How to Know the Will of God | Part 1

How can we know the will of God?

Listen to Adrian Rogers. Acts chapter 9 tells the story of Saul's conversion to becoming Paul. While on his way to persecute Christians, Saul came face to face with Jesus. And Saul's first question to Jesus was, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? As pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers said, the two greatest questions anybody could ever ask are, who are you, Lord, and what do you want me to do? If you have your Bible handy, go ahead and find Acts chapter 9 beginning in verse 1 as Adrian Rogers reveals how to know the will of God. How to know the will of God.

Now take God's word and find the book of Acts, A-C-T-S, and turn, if you would, to chapter 9, the book of Acts chapter 9. I want to ask you a question. If Jesus Christ were to meet you face to face, literally, bodily, physically, were to appear in this room to you, well, first of all, you'd fall on your face in worship and adoration. But suppose you could say, Lord Jesus, there's one thing I want to ask you. What would it be? Suppose He said to you, what do you want to know? What would you ask Him? What would your question be? Do you know what I think it would be? I think you would ask Him this question, Lord, what would you have me to do?

What do you want me to do? Now that episode literally happened. He appeared to a man named Saul, and that's what Saul asked Him. Look, if you will, verse 1, and Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

In plain English, that means he had authorization to take Christians, put them in chains, and bring them back to Jerusalem to be persecuted. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven, and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.

But it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, now here's the question, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. The two greatest questions that anybody could ever ask at any time, question number one, who are you, Lord? Question number two, Lord, what do you want me to do? Those are the two greatest questions. And the apostle Paul spent the rest of his life finding the answer to those two great questions just who Jesus is and what Jesus has for him to do. And those are the two questions that I want you to ask today because man today has been described as a generation of misguided men in an age of guided missiles.

We are clever creatures who have lost our way in the darkness. I was reading recently about a young ensign who had made his first trip on a destroyer across the ocean. He had impeccable training and so it was assigned to him to take that destroyer out of the harbor and bring it back to the United States. It was his first endeavor to do such a thing and he wanted to do it right.

He was a very bright boy. And in a moment the deck was buzzing with action. He was barking commands here and barking commands there and everything was moving like a Swiss clock and that destroyer made its way out the harbor.

And you know that's a very meticulous thing and a very treacherous thing to get a big boat out of harbor. But they set sail and they were on their way in record time when someone came to the young ensign and said, you have a message from the captain. And he thought it strange because it was a radio message. But he read it and the captain said, young man, you've done an excellent job.

You've done it with great speed, with dispatch, according to the book. But he said there is an unwritten rule that you've overlooked. The next time you set sail, make certain the captain is on board.

What he had done was to leave the harbor and leave the captain back on the shore. And I want to say to you, friend, that no matter how wise your plans are and how capable you are before you set sail anywhere, you'd better make certain that the captain is on board, that you are in the will of God. Now that's what we're talking about today, how to know the will of God.

Jeremiah chapter 10 and verse 23 says, it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. I have three propositions from this passage here in the life of Saul who later became the apostle Paul. The three things I pray that God the Holy Spirit will emblazon upon your heart. Number one, and what a blessing this is, number one, guidance is promised. God has promised to guide. Now look, if you will, in verse 6, the last part. And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee, what thou must do. I don't think Jesus could have given him a better promise than that one right there. It will be told you. Well, you say that's what the Lord said to Saul. He didn't say that to me. Well, let me give you some more verses.

Jot these down. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 10, the Bible says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which he hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.

What does that mean in plain English? God has a plan for your life. Psalm chapter 37 and verse 23, listen to this one. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way.

Let me give you another one. Psalm 32 and verse 8, God says, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye.

Isn't that a wonderful promise? Listen to this one. Isaiah chapter 58 and verse 11, and the Lord shall guide thee continually.

Listen to this one. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5, in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Friend, guidance is promised in the Word of God. How blessed those of us are who know the Lord. We have a Father above us controlling all things. We have the Savior beside us directing our steps.

We have the Spirit within us impressing our hearts, and we can know the leadership of our Lord. We can know his will. Now, God's will, God's will is in three ways as it comes to us. First of all, it comes to us as his sovereign will. Now, God's sovereign will is always done. You can't stop it.

I can't stop it. God is God, and God accomplishes what he desires to do because there is none who can withstand the Lord. That is his sovereign will, and God's sovereign will is mysterious. It is unknown. I can't know it.

You can't know it. It is known entirely to God alone. Deuteronomy 29, verse 29, the secret things belonging to the Lord our God. But those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever. The secret things belong to God. Friend, you'll be a happy person if you just resign from being God and let God be God. Just go ahead and let God be God. There are certain things you will never understand until you get to heaven if you understand them then.

The secret things belong to the Lord our God. That's God's sovereign will. God is sovereign.

