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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] All right, well, anyways, it's just a wonderful privilege to share the word of God here this morning, and thankful to Pastor Paul for the opportunity to do so.
[00:00:12] And today we're going to be talking a little bit about keys to knowing God's will in our lives. And so, before we get into all that, do we have the PowerPoint or it's kind of not. Oh, there it is. Okay, cool. Thank you very much, gentlemen, in the back.
[00:00:26] You know, I was thinking in preparation for this sermon that, you know, most of us here today have a smartphone of some sort, you know, an iPhone or whatever. And it's an amazing piece of technology, of course. And I mean, really, it's a supercomputer we have in our pocket. And, you know, I remember the days when if you had a question about, I mean, anything, I guess I'll never know the answer, because who would know the answer to this, right? And how are you gonna find that out? I mean, go to the library, you know, researching, you know, encyclopedias. Now you got a question, you just Google it, and boom, right? 30 years ago, we'd have. We'd have just been content in life to never have that information. Isn't that true? Right.
[00:01:06] With all that being said, I think the most impressive part of having a smartphone in my pocket, at least for me, and maybe some of y' all will agree with me as I explain this, is that nowadays I have a phone on me. I get in my truck and I say, hey, Siri, can you take me to, you know, wherever? And I just name the place, and then, boom, it comes up on the screen with, turn by turn, directions taking me to this destination.
[00:01:31] I don't know how many marriages have been saved by such technology.
[00:01:36] It might be the most impressive thing, GPS turn by turn navigation. Anybody get an amen here today? All right, y' all remember the days when you had, you know, we didn't have such things. And no turn here, no turn here, and, you know, you get in a little bit of a, you know.
[00:01:51] Or do you remember hauling out the gigantic map that took out the entire front seat?
[00:01:56] You know, it's on top. I'm trying to drive, and the map is all over me as my wife is trying to remember those days. Pretty frustrating, right?
[00:02:03] Yeah.
[00:02:05] Well, you know what? Having a map, having a gps, and those directions are great.
[00:02:10] And if we don't follow those directions, guess what? You can have good, you know, gps, turn by turn directions. But if you don't follow them, well, guess what? You're still going to be in trouble, you're still going to have the same frustrations and we need to make the course corrections. But the same thing is true in life.
[00:02:28] You know, God has a direction, has a will for us. And you know, sometimes God wants us to make course corrections, but we treat them as just suggestions.
[00:02:38] And guess what? We end up a little frustrated in our lives and we wonder what happened? Why am I experiencing now? Look, don't get me wrong, sometimes there's heartaches and problems that we encounter that have nothing to. They just things out of our control happen to us. I mean, that's true, right?
[00:02:54] But oftentimes it's sometimes our own decisions that lead us into situations.
[00:03:00] But I don't know about you, but one of the great challenges that come up in life, at least in my life and maybe yours as well, and sometimes getting God's clear direction on a certain situation, you know, in our lives, you know what I'm saying? A particular situation. And we've been praying and we're trying to get God's direction and it's a little fuzzy, it's hard to discern. And has anybody ever been there? I mean, you've been seeking God, but you're having a hard time just understanding God's will in this particular what to do anybody other than the pastor here. Okay, a few of us. Great, that's good. We're in good company.
[00:03:36] But knowing God's will in particular situations of course is important.
[00:03:40] I would venture to say that when, you know, for younger people, young adults, teenagers, young adult age as well, it can be critically important because as you know, maybe the age is between 18 and 30, how many life altering decisions are made within that time frame? Right. Think about, think for a minute. What are you going to do after you're done graduating high school?
[00:03:59] You know, are you gonna go to college or not? Get a career, get a job? Are you gonna marry someone? Are you gonna have kids? These are huge. Are you gonna move somewhere? Big decisions. But even outside that young adult age range, how many know, even as older adults we still have decisions to make that you really need God's will in that situation. Hello, Other than me, right?
[00:04:19] So these kind of things aren't restricted to those who are young. It's really for all of us. And I do believe that it's part of God's when, when Jesus said, I came to give life and give it abundantly, part of that abundant life has to be walking in God's plan and purpose for your life.
[00:04:36] See, God's abundant life isn't just showering you with blessings. That's not what it's about. But when you walk in God's purposes, there's an abundance that you now have because life is full of meaning, right?
[00:04:48] It's not just about material things. It's far deeper than that. The abundant life that God calls us to. So a big part of it is walking in God's purpose. But we need to discern his will for our lives. Now, as we unpack this, there's a few principles from scripture that I think will help us. And our main text of the day is found In Romans, chapter 12, very familiar to many of us.
[00:05:09] Paul writes, therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship.
[00:05:21] Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is.
[00:05:30] His good, pleasing and perfect will.
[00:05:33] So I'm going to pray and then we're going to dive into this topic together. So, Father God, I thank you today that you are so good, so gracious and so merciful to us.
[00:05:45] God, thank you that your plans for us are good.
[00:05:49] There are plans to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us a hope and a future.
