How does God show His will
?
• There are three distinct periods of God’s revelation of His will to man.
1. From Adam to Moses God spoke directly
to His people.
“And the LORD
God commanded the man, saying . . . ” (Gen. 2:16).
“And God said
to Noah, . . . .” (Gen. 6:13)
“Now
the LORD had said to Abram: . . . .” (Gen. 12:1)
2. From Moses to Christ God spoke through
the prophets (Heb. 1:1).
God not only spoke
the Ten Commandments He also wrote them Himself (Ex. 20:1-17; 32:15-16; 31:18). The
Scriptures were written by “holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the
Holy Spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:20-21) “All Scripture
is given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.” (2 Tim. 3:16)
3. From the First Coming to the Second Coming
of Jesus Christ “God has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,” (Heb.
1:2). After Jesus ascended to Heaven God sent the Holy Spirit of truth “He
will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears
He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (Jn. 16:12-13)
How to discern God’s Will ?
• The Holy Bible
has many good examples of how God reveals His will to His people.
1 Read the Bible
for God’s instructions (2 Tim. 3:14-17).
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the
LORD, And He delights in his way.” (Psm. 37:23)
“I will instruct
you and teach you in the way you should go.” (Psm. 32:8)
2 Pray and ask God to show His will in a particular situation.
Abraham’s
servant prayed and asked God to show him which girl he should choose for Isaac (Gen. 24).
David prayed to the LORD before deciding whether or not to pursue the enemy (1 Sam. 30:8).
3 In the Old Testament time God spoke to Israel by the prophets(Heb.1:1). In the New Testament time God built the Church “on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, . . .” (Eph.
2:19-22). The local churches are governed by ministers, elders and deacons (Acts
20:28; 1 Pet. 5:1-4; Php. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:13).
How does the Holy Spirit
help us to discern God’s
Will ?
• “And it shall
come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see
visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.” (Acts 2:17-18)
• The spiritual gift
of prophecy is given to God’s “menservants and maidservants.” There were men and women prophets in the Early
Apostolic Church (Acts 11:27-28; 21:9). The spiritual gift of prophecy should be pursued (1 Cor. 12:10; 14:1-6;
1 Thes. 5:19-21).
• “Then He said,
‘Hear now My words: If there is a a prophet among you, I the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision, and I speak
to him in a dream.” (Num. 12:6)
• Peter saw the vision
of God’s cleansing of the unclean creatures to signify His acceptance of Gentiles for salvation (Acts 10:9-48).
• The Holy Spirit
guided Paul and his coworkers where not to preach and Paul’s vision of the Macedonian call resulted in the founding
of the Church at Philippi (Acts 16:6-34).
• “But God has
revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes,
the deep things of God. (1 Cor. 2:10)
How do God’s people have
the assurance of His will ?
• After Moses was
called from the burning bush on Mount Horeb
he said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? So He said, ‘I will certainly be
with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt,
you shall serve God on this mountain.” (Ex. 3:1, 11-12). It was on Mount
Horeb that Moses struck the rock that water came out (Ex. 17:6). Moses received the Ten Commandments and God made the covenant with Israel on Mount Horeb (1 Kn. 8:9).
• God had called
Gideon to deliver Israel from the Midianites
but he doubted his ability to do that. “Then he said
to Him, ‘If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.”
(Jud. 6:12-17) Gideon wanted God to give him the assurance that he was chosen
to deliver Israel by showing him a miracle
by the test of the fleece of wool (Jud. 6:36-40).
• The Lord Jesus
Christ wants us to have faith in God and have no doubts about what He can do for us (Mk. 11:20-24)
What happen to
people who
do not do
the Will of God ?
Hebrews 4:1-10
1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest,
let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.
2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to
them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it
3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has
said: "So I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My rest,"' although the works were finished from the foundation of the
world
4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day
in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"
5 and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest."
6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was
first preached did not enter because of disobedience,
7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today,"
after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts."
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward
have spoken of another day.
9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased
from his works as God did from His.
What happen to people who
call ‘Lord, Lord’ and do
not do the Will of God ?
Matthew 7:21-23
21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you;
depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
We must do
the Will
of God to
get to Heaven
The Lord
Jesus Christ said: “For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
(Mk. 3:35)
“For you have
need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:” (Heb. 10:36)
“And the world
is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. “ (1 Jn. 2:17)
May
God bless you