that
word of wisdom, that word of knowledge that
was used, because the person's obviously not in
the Bible, right?
They're not going to be studying the Bible
many times if they're in that point of
sin.
So a prophetic word can come in and
correct a person.
Now on this, there's the two sides of
the camp, right?
There's always a prophetic word every Sunday.
And, you know, prophets are saying this, and
you've got all these, some of these charismatic
news sites, you know, posting the prophets are
saying doom and gloom, the prophets are saying
there's peace in America, there's prophets are saying
war's coming to America, the prophets are saying
Trump's life is in danger.
It's like, whoa, what are we doing?
And you just get way caught up into
that stuff.
And then the other side, though, is we're
not open to those things.
So we as a church are open, but
cautious.
And things like this usually take place maybe
in a prayer room or through fellowship groups
or people getting to know each other, and
God puts a burden on a person's heart
to share with somebody else.
So it's not weird.
It's God.
It's supplemental to the word of God, using
it to help correct and lead his people
if it's done correctly.
I've shared this many times before, and when
I was struggling to pastor or even preach,
for weeks I was struggling.
I don't know what God's, I have this
desire, but I don't know, I mean, it
just seems this message he's giving me to
preach seems so bold and arrogant in your
face.
I mean, my goodness, but it's a burning
fire.
I don't know what to do with this.
And we prayed for weeks and I went
somewhere and there's 250 people and this guy
said, young man, would you stand up?
He said, God is calling you to preach.
He's calling you to be bold.
It's not arrogance.
It's God.
Coincidence, some would say.
No, that's not coincidence.
And he went on even more, that God's
gifted you and you've got to break out
of this shell that you're in.
And the shell was the fear of man.
I mean, it was so dynamic that it
still stuck with me now 13, 14 years
later.
Those kind of things that God will hear
his people crying out, he will answer.
He will deliver.
So back to Acts, verse 12.
So that was a legitimate prophetic word by
a legitimate prophet.
Gosh, I could even clarify.
We don't believe in the office of prophet
that speaks, supersedes God's word.
We believe in those gifted maybe that have
a prophetic type edge to them, a prophetic
element that you can tell a preacher from
a teacher, those who have a prophetic element
to them, the Isaiahs, the Jeremiahs.
Verse 12, if there's questions we can answer
those too.
Verse 12, now when we heard these things,
both we and those from that place pleaded
with him not to go up to Jerusalem.
Then Paul answered, what do you mean by
weeping and breaking my heart?
For I am ready not only to be
bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for
the name of the Lord Jesus.
So when he would not be persuaded, we
see saying, the will of the Lord be
done.
The will of the Lord be done.
So Paul was warned, he was not persuaded
to change his course.
Or was the prophetic word not to have
Paul change his course, but to tell Paul,
to forewarn Paul, here's what you need to
be prepared for.
So that's what that was for.
Really gave him clarity in this area, but
he said, I don't care, I'm still going.
The will of the Lord shall be done.
Corrie Temboom, who was in the concentration camp
during World War II said, there are no
ifs in God's world and no places that
are safer than other places.
Remember that.
There are no safer places.
The center of his will is our only
safety.
Let us pray that we may always know
it.
Now we would need an entire series to
scratch the surface of God's will.
We've got his moral will, we've got his
sovereign will, we've got his perfect will, we've
got his permissive will.
The perfect will of God is what is
going to happen.
The permissive will of God is what he
allows.
The moral will of God is what he
wants and how he wants us to live
morally.
So you see these areas of God's will
in different facets.
His sovereign will, of course we know that
he is sovereign, he governs the affairs of
men.
But I'm talking about practical will this morning.
Now it's interesting, we have something that many
in the early church and throughout the centuries
and even today do not have.
We have this.
Can you imagine not having this?
And you get an idea and you're like,
huh?
Where's that coming from?
Is that God or is that me?
Or is it the enemy planning thoughts?
Because a good thing isn't always a God
thing, right?
So we need to be so thankful because
we have this that can guide and lead
and give us direction.
But I've seen many people pray even fast
and worship but still be led astray because
they walk outside of God's will.
They neglect the blueprint.
They neglect the course for correction.
Here's what happens.
There is an element of Christianity that is,
for lack of a better word, very emotional,
hyper something.
And they are worshipers.
They will pray and they will fast.
But it's hard to discern what voice it
is unless you're grounded.
Because just because an idea comes to us
or a thought comes to us or a
concept doesn't mean we should act upon it.
And actually these people sometimes are the most
confused group of people I know because they're
not grounded in the Word.
