Is God A Cosmic Killjoy?

How can a Christian know the will of God for his life?

Most believers acknowledge that God has a plan for their life, but often have trouble finding just which way the plan goes at a particular juncture.

In spite of the plethora of resources that cover this problem, the answers can seem elusive even to the most ardent of pursuers.

Why does God’s will seem so elusive?

For some it is because of their view of God…he is some Easter Bunny or Santa Claus and God must be hiding it somewhere saying “you’re getting warmer”

For some it is because of their view of how God works…God only lets you know his will in a traumatic experience…running down the street, fall on a banana peel and land on a map of India… “Thank you Lord for making it clear where you want me to go…India it is!”

For others it is waiting for the voice of out of heaven…or a vision in a dream...

Some are simply just afraid of it…they don’t really WANT to know what God wants them to do...

Some view God as this cosmic killjoy that wants to take all their dreams and desires and pulverize them into oblivion and make them eat grasshoppers and wear clothes of camel hair!

To them God’s will is a severe way of life that demands complete sacrifice of their most treasured ability or possession.

How about the brass ring mentality?…God’s will is nice if you get the proverbial brass ring, but if you don’t, then you have to settle for the iron one…not necessary to win as long as you are in the race!

So What is the Will of God?

Are there concrete principles and can they be put into practice?

Can you know the job to seek, what school to attend, what girl or guy to love, what decision to make in any given situation?

YES...

The Crucial First Step (not going to spend a lot of time here…Wednesday night crowd…you already know this)

God has a will and He wants us to know it!

So if God wants us to know it, how is he going to make it known?

We must know the Scripture…God very clearly reveals his will to us in the pages of the Bible.

The Crucial First Step

What do you think is the most critical step in knowing God’s will?

You must belong to Him first…salvation...

2 Peter 3:9–10 NASB95

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

God wants people to know his will…so he stays His judgment so they will be saved!

1 Timothy 2:3–4 NASB95

This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

It is God’s will that all men be saved…those stumbling to find God’s will can never find it if they are not genuinely saved.

God has no reason to reveal anything about a person’s life if they have not met the first criteria…SALVATION.

God Leads His Own

John 10:4 NASB95

“When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Without Christ, man is a stranger to God…a rebel…a foreigner in God’s universe.

It is God’s will that men be saved…that is where it starts.

Mark 3:31–35 NASB95

Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! “For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

This must have astounded his audience…He was teaching that in order to be related to Him, one has to do the will of God…to do the will of God, one has to be related to Him.

1 John 2:15–17 NASB95

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

God is not obligated to anyone…if they are going to reject God’s plan of salvation, they are rejecting God’s will…so why should he reveal anymore specifics...

God Does Not Hide His Will — Col 1:9-14

Colossians 1:9–14 NASB95

For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:8 NASB95

and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

Why would God hide it if he wanted you to be Filled With The Knowledge of it?

This is why it is so important to be a pursuer of biblical knowledge.

be filled with spiritual knowledge when you factor other

statements God's Word makes about the importance of knowledge.

Ephesians 4:18 NASB95

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;

- cf. - It is not good for a person to be without

knowledge.

- cf. - My people perish for want of knowledge.

that’s the condition we bring into the process...

- cf. - Brethren, be not children in understanding.

Ephesians 4:13–14 NASB95

until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;

- please look over at for a couple of other critical

ideas on this matter of biblical knowledge:

Eph

Colossians 1:13–14 NASB95

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

- verse 18 - (our condition as unbelievers) - READ

look at what happens when we don’t pursue biblical knowledge...

- thats the condition we bring into the process.

- verse 13-14 - READ - this will happen if we don't grow in

knowledge.

a good question to ask would be - How does a person grow in knowledge?

John 7:17 NASB95

“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.

1 Corinthians 2:10–12 NASB95

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,

1) He must desire it - - "If any man will do his will, he

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NASB95

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, equipped for every good work.

so the point is that Paul prayed that the people of this church would be filled with spiritual knowledge.

shall know of the doctrine."

He must have the Holy Spirit -

He must study the Scripture - - All Scripture...

so the point is that Paul prayed that the people of this church would be filled with spiritual knowledge.

be filled with spiritual knowledge.

now that's not the end of the process--"cf. "knowledge alone puffs up"

but it is the beginning of the maturing process.

have I made the matter of "gaining spiritual knowledge?"

do I really desire it - and what is the evidence of that desire?

do I have the Holy Spirit - have I genuinely trusted Christ?

am I making a place in my life/schedule for study of the Scripture?