[00:05:53] Thank you, Lord. That's what you have. For those of us who call on your name and God, I pray today that you would illuminate this into our minds and hearts and that we would all be challenged and encouraged today to follow your ways. I pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. So before we go any further about ascertaining God's will for your life, I think it's important to acknowledge that that God has what we would call maybe God's general will for our lives. And really what that means is God has a will and plan for all of us.
[00:06:27] And that's found where?
[00:06:30] Right in here.
[00:06:32] Do you guys know that there's plenty of stuff written in here for all of God's people for all time. That's his will for our lives, right?
[00:06:38] And perhaps before we start trying to figure out God's will for us in a particular situation, God, I need to know your will. If I'm supposed to do this particular thing or that particular thing, that's important to ask God.
[00:06:51] But maybe we should start focusing on God's general will for us to put us in the proper place that we can actually receive from God what he wants from us in a particular situation.
[00:07:02] Okay. Because he does have a. Okay, so let's get to a couple of things in scripture. There's probably plenty more, but here you go. First, Thessalonians 5. 18.
[00:07:11] Paul says this. Give thanks in just the good situations.
[00:07:18] No, give thanks in all circumstances.
[00:07:22] This is God's will. Talk about God's will for us now. It doesn't say, give thanks for all circumstances.
[00:07:29] It says, give thanks in all circumstances.
[00:07:34] Important, you know, distinction.
[00:07:36] So. So that tells me that no matter what you and I are going through, and we go through very difficult things, sometimes not making light of the hardships we go through, but in those difficulties, we can actually still have a heart of thanksgiving. Why?
[00:07:50] Well, I can tell you one thing I've had. Okay.
[00:07:55] I've literally had issues with my lungs in the past.
[00:07:58] Just the fact that you have breath in your lungs today, you have reason to be thankful.
[00:08:03] Okay? Amen.
[00:08:06] Lady sang it at the retreat yesterday. It's your breath in our lungs, so we pour out our praise. How do I know that? I was there at the ladies retreat. So there you go.
[00:08:16] I was helping with the music. There you go.
[00:08:20] First, Thessalonians, chapter four. Paul writes, it's God's will, again, God's general, for all of us, that you should be sanctified.
[00:08:29] Meaning that sanctification is the process where God takes us over a period of time and makes us more holy, meaning more like him, more set apart unto God. Okay. It's God's will that you should be sanctified, that you should avoid sexual immorality, so that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in a passionate lust like the pagans who do not know God. And that in this matter, no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. What does he say? Paul said, is God's will that you be sanctified, holy, set apart for God, and in particular in the area of our sexuality, God has a will for that. Amen.
[00:09:03] That we do it in a godly way, that we have God's will in those areas of our lives.
[00:09:09] It also tells us, First Peter 2, 15. Peter writes, It's God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. So what's God's will in this situation?
[00:09:22] To do good. Right.
[00:09:24] What does that mean? It means we are doing good deeds for other people. God didn't just save you and sanctify you so you can have a holy awesome, you know, time Unto yourself. No, God's created us. He saved us by faith. Right, by grace, through faith. We're not saved by our works, but he's saved us to do good works just the same. Amen.
[00:09:47] That's what Scripture teaches us, that our deeds, our works, are supposed to be the outworking of the salvation that we've already obtained. Because of God's mercy, we are now called to do good works. Okay, we'll move on.
[00:10:01] Micah 6, verse 8 writes, he has shown you, O mortal, what is good? And what does the Lord require of you? AKA what is God's will? What does he want you to do? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly.
[00:10:16] And by the way, if you try to do one of those three without the other ones, you are going to mess it up.
[00:10:23] If you try to act justly without mercy, guess what you're going to be. You know, you're missing a big part of it.
[00:10:28] Right.
[00:10:29] You need all three working in together.
[00:10:32] Ecclesiastes 12:13. Talk about God's will.
[00:10:37] Now, all has been heard. Here is the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and. And keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. Talk about God's will. Right now, there's a lot of commandments in here. Sure.
[00:10:51] We need to figure out what God is requiring us. Absolutely. I guess I'm saying all of this to say if we want God's will again in a particular situation that we're going through in our life, let's firstly be focused on doing God's general will that he lays out for us in Scripture. Okay? Okay. And then lastly, we see as we read it in our main text Today, in Romans 12, it's God's worship will for us that we worship Him.
[00:11:15] Of course, you read it all over the place. It's certainly in the Book of Psalms where it's commanding us to worship the Lord. Praise. You know, to praise God. Right, to worship Him.
[00:11:25] And so this is a big part of God's will for our lives. Now we're going to read it again just because I think repetition is good. And then we're going to move on and we are going to kind of pick this apart a little bit. Romans 12:1 2, against our main text says, in view of God's mercy, basically saying, look, because of God's great mercy, let's offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true improper worship. Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. And then you'll be able to test and approve who what God's will is his good, pleasing, imperfect will. So the first part of this. And by the way, not everything in our faith and not everything in the Bible is always formulaic, you know what I mean? Like if two plus two equals four, if you do this and do that, you'll equal that. How many know, life doesn't always work quite that way. But we see here a little bit of a formula in the scripture to say, listen, in light of God's mercy, if you do these things, then you'll be able to approve and test what God's will is. See where I'm going with this?
