If you will, turn back with me
now to Ephesians chapter 1. I want to focus, along with everything
that I read to you a while ago, I want to focus on verse 9, which speaks of the will of God. What do we know about the will
of God? When I just said those words
to you about the will of God, what do you know, what do I know
about the will of God? What does the Bible teach us
about the will of God? Well, the Bible said he doeth. He doesn't want to do. God wants
to save you. That's what religion says. God
wants you to enter into his kingdom. God wants you to be a member
of this church. God wants you to donate your
money, and on and on and on it goes about God's wants. This
doesn't say anything about wanting. It said he doeth. That's God. He doeth. Man can't. He can't do anything. Without
me, you can do nothing. That's what our Lord said. But
God doeth. And here he said, he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what
doeth that? Nobody can even question what
God does. He said this, he said, my counsel
shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. That's God. Now that's what I know about
God's will. God doeth according to his will. God's will is not just a strong
desire or some kind of affectionate fancy. God's will is the sovereign,
unchangeable counsel of God actively engaged in all things. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. Without doubt, this unbelieving
world will draw this conclusion. This is what Paul, he's talking
about the will of God over in Romans chapter nine, the sovereign
will of God, his right to choose whom he will, do what he will. And Paul said, well, you'll say
unto me then, why doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted
his will? And God answers back quickly
through the Holy Ghost and he says, Nay, but, O man, who art
thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say unto
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay to make one vessel unto honor, another
unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show
his wrath and make his power known, endured the vessels of
wrath fitted to destruction? or had mercy on those vessels
which he afore prepared unto glory. This world would say of a God
like that, and they always do, well who hath resisted his will?
Why doth he yet find fault? How can there be a judgment?
And those who question or try to resist God's will are ignorant
of His character and they're ignorant of their own. There's
no evil, no wickedness, no sinful taint in the character of God.
Everything God wills is good because God is good. Everything
in the will of God is by love. It's love because God is love. Love is incorporated in His will
because that's who God is. There's no reason to question
the will of God. God can't do wrong. He can't
lie. He can't do evil. There's nothing
evil in Him. Why would you want to resist
the will of God? Your will is not Untainted, but
His is. No evil, no wickedness, no sinful
taint in the character of God. His will is always good and righteous
and just and holy. And if God wills a thing, it
is without doubt. No reason to question it. No
reason to question it. Should we question His will,
we are ignorant of this, and we're saying, in fact, that we
are above God, or equal to Him at least, and
therefore just to reply against Him. See, this is what God said,
but who art thou, old man? Your way down there, I'm up here
in heaven. You're evil, I'm good. I'm righteous. I'm all wise. You're nothing
but ignorance. Who art thou, old man, that replies
to me? I formed you. I took some dust,
just like the dust in the flower bed out there. I took the dust
and got a lump of it in my hand. And I formed you. And now you're
going to say, why hast thou made me thus? I can't picture a flower pot
out on my patio crying out to the potter who formed it and
saying, why'd you make me a flower pot? Why didn't you make me a
vase? No. Listen to this. I know this.
