Knowing God’s Will: Part 3
Today’s message concludes this mini series on “Knowing God’s Will: Making Biblical Decisions.” Today, we focus on how the Apostles and early church made decisions and I will provide you a model to follow that will be based on the practices of the early disciples.
Divine Guidance in Acts: Acts record 14 instances of supernatural divine guidance. There are other miracles as well, but only 14 examples of God providing special directives to His people over approximately 30 years.
An angel rescued the apostles from prison and told them to preach the gospel (5: 19-20).
Philip was directed (angel of the Lord spoke) to the Gaza road by an angel (8: 26).
Philip was directed (angel of the Lord spoke) to the Ethiopian eunuch by the Spirit (8: 29).
Saul was converted on the Damascus road and Jesus audibly directed him to Damascus (9: 4-6).
Ananias had a vision in which the Lord instructed (audibly spoke in the vision) him to visit Saul (9: 10-16).
Cornelius was instructed by an angel in a vision to send for Peter (10: 3-6).
Peter was instructed by the Spirit to visit Cornelius (10: 19-20).
Peter was ordered by an angel to follow him out of prison (12: 7-8).
Paul and Barnabas were sent out by the Holy Spirit (spoken) on their first missionary journey (13: 2).
The Holy Spirit forbade Paul to preach the word in Asia (16: 6-7).
Paul was directed through a vision to preach in Macedonia (16: 9-10).
Jesus appeared to Paul in a vision and told him to continue preaching in Corinth (18: 9-10).
Paul was told through prophesy not to enter Jerusalem (21: 4).
Jesus told Paul in a vision to get out of Jerusalem (22: 18, 21).
Details of the 14 examples:
The 14 examples took place over 30 years so this constitutes one event every other year.
The 14 examples can be combined into a shorter list when grouped according to the occasion that warranted direction: 2 pertain to Philip’s preaching near Gaza (8: 26, 29); 2 happened around Saul’s conversion; 2 are connected to Peter taking the gospel to Cornelius; 2 directed to Paul to take the gospel to macedonia; 2 pertain to Paul’s time in Jerusalem and eventual arrival in Rome. Thus 10 of the fourteen surround only 5 events. Of the remaining 4, 2 are jailbreaks, 1 started Paul’s first missionary journey, and 1 directed Paul to stay in Corinth for gospel ministry. Looking at the 14 examples that way, we see only 9 separate occasions over a 30 year period when specific divine guidance was given.
Guidance came through a vision (5x), Spirit speaking (4x), angelic messenger (3x), prophecy (1x), and the voice of Jesus (1x).
Of the 14, 7 are from the life of Paul, 2 from the life of Peter, , 1 was given to the apostles (5: 19-20), and apart from the apostles, Philip accounts for 2 and Cornelius and Ananias have 1 each.
Only 1 of the 14 are not directly related to the spread of the gospel; only the angel speaking to Peter to follow him out of jail is not explicitly related to spreading the gospel.
Seeking God for secular matters, choice of spouse, or career, were not in the book of Acts.
It is interesting to note that there is no indication that those who received divine guidance were seeking it when it was received.
How did the apostles make decisions?
There was no pattern set forth in the book of Acts. There is no indication the disciples even sought God’s guidance on routine matters. They simply weighed their options in light of circumstances, then chose a course of action consistent with prior, general commands of the Lord.
B. How to make decisions without receiving supernatural divine direction? Answer: The Biblical Wisdom Model
This model is contrasted with the “Traditional Model” which teaches that God has a personal, individual will for us in each decision we make.
The Biblical Wisdom Model has 2 components:
God’s will is seen in 2 ways: God’s Sovereign will and His moral will. God’s Sovereign will is accomplished by His total control over all events. This includes His unchangeable purposes, His mysterious Providence, and His eternal decrees. Generally, God has not chosen to reveal His Sovereign Will (Ephesians 1:11; Romans 9:19; Daniel 4: 35; Acts 2: 23, 4: 27-28) His Sovereign will is accomplished in history through Divine Providence as He “upholds all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3), “works all things after the counsel of His good will” (Ephesians 1:11), and accomplished His good pleasure” (Isaiah 46: 10).
God’s moral will is revealed in Scripture through commands, ethical teachings, and illustrative examples both positive and negative, e.g., walk in light and wisdom, love our neighbors, serve others, flee immorality, be generous, hospitable, and kind. His moral will is revealed in Scripture and we are to obey it.
3. The principle: within the guidelines of God’s Word (His moral will and wisdom), we are free to do what we want with God’s blessings. In other words, as long as we don’t disobey God’s revealed moral will (Scripture) and apply Biblical wisdom, we are free to choose any option without fear that we have disobeyed God or missed His will. THIS IS THE BIBLICAL MODEL FOR DECISION-MAKING.
4. Biblical examples: look at the Scriptures. Do you see Christians in the New Testament Waiting to hear from God before making decisions? They didn’t hear voices, read signs, wait for peace, or seek confirmations before acting.
Paul’s planned visit to Rome (Romans 1: 9-15) is a good example.
The apostles handle the issue in Acts 6 regarding feeding of the Hellenistic widows. They made the decision without a sign, a voice, a peace, an impression or a confirmation.
Paul’s instructions to Timothy for appointing elders. There were no fleeces, hearing from God, or peace as a condition. Paul instructed Timothy in God’s moral will (1 Timothy 3: 1-7) and Timothy made choices based on the moral will as contained in Paul’s instructions.
C. Applications: Who to marry and what career to choose. Listen to the Podcast dated April 2, 2023, for applications.
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