[00:12:31] So if you want to know what God's will is, do those things Paul is saying. Okay, good to know. So what's the first thing he says in view of God's mercy? So essentially, we need to acknowledge God's great mercy. You want to know what God's will is for your life? We need to acknowledge God's great mercy. This is where it all starts. Okay, what's our motivation for serving God? What's our motivation for. For knowing God, for doing good deeds for God, exploits for God. Is it simply to, you know, check a list?
[00:13:05] Because that's what good Christians do to earn God's favor, to gain brownie points with God, to look good in front of all the other Christians? Because, you know, I'm Pastor Darren. I got to, I got to do good works because I'm a pastor, right?
[00:13:24] No, is my motivation for doing good because it's in view of God's incredible mercy in my life that how could I not step up and do something for someone else?
[00:13:35] You see where I'm going with this?
[00:13:38] How easy it is for us to just get into duty mindset, you know what I mean?
[00:13:44] Our motivation should be a little deeper than that in light of God's mercy. Paul says he here's what I want you to do. Now Paul goes through great lengths if you were to read Romans up until this point. It's essentially all about God's mercy and how merciful. I mean, just read Romans, chapter eight. I mean, some of you guys are very familiar with that. It's about God's mercy. And he said he takes great lengths to explain God's mercy. Now in view of that, here's what we're to do.
[00:14:12] And then we can understand what God's will is for our lives.
[00:14:16] But sometimes we don't mean to do this, but we unwittingly go on to Live life as if God's mercy is kind of just part of our conversion experience. Maybe. Like we know we're saved by grace through faith. But now I need to work out my life. I need to earn everything I have. I need to work hard and put my nose to the grind and yeah, we need to work hard, absolutely.
[00:14:37] But you guys know that anything good that you have in life comes from God, right?
[00:14:42] Bible says every good and perfect gift comes from where?
[00:14:47] That's right. I just said it a minute ago.
[00:14:50] Even the breath in your lungs is because of God's mercy. And yet sometimes we go on and we try to. We're striving and we're striving to prove ourselves.
[00:15:01] But the reality is, even if we've been faithful at the end of the day, because of our sin, because of. We've all royally messed it up, every one of us, we've fallen so short of God's standard. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. And so if we've experienced any kind of life, any kind of goodness, any kind of measure of health, anything, it's because of God's mercy.
[00:15:26] You know, I have here in my notes.
[00:15:30] If we try to offer up ourselves, because remember, the part of the scripture here is we're to be a living sacrifice. We're getting there in a second.
[00:15:37] But if we try to offer ourselves up as a living sacrifice to God without God's mercy being the motivation behind it, we are going to wear ourselves out real fast.
[00:15:49] Does that make sense? You follow me?
[00:15:52] I can't do the things God has called me to do. If it's not out of a motivation of the mercy and the grace of God in my life, I will burn out. I will fry out. I will. I'll be no use to you guys as a. It has to be from that place of God's mercy and grace in my life. Okay? That's really what it is.
[00:16:13] Now, I know sometimes life can feel like a grind, that's true.
[00:16:19] But I would be maybe so bold to say that our faith shouldn't be like a grind.
[00:16:23] Why do I say that? Jesus tells us to come unto him all who are weary and heavy burdened and find rest for your souls. He says, right, to cast our burdens on him because his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
[00:16:38] Come on now. Right? Amen. That's good news. That tells me that you and I are not meant to carry the burdens of this life on our own shoulders. We're to put it on Jesus and he'll help carry it for us.
[00:16:51] Praise God. So there's a lightness even in the hardship, even in the difficulties. We need to acknowledge God's great mercy now. I believe that when we do that, when we have a grasp on how merciful God has been towards us and continues to be, we will live a little differently. We're going to be that much more able to present ourselves as a living sacrifice every day. If I don't acknowledge God's mercy and be grateful for it, I'm going to have a harder time presenting myself as a living sacrifice before God.
[00:17:23] See what I'm saying?
[00:17:25] It's in light of his mercy that we can even do this.
[00:17:29] Now the NIV, Douglas Mood tells us this. He says the NIV's God's mercy conceals the fact that the Greek word for mercy is actually in the plural. Paul is reminding us of the many displays of God mercies and I would add, the continual aspects of God's mercies. Every day. Again, we read in Scripture that God's mercy is every day. Okay, so this isn't just upon salvation. We need to get it in our minds and in our hearts that every day that you are alive, you are alive because of God's mercy. Okay, all good. I think I made the point. Great.
[00:18:02] We can move on to the next point.
[00:18:05] Now Paul says, you know, in light of God's mercy, what's next to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice?
[00:18:14] And, you know, what does that mean? I guess that's the good question. Now we see in the Old Testament, and if you've read a lot in the Old Testament, you would understand this, that animal sacrifice was actually common practice really in all of the ancient world, not just within the Jewish culture. In fact, even in some other cultures. We see in the Bible with the Canaanites in particular, not just animal sacrifice, but human sacrifice, you know, very gross and evil thing really.
[00:18:42] And so Douglas Mu goes on as far to say that ancient people were obsessed with sacrifice.
