John 5, verses 39 and 40. John 5, verses 39 and 40. Search the Scriptures, for in
them 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. Search the Scripture. And they
did search the Scripture. The literal reading of this,
they tell me, is you do search the Scripture. If you have a
sin of reference there, it may be that in your reference. You
do search the Scripture. They had an outward pretense
or reverence for the Scripture. They hung them on them. They
hung Scriptures on different parts of their body and their
clothing as an outward pretense of reverence for the Scripture.
But they didn't have the Word in their hearts. That's what
he said to you in verse 38, wasn't it? You have not his Word abiding
in you. For he for whom God hath sent
him ye believe not. They had an outward reverence
and show of it. But where does the Word need
to be? In our hearts, doesn't it? Let the words of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom. David said, Your word have I
hid in my heart. The heart is where we need the
word. They searched the scripture,
and he said, In them you think you have eternal life. Now what
does he mean by that? Well, one thing he means is this. They thought simply because they
had the scriptures in their hands, they had life. Now that may seem
strange for a man to tie some scripture on his head or on his
clothing, and that would give him a degree of assurance that
he had life, that it was well with God simply because he had
a Bible. That ain't too strange. You hear
soldiers sometimes witness him that they went off to war, and
one of the things that comforted them was the fact they had a
Bible in their trunk. Do you have a Bible in your trunk
when you've been to Vietnam? Most soldiers did. I bet you
did, Glenn. My brother did. They don't know
what it says. They don't know what it teaches.
But just the fact that they had the Word, the Bible in their
trunk, comforted them. That's what they did. That's
why they packed it around. That's why they read verses out
of it. Because it comforted them just
the fact, them knowing God has given us the Word. And we've got it here in our
hands. We carry it in our heads and on our clothes. And secondly
was this, in them you think you have eternal life. They thought
by performing outward obedience to the commands they saw in the
scripture would give them life. Doing outward things is touch
not, taste not, and handle not. When they read the Old Testament
Scripture, all they saw was rules and commandments for them to
live their daily lives by. They didn't see redemption that
was in a person. They saw, don't you touch this,
and don't you keep company with that fellow. And don't you sit
at this particular place. It was just do's and don'ts.
Even Peter said to the Lord, that which is common or unclean
has never entered my mouth. And you know it's still the same
way today, isn't it? When people read the Old Testament
and the New Testament, all they see is just rules to regulate
their life by. All they see is works, works,
works. That's all these Jews saw. Think
of what the Lord Jesus told them down here in verse 39. Search
the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life.
By doing all these things, you are abstaining from all these
things. And these Scriptures, these prophets, are they which
testify of me. Redemption. The Redeemer. He went ahead and done you in
verse 46. Look what he told him in verse
46. Had you believed Moses, if you
had read Genesis through Deuteronomy, you read Moses, you would have
believed me. For he wrote of me. Moses wrote
of me. When Moses said, A prophet shall
the Lord your God raise up unto me. Who's he talking about? Talking
about Christ, wasn't he? When He took and set in order
all of these blood sacrifices, who is He writing about? The
redemption that is in Christ. When He took that tabernacle
and set it up, and inside that tabernacle was gold, pure shiny
gold, and outside was those old rough skins, who is He writing
about? That was Christ. Jesus in His
humanity and Jesus in His deity, His glory. He wrote of me. Christ wrote of me. And when David said, they pierced
my hands and my feet, who's he talking about? Christ. My God,
my God, why have you forsaken me? Who was that about? That's
Christ, wasn't it? He said that on the cross. When
Isaiah said, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son, Who was
that? That's Christ. When Jeremiah
said, this is the name wherewith He shall be called, the Lord,
our righteousness, that was Christ. Search the Scripture, but these
are they who testify of Me. Look over here in Luke, Old John
chapter 5, and look just to your left, and look at the last chapter
of Luke, chapter 24. This is where the Lord had risen
from the dead and He was preaching to His two disciples on the road
to Emmaus. They said, we thought for sure
it was Him that should redeem Israel. And look what He said
to them here in verse 25. Luke chapter 24 and verse 25. O fools, He said unto them, and
slow of heart to believe, all that the prophets have spoken
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and entered into
His glory? And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures,"
what? The things concerning Himself. And look what He tells them over
here in the same chapter in verse 44. And He said unto them, These
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which was written in the Law
of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms." That just about
takes the whole New Testament, doesn't it? And what are they
concerning? What's it all about? Me. Concerning me. Search the Scriptures. You're searching them and you're
bragging about God giving them to you, but you don't know what
they teach. Search them more diligently.
