Would you turn with me to John,
chapter five. John, chapter five. Verse one. After this, there was a feast
of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now, there is at
Jerusalem, by the sheep market, a pool, which is called in the
Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a
great multitude of impotent folk, powerless, without ability, without
strength, blind and halt. withered waiting for the moving
of the water. For an angel went down at a certain
season into the pool and troubled the water. Whosoever then first
after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of
whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there which
had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie and knew
that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him,
Wilt thou be made whole? I have entitled this message,
The Place of the Will in Salvation. Wilt thou? Are you willing to
be made whole? Are you willing I'm not asking
you right now if you're able to do anything. I'm not asking,
can you make yourself whole? But are you willing to be made
whole? Now, the man Christ asked this
question to was an impotent man. He lacked the ability to walk. He was powerless, and it appears
that his inability was his own fault through some kind of sinful
course of action that he lived. Look in verse 14 of the fifth
chapter. Afterwards, Jesus findeth him
in the temple and saith unto him, Behold, thou art made whole,
sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The implication
being, somehow his sin had brought this impotence on. He was completely
powerless and it was all his fault. Now would that not be
an accurate description of the case of you and I? Completely
unable. Simple. And our inability is
not because we've been victimized. It's all our fault. Such was the case of this man,
and the Lord asked him this question, Are you willing? Is it your desire? Are you willing
to be made whole? God's salvation is being made
whole. You're made to be what you were
not. Turn to John chapter 2. We're
given an illustration of what it means to be made. John chapter
2. You notice verse 11 says this
beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee. That word
beginning means this most important. This is the most important miracle.
Because of what it teaches. So look in verse one of chapter
two and the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee
and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and
his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the
mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith
unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not
yet come. His mother saith unto the servants,
Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there
six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of
the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece, Jesus saith unto
them, Fill the water pots with water. And they filled them unto
the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw
out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it,
when the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made
wine. Now, he did not taste water that
tasted like wine. It was not water that appeared
to be wine. It was made wine. It was made to be what it was
not. It was water, and it was made
wine. Now, when God saves somebody,
He makes them to be what they were not. 2 Corinthians 5.21
says, For He hath made him. to be sin for us. And who knows
sin? That we might be made. Note the power of that language.
That we might be made the righteousness of God. I'm made to be what I
was not. I'm certainly not the righteousness
of God in and of myself. But if Christ died for me, I'm
made to be the very righteousness of God. The righteousness of
Christ. his mind. So when God saves somebody,
they are made to be what they were not. Now, he says to this
impotent man, this powerless man who couldn't walk, he asked
him this question. Are you willing? Are you willing? Is it your desire? Is it your
wish? Are you willing to be made whole? Now, Wilt thou be made whole? This word is also translated,
would you be pleased to be made whole? It's translated volunteer. Would you be a volunteer to be
made whole? Is it your desire? Is it your
will when God looks in your heart? Is it your desire? Is it your
will to be made whole? Now, we see from the Lord's question
that the will does have a place in salvation, doesn't it? Are
you willing? Wilt thou? Do you desire to be
made whole? That verse of scripture that
I opened the service with, whosoever will, whosoever will, let him
take the water of life freely. Yes, the will does have a place
in salvation. When the Bible says, with the
heart man believeth unto righteousness, that's not some kind of ooey
gooey. It means something. With the
heart man believeth unto righteousness. Now the heart in the Bible means
the whole man. It means the understanding You
understand that Christ is your righteousness before God. It
means the affections. You love having Christ as your
righteousness before God. And it means the will. If you're
given your choice, this is the way you choose to be saved by
his righteousness rather than your own. That's what you desire.
Yes, the will is involved in this thing of faith. The understanding
is involved, the emotions, the affections are involved, and
the will is involved. Wilt thou? Are you willing? I'm
asking you, I'm asking myself, are you willing to be made whole? Now, does this mean that man
has a free will when I'm talking about the will being involved
in salvation? Does this mean that man has a
free will? No. There is absolutely, listen
real carefully, there is absolutely no such thing as free will. It's an absurdity. There is no
such thing. Your will is controlled by your
nature. A tiger could eat grass if he
wanted to, couldn't he? Could you stop him? I mean, if
he wanted to, a tiger could eat grass if he wanted to. But he
won't because it's against his nature. You know, a cow, Could
eat carrion if it wanted to. It could go up meat road. But it won't. It's against its
nature. Your will is controlled by your nature. There is no such
thing as free will. It's an absurdity. Even God doesn't
have a free will. Now, somebody said, what do you
mean by that? Can God sin? No. Can he lie? No. It's against his nature. He has
a holy nature. His will is controlled by his
nature. Now, men make man's will. Notice I say men. Here's a summary of what is preached
in our day by probably at least 99% of the pulpits in America. Man's will is the ultimate cause
of salvation. Now, here's the message it's
preached. See if I'm not being accurate. Here's the message
it's preached. God loves you. Christ died for
you. Christ paid for your sins. God
wants to save you. The Holy Spirit's calling you.
