God's Will Is Not A Secret, (Knowing Gods Will For Your Life).

the following sermon is by John MacArthur pastor author and the Bible teacher with grace to you if you've never contacted grace to you we want to send you a free booklet by John called found God's peace it's all about helping you defeat anxiety and no true lasting contentment request your free booklet by writing to peace at gty org that's peace p e AC e @ g t wide org offer go to North American Europe through December 2017 and now unleashing God's truth one verse at a time here's grace to you Bible teacher John MacArthur I'd like us to have a word of Prayer as we begin our study tonight father with indeed a heart of anticipation I approach a needful subject thank you for the sensitivity of the staff who have asked me to speak to this particular theme because there are so many asking these questions may your word become clear father may it not be the word of men or a man but the word of God sharp and powerful life transforming in that anticipation we pray amen the subject we want to speak about tonight is knowing the will of God this has been a favorite study of mine for many years and I have had the privilege of writing a little book on the subject that's been out for quite a few years now I think about 6 but it's a question that comes up again and again and so the staff felt that I should speak to this subject on this particular Sunday night taking a break from our series of Daniels studies and I want to speak in a very practical vein so that we will get a clearer understanding of what it really means to know God's will for our lives that is a major question in fact I would dare say that in my life that's probably the most commonly asked question how do I know what God wants me to do in Psalm 143 in verse 10 David prayed a prayer that must be the desire of every Christian David prayed this Lord teach me to do thy will that's very basic I think to the life of a believer because being a Christian is the affirmation of the lordship of Christ being a Christian is an act of initial submission to the control and the leadership of Christ and so doing his will certainly follows that kind of a submission our Blessed Lord himself set the example no other but Christ has the perfect servant's heart no greater pattern or model for obedience to the will of God could ever be pointed to than Christ Himself for from the very beginning in his incarnation he made it clear that he was come to do the will of him that sent him and even when that took him to the agony of the anticipation of the cross as he in the garden poured out in prayer to the Father the feeling of his own soul even at that crisis moment he never wavered from the commitment for it was there that he said not my will but thine be done the early church had a similar kind of commitment for again and again and again did they pray thy will be done it says in the book of Acts this was the pattern of life for Christ for the early church the Apostle Paul prayed that prayer in so many words thy will be done Peter in so many words thy will be done it is a way of life for a believer and in case you have forgotten think back a few weeks to Matthew 6 and verse 10 our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come what thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven that is one of the essential petitions in the life of every believer for that prayer is the model of all praying we are to pray consistently thy will be done doing the will of God from the heart as Paul expresses it in Ephesians six six is basic then to the Christians life in fact I would dare say that unless there is a desire in you to do the will of God it is at least questionable whether you're a Christian at all John seven indicates that for one who was a believer there will be a desire to know the Father's will Paul operated by the will of God in Romans just to give you a couple of scriptures chapter 1 verse 10 he said making requests if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you in other words everything in his life was framed within the context of the will of God at the end of Romans in the fifteenth chapter in the 32nd verse he said in order that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God it was a way of life to him and then there is an expression I think that's so very special at the end of the book of Colossians in chapter 4 and verse 12 where a Patras who is one of you a servant of Christ greet a few always laboring fervently for you in prayers and what is the objective of his prayer on the behalf of the Colossians that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God the great heart of the Apostle Paul expressed in the message of Romans chapter 12 was that we may know what is that good and perfect will of God Peter states that the distinguishing mark of a Christian is a preoccupation and a centering of his life on the will of God first Peter chapter 4 verse 2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men but to the will of God it is the distinguishing mark 10 of a believer model for him by Christ and if we say we abide in Christ first John 2:6 we ought to walk as he walked and he walked in submission to the will of God is that your desire it should be if you call yourself a Christian now at that point we interject the question what is the will of God let's assume that we're committed to it let's assume that as believers we desire to do the will of God the next question that arises is can we know the will of God and there are people who question this some people think that the will of God is a very elusive thing it's kind of like the brass ring on the merry-go-round if you get it that's kind of neat but if you don't you still get a ride and you can live your Christian life without it other people think the will of God is is sort of a mystery it's sort of a foggy hidden secretive thing God is sort of like the universal Easter Bunny who stashes it somewhere and runs around saying you're getting warmer as we frantically try to find it some people think the will of God is a trauma it's something like running down the road and falling in your nose lands on a map of India and you say yes Lord India it is or whatever but people have strange ideas about the will of God some a rather mystical