The Will of God — Romans 12

0:00 What we're gonna talk about today is the will of God, the will of God. So within the will of God is the the known will, the unknown will, the permissive will, the providential will, and the sovereign will. Every one of these are an independent study of their own, but what I've done is I'm just gonna give you like a brief thought on each one. And if anybody wants the the the notes, you're more than welcome to to have them. It's just a simple PowerPoint with a little outline.

0:29 So this is what we're gonna be looking at today, the the will of God. And let's pray before we continue. Father, we thank you for your holy word and because you do have a will for us and your will is perfect, and we wanna know what your will is. So we pray that your spirit would guide today. We pray this in Jesus' name.

0:49 Amen. I think everyone here would agree that the the the number one question that we all have as you're growing up and and as you come to know the lord Jesus, your savior, especially the teenagers, as you get into your college years and all that, you're thinking, what is your will? What career should I do? Who should I marry? Where should I live?

1:10 What job should I take on? And then then you get married, then children come along. Lord, what is your will? How should we raise them? What should we do?

1:18 And then so forth and so on. Right? We all are are are wanting to have direction and clarity in in regards to the will of God. So so let's take a look at, at this topic then, and, I pray that the the spirit of God would would encourage us today. Okay?

1:36 The will of God. Let's start out by this text right here, Romans twelve two. Now notice that Romans twelve two is very interesting. It says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is. So so the bible, what it's saying is that we have to think biblically.

1:56 We have to not think conventional thoughts, but think biblical thoughts, transform, renew your mind the way you think. So then when you do that, you're gonna realize then that God's will is good and acceptable and perfect. Alright? According to the Bible, how... What is God's will?

2:18 It is three things. What is it? I can't have it underlined so you can't get it wrong. You know, what do you think? It's good and acceptable and perfect.

2:27 Right? Now if it's perfect, that means it doesn't need to be fixed. Right? There was an old saying when I was growing up, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Right?

2:36 And so so God's will is perfect, and it's also acceptable, and it's also good. It's also good. Now, at face value, that's easy to to look at and say, oh yeah, alright, I see that, but as we get in to this a little bit more, you're gonna say, well, it's not that easy to accept the will of God sometimes, that it's good and acceptable and perfect. Well, at least we wrestle with it. We wrestle with it.

3:04 Alright. So the new living translation puts it this way. Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know God's will for you, which is good and acceptable and perfect. I kinda like the way that puts it.

3:24 Right? Kinda puts a little different angle to it, but it's still the same thought that god's will is good, and we wanna know his will. Everybody wants to know his will. Right? I'm I'm sure of that.

3:46 And the first one is the salvation of your soul. Would you agree with me on that one? Right? So we know this is God's will, and here's a couple of verses. Now every one of these, like I said, is a complete study, but I'm just gonna give you a few verses, and you can do some more on your own if you want.

4:03 But first Timothy two four, God who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Well, there's the heart of God. There's the heart of God. This is God's will. And and I don't know if you have personally come to a knowledge of the truth, to to know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, but that's God's will.

4:25 That's what he wants, because if you don't trust him, he has no choice but to separate you for all eternity from himself because he has provided a way for you to be saved. I like the way Matthew sixteen twenty six puts it. What will it profit a man if he gains a whole world and forfeits or loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for a soul? So again, according to scripture, the most important thing is where are you gonna spend eternity?

4:57 And God's known will is that he wants you to be saved and to spend eternity with him. And so there's no question in regard to the will of God as far as this is concerned. So is anything worth more than your soul? Yes or no? Absolutely not.

5:14 That's the most valuable thing. It's the most valuable thing. And so that's why the bible doesn't put a lot of emphasis on if you're rich or poor, but who you are as a person, and if you're saved or not. Because that's what God is looking at, you as an individual person. He values your soul because he created us for himself and for his glory.

5:36 Okay. The known will of God. Here's the second one. Number two. First Thessalonians four three, this is the will of God for you, your sanctification.