Look into them more closely and you'll see that I am the subject
of the Old Testament as well as the New. The Bible is one
book, isn't it? It's just one book. We've divided
it up in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, but the
whole book is just one book. And it's concerning this redemption
that is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And there is within
this Bible the covenant of works. This do, and thou shalt live. You'll find the covenant of works
written in this Bible. That's all they saw, what they
should do. And there is in this Bible the
covenant of grace that everything is done, believe it and live. In this Bible is the covenant
of grace which is contained the gifts and promises of God that
is freely given in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is given. The Father has put life in him,
and all that comes to him has this life. It's not about working. It's about receiving the life
that's in Christ. That brings us here to verse
40. Look back here in my text in verse 40. But ye will not
come to me. that you might have life. And that's something I want to
talk to you just a little bit this afternoon. You will not
come to me that you might have life. I owe my title to Mr. Spurgeon. He preached a message
on this verse and entitled it, Free Will, a Slave. Free Will,
a Slave. If you have time, you may want
to read that sermon sometime. This, he gives an Armenian outline
to this particular verse here, and it goes something like this,
Mr. Sturgeon said, a man has a will. We can all agree with
that, don't we? Man has a will. Why sure he has
a will. Secondly, the Armenian outline goes like this, and that
will is entirely free. Well, we want to prove that to
be false in just a minute. And thirdly, the Armenian outline
says this, that men must make themselves willing to come to
Christ, otherwise they will not be saved. That men must be willing
to come to Christ, we fully agree. But that a man can make himself
willing to come to Christ is contrary to nature as well as
scripture. You and I have heard a lot about
free will lately, haven't we? And don't you get sick? Don't
it make you sick? Don't you want to throw up on
your shoes sometime? To have to sit and listen to
free will? That God would do many things for humanity and
for this human race that's good. God longs to do so many good
things for humanity, but He cannot because He's bound by the free
will of man. And they tell us that this free
will is a gift of God. God has given every man a free
will. Well, first of all, let's look
at what the text says here. I want you to notice when we
read it real slow in verse 44. I want you to keep your finger
there because we want to look at that. There's a little secret
right there that gives away the whole deception of free will. The Lord
doesn't say here in our text You will not come to me, or you
cannot come to me. He doesn't say that, does he?
You cannot come to me that you might have life. He says that
in another place, though. Why don't he say it here? He's
not speaking about ability here. He's speaking about the perversity
of the will of man. Here he's not talking about his
inability, but he's talking something else about the will. It's not
only disabled through sin, but it's been made perverse through
sin. And that's what he's talking
about here. You will not come to me that you might have life.
And he doesn't say this in our text. I don't want you to come.
I don't want you to come to me that you might have life. That's
not what he says. I'm the one who is keeping you
from coming to me. That's not what he said. as though
the fault is found in Christ. But what does the text say? You
will not come to me. Where does the Lord put the blame
for their not coming? The will, doesn't He? The will. You will not come to me. Isn't it strange that some read
this verse and they cry out the will of man as the gift of God,
as if the gift of God Would give man such a perverse thing as
that which would keep them from coming to Christ? Would God give such a perverse
gift? Every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down from
the Father of life. It is a good gift He gives. He
gives perfect gifts. There are some bold enough to
blame God for such a blatant sin that is found in man as His
will. No, this is not of God. God never
gave a man free will. The very will that men cry up
as being free and powerful and the deciding factor in whether
or not he comes to Christ for life is the very thing that Christ
cries up as being that very thing that keeps him from coming. Your
free will is what makes you come or what lets you come or what
brings you. Christ said, no, no, no. It's
your will that keeps you from me. And that will, they cry out,
is being the deciding factor of their salvation. Christ said
it's the deciding factor in your damnation. You will not come
to me that you might have life. Therefore, you'll be damned.
