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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/john-slabaugh/the-will-of-god/
Acts chapter 9 verse 1. And Saul, yet braving up threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went on to the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of them this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound onto Jerusalem.
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 he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against the bricks against the goads. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
It's that last question that I have before me on Friday evening. We were told that there are a number of relatively new converts who have been reached here in La Crosse, and it would be appreciated if there would be some basic ministry given for their benefit, instruction for the Christian pathway.
They don't come from Christian homes. One of the things I've marked is that if you have the opportunity to be born into the home of Christians, you almost automatically understand what is expected of you, and you kind of fall in step.
It's not that way always with those who have no background at all. The subject that I have before me is a subject that is much easier ministered on than determining for myself what the will of the Lord is for me.
It is a subject, one of the things that is very manifest in this particular conference has been the number of young believers who are present. Young brethren over here, young sisters over here, we're glad to see you all.
I heard a man say when he was a young Christian, whatever this subject came up, he had his pen out and he was ready to get the formula for discovering the will of God. You know, three bells and a light comes on.
It may be that there are three things that we should look for. The first one, and the most important one, is what saith the scriptures. That won't answer all your questions, but it'll answer more of them than what you think.
If you're reading the Word of God, if you're meditating upon it, if you're listening to ministry from it, the mind of God, the will of God for you, will be brought out again and again. But that doesn't answer all the questions.
Most of us, we have a series of questions we'd like to have answers for. Where should I work? You won't find a scripture that says, thou therefore, O man of God, shall work for Ford Motor Company or anybody else like that.
But you will find guidance. I don't think I'd have to stress that it wouldn't be appropriate to take a job as a beer truck driver. That just wouldn't be appropriate for a Christian. Then there's another light that we can look for.
We can look for the light of circumstances. Have you ever been exercised in desires of doing a certain thing and the way didn't open up at all? I'll tell you one from my personal experience. There was a time when I was at the conference in Manchester, Connecticut.
Large conference, much larger than this one, from all over New England. And on the Sunday night, they went back to the gospel hall like they're doing tonight. And when I got there, they had asked me to speak Sunday night, I looked around and I was astonished at the number of unsaved teenagers, children of believers that were there.
And I thought to myself, even while I'm preaching the gospel, this is a place that needs gospel meetings. So I sat down at my typewriter and I wrote a letter to Jim Smith and proposed gospel meetings in Manchester, Connecticut.
I got a letter back. Interesting you should write that, brother. Mr. McBain and I are planning a gospel series there. And I had written to him that I expected they'd see souls saved. And they did, but they weren't the souls that I saw in that meeting.
I have to tell you, after 40 years, there were souls in that meeting that are still not saved. But God came in and he worked there. And I tell you this because that was a case where circumstances indicated I didn't have the mind of God personally going there.
But God will close the door sometimes. By the way, if you run into a closed door, don't assume that's not the will of God. God may be testing your faith and your exercise unless you have something like I've just described where obviously it's not the will of God at that time.
Then there's one other and having one of those metal blocks right now, I get those more often now since I'm, I have TMB, too many birthdays. Anyway, desire, I hadn't thought about that. But yes, I can see why God would put a desire in a person's heart.
And by the way, if you have a desire to do a certain thing, don't automatically assume that can't be the will of God, because I want to do it so badly. Because why wouldn't God put it in your mind, for instance, to want to go to a certain conference?
I'm kind of making too big a front porch here, let me go on. Most of us are concerned about the 15 of the will of God that isn't directly revealed to us. If we've got the Word of God for it, we don't need to be hesitant about going ahead.
It comes to me now the other thing that I wanted to point out, and that is sometimes you find yourself, shall I do this or shall I do that? This or that? And you're not really clear about it. But the time has come when you have to make a move.
Either or. Tell the Lord how you've considered it. Lord, this or that? I've been exercised. I believe it's this. And then go ahead, unless he closes up the way before you, go ahead and don't keep looking back.
One of the big problems that I see is believers that are afraid to make decisions because they are afraid of making the wrong decision. Ask for guidance. Seek for guidance. We're going to get down to that about a number of items here, and then move with the guidance that you get.
Now, I have six things that I want to share with you about the will of God. Turn with me to Acts chapter 2, verse 36. Then they that gladly received his word, 41 I'm sorry, then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them 3 ,000 souls, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, and in the fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers.
And fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. I've got some labels for these six things. The first one now is share the scandal. One of the things that men who have taken the gospel into new places, and there's been excitement that comes in among the population, we've never heard the truth like this.