5:47 That is that you abstain abstain from sexual immorality. I mean, that's as clear as can be. Right? Is there any doubt, any question in regards to this? No.

5:57 And yet, this is where believers struggle terribly, and that's what Satan is attacking today, our morality. Right? And so the bible says, be holy for I am holy. And so when it comes to God's will, number one, we know that he wants us to be saved. Number two, he knows that we...

6:16 He wants us to be... To abstain from sexual immorality. And then the text goes on and explains a real detailed, very clear, very easy to understand. And so the Holy Spirit in us produces a clean lifestyle and is making us more like Christ. K.

6:34 Let's continue. The known will of God. First Thessalonians five sixteen through 18. Well, let me just read what I put here. I kinda condensed it.

6:46 Pray without ceasing, giving thanks in everything, for this is the will of God. And so again, the... On the third point, what does God want want us to be doing all the time? To what? Say it with me.

6:59 Pray. Pray without ceasing. So there should be constant prayer. In other words, constantly be talking to God. You're talking to God constantly.

7:07 So you're on your way to work, Lord, thank you for this day. Keep me safe. Lord, open the door so I can witness today. Lord, help me to live for you. And so you're talking to God.

7:17 You're you're you're... I praise you for my salvation that you're my God. And so this constant praying without ceasing. And with that, what else? And...

7:26 Thankful. That's right. Thankful. Thank you, lord. Thank you.

7:29 I praise you. I thank you even for the trial that I'm going through, even for my troubles. Lord, I praise you and I thank you. And so this is the will of God. Okay.

7:40 So to pray and be thankful. So how are we doing so far as far as the will of God is concerned? This is the known will of God. It's... God made it very clear to us, very easy to understand, and very practical.

7:55 Alright? The will of God. Next. Okay. The known will of God.

8:12 And so this is the known will of god that when you pray, we're not gonna pray these crazy prayers that that some of the televangelists want want us to pray. Right? That that, lord, make me rich. Give me the Cadillac. Give me the...

8:27 You know, all of those kinda crazy prayers. Our prayer is, lord, what is your will? And I wanna line up with your will, and that's my prayer. So the will of God is foremost. It's the most important thing that we line up with his will.

8:42 And when we do that, when we pray those things, he's gonna hear us. He's gonna hear us. He always hears us, but he's gonna answer when he hears if it's lining up with his will. So this is the known will of God, the known will of God. Okay.

8:58 Let's continue with the known will of God. First Peter three seventeen. For it is better if God should will it so that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for... Than doing what is wrong. Hebrews ten thirty six.

9:15 For you have need of endurance, perseverance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. Okay. So in this case, that you persevere strong in faith through suffering and trials. I think you... We have presented enough studies here as we look at the word of God, and we have presented to you the word of God.

9:39 We have done enough studies that you know that the believer will have suffering and trials. Am I correct with that? I mean, we understand that. That that's like, we're not gonna get away from it. Every Christian is gonna have suffering and trials.

9:52 Right? And the quicker we understand and accept that, the more blessed we'll be. Okay? And so what he's saying is that God is gonna bring different trials to all of us in different ways. For example, right now your trial might be that that they are not including you in some.

10:09 So maybe Thanksgiving, celebrations or other celebrations because you're a Christian and you won't drink and party. We have relatives that won't invite us. Right? So you feel kind of marginalized, kind of, you know, ignored. Alright?

10:23 That's part of your your suffering for Christ. Right? They're they're gonna laugh at you, alright, because they they they... You you... You're gonna suffer for Christ because of that.

10:34 And then in the believer's life, God is always gonna bring trials so that we can learn to trust him and grow in our faith. And so we need to persevere, strong in faith through the suffering and the trials. So that's the known word of god. Right? We we know that.

10:51 It's it's very clear in scripture. Okay. Now I love the way MacArthur sums it up. When a person is saved, sanctified, submissive, suffering, and thankful, he is already in God's will. Alright.

