Love Worth Finding

Adrian Rogers: You've been saying, I've been stumbling around, I can't find the will of God, I don't know the will of God. May I ask you a very personal question? How much time are you spending alone with God, with your Bible in a quiet time, reporting for duty? It may be that God is speaking, but you're just not listening.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring profound truth simply stated by Adrian Rogers. We are clever creatures who have lost our way and must relearn how we can know the will of God. In part one of today's message, we learned that God's guidance is promised to us in scripture and provided to us when we are willing, meek, open, and yielded to the Holy Spirit.

What are some practical things we can do to know what he wants us to do? If you have your Bible, turn now to Acts chapter 9, verse 1, as we hear part two of Adrian Rogers' convicting message, How to Know the Will of God.

Adrian Rogers: I have three propositions from this passage here in the life of Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul. There are three things I pray that God the Holy Spirit will emblazon upon your heart. Number one, and what a blessing this is, number one: guidance is promised. God has promised to guide.

Now look, if you will, in verse 6, the last part: "And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do." I don't think Jesus could have given him a better promise than that one right there. It will be told you.

Friend, guidance is promised in the Word of God. How blessed those of us are who know the Lord. We have a Father above us, controlling all things. We have the Savior beside us, directing our steps. We have the Spirit within us, impressing our hearts, and we can know the leadership of our Lord. We can know His will.

Now, God's will is in three ways as it comes to us. First of all, it comes to us as His sovereign will. I've told you before, not a blade of grass moves without His permission. Now, there's a second will, and that's God's moral will. God has a moral will. There are certain things that God says are right and there are certain things that God says are wrong.

For example, it is wrong to commit fornication. It is wrong to steal. It is wrong to murder. It is wrong to lie. Pride is wrong. All of these things are wrong. There are certain things that are right. Love is right, righteousness is right, honesty is right, kindness is right, consideration. This is God's moral will.

It's not going to change for me, it's not going to change for you. There is a fixed standard of right and wrong because God has said so. All right, that's His moral will. And that moral will is found in the Word of God. No stutter, no stammer, no apology, no hesitation, no ifs, ands, and buts. That's it. God says this is right and this is wrong. That is the will of God. He's not going to change it for you, He's not going to change it for me.

But then there's a third kind of a will, and that's what we're talking about now, and that is God's particular will. That is God's special will for you. Now, God's will is promised. Leadership, guidance is promised. Do you have it? God has promised to guide you.

So now, let's just wrap all of that up under one heading and say that guidance is promised. Secondly, guidance is provisional. Now, there's certain provisions that come into play before you can know God's guidance. Number one, there must be willingness.

Look again in verse 6: "And he, trembling and astonished, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Now, that just presupposes that he wanted to do what God wanted him to do. A lot of folks don't really want the will of God. They want to do their will and have God rubber stamp it.

There are some folks who come to an architect. They think they want a house and they want the architect to design it. But what they want the architect to do is really to redesign what they have in their mind. Which that's all right in building houses, but it's not all right in building a life.

I heard about a man who was sort of a vagabond. He just went everywhere just by the will of the wisp. Somebody asked him, said, well, where do you go? He said, just wherever I want. I just whatever I want to do.

Someone said, well, when you come to the fork of the road and there's a road that goes this way and a road that goes that way, how do you determine which road you're going to take? Oh, he says, I just pick up a stick off the ground and I throw it up in the air. Whichever way it lands, he said, that's the way I go.

Said, is that right? He said, yes. He said, sometimes I have to throw it up as many as six times to make it come down right. You know, that's the way we are. We say, oh Lord, oh whatever you want me to do, I'm just willing to do it. But it's a lie. It's a lie. We don't really mean it.

Friend, when we say, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Friend, if you want to know the will of God, there must be, number one, willingness. Number two, there must be meekness. You know what he said? He said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

That is, you're in control. I'm not in control. Do you know what meekness is? Meekness means that you are teachable. Psalm 25 and verse 9, the Bible says, and listen to this because this is a key verse, Psalm 25 and verse 9: "The meek will he guide. The meek will he guide." Now, are you meek? If you're not willing and you're not meek, you won't know God's will.

Now, here's a third thing. Not only was there willingness and meekness, but there was openness. He sought the will of God. He's praying. He's saying, Lord, show me your will. Have you been open to the will of God? Now, don't just simply say, well, now if God wants to show me, He can.

Have you earnestly, sincerely prayed and said, oh God, I want to know your will? Do you report for duty? Do you think it's up to God to put His hand on your shoulder and snatch you and turn you around? Or after you've met the Lord Jesus, are you going to be like Paul and say, God, what is it? What is it, Lord, you really want me to do?

Let me ask you a significant question. You've been saying, I've been stumbling around, I can't find the will of God, I don't know the will of God. May I ask you a very personal question? How much time are you spending alone with God, with your Bible in a quiet time, reporting for duty?

It may be that God is speaking, but you're just not listening. And even when you pray, you're not listening. Rather than saying, speak Lord, your servant hears, you're saying, listen Lord, I'm talking. And you're just praying and telling God something.

