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  • Today we are going to end our Essentials series with a message on the topic, "How to Know

  • the Will of God." So let’s turn in our Bibles to Romans chapter 12. A couple of quick questions.

  • Does God still speak to people today? Is He interested in what happens to us as individuals?

  • Does the Lord have a master plan for our lives? Now these are important questions because

  • we all want to know the will of God. They are big things that we wonder about. Like

  • what am I going to do with my life? Who am I going to marry? Why did I lose my hair?

  • Well that is more personal me. But still. Here is the answer. In the broad sense yes.

  • God does still speak to people today. Yes God indeed does have a plan for our lives.

  • Someone asked me the other day do you think it is appropriate for a Christian to say to

  • someone, good luck. And my response is I don’t know if that is a bad thing, but as believers

  • we don’t believe in luck. We don’t believe in mere chance. We believe providence. We

  • believe in God’s will. To bless someone in the name of the Lord is one thing. But

  • to say good luck is another.

  • You see we don’t believe that we are mere victims of chance just groping through life.

  • We believe that God has a purpose for us. And the Bible clearly teaches that as a believer

  • we are to live by faith. I wish I could say to you I always know the will of God in every

  • set of circumstances but I don’t. The will of God is not always easy to discern. And

  • for me personally it is a journey of faith where I read the Word of God. I pray for direction.

  • And then I take what I hope are the appropriate steps in the right direction. Because the

  • Bible says the just shall live by what. By faith. It doesn’t say they will live by

  • feelings.

  • Remember that stupid song from years ago. “Feelings.” Nothing more than feelings.

  • Trying to forget my feelings of love. Feelings. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Feelings. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

  • Feelings here in my heart. Oh stop. You know and a lot of people will live by their feelings

  • and their fluctuating emotions.

  • No. Instead as believers we want to live by what His Word tells us to do. God does speak.

  • The good news is our God does not play hide and seek. He wants to lead you even more than

  • you want to be led. He wants to speak to you even more than you want to be spoken to. You

  • know why? Because you are a friend of God.

  • It was said of Abraham that he was God’s friend. And the Lord said, “Shall I hide

  • from Abraham that which I am about to do.” You might say, “Well that is nice for Abraham,

  • but I don’t have such a privilege.” Oh actually you do. Because Jesus said in John

  • 15:15, “I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business.

  • Instead I have called you friend for everything I have learned from My Father I have made

  • known to you.”

  • Do you have any friends? Don’t raise your hand on this. But you know there are certain

  • people that we will all regard as true friends. There are high maintenance friendships. And

  • there are low maintenance ones. Right. I have friends that I have known for years and even

  • I haven’t seen them for a year or longer when I see them it is like we pick off where

  • we last left off. The friendship is strong. I have other friends well that relationship

  • needs more attention. But I have friends that I know that I can trust. A true friend is

  • someone that will keep your confidence. We all know people that if we say to them, “Don’t

  • say to this to anyonethey will say it to a lot of people. And if we say, “Really

  • it is important you don’t tell anyonethey will tell it to as many people as humanly

  • possible. And then we know other people who are friends that we will say, “Please keep

  • this to yourselfand they won’t breathe a word to anyone. You can reveal your heart

  • to a friend. You can tell a secret to a friend. You can trust a friend. You know a friend

  • will speak the truth to you. Even if it is not easy. Because Proverbs says, “Faithful

  • are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” A friend is

  • someone that tells you the truth. God is our friend. He will always tell us the truth.

  • And listen. He wants to reveal His secrets to us. Because in Psalm 25:14 we read, “The

  • secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.” Yes God wants to speak to us. In fact

  • Jesus said, “You are my sheep, and my sheep hear my voice.” By the way, that is not

  • a compliment. God picked one of the most dimwitted creatures on the face of the earth to compare

  • us to.

  • I read an article in the newspaper the other day that said that they believe now that dolphins

  • are the most intelligent of all animals and some even say maybe we shouldn’t even regard

  • them as animals. Whatever.

