(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

And uh in Jesus name we pray. Amen Amen. All right. We're in romans chapter number 12 this evening. Look down your bibles at verse number one Excuse me. Excuse me It says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice Holy acceptable unto god, which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world But be transformed by the renewing of your mind Look what it says they may prove What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god and what I want to preach on this evening? Is when christians settle for less when christians settle for less in the text verse there's verse number two Where it says that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god here in romans chapter 12 We see that the apostle paul is basically instructing the believers to distinguish Between these three layers of god's will right you have good acceptable and that which is perfect now How do we define each of this or each of these? Excuse me Well, this is the definition that I would give here and i'm not saying this is perfect but I think this is pretty uh Clear and it helps us to give it kind of gives us a template of what to look for first and foremost the perfect will Is that which god originally intended for your life when you first got saved, okay? I don't believe it's referring to the perfect will as in from the time you were born You know what I mean to the time that you die because really the will of god for your life The time that you're born is that you get saved That's god's original intent for any human being the bible says that god is not willing that any should perish But that all should come to repentance that they should come to the saving knowledge of jesus christ That's god's will for every human being on this earth, but once salvation comes once a person believes on the lord jesus christ They get saved. They actually have a perfect will tailored for their lives from god This is what we would refer to as god's perfect will but then you have the acceptable will And how how can we define that? well, the acceptable will could be summarized as basically rejecting god's perfect will and settling for what we Think is best, right? You know, this is basically not being able to discern what god's perfect will is And because of that we end up choosing something less than that which is perfect now This doesn't mean that it's wicked or that it's evil or you know, god doesn't necessarily approve of it It's just not his perfect will it's what the bible calls the acceptable will he will he will allow you to live in such a way But it's not necessarily what he originally intended for you and we're going to give examples of this throughout the sermon here The last one of course is the good will of god and really this is the way I would define it as this could be when you know a person perpetually backslides And becomes inconsistent and unfaithful in the christian life when that person is restored They come back to church or they start reading their bibles again. They start living for serving god They can still do the good will of god, but you know what? Wouldn't you say that that person has already forfeited certain things in their life? You know, they forfeited whether it's the perfect will of god or they basically no longer qualify for even the acceptable will of god because of the fact that One thing that god requires of us is that we're faithful, right? You know a faithful man shall abound with blessing the bible says now, how do we distinguish which one we're in? How do we figure out whether we have the good will of god the acceptable will of god Or the perfect will of god what it tells us in roman chapter 12 It says in verse number one. I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice So how would we define the living sacrifice? This is an individual that is serving god, right? They're denying themselves They're taking up their cross daily and following the lord They obviously are trying to make christ the preeminent one in their personal lives So in other words their lives their lives are basically centered around jesus christ and his will for their lives, right? This is what's referred to as a living sacrifice. They're dying to self in order to live unto christ It says in verse number two and be not conformed to this world But be transformed by the renewing of your mind why that ye may prove So in order for us to distinguish Which one we're in we have to have renewed minds In other words, we have to know what the bible says You see to have a renewed mind is to have the bible brainwash us Because of the fact that if we're not careful the bible says lean not unto thine own understanding And all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths But if we lean onto our own understanding we go according to our discernment with what we think is best We're going to neglect the principles of the bible. We're not going to look towards the word of god We're going to look towards our own experience our own wisdom, you know We're not going to necessarily filter all the decisions we make based upon the word of god And so that's why the bible says hey you need a renewing of your mind That's why when a person first gets saved, they don't necessarily know what's best for them right for themselves You know, they don't know what the word of god says they begin to make decisions that are not biblically based They're what the bible calls a what babe in christ and a babe in christ doesn't necessarily have discernment. They haven't exercised Their senses to discern between good and evil the bible says they haven't studied the word of god They haven't been in church a whole long, you know for a long time. They don't know biblical principles So what what is needed for that babe in christ faithfulness? To the house of god to hear the preaching of god's word faithfulness to reading god's word so that their minds can be renewed I mean, wouldn't you agree? That you know if you get saved later on in life or even as a teenager We have a lot of the world You know embedded into our minds the world's philosophies the world's way of thinking and often we base our decisions in the things that we do Off of the things that we've learned prior to christ That's why it's important that we renew our minds You know that we constantly figure out. Well, what does god have to say about this now? Look a babe in christ Can't learn the word of god in one sitting, right? It requires a lifetime it requires consistency And faithfulness, you know being faithful to that which is little so that god can give them more knowledge more wisdom more discernment But that's basically what it's telling us here. It's telling us. Hey make sure that you're constantly renewing your mind Dying to self so that you're always making the right decision You know, you need to make sure That you are filtering your thoughts through the word of god so that you know that you're making the right decision Folks, you know if you're not careful Even christians can get off kilter and begin to make unbiblical decisions not because they have ill motives or ill intentions Just simply because they're ill-advised By whether the world, you know the media the news whatever it may be