In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of discerning the will of God in our lives. He highlights four points to help us in this process. The first point is to seek the witness of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to guide and speak to our hearts. The second point is to align our desires with God's will, surrendering our own plans and ambitions. The third and fourth points emphasize the importance of seeking guidance from the Word of God and aligning our decisions with its teachings. The preacher also mentions a fifth point, which is having faith in God's leading. Additionally, he mentions the witness of circumstances as a way to confirm God's direction in our lives. Overall, the sermon encourages believers to diligently seek and follow God's will in all aspects of their lives.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Let's bow our heads for prayer. Lord, we love you this morning. Thank you, Father. So many good things. I get to be here, Lord. I have a church. I have brothers and sisters. I have a Bible. I know you, Lord. Yet I was dead in my trespasses and sins going my own way. Oh, I thank you, Father, today for your manifold mercies to me. Lord, would you continue to lead and direct us through the rest of this service? Would you help your servant this morning to say what needs to be said in the way that you would say it? Lord, give us all open hearts. Father, save some souls this morning from making big mistakes, God. Lord, do that in Jesus' name. I'm so grateful to be here this morning. I know you can't walk where I walk, so you don't experience what I experience. When I'm here on Sunday morning, I know you're here every Sunday morning and it's pretty normal to you. But I'm telling you what, this place is pretty sweet. It's pretty sweet when you're not here every Sunday. Thank God. Let's be jealous over it, brothers and sisters. Let's do our part to keep this place a sweet place that draws the souls of men like a magnet. There is a skill, oh so valuable, that you must learn early on in your Christian life. One will use and benefit from till the last breath on earth. A skill, oh so valuable. I want to speak about that skill this morning. If you will listen, from the youngest child to the oldest brother or sister in this room. If you will listen today and develop this skill, it will go well with you while you're on this earth. I'm not promising you a perfect life. I'm not promising you perfection. But I am promising you, if you will learn this skill, things will go well with you while you're here on this earth. This skill that I want to speak about this morning, it has to do with probably the most oft asked question that I get asked. And I get asked lots of questions. And I love answering questions. But this morning our subject probably covers the most oft asked question that I get. Brother Denny, how do you know the will of God? Anybody ever try to figure that one out? Let me see your hands. Is it a puzzle to you sometimes? Let me see your hands again. Brother Denny, how do you know the will of God? Here I am. I want to do right. But how do I know the will of God? This comes many times from young people, but not just from young people, but young people ask it probably two to one. Two to one. It's a good question for a young person to ask. It's a right question. But sometimes they feel a bit bewildered when they come asking that question, because they're just getting their feet wet and learning to discern what is God's will for their life, which way do they go, what direction should they choose in this situation, and then they come at times a bit bewildered. Brother Denny, how do I discern the will of God? How to know the will of God? That is the subject this morning. And that is a skill that you want to develop. That is a skill that you can learn. It doesn't just happen. Many of us adults who have been around for a while, we've learned a bit the hard way to be a bit more careful and develop this skill in our life, because mistakes hurt. And mistakes are humiliating. So we've learned, sad to say, too many times by trial and error, we've learned to develop this skill. How to know the will of God? Well, I want to give an expanded answer to this question this morning. I've answered it so many times, I can give you the points. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, just like that. Because I've answered it that many times, I haven't memorized. But I'd like to take those simple answers, which is all you can give to somebody when you're talking for a few minutes after a service, and just open it up into a methodology, into a skill, into a step-by-step process by which any one of us, whether we be young or whether we be old, can discern or know the will of God, that we know that God is leading us in this direction. God has a will, a desire, a purpose for each one of us. Amen? We must discern it and do it all the days of our life. In fact, if that doesn't cross our mind, if that's not a desire in our heart, I think we'll stumble around all our days upon this earth, because my dear brother and sister, the reason why we are here is to discern and then do the will of God, the God who made us. Amen? We must discern it and do it. Now, I'm not sure on the minor details whether God has a distinct will in every single thing we do. I kind of toss that back and forth, and sometimes I say, yeah, and sometimes I think, well, maybe not. But as you consider the subject of walking by the promptings of the Spirit of God, it gets down to some pretty small details at times. But this I do know. I'm very sure on the major decisions that God has a will for me, that if I need to make a decision, I should not be making that decision without being able to walk through some clear steps that will put me in tune with the heart of God and His direction for my life and my family. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. On earth, in my life, even as it is in heaven. That's a good verse for us to meditate upon, isn't it, in the beginning here? Thy will be done in my life on earth, even as it is in heaven. God has a will for our life, a desire and a purpose for each and every one of us. We must learn, brothers and sisters, to methodically discern the will of the Lord for major decisions, major changes in our lives, a move to another place, a change of jobs, a property to buy, a business to start or stop, a courtship. These are just a few examples of things that I'd like to lay out that we dare not just go and do something. We dare not on a whim or a feeling inside of our heart go and make a major change. Brothers and sisters, listen. The Apostle Paul would not go to Rome on a good idea. He wouldn't do that. He knew that he was a man of like passions, just like we are. And he knew that he had lots of good ideas. And they were good things that he wanted to do. His heart was sanctified. His desire was toward God. But even though all those things were true, he wouldn't go to Rome on a good idea. It has to be by the will of God. It's a phrase that Paul used many a time. He started epistle after epistle after epistle by making those statements. I'm Paul. I'm the Apostle. I'm writing from here by the will of God. Beautiful phrase. Let's look at some of the Scriptures before we look at the seven points in this sermon. Some of the Scriptures, starting in Colossians chapter 1. Such beautiful words. Such wonderful words. Such wonderful words of life this morning out of the Bible. Colossians chapter 1 verse 9 and 10. We get a glimpse into Paul's heart concerning this subject for the Colossians. He says in verse 9, For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire. What do you desire, Paul? That ye might be filled with all the knowledge of His, God's, will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. And all Paul is simply saying there is, Colossians, I want to see you