[00:18:48] Human sacrifice, animals, they were obsessed with sacrifice and that this was actually their religious context. While we might say that religion has more to do with maybe faith or our belief system. Right. That's what we kind of equate religion to be. For most ancient people, faith was more to do with sacrifice, if you would. Okay, sacrifice. So he goes on to say that the popularity of sacrifice in the ancient religion, however, could lead to abuses. People could think that all they had to do to please their God was to offer the sacrifice without regard to their own attitude or sincerity in doing so, okay, we'll pause here for a second.
[00:19:27] How does this apply to us? In the same way we can unwittingly, unknowingly do kind of the same thing to say, God, you see what I'm doing? I'm sacrificing this, I'm doing this, I'm working this, I'm doing this.
[00:19:40] And it's actually very easy to get, doing the things, but lacking the proper sincerity or heart motivation. See what I'm saying?
[00:19:49] Right?
[00:19:50] He goes on to say, the Old Testament prophets, of course, railed at the people of Israel for just this offense, just what we're talking about, insisting that God would only honor sacrifices that came from a pure heart.
[00:20:04] Both Jewish and pagan authors in Paul's day also warned about the same kind of attitude.
[00:20:12] So what are we saying here today? You know, we too, can make the same mistake again. If we're doing all these things for God to maybe get. We don't think about it to get God's favor, to make brownie points, to prove our love for God, or we want to. I mean, I'm glad we're doing the right things, but what's our motivation? You know, Matthew 7, Jesus says, this is a very jarring scripture. I've been kind of wrestling with this in the last couple weeks.
[00:20:36] He says, not everyone who says to me, lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
[00:20:43] Many will say to me on that day, lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons, and in your name perform many miracles, and then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you away from me, you evildoers. Whoa, crazy verse, right? Lord, we've been busy doing all these things for you.
[00:21:03] Jesus said, well, lovely, but did you do my will right?
[00:21:07] And I had to kind of think of my life. I'm like, lord, you know, man, I've done this for you. I've done that for you. You know, I mean, in ministry, I've ministered from the littlest, the youngest, you know, I've done children's ministry and youth ministry and young adult ministry, even seniors ministry. I've been to the hospital. I've done this. Other than all these, Lord, look at all I've done for you. You owe me.
[00:21:29] I didn't say that to God.
[00:21:32] But how easy it is for us to do such a thing, right?
[00:21:36] We don't mean to. We don't think of it, boy. Lord, I've done all these things. Yeah, but only the person who does the will of my Father, Lord, help me, help all of us. Amen.
[00:21:48] To be concerned on do. Now again, there's a general will. Come on. Now.
[00:21:52] We are called to good deeds, right?
[00:21:56] We've already read it. We're called to do so many things, it's God's will for us to do. We need to get at it.
[00:22:03] But then Paul says we are to present our bodies as what? A living sacrifice. Now, of course, it's a little strange because a sacrifice isn't in its definition, really a living thing. Sacrifices were really about putting something to death. Isn't that true?
[00:22:20] But that's the point, isn't it? We're to put to death the old self with its selfish desires and present our bodies, which is really what everything, our actions, our words, our deeds, all of us, all of who we are, to present that to God in surrender to God. Amen. That's what it's about.
[00:22:39] We're to offer our entire beings towards God as an act of worship.
[00:22:44] Now, Paul actually says this is our spiritual act of worship. It can actually be better transliterated. Some other versions say it's your reasonable act of worship. Interesting.
[00:22:54] Basically, in light of God's mercy and all that he's done for you, it's actually only reasonable that we live in such a way that we give God everything.
[00:23:03] Our actions, thoughts, deeds, words, everything belongs to you, Jesus, right now. Warren Wiersbe, he says this. There are two living sacrifices in the Bible and they help us understand what this really means. The first is Isaac in Genesis 22, and the second is our Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:23:24] Isaac willingly put himself on the altar and would have died in obedience to God's will, but the Lord sent a ram to take his place. And Isaac, quote unquote, died just the same. He died to self and willingly yielded himself to the will of God. So we'll pause here for a second. So people might think, well, Isaac didn't have much choice in it. Abraham dragged him up the mountain. Did he? Well, but no, that's not the case. Commentators actually kind of look at this and going, you know what? He was at least old enough to carry the big bundle of wood up the mountain, so he probably wasn't a real little guy. In fact, a lot of guys kind of do the time, you know, kind of looking at the context, probably figuring he was at least a teenager. Okay, so now I have teenagers at home and I can say I love them and they love me back, but if I was going to drag them, you know, dad, you're nuts. I'm out of here.
[00:24:07] Papa's gonna put him, burn him at the. You know, Wouldn't you do that, Jay? Yeah.
[00:24:15] Okay, so he's telling us that, listen, Isaac was laying himself down. It was kind of a living sacrifice. Goes on to say when he got off the altar, Isaac was a living sacrifice to the glory of God. Now of course, our Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect illustration. Amen.
[00:24:32] Of a living sacrifice because he actually did die as a sacrifice in obedience to his Father's will. But he arose again and today he is in heaven as a living sacrifice, bearing his body. Bearing in his body the wounds of Calvary. He is our high priest and our advocate before the throne of God. Praise God for that.
