Who Me?… Yes! You!

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; Ephesians 4:11-13 (NKJV)

Most christians are familiar with this portion of scripture. Most are comfortable with it because it seems to put the burden of ministry upon those who are called to the “five-fold ministry”. It is true that those who are Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers do have a burden of ministry placed upon them. Specifically, we are to equip the saints for the work of the ministry and edify the body of Christ.

It’s not just the “preacher” who is a minister, it’s also the saint. Who me? Yes, You! The pastors in a local church can not do everything. They can’t be everywhere. That’s why they are to equip the SAINTS.  You are also called to minister to both fellow saints and the people you come in contact with. When needs God’s healing and you’re the only one there, should you call your pastor and wait for him to get there? Of course not. You can pray the prayer of faith and see them healed . When your friend wants to talk about salvation, should you refer him to your pastor? NO! Open the Word and explain it to them. When they say, “I want to receive the Holy Spirit”, do you call the pastor? NO! You pray with them and experience the joy of seeing God fill them with His Spirit.

Perhaps you’re wondering if I have any Bible to back up my claims? There are actually many besides the one above, but let’s look at just two others for a moment. 1 Corinthians 12 teaches about spiritual gifts. It also teaches about how the church is much like the human body. We are all one body, some are the hands, some the feet, some the mouth and so on. But we are all part of the body and each one of us is to minister to the other. When God gives spiritual gifts, He does not do so to the preacher alone. It is a gift to the body and that means the saint as well as the preacher.

I have been privileged to see many church congregations in action over the last 19 years. This is what stands out to me. The one’s that are truly thriving and fulfilling the two purposes of the church (evangelize and disciple), have at least one thing in common. The saints are involved in ministry.

For the sake of brevity I am using spiritual gifts as an example. However, this is certainly not the only “ministry” available to the saint. In 1 Corinthians 12 we find that first of all the gifts are given through individual members of the body, but for the purpose of ministering to all. These gifts are given to individuals regardless of whether saint or “minister” and they are given in accordance with God’s will not man’s. A truly blessed church is one where the membership have been taught on the gifts of the spirit and are encouraged to minister in them. You want to see an effective altar service? Find a church where the saints are taught and encouraged to minister in the gifts. I certainly am not saying that the church service is the only place to be used in the gifts. God can use you on your job, in your home, in the store or even on the street.

While I have used the gifts of the spirit as an example of the necessity of the saint becoming involved in ministry, this is not the only place of ministry for the saint. God has given His people motivational gifts as well. These are gifts of inclination so to speak. In other words these are areas that you are motivated to serve in. Take the time to Read Romans 12:3-8 for a better understanding of this teaching. Just as we are each given a measure of faith, we are also given at least one motivational gift. It may be a motivation in “ministry” (NKJV) for example, which means that you enjoy serving others. Perhaps you truly love to be the one who helps at church dinners by preparing and serving the meals. There are any number of areas you could serve others as ministry. You may serve as the one who keeps the church property sparkling. This is a ministry! The first impression the visitor will have is the appearance of the property.

There are so many areas of ministry available to the saint. Visitor follow-up, greeter, janitor, usher, witness, prayer warrior, etc. There are too many to name. The main thing is that every church needs committed saints to jump in and minister. You want your church to grow? What are you doing to help it grow? You want more powerful services? How much time are you spending in prayer for your pastor and the services? There are more opportunities to minister than it’s possible to name here. But I can assure you that most pastors would love to have you to jump in and serve. Who you? Yes, you. Jump in with both feet and you will find fulfillment like nothing you have ever known. As an added bonus, you will find that very few people who are deeply involved in ministry at their local church are likely to backslide. So take the time to pray and seek God’s face as to where you are gifted and then make an appointment with your pastor to find out where you can help. You wont regret it.

The Wise Use Of Knowledge

We’ve discussing the the will of God for the last three posts. In this concluding post on the topic, I am hoping to help us learn how to better make decisions, confident of God’s will.

As I mentioned in my last post, everyone is in the circle of God’s sovereign will. However, everyone is not in God’s moral will. Since we want to be in His moral will, we need to make wise choices inside of His moral will. I realize that there are areas not specifically spelled out in Scripture. In these circumstances, we make our decisions based upon God’s moral will by learning and applying His principles.