  • But I will tell you what. Sheep are one of the dumbest of all animals. Jesus did not

  • say, “You are my dolphins and my dolphins hear my voice.” That would be nice. You

  • are my sheep.

  • Did you know that if you released most animals into the wild they can survive? If you let

  • your dog go or your cat or your bird they will in many cases learn to fend for themselves

  • and make it. But if you release a sheep in the wild it cannot survive. They have no survival

  • skills whatsoever. You release your cat. He is gone. Born free. You know he is loving

  • life. You release your sheep. He is just like what do I do now. Where am I? What is for

  • dinner? Oh no. I am for dinner. That is why there are no wild sheep. They are totally

  • dependent upon the shepherd. Just like we are. So the sheep come to know that when the

  • shepherd speaks they should follow because his plan for them is better than their plan

  • for themselves.

  • So God has revealed His will to us. Now before we get into how to know the will of God in

  • particular situations let’s talk about what the will of God is for everyone. We might

  • call the principles we are about to look at briefly so no-brainers But let me say this.

  • Maybe one of the reasons we don’t know the will of God in particular areas is because

  • we have not applied what is clearly the will of God for all areas. Listen. Obedience to

  • revealed truth guarantees guidance in matters unrevealed. Let me repeat that again. Obedience

  • to revealed truth guarantees guidance in matters unrevealed. So before we stress about what

  • God’s plan is for you and for me as an individual let’s talk about His plan for everyone.

  • Let’s start with the simplest one of all. Number one. God’s will is that you be a

  • believer. Duh. But it is true. That is God’s will. The Scripture says in 1 Timothy 2:4,

  • God’s will is that all would be saved.” Scripture says, “God is not willing that

  • any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” So before we are ever going

  • to know the will of God we have to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and

  • our Lord.

  • The Bible is not merely a book filled with principles of truth, success, and prosperity.

  • It is not a book of magic formulas that work for everyone. The way some people teach the

  • Bible you would think they are like little things that we just apply and they always

  • work and we just release these faith principles.

  • But no. Wait a second. The Bible is a book authored by God to tell us how to know God

  • and to walk with God. And these principles found in, though true in a general sense,

  • are really for those that are walking in submission to God.

  • So first you must be a believer.

  • Number two. To live this life God has called us to live we need to be filled with and controlled

  • by the Holy Spirit. We need to be filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians

  • 5:15 says, “Don’t be foolish. Understand what the will of the Lord is.” All right.

  • What is it? Ok. Here it is. “Don’t be drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery.

  • Instead be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual

  • songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord always giving thanks to God the Father

  • for everything.”

  • But what does that mean to be filled with the Spirit. It means to be controlled by the

  • Spirit. The word filled speaks of permeation. It is used to describe salt permeating meat

  • to preserve it. The word filled also is used to describe wind filling a sail. And also

  • the original emphasis in the Greek would be constantly be filled. And finally it is a

  • command.

  • So put it all together. God is saying, “I command you to constantly be filled and controlled

  • by the Holy Spirit. Let His wind fill your sail. Let His power permeate your life. Be

  • filled with the Spirit.” And how is that expressed. It is expressed with praise and

  • worship to God. Singing and making music in my heart to the Lord. Giving thanks to God

  • the Father for everything.

  • That brings me principle number three. You are to have an attitude of gratitude. You

  • are to have an attitude of gratitude. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks, for

  • this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” This is simply the attitude that recognizes

  • that God is in control of all circumstances that surround your life. He is leading you

  • both to still waters and through stormy seas. It is all a part of the process of making

  • us more like Jesus.

  • Number four. It is the will of God that we live a pure life. That we live a pure life.

  • You don’t have to pray about this. It is clearly stated in Scripture. 1 Thessalonians

  • 4:3 says, “This is the will of God, even your sanctification that is that you abstain

  • from sexual immorality.” The word sanctification speaks of holiness and consecration and dedication

  • to God. Effectively this verse is saying look if you are a single person remain sexually

  • pure. No sexual relations with anyone until you are married. And once you are married

  • be faithful to your spouse for all of your life. That is the will of God.

