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GPS: God's Positioning System - Acts 21:1-15

Taught on | Topic: Who is God | Keywords: relationship, will, god, instruction, direction, conviction, guidance

Part of a relationship with anyone is knowing what that person expects. We wonder, "What does that person want from me in this relationship?" Relating to God is no different. So how can we know what God's will is for our lives? What kind of guidance can we expect? A notable example from Paul's life furnishes an excellent template for exploring this question. It was a confusing time, and many people didn’t agree with Paul's decision - but he felt it was God's will for him.

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2/22/2009
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GPS: God's Positioning System
Acts 21:1-15
Skip Heitzig
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Message Summary
Part of a relationship with anyone is knowing what that person expects. We wonder, "What does that person want from me in this relationship?" Relating to God is no different. So how can we know what God's will is for our lives? What kind of guidance can we expect? A notable example from Paul's life furnishes an excellent template for exploring this question. It was a confusing time, and many people didn’t agree with Paul's decision - but he felt it was God's will for him.
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Biography of God, The

Biography of God, The

Thomas Jefferson. Martin Luther King Jr. Winston Churchill. C.S. Lewis. All outstanding men with amazing life stories, but in all of history, one biography stands out above the rest. The Biography of God gives an in depth look at His character and nature, and delves into the theological and personal profile of our Heavenly Father. As this series searches the scriptures to lead the believer to a discovery of who God is and how He is sensitive to the human condition, it will both lift up and humble at the same time.

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Detailed Notes

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I. The Guidance Principle: Faith





II. The Guidance Person: Holy Spirit





III. The Guidance Predicament: Conflicting Voices





IV. The Guidance Particulars: Three Satellites




A. Personal Conviction




B. Scriptural Direction




C. Accountable Instruction





This Could Become More Than Another Sermon:



  1. Try a new practice: Every morning, when your eyes open and before your feet touch the ground, commit the day to the Lord with a simple expression: "Lord, this day is yours. I have certain plans, but I ask you to take complete control of every minute of my day." You might even want to use the Lord's Prayer as your pattern for personal expression.