[00:24:48] So Paul is saying that we need to again present our bodies, the whole of our being on the altar as a living sacrifice, giving everything to God. Now NT Wright goes on to say, one's whole self, that's what Paul means by body, must be laid on the altar like a sacrifice in the temple. The big difference is that whereas the sacrifice is there to be killed, the Christian self offering is actually about coming alive with new life that bursts out in unexpected ways. What is he saying?
[00:25:21] Yeah, we're dying to sin and selfishness. But guess what we're doing as we're doing that now, we're coming alive to do the things of God.
[00:25:30] It's not that we have to do good deeds because we're living a life of sacrifice. Guess what? We get to do good deeds. We get to do it right? Not we have to, we get to. And also now we have great joy in doing it.
[00:25:41] Amen.
[00:25:43] Come on now you guys, that's good news.
[00:25:46] I don't know if you're ever happy about doing God's will in your life, but there should be a measure of joy that you actually get to do God's will in your life.
[00:25:52] There's a joy that comes. There's a joy in me. Preaching God's word up here, I actually enjoy doing.
[00:26:00] Fills my cup. Why? Because I know I'm doing God's will.
[00:26:03] Alright? Now that may not be God's will for you. If you were to come up here, you might be shaking in your boots to preach, right? I have no idea. That's fine. God has something else for you to do. Amen.
[00:26:11] We can find joy in that. Okay, so this idea of being a living sacrifice means that you are now more concerned with living for God and doing what he wants than anything else. And we take care of great Joy in this. And if we can live like this, in this kind of manner, we would have taken a huge step in knowing God's will for our lives. It's the point of this message, right? If you want to know God's will in your particular situation, acknowledge God's great mercy, right?
[00:26:38] Lay our lives down as a living sacrifice. And then the third thing is simply to resist. Actually, we need to go back. We need to go back. One key verse on this, Paul writes in Romans 6:13, do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who've been brought from death to life, and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.
[00:27:05] That's key.
[00:27:06] Living your life, you know, as a living sacrifice. In fact, I've been praying this verse over my life in the last couple months, quite frequently. Lord, let me be an instrument, Your grace and your purposes today.
[00:27:20] It's good stuff. Okay, next point. We need to resist the world's mold.
[00:27:26] And I made a comment in the first service. I had a moment of crisis this morning when I realized I did this PowerPoint. I'm going, uh, oh, is it mold or mould? And I'm going, I don't even know anymore.
[00:27:38] Had a little crisis of conscience there. I'm like, oh, no, the grammar police are going to come and get me.
[00:27:43] I've been told it can go either way. So there you go.
[00:27:49] Do not conform to the patterns of the world. Paul says, so if you're going to ascertain what God's will is in your life. We acknowledge God's mercy. Offer up ourselves as a living sacrifice, meaning you're giving everything to God.
[00:28:02] And then it says, don't conform to the patterns of this world. Or I got in my notes, don't resist to the world, like. Or, sorry. We need to resist the world's bold. And I don't know if you realize this, but the world system is constantly trying to squeeze us into its mold.
[00:28:16] Do you ever feel that in your life you sense that, Right?
[00:28:19] Absolutely. I think young people probably even sense this even more than some of us older people. Isn't that true?
[00:28:26] The stuff that younger people are growing up with in the world is it's such a pressure to squeeze them into the mold.
[00:28:33] But as God's people, we have to see it for what it is, and I would suggest resist it, especially if we want to know God's will for our lives and where there's a conflict between what's seen as normal or acceptable in our culture and yet seems to go against God's word or God's best for our lives. I would say we need to resist it.
[00:28:53] Are you going to stick out like a sore thumb if you resist it in light of the culturally acceptable things trying to squeeze you into your mold and you're pushing back on it, you're resisting it. Are you going to stick out a little bit? Absolutely.
[00:29:05] It's necessary for each one of us. Christians are supposed to be a little different.
[00:29:11] They always have been, they always will be.
[00:29:14] Right? We need to understand that now. The niv, this is according to Kenneth Boa and William Krudenyer says the NIV rendering of the Greek word for world ion is not quite as telling as its primary translation age. The NIV's pattern is not in the Greek text. It's an expansion of the verb don't get me to pronounce that whatever.
[00:29:41] Basically meaning to conform to. Literally, the verse says, do not be conformed to. This age, age carries with it a sense of beliefs, the philosophies, the methodologies and the strategies of the fallen world in which we live. It's not just the world and its people in their fallen state. It's the worldviews and the practices that derive from the fallen state that define the age in which humans live at any time in history.
[00:30:08] Paul also writes in the Book of Colossians that we're not to be swept up by empty philosophies, right, that come from human thinking or the elemental forces. Basically, we need to be aware of the world systems to not be caught up in those philosophies. And by the way, people's behaviors don't just come out of nowhere. They come from the way you think.
[00:30:27] Right? And the way we think is really caught up in our worldviews. The philosophies that we've embraced impacts the way we think, and then it impacts the way we behave.