And what's the cause of it? Your will. You will. There is life in the Lord Jesus
Christ and in no place else. He doesn't even say here there's
life in the Father, does He? There's no life in the Father.
The Jews would have accepted that. There's no life in the
Holy Spirit. The Jews would have accepted
that. But the life here, he said, is in the Son. God has given to us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. And that being true, why won't
men come to Christ for this life? It has to do with a will. Ye
will not come to me. Then how sinful. The will is. It's not something to be bragged
about and boasted in. It's something to be ashamed
of. The will is sinful because it is what keeps the soul from
Jesus Christ. He will not come to me. Oh, it's not a gift of God, is
it? It's not a gift of God at all. It came in with the very
fall of man. Read our text slowly now. And
notice the word here that the Lord Jesus Christ uses. He will
not come to me that you might have life. If life is in Jesus
Christ, and to have life we must come to Him, then what does that
tell us about ourselves? We're dead. If we have to come
to Christ for life, then we're dead before we come to Christ
for that life. What does it mean to be dead?
Well, it means separation, doesn't it? Separation from life. Separation
from light. To be dead means you don't participate
in the affairs and activities of this world anymore. You're
separated from this life. You go down front and you see
a man laying there in a casket. What's he doing? Nothing. Nothing. He doesn't participate in this
life. He's left his friends, he's left his family, he's left
his children, his spouse. He does not participate in this
life anymore. He's dead. And the only way he
can begin to participate again is if something miraculous takes
place and gives him life and raises him from that casket and
restores him again. But until that happens, he's
not going to do anything. He's dead. He's dead. And when God said to Adam that
day, in the day that you eat, you shall surely die. Adam didn't die physically that
day, did he? Physical death come later, but
he died that day. And how did he die? A spiritual
death. He lived to be, what, 965 years
old before he died, physically? But as sure as the Lord told
him, the day that you reach you'll die, that's when he died a spiritual
death. And what did it mean for him
to die a spiritual death? Separation. Separation. What was he separated from? God. God. The life that he had. He lost it. The life that God
had breathed into his nostrils, the breath of life, that spiritual
life in which he had the sweet communion with God and fellowship
walked with him in the cool of the day. He was a brilliant man
and he loved his Creator. But when sin entered, he died. And therefore, he did not anymore
participate in the life of God. That is what it means to be dead. You don't participate in the
life of God. And until something miraculous
takes place to bring spiritual life again, people will remain
dead in trespasses and sins. Listen to Ephesians chapter 4,
verse 18. Here's the problem with man,
with every young regenerate man. Here's his problem. Paul said
this, having the understanding darkened, Being alienated from
the life of God. You know what that word alienated
means? It means you're estranged. You're a non-participant. To be estranged from the life
of God means you do not participate in the life of God. God is dead
to us. We don't understand Him. We don't
know Him. We don't love Him. We don't worship Him. We cannot
because we're dead. You will not come to me that
you might have life. You're dead. You're dead. This
is the problem of one man. He's alien from the life of God
through the ignorance that is in him because of the blindness,
the callousness, the hardness and stupidity of his heart. That's the problem. He's dead.