  2. Do you view the discovery of God's will as an adventure? A nuisance? A confusing issue?

  3. How does your relationship with the Holy Spirit make a difference in decision-making?

Transcript

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Question: How many of you have ever been lost? Show of hands, honest show of hands, you've been lost. Okay, you've been driving in your car, you didn't get the directions right, you're now frustrated maybe even a little frightened because you overshot it (by 200 miles, I don't know). You're lost. It's no fun.
Imagine what it was like for the astronauts in 1970 in the Apollo 13 mission as they were making their lunar orbit, to completely lose communication with Houston. The course was set but they couldn't for an entire night, several hours, hear or talk to Mission Control in Houston. It was a very eerie feeling the astronauts said. Though the course was set, they heard nothing, they didn't know what was going to happen. Well a lot has changed since 1970, technologically speaking, and now they have these great things out there called the GPS. I brought one, I had to borrow one, I should get one, I don't have one, but I think they're like the coolest devices ever. This is how it works: there's about 24 satellites around the Earth that if you have this on, make it accurate down to 30 feet. You can be anywhere and it'll pinpoint where you are and you can put in there where you want to go. Now whenever I travel I usually rent a Hertz Rentacar and they often will have a little GPS attached to the wheel and they call theirs Neverlost. I like that Hertz Neverlost. And when you program in where you want to go and if you do overshoot it or take the wrong turn there's a little voice in there that says "Recalculating." And then it'll recalculate and basically in a nice way say, "You totally blew it, turn around, go the right direction, get on with the program." Okay, there's a major issue in the Christian life and that issue is guidance. How can I know God's will for my life? How can I go in the right direction and get to the right destination that God wants me to go in? And if you discovered that sometimes knowing God's will is pretty obvious and easy, almost like a GPS. But a whole lot of the time it's very difficult and we wonder like Job, who said, "I cry out to you but you do not answer me."
When I was a brand new Christian I was a little bit obsessed, in a strange way, with the will of God for my life. I didn't know how it worked. True story, I went into the garage, I got a staff like a broom handle, that's all we had, and I walked up to the nearest mountain by my house with a pad of paper and a pencil waiting to hear God's will for my life. I'd seen Charlton Heston do it on the movie, I thought, "It's going to work for me." And I sat there for quite a long time trying to figure out what I was supposed to do. Now as weird as that was I actually knew someone who was even weirder than I was. And this guy got in his car, would drive down the street, come up to a stop sign and he would pray, "Should I turn right, God? Should I turn left, Lord? Should I go straight?" And then he would wait and he'd feel some kind of an impulse, "Okay, I turn right and I go down," and he'd do it like at every stop sign. He wanted to hear from God. I think if God were to speak audibly, he'd say, "Get off the road. You're a danger." 
Now how do God's people come to know his voice? What's our GPS? How does God's positioning system work? Well, I've had you turn to Acts chapter 21, that's a great place to start because Paul feels deeply in his heart that he should go to Jerusalem, while other people around him would say, "Not a good choice. Don't do this." Now as we go on with the story we discover that because he does go to Jerusalem, he gets arrested, and pretty much for the rest of his life he's a prisoner, he's bound, his ministry of traveling is completely stopped because he goes to Jerusalem, which then leaves us with the question: Should he have gone or shouldn't he have gone? Let's see what happens. Chapter 21 verse 1, "It came to pass that when we had departed from them and set sail running a straight course we came to Coss. And the following day to Rhodes, from there to Patara and finding a ship sailing over Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. When we had sighted Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre for there the ship was to unload her cargo. And finding disciples we stayed there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go to Jerusalem. When we had come to the end of those days we departed and went on our way and they all accompanied us with wives and children until we were out of the city. And we knelt down on the shore and prayed. When we had taken our leave of one another, we boarded the ship and they returned home. And when we had finished our voyage from Tyre we came to Ptolemaes, greeted the brethren and stayed with them one day. On the next day, we who were Paul's companions departed and came to Caesarea and entered the house of Phillip the evangelist who was one of the seven, and stayed with them. Now this many had four virgin daughters who prophesied. And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And when he had come to us he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.' Now when we had heard these things, both we and they from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. And then Paul answered, ‘What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. So when he would not be persuaded we ceased saying, ‘The will of the Lord be done.'" The question is: Was it? Verse 15, after those days we packed and went up to Jerusalem."
