Sermon at FFPP (19/6/16) "Knowing God's will"

Knowing God’s will

Introduction

Don’t all of us want to know God’s will?

Why do non-Christians read horoscopes? For ‘success’.

We may wish to be prosperous, secure and trouble-free.

We are to be different. We are to do God’s will to please Him?

When we speak of God’s will, we are not talking of a single concept.

What does the Bible teach about God’s will?

1. There is a revealed will

(‘of command’. God’s preceptive will)

This is expressed in the form of commands given in Scripture. We are told not to murder or steal. If I say, "God spoke to me that I should be the most successful bank robber in the world and kill those who get in my way", we can be confident that we are not in the will of God. In this sense, many people are seeking God's will when it is already obvious. There’s no need to pray whether you should have a non-Christian boyfriend, or join a business partnership where you are expected to be dishonest in daily practice.

God desires us to happily comply with His revealed will and will help us to do so.

"Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will (thelema) of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).

"Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:50).

Do the will of God from the heart (Eph 6:6)

God will equip us with everything good that we may do His will (Heb 13:21)

The Lord’s prayer “Thy will be done” (Mt 6:10) is for God’s prescriptive will

Specific instances of God’s will of command are clear in Scripture

I Th 4:3 - our sanctification

1 Th 5:18 - give thanks in all circumstances

1 Pe 2:15 - do good and put foolish people’s ignorance to silence

But all of God’s commands in His word reveal His will – e.g. the Ten Commandments.

God’s prescriptive will gives him pleasure and results in relationship (We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Jn 9:31) “If we ask Him anything according to His will, He hears us (1 Jn 5:14)

Following God’s preceptive will is the path of success in life. King David’s last words to Solomon speak of this:

“I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. And keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn” (1 Kings 2:1-3).

Close to the idea of God’s revealed will is God's will of disposition, His preferential (desiderative) will. This has to do with what God has told us will give Him pleasure, and what does not. We know that God loves to show mercy, and yet He will execute judgment (Exodus 34:6-7). God takes pleasure in the salvation of sinners; He does not take pleasure in pouring out His eternal wrath on sinners (Matthew 18:14; 1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9) “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? “( Ez 18:32; 33:11). Yet we must be careful here, because although, on one hand, God takes no delight in the death of the wicked, yet He most surely wills or decrees the death of the wicked and takes delight in judgement.  “As the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the LORD will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you” (Dt 28:63). God's ultimate delight is in His own holiness and righteousness.  

2. There is a hidden will

(‘of decree’, God’s ‘permissive’ will)

This is God's eternal, foreordained plan and purpose, which will not change and cannot be thwarted. Because God is all-powerful and His will can never be frustrated, we can be sure that nothing happens over which He is not in control.  So Paul says. “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, (Eph 1:11)

We must distinguish between what God would like to see happen and what He actually does will to happen, and both of these things can be spoken of as God's will. God's permissive will is what God allows, even though may be sinful. God’s hidden will often allows or permits men to violate His revealed will (His Word). Put another way. God sometimes allows His revealed to be broken in order to accomplish His will of decree  

For example,

1) God allowed Joseph's brothers to betray him, and to deceive their father, so that He might bring the Israelites to Egypt, where God would preserve His people. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today (Ge 50:20).

2) 1 Pe 3:17, 1 Pe 4:19 teach that suffering because we are doing good is God’s will for Christians, yet this involves wicked people causing Christians to suffer. Job suffered in the will of God when he suffered the loss of his livestock through theft and murder.

3) The betrayal and murder of Jesus was an evil act that was definitely against the preceptive will of God. Yet in Acts 2:23 Luke says, "This Jesus [was] delivered up according to the definite plan (boule) and foreknowledge of God." Also, in Acts 4:27-28 we read, “Truly in this city there were gathered together against thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel to do whatever thy hand and thy plan had predestined to take place.