[00:30:36] And so Paul, they go on to say, here calls this age again that we talked about evil in Galatians 1:4, says that the God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers to the gospel. This age has wise men, scholars and philosophers who believe that their answers to life are to be preferred over God's, but whose wisdom ultimately will lead them to nothing. Now I'm thinking of the Scripture, verse James, chapter 4, verse 1 to 9, where James says this.
[00:31:09] What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from the desires that battle within you? You desire, but you do not Have. So you kill.
[00:31:17] I hope you don't kill, but you get what you're saying. You covet, but you do not get what you want. So you quarrel and fight.
[00:31:24] You do not have because you do not ask God. And when you ask, excuse me, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
[00:31:37] You adulterous people. He says, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?
[00:31:44] Therefore anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
[00:31:49] Now I always like pointing this out, but the Greek word for friend in the New Testament is the same root word as philosophy.
[00:31:57] Philia. You can look it up. Okay, it's like philia, alright? Basically saying anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world or anyone who embraces the philosophy or the worldviews of the world has become an enemy with God.
[00:32:10] You see how we need to be careful here, what we allow into our mind and what we allow to shape us into its mold. He goes on to say, James, does or do you not think the scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the Spirit that He has caused to dwell in us, but he gives us more and more grace. That is why scripture says God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.
[00:32:32] Now what's the answer? Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double minded. Grieve and mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and what will he do?
[00:32:51] Lift you up?
[00:32:53] So what's the antidote? Right, it is to turn to God. So we need to resist the world's mold. And then finally, right? Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed.
[00:33:07] Now remember, we are talking. All of this is in light of knowing God's will for our lives.
[00:33:17] How do we do it? I'm going to keep repeating it. Good preachers repeat themselves sometimes.
[00:33:23] Want to know God's will, acknowledge his mercy. We need to make sure we're acknowledging that. That we understand it's all about God's mercy, right?
[00:33:31] That we need to offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice. Meaning we surrender all of our life. Word, deed, actions, thoughts. It's all God's God. Whatever you want to do in me and through me, I am yours.
[00:33:42] Don't be conformed to the pattern of the world. Meaning that you are not allowing the culture to mold you.
[00:33:47] You're set apart for God. And then lastly, be transformed by the renewing of our mind. And the question is, how do we begin to do this?
[00:33:55] Now, the reality, and I think you might agree with me, that the process of being transformed by the renewing of our mind is really a lifelong process.
[00:34:05] Isn't that true?
[00:34:07] Maybe. You know, hey, there's a moment when I come to Christ at salvation. Yeah. God transforms me. Absolutely. We're transformed. We're a new creation.
[00:34:15] But the process of rewiring this brain takes a lifetime.
[00:34:19] Right.
[00:34:21] I haven't arrived. News flash, neither of you, okay?
[00:34:25] God has a lot more work to do on each one of us.
[00:34:28] So it's a lifelong journey. So how do we renew our mind? Well, I would suggest a few things. Number one, reading God's word consistently.
[00:34:37] Amen.
[00:34:38] This has tremendous power to rewire our thought process.
[00:34:42] Studying it, meditating on it, having a prayer life, a consistent prayer life. Amen.
[00:34:50] Engaging in God in praise and worship and prayer.
[00:34:55] Some people think, you know, man, what's with all the singing we do in church? It's actually vital for rewiring your inner man or woman.
[00:35:03] Okay. It really is. The Bible would not command us to praise God in that kind of way if it were not for our own good.
[00:35:09] He commands us to do so.
[00:35:11] All right.
[00:35:14] It goes a long way towards renewing our mind. I mean, coming to church regularly.
[00:35:19] Hello. Right.
[00:35:21] That helps to renew our mind, right? It does because we're hearing preaching and teaching and then we have fellowship and receive prayer. You know, going to small groups, going to a cr, if that's what you need to go celebrate recovery or whatever other kind of group, a men's group, women's group, whatever, that all helps in renewing our minds.
[00:35:40] Okay.
[00:35:41] I don't care who you are. The most spiritual among us. We need to be around God's people in order for us to continue to live in a godly way.
[00:35:48] You can't live a sanctified godly existence just in isolation.
[00:35:53] You need to be around God's people. Okay.
[00:35:58] I'll throw a shout out for this prayer meeting every Tuesday night.
[00:36:01] We don't advertise this a lot, but we have a prayer meeting right here every Tuesday at 6:30. I want to encourage you. You can come on out. Everybody's welcome. I'm usually here, but I'm not this week.
[00:36:13] Yeah. Very, very important.
[00:36:16] You know, the Bible tells us, and this is when we go back to the word of God being the Primary thing that kind of transforms our mind.
[00:36:23] Matthew 4:4. Jesus says, man shall not live on bread alone. But every word that comes from the mouth of God. Right? Every word.
[00:36:30] So you want to be transformed?
[00:36:32] Of course. The psalm that says, I've hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you. It's about God's word. You want to be transformed. You need God's word to be. You know you need to be in it. Right?
[00:36:44] There's a scripture verse I think this is. It can be important, maybe for some.
[00:36:49] Found in Psalm 115. It says, why do the nations say, where is their God? Is God?
