Hebrews chapter 10. The title
of the message just jumped out at me today when I started reading
Hebrews 10 again. And I read verse 10. It said, By the witch will we
are sanctified. And that's what I titled the
message. Witch will. Man has been at war with God. over whose will is going to prevail. And this is the root, I believe,
of so many problems, is a will problem. In the home, in communities,
between nations, it's whose will is going to prevail. Some are
so bold as to advertise their free will. free will Baptist
they call themselves free will Baptist however one cannot read the Word
of God and not see that God's will is
supreme over all and that God's will is the best will it's God's
will it's God's will this shows you how depraved and ungodly
and dead we have to be to really desire our will to be done over
God's will. That's amazing. But God's will
is supreme. Look at what happened to Satan
when he tried to go against God's will over in Isaiah 14. Turn
over to Isaiah 14. in Isaiah 14. Look at verse 13. Look at verse 12. How art thou
fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou
cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations? For
thou hast said in thine heart, I will. So here's the problem,
starts with the will. I will ascend into heaven. I
will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also
upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like
the Most High God. And God says, yet thou shall
be brought down to hell to the side of the pit. Satan said,
I will, I will, I will. And God said, no, you're not.
No, you're not. I'm going to bring you down to
hell. I'm going to put you in hell, is what he's going to do. But let's look here first at
man's will, and then we'll take a look at God's will. Man has
a will. He has a will. Man's will is
a human will. which ought to tell us how limited
it is. And it tells us how weak it is. We are going to see, when we
look at God's will, that whatever He wills, He brings to pass.
You know, in creation, God willed to create. Then what did He do?
He made it happen. He commanded it to happen by
His will. Man's will is depraved. from
the man from the top of his head to the sole of his feet. The
scripture says there is no soundness in him. After God gives you an
understanding of the gospel, you realize that applies to you
too. That applies to me too. It doesn't just apply to them
out there. I realized when I heard the gospel that there was not
one thing about me that was good, there was no soundness in me
whatsoever. That that scripture applied to
me. It applied to me first. To me first. There's nothing
about man that is not depraved. None good, no not one. Not one. And that being so, how can man's
will, how can he will anything good? If there's nothing good
about me, how in the world can I will anything that's good?
It's not possible. It's not possible. Man's will always leads him to
darkness. Always leads him to darkness.
Our Lord said this, and ye will not," here's the first problem,
you will not, you will not, come to me that you might have life. There was a time that every person
in this room would not have anything to do with Jesus Christ. You
will not come to me if God had not drawn you with cords of love,
if God had not arrested you by His grace, you and I would not
come to Christ. We wouldn't do it. The scripture says in John 3,
19, men love darkness rather than light. Men are drawn to
darkness like a bug is drawn to the light. You know, I can
be out on the porch out here. I think he's got a bug zapper
down there. And I can hear the thing go,
bzz, bzz. There goes another one. Them bugs, them mosquitoes,
they're drawn to the light. They're drawn to that light.
And that's exactly the way men are. Men and women. We are drawn
to darkness. We're drawn to it. It just pulls
us like a magnet pulls metal. Man's will is his greatest problem. It's his greatest problem. It
got him in trouble in the Garden of Eden. Adam, when he looked,
when Eve brought that fruit, I called an apple, I don't know
what it was, but she brought that fruit, they looked at it,
they saw how it was good, good for food, to make one wise, and
it was his will that got him in trouble. It was Adam's will
that got him in trouble. Man's will always leads to darkness.
Listen to Paul. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. Now
if a saved man has this problem, how much more a lost man who
has not the Holy Spirit in him to help him overcome indwelling
sin. A lost man is always looking
for ways to fulfill the lust of his flesh, not mortify it. It's not our will to go after
righteousness. It's not our will to go after
God. Our will is to go after that
which satisfies this flesh. That's the will of man. Christ
said to the Pharisees, You are of your father the devil, and
the lust of your father you will do. The Lord said, let another come
in his name and you will hear him. You will hear him. Why is it? Why is it we have such a hard
time controlling our appetites? You know why I can't stay on
a diet? I can tell you exactly why. I don't have the willpower. How many times have you said
that? I just don't have the willpower to do it. I don't have the willpower
to do that. That's why we can't control our
appetites. We don't have the willpower.
Sooner or later, it overcomes us. Sooner or later, it'll overcome
us. Yet men and women believe that
they have the willpower to be saved. They have the willpower
to lift themselves out of the pit. They don't have it. Why is the
alcoholic an alcoholic? He doesn't have the willpower
to stop. It overcomes him. And he just
can't do it. He just can't overcome it. And
you can apply that to anything that a person has a problem with.
