Turn to 1 Peter if you would. And let me read two verses for you from the Psalms. Psalms, our first one, the very first psalm that the Lord inspired to be written. Blessed. Blessed. We're talking about blessings that come from the Lord Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 1, verse 3, it says all heavenly blessings come from Him. Folks, if it wasn't for the Lord Jesus, God could not even look upon us as Brother Mike brought out in the Bible study. We are full of sin from the top of our heads to the bottom of our feet.

That's just the way we are in this world. Not one parent has ever had to teach their children not to tell the truth. If I were to ask, how many of you, how many of your parents taught you to lie? Not one hand would go up. It comes natural to us. Sinners are not what we do, it's what we are. Blessed. God's Word says there's a people who are blessed. Not all mankind is condemned to death. Some of them will spend an eternity with the Lord Jesus forever, praising His names, walking on the promises of God.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." Don't hang out with those who don't believe in the truth. Don't walk spiritually with those who don't believe in the truth.

My mom used to go out and have lunch with this group of ladies from all kinds of different churches, Catholics, Mormons, Methodists, Protestants, Presbyterians, it didn't matter. And she said, I asked her, I said, how can you have communion with these folks?

Obviously, you're gathering together in some kind of a religious gathering. You're all from a church of some kind. You're all getting together. You're talking about scriptures from this and that. How can you get along with somebody who doesn't agree with you?

If you believe that Jesus Christ is your Savior, if God has given you the gift of faith to believe Him, then you believe this, that that's the only place He can come from. It's from Him. It's a gift of Him, as it says in Ephesians chapter 2. So blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Now, listen to these words over in Acts chapter 15.

Let me turn over there real quick and just read a couple of words here for you. I forgot to put the verses down on my notes. Well, we'll go along without that. Now, a statement from a previous message was made, and the statement goes like this, God does not want. Period. There's no discussion about that. To those who know the God of scriptures, you know that God does not want. It was brought into question Somebody said, wait a minute, John. Hold on just a moment here.

Does not God want his people to walk in his light? Does not God want his chosen to walk in his ordinances and statutes as we read in scriptures earlier today? Is that not God wanting us to walk a certain way? Hold on, before you say that God does not want, we need to look at this and examine this.

So that's what I'm going to do this morning. The words were actually put this way. When God tells His people to do something, is He communicating His will for us? Now, there's a little bit of difference to what that means and what the word want means, and we'll get to that in just a moment. He said, is He declaring as a Father what He desires of His children? Can you relate to what I'm saying? Can you relate to this statement? I can. I understand exactly what's being said here. And so far everything is right on, but I'm going to show you something. I want to show you something.

Does He want us to obey, to honor and glorify Him with our obedience in Christ? Does He even go as far as to implore, beg for His people to obey His Word? Look with me, if you would, at 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. Two verses, 11 and 12, and actually there's quite a bit more here. telling us here in verses 11 and 12. Dearly Beloved, what Peter is writing, he's talking to the people of God, he's calling, as we know from 1 Peter chapter 1, he's speaking of the elect, the chosen of God, he says, Dearly Beloved, I beseech you, now this is Peter, I'm begging you, I'm beseeching you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Is not Peter, under the inspiration of the Spirit, imploring us to abstain from fleshly lusts?

He most certainly is. There's no question about that. Absolutely. Every minister of God, every minister of God who would not implore that the flock abstain from sin, who would not be, they would not be a minister of God if they didn't. I often encourage you to be ye holy. How many times have you heard me say from this pulpit, be ye holy. Be ye holy for our God is holy. Walk in righteousness. Walk in the ways of our God and this world will be a much better place for you. Our Lord tells us that over and over and over in His Word. Walk as you can in the ways of God. Walk according to his instructions.

Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. But if one leaves you there, if we stop with that implore, if we stop with that beg, then we have severely failed God's people, haven't we? If I send you out of this room this morning with nothing but instructions on your mind on how you're supposed to walk in this world, you're going to go out that door and sometime or another you're going to find out, I can't do it. You're going to fall flat on your face because that's what we are. We're sinners. It doesn't get any better in this flesh. I've said it before. When the Lord called me out of darkness and I saw the truth of what I am before God, it got worse. It got worse. It didn't get better. Here's what gets better is I stop looking at John and all the failures that I have in me and I look to the one who doesn't fail.