live out the Word of God, the will of God, for your life. And I'm praying with a great desire in my heart that you will be able to discern the will of God. That God will fill your heart with His will. With the knowledge of His will. And you will increase in that knowledge of His will more and more. That's what Paul wanted for the Colossians. And if you'll turn over to chapter 4 verse 12, you'll see that he made a disciple, very well here, one of his fellow travelers, brothers, who labored together with him in his church planting work. In chapter 4 verse 12 he says this, Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluted you, always laboring fervently for you in prayers. And what is his prayer? And what is his desire? That ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Look at that. That was his desire. That is my desire this morning. That each one of us would stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. Someone wisely said, the will of God is the safest place where you could ever be. Doesn't matter where it is. It doesn't matter what the circumstances are. If you're in the will of God, you're in the safest place where you could be on this side of heaven, standing perfect and complete in all the will of God. That was Epaphras' burden for the people of Colossae. Paul said it this way in Romans. If you want to flip over there, we're going to look at a few verses here. Romans chapter 15 and verse 30. I want you to notice the flow of these words here. He's coming down to the end of his epistle to the Romans, the church at Rome, and he's beseeching them for prayers on his behalf. And I want you to see how his desire for the will of God comes out in these verses. In verse 30 he says of chapter 15, Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me. Pray for me, Paul says. That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints. And also, I pray this also, this is another prayer request, that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. By the will of God. That was Paul's burden. I want to come. It's my desire to come. You pray that I'll be able to come to you by the will of God. In God's time, in God's way, by God's leading, when God opens up the door, that I will come to you by the will of God. That was his desire. I think Paul recognized by verses that we read, phrases like this that you'll see all the way through his epistles, I believe that Paul recognized that he could also do the same thing, not by the will of God. He could go to a certain place and be in the wrong place. There were places, as you read through the book of Acts, where he said, we desire to go here, but the Spirit wouldn't let us. Oh, amen. And then we tried to go over here, and we were hindered by the Spirit. He didn't just go. By the will of God, he went. The will of God. In Hebrews, if we could just turn over there, one of those beautiful portions of Scripture that we often quote at the end of a service. Not sure what they call that when you close a meeting with these Scriptures. But in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 20 and 21, we have one of those. Now, the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is pleasing in His sight. I want to do the will of God. I want to make a decision that is pleasing in His sight. And Paul brings that out. Working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. We see this theme all the way through Paul's writings. He keeps moving the people in the direction and creating a desire in their heart to do God's will. I want to be in God's will. That's the way we are. That's our desire. But yet, many times, we make moves that we shouldn't make. And we haven't really sought God about it. And it's something major. And we shouldn't do it until we have proved the will of God through good, clear principles revealed in God's Word. That's my burden for the message here this morning. Look at Acts chapter 13. Just a couple more verses here. Just to show you this theme in the Bible. Acts chapter 13. And Paul is in the middle of a sermon and he's preaching about David. And he says of David, in chapter 13 and verse 36, For David, after he had served his own generation, by the will of God, he fell on sleep. See that? By the will of God. Not by the will of David. Not by the good ideas of David. Not by the desires of David. But by the will of God, David served his own generation and brother and sister, every one of us are called to do the same thing. We live in our generation. We are alive and well and God wants us somehow to serve our generation while we're alive. We need to know what God's will is so that we can serve our generation. Every one of us are called to that. David fulfilled his responsibility while he was up on the earth. He served his generation by the will of God and fell on sleep, the Bible says. I want to do the same, amen? Someday I'm going to fell on sleep. Acts chapter 22, God speaking to the Apostle Paul when he met the Lord on the road to Damascus. He was speaking to him and revealing things to him. And in chapter 22 of verse 14, we break into the middle of Paul's testimony and find these words. And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldest know His will and see that just one and shouldest hear the voice of His mouth. Paul, God arrested you on the road to Damascus and He has chosen you so that you might know His will. I would say to each and every one of us this morning, it is no less so for any of us. God has arrested us on the road of life. God has arrested our attention. He has grabbed us. He has gripped us. For what? That we may know the will of God for our lives. That's it. I'm sure that you will agree that the Bible is packed full of this subject. In fact, if you were to open up a concordance and look up these phrases, thy will, the will of God, God's will, you know, all these phrases, you will find them, dozens and dozens and dozens of them in the Bible. Because, may I say it in simplicity, we are here to do God's will. We have been saved to fulfill God's will in our life. So, how can I know the will of God? We've seen all these Scriptures. We can see what God's heart is by looking at these Scriptures. But how do I get from point A to point B? Yes, I have a heart. My heart wants to do God's will. But how do I get that simple heart desire to do God's will worked out in everyday life, where I have decisions that I need to make, where I'm facing things that I'm not sure what to do about? How do I know the will of God? There are seven steps to this skill of discerning God's will. And by the way, this is the method by which George Mueller used to discern the will of God in his day. Remember? He served God from his conversion, about 20 years old, till his death at 95 or 96, discerning God's will for his life. I think we ought to listen to him. And this method that George Mueller used, he got it out of the Word of God because he was a man who read his Bible. He read it over and over and over and over again. And when he was done, he started over again. And he didn't get tired of reading it. It was always new and fresh to him. And he read it over so many times in his 70 plus years of his Christian life that his heart was full of it. George Mueller used these seven points to discern God's will in his orphanages and in every major area of his life. Let's look at these seven points this morning. Point number one, the foundation of knowing the will of God. This is number one. If you don't get this one, you might as well throw the rest of them away. You will end up in utter frustration if you skip point number one. If for whatever reason you don't want to reckon with point number one, you can skip the rest of them. It won't come out right for you. Point number one, the foundation of knowing the will of God is an absolutely, totally surrendered life. You cannot discern the will of God in any particular situation if your oar on the altar is not laid every day. And I know you may say, well, Brother Denny, there you are. You just keep saying that. You've said that already. I know that I've said it already, but do you know how many times God says it in His Word? I am God and I will require nothing less than an absolute, total surrendered life. But let's look at these words over in Romans again. I can quote them because I've said them so many times, but I want to read them today and just peruse a few of the words in here. These verses are probably the clearest definition of discerning the will of God that you can find in the New Testament, all packed together in two verses. We must begin here. If we have a major decision that we need to make, and we're not willing to reckon with this point right here, it may be the reason why we are being frustrated and confused and kind of just wandering around and wondering why this thing is so hard. We must begin here. