He is in chapter 1. Let's begin
reading in verse 1. Call an apostle of Jesus Christ
by the will of God to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the
faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace be to you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of
the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
Beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure
which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and 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, that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. in whom ye
also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were
sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession,
unto the praise of His glory." The will of God. The will of
God. Here in verse 1, and I want to
Look at this this morning, just this one verse. But I think if
we establish the will of God here in this one verse and meditate
upon it and see some things of it, I think it has a tendency
to open to us these verses that I've read to you. The will of
God is mentioned several places in this chapter. And it's amazing every time that
we read it in each verse. But here He begins. Paul, an
apostle. An apostle. What is an apostle?
That's a special messenger. One that's chosen. One that's appointed. One that's
given authority and special powers. This man had special powers.
He could smite a man with blindness or he could open the eyes of
the blind. He raised the dead. When he wrote, he wrote scriptures. He wrote inspiration. He wrote
by the power of the Holy Ghost. You know we have no apostles
today. You know the last apostle who died in the New Testament,
if it was indeed John the Beloved, he was the last apostle that
was. If a man would claim today that he's not an apostle, then
let him step forth and say what the apostle Paul said about himself.
Here's what he said about himself. Truly, the signs of an apostle
were wrought among you. How? In all patience, in signs
and wonders and mighty deeds. That's what God did with this
man. God wrought special miracles by this man. Gave him power and
signs and wonders. But Paul never used this apostleship
to glory in himself. Some of these epistles that he
wrote, you won't even see his title there. He calls himself
a servant, or just Paul. But when he does, he does it
mainly for these two reasons. When he puts on these epistles
that he is indeed an apostle, he does it that the church may
know this, that you and I may know it today, that he wrote
from the authority and by the authority that heaven give him.
When Paul wrote these epistles, it wasn't just his opinion. It
wasn't just his understanding. But he wrote as he was moved
by the Holy Ghost. That's the authority. Ain't that
comforting to you and I? Where do we get our authority?
From these epistles. Well, who gave this man his authority?
He's an apostle by the will of God. And when he wrote, he said
this. If any man think himself to be
a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which
I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." This is the commandment
of the Lord to his church. And Peter said about this apostle,
he said, when he writes, he writes the Holy Scriptures. Now, ain't
that amazing? When we read Moses, Those first
five books of the Bible, what do we think about? These are
holy scriptures. When we read the book of Psalms, we read the
book of Isaiah, these are the holy scriptures. What do we think
about when we read Paul's epistles? These are the holy scriptures.
He spake as he was moved by the Holy Ghost, the commandments
of the Lord. That's the first reason Paul
claims this title, that you and I may know that we have scriptures
when he wrote. But the second reason he often
puts this title, Apostle, on here is to confront these false
apostles. He makes them to know. You call
my writings into question. I tell you who I am. I'm no mere
man. Oh, I was born just like you
was born, a sinner saved by grace. But he said, when I write, I'm
no mere man. And here's where sometimes he
exalted himself. as an apostle, as an apostle,
to withstand these false apostles, especially in the book of Corinthians
and the book of Galatians. And he didn't hesitate to exalt
himself as the apostle of Jesus Christ. And yet when this man
thought about himself as an apostle, I tell you, he was so humble
about it all. He was so meek and lowly. Here's
what he said. I'm the least of the apostles."
Was he really? He thought himself to be so.
You and I don't think he was. I doubt if any of them went as
far and traveled as many miles as he did, established as many
churches, had the depths of understanding that he had. Yet this man was
so humble, he said, when I look at myself as an apostle, I am
the least of the apostles. It's not even meant to call me
an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God and wasted
it. But I am what I am by the grace of God. And what's the
grace of God done for him? Made him an apostle. Made him
an apostle. And just as Paul wrote these
epistles out of humility and sometimes with great tears, you
and I should receive them the same way, with humility. With meekness, receive the engrafted
Word which is able to save your souls. With meekness. If they
were written in meekness, then let us receive it with meekness.