What happens when you're reading through the Word,
you begin to understand the nature of God.
You begin to understand the character of God.
You begin to understand the heart of God.
So when you make decisions, your heart is
in alignment with what his heart is.
So it's not just some super spirituality being
led away by every wind of doctrine by
the trickery of men.
You are actually grounded.
And in that grounding we're able to make
the right decisions.
And I'm all for, all for praying and
fasting and worshiping and being led of the
Spirit.
It's biblical.
But how do you know what Spirit you're
being led on, led by, if you have
no reference point?
And there's people, there's people many times and
I know them, that will say, I don't
need to go to church to be a
Christian, for example.
God has told me.
I don't need to go, Shane, I don't
need to go to church to be a
Christian.
Did you ever read what Paul wrote?
Do not forsake the assembling of getting, of
coming together.
Well, yeah, but in Paul's day it probably
meant this.
And see?
See, but he led, I'm fasting even.
And I just, I'm just, I let no
man teach me.
I just let God teach me.
Did you know that's incorrect as well?
That's an area of submission and pride.
You see, but they're all off in la
-la land with no grounding in the Scripture.
And they'll make terrible financial decisions being led
by the wrong Spirit.
So make sure, this is such a blessing.
We're grounded and it actually renews your thinking.
It renews your mind, the heart of God.
To be, to, you can, you can see
this is the heart of God.
If you're ignorant, Billy Graham said, of God's
Word, you will always be ignorant of God's
will.
And I talk to people that are passionate
about God's will.
And they'll tell me Scriptures that aren't even
in there.
They'll say, well, didn't Peter say?
No, he didn't say anything like that.
And they just don't know what it says.
And these are good people, good, but you
have to be grounded or you'll be led
astray and, and, and by every different concept.
Because I get ideas.
I don't even know if it's God's, right?
I told you a few weeks ago, I
had an idea if I have a radio
station that was going out of business locally.
Was that Shane or God?
Well, time will tell.
I don't know.
But we have biblical principles.
Be good stewards.
Don't take on more than you can.
What king goes to war doesn't count the
cost.
Is it financially feasible?
See, if you're staying in that, that's the
groundwork.
And then you can build your house of
God's will on top of that.
And then he went on to say, God
will never, never lead you to do something
that is contrary to his written word, the
Bible.
Never.
And this is one of the problems with
missionary dating.
Catch that one?
missionary dating, right?
I'm dating, I'm a solid Christian, and I'm
dating, maybe going to get married to somebody
who doesn't know the Lord.
God has called me to do this.
I can sense it.
What do you know?
It says do not be unequally yoked.
Yeah, but I think I can lead them
to the Lord.
And many times we found that if the
person does come to the, or at least
I've seen if the person does come to
the Lord, it might be for the wrong
reason.
They said they won't marry me unless I
join their church or become a Christian.
And then all hell breaks loose.
Once you say I do.
Now, I believe though, that God will honor
his word.
If that person is for you, you break
it off, you do what is right, sexual
purity, you break it off, and let God
bring back that relationship.
He will do that.
I mean, when I met my wife, we
went on one date, we said, Nope, not
going that direction.
And she said, I'm not going that direction
either.
And then a year and a half later,
at church, Oh, hmm, this is interesting.
See, now we are both believers, but we're
coming back to the Lord.
It wouldn't have been a good spot.
We both needed to work some things out.
And then God brought us back doing it
the right way.
So, but I'm not an example of this,
please.
Every time I give examples, I'm like, people
don't think I've done this perfectly.
I'm just trying to be transparent, honest, that
you can't go against this.
What about in the area of giving?
Many people told me, told me, Lord told
me never to give.
I don't give.
Okay, what does the Bible say?
I mean, what, what, what does the Bible
say?
What is Spirit is leading you?
Now, there's obviously different things around that topic.
And I'm not going to go into that,
of course.
But just just look to this, what does
this say?
So here's some things that are clearly God's
will for our lives.
Clearly, I've talked about these before, but I
have to do it again, because we're talking
about God's will.
His will for your life, number one, is
to be saved and to worship Him.
So if you're not saved, and you're not
worshiping Him, start here.
This is the number one will of God
for your life.
I'm not willing that any should perish, but
all come to repentance.
His will is to be holy and set
apart for His will is for you to
be holy and set apart for His glory.
I have all the references at 1 Timothy,
1 Thessalonians, Ephesians, Matthew, you can find these
there.
But it says, my will is for you
to be holy and set apart for His
glory.
And we all go, oh, thank you.
