God’s Perfect Will

Introduction

We’re going to begin this morning with a series of three questions that I would like you to consider. The first of which is, how strong is your confidence in the scripture? I’m pretty sure you had at least a little confidence that brought you to this place this morning that you felt some reason compelled by something to be here to worship God today, to participate in this assembly of worship. You must have had some confidence in the Word of God that prompted that. But how strong is that confidence? And that leads me to the second question. When faced with your wants and his will, what wins out? And that really relates to question one, doesn’t it? How strong is your confidence in God’s word? This is what often happens when someone that we love is not living consistently with the will of God, and we perhaps change our views on marriage, divorce, and remarriage to justify the behavior of someone we dearly love.

All of a sudden we’ve got new views as to what we believe about marriage and divorce and who can be married and who shouldn’t be married. Because we want to justify this person. You see, it’s my want versus his will. What’s going to win? How strong is your confidence in God’s Word? And I asked that question this morning, and the question that follows, because I don’t believe it’s a constant. That is, the confidence that you might have had in the Word of God today you obeyed the gospel. Where you put on Christ, where you believed in this saving message of the gospel, your confidence in God’s word may not be as strong today as it was then. Time can erode your confidence in Scripture. And so I asked this question.

What can we do about the strength of our confidence in God’s word? How can we bolster it or shore it up? How can we make it stronger than it is right now? Or have been at times in our past. And that’s the reason for the invitation song being what it is this morning. When my love to Christ grows weak.

We need to be thinking in the right way that our confidence might be bolstered in the word of God. So how can I keep my confidence in God’s word vibrant and strong and my commitment to what is right at a very high level? We need to remember some things about the word of God. It’s not necessary that you necessarily turn to all these passages, but our approach to God’s Word is important. How we regard it. Jesus said, I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it in Matthew 5 and verse 17. And he said, Truly I say to you in verse 18, until heaven and earth shall pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the law until all is accomplished.

The entirety of it was significant to him. And he says, Whoever annuls one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. That’s how God feels about his word. But whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. And then he said to his audience, look, you better do better than the Pharisees and scribes have done. In terms of their response to the word of God. Of course, the passage in Matthew 24 and verse 35, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall never pass away. Or as Jesus said about Scripture in John 10, verse 35, he said, Scripture cannot be broken. That’s how sure and steadfast it is.

I’ve always loved this passage where Paul is not talking about the Bible per se, God’s written instruction to us, but what God has told him as a prophet and apostle, when in regard to the storm that is taking place as they’re on the sea, I’ve always loved the statement where Paul says, It will turn out exactly as I have been told. And you can just rest assured of that in regard to the Word of God. And so I just want to tell you by way of introduction: this is the way it is.

This is what it is, this is the way it is. And we need to have confidence in that. We are born of that confidence in the Word. That’s why we submitted to being baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, because we believed in the Bible, and that act causes us to be cleansed from our sins. It causes us to rise from the dead to newness of life. And we believe that because of our confidence in this word, and thus we are born again of this living and abiding word of God. 1 Peter chapter 1. Our souls are purified in obedience to the truth, he says in verse 22 of that text. Men are like grass. They’re temporary, they fade and wither. Especially when they fertilize and you don’t water.

Your grass dies. That’s what’s been happening to me lately. Going to dump the fertilizing people. I’m going with Daniel. I want my yard to grow. But that’s, but when your yard dies through lack of watering technique, that’s what our lives are like. They’re not permanent. But the word of the Lord endures forever. I like this text in Revelation 22. Perhaps you’re familiar with it. God is merely speaking of that particular prophecy, but it’s true of all the words of God. And that is that one who would come along and add to or take away from the prophecy of this book. Jesus says, I will add unto him the plagues of this book. I mean, and when you start reading about those plagues in the book of Revelation, you don’t want those to come upon you.

Some of the terrible things that we read about that happen in the book of Revelation. He says, that’s what’s going to come upon you if you diminish the word of God. Or if you try to supply what is beyond what God has written. Add more to it, he says, that’s the result. And what that says is that God takes what he has said very seriously and expects us to do the same. And so, as I’ve intimated already, we’re not going to end our lives and find ourselves at the judgment throne of God and somehow discover that things are different than what we read about in the scripture. I guarantee you this morning, it’s not going to be different. It is going to be precisely what has been revealed.