visionary dream orientation others as if God needs to speak with them out of heaven some feeling it's a traumatic event and most I think who believe those kind of things ultimately winding up with the sense of frustration feeling it maybe they never found God's will at all and they'll have to wait till they get to heaven to know the fullness of the meaning of life but I believe we can know God's will let me tell you why I don't think God wills things for us that he doesn't make available to us that's a that's to me a very basic thought if God has a will for my life then he will reveal it to me if I'm in the right place to receive it God does not purposely frustrate himself and so people say I I don't know what school I should go to or I don't know what job I should take I'm in the midst of making a major decision or I don't know what girl Ameria I've got six that are in line and I'm cutting them down we'll make the cut this week and we'll make another cut next week and see who's left I don't know which ones or how do I know whether I ought to move to another house or or how do I know what I ought to do with this problem person in my family or what I ought to do to harmonize myself better with my wife or my husband how do I know what God's will is the answer to that question is that God does have a will and if he has a will that he wants you to know he'll make it available to you I really believe God is in the business of openly overtly and clearly manifesting his desires for us you can know that you go all the way back to Genesis chapter 1 and verse 14 you will read in that very very primitive account the very first chapter in the Bible right at the very beginning of creation this statement and God said let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years now the Stars and the moon and the Sun are not just for days and years they're not just simply to identify calendars they are for signs and for seasons and the Hebrew word seasons doesn't mean winter summer spring and fall the Hebrew word for season they're the specific word means a and assembling of the people or a gathering of the congregation in other words the stellar bodies were literally to be used by God to establish certain gatherings of the people and if you study the Old Testament you will find out that all of the festivals and all of the feasts and all of the holidays of Israel were identified by where the heavenly bodies were at a certain time they were all in relation for example of the vernal equinox or the full moon that's why in Colossians it tells us that now that we are in Christ and we are in the New Covenant there is no longer any need to keep a feast or a new moon our calendar for Easter and Christmas is established by the movement of the stellar bodies God has established signs in Psalm 104 19 he appointed the moon for gatherings of the people from the very beginning God was making manifest certain things and a coupling the stellar body movement with his revelation to his people religious festivals were established God revealed his will in a very very clear place or all could see it we think about how God revealed his will throughout the Old Testament and we know so many many cases where he revealed it externally for example there was the miracle of the sign of the covenant with Abraham the birth of Isaac a very outward tangible indication that God was going to keep his promise and then later on when it came time for Isaac to have a wife the servant Eliezer was called and Abraham said I want you to go and find a wife of his own people and Eliezer it says placed his hand inside his thigh he put it near the procreative area and made a vow that he should find him a wife of his own people and you remember what the sign was go to the well and wait there and as the maidens come at the close of the day the one that offers you water and water for your camels she's the one to pick a sign very outward very clear and very specific and then as the children of Israel were led through the wilderness it was a pillar of fire and a cloud and then there was Gideon and Judges chapter six in the battle against the Midianites and there was a sign the fleece was wet in the ground was dry and the ground was wet and the fleece was dry and that was a sign and God was showing his will and then there was fire on Mount Carmel and then there were those acts of Isaiah and Jeremiah where they literally dramatized very visually what God was going to do you see God has always revealed himself in a very clear way and in the Old Testament commonly he did it through very visible outward physical phenomena and when you come to the New Testament you see this as well don't you we see signs in the New Testament the Gospel of John is a series of eight great miracle signs in fact you might be interested to know that the word miracle is never mentioned in the Gospel of John one time because they are signs pointing in a very physical way to Christ and at John 20 verse 30 and 31 it says in that specific text the things that Jesus did were signs and he did many other signs in order that we might believe that he is who he claimed to be and then of course with Peter there was the sign of the sheep in acts 10 and then there was Paul's conversion an outward dramatic miraculous sign of blindness the glory of God and then in 2nd Corinthians 12:12 the signs of an apostle you see in times prior to the completing of the word of God God demonstrated his will in a very outward physical dramatic way so that no one could miss it but as the miracle ages have passed how do we know God's will now well we have in our hands the Word of God the whole purpose of the miracles was to point to the Word of God to the prophet of God as he spoke the Word of God once the compilation of the divine revelation was finished it then becomes the source of God's will so today I don't believe we look for miracles I don't believe we find in the New Testament injunctions for us to seek to find God's will in the Stars or to find God's will in some phenomena or to find God's will by some providential arrangement of circumstances which we ascertain as a divine act I believe that we go at this point to the Word of God and i think that substantially we can find the will of god in the scripture i want to suggest to you