Turn back with me now to John
chapter six. Message this morning I titled,
The Father's Will. Or even more particular, This
Is The Father's Will. were plainly instructed in 2
Corinthians 5.18 that all things are of God, who hath reconciled
us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation. All things are of God. Everything. The Son is of God. The gospel is of God. Faith is
of God. Everything's of God. The ministry
is of God. All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself. In each of the Apostle Paul's
letters, He was careful to give praise to the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He always gave thanks to the
Father and praised the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
then James clearly tells us that every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Now being raised in false religion,
we heard nothing about the will of God and too much about the
will of man. We're told that man had a free
will, unbiased, free will, do what he wants to. He could come to God if he so
willed. Take another road, the broad
road to destruction, if he so will. Over and over I heard about
the will of man, the free will of man. We heard that his free
will was given to him to determine his destiny. His destiny was
in his hands. He had every right by his will
to become a son of God. That's exactly what they're still
preaching today. We were told that God loved everybody,
still does, loves everybody. And that the Holy Spirit was
willing and ready to enter into any man's heart, all he needed
was his permission. Had to be given permission to
do this. But then by the grace of God
and the power of the Holy Ghost, I've been enabled to search the
Scriptures and take advantage of the means and ministry of
God, and I've come to see that it's not of him that willeth. I don't know, how could you,
is there words more clear than that? Paul said it's not of him that
willeth. And just so you can really be
clear on it, he said, it's not of him that runneth. Well, who's it of? It's of God
that showeth mercy. You see what Paul's saying here?
Over and over, he just keeps saying it. All things are of
God. And in our text, it's very clear
that Christ did not come in frustration or desperation to make one final
attempt to get people to let him have his way. Actually, just the opposite.
He said, I come to do the will of my father. That's why I'm
here. I'm not here to please you. I'm
not here to please me. I'm here to do the will of my
father. And my friend, the book of God
tells us that he has an eternal purpose of grace. This thing
is not a matter of evolution. God has a purpose. He's always
had a purpose and his purpose has never changed. And that this purpose was given
into the hands of his son to accomplish, and that he worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. That doesn't give any room for
anybody. This thing is of God. It's of God. I've got several things here
I want to talk to you about, but they just fall naturally
in the order of the verses that's here. So first of all, let's
talk about the Father's will. And contrary to what's being
preached in our day, salvation is by the will of God. It's by the will of God. His
will is greater than your will. His will is perfect. Now we love to argue about it
and we'll talk about, now God is love, yes he is, and his will
is governed by that love. Or maybe I ought to put it this
way, his love is governed by his will. He's God. He's God. Salvation is by the will of God.
In Hebrews 10, Paul tells us in verse seven that Christ said,
lo, I come. in the volume of the book it
is written of me, to do thy will, O God. What's written of Christ? That he should save a people
no matter what? No. No, that there's one coming
from Genesis to Malachi. He's talking about one that's
going to come and do the Father's will. Everything it has to say
about him has to say about him coming to do the Father's will. God declares His intention throughout
the Old Testament to save a people that He chose through the person
and work of a coming Redeemer. And it is the will of God And
he worketh all things after the counsel of his own will to save
the people for his glory. The Father's will is inclusive
of all things. All things. Of all the eternal
appointments of Christ, God hath made him to be unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Who did that?
God did. God did. God blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. He tells us
that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. And the same was in the beginning
with God, and all things were made by Him, and without Him
was not anything made that was made. The purpose and will of
God in redemption predates creation. That's what John's telling us
here. It predates creation. It predates the fall of man,
and in fact, he tells us in Colossians 1.16 that all things were created
by him, now listen, and for him. And the reason he gives in Colossians
1.19 is that it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness
dwell. Secondly, that all the means
of grace were determined by the will of God. He tells us in the
book of James that of his own will begat he us with the word
of truth. He tells us in 2 Thessalonians
2.13 that God hath from the beginning chosen us to salvation through
sanctification of the spirit, belief of the truth, whereunto
he called you by our gospel. to the obtaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even the preservation of the
believers according to the will of God, God is long suffering
to us, we're not willing that any should bury. You see, everything today is
the will of man, the will of man. Won't you do this? Won't
you open the door? Won't you do this? It's not of
him that willeth, it's of God. And everything concerning salvation
is inclusive in the will of God. Every prayer the saints utter
to God, they are to follow with the words, not my will, but thy
will be done. The model for prayer says this,
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I'm going to tell you something.
People tell me this all the time. You're too deep for me. You're
too deep for me. This is not a complex doctrine.
It's not a complex doctrine at all. It's very simple and clear.
