Open your Bibles to Ephesians
chapter 5. Todd, on my message this morning
is fulfilling God's will. Have we done that? Do we seek to do that? Do we
know what that is? Fulfilling God's will. Oh, that
a person would see the holiness and justice and mercy in the
Almighty God. That we would see our sin against
Him. That we come into this world
at complete opposition to the Holy God we offended. Not somebody
else's opposition, our own opposition. Somebody else might have sinned
against Him, but I sinned against Him. Against Thee and Thee only
have I sinned. and that we would see Christ
as the one mediator, the only go-between between God and man,
and that we would hear this either for the first time, you who have
yet to believe on Christ, you have yet to see, that we would
hear this for the first time. Lord, open our ears. Give us
eyes to see Him, hearts to believe Him, or one more time for you
that already know Him. we could see him once again.
I pray we can see this morning some clearly revealed truths
and that we can earnestly ask ourselves a couple of hard, penetrating
questions. Might humble us, might sting
us a little bit, but then that we could see the good news. Here
in Ephesians 5, we'll be in verse 14. Ephesians 5, 14. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give
thee life. Because Christ has spoken unto
the hearts of his people, awakened us, he's quickened us from the
dead, and he's given us life. Because of this, verse 15, See
then that ye walk circumspectly, that means diligently, not as
fools, but is wise, redeeming the time because the days are
evil. Wherefore, because of all this,
wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of
the Lord is. I pray that I would not be a
fool. What does the psalmist say? A fool says, no God. No. That's foolish, isn't it? I pray
that we would be wise. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom in them. And that we would understand
what the will of the Lord is. I was thinking of the resurrection
of Christ while studying this text this week. And some people
say, some may say that it was the will of God to raise Christ
from that sepulcher. That was the Lord's will for
Him to do that. And some may even say, It was the will of
God to bruise Christ, to put Him in that grave. But very few,
very few people will ever enter into the fact, the peace that
comes with the understanding that if anything has happened,
ever, if anything is happening right now, or if anything shall
happen, it was the will of the Lord for it to come to pass.
That's called an almighty, sovereign God. That's God. That's who He is. If it has come
to pass, if it's coming to pass now, or it will come to pass,
it is His will for it to happen. If we could ever enter into that
fact, if the Lord would give us grace to believe that, that
everything takes place, everything is according to His will, The
will of the Lord. What a different mindset we would
have walking through this world, wouldn't it? What a different
mindset we would have interacting with others. That's what Peter
told us. That's stirring up your pure mind. Not that old wicked
mind we was born with. That's our pure mind being stirred
up. If it come to pass, if I breathe my next breath, the Lord did
it. It was His will to do so. Turn back to Ephesians chapter
1. We're going to be turning quite a bit this morning. But
as we read in our text, the Lord says, Awake thou that sleepest.
This will keep us awake, hopefully. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 11. Ephesians 1.11 says, In whom
also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things. A-double-L. All things after the counsel
of His own will. Everything that the Lord does,
everything that comes to pass, is according to the purpose of
the Lord's will. It's according to His will. Most
of the things that happen in our lives, we wish turned out
the other way, don't we? Isn't that how we wake up every
day? Well, I wish it was raining.
I wish it wasn't raining. That's right, isn't it? You ever go
to the grocery store? Boy, I got in the wrong line.
Oh, I should have gotten that one. It's going so much faster. Ever get a cold or an illness?
Ever have someone say a mean word to you? Everything that
happens is according to the purpose and the will of God Almighty.
Only His will will be done. Turn over to Daniel chapter 4.
We've looked at this several times, but it's so warming to
me. Daniel chapter 4, just after
Ezekiel. Nebuchadnezzar, in the eyes of
this world, well, he had a lot, didn't he? He was a wealthy,
mighty king. Oh, he had so much power, so
strong. Something to be envied by most people, wasn't it? big
Nebuchadnezzar. And it was the Lord's will to
humble that man and to bring him to see the true King. completely
humbled, completely bowing to God Almighty. What a blessing! What an eternal blessing it would
be if we were to crawl on all fours, if we were to lose our
minds, I mean, be brought down to the dust that we are, to look
up to Him. Look here in Daniel 4, verse
34. Daniel 4, 34. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto the heaven. That's
what David wrote in Psalm 121. I lift up mine eyes unto the
heavens. We have to be down before we can look up, don't we? lifted
up mine eyes unto the heaven, and mine understanding returned
unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored
Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and His kingdom is from generation to generation." That's everlasting.
How long was Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom? One generation. His
kingdom was until he died, wasn't it? Boy, he came to see that.
The Lord's kingdom is from generation to generation. It's everlasting.