I look to my Savior who does it perfectly for me. My substitute who has not only walked this earth in perfect righteousness, who not only became sin, my sin, because he didn't sin of his own, he became sin that I would become the righteousness of God in him alone. You see, the error in this question is being brought to me, does God want is that we want to make God out to be like us.

We take our eyes off of the majesty, the perfection, the holiness of God. We take our eyes off of that. And we think, well, maybe He's a little bit like us. He's not! He's so perfect He cannot even look upon you on man. without the blood of His Son in place of it. Without the blood of His Son covering our sins. Without the blood of His Son washing us white as snow.

In the 50th Psalm, verse 21, our Lord says this. He inspired the psalmist to write this. It says, Thou thoughtest that I... Now He's speaking to the people of God. You taught us that I was altogether such as one as thyself. We love a God that is easily manipulated as we are. Yeah, that's right. You think you're strong? Oh, nobody ever manipulates me. It doesn't take long watching our news today and you get manipulated real, real quick. We love a God that is easily manipulated as we are.

The fact that Christ is 100% man in the flesh must not take away that He is also 100% God as well. The word wants appears 30 times in scriptures. And every time it refers to men. Not one time in the Holy Word of God does the word want ever apply to God. The word wants appears two times. Wants with an F appears two times, and both of those times it refers to men. The word wanting appears seven times in scriptures, and again it's referring to man.

This is the problem with our generation. We tend to think of God as men wanting. See, we're so weak in this flesh, we don't even realize that we want all the time. Come about 2 o'clock, John Rhys is going to be hungry and he's going to want to eat. You know, there's people in the world who want to eat, and sometimes can't because there's no food. There's always want in us as humans.

Doesn't matter what it is, where you're at in life, what are you at in this world, there is always want in man. But there is no want in the one who has created and made everything according to his purpose. The Old Testament word is koser, K-H-O apostrophe S-E-R. And here's what it means. It means poverty, lacking, fail. Now I'm reading these slow because I want these words to sink into you.

Haven't you ever thought of that? I mean, it's actually a very reasonable question that was asked of me. Does not God want us to walk in His shoes, in His ways? Is He not instructing us because He wants us to? That's a very natural thing for man in the flesh to have.

But let me show you some things here. That word means lacking, fail, decrease, make lower. In the New Testament, it's almost the same word. It's Hustero. It's Greek. That's the best I can do is pronounce it. You're not the only one who has trouble pronouncing Greek. It's Greek to me. Which means Pretty much everything it does in the Old Testament, but it had one difference that really caught me, and it's falling short. You see, when we want something, it's because we fall short of it. So we wonder, well, God gives us the instructions to walk in His path. Is He not wanting? Man is found wanting in all that he does.

My dad, Calvin Samuel Ellis, and I have to state that because I had a father who brought me into this world, but my dad, the one I call dad, the one who deserved to be called dad, he was, he's what they call a perfectionist. You know, have you ever been around a perfectionist? interesting thing, they will go to whatever they can to make sure something is as perfect as they can get it. And I remember a time when Dad took me off to the side and we were talking about that.

He was trying to teach me something about working with wood and sanding down. And I'm not a perfectionist. That's good enough for me. Let's go to the next thing. So he's like, son, you really got to do this right, or it's going to turn up like this chair over here, which is falling apart. This is what your chair is going to look like if you don't sand it down and resurface it the way you're supposed to. Now, this is the right way to do it. And I was like, I know, I know.

He goes, I'm a perfectionist. And he admitted to me when I was in my late teens, he goes, John, my greatest burden, and he knew the Lord, my greatest burden in this world is trying to get everything as perfect as I can. If I would just turn things over to Christ, knowing that he's done it perfectly for me, I would have so much less trouble. If you're a perfectionist, And you're young, try to do that now rather than later. When he said it was a burden to him, he was crying. I think that's probably the only time I ever saw my dad cry. It was his greatest burden because he always came up wanting. Lacking. As it is in scripture, God is not wanting in anything. What he desires, as our brother Mike brought out, what he desires, he wills. God's not waiting for us to do something to save his people.

The lamb that was slain from before the foundation of the world. That means all the way before. He was known. He knew what he was going to do. Just like he said, there's no plan B here. There's never been a plan. Folks, this is plan A. Exactly what you are going through right now today. Exactly where you are in this world. This is plan A and it's perfect. It's exactly how our God has purposed it to be. I know, I know it's not easy, is it? It's tough. Not only do we have the sorrows that we go through in this world, not only that, but we also have the wickedness that wells up inside of us. The things inside.