We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things done in our body, whether those things are good or bad. And he says, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.

As we talk about your confidence in the Word of God and how strong that confidence is, I want to take you to the text that we’re going to look at briefly this morning in Ephesians chapter 5. In Ephesians chapter 5, these words may be familiar. This six-verse section that I’m going to read isn’t very long, but says a lot of powerful things about our lives. Verse 15 of Ephesians 5. Therefore, be careful how you walk. Not as unwise men, but as wise. Making the most of your time. Redeeming the time, the King James Version says. Making the most of your time because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish. But understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine.

For that is dissipation. It is excess, he is saying. It is a waste. It is squandering. But be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord. Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, on the basis of all that he is, which you can have every confidence in, by the way, that he is indeed the Lord, and that he is the Messiah of the Old Testament, the long promised Christ in the name, on the basis of all that he is, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. And that’s not really the end of the context, but I want to talk to you for a moment about the perfect will of our God.

I ran across this with this week, and I thought it was pretty neat. The seven wonders of the Word of God. You know, we talk about the seven ancient wonders of the world, and we talk about the architecture of certain things that were built and accomplished by man, but what about what God has given us in this powerful document? Just why is it so amazing? We looked at its inspiration on Wednesday night about how that it is God breathed. But even more than that, if you think about these inspired documents coming to all these different authors, all the different roles that were played, all the different backgrounds of those who wrote. And the fact that it was formed over a period of 1,500 years. This document as a whole, old and new testament, over a period of a millennia and a half.

Carefully formed. And not just formed, but 3,500 years from the beginning, from its inception of writing to now, how that the word of God has been preserved. And you know what? It’s not going anywhere. As we’ve already read in those passages we quoted earlier. And that just begins the wonders of this book. What about the unified message of the redemption of man? The reclaiming of man as a result of the sin that has encompassed every man’s heart and soul. A solution to man’s greatest ills. What a message. And it’s designed to emancipate us, free us, give us liberty to reclaim us for God’s holy purposes that we might come into fellowship with our creator. And that speaks to its transforming power. Look at the lives that it’s changed.

Look at what it did in simply one life, that of the Apostle Paul, as it turned him from a murderer and one who opposed God’s plan, who kicked against the goads to one of his greatest servants, the great apostle Paul. And look at the transforming power it has had in the lives of untold thousands since the first century, and the fact that it can change you. It can change the way we speak, it can change the way we think, it can change the way we view others. It changes our behavior and molds us into something completely different. And we’ll talk more about this tonight. Awesome in its effects in our lives. And not to mention, if the other six things are not enough, the promises that extend even to an eternal existence in the presence of God Himself.

1. Be Careful, Not Careless

And that’s just the beginning. We can talk about this on and on. I love Psalm 12 in this regard. In Psalm 12 and verse 6, the words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace in the earth, refined seven times. Thou, O Lord, will keep them. Thou will preserve him from his generation forever. And so when we look at what Ephesians 5 is telling us about what we ought to do with our lives as a result of his perfect will, I just want to make a couple of observations, and I’ll be done this morning. Number one, this passage is telling us that we need to be careful, not care less. Fact is, a lot of folks aren’t careful. When it comes to their lives, when it comes to their approach and response to the word of God.

They give very little thought or concern as to whether or not their theology is correct, whether what they have been told and instructed about God’s word is actually true or not. Passages are dismissed, passages are overlooked, passages that we talk about in regard to the righteousness that God expects. A lot of times are just shoved to the side for what men want to do, and there’s very little thought given to whether or not any of this is right. Careful, not careless. And even in regard to my response, we can get lazy. Find ourselves just going through the motions, not thinking about perhaps areas where I still need to grow and change. Why should I exercise care? Well, as I said in the beginning, we’re all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and there’s no avoidance of that.