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. It’s not all about knowing, or gaining knowledge. It’s about doing what’s right, or applying knowledge correctly inside of God’s moral will. Certainly we need to gain knowledge, especially concerning God’s Word. This is how we gain the knowledge of His principles to live by. As we gain this knowledge though, we must also gain the wisdom to apply it.

How do we gain this wisdom and how do we make wise Biblically sound decisions? First, we must pray for God’s wisdom (James 1:5). We must eliminate non Biblical options. Where the Bible is explicit, we must obey it. When it is not explicit we must use the principles set forth in the Scripture. We must prayerfully yield to the Holy Spirit’s leading in our lives (John 16:13). Listen to a consensus of Godly counsel and give weight to that counsel before making a decision. Trust in God’s sovereignty to use our wise decisions to our good (Philippians 2:13).

So it’s decision time. We know that God cares about our decisions in life, so how do we make decisions that please Him? This is really where most of us struggle in our decisions. How do I know what the right choice is? Here are some thoughts for you to use when making decisions.

Spiritual considerations to think of:

1. Will this bring glory to God. (1 Corinthians 10:23-31) It may not be sinful or wrong, but it may also not be helpful to me spiritually. In other words, is this spiritually conducive to a closer walk with Jesus? Will this hurt someone else’s conscience?
2. Is this a decision that Jesus would make? (1 Peter 2:21)
3. Will I be proud of this decision at the Judgement Seat of Christ? (Romans 14:10-13)

Relational considerations to think of:

1. Would I want this done to me? Romans 13:8-10 do everything in love.
2. Could this appear wrong even though it’s right? 1 Thessalonians 5:22 abstain even from the appearance of evil.
3. Will this cause a brother or sister in Christ to struggle spiritually? Romans 14:13

Financial considerations to think of:

1. Is it affordable?
2. Is this being a good steward?
3. What does counsel say?
4. Does this decision cause me to break a previous committment?

Internal considerations to think of:

1. Could this lead me into bondage? (1 Corinthians 6:12) This covers many areas. Financial bondage, alcohol, both legal and illegal drugs, physical and mental. Don’t forget that we are to be examples. Don’t let your freedom damage someone else by leading them into possible bondage.
2. Can I do this in complete confidence that it is right? Romans 14:22, if you’re convicted in your heart, don’t do it.
3. Am I breaking previous comittments? James 5:12, let your yes mean yes and your no mean no. This also covers many areas, including your marriage.

I realize that some decisions in life are difficult to make even when you are sure what the right decision is. Those decisions are much easier to make however, when you have taken the time to follow the principles I have listed above.  I think sometimes we forget that God is on our side in this decision process. He has given the instruction manual to life through His Word. If we will read His Word and pray for His wisdom in applying it in our lives, He will not fail us. God is faithful! I pray that as you read over this material I have presented in all four posts, that you will find help for your life. Let’s face it, life is full of decisions. Some that are simple and petty enough that it takes no real thought. On the other hand, there are many decisions in life that shouldn’t be made on impulse. I believe if you will apply the principles we’ve discussed, you will find it much easier to know what choices are with in God’s moral will.

Will of God Part 3

Well, if you have been reviewing the Scriptures given and doing your own research on this subject as well, hopefully you and I are on the same page so to speak at this point. It’s time to give the answer to the six questions I asked in the first post. Did you guess all true? Or did you say all false? Well the answer to every question is, False. Go back to the questions and read them again with this answer in mind. Go ahead, I’ll wait right here till you get back.

Since hopefully we are in agreement at this point, I want to point out some good reasons for rejecting the traditional view of God’s Will and believing what I believe is the Biblical view. Did you know that there are 27 instances of the phrase “will of God” in the Bible? Of these 27 times, all of them are contextually speaking of God’s sovereign or moral will.

Let’s take a minute to look at a principle found in Joshua 1:8 regarding our part in finding God’s will.

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. NKJV

When we read, study and come to know God’s Word we can thereby come to know His will. By observing or obeying His Word in our daily lives, we will be prosperous and successful. Here are some of the reasons we should reject the traditional view of God’s will.

