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.
   