What's the next point?
No, that's important.
Be holy.
There's something different about you.
Be set apart.
You reflect the character and the nature of
God.
See, that's very important.
When it comes to questions, should we live
together?
We're not married yet.
I just answered your question.
Should I watch those things?
Should I do that?
Should I be holy and set apart?
You see how easy it is?
Kind of.
I mean, God's will, the closer you draw
to Christ, you're not as challenged with God's
will as a person who's not.
We go, Shane, don't you have?
Yeah, I just wait.
I don't know what your will is.
I'm gonna wait.
See, waiting is being in the will of
God.
Waiting is part of that process.
So to be saved, to worship Him, to
be holy, to be set apart, really God's
will, let me sum it up for you.
It's walking how He told us to walk.
Be holy, be set apart, be saved, worship
me, be filled with the Spirit, make disciples,
and you walk in God's will.
Then you'll have a better understanding of who
to marry, where to move, because you're walking
in His will.
His wills are clear.
To be filled continually with the Holy Spirit,
that's His will for your life.
So if a person is not humble and
broken and surrendered to the Lord, something I
always talk about, they're not mightily filled with
the Holy Spirit, then you are outside of
God's will in that area.
That's why I often make comments about those
who are bored in church or looking around
during worship or on their phone or playing
around.
They're not filled with the Spirit.
You cannot be filled with the Spirit and
ignore worship.
That's a tweet.
That's a Twitter.
That's a Facebook post.
You cannot be bored during worship and assume
you're filled with the Spirit of God, because
the Spirit of God has to worship.
The Spirit is crying, Abba, Father.
Father, I love you.
I adore you.
I have to worship you.
So if that's not there, something is missing.
The will of God is to worship Him
and to be filled with the Spirit.
Spurgeon, again, you will never glory in God
until, first of all, God has killed all
your glorifying in yourself.
You'll never be able to glory in who
God is until all your glorifying of yourself
is killed.
Also, He's called us to witness, to make
disciples.
That's His will.
That's why I love the Hospital Homes ministry,
because that's what we're doing.
You're in God's will.
Right there.
You're in God's will.
People say, well, should I do that or
not?
Well, you're in God's will if you are,
or at your place of work, or what
about your neighbor?
Are we ministering?
Are we creating disciples and teaching them?
And then we jump to Acts 22, 17.
Now it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem
and was praying in the temple, that I
was in a trance, Paul said, and saw
God, basically Him saying to me, make haste
and get out of Jerusalem quickly.
See, he disobeyed the prophet, right, and he
went into Jerusalem, and now God says, get
out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not
receive your testimony.
So God says, go.
You think Paul listens?
He does, but he argues first, like many
of us, right?
We go kicking and screaming.
Reminds me of your little two-year-old.
Come on, you're kicking and screaming.
We're leaving Disneyland.
Come on, you're going, you're going, but you're
just not going happily.
That's a word.
You're not going with joy.
You're kind of being pulled.
So Paul said, Lord, they know that in
every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who
believed on you.
And when the blood of your martyr Stephen
was shed, I also was standing by consenting
to his death.
God called Paul, who consented to the murder
of people.
He can use you, no matter what your
past is, no matter what you've been through,
God can use you.
He actually wants us to come as we
are, that wonderful song, come as we are,
let him clean up.
Let him clean up and renew your character.
I was also standing by consenting to his
death and guarding the clothes of those who
were killing him.
But then God said to him, depart, for
I will send you far from here to
the Gentiles.
So Paul is, you've called me to this
area, or at least, well, he didn't call,
but he said, I think you called me
to this area.
I'm going to preach to the Jews.
They can relate to me.
And God says, no, go.
So another part of God's will, the will
of the Lord often does not make sense.
Has anyone figured that out yet?
Calling me to plant a church did not
make sense at all.
Calling us to do certain things, that just
doesn't make sense.
Be careful what you say.
You don't want to do something for God.
You don't want to do something because you'll
usually do it.
Those people, I don't ever want to go
in the mission field.
Guess where they're going?
I don't ever want to work with youth.
I'll never go help in children's ministry.
It doesn't make sense to our senses.
Have you ever thought about that word senses?
It doesn't make sense to our senses.
Sight, taste, smell, what we know, what we
think.
See, we can only see a certain thing.
We don't know.
We're not all-knowing.
We're not all-powerful.
We're not everywhere.
God is.
He knows the future.
He knows, He lives outside of time.
Many would say, and I would have to
tend to agree, but He lives in this
area of knowing what's going to happen.