their friends their family And the decisions they make may not be wicked or evil, but it's just not god's perfect will And that's what we want as christians. Don't we we want to do what god tells us to do We want god's best for our lives, right But let me just say this is that when it comes to god's good acceptable and perfect will of god Even god's goodwill is still better than satan's perfect will right? You know, and i'm not undermining any of these i'm not saying oh man the acceptable will sucks You know, oh man the goodwill of god. That's just horrible. You know, no all of them are good All of them are great. All of them are god's will It's just the layers in other words it's god's You know acceptable and goodwill in case we're not able to fulfill that perfect will of god And it really just shows the graciousness of god, does it not? It really shows how gracious god is that even though you miss the train of god's perfect will hey god's like don't worry You can still serve me earn rewards live a life That's pleasing unto me and still be blessed by me by doing the acceptable or the goodwill of god. It's a great thing And look I don't believe that any of these will minimize the amount of rewards that you get in heaven Okay, what I believe this affects is your life here on earth Okay. Now obviously anybody who's in the good or acceptable will of god can basically earn less rewards By being inconsistent unfaithful, etc So on and so forth, but let me just say this is that still god's goodwill is still better than satan's perfect Will you know it is said of moses that he chose rather to suffer the afflictions With the people of god than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Okay, and even though sin is pleasurable even though he understood that sin had its so-called perks at the end of the day God suffering the afflictions with the people of god will render more rewards in the long run and he understood that okay The bible says esteeming the reproach of christ greater riches than the treasures in egypt for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward And so, you know None of these are bad. Okay, all of these are good, but I will say this we should strive for god's perfect. Will why not? If it's available for us Why not strive to have it why not strive to obtain it if that's what god wants for our lives? Why not why not press towards the mark? You know to receive that perfect will of god for our lives The bible says that jesus christ came to give us life and life more abundantly Okay, ephesians 2 7 says that in the age to come ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace And his kindness toward us through christ. Jesus Now, let me just say this. Let's talk about the christian's destination. Okay And when i'm referring to christians i'm referring to people who are saved, you know, we're not you know Some people use the term christian pretty loosely, you know, catholics are christian pentecostals are christian. Jehovah's witnesses are christian We're talking about safe people. Okay people who've believed on the lord, you know, they have a destination and every christian When once they get saved god has a plan for their lives. Okay You know, this is what's referred to as predestination And make no mistake about it. We believe in predestination. Amen Now the calvinists have redefined the term predestination have they not? You know, they have redefined it as to mean well god has predestined you for salvation, you know, god has you know Supernaturally, you know just elected certain people to be saved and certain people to be dead Obviously, this is a false teaching and it's very wicked because really if you think about it If god has predestined certain people to be saved and others to be damned that means the child that's born according to their Theological interpretation if that child is born and is you know not elected as soon as they die they split hell wide open Even if they're a baby Because the election the doctrine of election and look you talk to a calvinist bring that up They will tiptoe around the tulips and beat around the bush They'll tiptoe around the calvinist tulip and beat around the bush because they don't want to admit That that's what they believe but that is what they believe You know, it's a wicked teaching go to roman chapter 8 if you would roman chapter number 8 You know at salvation god has a plan for the rest of our lives and even for the end of our lives When we are glorified look at roman chapter 8 And verse 28, let me make a comment before we read it This is why it's it's here's the thing. It's you know, sometimes people think well I got saved later on in life And I made a lot of bad decisions prior to salvation You know, I got in bad relationships or I experimented with drugs or you know I just did a lot of bad stupid stuff prior to salvation, you know, did I miss god's perfect will no you didn't Because here's the thing look what romans 828 says and we know that all things work together for good To them that love god To them who are the called according to his purpose the bible says so the bible is teaching us that even though you made bad decisions You have you know, uh, you know You dated wrongly growing up or maybe you had a child out of wedlock or you experimented with drugs or you know Whatever it is that you came out of You know the bible is telling us here that god can still work together all those things work together for good To them to love god so he can turn that into a blessing you understand and sometimes people get this this Misconstrued thought and say well, you know, how can a person like that fulfill god's perfect will? You know, they can't be a pastor Well, then you have a twisted view of god's perfect will because you think it's being a pastor as god's perfect will That's not true That's the will for some people's lives but it's not for others No, I think that's god's perfect will and you know people can forfeit. What about women? You know what I mean, that's never god's will for any woman to be a pastor you know When we talk about god's perfect will it's it's a destination that god has for you, you know to earn rewards to serve him To live a life of joy and fulfillment You know a purpose for your life and it doesn't necessarily have to do with being a pastor Or being an evangelist or a deacon it just has to do with you fulfilling his perfect will according to the uh According to the will of god verse 29 says for whom he did for no He also did predestinate To be saved No to be conformed to the image of his son That he might be the firstborn among many brethren. You see god's will for every christian is that we become christ-like, right? And more than that that we would conform 100 to the image of his son now, let's just be honest That's never going to happen this side of eternity Because we have the flesh the spirit lusted against the flesh the uh, the flesh lusted against the spirit These are contrary one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would we're still waiting for the redemption Of our body at which point we will be like him the bible says, okay You know the bible tells us when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is This is referring to the process of