And Peter tells us this, to grow in knowledge. Grow in knowledge
of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Desire the sensual milk
of this Word that you may grow thereby. But he tells us something
else, doesn't he? Knowledge will puff us up. What
do we need to grow in? Not just knowledge, but in grace. What does grace do? It keeps
us low. It keeps us down. It keeps us
from becoming proud. So when the Apostle Paul thought
of himself, He thought of himself as an apostle in humility. And he only used that, his office, his title, to give
the church a reason to have confidence in his writings and to confront
these false apostles. Now here it is, Paul an apostle
by the will of God. Now this is a most amazing statement.
One of the most amazing statements that you can read. And that's
saying something. What an amazing statement. Paul
and an apostle by the will of God. Now what can you and I learn
from this? Well, first of all, let's look and see what this
will means. And I went right to the dictionary,
right to Mr. Webster, 1884 I think the edition
is. And here's what he says the will
is. He said will, and I quote Mr.
Webster, to determine, to decide, to purpose in the mind that something
shall be done. But he didn't stop there. Then
implying the power to carry the purpose into effect. Now see what he's saying? Will
means that you and I determine to do something. We decide to
do something. And then we finally, through
our effort, through our ability, through our strength, we accomplish
what we decided to do. Why are you and I here this morning?
We're not here by accident, are we? We're not here by accident. Most of you determined yesterday
that you'd be here this morning. You decided yesterday. I'm going
to get up in the morning, I'm going to dress, and I'm going
to drive myself to the worship service. And that's what you
did. Here you are. It's your will
to be here. You decided to be here, you exerted
the amount of effort that you needed, and here you sit. Well,
that's the definition of the will. And why is this so important? Well, it tells us this about
the will. It's more than just a desire.
It is that, but it's more than that. And it tells us that also,
the will is certainly not an accident. Most accidents are
contrary to your will. I remember one time, I was going
up three, going into Muncie, and I was going up with the bypass,
and this old car I was following, full of these ladies, and this
beautiful sports car was sitting there. And just as this old clunker
got right up next to that beautiful sports car, that sports car pulled
right out in front of them, and boy, they just tore the whole
front end off that sports car. And I pulled over, and those
ladies were mad. They were cussing that woman
in the sports car, and I went up to see if I could help her,
and she got out and she was crying. And she said, my husband's going
to kill me. That's all she's worried about, her husband's
going to kill her. And wouldn't it have been a silly thing for
me to ask her, did you will to do this? Did you decide to do
this? Did you exert the effort to do
this? Well, she said, that's crazy. I never will. This was
an accident. This was an accident. And that's
the difference between the will and an accident. Accidents usually
happen contrary to our will. And Paul is saying here, I am
an apostle of Jesus Christ and it's not by accident. It's not because I decided one
day that I wanted to be an apostle, and therefore I went to school
and I was trained. That's not what he's saying.
But he's saying this, I am an apostle because God determined
it, and He brought it to pass because He exerted the effort,
the wisdom, the power, the grace, and He brought it to pass. I
am an apostle. by the will of God. Now that's the definition of
a will. What is it? The will of God. It means it
was determined, God decided to do it, and He exerted the effort,
whatever effort that is, to bring that to pass. That whole thing
is included in the will of God. Now with that in mind, let us
consider what we can learn from this little phrase, I am an apostle
by the will of God. First of all, we learn this,
that the will of God, until it's revealed, is a secret thing. It's a mysterious thing. Paul,
an apostle, by the will of God. Would you have ever thought such
a thing? Paul, an apostle? He never thought of such a thing.
The disciples of Jerusalem would have never thought of such a
thing. It was secret in the mind of God until God made it known
to somebody, this is my apostle. The will of God is a secret thing,
none of us can know it. Now, I've known some of you long
enough that I know on Sunday morning where you're going to
be. Unless you're hindered by the providence of God in some
way or another, I know where you're going to be on Sunday
morning. You're going to be right here. You're going to be in a
warship some place or another. That's your will to be here.
I know you that well and you know me well enough to know unless
Bruce Crabtree is sick or something is dreadfully wrong, he's going
to be here. I know him. I know what he wills
to do. But God's will is not that way.
