I say good morning because it's morning as in Sunday morning we're up here you're not up here but you will be soon I'm so excited we're actually kind of going through everything this morning as though you were here and and getting ready for next week because some of you will be here next week and that excites me because it just means that we're moving to a place where we can be back together again and that fires me up so good morning and we I'll just kind of give you a heads up of where we're headed we are about to start a series called summer of stories where we go through the parables of Jesus these stories that Jesus told to illustrate a point but today we are wrapping up a series called decisions where we're looking into the Scriptures I've been teaching topically always my preference to go verse by verse through a passage but I've been teaching topically about what the Scriptures have to say about making decisions and so I want to ask start with this question is if I could show you your future how much would you pay for that like if you trusted me to show you your future you believed that I could how valuable would that be to you you could see you know when you get married who you marry how many kids you have how successful they are where you live what kind of car you drive you know all kinds of things what when you die how you die all of the fun that you get to have between now and then how much would that be worth to you and you might be like well that wouldn't be worth much to me but you know what people pay millions of dollars every year to shams to try to figure that out fortune tellers tarot card readers right there their astrology there they're looking into crystal balls and you're like well yeah but I wouldn't ever do that no see here's we would probably invest in something like this this is the the Christian version of the crystal ball it's the magic 8-ball are we gonna have fun today reply hazy try again this is one that I had grow going up it's actually a replacement because I lost the one that I had growing up but we will do silly things to obsess about the future in the way the Christian version of this is what is God's will for my life well when I was in the fifth grade I learned how to see into the future true story I learned kind of a device a tool if you will that would allow us to see into the future and I want to show it to you right now I want to share it with you let me set up the scene here's what was going on it was a rainy day in Cuero Texas at Saint Michael's School and we couldn't go outside for recess which meant we stayed inside and when you stay inside for recess you have to get real creative and lo and behold someone in my class introduced the rest of our class to this device this tool if you will so that we could see the rest of our future and so that what they did is they went to the chalkboard because that's what you do when you can't go outside and they began to draw this box up there with these lines okay and they drew three lines on the bottom just like this and then three more lines on this side and they wrote these letters on top okay and I'm sure you have no idea what this is but they wrote mash it's not just a TV show and then they asked me they said you know who do you want to marry and I said Pamela Anderson and Jennifer Love Hewitt and hopefully maybe someone named Monica and they said how many kids do you want to have and I said well how about two or maybe three or maybe six like it for Mormon or something and and they said what do you want to drive and I said well you know of course in the fifth grade a cyber truck that would be cool what about an f-150 or maybe God hates me and I'll Drive a minivan and so those were the that this is what it looked like this is how they were going to show this to me and then they started to do this is where the magic happens they started to draw this little squiggly thing just like this and tell me stop I would tell them when to stop and we count the lines one two three four five six seven eight so eight lines there and so we start here one two three four five six seven eight not Mormon one two three four five six seven eight not a Shack this is mansion apartment Shack house one two three four five six seven eight bye-bye f-150 one two three four five six seven eight we're gonna have two kids show you how accurate this is one two three four five six seven eight not gonna marry Monica one two three four five six seven eight yes praise the Lord one two three four five six seven eight one two three four five six seven eight I'm going to marry some woman that I will meet named Monica can't one two three four five six seven eight and we are going to live in an apartment with our two kids and drive a cyber truck because the Lord loves us and so this is what it looks like to see your future did anybody do things like this maybe it was this game right but we have always since we were younger obsessed with what the future holds for us it's it's what is God's will for me what does he want for me who will I marry where will I work how many kids will I have what what what should I do in this situation what would God have me do and you don't have to play silly games on a chalkboard you don't have to buy little devices like magic 8-balls and you certainly don't have to sneak into some fortune teller because God tells us we're gonna look at God's will for our lives explicitly shared with us in the scripture in fact the verses say this is God's will for you so that we can know them there's several of these in the scripture I will share them with you today so that you can know go at God's will is this is his revealed will I love what Bruce walkie says in one of his writings he says the way that Christians seek the will of God is more superstitious than it is anything it's more the way the pagans seek to know the future I mean just two weeks ago Monica and I were talking we bought our house here in Waco sight-unseen we needed to move quickly we're trying to figure it out there was a house that we had seen by flashlight we were down the road with another one said you know what about that one and so recently we began talking about hey what if we built we we built when we were in Dallas like hey that that was a fun process what if we did