Now this morning I'd like to give you four components to finding your way. Four components to finding your way. And first is the guidance principle. And we all know what that is, it's the principle of faith. Faith. Faith is what turns the GPS on so to speak. Faith gives us access to the guidance network, "Lord I trust you, I believe in you, you're going to lead me. I trust that will happen." And that's what happened with Paul. Now it's important for us to go back and see the very first time this thought to go to Jerusalem came into Paul's thinking. So go back with me if you don't mind to chapter 19, just two chapters, chapter 19 when this first comes up. I'll tell you where he's at, he's in Ephesus, he's been there for a while, he sees amazing results and he makes a declaration of faith. Chapter 19, verse 19, "Also many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So, the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. When these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Acaia to go to Jerusalem saying, ‘After I have been there I must see Rome also.'" Okay, so he's in Ephesus, he has just seen a mighty work, he has seen this powerful spiritual harvest. The results were good. And upon seeing them, this is the first declaration that he makes and it's a declaration of faith. God has been so faithful here, I trust him that he wants us to go to Jerusalem and take this whole program of evangelism all the way back to Jerusalem." Notice it says, "Paul purposed in the Spirit." Now, in my bible it has a capital S and most translators and scholars would say, "it's probably a misprint, it should be a small S, not referring to the Holy Spirit but here referring to Paul's spirit, Paul purposed in his own spirit. And that's why many translations will render this verse, "Paul made up his mind." This is a statement of faith. God has been so glorious here, let's go to Jerusalem. He trusted. Now you know the principle, II Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we walk by __________ and not by _______." That's right, we walk by faith, we don't walk by sight. We don't walk by a printed out agenda. Or we don't walk by a ten-year plan. And there's nothing wrong if you make a ten-year plan, just know if you're a Christian God has editing rights. But we walk by faith, we trust him, we believe him. And that's the guidance principle, the principle of faith. And that's where Paul is at, I believe deeply in my heart that this is what God wants for my life and for our team.
A foundational truth about guidance is this: God wants you to know His will. Do you believe that? God wants you to know his will. I might want to phrase that another way: God wants you to know that he'll guide you in his will. You may not exactly know his will at the time. That's where the faith comes in but he wants to reveal his will to us. And the Bible is filled with those promises. Like Psalm 37, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delights in his way." Psalm 32, "I will instruct and teach you in the way that you should go, I will guide you with my eye." Isaiah 58 verse 11, "The Lord will guide you continually." So, God is in the GPS business, He guides, He directs. But, but, not in advance, not in totality, but incrementally. He doesn't give it to you all at one time but he gives it to you in increments. Do you know why? So you'll keep coming back to him. See if God would give to you a printout, a computer printout of His will for your life 24/7 every day for the next year, you probably and I would probably take it and just run with it. But we don't do that, we get up every day and we go, "God, I surrender myself to you by faith. Direct me today." So you walk a little bit and you get a little bit of guidance, you come back to him and you ask him for more. And this keeps us coming back and staying tethered into his will. It's very similar to what God told the children of Israel in the Old Testament. Remember when he said, "I'm bringing you into the land, I'm going to get rid of your enemies," God said, "But I won't do it one day or in one year, all at once, but little by little I will drive out your enemies from before you." And this is where the adventure comes in. That's why I believe the life of faith is the most adventurous life you could live. You trust him. You don't know exactly where you're going to go. It's said of Abraham, "He went out not knowing where he was going." I think that describes a lot of us. We don't know how he's going to guide us but we know that he promised that he would. So, throw out the notion that discovering God's will is a formula. You know, if you do 1, 2, and 3, Bingo! Every time you're going to discover. Not going to happen. 
There was a pilot, newly licensed, he was flying a private plane. And the clouds rolled in, it got really foggy, he couldn't see where he was going. And he was not skilled yet at landing by instrumentation. So he's in contact with the control tower, they're giving him his directions. He can't see, they're giving him directions. They're helping him land the plane and as he's coming toward the runway he suddenly remembered where he was, that he's in a city where there's lots of buildings below, there's lots of mountains around him, he starts getting really freaked out. Finally the control tower said, "Look, you just obey our instructions, we'll take care of the obstructions." I think the Lord would say that o us, "Just follow my instructions, do what I say, I'll take care of the obstructions." That's faith. But you know what? We hate that. We do. Don't kid yourself. We as human beings hate the life of faith. And you might stand there going, "Oh not me, I love the life of faith." No you don't. You're like everybody else. You and I would rather see it with our eyes, figure it out with our mind rather than waiting for it by faith. You know, wouldn't it be great if you could always have a vision like Peter on the rooftop. Or, a dream like Joseph in the Old Testament. Or a bush speaking to you like Moses had. Wouldn't it be cool? You're going down the street and a tree starts talking to you. And then you go down and there's a bush, starts talking. You go, "Okay, this can work. I can live this way." But that's living by sight. The Bible says we walk by faith and not by sight. So that's the first thing, the guidance principle, faith.