glorification When we die, we receive the redemptions of our body. We put off, uh corruption and we put on in corruption The bible says in roman chapter 6 and verse number four Therefore we are buried with them by baptism into death That like us christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the father Even so we also should walk in newness of life For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection So really our lives can as christians could be summarized into three parts. Can they not? justification sanctification glorification, okay Justifications referring to the fact that the day that we get saved when we believe on the lord, okay? Sanctification is the process that we experience throughout this time here on this earth where we live holy lives We serve the lord, you know, we obey god's commandments and we're becoming more christ-like Glorification is when we put off this corruption and we put on in corruption. We are glorified with christ, okay Now what is that what is the sanctification process based off of whether we walk in the spirit, right? Whether we win others to christ and disciple them whether we live holy lives, you know, we live for the eternal And really it's the sanctification period that determines what type of resurrection we will experience As well as the rewards we will receive at the judgment seat of christ. So let's talk about these three Okay, and I know this is a real basic sermon, but this is something that is needed. Okay, especially for any I mean This is for anybody This is all across the board applicable to any of you And really it's very important because if you get nothing from the sermon get this you need to learn how to distinguish between these three Okay, and not just flippantly live the christian life, you know I just you know Make whatever decision and not adhere to wise counsel not adhere to the word of god Just kind of make any kind of decision decision I want now look all things work together for good But we want to make sure that we do the right decision still So i'll just make a bad decision gotta work it out together for good as long as I love him Yeah, but you know what in the process of that you're going to suffer the consequences of your bad decision I'd rather just make the right decision. Okay And have god layer blessing on top of blessing I'd rather god layer a blessing on top of the blessing of just being obedient to god, right? So let's talk about the wills of god not this will You know Talking about the wills of god what his will is for our life Number one, of course as we mentioned is the perfect will of god And this is defined as what god originally intended for your life as a believer now, here's the thing, okay? Listen up Some people wonder like well, how do I know? If i'm in the perfect will of god or not, I mean don't you wonder that sometimes? You know, obviously we enjoy the christian life. We love what we do But sometimes we wonder like was this the did I miss out? Did that train already leave how do I know if i'm in the perfect will of god and here's the answer you don't You don't no one really knows if they're in the perfect will of god or not You just know if you're not Right Think about that So we don't really know like oh man, this is god's perfect will now look if you're to ask me pastor Do you think you're doing god's perfect? Well, I would say, you know, I would conjecture. Yes You know, I think i'm i'm doing god's perfect will I believe that train, you know, I I didn't miss that train But you know I could have Maybe god wanted me to be a pastor earlier Maybe there's certain things that happen maybe some bad decisions that I made. I don't know I don't know if this is god's perfect. Well, I would assume that it is I can't say 100 but I would say yes But let me say this is that each of each and every one of us If we're outside of the will of god would know that that's not the perfect will of god for our lives You see what i'm saying? So you don't know if you're in the perfect will of god. You just know when you're not And I believe it's like that for a reason, okay? You know, you know when you're pressing towards the mark, but we also know when we're in sin And let me say this is that no nobody in this world Lives a perfect life Obviously the perfect will of god is that you just remain sinless, right? That we just do not sin But here's the reality. There's not just men upon earth that do with good and sin and not So I would say that there's times when we're in the perfect will of god when we're in the spirit And then you know what when we walk in the flesh, obviously that's not god's perfect will and I would I would assert that The longer you're in the flesh the longer you're out of the perfect will of god So our lives should be characterized by striving to just obey god Serve him and just assume I guess this is the perfect will of god for my life You know And I think god has it like that for a reason I think he leaves that question mark in our lives for a reason because it really causes us to strive and to press towards the mark It really causes us to say well if this is the perfect will of god I want to make sure that I get the most out of it I want to make sure that I stay in church that I keep reading my bible that I keep winning souls to the lord That i'm praying that i'm serving that I keep sin out of my life You know because if this is the will of god, I don't want to ruin it. I don't want to forfeit it And so often in the christian life god will leave you with that question mark for a reason You know Because here's the thing if god said look this is what you have to do In order to do the perfect will of god more people would be doing it But because that question mark is left there in our lives All we're left with to do is just well, I guess we just need to serve god We just need to be in church and do that which we know we're supposed to do And just assume hey, I guess, you know, since i'm doing everything that i'm supposed to by faith I'm going to assume that I am in the perfect will of god. Okay Now turn with me if you would to philippians chapter number one philippians chapter one Now look I may ask some of you hey, do you think you're in the perfect will of god and you may say yeah I'm 100 convinced that this is god's perfect will for my life and to you I say amen Because let's say you're in god's good will or acceptable will I have no problem with you thinking you're in god's perfect will Because if you're in god's if you think you're in god's perfect will that means you're filled with joy You're content with what you have you're happy with your spouse or you're happy being single You know, you're happy with the life that you have you're happy with your church. You're happy with your life You're like man god has blessed me I think i'm in god's perfect will then you know what at that point doesn't matter Just keep serving the lord You understand But we should strive for this perfect will of god Look at philippians chapter one verse number nine It says in this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment That ye may approve things that are excellent that ye may be sincere and without offense Till the day of christ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by