Christ came to do the will of his Father. And this will is revealed in
our text in general and in particular. In general, he tells us in John
chapter 6 verse 39, 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. That's God's
will. That's God's will. God wants you to be rich. I don't
know if he does or not. If I was you, I'd pray that he
don't make you rich. Here's God's will that his son
come into this world as a man and do everything that's included
in the Father's will and raise it up again at the last day. That's God's will in general,
I'm talking about in general. Nothing's gonna be left undone,
nothing's gonna be left to chance, nothing's gonna be lost or left
behind. All which was given into the
hands of the sovereign mediator shall be raised up at the last
day. But then he goes a step past
this general statement to the particular. We're talking still
about the Father's will. In verse 40 he said, this is
the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the
Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I'll
raise him up at the last day. This is the Father's will. Now here's the second thing I
want to talk to you about that's here in our text. This statement
he says here in verse 40, for everyone which seeth the Son
and believeth on him. There are three statements concerning
the faith of God's elect given in the word of God. This faith
is stated three ways. The first speaks of believing
Christ. Believing him. In John 5, verse
46, our Lord said to the Jews, had you believed Moses, you would
have believed me. For Moses spoke of me. But if you believe not his writings,
how shall you believe my words? Later on in John chapter six,
when he told them except they should eat of the flesh of the
son of man and drink his blood, they had no life in them. And
they thought he was talking about cannibalism. They thought he
was actually talking about eating one of his fingers and drinking
his blood. And they just went like this
and walked away. Now these were men who'd been
following him for quite a way. But now they turned thumbs down
on him and they walked away. And he turned and looked at his
disciples and he said, you gonna go too? You gonna leave too? And they said unto him, Lord,
to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. This one cent of the Father is
he Hebrews 1 verse 2, through whom God will direct all communication
in the last days. In these last days he has spoken
unto us, here's the literal interpretation, in son. In son, in his son, by
his son. Everything he is, everything
he accomplished, everything he said, every place he went, speaks
to chosen sinners that they might believe. Now, the second way in which
faith is declared in the scriptures is believing in him. We believe him. We believe everything
concerning him. But now he's talking about believing
in him. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. To believe in Christ is
to know and understand that God has set him forth as the savior
of his people. To know who he is, why he came,
what he did, where he's at, That he is the Christ and that the
Christ was chosen and sent of God to accomplish their redemption. He's chosen to save a people
for the glory of his great name and this salvation is through
and by the person and work of his son. And it's taught from
one end of the Bible to the other. In John 20 verse 31 it said,
but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life
through his name. What is it to believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ? It is to see him as God has set
him forth. It's to see him in truth, in
truth. You hear the testimony of God
and you say amen. That's believing in. the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then the third way faith
is described in the scriptures is believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Noah preached for 120 years. What did he tell them? What did
he tell the people for 120 years? He said, God's gonna burn, he's
gonna flood this thing with water, he's gonna drown everybody and
everything. There's only one way out. On
the ark. On the ark. God was going to
destroy everything outside the ark. To be saved, you must go
on the ark. To believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ is to lay the weight of your soul on Him. That's what
that is. Seeing Him as God has testified
of Him, and now to believe on Him is to rest your soul on Him. It's your faith seeing Him as
the Ark and putting all your hope on Him. If Christ is not
my Savior, if He's not all that God demands from the sinner,
if He's not the end of the law for righteousness and the all-effectual
sacrifice for sin, if He does not reign in glory and make intercession
for me, if I'm not 100% complete in Him, I've got no other hope. That's what it is to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe in him as God has
sent him forth. We believe him as he is the testimony
of God, the living word of God. And we believe on him as we actively
lay our souls on him. Submit to him, rest in him. First John 511, he said, this
is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this
life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things
have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son
of God, that you might know that you have eternal life, and that
you may believe on the name of the Son of God. To see the Son,
is to see Him as God has set Him forth. And seeing Him as
God has set Him forth, accomplishing the will of His Father to believe
on Him. You see what this means in our
text? You see what the Lord's telling these people? Faith of
God's elect is not just a historical faith, believing all the records
and believing these things, or some speculation of our twisted
imagination. It's not just to believe what
He is or what He says. The devils believe and tremble.
That's what our Lord told His disciples. You believe there's
one God? The devils believe that too.
Your faith's not any better than theirs. but to believe in such a way
as to rest all your hope on him. You see, it's Christ in you,
the hope of glory. And then fourthly, those who
see him and believe on him may have everlasting life. I was pleasantly surprised to
see that everlasting life and eternal life are both the same
word in the original. Exact same word. Did you know
that? I didn't know that. But it's translated differently
to show us both the quality of that life and to show us how
long it'll last. Everlasting life, eternal life. Eternal life has to do with knowing
God through the person and work of Christ. And knowing Him as
our Father and the wellspring of all of our blessings and knowing
Him as our sovereign Lord, as our salvation, as the keeper
of our souls, knowing Him as just and justifier. We know,
John said, that the Son of God has come and given us an understanding
that we may know Him that's true and know that we're in Him that
is true. This is the true God in eternal
life. When we were growing up, there
were two words that used to give me fits in school. I don't even
know what they even bothered to teach us in school anymore.