They just don't have the power to do it. Man cannot will anything
to happen. I cannot will anything to go
away. Leave me alone. I can't do it.
Listen to this scripture. In Lamentations 3.37, Who is
he that saith and it cometh to pass when the
Lord commands it not." Who among the sons of men can
command anything to happen if God hasn't commanded it to happen?
None. None. Lamentations 3.37. Man
is lost He's depraved and he cannot will
above what he is. He is what he is. And I tell
you what, every man and woman's will is controlled by their nature.
The nature controls what we do. Now there may be things I will,
I won't do that again. I will not do that again. I used
to tell my mom that when she'd give me a whipping. She'd be
switching me and I'd be dancing around. And I would say, I promise
I will not do it again. I won't do it again. I won't
do it again. And I did. And I got another whipping. And
I said the same thing. And she whipped me and I got
it again. I never had the willpower not
to do it again. When I thought she wasn't looking
or I wasn't going to get caught, I did it again. That's us by
nature. That's who we are. We cannot
will above our nature no more than a leopard can change its
spots. It's just who we are. Our nature controls us. Now let's
look at God's will. It gets better. It gets better. God has a will. God has a will,
and it's not subject to man's will. It's not subject to our
will. At any time, at any time, God's will is never, ever subject
to any of his creatures. Never. Men act as though God's
will is second to their will. Now here's something I thought
of today. It came to my mind, and this is so true. I've heard
this said before, that God does not want to violate, God will
not violate our wills. But you know what? We don't have
any problem violating His. Do we? We say God doesn't violate
our will, but we turn right around and we violate His continually. At least we think we do. God's will is sovereign. It says
in Daniel 435, and I could have written a whole bunch of scriptures
on this one, God's will is sovereign, and all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand, or saying to him, what
doest thou, what are you doing? The Scripture says, He giveth
no account of any of His matters. No account. God's will is a sovereign
will. You know, God saved us, all who
believe here, all who believe the Gospel. God has saved us
by His sovereign will. Of His own will begat He us with
the Word of Truth. Of His own will. Others, He's
passed by. Others, He's left alone and didn't leave you alone. Why? Well, the Lord said, even
so, Father, it seemed good in your sight. It was not His will
to leave us alone. Not His will. All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing before God. He doeth continually according
to His will in heaven and in earth. And God's will is a divine
will. Man's will is human. Very limited. Very limited. Extremely limited. But God's will is a divine will.
That alone ought to tell us how far His will is above our will.
His ways are so far above our ways. His will is so far above
our... We couldn't understand God's
will. You notice when you read in the book of Job, when God
began to speak to Job, He told him to stand up and gird himself
up like a man, and I'll demand of thee. He didn't explain anything
to Job. We don't read in the book of
Job where God explains to Job why he did what he did. He just
says, stand up, and I'll demand of you, I'm gonna give you some
questions, and if you answer me, Job, and what God did, God
showed his greatness, and Job came to understand that he didn't
understand. Job came to understand that God's
way and God's will is so far above, that it was so far above
him that he couldn't comprehend it. If God were to explain to
me why he does what he does over the years with my life, you think
I could comprehend that with this peanut brain? No. God's will is intelligent. God is a God of knowledge. He's all wise. This tells me
that His will is the best. It's the best. It's divine. It's with intelligence. It's
with all knowledge, all understanding. There cannot be a better will
for me or you. Then God's will is good. He can
do no wrong. Everything God wills is right.
You know, everything that God wills, I mean, from the smallest
to the greatest, from all that goes on on this earth that we
can't begin to comprehend, God wills it. He either permits it,
or He directly brings it to pass. But whatever He does is good. It's good. He can will no wrong. that everything God wills is
after the counsel of His own will. How much counsel have you really
sat down and really sat down and thought about, meditated
on, and then made a decision? Usually our decisions are made
like that. And if we do sit down and think about it, meditate
on it, it's still very limited knowledge that we have. It's
still very limited. But everything God wills is after
the counsel of His own will. He wills nothing on the spur
of the moment. Nothing. Nothing. You know this hurricane just
went through, and one went through a couple weeks ago? That God
willed that before the world began? Before the world began,
God willed those storms to come right through here. To do the
people that... There was one here in North Carolina.
Tree fell on the car. Killed the guy. Now is that an
accident? That's exactly what God will. That's exactly what He will.