jesus christ unto the glory and praise of god Notice that it says That paul is telling them. I want you to have knowledge and all judgment why so you can approve the things which are excellent You know, there's a lot of people out there folks that go to church They're independent fundamental baptists, but I guarantee you they're not doing the perfect will of god and they think they are You know, you said well, didn't you just tell me that if I thought yeah, but here's the difference They're not soul winning They're not even reading their bibles. They're doing some devotional book by some liberal pastor You know, they're not living holy lives, but unfortunately they're being deceived by their lukewarm or even worse Maybe an unsafe pastor and to thinking that they're doing the god's will you know? When an actual when in actuality they're not and here's the sad thing is that they're going to climb the ladder That they think is god's will and when they reach the end of that ladder they're recognized this is the wrong ladder You know It's important to have knowledge of the bible and it's important to have judgment This is why I recommend every young man in our church mature grow up Think like an adult Okay Think like an adult act like an adult Make sure you make decisions like an adult mature You know put away childish things Make sure you grow up as a man mature in your mind and in your conduct because you want to be a man of judgment You know the christian life is not a game folks It's not a game. It's not something you should do flippantly. It's something that we should recognize Hey, I need to make sure I have judgment and knowledge because I don't want to make a bad decision in my life Hey young men, you want to make sure you don't that you marry the right girl Right And you stay away from the wrong one, but you know what you can't do that if you don't have judgment and knowledge But if you lean onto your own understanding you might go for the wrong one And at that point she was in god's will but she is now If you marry her, right? I will say this is that god's eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth To show himself strong on the behalf of those whose heart is perfect with him So what does that cause us to do as christians? We want to have a perfect heart Like oh man, I got to make sure I keep a perfect heart So that's why that question mark is left there You know what I mean to make sure well If god's looking for people with a perfect heart a mature heart a complete heart heart that loves him Then I need to strive to have that type of heart for the lord because I want him to show himself strong I want him to set apart those that are godly for himself and I want to be amongst that group. You understand what i'm saying? Now who's a good example of this right here what I believe a perfect example of this is the apostle paul Go to second timothy chapter four now the apostle paul got saved later on in life, right? He was part of a false religion. I mean he was zealous of the law He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. This guy was persecuting the church I mean he was delved deep into this false religion, but then he got saved And look I like the apostle paul story because it's proof that even if you get saved later on in life You can still do great things for god And in fact, you can fulfill the perfect will of god for your life in spite of what took place prior to your salvation Now a lot of people get stuck on their past A lot of people are like well, you know, I made a lot of bad decisions. Yeah, but if you can't change it why dwell on it? You know, I don't like fellowshiping with people who just dwell in the past all the time You know, they're just bitter over the things that took Place in the past. They're just always mad about what took place whether it's the decisions they made Or the people that hurt them, you know, we need to forget the past and all of us have a sob story. Okay? We all have a sob story of someone who did us wrong, you know Your mom fed you with a slingshot because you're too ugly or whatever You know once we get saved life is different folks It's different obviously if you live according to god's will it's different Okay And you know, you don't see paul Just dwelling upon his failures I mean he was a persecutor. He was injurious He was a blasphemer, but he obtained mercy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief and you know what god counted him what faithful And that's why he put him into the ministry. So what was his you know ordination so to speak based upon was based upon his faithfulness It's not because he persecuted christian he god didn't look and say well you persecuted christians You know, therefore you can't serve me No, he counted him faithful and therefore he put him into the ministry. This is why the quality of faithfulness is so important In all three of these wills here, it's important to be consistent To be consistent because when someone is faithful they go from one train station to the train station of god's opportunity Okay, but if you're not consistent in church, you're not consistent in what god has already revealed to you You're going to miss out on a lot of opportunities, okay? Now look at second timothy chapter four verse six. It says for I am now ready to be offered And the time of my departure is at hand. He's ready to die Look at verse seven. I have fought a good fight I have finished my course now. What course is he referring to referring to god's will? Oh The course that god gave him the tasks that god gave him he's like I finished it I remain faithful. I serve god to the best of my ability I you know utilize the grace of god in my life. I utilize the word of god in my life and you know what? I finished my course I have kept the faith Henceforth there is later for me a crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day And not to me only but into all them also that love his appearing this is a great example of someone Who I believe that even though he had a bad past he was still able to fulfill the perfect will of god for his life Okay. Now look You may sit there and say well, yeah, I missed out on the perfect will of god though. I know that I did You know, you say you don't know if you're in the perfect will of god or not. Well, I do because i'm not I made a lot of bad decisions. Okay, then this is what you do You help your children fulfill the perfect will of god for their lives. Why not? right Look folks if I miss the train of god's perfect will then i'm going to make sure my son gets that train on time I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that my children Fulfill the perfect will of god for their lives Or at least that I set up the platform for them that I train them in such a way That they're able to discern what is the perfect will of god for their lives, you know, obviously I can't control their will When they grow up, but what I can do is create an environment conducive to wanting to fulfill god's will A home that is appropriate serving the lord as for me in my house We shall serve the lord type of environment So that when he grows when he gets old, he already has an appetite for the will of god He wants to serve the lord. He loves