49-36 Understanding God's Will

Ephesians 5:17

As the golfer approached the 1st tee, a hazardous hole with a green surrounded by water, he debated if he should use his new golf ball. Deciding that the hole was too treacherous, he pulled out an old ball and placed in on the tee. Just then he heard a voice from above say loudly, “Use the new ball!” Frightened, he replaced the old ball with the new one and approached the tee.

Now the voice from above shouted, “Take a practice swing!” With this, the golfer stepped backward and took a swing. Feeling more confident, he approached the tee when the voice once again shouted, “Use the old ball!”

Such a story, though comical, lies at the heart of what we want to learn this morning from Eph 5—has to do with understanding the will of our Lord (and how that is put into practice).

How foolish, unwise it is for you and me to live our lives without understanding God’s will. The wise walk is one that approaches the subject of God’s will with a view of the full understanding of what it is and skillfully applying it to daily life.

Gk “understand” lit “to bring together” BGAD to have an intelligent grasp of something that challenges one’s thinking or practice. To understand deals with your capacity (as Xn) to comprehend or perceive God’s will. The idea is for you to join your thoughts together regarding God’s will through reflective thinking on what God has clearly revealed as his will for you.

This stands directly opposed to the unwise, foolish walk that characterizes the unbeliever. They are without reason, senseless, foolish, without reflection, unintelligent, without capacity to understand God’s will.

An unwise believer who has reverted to a foolish behavior is living his life apart from the will of God. Evidently, there were Xns in Ephesus who were living like this b/c Paul is saying lit “stop being foolish.” Paul was telling them to immediately stop going back to their old ways by clearly perceiving the purpose of the Lord.

Now, I want to take some time to develop this idea of what the Lord’s will is. There are basically 2 schools of thought on how to know what God’s will is for you. (for further study “Decision Making and the Will of God” by Garry Friesen pub. 1980 [updated 2004]—I have not seen a better treatment of the subject).

1st school—“traditional view” of God’s will: 3 facets—sovereign, moral, individual will.

Sovereign will is idea that God has a predetermined plan for everything that happens in the universe and carries out that plan by orchestrating every event to accomplish His sovereign purpose.

Moral will—God has revealed his will (purpose for every man) in Scripture which is the final authority for faith and life, and which all men are to submit.

No one could hardly disagree with those two: God indeed has a sovereign will (some call it “hidden” will) for which He alone can know (unless He reveals it). God’s moral will is the will revealed in Scripture contained in the commands and prohibitions given to us.

The traditional view re: God’s will contains a 3rd facet which I don’t find in Scripture. It states that within this larger circle of God’s moral will, there is a center dot (specific individual will) and knowing what it is, is essential in making correct decisions in daily life (Like whether you should use the old ball or a new ball when hitting over a hazard).

I don’t see the Bible giving instruction about a specific individual will of God. But many people/counselors/pastors are teaching believers that it is their responsibility to be absolutely certain about God’s will for them as an individual.

Now let me put this into a practical argument. Those who hold to traditional view believe that God has a detailed plan for all decisions that must be discovered before a decision can be made. And failure to obey (follow Him in those decisions) will cause a loss of his favor or blessing. They say this pertains to all areas of life (what job you have, who you marry, what type of house you live in, what car you drive, how many children you have, what school you go to—and involves even most mundane decisions like what color shirt you wear).

Imagine a circle (call it God’s moral will—commands/prohibitions do this, don’t do that). Within that circle there will be a “bull’s eye” for you to hit in every decision that you make. So if God permits something (say purchasing a vehicle), your responsibility is to make certain if He wants you to have a 4 door sedan or mini-van, foreign or domestic.

Now, can you see how distressing/discouraging this might be to an individual who is relentless in searching for God’s detailed plan for his life?

I think many believers are investing a great deal of time and energy searching for something that is non-existent. The issue is to come to Scripture and examine what it teaches about God’s will? That’s the issue that I want us to explore for the remainder of our time.

Methods of determining:

The way most people claim to know the bull’s eye is to look at Scripture to see how God confirmed His will to others(use following means: certain devices—numerology, casting lots; signs & fleeces; dreams & visions; circumstances—open doors; inner voices, feelings, conscience).

These are the ways Xns determine if a specific decision they will make is God’s will for them. Those who hold to the “traditional view” point to a verse, and say, well, Gideon did it, Jacob had dreams, etc...

So many have been concerned about missing God’s will that they have forfeited the joy of Xn liberty God has granted us in Christ concerning decisions that are made within the parameters of God’s revealed truth.

The other view is what I believe to be the Biblical View of knowing God’s will.

Remember—Paul has told believers in Ephesus to understand the Lord’s will. The will of God is never meant to be a secret that we must uncover or seek out. God wants us to understand His will (far more than we want to). I believe His will is always clear and unmistakable to those who genuinely seek to understand it with an obedient heart.

All we need to do is go back to the Bible and see what it says about “God’s will.” There are several statements that are made that unequivocally teach what God’s will is for you and me. It’s not difficult to find—but the issue is whether we are going to be obedient. So I’m about to show you how to find God’s will—b/c it’s given to you in the Bible. There are 7 features of God’s will for us: They all begin with the letter S. (Must be perfect outline “7” and “s”).

