If the Lord Wills – Knowing the Will of God
Pastor Tan Thai · Oct 31, 2020
This second sermon in the 'If the Lord Wills' series helps believers understand God's will according to Scripture. The pastor clarifies that God's will does not depend on luck or chance, and that signs and miracles are not the ordinary means by which believers discover God's will. Instead, Christians are called to apply biblical principles with Spirit-given wisdom, acting within the bounds of God's sovereign and moral will.
The sermon opens by reviewing the previous week's teaching on three aspects of God's will: His sovereign will, His moral will, and His personal will for individuals. The pastor emphasizes that Scripture clearly reveals the first two, but does not provide a step-by-step method for discerning God's will for every personal decision. Professor Haddon Robinson is quoted to affirm that the question 'how do we know God's will for difficult life decisions?' is not actually a biblical question in the traditional sense.
The first major section refutes the idea of luck or chance in the believer's life. The pastor argues that belief in luck denies the sovereignty and omniscience of God, who knows all things from eternity to eternity. A folk parable about an old man and his horse illustrates that humans cannot judge an event as lucky or unlucky because they cannot see God's full picture. Scripture also strictly forbids believers from seeking God's will through sorcery, divination, or fortune-telling (Deuteronomy 18:9-14).
The second major section addresses the role of signs and miracles, arguing they are exceptions rather than the normal means of knowing God's will. The pastor examines Gideon and the fleece (Judges 6:36-40), the use of the Urim and Thummim in the Old Testament (Exodus 28:28-30; Numbers 27:21; 1 Samuel 14:41; 28:6), and Paul's vision in a dream (Acts 16:6-10). He concludes that all these were rare, exceptional cases involving specific individuals in particular circumstances, and notes that false prophets can also perform signs (Matthew 7:22-23), so miracles alone cannot be the definitive means of discerning God's will.
The sermon closes with the true story of missionary Elizabeth Elliot, who spent nearly two years learning the Colorado tribal language in Ecuador to translate the Bible, only to have her co-worker murdered and all her linguistic materials stolen. Through this painful experience, she came to understand that the work belongs to God, and the believer's only responsibility is obedience. Isaiah 55:8-9 and Proverbs 3:5-6 are quoted to affirm that God's ways are higher than human ways, and wholehearted trust in Him is the surest path to divine guidance.
In summary, the sermon calls believers to abandon superstition and the expectation of miraculous signs as prerequisites for decision-making. Instead, they are invited to live in the freedom and responsibility of faith, applying biblical principles with Spirit-given wisdom, and entrusting outcomes to the God who holds sovereign authority over all things.