jesus christ. He loves souls and at that point he's like, all right you choose son You choose what is it that you want to do the perfect acceptable or goodwill, but you know what? Do the perfect one if the opportunity is there Okay, so look if you missed out on that train, okay, stop whining about it. Give your children an opportunity to fulfill that perfect will Look if you missed out on the train of god's perfect will when it comes to marriage, for example Okay. All right. Why don't you train your children? to find the right spouse Right instead of dwelling on it yourself, why don't you help your children to do so you said well, I don't have children Okay, why don't you help the young men in our church who have not yet married find the perfect will of god why not You'll still be rewarded for that You know the will of god doesn't determine whether you have eternal life or not. You can still earn rewards It's just what it really determines how you live life here on this earth Okay And I guarantee you there's people who are doing the acceptable will of god Who are actually going to earn more rewards than those who are in the perfect will of god Okay, I guarantee it The apostle paul is an example of that by the way, you know, he labored more than they all More than the apostles the grace of god was not in vain for his life You know in his life, and so that's a great example of someone who's fulfilling who fulfilled the perfect will of god Now, how do we define the perfect will of god in practical terms? Well, here's a good way, you know, you marry, right? And what i'm saying is, you know, you stay pure and you You you you stay pure till you hit the altar and then you marry right you have one wife That's the perfect will of god for your life right That is god's perfect will for your life as a single young man as a single young lady God's will for your life is that you remain pure That you that you flee from fornication And that you marry One person you stay with them for the rest of your lives a believer by the way That's god's perfect will Now go with me if you want to ephesians chapter five ephesians chapter five I don't know if i'm in god's perfect will well, you know what just keep serving the lord Just keep serving god and you know, you might as well just assume that you are. Are you happy? Do you have joy in your life? Yeah joy in my life. Okay. Have you been winning souls to the lord? Yeah, I won a couple souls to the lord this week. Have you been reading your bible? Yes I've been reading my bible. Are you staying you know clean? Are you are you living holy as to the best of my abilities? Do you have any secret sins in your life not to the to my knowledge? Okay, then it sounds like you're in god's perfect will Only those who are who are not doing those things they know they're not in god's will at all You understand so better to wonder whether you're in god's perfect will and strive for the perfect will Than to know that you're not in god's perfect will And you're suffering the chastisement of the lord forfeiting the perfect will of god Let's talk about the acceptable will of god And as I define it the acceptable will can be summarized as rejecting his perfect will and settling for what? He thinks is best This happens all the time. Okay and This really shows you the graciousness of god You know where people just choose to go their own way And they don't want god's perfect will and you know, here's the thing. It's not that they don't want god's perfect will It's just that they don't really understand it Because look if all of us got a clear view what god's perfect will was we'd be like, I don't want god's acceptable will I want god's perfect will But because they're not in the word, they don't ask for counsel they're not asking god for wisdom They don't know so that's why they lean into their own understanding and they think they know what's best And let me just say this is that this is why it's important as a brand new christian that you seek counsel You understand what i'm saying? Don't be a know-it-all And let me just tell you a pet people of mine is people who think they just know everything Okay When they just they just know everything they know every doctrine they know all there is to know about life They just can't be told they can't be taught. They can't be instructed They can't you know obtain any wisdom because they have all the wisdom. They're the source of wisdom Apparently and this is very common amongst young men. Let me just be honest with you Young men who just think they know everything there is to know about life folks. It's false And look I was in the same boat at one time, but I had to be taught bruce. You don't know everything There's people out there who've been around the block who know more than you and you need to take advantage of that by asking for counsel And look i'm not saying like ask for counsel for what tie you should wear next sunday or something, you know, like Hey, what kind of suit suit should I get? What kind of tie should I wear? How should I comb my hair? I'm talking about it matters big decisions On big matters on big decisions. You should get counsel if you're a young man, and you're not very experienced Humble yourself and go ask someone who knows about that subject. Okay. Yeah, but you're not that much older than me pastor Okay, then go ahead and risk making a stupid decision And ruining your lifetime Better to humble yourself and say I don't know much about this. Can you help me in this area? What do you think I should do? Okay And look when I say ask for counsel, you know The bible says in a multitude of counselors that are safety that doesn't mean Go around ask a bunch of people until you get the answer you want Right Because that wasn't really what I was looking for. We're let me see here. Let me go to elisa's or something Maybe he'll give me the answer that I want No, let me go to glenn. No No, the multitude of counselors basically means you have a plethora of men who have wisdom and experience that you can glean from It's not looking for the answer that you want Okay You know don't be a know-it-all Don't be a know-it-all, you know, if you think you know everything you probably don't know much And i'll be honest with you. I resist people like that You know And often, you know when people act like they know a bunch of things I don't even try to give that person any wisdom or any counsel whatsoever because I don't want to waste my time I want to invest my time not waste it And I invested in those who sincerely humbly asked pastor. What do you think I should do in this situation? Okay The acceptable will referring to rejecting his perfect will but settling for what we think is best. Okay Look what it says in verse number eight of ephesians five for you were sometimes darkness But now are you light in the lord walk as children of light for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth Proving what is acceptable unto the lord and have done fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them Now go to number chapter 32 if you would number chapter 32 We're going to look at an example of this in the bible number chapter 32 Numbers chapter 32 Numbers chapter 32 And look i've said this before but this is a good way to