God's will is not that way. You know the only way to know
His will? It's for him to make known to you. Get in his mind,
get in his heart, to open his heart up and manifest, reveal
his will. These apostles at Jerusalem,
the disciples at Jerusalem, they never got together and said,
now look at that Saul of Tarshish. He is a wicked man. He's a mean
man. He's persecuting us. He hates
the name of Christ. But don't let us forget this,
that he's apostle of God. They never said no such thing,
because they had no idea that this man was an apostle of God. This was in the mind of God,
and nobody knew it until the Lord Himself was pleased to make
it known. One day this man was going to
Damascus with letters in his hands to capture Christians and
bring them back to Jerusalem and put them to death. The Son
of God spoke to him from heaven. He falls down on the earth. He's
humbled. He's trembling. The Lord tells
him to go into the street which is called Straight there in Damascus.
And he heads out blinded, people leading him. Then the Lord goes
over to a disciple's house called Ananias. And he says, Ananias,
And he said, Lord, I'm here. I've got a job for you today.
I've gotten an apostle over there, the street called Straight. I
want you to go over there and see him. Okay, Lord, what's his
name? Saul of Tarshish. What? Wasn't that what he said?
What? Wasn't that what the Lord told
him? He's my servant. He's my vessel. I've chosen him. What for? To
be an apostle. That's what he told Ananias.
To bear my name. among the Gentiles and kings
and the children of Israel. And remember what Ananias said?
Well, Lord, I knew this all along. Everybody knows this. That's
not what he said. He said, Lord, I'm scared to death to go with
her. This man may kill me. Look at the other people he's
killed. And the Lord said, you go. He's a chosen vessel to me. I'm going to show him what great
things he must suffer for not my name's sake. The Lord revealed
what had been kept secret in his own mind from all the way
back in eternity. That is this, that it was his
will to save Saul of Tarsus, change his name, and make him
non-apostle. The other apostles didn't know
this. Saul himself didn't know it. He could have never dreamed
such a thing. Even suggest this to him, and
you'd have had a fight on your hands. Why can't you imagine
going up to this man and saying, Saul, did you know you were going
to be an apostle of Christ? Did you know God is determined
to make you an apostle of Jesus Christ? Apostle of Jesus Christ? I hate his name. I'm trying to
stamp out his name. I'll never submit to such a thing.
But here it is. Nobody knew it until the Lord
made it known. Hold that right there and look
over here in 2 Timothy. Look here in 2 Timothy. Look at this, the will of God,
what a secret thing it is. Look in verse 8, 2 Timothy chapter
1, look in verse 8. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor me his prisoner, But be thou
partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power
of God, who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, when? Before
the world began. But is now made manifest by the
appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death,
and hath brought life and immortality to the lives through the gospel."
Look at this, "...whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an
apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles." Even before the world
was. The Lord had appointed this man,
not only to salvation, but to being an apostle. Appointed of
the Lord. But how secret it was. Now look
back over here in Ephesians chapter 1 again in verse 4 and 5. Now
look at this. Look in verse 4 and verse 5 in
Ephesians chapter 1. First of all, Paul is speaking
of these two things. Number 1, election. Look at it.
According as He hath chosen us, God hath chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, that we should behold
Him without blame before Him in love. There you have election.
It took place before the world was. Who did it? God did it. And look here what He did to
the elect. He first chose them, and now in verse 5, He predestinated
us, all the elect, unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ,
all of this according to good pleasure of His will. So they were chosen, and they
were predestinated unto the adoption of children, and they're given
the spirit of adoption too, in time. All of this, in verse 5
tells us, simply because God willed it. Now somebody's going
to say, Bruce, you said that's a secret? It's definitely the will of God
because in verse 5 He tells that He chose us and He predestinated
us according to the will of God. So here it is. It's plain as
it can be. So it's not a secret anymore.
It's not a mystery anymore because here you can read it plainly.
He says He chose us and He predestinated us. Well, maybe here's the mystery
of God's will then. Who are the us? Who are the we? How can you and I know we're
one of them? He keeps talking about He's blessed
us with all spiritual blessings. He's chosen us in whom we have
redemption. But who is the us and who is
the we? And let me ask this question.