  • Ok. So having established in a broad sense some of these principles I have clearly defined

  • as the will of God for everyone what about particular situations. Is it ok to go to God

  • and say, “Lord I need Your direction in my life.” Answer. Absolutely. In fact we

  • are told over in the book of James 1:5–6, “If you need wisdom, if you want to know

  • what God wants you to do, ask Him and He will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking

  • but when you ask Him be ready to receive an answer.” So we should ask God for His wisdom.

  • All right. Now having established this, let’s look at our text together. Romans chapter

  • 12. And we are going to read verses 1 and 2. Very familiar verses. Verses that many

  • have committed to memory that really tell us how to know God’s will. This is what

  • we might define as a conditional promise. The promise is you will know the will of God.

  • The conditions are as follow. “I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of

  • God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which

  • is your reasonable service. Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing

  • of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

  • Ok. That is the part we want to know. I want to know the good, acceptable, and perfect

  • will of God. But what do I need to do? Well according to Paul I have to present myself

  • to God. I want you to notice that he begins by saying, “I beseech you therefore.”

  • Whenever you read the word therefore in the Bible find out what it is there for. It is

  • always drawing upon what has previously been said. And in the first eleven chapters of

  • Romans Paul is talking about the fact that we are all separated from the Lord from sin.

  • There is nothing we could do to right our situation through our own strength. But God

  • demonstrated His love toward us in sending Christ to die for us and forgive us of all

  • sin. So in light of this, therefore, considering all that God has done for you, Paul says,

  • here is what you ought to do. Present yourself to Him as a living sacrifice. God is not asking

  • you a favor. He is saying as your Master, your Owner, your Father, “I command you

  • to give yourself to Me.”

  • Another translation of this verse says, “Here is what you need to do. Take your everyday,

  • ordinary lifeyour sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around lifeand place it before

  • God as an offering.” An offering. You are not being forced to do this. You don’t have

  • to do this. The language that Paul uses is I urge you. Beseech. It means I plead with

  • you. I am appealing to you. You could even translate it I beg of you brothers. Here is

  • what you ought to do. In light of all that God has done for you present yourselves to

  • Him as an offering.

  • Offerings are not taken. They are given. When we receive an offering we don’t reach into

  • your back pocket, pull out your wallet, and extract money. We give you an opportunity

  • to give a freewill offering as you are led by the Lord.

  • In the same way with our life. It is something we offer to God. But it is a living sacrifice.

  • See that almost sounds like a contradiction. Because generally sacrifices are well dead.

  • Sacrifices that have been killed don’t squirm off the altar. But living sacrifices have

  • a tendency to do that. In other words we may offer ourselves to the Lord and then sort

  • of reconsider a moment later. No. Offer yourself again and again as a living sacrifice.

  • Well what do I offer? Your body. “I urge you therefore brothers present your bodies.”

  • And that word bodies could be translated your total being, your total personality. First

  • of all I need to present my mind to God. My mind. I should fill my mind with God’s Word.

  • Not with the junk and twisted world view of our culture.

  • A recent survey revealed that America’s children and teenagers now spend an average

  • of more than seven and a half days (hours) of involved in electronic media. That would

  • include TV, video games, listening to music, surfing the web, texting, email, etc. Seven

  • and a half hours of every day in electronic media. And the problem is a lot of that is

  • going to influence you in the wrong way.

  • No. Here is what the Bible is saying. Fill your mind with the things of God. Philippians

  • 4 says, “Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things

  • that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy

  • of praise.”

  • Number two. I need to present my tongue to God. What we say matters. Words have power.

  • Both to build up or to tear down. James 3:5 says, “The tongue is a small thing, but

  • what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.”