[00:36:54] Sorry, Our God is in heaven. He does whatever pleases him. But their idols are silver and gold made by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, noses but cannot smell, hands but cannot feel, feet but cannot walk.
[00:37:09] They sound pretty useless, right?
[00:37:11] Nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
[00:37:14] Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
[00:37:21] I just said, what does it sound like? That they're useless.
[00:37:24] But it says, you'll become like them if you trust in them.
[00:37:27] Now, we may not have idols necessarily today that are built of silver and gold. We put on a shelf and we bow down and worship like the ancient people do. But how many know that there's other idols that can creep up in our lives?
[00:37:37] And if we begin to trust in them or worship them, we're getting in a very dangerous place, perhaps, maybe useless in the hands of God. I don't know about you, but I want to be useful to God, not useless. Right?
[00:37:51] But let's flip that around and talk about the opposite. If worshiping idols says that you'll become like them and all who trust in them, how about if we worship God, that will become more like him as we trust in him, right? As we spend that time renewing our minds in the Word and all the things that it takes to renew our minds, as we just stated. Now, Douglas Moos says this, and I've already kind of stated it with regards to renewing our mind, it is a process. The fact that Paul calls believers to engage in this renewing of the mind shows that it does not automatically happen to us when we believe God's spirit comes to reside in us, and he provides a whole new orientation to our thinking.
[00:38:31] But our thinking in and of itself isn't instantaneously changed. The ruts of the old life are not always easy to get out of. Some of our ways of thinking are deeply ingrained, and they will not disappear overnight. The key question then becomes, what are we feeding into our minds?
[00:38:48] Good question.
[00:38:50] Now hide it in my notes that I missed it earlier, but I'm talking about the things that lend towards transforming our minds. Okay? Transforming the way we think.
[00:38:59] Very practical thing. You may not see it in the Bible, but very practical for us today is be careful of the media that you consume.
[00:39:06] Hello. Right.
[00:39:08] Many of us have our. Most of us have our faces stuck in some kind of screen at some point a day or whatever. Whether it's on your phone or the TV or the computer, whatever, Be careful what you're allowing into your system. If you want your minds to be set on the things of God.
[00:39:20] Very important. In fact, there's an old saying. I don't know where it came from, and I tried googling it this morning to find out the source. Couldn't figure it out. But the saying goes like this.
[00:39:31] We all have two natures, the one we love and the one we hate. But the one we feed will dominate.
[00:39:37] Boy, is that ever powerful. When you're talking about the godly nature and the sinful nature, let's make sure we feed the godly nature. Amen. That thou will now have control in our lives, very, very important.
[00:39:51] Okay, so I think I'm ready to start this conclusion here. And I know the sound guy in the back will play some nice music, some fake piano playing to set the nice spiritual mood here as we get ready to end the service.
[00:40:03] That's what we do, right? There you go. Isn't that love?
[00:40:08] There you go.
[00:40:09] That's. That's Rob and Chris in the back, just playing, you know. There you go.
[00:40:15] So when it comes to knowing God's will, how many again, Raise your hands here. Maybe there's something in your life right now that you're seeking God for that you say, I need to know God's will in this situation. Anybody here? Be honest. You know what? Yeah, there's many of us. Absolutely tons of us.
[00:40:31] I'm seeking God to know his will. Okay, so a couple things, right? Just in recap. Number one, let's make sure that we're doing God's general will. Okay? Now, hey, do we always get it right 100% of the time? No.
[00:40:48] We're gonna make mistakes, gonna slip, trip up from time to time. Not true.
[00:40:53] When we do, what do we do? We run right back to Jesus, say, God, you know, would you forgive me? Wash me, cleanse me, help me to follow your ways.
[00:41:01] Amen.
[00:41:02] And he's loving arms wide open is going to embrace us. Absolutely. Let's follow God's general will.
[00:41:10] But then in that, as Paul writes in Romans, let's make sure we recognize God's great mercy every day.
[00:41:16] Let's offer ourselves up as a living sacrifice to God, meaning our whole selves. It belongs to him. Whatever you want from us, Word, thought, indeed, God, I belong to you.
[00:41:27] Make sure we don't follow the patterns and customs of this world.
[00:41:31] Let's be active in doing the things that lends towards us, transforming our minds, but, you know, renewing our minds by transforming it in the way we think.
[00:41:41] And Paul says if we do these things, he says, then we'll be able to test and approve what God's will is. That's the whole point, the message, his perfect, pleasing will.
[00:41:53] And God does have a tremendous will and plan for our lives. Amen.
[00:41:58] Now, one thing I've noticed, and maybe you've noticed it too, that there are times when we can do all the right things.
[00:42:07] We can seek God, pray, get godly counsel, spend countless hours seeking the heart of God about a certain decision that we need to make. Because we need to know God's will about this particular situation. And we've done everything we can and yet we still don't have any clear direction from God. Can that happen?
[00:42:29] Is it just me?
[00:42:32] What the pastor doesn't hear from? Hey, come on now.
[00:42:36] What do we do now? You. Good question. I'm glad you asked. Here you go.