that again and and we got PF Changs takeout and i opened my fortune cookie and it says you will soon build a house I'm not kidding that's what it said we were just talking about that and I'm like look I know what God's will is for us cuz the fortune cookie said so and some of you write some of us we wouldn't make way too much of that well would it how do we know that's not God maybe he does use pagan means to show us his direction gods not a God of confusion and he has no problem revealing to you what his will is he tells you explicitly today you're going to hear four things that are the will of God as shared in his word you have this two idea the mysterious will and the revealed will we obsess what the mysterious will why we forsake the revealed will as followers we need to walk in faithfulness in the revealed will of God this is what it says in Deuteronomy 29 verse 29 the secret things belong to the Lord our God but the things revealed belong to us and to our children for every two forever that we may follow all the words of his law so what is the will of God the first will as stated explicitly in the Bible is that you would be sanctified this is what it says in the scripture first Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 3 it is God's will see is that clear what is God it is God's will that you should be sanctified that you should avoid sexual immorality it is God's will that you should be sanctified number one it is God's will that you are sanctified what is sanctified means it means it's the process the journey that you're on on becoming more and more like Jesus God shaping you into being becoming like His Son Jesus his character okay that that is the process that we are on and so you know I've done young adult ministry for 12 years this is not youth ministry not that there's anything I'm very thankful for youth ministry but to be clear this is people moving toward marriage 20s and 30s and people will come up and and there's always this I have this conversation the guy's like hey man I just don't know you know but dating this girl I don't know if we should you know get married if I should propose and I'm like hey let me ask you a question are you sleeping with her oh wow man yeah I mean you know we slip up sometimes like you know every week and get tripped up you always get clumsy when you start talking about sexual sin yeah we we fell last week well it's it's God's will that you wouldn't sleep with her yeah but is it God's will that that that we get engaged that is it God's whether we it's God's will that you stop sleeping with it that's what the scripture says if you're not going to listen to what the scripture explicitly says why is he going to read to you his mysterious will oh look there's a guy that doesn't listen to anything that I have to say so let me make known to him the mysteries of me that's not the way God's will works he tells us clearly it is his will that you be sanctified you know what sanctification means it means change it means that you the things that are of you are falling off of you and people will call me an are they're called the church has happened for a long time and they'll say hey I just I wonder if gonna be welcomed at your church is your church welcoming yes everybody's welcome is everyone welcome everybody's welcome you know everyone you are well you will be greeted with open arms we will sit beside you welcome you love you care for you I can't wait for you to be there do you need a ride like I got you come on you know you are welcome here so you telling me that that um you're not gonna try to change me oh that's different the Spirit of God is changing everyone through the preaching and teaching of his word that's what the Spirit of God does he sanctifies us he chips away that which is not like Jesus that's what he does that that is how sanctification works and so everyone here is being changed myself included right now the Spirit of God is chipping away the things in my life that are not like Jesus everyone who has the Holy Spirit that's the way this journey works is we're all in the process of being changed if you don't like change you're not going to like sanctification which means you're not going to like being a Christian you're not going to like the Christian journey it reminds me of something I shared with you last summer Michelangelo who sculpted out of a block of marble an amazing an amazing work of art known as David people come from all over the world to see it still to this day and it's been recorded that someone asked him how did you do that out of out of a chunk of marble out of a block of marble how did you come up with something so beautiful and he said it was easy I just chipped away that which did not look like David I just removed that which didn't look like David the Holy Spirit right now as you're listening and watching is removing that which does not look like Jesus and he does this doer trials tribulations circumstances this is what he's doing and it is a work of the Spirit sanctification is a work of the Spirit Ephesians 5 says verse 17 therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord's will is did not get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery instead be filled with the spirit the spirit sanctifies us speak to one another with Psalms hymns and spiritual songs we're know what God's will is be careful what comes out of your mouth seeing and make music in your hearts of the Lord we just did that always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and then he says this in verse 21 this is what God's will is submit to one another out of reverence for Christ a second point of God's will directly from the scripture it is God's will that you submit that's what we don't like the S word it is God's will that you are submissive says this in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 13 submit yourself for the Lord's sake to every human authority whether to the Emperor as the supreme authority or to governor's who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right for it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people like if I said hey it is God's will that you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people like some of us be like yea yes let's go how are we gonna