Discovering God's Will

I was tasked as Christians is not to discover what the secret will of God is our task as Christians is to discover what the revealed will of God is, and it's been fascinating to me.

Throughout the course of ministry. How many Christians want to discover the secret will of God have got no interest in discovering the revealed will of God is always the temptation to want to hear God's will for our lives right now we want to know who to marry where to move more job to pursue all without really taking into consideration what God has already said today on Renewing Your Mind. We returned to Dr. Sinclair Ferguson series basics of the Christian life will give us the key.

The real key to discovering God's will, as we continue our studies in what it means to be a Christian and to grow as a Christian I want to tell him. Not until fairly important subject and that is the question of how do we discover God's will for our lives and I want us to look at a couple of passages of Scripture. Just as a beginning place them both in Paul's letter to the Colossians on Dave both got to do with prayer in Colossians chapter 1 verses nine through 14, Paul says that since the first day he had about the Colossians he had not ceased to pray for them asking that they may be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that they can walk in a monarch once lay off the large know Paul had not been the person who'd brought the gospel to Colossae… Of the person who brought the gospel to Colossae was a man called the conference under conference and come to visit Paul and obviously in my contacts. They had come to know each other and select the end of the letter to the Colossians in chapter 4 verse 12 Paul says something about this man. It was probably one of the pastors of the church a path for us, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you all was struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God and is just fascinating is intent.

But Paul seems here to be reflecting on times that he on this other brother spent together on buttocks one of them said can we pray for the church in Colossae and at different times they had prayed for the same thing and abundant on their hearts was that as these Christians grew to maturity, they would grow and that understanding and knowledge of the will of God not set? Often when asking right from the very beginning of the Christian life. What is the will of God for my life. Younger people in a very complicated and complex world, young people become Christians are often asking that question.

How can I just sound the will of God on the answer to that question is both definite and indefinite. It's indefinite in the sense that the Scriptures tell us how we will discover the will of God in our lives and fought our lives, but the Scriptures do not themselves give is not will do the sole if somebody says to me whom should I moderate you shouldn't be raking around in the Bible and finding someone you can blind us… So you're supposed to marry Mary but not know… Once Monsanto I put my finger on the number sole. The Bible provides us with principles on what God wants us to do because we are his children and this is why both Paul and the prophets are praying in this way is to grow in our understanding of God's will, in order that we may apply those principles in ongoing Christian life leads me to say a number of things just by way of basic principles. The first one is this is a very important thing for us as Christians to resist the orange some Christians, of to discover the secret will of God whom I supposed to moderate. Tell me what her name is not.

Why is that such a mistake because you remember Deuteronomy 2929 the things that are hit and belong to the Lord. The things that are revealed belong to us and to our children, our task as Christians is not to discover what the secret will of God is our task as Christians is to discover what the revealed will of God is, and it's been fascinating to me. Throughout the course of Christian life and ministry. How many Christians want to discover the secret will of God who have got no interest in discovering the revealed will of God. And so this is a very important first principle also seems very disappointed when people think of God would just reveal his secret will to me that would be so good and actually be so much easier it would mean I didn't have any responsibility. No decisions to make and I would never grow up to maturity as a result, have you ever met a teenager who has never had to make a decision in his life and notice how dysfunctional he has become and how immature he really is, no matter what he or she thinks about themselves and the same is true in the Christian life and soul. The second basic thing we need to understand is that what God has given us on once us to recognize his principles and precepts and examples of how his will, works as we find them revealed in his one John Newton the great English I till actually he was a greater letter like that. I think that he was a preacher and he was also a great hymn writer and one of his little letters to a friend on divine guidance. He puts it like this.

He says the matter of discovering God's will is in a sense a little like a pianist lemming to play the piano and he Lowden's how to do it. He learns the score on the more he lounge the school the more he is able to play with freedom and to develop a musical ear. No, you may have a musical ear you may be a music critic for all I know you go to some great concept and you can tell the difference between the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles orchestra. You may have like 10 a musical ear for most people they signed the same. That doesn't matter who did that accounting but that is been a growth in some people did lounge to distinguish and it's done by practice and understanding of the score on the relationship between the score and the events of the music being played, and in many ways living within the will of God is like that the that the instruction manual soul becomes part of my life I gets into my bloodstream that I begin to think God's thoughts after him. I begin to discern the difference between good and evil and also between good and bad and also between bachelor and past and all that I may live for God's glory. I will be so much easier if God just sent messages down from heaven with intent, but nobody would grow as a Christian. If that were the case nobody would need to decide on God's will for their lives. Nobody would need to make decisions that were pleasing to God about God is often in our lives is a growth to maturity because we need to remember that first of all, we've to resist the arch to seek the secret will of God that we are to recognize the directives and precepts that God gives to us and we need to remember and also as New Testament Christians. God actually wants us to make decisions. God really does want you to make the right decisions because if you are not capable of making right decisions. You haven't really grown as a Christian you you become wrongly dependent on a crutch and Judah man, a spiritual infant because you're not able to do sound and to God's will consigned a little frightening.

