[T]here is nothing in us or done by us at any stage of our earthly development because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake or we cannot ever be accepted at all. This is not true of us only “when we believe,” it is just as true after we have believed. It will continue to be true as long as we live… It is always, on His “blood and righteousness” alone that we can rest. There is never anything that we are or have or do that can take His place or that take a place along with Him. We are always unworthy, and all that we have or do of good is always of pure grace.
B.B. Warfield

How Do You Know When The Lord Is Talking to You and what he’s trying to tell You?

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN THE LORD IS TALKING TO YOU AND WHAT HE'S TRYING TO TELL YOU?

That's a rough one!

All right, Romans chapter 12. Get that in one hand, and get 1Thessalonians 5:18 in the other.

Now these things here are on the will of the Lord–that is, in trying to find out what God wants you to do, how can you know what He wants you to do, and when He's leading you to do something and when He's not. And there are certain things in the Bible that are clear on this, and there are certain things that are not.

Romans 12:1: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

All right, the first condition for knowing what God wants you to do, and the first condition for knowing God's will about a thing, is that the body has to be surrendered. "Present your bodies a living sacrifice."

The next condition is non-conformity. And if a man is trying to find out what God wants him to do and what God is leading him to do, he'll never find out as long as he conforms to the world, and he'll never find out as long as he doesn't present his body as a sacrifice.

Those are the essentials.

Now, when he does that, there are three wills of God, verse 2. There's a good will of God that He doesn't accept; there's a good and acceptible will of God that's not perfect; and there's a perfect will of God.

Now, by that I mean, there are certain things you can do that are good. They're good things to do, but they won't count at the judgment seat of Christ. The Lord doesn't accept them–although they're all right.

Then there are certain things you can do that God will accept, but it may not be exactly what He wanted you to do. And the trick is to find out exactly what God wants you to do, and do it.

And that's what the question is about.

All right, now there are certain things that are clear that you don't have to guess at. For example, come to 1Thessalonians 5. If you obey these, then you're well on your way to finding out what's not clear. Look at the will of God here given in 1Thessalonians 5:18. Our trouble is, we pray and say, "Lord, show us what you want us to do." And then, when He tells us, we don't want to do it. Now, here's something we're supposed to do, 1Thessalonians 5:18: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

So, the first answer to that thing about knowing the will of God is this. The will of God is for you to give thanks in everything.

I heard a fellow pray a blessing one time before the meal, and he said, "Lord, help us to be truly thankful for what we're about to receive." That's a good blessing, but that sure covers a lot of territory! But, if that just means the meal, O.K. But, boy, if that means the next 48 hours, that's saying a lot!

All right, now, you can be sure of 1Thessalonians 5:18. You can be certain that, in everything that happens to you, you are to give thanks, because "all things work together for good to them who love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose." And it isn't easy to do!

Have you ever been in a hurry to get someplace–and then have a flat tire? Little old things like that try your religion worse than big things.

All right, now here's the next will of God, in 1Thessalonians 4:3: "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter." Now, that's definite.

All right, the will of God for you is to be sanctified and live a clean life, and not fornicate–that's the will of God. You don't have to pray about that; that's His will.

All right, now, let's look at the things that you're not too sure about. Turn to Ephesians chapter 5, verse 17, in one hand, and Colossians 4:12 in the other. Now, these are things that you are going to have search out in other ways. I'm going to begin reading Ephesians 5 at verse 15: "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." Now, that's a commandment. It's a commandment for a Christian to find out God's will.

Colossians 4:12: "Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete"–now look how it's worded–"in ALL the will of God."

All right, now, one more. Colossians chapter 1, beginning at verse 27. Now, these verses show that God has a will, and you are to find out what the will is. And, it's a complete will. That is, God has a perfect will for your life, and a complete will that isn't just a matter of hit or miss. "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in my mightily."

Now, turn to 1John chapter 4. Now, the hardest thing you will ever to do in your life as a Christian, as far as I know, is to ask yourself, when something comes up, "Is this God warning me and trying to get me to stop because I'm going the wrong way? Or is this the devil putting an obstacle in my way to see if I'll quit?" The reason why that's so hard is because the devil and the Lord work so closely together, it's almost impossible to tell them apart.

For example, when the devil comes down and hits Job and smites him and makes him sick and takes his children, the devil did it. The Lord said, "All that he has is in your hands." And, by the same token, the Lord said of the devil in chapter 2, "You moved me against him to destroy him without a cause."

Another real bad one is where David sins, and the Bible says, "Satan stood up and provoked David to number Israel," in 2Samuel. But in 1Chronicles it says, "God moved David to number Israel." And the words God and Satan are used interchangeably.

I'll give you another one. When somebody dies in the family, Deuteronomy quotes the Lord saying, "I've got power to kill and to make alive, to wound and to heal." But, by the same token, the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 2, "Him that hath the power of death; that is, the devil." So, when a person died, it's the devil that killed him. But God gives him permission to take him when he goes.

He said about Job, "All that he has is in your hand. Only don't put forth your hand on his life."

So, when you get into those things where God and the devil are working together, it's almost impossible sometimes to tell what's going on.

For example, if you got a raise, that's obviously from the Lord. Right? And if you got a new house at a good bargain, that's the Lord, you know. And, you know, if you got a big paid vacation, that's the Lord. If you got a good meal, that's the Lord.

But then, when you get cancer, right away you think, "That's the devil." Or, when you get fired from a job or lose a job, that's the devil. That's how we think. We think that way because we're human. We're weak; we're selfish.

And yet, haven't some of you fellows ever lost a job–and it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to you? It did with me. I lost a job as a discjockey; I'm glad I'm not there.

So, the thing is this; when something like that happens, it's almost impossible to tell. Now, "in every thing give thanks." When the thing happens, thank God and claim Romans 8:28.

Now, you take a condition where you're praying and saying, "Now, Lord, should I move to Burbank or should I stay here?" Or, "Lord, should we get a job in Fresno or stay here?" Or, you're praying, "Lord, should I get into the ministry, or keep the job I've got and work part-time?" Then you run into this–1John 4:1: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God."

And there are three ways you have to seek God's will in prayer like that. You've got to (1) stay in your Bible and go with the revealed word; (2) watch Providence; that is, see how doors open and close; and then (3) pray without ceasing–those things.

And when you pray, you say, "Lord, do you want me to do this?"

And you wait awhile, and you get a very definite impression.

When you get that impression, you say, "Lord, that spirit that gave me that impression, does that spirit confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh?"

And then wait.

And then say, "Lord, that spirit that just said, `That spirit confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh'–does that spirit confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh?"

You see, when you kneel down to pray, you've got the devil working on you as well as the Lord. There's an old song about the devil "trembling" when he sees a saint on his knees; but the devil doesn't tremble when a saint gets on his knees. When a saint gets on his knees, the devil kneels right down beside him. He starts putting doubts in his mind.

So, when you pray along those lines, about when God is speaking to you, all I can tell you is, go by the Book, by Providence, and by prayer. And don't take the first impression you get! Try the spirits. And, in matters where you're trying to find God's will on a BIG thing, you can't just get down on your knees and say, "Now, Lord, do you want me to do this?" and then come up with, "Yeah, the Lord told me to do it," and get up and go. So, be careful of that about a BIG thing. Now, with some little things you can do it that way. But, in a big thing, you're going to have to wait on the Lord in prayer.

If I were praying about a big thing, I would never quit praying after 15 minutes about that one item. It would run 30 minutes, and I wouldn't make a decision on it that day. I would wait two or three days, or even two or three weeks. And, gradually, the Lord will impress you.