Turn over to Isaiah 14, if you would. Turn over to Isaiah 14. In Psalms 140, our Lord says this. He says, keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from the violent men who have purposed to overthrow my goings. Now look with me, if you would, at Isaiah 14, verse 24. Isaiah 14, verse 24.

The Lord of hosts has sworn, and we're talking about a God who does not want, who has no need of what we call, as men, the word want. The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, surely, as I have thought, Catch that? As His mind has thought, as He has thought of this or thought of that, so shall it come to pass. And as I have purposed, so shall it stand.

Now, look at verses 26 and 27. If that one verse wasn't good enough for you, here's two more. This is the purpose that is purposed, verse 26, upon the whole earth, and this is the hand It is stretched out upon all the nations, for the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

Think about this for a minute. Let me just read some other verses for you, instead of having you turn to them. Isaiah 19, verse 12. Where are they? Where are the wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt."

Do you think Egypt, when the Lord destroyed the army out there, was it just a fluke? Was it just an accident? Or did the Lord purpose for Israel to be bound up in bondage for 400 years to be released by God's power in the day of His power when He crossed the Jordan, There's no question, is there? Man couldn't have had anything to do with that, could they? Could we do anything with separating the walls of water that were there just a moment ago and now there's dry land for people to walk across? Not only that, but turned it right back to mud as soon as they were all across? of Christ saving His people. If you mix anything of man's works with it, you have destroyed the grace of God. It's either saved by grace or you're not saved at all.

Listen to Isaiah 23 verse 9. The Lord of hosts hath purposed it to stain the pride of all glory and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. Or how about this, let me look at this one over here in Isaiah 46.11.

Isaiah 46.11, I should have stayed over there, I knew I was coming back.

Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel, From a far country, yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also do it. Over in Jeremiah chapter 4, we read a similar verse to that. Let me jump over there for you real quick. In chapter 4 verse 28, For this shall the earth mourn, and the heaven above be black, because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn my back from it."

Now, where in Scripture do we see God's will or purpose left wanting? Turn over to Exodus. Exodus chapter 20. That's the first four books of the Bible. Exodus, you'll recall, is right after Genesis, and that's when the Lord took Israel out of Egypt. And look at Exodus chapter 20. Beginning at verse 1. Exodus chapter 20, beginning at verse 1. And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Does that sound like an instruction of God? It does to me. Sounds like the Lord's telling me. He's telling me. Just like our brother Mike's brought out in his Bible study, folks, this is not a request. See, a request is something you want. Would you please do this? Would you mind doing this? This is a commandment.

If you don't do this, if you have another God, for whatever time, I don't care if it's for five minutes, if you think of yourself as God, which most of us come into this world doing, for even for just a moment, you have sinned against God and deserve the wrath of God to be put upon you.

You shall have no other God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any kind that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Our Lord is telling us right now, you know, all of you folks, you got those crosses you put around your neck? I got no problems with people wearing jewelry.

But if that cross is something that you grab a hold of thinking you're praying to God on, you're mistaken. You're grabbing a hold of something of this earth that you think you can hold on to, and that's not true at all. If it's just a pretty piece of jewelry, great. If you've got a picture of some long-haired hippie on your wall, hanging up on your wall, and you look to that picture. Now, if it's just a picture, and the guy's good looking, Okay, that's alright. But if you're looking at that picture in any way like it's something special, you've taken a piece of this world and you've put it in the place of your God and you're looking to that. Folks, you want to look at our God? It's right here.

This is the God of all creation, right here in this book. No graven images, no images of any kind in the likeness of heaven. Verse 5, for thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children for the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. When have you ever kept the commandments of God?

Oh, I do a little bit. That's not enough. Thank God that He looked down through time and chose this one and chose that one and chose this one and said, you know what? I love these. These are ones for whom God the Father gave me. And I love them with my whole heart and I will become flesh. Prepare a body for me as it's spoken of in Hebrews chapter 9, I think it is. Prepare a body. I'll take that body and I'll walk the earth and I will take all the sins of my people. And folks, there's so many that you can't even count them. It's only a remnant.