The scriptures are very clear about that. All are headed to an inevitable interview with God. That’s what’s on the agenda for you. I don’t know when that’s going to be. I don’t know how close it is, but you’re closer this week than you were last week. And you will not circumvent it. You will not get around it. You will not avoid it. Therefore, you should exercise care. But that’s not all. What Ephesians chapter 5 is telling us is to reject the perfect will of God is just foolishness. It’s folly. And we can call it wisdom. We can call it being enlightened. We can say we’re being intellectual. But it is folly. It is always folly. And how many examples in Scripture did God have to provide?

For us to see the folly of not listening to Him, the folly of opposing Him, aka Pharaoh. The folly of rejecting Him. The folly of doing things our own way. And what ultimately that leads to, the disaster and the lack of wellness to which it contributes. I mean, how many examples does he have to give? And yet it’s almost like people don’t even think about those things. But Ephesians boils all of that down for us and says, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men as, but as wise. Don’t be foolish. But it speaks also to purpose. But understand what the will of the Lord is. I don’t have a greater sense of purpose than when I’m worshiping among the Lord’s people and being an instructed, being instructed in his ways.

This is why humans exist. This is why God made us.

2. Seize the Opportunities

I mean, that’s that’s not why he made us. He made us to glorify him. That’s the purpose that each of us has. And if we’re not doing that, if we’re not listening carefully to his perfect will, we are missing out on purpose. And there’s another aspect of that as we prepare ourselves for the day of judgment. Don’t engage in folly. And find the true purpose of our lives, and that is that other people are watching us. And we influence others, whether we like it or not. And so what Paul is saying, not only should we be careful, not care less, but we need to seize the opportunities in the short time that we have. Make the most of your time. Redeem the time. We need to imide constantly in the riches of God’s word, in the wonders of God’s word.

3. Imbibe Constantly

Imbibe constantly. Be filled with the Spirit. There’s a course that leads to riot and all kinds of partying. He says, but that’s that goes nowhere. That really is a dead end road. But instead, he says, be filled with the Spirit. And let me tell you what that’s like. You have spiritual thoughts on your mind and in your lips and in your heart. And you sing about them to one another as we’ve done today. And all the while you’re thankful. Always giving thanks because you know what God has done for you, and yet promises to do for you. Seiz the opportunities. It’s the repetitive pursuit of spiritual things that bolster your confidence. And that’s really where I’m going. You know what today does? It bolsters my confidence.

And what tonight is going to do? It’s going to further bolster my confidence. But I’ll tell you, if I start missing these opportunities, if I stop making the most of the time, I’ll tell you what my confidence does. It tanks. That’s what he’s saying. And we find ourselves, our confidence in the Word of God eroding. And now we’re struggling in these difficult decisions that we have to make. Am I going to go my way or I’m going to go God’s way? Is it going to be my will or his will? We need exposure to the right kind of thinking, to the will of God, the perfect will of God. And that will assist us in making the right decisions and having the kind of confidence that we need to have.

This is about confidence. And bolstering it. And that’s why I like Romans 12. Where Paul comes to the conclusion of his great theological discussion, which we sometimes get, we get bogged down in Romans. What’s he really talking about? What he’s saying is, God’s done something amazing in that he’s provided a new system where every person who is willing can be justified by the blood of Christ. Not just one covenant nation, but everyone who is willing can be a part of his covenant, Jew and Gentile, justified by faith. Not a system of works, because no man can be justified by that. So, a new system, a system of faith. And so when he comes to the end of that, because of God’s done, God has done this incredible thing.

He says, you know, really, the response that makes sense is you give yourself as a living sacrifice to him. It’s your reasonable service. He says in Romans 12 and verse 1. And do not be conformed to this world, which is passing away, of course. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. There’s the perfect will of God changing us. Be transformed. Allow yourself to be transformed, the renewing of your mind. And then this. That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now, I couldn’t talk about the perfect will of God in Jesus by without talking about Romans 12 and verse 2. Transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable perfect will of God.

I’ve said so much about this passage in the past about, you know, it’s not that we’re proving that to God, because he already knows. We’re not proving it to the world, though there is a sense in which we do that. But really, what we’re doing is we’re demonstrating in our lives as we live this is wow, this is wise. This is good. This is perfect, isn’t it? It is good and acceptable and perfect whether we prove it or not.