1. We will conform our beliefs to the teaching of Scripture. 2. We can alleviate anxiety and guilt over trying to determine God’s “perfect will” in our lives. 3. We can recognize the validity of several different choices. 4. We can avoid indecision. 5. Can reduce subjectivity. Subjectivity – a position made without connection to verifiable facts.

Often people make decisions about the “will of God” based upon completely unverifiable things. Example: “I just feel at peace with this decision”. Well wonderful, but what does the Bible say? This reminds me of the (pardon my bluntness) idiotic statement Amy Grant issued regarding her decision to divorce her husband and marry the man she was committing adultery with. After her pastor’s counsel to reconcile with her husband and that the decision she was making was not Biblical, She said something to the effect, “God wants me to be happy and I feel at peace with this decision”. I am paraphrasing the statement as I do not remember the exact wording, just the idiocy of it. What she was saying was, forget what the Bible says, I feel at peace about my adultery and continuing in it.

Along with number 5 which I just gave an example of, number 4 is one of the best reasons to embrace the Biblical teaching of God’s will. How often have you been caught up in indecision about a decision simply because you were afraid of making the “wrong” choice according to God’s will? When you realize that there can actually be several choices within the moral will of God, the choice is really yours, it makes the decision easier. The question to ask when faced with hard decisions is; “what does the Bible say on this subject?”

Let me expound upon my meaning. First to use the Amy Grant example above, the Bible clearly prohibits adultery, let alone divorce for the sake of continuing that adultery. So simple answer to her question. If her husband will forgive and attempt to reconcile, that was her Biblical moral will of God.

Another example; you’re trying to choose what college to attend. Your looking at three different ones and all are good schools. The only differences will be distances from home and cost. In this case the choice is simply a decision of preference. Which school did you like the best? On the other hand, one you cannot afford, another doesn’t specialize in your career field choice, and the other one is close to home, affordable and specializes. Easy choice.

We must learn Biblical wisdom for our lives. Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. It’s not enough to have knowledge, we must apply that knowledge correctly inside of God’s moral will. Everyone is inside of God’s sovereign will. Everyone is NOT inside of God’s moral will. We must learn to make wise decisions inside of God’s moral will. That’s what we will discuss next time.

To be continued…

Will of God Continued…

Ok, in my last post I asked some true or false question of you. I didn’t get around to giving the answer, so perhaps I can do so in this post. We’ll see.

Let’s remember our primary Scripture in this study: Ephesians 5:17: For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord’s will is. NET

Hopefully you have had the time to review the Scriptures I gave with the various forms of God’s will. His “sovereign will” is unstoppable and unalterable. Look at Daniel 4:35 as an example:

All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing;
He does according to His will in the army of heaven
And among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain His hand
Or say to Him, “What have You done?” NKJV

No one can restrain the plan of God. He is the Almighty and what He wills is what will be accomplished. I think few of us would dispute this assertion.

Then there is God’s “moral will”. If you want to know God’s moral will, you have to know God’s Word (See 1 John 2:3). Isaiah 40:8 tells us that His Word  ”stands forever“. God’s revealed commandments tell us what His will for us is. His moral will is for us to be saved and His Word tells us how to be saved. His moral will is for us to live saved and His Word tells us how to live saved. As long as we are living within His moral will, there are no “right” or “wrong” choices. For example, you are thinking of marrying someone. First guideline to examine, are they an Apostolic? In other words, do not be unequally yoked. If they pass the hurdle of being equally yoked, then it’s simply a matter of what you decide. I am simplifying the process obviously, but hopefully you get the principle in mind.

Thirdly I spoke of God’s “individual will“. This is where most of us have questions. Does God have a perfect detailed plan for my life that I am supposed to somehow discover and follow? NO! Does He have a permissive will that I can choose as a second best plan but still “in the will” of God? NO! Wait you say, what about Psalm 37:23? Glad you asked. Most confusion concerning the will of God is a misunderstanding of His Word. In short not taking the time to study it for its actual intended meaning. In the case of Psalm 37:23 which reads “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord…” if you dig a little, you will find that the original wording means established not ordered. In other words, the steps of a good man are established by the Lord. He will uphold your decisions in life when you are His child and are with in His moral will.

I will not belabor the point at this time, but the Scriptures used to defend the view of a detailed plan for our lives are simply taken out of context. Examples Scriptures taken out of context are; Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 30:20-21, Jeremiah 29:11, Colossians 1:9-10, Romans 12:1-2 and plenty of others.