the things that are the will of god from scripture simplifying and reducing it down number one god's will is that you be saved God's will is that you be saved that's where God's will begins in 2nd Peter chapter 3 verse 9 it says this the Lord is not slack concerning his promise now the critics may say he is and that's the thrust of this chapter the critics may say all God isn't going to do anything where is the sign of his coming all things continue as they were from the beginning everything's been going along the same way all this stuff about judgment all this stuff about doom that we've been hearing all of this stuff that's going to supposedly come upon the false teachers why we've never seen any of this all things continue as they were from the beginning Peters reply is this it is not because the Lord is slack concerning his promise like men are it is not because there's a gap between what he says and what he does it is because he is long-suffering toward us not willing that any should what perish but that all should come to repentance it is the will of God that men be saved redeemed not perish I call your attention to Matthew chapter 18 and the words of our Lord there in verse 11 for the Son of man has come to save that which was lost how think ye if a man have 100 sheep and one of them be gone astray doth he not leave the ninety and nine and go into the mountains and seek that which has gone astray and if so be that he find it verily I say unto you he rejoiceth moreover that sheep then over the ninety and nine which went not astray even so listen it is not the will of your father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish now the reference in the passage primarily deals with children but it can be broadened because it is the heart of God who is not willing that any should perish Peter broadens it for us in first Timothy a word that speaks to the same matter in Chapter two for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth God wills that men be saved now that's where the will of God begins I mean if you're looking for the will of God apart from salvation you have no basis on which to look for it for the natural man understandeth not the things of God salvation is basic to enter into the family to acknowledge the lordship of Christ is when the will of God is first revealed in mark chapter three I just want to show you an illustration of this same thing in mark chapter three and verse 31 Jesus was teaching in a particular house and it says there came then his brother and his mother and standing outside they sent unto him calling him Jesus was crowded and crushed in the house this was often the case and his mother and his brothers wanted him now it doesn't tell us why it doesn't tell us whether they had a need or whether they thought he was being overtaxed or whether there was some particular family problem or whether they were on the way to somewhere but the multitude sat around him and they said to him behold your mother and your brother outside seek for you and he gave amazing response he said who is my mother are my brethren and they might have looked at him as if he were a little bit off his rocker if he didn't know who they were he looked round about on those who sat about him and said behold my mother and my brother he identified the people around him as his mother and brother and because he says in verse 35 who so ever shall do the will of God the same as my brother my sister my mother and there he is saying you really come into my family when you do the will of God and of course that initial step is salvation God wills that men be saved and when they respond to that and enter his family they become the brothers and sisters and mothers of Christ this is God's will so much is it God's will that he came into the world to die we have things we will but we don't will them to the extent that we would die for them but God did the Incarnation the crucifixion reveal the commitment of God to the expression of his will God's will is that men be saved that's where it begins and I don't make any assumption really in the church I know that there are people who are not saved I know there are people here tonight have never opened their heart to Jesus Christ I know that and I say to you the will of God for you is not that your perish the will of God for you is not that you go astray forever the will of God for you is not that you be cut off from eternal life the will of God for you is not that you spend forever in hell the will of God for you is that you be saved God says Paul who is rich in mercy for his great love where with he loved us even when we were dead in soon has made us alive together with Christ by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves it is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast the will of God expressing his love and His mercy is that you be saved that's where it begins you say I'm already saved and I still stumble let me take you to a second point Ephesians chapter 5 God's will is not only that you'd be saved but according to Ephesians chapter 5 it is that you be spirit filled spirit filled in Ephesians 5 we find in verse 16 the statement redeeming the time because the days are evil and the idea here is that we don't have much time there's a pressure coming in these evil days even in the time when Paul penned this and we must redeem the time and on that basis he says wherefore be ye not unwise now unwise is just a nice word for stupid without information or knowledge uninformed ignorant be not stupid or uninformed but understanding what the will of the Lord is now Paul you say how dare you I'm searching I'm banging on doors and putting out fleeces and I'm doing all kinds of stuff but I don't know the will of the Lord well you shouldn't be stupid you should know the will of the Lord and if you just read the next verse you'd find out what it is be not drunk with wine in which is excess but be filled with the spirit now God's will is to be filled with the spirit not drunk with wine and which is excess remember when we went through Ephesians 5 we talked about the fact that those people got drunk because they believed it induced communion with the gods the pagans in Ephesus believe that the drunker they got the more they ascended to a high that opened communion