Good morning. Let's open up this morning's
service in the spiral book, number 42, number 42. Let us praise
the name of Jesus. If you could please stand, number
42. ? Let us praise the name of Jesus
? ? Prophet, priest, and sovereign king ? ? To him render adoration
? ? Laud and homage to him bring ? ? Let us praise the name of
Jesus ? God incarnate from above Came to save His chosen people
Sent by God in cognate love Let us praise the name of Jesus Who
upon Mount Calvary Shed His blood and seek our pardon. Guide from sin to set us free. Let us praise the name of Jesus. risen conquering gracious friend
advocate and mediator all our hopes on him depend let us praise
the name of jesus for he bought us to his fold. Come, exalt his name and worship. May the Savior be extolled. Let us praise the name of Jesus. till we see him face to face. Then throughout the endless ages,
praise him for his love and grace. You may be seated. Good thing about a music box,
you can just turn it off, huh? Thank you, Bert. Good morning. Exciting, isn't it? See what
all they've done this week. There is a backlog on the trusses,
so don't be discouraged if after they finish the block this week,
we have to look at it like it is for the next three or four
weeks before the trusses come in. So once they come in, then
roof will be put on and things will go pretty quickly. There
will be a slight delay for the next few weeks because of that,
so. All right, let's go to the Lord in prayer and ask His blessings
on His word. Oh, our merciful Heavenly Father, we're so very grateful and hopeful
that we are able to come into Thy holy presence and not only
find your acceptance, but to have the fullness of your love
in the person of your dear son. We're very hopeful to know that
we have an advocate father that is seated at the right hand who
makes intercession for us. We pray that you would be pleased
this morning to send your spirit in power Pray that you would
open our hearts, open your word, open the windows of heaven, that
you would come down and meet with us and speak to us and lead
us to find our comfort and our hope, our salvation in Christ. Lord, forgive us of our sin,
increase our faith. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. Will you open your Bibles with
me to the first chapter of Acts, Acts chapter 1. We started a
study through Acts a few weeks ago and we're at the latter part
of chapter 1 where the 120 disciples are gathered in the upper room
waiting for the Holy Spirit. And as they wait, Peter stands
up and quotes a couple of Old Testament passages, one from
Psalm 41 and one from Psalm 69 that prophesied what Judas would
do. And then concluded from that
prophecy that they needed to choose a replacement for Judas. And so they chose two men. Their names you'll find in, In
verse 23, they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who
was also named Justice, and Matthias. And they cast lots to see which
of the two should take Judas' place. And it fell on Matthias,
and Matthias is never mentioned again in the word of God. How many times have you gotten
ahead of the Lord, and made decisions and done things that would have
been way better had you waited. The older I get, the more I realize,
just wait upon the Lord. He will renew your strength.
He will mount you up with wings as eagles, and you'll run and
not be weary and walk and not faint. And waiting on God is
faith. When you're young and impetuous
and determined to get things done, you oftentimes rush in
like a fool in things that you shouldn't have done. Well, that's
exactly what the apostles did. It's clear from the book of Revelation
that there are but 12 apostles, not 13. There's 12. And we know
that Saul of Tarsus was God's choice for Judas's replacement.
Paul called himself the least of the apostles, one born out
of due time, the apostle to the Gentiles. He was Judas's replacement
chosen by God. But we have some anxious men
who read the scriptures and they were right in their understanding
of the prophecies that had been made about Judas, but they were
wrong. in giving God a choice between
two options. You know, there was another mistake
they made. Lord, we give you Barsabbas and
Matthias and you choose which one you want. You ever done that? You go before the Lord with two
options and you've already decided what you want. You just want
God's approval on things and, you know, Going before the Lord
to discern, and the title of this message is Discerning God's
Will. Discerning God's Will. And going
before the Lord for an answer to a question is never good to
give God options to choose from. Lord, what would you have me
to do? What would you have me to do? And then wait on the Lord.
Wait on the Lord. It's what they should have done.
