Met a girl in England called Elizabeth Delmont. Appears to have fallen in love, but was so concerned that he should love her too much.
On next trip to America they write to each other. He is obviously deeply moved, from his diary. Speaks of deep struggles to the core of his being.
He writes a very strange letter to her in which he as good as accuses her of being a rival to Christ. After some months of deep inward struggling, he decides to propose to her, but not because he is in love with her of course, but because he needs someone to run his orphanage. He writes two letters, one to his parents and one to her.
Read Whitefield v.1 p.470/71 (and then to her) Read p.471/2
she declines (and eventually marries someone else
he is thrown into terrible turmoil.
Meanwhile..... back in England
His friend Howell Harris had fallen deeply in love with Elizabeth James, a widow, 10 years older than he. The love was mutual.
She was very godly and a great support to his preaching.
Read vol. 2 p.103 Harris’s love for Mrs James... to p.104.
tell rest of story.
How not to find God’s will?
—by Gideon
Judges 6:14–40
Then the LORD himself turned to him and said, “You have the strength. Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! Have I not sent you?”
Gideon said to him, “But LORD, how can I deliver Israel? Just look! My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my family.”
The LORD said to him, “Ah, but I will be with you! You will strike down the whole Midianite army.”
Gideon said to him, “If you really are pleased with me, then give me a sign as proof that it is really you speaking with me.
Do not leave this place until I come back with a gift and present it to you.” The LORD said, “I will stay here until you come back.”
Gideon went and prepared a young goat, along with unleavened bread made from an ephah of flour. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. He brought the food to him under the oak tree and presented it to him.
God’s messenger said to him, “Put the meat and unleavened bread on this rock, and pour out the broth.” Gideon did as instructed.
The LORD’s messenger touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of his staff. Fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and unleavened bread. The LORD’s messenger then disappeared.
…
Gideon said to God, “If you really intend to use me to deliver Israel, as you promised, then give me a sign as proof.
Look, I am putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece, and the ground around it is dry, then I will be sure that you will use me to deliver Israel, as you promised.”
The LORD did as he asked. When he got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece, and enough dew dripped from it to fill a bowl.
Gideon said to God, “Please do not get angry at me, when I ask for just one more sign. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make only the fleece dry, while the ground around it is covered with dew.”
That night God did as he asked. Only the fleece was dry and the ground around it was covered with dew.
He was having a doubting moment and wanted to be reassured
It was about fear, not guidance at all.
Is this given as a biblical pattern for guidance?
Dating fleeces: Friesen p.125–6 read from physical book
Let’s look at another story.
background...
1 Samuel 14:6–15
Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come on, let’s go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will intervene for us. Nothing can prevent the LORD from delivering, whether by many or by a few.”
His armor bearer said to him, “Do everything that is on your mind. Do as you’re inclined. I’m with you all the way!”
Jonathan replied, “All right! We’ll go over to these men and fight them.
If they say to us, ‘Stay put until we approach you,’ we will stay right there and not go up to them.
But if they say, ‘Come up against us,’ we will go up. For in that case the LORD has given them into our hand — it will be a sign to us.”
When they made themselves known to the Philistine garrison, the Philistines said, “Look! The Hebrews are coming out of the holes in which they hid themselves.”
Then the men of the garrison said to Jonathan and his armor bearer, “Come on up to us so we can teach you a thing or two!” Then Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up behind me, for the LORD has given them into the hand of Israel!”
Jonathan crawled up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer following behind him. Jonathan struck down the Philistines, while his armor bearer came along behind him and killed them.
In this initial skirmish Jonathan and his armor bearer struck down about twenty men in an area that measured half an acre.
Then fear overwhelmed those who were in the camp, those who were in the field, all the army in the garrison, and the raiding bands. They trembled and the ground shook. This fear was caused by God.
NET Bible
What is the difference between this and Gideon?
It really is guidance!
But is it not totally unrelated: They had to climb up on hands and knees to get there
They would have been very vulnerable, but the Philistines just let them climb up
You can tell by their words how complacent and over-confident they were
Did the fleece have anything to do with the Midianites?