with the gods much as drug addicts think they reach a higher level of spiritual consciousness they believe the same thing and the Apostle Paul says if you want to really commune with God don't get drunk with wine be filled with the spirit now what does it mean you say does this mean I got to get the spirit I had a fella come to me in Dallas and say you know I I read your book on the charismatic movement I read the chapter on spirituality and he said you know I chased around for so long trying to get the Holy Spirit finally somebody told me I already had him If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Romans 8:9 what even the cruddy Corinthians who committed every conceivable sin are told by Paul don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit we have all been made to drink of one spirit first Corinthians 12:13 so all believers possess the Spirit of God that's not the issue we don't need to seek what we already had you say well if we all have the Holy Spirit shouldn't we have power in our lives shouldn't we really move out in our lives that's right because acts 1:8 says you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you the word powers Dunamis or dynamite you should be literal dynamite most of us look at our lives and say I think I'm a dud I keep lighting the fuse and nothing happens why if I have the Holy Spirit don't I go anywhere why if I have all things that pertain to life and godliness 2nd Peter 1:3 why if I am completing him Colossians 2:10 why if I have this power does nothing happen and the question is simply answered because you're not filled it's one thing to have the spirit resident it's something else to have the spirit dominant let me give you an illustration of it the word filled is used in the Gospels to speak of total control for example in John 16 6 it says sorrow hath filled your heart in Luke 6 11 says they were filled with madness in Luke 428 they were filled with wrath in Luke 526 they were filled with fear you see mostly in our lives we can balance those things off like for example sorrow we have a little star a little joy and we have a little sorrow tip this way a little joy tips this way and we kind of try to balance it if something real bad happens we try to think happy thoughts and everybody tries to boost a settlement you know but when something horrible totally disaster a terrible injury a death or whatever boom goes to the sorrow side and we're filled with sorrow that's the meaning of the word and in our lives basically the Spirit of God is there and there's a little for the spirit and little for us and a little for the spirit a little for us and we kind of balance things off with the flesh but there comes a time when we yield all of the spirit and were filled with the spirit and scale topples on his side according to Romans 6 it's a question of yielding yourself in obedience to the Spirit of God we are to be yielded to the Spirit of God in order that he may fill us and I want to illustrate it with an illustration I've used many times in teaching this but I think it'll get it across to you Peter is the classic illustration I want to use now Peter basically knew one thing if he didn't know anything else he knew he wanted to be where Jesus was one time Jesus tried to send him away and he said Lord to whom shall I go you have the words of eternal life the Lord could never get rid of Peter I know there were days when he walked down the road and stopped the Peter ran into the back of him Peter followed him he was always around he was one of the inner three I'm not sure if he got elected I just think maybe they couldn't get rid of him whatever but Peter wanted to be where Christ was and there is a very very obvious reason why because when he was with Christ he found incredible resource for his life for example Matthew 14 their disciples are out on the water and the storm is kicking up the Sea of Galilee and they're getting a little panicky all are trying to do is just go a little ways from the hill where they had been over to the little village it shouldn't have been a problem but the storm came up and the swirling wind that gets inside that little valley there between those cliffs on the east and those hills in the north and the West really got the things swirling and I've experienced that and some of my trips there and the boat was out in the middle and they were really in a state of panic and then all of a sudden as they looked off silhouetted against the moonlight here came someone walking on the water now that if you weren't already pretty well done in that would tend to do it to see someone walking on the water and of course you remember what happened they cried out is that you lord that's the only possible explanation they could come up with and he responded in the affirmative and immediately without a thought of anything Peter jumped out of the boat and started walking on the water now he'd been a fisherman all his life had never done that he knew he couldn't walk on water cognitively he knew that he said well why did he do something like that leap out of the boat fire off across the Whitecaps well I believe it was because he had this consuming desire to be where Jesus was he got out their little ways and got the feeling his oats you know like he was pretty good and started checking out what he was doing and then he began to sink the Lord had to pick him up and then they walked back together to the boat and I can just imagine how Peter you know must have approached the boat hey guys you know just very cool and casual as he strolled across the water with the Lord Peter learned a great lesson he learned that when he was near Jesus Christ he could do the miraculous later on in Matthew chapter 16 the Lord was quizzing the disciples about who he was and he said who do men say that I am and they said some say are Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the prophets and he said but who do you say that I am and all of a sudden Peters mouth started moving independent of his brain and he said thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God and the Lord said to him and he must have been smiling flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you Peter my father in heaven did and Peter learned a second great lesson when he was in the