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world by being it transformed by the renewing of your mind. Why? That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. There it is again. That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God for you. I want that. Do you want that? O Lord, I want that good and perfect and acceptable will of God for me. Now, I want to read this out of the Amplified. And you'll forgive me if I'm too hard on this, but this is not a Bible. The Amplified is not a Bible. It is an expanded translation of the Bible, where they've taken the Greek and put in many different words to help expand the meaning of a verse. But I can't say in the Amplified Bible, this is not a Bible. It's an expanded translation of the Bible. Nevertheless, it's helpful at times to see all the words put together to help us to understand the depth of what God is saying. It's like going in and studying the Greek word and expanding one word into five and then going to the next word and expanding that into five. Listen to what God says. Listen to His heart. I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of all the mercies of God. Think about those mercies this morning, brothers and sisters. I mean, here we sit just basking in those mercies even today. To make a decisive dedication of your bodies, that is a clear choice. A decisive dedication of your bodies, presenting all your members and faculties as a living sacrifice, holy, devoted and consecrated and well-pleasing to God, which is your reasonable, rational, intelligent service and spiritual worship. And do not be conformed to this world that is fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs. Amen. Thank you for that. But be transformed, changed by the entire renewal of your mind, by its new ideas and its new attitudes, so that you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you. Man, I want that! How about you? I want that! And I'm not going to settle for anything less! We must begin here. So what does that have to do with the will of God? Well, you know, sometimes, and it's this way with God's will, you look down the road with the eyes of your heart, you look down the road and you sense things, you see things, but they're a bit blurry and you're not sure what it is. And sometimes young people, you know, they'll get off on this and think, oh, I see something coming down the pike. I'm not going to do anything else until I know what God wants me to do three months from now. Well, let me give you a little counsel, young people. You take point number one and you live there. And you live there every day. And you walk in God's will for your life. That is, a consecrated, dedicated walk with God today. And then you do the same tomorrow. And guess what? In three months, that which you saw in a bit of a gray way back there three months ago, it will be coming clear into your view. That's a simple way to discern the will of God. But it will cost you everything, by the way, in order to see that way. But if you will walk in this decisive, dedicated way that we have been challenged here in Romans 12, verses 1 and 2, if you will walk there in a consistent way, you will find yourself in the will of God. So, we don't want to miss this point and run off to another one. Walk today in the known will of God and two months from now you will be in His will. Hallelujah! Point number two. This is the tough one. Point number two. Not my will, but thine be done. This is the hardest part. Many times God's will is tainted by my will. George Mueller said, my will was 90% of the problem of discerning God's will. Now that was George Mueller. 90% of the problem of discerning God's will was my will. And again, we're talking about a godly man, a dedicated man, a man who was filled with good things, who had all kinds of good desires, but good desires are not enough. It's got to be God's desire for my life. And Mueller testified that his will was 90% of the problem. Many times, to the sincere heart, it's not an evil desire. It's just a good desire. But good desires are not enough. When we are discerning major changes in our lives, a good desire is not enough. There's lots of good desires. There's lots of things we can do. But I don't want to just do lots of things, lots of good things that we can do. I want to be in the will of God. Let me say this. God does not hide His will from His people. How many ever felt like God was hiding His will? Let me see your hand. Come on, be honest now. God does not hide His will. But sometimes we think, Lord, what's the deal? How come this is so difficult? My brother, my sister, God is not hiding His will from you. Many times, it is this point right here that makes it very difficult for us to see, ah, that's what God wants me to do. It's because of my own desires that are in there that it becomes a bit gray to see exactly what God is saying to do. But He does not hide His will. Our will, our desires, our many good ideas, many times blur the will of God and we look a long time to try to see exactly what God wants me to do. It's what God says and what God wants versus what do I want on this second point. And Mueller says that he cannot go any further until he gets his heart to the place where his heart is totally, absolutely given up on anything that he may want. Even if God impresses him, George, I want you to build another building for some more orphaned children. Oh, that's a good idea. That's a good thing. That's a wonderful thing. That's a loving thing. That's a compassionate thing. Let's go build it. And even if God told him to do it, he still had to wrestle the thing out with God about whose will it is. Because his desire would say, yes, I want to put up another orphanage. Yes, I want to reach some more of them. He had to come to the place where that was totally laid down. It doesn't matter to me if another orphanage comes up. And all of a sudden, the will of God just up before his heart. Not my will, but thine be done is the greatest challenge of discerning the will of God for our life. But remember, God does not hide His will. He is not in that business. He's not holding it over here and watching you run around in a frustrated way trying to figure out what you're supposed to do. God does not do that. He is not that kind of a God. Point number three, the witness of the Spirit. What is the Spirit of God saying in my heart? And with these next few points, we're talking about checks and balances. None of these stand all by themselves. And if you let one stand all by itself, you will stumble and fall. But if you will bring all of them together, you will find that God, in His wisdom, from His Word, has given us a checks and balance to discerning His will. What is the witness of the Spirit in my heart concerning the will of God? Romans chapter 8, if we could just read a couple of verses there in Romans 8, just to valify this point. Romans 8, verse 12 and following, Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now