What about the dating earlier—is the “fleece” related to the outcome?
Yes and know—only marginally related
Guidance Part 1: How not to find a wife, and other stories
How not to find a wife, by George Whitefield
“Fleeces” the good, the bad & the ugly
Three things we can mean by “God’s will”
2. “Fleeces” the good, the bad & the ugly
Fleeces, the good, the bad & the ugly
The Good
when it is not actually a “fleece” at all
The Bad
a game between you and God
The Ugly
justifying what we want to do anyway
The Good
A girl who was thinking of taking a short term mission’s trip to an orphanage and prayed that if God wanted her to go, then the money and a visa would be available by a certain date (not a random date).
If this had been all she did, then I would say it would not be right
But this was at the end of a process where all the other indications were that God was guiding her to go.
This was a final, practical requirement.
The Bad
If I am to marry this girl, may she not be wearing yellow shoes when I see her today (you have never ever seen her in yellow shoes)
Problem is that this can be very manipulative of God
It can lead to all sorts of problems and then we blame God because he led us
Is God obliged to answer us in this way? (he may do)
An “after the fact” fleece
He was wearing a “Vancouver” sweatshirt, and that’s where I’m from. What are the chances with all the cities in the world?
More about this later.
The Ugly
I’m not sure if God wants me to have a Ferrari or a Lamborghini sports car
I’ll drive to the Ferrari dealership, and if there is a red Ferrari there, God is telling me to get a Ferrari, and if not then he is certainly telling me to get a Lamborghini!
We can justify sin in this way
Guidance Part 1: How not to find a wife, and other stories
How not to find a wife, by George Whitefield
“Fleeces” the good, the bad & the ugly
Three things we can mean by “God’s will”
3. Three things we can mean by “God’s will”
God’s will
Can anything happen that’s not God’s will?
Well what about sin—is sin God’s will?
If it is God’s will, surely it will happen?
God’s will
God’s Moral Will
God’s Sovereign Will
Relating the two
1. God’s Moral Will
How God would like us all to live
Love God with all your heart
Love one another as yourself
The expression of God’s own character
Fully revealed in Jesus Christ
Sometimes called his “perfect will”
God’s Moral Will-Freedom
There is freedom within it
“Each one of you should give just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7
Not just freedom within it, but God does not compel us to give, but wants us to chose freely.
There is a aspect of Moral Will (God wants us to give) and then a freedom, with some guidelines.
cost us something
Was 10% in the old, expectation that if that was under law, then under freedom it would be at least that.
2. God’s Sovereign Will:
…He does what he wants with the army of heaven
and the inhabitants of the earth.
There is no one who can block his hand
or say to him, “What have you done? (Daniel 4:35 CSB)
The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our descendants forever, so that we may obey all the words of this law. (Deut 29:29)
This is a mystery, that we can have freedom, but God is still sovereign
We must not fall into the error either side
God is outside time and can see the end from the beginning
If we try to emphasize one of them, we’ll lose the other
Example of the Apostle Paul: God sovereignly broke into his rebellious life and saved him
But Paul still made a choice
3. Relating the Two
How come there is sin if God is sovereign?
Adam & Eve were allowed to sin
Judas was allowed to betray Jesus
But God delights in turning evil to good
But this does not mean we should “sin that grace may abound”
Next Time: Four models for guidance
God will reveal exact guidance in every situation and if you miss it you are in trouble
God has never promised guidance, only wisdom
You have freedom to do anything as long as it is not immoral.
Most of the time it’s 2. unless it’s 1. (modified wisdom)
Having the mind of Christ (walking in the Spirit)
We can become very much in bondage
sounds very spiritual
became endemic in some areas of Christianity
A reaction to this is the opposite
What wisdom means
We ask for wisdom and guidance
God will certainly give us wisdom, and sometime may give us supernatural guidance, but we can’t demand supernatural guidance.
There is another factor—we have the Spirit living within us
Question: Is there any difference from the Old Testament (when only a few had the Spirit) and the New, when we all have the Spirit?
We’ll look at examples in the N.T. and see what we can learn,
