The doctrine of divine guidance

1. There are three categories of will in history. a) There is the will of God which is the sovereignty of God; b) There is angelic will or volition; c) There is human will or volition in the souls of mankind.

2. The cardinal principle in divine guidance is found in 1 John 3:23. This is a brief summary of God’s will for each one of us. The first part of the verse says, “For this is the will of God that you believe on the name of his Son, Jesus Christ.” It is God’s will for all members of the human race to believe in Jesus Christ. It is obvious that we have human volition because people reject Christ as saviour. So the cardinal principle of divine guidance: for the unbeliever, salvation; for the believer, spirituality.

3. We start with the incarnate person of Christ. The humanity of Jesus Christ had free will — Matthew 20:22; 26:42; Hebrews 10:7,9. The implications are quite obvious. Jesus Christ as deity had sovereignty [divine volition]. As perfect humanity He had a soul and human volition. No free will in mankind means no free will in the humanity of Christ. No free will means no redemption, no salvation. However, the principle of divine guidance is based upon the fact that man does possess volition and/or free will designed to resolve the angelic conflict, designed to respond to God’s purpose, God’s will, God’s policy, God’s law. That is the basic concept of guidance. We have volition which must become totally subordinate to and compatible with divine volition. That presents a number of problems. We have to know what God’s policy is, what His will is, what God’s desire is on any given subject. Then it is simple. All we have to do is do it and do it in the power of the Spirit.

4. Types of the will of God. Basically there are three categories of the will of God for any believer. These are all illustrated from the life of Balaam who was a believer. a) The directive will of God — Numbers 22:12. God told Balaam not to go to curse Israel, not to go to the king of Moab; b) There is the permissive will of God — Numbers 22:20. Balaam superimposed his volition over the divine policy and went to the king of Moab. But he was still alive, therefore this is regarded as the permissive will of God; c) The overruling will of God. Balaam tried to curse Israel but God would not permit it — Numbers 23:5,12,26.

Bible doctrine in your soul must dictate how you live your life. With doctrine in your soul you will know what the will of God is.

5. Academic principles of guidance.

a) Knowledge of doctrine — Psalm 32:8; Proverbs 3:1-6; Isaiah 58:11; Romans 12:2. God’s will in known only through doctrine in the soul.

b) Yieldedness — simply a technical term for the filling of the Holy Spirit, as per Romans 6:13. It is found in Romans 12:1, “present,” which is yieldedness or the filling of the Spirit. It is found in Ephesians 5:17,18. Basically the concept comes from 1 John 1:9, the mechanics of yieldedness.

c) Growth. Attainment of the supergrace status means guidance comes easy -- 2 Peter 3:18.

6. The phase two categories of the will of God.

a) The viewpoint will of God: what does God want me to think?

b) The operational will of God: what does God want me to do?

c) The geographical will of God: where does God want me to be?

7. The mechanics of the will of God. There is one chapter in the Bible that actually summarises all of the mechanics of divine will -- Acts chapter 11. There we find guidance through prayer in verse 5l; guidance through thinking in verse 6; guidance through the Word, verses 7-10; guidance through providential circumstances, verse 11; guidance through the Holy Spirit, verse 12; guidance through fellowship and comparison of data, verses 13,14; guidance through scripture memory, verse 16.

The doctrine of divine guidance

1. There are three categories of the will of God as far as phase two is concerned. As far as history is concerned there are three types of categories of will. There is #3, bullheadedness - your volition; #2, invisible headedness — angelic volition; #1, correct and absolute sovereignty — God’s volition.

2. The cardinal principle of divine guidance is found in 1 John 3:23, and it is broken down into two categories. It is God’s will for each one of us to believe in Jesus Christ, and secondly, it is God’s will for each believer to advance down the glory road. This starts with the filling of the Spirit and/or love which John emphasises.