But there must be openness. Now, again, here's another provision. There must be yieldedness. Look if you will in verses 8 and 9: "And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus."

Can you imagine that? Here's a man that is taking everybody else captive. And now, like that little lamb we were singing about, a docile man, they take him by the hand and they lead this man. He is yielded. You know, the Bible says that we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice.

Can you say it this morning and mean it? Thy will, no hesitation, no reservation, anywhere, anytime, any cost. Can you say that? Are you yielded to the will of God? We say, God, I just want to know your will. Are you ready to do it if He showed it to you?

Imagine a man pushing an old automobile into a service station. All four tires are flat. The crankcase is cracked. There's no oil in the crankcase. The headlights have been broken out. The battery is gone. All the fenders are dented and flopping.

And this man shoves this car into the service station. It has a gas tank, but there's a hole rusted in the bottom. The attendant comes out, wide-eyed and amazed, and the man says, fill her up! If you were pumping gas, what would you think?

I think what you'd say is, what for? Isn't that right? What for? Oh God, show me your will! God says, why? Why should I show you my will? You're not prepared to do my will. You don't really mean it when you want to know my will.

Friend, are you yielded to God? And don't come around here saying, oh, I want to know the will of God, unless there is that willingness, unless there is, friend, that meekness, unless there is that openness, unless there is that yieldedness. All of those things are there when the Apostle Paul prayed and he said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

Now, here's the third thing I want you to see. Not only is guidance promised, not only is it provisional, but thirdly, it is practical. Now, God has given some very practical ways that you can know the will of God. And we're going to find them. They're right here.

And I want you to look at them. One way that you can know the will of God is by miracles. And I would be dishonest if I left this out. Look in verse 3: "And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"

And God may speak to you in a vision. God may speak to you in a dream. God may speak to you with an audible voice. God may speak to you and guide you with a miracle. Now, I want to hasten to say, He does not normally guide this way.

But He does sometimes. Now, since we have the New Testament and the Bible is completed, these kind of miracles are not greatly needed today. And that is not God's normal way. But I mention that because it's here in the Word of God.

God may speak to you that way. But if you have a vision, a miracle, a dream, or whatever, you'd certainly better check it out by the other things that I'm about to give you and see if it squares and it's not mere autosuggestion.

Number two: God will speak to you and God will guide you with His Word. Now, did God guide the Apostle Paul with His Word? You better believe it. Number one, he was a rabbi and he was steeped in the Word of God, the Old Testament.

Number two, he had just heard a sermon, and that sermon was by one of the greatest preachers who ever lived, an anointed, Spirit-filled man of God whose name was Stephen. And when the Holy Spirit, God appeared to Saul and He said, it's hard for you to kick against the pricks, that is, the goads of God's Word.

God will speak to you and God will guide you with His Word. Psalm 119, verse 105: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." And much of the will of God for your life, friend, is found in the Bible.

For example, I said it's not God's will that you marry an unbeliever. If you're dating a person and that person is not saved, then why date somebody you couldn't marry if you fell in love with them? You know God's will many times from reading the Bible.

And you say, well, God is leading me to divorce my wife and marry somebody else. That's a lie. It's a lie. It's right here in the Word of God, and it is sheer arrogance for you to pray and say, God, show me your will, when God has already shown you His will.

Now, I want to mention a third way that God will lead you. Not only by the Word of God, but God will lead you by His people, by the people of God. Look if you will in verse 10: "And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias."

"And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight."

Then Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem." Now, every word that Ananias was saying right now was from his heart because his heart was in his throat.

And God says, you're going to go down there and speak to this man. Who's going with me? You're going by yourself, Ananias. "And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me."

Now, here's the point. When God was speaking to Saul, God also took a man named Ananias and used Ananias to confirm the will of God. Now, God will do that. The Bible says in a multitude of counselors there is wisdom.

Proverbs 24 and verse 6: "By wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety." Now, what does that mean? It means that when God is speaking to you about something, God will often confirm it to somebody else because in the mouth of two or more witnesses a thing shall be established.

And don't you be so proud and don't you be so arrogant that you're afraid of the counsel of other people. It's a terrible thing for a man to think he has the gift of preaching and nobody else has the gift of listening. Amen.

Now listen, the Bible teaches that we're going to know the will of God in the context of other things round about us. Now, there is the people of God. I tell you another way that God will confirm His will to you, and that is the Spirit of God.

Look in verse 17: "And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost."

The Spirit of God from that time on was leading this man. It was this same man who wrote in Romans chapter 8 and verse 14: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." And this same man wrote in Galatians 5, verse 18: "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law."

The Spirit of God will lead you. You will hear His voice. Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice. And let me tell you how the Holy Spirit leads. If you ever see a person compelled, they're probably being driven by the devil.

God does not shout and God does not shove. God whispers and God leads. He leads His sheep. He's not driving them to the slaughter; He is leading them to the pasture. And you had better get sensitive enough that you can hear the Spirit of God and know the voice of God. I wish I had more time to deal with that.

But let me give you the last way that you can know. Not only the Spirit of God, but the wisdom of God. God will lead you with sheer wisdom. Notice in verse 20, and straightway, speaking of Saul now, he preached Christ in the synagogues, that He's the Son of God.