There's a lot of lessons to be learned from this story, isn't
there? We've got the apostles. The very
first decision that they made, the very first decision that
they made was wrong. Which just shows us, you know,
the Lord doesn't try to hide the sins of his heroes in scriptures. He reveals them for what they
are. Man at his very best state is
altogether vanity. And man at best is a, the best
man is a man at best. It just is. And they're, you
know, we're all fraught for failure and we all do things we ought
not to do. And the Lord opens up this story
by showing us, by example, the apostles themselves waiting for
the spirit of God. And then they cast lots. They
used an earthly fleshly method to discern God's will. They,
you know, they cast lots and the lot fell on Matthias and
they thought, okay, well now Matthias is the right one. and
looking for a sign. You say, well, didn't Jonas or
didn't Gideon give God the option to give him a sign? He did, he
did, and he was wrong in doing so. Matter of fact, if you go
back to the story of Gideon in the book of Judges, Gideon had
already offered an offering up to the angel of the Lord which
was a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the scripture says, fire
came out of the rock and consumed the sacrifice. And Gideon responded
by saying, now I know that you are, that you are the angel of
the Lord and that this is the word from God. And then he turns
right around and says, Lord, if this is what you want me to
do, then, and he puts out a fleece, you remember, you hear people
in religion say, well, put out a fleece in order to discern
God's will. That's what the apostles were doing, giving God two choices. But that fleece that Gideon put
out is a gospel story, isn't it? You know what that fleece
is a picture of. It's the same fleece that covered
the nakedness of Adam in the garden. It's the robe of righteousness. It's the lamb of God, which without
spot and without wrinkle, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
put that fleece out. And what did he say? Lord, if
this be your word to me, then let the fleece be full of water
in the morning from the dew and let the ground around the fleece
be dry. And sure enough, the next morning he got up and Gideon
took that fleece and the scripture says he wrung out a bowl full
of water. And he still wasn't satisfied.
He wanted another sign, didn't he? But to be careful, to be
careful. A wicked and perverse generation
seeketh after a sign. You know, it's what the apostles
were doing. They were asking God for a sign,
casting lots and making a decision ahead of time. So the next, the
Gideon gives God another option. He says, tomorrow, let the fleece
be dry and let the ground about the fleece be wet. Well, you
know what that do is a picture of. It's the do from heaven.
It's the anointing of the spirit of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ
being that fleece was anointed with the fullness of the spirit
of God. When he went before God as our
sin bearer, as in our advocate, he was the Christ, he's the Messiah.
And then what happened on the cross? He was wrung out. He was wrung out on the cross,
a bowl full of water. And then what happens the next
day? Now that anointing of the spirit is provided for all those
around him. So, you know, don't go to Gideon's
picture of putting out a fleece and say, well, let's put out
a fleece and see what God shows us. Let's cast a lot. Let's give
God a choice between two things. That's a bad way to discern God's
will. The Lord used Gideon's unbelief to give us a picture
of the gospel. But that didn't mean what Gideon
did was right. And the same thing for us. The first thing I want us to
look at Paul said in Ephesians chapter five, he said, be ye
not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Be you not unwise, but understand
what the will of the Lord is. So I want us to get some understanding
of how to discern God's will in three categories. First is
the will of God's decree. The Lord tells us in Thessalonians,
he said, be thankful in all things for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. Now the structure of that verse
is not it's God's will for you to be thankful in all things.
The structure of that verse is be thankful in all things for
all things are the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
And that's the will of God's decree. We serve a God who is
sovereign. And everything that happens in
time is happening according to his purpose, his decree. Turn with me to Daniel chapter
four. Daniel chapter four. This is the will of God's decree. We're not going to understand
anything about God's will. unless we see that his will is
always fulfilled. The wrath of man shall praise
thee, and the remainder thou shalt restrain. So brethren,
when you rush ahead and make decisions like you ought not
to, and you have to suffer the consequence, that was ordained
of God. Does it make your Does it make
our sin right? No, but that was part of God's
ordained decree. Um, and, uh, he works all things
together for good for them that love him. And those are the called
according to his purpose. Um, look at, look at Daniel chapter
four at verse 34 and at the end of days, this is After I've suffered the consequences
of my pride, the Lord was pleased to visit me. And at the end of
days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my
understanding returned unto me. That's where our understanding
comes, isn't it? When God takes us and lifts up our eyes unto
heaven and causes us to see Christ seated in his rightful place
on his throne, ruling and reigning his universe with all sovereignty
and with no, with no, no, No gaps, no changes, no worries. We have a God that changes not,
don't we? Look, he says, I looked up into heaven, my understanding
returning to me, and I blessed the most high, and I praised
and honored him that liveth forever and ever, whose dominion is an
everlasting dominion. He has a dominion that's everlasting. And I remind you again what that
word everlasting means in the scriptures. It doesn't mean it
starts now and lasts forever. It means it never had a beginning,
never had an end. That's what the word everlasting is. Our
God is self-existent. Our God never learned anything.
