Walk Worthy / Week 9 / Know the Will of God

Be Wise – Know the Will of God

Ephesians 515-18 March 14, 2021

I. Introduction:

A. Pastor’s kids have a unique life style and have to endure a lot, especially if you

were one of Pastor Pat Peglow’s kids! One thing I made them endure was that

every time as a family we were with a man or a woman I considered a godly

person I would ask them, “What advice would you give to my kids about life?”

1. One I remember in particular sums that up the heart of this passage and I

would have to say in hindsight was great wisdom. His answer was “know

God’s will and do it!”

B. That is the heart of today’s passage so please turn to Ephesians 5:15!

1. We are in the section of the book of Ephesians that talks about our walk as

new creatures who have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ!

2. Today we see that we are to walk as wise men!

C. The structure of the passage we will look at today is simple and will guide our

preaching both this week and next week. There are two things in particular that a

wise man/woman does in their walk.

1. 15 – call to walk wise

2. 16 – how to walk wise (general)

3. 17-18 - how to walk wise (two specifics)

D. Read v15-18

E. We are to be wise by making the most of our time, the most of the opportunities

we have during these evil ungodly days.

1. I love the word wise because it means to be skillful! To be an expert at

something, to be masterful!

2. I like to describe it this way – wisdom is being an expert artist at living life!

- PBP

a) I say living life because wisdom is not about head or classroom

knowledge but it is about the ability to live life well on the streets of real

life

b) I say an expert artist because wisdom is an art rather than a science that

just follows all the rules

c) This expert artist in living life knows just the right time and the right way

to apply the right truth of God to the right situation!

F. So bottom line, we learn in this passage that a wise person, the expert artist at

living life is going to make the most of their time as they live in this ungodly

world!

1. The first way we see in v17, we do that by understanding God’s will is for us

– we will deal with that this morning.

2. The second way we see in v18, it is by being filled with the Spirit - we will

deal with that the next two weeks.

• Let’s start by looking at

II. God’s will

A. Read v17

1. It appears that a foolish person is one who does not know what God’s will is

for their lives.

2. But the wise person, the one who is an expert artist at living life in this

ungodly world is one who understands what God’s will is.

B. To understand God’s will we need to understand that the Bible speaks of God’s

will from two perspectives and I think there are two aspects to each perspective.

1. The two areas of God’s will we will call His decreed will and His directed

will.

C. By God’s “decreed will” I mean that which God has ordained is going to happen

and they will happen because he decreed them! His sovereign or supreme will!

That comes in two different aspects.

1. First His revealed will – these are the things God has already revealed to us in

His Word that He has ordained

2. I believe that is primarily found in the covenants that he bound himself to!

Those were the covenant promises he made with Abraham, David, and in the

new covenant.

3. Second, His secret will – I believe these are the things in life that God has

ordained that He has not specifically revealed to us in His Word.

a) Example – turn and read Ephesians 1:11

b) Read Daniel 4:35

D. By God’s “directed will” I mean those things which God wants or desires for us

to do. This also comes in two different aspects

1. First, His revealed will – simply these are commands in God’s Word that He

has called us to do and they may happen because we can either obey Him or

disobey Him.

a) Every command to believers in the Scripture is an example of this:

b) Actually the verses we are dealing with today and next week are

examples of this – to understand God’s will and be filled with the Spirit

are commands – these are things God wants us to do!

c) They have to do with our thinking, attitudes, actions, talking, practices

etc.

2. Secondly, His secret will – those are the things God’s wants and desires for

us to do that are not specifically revealed in His Word.

a) This has to do with things like where do I go to school, who do I marry,

which job should I take, where should I live, etc.

b) Acts 16:9-10

E. So which of these wills is he referring to here in this passage so we can be expert

artist in living life in this evil world? I think it is both His decreed will and His

directed will.

1. I think His revealed decreed will because we can find great future hope in

what God has revealed about the future. In these evil days we need a hope to

keep us going

2. I think also it is His secret decreed will to be able to live wisely in this world

there will be so many things I do not understand. I need to fall back upon the

assurance that God is working all things both in this world and in my life

after the counsel of His will!

3. I think it is His revealed directed will in the commands that are revealed in

Scripture as we can only live like experts in this world if we follow God’s

commands – to not do so is only to our own hurt.

a) As Romans 12:2 says God’s will is good, acceptable (well pleasing) and

perfect!

4. Finally, His secret directed will; in the details of my life, God’s wisdom and

direction are necessary for me to live well in these ungodly days.

F. Summarize these very simply in a chart

decreed ordained will happen

revealed covenants/prophecies hope

secret details of life assurance

directed wants may happen

revealed commands perfect

secret details of life wise

• So let me close by addressing how I can know God’s will so I can walk wisely in

these few days I have on earth.

III. Knowing God’s will

A. Turn to Romans 12:1-2

1. Read NASB then read in NLT

2. Note that the ultimate end of this passage is discerning God’s will. “so that”

3. Three key principles from this passage

a) Make your life a blank check by handing it entirely over to God

(1) Your bodies represent your entire life here on earth and we are to

present our entire life to God as sacrifice, by making it fully

available to Him to do whatever He wants with our lives.

(2) Problem is this: God, tell me first what you want me to do then I

will consider if I like that or not and if I will say yes or no to it

(3) God is saying: say yes to me first, and then I will tell you what my

will is!

b) Reject the world’s ways and wisdom

(1) This simply means that I do not allow the world and its ways and

thinking to shape my ways and thinking, literally it means to not

let the world squeeze the way I think and live into its mold!

(2) Thus when I consider what God wants me to do my thinking is

driven by the world rather than God

c) Know God’s Word

(1) Our way of thinking needs to be totally transformed by God’s

Word.

(2) Thus when I consider what God wants me to do my thinking is

driven by God and His Word, then I can discern what God wants

me to do, that which is good, acceptable and perfect!

(3) The problem here is that so few Christians know God’s Word well

enough to discern the difference between that which comes from

God and that which comes from the world

(4) The more God’s Word has shaped our hearts and minds the better

we will be able to discern God’s thoughts, desires and voice

speaking to our hearts!

B. Leave you with two other things you can do to know God’s will

1. Pray – Colossians 1:9-10

2. Counsel with a few godly, biblically informed Christians

a) Read Proverbs 11:14

C. You want to walk wisely in these ungodly days? Know God’s will and do it!