Am I one of them? Are you one of them? Ah, that's
a mystery. That's a mystery of God's will.
That's just as mysterious to you and I as Paul, being an apostle,
was to him before the Lord made it known to him. Now, ain't that
so? See what a mysterious thing the
will of the Lord is? God has already chosen a multitude
to salvation. That's already fixed. Their names
are already in the book of life. That was done before the foundation
of the world. Redemption has been accomplished
by Jesus Christ upon the cross 2,000 years ago. A kingdom has
been prepared and an inheritance reserved for God's elect, for
those that He's predestinated unto the adoption of children.
But who are they? Am I one of them? Are you one
of them? Now that's a mystery, ain't it?
That's a mystery. Well, this will be a mystery
to me, it will be a mystery unto you until God Himself makes it
known to our hearts. Tis a point I long to know. Am
I His or am I not? Well, I tell you this much, that
question will be settled through the means that God Himself provides. God will answer that question
in our hearts. How often does the Old Testament
especially say something like this? I will
do this to you, and I will do that for you or to you, and then
you shall know that I am the Lord. How often do we read that
in the Old Testament? I'm going to do this for you,
and I'm going to do that to you, and by doing this, I'm going
to reveal something to you. I'm going to make something known
to you. What is it? That I'm the Lord. That I'm your
Lord. Let me read a passage to you,
and you can remember this if you can, in Ezekiel chapter 37.
Very familiar chapter. And here's what he said, beginning
in verse 12. Behold, O my people, I will open
your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and
bring you into the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am
the Lord. Now read on, listen. When I shall
have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out
of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you, and you shall
live And I will place you in your land, then ye shall know
that I the Lord have spoken it, and I have performed it, saith
the Lord." What's he saying? He said, I'm going to make you
know me. And here's the way I'm going to make you know me. I'm
going to open your graves, I'm going to give you life, and I'm
going to put my Spirit within you. That's what he said. Now
you know something as you read that passage. This is the very
language of the book of Ephesians. The very language of the book
of Ephesians. He said in chapter 2 verse 1, You hath He quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins. But God who is rich in
mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together. He's given us life.
And then here in chapter 1, He says this, In whom ye also trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, in whom also, after
you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise."
What spirit is that? That's the spirit of adoption.
Chapter 1, verse 13. We trusted in Christ, we believed
in Christ, He sent the spirit of adoption in our hearts. Now
how can we know, therefore, that we're predestined? How do we
know this is something that took place before the world? How do
we know? God sends forth the Spirit into the believer's heart,
and he's crying, Father, Father. That's the spirit of adoption.
And when he does that, he says, I'm making you know my will. What is his will? That he's predestinated
you to the adoption of children. Do you have the spirit of adoption?
Well, God's telling you, just like He told the Jews of old.
I've given you life, I've put my Spirit within you, that you
may know that I'm your Lord. He's quickened you, He's given
you life from the grave, He's put His Spirit within you, and
now you live. Are you alive this morning? Are
you alive? Are you spiritually alive? Are
you alive to God? There was a time you were dead
to God. You were dead to Christ. You were dead to His Gospel.
You were dead to spiritual things. You lived and walked according
to the course of this world. But when He comes, He gives you
life. You're alive to God. You love
Him. You know Christ. You desire the
things of Christ. You're alive. You're alive. That's the way God makes us to
know, His will. Has He given you life? Then He's
chosen you to live. He's predestinated you into the
adoption of children if you have the spirit of adoption. But I
tell you this much, brothers and sisters, we can't know that
until He makes it known to us. Isn't that what He said down
in verse 9? Look at it again. I read it to you. Having made
known unto us the mystery of His will. What's His will? Well, we just read two things,
didn't we? chose us, predestinated us according to His will. Now He makes us to know it. But
if He don't make us to know it, we can't know it. It's a secret
thing. Just as sure as the Apostle Paul
had no idea, would have never dreamed that he was an apostle.