  • And we are so interested in the dirt on people. What are they really like? And you know we

  • may get a piece of information. Some will say, “Now I don’t know if this is true

  • will say but.” What? You don’t know if it is true. “No. I don’t know if it is

  • true, but I heard.” Wait. If you don’t know it is true why would you repeat it?

  • Have you ever had a lie told about you? Have you ever had someone gossip about you? You

  • know how that feels? Well the very word gossip just hisses. Gossip. What is the source of

  • that? How about the father of lies. The one that loves to sow discord among us. I am talking

  • about the devil.

  • Maybe we should apply the acronym THINK before we speak. THINK. T stands for is it true?

  • Before I pass on this bit of information ask myself the question is it true. I suggest

  • that would stop a lot of information dead in its tracks. H. Is it helpful? I. Is it

  • inspiring? N. Is it necessary? K. Is it kind? THINK before you speak.

  • Well Greg if I applied that acronym I would hardly say anything.” Amen. Do us all a

  • favor and shut up.

  • Dedicate your tongue to God. Instead of using it to tear down others and to spread gossip

  • use it to build up others and to glorify God.

  • We need to also present our hands and feet to God too. Proverbs 6:16–18 says, “There

  • are six things the Lord hatesno, seven things he detests: haughty eyes.” Which

  • would mean an arrogant look. “A lying tongue.” We have touched on that. “Hands that kill

  • the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong.”

  • Hands that kill the innocent. Feel that race to do wrong. That is the wrong use of your

  • hands and feet. How much more glorious it is to use your hands to help others and to

  • use your feet to bring the gospel to others.

  • Romans 10:15 says, “How beautiful are the feet of those that bring good news.”

  • “I urge you therefore brothers,” Paul is saying, “Present yourselves to God as

  • a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable service.” See that word reasonable. It could

  • better be translated logical. In other words it doesn’t make any sense to not do this.

  • A half-hearted commitment is illogical. It is good for nothing. Listen. To be a Christian

  • means to give as much of myself as I can to as much of Jesus Christ as I know. Again.

  • To be a Christian means I give as much of myself as I can to as much of Jesus Christ

  • as I know. We should be growing in our faith. If you have known the Lord for a period of

  • time you should be stronger spiritually today than you were a year ago. Certainly stronger

  • than you were 10 years ago. But for some of us our best days are in the rearview mirror.

  • We are resting on our laurels. We are living in the past. It is time to continue this growth

  • process. This is the reasonable thing to do. Present yourself as a living sacrifice and

  • then we will know His will.

  • Number two. Don’t be conformed to this world. What does the Bible means when it says the

  • world? It doesn’t mean the planet per se. It means a culture. A mentality. A way of

  • thinking that is largely hostile to God. 1 John 2:15 defines the world as follows. “Love

  • not the world, neither the things that are in the world. For all that is in the world,

  • the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the father but

  • of the world.” A more modern translation states that verse this way. “Don't love

  • the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the

  • Father. Practically everything that goes on in the worldwanting your own way, wanting

  • everything for yourself, wanting to appear importanthas nothing to do with the Father.

  • It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the

  • way outbut whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.”

  • Love not the world. Don’t be conformed to the world Paul says. And by the way this word

  • conformed refers to the act of assuming an outward appearance that does not accurately

  • reflect that which is within. In other words Paul is saying, “Don’t masquerade as if

  • you belong to the world.”

  • See we all want to just fit in. We don’t want to be thought of as a dork, a nerd, a

  • fool, an idiot. We don’t want to be classified as uncool. So we will do the thing that we

  • think others want us to do. Paul says, “Don’t be conformed to this world.” As the J. B.

  • Phillips translation puts it, “Don’t let this world squeeze you into its mold. Don’t

  • pretend to be something you really are not.”

  • Sort of like what we all do on Halloween. We put a costume on. A mask on. This last

  • year as I went out as Strawberry Shortcake. I probably shouldn’t have shared that. But

  • that’s not true. But the thing is is you know you pretend to be someone you actually

  • are not.

