Lesson for December 6, 2020
The Will of God
Lesson 2
The General Will of God – cont’d
Suffering
“For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.” (I Peter 3:17) God allows suffering so that He can also send blessing. Even discipline from the Lord is designed to bless us by getting us back on track. God also uses suffering to call attention to our spiritual health. Suffering during people testing, system testing, historical testing and evidence testing are designed to glorify God and part of the resolution of the Angelic Conflict. Enduring suffering honors Christ by demonstrating the reality and strength of our faith. (I Peter 4:19)
Trusting
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) It is the will of God for all believers to trust Him. Trust means to rely upon God in every circumstance of life. Trust means to depend upon the thinking of God, which is divine viewpoint. If you want the guidance of the Lord, you must stop thinking the deceptive thoughts of man, which is human viewpoint. When a believer replaces Human Viewpoint Thinking with Divine Viewpoint Thinking, then God can direct his paths. And be assured that God will never forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)
Divine Production
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) Producing divine good is the will of God for all believers and is the natural result of spiritual growth. Divine good can be both visible (overt) and invisible. Divine Viewpoint Thinking is an invisible form of divine production, just as witnessing is a visible form of divine production. Both are good works of intrinsic (lasting) value or divine production. It should be stated, as always, this must be done under the control of God the Holy Spirit.
The Directive Will of God
“God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” (Numbers 22:12) The directive will of God and His desire are the same. It is sometimes stated as a positive and sometimes as a negative – “Do’s and Don’ts.” The example above is from the Old Testament where God often used animals or inanimate objects through which to speak. In the New Testament, however, God speaks through His Word. We find many of these directive wills of God throughout Scripture. If you see a command from God in the Bible, it is His directive will. Therefore, there are certain things in the Christian life that we know are either God’s will or not His will, we don’t have to pray about it!
The Permissive Will of God
“God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you shall you do.” (Numbers 22:20) The permissive will of God means that God allows a believer to make decisions, even though they are not God’s desire. Mankind has been given freewill by God and God will never violate it or coerce a person. However, not following the known will of God will bring divine discipline. God will ultimately be glorified and His plan for human history accomplished in spite of the negative decisions of mankind. (Psalms 76:10; Proverbs 3:12; Hebrews 12:6)
The Overruling Will of God
“But God was angry because he was going, and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as an adversary against him.”(Numbers 22:22) Balaam was not permitted to curse the Jews because it was against God’s will and promises to Israel. Therefore, God overruled Balaam and hindered him from cursing the Jews. Often God will overrule the will of a person because of the effect it will have on others, especially His children. This, of course, is all based on His sovereignty.
The Doctrine of Divine Guidance
Acts 11:1-16 gives us a perfect illustration of divine guidance. This story is about Peter preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. This, of course, was a surprise to the legalistic Jewish Christians who thought that the Gospel was only for the Jews. You will recall how the Jews considered the Gentiles heathens.
God, through the Apostle Peter, shows the Jewish believers in Jerusalem that the Gospel was to be preached to everyone. In verse one, the Jewish believers receive word that Peter had preached the Gospel to the Gentiles. In verse two, the legalistic Jewish believers confronted Peter. In verse three, their objection was that Peter ate with the Gentiles who did not observe Jewish dietary laws. In verse four, Peter began to describe the events. It is during this description that we see the divine guidance of God.
Guidance through Prayer
“I was in the city of Joppa praying and in a trance I saw a vision.” (Acts 11:5) Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace (a term for prayer) that we may receive mercy and may find help in time of need. Therefore, it should be perfectly normal for the believer to ask for guidance in prayer. However, if the will of God is clearly stated in the Word of God, then there is no legitimate reason to pray about it. For example, a believer is told not to marry an unbeliever; no prayer needed. However, a person could and should seek the Lord’s guidance as to which believer to marry.
Unlike this occasion in Acts, before the Canon of Scripture was completed, God no longer speaks to us audibly. God now speaks to us through His Word. Many believers think that God is our “fairy god mother” with a magic wand and that He can be coerced or bribed by our prayers. In order for our prayers for guidance to be answered we must first make sure that we are praying properly. Proper prayer means that you have named your known sins to God and that you are under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Prayer should always be directed to God the Father, in the name of God the Son, by the power of God the Holy Spirit. God’s answer of guidance may come in a variety of ways. For example, He may close a door of opportunity in one area, only to open another door in a different area.