Everything is done for you, but it's up to an act of your will
to activate all that. You have to decide to accept
what he's done. You have to make a decision to
accept what he's done or it won't work for you. It could be true
that God could love you and Christ could die for you and God the
Holy Spirit can call you and Christ can pay for your sins
and you might wind up in hell anyway if you don't of your will
activate what he did. And let me tell you something.
That is salvation by works. That's all it is. Salvation by
works. There is no gospel in that message. None. That's a message that will
damn your soul if you believe it. If that's a message that
you preach, you do not preach the gospel. Now, is that clear
enough? It's so. This message of free
will It's not the truth. If you believe in free will in
that sense, you reject free grace. And you make man's will sovereign
over God's will. And that ain't going to happen. No man by nature is willing. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2.
Now remember, the will does have a place in salvation. It is not
man's free will. There's no such thing. Let me
show you what the scripture has to say about all of this. Ephesians
chapter two. Verse one. And you have he quickened
who were dead. In trespasses and sins. Wherein in times past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience. You're doing what you wanted
to do. You're doing what you wanted to do. You know, people
do what they want to do. Verse three, among whom also we all
had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires. See that word desire. That's
the same word will fulfilling the will of the flesh and of
the mind. And we were by nature children
of wrath, even as Turn to John chapter five. Well, that's where
we're at, but going down into the chapter. Verse 39. You search the scriptures,
the Lord is speaking to the Pharisees, he says, you search the scriptures
for in them, in the scriptures, you think you have eternal life
and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come
to me that you might have life. And you hear what our Lord says?
There's life in Christ. No man has life. You will not
come to me that you might have life. There is life in Christ.
There's life for anybody who comes forth. If you come to Christ
for life, you'll have life. But no man will come. That's man's will. You will not
come to me. Everybody says, we will not have
this man to reign over us. And that is our sin. That is
our sin, that we are not willing to come to Christ. That we're
not willing to have his life. That is our sin. Let me show you the will of man.
Turn to Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23. Verse 22. Luke 23, 22, And he said unto
them the third time, Why? What evil hath he done? I found
no cause of death in him. I therefore chastise him and
let him go. And they were instant with loud voices requiring that
he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of
the chief priests prevailed. And Pilate gave sentence that
it should be as they required. And he released unto them him
that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they
desired. And he delivered Jesus." Where? to their will. There's man's will. And if God
leaves mere you to ourselves, that will be our will. Turn to Romans 9. Now, this puts a death blow on
all thoughts of man's will having some part in salvation as far
as being the determining factor. Yes, your will is involved in
salvation, but it's not the determining factor. God's will is the determining
factor. Let me show you that here in
the scripture. Romans 9, verse 11. For the children being not
yet born, talking about Jacob and Esau, neither having done
any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand not of works, But if him that calleth it was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it's written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." That's God speaking.
Well, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Is God unfair? God forbid! For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it is not of him that
willeth. Do you see that? How many different
ways are there to take that? It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. One other scripture, John chapter
1, verse 12. 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, which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God." Well, does that mean that man's
will has no place in salvation? Not at all. Wilt thou, are you willing, now
get that now, I mean, free will, there it is, there's no such
thing. Well, what about our will then? Because he said to this
man, are you willing to be made whole? Wilt thou, are you willing
to be made whole? Now, if man's will is chained
to an evil nature and it has nothing to do with being the
cause, where's the will come in then? He says, are you willing
to be made whole? Well, turn to Psalm 110. I'm
asking you to turn to a lot of scriptures, I realize, but I
want you to see this. Psalm 110. Verse three. shall be willing in the day of
thy power. Now, thy people, all of God's
people, everybody who believes, the same people that we read
of in Matthew 121, when we said, thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. That's the people
we're talking about, thy people. Thy people shall be willing. in the day of our power, and
this is the power of God. You've heard the saying, you
can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Everybody's
heard that saying. You can take a horse to the water, but you
can't make him drink. That's true, but God can. God actually
makes his people willing. I am willing to be made whole. I am willing to be saved by Jesus
Christ. I am willing. Thy people shall
be willing. Now, if the Lord comes to you
and says, Are you willing to be made whole? You can answer
that with a yes or no. Are you willing? His people are willing to be
made whole. Omnipotence makes them willing. There's so many examples of this
in Scripture. Remember, you know, the Lord