really determine whether you're making good decisions or not is it Are you making decisions based upon the eternal or the temporal? You understand what i'm saying? You know if you're making decisions whether uh, you know, oh man, should I? make this decision because You know I just should I just get out of church period should I just start working on sundays? because you know i'm just Behind on my payments or behind on this. Well, obviously God's not going to approve of that Right? He's not going to say yeah, go ahead and violate my rule my law So you can provide for your family or whatever god's going to provide for your family if you fulfill his his loss His commandments, okay So we got to make sure that we think about these things and how they affect our spiritual life you understand And you know, sometimes people say well, you know, I got to do what I got to do I got to work on sundays got to pay the bills but folks as a christian Listen to me as a christian. God can provide for all your needs In tandem with you fulfilling god's will So you don't have to have one without the other it's like well if I fulfill god's will Then i'm not going to be able to pay the bills. I can't feed my family I can't you know have the finances necessary to provide for us and to sustain us as a family. That's not true makes zero sense If you do god's will that's actually how you get provided for Because god is the one who brings that provision Seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and these things referring to food and raiment shall be added unto you But it requires faith on your end to obey god in order to receive those things But the person who leans into their own understanding and says no I got to make sure I work I got to make sure I do this They're not thinking biblically. They're not thinking eternally. They're not thinking spiritually, okay But let's look at someone who basically did the acceptable will of god in the bible look at number chapter 32 verse number one Now where are we at here in numbers the children of israel are about to inherit the promised land The promised land is god's perfect will for their lives I mean, it's a land flowing with milk and honey Buildings that they did not build vineyards that they did not plant, you know, they have everything's just set for them It's like moving into a house with all the furniture already in The refrigerator's already filled God's like all you have to do is go take it. This is god's perfect will right? And they wander in the wilderness for years 40 years they finally get there They're about to fulfill god's will Perfect will look at verse one now the children of rubin and the children of gad had a very great multitude of cattle And when they saw the land of jazer in the land of gilead that behold the place was a place of cattle The children of gad and the children of rubin came and spake it to moses and to eliezer the priest and to the prince of the congregation saying adaroth and dibon and jazer and nimra heshbon and elila And shebam and nebo and beyon even the country which the lord smoked before the congregation of israel Is a land for cattle and thy servants have cattle. See how he's trying to like sell it to him He said hey, it's the land of cattle and lo and behold we got cattle Wherefore said they if we have found grace in thy sight let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession And bring us not over jordan What in the world? Hold on a second, you know a bunch of people just died, right? Wait You know the whole purpose of this trip that we're taking this road trip This 40 year road trip that we took in the desert is just to get to the promised land To cross jordan and go into the land flowing with milk and honey And now that you're at the brink now that you're about to cross the jordan river. You're like actually I think I want this land instead of this land So how do we put it in today's terms? It's like Give me the acceptable will of god not the perfect will of god Are you serious Did you not hear what god says he's going to give you? Did you not hear about all the things and look these are the things that god is going to give them They're thinking about well, what are we going to give our cattle? Dude forget the cattle Eat the cattle kill the cattle. What about you? What about your family? This is pita The first pita organization in the bible. They're like, well, you know, hey this land is good for our cat Yeah, but what about the land? It's good for you though You know Am I imagining things or do I hear music am I dying am I going to heaven just kidding I do hear music. I think that's someone's phone right now. Go ahead. Whoever it is. Just reach in. Okay, I won't look Okay, just reach in turn it off. I'm not gonna look who is it? No, i'm just kidding. Look at verse 15 Okay So they're saying don't bring us over jordan we rather just stay here Verse 15 for if ye turn away from after him He will yet again leave them in the wilderness and ye shall destroy all this people and they came near unto them and said We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle and cities for our little ones by the way at this point You know moses is rebuking them and saying look Are you going to let your brethren go to war to fulfill the perfect will of god? And you're just not going to like help them fight You're just going to stay on this side and not help your brother and fight. So they reckon they see the problem They're like, well that sounds pretty bad. You know what I mean? Like we're not cowards We want them to inherit that land, but we just want this land, okay Verse 17 says but we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of israel Until we have brought them unto their place and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land We will not return into our houses until the children of israel have inherited every man his inheritance so it seems pretty noble But they're basically like, okay, we'll go over we'll fight with you guys We'll make sure that you inherit that land, but we're just going to come back It's like what? So you're going to put in all that work to fight for something that you deserve because you're fighting for it and you're just going to Give it to you know, the rest of the children of israel, okay? Okay The parallel to this or the equivalent would be that you work so hard to serve the lord You work so it's like a young man who works hard to serve god He's just going gun hook for the lord. He's faithful and then he's just like yeah, but I want to date this unsaved girl You know, she's just really cute and I just You know, I know she's not saved, but I just want to you know, I want to date her I think I went over it's like dude, that's not god's perfect will And he's like, well I want everyone else to marry like, you know a saved girl But me, you know, I think I could I can't work with this right here, you know, obviously that that young man lacks wisdom And it's not it's failing to understand that hey you've put in a lot of work to get where you're at You need to marry a safe girl and just wait for the right one to come along. Okay? He says in verse number 19 for we will not inherit with them on yonder side jordan or ford Because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side