The second component to finding your way is the guidance person and that's the Holy Spirit. This is perhaps one of the best parts. Go to chapter 20, you were in 19, just turn over to chapter 20, let's follow this whole progress toward Jerusalem. And now I take you down to verse 22, Paul has left Ephesus going toward Jerusalem. He stops in Miletus and there the Ephesian elders come and meet him at the shore. Verse 22, "And see now (now notice this) I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus." Did you hear that? I feel deeply convicted that I should go to Jerusalem, I don't know what's going to happen in the future. But I do know that the Holy Spirit has revealed to me that it's not going to be very pretty. It's going to be painful, there's going to be suffering in Jerusalem. It mentions the Holy Spirit. Did you know that in the book of Acts the Holy Spirit is mentioned forty-two times. It's so obvious reading chapter by chapter, "Holy Spirit this, Holy Spirit said, Holy Spirit did, Holy Spirit led," that some have called the book of Acts not the book of the Acts of Apostles but the book of the Acts of the Holy Spirit because he is so intertwined in the life of the early church and in the life of the apostle Paul. The Holy Spirit. That's exactly what Jesus promised isn't it? Didn't he tell his disciples that he was leaving but another counselor, comforter was coming. And he said, "When the Spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth." That's the guide. When we talk about guidance we can't forget the guide.
There's a great book that I have on my bookshelf, I've used it so many times, I've looked at it for so long, it is falling apart. I just have pages that I just squish together and keep them between two books. It's called The Fight by John White. And he has some very helpful words about guidance. He says, "Though the Bible never uses the word guidance (which is interesting in itself), it does talk about a guide. Though you may seek guidance, it's God that desires to give you something much better: Himself. And deep in your heart, it is a guide even more than guidance that you really want." Here's why it's a great thought: Because sometimes we're so hung up on, "How's the guidance going to come?" And, "What form? What sign?"; when we have the guide living inside of us, which can just sort of let us relax a little bit. You've got the Holy Spirit living in you.
Here's an example: Let's say you went to New York City which in and of itself is an intimidating town to get around in. There you are, you're in New York City, you've rented a car, doesn't have GPS but you have a map. Now a map, though it's better than just trying to figure it out on your own can also be intimidating. Let's say somebody knocks on your window and says, "Excuse me, but you really look lost. I've got some time if you don't mind, I'll just hop in with you and I'll show you, you tell me where you want to go and I'll take you there." Now barring that that person isn't a serial killer from New York City, that's a good plan. You'd much rather have a guide than just the guidance in the form of a map. That's why I love GPS because it talks to you. And it says, "In one mile turn right on I-1-9-5 North." And you wait a little while, you're almost at the off ramp, "Turn right, now." So I mean you have to be like so totally disconnected from reality to miss this thing. And yet I have done it before, that's the funny thing.
So the guidance principle, faith. The guidance person, the Holy Spirit. Here's a third component, a third component: The guidance predicament, other voices that come to you. You say, "How is that then a component?" Actually it is because sometimes the voices from other people that aren't what the Lord is saying to you personally help confirm what God is saying. Sometimes it balances it out and you need to adjust directions and other times it just clarifies it. So, let's take this one: Paul made the choice. It says in Acts, "He purposed in the Spirit," Acts chapter 19. Acts chapter 20, "I go bound in the Spirit." So he's pretty dead set. Not everybody agreed. Look at chapter 21, we read it, verse 4, "Finding disciples, we stayed there seven days." They're in Tyre now. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go to Jerusalem. Now the best way to look at that I think from the sources I've read is that they've got the same message that we will see coming up and what Paul has already seen that if he goes to Jerusalem he's going to get bound and suffer. And they interpreted that as, "Well that means he shouldn't go." So they told Paul through the Spirit not to go to Jerusalem. In the Greek it's in the present tense, it says, "They told Paul again and again and again and again and again for how many days? Seven days, not to go to Jerusalem. It was a hard week for Paul because he wants to go to Jerusalem. Every time he has breakfast, lunch or dinner there's somebody at the table going, "Hey Paul, you know this whole Jerusalem thing you're on? Bad plan, buddy. Bad plan. Back off of that." And he had to put up with that for seven days. Christians from Tyre. Number two, a clergyman from Judea, look at verse 10, "And when we stayed many days a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea and when he had come to us he took Paul's belt (this guy's very dramatic) and he bound his own hands and feet and he said, (so everybody's attention is focused on him) ‘thus says the Holy Spirit, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles." Very reminiscent of Jeremiah the prophet or Ezekiel the prophet, visual demonstration. If you own this belt, Paul, you're going to suffer.