He knows, so He can guide us based
on what's coming.
Where we're, Lord, it feels right.
It feels right.
I don't know what's coming.
But trusting in God's will often does not
make sense to our senses.
C.S. Lewis said in Gethsemane, the holiest
of all petitioners, Jesus prayed three times that
a certain cup might pass from him, and
it did not.
It did not make sense to his senses
how he was feeling tremendous anxiety, where blood
was actually mixed with the sweat.
And he was, Father, take this cup.
Take this cup.
It doesn't feel right to my senses.
It doesn't, it doesn't, it doesn't.
This is Father, Father.
But then he ultimately said, not my will,
but your will be done.
I like what Charles Spurgeon said, or Charles,
Charles Wendall, he's still alive, said, when God
tells you to do something, you better do
it.
He always has a reason.
When the Lord makes it clear, you're to
follow Him in this direction, focus fully on
Him, and refuse to be distracted by the
comparisons with others.
My goodness, if we had time, we could
camp out there the rest of the sermon.
We buy, we sell, we do things based
on the comparison of others.
Churches will look at another church and say,
well, they don't do it that way.
We'll look at where we live, right?
Or what other people will look at what
they're doing, and we compare.
But when God calls us to do something,
we must listen and do it.
So that leads me to the next point.
His will is obedience.
I know it's a given.
I know everybody knows it, but it bears
repeating.
His will is obeying what He says to
do.
1 Samuel 15, 22.
So Samuel said, he's rebuking Saul, has the
Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifice as in obeying the voice of the
Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.
See, God said, Saul, don't do this.
Don't do this.
And he went ahead and did it, but
then he made a sacrifice.
But see, God saw my sacrifice, but yeah,
but you still obeyed.
It would be like me saying, but I
go to church, but I preach, but I
stopped doing such and such.
I cleaned up my act.
Yeah, but He wants you to stop.
This area is His will.
So this area, He's telling us to do.
We know we need to do it.
We try to circumvent it, but I did
all this.
Lord, I prayed, I fasted, but hold on,
just hear me out.
I made sacrifice in this area.
I went to church and I sacrificed so
many things.
God says it's better to obey than to
sacrifice.
I often wonder, would it be better, no,
let's not try it, but to not come
to church one Sunday and go through the
motions of sacrifice and being here, but instead
go and do what He's called us to
do.
That relationship that needs to be mended, that
unforgiveness you need to release, that besetting sin
that needs to be killed and conquered and
crucified.
No, God, I know you want me to
do this, but I'm not.
I'm doing these other things.
To obey is better than sacrifice.
So that's God's will.
His will is that we obey, that we
obey what He says, and He knows we
are broken.
We are imperfect.
We can't do this.
I don't want anybody to ever be left
here thinking that they can never measure up.
God doesn't take perfect people.
He takes broken people, submitted to Him, wanting
to do His will, broken and shattered with
the crutches, with the broken leg, with everything.
And He says, God says, now I can
use you because you're moldable, you're teachable, you're
flexible.
I can use that.
But we say, oh, I can never come
perfect.
No, me neither.
So let's not focus on that.
Let's focus on getting back in the center
of God's will.
And then Acts 24.
Now, after five days, Ananias, the high priest,
came down with the elders and a certain
orator named Tertullius.
These guys don't like Paul, by the way.
They gave evidence to the governor against Paul.
They said, for we have found, verse five,
that this man is a plague, a creator
of dissensions among all the Jews throughout the
world, and a ringleader of the sect of
the Nazarenes.
And he even tried to profane the temple,
and we seized him and wanted to judge
him according to our law.
Now, none of that was really true.
He didn't profane the temple.
He was actually in alignment with things.
So remember this about God's will.
Men will not always speak well of you.
Your family will not always agree with you.
And we get our feelings hurt, right?
Well, that must not be God's will.
They didn't agree.
Not everybody agreed with me.
They won't.
Oftentimes, God's will is controversial and challenging.
It breaks people out of that comfort zone.
I mean, when we, here's an example.
When we moved the church up here, it
broke people out of their comfort zone.
We heard a lot of grumbling and complaining.
Some of it was mine, right?
It doesn't make sense.
And sometimes, and oh, it doesn't fit.
Many times we get upset because it doesn't
quite fit my schedule.
It's not close to my home.
It's not convenient.
It's not on the way.
So we make, our attitudes are affected by
how it affects us versus God's will overall.
Also, remember that people will alter the truth
against you.
They will spin it.
You ever heard about the spin doctor?
When Bill O'Reilly was on the air,
he said, the no spin zone, right?