There's only one who's ever been that was said
to have perfectly done the will of God. Only one. In Hebrews 10, 5 it said, wherefore
when he cometh into the world, he saith sacrifice and offering
thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. And burnt
offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Then said I, lo, I come. Now watch this. In the volume
of the book, it's written of me, to do thy will, O God. By the which will, we're sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The will of God, the sovereign,
immutable, irresistible will of God is accomplished, it's
accomplished by the Son of God. Our Lord said in John chapter
6 verse 38, I come down from heaven not to do my own will,
but the will of him that sent me. He's not here trying to do
something. This whole religious generation
talks about God wanting to do something, God working toward
doing something. He wants, he desires to do something,
but it's not done, it's not being done, because man won't let him. But here he said, I came down
from heaven to do the will of him that sent me. I was sent
according to his will, and I was sent to do and accomplish his
will. And this is the Father's will,
which has sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. And that's
what Paul tells us over there in Ephesians chapter one. This is the purpose behind the
coming of Christ is to gather in one all things which are in
Christ. Everything that God gave to him,
he's gonna return to God exactly as God willed. Exactly as God willed. What did the Father will for
him to raise up at the last day? He said everything that he gave
him. What did he give him? What did God give to Christ to
raise up again at the last day? Colossians chapter one said all
things. All things. Wow. You just think about the scope
of that for a minute. All things. Ephesians 1.10 tells us that
the mystery of God's will in Christ, that in the dispensation
of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, which are on earth,
even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. Paul tells us again, it pleased
the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. He put creation, providence,
salvation, all in his hands, all in his hands, that in all
things he might have the preeminence. Jesus Christ, God come into the
flesh, has perfectly accomplished the will of God. And what will
is that? God's will that he reveals to
men is his redemptive will. His redemptive will. And I tell
you, all you got to know is that you're a sinner and you'll get
real interested in the redemptive will of God. You'll get real
interested. Wonder what God's will is toward
me. I have nothing, I have no way
of getting anything. He has all things, everything's
in his hands. And he's not gonna do anything
apart from the will of God. He's gonna perfectly accomplish
the will of God, the redemptive will of God. How do I fit in? Where do I fit in? You reckon
it might be the will of God to save me? Well, in John chapter
six, after he said, I came not to do my own will, but the will
of him that sent me, and this is the Father's will which has
sent me, that of all which he has given me, I should lose nothing.
And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life.
That's how you fit in. There's no other way to know
your election of God, no other way to know the will of God toward
you except through faith. Through faith. Because your sons,
your children, your heirs, you always have been, you have been
since the day God chose you and put you in His Son before the
world was and everything working toward that end. All of God's
redemptive will working toward that end. No other way to know your election
of God than to hear the gospel and believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Everyone would see if that word
is perceiveth. And then secondly, I know this
about the will of God. Because of our Lord's accomplished
redemption, he's not willing for any to perish. None of those
for whom Christ died, none of those who were chosen in Him,
none of those for whom God made provision before the world was,
He's not willing that any of them should perish. And they're
not gonna perish. Because God doeth according to
His will. I read that to you earlier. He
doeth. He doesn't try. He's not putting
forth His best foot He's doing, he's accomplishing his will. In 2 Peter 3, 9, it says, the
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness, but he's long suffering to us. He's not long-suffering
to this world. He's long-suffering to us-ward. Now listen, not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. In
John chapter 10, verse 28, he said, I give unto them eternal
life and they'll never perish. How come? Because he's not willing
for them to. That's why. Boy, if it were up
to you, You'd be gone. That's what David said. He looked
back on the past events of his life and the sorry character
that he exhibited in his life and he said, oh, he said, I thought
I was plumb gone. I thought I was gone. Why wouldn't he? God wasn't willing
for any to perish. That's right. But that all should
come to repentance. He says this in verse 37 of John
chapter 6, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. They're
all going to come to him. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Somebody told me one time years
ago, I didn't even know what they were talking about. They
said, I'll tell you what you're preaching. Once in grace, always
in grace. And then I found out what grace
was. And I said, that's exactly what I'm praying for. If God has determined to show
his grace to you, he'll never depart. He'll never depart. Thank God, he'll never depart. Is that once in grace, always
in grace? That wasn't what they were talking about. They were
talking about that decision you made and that aisle you walked
and now there's no way for you to fall. That's what they're
talking about. That grace is eternal. It's irresistible. It reigns in righteousness unto
death by Jesus Christ. And it saves sinners through
faith, and it keeps them from falling. That's what the scripture
said. Our Lord's not willing for any
to perish, but that all should come to repentance. And then
thirdly, The scripture said God works in us both to will, now
listen, and to do of his good pleasure. Isn't the will of God an amazing
thing? I've heard men twist this passage
until it just didn't make any sense at all, but I believe it
means exactly what it says. There are things that God's elect
are said to do in connection with the salvation of their soul.