He's dead. But reconciliation has been made. Has it not? Has not God sent
His only begotten Son into this world? And has He not suffered
for sin? Has He not made atonement for
sin? Has the Father not put life in
His Son? And He gives that life, eternal
life to, to everybody that comes to Him? He sure He does. Then what's the problem? Why
do so many dead people are walking around among us? Well, here's
the problem. They will not come to Christ
that they might have this life. That was your problem. Wasn't
it my problem and your problem? There was life all along while
you and I were dead in trespasses and sin. There was eternal life
in Jesus Christ to be had just for the coming to Him and receiving
it. Why wouldn't you come? You know what kept you? The same
thing that kept me. The same thing that keeps every
man from Christ without exception. His will. His will. We're not talking about his inability.
We're talking about his will being perverse to come into the
Lord Jesus Christ. He will not come to me that ye
might have life. The will. The will. Some have
tried to separate the will from the other faculties of the heart
or soul. The old Puritans used to tell
us that the heart was made up of three faculties. The understanding,
they called the intellect, the affections, and the will. Most people will agree that the
faculties of the intellect and the affections are depraved,
that they're corrupt. There is none that understand
it. Therefore, there's none that
seek after God. Why don't men seek after Christ? It has to
do with their intellect, their understanding. They don't know
Him. They don't understand Him. They
don't understand what He's about, who He is, why He saves and how
He saves. They don't see the beauty in
Him. The unregenerate heart says there's
no beauty in him, but I should desire him. Therefore, they don't
come. They don't come. And here's why
men won't come to Christ. Their affection. Their affection. They love darkness rather than
light. You ain't going to come to somebody
you hate, are you? I never will forget, this keeps
coming to my mind, I'm going to tell it, I hope I don't get
sick, you too, but we was down at the nursing home one night,
and this poor old lady, they come up there to the worship
service, you know, when they finish eating, and this poor
lady, she's dead now, but she had a problem with Almshousers,
and she could always see some dried food around her mouth,
sometimes she was spilling on her clothes, and I went to shake
hands and just pat her on the the face and she grabbed me and
was trying to kiss me. And she was saying, kiss me,
kiss me, kiss me. She was out of her head and she was trying.
I about got sick, I couldn't help it, I about got sick. Ain't that the same way men feel
about Christ? Come to Christ. There's life
in Christ. Oh, he makes me sick. I get sick. Why? I don't understand who He
is. I don't love Him. I love my darkness
rather than my light. And the will cannot act contrary
than the other two faculties of the soul. The understanding,
the intellect is so darkened it don't know the Lord. The affections
are so warped and corrupt it hates Him. And the will, therefore,
cannot act contrary to those other two faculties. Therefore,
it will not come to Christ that it might have a life. Listen
to what Isaiah said in Isaiah 1 and verse 5. Why should you
be stricken anymore? You will revolt more and more.
You are just going to rebel and rebel. And why? Because the whole
head is sick and the whole heart is faint. What's the heart made
of? The intellect, the affections
and the will. And it's all sick. It's all faint
from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head. It's full
of bruises and wounds and putrefying sores. There is no soundness
in it. The whole heart. The whole heart. You can't separate the will from
the rest of the faculties. You can't say, well, I know they
don't know Jesus, but they could will to come to Him. I know they
don't love Jesus, but they could will to. No. No. The whole head, the whole heart
is sick. Listen to this, all the preaching
in the world, even the preaching of Christ Himself, all the promises,
all the threatenings, cannot persuade a dead sinner to come
to Christ for life as long as his perverse will is allowed
to reign. You talk about the will is what
brings you to Christ? I'm here to tell you the will
is what keeps you from Christ. And if that will is allowed to
reign, if God suffers the will to reign, then you'll never come. I want you to look at Proverbs
chapter 1 with me. Let's prove that from Proverbs
chapter 1. Look here in verse 24. Proverbs chapter 1 and look in
verse 24. If there was ever any preaching
that would persuade men to come to Christ, it must be Proverbs
1. But look what it tells us in
verse 24. Chapter 1, verse 24. Because
I have called, I call. I call, God said. How does God
call? He's got every means available
to Him that one can imagine to call men by. I remember when
I was just Little child living in an old log house up in the
hills of Tennessee. One night I was outside looking
and the sky was red and lowering one afternoon and somebody made
mention of it and I looked up in the sky and man, my conscience
was smitten that I was a sinner against God. I hadn't remembered
doing anything bad. I was a sinner against God. What was that? That's God calling
me. as God let me know the danger
that I was in. You know this creation preaches
to men every place. It speaks in every possible language. It speaks to men in the dark
jungles of Africa and New Guinea and America and every place else.