Everything that's happening right now is according to God's will.
Everything. People all get all tore up and
just being out of shape over what's going on. It's going according
to God's will. I'm telling you, it's bringing
to pass the very purpose of God that He purposed before the world
began in the Lord Jesus Christ. What you and I are watching day
by day is the unfolding of God's will. Providence is the unfolding of
the will of God. That's what it is. It's like the handwriting on
the wall. I was reading today in a book. They were talking
about, I guess, the old train stations. That there'd be some
man standing behind the glass. You couldn't see him, but they
would write with a metallic pen on the window, the time the train
was to be there and the time it would depart. You couldn't
see the person until you see the handwriting. And I thought
when I read that, I thought, that's the providence. That's
like providence. It's like day by day, we watch the handwriting
of God. That's what we see. What you experienced today, and
what I experienced today, was the will of God. That's what
we've experienced. Listen, in Ephesians 1.11, In
whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh, continually worketh,
moment by moment worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will." Everything working to bring about his purpose and
his counsel. And then God's will is a mystery
until he reveals it. It says in Ephesians 1, 9, have
him made known unto us the mystery of his will. The mystery. According to his good pleasure.
You know, God revealed the gospel to you because it was his good
pleasure to do so. The gospel is a mystery until
God makes it known to you. How God saves sinners. How God
can be a just God and a Savior. How God can have anything to
do with a wretch like me is a mystery until God reveals the gospel.
Until He commands the light of His glory to shine in your heart.
And you can see God's glory. You can understand how God can
save sinners in Jesus Christ. You can understand it. But until
then, it's a mystery. It's a mystery. And then, God's will shall be
done. You know, there's a lot of things
I'd like to do. There's a lot of things I can
say I will to do. I will to do them, but that don't
mean anything. It doesn't mean anything. You
and I have learned to say, if the Lord will. Me and Tom, you
know, we went fishing. I met him up there fishing this
weekend, had a great time. And he said, look, we got to
do this every year. And we said, if the Lord will. We both knew to say, if the Lord
will, we'll do this again. Because as much as I want to
do it, I have no clue whether that'll ever happen or not. But
God does. God does. Listen to this scripture in Acts
21-14, and when he would not be persuaded, they're trying
to persuade Paul to not go to Jerusalem, and when he would
not be persuaded, we see saying, the will of the Lord be done. That's the way to leave a conversation,
isn't it? That's the way to leave it. In Isaiah 46-10, it says,
My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure. I will do all my pleasure. And
then God's will cannot be annulled. You see, my mind can. Something
could come up and I got to change plans. I got to make a change
of plans. But not God. Not our God. It says in Romans 9, 19, Thou
wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault for who hath
resisted his will? Who can stop his will? The will of God cannot be put
in check by men. Turn back to Isaiah 14. The Lord of Hosts, verse 24,
Isaiah 14, 24. The Lord of Hosts hath sworn,
saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass, and
as I have purposed, so shall it stand. Now look down at verse
27. For the Lord of Hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul
it? And his hand is stretched out,
and who shall turn it back? No one, no one can disannul the
will of God. No one can change it. No one. Look over in Job 42, over here
in Job chapter 42. Job says in Job 42, 2, I know
that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden
from thee. But I know that thou canst do
everything. Nothing can stop you. Nothing
can stop God. If it's his will to do something,
It's going to be done. It's going to be done. Now I'm
going to close with God's will concerning His children. The
time of your birth was according to God's will.
Why was I born on October the 11th? It's the will of God. It's the
will of God. Your parents Your parents is
according to God's will. I didn't just happen to be born
to Daryl and Charlotte Chapman. It was God's will for them to
be my parents. The place I was born is according
to God's will. You've got some kids that are
born in poverty. Then you have some that's born
in a palace over there in England. You have some that's born to
riches and some that's born to poverty. And you know every bit of that
is according to God's will. Every bit of that is according
to God's will. I had no will in the matter of
my birth, my parents, place I was born, the color of my skin, whether
I was born white or black, that was God's will. Whether I was
born yellow or red, that's God's will. That's God's will. I had
nothing to do with that. Nothing to do with it. And the
time of our death is according to God's will. You ever stop and wonder when
you're gonna die? You're gonna die when God's will has, the
time of God's will has come. That's it. It says in Psalm 3115, David
says this, my times are in thy hand. It doesn't matter how healthy
I eat. Now I might live, you know, I
might live a little more healthy as far as that goes,
being, you know, my health, some of it anyway, the way I eat and
exercise, but the time of my death is at hand. It's in His
hands. And the way I die is according
to God's will. You know, I remember Henry saying
this one time years ago. He said, the car in Detroit may
be on this assembly line being made that's going to take my
life. The way I die is according to
the will of God. And God has chosen every one
of our deaths. Some it may be by sickness, some
it may be an accident, I don't know. Some young, some old. It's according to God's will.