presence of Jesus Christ he could not only do the miraculous he could say the miraculous - next time we see him in our little analogy he's in the garden Jesus has been taken captive and that terrible thing that occurred in John 18 where the soldiers had taken Jesus to be tried in a mockery of a trial and then to be executed and he was down in the shall phase of that situation in the house Vanus Peter was outside and he was standing by the fire afar off and you know what happened when he was afar off he was a coward on three occasions what did he do denied Christ and what's amazing about that is if you just back him up just a few hours when the soldiers came to take Christ he grabbed a sword and started wailing the way at the first guy in line Bible says he chopped the ear off mal cos but you know he didn't go up to Malthus and say I'm gonna get your ear and just do that he wanted his head noctus reacted ducked he only got an ear but in effect he was saying I'll take the whole Roman army there may have been as many as 500 soldiers from Fort Antonius and he was going to start with the first guy in line and work his way through the troops say well he's got to be nuts no because he was standing next to Jesus Christ and I'm sure in the back of his mind was this Lord when these guys came marching in here and you said your name they all fell over like dominos crash now Lord if I get into trouble would you do that again I mean I know he felt that the Lord was there and he had a miraculous courage he could do and say the miraculous and he had almost a sense of invincibility but the next time you see him he's warming his hands by the fire and a little girl asked him if he knows Christ and he denies to other occasions he denies any curses you say it's inconceivable Peter this is inconceivable you walked on water controlling and overriding the nature that the elements of nature you who open your mouth and God speaks Peter you the sword gonna fight the whole Roman army what happened what happened was he got separated from Jesus and no sooner did he get separated then he lost it all well Jesus died and rose appeared to the disciples three times and one extra time to Peter and after that ascended into heaven you say old man with the Lord in heaven we might as well throw Peter under six feet of dirt I mean if he bailed out at seventy-five feet what goods are gonna be when the Lord is in heaven and you know what happens the next time we see Peter after the Lord's in heaven the first thing he does is this he stands up in front of the whole population of Jerusalem that are gathered for the feast of Pentecost and they have been attracted by the sound of a mighty rushing wind and the cloven tongues of fire and the speaking in languages the languages of all those who were gathered and this mass of humanity is gathered in Jerusalem and he stands up and he says you men of Israel and all you that dwell at Jerusalem be this known unto you and hearken to my words and he preaches the Messiahship of Jesus Christ and in Deitz the whole group for executing the Messiah and the whole speech was right out of the mouth of God there he was doing and saying the miraculous he and John went over to the temple there was a lame man there he said silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I unto thee rise up and walk the guy jumped up and went leaping and dancing and shouting through the temple is the only legitimate praise going on in there he could say the miraculous he could do the miraculous and so the Sanhedrin got him and said you keep quiet we don't want to hear any more out of you and he said to them I too I neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved and you judge whether Ottawa Bay God or man listen he could say the miraculous do the miraculous and he had a miraculous boldness but you say how if he's a coward when Christ is 75 or 100 feet away and he's outside the house why is he got so much courage when the Lord has already gone to heaven and the answer is very simple before anything happened in the book of Acts regarding preaching or healing or being bold it says and they were all chapter 2 verse 4 what filled with the spirit now let me tell you something people being filled with the spirit had the same result in Peters life as standing in the presence of Jesus Christ you get that being filled to the spirit had the same result as standing in the presence of Jesus Christ do you know what it means to be full of the Spirit it means to live as if you're in the presence of Jesus Christ it is nothing different than a consuming and constant Christ consciousness the mind that is centered on him the mind that gazes continually does glory second Corinthians 3:18 will be changed into his image that is why in Colossians 3:16 it says let the word of Christ dwell in you richly you see as the word about Christ dwells in you richly his presence becomes manifest in your conscious mind and as his presence dominates your mind the Spirit of God controls you you say aren't you confusing the spirit with Christ no because the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ Romans 8:9 and the Holy Spirit is another comforter alas for a clay toss another of the same exact identical kind as myself being spirit-filled is no mystical strange far out ecstatic experience it is simply Christ consciousness and people it comes from in putting the Word of God it's not a mystery it's not an emotion it's not an ecstatic experience it is the feeding of the word let me give you an illustration of this turn in your Bible to Acts chapter 4 and I want to point out just a couple of scriptures rather quickly and we'll draw through the other points and be done but in Acts chapter 4 verse 31 they were praying and when they had prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the Word of God with boldness notice the filling of the Spirit of God is connected with the Word of God look at chapter 6 verse 3 the Apostles are desirous of continuing their engagement in prayer and the Word of God and so they want to appoint some men to care for meeting physical needs and it says wherefore brethren look among you for seven men of honest report now watch full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom on one end or the other being filled with the