It speaks one language. You have a Creator and He is
holy and His wrath is revealed against your unrighteousness
and your ungodliness. God calls that way. Sometimes
He calls by laying a man flat on his bed sick. Job said he
laid a man flat on his back and he afflicted him. And when the
man cried out and said, I've sinned, I'm going to seek You,
the Lord will lift the affliction. He calls by affliction. Sometimes
He calls by death. How many times has there been
a death in a family? And the Lord has used the death
of that soul to awaken family members, to make them think.
Oh, it's coming to us. We better begin to listen. We
better begin to get on to the Gospel. God calls that way. He calls men by afflicting their
conscience, bringing their sin to memory. The cheap way He calls. And He never saves apart from
this call. And that's the call of the Gospel. He calls you by
the Gospel to the obtaining of the glory of Jesus Christ. But
He calls, doesn't He? He calls. Because I call. Look in verse
23 of chapter 1. Here's one aspect of the calling.
And this is what makes it contrary to man's nature. Here's the call
in verse 23. Turn you at my reproof. Reproof. What does God do when
He calls us in? Or does He come to you and say,
I love you so much. I tell you, you know, you're
not doing anything now that you couldn't do if you let me save
you. I mean, you're just walking along
together, you know, on these parallel paths, and all I'm asking
you to do is just step over into my path. I love you, and the
church loves you. Would you? That's not the way
it goes, brothers and sisters. You see, man's going in the opposite
direction. He's contrary to God. He's against
God. And conviction of sins has to
do with this calling, a reproof, a cross in a man's pathway. You're wrong, man. You turn or
you're going to burn. That's the way God comes to us,
isn't it? To reprove. That's why some people
get mad and upset under conviction of sin. Did you ever see anybody
get mean and get mad and get upset? You just let the Lord
begin to reprove them. A war starts in the mind, you
see. Because when the Lord calls,
that means He's going to turn. It's a turning. It's a turning.
You turn from your idols to God. You turn from yourself to God.
You turn from your sin to God. That's what it means to be called.
Look who He's speaking to in verse 22. How long, you simple
ones? The word is silly. How long,
you silly ones? Will you love your silliness?
And ye scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge."
That just about covers everybody. These three classes of people
just about covers everybody. God is calling men different
ways. He is calling. But notice now
in verse 24 and in verse 25. Look at this. Verse 24, "...because I have
called, and you refused." I stretched out my hand, and no man regarded. You have said it not all my counsels,
and would none of my reproofs." And look at verse 29, "...for
that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the
Lord, they would none of my counsels, they despised all my reproof." What was the problem? Was it in God? Was it in the
message? And look at the promise. Look
in verse 23. Look here what a promise. Turn
ye at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my Spirit
unto you. I'll make known my words to you.
That's a promise of God. Was he honest when he said this?
Well, sure he was. Then why didn't they come? Why didn't they turn? He had
to give them His Spirit to reveal Christ, to teach them of His
Word, to seal them. You know what their whole problem
was? How long, you silly ones, will you love your silliness? How long, you scorners, will
you delight in your scorners? How long, you fools, will you
hate knowledge? Why won't men come to Christ?
They love themselves. They love their sin and they
hate Him. That's the problem. Talk about
man's will being free. Ain't that silliness when you
begin to look at the depravity of man and the will being free? Free to what? It's free to act within the realm
that it lives in and exists in. And what is that? Sin. Rebellion
against God. Hatred of God. Hating the knowledge
of God. When I used to go to jail with
the Gideons and preach to those fellows, we had one guy down
there and all he was talking about was free will. Free will.