But we are challenged to demonstrate how awesome it is in the way that we live. And to do that, we’re going to have to seize the opportunities and abide constantly. This is our sustenance. It’s the sustenance for living. It’s more important than bread and water. And I know we’re concerned about that as we approach 1130. But it’s more important than the bread and water that we think is so essential to our lives. We’re going to die if we don’t have it. We’re going to die if we don’t have this. Tommy Peeler related a story this week of a professor who was an atheist. He didn’t believe in even good and evil, and he went to a foreign country where a prisoner was being badly beaten. And he said he no longer believed there was no right and wrong.

Because that was wrong. And after that, this professor, atheist, was interviewing another prisoner who obviously did not have nearly as high of an IQ as he had, who was quoting scripture. And he came to this conclusion. How can I be so wise if I don’t even have any clue about what a document is saying that has changed people’s lives? I mean, this prisoner had obviously been changed and influenced by the scripture, and he doesn’t even know what it says. And so he began to investigate it for himself. And you know how that story ends. He ultimately believed himself. But I’ll tell you, as long as you sit back and say, I’m not going to invest of my time, I’m not going to give any effort, you will never get it.

4. Stay Sober

You will only get it when you imbibe of it. And that’s what Paul is saying. Make the most of your time because the days are evil. We need more exposure and not less. And this passage is telling us we need to stay sober. And I know there’s that part about do not be filled with wine, but a great comment was made after I preached on that Wednesday night. Was that you, Daniel? The Lord’s Supper Table. So who was it that talked about sobriety? It’s more than just not drinking. That was you, wasn’t it? You forgot. It was Daniel. When you talk about sobriety, we often talk about refraining from intoxicating beverages. Yes, that militates against sobriety, one of the reasons why it’s wrong. But sobriety is a bigger picture than just not drinking.

Sobriety is about seeing things clearly. When I think about sobriety, I think about these things very briefly that are important. Number one, we need to see clearly and frequently that there is an unseen realm out there. Composed of God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and his angels, the heavenly hosts. There’s the wickedness of the devil in his league. And all that is going on beyond behind the scenes of what we see materially. We need to stay focused on that realm and the value of the immaterial part of us. That I have a soul. And that soul is the most valuable thing that I possess. And we need to stay constantly focused, as I’ve tried to help you this morning with the magnitude of what God has done.

And what he promises for us. That’s what sobriety, that’s what sobriety is all about. Staying focused on those things. When Tom was giving his invitation Wednesday night from the Sermon on the Mount, I was looking around the margin. I don’t know why I didn’t see this when I was actually teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, but I saw three little phrases that I think are a good summary of the Sermon on the Mount. Somebody said them somewhere along the way. I thought it was good. I wrote up my Bible. But I thought it was good to inject it here because it’s really what Ephesians 5 is telling us. Keep your path true, keep your heart pure, keep your eyes fixed. And that about says it all.

Conclusion

Okay, back to Ephesians 5 and we’re done. You might have noticed that verse 15 started with the word, therefore. Well, that must be building on something that he has just said. And so before we’re going to engage in the course of being careful, not careless, seizing the opportunities and vibing constantly of the things that nourish us spiritually and staying sober. Maybe we need to look one verse earlier. In Ephesians 5 and verse 14, where he says, Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. That’s why our confidence wanes. Because we find ourselves falling asleep, not just falling asleep on the preacher. I know sometimes it’s hard to sit and listen for 30 minutes, but at the most 35. And I know it’s hard to do that.

But I’m talking about falling asleep in our lives, forgetting the things that matter most, and start, as I mentioned, just going through the motions. He’s saying, awake, sleeper. Come out of your slumber. It’s in essence like a resurrection. We’ve got to resurrect our hearts again. Arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. God will bless you. God will help you. And as Tom pointed out, ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock, and the door shall be opened. Awake. So when your love for Christ grows weak, and when for deeper faith you seek. Go to the hill of Calvary. And that’s why I’m leaving it as an invitation song, because it is where faith begins. Actually, I’m not leading it, having it led by Ed.

Because that’s where it all begins. That’s the motivation for getting it right spiritually. Start exercising care in the way you walk. Redeem the time and become a Christian. Understand what the will of the Lord is. We sing to encourage your response. Let’s stand and seam together.