But remember he is our shepherd on his promise to lead us to guide us when we are the lambs of the flaw.

I wonder if this was your experience, you look back and you think, but I could've really messed up. But when will the lambs of the faulty cavities is in his bosom, but then there comes a time doesn't matter if you live in a country where there are plenty of sheep and lambs. You see this when the shepherd puts the Landau United start getting out on in that it lends to find its feet, but the shepherd constantly keeps his eye on the sheep so that the sheep will not wonder so we can of ethnic confidence that although the Lord wants us to grow up to maturity to do sound and to do his will is promised that he will be with us and he will guide us on yes and the amazing fatherly provision.

He makes the apartment they sometimes lets us make mistakes but Lenny comes with a shepherds crook country draws us back and we know that we can trust him. What does this look like in practice, let me focus on what I said on their on the characteristic link God gives us guidance through the principles and precepts that he is given to us in his word.

Let me try and spell that out.

The first principle is this God gives us specific directors but on many places in Scripture where he actually says do this. It's an interesting thing to me that when you look back through the story of the checks from the Reformation on words there comes a point in church history when people started writing books on how you get guidance on how you discover God's will and its relatively recent up through about the 18 century Christians did not write books on discovering God's will. Why think about it this way because in so many of those Christians homes and families may work catechizing their children. In Scotland they were teaching the shorter catechism and they won't landing the teaching of the larger catechism, if you take a glance through these catechisms and the Reformation catechisms you find something very interesting that actually is very difficult for some evangelical Christians today to swallow between 50 and 40% of those catechisms are to come up with the 10 Commandments shot caught legalism. How could you teach that to the children. Why do you think that is such confusion about discovering the will of God. If we ignore what I call the Big Ten. These big foundation stones that apply to virtually every realm of life. I do remember how the catechism works without hearing the principles God is given to us. How do those principles apply in daily life.

But what are we to avoid in and what are we to do. You know, you think about these youngsters being taught these principles, you begin to understand why it was that Christian authors didn't need to write books and I do discover the will of God because these young Christians were growing up with with fishing from the spectacle lenses that had been crafted into their site of the whole of life, but where according to Scripture, and so they saw things as it went through Gonzales and when you think about virtually every decision that you and I take it day by day. In answer to the question, what does God want me to do will be a decision directed by one of the influence Commandments.

Of course the 10 Commandments don't tell you who to marry and who not to moderate.

But that's not a decision that you are making every day of your life. So this is the first thing the latest project that will become I think still out again as Christians that we think we went beyond the 10 Commandments, because you never get beyond the 10 Commandments.

I wonder if you've noticed, incidentally, in our society. How many more laws we keep creating in a society that has begun to put the 10 Commandments assigned unsafe. We know better and will do better, but the result of that whole disaster is that when we avoid God's Big Ten. We gotta make a thousand more to cope with the consequences of do you remember the promise of the gospel that supported in Hebrews 8 and 10 about what the Holy Spirit does when the Holy Spirit comes, he will write God's want and townhomes.

God's law. So he was a wonderful principle that Christians so frequently avoid. But God has already given us direct service that govern most of our lives know of course we still need wisdom to apply them.

It's clear, for example, the command honor your father and mother means that when you're a child you will bear your father and mother. When you become a married man or woman. I knew of your own family. The command does not obey your father and mother and you will find yourself in spiritual cattle. If one smarted the principle of that new family life as we are going to obey my father and mother because the command is not obey your father and mother commanders honor your father and mother, and that means when you're a child you will be able when you're an adult and moderate that authoritative bond is broken, but you continue to honor them and Daniel to what can sometimes some of you may have done this.

How you know that I am no longer obligated to obey them because that is this new family structure are not healthy. Left about one and begun a new one.