That's the first thing, but here's something else concerning the
mystery of God's will. First of all, it's a mystery
to us until He makes it known that I'm His, that you're His.
And secondly, here's another aspect of this mystery, and it's
this, and we see it in this chapter here, that all these spiritual
blessings, He's blessed us with all spiritual blessings, and
we find them in these passages I read to you. And all these
blessings are in Christ Jesus the Lord. Now, that's a mystery
until it's revealed. I was reading, and I've often
told you this, I've got a habit of reading the paper, a religious
section of the paper that comes out on Saturday and tells us
about usually a preacher. And sometimes they'll let the
preacher print a little article in there, and we had one this
Saturday. This preacher wrote sort of a lengthy article, and
he made the statement. In this he stressed that God
loves us as individuals. And God wants the best for us
as individuals. And God is glorified when we
don't live a selfish life and we live for Him. He's glorified.
And he went on with this rather long article. But as I read it
a second time, I caught it the first time, but I read it the
second time to make sure. In all of this long article that
he read, telling about the love of God and how God is glorified
and what God wants for us. In all of this long article,
not one time did he mention ever the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. As I read this passage again
yesterday in Ephesians 1, 25 times, 25 times, in what, 23
verses? The Apostle Paul mentions the
name of Jesus Christ directly, noun or pronoun, concerning him.
You say, Bruce, you mean you just mention the name of Christ?
No, that's not what it is at all. But what Paul does in this
chapter is he tells us about these blessings. But you can't
talk about these blessings unless you see they're vitally united,
vitally linked, vitally associated with the very person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They're all in Him and by Him
and through Him. Our problem that you and I are
facing in this society today, what do we do with the name of
Jesus Christ? The very name of Christ has stirred
up a lot of controversy and caused a lot of divisions in our state
house. Remember a year or two ago they
wanted to stop prayer in the state house because they wanted
a generic prayer? It's the name of Jesus that's
causing all this problem. If we could just do away with
that name, it would solve a lot of the controversies that we
have. We want a generic prayer. Talk about God. Talk about forgiveness. Talk about the love of God. But
oh, when you have to bring in the name, the person of Jesus
Christ, that's when it causes trouble, ain't it? Well, Paul mentions His name
here 25 times because he wants to remind us that all these blessings
of God, not a one of them, not a one of them, are apart from
the Lord Jesus Christ. You start there in verse 3, where
we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings, what does
he say? In Christ. In verse 4, we're chosen, how
are we chosen? In Christ. And then you go on
down, predestinated us in the adoption of children by Christ.
And then you go on down in verse 6, we're made acceptable, how? In the Beloved. And then in verse
7, in whom we have redemption. In Him we have redemption. And
then you go down in verse 11, "...in whom we have obtained
an inheritance." So from election all the way to our glorification
there in heaven, whatever God will give us there, it's all
in Jesus Christ and by Jesus Christ. I was talking to Clarence
this week and he was telling me about a preacher friend of
his that made the statement that to the effect that he didn't
believe Christ was all. Isn't that what he said, Clarence?
He didn't believe Christ was all. Well, here are some questions
he needs to ask himself. First, is Christ all in election? What part did any man add? Were
we chosen in Christ alone? Did anybody else have anything
to do with that? And secondly, God predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. Is He all in
adoption? Did you have anything to do with
that? And thirdly is this, in verse 6 He says, we are accepted
in the Beloved. Are we wholly accepted in Him? Are we partly accepted in Him?
And somehow or another we make ourselves complete in Him? And then verse 7, in whom we
have redemption by the blood of Jesus Christ. Can you add
anything to that? Is He all in redemption? Is it
truly by His blood? Is it truly by His suffering?
Is it truly by His death? And then verse 11, we have obtained
an inheritance in Him, eternal inheritance in Him. Is it all in Him? I'd like to
know what a man could lay down, the price a man could lay down
before God. Anything you could do or pay
to obtain a portion, just a portion of this inheritance. It's in
Christ. It's all in Him. It's all in
Him. Well, one says this, Bruce, I
added my faith to Christ. That was my part. My faith made
him all." Faith is not a price with which we purchase anything.