do that come on silence the foolish talk of ignorant people by submitting to Authority oh oh that's different than what I thought you were gonna say that's a different that's a different strategy so we submit to God we submit to others and we submit to others submit to God this is James 4:7 submit yourselves then to God resist the devil and flee of course this is our our superior Authority our supreme authority we submit to God first and foremost in all things and then we submit to others we love our neighbor as ourselves that's what it said there in Ephesians five and then the Scriptures makes it abundantly clear that we submit to Authority but the problem is is Authority is corrupt authorities broken we live in a broken fallen world with imperfect Authority but sometimes you see heinous tragic manipulative terrible acts of authority and this week was one of those bad Authority is a fact and I would love what a dear friend of mine wrote who is an advocate for people of color and I just I don't know that I could say it better than him but I will say with my own words that what happened to George Floyd was heinous and tragic he says this bad Authority is a fact what we just saw in Minnesota was horrific was a horrific example of bad authority that George Floyd was choked to death was heinous and absolutely tragic we as Christians should fight for justice and for the justice system to work equally for everyone that is clear in Scripture as Christians we are still called to submit to our government I can't look at what happened to George Floyd and decide I can ignore government authorities the reality is police officers and government officials or human beings just like you no better and no worse and the foolishness of one individual should not undermine the reality that many official many officials black white and all colors risk their lives to serve and protect as Christians we are called to submit to Authority until it contradicts our ultimate authority of God if I was there I hope I would have done all I could under the authority of my God to save a life made in His image I wasn't and so submission for me today looks like following the law wearing my seatbelt following the rules asked of me even if I don't like it we are called to follow any and every law when it doesn't contradict Scripture and for my crowd who thinks the government is to corrupt submit to how Trump to submit now that Trump is president or for those who thought the same four years ago when Obama was president just know that many scriptures calling us to submit to governing authorities were written when Nero was Emperor Nero lit Christians on fire to light his paths as he moved from place to place and the early church still submitted as far as their convictions would allow when when Peter wrote that what I just read to you submit to governing authorities Nero was Emperor and Nero was using Peters friends as lanterns on the side of the road so I know that some of you are outraged and I hope that you've been following along as we've been providing resources I hope you see the sermon that I posted earlier this week from my friend Mike Kelsey please go find that on my Instagram and we're creating and providing these resources for you right and to my friends who are outraged I empathize with people of color I empathize with the injustice that you feel I'm saddened I'm grieved and to law enforcement who puts on a badge and and a uniform every day risking their lives to serve and protect that you have one individual acting out of complete and total foolishness hinder your reputation and your ability to serve and protect I am also grieved and I hurt for you two and that some of you one empathy invalidates the other and that's problematic that's problematic as believers and followers of Jesus Christ we should point to all in justices all in justices and say that's not right and a way that the gospel is made known to us it's crazy and it's explicit it's so clear is that we submit to authority governing authority is Romans Romans 13 so read that submit to the government Romans 13 submit to the church this is another Authority that we submit to Hebrews 13:17 of this sounds self-serving but it's just explicit in the scriptures obey your leaders leaders there is elders church leaders and submit to their authority they keep watch over you as men who must give an account obey them so that their work will be a joy not a burden for that would be no of no advantage to you and and let me just tell you that leading the vast majority of you is an absolute joy and privilege and some of you are very difficult to lead in fact you have lots of turnovers in your leadership I'll talk about that in a minute in a minute the other example of authority that we submit to his employers Ephesians 6 Colossians 3 Colossians 4 first Timothy 6 Titus 2 first Peter - we submit to our employers I met with a guy this I met with a guy recently and he wanted some help he was in his late 40s and had eight jobs and I just started walking with him through example from example or example just like one job to another as I tell me what happened there tell me what happened there he was constantly the victim and he constantly talked about his boss he was and you just you don't understand my supervisor my boss my manager the principal it just was so - everywhere you went he just you know had the curse of terrible leadership according to him and I in lovingly after listening to this for an hour I lovingly shared with him I think you're the common denominator you're difficult to lead your rebellious you do not want to submit to Authority that's not going tell you something I get this sense this is just the beginning that when you're 66 you're going to be sitting at a table with someone having worked eight more jobs with eight more terrible bosses and now sixteen of them and you need to realize you're the common denominator your difficult to lead you want to do what you want to do you have an agenda that is bigger than God's agenda for you of you walking in faithfulness following Jesus and God when he could have had all of these 66 books on all of these verses to try to tell us what his will is says it is his will that we would submit to Authority and Jesus is an amazing example of this who