3. The humanity of Christ has free will — Matthew 20:22; 26:42; Hebrews 10:7,9. The implications are obvious. Man has volition and volition must be tested. Man was tested in the garden. Outside of the garden we still have the test, the cross. But for those who have passed the cross test there is another test. There is the test of doctrine to the high ground of supergrace and then there is the test on the high ground — seize and hold. After that there is no test because the sovereignty of God takes over, then the golden drawbridge is lowered and you walk across, dying grace, into eternity. But as long as you are in time volition is an issue. The implications: no free will in mankind means no free will in the humanity of Christ. No free will in the humanity of Christ means no redemption and no salvation. But, of course, we do have redemption and salvation and we know that our Lord had free will because He expressed it — “Father if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not my will but thy will be done.” It was not a conflict of wills in deity, it was the will of the sovereignty of God the Father versus the will of the humanity of Christ. So man does have free will. The principle of divine guidance is based on the fact that man does have free will and that if man does have doctrine in the soul, as per our passage, then man’s residency of doctrine plus his volition will make a combination whereby he does the will of God from true motivation — doctrine in the soul — plus the use of his free will. So man’s free will plus doctrine resident in the soul means the execution of the will of God and the glorification of God.

4. There are several types of the will of God which must be executed: directive will, permissive will, and overruling will of God. It was the directive will of God that called Abraham out of Ur of Chaldea, and it was the directive to which he responded. However, when he got hung up at Haran it was the overruling will of God that hauled him out of Haran and put him into Canaan. The will of God said go from Ur to Canaan, and he stopped off at Canaan. So he went part way with the directive will of God and when he was hung up then God just overruled him.

5. The academic principles of divine guidance. a) Knowledge — doctrine resident in the soul, Psalm 32:8; Proverbs 3:1-6; Isaiah 58:11, Romans 12:2. You must know Bible doctrine to understand the will of God. It is knowing the will of God that makes it possible to execute the will of God, therefore the first and major issue in divine guidance is resident doctrine in the soul. Resident doctrine in the soul is the basis for knowing the will of God as well as being motivated to do it. Then, b) there is the principle of yieldedness which is the filling of the Spirit, the means of execution of the will of God — Romans 6:13; 12:1,2; Ephesians 5:17,18; 1 John 1:9. And c) there is growth. This is the factor involved in uprooting Abraham from Ur of Chaldea — 2 Peter 3:18.

6. Phase two categories of the will of God. a) The viewpoint will of God, what does God want me to think? That is solved by resident doctrine; b) The operational will of God, what does God want me to do? That is solved by resident doctrine; c) The geographical will of God, where does God want me to be? That is solved by resident doctrine.

7. The mechanics of the will of God — Acts 11. Guidance through prayer, verse 5; guidance through objective thinking, verse 6; guidance through contact with the Word, verses 7-10; guidance through providential circumstances, verse 11; guidance by means of the filling of the Spirit, verse 12; guidance through fellowship and companionship and the data compared, verses 13,14; guidance through scripture memory, verse 16.

8. Divine guidance reaches a routine peak in the supergrace life, it becomes automatic — Hebrews 11:7.

Divine Guidance

Categories of the will of God

I. The operational will of God: What does He want me to do?

a) This is the same for every believer.

b) The believer is to be filled with the Spirit, use GAP in its six stages, thus building the edification structure in the soul.

c) Corresponds with principle #2, yieldedness (Fullness of the Holy Spirit)

d) Specifics (Divine operating assets) in the will of god (operational will): All given by grace:

1. Canon

2. Local church

3. Pastor-teacher, evangelist, other spiritual gifts

4. Indwelling Holy Spirit.

5. Rebound

6. Breathing apparatus of the soul

7. The mind

8. The human spirit

9. The priesthood

Also:

1. Faith-rest technique

2. Living in the Word

3. Occupation with Christ

4. Prayer

5. Witnessing, etc.

II. The viewpoint will of God: What does He want me to think?

a) This is the same for every believer.

b) His viewpoint is what we think. Divine viewpoint.

c) Divine viewpoint comes from e)pignwsij in the human spirit.

d) Corresponds with principle # 1: Knowledge (e)pignwsij).

e) With e)pignwsij in the human spirit comes growth (maturity), the erection of the edification complex (ECS).

III. Geographical will of God: Where does He want me to go?

a) This is different for each believer (except married couples)

b) Is there a specific area of service for this specific time?

c) The issue: If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, and respect the authority of the communicator, comprehend the gnwsij, transfer to the human spirit which makes a frame of reference (e)pignwsij) plus exhaling and the ECS — you’ll have no problem with geography.