Okay, there's a third origin of voices and that is Paul's traveling buddies, his companions. The very next verse, "Now (notice this there's a change in voice here from they to we, this includes Luke, Silas, etcetera) Now when we heard these things both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go to Jerusalem." All of that to say this, there will be competition when it comes to the voice of God. There will be other voices that don't agree with that. I can think of a number of sources. One source is yourself, I mean you may actually make the choice and feel very strongly that this is where God is leading you but then you know what it's like late at night you lay your head on the pillow and you start second guessing yourself. And, "Is this like a lame idea? Is this stupid? Should I not do this?" That'll happen. But another source of voices if the unbelieving world. If you were to counsel with a non-believer, what if Paul were to counsel, "Hey, I'm thinking of going up to Jerusalem but everybody tells me they're going to kill me there or hurt me there." "Well, don't go, whatever you do, Paul, make sure that it's for your own personal comfort and benefit." That's what the world would advise. Paul never would have gone had he done that. Third, voices of other Christians will sometimes be well-meaning but not necessarily what God is telling you to do. It happened with Jesus, his own disciples told Jesus he shouldn't go up to Jerusalem because he said, "When I go up to Jerusalem, they're going to arrest me, beat me and kill me. But on the third day I will rise again from the dead." And they tried hard and long to dissuade him. It can be confusing. I had a woman come to me some years ago, came in my office with a very interesting predicament. She was very confused about the will of God in marriage. She told me this story, she goes, "I'm dating this guy, I really want to marry him. He wasn't a believer) but I really want to marry him. I love him. And I'm trying to discern God's will." You go, "Oh." And she had counseled with her Christian friends and all of them had said, "Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it." So she came into my office very confused and she goes, "This is what I've decided. I told the Lord this morning I was going to come and see you and whatever you tell me to do, that will be God's will for my life." You're dying to find out what I told her, right? I said, "Look, I'm not going to tell you what God's will is for your life other than here are the principles to discern God's will for your life. You have to make the decision, you can't hang that on me. I have enough problems discerning God's will for my life, following the same principles." 
So how do we then determine what God's will is? Is there any further help? That takes us to the fourth and final part of this and that is the guidance particulars. That's four, the guidance particulars. Now I want to give you three satellites so to speak to navigate by. Three satellites. Satellite number one, your own personal conviction. This is more than a hunch. When I say personal conviction I mean deeply felt spirit-provoked sense that comes deep from within that God wants you to do something. It says, "Paul purposed in the Spirit." He wasn't shooting from the hip, this wasn't a spontaneous, ‘You know I just right now decided I'm going to Jerusalem.' This is a deep developed-over-time conviction. I want to show you rhat if I can. Turn in your Bible to Romans chapter 9 and we're not going to be turning back so just turn to Romans chapter 9. Look what he says, he's writing to the Romans, he has not gone there yet, he wants to go there, this is before he goes to Jerusalem. Romans chapter 9, verse 1, "I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit (strong language) that I have a great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according the flesh (that is, the Jewish people) who are Israelites to whom pertain the adoption; the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, the promises," and so forth. This is a deeply held conviction. No wonder he felt the need to go to Jerusalem and give one final testimony to his people because this is how strongly he felt about them. Deep deep desire. 
When I was a young Christian, not immediately but after a period of time I had a desire forming deep within that I wanted to be a pastor. That's what I felt God was calling me to do. I didn't know how, didn't know when, didn't know where. I just determined that. Now not everybody that I knew had that same sense. Some believed that they wanted to go into business and that God was calling them into business. Others to go to medical school and finish that out. Others to write music. But it was the desires they felt God put within them. And I think that's important. I think it's important. I actually believe that God gives us certain desires so that we'll want what God wants. It says in Psalm 37 (now listen to this), "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." I've heard that I think misinterpreted, you just get all happy about God and he'll give you your heart's desire. I don't think it means that. What I think it means that if you're focused on God and his plan and his will, he'll actually give you, plant within you desire, so that your desires match his desires. That's why I think that one of the guiding satellites is to determine how has God specially uniquely crafted you with gifts and talents. What do you want? What's your passion? 
One author talks about how important this is. He says, "Desire I the extra. It's that little extra that turns water into steam at 211 degrees water is hot enough for you to shave or to make a cup of coffee. But add one more degree and that hot water changes into steam that will power a locomotive around the country or propel a steamship around the world." And the author said, "That desire, that passion, is that one extra degree that makes you go for it." So that's satellite number one, personal conviction.
Satellite number two, scriptural direction. That means a mind saturated with the principles of the word of God so that it becomes very second nature to walk in the will of God. It just comes instinctively. You're predisposed to do his will because you've stored up his word in your heart. True story, there was a newspaper that reported a family that survived a tornado. And as they were debriefing after the tornado they discovered that when the wind came and started moving the house like it was going to be picked up, one of the family members shouted out, "Auntie Em! Auntie Em!" which is from The Wizard of Oz. This person had so digested that movie that it was very instinctive at the time of a storm to shout out what Dorothy shouted out, "Auntie Em! Auntie Em!" I thought, "Now that' cool." Think if believers could be so familiar with the principles of scripture that when the winds come, the storms come, instinctively have the principles of God's word right on their lips.
