In an age of spiritual confusion, where many people claim to receive direct revelations from God,

the Bible offers much-needed clarity on how God reveals His will.

You see, believers don't need dreams, visions, and miraculous signs to understand the will of God.

Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindall continues his practical series called The Mystery of God's Will.

In this next study, Chuck describes his early struggle to comprehend the complexity of this topic.

Let's resume the message in progress,

as Chuck refers to a lively debate with his friend Gibb over the sovereign hand of God.

God wishes for none to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

He does not cause sin, but he does permit it.

He is not pleased with the yielding to temptation, but he uses even that to accomplish his purpose.

That's where Gibb and I had such a battle. I thought God was so

removed from the whole act of sin and all the issue of evil that he just simply had nothing to do

with it. If that were true, he would be partially sovereign. It's like saying you're almost a father,

or you're almost a man or a woman.

Pharaoh's heart was hardened according to Exodus 4, verse 21, and God had a hand in it.

Romans 9 talks about the same thing.

The hardened hearts of the kings are mentioned in Joshua 11, 16 to 20, and God

had a hand in the hardening of those hearts. Look at Acts 4. It just occurs to me. I didn't

have that down, but Acts 4, 27. I just was looking at this last week at the seminary. Acts 4, 27 to 31.

Boy, it's a great section. This whole early part of Acts, man, it's just, you got guys firing all around them, and they're ducking and they're walking

out in the open, telling about Christ dodging the bullets, and they're going back into their little

place to get together and be encouraged and back out, and they're getting scourged and whipped and threatened and they're back out preaching and they're brought back in,

...