Yet God's permissive will is never ultimately contrary to His decretive will. God "permits" those things which will lead to the accomplishment of His revealed will. God allows man to reject the gospel, to wilfully disobey His laws, to persecute the righteous, and so on. But in all of this, God is still in control, and His good purposes are being accomplished. Every day we make choices based on different considerations, usually just a few at a time. God can handle an infinite number of considerations. We who are merely human can ‘will’ contradictory things, and God, who is infinitely greater and more complex, can certainly be said to “will” things which at first glance seem contradictory. But we must have the faith that God always works for the good of His children (Jer 32:40, Ro 8:28)

The Bible teaches both God’ sovereignty and human accountability. His permission gives us the power, but not the right to sin. Judas may have been ordained to betray Jesus. He might have been inspired by Satan (Luke 22:3,) but he is still accountable for his sin and is deserving of punishment (Mt 26:24)

3. God’s directive will

God's directive will is God's personal guidance in our lives. It is not directly related to the "wills" above. It is concerned with day-to-day guidance. This is what most people are concerned about – “What university course should I take? Should I emigrate? Should I marry this woman? Should I buy this house? Should I change church? Should we start this ministry” I can think of God's directive will being revealed in the "Macedonian call" (Acts 16:6-10). I can see it in the direct guidance of Philip to meet the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26). God can guide through dreams (e.g. Joseph Mt 1:20) or voices in the night (e.g. Samuel,  I Sa 3) or through the prompting of the Spirit during corporate worship and fasting (Ac 13: 2)  So the Bible does teach that there are times when God wants us at a certain place, doing a certain thing.

The Bible does not provide us with this direct and personal revelation of His will. Many Christians expect God to reveal His will in some bizarre and spectacular way, The Bible must not be used as a horoscope by taking Scripture verses out of context.

God’s main concern is your obedience to His revealed will, not obsession with His directive will.

For day-to-day guidance and decision-making, have to learn two things: 1) wisdom from Scripture and 2) sensitivity to God’s voice. There is no short-cut involved. We are repeatedly told in the book of Proverbs that wisdom is only for those who will diligently seek it. As our knowledge and life experience of the Bible increases, our ability to discern God’s directive will will also increase. We need to commune with God with a pure heart that reverences him. “The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear Him” (Ps 25:14)

With respect to Scripture we should know God’s perceptive will clearly. In addition to clear-cut commands, there are principles which are more general in nature and provide broader guidelines for us. The book of Proverbs is full of these directives: “To know wisdom and instruction, to discern the sayings of understanding, to receive instruction in wise behavior, righteousness, justice and equity; To give prudence to the naive, to the youth knowledge and discretion, a wise can will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel (1:1-5).

e.g In all labor there is profit, But mere talk leads only to poverty (14:23).

A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger (15:1).

Aside from principles, there are stories from Scripture, and patterns of God’s interactions with men that teach us what God is like and what He desires. Parental discipline, for example, should be patterned after God’s discipline of His children. Biblical narratives also teach patterns of negative and positive behaviour.

Divine guidance can also be found from wiser Christians:

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel (Prov. 12:15).

Conclusion

 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Dt 29:29)

God’s revealed will of command can be broken or obeyed. Not God’s will of decree

God’s will of decree is hidden and not our business

Our task as Christians is to work on knowing and doing God’s will of command, not seeking out God’s hidden will of decree. These are ‘secret things’.

It is not critically important to discern God’s directive will. It is very important to discern God’s perceptive will. We must not be afraid that, by missing out on an opportunity, there is no hope of God giving us His best in our lives again. Life is not a series of checkpoints to a final destination. Life is walking with the Lord every step of the way. It matters more who you are walking with than where you think you want to go.

The really important questions we must ask ourselves when we think about the will of God are not questions about marriage or lifestyle or day to day guidance.

They are, “Do I humbly trust?” “Will I happily obey?”

The greatness and goodness of God must fill our minds when we think of His unknown, hidden will that cannot be changed. And the greatness and goodness of God must fill our minds when we think of His revealed will in the Bible, because we think that in fulfilling this we somehow cheat ourselves of the best life has to offer. Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God-what is good and well-pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2).