actually raised people from the dead. You remember Lazarus. He's
been in the grave. You can read about it in John
chapter 11. He's been in the grave four days. The process of decay has
already began. When the Lord said, remove the
stone, he said, you know, he already stinks. Was he willing
to be made whole? Not while he was dead. But when he was given life, he
was willing. What about Zacchaeus? Was he
willing to be made? Oh, no, he was the chief of the
publicans. He was happy with things the way they were. But
God gave him life. All of a sudden, he sought to
see Jesus, who he was. There was a time when he didn't
care less. Now he does. Life has begun. And he's willing
to be made whole. I love the story of or the parable
of the man who made the great feast. And he said, all things
are now ready. Come to the feast. And his servants
went out and invited everybody to the feast. But the Scripture
says, they all with one consent began to make excuse. Remember that one said, I bought
some ground and I've got to go test it. And another one bought
a yokel box and I need to test him. And I said, I've married
a wife. I can't come. You know what he said to his servants
to do after that? You can read this in Luke. He
said, go out and invite them to come in. No, he didn't say
invite them, did he? He said, compel them to come
in. Force them to come in. Urge them
to come in. That my house might be full. Turn to Philippians 2. Here's
where the will comes in, Philippians chapter 2. You know, if you're not willing,
you can ask the Lord to make you willing. He makes willing. I don't even have a will to ask
the Lord to make you willing. And look what Philippians chapter
2 says. This is such a precious passage
of script. They're all precious, I realize, but look what it says
in verse 12. Wherefore, my beloved, as you've
always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for
it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his
good pleasure. You see that this is God's work.
He works in you both to will and to do his good pleasure. And so now I can say with Paul,
In Romans chapter 7, he said, To will is present with me. Right? To will is present with me. Now how to perform that which
is good, I find not, he went on to say. But to will is present
with me. I am willing. Right now, I am
willing. When he said, Wilt thou be made
whole? My answer is yes. Yes, that is
what I want. That is what I desire. That is
what I wish. Now, turn back to Revelation
22. Revelation 22. Let's read the 17th verse once again. And the Spirit and the Bride
say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is athirst come. Come and welcome. And whosoever
will. Do you see that? Whosoever will. Let him take the water of life
freely. Now, here's the message of the
gospel. The Spirit, this is what God the Holy Spirit bears witness
to, this is what the Church, the Bride, the Church preaches. You know what it is? Come. Not go and do, not stay away,
but come and welcome to the Lord Jesus Christ. You come right
now just as you are. The Spirit and the Bride say
come. Come and welcome. You're not
being held off. The message of the gospel is not keeping people
away. It brings people in. Come and
welcome. That's the message of the gospel. Don't do anything. Don't try
to try to make yourself worthy. Don't try to change. Come on.
Come on. just as you are. Aren't you thankful for that?
What if you had to do something and make yourself better in order
to come? We'd be in trouble, wouldn't we? But thank God he
says, come just as you are. That is the message of the Bible. You see, coming to Christ is
the motion of spiritual life. You know what I'm always doing? I'm always coming to Christ as
a sinner needing His mercy. That's the way I'm coming right
now, as a sinner needing His mercy. I come creeping up to
Him the same way I always come. This is the motion of spiritual
life. Coming to Christ is the evidence
of divine election. Now, we read a moment ago, Romans
9, 11 of election, the election of grace and so on. That's God
choosing who would be saved before time began. Now, God didn't choose
everybody. He only chose who he chose. That's
just the way it is. And it's good that way. Whatever.
Don't don't get upset when people get upset with the election.
Kind of like, well, why didn't God save everybody? But let me
let me remind you, if he didn't if he didn't elect some people,
nobody would be saved. Nobody. And don't, you know,
why didn't he save everybody? Well, salvation was up to you.
Nobody'd be saved. In reality. I mean, people, you'd say, well,
I'd save everybody. Well, let him sin against you
5,000 times and let's see if you can save them. No, no, you
won't. I know the way we are. But God delights in mercy. Now, what is the evidence of
divine election? What is the evidence that God
elected a person? How can I know if he chose me?
Our Lord said this in John chapter 6 verse 37, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise for no reason cast out. Listen to me. If you come
to Christ, he won't cast you out. He'll receive you. This
man receiveth sinners. That's who he is. You see, coming to Christ is
what all who are taught of God do. Turn back over to John chapter
6 for a moment. Hold your finger there in Revelation
22, because we're going to come back there, but I want you to
see this in John chapter 6. Verse 37, all that the Father
giveth me. shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out." Look in verse 44.
No man can come to me. No man has the ability to come
to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. It's written in the prophets and they shall all be
taught of God. Every man, no exceptions to this
rule. Every man, therefore, that hath
heard and have learned of the father cometh unto me. Now, this is what God's people
do. They come to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the message of
the gospel. Come on in. You're welcome. There's nothing
holding you back as far as God saying, no, you can't come, no.
