He Will Show You His Will | Timeless Truths – Dr. Charles Stanley

[Music] timeless truths a collection of classic sermons from dr charles stanley today's selection recorded in 1997 he will show you his will [Music] my father died when i was about nine months of age and so those are pretty tough years for me because i was sort of pushed around to this one and that and somebody to keep me while my mother worked i don't remember anything much about those years except that i do remember feeling very lonely because i would come home and my mother was gone because she had to work and she was not there not because she didn't want to be but because she couldn't be my only remembrance of those early years was that i felt real empty and all alone and then when i was 12 years of age the second row where i usually sat on the edge i stepped out one sunday morning fell on my knees and asked the lord jesus christ to save me and immediately without anybody ever telling me somehow i had this awesome sense of feeling god not only has saved me but god has something to do in my life god must have a will or plan a purpose in my life never heard a sermon on it never heard anybody explain it it was just a witness of the spirit that god had something in mind for me two years later when i was 14 years of age i knew that the lord wanted me to preach the gospel it's the only thing i've ever thought about doing the only thing god ever impressed me to do never doubted it one single time from the moment i was absolutely sure did i know how to find the will of god in those days probably not and in my ignorance of just asking the lord what do you want to do with my life i'm sure that he impressed me so strongly so clearly so simply so early in life he knew that i would never doubt what he was saying in my life but i remember that after i was saved that i didn't feel all that long anymore all of a sudden this god who is out of reach and totally beyond my comprehension those days suddenly he'd come into my life and as i began to read the scripture things started looking a little different i began to understand things i didn't understand before began to read how he worked in the lives of of jesus and how he worked in the life of the apostles and i wasn't too much into the old testament those days then later on but i knew that god was saying something to me and speaking to my heart and getting me ready for something and i think one of the most overwhelming assuring encouraging things that i've ever learned in my life is god has a will and a plan and a purpose for every single one of us no matter who we are i don't know of anything much more exciting than to know that the god who created all of this has you in mind has me in mind has a purpose and a plan and the wonderful thing about it is he doesn't keep it a secret when the bible talks about the mysteries of god it's certainly not the mystery of his will and his purpose but your life in my life god's will could be divided generally into his moral will in his personal will and if we get beyond that in his providential will that is the way he's going to operate creation and all those things above and beyond their understanding but in his moral will that deals with those things those do's and don'ts some things we know fit into his moral will thou shalt not steal lie cheat commit adultery murder have other gods before us then there's his wonderful personal will for our life that is what god's agenda is for your life as a person what he has in mind when he created you and so what i want to talk about in this message listen not only the fact that he has a will for your life but you can know the will of god for your life the will of god he will show you his will for your life so i want you to turn if you will to ephesians chapter 5 and i want to look at a couple of past couple of verses here in this fifth chapter paul has been talking about our relationship to evil and sin and how we should um lay those things aside that do not fit who we are in christ jesus and so then he comes down to this 15th verse and here's what he says of ephesians chapter 5. he says therefore based on all the things that he'd said about laying aside the old man and so forth he says therefore be careful how you walk not his unwise men but his wives making the most of your time because the days are evil so then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the lord is now my friend god has a personal plan and purpose for your life and so the question is well can we know what god's will and plan for our life is yes we can not only does he have one but he we can know it why would he say so then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the lord is would god tell us in his word to understand what his will for our life is he says we're not to be unwise as the world is walking as the world walks walking is unbelievers walk he says we're to understand what the will of the lord is that means that not only does god have a plan and a purpose for your life in mind but we have the wonderful privilege of being able to understand what it is now that's just as consistent with god as knowing that he has a plan that he is willing to show us what that plan is because you see it'd be inconsistent for god to say i have a plan for your life but i'm not going to tell you what it is here's why i want you to live a certain way but i'm not going to tell you how i have a purpose for your life but but you have to figure that out it would be totally inconsistent for god to require of me something and and then not tell me what it is nor enable me to do it because you see the truth is you and i cannot live a spiritual life in the flesh the god who has a will and a purpose and a plan for our life also is the same god who has promised to enable us and equip ours not only by spiritual gifts but also by the fact of the indwelling presence of the holy spirit listen anything and everything you've heard me say this over and over again because i want you to understand it anything and everything god requires of us to become or to be that is to be or to do god has committed himself