Faith is not some merit that we bring with us. Faith is the
empty hands that receive a full Jesus. Faith doesn't come to
add to him. Faith comes to receive all that
is. Faith is a weary, burned heart
that rests upon a strong Savior. Girls, girls, Layla, shh, be
still. Faith is not self-inaction. Faith
is self-put-down. Faith is trusting in the actions
of someone else in my place. Faith adds nothing to Christ.
Faith receives everything from Christ. Listen to this now. When you hear, this is so important,
and this is so confident to my soul. When you hear in your heart
of hearts that salvation in Jesus Christ is all And when you hear
in your heart of hearts that in this business of salvation,
Jesus Christ is all and has done all, you have just believed. You have just believed. The minute
you hear in your heart of hearts that Christ is all and that He's
done all, you have just believed. Faith comes by hearing. You know, this may not sound
right, but we don't hear and then believe. Hearing is believing. Hear, and your soul shall live. By hearing, your soul shall live.
What did Paul say in that wonderful verse that we read before in
Galatians 3? This only what I have learned
of you. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by
the hearing of faith. See there? If you hear, you believe. If you believe, you've heard.
Caring in your heart is faith. Here in verse 13, I was reading
this in my little Greek book there at the house, and here's
what it says in the King James. In whom ye also trusted, after
that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
And whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. Now here's what the little Greek
says. Listen to this. And whom also ye, having heard
the word of truth, the good tidings of your salvation, and whom also
having believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
See what he says, having heard, having believed. That's what
that means. When you hear, you believe. When you believe, then
you hear. Hearing of Christ, that He is
all, and that He has done all, is believing. Hear, and your
soul shall live. You remember when the Apostle
Peter went down to Cornelius' house, and he was just preaching
away to them, preaching Christ to them. Clarence read it to
us this morning. Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. And all that believe, they're
justified. They receive remission of their
sins. And the Bible said there in that next verse, the Holy
Ghost fell on all of them that heard the Word. Well, you go
on to chapter 11, and Peter was rehearsing this incident to the
Jews back up at Jerusalem. And he said, well, I was preaching.
The Holy Ghost fell on all of them that believed in the Lord
Jesus Christ. In the first place, He said He
fell on those that heard. In the second place, He said
He fell on those who believed. There's no difference, is there?
There's no difference. When you hear that Jesus Christ
is all in all, when you hear that He's all in your salvation,
you'll believe it. You'll believe it. Faith don't
add anything. Faith saves because it cures. It cures. Believing is not adding
your part to Christ. Believing is not doing. Believing
is curing. And what's it curing? That Christ
is all. And Christ has done all. I spent
several years trying to save myself. And one night by my bed
in the darkness of night, I come to see that Christ was all. And
when I saw that, I was saved. It wasn't that I saw that and
then had to turn around and say, I'm going to try to believe it.
Curing it is believing it. Seeing it is believing it. Curing
of Christ is believing in Christ. What's the mystery of God's will
then? He's made known unto us the mystery
of His will. That God has determined to bless
sinners. Jewish sinners and Gentile sinners
with unspeakable blessings in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so
the Apostle Paul goes about all the world preaching these unsearchable
riches of Christ. And those who hear, those who
hear, can know they have an interest in these blessings. That's the
way we find it out. We hear, we hear. Brother Donnie Bell called me
the other day and said he just got down from the pulpit and
some young woman came and wrapped her arms around him and said,
I heard, I heard, I heard, I heard. Well, that's what it is then.
I hear. Christ is everything. He's all. Oh, when I hear that, I believe.