  • And this is what Paul is saying. Don’t do that. Don’t try to appear to be of this

  • world when you are not of this world.

  • I think so much of the world’s thinking has entered the life of Christians. Even sometimes

  • even in the church. Like just take the world’s view of marriage. What is the world’s view

  • of marriage? Forget marriage. Let’s just take the world’s view of love and romance.

  • What is it? Until you get sick of the person. Look at Hollywood as an example. You know

  • how long these people are together on the cover of the magazines. So-in-so they are

  • together. Oh they broke up. Oh they are together. Oh they broke up you know. And what do these

  • people have? Relationships that last like two days you know. And I am talking the marriages.

  • The others are even shorter. You know so basically the world’s mentality is sure go ahead and

  • get married if you want to get married. But you know if it isn’t working out, if you

  • don’t like the person anymore unload them. Dump them. Cut them loose you know. They probably

  • ought to change the vows from till death do us part to till boredom do us part. I am bored

  • with you. Bye.

  • And even in the church we will see people say, “Well you know our marriage isn’t

  • working out. It is difficulty. We have irreconcilable differences.” I hate hearing that. As I

  • have said before, I have had irreconcilable differences with my wife for 35 years. We

  • are different. She is neat. I am messy. She is one way. I am another. Welcome to reality.

  • But oh no. Irreconcilable differences. Let’s just dissolve the relationship. No. That’s

  • not biblical think. You are being squeezed into the mold of the world.

  • No. Listen. I want God’s will. God’s will is always better than my own. Don’t be conformed

  • to this world. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may know the good and

  • perfect and acceptable will of God. God’s will is good.

  • Now God’s definition of good may be different than our definition of good. Just as my definition

  • of good is different than my granddaughter’s definition of good. Her definition of good

  • is eating quesadillas, playing with toys, and watching Care Bear cartoons. My definition

  • of good is I am good with the toys and the quesadillas. Not so much with the Care Bear

  • cartoons. I have learned more about Care Bears than I ever knew before. But you see the point

  • is she is only three and I am 23. And plus a few more years. And so my definition of

  • good is different than hers. My definition of good for her includes a nap, proper nutrition,

  • other things that I know will help her.

  • And so often in the same way our definition of good is different than God’s definition

  • of it. We define good as that which is fun, pleasurable, happy, enjoyable, pain free,

  • in the moment. Something along those lines. God’s definition of good is that which is

  • productive, character building, eternally focused. I tend to focus on the small picture.

  • God looks at the big one. I am thinking more of the here and now. God more of the by and

  • by. I think more of the temporal. God more of the eternal. But listen. Know this. His

  • plan is good. If you want to know the good will of God.

  • Ok. All right. So these are just general principles. So here is what you need to do. You need to

  • willingly offer yourself to God. Commit yourself to Him. Don’t let this world squeeze you

  • into its mold. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you might know God’s will.

  • Now let’s close with some principles about how to know God’s will as individuals. How

  • do I know if what I am about to do is the will of God?

  • Number one. You need to always build it on what the Word of God says. The Bible says

  • His Word is a lamp unto our feet and light to our path. God will never lead you contrary

  • to the written Word. If it is not in the Word it is not of the Lord. That is why you need

  • to be familiar with, conversant with the Word of God. The way I know right and wrong is

  • from studying the Bible. This is the source of truth.

  • You remember those people in Berea scrutinized the Scripture to see if those things were

  • true that were being said to them. Everything you need to know about God is found in the

  • pages of the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed by God and it is useful

  • to teach what is true and make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens

  • us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every

  • way fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.”

  • I bring this up because people will say, “I have a new revelation from the Lord. You won’t

  • find it in the Bible. This just came to me.” Well it didn’t come from the Holy Spirit

  • buddy. Because listen. If it is true it is not new. And if it is new it is not true.

  • We don’t need new revelations. We need to take everything so-called revelation, every

  • teaching and compare it to what the Scripture clearly says. We need to realize how precious

  • this Bible is.

