Today, I am bringing a message on how to know the will of God that I have gleaned from my pastor Dr. Hymers, and from Dr. A.W. Tozer. This is one of the most asked questions in any church and it may come in several forms. Which college or university should I go to? What career should I go into? Whom should I marry? What is God’s will for my life? These are all important questions that have life-changing consequences and people often need to make these decisions while they are young and inexperienced, so it is important to know God’s will. But how can we discern His will? Will He reveal it to me in a dream? Will He infuse a thought into my mind? Will The Holy Spirit guide me by filling my heart with emotions? While God is omnipotent and CAN use these methods to show you His will, the most frequent and most trustworthy way to know the will of God is through His Word.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Before I go deeper into the sermon, I must clarify that to truly know the will of God and to be guided by Him, you must be His child. Additionally, you must be clean, consecrated to Him, and willing to do His will, for God will not cast His pearls before swine. He will not reveal His will to a man who is caught up in himself or unwilling to do His will. But before you all tune out, I would like to reiterate that the most trustworthy way to know the will of God is through His Word.

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35; p. 1034)

“For I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6; p. 982).

Let’s pause here for a moment and ask yourself a question. Do you read God’s Word? Do you meditate on it? Do you ask God to “open your eyes that you may behold wondrous things out of thy law?” If you neglect your Bible reading, or if you just blast through it to check it off your list, are you surprised that you are unable to discern God’s will? How can you know His will, if you don’t even know His Word? By trying to discern His will without knowing His Word, you are putting the cart before the horse.

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8; p. 259).

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12; p. 1294)

Here are three points on how reading the Word of God can guide you.

I. First, the Bible gives clear instruction on what you should do.

There are things revealed in Scripture that provide clear guidelines on what a person should do. Take, for example, a brother or sister recently lost their loved one and they are having trouble making ends meet. You do not need to seek guidance from God to decide whether you should visit them and pray with them! The instruction is clear. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. You do not need to ask God whether you need to pray for the sick. The Bible says,

“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14; p. 1310)

Some things that we should do are not explicitly stated as the examples above. But we can determine what we should do by the actions of the church in a similar circumstance. Take, for example, when the Apostle Peter was imprisoned.

“Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him” (Acts 12:5; p. 1165).

Unless my son Peter was put in prison, this would not be an explicit commandment for us. However, we can apply this verse to pray for our brothers and sisters in bonds who are being persecuted for the sake of Christ. So, there should be no question whether we should pray for those that are persecuted for the cause of Christ. This should be done daily in our private prayers.

II. Second, the Bible gives clear instruction on what you should not do.

You do not need to pray to God to ask Him if you should have an abortion. It is clearly statec, “thou shalt not kill.” No clarification is needed from God if you should run off with another man’s wife, for God’s Word clearly says “thou shalt not commit adultery.” But someone may say “What about pornography, the Bible never said anything about pornography.” Well, Jesus said,

“That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:28; p. 1001).

You see, God has given you some measure of intelligence, common sense and a conscience. There are certain things that require no clarification from God. Notice that I didn’t say God gave you “feelings” as a guide through life. This applies also to what people call the “leadings of the Holy Spirit.” Now, this is where there is a vast disagreement with what you are being taught in school. I am a product of the public school system, and I can assure you that feelings and self-esteem are highly emphasized. But I am here to tell you that they are wrong! The Bible says that,

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9; p. 790).

“He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:26; p. 693).

Someone here may disagree with me, but let me reason with you and try to convince you with empirical evidence. What has been the product of people doing what they felt was right in their own eyes and following their hearts? Well, there is the abortion holocaust. There is also the “woke” movement. I can provide many more examples, but it is quite clear that trusting your heart and feelings is a foolish thing to do. Concerning “leadings of the Holy Spirit,” I have found that they often come from the most unstable and emotional individuals. We have all heard someone say that “The Lord led me to leave my church” or “The Lord led me to leave my family.” The problem with this is that it doesn’t align with the Word of God and it is driven by feelings and emotions, which the Bible teaches is foolish! It is simply a crutch to soothe the conscience and to try to justify sin!

III. Third, not every aspect of life will have the answer in Scripture.

Should I buy a Honda or a Toyota? What school should I go to? What should I major in? You will not find the answer to these questions in the Bible. Dr. A. W. Tozer said,

“There’s a whole world of common living to which God hasn’t said anything. He just has given you common sense and intelligence and says, now, honor Me, love Me, put yourself in My hands, and I don’t care which you do.” (A. W. Tozer, “How We Can Know the Will of God,” December 9, 1956).

You see, God does not intend to dictate every aspect of your life. In addition to His Word, He has given you some measure of intelligence, common sense, and a conscience. You have previous experiences where you (hopefully) gained some wisdom from so that you can make informed decisions moving forward. But He has also given you a pastor, deacons and elders to help guide you in making the right decision. For every major aspect of my life, I consulted with my pastor, Dr. Hymers and in hindsight, I can confidently say that I have made the right decision every time because of his guidance. Choosing a school, or a major, or deciding to buy a house hardly seems like a spiritual decision on the surface, but in some ways it is. What if you choose a school that isn’t accredited? Then your degree is useless. What if you choose a major where you cannot find a job? What if you buy a house that is more expensive than what you can afford? These “worldly” decisions can easily affect your spiritual life. Who should you marry? That is one decision that can completely make shipwreck your life, and the Bible only gives some guidelines on the characteristics of the person who you should marry. This is where it is extremely important to consult with your pastor. The Bible says,

“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you” (Hebrews 13:17; p. 1304).

The word used for pastor is also translated as bishop, and both mean overseer. It is my duty to look out for the best interests of the church. As we have learned from Dr. Hymers and Dr. Cagan, the church is NOT the building, it is the people! Like my pastor before me, it is my job to watch for your souls and guide you through the many pitfalls and stumbling blocks of life and help you become a successful Christian. Success as a Christian is not defined by what is in your bank account and it isn’t defined by what church you belong to, or even by what you do in the church. Tozer said,

“In God, everything that you do, God wants to have three reasons or three motives… To honor Him, profit you, and bless everybody else. That’s the will of God” (A. W. Tozer., “How We Can Know the Will of God,” December 9, 1956).

Is your life a channel of blessing? Does your life honor God? Are you a blessing to your brethren? Does your life reflect the glory of Jesus Christ? Ask yourself these questions to determine if you are doing God’s will and if you are a success as a Christian. Remember what I stated earlier as the prerequisites to know God’s will: 1. You must be a child of God. 2. You must be clean. 3. You must be consecrated to God. 4. You must be willing to do God’s will. The Bible says,

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:22-25; p. 1307)

What is keeping you from knowing the will of God? Neglecting Bible reading? Some unconfessed sin in your heart? An unwillingness to obey? Examine yourselves! You will find no greater joy in your life than by obeying God and his Word! Corrie ten Boom, a Christian who helped many Jews escape Nazi Germany during the Holocaust said, “The safest place to be is in the center of God’s will.”

While this message was primarily directed at those who are already children of God, there are some of you here this morning that are still lost. This is God’s will for you:

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9; p. 1319).

You have sin, and your sin is keeping you from God. You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! Trust Him! He will wash away your sins with His precious Blood! You will never regret it. Place your trust on Jesus who loves you, shed His Blood for you, died for you, and even now is praying for you. Remember that He doeth all things well. Amen.