here we see very clearly in the Word of God that God leads His people by His Spirit. God's Spirit bears witness with our spirit concerning the direction we should go in our lives. And this is usually how the will of God begins to unfold. Maybe we're sitting in our quiet time. Maybe we're in our closet. Maybe we're having a time alone. Maybe we're driving somewhere and it's quiet and we're just thinking and we hear the voice of God begin to speak to us about a change of direction in our life. What is the Spirit of God saying in my heart? And at this point, brothers and sisters, it's not what I think in my head. There is a difference between what I think in my head and what the Spirit of God is saying in my heart. And the difference is 18 inches. My head might be saying many things, but I must be wise enough to stay clear enough with God and get alone with God long enough to hear the voice of God above all the other voices saying, this is the way, walk ye in it. Now, you can't hear the Spirit's voice unless you stay clear with God. You won't hear the Spirit's voice. But you need to hear the voice of the Spirit as you discern the will of God. And some of you, it may be, you know, I've been a pastor for a lot of years and I know how sheep can be. Lots of sheep would just as soon just go ask the pastor and then just do what he says. Well, that's safer than just shooting out all on your own and skipping many of the points that we're going to speak about today. But, you know, God would have you discern from the depths of your own heart by the voice of His Spirit speaking to you personally about God's direction for your life. So, some of us need to grow up a bit, amen? The witness of the Spirit of God in our hearts. George Mueller discerned God's will this way hundreds of times. God used him to channel $50 million through his hands. $50 million? Why would God channel $50 million through his hands? Because God knew that George Mueller is not going to get a big pile of money in his hand and say, oh, let's put it over here or let's give it over there or let's send it here. George Mueller didn't do that. When he found a big pile of money in his hand, he fell on his face before God and said, what is the Spirit of God saying to do with this money? Sometimes he used it for his orphanage. But sometimes he didn't. Sometimes he needed it for his orphanage. I mean, the bills need to be paid in three days. And the Spirit of God said, give it for the Scripture Union to produce Bibles or send it to Hudson Taylor. He needs it in China. And God knew that Hudson Taylor would discern what the Spirit of God was saying. That's why God did that. He channeled $50 million through his hands. He discerned the will of God for thousands of orphans. He supported tens of thousands of Bibles and supported missionaries all over the world. He did. What is the Spirit of God saying in my heart? That's point number three. Point number four. The witness of the Word. Hallelujah! The witness of the Word. What does the Word of God say about this direction that I think that God wants me to go? Or what does the Word of God say in giving me direction on which way that I should go? What does the Word of God say? These two, point number three, and point number four, agree in one. The witness of the Spirit and the witness of the Word are one. You can count on that. They are the same. God's Spirit will never lead you to do something that is contrary to God's Word. Count on it. Many a young lady felt God was leading them by His Spirit and married an unbeliever, hoping, trusting, believing, really believing that they'll be able to win Him to the Lord afterwards. That was not God's Spirit. But it happens all the time. Sometimes it comes out alright. Most times, oh, it's a lifelong spanking. God's Word and God's Spirit witness together concerning the direction we should go in our lives. You can count on that. So if you find yourself in a place where you are needing to discern the will of God, immerse your heart and mind in God's Word while you are discerning. God's Spirit, through His Word, will speak wisdom and direction to your life. And let me say it this way. I trust that we read our Bibles all the time. But I'd like to just make a little application to the reading of our Bibles. When it's time to discern a direction in our life, it's time to come to the Word of God with a searching heart. I'm searching God's heart concerning the direction that I need to make. And oh, if you come to the Word of God that way, you'll be amazed how many verses God will speak to you out of every different place in the Bible. And that's why I like to be reading in different places at the same time God just brings them all together and you begin to see what the will of God is concerning a decision you need to make. Stay in the Word of God. If you're trying to make a decision and you don't take time to read the Bible, I think you're going to make a mistake. Sometimes when I need to make a decision and I'm searching the heart of God through His Word, I'll sit down and read the whole book of Proverbs nonstop. Takes about four or five hours. Four or five hours. Man, that's a long time. Yeah, so are the mistakes we make when we don't. They're long too. And I don't want to make a mistake. Now, please don't get me wrong. I've got my share of mistakes behind me. But I'm just telling you, there's wisdom in God's Word when it's time to make some decisions for your life. I mean, the Proverbs, it's packed with wisdom. Just go to the Proverbs, searching the heart of God concerning this matter that you're trying to discern before God. You'll see if you don't get some wisdom out of God's Word, and you'll know exactly what to do. And by the way, there have been times when I went to the Word of God to discern the will of God, and I thought I had it all straightened out myself, and by the time I got to the end of the book, guess what? I was wrong and God was right and He changed my whole perspective on some dumb thing that I was going to do. The witness of the Word. God's Word will check you. Remember we spoke about checks and balances? Listen, it's real easy if you just take point number three and skip the rest of this sermon. I mean, you can really sound spiritual. The Spirit of God said to me to do this and this. Well, my friend, I don't feel that's very spiritual if you don't back it up with some checks and balances. I've watched a lot of shipwrecks in the last 25 years of my ministry where the Spirit of God told me to do it. But there were no checks and there were no balances, and we want those checks and balances, and God has put them right here in the book. So, what is the Spirit of God saying? And does the Word of God witness in my heart, is God speaking out His words to me and confirming that direction which I already sense in my heart with clear words, verses, biographies, principles in the Word of God? That's a wise thing to do, by the way. Number five. The witness of godly counselors. I want to remind you now, this is the way that George Mueller, that great man of faith, that Spirit-filled man, that prophet, that godly man, that man who lived in the presence of God, that man who when people walked into his house, they sensed the atmosphere of the Spirit even before he walked into the room. This man who heard the voice of God above so many others in his day, he never made a major move without the witness of godly counselors. Hmm. How much more do I need to hear what somebody else has to say? In the multitude of counselors, there is safety, the book of Proverbs says. And you need to hear what somebody else has to say. You know who your counselors are. Your ministers are counselors. It may be your husband. It may be your wife. You know, they're part of your counseling team. It may be a dear friend who knows you very well. It may be some godly friend that you know from