Guidance in Your Mind
“And when I had fixed my gaze on it and was observing it, I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the air.” (Acts 11:6) The Greek word for observing literally means, to very carefully ponder in one’s mind. God guides the believer through the knowledge of God’s Word that has been stored in the mind. God never leads us contrary to His Word. Therefore, it is important to study and believe God’s Word. The more you know of God’s Word, the more of God’s will you’ll know.
Peter used the information that he had received from Jesus, which he had stored in his mind, to realize a new truth. The truth was, that believers were no longer governed by the Mosaic Law. Peter observed and evaluated the situation from divine viewpoint and reached the correct conclusion.
Guidance through God’s Word
“I also heard a voice saying to me.” (Acts 11:7) Remember that this was before the completion of the Canon of Scripture. Prior to the Canon, God used the spoken word, dreams, trances, visions, animals, bushes, etc. to communicate with man. Now that we have the Bible, the complete revelation from God, there is no need for direct communication from God. If it does not agree with the Word of God, then it’s not His will.
Guidance through Circumstances
“And behold, at that very moment three men appeared at the house in which we were staying, having been sent from Caesarea.” (Acts 11:11) In God’s providence, He often uses circumstances to fulfill His purpose for us. It is up to us using Divine Viewpoint Thinking to interpret these circumstances. However, we must be careful; they may simply be a test with regard to our knowledge of the will of God. If we act upon something that is stated in Scripture to be against God’s will, then it means we are neglecting the study of Bible doctrine or ignoring the Word of God.
Guidance through the Filling of the Holy Spirit
“The Spirit told me go with them.” (Acts 11:12) In this case, Peter was instructed directly by the Holy Spirit in a vision. Today, the Holy Spirit guides us according to the written Word of God. This is a matter of choice by the believer in allowing the Holy Spirit to guide his life. Failure to allow this guidance results in grieving and/or quenching the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is God’s will that we continually be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the only way in which we can truly fulfill God’s will for us. (I Thessalonians 5:19; Ephesians 4:30; 5:17-18)
Guidance through the Recall of Scripture
“And I remembered the word of the Lord.” (Acts 11:16) By recalling what he had learned from Jesus (a ministry of the Holy Spirit to the believer), Peter contributed greatly to his guidance. He remembered that Jesus said, “John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” He had just witnessed the Holy Spirit “coming upon” the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius and his recall of the words of Jesus helped him put this event in perspective. Peter began to understand that both Jewish and Gentile believers had received the power to live the spiritual life. (Acts 1:5-8)
Conclusion
It is the will of God for the entire human race to be saved. God does not want anyone to perish. But He has given us all free will and it is up to us to choose to believe in Jesus Christ as personal Savior. So, first a person must make sure that he has eternal life and then he can do the will of God in the Christian Way of Life.
We can execute His will only if we have the power to do so. His will cannot be executed with human power or Human Viewpoint Thinking. Spiritual power is by means of the filling of the Holy Spirit. This filling is neither felt nor seen; it is not an emotional experience; it is simply a fact stated in God’s Word for us to believe. Once again it is only potential, you must make the choice to allow Him to guide your life.
The will of God is found in God’s Word. God’s general will for the believer is easily found through study of His Word. For example, it is not God’s will for us to complain, to malign, to have self-pity, to have bitterness, to gossip, to feel guilty, to be afraid or to be antagonistic towards others, just to name a few of the most common mental attitudes sins of believers. If God’s will is not clearly stated in God’s Word, then we must reach doctrinal conclusions based on Divine Viewpoint Thinking and divine viewpoint norms and standards under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Essential to the entire process of discovering God’s will is spiritual growth. If we are not growing spiritually then we are dying spiritually (temporal death). Divine guidance is a matter of applying what you have learned to every situation in life and being sensitive to the guidance of God the Holy Spirit which He does through His Word. God’s will is always to “play by His rules” and not to make up your own as you go along. A right thing must always be done in a right way. It is God’s will for us always to follow His clear policies. These policies are found only in His Word.
Discovering God’s will for our lives should be top priority for all us. Faithful study and application of God’s Word, spending a maximum amount of time in fellowship with God by keeping short accounts and by allowing God the Holy Spirit to influence our thoughts and guide our actions, will lead each of us to His will.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him,and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)