It's spinning it, spinning it, the truth.
And we can get so worried sometimes.
Well, they're saying this, and they're saying this,
and they're saying this.
And we get so worried about the opinions
of others.
And it's good to have a good reputation
and be a person of character, but don't
let the spin doctors or the spin people
in your life that are coming against you
throw you off course when it comes to
God's will.
Because people, many people will not be happy.
Now, here's some areas of God's will that
I wanted to share.
First Thessalonians, that's always a hard one for
me.
First Thessalonians 5.12. This is God's will.
He said, we urge you, brethren, to recognize
those who labor among you, and are over
you in the Lord, and admonish you, and
to esteem them very highly in love for
their work's sake.
Be at peace among yourselves.
The reason he throws this out, the reason
it's God's will is because, and I've learned
this lesson the hard way, leaders are often
the number one target for gossip and blame.
If somebody's marriage is falling apart, it's my
fault.
The church could have done more.
The church never emailed every day.
The church, you know, and we can become,
we can, they can blame, we can blame
those often at work or that are above
us in leadership and different things.
And, and God says the will of God
is be careful in this area.
Do not critique unnecessarily.
And because it's easy to blame, right?
We need to blame shift.
If we're not humble, we have to, we
have to blame on somebody.
Blame it on the spouse.
Blouse blames on their spouse.
Blouse blames on the kids.
Kids blame on the parent.
And we just, we go around blame shifting.
So the word of, the will of God
is not to do that, but to take
responsibility.
Verse 14, now we exhort you, brethren, that's
a challenge, warn those who are unruly.
Warn those who are unruly.
So as a, as a church, and sometimes
we have to warn those who are proud,
unteachable, and eager to dispute.
That's God's will.
So there's grace and there's mercy, but if
somebody's constantly being that thorn in the side,
right?
We have to, you know, you're what?
You're unruly.
And we, we have to lovingly confront them
from time to time.
But we also comfort the faint-hearted, those
who are, are barely holding it together.
We're there to comfort them.
Uphold the weak.
Be patient with all.
See that no one renders evil for evil,
but always pursue what is good for both
yourself and for all.
That's the will of God.
So are there areas that we're being convicted
in right now?
That means He's wanting to get us back
on track with His will.
Rejoice always.
This is one's hard for me.
Rejoice always, not just an hour a day.
It should be an attitude of rejoicing, praying
without ceasing, in everything.
Give thanks for the Lord, for this is
the will of God, for Christ Jesus in
you.
Isn't it funny how we, these things are
so crystal clear, yet we just ignore them.
No, I want to know God's will on
the meaty stuff.
I don't care about the lettuce.
I want the God's will on the big
stuff.
What college do I go to?
Do I sell my home and move into
this?
Do I move here?
Do I do this with my kids?
Do I get my kids involved in, in
this?
And should they go to charter school, Christian
school, public school, home school, right?
I want the big, big, meaty stuff.
And God says start, start with the salad,
what we call the salad.
He's saying start with what you do know.
Think about this, always rejoicing, praying without ceasing,
and everything gives thanks for the Lord, for
this is the will of God.
This, my friends, is an attitude adjustment.
This is about attitude.
So next time we think that grumbling and
complaining is okay, and not being, being, you
know, all this, and woe is me, and
that's, we're out of the will of God.
We should be thankful and joy-filled.
That's the will of God.
Now it does take some mental exercising, doesn't
it?
Because that grumbling and complaining comes in, and
the mental exercising says, no, bring it back,
bring it back to what God's will, what
God, what God's will says.
So quick test, are you thankful, or are
you known as a person who complains?
Are you joy-filled, or do you grumble
and complain a lot?
And you know my answer to those who
don't know, just ask your spouse.
Ask your family.
Ask your friends.
Am I joy-filled?
George MacDonald, not the one who had a
farm, a different one.
George MacDonald, doing the will of God leaves
me no time for disputing about his plans.
This is so true.
The more we are doing for God, when
you're in God's will, say at the hospital
homes, or involved in ministry, or going out
doing things, or just busy doing the will
of God, you don't have a lot of
time to sit and be a nitpicker and
complaining, because you're busy doing the will of
God.
You're, you're, you're going here and there.
You're just worried about what God's called you
to do.
And actually, excess time on our hands leads
us to the bad attitudes often.
Idle hands are the devil's, right?
Playthings, toolbox, whatever you want to say it.
Idle minds, same thing.
Do not quench the spirit.
So here's God's will.
Do not quench the spirit.
