WHAT IS THE PRINCIPLE THAT WE SHOULD USE TO DETERMINE GOD’S WILL? FOOTNOTE: A PERSONAL APPLICATION

Part Three

So can we conclude that more often than not, we miss the directive will of God. We miss the principle God has clearly stated in Scripture which would lead us to know His will. And He will allow us to make those decisions which are sometimes wrong. Sometimes I would say they are not the best choices to make, maybe not necessarily a wrong decision.

I remember in FBC in Altoona, Kansas, a missionary husband and wife, Russ and Rose Hanson, came through Altoona, drove to our home, and came to the front door on a Saturday afternoon. Russ came up to the door, and said, "Are you Pastor Whisnant?" I said, "Yes." "I am Russ Hanson, a missionary. I wonder if you would like me to present my work to your church on Sunday?"

And in a moment of time I without hesitation said, "Yes." They had their own mobile home, and they parked behind the church and spoke on Sunday Morning. They become our dear friends for all the time we were in Altoona.

My point. Sometimes to know the will of God, you need to have a mind that is set on obeying the Spirit of God, and keenly aware of what God is doing around you.

In this instance, and I might add, not in all cases like this, I responded with my spirit. Too often we struggle with the "if we should’s" rather than the leading of the Spirit.

If you believe God is working in your local church, and He is working out His purposes, and it’s in His timing, then if someone like a Russ Hanson, comes to your local church on a Saturday Night and asks to speak to your church on missions.... Then my question would be, do you really believe God is working out His purposes in His time? You say, "What happens next will be according to God’s timing and purposes..."

My question then is, "Do you have the mind that will allow you to see a Russ Hanson as being God’s timing and purposes for His local church?" Because Russ and Rose over the next few years proved to be in God’s timing and purpose for our church.

I didn’t have to wait three years to have the discernment of God’s will in this matter. A quick mind set that is focused on the will of God, will be able to made decisions like that.

John MacArthur speaks on the subject of doing God’s will. He says, "If you are living in His righteousness, then you can do what you want." That is, if you are doing all that the Lord is asking you to do, your desires and will and wants will be to do the will of God. You will have developed a mind that is like Christ. I have heard John say, "Where my mind ends and Christ’s mind starts are close." That is, he has so put his mind in the mind of Christ that he thinks Christ.

Sometimes you instinctively know.

If the folks in Corinth had checked out Paul, and checked on his background, he would have never been invited to speak at the church. We don’t trust the Lord as much as we trust in a goggle search.

When your mind gets off the Lord and on men, you will get confused about the will of God. "Well let me check you out first, let me see if you are going to be a fit for our church, let’s pray about this matter for the next few months. In my opinion you may have thus missed the right timing of God’s purpose He had for your church.

I was not so sure then, I didn’t know the why’s. But in an instant I made a decision, a trust of my spirit that the Lord was in this matter.

I have always said, "Why can’t the Spirit of the Lord just tell us, if this is the right man." Why do we need to spend a year or a year and a half in searching for God’s man. Why a background check, a FBI search. Are we asking the secular world to confirm God’s choice. If we are, then I believe God is not in it.

You do all the goggle search you want on a person, but that is not the way to find God’s will for His purpose for the church. I believe it’s possible that God in His time can bring to the local church the person He desires to be one of the pastors of the church, before the church even knows they will soon need a pastor. The Lord has already set in place the man He wants in that church. But because the church has not a clue of the working of God in their midst, they will go out and search for a year for someone, whom they believe is God’s will, and hire him, and then within the first year, realize that they might have made a bad decision.

Growing in the understanding of God's Word is a process that continues in our life time.

Sometimes even before I finish a post, my understanding is changing about the wonderful work and work of Christ.

Continues part four on Monday What John MacArthur says about hiring a preacher for your church.

Drafted by Charles E. Whisnant October 12th 2006 Proof-read Charity 10 12-20 Posted 10-14