The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation
at
Question
"How do
I know the Will of God for my life?"
Answer
I had about
ten people ask that. "How do I know
the Will of God?" "I'm trying,
I'm praying, I'm asking how do I know if its me or if its God, and so forth and
so on?" How can I know the Will of
God? I have a simple little formula, and
if you get this in your mind, I think it will help.
The first
thing you do is to go to the Bible.
Sound reasonable? You go to the
Bible and find out what the Will of God is.
Good, let's look very quickly.
1Timothy, chapter
2, verses 3 and 4, and I will quote it from the King James Version, verse 3 and
4, "God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth." The first
thing that God wills, is that you be what?
Saved. You be saved. Do you want to do the will of God? Then get saved, come to Christ.
Second
thing, Ephesians chapter 5, verse 17, says, "So then, do not be,"
what? What is it? "Foolish." Can you think of a word that means the same
and starts with "S"? Right. Don't be Stupid. "But understand what the will of the
Lord is."
Now, let me
ask you a question, if you don't know what the will of God is, what are
you? What are you? You say, "Is that in the Bible?" It says, "Don't be stupid, know the will
of God. If you don't know the will of
God then you are stupid. You say,
"Well, now wait a minute, it should say, 'Don't be foolish, but try to
find the will of God.’" No. You say, "I'm looking, I'm
looking."
Well, don't
look too far its in the next verse, "Do not get drunk with wine for that
is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit." The first thing God wills is that you be
saved, the second thing He wills is that you be Spirit filled.
"Spirit
filled," what does that mean?
Controlled by the Holy Spirit.
That's God's will. That's God's
will. 1Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse
3, you know it is amazing to me, people running around looking for God's
will. I have seen this through the
years, "You know I am trying to find God's will. I am searching for God's
will, you know." And they get real
mystical, they think they
are going to run down the street, slip on a banana peel and land on a map of
Argentina. You know, that's a missionary
call. They are waiting for God to say
something out of heaven.
Look, verse
3, "This is the will of God, your," what? "Sanctification." God wills that you be saved; God wills that
you be Spirit filled; God wills that you be sanctified. What do you mean by that? "That you abstain from," what? "Sexual immorality." That's God's will. Stay away from sexual immorality.
You see
God's will is very, very specific. Look
at 1Peter, chapter 2, verse 13, "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake, to
every human institution, whether to a King as one in authority, or to governors
as sent by Him for the punishment of evil doers, and the praise of those who do
right. For such is the will of God, that
by doing right, you may silence the ignorance of foolish men."
Fourth
thing, be submissive. Submit to the
authorities, be a model citizen, do right, that's the will of God, that's the
will of God. Very basic, that's God's
will. God's will is that you be saved;
God's will is that you be Spirit filled; God's will is that you be sanctified;
God's will is that you be submissive.
And then
would you notice in chapter 3, verse 17, "It is better, if God should will
it so, that you suffer, for doing for what is right." How committed are you to doing what is right?
Five things,
Saved; Spirit filled; Sanctified; Submissive; willing to Suffer for doing what
is right. You say, "That doesn't
help me to know God's will." Sure
it does. Let me tell you something. If you are saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified,
submissive, and doing right to the degree that you would even suffer, do you
know what the next step in God's will is?
Whatever you want!
You say,
"You are kidding." No,
because, who is controlling your desires?
Do you know what it says in Psalm 37:4?
"Delight in the Lord, and he will give you," what? "The desires of your heart." Do you know what that means? That doesn't mean, "Delight in the Lord,
and he will give you what you want."
What it means is, "Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the
desires of your heart." He will put
His desires in your heart.
People say,
"Well, why did you go to Grace Church?" And I say, "I wanted too." "Oh!
You wanted too! That's not very
Spiritual." Well, it is if you are
saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, and suffering, because who is in
control of my wants? God leads through
your desire, beloved. But don't trust
you desire unless the things you know of God's will are true.
Simply, this
is the system: If I am doing what is
already revealed as God's will, then I am not going to have any trouble with
the part that isn't revealed.
Right? He's going to lead me to
the right place; lead me to the right people; lead me to the right
relationship.
Guys always
say, "How do I find the right wife?"
Very simple, be the right husband.
You be all that God has called you to be, you be living in the will of
God, saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, suffering if need be for
what is right, and if you are the person that God has designed you to be then
God will lead you the next step and give you the desire of your heart for the woman
that he wants you to marry.
God moves
through desires in the heart of the person that is committed to Him.
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Websites: www.biblebb.com and www.gospelgems.com
Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986