Spirit of God is connected with the word and the wisdom of God the two are inseparable chapter six verse five and the saying pleased the whole multitude and they chose stephen a man full of faith and of the holy spirit how did he get full of faith he got full of faith by knowing the truth about God as revealed by God which gave substance to his faith and is the key to the filling of the Spirit and then in verse seven because of the power of the Holy Spirit filling them the word of God in creased inseperable is the word and the wisdom and the faith revealed in that word from being filled with the spirit and so we find that when men are filled with the spirit there's an amazing connection to the Word of God now beloved let me say this to you if you're looking for the will of God in your life number one make sure you're saved number two be sure your spirit filled that means you're receiving the input of the Word of God living in Christ consciousness so the Spirit of God is controlling your life third God's will as you be saved spirit filled and sanctified sanctified 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this I just want to touch it so carefully watch 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 3 for this is the will of God and when anybody ever asked me oh how can I know the will of God I always think of this verse this is the will of God why don't you start here even your sanctification that means being set apart that means being pure being holy being righteous being virtuous being sinless God's will is that we be pure undefiled unspotted blameless that's God's will that's pretty clear isn't it you say well what does he mean by that well he gives four principles number one verse three abstain from sex sin stay away from sex sin stay away from abstain from pornea any kind of pornography any kind of sexual activity and the word is broad enough it encompasses all sexual activity except that which is permitted by God in the confines of marriage between a husband and a wife and that's it stay away from it that's the will of God every time a couple comes in they come in for counseling at the church and they say we believe it's God's will for us to get married we asked him a question are you engaged in sexual activity if the answer is yes then we say you don't know the will of God you don't know whether God wants you to get married you don't know the party hasn't revealed because you haven't even obeyed the party has you're not even in a position to know what God's Willy's you have defied his will at the point of 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 unless there is a life of righteousness and holiness and virtue unless you're dealing with sin in your life and abstaining from sexual sin you are out of God's will to start with principle number two that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel and sanctification and honor now some believe the term vessel here refers to body so that you are to control your body so it honors God some believe that refers to your wife you ought to make sure that you care for your wife in a way that is honoring to God I guess I kind of lean toward the body concept because I think that fits the context better in other words handle your body so it honors God have you have you beaten your body to bring it into submission or subjection as Paul says are you dealing with the flesh that's the will of God thirdly not in the lust of evil desire or concupiscence or sensuality as the pagans who know not God principle number one stay away from sex in number two handle your body so it honors God and three don't act like the godless pagans and how do they act they're guided by their glands that's how they act they're guided by their impulses their lust their baser drives in other words it's a very physical thing here with the will of God stay away from sex sin and that which leads to it your body should honor God and that means your body is always to be under control all things are lawful says the Apostle but all things are not expedient all things are lawful but I will not be brought under the control of any people say oh well I'm always in control well you get to a place where you're not or you're not I remember the first time he ever kissed a girl out of control immediately it's a whole new world whole new experience and I realized that there were impulses in me that were beyond my ability to control except by the power of God finally the fourth point verse six don't go beyond and defraud your brother in any manner don't take advantage of somebody else boy you know people physically and sexually just take advantage of each other horribly I read the most shocking article in the latest issue of Psychology Today I couldn't believe it it presents an entire psychological survey which advocates incest as a positive affirming relationship in a family if you can conceive of such a thing talk about taking advantage it's gonna come that's the first article I've seen on it in a public place it's gonna come and father's will literally destroy their daughters when that becomes permissible don't use somebody don't use people to get your gratification God's will as he be pure set apart undefiled no longer do you live for speed or for two we read it earlier in the flesh to the lusts of men but in the will of God I'm telling you people I get weary of the stuff that goes on in Christian circles there's one Christian leader whose life is what two of them I found out about this week whose lives are so debauched and yet they carry on their ministry flourishing in a very public place and some Christians are so disturbed they're thinking of writing major articles on their lives just to expose them and churches are filled with people who are engaged in illicit relationships physically this is the will of God for you now you say Christ is my Lord and I have come to him and received at his hand the grace of salvation and I submit to him I love him and I adore him and then you go out and you flagrantly and violently and openly defy his will God's will as he be sanctified set apart pure forth God's will is not only that you be saved spirit filled and sanctified but submissive just a moment's thought on this first Peter 2:13 submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the