God wants us to know His will.

normally, when someone speaks about "wanting to know God's will," what are they speaking of?

you to be filled with the knowledge of God's will."

- we need to "camp" on that one for a minute because there's so much

confusion on this matter of God's will.

- normally, when someone speaks about "wanting to know God's will,"

what are they speaking of?

knowing something about the future...the problem with that is, that’s not the way this subject is normally addressed in the Scripture.

- the problem with that is, thats not the way this subject is

normally addressed in the Scripture.

God's will can be divided into two parts...His directive will and His decreed will

- His directive will and His decreed will

Directive will -- what He wants us to do,what He's already revealed in His Word

- what He's already revealed in His Word

Decreed will -- what will ultimately come to pass in the future.

the future.

the important difference between the two is that only one can be known in advance.

in advance.

I can only know in advance what God wants me to do now, based on the principles of His Word.

the principles of His Word.

I can't know the future, and God doesn't want me to know the future.

future.

I know that God wants me to be faithful to my wife today - that’s His will for me today. -- His directive will.

will for me today. -- His directive will.

I don't know what my health is going to be like tomorrow - God's will for my health tomorrow is something He doesn't want me to know. --that’s His decreed will.

for my health tomorrow is something He doesn't want me to know. --

thats His decreed will.

Here is a Test

I give some statements -- and you tell me if we're talking about God's directive will, or His decreed will.

talking about God's directive will, or His decreed will.

Will my car still be running next year? (decreed)

Does God want me to be a good steward of my car my keeping it well maintained (directive).

maintained (directive).

Back to Colossians 1

- which part of God's will is Paul talking about here? God's directive will.

here?

- God's directive will.

this statement has nothing to do with knowing the future...it has everything to do with learning God's revealed will for our daily lives right now.

- it has everything to do with learning God's revealed will for our

daily lives today.

that's why Paul describes the "knowledge of his will" with the phrases:

phrases:

"all wisdom and spiritual understanding"

both of those terms have to do with knowing truth and being able to apply it....developing the ability to see life from God's point of view..."the ability to collect and concisely organize principles from Scripture."

apply it.

developing the ability to see life from God's point of view..."the ability to collect and concisely organize principles from Scripture."

- "the ability to collect and concisely organize principles from

Scripture."

by the way--when it comes to this matter of decision making and the will of God -- people who struggle the most with "knowing God's will for them concerning a pending decision" are usually those who have had very little practice at knowing God's will on a daily basis and obediently acting on it.

will of God -- people who struggle the most with "knowing God's will

for them concerning a pending decision" are usually those who have

had very little practice at knowing God's will on a daily basis and

obediently acting on it.

- now let's add one more concept to this and then wrap us this verse:

This is something we should be filled (controlled) by.

Paul says - I am praying that you will be filled with this...the word "filled" in the Bible shouldn't call up the picture of a "glass."

- the word "filled" in the Bible shouldn't call up the picture of a

"glass."

we're not talking about volume--i.e. - I'm "half-filled with the knowledge of God's will."

the knowledge of God's will."

the word "fill" in the Bible often means "controlled."

when Jesus healed a person on the Sabbath, the Bible says that the scribes and the Pharisees were "filled with rage." ()

the scribes and the Pharisees were "filled with rage." (Luke

6:11)

the point wasn't that they were full "like a glass is full."...the point was they were controlled by it.

full."

- the point was - they were controlled by it.

so the overall idea here is that Paul's prayer request for the members of this church was that they would be controlled by the knowledge of God's will.

of this church was that they would be controlled by the knowledge of

God's will.

What are some things a believer might allow themselves to be controlled by?

...other than the knowledge of God's will?

- INPUT - what are some things that a person (even a believer) might

allow themselves to be controlled by other than the knowledge of

God's will?

...some good questions for us to ask based on this verse?

to what degree is this true of me?

have I made this issue as important as God would want it to be?

what would have to change for this to have a higher priority?

God’s Will is For you and I to Walk Worthy of Him in A Way That Pleases Him

1 Thessalonians 2:12 NASB95

so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

Ephesians 4:1 NASB95

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

- this is a favorite phrase of the apostle Paul's.

Philippians 1:27 NASB95

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;

Why walking???

- cf. ;12, ,

A. Why the picture of walking?

INPUT - ???

walk is gradual (as opposed to running, etc)…progressive sanctification

walk is something we do daily. (How many days in your entire life have you gone without walking? -- esp. in bible days-transportation)

life have you gone without walking? -- esp. in bible days-

transportation)

how we walk is something others observe... "your walk talks and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks."

