Knowing the will of God

Acts chapter 9 and verse 6, And he, that's Paul or still Saul at this point, trembling in astonishment said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Lord, what do you want me to do? What we're reading here are first recorded words, at least, of Paul after he was saved. But this attitude, he's saying, Lord, what do you want me to do? That characterized him not only at salvation, but the rest of his life. This attitude, wanting to know God's will for his life, of course, characterized the Lord Jesus.

Read in Hebrews 10. He says, I come to do thy will, O God, coming into the world. And then as he was leaving the world, there in the Garden of Gethsemane, he says, Not my will, but thine be done.

I would like to speak about something very basic for a few minutes this afternoon. The will of God. Very basic, perhaps, but maybe more difficult to put into practice.

Submission to the will of God characterized the Lord Jesus, characterized the apostle Paul, but how about you and me? Is it important? Likely it wouldn't be here this afternoon if it wasn't. Although, possible for somebody to be so discouraged. And many of us have been there when you wonder what's the use.

Tried to serve the Lord and very difficult, things have just gone from bad to worse and you're ready to throw up your hands and if you have any hair, pull it out. Brother, sister, God has a purpose for your life and mine. Just as he has a purpose for the birds when they migrate, as the flowers that are coming up this time of year, he has a purpose.

That's what we mean by the will of God. God's purpose for our lives. And in God's purpose and his will for our lives, that's where the maximum glory is going to be brought to God and the maximum satisfaction to you and me.

Now, many of us, before we are saved, we try to find that satisfaction somewhere else. Didn't work. And even as believers, you know, sometimes we do our own thing and it leaves us empty.

There was a preacher among us many years ago. I never heard him speak, but his name was Mervyn Paul. And he said at one point, nothing matters, nothing whatever, except the will of God.

Now, maybe for many of us here, it's not that we don't think the will of God is important, but it's how can we know what God's will is. There's a lot of young people here. Thank God, good to see you.

And often when you're young, you're setting up your sales in life and decisions to be made. I mean, some of us that are older, many of the major decisions have been made. I would just like to suggest five factors or five principles that have been a help to me in knowing the will of the Lord.

Five. And there may be others. This isn't an exhaustive treatment of this subject, but I would like to suggest these five.

Turn with me to Romans 12 to begin with, please. Romans chapter 12. In verse 1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Point number one. The importance of a surrendered will.

I mean, that's what the verse is talking about. The Holy Spirit encouraging us, pleading with us to present our, yield ourselves to God. Verse 2. And not yielding to the world's mold that it wants to put us in.

I don't have time to talk more about that. But the question is, it says, you know, by the mercies of God, God's kindness and compassion. Just think of where we could be if he hadn't saved us.

So many of us here saved this afternoon. So easy to take it for granted. We could be out anywhere experiencing the heartache that so many in the world are experiencing.

No dissatisfaction. We could be in hell. I could be there.

I deserve to be there. Do we have any desire or love for the Lord to take our hands off our lives? And just to say, Lord, not my will but yours be done. This is an important factor in knowing the will of God.

In fact, there's not much use in saying, Lord, what do you want me to do if we want to keep our hands on the steering wheel? In fact, George Mueller, this is what he says, 90% of the problem in knowing God's will is that we want our will to be done. It's been said the greatest mission is submission. Interesting.

We can trust the Lord with our souls for eternity. But sometimes it's difficult to trust Him with our lives for just a few years. Speak to the young ones in particular.

Do you love the Lord? Does He deserve your all? I mean, we sing it. Demands my heart, my life, my all. We sing it.

Do we mean it? Or are you like some, and this happened to me when I was first saved and didn't know the Lord very well, didn't know the Bible, and the thought came to my mind, if I'm going to live for the Lord, let Him have His way in my life. It's going to be awful. It's going to be torture.

And just what the devil tries to do. Now, I'm not saying there aren't difficulties in the Christian life. There are.

But that's where real joy comes. In any degree that any of us have allowed the Lord to have His way in our lives, it's the only thing that really matters. God has a purpose.

He has a plan for your life. So the question is, am I willing to let God have His way in my life? Do you want God's will for your life? Here's principle number one. Lord, not my will, but yours be done.