I believe. And lastly is this. First of
all, God's will is a secret thing. He has to make known to our hearts
that we have an interest in it. that it's His will and has been
His will to elect us, predestinate us, redeem us, send the spirit
of adoption to our heart. He has to make that known to
us. The mystery of God's will that all these blessings are
in Christ. And you just watch it, brothers and sisters, and
see if this ain't what's happening. The longer our country stands,
the further away from Christ it's going to get. If God don't
send us a revival, you just wait five years or ten years down
the road. It's Christ that this world has a problem with. It's
Christ that religion has a problem with. But all these blessings,
they're in Christ. And lastly is this. Paul, an
apostle of Jesus Christ, God had to make it known to him. And the last thing about this
is this. Ain't this a surprising thing? It is a surprising thing. Ain't
the will of God a surprising thing? Paul, an apostle. Why, these early believers were
so surprised. They wouldn't even receive him
at first. And finally, when the word got around and they realized
it, they glorified God. They were amazed at this. They
glorified God that he'd called me and saved me and changed my
name and called me to be an apostle. What a surprise this was. Paul,
a blasphemer? He was that. A persecutor? Yes. Injurious? Yes, he was. Paul, an apostle of Christ? Paul, who sought to stamp out
the name of Christ, who sought in his heart to do many things
contrary to the name of Christ, now Paul, a lover of Christ? What a surprise! How amazing! Saul of Tarsus was a wicked,
rebellious, ignorant, self-righteous, lost Pharisee, but now he's a
wise, obedient preacher of the truth. How utterly amazing! How totally surprising! The will
of God. Ain't that the way it is? You've
never got over it, have you? And you never will. You never
will. Aren't you amazed when sometimes it dawns upon your
mind that he's chosen you? Just a flicker of this, just
for a thought, enters your mind that you're one of His by electing
love. And what effect does that have
upon your heart? Aren't you caught up with amazement
that He could choose you? When you cry in your spirit,
Father, Father, and by this you are made to realize that the
eternal God has predestinated you to this very thing. Aren't
you amazed by that? And when you are caught up with
a measure of assurance that of all people you are redeemed by
this wonderful Redeemer, that He's redeemed you from the power
of darkness. He's redeemed you from the curse
of the law. He's redeemed you from so great
a death, from the wrath of God. Oh, you believe not for joy.
It's amazement to you. And when the notion comes into
your heart that all your black sins have been forgiven, and
it's all because of the riches of His grace, oh, when at any
time you can see this, aren't you amazed by it? It's the will
of God. This is God's will to forgive
you your sins. And in the fullness of time,
when Jesus Christ comes again and your soul and body, if it's
dead, will be reunited and gathered together in Him. That you could
have such a hope of being with Christ and being like Him. I can't get my little arms of
faith around that, can you? They're just too short. But when
you begin to hope and realize God has given you such a hope,
you're amazed by it. And it's God's will that you
should hope. That's the amazing thing about the will of God. Me, poor me, an earthling with
nothing, ready to leave everything and go back to the ground, that
I should have an eternal inheritance. that is incorruptible, undefiled,
and that fadeth not away." Me? Me? Oh, if I can just get a hold
of that. This is God's will, yes. God's will. In Christ God
has given you that. Not that He just desired it.
He determined it. And He exerted all the effort
that it took to bring me to heaven. and give me that eternal inheritance.
Oh, just to get a hold of that, to think about it. And the reason
it's so amazing, it's God's will. It's God's will. It's not amazing
if I could do it by my will. What's my will? It's so fickle
and changing and weak. It means nothing to say, I will.
We will a lot of things. We never bring them to pass,
do we? But when you say God's will, it's God's will. That's what He's determined.
That's what He shall bring to pass. Oh, you've said a mouthful
then, bud. You've said a mouthful. If God
has witnessed that you have an inheritance, oh, you're amazed. You're utterly surprised by it.
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder
how He could love me. A sinner condemned unclean. But there it is. There it is. Amazed that he could love me? Amazing love? How can it be that
thou, my God, hast died for me? Died he for me who caused his
pain? Me who him to death pursued?
Amazing love. What was going on in these men's
hearts? They were caught up with God's
will. He had made it known unto them. He'd give it some evidence
in their heart. This is my will. I love you. I've chosen you. I've redeemed
you. I've made heaven just for you.
That's my will. And oh, when we see it, we get
caught up in the glory. Brothers and sisters, one of
the ways that you know you're a true believer this morning,
you're amazed. You're amazed. He loved me and gave himself
for me. I'll never get over it. I'll
never get over it. And you won't either when God
makes His will known to you.