submitted to the will of the Father to the point of death he suffered Jesus suffered under submission and so to become like Jesus first Peter 4 verse 19 says so then those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful creator and continue to do good my third point from the scripture listen it is God's will that you suffer it is God who is good will that you would suffer suffer according to God's will that suffering is not just the evidence that you're outside of God's will right but that people who are right in the center of God's will will suffer this flies in the face of the prosperity gospel that our suffering is our greatest opportunity to depend on God and to walk closely in relationship with him why why would it be God's will that we would suffer that's crazy do you ever willingly suffer do you ever choose suffering yes you do right I got a friend who runs marathons I don't know why it feels like I just got you finished a marathon I feel like I just got hit by a car I'm like who gets hit by cars for fun I don't know but he pays actually pays to run marathons because it produced something in him I know friends I know I've heard of them who work out they go to the gym they lift weights they push against resistance they're sore the next day they're hurt hurting the next day they they can hardly walk I can't move my arms did bicep saw his leg day you know I'm like leg day I've heard of that but they they do this because it produces something in them remember that David illustration the Holy Spirit is chipping away that which does not look like Jesus it doesn't sound Pleasant out it doesn't sound Pleasant right he's he's chipping away so God actually uses our suffering to produce something in us that's like him and if we as Christians want to be like Christ Christ did what he suffered he suffered for us and so why would anyone suffer well the world is broken we know that it's not as it intended to be in God's first will that that we would be in right relationship with him and so they're suffering Genesis 3 bad things happen to good people as if there were any sin entered into the world this is not our home and so the suffering that we experience here reminds us that we're moving somewhere our message is opposed by the world and so there is suffering and God is producing something in us my my friend was we always you know in in preparation for these messages I bring in lots of opinions talk to lots of different people and my friend she said hey I just want to make sure that you don't present this idea that if we follow God's will we will be blessed I want you to know something if you follow God's will you will be blessed every time if you are a Christian and you follow God's will you are going to experience blessing in the most magnificent sense it probably isn't going to be here okay eternity is the great equalizer and so no matter like how much we suffer the fact that we can be in a place without suffering void of suffering forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever can make up for it it has and not just make up for it but but far surpass whatever suffering we experience here if you're in the Bible reading plan we just read this explicitly in the scripture and I love what my friend said this week too he said you know what if I suffer from this moment on until I die and he's in his early 20s if I suffer every day until I die you know in late in my 80s or 90s I will still have received more from God than I could have ever imagined that he has given us eternal life first Peter 3 verse 17 it is better if it is God's will to suffer now that's two verses that says it explicitly God's will to suffer for doing good than for doing evil so I know that some of you you're suffering I know we look back on lost children and miscarriages and deaths we lost someone we love from this body this week we mourn mark people who love him weep with those who weep layoffs seasons of loneliness terrible things I want you to know that God that you worship knows suffering empathizes with us in our weakness Paul says repeatedly you want to be like Jesus then suffer like Jesus I know I know no other way to experience intimacy with God than to suffer for him and because he is good and we can remember that he is good we give things it is God's will that you show gratitude says this in first Thessalonians 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus it is God's will that you show gratitude number four it is God's will that you show gratitude it's a hard message right I'm tasked with a real challenge this morning you know be changed right be changed submit suffer and give thanks it's it feels all right but I love what my friend said is like I've already received more from God if I suffer the rest of my days the fact that this life is a grain of sand on the beach that that that that my 76 years here is but of vapor but a split second compared to an eternal timeline I can give thanks if life gets worse every single day we know that God is good that he is in complete control and that he loves you and he can make good for you out of anything and nobody gets to heaven and says you ripped me off nobody sees their reward and feels like they missed out nobody it's never happened I hold fast to that faith everything that happens here in this journey is allowing us to become more and more like Jesus to move closer to Jesus everything and so we can give things it's why there's so much in the scriptures friends on renewing your mind around eternity set your mind on the things above do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world eternity is the great equalizer it's it's the great reward it's the thing that can make these moments not just worth it but like we can endure anything when we focus on the rewards that God has for us this is what it says in first John 2 verse 17 the world and it's desires pass away but whoever does the will of God lives forever a benefit of walking in the will of God that we do not pass away that we understand that we are immortal until God is done with us and so we had the freedom here in this world to be bold and to move through the journey of sanctification through the suffering and through the submission with a grateful heart giving thanks in all circumstances