Verse 35, 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, nor say unto Him, What
doest thou? This once mighty king, this strong,
powerful man, he openly to the world and earnestly proclaimed,
only the Lord's will will be done. Not my will, but His will. This is the sovereign, almighty
God of all the universe. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. That's how we were taught to
pray, weren't we? Lord, thy kingdom come, thy will
be done, not mine. Yours. Thy will be done. That's a fact. The Lord's will
is going to be done. That's a fact. It's not up for
discussion. It's not a debatable topic between wise people. The
Lord's will will be done. Now, what is His will for His
people? And have you and I done it? Let's
turn over to Matthew chapter 7. This is where it comes to
us. Matthew chapter 7. The Lord told
us at the end of Matthew that going to all the world, baptizing
in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, you
tell them everything I've told you. You tell them My commandments.
And I am with you always. Matthew chapter 7, verse 21.
Matthew 7.21. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Have I done
the will of the Father? Maybe I've done a lot of good
things, what men in this world call good things. Maybe I've
done what men could call miracles. Maybe I laid my hands on somebody
that had a hurt shoulder, and now all of a sudden they can
move. Maybe I've done something that was just miraculous. Is that doing the will of the
Lord? Doing all these things? Look at verse 22. Many will say
to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy
name? I was a preacher. I was a pastor
of a church, Lord. And in Thy name have we not cast
out devils? And thine aim done many wonderful
works." Boy, haven't we done so much? I, just like that Pharisee
in the temple, I, I fasted. I gave tithes. Haven't I done
these things? Verse 23, and then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Many fools, many unwise people,
those unwise of who God is and those unwise of who we are in
our nature. They build their eternal hope on sand. On sand. They pour a foundation for their
home on quicksand. On their works. Their iniquity.
On what they think is right. Verse 24. Therefore, whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will lock in
him unto a wise man. which buildeth his house upon
a rock." I pray we can see that today. That wisdom is building
our house upon the rock. It's like that angel of the Lord
rolling a stone away. He sat upon the rock. That's
a wise man. What is Christ talking about
here? What did He tell us to do? Look up in verse 1. Matthew
7, verse 1. Here's some penetrating questions
we're going to look at for us. Matthew 7, 1. that ye be not judged. For with
what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. And with what measure
ye meet, it shall be measured to you again. I ask myself, have
I done the will of God? Have I refrained from judging? When the Lord tells us not to
do something, it means don't ever do it. It's not in action, not in the
thoughts of the mind, and not in the spirit. He says, don't
do it. Don't do it. Adam didn't get a verbal warning,
and then a written warning, and then he died spiritually in the
garden, did he? It wasn't progression. The Lord
said, obey my command. Don't eat of the fruit. Not even
once. Not even once. It's easy for
us to say, oh, well, vengeance is the Lord's. The retribution,
the punishment for an act, is the Lord's to dispose of. That's
His business. But the judging of such acts,
that's His as well. All judgment is given to the
Son. All of it. We saw it Wednesday
night. When we pass judgment on one
another, we are sitting in that rightfully earned judgment seat
of Christ. In the body, we may Not do it
out loud. Don't do that. Ah, you shouldn't
do that. Knock that off. We may not do it out loud, but
do we do it in the mind and in the heart? With our mouth closed,
never tell another soul and just say, oh, I wouldn't do that.
Oh, I wish I'd start doing this. Have we ever sat in judgment?
Have I done it today? Have I done it this morning?
Turn over 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. First Thessalonians chapter four. Verse three. First Thessalonians four three. For this is the will of God. Even your sanctification. That
you should abstain from fornication. Us grown-ups, we know what that
word is. It's when two people come together, two adults outside
of marriage. But in the body, physically, walking on this earth,
many is going to abstain from fornication. And they foolishly,
without wisdom, they're proud of it. Look what I've done. Well, I never did that. But what
about the mind? The Lord said if we think it
in our minds, if we do it in our heart, we did it in the body,
didn't we? In our minds, have we ever done that? In our entire
lives? Ever? What about in the spirit? We've
been looking at these words there in Romans, haven't we? Have we
ever, from conception, have we ever been neglectful of that
covenant of grace that the Father made with Christ before time?
Have we ever disregarded it? Have we ever made light of it?
I grew up under the sound of the gospel and I was ready to
fight it tooth and toenail because I had head knowledge. And then
I made a work out of not working. Who could come up with something
like that? A sinful heart will. A child of Adam will. Have I still done this? After
the Lord did a work in me, after He quickened me, after He's awakened
me. Have I not kept a day on purpose?
Not just for the benefit of my brother. We looked at the meets
and the days, weren't we? Not just for benefit of my brothers
and sisters in Christ, but have I done it thinking, well, this
is good, I should do this? Or I should abstain from that?
Turn over 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Just a page there. 1 Thessalonians 5. Verse 18.