How can I continue to honor them and that's where you need the resources of the wisdom of other parts of Scripture and you can understand how that applies to so many of the Commandments. The principal is Leah and alas, I've seen some Christian parents who plan male youngsters of got married consistent but the children will continue to obey them and they said that's God's commandment and is not God's commandment and in fact what they have done is they've disqualified themselves from being on the alas in the process, so we need to understand Scripture well and we need to use it wisely and we need to appreciate we really need to appreciate the direct tips that God gives to us second leg. God not only gives him specific directives, but he also gives us precepts. In fact, there's a whole book of precepts in the Bible, the book of Proverbs and interestingly it begins with what looks like a serious of outline talks but a godly father would give to his son Noah godly mother could transpose them and took counsel for a godly doctor, but they are the kind of elongated sections where great principles of knowing God's will on expanded and then there is the kind of almost shotgun approach of all these indicated sayings that teach you what to do in the situation. What to do in that situation on some of them really need to be thought through. For example, the Proverbs that tell you not to answer a fool according to his folly. But to answer a fool according to his folly. How can both of these programs be wise to live very long before you replace why they are so wise that all fools who need to be answered in accordance with their folly and that are fools who need to be answered in such a way that you're not just meddling that Foley suicide is intent, but people are so concerned about finding out the will of God what to do in the situation in that situation on their real problem is ignorance of the Bible, sometimes behind that well you know God will reveal his special will be. Why would God give us a whole Bible if he didn't want us to know that whole Bible on one of the best things that we can do for ourselves and for our youngsters left foot is really get to know the Bible know this is something that I want to say in this context, God gives us directives to gives us precepts and he also gives us general principles that will help us how to negotiate life. An interesting way to me. Anyway, one of the places where the New Testament does this most clearly is in one of the two most dysfunctional chapters with which the apostle Paul that I could do with the junction comments on the church in Corinth appears to have written to Paul with all kinds of questions in which they're saying help us to understand the will of God in the situation I do in the course of his teaching to them.

Paul throws out a number of principles that seem to me to be really helpful for us as we as we negotiate difficult questions about the will of God. So let me finish the session simply by enumerating seven of them seven is the perfect number. I'm not saying that this will perfectly guide you into the will of God, but I have myself find them particularly helpful for the questions I need to ask about any decision I take in which the Scriptures are not as it wound completely clear telling me this is what your to do. Question number one is this, is it lawful letters is that according to the wind and the will of God because no action letters contrary to God's word can possibly be legitimate for the Christian belief.

The second question which Paul raises in first Corinthians 6 verse 12 he says you know it's true that not all things are permissible fathers but are not contrary to God's will, but you know when somebody says there's nothing wrong with it is not a good answer.

So Paul says what you need to ask is, is this action beneficial to me and to others, and the third question he raises will be enslaving interesting and isn't it true that that on many things in our lives. The top perfectly legitimate followers, but for some of us they will become enslaving will we will turn them into idols, and it could be anything from classical music to playing golf at it could be anything from watching Netflix to your garden and so you need to ask the question if I pursue this for me as an individual could not be enslaving to and if so I need to keep a very special discipline on that engagement. The force question that he asked. She says is this absolutely consistent with Christ's Lordship he speaks about life in first Corinthians 69 team to 20. Is this absolutely consistent with the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The fifth question is this MTR certain first Corinthians 10 verse 53. Will this be helpful to others. That's a testing question is intent. It's okay for me to do this is legitimate for me to do this.

I want to do this, it would be good for us if we did this but will it be good for others because we don't live to ourselves off ourselves and then Paul gives us another question to ask when he does this really in first Corinthians 11 verse one he says is is this course of action going to be consistent with biblical example is how much of this is got to do with the intimacy of our knowledge of God's mind on the status of responsibility here it is that we should become more and more familiar with God's mind. And then there is this final question which I think is so helpful for us. First Corinthians chapter 10 verse 51 indicates to us is this going to be consistent with the promotion of because what is etc. helpful checklist is in it, is it lawful is it beneficial to others and me is it consistent with Christ's Lordship and is it consistent with biblical example, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson showed us how to discover God's will. Today on Renewing Your Mind as we feature his series. The basics of the Christian life this week we will learn what it means to be a Christian. The means of grace that God has given to us and how to endure hardship would like to send you the complete series. There are 12 messages contained on two DVDs requested today. When you give a donation of any amount to Ligonier ministries. There are couple of ways you can reach us.

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These hardships are positively heavenly father's slamming of online we hope you'll join us Wednesday for Renewing Your Mind