I've told you before. Not a blade of grass moves without his permission. Now, there's a second will, and that's God's moral will. God has a moral will. There's certain things that God says are right, and there's certain things that God says are wrong. For example, it is wrong to commit fornication. It is wrong to steal. It is wrong to murder. It is wrong to lie. Pride is wrong.

All of these things are wrong. There are certain things that are right. Love is right. Righteousness is right. Honesty is right. Kindness is right.

Consideration. This is God's. This is God's moral will. It's not going to change for me.

It's not going to change for you. There is a fixed standard of right and wrong because God has said so. All right? That's his moral will. And that moral will is found in the Word of God.

No stutter, no stammer, no apology, no hesitation, no ifs, ands, and buts. That's it. God says this is right and this is wrong. That is the will of God. He's not going to change it for you.

He's not going to change it for me. But then there's a third kind of a will, and that's what we're talking about now, and that is God's particular will. That is God's special will for you. God had a particular will for Saul. For example, look, if you will, in verse 15. And the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how great things are for my sake. That is, God had a very special plan for this man. God said my plan for this man is he is going to be an apostle to the Gentiles.

He is a very special man. He's a chosen vessel. Now, it's very important to me that God chose him specially, particularly to be a chosen vessel. And God has a special will for every one of us. God has a particular will for every one of us. For example, it was God's sovereign will that the man named Adrian Rogers be saved. I'm a part of the elective God. Hallelujah.

I don't understand it, but I rejoice in it. That's God's sovereign will. God sovereignly set his love upon me and saved me.

I thank God for that. But then there was God's moral will that I marry a Christian. Now, the Bible says not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And so I know that God had a moral will that if I got married, I'd marry a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. But, oh, God had a particular will also, and that, her name is Joyce.

Her name is Joyce. You see, God's sovereign will worked in my life. God's moral will was in my life. I knew that I wanted to marry a Christian girl, but, oh, when I would walk Joyce home after a date or after we'd been to church or after we'd been to some high school function, a football game or something, I would walk home and I'd pray, oh, God, let Joyce love me. Oh, God, cause her to love me.

Oh, God, one day I want to marry that girl. And I believe with all of my heart that God answered my prayer because it was in his will, and I believe that God gave me that wonderful, special girl. So, God has a plan for your life. God has a particular will for your life. Now, why God would be interested in you or me, it just shows his great love. It's like we're just a fleck of spray in an ocean of existence, and yet God knows us. He knows our going in, our coming out, when we sit down, when we rise up.

The very hairs of our head are numbered. Oh, friend, God cares. God loves not all of us. God loves each of us. A little boy was quoting that prayer that we call the Lord's Prayer, and he said, This is our Father who is in heaven.

How does he know my name? Now, God's will is promised. Leadership, guidance is promised.

Do you have it? God has promised to guide you. Now, there's six mistakes, six myths about the will of God, and I want to clear these up today. I hope that we can, I hope we can just take these out of your mind forever.

Now, here are six myths that need to be destroyed. Number one, that God will give you a road map for your life. He does not do it. He didn't do it for the apostle Paul here, and he won't do it for you. God will not give you a road map. God's will for you is not a road map.

It is a relationship. When he led the children of Israel through the wilderness, how did he lead them? Did he give them a map?

No. He gave them a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire and said, follow that. Just stay in a relationship with me. So many of us would like a map to say we're going to go from here this way, that way, this way, and then we're going to end up there, but God won't do that, and I'm glad he doesn't do it because, friend, that takes the romance out of it. That takes the excitement out of it. It may put a certain fear and apprehension into it if we knew what tomorrow holds for us. I'm glad we don't.

I'm glad we don't. When I was a college student, another preacher boy came and sat down beside me, and he said, Adrian, guess what I did last week? I said, what? He said, I went through Memphis, Tennessee, and I stopped in to see R.G. Lee.

Now, if you're new here in Bellevue, R.G. Lee is one of the former pastors of our church and was indeed one of the greatest, finest, most godly, gifted ministers who's ever walked the face of the earth. I really, truly believe that, and for that young neophyte, embryonic theolog, to say that he had stopped by and went in to see Dr. Lee just absolutely astounded me. I thought, well, how did you get in, and why would he waste his time with a twerp like you? And all of those things I was thinking, but thinking all the whole time, boy, I sure would like to do that. It'd be like you saying, you know, I went through Washington and stopped in to see the president or something. And so I said, well, tell me about it. And he told me about how he had an outer office, and there was a secretary, and he said, and I asked her if I could go in and see him, and she said, well, yes, you can go in for a few minutes and so forth. And I thought, well, how would she know who he would see? And all of that, I asked those questions in my mind.

I tried to conjure up that office. And I said, what did you do? He said, well, we talked a while, and he prayed for me. And that was very interesting to me.