1 Thessalonians 5.18, And everything
give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. Do we only give thanks for the
good things or for everything? And all those events in life
that just are full of sadness, oh it gets so sad, full of pain,
hurtful, hurtful times, times that make me angry. Just clench
your fist and grit your teeth together. Do I bow immediately
as that happens and say, Lord, thank you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for this illness. Thank
you for this pain. Thank you for this sorrow that
you've sent. That's the will of God. Have I done that? Turn
over to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John 2, verse 15. 1 John 2, verse 15. Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all
that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. But
he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." Can you and
I say we've rose above loving this world and the things in
it? Have I rose above loving my pride Honestly, in our closets, in
our hearts, have we completely done the will of God and not
lusted after something in this world? Not that it's possible
for me to do it, haven't I done it? And I ask you, is there any
aspect, any, of the Lord's will that any of us have completely
observed and fulfilled? The answer, before you say it
out loud, the answer is no. Not even one thing. We haven't. In Adam's fallen from the will
of the Lord, and every child born of Adam's loins, we have
fallen from the will of God. We've lived contrary to His will
our whole lives. Now, wait a second. Hold on,
preacher. You said that everything happens according to the Lord's
will, and it does. Now, did Adam fallen in the garden,
did that make the Lord reactive? Did he react to Adam? Was he
surprised? Does our sin of not performing
His will, does that spoil and does it confound the Lord's will?
Was the fall of mankind outside of the will of God? Here's where
the good news comes in. We've got to be brought down
like Nebuchadnezzar, don't we? We've got to be humbled, brought down to
the dirt that we are, that we're made from, and look up to the
Lord. Here's the gospel. Turn over
to John chapter 11. John 11, verse 1. Now a certain man was sick named
Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped
His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore
his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest
is sick. And when Jesus heard that, He
said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God,
that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus
loved Martha. He loved her sister and He loved
Lazarus. And when he had heard, therefore,
that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place
where he was. Because our Lord loved those
three siblings, because He loved them, He waited two more days. He waited for Lazarus to die. That's what He's waiting. Look
at verse 14, John 11, 14. And said, Jesus, unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead. But I thought Christ said this
sickness wasn't unto death. It wasn't. Look here in verse
41. John 11, 41. Then they took away the stone
from the place where the dead was laid, and Jesus lifted up
His eyes and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me.
And I knew that thou hearest me always, but because of the
people which stand by, I said it, that they may believe that
thou hast sent me. And when he had thus spoken,
he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead
came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face
was bound with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, loose
him, let him go. in the goodwill and pleasure
of the Lord, the Almighty God. He allowed Lazarus to die. He died according to His will. Why did that happen? Why did
Lazarus fall? Why did he die? Look up in verse
4 again. The end of verse 4. But for the
glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Do we see this picture of Lazarus
in the garden? We understand that. God was not
the creator or the performer of man's sins, but in His permissive
will, He allowed that to happen. Just as Christ allowed, He waited
two days, allowed Lazarus to die. Let him go into the grave.
He stunk. And He did it for the Father
and the Son to be glorified and for the benefit of His people.
Why did Lazarus die, physically, the first time? Why did he die?
Sin. Anybody got wrinkles? You know
what that is? Anybody ever sneezed? You ever
been sick, ever? Are you going to die in this
world? Do you know why? Sin. Why did Adam die? Sin. Sin. How do we know that for
sure? That mankind's fall was completely
according to the Lord's permissive will. Before God allowed the
first man to fall, that mortally innocent man He created in the
garden, before He took His hand off of him and allowed him to
fall, before He made that first man from red dirt, before He
made this earth that we're standing on now, He provided a Savior
before it ever happened. Before there was ever a sinner
in need of a sacrifice for the remission of their sins, there
was a sacrifice made. Before God ever told Adam, this
is my will, this is my commandment. Do not sin against it. He provided
Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the
world. We see that picture here. And because of the love of Christ
for Lazarus and his sisters, he waited two more days for their
benefit Those around benefit. And for the benefit of His sheep
that would hear Him raise Lazarus from the dead and see it. And
for the glory of the Father and for Christ's glory." This man dying just as the sands
of the sea. We all fell on Adam and the Lord
has a people to make just like Christ. Turn over to Matthew
18. Matthew 18. This whole world,
His will is for His glory and our benefit. Matthew 18, verse
11. For the Son of Man has come to
save that which was lost. How thank He if a man have a
hundred sheep and one of them be gone astray. Doth he not leave
the ninety and nine, and go into the mountains, and seeketh that
one which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it,
who found that sheep? He found it. Verily I say unto
you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and
nine which went not astray. Even so, it is not the will of
your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones
should perish. He won't lose a one. Not one
of His children will perish. He will find them and they'll
be great rejoicing. That's what He said in Luke 15.