Do not despise prophecies.
Test all things.
Hold fast to what is good.
Abstain from every form of evil.
My goodness.
His will is crystal clear.
Do not quench the spirit.
Do not put out the fire of God
in our lives.
Do not despise prophecies.
Prophecies are the gift of communicating revealed truth.
If truth is revealed to you, don't despise
it.
Don't discard it.
Embrace the truth of, in God, of God,
and what he's trying to do in your
life.
Now the next point of God's will, and
I'll hurry up and get through this, is
waiting in God's will is his will.
Waiting in God's will is his will.
Because many times we're waiting, we get impatient,
right?
Or just me.
Come on, come on, come on, come on.
I'm out of your will.
Something's not right here.
No, waiting is God's will.
Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength.
Waiting in God's will.
I actually pulled this from my Bible from
17 years ago, and I don't know where
it came from, so I can't take credit,
but it really has helped me in this
area.
Waiting in God's will.
When prayers aren't being answered, when we're waiting,
and we're just getting confused, my prayers aren't
being heard, God, it seems like nothing is
happening.
Here's a couple of suggestions.
Number one, this waiting time could redefine what
you're asking for.
Could it be we're asking for the wrong
thing?
So as we wait, at least I know
in my life, as I wait, I don't
even know how to give example.
Here, I give example.
As I'm waiting, and this is just an
example, not a real thing, of course, I'm
praying for cold stone, but as I'm waiting
and waiting, that desire turns to something different.
It turns to, oh yeah, raw, okay, raw
yogurt with honey, okay.
It turns to a good thing, this waiting
time.
It redefines my focus.
Lord, I want this, and the closer you
draw to God, you realize, I don't, my
flesh wanted that.
God, I just want you.
So that waiting time can redefine your focus.
It can actually get you closer to what
God really has, and I've noticed, I've explained
this before, that I often say, okay, here's
God's will.
He says, Shane, you're close.
It's actually this door.
Okay, almost got it.
You know, it's like, it's right, and it's
every time, it's just off a little bit,
right.
Just, just, I knew he was going to
give us a building.
I just didn't think it was here, right,
and we're excited now.
I don't want to downplay that, but I
just, those things, okay, kind of, you know,
that wasn't what I thought, and I'm, I've
told this story before.
I don't know why I tell so many
stories, and if it's too much, just let
me know, but we actually live in a
house that four years ago, we said, we'll
never live in that track, but once you're,
once you think you, you know, you've got
all these options, and then you're waiting on
God, the market's getting higher, the price of
the homes are getting higher, you just want
to get out of this rental, then it
starts to redefine your focus, so the waiting
time can bring you back to a good
starting point.
Also, God maybe has already answered.
We just don't see the answer yet.
It's his timing, not ours.
We always want microwave chicken, don't we?
We don't want to go out back, and
get the chicken, and cook the chicken.
We want microwave, we want now.
Now, I want to know, Lord, what are
you doing now?
So, waiting means he might have already answered.
Just wait.
Number three, waiting time, it renews our fellowship
with him.
The more I wait on God, it renews
my fellowship with him.
More alone time, right?
Time, if you get your prayers answered, you're
like, thanks God, thanks God, but if you
have to travel, and press in, go to
the throne room, and wait on God, and
bring in his word, it begins to build
that relationship.
So, personal opinion here, I think many unanswered
prayers are actually a wonderful opportunity for us
to draw closer to God, and get that
direction.
Then the fourth point, be more aggressive.
God wants us sometimes to be more aggressive,
to take action.
That's actually what faith is.
It has to take action.
When I've been praying about, you know, we
did an atheist debate a while ago, I
did one at the college, and I was
praying about that much, months, if not a
year or two before it actually happened, but
at some point, I had to take action.
I had to, okay, Lord, are you doing
this?
I had to step out, let's do this,
let's do it.
I had to take action.
So, I could, we could still be waiting,
had I not took action based on faith.
And then the fifth point, deal with, here's
not, it's not very popular.
Sometimes the waiting time encourages us, or actually
forces us to deal with besetting sin.
The thing that many churches don't want to
talk about is the thing we need to
talk about.
James says that besetting sin can actually lead
to sickness.
Besetting sin, taking communion, and not examining our
heart, taking it, leads to sickness, to weakness,
and to death.
When a person is caught in sin, caught
in a transgression, the Bible says to go
to them.
So often, when we're praying for something, God
could withhold that until we deal with this
issue of our lives that he wants us
to deal with.
It's okay for the church to talk about
that.