11:06 Now is this helping? Is this clarifying it? Right? What is God's will? There you go.

11:11 That you're sanctified, submissive, suffering, thankful. Alright. You're already in God's will. So in case you're wondering, what's your will? There it is.

11:21 Alright. But as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. From the heart. Okay. So saved, sanctified, submissive, suffering, and thankful he's already in God's will.

11:33 And I would add in there, I'm praying constantly. Right? Praying constantly. Alright. So let's continue.

11:50 Now let's look at the providential will of God. What that means is it's God's working behind the scenes. He's supernaturally doing things. Right? And and later on, you can look back and say, wow.

12:05 I can see how god was working behind the scenes. So in Esther's case, how was he working? First of all, he had her be part of the the the exiles, people that were taken from Jerusalem and taken to Persia. Right? He was...

12:21 She was a slave girl. In that move, her parents died, and she was adopted by her uncle, Mordecai. Now the thing about all of this is that God made her extremely beautiful. Right? So why did God make her so beautiful?

12:37 So that she can be chosen as a queen. But it was more than just, wow, you look good. Right? There was more to it than that, that god made her look beautiful so that she can be chosen so that she could save the nation from extinction. And so Mordecai, being guided by the holy spirit, tells her, Esther, you need to go and talk to the king because who knows if you have obtained royalty for such a time as this.

13:08 See, now in retrospect, we can look back and say, oh, yeah. It's obvious, Esther, that God had set you apart, made you beautiful so that you can be chosen queen so that you can go speak to the king, and the whole nation won't be extinguished. Alright. Put away. Mordecai didn't know that at the time, And so he says, who knows?

13:28 Maybe this is why God put you there, and we know that he did. And so even though in Esther you never see God's name mentioned, he's obviously working behind the scenes. You can see God all over the place in the book of Esther. What a great read. That is what we call the providential will of God.

13:47 And so God is working all kinds of things behind the scenes that you don't even realize for your blessing and your benefit and for his glory for his glory. Okay. So this is what we call the providential will of God. Okay. Then we have the permissive will of God.

14:03 The permissive will of God. What that... What this means is that God permits sometimes evil to happen to you because he wants to accomplish something. Alright? So you might say, well, God, you know, why did you permit that man to to falsely accuse me, and then I got fired from my job?

14:26 Why why why did this happen? Why did that happen? And so in in Joshua's... Joseph's case, you know, his brothers wanted to kill him. They threw him in a cistern, and then here comes a bunch of guys, and they sold him to them, and he was taken as a slave.

14:45 Now it it it was terrible because God permitted this evil to happen to him, and for over twenty years, he never got to see his dad or his family, all alone as a slave. But not only that, he also got falsely accused by a woman, and there he is sitting in jail. So all of this evil is happening to him, all of this negative stuff, and you would think, well, where where is God in this whole picture? And then down the line, I'd say, what, maybe another twenty years down the line or so, he was able to say this in Genesis 15 verse 20. You meant it for evil.

15:22 That's his brothers. They they meant evil against him, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result to preserve many people alive. And so, unfortunately, Joseph had to suffer so that God could accomplish his purposes, and he allowed evil to happen to him so that ultimately he could save the people. So this is what we call the permissive will of God. Am I speaking too much, too confusing, or is that clear?

15:52 Right? Hopefully, can understand that. Alright? Now, next we have acts four twenty seven through 28. For truly in this city, they were gathered together against the holy servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel to do whatever thy hand and thy purpose predestined to occur.

16:20 So in this case, we have someone who was innocent, who didn't have any sin, didn't do anything wrong, and yet, as you know, he was scourged and he was beat and he was crucified, but why did God permit it? So that you could be saved. So in both cases, we have a person who had to suffer in order to bring salvation. Of course, the suffering of Jesus was the ultimate suffering and the ultimate injustice, but what did God permit it? So that you and I won't go to hell.