He said, blessed are your ears for they hear. Natural man can't
hear. Pharisees couldn't hear. They
were trained to read the Bible their whole life. Devoted their
lives to it. Transcribed, that's what the
scribes were. They transcribed by hand the
scriptures. They couldn't hear. And over there in Acts, what
chapter is that, where he comes to the church at Antioch, he
said, you be careful this don't come upon you. That God do these
things in here and you don't hear. You won't hear. You be
careful. But God's elect here. Why? God that worketh in you. What about an understanding?
John said, he just kept saying this all the way through. First
John, he said, we know that the Son of God hath come and given
to us an understanding. We know that. Who gave it to
him? God did. Those scribes and Pharisees had
read the Bible their whole life and understood nothing. Religion,
they've been to seminary, they've graduated, got their degrees,
hang them on the wall. Some of them even got master's
degree. Don't understand anything. God gives the understanding. And that's what John said. We
know that Jesus Christ has come and given to us an understanding
that we might know him that's true. Billet passed that eunuch. He
was reading the book of Isaiah. He was just reading intently.
He took a whole caravan and went clear across the country to the
feast days and went through all those weeks of feast days that
the Jews gathered together for, even their most solemn, the Passover,
even the most solemn of all the feasts, and learned nothing. And he was on his way back to
the country. And he was sitting up there in his chariot and he
was reading now the book of Isaiah. And Philip, God sent Philip out
to preach to him. And he didn't even know who he
was gonna preach to. God just separated him, sent him out there.
Here he is out in the wilderness. He's walking down this road.
All of a sudden the chariot comes up and here's a man up there
reading the scrolls. You know how rare the scrolls
would have been in that day for a Gentile eunuch to have possession
of them? And here he is, he's sitting
up there and he's reading Isaiah, and Phillip's running along beside
him, he just looked up and he said, do you understand what
you're reading? He said, how can I except some man tell me? How can I? Understanding, how
come we understand and many don't? How come some of you understand
and your sisters don't, your brothers don't? Why is that? Because it's God that worketh
in you both the will and the do of His good pleasure. Faith and repentance, love and
worship, knowledge and hearing are not things God does for you,
it's things God does in you. He gives us power, the scripture
said, to become the sons of God and believe on His name. Paul wrote to the Corinthians
and he told them, he said, I don't need any recommendations for
anybody for you or from you. You're my epistle. You're my
recommendation. Ministered by me and written
not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not in tables
of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart. God said,
I'll put my laws into their hearts and in their minds, I'll write
them. And he's not talking about thou shalt not and thou shalt. What he's talking about there
is a law perfectly kept. I'll write that law, honored
and exalted in Christ, and I'll write it on your heart and I'll
write it in your mind. And your sins and iniquities,
he said, I'll remember no more. It's God that worketh in you
both to will and to do His good pleasure. And then fourthly,
I know that believers are born again through the preaching of
the gospel and the powerful, effectual work of the Spirit
of God. And this is the will of God. You know, in John chapter one,
he told them, he said, which were born. He gave them power
to become the sons of God. even to them that believe on
his name. They received him, nobody else would, who were born. That's what he said, who were
born. Not just anybody, but those who were born, not of the will
of the flesh, not of blood, and not of the will of man, but of
God. Of God, God's will, God's will. listen to this in james chapter
one verse eighteen of his own will begat he us with the word
of truth now i don't care what you think or what you've heard
that's how man is born of god with the word of truth how do
i know that because it's the will of god and he doeth according
to his will not not how you think and not what you want and not
what somebody told you. He doeth according to his will,
his will. And of his own will begat he
us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first
fruits of his creatures. Wherefore, let every man be swift
to hear, slow to wrath, and slow to speak. In John chapter one, I already
read that to you. The new birth is not something
man can do for themselves or make themselves worthy of or
even assist to bring it to pass. They're born again according
to the will of God. God willed that this creation