For example, whatever issue maybe you're struggling with, you know, Lord, what do you want me to do here? If the Lord said yes, is that all right with you? If He says no, are you good with that? If the Lord says go, or if the Lord says stop, either way? Now, you may have your druthers, but are you willing, can I put it this way, are you willing to let the Lord call the shots? And let me say this. If you did know what the Lord's will in whatever you're considering, would you accept it? I mean, just an example, maybe far out, but suppose somebody's wondering, the Lord wanted them to be a missionary to Hawaii. And they're asking, Lord, what do you want me to do? Well, they bought a tropical wardrobe, they've been checking out the flights, they've checked out the beaches, you know, I mean, they've got their mindset.

So, to have no will of our own about the matter, out of love for the Lord, just saying, Lord, not my will, but yours be done. Okay, factor number one, a surrendered will. Look with me now in Psalm 119.

Psalm 119. And verse 105. Psalm 119 and verse 105.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. The word of God. Here's factor, principle number two, the word of God.

What does the word of God say about the situation? Lord, I want your will to be done. What do you want me to do? Well, what does the word of God have to say about it? You know, there are things we don't even need to ask the Lord if this is your will or not, because he makes it very clear. For example, I'm wondering, does the Lord want me to marry this, I'm a believer and somebody's not? I mean, he makes that very clear, right? Or, Lord, do you want me to be baptized? Or do you want me to remember the Lord in the breaking of bread? The Lord says, this do in remembrance of me.

And I realize that sometimes there aren't chapter and verse for certain issues, but there are principles in God's word. And the better we get to know his word, you know, it's amazing to me, and I'm sure it is to you, that the God of this universe wants to communicate with us and the primary way he does it is through his word. You know, I just came back recently from gospel meetings in, as they pronounce it, Newfoundland.

Got to put the emphasis on the last syllable there. And while I was out there, now we did have some gospel meetings, but I was on a snowmobile one day. Yeah, it's still winter out there.

And the man I was with, he's a fisherman, a trapper, expert outdoorsman. He asked me if I wanted to drive the snowmobile. Well, I was good with that.

And so, you know, I didn't know where I was. We went for a while along this river that was frozen over with all the snow, and then we went up these, well, mini mountains, I guess, big hills. But, you know, he would keep whispering over my shoulder, go over there, take that trip.

You know, he was guiding me. He was telling me because he knew what was going on. I didn't.

I had control over the machine, and I could have said, forget you, and, you know, who knows where we'd be. Well, just like that man was guiding me with what he told me, that's what God wants to do, especially a young brother or sister. He wants to guide you.

He doesn't want to make your life miserable. That's not why God's given us his word. And the devil may try to tell you that if you go God's way, it's like putting yourself in a straitjacket.

Listen, that doesn't come from God. The Lord Jesus said, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. God's word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto my path.

You ever gone camping? You ever have to get up in the middle of the night? I mean, I'm not talking about one of those campgrounds where they got lights all over the place, everybody's got their TVs going. I mean, real camping. It's dark out there.

And you have to get up in the middle of the night. Have you ever tried to wander around without a flashlight? I tried that once. Never again.

I didn't know there was that. So you can imagine what happened. God's word, what a flashlight is, is in the dark.

That's what God's word is. It's a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. God wants to guide you.

He wants to guide us. He does. He's interested.

I mean, if he would give his own son to die on the cross, we mean that much to him. He's not going to leave us in the lurch now. He wants to bring us home all the way.

He wants to preserve us from so much. He wants to have us enjoy so much. He does.

Do you read the word of God? Too busy? You know, we all struggle with this, especially in today's world. So many things. So busy.

Not too busy to end. No, I guess it's like this. But too busy for God? May I just encourage you, plead with you.

And again, I'm speaking to the young in particular. Don't shortchange yourself by not letting God speak to you day by day. Read the word, even if it's just a little.

Even if it's just a little. And I have found it helpful to have a certain place, a certain time. You know, just get alone with God.

And, you know, sure, maybe things aren't jumping off the page every day. But God is speaking. And I would encourage you, too, to read consecutively.

Now, I'm not coming down with some rules here. But I know when I first started reading the Bible, I would just flip it open and read whatever. And, I mean, that's good.