It's very healthy for the church to talk
about this area of sin can prevent the
will of God.
We want God, what you've, how many of
you, don't raise your hand, but you feel,
Lord, are you calling me to some type
of ministry?
Are you calling me to ministry?
Do you want me to minister to the
kids in this area?
Do you want me to minister worship?
Do you want me to go, Lord, are
you going to use me?
And if you're not dealing with a sin,
as you say, of pornography, and it's going
to continue, God's not going to open that
door until that is dealt with, because he
loves you so much.
He loves those, he disciplines those he loves.
So besetting sin can keep us from the
will of God.
And then we see that Paul was in
front of the governor, Felix.
He went in front of the governor, he
spoke the truth in love, and it cost
him two years jail sentence.
So he's in front of Felix, Acts 24
-25, and I am skipping ahead for those
who are curious.
I've got to finish Acts before the marriage
series, that's why.
Now, as he reasoned about righteousness, so he's
talking to Felix, Acts 24-25, he's talking
to the governor.
Can you imagine going to the governor of
California?
I would pay to have this opportunity.
And you go to the governor of California,
or the Senate in Washington, and he reasoned
about righteousness.
It means he talked about righteousness, about self
-control, and the judgment to come.
And Felix was afraid and answered, go away
for now, Paul.
When I have a convenient time, then I'll
call for you.
Well, let's not just assume we know what
this is.
Righteousness.
If you look up that word in the
Greek language, the New Testament was written in
Greek.
It means the doctrine concerning the way in
which man may attain to a state approved
of God.
So how can we be righteous and holy
and stand before a holy righteous God?
How am I going to be able to
stand before God someday?
Christ.
Nothing but the blood of Christ.
That's the only way I can stand in
front of God someday.
It's not going to matter the church I
planted.
It's not going to matter what I've done.
None of that's even going to matter.
What did you do with my son?
What did you do with this sacrifice?
So Paul reasoned to this governor about righteousness.
Because he often thought, I mean, when you're
in a position of authority, you often think
you are the cat's meow.
You are just on top of the world.
You are righteous.
You are holy.
But Paul started to say, no, unless you
know.
And he explained Christ to him, I'm sure.
What about self-control?
He talked to him about self-control.
And it's funny.
I'll talk about self-control or discipline.
And people say, oh, you're just a moralist.
Well, what's the other option?
No self-control?
See, you either have self-control, which means
controlling yourself, right?
You know that.
You know, as Christians, you can say no.
You can say no.
As Christians, no temptation has overtaken you.
What you're going through is common to man.
But God will provide a way of escape
that you may be able to bear it.
So we can say no.
Self-control.
The other option is no self-control.
We just do whatever we want.
I don't know what came over me.
Have you ever said that?
I don't know what came over me.
But actually, the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, goodness, thankfulness, all these things.
Self-control.
To control.
And I think that's healthy.
I think it's okay to tell people to
discipline your body.
Bring it into subjection.
Because it will tarnish your testimony.
It will tarnish your character.
It will tarnish what you stand for.
Paul said, I discipline my body.
And that word actually means I bring my
body in control and submission to me.
I punch it.
It's black and blue.
I beat my body.
Now, don't do that.
He's not saying that.
But he's giving an example that you, that's
one of the wonderful things I love about
fasting.
You will beat the tar out of your
flesh.
It'll say mercy.
I'm done.
I am done.
You got me.
Self-control.
When we're confronted by something online, or a
situation at work, or self-control.
The ability to say no and turn from
something.
That's godly.
That's his will.
And the trap we can get caught into
is if we keep giving into something, oh,
the grace of God.
Just gave into it.
The grace of God.
That's abusing grace.
The grace of, actually, God's grace actually makes
me live under a higher standard, not a
lower standard.
Because of God's grace, I live underneath a
higher standard.
God's grace doesn't mean I can excuse my
lifestyle in any way, shape, or form.
And then the last point, I'm closing on
this one.
The judgment to come.
Isn't it interesting?
Jesus talked about the judgment to come.
Peter talks about the judgment to come.
Jude is, read that book.
Paul, and here we have in the book
of Acts, Paul is talking to the governor
about the judgment to come.
But nowadays, we seem to freeze up on
that, right?
We want, well, I don't want to get
to that.
Well, just, can I just tell them that
Jesus is, it will make them happy?
And they just, they just need Jesus.
That, why do they need it?
Why?
That's part of God's plan.
Because I feel just, I'm a, what they
would call, people say, Shane, do you take
the Bible literally?
I take it literally when it's meant to
be taken literally.