come into existence. and then he commanded it and
it came into existence. And it was dark, you couldn't
see your hand in front of you. And God willed for light to be
and light was. Oh, I long to see my children
brought to faith and repentance. And as I'm enabled of God, I
pray for it. I pray for yours. But I must at the end of all
my prayers say, nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be
done. Bipley, John writes, Words of
our Lord in John 6 verse 40 saying, and this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone that perceiveth, everyone that seeth the Son and
believeth on Him may have everlasting life. It's not everybody that
says Lord, Lord, and not everybody that speaks the name Jesus or
knows some memorized facts about Him, but those who see Him and
perceive Him, who acknowledge Him as the Father has set Him
forth. They hear the truth, and the truth sets them free. They
know who He is. They acknowledge Him as the Father
has set Him forth in the Scriptures. And we believe His apostles and
His prophets who wrote as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost. And we perceive him as he set
forth in the gospel of God's sovereign grace, the eternal
Christ, the ordained representative, the chosen substitute, the covenant
charity of his people, the sovereign Lord and mediator of God, the
prophet, priest, and king, God our savior. We believe in him
as God has set him forth. This world proclaims another
Jesus, and they do so by another spirit and another gospel. And
they encompass sea and earth, the scripture said, to make one
proselyte like unto themselves. No holds barred, they go all
out to make one proselyte like unto themselves. And he said,
when you've made him, he's twofold more the child of hell than you
are. There is but one Spirit and one
hope of His calling, one Lord and one faith. It's the unchangeable will of
God, Russell. I can't change it. I can't compromise
it. I can't do anything with it.
It's God's will. It's the unchangeable will of
God that His Son be set before men by the means He's ordained
and all those who perceive Him and believe on Him shall be saved. And Christ said, I'll raise them
up again at the last day. And let me say this to you. There's
nothing to fear in the will of God. It's all holy and just and
good. If you know anything at all about
the will of God, you know that there's nothing to fear in it,
because his will is his redemptive will. It's all in consideration of
poor, helpless, hopeless sinners. And it's accomplished for them
and in them by the power of God and made effectual in spite of
their character and condition. And then one last thing I want
to leave you with. He prays over in John 17 verse
24. He said, I pray for them which
thou hast given me. I pray not for the world, I pray
for them which thou hast given me. And here's what he says. Father, I will, I will. You reckon Christ's gonna get
his will? He got. He prays in John 7, 24, Father,
I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me
where thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. It's
God's will that you be with him where he is. You reckon that's
gonna come to pass? I guarantee you it's gonna come
to pass. There's nothing to prevent the
will of God whose will it is that we be with Him where it
is. Nothing can prevent that. Nothing can change that. What's
going to separate you from the love of God? That's what Paul
wrote. Things present, things to come, height and depth. Nothing
can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ. Paul said, What shall we say
to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Huh? You know anybody can whoop
God? My soul. We cannot again be accused because
God himself has justified us. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ. And nothing can prevent us from
being with him, nothing. He willed it and we shall have
it because it's the will of God. I tell you, I used to just be
scared to death of the will of God and then I learned what the
will of God was and that's my hope. My hope's in His will. Paul said He's abounded toward
us in all wisdom and prudence about His will. He's taught us
His will. Shown us His will. And I tell
you, when you see it, you'll rejoice in it. You'll rejoice
in it. Oh, my soul. I would have never
done anything for myself. But He did. He did. The disciples said, as that rich
young ruler walked away, he said, who then can be saved? You remember
what our Lord told? With man, it's impossible. But
with God, all things are possible. And I tell you, it don't have
to add up. It don't have to add up. We say,
well, we want to get everything just, just believe God. Do that. Do that. He's pure wisdom. All-knowing, He's God. And if
God be for us, who can be against us? Father, take Your Word, Your
Gospel, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the most glorious
message ever declared to sinful men. and use it for thy name's
honor and glory. We ask you for Christ's sake.