But you get the better lie of the land by reading consecutively. That is, you know, leave a marker where you stop one day and continue on. Let me just say that in the three big issues, the three biggest issues in my life, God guided me by his word.

When it came to salvation, now I never heard of eternal security until four years after I was saved. I didn't know anything about the assemblies. And when I started coming to the assembly meetings and heard the gospel and about eternal security, I wondered for a while if I was saved.

Really, the devil was making mincemeat out of me until I just rested in the word of God. God gave me assurance from his word, the unchangeable word of God. So that was in salvation.

When it came to marriage, in a most unusual way, I'd never experienced it before or after, God made it very clear to me from his word who I was to marry. Now the difficulty was he didn't make it that clear to my future wife, and she had to get to know this man who thought he knew what God wanted. That's another story.

Not for public hearing, though. But thirdly, in the work of the Lord, being commended to the work of the Lord, I remember when I was wondering about it and I talked to one commended worker. I said, well, how did you know the Lord wanted you to leave your job and give yourself full time? He said, well, I was praying about it.

Then one night after supper, I went down to the basement and said, Lord, you know, and a verse came to my mind and he looked it up and that was it. So it just happened just like that. Well, it didn't happen that way with me.

You know, God doesn't use cookie cutters. But over a period of time, God just impressed upon me a couple of verses in particular, just little by little. So my only point is that in my experience, God has guided me.

Whenever I bled him, he's guided me in the big issues through his word. Okay. But let's look at another factor, factor number three, James 1. James 1 and verse 5. James 1 and 5. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that gives to all men liberally and upbraids not, and it shall be given to him.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering or doubting. For he that wavers is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. Do you need wisdom to know what God wants you to do? And, you know, I've been addressing the young in particular, but, you know, we all have difficulty at times knowing what the will of God is.

Lord, what do you want me to do in this situation? What do you want me to do in that situation? And I've been embarrassed many times that in some of the little things, you know, I've struggled to figure it out on my own, and I've realized, you know, I can just ask the Lord for help with this, and then it's just unfolded. The Lord says very clearly, if you lack wisdom, ask. Ask.

A lot of times we don't ask, especially in the little things. Now you say, well, the subject here is talking about trials. Well, I'll tell you, it can be a big trial not knowing what the will of God is, especially in the big issues of life.

Now, I realize it can be very helpful to ask godly Christians for advice, too. And again, I would say in the major issues in my life, I rarely make a decision without talking to others, especially with my wife, but maybe others as well. So the importance of having good friends, godly people, that you can have confidence in that they're not going to lead you astray.

Because there will be time when you will need advice. The Lord says in the multitude of counselors, there's safety, and there is. But notice, you know, God is so gracious.

Notice in verse 5, he says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that gives to all men. All. You know, God doesn't play favorites.

Well, maybe I'm going to show you what you need to do, but I don't like you so much. No. He says, he gives to all men.

So there's the all. There's liberally. God's not stingy with giving his wisdom.

We don't have to twist his arm to get the wisdom to know what he wants us to do. And he says, and upgrades not. He's not going to scold us or find fault for not knowing.

And it says, and it shall be given. And there have been many times when my wife and I, there have been issues we didn't know what to do and we just trusted the Lord, asked the Lord for wisdom to know what to do, trusting that sooner or later, you know, we can't snap our fingers and expect God to, you know, are we willing to wait on the Lord? And really, that comes, that brings us to verse 6. It says, but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, nothing doubting. It's trusting God, the way I see it anyway, trusting God to give us the wisdom sooner or later, in his own time, in his own way.

It's not dictating to God. It's letting him be God, the God, the God of me. Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. I'm going to have to move quickly through these last two points here.

So we've looked at the importance of a surrendered will, importance of the Word of God. What does the Word of God say about the matter? If we need wisdom, God says we can ask and he will give it. Let me just, I should have said this.

If we're asking God for light, spiritual light in a certain matter, God expects us to use the light he's already given. And one thing to me that is important, and we were looking at 1 John already today, but there needs to be no unconfessed sin in my life. I mean, there's something in my life between me and God that needs to be confessed.