a distance, but we all need to have some counselors around us that when we're discerning the will of God and we think we're hearing something from God and we've been in the Word of God, we also go to them and say, here's what I think I'm hearing from the Lord. What do you think? Hmm? What do you think? Go to people who know you. Go to people who love you. Go to people who want the best for you. Don't make the mistake of going to those who will tell you what you want to hear. You will always find somebody who will tell you what you want to hear. That really seems spiritual, you know, and you go there and you get your catalog of those who said, yea, do that, you know. But the ones that you know will probably say, I don't feel good about it. You don't go to them. Don't do that. You'll never discern the will of God that way. I've learned through the years, God's Spirit bears witness in the hearts of godly men and women and lays out a clear path of God's will and direction in my life. And all through the years, I've found it that way. The witness of godly counselors. You say, well, I don't want to go there. He won't tell me what I want to hear. Oh, my friend, you should go there absolutely. If you know someone who disagrees with what you're doing, that should be one of the first places you go. And ask them, what do you think? Remember, Ahab and Jehoshaphat and Micaiah the prophet. Ahab goes to Jehoshaphat. Well, every time I read that story, I think, oh, Jehoshaphat, oh, after such beautiful things you did, why would you be hanging around Ahab anyway? But he was hanging around Ahab, and Ahab said, hey, let's go to battle. Will you come and help me? And Jehoshaphat had enough wisdom to say, what do the prophets say? He got all his false prophets up there, you know, and they were jumping around and dancing and making lots of noise and prophesying good things for King Ahab. And Jehoshaphat, he stopped for a moment and he said, is there not a prophet of the Lord around that we could get a little counsel from the guy that's going to say what we don't want to hear? Well, yeah, there is one, Micaiah, but oh, that guy, he just, he only prophesies bad things. I don't even want him around. Jehoshaphat said, let's get him. And you know the rest of the story. But the point is, it's good to hear what that negative fellow has to say about that discerning that you're trying to make. God's spirit witnesses. God's Word comes along, confirms it. And God bears witness of the direction through the counsel of others. He does. He will. You think, well, I'm not sure if He will. Listen, God will. God is a miracle-working God. Remember what Brother Malan said to us today, that faith-filled attitude that we should have that He's able to do exceedingly, abundantly above what we ask or think. Listen, if God's will is for you to do a certain thing and you lay it before certain men and you hear their heart, God can work through those men. It's not a few times as a pastor that I had my own thoughts about what somebody was going to do, only to find myself sitting down with them with a wise heart. They came and asked, and I found my heart being led in a totally different direction when I sat down and heard the whole thing out. God can lead through those counselors. Point number six. The witness of circumstances. The witness of God's sovereignty. What is God saying through the circumstances that are unfolding before me in this real world where I live every day? What does it say? Circumstances will usually fall into place. Not always, but usually circumstances, things will happen in your real world where you live that will confirm also that God is giving you a direction for your life. And I believe it's on this point of the witness of circumstances where that principle comes from, the Lord willing. Amen? I will do this or that the Lord willing. And what that means is if God opens up the doors and makes a way through the circumstances of my life, I'll be in that city tomorrow and I will do this or that. If the Lord opens up the door through the circumstances of my life, the witness of God through circumstances, He can send the right person at the right time, at the right place, and just bring things together, and you know without a doubt, it's the Lord. It's the Lord. Finances fall into place. Many times this happened with George Mueller. He used finances to fulfill point number six again and again and again. In fact, he was so bold about it, he wouldn't budge. If God didn't confirm it through some kind of a finance thing, he wouldn't touch it. He wouldn't touch it. The witness of God through circumstances. He may have been praying for two or three or four weeks about whether he should buy this piece of land over here in hopes of putting a building on it for the orphans, maybe in two years' time, and there's a piece of land there and it's for sale. Lord, what do you want? And he hears the Lord in it, and he goes to the Word, and he gets a good confirmation out of the Word, and he goes to counselors and says, here's what I feel like the Lord is saying. What do you say? But in the midst of all that, that's not enough. Comes a knock on the door. Mr. Mueller? Yes? My name is, and God laid it upon my heart to give you this much money here. God bless you. And he leaves. And George Mueller opens up the envelope, and it is exactly the down payment that he needed to buy that piece of land. Thank you, Lord. We will move ahead. The witness of God in the circumstances of life confirm our path. I like to say it this way. Lord, put your sovereign signposts on the path that you want me to walk. When we moved up here 23 years ago, we gave the Lord one of those. We still had a house in Hammond, Indiana. We were living in Tennessee, but we owned a house in Hammond, Indiana. And it was for sale. And I mean it was for sale. How long, Mom? Months. No sale. No sale. Just wouldn't sell. Just wouldn't sell. And we laid it before the Lord. God, after all these other points were covered, God, we don't have any money to move to Pennsylvania. But if you sell this house, we'll have enough. We didn't have any more, but we had enough. The next day, ring! Telephone rings. Real estate agent. Ring! House sold. This much money. Figured it out. We had enough money to rent a U-Haul and drive up here to Pennsylvania. And so we are here today. Praise God. The witness of God in circumstances must fall in line. Mueller never budged. If he didn't have some clear sovereign signposts, he wouldn't make a move. We shouldn't either. Lastly, pray and fast. A season alone with God. Mueller did not make quick decisions. He spent time discerning, listening to the voice of God, quieting his own heart. He spent time gathering information, searching the Word, hearing the counsel of others. And after all these things had been gathered together in his heart, then he went away for two days and just laid before the Lord, fasting and praying, quieting all the other voices. And there are lots of voices, aren't there? Quieting all those other voices. Bringing himself in such clear tune with God through prayer and fasting, drawing close to God. Then he would be able to discern, yes, this is it. This lines up. This lines up. This is right. I see it here. Now I have this overwhelming witness again. As I look at all the circumstances and all the counsel and all these things, may God's will be done. And he would move forward. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Set yourself aside for a couple of days. If you're going to make major decisions, don't just flip off and do it, you know? I mean, listen, people do things I can't figure out why they would do. Men move their families all the way across the country because they got a transfer. You know? That happens a lot in America today. Corporate America and all that. Hey, we need you to go work in this branch over there. And so, the boss says, you're moving and we're going to pay your way and you'll get a $10,000 raise and we'll move all your things there. Oh! God has blessed me, they say. Move over to Timbuktu. No church. No fellowship. Sitting there all by themselves. Did they discern the will of God or did they jump after a good opportunity? They jumped after a good opportunity. And there they sit without a church. Not wise. Not wise. I'd rather eat beans and live in a shack and be in the will of God and be in a place where my family can prosper in the Lord than to be someplace where everything is great and all the money is there and the nice house is there and all those things. Who cares? I want to be in the will of God. I want to be in the will of God. You say, well, who has time for that? Two days? Well, just remember how much time it costs you when you make a mistake. Just remember that. Every time you think, that much time? I don't have that much time. Yeah, you will. You'll have that much time. If you make a mistake, you will have that much time. You'll make the time. You won't have any choice to make the time. You will have to make the time. But God is saying, invest the time early and you'll make many less mistakes as you walk down the road of this Christian life. As I said before, I will say again, some would much easier just get counsel and make the decisions that the pastor says they should do. But I'm recommending you this morning that you go deeper than that. If you are stumbling along in your Christian life, just get some counsel from the pastor and let him direct your steps. But that's God's second best. God's best is that you'll find out how to go deeper up with God, to hear the voice of God and know the will of God for your own life. But it takes time to do that. This word in closing here this morning. In 1 John 2, verse 17, it puts a little bit of a note of sobriety on this whole subject, but it's a good way to close this message. 1 John 2, verse 17 says these words, And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. Look at that beautiful verse. He that doeth the will of God, who all their lifetime, discerning the will of God for their life, abideth forever. May God help us, each one of us, me included, to walk in all the will of God. Well, that's good sound doctrine. Amen? Very practical. Very real. Thank you, Brother Denny, for sharing that message with us this morning. I thought of many different things along the way. I know Brother Mose had a message on this very same subject, probably about six months after we began to attend Charity Christian Fellowship. So I think it was time again, Brother. I would like to just again underscore the need to take these in the whole. The balancing of every point. Because I'm sure all of us can remember, as we look in our own lives, of mistakes we've made by taking one or two of these points alone. I think there's another point here that on the opposite side of taking the time, and that is, how many times have we smarted for a decision we made too quickly, too hastily. The matter of finances, the witness of finances, amen, I agree 100%. But you know, where we live, when you drive your old car into the car salesman's lot, he'll make it look and appear, as much as he can in his power, that this is the perfect right opportunity, we have the right car for you, and if you don't take it today, you're gonna miss it. You know what I mean? Is that right? You know, we live in a world that is geared to try to, to try to get us to make hasty decisions. And if we will just stop and pray, and go home, and ask my wife, or ask my husband, that wife, that sister, is the wife's sister who says, I'm sorry sir, I don't buy anything without conferring with my husband. And the kettle salesman is frustrated, he wants to sell you those kettles now. You know? It's true. And he'll convince you, you're missing the opportunity, it'll cost you $300 more tomorrow, and all those sorts of things. But anyhow, I don't just want to go off on, you know, these different things, but this is very important. Also, I just want to underscore, the witness of godly counselors, I want to underscore godly, spiritual counselors. Because there's many counselors. Be sure you're getting counsel from a godly counselor. And someone who will tell you the truth. Amen. Well, I want to open it up, we have some time here, I'd love to hear from you. Are you needing to make a decision? We make decisions every day. I want to open it up, just raise your hand if the Lord has laid something on your heart to share. Raise your hand and get a microphone to you. There's a hand up front here. Is that right? Yes. The will of God is the only will. I've made plenty of mistakes in my life, and I continue to make them. Because I think I'm stubborn, I get into my flesh, I think I have wisdom, but I don't have wisdom if I'm not listening to Jesus, and I'm not praying to Jesus, and like Denny said, if I'm not fasting. So, I apologize to the congregation for some of the mistakes I've made, I apologize to Malin, I apologize to Dean Taylor for some of the mistakes I've made. I'm not proud, but I'm proud that I have a heart, that I can open my heart up and tell you that I've made mistakes. And I only got that through Jesus. I didn't get that through my flesh. And I'm not trying to be smart. I got it through brothers that love me, care about me, don't want me to be hurt. No one in this congregation wants to get hurt, because we have brothers and sisters that love us. And if you think I'm Joshian, I'm not. Pain is pain that lasts, just like Denny said, for a long time. If you think you're fooling yourself, don't make that mistake. I've made it, and I don't want to continue to make it. We've all made it. Let's not continue to make it because God shows what's right for us. We have brothers and sisters that are beautiful, beautiful brothers and sisters that love us. And that's what I found in this church, that there's so much love here. I've never had that. Never had it in any religion. Never will. No one ever will. But you can have it in Jesus. Only in Jesus. Not in anything that's material. Not in any job. Not in any wealth. Only in Jesus. And this week I was at a trade show in Harrisburg, and I met several Christians there. One Christian sells vacuum cleaners. The gentleman that works for him is a very nice man. They both say they're Christians, and I'm not saying they're not Christians. But the one gentleman that owns the business is pushed by money. And he can't see it, but everybody else can. And no one has brought it to his attention. I just pray for the gentleman because he's pushed by money. You know, when we die, he said a quote to me, when we die, you don't see him hauling a Wells Fargo truck behind our U-Haul. Because we can't take it to heaven. The only thing we can take to heaven is what God takes with us. That's our soul. So we can die, but is our soul going to heaven? I pray that mine is, and I pray for everybody in here. And I wish you'd pray for me. Thank you, and God bless you. Thank you, Robert. Hand over here in the front, middle, brother's side. Raise your hand. Anyone else, we can get the microphone to you. A hand over here in the brother's side as well. Yes, Brian. I can testify to a few things this morning. One thing is that mistakes, we don't only pay for for a couple months sometimes. I'm paying for mistakes that I made ten years ago. I'm still living them down. I'm still having to face them. That is one of the biggest reasons why we need to take heed to this message. Because we do face them for a long time to come. I also have a testimony to share on point number two. We get our own will in the way. When Adam Zimmerman, the person that I worked for, was going to go out of business, I worked for him for a little while, even still. And there began to creep up within me all them voices that came about and that fear that came about. And I started