According to all of the population between time zero and whenever the Lord returns, that's what He's talking about when He says, for God to love the world. He loved His people, all of His people throughout all time. From every tongue, every nation, every tribe. So much so that He had determined to come to this world and lay down His life that we might live with God for eternity.

Do you catch the expression of love that I'm giving to you that God has for his people? It's not a love that says, well, if you go out in the street and play, I can't do anything about it. It's a love that says, no! You're mine! I've done I've paid the price for what you are. You will be Mine, and you will sit with Me in Heaven, the Lord says, to all of His children forever, for an eternity, praising our God for His love for us. That is the God of purpose. These words that we read here in Exodus chapter 20, Is there any difference? Turn back to 1 Peter again and tell me, what is the difference between what the Lord says right there and what He's inspired Peter to write here in chapter 20.

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lust which war against the soul. Was Peter just wasting his breath? Was Peter just talking that you and I wouldn't take into consideration what he's telling us. Was Moses writing words just to be writing words when he wrote, "...thou shalt not make unto thee graven images, thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul, if thou shalt have no other gods before thee." Were those just words? Were they just words to go out and to be wasted away? No. Absolutely not.

Let me apply what I'm saying to our text. Look over at Deuteronomy chapter 31. Turn over to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is right after Exodus, Numbers. Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Look over at Deuteronomy chapter 31. I saw this, I just jumped out of my chair Here's the good news! You see folks, I know I'm a sinner. I know that I can't do the things that God has commanded, the things that God has instructed. So where do I look for hope? Where do I turn? If that's all I'm going to know in this world, I might as well just take my life now. But that's not. There is hope in this world. Look here at verse 24 of Deuteronomy 31.

And it came to pass when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levite, which bear the ark, of the covenant. Now what was the Ark of the Covenant? You guys know what that is, don't you? That's the golden box. that had a mercy seat on top of it between two cherubs, two angels, made of gold. A picture of the ark, the very ark that was there that Noah built by the inspiration of God when the floods came upon the earth. A picture again of Christ and His salvation to those who deserve God's wrath, destruction.

Moses commanded the Levites which bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, take this book, the book of the law, the very instructions that God gave for us, thou shalt not have other gods before me. Take this book and put it in the side of the ark, the ark of the covenant of the Lord our God, that it may be there If you didn't know that you should not have a God before the One who this book is written about, how are you going to call on Him?

Isn't that what we read of in Romans chapter 10? Whosoever believeth shall have everlasting life. But how are you going to believe if you've never heard? And how are you going to hear if they don't send a preacher? Folks, the law is good. The law is of God. The book of law is put in the ark, the mercy seat. There is one who fulfilled all that God has required in His laws, all that God has required in His instructions, all that God has required of His people.

He has never once, ever looked to His chosen people as, you should be doing this. He has always looked to Christ who has covered us with His blood. If you think I'm encouraging you to go out and sin any way you want, you are sorely mistaken. It's like I told you earlier, God's ministers never encourage you to sin. We always want to encourage you, be ye holy, for our God is holy.

Period. That won't get you anywhere outside that door. Once you get out that door and realize how weak you are and how bad you can't do anything that God has instructed you, you need some hope. And there's only one hope. And that's the hope of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Our God warns us. He warns us from looking to our works in any way.

Turn over to Galatians chapter 5 if you would. Galatians chapter 5. Galatians is right after the Corinthians, the letter to the Corinthians, and just before Ephesians. Look at chapter 5 if you would. And while you're turning there, let me read a couple verses from chapter 3 for you, just in case it takes you a Listen to these verses in chapter 3, verses 23 and 24.

But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Belief. Abraham was never justified by what he did. He was justified by faith. The very faith that God gives us to believe His Word.

So with that in mind, look over here at Galatians 5 verse 4. Galatians 5 verse 4. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. Remember what you read in the Scriptures today in the Bible study over there in Hebrews chapter 11, I think it was, verse 1. Faith is the substance of something hoped for, not seen. Verse 6, for in Jesus Christ Neither circumcision availeth, this is talking about the law, this is talking about the instruction, availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Go ahead. Read the last two words. By love. We're under the law of love, folks. We love Jesus Christ and do the best we can. Do we love the law of God? Absolutely. Do I encourage you to abstain from fleshly lust? Oh, absolutely. Every time we don't, we... It's almost, if you could say it, and I don't think, probably not accurate for me to say this, but it's almost like putting another nail in our Lord's hand. Every time.