He's never consulted anybody. He's never had a question about
anything. He's never changed his mind. He doesn't have a plan
B. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion. And his kingdom is from generation
to generation. And all the inhabitants of the
earth, all the inhabitants of the earth, that's me and you,
are reputed as no thing. I mentioned this recently, the
Lord Jesus, before he ascended into glory in Matthew chapter
28, said to the disciples, all power has been given unto me
in heaven and in earth. If the Lord Jesus Christ has
all power, that means we don't have any power. You remember
when Pilate tried to threaten the Lord and he said, don't you
know that I have the power to release you or the power to crucify
you? You have no power at all except that which is given to
you from heaven. The only power you've got is delegated power.
And if God doesn't delegate you some authority and some power,
you've got none. And so Nebuchadnezzar says now,
he says, all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing.
And he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and
among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay his
hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He does his will. He's sovereign. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
one. This is especially true when it comes to salvation. Ephesians chapter one. Look at verse five, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. When did he predestinate us?
Everlasting. Everlasting. Never been a time. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. God predestinated his people in Christ before time ever began. Look at verse 9 in that same
chapter, having made known unto us the mystery of his will according
to the good pleasure, his good pleasure, which he hath purposed
in himself. The Lord doesn't have to ask
permission to do anything. He purposes these things in himself
and he makes known his will to his people. He makes known his
sovereignty, he makes known the accomplishments of his son, he
makes Christ known to our hearts, he reveals Christ in us. Paul
said, when it pleased God, when it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb to reveal Christ in me, call
me by his grace. That's when it happens, when
God's pleased. Look at verse 11 in Ephesians
chapter 1, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his will. We saw about the will of
God. I can remember back in religion,
we were so worried about trying to figure out what God's will
for our lives were, not knowing that we were smack dab in the
middle of it right there. Don't worry about that. God is
sovereign. You're right where you're supposed
to be. And his will and his decrees are perfect. Our God doesn't have a plan B. Our God reigneth. He's not waiting
to see how something works out. Before. Before he decides what
he's going to do. He's already he's already decided
everything from the beginning. To the end. Now that's that ought
to be a great comfort to a believer. To be able to rest in knowing
that our God is on his throne and that his will is being accomplished. His purpose is being fulfilled,
particularly, not just in Providence. And we all, we worry so much
about Providence, don't we? And we, we have, sometimes it
seems like we have an easier time believing God for our salvation
than we do believing him for our daily needs. You know, and
the early disciples knew something about that. What did the Lord
say? He said, don't worry about what you're going to eat or what
you're going to drink or what you're going to wear. Your heavenly
Father knows what you have need of. You seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness. That's the rule and reign of
the Lord Jesus Christ and that's the righteousness of Christ imputed
to us through faith and all these other things will be added unto
you. When we're talking about discerning God's will, I want you to see first and foremost
that the will of God is always fulfilled in His decrees, in
His purpose. Our God's not He's not wringing
his hands in heaven. He's not wondering, well, you
know, I wasn't counting on that. What am I going to do now? Oh
no, no. He changes not. He reigns. He's
sovereign. Um, I told you the story from
Acts chapter one. Let's go back and read it quickly.