Come and welcome. That's the message of the scripture.
I'm saying this to all men universally come to Christ. Now, back to Revelation 22. Let's see who's told to come.
Verse 17. And the spirit and the bride
say come. And let him that heareth. Do
you hear what's being said? Do you hear? Well, let him say, Come then. And anybody who's thirsty. What
a blessed... Anybody that's a thirst. Are
you thirsty? Come and welcome. And whosoever
will. Are you willing? Whosoever, I
love the word whosoever. It's one of my favorite words
in the Bible. Whosoever, because I'm one of them. I can fit myself
in that group. Whosoever will. Are you willing
to be made whole? Are you willing for the Lord
to make you to be what you were not? Are you willing for Him
to do it all? Whosoever will. Let Him take
the water of life Nothing to pay, nothing for you
to do. Simply take the water of life
freely. Now, how do I come? Any way you can. Let me show you an example of
somebody who did come to Christ. Turn to Matthew chapter 8. Verse 1, When he was come down
from the mountain, great multitudes followed him, and, behold, there
came a leper. Now, here's somebody who came
to Christ. There came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. Now, let me tell you
something about this leper. He was a leper. And he couldn't
make himself clean. And he came to Christ knowing
that Christ had the ability to make him clean. Now, he wasn't
sure if Christ was willing. He didn't look at mercy as an
entitlement. He didn't come to Christ saying,
Lord, I will, but you make me clean. He didn't say, Lord, I'm
going to allow you to forgive me. I'm going to allow you to
cleanse me. I'm going to... nothing like that. He came to the Lord
saying, first he worshipped him. Scripture points out that he
worshipped Him for who He was before He was made clean. You
know, the Lord is worthy to be worshipped whether He saves me
or not. Isn't that so? He's worthy of worship. He came
and He worshipped Him. Say, Lord, if Thou wilt. It's up to You. If You will,
You can make me clean. Now that's how to come to Christ.
Like that fella did. Lord, if you will. What respect
and reverence he had as he came. Lord, he worshipped him for who
he was. Lord, if you will. It's all up
to you. I'm in your hands. You can claim
me. You can pass me by. Whatever
you do is right because you're the Lord. Whatever he does is
right. But if you will, you can make
me clean. And you know what the Lord said?
And Jesus put forth his hand and touched him. He touched that
leper saying, I will be thou clean. Now, everybody who comes
to the Lord like this leper did, hears the same thing this leper
heard. I will. Be thou clean. You come to the Lord like that.
Remember the message of scriptures. Come! The Spirit and the bride
say come! Let him that hears say come!
Let him that is to thirst come! Whosoever will, let him take,
take freely the water of life. Now, I'm coming to Christ right now,
in my heart. I'm coming to Him as an empty-handed sinner. needing
a Savior. You know, I never graduate past
that. That's an understatement. Let me tell you why I'm coming
to Him. I'm coming to Christ right now
because I need Him. Paul Daniel told me once, he
said, I struggled with election so much trying to figure out
whether or not I was going to be elected. I couldn't figure
it out, but I knew I needed him. And so I came because I needed
him. I come because I need Jesus Christ. He healed them that had need
of healing. The whole need, not a physician,
but they that are sick. I need the Lord Jesus Christ,
and I come because I'm commanded to. He said, come unto me, all
you that are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.
People call that the great invitation. Well, I can see why it sounds
sort of like an invitation, but it's more than that. It's a command.
It's a command. You are commanded to come, and
your right to come is because He commands you to. I come because
I'm commanded to. I come because I don't have anywhere
else to go. It's not like I'm given two options. Well, you
can come to Christ. No, I got nowhere else to go. As far as
that goes, I don't choose to come. I come to Christ because
I've got no choice. I've got nowhere else to go.
I'm driven. That's why I come. I come to
Christ because I have no choice. I must have Him. So I come. Now back to John chapter
5. Verse 6. When Jesus saw him lie and knew
That he'd been now a long time in that case, utterly powerless,
impotent, unable to walk. He saith unto him, wilt thou? Are you willing to be made whole? This is not something you can
do. I can make you whole. But are you willing? to be made
whole. Now, look at the impotent man's
answer. He didn't understand what the
Lord asked him, because the impotent man answered and said, Sir, I
have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool,
but while I'm coming, another steps down before me. All he
got out of it was ability. I'm unable. But, verse 8, Jesus
saith unto him, take up thy bed and walk." And immediately the man was made
whole and took up his bed and walked. And the same day was
the Sabbath. Now, are you willing, it's a
very simple question, Are you willing to be made whole? Now, if you're having some problems
there, I've got some good advice. Ask him to make you willing.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Lord, exert
your mighty power on me and cause me to be willing. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. Let's pray.