The Mechanics of Divine Guidance

I. Introduction: Acts 11:1-16

a) Verse 1 — Peter received the news of the Gentile Pentecost.

b) Verse 2 — Followed by the inevitable opposition from legalism.

c) Verse 3 — There is criticism of Peter so Peter begins to relate various factors in God’s leading as he came into contact with the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius.

II. Mechanics of Guidance:

a) Guidance through prayer: Guidance through prayer is authentic only when a believer is confronted with a situation which is not specified by some direct command in scripture — verse 5.

Example: A believer should never pray about marrying an unbeliever. 2 Corinthians 6:14 commands no marriage is to be contracted between a believer and an unbeliever. However the believer should use prayer in the doctrine of right man and right woman. Hebrew 4:16. Guidance is used in a specific instance by prayer and other divine operating assets.

b) Guidance through the mind — verse 6.

“I considered.” To put your mind down on something. Objective thinking, excludes emotion. To ponder it carefully. Scar-tissued, subjective thinking gums the works.

God always leads in compliance with His Word. God never leads contrary to the Word. Basically guidance comes through the Word, but the Word must be in the human spirit in order to be applied, for only doctrine in the human spirit can be applied.

The Word comes into the mind as a staging area — so this second stage is GAP and is very necessary, but don’t stop there.

c) Guidance through the Word of God — verses 7-10.

Peter was guided through divine revelation, which today is the Word of God and only the Word of God.

d) Guidance through Providential Circumstances — verse 11.

Three men had arrived even while Peter was still on the rooftop. They had left Caesarea some time before and had made the day’s journey to Joppa, and to the house. This was providential circumstances.

We are to test a providential circumstance. It must not conflict with the statements, doctrines, and principles of the Word of God.

Hanging out the fleeces today is OUT! We don’t need fleeces, we need the Word of God, and the resultant erection of the ECS. It is a sign of lack of truth and stupidity when we hang out fleeces. Gideon (Judges 6:36-40) was a pitiful believer — and the only reason God honoured that fleece was His marvellous and matchless grace.

e) Guidance through the Holy Spirit — verse 12.

The Holy Spirit never guides the believer apart from the Word of God. The Holy Spirit cannot guide apart from the filling of the Holy Spirit and knowledge of doctrine.

i. v.7: “hearing the voice” — Word.

ii. v.5: “seeing the vision” — Canon.

iii. v.12: “Spirit bade me go” — teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit.

f) Guidance through Comparison — verse 13-15.

The parallel phenomenon of Pentecost in Jerusalem confirmed the fact that Gentile believers were just as much “Church” (body of Christ) as Jewish believers. Ephesians 2:14.

g) Guidance through Scripture Memory — verse 16.

Peter remembered what Jesus spoke in Acts 1:5. The memory of scripture contributed considerably to his guidance. Peter remembered it at the proper time, and therefore was guided by it.

Divine Guidance: Moses’ Decision

1. “By faith Moses when he was come to years (40 years of age).”

In making a decision the believer must be in fellowship, exercising the faith-rest technique.

2. “Refused to be called.”

Moses exercised his volition to refuse.

3. “Choosing rather to suffer affliction ...”

The will of God eliminates one thing … and enables to choose another.

4. “Esteeming the reproach of Christ.”

Think the matter through using divine viewpoint! Select pertinent doctrines and apply.

5. “For he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.”

He made the decision with eternity’s values in view!

Divine Guidance: Principle

I. Knowledge of the will of God — Romans 12:2.

(Knowledge can be head knowledge (gnwsij) or full knowledge (e)pignwsij). Both are necessary — fact goes into the nouj (mind), and then faith transfers the fact into usable knowledge in the human spirit. Romans 12:1-2, “renewing of your mind” is the recycling of e)pignwsij through the facets of the soul.

a) Many things are stated directly to be God’s will:

i. 2 Corinthians 6:14, “ … be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers,” for example.

ii. Other things are not directly stated and must be determined by deduction from known doctrine.

b) There is no guidance for the believer apart from knowledge of the Word and the filling of the Holy Spirit.