lord's sake whether it be to the king as supreme or governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well for so is the will of God did he stop right there he says wait a minute submit yourselves to all the laws of man for the lord's sake not for the government's sake but for the lord's sake why because people are evaluating the legitimacy of your faith on the basis of your citizenship amazing amazing what kind of a citizen are you do you obey the ordinances of man the king the governor's them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers that's the police and sometimes the army the praise of them that do well listen people say Oh what should I do about the draft what's are you about signing up well it's same thing about being a policeman as long as those parts of our government the police and the armed forces are protecting the innocent against godless humanistic atheistic murderers whether they are individuals or nations I don't see any problem in being engaged in holding up what is righteous now if I was a Russian citizen I'd have a little trouble I couldn't serve in the Armed Forces because they are the encroach or the aggressor the murderer but I could defend people and I don't ever say anything very political but when we didn't defend people properly in Southeast Asia the result was millions have been slaughtered millions we are to be submissive the spirit of good citizenship we are to abide by the principles in our government you say well now wait a minute how far do you take that just to the point where the government violates a direct command of the word of God then you stand on the X 4 X 5 ground and you say at this point we will obey God and not man and I think that's where we have to draw the line but we are to be good submitters you realize in Ephesians 6 that if you're an employee or to submit to your employer as under the Lord as if you were Christ we have to learn to submit in Ephesians 5 it tells us in a marriage we learn to submit and a family we learn to submit and a job we learn to submit in a government we learn to submit and by our sweet submissive spirits spirit of cooperation this is not a dictatorship and so we submit by collaborating not by saying oh well if that's what they want to do I'll roll over and let them do it to me now we have recourse in our government we can vote we can petition we can lobby we can go to court about things and we have a just virtuous cause and that's cooperating with the system but when we violate it then we cease to be well spoken of and can't even qualify to be elders in the church except in those cases where the government violates a direct command of God and then we must obey God and pay the consequences can I give you a fifth ought what does God's will save spirit-filled sanctified submissive fifthly suffering and I just want to mention this because we've covered it in the past first Peter chapter 3 verse 17 for it is better if the will of God be so that you suffer for well doing and for evil doing God's will is that when we confront the world and they react to our message and our life that we may suffer and he says you shouldn't be so surprised for Christ also hath once suffered he suffered and over in chapter 4 and verse 19 he says let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him and well doing to a faithful creator and in chapter 5 verse 10 he says after you have suffered a while the Lord will make you perfect you see part of the growing of a mature believer is suffering it's the purging of John 15 where the Word of God and trials and circumstances strip off the sucker branches that retired our growth and dissipate our energy God has called us to suffering all that will live godly in this present age will suffer persecution 2nd Timothy 3:12 says so we we have to face that we don't look for that we don't relish it but we're willing to bear in our bodies the marks of Jesus Christ we're willing to be bold and confrontive in the face of suffering we're willing to say what has to be said no matter what happens and sometimes that gets a little scary I remember when I spoke at Valley College over here a few years ago they asked me to speak on Christianity and culture but I don't know anything about that so I decided to speak on why Jesus is the Messiah some of you may remember that well that's a pretty interesting place to do that because there a lot of Jewish people there so I got up in the open forum for an hour and I spoke on why Jesus was the Messiah I remember one young man who was saved that day right there and went to seminary I also remember that Christians were banned from the campus all Christian book tables were closed down the JDL similar to our church threatened to blow it up on a Sunday morning we didn't tell the people because we wanted him to come they didn't do that we started getting obscene phone calls in the middle of the night they harassed my wife my family we have had in our time here at Grace Church even person at our door with knife threatening to kidnap our children I have been put in jail for preaching the gospel the United States of America some years back that isn't always the way it will be but that might be I really believe that we must confront an evil age and people if I believe anything I believe it in the day in which we live if we really are confronted there will be greater consequences than there were in the past but you know what Paul said I've suffered a lot but I want to know him and the Fellowship of his what sufferings when you enter into suffering for the cause of Christ you enter into an intimate identification with him who suffered you see that the one who doesn't suffer never really understand Oh the intimacy of suffering for Christ understanding that merciful high priest that he is and a last s point God's will is that you be saved spirit filled sanctified submissive suffering how about this saying thanks God's will is that you say thanks first Thessalonians 5:18 in everything give what thanks for this is the will of God concerning you now now just watch and listen from it he will say oh I don't know God's will I'm trying to figure out God's will what is his will alright it is that you be saved they'll be given your heart to Christ that you be spirit filled are you receiving the Word