16:56 Right? So that we can be saved, and we can know God in a purse... In a personal way. So the permissive will of God is extremely important to to grasp. Sometimes God permits things to happen to you because God has a great purpose in mind.

17:14 When we're going through the suffering though, it's hard to understand why. Let let me give you a quick one. This guy that was just released from Turkey, George... What's his name? Andrew Brunson.

17:27 Andrew Brunson. Had the wrong name. Andrew Brunson. Alright? We're like, okay, Lord, get him out of jail.

17:32 Get him out of jail. But can you see the bigger picture? Because of him being in jail two years or so, when he was released, haven't hasn't he, the door... Lord opened doors now so that other people could know Jesus, so they could know the gospel, so that he can pray with the president and all that? Now, would that have happened unless he went through that jail experience?

18:06 Now this is where we struggle. This is where we struggle. The unknown will of God inscrutable. For no man may understand it any more than he may comprehend the being of God himself. This is the reality that there's a lot of things about God and what he does and what he permits that we do not grasp, we do not understand.

18:27 Okay. For example, when would Jesus return? Well, he he chose in his will not to tell us, give us a date. Can can you imagine if it's gonna be on Monday? We'd be panicking right now.

18:40 Oh, no. You know, and and calling our relatives and witnessing and doing whatever. Right? But the lord decided not to tell us when he's going to return. Will your relative be saved?

18:52 Last year, had three uncles die. Every one of them died without ever turning to Christ, and for over forty years, we witnessed to them. They all died. They didn't turn to the Lord. We didn't know if they were gonna be saved or not, but we kept witnessing.

19:05 You never know. Other questions like, in the unknown will of God, why you lost your child, or your job, or why your spouse has cancer, or why the Holocaust? And we go, why, why, why? Right? We have a lot of questions that God, in his unknown will, chose not to reveal to us.

19:24 Deuteronomy twenty nine twenty nine, the the secret things belong to God, but that which is revealed is for our blessing. Right? And so there's a lot of things that God hasn't revealed to us. But what he has revealed, that's for us. Right?

19:40 For our blessing. And he has revealed so much through his holy word through his holy word. So that is what we call the the unknown will of God. Okay. Let's continue.

19:51 The unknown will of God. This is Proverbs, by the way. I forgot to put Proverbs on there, but Proverbs twenty twenty four. Man's steps are ordained by the Lord. How then can man understand his way?

20:05 The New Living Translation, the Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? There are times when you just have to stop arguing with God and trying to have everything figured out. There's so much in life that you just won't understand, won't make sense, but you keep trusting God. And I think that's what this is saying. Quit trying to understand everything about God.

20:30 God is not gonna tell you everything. I think that's what was driving Job crazy. God, what did I do? I I I don't... I can't really picture any sin that I did, and not that I'm perfect, but what did I do?

20:41 Tell me. I I I want you to say something to me. You know that God never told him. God never told him. And yet he still said, I repent.

20:50 Why did he repent? Because he realized he knew so little bit about a little bit about God, and God had no no no no reason. You can't demand that God give you answers for what he's allowing in your life. So this is what we call the unknown will of God. Okay.

21:08 Rory, I like the way he puts it. God's sovereignty over man's way is beyond our full comprehension. Okay. Which leads us to the sovereign will of God. The sovereign will of God.

21:22 Now, in the sovereign will of God, I like what Baker's theology, Baker's dictionary of theology says, and let's look at this carefully. God's will is absolute, unconditioned by anything outside of himself, but it is in complete harmony with his holiness, righteousness, goodness, and truth. So in other words, God can do whatever he wants because he is God, but whatever he does want and allow will always be in harmony with who he is as God, as as absolutely holy, righteous, good, and true. So he's never gonna go... Whatever he does allow, we'll never contradict that truth about him.