And souls profess to be saved. The next question is, what else does God expect of me? And more than once, when it comes to the preaching about baptism, there's a turning away and unwillingness to do it.
Now, I think for most who are here, you understand that baptism is expected of those who have professed to be saved. It's a primary command. It always is closely linked with salvation, and sometimes we run into individuals and they're really not willing to do it.
I heard one time about a girl who was with a group of Christians, and they were having a hymn sing, and she spoke up and said, let's sing that hymn anywhere with Jesus. I can safely go anywhere he leads me in this world below.
That dear girl had been unwilling to be baptized. She's singing it lustily. When a gentleman is by her ear and he says to her, anywhere but into three feet of water, baptism is expected of those that have been saved.
What is baptism? It's a testimony to the believers. I have died with Christ. He was buried. He rose again, figuratively. I'm identifying with him. As I go into the waters of baptism, I'm buried with him and raised again to walk in newness of life.
But I wouldn't be happy to baptize anyone that didn't give some evidence that they really were born again. I think it would be a disfavor to them. Baptism always yields joy to the obedient believer. There's a man I know.
He's my generation. Like mine, his days are numbered too. He was raised Mohammedan. His story is unique. He married a girl whose mother was in the assembly. Of course, his mother-in-law was after him to come to gospel meetings.
Without taking a lot of time, he came. He said to the young man who was bringing him, he said, if this book is the word of God, and I believe it is, then I need to be saved. And it wasn't too long, and the dear man was saved.
But his wife was not. She had heard the gospel all her life. She wasn't opposed to going to meetings. He learned about baptism. He wanted to be baptized, and she put on the brakes. She did her best to persuade him not to.
She didn't want him to be baptized before she was baptized. The interesting thing is, he said to her, honey, God expects me to be baptized, and I'm going to be baptized. She sat in the audience and watched while he was baptized.
He came up out of the waters of baptism. He went and changed his clothes. She got up out of her seat. God had just saved her. He was obedient. He was praying for her salvation. She went over to her mother, and she said, mother, I was just saved.
You can imagine the joy of that young man when he came out of the dressing room and saw the celebration at the back of the hall, where his wife and her mother, arms around one another, were rejoicing together.
So the first label I have here is, share the scandal. Turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6, verse 14. We're talking now about things that God expects of those who are saved. Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord or harmony hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
For ye are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.
And I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Second label. Spurn the snares. First one, share the scandal. Be baptized. The second one is be separated. Take your place in God's assembly. To be amalgamated with the religious world or any other aspect of the world is something that we should not fall into.
As you know, when a person hears the gospel and God saves them, it isn't long and they're aware that God intends that they meet with other believers. But where? There's a lot of answers to that. I'm going to run through some of these very quickly.
I want to go where my parents go. That may seem like the right answer, but you'll notice it doesn't say anything about the Word of God. We need to be guided by the Word of God. I want to go where I first heard the gospel.
If that happens to be a scriptural assembly, we're all for that. I was asked just the other day, Brother Al will recognize of whom I speak, a young man in Lynn Manor, which is the right church? Well, that's a question that does come up.
I don't believe we should be asking a question like that. I believe what we should be asking, what does the Bible teach about the function of an assembly? I don't have the time to go into that with a great lot of detail, but in any event, sometimes they'll answer that question by saying, I want to go where a certain scriptural truth is held.
Baptism by immersion, for example. That may be right enough, but really, brethren and sisters, what we want is to be in the place where he is. Matthew 18 and 20, free translation, where two or three gathered together in my name are, I'm not changing any words, I'm just changing their order, where two or three gathered together in my name are, I am there in the midst of them.
Find the place where he is, and you'll have the answer to that boy's question that he asked the other day. So what we need is we need to spurn the snares, we need to be separated. Maybe the next one would have been the place to have used that.
Turn to Hebrews chapter 13. I want to get through this hurriedly, I don't want to take too long. Hebrews chapter 13, and we'll read together verses 13 and 14. Let us go forth therefore unto him outside the camp bearing his reproach, for here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. This is separation to, the previous one was separation from. Spurn the snares.
This is separation to seek the Son. How will you recognize a scriptural assembly? One of the things that thrilled me when I first went into the Lord's work over 45 years ago, going into new places with the gospel and knocking on doors, from time to time we knocked on the door of genuine Christians.