1) Saved

2Peter 3:3-9

vv. 3-7 Peter is saying, “watch out for people who come to you and say that the Lord will not come, God will not judge, and you won’t be destroyed b/c of your unbelief. They talk about how things have always been the same—but that’s a lie. B/c God has created the world and formed it out of water—and even destroyed it with water during the Flood.”

Vv 8-9 the reason for God not destroying the world immediately is b/c He wants all people to come into a saving relationship with Him. He is giving time (albeit a limited time) for men & women to repent. He is not slow about His promise—He will come but in His timing—so don’t be fooled.”

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.

God’s will for you is to be saved.

2) Secure in your salvation

John 6:38-40

The will of God the Father (ex. of direct statement)—to give eternal life to His children and glorify them on the last day.

3) Spirit-Filled

Eph 5:18—We’ll look more at this idea of being spirit-filled (next time) or under complete control by the Spirit of God to such a degree that your thoughts are His thoughts, your desires are His desires, your attitude reflects His attitude. It is entirely possible to live that way.

4) Sanctified

1 Thess 4:3-7

How are we sanctified (made holy—Christ-likeness)?

A. Abstain from fornication—reference to sexual sin. We must participate in sexual sins. We should also stay clear from those things that are inherently impure.

It is difficult for a young person who is living in impurity to say “God, show me your will” This person is not doing what this text says so plainly and directly.

B. Control your body

Vs 4—what this says is that each one ought to control his body (not wife)—talking about purity (in sanctification and honor). We are to keep our bodies in subjection to insure that we are honoring God. This includes among other things—the way we dress (I believe in modesty), the things we do with or to our bodies. This principle concerning God’s will governs the whole area of the lust of the flesh—not just sexual things. A person can neglect to do God’s will by dressing to bring attention to themselves, or thru gluttony (not controlling the desire to eat). Nothing that gratifies the body and dishonors God can be part of God’s will for you or me.

C. Subdue your passions—Vs 5—Paul is saying don’t live lustfully like the Gentiles. They don’t know God and have no desire to do the will of God—so don’t imitate them b/c they’re guided by their passions.

D. Treat others fairly—vs 6 Don’t take advantage of other people. Some people climb all over people to get what they want. Some people use others in a sexual way to gratify their desires. Others use people in business to get what they want.

You might say—“God is narrow-minded, I don’t like these rules” But notice vs 8. If you mistreat people, you are really mistreating and despising God. God’s will for us is vs 7.

5) Submissive

1 Pt 2:13-15

Submission is military term meaning “to rank under, to line up under the authority of another.” We are all called to be submissive—to each other, wives to their husbands, children to their parents, employees to their employers. We are to place ourselves under the authority of other people—and here Peter tells us that God wants us to be submissive to governing authorities. Why? So that we can be the best possible citizens in the society which we live.

What do the critics of Christ look for in Christians? Faults. How do we prevent them from finding faults? By eliminating them. By doing so, we silence the critics.

In Eph Paul writes:

Ephesians 5:21 NASB95

and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

6) Suffering

Philippians 1:29 NASB95

For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

2 Timothy 3:12 NASB95

Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

A wonderful gift given to us (we don’t really speak of persecution/suffering as a gift) is the privilege of suffering with Christ. As you live the way that most pleases Christ, the world will undoubtedly persecute you for living righteously.

Mark 13:13 (NASB95)

“You will be hated by all because of My name,

You may say, “But I’m not being persecuted” Then ask yourself, are you living a godly life in the face of the world? The world hates Christ—b/c we belong to Christ it hates us also. God’s marvelous will for us is to join Christ in suffering (Phil 3:10).

7) Show Gratitude

1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB95

in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

That is how we ought to live—continually offering up thanks to God for what? Everything. Why? b/c you have, as your perspective, that God has every circumstance that you will ever encounter under complete control and nothing that you experience will separate you from the love of Christ who purchased you with his own blood.

Psalm 50:14 NASB95

“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High;

Psalm 92:1 NASB95

It is good to give thanks to the Lord And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

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.

Live wisely by understanding the will of the Lord. God will never have you do something contrary to His revealed will. So use these few verses to screen your decisions and see if they indeed line up with the Lord’s purposes. I believe that every decision you make is covered in one of these features. It will fall into one of these categories.

You don’t have to struggle over what God wants you to do, or a decision that you have to make. God didn’t intend life to be so complicated—He just asks us to be obedient to the truth revealed to us.

1 final principle (overarching promise from God)—if these things are true in your life (living obediently to His revealed will)—saved, secure, spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, suffering, showing gratitude—then I believe you can do whatever you heart desires (it won’t desire anything outside of what God delights in).

Psalm 37:4 NASB95

Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

If you are delighting yourself in the Lord, finding your satisfaction in Him then you are conforming to God’s will (where it is explicitly revealed) like in the areas we mentioned. God will produce righteous desires in your heart that reflect His will. So if you’re living obediently, do whatever you want b/c God has placed that desire in your heart. And you’ll know the joy of understanding the will of the Lord & and the great liberty you have in the LJC to live life in the manner that please Him.