22:08 So let's continue. All that which is not God exists by a sovereign will. That that's you and me. We are not God. And why are we here?

22:17 Because God in his sovereignty chose to allow us to be here right now on earth at this moment. It's by his will. Okay. So all that which is not God exists by sovereign will, which is therefore the basis of all existence. God is under no obligation to man, and he rules over all according to his free counsel and determination.

22:42 Now please realize that. He is under no obligation to man. God does not have to tell you why he's doing what he's doing. And yet we demand it of him sometimes. Right?

22:54 I think it's Isaiah 45. We read that in in the Lord's Supper this morning. But he says, why do you argue with God? Why why do sit here? Let's look at it.

23:03 Let's look at it. Let's go to Isaiah 45 real quick. We have to look at it to connect it with these thoughts. Turn real quick, turn real quick. Oh yeah, you don't hear sheet papers anymore because everybody pulls out the phone.

23:17 I forgot about that. I was listening for the for the papers turning. Alright. Now look at verse nine. Look at verse nine.

23:28 The the sovereign will of God. Woe to the one... Isaiah forty five nine. Woe to the one who quarrels with his maker. An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth.

23:41 Would the clay say to the potter, what are you doing? Or the thing you are making say, he has no hands. Woe to him who says to a father, what are you begetting? Or to a woman, what are you... To what are you giving birth?

23:58 Thus says the Lord, the holy one of Israel and his maker. Ask me about things come, to come concerning my sons, and you shall commit to me the works of my hands. I'm not gonna do an exposition right now of that text, but here's the thing, commit to me the work of my hands. In other words, Lord, I I bow to your to your holy will, to your sovereign will, and I'm gonna stop arguing with you about what you are doing because you have no obligation to me and to explain to me why you're doing it. So he rules over all according to his free counsel and determination.

24:40 Alright. So let's continue. Let's look at some verses to back up this truth. Psalm one fifteen three. God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes.

24:53 Now nobody... You can say, well, know, raised at his home and he's doing whatever he wants. Not really. Not really. But God is in heaven doing whatever he wishes.

25:04 Psalm one zero three and verse 19. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his sovereignty rules over all. Psalm one thirty five and six, whatever the Lord pleases, he does. In heaven and in earth and in the seas and in all the deeps. Revelation four eleven b, for thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they existed and were created.

25:37 Daniel four seventeen, the most high rules over the kingdoms of the world, he gives them to anyone he chooses. And so God is in control of history. Let me put it to you this way. Tozer in his book, Knowledge of the Most High, puts it this way. We're...

26:09 Yeah. The carnival or whatever. Right? Now the the carnival is full of people. Right?

26:16 And the people inside of the boat are doing whatever they want, if you will. Right? They go eat when they want, they go play, go swim, or whatever you do. I've never been on one of those cruises, they they don't really attract me, you know, but whatever you do in those things, right, you're doing it. Right?

26:30 But all the time, the ship is taking you wherever it wants to go. See? And so even though inside you have freedom to move around, the ship is gonna ultimately head to its destination. And so the way Tozer puts it is that's the way it is with life. God is controlling history, putting the kings and everything that happens in order, and he's removing them, putting new ones, doing whatever he wants, and we're inside of there, right, going along as he moves history along.

27:01 I do have a whole study about how God works individually, but right now we're looking at the sovereign will of God. Kind of sobering, isn't it? Alright. The sovereign will of God, Daniel seven fourteen. Here's the ultimate goal in the will of God, in the sovereign will of God.

27:21 Now the him right here in this text is Jesus. So make a note of that just in case you're not sure. And to him Jesus was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him, might serve Jesus. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. So everything is heading towards this reality right here.

27:55 That has got ultimate purpose, and everything that is allowed so far in history and the direction that God has taken this world is gonna ultimately come to the point where Jesus is gonna take the throne and rule the world. And he's gonna rule it for all eternity. Alright. So this is God's sovereign will, and it will not be stopped or deterred. That's where it's heading.