to enable us by his indwelling presence to do that in our behalf for us through us to us and in us he knows that apart from us we can never discover his will apart from him we can never discover his will nor could we ever do his will therefore we have the wonderful privilege of knowing that he has a will for our life and the wonderful privilege of knowing that he has assumed responsibility for revealing his will to us and so god has not said you figure it out he says for example the holy spirit is the one who discerns the mind of god and he's the one who speaks through our spirit and enables us to know and sometimes when a child trusts the lord jesus as their savior at six or seven or sometimes five i'm sure that sometimes adults say well how in the world could they understand what god is doing in their life at five never underestimate the power of almighty god to speak to a child as i think about at the age of 12 i think some of these five-year-olds and six-year-olds know who do a whole lot i know a whole lot more about what jesus is all about than i did at the age of 12 because they've got godly parents and they've come to sunday school and they've heard a good teaching of the word of god throughout those early early years of their life probably learning a lot more than we realize and so you never underestimate the power of god to make himself known to a child as well as to an adult now how is it that god shows us and reveals his will to us well i want you to listen carefully because i want to give you several things the first step i believe and the most important step in understanding the will of god in any particular area or big major issues in our life is go to the word of god now listen carefully i do not mean that the things i'm getting ready to share with you that all of these you have to go through some ritual to find the will of god i'm not saying that but i'm saying in major issues of life all of these things are important listen and when this begins to be a habit of our life what you're going to discover is that finding his will in those daily decisions would just be just like this you'll know what to do why because you are in the habit you're in the habit of reading and listening to the word of god you're in the habit of discerning and understanding the principles of god so you will listen automatically react by the spirit to understand what he would have you to do i want you to turn to psalm 119 for a moment psalm 119 and i want you to look at verse 105. the 119th psalm and the 105th verse listen to what he says i'm going to give you a moment to find it 119th psalm in the 105th verse listen to what he says he says thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path what does that mean it means that the word of god will listen we'll lighten our path will show us the way and in the king james i believe it is the 130th verse you may want to look at that uh in whatever translation you have in the same in the same chapter 119th the 130th verse says the unfolding of thy word gives light or the entrance of thy word gives light that is the word of god listen the word of god lightens the way the though the word of god shows us the way if i want to know what god is thinking about listen in any given area i know exactly where to turn open the book and find out what is it that god said about this situation or something so similar to it that the principle is here and so the word of god is full of the wisdom of god because it's the unfolding revelation of god himself that's the first step the second of course is to pray bible know the lord's mind about something get on my knees and ask him to show him you say well you have to get on your knees no you don't well can you stand up yes you can sit right yes you can but you know what there is something about kneeling before god humbling ourselves before him and saying father i desperately need your direction i need wisdom i humble myself before you if you're too proud to get on your knees more than likely you're too proud to listen to what he has to say and so we need to humble ourselves beforehand in prayer asking the lord to give us direction now praying isn't doing all the talking praying is telling him what we think how we feel and listening backing off and listening that's why it's so important that prayer involves meditation reading the word of god being quiet listening lord what are you saying to me in this and sometimes god will just stick me on one passage of scripture or one or two verses and sometimes one verse sometimes a week sometimes two weeks sometimes longer than that and i know when i can't get away from something god is trying to say something to me well you say well why can't you get it the first time same reason you can't and that is we don't always understand exactly up front what god may be saying to us and none of us have any insight on god all of us have the same holy spirit living on the inside of us god deals with each one of us in relationship to how he knows us and so sometimes you get me in some passage and i think well lord what are you saying prayer seeking listen spending time with god i want you to get this there is no substitute in all of life for spending time with god in prayer with an open bible and people say well i pray how much how much time do you spend reading the bible and praying well you know i i just pray all the time that's not the issue well listen what gods are praying what gives validity to our praying is the word of god now once in a while somebody will say well i like the sermons you preach that helps me understand get my needs met but these doctrinal sermons sometimes they go over my head no they don't go over your head here's the important thing about doctrinal messages in order to listen in order for the message about meeting our needs to have validity and strength you've got to understand who god is you must understand those basic truths about god this is why people get all emotional jumping up and down praising the lord and hallelujah and praising god have a nervous breakdown you know why because they are living on emotion not truth not