But there was two words that I get mixed up all the time,
can and may. And so one day, the teacher embarrassed
me good. I held my hand up and said, well,
you won't. I said, can I go to the bathroom? He said, I don't
know if you can or not. And I just sit there, and I thought
about it a minute, and I said, may I go to the bathroom? He
said, you may. You see, can has to do with ability. May has to do with permission. When you say, may I do something,
you're asking for somebody's permission. Can, if you say,
can I do this, that has to do with your ability. In John 640,
the translator agreed to use the word may when it comes to
having eternal life, seeing that all mankind lies in a state of
inability and total depravity. And with man, salvation is impossible. And so they use the word may. If you see the son and seeing
him as God has set him forth, believe on him, you have God's
permission to have eternal life. God has given you permission
to have eternal life. In John 1.10, it says, he was
in the world, the world was made by him, but the world didn't
know it. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Now
being ignorant, I asked Brother Don one time if that word power
had to do with authority or ability. And he answered me and said,
yes, it means both. It means both. And so he continues and tells
us which were born, not of blood, nor the will of
the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. What's that mean? With the permission comes the
ability. Does that make sense? If God gives you permission,
He gives you ability. If God calls you into the ministry,
this applies to everything, everything concerning the believer. If God
calls you into the ministry, He gives you both permission
to speak on His behalf and the power of His Spirit to make it
effective. If God grants you the privilege
of serving him as a believer, he'll certainly give you the
fruit of his spirit to enable you to do it. And Philippians 2, talking about
walking with the mind of Christ as a true servant of God, he
said, to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for
it is God that worketh in you, both to will When is man going
to be willing in the day of God's power? Both to will and to do of His
good pleasure. And every chosen sinner shall
be brought to see Christ as He is set forth in the Holy Scriptures
and given the gift of faith, being born again from that gospel
seed. He may have everlasting life,
and furthermore, the Son of God himself promises that he himself
shall raise him up at the last day. Now, I wanna tell you something. Lots of folks get confused about
this. Religion says, believe God and he'll give you everlasting
life. Is that what they taught in that
church you used to go to? You believe on him, you believe in
him. And God, in exchange for your
faith, will give you everlasting life. The Bible says something
different. The Bible says, he that believeth
on the Son of God hath everlasting life. Huh? Isn't that what that says? John
5.24 says, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that
sent me hath everlasting life and is passed from death unto
life. And then what about this one?
Our Lord told Nicodemus, he said, except you be born again, you
cannot see the kingdom of God and you can't enter it. Faith is the eye of the soul.
It floods the whole man with the word of truth. It floods
his whole being with Christ. And when God gives faith to his
elect, they see and bow to God's testimony concerning their sins. They believe his gospel. They
know that he reigns. They submit to him. They perceive
and understand why salvation must be of the Lord and all of
grace. They understand who the Savior
is, why he came, what he did, and where he is. And being born of God, they already have permission,
don't they? When that permission come, it
come in that new birth when God gave you power to become sons
of God. This is my father's will, that
of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise
it up again at the last day, and that everyone which seeth
the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life. And
then he assures us thirdly that Christ shall raise them up at
the last day. Now let me ask you a question.
Do you see the Son? Do you see the Son? Do you see
Him as God has set Him forth in the Holy Scriptures? When
I talk about His Lordship, do you see that in the Word of God?
When I read to you in there that He's Lord of the dead and the
living, do you see Him that way? You see Him like Isaiah saw Him
high and lifted up? Do you see Him as God has set
Him forth, a propitiation for our sins, that He might be just
in His justification of sinners? Can you see the Son? And seeing Him, have you believed
on Him? Do you see Him in such a way
as to cause you to rest your soul on Him? to put your life in his hands,
to understand that God has put your life into his hands. He that seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, he may have everlasting life. God's already given him
permission. You say, Preacher, I just don't
know everything like I ought to. I don't either. I don't either. And what's more, I don't know
anybody who has. I've never met anybody who believes
like they ought to. And if I met one, I'd be afraid
to talk to her. This verse is not talking about
a perfect vision. He's talking about eyes that
see. You remember that one blind man
God healed? And he said, I see men like trees. His vision wasn't all that clear,
but he was still a saved man. God had still given him vision,
he just couldn't see in detail. And then he touched him again,
and he began to see in detail, began to see things clearly. How much does a man have to know
to believe enough to walk up that plank onto the ark? That's
how much he has to know. How much is that different with
everybody? I don't know, but I tell you,
this gospel is the same, it doesn't change, Christ is the same, he's
not gonna change, the father's the same, he's not gonna change.
So if I were you, this is what I'd be concerned with, do I see
the son? And if you see him as God has
set him forth, you're not gonna have a bit of trouble resting
your soul on him. He's the Lord of glory. He's
the creator of the universe. He's the accomplisher of our
salvation. He's our surety of the everlasting
covenant of grace. He's the son of God. And no man
cometh unto the Father, he said, but by me. Huh? So what holds you back from believing
on him? Huh? What holds you back? Oh, my soul, may God give you
in the day of his power, a willingness to rest your soul on him.