  • I am holding my grandmother’s Bible that was just given to me by my Aunt Willie who

  • has had it for years. As you can see the front cover is gone. It is held together by tape.

  • And I am going to get it recovered. But as you open it up. This is the Bible she took

  • to church with her. And she wrote in the names of her children when they were born. I was

  • looking through it. It is falling apart as I hold it. But she has the name of my aunt

  • here. And here is my mom’s name. Born in 1928. Here is my brother. Born in 1945. Here

  • I am. She writes down. Gregory. Born December 10, 1954. I was very excited when I read that

  • because my birth certificate says 1952. That means I am two years younger according to

  • my grandmother Mama Stella. But I actually think she got the date wrong because I do

  • have the birth certificate. But this was her Bible. Look at how it is falling apart. I

  • like to see a Bible that is falling apart. It has been said, “A Bible that is falling

  • apart is usually a good indication of a life that isn’t.”

  • What if we treated our Bibles like we treat our cell phones? Think how important cell

  • phones have come to us. Have you noticed how everyone has them now? Even younger kids have

  • them. In fact a recent study pointed out that 66% of kids now own a cell phone. Even my

  • granddaughter has a cell phone. She is only three. Now it is not functioning. It is a

  • Dora the Explorer cell phone. But it is really quite impressive. You push a button and Dora

  • talks to you. “Hi. How are you? What are you doing?” And then she says, “You are

  • my best friend.” And then she says, “Have to go. Bye.” And I actually kind of got

  • involved in the conversation with Dora the other day. And, “Hi. How are you?” “I

  • am really good. How are you?” “You are my best friend.” “Well thank you Dora.”

  • And I started like to share a secret like friends do. And she said, “Got to go. Bye.”

  • Kind of blew me off. Kind of hurt. But then I realized I am talking to a computer chip.

  • Actually Dora herself is a drawing. But still.

  • You know everyone has cell phones now. And believe it or not I read an article where

  • they are actually making cell phones now for dogs. I am not kidding. It is shaped like

  • a bone. It hangs around their neck. It has a two-way kind of speaker on it. So if your

  • dog runs off you can call him. And he hears you through the speaker. You know. Sit. Poor

  • dog. Come home now. Runs home. They don’t make them for cats. Cats wouldn’t even listen.

  • I was out with some friends the other day and we all had our cell phones. We sat down.

  • We are waiting for the server to come. And everybody was looking at their emails or their

  • texts. And I am sitting there looking at everyone on their phone. So I texted everyone simultaneously.

  • So when are we going to eat?” They all looked up at me you know. I was like can we

  • put the phones down for a moment.

  • I mean phones have become so essential to all of us now. All the things they can do.

  • Of course they check emails. You can play video games. Take photos. Take videos. Update

  • your Facebook page. Tweet people. They even make phone calls. Not very well. Some of them.

  • I have a phone. I won’t say who my carrier is. But it drops calls all the time. AT&T.

  • And it drives me crazy. Because you know you are telling someone, “So the thing I really

  • want to say, and I really need your reaction is,” And you say it and there is no answer.

  • What? What? You haven’t been talking to them for three minutes ok. You have been.

  • Because the call was dropped.

  • But someone raises this question. What if we treated our Bibles like we treat our cell

  • phones? This is not original to me. They said, “What if we carried our Bible around like

  • we carry our cell phone? In our purse or our pocket. What if we flipped through our Bibles

  • several times a day? What if when we realized we forgot it at home turned back and got it?

  • What if we used it to receive messages from the Lord? What if we treated it like we couldn’t

  • live without it? What if we gave it as gifts to our kids? What if we used it when we traveled?

  • What if we used it in case of emergency? One more thing. Unlike our cell phone. We don’t

  • have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill. And no

  • dropped calls.” I like that.

  • How precious is the Word of God to you? “Greg I have my Bible on my cell phone.” Ok. Fine.