Verse 15. And in those days, Peter stood
up in the midst of the disciples and said, the number of names
together were about 120. And Peter said, men and brethren,
this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy
Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which
was guide to them that took Jesus. Remember that Judas? sold the
Lord to the priest for 30 pieces of silver, the cost of a slave,
and then smitten by his own conscience, not convicted by the Spirit of
God. The evidence that Judas was not
convicted by the Spirit of God is that he took the money back
to the place where he got it from and he thrown it to the
feet of Christ. then we'd have some hope that
maybe the Lord had mercy on him. But he took the money back to
the law and tried to settle things with the law. Those priests and
Pharisees, they represented the law. And that's what men do. When they get smitten by their
sin, they go back to the law and they try to reconcile with
the law. Well, if I can just do better in keeping the law,
then I can be forgiven. And it didn't help him, did it?
He was so smitten by conscience that he went out and hanged himself. The priest took the 30 pieces
of silver and bought a field. This was all according to prophecy.
And it was called the potter's field. Isn't that appropriate? The Lord Jesus Christ is the
potter. We're the clay. He has the sovereign right to
make out of the same lump of clay, some vessels of honor and
some of dishonor. Judas obviously was a vessel
of dishonor. And the Lord let him hang himself
in the potter's field. And there's a very descriptive word given to us here about what
happens to Peter. Look, verse 17, for he was numbered
with us and had obtained part of this ministry. Let me say
this. I've seen people give up on the
gospel because a man or a woman they were looking to fell. Whoever it is that might fall,
it doesn't change the gospel. And if it changes us, I mean,
we're very discouraged when we see someone fall who profess
to believe the gospel. But if that changes us, And we
weren't looking to Christ, we were looking to a person. You
know, all the apostles are engaged here in making a mistake. Judas
himself was one of the 12. He'd gone out and preached the
gospel. And the disciples didn't know that it wasn't, that it
was Judas. When the Lord said, one of you
will deny me, they all looked around and said, is it I? Is
it I? They didn't say, well, we know it's Judas. He's the
hypocrite here. Now this man purchased a field
with a reward of iniquity and falling headlong, he burst asunder
in the midst and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known
unto the dwellers at Jerusalem in so much as the field is called
in the proper tongue, aseldama, that is to say, the field of
blood. For it is written in the book
of Psalms, let his habitation be desolate. and let no man dwell
therein, and as bishopric, let another take." That's Psalm 69.
Wherefore, of these men, which have a company. Now, the wherefore
in verse 21 is where Peter begins to make a mistake. Yep, he was
accurate in identifying those prophecies that related to Judas,
but now he's drawing conclusions on his own from those prophecies,
saying, well, now, we've got to choose somebody. Wherefore
of these men, which have accompanied with us at the time that the
Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism
of John into that same day that he was taken up from us, must. Don't put God in that place.
God, you must do this. You know, where you take a passage
of scripture. How many times have you seen
people take a verse of scripture and draw the wrong conclusions
and then put God in a place and say, you've got to do this and
then give him two options to choose from. Always going to
end up in a bad decision. Must one be ordained to be a
witness with us of his resurrection and they appointed to called
Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias. And they prayed,
and said, Thou, Lord, which knoweth the hearts of all men, show whither
of these two Thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this
ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression
fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth
their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias. And he was numbered
with the 11 apostles. Maybe that was one of the reasons
they had a hard time accepting Paul as the 12th side disciple,
because they had already decided what was going to be. Discerning God's will, God will
of decree is always accomplished. God's will of command in one
aspect is never accomplished and another aspect it's fully
accomplished. The will of command, this book
is full of God's laws, commandments, summarized in the Ten Commandments.
And we know that the Lord Jesus Christ himself is the end of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. He's
the only one that kept God's law. He only kept his commandments. Men being ignorant of God's righteousness
go about trying to establish their own righteousness, not
knowing that Christ himself is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. You and I have never been able
to fulfill any of God's laws. Christ did. Christ Jesus Lord. He satisfied all the demands
of God's law. We have a righteousness before
God in the person of our substitute. In our advocate, in our sin bearer,
the Lord Jesus Christ, our surety stands before God, having satisfied
all the demands of God's holy law. Now does that mean that
the scripture doesn't speak of God's will concerning us? No,
it doesn't. It doesn't mean that. The scripture
does speak of God's will concerning us. No clearer description of
the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilling the law of God can be found anywhere
other than in the book of Romans. A full God-inspired account of
the Lord Jesus Christ as the law keeper and as our advocate
and as our justification before God in the first 11 chapters
of Romans. And then what does chapter 12
say? I beseech you therefore brethren
by the mercies of God. That you present yourself. A
living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God, because
that's your reasonable service in light of what Christ has done.