It would seem to me that God wants us to deal with that, use the light that he's given before he's going to give us more light. But thank God, because of the value of the blood of Christ, the death of Christ, as believers, we can confess our sins to him and there's a parental forgiveness. It's not a question, of course, the penalty of sin.

That was taken care of the moment we put our trust in Christ. But as believers in the family, we confess it to him, he says he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Okay.

But let's look at Philippians chapter 2 and verse 13. Verse 13. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Notice it is God who works in you both to will, that is, he gives us the desire, the want to, and also the ability to do of his good pleasure. If God wants us to do something to pursue a certain course, sooner or later, he'll give us a desire to do it. Again, if you're, you know, wondering does God want me to be a missionary in Borneo, but you're deathly afraid of snakes, you can't stand the heat, you're susceptible to mosquitoes, and, you know, it's the last thing in the world you would ever want to do.

Well, I mean, if God wanted you to be a missionary in Borneo, he would give you a compelling desire sooner or later to want to do it. God doesn't want us to serve him when we don't want to. Now, a lot of the religions of the world, it's people serve their God, it's under fear, not because they want to.

The Lord says, if you love me, keep my commandments. But I would say this, just because we have a desire to pursue a certain course does not automatically mean it's God's will. I mean, we can want to do many things, right? With the flesh within.

So it's important to wait on the Lord, letting him guide, instead of just maybe running ahead, well, I want to do this, I want to... Again, Mervyn Pollis said, it's better to be a mile behind the Lord than a fraction of an inch in front. So, a desire. If God wants me to do something, sooner or later, he'll give me a desire to do it.

But finally, look with me in Acts 17. Acts 17 and verse 1. Now, when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. This is Paul and Silas.

Verse 5, Acts 17. But the Jews who believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company and set all the city on an uproar. So it was a big riot there.

Verse 10. And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who coming there went into the synagogue of the Jews. Verse 13.

But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the people. And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea. But Silas and Timotheus abode there still, and they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens, and so on.

Okay, here's the fifth and final point. Circumstances. Here, circumstances in Paul's life and Silas' life dictated God's will.

Now, there were persecutions, there was this big riot in Thessalonica, and so the believers there said, you guys need to get out of here. And they sent him somewhere else. And there was trouble there, and Paul they sent one place, Silas stayed.

But God often uses circumstances to guide us. Sometimes He closes doors. I mean, we might think it's God's will for me to do a certain thing, but circumstances, it's not possible to do it.

Somebody said, if God closes a door, don't climb in the window. You know, back in 1983, I resigned my teaching job. I was commended by the Assembly in Windsor, Ontario in January of 84, and I had been spending all my free time in Michigan and thought that's what the Lord wanted me to, where He wanted me to move to.

And I didn't have much doubt about it, but when I tried to apply for a visa, I'm Canadian by birth, I tried to apply for a visa, I couldn't get one. Now, I don't know if this brother was joking or not, I never asked him, I was surprised, but he suggested, like Windsor is across from Detroit, right? He suggested, well, just go out in the prairies and cross at some small border crossing, and not a good idea, that God closes the window. God closes the door, rather, don't climb in the window.

If circumstances are favorable, the door seems to be open, we might want to take one step and looking to the Lord for guidance. Now, I'm quoting Reverend Paul a lot today, but he also said, let God push you around. God can use circumstances.

But let me say this, if we don't have peace about a matter, even if the circumstances seem to be favorable, that can be an indicator of the will of God, because peace is part of the fruit of the spirit. So, I better stop. Five factors that have been a help to me in knowing the will of the Lord.

First of all, the surrendered will. Am I willing to say, Lord, not my will, but yours be done. Whatever you want me to do, Lord.

Second of all, what does the word of God say about it? Third, have I asked the Lord for wisdom? He says, if you need wisdom, ask and it shall be given. Fourthly, do I have a desire to pursue a certain course? If I don't, well, that could be an indicator right there. But finally, circumstances is the way open to do what I think the Lord wants me to do.

Let me say this. May the Lord give us the attitude that we began with here, we looked with the Apostle Paul. Tremendous attitude, but one that characterizes the rest of his life.

Lord, what do you want me to do?