Well that's the way it was with Paul's life. Here Paul in chapter 9 of Romans talks about his deep internal conviction, personal conviction. I want you to see what it's based on. Chapter 10, verse 1, "Brethren, my heart's desire (that's personal conviction) and prayer to God for Israel is they might be saved." Now I wish we had time to go through more of it but we don't. Go down to verse 11, "For the scripture says whoever believes on him will not be put to shame (he's quoting a text) for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek but the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon him. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how they shall hear without a preacher? (And what was Paul? A preacher.) And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things (verse 21 end of the chapter) But to Israel he (God) says, ‘All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.'" It's pretty obvious isn't it that Paul has been reading the prophet Isaiah and the prophet Joel because he quotes one after another. So he has a desire of personal conviction that's based upon scriptural direction.
Okay, the place for us to start, let's personalize it, the place for us to start to discern God's will is with biblical imperatives. Now just follow me here and trust me, we're going to go through this, I'm going to bring it home to where we live. There are in the New Testament alone three different places where it specifically tells us what God's will is for our life. Let's just start there. Because what I've discovered is a lot of us get hung up on, "Well who should I marry? Where should I move? What job should I have? What car should I buy? What house should I move to?" All of that stuff, when the Bible addresses a whole different issue as if that's disregarded, though it's not, the real issue with God, it's not those things. It's personal conduct moreso than a personal roadmap. Personal conduct. And there's three areas where the will of God is spelled out. Number one, holiness; number two, thankfulness; and number three, submissiveness. Let's just start with that foundation. Number one, holiness. I Thessalonians 4:3, it says, "This is the will of God (Ready? This is what God wants. Here's God's will for your life.) This is the will of God, even your sanctification. You could retranslate that, "This is what God wants for you. Live a holy life." And then he defines what that means. "That you should abstain from sexual immorality." So, if by any chance you would ever wonder as a single person who has a fiancee, "I wonder if it's God's will for my fiancée and I to have sexual relations before we're married?" Wonder no more. The answer is, "Absolutely not. This is the will of God your sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality." And what's strange to me is that those who are often sexually involved like this spend their time wondering about what God's will is for their career or where they should move, when they haven't even started here. That's number one, holiness.
Number two, thankfulness. This is I Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 16 through 18, "Always be joyful, continually be prayerful, in everything be thankful, because this (this trio of responsibilities) because this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. And again in the Greek language it's in the present imperative, "Keep on being joyful, keep on being prayerful, keep on being thankful." So if you ever wonder, "Is it God's will for Christians to prayerless grumblers as they complaint heir way through life?" The answer would be, "Unh-uh. Never-er-er." And I've got say that because I've met Christians, I know people personally, they have, man they've made complaining into an artform. You can't be with them but a few minutes and it just goes from this high thing to blub, blub, blub, just down in the dumps really really quick. This is the will of God. So just knowing these two biblical imperatives of purity and attitude is a good place to start.
The third one is submissiveness. I Peter chapter 2 verses 13 through 15, here it is, "For the Lord's sake submit yourselves to every human authority, whether to the king as supreme, or governors who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong, praise to those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence ignorant talk of foolish people." Be submissive to authority. What's really interesting is Peter doesn't differentiate between "Only if it's a good government or a bad government. It's all government." When he wrote this Caesar Nero was in charge and he said, "Submit to them." 
So, should a Christian ever fudge on his expense report or cheat on income taxes? Or, (let's get even more personal) speed so they get to church on time? The answer would be no. No. So these biblical imperatives are a good place to start to discern the will of God for our lives. And it's foolish for us to seek God's will for our career, our education, etcetera when we ignore these basic things. Moreover as your mind is soaked, imbued with biblical principles, listen: God's will will be second nature to you. You'll just walk in it, daily.
Personal conviction, scriptural direction, and here's a third satellite and I close with this: Accountable instruction. The wise counsel of others around you, asking advice from other people. The Bible's filled, especially Proverbs with why this is vital. Proverbs 1:5, "A wise man will hear and increase in learning. A man of understanding will obtain wise counsel." Proverbs 12 verse 15, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. But he who heeds counsel is wise." Proverbs 15 verse 22, "Without counsel plans go awry but in the multitude of counselors they are established." Now you might be thinking, "Wait a minute. Time out. What about Paul? This duded completely disregarded the counsel of others." Right?" Wrong. He didn't disregard it, he weighed it carefully and that counsel actually helped him clarify that those voices aren't the ones I am to follow. I was right, I need to go to Jerusalem. Because the Holy Spirit didn't say, ‘Don't go.' He just said, ‘The one who goes is going to suffer.' And Paul said, "Sign me up. I'm willing to die. This is God's will." It clarified it for him. 