Exercise the power of your free will and you'll be saved. And
I started telling them. Why don't you fellows exercise
the power of your free will and get out of that cell? You can exercise your will and
go to the toilet, but where's the toilet? It's inside the cell.
You can exercise your will and turn the TV off, but where's
the TV? It's in the cell. And to think that you can come
to Christ by the power of your free will, you better get out
of that cell first. And then when you did that, we'll
talk about the power of your free will to come to Christ.
The will is free in the realm of which it's existed. And what
realm does it exist? In the realm of spiritual death.
It's free to sin. That's all it wants to do. That's
all it will do as long as God suffers it to reign. What Christ
said to the Jews is said to every unregenerated man without exception. You will not come to me, that
you might have life. Luther said this about free will.
He said, If any man doeth a scribe ought of his salvation, even
the very least to the free will of man, he knoweth nothing of
grace, and he hath not learned Jesus Christ aright. Now, I'd say amen to that, wouldn't
you? You see these men talking about their wills as free and
they made themselves willing to come to Christ. They don't
know nothing about themselves. And they don't know nothing about
themselves because God has obviously never taught them. You know me. Most of you have
sat under my ministry for years. You know I don't go around judging
where men are saved or lost. But the closest I ever come to
doing that was when I hear somebody talk about their free will brought
them to Christ. But if you don't know any better
than that, I'll just about be determined God's never taught
you. God's never taught you. Your will is depraved, just as
depraved and just as void of any love and need of Christ as
the affections are. Free will is not free. It's a
slave. It's a slave. We left the funeral home the
other night. And the pastor of the Christian church right next
to my house was there. And I was steaming inside anyway. Difference between me and Turns.
Turns was getting to him. He was wiggling and groaning
and carrying on. I learned to just sit and take and listen.
The blood was bubbling that day. The pastor of the Arch Christian
Church came out the door and he said, now what's the name
of the church down there you pastor? And I said, Sovereign Grace.
And it's right the opposite end of Free Will. I went on to the
car and I saw him talking to my wife. I said, what was he
talking to you about? She said, he wanted to know if
I was serious. She said, you better bet he's serious. They're
on different poles. Free Will, Sovereign Grace. Different poles. There's two things that must
take place for any sinner to come to Christ for life. Two
things. I want you to turn back to my
text. Two more scriptures and I'll let you go. Two things that must take place
for any sinner to be willing to truly come to Christ. And
I'm talking about truly come to Christ. I'm not talking about
making a decision for Christ. I'm not talking about deciding
for Christ or coming down an aisle or something like that.
I'm talking about coming to Christ for eternal life. Two things.
Two things must take place. First, there must be a will in
the Son of God to give Him this life. You say, now Bruce, where
in the world did you get that? Well, look back in John chapter
5 and look in verse 21. raises up the dead, and quickeneth
them." That word quickeneth means to give life to. That's what
we're talking about, isn't it? You will not come to me that
you might have life. Even so, the Son quickeneth. He gives life to whom? Whom He
will. Now what does that mean? What
does that mean? That means this. If any man has life, since he
will not come to Christ for life. If he's given life, he must be
given this life because Jesus Christ wills to give it to him. And that means since he won't
come, Christ is willing to intervene to cause him to come. That's what that means. He will not come to me. He will
not. But if there's a will in Christ
to give you life, then you're going to have this life. We hear
people talk about free will of man. Ain't it funny that those
who talk about the free will of man never talk about the sovereign
will of the Son? They go there to prove their
little outline that man has a will and he must make himself willing.
You can't be saved if you don't make yourself willing. But they
read over verse 21. What about His will? He says
you will not come. That's your will. But if I will,
I'm going to give you this life. Who are we to believe? These
preachers talking about free will? Or Christ who's talking
about His sovereignty? What is the determining factor,
then, whether or not men will have this life? What is the determining
factor? Is it the free will of man? Well,
if he leads us to that, we perish because you will not come. Or
is it this? Is the deciding factor the sovereign
will of the Son of God? That's what it is, isn't it?