  • Don’t mess my point up. Ok. I have my Bible on my cell phone too. That is good. But there

  • is something about opening up the Word of God and saying, “Lord speak.”

  • But then some people you know will come up with the wackiest things from the Bible. “God

  • just told me to do this. I read it in the Bible.” How did you do it? “I just held

  • it up and the wind blew it. And I said Lord what is Your will. And I read it. And Judas

  • went and hanged himself. It is in the Bible. And I said but Lord how does that apply to

  • me personally. And I held my Bible up again and then the wind blew the pages. Go thou

  • and do likewise. Oh no.”

  • Are you an idiot? Walk into this right now. What is wrong with you? Read verses in context.

  • What is said before it? What is said after it? Does that jive with other passages of

  • Scripture?

  • God is going to speak to you through His Word. This is where He will give us our primary

  • truth.

  • But then believing something is the will of God I ask for confirmation. God also speaks

  • to us through circumstances where He will confirm His Word to us. The Lord spoke to

  • Gideon. But he asked for confirmation. In Gideon’s case he asked the Lord to demonstrate

  • it in a tangible way and he said, “Lord now have a fleece, which is an animal skin,

  • and I am going to put it out on the ground in the morning.” Normally of course there

  • would be dew on the ground. But so Gideon said, “Lord if You have told me this I am

  • going to put this fleece out and if there is dew on the fleece and the ground is dry

  • I will know it is You speaking it to me.” Interesting request.

  • Gets up the next morning. It is just as he asked. So he reverses it now and wants dew

  • on the ground and he wants the fleece dry. And again the Lord confirms it.

  • I am not suggesting we ask God to do all of these little tricks to know His will. But

  • I do believe that when I have seen something in Scripture I believe is the will of God

  • that He will open the doors for me. Ok. And it will confirm that I am doing the right

  • thing.

  • A good example is the story of Philip who was directed by the Lord to go to the desert.

  • And the Lord didn’t give him any more information. He just said, “Go to the desert.” And

  • so Philip is standing out there in the desert waiting. Lizards are standing around. Lizards.

  • Lizards. I wanted to see how she did lizards. I am watching the girl sign. Lizards. Lizards.

  • Lizards. Lizards. Lizards. Snakes too. Snakes. Snakes. And lizards. Hot sun. Nice. Nice.

  • She is good isn’t she? She is good. Very nice. So do the lizard again. I want to learn

  • that. Do the lizard. That’s cool. L. Are you call me a loser? It doesn’t mean that.

  • Anyway so he went out there and he waited. And then along comes a man from Ethiopia who

  • had been searching for God and didn’t find Him. Confirmation. He was in the will of God.

  • So first Lord lead me through the Word of God. Operating on biblical principles. The

  • Lord opens the doors and confirms things through circumstances.

  • And then there is that work in your heart. That peace of God sealing the deal if you

  • will. Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your heart, since as members

  • of one body, you are called to peace, and be thankful.” Or as another translation

  • puts it, and I think quite helpfully, “Let the peace of God as an umpire settle with

  • finality all matters that arise in your heart.”

  • You know there might be something that seems to be biblically sound and it seems as though

  • the doors are opening. But inside of your heart there is a sense that this just isn’t

  • right. I have learned to listen to that. Sometimes the Lord gives you discernment about things

  • that are happening that you can’t see outwardly but are indeed happening. Lord give me your

  • peace on this situation. Scripture says, “You will go out with joy and be led forth with

  • peace. The mountains and the hills will break forth before you into singing.” God will

  • lead you with His peace. When you are in the will of God there will be joy and peace as

  • a result.