And be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind. Keep looking to Christ that you
may prove what is the good and acceptable will of God. God has a will for us. We look
to Christ that we follow Christ, that we have an understanding
of, of who he is and satisfying the demands of God's will. And
then it's, then it's Christ that lives in us, causing us to will
and to do after his own good pleasure. Turn with me to Ephesians
chapter five. Ephesians chapter 5. I quoted,
well, let's begin in verse 15. See then that you walk circumspectly. Lord, order my steps. Let him
shame Christ. Lord, set my affections on things
above where Christ has seated. That's God's will. See then that
you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, remembering
the time or redeeming the time because the days are evil. These
days in which you and I live, we live in a world that's contrary
to everything that we believe. And the Lord's admonishing us,
saying in light of who Christ is and what he's done for us,
walk circumspectly. Wherefore, be not unwise. Don't be foolish. but understand
what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine wherein
is excess, but be filled with the spirit. Speaking to yourselves
in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things
unto God and the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting yourself to one another
in the fear of God. This is the will of God concerning
you. Lord, you're going to have to
give me grace. This is, this is the discerning
of good. It's a spiritual thing, isn't it? You see, we, we concern
ourselves too much with the will of God when it comes to making
decisions about temporal things. And, uh, if we, if we concern
ourselves with seeking first, the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
all these other things would be added unto us. First Peter chapter 2, the Lord
admonishes us to submit to all authority. And then he says,
for so is the will of God that with well-doing you may put to
silence the ignorance of foolish men. Submit to authority. You know, they accuse us of being
a bunch of rebels. No, don't let your, you know,
let your, life be such that they don't have any ammunition to
use against against the gospel. First Peter chapter 4 verse 2
says he should no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh
to the will of men but to the will of God. To live, you see this is God's
will of decree and God's will of commandment. And God's will
of commandment is the perfect obedience of Christ and it's
the walk of faith. It's looking to Christ for all
my righteousness before God and following after him. Ephesians chapter six, verse
five says, That we're to serve not as man pleasers, but as the
servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart, from
the heart. It's not a feigned hypocritical
religious out, you know, showing to try to impress man. This is
a work of grace in the heart. It's the will of God. Turn with me to First Thessalonians
chapter four. First Thessalonians chapter four. You can't deny the, I know some
people say, well, preacher, you're putting us under the law. No,
I'm not. No, I'm not. This is the will of God. But
you look to Christ and follow after Christ. And this is God's
word. How are you going to look at
first Thessalonians chapter four, verse one, furthermore, then
we beseech you brethren and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as
you have received of us, how you ought to walk and to please
God. So you would abound more and
more. growing grace, and in the knowledge
of Christ. This is the will of God. For
you know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God,
even your sanctification. I'm not saying this is going
to add to your sanctification. I'm talking about progressive
sanctification. This is your sanctification. This is your
holiness before God that you should abstain from fornication.
that everyone of you should know how to possess his vessel in
sanctification and in honor, not in the lust of concupiscence,
even as the Gentiles, which know not God, that no man go beyond
and defraud his brother in any manner, because that the Lord
is avenger of such, as we also have forewarned you and testified."
We say these things are the will of God. Be honest with towards
one another. Treat one another fairly. and
hold your body in subjection. This is the will of God concerning
you. And what Paul say, I am what
I am by the grace of God. If these things are true for
me, it's God working in me. For God has not called us to
uncleanness, but unto holiness. He, therefore, that despiseth,
despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given us his Holy Spirit. In another place, who requenched
not the Spirit of God. How many times we do that? But, I love this verse, but as
touching brotherly love, You need not that I write unto you,
for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another. You didn't have to be told to
love one another. If you've got the spirit of God
and you belong to Christ, you love God's people. John made
that clear. If you say that you love God
and you don't love your brother, you're a liar. The truth's not
in you. You don't have to have somebody
tell you to love your brother. God's people love each other. This is the will of God. Amen. All right, let's take a
break. you.