[00:42:42] As far as I can tell, there's two things. You have two options. You spend all the time seeking God over this decision. You're not getting anything clear from God. You spend ample time on your knees, praying, worshiping godly counsel, everything else. If you're not getting something clear from God, here's two options that you have. Number one, you put that decision on the shelf and say, I'm just going to wait on God.
[00:43:00] You can do that, Right? But how many know? You can't always do that because sometimes things come up in life as I have to make a decision one way or the other. That true?
[00:43:11] Like, no decision is not a decision. I have to make a decision what to do. Okay. You find yourself in that situation, I want you to take great comfort. And I'm not going to read it here now. Actually, I have time to read it. There we go.
[00:43:24] The service was end at 12:30, right?
[00:43:28] I think so.
[00:43:29] I don't normally preach, so it's a little different. Vanish point.
[00:43:33] Acts, chapter 16.
[00:43:35] I love referring to this for those of us who struggle sometimes to understand God's particular will. Check this out.
[00:43:43] Acts 16, verse 6, Paul says.
[00:43:47] Luke writes, paul and his companions traveled through the region of Phrygia in Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia, kept by the Holy Spirit from doing it. When they came to the border of the Mysia, they tried to enter into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to do it.
[00:44:09] So they continue on. They passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
[00:44:15] But during the night, Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia standing and begging him, come over to Macedonia and help us. And after Paul seen the vision, we got ready at once. Luke writes to write for to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
[00:44:31] What does the scripture have to do with any of this? If you caught it? Paul and his companions got it wrong three times before God showed them the direction they needed to go.
[00:44:41] Did you see that?
[00:44:43] God blocked them? It said the Spirit.
[00:44:46] The Spirit of God blocked them specifically. At least twice that it's written there. And there was another point in time where they arrived in Troas and nothing was happening. Then God called him out of there.
[00:44:54] So they got it wrong three times before they finally got it right. That tells me some very comforting things that, you know what? Sometimes if I got to make a decision and I'm not getting anything clear, Darren, just make a decision. God's with you either way.
[00:45:08] And guess what? If it's off track a little bit, God will show you. Amen. I don't know if you've ever experienced that. I have. And I have to conclude, and I think this is worth noting, and this is hopefully, I'm praying this is some comfort for some folks here today, that God's will for your life and for my life is not so much a tightrope that you're walking, and all of a sudden, if you slip off just a little bit, you're doomed and you've missed it. You blew it. You messed it up.
[00:45:36] God's will is far more broad than that. Number one.
[00:45:40] Okay. And number two, guess what? If we do take a wrong turn, I'm going to bring it right back to the start. Remember we were talking about the gps? What happens if you're driving in your car and you take a wrong turn? What does your GPS do for you?
[00:45:54] Recalculating Holy Spirit. That's annoying. But you know what? Holy Spirit's gonna say, hey, time to recalculate you made the wrong turn here.
[00:46:04] He's not gonna condemn you, he's not gonna beat you up. He's gonna gently recalculate you, get you back on that right path. Amen.
[00:46:13] It's good news.
[00:46:15] So God has a plan for each one of us. Let's walk in step with his will for our lives.
[00:46:20] Now can you all stand? We're going to close in prayer and as I pray, I would like each one of us now who maybe there's something specific in your life that you're seeking God for direction on and you haven't received that direction yet.
[00:46:38] And as I pray, would you just lift your hands and say, God, this is me. Would you come because God can bring some clarity here.
[00:46:45] Would you lift your hands as I pray, Father? God, I thank you today for your people.
[00:46:49] God, I thank you that you do give clear direction, Lord, you tell us, Lord, to pray and to seek you, God, that you do give direction. God and God, I pray that as we take this proper time to seek your face, God, to lay our lives before you as we do, Lord, all that we can do to live in such a way that honors you, living our lives as a living sacrifice, recognizing your mercy, doing the general will that you have for our lives, God, that you would also begin to show us individually, Lord, lead us Lord, like a gps, turn by turn direction into what's next, Lord, what we need to do next. God, that you'd make our pathway clear. God, I pray that for my brothers and sisters here today as they are acknowledging I need God's direction in this particular situation. God, would you show them show them Lord, which way to go now? Lord, I also pray for those who are here, who maybe they've been seeking you for a long time and God, they're not getting that clear direction, but they could be honest to say I've sought the face of God, you know, in such a way I don't know what else to say. God, I pray that you would help us to graciously make a decision where we need to and then God trust you that you're going to walk with us as we make those decisions. That, that God, if we've gotten off track, you're going to recalculate, you're going to bring us back on that track, oh God, to follow you.
[00:48:12] And God, that if we, if there's anyone here who feels that they've missed God's will, they've messed it up. God, I pray that they would not be feel condemned here today.
[00:48:22] But Lord, that gently by your spirit that you will bring us back on track with you.
[00:48:28] God, that we would recalculate those directions for what to do next.
[00:48:32] And God, that we would walk and follow you in your ways for what you have for us. And I thank you and praise you for this, God. You have great plans for each one of us, Lord. Help us to walk in it. I pray in Jesus name.
[00:48:45] Amen. Amen. Well, God bless you as you leave today.