looking for a job without seeking God. And I made a mistake. And I went to another job. God used me there, but how much profitable would I have been had I had listened to Him? I had made that mistake, and I had changed jobs. And after I had realized that mistake, I had spent much time in prayer and seeking God about it. And after I had become unbiased, and as I had laid my will down to Him, to His will, I had a fellow call me on myself and I didn't even know existed. And God had mercy upon me and He delivered me from the situation that I had put myself in. And He had delivered me and put me back in His will again. And I have been very profitable there spiritually and financially, and things have been going right there. You know, if we've made mistakes in the past, we can change them. We can get on our face and beg God for His mercy, for His deliverance, and God will do it. God will show Himself strong. He's ready to do that. God bless you, Denny, for sharing your heart today. Amen, brother. There's a microphone back here. I'm flipping through Isaiah madly trying to find a verse. My brother's speaking. I couldn't find it, but there's a passage that speaks of every morning the Lord digs or opens my ear like a disciple. Maybe a brother can help me out with where that's at or maybe we're familiar enough with it. When I think of discerning God's will in light of these seven steps, over the years, the priority that continues to come back to me is how will it affect my quiet times? If I'm being called upon to invest more of my time in a position, will it affect my quiet time? Is it making it more and more difficult for me to hear from the Lord? And with that, Denny touched on it, will it affect my ability to get away at times for extended prayer and fasting? With that, too, the overflow of that quiet time, of that prayer and fasting, God has given a primary flock to me, and that is my wife and children. How will the decisions I'm facing affect my ability to minister to my wife and children? And I have found over the years that those two pillars, if I compromise time in either of those two areas, it doesn't come out right. I can even have all seven of these bases covered that George Mueller speaks of, but those bases support or perhaps are even supported by those two pillars. God, I receive from God so that I can have overflow for my wife and children. And I know I'm speaking as a married man, and there are brothers and there are sisters listening, but I guess that's my appeal to the brothers, is we've got to maintain those two priorities. As I've looked over church history, there have been many great movements, but it seems that what's missing in the movements is as good as they are, men are ambitious to conquer, but the flesh of men is not content with being ambitious to disciple wives and children. And it seems to be the downfall of great movements through church history. Let's put our children in boarding schools and let's leave my wife behind while I go and conquer the heathen. And as one who pursued ministry and training for it, I have to confess, even today, there's the thrill of ministry that I have to question, is it of the Lord or is it of my flesh? And what keeps me anchored, what keeps me waiting on the Lord is this precious team that God has given me, my wife and children. And when I have their hearts, and when we're solid, I look forward to that day when God will say, now go and conquer because they're coming with you. I don't have it all put together yet. I'm not in ministry right now. But this is just sort of the thoughts that I've been formulating for the last while as I've been here at Charity. And I lifted up before the congregation and the brotherhood. And these are wonderful things, these seven pillars. But do they support our family or do our families support these? I think we have to keep the foundation very clear as we move ahead in God's will. And that is tending to the team and the little flock that He's given us is our first priority. Thank you, Brother Jeff. Amen. Hand over here. Yes, go ahead, Donovan. Praise the Lord, Church. I just want to thank you for being a house of the Lord which is so critical and that makes so easy and so comfortable such a confirming Word of God to be able to come forth from such a man of God. My family's been, actually this is our third time visiting Charity. And it's been very interesting of how it is we have been walking and have been really still sitting in that first chapter, that first pillar, that first foundation that Brother Denny spoke of, that thing of surrender. But, Church, I just want to share with you that part of the surrender is that, or at least what it is that we've been experiencing is surrendering with open hands. Open hands. It's so easy that the world always tells you to hold on to things. To hold on fast and actually use the examples of a hand in hand in order to be able to hold on to things. But one of the things that the Lord has shown me and my family as, in fact, we are going through issues of understanding and being able to hear the voice of God about transition at the same time, is being able to hold on to that vine of heaven through God's hands on our hearts and in our lives. And as this brother pointed out earlier of how much of a special place this is with the love that allows for hands to be open and hearts to be open in order to really grab on to that vine of that true strength of vine that the Lord has in all of our lives. It's just such a sweet, sweet spirit. And it's such a sweet, sweet walk. And God will never, ever, ever, ever, ever let you down or disappoint you when you hold on to those strings of that vine with those open hearts. So on behalf of my family and every time that we visit your family, we just want to thank you for receiving us with those same open hands that God has given you and that He continues to bless all of us as brethren in Christ throughout this world. Amen. And thank you. Amen. Thank you for sharing. Amen. Praise the Lord. There's one in the back. Yes, go ahead. Just want to thank the Lord and His faithfulness for allowing us to be in your midst and the opportunities that we can share by this. And we are just at awe at His faithfulness. And we were going through devotions in one of these mornings and we were looking at that aspect of His faithfulness and we see that today, His providing with like this message that was shared in the beginning and then afterwards. But you know this message that the brother shared about the four that believed or the five taking that one. I know it's four, but I believe also maybe that fifth one also had some faith. And I just love this passage and just seeing the way the Lord would bring it up today. And we read it several times in devotions. And there was a faithful brother through the church that we were converted. He would preach about this in a very simple way just like the brother did. And it just was such a blessing. It just seemed like those first days when we were converted from a life of sin and 12 years ago, more or less, the Lord began to work with our lives and did a marvelous, marvelous work. And later we found a set of tapes down south in Mexico. It was a family that wanted to build an orphanage down there. Two older people from Illinois and a real blessing. And a set of tapes of the Godly Home was up there and started listening to the first one. I was, what in the world is this? And from then on, contacting all the way from the border with California, there in Baja, California. And speaking with Brother Ben Baylor and others back then, like six years ago. So we thank the Lord for this privilege and all the time we've been here, the direction that He has provided. And just want to uplift Him and His faithfulness. And thank you all too for your faithfulness. Thank you, brother. Is there someone else? Yes, in the back there. I just want to bear testimony this