II. Yieldedness to the Will of God — Romans 6:13; 12:1.

a) Yielding is not a one-shot experience:

i. A person in the bottom circle (in fellowship) is yielded. Out of fellowship he is not yielded.

ii. The practice of being yielded is 1 John 1:9 — Confess.

b) Command: Romans 12:1, “present,” aorist tense. This is using 1 John 1:9 in the point that it is needed.

c) The principle of yieldedness is found in Romans 6:13.

d) The mechanics of yieldedness is the use of 1 John 1:9.

e) Definition: Being willing to do the will of God before you know what the will of God is.

III. Guidance through spiritual growth.

a) Command: 2 Peter 3:18, “But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.” Grace is the sum total of the plan of God.

b) A full knowledge (residual doctrine, foundation of the ECS) is acquired through the daily intake of the Word and GAP (grace apparatus for perception). This results in maturity.

c) Divine guidance involves one step at a time. Each step must be growth and advance.

IV. There are three hindrances to doing the will of God:

Ignorance, carnality, and lack of growth — lack of an edification complex of the soul.

Seven Things Declared to be the Will of God

1. It is the will of God that every member of the human race be born again — 2 Peter 3:9, “… not willing that any should perish.” 1 John 2:17 with 1 John 3:23.

2. It is the will of God that all believers be sanctified. (We are speaking here of experiential sanctification which is staying in fellowship) 1 Thessalonians 4:13 carries the idea that a believer is to be set apart unto God by being in fellowship with Him so that believers will be under His direction.

3. It is the will of God that all believers be controlled (filled) with the Holy Spirit — Ephesians 5:18.

4. It is the will of god that we give thanks in everything: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 correlated with Romans 8:28. If you are going to do the will of God, if you are going to be guided by God, this must be your mental attitude. Suffering is designed to bless us, therefore I can give thanks in suffering. Discipline is designed to remind us to use 1 John 1:9.

5. It is the will of god that believers suffer — 1 Peter 3:17. Since it is God’s will that you suffer (1 Peter 4:19) then the purpose of suffering is blessing. Suffering is:

i. God’s way of blessing the believer.

ii. God’s way of bringing maturity (edification complex) in a quicker way.

iii. God’s way of directing our attention to the things that are really important in life such as: Fellowship with Him; Knowing doctrine.

6. It is the will of God for every believer to trust the Lord. Proverbs 3:5,6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart (mind) and lean not unto thine own understanding (human viewpoint); in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.”

7. It is the will of God for every believer to be productive — 1 Peter 2:15. All production is in the area of divine good: the filling of the Spirit, the exhale of e)pignwsij, and the erection of the edification complex. This is triple compound divine good.

Types of the Will of God

1. The directive will of God: Tantamount to the sovereign will of God. His choice for your life.

2. The permissive will of God: Where negative volition in man is permitted to act contrary to the will of God. Man goes negative against His directive will. +R (absolute righteousness) says God cannot coerce man. Justice disciplines man.

3. The overruling will of God: Supersedes the directive and permissive will of God, and involves the frustration of Satan’s will. God controls the circumstances but does not interfere with the operation of one’s volition, like Jonah. God takes every situation in the life of the believer and makes it work together for the believer’s good.

4. Illustrations:

a) Illustration No 1: 2 Corinthians 6:14.

i. Directive will: Do not marry an unbeliever. Sovereign will.

ii. Permissive will: Marry one anyway, resulting in misery and divine discipline.

b) Illustration No 2: 1 John 3:23a.

i. That all be saved, 2 Peter 3:9. Sovereign will of God.

ii. Permissive will: God will not overrule volition because of +R. Justice must condemn the negative signals (-V). Note the last judgement for unbelievers.

c) Illustration No 3: 1 John 3:23b; Ephesians 5:17,18.

i. Directive will: That every believer be filled with the Holy Spirit. Sovereign will.

ii. Permissive will: Every believer is not filled with the Holy Spirit (+R does not interfere), however Justice executes divine discipline.

d) Illustration No 4: Balaam, Numbers 22:12-31:8.

i. Directive will:

a. Thou shalt not go (depends upon human viewpoint)

b. Thou shalt not curse (cursing depends upon Satanic or demon influence)

ii. Permissive will: God permitted Balaam to go, did not coerce volition.

iii. Overruling will: God overruled because it involved demons, and involved the cursing of Israel. God protects His people from Satanic action.