Thankfully, he put the nails there and the nails he put there covers it all. We serve the law of love because of his love for us. We love him and we walk in his light, the light of faith. Faith in him, faith that is perfected, faith that he has perfected. in one offering.

Isn't that what we read in Hebrews chapter 9? For by one offering He has perfected them who are sanctified. Listen to these words from Acts chapter 2. Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth A man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken by wicked hands and have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up."

Folks, God accepted his son's sacrifice. It was perfect. Could it be anything less? It's definitely not any sacrifice that you and I could give, because we're always wanting, aren't we? It was perfect, and God the Father accepted it and raised Him from the dead.

Isn't that what the world is celebrating today? The resurrection? Folks, we celebrate the resurrection every day. Christ is on His throne right now. It's been on His throne since the Lord took Him out of this world. And He's working all things out after the counsel of His will, which is for the good of His people. Everything. No matter what goes on in that big building over on the East Coast. We call it the White House. No matter what happens there. No matter what happens in that big building downtown Sacramento. It doesn't matter. It's all of our God.

If it's meant to enslave us for 400 years, do you think God did not purpose that for Israel? 400 years they spent enslaved to Egypt. And look how it turned out. They were delivered with such a power that men and women all over the world, who know not God, know about the delivery of Egypt. Out of Egypt. They know about it.

Our Immaculate God does not want for anything. He does not try at anything. What He desires of His people, He provides, even our faith, our ability to If I'm able to do any part of His law, any part of His instruction, anything that He desires, it is because He has purposed it in me. He who hath begun a good work shall finish it to the end. That's Ephesians chapter 2, verse 11. He has purposed it, just like He purposed His birth. Perfect, immaculate, of a virgin with a different nature than natural men. A nature of God, not a nature of men, full of sin and degradation.

He purposed it just as He purposed His trials. Everything that happened in this world as our Savior walked this earth happened as He had purposed it to do. He purposed it just as He had purposed His persecution. We're in the book of Matthew on Friday nights and they're talking about the whips, the spitting, The mockery of the crown of thorns.

All of that was by the purpose of God. But get a load of this, it doesn't stop there. The fact that Christ died on the cross the very next day, that His hands were nailed to the cross, and He left to hang on that cross till His body died, was all purpose of God. It was not a want. It was the only way He could save His people. Just to show you that it worked, the grave could not hold him. Turn over to Acts chapter 2, and I'll bring this to a, well, we'll come to the Lord's table. Turn over to Acts chapter 2, I want to show, well, I think I just read it there. Yeah, I did. I just read it a moment ago. Let me finish what it says there.

It says, having loosed the pains of death, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it is not possible that he should be holding of it. Our Lord purposed His resurrection and He did it perfectly. As far as I'm concerned, I am a worm. All of my accomplishments are accomplished in my purposed substitute, Jesus Christ the Lord.

You got your bulletin with you? Open it up to right under the announcements if you would. My dear brother, and I love this man, When they found out that Kathy and I were coming out to Kentucky for Judy's funeral, they couldn't wait to get on the phone and say, John and Kathy, come stay with us. And they put us, they took out all of our expenses while we were there in Kentucky. They just, I love this. He's coming to preach for us. He'll be here in July, July 4th weekend.

David Edmondson, he says, if God will, he can. Listen to Mark 1, verse 40. And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, Lord, please! And kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt. If you would, Lord. If you would, you can't make me clean. He could do it. He knew who the one was that could do it. It's this one called the Lord Jesus. Now listen to what David had to say about that.

There are two words that are commonly used in a day out of the English language that should never, ever follow the word God in a sentence. The first word is want. Wanting or wanted. And the second one is try. Trying or tried. God has never wanted to do anything that He did not do. God has never tried to do anything that He has not accomplished. God does not want to save sinners. He saves sinners. God is not trying to save a sinner.

He will have mercy and compassion on whom He will, according to Romans 9.15. May God truly teach us what He taught the beggar leper. That poor fellow had a great need, and he knew it. He was full of leprosy, but he was made to know something that many never are. He knew that God could, because God can do anything and everything. Yet his greatest desire was to know if God would. What is your greatest desire? What is your greatest want? As a sinner, my greatest want is, God, if you would, I know you can.