(Basics) 68. Proving God's Perfect Will(1) — Zac Poonen

Understanding God's Perfect Will

Today we want to consider how we can find God's perfect will for our lives. This is a very, very important subject. The Bible speaks in Romans chapter 12 about understanding the perfect will of God. It says, Don't be conformed to this world, Romans 12, 2, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable and perfect.

God's Detailed Plan for Every Life

There is a will of God for your life, which is perfect. You know, from the time you are born again, from the time you have given your life to Christ, till the end of your appointed days on earth, God has chalked out, mapped out, marked out, prepared a perfect blueprint, a perfect plan for every detail of your life.

Where you should live, whom you should marry, what you should do, what your earthly occupation should be, what all trials you should go through, what all temptations you should face, and what ministry you should have in His body.

These are all part of God's plan for your life. And you will never know or fulfill that plan unless you have a longing. See, God doesn't force anyone to walk in His plan. God doesn't even force people to go into heaven.

He doesn't stop people from going to hell if they want to go to hell. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. The Holy Spirit is in the world, moving around, turning people towards God, stirring believers to respond to His call, to surrender and seek God's perfect will.

But if the Holy Spirit finds that you are not really serious about doing God's perfect will in your life, He will just leave you alone. He won't pursue after you. He may try a few times, but if He finds that you are not eager about doing God's will because you won't be able to make so much money then, or you won't be able to get on in the world if you seek God's will, well, then He will just leave you alone.

Trusting God's Sight of the Future

And in eternity, you will have a lot of regrets. Because when you map out your life, you map out as a blind man. You are totally blind concerning the future. You don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow.

You are totally blind concerning all the dangers and the pitfalls that are in front of you, made by men and made by Satan and his demons. And as far as the future goes, we are totally blind. And it's like a blind man trying to walk through an unknown path.

Isn't it good for such a man to have a guide whose eyes are wide open and who can see into the far distance? And that's exactly what God wants to do for us. God knows the whole future. He knows exactly what's good for us.

He knows every pitfall, every snare that's prepared for you by men or demons. And He can protect you from all of them. And He can lead you in a path in your earthly life that will be so perfect that one day when you come to the end of your life and you stand before the Lord and look back over your life, you'll realize you could not have made a better plan yourself.

You know, I see it like this, that if I knew all the factors that are going to affect my life in the future, and if I knew every single thing that would happen to me along this path and this path and the other path, the alternatives I have to choose, if I knew every aspect of the future and I knew myself as God knows me, my abilities, my personality, the plan I would make, if I had God's wisdom, would be exactly the same as what God has made for me.

God's Plans for Welfare and Hope

Because all of us seek our own interest. We seek what is good for us. Do you know that God also seeks what is good for you? There is a verse in Jeremiah 29 where God says, I know the plans I have for you.

Jeremiah 29 verse 11. They are not plans for a calamity, but plans for your welfare, to give you a future and a hope. God's perfect plan for us is something that is for our welfare. That which is the very best for us.

Wholehearted Discipleship and Surrender

And therefore, if you are a wholehearted disciple of Jesus Christ, you will seek His plan in every area of your life. You will say, Lord, I don't want to live in any city or town where you don't want me to live.

I don't want to marry any girl or any boy whom you don't want me to marry. It's your choice that is going to be uppermost in every single area of my life. I want to spend my money the way you want me to spend it.

I want to spend my time the way you want me to spend it. And I want to do only what you want me to do on this earth. Now, if you are such a person, I want to share with you some principles by which we can prove the perfect will of God.

Twelve Questions for Discerning God's Will

I want to put this in the form of 12 questions that we ask ourselves if we are to find what is God's perfect will. Sometimes we can be faced with an issue concerning which we are not sure. Is this God's will or is it not?

And if we ask ourselves these 12 questions and seek to answer them honestly to ourselves, as we come to the end of the list of those questions, it will become more and more clear to us what the will of God is.

I'll read those questions to you first and then we'll go through them one by one. First of all, the first question we need to ask ourselves is is this thing I'm considering contrary to any of the teachings of Jesus and the apostles or to the spirit of the New Testament as far as I know?

In other words, is there something forbidding it? In God's word, in the New Testament especially? Secondly, is it something I can do with a clear conscience? Third, is it something I can do for the glory of God?

Fourth, is it something I can do in fellowship with Jesus? Fifth, can I ask God to bless me as I do it? Sixth, will my doing it blunt my spiritual edge in any way? Seventh, will it be spiritually profitable and edifying to the best of my knowledge?

Eighth, would I be happy if I were found doing it at the moment when Jesus returns to earth? Ninth, what do wiser and more mature brothers think about it? Tenth, will my doing it bring dishonor to God's name or ruin my testimony if others know about it?

Eleventh, will my doing it cause others to stumble if they know about it? And twelfth, finally, do I feel free in my spirit to do it? As we look at these twelve questions one by one, it will become more and more clear what God's will is concerning any area.

Testing Decisions Against Scripture

First of all, if something is forbidden in scripture, we don't need to think about that a second time. That's very clear. In scripture, should I tell a lie here? Well, does scripture say anything about telling lies?

It certainly does. Is there any excuse for me not to forgive this person? In those areas, scripture is absolutely clear. We must forgive and we must always speak the truth. There are many other areas like this where God's word is crystal clear and we don't need to pray or seek God at all.

And if you are considering something which is contrary to God's word, is it contrary to the spirit of the New Testament? There may not be a particular passage in scripture that's pointing to that particular matter which I'm considering.

But if I've understood the principles of the New Testament, I can ask myself, is this contrary to the spirit of the New Testament? And by that itself, I should know. That is the first question. And that's why it's important for us to know what the scripture says.

Scripture's Authority to Equip Believers

In 2 Timothy 3, verses 16 and 17, it says, All scripture is inspired by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

So there we see that scripture has been given to us to correct us and to lead us in the path of righteousness and equip us for every good work. So if you're not familiar with the teaching of the New Testament, there may be situations in your life where you don't know what God's will is.

And you won't know because you do not pay attention to scripture and you're not studying the scriptures. This is why it is so important to give ourselves to a careful study of the New Testament in order to find God's will in the areas where that will is revealed in scripture.

And then it will be much easier for us to know God's will in those many other areas of our life which are not revealed in scripture. For example, if you're considering a job or considering marrying someone, that's not mentioned in scripture.

But if you have spent your life seeking to obey God's will in every area that you have seen it in scripture, God will make sure you don't miss His will in such important areas as marriage. That's the benefit we get by obeying God's word.

And secondly, you need to ask yourself, is this something you can do with a clear conscience? Conscience is not a perfect guide, but it's a very healthy guide to show us what God's will is. In 1 John 3 .21 it says,.

If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. This is the thing that gives us boldness. As you consider this course of action, you find in your conscience a freedom. Or does your conscience disturb you?

That this is not good. This is not something that Jesus would want you to do. If your conscience disturbs you, don't do it. So think of these two things. Is it according to God's word? Is it something I can do with a clear conscience?