That's why you and I have hope tonight for ourselves. That's
why we have hope for our lost loved ones. That maybe, just
maybe, Jesus Christ wills to give them this life. And if He
does, His will is sovereign. I do according to my will in
the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth.
And no man can stay my hand or say unto me, What dost thou?
When I was dead in my sins, I had no idea that it was in His heart
to give me life. I wouldn't come. I had the Word. I read some of these promises. I read some aspect of the Gospel. I told you men to go. He spoke
to me by creation. He warned me. Nothing did any
good. And He speaks and calls a lot
of people and then just lets them go. It's not his fault they
go on. He's honest when he calls them,
is he not? He even promises them, turn in
my reproof. Here's what I'll do for you.
But you would not in my reproof. You went on and I'll let you
go. Oh, but thank God he's got a
will in his heart that he ain't going to let that back up. He
ain't going to let that back up. He's going to give them this
life. That's the first thing, brothers
and sisters. There must be a will in Jesus Christ to intervene
and give this life. The second thing is this. I want
you to look right quickly at Psalm 110. Look in Psalm 110. Not only must
there be a will in Jesus Christ to give this life, but then, By His power, by the
power of His grace, the power of His Spirit, the power of His
gospel, He must subdue the will and make the man willing to come. Look what He says in Psalm 110
in verse 1. The Lord said unto my Lord, Our
Master quoted this verse, didn't he? Matthew chapter 22. And he
said, David said, the Lord said unto my Lord. Who is that? He
said, that's me. That's me. God said unto the
Son, set at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send forth the
rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of your
enemies, thy people. shall be willing when in the
day of your power you will not come to me." But the Lord Jesus
said, God the Father has given me power, all power in heaven
and earth. He's given me power over all
flesh. And I've got the ability, I've
got the wisdom, I've got the power, I've got the means, I've
got the will to subdue your will. and to change you and bring you
to Myself. Haven't you not experienced that?
You experience that today. Isn't there times when you and
I, we don't have a will to pray? We don't have a will to sing
in our hearts to the Lord? We're almost like dead men, aren't
we? But what does He do? He makes us willing. He revives
the will, strengthens the will to go on to pray, Some people say, Bruce, you're
telling me He does all. I'm telling you He does all.
I'm telling you He does all. Until He does, you know what? You won't come. All the persuading
in the world won't bring you to Christ. It may make you religious.
It won't bring you to Christ. The will has to be subdued. The
will has to be broken. The will has to be changed. The
understanding has to be enlightened. The affection has to be so wrought
upon the man who loved darkness, now he loves light. The man who
loved sins, now he loves righteousness. And he comes to Christ willingly. And how is he pleased to do it?
Look back one more time. This is my last scripture. I'll
close. John chapter 5. How does he do it? Look in verse
25. How is our Lord's cheap way of
bringing men to Him for life. Look in John chapter 5 verse
25. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and
now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God,
and they that hear shall live. His voice. What is His voice? It is the same voice that created
everything that we see. By His Word the heavens were
made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He
cast out devils by His voice, didn't He? Come out of it and
don't enter into them anymore. He cleansed the leper by His
voice. I will be thou clean. He raised
the dead by His voice. Lazarus, come forth. And He gives
life to the spiritual dead by His voice. And what is His voice? Right here. Right here it is. The voice speaks through His
Word. He speaks through His Gospel.
And when He begins to work upon us, He works in us to will to
come to Him for life. Free will? That's a myth. Free will is a slave. Christ's
will? That's real. That's real. And when men wind up in hell,
they'll curse their self. They'll curse their self. But
boy, you have blessed them, the Lord, today, haven't you? Because
He's made you willing to come to Christ. God bless His Word.