There is joy in the presence of angels of God over one sinner
that repenteth. One that He latches on to and
turns, turns to Him, puts Him on His shoulder and carries Him
back. knowing that the will of God shall come to pass. We know
that whatever is not the will of God shall not come to pass. It can't come to pass. What is
not His will? That one of His little ones should
perish. That's good news. That's good
news. He sought us when we wouldn't
seek Him. He found us when we had no interest
in Him, when we were enemies with Him. And He brought us to
Himself. and He'll sustain us for eternity. Peter said, the Lord is not slack
concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering
to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. He will bring every one of them
to Him. How then can a sinner that cannot
do the will of the Lord, that cannot do anything by our nature
to please God, How can we be worthy to enter into the Lord's
presence? Turn over to John 6. John 6. Verse 37. John 6, 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not through my own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all
which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the
last day." Our Redeemer is saying here, my people could not do
the will of God. And Him, as that propitiation,
that acceptable blood sacrifice, the worthy blood atonement, Christ
will perform all of the will of the Father on behalf of His
people given Him before time. All of it. Even the things we
don't even know. He said, Lo, I come in the volume
of the book that is written of me to do thy will, O God. This entire book before us, that
book in your laps, its entire volume, it's written of Christ. He did God's will. He performed
it. He completed it. He accomplished
it. Never read the Scriptures. Never go to the Bible and look
for something to do. You're going to stay busy. Look
for what's been done. Look for what's been accomplished.
Turn over Romans chapter 8. Our Master said, They cannot
do Your will, so I will do it for them. They cannot please
You, Father, so I will please You for them. Romans 8 verse
3. For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh. That law given to us is
just our schoolmaster. That's a hired servant by the
father to take the children to school. Make sure they get there. That law was weak in the flesh.
It can't make us holy. It can't sanctify us. It can't redeem us. But it can
show us that we're unredeemable in ourselves. That we're unholy
in this nature that we walk in and point us only to Christ that
is. And that it was weak in the flesh God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. condemning sin in
the flesh, that the righteousness of the law, and all the commandments,
and all the precepts, and the attitude that was possessed when
they were completed, when it was accomplished, might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.
Why did Christ come in the flesh and was made a sacrifice for
our sin? So that he would glorify the
Father that sent him, and the Father would glorify the Son
who accomplished it. and that His people would be
saved. Call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people. That's
what He came to do. Turn to Galatians 1. I'll let
you go. Galatians chapter 1. Galatians 1 verse 3. Grace be to you and peace from
God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself
for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world
according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory
forever and ever. Amen. Everything, I wish I could enter
into that. Everything required of a sinner
to be in the presence of a holy God, everything is fulfilled
in Christ. He fulfilled it for His people,
every bit of it. If we could truly be humbled
and see Him, what He's done for us, the sacrifice, Him shedding
His own blood for the remission of our sins, making us holy,
giving us His righteousness, Him taking my sin, bearing me,
On that cross. Knowing I can't perform the will
of God, and He performed it for me. What a debt of love. That's what we looked at first
on. I ought to serve Him, shouldn't
I? Well, that's the desire of any
child of God. We pray as we're taught. Lord,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Lord, give us
this day our daily bread. Lord, let me see Christ today.
Let me see the one that saved me. Let me see the one that performed
your will perfectly for eternity on my behalf, my substitute.
Let me see him today. How do you and I know that this
sacrifice of Christ really did make atonement? How did it make
at-one-ment? How did it reconcile us to the
God that we offended? How do we know that God the Father
is satisfied with that? He is risen. We have an empty
tomb. We don't have a sepulcher full
of dead men's bones. There's an empty tomb. There's
a great number of witnesses to this, weren't there? A good bit
of money was paid to those guards at the tomb to lie about it.
And this world observes the day each year to proclaim that Christ
was victorious over that tomb. What they don't understand, He
was victorious over sin, death, and hell for His people. It was
accomplished. The will of the Father was performed. He was satisfied. I pray someday
someone today, maybe, would truly know that the will of the Lord
was completed in His Son. The Father was glorified in it. The Son was glorified by being
seated on His throne above. The Lordship of Christ is magnified
in it. And with that happening, His
people are saved. We're given His robe of righteousness. What grace! What good news! Unless you cling to your own
robes of righteousness, that's good news. I did something. I'm going to hold on to this.
Look what I did. Oh, I pray you make us lay down our arms. Lay down those grave clothes
and cling to His feet just as those disciples did. He said,
whosoever, whoever you are, wherever you're from, whatever your lineage
is, whosoever calls on His name shall be saved. Lay down all
your care on Him. Bow to Him. Look up to Him. Because He's finished the work. It's been completed. Amen.