Discerning God's Will
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Learning how to better discern God's will by striving for Christ-likeness.
Text: Phil. 3:15-16
Date: 11/03/2024, the Evening service.
Series: "Evenfall; Sunday Evening Worship" Part 25
Description:
After comparing the Christian pilgrimage to a race in which each runner presses forward to the ultimate goal of Christ-likeness, Paul encourages the spiritually mature members of the church at Philippi to adopt the same strategy. Knowing, however, that false teachers are misleading some of the congregation, he also addresses those who "think otherwise". To these, Paul expresses confidence that God will ultimately reveal His will and convince them of this truth-- even if they do not yet understand the importance of sanctification through the means of grace. We will discuss why Paul has such confidence in the church at Philippi, and then launch into a discussion of how we moderns can discern God's will, both individually for our own lives and corporately as a church. We will discover that discerning God's will is not a trick or a program, but an outworking of the very sanctification Paul is referring to. For when our lives begin to reflect Christ's, then through the in-working of the means of grace, we begin to know God more completely, and thereby instinctively and effectively learn to discern His will.
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I. Introduction
II. Exposition of the text, Phil. 3:15-16.
A. Context, Phil. 3:12.
B. Seeking God's will through sanctification.
1. The guidance of the "mature", vs. 15.
a. Mature in the Lord, Phil. 2:20; 1Tim. 4:12.
b. The appeal to kindred spirits, Phil. 3:12-14.
c. Those who disagree.
d. Confidence in God's revelation.
2. Holding fast to the truth, vs. 16, Deut. 5:32; Matt. 7:13-14.
III. Application
A. Paul's confidence, Phil. 1:5-6, 29-30, 2:12-13, 4:14-16; Luke 8:18.
B. How to know God's will.
1. How NOT to know His will.
2. Solid methods to discern God's Will.
a. Knowing God in His fullness, Phil. 1:29; Heb. 12:6; Rev. 3:19.
b. You must have a real relationship with the real God, Zech. 7:13; John 9:31.
c. Obediently accepting His will, John 14:15, 7:17; James 4:2-3.
d. You must know the revealed Word.
i. To know who God really is, Rom. 12:2; 1John 2:16.
ii. God's will never contradicts His revealed Word, Rom. 1:26, 13:1-2.
IV. Conclusion