of God regularly so that it creates in you a consciousness of Christ's presence his word dwelling in you richly giving the Spirit of God that which is necessary to control your life so you're filled by him and the word filled is used of a of a wind and a sail that blows the ship along are you being blown along across the water by the energy the Spirit of God who fills your life because you have Christ conscious thoughts are you safe defied have you checked your life at that point are you living a virtuous and righteous life and submissive are you the kind of a model of submission that the Word of God lays out are you one who submits to the authorities of the government the authorities around you so that the people say of you that you are well spoken of what about suffering are you confronting a society that is godless and what about saying thanks is your heart filled with Thanksgiving for every trial every tribulation every difficulty everything that goes wrong as well as right or are you grapey grouchy bitter angry what is God's will you know it's these things people you say well MacArthur you're a big help I mean I drove down here in the rain to hear this stuff all you're telling me is a bunch of Bible stuff you don't tell me which one of those six girls I'm supposed to pick you didn't tell me where I'm supposed to move or go to school or change my job or how I solved my problem I feel cheated I didn't get a straight answer I got one for you you're gonna like this you know if you're saved spirit-filled sanctified submissive suffering and saying thanks do you know what God's will is for you whatever you want you like that does that sound good do it whatever you want you say what do you say that self-will I can't do it I won't I have to knock on the door and put out a fleece and wait a minute if you're saved spirit-filled sanctified submissive and suffering and saying thanks who do you think is controlling your desires take a wild guess God is and that's why Psalm 37:4 says delight in the Lord and that's the composite of all six of those and he will give you what the desires of your heart and it doesn't mean he'll fulfill the ones that you've generated it means he'll put them there people say to me why did you go to Grace Church and you know for many years I've said I wanted to and some people say oh you wanted to don't you know the will of God it's something we just do because we have to wait a minute I don't live in that kind of misery I get letters every once in a while from a church or an organization they'll say you know we feel that we have been led of the Lord to ask you to come be our pastor and it's usually in pear blossom or death valley here somewhere but anyway sometimes it's better than that or sometimes I don't know lots of lots of things like that happening and they say would you please pray about this you know what my first thought is I don't want to go there and if I don't want to go there have an awful hard time praying about it I could just say dear Lord I don't want to go there I'm just checking in with it let you know that I don't want to go there I don't know a better way for God to lead my life than through my desires but there's a trap there and that is if your desires are not his desires and they cannot be his desires unless they are on these terms there's a second thought here once you begin to follow that desire in your heart and if it isn't clear yet wait it will be I found that always true in my life I came to Grace Church because I wanted to and I still want to be here and I don't want to go anywhere else and I think God's running the one is in me see but there's another thought when we want to do something and we follow that desire then we have to allow God to apply circumstances to that desire that may alter it but at least it gets us moving you can't steer a truck that's standing still right it's very difficult once it gets rolling it's easy and so we move out on the basis of the desire of our heart and let God shape that the Apostle Paul acts 16 he gets going and he says he says well we decided we go into Asia Minor and the Holy Spirit said nope so we said Plan B we're going to both inia and the Holy Spirit says nope that's South and North we've just been east what is he gonna do he never stabbed the desire he kept moving and moving and moving finally got to the Hellespont and stood on the edge of the water and said well Lord what do you want me to do that night he went to sleep and had a vision to go to Macedonia and the gospel went to Europe and if he hadn't had done that and followed the desire of his heart to keep pursuing the will of God even though the Lord was directing him along the way by closing a few doors if he hadn't done that just maybe the gospel would have gone the other way and the Chinese would be the Christians evangelizing us but you see to follow the desire of your heart you have to be open to the circumstances I saw Marty wolf come in I used this illustration of him in my book Marty and I used to drive to school all the time when I was going to seminary and Marty said you know I said I want to be a missionary to the Jews and he had the desire to just to go to Paris and speak to the french-speaking Jews about Christ and so we talk a lot about that and we just checked out his life saved spirit-filled went through the whole deal said Marty goodbye of a nice trip you know and just take off that's the desire huh and so I remember we put up a plaque in our church Marty wolf goes to France and you know where he went to Canada that's where he went but he went to Montreal to work with french-speaking Jews God fulfilled the desire of his heart he just did had the right town you see that's how God works nothing mystical is you keep moving on the desire of your heart God will open the right thing I love this verse Genesis 24 27 I being in the way the Lord led me let's bow now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever amen you've been listening to John

Channel: Learning Sound Theology

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Keywords: The will of God, Theology, John MacArthur, Learning sound Doctrine, Learning sound theology, sword of truth

Id: PEyNIQigYyE

Length: 60min 13sec (3613 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 19 2017