  • Fourth and lastly there is the issue of God’s timing. Sometimes we have the right idea but

  • our timing is way off. Like old Moses man. I mean he had the right idea that Israel should

  • not be captive to Egypt. But man he went about it in the worst way imaginable. Murdering

  • that Egyptian who is beating a Hebrew. He had the right idea to get the Israelites out

  • of captivity. He was just way too early. And he was exiled for 40 years. And then in God’s

  • timing he went back and did what the Lord called him to do. Moses spent 40 years in

  • Pharaoh’s court finding out he was a somebody, 40 years in the wilderness finding out he

  • was a nobody, and then 40 years finding out what God can do with a somebody that realizes

  • they are a nobody.

  • Timing is everything. The Bible says, “God makes all things beautiful in His time.”

  • Listen. If the timing is wrong, God says slow. If you are wrong God says grow. If the request

  • is right and the timing is right and you are right God says go. So I want to get that timing

  • right.

  • The will of God. He wants to reveal it to you. The will of God. He has a plan for you.

  • So we need to say like young Samuel said, “Speak Lord, Your servant is listening.

  • I want to hear your voice.”

  • And the reason I can have this kind of relationship with God, the reason I can call Him Friend

  • is because Jesus tangibly showed His love for me by dying on the cross. And then He

  • told me to remember what He did in something we call communion or the Lord’s Supper.

  • We receive these elements that are symbols of His broken body and His shed blood to be

  • reminded of the great sacrifice of Christ. When He called His disciples in the upper

  • room He took that broken unleavened bread and He took that cup and said, “Take, eat,

  • drink in remembrance of Me. Do this to remember what I have done for you.”

  • There is nothing mystical in these elements. But they represent a holy God who has made

  • a tremendous sacrifice for us. When we come to the communion table we are told to do a

  • little self-examination before we receive the elements. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians

  • 11:27, “If anyone eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily or literally

  • in an unworthy manner. That person is sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. That

  • is why you should examine yourself before you eat the bread and drink from the cup.”

  • So before you receive the elements examine yourself.

  • Communion is not for everyone. It is for believers only. Not for perfect believers. Otherwise

  • none of us could partake. It doesn’t say that you have to be worthy to receive communion.

  • It says don’t receive it in an unworthy manner, which means don’t disrespect what

  • it represents. The elements are not holy but the God they represent is.

  • So I look at my life and I say am I where I need to be spiritually. Remember back in

  • the Garden of Eden how God asked Adam, "Where are you?” Did God ask that because He was

  • oblivious to the whereabouts of His boy Adam? No. God asked Adam that question because He

  • wanted him to come clean. Because He asked him after he had sinned. “Adam where are

  • you?” “Well Lord I am actually hiding.” What Adam needed to say was, “And I have

  • sinned against You and I have disobeyed You.” But of course we all know how Adam blamed

  • his wife. “It is the woman You gave me.”

  • So here today God might be asking some of us, “Where are you?” Not where are you

  • physically. You are at a pew at Harvest Christian Fellowship or sitting outside. Wherever you

  • are on our grounds. Or listening on the radio or sitting at home watching a computer screen.

  • I don’t mean where are you physically. Where are you spiritually? Where are you at right

  • now in your walk with God?

  • We have talked a little bit about the world squeezing us into its mold. Is that a description

  • of you? Have you been allowing this culture to mold you instead of the Word of God? Or

  • have you been being conformed to this world which means you have been trying to appear

  • to be something you really are not. Then maybe a recommitment is in order.

  • But there might be some of you here that aren’t believers yet? You haven’t yet put your

  • faith in Christ. You haven’t asked for His forgiveness. I said at the beginning of the

  • message God’s will for you is that you be saved. I mean that is number one. And if you

  • have not yet asked Christ to come into your life I am going to give you an opportunity

  • to do that as we now pray before we receive communion. You do not want to receive these

  • elements if you are not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. But if you are not yet

  • a believer and you want to become one why don’t you pray with me right now. Let’s

  • bow our heads. Father I pray for any that have joined us that do not yet know You. Help

  • them to see Lord the words we have shared today are true. They are Your words. Help

  • them to come to You now and be forgiven of their sin we pray.

Today we are going to end our Essentials series with a message on the topic, "How to Know

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