Making Godly Decisions
Romans 8:5,6
1. We need to be sure when making decisions for the Kingdom of God and for our church that the decisions are made after careful deliberation before the Lord.
2. We need to then be sure that the answer we hear is from God and not of our own fleshly desires or motives. That holds true for our own walk with the Lord as well.
3. I have mentioned to you many times before about the 4 ways God lead’s
a. Inner Convictions-the Holy Spirit
b. Outer Circumstances-faint at sight of blood probably don’t need to be a doctor
c. Prayer and Bible Study
d. Counsel of Godly Others
4. All throughout the Scriptures we have seen how God’s children have made decisions and the consequences for their decisions.
A. In the book of Exodus after delivering the Israelites from the hand of Egyptian bondage and while Moses was on the Mt. of Sinai receiving the commandments, they decided that Moses was taking too long and built a calf to worship God.
1. The result? Exodus 32:35, “So the Lord plagued the people because
of what they did with the calf which Aaron made.”
B. In 1 Samuel King Saul is told to wait for Samuel to return after 7 days, Saul sees the philistines gathering together to for war against him and he gets nervous so he does a burnt offering and some peace offerings before Samuel gets back.
1. The result? 1 Samuel 13:14, “But now your kingdom shall not
continue. The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart”
C. In Acts 6 the needs of some of the widows weren’t being met so as the disciples were in prayer and the Word of God they told the rest of the disciples to seek out 7 men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom.
1.The result? Acts 6:5, “and the saying pleased the whole multitude.”
Read Acts 15:1-22
1. The church at Antioch was a blessed church.
2. Paul and Barnabus were there as well as others.
3. But even in the holiest of churches disputes arise and the peace can be disturbed.
4. Dispute was about circumcision. You see there were gentiles being saved and gentiles weren’t circumcised. There were men in the church that said if you aren’t circumcised you can’t be saved. When Paul and Barnabus went to Jerusalem they met Pharisees who said the same. So there arose a dispute.
A. Important to notice that the peace was disturbed for just a short time.
B. It is also important because it is the first problem we see in the Christian church. And we see how it was handled.
C. Vs 2, “No small dissention and dispute”—doesn’t mean things got heated or out of hand, but that it was a very important subject.
5. Galatians 2:1-10, this is probably the journey Paul is talking about.
6. I have mentioned to you before 3 things that you must know when you have made a decision.
A. Is the decision you have come to based on the absolute Word of God, a conviction that you have or a preference? Let me expound on that today.
I. Is the conclusion you have come to based on the Absolute Word of God?
1. Perfect in quality or nature;
2. Free from mixture; pure.
3. Not to be doubted or questioned; positive:
4. Is it Pure in Substance?
a. That which is solid and practical in character, quality, or importance: a plan without substance
b. Does it benefit your Christian walk?
5. Is it Pure in Motive?
a. An impulse that acts as an incitement to action
b. Is it going to produce something for the Kingdom of God?
A. There are 2 things that we’ll deal with this morning that are absolute:
1. The Bible is the Word of God and it is pure.
a. Prov 30:5-6 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. 6 Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar
b. It benefits your Christian walk, and together with the HS it produces something for the Kingdom of God
2. Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation.
a. Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
b. It benefits your Christian walk and it produces something for the Kingdom of God
3. These 2 things can never be changed.
4. VS. 1,5
A. Here we see these guys straying from the absolute
B. Jesus said ONLY through Him can there be a relationship to His Father.
5. You and I need to be absolutely sure of the decisions we make.
A. Maria Fedorovna, the empress of Russia and wife of Czar Alexander III, was known for her philanthropy. She once saved a prisoner from exile in Siberia by transposing a single comma in a warrant signed by Alexander. The czar had written: "Pardon impossible, to be sent to Siberia." After Maria’s intervention, the note read: "Pardon, impossible to be sent to Siberia." The prisoner was eventually released.
1. 1 comma in a different position changed a man’s life.
2. 1 misspoken word or decision NOT prayed or studied about,
gone to counsel about, Not allowed the HS to intervene or not
allowed the circumstances to be known about and we may miss
God’s purpose. (inner conviction’s, outer circumstances, prayer
and Bible study, counsel of others.)
II. Is the conclusion you have come to based on a conviction?
A. Meaning a strong persuasion or belief.
B. Sometimes we don’t read the passages in the way that they were intended but we need to read them that way. Or the attitude by which they were written. Try to think as Paul was thinking when he wrote this:
C. Rom. 14:1-15,
1. Vs 2 What Paul does is he puts his hands on the men on each sides shoulders and looks at one side and says, You don’t judge the man who eats vegetables only because he lives by the law and is weak, and looks at the other and says, you don’t judge the one who eats everything because he gives thanks for everything and is strong.
2. VS 3 God has received both of you and you are servants to him alone.
3. VS 5 “convinced in his own mind”—strong persuasion or belief
D. Rom 14:17 “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink: but righteousness,
and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost”
E. I visited a wonderful older couple yesterday that used to come here and one
of the things we talked about wearing dresses in church. I told her that was a great conviction she had but not all have that conviction, but her and I would never get into an argument over that because I would never want my relationship to her to be hindered by something that is not an absolute and I would never want to hinder her relationship to the Lord by imposing my conviction on her. We just agreed that men and women needed to be dressed with decorum when they enter into God’s House.
III. Is the conclusion you have come to, based on a preference?
A. Meaning—the power of choosing
B. When I pastored a church on the bayou a time arose when we had young couples with babies coming and their were many. So I proposed putting a window in the back where there were 2 SS rooms one on each side. It would have only cost $160 for each window and would have ministered to young women who were leaving the services to tend to their babies. They could have seen the service as well as heard it with a monitor. For $320 which I was willing to pay we could have ministered to young couples but it wasn’t allowed to happen because the building was more important than the ministry.
C. Acts 15:6 “Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter”
1. What happened after they came together?
a. 22,30-36
2. You and I may have different convictions or preferences about something but let the same process as happened here at the first dispute in the church always be done here at Riverside.
D. Remember that a preference never comes before a conviction and a conviction never comes before the Absolute Word of God.