I just tried to imagine the whole scene. The years came and went. Subsequently, consequently, I became the pastor of this same church. I happened to be sitting in that same office, sitting behind the same desk, when the secretary buzzed on the intercom and said, Pastor, Dr. Lee's out here, wants to know if he can come in and see you for a few minutes.

Yeah, let him in, you know. You know, I am so glad that as a college student, Brother Jim, I didn't know that. I mean, I'm glad it would have blown my gaskets. Absolutely would have blown my gaskets.

I would never have ever been able to get anything done the rest of my life until that time. God's will is not a road map, it is a relationship. Myth number two, take out of your mind the idea that God is some sort of a celestial killjoy, that if you do the will of God, that's the end of your joy. You know, there are a lot of people who don't want to know the will of God because they're afraid of what they might find out. You know, they say, you know, if I told the Lord I'd do anything he wants me to do, well, no telling what he might do to me. Suppose you parents, you've got a 14-year-old boy, Dad, and he comes to you and he says, Dad, I'm convinced you're a good man, a godly man, a wise man, and Dad, I've just decided from now on whatever you want me to do, I'll do it, and your wish is my command. I doubt many 14 or 15-year-old boys are saying that, but suppose he just said, Dad, I want to know what you want me to do.

I want to do what you want me to do. Now, what would you do, Dad? Would you go to your wife and say, boy, did you hear what Junior said? Now let's see what we can do to make his life miserable. Boy, you'll be sorry he ever said that. What is the meanest, worst thing we could make him do? Of course not.

If you'd been thinking about buying him a new bicycle, that might tip the scales. Friend, don't be afraid of the will of God. The will of God is what you'd want for yourself if you had enough sense to want it. God is a good God.

God loves you. God is not a cosmic killjoy. Now here's a third myth that I want to destroy, and that is you get the idea that God only speaks to a certain category of persons, that God has a will for pastors and missionaries and ministers of music and people who work on church staffs and those kind of things, but God doesn't have a will for ordinary persons. God has a particular will for you, whether you be a missionary or a secretary, whether you be a pastor or a plumber. God has a will for every life, and don't get the idea that God's will is only for a particular type of people. Now there's another myth I want to destroy and take out of your heart and mind, and that is when God shows you his will for your life, that it's going to be some dramatic experience like the apostle Paul had on the road to Damascus.

Now it may be that way, but it may not be that way. Remember when God spoke to Elijah, and there Elijah was up in the mountains, and there was a wind, and God wasn't in the wind, and there was a fire, and God wasn't in the fire, and there was an earthquake, and God wasn't in the earthquake, and then the Bible tells us in 1 Kings chapter 19 there was a still, small voice, and that was God speaking. Now God sometimes does speak in earthquakes. Sometimes God does speak in fires. Here the apostle Paul had a kind of an earthquake experience on the road to Damascus, but you let God be God in your particular life.

Some folks are Quakers, and some folks are Earth Quakers. I mean, God speaks quietly to some folks, and God, I guess some of us, God just has to get our attention, but don't buy into the myth that you must have some sort of a dramatic, earth-shaking experience. Next, another myth I want to take out of your heart and mind is that God shows his will to young people, but not to older people. You know, we always are telling young people, oh, young person, young person, young person, you've got to find the will of God for your life because your life is before you. I want to say whether you're 9 or 99, you ought to be seeking the will of God every day of your life.

If God were finished with you, he'd take you on to heaven. God has a plan for your life. You say, well, God called me to be a preacher when I was young, I missed it. God called me to be a missionary when I was young, I missed it.

So what? Find God's will now. God says, I will restore the years the locust has eaten.

God has a will for everybody who can hear me today. Now, last of all, here's a myth I want to destroy, that somehow God hides his will so that we must find it. Let's go back to that boy again, and he's standing in front of his dad this time, and the dad says, son, there is something I want you to do, and if you do it, I'm going to reward you handsomely, and son, if you don't do it, I'm going to carry you to the woodshed and apply the Board of Education to the seat of knowledge. You say, well, dad, since you explained it that way, and you really want me to do this thing, dad, what is it you want me to do? He says, I'm not going to tell you. It's up to you to find out.

Now, what kind of a father would do that? Friend, God does not hide his will from us. God, in all of these Scriptures that I've given you, say that God wants to reveal his will, that God wants to show his will. The will of God is not some sort of an Easter egg hunt. Listen, in the truest sense of the word, you don't find the will of God. The will of God finds you when you're walking in the Spirit. God is not hiding his will from you. What a beautiful reminder that God wants us to know his will for us even more than we do. We'll hear part two of this important message coming up tomorrow.

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Utilize this tool at the website, lwf.org slash radio. Well, as Adrian Rogers said, we have a Father above us controlling all things. We have the Savior beside us, directing our steps. We have the Spirit within us, impressing our hearts, and we can know the leadership of our Lord. We can know His will. We're so glad you studied with us today and hope you'll tune in again next time for the conclusion of How to Know the Will of God right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener sent this message by email.

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