because we know that God can make good for every one who loves him for those who do his will he is constantly in the process of rewarding them and blessing them and you might have to hold out for that blessing but in this world faithfulness is the blessing walking in faithfulness is the blessing and so we give things and it's a practice it's a discipline it may not come natural to you when my kids were little I loved letting them pray or asking them to pray before meals because they didn't know how they didn't know that they were supposed to ask God for things they never understood that you ask Santa for things you have and so what their prayers look like is they would just say thanks and they didn't know what to say thanks for so they would just look around I do dear God thank you that we have chairs to sit in and that there's a fork on the table and God thank you for and they look outside the grass outside and thank you that the sky is blue and thank you for you know that we have a floor to walk on and thank you for and they would just start rambling and I think it made the heart of the Father glad when his children just stop and give thanks it is God's will that you give thanks when things are going good so it says it is God's will that you give thanks in all circumstances in every circumstance so the things that are God's will for the believer because let me say this pure if you're watching right now and you're not a Christian it is God's will that you become a Christian that's what He desires for you 1st Timothy 2 verse 4 this is good and pleases God our Savior who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth if you're listening right now he desires that you would know that he loves you so much that he sent His Son Jesus to die for your sins so that you don't have to die for your sins and he raised him from the dead giving you hope for eternal life that you're gonna be with God forever and ever and ever if you trust that Jesus died for your sins and raised from the dead but but you need to know what you're getting into at least in this world what that means if you trust in that it means that you will be changed sanctified it means that you will be called to submit to authority to become a member of a church I asked someone the other day are you a member of a church yeah I'm a member of the the Church of Jesus Christ Universal I'm under the authority of God alone I was like that sounds so spiritual it's just unbiblical it's very different than what the Bible teaches that we would belong to a church that we would be under the authority of government of employers and of course God and that we would suffer experienced hardship and in the midst of all of it that we would be grateful that we would be saying thank you showing gratitude we love to know the future mysterious will of God told you one of the challenges in my marriages we're so different I mean like it's not just like it goes far surpasses like the difference between male and female like I am I am an extrovert she's an introvert I love to go and do and just constantly the next adventure she loves to stay at home and and the problem with that is so often you love someone the way that you want to be loved and so there's there's been times in the past where you know she you know say like what do you want to do for your birthday and she'll say like what do I want to do for my birthday this is what I love I love to you know eat here at the table and then sit down in the living room and play a game I'm like no but this is a big birthday this happened I was like this is a big birthday it's your 30th birthday like no let's let's go you know and and she's like I'd love to stay I'd love to stay at home eat a meal at home and play a game at home but I walk away I'm like surely that's not true you know that's not true and so like the way that I'm wired I'm like no let's go big and so I'm gonna buy the dress you know that fits her and put it in the box and that's the first thing that she's gonna open this is such a great idea okay men feel free to steal it I'm gonna I'm gonna bring in a dozen roses because women love flowers and I'm gonna get a limo and we're gonna go big and we're gonna the limos gonna pick you up you put on the dress Nemo's gonna pick you up out front and we're gonna go to the nicest restaurant because once a year we can splurge to celebrate my wife and and so I do it I go through it I go and I buy the dress and I wrap it up and I get the rose and and and I called a limo and the limo comes and we go to arrest a nice restaurant and we're sitting there she's grateful she's expressed gratitude but I can tell something's off like what's wrong so like no nothing this is really nice thank you I appreciate what you did the trouble you went to no but what's what's wrong well I told you what I wanted I think for some of us that's the conversation we're gonna have with God God did you see what I did you see how many kids and did you see where I lived and you see my success so where in my resume and did you see all of the things and then did you see did you see but I told you what I wanted but I told you what was my will for you you didn't have to be so creative so as to go outside of my will I told you exactly what I wanted for you so we now all it's not this is something so much greater than this I pray that we would realize that even now father help us to walk in your revealed will rather than to obsess with your unrevealed will that we would be your servants that we would know you and walk in right relationship with you and love you and serve you father that we would be open to the changes that you want to bring about in our life making us like your son Jesus father that we would submit to the authorities that you've placed over us not be rebellious not have a rebellious heart Father that we would endure the suffering in this broken world as we patiently wait to be with you and your kingdom that we would actively wait that we would do all we can to bring your kingdom here and in all circumstances we would say things we would show gratitude we would be grateful Lord thank you thank you for loving us for showing your love for us through the cross for all you've done for us using the name of your son and our Savior Jesus Christ I pray amen