listen not abiding rich deep theological truth that is the truth of god and so that's why i don't want to always talk about getting this need met that need met but who is god who is the lord jesus christ what is the work of the holy spirit what is his way how does he operate in their life then we understand we when you begin to see our needs we we seek god to meet our needs based on solid biblical principles not on some oh lord bless me good hallelujah praise god well listen when your feet hit the ground the truth is are you on truth are you on some emotional bend you want to walk in truth the bible says we're to walk in truth walk in love walk in light not walk listen walk in joy yes but not walk in some frivolous kind of emotional upheaval which is up to day and down tomorrow on our face before almighty god the third thing that's so important is this now listen carefully listen if i want to know the will of god listen not only must i be in his word and in prayer but listen now listen carefully i must focus on my relationship with him now listen carefully god is not an information center he's not an information center waiting for us to tap into him god is our father what is it he wants he wants a relationship with us so therefore if i want to know the mind of god if i want to know his will about something then what i want to do is i want to pursue my relationship with him at some given point about this particular situation lord let me speak to my heart what do you want to say to me about you what do you want me to know about you that that has to do with all this you see he's not interested in just dishing out information he's interested in drawing us to himself he's interested in conforming us to his likeness he's interested in building a relationship with us so here's what i've discovered and i'm discovering and that is simply this if i want to know the mind of god about something i don't have to make a big issue about about what that is what i want to do is focus on father what do you want to say to me about my life what is your will and purpose and your plan here i want you to show me how to love you show me how to express my love and devotion to you show me how to walk in your you know what it's it's very clear the the will of god and the purpose of god the plan of god begins to unfold as i find myself being enriched in my relationship and deepened in my understanding of who he is he doesn't keep secrets from his children more than willing to show us and so what happens oftentimes we just come to him and say lord here's the decision i have to make and i need some direction here what do you say god and god's real son you know why because he's not an information center he's not an operator sitting on the other end god is a lover he is the chief of all lovers and he loves us and he wants us for himself and the unfolding of his will for us is an expression of his love and so therefore god's not interested in handing out information with no relationship and this is why people say i prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and god hadn't said a thing you know why because praying and praying and praying is not the issue it's relationship remember that if i wa if i want to know god's mind and heart i focus on the relationship not on the particular issue that i'm after the fourth thing is this one of the ways that he reveals his will is through circumstances sometimes god closes the door sometimes he closes his door and opens this door so often times he will reveal his will and purpose of planning a given situation for your life by opening a door or closing a door anytime listen any time watch this anytime god closes the door it's for your protection anytime he opens the door it's an invitation and sometimes you and i may run right up to a door that looks open to us and slam right in front of us why heading in the wrong direction something about that appeal to us it wasn't the will of god and in his love he slams the door what is he doing protecting us from making a wrong decision so somebody says well i i wouldn't make a decision but i'm afraid you don't have to be afraid if you genuinely with all of your heart surrendered and yielded to him make a decision and it's the wrong decision listen god will rescue you out of a wrong decision if your heart was committed to being obedient to god and for some reason out of any experience or ignorance you misread what the will of god was you weren't trying to indulge yourself you weren't trying to have your way you really believed that was the will of god didn't seem to work out the way you expected it to god listen if listen if god closes one door he's got something better all i have to do is to be responsible to be obedient to what he says do and trust his reasoning is far greater than my understanding and so it's so very important i think that you and i understand that well of course one of the things that you and i can depend upon to some degree is godly counsel sometimes you and i will talk with someone else maybe not even bring up the issue at hand and god will use that person to say something exactly what we needed to hear and so godly counsel is certainly one of god's ways of revealing and unfolding his will and purpose and plan for a particular area or or making a decision for us now a lot of other things i could say let me bring this to a close how can i be sure ask myself seven questions how can i be sure that i've heard what god has said so if you just jot these down number one is what i believe i've heard consistent with the word of god and this is why it is so very important that you and i not only know verses but we know the principles is this consistent with the word of god second question i ask myself is this and that is listen is this a wise decision and you know you and i deep down inside we know one of things wise when it's not wise and does he not say here in in ephesians he says be not foolish but he says the understanding what the be wise be understanding what the will of god is is this decision a wise decision the third thing is this can i confidently ask god to enable