Benefits of the
Son of God 32
God working in you to Will
and to do
January 29, 2009
Brian Kocourek, Pastor Grace Fellowship
Philippians 2:13. "It is
God which worketh in you both to will and to do of
his good pleasure"
Who is This Melchisedec pp 46 Now, in the beginning God dwelled alone
with His attributes as I spoke of this morning. That's His thoughts. There was
nothing, just God alone. But He had thoughts. Just like a great architect can
set down in his mind, and draw out what he thinks he's going to build, create.
Now, he cannot create; he can take something that's been created and make it in
a different form, 'cause God's the only One can create. But he gets in his mind
what he's going to do, and that's his thoughts; that's his desires.
Now, it's a
thought, and then he speaks it, and it's a word then. And a word is... A
thought when it's expressed, it's a word. A thought expressed is a word. But it
has to be a thought first. So it's God's attributes; then it becomes a thought,
then a word.
48 Notice, those who have tonight Eternal
Life, was with Him and in Him, in His thinking, before there ever was an Angel,
star, Cherubim, or anything else. That's eternal. And if you have Eternal Life,
you always was, not your being here, but the shape and form that the infinite
God... And if He isn't infinite, He isn't God. God has to be infinite. We're
finite; He's infinite. And He was omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent. If
He isn't, then He can't be God: knows all things, all places because of His
omnipresence. Omniscient makes Him omnipresent. He is a being; He's not like
the wind. He is a being; He dwells in a house, but being omniscient,
knowing all things, makes Him omnipresent, because He knows everything that's
going on. There can't be a flea bat its eyes but what He knowed
it. And He knowed it before there was a world, how
many time it'd bat it's eyes and how much tallow it had in it, before there
ever was a world. That is infinite. We can't comprehend it in our minds, but
that's God, infinite.
50 And remember, you, your eyes, your statue,
whatever you was, you were in His thinking at the beginning. And the only thing
that you are is the expression, Word,. after He thought it, He spoke it, and
here you are. If it isn't, if you wasn't in His thinking, there's no way at all
for you ever to be there, for He's the One that gives Eternal Life. You
remember how we read the Scriptures, "Not him that willeth, or him that runneth, but
God..." And that His predestination might stand true, He could
choose before anytime who... God's sovereign in His choosing, did you
know that? God's sovereign. Who was back yonder to tell Him a better
way to make the world? Who would dare to tell Him He was running His business
wrong? Even the very--the very Word Itself, very sovereign... Even the
revelation is sovereign. He reveals to whom He will reveal. The
very revelation itself is sovereign in God. That's how people pound at
things, and jump at things, and hit at things, and not knowing what they're
doing. God is sovereign in His works.
One of the greatest theological
debates that has gone forth since time began is the idea that man is a free
moral agent, and concerns the power of man's will. Even today after the great
debates by Martin Luther and Erasmus concerning the power of man's will, and
the total annihilation of Erasmus and the humanist's philosophy of "the
power of the human will", we still see today a greatest confusion
concerning the so called "power of the human will". The most erroneous views are held, even by
many who call themselves believers today. The most popular idea prevails, which
is taught from most of the pulpits today, is that man has a "free will", and that salvation comes to the
sinner through his will cooperating with the Holy Spirit. To deny the "free will" of man, (his power to choose that which is good, and
his innate ability to accept Christ), is to bring oneself into disfavor and set
apart as a heretic among the acceptable politically correct churches.
And yet God's Word plainly
teaches in Romans
Yet some will say, Did not
Joshua say to
Why do men attempt to pit
Scripture against Scripture? The Word of God never contradicts itself, and the Word
expressly declares,
Even in 1 Corinthians 2:9
we read, But as
it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart
of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God
hath revealed [them] unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things
of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now
we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God;
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which
things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing
spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither
can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is
spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is
judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may
instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Notice he is telling us
that unless you are born again and have received the Spirit of God, there is no
way you can even begin to understand God’s Word.
But does not Scripture say,
"Whosoever will may come"? It
does, but does this signify that everybody has the will to come? What of those
who will not come? "Whosoever will may come"
no more implies that fallen man has the power (in himself) to come, than "Stretch forth thine hand"
implied that the man with the withered arm had ability (in himself) to comply.
In and of himself the carnal man has power to reject Christ; but in and of
himself he has not the power to receive Christ. And why? Because he has a mind
that is Rom. 8:7 " 7 Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against
God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. ";
because he has a heart that hates him John
Man chooses that which is
according to his nature, and therefore before he will ever choose or prefer
that which is divine and spiritual, a new nature must be imparted to him; in
other words, he must be born again.
PROVERBS
PROVERBS
16:9 ¶ A man's heart deviseth
his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
Should it be asked, But
does not the Holy Spirit overcome a man's enmity and hatred when he convicts
the sinner of his sins and his need of Christ; and does not the Spirit of God
produce such conviction in many that perish? Such language betrays confusion of
thought: were such a man's enmity really "overcome", then he would
readily turn to Christ; that he does not come to the Saviour,
demonstrates that his enmity is not overcome. But that many are, through the
preaching of the Word, convicted by the Holy Spirit, who nevertheless die in
unbelief, is solemnly true. The Holy Spirit does something in God's elect that
he does not do in non-elect: He works in them. Philippians
In Psalm 1:6 we are told
that the Lord watches over he way of the righteous, He actively participates in
the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish which means
they are left to themselves. And notice
that this difference is not of your doing or choice but of God’s. The Scripture
attributes the "differing"
between the elect and non elect to God's discriminating grace 1 Cor. 4:7 ¶ For who maketh thee
to differ [from another]? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now
if thou didst receive [it], why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst
not received [it]?. Again; if such were the case, then the Christian
would have ground for boasting and self-glorying over his cooperation with the
Spirit; but this would flatly contradict Eph 2:8,
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God".