28:21 That everyone is gonna bow down to Jesus, he's gonna rule the world, and his kingdom will never be destroyed. And so hopefully you know Jesus, and you're on board with him, because he will rule the world. That's the promise. He's going to return and take the kingdom. Okay.

28:45 Believers, the sovereign will of God, believers are to submit to God's will, to determine to do it, and in doing it discover how good God's way is. Notice the good is there again, because God's will is good and acceptable and perfect. Right? James four thirteen through 15. Now it's talking about people making plans.

29:13 We're gonna do this, we're gonna do that, we're gonna go here and go there. And he says, the believer ought to say this. This is what the Christian should say. You ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or do that. That should be fresh in my lip.

29:29 What are you doing next week? Well, God willing, I'm going to pass out invitations. Right? Everybody already put that in their agenda. They're all gonna be here, right, the whole mass.

29:40 Yes. Amen. If the Lord wills, and if I'm not dead and I'm still alive, I'm gonna be here. How'd you like that one? Free promotion.

29:48 Alright. Okay. So this is what we should be saying. What are you gonna be doing a year from now? Well, god willing, lord willing, I'm gonna be doing this or that.

29:58 Right? If the lord wills. Okay. Now I like this. I don't remember where I got it from.

30:22 Grace, arms, riches, power, spirit or the spirit of God, the wisdom of God, the army of God, the hands of God, the love of God, the mercies of God, the peace of God, the authority of God, the comfort of God, the word of God, the miracles of God, the omnipresence of God. So trying to get this whole God's will into perspective, I kinda like the way this person, I don't know if it was a man or woman, I don't know, I can't remember where I got it. But I didn't do it, so I just want you to know it didn't come from me. God's will... No, I'm sorry, the will of God will never take you...

31:03 Now this is important. Have we been considering this? The will of God will never take you where the grace of God cannot keep you. Amen? Wow.

31:12 Where the arms of God cannot support you. Now I underline, of course, the important part of of each thing here. Right? So you got the arms of God, then they're gonna support you. The riches of God are gonna supply your needs.

31:25 Where the power of God cannot endow you, it's always gonna be there for you. The spirit of God cannot walk through you... I'm I'm sorry, work through you, work through you. Where the wisdom of God cannot teach you, where the army of God cannot protect you, where the hands of God cannot mold you, where the love of God cannot unfold you, or I would have put embrace, but I wanted to keep it as the person sent it to me. Where the mercies of God cannot sustain you, where where the peace of God cannot calm your fears, where the authority of God cannot overrule for you, where the comfort of God cannot dry your tears, where the word of God cannot feed you, where the miracles of God cannot be done for you, and where the omnipresence of God cannot find you.

32:17 Wow. And so God, in his sovereign and perfect will, knows what he allows in your life. And so it's important to realize that wherever he's taking you, he's got a purpose behind it. It could it could be his permissive will, permitting where he's taking you right now, your suffering, your tears, whatever you're going through, so so that he can then turn... You can turn around a few years back and say, wow.

32:46 God meant it for good. Or it could be his his providential will that god is working behind the scenes, all kinds of things so that ultimately, then maybe your spouse, your dad, your cousin, your friend will get saved. It could be that within whatever he's allowing here that he's trying to teach us to do his known will, what we do know that he wants us to do. And so the question is that the the most important thing is that we submit to his holy will. Would you agree?

33:39 But may may the lord help us then as we we understand a little bit more about his will. Alright? And so let's just pray. Father, we thank you because your will is good even when we suffer, even when we suffer loss, even when it doesn't make sense, your will is good. Your will is acceptable.

34:03 Always is acceptable because it's perfect, and it comes from you, and your will is perfect. You never make mistakes. You never cruel or mean. You know what you allow and why you allow it. So, Lord, help us to submit to your holy will and to realize that your will is indeed good and acceptable and perfect.

34:26 Help us, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.