me to do this if something is not the will of god and i say well i have confidence i'm going to do that listen the spirit of god will bear witness with your spirit with static there'll be conflict in your spirit when you say when i say well can i can i confidently ask god to enable me to do this watch this there is no way for me confidently i have any confidence to ask god to enable me to do something that's not his will i won't have any confidence i can try to muster it up all i want to i'm not going to have confidence to disobey god i'm not going to have assurance to disobey god the confidence comes in knowing the mind of god and listen if it's in keeping with scripture if it's in keeping with scripture if it's a wise decision if i can confidently say god you must enable me and i'm asking you to enable me to do this then the fourth question is this do i have the witness of the spirit is does this is the spirit of god giving me a quiet sense of affirmation on the inside now watch this somebody says well as soon as i get peace i'm going to do it you know what sometimes we start to think we've mustered up peace listen you can't go by feeling it must be the witness of the spirit you will know in your spirit when the spirit of god has affirmed for you this is the mind of god this is the will of god you are free to move in this direction the next one is this i have to ask myself this question this question if i believe this is the will of god does this fit who i am as a child of god does this does this conduct does this purchase this does this act is this is this in is this in keeping with the mind of god does this fit who i am does it fit who i am is it a violation of scripture is it who i am i'm coming back to illustrate that in a moment the next question is this does this fit god's overall plan for my life somebody says well i don't know what god's overall plan for my life as well listen does it fit the scripture does it fit who you are as a believer listen if it fits who you are as a believer it's going to fit god's overall plan in your life and then we have to ask ourselves this question and thinking about all of these things does will this honor god if i do this will this honor god now you ask yourself those seven questions you're going to know whether it's of god or not now let me give you a couple examples and i'm going to close lady came to me one day and she said she said i'm going to the mission field i said well wonderful praise the lord about that i said then i know your family is all excited about that she said no i said what do you mean she said i'm leaving my family going to mission field i said now wait a minute um she says i've asked the lord to give me direction for my life and i know this is will of god i said now what's the will of god you mean to tell me that you're leaving your husband and your children and you're going to the mission feeling obedience to god yes i am i said no you're not you may go to the mission field but you're not going to mission feeling obedience to god and walk away from your husband and your children because you want to be a missionary well i believe god called me years and years ago and i probably shouldn't have gotten married and had these kids and i said it's too late ma'am don't sit here and tell me that god's called you to the mission field to leave your family god would never give you guidance to violate his word he's not going to lead us to do anything that's going to harm someone else he may lead us to do something that causes someone else pain because they don't agree but he's not ever going to listen he's not ever going to lead us to do something that violates the living word of god you ask yourself those seven questions and you will know whether you have heard from god whether you have the will of god for your life or not now god's a wonderful father he wants the best for us he makes it simple now i've strung this out a long ways and told you a lot of things about it does that make it complicated no i'm simply saying here are some things that you can consider in the major decisions of your life in the minor decisions of your life and listen what god wants us to do is to walk in his spirit and it'd be such a natural normal thing for us that we just sort of know what to do next because because we are listen because we are walking in the spirit our mind and heart is committed to the will of god and knowing the will of god oftentimes is very very simple in most things in life but then there are those tough things and you know what he is there to make it very clear this much i know it is the will of god for you to be saved this much i know it's the will of god for you to be baptized it's the will of god for you to be a part of a local fellowship somewhere and i know there's some people who live in different areas of the country where they live maybe many many miles away from a church and can't get there every sunday i do understand that those circumstances health-wise and so forth but under normal conditions it's his will of you to be a part of a local body of people who believe god's word and love him love each other it's the will of god that you walk in the spirit it's the will of god that you love each other it's the will of god that you forgive it's the will of god listen that you and i are growing in our faith toward him a lot of things i know the will of god for your life and i just want to say to you if you've never trusted jesus christ as your savior you ask him to forgive you of your sin tell him that you're putting your life in his hand in that moment you've taken the most awesome step you can take because you will have just changed your whole eternal destiny in one commitment of obedience to jesus christ you

Channel: In Touch Ministries

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Keywords: Charles F. Stanley, Charles Stanley, In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley, In Touch Ministries, Preaching, Bible teaching, Dr. Stanley, Intouch ministries, intouch

Id: _coYrXivn6Y

Length: 24min 7sec (1447 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 17 2021