So, here it is, when you're looking for counsel from people, be discerning. You've got to be a believer first, right? Psalm 1, "Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly." Find a person who's going to tell you biblical truth straight up, not just somebody who wants to tell you what you want to hear. So, in looking for counsel be discerning. And also, if you go against counsel be careful. Don't be arrogant, don't be prideful, be humble. I mean you don't have to say, "Well you're wrong, you're not listening to God. I am." Just thank them for their advice and just say, "You know I really feel strongly however that this is where the Lord wants me to go." You weight I out but ultimately you make the decision. It's between you and God.
In the old days, the ancient ships, the seagoing vessels had two compasses, one on deck and one on the top of the mast. And the one on deck was so that the captain could look at it relatively speaking throughout the journey as he's steering the wheel. But he would have somebody climb up on the mast and tell him what that one reads. And there was a passenger aboard one of these ships who said, "What's the deal with two compasses?" And the captain explained, "This is an iron vessel. The one attached to the deck is affected by it's surroundings, the metal. The one on the mast is above the influence. We always set our course by the one above." Balance it out. May God put a magnet in your heart, a compass in your head as you discern his will.
Now, I don't think the will of God is a huge maze or puzzle. I think you just live by faith and you trust the Holy Spirit's going to guide you. 
To sum it up, one person put it this way I love it, "Love God with all your heart. And then do whatever you want." It's actually good advice because if you love God with all your heart you're going to read his word. If you love God with all your heart, you're going to seek his face. If you love God with all your heart, you're going to ask his people for counsel. Love God with all your heart and do what you want because God will give you, put within you, desires.
Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do trust you and we do thank you that you have given to us more than a roadmap, set of rules for guidance, you've given us the guide himself, the Holy Spirit, who will guide us into all truth. And we hold to that and we believe that. And we submit ourselves to you and we pray that as we begin with just the basic scriptural commands of what you said you want for our lives, in holiness, in thankfulness and in submissiveness, that we would find it second nature doing your will comes more easily. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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10/12/2008
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Can God Be Known?
Hebrews 11:6
Skip Heitzig
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Today we start a brand new series of messages I'm calling, "The Biography of God". The very subject matter of "God" is the loftiest of all subjects and the pinnacle of all pursuits. As we discover who God is and how He is perceptible to the human condition, we will be both lifted up and humbled all at the same time. The great transition that must be made, however, is to not stop with gathering information about God but by believing and acting in the light of that information, thus truly knowing Him.
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10/19/2008
completed
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Is Anyone Up There? Looking For Clues
Romans 1:18-22;Psalms 19:1-6
Skip Heitzig
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We all remember the scene in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and her three friends come to approach the "Great Oz". Out of the corner of their eye, they notice a man pulling levers behind a curtain-working the mechanical, smoke-breathing Oz. The man then reacts by announcing, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" But how can they not? The man is the explanation for everything to them. They discovered that Oz didn't really exist! So how do we know that God exists and isn't a fabrication or projection of our own imaginations?
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10/26/2008
completed
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"Now Hear This!" How Does God Speak?
Psalms 19
Skip Heitzig
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This is the age of communication. Cell phones, email, text-messaging, i-chatting and YouTube broadcasting are as common as coffee. (Some people are even talking the old-fashioned way—face to face with the person.) So how does God communicate? How does His message, His biography get out to the world? And more importantly, perhaps, who’s listening?
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11/9/2008
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I'm God...and You're Not!
Exodus 33-34
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The only way to know someone is for that someone to reveal himself/herself to us. We discover who that person is as he tells us about himself. Moses wanted to know God better and God tells Moses about Himself. This is the only place in scripture where God lists His own characteristics and qualities there are four phases to this touching story:
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11/23/2008
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God: A Short Autobiography
Exodus 34:5-7
Skip Heitzig
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In studying the Biography of God, there's no better source than God Himself. This is one of the primary passages in all of Scripture about who God is; it is His own autobiography. This is God telling us about Himself. As God reveals to Moses who He is, he begins by declaring His name and then listing several of His primary character traits. It's not unlike meeting anyone for the first time. We get their name and then learn some things about them. As we relate to God, then, these experiences are what we can expect to find.