I take it allegorically when it's meant to
be allegorical, in some cases.
Is the devil, in Revelation, really going to
be bound by an actual chain?
Like the chains you see that hang down
from a ship, right?
Hanging an acre into the ocean.
Is the devil going to be carrying around
this big chain?
Is he really a serpent?
So there's things in the Bible that are
literal, and there's things in the Bible that
God will use to explain his word.
But I'm, what I mean by that, I'm
a literalist.
Judgment to come.
There, it's, it's, I have no problem telling
people, you will be held accountable for your
actions.
See, eternity is written on our hearts.
We've talked about that.
And we are born to worship, right?
That's in our DNA.
But we also have a sense of judgment,
don't we?
Most people know there is a day of
reckoning coming.
There is a day of judgment.
I'm reading right now David Brainard's journals.
He ministered to the Native American Indians in
the 1700s.
Incredible story.
He died, I think, at 29.
And, I mean, I read his journals.
I'm like, I'm not even Christian.
I mean, be careful what you read.
It's good, but it's like, my, these guys
fasted and prayed.
That's all their whole life was, Lord, I
don't care if I die ministering to these
people.
I don't care if I'm eaten and cooked.
Lord, just give me more salvations.
Give me more salvations.
And just in their weakened state and riding
by horseback.
But he said, it's interesting, a lot of
the tribes, you go to the people and
they knew, they could tell that, yes, there's
a spirit world out there.
And hopefully, when you're good here, the spirit
world, you'll be able to hunt and fish
and ride horses and enjoy and have festivals
all the time.
That was their idea of heaven.
Where does that come from?
Because eternity is written on our hearts.
Judgment is written.
We know that a day So we avoid
it.
And God says, no, bring it back.
Remind people.
I mean, Peter said, this is amazing verse.
Peter said that judgment is going to start
in the house of God.
And he said, if it starts here, woe
be to the man who rejects God.
So judgment is going to start in the
house of God.
The refining fire of God is going to
go through and look at our character, look
at our lives, look at what we did.
Did we do it for the right reasons?
When the fire comes, is it hay and
stubble that is burned, or is your work
solid as gold?
You did it with the right heart.
The judgment is starting in the house of
God.
I believe it also starts here, and this
is where the wheat and the tare are
separated.
The sheep and the goat.
Is there really sheeps and goats?
No, see, allegorical.
You're a sheep.
The world is a goat, often.
So judgment is going to come and bring
these things to our lives.
Second Peter 3.9, the Lord is not
slack.
I mean, the Lord is not lazy.
He's not slow to act concerning his promise.
He is long-suffering toward us, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance.
That's the will of the Lord.
The will of the Lord is that none
should perish.
I just read an interesting article.
It said two thirds of Americans say they
are sinners, but only a minority depend on
Jesus.
You see, this is God's will.
This is God's will to depend upon, to
hope in, to trust.
That's God's will for your life.
So I'm going to end on these two
points.
Do you know him?
Are you truly trusting in him?
Have you repented?
Have you believed?
Are you aware that there's a judgment to
come, and you are knowing you're going to
stand before God?
And you can say, yes, I'm a little
nervous.
You know, there's fear in there.
There's trepidation.
Who wants to die, right?
God has also given us that.
I believe that God has put that in
us so we don't just go kill ourselves.
There's a little, hey, I want to see
my kids grow up.
I want to see, I want to do
more for the kingdom of God.
That's healthy.
But when I stand before God, I'm ready
because of what Christ has done.
I'm banking on that.
But there's some in this room who are
not ready, possibly.
Many who will be listening later who are
not ready.
The judgment to come, we're not even guaranteed
next week.
We're not guaranteed getting home.
There is a judgment coming where you will
stand before a righteous, holy God, and you'll
have to give an account for your actions.
You will not say, well, my spouse said,
well, here's what Pastor Shane said.
Come on, Mom and Dad, can you come
with me?
No, you'll have to stand before God and
be judged based on what you've done.
But we don't trust in our works.
I did this, I did this, I did
this.
We trust in Christ.
Finish work on the cross.
And if you're not trusting on that this
morning, I would encourage you to do so.
During worship, pray and say, God, that's what
I need.
I need that.
I need that righteousness.
Because that's what you're really doing.
You're taking on Jesus's righteousness.
It's called imputed righteousness.
We take on the righteousness of Christ.
It's amazing.
That should transform your worship.
That should transform the way you read the
Bible.
That should transform how you treat people.
Because you're taking on the righteousness of Christ
when you leave here, if you know Him.