- cf. "your walk talks and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder

than your talk talks."

the point is - there's clearly a way to tell whether a a person is being filled with the knowledge of God's will" -- just look at the way they walk.

being filled with the knowledge of God's will" -- just look at the

way they walk.

not by giving a theology exam...not by examining their perfect attendance pins...it's a matter of examining the way they walk.

- not by examining their perfect attendance pins

- it's a matter of examining the way they walk.

What characterizes a worthy walk?

Colossians 1:10 NASB95

so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

- INPUT - what does verse 10 say?

fruitfulness...the Scripture makes it clear that those who are truly believers will be fruitful people.

INPUT - what does verse 10 say?

John 15:16 NASB95

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.

- fruitfulness.

John 15:8 NASB95

“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

- the Scripture makes it clear that those who are truly

What kind of fruit do you think Paul had in mind?

believers will be fruitful people.

- - You have not chosen me...

- - "In this is my Father glorified, that ye bear

much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples."

- INPUT - what kind of fruit do you think Paul had in mind?

fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22 NASB95

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

- fruit of the Spirit -

making disciples

1 Corinthians 16:15 NASB95

Now I urge you, brethren (you know the household of Stephanas, that they were the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints),

praise - "fruit of the lips" -

- praise - "fruit of the lips" -

Hebrews 13:15 NASB95

Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

- praise - "fruit of the lips" -

financial giving

Romans 15:26–28 NASB95

For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain.

I realize it may be a little difficult to evaluate ourselves on the first point (being filled with the knowledge of His will) but it's a lot easier to evaluate ourselves on this one.

- financial giving -

- I realize it may be a little difficult to evaluate ourselves on the

first point (being filled with the knowledge of His will)

- but it's a lot easier to evaluate ourselves on this one.

if we're filled with the knowledge of his will--it's going to be producing fruit.

producing fruit.

Let’s say you bought a shoe factory and you knew nothing about making shoes…how will you know if your investment into the shoe company was paying off? at some point - you have to check the other end to see if any shoes are being made and shipped out

- at some point - you have to check the other end to see if any

shoes are being made and shipped out

activity doesn't equal productivity!!...are we walking worthy of the Lord in a way that pleases Him and that produces fruit?

- are we walking worthy of the Lord in a way that pleases Him and that

produces fruit?

Knowing God’s will results in us Being Strengthened With His Might

Colossians 1:11 NASB95

strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously

- verse 11

how does strength come from the knowledge of God's will, wisdom, and spiritual understanding?

- another result of being filled with the knowledge of God's will is

spiritual strength.

how does strength come from the knowledge of God's will, wisdom, and spiritual understanding?

wisdom, and spiritual understanding?

knowing what God wants me to do in a given situation produces courage...having a "history" of walking worthy produces strength - cf. David...knowing God produces strength -

courage.

having a "history" of walking worthy produces strength - cf. David

knowing God produces strength -

1 Corinthians 10:13 NASB95

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

What is the extent of the strength we can expect as we seek to walk worthy?

- INPUT - according to this verse, what is the extent of the strength we can expect as we seek to walk worthy?

we can expect as we seek to walk worthy?

"according to His glorious power"...what are some specific ways according to the verse that that spiritual strength can and should manifest itself? (patience, long-suffering, and joyfulness)

- INPUT - what are some specific ways according to the verse that that

spiritual strength can and should manifest itself? (patience,

long-suffering, and joyfulness)

why do you suppose those are the areas Paul specifically mentions? (so easy to "feel powerless" in situations requiring those characteristics.)

mentions? (so easy to "feel powerless" in situations requiring

those characteristics.)

Be Thankful for what you do know.

that Paul was in prison?)

- How would you evaluate yourself in this critical area?

- is there a relationship in your life between points one and two and

point three?

IV. Give Thanks Unto The Father

the fact that any of these things are even possible are a reason to give thanks and praise to God.

give thanks and praise to God.

making this possible required redemption through Christ's blood.

blood.

it required the forgiveness of sins.

it required being translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His dear Son.

the kingdom of His dear Son.

and it required being made fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints.

inheritance of the saints.

Men and women who are practiced at thanksgiving are going to find what they do know about God’s will is reason enough to be thankful…the part of God’s will they don’t know, is okay for only God to know it...

Deuteronomy 29:29 NASB95

“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.

everything else we're studying much easier to apply.