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12/14/2008
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The God Who Knows-It-All!
Psalms 139:1-6
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A little boy climbed his neighbor's apple tree when he saw their car leave. He didn't realize while he was stuffing his pockets full of apples that another neighbor was watching through a pair of binoculars and saw the whole thing! God isn't spying on people, trying to catch them doing something wrong; but God is aware of everything. Such a truth has a profound effect on us: it can either be very comforting or else extremely unsettling. As we continue with the biography of God, let's consider what God knows.
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1/4/2009
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Godisnowhere
Psalms 139:7-12
Skip Heitzig
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1/11/2009
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My God is Bigger than Your God!
Psalms 139:13-18
Skip Heitzig
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There are so many different belief systems out there! Some people have a god that isn't very big and can't do very much. He smiles a lot but is weak and helpless to act. It's not a whole lot different from ancient times, really. The Syrians once said that Israel's God was "a god of the hills and not of the plains" (1 Kings 20:28). Their view of God was limited and powerless. So what's your view? Does it match the Bible's description of our Awesome God?
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1/18/2009
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God's Most Unpopular Attribute
Isaiah 6
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Ask most people to tell you the first word that comes to mind when they think of God and it will be "love" or "grace" or "forgiveness." All of these are wonderfully comforting attributes of God, but another key attribute that is seldom considered is His holiness. Today we observe one man's encounter with God, and we learn some lessons about what it means to have a personal relationship with a holy God.
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1/25/2009
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I Don't Get It! How Can Three Be One?
Matthew 28:16-20
Skip Heitzig
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1+1+1=1. Is this New Math? No, it's the doctrine of the Trinity. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. At the very heart of the Judeo-Christian faith is the belief that there is only one God. Yet the Bible clearly teaches the plurality within the Godhead--three persons who are distinct from one another yet perfectly One in essence. What are we to make of all this? And why is it important? Today let's consider two major truth statements.
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2/1/2009
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Two Thirds is Not Enough
John 14-17
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"The mind of man cannot fully understand the mystery of the Trinity. He who would try to understand the mystery fully will lose his mind. But he who would deny the Trinity will lose his soul" (Harold Lindsey and Charles J. Woodbridge, A Handbook of Christian Truth). Last week we discovered that Scripture reveals One God in three distinct Persons. Today we consider the personality of all three Persons in the One God and Their role in our lives. Further, how can we relate to the Triune God in practical terms?
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2/15/2009
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The Dark Side of God
John 9:1-7
Skip Heitzig
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"If God is in charge and loves us, then whatever is given is subject to His control and is meant ultimately for our joy" -Elizabeth Elliot. That perspective (which is the biblical one) is far from the typical sentiment about pain. Most ask, "If God really loved me, how could there be evil and suffering in this world--especially for me?!" To study God at all, this issue must be dealt with: Why is God’s world so messy? Where is the evidence of His power and love in such a suffering world?
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3/1/2009
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How to Be God's Friend
Genesis 18:1-15
Skip Heitzig
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For the last fourteen weeks we've looked at "The Biography of God." In this loftiest of all subjects and the pinnacle of all pursuits, we've discovered Who He is, what He is like, and how to relate to Him. We must always remember not to stop with just gathering information about God--we need to truly know Him in a personal way. Abraham provided a model for us in how to do that as a friend. Four qualities form the template for being God's friend.
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There are 13 additional messages in this series.
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