Now wait a minute. I mean right away? Here's this man, right away he's preaching Christ? Yes. "But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?"

But notice verse 22: "But Saul increased the more in strength," He's not talking about physical strength now, He's not pumping iron. "And confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ."

Where did he get this wisdom? Where did it come from? God gave him supernatural wisdom. James chapter 1, verse 5: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

Oh, friend, the will of God is found between your ears, right here. Oh, you say, no, that's naturalistic. You shouldn't use your mind. Well, why do you say you shouldn't use your mind when the Apostle Paul says in the book of Philippians, we have the mind of Christ?

The Bible says we're to present ourselves unto God a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by what? The renewing of your mind.

The renewing of your mind. Do you know what wisdom is? Wisdom is seeing life from God's point of view. Friend, when you pray and you get the Spirit of God in you and you get the Word of God in you and you get the supernatural life of God in you, you will begin to have wisdom.

Knowledge comes by looking around, but wisdom comes by looking up. And God will lead you and God will give you wisdom. I don't know how to explain it any other way than that, but it is supernatural when a person is walking in the Spirit.

He says, I have the mind of Christ, and he's not afraid to trust what he has up here. That is not naturalistic. That is supernatural. Friend, wisdom is not getting all wet around the eyelashes and warm around the heart.

It is having a mind that is stayed on God, filled with the Word of God, led by the Spirit of God. And the Bible says that God will guide you with wisdom. There's one other thing I just want to put it in here that God leads with, and that is the providence of God.

Now, at about this time if you read this chapter, there were some people who decided they'd had enough of this man and they're ready to destroy him. But he heard about it, and they let him down over the wall in a basket. Do you remember that story? There's the great Apostle in a basket.

Well, how did he learn about that? Well, you see, in the providence of God, word came to him, Saul, they're trying to kill you, friend. And the providence of God led him. You know what God does? God opens doors and God closes doors.

And the meek He just simply guides. And what you think are happenstances are God's plans and God's ways, and God just simply guides His own through this world. And many times we don't even know it was the providence of God until years later as God guides His own.

Listen to me, friend. Don't be afraid of the will of God. The will of God will not take you where the power of God cannot keep you. And the will of God is the absolute best thing for you, for your wife, and for your children.

And listen very, very carefully right now. The way to know the will of God for the rest of your life is to do the will of God right now. It's hard to steer a ship that's not moving. You see, the way to understand the part of the Bible you don't understand is to obey the part you do understand.

The way to know about the future is to obey God right now. And if you're interested in having the will of God in your life, I want you to say what the Apostle Paul said so long ago: "Lord, who are you? And Lord, what do you want me to do?"

Let me tell you who He is. He's the Son of God who died for your sins. And what He wants you to do right now is to receive Him into your heart as your Lord and Savior. And I promise you on the authority of the Word of God, if you give your heart to Jesus Christ today, number one, He will forgive every sin.

Number two, He'll come into your heart and send His Spirit into you. Number three, when you die, He'll take you to heaven. And number four, you'll have a wonderful time getting there. It's just wonderful to know Jesus Christ.

But oh friend, He doesn't take rebels to heaven. You must say, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Not what you'll have someone else to do, and not what someone else will have me to do, but Lord, what would you have me to do? Father, I pray that you'd bring this message home to our hearts. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Guest (Male): Amen. Would you like to take that step of faith today and fully trust Jesus Christ? Pray something like this from your heart: "Oh God in heaven, I know I'm a sinner, and I know that you're holy. And you sent Jesus on a rescue mission to save me. Right now, I place my full faith and trust in what He did for me on the cross. He died, He lived a perfect life, died in my place, and rose again to new life. And I receive that gift that you're offering me today. Come in, change me from the inside out. Help me live for you from this day forward," I pray, in Jesus' name, Amen.

Well, if you prayed to receive Jesus just now, let us celebrate with you. Go to our Find God's Love page on our website and you'll discover answers you may need about your newfound faith. We have a response section. Share your testimony with us or tell us how this message has helped change your life. Go to lwf.org/radio and click the tab that says Find God's Love. Welcome to the forever family of God. We can't wait to hear from you today.

Cary Vaughn: Hi, this is Cary Vaughn, and this program has been brought to you by Love Worth Finding, a nonprofit ministry showcasing the powerful preaching and teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. We operate solely through the generous gifts of individual supporters just like you.

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There we offer helpful resources inspired by the timely teaching of Pastor Adrian Rogers. Additionally, you can sign up for daily emails, donate to the ministry, and learn more about how to become an ambassador of the Word. Thank you so much for listening today. Be sure to join us next time for more profound truth simply stated, right here on Love Worth Finding.

Guest (Male): We love this personal story from one of our online students who shared this: "When I first started listening to Love Worth Finding, I did not know that Pastor Rogers had passed away. For months I listened to his sermons on the radio, and then one day I went to my grandmother and told her about him, and she told me he had been with Jesus for a long time. My heart was crushed, but how sweet it is, by the grace of God, I am still being discipled by Dr. Rogers and his ministry."

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