The attitude of the real
born again Christian best seen in Psa. 115:1 ¶ Not unto us, O
LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, [and] for thy
truth's sake. 2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where
[is] now their God? 3 But our God [is] in the heavens: he hath
done whatsoever he hath pleased.
As a real born again
Christian we will acknowledge that we came to Christ because the Holy Spirit
brought us from unwillingness to willingness? And is it not also true that the Holy Spirit has not done so in many others
what he has done in you! Granting that many others also have heard the
Message and yet they are still unwilling
to come to Him. Thus he has wrought more in you, than in them. You might say,
yes, but I yielded, so doesn’t that give me the power of chice?
But before you "yielded", the Holy Spirit overcame the
carnal enmity of your mind against God, and this "enmity" he does not overcome in all. Should
it be said, "That is because they are unwilling for their enmity to be
overcome". Look, there are none that will of their own nature, until God
has put forth his mighty power and has brought a work of grace into their
heart.
What is the human will? Is
it a self-determining agent, or is it, in turn, determined by something else?
Is it sovereign or servant? Is the will superior to every other faculty of our
being so that it subdues them, or is it overcome by their impulses and subject
to their pleasure? Does the will rule the mind, or does the mind control the
will? Is the will free to do as it pleases, or is it under the necessity of
rendering obedience to something outside of itself? "Does the will stand
apart from the other great faculties or powers of the soul, a man within a man,
who can reverse the man and fly against the man and split him into segments, as
a glass breaks in pieces? Or, is the will connected with the other faculties,
as the tail of the serpent is with his body, and that again with his head, so
that where the head goes, the whole creature goes, and, as a man thinketh in his heart, so
is he? First there must be the thought, then that thought goes to the heart
and then action follows. A man is what he does because what he does he
thought first.
Is a man a thief because he
steals or does he steal because he’s a thief?
Does the dog wag his tail? Or, does his tail wag the dog? Is the will
the first and chief thing in the man, or
is it the last thing — to
be kept subordinate, and in its place beneath the other faculties?
1. The Nature Of The Human
Will.
What is the Will? We
answer, the will is the faculty of choice, the immediate cause of all action. Choice necessarily implies the refusal of one
thing and the acceptance, of another. The positive and the negative must both
be present to the mind before there can be any choice. In every, act of the
will there is a preference — the desiring of one thing rather than another.
Where there is no preference, but complete indifference, there is no choice. To
will is to choose, and to choose is to decide between two or more alternatives.
But there is something which influences the choice; something which determines
the decision. Hence the will cannot be
sovereign because it is the servant of that something. The will cannot be
both sovereign and servant. It cannot be both cause and effect. The will is not
causative, because, as we have said, something
causes it to choose, therefore that something must be the causative agent.
Choice itself is affected by certain considerations, is determined by various
influences brought to bear upon the individual himself, hence, choice is the
effect of these considerations and influences, and if the effect, it must be
their servant; and if the will is their servant then it is not sovereign, and
if the will is not sovereign, we certainly cannot predicate absolute
"freedom" of it. Acts of the will cannot come to pass of themselves —
to say they can, is to postulate an uncaused effect. —in other words, nothing cannot produce something.
In all ages, however, there
have been those who contended for the absolute freedom or sovereignty of the
human will. Men will argue that the will possesses a self-determining power.
They say, for example, I can turn my eyes up or down. This case supposes that I choose one thing in
preference to another, while I am in a state of complete indifference. But the
moment indifference vanishes, choice is made, and the fact that indifference
gave place to preference, overthrows the argument that the will is capable of
choosing between two equal things. As we have said, choice implies the
acceptance of one alternative and the rejection of the other or others.
That which determines the will is that which causes it to
choose. If
the will is determined, then there must be a determiner. What is it that
determines the will? We reply, The strongest motive power which is brought to
bear upon it. What this motive power is, varies in different cases. With one it
may be the logic of reason, with another the ice of conscience, with another
the impulse of the emotions, with another the whisper of the tempter, with
another the power of the Holy Spirit; whichever of these presents the strongest
motive power and exerts the greatest influence upon the individual himself, is
that which impels the will to act. In other words, the action of the will is
determined by that condition of mind (which in turn is influenced by the world,
the flesh, and the Devil, as well as by God), which has the greatest degree of
tendency to excite.
In Hebrews
Here then are two sets of
alternatives presented to you as a Christian.
On the one side is a sense of physical need and the other a real concern
for God's glory. So what decision will prevail? It depends which choice has a
higher degree of control in your life? Spiritual considerations or
consideration concering your flesh. Having formed
your decision the will acts accordingly, and what you do is a result not of a
choice but of an influence that has guided your choice. The mind therefore
regulates and controlls the will. Therefore, if the
will is controlled, it is neither sovereign nor free, but is the servant of the
mind.
Therefore if it were not
for God working in you to will you could never will or do according to His Good
pleasure.
Let us bow our hearts in
prayer.