jordan eastward Listen to what he's what they're saying Like we not only want to inherit what's coming right here, but anything even after that because it's not just you know It's not just jericho that they're inherited Ai and all the other surrounding cities the coming battles and all the cities that's going to be theirs that land They're like we won't we don't want any of it. We just want this land here And moses said to him If you would do this thing If you will go armed before the lord to war And will go all of you armed over jordan before the lord until he hath driven out his enemies from before him And the land be subdued before the lord then afterward ye shall return And be guiltless before the lord and before israel and this land shall be your possession before the lord He's saying okay god accepts that If you're willing to go and fight and help your brother and gain the land that he has promised you and them Then fine that's acceptable for him if this is what you want then this is what you can have pretty gracious of god He's not angry with them. He's not punishing them. He's just saying if you want to settle for less, that's fine And by the way, this shows you Listen to me this shows you this shows us That god gives us free will Right because he's letting them choose He's letting them choose He's saying I want you to go into the promised land and they're like no we rather have this and god says, okay Then you're guiltless before the lord as long as you fulfill god's will you're guiltless before the lord Okay sometimes people and let me say this, you know, like There's a lot of applications to this obviously That we can give and the reason I always give the young man application is because that's sometimes the most applicable thing You know when it comes to a church because you know, we got a lot of young men here Hey guys, don't settle for less Do not settle for less and what I mean by less is hey don't settle for some unsaved girl That's not god's will for your life. And look let's say you get with that unsaved individual and by the way vice versa Okay, let's say you settle for that individual And you get them saved You know you get them saved you get married and you have children you live happily ever after that's acceptable But it just wasn't god's perfect will You took matters into your own hands. You didn't adhere to what the bible has to say about You know being unequally yoked together with unbelievers, but because your heart is perfect with the lord You're still serving god you're reading the bible you love the lord. You just lack wisdom. God says okay, that's permissible That's acceptable You just forfeited the perfect will of god though. Okay It's sad, but it happens now let me say this this is a sensitive subject, but You know, I need to mention this sometimes people are forced Into the acceptable will due to the will of others You understand what i'm saying? Sometimes people are actually forced into the acceptable will Not because of god, but because of the will of others. What do I mean by that? Well, how about people who are raped? Right, maybe a young lady who's raped You know and or she's molested she's raped and then she has a child out of wedlock. That's not god's will But because people have their own will another wicked individual Took matters into their own hands violated another individual and now that you know The young lady or whatever has a child out of wedlock wasn't god's will But let me say this is that even then god can work that together for good Go to first peter chapter two first peter chapter two Two First peter chapter two And here here's the wickedness of calvinism When something like that happens god, you know, they're like well god just that's what that was god's will for that woman to be raped It's like what are you talking? You guys are perverse To think that that's god's will for a woman to be raped to be molested, you know by some pervert wicked pedophile He said well, you know, you know god is so sovereign that he even controls the wicked people and makes them molest people That's their god Not our god You know our god gives us free will and that's why we should not accredit god for the evil doings of wicked people Because they have their own will And sometimes they force the acceptable will upon another individual's life But you know what god can still work that out together for good that person can still fulfill the perfect will of god thereafter Because that wasn't god's original will right look at first peter chapter 2 verse 20 For what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults you shall take it patiently But if when you do well and suffer for it you take it patiently. This is acceptable with god So what determines whether someone can continue to do god's will after such a traumatic experience how they respond to it right Because look folks the vast majority of people who are reprobates listen to me the vast majority of people were reprobates perverts or sodomites They were molested themselves But you know what there's people who are believers who are molested and then there's reprobates who are molested as well What's the difference how they responded? The person who became a reprobate became bitter towards god Hated god to the point. They hated christ and rejected the gospel that were given over to a reprobate mind the individual who got saved Recognized that this wasn't god's fault. This is some evil individual's will against me or against You know whoever and what do they do in in light of that they seek after god They get saved they learn principles and god prepares a will for them So I thought you said that if that wasn't You know god's perfect will that's the acceptable will but here's the thing. Remember my first point. We don't really know really right And that doesn't mean that an individual who's the victim of molestation or rape can't live a fulfilled christian life Filled with joy and filled with happiness with brothers and sisters in christ with the great church. It can happen And it has happened and it will continue to happen You know, but here it says this is acceptable with god verse 21 for even here unto Were ye called because christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps Now what is he referring to he's referring to the fact that we should respond correctly, right? You know when you go through a difficult time a traumatic experience at the hands of someone else's wicked will What should be our response? Well, we should not charge god foolishly And say well, this is god's fault. God did this to me, you know, it's god who allowed this in my life Well, you know what if he allowed it in your life It's not his fault that this wicked individual took advantage of you or wronged you or whatever it may be Okay And we should always recognize you know what god can work this out together for good God still has my best interest in mind. I need to keep serving god no matter what happens. Okay? Go to luke 15 and we're done So we see the perfect will of god the acceptable will of god and then you have the goodwill of god This is how I would define the goodwill will of god. This could be when we perpetually backslide and become unfaithful You know, we