And I'm glad it's so. I'm glad it's just not left out
there to, I'm glad it's according to God's will. You know, scripture
says it is appointed unto me and wants to die." There's an
appointment for every person that comes into this world. There's
a time to be born and a time to die. And that time is appointed
of God Almighty. And all that will ever happen
to me and you in our life is according to the will of God.
Now there are things that happen that we can't comprehend. things
that happen, and I know you say this, because I said it, everything
that's happened to us, and I said, why? But I've learned this, just trust
Him. And I'll probably say why again
someday, but I say this, just trust Him. But everything that
comes into our lives, no matter how difficult it is, He may bless
us with riches and He may put us into poverty. But there's nothing that happens
to a child of God that's not according to the will of God. And if it happens to the child
of God, it's for our good. And that's on a whole other level. That's on a whole nother level. Listen to what, just tell me
what you read this over in Job 23, because this is one of those
scriptures that sticks with me. Job chapter 23. In Job, I mean, pages apart. Job 23, let me read verse 13 first. But
he that is God, but God is in one mind, and who can turn him? And what his soul desireth, even
that he doeth. Now listen, this is the one that
just stays with me. For he performeth the thing that
is appointed for me, Your whole life, I mean to the second, has
been designed by God. Everything's appointed. I mean
everything is appointed. For He performeth the thing that
is appointed for me, and many such things are with Him. This
is not just it. This is not the end. Many things
that concern me is with Him. appointed for me, and he will
see to it that it comes to pass." He'll see to it. Nothing, what's
this saying? Absolutely nothing is left to
chance. Nothing. Here's the believer's attitude
concerning God's will over in 1 Thessalonians 5.18. Turn over
there. I've written all these down,
but it's good for you to see them. Maybe you can mark them and look
at it later. Here's the believer's attitude
concerning God's will. Whatever it is he sends our way.
In verse 18. Second, what did I say? First
Thessalonians. 518, in everything give thanks, for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Whatever
it is, whatever it is, the Apostle is saying here, give
thanks. Because, and here's why, for
this is the will of God. Whatever it is going on, this
is the will of God Christ Jesus concerning you. You. As if you were the only one existing. As if you only had the full attention
of God. That's the believer's attitude. And then here in verse 10, I'm
gonna close. Back in Hebrews 10. by the witch will, God's will,
God's sovereign will concerning you is this, is that
you are sanctified through the offering, that's the means, the
body of Jesus Christ, He's the means. This is how we're sanctified,
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
It was God's will to choose you, to make you holy, and to bring
you into His eternal presence, and to give you the kingdom,
as the Lord said, enter into the kingdom prepared for you
by my Father. It's His will, your sanctification,
God's choice of you, making you holy, bringing you into His presence,
is according to the will of God. The cross of Christ is not a
rescue attempt. It's on purpose. It's on purpose. It's to bring a multitude of
sinners into glory. And God's making them just like
His Son. And then God's will is singular. It's singular. Job 23, 13. But he is in one mind, and who
can turn him? And what his soul desireth, even
that he doeth. Our God is never caught between
two ways of doing a thing. You know, you ever find yourself
thinking, which way shall I go? Which way shall I go? God has never been in that position.
However God does something is the only way it can be done.
It can't be done any other way. That's it. He's in one mind and
who can turn Him? What His soul desires, even that
He doeth. And God's will is immutable.
He'll never change. He will never change His will.
If it's God's will to save you, that will never change. You can't
change it. Satan can't change it. It cannot
be changed. Listen, Malachi 3.6, For I am
the Lord, I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. That's why you're not in hell.
That's why I'm not in hell, because God doesn't change. His will
to save me in Christ will never change. Never. You and I have a good reason
to rejoice in the will of God, and we really have a good reason
to say, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We can say with full confidence,
every believer here can say with full confidence, knowing, knowing that God's will is the best will.
Even though I can't comprehend why he puts me through what he
puts me through, gives me what he gives me, I don't know. But
I do understand this, the Lord's will is the best. And we can
say with confidence, thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven,
in my house, in my house, as it is in heaven. Okay.