Just as an example of the silliness of thinking there is some “perfect” plan we have to follow, think on this. You must marry the exact spouse of God’s choice, your “soul mate”. I wont bother to pick all the holes in this theory, but here is one too big to ignore. If just one couple misses the “mark” in this, then think of the chaos to follow. Now whoever was supposed to marry them are also out of the “will” of God when they “settle” and marry someone else. Now that they settled and married the “wrong” person, they have also set off a chain of “wrong” marriages, and so on. Don’t forget that if any of these “wrong” couples have children they were not supposed to have, we have even more chaos in God’s plan. You want to know God’s will in your marriage? The person you married IS God’s will for you the moment you are married. But that’s opens up another subject best left for another time.

God’s Word does NOT contradict itself. There are two principles at play here. God’s sovereign will and humanities free will. Unless you are prepared to say that we are all puppets to God’s will and thereby forfeit free will, you have to recognize the fallacy of “perfect” will for us to follow.

Remember that God is more interested in the KIND of person you are. If you are a godly person who seeks God’s guidance in your decisions, you will make the right choices. How do you seek His guidance? Through prayer and His Word. Don’t worry, when God has a specific thing for you to do, He is well able to reveal that to you in a specific way. I know from personal experience that most of us who have believed that we had to somehow find His “perfect” will for our lives, were sincere in our efforts. I also know how miserable I was, always wondering if I was making a “wrong” choice. Even worse was vacillating to the point of no decision at all, due to the fear of making the wrong decision.

I have much more to say on this topic, so stay tuned. I ran out of time to give the answer to the questions this time. Maybe next time.

To be continued…

The Perfect Will of God?…

Before I put my thoughts on this subject in written form, let me give some credit first. I heard a preacher by the name of James MacDonald teaching on the radio about this subject. I think it’s been about 4 maybe 5 months ago, but I have thought on it often and studied the subject to some degree. By the way James MacDonald is the one with the radio program called “Walk in the Word”.

Ephesians 5:17: For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord’s will is. NET

Since I’ve given credit where credit is due, allow me to also ask you the same questions he asked. These are where he grabbed my attention. These are all True or False questions. Here’s a hint, they all have the same answer.

1. God has a specific plan or will for your life, which you must discover and fulfill.
2. God’s will can be divided into two categories: Perfect will & Permissive will.
3. Little hunches or promptings are God’s way of revealing His will to me.
4. A key factor in making decisions, is having peace about it.
5. It is not wrong to use a fleece to determine God’s will.
6. When faced with two good alternatives, I must make the “right” choice.

So what did you answer to these questions? True or False? I’ll get to the answer a little later. Yes that’s my attempt at a cliffhanger.

First allow me to break God’s Will down into three categories.

God’s Will:

1.) Sovereign Will – (Isaiah 40:3-5) This is God’s Secret plan that controls the outcome in all matters of the universe. Nothing thwarts His sovereign will. Proverbs 16:33; 21:1, Daniel 4:35, Acts 2:23; 4:27, Romans 9:18, Ephesians 1:11, Revelation 4:11. God’s sovereign will cannot be hindered, redirected, changed or stopped. God’s plan for this world will be accomplished according to that plan. There is no spirit or human that can alter or stop it.

2.) Moral Will – (Isaiah 40:6-8) God’s Word, His revealed commandments. 1 John 2:3. It’s God moral will is that all should be saved (2 Peter 3:9). That you be sanctified (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, 2 Peter 1:3). 1 Thessalonians 5:18. Within God’s moral will, there are no right and wrong choices. God’s moral will is found in one location; His Word. We are to live our lives as directed by His written Word, the Bible.

3.) Individual Will – (Psalm 37:23, Isaiah 40:11). Does God have a perfect will and a permissive will for us? No. His individual will for us concerns whether we are saved and what Kind of person we are. He does not have a detailed blueprint for our lives. For example: Can we only marry one person to be in His perfect will? No. Whoever you marry becomes God’s will for you. Period.

I have more to say on this subject, but for now I will allow you to look up the Scriptures listed above and do some thinking/study on the subject yourself. I haven’t forgotten that I have not answered the questions above, but that will have to wait till next time.

To be continued…