morning to God's goodness in my life. And I've fallen many times too. I've not always heeded His direction. And I'm still paying for lots of the mistakes. But God has been good and I want to just thank you, brother Denny, this morning for heeding God's Spirit and for bringing us clear direction from God Himself. I believe that it is very crucial and very beneficial that we heed it. And this morning, my desire is to do so. And I just ask you as a congregation to pray for me as I seek His direction and as I heed the direction He has given me. And as God's been working in my life, there's been many times where I have not understood at all the direction that was given and nothing seemed clear. But as I began to yield myself and as I began to just accept His direction from God, as I began to find the peace and open hands, so to speak, then I began to see His direction. And it always became clear to me and I always had that peace in my heart. But when I began to doubt it, it always seemed like the situation that was bad just got worse. And I had a bigger problem on my hands until I yielded it to the Lord again. And so, I just want to say this morning that it's the same lessons. I'm learning it just like everybody else is. I just want to bless you, brother, for sharing that this morning. Thank you. God bless you. Thank you, Glendon. If we could have the mic up front here then. And is there one in the back as well? Yes. Good morning. I just wanted to kind of share my heart with some of the things that I feel as far as concerning child training. I've had, over the past couple of weeks, there's been similar or some things happening like over in our town with a little boy that was hit by a man with a closed fist and here he ended up dying. And I just read in the paper yesterday, actually a Harrisburg paper, where a little girl was tortured, a two-year-old by a man, blowing marijuana in her face, actually in her mouth. And I was talking to a friend that I hadn't seen for a long time yesterday and asking him how he was doing. It was one that we had actually run around with back in our younger days. And he was saying how he was one of the fortunate ones that never got married and never had children. And I just looked at him and looked at our four children at the time. There was only four at the time there. And I just said, well, we were blessed with these four blessings here. Five blessings, actually, I told him. It just hurt me the way he so casually just comes out and makes that comment. And when I look at people in the stores these days, how they just yell at their children and pulling them by the arm, it really breaks my heart to see that. I'm thankful for what God's showing me as a mother in raising my children and showing me how to love them. And I just also want to add to all of that, not to totally change the subject, but I'm very thankful to be here and be a part of this congregation. I was very blessed with the other evening, the couples night. I'm thankful for all the things that charity comes up with just to encourage me in my walk throughout the year, things that we can get involved in together. And I just want to encourage us mothers. I sit sometimes way back here, it seems like a lot of times. We're always late getting here. But I see mothers getting up with crying babies. And I know it can be a challenge, especially listening to a really good message, not that they're not all good, but to have to get up and leave. But I'm thankful for the speakers that are downstairs and in the nurseries that we can still hear. But I just encourage us mothers just to press on and not become discouraged. And I know it's not easy to do, but I'm thankful for being here. God bless you. Praise the Lord. Let's see, a hand up front here. Yes, Brother Emanuel. Yes, I want to say amen to the message. I can say I've benefited greatly from those principles. Times pass. I have. Our family has. And I just want to encourage everyone here. This is not a small thing. That mistake or the mistakes you've made and suffered for many years, I know what that's like. But I also know what it's like to walk in the blessing of what was shared this morning. It is a blessing. If you don't know about it, if you don't know which way to turn, what you heard this morning is very true. It is God's way. Thank you, Brother Daniel, for sharing that simple yet powerful truth this morning. And I encourage each one of us to consider it. We don't have any time to waste. No time to waste. Can't afford it. So thank you. May God be blessed. Amen. All right, there's a hand in the back. I just want to say, wow. Because God has really been doing a lot of things in our lives. And as Danny was beginning his message and not really letting it out yet what he's talking about, and I'd be pretty curious, you know, when he said what that question is that he hears so much, how do I discern the will of God? It choked me up because it's something that I struggle with, even at my age. I'm not an old man by any means, but God has been so faithful to us. And as he went through the points, I could identify with those points. And God's Word is a witness. God's Spirit is a witness. And the blessing that comes from just this week, you know, God laid a thing on my heart in my quiet time. The next morning I shared it with my wife. He had laid the same thing on her heart in her quiet time. And just the knitting of spirits, it was a blessing. And it gives me courage to trust Him more. And I just thank you, Danny, for sharing that message. God bless you. I don't know what went into your heart and thoughts as you chose that message as God laid it on your heart, but I do know that it was from Him and that I needed to be here to hear it. Thank you very much. And pray for us as a family that the decisions that we make are in the will of God. I just wanted to bless you as a congregation here. I've never spoken to you in this way, but God bless you richly for the warmth that you have shown to us as we step through these doors, as we come. The crowd is still intimidating to me, but may God richly bless you for your outpouring of love that you've shown to us. Thank you for sharing. May you discern the knowledge of His will, which I'm sure He has set for you. Where's the other mic? Right over here somewhere? Yes. My heart says amen to all the testimonies this morning. Probably not another confession is needed of knowing how true this is in our lives. I was really blessed by Brother Malin's message this morning as well. I just feel like I'm full and overflowing. My cup can't contain it all. But that's good. One thing that I just felt that I needed to confess publicly was what Brother Malin's message spoke to me, and that is how short my long-suffering is, how short my patience is, even when it comes right down to my family and my wife. And I just make that public confession because I need prayer in that area, and God has taken me from... I'm not where I used to be in that. God is allowing me to grow in that, but sometimes I get impatient with my impatience. And I just pray that God would also show me how to discern His will through the message this morning because I'm also one that can testify very truly to the fact that I've made lots of painful mistakes, lots of costly mistakes, not only spiritually, but also materially. God bless both of the messages, and I just desire to be that kind of a person that perseveres on like those four men did that bore those men up. They obviously weren't quitters, and I never heard it quite in that way. I was so blessed with how that was brought out, and I've got to believe, too, that if they didn't say it, that they were faced with the fact of wanting to turn back and saying, it's not worth it, or the job's too big, or let's just write him off. But God didn't write me off, and I praise Him for that, and I want to be there for others as well. God bless. The message.