And only a little bit of conversation, and we knew that we had a lot in common. And they would invite us in, they even invited us for meals too. And I appreciated the fact that they appreciated the work of the Lord Jesus for them.
They appreciated the blessed hope that he's coming again. And I won't take the time to go over things which are most surely believed among us, they believed them too. But there was one area that they did not have a clue, and that is about the function of a New Testament assembly.
You see, what frequently happened, they heard the gospel, God saved them, and then they just went back into the same kind of a system that had been part of their way of life before. What are some of the hallmarks of an assembly?
I'm only giving you these to help you to identify an assembly. One of them is, there's a plurality of overseers, not just one man ministry. Another one is, there is the priesthood of all believers, and that includes the sisters by the way.
Another one is, there is the breaking of bread every Lord's Day. We don't take the time to elaborate on these, I'm just giving you these hallmarks of an assembly. Another one is, there is a within and a without to God's assembly.
I remember a conversation with two young men, I had elaborated on Matthew 18 and 20, which I touched on just a minute ago, and pointed out, gathered together in my name is a continuous thing. We're not always met together, brethren and sisters, but I am always in the assembly.
Twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week, I'm part of that fellowship. And I gave the construction that the original has. This young brother came to me and he said, you couldn't use that word, gathered together, about the meetings of the assembly because we're not always gathered together, met together.
He was right. The other young brother, he raised the issue, he said, when did you become part of the assembly? I said, when I was gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I could see he was puzzled.
I asked him a question, cleared him up just like that. I said to him, John, how long were you saved before you became part of the assembly? Oh, he said, I think it was about a year. And what did you do every Sunday when the believers were met together to remember the Lord?
I sat on the back seat. Were you gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus then? Oh, no, he said, I wasn't then. It's a definite thing when you become part of God's assembly. Some of the rest of this I want to finish very shortly.
So I'm just going to give you my labels. Speak to sinners. Evangelization. Go ye into all the world. Now, that doesn't mean you have to go to Africa. You go out your front door and you're in the world.
I appreciated what Shad Sluder said yesterday about find your Lydia's and work with them. You know, brethren, sisters, I think that's one of our principal failures. Instead of having an exercise about specific individuals, we sporadically take tracts and so on.
But to have an exercise that finds us on our knees, praying about them, relating to them. Sometimes they won't relate to you. I heard one time about a woman, sister, and she decided that she was going to witness to her neighbor.
So she made friends with her. You start there. Went shopping with her. Had her in for coffee. Went over to her place for coffee. She thought she had the opportunity to say something, and she began to speak about salvation.
And that woman said, look, if you're going to try to ram your religion down my throat, I don't want to hear it. Clang! That's like dropping an iron curtain. That's the way you want to be. Do you know what she did?
She kept on showing kindness to that woman, visiting with her, didn't say anything more. But God has His ways of working. One morning, the door of her kitchen burst open. Here's the neighbor, and she's hysterical.
And what's wrong? What's wrong? All she could do was blurt out, my husband! My husband! Well, what about your husband? And pointing, he had opened the car door, collapsed and fallen. She called for an ambulance.
She took her neighbor in her car. That neighbor was never alone in those days that followed. The funeral is over, and she's back with the neighbor. The neighbor turned to her and said, why are you doing this?
You didn't have to do this. She said, well, I have a good friend, and I'm doing it for his sake. The neighbor said to her, I know who you're talking about. You're talking about Jesus Christ. Do you want to tell me about Him now?
Brethren, speak to sinners. Hospitality. Serve the saints. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. We won't have opportunity to serve the saints much longer. So do what you can now.
By the way, when I get on this one, there was a couple, and they mentored me as a teenager, and who knows where I might be today, spiritually speaking, if it hadn't been for that home. Serve the saints.
The last one, a very important subject. I wish I had more time to give to it, but I want to be fair to my brethren who haven't spoken yet. Shepherd the sheep. We often hear, and not too often either, we often hear of how important it is that young brethren be exercised about giving their life to serving God, in the Lord's work.
But I want to tell you there's something else that's just as vital. There's a great need for shepherds in God's assembly. I close with this comment I got from Mr. Hector Algears ago. I never forgot it.
He said, we have some men among us, and they're excellent businessmen, and they are administrators in their business, and they become administrators in the oversight of God's assembly. But he said, that's not the right figure.
Shepherds is what we need. Shepherds with the care for the flock. Shepherds that guide the flock. Shepherds that feed the flock. So there's those six points. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? I'm sure if you ask that question every day, and you wait before God for answers, he'll give you the answers.