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                            God’s Will Is Clear

      By Mae Shurow

God makes His will plain as the light of day. 

• Isaiah 48:16-18 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me. 17Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 18O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:

• Isaiah 45:19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
• Deut. 30:11-14 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. 12It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 13Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? 14But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
• Psalm 19:1-6 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 4Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world…
• Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life
• Psalm 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
• Ephes. 1:8-9 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; 9Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
• Romans 1:18-20 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
• 2 Cor. 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
• Luke 1:77-79 [Jesus came] To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, 78Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
• John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
• Acts 26:18 [Paul was sent] To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,

Those who walk in humbleness and obedience will see His will clearly.  “The Jews wanted some sign that Christ was really come from God.  Christ’s answer in John 7:17 tells them that the proof depended on the state of their heart.  Will—be ready, be determined—to do God’s will, and you will have Divine light and certainty to all that Jesus has taught.  The commands are simple and easily understood.  He who honestly seeks to do them in the fear of God will learn to know the mystery of Christ.  A will, a disposition set on doing God’s will, is the only way to know God’s truth.  It is in the heart that He gives His teaching.  The man who yields his life to be led and ruled by Him will be taught by Him.  Such a person can be filled with the knowledge of God’s will.  The will—the intense desire and determination to do all God’s will—is the secret of knowing it” (Murray, p. 40-41, 111).

• John 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself

• John 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
• 2 Peter 1:8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• Isaiah 58:10-11 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: 11And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 
• John 12:36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light… 
• Col. 1:9-13 …desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 12Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
• Proverbs 3:32 For the froward [turned away from what is right or good] is abomination to the Lord: but his secret [advice, counsel] is with the righteous.
• Psalm 25:14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

 MANY THINGS PREVENT US FROM DISCERNING HIS WILL 

1.  We must get our own will out of the way to be able to understand His will.  George Mueller said, “Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord’s will, whatever it may be.  When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.”

    “Willing to do the will of God is the sure way to all growth in spiritual knowledge and experience…It is only as God’s will is truly and fully taken up into my willing and doing that God can reveal Himself to me. The main reason why so much Bible study and prayer for Divine guidance is fruitless is that the heart is not in the right state for receiving God’s teaching.  God cannot communicate spiritual truths to those whose lives are worldly, selfish, or carnal.  He needs a disposition that at least longs to be spiritual to be able to work” (Murray, p. 42-44,95).

• Psalm 32:9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle…

• Psalm 82:5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. 
• John 12:37,39-40 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: Therefore they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again, 40He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
• Matthew 13:14-15 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. [These passages are quoted from Isa. 6:10, and are reiterated in Jer. 5:21, Acts 28:27, Ezk 12:2, Mark 4:12,Luke 8:10, Rom 11:8]
• John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

2.  Human knowledge prevents spiritual understanding!
“The words of Holy Scripture are, for the most part, plain and simple.  They can be understood by all.  And yet, because they contain the mystery of Divine wisdom, the understanding of the meaning of the words does not at all ensure the real spiritual understanding or grasp of God’s will” (Murray, p.95).  “There is a wisdom and an understanding of the truths of Scripture which is not spiritual.  The human mind can study and grasp the doctrines the Bible teaches concerning God without having any true insight or knowledge of quickening life and power” (Murray, p 109, 153).

    “Christians, to a very large extent, study their Bible, listen to preaching, and read Christian books believing that they earnestly desire to know the truth.  They gain human knowledge, while the real spiritual wisdom and understanding to make it their own—to prove its power in their life—is not waited for from God.  They wonder why so much does not make them humble and lowly as they would like to be.  They never know that it is simply because their knowledge of God’s will is in the power of human wisdom and natural understanding.  And such knowledge is powerless to effectively work what God’s Word has promised to work.  God’s will as taught by men or books does not have the power to influence” (Murray, p 109, 153).

• Galatians 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

• Ephes. 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

• Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
• Job 5:13-14 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. 14They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
• Romans 10:2-3 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
• Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
• Mark 7:7-8 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men…

3.  The deceiver attempts to veil what God plainly reveals. 

• John 8:43-44 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

• 2 Cor. 4:3-4 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
• 2 Thes. 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
• Col. 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
• 1 Tim. 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
• Titus 1:10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers…

4.  Disobedience and sin brings darkness that obscures spiritual vision.  We no longer have the capacity to understand what God plainly reveals….

Darkness means "(II) Spiritual darkness, implying ignorance or error.  It is not only a figurative term for sin itself, but also for the consequences of sin.  (Zodhiates, 2000, #4653,4655). 

• Isaiah 59:9-10 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. 10We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

• Deut. 28:28-29 The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: 29And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways...
• John 12:35 …Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
• 2 Peter 1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
• 1 John 2:11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. 
• John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
• John 11:9-10 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. 10But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
• 1 Cor. 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

…and our understanding is darkened.

• Ephes. 4:18 [Walking in the vanity of their mind] Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: [blindness means “to harden, petrify, render insensitive. Used figuratively meaning hardness, callousness, blindness, insensitivity. “Dullness, insensibility, obstinacy.  Syn.:  hardness of heart.” (Zodhiates, 2000, #4457).]

• Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

• 2 Thes. 2:10-12 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

• Deut. 29:3-4 Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes… Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive,[understand] and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

• Isaiah 29:10-11 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. 11And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

•  Romans 11:8,10 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see.

“It is only the unworthy in me that refuses to bow down to the worthy” (Chambers, 7/19). Oh, Lord, humble our hearts that we may see…

Lev 26:41-42  …if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled…then will I remember my covenant with Jacob… [Uncircumcised means “stubborn, unbelieving, unrepentant, unhearing, formally, uncircumcised, i.e., pertaining to a person or inner-being that is unresponsive in obedience to God” (^[1]Swanson, 1997, #1695).  Humble means:  (3665) “It denotes bringing a proud and stubbornly disobedient people or spirit into subjection.  Spiritual submission— The emphasis is upon a proud and independent spirit abasing itself”(^[2]Harris, 1999, #1001, p. 445)

• 2 Kings 22:19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord… I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.

• Romans 13:11-13 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13Let us walk honestly, as in the day…

• Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

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*All emphasis  mine.

Copyright ©2005 by Mae Shurow 
Permission is granted for non-commercial (free) distribution 
provided proper citation of authorship is included.

_____________________________
Chambers, O. My Utmost For His Highest.  July 19.  Retrieved July 22, 2003 from ttp://www.myutmost.org/07/0719.html.
Murray, A. God’s Will: Our Dwelling Place. Whitaker House
Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga,
          TN: AMG   Publishers