Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

As Christians, our greatest desire is to honor God with our lives and as we set out to do that, we pray that the decisions we make would be blessed by the Lord.

Now let me ask you this, Have you ever found yourself thinking, “Lord, you know I want to honor you with my life, But I’m confused about this relationship, the choice of where to go to school, or what job to pursue and I really wish you’d lay your will for this out for me!”

If you’ve found yourself there, don’t worry, I have to.

And perhaps you’ve found yourself there now.

Many of you are beginning to date, or consider school and work and I have no doubt that most of you genuinely want to honor Christ with those decisions and since that’s the case I want us to look in the Bible together today to find guidance through this topic.

Now, before we get into this, I think it’s important to understand that we can say that there are two different wills of God.

What I mean by that is that there is a decreed will that is unchangeable as we see in passages like Ephesians 1:11

However, there is also what is called His revealed will.

This is what God reveals to mankind in His Word that men should obey, but we often don’t out of sinful rebellion.

The difference in these two can be displayed in the fact that God has said in the Ten Commandments, “You shall not kill.”

However, in Acts we find that He ordains the crucifixion of His Son.

So to keep it simple, you can write down that there is an unchangeable will of God and a commanded will of God that men are called to obey, but often do not to our detriment.

So with that being said, what we are going to discuss today is God’s revealed will for your life.

So, here are four questions with considering God’s will:

What Is The Condition of My Soul?

It isn’t uncommon to hear celebrities and musicians talking about “God’s plan” but if you’re not even saved and you’re asking about the will of God, then you’re asking the wrong question.

These most important thing is that you’d repent of your sin and trust wholly in Christ for salvation and then, and only then, will you begin to live a life in submission to the revealed will of God for you.

Am I Committed To God’s Word?

His Will Is For You To Be Spirit-Filled

Now what does Paul say are the results of being Spirit filled?

There will be a life of control, a life filled with a heart of thanksgiving and being considerate of others.

And this same reality is described in Colossians 3:16

But the only difference is the Word of Christ is to dwell in your heart.

So how do we become Spirit filled people?

It is to be a person who consumes the word of God, who meditates on it and submits to it in their lives.

So, if you are going to be in the will of God, you should be a person who is first saved and second Spirit-filled.

His Will Is Your Sanctification

That You Remain Pure (3-5)

That You Love Your Fellow Believers (6-10)

That You Live and Quiet and Respectable Life (11-12)

Am I Submitted To Those Contributing To My Life?

That You’d Be Submitted To The Lord

To Your Parents

To One Another

To The Government

To Your Pastors

What Is My Reaction Toward Complications in My Life?

His Will Is For You To Suffer Faithfully

The reference to God as Creator (ktistēs) implies his sovereignty, for the Creator of the world is also sovereign over it.

Therefore believers can be confident that he will not allow them to suffer beyond their capacity and that he will provide the strength needed to endure.

Such confidence can be theirs because he is a “faithful” Creator, faithful to his promises and faithful to his people, never abandoning them in their time of need, always vindicating the righteous and condemning the wicked (cf.

4:17–18).

The way believers will reveal that they are trusting in God is by continuing “to do good” (agathopoiia).

His Will Is Your Sincere Thankfulness

As Christians we are to be a people who can give thanks in the midst of situations whether they are bad or good, not because we’re enjoying them, but because we know we have a God who is in control and that He is able to use any situation for our good.

Application

Now that we’ve looked at these things, we can consider the questions that we opened up with such as, “Where do I go?, “Who do I marry?”, “Where do I study?” and so on.

And I believe John MacArthur put it best when he said, “If you’re saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, suffering, and thankful – you ready for this? – do whatever you want.

Do whatever you want.

Marry whoever you want.

Go wherever you want.

Work wherever you want.

Choose whatever you want.

You say, “Whoa.

Are you sure?” Absolutely.

Because if this is true of your life, guess who’s controlling your wants.

Do whatever you want.”

If you are saved, sanctified, submitted to the Lord then your desires should also be controlled by Him as well.

No obviously, we must be aware of impure motives, but that’s obviously aside the point.

When I was asked to come to Beacon I had three choices on the table.

There was a church in Asheville, NC that offered me their building and funds if I would come plant a new work there.

So I could either go there, come to Beacon, or stay in SC.

Do you know what made me come to Beacon?

It wasn’t that I saw a symbol in the clouds or that I heard some magical prophecy.

I came to Beacon because I wanted to.

Do you know what led me to marry Ragan?

It wasn’t that a prophet came to my house and told me some crazy story or anything.

It was because she was a woman who was saved, sanctified and submitted to the Lord and I wanted her for myself so I fooled her into marrying me.

So, if you’re a person who is pursuing these things, you can go to whatever school you want to go to, just use Biblical wisdom in making that decision knowing what God says about debt.

If you’re a person who is pursuing these things you can go wherever, do whatever, and pursue whatever you want if it is inline with what we’ve spoken about today and as you pursue those things, if you’re striving toward something and the door clearly shuts, then understand that may

I believe it was Kevin DeYoung who, in response to this same question, says, “Just do something.”

I want to say that I am thankful that you are being so cautious over the issues of life and that you diligently wish to honor to the Lord, but instead of being paralyzed by worry, be dedicated to pursue what God has revealed for you and go forward resting in His sovereignty.

In the Old Testament the term “Lord of Armies” is used a lot...

The will of God isn’t lost, so you don’t need to worry yourself to death about finding it.

He’s already revealed His principals for your life in His Word.

You just need to make yourself familiar with it and submit to it.