sometimes forfeit the perfect will and no longer even qualify for his acceptable will But we can still serve god at some capacity which is still good. Okay and look I don't want anyone in our church to be in this category though. It's not bad if you are Because here's the thing is You know, this is the way my father-in-law would teach it And he was like an old-timer. So this might not even make any sense to you because technology is way different How do you know what a polaroid picture is? Okay, you guys know what that is. We were like polaroid picture. What is that? It used to be this camp this massive camera You know, they take a picture of you and then literally it'll print out the picture right then and there I think we actually have something like that, right? We're like a little smaller or something And you'd have to like wait and go like this and then the more you look at it is like the more you know Comes out and you see more of the picture You just got to keep waiting and shaking it and then finally you get the clear picture that basically the individual took and My father-in-law would give the example of that being like god's perfect will Where you know god takes the picture and the more you serve him the more you see of god's perfect will The more that begins to be revealed the more you're faithful But you know, if you toss that picture because you just grow impatient god has to retake the photo And you know what a lot of christians when they backslide they get out of church It's like god having to retake the photo over and over again You know that first photo you're about 40 pounds lighter But because you weren't willing to wait now, you know, you take the picture six times later just like wow, this is what i've become You understand what i'm saying? I mean it's a carnal, uh illustration, but it drives the point, right? You know, sometimes people when they get out of church for whatever reason You know, it's like god has to retake that photo And it doesn't mean they can't serve god when they come back but you know what the perfect will of god is long gone It's long gone And even to the point sometimes where the acceptable will is long gone But that doesn't mean they can't serve god anymore because they can still come back when souls have great fellowship Go to church have god's hand upon them in god's blessing in their lives if they choose to come back But look this should be a motivation to us Not to get out of god's will I want to take the picture while i'm 40 pounds lighter. Amen I want god's I want to see god's perfect will i'm not going to toss the photo I want to keep you know Going like this and staying faithful and soul winning and reading my bible and loving my wife and raising my children And leading my church and doing everything I can that I know i'm supposed to do So that the the perfect will of god can reveal itself little by little I never want to grow impatient with these things To the point where I just get out of god's will You know and look folks there's going to come time there's going to come a time in your life when you go through a hard hard time An extremely difficult time you're like well not me i'm strong enough. I'm strong in the lord and power is mine Well, you know what there's going to come a time when god's going to put that to the test It's going to come a time when god when god is going to put that to the test He's going to stretch it beyond, you know, how you ever been stretched before okay And it's going to push you to the limit You know in order to strengthen you and help you in your christian faith don't get out of church And the reason I say don't get out of church because the church is like a focal point for us as christians to determine whether We're in the will of god or not That's kind of how we determine that right? from a a public perspective You know, we know that if someone's in the will of god, they're in church right Obviously, we don't know what they do in their private time if they're even reading the bible soul winning or whatever it may be But you know what if they're present in church you basically can can assess well they're going in the right direction Because at least they're in church, right? You know, we often say yeah so and so brother so and so has been doing good. He's been coming to church And that's how we assess. Okay, this person's doing well Don't get out of your bible. Don't get out of church. Don't stop working on your marriage Don't stop working on, you know getting sin out of your life. Keep pressing towards the mark You never want to be in this position and if you are now if you're like, well, this is me right now, okay Well, just be faithful because you can still earn you know rewards You can still have god's blessing upon your life. And if you're in this position, but you don't even know it Don't even worry about it Because the fact that you don't know the the fact that you are in god's god's will but you're not in his perfect Will shows you that you have god's hand on your life Because you're able to enjoy life you're able to enjoy serving the lord i'm not going to go through the scripture I was going to read through luke 15 about the the prodigal son Who basically got away from his father came back and you know what? He was he was welcomed with open arms But let's just be honest. He lost a lot. He lost his inheritance You know, whereas the son who stayed Still had the inheritance there and this is a great picture of people who backslide when they come back You know, we welcome them with open arms, but let's just be honest. They lost a lot They lost time. They lost god's blessing There's things that they lose, you know, and we never want to be in that position so what's the what's the sermon this this this evening sermon simply this hey, let's just Let's just keep serving the lord and seek to be in god's will no matter what which layer it is, right? Just do god's will don't be bitter If you made mistakes in the past or if someone violated you or defrauded you in some manner keep serving god now Keep winning souls keep being faithful. Keep working on your marriage. Love your wife. Love your husband raise your children And enjoy god's will to its fullest extent. Amen Inspire your heads and have a word of prayer father. We thank you so much for your word. Thank you for your will And no matter what layer We may find ourselves in it's still good the blessing of the lord and maketh rich and he added no sorrow to it There's no sorrow within the will of god. It's always a wonderful place to be in And regardless if it's the good acceptable or perfect will of god You know when we're here in church, I mean we're filled with joy We enjoy fellowship with the brethren talking about doctrine just talking about life And we leave church with a sense of joy and fulfillment And a sense of contentment that only comes when we serve you and we're faithful to the things of god Help us to remain in these areas lord. And of course help us as your people, you know, if we have children to Right if we miss that train of the perfect will of god Lord help us To help our children not to miss that train that they would get on there and reach that predestinated Location that you have for them and in jesus name we pray. Amen